"Bridge Over Troubled Water" is the sixth mission of Season 6.
Exchanging one political prisoner for another hits a little too close to home...
Cast[]
Plot[]
Get Andy Home[]
Sam introduces you to Andy, a political prisoner who you're escorting back to Ministry territory. Bernard Prior will be returned to New Canton in exchange.
Run To Higher Ground[]
On your way to the bridge where the exchange will take place, Sam and Jody try to understand why Andy wants to go back to a settlement allied with the Ministry.
Need To Get After Him![]
A drone arrives for Amelia, so naturally Jody assumes you're being double-crossed, again. Unfortunately the distraction gives Andy a chance to run away.
Just Shamblers[]
Jody chases after Andy, and Sam keeps an eye on Amelia, who is receiving a message from another settlement.
Must Have Missed[]
Andy's diverted to avoid some zoms, so he won't arrive at the exchange point before you. Sigrid's people won't wait forever though, so Amelia buys some time at the bridge.
Can't Stop Him Going Back[]
You and Jody finally catch up to Andy, who's hiding up a tree, talking to Moonchild. Jody tries to convince him not to go back to Ministry territory if he has Moonchild syndrome, but he refuses to listen.
Rescued The Babies Already[]
You successfully exchange prisoners with the Ministry. Bernard and Amelia immediately start discussing the political situation. Andy happily goes with Sigrid's people, but their car heads towards London, and not his settlement...
S06E06 // Rofflenet[]
Discussion regarding this mission can be found on Rofflenet
Transcript[]
[crows caw, wolf howls]
AMELIA SPENS: Good Lord. Twisted wreckage of buildings, burned out office blocks, prisoner in chains. You Abel people do know how to have a good time.
ANDY: Do we have to have the chains? I’m not exactly going to try and escape through this hellhole, am I?
SAM YAO: Five, this is Andy. Andy, Runner Five. Uh, maybe, yeah. Five, could you take off Andy’s chains? I think someone was a bit overzealous there.
[chains jingle]
JODY MARSH: Andy’s a member of – where is it?
ANDY: Rotunda Settlement. We’ve recently allied with the Ministry, but like a silly billy, I managed to be buying spices in Castille, which is still officially allied with Abel, so I’m a theoretical prisoner and have to be traded. Anyway, you’ll get one of your people back in return, so that all works out nicely.
AMELIA SPENS: Really? I thought I’d brokered this deal in exchange for supplies. Who’s Abel getting back?
JODY MARSH: New Canton, actually. Bernard. He’s been held by some of Sigrid’s allies for a while.
AMELIA SPENS: Bernard? Really? Interesting.
JODY MARSH: Is it?
AMELIA SPENS: Yes, it is, actually. Come on, Five. Run with me. Let’s get Andy here home.
ANDY: This is a lovely day, actually, isn’t it? Once you get your chains off and you get past the cawing crows and so on. Beautiful blue sky, light stratocumulus. Nice.
SAM YAO: Andy, can I ask you something?
ANDY: Anything you like, chum.
SAM YAO: Why don’t you want to, well, you know, stay with us at Abel? I mean, you seem like a decent bloke. You’re not one of those Wakened Land loyalists, are you?
ANDY: Oh what, that, “The land will swallow its own, we’ll cut you down like a flaming sword through butter,” stuff? Any sword’ll slice through butter. A flaming one would just melt it into a puddle. Silly!
SAM YAO: So you don’t want to ally with Sigrid?
ANDY: Oh, no, I do. I mean, look. I can see that Abel and the Ministry are at each other’s throats for some reason. You say they did things. They say you did things. I don’t see how any normal person could tell who’s right and who’s wrong. So I just go by results.
Have you seen what life is like in Ministry allied colonies? She’s getting people olive oil. She’s getting them peanut butter. And there’s a traveling orchestra! And that’s all to say nothing of the fact that she’s giving people a vaccine against the zombie plague. Temporary, sure, but the permanent one will come. That’s what finally convinced Rotunda to ally with the Ministry.
JODY MARSH: Do you know where she got that from, Andy? Do you know where that vaccine comes from?
ANDY: I know where you say it comes from.
JODY MARSH: She’s turned babies into human factories!
ANDY: It’s fake news! I mean, doesn’t it sound fake to you? “Turned babies into human factories”? It’s just over the top, the kind of thing people always say about their enemies.
JODY MARSH: But it’s true!
ANDY: Well, you would say that.
AMELIA SPENS: You know, Andy, I begin to warm to you. You’re the first reasonable person I’ve spoken to in months. Oh. Team, look at that! Zombies crawling out of the wreckage of that deserted petrol station!
SAM YAO: I don’t see anything.
AMELIA SPENS: Well, I do! Come on. Let’s run to higher ground. Perhaps over to the north, that way.
SAM YAO: Amelia, are you waving your hands to signal to someone?
AMELIA SPENS: I don’t know what you mean.
[drone whirs]
JODY MARSH: Oh, look. What a massive surprise, Amelia. There’s a drone here for you. With a little note on it, looks like!
AMELIA SPENS: Yes, well, some of us have bigger pictures to think of.
JODY MARSH: Why are you even here, Amelia? You brokered the deal, fine. But you did say you’d leave us at the outskirts of town.
AMELIA SPENS: Perhaps I just can’t stay away from you, Jody.
JODY MARSH: I’m – I’m rising above it, Amelia! Calming breaths… rising above. We’re going to swap Andy here for Bernard, and there’s nothing you can do to stop that happening.
AMELIA SPENS: Are you? Why are you letting him escape, then?
JODY MARSH: What are you even on about? He’s right – oh, bugger. Sam, where’s Andy gone?
SAM YAO: He’s – oh, crap! Yeah, he’s run off. He’s heading towards the bridge where we’re due to make the trade.
ANDY: Sorry, gang, but I think I’ll make a much better ally for the Ministry if they don’t have to swap me for anyone.
SAM YAO: Five, we’re not going to get Bernard back if Andy gets to that bridge without us. You need to get after him. Go!
JODY MARSH: I’m heading in from the east, Five. You keep heading west. Pincer movement. Sam, where’s Amelia? Wait, no. Don’t tell me. Trying to betray us again, right?
SAM YAO: She’s, uh… yeah, got her! She’s rendezvousing with… a runner.
JODY MARSH: Amelia, if you’re betraying us to the Ministry, I will shoot you.
AMELIA SPENS: Oh, don’t worry. It’s just a messenger.
MESSENGER: The Psychoanalysts Enclave accept your offer, Miss Spens.
SAM YAO: Yeah, Five, no time to worry about Amelia. There are zombies behind you. Just shamblers, but speed up.
[zombies moan]
JODY MARSH: Wow, those zoms just won’t give up, will they, Five? How are we doing, Sam?
SAM YAO: Uh, well, good news: Andy’s also had to change his route to avoid the zombies. Bad news: Sigrid’s people are at the bridge now, with Bernard. I’m going to guess they won’t wait forever.
AMELIA SPENS: I’m already at the bridge. I thought you were learning to be efficient, Jody.
JODY MARSH: I’m rising above it, Amelia. Rising above it. Okay, Five, I know we don’t usually do this for shamblers, but we’re running out of time. [gunshots] Got one of them!
AMELIA SPENS: Jody, never say I don’t do anything for you. Wakened Land loyalists, delightful to see you, as ever. I’m the advanced guard for the prisoner exchange, and I did wonder, while we’re here, if you have any Wakened Land literature I might take away with me.
I’m very interested in the cleansing and in this idea that the land itself will claim its own enemies. Got anything on that? … Yes, we’ve got time for you to go back to your transport, certainly.
SAM YAO: Amelia, did you just buy us some time?
AMELIA SPENS: Only as a side effect. [phone rings] Sorry, I’ve got to take this, Sam. Hello. This is she. No, no, Scorpion Fang, they are the people who killed your brother. Yes, I quite understand. Yes, of course. You’ll have to relinquish command.
[gunshot, zombie growls]
JODY MARSH: I was sure I got that zombie with a headshot, but I must have missed. Run!
[noisemaker rings]
JODY MARSH: All right. That noisemaker we placed has distracted the zoms for now. Andy, come down from there.
ANDY: Yes, Moonchild. Yes, I hear you. I know. I understand you.
JODY MARSH: Did you hear that, Five? Andy, are you hearing Moonchild?
ANDY: Everything is in alignment, yes. We are all one with everything. Race you.
JODY MARSH: Andy, you can come down now.
ANDY: Oh, hi, Jody, Five. Yeah, sorry. I thought I was being clever there, but you’re right, I’m not really cut out for this spy/counterspy thing. Let’s just get me down and get me swapped for your friend. Ah, there we are. Back on the ground, right as rain, no bones broken.
JODY MARSH: But Andy, are you - ? Look. I know this is weird, but do you have Moonchild Syndrome? Are you still hearing her?
ANDY: Oh, only at times of stress. She’s sort of comforting. Just a residue from that thing that happened. I used to drink a lot of Ceretin back in the day.
JODY MARSH: But Andy, do you know what the Minister’s doing to people with Moonchild Syndrome?
ANDY: [laughs] Let me guess: she’s chopping us up and feeding us to the dragons, or babies! Or chopping up dragon babies and feeding them to us. You people never stop, do you?
Look, you’ve won. I didn’t get to the bridge myself. You can stop scaremongering. I won’t run away again. I’ll even take the lead. Come on. The bridge is just over there. Let’s run.
SAM YAO: We can’t… we can’t stop him going back if he really wants to. [sighs] Better go after him, Five.
AMELIA SPENS: Oh, lovely. A marvelous collection of pamphlets on Wakened Land. I will enjoy using those for kindling. And here come the Abel runners now, with their prisoner.
ANDY: Hello. Can’t wait to get home to Rotunda. My chili peppers must be ready to pick.
JODY MARSH: You don’t have to go, Andy. We’ll work something out.
AMELIA SPENS: Oh, for goodness’ sake, and sacrifice Bernard? He wants to go, Jody.
ANDY: I do. I’m going to take my neighbor’s pet rat, Mikey, for a walk this afternoon.
AMELIA SPENS: Off you go then, Andy. Here comes Bernard with a bag on his head. How charmingly retro.
BERNARD PRIOR: Ah. Oh, it’s good to – it’s good to see some familiar faces. It’s been months. How are things at Abel and New Canton? Is Scorpion Fang still running the north side of the market?
AMELIA SPENS: Ah, no. I’m afraid Scorpion Fang’s had to leave, Bernard.
BERNARD PRIOR: Oh, good lord. Uh, please untie my hands. But that’ll mean there’s no one to keep the peace between the Red Book Group and the Psychoanalysts Enclave.
AMELIA SPENS: I’ve brokered an agreement between them. Alternate Wednesdays.
BERNARD PRIOR: But the Broken Rider Collective will never stand for that!
AMELIA SPENS: Oh, their leader met with an unfortunate accident right about… oh. Now.
JODY MARSH: Do you understand anything she’s talking about?
SAM YAO: I think it’s a tightly interconnected web of interests that have been running New Canton for the past year.
JODY MARSH: Did you ever consider working on the Middle East peace process before the apocalypse, Amelia?
BERNARD PRIOR: But Amelia, this leaves a power vacuum right at the top of the organization of New Canton. One which I would be symbolically equipped to fill, but my months of captivity mean I’m entirely unaware of the political currents.
AMELIA SPENS: Yes, I admit that had occurred to me. You know, I think New Canton would be an ideal base of operations to conduct a long-term investigation into the whereabouts of some very young people. We must have a talk, Bernard.
JODY MARSH: Is it weird that I think I feel more secure with Amelia running New Canton?
SAM YAO: Devil you know, maybe? Uh, yeah, I’ve got Andy on long-range cams. Do you – [sighs] do you want to know?
JODY MARSH: Don’t know. Do I?
SAM YAO: He’s shaken hands with a couple of people. They’ve put him into a car. The car’s not heading towards Rotunda, though. It’s on the road to London.
JODY MARSH: Oh. Right. They probably knew about the Moonchild Syndrome and that’s why they agreed to exchange Bernard for him.
SAM YAO: He wanted to go. You tried to convince him, but he wanted to go.
JODY MARSH: Janine would have found a way to make him stay. Janine would have found a way to explain which side is right and which is wrong! Janine would have rescued those babies already.
SAM YAO: But she hasn’t, and she’s not here. We’re doing the best we can!
Codex[]
Supplies[]
The following supplies can be found in this mission.
(List may be incomplete.)
9mm Ammo
Axe
Bandages
Baseball Bat
Batteries
Bottled Water
Box of Lightbulbs
DVD
Football
Glasses
Matches
Mobile Phone
Shirt
Shorts
Tennis racket
Tinned Food
Tool Box
Trousers
Umbrella
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