You are Cal Phoenix, the Freeway Warrior, champion and protector of Dallas Colony One. A murderous gang of HAVOC clansmen, led by the psychotic Mad Dog Michigan, are bent on destroying your fragile colony as it crosses the wastelands of Texas on the first stage of a life-or-death exodus to the California coast. These bike-riding clansmen are a formidable enemy: armed, cunning, and extremely dangerous, capable of launching a lightning raid at any time, day or night. You will need all your wits about you if you are to defend your people and reach your destination intact!
Joe Dever, the creator of the bestselling Lone Wolf adventure books and novels and the Freeway Warrior adventure books, has achieved world-wide recognition in three creative fields—as an award-winning author of international renown, as an acclaimed musician and composer, and as a games designer specialising in role-playing games.
On graduating from college in 1974, Joe Dever became a professional musician, and for several years, he worked in the music industry in Europe and the United States.
While working in Los Angeles in 1977 he discovered a then little-known game called ‘Dungeons & Dragons’. Although the game was in its infancy, Joe at once realised its huge potential and began designing his own role-playing games along similar conceptual lines. These first games were to form the basis of a fantasy world called Magnamund, which later became the setting for the Lone Wolf books.
Five years later, in 1982, Joe won the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons World Championships in Baltimore, an event held before 16,000 people. Inspired and encouraged by his success at Origins, Joe decided to quit the music business and devote his time to writing and games design.
In 1983, after a brief spell at Games Workshop in London, he wrote Flight from the Dark—the first Lone Wolf interactive gamebook. His manuscript immediately attracted a frenzy of interest from three major London publishing companies, all of whom bid for world rights. Joe accepted an offer of publication from Hutchinson's (later to become Century Hutchinson Ltd; now Random House UK) and Flight from the Dark was first published in 1984.
This first book sold more than 100,000 copies within its first month of publication, and overseas rights were snapped up by twelve countries (including the United States, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Sweden). The success of Joe's first book laid the foundations for the future of the Lone Wolf series, which has sold millions of copies around the world.
Joe has continued to work in the games industry as script writer and games design consultant.
Melvyn Grant was born in London, England, and expressed a talent for art from a very early age. He became the only student to attend The Brassey Institute School Of Fine Arts at the early age of twelve. Although his approach to painting is firmly rooted in traditional Fine Art, he finds much more excitement in the world of High-end Fantasy Illustration. Melvyn maintains a website showcasing his art.
Internet Edition published by Project Aon. This edition is intended to reflect the complete text of the original version. Where we have made minor corrections, they will be noted in the Errata.
Publication Date: 19 July 2008
Text copyright © 1988 Joe Dever.
Illustrations copyright © 1988 Melvyn Grant.
Distribution of this Internet Edition is restricted under the terms of the Project Aon License.
For Rus and Sue
‘I would be especially pleased if my granting of the rights to distribute my books in this way was seen as my “millennium gift” to all those devoted readers who have kept the Kai flag flying high, through all the good times, and the not-so-good. It would make me very proud indeed if this enterprise laid the foundations of a lasting legacy, securing the longevity of Lone Wolf by making my creation freely and readily accessible to current and future online generations. For them, for us, for Sommerlund and the Kai.…’ Joe Dever
Project Aon would first like to thank Joe Dever for making this generous offering of the books that we have all loved from the beginning. We are also grateful for the generosity of Rob Adams, Paul Bonner, Gary Chalk, Melvyn Grant, Richard Hook, Peter Andrew Jones, Cyril Julien, Peter Lyon, Ian Page, Graham Round, and Brian Williams for contributing their portions of the world of Magnamund to Project Aon. We would also like to acknowledge the following members of Project Aon for their diligent work:
You are Cal Phoenix, a survivor, born on Thanksgiving in the year 2000 AD. When you cast your mind back to the time before ‘The Day’, you recall your two brothers and your sister, your parents' house in California, and summer vacations spent cruising the blue Pacific off Catalina Island aboard your father's boat. They are your fondest memories, yet your most vivid recollections are of winter vacations, when the family would drive to Dallas to spend Christmas with Uncle Jonas and Aunt Betty-Ann. Of all your Texan Christmases, the 2011 visit was the most memorable. It was also the last time you saw your family alive.
Your parents had decided to cancel the trip to Dallas that year. The oil shortage had pushed up the price of gasolene to $30 a gallon, and only the rich could afford to drive long distances, even in cars equipped with solar-pacs. You were so disappointed when you heard the news that you decided to walk the 1300 miles to Dallas, and would have done so had your father not caught up with you three miles from home. Then, when Uncle Jonas and Aunt Betty-Ann got to hear of it, they fixed it with your parents so that you at least could spend Christmas with them at their ranch near Denton.
From the moment they met your charter flight at Addison Airport you knew it was going to be a vacation to remember. Uncle Jonas was an oilman. He had been one ever since he graduated from the University of Texas in '95 with a degree in geology. Earlier that summer he had been put in charge of construction at a shale-oil mine near Austin, the very first of its kind in Texas, and as a special Christmas treat he promised to take you on a guided tour of the whole underground complex.
On New Year's Day 2012, the three of you started out early on the road to your uncle's mine, located on the Austin Chalk, over 200 miles south of Dallas. The trip would take at least two days, with an overnight stop in Waco, for, in an effort to conserve energy, the Federal government had imposed a speed restriction of fifteen miles per hour on all state highways. It was a slow journey, and despite the sombre radio bulletins that gave news of HAVOC's latest threats, you can still remember your excitement at the thought of exploring those tunnels deep below the earth.
Your arrival at the mine was met by a military patrol, posted there by the World Defence League. The job of the patrol was to prevent sabotage; oil installations all over the world had become one of HAVOC's primary targets in their campaign of terror. The mine was officially closed for the New Year's recess but Uncle Jonas had right of access at all times and, after checking his papers, the patrol allowed you in. It was a massive complex and, for security reasons, it was totally self-supporting. A central shaft serviced the many working levels to which there were attached laboratories, workshops, and even refineries for processing the precious crude oil after it had been extracted from the rock. Uncle Jonas was explaining the function of these refineries, 300 feet below the surface, when it happened.
The ground shuddered when the shock waves from the first distant explosions reached the mine, and you remember thinking that it must be the start of an earthquake, the like of which you had experienced many times at home in California. But as the levels nearest the surface began to collapse and the central shaft filled with falling rubble, you realized the awful truth. The unthinkable had happened.
At first there was no way of telling the extent of the surface devastation. Below ground, the safety generators had automatically switched into operation when the main power supply failed, and the tremors faded quickly, encouraging your aunt and uncle to believe that the damage above was superficial. Uncle Jonas was confident that the military would mount a rescue operation and that you would be brought out within a few days—a week at the most. Aunt Betty-Ann was also optimistic. After all, there were emergency supplies, enough to feed 200 men for a whole month. Little did she know that the three of you would end up consuming all of those supplies, or that the mine would become your home, your shelter, and your prison for the next eight years of your lives.
It was a month after ‘The Day’ when the three of you accepted that there would never be a rescue operation. Many days had been spent in silence, hoping and praying for the sounds of excavation or a voice on the radio link to the surface. But all that could be heard was the static crackle of the gamma radiation which was blanketing the earth. Uncle Jonas proposed that an attempt be made to reach the surface by tunnelling through the blocked central shaft. It was an awesomely dangerous feat, to dig vertically through 300 feet of compressed concrete rubble and twisted steel girders, but there was no other way you could ever hope to escape from the mine. Progress was painfully slow but the work gave you all a sense of purpose, a reason to go on, even though you feared what could be awaiting you on the surface.
Those years spent in the mine taught you invaluable lessons in survival. Uncle Jonas showed you how to refine gasolene from crude oil to keep the generators alive; to coax fresh water from porous rock; to manufacture spare parts in order to maintain vital machinery. Aunt Betty-Ann, who had at one time been a nurse and a high school teacher in Denton County, attended to your education and made sure that you stayed fit and healthy. Their love and support enabled you to grow during those dark days underground despite the enormous sense of loss you felt for your parents, brothers, and sister. You vowed then that one day you would repay their kindness by protecting and caring for them.
It was early September in the year 2019 when finally you broke through to the surface. Aunt Betty-Ann was convinced that radiation levels would still be dangerously high, and at first she was against leaving the mine. But, during the last few months of your incarceration, the static that had always jammed the radio wavelengths had gradually cleared, and Uncle Jonas was able to persuade her that this meant it was now safe to live above ground.
When you first emerged from the mine, you thought you were on the surface of another planet. Surely this could not be Earth? Few structures had survived the blizzards and intense cold that had swept around the world in the years following ‘The Day’, and now, after the dust had settled and the sun returned, the once-fertile plains of Austin resembled little more than a desert of parched and broken rock, littered with the artefacts of an absent civilization. During the first few days, when you set out to explore this wilderness, it was easy to believe that you were the only survivors. But on the morning of the fifth day, Uncle Jonas made a chance radio contact with a family called Ewell who were living near the ruins of McKinney, thirty miles north of Dallas. They told him that they had been in touch with a handful of other groups who had managed somehow to survive the holocaust. Most were isolated, unable to move due to lack of fuel, food, or water. They had urged those who could travel to join them in McKinney, to start a new community, and some were already on their way. Your uncle and aunt also accepted their invitation. McKinney was not very far from Denton, and they were curious to see if anything remained of their ranch. They planned to return home, salvage whatever they could that might be of use, and then move on to McKinney. The Ewells were enthusiastic, but they warned that not everyone who had survived wanted to establish a new community. The ruins of Dallas and Fort Worth were controlled by gangs of criminals who fought with each other and terrorized anyone seeking to reestablish law and order. They advised you to avoid them at all costs when travelling north.
Interstate Freeway 35 was the only highway still intact amid the devastation that surrounded the mine. It offered a direct route home to Denton, if only transportation could be found, for Uncle Jonas considered conditions far too dangerous to attempt such a long journey on foot. It took more than a week to discover a vehicle that was still serviceable. It was an old school bus, one that had been parked in an underground lot and had survived the years of sub-zero blizzards. With a few new parts, a tankful of gas, and a lot of hard work it was eventually brought back to life.
Provisions, including a small generator, were hoisted out of the mine and stowed aboard before you began the journey back to the ranch. The noisy old bus bumped along the rock-strewn freeway that stretched northward across an empty sea of dust. It was a harrowing sight. Hardly a trace remained of what were once thriving communities, and the once-populous cities of Temple and Waco had barely enough buildings still standing to qualify as small towns.
It was not until you reached the outskirts of Fort Worth that you encountered signs of human habitation. The road ahead was blocked by a line of wrecked autos, and at your approach a group of hard faced men and women, clad in composite costumes of leather and rivetted steel, suddenly popped up from behind this barricade. Uncle Jonas was suspicious and slowed the bus almost to a halt. Suddenly they produced handguns and rifles and began to take aim at the windshield, and he knew it was not the time to stop to ask for directions! He told you and Aunt Betty-Ann to brace yourselves, then stamped his foot on the gas and drove the bus straight through the wall of cars, scattering the punks like ten-pins in a strike. The bus was shot at many times as it sped through Fort Worth, but the street gangs had been caught out and you managed to escape from the ruined city before they could give chase.
When you got to Denton you discovered that the ranch, like all the other nearby dwellings, had been reduced to a heap of broken bricks and shattered timbers. The sight greatly upset your aunt, and Uncle Jonas felt it better not to stop but to continue overland to McKinney. It was easy to find where the Ewells lived, for their ranch was the only place in town that was still standing. It looked more like an old frontier post than a ranch, with its fortified perimeter wall, lookout posts, and stake-filled moat. But, after your brush with the citizens of Fort Worth, it was easy to understand the need for these defences.
‘Pop’ Ewell, the seventy-year-old grandfather of the Ewell family, was the leader of this small colony of survivors; it was he who had urged Uncle Jonas to join them when they had first made radio contact. The colony numbered less than a dozen at the time of your arrival, yet as the airwaves became clearer, soon this number had more than doubled to twenty-five. It was decided that a name was needed to identify the settlement. The name ‘Dallas Colony One’ was adopted—‘DC1’ for short—and from that day on everyone worked hard to make DC1 a secure haven for those seeking refuge from the hostile wastelands and marauding city gangs.
‘Cutter’ Jacks was one such refugee. Before the holocaust he had been chief mechanic at the International Grand Prix Circuit near Lake Dallas, and his incredible skill and knowledge of engines was soon to prove invaluable to the colony. He taught you how to drive, and from a pile of old wrecks that you helped him salvage from the circuit he built you a powerful, customized car. You used it to patrol the highways north of the city, keeping a lookout for gangs of city punks who frequently mounted raids to steal or destroy DC1's supplies. ‘Cutter’ also taught you to shoot, and it was your prowess with a gun and your skill behind the wheel that was to earn you the begrudging respect of your enemies who took to calling you ‘Freeway Warrior’.
Six months after you arrived at DC1, the colony was faced with a major crisis. A heat wave was causing a drought that threatened to destroy the food supply. Crops were failing and the colony's artesian well—its only source of uncontaminated water—was beginning to dry up. The drought was also provoking more attacks from the city punks who were desperate for food and water. Their common need united them and they posed a very real threat to the security of DC1.
It was the last day of May 2020 when Pop Ewell made radio contact with another colony who were based in the city of Big Spring, 300 miles west of McKinney. It appeared that their situation was completely the reverse of DC1's: they had plenty of food and water but they were desperately short of fuel. They told of their contact with survivors in Tucson, Arizona, who were also without fuel. The Tucson colony reported that the territories west of the mountains of the Sierra Nevada had been spared the worst effects of the radioactive blizzards that had devastated the rest of the country and, miraculously, much of southern California was still widely populated. It had survived the last eight years virtually intact. When you heard the news you could hardly believe your ears. Perhaps your family were alive. You might be reunited after all!
Pop Ewell called for a meeting to decide how best to deal with the crisis now facing DC1. Everyone agreed that to stay at McKinney would lead to eventual death, either slowly from starvation or suddenly at the hands of the murderous city gangs. The only option open to DC1 was to try to reach California; only there lay any real hope for the future of the colony. Your decision was relayed to the survivors at Big Spring and a deal was struck to rendezvous with them as soon as possible. DC1 would exchange fuel for food and water, and together they would join up with the Tucson colony for the final journey to California.
Preparations began almost immediately. Morale was so high that a heady sense of adventure and optimism enveloped everyone. Few guessed just how fraught with danger the journey would be.
Before embarking on your adventure, you must first determine your personal characteristics and the weapons and provisions with which you are equipped. An Action Chart has been supplied on which to record and amend these details as the adventure unfolds.
Your personal characteristics comprise two basic attributes: CLOSE COMBAT SKILL and ENDURANCE. To discover your initial CLOSE COMBAT SKILL, take a pencil and, with your eyes closed, point the blunt end of it onto the Random Number Table. If you pick a 0 it counts as zero. Add 10 to the number you have picked and write the total in the CLOSE COMBAT SKILL section of your Action Chart (for example, if your pencil falls on the number 5 in the Random Number Table, you have a CLOSE COMBAT SKILL total of 15). When you fight an enemy in hand-to-hand combat, your CLOSE COMBAT SKILL will be measured against that of your enemy, so a high score in this section is desirable.
To discover your ENDURANCE level, repeat the process, but this time add 20 to the number you have picked from the Random Number Table. Write the total in the ENDURANCE section of your Action Chart (for example, if your pencil falls on the number 8 on the Random Number Table, you have a total ENDURANCE score of 28). If you are wounded in combat, or injured at any other time during your adventure, you will lose ENDURANCE points. If, at any time, your ENDURANCE points total falls to zero or below, you are dead and the adventure is over. You can regain lost ENDURANCE points during the course of the adventure, but your ENDURANCE level can never rise above your initial score.
Ever since the day you returned to the surface, you have endeavoured to develop your skills and natural instincts fully in order to best defend yourself and your colony.
Listed on your Action Chart are your five basic Survival Skills:
Your ability to control powered vehicles, such as cars, motorcycles, and trucks.
Your familiarity and experience in the use of missile weapons, such as pistols, machine pistols, shotguns, and rifles.
Your knowledge and experience of all aspects of outdoor survival.
Your physical fitness, the speed of your reflexes, and your dexterity.
Your intelligence, your ability to evaluate information, your education, and your mental alertness.
Your ability in each of these five individual skills is measured in skill points. You begin with 3 points per skill. Before starting the adventure, you may allocate an additional 4 skill points to your list of five Survival Skills. These 4 extra points can be used to improve one or more of your five skills. During your adventure, all five skills will be severely tested; therefore the higher the individual skill level, the better your chances of survival. You may allocate your 4 additional points entirely how you like.
When you have decided where to allocate your 4 additional skill points, make a note of the totals in the Survival Skills section of your Action Chart. (In your first adventure, your total number of skill points should be 19: five skills x 3 points each = 15, plus 4 additional skill points = 19 points.)
If you complete successfully the mission set in Book 1 of the Freeway Warrior series, you may add an additional 4 points to your Survival Skills in Book 2. These additional points, together with any equipment and provisions that you possess at the end of Book 1, may then be used in the next Freeway Warrior adventure, which is called Slaughter Mountain Run.
Apart from your clothing, a number of useful items form your basic equipment. These comprise a Backpack, and a belt on which hangs your Ammo Pouch, Medi-kit, Water Canteen, and Hunting Knife. In addition to these items, you possess a Map of Central Texas, which you carry tucked inside your leather jacket.
Up to ten separate items may be stored and carried in your Backpack at any time. However, if more than three items are carried, your Stealth level will be reduced by 1 point. If more than six items are carried, your Stealth level will be reduced by 2 points; and if you carry a full Backpack (containing ten items) your Stealth level will be reduced by 3 points.
In order to equip yourself for the task ahead, you may choose up to four items from the following list:
List the items you have chosen on your Action Chart. If you have picked four items, adjust your current Stealth level accordingly.
Opportunities may arise during your adventure for you to pick up useful items. These items will appear in the text in bold print and, unless you are instructed otherwise, they can be stored and carried in your Backpack.
You will need to eat regularly. If you do not possess any food when you are instructed to eat a Meal, you will lose 3 ENDURANCE points.
Your Ammo Pouch is where you store any spare ammunition for firearms. It can hold a maximum of the following:
40 rounds of 9mm calibre Pistol/Machine Pistol ammunition
or
20 rounds of 7.62mm calibre Rifle ammunition
or
10 rounds of 12-gauge calibre Shotgun ammunition
When carrying mixed calibres of ammunition, use this equation to check how much space you have left in your Ammo Pouch:
4 x 9mm rounds = 2 x 7.62 rounds = 1 x 12 gauge round
Additional ammunition can be carried in your Backpack. Ammunition occupies one space for each quantity that is equal to (or less than) the maximum that can be carried in one Ammo Pouch.
A well-stocked Medi-kit can make all the difference to your chances of survival should you suffer injury in the field or as a result of combat. It contains useful first aid supplies, such as dressings, antiseptics, antibiotics, water purification tablets, sulfonamides, pain killers, potassium iodide tablets (to delay absorption of radioactivity), and sutures.
For convenience, these medical supplies are grouped into units. To find how many units you have in your Medi-kit, pick a number from the Random Number Table (0 equals 10) and add 2. Your total score equals the number of units with which you begin your adventure. To keep a record of them, circle the appropriate number of unit symbols in the Medi-kit section of your Action Chart. The maximum number of units you can carry in your Medi-kit is twelve.
You may use your Medi-kit units to restore lost ENDURANCE points; each unit used in this way restores 3 points. Units cannot be used to restore ENDURANCE points in lieu of a Meal or Water when instructed to eat or drink.
Water is essential to life, and your life will depend on having a sufficient, uncontaminated supply. You will need to drink regularly during your adventure. One drink is equivalent to half a pint and your canteen holds exactly two pints of water: enough for one day's needs. When instructed to drink, be sure to tick off one box in the Water section of your Action Chart.
If you do not have any Water when instructed to drink, you must lose 3 ENDURANCE points.
These weapons aid you in hand-to-hand fighting. You begin your adventure armed with a Hunting Knife which, when used in close combat, adds 2 points to your CLOSE COMBAT SKILL. Note this Hunting Knife in the Close Combat Weapons section of your Action Chart.
If you find a close combat weapon during your adventure, you may pick it up and use it. Close combat weapons will appear in the text with a close combat skill number, for example, Machete (3). This number indicates how many points this weapon will add to your CLOSE COMBAT SKILL when used in a hand-to-hand fight.
The maximum number of close combat weapons you may carry is two.
There are four types of missile weapon:
You begin your adventure armed with only one of these weapons. Make your choice and then record the weapon you have chosen, together with its calibre and rate of fire details, in the Missile Weapons section of your Action Chart.
In order to be able to use a missile weapon, you must have sufficient ammunition of the correct calibre. The following list shows the calibre of each weapon, the amount that is used every time the weapon is fired, and the number of rounds that you possess at the start of your adventure:
| Calibre | Rate of Fire | Initial No. of Rounds | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pistol | 9mm | 1 | 8 |
| Machine Pistol | 9mm | 61 | 30 |
| Shotgun | 12-gauge | 1 | 4 |
| Rifle | 7.62mm | 1 | 4 |
The initial number of rounds should be noted in the Ammo Pouch section of your Action Chart. Missile weapons cannot be used if you run out of ammunition or possess rounds of the wrong calibre. However, the opportunity may arise for you to replenish your supply of ammunition and/or discover a weapon of the correct calibre.
You may carry a maximum of three missile weapons. However, for every missile weapon that you carry (excluding your initial choice), you must reduce your Stealth level by 1 point.
There will be occasions when you will have to fight an enemy in hand-to-hand combat. The enemy's CLOSE COMBAT SKILL and ENDURANCE level will both be given in the text. Your aim in close combat is to kill the enemy by reducing his ENDURANCE points to zero or below while losing as few of your own ENDURANCE points as possible.
At the start of a close combat, enter both your own and your enemy's ENDURANCE points in the appropriate boxes on the Close Combat Record section of your Action Chart. The sequence for close combat is as follows:
This procedure continues until the ENDURANCE points of either the enemy or Cal Phoenix are reduced to zero or below, at which point that combatant is declared dead. If Cal Phoenix is dead, the adventure is over. If the enemy is dead, Cal Phoenix proceeds but with his ENDURANCE points possibly reduced.
A Summary of the Close Combat Rules appears on the page after the Random Number Table.
During your adventure you may be given the chance to evade close combat. If you have already engaged in a round of close combat and decide to evade, calculate the combat for that round in the usual manner. All ENDURANCE points lost by the enemy as a result of that round are ignored; only Cal Phoenix may lose ENDURANCE points during that round, but that is the risk of running away! You may evade combat only if the text of the particular section allows you to do so.
After a week of careful preparation, the colony is ready to begin the long trek to Big Spring. Three vehicles have been picked to make up the convoy: the school bus, your customized roadster, and a gasolene tanker that was salvaged from an old drilling site at nearby Greenville. Cutter and your uncle have rigged up a square canvas canopy to hide the tanker's tell-tale cylindrical body, which now holds over 5,000 gallons of petroleum, siphoned from the underground storage tanks at the Ewell ranch. In this fuel-starved world, gasolene is the most valuable of all commodities. If the city gangs were to discover that DC1 were transporting such a precious load they would stop at nothing to capture it.
Most of the colony will be travelling aboard the bus, which will be driven by your uncle. Cutter will drive the tanker and you, acting as scout, will drive your roadster at the head of the convoy. With the bus full of passengers, luggage is limited to essential supplies only; everything else will be destroyed before leaving McKinney. At dawn, on the day before the convoy is to set off, a thorough check is made of the vehicles and provisions. There is enough food and water to reach your destination but, apart from your personal weapons, the colony has very few firearms with which to defend itself.
Long Jake Bannerman, a former roustabout from Gainsville, has volunteered to drive north and search for weapons and ammunition. His brother once owned a hardware store in Sherman and kept his stock of sporting guns locked in the basement. Although they may have to be dug out there is a good chance that they have survived intact. Everyone agrees that it is worth a try, and so Jake, equipped with a CB radio, a shovel, and a rusty revolver, sets out for Sherman in his beat-up old truck.
Two hours later he radios a message from Sherman. He has found rifles and ammunition, but his truck has broken down and he is now stranded in the town. He has also found a survivor—a teenage girl—and he requests that you come to pick them up as soon as possible. Uncle Jonas agrees. He tells him to sit tight and wait for you to arrive.
‘Trust Jake to go an' maroon hi'self with a gal!’ grumbles Uncle Jonas, wryly. ‘Cal, you better git your body up to Sherman and haul 'em back here. An' no messin' with street punks on the way, y'hear!’
‘We'll be back in time for breakfast!’ you reply, cheerily, as you slide behind the wheel of your roadster and fire up its throaty V-8 engine. Then, with a farewell wave, you power the car out of McKinney and speed northwards to Sherman along what remains of Highway 75.
You press your face against the metal stock of your machine pistol, take careful aim at the enemy sniper perched on the building opposite, and squeeze the trigger.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your current Shooting skill total.
If your total score is now 10 or less, turn to 349.
If your total score is now 11 or more, turn to 229.
You are about to search the bodies for items that may help you survive when you hear the mob ascending the stairs. Immediately you abandon the idea and concentrate on making an escape. At the end of the corridor is an open window. Below is an alleyway that passes to the rear of the bar. Without a moments hesitation, you climb out onto the ledge and leap to the ground, landing with a jolt that leaves you breathless. Gasping for air, you stagger along the alley and out into a deserted street. The jump has robbed you of stamina but at least you didn't break any bones.
Desperately you look for somewhere to hide while you recover. An old boarding house opposite seems to be the answer to your prayers, and you cross the street and enter before the mob reappears.
You recall that these letters are the chemical symbol for sodium chloride—common salt. You have stumbled upon a huge stockpile of a substance that is vital to human survival, yet one that is becoming harder to find with every passing day. In your excitement you let out a shout and can barely stop yourself from dancing around the crate in sheer delight.
You decide to take as many tubs of salt as you can carry and return to the convoy without delay.
You pull and release the bolt of your G-12, then level the barrel at the leading dog as it gets ready to make its leap. Hurriedly you squeeze off a burst of fire that rips through its chest and sends its lifeless body spinning backwards among the rest of the pack.2 The death of their brother—and the noise and fury of your weapon—brings the pack to a sudden halt.
A bullet clips you, drawing a crimson line across the top of your right forearm before it ricochets off the steering wheel: lose 2 ENDURANCE points.
You wince at the pain and curse your unseen attacker, but you do not lose control of your roadster. Stoically you staunch the bleeding and continue to lead the convoy on its detour around Westbrook.
Moonlight pours in through a large hole in the roof, illuminating the interior of the store. Judging by the nature of the debris littering the floor, this place was once a liquor store. Most of its stock was consumed by the Skulls when they first took over the town, but after a careful search, you discover a Bottle of Bourbon still intact.
If you decide to keep this item, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
To leave the store and continue, turn to 273.
You draw your pistol, take aim at the widest part of the clansman's torso, and hold your breath as you get ready to fire.
Add your Shooting skill total to your current ENDURANCE points score.
If your total score is now 15 or less, turn to 96.
If your total score is now 16 or more, turn to 344.
Your bullet hits home, striking the machine gunner squarely in the chest and spinning him away from the window with the force of its impact. You breathe a little easier. Then a long burst of fire echoes from inside the building, causing you to duck involuntarily. But this time you are in no immediate danger. Your single shot proved fatal and, in the throes of death, your enemy has emptied a full magazine into the walls and shattered ceiling of the drugstore.
Remember to erase one 9mm round from your Ammo Pouch.
To continue, turn to 251.
You land heavily, slip, and lose your footing. Desperately you throw out your hands to stop yourself from falling, and you manage to grab the edge of the door itself. But your legs are now being dragged along the freeway at forty miles an hour: lose 3 ENDURANCE points.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table (0 = 10) and add to it your current ENDURANCE points score.
If your total is 14 or less, turn to 148.
If your total is 15 or more, turn to 272.
Your caution was well placed. As you focus on the town you count over twenty motorcycles parked at random along the highway. Their riders are looting the stores and houses nearby, and much of what they have found lies heaped beside their machines. Suddenly a pinpoint of light climbs into the sky and explodes with a brilliant white flash that illuminates the surrounding landscape.
‘What do you make of that?’ you say, as Cutter and Kate join you to find out what is wrong.
‘It's a signal flare,’ replies Kate. ‘I think they've seen us.’
The climb is steep and tortuous but you manage to reach the top of the gully in one piece. Carefully, you pick your way around the edge until you happen upon a narrow path that ascends towards the flickering light on the mountainside above. As you draw closer, you see that the light is being cast by a small fire burning at the entrance to a cave. You approach with caution. As you draw level with the cave, you are greeted by a strange and curious sight.
A gnawing pain, brought on by the exertion of opening your backpack, stiffens your right hand. You grit your teeth and persist until your aching fingers locate the tip of your survival flare. With care you remove it from the pack and position it between the ropes that bind your body in such a way as to avoid burning yourself when you set it off.
Less than a dozen clanswomen and children are on the street when you decide to fire the flare. There is a flash of red light at your side as it erupts into life, then you are engulfed by a huge cloud of choking crimson smoke. The flare alerts the clanswomen who immediately raise the alarm while you struggle against your smouldering bonds.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
If the number you have picked is 0–4, turn to 91.
If the number is 5–9, turn to 30.
You raise your hand and give the signal to stop. The tanker and the bus slow to a halt and, as you bring your own vehicle to a standstill, you switch off the ignition and reach for your gun.
If you are using a Pistol, turn to 101.
If you are using a Machine Pistol, turn to 131.
If you are using a Shotgun, turn to 72.
If you are using a Rifle, turn to 233.
As soon as you strike your killing blow, you raise your eyes, expecting to see the other clansman reloading, but instead he discards an empty magazine and turns to run back to his bike. He has exhausted his ammunition and has decided to make his escape before you have a chance to return fire. As he rides off, Kate reaches the top of the slope and suggests that you search the body of the one who did not get away.
You reach for a close combat weapon as the first of the pack reaches the highway and comes bounding towards you.
You have encountered rabid dogs before and know only too well that just one scratch from an infected beast will seal your doom. You must fight with speed and skill if you are to survive this deadly attack.
Rabid Dog: CLOSE COMBAT SKILL 12 ENDURANCE 32
If you win and the fight lasts three rounds or less, turn to 113.
If the fight lasts four rounds or more, turn to 291.
It takes just four seconds for the clansman to pump thirty bullets into the side of your roadster. Several of the special armour-piercing loads pass straight through the thin metal sheeting that encases the driving compartment, and wound you in a line from your shoulder to your thigh. The force of their impact knocks you across the passenger seat and, as you fall, you pull the steering wheel and send the car veering wildly out of control. It careers off the road and rolls over and over until finally it explodes with a tremendous roar.
Tragically, your journey and your life end here on Freeway 20.
The moment you break cover, gunfire erupts from all sides. In the hope of making yourself a difficult target you zigzag towards the door, but your manoeuvre is anticipated and a stream of bullets tears up the ground ahead, dangerously close. Long Jake shouts encouragement, and you are within a few feet of the doorway when a sharp burning sensation lances your right forearm: lose 4 ENDURANCE points.
Gritting your teeth against the sudden pain of your wound, you force yourself forwards and fall headlong through the doorway.
Suddenly a starburst of pain explodes in your head and your mouth fills with a thick, hot liquid. You have been hit in the face by a sniper's bullet, fired from a diner on the other side of the highway, and your wound is fatal. Death is instantaneous.
Tragically, your journey and your life end here at Westbrook.
The instant you tap the number 20 on the keypad,3 there is a sharp click and the steel door swings inwards to reveal the shelved walls of a strongroom beyond. You smile with satisfaction at having cracked the university's door code: the number in the last column of each row is the sum of the numbers in the first two columns, minus the number in the third column.
Curious as to what lies within, you enter the strongroom and inspect its dusty shelves. This concrete vault contains the documentation of experiments and small quantities of what were once considered precious metals—gold, platinum, silver, and titanium. After a thorough search you find three items that you may be able to put to practical use:
If you wish to keep any of these items, amend your Action Chart accordingly.
To leave the strongroom and return to the convoy, turn to 29.
You react swiftly to the danger by pulling the steering wheel to the left and leaning with your car as it swerves across the freeway. A moment later you hear the metallic whine of the bullet as it ricochets off the edge of your windshield. Tiny fragments of the high-velocity bullet pepper your headrest but you survive the attack unscathed. Quickly you recover control of your car and signal to the others to accelerate. By the time the unknown sniper has reloaded his rifle, you and the convoy are speeding away from the bridge, obscured by a cloud of dust.
Obstructions are few on this stretch of Freeway 35. Most of the wrecks that once choked this route into Fort Worth now lie in dusty heaps at the side of the road, their bodies having been stripped of serviceable parts long ago by city gang scavengers. The piles of auto-shells steadily increase as you near the outskirts of Fort Worth, warning you of the increasing likelihood of ambush and prompting you to keep your eyes peeled for anything that could pose a threat to the convoy.
To your left, you can see the buildings of downtown Dallas perched precariously around the edge of a huge crater. These once-gleaming towers of mirrored glass and steel now lie black and broken, like a circle of charred bones. It is a chilling sight.
At a junction on the outskirts of Fort Worth, you decide to leave Freeway 35 and follow a safer route that will take you around the city. The remains of Highway 820 serve your purpose well, until you reach another junction where the Jacksboro Highway crosses your path. In order for the convoy to connect with Freeway 20, the interstate highway that leads all the way to Big Spring, you must traverse one major obstacle—the Trinity River.
You consult your map. There are two places where the convoy can cross the Trinity, both of them close by. Two miles further along Highway 820 there is a bridge over Lake Worth. Two miles northwest, along the Jacksboro Highway, another bridge crosses the river at a place called Lakeside Village.
If you wish to check out the bridge at Lakeside Village, turn to 312.
If you decide to continue along Highway 820, and attempt to cross the Trinity River at Lake Worth, turn to 149.
You squeeze the trigger and immediately the rider throws his hands to his face.4 He swoons, falls backwards, and then tumbles from the saddle. Before the sidecar rider can jump free, the speeding machine careers off the road into the wall of an office building, and explodes in a searing ball of flame.
With grim satisfaction you stare at the burning wreckage, but your gaze is soon distracted by a column of motorcycles—the main body of the clan—as it rides into view. They are now less than a mile from the bridge. ‘C'mon you two!’ shouts Cutter. ‘It's time to go.’ The tanker has made it across the platform and is now parked with the other vehicles on the far side of the river. Kate is running towards you from the factory, and as she reaches the bridge, you call out to her: ‘Set the bomb! I'll cover you!’
Tensely you watch the clansmen as they gun their bikes along the freeway, and you glance repeatedly over your shoulder, praying for Kate to signal that the bomb is ready. Then the front line of bikers opens fire with their machine pistols, and suddenly the air is filled with the whine and whistle of bullets. ‘It's ready!’ shouts Kate, and takes off across the bridge at a run.
Add together your current ENDURANCE points score and your Stealth skill total. (Note: If your ENDURANCE is low and you are heavily encumbered, it may be advisable to discard some of your Backpack Items in order to increase your Stealth skill level.)
If your total is 11 or less, turn to 324.
If your total is 12 or more, turn to 200.
You thumb back the switch and point the narrow beam of light at the ground. To your surprise you are standing on the edge of a deep gully, the remains of a dried-out stream that once gushed and tumbled down this rocky mountainside.
Carefully, you pick your way around the gully and follow a narrow path that ascends towards the flickering light. As you draw closer, you see that the light is being cast by a small fire burning at the entrance to a cave. You switch off your torch and approach with caution. As you draw level with the cave, you are greeted by a strange and curious sight.
You manage to unsheathe your weapon moments before the rattlesnake lunges at your legs.
Diamondback Rattlesnake: CLOSE COMBAT SKILL 18 ENDURANCE 11
Owing to the speed of its attack, you have only one chance of killing the snake before it bites you. Conduct the first round of combat using the normal combat procedure.
If the snake loses the greater number of ENDURANCE points in the initial round, turn to 266.
If you lose the greater number of ENDURANCE points in the initial round, do not deduct them from your total, but instead turn to 157.
Silently you unsling your shotgun and trombone a 12-gauge shell into the breach. The machine gunner disappears from view, reappearing a moment later with his reloaded gun held at waist level, ready to fire.
In one swift, smooth movement you bring your gun to your shoulder and fire.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your current Shooting skill total.
If the total is now 0–5, turn to 275.
If it is 6 or more, turn to 111.
You see the muzzle flash of his rifle and feel a red-hot pain cut across the top of your head as the bullet creases your scalp. In the next instant you feel a tremendous jolt as your roadster hits the rifleman and sends his broken body spinning through the air. You brace yourself against the wheel, but Kate is thrown forwards against the dashboard and gashes her forehead. At first you fear that she is badly injured, but she recovers quickly and, using dressings from her Medi-kit, she attends selflessly to your head wound before treating her own. As a result of her prompt treatment, you do not lose any ENDURANCE points.
As you unsling your rifle you glance at the breach, taking note of the red tag which indicates that a round is chambered ready to fire. Then swiftly you raise the gun to your shoulder, flick the safety and take aim at the leading dog. You fire as it leaps and your bullet passes clean through its body, killing it instantly and wounding another in the pack behind.5
If you wish to fire a second round at these rabid dogs and are able to do so, turn to 190.
If you have run out of ammunition, or choose not to fire a second round, turn to 64.
With your back bent beneath the combined weight of your equipment, fifty pounds of salt, and the thick roll of polythene sheeting that is slung around your shoulders, you slowly make your way back to the convoy. The sight of you staggering out of the campus, half-hidden beneath the mountain of items you have salvaged, provokes a loud roar of laughter from the bus. Cutter Jacks and Uncle Jonas come to your aid, both resisting the urge to poke fun at you. When they discover what you are carrying, their mouths drop open in amazement.
Word spreads and everyone is suddenly eager to congratulate you. You decide to keep one of the tubs (mark the Salt on your Action Chart as a Backpack Item—if you already carry the maximum number, you must discard another item in favour of this one). As soon as all your precious discoveries are loaded safely on the bus, you climb back into your roadster and lead the convoy along the southbound carriageway of Freeway 35.
The billowing smoke threatens to suffocate you before you have a chance to break free. Frantically you pull at the ropes until they give, then you stagger out of the smoke, coughing and retching violently: lose 2 ENDURANCE points.
No sooner have you recovered from the effects of the smoke than you are faced with another peril. An Indian clansman is running at you, holding a wide-bladed machete above his head. With a scream, he leaps forwards and takes a swipe at your neck.
Choctaw: CLOSE COMBAT SKILL 17 ENDURANCE 28
If you win the combat, turn to 228.
You stoop to pick up one of the spent cartridges, an empty 7.62mm casing. As you are inspecting it, a heavy weight lands on your back, forcing you to your knees: you have been smothered by a large rope net thrown from the roof of the sheriff's office.
The silence is shattered by a riot of noise as a dozen screaming clansmen surround your struggling form. Grasping hands snatch your weapons (erase all your missile and close combat weapons from your Action Chart) before they drag you—still ensnared in the net—through the entrance doors and along a narrow corridor. At the far end of the corridor, a pair of evil-smelling clansmen pull you out of the net and throw you head-first into an empty cell. As the heavy iron door clangs shut, you stagger wearily to your feet and survey your spartan surroundings.
If you possess either a File or a Flexible Saw, turn to 346.
If you possess neither of these items, turn to 294.
You glance over your left shoulder to see the biker hauling himself into a crouching position in readiness to leap into the seat beside you. Quickly you reach for your Hunting Knife and prepare to receive his attack.
Bronx: CLOSE COMBAT SKILL 15 ENDURANCE 26
Owing to your need to remain in control of the roadster throughout the combat, reduce your CLOSE COMBAT SKILL by 3 points.
If you win and the fight lasts four rounds or less, turn to 187.
If you win the fight in five rounds or more, turn to 230.
Cutter and Kate leave the bus and come forward to find out what is wrong. ‘I'm not sure I like the look of this place,’ you say, pointing along the road towards Coahoma.
Cutter produces a pair of binoculars from a leather case slung over his shoulder, and presses them to his eyes. ‘Your senses are servin' you right, Cal,’ he says, quietly, as he scans the town. ‘Here, take a look at this.’
You take the glasses and, when you focus on the town, you can see over twenty motorcycles parked along the highway. The riders are looting the stores and houses nearby, and much of what they have found lies heaped beside their machines. Suddenly a pinpoint of light climbs into the sky and explodes with a brilliant white flash that illuminates the surrounding landscape. ‘What do you make of that?’ you say, uneasily.
‘It's a signal flare,’ replies Kate. ‘I think they know we're here.’
The scratches that cover the walls of the trench indicate that it was excavated entirely by hand. You scan the surrounding landscape through your lenses, hoping to find some clue as to the identity of the person who dug the trench. Almost immediately you notice a group advancing towards you from the north. Slowly you increase the magnification until the figures become clear: two scrawny-looking men are leading a pack of five alsatian hounds in your direction.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table (0 equals zero).
If the number you have picked is equal to, or less than, your current Perception skill level, turn to 232.
If it is greater than your current Perception skill level, turn to 309.
A deafening roar fills the bar as both barrels of a Browning Citori GII shotgun are discharged almost simultaneously. The heavy loads rip through the front of the counter and hit you in the side, spinning your body with the numbing force of their impact, and dislodging most of the rickety shelves that line the wall. The last thing you see, as darkness descends, is a jumble of bottles and glasses cascading towards your face.
Your life and your journey end here in Cross Plains.
As you cruise along the deserted freeway you glance frequently to the north, on the lookout for a dust cloud that would herald the arrival of the Detroit Lions. But no matter how hard you try to concentrate on your role as convoy scout, you cannot seem to think of anything but your growing affection for Kate. An hour later, as you reach Colorado City, your romantic daydreaming is brought to an abrupt end as a serious problem looms into view.
The apex of the bridge that carries Freeway 20 across the Colorado River has collapsed, leaving a gap nearly eight feet wide. You stop the convoy and Cutter examines the damage. He returns to report that the bridge is not beyond repair. ‘It's gonna take at least three hours, maybe four, to rig a ramp across that gap strong enough to support the tanker,’ he says, squinting at the bridge.
At length it is decided that you should scout along the river for another place to cross, while the colony sets to work building a ramp. Then, if your search proves fruitless, at least the repair of the bridge will be well under way.
If you wish to scout along the river to the north, turn to 161.
If you decide to scout along the river to the south, turn to 319.
‘You may not need these, but have 'em anyway,’ says Kate, holding out two 12-gauge cartridges.
‘Every little helps,’ you reply, gratefully, as you take them from her hand (remember to note these on your Ammo Pouch). You press the shells into your gun's magazine and chance another look over the edge of the slope to fix the enemy's position in your mind.
‘I'll go left,’ whispers Cutter.
‘Whenever you're ready,’ you reply, and tense your body in preparation for the run.
A 1960s Thunderbird convertible, its bodywork and chrome gleaming as if it were only a day old, glides towards you like something out of a dream. Behind the driver stands a tall figure with dark, hungry eyes. He is dressed as an Indian chief, with a lamella breastplate and a magnificent head-dress of eagle feathers which frames his stern face. The car draws to a halt and proudly the chief addresses the crowd that kneels before him.
‘We of the Nanoc are the chosen ones,’ he cries, his words drawing the reply ‘be it so’ from his clan. ‘By the strength of our faith have we been spared the great wrath of Hastsezini, god of fire. Now, the time has come for us to reclaim the land of our forefathers. I, Chief Drawoher, call upon Heng, the Thunder Spirit, to bring rains to quench the thirsty earth.’
On hearing his words, several of the clan get to their feet and begin to dance around the totem, chanting as they raise their faces to the sky. ‘This night Heng will hear our call,’ says the chief, excitedly. Then he points at you with his tomahawk and utters the chilling words. ‘This night shall we offer this soul as sacrifice to the spirit of thunder.’
Inside, the colony are huddled on the ground with their hands over their heads, waiting for the bridge to blow. A few seconds after you enter the church and take cover next to Kate, there is a tremendous flash, followed almost immediately by a deafening roar like a violent earthquake that shakes the walls and floor. Dust and debris fall from the rafters but miraculously no one is injured, and when finally the tremors cease and you go outside to survey the scene, all you can see is a vast cloud of dust hanging over the place where the Colorado City bridge once spanned the river.
You cradle your rifle in your left hand and, with your right, you work a round into the chamber. The moving shadow of your enemy half fills the window as you raise your weapon, flick back the safety catch and take aim at his chest.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your current Shooting skill total.
If the total is now 0–5, turn to 275.
If it is 6 or more, turn to 180.
You scream at your people to get away from the window as hurriedly you load, raise, and then aim your rifle at the rider's chest.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Shooting skill total.
If your total score is 13 or less, turn to 340.
If your total score is 14 or more, turn to 302.
The road to Cross Plains is virtually free of the craters and other hazards that have plagued your journey so far, enabling you to drive at speed at last. You are glad of the cooling breeze but you cannot shake off your presentiment that danger awaits you in Cross Plains. Tyre tracks in the dust, some no more than a few days old, indicate that this highway is used by other four-wheeled vehicles.
When the town appears in the distance, caution prompts you to stop your car at a derelict gas station. You park it under cover, inside an empty repair shop at the rear of the building, then venture into Cross Plains on foot.
Tyre tracks zigzag the main street, but you can see no sign of the vehicles that made them. The place itself appears deserted and unremarkable, yet your mind warns you to stay alert. At a junction near the centre of the town you notice something unusual: a tall wooden pole, carved and painted in the fashion of an old Comanche totem, has been erected in the middle of the street.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table, and add to it your current Stealth and Perception skill totals.
If your total score is now 12 or less, turn to 300.
If your total score is now 13 or more, turn to 209.
You take hold of the crate, ready to wrench it open but, to your surprise, the wood is infested with dry rot and crumbles to dust under the slightest pressure. You strip away the flaky timbers to discover hundreds of square plastic tubs, held together by a sheet of clear polythene—just what your uncle wanted! Using your hunting knife, carefully you lay open the sheet, peeling it away from the tubs, and rolling it up for future use.
On the tubs themselves are blue and white labels that display the letters: N a C l.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your current Perception skill total.
If the total is now 7 or less, turn to 240.
If it is 8 or more, turn to 4.
With trembling hands, you rip open your Medi-kit and inspect the vaccines and serums that you are carrying. To your relief you discover that one of your kits contains an ampoule of Dysalomine, a synthetic anti-rabies vaccine. Quickly you break open the sealed top and expose the sterile tip of the hypodermic syringe that is fitted to the ampoule. Then you inject the half cubic inch of life-saving vaccine into your forearm.
Remember to erase one Medi-kit unit from your Action Chart.
A wave of relief washes over you when you discover that there is an ampoule of snake bite serum in your Medi-kit. Quickly you administer the injection and the pain slowly subsides (remember to erase one unit from your Action Chart). As the serum takes effect, it makes you nauseous, causing you to retch violently: lose 1 ENDURANCE point. Eventually these side effects disappear, but they leave you shaky and dehydrated.
You must now take two Drinks (or lose 6 ENDURANCE points) before you climb back into your roadster and return to the convoy.
You arrive at a ridge of high ground that overlooks the ruins of Denton. The place is familiar—you have stopped here many times over the past few months during your routine patrols of the area, to check that the town was not being used as a base by the gangs who were raiding McKinney. Although you cannot see anything out of the ordinary, you sense that something is wrong, that there is a hidden danger lurking in Denton. Your skin prickles at the thought of investigating the ruins lest your suspicions prove correct, but, on the other hand, the convoy must reach the freeway. You consider your options carefully.
If you possess some Binoculars, turn to 339.
If you wish to return to the convoy and tell them to avoid Denton, turn to 198.
If you decide to ignore your fears and investigate the ruins, turn to 298.
You try to throw yourself to the ground but before you reach it you are hit in the side and spun out into the open. A starburst of pain explodes in your head and the taste of blood fills your mouth. You have been hit in the face by a tracer shell and death is virtually instantaneous.
Tragically, your journey and your life end here at Colorado City.
Consciousness returns slowly and painfully. With your head pounding fit to burst, you ease yourself into a sitting position and gaze upon your new surroundings. You are in a prison cell, empty save for a wooden bunk. A solitary open window, criss-crossed with pitted steel bars, provides the only source of light and ventilation, and a heavy steel door the only means of access. You no longer possess any weapons or backpack equipment (be sure to erase all your missile and close combat weapons, together with any items you were carrying in your Backpack) but you still possess your Medi-kit, Ammo Pouch, and Water Canteen.
Standing on the edge of the bunk, you are able to peer through the bars at an alleyway that runs along the rear of the building, which you recognize to be the sheriff's office. However, without weapons, or any other means of dislodging the bars, you have no hope of escaping through the window.
An hour later you hear your captors laughing in the corridor outside. A key rattles in the lock and the cell door swings back to reveal a barrel-chested clansman, clad in a suit of black leather which is adorned with sharpened metal studs. He fixes you with his small bloodshot eyes and sneers contemptuously.
‘You scoutin' for the Skulls, ain't you, boy?’ he says, his hand caressing the butt of a pistol that is holstered on his hip. ‘That 'roach Alcatraz sent you here t'check us out, didn't he?’ Resentful mutterings fill the corridor outside, urging the beady-eyed clansman to settle the matter by shooting you.
‘Do I look like a Skull?’ you ask defensively.
‘Maybe not,’ he growls, ‘but if you ain't a Skull, what are you doing nosin' around Albany?’
Choosing your words with care, you manage to convince the clansman and his cohorts that you are a loner, desperately short of food and water, who ran across the town by chance and decided to enter in search of supplies. The clansman, who calls himself Manhattan, seems impressed by your story and invites you to join his gang, who are known as the ‘Kickers’. You have little option but to accept his invitation in the hope that once you are released from the cell you will be able to escape.
‘Good!’ snarls Manhattan. He informs his men of your decision and orders them to make preparations for ‘the Rite’. When you ask what ‘the Rite’ is, he narrows his eyes and sniggers. ‘You must earn the right to become a Kicker,’ he explains, grimly. ‘You must prove to us that you are worthy.’
The biker beats you to the draw. His shot hits you in the left shoulder, passing clean through and knocking you flat on your back with the force of its impact: lose 6 ENDURANCE points.
You struggle to reach your shotgun and return fire, but before you can squeeze the trigger, a shot from the slope fells your assailant. The others rush quickly to your aid and tend to your wound with supplies brought from the bus. Your shoulder aches viciously, but no bones are broken and, as soon as you are bandaged, you go to help the others search the bodies of the three dead bikers.
Your return is met with great relief and joy that Maria is safe. Juan and Rosita—Maria's parents—cannot thank you enough for finding their child, and the others, especially your uncle and aunt, heap you with praise. After the excitement has abated you venture out into the storm once more, this time with Cutter, to retrieve food and other vital supplies from the bus.
‘This is one heck of a blue norther,’ he says, as you climb aboard the bus. ‘Reckon it could hold us here for a day or two before it blows itself out.’
‘I sure hope you're wrong,’ you reply, as you prise open the floor hatch that gives access to the luggage hold from inside the bus. ‘Take a look at this.’ A fetid smell rises from the compartment, the smell of rotten food.
‘Dadburn it! That's all we need right now!’ exclaims Cutter, as he examines the swollen food parcels at arm's length. ‘The heat's put paid to these rations. Now we're really in for a hard time.’
The colony react to the news of the spoiled food with silent disbelief. What little that can be saved is carefully shared out, but it amounts to barely a day's ration per person. ‘If we don't find some food to replace what we've lost,’ says Aunt Betty-Ann, as she distributes the last of the stone-hard bread, ‘it'll be a convoy of skeletons that drives into Big Spring.’
‘Well, at least we've got enough water,’ replies Pop Ewell. ‘We can live for three weeks without food, but we'd all be dead in three days without water.’
Some people save their ration but you decide to eat yours before finally settling down to sleep (if you currently have food in your Backpack you must now erase it; all food, including personal supply, was pooled before distribution).
Quietly you creep around to the back of the diner and peer through the cracked window of the rear door. Two men are kneeling on either side of the open front doorway, their eyes fixed on your car. Carefully you test the handle of the door: it is unlocked.
If you possess a missile weapon, turn to 130.
If you do not possess a missile weapon, or do not have sufficient ammunition to use it, turn to 212.
You fight to control your car but you are powerless to prevent it from crashing through the parapet of the bridge. The shock of the impact, when it hits the surface of the lake thirty feet below, renders you unconscious. Slowly the toxic waters of Lake Worth fill your lungs and, painlessly, you drown.
Tragically, your life and your journey end here.
You are ten yards from your car when you hear a sound that makes you freeze in your tracks: it is the distinctive warning of a diamondback rattlesnake.
The snake is close to your left foot, its wide-headed body perfectly camouflaged by the surrounding rocks. Slowly it uncoils itself and bares its venomous fangs.
If you have a missile weapon and wish to use it, turn to 112.
If you wish to draw a close combat weapon to meet an attack by the snake, turn to 25.
If you decide to back away from the snake as slowly as you can, turn to 226.
All six bullets catch your enemy as he turns, hitting him in the side and lifting him into the air with the force of their deadly impact. He disappears from sight, and you hear him crash down upon the broken glass that carpets the floor of the drugstore.
Remember to erase six 9mm rounds from your Ammo Pouch.
To continue, turn to 251.
It is nearly dusk when the clansmen and their chief reappear. Slowly the shiny Thunderbird drives towards you, positioned at the head of a torchlit procession of men and women dressed in strange, ceremonial robes. Chief Drawoher brings the line to a halt before the totem and calls for silence. Then he extols the virtues of Heng, the Thunder Spirit, and asks that he grant their request for rain. The clansmen form a wide circle around you and, as their leader steps forwards, they chant loudly and hypnotically.
With a glint of madness in his eyes, the chief unsheathes the sacrificial dagger, a blade carved from the bone of a buffalo, and holds it above his head. ‘You die so that the land may live!’ he screams, his voice barely audible above the drone of his followers. In desperation, you remove your free hand from behind your back and attempt to grab his wrist as he brings the dagger down towards your heart.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your current Field Craft and Stealth skill totals.
If your total score is now 13 or less, turn to 241.
If it is 14 or more, turn to 256.
Painfully you drag yourself to your feet. You wait until the footfalls of the patrol have passed out of earshot and then venture out into the park once more. You manage to avoid another patrol before escaping from the amusement park and meeting up with Cutter at the truck depot. You are both relieved to discover that the place is empty and unguarded, and quickly you make your way to the stores building. You find the records office, but without electricity you cannot access the computer files to pinpoint the exact location of the spare you need. With horror you realize that in order to find a new steering linkage you will have to search every one of the 1,600 storage bays that occupy the building.
‘We'll be here forever if we have to search the shelves,’ you whisper.
‘I guess you're right,’ replies Cutter, ‘but I think I know a quicker way of finding what we need. Follow me.’
Intrigued by Cutter's reply, you follow him out of the stores building, across a parking lot, and into another section of the depot that is marked:
After searching four of the dozen service bays, finally he discovers what he is looking for: a school bus. ‘Cal, you keep y'eyes open while I strip the linkage out o' this baby. Give me an hour an' we'll be on our way.’
Nervously you stand guard at the door to the service bay while Cutter works. All is quiet until, forty minutes later, you see something moving among the vehicles on the far side of the parking lot: it is a drunken clansman. Slowly he staggers nearer, taking alternate gulps from bottles clutched in either hand. He is about to pass by when Cutter drops a spanner. The ringing noise pierces his drunken stupor and prompts him to investigate.
‘Trouble on its way!’ you whisper to Cutter, but your warning is too late. The clansman comes lumbering through the open door, brandishing his bottles like clubs. He sees you and screams an oath as he gets ready to launch his attack.
Chickamauga: CLOSE COMBAT SKILL 14 ENDURANCE 28
If you win the combat, turn to 249.
There is another burst of fire, and the bullets whistle over your head as you run the last few yards to cover. Kate is in front of you. She dives, and you see her land safely behind the rocks just moments before you make your leap. The jagged stones skin your hands and knees, but your fear blocks out the pain, making you concentrate on finding a way out of the ambush.
Carefully, you raise your head and peer through the foliage. One of the clansmen is beginning to move around the edge of the hollow, while his partner kneels and waits to give covering fire. Your fear turns to indignation when you realize that he is going after your car.
If you possess a missile weapon, and wish to use it, turn to 193.
If you do not possess a missile weapon, or do not wish to use it, turn to 195.
As the rumbling sound of your gunfire rolls out across the lake bed, the figure throws his hands to his face, staggers drunkenly, and then falls heavily to the ground.6 His body remains still, convincing you that your shooting has proved deadly accurate.
If you wish to search the body, turn to 303.
If you decide to press on with the crossing, turn to 160.
You slip the extinguisher out of your pack and point its hose at the base of the fire. The trigger releases a stream of foam that quickly smothers the oily flames and brings the fire to an abrupt end.
You wait until Cutter reaches the safety of the alley before you set off towards the amusement park. Silently, like a cat, you pad across the open ground, before gaining entry to the park itself by wriggling under its rusty chain-link fence. The deserted rides look strange and scary in the moonlight. The shapes play tricks on your imagination, and when a patrol of Skull clansmen suddenly appears at the entrance to the park, you panic and dive for cover through the nearest doorway.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your current Stealth and Perception skill totals.
If your total score is now 12 or less, turn to 331.
If your total score is now 13 or more, turn to 218.
It is dusk before you are able to escape from Albany under cover of the failing light. With relief you discover that your roadster is still parked at the farm where you left it, and quickly you climb in and accelerate away.
When you reach Moran you find that the convoy is awaiting your return with trepidation. Because you are so long overdue, they feared that you had fallen foul of Mad Dog Michigan and his bikers. You tell them what happened to you in Albany, and everyone agrees that, with darkness less than an hour away, it is too dangerous to continue.
The night in Moran passes uneventfully and at first light the convoy sets off cross-country towards Abilene. The arid, stony bed of Hubbard Creek leads the convoy southwest, back towards Freeway 20. Shortly after midday you reach the freeway from which you can see the outskirts of Abilene less than five miles distant.
Over an ounce of lead shot hits the clansman in the chest, bringing him crashing to the ground.7 As he disappears from sight, his partner unleashes a long burst of automatic fire that powders the scree above and behind you. When the firing stops, you raise your head and peer through the bushes, expecting to see your enemy reloading. Instead he discards his empty magazine and turns to run away. He has exhausted his ammunition and has decided to make his escape before you have a chance to return fire.
As soon as you are sure that the coast is clear, you rise cautiously and then help Kate to her feet. The sound of a motorcycle riding away into the distance reassures you that your ambusher has fled, and confidently you scramble up the slope and go to examine the body of the one who did not get away.
As you pull yourself free from beneath Copperhead's body, the Flick Knife (2) drops from his lifeless hand. (If you decide to keep this weapon, remember to mark it on your Weapons List.)
Another burst of fire echoes from across the street, and once more Long Jake urges you to take cover in the store. With your pulse racing, you jump to your feet and sprint, head down, towards the darkened doorway.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your current Stealth skill total.
If the total is now 5 or less, turn to 18.
If it is 6 or more, turn to 329.
The dogs rush towards you, undaunted by your valiant attempts to stop them.8 As one pounces at your chest, you grab a close combat weapon and prepare to defend yourself as best you can.
Rabid Dog: CLOSE COMBAT SKILL 12 ENDURANCE 32
If you win, and the fight lasts three rounds or less, turn to 113.
If the fight lasts four rounds or more, turn to 291.
A bullet clips the flesh above your left elbow and spins you to the ground: lose 3 ENDURANCE points. You clutch your injured arm to feel warm blood oozing through your fingers as you crawl along the ground towards your car. A second shot passes over your head and you notice the muzzle flash of the sniper's gun; he is hiding in the doorway of a diner on the other side of the highway. Two motorcycles are parked at the side of the building indicating that he is not alone.
If you possess a CB Radio, turn to 116.
If you do not possess this item, turn to 99.
The only items you find of practical value are a Fire Extinguisher and a first aid box. The box contains dressings and antiseptics sufficient for two Medi-kit units.
If you choose to keep either of these items, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
The voice seems to be drifting from the east, so you change direction and head towards it. After a few minutes there is a lull in the storm and, as the dust settles, you are able to see the ruins of a candy store standing close to the school's perimeter fence. Once more you call out her name and a voice replies, faintly, ‘Help me…I'm in here.’
If your current Perception skill total is 4 or less turn to 341.
If it is 5 or more, turn to 154.
You relay the message to the others and they begin to laugh. ‘I think the heat's finally got to you, Cal!’ jokes Hammer Harlan. ‘Here, let me listen to those 'phones. Ain't nothin' wrong with my hearin'.’ You pass him the headphones, but before he has had a chance to put them on, the insect-like sound of a small engine draws all eyes to the west.
‘Well, I'll be…!’ mutters Hammer, scarcely able to believe his eyes. High in the azure sky you see a tin flying machine with fragile, bat-shaped wings. Spellbound, the colony watches as the plane circles above the town and comes in to land on the stretch of freeway that approaches the bridge. Slowly the pilot extricates himself from the tiny, motorized hang glider, and gives a friendly wave as he strides towards the group.
‘The name's Rickenbacker,’ he says, removing his goggles and shaking Uncle Jonas by the hand. ‘I'm from Big Spring. I saw y'all while I was scoutin' the freeway and thought I'd drop by. Shame about the radio: 'fraid my set's seen better days.’
Rickenbacker warns the colony that a large group of clansmen is riding towards the town from the east. They are less than five miles distant and closing fast. He also tells you about another gang of bikers, a clan called the ‘Mavericks’, who have been the bane of the Big Spring colony for the last six months. They control the city of Lubbock, 100 miles to the north, and their raiding parties are in the area foraging for food. ‘I know the next thirty miles ain't gonna be easy for you folks, but there's a big welcome waitin' for y'all at Big Spring,’ he says, as he gets ready to take to the air once more. ‘Don't delay now. We're countin' on you to make it through.’
As soon as he is airborne, the colony sets to work on the bridge with renewed vigour. The Lions are closer than anyone dared imagine and everyone is eager to get across the river before they show up. When Cutter announces that the bridge is safe, you drive the roadster across the platform and park it on the freeway ready for a fast getaway. The colony crosses over on foot, and Cutter drives the empty bus across the bridge. The platform creaks and shudders, but Cutter is able to cross safely to the far side. Together with Kate, the three of you return to help guide Uncle Jonas and the tanker across.
Just as the front wheels are about to mount the platform, Kate screams a warning: ‘The Lions are here!’
If you possess a missile weapon, turn to 135.
If you do not possess a missile weapon, or have exhausted your supply of ammunition, turn to 288.
A rush of adrenalin sharpens your senses, making you super-aware of the deadly situation. You react with lightning speed, steering your car out of the path of the oncoming wreck yet avoiding the myriad other obstacles that litter the bridge and threaten to send you to your doom. With consummate ease you overcome these dangers and resume your position in line behind the tanker.
You step over the dead body of your enemy and rush along the centre aisle to help defeat the other three Mavericks who are aboard. Your arrival inspires the colony, and swiftly they help you to overcome these brutal bikers.
You are helping to carry their bodies towards the door of the bus when you notice an orange light flickering outside the rear window. You decide to take a closer look and, when you peer through the glass, you are horrified to see that one of the Mavericks is holding a Molotov cocktail—a bottle filled with an inflammable mixture of oil and gasolene—fused with a gasolene-soaked rag. The rag is burning and, as he brings his motorcycle alongside the bus, he gets ready to hurl the bottle through the window.
If you possess a missile weapon, turn to 292.
If you do not possess a missile weapon, or do not have sufficient ammunition to use it, turn to 238.
One of the men places his weapon on the floor in order to take something from his pack, and you launch your attack. You fell the unarmed man with a crushing blow to his neck, then you turn to face his partner. Unfortunately, he is armed and his gun is pointing at your chest.
Add your current ENDURANCE points score to your Stealth skill total.
If your total score is now 14 or less, turn to 282.
If your total score is now 15 or more, turn to 306.
You flick the safety catch off and rest your shotgun across the rollbar of your roadster in order to steady your aim. At 200 yards, the figure appears little more than 1/16 inch high and, as you squeeze the trigger, you pray that your buckshot load will have enough power to reach that far.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your current Shooting skill total. Now decide how many rounds you wish to fire (minimum: one round; maximum: four rounds). For every round you fire, add one point to your current score.
If your total score is now 15 or less, turn to 164.
If it is 16 or more, turn to 58.
‘You'll be needing one of these,’ says Pop Ewell, handing you a CB transceiver. ‘It'll do no good if you find Maria but can't find your way back here.’ You take the handset (mark this on your Action Chart as a CB Radio; if you already possess the maximum number of Backpack Items, you must discard one in favour of this item), thank him, and then join the others to decide on a search plan.
Before you set off for Mineral Wells, you consult with Cutter and Uncle Jonas and devise a plan of action. It is decided that after you have investigated the source of the radio transmission, you will drive south on the remains of Highway 281 and rendezvous with the others at Santo, the next town west along the freeway, where the convoy intends to make camp for the night.
If you possess a CB Radio, turn to 253.
If you do not, turn to 158.
As you emerge from the water, you notice that your boots are covered with mud and you stop to scrape them clean. Unfortunately, you are standing directly in front of a nest of scorpions, and it is not until you are stooping to pick up a stick that you spot the danger. Swiftly you withdraw your hand just in time to save yourself from their deadly sting.
Shaken by this close encounter, you must now take a Drink (or lose 3 ENDURANCE points) before you climb back into your roadster and return to the convoy.
You swerve to the left and then to the right to deter the rider from making a leap for it, but he is a brave and determined adversary. He makes his jump and lands with a crash on the trunk of your car, his outstretched hands grabbing at the rollbar to prevent himself from falling to his death. You try to dislodge him by braking heavily then accelerating away again, but still he remains glued to your car like a barnacle to a ship's hull. The other bikers yell encouragement as he pulls himself slowly towards the driving compartment.
If you possess a Pistol,9 turn to 287.
If you do not possess this missile weapon, turn to 32.
At this range your bullet hits the clansman with devastating accuracy, passing through his heart and killing him instantly.10 He throws his hands in the air and falls forward. As he disappears from sight, his partner unleashes a long burst of fire that powders the scree behind you. When the firing stops, you raise your head and peer through the bushes, expecting to see your enemy reloading. Instead he discards his empty magazine and turns to run away. He has exhausted his ammunition and has decided to make his escape before you have a chance to return fire.
As soon as you are sure that the coast is clear, you rise cautiously and help Kate to her feet. The sound of a motorcycle riding away into the distance reassures you that your ambusher has fled, and confidently you scramble up the slope and go to examine the body of the one who did not get away.
With a superhuman effort, you leap and dive across the hood of your roadster in an attempt to avoid being caught by the burst of automatic fire. Bullets follow you across the car, piercing the side and glancing noisily off the case-hardened rollbar. One of the hollow-tipped slugs creases your thigh, making you cry out loudly with the sudden pain: lose 3 ENDURANCE points.
Your scream convinces the biker that he has killed you, and he turns his attention elsewhere. You drag yourself into your car and start the engine without being seen, and swiftly you accelerate away, steering your roadster towards the tail-lights of the bus as it crashes through a group of bikers and escapes onto the freeway. A few random shots ricochet off the trunk as you follow the bus out of Santo, but within minutes you pass out of range and the gunfire ceases.
A searing wave of heat scorches your hands and face, forcing you to retreat from the flames. The sleeves of your jacket ignite and you suffer painful first and second degree burns before you can extinguish the fire: lose 6 ENDURANCE points.
If you are still alive after sustaining this injury, turn to 219.
You are within a few feet of the top when suddenly you lose your footing and plummet once more into the gully. This time the fall proves fatal; you crash head-first into the rocky base and shatter your skull. Death is instantaneous.
Your life and your journey end here.
The door is locked, but one swift kick is all that is needed to shatter its corroded bolt and gain entry to the warehouse. For a few seconds, as your eyes adapt to the darkness, you are blind: you have no idea of the layout of the building, and you fail to see the scar-faced clansman advancing towards you with a sharpened meat hook in his hand. Only the sound of glass breaking beneath his feet alerts you to his presence and saves you from his first, vicious swipe. Quickly you recover and reach for a close combat weapon as he makes his second attack.
Trans-am: CLOSE COMBAT SKILL 14 ENDURANCE 24
If you win and the combat lasts three rounds or less, turn to 314.
If you win and the combat lasts four rounds or more, turn to 192.
‘OK, it's worth a look,’ agrees Uncle Jonas, when you tell him you want to search the university campus before the convoy takes the freeway south. ‘See if you can rustle up some polythene sheeting. We're mighty short an' we'll be needin' some real bad as soon as we hit the desert. We'll wait right here for you an' keep an eye on the road. Any trouble then jus' give a holler.’
With your uncle's request in mind, you walk towards the centre of the campus in search of what was once the chemistry faculty. Most of the buildings are just burnt-out, rubble-filled shells, their contents either buried beyond reach or looted months ago by roving city gangs. A shattered sign indicates the entrance to the building you seek, and your hopes rise when you notice that it is the least damaged structure on the campus.
Inside, the sound of your footsteps echoes along the dusty corridors as you make your way down to the basement storage levels. To your disappointment you discover little remaining there of practical value.
If you wish to continue your search, turn to 184.
If you decide to call off your search and return to the convoy, turn to 315.
You dive to the ground, roll over, and then spring to your feet just in time to see the clansman casting aside his empty pistol in frustration. He shouts for help, calling to his partner to cut you down, but you are now too close for the other clansman to risk a burst of fire. With a yelp of surprise, the clansman reaches for a knife as you make your attack.
Electra-glide: CLOSE COMBAT SKILL 16 ENDURANCE 25
Owing to the speed of your attack, add 2 points to your CLOSE COMBAT SKILL for the duration of the fight.
If you win the combat, turn to 15.
You take a deep breath and launch yourself at the exit. However, the stripy-faced youth, whom you encountered earlier wielding a lasso, appears at the doorway, blocking your escape. He reaches for his revolver, which is tucked into his belt, but before he can point and fire, you lash out with your foot and send it spinning from his hand. He screams with pain and anger as he lunges at your throat.
Mosquito: CLOSE COMBAT SKILL 10 ENDURANCE 21
If you win the combat, turn to 215.
It takes you a few minutes to clear the rubble away from the engine compartment, but your efforts are not in vain. Some of the engine components are still serviceable and could prove useful as spares for the colony's bus.
Below are listed the items worth salvaging from the wreck. You may take two from the list, all of which are Backpack Items:
If you decide to keep any of these spares, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
To return to the convoy, turn to 224.
From the window of a room on the second floor you watch as the mob floods out of the alley and into the street below. They divide into two groups and begin searching the adjoining streets, seemingly convinced that you are still out in the open. Silently you crouch by the window, awaiting the chance to slip out of Cross Plains unseen. While you are lying low, you must take a drink or lose 3 ENDURANCE points. It is dusk before you are able to escape from the town. With relief you discover that your roadster is still parked at the gas station, and quickly you climb in and accelerate away.
When you reach Rising Star you find that the convoy is awaiting your return with trepidation. Because you are so long overdue, they feared that you had fallen foul of Mad Dog Michigan and his bikers. You tell them what happened to you in Cross Plains and everyone agrees that, with darkness almost upon you, it is too dangerous to continue.
The night at Rising Star passes uneventfully and at first light the convoy sets off cross-country towards Abilene. The arid, stony bed of Pecan Bayou provides excellent cover from the surrounding high ground and leads the convoy northwest, back towards Freeway 20. Shortly after midday you reach the freeway, from which you can see the outskirts of Abilene less than five miles distant.
Holding your breath to steady your nerves, you stare along the barrel of your shotgun and focus your aim on the driver's crash helmet.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your current Shooting skill total.
If your total score is now 11 or less, turn to 172.
If your total score is now 12 or more, turn to 23.
With practised ease you cup your pistol in both hands, thumb back the safety catch, and take aim at the shadow that fills half the window frame. The machine gunner is levelling his reloaded weapon to fire again when you squeeze off your first shot.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your current Shooting skill total.
If the total is now 0–7, turn to 275.
If it is 8 or more, turn to 9.
The glare of a dozen motorcycle headlights follows in the wake of the convoy. The Mavericks who survived your brief but devastating visit to Coahoma are now in pursuit, and they are closing the gap swiftly. Shots are fired from the back of the bus, bringing down two of the leading bikes, but they do not prevent the others from moving alongside. Anxiously you watch in your rear-view mirror as the pillion riders risk their lives to jump aboard. The few who survive the leap without falling under the wheels gain entry by kicking their way through the windows.
Suddenly the bus loses speed. You sense that something is seriously amiss and you fall back to find out what is wrong. You wave the tanker on, then slow almost to a standstill in order to allow Cutter to catch up. As he draws nearer you see that a running battle is taking place on board. You accelerate, bringing your roadster alongside the boarding door, then you tell Kate to move over into the driving seat and take the wheel. As soon as she has control of the car, you coil yourself like a spring and leap towards the door of the bus.
Add your current ENDURANCE points score to your Stealth skill level, and make a note of the total in the margin of your Action Chart. Now, pick a number from the Random Number Table and add it to your total.
If the total is 22 or less, turn to 10.
If the total is 23 or more, turn to 313.
Slowly the two figures shamble to the edge of the highway and stare at you with vacant eyes. Your spirited dispatch of their dogs has not worried them in the slightest; neither do they appear unduly concerned for their own safety. You stand your ground, challenging them to attack if they dare. They laugh. It is a pitiful, thin sound, which makes your flesh crawl. You return their empty stares, noting with disgust the ulcer-like sores that cover their pale, greyish skins, their almost complete lack of hair, and their teeth, black with decay. Your disgust turns to pity, however, when suddenly you realize why they show no fear: they are both afflicted with terminal radiation sickness. Death is already their companion.
‘Where are you from?’ you call, anxious to discover if there is a hot spot—a zone of radioactivity—nearby.
‘Cisco,’ comes the reply.
You take some dressings from your Medi-kit and place them on the ground in front of you (erase one Medi-kit unit from your Action Chart), then you turn and walk back to your roadster. The dressings may be of little comfort to these two Rad-vics (the name your colony gives to victims of high-dosage radioactivity), but they may know others who will benefit from them.11
You break free and stagger out of the smoke, coughing and retching: lose 1 ENDURANCE point. With streaming eyes, you consider the two routes that offer a chance of escape. You can either run east along the main street and back towards your car, retracing the route by which you entered Cross Plains; or you can run in the opposite direction and attempt to hide in the maze of alleys that once serviced the town stores.
If you wish to run east, turn to 110.
If you decide to run west, turn to 321.
You grab a blanket and rush forward to fight the blaze. Several of the colony follow your example and, although you suffer from burns and toxic smoke, you manage eventually to quash the flames.
To find out the extent of the injuries you suffered whilst fighting the fire, pick a number from the Random Number Table.
If the number you have picked is 0–3, lose 2 ENDURANCE points. If it is 4–6, lose 3 ENDURANCE points. If it is 7–9, lose 4 ENDURANCE points. Make the necessary adjustments to your Action Chart.
To continue, turn to 188.
The colony is divided in opinion. Roughly half urges an investigation of the signal; the other half believes, like you, that it would be foolish to risk walking into an ambush on the dubious merits of such a patchy broadcast.
A vote decides the course of action in your favour, and the convoy prepares for the next stage of its journey to Santo. You lead the way along Freeway 20 and, as you pass by the outskirts of a town called Brock, the sun dips reluctantly below the horizon. A full moon brightens the twilight and the temperature drops rapidly until you find yourself shivering in the cold night wind.
It takes forty minutes to reach Santo, and another twenty to find a site on which to set up camp overnight. Uncle Jonas orders that the vehicles be drawn into a circle, like a ring of wagons in the wild west, to offer the best protection against the threat of a night raid. Lots are drawn to see who will stand the first watch; unfortunately, you pick the shortest straw.
It is an hour after midnight when you see a cluster of lights in the middle distance. They are less than a mile away to the east, and approaching at speed. With only a few minutes at most before the bikers reach the camp, you sound the alarm.
Like a pack of screaming demons the marauding bikers descend on the convoy, shooting wildly as they weave in and out of the circle. One of the bikers guns his machine towards you, forcing you to dive aside to avoid being ridden down. You are staggering to your feet when another attacks you from behind.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your current Stealth skill total.
If your total is now 8 or less, turn to 265.
If your total is 9 or more, turn to 289.
The lake occupies the centre of a saucer-like depression and, as you bring your roadster to a halt at the edge of this rocky rim and stare down at the shimmering water below, you are heartened to see that clumps of vegetation are growing close by: a sure sign that the water is not contaminated.
The sides of the depression are steep and covered with loose shale. Rather than risk a fall, you suggest to Kate that perhaps you should go down to the lake alone. When you reach it, she could throw the containers to you, and then help you with them when you climb back out. The idea does not impress her. ‘It's been so long, I can't remember the last time I took a dip in some real water. I'm sick a' washin' in sand. If you think I'm gonna hang around up here while you splash about down there, you've got another think comin', buster!’
With that she grabs two of the plastic containers and lowers herself over the edge. Seconds later you hear her scream and you rush forward to see her tumbling head-over-heels towards the lake. She hits the water with a loud splash and disappears from view. Briefly she surfaces, thrashing her arms and shouting: ‘Help, Cal! I can't swim!’
If you possess a Rope, turn to 181.
If you do not possess this item, turn to 246.
The tyres shriek in protest as you slam on the brakes and wrench the steering wheel hard over to the right simultaneously. The suspension shudders under the strain as the car veers away violently from the ambulance, missing the twisted shell by a few inches. Your driving skill and quick reactions have saved you from certain death.
Quickly you recover control of your roadster and accelerate towards the distant ridge. The bikers soon lose interest in the chase and peel away to return to the town, pausing only to curse and fire a few ill-aimed shots at your back as you make your escape.
Your gunfire fails to bring down the clansman, but it passes close enough to make him veer away from the edge of the slope.12 Cursing your luck, you shoulder your weapon and turn to Kate.
‘I've got to stop him before he reaches the roadster,’ you say. Kate protests, but you are determined to save your car, and reluctantly she agrees to cover you as best she can with a tiny Derringer pistol that she carries in her boot.
‘I call it “Chihuahua”,’ she quips, as she cocks the double-hammers and gets ready to fire. ‘It don't look much but it makes one helluva noise!’
You scan the slope. When you have picked out the best place to make your climb, you break cover and zigzag along the shore towards it. Immediately, the machine gunner opens up on you. Kate replies with a single shot, and he diverts his fire back to the rocks and bushes. Swiftly you claw your way to the top of the slope and run straight at the clansman, grimly determined to intercept him before he can do any damage. He sees you approaching, draws a pistol, and empties it at your chest.
Add your Stealth skill total to your current ENDURANCE points score.
If your total is 9 or less, turn to 258.
If it is 10 or more, turn to 83.
Gingerly, you examine the wounds sustained during your fight. Most were caused when you hit the hard surface of the road, but several of the cuts and scratches that criss-cross your arms were made by the teeth and claws of the dog. Fear knots your stomach as you realize that you must have been infected with the rabies virus.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
If the number you have picked is 0–4, turn to 283.
If it is 5–9, turn to 44.
The moment you tap the correct number on the keypad,13 there is a loud click and the steel door creaks inwards to reveal the shelved walls of a strongroom beyond. You smile with satisfaction at having cracked the university's door code: the number of the last column of each row is the sum of the number of the first two columns, minus the number in the third column.
Intrigued by what lies within, you enter the strongroom and peer along the dusty shelves. The vault contains the documentation of experiments and quantities of what were once considered precious metals—gold, platinum, silver, and titanium. After a thorough search, you find three items that may be put to practical use:
If you wish to keep any of these items, amend your Action Chart accordingly.
To leave the strongroom and return to the convoy, turn to 315.
The convoy is too far away to see that you need help, and you dare not stand up and signal to them for fear of being hit. Two more bullets smack the side of your car and then you hear the sound of a rifle bolt being worked frantically back and forth: the sniper's gun has jammed. While he is trying to clear it, you dash across the highway and take cover behind the two motorcycles. You stop there just long enough to sabotage their engines, then you advance along the side of the diner towards an open window.
If you possess an HE Grenade, turn to 276.
If you do not possess this item, turn to 311.
Much of Abilene lies in the shadow of a bank of cloud, which has darkened the land since mid-morning. At first the unexpected arrival of this cloud cover cheers the colony, for it brings with it a welcome respite from the burning heat and promises a possible end to the drought. Unfortunately, these initial hopes are soon shattered.
As you approach the city a fierce wind arises. It sweeps down from the north and lashes the convoy, not with rain, but with blinding clouds of grit and sand. Within the space of half an hour the colony is engulfed in a ferocious duststorm that threatens to bury you all without trace. At the first opportunity you signal to the others to pull off the elevated freeway and seek shelter from the storm. The danger of grit finding its way into the engines of the convoy vehicles, causing them irreparable damage, is uppermost in your mind, and anxiously you search for shelter.
A signpost looms out of the swirling dust, pointing to what was once a high school. You signal to Cutter to follow you into the school yard, but the storm is reaching its peak and you are forced to halt before you can see the school itself. Quickly the colony disembarks and blindly you lead them in single file, heads bowed against the stinging wind, until you reach the school building. Fortunately, it still has a roof and four walls, and offers adequate protection from the storm. Once inside, Aunt Betty-Ann decides to take a roll call to make sure everyone is present. She is about to begin when Rosita Rodriguez cries out in anguish, ‘Maria! Where is my Maria? She is not here!’
A check of the school reveals that Rosita's little six-year-old girl is missing. She was with the family when they left the bus and must still be close by, but with the storm now at its peak, everyone knows that her chances of survival outside are slim. Uncle Jonas calls for three volunteers to search for Maria, and immediately you step forward, as do Cutter and Kate.
If you possess a CB Radio, turn to 304.
If you do not possess this item, turn to 73.
Usin