84
To reduce the risk of running unexpectedly into a clan patrol, you leave Interstate 10 at the first opportunity and follow the turgid waters of the Santa Cruz River north towards Arizona City. The river takes you through the heart of the town’s suburban neighbourhoods, now little more than a vast, featureless sprawl of derelict homes and ruined factories. You head for Santa Vaya, the highest of the town’s districts, for it is from here that you will best be able to see Macy and Langdon’s signal.
It takes you the better part of two hours to discover the ideal place to set your fire. Built next to one another on a small industrial unit, you find a paint factory and a tyre dump. A fire at either of these places would be seen for miles, but fires at both, and at the same time, promises to be nothing short of spectacular.
The flip of a coin decides that Rickenbacker will set fire to the tyre dump, leaving you with the task of firing the paint factory. Having parked the roadster a safe distance away, you approach the unit with gasolene cans in hand. You enter the factory through a hole in the fence and gain access to a storage warehouse filled with drums of inflammable polyurethane resins. The smell of burning rubber tells you that Rickenbacker has already set light to the dump, and prompts you to hurry as you douse the resin drums with gasolene. In your haste you inadvertently knock the barrel of your gun against a metal stair rail and cause a spark that ignites the gasolene prematurely. Within seconds, you find yourself having to run for your life.
With a roar, the drums start to explode, showering the warehouse with liquid fire that triggers yet more explosions. With terror in your heart you look for a way to escape from the raging inferno. All you can see, through the billowing smoke and flame, is a staircase leading to an office on the first floor and a corridor marked by a sign that says:
If you wish to climb the stairs to the office, turn to 343.
If you wish to follow the corridor to the test laboratories, turn to 111.