Nera abruptly guides Kaiden off the west road and through a collapsed apartment entrance. Dust sifts from exposed floors as the shell opens above the blue-marked culvert route.
The retired soldier remains behind at the dam, guarding its failing machinery and supplies. Nera is the only person who has followed Kaiden into the ruined building.
On the second floor, Nera crouches beside a drift of plaster and points to boot marks crossing the dust. A familiar strip of red cloth is snagged on broken rebar nearby.
Nera Vale
That cloth belonged to my old band. They followed my trail from the checkpoint, and they will reach this route soon.
Beyond the empty windows, the west road lies between drowned storefronts and leaning utility poles. Fresh impressions lead from the entrance toward the overlook, then vanish beneath rubble.
Nera Vale
I quit because I want a life beyond raiding. They call that betrayal, and they will collect their debt from me before I reach the safe zone.
Nera Vale
Help me get there before they arrive. I know the western approaches, but I cannot outrun people who taught me every trick I use.
✓ Quest Accepted
Keep Nera safe from her former band
✓ Quest Accepted
Get Nera to the survivor safe zone
“Uh-huh. What’s in it for me? I can find another guide.”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled -2)
Kaiden Kaslana
Uh-huh. What’s in it for me? I can find another guide.
The challenge lands quietly, but a traumatic flashback briefly blurs the ruined apartment into another desperate threshold. Kaiden holds his ground, though the hesitation shows in his tightened jaw.
Reading raider motives, Kaiden catches Nera’s immediate fear, then the calculation beneath it. She is not bluffing about danger, but she is hiding a bargaining chip.
Nera Vale
You get the blue-marked route, the patrol gaps, and a sealed cache beneath the old clinic. Water, filters, and batteries. I know exactly where it is.
Nera pulls a grease-stained transit map from inside her jacket and unfolds it over the plaster. A red mark circles the clinic, with a maintenance tunnel drawn beneath it.
Nera Vale
That is my price for getting me to the safe zone. You can leave now, but you will lose the supplies and walk blind through territory I already survived.
Her proof is concrete, and Kaiden’s intimidation has forced the value into the open. The cost remains in him: the flashback leaves his composure brittle, and Nera has seen it.