A woman’s voice presses through the adjoining apartment’s thin, water-stained wall, nearly swallowed by rain and the dragging movement beyond Rachel’s barricade.
Mara Velez
My name is Mara Velez. I know another way out of this building, but you have to listen.
Before she can continue, a deep impact slams into the rebuilt entrance. The cabinet jolts, the table legs scrape, and dust sifts from the ceiling.
Mara Velez
That was the stairwell. They’re pushing through the lower floors. Don’t open your door.
The wall between apartments gives a faint, damp creak. Somewhere behind it, Mara moves quickly, while the barricade answers another heavy blow with a trembling groan.
Mara Velez
There’s a maintenance passage behind the kitchens. The wall is thinner near the old laundry chute, but I can’t break it from my side alone.
Silence briefly separates them, filled by rainwater ticking through plaster and the infected battering below. Mara waits for Rachel’s response as the apartment shudders again.
✓ Quest Accepted
Establish a usable connection with Mara Velez
“I move to the old laundry chute and inspect the thinner wall.”
SUCCESS (Great Perception, rolled +1)
Rachel crosses the apartment through ankle-deep rainwater and scattered plaster, reaching the old laundry chute beside the kitchen wall as the barricade shudders behind her.
The chute’s rusted frame is bolted into cracked masonry. Around it, the wall is visibly thinner, with a narrow vertical seam and fresh dust gathered along the baseboard.
Rachel Moss
The seam is wider near the floor.
Rachel presses her palm against the plaster and traces the seam upward. The wall gives a faint hollow vibration, confirming the maintenance passage lies directly beyond it.
Mara Velez
You found it. Good. The laundry chute frame is anchored into the weak section. We can work around it from both sides.
Another impact rolls through the building, but the sound is muffled here. Fine grit slips from the seam, marking the exact section Mara described.
Mara Velez
I’m clearing my side now. When the plaster gives, the passage should open between us. Keep your door barricaded until then.
“I reinforce the barricade while Mara works”
SUCCESS (Good Strength, rolled +1)
Rachel returns to the entrance and braces the cabinet with a fallen chair, wedging its legs beneath the table while rainwater swirls around her boots.
She tightens the furniture into the doorway, shifting the weight until the crooked seam narrows and the barricade sits firm against the battered frame.
Rachel Moss
The table is taking the pressure now.
Mara Velez
Good. Keep that support low. I’m cutting through the plaster on my side.
Rachel adds a broken shelf beneath the cabinet and tests the brace with both hands. The structure groans, then settles without giving way.
Through the wall, scraping and dull impacts mark Mara’s work. Dust sifts from the laundry chute seam as the passage begins to open between the apartments.
Mara Velez
It’s holding. When the wall breaks through, we move quickly, but your door is secured for now.
“I break through and join Mara”
SUCCESS (Good Strength, rolled +1)
Rachel tears into the weakened plaster beside the laundry chute. Cracked pieces drop into the rainwater as the thin wall gives way under her repeated blows.
The opening widens into a cramped maintenance passage. Mara Velez, a young adult woman with a compact build, wet black hair, and a red rain jacket, with warm brown skin, sharp cheekbones, and a small silver nose ring, reaches through from the adjoining apartment.
Mara Velez
That’s it. Come through. Leave the frame, just move.
Rachel clears the remaining plaster and steps through the rough opening, boots splashing onto the neighboring kitchen floor. Mara catches her arm and guides her clear of the debris.
Mara’s apartment is darker but drier, its cabinets shoved against the far wall and a narrow service door standing open beyond them. The passage runs behind the kitchens.
Mara Velez
You made it. The service door leads to the rear loading area, then the alley. We can secure this opening from here.
Behind Rachel, the broken wall settles with a soft crumble. The infected continue battering the distant entrance, while the two women now stand together inside Mara’s apartment.
Escape the building
Quest Complete
Establish a usable connection with Mara Velez
Attribute Upgrade: Strength Good→Great