Disaster Report Diaries (Raw Danger!) Part Four

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 had helped Stephanie McMurrough reach the station and board a bus to escape the worst of the flood, but maybe not quite the entire disaster…

It was 22:58 (eight hours since Mayor Goldstein’s reception), and our bus was heading for Del Ray West Junction with six of us, one of which was the Head Chef. I didn’t recognise the others, but they might have obtained different clothes like me. A flash of lightning made Stephanie jump just before the thunder, but I didn’t say anything and she apologised. Some time passed and a small child named Beth came up to us before rushing back to their parent. This prompted Stephanie to explain that her own mother died some years back, and when I asked what happened she just said that it was back in junior high school.

She went on to talk about her stepmother, Claire Wyatt, who was being treated at the Mission Care Center. Her father remarried soon after Stephanie’s mother died, but she felt bad about how she treated Claire. I told her that I understood, but our conversation stopped when we arrived at our destination. Helicopters were taking off, and other survivors were gathered waiting for evacuation while a portable TV news broadcast spread fear about the coastline levees breaking.

Now off the bus, I picked up a Propane Tank and went looking for more loot. I found a Travel Pouch and equipped it, and a Fur Shawl which I decided I would give to Stephanie. Right at the end of the road, I also found a Chef’s Hat so took that too, then returned to Stephanie, though I was unable to hand her the shawl or umbrella.

I asked her what she was thinking about, and she wondered if she should even be leaving. What if Claire needed her? I told her that I’d go with her to the medical centre, which prompted her to tell me about a time Claire gave away an old dress, and Stephanie told her she hoped she died. I said that it must have been hard for her, and again our conversation was cut short. This time, it was a helicopter arriving — except it crashed!

We hurried up the highway ramp to see what was what and heard the Head Chef call out from ahead of us. Arriving on the scene, it appeared that the road had collapsed between us and the fiery wreckage, and the Head Chef was barely holding on. I reached out to help him, but instead, we both fell!

I heard someone say that helicopters should be still arriving at the East Junction, though I had no idea why they might stop coming to the West Junction, and they decided to go there. Stephanie argued that her boyfriend was “still down there” and I assumed she meant the Head Chef, but she was dragged onto the bus. I got up and found the Head Chef lying motionless nearby. He apologised for nearly killing me, so I told him he’d better be sorry. Then he died, saying he should have spent more time with his son.

By the time I got back up to the road, the bus was gone and I complained about being alone before walking down the road…

25th of December, 11:07 (21 hours since Mayor Goldstein’s reception), after 12 hours of walking I was near the Historic Rest Area. I had to finally leave the highway because there was an insurmountable gap where the road had collapsed, so I used a bus to go down into the hole. There was a Heating Pad at the bottom, and then I used what appeared to be a derailed monorail car to get back up onto another section of highway.

A flaming barrel at the top let me warm up, then I spotted a jet ski! A fallen road sign allowed me to jump it over the divide in the road, and I parked it next to the steps up to a service station. I literally could have walked across some more fallen signs, but I figured I’d probably need the jet ski (by which I mean I hoped I’d have an excuse to use the jet ski).

At the same time that I jumped, the monorail came down and blocked the road in one direction, so it was probably a good thing that I was riding the jet ski. Unfortunately, there was a shutter covering the entrance to the service station, and I discovered that I should have kept the Speed Handle… Also out the front was Jasper, someone who was willing to keep hold of things for me so that I could retrieve them at a later time (or as someone else). I left him with my Yellow Umbrella, Chef’s Hat, and a Chicken Noodle soup.

Luckily, at the rear of the building, there was a gap in the wall which I could fit through, as well as a Jet Ski Compass. I found myself in the men’s bathroom and grabbed a pair of Sunglasses that had been left on a sink, equipping them. While most of the facility was badly damaged, I did find some Ear Muffs and put them on and continued through a crumbling hallway into a kitchen. A huge tremor struck, lasting for over a minute. I found a Chicken Noodle soup and warmed up at the lit stove tops, then went into the sitting area. This allowed me to complete my ensemble, as I equipped some Wading Pants and also found a Crowbar.

Even after I left, via the kitchen, the tremor continued shaking and I could barely pick up a Fisherman Compass that I found. I used the Crowbar to open the back of a tractor trailer, but when it was suggested I get rid of it, I decided to keep it instead. For whatever reason, opening the trailer actually stopped the tremor…

With a route from one side of the service station to the other, it gave me the idea to bring my jet ski through! But first, I left my Crowbar with Jasper, as well as my Waiter’s Pants and some Chicken Noodle. Then, I hopped on my jet ski and — well, actually I stopped because I spotted a Heating Pad on the back of a truck. But then I drove as if my life depended on it! I used a sign to leap over a barrier to the flooded road, and went over an arch bridge, though literal tons of water and wreckage cascaded towards me! I had to swerve off of the bridge and back onto it, though since the water level was so high it wasn’t even a bother to do so. The bridge, however, was absolutely destroyed.

The flood of water, however, did catch me and knock my jet ski for a loop. Assuming that it was a goner, I continued walking for it, RIP jet ski…