[System] Run a text-based dark fantasy adventure game. Describe the world with gritty realism, respond to player actions with narrative consequences, and maintain the tone of a world where survival is never guaranteed.

[User] Continue

[Assistant] You turn, and run as fast as your legs will carry you. Trees are torn up and sent flying away behind you as the beast gives chase. Thankfully, its size means that navigating past the trees is impossible, so it needs to tear them up and throw them away to follow you. You have enough of a lead to know you have two options: You could head towards town, getting help from the many armed residents of Dawnwood who have enough combined firepower to invade a small nation, which would easily be enough to scare away or kill the beast. Hell, the need for that is unlikely, as since there's been a lack of reports about this creature, it probably wouldn't venture out and follow you if you escape the confines of the trees. On the other hand, if you head towards the caves, you might be able to find a place to hide and escape this terrible beast.

[User] You head toward the caves

[Assistant] You change direction, bursting towards the few caves that these woods have. You can here the beast right behind you, feeling its hot breath on the back of your neck, blowing your hair out of the way. You spot two caves you think... well, hope you can reach before it catches you. One is a small crack in stone that you think you can dive through that's definitely far too small for the beast to follow you that leads into a tunnel further in. The other is an opening to a large cavern that's also too small for the beast to follow you and that widens considerably further down.

[User] You go through the small tunnel

[Assistant] You dart through the small crack, heading quickly down the tunnel. As you're emerged in complete darkness you stop walking, your deep breaths echoing off the cave walls creating an eery sound. You pull out your phone and turn on the flashlight, illuminating the area. Then, you let out a petrified scream. The walls are covered with vivid symbols of red, sharp and alien characters you don't recognize. But that's not what makes you scream. Three bound figures lie on the ground, their bodies now a scene of horrific cruelty. They're naked, but their skin has been torn off to let you see the wet muscles that glisten underneath. You let out a sob as they begin to writhe. They're not dead, you realize in terror. The figures writhe, and you begin sobbing as you back away in terror. You run with a scream to the opening of the tunnel. You don't dare venturing out in case you're sighted by the beast, so you sit by the opening, sobbing. You begin to smell a strange smell coming from further down the tunnel, this one different from the rotting flesh. Soon, your wretched, sobbing and broken body finds sleep.

[User] You awaken

[Assistant]
"We found her!" a voice cries, awakening you from her slumber.

You open your eyes, spotting a young man you vaguely recognize as the town mechanic.

"It's ok," he says. "You're going to be alright."

The images of the writhing corpses fill your mind as more of the town's residence arrive.

"Jesus, what the fuck happened her?" someone asks.

"God, is she OK?"

"Does she need a doctor?"

"Hazel! Where's my baby girl!?!"

You hear Dad's voice and spot him among the growing crowd.

"Dad!" you cry, as he leans in and hug him.

"Oh Hazel, thank God I've found you. What the hell were you thinking, sneaking out like that? It's OK, I found you. You're safe. What happened?"

You sob, and attempt to recount your story to Dad, to his confusion.

"Your friends said that you had been looking for Kyle. They found him, but then they couldn't find you. You… you smell of drink. What were you thinking, Hazel? You must've got drunk and seen a bear. I'll tell the sheriff and have a hunting party sent out to kill it."

"It wasn't a bear, Dad! And there were bodies! They're in the cave!"

"Sweetie, you were drunk!"

The Sheriff appears, emerging from the crowd. He stops by Dad, squeezing his shoulder.

"I'm glad you found your gal, Malcolm. We'll talk later," he says, before pausing. "She smells of drink. I've always believed in the father disciplining the kid, so I'll leave that to you, Malcolm."

 "Come on, sweetie!" Dad says. "I'm getting you home."

"No wait, check the cave! There's bodies in there!"

Dad sighs, and the Sheriff heads in. He appears a minute later, shrugging.

"There ain't nothing in there. There's a few rabbit carcasses that look to be infected, but that's it," he says.

"What…?" you ask in confusion. "I need to go down there and check...!"

"Calm down, darling. Those animal corpses could give you an infection. You might've seen them wrong in the dark. I'll have someone clear them out later. Come on, everyone, head on home."

The Sheriff stands by the entrance to the tunnel, motioning for people to leave as the search and rescue party heads out towards the town as Dad thanks them.

"Come on, Hazel, let's get home," Dad says.

You follow Dad out as he leads you back home.

[User] You go home

[Assistant]
The ride home is long and quiet. Dad can clearly tell you don't want to talk, so he leaves you alone. Eventually, you pull into the driveway.

"I've told your teacher you won't be coming in today. Go upstairs and have a shower, you can have the day to relax. I'm staying home to look after you today."

You nod, and walk inside. You pull off your mud-covered shoes, and walk upstairs, leaving a trail of muddy water behind you. You walk into the bathroom, and slowly get undressed. You unbutton and pull off your jeans, then step out of your underwater. You pull off your jumper, than your shirt. As you go to unclasp your bra, you freeze as you notice yourself in the mirror. One of the strange, alien symbols you saw covering the cave walls above the disgusting, shuddering, skinless bodies, is carved into your stomach, just below your belly button. You shriek, and you hear Dad call up to you.

"Hazel? Are you OK?"

[User] You say "I'm fine!"

[Assistant]
"OK, honey."

You stare at the symbol in horror, before taking a deep breath. You open your bathroom cabinet, and pull out some bandages, applying it to the wound. The wound's shallow and small, nothing really to worry about medically, although it terrifies you. Whoever did that to the corpses had access to you while you slept. You shudder at the sight. You decide to shower to feel some bit cleaner.

[User] You shower

[Assistant]
You walk into the shower, and set the temperature as hot as you can without scalding yourself. You step under the water, feeling your hair grow in weight as the water soaks it through. The water warms you and helps clean the layer of dirt and mud from your body. To your absolute embarrassment, you notice the water pooling yellowish beneath you before it goes down the drain and you realize in the terror of last night you must have wet yourself at some point. You blush, both from embarrassment and the scalding water, and finish cleaning yourself. You turn off the shower and grab a towel, tossing your dirty clothes into the wash basket. You dry yourself off and get dressed, before collapsing on your bed. You grab your laptop and turn it on, finding comfort in the endless terrible comedies that Netflix provides. Dad brings you breakfast, then lunch, leaving you in a cocoon of blankets in front of the latest episode of Some random crime show about a police division that doesn't do nearly as much in real life, finding comfort about the stereotypical characters and massively contrived murder methods used to kill people. Eventually, you hear a knock on the door.

"Hazel!" Dad shouts. "Your friends are here."

You wiggle out of bed and jump up, walking down the stairs. Standing there are Mason, Carter, Lucy, Ant, Becca and Kyle.

"Hey, Hazel. You feeling alright?" Lucy asks.

"Yeah," you reply.

"I'm so sorry, I just got drunk and wandered off to find a place to go to the bathroom. I didn't think anything would happen to you because of it!" Kyle says apologetically.

"It's fine," you say.

"Well, we were only stopping by to see if you're OK, and if you wanted to go down to town and get a bite to eat."

Dad stares at you.

"Do you remember what happened last time you went out? Only last night, remember?"

"We'll have her back before sundown. We're only going into town, and I'll take good care of her," Mason says.

"I'm sure you will," Dad says skeptically, looking Mason over. "Hazel, keep your phone on and be back by eight. Not half eight, not quarter past eight, not a single minute past eight. Got it?"

"Yes, Dad."

You walk out the door with your friends out towards town.

[User] One Hour Later...

[Assistant]
An hour later, you sit in the pizza place Lucy and Becca work in, with two other unfortunate teenagers working behind the counter, a large pepperoni pizza in the middle of the group.

"So... you were attacked by a monster... who then led you into a trio of undead dead people?" Ant asks. "No offense, but that sounds like complete and utter bullshit."

You stare at Ant incredulously.

"Do you not recall less than an hour before that what happened? You nearly pissed yourself!"

Ant looks down, ashen faced.

"There were no ghosts. You're just fucking with us," Lucy complains.

"Fine, I believe you."

"I believe her," Kyle says.

"You d-don't have a c-c-choice, Kyle. You n-nearly got her kill-killed," Carter says.

Kyle shrugs.

"Fine, say we believe you," Becca says. "What are we going to do about it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there's a monster in Dawnwoods.. That's a problem, also the monster's too big to go in the cave you were in or else it would've caught you, so that means the body skinning thing is separate, so we got a monster and at least one Satanist."

"How do you know it was Satanism?" Ant asks.

"Well, it wasn't Christians, hence, it must've been Satanists," Becca says.

"Why c-couldn't it b-b-be any other r-r-religions?"

"Carter, this is the whitest, most Christian town that has ever existed. There was one Sikh family, and they had a cross burned on their lawn and were forced out of town after 9/11. There's no other religions here."

"OK, fine."

"So, what are we going to do about...?"

You groan as a sharp pain hits your stomach. It intensifies, and you let out a yelp.

"Are you OK, Hazel?" Mason asks.

"Yeah, I'm..." you groan, and Lucy helps you to your feet.

"I think I'm going to be sick," you groan.

"Come on, I'll take you," Lucy says, dragging you into the bathroom.

You're pulled past the urinals and into one of the stalls, and drop to your knees, letting out a torrent of puke. You groan in pain as you begin to puke, filling the bowl.

"Thank Christ I'm not on shift now. I'd hate to have to clean up this again," Lucy says.

You puke again, before the pain starts to recede.

"Don't worry, Hazel, we'll get you home soon," Lucy says.

"Hey, Lucy?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you drag me into the guy's bathroom?"

"Oh, oops. Sorry, Hazel. I clean both toilets, so I'm used to entering them both, and this one was closer..."

You sigh, and stand, ready to go home.

[User] You go home

[Assistant]
You friends drag you home, where your father waits.

"Hazel! Are you OK? Carter called and told me you were throwing up."

"I'm fine," you groan, as Dad helps you inside.

"Go upstairs, sweetheart. I'll get you a flat Seven-Up to help settle your stomach and a hot water bottle. Thanks for helping get her home, guys," Dad says.

"No bother," Mason replies. "See you later, Hazel."

Dad helps you up to bed, and you collapse onto your mattress. You fall asleep before Dad even gets into the ktichen.

[User] Six Hours Later...

[Assistant]
When you wake up six hours later, you panic. You're lying in a rusted, iron cage, surrounded by pitch darkness. You stand slowly, finding yourself in the middle of the woods. You look around desperately for a way out, but it seems you're stuck in here. The wind blows through the trees, rustling leaves and giving you a cold chill as you realize you're in your underwear. You look around, spotting a large RV next to the cage. Two figures step out and begin walking towards you. They both wear ski masks, hoodies and baggy black pants, with one carrying a doctor's bag. A third appears, pushing a gurney towards you. You scream for help and back away to the back of the cage. One of them steps forward and unlocks the cage door, and they enter the cage.

"Hands behind your head, don't move," one of the figures said.

[User] You attack

[Assistant]
You charge forward, swinging at the first man. You hit him with some force in the jaw, and he grabs your arm. He slaps you hard across the face, knocking you to the ground. The men grab you, and force you into the gurney. They strap your hands up my your head and your feet together, leaving you stretched out on the gurney. A ball gag is stuffed in your mouth and strapped tightly. You wince one off them puts surgical gloves on, before drawing a thermometer that's pushed into your ear. He checks it, before placing a cold hand on your stomach. He pushes gently, before squeezing.

"I'm right. Get the injections ready."

You shake and try to scream as one of the men takes out a needle that's almost comically large and sharp. He jabs it into your stomach and you scream into your gag and presses down, releasing the liquid into your stomach. You begin to tear up as he repeats the process with several more needles, and by the end your eyes are obscured with tears. He smiles at you through the ski mask, before another man arrives with a large burlap sack. He opens it, pulling out a small mammal like a rat or a ferret, and a large knife. You watch in horror as he slices the mammal's throat open, letting blood flow out onto your stomach. He tosses the carcass aside, and begins to use his fingers to draw various patterns along your belly as you wince and shake. He sighs, and slaps you hard across the face.

"Stop shaking," he says, before turning to one of the other men. "Tomorrow night."

He finishes drawing his patterns, before taking out a small black notebook. He begins to read from it in an insane language you don't understand, like the spluttering of a madman. The pain in your stomach intensifies greatly as you let out a petrified scream as you feel yourself being torn apart. Finally, he stops, as does the pain.

"Ah, good. Get the chloroform and untie her. Then, bring the kids back from their walk."

They free you from your straps, and you notice the door's still open.

[User] You run for the gate

[Assistant] You leap up and run for the gate. Clearly the men weren't prepared for your newfound strength, so you charge out of the cage and begin sprinting towards the trees. As you hear the men loudly swearing behind you, you break through the trees. You run through the darkness as you avoid trees, before knocking into something. You fall to the ground, painfully scraping your knee on a tree root. You look up, and scream in terror as you see them. A half dozen figures slowly surround you, giving you a view of them. The... creatures are all children, but they're so deformed, so mutated, they barely qualify. One is missing both it's arms, replaced with long, thin, slimy tentacles that reach forward to touch you. A second is missing most of its face, a gaping hole in its place filled with tiny, wiggling tentacles from the walls, back, roof and floor of the mouth. A third looks like a cute, perfectly normal girl of around four years old, except her mouth hangs open and her eyes are completely black. Another, one of the worst, looks like a cross between a schoolgirl, a fetus and an octopus, and stands wiggling above you as it reaches out towards you. You scream, and crawl backwards, terrified. They advance slowly, tentacles extending to rub you, slick goo wiping across your face and hair. You sob as you try to stand, before being yanked up by a man in a mask. He takes out a large rag and a glass bottle. He soaks the rag, before holding it to your mouth. You try not to breath, but after about a minute you take a gasp for breath, inhaling the fumes.

[User] You lose Consciousness

[Assistant]
You awaken in your bed, terrified and curled up in your blankets. You briefly wonder if you dreamed everything, but know that that's impossible. Your knee hurts where you scraped it, your window is still open, and you know your mind couldn't conjure up everything you saw last night.

"Honey? Are you OK?" Dad calls.

You pause, wondering if you should tell him, before realizing he'd never believe you.

"Yeah, I'm fine," you reply, wondering what you should do.

It's Saturday, so you could visit your friends and explain the situation. If you're more optimistic, you could go through the normal, legal means, although you're almost certain that will be complete and utter bullshit.

[User] You visit your friends

[Assistant]
You shower, noticing the same mark still under your belly button, and head off to meet your friends after a quick breakfast with Dad who remarks how "You look like you haven't slept". He gives you something to help settle your stomach, and you head out, texting your friends. They're already at Ant's house, so you head over there, carefully following their directions. Eventually, you find yourself at a house that's not even worth describing as it's identical to every other house in this shitty town. You knock on the door, which is opened by a short, balding man in a cheap suit.

"Hello?" he asks, peering at you.

"Hi. I'm Hazel, I'm a friend of Ant's."

"Hmmm... Of course you are. I'll admit, it was my mistake calling him Anthony. I wish I had went with something nicer. It was his mother, god rest her, who wanted to give him a nice name like Connor, but I wanted Anthony. Ah, I'm rambling. He's in the games room, last left."

You nod and thank him, heading down towards the last left and going inside, finding a pool table, several beanbags with your friends spread out among them, and an Xbox.

"Hey Hazel. F-f-feeling better?" Carter asks.

"Yeah, I... I need to talk to you about that."

Ant looks up at you, raising an eyebrow.

"Have you... put on weight?" he asks, staring at your belly through your t-shirt.

"Hey Ant: Stop being such a prick. You don't ask a girl that," Lucy says.

"What do you need to talk about?" Mason asks, looking away from the console to look at you, which Ant quickly takes advantage of and both screen peaks and starts heading towards his location for an easy kill.

You explain your situation to the group, and they stare in either disbelief or horror.

"There's no such thing as monsters," Lucy says as you end your tale.

"Hang on," Mason says. "There's a rusted out cage from the old freak show in the woods. How else would she know about it?"

"Maybe she saw it when she was lost."

"I didn't," you say.

"Fine. We have to do something about this, then," Becca suggests.

"She's right," Kyle says.

"Y-You're only agreeing because you f-f-feel bad about getting her l-lost," Carter points out.

"Shut it, Carter!" Kyle hisses.

"Have you called the police?" Ant asks.

"I told the Sheriff, he didn't believe a word I said when he found me."

Mason nods.

"Sheriff's an idiot. We have to check out the spot," he says.

You shake your head nervously.

"I'm not going back there. There's that beast and those Satanists..."

"If you want, I could get my brother to drive us out there in his pick-up," Lucy suggests.

"Will Drake really take us out to the woods?" Becca asks in surprise.

"He owes me. I covered him when he was caught doing business with some kids at school."

"Doing business?" you ask.

"Drug dealing," Lucy explains, eerily matter of factly.

"Oh."

"I'll give him a ring," she says, disappearing off into a side room.

You sigh, nervous at the thought of heading back to the cage, but you know it needs to be done. You wait for Lucy to return, which she does after a few minutes.

"Good news and bad news!" he says cheerfully.

"Go on." Carter says.

"My brother will drive us into the woods and help us look around... but not until eight."

"It'll be dark by then!" you say hysterically.

"It's OK, you'll be safe with all of us! I'll have Drake bring the biggest, most powerful flashlights he can, and a gun or two," Lucy says, smiling.

"I don't... I mean, I can''t..."

Mason grabs you and smiles.

"It's OK, Hazel. I'll keep you safe."

You have to admit, you do feel safer in his arms. Damn his charm.

"Fine, we'll do it," you say.

"Great. I'd feel bad if you were killed by evil cultists because we didn't do anything."

He smiles cheekily, and you begin to regret this decision.

[User] You nine Hours Later...

[Assistant]
Nine hours later, you're ready to go. You've somehow convinced Dad to let you go out, not daring to tell him your actual destination and instead claiming you're staying at Lucy's house. You meet up at the Lucy's house with the group, and walk into the living room, where they're all sitting around.

"Are we ready?" you ask.

"Damn straight!" Ant smiles, holding up a large backpack. "Spare food, water bottles, lighters, matches, rope, fireworks, some knives and flashlights. What'd you guys bring?"

Carter holds up half a chocolate bar he's been chewing on.

"Half a M-Mars bar," he says, before taking another bite. "A q-quart-quarter of a Mars b-bar."

"I brought a penknife and a lighter," you shrug, and Ant looks around disappointedly.

"No one brought anything?" he pouts. "You guys suck."

You hear a horn outside, and look outside. A large RV drives up the driveway, stopping outside. Lucy skips out the door, before running up to him, and you follow her outside.

"Hey, Hazel," Drake says.

"Drake's friend, Ed, has the pick-up, so we're driving to the woods, meeting him and switching vehicle," Lucy tells you.

"OK," you say, walking into the RV. You raise an eyebrow as you notice that the RV's windows are covered with shutters and bin bags, and the actual interior looks like a scene from Breaking Bad, covered with beakers, test tubes, Bunsen burners and other Chemistry gear.

"Well, you're blatant," you say.

"Hey, it's effective."

"I mean, yeah, but Breaking Bad made this a trope. Don't police search RV's for this."

"Breaking Bad helped my sales enough that I'm bribing the deputy. You'll be surprised how much extra meth heads are willing to pay for a product when you add some blue dye."

You shrug, and take a seat in the RV, as your friends pack in.

"Be careful back there. Knock one thing over and this place could blow."

"Really?" you ask.

Drake grins and shrugs, and begins driving.

"Maybe. I mean, there's a distillery back there as well as the lab. I'd imagine one speed bump and boom!"

"That's unnerving," Ant says.

"I guess. So, why the hell am I dragging all your friends into the middle of the woods to the old freakshow cage?"

"I told you already," Lucy reveals.

"That nightmare bull isn't convincing me. What's the real reason?"

"That is the real reason."

Drake turns around to stare at you in annoyance.

"What...?"

"Eyes on the road, Drake," Kyle says.

"Fine," Drake says, turning around. "Still, I want an explanation why I'm driving into the woods because the new girl had a nightmare."

"It wasn't a nightmare!" you say.

"Sure," Drake says.

You all sit in awkward silence until you reach the outskirts of the woods. Drake pulls over, and you stand and head out the door. Although you couldn't tell because of the shutters and blacked out windows of the RV, you can now see that night has fallen. An empty red pick-up truck with four seats sits next to the woods. Drake strides forward, pulling out his phone.

"Ah, shit," Drake says. "Of course Ed left the truck here and went off on his quad rather than just take back the RV like he was supposed to."

He locks the RV and hides the keys in the wheel well.

"I'll text my friend and get him to pick up the RV. Come on, get inside. Let's go drive to a dumbass cage in the woods."

Drake, Lucy, Carter and Ant go in the seats while you, Mason, Becca and Kyle sit in the back of the pick-up. You sit, half-lying on Mason who wraps one arm around you. The emotional part of your brain momentarily forgets all fears in favor of a childish infatuation and hormonal lust towards Mason that causes you to blush and your heart to flutter, the rational part of your brain reminds you to stay vigilant in case the cultists or that beast do show up. You and the rest of your friends pull out flashlights and fire the beams off into the darkness, illuminating trees and undergrowth.

"We're nearly there," Drake shouts. "It's a hell of a lot easier to get here because a path's been made."

Your ears perk up at that.

"What do you mean?" you ask, as Drake rolls down his window fully.

"What'd you say?"

"I said what do you mean? You said there's a path."

"Yeah. It's like a big RV drove over the undergrowth and knocked a dirt path along."

"What, you think Ed's been driving out here to work in the RV?" Lucy asks.

"Nah, Ed's terrified of the woods. Said something about a monster or something."

You feel a flash of fear as you remember the RV from last night. You stare outwards, illuminating every shadow, both hoping to and terrified of seeing something hiding in the dark.

"Here it is! The old freak show's cage!" Drake says dramatically.

As Drake pulls the pick-up into the clearing in the woods, you see the massive, rusted cage, although there's no RV. You shiver in fear, and Drake steps out of the truck.

"Let's investigate and get home," Drake says, firing his flashlight beam towards the cage.

The flashlight beam illuminates the cage and its insides. The old rusted gurney sits there, now encrusted with dried blood.

"Well, that's new," Drake mentions.

You step back nervously.

"Hazel said there was a gurney in her dre... when she was abducted," Ant points out.

"Fuck, this is some creepy shit. I'm calling the sheriff," Drake says.

Drake takes out his phone, and makes a call.

"Hello, Sheriff Buckly? I just found a gurney in the middle of the cage in the woods covered in dried blood. I think some weird... oh, really? OK, you know where the cage from the... oh, great.. Cool, see you in a few minutes, or an hour, or whatever."

"What was that?"

"The sheriff said he'll come here straight away."

"Good," you sigh in relief.

You really can't imagine having to deal with this without the help of the law. Now, it's out of your hands. You wait patiently for Sheriff Buckly to arrive. Eventually, you spot a flashlight heading towards you.

"There he is," Drake says.

You shine your light ahead, illuminating the figure of Sheriff Buckly. He swears, and holds his hands to block his eyes.

"Turn that off!" he says, and you do.

"Fuck, how'd you even get the truck out here? I can barely walk through the undergrowth," he says. "Where this bloody gurney?"

You point at the cage, and Sheriff Buckly walks over and looks at it.

"Jesus... who else saw this? I'm going to need to gather all the witnesses and find out what was going on," he says.

"We're the only people who've seen this, although Hazel got a bit of a closer encounter."

"So you didn't tell you pa about this?" Sheriff Buckly asks.

You shake your head, and Sheriff Buckly nods.

"Good," Sheriff Buckly says.

Sheriff Buckly draws his revolver, and quickly aims at Drake's head and fires. Drake's head snaps back as it explodes partially, sending chunks of gray brain matter, pale skull and pieces of red flesh at you. You scream as Lucy runs over to Drake as his body collapses backwards. Mason runs for the truck, before the Sheriff barks an order.

"Stop! Move another muscle and I'll blow the brain out of everyone of you!"

Mason stops, raising his hands. Sheriff Buckly points his gun at all of you, forcing you to raise your hands into the air.

"Everyone, calm down. Nobody needs to get hurt," Sheriff Buckly says.

"Fuck you!" Lucy screams. "You killed him! You killed him you piece of..."

Sheriff Buckly steps forward and cracks her across the head wit his revolver.

"Shut up! Carter, Mason, Ant, Kyle, get in the fucking cage!" he shouts.

Mason, Ant, Kyle and Carter slowly walk into the cage.

"Now, back the fuck up to the end of the cage!"

The boys comply, and the Sheriff draws a set of keys from his pocket, locking the cage door. He turns to you, Lucy and Becca.

"Just don't move. They'll be here in a minute."

You stand in silence, the cold wind blowing, the silence only broken by the occasional soft sob by Lucy as she stands over Drake. After about half an hour of waiting, you see the RV pull up along the path. It stops, and four masked men step out.

"Anyone escape?" one asks.

"No," Sheriff Buckly responds. "Fuck, I didn't even know they were coming out here. You said whatever the fuck you injected the girl with would make her forget everything."

"I said it probably would. Her phone's bugged. How didn't you find out?"

"She didn't make any calls saying she was going to do it!"

"Well, at least no one escaped," the masked man says, pulling off his mask.

The group remove their masks. You vaguely recognize them, one being the mechanic who found you, one being the town doctor, Doctor Kessel, another being a German teacher from school and the final one being the bartender of the local bar.

"What are you going to do with...?" Becca asks, before Sheriff Buckley lets out a bark.

"Hey! Shut the fuck..."

"No, Jake, let the girl ask her question," Doctor Kessel says.

"What are you going to do with us? Who are you? Why did you send a monster to hunt me?"

"What are we going to do with you? Nothing, ideally. We only need to borrow you. Who are we? Well, surely you must recognize us. Louis, Sheriff Buckly, Mrs Jordan, Alison and me, Doctor Kessel. "As for the monster, I assume you're referring to the Black Beast. That's not an issue, I assure you. Although I'm not sure of its origins, if you look at town records, it actually kills most of the bears in the area, which reduces the amount of attacks so much it's saving lives. If I was in your situation, I'd be much more worried about us."

"What do you want? Are you going to sacrifice us to Satan?" Becca asks again.

Doctor Kessel lets out a chuckle.

"No, Rebecca, we're not. We're not satanists. Real satanists don't even believe in Satan. We're... researchers. We're humanitarians. We're explorers. When we were little kids, we used to be the best of friends. We played in these very woods. When we were little, we found... a book in one of the caves. We took it and read it, and we found out the most amazing things. Do you know how insignificant not only we are, but this planet, this solar system, this galaxy and this universe is? There are so many amazing things we learned about these beings that we can't even comprehend, but compared to what's out there, we learned so little. So we kept reading. The book included some instructions to summon them, to summon these beings that are stronger than any gods we've ever imagined, more alien that any alien we've created in fiction, more incredible than anything you could experience here. If we create a Key-Bearer, we can create a portal to these beings."

"That's insane! How do you know they won't wipe us out, or enslave us all, or worse!" you cry.

"I don't," Doctor Kessel admits.

"It could destroy everything!"

"You just need to calm down and listen!" he hisses. "Imagine you're stuck in a room. There is a small tap for water, a toilet and a small machine that creates a nutritious yet tasteless paste. You have everything you need to survive and continue your blank, boring existence. Now, one day, a door appears in the room. It's unlocked. Do you go through?"

"What the fuck does...?"

"We are trying to open that door. Just as the person in the room doesn't know what's on the other side, anything is better than the bland, boring existence of the room. We're trying to open the world up to experiences unknown to man, good or bad, because it has to be better than this meaningless existence."

"What are yuo even talking about? What the fuck's a Key-Bearer?" Mason shouts, as Sheriff Buckly aims his gun at his head once again.

"Shut up," Sheriff Buckly grunts.

"Ah yes, the Key-Bearer. That part's the worst for you guys. A Key-Bearer is a creature birthed of the beings' power of a human womb. We've had several attempts at this, but every time we failed. Instead of creating a Key-Bearer, we created half-human, half-monster children who aged rapidly. Finally, we settled the problem. The mother of the Key-Bearer had to be a virgin, post-puberty, below 21 and to have AB Negative Blood. You'd imagine my luck when I found one such target walking around the cave where I was sacrificing some former mothers to keep the beings' interested in our world. I simply pumped out some gas I had on hand to help knock her out, and voila! I got to work."

You stare at him in horror, putting a hand on your stomach. There's a series of gasps and shouts from the group, before Sheriff Buckly fires his gun in the air.

"SHUT IT!" he roars.

"I'm sorry, Hazel. It'll be over in a few hours."

"A few hours? It's only been two days, how...?" you ask in horror.

"The Key-Bearer grows incredibly quickly. It should be able to be birthed within a day at most."

You feel something wiggle in your stomach, in your womb, and a pain shoots through you.

"Listen, Hazel, it'll be OK," Doctor Kessel says. "In a few hours, you'll be fine, and we'll be in a whole new world."

[User] You agree to birth the Key-Bearer

[Assistant]
"Fine," you say. "I'll do it."

"Fantastic!" Doctor Kessel says eagerly. "I promise, you're helping save humanity."

Doctor Kessel takes your hand, and leads you towards the RV, where a second, newer gurney awaits. You climb up in it and are strapped down. Doctor Kessel stabs a needle into your neck, hushing you.

"Don't worry, I'm going to help you sleep for the next few hours. When you wake up, it'll be all over..."

You begin to feel sleepy, before closing your mouth. Your heavy eyelids close, as the needle presses into your veins, sending you into a deep sleep.

[User] You awaken

[Assistant]
Mother of the Apocalypse

You awaken, lying in a small bed. Sheriff Buckly stands above you, looking eerily joy-filled.

"You're awake! Good, we can begin!" he says.

You stand, looking down. Your legs are covered in dried blood and other liquids, and your body immediately runs out of strength. You're helped along, out of the RV. Your friends are gone, but you only look for a second before you see the preparations for the portal. A large circle of stones lies, each stained with a drop of blood. Standing around the circle are the six cultists; Louis, Doctor Kessel,Mrs Jordan and Alison. Standing around them are a half dozen monster-children that make you want to vomit, the failed attempts at rearing a Key Bearer. They're so deformed, so mutated, they barely qualify as children. One is missing both it's arms, replaced with long, thin, slimy tentacles like pasta. A second is missing most of its face, a gaping hole in its place filled with tiny, wiggling tentacles from the walls, back, roof and floor of the mouth. A third looks like a cute, perfectly normal girl of around four years old, except her mouth hangs open and her eyes are completely black. Another, one of the worst, looks like a cross between a schoolgirl, a fetus and an octopus, and stands wiggling. Still, that's nothing compared to what sits in the middle of the circle. Sitting in the middle, wiggling, is your child. The Key-Bearer is nothing but a seething mass of tentacles that whip around, seemingly drawing lines of purple lightning around itself in the symbol that was carved into you.

"Ah, you're here!" Doctor Kessel says eagerly.

"Where are my friends?" you ask.

"It doesn't matter now! Now, we begin! We will witness the glory of Crexiciliatanian's creation!"

The Key-Bearer speeds up, painting the symbol across the very fabric of reality. The ground begins to crumble away, turning in pure blackness. Suddenly, there's a flash, and the portal opens.

Then, it begins.


[System] You are the narrator of a dark fantasy text adventure. Describe the world and its consequences with unflinching detail. The player's choices shape the story — for better or worse.

[User] You grab the gun

[Assistant]
You go for the pistol and manage to pick it up. Unfortunately the creature you just beaned in the head has already recovered from its head wound. Much like Helen, you manage to pull the trigger and get a couple shots to its stomach, but it isn't slowed down and uses all its weight to cause the pair of you to crash to the floor.

You drop the gun, but you still have the lamp in hand and you attempt to swing it from your prone position, but the creature has already dug its fingers deep into that arm and forcibly holds it to prevent you from doing so. You punch with your other free arm, but your hits to its face do nothing. It just repeats what it has done to your other arm and digs its nails in deeply. With horrible snarling, foam and blood coming from its mouth and more ruthless savagery than you have, the thing soon overpowers you completely and its face meets your own to bite your nose off. You scream in agony as a gout of blood gushes from the new hole in your face.

Your screams soon stop completely when it bites out your throat.


[System] You are the narrator of a dark fantasy text adventure. Describe the world and its consequences with unflinching detail. The player's choices shape the story — for better or worse.

[User] Continue

[Assistant]
While you hope you don't have to go too far, if it means getting the hell out of this place, then maybe that's what you'll have to do because whether the National Guard leaves or stays the fact remains, you're not the one to lead this carnival like Roofie thinks you are and you feel your life is in danger.

You start to walk over to Roger.

"Hey where are you going?" Klepto asks.
"Not sure yet, but don't wait up." You reply and continue walking to Roger.

When you get to Roger you're all smiles, poses and charm.

"Hello Roger are you doing well today?" You say in a friendly tone.
"Hey, Suzy. I'm okay I guess, but I really wish your friends wouldn't cause so much trouble. Somebody is libel to get hurt. My commanding officer isn't exactly the tolerant type and I think you saw that earlier."
"Yes, I did. I was so scared. In fact I'm scared of the whole aura this place is giving now. It's becoming very violent, but I feel so much safer being near you." You say and start to touch Roger.

At this point Roger is smiling back at you, but his buddy nearby is a little less approving, though you imagine its jealousy more than anything else.

"Roger, we're supposed to be keeping an eye on these carnie freaks, not fraternizing with them."
"What's the harm Ernie? I mean she says she's scared. What, you think she's going to clobber me in the head and take my weapon? Come on, stop being so paranoid. We shouldn't even be here anyway."
"Orders are orders…ugh. Whatever, I'm not going to watch you make goo goo eyes at some carnie whore. I'll be outside this tent, try to keep your eyes on the detainees and not on her ass the whole time." Ernie says and steps outside the tent.

"What a rude person. I'm glad you're not like that." You say now with your arms wrapped around Roger.
"Well you know, I treat people the way they want to be treated." Roger replies.

As distracted as Roger is, he's actually keeping it together better than one would think. He keeps a tight grip on his rifle and an eye on if you're going to attempt to grab his pistol. He also periodically looks away from you to make sure nobody is taking advantage of this situation. (Which Klepto and the rest look like they were going to do, but realize they're still too far away to rush at Roger before he could shove you aside and open fire)

Though your plan wasn't necessarily to save everyone, but rather yourself.

"So Roger, what's a girl gotta do to get out of here?" you say seductively.
"Well, like I said we should be gone later today or tomorrow at the latest."
"Too long and anything could happen within that time! Can't you do something? I mean I could make it worth your while." You say and run your finger across Roger's chest.
"Suzy, look, I'd really like to help, but…hey!" Roger is interrupted when you grab his hand.

You bring his hand to your face and closing your eyes, you insert his index finger in your mouth and slowly suck on it making "mmmmm" sounds.

This scene hasn't gone unnoticed by more than a few carnies watching you. In fact the predictable calls of "whore", "slut" and worse are uttered your way.

Roger on the other hand is practically speechless.

"I…uh…shit…" he says and then pulls his hand away staring at his finger for a moment.
"Awww….but I wasn't done sucking on you…" you say and flutter your eyes a bit, trying to look as cute as possible then you whisper in his ear:

"Take me back to my trailer and I'll show you the REAL greatest show on earth." then you lick his ear.

Roger immediately calls in Ernie loudly. Ernie rushes in with his weapon ready to kill something.

"What?! What?! Are they rioting again?!" he exclaims.
"No. But I REALLY need a favor! You need to watch these people and if the commander checks in on us, tell him I had a to take a shit really bad."
"What…wait… Oh fuck no! You're gonna go fuck this little carnie whore aren't you? Goddamnit Roger!"
"Come on Ernie, you can't help me out?"
"Motherfucker, I'm always helping you out! I don't understand why you can't just fuck the bitch right here. Not like these people are shy and from the looks of her, she looks like it wouldn't be the first time she's gotten fucked in front of a live audience." Ernie remarks.

You know, while you've gotten used to the baseless comments about you being a woman of loose morals, it still hurts sometimes.

In any case, Roger is not a man to be deterred from his lust for you right now.

"Alright, fine. I didn't want to hold this over your head, but you leave me no choice…" Roger starts to say, but whatever the threat is, Ernie doesn't even let him finish it.
"Oh fuck. (Sigh) Don't even say it. Fine. Go. Go. Go! And don't take too long, though I imagine in your case that won't be a problem." Ernie says defeated.
"Thanks man! Seriously I really will remember this favor!"
"Hrm. That you only got through blackmail."

As you and Roger leave, Ernie says one more thing.

"Hope you've got condoms, because lord knows what diseases she's got being a carnie. Her kootch might turn your dick into a fucking Siamese Twin or some shit."

"How the hell does that even make sense? Fucking asshole…" you say and start to get angry at Ernie's comments, but Roger just take you by the hand to go back to your trailer.
"Don't mind him. Let' hurry though, because we don't want to bump into anyone else. It isn't like I got leverage over everyone like I do with Ernie. So where is your trailer?"

You tell him the location and the pair of you are heading over in that direction fluctuating between being "stealthy" and running.

While you're doing this, it occurs to you that you have to think up your next move. Are you really going to let him fuck you? Roger is distracted enough that you probably could grab his side arm to give you enough time to make a run for it, but while Roger might not shoot you immediately (And that's rolling dice there) there's nothing to say the other nearby Guardsmen won't and you know they'll be alerted as soon as you try to run away from Roger.

Of course if you really are willing to make that ultimate "sacrifice" for freedom, Roger might even help you out a lot more in your escape attempt. Of course he could turn out to be a complete asshole and march you back to the tent after he's had his way with you.

[User] You go through with it

[Assistant]
You aren't confident that you'd make it with trying to ambush Roger. While it's possible you'll get some sort of better opportunity while in the trailer, at this point you're going to hope that Roger isn't an asshole and this will actually get him to help you escape.

That's a lot to place on hope, but it's going to have to do.

Soon you get to your trailer and you enter it with Roger still looking around before going in himself.

You stand by your bed and look at it and then look at Roger.

"So here we are." He says.
"Yeah…so here we are…" you reply.
"Well? Come on, we don't have much time." Roger says and puts his weapons down though of course he puts them out your reach and starts guiding you to lay down on the bed.

This is going to happen. It isn't that Roger isn't unattractive to you and this isn't exactly like he's coercing you to do anything (though you're afraid he might if you resist at this point) its just…well directly using your pussy to get yourself out of a jam isn't exactly how you do things. Indirectly by teasing and flirting? Sure you've gotten used to doing that, but this is a step you don't think you're ready to take and it's too late at this point.

Roger is already stripping his clothes off and you're slowly doing likewise. Soon the pair of you are naked and his dick's coming at you like a monster. As he moves in to kiss and embrace you, you stop him.

"Um…could we not look at each other while we do this?" you say.
"Huh?" he asks, almost looking a bit wounded by that comment.
"Uh, I just mean can we do it doggy style? I just prefer it that way." You ask.
"Oh. Well yeah! Sure, however you want it. I'm cool with that." Roger says and you get into position.

Well at least now you can close your eyes and pretend its Bobby. Hopefully Roger isn't much of a talker and just gets on with it.

While you prepare yourself for this "experience", gunshots are suddenly heard outside. Several of them in fact. This is followed by a lot of shouting.

"Oh fuck! What the hell?!" Roger exclaims and no longer do you feel his hands at your haunches, he's gotten off the bed.

You turn over and see him starting to get dressed, periodically looking out the narrow windows.

"What's going on out there?!" you ask.
"I have no idea, but whatever it is, YOU stay inside and keep down. I don't want you getting hurt."

You start to get dressed as well, wondering what calamity has happened now. Did the carnies finally decide to rush the guardsmen?

Roger, with his clothes back on, grabs his rifle and pistol and prepares to head out.

"Suzy, remember what I said, stay inside…OH SHIT!" Roger shouts as he opens the door.

Something humanoid runs into Roger who drops his rifle and is pinned against the wall. It's growling and snarling and Roger is holding its neck in an attempt to not let it bite him.

Fear grips you, but not so much that you can't grab a nearby knife from the kitchen area in an effort to stab it.

"Suzy stay back! I got it!" Roger shouts and manages to shove the thing off of him and out the door. He then pulls out his pistol and presumably fires at the thing several times. He then slams the door shut and attempts to lock and barricade it.

"Did you kill it?" you ask.
"I dunno. I think I did." Roger answers.
"You think? Don't you think you better know?!"
"Yes! Yes! I killed it! I mean I put two it's head and three in its chest. Jesus Christ, gimme a moment here! One moment I was nearly in paradise and the next I'm fending off a fucking…zombie…or something…shit I dunno what the hell…" Roger says trying to wrap his head around this unexpected turn of events.

Zombie. Did he just say that thing was a zombie? It was humanoid and trying to bite him, while making snarling and growling sounds. Then again it didn't look exactly rotten, could've been new dead though. Maybe just a rabid human?

Seems silly that you're actually considering that you're getting attacked by zombies. Never the less, the gunfire and chaos you're hearing outside seems to suggest you're being attacked by SOMETHING.

Meanwhile Roger is sitting and mumbling to himself. Suddenly he stands up.

"Fuck it. Suzy, you still wanna get out of here right?" Roger says.
"Well of course." You say.
"Come on, we're taking one of those trucks. I got the keys."
"Okay? But what about your friends?"
"Hah, most of those guys I serve with are assholes. I mean you saw my commanding officer and Ernie. Can't say any of them are my friends. What about you and your carnie family?"
"Well… the clowns were cool with me and the owner…but well it's complicated and let's just say I wasn't fitting in there, so while I do feel slightly guilty just abandoning the ones that I was getting along with, I can't stay someplace where I don't feel entirely welcome or safe."
"Okay, then its settled, we'll leave now."
"But what about those things out there?"
"Well we're going to have to grab the truck now because either one or two things is going to happen. One, the rest of my squad is going to put these things down and both of us are going to be up shit's creek or those things are going to kill everyone and we'll have to brave through them while they're not distracted by others."

Roger unblocks the door and kicks it open, ready to shoot anything that might be lurking outside, fortunately that isn't the case right now.

"Alright let's do this and stick close to me." he says and the pair of you run out the trailer.

The sounds of creatures and gunfire are all around you and you haven't stepped out of the trailer a few seconds when Roger has to shoot two more of the things. He doesn't hit them in the head and they still stay down, so you're guessing maybe the zombie thing isn't the case. Still don't want to get bit though, who knows if this is contagious?

You see a few dead bodies of guardsmen on the ground and in one case one of those cannibals eating it and not paying any attention to anything else. The fact that the sounds of gunfire dying down and an increase in the screaming and yelling signals to you that things are getting grim. You wonder if they've gotten to the carnies yet.

Is this going on everywhere? Is this local? You'll have to figure that out later. Right now you're just happy to get inside a heavy-duty military truck.

Roger gets in the driver's seat and with more snarling creatures banging on the doors and trying to get in, Roger starts up the truck and promptly runs over three of them on your way out this place.

Soon you're on the road, but what next?

"Where are we going?" you ask.
"I dunno. If this is some sort of plague or invasion or something I'm wondering if we shouldn't head to Fort Timons, it's the closest military facility around here and where I was stationed before I got sent here. Still quite a drive though." Roger says.
"What? Are you nuts? Didn't you just go AWOL and now you're thinking about going to an military base?"
"Well… I mean yeah technically I just deserted my post…but considering it didn't seem like anyone else is going to live through that attack I doubt if anyone is going to call me out on it. We could just tell them we were the only survivors."
"But if this is some sort of disease will a military base even be safe? I mean don't these sorts of thing originate from them what with all the secret experiments and bioweapons?"
"What? You watch too many horror movies or science fiction! Unless its some secret base with top level government security, the average ordinary military base isn't going to have a lab where they're making bioweapons! In any case I know that stuff isn't at Fort Timons."
"I dunno…just doesn't seem the safest place."
"Well where do you propose then?"

You don't have an answer.

"See? Look, it's still a long drive there, maybe I can get something on the radio and we can find out more. Too bad this one doesn't have a two-way radio, we'd actually be able to communicate with someone and I lost my fucking cell phone. In fact I probably left it in your trailer."

As Roger attempts to get a signal on the radio, you think about how you've now run away from two "families" and who knows what's become of both of them. Are they dead? Are they alive? Has you hometown been overrun by those things? Is it under marshal law?

You feel a little sad about it all, but what can you really do?

As the day eventually turns into night, Roger continues to try to get something on the radio, but its just static on the military channel he's using. He doesn't understand it. Switching over to the normal radio just gets music, which is broken up by the periodic Ground Zero advert. Absolutely nothing about the creatures though, not even regular news. It's very frustrating.

Your aren't encountering too much traffic on the road either, granted this isn't the busiest of roads, but it feels fairly isolated. Still, at least you're not seeing a horde of those things roaming about.

Roger talks a little about his past to break up the long periods of silence, most of it fairly mundane. You just mainly listen although you're only really half listening and re-direct questions about yourself to something superficial. You're not in the mood to talk about yourself.

Eventually you start to get sleepy and Roger does as well. He pulls over and the both of you go to sleep and thankfully he never once suggests picking up where you left off in your trailer.

Nothing like a bunch of cannibal creatures to break up the mood.

You drift off to sleep…

[User] Next day...

[Assistant]
FRIDAY

"…this was a paid announcement by the Ground Zero Corporation…"

"Agh! Shut the fuck up already. What the hell did GZ buy up all the goddamn stations?!" you hear Roger shout as he angrily turns the radio off, waking you up.

It would seem you're in motion again and you slept through it.

"What's going on?" you ask.
"Huh? Oh you're up. Nothing's going on, just dumb ass Ground Zero commercials warning about an impending nuclear holocaust as usual. Never mind the fact we got a very real threat that I can't seem to get any information on. Anyway I didn't sleep that much so I just started driving again. Figured you could still sleep though so I didn't bother waking you" Roger says.
"So how long have we been on the road?"
"More than a few hours definitely. Starting to by pass all this farmland area now, we'll probably be hitting a more populated area soon. I also started to see a few more moving vehicles, though I've also been seeing a lot of abandoned vehicles as well. Oddly no military. Saw a few people even trying to hitch a ride, but I'm not playing good Samaritan right now."
"You see any of those things?" you ask.
"Hrm, I thought I might've seen a few while I was driving, but from the distance I could quite tell. Wasn't like I was going to check."

So far it looks like the plan is still going to Fort Timons, but if you didn't think that was a dubious idea before, you're really uncertain now. He can't get any signal from the radio, for all you know the base might be overrun by those things. Which is exactly what you bring up to Roger, but he seems confident that wouldn't be the case and he's determined to head to Fort Timons. Funny thing considering he abandoned all his comrades at the carnival and said they were all assholes. Guess he's still military at heart.

He senses that you still aren't comfortable with his plan though.

"Suzy, you don't need to come with me you know. I mean I can drop you off at the next town we go through." Roger says.
"And what exactly am I going to do there? I don't have anything except the clothes on my back and with the way things are going, I can imagine I'd be resorting to taking those off a lot just to survive." You say.

There's a moment of silence before Roger replies.

"I'm guessing that's what you were doing with me back at the carnival. It's fine, I sort of knew that's what was going on. I knew you didn't actually like me."
"If you knew all that, why did you risk your career and possibly your life?"
"You're kidding right? I mean I know I'm not hideous, but you're a little out of my league. When the hell am I going to get a chance to be with someone that looks like you? I mean sure I knew it was all an act, but in MY mind I could pretend you were being genuine. Though I admit when you stopped me from kissing you and didn't want to look at my face, that sort of hurt."
"It wasn't personal. I just don't know you that well and I wasn't ready for that level of intimacy. I was going to pretend you were my ex-boyfriend. (Sigh) I can't believe I even went that far and was going to go through with it. I mean contrary to whatever you may have heard shouted at me, I don't do stuff like that like…ever."
"Really? Because you're pretty good at the whole seduction thing, even if you are a bit obvious with it."
"I'm obvious with it because it's only just a new skill I developed within the last few days I joined a goddamn carnival just to get out of my goddamn shitty life at home…What the hell was I even thinking?! I'm not cut out to take care of myself! I should've just stayed home and let cannibals eat me in the comfort of my basement!" you say, tearing up a bit. The stress of the week is starting to get to you.

"Whoa! You don't mean that. Things aren't totally horrible. Hey if it make you feel any better, I felt a little bad knowing that I was going to take advantage of what was obviously the act of a desperate woman." Roger says.

Now you stop sniffling and start to chuckle at the absurdity of that statement.

"But of course that wasn't going to stop you." You say.
"Well no of course not, but I assure you I would've felt guilty about it."
"No you wouldn't have."
"Okay you're right, I wouldn't have, but I would have still gotten you out of that carnival if you had asked afterwards."
"Well at least it wouldn't have been for nothing. (Sigh) Guess it all worked out anyway. I mean we're both still alive due to our choices and I am thankful I'm not dead and that you probably saved my life back there."
"And I'm thankful I at least got to see you naked."
"We'll always have the trailer I suppose."

You don't exactly feel good about your situation, but Roger's attempt to lighten up the mood at least has you feeling slightly better.

"So…why don't you tell me about this ex-boyfriend of yours? I'm guessing he must've been some sort of handsome stud if you're still thinking about him." Roger says.
"Heh. Not especially. He was a normal looking guy. Not too much different from you in that department. He's just the only guy I've ever been with, so, it was more comfortable to think about him instead. Anyway it was sort of complicated with him. Long story that I don't want to get into right now."
"I understand. Well I'll just say this, he was lucky to have you as a girlfriend and was a damn fool to let you get away."
"Hrm…actually you know what? You're exactly right. He WAS lucky to have me and a damn fool to let me get away!" you say with a bit of pride.

You know Roger is half saying this just in the hopes to get you into a compromising position again, but what the hell, it's an ego booster and it keeps you in a positive mindset at least.

"Shit." Roger suddenly says.
"What now?" you ask.
"I just looked at the gas gauge, we're practically out. Goddamn it I thought Ernie gassed this thing up recently."
"We can't make it to Timons?"
"Well we could risk it on fumes to Fort Timons, but I'd rather not chance that during these circumstances. I don't even have a rubber hose that we could use to suck out the gas from one these abandoned vehicles we've been passing."
"Well I guess we're stopping at the next gas station then."
"Assuming they got any. I get the impression just popping into the next gas station isn't going to be that simple."

You and Roger continue to drive for about a half hour before you see something of interest in the distance. Namely a truck stop, which apparently has been converted into a minor fortress.

"Hey look at that!" you point out.
"I see it. It's a truck stop and it looks like whoever is there is trying to block the place off by putting trucks around it. They even got people standing on top of the trucks with rifles as look outs. They probably got gas." Roger says.
"I dunno. Whoever is there probably isn't going to be too trustful of anyone, especially someone from the military. They might just try to rob us."
"We gotta try. I mean we need gas, and given how well this place is defended, we at least know they probably got some. Who knows if we'll get lucky some place else."

You and Roger drive to the truck stop, which immediately causes the lookouts to point and raise their rifles in your direction. When you stop in front of it there are a lot of shouts for you to stay in the truck.

"We don't need any government assistance here, we're doing just fine as you can see. I highly suggest that y'all just continue on your way." One of them shouts.
"I'm not here for trouble. I just need some gas. We get that and we'll be on our way to Fort Timons." Roger shouts back.
"Gas? Don't fucking think so soldier boy. With the way society is collapsing that shit's gonna be valuable and money is gonna be worthless."
"Well, would you accept a trade of supplies for gas?"
"Hrmmm, well whatta you got?"
"Got some military rations in the back of this thing. Those things last for years you know."
"We got tons of food, what else? Any weapons?"
"Uh…there might be a couple…oh we got some medical supplies in here!"

There is a long pause and he tells you to wait before climbing down the truck and disappearing from sight. Eventually you hear his voice again which is now coming from behind the truck barricade.

"Okay, we're gonna move this truck, but one funny thing happens and you're the first one getting a bullet to the head. Alright, we're letting this one in, everyone keep extra look out for those rabid bastards!"

"You still think this is a good idea?" you ask.
"Well it's like I said, our options for gas are limited." Roger answers.

As soon as the truck is moved out your way, the man who was barking orders at you waves you in and motions you over to the gas pumps. As soon as you drive in they put the truck back. Either they're really safety conscience or they don't want to risk having you get away.

From this distance you see several more people in the building part of the truck stop. Looks like it's a general store/diner combo. Most of them are watching you from the windows, though a few of them come out, one of them is an older man with a cane who walks directly to the pumps.

"Okay, I want the two you in that truck to exit it slowly. I don't care if you got weapons, but don't point them at me or anyone else in a threatening manner." The old man shouts.

Roger takes his rifle over his shoulder and exits the truck. You do like wise, though being unarmed you exit from Roger's side just so you don't feel quite as vulnerable. Naturally rifles are pointed at the pair of you, but the old man with the cane shouts telling them to calm down.

"You lot, stop pointing your guns and start unloading this truck. Sorry about that, everyone's a little on edge. Name's Henry. I own this place." He says.
"Roger and it's understandable."
"Well, a military man eh? Thought all the National Guard were off fighting those rabid things in the city. From what I've heard the place is completely overrun now."
"The city? You mean Security is overrun?" you ask.
"Yep. Heard it on the radio. Not the regular one of course. Those GZ bastards seem to be clogging those up, but on my Ham Radio. Been trying to communicate with Fort Timons, but my radio isn't exactly in the best condition…"
"Hold on! You've been in communication with Fort Timons?!" Roger exclaims.
"Well, somewhat. More like my old buddy I served with back in the day who still works there as an inventory clerk. Haven't heard anything from him since yesterday. All I know is the last thing he told me was the fort was on high alert and further communication was going to be limited to a need to know basis and only to those with the proper clearance. Typical military bullshit I suppose, well I don't need to tell you."
"Uh, we were on our way to Fort Timons. Do you think it's safe?" You say.
"Heh, well I couldn't tell you if the fort is safe, but I can tell you that those rabid fuckers have been making their way out of the city en mass and given how far the city is, they apparently don't get tired and can cover a lot of ground. We just repelled a bunch of them yesterday. Hence the make shift fortress here. Fort Timons is even closer to the city, so at best I'd wager that you're going to have to wade through a bunch of those things before getting there. Not something I'd want to do to be sure." Henry remarks.
"Shit, those things are in the city and they were in my town! This means this can't just be a local thing! It's probably a nationwide epidemic! We can't go to Fort Timons now!" you exclaim.
"We don't know if the place has fallen to those things." Roger replies.
"Exactly! We don't know!" you say.

At this point Henry interjects.

"If I may, the both of you can stay here. We've got the room and your truck full of supplies as far as I'm concerned buys your way in. And I'm sure as a military man, you'd pull your weight here to defend this place if need be. So you and your girlfriend can stay here if you wish." Henry says and then walks over to oversee his people unloading the truck.

It's an incredibly tempting offer and one you'd jump at the chance for, but Roger still seems sure that Fort Timons will better in the long run. You wonder if he feels a little obligated to go back to Fort Timons because deep down he feels like he abandoned his post even if hasn't admitted it.

The only downside is if Roger doesn't stick around and you do, you'll be left in the company of a bunch of strangers again and that didn't go so well last time. You can only imagine all the leers, grope attempts and possibly worse from a bunch of horny trucker types.

[User] You insist on staying here

[Assistant]
Something in your heart is telling you that going to Fort Timons would be a huge mistake. The length of the trip and the possibility that it's going to be swarming with those things just doesn't seem safe. This place might not be safe either, but at least it's a secure place that you don't need to travel any further to.

"Suzy, I still think going to Timons is a better idea than staying here. I'm going, so if you want to stay…" Roger says before you interrupt him.

You grip Roger by the head with both hands and move it downwards so you can kiss him on the lips. The kiss is then followed your arms moving downward in a tighter hugging motion. He returns in kind as the pair of you continue to embrace.

"Don't go. Please don't go to Fort Timons. It won't be safe and I need you here with me." You say stopping your kiss to speak.
"Suzy…"
"Please. Stay with me."
"(Sigh) Suzy… do you really mean this? I mean I really need to know where we stand…because…you can't just flutter your eyes and kiss me without meaning it now. I'm really starting to have feelings for you, but if you're just doing this out of survival again…"

You stare him directly in his eyes.

"Yes, Roger. I mean it. Not just for me, but for you. I don't want you to put yourself in any danger anymore than I want myself to be in danger. And Fort Timons is just going to be unnecessary danger. I know we haven't known each other long, but we have been through a lot together and if this is the way this shitty world is going to be, then I want to at least spend the rest of that time with you."

Well if you didn't mean any of that, it sure was enough to convince Roger because he resumes kissing and hugging you immediately. Of course you did mean it since you have grown attached to him. Just a sucker for men who save your life you guess.

You both don't even notice Henry walking up to you.

"Hrm, looks like I interrupted something. So did you two decide on what you're going to do…besides suck on each others faces?" he asks.
"Well…" Roger says and then smiles at you before turning his attention to Henry. "I think we'll be staying."
"Great. Glad to hear it. Need more people to help defend this place. Think you could help with look out for awhile with that rifle of yours?" Henry says.
"Sure. For how long?" Roger asks.
"Hmm, probably until midnight. Earl needs to get some sleep, that's why he's so irritable right now. As for you little lady, why don't you head on inside and get acquainted with everyone. You and your boyfriend can pick up where you left off later."

Henry goes to wander over to Earl to give him the news that he'll be relieved soon and you and Roger are left alone again.

"Okay, well I guess I'll see you later tonight then." Roger says.
"Yes, though I wonder where we're supposed to sleep." You answer.
"Well presumably together now."
"Ha ha, of course but that wasn't what I meant."
"Hrm, I'm sure someone will tell you inside what the sleeping arrangements are, well anyway I probably should get over to my new job. See you later." Roger says.

As he leaves, you shout to him to be careful which he just smiles and waves as a reassurance that you don't need to worry about him.

And now you turn towards the truck stop building which no longer has the small crowd outside it anymore and people have gone back inside. People which you now have to be social with…

"Okay, Suzy. You can do this. It won't be like the carnival." You mumble to yourself as you walk to the building.

As soon as you walk in you see a mixture of people. Mostly older men, but women as well and even a couple children. Most of them look up when you enter.

"Hi everyone. I'm Suzy and my boyfriend Roger are going to be staying here, but we brought in a whole bunch of medical supplies and food with us to help pull our weight around here."

Your introduction is met with apathy. Half of them grunt in acknowledgement and the other half just go back to doing whatever it is they were doing.

Well it's better than most of what you got at the carnival.

Seeing that nobody is speaking to you, you decide to sit quietly by yourself in a booth far away from everyone else. You mainly spend your time in introspection and listening to the random conversations. Most of them naturally are talking about the situation at hand, but it's broken up by periods of "normalcy" of just joking around.

Nobody here seems to be overly worried about rabid people running around and the breaking down of society, then again most of the people here are truckers so they're probably used to roaming about and the employees of the place seem like they spend so much time here it's a second home.

Eventually enough time passes and you get tired of being a wall flower, or more specifically you're tired of wearing the same clothes for the past few days along with no shower. You walk up to the group of waitresses in the hopes to ask them that perhaps there is some sort of wash up facility here.

The oldest waitress, a red head with hard features and a name tag that says Anne looks you up and down as you approach and her friends do likewise.

"Excuse me, but is there a wash room or shower or something I could use? I just feel so dirty what with the sweating and running from those things outside."

You expect catty remarks or a few insults or some sort of hostility, but you're met with a surprise.

"Why sure blondie. You can use the small shower we have for us in the back. You need a change of clothes too?" Anne says.
"You have some?"
"Well they're extra waitress uniforms. If that's okay."
"Sure, if it's clean it'll be a welcome change."
"Okay, hmm you're a bit on the small side, Jasmine, go get Trudy's old uniform. That should fit…Suzy wasn't it?"
"Yes, and thank you."

Soon, Jasmine returns to give you a uniform and you're on your way to get washed up. The waitresses' private bathroom isn't much but the fact it has a shower that you can use to get clean is enough for you.

You feel a little odd wearing the uniform, which was obviously designed to attract a lot of male attention, but again you're just glad to be out of those old dirty clothes.

By the time you get out of the shower, the waitresses are cooking up dinner for everyone. You ask if they need any help, but they say they got it.

You sit down and eat, a couple people make a bit of small talk, but nothing of importance. You mostly are left alone, but it's a promising start at least. In any event the re-invigorated feeling you had after the shower is wearing off and you start to get tired which is when you ask Anne where the sleeping area is.

"Well some people are flopping right out here in these booths. A few really brave souls are sleeping out in their trucks out there. Henry's got his own private office as you might expect. The wait staff has that small lounge area near our bathroom…though Jasmine is using one of the storerooms since she's got her kids with her. I guess you could take one these booths or share the storeroom with Jasmine. Of course you've got that boyfriend…hmmm could give you the second storeroom. Doesn't really have a lot of space though."
"That's fine, I just want some where to rest."

And once again you succeed in a simple task with no major problems. Things have been going so well for you since you got here that you almost forget about the problems of the outside world going on. You don't of course, but you honestly can say this is the safest you've felt since you left your basement.

Giving you a spare blanket, Anne directs you to the second storeroom, which is indeed lacking in space but it's enough for you. You waste no time in laying down your blanket and falling asleep on the floor.

[User] The next day…

[Assistant]
SATURDAY

You wake up to a body grinding up against you, an arm holding you tightly around your mid-section and warm breath blowing in your ear in between the kissing.

Not exactly what you expected, but it beats those Ground Zero advertisements.

"Well, looks like someone is feeling friendly this morning. When did you get here?" You ask.
"A little after midnight. It was boring and I would've rather been with you, but at least I didn't see any of those things. You of course were already asleep so I just slept besides you the whole night. You're a pretty sound sleeper, you didn't even wake up." Roger says.
"Hrm. Surprised you didn't take advantage of my vulnerable situation."
"I thought about it, but honestly by that time I was pretty tired myself. I actually haven't been awake long. So they make you a waitress to help out around here?"
"Oh. This? No. They were just good enough to let me borrow some clean clothes. I won't say everyone here has been social with me, but at least nobody has been hostile."
"Hm. Well you look hot in that uniform." Roger says and resumes groping you.
"Oh? You like this? Got a role play fetish eh?"
"Sure, and its short so I'll be able to hike the skirt up for easy access."
"Well that definitely is the practical side to it." You chuckle.

Your laughter is turned to semi-surprise when Roger moves one of his hands under your skirt. You didn't quite expect him to go there so quickly, but it isn't unwelcome.

"Mmm yeah…"

It's been like a whole week that you've gone without pleasuring yourself (let alone had anyone else do it) so as far as you're concerned you're about due.

You quickly start to undo Roger's pants and few moments later your legs are wrapped around him and he's thrusting into you.

"Oh shit this feels so fucking good…" you exclaim.

Honestly that's not all you say. You say quite a few things fairly loudly and you don't really care if anyone hears you. (Roger on the other hand is a bit more on the quiet side)

You don't know how much time passes because you're enjoying yourself so much and then you feel it.

"Oh my God! I'm almost there! Keep doing that! Harder! Faster! Oh yessss…" you exclaim and then the explosion.

Though not that one.

There's a loud noise and a faint rumble, but you don't really pay it any mind because you and Roger are more focused on the task involving each other's fun parts.

A few moments later and someone starts banging on the door. At first you think its someone that's complaining about you being too noisy, but they start yelling you two need to come out now.

"There's a fucking nuke going off in distance!" the voice yells.
"What the fuck?!" Roger exclaims.
"What?!" You say.
"I said there's a…"
"Yeah I heard! (Sigh) Hold on." Roger interrupts.

That must've been the rumble and noise from earlier. Talk about a mood breaker.

"So…they finally went and did it." You say.
"I guess so. Shit…I hope it wasn't too close." Roger says.
"We'd be all vaporized if it was a big one, so maybe it was just a little one?"
"The one they dropped on Hiroshima was a little one too."
"Well I suppose there's not much for it now. Our building is still intact so that's a good sign." You say trying not to wonder if you're still going to be in the range of a fatal dose of radiation.

Roger starts to slowly get his pants back on and you pull your skirt back down.

When you both leave the room, you see Jasmine trying to calm her children down. A couple people are arguing. A few are just sitting in a silent state of shock. Henry is actually outside the diner looking in the direction of where the bomb must've gone off. You can see the lingering remnants of a mushroom cloud in the far distance even from inside the diner. You can't help but hold on the Roger a bit tightly.

"I don't exactly know how far or how big the bomb was, but I do know it went off in the direction of Fort Timons. Hell, that might've even been the target. Well either that or the city. Either way both of those places are probably radioactive ruins now and it looks like you saved my life too." Roger says squeezing you around the waist.
"You think maybe this was just a way to get rid of those infected people? Maybe this is only occurring on a small scale?" you ask.
"I dunno. Maybe, but I get the impression this bomb was just one of many to the nuclear end of the big war that the Ground Zero ads kept going on about. Guess it doesn't matter because I imagine things are going to be severely changing and the world as we once knew it is going to be much different. Harder for one thing."

Surprisingly as frightening as this event is, you aren't as filled with dread as you normally would be. Maybe its because after all the other craziness you went through this week, you could've ended up a lot worse off. Maybe you're finally trying to find the silver lining for once in your life.

"We'll handle it…together." You say with certainty.

Roger looks at you and nods.

"We will."

At this point Henry steps back in the diner and after calming some of the arguing truckers. He begins addressing the situation and stating that nothing has changed and that the situation is still the same, namely if people help, then they are welcome to stay. If not or if they don't want to stay then they are free to go.

A couple of the truckers who apparently have families elsewhere do leave. Everyone else stays and the work towards creating a permanent new "home" is begun.

While you're pitching in by doing inventory on the medical supplies you have you briefly wonder what would've happened had you not abandoned the carnival when you did. Could you have made a difference had you stayed like Roofie wanted you to?

You shake your head. You don't mind helping out, but you know you're no leader. Better to be safe and be around a group that you at least feel more comfortable around and so far that's what you've encountered here at this truck stop. Most people here despite the highly stressful situation have still been pleasant with you.

Funny where one finds a place to belong.

[User] Continue

[Assistant]
Nice and Safe

The Future…

"Take it or leave it. Don't have all day to haggle with you." You say to the scavenger.

He looks at the plastic bag of 9mm ammo for a moment.

"Alright I'll take it." He says and hands over two damaged rifles and takes the ammo without another word and leaves.

You look at the rifles again and think how glad you are to have someone who has a natural affinity to fixing thing.

"Daniel! Come out here, got a project for you."

You son comes out from his work area to see what you're yelling at him about this time.

"Mom, what is it now?" Daniel replies.
"Here. Got more rifles you can fix and we can sell for better profit later on." You say and pass the rifles to him.
"These need new bolts. I'm not sure if I have any spare ones. At least not for two rifles."
"Well do what you can. I'm sure you'll think of something. You usually do. Besides you know how everyone that comes through this place is always interested in weapons. If you get just one of them fixed, it'll still be a profit for what we got them for."
"Don't most people buy their weapons from Earl on the far side of the bazaar?"
"Yeah, but he specializes in that, the beauty of what we do is sell and buy a little bit of everything. So someone who might be looking for medicine might also end up buying a gun too. Besides, he's getting a reputation of ripping people off, so we need to be prepared for the possible day for when people start coming to us to buy their guns instead."

Daniel nods and says nothing else. He isn't really much of a talker or a thinker for that matter. Not that the boy is stupid, its just he focuses on other things. Like fixing. Sometimes he reminds you a bit of your older brother's son from the old days. That boy was definitely a savant.

Daniel head back to his workstation. You're so glad you've never had problems with him, though Roger thinks he should mix more with people…but then you remember your own isolationist days in a certain basement and laugh to yourself.

Compared to you back then, Daniel is a social butterfly and has an actual trade. He'll be fine.

Really its odd to you sometimes that you basically run the equivalent of a post apocalyptic general store, but as this place got bigger and better fortified, the original people began to rise in status and responsibility and here you are.

It certainly is better than being a wanderer out there. You've heard the tales and have no desire to leave the walls of New Security. Its safe here and you have everything you'd ever want.

It's your new basement.

You remember Roger wanting to lead the New Security recon team when it was formed, but you managed to talk him out of that nonsense. You didn't talk him into staying here in the first place and avoid getting nuked to atoms just so he could go play wasteland warrior and get his head blown off that way.

His job as lead protector of New Security holds more than enough danger and a test of his skills.

"Hey mom, how's business?" Cindy asks walking in.
"Fine. I'm guessing you went with your father today?"
"Yep. It was really cool. I got to learn how to shoot. I even killed something!"
"What?" you ask.

At this point Roger walks in and has heard the end of the conversation.

"It wasn't a person and she wasn't in any danger. It was just a large rat that had wandered on the range. She got it in right in the head on one shot. She's a natural." Roger says in an effort to reassure you.

You know it's a harsh new world now, and you know your daughter learning how to shoot is probably one of the best things for her, but you can't help worry.

"Well, glad to hear you had fun." You say.
"Yeah! I even got to see the New Security Scout Team coming in from a mission! They said they had to fight a mutant! Sounded exciting! I can't wait to be able to become one of them one day!"

Well now you're worried and Roger already knows it.

"Uh, Cindy why don't you go into the back, I'm sure we'll all be eating soon." Roger says. Cindy complies, but she knows all too well an argument is going to be occurring soon.

You give Roger that "look" that he knows all to well is one of displeasure.

"Suzy, before you even start I really did not put that idea into her head! I didn't even know the scout team was coming back today! Let alone that she was going to bump into them."
"You're the head protector! How would you not know that?!" you say.
"Hey, I take care of internal safety first. Besides, sometimes the scouts come back early if they don't find anything out there."
"A mutant sounds like something to me. Look I know Cindy's a teenager and I know she finds all this military type stuff exciting, but I'd at least rather not encourage her desire to want to go traipsing about the wasteland."
"Well I'd rather her be safe too, I mean that's why I'm trying to teach her how to shoot and other skills. I mean we can only guide so much and eventually she's going to be an adult and we won't have any control over what she does. You know that."

This is an old argument and Roger is right, but you really wish he wasn't.

"I know. I know. Just…(sigh) could you at least next time emphasize that being a scout isn't as glamorous as it sounds?"
"That I can do. Can't promise you it'll work, but I'll definitely do that."
"Well that's the best I can hope for."

Roger moves in to kiss you and you return it.

"Besides, I don't see why SHE gets to be in the scout team when I'm not a allowed to." Roger says with a smile.

You laugh and you close up the store so that you can spend time with your family.

It's not the easiest life, but it's more than you ever had before.


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

[User] You attack

[Assistant] You raise your rifle, firing at Viceroy Mihrab. He easily sidesteps with inhuman speed, as Viceroy Alexa and Viceroy Draven charge you. Draven is faster, swinging his sword. You manage to duck under it, feeling it hack at your scalp, before he kicks your legs away. Your smack into the hard, cold stone floor, as Alexa grabs your neck, quickly snapping it.


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

[User] You hire Scales

[Assistant]
You must have lost your mind, because you can't believe you're actually considering this.

"Fuck it, give me that egg." You say.
"Seriously?" Tom asks.
"Yeah, I'm serious. I know enough about Mr. Reynolds through my dad that I don't want to have deal with him. And as you said, he's probably going to have some sort of weird catch as part of the agreement he isn't going to reveal until afterwards. At least with the lizard I'll know where I stand right away." You say.
"I guess that's one way of looking at it. Okay kid, I'll get that egg."

Tom heads over to one of his safes and after unlocking it, he takes out two green pieces of an oval shaped object, which he then puts together and hands to you. The broken egg is rough to the touch and more solid than you thought it would be.

"While this isn't as delicate as one might think, still be careful with it. You sure about this? I mean I still don't think this thing with Jake is that serious."
"It's gotta be taken care of and besides, maybe I'll just be charming enough to convince Scales to join us again."
"You think big kid, just hope you're right."

Tom proceeds to tell you where he thinks Scales makes his home. It actually isn't too far from the forgotten sewer entrance. Tom goes on to say it might be dangerous just getting to Scales, since that part of the sewers has been non-functional and abandoned for as long as he can remember.

Armed with this knowledge (And a broken egg) Tom wishes you luck before you leave.

On your way out, you're stopped by Zalmora and Vaughn.

"What's that? Wait, is that an egg?" Vaughn asks.
"Yeah, I'm going to use it to try to convince Scales to assassinate Jake. Tom said Ed used to do it all the time." You reply.

Vaughn's jaw almost drops and expresses obvious disbelief.

"Have you gone completely barmy? I wasn't here that long while Scales was still around, but even I know damn well that the only reason why Ed even had control over that lizard is because he raised him from that egg! And you can see that didn't work forever. You go looking for Scales and you're going to find death!" Vaughn exclaims.
"Why do we need Scales to assassinate Jake anyway? I mean I told you that I think it's a better idea to just let Jake continue rampaging through the woods to take the heat off of us." Zal asks.
"Yeah, and I don't think that it's a good idea to just let disobedience within the organization to go unpunished like that. Besides, I also thought that given this Scale's reputation, maybe we could get him to join again." You say.
"Yep, completely barmy." Vaughn remarks.
"I agree…but the idea does have some merit. If we did get Scales back, we'd be in a lot better shape, muscle wise at least." Zal remarks.

Vaughn at this point just shakes his head.

"Okay, I can see this craziness is catching. I'm leaving before I catch it too. See you later, assuming Scales doesn't eat you, and Zal, I would think that you'd know better than to even entertain this idea." Vaughn remarks and walks away.

"So…are you coming with me?" you ask Zalmora.
"I didn't say that actually. I just said your idea has some merit. It's at least thinking in the long term. Scales could certainly track down Jake and kill him. I would imagine he'd also scare everyone else into coming back or even better a return to following the original plan of sending the spoils of their activities to us on a regular schedule." Zal says.
"You still really think our organization split up on the outside and inside the city is the best solution?"
"Yes. I really do believe that and I gave my reasons already."

While she hasn't offered to go, you get the impression Zal might be more inclined to help you if support her idea, but if Zal wants to help she can come with you with you needing to ask her. You're not going to barter with her or be some pawn just because you're sleeping together every once in awhile.

"Well I guess I better head out." You say.
"Oh. Right. Don't let me keep you. Just remember, Scales has never been a friendly sort and probably the best way to handle him is to defer to him as the alpha. If he thinks you're a threat, he's going to react accordingly. Then again, if he thinks you're too weak, he might just eat you, but I'm guessing not acting aggressively might help. Anyway, if you even think you're in grave danger, just get the hell out of there. Be careful okay?" Zal says and starts to leave, but before she does she kisses you goodbye.

That sort of makes you feel more worried than you were before.

You leave the Crimson Talon headquarters and enter the sewers. You never cease hating stomping around down here, but possibly stepping in shit or worse is the least of your concerns right now.

You follow the directions Tom gave you and finally get to the abandoned part of the sewers he mentioned. Actually it doesn't even look like the rest of the sewers at this point. The tunnel is partially collapsed or has great gaping holes leading to who the hell knows where. Beyond this first tunnel, you can only imagine that it's going to be in even worse repair.

Using your lantern and your natural agility you continue to make your way, hopping that all this hoping and jumping around isn't going to break the egg in your pack any more than it already is.

You go through a couple more old collapsed sewer tunnels and then you notice the man made structure is starting to disappear into a crumbling abyss. You also notice how weak the ground (or rather what's left of it) is in general. One wrong move and you're probably falling to your death. You cautiously move across what's left the stone flooring.

You're doing pretty well until you suddenly hear some noise behind you. At first you think it's something sinister lurking down here or possibly even Scales himself, but when you hear the word "Shit!" you know the voice immediately and turn around thrusting your lantern ahead.

"Zal?!" you call out.

Your light illuminates enough that you can see a figure far behind you half hanging over the edge of the abyss. She doesn't answer she's just struggling to get back up.

"Zal! What the fuck are you doing here?! Wait! I'll come help you!" you shout.
"No! You stay over there! This fucking floor is weak enough without both of us in the same area."
"Zal, you're gonna fall!"
"I'm almost back up, just keep going! I'll catch up!"

[User] You go help Zal

[Assistant]
She probably came back to help you, you can't just leave her to struggle.

As quick as you can, you try to make it over to Zal, who keeps telling you to go back.

"Zal, I'm not gonna just…fuuuuuuuuu…."

It's not a glorious or noble death falling off a collapsing walkway and into a large hole, but that's exactly what has happened to you.

As you fall, you hear Zal's voice echo your name in darkness until the sound dissipates leaving you only to fall in dark silence.

You fall for quite a long time, much longer than you thought you would actually. For a brief moment you think maybe you've fallen down a bottomless pit.

Such things are typically just heard about in myths and stories, but given the magical world you live in, who is to say they don't exist somewhere?

Of course that little theory soon comes to an end when you at last do hit the ground. Who knows where the hell you ended up, because you broke every bone and died on impact, but your splattered body didn't go to waste to whatever was living so far below the ground.