[System] Narrate a grim fantasy text adventure. The Empire's world is brutal, its people hardened. Respond to the player's choices with immersive storytelling and let consequences flow naturally.

[User] You join Cole and Clell in guarding the horses outside

[Assistant]
That morning you ride up to the bank and while your companions enter you, Clell and Cole wait outside. After a few moments two men approach the bank and though you and Clell move to intercept them the men are walking too fast and suddenly freeze as they witness your friends holding up the bank at gunpoint through the bank's glass windows. "Keep your damned mouths shut," Clell hisses and the men nod and start walking away when suddenly one of them starts shouting "Get your guns boys! They're robbing the bank!" Swearing Clell draws his pistol and fires a shot one of the men's head which misses.

You, Cole and Clell quickly mount your horses and begin galloping up and dozen the street firing your pistols into the air and shouting "Get in, get in!" Alerted by the shot, Jim, Bill and Charlie gallop into town and begin imitating your tactics. Unfortunately for you and your friends the townsfolk quickly find their weapons and begin returning fire at you all from the safety of windows, doorways and store fronts. As he rides past the bank Cole shouts to the men inside "hurry up! They've given the alarm!"

As you ride along the front of the bank you see a young man standing absolutely motionless nearby staring round in confusion. "Get off the damn street," Cole yells at him as he rides past but the man just steps at him before suddenly putting his hand into his pocket.

[User] You shoot the man in the head

[Assistant]
Your shot hits the man in the head and he falls to the ground fatally wounded. You turn away just in time to see Clell get shot off his horse by a bullet fired from somewhere high. As you and Cole ride towards him and dismount Clell is in a bad way, lying on the ground with blood pouring from his face and shoulder. A quick check reveals he is indeed dead. Cole snatched up Clell's pistol and cartridge belt but as he does so a bullet hits his left leg.

Glancing up you think you can see the man who shot and killed Clell. He is standing at an upper-story window rapidly reloading a rifle in his hands. Though it is a very difficult shot with a pistol you could try to shoot and kill him.

[User] You fire up at the sniper

[Assistant] You fire up at the man, missing, and a moment later he fires back, hitting you in the throat. You fall backwards to the ground, your pistol flying from your grasp. You are dimly aware of Cole at your side shouting something in your ear but you can't hear him. You quickly bleed to death as the gun battle rages on, one of five men killed on this bloody day.


[System] Narrate an interactive dark fantasy adventure. The world is brutal and unforgiving. Respond to the player's actions with vivid, immersive descriptions and let their choices carry real weight.

[User] Continue

[Assistant]
Dead Man Walking! (Zombie Survival)

Can you survive the Zombie Apocalypse? While challenging, it's not as hard as the movies would have you believe - where they always make the worst possible decisions for the sake of drama. Here, at least, you will be offered logical choices amid the foolhardy and your character cares about survival even more than you do. A serious game with gory detail.

Style

There is a lot of reading in this story. Pages are filled with lengthy descriptions of who, what, when, where, why, & how. The story is quite long (over 2100 pages) and comes in three major sections (of varying length, depending on what you choose to do in them). Don't forget your 'Save Game' option...

Sections

The first section is the shortest and involves escaping the subway tunnels.

The second section involves moving around within the city and escaping.

The third section involves moving through the suburbs to find and save your family.

Objective

Get the best ending (or) Get the highest score (or) Kill the most zombies (or) All of the above?

Scoring

Each choice is assigned a value from 10 - 50 points: Generally, 10 points are given for a bad decisions, 30 points for neutral decisions, and 50 points for the most logical choices. 20 & 40 points are also awarded, when certain choices fall between the other values. Your final Score at the end of the game is the total of all the decisions made, multiplied by a number of special factors (depending on what you accomplish during play).

Note that the highest possible score will not be achieved by making all the right choices - as making the best choices often allow you to bypass certain other 'choice-filled' events, that will net you more points in the long run (if survived) than by simply skipping them altogether in the first place.

Endings

As this is a zombie game, the very best ending can only be achieved by not getting bit at all, but there are still a number of interesting endings available, even if you do get chomped on a time or two. In fact, you are not likely to get the Highest Score with the very best ending - but that's the trade-off.

With each 'Death Page' and the 'Official Endings', you will have the chance to see how you did before quitting (or going back). A Rundown is included that shows how many zombies and/or people you killed, how many people you saved, how many zombies munched your brains, and of course your Total Score. If at the end of your game you have 10,000 or more points, you will also be able to see a write-up of the Zombie Virus and Zombie Types used during the game.

The type of ending you achieve will also be reflected in the last digit of your Final Score: Death Pages will produce a score ending in '0'; Official Endings will show a '5'; and the Very Best Ending will show a '7'.

Post a comment to show your high scores to the world!

Troubleshooting

Please PM me if you find bugs or breaks in logic (such as walking on foot in one scene, then riding a mountain bike in the next, without ever having found the mountain bike first). The most helpful thing you could do is tell me the name of the page with the bug (and) the name of the page you came into that page from, plus a description of what's not working correctly.

Good Luck!

This game dedicated to my lovely LadyZerka (and Five Hundred Feet of Heavy Rope in a Barrel)   =)

[User] You begin...

[Assistant]
Dead Man Walking.

You are drifting through darkness, floating weightless in an inky black void. Slowly you realize you are not quite awake, but coming out of unconsciousness; you must have passed out for some reason. You try to sit up, but some unseen force holds your body down. With a note of frustration you realize again that you are still not fully awake. Focusing your will you try to start yourself awake, and for a moment it seems to work – you sit up and look around and can see that you are in a dark tunnel with very little light. You notice a man stooped over some object to your right and try to call out to him, but your voice does not work. Regardless, the man turns to look at you and it is then that you see it is not a man at all, but a smoky silhouette of shadow in vaguely a man-like shape. The thing sets upon you in a flash and you feel a smothering presence overpowering you in the darkness, wrapping you up, holding you down; trying to invade you. In panic you jolt awake – this time for real.

The first thing you notice is a sharp stabbing pain in your head. Reaching up, you feel your hair matted in blood and grimace as you run your fingers over the jagged edges of what must surely be a serious head wound. Part of your scalp has actually been torn free of your skull and hangs in a greasy mess over your ear. You're not bleeding from the wound very much – it seems to have clotted – but you definitely should get it seen by a medical professional sooner than later…

In addition, your left arm, shoulder, and side are numb. Moving them slightly, you wince at small twinges of pain here and there, but are relieved to see that they are not broken – though it does seem that you have been thrown down on that side recently and with significant force.

Sitting yourself up against a wall of cool damp stone you take in your surroundings. The floor is of hard packed dirt with a thick layer of dust on top and (from what you can feel), quite a bit of shattered safety glass lays around you. In the air you smell a mix of smoke and ozone, like when an electrical outlet shorts out. That and the heavy stink of blood (your own maybe, you do seem to have lost quite a bit) and something reminiscent of burning hair… All in all, it's somewhat hard to breathe, as if you're not quite getting enough oxygen with each breath.

It is very dark, but a dim greenish glow stemming from a huge mass of twisted metal before you gives enough illumination to at least make out your hand in front of your face, as well as what's immediately around you. Looking at the mass in front of you, you can see that it is the wreckage of a subway train – or perhaps even two trains – as if one had run up into another on the same track. Now however, the subway cars choke the dark tunnel you are in, cast zigzag across the tracks in a crumpled and jagged pile of wreckage. The greenish glow comes from inside the smashed train cars themselves and you surmise that it would be illumination form the emergency exits.

Looking to your right, you see a mangled body without a head. You shudder and wonder what it was you saw standing over that body in your half-conscious dream state.

Thinking back, you try to remember how you could have arrived in such a predicament, but you can't get past the pain in your head. Your memory is all cloudy. How much of it have you lost? All of it apparently; you can't even recall your own name. Looking yourself over for a clue to your own identity, you note that you are wearing reasonably savvy business attire with a gold watch. Unfortunately, the watch is broken, its face smashed and the hands stopped at 7:40 am.

Checking your back pocket you find your wallet and upon looking inside, you find your license.

"Greg Bradley", you say to yourself, reading the name off the ID. The address shows a street in the suburbs. There's also a photo of the wife and kids (you guess). The woman is pretty enough and there are two cute girls – a ten year old and a younger one, maybe seven.

A twinge of frustration creeps into your mind. Why can't you remember anything? Isn't seeing things like this supposed to jar a memory or something? You take the photo out of the wallet and tuck it into your breast pocket. Checking the rest of the contents, you find a number of low-end credit cards, $50 cash, and a half dozen of your own business cards; showing that you are an accountant for the Morgan Corporation, located on the 24th floor of the Summit Tower.

Also in your possession is a crushed cell phone (totally dead) and a ring of keys including the key and fob to a Toyota, a house key, a PO Box key, a padlock key, and what you think is an elevator key marked 'ST 24'. Incidentally, your key chain also includes a small LED penlight – which upon testing in the darkness of the tunnel, seems to offer miniscule comfort against the engulfing blackness.

It occurs to you that you should probably find something to bandage your head with. You consider for a moment trying to use your shirt as a makeshift bandage. It seems to work in the movies.

It is then that you hear the rattle of movement from within the pile of train wreckage before you, followed by a long mournful sounding groan. Instinctively, you quickly turn off your penlight and remain still; waiting to see what is making the noise without yet revealing your presence. You don't hear the sound again and wonder if some injured person is trapped there in the twisted subway cars, waiting for you to make the first move…

[User] You wait quietly for help to arrive

[Assistant]
You sit in the darkness waiting. Surely someone must know about this train wreck and will be coming to the rescue any minute.

The minutes pass…

The hour passes…

And then hours pass…

You have been sitting in the darkness for a long time and are starting to feel weak and dizzy in addition to being in pain. Maybe you should have tried to find help for yourself, rather than sit here, probably bleeding out this whole time. On a side note, whoever is there in the train wreckage still seems to be alive – moaning incoherently from time to time.

[User] You bind your head with cloth from your shirt

[Assistant]
As you tear some strips from your shirt, the noise seems to attract the attention of the person trapped in the train wreckage. The low mournful groans suddenly turn into heavy desperate panting snarls and a flurry of rattling and shaking from that direction. Whoever is making those noises does not sound very well off or even sane at this point.

You quickly bind your head and…

[User] You wait to see what happens

[Assistant] There is a disturbingly wet 'tearing' sound and you can hear the desperate panting snarls suddenly beginning to get closer. You wait nervously in the dark, straining to see, as it emerges from the wreckage. Crawling toward you over the caved-in side of an overturned subway car is a bloody corpse, its lower half fully torn away at the waist and trailing innards behind. The thing can't possibly be alive, but there it is, frothing bloody foam at the mouth and snapping hungry jaws at you – like something right out of an old horror movie!

[User] You find a large stone to smash its head in with

[Assistant]
Looking along the wall of the dark tunnel with your penlight, you spot a large chunk of cinderblock and quickly heft it up. The horrible thing is still clawing toward you when you bring the heavy piece of concrete down on the back of its head crushing it skull with a sickening splurch of blood, bone, and gray matter.

You are still filled with adrenaline and somewhat dizzy from your exertion, when you look up to the sound of more moaning; and see two more subway passengers, shuffling towards you with outstretched arms from the front part of the train wreck. While they are not moving very quickly, they are on their feet and making a beeline straight for you. They are far enough away from you at the moment, that you are fairly sure you can easily avoid them if you so choose.

[User] You wait and attack them with your cinder block

[Assistant]
Your cinderblock smashed one lunatic's head in easy enough; it should work on two more just as well. You have time to maneuver to a higher position on the wreckage of the train cars and there wait for the two subway passengers to pass by. That's when you'll get the jump on them.

Sure enough, the two moaning subway passengers stumble by, not immediately seeing you from your position of ambush. As you leap down at them, you notice that both already look pretty mangled by the train wreck itself – one even walking on a completely dislocated ankle. Your chunk of cinderblock comes down with you, striking squarely on the top of the first's head. The monster crumples under the blow immediately as its head explodes in a messy display – along with your chunk of cinderblock – which shatters in a dusty rain of crumbling bits.

You look with dismay at your now empty hands, trying to formulate a new plan of action through the mounting sense of panic. It is then that you realize the other one is already on you, having lunged with surprising agility for someone so broken up. Before you can do anything more, you are dragged to the ground as it lunges for your neck. Instinctively, you defend yourself with a raised arm, only to feel the monster bite deeply into it – tearing a chunk out and taking a moment to chomp on the meaty flesh.

You ignore the pain and grit your teeth, taking advantage of the monster's momentary distraction to reach blindly for anything on the ground around you to use as a weapon. Amazingly, your left hand brushes over something metallic and heavy enough to give you hope. You grab hold and slam the object into the lunatic's temple, knocking it over and allowing you to scramble up. You no longer have whatever it was in your hand, but the thing isn't getting up either. Not waiting to give it a moment's quarter, you stomp on the back of its neck repeatedly, crunching up its vertebrae, until you are satisfied that it isn't going to get up anytime soon. That is when you notice the railroad tie spike buried in the side of its head.

Taking a moment to calm yourself and regain your wind you think about what to do next.

[User] You climb through the wreckage to the front of the subway train

[Assistant]
You move quickly, ignoring the mess behind you and the throbbing pain of your injuries, making your way over and through the wreckage of the train cars that scatter the tunnel in the direction the train was headed before the wreck.

Along the way you see dead bodies everywhere, smashed into the twisted metal of the wrecked train cars – each more gruesome than the last. Disturbingly, you also notice an unusually large amount of entrails scattered about. You somehow doubt that that many people could all have been disemboweled simultaneously by a simple train wreck – even one as serious as this one appears to be. You're not sure (and you certainly don't want to get close enough to find out firsthand), but some of the bodies even look as if they have recently been savaged, as if by some wild animals' rending jaws. As you get further along, you also notice a large number of bloody footprints headed in the same direction you are going. They seem to be joined by more and more footprints as you pass through one mangled subway car after another.

At length you get to the front of the train you must have been riding on. In walking, you surmise that you had been on the train and thrown out a window when it crashed. You must have struck your head when you landed, which knocked you out for who knows how long. On that thought, you risk approaching a random victim's arm sticking out of the wreckage to take their watch. Unlike yours, this one still works and indicates the time to be 6:04 pm. If that is correct, and your watch indicates the time of the crash, that means you were out of it for roughly ten hours. Wow, you'd better not go back to sleep until you can get yourself to a hospital or you might not wake up again. You also find a working cell phone in the aisle as you go and see that it still works, but there's no signal down here in the subway tunnel.

Looking at the first car of your train, you see that it is completely flattened under the rear cars of another train. It looks as if the first train was stopped on the tracks and your train somehow ran into the back of it at a rather high rate of speed.

Continuing on, you cautiously pass through the scattered cars of this train with much the same scene of carnage cast before your eyes, until you finally arrive at the head of the first train. Unlike your train the first car of this train is relatively intact. You know that at the very front of the train is a control room, which hopefully will have at least a first aid kit and if you're lucky, a working radio. As you approach, you see that all the bloody footprints leave the train at this point and continue down the tunnel in the direction the train was headed. They are quickly lost however in the hard-packed dirt and darkness of the tunnel itself – though following them won't be a problem – you only got one direction to go – unless you want to turn around and go back the way you just came.

[User] You search the train's control room before deciding what to do

[Assistant]
The door to the train's control room is locked, but you are able to go outside and pull the smashed remains of the train car's windshield out, allowing you to climb inside. When the train was hit from behind, it caused the cars of both trains to accordion together, sending them sliding almost sideways down the tunnel into each other until this particular car got wedged in a narrow spot and caused the massive and jagged pileup behind it. As you enter the control room, you see that the driver of the train has been crushed to death by the front of the train as it smashed into the side of the tunnel and got wedged in. You try not to look too closely at his flattened and gore drained shell; or the pool of mess under what's left of his seat.

Checking the area, you see a map of the train lines on one wall and note that the train was headed into the city before it crashed. That makes sense to you, as you would have been traveling from your house in the suburbs to your office in the city during the morning rush. Looking around some more, you find a well-stocked first aid kit, a proper flashlight, a crowbar, some signal flares, a large fire extinguisher, and working CB radio. You also find the train operator's book bag with his lunch in it and help yourself to the contents, seeing as he won't miss it anytime soon. You're actually surprised that it tastes so good, given that you're eating it in a small room with a horribly mangled corpse just a few feet away.

After eating, you wrap your wounds in proper bandages and down a couple of pain pills and a no doze. You're pretty sure you don't want to fall asleep in here regardless of the head injury. You definitely don't feel safe down here in this tunnel of death. Packing the first aid kit, flashlight, and signal flares in the book bag, you heft the crowbar in your hand and check out the CB Radio – unfortunately, it's not the portable kind, but definitely worth trying to call for help on.

You consider trying to take the large fire extinguisher, but are not sure about the weight versus utility. It can wait till you're ready to leave, so you decide to address it again after trying the radio.

[User] You try the CB Radio

[Assistant]
After a while trying the current channel with no response, you try calling out on the other channels. Just when you are ready to give up, you dial channel 7 and hear a voice answer you on the other end.

"Help, I've been in a subway train wreck!" you say over the com.

"This is Officer Main of the 3rd Precinct, who is this, over."

"Uh, my name is Greg Bradley", you identify yourself, "I'm on a wrecked subway car down in the tunnels, I don't know where exactly. Everyone onboard is either dead or gone."

You hear an awkward pause on the other end of the com, and then Officer Main's voice comes back on, slow and grim.

"Listen Greg, there is no easy way to tell you this, but the whole world has gone to shit, just like that train down there. Some sort of terrorist bio-weapon released on the city this morning. A poison gas, or virus, or the like. It causes those exposed to suffer death-like symptoms, including a semi rigor mortis like state, and then they go crazy with cannibalistic rage. Just like the zombies in them movies. And like the movies, you got to hit them in the head and destroy their brain in order to put them down for good. Also, if you get bit by one you got roughly ten minutes before you're one of them yourself – though I did heard this one guy actually lasted three hours before he changed. You haven't been bitten now have you" he asks, pausing for a reply.

"No", you say quickly, looking at your arm but not wanting to lose contact with what could possibly be the last living soul in the city.

"All right then," Officer Main continues, "Here's what you need to do. Follow the tracks to the first station and get to the streets above. The first thing you need to do is avoid contact with any zombies. Next, you need to get your bearings and know where you are in the city – get a street map if you can. Then find a pry bar or tire iron and drop yourself into the nearest 'center of the street' manhole cover. It has to be one in the center of a main street, not a side street or manhole cover near the curb. And unless you're Lou Ferrigno, you'll need the tire iron to lever up the hundred and seventy five pound manhole cover. Obviously a light is going to be handy down there too."

"You still with me?" he asks.

"Uh, yeah, I understand," you reply – more than a little apprehensive about some plan to go down into more dark tunnels with ravening cannibalistic zombies lurking about.

"Good" he continues. "Once inside, set the manhole cover back behind you – this should keep the zombies from following you in, unless you really piss them off for some reason. There shouldn't be any zombies in the sewer tunnels – or if there are, there'll be a hell of a lot less in there than on the streets. Once in the main sewer line, follow it just like you would the streets above to our Precinct House here on 3rd and Spring Street. You'll see street names marked at each intersection of the tunnels and they run directly under the center of most streets. When you get to 3rd and Spring Street, you'll need to be careful. The zombies are thick in this area, but we're nice and safe here in our Precinct House. Like a fortress here, and well-armed, so you don't got to worry once you're inside – you just have to make a dash from the street to the door is all – you are good at running right? Over."

"I'm injured; got a head wound", you reply, "but I suppose I can run a short distance all right. What about the hospitals though? I think I really need medical attention rather quickly. Uh, over."

"No, don't go to any hospital! They are all overrun with the dead and undead. We have medical supplies here and a triage unit with doctors and a surgeon. You get yourself here and we can help you. You hear?"

"Yeah, thanks for the information. I'll try to get to you," you say, not really certain about it just yet.

"Good Luck. Over" comes back the final reply.

[User] You take a moment to give thought to the situation

[Assistant]
After giving it some thought you conclude that you now have a number of things to consider. If the city really is overrun with zombies, then you'll need more than a crowbar to survive. You need real medical attention pretty soon too.

The 3rd Precinct seems to offer both and is in the direction the train was going.

Then there is your home and family. You don't remember anything of them yet, but perhaps seeing one of them in person will trigger the return of your memories. You know they must love you and wonder if they are safe.

Has the attack spread into the suburbs; or is it contained in the city? What if it spreads further? Is this the only city to be attacked; or are there more cities across the country facing the zombie threat?

You're not entirely sure how far your home is from the city, but you think you had just over a 40 minute commute – yeah, that sounds right. You try to work out in your head how far that would be in miles if you estimate the average speed of the train, when it occurs to you just to look at the line map on the wall of the control room. There you see that your suburb is twenty-six miles away from Summit Station (you presume under Summit Tower where you work), taking the green line from Summit Station to Fairmont Station and from there, the yellow line to Suburbia Station. Now all you need to know is where on the green line you are currently, which you won't find out until you walk in one direction or the other to a station.

Of course, what is the point if you're just going to turn into one of those things in…

You look at your watch, it says 9:05pm…

You got about two hours left. Damn, that sucks.

With this weighing on your mind, you…

[User] You take the heavy fire extinguisher & continue heading further into the city in the direction the train was going

[Assistant]
You cautiously move through the silence of the tunnel, listening carefully as you go. You'd rather be anywhere else in the world than here right now, and the temptation just to give up, lie down, and die is almost overwhelming. You've never been prone to anxiety attacks, but this shit certainly has you on the edge.

After traveling for what you thought was at least an hour, you look at your watch and see that it hasn't even been a full thirty minutes. Time flies when you're having fun, you think sarcastically.

After another five or so minutes of plodding along, you begin to think you can see a dull light in the tunnel way up ahead. Turning your own light out momentarily confirms this, as you can definitely see a dull white glow in the tunnel – maybe a station you hope.

Whatever it is, you're still a ways off; perhaps a quarter mile or so…

[User] You continue toward the station

[Assistant]
As you walk toward the light at the end of the tunnel, it seems to never get any closer – Damn; how far away is it?!?

That is when you realize that you have been dragging your feet as you walk recently – more stumbling forward actually than what could truly be considered a walk. Your muscles all feel tight and you're incredibly weak and tired – like your wounds and exhaustion are finally hitting you all at once.

You stop and steady yourself on the wall of the tunnel a moment as your head swims and you nearly pass out. Nice. You can see the light at the end of the tunnel and now you're going to pass out and get eaten by wandering zombies before you even can make it. Typical.

You begin to wonder if this is the zombie contagion at work – you have been bit after all. Are you really going to die and rise up as a brain eating monster?

Yuck. You never did like the thought of eating brains, or livers, or that other disgusting stuff people eat sometimes. Hell, you can't even swallow sushi without gaging.

Yeah, you'll make a real classy zombie, you think sarcastically to yourself, gagging on other peoples' brains.

After another flash of near unconsciousness, you desperately look around the tunnel for some place of refuge to sit and weather out the storm – or at least a place to die in peace. You'd much rather be munched on by zombies when dead than to have them find and eat you alive.

You find nothing significant, just an old sheet of heavy plywood leaned up against the side of the tunnel. With nothing more than that, and unconsciousness threatening to overtake you at any moment, you make due as best you can with what you have. You pull the bottom of the plywood sheet out a few feet from the wall of the tunnel, making a place behind that you can crawl into.

You go inside and turn out your light, noting the ever faint light still visible down at the end of the tunnel. There you lie on the ground, hidden behind your makeshift shelter, feeling feverish while the pain of your head wound and the tightness of your muscles is lost in the burning sensation that has slowly spread out from where you were bit by zombies to fill your whole body.

You lull in semi-consciousness; now almost sorry that you took that no doze. At least if you had fallen asleep and not woke up, you wouldn't have to be going through this right now. Your mind reels, jumping chaotically between the horrifying scenes of slaughter witnessed this day and half memories of your family, that feign to come back but then evaporate just before your mind can latch onto them.

You then realize that the burning tightness in all your muscles has progressed to complete paralysis – you can't even move your fingers or close your eyes. You lay there completely rigid, unable to move, until even your vision blurs.

You're not sure how long you lay there, drifting in and out of awareness, until you suddenly notice you can see clearly again and blink. You also hear what you think is the beeping of a morning alarm coming from somewhere. Then, all at once, every muscle of your body suddenly releases, and you find yourself drenched in sweat. Your fever is gone and you no longer feel a burning throughout your body or even where you were bit by zombies. Now you're just in good old fashion pain.

You look at your watch and see that it's 6:00am – the time you normally get up in the morning to get ready for work. You then realize the alarm on your watch is beeping and you quickly turn it off and grab your crowbar, hoping the sound hasn't attracted any zombies to your position. You crawl out from behind your shelter to listen and then look yourself over. You appear normal – not the walking dead like you expected. You quickly do some math in your head. No problem. You're pretty sure zombies don't do math. Small blessing.

Looking up the length of subway tunnel, you still see the light there at the end. Gathering your gear you:

[User] You continue toward the station

[Assistant]
Eventually you approach the opening at the end of the tunnel, where it empties into a large underground subway station. Your heart sinks as you draw near and hear the echoing din of a large mass of zombies from within. You hover in the darkness of the tunnel, carefully venturing forward just enough to get a look inside.

A hundred and some of the former subway passengers – all trapped in the rush hour mob and unable to escape the initial outbreak – pack the area, half on the landing platform itself and half down on the tracks.

Those on the tracks look a lot worse for wear; most torn up from the subway crash you just came from – or even other crashes farther up ahead. They moan and snarl at each other, jostling and crowding toward the edge of the loading platform, trying most ineffectually at climbing up the four foot ledge. Occasionally one does manage to get up, but is quickly pulled back down by the rest trying to climb up over its back.

You are reminded of a bucket of crabs. You remember once seeing one in Maine – there's another memory – you don't need to put a lid on a full bucket of crabs; they all try to climb up over each other. The moment one gets to the top, it is collectively grabbed by the rest and dragged back down to the bottom of the bucket.

You snap out of your reflection and focus on the area itself. The zombies don't see you yet and you doubt they'd hear you over the clamor, unless you did something to intentionally attract their attention.

The station is large and tiled, with a high vaulted ceiling and a large placard reading: "Fox Park Station". You see that the light is coming from a large number of battery powered emergency lights along the top of the walls. You also see, just beyond the crowded landing platform, two exits. The first is a turnstile gate at your end of the platform with an escalator and set of stairs going up on the other side. The second is an open set of stairs and an escalator at the far end of the platform beyond all the zombies.

On the track level itself are two sets of rails, both empty of any trains. Apparently, the platform side is for stopping, while the outer track is for passing through. As the trains all go the same way through the tunnels, you know there must also be another tunnel and station nearby for the trains going in the opposite direction. Typically, it would be close enough that you could buy a ticket in the terminal above the tunnels and then simply come down the right set of escalators to your platform.

You spot a dingy red metal door in the outer wall of the tunnel opposite the landing platform. While the light's not great, there is enough that you can make out the words on its surface: "Railway Workers Only!"

As you stand in the shadows of the tunnel looking over the scene, you also spot a four foot long piece of heavy planking, lying on the ground where you would exit the tunnel. You'll have to be sure not to trip over it when you are ready to go.

Man there are a lot of zombies in here!

Given that, you think over your options – The open stairs and escalator at the far end of the landing platform is a no go – way too many zombies to get past even to think about it. Then there is the turnstile exit gate with the escalator and stairs on the other side. The problem with that is: to get to the stairs you'll have to hop onto the landing platform with hundreds of zombies and make it to the turnstile exit gate and jam it before they swarm you. There is also the matter of the turnstiles being one-way. If there are zombies on the other side of it, you won't be able to come back the way you came.

The red door option on the other side of the tunnel would be much easier to get to, but if you're detected, the zombies on the tracks will move after you and block your way back to the tunnels. You don't even know if it's locked or even goes anywhere – for all you know it may just be an access door to firefighting equipment – though you would think it would say so if that was the case…

You could also try to sneak past the horde altogether, while they are distracted, in order to continue further down the tunnels towards the center of the city. If the rest of the stations are like this one though, then you'll have to deal with getting out of the tunnels sooner or later…

You could also just turn around and head back the way you came; trying instead to leave the city altogether rather than move any deeper into it.

After weighing your odds, you:

[User] You make a run for the turnstile gate through the zombie hoard

[Assistant]
Taking a deep breath, you rush out from the shadows of the tunnel and over to the nearest edge of the landing platform. As all the zombies on the tracks are looking in the direction of the zombies already on the platform, you are able to get right up to the edge of the zombie crowd and brush past two or three of them before vaulting up onto the upper level.

There is an abrupt silence, as all attention is suddenly drawn to you, and then a roar of agitated groans and wails. As one, the entire zombie hoard starts toward you. Of course, you weren't waiting to see what they'd do, so you're already running full speed toward the turnstile gate at this point. Unfortunately, the zombie swarm had already partially blocked your path; and with them now actively moving toward you, you'll need to bust past at least five of them before you can get to the gate.

You slam your shoulder into the first with a yell and send it flying into another, toppling both. Three more you think, swinging your crowbar with both hands at the nearest of the three. Your weapon strikes true, shattering the thing's jaw and knocking its head so far to the side that its neck snaps loudly. It falls to the ground twitching violently.

That is when you feel grasping hands all over your back. It seems that your crash into the first two zombies has drastically slowed your charge. With horror you feel yourself suddenly being pulled backward into the crowd. The book bag you think! They have hold of your book bag! You drop one shoulder and spin out of the book bag freeing yourself of the hoard on the landing platform, but exposing your back to the two standing between you and the turnstile gate. Knowing that they are lunging at you even now, you do something radical and drop to the ground before rolling away to the side.

The two zombies that were behind you attack the empty air where you were, while the zombie hoard still tears at your book bag. You can't help but laugh at the clumsy things, but here your laugh is cut short as realize just how dire your situation has really become. The two zombies you had knocked down simply get back up and those of the hoard not occupied with your bag have pushed forward around the melee. You now have eight or more of them between you and the gate, while a few dozen more on the tracks have actually managed to claw their way onto the platform behind you.

You jump back up and manage to bash in two more heads, but you're working against the tide and are quickly overwhelmed. You are dragged down and torn to bits by hundreds of slavering jaws.

A moment later and you're standing on the tracks in some sort of surreal out-of-body experience, watching the zombies on the platform spread your entrails out amongst themselves. Looking back at the tunnel you had rashly decided to come in from, you see that strange black shadowy shape from your unconscious dreams lurking nearby. You wonder what it is and what it wants with you, but that is another story…

END


[System] Narrate a dark fantasy text adventure. The setting is harsh and morally complex. Describe scenes vividly, react to player choices with fitting consequences, and never shy away from the reality of the world.

[User] You take Fay's suggestion

[Assistant]
You walk forward, your voice dropping to a whisper.

"Look, we need to be practical. We can cause some minor trouble, a riot or two, kill a few guards at best. That leads to them just shutting off our dorms and pumping these rooms full of chlorine gas. We stay seemingly loyal, do what we're told, and wait. Eventually, when we have the chance, we strike. They won't expect it, and we'll have waited until the perfect opportunity. Then, we escape. Then, we gain freedom. Then, we gain a future. Got it?"

There's hushed responses, as the tribals take a hopeful, inspired look. They won't rebel. They'll follow orders... for now. As soon as the chance rises though, you'll have a loyal group of soldiers to fight alongside you.

"Tell the other tribals. We need to stick togther" you say to the tribals, before turning to Fay. "We should go."

You walk out of the room, with Fay at your side, holding your hand.

"Well, I'm glad you took my suggestion," she says, smiling sweetly at you.

"Well, you're clever, so I should listen to your advise every once in a while," you reply.

"Stop teasing," she says, lightly hitting you. "We all know how this relationship works. You're the brains, I'm the brawn. Not the other way around."

"Well, how come I can easily push you around?" you say, flicking your wrist and sending Fay onto her rear.

"Hey!" she says.

"Sorry," you say, laughing.

"You're a massive dick," she complains, as you lift her back to her feet.

You stop, the smile going from your face as you see Kyros walking quickly towards you.

"Ah, here you are. Is the issue resolved?"

You nod, trying not to let him see you gulp nervously.

"Good. Now, we need to visit the last of your soldiers, the gladiator-slaves. They're always an interesting crew. Shall we go?" Kyros asks.

You look at Fay, who nods, smiling at you.

"Yes, let's," you reply.


[System] You are the game master of a dark fantasy text adventure. The world is dangerous and choices matter. Narrate with immersive detail and let the story unfold naturally from the player's decisions.

[User] Continue

[Assistant]
You are a local swineherd in the village of Jacquescrappe and your two best friends in the whole world are your two favorite pigs "Oinky" and "Snout".  You have recently finished your daily chores when you hear a terrifying scream.  Your village is known for suffering frequent hit and run attacks from the creatures in the mountainside and those that get taken never come back.  By the time you get there, it is already too late.  And to make matters worse, it was your little sister that was taken this time.  You've been dealing with this shit your whole life, but this is the last straw.  Somebody has to take care of those foul beasts!

You pick up a pitchfork only to be stopped by the gentle hand on your shoulder.  You turn and see Brandolf the Bray gazing down at you from behind a beard that is quickly encompassing his whole face.  He tells you that to stop the monsters you must focus on assassinating the Craxil, for without their leader the rest will likely vacate the area (or at least fall into disunity making them easier for the local militia to handle individually).

 Many other villagers have arrived on the scene and they obviously share the same sentiments as you.  Seeing the looks in their eyes, Brandolf decides he's going to have to organize a council meeting to discuss the matter before anyone gets it in their mind to do anything stupid.

[User] You to The Council Meeting Then

[Assistant]
Brandolf the Bray manages to convince the townspeople to stow their torches and pitchforks and agree to a council meeting but it is clear from everyone's faces that they would not accept any outcome that did not involve taking immediate action.  Brandolf's magic may be formidible, but against a numerous and organized foe he would not get far.  The townspeople (yourself included) are but farmers and peasants and would be hardpressed to slay a hackneyed donkey, let alone a monster.

Most of the creatures that come out of the mountains are lumbering, humanoid creatures that stand about 10 feet tall and are covered by brown fur from head to toe.  They have a hunch in their backs, and the villagers have taken to calling them humunculi.  While these creatures are certainly new to you, you are warned that there are even more dangerous creatures lurking in the depths of the mountainside.  Now you begin to look at the towering rockface with a mixture of curiosity and dread.

"We need to deal with this Craxil thing NOW" an angry voice shouts.  "How long must be culled before the royal military arrives to aid us?"

Of course, the royal military they speak of is from the kingdom of Mihtana, which is a considerable distance away.

"The royal military has never been willing to send any military force out to our village, why should this be any different?"

This comment is true, you think.   The village of Jacquescrappe is a considerable distance away from civilization and the kingdom of Mihtana sees it as being of no strategic value.  Even if it was under direct threat of annihiliation, you doubt anyone would go through the trouble of committing a significant military force out to such a far away place.  In fact, Brandolf is the only outsider that has bothered to help the village in a long time.

The rest of the townspeople immediately begin arguing over whether they should stay and defend the land of their ancestors or simply leave.  Others put forth ideas on how to trap the Craxil that are quickly dismissed by Brandolf as stupid.  Suddenly, Brandolf makes an announcement.

"I have a poison, aquired from an alchemist in Lima, that can kill the Craxil.  Even trace amounts of this deadly substance can kill even the largest of creatures".

[User] You listen Intently to Brandolf's Plan

[Assistant]
"The trouble is that this poison must be ingested or applied to a blade, simply splashing your opponent with it will not suffice."

"But how will anyone even get that far?  Without royal aid, how can anyone even hope to reach the Craxil?"

At this point, many in the council are reminded of your exploits at last year's "capture the flag" contests.  In fact, at every annual festival you manage to outfox your opponents, evade their numbers, and sneak up on their flag.  Your success record was almost unrealistic.  Suddenly, the council gets it in their minds to send you in with the poison.  In fact, you're alarmed by how quickly they're all agreeing to this idea despite the fact you haven't yet.  Then again, you've always sensed that as a swineherd you've never really been well liked or considered "valuable" by the townsfolk so this response isn't entirely unexpected.

Nonetheless, you aren't going to go anywhere or do anything that you haven't agreed to do first.  Unlike the others in the room, Brandolf has the decency to walk up and ask your opinion on the matter.  He is usually dismissive of stupid ideas, but he seems to think this one might actually work.  You take a moment to decide how to respond.

[User] You accept The Offer And Begin Your Quest

[Assistant]
You resent that the rest of the village is so quick to agree to such an idea without bothering to consult you first, but these creatures carried off your sister and they are going to have to pay for that.  Besides, this shit has to stop.  You inform Brandolf that you agree and he smiles warmly.

"Thank you young one, you are certainly bold to undertake such a suicidal mission."

"Well, what choice do I have right?"

He hands you the vial of poison, a short sword, a longbow, and a quiver of basic iron arrows.  For once, some of the people of the village actually look at you with respect but then you realize that they are commenting on how stupid you must be under their breath.  The ingrates!  Still, you need to focus on the task at hand.  Brandolf reminds you that the Craxil will be larger that the other creatures and that you should seek to evade rather than engage its underlings.  At this point, you realize you have a problem...

You stink!  The stench of swine manure spreads forth like body odor of a sweaty fat girl and you realize you are going to have to do something about this if you expect to succeed in your quest.  The council members may be used to it as this is a farming community, but the creatures almost certainly will not be.  You are going to have to consider how you are going to go about dealing with this issue.

[User] You try The Fancy Cologne

[Assistant]
You know that a friend of yours has recently returned from his trip to the city and brought some cologne with him.  You've heard that it does wonders for a man's scent and promptly apply some from a bottle labeled "Musque".  Coincidentally, it does seem rather musky.  Confident in your newfound manly scent you head into the mountains and prepare to meet destiny.  The wind changes direction and your enemy is aware of your position before you even reach the first plateau on the trail.  It isn't long before the humunculi are upon you, ripping you from limb to limb.  You tried to defend yourself with your short sword but hey... these are monsters and you've got the upper body strength of an anorexic girl.  They find you to be an unsatisfying meal.

THE END


[System] Narrate an interactive dark fantasy adventure. The world is brutal and unforgiving. Respond to the player's actions with vivid, immersive descriptions and let their choices carry real weight.

[User] You try to buy some time

[Assistant]
"Johnny, look. We didn't do anything to you, but if you felt that we offended you in anyway, then I apologize profusely. You can walk out that backdoor right now and nobody has to know about this." You say trying to aim the gun so you know you'll hit him with it, unfortunately he's moving around with Julie even more now.

"Yeah right. The National fucking Guard is patrolling out there right now, I'm not gonna get my ass shot off and stop trying to play psychologist, it won't work. I'm not interested in anything you two dyke whores got to say, so let's just skip to the good part!"

Suddenly Johnny slashes Julie's throat open. A gout of blood comes pouring out as Julie hisses and gurgles while clutching at her throat. The sight of this scares the shit out of you and it doesn't help that Johnny also gave her a little shove directly at you after he did it, which causes a nervous reaction of firing your pistol.

You don't hit Johnny though, you instead hit Julie and cut what little remained of her life even shorter. Her body falls on you and you scream when all the blood squirts all over you.

You attempt to push her off of you, but when you see Johnny looming over you, you try to bring your arm back up to shoot at him again, but this time he's got the advantage and he grabs your wrist, breaks it and takes the gun out of your hand before pistol whipping you in the face with it twice. Your head hits the floor as you lie there now with a broken nose.

"Stupid bitch. You all are stupid bitches. I don't know why I ever think I'm going to run into anything different. (Sigh) Still, I thought after your sister told me about you…I thought you might be…bah better get this over with, the fucking Guard probably heard those shots." Johnny says.

Your last moments are seeing Johnny's knife coming down several times on your face.


[System] Narrate a dark fantasy text adventure. The setting is harsh and morally complex. Describe scenes vividly, react to player choices with fitting consequences, and never shy away from the reality of the world.

[User] You go on your own

[Assistant]
You think about it and realize your mom is right. Taking on this responsibility isn't for you. All you're mainly concerned about is getting the loan repaid and you'll probably be able to do that by selling the inn to the city.

The pair of you keep the inn open one last week to make some extra money before closing it down for good. It's another sad time for the miners who frequent there, because while granted they'll either find another place to drink or continue to drink at this one under new management, your family has been a familiar sight here. When the inn is sold off, you barely make enough to cover the debt, but at least your mother isn't in any immediate danger now.

Your mother does find work as a cook for a short time, but eventually decides she can't really stand living in the city without your father anymore. She leaves to go live with your aunt in one of the small villages to the east on the outskirts of the Delantium Kingdom.

After a long time of the inn just sitting untended and forgotten due to the council having more pressing matters and red tape, it's broken into by several homeless people who use it as a place to sleep. The homeless are soon ousted by a local gang who use it as a safe house. Eventually though they cause enough trouble that the Klyton Militia has to take severe action and storm the place, resulting in a small fire.

At this point someone in the council finally notices it, decides that the place isn't worth salvaging and proposes that it be knocked down to build a medical clinic in its place to try to uplift the area. The motion passes.

As for you, you find a job thanks to your education level, but it isn't anywhere in the field that you would've liked. You're a clerk in a tax office, filing away items, straightening out reports and such. You never really move up and you never make enough money to save away to get ahead either.

You don't really have a bad life so much as a mind numbingly mundane one. You do have your good days, but ultimately you never really achieve your goals and always have a sense of dissatisfaction with your life.

Sometimes you wonder back, what if you had taken that chance and ran the inn? Would you have had a chance at a better life, or would you have made things worse?

You'll never know.


[System] Narrate an interactive dark fantasy adventure. The world is brutal and unforgiving. Respond to the player's actions with vivid, immersive descriptions and let their choices carry real weight.

[User] You say "We should be wary of Garyn"

[Assistant]
"I'm worried about Garyn"

Orvyn nods vigorously

"I know exactly what you mean; bloody idiot will get us all killed with his recklessness"

Again making sure no one is listening, you put a hand on Orvyn's shoulder

"Can I trust you?'

Orvyn affirms loyally

"Of course Aethelwulf!"

You clap him on the shoulder

"I know, old friend, I know"

You lean in

"I want you to keep an eye on Garyn, make sure he doesn't blunder our men into a trap"

Orvyn checks over his shoulder suspiciously, as though he expects Garyn to materialize from thin air

"Don't worry, I'll watch him like a hawk"

"Excellent, let me know if he does anything foolish"

Orvyn salutes amicably and departs; you walk in the opposite direction, towards the main courtyard.


[System] You are the game master of a dark fantasy text adventure. The world is dangerous and choices matter. Narrate with immersive detail and let the story unfold naturally from the player's decisions.

[User] You leave Holgard

[Assistant]
You're not getting wrapped up in Isabella's shit with Ral. You thought you were done with both of them and you intend on keeping it that way, even if that means you need to find some new place to live.

"It's all yours." You say and stand up.
"What seriously? You're not helping? You don't want revenge?" Isabella asks in a genuinely surprised manner.
"Not particularly. I mean sure I don't have any love for Ral, but unless the man is coming to magically enslave me again, I just really don't feel the need to go looking for trouble. I moved on and made a new life for myself and I'm happy with it. I dunno Isabella, maybe you should do the same."

Isabella's face is noticeably annoyed by your remark, but she doesn't threaten you or anything, just more of an expression of exasperation and disappointment.

"Very well, but I didn't think that you were the type to run and hide when opportunity presented itself. Some just aren't meant for greater things I guess. After you leave, you needn't concern yourself with me interfering with your little boring life in the future."

You nearly want to argue with Isabella and bring up several things, but you decide that if you really do want to get out of this situation with minimal conflict, your best bet is to just let it go.

Without another word, you stand up and leave Isabella to brood. Despite her sneering words at you, you can't help but notice her glancing at you leave with a bit of melancholy in her eyes. Maybe she was hoping to rekindle something that wasn't there in the first place. Who knows? She never really did open up to you even in all those years you were forced to be together, maybe if she had, things would have been different like she thought they would be.

You're about to head back to the meat room, when you notice blood puddles and small trails in the hallway. You follow them to a small dead end to another tunnel you've been recently working on and that's where you find Lisa huddled in a corner chewing on a bone and making a weird (yet relatively quiet) noise. Almost like she's crying, but not quite.

She looks up at you mournfully.

"Lisa, I'm not mad if you were listening to us." you say.
"You're leaving with her aren't you?" Lisa asks.
"No. Not at all. In fact me and you are leaving together."
"We are? Where are we going?"
"Not sure honestly, but we're not going to be living here anymore."
"Why? Are we being kicked out?"
"In a manner of speaking yes. But I'd rather us have to start all over again and be free, than have to be a servant again. So, we'll be hitting the road so to speak. You have anywhere in mind that you'd like to go?"
"Um…I dunno…I've never been anywhere other than here and Dert."
"True I suppose. But I didn't know if you'd heard of any place you might like to go…though I suppose you don't bother making conversation with too many people."

Lisa looks introspective for a moment and then speaks again.

"The Delantium Kingdom?" she asks.
"Really? Didn't know you had any interest to go there." You say.
"One time, I stumbled upon a fancy dressed man in the sewers who was from the Delantium Kingdom."
"He told you that?"
"Oh yes, he claimed that he was a very important man there and if I killed him, people would come looking for him and seek revenge. Of course I didn't worry about that."
"Of course. I don't suppose you know what such an important man was doing in the sewers do you?"
"No, I dunno what he was doing in the sewers, maybe he was lost, but in any event he tasted better than anyone from Holgard."

You smile a bit at Lisa's reasons for suggesting the Delantium Kingdom. A very simple pleasure of food and the possibility of it tasting better there. It's as good of a reason as any you suppose, since you don't have many ideas at the moment.

"Okay, then if you want to go to the Delantium Kingdom then that's where we'll go to start over. It's going to be a long way, so maybe we should take a ship rather than travelling over land." You say.
"Ohh, I've never been on a ship before!" Lisa exclaims.
"Neither have I, so it'll be a new experience for the pair of us. I of course also imagine we'll have to stowaway on a ship heading there, but that shouldn't be too hard. Even hiding aboard the vessel shouldn't pose too much of a challenge."
"I might get hungry though."
"I'm sure I will too, but I'm confident that they'll be able to afford losing a few crew members without arousing too much suspicion. If it starts getting risky, you can always feed on me a little more and I'll worry about getting sustenance so that I can keep both of our strength up."

Lisa displays a big smile at that idea. Anything that allows her to suck on you more than usual is always a good thing in her eyes. With a hug and a kiss, Lisa is once again happy since she knows that Isabella isn't threatening her position anymore. (Not that she was in the first place)

You don't bother taking much with you, save for a few of your old thief tools and that's mainly for sentimental value, as you don't really do much of that sort of thing anymore. But things change, just like they are right now and just like how they probably will in the future.

You and Lisa sneak aboard a trading vessel carrying a lot of cargo. Makes hiding in the bowels of the ship a lot easier with all the crates and boxes around. Occasionally one of you leaves the confines of one of the crates to feed, but mostly the pair of you just lie next to each other and enjoying each other's company as you wait to reach your destination.

Your days as a common rogue might be over, but you remain positive that your best days as a vampire have yet to be realized and hopefully those are coming soon.


[System] You are narrating an interactive fiction game in a dark fantasy setting. Bring the world to life with vivid prose, react meaningfully to player choices, and don't pull punches when the story demands it.

[User] You wait a little longer

[Assistant]
You figure he really can't be that long now, and decide to wait. Soon you see Renfield come back, he tells everyone to quiet down on orders of his master.

"Excuse me everyone, I know you're all anxious to hear what my master has to say, but I have been informed that he will not step into this room until a certain infestation has been taken care of first. Namely THAT ONE OVER THERE!"

Suddenly all the Vampires, Ghouls and Human servants look at you and advance! You're beyond out numbered. You put up a good fight for someone in your position, but ultimately you are scratched, bitten and sucked dry. And not in the good way either. You are then skinned where your pelt is hung up over Drac's fireplace, where he always brags about how he defeated you single handedly.


[System] Narrate an interactive dark fantasy adventure. The world is brutal and unforgiving. Respond to the player's actions with vivid, immersive descriptions and let their choices carry real weight.

[User] You let go

[Assistant]
You are not going to get your hands sliced open for a lead and line and you and Williams both release the rope. Like a demented snake it zooms across the deck and over the rail, landing in the sea below with a splash. You are both standing there blowing on your burnt hands and cursing when you hear a familiar high-pitched cry and look up to see Bligh striding towards you both.

"You incompetent mongrels!" he snarls at you both. "You think that losing that lead is a small thing? Six lashes each for neglect and dereliction of duty!"

The lash is fetched again, you and Williams are roped to the mast and the Quartermasters begin whipping you both, drawing blood. Bligh watches emotionlessly until it is all over and then he turns on his heel and returns to his cabin.


[System] Narrate a grim fantasy text adventure. The Empire's world is brutal, its people hardened. Respond to the player's choices with immersive storytelling and let consequences flow naturally.

[User] You well what happened?

[Assistant]
A week after the events of the first day of the infection various things happened.

Panic happened, riots happened. Real ones, not the initial ones which were actually just zombies causing havoc. Martial Law is put into effect, though it only lastws a few weeks before the military was over-run. Fighting the zombies head on was a bad idea but the military didn't learn this fast enough. They came by with caravans originally and picked up anyone who was willing to come with them. Then they created blockades and such to try and contain the problem. But eventually they were over-run.

Your home is attacked a few times, but nothing major. A few gun fights happened just outside as well, but you survive. You've lost a bit of weight, but you're alive and well...ish.

Two months have passed and for the past week it's been very quiet outside. No zombies, no people, nothing. Good thing too, because you're out of food and need to do leave the house now.

Oh and congratulations, you survived Phase 1 of the zombies.


[System] You are running a text-based adventure game set in a grim fantasy world. Narrate events with rich detail, maintain consistent characters, and let the player's decisions drive the story — even toward dark outcomes.

[User] You let someone else get off the boat

[Assistant]
You remain on the boat and watch as stout Quartermaster John Norton jumps overboard, crosses to the Native holding the rope, dodges his spear and cuts him down with his cutlass. The dying Native releases the rope releasing your boat and enabling the oarsmen to row rapidly away from the shore. Norton turns to follow you but is knocked down by a Native with a rock and as he tries to rise he is beaten and stabbed to death. The rest of you escape by throwing spare garments of clothes into the sea, which pursuing Natives stop to pick up.

The month following your escape from Tofua is a difficult one for you. The weather is constantly cold, there are frequent storms and practically all of your time is spent either rowing or bailing out the boat. Sleep for more than a few hours at a time is impossible. You have nothing but tiny amounts of bread and water, your stomach shrinks massively and you are constantly thirsty. Life becomes blurred.

By the time you arrive at Restoration Island you can barely drag yourselves ashore. The island receives its name from Bligh after you all find fresh fruit and oysters which go a little way to restoring your strength. You find deserted Native campsites and after your previous experience you are not keen to make contact with them. After two days resting you sail on, reaching an island Bligh calls Sunday Island the next day where tensions again erupt.

[User] Another Argument

[Assistant]
On Sunday Island on the last day of May Bligh nearly faces another mutiny.

You and the Carpenter William Purcell spend the morning clam hunting and return to the boat that evening with your findings. Bligh orders you to hand the clams over and, considering them personal property, you both refuse.

"You ungrateful scoundrels!" Bligh exclaims. "If I had not brought you here you would all have perished!

"If it had not been for you we should not have been here," you reply angrily.

"You are scoundrels!" Bligh exclaims.

"I am not a scoundrel," Purcell replies coldly. "I am as good a man as you."

Bligh grabs a cutlass from the boat and Purcell does likewise.

"Mr Cole, arrest both of those men," Fryer calls out to the Boatswain.

"You will do no such thing," Bligh snaps.

"There are other methods in making people do as they are ordered without fighting them sir," you tell Bligh stepping between him and Purcell.

Bligh glares at you for a moment, apparently too angry to speak, and then abruptly throws his cutlass into the boat. Purcell does likewise and the next day you sail on to Coupang. Hardly anyone talks to Bligh more than is absolutely necessary, no one can stand him any longer. All of you are too sick, weak and tired and the monotonous waves roll you onwards steadily until finally, gloriously, you arrive at Coupang.

The little Dutch town huddled against the waves looks the sweetest place on earth as you all sail in, dock and disembark, feeling like kissing the ground. Bligh coldly orders Fryer and you to stay and guard the boat while he leads the rest ashore. You ignore him and join the others in receiving food and medical attention from the kind inhabitants of the colony.

Your troubles are a long way from over yet however.

[User] You getting home

[Assistant]
Coupang is a small settlement with no large vessels so Bligh arranges the purchase of a derelict 34-foot schooner he names HMS Resource and orders you all to work hard in making it seaworthy enough to sail on to the larger port of Batavia on the island of Java where you should be able to find a ship going back to England. Tensions remain with Bligh bickering frequently with Fryer, Purcell and now also Acting Surgeon Thomas Ledward, who accuses Bligh of eating more than his fair share of supplies.

Bligh responds by insisting that you all work hard so that you may get back to England sooner, despite your still generally weak state.

[User] You work hard

[Assistant]
You push yourself hard but it turns out to be a mistake, you soon contract a serious inflammatory fever, as does David Nelson the gentle but weak Botanist Bligh also brought with him on the Bounty. Both of you worsen, despite the best efforts of the Doctor and even Bligh's comments that "your generally good conduct and manly fortitude deserve special tribute to your memory" fail to raise your spirits.

You succumb to the sickness a short time before your companions sail to Batavia and safety.