Bluze and Mara reach the canyon's edge, leaving the rusted trailers behind. Wind scours the open ground, carrying dust, grit, and the faint stink of old fuel.
Mara has reduced their belongings to a water canteen, wrapped food, a compact tool roll, and salvaged wiring. She keeps the bundle close as the semis groan behind them.
Mara
There. Beyond the flats. Those structures might have walls left.
They descend into the wastes. Half-buried road signs lean from the dust, and the cracked highway breaks into parallel scars leading toward a distant cluster of ruined buildings.
Mara
If we find a roof, even a bad one, I can make it safer than the trailer.
By late afternoon, the pair reach the remains of an old roadside service station. Its canopy has collapsed, but a concrete maintenance building still stands beyond the pumps.
Mara
The wind is changing. We should check that building before dark. What do you think, Bluze?
“I inspect the maintenance building for shelter and occupants”
SUCCESS (Poor Perception, rolled -1)
Bluze crosses the broken forecourt, lowering his bulk beneath the slanting remains of the canopy. Dust veils the dark doorway, but the building offers cover from the changing wind.
From the threshold, he surveys the maintenance room through gaps in the fallen masonry. The roof holds. The rear wall is intact. A narrow office and a concrete-floored bay provide enough space for two people and their supplies.
Inside, the air smells of dust, old oil, and mouse nests. No voices answer the wind. No movement stirs behind the office door or beneath the workbench.
Mara
Clear, I think. Not comfortable, but defensible. Look at that back wall.
Mara steps into the doorway and follows his line of sight. The back wall has a rusted service hatch, still shut, while the bay's only broad entrance stands open to the flats.
Then a low engine cough rolls across the wastes. Beyond the broken pumps, a dust plume rises on the highway, moving toward the station.
Mara
We have shelter now, but whoever is coming will see this doorway. Do we hide inside, or make for the rear hatch?
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the maintenance building as a shelter for Mara and the supplies
“Barricade the main bay entrance with debris to hide our presence.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Strength, rolled +4)
Bluze turns from the doorway and gathers the fallen masonry, dragging concrete chunks and a bent pump housing across the bay.
His strength seats the debris into a low, irregular barricade. It blocks the broad entrance without sealing the room, leaving only narrow gaps that break the view from the flats.
Mara
That hides the shelter, but we can still get out if we need to.
As the last slab shifts into place, a buried maintenance grate appears beneath it. Rust flakes away from a hand-sized inspection slot, revealing a dry crawlspace leading beneath the rear office.
Mara
A second way through. Better than I hoped.
Outside, the approaching engine drops to an idle. Dust rolls past the barricade's gaps, but the building now reads as another collapsed corner of the station. Mara lowers the dented canteen and waits beside the shadowed office door.
Mara
They cannot see us yet. Do we stay quiet, or use that crawlspace to watch them?
Remain undetected by the approaching vehicle
Quest Complete
Secure the maintenance building as a shelter for Mara and the supplies