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[Friday]

Hey, guys, any chance I can get a recap? or at least important page numbers? I don't feel like reading 33 pages

A valid point, and you're not the first one to make it.

Will be filling this thread with nothing but the story, for those who wish to join the game, or those who just want to go back and read it for whatever reason without having to browse through all the votes/comments.

Please, no one else post here. Will be copy/pasting the story over.

EDIT1: After pasting this all over, I realize that any bold or italic emphasis has been lost, which annoys me, but oh well. The meat of the story is here, but I suggest to anyone who wants the full experience to read the full thread.

[Friday]

The thing about the end of the world/civilization/whatever is that it is a laughable concept that never, ever, ever occurs.

Until it does.

Then, well, it ceases to be funny. You go into shock. Was that a fucking nuclear cloud you just saw? Well, rub your eyes and look again. Holy goddamn shit. It is.

What direction? South? LA? What should you do? Cell phone? Family? Friends? Maybe it's just the one nuke. Maybe this was another act of terrorism. Maybe somehow a terrorist sneaked a suitcase nuke into LA. Can they do that? Fuck, you don't know. It's not like you're a nuclear physicist.

Jesus. You can't believe this is happening. (By the way, you've been standing stock still for about 2 minutes now, not doing shit.) You've gotta call someone. Anyone. People must know what's going on. But when you call your mom, she doesn't know shit either.

Oh. Shit. You remember that there were rumors of nuclear silos built around here. You've got to get to the hills. You've got to get your friends and family and get to the --

What's that?

I don't feel anything anymore. All I see... is light.

*******************************************************

You awaken. You can't move. Something is pinning you. Your eyes hurt. It is dark.

Time passes. Your entire body aches. You cannot move. One finger is all. Something is wrong with you.

You hear something. A voice. Calling.

You can't make it out.

Hell? Someone is saying something about hell.

You strain your ears.

"Hellooooooo?"

"Hellllloooooo? Is anyone..."

The voice fades. Passes by.

Darkness again.

****************************************

You awaken. You open your eyes. No change in the darkness.

Something has woken you. A scraping sound. Something, or someone, is above you.

Light. It sears your mind. You shut your eye.

Eye?

A voice.

"Holy shit. He's alive."

A hand touches you. Pulls you up.

"Mister, are you ok?"

You open your eye. A man, bedraggled, stands before you. Behind him is a woman, and a small girl. The woman looks franticly around, eyes darting left and right. The girl is hispanic, both adults are white.

The man is holding you up.

"whaaa", comes out of your mouth. You are surprised to hear your own voice.

The man leans in. "It's the end of the fucking world, brother. Listen. We've got to get out of here. They're everywhere now, and --"

His head explodes. Right there, in front of you. Gore and brains splatter onto your face. You stagger backward, but your legs do not support you. You fall, and from an angle see the woman scream. Your ears only register a high pitched whining noise. She lets go of the girls hand and runs. She makes it about 10 steps or so, out of your field of vision.

There is a blip in the noise.

Her body slumps back into your vision, onto the ground, headless. Blood squirts for a moment from the neck.

The girl is looking at you. Her eyes are huge.

You pass out.

************************************************

It is later. Much later. Your body registers that it has slept for some time.

You pull yourself to a sitting position.

First things first.

You raise a hand to your face. A probing finger touches your left eye.

Nothing. A hole. A socket.

Pain hits you. You vomit suddenly, onto the ground.

Slowly you raise your head and take in the area around you. Featureless rubble. You barely recognize the sign of the shop you were standing in front of when you saw the blast on the horizon. It is badly burnt.

The girl is nowhere to be found.

Choking back more bile, thirst hits you like, if you'll excuse the pun, a tidal wave. You get to your feet. Your clothes are badly burnt. Parts of you feel weird, but you manage to stand.

Turning a slow 360, you see nothing and no one for what appears to be miles. Your sense of direction is shot.

Hills. Hills to the west. They are on fire. Smoke obscures them.

You orient yourself.

"They"?

You cast your eyes around. A lead pipe. Bending, you pick it up. It seems solid.

***********************************

Location: Northern California, ruins of your hometown
Health: Poor-Severe (Possible unknown internal injuries) Left eye destroyed
Assets: Lead Pipe, rags, contents of wallet
Skills: None that would be useful spring to mind. Damn the school system!
Members in party: none

***********************************

Actions:

1. Search for the girl, both verbally and with what sight remains to you.

2. She'd only slow you down. Let's get the fuck out of here. South is probably a bad idea, so... >N

3. Perhaps you should head for those hills? They are on fire... but... if anyone is alive, they should be there. >W

First option to receive 4 votes will be explored. The others will be forever lost.

[Friday]

1. Search for the girl, both verbally and with what sight remains to you.

Grasping the pipe in your right hand, you begin to wander somewhat aimlessly, peaking behind piles of rubble, bent concrete, and the occasional skeletal tree.

"Hello?" you cup your hand to your mouth. "Little girl? Are you there? It's ok, I won't hurt you. You can come out now."

Nothing. Clouds move above you.

Ten minutes or so of this. You poke at a few piles of smoldering debris with your pipe. Your calls go unanswered. You notice something shiny on the ground. Bending, you lift a watch from the rubble. Miraculously, it appears to be functional. Nice looking watch, too. You strap it on. Is that gold? Probably a fake.

You start to get the distinct sensation that someone is watching you.

Shit. Did your yells attract "They"? Or...

You realize the girl may not even understand English. She didn't look like the kid of the couple who dug you out earlier. Adoption? Useless conjecture. You need to either find the girl, or get the hell out of here.

Something touches you from behind. You whirl, pipe raised, heart racing.

The girl. Relief floods through your veins like ice water.

Jesus, you're thirsty.

Those big eyes, looking up at you.

"Do you understand me? I'm not going to hurt you."

A slow nod. The eyes do not flicker.

Something about her strikes you as not quite right. You can't quite put your finger on it... but...

"What's your name? Can you talk?"

Those eyes continue to bore into you. Her mouth moves, but you don't hear anything.

"What? I'm sorry, what did you say?" You lean in closer.

"... Nicole..."

"Nicole? That's your name?"

Another slow nod.

Christ. Something about this girl seems really off. Maybe it's just because she's in shock, or you are, but, despite the fact that she's standing in front of you, the sensation of being watched has not faded.

"I'll... take... care..."

The words begin to form in your mouth. Take care of her? How? Where? You can't even take care of yourself at the moment. You probably need medical attention, though the girl looks OK, apart from the strange feeling you're getting off her.

Jesus. Are you really contemplating leaving her after all this? Something about her just does not seem right. Or is it your imagination?

**********************************

1. Take her. Whatever you're feeling is probably a side effect of getting hit by that nuclear blast, or whatever the fuck it was. You'll head north.

2. With the girl, head west, into the hills.

3. Fuck this. The skin on the back of your neck is literally crawling. You'd be no good to her anyway. Leave her and head north.

4. Leave her and head west, into the hills.

First to four votes.

**********************************

Location: Northern California, ruins of your hometown
Health: Poor-Severe (Possible unknown internal injuries) Left eye destroyed
Assets: Lead Pipe, rags, contents of wallet, Nice watch (Showing 3:23)
Skills: None that would be useful spring to mind. Damn the school system!
Members in party: Nicole?

**********************************

[Friday]

1. Take her. Whatever you're feeling is probably a side effect of getting hit by that nuclear blast, or whatever the fuck it was. You'll head north.

"I'll take care of you," you say, and put a hand on the girl's shoulder. She flinches slightly, and the eyes finally falter, casting down to the ground for a moment.

"Come on. We gotta get out of here. We'll find some food and water."

You decide to head north, because despite the hills being where the survivors would most likely be, you don't want to head into a blazing inferno. The girl follows mutely behind you.

Picking your way through the scrap heap that used to be the parking lot, you manage to find the road leading north. Overturned cars litter the cracked and broken pavement. Strangely, you don't see any bodies, burnt husks or otherwise. You didn't see the man and woman who were with Nicole originally, either.

There's plenty of bloodstains, though.

After about an hour of travel, you can see smoke rising on the horizon. The destruction is getting worse as you head farther north, and about twenty minutes later, you can spot the lip of a giant crater to the east.

Looks like you've found ground zero.

Most of the cars around here have been torn apart. It would be nice to find one in working order. You know you can't travel much farther by foot, though oddly Nicole seems to be keeping up just fine. The chances of finding a car that works would obviously increase the farther you moved from the blast zone, but... this doesn't seem like a nuclear strike to you. Perhaps you could find out more about what's going on if you veered off course and headed for that crater.

Then again, you remember the Vet's you always took your dog to was on the north side of town. It might still be standing, and you could use the medical supplies. Not that, uh, you'd know what the hell anything was. You're not a doctor. But it's a start?

************************************

1. Keep heading north on the road. You've got to find a working vehicle eventually. Or a survivor. Or food. Or... anything other than blasted ruins.

2. It doesn't look that far to the crater. Some knowledge might be useful later. But time is ticking, and you don't know how much longer you'll be able to keep going without a place to rest.

First to four.

************************************

Location: Northern California, ruins of your hometown (Blasted Road)
Health: Poor-Severe (Possible unknown internal injuries) Left eye destroyed
Assets: Lead Pipe, rags, contents of wallet, Nice watch (Showing 4:28)
Skills: None that would be useful spring to mind. Damn the school system!
Members in party: Nicole

Nicole:
Health: ???? Assets: Clothes (Strangely, they do not appear damaged) Skills: ????

************************************

[Friday]

1. Keep heading north on the road. You've got to find a working vehicle eventually. Or a survivor. Or food. Or... anything other than blasted ruins.

Probably not the best idea to head toward a radioactive death-pit. You need to find a working vehicle and some supplies.

"Come on, honey. We're gonna find us a car to ride in," you say over your shoulder. Nicole remains silent, but continues to follow.

The hills to your west send up smoke that mixes with the red-brown sky. The whole world seems ash.

Another hour rolls by as you make your way north. Your legs are starting to feel weak. Still nothing but twisted wrecks and blood. The white lines that used to mark the left and right sides of this highway now only serve as a path for you to walk on.

Another hour. The damage is starting to become less severe. You actually see a few buildings that are still partially standing. Most of them are on fire. Nothing to salvage. Your legs are screaming at you. But if you stop now, you don't know if you'll be able to get up ever again.

Your life has now become one broken white line after another. How many more can you make pass under you before...

"There."

You stop. Nicole's voice, barely a whisper, behind you.

You turn, and she is pointing at a car.  A car. Not a twisted chunk of metal and blood, or an overturned semi truck, tires burning. A real car. You would have walked right by it.

It looks like a Sedan.

You circle around it to the driver's side.

The window is splattered with blood from the inside.

Ok, you circle around back to the passenger's side. Ash covers the glass, but you brush it aside with your hand.

Pressing your face to the glass, you peer inside. Still a bit murky.

Fuck it. You try the door.

Maybe if you hadn't just gotten hit by a nuke and then witnessed two people's heads explode right in front of you, the sight of this would shock you. As it is, you only register a dead body.

Huh. Alone, inside a car? None of the other cars had bodies.

Jesus. It... it looks like he killed himself. His hand hangs limp on the seat, and in it's loose grasp is some kind of pistol. Looks like he ate a bullet.

And... someone has tied him up? It looks like the seat belt has been used to tie him down.

No, climbing in you can tell that he tied himself down. Both with the driver's shoulder strap, and the center seat belt.

You gingerly remove the pistol from his fingers. That quote about guns and cold dead hands scampers across your mind like a spider. It's some kind of revolver. You don't know shit about guns, though. It seems fairly small. You always hated guns, the feel of them, the look of them. Even now you don't want to take it.

There's a note pinned to the steering wheel.

they look just like us
don't let them in your head
don't let them in your head
i have to get it out
they take the bodies

"Nicole, honey, stay back there. Just... turn around, look the other way."

The driver's side was locked, anyway. You reach across the body. Dressed normally. Not a businessman. He needs a shave.

Needed, anyway.

You pop the lock, crawl back out, go around, open the door.

Shit. He's tied in there pretty good. The knots are sturdy. Knife?

Swallowing, you search his pockets. Wallet. Keys. Ah, there we go. Swiss army knife. Why the hell didn't you carry one of these?

With a bit of doing, you cut him free. The body slumps halfway out of the car. You pull it the rest of the way.

Wallet IDs him as Robert J. Garner. A few bills, some credit cards. Nothing useful. He's from out of state. Arizona. Road trip? Bad timing, you guess.

Dragging the body away, you turn your attention back to the car. You pop the trunk, give it a search.

Yes. A cooler in the back. Food, bottled water. You grab a water and down half of it. The taste is better than you can believe.

"Nicole? Want some water, honey?"

You look over. She makes no reply.

"Food?"

Nothing.

"Well, OK. Just come over here and get some if you want. I'm going to search the rest of the car."

Glove compartment has maps, registration. Paper, some pens and pencils. A duffel in the backseat. Change of clothes, a book. Something by Stephen King. Ironery.

Keys are in the ignition, though the car is in park. Gas is half empty. (Odd, you used to be an optimist.) No ammo anywhere.

Hmm.

After fiddling with the revolver for a bit, you pop open the chamber.

Five bullets. Only one he fired was the one he ate.

Stroke of luck finding this car. Looks like you can drive the rest of the way to the Vet's.

You pop your head out and look for Nicole. She's standing over where you left her. You grab the food and water from the trunk and toss it into the backseat.

"Come on, honey. We're going to get help now."

Nicole slowly walks to the passenger side, gets in.

You hold a water out to her. "Are you sure you don't want any?"

She shakes her head, then turns and looks out the window.

Shrugging, you put the water back, pop the cooler's top back on, and turn the ignition. The car starts up with a slight cough, but seems OK. The blood on the window next to you makes it so you can't see the driver's side mirror. That's alright.

You still are in a lot of pain. Your insides hurt. Your legs are exhausted. Your remaining eye throbs.

Where to?

********************************

1. That Vet's sounds good right about now. With any luck, you'll meet someone there and they can take care of you.

2. You know, maybe it'd be better if you and Nicole just got the fuck out of dodge. Some weird shit is going on around here, and you could head farther north, maybe see if the hills up there are clear.

3. Then again, there's that crater behind you... this is probably your last chance to check it out.

First to four.

********************************

Location: Northern California, ruins of your hometown (Blasted Road)
Health: Poor-Severe (Possible unknown internal injuries) Left eye destroyed
Assets: Lead Pipe, change of clothes, contents of wallet, Nice watch (Showing 6:17), Revolver (5 bullets) Swiss Army Knife, Roughly one day's worth of food and water (Snack food, but granola and beef jerky, that kind of shit) Car, roughly half a tank of gas
Skills: None that would be useful spring to mind. Damn the school system!
Members in party: Nicole

Nicole:
Health: ???? Assets: Clothes (Strangely, they do not appear damaged) Skills: ????

********************************

[Friday]

3. Then again, there's that crater behind you... this is probably your last chance to check it out.

Feeling better about your chances now that you have some food, water, and a gun (even if you've never fired one in your life) you turn the car back around south and head back to where you spotted the crater in the first place. Nicole makes no comment as you randomly press buttons on the radio, only to get static until finally switching it off.

It takes you about twenty minutes to drive back the way you came, mostly because there's so much wreckage on the road you have to avoid. You munch on some jerky on the way. Nicole continues to refuse water or food of any kind.

Just as you think you see the smoke rising from the crater again, drifting skyward behind the ruins of your once prosperous city, Nicole suddenly raises an arm and points forward, out the windshield.

You turn your head and slam the brakes. What the fuck? You only took your eyes off the road for like a second.

A man is standing in the center of the road, mere yards from your front bumper. His back is to you. He is not moving, though his shoulders are rising and falling slowly. He has a blue coat on. His hair is brown, and long, covering the nape of his neck.

Nicole is looking at you.

You reach into the glove compartment where you put the gun. Your fingers feel slippery as your grasp it. Safety is off? Check. Your lead pipe is resting on the backseat where you left it, on top of the bag.

It is twilight.

********************************

1. Roll down your window, stick your head out. "Hello? Mister, are you OK?"

2. Get out of the car, with the pipe, gun tucked into the back of your waist. Then do the Hey how's it going thing.

3. Get out of the car, gun at the ready. Ask him if he's OK.

4. Fuck this shit. You've seen this scene in enough horror movies. Normal people don't appear out of nowhere, with their backs to you, in the center of the road. GTA, motherfucker. 100 points.

********************************

Location: Northern California, ruins of your hometown (Blasted Road)
Health: Poor (Possible unknown internal injuries) Left eye destroyed
Assets: Lead Pipe, change of clothes, contents of wallet, Nice watch (Showing 6:36), Revolver (5 bullets) Swiss Army Knife, Roughly one day's worth of food and water (Snack food, but granola and beef jerky, that kind of shit) Car, roughly half a tank of gas
Skills: None that would be useful spring to mind. Damn the school system!
Members in party: Nicole

Nicole:
Health: ???? Assets: Clothes (Strangely, they do not appear damaged) Skills: ????

********************************

[Friday]

1. Roll down your window, stick your head out. "Hello? Mister, are you OK?"

Struggling a bit with the manual window (it's an older car, before power windows were fairly standard) you poke your head outside.

"Hello? Mister? Are you OK?"

The figure's head jerks sideways. The shoulders freeze. One eye, in profile, fixes on you.

Nicole's voice, soft, from the side. "...He sees you..."

A moment passes. Blue jacket continues to stare at you with one eye.

"Um... are you..." the words slowly fall out of your mouth, which suddenly has no saliva in it.

The man suddenly turns to face you. His other eye is nothing but a gaping, bleeding hole.

He opens his mouth, and there is a small pop as his jaw dislocates. A blast of hot air washes over your face.

"SCREEEEEEEEEE!

The jacket begins to dance in jerky movements around his torso. His arms come up to hug his chest as he begins to violently shudder. Small... vines? burst out of his jacket, shredding it and sending small piles of fluff floating gently to the ground. More and more of these, small, fleshy vines continue to emerge until finally his jacket just falls off him, revealing a torn shirt and bloody torso beneath. The vines are wrapping around his chest and arms, tighter and tighter, until his arms are completely pinned to his sides and upper body.

His face implodes.

His legs bow out under him.

Another roar, another blast of hot air. You can only assume it is coming from the hole that used to be his head. His jawbone has dropped to the ground.

He takes a single step forward.

***********************************

Warning: From this point on, poor choices may result in the main character's death, and therefore game over.

1. Holy goddamn Jesus shit. Throw the car into reverse, back away as best you can. You don't know what this... thing... is capable of.

2. Floor it.

3. Get out of the car, try to lead it away from Nicole. From there, you might be able to pick it off with gunfire or your pipe or simply circle back around to the car, where you'll have more breathing room to maneuver your vehicle.

4. Maybe... maybe he's still human underneath? Talk to him, try to reason with him.

5. Grab your gun, fire a warning shot into the air out your window.

6. Fire a shot at him out your window. (Low chance of hitting due to odd angle and zero skill with firearms.)

********************************

Location: Northern California, ruins of your hometown (Blasted Road)
Health: Poor (Possible unknown internal injuries) Left eye destroyed
Assets: Lead Pipe, change of clothes, contents of wallet, Nice watch (Showing 6:37), Revolver (5 bullets) Swiss Army Knife, Roughly one day's worth of food and water (Snack food, but granola and beef jerky, that kind of shit) Car, roughly half a tank of gas
Skills: None that would be useful spring to mind. Damn the school system!
Members in party: Nicole

Nicole:
Health: ???? Assets: Clothes (Strangely, they do not appear damaged) Skills: ????

**********************************

[Friday]

1. Holy goddamn Jesus shit. Throw the car into reverse, back away as best you can. You don't know what this... thing... is capable of.

Your tires screech and the smell of burnt rubber hits your nostrils as you slam the gearshift into reverse and press the gas all the way down.

You may be a bit... out of sorts, judging from how violently you're shaking in your seat.

But you put some distance between you and the thing in front of you. Luckily, you had rolled down your bloodstained window beforehand, so you can use the driver's mirror to aid you in backing up. Had you not done so, you probably would have hit another wrecked car.

The thing is still walking toward you, in a kind of odd, disjointed gait. It's not particularly fast, but not particularly slow, either. Perhaps a tad slower than a man walking normally. The wreckage on the road behind you now is too cluttered to navigate backwards without significant risk. The creature is about sixty to seventy yards away, now, and closing.

Nicole lets out a giggle, sending goosebumps up your flesh. You look over and she's grinning, teeth bared grotesquely.

Movement in your mirror.

Jesus. Another one. Behind you. This one is female, but similar otherwise. She's got the bowed legs and she's closing. Dirty blonde hair hangs over the ruin of her face.

"Objects in mirror are closer than they appear."

Shit. Ten yards? Twenty?

************************************

1. Floor it. Run over the male.

2. Back up at maximum speed, trying to avoid the wreckage and hit the female.

3. Get out of your car. Gun and pipe at the ready. You'll take these things out on foot.

4. You've got a clear spot. If you do a quick three-point turn, you might be able to turn the car around before the female gets close, assuming she doesn't accelerate. Then run her down and navigate safely through the wreckage, leaving the male in your wake. Fuck investigating this crater, you've seen enough and it's time to go.

***********************************

Location: Northern California, ruins of your hometown (Blasted Road)
Health: Poor (Possible unknown internal injuries) Left eye destroyed
Assets: Lead Pipe, change of clothes, contents of wallet, Nice watch (Showing 6:38), Revolver (5 bullets) Swiss Army Knife, Roughly one day's worth of food and water (Snack food, but granola and beef jerky, that kind of shit) Car, roughly half a tank of gas
Skills: None that would be useful spring to mind. Damn the school system!
Members in party: Nicole

Nicole:
Health: ???? Assets: Clothes (Strangely, they do not appear damaged) Skills: ????

"They" encountered:

"Faceless"

Form: Humanoid
Attacks: Unknown
Resilience: Unknown
Speed: Low?
Special/Notes: Unknown

************************************

[Friday]

1. Floor it. Run over the male.

Throwing the gearshift back into drive, you again slam your foot down on the gas. Nicole puts her hands up above the glove compartment.

The male continues to walk forward at a steady pace as you bear down on him.

Thirty yards.

Twenty.

Ten.

"Nicole, shut your eye--"

Thunk.

Blood sprays onto your hood, your windshield.

The thing flies backward about ten yards as you slam into it, your hands tightening on the steering wheel. It's down, and you couldn't not run over it even if you wanted to stop. The car passes over the downed male in an instant, thumping up and then down. No sickening crunch, no popping sounds. But you have certainly just ran him the fuck over.

A quick check in the mirror reveals the female now about seventy yards behind you, still heading toward you, but receding as you continue to drive. You can't see the male anywhere, but it's hard at this angle with just mirrors.

************************************

1. Keep driving. You've got a crater to tour.

2. Stop the car, get out (Pipe and Gun at the ready, of course), look for the male back on the road. You want to see if it's dead or not.

3. You know what? You've got plenty of room to turn around and get the fuck out of here, now. Do a U-Turn and head north, either to that Vet's, or somewhere else. Just not here, with the faceless vine zombies.

************************************

Location: Northern California, ruins of your hometown (Blasted Road)
Health: Poor (Possible unknown internal injuries) Left eye destroyed
Assets: Lead Pipe, change of clothes, contents of wallet, Nice watch (Showing 6:39), Revolver (5 bullets) Swiss Army Knife, Roughly one day's worth of food and water (Snack food, but granola and beef jerky, that kind of shit) Car, roughly half a tank of gas
Skills: None that would be useful spring to mind. Damn the school system!
Members in party: Nicole

Nicole:
Health: ???? Assets: Clothes (Strangely, they do not appear damaged) Skills: ????

"They" encountered:

"Faceless"

Form: Humanoid
Attacks: Unknown
Resilience: Unknown
Speed: Low?
Special/Notes: Unknown

***********************************

[Friday]

1. Keep driving. You've got a crater to tour.

With the female behind you, you continue driving south , looking for a good place to pick your way over to the lip of the crater.

You didn't see the male behind you at all as you sped off, though... and something occurs to you.

"Ah, this is some cape fear shit," you say.

Well, you might as well pull over and check. You don't want this thing somehow disabling the car from underneath or somethi--

Something brushes your arm.

You turn and look, and fleshy vines are coming in through your open window from below. Before you can react, one wraps around your left arm, and pulls tight, cutting into your flesh. You can see tiny barbs or thorns protruding from the vine this close.

You slam on the brakes. More vines are snaking up over the lip of your rolled down window. You attempt to pull your arm away, but the vine is incredibly strong. It's pulling your arm toward the window.

"Motherfucker!" you yell, and reach into your pocket with your right hand. Your knife comes out and cuts away the vine just in time before more reach your arm. There is no blood from the cut, and the cut vine quickly withdraws.

"Nicole, get out of the car!"

She opens her door and begins to slide out. You attempt to follow but forget the seat belt you had on. Your hand goes to free the clasp as the vines hover mere inches from you.

The males head comes up.

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEE

The blast of hot air washes over you. You finally release the mechanism and the belt goes limp around your waist and chest.

The head is coming in, neck and torso following.

********************************

1. Your knife is out and at the ready. Knife to the... face?

2. Your gun is just over on the dash. Grab it and fire a shot into his head.

3. You might be able to scramble out the other side of the car before the vines or head reach you. It'll be close.

4. Grab the gun and unload all five chambers into his head.

********************************

Location: Northern California, ruins of your hometown (Blasted Road)
Health: Poor (Possible unknown internal injuries) Left eye destroyed, left arm cut
Assets: Lead Pipe, change of clothes, contents of wallet, Nice watch (Showing 6:42), Revolver (5 bullets) Swiss Army Knife, Roughly one day's worth of food and water (Snack food, but granola and beef jerky, that kind of shit) Car, roughly half a tank of gas
Skills: None that would be useful spring to mind. Damn the school system!
Members in party: Nicole

Nicole:
Health: ???? Assets: Clothes (Strangely, they do not appear damaged) Skills: ????

"They" encountered:

"Faceless"

Form: Humanoid
Attacks: Vines
Resilience: Survived being hit by car and run over
Speed: Low?
Special/Notes: Unknown

***********************************

[Friday]

3. You might be able to scramble out the other side of the car before the vines or head reach you. It'll be close.

Screaming, you push against the seat with one hand while grabbing at the opposite door.

The thing's breath is hot on your back and side as you begin to gain momentum. You feel a vine brush against your neck.

Then you're away, out of the car. Nicole is standing there, looking at you, eyes wide with fear. The first expected reaction you've seen out of her, actually.

Shit. The gun was on the dash.

The look back inside. The Faceless is continuing to make its way into your car through the window. Vines reach toward you.

Fuck it. You plunge one arm and shoulder in, snatching the gun off the passenger's dashboard before you have a chance to think about it, and lose your moment to actually do what you just did.

You slam the passenger door, cutting off the vines. A few press against the glass, but seem unable to break it. For now, at least.

"Nicole, stay back."

You circle around the car, unwilling to give up your supplies and transportation at this point. The Faceless is pulling himself out of the car, now. As you watch, the vines press backward and the entire body falls to the ground. Vines extract themselves from the undercarriage, begin to press up, and the Faceless rises and turns to face you.

He starts to stagger toward you. The legs seem bent. A bone protrudes from it's left leg. He seems a bit slower than before.

You've got your knife and gun, but the pipe is resting in the backseat. You don't want to get close enough for knife-work unless you absolutely have to. At this range, you should be able to shoot it fairly easily.

You raise your weapon and aim...

*******************************

1. For the head. That always works in the movies against zombies, right?

2. At the torso.

3. At the leg. Maybe you don't have to kill this thing, just disable it.

4. Eh. Why waste ammo? There's plenty of rocks, broken chunks of concrete, and the like around here. Chuck some shit at it, pull it away from the car, maybe you could circle back around it, get the pipe, or just drive away.

*******************************

Location: Northern California, ruins of your hometown (Blasted Road)
Health: Poor (Possible unknown internal injuries) Left eye destroyed, left arm cut
Assets: Lead Pipe, change of clothes, contents of wallet, Nice watch (Showing 6:43), Revolver (5 bullets) Swiss Army Knife, Roughly one day's worth of food and water (Snack food, but granola and beef jerky, that kind of shit) Car, roughly half a tank of gas
Skills: None that would be useful spring to mind. Damn the school system!
Members in party: Nicole

Nicole:
Health: ???? Assets: Clothes (Strangely, they do not appear damaged) Skills: ????

"They" encountered:

"Faceless"

Form: Humanoid
Attacks: Vines
Resilience: Survived being hit by car and run over
Speed: Low?
Special/Notes: Unknown

*************************************

[Friday]

1. For the head. That always works in the movies against zombies, right?

You take careful aim, as best you can, anyway, having never fired a gun before in your life.

The Faceless takes a step toward you. Another. A low hissing sound is coming from it. The jawless mouth hangs open obscenely, dripping bits of gore and teeth.

You pull the trigger.

The creature's head snaps back as the report of the weapon hits your ears. The kick is more than you were expecting, but you manage to keep your grip. A thin line of blood flies out behind the Faceless, splashing into your car through the window.

It hisses sharply, and seems unable to recover from the shot. It topples over backward, top heavy already, legs damaged.

However, the vines are already pushing it up again. You're certain you hit it in the head, but the damn thing seems to still be alive.

But you have disabled it, for the moment.

*****************************************

1. Call to Nicole. Tell her to grab the pipe from her side of the car, toss it to you. You'll finish this thing off while it's down.

2. There's barely enough space for you to get between it and the driver's side. You could simply reach in through the window and grab the pipe, then go at it while it's down.

3. Move in, aim for the center of mass, and fire another shot. No chance of missing now.

4. Move in, aim for the center of mass, and fire the chambers empty.

*****************************************

Location: Northern California, ruins of your hometown (Blasted Road)
Health: Poor (Possible unknown internal injuries) Left eye destroyed, left arm cut
Assets: Lead Pipe, change of clothes, contents of wallet, Nice watch (Showing 6:44), Revolver (4 bullets) Swiss Army Knife, Roughly one day's worth of food and water (Snack food, but granola and beef jerky, that kind of shit) Car, roughly half a tank of gas
Skills: None that would be useful spring to mind. Damn the school system!
Members in party: Nicole

Nicole:
Health: ???? Assets: Clothes (Strangely, they do not appear damaged) Skills: ????

"They" encountered:

"Faceless"

Form: Humanoid
Attacks: Vines
Resilience: Survived being hit by car and run over, being shot in the head
Speed: Low
Special/Notes: Central nervous system does not seem to be present in the head (Does it have a nervous system?)

*************************************

[Friday]

3. Move in, aim for the center of mass, and fire another shot. No chance of missing now.

Stepping quickly over to the downed creature, careful to stay out of reach of the flesh-vines, you stand over the Faceless, aim down at about a forty-five degree angle, and put another slug into it.

SCREEEEEEEEEEeeeeee!!!

Wow. It didn't like that. The vines spasm about, whirling and twisting madly like a forest of worms. Whatever momentum it had toward righting itself is long gone. The body rolls over back and forth, and you can see some kind of greenish-red liquid staining the ground under and around it.

Quickly grasping that this is your chance, you tell Nicole to get in the car as you dance around the Faceless and it's grasping vines and get in yourself. Quickly, you speed away, leaving the damaged creature behind you.

"Well, that could have gone worse," you say.

"Much worse," Nicole agrees. You glance at her. She's looking at you, but looks away after a moment, out the window.

About five minutes later, you pull over to the side of the road. Time to check out that crater.

Better take Nicole with you. No telling if more of those things are around. You grab your pipe, gun and knife but leave the rest of your supplies in the car.

Smoke is still rising from the crater, but less so now. You're almost out of daylight, so you hurry through the wreckage of your hometown. There's almost nothing recognizable this close to the blast. Everything is pretty flat and featureless. A few bent street lights are still standing, their glass like broken teeth scattered below.

You approach the small hill that must be the edge of the lip. Telling Nicole to wait here, you begin to climb. Your legs should be screaming protest, but oddly, you feel better than you did back when you first found the car. Maybe you just needed the food and water.

As you crest the lip, the first thing you notice is the crater is fairly small. It's maybe about a quarter mile wide, and almost perfectly round.

The second thing you notice is the bodies.

Hundreds of them. Hell, maybe even over a thousand. Men. Women. Children. Most of them horribly broken and twisted, you'd assume from the blast wave. In addition, there are thousands of body parts mixed in with the rest. Arms. Legs. Heads. Unidentifiable parts.

The third thing you notice is the worms.

Fleshy worms, not unlike the vines sprouting from those faceless in appearance, but much, much larger. While the vines were maybe half an inch around at best, these worms range in size from a foot wide to some over three feet. Also, unlike the vines, they have mouths. They are twisted around, inside of, and through the bodies.

They are eating them.

The smell hits you. Then the sound. A relentless grinding, slurping, chewing noise. In the center of the crater, the bodies are denser, piled higher.

You bend over and vomit, the bitter taste a welcome relief to the taste in your mouth previous.

As you right yourself, you see a Faceless, a good distance to your left, on the lip of the crater. Not either of the ones from before. He is carrying a body. Not with the arms, which remain pinned against the chest and torso, but with the vines. It is the body of a much larger man. The vines are wrapped around the body, tightly. Despite the weight difference between this Faceless and the body it is carrying, the Faceless does not seem to be suffering any difficulty in moving, still walking in that strange bow-legged gait. As you watch, it dumps the body down into the crater, then turns and leaves the way it came. It does not appear to notice you. In the distance, you can see upright armless figures moving in the crater amongst the bodies and worms.

The setting sun casts a red haze over all this, and you cannot think of a hell any different than this one you stand in now.

Nicole is standing next to you.

"They feed the birthed," she says. "They eat what they cannot take."

She is crying. You reach out and cover her eyes.

"Come on, sweetie. We're getting away from all this."

You turn and leave. Behind you, the feast continues.

You make it back to your car. The sun has set. The sky is still light, but not for much longer. You need to get going.

You turn on your headlights and head back to the north. You do not see the male or female Faceless from before. Some time passes, you are not sure how much. The ruination starts to decrease. Some buildings remain partially standing, there is even a blasted tree or two.

Nicole is asleep beside you.

************************************

1. Head to the vet. You need medical attention and supplies. Other survivors might be there, as well.

2. You need to get as far away from here as possible. Forget the vet, lets go to Oregon. Or the hills. Or anywhere away from that crater.

************************************

Location: Northern California, ruins of your hometown (Blasted Road)
Health: Poor (Possible unknown internal injuries) Left eye destroyed, left arm cut
Assets: Lead Pipe, change of clothes, contents of wallet, Nice watch (Showing 8:02), Revolver (3 bullets) Swiss Army Knife, Roughly one day's worth of food and water (Snack food, but granola and beef jerky, that kind of shit) Car, roughly 2/5 a tank of gas
Skills: None that would be useful spring to mind. Damn the school system!
Members in party: Nicole

Nicole:
Health: ???? Assets: Clothes (Strangely, they do not appear damaged) Skills: ????

"They" encountered:

"Faceless"

Form: Humanoid
Attacks: Vines
Resilience: Survived being hit by car and run over, being shot in the head
Speed: Low
Special/Notes: Central nervous system does not seem to be present in the head (Does it have a nervous system?) Damaged it by shooting it in the torso

*************************************

[Friday]

1. Head to the vet. You need medical attention and supplies. Other survivors might be there, as well.

You drive for a bit longer. The world around you is halfway recognizable, now. You turn onto a street that should lead you to the vet. You haven't spotted any more faceless since you left the crater.

You are coming up on a gas station. It seems intact. There is a parked semi in the gravel lot behind the pumps and building.

Hmm. Might be food and water inside. Probably. And you could fill up your tank.

On the other hand, it's dark, and you have plenty of gas to make it to the vet as it is. You could come back later.

********************************

1. Ignore it. Continue to the vet.

2. Stop and get gas only. Going into a building in the dark alone with three bullets? No thanks.

3. Stop, fill up, and explore the inside.

********************************

Location: Northern California, ruins of your hometown (Blasted Road)
Health: Poor (Possible unknown internal injuries) Left eye destroyed, left arm cut
Assets: Lead Pipe, change of clothes, contents of wallet, Nice watch (Showing 8:10), Revolver (3 bullets) Swiss Army Knife, Roughly one day's worth of food and water (Snack food, but granola and beef jerky, that kind of shit) Car, roughly 2/5 a tank of gas
Skills: None that would be useful spring to mind. Damn the school system!
Members in party: Nicole

Nicole:
Health: ???? Assets: Clothes (Strangely, they do not appear damaged) Skills: ????

"They" encountered:

"Faceless"

Form: Humanoid
Attacks: Vines
Resilience: Survived being hit by car and run over, being shot in the head
Speed: Low
Special/Notes: Central nervous system does not seem to be present in the head (Does it have a nervous system?) Damaged it by shooting it in the torso

"Flesh Worm"

Form: Worm
Attacks: Mouth, Unknown
Resilience: Unknown
Speed: Unknown
Special/Notes: Unknown

*************************************

[Friday]

2. Stop and get gas only. Going into a building in the dark alone with three bullets? No thanks.

You do a slow circle of the building first, sweeping it with your headlights. No activity. Glancing at Nicole snoozing away with her thumb in her mouth, you pull up next to the pump.

Pipe in hand, gun in pocket, you swing open your door and step to the ground.

You get as far as unscrewing your gas cap when you realize there's a big sign on the pump that says "Please pay cashier before pumping gas."

Hmm. Credit card might be able to get you gas without going inside. But as you open your wallet to fish for it, you realize this is a fairly old pump. Looking closer, you cannot see anywhere to slide your card.

Christ. Looks like you're gonna have to go inside and figure out how to enable to pump from the terminal if you want gas. On the bright side, you might be able to get some supplies.

On the not-so-bright side, it's dark, you don't have any source of light, and there are Resident Evil rejects running around.

The semi parked behind the building seems to regard you with a silent stare.

*********************************

1. Fuck it. You'll go inside. Maybe you can find some light in there.

2. Nope. Time for that vet.

3. You don't want to go inside, but that semi has piqued your curiosity. You'll check it out.

*********************************

Location: Northern California, ruins of your hometown (Tom's Gas and Mini-mart)
Health: Poor (Possible unknown internal injuries) Left eye destroyed, left arm cut
Assets: Lead Pipe, change of clothes, contents of wallet, Nice watch (Showing 8:14), Revolver (3 bullets) Swiss Army Knife, Roughly one day's worth of food and water (Snack food, but granola and beef jerky, that kind of shit) Car, roughly 2/5 a tank of gas
Skills: None that would be useful spring to mind. Damn the school system!
Members in party: Nicole

Nicole:
Health: ???? Assets: Clothes (Strangely, they do not appear damaged) Skills: ????

"They" encountered:

"Faceless"

Form: Humanoid
Attacks: Vines
Resilience: Survived being hit by car and run over, being shot in the head
Speed: Low
Special/Notes: Central nervous system does not seem to be present in the head (Does it have a nervous system?) Damaged it by shooting it in the torso

"Flesh Worm"

Form: Worm
Attacks: Mouth, Unknown
Resilience: Unknown
Speed: Unknown
Special/Notes: Unknown

*************************************

[Friday]

4. Park the car with the engine running, pointed at the front of the building, with the headlights on. Should give you enough light to look around inside safely.

Getting back in the car, you throw it into reverse, turn the headlights back on, and park it at an angle facing the market. The headlamps should illuminate the interior enough for you to search it.

You decide to awaken Nicole. Best to stick as close as possible, even though you should only be gone a minute.

You reach over and shake her. She turns away, and mumbles something.

"Nicole? Sweetie, wake up," you say, shaking her again.

"uhhhmmmmm... it pumps the blood... it pumps the life..."

Her eyes snap open. She looks at you, startled, but quickly recognizes your face and pulls her thumb out of her mouth with a small pop.

"We're gonna go into the gas station, OK? Stay close. Sorry to wake you."

Nicole nods and slips out her door. You follow suit, leaving the engine running.

Approaching the front entrance, you take a look inside again.

Seems both empty, and well stocked. You push the door open.

The counter stands to your right. Displays, cash register, cigarettes.

Cigarettes? You lean over the counter.

Aha. A lighter. A whole pack of them, actually. You take a few. The store is lit up pretty well from your headlights, but you'll have fire if you need it. You do a quick visual sweep. Things look pretty intact. A few items are scattered on the floor. A gumball machine rests on its side, uncracked.

Stepping around the counter, you come up behind it, looking for some kind of release for the gas.

After a bit of poking around, you find what looks to be it, but, after pressing it, nothing happens.

Damn, the power. You won't be able to release the mechanism holding back the gas without it.

This is a fairly mom and pop place, though. They might have a generator in the back.

In the meantime, you browse the shelves. Food, water. A few gallon jugs. Nicole helps you take some out to the car. You take a generous portion, enough for you and Nicole for probably half a week.

On your third trip, you hit pay dirt. A stand of batteries, and flashlights. They're those cheap hand held red plastic ones, but whatever. You take one, switch it on. Seems to work fine. You've got a bunch of batteries for it, too.

What the hell. You scoop all the batteries into your bag.

You give the place on final search. Nothing else useful really springs to mind. No maps. No weapon under the counter. There's what might be a little shelf for one, though. Perhaps someone already took it.

You glance at the heavy door leading to the back room. No windows go in there.

**********************************

1. Nope. Time to hit the vet. you got enough already. You'll find another source of gas, if you need it.

2. Go through the door. You might as well see if there's a generator.

3. Check out that semi.

**********************************

Location: Northern California, ruins of your hometown (Tom's Gas and Mini-mart)
Health: Poor (Possible unknown internal injuries) Left eye destroyed, left arm cut
Assets: Lead Pipe, change of clothes, contents of wallet, Nice watch (Showing 8:24), Revolver (3 bullets) Swiss Army Knife, Roughly five day's worth of food and water, Car, roughly 2/5 a tank of gas, Flashlight, batteries, lighter
Skills: None that would be useful spring to mind. Damn the school system!
Members in party: Nicole

Nicole:
Health: ???? Assets: Clothes (Strangely, they do not appear damaged) Skills: ????

"They" encountered:

"Faceless"

Form: Humanoid
Attacks: Vines
Resilience: Survived being hit by car and run over, being shot in the head
Speed: Low
Special/Notes: Central nervous system does not seem to be present in the head (Does it have a nervous system?) Damaged it by shooting it in the torso

"Flesh Worm"

Form: Worm
Attacks: Mouth, Unknown
Resilience: Unknown
Speed: Unknown
Special/Notes: Unknown

*************************************

[Friday]

2. Go through the door. You might as well see if there's a generator.

Gun ready, you push open the door to the back room. It's pitch dark inside. You shine your flashlight in.

Looks like a storage room. Part of it looks like a freezer. There are some blankets on the floor...

They're moving. Your flashlight plays up, onto a face.

It's a man, covering his eyes from the light.

"Hello?" you say.

The guy starts to get up. Hell, it's just a kid. Maybe 17. He's dressed in black baggy clothes. One ear has a metal stud. His hair is a fairly long and a dull brown.

"Hey," he says. "You're not another one of those vine freaks, are you?"

"No," you reply. "Are you OK? Is this your store? You must have been really tired to sleep through all the noise I was making out there."

"I guess so," he says, dropping his hands from his face.

His right eye is missing. His good eye blinks at you. "Nah, it's not my store. I just came in here after I woke up."

"There was a gun or something under the counter..."

"Yeah, I checked. It was gone when I got here. Tom must have taken it." He adjusts a lip piercing, nervously.

"Tom?"

The kid shrugs. "Whoever. The owner."

"Oh. Right."

He leans a bit to the left, spies Nicole standing behind you.

"Hey there, kiddo," he says. "This your kid?" he turns back to you.

"No..." you say.

Nicole is pointing at him.

"Name's Benny," he says, holding out his hand.

*******************************************

1. Shake his hand, introduce yourself. Ask if there's a generator back there.

2. "What happened to your eye?"

3. Shoot him in the head.

4. Slam the door, bar it, locking him in. Then get the hell out of there.

*******************************************

Location: Northern California, ruins of your hometown (Tom's Gas and Mini-mart)
Health: Poor (Possible unknown internal injuries) Left eye destroyed, left arm cut
Assets: Lead Pipe, change of clothes, contents of wallet, Nice watch (Showing 8:26), Revolver (3 bullets) Swiss Army Knife, Roughly five day's worth of food and water, Car, roughly 2/5 a tank of gas, Flashlight, batteries, lighter
Skills: None that would be useful spring to mind. Damn the school system!
Members in party: Nicole

Nicole:
Health: ???? Assets: Clothes (Strangely, they do not appear damaged) Skills: ????

"They" encountered:

"Faceless"

Form: Humanoid
Attacks: Vines
Resilience: Survived being hit by car and run over, being shot in the head
Speed: Low
Special/Notes: Central nervous system does not seem to be present in the head (Does it have a nervous system?) Damaged it by shooting it in the torso

"Flesh Worm"

Form: Worm
Attacks: Mouth, Unknown
Resilience: Unknown
Speed: Unknown
Special/Notes: Unknown

****************************************

[Friday]

2. "What happened to your eye?"

Benny raises an eyebrow. You know, the one left.

"I could ask you the same question, bro," he drops his hand, raises it to his face. Fingers around it, winces. "Dunno, man. Woke up, it was like this. Maybe some shrapnel hit it or something? It fucking smarts, though."

"Yeah, the same thing happened with me," you say.

"Weird. That kid missing an eye too?" Benny asks, squinting against the headlights at her. "Hey, anyone ever tell you it's not polite to point?"

Nicole drops her hand.

"What's your name, tits?" Benny says.

You narrow your... eye... at him. Nicole makes no reply, just goes on staring.

"It's Nicole," you say. "And watch your mouth."

Benny laughs. "My mouth? Sure, why not. I mean, we've got fucking penis zombies and shit running around outside, but whatever sucks your balls." He makes a motion like zipping his mouth, and grins. "So, I got some food back here, and water. I guess you helped yourself to the store."

"Yeah. There a generator back there?"

"Eh? Dunno. What do they look like?"

"Uh. Depends on the generator... I guess... I'd think I'd recognize one, if I saw it. You know. Gasoline motor for the power."

"Oh. Maybe. Be my guest," he says, standing aside, arms inviting you in.

You step past him, into the room. Taking a quick look around, you spot what looks like...

"This is it!" you exclaim, rushing over to a square object in the corner.

"Cool," Benny says, opening a twinkie and biting into it.

Nicole walks in, and Benny watches her, bemused.

"Don't talk much, do ya, kid?"

Nicole ignores him and walks over to a shelf. She lifts a hand, takes down a sucker. Silently she unwraps it at sticks it in her mouth.

"Oral fixation, huh?" says Benny. "Just the way I like 'em."

You turn from your fiddling. "What did I just say?"

"Sorry," Benny says, but his eyes are amused. "I hung out with a pretty rough crowd. You know, the streets and sh-- all."

"Uh huh. I'm sure," you say, getting the generator started.

The lights come back on, flooding the back room and store with sudden brightness.

Benny lets out a little yell. "Good work, man. Uh, what did we need the power for, again?"

"I'm getting gas," you say, as you brush past him.

"Oh man," Benny says, following you. "You have a car?" That semi out there is locked. No keys in it anyway, so I figured I'd hole up here."

"Yeah. Found it on the highway. The previous owner... didn't have anymore use for it."

"Nice," Benny says, grinning at you as you release the pump from the register.

"Nicole! Sweetie, why don't you come outside, I'm gonna fill up the car."

Benny and Nicole follow you outside. "What kind of gun is that?" asks Benny.

"Dunno," you reply, popping the gas cap off and inserting the nozzle.

"You kill any of those zombie dudes?"

"Not really," you say.

"Hey, I didn't catch your name," Benny says, fingering his ear stud.

*************************************

1. Introduce yourself.

2. This kid is annoying. Once you're done filling up, you're taking Nicole and leaving.

3. Shoot him in the head.

*************************************

Location: Northern California, ruins of your hometown (Tom's Gas and Mini-mart)
Health: Poor (Possible unknown internal injuries) Left eye destroyed, left arm cut
Assets: Lead Pipe, change of clothes, contents of wallet, Nice watch (Showing 8:32), Revolver (3 bullets) Swiss Army Knife, Roughly five day's worth of food and water, Car, full tank of gas, Flashlight, batteries, lighter
Skills: None that would be useful spring to mind. Damn the school system!
Members in party: Nicole, Benny?

Nicole:
Health: ???? Assets: Clothes (Strangely, they do not appear damaged) Skills: ????

"They" encountered:

"Faceless"

Form: Humanoid
Attacks: Vines
Resilience: Survived being hit by car and run over, being shot in the head
Speed: Low
Special/Notes: Central nervous system does not seem to be present in the head (Does it have a nervous system?) Damaged it by shooting it in the torso

"Flesh Worm"

Form: Worm
Attacks: Mouth, Unknown
Resilience: Unknown
Speed: Unknown
Special/Notes: Unknown

****************************************

[Friday]

1. Introduce yourself.

"Hey, nice to meetcha," Benny says, sticking out his hand again.

You shake it, and return to filling up your tank.

"So... um... where ya heading?"

"Not sure yet," you say. "Away from here."

Remembering something you thought of earlier, you head back inside. Benny sits on your heels like a puppy.

With the lights on, you quickly find what you've been looking for. A pair of wraparound shades.

"Shades?" giggles Benny. "It's dark out, man."

"Yeah, I know," you say, trying them on.

Benny walks over to a glass fridge and pulls out a six pack. He pops one open and takes a swallow. Tossing one to you, he raises his can.

"To the end of the world!" he says. "And all the free beer you can drink!"

You look at him. "I've... gotta drive."

"Oh, right," says Benny, frowning. "Well, it's the end of the world, right? Time to party!" He takes another swig, larger this time.

You shake your head and turn away. Behind you, Benny coughs and sputters.

"Man, this tastes like shit," he says, throwing the half-empty can to the ground. "Whatever. I'll take a case for later." He begins to grab beer, and some harder alcohol.

You watch him go out to the car. He hadn't even asked if he could come with you. Man. Kids. You'll have to keep an eye on him.

Suddenly, you realize something.

You're the only lighted building in the area. Hell. You might be the only lighted building in the city.

You have no idea how smart the faceless are, but you don't want to stick around and find out.

"Come on, we're going," you say to the both of them.

Benny shuts the trunk and hops in the backseat. "All right! I always hated this city anyway."

Nicole touches your arm from the passenger seat. Her eyes are soft.

"Careful," she says.

You nod. Not like she needs to tell you that.

At some point, you're gonna need to ask her, and maybe Benny, some questions. But for now, you need to find a safe place to spend the night. The vet, or otherwise.

Pulling out of the station, you glance back at the lighted room. It seems so empty, and you feel a strange pang of sadness. You drive off, toward the vet. You can take stock of your situation there, get some rest. Benny is singing in the backseat. His voice is high pitched and whiny.

You again get the urge to shoot him, or maybe kick him out of the car.

Then again. If he is going to turn into a faceless, maybe you could, you don't know, knock him out and put him in a locked room once you get to the vet? Might be you could learn something about them, that way.

Also, your own missing eye is worrisome. And the fact that you've been starting to feel better without any medical help seems... odd.

Such are your thoughts as you drive through the darkness. Nothing moves. Shadows dance at the edge of your headlights. Nicole stares out the window, and you realize Benny has gone silent.

There is a soft click directly behind you.

"Sorry, man," says Benny's voice. "Pull over. You and the girl can walk, I just want the car."

Son of a bitch. That little fucker was lying about the weapon.

You glance in the rear view mirror to see that Benny has slid over to your side and is now pointing some kind of pistol at the back of your head.

"I'll do it, if you make me," he says. "Pull over, right the fuck now."

***********************************

Describe your next action. The first player to come up with an action endorsed by two or more additional players will be chosen.

***********************************

[Friday]

Duck head to the side and slam the brakes on as hard as possible.

"Alright, relax," you say. "I'm pulling over."

No time to waste. You slam the brakes and duck to the side at the same time.

Benny doesn't even get a shot off. You feel him hit the back of your seat with a grunt, and then bounce off.

There's a clattering at your feet. His gun has fallen to the floor up front.

You reach down, grab it, and twist around, pointing his pistol (it's an automatic) at him. Benny is still picking himself up. The seat belt cuts into your upper body at this unusual angle, but you've got him covered.

Benny puts up his hands, and smiles, a bit sheepishly.

"I had to try it," he says, through yellow teeth.

**********************************

1. Boom. Headshot.

2. "What the fuck were you trying to accomplish! Get the fuck out of the car, now. You're on your own, Benny-boy."

3. "Can you give me a reason why I shouldn't kill you right now?"

**********************************