Stoke is Full of Mutants

Rubo... friend?

Fresh water flowed into the Ark. The residents, both sick and healthy, felt refreshed when they drank the clean water. Before the party's heroic efforts, every sip of water brought fear of further illness. However, the red pox still spread. Every day more residents were struck down by the disease. The latest to reluctantly cross into the every expanding quarantine zone was Elon, the great man-bear. One of the most fearsome fighters in the Ark was reduced to a shivering wreck. Elon feared for the future of his people, he feared the misery and isolation of quarantine, but most of all he feared being apart from his wife.

Serena and Elon were an odd looking couple. Elon, a hulking beast at two metres tall, was covered in thick hair and was menacing sight with his sharp teeth and claws. By contrast, his wife Serena was tiny. She was much shorter than even Flora, barely coming up to Elon's waist. She did though share one thing in common with him, as she too was a half-human-half-animal hybrid. She shared her DNA with that of a chinchilla. As such, her appearance was almost comical to some, particularly when she stood next to her husband. A woman of great empathy, she could barely control herself as Elon was guided through the large double doors that now separated the healthy and the sick.

Waves of sickness spread through the victims of red pox. Some days they were largely functional and were expected to look after the more sickly patients. But these days soon passed into days of heavy fever, leaving the patient bed-ridden and expelling bodily fluids at an alarming rate. The strong were greatly weakened as the disease took its toll. Those who were already weakly struggled to survive, and the death count slowly climbed as the days turned into weeks. All who had so far been infected continued to be plagued with red sores across the face and body. It seemed as if a cure would be needed. Nature was the enemy. Science was their only hope.

The Elder gathered the remaining heroes of the Ark - Craig, Steve, Apolo and Rubo - to his quarters and explained to them that he had come to close to abandoning all hope. He put it bluntly, "You have saved the Ark before, you have to save us again." Craig sighed, he had already lost Flora to the disease - she lay sick in the quarantine zone, and Gramslinger had foolishly managed to get himself exiled into slavery. All that remained with him was trusty Steve, the terrifying Rubo, and the irritating Apolo. He had to admit that they had proved useful allies thus far though. A discussion was held as to how and where they could find a  cure for the red pox. The hospital was the only idea put forward. They knew it was a long-shot, but it was one that simply had to work.

Red pox had claimed all but a handful of experienced wasteland traversers, leaving only Serena to join the party on their mission. She greeted the party solemnly, they all knew that their failure would mean the end of the Ark and all that they held dear. The only option was to succeed, no matter the cost. Craig led the way as the party marched west. Grazers munched at the radioactive grass, oblivious to the goals and worries of the group of mutants that were storming past them.

After some hours, the party found themselves in the deadwood south of Sock On Tree. A dense forest had covered the area only a week ago, before Gary's reckless return home had sent the entire area up in flames. Ash covered the ground now, a stark reminder of how quickly things change. It seemed to Craig only yesterday that he was waking up in a comfortable bed next to Flora, planning the surprise statue in her honour. He thought back to that butt, which the stonemason had inexplicably placed at the front of the statue. The anger fueled him as Steve began to lag behind. Craig called back, "Eden's not in space is it?" Steve felt his blood boil and with a burst of energy he sprinted towards Craig with the intention of giving him a piece of his mind.

Once the hospital was in sight, the party stopped to rest and evaluate their plan of action. The hospital was huge and they had no idea where to look for a possible cure. Rubo told the others that he could reason with the robot on sentry duty at the front. If that failed, he could always overpower him and force their circuits together to raid the sentry's data banks. Craig, Steve and Apolo didn't know what that meant exactly, but agreed that it sounded kind of gay.