THE DEAD TIMES
DEAD ARE COMING...
Episode 9 - Death Road
In the previous episode of the excellent adventure to Canada; Leroy, Calvin and Davy - despite trying to turn the tide - continued to have a rough time of it. Yes, the group had gained the mythical knowledge of self-medication but Calvin was still the only confident healer in the team - not that it mattered, medical supplies having run dry. This, less than optimistic news, was followed by a stinky campsite, forcing the group to look for an alternative, and being run-up on by bandits while doing so. The bandits however, were all talk, as Leroy promptly scared them off with his amazing coolness powers. Next came the sight of all that is holy - no, not Canada - a video games arcade! Unfortunately, said arcade was overrun by undead and undead gamers, driving the group onwards without that sweet nectar of gameplay. With resources stretched extremely thin, hope was offered by a quaint, bullet hole-ridden, house, providing some - yet not nearly enough - life-giving supplies. For now, the horror continues...
Ok, first off, the car runs out of fuel - no one can say this was unexpected, given the 1 unit of fuel the group had left. The team pack all the gear into backpacks - it does not take very long - and head out, hoofing it once more, staying on the road to avoid lurking bandits. All is going normally until Leroy, travelling at the back, stops the group. He's just noticed that his backpack had a hole in it and many of the group's precious items have fallen out. People should be real angry at this, but the way things are going, it is just one more misstep to add to the team's 'bad luck' amble. Leroy suffers coolness fatigue, having let the group down so badly after so long a journey.
Even with the dire situation, there's never a dull moment out on the open road in this most bodacious of journeys and, just up ahead, broken down on the hard shoulder, is a bakery van with its doors still sealed. The group leg it in the direction of the truck - this could be the foods they are looking for. Sadly, when Davy unlocks the rear doors and hauls them open, to everyone's dismay, most of the food has gone mouldy and can't be eaten. Still, there are some boxed up Twinkies and small cakes that look fresh enough to enjoy. The team wolf them down without a second thought, so hungry after hours of walking on an empty stomach.
It's Twinkie time!
© Screenshot from Death Road to Canada
The mood is still dismal yet slowly improving thanks to the wonder that is Twinkies. Calvin even manages a brief smile. However, this interlude is not to last as morale takes a dive once again when the group spots what is up ahead. In a cruel joke, a brand-new, shiny hatchback waits on the side of the road, tempting the boys in, locked and unusable without keys - the only place those keys might live; the cabin to the west. What also lives in the cabin are hundreds of Zombies, more than the group could ever hope to match, especially in their current strung-out shape. Still, in the bizarre, moody, pink night sky, the boys tool up and head in, the phrase "GG" entering Leroy's mind.
Wait, is it the red sky in the morning or at night that's the bad one?
© Screenshot from Death Road to Canada
The battle goes sideways pretty quickly, perhaps unsurprisingly. The group find the keys fairly early on in the first room of the cabin but get greedy opting to stay and loot the remaining rooms for goodies, they don't really have a choice, everything is running low. As it turns out, this was a mistake. The room on the left side gives some tasty morsels of hope but the room to the north is tiny - and I mean really, really small, so much so that you would be hard pressed fitting a bath into this bathroom (is it really a bathroom then?). As the Zombies from the main room pile into the cramped compartment, the crew struggle to hold them off - Leroy switching out his slow-swinging wrench for the more powerful boom provided by the cowboy rifle. The dead prove too much though, their bodies surging through the hail of panicked gunfire from all three boys, and, with the deepest sorrow, our faithful group leader, Leroy; a tamer of stray dogs and true scholar of cool, is killed. In unshakable Leroy form, his body is not simply chewed on by Zombies, but positively explodes, harmless red cool energy flying out from his vaporised corpse. Calvin takes command. He does not know where Davy is.
This is a result of poor 'Zombie Apocalypse' house design
© Screenshot from Death Road to Canada
Immediately Calvin retreats, fleeing for his life, out the door, slipping past groping dead hand and decayed tooth as best he can but still taking grievous damage. Back in the main room, Davy appears from that same door Calvin has just fled from - hidden somewhere by the swarm of bodies earlier, managing to escape that room of undeath despite the odds, clearly shaken from the experience. They dash to the car - no let-up - jam in the keys, pile in and hit the road. Canada seems farther than ever now.
On the bright side, a survivor offers to join the team further up the road - well, she didn't actually offer at all, she just got in the car and said she was going with the boys to Canada, end of. This was very rude and no one takes a shine to the new arrival for four additional reasons:
- She is a girl in an all-boys adventure.
- She has a name that is hard to pronounce.
- She is far too happy about the whole end of the world thing.
- She is one more mouth to feed when the boys barely have enough food to feed themselves.
Call that random collection of letters a name?
© Screenshot from Death Road to Canada
The boys will just have to 'tuff it out. For now, it's getting late and the group needs some shut eye - also, neither Calvin or Davy want to be travelling at night now the apocalypse has gotten a whole lot more difficult. Davy offers to stay awake and keep guard due to the increased amount of Zombies in the region - he is a star and has shown his unfailing dedication to the Canadian dream, a true boon to Calvin. In the morning, the boys - and girl (hiss) - eat two units of food each, leaving just enough for the next morning. Spirits remain dark but resolute - Calvin's health is looking bad, Davy's too, though without any medical supplies, there's nothing anyone can do. Davy remarks, just as the car roars into life again, that the world isn't so bad, it could use a few improvements though. This causes Calvin to smirk and unpronounceable girl to laugh. What a guy...
A few miles in, a grocery store looms ahead. It would definitely have some urgently required supplies in it. However, as usual, the store is bustling with walking dead. There's just no way the group could get out alive even if they could get in and grab any useful items, so, reluctantly, the group take the wiser approach and drive on - they'll do their shopping elsewhere.
DIARY:
Leroy and Calvin's Excellent Adventure
DIARY WRITTEN BY:
ENTRY DESCRIPTION:
Things were looking bleak at the end of the previous episode. This time; things go no better as the party suffers an even more horrifying loss. Can the end be far away, read on to find out...
DATE ENTRY UPLOADED:
16/04/2017