Save the Survivors - Part 1
Escort Suzie and Thomas back to the group of survivors they left. Once there, speak to the leader of the group.
Conditions: Both Suzie and Thomas must make it back to survivor group alive.
Reward: 100 XP
Do you accept?
Nancy nods as if expecting this response. “Can you give us a moment to talk about it as a group?”
I start the conversation off. “Is it just me, or are these NPCs pretty well spoken? The last NPC I talked to had a script he kept repeating.”
Little Joe laughs and answers, “Don't you know that people can get better brains for their characters?”
Frank ruffles his brother's hair and clarifies, “What doofus here means is that dungeon owners can invest in better personalities for the NPCs they use.”
“You must have only been in some low-level dungeon. Higher level dungeons and ones that have been around longer have more complex creatures. If a dungeon is an old or just high level, the monsters can be super smart and dangerous.” Nancy adds with a know-it-all attitude.
That does make sense. The monsters I fought in that bad Zelda clone dungeon got progressively smarter and harder to fight. It makes sense that the non-player characters would get smarter over time too.
“Okay, that makes sense. Now, what about this Quest? Could it be a trap? I've seen way too many episodes of The Walking Dead to trust some random people.”
Nancy shakes her head. “No, I don't think so anyway. Usually you have to sign up for a trickier zombie experience like that. Some people use them to train their truth-telling skills or deception skills. But we all signed up for group training. I think it's legit.”
I shrug, not having been to a place like this before. I accept their quest. Let's see where this takes us.
The two lead us through the forest to a small encampment in a clearing in the woods.
As soon as the couple steps into the boundary of the camp, a small blue screen pops up.
You’ve completed the quest - Save the Survivors - Part 1
You receive 100 XP.
Dismissing the notification, I examine the group of people we’re going to be dealing with. The camp has about four tents and ten people. Everyone is a little on the thin side but seem to be healthy otherwise. While their clothes are dirty and worn, they've kept themselves relatively clean.
A tall Hispanic man with shaggy black hair that curls at the ends greets us. He's wearing jeans, a plaid long-sleeve shirt, and black hiking boots. Suzie and her husband introduce the man as Juan.
Juan is genial but also wary of newcomers. He questions the four of us about how we survived up until now. Oddly, it's Frank who makes up our back story. He tells Juan that Nancy and I are school friends and that we saved him and his brother when things went south in the world. The four of us have been scavenging from homes and markets and making our way killing zombies.
I'm surprised that Frank is such a good storyteller, and I try to play my part and back up his tail. Juan seems suspicious, but accepts our story. I guess this NPC’s brain doesn't let him get too far off mission. He explains that the group is heading towards a Safe Haven and that we're welcome to come along as long as we are going to help protect everyone from zombies along the way.
Save the Survivors - Part 2
Escort the group of survivors led by Juan to Safe Haven.
Conditions: 8 of the 12 survivors must make it to Safe Haven alive.
Reward: 1000 XP
Do you accept?
Nancy was right; the Quest starts here. I accept the quest and thank Juan for his trust in us. Another survivor from his group runs up and asks for him, and he leaves to deal with whatever issue has come up.
Turning to Nancy and her brothers, I say, “Well, at least we don’t have to keep everyone alive, just...” I do the math in my head and finish, “two-thirds of them.”
At the same time Little Joe says, “…66.667% of them.”
I look down at the happy kid, and he says, “I have my mental math skill to level 7. What’s yours at?”
I can’t help by smile back at the grinning kid. He’s so proud of himself. Instead of answering him, though, I address the rest of the group. “So, we have to arrive at Safe Haven with at least 66.667% of the survivors. I don’t know about the rest of you, but it seems unlikely to me that we can protect this whole group with a baseball bat and purse.”
Nancy nods. “I agree. Our priority should be for us to find or make better weapons.” Her stomach grumbles and she clutches it embarrassed.
Frank points and laughs at his sister until his stomach grumbles.
“So, I think we should put eating in a priority position,” I say, remembering that the last time I ate was this morning.
The four of us split up to scavenge for food and weapons. Little Joe is the best at finding food and comes back to camp with mushrooms, dandelions, and cattails. I’m able to find a ball-peen hammer, and Frank finds a rusty kitchen knife. Nancy does the best of everyone by only asking the other survivors for help. She gets us four cans of food and a .22 caliber rifle. Nancy says it’s a Marlin Model 795 and has a magazine that holds ten rounds. She has a half-empty box of ammunition but thinks we shouldn’t have too big of a problem finding more rounds in any decently sized town. I’ll have to take her word for it, having never used a gun myself.
That evening we’re introduced to all the other survivors. It’s obvious which has been around the longest in the dungeon after meeting all of them. Some of the members of the group seem almost human in their ability to express themselves. Other NPCs do little more than repeat the same lines again and again. I’m sure there’s some unique dungeon master ability that lets someone invest this type of intelligence on some creatures, but I don’t know what it is.
After eating, the four members of my group head to bed. With the time dilation between the dungeon and the real world, we should have six days in the dungeon.
Chapter 24
On the first day of our escort mission, everyone in the camp gets packed up, and we all head towards the highway. We’re supposed to follow it for a few days, pass through a few towns to scavenge, and then take move off the road to where ever Safe Haven is.
The first couple days guarding the survivors on their trip to Safe Haven are a bit boring. We’re attacked by a total of six zombies as we walk along the highway toward a small town called Blumkin. No one dies in the attacks, but they give me an idea of what to expect from the survivors. Juan, the leader of the group, is quick to respond to the threats and quickly dispatches zombies with a large bowie knife. Suzie, the blonde woman we rescued, doesn’t actively attack the zombies but takes defensive action when they attack. She guards her husband Thomas like he’s made of diamonds. Most of the other survivors huddle together in fear, and only one runs away into the woods. He comes back after the attack, but I mark him as a liability in my mind.
Nancy, Frank, and Joe are professionals. Even though they’re just kids to me, they take each attack seriously and work as a team to fight off the zombies. Nancy shoots the zombies that are still shambling over to the group. The noise of the rifle though attracts the zombies towards her. Thankfully, Frank uses his baseball bat to push back or disable the zombies with strikes to their knees. Joe, wielding the kitchen knife, helps finish off the zombies that Frank has knocked to the ground.