You scream a warning to Kate and together you duck your heads as Mad Dog opens fire with his machine pistol. Your swift action saves you both from decapitation. The bullets pass over the driving compartment and you escape unscathed.
-Knowing that your enemy has only one hand on the wheel of his speeding car, you nudge the side of his speedster, tempting him to retaliate. Then, when he rises to your challenge, you brake heavily and, because he is still holding his machine pistol, he fails to react in time to prevent his car from crossing in front of you and hitting the central barrier. Metal twists and sparks fly from his fender as he scrapes along the crash barrier at nearly 100 miles an hour. You put your foot down and overtake him on the left, powering your roadster away as he fights to extricate himself from the barrier
Knowing that your enemy has only one hand on the wheel of his speeding car, you nudge the side of his speedster, tempting him to retaliate. Then, when he rises to your challenge, you brake heavily and, because he is still holding his machine pistol, he fails to react in time to prevent his car from crossing in front of you and hitting the central barrier. Metal twists and sparks fly from his fender as he scrapes along the crash barrier at nearly 100 miles an hour. You put your foot down and overtake him on the right, powering your roadster away as he fights to extricate himself from the barrier
The clansmen are training their spotlight directly into your eyes, effectively blinding you, and you are not able to steer the jeep out of their path until the last moment. The pick-up glances the rear and the sudden jolt makes you hit your head on the steering column: lose 1
Despite your injury, you regain control of the jeep quickly and bring it back onto the highway. Captain Frankland is standing behind you, manning the heavy machine gun, and, as the pick-up completes a spectacular 180-degree turn and comes racing back, he cocks the weapon and opens fire.
+The heavy-calibre rounds riddle the engine and tear the cab to shreds. The truck starts to skid, and then there is a tremendous
The sun has dipped below the western skyline and an eerie twilight bathes the ruined buildings of Lordsburg as you drive into the town. The tracks show that the convoy stopped here, but it must have been a brief visit for the town is now deserted. The fatigue of the mission is beginning to catch up with everyone, and all of you are having difficulty staying awake. The captain decides to camp here overnight and follow the convoy
A place to sleep is chosen at random from among the stores and offices that line the main street and the truck is parked in an adjacent alley. You enter to discover that your overnight accommodation was once a video arcade. Scores of video machines line the aisles, standing side-by-side like tombstones in an electronic cemetery. Their screens are blank but their titles are familiar, and they remind you of the hours you spent playing similar machines at home in California before The Day
.
Much to your relief, Sergeant Haskell volunteers to take the first watch. Before you sleep, you must take a Drink or lose 3
Ready?
Marine Knott nods his head, his jaw taut with concentration as he acknowledges your question.
OK then. Let
you whisper, as you ease yourself over the rampart, using only your elbows and knees to propel you away from the safety of Fort Bliss.
Anxiously, the captain and Sergeant Haskell watch as the two of you crawl across the broken ground, their weapons ready to give covering fire should the enemy see you approaching. The faint moonlight serves both to help and hinder your progress as you inch your way towards your first goal: an elevated section of Freeway 54. Clan snipers are known to occupy this vantage point, and you are painfully aware that not until you are directly beneath the raised highway itself will you be beyond the reach of their high-powered rifles.
+Anxiously, the captain and Sergeant Haskell watch as the two of you crawl across the broken ground, their weapons ready to give covering fire should the enemy see you approaching. The faint moonlight serves both to help and hinder your progress as you inch your way towards your first goal: an elevated section of Highway 54. Clan snipers are known to occupy this vantage point, and you are painfully aware that not until you are directly beneath the raised highway itself will you be beyond the reach of their high-powered rifles.
Minutes pass like hours until you make it to the comparative safety of a shallow ditch that runs parallel to the concrete freeway supports. Knott arrives while you are scanning the dark, arch-like gaps between the concrete pillars, searching for the enemy, and immediately he points out a threat. Three clansmen are positioned behind a mound of rubble less than twenty yards away to your right. You study them, silently cursing your luck, for they are Detroit Lions; getting past these clansmen is not going to be easy.
I think they were waiting to hear some good news from an agent they sent after us,
you reply, as you walk together towards the place where Kate has parked your roadster. They
Kate looks at you with a puzzled expression, and you recount in detail the events that befell the team during the escape from Ciudad Juarez. As you drive out of Benson, you tell her how Frankland, Haskell, and Knott met their deaths, and how you avenged them in your showdown with their murderer, Helmut Varken, at the Tombstone courthouse.
What d
she asks, nervously.
Well, he ain
Well, he ain
Unfortunately, you do not have to wait long.
You scream as Mad Dog opens fire with his machine pistol, and slam your foot on the brake pedal. Your swift action saves you from death but you do not escape unscathed. One bullet clips your forearm and another grazes your neck: lose 4
Knowing that your enemy has only one hand on the wheel of his speeding car, you nudge the side of his speedster, tempting him to retaliate, and then, when he rises to your challenge, you brake heavily. Because he is still holding his machine pistol, he fails to react in time to prevent his car from crossing in front of you and hitting the central barrier. Metal twists and sparks fly from his fender as he scrapes along the crash barrier at nearly 100 miles an hour. You put your foot down and overtake him on the left, powering your roadster away as he fights to extricate himself from the barrier
Knowing that your enemy has only one hand on the wheel of his speeding car, you nudge the side of his speedster, tempting him to retaliate, and then, when he rises to your challenge, you brake heavily. Because he is still holding his machine pistol, he fails to react in time to prevent his car from crossing in front of you and hitting the central barrier. Metal twists and sparks fly from his fender as he scrapes along the crash barrier at nearly 100 miles an hour. You put your foot down and overtake him on the right, powering your roadster away as he fights to extricate himself from the barrier
By keeping strictly to the alleys and side streets you are able to make your way deep into the heart of the city, avoiding the numerous clan patrols. At length you reach the banks of the Rio Grande and follow the river westwards towards your rendezvous destination. Your early encounters with Mad Dog
You are about to break into a run when suddenly you hear a noise behind you that makes you freeze: it is the sound of a pistol being cocked. Instinctively you reach for your gun as you spin around to face your potential attacker, but your fear quickly evaporates when you see the familiar face of Marine Knott peering at you from over the walkway wall.
-You
he says, as he holsters his pistol and clambers over the wall to join you.
Yeah, you
you reply, self-consciously. I oughta know by now. Better late than dead, right?
Right,
he says, and slaps you reassuringly on the back. The bridge is over there. It
The bridge is over there,
Marine Knott says. It
You set off, soon reaching a cluster of old US immigration offices standing at the approach to the bridge. As Knott predicted, Frankland and Haskell are waiting for you to show and, as you approach the buildings, they call you over to join them. They have already scouted the bridge and determined that there are four clan guards on the bridge itself, but none at all on the service walkway that runs beneath it.
We
says the captain, checking his watch. Is everyone ready?
You nod in unison. OK then. Let
The clansmen are armed with assault rifles, which they empty at the truck. Bullets ricochet from the rear and whistle past on every side, forcing you to duck behind the tailgate for cover. Your reflexes save you from being hit, but as you duck for cover, you catch your chin on the edge of the tailgate, splitting the skin: lose 1
The firing stops and you raise your head in time to see the clan leader running into the middle of the highway, his hand outstretched to pick up a walkie-talkie that must have dropped from his pocket. He could attempt to radio another clan outpost, perhaps in Mimbres or even nearer, and forewarn them of your arrival.
After ten hours
After ten hours
In a shack behind the diner you discover a motorcycle that is in a serviceable condition. The tyres are sound and the gas tank is over half full with gasolene, but its oil level is very low. As you kick start the engine you can only hope that it will get you as far as Tucson before breaking down.
After studying the map you mount your new vehicle and set off, heading north along Highway 666. You have ridden only seven miles when a collapsed bridge forces you to change direction and travel west along an unmarked mountain road. You enjoy the cool breeze whipping through your hair as you ride at speed along this empty trail, and you cover more than twenty miles before coming to a small town where a sign proclaims:
You and the captain leave Knott to pay his last respects and walk back to the pick-up to consider your next course of action. Mad Dog Michigan is known to have snipers at his disposal, former HAVOC assassins who operated under him in the years before The Day
. If it was one of those professionals who killed Haskell, the chances are that he will not stop until he has finished you all off.
We
says Captain Frankland, as he stares across the landscape. I
Then, as if in answer to his words and your fears, another gunshot echoes across the pine-clad mountains.
+Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
The temperature continues to rise as the truck makes its way along the remains of Highway 81, across a vast and spectacular landscape. It is nearly noon when you reach a winding, steep-sided canyon
The colony should be in Deming about now,
says the Captain, glancing at his wristwatch. When we reach the Interstate, we
He has barely finished talking when there is a loud
An examination of the engine soon reveals the problem
When you can no longer see the highway for trees, you rise to your feet and scurry deeper into the forest. Here the air is heavy and still, and the heat is stifling, but at least the trees protect you from the midday sun. For two hours you ascend the pine-clad slopes of the Pedregosa Mountains, wending your way steadily westwards towards peaks that are hidden from sight.
+Throughout your weary trek, you exchange less than a dozen words with Marine Knott. The grief and the shock you feel play on your mind, and no matter how hard you try to shake them the images of your companions
By mid-afternoon you discover a trail that cuts through the scrub growing in abundance on the higher slopes. The trail is a welcome discovery, for the scrub is twisted and tough, gnarled, and deep-rooted, and difficult to climb. You have been following the trail for less than an hour when it starts to ascend very steeply towards a rugged outcrop of rock.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table and add to it your Field Craft skill total.
@@ -2778,7 +2831,7 @@OK, Cal,
says the captain. Me and the sergeant
No problem,
you reply, confidently. We
With bated breath you watch as the two soldiers slip over the perimeter wall and crawl away from the safety of Fort Bliss. Expertly they merge with the broken wasteland so that you soon find it impossible to track their path, leading to an elevated section of Freeway 54. Fifteen minutes later, all is still as quiet as the grave. You are sure that they have made it across the zone by now, and so you motion to Marine Knott to follow as you lower yourself head-first over the rampart and propel yourself across the rocky ground using only your elbows and knees.
+With bated breath you watch as the two soldiers slip over the perimeter wall and crawl away from the safety of Fort Bliss. Expertly they merge with the broken wasteland so that you soon find it impossible to track their path, leading to an elevated section of Highway 54. Fifteen minutes later, all is still as quiet as the grave. You are sure that they have made it across the zone by now, and so you motion to Marine Knott to follow as you lower yourself head-first over the rampart and propel yourself across the rocky ground using only your elbows and knees.
The faint moonlight serves both to help and hinder your progress as you inch your way towards the Montana Road, a highway that runs 100 yards in front of, and parallel to, the clansmen
With your pulse racing, you peer over the edge of the ditch, seeking to catch a clear view of the enemy. You cannot see them, but you can hear them approaching fast. You must act quickly if you are to avoid being caught by the hounds and their handlers.
The captain leads the team through the buildings of the immigration control compound, and on towards the iron-framed service walkway. The gate to this section is locked but its rusty padlock is soon dealt with and stealthily you make your crossing. Below your feet, through the cage-like steel floor of the walkway, the waters of the Rio Grande glint in the moonlight. To your right lie the ruined remains of the Cordova Bridge. Its central span collapsed during the post-holocaust years, and the debris now forms an island of broken concrete that parts the waters near the middle of the river. The noisy rush of the water passing over this isle obscures the sound of your footfalls as the team hurries across the walkway towards the Mexican side of the border.
+You are less than twenty yards from the exit gate when the captain signals a halt. Silently he points to the end of the walkway, where two clan sentries are standing guard with their backs to the river. We
he whispers, as he reaches to his boot and unsheathes his black-bladed combat knife.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
The truck hits the wall of cars with a tremendous crash that sends a violent shudder through the floor. Angry voices and the sharp crackle of automatic gunfire can be heard amidst the roar of the engine as the truck lurches through the enemy line and accelerates along the main street. The air becomes livid with the sounds of singing bullets. They pierce the canvas and shatter against the cage-like frame. An occasional fragment singes your skin but otherwise you escape unharmed.
+Now Haskell is at the tailgate, returning fire at the clansmen who are guarding the barricade, forcing them to quit shooting and dive for cover. You move to join him but you are distracted when you feel the truck decelerating. A glance over your shoulder in the direction of the cab window soon reveals why Knott is slowing down.
Confident that the clansmen are too shaken to be able to shoot straight, you laugh with disdain at their attempt to hit the truck. Unfortunately, they are armed with high-powered, M-10 assault rifles that are fitted with telescopic sights. Moreover all three men are expert shots.
+A withering hail of bullets hits you in a line across your chest and sends you tumbling backwards to crash against the cab. You feel no pain, for two of the rounds have pierced your heart. Death is instantaneous.
Steadily the highway climbs towards a pass, beyond which there is a hairpin bend. You manage to negotiate it safely, only to find that a rockfall has partially blocked the road less than twenty yards beyond the bend. Your driving instinct warns you not to brake heavily for fear of sending the jeep into a skid, so you try to steer around the mound of fallen rock without slowing down. Your tactics work: you clear the mound with inches to spare. Unluckily, as you straighten the steering wheel, you strike a stray boulder and the jeep is brought to a grinding halt.
The front running gear
says Captain Frankland, despondently, as he inspects the damage. There
The situation looks bleak: the clansmen are likely to show up at any time and they are sure to catch you now that the jeep is wrecked. Then an idea occurs to you that might just throw them off your trail. If you were to set fire to the jeep and push it into the deep canyon that borders this section of the mountain road, the sight of the burning wreckage might convince them that you had met with a fatal accident. The others agree that it is worth a try and immediately set about preparing the jeep. Together you manhandle it to the edge of the road, and then light a rag, which Haskell has stuffed into the gasolene filter pipe. Once it is burning, you give one last push and send the vehicle careering over the edge into the canyon 300 feet below. After the resounding crash, you hear the clansmen approaching and you quickly take cover among the boulders. To make it seem more realistic Marine Knott drops his bloodstained tunic at the edge of the road before he takes cover, seconds before the first riders appear on the scene.
+The situation looks bleak: the clansmen are likely to show up at any time and they are sure to catch you now that the jeep is wrecked. Then an idea occurs to you that might just throw them off your trail. If you were to set fire to the jeep and push it into the deep canyon that borders this section of the mountain road, the sight of the burning wreckage might convince them that you had met with a fatal accident. The others agree that it is worth a try and immediately set about preparing the jeep. Together you manhandle it to the edge of the road, and then light a rag, which Haskell has stuffed into the gasolene filler pipe. Once it is burning, you give one last push and send the vehicle careering over the edge into the canyon 300 feet below. After the resounding crash, you hear the clansmen approaching and you quickly take cover among the boulders. To make it seem more realistic Marine Knott drops his bloodstained tunic at the edge of the road before he takes cover, seconds before the first riders appear on the scene.
You freeze for an instant, and then raise your hands above your head slowly in a desperate attempt to save yourself by surrendering to the assassin. Unfortunately, your actions do not impress the cold-hearted murderer.
-With horror you see the muzzle of his rifle spit a core of yellow flame, and then an agonizing pain erupts in the middle of your forehead. The impact lifts your feet off the ground, sending you sprawling against the courthouse wall. The pain disappears to be replaced by a numbness that clouds your vision and drains the last of your strength from your unfeeling limbs. An overwhelming desire to sleep assails your senses, and, although you fight to stay awake, it is a fight you have no hope of winning.
+With horror you see the muzzle of his rifle spit a cone of yellow flame, and then an agonizing pain erupts in the middle of your forehead. The impact lifts your feet off the ground, sending you sprawling against the courthouse wall. The pain disappears to be replaced by a numbness that clouds your vision and drains the last of your strength from your unfeeling limbs. An overwhelming desire to sleep assails your senses, and, although you fight to stay awake, it is a fight you have no hope of winning.
As they approach, the clansmen train their spotlight on the jeep
The heavy-calibre rounds riddle the running gear and tear the back tyres to shreds. It sends the truck into a violent skid, and then there is a tremendous
You raise your left hand to shield your eyes from the glare of the spotlight. They are trying to blind you as they approach, but you are more than a match for them. You shout to the others to hold tight and, when they are nearly upon you, you swerve aside, bringing the jeep to a controlled halt at the edge of the highway.
Captain Frankland is the first to recover and quickly mans the heavy machine gun. The pick-up completes a spectacular 180-degree turn and comes racing back, but he is waiting for them. They are thirty yards away when he cocks the weapon and opens fire.
+The heavy-calibre rounds riddle the engine and tear the cab to shreds. The truck starts to skid, and then there is a tremendous
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You
he says, as he holsters his pistol and clambers over the wall to join you.
Yeah, you
you reply, self-consciously. I oughta know by now. Better late than dead, right?
Right,
he says, and slaps you reassuringly on the back. The bridge is over there. It
The bridge is over there,
Marine Knott says. It
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