Night settles over the older storage building. Charlie, Thomas, Evan, Andre, and Rosa maintain quiet watches while the radio schedule ticks between distant static and Belmont’s check-ins.
Through a narrow office window, Biters wander beneath dark storefronts. Virals sprint between shadows, vanishing into alleys as the team watches without opening the barricaded door.
Evan Cole
Movement is spreading across every approach. The street is not clearing for dawn. It is filling.
A Banshee climbs the face of a neighboring building, claws finding impossible purchase, then drops onto a rooftop and disappears behind a ventilation unit.
Andre
There. Open street. Watch the speed.
A Volatile crosses the road in a blur, too fast for the eye to follow cleanly. Its passage draws a Demolisher, a Charger, a Screamer, and a Spitter toward the same district.
Thomas Roberts
That route to the truck is going to be worse than we thought, babe. We should compare every alternate path before sunrise.
✓ Quest Accepted
Assess a safe route to the utility truck
A Volatile or Viral retreats from daylight, while a Volatile can emerge and hunt in night or pitch darkness.
“Charlie tells them not to assume the morning won't be safer. He told Thomas a few days ago that he had been wondering why they see so few infected around Belmont. He bets this is where they have been. Hiding away and then coming out at night. This is just what nighttime on Earth is like now. But they haven't noticed because they have been safe behind Belmont's UV lamps.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +2)
Charlie Moore
Do not assume morning will be safer. I told you a few days ago, Thomas, I wondered why Belmont saw so few infected. This is where they have been, hiding away until night brings them out. This is nighttime on Earth now, and we missed it because Belmont’s UV lamps kept us safe.
The office stays dark around them. Outside, the Volatile slips between buildings while Virals vanish into shadowed entrances, leaving Biters and heavier infected moving through the streets.
Thomas Roberts
You’re right, babe. Morning may drive the Volatile and Virals indoors, but it will not empty this district or make the truck route safe.
Evan Cole
Then daylight is a change in behavior, not a promise of clearance. We plan around Biters, the Demolisher, and every blocked approach already gathering outside.
Andre
We stay put while it is dark. When light comes, I’ll watch the street, but nobody treats sunrise as permission to rush out.
Another distant shriek rolls through the warehouses. The team remains sealed inside the storage building, sweating through the long night as Evan marks routes that may still be occupied at dawn.
Aunt Rosa
I’ll keep the lamps and medical kit ready. Belmont’s safety taught us what darkness was hiding, and now we have to outlast it here.
A Volatile or Viral retreats from daylight, while a Volatile can emerge and hunt in night or pitch darkness.
“Charlie and Evan set up a watch rotation and they reserve a room in the back for people to get some sleep. He sits on watch with Thomas first while the others rest.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Investigation, rolled -2)
Charlie and Evan redraw the watch roster on a clipboard, assigning two-person shifts and reserving the rear office as a sleeping room. Blankets and water are moved inside.
Evan Cole
The first shift is yours with Thomas. Andre and Rosa take the next, then I’ll cover the approach before dawn.
The sleeping room settles into silence as Rosa, Andre, and Evan bed down. Charlie checks the barricade, places the UV lamp beside the door, and takes the first watch.
Thomas Roberts
I’m staying with you, babe. We can watch the street and keep the radio schedule without waking everyone.
Charlie sits beside Thomas in the dark office, tracking the streets through the narrow window. Virals disappear into buildings, while Biters continue wandering beneath the lamps.
Thomas Roberts
The daylight rule helps us, but it will not clear the road. When morning comes, the Volatile should retreat, and the rest will still be waiting.
Their scheduled check-in spends one radio battery bar, leaving the team with less communication reserve. The sleeping room remains secure, and Charlie’s first watch continues beside Thomas.
“Charlie says that he still suspects some of the mutated ones will clear put come morning. They might not need to stay put of the Sun, but if they are nocturnal hunters their nature should drive them indoors. At least, that is what he is betting on.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +3)
Charlie Moore
I still suspect some of the mutated ones will clear out when daylight comes. They may not all need to stay out of the sun, but if they hunt at night, their nature should drive them indoors. That is what I’m betting on.
Thomas watches the streets with him. As the eastern sky pales, the Volatile vanishes into a warehouse, followed by the Banshee, while Virals retreat through doorways and broken windows.
Thomas Roberts
Your bet is right, babe. The nocturnal hunters are leaving the open streets before sunrise, but the Biters, Demolisher, Charger, and Spitter remain outside.
The change is immediate and measurable. The district loses its fastest hunters, leaving three visible approaches occupied only by slower infected and one distant Screamer.
Evan Cole
Confirmed from the window. The north route is clear of Volatiles and Virals, and the west lane has only Biters. I’m marking that as our safest daylight approach.
Andre
That gives us a usable route to the truck, though the heavier infected still make it dangerous. We can observe first and avoid the open intersection.
Sunlight reaches the warehouse roofs. The Volatile and Banshee remain hidden indoors, while Evan’s marked north route becomes a concrete option for the truck recovery plan.
Quest Complete
Assess a safe route to the utility truck
Skill Upgrade: Computers Great→Superb