*label Back

Once you're well into the woods, you stop to listen. You don't hear any rustling or anything, so you figure there aren't zombies in the woods with you. You walk more slowly, keeping an ear out.

Soon the trees begin to thin, and you can see glimpses of apple trees on the other side. This must be the outlying edge of Coursers' Farm, though you've never come at it from this direction. When you go to their farmstand, you always go by road. A few steps more, and you can see the farmhouse, some distance away. Beyond that is the long dirt road that leads from the farmstand to the farmhouse, and beyond that (though you can't see it) is a paved road. 

Are you going to head for the paved road, or go warn the Coursers? Or are you just going to stay here in the woods?

*choice

    #Warn the Coursers, of course! They may need my help.
    
        TODO affects stats
        
        *goto Trap
    
    #Warn the Courses, of course! I bet they've got food and guns and useful supplies.

        TODO affects stats
        *goto Trap
    
    #Head for the paved road, thanks. I'm not about to risk going into that farmhouse. What if they've already turned?
    
        TODO affects stats
        *goto Trap
        
    #I'm staying right here.
    
        . . . really? 
        
        For how long? Until the zombies eat everything in your neighborhood and start hunting squirrels in the woods? And find you? 
        
        Let's try that again. What's your plan?
        
        *choice

            #Warn the Coursers, of course! They may need my help.
    
                TODO affects stats
        
                *goto Trap
    
            #Warn the Courses, of course! I bet they've got food and guns and useful supplies.

                TODO affects stats
                *goto Trap
    
            #Head for the paved road, thanks. I'm not about to risk going into that farmhouse. What if they've already turned?
    
                TODO affects stats
                *goto Trap
        

*label Trap

Good idea. You take the first step forward. . .

. . . and something grabs your ankle.

*page_break

There's a band of tight, hot pain searing into your ankle, and you're upside down. You're not sure how that happened, but you're upside down and dangling headfirst a few feet off the ground. Oh shit, you think. Zombies can set traps.

Chi-chink.

Oh, shit. Zombies can use shotguns, too?

*page_break

But the old ${man} who steps slowly into your field of vision, shotgun aimed at your head, doesn't have the drooling, fixed-eyed look of the zombies in your front yard. $!{He} doesn't have the sagging, rotting flesh, either. $!{He} looks, in fact, pretty healthy. $!{He} is observing you closely.

"Lucky you didn't run into the bear trap," ${he} says.

It's sort of difficult to know how to respond, under the circumstances.

*choice

    TODO something that affects diplomacy, I guess. What would be amusing reponses?
    *goto Inspection
    
*label Inspection

The old ${man} circles you again. "Don't seem like you want to eat me," ${he} says. "But you could be bit and just not turned yet. Safest thing is probably to leave you here and see if you turn."

That sounds like a terrible idea to you. How can you convince the old ${man} to let you go?

*choice

    TODO something that affects diplomacy, I guess. What would be amusing responses?
    *goto Inspection2
    
*label Inspection2

"Well, no, I guess if you're not bit, it wouldn't be neighborly to leave you there," the old ${man} agrees. "And you'd attract them, anyway, and I'm not set up yet for an offensive." $!{He}'s near a particularly large oak tree now. $!{He} shoots out a hand--still keeping the shotgun trained on you--and does something to the tree, and the pain around your ankle vanishes.

To be replaced by a pain in your head, after you fall on it.

"Now strip," the old ${man} orders, shotgun pointed at your head. "Prove you're not bit."

You don't have lots of choices right at this moment, so you comply.

And the old ${man} smiles. "Well, good, then! Good for you. You'd better come inside the perimeter, then. I'm ${Survivalist} Courser, by the way. And you are? Nice to meet you, ${firstname}. Careful where you step, now. There's a few more where that came from."

You follow in ${his} footsteps veryveryvey carefully, until you reach the farmhouse. Along the way, ${he} points out several bear traps, several trapping pits, snares like the on that caught you, and two deadfall traps. "Knew they were coming," ${he} says, in reference to the zombies--at least, you think so; you suppose it could as easily be in reference to the government or the Commies or something. "Can't be too prepared."

The farmhouse is empty and silent. "Where's the rest of your family, ${Survivalist}?"

"Took off two days ago," is the brief answer. "They would have done better to stay here behind my traps. You can stay, if you want. It'd be good to have somebody else here. I can't look out all the windows all at once."

What do you say?

*choice

    #Yes, thanks, I'd like to stay.
    
        *goto SurvivalistTour
    
    #No, thanks anyway.
        
        Really?
        
        *choice
        
            #Well. . . there are a lot of zombies out there. Maybe I'll stay for a while.
            
                *goto SurvivalistTour
            
            #No.
            
                *label StealACar
                
                "Suit yourself," ${Survivalist} says, in a tone that suggests ${he} regrets taking the time to free you from the trap. "Main road's that way."
                
                You start the trudge up the long dirt road toward the farmstand. It feels like eyes are boring into you from behind. Probably because there are. You're sure ${Survivalist} is watching from the window, anyway. You hope there aren't dead eyes watching too.
                
                *page_break
                
                But you arrive at the farmstand without incident, and there you see an abandoned Honda Civic. With the keys in the ignition and gas in the tank and everything. 
                
                You glance around nervously for the reanimated corpse of the former owner. And then you take the car and get the hell out of there. For a long time, you don't pass another car or a person. Or any pieces of person that might indicate recent zombie presence.
                
                *goto Kid
                                
                        
*label SurvivalistTour
                        
"Come on," says ${Survivalist}, "I'll show you around."

How do we make this sound like a satirical cliche?

Safe behind Survivalist's perimeter. Radio. No smartphones or internet, that's how the government controlls your mind (?) Lots of not-food. MREs. Options of where to go, but Survivalist doesn't want to leave yet. Wait until the zombies munch everybody else and move on. "We would live down here for how many months? What would we eat? MREs? Bathroom? Chemical toilet we have to pump. Where does it go, exactly? Do we get to shower? And it would just be you and me? With nothing to do? Eventually we're going to want to meet up with other survivors, right?" You've read a study in Discover, biodomes, decided not to do that because people in close proximity in tight situation for several months tend to go a little nuts, and you have a lot of... guns." Take chances out in the open, because this does not sound like a life worth living. 

Reinforced basement. Wall of guns. Steel door. 

Gives you a gun. Do you tell him you don't know how to shoot? "What do you mean you don't know how to shoot? This end's the dangerous end, you point it at what you want to shoot, then you pull this lever here..."

*choice

    #Yes.
    
        train up firearms
        *goto Radio
        
    #No.
    
        Really?
        
        *choice
        
            #Yes.
            
                train up firearms
                *goto Radio
            
            #No.
            
                Suit yourself.
                *goto Radio

                
*label Radio

Radio talks about safe places, mall, prison, church. Do you want to head for any of these or stay here?

*choice

    #Stay here. 
    
        Good move. You stay for a while, one day you go out for supplies.
        
        *goto Supplies
        
    #Leave.
    
        For which place?
        
        *choice
        
            #Mall.
            
                *set tempsafespot = mall
                *goto BringSurvivalist
            
            #Prison.
            
                *set tempsafespot = prison
                *goto BringSurivalist
            
            #Church.
            
                *set tempsafespot = church
                *goto BringSurvivalist
                
                
*label BringSurvivalist

Do you want to convince Survivalist to go along?

*choice

    #Yes.
    
        Need very high diplo to pull it off. If you don't succeed, re-offer choice of staying. If you do, goto Jeep.
    
        
    #No.
    
        He lets you have a gun, but not his car. 
        
        *goto StealACar
    
                
*label Jeep

You take his Jeep and set off. 

go_sub Kid, add more if-then for if survivalist and if guns
Kid and Useless play out as written

Engineer works more or less as Gamer, but may need to be rewritten b/c text different, skills different.             
            
