There's no time to waste. You gunshots echoed throughout the area, and you doubt those two were alone. With the man hiding in your trailer, you try to drive away.

You quickly find that the roads have been blocked off by debris. They're herding you in a certain direction. You can't get out of the car, either, as you start to see other people watching you out of buildings and behind trash cans. In a last ditch effort to get away, you throw the minivan in reverse.

As you try to back out, you see something: a large truck blocks the way out. They've sealed the road behind you. A man holding a golf club comes out of a nearby building and starts running toward the minivan. In total panic, you speed down the road, away from the truck.

Barbara is gripping her armrests in fear. You would be, but both your hands are on the steering wheel. You drive down the road, exactly where they want you to. You can hear the truck following closely behind you. Suddenly, you drive into a dead end. The way forward is blocked. The truck pulls to a stop behind you, trapping you.

You have no choice but to get out of the car. A mob of people has gathered around your vehicle. Your group follows suit, but the former hostage stays in your trailer.

"Okay, let's not waste time. Give us our hostage, your stuff, and your car, and we'll escort you to your new home," barks a large, bald man. The crowd of angry people with their guns pointed at you reminds you that you'll have to speak carefully.
> You more than food
You slowly walk over to the trailer to hand over the supplies. When you open the door, the hostage comes out with his arms raised. "Well, look who it is," the man says. "Thought you could sneak this one past us?" Another person from the crowd takes him away. Then the man snaps his fingers. "Boys, unload the trailer. I want to see what I got."

After the men have searched through the trailer, the man turns to you. "Now that we have your stuff, I will escort you to your new home."


You refuse to let some stupid sign deter you. Who are the 'Followers' anyway? You don't care. You and Mikey get out, and move the chain link fencing.

After that, it seems like smooth sailing. You do start to notice, however, that the place seems less quality here. Graffiti covers the area, and certain buildings are just gone.

Suddenly, you see something off to the side of the road. There are three men standing off in a secluded alley. One of them is tied to a pole. The other two are mercilessly beating him with pieces of metal.
> You keep driving
You watch over the scene. The attackers seem like hardened thieves. Getting in a confrontation wouldn't be wise. You slowly drive past the scene. As you do, the victim of the beatings gives you a long, cold stare in between blows to the face.


After everything is packed up, you do one last check to make sure you didn't forget anything. You find a few water bottles in a vending machine, but nothing else. You say goodbye to your makeshift home, and get in the driver's seat of the minivan.

On the road, you follow roads that you know to head north. You try to stay and back roads, just in case you run into anything. You're determined to make it to Washington.

While driving, Barbara thinks to open up the glove box. The group is rewarded with a U.S. map and another bottle of water. You set the map up on the dashboard so you can see it while driving. You decide to follow I-5 north, which should take you right up to Washington.

Your trip is cut short after a few miles when you come to a blockade in the road. A chain fence was haphazardly set up in the middle of the road. A handmade sign hanging from it reads: FOLLOWERS' TERRITORY. TRESPASSERS WILL BE LOOTED AND FED TO THE DEAD.

> You try to find a way around
Heeding the warning of the sign, you decide to change direction. You look on the map and find an alternate route. You'll be able to loop around and rejoin I-5 after some time.

As you drive, you begin to notice something is very wrong. You expected to be out of range of whoever the 'Followers' are, but graffiti and roadblocks suggest otherwise. Zombies have been staked to the ground on the side of the road. garbage cans have been laid out to block the roads, and a few of them have fires going in them.

"We need to turn around," you say. Nobody objects, so you throw the car in reverse. You back into the grass, and turn around so that you can pick a different route. But, when you turn, you see a man walk out into the middle of the road. He has something in his hands, but you can't tell what it is. It looks like a bat, or an axe. Suddenly, you see a car driving up the road toward you.

By this time, you realize the mistake you made. You try to turn around to see if you can get out of the backroads, and away from these people. You end up knocking over some trash cans and putting dents in the car, but that's currently the least of your worries. You start to see that forks in the road have been blocked off completely. They're herding you in a certain direction. With the roadblocks, the zombies, and the car behind you, you have nowhere to go.

You have no choice but to follow the intended path for you. You eventually end up in a section of the road that's walled off completely. When you stop, the car behind you stops, blocking you in. A group of people approaches the car from behind roadblocks and trees. Every single one of them is armed with either a gun or a large melee weapon. One man, who is bald and wearing a blood-soaked apron, walks up to your car. He clutches a metal bar in his meaty fist.

"Knock, knock, knock," he says, hitting the top of your car with every word. "Come on out, so we can see our kill." You freeze with fear. The man leans down into the window. "Get out of the car," he says. You slowly open the door, and the man steps aside to let you out. When the four of you are out of the car, The man addresses all of you.

"So," he starts, "Apparently you didn't pay attention to our little warning. This is our turf, and anyone who enters our turf, becomes our property. You four, and everything you have, is ours now. I'm gonna need the keys to your car, and then I'm gonna need you all to step aside, so I can escort you away."

Mikey is the first to act. He gets back in the car, and comes up a moment later with a gun. He points it at the bald man. "Leave us alone," he says.

The man laughs. "Silly boy. Young kids like you shouldn't play with guns," he says. He snaps his fingers, and a small group of men from the crowd steps forward. They rip the gun out of Mikey's hands, and pull him out of view.

"Hey," you say. "Listen, I'm sorry we trespassed, but I don't want any trouble. Please, please, just let us pass. We don't want to bother or hurt anyone. We just have somewhere to be. Can't you-"

The man cuts you off by hitting you in the head with his metal bar. "Fool! Stop trying to plead your case! I told you how it's gonna be! We get your stuff, and you're gonna die!"

> You attack him
Without hesitation, you jump out at the man. You grab the bar and hold it against his neck, choking him. Behind you, you hear the others leap into action.

"I told you," you say, "Just let us go. But you wouldn't listen. Now we have to-"

You are suddenly pulled off of the man and stabbed in the side. You shriek in pain, and your attacker drops you onto the road. "I tried to tell you," the man says. "But you just wouldn't listen." The man brings the bar down onto your head, caving your skull in.


Heeding the warning of the sign, you decide to change direction. You look on the map and find an alternate route. You'll be able to loop around and rejoin I-5 after some time.

As you drive, you begin to notice something is very wrong. You expected to be out of range of whoever the 'Followers' are, but graffiti and roadblocks suggest otherwise. Zombies have been staked to the ground on the side of the road. garbage cans have been laid out to block the roads, and a few of them have fires going in them.

"We need to turn around," you say. Nobody objects, so you throw the car in reverse. You back into the grass, and turn around so that you can pick a different route. But, when you turn, you see a man walk out into the middle of the road. He has something in his hands, but you can't tell what it is. It looks like a bat, or an axe. Suddenly, you see a car driving up the road toward you.

By this time, you realize the mistake you made. You try to turn around to see if you can get out of the backroads, and away from these people. You end up knocking over some trash cans and putting dents in the car, but that's currently the least of your worries. You start to see that forks in the road have been blocked off completely. They're herding you in a certain direction. With the roadblocks, the zombies, and the car behind you, you have nowhere to go.

You have no choice but to follow the intended path for you. You eventually end up in a section of the road that's walled off completely. When you stop, the car behind you stops, blocking you in. A group of people approaches the car from behind roadblocks and trees. Every single one of them is armed with either a gun or a large melee weapon. One man, who is bald and wearing a blood-soaked apron, walks up to your car. He clutches a metal bar in his meaty fist.

"Knock, knock, knock," he says, hitting the top of your car with every word. "Come on out, so we can see our kill." You freeze with fear. The man leans down into the window. "Get out of the car," he says. You slowly open the door, and the man steps aside to let you out. When the four of you are out of the car, The man addresses all of you.

"So," he starts, "Apparently you didn't pay attention to our little warning. This is our turf, and anyone who enters our turf, becomes our property. You four, and everything you have, is ours now. I'm gonna need the keys to your car, and then I'm gonna need you all to step aside, so I can escort you away."

Mikey is the first to act. He gets back in the car, and comes up a moment later with a gun. He points it at the bald man. "Leave us alone," he says.

The man laughs. "Silly boy. Young kids like you shouldn't play with guns," he says. He snaps his fingers, and a small group of men from the crowd steps forward. They rip the gun out of Mikey's hands, and pull him out of view.

"Hey," you say. "Listen, I'm sorry we trespassed, but I don't want any trouble. Please, please, just let us pass. We don't want to bother or hurt anyone. We just have somewhere to be. Can't you-"

The man cuts you off by hitting you in the head with his metal bar. "Fool! Stop trying to plead your case! I told you how it's gonna be! We get your stuff, and you're gonna die!"

> You let him kill you
You stay silent, and get up off the road. The man has a wide, wicked grin on his face. As the others close in on the car, the man hits you again, sending you to your knees. Again, and you're on the ground. Again, and you're barely conscious.

"Signs are there for a reason," the bald man says as your vision swims. "We gave you an honest, fair warning, but you just didn't listen." The man brings the bar down onto your temple, killing you.

"Not my fault you don't listen."


"Okay, we'll stay. But tomorrow, we leave. First thing in the morning." Everyone nods their heads in agreement. You have a bad feeling about this.

After everyone is settled down and laying on their air mattresses, you slip out the front door. Outside, it's still rather free of zombies. You sit down on the road and look around. You think about your wife, and Washington, and everything that's happened. So much changed in just two days.

Suddenly, you hear leaves crunching behind you. You turn around, thinking it's a zombie, but it's not. It's a soldier. He has frizzy, unkempt black hair, and still wears his uniform. "Mind if I have a seat?"

You feel oddly safe around him. He hasn't shown any signs of aggression, and to your knowledge, he has no weapons. He does, however, have a duffel bag. "I been watchin' you, with that group." "Watching me?" you say in surprise.

"Yeah, watching you. The way you raided that gun store. I'm gonna be straight with you; these folks are slowin' ya down. I'm headed to Washington, just like you are. I believe you're more capable to get there if you travel lighter."

"Where are you going with this?" you ask. "I'm askin' you to ditch these people and come to Washington. You have family there, correct?" You nod. "'Kay, then. Why waste time? You have no connection to these people. You don't even know their last names."

"How do I know I can trust you?" you ask. The man's expression doesn't change. "I guess you don't. But that's a decision I'm gonna leave to you." Both of you sit in silence on the road for a few minutes. Then, the soldier gets up and opens his duffel bag. He takes out a can of spray paint, and walks over in the direction of the unfinished message.
> You follow The Stranger
Something about what the soldier said makes you think. Barbara can't operate a weapon, Mikey doesn't like you, and probably never will, and Megan is too shy for you to even be sure about her. You realize the soldier is right, and go to follow him.

You catch up with the soldier as he is finishing the spray-painted message on the wall.

HOPE IS LOST FOR THE REST OF YOU. THE DEAD NEVER SLEEP, AND NEITHER CAN YOU. WASHINGTON IS THE ONLY SALVATION. COME TO WASHINGTON OR DIE. LEAVE NOW, AND BE A PART OF THE REBUILDING.

"What's the rebuilding?" you ask. "Oh," the soldier answers, "It's a military plan that died out pretty quickly. Back before the zombies took control, we had a plan set up to rebuild and restructure the damaged areas. You know, help with businesses, relocate families." That makes sense. Nobody saw this outbreak coming, and it makes you feel better that the government is working to help you. You hope they were able to help your wife to safety. Along with everyone else of course, but mostly your wife.

"It's pretty dark out," says the soldier. "We should head back." You are confused. "Head back? To where?" The soldier looks at you and raises his eyebrows. "The camp. Follow me." The soldier leads you back past where Barbara and her kids are, and into the trees. "By the way, my name's Conway," he says suddenly.

> You camp
After a few minutes, you arrive at a small campsite. A single tent is set up in front of a living space. A fire pit, a log to sit on, what looks like a knife-sharpening station, among other things. "Here we are," Conway says. "Camp me."

"Are you alone?" you ask, noting the single, one person tent. "I am now," Conway answers. "I was with one of the patrol groups, but we got split up in all the ruckus. There were a bunch of useless men anyway. Pretty sure I was the only one who could operate a rocket launcher." You think of the civilian volunteers back at the wall, and wonder if Conway was paired with such people.

"So you just ditched them?" you ask as you sit down on the log. "Wasn't my choice. We carried packs with necessary supplies for a few days in the event we were separated or trapped. Once I knew I was gone, I booked it outta there. Found this place, set up shop, and ditched my backpack. Kept the duffel bag for carrying big finds," Conway answers.

"Aren't you heading back to Washington?" you ask. Conway  chews his lip for a moment before answering, "No. Not yet." You decide to leave it there. You don't want to bring up a possible bad moment in the man's past, so you change the subject. "Where are we sleeping?" Conway snaps at of his thoughts. "Oh yes! Um, you can take the tent. I have no problem sleeping on the ground. Won't be the first time."

You nod, and take note of Conway's supplies. He has quite a few guns, an impressive knife collection, and whatever he's hiding in the duffel bag. It's definitely full, but you aren't sure of what. There's also plenty of food around, but no water to be seen. You wonder if Conway hid it, or needs more.

As you look around, Conway says, "You planning on sleeping anytime soon, or are you just gonna sit there and stare at my guns?" You climb into the tent, and try to sleep on the inflatable pillow and thin blanket.
> You rise and Shine
When you wake up, Conway is already up. From the way he's acting, you wonder if he ever fell asleep. You see five empty cans scattered around the area, more than three servings of breakfast. You decide not to comment, and pick up a can of instant mashed potatoes.

"Alrighty," Conway says as you eat, "Today, I'm thinkin' we go out and look for more supplies. Specifically, more ammo for him," Conway points to an especially large gun propped against a tree, "...some more food, and, of course, any other survivors we can find."

"Wait, what?" you ask. "If you were looking for survivors to rescue, why didn't you get my whole group back at the nature center?" Conway goes quiet, similar to yesterday when you asked if he was headed to Washington. He finally answers, "I'm not rescuing people."

"Speaking of which," he says, "We'd better get moving. Your people are gonna start wonderin' where you went, and they could also be a supply drain. Early bird gets the arm cannon! Let's get moving!" Not wanting to challenge Conway, you hop up and follow him out of the woods, and onto another car-choked road.

You scan the area for points of interest. You don't see anything, but Conway does. He points out something a few streets over, that you can't see. You tell him there's nothing there, to which he insists there is. "I can't tell what it is," he says, "But it has our colors. Let's go grab it."

As Conway leads you through the cars over to the next street, a lone zombie comes out from behind one of the cars. "Aw, shoot," Conway says, and pulls a large knife out of his belt loop. He goes over to kill the zombie, and stabs the knife through its forehead. The knife is so comically large, it goes through the zombie's head, and sticks out the back three inches. "Well?" he says.

The thing he saw was a camo backpack. You unzip it and find several ammo magazines you don't recognize. "Yes!" Conway shouts, and pulls one of the cartridges out of the backpack. "Here's just what I was lookin' for!" You see a few other things in the pack, including a hunting knife. You pocket it for yourself, and examine the rest of the pack. It's mostly military-type stuff.

You look up, and see a small pack of zed coming through the cars towards you. "Uh oh," you say, and grab your knife. Conway turns towards them. "Looks like that rotter brought some friends!" You go to the right, and single off one zombie. While Conway goes to town on the others, you focus on the one in front of you. When it's close enough, you force the knife into its face. To your satisfaction, the zombie dies instantly. You pull the knife out and let it drop to the ground.

Conway looks at what you've done. "Excellent! You're learning," he says. "Anyway, this is one awesome find. You wanna go for more, or should we go back with our find?"
> You search for more
"Let's keep going," you say confidently. Conway smiles. "That's the way. Where to?"

You travel up the road, cautiously watching for more zombies. It doesn't look like there's much more out here. The cars are all empty, and there's a severe lack of convenient backpacks. You think about searching elsewhere. "There a problem?" Conway asks. "You reconsiderin'?" You shake your head. "Maybe we should go to where there's more buildings, and potential for supplies," you say.

The city isn't much more fruitful. As you look at the empty streets, you see something painted on a wall. At first, it looks like another call to Washington, but the message is different:

NO MORE

STRIVE FOR BETTER

A NEW WORLD ORDER

"Conway," you say. "What do you think this is?" Conway reads the message, and laughs. "What the hell? What kind of garbage is this? 'New World Order?' Sounds like some lunatic wants to take on the government. The whack job's probably dead by now. You ready to head back?"

You're disappointed at your lack of finding anything, but at least you killed a few zombies with your new knife. You're feeling more comfortable with it. You and Conway walk back to his camp.
> You head back
Conway happily loads his new ammo into his gun back at the camp, while you unpack the backpack. A lot of ammo, a few more knives, an empty water bottle, and a gold bracelet. "Huh," says Conway. "That looks familiar. I think someone used to wear that around. Uh....oh come on...what was his....Lincoln! That was it! Yeah, he used to have that, but this ain't is backpack."

You eat a light lunch, and talk to Conway more about Washington. "You ready to leave?" you ask, anticipating a bad response. Conway seems to have come to terms with whatever was troubling him. "Yes, I think we'll leave soon. The only obstacle is a good vehicle. I can drive just about anything, but I want somethin' durable, not just some car on the side of the road. I plan to drive through the wastelands in style, know what I mean?" You nod. There are benefits to a more durable vehicle for sure. You make plans to search tomorrow, and leave as soon as you find what you're after.

"Now that that's settled," Conway says. "You up for a little game?"
> A what?
Conway fishes two more guns out of his duffel bag. "Follow me."

Conway leads you to the top of a small hill, overlooking another trashed street. This one, however, is full of the dead. "The rules are simple," says Conway. "You shoot the zombies. I did this to pass time, I have no shortage of ammo. Now that there's two of us, I suppose we should set up some rules."

You agree on ten points per killed zombie. Twenty if you steal a kill from someone else. You lose five points if you don't kill a zombie first shot. Conway seems very invested in the game, but you just see it as target practice. "Alright," he says. "Three, two..."

You kill a zombie on the very first shot, standing next to a jeep. The next kill is in the driver's seat of a station wagon. "I think bonus points are in order for that one," says Conway. Before you know it, you're into the game, too. You don't kill every zombie on the first shot, but you're decent. Conway, of course, has double your points by the time you've used up all your rounds. "Good game," he says. "We should head back, I guess."
> A Calling
Your walk back is uneventful. You still aren't sure what the point of that excursion was, but it's nice to get your mind off impending doom for awhile. Plus, as Conway said, there's no shortage of bullets.

You arrive back at the campsite as night is falling. "Well, time to hit the hay," says Conway. "Are we leaving for Washington tomorrow?" you say. It's not that you're getting impatient, but you don't see a reason (beyond Conway's personal reason) for staying back. Conway slowly nods. "Yeah. Yeah, we'll leave soon."

"Soon?" you ask. "Or tomorrow?" Conway doesn't answer this time. You begin to question whether joining him was a good idea, and consider ditching him if you need to. As you retire to your tent, you hear a crackling noise from Conway's duffel bag. Quickly, he fishes out the object. It's a walkie talkie.

Chzzz.....Zhhcccc..tzzz....Hello? Anytzzzz....anyone there? Conway, is chzzzzzzzzzz....

"Yes? Hello, yes! Yes, this is Conway Matthews, deployed with the fourth wave? Do you copy?"

Tzhhhhhh.....Chzzzz...... getting really bad outthcccczzzz....going to leave soon.....wanted to check for any others....tchzz.......tchzzzare you? Come to the......thczzzzz.....

Conway fiddles with the receiver in an attempt to make the signal stronger. "I'm losing connection! Where are we supposed to go?"

Tchzzzzzz....................341...tchzzzstreet.....local museum.....

Conway looks up at you in slow recognition. "The museum," you repeat. Conway nods. "Let's go. Now."

You quickly collapse the tent, while Conway packs various weapons into his duffel bag. "We aren't gonna have room for everything," he says. "It's either the guns, or the food. I can fit some of both, but we need to make our choice quick."

Meanwhile, the person on the other end of the walkie talkie gives out more advice.

Streets are crowdetchcchhh........be careful.....the dead aren't gchhhhhhhhh.......hundreds of them...in the streets........come quick.....we need to leave soon...

You can make out gunshots in the background. You can hear the same gunshots echoing through the city.
> You mostly guns
"Pack more guns," you say. "We'll need them for the dead." Conway nods. You disassemble a large gun with Conway's instruction. After the duffel bag is full of guns, you're ready to leave. "Come on," he says. "Through the backstreets."

You can immediately tell what the others were talking about. Where the streets used to be empty (of zombies, not of cars), there are now vast hordes. They aren't moving in any direction, or at all for that matter. They just bump into each other and walk in circles. You and Conway elect to stay off the roads, and slip between buildings.

Meanwhile, Conway keeps a conversation going with the other soldier. Through garbled radio speech, you hear him tell you what's going on. The dead are mostly avoiding the museum, which is why that's their pick-up spot.

You're sneaking past a rogue group of zed when the radio suddenly emits a loud burst of static. The group slowly turns their heads, and they growl at a potential food source. "Oh, please no," Conway whispers. The dead slowly hobble over to where you're advancing. You don't know whether to keep sneaking or lash out, but Conway makes that decision for you. Whipping out his knife, he takes the top half the the closest zombie's skull off with one sweep.

You draw your knife, and take care of a few of the others. After the horde is cleared, Conway switches off the walkie talkie. "Not gonna go through that again."

You slowly progress through the city amongst the waves of walkers. Eventually, the museum is in sight. You're surprised to see an actual helicopter guarded by a handful of soldiers. Conway switches the walkie talkie back on.

"We can see you, over."

Tchhhhhh....okay, that's good......These hordes are getting worse....no way you're gonna make it through here.....we can provide covering fire......run for it......

You look at Conway, and nod. The soldiers reveal several guns, and start firing on the group of zombies. Taking the chance, you follow Conway through the gunfire. A few zombies attempt to follow you, but you're moving too fast for them. When you get past the hordes, the soldiers wave to you and open the helicopter doors. "GET IN!"

You climb into the helicopter after Conway, with a sea of rotting flesh at your heels. You slam the door shut, and hear the helicopter blades whir to life. "Come on! Let's get this bird off the ground!" shouts one of the soldiers. The helicopter slowly lifts off the ground, with a few zombies holding on for dear life to the bottom. They slip free once you're airborne.

> You airborne
The sky view of the city is quite depressing. The streets are full of cars and zombies, buildings sit demolished and broken, and you can see a few places that you recognize from before all this. It hurts to see them invaded by corpses.

In the helicopter, you are accompanied by three men (not including Conway). Roger seems to be the only one ordering people around, so you assume he's in charge. Ozzy, the pilot of the helicopter, silently minds his own business. The third soldier, Matthias, isn't dressed in a soldier's uniform. What he's wearing could only be classified as a 'makeshift doctor's outfit'. You wonder if he was involved with helping injured civilians.

"Where exactly are we aiming to land?" asks Conway. "There's another outpost just a bit north, with more gas stores," answers Matthias. "That is, assuming we'll be the first to arrive. Communication's been lost for awhile, so it's just kind of a mad rush for survival at this point."

"And we have the ultimate goal of getting back to Washington, correct?" you ask. Roger nods. "It kinda depends on what mindset you have. Some have the 'save as many as you can, carry out our original orders' mindset. I personally follow the 'let's stay alive' mindset. Provided we make it back to Washington on two legs, we should be fine."

You stare out the window some more, watching the rivers of death move through the city.
> The landing
You've always kind of wondered what riding in a helicopter would be like. Now you know: boring, with a slight touch of fear of heights.

Finally, Ozzy makes a short announcement. "We're nearing the landing spot." Thank goodness. Suddenly, something starts beeping on the control board. "What's that?" asks Roger.

"We don't have enough to make it there," Ozzy says, with slight fear in his voice. "At this rate, we'll have to walk the last few miles to get to the gas stores, and then take them back on foo-"

Ozzy is interrupted by several metallic noises, like someone is dumping marbles onto the helicopter. "What in the.." says Roger. You look out the window, and are shocked to see a group of people firing at the helicopter.

"Making an emergency landing," says Ozzy. "Brace yourselves." Roger stares out the window in disbelief. "Why the hell are they shooting at us?"

To your surprise, the shooters break into a run and follow the helicopter on its course downward. "We're going to meet them when we land," you say. Matthias and Roger are already arming themselves. "Well then," says Roger. "Let's meet 'em."

When the helicopter plunks down, and the blades whir to a stop, the shooters are ready at the doors. A gravelly voice commands you to come out, unarmed.

"That'll be the day," says Roger. "We aren't doing anything of the sort. Actually, you're the ones who should be running. I'll give you five seconds. Five..."

Five is plenty for them. The shooters open fire, damaging the helicopter's window and hull. The soldiers quickly return fire, but the battle's pretty one-sided. The shooters definitely have the numbers, and the better guns.

"What do you want from us?" asks Roger. This is the first time you're getting a good look at the shooters. They look horrible, dressed in filthy clothing, with generally ugly faces. Not a single one is clean-shaven or looks like they've had a haircut even once.

"We want your 'copter," grunts one of the shooters. "We can't allow that," says Roger. "We're headed back to Washington. You should come, there are showers, and fresh food, and-"

"NO!" the shooter angrily kicks a rock. "We want the helicopter! And food! And books! And all of it! And guns! And snakes! And cell phones!"

The soldiers look at each other in disbelief. "These people have lost it," whispers Conway. Should you give up what you can, or try to diffuse the situation?

> You give up guns
"Okay," you say. "We have extra guns. You can have some of them." This seems to pacify the people. You quickly go back into the helicopter and get the duffel bag Conway brought along. You empty it of guns, and offer a good amount (but not too much) of them to the people.

You are kind of shocked when the man walks up to you and takes the first gun, a pistol, out of your hand...in his mouth. He then proceeds to take guns off of you one by one. When he has what he wants, he backs off.

"Ftill wuff hewicoffter," he says through the gun in his mouth. "What?" The man spits the pistol onto the ground. "We still want the helicopter."

Matthias shakes his head. "This is ridiculous. We should leave." Roger shakes his head. "We can't, they'll gun us down."

"Is there any way we can work around this?" you call to the man. He thinks for a moment. "Yes. If we can't have the helicopter, we want...follow us."

The man promptly turns around and motions for you to follow him.
> You refuse to follow
You stay where you are. The other soldiers do the same. When the man sees you standing still, he loses it.

He throws his hands up in the air, and makes sputtering noises. He then proceeds to do some sort of angry dance, flinging his limbs around. The whole time, he's talking in broken English.

Finally, he realizes he's in the presence of other people. He turns to you, and points at your stomach, then to your face. "Follow." He follows up the action by raising a gun.
> You follow
Reluctantly, you follow the man. Roger stops you. "You sure this is the wisest choice?"

Conway chimes in. "Yeah, these guys seem a little...'on edge'." You nod. "I know this is dumb, but they have the firepower, and outnumber us two to one. We don't have another option."

Slowly, your group follows the strange folk over to an empty parking lot. A group of dumpsters have been arranged in a defensive wall. Corpses litter the area. You can see piles of trash from discarded food, as well as several empty cans and bottles. Dirty mattresses propped against the dumpsters presumably serve as beds.

"Welcome!" yells the man. The few people that were waiting at the camp stand up. They stare emotionlessly into your eyes. "Sit down," says the man, gesturing to a spot on the ground. "Oh," you say, "You want us to...join you?"

Uncomfortable, you and your group sit amongst the filthy survivors. "So, now that you're part of us, you have to pass initiation," says the man. You sit up. "Hold up," says Roger. "We aren't joining you. That was never up for arguing." The man sticks out a pouty lip, and walks over to where Roger sits. Roger rises, and meets the man.

"Yes," says the man. "You will be joining us for dinner."

Suddenly, Roger pulls a gun from his belt and shoots the man in the head, killing him. Horrified, the remaining members of the other group fish around for their guns, and begin to fire aimlessly. You group stands up defensively, and you realize you don't have a weapon of your own. As gunshots ring around you, you hide under a dumpster. The other group quickly loses track of your people. You stay hidden under the dumpster, while the garbage group searches out your people. You see a pair of feet coming over to your dumpster.

> You run away
Without thinking, you climb out form under the dumpster on the opposite side of the unknown enemy. You crawl over to the next dumpster to climb over, when you hear an excited, "Found one!" behind you.

A bullet rips through your midsection, causing you to yell in pain. You hear a triumphant laugh behind you, and your attacker grabs you by the feet. You are dragged into the middle of the parking lot. The man who brought you here stands over you with a gun.

"This is what happens to people who don't join us for dinner," he says, and shoots you in the kneecap, immobilizing you. You yell out again, and receive a shot in the side. Several more bullets go through you, until you're barely alive. As your vision fades, the man's laugh pounds in your eardrum.


Reluctantly, you follow the man. Roger stops you. "You sure this is the wisest choice?"

Conway chimes in. "Yeah, these guys seem a little...'on edge'." You nod. "I know this is dumb, but they have the firepower, and outnumber us two to one. We don't have another option."

Slowly, your group follows the strange folk over to an empty parking lot. A group of dumpsters have been arranged in a defensive wall. Corpses litter the area. You can see piles of trash from discarded food, as well as several empty cans and bottles. Dirty mattresses propped against the dumpsters presumably serve as beds.

"Welcome!" yells the man. The few people that were waiting at the camp stand up. They stare emotionlessly into your eyes. "Sit down," says the man, gesturing to a spot on the ground. "Oh," you say, "You want us to...join you?"

Uncomfortable, you and your group sit amongst the filthy survivors. "So, now that you're part of us, you have to pass initiation," says the man. You sit up. "Hold up," says Roger. "We aren't joining you. That was never up for arguing." The man sticks out a pouty lip, and walks over to where Roger sits. Roger rises, and meets the man.

"Yes," says the man. "You will be joining us for dinner."

Suddenly, Roger pulls a gun from his belt and shoots the man in the head, killing him. Horrified, the remaining members of the other group fish around for their guns, and begin to fire aimlessly. You group stands up defensively, and you realize you don't have a weapon of your own. As gunshots ring around you, you hide under a dumpster. The other group quickly loses track of your people. You stay hidden under the dumpster, while the garbage group searches out your people. You see a pair of feet coming over to your dumpster.

> You stay Put
Despite your fear, you stay put. The pair of feet walks up to you, and you hear the top of the dumpster being opened. Then, it closes, and you hear a dissatisfied, "Nobody over here."

The people struggle to find any of your group, you scattered pretty quickly. As you hide, you make eye contact with Ozzy, who's hidden under an adjacent dumpster. You see fear in his eyes. He's slowly pulling a small gun out of his pocket, and holding eye contact with you.

"Well, well, well. Come out when you're ready, hooligans," the man who led you here says. The other group sits down in the middle of the parking lot, and begins to eat.

Ozzy slowly makes his way out from under the dumpster, out of sight of the others. You do the same. You sit behind the dumpster and think over your next move.
> You stay behind the dumpster
You stay behind the dumpster, and out of sight. To reveal yourself now would be suicide.

After waiting for a few minutes, you peek out from behind the dumpster. The other group shows no signs of moving soon. Ozzy has crawled past the dumpsters and in the direction of the helicopter. When he sees you, he waves for you to follow him. You get down on all fours and crawl after him, staying behind the dumpsters.

When you get far enough away, you see that the others have already escaped. "Took you long enough," says Roger. "I wanted to make sure it was safe, you say. Roger shrugs.

"Okay," Ozzy whispers. "Let's leave while the Garbage Pail Kids are still having dinner." You follow the others back to the helicopter.

"None of their gunfire hit anything too important. We'll make it back, but it won't look pretty," Ozzy declares. The others breathe a sigh of relief. "What about the windows?" Matthias asks. "We just won't be able to go as far up in the air, and if we get shot at again, we're toast, but we should be fine," Ozzy answers.

You board the helicopter, and start to lift off. During the entire thing, you're afraid the other group will come running back, guns in hand. Fortunately, they never do.

"Okay, as previously stated," Ozzy says, "We'll be a few miles short of our target. Don't get too comfortable."
> You gas
You're on edge the rest of the ride, but nothing else goes wrong.

"What do you reckon happened to those people?" Roger asks. "The apocalypse can have a serious effect on some people," says Matthias. "They might've been homeless people, or mental patients, or something like that."

Finally, Ozzy brings the helicopter to a stop on the ground. "Here we are," he says. Everyone gets out of the helicopter, and starts the trek over to the fuel stores. "Let's hope there's any left for us," mutters Roger.

Along the way, you notice the bodies of zed scattered around. All of them were victim to a gunshot in the head. "Someone came through here," says Conway, "And they were goin' for it." You hope that whoever this was, they weren't searching for fuel. "Come on," says Matthias. "If there's competition, we have to beat them to the outpost."

It doesn't really matter how fast you ran. When you arrive at the outpost, it's obvious nobody has been through here. The area is packed with the dead. "You've gotta be kidding me," says Roger. The fuel stores are visible, but the whole outpost is surrounded by a chain-link fence. There are no visible gates or entry points, but a large hole in one side of the fence explains how the zombies got in.

"Should we run and gun 'em?" asks Conway. "That depends," you answer, "...on how much firepower we have."

"If it comes down to it, we might have to find another way through this," says Roger.
> You create a distraction
"We don't have the guns for this," you say.

"I have an idea," says Matthias. "If we could make more holes in the fence, and lure the dead out of the way....we'd have no issue getting what we need."

Conway volunteers to make some noise and distract the hordes. The rest of you split up around the fence. You are given a large knife to cut the fence. "Okay," says Roger. "We're all clear, correct? Cut through the fence, and as soon as there's enough room for the dead to make it out, you back away. Once we're all clear, I give the whistle, and Conway does his thing."

You go to work hacking through the fence. A few zombies take notice, and push up against the fence. "Stay back," you whisper. Clink. The first fence loop breaks open. One of the zombies forces a hand through the hole. You kill it, and keep going. Clink. Clink. Clink.

Soon, you have a sizable hole. You step back to see if the zombies can fit. It's a struggle, but eventually one of them forces its way through the hole. You decide you're done, and back up.

You wait a few minutes for Conway, but the gunfire never comes. Roger looks around in bewilderment. "What's going on? He should've-"

Roger is cut off by the fence collapsing. The pressure of all the corpses shoving up against it caused the supports to snap. The pile of zombies struggle to their feet, and give chase. "Fall back!" yells Roger, and the team scatters.

> You run
You blindly scramble through the forest, not thinking enough to follow someone else or even pay attention to what direction you're running in. You point yourself towards the helicopter, since you assume that's where the others are going.

You can easily outrun the horde, that's no problem. Once you're far enough away, your biggest concern becomes finding the others. You scan the forest in search of familiar faces, but find none. In panic, you continue towards the helicopter. The horde of zed has made its way further out, and a few eager corpses have already made it pretty far out.

You hear yelling from a few yards away, and see Roger running in the direction of the helicopter. You run up to follow, and call his name. He looks around, spots you, and waves you over.

"Come on!" he shouts. "Back to the helicopter!" A few moments later, you hear gunshots nearby. The others.

"Should we go back?" you ask. Roger doesn't answer, he's dead set on making it back to the helicopter. You hesitate, before following him. The zombies have advanced further, and you doubt you'd be able to come back safely if you turned around now.

As you make your way to the helicopter, you see the garbage people, the ones that shot at the helicopter, approaching in the distance. They must have heard the gunfire and realized their prisoners got free.

"Well....crap. This is a problem," says Roger, his voice wavering. You look behind you; the zombies haven't caught up to you yet, but if you keep wasting time, they will. You might be able to make it back to the helicopter before interacting with the garbage people to get a gun or something.
> You look For Your Friends
You resolve not to let the others die, and turn around.

"What are you doing?"" yells Roger, but you pay no attention. You maneuver around the first few zombies, and back into the woods. You call out names while searching for movement among the trees.

"Matthias!" you yell, scanning the broken fence. "Conway? Ozzy?" you don't see anything, except advancing hordes of the dead. Suddenly, gunfire erupts from a few yards away. You see Conway firing at a pack of zombies with the signal gun.

Conway spots you, and breaks into a run. He's pointing at something behind you, but you're so focused on him that you don't notice the zombie right behind you. You narrowly avoid the monster's jaws, and push it to the ground. By then, Conway has caught up to you.

"Come on," you say. "To the helicopter." Both of you take off. On the way, you ask where Ozzy is.

"I think he made it out before I did. He should be at the helicopter right now," Conway answers. "As for Matthias, I don't kn-"

Conway suddenly stops as a bullet hits him squarely between the eyes. You freeze with fear, and turn to see the garbage people standing before you. The leader steps out.

"Thought you could run away, huh?" he taunts, and pops another shell into his shotgun.

"Here's what we do to runaways around here."

Bang!


You blindly scramble through the forest, not thinking enough to follow someone else or even pay attention to what direction you're running in. You point yourself towards the helicopter, since you assume that's where the others are going.

You can easily outrun the horde, that's no problem. Once you're far enough away, your biggest concern becomes finding the others. You scan the forest in search of familiar faces, but find none. In panic, you continue towards the helicopter. The horde of zed has made its way further out, and a few eager corpses have already made it pretty far out.

You hear yelling from a few yards away, and see Roger running in the direction of the helicopter. You run up to follow, and call his name. He looks around, spots you, and waves you over.

"Come on!" he shouts. "Back to the helicopter!" A few moments later, you hear gunshots nearby. The others.

"Should we go back?" you ask. Roger doesn't answer, he's dead set on making it back to the helicopter. You hesitate, before following him. The zombies have advanced further, and you doubt you'd be able to come back safely if you turned around now.

As you make your way to the helicopter, you see the garbage people, the ones that shot at the helicopter, approaching in the distance. They must have heard the gunfire and realized their prisoners got free.

"Well....crap. This is a problem," says Roger, his voice wavering. You look behind you; the zombies haven't caught up to you yet, but if you keep wasting time, they will. You might be able to make it back to the helicopter before interacting with the garbage people to get a gun or something.
> You go for the helicopter, get a gun
You realize you aren't getting out of this alive without a weapon, and run for the helicopter. The garbage people start to fire back, but that doesn't go to smoothly. Roger follows you into the cockpit, safe from the garbage people.

You scrounge around, and are rewarded with a small handgun with a full clip. Looking at the approaching horde, you realize the garbage people may not even be your biggest threat at the moment.
> You fire at the dead
The advancing hordes of zombies are closer and more plentiful, you decide. Plus, the garbage people will have to fight them off as well. You get into a defensive stance with both hands on the gun, and open fire on the horde. The gun's clip has thirteen bullets in it; you manage to kill six zombies before running dry.

"Here," says Roger, tapping you on the shoulder. "Found more of them." he gives you another fully loaded clip. "We had a bag stashed under the seat," Roger explains. "For emergency." You ditch the empty clip and reload, before taking another shot.

You bring down twelve walkers this time, and notice that the garbage people are firing at the dead, too. In a moment, they'll fall back, you can get your people, and leave. Except you can't. It slowly dawns on you that the helicopter's still dead on fuel.

Meanwhile (and unbeknownst to you), the garbage people realize they're wasting bullets on the zombies, and go to take out the real threat- you. The leader approaches the cockpit, out of your view. He sneaks right up to the door and kills you, without you ever knowing.

If it's any consolation, none of your group made it out, either.


You realize you aren't getting out of this alive without a weapon, and run for the helicopter. The garbage people start to fire back, but that doesn't go to smoothly. Roger follows you into the cockpit, safe from the garbage people.

You scrounge around, and are rewarded with a small handgun with a full clip. Looking at the approaching horde, you realize the garbage people may not even be your biggest threat at the moment.
> You fire at the garbage people
At the moment, the garbage people pose more of a threat to you than anything, you decide. You turn so you can see them clearly.

The leader is approaching the helicopter, so you fire at him first. You were aiming at his chest, but the bullet goes through his arm. It still cripples him, so it's done it's job. The other garbage people quickly catch on, and start firing back.

Your gun's clip has thirteen bullets in it; you manage to kill three garbage people before you run dry. For a moment you're worried that you just made things a lot worse, but Roger passes you another fully loaded clip.

"We keep them under the seats," he explains. "For emergencies." You ditch the old clip, and keep firing. Luckily, the garbage people's guns are louder than yours, and your gunfire combined with the hordes of the dead cause them to eventually fall back.

"There's one problem solved," you say. "Now we just need to get our group back."

"Actually, that problem is also solved," says Roger, pointing into the trees. Conway, Ozzy, and Matthias are running through the trees towards the helicopter. They're being followed by a massive horde. You open the doors as wide as they'll go in preparation.

When the three make it back, you slam the door shut and hide. "Hopefully, the gunfire from that other group will draw the horde," says Matthias. The group sits quietly in the helicopter for a while. Soon, it becomes clear you'll be spending a long time in the helicopter. The dead show no sign of going away, and the growls, while faint, are a bit too close for comfort.
> You prepare to spend the night in the helicopter
Thankfully, the seats of the helicopter are soft enough to lay on. As the sun sets, you lay down. The group agrees to taking two-hour shifts to watch for garbage people or zombies, and warn the others. You volunteer for a later spot, so you can get some rest.

The night drags on, safe but very boring. When you wake up for your shift, it's almost light outside.

"Hey!" you say. "Why didn't you guys wake me up?"

"It was my fault," says Ozzy. "I just took the whole night."

"You shouldn't have done that," exclaims Conway. "You have to fly this helicopter!"

"Uh, not any time soon," Ozzy says, gesturing out the window. It's true. The dead are meandering outside, not too interested in letting you get your fuel.

"Looks like some action needs to be taken," says Matthias. "So, what's plan B?"
> You keep waiting
You keep sitting in the helicopter, with the hopes that the dead will eventually leave. Your food situation is decent, and you're prepared to spend multiple days here if you need to.

"We're really doing this?" asks Ozzy. It's not the best plan, but it saves bullets and effort.

"Yeah, we are," you answer. Outside, it doesn't seem like your plan is working. The zombies are basically stagnant, not even walking around. They just stand there, like a creepy flash mob. You pray for a gunshot, or a  plane, or some noise to draw them away.

Finally, Conway gets restless. He gets up, and takes a flare gun from out of his duffel bag.

"Conway, what are you doing?" asks Matthias. Conway doesn't answer, but goes for the helicopter door. The rest of the group moves to stop him.

"Get off!" Conway yells. "I'm not gonna sit and wait any longer! Y'all want a distraction? I'll give you one!" Conway yanks open the door, attracting the attention of a few zed. Conway fires a flare over the field, and then slams the door shut. The good news is the flare lands on the opposite side of the field, and most of the horde clumps around it. The bad news is that the door slam attracted a few stragglers over to you. The group immediately jumps up and readies their weapons.

"I'm gonna open the door and let a few in," Matthias says, "Then we kill 'em. Let a few in, kill 'em, let, kill, repeat until they're gone. Ready?" The first few step forward, and are eliminated quickly. Nobody's using guns because the noise would damage hearing, so there's just as much of a threat posed by the others' knives as the zombies do.

Once the dead are clear, you're open to grab the fuel. You waste no time getting over to the tanks, where the area is now empty of the dead.

"Lucky us," Conway remarks as your team fills gas canisters up. You lug them back over to the helicopter, and begin to fill up the tank. Ozzy goes in to watch the fuel gauge, while Matthias keeps watch of the horde. Three painful and long trips later, the tank is full.

"Come on," Matthias says, "They're getting restless. Load up!" Everyone piles into the helicopter, and Ozzy starts the blades. The horde, noticing the new potential for food, turns over to you. By the time they get anywhere near you, you're up again.

"Take that, growlers!" Ozzy shouts over the engine.
> You airborne (Again)
Once in the air, Roger addresses Conway.

"That little stunt, ripping open the helicopter door like that? Not gonna fly with me," Roger says. Conway stands up.

"Excuse me, but did anybody get so much as a scratch on them? My little 'stunt' got us to safety," Conway retorts.

"You're lucky that's the way things went. Next time, it might turn out different."

"Yeah,, if someone who didn't know what they were doing tried it! I've had several years of experience on the battlefield."

"CONWAY MATTHEWS, LET ME REMIND YOU THAT YOU ARE TAKING THAT TONE WITH FIRST SERGEANT ROGER MILLS! I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO ENDANGER THE LIVES OF MULTIPLE SOLDIERS AND A CIVILIAN! DESIST AT ONCE!"

Both soldiers rise and stare each other coldly in the eyes.

"Guys? Right when we're flying over hordes of man-eating monsters is not the best time to get physical," Ozzy warns from the front.

"Sit down, and obey my word," Roger hisses. Conway begrudgingly takes a seat, and holds a stare with Roger. Matthias makes eye contact with you, and you see a slight twinge of fear in his eyes. He's been with Roger for a while, so if he's worried, you're worried. Roger finally sits down next to you, as far away from Conway as he can get.

"We won't make it to Washington," Ozzy suddenly says. This gets the attention of everyone immediately. "We don't have the fuel. We'll get close, but we don't have enough, even with the extra fuel."

Everyone looks around at each other.

"So we need to find another reserve," Roger says. Matthias pulls out a pocket map, and a pen. "Where will we run out of fuel?"

"I think about here," Roger says, pointing to a spot on the map. It's in Oregon, not far from the border. "There aren't any fuel reserves there, far as I know," Roger continues.

"Any chance we could get the fuel from cars?" you offer.

Roger shakes his head. "This thing won't take car fuel, of any kind," he says. "Unless somebody just happens to have filled their tank with jet fuel."

"We'll figure something out," Matthias says. The subject is dropped. You just don't want to think about what will happen if you can't find any fuel.
> You continue
For the next few hours, the ride is uneventful Everyone is minding their own business, and the cabin is silent, except for the occasional noise from Ozzy, at the controls.

Before you know it, you're drifting off, and then it's a new day. You look out the window. The terrain has changed. You're no longer above a city of bodies, but empty roads, with only a few zombies lurking around. You're getting closer to Oregon, which means closer to the fuel issue. You don't want to think about when that time comes. Luckily, Roger takes your mind off it.

"Breakfast time," he says, fishing around for a backpack. The team searches out cans to make a meal out of, and that's when it becomes apparent that you're very low on food. Three cans left to split between five people, for another two days, and that's assuming the fuel thing goes smoothly, which you can guess it won't.

"We're gonna have to touch ground again," says Matthias. Nobody wants to admit it, but yes, you'll have to be at the same level as the dead once more. "Lower us down," Matthias says to Ozzy. "We need to run some errands."

Food is definitely easier to come across than helicopter fuel, but you're still worried. There's been plenty of time for every store and market to be emptied of all its goods. When the helicopter sets down and the engine dies down, you scan for a sign of food. The only promise is a road sign telling you fast food places nearby, and there isn't much opportunity there.

"Bingo," Conway suddenly says. He's spotted a farmhouse through the trees. "That's where we'll find what we're looking for." The group slowly goes to follow, but Roger stops.

"Wait. We need someone to stand at the helicopter and guard it," he says.

"I can do it," says Matthias. "Unless, anyone else would rather take the spot."
> You volunteer to watch the helicopter while the others leave
"I'll do it," you say. Matthias nods. The other soldiers go over a plan for the farmhouse, while you take a defensive position behind the helicopter door. You figure that it's extremely unlikely you'll see anybody, you still want to remain vigilant. You sit up straight and try your hardest to stay awake.

The others have been gone for a worryingly long amount of time, and you decide to go check on them. You get out of your seat, and go look at the farmhouse. From where you are, you can't see any fighting or danger, and you haven't heard any gunshots. You assume they're just doing a thorough search, and cross your fingers for some fresh bread.

As you turn to get back in the helicopter, you are met with a bow and arrow pointed at your face. Its user is a man with long blonde hair that covers his eyes.

"Water," he says, in a parched voice. "Give it to me." Shaking, you slowly nod. You climb into the helicopter, and fumble around for the pack with the bottled water in it. You find the pack, but then you remember your gun.
> You shoot him
As quick as you can, you turn to shoot the attacker. Your bullet goes over his shoulder. He shouts, and releases an arrow into your chest. You cry out, and the man yanks the water pack from your hands.

"See ya," he says, and slams the helicopter door shut. He gives a little wave before leaving.

You struggle to get the arrow free from your skin. That arrow had a lot of power behind it, and you end up staining the seats of the helicopter with your blood, and doing all kinds of irreversible damage to your chest. When the soldiers come back, you're barely alive. Your final moments are of being shaken back and forth by Conway, who is trying to get you to sit up.


"I'll do it," you say. Matthias nods. The other soldiers go over a plan for the farmhouse, while you take a defensive position behind the helicopter door. You figure that it's extremely unlikely you'll see anybody, you still want to remain vigilant. You sit up straight and try your hardest to stay awake.

The others have been gone for a worryingly long amount of time, and you decide to go check on them. You get out of your seat, and go look at the farmhouse. From where you are, you can't see any fighting or danger, and you haven't heard any gunshots. You assume they're just doing a thorough search, and cross your fingers for some fresh bread.

As you turn to get back in the helicopter, you are met with a bow and arrow pointed at your face. Its user is a man with long blonde hair that covers his eyes.

"Water," he says, in a parched voice. "Give it to me." Shaking, you slowly nod. You climb into the helicopter, and fumble around for the pack with the bottled water in it. You find the pack, but then you remember your gun.
> You give him the water
Not wanting to risk conflict, you hand the bag over to the man. He takes it, and slings it over his shoulder.

"Thanks. Now get out," he commands. You oblige. "I see your stuff," the man says from behind you, the arrow in his bow brushing against your back. "I see those guns. You got any food back there? I'm hungry."

You can't think of anything to do, so you try to stall. "Who are you?"

"Name's Cedar. What's it to you?"

"Why are you stealing from me?" you ask, careful not to say 'us'. It's better if he thinks you're alone.

"I had people. They ditched me. Now I got nothing but this bow, and I need basic stuff to live. Food, Water. I'm gonna get it fro-"

Cedar suddenly takes a bullet to the forehead, and slumps to the ground. Conway comes running up from the trees.

"Did he hurt you?" Conway asks. You're surprised to see that he cares so much about you. You shake your head, and go to retrieve the water pack. Matthias and Ozzy have large cases of seed and preserved food in their hands.

"Okay, one more hurdle," Ozzy says. "We get gas in Oregon, and we're home free."
> You continue
The trip continues, and you quickly lose track of time. It's daytime, so you know you shouldn't be sleeping, but you can't see where the sun is out the windows from where you are. Of course, time doesn't really hold much value anymore. You can't be late to Washington.

Roger and Conway still refuse to speak to each other. Each just acts like the other isn't there. Whenever one speaks, the other is silent, and they make great effort to avoid eye contact. The others soldiers have caught wind of this, but nobody seems to be making an effort to help the situation. You decide to leave it alone for now.

"Good news! We're crossing the California-Oregon border.....now!" Ozzy shouts from the cabin. The team rejoices, but you're just worried. The small pocket of fear in your gut grows. "We don't have much fuel left. I'm probably going to touch down soon," he finishes.

You land on the outskirts of a small town. "There weren't any fuel-holding outposts, as Roger said, but there is an outpost here, so it's a possibility that there will be fuel here, in one form or another," Ozzy declares. "Who's guarding the helicopter this time?"

Conway volunteers, most likely to get away from Roger. Nobody in the group objects, so you don't either. The less time those two spend together, the better. Conway takes a seat in the cabin, while the rest of the group sets out for the town.

"There's not much hope that this place is still inhabited," Roger says on the way. "Except maybe by the dead. As long as we're careful, there shouldn't be much of an issue." Roger points out a large metal wall in the distance. It's made up of three metal fences, put one after the other. You can see a few places where the fence broke, and entire panels are missing.

You approach the outpost with caution, but stop when you realize the whole thing is empty. When you step into the compound through a hole in the fence, the ground is littered with zombies, all of them shot in the head.

"What?" exclaims Matthias when he sees. "How could this have happened? Unless..."

"This wasn't the dead," Roger finishes. "Somebody did this. Somebody took down this outpost. We had three tanks, and a heavy machine gun stationed at this outpost, and somebody wiped it clean." You stare in disbelief. If there's a threat that's stronger than the U.S. military's stores, that's all the more reason to get to Washington immediately.

The group splits up to search the most likely areas where fuel would be, if there was a landed helicopter or a truck containing jet fuel around. But, of course, the attackers didn't leave so much as a single can of food, much less a tank of jet fuel.

"We're gonna have to look elsewhere," Matthias declares.

> You elsewhere
"The only other place I think can think of that would hold the fuel we need is an airport or something," Matthias says. "And that wouldn't even work."

You try to think of places you've seen a helicopter. News helicopters? No, the probability of there still being fuel in them is too low. There are no more outposts nearby, so military aid is useless. The only thing left you can think of is recreational helicopters, but the thought of a 'posh' country club in a town this small is, once again, very unlikely.

"We don't have to take the helicopter, do we?" you suggest. "We could leave it here, and take something easier to transport, like a bus or a car." The team seems to consider the thought.

"Helicopter fuel is only going to get harder and harder to find," Matthias points out. Finally, Roger agrees.

You find several cars abandoned on the side of the road, and take the two in the best condition for your group. Having two cars is better for your group because it's less cramped, and you can sit Roger and Conway in opposite vehicles. You siphon the gas from the remaining cars, and drive back.

Conway is less than pleased with the group's decision. "We need the helicopter!" he insists. "We skip over so much crap that way!"

Roger, for the first time since the incident, faces Conway sternly. "We're taking the cars," he says.
> You continue
Moving everything from the helicopter to the cars is not an easy task. It takes up most of what's left of the day, and your shoulder is aching when you're done. After the helicopter is empty, everyone splits into the cars. Roger puts a 'Come to Washington or Die' message on the helicopter door. "Just in case," he explains.

Oregon is surprisingly zombie-free, after what you saw in California. The streets are empty. Not full of dead corpses or defeated zombies, but completely empty. It's strange.

"Odd that there are no walkers here," Ozzy says, echoing your thoughts. "Think there's a reason for it?"

"Maybe we cleared them all out," Roger suggests. "It would make sense for the guards to want to keep the dead as far from sanctuary as possible." You decide it's still out of the ordinary for there to be absolutely no zombies around.

"Maybe it's because there's no food?" you suggest. "I mean, we've known them to follow noises and the smell of food, so maybe Oregon ran out." The team seems to be thinking over this possibility, when all your theories are disproven.

"Holy hell," Roger whispers. You're looking out over the city of Portland, Oregon- or, more accurately, what's left of it. Every single zombie that was missing from Oregon as packed tightly into the streets of Portland. They have no room to move, and a chorus of hungry growls emanates over the city.

"No way we're getting through that," says Roger. "We should've kept the helicopter."

Your team gets out of the car. Conway and Matthias get out of the other car. You group up and look out over the maze of rotting flesh that stands between you and salvation.

"Think we could sneak through it?" suggests Matthias. "If we cover ourselves in zombie goop, we might be able to pass by."

"I say we go in guns ablaze," Conway says.

"Are you insane?" Roger shoots back. "Do I need to remind you of the warning I gave you before? You want to fire a gun in that?" Roger points to the zombie-filled streets. "If you sneeze hard enough, you'll be dead. Firing a single shot would be simultaneously slitting all of our throats."

Conway doesn't respond, but you can tell he isn't going to heed Roger's words. "Let's go with Matthias' plan, then."

Easier said than done. Extracting one zombie from the masses proves to be scary and difficult. But, Ozzy manages to pull it off. He comes back with a bloody corpse slung over his shoulder. "Let's cut this sucker open," he says, "...and have a bath."

The fumes are dizzying. Days of rotting organs and waste come billowing out of the cadaver. What's worse is that you're tossing those very guts over your shoulder, on your back, and on your front. After a few minutes, you'd pass for some pretty smelly zombies. You really wish you hadn't ditched the helicopter.

You approach the city slowly, your group forming a tight pack. To get separated would mean death. You slowly walk through the crowd, scared to even brush past a zombie. One by one, the dead look at you, decide you aren't good to eat, and stumble off in another direction. More often than you'd like, a zombie is idly standing in your way, meaning you have to try to slip past it with as little contact as possible.

Eventually, you realize you're passing through the city center. You notice a lot of uniformed soldiers among the gobs of zombies. But, the plan is working. You can tell you're going ot make it. Not a single zombie even bothers to look at you anymore. You're just another mindless walker. Everything seems to be going on course- until Conway spots a tank in the middle of the road, and starts to go for it.

"No!" Roger hisses as quietly as he can. A few nearby zombies stare curiously at him for a moment. "Conway, stop! You are ruining the plan! Get back here!" But, of course, Conway isn't listening.

"The plan doesn't matter anymore," Conway whispers back. "If I get control of that tank, we could clear out a path. There'd be no trouble." He grows closer and closer to the tank, with his teammates behind him, begging him to stop and turn around. Finally, he reaches the tank, and struggles to open the hatch at the top.

You notice Roger pulling his silencer gun out of his belt. "No," you say, stopping him. "He isn't worth the bullet, or the attention it'll draw."

"You sure about that?" Roger asks back.

You're too late to do anything, anyway. Conway rips open the hatch to reveal a zombie that was waiting inside. Surprised, he takes a step back, and slips off the tank. He lets out a bloodcurdling scream as he cradles a bite on his arm. The scream causes the idle moaning of the zombies to stop. Slowly, unanimously, the zombies all turn their heads towards a screaming Conway, and the rest of your group. They seem to have caught on to the fact that you aren't zombies.

As the space closes in around you, and your innards are divided up between six different sets of hands, you kind of wish you had let Roger shoot Conway.


For the next few hours, the ride is uneventful Everyone is minding their own business, and the cabin is silent, except for the occasional noise from Ozzy, at the controls.

Before you know it, you're drifting off, and then it's a new day. You look out the window. The terrain has changed. You're no longer above a city of bodies, but empty roads, with only a few zombies lurking around. You're getting closer to Oregon, which means closer to the fuel issue. You don't want to think about when that time comes. Luckily, Roger takes your mind off it.

"Breakfast time," he says, fishing around for a backpack. The team searches out cans to make a meal out of, and that's when it becomes apparent that you're very low on food. Three cans left to split between five people, for another two days, and that's assuming the fuel thing goes smoothly, which you can guess it won't.

"We're gonna have to touch ground again," says Matthias. Nobody wants to admit it, but yes, you'll have to be at the same level as the dead once more. "Lower us down," Matthias says to Ozzy. "We need to run some errands."

Food is definitely easier to come across than helicopter fuel, but you're still worried. There's been plenty of time for every store and market to be emptied of all its goods. When the helicopter sets down and the engine dies down, you scan for a sign of food. The only promise is a road sign telling you fast food places nearby, and there isn't much opportunity there.

"Bingo," Conway suddenly says. He's spotted a farmhouse through the trees. "That's where we'll find what we're looking for." The group slowly goes to follow, but Roger stops.

"Wait. We need someone to stand at the helicopter and guard it," he says.

"I can do it," says Matthias. "Unless, anyone else would rather take the spot."
> You go with the group to raid the farmhouse
You let Matthias take over guard duty. Whatever you can do to speed things up, you will. Roger brings the rest of the group closer to the farmhouse.

"There's a strong possibility that someone's still alive in there, and they're surrounded by tall grass. Here's what we'll do. We split up, and approach the house from all sides. If you see someone in the window, fire at them. If you here gunshots from someone else, rush the house. The first person to get in the house needs to clear the ground floor, and we'll move from there. Clear?"

Everyone nods, and the plan commences. You get set on a straight path to the front door of the farmhouse, while the others spread out. The entire walk over, you listen intently for gunshots, or any sign of disturbance. It never comes, and suddenly you're at the front door. Remembering your instructions, you draw your gun and search the ground floor.

As it turns out, the house is abandoned. Searching the place top to bottom yields no humans. The fate of the owner is revealed when you check the basement: a lone corpse, hanging from a noose.

"He had such a good setup," comments Roger. "Wonder why he did it." But, of course, there's no time to wonder. Everyone spreads out to search the house again, this time for food. You continue in the basement.

The basement is actually quite empty, making you wonder if someone else cleaned the place out first. Just as you are about to give up, you see a message scrawled on a drywall. It looks like it could have been written with blood.

THEY TOOK EVERYTHING. I'M SORRY. IT'S NOT WORTH IT ANYMORE. THE WORLD IS ENDING, AND NOBODY WILL BE SAVED. BETTER TO DIE WITH DIGNITY THAN BE TORN APART BY THE ROTTERS.

You disagree, but respect the man's choice, and leave the basement. When you come back up, you see that the others were luckier.

On your way back, you look over the findings: several small wooden crates packed with cans, and some nonperishables. Not bad, and it's more than you'll need for five for a day.

"Any trouble?" Roger asks Matthias as you load the food up. "Yes, actually," Matthias responds. "One guy. But, he wasn't a problem. I'm fine."


Thankfully, the seats of the helicopter are soft enough to lay on. As the sun sets, you lay down. The group agrees to taking two-hour shifts to watch for garbage people or zombies, and warn the others. You volunteer for a later spot, so you can get some rest.

The night drags on, safe but very boring. When you wake up for your shift, it's almost light outside.

"Hey!" you say. "Why didn't you guys wake me up?"

"It was my fault," says Ozzy. "I just took the whole night."

"You shouldn't have done that," exclaims Conway. "You have to fly this helicopter!"

"Uh, not any time soon," Ozzy says, gesturing out the window. It's true. The dead are meandering outside, not too interested in letting you get your fuel.

"Looks like some action needs to be taken," says Matthias. "So, what's plan B?"
> You get armed, and go outside to get the fuel
"We shouldn't wait anymore," you say. "Let's go out, and get the fuel." The others are hesitant, but Conway takes your side immediately.

"We know them," Conway says. "We know how they act, how they think. They won't move anywhere until they have reason to, and that could be days. We don't have the capacity to sit and burn off our food, and then try to fly back. Let's go, and let's go now."

After everyone has armed themselves, Conway opens the door. The first few zombies turn in your direction, but are quickly subdued by Roger. Roger's gun has a silencer, so he's the go-to shooter for the moment.

"The fuel is over there," Roger whispers, gesturing with his gun. "If we stay tight to the tree line, we might be able to sneak past them." The team nods, and rushes to follow the orders. The dead seem to dislike the closed-in trees, and have gravitated over to the fields. By staying among the trees, you have no issues. Almost.

As you travel, one curious zombie notices you, and starts to stir. Roger hesitates, and decides not to shoot.

"Just keep going," he whispers. As you walk, the zombie steps in close.

"What the hell are you doing?" demands Conway. "Shoot it!"

Roger shakes his head. "Not worth the bullet," he explains, but Conway won't hear it. He draws his gun, without a silencer, and points it at the zombie. You grab him.

"No! That's worse!" you whisper-yell. "You'll attract the whole field, and more!" Conway, of course, doesn't listen. He fires, and the zombie drops to the ground. Behind it, several heads slowly turn towards you, and you hear a low growl.

"Run," Roger says, not bothering to whisper. The team breaks into a panic, with people struggling to get past each other. Without the cover of silence, a few start to shoot at the zombies. It almost seems like you'll be able to keep them at bay.

"Come on!" Ozzy says. He leads the group in the direction of the fuel tanks. Unfortunately, a considerable portion of the zombies chose to stay back, and inhabit the empty lot. Now, you're sandwiched between two hordes, and you hear the familiar clicking of empty guns.

"I'm out," says Conway, furiously pumping the trigger.

"Same," Roger says in dismay. "Thanks a million, Conway."

The dead close in, and you look for a way out, a weak spot, a break in the horde, anything. But you don't see it. You go to grab for your knife, but the horde is too close. A set of jaws rips into your neck from behind.


Despite your fear, you stay put. The pair of feet walks up to you, and you hear the top of the dumpster being opened. Then, it closes, and you hear a dissatisfied, "Nobody over here."

The people struggle to find any of your group, you scattered pretty quickly. As you hide, you make eye contact with Ozzy, who's hidden under an adjacent dumpster. You see fear in his eyes. He's slowly pulling a small gun out of his pocket, and holding eye contact with you.

"Well, well, well. Come out when you're ready, hooligans," the man who led you here says. The other group sits down in the middle of the parking lot, and begins to eat.

Ozzy slowly makes his way out from under the dumpster, out of sight of the others. You do the same. You sit behind the dumpster and think over your next move.
> You help Ozzy attack the group
You look at Ozzy, and point to the other group. He holds up his gun and nods.

You position yourself behind a dumpster, right next to the leader of the other group. You'll grab him and hold him hostage, so that the others will let you go. You wait until the right moment...

The man decides he needs to get up, and you strike. As soon as he's on his feet, he's on the ground again, with you holding him down. "Nobody move!" You yell.

Sadly, while your plan would have worked, Ozzy wasn't on the same page as you. He fires his gun in an attempt to hit the leader, but instead hits you in the chest, killing you.


You've always kind of wondered what riding in a helicopter would be like. Now you know: boring, with a slight touch of fear of heights.

Finally, Ozzy makes a short announcement. "We're nearing the landing spot." Thank goodness. Suddenly, something starts beeping on the control board. "What's that?" asks Roger.

"We don't have enough to make it there," Ozzy says, with slight fear in his voice. "At this rate, we'll have to walk the last few miles to get to the gas stores, and then take them back on foo-"

Ozzy is interrupted by several metallic noises, like someone is dumping marbles onto the helicopter. "What in the.." says Roger. You look out the window, and are shocked to see a group of people firing at the helicopter.

"Making an emergency landing," says Ozzy. "Brace yourselves." Roger stares out the window in disbelief. "Why the hell are they shooting at us?"

To your surprise, the shooters break into a run and follow the helicopter on its course downward. "We're going to meet them when we land," you say. Matthias and Roger are already arming themselves. "Well then," says Roger. "Let's meet 'em."

When the helicopter plunks down, and the blades whir to a stop, the shooters are ready at the doors. A gravelly voice commands you to come out, unarmed.

"That'll be the day," says Roger. "We aren't doing anything of the sort. Actually, you're the ones who should be running. I'll give you five seconds. Five..."

Five is plenty for them. The shooters open fire, damaging the helicopter's window and hull. The soldiers quickly return fire, but the battle's pretty one-sided. The shooters definitely have the numbers, and the better guns.

"What do you want from us?" asks Roger. This is the first time you're getting a good look at the shooters. They look horrible, dressed in filthy clothing, with generally ugly faces. Not a single one is clean-shaven or looks like they've had a haircut even once.

"We want your 'copter," grunts one of the shooters. "We can't allow that," says Roger. "We're headed back to Washington. You should come, there are showers, and fresh food, and-"

"NO!" the shooter angrily kicks a rock. "We want the helicopter! And food! And books! And all of it! And guns! And snakes! And cell phones!"

The soldiers look at each other in disbelief. "These people have lost it," whispers Conway. Should you give up what you can, or try to diffuse the situation?

> You try to talk to them
"Hey," you say. "Listen. We can't afford to give anything up. Is there a possibility that we could work around this?"

The man holds up his finger, and draws something in the air. Then, he looks at you expectantly. When you don't know how to respond, the man becomes angry. He furiously draws some sort of picture in the air with his finger over and over again.

"What? What is it? What do you want?" you ask. The man finally gets fed up with your incompetence. "WAAATTTTEEERRR!!!!"

"We can't spare, um, any water at the moment," you say, almost afraid that he'll flip his lid. Instead, the man gets quiet. "Follow," he finally says, and begins to walk away.


Your walk back is uneventful. You still aren't sure what the point of that excursion was, but it's nice to get your mind off impending doom for awhile. Plus, as Conway said, there's no shortage of bullets.

You arrive back at the campsite as night is falling. "Well, time to hit the hay," says Conway. "Are we leaving for Washington tomorrow?" you say. It's not that you're getting impatient, but you don't see a reason (beyond Conway's personal reason) for staying back. Conway slowly nods. "Yeah. Yeah, we'll leave soon."

"Soon?" you ask. "Or tomorrow?" Conway doesn't answer this time. You begin to question whether joining him was a good idea, and consider ditching him if you need to. As you retire to your tent, you hear a crackling noise from Conway's duffel bag. Quickly, he fishes out the object. It's a walkie talkie.

Chzzz.....Zhhcccc..tzzz....Hello? Anytzzzz....anyone there? Conway, is chzzzzzzzzzz....

"Yes? Hello, yes! Yes, this is Conway Matthews, deployed with the fourth wave? Do you copy?"

Tzhhhhhh.....Chzzzz...... getting really bad outthcccczzzz....going to leave soon.....wanted to check for any others....tchzz.......tchzzzare you? Come to the......thczzzzz.....

Conway fiddles with the receiver in an attempt to make the signal stronger. "I'm losing connection! Where are we supposed to go?"

Tchzzzzzz....................341...tchzzzstreet.....local museum.....

Conway looks up at you in slow recognition. "The museum," you repeat. Conway nods. "Let's go. Now."

You quickly collapse the tent, while Conway packs various weapons into his duffel bag. "We aren't gonna have room for everything," he says. "It's either the guns, or the food. I can fit some of both, but we need to make our choice quick."

Meanwhile, the person on the other end of the walkie talkie gives out more advice.

Streets are crowdetchcchhh........be careful.....the dead aren't gchhhhhhhhh.......hundreds of them...in the streets........come quick.....we need to leave soon...

You can make out gunshots in the background. You can hear the same gunshots echoing through the city.
> You mix of food and guns
"Pack both," you say. 'We'll need some of both." Conway nods, and begins packing. You take half the food and half the guns, burying the rest so no one else can get to it. After the duffel bag is full, you move into the streets.

You can immediately tell what the others were talking about. Where the streets used to be empty (of zombies, not of cars), there are now vast hordes. They aren't moving in any direction, or at all for that matter. They just bump into each other and walk in circles. You and Conway elect to stay off the roads, and slip between buildings.

Meanwhile, Conway keeps a conversation going with the other soldier. Through garbled radio speech, you hear him tell you what's going on. The dead are mostly avoiding the museum, which is why that's their pick-up spot.

You're sneaking past a rogue group of zed when the radio suddenly emits a loud burst of static. The group slowly turns their heads, and they growl at a potential food source. "Oh, please no," Conway whispers. The dead slowly hobble over to where you're advancing. You don't know whether to keep sneaking or lash out, but Conway makes that decision for you. Whipping out his knife, he takes the top half the the closest zombie's skull off with one sweep.

You draw your knife, and take care of a few of the others. After the horde is cleared, Conway switches off the walkie talkie. "Not gonna go through that again."

You slowly progress through the city amongst the waves of walkers. Eventually, the museum is in sight. You're surprised to see an actual helicopter guarded by a handful of soldiers. Conway switches the walkie talkie back on.

"We can see you, over."

Tchhhhhh....okay, that's good......These hordes are getting worse....no way you're gonna make it through here.....we can provide covering fire......run for it......

You look at Conway, and nod. The soldiers reveal several guns, and start firing on the group of zombies. Taking the chance, you follow Conway through the gunfire. A few zombies attempt to follow you, but you're moving too fast for them. When you get past the hordes, the soldiers wave to you and open the helicopter doors. "GET IN!"

You climb into the helicopter after Conway, with a sea of rotting flesh at your heels. You slam the door shut, and hear the helicopter blades whir to life. "Come on! Let's get this bird off the ground!" shouts one of the soldiers. The helicopter slowly lifts off the ground, with a few zombies holding on for dear life to the bottom. They slip free once you're airborne.