The limestone outcrop offers only temporary respite. The canopy above rustles as the hunters prepare another descent. Seth gestures toward a narrow, obscured ravine cutting through the dense thicket nearby.
Seth
We need to move. That ravine leads toward the old logging road. If we stay here, we're just waiting for them to drop on our heads.
Miller
The road is wide open, Seth. That makes us targets for anyone watching from the treeline.
Seth
Miller is right, but the trees are worse. We either get picked off here or risk a sprint through the brush.
Elena
We don't have a choice. I see movement in the branches above. We go now, or we don't go at all.
Seth fires a short, controlled burst into the darkness to draw their attention while the group breaks from the rocks and dives into the damp, narrow ravine.
+ Scene Quest Added
Escape the ambush in the woods
“Okay I'll follow your lead but we need John before these things get him”
SUCCESS (Great Tactics, rolled -1)
The ravine walls close in, slick with moss and shadows. Seth skids to a halt, his boots carving deep furrows into the mud as he signals the group to hunker down.
Seth
Keep moving forward. John’s trail veers toward the old pump house. If we don’t intercept him before the sun hits the ridge, the patrol will have a clear line of sight.
Maxwell
I see him. He's hugging the tree line near the rusted tanks. He looks wounded.
Seth
He’s moving too slow. If Miller and Elena hold the ridge, I can cut across the clearing and grab him before those things catch the scent.
Miller
Seth, look. The brush is shaking near the creek. Something is moving through there.
Seth tightens his grip on his rifle, scanning the foliage as a low, guttural moan echoes from the ravine entrance behind them. The distance between the group and the pump house feels like an eternity.
Seth
We have to move now, or we’re going to be flanked while we’re standing in the open.
+ Scene Quest Added
Intercept John at the pump house
“Run straight to John and say I didn't forget you brother I wouldn't have stopped looking then give a brother/bro hug”
SUCCESS (Great Tactics, rolled +0)
Seth bursts from the brush, boots pounding the mud as he ignores the encroaching moan. He ignores the tactical risk, his focus locked entirely on the slumped figure. He slides into the dirt, skidding to a stop right in front of John.
Seth
I didn't forget you, brother. I wouldn't have stopped looking.
Seth
He’s breathing. That’s all that matters right now.
Seth pulls John into a firm, grounding embrace, shielding him from the view of the woods. John staggers, his weight collapsing into Seth’s steady, athletic frame.
John
Seth... you crazy bastard. You came back.
Behind them, the rustling in the creek grows louder, the guttural sounds morphing into a rhythmic, dragging cadence. The clearing is no longer a safe haven.
Seth
We have to get him to the pump house now, or this reunion is going to be our last.
Quest Complete
Find John in the woods
Skill Upgrade: Tracking Mediocre
+ Scene Quest Added
Reach the pump house before the ambush