How did the world end? Some Stalkers and other braggarts say they know what happened. That a great plague swept the world and killed everyone. That the bosses of the Old Age fired their weapons of mass destruction at each other and drowned the world in flames. That the gods among the stars, the Ancients’ overlords, had enough of mankind’s hubris and decided to end it all in fire and brimstone. Maybe it’s true, maybe it’s just lies and tall tales. The truth is, no one knows for sure. Except maybe the Elder. And he refuses to talk about it. We learned as children not to ask, he would curse and rave at us every time the subject came up. But I’ve heard him mumble in his sleep. He said that the Ancients ended themselves.
With Danny taking the lead you head down what appears to have been a wide road at some point in the past. With weeds and small trees bursting through the cracked tarmac and rusted metal posts marking the edge of the highway, it doesn't take you long to reach the first of the ruined structures.
Heavy, dark clouds build on the horizon and soon loom overhead, dimming the late afternoon sunlight and casting much of the overgrown ruins in deep shadow. The wind grows and sends ripples through the wild grass that borders the dirty grey tarmac and threatens to swamp the low walls of the buildings on the outskirts of this small settlement, or whatever it might have been called in the Old Times.
Further afield, a larger building stands alone with rusted carcasses of cars arranged in neat rows between you and the faded concrete and metal exterior, it's roof partly collapsed and noisy birds roosting atop it.
If you all make a Scout roll please. If you get a success, you can then roll a D666 for Scrap.
Kwine is happy to see the ancient structures, not least because of the gathering clouds. As the group begin to search for anything of note, he tries to push himself to find something of value. However, the constant stress of being in the Zone and their fight against the dogs has frazzled him. His search is fruitless, and his ability to focus has suffered for it.
Roll Scout: No successes.
Push Roll: One trauma to wits. One mutation point added.
Mart stares at the cars for a while, looking at their bumpers and dreaming about ripping one off somehow, and giving it to Kwine to make a blade! He paws at the seated metal cages to get into them, first trying the "ears" (side mirrors). He catches sight of himself in one of the reflective surfaces, and his morale takes a knock when he sees his reflection in such harsh detail. He attempts to stick his arm through a glass pane (it's too narrow), and finally hooking his fingers into the catches on their sides and yanking, but nothing gives (an Old Times savvy wanderer would know that these are door handles, and they're locked).
As you move amongst the ruins the rain begins to fall, sporadically at first, but the heavy, cold drops of rain quickly turn into a torrential downpour, drumming rhythmically on the metal and broken glass of the rusting cars and what remains of the roofs of the nearby buildings.
Arkod complains bitterly, spitting rainwater on the muddy ground as he barks out to you that he is looking for shelter in the supermarket that looms over the rusted cars.
Mart and Kwine find nothing, with Kwine looking especially forlorn as raindrops run down his face. Danny has little more success, finding a small plastic object that seems to be made of dozens of fine plastic spikes attached to a slim handle.
Danny has found a small plastic comb.
While the rain intensifies, Arkod can be seen and heard at the entrance to the supermarket, around twenty or so meters from you all, his attempt to open the door to the large building results in the metal framed glass door coming off it's hinges and shards of glass tumble noisily to the floor.
Deciding that there is something nefarious about the way that the many-seated carts are constructed, Mart says, "Are not these cages of a sinister design? Em surely knows how to open them." He turns to look toward the sound of shattering glass. "That was quite loud. Do we rejoin him at the entrance?"
You all head towards the entrance of the ancient building, stepping over the shards of glass that now litter the ground.
"Well, it looked sturdier than it was... You lot were too slow." Arkod growls as the others catch up. Under the roof of the entrance at least you are all sheltered from the worst of the rain, which is now coming down in waves, lashing loudly on the roof of the supermarket high above your heads. In places you see rainwater pouring down through holes in the roof and splashing on the tiled floor of the old building.
The heavy clouds block the sun and the interior of the building is dark and lined with huge walls of shelving, blocking your view after only a few meters into the building. The aisles disappear into the darkness, dozens of meters to the left and right, though the shelves directly in front of you all seem to be stripped of any bounty they once held.
Mart shields his sight from rain to get a better look at this super market as they get closer. He palms the side of the eroded, tiled wall. "This place seemeth built like a fort... Methinks more dogs could be sheltering within."
The slave walks in with his crude weapon in hand, and his eyes are drawn toward the area behind the counter. But what does he see inside?
Kwine takes a tentative step inside the structure, to get out of the rain. It looks like food isn't going to be bountiful, at least in this section of the massive building. However, there is a sliver lining to the building: the shelving seems to be nice and mostly flat pieces of metal. With some grinding, hammering, and muscle power, the shelves could be refigured as weapons, armor, or building material for any number of projects. The trick would be getting it back to the compound. A cart, the Gearhead thinks. If I can make at cart, we can probably disassemble the shelves, stack them, and get them back to my workshop. Maybe the vehicles outside could be useful. Jeth might get his car after all. Kwine tries to get the cobwebs out of his mind.
"We should rest for a bit. And see what rations we have. At the very least, getting out of the rain should help," Kwine states to his fellow explorers. "Danny, how bad is the Rot in this area?"
