Hunter guides Mrs. Gable toward the barn door, keeping his voice low and steady. Nora pauses beside a stack of crates, and Joy waits with a small handful of tools.
Hunter McCready
You need to go home, Mrs. Gable. It is too dangerous for you to stay here.
Mrs. Gable
I do not like leaving when things are this tense. But I hear you.
Mrs. Gable
I will head home before the light goes. Keep your doors blocked, and keep that little one close.
She gives Joy a last worried look, then slips out through the barn exit and disappears down the lane.
Hunter and Nora drag a heavy workbench into place against the secondary doors. Joy carries a wrench over with both hands, then clears a patch of floor near the wall.
Hunter McCready
The back entrance is the weak point.
Crates stack up beside the bench, and the barn starts looking less like a workspace and more like a barricade. From outside, the wind pushes softly against the boards while the three of them keep working.
✓ Quest Accepted
Keep the barn secured against intrusion
“I help Nora wedge the heavy workbench tighter against the barn door.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Strength, rolled +0)
Hunter plants both hands under the workbench rail and drives it harder into the secondary doors. Nora shifts with him, shoulders tight, and the whole frame bites deeper into the wood.
The bench settles with a dull thud. Dust shakes loose from the beam above, and the door hardware groans under the new weight.
Nora
That should hold better.
Joy hustles over with a short plank, then drops to her knees to jam it under the bench leg as a brace.
Nora
Good. Keep that wedge there.
Hunter presses down once more, testing the barrier. The doors do not budge, but the wood answers with another dry creak.
Joy
It is getting louder outside.
A distant engine hum threads through the barn boards, and Nora glances toward the lane while keeping one hand on the bench.
Nora
Someone is still out there. If they come up the lane, they will see this.
“I brace the other barn door too”
SUCCESS (Legendary Strength, rolled -1)
Hunter shifts to the second door and drops his shoulder into the workbench again. The frame scrapes across the floorboards, then settles square against the other set of panels.
Nora steps in with both hands on the bench top, guiding the angle while her eyes flick to the lane. The timber answers with a deeper groan, but it stays put.
Joy scoots the last brace into place and wedges it hard under the leg. The tool skids, catches, and locks the bench down against the wood.
Nora
That side is set now.
From outside, the engine sound passes again, closer this time, and both women go still. Hunter keeps pressure on the bench while the barn door boards hold their line.
Nora
If they check the route, they will know we are here and organized.
Joy looks up toward the lane, clutching the wrench, and then back to Hunter. The barricade stands finished, tight against both doors, while the hum outside lingers at the property edge.
Quest Complete
Keep the barn secured against intrusion
Fault Removed: Insomniac