[Nu] Truck Parts [Ro2.3]

Adam

You knew it wasn't long before you'd have to go out and get some parts to repair your truck. Fortunately, there's no shortage of wrecked cars lying around in the ruins... So you set out some time earlier in the day. Where do you normally scavenge for truck parts, and who did you bring with you (if anyone).

Jeff

[Robinson]

Looking for parts belonging to a cargo vehicle means searching near area where cargo was handled: ports, airports, industrial areas. There are large industrial areas near the Teterboro Airport- to the south of it, and to the northeast- that Robinson will frequent when he's looking for industrial or commercial vehicle parts. It's a dangerous area. The streets are cracked and heaved by some kind of underground pressure and heat anomaly which- though stable- demands a careful step, and the area is well-trafficked by wanderers, gangs and scavengers following the vast sweep of I-80 or the New Jersey Turnpike through the landscape.

Typically Robinson prefers to travel alone, but since this is a fairly ambitious salvage operation he was going to need more people.

The first, a big guy to help with the lifting. Robinson borrowed Big Ed from Matilda.

The second, Adele, a frequent collaborator with Robinson; this demanded a detour to the ferry landing at Bear Mountain, where they left the Range Rover and signaled the ferryman to get them and bring them across the Hudson to the settlement at Peekskill where Adele keeps her shop.

Thus reunited, they piled into the Range Rover and headed south, crawling over the broken roads and detouring around impassable stretches. As they approached the industrial area Robinson parked the RR in a safe place and they proceeded on foot to reconnoiter the area.

Adam

Let's pick up with you near the Teterboro Airport then. As you know, there are a slew of places here that usually have some form of cargo vehicles, and your various scav/raider clans that frequent it. You know for sure there's a group of rowdy young bastards filled with piss that hold a junkyard just west of the old airport proper — they're led by a big guy named Teddy. They spend most of their time holding up people on the I-80, though. They're quite successful, as far as a young group filled with piss and vinegar goes. Why wouldn't you want to run into Teddy today, Robinson?

The ride out was likely mostly quiet. Big Ed, silent as he normally is, occasionally tries to chat up Adele to no avail... She did ask you what you'd been up to since your last visit to Peekskill, mostly just catching up. What's the last thing you worked on with Adele? It was the last thing she asked about before you parked the range rover to head out on foot.

In any case, a cursory glance of the area you're up against good old fashioned "pre-fall" paranoia... All the trucks and parts you need are behind fences, and locked in various buildings — the airport mechanical shop/garage, an old truck rental place south on highway 17, and some old private industrial firms near the airport itself. The ground here isn't as strained as back on the main roads, but you can still see weak spots where the road has burst open — the worst of it is near the airport tarmac, and there are a few trucks you can spot that have fallen into a sinkhole there that took out a part of the fence with it. It'd be pretty dangerous to get down there though if the Anomaly started acting up.

All that said, you know some of Teddy's boys are around; but they're probably sleeping, or busy with their own business. If you keep your head down, you should be able to get in and out of here with them none the wiser.

What's the plan?

Here's a bird's eye view of the area for you, with the hot-spots of trucks and the like highlighted in red. Let's say you're parked somewhere out of view of Teddy's Junkyard (you can specify somewhere on the map if you like). The red area in the bottom right corner is the one where the sinkhole has absorbed some trucks.


Some reminders for Big Ed and Adele (respectively):



Sorry about the photo dump...

Jeff

[Robinson]

The last thing Robinson and Adele worked on was a series of bicycles, a batch of about 30 of them that they distributed widely to a number of customers. Restoring them was elementary stuff, really, but essential- powered by human energy and easily fixed by just about anyone, a bicycle is perfect for anyone who makes frequent local trips.

Why wouldn't Robinson want to run into Teddy today? Well, why would he. This isn't just some grab-and-go scavving; the endeavor is going to be a pretty involved process. Cutting metal with Adele’s torch at the least, possibly pulling a full engine which will mean some intense lifting and transferring of the block to the back of Robinson’s truck. All this head-down work means being stuck in one place with limited capacity for overwatch.

Which is all to say, there are dozens of square miles of industrial area to search for suitable donors; why confine the search to within a few hundred yards of Teddy’s place? It'll be slow going, but after a short look around Robinson thinks the best option is to proceed south, deeper into the industrial zone, so they're not working all day under the noses of that gang of bastards.

Adam

Well, let's spread out the search a bit... Admittedly, things are a little more rustic than near the airport, but you can certainly find something. Let's say you find a garage down a side road of the industrial park – Jerry's Rentals. Big Ed has gotten uncharacteristically chatty as you approach it. The street is otherwise dead silent... A slight breeze comes up on your back, and the very sight of the buildings, overgrown with bushes and grass strikes you. This street may not have been walked in since the fall.

Then it strikes you, just as Ed starts talking about how Matilda is like a little sister to him. The road ahead is clear, and you don't hear anything in the distance, but a sense of dread overcomes you, and you suddenly can't fathom the idea of taking another step forward. It's bad enough that you stop dead, mid stride. Adele spots you immediately, and stops in place, grabbing Ed by the arm and going completely silent. Ed looks confused, before asking... "What?"

What do you do, Robinson?

Jeff

[Robinson]

Slow going. Robinson's weighed down by his big canvas tool bag slung across his back and his rifle hung from his shoulder. He's been stopping every so often to listen and to examine his surroundings. This is how he ventures on foot in the ruins- methodical, guarded, armed. Big Ed's a nervous talker and it drives Robinson fucking crazy. He hates idle chatter.

"Ed, stop talking," Robinson says, though he's been thinking it for the past few hundred yards.

Something's wrong. What else can you do when you sense something's up but read the situation? Robinson's thumbing the anomaly detector in his hip pocket, but scanning the area visually for now, trying to pintpoint exactly what it is that feels so wrong.

What should I be on the lookout for?

Jeff

Read sitch: (Rolled: 2d6. Rolls: 3, 6. Total: 9)

Adam

So let's recap. You're coming south down to the garage, and an old street sign rusted into the ground has the name "Hollister" on it. It's deathly quiet, and Ed shuts his mouth nervously as soon as he hears you bark out the order. The garage is right there — you can see two trucks in the best condition you've seen yet. You're so close...

Here's a map of the area for what it's worth...

Have you ever seen the tags before Robinson? I imagine you have, but really that's just an educated guess... Back before everything truly went to shit, when the old world still had some hope of keeping it all together, the government had dangerous places marked off with these old tags — red strands of plastic that they attached to thick metal poles they'd fill with concrete and drive into the ground... The plastic was supposed to last forever, and was supposed to serve as a warning to anyone who came near them that something about this place was unsafe. You spot one, just a stub of it left from years of decay, hanging in front of the door of the building next to the garage. It's fluttering in the wind out of the corner of your eye... Except something's wrong — it's blowing against the breeze.

Adele points you over to a post the army must have dug into the ground, and not sealed properly... There's heat rising from the ground, warping the landscape ahead ever so slightly... There's an anomaly here, and it's an old one — that's the bad news, since anomalies have occasionally wandered, changed shape and size... Not always, but certainly not never. You should stay away from anything that looks like it might be leaking heat. If the ground gave way underneath you, you might find yourself bathed in a pocket of high-pressure steam. Treading carefully, and watching each step is the right move here.

What do you do?

Jeff

[Robinson]

Things are a little broken here.

Robinson pulls out his handheld detector, switches it on, consults the little green-and-black phosphor screen and waits for the inevitable hotspots to fade in, displayed on their ranges and bearings relative to Robinson. This little readout, an overhead view of the greater area around the anomaly, contrasted with his first-person view of things, should give an accurate picture of the danger spots.

"Move when I do, and follow in my footsteps. Slowly. Don't wander." Adele knows all this, they've been through this kind of stuff. He's saying this for Big Ed's benefit.

"W-"

"And shut the fuck up." Robinson adds. "Seriously. Unless it's important."

Trying to concentrate here. Geez. A few slow steps toward the truck park, to where Robinson expects he can find a reasonable supply of GMC W-series or similar. Keeping an eye on the ground, for stress fractures or vents.

The question is, will it even be possible to extract much in the way of parts through this area, let alone bring the Range Rover in to load it up or tow a chassis out? Or are we just wasting time here?

Adam

With that detector, you'll definitely be able to plot out safety. The question is, can you plot it out, keep yourself and your partners alive in the process. I feel like you should Act Under Fire to successfully plot a safe course through the hot-spot — that includes cordoning off a safe workspace, and a path for the Range Rover. If you can manage that, then you'll be able to focus your attention on the trucks.

Jeff

The thing about Robinson is- he's spooky intense.

Act under fire + spooky intense. (Rolled: 2d6+2. Rolls: 3, 2. Total: 7)

Adam

Well, Robinson, you get right to it. The good news is, after a good 20 minutes of marking out the changes in the landscape since the military came through here, you've got a pretty good lay of the land. The anomaly seems to have moved somewhere between the garage and the adjacent buildings, but structurally everything seems alright. You'll have to go around the garage in order to get the Range Rover in here safely, but it should work fine.

The bad news is, while moving dumpsters out of the way to clear that path, one of the wheels fell off a dumpster, and the water weight inside it helped it blow a whole in the tarmac about five feet from one of the anomalie's steam pockets. A gust of pressurized steam came up out of the ground, and blasted one of you... There was no way to know that would have happened — just rotten luck.

Which one of you got hit?

Jeff

[Robinson]

Robinson and Big Ed were pushing the dumpster when the tarmac gave way on Big Ed's side. Robinson realized what was coming almost immediately, but was in no position to prevent the blast from happening. He rushes to Ed's side to make sure he isn't falling into a dangerous spot, grabbing him by the arm and leading him aside to sit down and do some damage assessment.

Adam

Robinson, dragging Big Ed away was a good call. The gush of steam coming from the ground continues for a solid 10 count before it finally lets off. That was a big patch of it... The Anomaly must be nearby. Ed is trying to put on a tough face, but he's obviously in pain. He's burned quite badly, and he'll need medical attention. You can see the skin on his arm blistering already. He'll be fine as long as infection doesn't sink in once that wound starts healing. "Thanks, Robinson," he adds quietly, once the threat is over, "I'm good, I think..."

Adele comes over and pulls some aloe out of her pouch, and applies it to the worst part of the burn, then hands him some cloth to wrap it in. Shortly thereafter, everyone is on their feet, and ready to go.

Inside the garage, you find four trucks in varying stages of disrepair. One of them, the largest of the four, is an old GMC with a 20 foot box. It looks the best bet. The others might be decent enough for cosmetic repairs, or maybe scrap metal. Adele doesn't waste any time in finishing the delineation of the work area for you.

What do you do?