Two Months Ago
Crystal stumbled out of the barn and braced herself against one of its faded red exterior walls. She was having trouble breathing and slid down to the ground. A beat. Randy James stepped out into the moonlight, an annoyed look on his face.
“Why do you have to be like that, Crissie?” he asked, a slight whine in his voice.
“Th-that kid,” Crystal started. “How can you…do…that?”
Randy James clucked his tongue disapprovingly. “You have such shortsightedness, you know that? You just refuse to see the bigger picture, like everyone else. You don’t see them out here, freaking out, boohooing. Maybe you need to grow the fuck up, Crissie.”
It was cemented in her mind. Crystal was going to run away from the Children of the Eclipse. She couldn’t take part in that horror show in the barn. Money was needed. It would be expensive to try and leave. Where would she go? She felt compelled to stop what Randy James was doing. He had mentioned working for the feds during and after the war. There was a military base just outside of San Francisco. He’d said that’s where these experiments started. Then, she needed to destroy that place. It was more important than her own life.
Shift: Night – Formerly Sequoia National Forest
Event: Personal Threat Countdown – Escalation
Miguel explained that they would have to abandon the Explorer, as there were many abandoned cars to pick from on the other side of the city.
Uncle Miguel had given Crystal the bad news before they began the hike. She would need to say goodbye to the Explorer. It wasn’t something she wanted, but it was a stolen vehicle anyway. To get through Bakersfield, they would need to go around on foot, and the car couldn’t go with them. Miguel promised that Crystal could hotwire many abandoned vehicles on the other side of town. She just hoped they found one with plenty of gas. Miguel heard people were following Crystal and her friends and insisted on destroying the Explorer in case a tracker was hidden on it. There went two canisters of gasoline.
Crystal walked near the front of the group with Miguel, who pointed out spots through this valley where he had hidden stashes of emergency supplies. The old man knew it was only a matter of time before Sheriff Bonner sent his people out to stop Miguel, his niece Maya, and her friend Luca. They weren’t a major threat, but they were annoying.
Wyatt was walking alongside Maya, who had saved his life an hour ago as the private detective nearly stumbled over the tripwire to an IED Miguel had left along the path. Maya seemed safe for Wyatt to stick around if only to spot these dangers before he got into serious trouble. He was still worried about the flying drone that had been following him getting shot down by the military back in California City. They were bound to know more about what was happening now than him, which made him uneasy.
Stella hung in the back, Taco by her side as always. Luca was covering the rear and seemed to be the quiet, vigilant type. Stella wasn’t in the mood for much chit-chat, so the silence was good for her. The sun was setting over the Sierra Nevadas, and the mountains shadowed the valley. A gunshot rang out as Miguel and Crystal rounded a bend, following a path that ascended the hill.
(I don’t typically do granular combat when I play solo TTRPGs, but I thought I’d try it here. I provide maps every few rounds to show where the characters are in relation to each other.)
Round #1
Miguel is hit by the nearby shrubs, which protect him from the full brunt of the damage. The shooter, watching from a nearby ridge, gets off two shots. The second hits Miguel in the side, and he staggers back, shouting for everyone to hit the ground. The darkness and the gunshots provide just enough chaos for his cries to go unheard at first.
Maya rushes forward to check on her Uncle while Luca tries to push into the brush to get a bead on the shooter from his side.
Crystal attempts to pull Miguel further into the brush and manages to get him in to cover and away from the shooter. She expects the person with the gun to have a night vision scope to have hit Miguel so perfectly despite some shrubs providing cover.
Wyatt grabs Stella’s hand, telling her to get to cover, which she obeys. Pulling away from the detective, Taco at her heels, she runs for the dense treeline.
Round #2
The shooter takes aim and strikes Maya through the upper left thigh. She was rushing towards where she heard Uncle Miguel’s cries and ends flat on her face in the dirt. Maya is smart enough to stay quiet as she gets her bearings. The pain is a lot, though.
Miguel is crawling towards the tree line and hears Maya cry out after a gunshot. He tries to turn around and find her in the darkness, but the pain is too much. Blood pours down his side.
Luca spots a figure moving down the path with a weapon drawn. This figure doesn’t see Luca hidden in the brush. The young man takes aim with his handgun and fires off two shots, striking the stalking figure. This attacker is on the ground and completely incapacitated.
Crystal pushes through the brush to get a better vantage and catches the moonlight glinting off a scope. Someone up on the ridge. She needs to get up there.
Wyatt keeps moving for the brush while Stella is terrified and hiding there.
Round #3
The shooter can see Maya with his night vision scope; another shot misses, though.
Uncle Miguel attempts to make noise to draw the fire away from Maya and appears to succeed. No more shots at his niece, and Miguel has to assume the shooter is scanning the treeline with his scope.
Luca attempts to drag the incapacitated attacker into the brush and gets him there with relative ease. He doesn’t notice people following down the path, so it seems this guy and whoever is up on the ridge are alone.
Crystal attempts to move towards the ridge without being spotted. She stumbles over a tree root and hears shuffling up there. She’s been heard, and the shooter is reconfiguring his setup to get the drop on her.
Wyatt pushes further into the brush, looking for his companions; he finds Stella. Stella stays hunkered down
Round #4
Crystal doesn’t realize it, but she almost took a bullet to the head. The shooter misses due to shaky hands.
Uncle Miguel hears the shot hit on the other side of the brush and attempts to limp out and grab Maya again. He can’t; the pain sears through his body, and he curses himself, knowing his niece is lying out there in the dark, bleeding.
Maya attempts to army crawl towards the brush, but the drugs in her system have left her disoriented
Luca searches over the unconscious man. He finds a semi-auto handgun, a dose of neurine, $40 in cash, and a baseball bat strapped across his back.
Crystal attempts to rush the ridge and get to the top before the shooter can reload and does so, finding a spot with the shallowest incline that she can bound up in a handful of large steps.
Wyatt and Stella scoot closer to Luca. He tosses Wyatt the handgun; the detective finds it’s a full clip. He tucks the gun in the back of his jeans.
Round #5
Uncle Miguel attempts to get Wyatt’s attention without making too much noise, loudly whispering for him. Wyatt moves closer to Uncle Miguel.
Maya starts hallucinating as her leg bleeds and adrenaline mixes with the drugs. The stars start growing in size, swirling across the sky in a rainbow.
Stella takes the baseball bat from Luca.
Crystal rushes the shooter as he reloads, putting her full force into disarming him. She knocks the shooter over so hard that the bullets scatter in the darkness, the rifle clatters to the ground, and she has him pinned
Stella stays with Luca, and they bind the other man.
Round #6
The shooter attempts to engage Crystal in a hand-to-hand fight. They are evenly matched, but Crystal finds something familiar in his fighting style. Is he one of the Children of the Eclipse?
Uncle Miguel waits and listens for more shots and where they are aimed.
Luca whispers to Stella he’s pushing forward and attempts to rush up the ridge. The spot he picks is too steep, and he can hear Crystal struggling with someone up there.
Wyatt rushes out to grab Maya and carry her into the brush. He gets ahold of her and pulls the young woman out of the line of sight.
Stella pets Taco to keep him calm
Round #7
Crystal finds herself losing control. Her fists connect with the shooter. She can feel the cartilage of his nose give way with a sickening crunch. Luca scrambles up the ridge just in time as Crystal batters their assailant.
Uncle Miguel tries to stabilize Maya now that Wyatt has rescued her. She slips into unconsciousness but is otherwise stable. Wyatt attempts to wake her up and succeeds. She’s choking for air, but her breathing stabilizes.
Round #8
Crystal and Luca manage to pin down the shooter and beat him until his swings weaken.
Uncle Miguel can hear the scuffle on the ridge and tells Wyatt to get up there and help out.
Wyatt attempts to rush up the ridge and join his allies. He not only rushes up but manages to strike the shooter in the process.
Round #9
Together, Crystal, Luca, and Wyatt batter the shooter until he’s panting for air, a bloodied mess in the dirt. Crystal pops her flashlight on and shines it on the man’s face. It’s Sergio, one of the Children. They drag him down the ridge and check the guy Luca took out. It’s Nick, another of the Children.
Wyatt tries to console Crystal, checking on her. She angrily waves him away, gets up off the ground, and steps off for a minute (She lost 1 Hope, turning savage on Sergio). Luca immediately starts digging through Sergio’s pockets. He finds some chewing gum and 3 loose rifle bullets.
Maya and Uncle Miguel are wounded but not going to die. Crystal is worried that the other Children are waiting for them somewhere up the trail. They leave Sergio and Nick bound to a tree and without their weapons.
“Do you know another way through here, Miguel?” Crystal asks.
Tilt: High Good for the Travelers
He definitely does; it will give them the vantage of the high ground.
“We’ll bed down for the night here in the brush” Miguel shares – keeping guard in pairs – Crystal and Luca then Wyatt and Stella. The other two need to sleep.
Shift: Morning
Event: A Traveler Wanders Off.
The group has been walking along Wyatt’s alternate route for an hour. She was so busy helping him limp along that she didn’t notice that Stella and Taco were missing. She tells Wyatt to keep the group headed to the destination. She’s going to look for Stella.
Wits check (5) – Failure – Push the roll – Failure – Crystal gets jumped by the rest of the Children. Randy James is here, too.
Roxanne stands with her knife at Stella’s throat. Taco is breathing heavily on the ground; he’s not moving. Crystal starts to panic but remembers to focus on getting out of this situation. The Kid Kosmo drone stands by Randy, looking around, bewildered.
“The girl has nothing to do with this, Randy.” Crystal tries to sound authoritative. Miguel lent her a handgun. She approaches with it drawn but pointed at the ground.
Tilt: High Good for the Travelers
“I don’t plan on hurting this little flower,” Randy says, chuckling. “Let her go, Roxy.”
Roxanne looks annoyed but releases the girl from her grasp. Stella rushes over to the injured Taco.
“I just wanted to see who your new friends were, Crissie.” Randy continues. “We have unfinished business, you know. I think you took something from me?”
Crystal remembers the $60 she stole. He would chase her down and let two of his men get nearly killed for this? Crystal reaches into her pocket and tosses the rubber-banded wad of cash at Randy’s feet.
“She, me, and the dog are leaving,” Crystal states firmly. “Can you carry him, Stel?”
Stella nods her head while tenderly caressing the injured dog.
“You go ahead with whatever it is you’re doing, Crissie,” Randy James smiles with his devilish grin. “We’ll be seeing you on the road. You can count on that.” He looks to his two disciples. “Let’s go.”
The trio disappear into the brush, likely returning to where they left their van.
Shift: Day
Event: Conversation – Crystal & Stella – Topic: Personal Background
Crystal shares some details with Stella about who those people were, as they tend to Taco
Stella hints at the tragedy of her life thus far in the Exclusion Zone
“Who are those freaks?” Stella asks. Crystal helped construct a makeshift stretcher for Taco with some branches and clothing from Crys’s backpack.
“People I lived with for a short time,” Crystal replies.
“Why would they want to kill you?” Stella’s questions continue.
“I took money from them. And they think I betrayed their trust.”
“Did you?” the teenager asks. Crystal knows she’s asking because Stella and Wyatt are still unsure about this woman who picked them up on the side of the road a week ago.
“They didn’t tell me the truth,” responds Crystal. “And when they did, I saw them for the monsters they are.”
“If they are monsters,” Stella asks, “what does that make you?”
They finish the walk to rejoin their comrades in silence.
Event: Observation of Sheriff Bonner’s men and their old military drone
Oracle: Challenge Price
From the rooftop of a nearby abandoned supermarket, Crystal watches the makeshift fortress of the Bakersfield Police Headquarters through a pair of binoculars. The military drone sits lifeless on a side street. A delivery van approaches the gates. Miguel explains these are weekly groceries Bonner has intimidated one of the few local suppliers to deliver. Bonner pays, but never a fair amount.
The driver apparently gets into an argument about that payment. One of the deputies whistles, and a moment later, the drone rises up, stomps over, and punches a hole through the delivery truck. The driver jumps out just as the truck, stuck on the drone’s wrist, is lifted into the air and chucked down the street, crashing into some storefronts.
Crystal sees how quick to violence these thugs are. There shouldn’t be any mercy shown to them. She ignores the concerned looks of Wyatt, who wants to talk this over. Miguel points out a homeless shelter a few blocks away that should be safe for a night’s sleep. From our looks, we’ll definitely fit in, he tells the crew.
Shift: Evening
Event: A Threat catches up to a Traveler and may threaten the whole group
Bonner’s deputies don’t notice the man in black. They’re busy running down the street to see which groceries survived the drone’s assault. The man enters the police station, approaches the front desk, and rings the bell. Bonner comes out of his office, and his face drops. The stranger is wearing an all-black suit and a fedora with a long coat. What is strangest about him is the full-face mask, like some kind of gas mask with mirror goggles covering the eyes.
In a tinny, electronic voice, the man in black explains he is looking for someone who has stolen classified government materials. He believes the culprit is hiding somewhere in Bakersfield. Now, this interests old Bonner. Tell me more, he implores. The man in black reaches into his jacket and places a grainy surveillance photo of Wyatt on the counter. “This is the man. He must be apprehended by any means necessary.”
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