The trio forces through the back door. The weary survivor slams it shut while Rhea and the restrained boy drag a kitchen table across the room, wedging it beneath the handle.
For several minutes, the dark kitchen holds only distant impacts against neighboring houses and Rhea’s breathing. Dust drifts through a thin bar of moonlight.
the restrained boy
That is my school. I remember this picture. Mom put it here before we left.
The restrained boy points to a school photograph beside a folded street map and a set of car keys on the counter. His taped wrists are free, but he keeps close to Rhea.
the restrained boy
She said we were going to the county clinic first, then north to the fairgrounds. She marked the roads that were blocked.
the weary survivor
The clinic is east, past the pharmacy. If she reached it, she may have left another message.
the restrained boy
She took our blue station wagon. The keys are here because she said she would come back for them.
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach the county clinic
“Did his mother leave a message at the clinic?”
YES (Even, rolled 22)
A faint pencil mark circles the county clinic on the folded map. Beneath it, in hurried handwriting, a short note shows through the paper’s creases.
the restrained boy
That is Mom’s writing. She was there.
The weary survivor lifts the map toward the moonlit window without touching the note. The message reads: CLINIC LOCKER 12. NORTH ROAD UNSAFE. GO ALONE.
the weary survivor
She left it for you, then. She expected someone to find this house.
the restrained boy
She knew I would come here.
The clinic is no longer only a rumor or a marked destination. Locker 12 offers a real lead, while the warning makes the direct northern road dangerous.
the weary survivor
We check the clinic before dawn. After that, we decide whether the fairgrounds are still safe.
“I study the map for a safer route to the clinic.”
SUCCESS (Fair Survival, rolled +3)
Rhea spreads the folded map across the counter and studies the marked streets beneath the moonlight. The northern road is crossed out, but alleys and service lanes form another path.
Rhea Dunn
The pharmacy blocks the direct approach. The drainage road reaches the clinic from the west.
She traces the route past a closed strip mall, then along a fenced drainage channel. It avoids the main intersection and the densest cluster of marked houses.
the weary survivor
That route is safer. Fewer cars, fewer places for the dead to gather. We can reach the clinic from behind the pharmacy.
the restrained boy
Mom knew the north road was bad. If we use the drainage road, I can show you where it turns.
The weary survivor folds the map along Rhea’s chosen route and pockets the keys. Outside, impacts continue at the barricaded door, but none yet breach the kitchen.
the weary survivor
We leave before first light. Stay low, keep the boy between us, and take the west lane to the clinic.
✓ Quest Accepted
Escape the undead with the boy
“I quietly ready us to leave through the west lane before first light.”
SUCCESS (Good Stealth, rolled +2)
Before first light, Rhea gathers the map, checks the west-lane route, and quietly clears the kitchen table. She keeps the keys and supplies together by the back door.
She tests the barricade, then eases the table aside without letting it scrape. The back door opens onto a dark yard, with the drainage road beyond the fence.
Rhea Dunn
The yard is clear, and the west lane is ready.
the weary survivor
Good. We go light and quiet. I will watch the rear while you lead him to the drainage channel.
The restrained boy pulls on his red hood and slips beside Rhea, carrying only the folded school photograph. The weary survivor checks the crossbow and pockets the map.
the restrained boy
The turn is past the strip mall. There is a break in the fence where the water runs under the road.
They leave through the back door in single file. Behind them, the barricade settles into place, and the three reach the shadowed west lane before dawn.
Quest Complete
Escape the undead with the boy