As the tank was moving forward Mark checked the maps again, the terrain ahead looked too accidented and they would have to turn south and surround the iregular terrain. The road they had to take read as "Indian Route 15", from there they would have to take the "North Tucson-Ajo highway". The rest of the trip was uneventful, and thanks to Lance's driving skills they took the south road and reached Ajo quickly and with a low fuel consumption.
As they approached Ajo they could see a huge open-pit mine to the left, the lack of heavy machinery suggested the mine was now closed down. Beyond the mine the town of Ajo could be seen, all low houses, no important buildings on sight. As they drove into the town the tank proceeded cautiously, not knowing if to expect peaceful population or crazed inhabitants. It was magic hour so visibility was low, the tank wasn't outfitted with the new thermal sights, so for night vision they would have to rely on either the withe light or the infra red seachlights.
A dead silence covered the town. Not just lack of the usual noise in a town, but the complete lack of sound, it was almost surreal, and created a sensation of uneasiness among the crew, the enviroment felt thick, almost as if you could cut it with a knife. As the tank keeps driving down the streets, with Ralph and Mark cautiously keeping watch for any sign of life, either firendly or unfirendly, Mark sees a line of bushes that starts to the right, ahead they pass a gate that reds "Ajo Cemetery", as there was no wall surrounding it the line of high bushes was probalby there to keep the neigborgs from having to stare at the graveyards all day. Mark also tought it was funny that the Cemetery was located right at the middle of the town in a residential area instead of the outskirts, maybe the town had grown around it.
After a while of driving around the town it was obvious that either there were only very few residents left or that they were all gone completely. At least Mark was right about something, the town was untouched by the bombs.
"Driver, stop." As the tank halts Mark adressed the crew.
"I don't know how you guys feel about this place but, it sure looks like no one's home." But it sure gives me the creeps he would have also added, except he didn't want to upset the others.
"Uhh... look, I'm going to go check one of the houses, see if we can find a place to sleep for the night. Don't need anyone to come with me, just look after the tank, I'll be right back."
Mark holds his 45. in his hand and proceeds inside the house colsest to where the tank was parked. It was a two story house, most in the neighborhood weren't even that fancy. He proceeds to chek the lower level, startign with the kitchen, where he finds the pantry, and luckly enugh.
"Damn, we should have just headed here instead of going after all that trouble for the food at the camp." The pantry was well stocked, and though it was not a wealth of food, he could only guess how much more food there could be in the other houses, and there were plenty of houses. As he meditates on that he notices the foset.
"Could it be?" Mark holds his breath and turns the foset, and after what it seemed like an eternity inside his head water starts flowing.
It didn't looked like the end of the journey, but so far Ajo looked like a place where they could rest for a while and resupply. Now it was time to check upstairs, where the bedrooms were, something about the smell was a bit off up there. As he opens the door to the main bedroom the smell intensifies, and he can see the decomposing corpses of the former house inhabitants. It was a family of four, a mother, a father, a boy and a little girl. They were all hugging each other in the bed, in the bedside table several glasses and what looked like empty medicine blisters could be seen. Mark knew that those bodies could not hurt him, they were not going to get up and attack him, but he felt like he was violating something intimte, that and the low lights and extremely heavy atmosphere told him that he had to get out of there as soon as possible. Mark walks downstairs and outside of the house, it was decided, that night they were sleeping in the tank.
Everyone had their turn being on watch, Mark was tired, he layed down with his eyes closed, coming in and out of dreamland, strange dreams visited him, and made him go back to the wake world again, the bombs, the madness at the camp, Boyd, the bodies on the bed standing up and walking towards the tank...
Sunlight made the atmosphere feel lighter, it was still silent, but wind could be herd, a rattling here and there, normal sounds of an empty town.
"Alright, we should start looking for supplies. Food, water, medicine. Once we are stocked we can move on, perhaps check if there is anyone still alive in phoenix. Oh, and check the cars for fuel. We could also stay here for a while and rest for a bit, but better not take too long, I don't like the idea of staying here for more than I have to."
OOC: Now you should all go look around town, alone or in pairs, you decide. The town looks quiet but that doesn't mean there is no danger. Be creative about what you find, talk about how the night was for your characters, feel free to find some goodies that your character may enjoy, like their favorite cereal, and keep in mind that the evil game master might or might not spawn a danger or two deppending on where you go
