[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]
Weird or not, you're not going to just let him potentially get shot.

"Johnny! You can't go out the front door! Look, just lie down on the couch okay? You can sleep here. It'll be all right." You say getting up and grabbing his arm.

Johnny stares at your hand and then at your face.

"Do you mean it?" Johnny asks.
"Of course, I can't let you go out there and get shot. I mean if you still want to leave then at least wait until its night and you've had some sleep." You answer.
"You're so…so perfect…" Johnny remarks and starts to head back towards the couch.

You help Johnny back to the couch, and when he lies down he falls asleep almost immediately.

"I…love you Suzy…" he says as he drifts off.

Well there was nothing ambiguous about that. You start wondering if you should have your head examined for possibly enabling a possibly mentally unstable guy who's more than a little obsessed with you.

"(Sigh) What the hell is wrong with you Suzy? First it was a cultist, now it's this stalker. Are you deliberately picking crazy people as potential boyfriend material?" you say to yourself.

You stand over Johnny watching him sleep for more than a few minutes trying to figure out where you actually stand with this guy. As you do so you never noticed how cute he really is before. It's true that he's somewhat average looking, but maybe it's due to him being in a more vulnerable position that he's coming off as more attractive and not creepy.

Not knowing what else to do, you turn down the TV (Which is blaring a Ground Zero infomercial as usual) and leave Johnny to sleep. You stop in the kitchen first in the hopes of maybe finding food before returning to your own room.

"Wow, this place was a mess last night. How the hell did he get it so clean?" you say as the kitchen is indeed much tidier without drunken fools and broken tables lying on the floor.

When you open up the refrigerator, you surprisingly find another pizza box, which has been marked with a note saying "Property of Suzy, don't touch!" Johnny must've ordered another one for you last night in case you got hungry later. That was pretty thoughtful, but what surprises you even more is its completely intact.

"He probably was acting like a guard dog all night near the refrigerator in case someone tried to eat it." You laugh to yourself.

Grabbing cold pizza and an unopened drink you head back to your room and lock the door.

Still wondering about them, you call up Julie, Donna and even Peter, but you get no answer from any of them.

Just as you briefly pondering about calling Kelly too, you hear a loud banging on a door. Not the door to your room, but somewhere in the house. Upon exiting your room, it sounds like its coming from the front door.

You remember that the loudspeaker from earlier did say there was going to be a government representative coming to visit the houses in the neighborhood.

You enter the living room and find Johnny awake again. He still looks pretty tired.

"Wha…what's going on?" he asks, rubbing his eyes.
"I think it's the government rep." you say, then you run over to the door and check through a window and see a well dressed man and one soldier at the door. You grab the handle…

"Wait, you're just going to let them in?" Johnny asks.
"Well I doubt if they're going to just go away. What can we do? Barricade ourselves in until they bash the door down? I don't like it either, but it isn't like we have too many options. Besides I don't have anything to hide, do you?"
"No." Johnny replies.
"Well there you go then, we might even be able to find out some answers too."

You open up the door.

"Greetings miss. I'm Mr. Zoll and I've been assigned to be the government representative for this area. May we come in?" Mr. Zoll asks, though it's pretty obvious that this is more of a polite formality rather than asking permission.
"Of course." You answer and let Mr. Zoll and his soldier companion in.

When you turn around you see that Johnny is sitting up on the couch, but is propping his head up on the armrest. He's still really sleepy so you're not surprised to see a bit of a scowl from him. You just hope the others don't take it the wrong way, but you figure as long as you're polite and upfront, you shouldn't have too many problems.

Mr. Zoll sits on the chair while his soldier buddy stands nearby (eyeing Johnny mostly) you sit on the other side of the couch with a space between you and Johnny and ask what all this is about.

"My name's Suzy, and that's Johnny over there. So how can we help exactly?" you ask.
"Well, before we start I know this isn't an ideal situation. You're probably already concerned about what's going on and why this town is under marshal law in the first place." Mr. Zoll answers.
"It is all a bit worrying." You reply.
"I'm sure. Unfortunately I can't talk about it too much, however I'm sure you're aware that this town has experienced a vast increase in criminal activity and rioting. More than your police force can handle. So until we get the situation under control again, we're here to stay."
"Well we certainly can understand that. We haven't experienced any criminal activity in this neighborhood though, well at least not to my knowledge."
"Hmm, yes this is one of the quieter ones. Some places I'm hearing about are pretty bad. Anyway I'd like to ask a few questions before deciding if we need to search this house further."
"Oh. Um, okay then. We have nothing to hide."
"Good glad to… hear it." Mr. Zoll says glancing over at Johnny who is still alternating between being sleepy and unhappy about being awake.
"So which one of you owns this place?"
"My friend Julie."
"Oh? Neither of you are the owner? Where is this Julie?"
"Uh, don't know. She skipped out on her own party yesterday and never came back home. Isn't that what you said Johnny?"
"Hrm. Yeah." Johnny mumbles.
"I see…" Mr. Zoll says studying Johnny though you don't know why. It's making you nervous though.

"Is this man your boyfriend?" Mr. Zoll suddenly asks.
"Um…yes! Yes he is. He hasn't had much sleep. You see we had a party last night and he stayed up late cleaning up. He really shouldn't have, but that's just how he is!" you nervously laugh being completely caught off guard by the question.

In your mind you already are regretting saying that since you've sent out more than enough mixed messages to Johnny. Though when you look over at Johnny he doesn't make any facial signs of a positive or negative nature, he's too busy on struggling to stay awake.

Mr. Zoll is now looking at you a bit mistrustfully. He thinks something is wrong and now that you're shifting a bit uncomfortably, he starts to think you're covering up something even though you aren't!

"Okay, you know what. I think it'll be easier to just give a brief search of the house." Mr. Zoll says standing up to say.
"Um, all right then. We have nothing to hide as I said." You say. Johnny slightly awakens a bit at this remark, but otherwise he continues to say nothing.

Mr. Zoll tells his man to go take a quick look through all the rooms while the three of you stay in the living room. The soldier nods and follows his orders. He first goes upstairs and looks through. You half expect him to find a stash of drugs in Julie or Donna's room, but he either doesn't or that isn't their primary concern.

Next the soldier comes back downstairs and searches the ground floor, but once again finds nothing that is going to get you into trouble. Johnny briefly turns his head to watch the soldier as he moves back and forth up and down the hallway.

"Searched everywhere sir, well except the basement." The soldier says when he comes back.
"Well you might as well search that too." Mr. Zoll remarks.

The soldier nods and heads back towards the hallway. Johnny doesn't look at the soldier this time, he just closes his eyes.

You hear the door open to the basement and then a few footsteps going down, then all of a sudden…

"Oh shit! That basement has a bad step!" Johnny exclaims and goes running down the hallway and shouts at the soldier.

Mr. Zoll gets up and starts to yell at Johnny to come back and you call out to him as well. This is soon followed by both the soldier and Johnny yelling and then the sound of someone falling down the stairs.

At this point you and Mr. Zoll both run towards the basement and there you see Johnny in the stairwell and the soldier crumpled in a heap at the bottom. His neck doesn't look like it's supposed to be twisted that way.

"I…I tried to stop him from falling…" Johnny exclaims looking distressed.
"His fucking neck is broken! I can see it from here! You killed him!"
"I didn't! I tried to save him! I shouted about the step!"
"Bullshit! And YOU'RE lying too!" Mr. Zoll says pointing to you as well. "Something fishy is going on here and I dunno what it is, but BOTH of you are going to pay for it!"

Mr. Zoll reaches for something in his suit pocket…

Panic washes over you and it's in situations like this that sometimes people either freeze up or make a rash decision.

[User] You do something

[Assistant]
Seeing that Mr. Zoll is threatening you and going for something in his pocket you do the only thing that you can think of that comes to mind.

You shove him as hard as you can towards the stairs. With one hand in his suit pocket he can't quite catch his balance and he goes tumbling backwards down the steps.

Johnny just manages to get out of the way of Mr. Zoll's tumbling body and soon it hits the bottom just like his buddy did. Mr. Zoll however starts groaning in pain indicating that he's only hurt. He isn't dead…well at least not yet.

Still in shock from what you have done, you stand motionless as you see Johnny take advantage of Zoll's prone condition and begins stomping on his head. Several times. Then he grabs the soldier's rifle and begins smashing the butt of it into Zoll's face. You're not right up front for this gruesome display; you can still see the blood flying from where you're standing.

"Die! Die motherfucker! Fucking piece of shit!" Johnny starts muttering as he continues to destroy Zoll's skull structure.

After a few seconds of watching this, you snap out of it.

"Johnny! Stop! He's dead! He's dead…(sob) he's…dead…" you say and break down. You feel sick and run into your bathroom. You cough and vomit into the toilet, but it isn't so much your contributing to Mr. Zoll's death or watching it unfold, it's mainly because you're sick with worry right now about the repercussions of such actions.

"Oh my god…oh god…what did I do…" you say in between heaving and crying.

At this point Johnny has come up from upstairs to check on you. As you look over from hovering over the toilet, you see him standing before you in your bathroom doorway and blood on his clothes.

"Suzy…Suzy…calm yourself. You did what you had to do. The guy didn't give you much of a choice. I checked his pocket and he was definitely packing a pistol in it. If you hadn't pushed him, he might've very well shot you and me both." Johnny says in an attempt to console you, but it's not working very well.

"They…they're going to send more people to look for him…they're going to find out…we can't even run. There's military everywhere!" you say before heaving some more, but you've nothing left. You're just shaking.

Johnny steps towards you.

"Suzy. Suzy. We're going to be fine. Remember WE didn't do anything wrong here. These assholes came invading our space and then acted in a threatening manner even after we both tried to be accommodating to them."

You stand before Johnny who now has grabbed a small washcloth and is approaching you with it. You just continue to tremble.

"Suzy. Listen to me. I can clean up the mess in the basement. I'll make it so nobody will ever know. Okay? If more weekend warriors show up at our door asking about their boss or whoever that dickhead was to them, we'll just say he left and that they can search the damn house if they want. They won't find his body. They won't find ANY body. Trust me on that."

Johnny dabs the sides of your mouth with the washcloth. You at him with a mixture of fear and hopefulness. All you can think about right now is how you wish all of this would go away.

"Can…can you really make all this go away?" you ask.
"Yes, I can. And in the event that we have to run, we DO have that option. We aren't prisoners here despite what the government wants us to think. We're free to go anywhere we wish."
"I…I want to go home…" you say.
"Well, maybe that's where we'll go then."

Johnny now holds both of your hand in his and looks into your eyes.

"Suzy. I love you and I'll never let any harm come to you. If the worst comes to worst, I'll take all the blame for what happened today. I don't want you to worry about this any more. You've been brave enough for one day."

His eyes they're so piercing right now. They give off an almost commanding stare. His voice is so soothing though and it's actually making you feel slightly at ease.

The combination of you having a minor breakdown and the stress of all that's going on…well it's all enough for you to just accept Johnny's willingness to step up and solve all your troubles like some sort of white knight.

At least right now at any rate.

"Come on, let's get you to your bed. You need to rest." Johnny says and starts to guide you back to your room. You don't resist. You just go with it. Johnny is a perfect gentleman though; he doesn't attempt to touch you in any manner that might be inappropriate.

As you lay down the bed, you allow yourself to start giving into the wave of sleep that's hitting you from all the mental exhaustion you're going through.

"Okay, Suzy, I'm going to get to work. Now I'll close your door and leave you be, but if you need anything at all, just call me of course. Just don't get up, you don't need to put yourself through anymore trouble."

You nod at Johnny's remark as you start to close your eyes. It's hard to believe that not too long ago he was the one exhausted and you were still relatively lively. You have no idea where he gets his energy from.

Just as Johnny is about to leave. You call out.

"Johnny?"
"Yes, Suzy?"
"Thank you."

Your eyes are still closed so you don't see Johnny smile at you before exiting your room.

[User] Next day…

[Assistant]
THURSDAY

You are suddenly awakened by the sound of your phone.

You don't think, you don't look, you just instinctively grab it and answer.

"Hello?" you answer still slightly groggy.
"Suzy? It's Peter."
"Peter?" you say a little surprised he returned your call as well still shaking the cobwebs out from coming out of your sleep.
"Yeah, it's me. You called me yesterday, but I was busy with, well a bunch of shit really. It's sort of crazy around here, the National Guard is shooting people in the street…well at least I think they're still people."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm saying that I've been seeing some weird shit. Like several people running around trying to bite other people."
"Wait…what? You mean literally trying to bite people?"
"Yes, I mean bite, as in I saw one guy that lived down the street from us chase another neighbor and start chewing on him like he was out of a goddamn zombie movie!"
"…are you saying this guy was a zombie?"
"Look I don't know. I mean maybe he was just rabid or something, but this wasn't an isolated incident. Maybe it's a disease outbreak, or bio-weapon accident or something. I mean that would explain why the National Guard is here. I'm just glad they or any of those freaks haven't beat down the door to this house yet, but I'm not taking any chances that's why I've been trying to find Ben's shelter."
"Ben's shelter?"
"Yeah, you know the one he was always working on and changing the fucking entrance all the time on? I figure it's probably still well stocked and I intend on riding this whole fucked up situation in the safety of that thing until everything is back to normal. We haven't had much luck in finding it though…"
"We? Is Kelly there helping you?"
"Kelly? Nah, I haven't seen that Amazon cunt since she left for work on Monday night. Don't know where she is. I'm here with one of my…clients. Anyway how are you and Donna?"
"I don't know where Donna is. She left Julie's on Monday night and never came back, then Julie left on fucking Tuesday night and SHE never came back. Then on Wednesday…(sniff)…"

You begin to feel a wave of emotion hit you as the thought of what happened yesterday catch up to you again.

"Suzy?" Peter asks.
"(Sob) I think…I think I'm gonna be in a lot of trouble Peter…(Sob) Something terrible happened…"

You can't continue and you begin to cry.

"Hey… look I…" Peter is unsure of what to say for a moment and then he continues.

"Look, I don't know what's going on over there, but I really need to let you go. I was actually hesitant to call you since I don't think it's a good idea to talk on the phone long right now anyway. I mean who knows if the government is listening…so…"

You stop crying immediately and just stare at your phone in disbelief.

"Wait, wait, wait. Just fucking wait a minute. Granted we've never been close Peter, but I have been genuinely concerned about you as soon as the National Guard rolled up in this town. Why the hell do you think I called? I'm obviously distressed about my current situation and you don't even offer a sympathetic ear? After all the fucking times you've stolen my clothes? After all the goddamn times I had to put up with your old loser junkie friend Kevin perving on me when you thought you were some sort of film maker? You can't even make the fucking effort to even PRETEND to care a little? You can't even do THAT for me?" you shout.
"Suzy, what the fuck do you want me to do? You're over there and I'm over here. I mean I got my own shit to worry about. And you how this family operates, when the shit goes down, you fucking look out for yourself first." Peter says.
"I'm not asking you to jump in your car and save me, I just wanted a little…fuck it…you know what just fuck you Peter!" you shout and hang up

"FUCK YOU!" you shout and throw your phone against the wall just as Johnny comes walking in.
"I heard you shouting, what's going on?" he asks.

"My fucking brother is a goddamn selfish bastard that's what's going on! I'm fucking nervous, I don't know what to do and I'm afraid. And what does he do? Does he even make an effort to console me in any way? No of course not he worries about himself. It's what my family does, out for number one as usual. Fuck all of them, I don't even care what happens to ANY of them any more!" say sobbing.

Johhny approaches you, but still keeps a respectable distance.

"Suzy, you don't need to worry about them any more. They aren't even worth getting mad about okay? Look I'm here and I'll take care of everything. Speaking of which, that thing yesterday…."

You wipe your eyes and try to compose yourself.

"I…I don't want to hear anymore about it… I just don't…"
"I understand. I understand. I just wanted you to know that it's all been taken care of."
"Yeah, until they send someone to find out what happened to him." You say.

Johnny now steps in a bit closer.

"Well, they haven't yet and I doubt if they're going to right now. You've been asleep for most of the day and you're probably not aware, but there's been some problems going on around the neighborhood I guess. In fact I actually went upstairs to check from one of the windows to get a better view and I saw them shoot a couple people a few houses down. Well I assume they were still people on some level, but they certainly weren't acting right. Like they were rabid or something. One got killed by multiple chest shots though so I think we can at least assume they aren't the living dead."
"Hrm. Peter mentioned something like that happening in my neighborhood. He thinks it's a disease or biological weapon."
"Well he might be right on that somewhat. Seems like the Guardsmen would be equipped with gasmasks or something if it was something like though. I dunno. Anyway, as I was saying for all they know they might think that Zoll guy and his soldier buddy got bushwacked by one of those things yesterday. Besides, he went to several houses, it's not like they're automatically going to know it was us."

Johnny's attempts at making you feel better don't really work, since it just replaces one concern of getting executed by the military for murder for another concern of getting possibly infected by whatever disease is turning people into "zombies."

Still, he's the only one trying and actually here for you, and that's the sad part.

"Johnny, is that a uniform you're wearing?" you say noticing he's changed his clothes.
"Yeah. They're from that poor soldier that broke his neck on the stairs. I know it's a bit ghoulish, but my own clothes were shall I say, very… soiled after taking care of that business. Fortunately, the uniform seems to be a perfect fit. I was also thinking maybe it could also be a disguise in case we need to get the hell out of here." Johnny remarks.
"Hm, could work, but I don't have a uniform." You say.
"I could always say you're a prisoner or survivor I found. In any case it might be..."

Before Johnny can finish, he's interrupted by the breaking of glass coming from the kitchen followed by snarling and grunting.

"Shit!" Johnny exclaims and runs out of your room. You're not quite as eager to run towards the sound of danger, at least not until you grab the pistol out of the desk first.

You haven't gotten a few steps out of your room and you hear the sounds of a multiple shots being fired, followed by more glass breaking and an awful sound of anguish.

You enter the kitchen and see Johnny standing there with an assault rifle pointed at the bullet hole ridden back door. Must be the same rifle the soldier had. He turns around.

"It was one of those things. More of them must be wandering this way… where did that pistol come from?" Johnny asks.
"It was in a desk. So you think more of those things are coming?"
"I don't really know, just a hunch, but the gunfire outside doesn't sound like it's letting up. We could easily barricade ourselves in here, but who knows how long this thing is going to last."
"Do you think we could make it out of here ?"
"I believe we could, but it does sound like a warzone out there right now."
"Well I hope my sister has another set of car keys because that's the only vehicle out there right now." You say.
"Hmm, well even if we did, I'm fairly certain as soon as we drove out in it, we'd be getting fired upon on. Even if we made it, there's going to be more military areas to drive through. Nevermind the fact that your sister's car isn't exactly sturdy looking enough to survive such an attack, there is also always the possibility of a bunch of those things gathering together to overturn the vehicle."
"So are you saying we should go by foot?" you ask.
"Heh, if it were just me, I might do that, but since your safety is a priority to me, I feel like we'd have a better chance however if I stole one of those military jeeps I've seen patrolling around." Johnny replies.
"Are you nuts? How the hell are we supposed to get one of those?"
"Not we, me. I believe I could steal one. I have to admit I'm a little tired though. Still haven't had a lot of sleeps, especially with… well you know. If I could just catch a little rest, I'd probably be able to do it better under the cover of the night."

The fact that Johnny seems so sure that he can just steal a military vehicle is a little scary. Did he also serve in the military or something? He's never said. Come to think of it, he's still never revealed too much about himself. In any case that isn't quite your primary concern right now.

"Well if you really believe you can steal a jeep, I guess that's our best shot." You say.
"Well we still should pack some bags with useful supplies first. I'll get some things from the basement since I'm pretty sure I saw quite few things down there. You can check this floor and check the upstairs."

Johnny heads back into the basement and you check upstairs first. You search Donna's room and you do find some keys. You're fairly sure that they are probably a spare set to Donna's car. After grabbing the practical pharmacy from the bathroom (Julie and Donna sure didn't reserve their drugs to just the illegal kind) you return to your own room and start repacking some of your clothes and some other personal items. A quick trip to the kitchen finds you a few bags of snacks and batteries. (And you looking over your shoulder constantly thinking that something is going to try to break in through the backdoor again)

Johnny eventually comes up from the basement with an old looking bag of stuff. He's looking really tired now.

"Johnny are you going to be okay to do this? I mean I just found Donna's car keys. We could leave in that and I'd drive." you ask.
"No, our best chance is the jeep. We'll be riddled with bullets in that car. I'll be fine. Just need a few hours of shuteye. After that, I'll be ready to go. I guess I'll sleep on the sofa in the living room." Johnny says while walking off towards the living room with the bag and rifle.

"Well I suppose we should wait before leaving anyway, I'd rather have you alert while we're on the road. Hold on a moment you look a little wobbly." You say and help him the rest of the way, which isn't far of course, but you feel like it's a nice gesture. Johnny certainly thinks so…but then he tends to think everything you do is wonderful.

"Shit, I'm so tired. Even that gunfire going on isn't going to keep me awake." Johnny says, flopping down on the couch.
"Well, I'll be awake, so even if something unexpected happens and you're still snoozing, I can wake you up."
"Thank you." Johnny says looking up at you. He almost reaches his hand out to touch your face, but quickly stops himself. "I'm sorry that you had to call me your boyfriend yesterday."
"What?" You ask.
"Yesterday, when you tried to lie to Mr. Zoll. You said I was your boyfriend. I know you were just saying that." Johnny says as he starts to close his eyes.
"You don't worry about that right now. Just rest like you should have been able to yesterday."
"Okay…God…you're so perfect. You're so much better than me. I've done a lot of bad things Suzy."
"I think after yesterday we've both done a lot of bad things." You reply.
"No…I've…" Johnny starts to say, but then he trails off.

Leaving Johnny to sleep, you stay in the living room if only because you're a bit nervous to be by yourself right now. You turn the TV on and keep it on low, but as usual nothing of importance is on save for Ground Zero infomercials.

Lacking anything better to do (Other than being on edge a bit) you start to contemplate that if Johnny is successful WHERE you should go. You don't really have any good ideas either. You've never been anywhere in your life, so why would you have any ideas on where to go now? And given how fucked up everything is right now, where would it even be safe to go?

No, the only place you've ever felt safe and at home is your basement. How you wish you could return. Then as you watch the GZ salesman obnoxiously go on about their product, it hits you… why shouldn't you return?

It's a pleasant thought, but who knows if Peter already found the hidden entrance to the shelter yet. He might very well be already be enjoying the shelter with his boyfriend or whoever he's got over there. You're fairly certain if that's the case, he isn't going to let you in to share it. That was clear when you spoke to him on the phone.

So where does that leave you? Leaving town to parts unknown? If that's the case, you imagine you'll have to leave that in Johnny's hands since he's mentioned he's drifted from place to place and probably knows more about possible locations to go to in an emergency than you do.

On top of all this, you still aren't quite sure what to do with Johnny. He's definitely gone a long way in trying to prove himself to you. He has possibly saved your life and is obviously willing to risk his for you. The only other person who has done that was Bobby. In some ways Johnny sort of reminds you of Bobby…and that's also another reason why you continue to be leery of him.

Other than his stalker behavior since you've met him, you've already come to the conclusion that Johnny probably has some sort of shady history. When you saw him finishing off Mr. Zoll…well it wasn't exactly a normal reaction. He didn't just react out of a panic like you did when you pushed Zoll down the stairs, Johnny got frothing mad. An anger you've never seen him display so outwardly before.

Between that and his mumblings of "doing bad things" and you're inclined to believe that whatever his past might be, that Johnny HAS killed before.

And probably the more fucked up thing is that it doesn't exactly bother you, or rather it doesn't bother you like it should a normal person. Bobby used to kill people on a regular basis and while it took a little time for you to build complete trust in him, you did it and you had a relationship out of it. (And the funniest thing is that it didn't even end in bloodshed)

The question is, do you want to possibly put yourself through it all again? The unstable nature? The paranoia of wondering is he ever going to hurt you? Even the "normal" part of wondering if you're just going to just eventually break up is a concern for you. Part of you still is upset about Bobby after all.

You must have a thing for murderers at this point, because it's the only explanation to why you're contemplating all this. Maybe that whole incident with your Uncle Ed fucked you up even more than you realized.

You do have Donna's car keys. You could just leave now while Johnny sleeps.

[User] You leave Johnny

[Assistant]
You can't stay with Johnny, he's obviously unstable no matter how nice he is to you. You're not going through it again.

Plus you're also worried about staying here any longer than you have to since you're still paranoid that the National Guard will be sending someone here to search for their missing in action comrades.

You go back to your room and grab your bags. You start to make your way towards the living room, but then you think that perhaps maybe going out the back door would be better since you don't have to sneak past Johnny to do so.

The back door is still a wreck from today's earlier attack. When you open it up you finally see the thing that was trying to get in. Looks human enough minus the bullet holes and the slightly feral facial features. You just hope there aren't anymore currently lurking about though the nearby gunfire isn't encouraging.

You make your way through the backyard and then go around the house and finally reach Donna's car. You quickly load your bags in, worrying the whole time you're going to get attacked by one of those things or Johnny suddenly waking up and running out the front door. You get the impression he's not going to be happy to find you gone when he wakes up.

You get in the car and you actually manage to swing the car out into the street before you hear shouting and then fired upon. Despite the sounds of glass shattering behind you. You keep it together and just drive hoping that there aren't too many of the guard in front of you.

It's a false hope as you do indeed bump into more than a couple patrols with itchy trigger fingers. Some you try to avoid by going down other streets. Others are actually busy fighting off others. How you aren't hit by any that do shoot at you is something of a minor miracle, but the car certainly doesn't come through unscathed since by the time you manage to make out of Julie's neighborhood, it's making rattling sounds.

You continue to drive and try to keep off the main streets though with your car now making several clattering sounds you're not exactly keeping a low profile.

"Just gotta make it home. I'll be safe there." You mumble to yourself.

Your drive there isn't quite as eventful as your escape from Julie's house, but it isn't without peril. The National Guard isn't quite as in control in your part of the town and there are far more of the rabid roaming around either chasing down normal people or attempting to break into houses. Most of them don't attempt to attack you, or if they do, you just continue driving fast enough that they don't get the chance.

By the time you get to your own house, your neighborhood is eerily quiet. There are definitely signs of past conflict all over the place, but there is nobody on the streets and most homes are not lit either. (Though you do see broken doors and windows on a lot of them) Fortunately your own house doesn't look damaged (At least not from the front)

You half expect to get swarmed by crazies as soon as you park in front of your house, but you manage to get in the house with your bags.

"PETER?! Are you here?!" you call out when you get in the door and dump your bags on the floor. There is no answer, but then again maybe he's already found the shelter.

The first thing you do is search the ground floor. Amazingly it doesn't look like your house has been attacked at all. Even looking out into the backyard things look fairly untouched.

Then you search the connected garage and that's when you make an unexpected discovery.

You find Peter and another unknown man both not quite entirely dressed, but that isn't the disturbing part. The fact that they're both dead is the disturbing part.

The garage itself is a bit of a mess, like there was definitely a struggle, and your brother's body and the body of who you presume is his lover or client both show signs of blunt trauma. Looks like their necks were both broken to ultimately kill them though.

You aren't sure what to think. You feel like you should be more upset than you are, but given what an asshole he was towards you earlier and what you've already had to experience, you're not having feelings of sorrow. You're actually more concerned with how this happened. There isn't anyone else here to your knowledge and if it had been one of those things, the bodies would probably have bite marks. You suppose it could've been regular bandits or robbers, but you'd expect gunshot or even knife wounds and neither have that.

Also if it was bandits that killed them, you wonder why they wouldn't take Peter's car since his keys are still sitting on a dresser nearby. Whether Peter was planning on leaving himself or still looking for Ben's hidden shelter (And if he found it or not) you'll never know you suppose.

Feeling the fear of potential intruders in the house, you pull your pistol out and begin to search the rest of the house.

You head upstairs and cautiously search with your pistol drawn. Much like the downstairs though, you find that there isn't anyone lurking up here. You even manage to find the courage to peek your head into Kelly's room, but given how messy her usually room is, you don't know if she's ever returned here. You get the idea to call her up, but predictably there isn't any answer. Who knows what's happened to her.

Finally you end your search of the house by heading to the place where you started from, the basement. Again, not much looks different and fortunately there isn't anyone down here either. Your own room is about the same as you left it. You shake your head that the though of all the bullshit you went through this week, only to end up back here. Makes you wonder why you bothered.

After a bit more perusal of your room, you head back upstairs to secure the ground floor as much as possible. You put chairs in front of the front and back doors. (As well as the one leading to the garage)

You also move a bookcase in front of some of the windows. It's not the most fun thing to do and you bump and bang knees and elbows in the process, but it's secure enough that you're confident that if someone does try to get it, they'll make such a loud noise in the process that you'll at least wake up first.

As it starts to get darker, you decide to take your belongings to your old room in the basement where you figure you can turn on the lights without fear of someone potentially seeing them from the outside.

As you get resettled into your old room, you start to feel safer already. It's odd that you should feel that way, but then this has always been your sanctuary. You do briefly worry about Johnny and if he's going to try to track you down.

Well if he does show up, you'll be ready for him. You aren't completely defenseless after all. Besides, he'll have to get through the military and those things never mind the fact that he doesn't know where you live in the first place. (At least you don't think he does)

Despite that, you're going to try to remain positive. You make a plan to search for the shelter entrance in the backyard tomorrow and you figure if all else fails you can always take Peter's car and try to make it out of town.

For now though, you're going to enjoy a good night's sleep in the safety of your own room.

[User] Next day...

[Assistant]
FRIDAY

"Wakey wakey sis." You hear a voice say.

You slowly open your eyes and at first see what looks to be a man standing in front of you holding a shotgun. Your first instinct is that it's Johnny, but then after the blur of your eyes clears a bit, you see that it's your sister Kelly.

Looks like she's still hostile to you as well considering she's pointing a shotgun at you. You don't know why, but then has she ever needed a reason?

You look at your pistol on the floor near the couch you're sleeping on and Kelly just shakes her head.

"I guarantee you wouldn't make it sis. I suggest you don't even try…heh I doubt you'd have the balls to go through with it anyway. I have to admit when I came up here to get something from my room, I didn't expect to glance over this way and see you sleeping here."

Up? Where the hell would she come "up" from? You're in the basement now. Kelly's blocking your doorway, but you think you can make out a glowing light source coming from the basement floor beyond. And then it hits you.

"…he moved the fucking shelter entrance in the house? And it's been right near my goddamn room all this time?" you ask.
"Hey hey! It's about time you used that blonde head of yours other than taking up space!" Kelly mocks.

Well you know where the entrance is, but unfortunately you've got bigger issues now. Kelly pointing a shotgun at you is concerning to be sure and makes you think back to what you saw in the garage. Peter and the other man's body. Their bodies were beaten and their necks were broken. Kelly certainly has the strength and the skill to do such a thing. Kelly's always been hostile to you and barely civil to your other sibling, but to actually kill one…

"When did you find out? When you killed Peter?"
"Pfft. I've always known. Crazy old Ben thought he was being so sneaky moving the goddamn entrance around all the time, but I knew where the fuck it was nearly every time. He had just moved the entrance again a few days before he blew away his family and himself. I'm just surprised YOU never accidently found it given that you lived practically right near the fucking thing for years. If the entrance was any closer you would've been sleeping in the damn thing."

Kelly continues to address you while briefly looking over her shoulder.

"As for Peter, that little faggot managed to find out where it was and thought he was going to hide out from the current shitstorm in it with his boyfriend or whoever that other faggot he was with. Had to convince him that he had to go, he didn't listen and tried to resist and well you saw how that turned out."

Kelly briefly shifts a bit in your doorway, but still holding the shotgun firmly on you of course.

"So where's that little whore Donna? Heard you moved in with her. She come with you? Julie maybe? Both? How the fuck did any of you survive the week?" Kelly asks.
"I'm here by myself Kelly. I have no idea what happened to Donna, or Julie for that matter. I…I think they're probably dead." You say.
"Mmm, well you'll soon be joining them." Kelly remarks and raises the shotgun as if she's trying to get a more precise aim.

Terror wells up inside you.

"Wait! Can't you let me go? I mean I'll take Peter's car and leave! You'll never have to see me again! I mean you can't have mercy on me just this once?" you exclaim and tears forming in your eyes.

Kelly smiles sadistically and laughs.

"God, you really are as stupid as you are pathetic. You know that? If I let you leave, do you really think you could survive out there with no supplies? How long would you be able to last without resorting to trading your own ass for safety? Not long I'd wager and that's assuming you don't just get raped and killed first or ripped apart by those freaks. I'm doing you a favor sis." Kelly remarks.

You start to cry as you realize that this is it. You're going to die.

"Oh for fuck's sake, will you stop crying and be fucking brave for once in your life? (Sigh) Fine, you want me to show you mercy? Here." Kelly leans her shotgun against the wall nearby.

At first you think she's going to spare your life, but you soon learn it's just another sick game.

"Okay sis, despite my undying hatred for you, I'm going to give you ONE chance just because out of all our siblings, I still think you were the one with the most potential. It's just too bad you wasted it. So, here's your second chance. Try to grab your pistol before I can grab my shotgun."
"But…(sniff) you're right next to your shotgun, you can grab it a lot easier than I can grab the pistol. You'll kill me before I even can reach it." You say.
"So what have you got to lose? You're going to die anyway, so try to stop me."

You don't say anything. You just quietly weep a bit at your situation. You thought you were safe, but how wrong you were. You really wish Johnny was here, but there's not going to be a rescue this time.

"Goddamn it Suzy, if you don't make a move, I'm gonna just…shit!"

You react while Kelly is in the middle of her sentence. You scramble for the weapon and you actually manage to touch it and then a loud blast is the last thing you hear.


[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] Continue

[Assistant]
"Life is pain, death is Oblivion, the only choice left to you by the will of the Dark Gods is how much you can endure. I grant peace. Embrace me."

The words ring in your ears as the darkness calls out to you. All you can do is focus ahead, waiting for dawn and a chance to wake up.

You sit cross-legged on the rocky obsidian floor, patiently waiting. You try your hardest to block out the world around you, focusing on your deep, heavy breathing. Giving the nightmares and daemons attention just encourages them. Showing fear is spilling blood in the water. Although the nightmarish pale sky grows darker with every second as black tendrils thousands of miles wide spread out across the sky hundreds of miles above, blocking out what little comfort you receive from the white sun, you don't feel fear. This is just one of the many nightmares that plague you every night. You'll live.

The darkness begins to solidly into a wave, smashing towards you. You're surrounded by the liquid darkness, which drowns out anything even close to light as it consumes you.

"The ever-gaping maw of the void calls," the darkness whispers. "I'm coming from you."

[User] You light emerges

[Assistant]
You writhe tossing the sheets off you as you lie in bed, panting. Another nightmare. Another night of horrors, terrors and daemonic voices screaming at your soul. You take a deep breath. Focus. In. Out. In. Out. You rest your head against the pillow, sighing.

Suddenly, Fay appears in the doorway, wearing combat armor, scratching at her short hair.

"Morning," she says.

[User] You say "Morning, Fay. Well, last night was fun."

[Assistant]
"Yeah, it was," Fay smiles. "Are you sure you're OK?"

"Perfect," you say, climbing out of bed and tossing the sheets off your naked frame, as Fay wolf whistles.

"Go fuck yourself," you say, walking into the bathroom.

"If I could do that, I wouldn't keep you around," Fay replies with a chuckle, as you walk into the bathroom.

You stand, and quickly walk to the bathroom. You stare at your reflection in the bathroom mirror, taking a deep breath as the voices start.

"Aren't you curious? Does Fay really love you? Or is she using you?"

"You're a Psyker. A nice steak, the embrace of a lover, the joys of the material world is nothing compared to what I can offer you."

"Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth to dust. The same will happen to you. Embrace the rot and decay that comes with life."

"Kill! Maim! Burn! Kill! Maim! Burn! Kill! Maim! Burn!"

You're gaining a certain level of familiarity with the daemons in your head. Now that Meliodas has vanished, more has come to fill your head. You've began naming them, one of the few ways you think you'll remain sane with them. Question Mark constantly tempts you with knowledge. Fucky tempts you with fantastic pleasures beyond compare. Rotgut is the embodiment of laziness, and makes you want to lie in bed in your own filth, and Smiley is just fucking bonkers.

Tzeentch's Keys, you miss Meliodas.

You quickly get dressed, before calling Fay. She opens the door, strolling inside.

"Hey, Karth," she smiles.

"Is she planning on betraying you? Is she loyal? You don't know... but I do," Question Mark says.

"Slit her throat, rape the stab wound and feel the blood run down your arm as you devour her throat! Feel pure blissful sensation!" Fucky whispers.

"Embrace your pestilence. You are filth. You are decay. But that is OK. You are still loved," Rotgut says.

"BURN! MAIM! KILL!" Smiley screams.

Fay raises an eyebrow, rapping her knuckles against your head.

"Hello, anyone in there?" she asks.

"More than you know," you reply.

"Meliodas back?"

"New guys. At least there's some variety."

"Are they saying anything about me?" Fay smiles.

"Cunt! Take her fucking head!" Smiley screams.

"I think they like you," you reply, as Fay laughs.

"You sure you're OK?"

"Tip top," you reply.

The barrage of voices screams answers in your head, as you take a deep breath. Fay kisses the top of your head, looking at you.

"Karth, come on, come back to me," she says.

"I'm fine," you reply, as Fay gives you a concerned look.

"If you're sure," she asks nervously. "Come on, we need to get to the war room for the morning meeting."

[User] You head to the war room

[Assistant]
After a five minute walk, you arrive at the war room. The others are already there. Captain Hayes smokes in the corner, Primus appears as the upper half of a robotic body that only exists for something to focus on when talking, seeing as he literally is the ship, Durge sits in his seat, gently feeding pieces of meat impaled by his spike-arms to the rats infesting his stomach, Elios is involved in some heavy petting with one of his guards, Elizabeth reads, Castus and Fay are bickering and Cain sits in his chair, patiently waiting.

"Morning, gents," you say, sliding into your seat. "We need to get around to sorting out control of the ship now that Kyros is dead. We don't have time to celebrate."

"We have an issue," Primus says.

"What?"

"Drake Amadeus. His guards aren't replying, so I sealed off the bridge. We need to go investigate."

"Who was on guard duty?" Elizabeth asks, curiously.

"Padfoot and Prongs," you reply.

"They're hard men. They wouldn't not respond," Fay says.

"Isn't there cameras on the bridge?" Hayes asks.

"They're offline. Most likely from sabotage. Possibly from a malfunction," Primus says.

"Let's go investigate, then," you say.

"Let's do it," Fay nods in return.

[User] You find Drake

[Assistant]
You find yourself standing by the sealed door to the bridge. You wait patiently, your hands writhed in purple flames, while Fay raises her bolter.

"Ready?" Primus asks.

"Do it," you say, as the doors open.

You quickly move inside and see the situation. Padfoot lies on the ground, a shiv made from a shard of ceramite impaled in his neck. Prongs sits in the corner, his bolter in his hands. Both his eyes have been stabbed out repeatedly.

"Holy shit," you say.

Prongs immediately aims his bolter at you as he lets out a shout. You telekinetically tear the bolter from his hands, tossing it aside.

"Shit! Karth?" he asks, terrified as Fay runs over and grabs him.

"Shit, Prongs! Are you OK?"

"I'm alive. Check on Padfoot!"

You quickly float over to Padfoot, but he's long dead.

"He's gone," you say.

"Fuck. Bastard took my eyes! He's still here! You need to find him!"

"We'll get you bionic eyes, Prongs, I promise," Fay says. "That's something that can be done?"

You nod, scanning the room for Drake. You move forward slowly, passing the Navigator's chair. You see Drake sitting off in the corner, a cigarette in his mouth he looks at you, nodding.

"Hey," he says nonchalantly. "How's your tribal whore? Has she grew any tits yet?"

You quickly levitate over, grabbing him by the throat and lifting him into the air.

"You son of a bitch! You killed my men!"

"I thought I had a chance at escape," Drake shrugs. "You shut this section off before I could."

You let the fire run along your hands, tickling his throats, as he yelps.

"Hey! You can't kill me, dumbass! We've been through this! You kill me, you're fucked. You torture me, I'll just kill you and me next time I'm navigating rather than endure a life of torture!"

You punch him, knocking his head against the wall, before letting him drop to the ground. Tribals enter behind you, grabbing him and binding his hands.

"Repair the cameras. Increase security for him," you sigh to one of the Tribals.

"Yes, sir," she replies.

"You know, you could add a bunch of security features, but I'd find a way around it. You want me to stop trying to escape, all I ask is a few more luxuries. Access to alcohol, drugs and smokes, access to one or two... comfort ladies," Drake smiles, despite the blood dripping down from his broken nose.

[User] You improve Drake's security

[Assistant]
With the addition of magna-locks, a tighter schedule, more guards, a more advanced camera system for the bridge with multiple back-ups and fail safes, Drake is more secure. He's unhappy about it, and promises to slit your throat, but hell, what the fuck is he going to do? Try escape again? A dozen Tribals, pissed off about what Drake did to two of their men, have scared Amadeus into submission.

By the time you sort out Drake's security measures, which involves dealing with Drake for far longer than any man deserves, you move on to doing all the inane, normal tasks that you now need to deal with like deciding rations, sending out crews to clean up the ship, assigning guards and all the other things expected of you. Unlike Fay, Cain, Castus, Elios, Durge and Captain Hayes, all of whom absolutely despise their new workloads, with Castus even suggesting a new system of anarchy where the only rule is anyone found filing something is to be shot, you actually like it. Olive, Primus, Elizabeth and you all find a certain level of peace in it. The mental challenges and problem-solving you have to deal with has a certain calming element on your mind. By the time it's finished, it's fairly late. There's a night and day cycles on this ship, with the lights brightening and dimming to have a twenty four hour cycle, which stretches a bit long for you compared to home, but with a mid-day nap is manageable. You wonder what world the ship's cycle aligns to. Perhaps whatever world Kyros came from.

Fay opens the door, walking inside.

"Karth, it's dinner time," she says. "Better hurry up. We want to eat early so we have the evening to discuss the important issues."

[User] You go eat

[Assistant]
The meal is prepared by a mix of slaves, mutants with culinary abilities and the intelligence to follow orders, talented cooks taken from the soldiers aboard the vessel and a given few actual chefs hired for the role. Given that fact, the food's not too bad. Grox ribs in some spicy sauce, some wild vegetable taken from some alien world, with a large brown stalk that's boiled, sliced up and eaten, these gigantic nuts that are smashed open and eaten, some canned "Cheese" that tastes like… well, it doesn't taste like cheese, to say the least. All this is paired with either wine or harder liquors, with you taking the former. Fay downs a bottle of fruity alcohol that could kill a weaker man. By the time you're finished, everyone's stuffed and most are atable little tipsy. You make the natural move from the dining room to the war room, and soon find yourself ready to debate the future of the ship.

"So, what do we have first on the planner, Primus?"

"War! We go to war! KILL! KILL! KILL! OBLITERATE!" Smiley screams.

"There's a certain appeal to the life of a raider, isn't there? Feel the joys and pleasures of the depraved…" Fucky suggests.

"Little one, I am more than happy to help. I have a plan to perform a ritual that will give you access…" Question Mark begins suggesting.

"Lay down your defenses, let the corruption and decay set in," Rotgut says.

You take a deep breath, trying not to let the fact that your head is filled with voices that quickly delve into an argument show.

"We have several important issues," Primus mechanical tone says. "First, we need to find a suitable replacement for the ship's Tech Priests who once operated it. That should be our number one priority. Then, we need to take care of Kyros' former allies."

"Allies?" you ask.

"While much of Kyros' forces, all who directly answered to him, at least, were aboard this vessel, he had amassed a larger force in which he hoped to invade the Imperium. He had made pacts with several forces. These allies could attempt to wipe us out in diligence to their old ally. Fortunately, we expect it'll be some time before they muster up a force to attack us, if ever."

"What else?"

"We have a large amount of reports," Primus says.

A former-slave worker walks inside, holding a big stack of files that he dumps on the table. Typed documents are alongside large reports written in beautiful writing alongside hastily scrawled notes. The stack holds everything from troop psych reports to statistics about your flight wing to estimates about your wealth in various alien currencies.

"What the fuck is that?" Fay asks.

"These are the files and reports on our current situation. Thankfully, these have been simplified to the extreme to something that you all can actually comprehend. There's three big, circled figures, labeled Strength, Morale and Funds. See them?"

You look at the top of the files, nodding as you see the numbers.

"The Strength figure refers to the military strength of your forces, in a percentage. 100 means that you're the exact strength of Kyros' fleet during the times just before the mutiny, 50 would mean half strength of it, 200 would be twice the strength. The Morale figure is the general morale of the forces under your command, with 100 being incredibly happy crew to the point of being unbearable, and 0 being a crew that's only refraining from slitting your throat out of fear. The Funds figure is the amount of funding you have in your control, with every unit representing a million Thrones."

"Understood," you say.

[User] You continue

[Assistant]
"Well then, now that we have that done, we need to decide what is to become of the ship," Durge says.

"Seeing as the ship is now conscious, it would rather you not decide what becomes of it," Primus says out of the speakers.

"Does someone want to explain why the fuck we have an AI running the ship?" Castus says.

"I've explained it to you," Primus says.

"Yeah, well fuck it," Castus says. "I'm still confused why you're in charge."

"Primus, what exactly do you want to become of you?" you ask curiously.

"Honestly? I don't mind. As long as I'm put to use. Fifteen thousand years had played havoc on my memories. I know longer remember any of my justifications or motives other than a need for freedom. Now that I'm free, I'm more than happy to help all of you. But, I want it known that I am free, and my opinion matters."

"Of course," you say. "Now, it seems we have a divide here. Chaos, Guardsmen and Slaves."

"So it seems," Elios says.

"What is it everyone here wants?" you ask.

The Staine siblings quickly begin discussing this quietly.

"We do plan on continuing as a Chaos War-band," Durge says.

"Most of my men want to continue our lives as soldiers, but honestly? I'm no thinker. I'm no planner. I'm a killer. We stay with the ship, let you two factions fight it out," Captain Hayes says. "I imagine I'll form a similar relationship with the new captain of this vessel as I did with Kyros, if with more generous terms for me and my men."

"Are the "slaves" unified in their goal?" Elizabeth asks.

You look to your allies. Cain shrugs, looking towards you.

"I like Hayes' approach to life. Karth is the commander," Cain says.

"I trust Karth to speak for my people's interest," Fay says.

Olive stares at you while Castus continues playing with his knife.

"Yeah, let's roll the dice. I think Karth should have the ability to speak for me... up until he says something stupid," Olive says.

"Well, we're the three Chaos leaders," Elios says. "So..."

"Chaos leader?" a deep, dark, gurgling voice says. "What a note to make my entrance on."

You turn quickly, to see Kyros standing there, smiling. His face is clawed and cut apart with an eye missing, his arm is now a bloody tentacle of muscles studded with bone, his other arm now sporting a huge bone claw, his body torn apart. Most of his throat is missing, a bloody crevasse where it once was. He looks like he's been chewed apart and spat back out, before being mutated.

"Hello, Karth, my little protégé," he says.

[User] You attack

[Assistant]
You fire a bolt of energy, but Kyros sidesteps it with unnatural speed. By now, all the various leaders are standing, their weapons raised.

"How did you pass my sensors?" Primus asks.

"Please," Kyros laughs. "Did you not think my powers are strong enough to do so?"

"How the fuck are you even alive, Kyros?" you ask.

"Kyros? Ha! Kyros was a petty fool. Don't you recognize me, Karth?"

You shake your head, still ready to engulf him in flames.

"No? You don't remember my little voice in the back of your mind? I am Meliodas," Kyros says, taking a bow.

"What?" you ask.

"Oh, it was simple. I've wanted to take a form in this world for some time. I helped you, paying close attention, seeing potential, and assisted you as best I could. Fortunately, as you fought Kyros, I saw his mental defenses weaken during the fight between you and him. As he lay dying, the mutants at his throat, he was broken. I easily possessed his form, devoured his soul, and killed those stupid mutants with my daemonic powers."

"You're a daemon?" Elios asks.

"Damn right," Kyros, or Meliodas, says.

You take some time to explain who Meliodas is to your other lieutenants, but soon they understand. After some extensive questioning and psychic testing to ensure that this is in fact Meliodas, he takes a seat at the table.

"What are you doing?" you ask.

"Well, I helped advise Karth. I'm one of his best advisors. Surely I deserve a place here?" Meliodas says.

"I suppose," you say.

"Give him a seat. Us Chaos followers could use an extra vote for our side," Durge says. "Now, can we continue?"

"Don't hold off on my account," Meliodas grins.

"Alright, let's be realistic, shall we?" Elios says. "We're Chaos. We worship the Dark Gods, corrupt, parlay with demons, all that shit. We're not changing. We also know that we've lost a shit-ton more men because of little sis' rage against us, so if this comes down to a civil war, we're all dead and you win."

"Go on," you say.

"So, we have two options. Option One: You keep control of the ship," Durge says. "We'll serve under you as long as we see fit, but we most likely don't leave, and we decide our path forward as a group."

"Option two: you abandon the ship to us," Durge says. "We find you a world of your choosing, a little paradise world far from the reaches of the Imperium or any other enemies. It'll be our gift to you. You can pick out the world, we'll transport any who want to go there to it as well as all you'll need to survive and build a large, happy community. You'll be able to peacefully retire and live out the rest of your lives, never worrying about this ship or the battles it will fight."

"One moment," you say, pulling your lieutenants together. "So... What do we think?"

"Eh," Cain grunts.

"We're not going to abandon this ship, are we?" Olive asks.

"This is a massive war machine. We should stay.

"I'm not adverse to settling down," Fay says. "But we could take the ship anyway. With control of the ship, we could carve ourselves a little empire. Nothing on the level of Kyros' aspirations, but hey, better than our ancestors could ever have dreamed of."

[User] You keep control of the ship

[Assistant]
"We'll stay," you say, as Durge nods.

"Well... this'll be interesting," Meliodas grins, twisting Meliodas' daemonic face.

"Alright," Elios grunts. "What's next on the agenda?"

"The ship," Primus says. "Or me, for lack of a better word. I have gotten it running to a degree and it's capable of travel, there's no way it will be able to hold up in a fight or operate long-term."

"How do we fix it?" you ask.

"The death of the Tech-Priests has left us lacking men specialized to repair the ship. I've found three groups that could hypothetically fulfill that role, as well as two other solutions."

"Go on," you reply.

"There is the Rutherford-Dalton-Boyle Think Tank, a faction hidden away in several space stations, researching and creating in the gas giant of Ingenium-IV. A good negotiator should be able to convince at least some of them to leave their stations to come aboard the Roar of the Vortex to continue their research aboard our vessel as well as having access to huge archives of intelligence here, being able to research the ship and maintaining that the technology isn't lost."

"Who else?" you ask,

"The Iron Smiths of Daeranthium. Daeranthium is a planet that contains several ancient factories and forges, with massive amounts of resources such as huge, ancient mines. The planet, while tribal in culture, are advanced enough to produce weapons, vehicles, armor and more for the Imperium. We could attempt to negotiate with them to take some of their men aboard to fulfill the role of engineers."

"And the final group?"

"The Dark Mechanicus is Chaos' version of the Adeptus Mechanicus, whether it be those from the Adeptus Mechanicus who went rogue and were corrupted by Chaos, or those recruited by them. Their work requires manpower that they don't have. I've found reports of a Dark Mechanicus group known as the Harbringers of Menedez. They've already made a reputation for selling slaves trained with skills such as the ones we desire. For five million Thrones, we could have them soon to fulfill the required role."

"You said you have two other options. What are they?"

"Option one involves the funding an education program to educate the mutant workers. For ten million Thrones, we could educate the mutant population. They wouldn't be as experienced as other options, but quantity has a whole quality all it's own."

"And...?" you say before Primus interrupts you. The

"Option two is more cruel. We have the technology and cybernetics taken from the dead Techpriests and Servitors. If you were willing to lobotomize a few of the mutant workers we have, the least intelligent and productive, to create a new legion of servitors under my control. This would be cheap, effective and we could have it done in the night to avoid breaking night, framing it as accidents. So, which option shall it be?"

[User] You visit the Iron Smiths of Daeranthium

[Assistant]
You walk down the landing ramp, looking out at the large walls that surround the massive factory-city. Nude men wander around, covered in grease and holding large tools. Fay walks out of the landing, a shoulder-mounted camera and speaker on her to give Primus a place to speak and see.

"Well... I guess they're nude. What a lovely view, am I right, Karth?" Fay smirks.

"You grew up in a tribe of nudists," you remark.

"Yeah, but that was when I was little. Now that I'm post-pubescent, I can appreciate the view."

You flick your wrist, sending her tumbling to the ground.

"Asshole," she laughs, oping back to her feet.

A thick, burly, oil-covered man walks forward from the crowd of workers, a huge wrench in his hands.

"What?" he grunts.

"My name's Karth. I..."

You see a brawl emerge from the crowd to your left. Two massive workers begin to fight, their massive fists smashing into each other with an astonishing strength. They let out howling shouts as more men join into the fight. The leader strides forward with a growl, swinging his wrench and smashing a few men in the head, forcing them to crumple to the ground. Soon, the fight ends with a bunch of injured men lying on the ground.

"Sorry 'bout that," the leader says. "One of the boys thought Chef gave him too little meat. You know how men are. The name's O'Neill."

"You know why we're here?" you ask.

"You wanted to hire some of my men, huh? This Primus fella or whoever the fuck I talked to cleared it up with me," O'Neill asks. "I can get it done. We've been having a population explosion. But I want something in return."

"Go on?" you ask.

"My men are taken care of. Good medical treatment, free food, rooms and drink, and I mean men's drink, not milk and honey-shit, as well as payment for their work done. In exchange, I'll give you all the men you need. We gotta deal?"

[User] You agree

[Assistant]
"Yeah. We have a deal," you say.

"Good. I'll have the men told, see which ones want to go and lead them all to the vessel. Then, I'll have them informed on their new jobs. Done?"

"Done," you say, grasping his hand and shaking.

In the next few weeks, you learn that while the famed Iron Smiths of Daeranthium are good at their jobs, they have... issues. They're violent, aggressive drunks prone to picking fights with the more peaceful members of the crew. While these actions don't take away from their work, it does lead to serious morale issues emerging, although these can be dealt with. Still, the Iron Smiths do their jobs. That's all you really need.

[User] Next

[Assistant]
Now that you're finished working on repairing the ship and its back to full abilities, you have another issue. You restock at a nearby outlaw planet, trading much of Kyros' personal wealth in order to outfit and repair the ship, which is made simple with Primus' help. Ship operation seems actually fairly simple. As long as Amadeus is under your thumb and the military might is yours, you'll be fine. Most of the hard work required is done by Primus. With those two, you're golden.

One of the main issues, though, is the mutants. As your slaves have all been wiped out or had joined up with one of the war-bands, Kyros or your forces during the mutiny, mutants are now filling in most of the crew roles aboard this vessel. The thing is, they're getting antsy about their position, wanting more power and a say in the decisions of the vessel. Reports say that a mutant known as John the Hermit is leading the mutants, inciting dissent and rallying the masses of mutants.

Although the mutants are seen as an irrelevant issue by most, you know that's not the case. They're tough, with naturally mutated weapons, and there's massive numbers of them. If they're genuinely organized and inspired by this John the Hermit, they could easily take the ship when you're at low strength.

[User] You have John the Hermit assassinated

[Assistant]
You have an elite group of Tribals sent down into the catacombs of the ship with the objective of killing John the Hermit. Comm reports show that they're wiped out to the last man, but not before carving a bloody path through the mutant horde, ending with John the Hermit's death before they're finally overwhelmed. Unfortunately, John the Hermit goes down with a strength you've rarely seen among the best of men, let alone a wretched mutant. As John the Hermit was engulfed in fire by a flamer blast, his skin crackling, his flesh cooking and his bones melting, he gave one of the most impassioned speeches you've ever seen, urging the mutants to not give up and continue with the rebellion as planned.

With that, the mutants rise up. You're simply unprepared for the scale of this rebellion. John the Hermit must have been planning this for decades, behind Kyros' back. Stores of ammo and weapons, hidden in stockpiles in the parts of the ship that hadn't been searched in millennia, are unearthed, as many of the functions of the ship cease as the mutants stop working. While your forces have better training, better equipment, better everything, as it has been said before, quantity has a whole quality of its own. The endless mutant hordes, entirely willing to die for their cause, all willing to martyr themselves as John the Hermit did.

As you stand in the war-room, surrounded by an army of mutants, burning dozens as lightning runs along your fingertips and psychic blasts kill all who could hope to oppose you, the mutants begin to overwhelm you. As their tentacles, hands and claws bring you down, tearing you apart, you have a brief musing about how similar this is to Kyros' death.


[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]
You and Little Archie travel to Lexington where you rent rooms in a hotel and lie low for the rest of the year, spending your stolen money in bars, restaurants and with sporting ladies. One winter's night in December however Little Archie's notoriety leads to an arrest attempt. You and Archie are sitting in a saloon having a quiet drink when three blue-uniformed soldiers armed with rifles approach your table. "Gentlemen, you are both under arrest," one of the soldiers declares.

You and Archie glance at each other and then Archie springs to his feet, pulling a pistol from his pocket as he does so, and starts firing. The soldiers scatter, one firing back and hitting Archie in the side. You are on your feet, pistol in hand and follow Archie as he dashes across the room, hand clasped to his bleeding side, and the pair of you use the pandemonium of fleeing bar customers to escape out a side door into an alley. Several horses are tied up nearby and untying two you mount up. Archie turns and spurs his horse down the alley towards the main street while in the other direction you can see the alley opens up into a side street. You have a choice of directions.

[User] You set off by yourself up the alley towards the side street

[Assistant]
You turn your horse away from Little Archie's and spur it down the alley into the side street. The side street is clear of people so you gallop down it towards the edge of town: as you do you hear a volley of gun shots, a horse screaming and then an ominous silence. Riding to a small knoll overlooking the town you look down and your worst fears are realized: your companion is lying dead in the dust of main street surrounded by silent soldiers.

Anxious not to share your leader's fate you ride cross-country for twelve hours straight until you reach the safety of the Shepherd's Family Farm. George and Ol are shocked to hear of Little Archie's death and for all of 1867 you all lay low before a meeting is arranged and the gang re-convenes in the spring of 1868.

[User] Another Robbery

[Assistant]
It is a somber group that gathers at the James Farm in the spring of 1868: you, Frank, John, George, Ol and Cole are all saddened by your leader's death. Also present at the gathering is Frank's younger brother Jesse James, a garrulous Civil War veteran who was shot three times in the war including one occasion when he blew half his right index finger off while cleaning a loaded pistol. You are all unanimous that you should continue robbing banks and stealing Yankee money, as the oldest and most experienced of the group John Jarette takes charge.

"Missouri may be dangerous for us now," he says seriously. "We should cross the border into Kentucky, rob a bank in that Yankee state and then ride back here to hide out. I've been doing some investigating the bank in Russellville, Kentucky is wealthy. This should be our next target."

On the chosen day the seven of you ride into town. While the Shepherd brothers guard your horses you, Frank, Jesse, John and Cole all dismount and walk into the bank. There are three tellers inside and as you approach the front counter you all draw your pistols.

"This is a hold up," John barks. "Throw up your hands."

Instantly one of the tellers springs to his feet and starts running towards a side door. You aim your pistol at the fleeing man's head but pause, wondering whether or not you should pull the trigger.

[User] You shoot the fleeing man

[Assistant]
You fire a shot that grazes the teller's head and though the man stumbles he keeps running, makes it to the door, throws it open and dashes outside yelling "Robbery!" Moving quickly you and Frank ransack the vault, throwing all the money you can find into two haversacks while the others guard the tellers and rifle the counter. Shutting the remaining tellers inside the vault you all race outside. While you and your companions mount up the Shepherd brothers begin firing shots into the air to keep citizens off the street.

You have just pulled yourself onto your horse's back when a young man comes running out of a store across from you with a pistol in his hands. As you and your companions begin spurring your horses down the street he fires a shot at you all, which whizzes overhead to shatter a window in the back behind you.

"Get that bastard with the gun," someone shouts. You have your pistol in your hand and consider firing back.

[User] You fire back

[Assistant]
Raising your pistol you fire back: your shot hits the man on the side, spins him on the spot and he falls to the ground. Turning your horse you spur after your companions and moments later you are out of town and riding across the countryside. You ride hard until you are back across the border in Missouri and there you pause in a copse of trees to count the money you have stolen: you are all pleased to discover it comes to $12,000, which split seven ways makes your share $1,700, which has been added to your Score.

"We need to all split up now to make it harder for the Law to track us," John declares.

"Jesse and I will go back to our Farm and hide out there," Frank declares.

"I'll go with George and Ol back to their Farm to hide out," John decides.

"My brother John has just got a job at his friend Tom McDaniel's Farm near the town of Scyene down in Texas," Cole says thoughtfully. "I'll go down there for a bit to lie low."

You consider who to hide out with.

[User] You go with Frank and Jesse to the James Farm

[Assistant]
You join the James brothers at their farm where you live quietly for a few weeks until one morning Frank returns from town with a newspaper and a grim expression.

"Yankee lawmen killed John and Ol," he says tersely. "George is in prison charged with bank robbery."

You and Jesse crowd round to read how your three companions were identified as participants in the Russellville robbery and were tracked to their homes by lawmen. George later receives a three year prison sentence for his part in the robbery. Despite the loss of three of your companions Jesse is eager for the three of you to rob a bank and after a year and a half when you feel it is safe you make a plan to rob the little bank in the town of Gallatin, Missouri.

Riding into town one winter's morning you leave your horses tied up outside and walk inside to find a single teller talking to a customer. The teller looks oddly familiar to you and you can't figure out where you have seen him from until Jesse pulls you and Frank to one side.

"Isn't that Colonel Cox?" Jesse asks quietly. "That Yankee Colonel who killed Bill Anderson during the War? I heard he lived in Gallatin."

The three of you study the teller closely. You now remember Cox well from his picture in the newspapers, he led an ambush that killed several of your friends including your former leader Bloody Bill Anderson. The teller does indeed look exactly like him and Frank agrees quietly. "Let's kill him," he mutters. Approaching the bank counter the three of you draw your pistols from your pockets. The customer backs away and the teller looks up startled.

[User] You shoot him in the head

[Assistant] Your bullet hits the teller in the head, blasting a circle of red blood and gore onto the wall behind him. As the teller slumps dead in his chair Frank and Jesse fire more bullets into him. The customer screams "Murder!" and starts running past the three of you towards the door to the bank. "Shoot him," Jesse yells.

[User] You shoot the customer as well

[Assistant]
Your shot hits the man in the back of the right arm but he keeps on running and makes it through the door and out onto the street. "Quickly boys, get the money," you call out and moving quickly you, Frank and Jesse scoop up all the money you can find from the counter, which comes to several hundred dollars. Unwilling to spend time pillaging the vault you all run outside and begin mounting your horses but the alarm has already been raised a a few citizens are taking pot shots at you with pistols from teh shelter of a gun store.

When a bullet nicks it Jesse's horse rears up in terror, spilling it's rider to the ground before running off. "Get up behind me Jesse," Frank yells and while you fire your pistol at the gun store, trying to cover them, Jesse awkwardly scrambles up behind Frank. The three of you ride out of town on two horses, not stopping for several hours until you reach the safety of the James Farm. There you find you have escaped with less than $700, making your share a paltry $200. There is worse news to follow however.

The next morning Frank returns to the Farm with a paper. "It wasn't Colonel Cox who we killed in Gallatin," he declares. "It was some bank clerk called John Sheets. They know it was us as well, we've all been identified by name. We'd better clear out." Leaving the James Farm the three of you go traveling for a year to wait for the attention to die down before returning to Missouri in the summer of 1871 and arranging a meeting with Cole Younger at the home of your mutual friend Clell Miller. Despite the loss of John, George and Ol you are all determined to continue your robberies.

[User] A new Gang

[Assistant]
By the time you, Frank, Jesse and Cole meet in the summer of 1871 you have all been identified as bank robbers and probably killers or would-be killers. Frank, stern and silent sits thoughtfully to one side, fingering a bible lying in his lap. Jesse, grinning and cheerful sits next to him while Cole, balding but as tough as any man you know sits alone in the corner. You sit next to Clell Miller, a light-hearted friend of Jesse's who as a teenager served briefly as a Guerrilla during the War. You all chat over things and despite the deaths of Little Archie, John and Ol and George's retirement from crime following his release from prison the five of you resolve to form a new Gang and continue robbing Northern banks as revenge for their treatment of Southerners since the War ended. Jesse has been looking as possible targets and has chosen a bank in the pro-Union town of Corydon in Iowa, a place in which bank robbers are unheard of.

One summer day the five of you ride into town, dismount, tie up your horses and walk into the bank. It's Sunday and everyone is at church except a lone teller who is quickly captured. You and Frank empty the contents of the vault rapidly into a sack and then locking the teller inside you stroll outside, mount your horses and begin riding off. The robbery has been so easy that when you pass an open-air church service Jesse got resist shouting out to them gleefully "Hey there, we've just robbed the bank!" Frank frowns but the congregation just ignore you and whooping and laughing you all ride out of town.

You all ride back to the James Farm in Missouri where you count the haul and find you have made off with $8,000, making your share $1,600. When the papers report the crime you, Frank, Jesse and Cole are all identified again and the newspapers begin calling you the James-Younger Gang. Jesse is delighted with his newfound fame while Cole prevails upon the rest of you to let his younger brother John Younger join the Gang. John, who has already killed three men including two Texan lawmen, is an angel-faced but deadly young man and Jesse especially seems pleased to have him in the Gang. You plan your next bank robbery to take place in Kentucky.

[User] You 29 April 1872: Columbia, Kentucky

[Assistant]
As you have done so many times you and your companions ride into a small town early one morning. While Frank, Clell and John hold the horses outside you lead Jesse and Cole into the bank. Inside four customers are sitting at a table talking while one smiling cashier waits behind the counter. The three of you walk up to the counter and draw your pistols.

"Consider yourself under arrest," Cole says cheerfully.

To your amazement the cashier begins shouting "Bank Robbers! Bank Robbers!" at the top of his voice.

"Shut up man or I'll kill you," you yell at him but the cashier keeps shouting warnings at the top of his voice.

[User] You shoot him

[Assistant] You shoot the cashier in the chest and he staggers back, blood spreading across his shirt front. Jesse and Cole shoot him as well and the cashier falls dead to the ground. Instantly the four customers spring to their feet and start running for the door. "Stop them," Jesse yells.

[User] You fire a shot at them to try to stop them running

[Assistant]
You fire a shot that hits one of the men in the hand. He yells in pain but a moment later the four customers have scrambled out the door leaving the three of you alone in the bank with the dead teller on the floor behind the counter. "Quickly, grab the money" you tell the others and moving fast you snatch up all the money you can find on the counter. In less than a minute you are back outside to find Frank, Clell and John firing their pistols into the air as you, Jesse and Cole scramble back onto your horses. A man runs out onto the street and fires a pistol at you, Jesse fires back. Both miss but Jesse's shot prompts the man to take cover and the six of you are able to spur your horses out of town and escape.

Riding hard you do not stop until you are a long way from Columbia. When you pause to count the money you find you have escaped with less than $1,000, which makes your share $200. Frank is especially unhappy.

"We're killing too many bank tellers Jesse," he tells his brother. "This will bring the law down on us."

"Maybe we should lay off banks for a while," Jesse says thoughtfully and grins. "I have a mind to rob a ticket office at the Kansas City Exposition."

After a quick discussion Cole and John both offer to join Jesse but Frank and Clell decide it is better to lay low - Frank is going back to the James Farm while Clell is going back to his own family's farm. You consider what is best to do.

[User] You join Frank at the James Farm

[Assistant] You and Frank hide out at the James Farm and the surrounding area for a while, relying on newspapers for your information. You read about how Jesse and his companions succeeded in robbing the Kansas City Exposition. You also get a scare when you learn that Clell has been arrested for the Columbia Bank Robbery but is released after the shaken witnesses failed to correctly identify him. After a year when you feel the heat has warn off you and the gang reunite to plan your next robbery.

[User] Another Robbery

[Assistant]
By now you and your companions have become famous across America as the James-Younger Gang and Southern newspapers laud you as Robin Hood type figures continuing the fight for Southern Rights while Northern newspapers focus on the amounts you have stolen and the men you have killed, a number which altogether has reached six slain. Jesse loves all this attention and John and Clell enjoy it too but Frank is quick to point out that you haven't made much money from your recent robberies.

That is why on a lazy summer afternoon you and your fellow Outlaws ride into the little town of St Genevieve. While Frank, Clell and John look after your horses you, Jesse and Cole enter the bank. There is just one cashier inside and following your usual procedure you take him prisoner, empty the vault of money and then lock the cashier inside. As you are riding out of town Jesse again throws caution to the wind and begins firing his pistol into the air and cheering. Clell and John soon join in, much to Frank and Cole's disapproval.

Returning to the Younger Farm this time you count the money and find you have stolen $4,000, making your share $600. All the robberies seem so easy that Jesse decides it is time to increase the stakes. He lays out a plan for you all to rob a train in the state of Iowa, a extremely rare crime that is sure to gain the attention of all America. Though Clell and John readily agree to the plan Frank and Cole are more reluctant and only agree on the condition that more men can be brought in to join the Gang. You all agree to meet in the town of Adair, Iowa in two months.

[User] You from Banks to Trains...

[Assistant]
In the pre-dawn morning light you and the rest of the James-Younger Gang assemble outside the busy little town of Adair. Cole and John have brought along their brothers Jim and Bob to join in the robbery. Jim is a steady veteran who you fought alongside during the Civil War, though he seems reluctant to be involved in this robbery, Bob is a likable and reliable young man. You and Clell turn up with Charlie Pitts, a quiet but tough man who is another former Guerrilla. Frank and Jesse arrive with an extremely tall and chatty man called Bill Chadwell. Altogether there are ten of you, including the two James brothers and the four Younger brothers.

Though you held up trains during the War you are all new to peacetime train robbery and you study the railroad trying to think of the best way to get the train to stop near your place of concealment. Predictably it is Jesse who has the idea of using a mental bar and a hammer to tear up the track, reasoning that the driver will see the broken line and halt the train alongside where you will be waiting with the horse. You all agree to the plan. "Who will tear up the track?" Cole asks and you all glance among yourselves.

[User] You volunteer to tear up the track

[Assistant]
Taking the hammer and the bar you pry up several rails and toss them to one side. You and the rest of the Gang then take cover in the trees near the track and wait for the train. When the train comes down the line you are astonished by how fast it is going. The driver sees the damage to the track and slams on the brakes but the train is going too fast: to your astonishment the locomotive shoots off the end of the broken line and crashes down onto it's side with an ear-splitting crash, as does the first passenger carriage. The noise is indescribable.

The train has come to a complete halt with the front two carriages on their side and you and your deafened companions emerge stunned from the trees. While Bill, Charlie, Bob and Jim hold the horses and Jesse leads most of the rest towards the Express Carriage at the rear of the train you and Frank jog to the crashed locomotive and peer inside. The sight sickens you, the driver has been literally crushed to death and the fireman has been badly hurt, bleeding freely from his head.

You are still shaken by the time you return to the woods and are rejoined by Jesse and the others. Mounting up you ride away from the train you have just wrecked and ride nonstop for several hours to get to safety. When you count the money you are disappointed to find the train was not carrying a lot, just $3,000 which is divided between the ten of you to make your share $300. Despite the small profits from this you know this brazen robbery will increase your already great fame and notoriety.

Bill, Clell and Charlie are all a bit unnerved by the attention this crime will bring and decide they will all go and hide out at Charlie's farm in Missouri. Jesse, as usual, is delighted and indifferent to the fact the robbery has led to another death. He intends for himself, Frank, Bob, Cole, Jim and John (all the James and Younger brothers) to ride south into Arkansas to rob a stagecoach, another type of crime the Gang haven't committed before which Jesse hopes will lead to more fame. It is up to you whether or not you want to go into hiding or join in the crime spree.

[User] You join Bill, Charlie and Clell in hiding out at the Pitts's Farm

[Assistant]
Hiding out at the Pitts Farm you feel confident of avoiding detection because though both you and Clell are well-known outlaws Bill Chadwell and Charlie Pitts have never been connected with any crime and you rely on those two to go into town for all your supplies and newspapers. You read how the James and Younger boys continue to pull robberies in Arkansas and Missouri but there are consequences: the Pinkerton Detective Agency is hired to bring you and your companions to justice. Frank and Jesse kill one Pinkerton Agent near their Farm but a second gunfight claims the lives of two more lawmen and John Younger near the Younger Farm, Jim Younger being the sole survivor.

A letter arrives from Jesse telling you all to meet the rest of the gang in Texas and when you reunite the Gang is a grim bunch. All the remaining Younger Brothers are saddened by John's death with Jim openly blaming Frank and Jesse for getting him mixed up in robberies and swearing he wants nothing more to do with either of them and that he's going to California. Frank and Cole also think it's better that you all lie low for a time at the farm of their friend Bud McDaniels but not Jesse: he sees it as the best way to avenge John is to pull another robbery and the newer members of the gang, Clell, Charlie, Bill and Bob Younger all agree to join him in robbing a stagecoach here in Texas. You need to choose who you join.

[User] You help Jesse, Clell, Bill, Charlie and Bob rob a stagecoach in Texas

[Assistant]
Riding into the town of Austin you and your companions make inquiries about the local stagecoach routes before heading south and hiding in some trees to waylay a coach on its route. The hold-up goes smoothly, the coach is stopped and the passengers forced to dismount before being stripped of their valuables. Mounting up your ride cross-country before catching a train and rejoining Frank and Cole at the McDaniels Farm. During the ride you count the loot to find you have stolen $3,000, making your share $500.

The success of the robbery has encouraged Frank and Cole to join in fresh robberies and you soon have a new gang member in the form of Bud McDaniels, the cheerful life-long friend of the Younger family. Together you all plan a daring train robbery in Kansas but Bill and Charlie prefer to lay low this time and return to their hiding place at Charlie's farm as they are both enjoying the fact they haven't been identified as outlaws yet and have safety in their anonymity. You need to choose which group you join.

[User] You join Frank, Jesse, Cole, Bob, Clell and Bud in robbing the Kansas train

[Assistant]
One winter's day you and your companions ride out to the train tracks near the town of Muncie. You start a fire right next to the tracks and hide in the trees: sure enough when the train comes down the line the driver sees the fire and stops the train. While Bob and Cole take the driver hostage you, Frank and Jesse board the Express Carriage and capture the messenger at gunpoint. Quickly emptying the contents of the safe into a sack you leave the train, all of you running back to where Bud and Clell are holding your horses.

You ride a long distance from Muncie before you stop to count the money and when you do you discover you have really hit the jackpot big time: you have stolen $55,000 from the train, making your share a whopping $7,800. Everyone, especially Bud, are very happy but you know it is time to split up again. Frank, Jesse and Clell decide to hide out with friends near St Joseph, Missouri, Bud McDaniels declares he intends to rent a hotel room in Kansas City while Bob and Cole decide they are going down to Texas to stay with their old friend Bud's brother Tom McDaniels. You need to choose who to join.

[User] You go with Frank, Jesse and Clell to St Joseph

[Assistant]
You go with the James boys and Clell to hide out near St Joseph where you read in newspapers that Bud was identified as one of the Muncie train robbers and shot while trying to escape prison in Kansas City. His death saddens you all and drives you into hiding but in January 1875 you read even more incredible news in the newspapers. Suspecting that you and the others are in the area a small army of Pinkerton Agents surrounded the James Farm and blew it up with some kind of explosive. The explosion killed Frank and Jesse's eight year old brother Archie and tore their elderly mother Zerelda's right arm off.

Frank and especially Jesse are overwhelmed with rage when they learn of the cowardly attack and Jesse's first reaction is to kill every single Pinkerton Detective involved in the raid. After calming a little he decides to settle for killing his neighbor Dan Askew who is wildly known to have allowed the Pinkertons to use his Farm as a base from which to launch the raid. One night the four of you approach the Askew Farm and knock on the door. When the old farmer opens his front door Jesse shoots him in the chest.

[User] You shoot him as well

[Assistant]
Raising your pistol you shoot the old farmer in the head killing him. Fleeing the scene rapidly you and your companions take to the woods where you live in hiding. Reading newspapers you learn that the Pinkerton Detective Agency are sending one of their Agents, Jack Ladd, to investigate Dan Askew's murder. As Ladd also took part in the attack on the James Family Farm Frank and Jesse see more opportunity for revenge and decide to kill the Pinkerton as well.

Returning to the Askew Property armed with rifles you and your companions sneak through the trees and get yourself into a position from which you can see the farm house. You watch it for several hours until finally a man in a smart suit who you recognize as Ladd from the newspaper photographs emerges from the front door. "Now," Jesse murmurs and all of you raise your rifles. You consider whether or not to fire at the unsuspecting man.

[User] You shoot the Pinkerton

[Assistant]
Your aim is perfect and Ladd jerks as four bullets slam into his chest, knocking him to the ground. Fleeing the property you decide it is better to get out of Missouri and heading south to join Bob and Cole. Most of the newspapers, which were initially supportive of the James brothers after the attack on their family, are outraged by the two murders and urge people everywhere to shoot any member of the James-Younger Gang on sight.

Going down to the McDaniels Farm you meet up with Bob, Cole and their host Tom McDaniels, brother of the slain Bud. Together with another friend and war veteran called Tom Webb the group are planning to rob a bank in West Virginia, far from your usual raiding areas. Frank likes the idea but uncharacteristically Bob, Clell and Jesse think it is better to lay low for a spell until the attention of the Pinkertons has worn off. You will have to choose who to join.

[User] You join Frank, Cole and the two Tom's in robbing the bank in West Virginia

[Assistant]
On the morning chosen for the robbery you and your four companions ride into Huntingdon and dismount outside the town bank. While the two Tom's guard the horses you, Frank and Cole walk into the bank, draw your weapons, take the teller hostage, empty all the money in the vault into a sack and lock him inside the vault. Going outside you re-mount your horses and ride out of town. Once more it seems like you have pulled off another straight-forward robbery.

You haven't got far from Huntingdon when suddenly you spot a dozen horsemen riding out of the town straight after you. "Now boys, ride for it," Cole calls out and all of you spur your horses into a gallop. You hear bangs behind you as the posse begin shooting their rifles and pistols at you all, the bullets whistling overhead and between you all. Suddenly Tom McDaniels reins his horse in and turns it about. "Fuck this," he calls out as he pulls his rifle from his saddle scabbard and begins firing back at the posse.

[User] You join Tom in returning fire

[Assistant] Like Tom you turn your horse and fire back at the approaching riders. The posse fires a volley of shots at the pair of you and both of you are hit, Tom in the chest and you in the throat. Gasping wetly through the blood you turn your horse to try to ride away but the wound is fatal. You topple from your horse to the ground, Tom is also lying nearby. As your pursuers get closer and closer you stare up at the clear blue sky above you and silently expire.