The road reaches a fenced livestock inspection station half a mile south. Empty pens rust behind sagging wire, and a weathered intake office faces the road beneath a faded quarantine sign.
Sara
This was the alternate intake. The landline should be beside the records window, if nobody stripped the wiring.
Sara slows before the gate, scanning the pens and office windows. She keeps her pack close and approaches along the fence rather than stepping straight into the open yard.
Fin
Fresh tracks would tell us whether the station is empty now, not whether it was safe before.
Fin crouches beside the roadside dust, examining overlapping boot marks and old drag lines. Robin moves to the gatepost, where laminated procedures hang beneath cracked plastic.
Robin
It says alternate arrivals report to the office, surrender weapons for inspection, and wait inside the marked pen. That last part sounds welcoming.
Sara
The office can answer questions without putting Maya at the public gate. We check the phone first, then decide how much contact we want.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn the alternate intake terms for Maya’s admission
“Is the alternate intake phone still working?”
NO (Unlikely, rolled 55)
Sara reaches the intake office and peers through the records window. Dust coats the desk, but the landline handset still rests beside a stack of curled forms.
Sara
The phone is here, but the line is dead. No dial tone, no response from the station.
She lifts the receiver, listens, and replaces it gently. The cord disappears into the wall, with no loose break or stripped wire visible at the desk.
Fin
Then the office cannot give us a warning or a second contact. We should assume nobody is monitoring this intake.
Fin rises from the roadside dust and joins them at the window. Robin leaves the gatepost, keeping the posted instructions folded in one hand.
Robin
So the phone is useless, and the pen is still the only official option. At least we know before walking inside.
“I ask Sara what she refused”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled +2)
Maya remains beside the intake window, facing Sara across the dusty records desk. The empty pens and faded quarantine sign frame the quiet question waiting between them.
Maya Gonzales
What did you refuse?
Sara
Their quarantine. They wanted my weapons, my pack, and three days behind a locked fence before they would even consider letting me near the settlement.
Sara keeps one hand on her pack strap, her expression guarded but steady. She looks through the office window toward the marked pen rather than pretending the arrangement was harmless.
Sara
I had no fever or confusion, and they still treated me like property waiting to become dangerous. I refused to surrender control of my own survival.
Fin
So they demanded confinement and disarmament before trust. That is important to tell them before we approach the public gate.
Robin
And if they offer the same deal here, we already know exactly what we are walking into.
Quest Complete
Learn the alternate intake terms for Maya’s admission