Mayday Plays - Doomed To Repeat Ep. 23 – "FULMINATE"

Episode Date: December 2, 2023

Things are getting wet and wild in Yosemite National Park as the agents struggle to keep Mia’s unnatural abilities in check. Things get worse when the strangers who are after Tuck’s sister come to... collect. Can the agents weather this storm? This episode concludes our playthrough of the scenario “Operation: Fulminate, Sentinels of Twilight” by Dennis Detwiller. Congratulations to the winners of our first D2R trivia giveaway! Ren E, NegFour, Darryl T., and Martha M. will all receive Perennial Airlines T-shirts, while Ren E will receive the limited print signed poster! If you missed out, stay tuned for ep 26, when we will hold another trivia contest. TRIGGER AND CONTENT WARNINGS: Violence, blood, and gore, mutilation, death, body horror, mental illness, Dissociative Identity Disorder, PTSD, manipulation, gaslighting, religious trauma, infighting, the topic of Covid-19 including conspiracy theorists, drug and alcohol use, gun and knife violence, sexual situations specifically under the influence, surgery discussions, legal proceedings, mentions of racially insensitive folk tales, threats against the life of a child, medical procedures, parental disagreements. Published by arrangement with the Delta Green Partnership. The intellectual property known as Delta Green is a trademark and copyright owned by the Delta Green Partnership, who has licensed its use here. The contents of this podcast are © Mayday Roleplay, excepting those elements that are components of the Delta Green intellectual property. CAST OF CHARACTERS • Lev (they/them) - Haley Moore, Agent Tuck (she/they) • Amanda (she/her) - Maxine Parker, Agent Boomer (she/her) • Caleb (he/him) - Orson Bradham, Agent Merit (he/him) • Eli (any/all) - Kona Morales, Agent Hyde (she/her) • Zakiya (she/they) - Gaze, Agent Warp (she/they) • Sergio (he/him) - The Handler MUSIC & SOUND EFFECTS • Post Sound Supervision: Sergio Crego, Eli Hauschel • Mixed: Eli Hauschel • Original Music: Aaron A. Pabst • Soundstripe (soundstripe.com) • Epidemic Sound (epidemicsound.com/) • Soundly (getsoundly.com/) DELTA GREEN LINKS • Delta Green (http://deltagreen.com/) • Operation FULMINATE: Sentinels of Twilight (https://drivethrurpg.com/en/product/456340/) MAYDAY ROLEPLAY LINKS • Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/maydayrp) • Ko-Fi (https://ko-fi.com/maydayrp) • Mayday website (https://www.maydayroleplay.com/) • Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/@Maydayrp)

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Doom to repeat is a Delta Green Actual Play podcast with violent themes and adult language. Listener discretion is advised. Hello and welcome back to Doom to repeat. I'm Sergio, your handler. I'm Lev and I play Agent Tuck. I'm Amanda Dominick and I'm Agent Boomer. I'm Caleb James Miller and I play Agent Marit. I'm Eli and I'm playing Agent Hyde.
Starting point is 00:00:20 I'm Sikia and I play Agent Warp. I want to start by announcing the winners of our first Dune to Repeat trivia contest. The question for this trivia contest was, before leaving for Yosemite, who is the last person that took calls? The answer is hide. Hide and warp was also an acceptable answer. Congratulations to the winners. Nege 4, Ren E, Darrell Tyrone, and Martha Mix. Ren will be receiving the limited print signed poster.
Starting point is 00:00:51 Nege 4, Darrell, and Martha will be receiving perennial airlines t-shirts. In case you missed out, we will be holding future contests at the release of the fifth and then final episodes of this arc. So stay tuned. If you enjoy the show, please like and subscribe and leave a review where you can. It really does help. You can also join our Patreon at patreon.com-made-rp. Where, for just two bucks, you can get access
Starting point is 00:01:19 to tons of behind-the-screen content along with our Discord. In this episode, we conclude our playthrough of the scenario Operation Fulminate, Sentinels of Twilight. Let's begin. Dear Dad, I'm writing this to you because I think if I called, we'd end up fighting. And I'm too fucking tired for that. Who knows if you'll ever even see this?
Starting point is 00:01:43 Right now, your baby girl is having a seizure in my friend's arms. My wife is in a corner blaming herself, and the rest of my team are fighting the goo that came out of me as face. That's a wild sentence to say, but there it is. I recognize that you would have no reason to know how to deal with a situation like this. I know that. no reason to know how to deal with a situation like this. I know that. That is still entirely not the point of this. You were given a second chance with the daughter you grieved.
Starting point is 00:02:18 You didn't take it. Mia wanted you. She asked for you and mom, and one of the first things I said to my baby sister in more than two decades was a lie. Or maybe it wasn't a lie. I mean, I haven't talked to mom in 16 years, so it makes sense that I couldn't get a hold of her. I don't even remember what I said about you.
Starting point is 00:02:41 I was just so mad that you weren't here when she wanted you. My whole team dropped everything in their lives to come and help. We are not a group of people who are friends. I think more people dislike each other than like at this point, but we do care about each other. So fucking much.
Starting point is 00:03:07 More than I think anyone anticipated. And yes, are they here because Mia might be some kind of anomaly that we have to catalog and classify? Almost definitely. I'm not gonna kid myself that they care about me enough for my request to drag them away from their comfortable lives just for me. But they're here. They care about me enough for my request to drag them away from their comfortable lives just for me. But they're here. And that counts for so much. We haven't seen each other in months.
Starting point is 00:03:37 It feels like longer. Orson has a beer that's almost certainly driving him insane and his eyes look, He's not the same as when he left, though I'm sure retirement does that to a man like him. Max got a haircut. She looks good. She looks happy. Or like she would be at home. Gaze is putting on some muscle.
Starting point is 00:04:01 They almost look confident. And it makes me proud. And hide. Hide definitely doesn't want to be here. I'm pretty sure she's got things she'd rather be doing. And yet here she is jumping on couches to throw knives at sentient slime. And I'm here. Two. Sean the chest three months ago, and I'm here.
Starting point is 00:04:31 I'm stronger. Like knowing that this is what I was supposed to do has given me strength. It should be nice to have a feeling of fulfilling a destiny, but all I feel is guilt. Still. Do you remember? Do you remember when I was in the hospital right after everything
Starting point is 00:04:57 and I woke up from surgery? I didn't think so. You weren't there. Mom wasn't either, and I don't think so. You weren't there. Mom wasn't either. And I don't blame you. Hell, I tried to join you. My body hurt and my throat was dry, and I felt like I was going to throw up.
Starting point is 00:05:14 And I wanted my parents so bad, but I clawed my way out of my little hospital bed in a paper thing gown and dragged an IV pole down the hallway as quietly as I could. And it was only because the night nurse looked up from her mini TV that anyone even noticed I was trying to get back to there. To her. I don't remember the nurse's name. She picked me up so gently, and cradled me,
Starting point is 00:05:38 and carried me back to bed. She wiped my tears when they started to leak down my face. She touched me in and turned on the TV so I had some sound, and she sat with me and held my hand until I fell asleep. She told me I had to heal before I could try to help me. She said that I had been strong and brave and made it back and that she was thankful that one less kid was missing. It was my first night in the hospital. and that she was thankful that one less kid was missing.
Starting point is 00:06:07 It was my first night in the hospital. I'm realizing how much resent and hurt I've built up. Because I tried to be so good when we got home. When we moved, when you had to admit mom, when mom left. And I hate that I can't be mad about it, because one of the worst things that can happen to a parent happened to you and mom. And that's not a pain that ever, ever goes away. I would be the asshole if I was upset that I wasn't enough. I really do think you did your best.
Starting point is 00:06:42 It's just... I never got to be the kid that was found. I'll always just be the one that ran away. No one likes a coward. Haley. 1.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5%
Starting point is 00:07:12 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% It is Thursday, October 1st at 6.45 pm. Agents, you again find yourselves in an unnatural situation that is quickly escalated. There are currently two white blobs of flesh,
Starting point is 00:07:48 mucus, it's hard to tell, pulling themselves with pseudopods towards the nearest exits. Merit, you're garring Jo Dwant from the CMC, from getting in just as much as you are trying to keep the creature from getting out. Tuck, you've tried to scoop one of them up with your new thundigility, but it just wasn't fast enough. And that one is currently crawling up the fireplace shoot. The other is wriggling towards a secondary exit on the fireplace side of the room, fleeing from high, who dropped a stack of flaming papers onto it. Warp boomer.
Starting point is 00:08:21 The room is quickly beginning to fill with smoke as this thick stack of paper continues to burn. Hide, you are at the top of the initiative. What are you doing? Good question. Um, guess I'm gonna try to boot the other slimes, since the other... I assume that slime is in that, that's a fireplace, right? Yes, it is currently still visible, but just beginning to go up the the shoot where it will disappear. Do I want to boot the other one into the fireplace too and we try to burn them both? I think I'm going to do that. I'm going to boot the other slime in that direction. I think a unarmed combat roll makes sense, but if you think you've got pretty good decks,
Starting point is 00:08:59 I'll allow that as well. That's a success with an 85. Okay, excellent. So talk me through what this looks like. You're kind of standing at the top of the couch. I think I'm, yeah, I'm going to jump over the couch and just like a soccer kick just and just kick it directly into the, I vision the fireplace as a soccer goal. Got it. Tuck is already ducking from it when it had jumped over.
Starting point is 00:09:26 And you jump down and kick it across, and now it makes a sickling splat into the charcoal and leftover burnt wood that is still in the fireplace, which is not on, by the way. Tuck has just run over and attempted to do something. And strangely enough, they are now able to move again. Tuck, you have over and attempted to do something and strangely enough they are now able to move again. Tuck, you have the next highest initiative and you can go again.
Starting point is 00:09:51 Yeah, so they're both in the fireplace right now. Yes. I would love to run over to that burning stack of paper, scoop it up in the trash can and then just shunt it into the fireplace. Okay. I think that's easy enough to do that doesn't even require a role. You scoop up the paper making sure not to burn your hands and putting it into the bin and then rush over and dump it into the fireplace. Immediately the one that is in the charcoal, you begin to hear a kind of squealing popping sound. It's hard to tell
Starting point is 00:10:27 whether air is quickly escaping or whether it's actually making some kind of corporeal screaming sound, but it's quite awful to hear, and the fire, such close proximity, does seem to be affecting it very quickly, and the one that is kind of trying to struggle up is also beginning, its skin is beginning to kind of ripple at the warm smoke that is going up the shoot. And I turn over my shoulder and shout to Boomer. Max, is she breathing? Is she?
Starting point is 00:11:01 We'll find out on your turn. A warp. You are next in the initiative. The paper that has fallen into the fireplace is still burning, but it does look like it's going to take a little bit of effort to really get a fire-roaring. Right now, it's still pretty tame. Okay. I'm going to.
Starting point is 00:11:19 It doesn't look like there's any... There's like a pool table in here. There is a pool table. If you're asking if there's anything flammable, there is a small next to the fireplace. There's a small kind of collection of firewood. If you like to throw more of that in there, that's what your intention is. Yeah, I think I do. I want to throw more in there, but I also want to see if there's that little toolkit next to the fireplace. I'll take one of those, something sharp out of those to make sure that if anything jumps out, we can poke them deeper. like tool kit next to the fireplace. I'll take one of those, something sharp out of those
Starting point is 00:11:45 to make sure that if anything jumps out, we can poke them deeper. So you're looking for a poker, is that the idea? Yeah. I think that there would be a poker. So you like to spend your action or your turn grabbing a couple of pieces of wood and chucking them in and then using the poker
Starting point is 00:11:58 kind of as a defensive tool. Yeah. Gotcha. I think you're able to do that without issue. The flames have not yet kind of moved to the firewood But it's literally a matter of time. You even buried one of these Eugus membrane things under some of this wood and it is beginning to kind of Rial and try to move out of it. Perfect. Boomer. I am checking the kid. The child appears unconscious
Starting point is 00:12:22 I am checking the kid. The child appears unconscious, but still breathing. You can feel her heartbeat. You can feel the breath coming in and out of her mouth, but her eyes are closed, and she is not responding to any kind of stimulus. She's still breathing. She's still breathing. She's still, oh my god.
Starting point is 00:12:37 I'm going to shout, I'm going to hold my action. And the reason is I'm waiting to see if one, if one of those things are going to try to jump out at her again, and two, I'm trying to see like she's unconscious, okay, she's breathing, but if she starts to like I want to keep my eyes to make sure she is not like if she stops breathing, I pick up on it really quick and start CPR or something. You could do one or the other, you can either defend yourself or you can pay attention to the child. Child, it is.
Starting point is 00:13:06 Okay, so you kind of just back yourself into a corner and you're just paying attention to me on making sure that she's breathing and she's merit. It is your turn. You can feel the pounding of Joe DeWant from the CMC on the other side of the door. He's yelling, what's going on in there? I wanna see the kid.
Starting point is 00:13:24 Joe, Joe, she's seizing up on this other side. We don't wanna introduce any more strangers into the room she's panicking. Could you find a field kid in the office, maybe a medical piece? We're trying to stabilize her, but I need your help. You can see her, but just give us a few minutes to get her propped up.
Starting point is 00:13:42 Would you like to spend your turn trying to persuade him to follow your? Yeah, we don't want to lose Joe's attention, but we also don't want to introduce him into this room. Merritt's just trying to control the situation. He trusts the rest of the team to get the fire going. Go ahead and give me that persuasion check to see if he will listen to you. I have a 15 under my persuade of 50. Excellent. He listens to you, stops banging, and he says, I'm gonna try to use the phone.
Starting point is 00:14:10 I'm gonna try to get Doug with all of you right back. And he, you hear him shuffling away from the door. Okay. Yeah, and then the rest of my turn will just be spent in defensive quarter of this door, making sure that they don't run for it. Ruhi is basically at Hyde's kick screams out loud. She has seen something she's never seen before
Starting point is 00:14:29 in these things, whatever these things are, and kind of drops down into a fetal position. She's holding her head, wants to pay attention to the kid, but is a little overwhelmed with what's happening. Super fair. The one that is crawling up the fireplace seems to be in a hurry and quickly disappears up the shoot. The one that is in the stack of wood
Starting point is 00:14:52 and currently being burned is going to attempt to get out of there. It's going to fail. It is covered in too much wood and is almost absorbing the wood. It's kind of like going through the wood and permeating through it and up and you can see it bubbling to the surface, but the fire is clearly burning it, clearly keeping it from growing towards it and it's kind of becoming centralized in the areas
Starting point is 00:15:18 where there is no fire. And it seems you see these little pseudo pods kind of reaching out to it, but it really seems to be affected by the flame and is not as powerful as it could be. We're gonna go to the back of, back to the top of the initiative with hide. If I am seeing that there is no, like it's not like fully gone, then I'm gonna just try to put a couple more pieces
Starting point is 00:15:47 of wood, I guess. But could we tell that the other one made it out of the shoot? Yes, it was pretty visible. It's a relatively decently sized fireplace. You could see it climbing up the back, like a luge that was hawking onto the back wall, and it has now kind of slipped up into the shooting. It is no longer visible.
Starting point is 00:16:06 Hmm. Should we go after it? I don't think we should go outside. There are more people in this place. If it gets to the second floor, if it gets to some of those hikers that are trapped in here, we're going to have the same issue on our hands. Yeah, that's my thought.
Starting point is 00:16:20 How do I get to the top? Is there like a way access point to get up to the top so I can maybe try to block? I don't know if I can do that in a complete turn. Actually, correcting me if I'm wrong, anyone that has not lived in a place that has a fireplace, but I believe there is a way to close the fire that the van is. There is a food, you can like close it. Yeah, I don't know anything about fireplace. You can like close it. Yeah, I don't know anything about fireplace.
Starting point is 00:16:43 Oh, I'm gonna say that yes, there is a, there's like a brass lever. There is a way to close the exit from the top of the fireplace, but you do know the result of that, which is that any smoke or fire that is created will basically linger in this space and we'll fill up the space with smoke. Okay, I'm gonna close it. You are able to run over and close the flume. You can hear the metallic twang as it closes up like a floor above you. This fireplace is made of stone and as far as you know that thing is probably not going to be able to escape easily while it's up there. Warp. What would you like to do?
Starting point is 00:17:29 I want to open the windows if they are the kind of windows that have mesh on them. Like I don't want to open the windows and give these flippers a new door, but I do want to open them so we don't all like chill. I think you can definitely open the windows. I think most of them might have bars on them, maybe at worst. These flubbers appear very permeable and it probably wouldn't be too much of a risk or it would be too difficult for them to slip out, but yeah, maybe getting some fresh air is more important at the moment. Okay.
Starting point is 00:17:58 Cool. While I'm doing that, I'll yell to Boomer. If you have any alcohol, write it in the fireplace. Speaking of Boomer. It's your turn I'm gonna be like I don't but there's got to be somewhere around here Can I have a look make a look roll? Oh? That's a success with a 23 okay, you pull open the closest drawer to you and there so happens to be a Half-drunken bottle whiskey. I just chuck that bitch into the fireplace make it a flex roll
Starting point is 00:18:24 I failed. You don't throw it in hard enough and it clings to the floor, sliding and stopping at the hearth. Tupp, what are you doing? I think Tuck is more worried about the thing getting out than the fire actually starting. And given that the fire is pretty low,
Starting point is 00:18:38 Tuck is gonna reach up and put the poker up through the chimney and try and scrape the side down and pull the goo back into the flames. Give me an athletics check. Basically, you're going to reach towards the back and up into the flume and you're going to be with an inches of this white bubbling thing. So I need to just make sure you are able to keep your distance.
Starting point is 00:19:04 Athletics. Oh, no. Up and no. Surgery failed with a 99. Wow. Shit. Oh, my God. I'm just going to say you'll take a full six damage.
Starting point is 00:19:27 As you reach in and under, you can feel this thing, not to mention that the flames are with the inches of you as well, but this, what burns more is this white substance, which is, its little tendrils are able to grab onto your shirt and almost immediately begins to burn through it, and that hot smoke, and that hot vapor is now burning your flesh as well,
Starting point is 00:19:50 and it can end the white begins to move, and now it's touching your skin, and you can feel it burning the whole side of you here. You've taken more than six damage, I need you to make a Constitution-time five five role to see if you are stunned by this. I Think that's a possibility But I pass the 18 Okay, you are not stunned so you may continue to complete your action
Starting point is 00:20:23 Which is to try and get this thing down. Are you just kind of randomly throwing the poker inside and up? Yeah, just trying to like scrape all the sides and like starting at the top and just like spiraling my way down. This feels like an unarmed combat role to try and get this thing. 32, that's success. You hear the metal banging on the brick and then all of a sudden it feels like it sinks into something.
Starting point is 00:20:53 And when you pull it down, you feel the suction of the thing stuck to the wall, pop off, and it tumbles down the chute. I need one more dexterity check from you. I'm going to say this is a dodge roll to determine if this thing falls flat on your face. Oh my god. Dodge is a solid 95, so something I don't roll with fucking 99 again. It's an 82 as well as exceed. Everyone sees Tuck roll out from the fire, but whether it's from the white thing that was still in the fire or the fire itself, you can see smoke coming off from the side of her chest there.
Starting point is 00:21:30 What is your current health, Tug? Three. Three. Okay. I have nine hitboxes. Yeah, three. Episode two. Episode two!
Starting point is 00:21:43 Look, it's down. Someone put fucking alcohol on it. I'm glad you. You've suffered a great amount of damage. You've effectively been set on fire. I will ask for another sanity check from you. Let's go. 48 under my 50, baby.
Starting point is 00:21:58 You roll out from the fireplace and you're just kind of covering, you know, you're immediately trying to tent your wounds, and that now familiar churn in your just kind of covering, you know, you're immediately trying to tend to your wounds and that now familiar churn in your stomach kind of happens as you instinctually react to this pain, you know, on a very fundamental level, but you're able to kind of focus on the pain and this weird churning inside of you subsides.
Starting point is 00:22:22 Like those things on fucking fire. Marit, it is your turn if you'd like to do something. Yeah, so if Boomer kicked the bottle over to the hearth, then I'm gonna run over there. I'm gonna grab the bottle, I think that Merit fumbles because he's touched alcohol all of like twice in his life. He spins open that cap and he douses it in every ounce of that liquid.
Starting point is 00:22:42 The creatures, both in the fire, are going to make their final attempts to try and get out of the fire. The one stuck under all of the logs begins to bubble and pop. It almost looks like melted marshmallow with veins as it slowly begins to dissolve as this fire takes over very quickly. Just as quickly, the smoke kind of begins to go up to the top of the fireplace and then up and over the mantle. It's now beginning to boil over. The one that had just fallen landed in the center was not obstructed by much and was able to successfully springboard off of the wood,
Starting point is 00:23:24 and it is going to leap right at Merritt's face. It's I think alien face sucker zoo. I'm so good at burning your whole body. I'm telling you no. It leaps out, projects itself from the fireplace and kind of lands have hazardly on your neck slash chest. Immediately you begin to feel this burning sensation.
Starting point is 00:23:45 The rest of you see the sizzle rise from his neck. Marit, you're gonna take two damage from this. Oh, not the neck again. Ruhi continues to scream in the corner. Hide. You're back at the top of the initiative. There is one thing left. Hide's just gonna react to that and not even think about it and try to just grab the blob
Starting point is 00:24:07 off my forehead's neck and just throw it back into the fire. If you want to try to pry it off, let's make some contested strength rolls against it. How strong is it? It's a leechy boy. It's a fail with this 93. You grab onto it and immediately you can feel the palms of your hands as if you've stuck your hands in fire. You take two damage.
Starting point is 00:24:31 You feel like you've got a good grip, but what's weird is that it's so wet and slimy and you just can, it almost feels like you're just jamming your hands in jello. You can never quite get a good grip on it. And you can see that your fingers are slowly sinking into it as if it's absorbing your hands. I'm going to say that you feel like you cannot pull your hands
Starting point is 00:24:53 away from it now. Shucks. God damn it. So fuck. Tuck, you're on the floor. You look across the way and you see Ruhi in the corner, just kind of rocking. Maybe it's okay, it's okay. I'm gonna just start, I like rip the buttons off of my shirt so that I just have a tank top
Starting point is 00:25:12 on underneath and I wriggle out of it. I think I'm gonna throw it to warp and I'm gonna say cover your hands, get it off them and I'm gonna start crawling toward my wife. I think even crawling you are able to get to her. Uh, and I'm just going to be close to her. Yeah, she acknowledges that you, that you're there, but she reaches her hand out and sees the, the sizzling part of your flesh and just kind of retracts her hand on sure if she can even touch you.
Starting point is 00:25:38 It's okay, it's okay. We can deal with this. Boomer, you are very close to this situation. You have moved a lot closer You're almost out the door. I'm not joking. This is getting out of control. Thanks, but if that thing even comes an inch towards her Out the door with the kid and just letting you know you are so so you are going to position yourself by the door the exit Oh, yes Yeah, take her to Joe. Even better, take her to Joe.
Starting point is 00:26:05 Bye. I just need Merritt's permission. I'm already out. Yeah. OK. I'll say that you can get as far as you open the door, and you walk about halfway down the short hallway. And you can see only Joe.
Starting point is 00:26:18 He is on the telephone. And he appears to be talking to somebody on the phone. And he's just beginning to notice you as you're kind of making the corner rushing with the child. I want to be like, did you get that medical assistance? Because I do have like a lot of that first day training. Like, I just wanted to get her out of there. Let's go ahead and get her. You have any liquids in the kitchen, infirmary, and grab Joe with me.
Starting point is 00:26:40 Yeah, he's pointing enthusiastically on the phone saying he's got the visitor center on the phone. Okay, she's still breathing. Like, phone saying he's got the the visitor center on the phone. Okay, she's still breathing. Like I'm gonna tell her symptoms to jump. Warp, you opened the windows last round. What would you like to do now? I have tux shirt in my hands. I want to rip the curtains down and give an extra layer of protection so I can grab this. And if they're sprayed with flame retardant, then that would be helpful. If not, I'm still gonna do it.
Starting point is 00:27:07 You tear off the curtains, wrap the shirt up. Okay, cool. If I can, I wanna make a move for the mucus. I think that's easy enough to do. Okay, you're now shoulder to shoulder with merit at the fire. I think that's, if I can't rip it off this chest, I can wait. Merit, anyone passing by might think high is trying to choke you if it weren't for this huge glob that has stuck you both together. What do you want to do?
Starting point is 00:27:31 Yeah, how is, is the fire so burning that I couldn't pick up like a piece of the burning log or anything? Is there any clear piece of firewood in the fireplace that I can pick up and use almost like a torch. The right amount of time has passed that yes there is probably at least one log that you can pull out that is on fire but not so much as you can't hold it. Okay so like removing a tick I'm gonna just grab that torch and bring it as close to my neck as possible just toward this thing off. I'm gonna ask you to make a melee weapons attack against it, and depending how it goes,
Starting point is 00:28:08 I might need to ask you both to make dodge rolls. I fail with a 44 over 30. The fire comes within an inches of both of you, I need you both to make dodge rolls or you're going to get burned. I'd critically succeed within 11. Yes, bitch. I also succeed. Thank God. Yeah, what basically happens is Marit raises the fire to his neck, but you're also both flailing and the fire almost makes contact with your flesh
Starting point is 00:28:34 But one of you just knocks the torch from his hands and it drops to the floor Hide you are able to free yourself from the creature and You are able to free yourself from the creature and the thing reacting to the fire detaches and it drops to the ground. It begins to bubble and fizz similar to the creature in the fire and it seems as if it's falling apart. Vapor is emitting from it quickly. We're back at the top of the initiative with Hyde. How bad are my hands?
Starting point is 00:29:04 Are they still getting, am I still got goo on them, even though I'm separated from them? You have nothing on you, but it does look like your hands are pink as if the top two or three layers of skin have been burned. Dark.
Starting point is 00:29:18 Ooh. Yeah. Wouldn't necessarily say it's a full two or three degree burn, but it definitely is going to be tender in the morning But it's something that I can still like I can still like not focus on it and do other stuff You are completely functional. Okay With all of that said it seems like these two things whatever they were are no longer moving The one in the fireplace has almost completely vaporized. The one on the floor is slowly turning into so much sludge.
Starting point is 00:29:48 What are we doing in this moment? That window's still open. I kind of want to stick their hands outside. Open the floor. Open the floor. I'm not opening it. It's normal. It's just like trying to shout orders and also comfort her life.
Starting point is 00:30:00 So, Tuck, you're on the floor just kind of shouting at people. It doesn't really seem like anyone's paying attention to you at the moment. High, youuck, you're on the floor just kind of shouting at people. Doesn't really seem like anyone's paying attention to you at the moment. High, you run over to the window, you stick your hands out and you can feel the soft warm but better than the inside rain hitting your palms. And it kind of stings but also kind of feels good too. There has been an order to close the flu or to open it again. Is anyone doing it? All right warps you run over and open the flu There was still a decent amount of smoke in here as the fire is picked up and most of you are beginning to cough or react to the smoke I'm gonna turn to my wife and
Starting point is 00:30:37 Look her in the eye real I need you to listen very carefully. What happened was there was a fire because we were trying to help Mia, and none of us know how to start a fire. So we fucked it up. We were city people. We fucked it up. That's why the worm is full of smoke. That's why three of us are burned. Okay, I need you to know that that's the story people are gonna hear, okay?
Starting point is 00:31:07 Please make a psychotherapy role or... Let's see. Well, there's an argument that you could make a persuade role as well. I think though this is... You're almost kind of trying to bring her down as well as convince her of something. I do think the psychotherapyies a little more appropriate. Since I have experience talking people down with my mother, would that give me any advantage here?
Starting point is 00:31:35 I mean, the problem is, is you're asking somebody to go with the program, go along with the flow, and they've just witnessed two alien boogers run around the room. That's the witness you catch on fire. It's it's a lot. I'm you're lucky that I'm giving you the base roll and not a minus 20. No it's super fair. This is there inciting incident. Yeah I had to I had to ask for the hell of it. Um. Um. I rolled a six under 10.
Starting point is 00:32:07 Oh, my God. Wow. Holy shit. My wife is my best friend and she has been in here in high school. I know how to do this. All your bad roles were saved for what that was. Seriously, when it truly matters,
Starting point is 00:32:24 let us continue traumatizing our spouses. Yes. Yes, maybe. In the meantime, while Tuck is talking to Ruhi, what are the four other people in this room doing? Someone else, I'm just going to keep hoping my hands outside until I feel comfortable. OK, I'm going to rush and try and perform first aid
Starting point is 00:32:44 on hide as to the best of my ability. Okay, do you have a first aid kit with Boomer? Well Boomer has one, I could go get Boomer. Yeah, actually, I'm going to go get Boomer and see if I can be with Joe and Mia. On the outside, I'll get to you in a second. On the outside, Boomer, you've run over to Joe who's been talking on the phone. He's explained the situation and he hangs up and he turns to you and says they can't drive anybody in here. They're monitoring the storm. It's too dangerous to drive a vehicle in or out of this right now.
Starting point is 00:33:13 Is she conscious and he starts asking questions about the girl? She's good. She's conscious. It's just an extreme reaction. I... I mean, come on. We just... Like, I must be for real. We're good, I mean, come on, we just, like, I, let's be for real. We, like, you're good, but I, if something else happens in another about two hours, you know what I mean? That's, like, I'm not a professional, neither are you. So it's like, I would love a doctor to take a look at her.
Starting point is 00:33:38 That are best cases we're going to have to get her out of here. As you're having this conversation with him, you hear some commotion from upstairs, and running down is Tomika. Tomika Gayegos, the woman that found Mia, and she runs down the stairs. She's between you and the other room. She sees you, conversing with Joe, but she looks the other way,
Starting point is 00:33:58 and she sees that there is smoke visibly exiting the room, and she runs towards the kitchen to grab a fire extinguisher. She calls it out. Wow Tuck is there anything you want to do boomer? I mean what can I do it? It's like I I think I'd be more stunned and I'd be like oh damn. I think that'd be that's Sorry, that's kind of like a signal. I guess sure you call it out right like you're letting everyone know oh like a stigma like this. Sure, you call it out, right? Like you're letting everyone know. Oh, damn, is there a fire?
Starting point is 00:34:26 Like shouting like, you know, is there a fire up there? Like, Johnny's he if he can hear that. Oh, he's so mean. Joe turns to look out the window. And he's like, I think my car is parked nearby and he's looking out the window. Tuck, Ruhi is listening to you and has this kind of tunnel vision in her eyes
Starting point is 00:34:47 The stows and yards stare in her eyes and her eyes finally lock on to yours and her breathing starts to slow And she says we gotta go we just have to get the hell out of here. Don't we? Yeah, this is crazy We've got to go you have to go you're right. Oh my God, but you're hurt. Look at your side. Oh my God. It's fine. We're okay. A storm like this. Can we drive through it?
Starting point is 00:35:11 I don't think so. This feels like Hurricane Force wins. I'm okay. Tomeca runs into the room, carrying a fire extinguisher. I immediately started talking. I'm like, I'm so sorry. This is my fault. I tried to start a fire. I thought it would be comforting for her, and she freaked out, because it was too bright. I immediately started talking. I'm like, I'm so sorry. This is my fault. I tried to start a fire.
Starting point is 00:35:25 I thought it would be comforting for her and she freaked out because it was too bright. It's my bad. It's all my fault. We don't have fireplaces and tux just like talking and trying to like make it seem normal. Tuck is on the ground rambling. Merit, warp and hide. You see Tamika run in through the secondary room and she's ready.
Starting point is 00:35:44 She's trying to break through you guys to get to the fireplace. There's no need for that. Everything's under control now. What's with the smoke? Why is there so much smoke in here? I don't know about flumes, and I didn't open the flume. There's remains of those things in the fireplace, yes? If you look closely, yes. It looks like a giant marshmallow has melted in the middle of it. Man, please, we can explain right after. But my friend, she's hurt. She might be going into shock. I need your help immediately.
Starting point is 00:36:11 I show her my hands. Tomika can see hides, pink palms, and she says, oh my god, I'll get the first aid. One second, and she runs out of the room. Everyone we need to get rid of the bodies. Well, I think the fire will take care of that. Not fast enough. We need to make sure that there's nothing left over. If she sees even a scrap, we are doomed.
Starting point is 00:36:35 What warped curtains? Yeah, I'm going to scoop up the melted marshmallow. And if Mia came with like, you know, when they put like evidence holding in a plastic bag, something like something to put it in. Yeah, so Mia received a small kind of go bag from Joe, so there's like a little plastic bag that you can absolutely use. I use that, and I put her stuff in my bag. That's fine, just give me a dexterity or dodge roll.
Starting point is 00:37:03 Dex or dodge. dex it is. That's a success with a 30 under 70. You are able to scoop up enough of this. Now, something that stands out to you is that as you scoop it up, it's already shrunken in mass by about half. So the little that you do scoop up, scoop up, you're able to kind of wrap up
Starting point is 00:37:22 and then shove into this plastic bag and then you put it into your own backpack, correct? Yes, in the plastic bag, in my bag. Yes. You're able to successfully do that. Boomer, do you stay in the hallway with Joe? Absolutely. I'm not going in there.
Starting point is 00:37:37 Okay. As the craziness of the situation finally begins to die down, there's a moment where you think you've been able to successfully hide everything and then the power goes out. Falk of course it does. Of course it does. The familiar hum that that that electric hum that is always audible when you're in the city disappears and all that's left is the pounding of the rain outside. It is pitch black except for the occasional streak of lightning. Turn to where I assume Haley is in the room and call out to everyone. We need to get to Mia. Stay on Mia. Yes, get everyone get to work. And I'm gonna move out into the hallway and try and find Jell-O and Mia and Boomer.
Starting point is 00:38:17 I'm gonna go close the window. Thank you. Tuck, you've taken a lot of damage in this round and I think you are struggling to get up. I think Ruhi can help you up. The rest of you start exiting the door, and it is totally dark. As you make it to the door, you hear the people upstairs, all of the campers. They scream as the lights go out. There's a quiet as they die down, and then outside you hear the shrillest death-scoring ever heard. It sounds like it's somewhere outside. Does anyone have an alertness above 60? 70, 80, ooh hot. Those of you with that high of an alertness can tell that there is a sound coming from the,
Starting point is 00:39:08 we'll call it the north west side of the campgrounds. Do you do anything in this moment? I immediately draw my gun, and point it in that direction, and maybe start moving towards that direction. Listen, we may need to split up. We need to take Mia upstairs with the rest of the innocence and keep a group with them. And another group needs to investigate whatever that was and get the electricity going
Starting point is 00:39:35 again if we can. Hi, do you have eyes on it? You are all exiting the threshold of the door and you can hear Douglas Keena, the senior park ranger, coming downstairs with a younger park ranger, a young looking white male. The two of them are putting on their rain jackets and they say, All right, everyone stay calm. We're going to go turn the generator on. Just stay inside, everything will be fine. And they are moving towards the exit. You should go too. Oh, fuck, I'll go. You should go to a fuck, a go.
Starting point is 00:40:05 At least two of us. A go. Warp your junior security. Can you join hide? Absolutely. Oh, you're cute. Doug, the senior park ranger has a problem with this. As they come to the door, they're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. No, folks, you need to stay inside. It's dangerous out there.
Starting point is 00:40:21 We're just going to turn the generator on. We'll be right back. Look, I'm in the military, I'm a war officer, I can absolutely be of assistance in this moment. Please let me help you. You look said warp, you? Oh, I work for the government and you show some actual government ID that does say a government like it's counterterrorism, but I don't know how relevant it is. With a plus 20, you may make a persuade rule, Hayd.
Starting point is 00:40:50 Thank God, with a plus 20, it gives me 35. Fuck you, out of 40. You out of 40. You. Just stay out of our way, says Kena. Yes, sir. Okay. He and his younger Ranger, he calls Charles, they lead the way out the door. Do you go with them?
Starting point is 00:41:09 I do. But look at warp and I say you stay right fucking behind me and if I tell you to run you run You send? Yeah cool and I go out, but I have my gun drawn But down but oh what? the two of you run out into the storm, it is heavy downpour. It is windy, it is loud. The trees are shaking. You look up and it is just black cloud as far as you can see.
Starting point is 00:41:38 This is one of the most intense storms you think you've ever been in. Hide maybe because you are from why you've experienced the hurricane of this magnitude, but it is intense right now. They lead you towards the, we'll call it the east side of the building as you begin wrapping around to where the generator should be.
Starting point is 00:41:58 I'm trying to follow, but I'm also keeping, I'm just checking my constant, my six around, just constantly staying as alert as I possibly can in this torrential rain. We'll come back to you guys in one second. Tuck Ruchi, you are coming out the door as Tumikas coming around the other side with the first eight kids. She sees that Tuck is also hurt. Oh, fine. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. All right, I'm gonna need you to sit down for a second and she brings you over to one of the desks.
Starting point is 00:42:23 Am I inside of Mia? You are close to Mia, yes. Boomer remains kind of in the threshold of the hallway, close to the front door, holding Mia. She's with 5'10 feet of you. Is she okay? She's still breathing? Oh yeah, she's out like a light. They're gonna make a first aid roll to see if they can help you.
Starting point is 00:42:41 She begins bandaging you at first cleaning the wound, but I mean, it's like you've got like a pretty serious burn on the side. It looks like a chemical burn of some kind. She doesn't feel like she really has what is necessary to really help you. And as she's beginning to bandage you, something else complicates the situation. Joe has been at the window kind of looking outside and boomer, window kind of looking outside and boomer you kind of glance over to him and you notice he stopped really moving he's just kind of still and all of a sudden he turns and his eyes lock on you
Starting point is 00:43:14 no they lock on the child and like a bad out of hell not expecting an old man to move like this he He begins rushing towards you. I need you to make a strength, a post-strength check, see if he can't rip Mia out of your arms. Okay. Let's go, boomer. Come on, boom. Internal mom.
Starting point is 00:43:36 18. Yes, bitch. Excellent. He did not roll well at all. All of you in the room, you see him with this glazed look over his eyes, rush over to Mia, grab her arm, and begin yanking on her. But, rumor, this is an older gentleman, and, unfortunately, he just doesn't have the strength
Starting point is 00:43:53 to tear her from you, but you're now entangled with this man. May I hit just all I need to do? Hit the side of his knee just so he can buckle one. That's all I need to do. If you like to make an unarmed combat attack against him, you can attempt that. Okay. Darn, I got a 93. You're trying to kick him and you're trying to sweep his leg,
Starting point is 00:44:14 but he's relatively sturdy up on his feet and he's still moving. Okay, so we're at least in a struggle. Tuck, you are at the highest of the initiative of the people in this room right now. You see this old man starting to struggle with me. I trying to pull her towards the exit. What do you do? I'm going. I'm after him. Do you push past Tomeca? Yeah, I'm trying to heal you. I'll be bad her away and just like not even thinking just loop my arm around his neck and put him in a choke This feels like an unarmed combat strike
Starting point is 00:44:45 then you're trying to get him off. So in theory that's success. You are able to pry him off and you both stumble to the floor. He falls on his butt kind of against you and you're holding him. The rest of you including Boomer and Merit, you see this glazed look in his eyes kind of disappear.
Starting point is 00:45:05 But all of a sudden, he's present and conscious, and he looks down at this woman's arm that is choking him, and he's like, what the hell, what are you doing? Get off of me! Don't hurt her! Sit the fuck down, you motherfucker! Don't move!
Starting point is 00:45:17 Get on him! Let's go outside. Let's hide. Hide. Warp. You follow Douglas and Charles around to the far side of the cabin to the ranger station. You're standing there in the pouring rain as Douglas is very kind of non-shallantly
Starting point is 00:45:35 showing Charles how to get the generator started. He's pointing it out, he's checking the fuel, making sure everything's good, maybe going a little slower than he should if he knew what you knew. He's speed this up a little bit. Yeah, has this generator going? This is a junior ranger that I am showing how to do this. This is something that needs to happen, so please, folks, stand by. I don't know why you're even out here.
Starting point is 00:45:59 Hide, you're the one who's paying attention. I believe you said you were making an alertness check, right? I can make an alertness check, yes. Yeah, go ahead. Warp, why don't you do it too, since you're probably doing the same thing. That's a success for the 47. It's a failure for the 77.
Starting point is 00:46:16 Hide, you are the first to notice this. Stepping from the south, the southern tree line, you can see that by that tree line there's a small shed with about six four-wheelers and a jeep and this shadow emerges from the forest and it takes you a moment to focus and realize what's happening but some kind of man, very very tall man, maybe 12, 13 feet in height. Emerges from the trees. And you realize it was probably there the whole time, but you just thought it was another tree.
Starting point is 00:46:50 And there is no light, but you can see this enormous silhouette. And it begins humbling the vehicles that it is nearby. And as it begins smashing one of them, sparks begin to fly. When the sparks ignite in the air for just begins smashing one of them, sparks begin to fly. When the sparks ignite in the air for just a... the briefest of seconds, you can see their face and their skin. This is some kind of man, but their flesh is like this gray yellow tone. They are completely soaked and they are dressed... they're completely nude, except for a loincloth, but they are covered in
Starting point is 00:47:26 elaborate piercings and studs and jewelry. There is large hoops of jewelry hanging from their neck. Their nose is studded in some kind of strange metal. Their eyebrows, the forehead, and you swear for that moment of light coming from the machine that it is destroying, that you think you see a elongated head as if it's human, but the skull is somehow several inches longer than it should be.
Starting point is 00:47:56 It's a lot to take in. You're the first to see it. Give me a sanity check. Welcome to my drama. That's a fail with the 54. Roll a D4. Sir, you're what the fuck? I don't know, I hate it.
Starting point is 00:48:12 I don't like this thing. No, no, no, you never do. Fuck, it's three. Make a good one next one. Sir, make it nice. So, would you like to project that sanity or are you gonna eat it? Ah, no, I'll project it onto Micah again. We're just gonna, you know, just more relationships.
Starting point is 00:48:33 Roll a D4. That's two. Okay, so you're only gonna lose one sanity, but remove two from your willpower and your bond with Micah. That willpower is... DRAINING! Mmm. This thing is making a lot of noise. and you're bond with Micah. That will power is. This thing is making a lot of noise. Warp, you're also going to see this
Starting point is 00:48:49 as well as Douglas and Christopher. So Warp, go ahead and make a sanity check please. I got those. Okay, here. I'm just worried not. Oh, yes, that's a success. 32. You will not lose any sanity.
Starting point is 00:49:06 How are you able to dilute yourself in this moment? I fully see this large, large man smashing these cars. And it is late. And I have not clearly had enough water to drink. I'm in the rain. Yeah drink. In the rain. Yeah, standing in the rain, clearly dehydrated. I'm dehydrated. You both are staring at this man, this person,
Starting point is 00:49:33 the stranger, as they are pummeling one of these things. And their fists are like a small boulder, easy enough able to smash it. They look at you because Christopher, the younger, begins screaming his head off at the side of this thing, and it slowly begins to stand, and at its full height, it's probably close to 15 feet tall, and it begins moving towards you. All right. War back to the cap it now. We will say that hide you have the first of the initiative if you want to do something in this moment. I'm grabbing warp and I'm sorry about those rangers.
Starting point is 00:50:11 I'm grabbing warp and I'm running straight to the cabin. But still holding my gun just in case I need to defend myself. But the action is to grab warp and get us back to some type of fortified safety. Warp do you resist in any way? Ah, no! No. If you're not resisting that I will say you can at least get to the front porch of the station. Okay, okay.
Starting point is 00:50:36 I assume you're keeping your eye on this very tall strainer. Yes, I'm not... I'm trying to put warp behind me as much as possible, but I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm trying to put work behind me as much as possible, but I'm not leaving, I'm not losing sight of wherever this creature is. You're watching it as you go up the steps and you see Charles running and You can see that Douglas the older gentleman is kind of standing there in shock just kind of taking it in and He goes to the generator to try to turn it back on
Starting point is 00:51:07 and he starts pulling on it. This stranger kind of brushes his hand and there is this broken limb that vibrates and then flies towards Douglas. Where is he? He's up there. You just see Douglas get hit by this branch and then fly off in the opposite direction screaming.
Starting point is 00:51:26 I'm not gonna think about that. No. I think you do need to make a sanity check for witnessing that though. Even if I close my eyes and pretend. If you would, if you think you would close your eyes then yes you can. No I wouldn't. I'm very alert but I failed the sanity with the 68. Okay, you'll just lose one sanity as it's not entirely clear if he's dead,
Starting point is 00:51:47 but he certainly took a hit from a floating projectile that this thing seemed to have some kind of control over. No, but it's fun. Back inside, everyone is yelling and screaming, make an alertness check for me real quick. I succeed with a 36. Make an alertness check for me real quick. I succeed with a 36. You're able to see that Joe is reaching for a small handgun that is at his ankle. So you see, you're the first to see this, as everyone is kind of yelling and tussling.
Starting point is 00:52:16 Rather than grabbing at my own pistol, I'd like to try and beat him to his and just hold him at the ankle, not even take the thing out of it, just hold him there where he was grabbing. I don't even think it's a question. You could run over and do exactly that. You put your hand on his ankle, you can feel the stub nose pistol and he looks at you like, how did you catch me doing that? I need you to look at me, Joe. You had a fugue state.
Starting point is 00:52:40 You were standing at the window, you saw something, you blanked out and you attacked me. Do you remember any of that? I remember being at the window, then I ended up here on the floor. I thought, what do you push me? No, no, we want to do that to you. There's something going on here. Did you see something? Do you remember seeing something at the window? I remember a... a shape.
Starting point is 00:53:02 Yes. I saw something out there. Yeah, yeah. Describe it to me. A person. I think it was a person. And then they felt like they whispered something in my head and I don't know. I just needed to grab the girl. I just knew that I needed to get her out of here. Joe, we are in a lot of danger.
Starting point is 00:53:20 And there are a lot of things happening to you right now that I don't think any of us can explain but we need to keep me safe and we need to keep everyone in this building safe and that means getting the electricity going again and making sure that we're up there with them. Do you think you can stay with me? Do you think you can avoid those windows and just try and focus on what's going on here? Look, that was a one-time thing. Sure, I'll stay away from the windows, but I know what I'm doing. I should have my pistol out. No, no, you should not. I don't know what that's all about.
Starting point is 00:53:51 Respectfully, Joe, you just attacked a child and after what you saw, you don't have any authority either. There's something going on here. And if you come between us and Mia or any of the lives at stake here, I can't let you win. He looks at you and Tuck and Boomer, and you know he's old, but he's not dumb and he starts, he just serves as, who are you people? And before you can even answer him, hide and warp,
Starting point is 00:54:17 and Christopher come rushing in through the front door, all of them soaking wet. Christopher is screaming nonsense about, there's a giant man outside. There's somebody out there. He killed Douglas. Oh my god. Tumica is sort of sitting up. What happened to Douglas? Douglas is gone.
Starting point is 00:54:34 I don't say anything. Is there anything in this patio area that I can like push in front of that door? I want to block the door for right now. I think absolutely there are desks and chairs and things like that. The problem is is between you and the desks are about six people who are, it looks like they were just in a tussle. The whole way is kind of blocked if you if that's
Starting point is 00:54:57 what you want to start doing. I'm pushing through them. I don't give a fuck. I saw things. I don't care. I want some security in front of this door before it realizes it can open doors. Does anyone stop hide from doing this as they frantically begin, like literally tearing computers from the wall as they begin to rag and death trust. That's your worst hide.
Starting point is 00:55:15 It hides doing it, there's a reason. Okay, so everyone basically kind of backs up and allows hide to do it. Does anyone help hide? I can help, to yeah. You definitely feel like hide. You have been able to successfully brace one of the larger desks against the door. There are two doors. There's the swing door that usually remains open that just has
Starting point is 00:55:33 kind of a mesh and then there's like a proper wooden door and you've put it in front of that. Once all of that dragging and that screeching of wood stops again you're just left with the sound of the rain, and then more crunching and smashing sound. It sounds like vehicles are being crunched. You hear a car alarm go off and then quickly, boom! Get smashed and it dies out.
Starting point is 00:55:56 Are they trying to lock us in here? I think we're trapped. Listen, we have to station up on that second floor. We can't take our chances out there. That's where they know what we're doing. If anything, we need to get the electricity back on and we need to protect the people that are up there on that second floor as much as us.
Starting point is 00:56:11 We need to station, barricade, and prepare. For all we know, there's no way for us to defend ourselves. It might be our best bet to just go and make a break for it. Joe saw, said he saw something, a figure, tall, silhouetted out there. Is that what you saw? Yep. It's those fucking things from the article.
Starting point is 00:56:30 It has to be. It's what Mia described. We need to be ready. They're coming back for her. She's the focal point. You didn't see what it can do. We are sitting ducks. We take our chances with the car.
Starting point is 00:56:42 We are not only abandoning everyone here, but we're driving directly into their territory. They can control people, clearly. They did it to Joseph now. I wouldn't run into the woods in the rain like this. Then in our cars. Assuming we have cars at all by the sound of it, they're trashed. Can I look at our cars?
Starting point is 00:57:01 If you do a quick glance out, you can see, let's say, about 300 feet away, you can see the car, the parking lot, and there are still your vehicles along with other people's vehicles parked there. Maybe a team could stay here with the innocents, and another team could take me in the car. They don't want the innocents, they want Mia. But these people, we have to keep them safe. What about her? What do you mean, what about her? I am doing everything in my power to make sure she's okay, but she's not the only one at stake here.
Starting point is 00:57:28 So everyone for themselves tell them to run and... I mean if you got 50 people running, that's there you go, there's your distraction. We're not supposed to be here anyway as if you... I'm sorry, but no one is actively on duty and they know as much as we do about those things out there. We all have equal chances of survival, Let's just try. Everyone try. Through everyone in different vehicles.
Starting point is 00:57:49 Go. If we all work together, I think there's a situation that all of us end up surviving if we play this smart. But if we're going straight to letting everyone fend for themselves, then we're no better than the people we just spend a year fighting in Michigan. Situation awareness says that we have to either move or we bunker down. If this place is not safe in us for us to bunker down then we need to move. Okay well what's the point we have here? We don't know. We don't we have no idea what resources we have. We are very adequately unarmed for whatever
Starting point is 00:58:20 that thing is outside. I watched him sweep a man away. I am telling you right now, we need to figure out how to get out of here. Hi, do you even feel comfortable driving in a storm like this? I have driven in terrible weather like this. I can make it work as much as possible. In this moment, Fania wakes up. She is crying in your arms, boomer.
Starting point is 00:58:42 Hey, how's that? I'm so excited. You see that, okay, kiddo? What's going on? I'm sorry about that. Yeah, these assholes, these jerks right here talking loudly. Right? They suck.
Starting point is 00:58:52 They can't go over the plant. Let's go over this side. Merit. Yeah, I'm listening, hide. Yeah. We can't fight it, and we can't beat it. And if it's gonna get in here, it's gonna get in here. What do you wanna do?
Starting point is 00:59:04 I'm with you, hi. We need to get to the van and we need to leave. What do we do about the people? We hope that Mia is the thing that's drawing it and that's enough. As far as we know, the people, as far as we know, only one or two people are aware of what's what was out there, that is as close as we're going to get it. If we can get out of here, we can tell the program, we can tell somebody who can help these people,
Starting point is 00:59:27 we cannot help these people. If we die out here, we can help nobody. Boomer Mia is crying, and when she sees where Tuck is, she is reaching out for Tuck with open arms. Tuck! We can't wait for her. Easily Tucked. Get over.
Starting point is 00:59:43 Without any regard for your burnt side tug, she digs herself into you and is this kind of softly crying in that way that children who don't quite understand what's happening cry. Oh, it's really scary, huh? There's a lot of stuff going on. Oh, loud, huh? OK, hide.
Starting point is 01:00:00 Don't want to make this decision, but we have to make it. OK. Are you armed? I have the rifle in the track, too. And as far as I know, nobody else from the cabin, or everybody's upstairs, right? Other than Joe, who has been downstairs quietly, and Ruhi, everyone else is upstairs.
Starting point is 01:00:18 So Joe has heard this entire conversation. Absolutely, yes. He has been quietly kind of sitting in the corner, not trying to make any sudden moves to upset you all. She should take Joe with us. Okay, I'm okay with that. Awesome, Joe. Awesome, Joe. I look at Joe. Are you ready? Why are you taking me? Because you heard everything.
Starting point is 01:00:41 And the alternative is not something you'd like to hear or I'd like to deliver. What are you people? CIA, FBI, both of those were. You know what Joe, maybe if we get out of this, we might talk about it. Do you want to come with us or do you want to stay here? Do you want to go or do you want to stay here? I want to make sure that girl's okay, so yes, I will go with you. Then stay on her ass and shut the fuck up. He's gonna stand up and he's gonna pull out his small snub nose pistol. He won't, I can definitely tell you everything afterwards. Warp nose, I'm really good at explaining things like this. Yes.
Starting point is 01:01:19 Boom, you used a gun before? Yes. Of course. You have, okay, here, and I give her mine, and I hoist me up, and I turn to Rue, and I say, oh, I really wish you hadn't been so stubborn about coming with me. I really don't want everyone I love in one place.
Starting point is 01:01:40 But we're here, and that's what's happening, and I need you just to run to the car. I need you to hold me, because I can't do it. And I need you to run to the car. Got it? Don't look up. Don't listen to anything. Look at me, or look at her, or look at the car.
Starting point is 01:02:01 Nothing else. Okay. Please. or look at the car, nothing else. Okay, please. I'm just supposed to run out there with giant people out there? I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I told you to get to the car with her. Okay, I got it. I got this. No matter what you're here, you get to the car and you go. Okay, well, just stay close. Just try to stay close then.
Starting point is 01:02:24 You're close, baby. I'll be close. So what is the gameplay? We are going to try to exit and I'm going to try to keep like ahead of in front of whatever that thing is so that everybody can make it towards the vehicle and then then make my way. So give me a marching order then, sounds like hide is first. I'll go second, I'll stay up with hide. I'll take a flank around me and Rui. Yeah, I'll go behind the truck. Ideally, I like to be a little bit ahead of
Starting point is 01:02:51 the truck because I had the car keys to the SUV. So hopefully that's one of the vehicles that's good because I'm going to go for the driver's seat. Wait, boom. I lied. Give me my gun back. Okay. All right. I'm sorry. I'll give her my pocket knife. I will take it. Those will work. Whatever you see out there, keep it to yourself
Starting point is 01:03:10 and keep moving until you get to the car. Dawn hides making sure every of our research team everybody is going to go first. But I'm going to be the first one out to lease, establish where this thing is so that everybody keeps moving. And I'd like, as Sergio, I actually would like to only keep focused straight ahead, like even to disregard ship behind me,
Starting point is 01:03:30 like my main focus to get in there and only come, so I don't look at this thing out in the woods. My goal is just like only at the car. You're gonna try to put on some blinders and whatever's happening around you, you're going to ignore it. I'm focused, yeah, laser focused. Everyone has made the decision to get out of here quickly
Starting point is 01:03:47 to buy yourself as much time as possible. You are pulling your weapons, getting ready in whatever fashion you think you need to, putting on rain slicks, et cetera. There is just this moment of peace as you're all getting ready, and Mia, who is conscious, being carried by Rookie, is kind of fixated on you, Haley.
Starting point is 01:04:07 And quietly says to you, whispers to you, Haley, can we be sisters again? Of course we can, we've always been sisters. So you'll protect me and I'll protect you. You don't have to protect me, I'm the big sister, I protect you. And I'm sorry I didn't do a good job about last time, but I'll do better this time. It's now or never. High you've got your hand on the door.
Starting point is 01:04:32 What are you doing? I open the door as quiet as possible. I slowly step out first to establish where ever this thing is. And I'm like, have a hand out to hold and as soon as I think everything is clear, then I'm gonna tell everybody to be safe. Hi, do you begin to open the door? Give me a stealth check. That is a success with A39. The door opens and the sound of the constant downpour of rain is almost deafening. The sound of these vehicles being destroyed
Starting point is 01:05:07 on the east side of the ranger station has ended. You come out, you're sweeping around. You only have, you know, maybe a 85 degree view of the area because of the way the ranger station is built, but you get up to the corner of the wall, right where the water is dripping coming down down and you poke your head around the corner where you last saw this tall man. About a hundred feet away from you is this five meter tall man who has completed the rampage. Most of the four runners destroyed the Jeep
Starting point is 01:05:41 absolutely crunched into the center. They are now standing, facing your direction. And although you believe that he is not aware of you, he is looking in the direction of where you will be walking. Fuck. How far are we from the car? I would say mechanically you're about a solid two rounds to get to the car and that it's going to take about a round to get everyone into the car. Agent Tuck in this quiet moment you're sitting there waiting for the signal. You can barely see high because you're kind of more in the middle of this congel line of people and
Starting point is 01:06:17 inside you are there's a part of you that's like you can do this not only can you do this you are the one that can keep these things at bay. Nothing is going to stop you or your sister from getting out of here. I think is that feeling bubbles. I'm going to lean forward, kiss me as head and say, stay with me. I'm going to keep you safe. And I'm going to kiss you on the side of the head. And I'm going to, as quietly as I can, break from the group, go to one of the windows and just try and get an eyeline
Starting point is 01:06:47 on the thing. Please give me a self check. Success, 29 out of 55. Everyone is so focused on what's happening. No one is expecting you to do this. You take just a step back and another step back. You're able to get to the window and you're able to jump out if that's what you're choosing
Starting point is 01:07:03 to do. As I walk, I'm taking the sweatshirt of Nia's that I had that I brought out of the bag and I'm stuffing the bag into the sweatshirt so it looks like it's full of something so that it looks like I'm carrying her. Yeah, go ahead and make a disguise roll, please. There's no way.
Starting point is 01:07:19 No, I got a 95 on it. I think the best you can do is probably like stuff a pillow into the sweater, but you know, there's no head or legs or arms or anything. Mostly just trying to make something that looks way near than it is. You wanna jump out the window, all in this action too. You open the window, which is basically just kind of
Starting point is 01:07:36 a wooden flap and jump down, leap outside and land in the mud. And as you stand up up you look and less than 25 feet 30 feet from you within running distance is a figure that you have seen from your past return and you've made enough noise that it glances in your direction. I think this warrants another sanity check now that you have seen this thing up close again after 23 years. That's a failure with a 61. What's going through Tufts head in this moment?
Starting point is 01:08:13 Is it just the megalomene? I think it's a little bit of that, and I think it's a little bit of Tuck realizing that Mia had to see this thing for years and years and years and years and years. And she was scared all the time for years and years and years and years. So it's our turn. It's your turn to be tough. Roll the D10. Five.
Starting point is 01:08:33 Roll a D4 for seeing this thing again. Two. You're going to lose two sanity unless you want to project it. I already fucked up my therapist when I was one. And I kill another bond. So I'm down to eight willpower and my bond with my therapist is gone. That five that you rolled, please add it
Starting point is 01:08:53 to your constitution score permanently. Okay. Constitution increases to what? It's back up to what it was. It's back up to 13. Which gives you, will round up 12 health. Okay, this is my question because I had three health. Do I go up to six health count? Yes, I think that's what you'll do. You round up 12 health. Okay, this is my question because I had three health. Do I go up to six health now?
Starting point is 01:09:06 Yes, I think that's what you'll do. You go up to six. What also happens is I'm going to allow you to mechanically choose. Would you rather heal rapidly or gain armor? Gain armor, that's sick of scut. Tuck you leap out and you stand up and you see this 15-foot tall entity that wants to put you in your sister in the night. It has haunted you your entire life. It's looking in your direction with no care as if it's only noticing another ant and that is when you are filled with range. You are ready to complete what you
Starting point is 01:09:43 set out to do at the beginning when you found out that Maya was here. You are ready to complete what you set out to do at the beginning when you found out that Maya was here You are culminating and you feel your flesh begin to crawl in a way you've never experienced before and you look down at your arms where you're holding this you know fake doll of Mia and the forearms begin to bubble and before before you know it, this thick, kind of blue carapace begins to emerge out of your flesh. And you can feel your shoulders, and your shoulder blade suddenly becoming thicker, harder, stronger, until I tell you otherwise, you now have an armor rating of three. That means any damage that comes to you,
Starting point is 01:10:28 you may reduce three of it, but there is this now visible blue shimmering exoskeleton in many portions of your body. Agent Hyde, unless you had something to say, you notice the entity's attention, the stranger's attention, go towards the east side of the building, and it is no longer staring in your direction. What do you do?
Starting point is 01:10:49 I just make the side to go. You give the signal. Yeah, and then I'm going to step out, hold the gun, and get people to start heading towards the car. So you're going to wait in place until you know everyone has exited the building and is making their way. Absolutely, I hope you're glass one out. Does anyone resist that? Is everyone just rushing towards the cars? Okay, all of you, one at a time, begin briskly walking towards the cars. Joe
Starting point is 01:11:16 following. As you step out, you can see anyone who is paying attention can see an enormous person, boomerer your eyes are straight focus But still it's as if there's a tree suddenly where one shouldn't be I will ask anyone that did not Prepared specifically not look around need to make a sanity check. That's merit and Joe Joe unfortunately failed and he is going to and he is going to roll at the floor. At least Joe knows now, I guess. Joe, don't scream, Joe, Joe, don't scream, Joe. Don't let me do it, Joe, don't let me do it, Joe.
Starting point is 01:11:53 Yeah, I think what happens is that, you know, Joe steps out and is walking for a moment. Joe is right next to Warp, and he just looks at the obvious thing less than 50 feet away from you and just says, Mother of God, and he kind of stands still staring at it. I don't do a goddamn thing. Does anyone else notice this? Do I hear this?
Starting point is 01:12:16 If you're paying attention as I think you mentioned you were to the group, you do hear Joe kind of mutter out loud. I look back and see that he's frozen, I'm gonna grab him by the collar and bring him along with me. As you are heading towards the car, this is the second round. Let's go to the top of the initiative now. So, hi, you're now at the back of the line. Everyone has moved out of the building. Are you now just following?
Starting point is 01:12:39 Where is Tuck? Yeah, you did not see Tuck come out. I didn't see Tuck going. I'm not there, but keep going. I'm going to start slowly moving out, but I'm still trying, I'm trying to, I want to move, but I want to also try to wait for Tuck at the same time. I don't know if that's possible.
Starting point is 01:12:55 Maybe if I can go halfway of movement, but I'm trying to. You're trying to stay with the group, but you're still, you're a little slower because you're waiting for it. I'm trying, yeah, I'm trying to, hopefully, see Tuck is going to exit, but I'm still trying to stay with the group, but you're a little slower because you're waiting for it. I'm trying to hopefully see Tuck is going to exit, but I'm still trying to move with the group as possible to be at least their flank.
Starting point is 01:13:11 Got it. Tuck, you are next in the initiative. This thing is looking at you. It does seem like it's acknowledging you, but it isn't necessarily concerned with you, and you get the feeling that in a moment it's about to turn around. I lean down to the sweater clad lump in my arms and I say loudly, hang on baby girl, and then I shoot it.
Starting point is 01:13:32 You'll just pull out your gun and fire at it. I have my gun, I fire, and then as soon as I see that it's been hit or it's been shot at, I'm going to start backing away, not yelling, but like keeping eye contact with it. Like, come on. Gotcha. Go ahead and make your attack roll. I don't think I can technically fail. So basically the only way you can fail is if you roll a critical failure. So that's why you'll roll. Okay. I know. You're able to hit it. Make that damage attack. I think it's a D10. It's going to be like four hit points. I'm going to be the sister dice six.
Starting point is 01:14:14 You fire at this thing and it's like hitting the broad side of a barn. You just can't miss. It throws its hands up as it feels these little beastings hitting its chest and you are walking backwards. Give me a quick alertness chest. 63 under 70. You finish firing and you can immediately tell that there is another one, another five meter tall person advancing on you, emerging from the forest directly behind you, so from the north. Cool. Okay. Okay. from the forest directly behind you so from the north. I mean, cool. Okay, okay.
Starting point is 01:14:47 Warp. You're just moving, I see. I am moving. Just moving? I don't think there's anything else I can do. So yeah, I'm moving. Okay, boom, are you doing the same? Oh, yeah.
Starting point is 01:14:58 Marit, you've got Joe by the collar, the two of you are moving, even though we can't help. There's two cars here, right? There's Mia's car. I'm sorry, there's Roo's car and there's the car here. Yes, there's a car that took and Rue he came in and the rest of you came in.
Starting point is 01:15:14 You know that you could still fit, took and Mia and Rue he in the car with you. And you went in your car. Do I see any of this with Tuck and that thing in the corner there? By this point, yes, you can see it. You hear the gunshots, hide. Everyone who is looking for Tuck can now tell that Tuck is fair distance away on the east side of the building firing at this thing who has thrown its hand away. I look to hide at the front. I say, let's get everybody in. Start going. I'll provide cover.
Starting point is 01:15:42 Well, they run for the second car and I'll try and get a little out of here. Copy. Let's move out. I just racked my six hour and I prime it in that direction. I wait for everyone to get into the car. You turn your focus completely on the car. All of you moving towards it. That's when you all notice a third shadow emerging from the far side of the parking lot.
Starting point is 01:16:03 It is about as far away from you as the other one that Tuck is currently engaging with is, and you guys are kind of smack dab in the middle. On Mia's turn, she ignores Tuck's advice, and Rookie is kind of struggling to hold her as Mia is like, Haley, Haley, kind of screaming for her sister. She is squirming enough that I'm going to force Ruhi to make a dex, the strength of her dex
Starting point is 01:16:34 are both about the same. She's got a 50% chance of hanging on to her. That is a critical failure with an 88. In the Mayhem, Ruhi slips and falls and the girl is out of her grasp. Where would Mia have been in between me and the creature that just does that? She is directly behind you, so you look and you can see behind you that she has fallen and the girl has slipped. Okay. At the top of the initiative, we have high.
Starting point is 01:17:04 I guess I'm just going to try to get into a position where I'm in front of everybody who's trying to get into the car. I know me as fallen but I still want to be at least ahead of everybody. As I see these're basically going to be the last person in the car. If that's what your intention is, you have to survive another round to get to the car, and then you can get into the car, and you guys will be in the vehicle. Mia is dropped and tuck you and anyone else that is looking at this individual who has raised their arm up, they become opaque. Bitch.
Starting point is 01:17:43 And you can even see some of the raindrops falling through them. They almost become like a ghost, but they're still very much visible, easy to still see, especially in the rain. With that said, I think they're going to turn their attention to the group, and they are going to start walking towards the group. So how you will see this entity, this semi-permeable entity,
Starting point is 01:18:06 walking towards you all. The bigger problem, though, is that you can see that there's another one, another flash of lightning reveals just the barest of details. Again, this kind of intricate jewelry and tattoos and even some paintings on their faces and bodies that are now running in the rain, feathers, unique feathers in their hair, and they look like the same son of a bitch that took you in the night when you were a child. What are you doing? How many of them are moving toward Mia? I would say that it's almost as if that is their main focus.
Starting point is 01:18:40 Well, then I'm also, I'm using all of my weird-ass speed, all of my, like, anything. And I'm just trying to take the shortest path to my sister. And I realize that's a big far distance. And I'm going to have to pass them, but I'm just trying to, like, book this way. So this one that emerged out of the woods spends its action just walking past you as if it knows that you're a threat but it's got bigger fish to fry and it becomes like a race between you and this thing.
Starting point is 01:19:12 I think because of your improved dexterity and you do have a faster dexter than it, I think you can quickly run past it but you are still, you're basically around behind the rest of the team. So the team is going to continue to move around and you're going to continue to remain a round. That's all I'm saying between it and then that's all I care about. I think it notices that you're keeping up and in fact trying to get past it.
Starting point is 01:19:38 Warp, you continue to move your entire round and you get to the car. Boomer, you spend your entire turn and you get to the car. Areomer, you spend your entire turn and you get to the car. Are you moving towards the driver's seat? Oh, yes I am. Okay, I'm gonna remind you that I have almost always in the past asked you to make sanity rules for driving. Yes, I know. Okay, Marit, you're spending your whole turn
Starting point is 01:19:58 with Joe moving to the car. On the stranger's turn, the one that is in the parking lot basically on the far end of the parking lot Seize it's two allies emerging from the other side of the cabin Seize the mad dash that is happening towards the car Those of you looking in the direction can see it reach for some kind of jewelry around its neck And it plucks it and then it throws it in your direction It does not land on top of you. In fact, it even smacks the roof of a random backpacker's car and then lands in the mud.
Starting point is 01:20:33 Those of you with any kind of familiarity with clay or pottery, it sounds like a clay pot smashing. Those of you who are getting to the car, any of you are cl- this thing is within 20 feet of you. This- this kind of broken necklace or talisman or whatever this was. Those of you who look in its direction can see a bubbling, white, fleshy thing beginning to grow out of it. It begins crawling out of the talisman and is clearly moving towards you. Mia and Ruhi, who are both on the floor, no one said that they were going to stop and pick them up. If someone really feels strongly that they would, I will allow a red con there. I found Boomer was, yeah. If she was down, I would help them up. Okay, so Boomer, you are still around away from the car. I got to go for Mia. That's more important.
Starting point is 01:21:25 I got to go for Mia. I need you to make an opposed strength check as Mia is attempting to get towards top. 46. Wow, they just, they rolled a 15 to succeed on their strength check. Normally, the higher number wins. So I'm going to give it, I'm going to give it to Boomer Boomer you're able to scoop her up into your arms but she is fighting you reaching for top. That's fair. I'll try to back away from the crawling, you leave there.
Starting point is 01:21:58 High you've gone to the car. What are you doing? It's everybody in the car. No one has gotten into the car now is the round that you can attempt to get into the car. The only one who isn't like in distance of doing it this turn is boom. I cannot get into the car until somebody gets into the car. So I'm holding an action to fire if I need to until somebody everybody gets into this car. You can clearly see the broken talisman in which a familiar white goo is growing out of it. Just, just so you're aware if you want to shoot at it.
Starting point is 01:22:31 I will shoot at it. If it's close enough to everybody and it's gonna harm them, I will shoot at it. It is growing rapidly in a way that you have not seen before. So yes, it does appear like it could be hostile. So go ahead and make that attack against it. And then the car... That is a 10, a success with a 10.
Starting point is 01:22:52 Go ahead and make your D10 attack, or for your damage. That's 10 points of damage. You shoot it, there's something different about this one. It makes a similar squeaking noise, but almost even more animalistic. It cries out almost in a way, but it is still rapidly growing. Tuck, you are basically side-to-side next to this 5-meter tall individual. You can get to Mia on this round if you wanted to. What do you want to do? Do I see my wife's on the ground? Yes.
Starting point is 01:23:26 You can see Boomer holding Mia and Ruhi is on the floor, like trying to get up out of the mud. I'm fine. I guess she's not me. I go to Ruh and I pick her up and I start pulling her toward the car. OK, I think you're able to do that. There is now, you know, maybe 10, 15 feet between you and Boomer as you are
Starting point is 01:23:45 bringing Ruhi closer to the car. And I've got my firearm out and I'm just keeping keeping him with hide, I guess. Warp. Do you want to get into the car? Now that Ruhs up, I do. Everyone else is heading towards the car. I'm getting in the car. The door I assume has already been unlocked as someone has the keys. I'm gonna say Boomer has the driving keys But they probably on the walkover unlock this because it's remote Right or you're able to clamor into the car. No problem boomer. It's your turn Running with to that car and I'm gonna be like kick don't wiggle see happy sister run
Starting point is 01:24:23 Like try to get me and not to kick me so I can run me and get in the car. You're able to get to the car basically by the end of this round. Marit, are you getting to the car? No, I'm at the passenger door. I'm waiting for Haley and Peru to get in position. I'm right by a hide.
Starting point is 01:24:40 I'm gonna take a shot at that goo if I can. Go ahead. I have a 37 under 70. It's a success. Go ahead and roll that damage. Now they take seven points of damage. You fire into this little crater as well. It's still growing rapidly and its skin is even beginning to change into this kind of green, gray flesh. You even see an eyeball pop out and and it humilily looks in your direction. Joe I think and I think he's gonna shoot in the direction of that person. He does succeed and he's gonna roll a D10 to do some damage. Yes significant amount of damage actually, enough to cause it to slow down and stop as it gets fired upon. It takes the bullets and just kind of still coming with this kind of grimace on its face.
Starting point is 01:25:34 On their turn, the stranger that has just been shot is going to, make a familiar sweeping motion and another kind of broken branch that has fallen over the side of the Ranger Station. Wise over its shoulder and in the direction of the car. I'm going to say basically everybody at the car is gonna need to make a dodge roll, hide, Joe, and merit. Can I help by putting my weird armor yourself in between?
Starting point is 01:26:06 Yes. Yes, if you would like to absorb up to your armor's damage of the branch you could, you could absorb three damage, basically. I have a success. I rolled a 99. Oh, you climbed! Anyone that just regular failed, you're going to take no damage as Tuck is able to absorb some of it.
Starting point is 01:26:24 They leap up and with their forearm like that the branch just splits in half, but the other half of it comes tumbling towards you. So anyone that critically failed is going to take one point of damage since Tuck absorbed most of it. That includes Joe who's going to take a large branch to the head and he kind of tumbles against the car. And so do you hide? Uh, does that make my armor go away? No, it remains.
Starting point is 01:26:50 That's so cool. You all witness, Tuck, make a superhuman leap into the air and like slice this branch in half with their forearm. And when they land, you can see that there are kind of iridescent blue carapace segments of her body. I think this warring to sanity check from the team. If you witness this, I'll say warp, you can choose not to. If you're in the car, but everyone else probably will have to.
Starting point is 01:27:15 Yeah, I've had to be in front of them. So when we're seeing Tuck do that, it's just me. Uh, the fuck? Why? Just eat them in a away, I failed. Yeah, I failed as well. Yeah. Okay, another point of, just one point of sanity is going to be reduced as you witness
Starting point is 01:27:35 tough, do something completely unnatural and out of the blue. Fuck. The strangers, one of them, before the action, the other ones are giving you distance. And it's hard to tell if they're giving distance between you or between what they've just unleashed. Mia, seeing these strangers walking up, one of them corcorial, just start screaming over your shoulder, boomer and you start to feel for tremble in a way that isn't normal. It's as if she herself is a vibrating vessel. I'm going to give you her round to decide as a free action.
Starting point is 01:28:13 Do you continue holding onto her or do you let her go? I can't. No, because I'm going to think something's pulling at her. I'm going to hold on even tighter. It's an instinctive thing. I can't. I can't. So the big sister instinct, I got it. She begins to vibrate her hand reaching out screaming. She succeeds on her ability.
Starting point is 01:28:36 And though you are holding on to her, you can feel her practically levitating out of your arms. And this directionality, this energy is emanating from her and it's been directed towards this stranger in front of you. And it becomes this ugly, dirty screen. And then there is this...like a shockwave. Because of the rain, you can see the literal dome that expands around you and the girl. The car being rocked to the side, the windows shattering. You are going to take six damage, boomer, from this hit, as you are blown back away from.
Starting point is 01:29:15 You're not going to walk? I'm OK. I'm OK. You land splatting into the mud and sliding a few feet. Give me a Constitution times five role to determine whether you're stunned. Oh, not even 70. For the next round you are stunned as blood is coming out of your nose and your ears and your eyes and you're just staring at the black skies rain falls down on you.
Starting point is 01:29:40 Just feeling as if the wind has been knocked out of you in a way you've never felt before. The rest of you witness, and I'll say, tough, you are kind of in between all of this, you witness this cone, it hits this five meter tall individual, and their mouth and their eyes open wide, and you see them evaporating in front of you. Just starts in the center, and little by little, they just turn to dust and are washed away in the rain. The other one who is incorporeal beside it notices and is staring between his dying comrade and the group. I think everyone again needs to make a sanity check as you witness this incredible event. Failure, fail with the 57. Fail with the 97. Fail.
Starting point is 01:30:27 Witnessing this, if you fail, you're gonna roll the D4, and I'll say that Boomer, you are not able to see what. Well, it's not so much you're not able to see what happens, but you still experience something that is sanity risking. So I do think I need to- It might just out of it, or it's like- Here's what I'll say when you come to you're gonna Make a sanity check so you can either roll in now or you can wait until I ask You got triple zeros That's that's bad. You're gonna roll to me for
Starting point is 01:31:00 Those of you that succeed you don't lose any. Those that you fail you roll a D4. If you want to project, now it's time to do it. I can't project anymore. I'm gonna project on Miranda. I lost one. I'm gonna sink it into my bond with gratitude. Just three. Just three.
Starting point is 01:31:18 Rookie. I will roll now to see whether they succeed. They do succeed. They're sanity check. At this point, it's just all chaos. They're just ducking their head and following orders, like Tuck Told her not to look around. Joe also, Joe is going to fail his sanity check.
Starting point is 01:31:34 You're just blasting his sanity away. Whatever hearing Joe had is gone. At the bottom of the initiative, the thing that has crawled out of the clay talisman, whatever it was, is now the size of a person. It has grown exponentially in incredible rate. Is moving towards you and it is able to reach all of you, but it is not able to act on its turn. You have one turn left to get in this car before it's going to try to strike out at one of you, but it is not able to act on its turn. You have one turn left to get in this car before it's
Starting point is 01:32:06 going to try to strike out at one of you. You all can see that it is not just a white blob. It is gray and green. It has these white veins. You can see small mouths beginning to emerge out of it with these jagged, bloody teeth, eyeballs, a different kind, some look human, some look animal. It is an abomination to hide. It looks very, very familiar. Hide, I'm gonna ask for a very special sanity check from you as you recognize this thing. I hate it here.
Starting point is 01:32:51 It's a fail with the 51. At the top of the initiative is hide, hide. You see this thing, it's familiar to your blink. What are you doing? Yeah, I think I'm going to get into the car. I think I'm going to get into the car, into the driver's seat, and try to get everybody to get into the car and do immediately close the door, and try to get us out.
Starting point is 01:33:10 If I can't get us out of here, I will try to get us out of here. You run around to the driver's side, and you can see Boomer, splaid on the mud about five feet away from you. I would get in the car. But here's the thing, Boomer has the key. Do I see that the keys are on boomer?
Starting point is 01:33:26 Mm-hmm. I think you know the keys are on boomer. And I will be just grab the keys and get in the car. Tuck, you have successfully dragged Mia to the car. You could put both yourself and Mia in the car right now if you want to. I'm going to put myself in the car. I'm going to tell Rue to get in the car with Mia.
Starting point is 01:33:43 And then I'm gonna call to merit. Merit get Boomer. I've got you, get inside the car. Drive away if you have to, I can Boomer and the other. I throw the keys, the other key, the other car's keys to him, just in case. Warp, you're in the back of the car unless you wanna do something specific.
Starting point is 01:34:01 Yeah, that's perfect. Okay, Boomer, you are on the ground, unable to move, still trying to catch your breath, merit it's your turn. Would you run in around to grab boomer, to get boomer up to their feet? And then I'm holding an action to help them into the car or to get into the car myself if boomer's able to do it without.
Starting point is 01:34:21 Joe gets into the car on the stranger's turns. The one that is incorporeal becomes corporeal. They start walking past the Ranger station as if they're going to try to head you off on the exit. The one in the far distance in the end of the parking lot is just kind of watching their creation do its job. Mia, she's with you and she seems kind of delirious as if she's mumbling and looking in all directions. It's not quite a seizure, but it's just it's just it's strange behavior.
Starting point is 01:34:54 I'm gonna prop her up between Ruinai. I That's it. I'm just gonna prop her up between Ruinai and I'm gonna have my hand with the gun out the window. So you are technically the last person in the car, right? Yes, I wanna be the last person in the car. If you sit in the back, you won't be able to stick your hand out of the car. However, I will remind you,
Starting point is 01:35:14 there is an ever-growing blob of slime that looks like it's about to hit the car. So if I'm in the back, I can't put my hand out the side. If I'm in the front, I can. Yes. I'll just be in the front seat. I'll be in front seat. I'll't put my hand out the side. If I'm in the front, I can. Yes. I'll just be in the front scene. I'll be in front scene. I'll clamber up here in front.
Starting point is 01:35:30 This body of flesh smacks itself against a car and the whole thing works. Those of you in the back, you look and you see on the glass this gray green flesh with these white veins in it, smack against the window and like, Gak is stuck to the glass and you see eyes kind of crawling up the glass and gapping mouths that are opening and closing and trying to scratch
Starting point is 01:35:57 through the glass and you see this flesh slowly beginning to crawl up the side of the car as it continues to grow, it is going to make a grab attack on the car to try to hold it in place. It's that one. God damn it. High, you only know that merit and boomer are outside. Everyone else is in the car.
Starting point is 01:36:15 What are you doing? I'm turning the car around and I'm driving away. The car begins to speed. The entity did not seem to get the hole that it wanted to on you and the car suction cups off of it and begins to drive in the mud. Hide as you are making it towards past the range of station towards the exiting street. This enormous lumbering man is going past you. I need a drive roll to see if you can avoid smashing into the side of it. That's the success you can eat. That's right.
Starting point is 01:36:47 Dude, you sharp turn around this guy. You can even see it's enormous hand. Reach down to try to grab the vehicle, but you are too fast and you outmaneuver it. Tuck and warp your both in the car. Do you do anything while you're sitting there? I'm gonna just reach out the back of the car and start shooting at the one that menaced us. Make that attack.
Starting point is 01:37:12 I succeed. Make that damage roll. Yes. You strike at it, you fire, you shoot out the window and fire and for anyone else, this would be incredibly difficult to do in rain, how fast the height is driving, but just like an ace, like there's something about you now that you're able to swing around and fire at this thing.
Starting point is 01:37:32 You fire into its side, and it kind of crumbles, and as it begins to fall, there is this very bright blue light that flashes it fills the car and when it dissipates that stranger is gone Boomer you finally come to coughing and spitting up blood Merit is standing over you what do you do? We need to go the other car we got to move now I think boomer you're able to stand with merits help, but I don't think you guys are able to move maybe more than six feet, you know, as that standing up took most of the time.
Starting point is 01:38:14 You have your vehicle, which is about around a way. You have two strangers, which are much farther from you than this thing that is now the size of a Buick. And it is now drawing its attention to you, its eyes, its many eyes kind of shifting towards you. Marry it is your turn. Okay. Yeah, I want to continue to move sort of skirting this thing the best I can to get closer
Starting point is 01:38:38 to that car and if I can move and take a shot at this thing I'm gonna try. Go ahead and do so. I have a 53 under my far arms of 70, so it's a success. Go ahead and roll the damage. Nine points of damage. You're going there, it. You shoot out a couple of eyes
Starting point is 01:38:54 and you cause it to life and shift, but like an intelligent animal, it seems to learn from what's happening. And it's kind of slinks behind a few cars. You see, it very quickly roll behind a few cars where it cannot be as easily seen. Even though it's about as big as the cars, most of it is defended by a van. But you do now see a clear space to get to your vehicle. Thank God. Yeah, I'm busting it with Bo rumor on my side. I'm trying to keep them close.
Starting point is 01:39:25 Hi, you are booking it out of here. I just need one drive roll to determine how difficult it is to get out of here and to battle the storm. It's a fail with the 59. You can feel the wind trying to blow the car off the road. The windows are all broken so you are being pelted by the warm rain.
Starting point is 01:39:48 I'm going to say that basically you slip and slide enough that you do hit a tree here and there on the side of the vehicle as you slip and slide. Because of this, everyone in the vehicle is going to have to take two damage. I'm also going to roll a lethal your roll just for the vehicle to see how it's doing. Okay, it fails. So I'm going to say the body of the vehicle takes a lot of damage in this. You know, you have to come to a stop, you restart it, and get it going again, and it's a bit of an of an ordeal, but you're all only going to take two damage. This constitutes basically the majority of the trip, and you're able to continue going out of here somewhat safely, although taking the occasional bad bump or the occasional smack against the tree. Back to Boomer and Merritt.
Starting point is 01:40:36 Are you making the mad dash of the car? Merritt's going straight for the driver's seat. Not in plane, and I'm running right to passenger. Back to the back, but I'm close. Who's driving? I'm driving. I'm gonna hand boomer my gun as soon as I get in. Both of you are able to get to the vehicle and get in. You start the car, merit, and you have to survey your surroundings
Starting point is 01:40:58 and you look in the direction of the exit where you see a clear view, you start the car on the next round you can get going. At the end of this round, however, that thing that you are shooting at comes from around behind one of the vehicles against your vehicle is going to attempt to hold onto it. Again, it fails. On your next turn, which is right now, you are able to drive. Is that what you do?
Starting point is 01:41:28 Listen, I'm going to do something. I never do, and I want you to trust me when I do it. I'm going to speed, and I turn on the ignition, and I pull it into drive, and I absolutely floor it. I put my foot through the fucking floor. That came partially deaf and blind right now. Please give me a drive-roll merit to see how you fare in the shore. Merit is mentioning affirmations to himself
Starting point is 01:41:53 the same that he does in the mirror every day. He's reminding himself to stay calm. He's even reciting old safety videos of driving from driver's head in the past. And he thankfully passes with a 38 under 50. safety videos of driving from driver's head in the past and He thankfully passes with a 38 under 50 You're able to maneuver a little bit better than than hide is but you're you're able to get out of there if you look If you look in your rear-view mirror
Starting point is 01:42:20 You can still see a very large body the the stranger that had thrown that thing, walking forward, that beast, that fleshy thing also pursues you. Because of your successful drive roll, I will say that it keeps up for about a solid minute. You can see it rolling behind you. I'm trying. I'm trying. I've never done this before. Eventually, something happens where the entire body of this thing seizes, it sort of stops in its tracks, it begins to seize, and as you drive off, it fades into the darkness, but it seems as if the thing is beginning to self-destruct
Starting point is 01:42:58 or come apart in a way that is similar to what you saw in the cabin. Oh, no. My God! Just some middle finger up, fuck you! way that is similar to what you saw in the cabin. Oh no. Fuck! Just a middle finger! Fuck you! Fuck you! Oh, I hate this job. I fucking hate this job.
Starting point is 01:43:14 There is about 10 to 15 minutes of driving. Does anything happen in either of these cars, other than the focus of just getting out of here? As soon as we're going, I'm calling and just seeing if they're fucking alive. Uh, the merit hands the phone over to Boomer because he doesn't use his phone while he drives. You're live, are you alive? Both of you are holy shit. Tonight, I have passed in every fucking car, but boy, I have.
Starting point is 01:43:41 How am I alive? How are we all alive? Oh god. Okay, keep driving. Don't turn around. Don't put out. Don't stop. Keep going. Keep going. Where did she say? It said don't stop. Keep going. What do you say? Where are we going? Where are we going? We're just driving.
Starting point is 01:43:58 There we going. Out away. Not here anymore. Does height have a location? Ask height where we're going to stop? Are we driving for the whole night? Hi, you want to stop somewhere? You want to just go. You're gonna keep going. And then we'll, once we get out of the storm,
Starting point is 01:44:12 we can figure out where we're gonna actually go. But for now, we should just keep as much distance as possible. There's a town like six miles away from here, but other than that, we're gonna, it's gonna be a while before we try to other places stop in another 10, 15 minutes. I'll take a shift driving after me, too.
Starting point is 01:44:27 I say, you can go, Wing, as far as this gas takes us. You drive on. Sergio, I do wanna have a moment with Merit and actually, Ginli, like, grab his arm and, like, thank you for not leaving me. I would never leave you. What are you talking about? I would never leave you.
Starting point is 01:44:42 You're here. We're good. I squeeze back, and I probably squeeze harder than I intend to. And I don't think my hand leaves you. I think he starts driving with one hand. I was gonna say, I'm gonna grip his hand the whole time, because it's like she's actually in a very big terraform right now. We're good. We're good. Why don't you roll down the window? Maybe you need some air here.
Starting point is 01:45:00 Yeah, you're right. You're right. We need some air. Do you roll down the window, Boomer? I guess I do. Yes, I do. Okay, you are soaked in you're right, you're right, you need to be there. You roll down the window, boom. I guess I do, yes I do. OK, you are soaked in rain as you roll back. I'm putting it back up. I rolled it up and I put it back up. Maybe not. That was scooping.
Starting point is 01:45:15 That was scooping. 15 minutes of winding road, and you finally see it ahead, like a sun shower, like a, I mean, really it looks like a wall more than anything of weather. And you can see not sunshine, but moonlight, stars. You're maybe a hundred feet away, but high, you are the first to notice
Starting point is 01:45:39 that just before that break in weather, there is a row of small bodies, small human bodies. And they seem to be lined up in a row holding hands blocking the street. It's all the other kids. I just stop, I slow down. The car comes to a screeching halt and about 80 feet away from the vehicle with the headlights on them now. You can see children all holding hands scrunching their faces from the rain trying to shield themselves dressed in mud, Kate rags.
Starting point is 01:46:15 There's about six of them and they're all standing in the road. That's when you notice movement off to your left and you can see this enormous figure emerging out of the woods. It spends its turn basically getting to the vehicle. It's now or never hide. Are you going through or are you going around? Can you go around? Can I go around? Is there a way to go around? I can't do that. You can go around the children but it's going to be a process of turning the wheel, hitting the gas, going around I will need a drive check to see if you can succeed.
Starting point is 01:46:48 Whatever I can do to try to go around these kids, I want to do that. I can't go forward. If you want to try to go around them safely, make a drive roll. Can I be looking, can I use alertness to try and help her find things that are like going to cause us danger? Can I try to be like a beer lookout on the side? I think that's fair enough. Yes, you can have 20% to that role. It doesn't matter. It's a navy two.
Starting point is 01:47:13 Damn. It's OK. It's OK. You swore around the children, but it's too much of a turn and the vehicle drops into a ditch. None of you take any damage, but the vehicle is now effectively stuck in a ditch. Married, you pull up on a scene that appears that there is one more of these things that
Starting point is 01:47:32 is reached for the vehicle, but it has swerved past and has now gotten itself stuck in a ditch and what appears to be small humanoids past this thing, but it's fixing itself up, upright to turn to the vehicle. Run it over. Boomer, if we lose this car, we can't get away from the fucking thing. I pull into the side of the road. I take the keys out of the ignition, I give it to Boomer, I get out of the car, I draw my weapon, and I'm going to take a shot as best as I can at the head of this thing.
Starting point is 01:48:02 I need to draw its attention so it doesn't go for any of it. It's going to kill you. Go ahead. An 18 under 70 hot. That is a success. Roll your damage. It'll take 10 points of damage. It does not like that. Going back into a kind of initiative. Everyone in the car, you can feel that the vehicle is stuck. You can hear the Everyone in the car, you making their way towards the clearing.
Starting point is 01:48:49 And who is carrying Mia? Yeah, I'm gonna turn to them and say, Mia, I need you to listen to me. Go with Rue and I will be right behind you. Do not try to get down. Hyde, you clamor out of the car. Tuck, you clamor out of the car. What do you do?
Starting point is 01:49:06 I am going to also take shots at it because I saw Orson out there and I'm going to also try and disable it as best I can. Make that attack. 15, absolutely hits. Roll the damage. Holy shit, this. It is not going to be about that, and you can see the yellow murky blood emerging from its bullet wounds, and it does seem to be struggling, but it is desperately trying to get towards
Starting point is 01:49:37 Mia as it sees finally the quarry. Is it stunned because it took 17 damage? That's a great question. I will roll to see that. With a very high constitution, it still seems. OK, but that tracks warp. I assume you're running. Sorry, yes.
Starting point is 01:49:51 I'm going to try to run in front of Rue and Mia so that there's one of us in front and behind him. OK, got it. Boomer, you're in the car. What are you doing? You've got the keys. Are the kids just still six of them going to be like, Merit, do I get the kids?
Starting point is 01:50:03 Do what do you want? Get want? Like, get them. Yeah, save them. We need to, we need to win something. Get them. Yeah. Can I, uh, I can't just leave them here. I got that, I got that. So I'm going to try to get in the car and try to get close to the,
Starting point is 01:50:16 is there a way I can get closer to the kids? Like, I think that yes, you can just basically drive the car forward, leaving merit behind. Yeah. And you can pull up next to the children. Are you going to get out of the car? Or are you going to like roll down the window or something? I'm going to roll down the window and I want the doors and like, can you get in?
Starting point is 01:50:31 Or do you need me to get you in? The window goes down, you pull over and you yell at the children. The one closest to you looks in your direction and you realize that their skin is gray and dead. Their eyes light and it begins clamoring to get into the vehicle. That's it. I still have the gas pedal. I'm going to hit the gas.
Starting point is 01:50:55 I'll stop at the gas. I think you've spent your turn getting to it. You can hit the gas on the next one. On its turn, it's going to clamor into the vehicle and it's going to bite into it. It rolls a 78, which means as soon as it gets in the car it's like clamoring for you, but you immediately as soon as you see it come through the window like you just got swinging your arms wildly and it is not managed to grab you, but it is scrambling to bite into you as if it's a rabbit animal. Bye bye. Time to go.
Starting point is 01:51:25 Married. It's your turn. I'm taking another shot at this fucking thing. We can't let it get us I now see that the rest of them are running away. I see that boomers getting chased after we need at least one of these Occasion's saw go ahead and fire another 38 38 and he takes This time just five points of damage. Again, there is this brilliant blue flash of light that stuns you all for just the briefest of seconds. You have to close your eyes and shield yourself from the brightness of it. And when it goes away and you can open your eyes again. This enormous figure is nowhere to be seen. Everyone is able to make it out of the storm,
Starting point is 01:52:08 and it's such a bizarre feeling to suddenly no longer be covered in rain and to be hit with that humid warm summer air, that California air. And you can look up and you can see this pillar that is wall, this enormous veil of rain that is hitting that side of the park, but not on the side that you're on. Boomer, this thing is thrashing at you like a wild animal.
Starting point is 01:52:35 There is this incredible flash of blue light and then when you're about to strike at this thing and it's already gone inanimate. It's now a lifeless corpse in your car that at worst is taking up a bunch of space on your car. Oh my god, that's that's a boomer screening like let's probably more fear that the body of a child is in the window of our car. I think you need to make a sanity check once you realize these are not normal children. Marit, you can witness on your turn all of the five remaining children just kind of drop like stones where they stand. You're gonna roll the D6 please. Why?
Starting point is 01:53:17 Okay, if you don't project that, you'm gonna have to project it. Okay, roll the D4. Oh, sweet baby, Jesus, I got a one. Okay, you're going to reduce your sanity to loss to four. You only lose four sanity. Have you hit your breaking point, right? I'm exactly the breaking point. Well, I did it. Yes, I did. Remove one will power and one from one of the bonds. You are either going to fully fight or freeze. I would argue you're going to flee. Is it the exact cause of the corpse? Like I'm getting away from the actual body body of itself?
Starting point is 01:54:00 Because that's different than if I'm fleeing everybody in the car. I will allow you to make that distinction. Because of the cracking point and all that. I think it's that thing trying to bite her and then it just goes dead. It just like for a surr out. I'm trying to get out of the car as it moves. Like it's moving.
Starting point is 01:54:14 I'm getting out of it. You basically put your foot off the gas and it just idols and begins to roll forward. You tumble out of the vehicle screaming, screaming about a body, screaming about a dead child. We are out of initiative. Those of you on the other out of the vehicle screaming, screaming about a body, screaming about a dead child. We are out of initiative. Those of you on the other side of the veil, you see the car just slowly roll out of the storm. Merritt, you see boomer frantically getting out of the car and the kind of clamoring towards the side of
Starting point is 01:54:39 the street. What do you do? I'm gonna run for boomer. At first, Merritt was so focused on these children and so just caught up in everything as he's changing the magazine on his sig. But as soon as he sees that Boomer is running free from the car, he's gonna go straight to them and try and help them out of whatever it's going on. Boomer is thrashing and screaming about a body and wanting to get away and it seems inconsolable. If you like, you can attempt a psychotherapy role to try to calm them down and break them
Starting point is 01:55:12 out of this. I fail my psychotherapy with a 76 over 30. The rest of you on the other side of the veil, you see this car slowly but surely rolling past you with no one inside of it. What do you do? I don't think Tuck is paying attention to anything else that's happening when all the other kids dropped. She's sprinting for me. You are able to scoop her up in your arms and you hear her whisper. I protected you and you protected me.
Starting point is 01:55:40 He did real good. You did really good, baby. He did so good and I'm just gonna like gather her and Rue against me and hold them. Is no one going for the vehicle? Uh, hi, go for the vehicle. Hi, I think it's easy enough for you to rush after the car, get into it, stop it, and then you immediately look to your right hand side, and you see that there is the body of a dead child. Looks to be about eight.
Starting point is 01:56:03 Yeah, wow, it's her name. Yeah, I think that warrants a sanity check. Yeah. It's, wow, concerning. Let's have failed with a 61. It is not attacking you and you did not see what it did to Boomer. So I'll say that you only lose one point of sanity for just the disgusting nature of this. Merit Boomer is almost inconsolable, lose one point of sanity for just the disgusting nature of this.
Starting point is 01:56:25 Merit Boomer is almost inconsolable, but after a few minutes you're able to at least get her to stop running away from you and tearing out of your arms, you are able to get her to move. But as you're sort of getting her out and getting her up, the rain starts to subside. And by the time that Merit and Boomer walk out, the rain is almost a trickle, and you can see it in real time as this storm is slowly beginning to recede. And inch by inch, the storm returns towards the Ranger Station. The longer you stand here, the longer those black clouds begin to just dissipate, and the
Starting point is 01:57:05 sound of the rain begins to sound. I think Merritt's focus after he's looked up at the sky is just returning back to those children, and he just can't take his eyes off of what's happened, and what continues to happen. I'm going to walk away, like, I don't know, just walking walking away from the bodies as much as possible like heading towards the group and like I'll be frank in a very because I'm still like with my head my ears the blow I'm kind of just I'm done kind of like I just need to walk away boomer is a little delirious but remains around the group
Starting point is 01:57:40 Joe stands up and it's just like what the fuck was that? You don't have to answer that question. I wasn't expecting you to know. Yo, what did it look like? It looked like giant people coming out of the woods to get the girl. Is your answer? I don't know what that means. He pulls out his cell phone and he's looking through it as fuck. I don't have a signal. There's somebody in San Francisco, I got a call.
Starting point is 01:58:08 Ah, you don't need to tell anyone about this. Hi, it's gonna get out of the car. No, no, no, I'm telling you, this one, she's good with this kind of stuff. It's how I met her, she's good with these kinds of things. Who else is gonna get you to? Delilah. He knows about weird shit like this.
Starting point is 01:58:22 Can we just regroup out of this forest? It's cold, like, can we just like go to anywhere else? We need to call someone for the body, someone has to wait. There's no signal. Look, we can off it and we all scrunch in the car. I don't think nine people can fit into the vehicle that tuck and me are rented.
Starting point is 01:58:44 The larger vehicle is currently stuck if you would like to work together to try to get it out or get it unstuck. You could attempt that. But right now the only option is for people, I would say, can fit in the vehicle that Rookie brought. Some of you could go for help. The rest of us could stay here, get the car out of the ditch and wait for emergency services. We could stay here just in case they bring another storm, just in case they come back in case they want this.
Starting point is 01:59:08 I don't think we need to worry about that. I them. We shouldn't. We shouldn't worry about that. I should just worry about me. No. We can't help these kids. We can at least give them their spectators. I imagine that if the authorities start identifying some of these bodies and see that some of
Starting point is 01:59:28 them are 20 plus years old, that is not going to be good. Well thought out warp, absolutely. Honestly, what can they accuse us of? Being around missing children. Do you not remember Michigan? Do you not remember me losing my job? They'll find any excuse to blame us. They'll find any excuse to hate us
Starting point is 01:59:47 for trying to do the right thing. We need to be ahead of it because they will leave at any opportunity. We have no knowledge. We don't even have the purportages. We're not even supposed to be here. If our names come up anywhere and any of these recordings on a government level,
Starting point is 02:00:02 it's going to go back to the program. The best we can do is maybe bury these kids and keep going, but we don't, we can't be responsible for them having a anything more than that. We cannot be here. With a great amount of respect to what you're presenting to me here,
Starting point is 02:00:22 because I understand it does fall within protocol, but we came here because some amount of years ago, Haley lost her sister and has lived her entire life without knowing what happened to them whether they were alive or dead or missing and we're gonna do the same thing to six more people right now because we're afraid that that might get brought back to us. They've already lived with it. Okay Haley. You tell that to the six other Haley's just like you. I just think they should have a choice like Haley did. We can't. If we're implicated and arrested,
Starting point is 02:00:53 we can't do anything for them at all. So let's do our job and report this correctly. No, it's what job. Yeah, exactly. What job? You're not in the FBI anymore, Mariett. Listen, thank you for reminding me all that all of you don't really care about any other human being on this planet
Starting point is 02:01:09 and that I am retired. That's not my fault. Let's move on. Let's bury him. Sergio, where's Joe? Joe has been kind of walking around with his hand up in the air, trying to get Celsius.
Starting point is 02:01:20 All right, I'm gonna be like, I'm gonna just show. Joe, you have any thoughts? You have any thoughts? Talking about burying kids, no. In fact, I need to identify them. I need to contact somebody about these people. I think he's gonna start walking towards the children. This area is highly trafficked.
Starting point is 02:01:38 No one's going to, they're not gonna miss them. You didn't miss me, huh? I'm not saying it that way, you fuck. I'm saying no one that way, you fuck. I'm saying no one is going to miss seeing these children. I just wonder how it's different, Haley. She's alive. They're not. This is a highly trafficked area.
Starting point is 02:01:54 We move them off to the side. Right. Someone will see them. Okay. Especially with the storm that's kicked up and everyone being trying to get here, people are coming this way. They will find them.
Starting point is 02:02:07 I'm sure. I'm sure Ruhi agrees. She looks at you married with a kind of terror as she has been listening to all of you conduct your business and she really doesn't have much to say. If anything, she kind of backs up in a sign of, I don't want to make anyone I rate. I just want to say, if anything, she kind of backs up in a sign of, I don't want to make anyone I rate. I just want to get out of here, that's all.
Starting point is 02:02:30 Okay. Don't bring her into this, this isn't her job. I didn't bring her into this. She... You ready? Let's go, let's bury them. I'm with you now. Let's do it. I'm not saying we bury them, I'm saying we move them to the side where people can find them.
Starting point is 02:02:49 Whatever you would have done. I said, if we bury them, the rain will... they'll come up out of the ground and someone will find them. It'll be more natural that way. Then they came up in the runoff. Well, it'd be as gentle as we can with them. Let's not forget that DNA evidence is a thing. Yeah. We still have gloves. They're in my bag. Then it's up to you, Marit. I don't want to do this.
Starting point is 02:03:14 Done in and off. I'll do it. We'll do it together. It's faster this way. Hide and tuck. Begin the process of scooping up the bodies or dragging the bodies towards the side. I make sure we both carry them and are gentle where we put them. Joe protests this and while he isn't interested in starting a fight with six other people, there is a point where you begin to notice that he is walking away
Starting point is 02:03:45 from you and walking back towards the ranger scene. I'm gonna stay with Joe if that's the case. I'm not gonna let him leave like that. I would get in the way. He continues to move in the direction of the station and he looks at you and he says, look, I know what you're thinking, but I gotta make a call. And if you wanna get out of here, that's fine. I don't know who you people are, but I can't just sit highly by while you leave these bodies on the side of the road. Joe, I know what call you're gonna make.
Starting point is 02:04:15 So I feel like I know what you're thinking. I think you have a choice here. You are being presented with something that you do not understand, and you have a few directions on which way you can go. You can go backwards or forwards and going back to the ranger station that's backwards. Staying here, staying with us, that's forwards. Backwards momentum is not something I would recommend. It's something that I've been idly threatening you with but I will pursue. This is me being
Starting point is 02:04:41 kind. This is all of us being kind in our own way as much as we argue over it. If you stay here, we'll allow you to make your call somewhere down the route and we'll give you a little more understanding into what it is that's happening here. But if you go down that road, I'd guess you'd make it maybe 30 feet. He stops and he turns to you and he looks at you. The way an elder looks at a younger person sizing them up. And he says, I'm not being taken hostage. I'm not going to do it. Married, your human intelligence is high enough and you know what kind of man this man is.
Starting point is 02:05:17 And you also know that if he was good at his job, he'd be reaching for that pistol that he's got. What are you doing? I'm gonna do what I promised him. I'm gonna ask that you both make Dexterity roles to determine who draws their weapon first. I Have a critical success with a 55 you are able to draw your weapon first. It's just how it is, Joe, and I put two in his chest. Everyone else who is moving the bodies hears, bam, bam, bam. And you look back and you see the elderly gentleman, Joe, collapse to the ground, bleeding out, cursing you.
Starting point is 02:06:01 Saying, whoever the hell you are, you're going to get what's coming to you. And he's just basically rolling around on the floor. I walk up to him, I kneel by him, and Merit is just trying to hold back every thread of himself that's unraveling from this whole situation. I want to meet his eyes, and I'm gonna reach down and say, I'm going to take everything that I can to allow the people that love you to know what happened here.
Starting point is 02:06:28 And you will be remembered and loves. And I'm sorry that this happened, but you should have just stayed within those 30 feet. I'm sorry, Joe. Just give me a sanity check. I fail within 81. I need you to roll a D10. Perfect 10. You may project that if you'd like. Yeah. I just roll a d4, right? Yes. Two of that gets projected onto Miranda. You are still going to
Starting point is 02:06:55 lose eight sanity. That puts me past my breaking point for the first time. You're going to go temporarily insane and I'm going to say that you freeze. Tuck, what are you doing? Realizing that things are in our name, Tuck is gonna go and look at the other car and just see if they can do anything to get it out and stuck. It doesn't look like it's impossible, but it looks like it might take some muscle to get it out. It's just kind of stuck in mud and it probably needs,
Starting point is 02:07:24 you know, some solid pushes together. Oh, then I'll toss hide the keys and stay. Start the car. I'm gonna try to push it. Okay. Hide you get into the car and punch it. Tuck, I assume you're just kind of with all of your might trying to push on it. As you begin you have to stop because about an hour has passed of all of this of ruining the bodies, settling all of this. And you feel a terrible feeling in your stomach,
Starting point is 02:07:53 like you're about to wretch. I turn away from the car toward the forest. You turn and brace yourself against a tree just as this thick, warm blue goo begins to out of your mouth and your esophagus. You puke it all over the ground and even in the dark of the night you can see it visibly splash against the green of the trees and the mud. And eventually hide, you are in the driver's side, and you don't feel the
Starting point is 02:08:25 pushing anymore, and when you look, you see Tuck puking their guts up. I lean out and I say, you okay? One second. More comes out. Just this very, very thick and continuous blue liquid of some kind. Oh my god. I get out of the car and I guess I'll go hold her hair. Oh, that's so sweet. You do that and hide. You are the second person after Tuck to witness her
Starting point is 02:08:59 puking this blue stuff. And for a solid three minutes Tuck, you are taking a moment and then more comes out and then you take a moment and more comes out. And finally, after about three minutes of this, it stops. Guessing that's not normal. I know, that's new. This is gonna be gross. Did it taste like normal puke? It's hard to tell.
Starting point is 02:09:24 It feels like stomach fluids, yes. It's like it feels like bile and acid. It's just not a color you were expecting, but yes, it does kind of feel acidic and bile-like, yes. Are there any other surprises I should know about? I don't know. I felt really good for a little bit. You saw that usually puking happens
Starting point is 02:09:45 after you've been feeling really good. No, I know what the drunk priest feels like. Some of that blue carapace that has also been visible on her body is starting to peel off and fall to the ground. You know what, fuck it. We don't have time for this. Ah! I'm gonna kick some dirt over it,
Starting point is 02:10:03 and I'm gonna go back to the car. Those of you who are moving the bodies to the side, you are able to do that. And then you notice that Merritt has not left the side of Joe DeWant. Hyde's going to approach. I want to go to Joe's body as well. Hyde and Warp, you walk over to Merritt, who is now sitting crouching over a lifeless Joe's body. I think that Merritt is still in the kneeled position
Starting point is 02:10:35 to Joe, and he's still sort of whispering under his breath at Joe, and he's holding his face, and he's just staring into the cold dead eyes of Joe and speaking over and over again about making sure he's remembered that people are gonna know what happened. Hyde would like to go and stand in front of Merritt and eventually kneel down and hide wants to first lift Merritt's head so that they can both make eye contact with each other. And then hide is going to kind of out of characterly embrace Merritt.
Starting point is 02:11:19 And as he does that, he's going to whisper into Merritt's ear. This is what we have to do to keep us safe and I'm just gonna hold him tighter. I'm so sick of doing it. I'm so sick of doing it. I can't do this. I can't be this anymore. They're all like us. They just don't know the shield. They just don't know. The mirror just holds them as hard as he can, holds hide right up against them. Warp is moving Joe's body off to the side of the road,
Starting point is 02:12:00 and as she's doing that, she takes Joe's phone. What about his identification? Yeah, I'll take that too. and as she's doing that, she takes Joseph home. What about his identification? Yeah, I'll take that too. With his eyes still open, staring up at the sky, you take his identification and you leave him on the side of the road. A trail of blood leading towards his body and as merit quietly sobs into hide's shoulder,
Starting point is 02:12:23 I think now's a good place to bring the session to a close. 1.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5%
Starting point is 02:13:00 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% you

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