Earthbound – Day 21

–Day 21–

Everyone is together now. We’re all trained up to a decent level. We’ve purchased the best gear currently available. We’ve done practically everything we can do at the moment. It’s time to head into the circus tent in the center of town and confront the zombies. It’s weird though. As we approach, some of the other people in town start heading inside too.

As soon as we enter, I realize I’ve made a seriously misguided assumption. Now that I stop to think about it, it really should have been obvious from the start. This isn’t the Zombie HQ, this is the Zombie “RELIEF” HQ. These are all the people trying to fight the zombies and provide a bit of safety to the town. But if this isn’t where Belch is hiding…where is he?

Once again, it’s time to start searching the town. I must have missed something before. I thought maybe the zombies guarding the passage behind the graveyard might act differently now that Jeff is with us, but no. They still simply stare into our souls and generally block the path. So the hunt continued, that is until we get to the south side of town. I know it took a few days to get Jeff to Threek, so maybe I’m remembering things wrong, but I don’t remember there being a tent here.

The plan was to go inside and see who was in there, but it would seem this tent has other plans in store. Turns out it’s a Boogey Tent, and now we’re going to have to fight for our lives. Thankfully, it wasn’t a horribly difficult fight. It looks like all that training really paid off. Now let’s see who was behind this terrible trap.

As the tent fades away, we find two zombies inside huddled around a garbage can. Upon seeing us, they immediately run off scared. But what could be so fascinating about this garbage can that they would set up an entire tent to hide it? Naturally it’s our job to find out. After digging around I find a jar of Fly Honey, whatever that is. It would seem I have the answer, but it still doesn’t solve anything.

It’s starting to feel like that Boogie Tent was a dead end after all, so we take up the search for clues once more. This time however, things take an unexpected turn as the clues find us. Just as we were heading back to the hotel to regroup, we get a surprise call from Apple Kid, one of the inventors from back in Twoson. It would seem he has heard about our problem and took it upon himself to help by inventing “Zombie Paper”. It works just about the same way as fly paper, except of course that it’s supposed to catch zombies. Just place it on the floor of the tent and wait for the zombies to get trapped in it. It all just seems too easy.

Following Apple Kid’s instructions, we head into the tent and place the zombie paper everywhere on the ground. There’s nothing to do now but wait, so the team heads back to the hotel for some rest. Sure enough, throughout the night swarms of zombies are drawn to the zombie paper. As evidenced by the quick montage, even the two zombies guarding the exit behind the graveyard we mysteriously attracted to the paper.

Morning comes and it’s time to see how well the Zombie Paper worked. Everyone is so excited that they’ve all gathered around the tent to see the results. Inside is a sight like none other, a dozen zombies have all fallen victim to the Zombie Paper Trap. Some continue to struggle, unable to move, while others have given up and returned to the land of the dead. In either event, this frees the town of most of their zombie problem, and more importantly unlocks the passage out of town for our heroes.

However, that adventure is going to have to wait until next time. Join us then as we head out of town and see if we can finally find the mastermind behind it all.