42

The road to Cross Plains is virtually free of the craters and other hazards that have plagued your journey so far, enabling you to drive at speed at last. You are glad of the cooling breeze but you cannot shake off your presentiment that danger awaits you in Cross Plains. Tyre tracks in the dust, some no more than a few days old, indicate that this highway is used by other four-wheeled vehicles.

When the town appears in the distance, caution prompts you to stop your car at a derelict gas station. You park it under cover, inside an empty repair shop at the rear of the building, and then venture into Cross Plains on foot.

Tyre tracks zigzag the main street, but you can see no sign of the vehicles that made them. The place itself appears deserted and unremarkable, yet your mind warns you to stay alert. At a junction near the centre of the town you notice something unusual: a tall wooden pole, carved and painted in the fashion of an old Comanche totem, has been erected in the middle of the street.

Pick a number from the Random Number Table, and add to it your current Stealth and Perception skill totals.

If your total score is now 12 or less, turn to 300.

If your total score is now 13 or more, turn to 209.