Alone Quest

>>1828251
Go away from the light, who knows what kind of farmer is getting this corn.

>>1828267
That's a good point. You'd hate to come face to face with an angry farmer at night. He'd probably have his shotgun out and with a headache like this, you're not sure you'd be able to explain yourself before he fired on you for trespassing.

You walk away from the light, occasionally scraping your legs against broken shoots of corn. It's a long and repetitive walk and by the time you emerge from the corn you mouth is dry from thirst and your tongue sticks to its roof. But emerge you do. You step out onto an asphalt road, on the other side of which is more corn. It stretches out long and straight in either direction and though you strain your eyes you can't see anything at either end.

>Go left down the road
>Go right down the road
>Go forward into more corn
>Wait at the road

>>1828318
Wait at the road, hopefully you can get the attention of some stranger, right?

>>1828328
It may be night, but somebody has to drive down this road eventually and you're sick of walking. You sit down in the dirt next to the road and wait.

And wait.

You stare up at the night sky. It's beautiful out here, away from the city. You can even see the bright streak of the milky way up there above it all.

You continue to wait.

The cool breeze on the air and the uninterrupted silence of the night soothe your aching head. You close your eyes- just for a moment- to appreciate it.

And then you wake.

Your head feels better and your mouth feels dryer. You can't have been asleep for too long though, the moon still hangs there in the sky. There's no sign of any cars coming, and you begin to grow restless. There must be something you can do besides waiting.

Once more you turn your gaze to the sky, but this time with purpose. You find the north star. Only afterward does it occur to you that knowing what way north is doesn't help if you don't know where you are.

Still, you suppose it's better than nothing.

>Go north into the corn
>Go south-west down the road
>Go north-east down the road

>>1828365
Go north-east down the road.

>>1828365
>>Go north-east down the road

>>1828386
>>1828382
You decide to head north-east, it's as good a direction as any and this way “walking until dawn” will take slightly less time. You take a deep breath of the dusty farm air and start walking.

You've driven down these sorts of roads before. They stretch on for miles with nothing but corn on either side. Walking doesn't make the experience any more enjoyable. Not a single car drives past to pick you up and save you from this monotony. Your feet start to ache, a hot dull pain that throbs with each heartbeat and every step. Your headache comes back. You feel like you've been walking for hours. It must be hours. You wish you had your watch.

You're just about to give up when you see lights- buildings!- on the horizon. Civilization. An end to corn! You pick up the pace, gritting your teeth as the soles of your feet scream in protest.

Finally, there are streetlights around you and small buildings. Houses, a gas station, a corner store. And further, past the houses, you see the silhouette of tall buildings and the twinkle of lights within their windows.

The corner store is dark, closed for the night, but the gas station is lit. Maybe they have a phone you can use to call one of your friends for help. Or maybe some kind soul in a house will help you...?

>Go to the gas station
>Knock on doors
>Continue on to the city

>>1828438
Go to the gas station.

>>1828438
>Knock on doors

>>1828467
Supporting

>>1828438
>>Go to the gas station

>>1828467
You step onto the grey cement pavement of the gas station. The large white lights buzz quietly above you. There's one car- a blue pickup- parked next to the station itself, but none at the pumps. You push open the glass door, squinting as the fluorescent light bounces off the white tile floor and into your night adjusted eyes.

The inside of the gas station is that of 24-hour gas stations everywhere. Shelves of junk food, drinks behind glass doors, a coffee machine with a stack of styrofoam cups next to it, a machine slowly rotating some very unappetizing hot-dogs.

“Hello?” You look around. There's nobody behind the counter. You raise your voice. “I- Uh- I was wondering if I could use your phone?” There's no response. You approach the counter and look behind it. There's a door that you assume goes to the staff room.

>Try the door
>Give up on the gas station
>[other]

Try the door. Maybe steal a drink, too. Thirsty and whatnot.

>>1828541
Gosh, you really are thirsty. It's been a long night.

You pull a sports drink out from behind the glass doors. You aren't stealing it, really. You'll pay for it as soon as you find the guy working here. You figure the fact that you're drinking it before paying for it is his fault in the end, he should have been out here in the first place. Relief washes over your entire body as you take a sip. Never has anything tasted as good and pure as this artificially blue drink does right now. You sigh in relief and return to the staff room door.

“Excuse me? I'd like to buy this...” You say as you try the knob. It turns and you push the door inward, leaning your head into the room. There's a table with a radio on it, a couple chairs, some boxes on metal storage shelves, and even a phone. But no employees.

>Check the bathroom
>Use the phone
>[other]

Turn on the radio for some tunes, and try to make a phone call. Keep watch for the employee.

>>1828581
>Check for any security cameras in our peripheral vision. Try to keep our face pointed away if possible.

>>1828598
>>1828612
You sit down at the table and turn on the radio only to be greeted by silence. You press the tune button but, aside from the short bursts of static between stations, you still hear nothing. After a minute or two of this, you turn off the radio and push it away. Stupid broken thing.

It's only then that you realize that what you're doing might be just a little bit illegal. You glance around and spot one camera in the corner of the room. Scraping the legs of the metal folding chair you're setting in against the cement floor, you turn your back to the camera before reaching for the phone. You dial your friend's number and hold the phone up to your ear. It rings.

And rings.

And rings.

“The person you have called is not available right now, please leave your message at the tone.”
You curse. Of course they're not awake, and of course they're not bothering to get up and answer their damn phone.

“Hey, Chris, it's me. Do, uh, do you remember what happened last night? Because I don't and now I'm in some random ass town gas station and I need you to come get me. Anyway I- I guess I'll call back later.” You put down the phone. Shit. What are you going to do now? You take a big gulp of your sports drink.

>Wait around til morning
>Head into the city
>[other]

>>1828645


>Grab some snacks, they wont mind

>>1828645
Search the gas station a bit. Is there a calendar? Any records or receipts? What is the most recent?

>>1828654
>>1828656
You leave the staff room and grab a bag of combos to go with your sports drink. You'll pay them for it whenever the employees decide to actually show up. While you wait for them, you wander around the station. There's a calendar on the wall. Nobody's been crossing off days, but it's open to July, so that's right.

More wandering takes you to the bathroom. You call out before entering, just in case the guy working here is taking the world's slowest shit, but get no answer. It's empty when you open it, but there's a chart on the wall saying it was last cleaned on 7/7 and 6 pm. That tracks, you're pretty sure that yesterday was friday the 7th. Or maybe it still is. You're not sure how late at night/early in the morning it is.

>Keep waiting
>Try calling again
>Leave
>[other]

What do we have on our person OP

>>1828677
>>Leave
>listen to the ambient noise. Any insects, owls, or other animal noises to be heard?

>>1828690
You have on your person:
-The clothes on your back
-Your wallet
-Cash, credit card, ID
-A pen
-A blue sports drink
-A bag of combos

>>1828692
You step out of the gas station and take a deep breath of the night air, shutting your eyes as the fresh breeze rustles your hair. You hear the buzz of the lights, the sound of your breathing, the crinkle of the foil bag in your hand, and nothing else.

>Wait
>Call
>Leave
>[other]

HELLOOOOOOOOOOO???

>>1828704

Let's start a fuck-ass huge fire using the gasoline from the gas station. If there is anyone around they should be drawn to the massive inferno threatening to consume the countryside...

>>1828704
>look around
There is any living thing here? Dogs, cats and birds? Are there any noise from crickets? Check the state of the area.

>>1828708
Your shout echoes around the gas station before fading into silence. You call out again.
“IS ANYONE THERE?”
There's no response. In fact, you don't hear anything. No animals, no bugs. Even the jarring screech of a car alarm in the distance would be some comfort right now. But there's nothing.

A chill starts to settle in your stomach and your throat feels like you swallowed a jawbreaker whole. This has to be some sort of prank. You look over at the fueling stations. Not even the most dedicated jokester would carry on with a prank when something was burning, right? And anything will burn with enough gas.

>Use the gas to light the dumpster on fire
>Try the houses
>Leave for the city
>[other]

>>1828739
>leave for the city
I don't think burning stuff will be a good idea. Let's just get more info on what happened here.

This is a gas station, right? Let's get a gas can, and pump some gas into it, and spill gas all over the pumps, and then light our gas can on fire, and toss it at the pumps, and torch this gas station. Go big, or go home.
>>1828728
:3

>>1828750
>>1828752
I really can't do both of these at once so I need some sort of tie breaker or consensus.

>>1828752

Support. But maybe we should gather some supplies from the gas station before we torch it?

>>1828812
K. Food, drink, smokes, lighters, something to carry it in, hopefully the keys to the truck... Anything else?

>>1828823

Nope. That sounds good. Let's do this!

Fuck it.

You march purposefully back into the gas station and fill several plastic bags with supplies. You look for, but fail to find, the keys to the blue pickup. Whoever owns it must have them with him- wherever he is.

You place your bags a safe distance away from the gas station and get to work. You fill a gas can and pour it out over the pumps. It takes several trips to get them all. The acerbic smell of the gas bites at your nose as you do your dirty work. Finally, all pumps covered, you step as far back as your throwing arm will allow and light the empty can with one of the lighters you took from the gas station. Then, you throw.

You hear a quiet “womph” and then you feel the explosion. It knocks you back onto your ass and a sharp piece of metal flies dangerously close to your head. The heat makes it hard to breathe and, choking, you scramble back. You stare up at the fire, ears ringing. If anyone's around, they'll definitely have noticed that.

And then the pickup's car alarm goes off.

>Stay by the fire
>Get out of there
>[other]

I'm going to sleep, but feel free to vote and talk.
I'll update in the morning.

Were looking for somebody. Anybody. I say we wait. Preferably somewhere nearby, somewhere where we can see but be hidden.

>>1828851
>Stay by the fire

>>1828851
>Stay by the fire