ALBA
Page 16
The raiders are closing in on the boat. They’re beginning to load up guns in earnest now, shouting orders between them. The children from the bank have made it back to the ship and are climbing the ladder to get on board, scrabbling desperately, but their wet feet mean they’re slipping and falling as they go.
You reach out a hand to the child nearest you. With wide, horror-stricken eyes he takes it and you haul him up onto the deck, passing him back and shoving him away to hide. You scramble as quickly as you can to get the others up, too – trying to ignore the bullets whizzing past your head as the raiders see what you’re doing and try to take you out.
The last child on the ladder is moving slowly, and you see a trail of blood dripping down the side of the ship, into the water, from her leg. She cringes every time she puts weight on it. She must have been shot by one of the raiders – you curse them under your breath.
Monsters.
You stick your torso as far as you can over the side of the ship and grab her. She makes a little strangled noise as you grab her by the collar and heave, the effort of it making you grunt, but you pull both her and yourself on deck. You tumble a couple of times but someone comes and takes the girl out of your grip, holding her close and nodding her thanks at you. The two of them run off, but the sound of fighting continues.
Add Compassion to your character sheet.
* * *
Take Cover – Turn to 7.14.
* * *
Attempt to escape – Turn to 7.21.
* * *
Ready your weapon – Turn to 7.13, Needs Sharpshooter.
7.17
You come out from behind the barrels, holding your hands up high, hoping for the best. It takes a while for the raiders to notice you, but they begin to bark orders at each other when they see. A gun is raised to you and you flinch, thrusting your hands into the air with even more vigour, trying to let them know you’re giving up.
You’re dragged out from the smoking shed and brought out into the open. You seem to be the only non-raider left on deck. They watch you with narrowed eyes, unsure of how to continue.
Eventually a man steps forward from the crowd, his face covered in deep scars, smiling at you through a mouth of rotten teeth.
“An outsider, eh?” he asks, looking you up and down. He nods to one of the others and suddenly you’re taken roughly by the shoulders and forced to your knees. The man takes your chin in his grubby hands and inspects your face as if you’re a piece of meat.
“Well, your type always fetch a good price,” he croons, and before you can react heavy shackles are slapped onto your wrists. You panic and pull against them to his amusement. He brings down the butt of his gun onto your head and you see stars, and then black.
END.
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* * *
Turn to The Cell (Chapter 16).
7.18
You reload again, letting the casings fall out of your gun and onto the floor with a tink. You fire another round downwards into the oncoming raiders, watching more of them fall to the ground like ragdolls dropped by bored children. You lose yourself for a moment, unloading clip after clip into them. Eventually, you realise the other sounds of fighting have died down, no more arrows are being fired – it’s just you and your gun now.
You’re unsure how long it takes to down all of the raiders, but soon you can’t see any more of them moving, neither in the pile that lay in the shallow water around the ship nor further out, those that tried to escape.
You lower your gun and turn to face the villagers. All of them stare at you in silence. A mother has hidden her son’s eyes. A quiet has fallen over the ship but it isn’t a calm one. It’s full of unease. Unease at you.
Slowly, they begin to depart from where they’re clumped together, tidying, picking up stray arrows. None of them look you in the eye as they busy themselves. You decide it’s probably best to leave before they start asking questions.
The ship stays silent on the wind until it’s out of sight.
END.
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7.19
You rest your finger on the trigger as you watch the young raiders scramble away, losing their footing on the muddy bank. You turn the sights away from them. If they’re running, they probably won’t be a problem. Best to focus on the raiders still climbing up.
You spend a little more time unloading bullets into them and dodging theirs. Eventually, all the raiders are dead or have fled – either way, no more of them are attempting to make it onto the ship. With a sigh, you lower your weapon and look around you to where the villagers are gathering themselves and cleaning up. They collect the bodies of the fallen and pick up remaining bullets from the floor, the children turning them over in their hands like precious gems.
The eldest guard claps you on the shoulder and gives you a solemn nod. You return it before watching the slowest of the raiders running off into the horizon, back to their base.
You let yourself revel in the knowledge you’ve done a good thing.
END.
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7.20
It’s not hard to find people to treat. A man in front of you clutches his arm as blood pumps out of it, the bullet wound deep and red, staining the browns of his furs. You use your pocketknife to cut away the fabric and reveal the bloody hole. It’s deep, lodged far into his flesh. It’s no wonder he’s suffering.
“Bite down on this,” you tell him, shoving the rags in his mouth. He looks up at you, wide-eyed, but does so dutifully. It doesn’t stop him screaming from under them when you shove the blade into the hole and dig the bullet out. You don’t give him time to struggle, doing the quick operation as fast as you can. The discarded bullet falls to the floor with a sharp noise. You plug the wound as best you can before moving onto the next injured villager.
Every time you treat a wounded soldier, another one appears. You go as quickly as you can between them, giving the best aid you’re able to. It seems to help. The villagers get back up quickly, nursing their wounds and going on to fight. Having a skilled medic onside helps. It’s a nasty battle, but it soon seems the raiders are falling back and cheers of victory are going up.
The eldest guard claps you on the shoulder and gives you a solemn nod. You return it before watching the slowest of the raiders running off into the horizon, back to their base.
You let yourself revel in the knowledge you’ve done a good thing.
END.
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Add The Great Migration (Chapter 8, L.8) and The Bridge (Chapter 11, L.11) to your map.
7.21
The raiders are coming thick and fast. It’s only a matter of time until they overrun the place – and then it’s everyone for themselves. You feel a fleeting sense of worry – perhaps you owe these people more, perhaps you should stay and fight – but you’re only one person, one outsider. What can you do to help?
You run around the back of the ship, going against the tide of people, pushing them out the way and ignoring the looks they shoot you as you run. The sounds of battle flare up behind you; you ignore them the best you can.
It seems the raiders were only attacking from one front. The other side of the ship is empty, the villagers having all gone to fight. There’s no ladder on this side, but you scramble over the railings and drop down from them into the water – the fall hurts and you sink into the mud, but it’s better than the alternative of being shot.
You wade through the heavy water and onto the bank, running away and not looking back as the gunfire gets louder and, eventually, ceases.
END.
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at Migration (Chapter 8, L.8) to your map.
7.22
“Have you got any alcohol?” you shout to the oldest guard. He looks at you with confusion, but passes you a bottle of whisky from inside his coat.
You rip a strip of fabric from your coat and shove it into the bottle neck before setting fire to the end. You take a step back and with the strongest throw you can muster lob it at the raiders.
The bottle explodes on landing and fire catches wildly. Two raiders scream as flames climb over them, devouring them in bright orange. The guard catches on and shouts for the villagers to grab all the bottles they can. Soon, the sky is awash with fire as bomb after bomb are thrown at the raiders, and cries of pain rise up from the attackers. Some of them try to flee, but they find themselves not getting far as arrows suddenly stick out of them like the quills of a porcupine, or they get a spear through the back. The people around you cheer at their victory and the guard slaps you on the back.
“You’re a clever one, eh?” he asks. You smile and watch the fire flicker.
END.
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Chapter 8
The Great Migration
8.1
It’s your fourth time at the ship and you feel like you know what to expect – that is, until you see the smoke on the horizon, thick and choking, being pumped into the air heavily and horribly. A panic rises in your chest and you find yourself sprinting towards the scene in desperation, needing to find out what has happened.
As suspected, you can see the inside of the ship being roasted with flame. Tongues of fire lick out from the rusted metal holes and windows and dance embers into the air. Even from this distance, ash flakes are swirling through the air like snow, gently burning your skin where they land. On the bank opposite the ship you see a hundred people standing around, all ex-residents of the ship.
They’re collecting bags and carts. It looks like they’re about to start leaving the site of the blaze. You wonder what’s going on, what prompted this sudden change.
Find out who’s in charge – Turn to 8.2.
* * *
Find out who’s in charge – Turn to 8.2a, Needs Morag.
* * *
Ask someone nearby – Turn to 8.3.
* * *
Watch silently – Turn to 8.4.
8.2
You run down the bank and into the crowd. Not much attention is paid to you, everyone is so caught up in sorting themselves out.
“Who’s in charge here?” you ask one of the nearby families. The man from the group looks at you with a furrowed brow, unhappy to be disturbed.
“Morag,” he nods his head in the direction of a red-haired, middle-aged woman who appears to be directing the flow of people. You cut through the crowd to her and wait for her to pause in her chain of commands.
“Can I help?” she asks, finally noticing you and giving you a look up and down.
“What’s going on here? Why are you leaving the ship?” She looks confused for a moment, not recognising you as a member of her tribe, but then clearly decides that it’s not worth hiding anything from you. You must not pose that much of a threat to her.
“We’re moving on, child. One too many raider attacks left us with one too many wounded. No place to raise the children. We’ve got to try and find somewhere safer.”
“Why are you burning it?” you ask, still absolutely flabbergasted at the inferno.
“Make sure the bastards can’t steal anything else,” she says, sadly. “Anything we don’t need is burned up. If we can’t have it, neither can they.” Her next words are to the group at large. “Al right, come on. If we want to get to a good camp by sunset, we’ve got to get moving!” And then back to you, “You’re welcome to join us if you help us move.”
Add Morag (E.2) to your character sheet.
* * *
Watch silently – Turn to 8.4.
* * *
Leave – Turn to 8.5.
* * *
Walk with the group – Turn to 8.6.
8.2a
You know exactly who is in charge here, and following the sound of her voice, it doesn’t take long to find the flame-haired Morag shouting orders and organising the rough group. She smiles when she sees you and claps you on the shoulder.
“Ah, chick! Didn’t expect to see you again. Guess you caught us just in time, eh?”
It is good to see her, but you don’t have time to catch up.
“What’s going on here? Why are you leaving the ship?”
“We’re moving on, child. One too many raider attacks left us with one too many wounded. No place to raise the children. We’ve got to try and find somewhere safer.”
“But why are you burning it?” you ask, still absolutely flabbergasted at the inferno.
“Make sure the bastards can’t steal anything else,” she says, sadly. “Anything we don’t need is burned up. If we can’t have it, neither can they.” Her next words are to the group at large. “All right, come on. If we want to get to a good camp by sunset, we’ve got to get moving!” And then back to you, “You’re welcome to join us if you help us move.”
Watch silently – Turn to 8.4.
* * *
Leave – Turn to 8.5.
* * *
Walk with the group – Turn to 8.6.
8.3
You go down to one of the smaller groups within the pack. It’s a family, a mother and father with a couple of small children. They’re sorting through bags of meagre belongings and trying to organise their possessions so each member carries some of the load. You clear your throat to get their attention and the father looks up at you, irritated at being interrupted.
“Can you tell me what’s going on here?”
“You don’t know?” he asks, incredulously, shaking his head. “We’re moving. Trying to get away from the raider attacks. Last one was a bad one. Morag said it was time to find somewhere else.”
You nod, and before you can ask any more questions, he’s turned back to his children who keep trying to squirm out of their bags. You sigh and look around. It’s certainly a sad sight, all these people being uprooted from their home. But you understand the danger of the scavengers. You wonder if you’d act any differently in their place.
Watch silently – Turn to 8.4.
* * *
Leave – Turn to 8.5.
* * *
Walk with the group – Turn to 8.6.
8.4
You cast your eyes over the dozens of heads assembled at the shore. It’s a loud group, the shouting of orders being repeated from person to person to try to rally them into formation. There are all sorts of people; from children, anxious to get going, to the elderly who may not survive the trip.
You look once again to the fire. You imagine it will burn until the ship is nothing but a carcass and all that’s left is the water around it. It feels a bit sad, seeing this great monument turned to nothing. But then you feel a bit selfish – you’re sad that a relic of the old world is being lost, but these people are losing their home. Some of these children haven’t known anything else, and here you are, mourning architecture.
You feel a little embarrassed and find yourself turning your head away.
Walk with the group – Turn to 8.6.
* * *
Leave – Turn to 8.5.
8.5
There’s nothing for you here, you decide. You aren’t part of this group and it feels rude to try to impose on them like this.
You watch for a little while, until the group leaves your sight. A few people fall behind and you catch snippets of conversation – you hear them mentioning a bridge a few miles from here, and a scavenger camp not far from that. You jot down the places on your map and think maybe they’re worth investigating.
You hope they find what they’re looking for in this harsh world. It’s the kindest thing you can wish for them, a home to survive in.
It’s getting dark. You make camp for the evening and listen to the sound of silence, only permeated by the gentle crackling of the distant fire.
END.
Add Ship’s Token (O.23) to your inventory.
Add Bridge (Chapter 11, L.11) and Scavenger Village (Chapter 9, L.9) to map.
8.6