text: You climb up onto the roof using a ladder, and taking out the skylight. The roof is curved, so keeping your balance is a struggle. You look out into the sea of the dead. It doesn't look as big from here, but it's still too many. There's no chance of distracting them. Unless, somehow, you could sneak through them.
  
  You climb back down the ladder. "There's no way through that," you say. "We're surrounded." Mikey walks over to the door. "I bet I could get through," he says. You open your mouth to stop him, but Barbara beats you to it. "Absolutely not. You won't be able to run through that, no matter how fast you think you are."
  
  Panic begins to set in. The walls feel much closer than they are. The groans get louder. There really is no way out of this.
  
  Suddenly, gunshots rip through the air. You watch through the window as the horde of zed quickly hit the ground like dominoes. In a matter of seconds, the road is clear. You rush outside to see who, or what, killed the zombies.
  
  Parked on the road is a large passenger bus and a big rig. Several men armed with various types of guns are set out the bus windows. They killed all the zombies. The door to the big rig opens, and a man steps out. He wears a bright orange vest over a bomber jacket, and wields a machine gun in his hands.
  
  "Hi, folks," he begins with a creepy smile.
  
  > let him continue
  "Well, it seems to me that your lives were just in some very serious danger," the man continues. "Luckily, me and my people were just driving by. We just saved you from certain death. No need to thank us. All I ask is just a little something in return," the man says in a cutesy voice. "You wouldn't want to upset me, now, would you?"
  
  > Offer gun
  You go back inside and get the gun out of the storage unit. You take it outside and offer it to the man. He rips it out of your hands. "Wow," he says after examining it. "One damn gun, and it doesn't even have ammunition?" he looks at you, faking confusion. "You're gonna have to give us a little more than this."
  
  "We don't have anything else," Mikey says behind you. You turn around to shush him, but the man stops you. "I don't believe that. In fact, I can see something right now that you could give us." The man points to the warehouse. "Me and the boys have been on the road for a long while, and we could really use a rest. Now, how about you fix us some dinner, yeah?"
  
  > Refuse
  "No," you say. "It's already more than we can afford to give you the gun, so I'm not going to allow that." You watch the man's expression. He lets out a small laugh, and looks at the ground. Then he suddenly grabs you by the shirt collar and leans in so close you can smell the cigarettes on his breath. "I think," he whispers, "that you may want to reconsider that."
  
  > Reconsider
  Reluctantly, you step aside and show the man the door. He smiles at you, and steps inside. Slowly, his men file out of the bus and follow him.
  
  Inside, the man turns and looks around. He lets out a small whistle. "This is quite the place you have here, isn't it?" he says. "Now, make with the dinner."
  
  You and Megan hastily prepare canned vegetable soup for your guests, while Mikey and Barbara make them chairs to sit on. When you are done, you give each man a bowl of vegetable soup and a small cup of water.
  
  "What's the matter?" the man says. "You didn't make any for yourselves. Won't you dine with us?"
  
  "There's no more. You're already eating half of our food," you say. The man raises his hands. "Forgive me for more rudeness. Here, you can have mine." He slides he bowl of soup over to you, and throws the spoon at you. "Please, sit."
  
  Everyone eats dinner in silence. Barbara sits with her kids off to the side. None of the men make eye contact with you, except for the leader, who smiles at you. Finally, the bowls are empty. Megan hurriedly collects them and throws them away.
  
  "Wow. Now, I don't believe for a second that the gun you gave us is the only gun you have. There's gotta be more, right? So are you going to give it to me, or will I have to take it?" You notice Mikey grabbing at his gun, holstered on his belt.
  
  "Yeah. That boy has a gun," you say. Mikey gives you a look full of hate. "Well," the man says. He gets up and walks over to Mikey. He puts his hand out. "Give it to me."
  
  Mikey dumps the gun into the man's hand. "Thanks," he says. "I really do appreciate it."
  
  Back outside, the man addresses you once more. "That was a wonderful gesture, yes it was. Now, I think you've got quite the setup here," the man motions to the warehouse, the road, and the trees. "In fact, I love it so much, that I think we just might have to come back someday." The man's smile disappears. "You'll still be here, right?"
  
  "Y-yes," you say, and curse yourself for stuttering. The man pats you on the shoulder, a little too hard. "Great. See you soon." With that, the man gets back into the big rig, spits onto the ground, and drives off.
  
  > What now?
  The four of you sit on the ground in the warehouse. Mikey finally speaks. "What are we gonna do about this?"
  
  "We can't do anything," you say. "They already left."
  
  "I'm talking about next time. He said he's coming back. Let's be ready for him."
  
  "Actually," Barbara interrupts, "I think the best thing to do now is leave. He can't find us again, if we go deeper into the city. The big truck won't be easy to drive in the city streets. They're full of bodies and abandoned cars." It seems like the decision is left up to you: stay and fight, or find a new home.
  
  > find a new home
  "We should leave," you say. "We don't have numbers or weapons on our side." Everyone seems to agree, even though they don't like it. Since it's getting dark, you decide to leave in the morning. You lay down on your air mattress and try to get some sleep.
  
  In the morning, you begin packing. You are about halfway through the food when you realize that you don't have a vehicle. There's no way the four of you can carry all the food and water, plus the extra. You'll need to go look for something.
  
  It's not as easy as finding any car. You need one that can seat four people, plus all the supplies. As you walk down the road, you see a billboard for a used car dealership. Perfect.
  
  After a while, you spot the car dealership. The entire area is clear of zed, which means the trip back will be easy. You start your trip over to the dealership when you see something written in marker on a store window:
  
  > Don't have anything you want to trade right now
  You walk past the ad. You just don't have anything you're willing to give up, not yet. You make your way over to the dealership.
  
  Most of the cars are gone, but you expected that. You do have three choices: A pickup truck, a minivan with a trailer attached to it, and a convertible. The choice is quite obvious for your needs.
  
  Luckily, the minivan door is unlocked, and the keys are on the dashboard. You check the fuel gauge - you have a full tank. You thank your lucky stars and drive the minivan and the trailer back to the warehouse.
  
  > take off
  When you get back, the others have already gathered everything up. You load the group's belongings into the trailer, and then everyone gets into the minivan. Megan seems sad to leave the warehouse. Barbara doesn't seem too emotionally attached to it. Mikey's expression is difficult to read.
  
  You head up the road, looking for a place to go. Cars and debris block most roads, so your options are limited. All you need is a shelter big enough to support the group of four, and hidden well enough that you won't have to deal with Big Rig, or anyone else.
  
  Finally, you decide to pull away from the major city roads and go out into the countryside. There, you find a nature center. It's perfect for the group. It's big, secluded, and even has a natural river running next to it, a potential water source.
  
  The group unpacks and begins to get comfortable in their new home. This seems like an upgrade from the warehouse. The are two floors, and a lot of easily accessible windows.
  
  > What now?
  The most obvious thing to do is explore the new terrain. If there's some sort of supply cache or other survivors nearby, you need to know about it. "Nobody goes alone this time," you say. "I'll be going. Mikey, we can use you, too. Barbara, Megan, do you want to come?"
  
  Megan slowly nods, and paces over to you. "I'll hold down the fort while y'all are gone," she says. You nod, and start setting up a pack. You bring a flashlight, clothes, water and food. Megan brings along a poetry book, and Mikey is traveling light.
  
  Once outside, you get a good look at your surroundings. A dirt road connects you back to civilization. Then there's the woods beyond the nature center. You are deciding the best course of action, when Mikey speaks up. "I'll go into the woods alone, and look for stuff. You and Megan go that way." Before you have a chance to respond, Mikey is off.
  
  > Into The City
  Megan follows you along the dirt road, until you see buildings again. Most of them are useless, like hair salons, and the ones that could be potentially useful, like gas stations, have been looted. You are about to turn back when you see a gun store up ahead.
  
  You and Megan race over to it, as if it will disappear if you aren't fast enough. The store has a small group of zed inside, and the front window was smashed with a cinder block, but you can see guns hung up on the walls. "We need to get in there," you whisper to Megan. She nods.
  
  Both of you split up to find a good makeshift weapon. A board, a hammer, a pipe - anything will work. The nearest building to you is a flower shop. The front window is smashed, just like the gun shop. Why would someone bother to break into a flower shop? It's the least of your worries, because you get a large glass shard out of it. You wrap your shirt sleeve around it for better grip and come back to the gun shop.
  
  Megan returns with a long, flat wooden board a few moments later. "Ok, you go in, grab as many guns as you can, and get out. Okay?" you say. Megan nods. You position yourself in front of the broken window and whistle. The zombies all notice you at once, and start to fumble out the window. Once there's enough clearance, Megan darts into the store.
  
  The first zombie you kill is a huge jolt. You stab the glass shard into its skull, and it hits the ground dead. You're proud of yourself, but there are many more after that one. So you go again. You thrust the glass shard into a head, and then pull it out. This time, however, the shard breaks. Your hand is left bleeding, and you have no other weapons. Luckily, as if on queue, Megan comes running out of the building with three guns over her shoulder, and another few in her hands. Without having to say it, both of you flee in the direction of home.
  
  You slow to a walk after you've put enough distance between you and the dead-heads. "That was impressive. You're just as fast as your brother," you comment. Megan gives a fleeting smile. Suddenly, she points out something. "Look over here."
  
  You stand in front of a concrete wall with the U.S. military seal hastily painted on with spray paint. Below that is a short message:
  
  It seems like the writer was going to say something like "Let" or "leave", but they were interrupted while writing the message. Still, this is big. You estimate you're in the middle of California. If you head north, up through the rest of the state, then through Oregon, you'll arrive at Washington. You look at Megan. She looks back with a flicker of hope in her eyes.
  
  > get home
  Barbara and Mikey are dumbfounded at the news. Everyone's thinking the same thing right now. Yes, the temptation of safety is strong, but traveling through a whole state and a half to get there? Unthinkable.
  
  "It doesn't matter," you say. "Every second we spend here is a second we could be moving forward. We should leave now." Barbara shakes her head. "I think we should leave tomorrow. We'll need the rest, and we can scavenge for more food and things like that."
  
  "It's not worth it," you say. "We have a gun. We have a minivan with gas in it. We can make it. Besides, there's no time to scavenge. It'll be dark soon."
  
  > stay, and leave in the morning
  "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.
  
  > stay with the current group
  "Sorry," you say. "But I already made a commitment to these people. Hopefully I'll see you in Washington." The man smiles over his shoulder. "Okay," he says. "Your funeral." He goes back to pick up his duffel bag, and leaves. You get up and go back inside the nature center. You lay down on your air mattress, and ponder if you made the right choice.
  
  > leave for Washington
  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.
  
  > head through the fence
  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.
  
  > Intervene
  You get out and take a gun with you. "Hey," you say. The two attackers look over at you. The man tied to the pole can barely move his head. "What's going on here?"
  
  "This fine gentleman over here," one of the men points to the beaten victim, "has broken our golden rule. That rule is NO TRESPASSING. And it seems to me that you are also breaking that rule. So I think a punishment for you is in order as well!"
  
  > see what else he has to say
  "Rico, what do you think this man deserves?" one of the men says, addressing the other. "I think a proper beating is in order," Rico responds. Before you can step out of the way, he steps forward and hits you with the metal bar in his hand, knocking you to the ground. The two proceed to hit and kick you until you're numb. Eventually, about halfway through, you realize you're not going to make it out of this alive. You wish you had taken the detour.