Disaster Report Diaries (Raw Danger!) Part Five

This is my exploration of the Disaster Report series where I will chronicle my playthrough like a text-based Let’s Play. Now let’s continue Raw Danger!...

Joshua Harwell and Stephanie McMurrough had been separated, with him assumed dead and having to walk in the direction the bus had taken her…

It was 17:31 (27 hours since Mayor Goldstein’s reception), and I had arrived at Del Ray East Junction Area, Saint Vincent District. I had been walking for 18 hours, including that bit with the jet ski, which equals about 50 miles given the conditions. And what greeted me was basically more of what I’d been seeing everywhere. I grabbed an Umbrella that was next to a car and spotted someone further along the cracked road.

She asked me to help her daughter, as well as the woman who tried to save her already. Like I wanted to be the third person who required rescue… But I climbed up and could see the two on top of the toll plaza, which threatened to be washed away at any moment. As I approached, I noticed that it was Stephanie! I called to her and she handed me the child, Beth, who I put on my back before telling Stephanie to come down.

The toll plaza suddenly washed away, getting lodged further down the torrent of water that used to be a road. I returned the child to their mother and used a handrail to cross a perilous bit of mud, then took a quick detour to pick up a First Aid Kit. I then climbed a ladder up to the highway above, though there was no direct route to Stephanie. Instead, I had to go around the barrier and past a broken wall at the far (blocked) end, then brace myself as a mudslide attempted to knock me off of my feet. Down the mud, I hung a left to go through another broken barrier, picked up some Tomato Soup, then walked down to where a bus had broken through yet another barrier.

The water wasn’t quite high enough to endanger me yet, and I found a route that would get me to Stephanie, except I wasn’t strong enough to move a giant, fallen, number six, I needed someone else. So, I went back up the route I’d taken down and found Beth and her mother standing at a barrel fire. I asked the mother for help, which she happily agreed to, returning with me to the number six to shift it closer to an awning.

Since my Raincoat was quite damaged, I removed it and my Knit Gloves before I jumped up to the awning and then climbed a nearby ladder. At the top was a Cloud Compass, but no way to reach Stephanie, so I went back down and walked across the awning to reach a bridge made from a fallen sign and a shelter roof. I carefully crossed it to reach Stephanie and she got on my back.

Unfortunately, the moment I tried to return to my “bridge”, the toll plaza was hit by debris, destroying my bridge and requiring a quick reverse. Luckily, it created a bridge on the other side, giving me access to a ladder and a power cable which I decided to cross. However, the side which I had just climbed up was knocked free by the rush of water, making the cable go taut, but also more perilous to cross. Worse, the toll plaza we had just left suddenly rushed towards us, high enough to collide with the cable!

I managed to brace myself and hold on, and quickly resumed clambering to relatively dry land. However, as I carried Stephanie away, the toll plaza and the cable both went over the edge of what was now a waterfall!

Once safely away from the running water (it still hadn’t stopped raining), I had the choice between seven things to say or do. I decided against giving her a hug or staring at her outright, so just told her that I was happy to see her, and she responded with the same. Beth and her mother came over, glad that we were safe, and behind them was a rescue helicopter! But Stephanie didn’t want to get on, she felt that she needed to get to the Mission Care Center to see her stepmother Claire Wyatt…

Considering my choices, I could either convince her to get on the helicopter, leave her behind, or stay with her. The first would get my Ending Type 1-B, the second would get Ending Type 1-C, both of which stated that I had travelled eight miles and warmed up 11 times across 2:15:48, with my pedometer saying 7,615. Joshua would also deliver an epilogue speech describing events to that point. Not that the game would have been over, but I couldn’t do that to Stephanie’s stepmother, assuming she hadn’t been evacuated yet.

Beth was upset that we weren’t accompanying them, but Stephanie was glad that I was with her. We walked away as the helicopter evacuated behind us.

We reached the Angelina Area, still in Saint Vincent District, at 18:43 (28 hours since Mayor Goldstein’s reception), and Stephanie asked that I call her Steph from now on. She then basically collapsed when I agreed, saying that she was tired. Leading her by the hand, we walked through a car park and I spotted a shutter which I could have opened, had I kept the Speed Handle I’d casually discarded hours earlier… There were at least two things inside to pick up!

There was a chasm between the car park and the road, but we were able to go around it easily enough. Ahead of us was a restaurant named Angelina, which had lights still on and I figured might also have supplies, but we were stopped by someone in a lab coat with bandages covering their right eye. They asked for help to rescue their friend, stuck under some debris, but I gave priority to Steph. Despite their outfit making them look like a medical professional, they seemed confused when I referred to them as a doctor. We took Steph inside Angelina, and it was decided she had a fever and needed rest, so they asked for my help again which I agreed to.

Before leaving, I quickly grabbed a Down Jacket from a tabletop, then joined the not-doctor as they ran down the road. I suspected that this wouldn’t end well as they led me down into a hole, but we found the friend underneath some debris. After helping her out, I said that I was glad she was okay and left to get Steph something warm to eat. The rain had finally stopped — but now it was snowing…

I popped on the Down Jacket and spotted a Helmet in the hole, so I equipped that before returning back to Angelina, though I took a quick detour to look around a bit. I found a woman’s Leopard Jacket which looked cosy, and a recycling bin where I could store some items. I put in a First Aid Kit, a Heating Pad, and my Umbrella, then went up to check on Steph. I told her that she needed a warm meal, then gave her the Fur Shawl I’d been trying to hand over since we got off the bus. Apparently, however, she was unable to equip the Leopard Jacket.

Taking a good look around Angelina, I warmed up by a stove then went into the storeroom, picking up a Curry Beef and Hamburger, but leaving a couple of other food items, and a Pot in the kitchen. I then used a big pot on the stove to cook a Chicken Broth into Miso Soup (somehow), then served both bowls to Steph. She thanked me but refused to eat both bowls, telling me that we would share.

Steph mentioned that she wasn’t sure that she should go to the Mission Care Center. Would have been nice to know an hour ago back at the helicopter… I listened to her talk, and it transpired that her stepmother was trying to get Steph to stop running away and talk, and as a result had been struck by a car. So Steph felt responsible for paralysing Claire, and she was unable to operate her own wheelchair, so Steph felt even more responsible that her stepmother was at the Mission Care Center. Steph had actually opted to go to boarding school rather than be in a position where she would have to see Claire or her father.

She asked my opinion and I said that we should go see her. But first, the food and then a short nap, as it had been over 30 hours (at least) since Joshua had slept…