Zombie Exodus: Aftermath, scene 27

Continued from scene 26 

Megan seems shaky and reluctant as a member of the West Pointers. If you can gain her trust, maybe you can persuade her enough to help you in creating a distraction or helping you rescue the prisoners.

You slide on your belly under the tent flap and stand. She stands only ten feet ahead of you and draws a canteen hidden in the back of her pants under her shirt. She peeks out of the tent for a moment and takes a sip. Her face shrivels, telling you it's likely alcohol. She quickly shoves the canteen in the back of her pants and covers it with her shirt.

 As you take another step, you hold your hands out to the side to appear non-threatening and say in a calm tone, "Excuse me, Megan?"

She shrieks, drops the canteen, spins towards you, and lowers her hand over her holstered pistol. "Who the hell are you?"

Now that you can see her, you notice a thin but fit woman with brown hair tied in a bun, dark and round eyes, and a button nose. A long strip of gauze covers her left forearm. You can tell by the color of her skin and sunken cheeks that she's been malnourished for a while. "Just someone who's trying to rescue her friends. I don't mean you any harm and just want to talk. I'm unarmed."

Her hands shake, taking a few steps back towards the tent's exit. "Stay right there. I'm going to call the captain—"

"Megan, please don't do that. I just want to talk. If you tell the captain about me, he will take me prisoner, and then there's no way I can help my friends who are locked up already. I heard you when you were speaking to the captain over your walkie-talkie. It doesn't sound like you want to be here."

She stops before leaving the tent, and you read hesitation on her face. "You know my name. What's yours?"

"I'm Violet. Nice to meet you."

"Captain says you guys are members of the Reds. Spies even."

You shake your head and scoff. "I lived in a small settlement when the Reds attacked and drove us out. My friends and I have been traveling for the past day to find a place to survive. We split up to scavenge, and they got caught by your group here. One of them is tied to that pole out there, ready to be interrogated. She won't talk because we're not part of the Reds. There's no telling what kind of damage they will do to her. I need to make a distraction so my other friends can break them out of that cage. Will you help us?"

Megan thinks for a moment, eyeing you suspiciously. She takes her hand off her holstered pistol and says, "If I help you, what's in it for me?"

Continue to scene 28