"Times New Roaming" is the fourth side mission of Season 2.
You're caught in the middle as a journalist in pursuit of a hot story meets a horde of zombies in pursuit of fresh brains.
Cast[]
- Ian Golightly (Jonathan Leinmuller)
- Sam Yao (Philip Nightingale)
- Janine De Luca (Eleanor Rushton)
Crew[]
- Writer: Andrea Klassen
- Director: Matt Wieteska
- Sound Designer: Richard Bell
- Series Created By: Naomi Alderman
Scenes[]
Bad Impression
You meet Ian, a reporter who will be shadowing you in order to get some material for his piece about a day in the life of a runner.
Operators Are Really Important
Ian starts recording dramatised observations of the experience on a dictaphone.
Hopefully...
Janine spots an alleyway that would provide a good getaway, just as a swarm cuts you off.
Bar The Doors
Even while staring death in the face, Ian is dedicated to his art, much to the exasperation of Janine and Sam.
Grab All You Can
Sam's scanners are clear, so you explore your hideout and discover that it's an electronics store, which suits your needs better than your intended destination.
Time Will Tell
Ian is bursting with excitement following his death defying encounter with the zombies and is keep to expand his story into series
Transcript[]
[background chatter]
SAM YAO: Hey, Five! Got something nice and simple for you today. Nice, easy mission. Just a good old fashioned supply run with no complications at all.
IAN GOLIGHTLY: Hello, am I late?
SAM YAO: [sighs] Did I say no complications? I mean one. One complication.
IAN GOLIGHTLY: Ian Golightly, reporting for duty! Get it?
SAM YAO: Yeah, we get it. Five, Ian here’s a reporter with The New Times. It’s a Rofflenet news… uh, thingy. The Major’s agreed to let him tag along on your run today for some kind of piece he’s doing. Sort of a “day in the life of a runner” thing.
IAN GOLIGHTLY: Wait a second, “some sort of news thingy”? The New Times is the region’s premier Rofflenet news site, reporting seven days a week – so long as the generator holds – bringing our considerable subscriber base up-to-date news and all the information critical for daily survival!
SAM YAO: Brave stories of cat rescues, and photos of the face of Jesus appearing in tinned meat.
IAN GOLIGHTLY: So you’re a reader, then?
SAM YAO: Yeah, yeah, I browsed it, once or twice.
JANINE DE LUCA: You still have it open on your other screen, Mister Yao.
SAM YAO: Janine! Thanks so much for sneaking – stopping by. Someone got a photo of zombie Jamie Oliver roaming the crisps aisle at a supermarket down south. [laughs] It’s pretty great, eh? It wasn’t even Sainsbury’s.
IAN GOLIGHTLY: Sorry, I didn’t get your name. Number Four, was it?
JANINE DE LUCA: Runner Five is one of our best runners here at Abel Township. You’ll be in good hands today.
SAM YAO: What are you even doing in here? My magnetic personality too much for you?
JANINE DE LUCA: The Major’s asked me to sit in on the run, so Mister Golightly doesn’t get the wrong impression of what we do here at Abel.
SAM YAO: Wait. What, are you implying that I would -
JANINE DE LUCA: Runner Five, we’re sending you back to Possum Place today. We’re running short of batteries again, and it’s possible those hobby shops will still have some of their stock left. Mister Golightly, Runner Five knows the route. Just follow along, and do try to stay close. Should you become lost, and run into any zombie trouble, I’m afraid we don’t have the manpower to retrieve you.
SAM YAO: And I’m the one who’s going to give a bad impression. Alright, raise the gates! [gate siren, gates raising]
IAN GOLIGHTLY: Wow, you’re fast. I see why they chose you for this.
SAM YAO: You doing alright?
IAN GOLIGHTLY: Not my first run in the line of duty. We don’t just wait for the news to come to us at the New Times. These days, it’s all about chasing down the action!
SAM YAO: Yeah, well, let’s hope no one’s chasing anything today. Except you chasing down those batteries, right, Five? So far, your way’s looking pretty good. This whole area’s been pretty quiet lately. Might get through this whole outing without – nah, wait, sorry. Caught myself. Not jinxing anything. No tempting of fate. Just keep following the high street, and things will uh, happen as they happen.
IAN GOLIGHTLY: We run through the silent streets, no sounds but our own breathing and our shoes on the pavement. Empty spaces where shop windows used to be watch us pass like unseeing eyes, glass smashed and wares spilling out. A TV lying dead on the ground here, a rack of women’s dresses fluttering ragged there.
SAM YAO: Uh, what are you doing?
IAN GOLIGHTLY: Taking notes.
SAM YAO: Do you have to do it so… out loud?
IAN GOLIGHTLY: You ever tried running with a notebook? We do everything on tape recorder these days. While I’ve got it turned on, mind telling me what your job in all this is?
SAM YAO: You, uh, want to interview me?
JANINE DE LUCA: Mister Yao is responsible for monitoring our scanners and camera networks in the area and alerting runners to any obstacles they may need to overcome in the course of a mission. Zombies, of course, but also road blocks or potentially hostile parties from other settlements.
IAN GOLIGHTLY: Ah, yes, I heard about that! Some tussle with another settlement, only recently resolved? Tempers still running high? Perhaps you’d like to give me a quote.
JANINE DE LUCA: No, I don’t think so.
SAM YAO: Well, the important thing to know is I’m, um… Operators are really important. Without us, you could run into anything out there. You could be going along great, getting all kinds of supplies, and then turn a corner and – oh, uh, oh damn. Five? Five, I need you to pick up the pace now.
IAN GOLIGHTLY: Is that noise what I think it is?
SAM YAO: Got a whole bunch of zoms headed at you from the north. Ah, and south. And east. Go west, guys, go!
IAN GOLIGHTLY: Runner Five sprints down the street ahead of me, as the zombie moans grow louder in our ears, their wordless cries pressing in on us from all sides! Glancing back, I can make out the slow, shambling figures, clothing torn and eyes vacant. Hair matted, flesh scraped away from cheekbones, tongues lolling from their mouths like -
SAM YAO: Would you stop? Five, I don’t know where they’re all coming from, but the area’s filling up with zombies fast. We’ve got to get you out of there! Uh, I think, if you take a left at the butcher’s – no, no, no, now that won’t work – maybe a right at that florist? What, Janine?
JANINE DE LUCA: There’s an alleyway running parallel to the main street, and it looks to be clear. If Runner Five and Mister Golightly take that, they might be able to double back on themselves and come out behind the worst of the swarm.
SAM YAO: Great, perfect! Janine, you’re amazing. Uh, where do they turn in?
JANINE DE LUCA: Half a block back the way they’ve just come.
SAM YAO: Oh God! Five, there are more zoms moving up the side streets. If we don’t do this, you’ll be cut off, surrounded. I really hate to say this, but I need you to run back towards the zombies. There should be an alley mouth on your -
JANINE DE LUCA: On your left!
SAM YAO: - on your left, yeah. Just make for it as fast as you can, okay? And keep going! The zoms are getting close, but you should still have half a block between you and them. They shouldn’t be able to reach you. Hopefully. We’ll get you out of this, guys, but you have to move, now.
IAN GOLIGHTLY: Did we lose them?
SAM YAO: Mostly.
IAN GOLIGHTLY: Wait, what do you mean, “mostly”?
SAM YAO: A few of the main pack followed you down the alley. You’re outpacing them fine, guys, just keep moving like that, and we’ll have you clear and back on track in no time. Nothing to worry about.
JANINE DE LUCA: Mister Yao?
SAM YAO: No! No, no, no, this is not even funny! Five, we might have, um, miscalculated your route. The thing is -
JANINE DE LUCA: You’ll be coming to a dead end in another hundred paces or so.
IAN GOLIGHTLY: We’re trapped! Yeah, yeah, we are. We can see it now. High-rise apartment, by the look of it. Four stories of slick concrete, not a handhold in sight, even if it weren’t so high to climb. Blocking our escape from the hordes of hungry hellspawn bearing down on us, arms outstretched, dinner scented! Staring at Runner Five and I like the slabs of meat we must appear to be in their undead eyes! If zombies could still -
SAM YAO and JANINE DE LUCA: Not now!
IAN GOLIGHTLY: Sorry. Nervous tic.
SAM YAO: It’s fine! It’s fine. We have a plan. Five, I want you to start checking doors. Someone must have forgotten to lock up the exits properly in the initial panic. If we can get you inside one of these buildings, it’s going to be fine! Try that one on your right. [doorknob rattles] Right, not that one. How about, uh… [doorknob rattles] Guess that one’s locked, too. Try up there on your left, those big metal double doors! [doors clang open]
IAN GOLIGHTLY: They’re open!
SAM YAO: Good work, Five. Now, inside, quick. Bar the doors behind you, then keep moving.
SAM YAO: What do you see in there?
JANINE DE LUCA: No embellishments, please, Mister Golightly.
IAN GOLIGHTLY: It’s pretty dark in here. I can’t see much of anything. Runner Five, you still in here with me? Oh, hey, there you are. Sorry, didn’t mean to step on you. I’ll just back up a step, how about that. We’re in the back of some kind of shop, I think. It looks like there’s another door up ahead.
SAM YAO: Nothing’s coming up on our scanners yet. The building looks clear. You guys can keep going straight ahead.
[door opens]
IAN GOLIGHTLY: Ah, well, what do you know? That’s funny, isn’t it?
SAM YAO: Uh, funny in a good way, or - ?
IAN GOLIGHTLY: Miss De Luca, what was it we were headed to find on this mission again?
JANINE DE LUCA: There’s a model train store in Possum Place. We’d hoped to send you and Runner Five there to look for batteries and any other electronics worth salvaging.
IAN GOLIGHLY: Would an electronics store do the trick just as well?
JANINE DE LUCA: I do believe that would be adequate, yes.
IAN GOLIGHTLY: In that case, I think we’ve ended up in the right place.
JANINE DE LUCA: Runner Five, look for any small electronics you can carry. Laptop computers, charging stations, remote controls. We’ll leave the batteries up to you, Mister Golightly. Do it quickly, though. I believe from the way Mister Yao is flailing at me just now, he’s worried some of the remaining zombies could cut off your route of escape if we give them enough time. It would be a shame if all that effort went to waste.
SAM YAO: Again, I’m the one who’s going to make a bad impression?
JANINE DE LUCA: Oh yes. [clears throat] Good work, you two! Keep it up!
SAM YAO: We’re bringing you home, now, guys. Looks like most of the zoms in the area have lost interest. Come out through the front doors and head down Farrington Avenue. [door creaks open] It’s the street right ahead of you. You can follow it all the way out of the city.
IAN GOLIGHTLY: That was awesome!
SAM YAO: Yeah, well, we do what we can around here.
IAN GOLIGHTLY: A death-defying encounter with zombies! Running in the face of death! Our readers are going to eat this up! Runner Five, you were amazing! We should do this again! We could do a series! “The continuing adventures of Abel Township’s best and fastest, facing death at every turn with nothing more than running shoes and a rucksack!” Oh, if they still had journalism awards!
SAM YAO: Well, you weren’t so bad yourself out there, Ian. Haven’t you ever thought about giving up the recorder and doing something useful? I-I mean, uh… Janine, what’s the word I’m looking for that isn’t insulting?
JANINE DE LUCA: Our runner numbers are lower than we’d prefer, Mister Golightly. If you were interested in staying on, I could speak to the Major about it.
IAN GOLIGHTLY: Thanks. I think. But I’m happy with the Times. You may not see it this way, but your story’s going to bring hope to a lot of scared people out there. I know that cat rescues and zombie celebs aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but reminding people that we’re all still surviving, that people can work together and keep going, keep being brave, even at a time like this – it’s worth something to a lot of us.
SAM YAO: Yeah, I never… I mean, when you put it like that…
IAN GOLIGHTLY: Do you mind if I talk a bit more? I still got some notes I’d like to make.
SAM YAO: Go for it.
IAN GOLIGHTLY: And so, Runner Five and I make our way out of the city with heads held high and purpose in our strides, zombie groans just a faint murmur on the afternoon breeze. Our packs bulge with the spoils of a run successfully completed, and in the distance, Abel Township rises before us like a beacon – a beacon of hope. Of humanity in these troubled times. Will this tiny township survive against the increasing odds and dangers of our brave new post-apocalyptic world? Only time will tell. But today, we’re headed home.
Codex[]
Supplies[]
The following supplies can be found in this mission.
(List may be incomplete.)
9mm Ammo
Anti-depressants
Axe
Bandages
Batteries
Book
Bowie knife
Box of Lightbulbs
Candles
Crossbow
Deodorant
First Aid Kit
Mobile Phone
Money
Pain Meds
Power Cable
Radio
Seeds
Solar Charger
Sports Bra
Tinned Food
Tool Box
Trousers
Underwear
USB Key
Base Unlocks[]
The following objects unlock for your Base upon completing this mission.
Electronics Repair
- Description: Machines and computers need to be maintained. The last thing we want is for the comms equipment to stop working or the gate motors to break down during a particularly hairy mission.
- Cost: 20 supplies, 3 materials
- Effect: Increases defence.
Newspaper Stand (addon for Janine's Farmhouse)
- Description: Read all about it! ('It' being 'zombies'.)
- Cost: 5 supplies, 1 material
- Effect: Increases morale.
Trivia[]
- Runner Five last visited Possum Place in Season 1 Mission 15: Virtuous Circle.
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