"A Beautiful Day" is the thirty-fourth mission of The Home Front.
Thurman's drills are ravaging the area. You need to put an end to this, and fast!
EXERCISES: Bicep Curl, Plyometric Double Knee Jump, Side-to-Side Shuffle, Kick, Forearm Plank
Cast[]
Plot[]
Debris Dodge[]
Janine contacts you and warns you that the drill you're on is powering up. When it starts to drill, it destabilises the tunnel that you're in, sending rocks and earth showering down on you. Thankfully a canopy is closing over you, but you'll need to keep moving to dodge the debris.
Losing Power[]
Sam tells you that Janine is flying her drone around Spectrum Mall, and she's seen drills breaking out of the ground and smashing up buildings in the old city. They're causing earth tremors, and Janine thinks they may be targeting fault lines. There is a manual override though. Grab that big wheel on the console and turn the drill. Great work! Now grab those levers and pump them as though you're doing Bicep Curls. The drill smashes into Thurman's underground town and shuts down. Unfortunately there are six more drills left, and the quakes are attracting the undead. Get out of the drill and head towards the Institute!
Poor Construction[]
Janine is back. The quakes are causing comms outages in Abel. The quakes are putting people in danger, and you will need to be careful of cave-ins. You spot a shaft of light from the surface, but unfortunately light means zombies. Most of them can't move much, but you'll need to jump between them to get through. Keep moving!
Stay Fast[]
Good job Five, you're in the Institute. The gates at Abel have fallen so they're having to fight off zombies. You need to stop this! The ceiling ahead is coming down so you'll need to shuffle carefully through the debris. Watch out for the zoms, and look out for a door labelled CR!
Tinder Box[]
You reach the control room and encounter another buggy Thurman computer program. Unfortunately it recognises you and starts to pump poison gas into the room. Sam thinks quickly and reminds you that you still have Robot Thurman's head with you. Hold it up to the camera on the ceiling, but you'll need to Kick away the crawlers who are coming after you. The Thurman robot head gives commands using spliced together words you've recorded, and Sam tells you that the drills have stopped. Things aren't over yet though; the gas main has been ruptured and the whole place could go up. Get into the elevator!
Hell of a View[]
The elevator didn't take you back up to the mall, only to the roof of the Institute. From there you can see buildings collapsing and zombies falling through the holes. You spot one of Janine's drones that Peter is flying. He tells you to climb onto it and he'll fly you out. You should take up a Plank position on the drone's back. You finally break out into fresh air and you can see Spectrum Mall sinking into the ground.
A Beautiful Day[]
You've landed so you can take time to stretch out. The superhorde is dispersing, but we'll all have to remain vigilant to make sure that it doesn't re-converge. If you look around, you can see where your friends have been spending lockdown. They're all safer thanks to you. For now, you're safe. There are no zombies nearby, and it's a beautiful day. You've earned it.
Transcript[]
JANINE DE LUCA: Five, are you receiving? De Luca here. My understanding of the situation is this. You’re in an underground tunnel on a control deck atop an enormous drilling machine. You’ve dispatched the robot duplicates left by Artemus Thurman, thwarting his plans for resurrection. This has triggered Thurman’s final contingency. He has set multiple drills to ravage the country and carve his visage into the rubble.
The drill you are on is powering up and will soon strike Abel. Brace yourself, Five. The drill is aiming for the rock wall to starboard. The tunnel is becoming unsustainable as the drill burrows. Rocks are falling. Evasive action, Five. Avoid the debris hitting that control deck. Use a dancing pattern if it helps you focus.
ARTEMUS THURMAN: Attention, Thurman drill operator. Control desk retracting. Get ready for a wild ride. Once we smash the country, we’re going to etch my face into every hill, cliff, and peak in sight. Any future civilization will worship me as a god. And not just any god, a god of the land. A god of real estate. Now that’s branding to kill for!
JANINE DE LUCA: The control deck is lowering into the drill. A canopy is closing overhead. Keep dodging, Five, until it shuts. I’ll deploy my drone. Based on that drill’s unwieldy design, Thurman has overpromised. Without upkeep, I doubt it will last long enough to fulfill his plan, but it will most certainly destroy Abel unless we find a way to stop it.
SAM YAO: Five? Five, it’s Sam. Janine’s flying her drone around the Spectrum Mall. She’s spotted other drills rising up from the ground, smashing through buildings in the old city. We’re getting massive quakes. Jody says her warehouse is shaking to bits. Janine reckons the drills are targeting fault lines. We’ve got to stop them, especially the one you’re in.
Looks pretty spooky on that deck now that it’s inside the drill. That red mood lighting, like a submarine. Uh, try entering Thurman’s bunker code into a console. Maybe we can access the controls. Okay, yeah, looks like there are seven drills controlled by a computer in the Thurman Institute. They’re programmed to seek and destroy non-Thurman property, then carve his image. Lovely.
There’s a manual override, the console on your left with the big wheel. Grab the wheel, Five. See if you can drive that thing. Yeah, that’s it! You’re turning the drill. Uh, that readout shows your position relative to Thurmanville. You need to reach the institute to take control of the other drills, too. Bank left. Good. And now you have to angle down. Grab the red levers sticking out either side of the console, the ones marked with downward arrows. Take one in each hand and work them up and down.
They’re pretty rusty. Give it some welly. Move your arms like you’re doing bicep curls. Go. Yeah, pull those levers, Five, hard as you can. If we don’t stop the drill soon, Abel’s finished. And we can’t evacuate, not with the horde right outside. The drill’s angling downward very slowly. Keep it up. Yeah, you’re on a direct course for Thurmanville. There’s a pair of blue levers under the red ones marked with forward arrows. They’re for speed. Start pumping them. You’re almost there, Five. Keep cranking up the speed! Stop, Five. The readouts say full speed. You just smashed through the rock wall around Thurmanville. You’re about to hit the streets.
ARTEMUS THURMAN: Attention. Damage to Thurman property detected. Drill shutting down. I’m not disappointed, just angry!
SAM YAO: There must have been a kill switch on the drill, Five. It’s totally shut down. I can see it sitting on the edge of Thurmanville, surrounded by splintered 50s houses. This quaking’s got the superhorde riled. They’re bashing on the walls up here, Five.
There are still six more drills. If that one can’t hit Abel, another one will. We’re all… we’re all pretty scared out here. Uh, yeah, there’s an exit hatch behind you with a crank next to it. Use that bicep curling motion to work the crank until the hatch opens, then head for the institute. [static] We’ve got to shut the other drills down before – [audio distorts, fades to static]
JANINE DE LUCA: Five, it’s De Luca. I see you’re proceeding on foot into Thurmanville. Apologies for the disruption. Quakes are causing outages across Abel. Clearly, Thurmanville is faring little better. There are fissures of daylight opening in the roof above the underground town. Chunks of rock are falling, crushing entire suburban streets.
Distress calls are streaming in from runners outside of Abel. Runner Nine is trapped under debris in her community center. Runner Thirty-One was struck by a beam in his pantry. If we do not stop these quakes, they will kill everyone locked down in the field and doom Abel itself.
Five, stop. Look, there’s a shaft of daylight shining on the road in front of you and where there is light, there are zombies. The superhorde is over Thurmanville. Zombies must be falling through the fissures. Most of them can barely even crawl, bones shattered on the tarmac. The Institute is that way. Your only path is straight through the zombies.
Jump over and between them. Use Thurman’s plyometric technique to maximize your jumps. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, arms by your sides. Squat down, keeping your back straight, not letting your knees extend past your toes. Then jump up, drawing your knees into your chest, touching your hands to your knees in the air. Be sure to land properly on the balls of your feet with your knees bent. Begin jumping now.
In their state, the zombies cannot chase, but they may still bite. There are more zombies tumbling from the fissure above, Five. Do not jump to your left. You’re halfway through the fallen zombies, Five. Thurman’s luxury apartment blocks are falling like dominoes. They can’t have been well-constructed. Almost out of the daylight from the fissures above. Many of the zombies burst on impact. Do not slip on their entrails.
You can stop jumping, Five. You’re away from the zombies. [static] The streets of Thurmanville are cracking open. The quakes are worsening above and below. At this rate, Abel will not last long enough to be hit. The Institute is dead ahead. If chasms open in the road before you, jump them. You must not slow down. Move. [fades to static]
SAM YAO: Five! Good, you’re in the Institute. Keep going down that corridor, take the fork on your right. I used Thurman’s code to decrypt some of the files we found in his secret area. I found a partial plan of that building.
Oh, it’s really bad up here, Five. We’ve lost contact with Zoe and Phil. Jody’s dodging shelves. Peter’s under a desk with his fox. We keep losing power, and the main gates collapsed. Janine’s out there shoring them up. We’re using all our bullets holding the zoms back and – Five, look out!
The ceiling in there is coming down left and right. That hallway’s pretty tight. Shuffle side to side to avoid the debris. You know how to shuffle. Balance on one foot with your knees and arms bent and then take three or four quick steps to one side, ending on your opposite foot. Shuffle for your life, Five. Whenever you see the ceiling crack, shuffle the other way!
Ah, there are zoms in that falling masonry. They’re all over Thurmanville, a big chunk of the horde swarming down through the mall. That cavern collapsing on the town is loud. Those zoms are pretty messed up by the fall, lots of limbs bent backward, but they’re crawling out the rubble behind you.
ARTEMUS THURMAN: Attention, Thurman employees: disaster protocols are in effect, which means it’s everyone for themselves because I’m not running a goddamn nursery creche here!
SAM YAO: I can’t see you, Five. We’ve lost most of our cams down there and the corridor’s choked with dust and debris. You’re looking for a door with CR on it in big letters. You’ll know it when you see it. Until then, stay fast on your feet!
SAM YAO: That’s the control room, Five. Uh, I don’t see many um, controls. Just one chunky old computer with a CRT monitor. Quick, enter Thurman’s code.
ARTEMUS THURMAN: Hi there. It’s-it’s-it’s me, Artemus Thurman. Well, all right, this is just a program designed to simulate my responses based on my rec- my rec- my recordings. Not perfect, but honestly, is there anyone you’d rather s-s- rather see?
SAM YAO: Oh God, another Thurman! It’s okay, Five, he can’t hurt you. It’s just a face on the monitor with a weird neon grid behind him like Max Headroom.
ARTEMUS THURMAN: Uh-oh! This interface responds to face and voice prints of me-me-me, Art Thurman, and you don’t have either. You do resemble malcontents c-c-caught on cams destroying my bots, so let’s see just how much deadly poison we can p-p-p-pump into that room, shall we?
SAM YAO: Green smoke’s coming out of the air vents. That’s not good. Damn Thurman and his recordings! Wait, I’ve got an idea. Five, you’ve still got that Thurman bot’s head in your pack, right? Hold it up to the cam above the computer. Yeah, right up so it blocks you out. The cam’s on the ceiling. You’ll have to stretch your arms straight up over your head to reach. Go on, stretch your arms up, Five.
Zoms are crawling in from the corridor behind you. They’re pretty hurt, limping or dragging themselves. You can’t run, Five, I need you to stay put. Turn around, but keep Thurman’s face to the camera. Kick the zoms back, slow them down. Go for their arms and legs. I just need a minute. Kick away, Five.
Don’t lock your knees when you’re kicking, and make sure your foot fully touches the ground after each kick. Don’t lose balance, and keep those arms up over your head. Five, there are wires hanging from Thurman’s neck. The gold one’s an audio jack. When I say, use one hand to plug it into your headset, but keep kicking. That zom’s on one leg! Kick him over. Hold that head steady. I’m about to get a signal from Jody. God, I hope this works. Okay. Plug in, Five. Here goes nothing.
RECORDING OF THURMAN: Hello, viewers! Artemus Thurman here. Stop all the Thurman machines. Stop everything. Thurman out.
COMPUTER SIMULATION OF THURMAN: Well, I c-c-can’t argue with me. Commands confirmed. Drills stopped. Poison stopped. Have a nice day, you handsome devil.
SAM YAO: Five, you can stop. Unplug from the head. Jump across the room away from the zoms. Oh, did you see that, Five? Jody spliced Thurman’s voice together from his fitness tape while you held his face up to camera! I was gonna pump it over speakers, but that jack made his lips move.
It’s amazing, Five! I’ve got some of Thurman’s drills on cams. The ones in the city aren’t moving at all. One just burst out the ground 10 feet from Abel and completely powered down. Yeah, it’s like, just sitting there. Doing, well, nothing like a huge drill. I think we did it! Thurman doesn’t get his revenge after all. You stopped the destruction.
Uh-oh. Those quakes in Thurmanville, they’ve torn open gas mains under the streets. Something tells me Thurman didn’t spend a lot on safety features. That whole town’s going to go up like a tinderbox. You’ve got to get out of there! There’s an elevator behind that computer. It might lead up to the mall. Get in quick, and if any zombies crawl in your way, just kick them aside.
ARTEMUS THURMAN: L-L-L-Leaving already? Come back soon! Remember, if there’s one thing we all need from life, it’s more A-A-Artemus Thurman.
SAM YAO: Oh no, Five! That elevator, it didn’t go up to the Spectrum Mall at all. It… it just put you on the top floor of the Institute. Brace yourself, there’s a chunk of rock about to hit the building! Oh God, it sheared off the wall behind you.
You can see all of Thurmanville from up there now. The collapsed apartments, the weird pastel houses, and shafts of daylight from the cavern roof with zoms tumbling down them. I think those are statues of Reagan and Rand falling by the high school. I can see you dropped Thurman’s head, Five. It rolled over the edge.
I… I don’t see a way down from there. Wait, is that…? There’s something coming your way from the nearest shaft of light. It’s like a tube with wings. It’s Janine’s drone! Although when did she paint it orange? Getting a signal from Peter, patching him through.
PETER LYNNE: That is one hell of a foxhole you’ve dug there, Five. Right, I’m using my cinema screen to fly the drone whilst Janine holds Abel together. Oh, do you like the paint job? I did it last time the thing crashed onto my roof. Renard 1, I’m calling it. Uh, ooh, I am coming in close, so all aboard!
You might notice I flew through a few zoms on the way down, so drone is a little covered in gore, sorry. Um, get into a plank position over its back. So you’re gonna need your hands to grip the wings on either side and your feet pressed close up on the tail. There we go, Five. Perfect. Keep your weight on your hands and feet, and your stomach is going to want to stay off the main party, there’s some slippery zom bits on there. Perfect! Hold that position. I’m taking her up.
Good Christ, Thurmanville is absolutely blowing to bits. Massive gouts of lead coming out of the streets. Okay, we are going to go up through that shaft of daylight there, Five. I am going to try and keep the ride steady so I don’t throw you off, but you are going to need to keep planking.
Okay, you’re gonna want to close your eyes, Five. Thurmanville is currently a great big fireball and it’s coming up right beneath us! [fox shrieks] Oh! Oh, that’s gorgeous. Do you hear that, Five? Foxy’s giving some moral support. ...I miss people. Okay, no no, sorry. Uh, nearly there. Giving it one more burst of speed!
And you can open your eyes, Five. You burst right through, barely got singed. You’re high over the countryside. You can lie down. Blood should be drying. You’re not going to slip off so long as I fly straight and slow. In fact, if you look directly ahead, you will see the Spectrum Mall in the distance, sinking slowly into the earth, Thurman’s drills sticking up out of the landscape, dead.
You did it, Five. Thurmanville’s gone. Abel is safe. Okay, I’m gonna find a place to put down. Janine finally fixed the landing gear on this thing. Um, although if you don’t mind a bit more planking, I could swing around, maybe do a proper circuit of the area? It’s a hell of a view, isn’t it?
JANINE DE LUCA: Five, De Luca here. With Abel stabilized, I took over to land the drone. You may disembark, stretch out, look down from that hill over the countryside. I imagine you noticed from the air, but let me confirm it for you. You can see the earth again, green fields and trees. The superhorde is no longer, well, quite so super. A huge chunk of the horde was in Thurmanville when it exploded. Many others were crushed in the quakes. Without Thurman’s equipment underground, the remainder will disperse in time.
We cannot relax, of course. The zombie virus remains a serious threat, and we’ll have to remain on lockdown until we can be sure the remnants of the horde will not reconverge, but this is still a victory. We can retrieve our runners in the field, all of them.
Look to the horizon, Five. You can see Miss Marsh’s warehouse to the north, Mr. Lynne’s cinema and Miss Crick’s kennel to the west, Runner Thirty-One’s cottage, Runner Twelve’s campervan in between. If you turn south, you will see Abel and New Canton. All of them and more are safe thanks to you.
The drone can take you home, but there’s no rush. There’s nobody else for miles. No one to threaten you, no zombies shambling. You are alone on that hill with the birds and the sun. Take a moment to absorb it. It is about time you had a breath of fresh air. It is a beautiful day, Runner Five, and I would say that you earned it.
Codex[]
Letter[]
Five,
I know you must be absolutely exhausted after everything that's happened, but I just... needed to tell you, you are one of the most astonishing people I've ever met.
I swear, the SECOND you're back in Abel, I'm not letting you out of my sight for the next month.
Love,
Sam
Supplies[]
The following supplies can be found in this mission.
(List may be incomplete.)
Anti-depressants
Baseball Bat
Board game
Candles
First Aid Kit
Flashlight
Football
Laptop
Mobile Phone
Overcoat
Pain Meds
Shirt
Shorts
Sports Bra
Trainers
Umbrella
Underwear
Whisky
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