IC-Highway to Hell(Randall/David/Tisha/Willie/Felice)

[Mr. Handy]

9:58 AM
On the back roads-
David turned right, followed by Felice in her Porsche.

"It's not I-80," said Willie, "but at least it doesn't have any crazy people who want to eat us on it. We'll need to go a little further south after a while. I'll let you know when to turn left."

The drive continued uneventfully for about a dozen more minutes.

OOC,Whoever posts first, please roll Luck.

[Silver Priest]

Tisha continues to look outside, every now and then looking at Randall to see that he's still conscious.

"Does the radio work," She asks David. "I could do with some music now."

Luck 55,[dice]0[/dice]

[Mr. Handy]

9:59 AM
On the back roads-
The vehicles crossed another intersection, this one with a larger road that was fortunately deserted.

David tried the radio, but most of the stations were off the air. He was able to pick up one Cheyenne station that was still broadcasting, but all it had was a recording of emergency instructions on an endless loop, telling people to stay indoors, shelter in place, and await government assistance. "I've got some CDs in the glove box," he said. "Do you like country music?"

"Keep going," said Willie. "There are small towns at either end of the road, so we'd better avoid it. We'll turn left in a few miles, where there's a bridge across the river."

Randall was still conscious. His eyes were closed, but he would moan in pain every so often.

[Silver Priest]

The news depresses Tisha a great deal. Not only was the situation worse than she had feared, but the chances of her being able to get her report out to a large audience was not looking good. And there went her chances for a Pulitzer. She'd have to find a way, she was not letting this opportunity slip from her fingers.

"Sure, country's fine." She responds, far more concerned with Randall's state.

"Hold on Randall, we're almost there." She offers, hoping to God that was true. "Hey, what were you doing around here anyway?" Hopefully getting him talking would distract him from the pain. And prove he had not...turned.

[Mr. Handy]

10:00 AM
On the back roads-
"On my way to Stanford," muttered Randall. "Going to start law school. Or at least I was."

Another intersection rapidly approached.

"Straight ahead another couple miles," said Willie as he fished around in the glove compartment. "When the road ends, we turn left." He pulled out a Johnny Cash CD. "Can't go wrong with the man in black."
He slid the disc into the player.

[Silver Priest]

"Well, you never know," Tisha mumbles. "I'm sure the military will have things under control soon. we'll get you there and patched up, and you'll have a hell of a story to tell girls about how you saved us during the crisis."

She goes silent and listens to Cash, her foot tapping absentmindedly to the music.

[Mr. Handy]

10:01 AM
On the back roads-
"Yeah," said Randall, though he didn't sound like he really believed it.

The truck and the Porsche rolled through the intersection and kept going.

"I've always liked The Man Comes Around," said Willie, listening to the song, "but today it feels like it hits a little too close to the mark."

[Silver Priest]

"I'm more a fan of Katy Perry," Tisha says. "But don't tell anyone I said that. Liking bubblegum pop would totally kill my image as a serious journalist."

She gently squeezes Willie's hand. "Hey, we'll get through this," she whispers. "Just like we did back there."

[Mr. Handy]

10:02 AM
On the back roads-
Up ahead, the road ended at a T-intersection. Sure enough, the left-hand branch had a bridge that crossed a river shortly after the turn.

"Yeah, Tish," said Willie. "You think maybe these really are the end times?"

[Silver Priest]

"No way," The reporter replied. "Think about it for a second, Willie. You've covered wars, you know? I'm sure you've been places where civilization appeared to completely collapse. Or even look at history, the black plague, the aftermath of world war one and the flu epidemic... I'm sure people back then felt the world was ending. But we always rebound. I think it's the same here. This is some really weird disease, but someone will get to the bottom of it. Whatever this is came on fast, but once people adapt and have a chance to recover we'll be able to fix things. It's why it's so important we get to the base, give them a firsthand account of what things are right and learn more for ourselves.

"And even if this is the end, I'm going to damn well make sure I'm on the front lines covering our extinction as it happens. Anything less would be a failure on my part as a journalist, and I think you feel the same way."

[Mr. Handy]

10:03 AM
On the back roads-
The vehicles turned left and rolled over the bridge.

"Yeah," said Willie. "Yeah, you're right. Keep going for another couple miles. There will be a couple of roads branching off to the right, but they're dead ends. We want to go right, but wait until we get to an road that goes both ways."

David nodded and drove past two roads branching off to the right.

[Silver Priest]

Tisha looks at her cameraman, attempting to gauge his mood. She hoped her words strengthened his resolve if nothing else.

Psychology 30%,[dice]0[/dice] Hoping that Tisha's familiarity with Willie will help me here.

[Mr. Handy]

10:04 AM
On the back roads-
Ahead was a four-way intersection. "Here?" asked David.

"No, keep going," said Willie. "Take the next right."

Tisha,[b]Tisha[/b] could sense that [b]Willie[/b] wanted to believe her, but he still had some doubts about whether she was right that things would get better. It would take more convincing to reassure him. [spoiler][b]Tisha[/b], you may roll Fast Talk or Persuade. The base skill for Persuade is 15%, however, its effect will be permanent. Fast Talk can wear off after a while, particularly if [b]Willie[/b] is ever separated from [b]Tisha[/b].[/spoiler]

[Silver Priest]

"We'll get through this," Tisha whispers, offering Willie her most confident smile. Part of her wanted to convince him to convince herself that things were not hopeless. She had always thrown herself into her job when things got tough, and she was doing just that now.

Persuade 75%,[dice]0[/dice]

ooc,Thankfully I checked and saw Tish's "hidden" persuade score, otherwise I'd have opted for Fast Talk. Good to cheer Willie up though. I think Tish sees him as a bit of a surrogate father figure in my headcanon.

[Mr. Handy]

10:05 AM
On the back roads-
"Yeah, we'll be fine once we get to the base," said Willie, smiling for the first time since this started. "I'll make sure we get there." The truck and the sports car behind it reached an intersection. The road became dirt ahead, but a paved road intersected it going left and right. "Okay, this is where we turn right."

OOC,I'm glad you checked that, because I'd forgotten. [b]Willie[/b] actually regards [b]Tisha[/b] as a daughter (your Psychology roll tells you that), so that fits perfectly.

[Silver Priest]

Tish sighs in relief, glad she seems to have lifted the cameraman's mood. If she had lost him back there the guilt would have destroyed her, especially since he hadn't even wanted to brave the roads to begin with.

[Mr. Handy]

10:06 AM
On the back roads-
Ring of Fire played from the CD. The vehicles turned right and continued on a slightly wider road.

"It sure does burn," moaned Randall. "Oh, God, it hurts. It's getting worse. I hope we get there soon."

"We're most of the way there now," said Willie. "We need to stay on this road for a while longer, until we reach 85, south of Cheyenne. We'll have to detour around the city as best we can, but it's still going to be tricky."

They reached an intersection with a paved road to the right and a dirt road to the left.

[Silver Priest]

Tisha watches Randall warily, fears playing through her head. Hopefully he was at least wearing a seatbelt. But she still did not fancy being in the same car as him if he turned.

"Hey David. Can you hand me that gun you say you have? If we're approaching the city, I want to have some means of defense if we spot one of those things too late, and I'm a decent shot." Of course, she's really wanting it just in case the worst happens to Randall. Judging by the wounds some of them had she's not sure these things can even be killed, but she'd feel better having some sort of weapon.

Persuade 75%,[dice]0[/dice]

[Mr. Handy]

10:08 AM
On the back roads-
"Anything for you, babe," said David, handing Tisha his 9mm pistol. "Not easy for me to shoot and drive at the same time, anyway."

The vehicles kept rolling for another couple of miles. Up ahead was a narrow road branching off to the left and a railroad crossing just before it, the tracks at an angle, heading ahead and to the right as well as back and to the left.

OOC,Whoever posts first, please roll Luck.

[Silver Priest]

"Thanks David," Tisha says, letting a bit of honey into her tone. She grips the pistol like a life preserver, which it may very well be.

Luck 55%,[dice]0[/dice]

"You want another aspirin?" she asks Randall. "It might help keep you centered until we get to the base. The last one seemed to help."