You are Cal Phoenix, the Freeway Warrior, champion and protector of Dallas Colony One. From the sanctuary of Big Spring your convoy of survivors begins the next stage of its life-or-death exodus: a journey to the fortified border town of El Paso, a destination that lies hundreds of miles beyond the sun-scorched wasteland of West Texas. In Slaughter Mountain Run your mission is to rescue Kate Norton from the clutches of your arch enemy - the H.A.V.O.C. leader Mad Dog Michigan. You have just seven days to free her and to rendezvous with the colony before it runs the gauntlet of fire that protects the only mountain road to El Paso.
+Internet Edition published by Project Aon. This edition is intended to reflect the complete text of the original version. Where we have made minor corrections, they will be noted in the Errata.
+Text copyright
Illustrations copyright
Distribution of this Internet Edition is restricted under the terms of the Project Aon License.
Before embarking on your adventure, you must first determine your personal characteristics and the weapons and provisions with which you are equipped. On pages 6 and 7 you will find an Action Chart on which to record and amend these details as the adventure unfolds. For ease of use during play it is recommended that you photocopy these pages.
+Your personal characteristics comprise two basic attributes:
To discover your
Ever since the day you returned to the surface, you have endeavoured to develop your skills and natural instincts fully in order to best defend yourself and your colony.
+Listed on your Action Chart are your five basic survival skills:
+ +Your ability to control powered vehicles, such as cars, motorcycles and trucks.
+ +Your familiarity and experience in the use of missile weapons, such as pistols, machine pistols, shotguns and rifles.
+ +Your knowledge and experience of all aspects of outdoor survival.
+ +Your physical fitness, the speed of your reflexes and your dexterity.
+ +Your intelligence, your ability to evaluate information, your education and your mental alertness.
+ +Your ability in each of these five individual skills is measured in skill points. You begin with 3 points per skill. Before starting the adventure, you may allocate an additional 4 skill points to your list of five survival skills. These 4 extra points can be used to improve one or more of your five skills. During your adventure, all five skills will be severely tested, therefore the higher the individual skill level, the better your chances of survival. You may allocate your 4 additional points entirely how you like.
+When you have decided where to allocate your 4 additional skill points, make a note of the totals in the Survival Skills section of your Action Chart.
+(If this is your first Freeway Warrior adventure, your total number of skill points should be 19: five skills x 3 points each = 15, plus 4 additional skill points = 19 points.)
+If you complete successfully the mission set in Book 2 of the Freeway Warrior series, you may add an additional 4 points to your Survival Skills in Book 3. These additional points, together with any equipment and provisions that you possess at the end of Book 2, may then be used in the next Freeway Warrior adventure, which is called The Omega Zone.
+ +Apart from your clothing, a number of useful items form your basic equipment. This comprises a Backpack, and a belt on which hangs your Ammo Pouch, Medi-kit, Water Canteen and Hunting Knife. In addition to these items, you possess a Map of Western Texas, which you carry tucked inside your leather jacket.
+ +Up to ten separate items may be stored and carried in your Backpack at any time. However, if more than three items are carried, your Stealth level will be reduced by 1 point. If more than six items are carried, your Stealth level will be reduced by 2 points; and if you carry a full Backpack (containing ten items) your Stealth level will be reduced by 3 points.
+In order to equip yourself for the task ahead, you may choose up to four items from the following list:
+List the items you have chosen on your Action Chart. If you have picked four items, adjust your current Stealth level accordingly.
+Opportunities may arise during your adventure for you to pick up useful items. These items will appear in the text in bold print and, unless you are instructed otherwise, they can be stored and carried in your Backpack.
+You will need to eat regularly. If you do not possess any food when you are instructed to eat a Meal, you will lose 3
Your Ammo Pouch is where you store any spare ammunition for firearms. It can hold a maximum of the following:
+
+ 40 rounds of 9mm calibre Pistol/Machine Pistol ammunition
+ or
+ 20 rounds of 7.62mm calibre Rifle ammunition
+ or
+ 10 rounds of 12-gauge calibre Shotgun ammunition
+
When carrying mixed calibres of ammunition, use this equation to check how much space you have left in your Ammo Pouch:
+4 x 9mm rounds = 2 x 7.62 rounds = 1 x 12 gauge round
+Additional ammunition can be carried in your Backpack. Ammunition occupies one space for each quantity that is equal to (or less than) the maximum that can be carried in one Ammo Pouch.
+ +A well-stocked Medi-kit can make all the difference to your chances of survival should you suffer injury in the field or as a result of combat. It contains useful first aid supplies, such as dressings, antiseptics, antibiotics, water purification tablets, sulphonamides, pain killers, potassium iodine tablets (to delay absorption of radioactivity) and sutures.
+For convenience, these medical supplies are grouped into units. To find how many units you have in your Medi-kit, pick a number from the Random Number Table (0 equals 10) and add 2. Your total score equals the number of units with which you begin your adventure. To keep a record of them, circle the appropriate number of unit symbols in the Medi-kit section of your Action Chart. The maximum number of units you can carry in your Medi-kit is twelve.
+You may use your Medi-kit units to restore lost
Water is essential to life, and your life will depend on having a sufficient, uncontaminated supply. You will need to drink regularly during your adventure. One drink is equivalent to half a pint and your canteen holds exactly two pints of water: enough for one day's needs. When instructed to drink, be sure to tick off one box in the Water section of your Action Chart.
+If you do not have any Water when instructed to drink, you must lose 3
These weapons aid you in hand-to-hand fighting. You begin your adventure armed with a Hunting Knife which, when used in close combat, adds 2 points to your
If you find a close combat weapon during your adventure, you may pick it up and use it. Close combat weapons will appear in the text with a close combat skill number, for example, Machete (3). This number indicates how many points this weapon will add to your
The maximum number of close combat weapons you may carry is two.
+ +There are four types of missile weapon:
+Unless you are continuing to use weapons from a previous Freeway Warrior book, you begin your adventure armed with only one of these weapons. Make your choice and then record the weapon you have chosen, together with its calibre and rate of fire details, in the Missile Weapons section of your Action Chart.
+In order to be able to use a missile weapon, you must have sufficient ammunition of the correct calibre. The following list shows the calibre of each weapon, the amount that is used every time the weapon is fired, and the number of rounds that you possess at the start of your adventure:
+ +| + | Calibre | +Rate of Fire | +Initial No. of Rounds | +
|---|---|---|---|
| PISTOL | +9mm | +1 | +8 | +
| MACHINE PISTOL | +9mm | +6 | +30 | +
| SHOTGUN | +12-gauge | +1 | +4 | +
| RIFLE | +7.62mm | +1 | +4 | +
The initial number of rounds should be noted in the Ammo Pouch section of your Action Chart. Missile weapons cannot be used if you run out of ammunition or possess rounds of the wrong calibre. However, the opportunity may arise for you to replenish your supply of ammunition and/or discover a weapon of the correct calibre.
+You may carry a maximum of three missile weapons. However, for every missile weapon that you carry (excluding your initial choice), you must reduce your Stealth level by 1 point.
+ + +There will be occasions when you will have to fight an enemy in hand-to-hand combat. The enemy's
At the start of a close combat, enter both your own and your enemy's
Add any extra points gained through the use of close combat weapons to your current
Subtract the
Example
Cal Phoenix (
He subtracts the Renegade Clansman's
After working out your Combat Ratio, pick a number from the Random Number Table.
Turn to the Close Combat Results Table on the inside back cover of the book. Along the top of the chart are the Combat Ratio numbers. Find the number that is the same as your Combat Ratio and cross-reference it with the number that you have picked (the random numbers appear down the side of the chart). You now have the
Example
The Combat Ratio between Cal Phoenix and the Renegade Clansman has been established as
On the Action Chart, mark the changes in
Unless otherwise instructed, or unless you have an option to evade, start the next round of close combat.
Repeat the sequence from stage 3.
This procedure continues until the
A Summary of the Close Combat Rules appears on the page after the Random Number Table.
+ +During your adventure you may be given the chance to evade close combat. If you have already engaged in a round of close combat and decide to evade, calculate the combat for that round in the usual manner. All ENDURANCE points lost by the enemy as a result of that round are ignored; only Cal Phoenix may lose
You are about to push open the door when you notice a thin, almost transparent cord wrapped around the inside handle. It rises to a shelf above the door, where it is attached to a large glass storage jar. Carefully you ease open the door a few inches, take hold of the cord between your fingers and snap it before entering the kitchen. Having deactivated this primitive trap, you make your way silently towards the bar at the front of the building.
As you enter, you search the darkened interior for some sign of Haskell, but you cannot see where he is. Rather than risk his mistaking you for a clansman, you whisper his name as you advance cautiously into the bar.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Perception and Stealth skill scores.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Perception and Stealth skill scores.
Having chosen to stop here and rest, you pull off the highway and search among the ruins for a safe shelter. You are looking for a place where you will be able to hide the roadster and observe the road; if the Angelinos appear during the night, you will need as much forewarning of their arrival as possible in order to make a successful getaway.
Only one place meets your needs: a warehouse and factory complex near the middle of the town. The cracked and tarnished facia above its entrance tells you that this was once the Eldorado Woolen Mills. You park the roadster in a covered lot at the rear, then settle yourselves on the first floor in a workshop that has an unobstructed view of the highway. You must now eat a Meal (or lose 3
Kate curls up beside you and falls asleep in your arms, while you, heavy with fatigue, force yourself to stay awake and watch the highway. Your vigilance pays off when, two hours later, you see a line of lights in the double doors leading to the kitchen and you head straight for them.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
This corridor services a number of offices and conference rooms before it ends at a wide staircase leading downwards. You descend three floors and discover the remains of a large private restaurant which, along with the kitchen, occupies most of the sub-basement level. A small 'fire exit' sign hangs over the double doors leading to the kitchen and you head straight for them.
As you are crossing the restaurant floor, your rumbling stomach reminds you that you have yet to eat anything today. Then the thought occurs to you that there could still be some canned food in the kitchen, and you decide to search it before you leave the building.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Perception skill score.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Perception skill score.
You wait until Haskell has disappeared into an alley that runs alongside the bar, then you approach the front door cautiously and peek inside. Remnants of food lie scattered across the tables and, judging by the amount of fresh garbage strewn on the floor, a large group of clansmen were here not so long ago.
Suddenly you hear the sound of breaking glass. It comes from the rear of the building and you sense that Haskell must have something to do with it. Fearing that he is involved in a fight, you enter the bar and call out his name.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Perception and Stealth skill scores.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Perception and Stealth skill scores.
If you keep any of these items, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
+If you keep any of these items, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
As soon as you are ready, you retrace your way along the defile and return to the surface.
The convoy is travelling at break-neck speed as it passes through the blazing ruins of Allamore and enters the pass beyond. Sweat trickles down your face as the ominous peak of Slaughter Mountain looms out of the smoke, and you witness the vicious battle taking place on its lower slopes. The bodies of slain Mavericks and Mexicans lie at the side of the freeway, tangled among the smoking remains of motorcycles and trucks once loaded with looted provisions. Small groups of desperate men are waging bitter hand-to-hand battles among this carnage, whilst others blaze away with automatic weapons, hiding in their foxholes dug by hand from the barren, stony soil.
The arrival of the convoy brings a lull in the fighting. Some turn their guns on you and a hail of bullets begins to rake either side of the colony vehicles. The tow truck approaches a bend in the freeway, and, as it turns, you see a Maverick kneeling at the side of the road with a missile launcher perched on his shoulder. He tracks the truck, but a burst of Mexican fire makes him dive for cover. When he appears again he no longer has the truck in his sights: he has you in his sights!
+ +The only way you can hope to avoid being hit by the missile is by taking evasive action immediately.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Driving and Perception skill scores.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Driving and Perception skill scores.
Concealed beneath the piles of old documents, you discover a padlocked hatch. Three well-placed kicks remove the lock and, when you lift the hinged trapdoor, you find a large, hermetically sealed storage bin, which is filled with cigarettes, packed neatly in cartons of 200. Although you have no personal need for these cigarettes, you know that there are those who would willingly trade food or fuel for them.
-If you decide to keep a Carton of Cigarettes, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly. One carton counts as one Backpack item.
+If you decide to keep a
Having satisfied yourself that there is little else of worth here, you leave the cabin and return to your roadster.
The deadly bullets miss you by inches and you dive to the floor in case the unseen gunman decides to fire again. Then you hear running footsteps approaching, and as they get louder, you raise your weapon and unleash a round of fire at the door. There is a scream from inside the kitchen, and you hear a body fall heavily to the tiled floor amid a crash of broken glass and crockery.
Just inside the door you discover the body of a clansman. Judging from the long-horned skull that you find painted on the back of his leather vest, you have just laid to rest your first Angelino. On the floor nearby you find his weapons and equipment: a Machine Pistol (containing eighteen rounds of 9mm ammunition) and a Backpack, which holds the following items:
In addition to these items, a search of the kitchen also reveals the following:
If you choose to keep any of the items in either list, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
+If you choose to keep any of the items in either list, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
Before leaving the kitchen, you hide the clansman's body in an empty refrigerator. Then you hurry through the fire escape door and make your way up a flight of rusty steps that leads to a service alley at the rear of the building.
The track leads to a cluster of log cabins and adobe huts that look as if they have only recently been constructed. Nearby, erected around the entrance to a cave, you see a palisade and, standing at the gate in this wall of logs, you notice a large group of men, women and children. They are dressed in animal skins, and their faces and hair are dyed with bright colours. At your approach they scurry inside the gate and take cover behind their log wall.
The instant you bring your roadster to a halt you smell the strong, oily aroma of gasolene. With trepidation you inspect the bullet-riddled trunk and discover, to your horror, that gasolene is gushing from the spare fuel containers. They are so badly holed that an attempt at repairing them would be futile. The roar of your pursuer's motorcycle is growing louder, and Kate urges you to abandon the car and take cover with the others behind the wall of logs. You nod your agreement and run towards the gate but as you get nearer, a man steps forward to block your access. He is holding a loaded bow. A flint-tipped arrow is drawn taught to his lips and he is pointing it at your chest.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
You awake shortly after dawn, your neck stiff and aching after an uncomfortable night's sleep. Little light is filtering from the surface of this underground lot, but there is sufficient for you to be able to take stock of your surroundings and make sure that you are alone. After checking your equipment, you leave your roadster and ascend to the surface, where you make a mental note of this location before beginning your trek towards the downtown stronghold of the Angelinos.
The heat is bearable at this early hour and you encounter no sign of the city's occupants as stealthily you make your way through the shattered streets. An hour later you reach the southern section of their perimeter wall and stop to observe those who are guarding it. They look like a motley group of criminals armed with an assortment of weapons and equipment, much of which appears rusty and incapable of functioning. All that identifies them as Angelinos is the symbol they wear on their jackets and T-shirts: the skull of a long-horned steer.
-After having studied the defences and watched the guards for the better part of an hour, you decide that the best place to gain entry to the stronghold is through an office block that interrupts the perimeter wall. The wooden planks that have been used to seat it are warped and split, and gaining entry to the building should not prove too difficult. Patiently you wait for the right moment before you break cover and sprint across the rubble-strewn street towards the main entrance.
+After having studied the defences and watched the guards for the better part of an hour, you decide that the best place to gain entry to the stronghold is through an office block that interrupts the perimeter wall. The wooden planks that have been used to seal it are warped and split, and gaining entry to the building should not prove too difficult. Patiently you wait for the right moment before you break cover and sprint across the rubble-strewn street towards the main entrance.
You radio back to the convoy that you have sighted something suspicious in the hills to the south. You bring your roadster to a halt, and, as the convoy draws closer, Cutter disembarks and comes running forward to find out more. You point out the place on the ridge where you saw the reflections, and he scans the area with his powerful binoculars.
-'Whatever was up there has gone now, Cal,' he says. 'If it was clan scouts you saw then we'd better keep on movin' before they rustle up enough of their kin to bushwack us.'
+'Whatever was up there has gone now, Cal,' he says. 'If it was clan scouts you saw then we'd better keep on movin' before they rustle up enough of their kin to bushwhack us.'
You keep a watchful eye on the ridge as you lead the convoy along this section of the freeway. Anxiously you expect an ambush to take place at any time, but, despite your fears, an attack does not materialize. At length, the stores and houses of Van Horn appear on the road ahead. The town looks deserted but you decide to take no chances. You bring the convoy to a halt within a mile of the town limits and, accompanied by Sergeant Haskell, you leave your roadster and enter on foot to check that the place is safe for the convoy to pass through.
The tumbledown buildings are deathly quiet as you walk along the main street of Van Horn, and you notice nothing out of the ordinary until you reach a bar near the centre of the town. A motorcycle is parked beside the entrance, its fuel tank emblazoned with the ace of spades emblem of the Mavericks clan. You decide to search the bar and, if possible, try to capture and question the bike's owner. Haskell suggests that it would be a good idea if one of you were to enter by the rear door and you nod your agreement.
If you keep any of these items, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
+If you keep any of these items, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
As soon as you are ready, you retrace your way along the defile and return to the surface.
You are almost relieved to see that the cause of your irritation is a small, brown, spindly legged spider. Casually you raise your right hand to slap it from your arm, but just as you bring your hand down, Kate's eyes widen with fear. 'No!' she says. 'It's a Fiddleback!'
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
On a count of three you step out into the corridor, raise your pistol, and fix your sights on the guard who is standing to the left of the stairs. You fire a body shot and see him twist backwards, clutching his chest. Then you swing across to his partner, knowing only too well that you must make your second shot count just as effectively. But his reactions prove razor-sharp, and when you do get him in your sights you are shocked to find that you are staring at the muzzle of a machine pistol.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Stealth skill score, and your current
Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Stealth skill score, and your current
Repeatedly you pump the gas pedal and work the ignition, but the engine refuses to start. Then a bullet smacks into the passenger door and another ricochets loudly off the hardened steel plates that protect the rear of your driving seat, making you duck your head involuntarily. Cursing your luck, you realize suddenly that your frantic efforts to restart the engine have caused it to flood with fuel.
Running footsteps approach from all sides and angry voices scream abuse in your direction. You grab your weapon and, as you turn to face the moving shadows, you find yourself staring into the steely-blue eyes of a Maverick gunman. A Smith and Wesson model 459 pistol is clasped in his right hand, its nickel-plated barrel pointing straight at your face. As the Maverick begins to squeeze his trigger, you raise your gun and fire.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Shooting and Stealth skill scores.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Shooting and Stealth skill scores.
Kate discovers that you are carrying an anti-toxin in your Medi-kit that will neutralize the Fiddleback's bite. She breaks open the ampoule and forces the bitter liquid into your mouth, washing it down with a few drops of water from your canteen (remember to erase this Medi-kit unit from your Action Chart).
+Kate discovers that you are carrying an anti-toxin in your Medi-kit that will neutralize the Fiddleback's bite. She breaks open the ampoule and forces the bitter liquid into your mouth, washing it down with a few drops of water from your canteen (remember to erase this Medi-kit unit from your Action Chart).
It is slow to work, but gradually you recover as the anti-toxin breaks down the poison circulating in your bloodstream: lose 2
You rush forward to take Kate in your arms and she yields to your embrace with a kiss that is warm and passionate. 'I thought I'd never see you again, Cal,' she says, her voice trembling and her wide blue eyes brimful with tears of joy. 'They told me you were dead.'
'Do I look dead?' you reply, half-jokingly.
-'No &ellips;' she laughs. 'You look just great.'
+'No
Then the sound of running feet alerts you both to approaching danger. Before Kate knocked him out, Mad Dog radioed his men and reported your presence in the observation block. Now a dozen of his toughest clansmen are racing along the corridor in answer to his call.
-'Let's get outta here, Cal!' says Kate, and starts to run towards a fire escape door. You follow her, pausing briefly to snatch the map that the two clan leaders were studying when you burst into the room. (Record this Mad Dog Map in the margin of your Action Chart; you carry it tucked inside your jacket and therefore you need not record it as a Backpack item.)
+'Let's get outta here, Cal!' says Kate, and starts to run towards a fire escape door. You follow her, pausing briefly to snatch the map that the two clan leaders were studying when you burst into the room. (Record this
You race to catch up with Kate as she runs along the gantry that lies on the other side of the door. A burst of machine pistol fire echoes in your wake as the first of Mad Dog's men enter the observation room. Bullets begin to scream past on either side of you. Twenty yards along the iron gantry you come under additional fire from clansmen in the stadium below.
+ +Add your Stealth skill score to your current
Only heavy construction materials, such as steel girders and concrete panels, remain readily identifiable amongst the dust-covered debris that surrounds the roadster. However, after a brief search of the site, you discover a cache of tools and equipment stored in what was to have been the basement of an office block. After sifting through the cache, you separate the following items:
If you wish to keep any of these Backpack items, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
+If you wish to keep any of these Backpack items, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
Having satisfied yourself that nothing else of use has been overlooked, you return to your roadster and resume your journey to San Angelo.
This is the correct answer to the security valve puzzle in Section 129.
+The valve clicks open and the tell-tale aroma of gasolene rises from the tank to greet your nostrils. A fuel gauge on the inside edge of the valve shows you that the tank contains 125 gallons of premium unleaded gasolene, more than sufficient for your needs. When the others come to inspect your handiwork they congratulate you unstintingly.
After filling the tank of your roadster, Sergeant Haskell and his men set about destroying the remainder of the fuel to prevent it from falling into the hands of Mad Dog Michigan's clansmen. Then, with a view of the station ablaze in your driving mirror, you set off west along Freeway 10 to keep your rendezvous with the convoy.
@@ -1054,7 +1119,7 @@ To Evade CombatWhen eventually you regain consciousness, you feel as though you have broken every bone in your body (lose 6
Eventually you discover a service hatch in the roof of the elevator. The bolts undo with little resistance and you are able to lower yourself into the elevator compartment. Without power, the doors will not respond to the control buttons, but an emergency crank located in the floor allows you to wind them open by hand.
Beyond the doors you discover the remains of a large private restaurant which, along with its kitchen, occupies most of the sub-basement level. A small 'fire exit' sign hangs over the double doors leading to the kitchen and you head straight towards them. As you are crossing the restaurant floor, your rumbling stomach reminds you that you have yet to eat anything today. Then the thought occurs to you that there could still be some canned food in the kitchen and you resolve to search it before you leave the building.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Perception skill score.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Perception skill score.
The Mexican clansman drops lifelessly to the ground, and quickly you step forward to search his body. He was the one crew member who escaped from the truck, and in his pockets you discover the following items:
If you wish to keep any of these items, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
+If you wish to keep any of these items, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
Silently you draw your gun and slip off the safety catch. The clansman is less than six feet away when he sees you crouching on the dry river bed. His eyes widen and he opens his mouth to scream a warning to his partner, but it is a scream of pain that leaves his lips when you open fire at his chest. (Remember to erase the appropriate number of rounds from your Action Chart.)
+Silently you draw your gun and slip off the safety catch. The clansman is less than six feet away when he sees you crouching on the dry river bed. His eyes widen and he opens his mouth to scream a warning to his partner, but it is a scream of pain that leaves his lips when you open fire at his chest. (Remember to erase the appropriate number of rounds from your Action Chart.)
As the clansman's body topples into the gully, you catch sight of his partner running head-down towards the bridge. He pauses to grab a machine pistol from his motorcycle before diving for cover behind one of the iron bridge supports. Seconds later he reappears and fires a stream of bullets at your position.
You keep your head low and wait for a lull in the shooting before you break cover and return fire at the clansman.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your current Shooting skill score. For every round of fire that you wish to discharge at your opponent, add 1 point.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your current Shooting skill score. For every round of fire that you wish to discharge at your opponent, add 1 point.
You keep as still as you can and try not to breathe as a Detroit Lion clansman rummages through a tool box less than four feet from where you are hiding. Fortunately, he finds what he is looking for quickly, returns to the cab, and restarts the engine. Shortly the truck stops once again, but this time you notice that it has drawn up alongside three others in a section of the stadium that has been turned into a pits area. You slip away from the truck before the driver disembarks, and make your way through the crowds of clan mechanics and riders towards an empty section of the arena.
From a position high among the tiers, you look down at the rows of empty seats that encircle the dusty arena and observe the preparations taking place around the perimeter track. This stadium once hosted international sporting events, many of which were televised and beamed live around the world. Now it plays host to a sporting event of a very different kind. The Angelinos have challenged the Lions to put forward four of their best riders for a twenty-lap motorcycle race around the arena. The track itself reminds you of an old film you saw when you were a child, a film about the wild chariot races that took place in Ancient Rome. Today's event is meant to be a friendly challenge to celebrate the signing of their alliance, but with clan honour at stake the race will undoubtedly be fought out in deadly earnest.
+Facing you, on the far side of the stadium, is the glass-fronted observation block that was once used by television and radio commentators. Your curiosity is aroused by it when you notice that the door to this block is heavily guarded. Fixedly you stare at its full-length windows and count five occupants: four clansmen and one blonde-haired girl. You cannot see her face clearly, but you know that the girl you are looking at is Kate Norton.
Placing your hand under the dashboard, you pull down a handful of cables and isolate two - a red one and a black one - that are connected to the ignition lock. Quickly you rip these out and touch the exposed copper braids together. There is a bright blue spark and immediately the engine growls into life. After twisting the wires together, you throw the jeep into low gear and take off towards an open section of the perimeter wall. A wheeled screen partially blocks this access point, which is guarded by two clansmen armed with automatic assault rifles.
You are fifteen yards from the screen when suddenly they realize that you have no intention of stopping.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Driving skill score.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Driving skill score.
If you keep any of these items, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
+If you keep any of these items, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
As soon as you are ready, you retrace your way along the defile and return to the surface.
The mighty V-8 engine growls like an angry tiger as a quart of fuel is force-fed into the cylinders. The effect is breathtaking and immediate: the roadster surges forward and you feel as if you are being sucked into your driving seat as it gathers speed rapidly.
For a few vital seconds the thrill of the acceleration distracts your attention from the panel truck. By mischance the vehicle reaches the bottom of the embankment, glances off a heap of debris, and is sent spinning wildly across the freeway. Your heart leaps into your mouth the moment you see it appear directly in your way.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your current Driving skill score.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your current Driving skill score.
Haskell continues to question the clansman until finally he replies. A trickle of blood escapes from his lips as, with his dying breath, he says: 'Mad Dog'll make sure you never get through &ellips;'
+Haskell continues to question the clansman until finally he replies. A trickle of blood escapes from his lips as, with his dying breath, he says: 'Mad Dog'll make sure you never get through
A battered Chevrolet pick-up is parked with its hood raised at one of the station's four gasolene pumps. It looks far cleaner than any of the other auto wrecks that lie scattered around the town, and your suspicions are further aroused when you notice a large black pool of oil on the ground beneath the engine compartment. You stop your roadster alongside and step out to investigate it.
-'Hey, this oil's still wet,' you say to Kate, as you dab your index finger in the pool. You are wiping it clean on the leg of your jeans when you hear an unexpected reply. 'Drop your weapons &ellips; or I'll drop you!'
+'Hey, this oil's still wet,' you say to Kate, as you dab your index finger in the pool. You are wiping it clean on the leg of your jeans when you hear an unexpected reply. 'Drop your weapons
It is a man's voice and it is coming from inside a derelict pay booth.
At your killing blow, your adversary drops in a limp and lifeless heap at your feet. Meanwhile, his confederate has run back to his motorcycle and armed himself with a machine pistol. You dive aside just in time to avoid his first burst of fire, and, as you scurry for cover, you retrieve the pistol that you had kicked from his dead partner's hand.
With a vengeful scream, the clansman comes running at you, firing his machine pistol from the hip. Bullets tear up the ground where you lie, forcing you to stand up and meet this madman head on. Quickly you cock the pistol and take aim at his chest as he comes bounding across the rock-strewn highway, his teeth bared and his eyes blazing with hatred.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your current Shooting skill score.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your current Shooting skill score.
You discover that the light is seeping into the tunnel from around the edges of a circular metal hatch in the ceiling. Carefully you press your shoulder to the heavy plate and lift it, hoping that it will lead to a way out of the stadium. However, the first thing you see as you push the cover from the hole are scores of running, booted feet.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Stealth skill score.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Stealth skill score.
You force yourself to breathe slowly in an attempt to calm your racing heart. The clansman's footsteps seem unbearably loud as you wait for the right moment to launch your ambush. With sweating palms, you lift your rifle, then, as he comes to a halt, you rise up from your hiding place, aim and fire.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Shooting skill score.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Shooting skill score.
You turn the handle and gently push open the door. You have taken but one step into the kitchen when a large glass storage jar falls from a shelf above your head and smashes down on your unprotected skull: lose 3
Wincing from the pain of your wound, you notice that the jar was attached by a thin cord to the inside handle of the door: it had been placed there deliberately. Not only have you lost some blood, but this primitive trap may have also lost you the element of surprise.
With your nerves on edge, you advance through the kitchen and into the bar beyond. As you enter, you whisper Haskell's name in case, in the darkened interior, he mistakes you for a clansman.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Perception and Stealth skill scores.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Perception and Stealth skill scores.
To avoid being seen by the two guards, you slip inside a doorway to your left and discover that it leads to an empty locker room. Having already removed the signal flare from your pack, you glance quickly into the corridor in order to establish where the guards are standing. Then you hold the flare out at arm's length, point it in their direction, and pull its ignition cord. (Remember to erase this item from your Action Chart.)
+To avoid being seen by the two guards, you slip inside a doorway to your left and discover that it leads to an empty locker room. Having already removed the signal flare from your pack, you glance quickly into the corridor in order to establish where the guards are standing. Then you hold the flare out at arm's length, point it in their direction, and pull its ignition cord. (Remember to erase this item from your Action Chart.)
In the confines of the corridor the flare erupts with devastating effect, its crimson smoke and hissing flame blinding and choking the two clan bodyguards. You grab a towel, which is hanging behind the door, and use it to cover your mouth as you run down the smoke-filled corridor. When you reach the stairs, the clansmen are incapable of defending themselves and you silence them swiftly with a close combat weapon. You are half-way up the stairs when you see the door to the observation block start to open.
The moment you strike your killing blow, a loud cheer fills the stadium. Ricky Riot, the top Angelinos rider, has just crossed the line and won the motorcycle race. Mekong Mike curses you with his dying breath and, as he falls to the floor, you suddenly realize that Mad Dog Michigan is watching you from the opposite side of the map table. He finishes speaking into a radio handset and then, with a cruel sneer, levels his pistol, taking deliberate aim at your head. He is about to squeeze the trigger when Kate appears behind him with a wooden stool clutched unsteadily in her hands. With one fell stroke she smashes it down upon his head, leaving him sprawled unconscious on the floor.
+There is a loud cheer as the stadium gate opens, then the waiting bikers start up their machines and begin entering in single file. Amid all this activity you leave your hiding place and cross the wide avenue that encircles the stadium. None of the clansmen appears to notice as you walk boldly around to the east side of the arena, to a place where a large section of the wall has collapsed, leaving a heap of rubble that rises to within ten feet of the remaining wall. The coast is clear and so, with the blood pounding loudly in your ears, you clamber to the top of the heap and attempt to scale the wall.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Stealth skill score.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Stealth skill score.
You walk around the building and notice that it has no windows or other means of access. Nothing hints at what is stored inside, and the more you consider it, the more intrigued you become.
-Simultaneously you step into the corridor and raise your rifle to your shoulder. The guard to the left of the staircase sees you but has no time to shout a warning before your bullet finds its mark. He spins backwards and falls heavily at the foot of the stairs as you work another round into the breach. Then you swing the barrel towards his partner, knowing only too well that you must make your second shot count just as effectively, but by the time you have him in your sights you are shocked to find that you are staring into the muzzle of his machine pistol.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Stealth skill score and your current
Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Stealth skill score and your current
Parked beside the entrance to the store, from where the Angelino first appeared, you discover his motorcycle. You use it to transport Kate and the welding equipment back to your roadster and immediately set to work on repairing the damage. It takes all night for you to dismantle, cut, re-align and weld the damaged chassis. It is a difficult task, made even more so by fatigue, but the lessons you learnt when you helped Cutter to build this roadster over six months ago prove invaluable.
You work continuously, and it is not until an hour after dawn that the repairs are finally completed. In the clear light of early morning you can see for miles across the rocky plain that surrounds the highway south of Eldorado. It appears empty, although you remain on the alert every second of your drive to Sonora, the next town marked on your map, for it is in this direction that the Angelinos were heading when they passed you last night. You are less than a mile from the ruins of Sonora when you are greeted by the welcome sight of Interstate 10, stretching east-to-west across your path. This is the freeway you hope will take you all the way to your rendezvous with the colony at Kent, and then on through the mountains to El Paso.
@@ -1653,8 +1734,8 @@ To Evade Combat -You swerve and accelerate to avoid the missile, and it hits the ground a few feet behind the trunk of your roadster. The blast takes your breath away, but you recover quickly and bring your car under control with consummate skill. In your mirror you see the convoy coming under small-arms fire, but it is light and sporadic and it claims no victims. Soon you are all safely out of the battle zone and racing away from the Slaughter Mountain run towards Sierra Blanca.
@@ -1687,7 +1768,7 @@ To Evade CombatThe scorched bones of a coyote lie scattered around the ashes of the camp fire,the remnants of the meal that you watched the two clansmen share. Where their motorcycles were parked you discover a Leather Face Mask. If you decide to keep this item, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
+The scorched bones of a coyote lie scattered around the ashes of the camp fire, the remnants of the meal that you watched the two clansmen share. Where their motorcycles were parked you discover a
Satisfied that nothing of importance has been missed, you return to your roadster and begin the next stage of your journey to San Angelo. Less than a mile beyond the bridge you see a deserted stretch of Freeway 87. You join the freeway, heading south, and within a few minutes you catch sight of a town on the road ahead. A glance at your map confirms your suspicions: you are approaching Sterling City.
Your shout is met by silence. You are about to repeat it when a burst of machine gun fire rings out and six ragged holes suddenly appear in the centre of the kitchen door.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
You start your car and steer it back on to the freeway towards Fabens. Ten minutes later, you see the town in the distance, and once more you hide your roadster in the yucca forest before going forward to scout the clan-held town.
A formidable barricade has been thrown across the freeway approach. It consists of auto wrecks filled with earth and broken chunks of concrete, stacked three deep. It would be virtually impossible for the convoy to break through this barrier. On the perimeter of the town, the Mexicans have dug pits to entrap any vehicles attempting to bypass the barricade. It looks hopeless, but if you are to reach El Paso, you must find a way through this freeway defence.
After observing the barricade at some length, Sergeant Haskell evolves a plan to blow a hole in it that is large enough to allow the convoy through in its entirety. You return to Fort Hancock and inform the colony of the plan. Then a message is sent to El Paso, requesting that they be ready and waiting to receive you once you break through.
-You hold your breath and try not to move as the clansman rummages through a tool box less than four feet from where you are crouching. Unfortunately, the dust he is stirring up causes you to sneeze, betraying your presence. Suddenly, one of the gasolene drums is rolled aside and you feel two strong hands grab your jacket and drag you to your feet.
'What are you up to?' growls the scar-faced Detroit Lion, his stinking breath making you pull away in disgust. 'Sabotage, is it?' he spits, accusingly.
-'Nah &ellips; I ain't no saboteur,' you reply, stalling for time, as you let your hand drift slowly towards your close combat weapon. I'm an Angelino who jus' wants t'see the race. I'm supposed to be patrolling the south zone but ain't nothin' ever happens down there. Gimme a break, will ya?'
+'Nah
As your fingers close around your weapon, you see something that makes you hesitate. At the rear of the truck you glimpse a large crowd of clansmen who are queueing to enter the stadium. The sight dissuades you from attacking your accuser, and instead you decide to try offering him a bribe.
-You press yourself against the damp stalagmites and gently flick your shotgun's safety catch to 'fire'. The clansman's footsteps seem unbearably loud as you wait for the moment to launch your ambush. As he comes to a halt, you rise up from your hiding place and open fire.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Shooting skill score.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Shooting skill score.
The tyres and brakes squeal like banshees as you fight to bring the roadster to a rapid halt. Moments later, the panel truck flashes past, missing the front fender by inches, and overturning on the wreckage-strewn highway. Your skill and keen reflexes have saved you from colliding with the truck, but the sight of the convoy fast disappearing along the freeway makes you feel very uncomfortable. You change into low gear and pump the gas pedal, but nothing happens. The engine has stalled. Frantically you reach for the ignition to bring the car back to life before the surviving Mavericks close in and attempt to put an end to yours.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your current Driving and Perception skill scores.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your current Driving and Perception skill scores.
The case-hardened steel padlock is difficult but not impossible to cut. Eventually it gives and you are able to gain access to the hangar-like building. Inside you discover an armoured truck, one of many that were once used by banks to transport cash and bullion around Texas. This one was hijacked shortly before 'the Day', and was brought here where its cargo was to have been shared out by the robbers. However they never had a chance to divide and spend their loot, and the vehicle still contains over thirty million dollars in cash, a sum now completely worthless.
+The truck's fuel tank is a quarter full, but it is diesel oil and cannot be used in your roadster. Cursing your luck, you search the truck and the building for anything that may be of practical use and you discover the following items:
Dusk is beginning to give way to darkness and you are anxious to return to the roadster before the evening light fades completely. Having satisfied yourself that you have overlooked nothing of value, you leave the building and return to your car.
Very little of any practical use remains intact within the cars that are littered around the lot. However, a search of the service bay uncovers the following items that may be of help to you on the road ahead:
If you wish to keep any of these Backpack items, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
+If you wish to keep any of these Backpack items, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
Having satisfied yourself that nothing else of use has been overlooked, you return to your roadster and resume your journey to San Angelo.
Judging from the long-horned skull that you find painted on the back of his leather vest, you have just laid to rest your first Angelino. On the floor, close to where you first spotted him, you find his weapons and equipment: a Machine Pistol (containing eighteen rounds of 9mm ammunition) and a Backpack, which holds the following items:
In addition to these items, a search of the kitchen also reveals the following:
If you choose to keep any of the items in either list, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
+If you choose to keep any of the items in either list, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
Before leaving the kitchen, you hide the clansman's body in an empty refrigerator. Then you hurry through the fire escape door and make your way up a flight of rusty steps that lead to a service alley at the rear of the building.
The section corresponding to the correct answer will have a footnote confirming that it is indeed correct.
+You examine the three dials that are set into the top of the security valve. Each is divided into three segments, and each segment displays a number. One of the segments on the third dial has numbers which can be altered by hand. Carefully you consider the numbers and soon realize that they are part of a coded combination lock. By turning the adjustable numbers on the third dial to the correct total, you will release the lock and open the valve.
Consider the following numbers carefully. When you think you know what the missing number is, turn to the entry which bears the same number as your answer.
+Despite pulling your T-shirt to your face to filter out the dust, the heat and the cloying air conspire to sap your strength: lose 2
Remember to make a note on your Action Chart of any of the items that you decide to keep.
+Remember to make a note on your Action Chart of any of the items that you decide to keep.
You enter an alley that runs alongside the bar, and make your way to the rear door. Through a cracked glass panel you can see the kitchens. They are empty, but remnants of food lie scattered across the tables and, judging by the amount of fresh garbage strewn on the floor, a large group of clansmen must have eaten here not so long ago.
You test the handle and discover that the door is unlocked.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Perception skill score.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Perception skill score.
Coughing and popping, the roadster lurches to a halt in the middle of the highway. You try to restart the engine but it refuses to run smoothly for more than a few seconds at a time. You are running over all the possible faults that could have caused the breakdown when suddenly you remember the comp-aid digipad that Cutter fitted to the dashboard while you were in Big Spring. He had salvaged the unit from the wreck of a '99 Mercedes Malibu Coupe and modified it so that you could use it to run an automatic systems check on your roadster. Hurriedly you tap in your access code and immediately the unit's LCD identifies the fault : &ellips; FUEL FILTER &ellips;
+Coughing and popping, the roadster lurches to a halt in the middle of the highway. You try to restart the engine but it refuses to run smoothly for more than a few seconds at a time. You are running over all the possible faults that could have caused the breakdown when suddenly you remember the comp-aid digipad that Cutter fitted to the dashboard while you were in Big Spring. He had salvaged the unit from the wreck of a '99 Mercedes Malibu Coupe and modified it so that you could use it to run an automatic systems check on your roadster. Hurriedly you tap in your access code and immediately the unit's LCD identifies the fault :
It takes you an hour to dismantle, clean and replace the fuel filter, during which time you must take 2 Drinks or lose 6
The fault rectified, the engine starts sweetly the first time you touch the ignition. You accelerate away but within a few minutes you see something in the distance that makes you slow to a snail's pace.
It is a girder bridge that carries the highway across the North Concho River. The bridge is intact and passable, but you are worried by the sight of a lazy plume of woodsmoke rising from a spot near its approach ramp.
-In a desperate attempt to reach him before he can cock and fire his gun, you race towards your adversary and launch yourself at his chest. The shock of seeing you charging at him makes him hesitate for a few vital seconds, and when your fists connect with his body, the force of impact leaves him winded and stunned. Still he fights to free himself from your grip, and, as he wriggles free, he unsheathes a knife from his boot and lunges at your neck
+In a desperate attempt to reach him before he can cock and fire his gun, you race towards your adversary and launch yourself at his chest. The shock of seeing you charging at him makes him hesitate for a few vital seconds, and when your fists connect with his body, the force of impact leaves him winded and stunned. Still he fights to free himself from your grip, and, as he wriggles free, he unsheathes a knife from his boot and lunges at your neck.
Owing to the speed of your attack, and your first strike, add 2 points to your
Before you bury these two Detroit Lions, you search their bodies and their bikes, and discover the following useful items:
There remains no trace of the bikers or their machines when eventually you complete the grisly task of burial. Wearily you return to your roadster and begin the next stage of your journey to San Angelo. Less than a mile beyond the bridge you see a deserted stretch of Freeway 87. You join the freeway, heading south, and within a few minutes you catch sight of a town on the road ahead. A glance at your map confirms that you are approaching Sterling City.
@@ -2041,7 +2143,7 @@ To Evade CombatYou are half-way through the door when your foot becomes caught among the burning shelves and you are sent sprawling to the ground. Quickly you recover and press on with your escape, but as a result of your fall, you sustain painful first-degree burns to your hands (lose 3
You rush forward, pausing briefly at the bottom of the staircase to check that the two guards are no longer a threat. Lying across the blood-stained chest of one of the men is a machine pistol (if you wish to take this weapon, you discover that it contains twenty-four rounds of 9mm ammunition) and attached to the belt of the other is an HE Grenade.
+You rush forward, pausing briefly at the bottom of the staircase to check that the two guards are no longer a threat. Lying across the blood-stained chest of one of the men is a machine pistol (if you wish to take this weapon, you discover that it contains twenty-four rounds of 9mm ammunition) and attached to the belt of the other is an
Stepping over the bodies, you begin to ascend the stairs to the observation room, but you are only half-way up when you see the door start to open.
Once you have fully recovered, you decide to bury your enemies. But first you search both bodies and the bikes, and discover the following useful items:
There remains no trace of the bikers or their machines when eventually you complete the grisly task of burial. Then wearily you return to your roadster and begin the next stage of your journey to San Angelo. Less than a mile beyond the bridge you see a deserted stretch of Freeway 87. You join the freeway, heading south, and within a few minutes you catch sight of a town on the road ahead. A glance at your map confirms that you are approaching Sterling City.
You bring your roadster to a halt beside the pick-up but leave the engine idling in case you have to make a fast getaway. After checking to make sure that it is not booby-trapped, you lift the hood and take a look at the truck's engine. The ground beneath it is stained black where oil has leaked from a shattered sump; the damage looks irreparable.
-Inside the cab you find a CB Radio attached to the dashboard. It has its own self-contained power supply and the unit is still in good working order. Having satisfied your curiosity, you return to your car and continue on your way to San Angelo.
+Inside the cab you find a
The food and wine taste delicious (restore 3
It seems as though you have only just closed your eyes when you are stirred to consciousness by a loud crackling sound and the acrid smell of smoke. Horror fills your senses when you open your eyes to see yourself surrounded by a blazing wall of yellow flame. Lightning struck the library roof while you were asleep, starting a fire that has been fuelled by the shelves of dust-dry books, and which has now spread to the main hall where it threatens to consume you both.
Quickly you wake Kate and together you fight your way towards the main door. You are within ten feet of the exit when a burning bookcase falls across your path.
-For a moment you are blinded by a deluge of stones and stinking water as you drive through the aftermath of the explosion. Then, as you catch sight of the opposite bank, there is another blast and you feel your steering wheel pulling sharply to the left.
'We've lost a tyre,' you shout, as you battle to get the car on to dry land. You succeed in reaching the far bank and skid sideways to a halt. You both leap out quickly and take cover behind the engine compartment. The clansmen seem to have exhausted their supply of grenades, but they are all armed with machine pistols and they proceed to empty them in your direction.
Kate draws her pistol and prepares to give covering fire while you inspect the damage. The front left tyre has been shredded by shrapnel and is beyond repair. You will have to replace it with the spare tyre you carry in the trunk. However, in order to retrieve it, you will have to expose yourself to bursts of machine pistol fire.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Stealth skill score. Now add the combined figure to your current
Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Stealth skill score. Now add the combined figure to your current
Haskell despatches three of the four clansmen, and the survivor manages to escape into the yucca forest. You are about to give chase when he says, 'Let him go, Cal. He won't get far on his own. Let's see what they had on board the truck.'
You discover several crates and lockers filled with munitions: mortars, anti-tank weapons, heavy machine guns and the like. However, you cannot find any ammunition for these weapons. You are about to set fire to the truck, to prevent them from falling into the hands of other clansmen, when you discover one item that could be of some use after all.
-In a sealed locker at the bottom of the heap, you discover a portable Leviathan ground-to-air missile, a weapon with approximately eight times the destructive power of a bazooka. If you wish to keep this Leviathan Missile, you must reduce your Stealth score by 2 points due to its size and weight.
+In a sealed locker at the bottom of the heap, you discover a portable Leviathan ground-to-air missile, a weapon with approximately eight times the destructive power of a bazooka. If you wish to keep this
Having set fire to the truck, you return to your roadster. You are just about to climb in when you feel an arm snake around your neck and pull you backwards into the yucca forest.
Owing to the surprise of his attack, do not erase any
You push open the doors and enter the gloomy kitchen. Out of the corner of your eye you notice a movement. You turn around and see a clansman crouching in front of a food locker, trying to prise the door open with the edge of a meat cleaver. He sees you and his eyes open wide with shock. Before you can draw a weapon and fire, he draws the cleaver back and hurls it at your chest.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Stealth skill score.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Stealth skill score.
'Get down Kate!' you shout, as you dive to the ground and roll for cover behind the abandoned pick-up. But before you make it, two shots ring out almost simultaneously, one from a rifle and the other from a pistol.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Stealth skill score.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Stealth skill score.
You gun your roadster towards the battered wooden gates of the site and smash your way through them. The ground beyond is covered with loose stones and, to your horror, you feel the nose of your car sliding away to the right. The steel skeleton of an office block looms before you as you fight to correct your front wheel skid.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Driving skill score.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Driving skill score.
Using the cover afforded by the undercut banks of Lacy Creek you are able to creep to within twenty yards of the bridge unseen. The harsh, greasy smell of roasted coyote wafts over your hiding place as silently you watch the taller of the two clansmen fan the camp fire with his hat, while his partner kneels down and carves himself a large slice of the blackened meat. He chews it without enthusiasm before finally spitting it out in disgust.
'Goddamn dogmeat!' he growls. 'I ain't never gonna git used to it.'
He gulps a mouthful of water from his canteen as he rises to his feet. Your pulse quickens as he turns and starts to walk straight towards you.
-If you have a missile weapon and wish to use it, turn 65
+With tyres screeching, you turn on to the bridge and gun your car across it at top speed. Beyond the span you find a secondary road that has barely survived the post-disaster years. A sign flashes past, identifying it as Road 1989, but you fail to see this number as you fight to avoid the boulders that lay strewn in your path.
-Kate has drawn her pistol and is firing over her shoulder at a biker, who is closing fast. A pair of belt-fed machine guns are mounted atop the headlamp of his motorcycle, and he fires them in devastating bursts whenever the roadster fills his sights. So concerted is the fire that you are both forced to cower in your armour-backed seats to avoid being hit. Then another sign appears on the road ahead, pointing to a winding dirt track that leads away to the left. It reads:
-TO THE CAVERNS OF SONORA
+Kate has drawn her pistol and is firing over her shoulder at a biker, who is closing fast. A pair of belt-fed machine guns are mounted atop the headlamp of his motorcycle, and he fires them in devastating bursts whenever the roadster fills his sights.
+So concerted is the fire that you are both forced to cower in your armour-backed seats to avoid being hit. Then another sign appears on the road ahead, pointing to a winding dirt track that leads away to the left. It reads:
+You are desperate to avoid the machine-gunning biker and so decide to take the track. At least its winding course will give him less opportunity to riddle the trunk with bullets.
'At this rate we'll reach Interstate 10 in an hour,' you say, but Kate does not reply: exhaustion has got the better of her and she has drifted off into a deep sleep. Without her conversation to stimulate you, fatigue eats away at your concentration and gradually you lose interest in the road ahead. You fall asleep at the wheel and reawaken only when the roadster veers off the highway and crashes into a rocky spur.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
You step sideways into the corridor with your shotgun held at waist level. The guard to the left of the staircase sees you and tries to shout a warning but his words are lost in the boom of your gunfire. The force of the shot flings him against the wall, and as you swing the barrel towards his partner, you know only too well that you must make your second shot count just as effectively. But his partner's reactions prove razor-sharp, and as you focus on him you are shocked to find yourself staring into the muzzle of his machine pistol.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Stealth skill score and your current
Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Stealth skill score and your current
The derelict gas station shows signs of having been looted some time during the past few months. Its underground gasolene storage tank has been syphoned of fuel, and the contents of its workshop lie broken and scattered across the dusty floor. Carefully you sift through what little remains and uncover the following items:
If you decide to keep any of these items, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
+If you decide to keep any of these items, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
You tell Kate to follow you as you dive for cover among the rocks that border this section of the highway. Your speedy reactions save you from being seen by the pack of Angelinos as they race along the highway, heading south. You stay hidden until their lights have disappeared, then you resume your long walk back to Eldorado.
-Three hours later you reach the town and begin a systematic search of all the buildings. In the ruins of a repair shop you discover what you need: a Welding Torch and a cylinder of Oxyacetylene. You are dragging these items out of the building when suddenly, from the shadow of a doorway, a gruff voice barks an order: 'Stay where you are and put your hands up!'
+Three hours later you reach the town and begin a systematic search of all the buildings. In the ruins of a repair shop you discover what you need: a
You are in too much pain to try to attempt a burial and, mindful of the time you have lost already, you make only a brief search of the bodies. You discover the following items:
The rotten timbers are easily torn away from the front door and in minutes you have gained access to the building. In the middle of the lobby you discover a stainless steel replica of an oil derrick, standing twelve feet high, on which there is an inscription that reveals the former owners of the block:
-THE LONE STAR OIL & GAS COMPANY
+In order to emerge somewhere inside the perimeter wall, you must discover an exit on the north side of this building, so you set off immediately in that direction. Beyond the lobby area you can see a row of elevator doors, and two corridors disappearing to the left and right.
Six black-clad bikers are riding along Interstate 10 towards the rest stop. Affixed to the rear of their saddles are long, whiplash aerials, which are topped with black pennons that bear a lion's head symbol. You stare at these small black flags and a tingle runs down your spine: it is the emblem of the Detroit Lions clan.
The bikers catch sight of your roadster and bring their machines to a halt a hundred yards from the rest stop. Then all six spread out and, using the rocks and boulders that litter the landscape, they make their way forward slowly. Sergeant Haskell orders Gunter and Knott to take cover and open fire at the advancing clansmen; they must not be allowed to capture or destroy the fuel tank.
+From behind an old gas pump you watch as two of the Lions start to edge their way around the service area. They are trying to circle around the rest stop and launch an attack from the rear.
On the other side of the hatch you discover an electrical cable duct that is just large enough to accommodate both of you in some discomfort. You enter first, then Kate squeezes in, closing the hatch behind her. It is now pitch black and very claustrophobic. Outside you can hear the angry screams and pounding feet of the clansmen as determinedly they try to track you down. The news of Mekong Mike's death has been broken to the Angelinos and you have heard more than one of them vow that they will kill you when they find you. The only escape route open to you now is to descend the rusty rungs of the iron service ladder on which you stand.
Forty rungs later you reach the bottom of the shaft. You can feel the walls of a tunnel leading away to your right, but it is too dark for you to see where it leads or what it contains.
-Before the spider is brushed aside, it bites into your skin and injects its toxin. Almost immediately you are gripped by a terrible pain that courses up your arm and radiates across your chest. Frantically Kate searches through your Medi-kit for an anti-toxin, as the effects of the Fiddleback's bite drag you to your knees in agony.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it the number of Medi-kit units that you possess currently.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it the number of Medi-kit units that you possess currently.
You have fallen into the shaft of a private elevator that was once used to service the executive penthouse suites of the Lone Star Oil & Gas Company. The elevator itself is located on the sub-basement level, three floors below where you have fallen in, and it is upon its roof that you finally crash to your doom.
+You have fallen into the shaft of a private elevator that was once used to service the executive penthouse suites of the Lone Star Oil
Tragically, your mission and your life end here in San Angelo.
@@ -2762,13 +2897,13 @@ To Evade CombatA long and laborious search of all the stores in the same block as the food mart yields the following items:
If you choose to keep any of these items, remember to amend your Action Chart accordingly.
+If you choose to keep any of these items, remember to amend your Action Chart accordingly.
Dusk is beginning to give way to darkness and you are anxious to return to the roadster before the evening light fades completely. Having satisfied yourself that you have overlooked nothing of value, you leave the block and return to your car.
Beyond Sterling City the freeway follows a wide, dust-filled gully that was once the North Concho River. You are staring at this dead watercourse, trying to imagine what the river must have looked like before 'the Day', when a road sign flashes past. You stop the car and turn back to read it. It says:
-BROOME - 2 MILES
-'What exactly you offerin' in return for a free ride and a ringside seat, eh?' replies the clansman.
Slowly you unshoulder your Backpack and flip open the buckles. 'Choose,' you say, inviting him to look at the items you are carrying. Roughly he pulls the pack from your hands and tips the contents on to the floor of the truck.
'I'll take these two,' he says. 'You can keep the rest o' the junk.'
-Erase from your Action Chart those items which you have noted in the second and third sections of your Backpack items list. These are the items chosen by the clansman in return for free passage into the stadium. If you possess less than two Backpack items, you must erase either two Medi-kit units or one close combat weapon instead.
+Erase from your Action Chart those items which you have noted in the second and third sections of your Backpack items list. These are the items chosen by the clansman in return for free passage into the stadium. If you possess less than two Backpack items, you must erase either two Medi-kit units or one close combat weapon instead.
With a smile on his face, the clansman pockets your bribe and returns to the cab. He restarts the truck but shortly it stops once again. He has drawn up alongside three other trucks in a section of the stadium that has been turned into a pits area. You leave the truck and slip away through the crowds of clan mechanics and riders towards an empty section of the enclosure.
From a position high among the tiers, you look down at the rows of empty seats that encircle the dusty arena and observe the preparations taking place around the perimeter track. This stadium once hosted international sporting events, many of which were televised and beamed live around the world. Now it plays host to a sporting event of a very different kind. The Angelinos have challenged the Lions to put forward four of their best riders for a twenty-lap motorcycle race around the arena. The track itself reminds you of an old film that you saw when you were a child, a film about the wild chariot races that took place in Ancient Rome. Today's event is meant to be a friendly challenge to celebrate the signing of their alliance, but with clan honour at stake the race will undoubtedly be fought out in deadly earnest.
Facing you, on the far side of the stadium, is the glass-fronted observation block that was once used by television and radio commentators. Your curiosity is aroused by it when you notice that the door to the block is heavily guarded. Fixedly you stare at its full-length windows and count five occupants: four clansmen and one blonde-haired girl. You cannot see her face clearly, but you know that she is Kate Norton.
@@ -2828,7 +2963,7 @@ To Evade CombatFrantically you spin the wheel to the left and brace yourself as the roadster slews sideways across the wreckage-strewn highway. Before it comes to a halt, there is a sudden and violent jolt that sets the car spinning like a top in the opposite direction. The panel truck has clipped the rear fender and the force of the impact leaves you dazed and gasping for breath: lose 2
The sight of the convoy fast disappearing along the freeway is all that is needed to bring you rapidly to your senses. You turn the wheel and pump the gas pedal, but the engine has stalled and the car does not respond. Instantly, you reach for the ignition to bring the car back to life before the Mavericks close in and put an end to yours.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your current Driving and Perception skill scores.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your current Driving and Perception skill scores.
Expectantly you keep an eye on your rear-view mirror as you power your roadster along the rock-strewn asphalt of Highway 277. You are convinced that the Angelinos will soon be on your tail, yet you have covered fifteen miles and still there is nothing to indicate that you are being pursued. You are beginning to relax when Kate points to a small town in the distance. It is built around a bridge that crosses a stream of shallow black water that was once known as the South Concho River. Near the middle of this town, on the highway approach to the bridge, is a rising cloud of dust.
-You crouch behind the rack and fumble for a close combat weapon as the clansman's bullets pepper your position. Then you see Kate running towards you with a machine pistol in her hands. She opens fire at the clansman, but he returns fire and one of his bullets smashes the barrel of Kate's gun, rendering it useless. In the next instant he leaps on to the rack but, before he brings his weapon to bear, you lash out and smash his knee with the edge of your hand. He drops his gun and falls forward, landing on top of you with a jolt that leaves you breathless.
+You cannot evade combat and must fight the clansman to the death.
The clansman's footsteps seem unbearably loud as you wait for the moment to launch your ambush. You check that your G-12 is 'safety off' and set to burst fire then, as the footsteps halt, you rise up from your hiding place and open fire.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Shooting skill score.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Shooting skill score.
You reach down into the passenger foot-well and retrieve your rifle. Fortunately you know that the weapon is loaded and all you have to do is thumb back the safety catch to make it ready to fire. The moment the clansman sees you rest the barrel on the door, he veers across to the left lane of the highway as quickly as he can. You smile as you realize the purpose of this manoeuvre: he is trying to increase his chances of survival by making it as difficult as he can for you to shoot at him with your right hand.
Keeping the roadster in a straight line, and the sheer force of the rushing wind whipping around the end of the rifle's barrel, make it impossible for you to take aim. You try to get as near to your enemy as you can before squeezing the trigger, but just as you are about to fire, you hit a pot-hole and lose your grip.
-Add your Stealth skill score to your current
Add your Stealth skill score to your current
The time Sergeant Haskell used to observe the barricade was well spent. He noticed that the Mexican clansmen have positioned an anti-tank weapon behind it, which doubtless they will bring into action if it is needed. Littered around it are several dozen boxes of shells. If one of those boxes were to explode, it would set off the others and destroy most of the central section of the barricade. Haskell has an incendiary grenade which would do the job, but in order to make sure that it landed in the correct place - in one of the boxes of ammunition - one of you would have to go to the barricade and place it there. Neither of you are keen to volunteer for this mission, so you decide to settle it on the toss of a coin. Sergeant Haskell calls and, unfortunately, you lose.
Haskell gives you the incendiary grenade and you hand him your signal flare. Then, when the number of Mexican clansmen on guard are at their fewest, you leave the cover of the yucca forest and creep towards the barricade.
Ten yards from the wall of cars you see an opportunity to throw your grenade into an open ammunition chest.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Stealth skill score.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Stealth skill score.
It occurs to you that the colony may still be close enough for radio contact. As it may be the last chance you will get to speak to them before your rendezvous at Kent one week from now, you decide to give it a try. You invert the handset of your CB and key in the frequency that Pop Ewell monitors aboard the school bus. But, for some unknown reason, the frequency is saturated with static and you are unable to transmit. You search for a clear channel and, by chance, you lock on to part of a two-way conversation:
-'OK Gold&ellips; Sit tight and quit y'bellyaching&ellips; I'm sending some o' my men back to cover it. You just put a tail on 'em &ellips; keep 'em in sight. We'll let 'em run a while and then hit 'em when they reach the mountains. D'you copy&ellips; over?'
+'OK Gold
There is a loud burst of static, then a voice replies:
-'I copy &ellips; Gold out.'
+'I copy
The channel falls silent and you are left staring at the handset, trying to make some sense of what you have just overheard. Then you hear quite a different sound, a sound that sends a shiver of fear coursing down your spine.
You draw the thin saw-cord through the closed hasp of the padlock and work it back and forth. You have made barely a dozen strokes when the metal saw-cord snaps with a loud ping (erase this item from your Action Chart).
-You draw the thin saw-cord through the closed hasp of the padlock and work it back and forth. You have made barely a dozen strokes when the metal saw-cord snaps with a loud ping (erase this item from your Action Chart).
+Cautiously you drive towards the bridge, fearful yet curious to know what you may find there. You are less than 400 yards away when you see the source of the smoke: a camp fire, over which two clansmen are busily cooking the stringy torso of a coyote. They hear your engine noise and turn their bearded faces to stare in your direction. Suddenly, as if they had received an electric shock, they leap to their feet and start running towards their motorcycles, which are parked at the entrance to the bridge. One of them unsheathes an automatic rifle from the saddle of his bike, whilst the other tries frantically to kick his machine into life.
+You know that you must act immediately if you are to prevent them from getting away, so you point your vehicle directly at their position and stamp your foot down on the accelerator. Fifty yards from the bridge, with the hot wind screaming past your face, the armed clansman drops to one knee and takes aim at your windshield.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Driving and Perception skill scores.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Driving and Perception skill scores.
Slowly you take off your pack and flip open the buckles. 'What do you want?' you say, inviting them to look at the items you are carrying. Roughly, the clansman pulls the pack from your hands and tips the contents on to the ground.
'I'll take these two,' he says.
'And I'll have these,' says his partner. 'You can keep the rest o' the junk.'
-Erase from your Action Chart those items which you have noted in the first four sections of your Backpack items list. These are the items chosen by the two clansmen in return for their help in getting you into the stadium. If you possess less than four Backpack items, you must make up the difference by erasing Medi-kit units instead.
+Erase from your Action Chart those items which you have noted in the first four sections of your Backpack items list. These are the items chosen by the two clansmen in return for their help in getting you into the stadium. If you possess less than four Backpack items, you must make up the difference by erasing Medi-kit units instead.
With broad smiles on their faces the two clansmen pocket your bribe. 'You jus' bought yourself a grandstand seat, fella,' says the taller of the two as, once again, you climb the pile of rubble. This time you are accompanied by the two clansmen who help you over the wall and then return to the avenue, chuckling and congratulating each other on their good fortune.
Silently you draw a close combat weapon and steady yourself for the assault. Like a tiger you leap through the open door and scan the darkened room. A figure is crouched at the window, and, as he turns, you run forward, raising your hand to strike.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Stealth skill score.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Stealth skill score.
You flick open your pouch and give Kate your last few remaining bullets before you start to change the damaged front wheel. Quickly she reloads her pistol as the clan scout leader, believing that you are both out of ammunition, comes riding across the river, howling curses and whirling a heavy motorcycle chain in his left hand. The moment her gun is ready, she takes aim and fires at the foul-mouthed Angelino.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
While you do your best to staunch the bleeding, Haskell continues to question the Maverick. Finally, on the brink of death, the clansman changes his mind and begins to speak. He says that he is a Maverick outrider, a scout, one of a large group sent here to ambush the Big Spring colony. While drunk, he fell off his bike and broke his leg. Unable to ride, his fellow scouts left him here with the promise that he would be collected when they returned. His group are fighting a Mexican clan near Sierra Blanca. He says that the Mexicans are trying to steal their supplies.
-Haskell asks him about Mad Dog Michigan, but he refuses to answer. A trickle of blood escapes from his lips and, with his dying breath, he says: 'Mad Dog'll make sure you never get through &ellips;'
+Haskell asks him about Mad Dog Michigan, but he refuses to answer. A trickle of blood escapes from his lips and, with his dying breath, he says: 'Mad Dog'll make sure you never get through
With armed clansmen less than fifty yards away, you dare spend only a minute searching the truck for useful items. In the brief time that you allow yourself, you discover the following:
If you decide to keep any of these items, remember to make the appropriate adjustments to your Action Chart.
+If you decide to keep any of these items, remember to make the appropriate adjustments to your Action Chart.
The crash brings the car to an abrupt halt and you are brought back to full consciousness when your chest is slammed by the hub of your steering wheel: lose 2
'We ran out of road,' you say, sheepishly, as you stagger out of the driving seat and go to inspect the damage. Your heart sinks when you discover that the front chassis, the frame on which the wheels and engine are mounted, is badly bent out of shape. To repair this damage you will need to cut and re-weld the buckled frame.
-You take the grenade from your Backpack and tie it to the padlock with strips of cloth torn from an oily rag that you find on the ground nearby. Then you set the timer for ten seconds, pull the pin and take cover inside the gas station.
Precisely ten seconds later, the grenade explodes with a deafening bang.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
If you keep any of these items, be sure to amend your Action Chart accordingly.
+If you keep any of these items, be sure to amend your Action Chart accordingly.
As soon as you have hidden his body beneath a heap of blankets, you gather up your equipment and leave the workshop before his disappearance is noticed.
'You too, honey,' says the disembodied voice, and Kate obeys, tossing her machine pistol out of the car so that it lands deliberately near your feet.
'Don't even think about it,' says another voice, away to your right.
From behind a wrecked auto steps a tall, muscular man, dressed in green army fatigues. His blond hair is cropped close to his head and his eyes are hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses. Pistol in hand, he walks slowly towards you, then stops at the entrance to the pay booth. Two more men in uniform emerge from the doorway - the rifleman and one other - armed with a sawn-off shotgun.
+'They don't look like clan punks, Sarge,' says the rifleman.
'We're not,' interrupts Kate. 'We're running from the clans.'
Bemused, the blond-haired man scratches his chin and turns to say something quietly to his two companions. It is then that you notice the faded sergeant stripes and the circular globe-of-the-world emblem that adorn his sleeve. Instantly you recognize the latter: it is the emblem of the World Defence League. At length, he turns to face you once more and says, in a friendlier tone, 'I think you two had better tell us your story.'
@@ -3257,7 +3416,7 @@ To Evade CombatWhile he was firing, unbeknown to you, the clansman moved forward and he is now lying flat on his stomach behind the rear wheel of his motorcycle. So when you return fire it is aimed at the wrong place and it rattles harmlessly off the iron bridge support where you first saw him take cover. Before you realize your error, he opens up once again and sweeps the gully with a long burst of automatic fire. Pain lances your forearm and shoulder as you stop two of his twenty high-velocity bullets.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table (in this instance 0 equals 10) and add 1 point. The total is equivalent to the number of
Pick a number from the Random Number Table (in this instance 0 equals 10) and add 1 point. The total is equivalent to the number of
The surly clansman clutches at his wounds, curses, then falls dead at your feet. Judging from the long-horned skull painted on the back of his leather vest, you have just laid to rest your first Angelino. On the floor close by, you find his weapons and equipment: a Machine Pistol (containing eighteen rounds of 9mm ammunition), a Knife [2], and a Backpack, which holds the following items:
+The surly clansman clutches at his wounds, curses, then falls dead at your feet. Judging from the long-horned skull painted on the back of his leather vest, you have just laid to rest your first Angelino. On the floor close by, you find his weapons and equipment: a Machine Pistol (containing eighteen rounds of 9mm ammunition), a Knife (2), and a Backpack, which holds the following items:
In addition to these items, a search of the kitchen also reveals the following:
If you choose to keep any of the items in either list, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
+If you choose to keep any of the items in either list, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
Before leaving the kitchen, you hide the clansman's body in an empty refrigerator. Then you hurry through the fire escape door and make your way up a flight of rusty steps that leads to a service alley at the rear of the building.
It takes an hour to refuel the convoy vehicles and prepare for the next stage of your journey. You are to take over as scout now that the colony is about to push deeper into the mountains. The increasing altitude and the unpredictable thermal air currents here make it too dangerous for Rickenbacker to continue in his role as air scout.
Five miles out from Kent, you cross a dry watercourse once known as the Salt Draw and begin a slow climb into the Apache mountains. To your left you can see a high ridge, known locally as the Black Peak, and it is here that you sight something that makes you suspicious. A glint of sunlight is reflecting repeatedly at a point near the crest of this ridge.
-You pull the wheel hard over to the right and power your roadster towards the used car lot. A wrecked auto lies overturned with its trunk partially blocking the entrance, and, as you drive through the gap, you clip its rear fender. Immediately, the wreck flips around and slams into the side of your car, sending you skidding towards the steel doors of a service bay.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Driving skill score.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Driving skill score.
You freeze, your stomach pinched tight with fear as you try to ignore the crawling sensation that is now moving rapidly up the sleeve of your jacket. Outside, you hear the clansman leaving the workshop and, as soon as you are sure he has gone, you push open the door and step out of the store room.
By now the tickling sensation has reached your bicep. When Kate emerges from her hiding place, you tell her what is wrong and ask her to remove your jacket carefully. Gently she lifts it off your shoulders and gasps when she sees the spider that is perched on your arm.
+Add together your Field Craft and Perception skill scores.
You signal to Kate to come over to your position and immediately she obeys. You point to the two circling clansmen and she nods her silent understanding of the situation. Together you abandon your cover and shadow the two men as they circle around to the rear. An old tyre rack propped against the side of a derelict car wash offers you a good defensive position, and quickly you scurry towards it. Kate reaches the rack first, in time to see the Lions halt. For a moment they duck out of sight, but soon they reappear and come running, half-crouched, with guns at the ready, towards your new-found hiding place.
-Kate cocks her machine pistol and takes aim as the first clansman scurries between the rocks that litter the edge of the service area. He is less than twenty yards away when she squeezes off a burst of fire, bringing him crashing to the ground. His partner hesitates, then abandons his stealthy approach and comes running towards you, screaming hysterically his own machine pistol blazing furiously at his hip. Bullets rip into the tyre rack and one smashes the barrel of Kate's gun, rendering it useless. In the next instant, he leaps on to the rack but, before he brings his weapon to bear, you lash out and smash his knee with the edge of your hand. He drops his weapon and falls forward, landing on top of you with a jolt that leaves you breathless.
+Kate cocks her machine pistol and takes aim as the first clansman scurries between the rocks that litter the edge of the service area. He is less than twenty yards away when she squeezes off a burst of fire, bringing him crashing to the ground. His partner hesitates, then abandons his stealthy approach and comes running towards you, screaming hysterically, his own machine pistol blazing furiously at his hip. Bullets rip into the tyre rack and one smashes the barrel of Kate's gun, rendering it useless. In the next instant, he leaps on to the rack but, before he brings his weapon to bear, you lash out and smash his knee with the edge of your hand. He drops his weapon and falls forward, landing on top of you with a jolt that leaves you breathless.
You cannot evade combat and must fight the clansman to the death.
Before you bury them you search both bodies and the bikes, and discover the following useful items:
There remains no trace of the bikers or their machines when eventually you complete your grisly task of burial. Wearily you return to your roadster and begin the next stage of your journey to San Angelo. Less than a mile beyond the bridge you see a deserted stretch of Freeway 87. You join the freeway, heading south, and within a few minutes you catch sight of a town on the road ahead. A glance at your map confirms that you are approaching Sterling City.
@@ -3518,7 +3685,7 @@ To Evade CombatAt the far end of a block of derelict stores is a blue, star-shaped sign that marks the site of a Lone Star gas station. You hurry along the dusty street, hopeful of finding some fuel, but you are met with disappointment. All the security caps have been sawn off the gasolene storage tanks and not a drop of their precious contents remains.
The gas station itself has been ransacked and nothing of value remains, but at the rear of the building you discover something that stirs your curiosity. It is a large storage facility with heavy double doors, which are chained and padlocked.
-Drawing on your reserves of nervous energy, you race up the last few steps and lash out at the door with the sole of your boot. The door flies wide open and slams against the wall, sending the red-headed clansman who was about to investigate the noise, sprawling flat on his back.
-Inside the observation room you see two men - one dressed in a flamboyant mix of bright colours and the other attired in sombre black - seated at a table with a map of the United States spread before them. A muscular clansman, his chest criss-crossed with cartridge belts, stands behind the man in black and beyond him, huddled in the corner of the room, is Kate. Clearly she has suffered at the hands of Mad Dog Michigan and the sight of her bruised face and her pained, dispairing expression stirs you to a fit of rage. For a frozen moment the room is deathly quiet, then the man in black barks an order and the bullet-belted clansman rushes forward, drawing a wide-bladed bowie knife as he runs.
+Inside the observation room you see two men - one dressed in a flamboyant mix of bright colours and the other attired in sombre black - seated at a table with a map of the United States spread before them. A muscular clansman, his chest criss-crossed with cartridge belts, stands behind the man in black and beyond him, huddled in the corner of the room, is Kate. Clearly she has suffered at the hands of Mad Dog Michigan and the sight of her bruised face and her pained, dispairing expression stirs you to a fit of rage.
+For a frozen moment the room is deathly quiet, then the man in black barks an order and the bullet-belted clansman rushes forward, drawing a wide-bladed bowie knife as he runs.
You hurl the grenade and it lands neatly in the centre of the ammunition chest. Unfortunately, as you are running from the barricade, a clansman catches sight of you and opens fire with his machine pistol.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table (in this instance 0 equals 10). The number you have picked is equal to the number of
Pick a number from the Random Number Table (in this instance 0 equals 10). The number you have picked is equal to the number of
You have reached the place where the highway passes through the Finlay Mountains, and from this high point you have a commanding view over the valley and salt lakes beyond. You stop to survey the scene and, to your horror, you see a huge group of clansmen riding across the valley, heading towards Van Horn.
-The unmistakable roar of motorcycle engines is coming from the direction of Broome, and, as you focus on that distant town, you see a tell-tale cloud of dust rising above its ruins. You know that it can only be a large pack of clansmen and that you must find somewhere to hide yourself and your roadster before they show up.
The dried-out bed of the North Concho River offers the only feasible place to take cover from the approaching bikers. Quickly you pull off the freeway and search for a place to enter the river bed as the first of the bikers comes riding out of the town.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and to it your perception skill score.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and to it your perception skill score.
You retrace your steps all the way back to the front lobby, continue across it, and enter the other corridor. This services a number of offices and conference rooms before it ends at a wide staircase leading downwards. You descend three floors and discover the remains of a large private restaurant which, along with its kitchen, occupies most of the sub-basement level. A small 'fire exit' sign hangs over the double doors leading to the kitchen and you head straight for it.
As you are crossing the restaurant floor, your rumbling stomach reminds you that you have yet to eat anything today. Then the thought occurs to you that there may still be some canned food in the kitchen, and you resolve to search it before you leave the building.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Perception skill score.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Perception skill score.
On every side, a desolate plain of arid, lifeless earth stretches to the horizon. The highway meanders across this wasteland, following the gentle curve of a dry watercourse that the ranchers and oilmen of this county once knew as Lacy Creek.
You have been driving for half an hour when you see a signpost, its blistered metal plate announcing your approach to the Sterling county line. As you cross this boundary, your engine begins to splutter and backfire.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
The convoy leaves the sanctuary of Big Spring with its headlights blazing and its gas pedals pressed flat to the floor. The deafening motor noise rolls across the surrounding land like thunder, and the twisted auto wrecks that litter this section of Freeway 20 seem to flash past with ever-increasing speed as you accelerate your car into the slipstream of the school bus. Above, you see a smoky pinpoint of fire climb into the night sky, then explode with a brilliant flash. It is a signal flare, and it has been launched by the startled group of Maverick gang lookouts, who are manning a barricade less than half a mile ahead.
The barricade comprises a line of old cars and other debris that has been dragged into a haphazard line across the freeway. As the tow truck screams towards its centre, you can just hear the crackle of automatic gunfire above the roar of the convoy's engines. Then, with a grinding crash, the truck slams into the barricade and ploughs straight through without slowing. Torn and buckled sheets of rusty metal are spun skywards, together with the bodies of those Mavericks too slow to jump clear. Still in line, the convoy follows Pecos Pete through the ragged gap carved by his truck. As you approach it, you grit your teeth and tighten your grip on the steering wheel.
To your right you notice the steep embankment that borders this section of the freeway. An old panel truck is perched near the top of the slope, held there in defiance of gravity by blocks of concrete that are wedged in front of its wheels. Feverishly two Mavericks are trying to pull away these chocks and, as you reach the gap, they succeed. Your stomach churns as the panel truck comes careering down the embankment on a collision course with your car.
+You wait until the stadium gate opens and the crowd of clansmen starts to enter before you make your move. Purposefully, you stride across the wide avenue that surrounds the stadium, trying not to look directly at any of the bikers or attract their attention. One of the trucks in particular has caught your eye and you head straight for it. It is towing a trailer that contains two powerful-looking motorcycles, and you are convinced that they are to be used in the races. If any of the trucks are to enter the stadium then this one surely will.
There is nobody in the truck and its rear door is unlocked, so quickly you climb aboard and find yourself a hiding place behind two large drums of gasolene. After a few minutes, you hear someobody climb into the cab and start the engine. Then the truck moves away and you sense by its direction that it is approaching the stadium gate. You see the shadow of the arch fall across the trailer and then suddenly the vehicle halts. Your heart pounds in your chest as you hear the rear doors creak open and sense someone clambering aboard.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Stealth skill score.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Stealth skill score.
Kate draws her pistol and fires at the approaching clansman, who flattens himself against the floor for cover. He returns fire and his bullets hack through the stalagmites behind which you are hiding, mowing them down as if they were sheaves of dry straw.
Kate rises to fire again but her pistol jams. With a mocking laugh, the Angelino gets to his feet and advances, confident that she is no longer a threat. In desperation she throws her pistol at him, a move so sudden that it takes him aback. The pistol hits him in the face and he drops his weapon and clutches his hands to his bleeding nose. Instinctively, you snatch a broken stalagmite from the floor and rush forward to attack the clansman with it before he has a chance to retrieve his fallen machine pistol.
+Owing to his wound, and the speed of your attack, ignore any
You complete your detour of Sterling city without incident and rejoin Freeway 87 a few miles south of the town. The hour you spent driving across the dusty plain has made you very thirsty, and you must now take a Drink or lose 3
The freeway follows a wide, rock-strewn gully that was once the North Concho River. You are staring at this dead watercourse, trying to imagine what the river must have looked like before 'the Day', when a road sign flashes past. You stop the car and turn back to read it. It says:
-BROOME - 2 MILES
-You bring your car to a halt at the side of the road and approach Black Peak on foot. However, you have not gone very far when the ground becomes too steep to continue without the use of climbing aids. Unless you can find a track you will be forced to abandon your investigation.
-Beneath a road bridge, a line of Angelinos is strung out across the freeway, each one sitting astride his bike with a rifle or a machine pistol resting across the handlebars. They are the clansmen whom you saw last night. Having realized that they must have passed you in the dark, they are waiting patiently for you to show up.
To your right you see an exit ramp that ascends to the bridge itself and, as the clansmen open fire, you steer your car towards it to avoid the withering hail of bullets.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table, and add to it your Driving and Perception skill scores.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table, and add to it your Driving and Perception skill scores.
Violently the roadster swerves left and right, and you almost lose your rifle as you fight to regain control. As soon as you have the car back on a straight line, you bring the barrel to bear on your enemy and squeeze the trigger.
-Add together your Driving and Shooting skill scores. Now pick a number from the Random Number Table and add it to your total.
+Add together your Driving and Shooting skill scores. Now pick a number from the Random Number Table and add it to your total.
While the sergeant and his men dispose of the bodies, you return to the gasolene storage tank and set to work on cracking its security code.
With your foot holding the gas pedal flat to the floor you roar towards Christoval with a score of angry Angelinos hot on your heels. On entering the town, you see that the coyote on the road ahead are fighting each other in two separate packs. Each pack is being urged on by men who are conducting some sort of wager on the outcome of the fight. So engrossed are they in the dog fight that they seem oblivious of the fact that you are speeding straight towards them. It is not until you sound your horn and flash your headlamps that the men and dogs begin to scatter, but by then it is too late for some of them.
The car shudders as you plough into a dozen of the fighting dogs, sending them spinning into the air. One tumbles over the windshield and lands between you and Kate. Maddened by the pain of its wounds, it lunges at you and closes its fangs around your right forearm. Desperately, Kate tries to pummel it unconscious with the butt of her pistol as you fight to maintain control of the speeding car.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Driving skill score.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Driving skill score.
At once you recognize the brown, thin-legged arachnid by the dark, violin-shaped marking on the back of its head. It is Loxoscees reclusa - a poisonous Fiddleback spider.
Nervously you watch the spider while Kate salvages a scrap of stiff board from the rubbish-strewn floor. She tells you to keep absolutely still, for she intends to try to knock it off your arm with one quick flick of the card.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
In order to prise the dead dog from your arm, you are forced to stand up in your driving seat. Meanwhile, the pack handlers have gathered together the rest of their surviving coyote and now intend to set them on you. They yell an order, and the mountain dogs bound forward, snapping and howling. Kate replies by drawing her pistol and firing, bringing down three of the leading dogs in as many shots. She buys you the few precious seconds you need to free yourself from the dead coyote, but before you can lower yourself behind the wheel, the handlers return fire and you feel something thump you in the back. You feel no pain and, almost fearing to acknowledge that you have been hit at all, you reach for the ignition and bring the roadster back to life, Then, with a cloud of dust and burnt rubber, you say farewell to the coyote and take off along the main street towards the Christoval bridge.
Kate heard the impact made by the bullet and, fearing the worst, she leans over to take a look at your back. You hear her breathe a sigh of relief as she discovers that the bullet has lodged itself in the bottom of your water canteen.
-Erase from your Action Chart any water that you may have been carrying in your canteen. You need not erase the canteen itself as it can be repaired and is still serviceable.
+Erase from your Action Chart any water that you may have been carrying in your canteen. You need not erase the canteen itself as it can be repaired and is still serviceable.
Stiffly you clamber to your feet and begin to brush away the thick layer of dust that covers you completely, until you realize that it is the dust that is concealing the fact that you are not an Angelino.
'I'm an Angelino who jus' wants t'see the race. I'm supposed to be patrolling the south zone, but ain't nothin' ever happens down there. Gimme a break you guys, will ya?'
A grin spreads slowly across the faces of the two Lions as they see a chance to make some easy pickings. They agree to get you into the stadium, but at a price; you will have to bribe them.
-The heat and flames force you back from the entrance, and as you reach the centre of the hall, you look around desperately for another way out but every exit is now ablaze.
Using a heavy rug from the floor, you cover Kate's head and tell her to make a dash for the main door. Bravely she obeys your command without hesitation, and she succeeds in escaping through the tunnel of flame and out into the street beyond. Heartened by her success, you raise your jacket over your head, take a deep breath and sprint after her.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Stealth skill score.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Stealth skill score.
Kate too senses the danger, and knows what must be done. She keeps her eyes peeled on the river, looking for somewhere suitable to cross, while you negotiate a way through the boulders that lie scattered in your path.
'Over there, Cal!' she shouts, pointing to a shallow-sided section of the river bank. Immediately you steer towards it and power your car down the gentle slope towards the foul-smelling water. Here, the tainted river is less than a foot deep and the rocky bed provides a firm grip for your tyres.
You are half-way across when you hear a dull thud. Suddenly there is a flash of orange-red flame and a column of splintered rocks and black water erupts from the river a few feet ahead. The clansmen are firing grenades!
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
Your pulse is racing as you wait for the optimum moment to launch your ambush. The clansman's footsteps seem unbearably loud but still you hesitate. He stops and instinctively you spring to your feet, aim and fire.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Shooting skill score.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Shooting skill score.
You swerve to the right to avoid the speeding missile, and your swift reactions save you from receiving a direct hit. The armour-tipped projectile burrows into the ground close to your rear wheel, and the resultant explosion buffets your trunk and sends the roadster into a skid. Desperately you fight to regain control as you slide off the freeway and career towards a deep gully.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Driving skill score.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Driving skill score.
Sergeant Haskell and yourself despatch the clansmen with a volley of well-aimed shots (erase two rounds from your Ammo Pouch) before taking a closer look at what they were transporting. You discover several crates and lockers filled with munitions: mortars, anti-tank weapons, heavy machine guns and the like. However, you cannot find any ammunition for these weapons. You are about to set fire to the truck, to prevent the weapons from falling into the hands of other clansmen, when you discover one item that could be of some use after all.
In a sealed locker at the bottom of the heap, you discover a portable Leviathan ground-to-air missile, a weapon with approximately eight times the destructive power of a bazooka.
-If you wish to keep this Leviathan Missile, you must reduce your Stealth score by 2 points due to its size and weight.
+If you wish to keep this
As the noise of the explosion fades and the smoke thins, you approach the door to discover that the padlock no longer exists. Firmly you push open the shrapnel-pitted door and enter the hangar-like interior. Inside you find an armoured truck, one of many that were once used by banks to transport cash and bullion around Texas. This one was hijacked shortly before 'the Day', and was brought here, where its cargo was to have been shared out by the robbers. However, they never had a chance to divide and spend their loot, and the vehicle still contains over thirty million dollars in cash, a sum now completely worthless.
The truck's fuel tank is a quarter full, but it is diesel oil and cannot be used in your roadster. Cursing your luck, you search the truck and the building for anything that may be of practical use and you discover the following items:
Dusk is beginning to give way to darkness and you are anxious to return to the roadster before the evening light fades completely. Having satisfied yourself that you have overlooked nothing of value, you leave the building and return to your car.
A bullet passes close by your shoulder, yet you reach the drug store entrance unscathed. The rear of the station wagon occupies most of the doorway, it having been parked there with its tailgate open. Inside, the luggage compartment is stacked with items looted from the store.
The store's interior is very dark and it takes a few seconds for your eyes to adjust. When they do, you see a staircase at the back and you approach it cautiously. You have reached the first floor landing when there is another shot, and at once you sense the sniper's location: a room at the far end of the corridor. Silently you creep to within inches of the open door and steel yourself for an attack.
-Carefully, you drop the welding equipment and obey the command. Then a swarthy Angelino steps out of the shadows with a pistol in his hand. He sniggers with delight unable to hide his glee at having captured you both single-handedly and reaches into his pocket with his free hand. He removes a pair of handcuffs and tosses them casually at Kate's feet before ordering her to put them on your wrists.
+Kate stoops to pick up the handcuffs. But the instant her hand closes on them she hurls them back at the grinning Angelino, hitting him squarely in the face. Immediately you take your cue and spring forward, grabbing his gun before he has a chance to recover his composure. You wrestle it from his grasp, but already he is reaching for a knife, which he carries concealed in his boot. He unsheathes it and lashes out, forcing you to dive aside to avoid its razor-sharp tip.
Owing to the help you receive from Kate in overcoming the enemy, you may add 2 points to your close combat skill for the duration of the fight.
@@ -4336,7 +4552,7 @@ To Evade CombatYou back off a dozen paces to give yourself a good run at the door, then you charge forward and barge it with your shoulder. There is a tremendous crack, the door gives way, and you feel yourself falling head-first into a deep, dark hole.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
The chain sails within an inch of your scalp as you duck behind the wing of your roadster. An instant later you retaliate by hurling your brace at the scout leader's bike. The tool jams between the spokes of his front wheel, causing the machine to up-end and slam its rider face-first into the river bank. Then the heavy machine crashes down with a sickening crunch, crushing the Angelino to death under the weight of its lOOOcc engine.
+The chain sails within an inch of your scalp as you duck behind the wing of your roadster. An instant later you retaliate by hurling your brace at the scout leader's bike. The tool jams between the spokes of his front wheel, causing the machine to up-end and slam its rider face-first into the river bank. Then the heavy machine crashes down with a sickening crunch, crushing the Angelino to death under the weight of its l000cc engine.
Repeatedly you pump the gas pedal and, gradually, after a bout of coughing and popping, the engine clears and begins to pick up speed. Confident that the fault has rectified itself, you relax and accelerate away.
You have driven ten miles when, on the horizon, you see a girder bridge appear. It carries the highway across the North Concho River, and, although it appears to be intact and passable, you are worried by the sight of a lazy plume of woodsmoke that is rising close to its approach ramp.
-Having briefed the convoy, you return to Sergeant Haskell on the freeway outside Fabens.
'The convoy's ready to roll straight through here as soon as they see my signal flare,' you inform him.
'That's great. Now all we need to do is open up the gate and let 'em go.'
-The race is about to begin. Eight bikers are drawn up in a line at one end of the arena, each man standing astride his machine and revving its engine in response to the loud cheers of the clansmen watching. The riders have their eyes fixed on a pot-bellied Angelino who is perched atop a wooden tower in the centre of the track. Above his head he holds a checkered flag, and, as he brings his arm down, the crowd screams and the riders surge away from the line.
Under cover of the noise and commotion of the race, you approach the observation block. An enclosed corridor leads to a flight of iron stairs where two burly clansmen - one an Angelino, the other a Detroit Lion - stand on guard with machine pistols at the ready. At the top of the stairs is the door to the block itself. The noise of the crowd and the roar of the motorcycles have helped you so far, but the race is now into its fourteenth lap, and you know that if you are to succeed in freeing Kate you must get past these guards and storm the observation block before the race ends.
-If you possess a Signal Flare, and wish to use it, turn, to 89.
-It is almost noon when you drive into Brogado. The storm-shattered ruins of this mountain town do not inspire much hope of finding fuel, and, after making a thorough search of its two gas stations, your initial fears are confirmed: one station has been looted and the other has been gutted by fire.
It is beginning to look as though you will have to walk the last thirty miles to Kent when Marine Gunter sees a station wagon backed up to the entrance of a drug store, and he calls it to your attention. All five of you are walking along the main street towards the vehicle when a shot rings out from the first floor window of the store, and Gunter is brought to the ground, clutching his blood-stained chest.
'Sniper!' shouts Sergeant Haskell. 'Hit the deck!'
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Stealth and Perception skill scores.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Stealth and Perception skill scores.
You unshoulder your gun and take aim in one swift, fluid movement. The clansman is drawing back the bolt of his G-12 when you unleash a round, catching him full in the chest. The force of your gunfire lifts him off the kitchen floor and kills him instantly. Slowly you lower your smoking barrel and walk forward to search the body of your would-be killer.
Judging from the long-horned skull painted on the back of his leather vest, you have just laid to rest your first Angelino. On the floor nearby you find his weapons and equipment: a Machine Pistol (containing eighteen rounds of 9mm ammunition) and a Backpack, which holds the following items:
In addition to these items, a search of the kitchen also reveals the following:
If you choose to keep any of the items in either list, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
+If you choose to keep any of the items in either list, remember to adjust your Action Chart accordingly.
Before leaving the kitchen you hide the clansman's body in an empty refrigerator. Then you hurry through the fire escape door and make your way up a flight of rusty steps that leads to a service alley at the rear of the building.
You prime your weapon and spring into the room like a tiger. A man is crouched by an open window, and, as you move towards him, he turns to meet your attack with a rifle clutched firmly in his hands. Instinctively, you raise your gun and fire a snap shot from the hip.
-Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Shooting skill score.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Shooting skill score.
If the weapon you are using is a Shotgun or a Machine Pistol, add 2 points to your total. If the weapon you are using is a Pistol or a Rifle, subtract 1 point from your total.
We have taken our unique opportunity to correct errors and to enforce a standard of English usage. We list our changes here. If you see anything that needs correction, please contact the Project Aon Staff.
+ +(The Story So Far) Replaced re-establish
with reestablish
.
(The Game Rules) Replaced if you pick a O
with if you pick a 0
.
(Close Combat Rules) Replaced cross-refer
with cross-reference
.
(Close Combat Rules) Replaced as
with as
.
(Equipment) Replaced map of Western Texas
with Map of Western Texas
.
(23) Replaced Small blanket
with Small Blanket
.
(23) Replaced Medi-kits units
with Medi-kit units
.
(30) Replaced bushwack
with bushwhack
.
(130) Replaced Plastic tube
with Plastic Tube
.
(232) Applied bold style to Foil Blanket
.
(315) Replaced section references. The original text directed the reader to sections 161 and 207, however those references are the result of being apprehended by a single clansman in section 115.
+(18,23,36,63,71,101,126,138,146,183,187,232,248,266,308,348) Replaced CCS Bonuses in []
with ()
.
(Combat Rules Summary) Replaced cross-refer
with cross-reference
.
(52) This is the correct answer to the security valve puzzle in Section 129.
+(129) The section corresponding to the correct answer will have a footnote confirming that it is indeed correct.
+ +The following is a list of all Sections containing illustrations found in this book:
+ +