- For the character, see Tess (Character).
"Tess" is the tenth mission of Season 1.
A traitor is on the run with vital information - track her down before she escapes!
Cast[]
- Sara Smith (Clare Kissane)
- Tess
- Ed Harrison (Russell Barnett)
- Molly Harrison
- Janine De Luca (Eleanor Rushton)
Crew[]
- Writer: Naomi Alderman
- Director: Matt Wieteska
- Sound Designer: Mark Pittam
- Series Created By: Naomi Alderman
Scenes[]
In Pursuit
Janine calls for you and Runner 8 over the PA for an emergency. A traitor is fleeing Abel. A girl called Tess is fleeing with some laptops and memory devices towards New Canton. You and Runner 8 must give chase.
Information Security
Janine fills you in on Tess's story. She was one of the survivors from Brunswick and had gained Janine's confidence before stealing equipment from the communications storeroom. Janine reveals that she knows Tess is headed to New Canton as she read some of Tess's emails, which revealed her true intentions. Finally, Janine tells you and Runner 8 that, amongst the things Tess has stolen are Runner 8's Rofflenet emails to the military base.
A King's Ransom
Runner 8 tells you that, if Tess escapes, it'll be very bad news for Abel. She says she's unable to tell you much, given how sensitive the information is. All she can tell you is that she is working for the military, and that Janine is the only other ally she has at Abel. Janine then reveals that New Canton have chosen what Tess stole carefully, that they intend to bring down Abel's communications and make the Township defenceless.
Ed's Confession
Ed arrives at the comms shack. He confesses that he told Tess where two working motorbikes are between Abel and New Canton. Janine and Runner 8 conclude that Tess must be heading for them. If you don't catch her before she reaches the bikes, you'll have lost her for good.
Target Neutralised
Runner 8 catches sight of Tess, who's carrying a noisemaker to attract zombies. After a short chase, Runner 8 knocks Tess out with a club. 8 then leaves the unconscious Tess in a nearby shed, while you and she escape on the motorbikes.
Transcript[]
[gunshots] [intercom horn]
JANINE DE LUCA: [over intercom] Calling Runner Five! Or Runner Eight! Or both. Runner Five and Runner Eight, report to the gates. [on radio] Runner Five and Runner Eight, urgent assignment! Sam’s on a rest period, but we’ve discovered a traitor in the camp. We need you to chase her down before she gets away!
SARA SMITH: Copy that, Janine. On my way.
JANINE DE LUCA: How does this go again? Raise the gates! [gate siren, gate raising] Covering fire! [gunshots] Runner Five and Runner Eight, there’s a girl who called herself Tess, heading towards New Canton now. She’s stolen three working laptops from my stores and several large memory devices. She’s fast. You need to catch her before she gets there. Go!
SARA SMITH: Looks like it’s you and me again, Five. The dream team!
SARA SMITH: We’re on the road to New Canton. Can’t see this Tess yet, so fill us in, Janine - what happened?
JANINE DE LUCA: She was one of the people from Brunswick.
SARA SMITH: Ah, the people we rescued from the fire and the zombies?
JANINE DE LUCA: Correct. Most of those people are refortifying at Brunswick, but they evacuated a few to us at Abel.
SARA SMITH: We’re welcoming like that.
JANINE DE LUCA: Far too welcoming, as it turns out. She showed quite an interest in our technology. Before the outbreak, she’d been a computer science student at Manning College, or so she said. I can always use an extra pair of hands for repairs, so I foolishly trusted her!
Last night, I gave her the key to the communications store room. This morning, she filled a backpack and tried to stroll out of the front gate. It’s only because Roman, Runner Nine, wondered why someone was headed out with a full backpack and sounded the alarm that we know she’s gone at all.
SARA SMITH: And we know she’s gone to New Canton?
JANINE DE LUCA: She sent them three transmissions last night, via Rofflenet. … I keep copies!
SARA SMITH: Do you read all our e-mails?
JANINE DE LUCA: I don’t read them, I just… keep them. In case of situations like this!
SARA SMITH: But still, you could read them!
JANINE DE LUCA: Only if our security demanded it, which in this case, it does!
SARA SMITH: No, I’m just glad you’re watching over us, Janine. So what’s she taken? Why are we worried over a few laptops?
JANINE DE LUCA: Laptops and storage devices - all our backups. She’s taken our knowledge, Eight! There’s no cloud storage anymore. She’s got our plans, our supply lists, the information we traded food and guns for, and…
SARA SMITH: And?
JANINE DE LUCA: All our Rofflenet mails. Including…
SARA SMITH: Just say it. Runner Five’s okay.
JANINE DE LUCA: Including all your transmissions to the military base.
SARA SMITH: Well, then. Guess you and me better put on a burst of speed, Five!
SARA SMITH: This is bad news, Five! If that girl gets those files to New Canton, well… there’s things in there we don’t want them knowing. Now I’m sorry, but it’s going to be difficult for me to give you much information. For one thing, we can’t talk at the base. Never know who might be listening, as this little traitor shows. For another, well, we’re working on a need-to-know basis here. We used to have a job to do, you and me, but since that rocket launcher attack on your helicopter, well, my bosses have put that job on ice, ‘til we work out what’s going on, so no mission briefing for you just yet, I’m afraid.
What’s that? Is that her? No, just another zombie. Run on, we’ll get her.
What can I tell you? I’m military - I guess you can tell that much already. And since the Major’s away in the north meeting up with some big chiefs, Janine’s the only one at Abel who knows. Well, you can’t keep anything from the woman who controls the communications, can you? And she’s… well, she’s spiky, but she’s trustworthy.
JANINE DE LUCA: I can hear you, you know.
SARA SMITH: Lord love ya, I’d say that to your face! You’re a spiky loner, and you can be damned difficult to deal with, but I’d trust you with the last bullet in my pistol!
JANINE DE LUCA: Alright, then.
SARA SMITH: Any news? Do you know how far she’s got?
JANINE DE LUCA: No. We think she’s sticking to the wooded areas, but we can’t find her on the cameras. And she doesn’t have a tracker, of course. And another bit of bad news.
SARA SMITH: What else would you ever bring me, Janine?
JANINE DE LUCA: I’ve located and read all her Rofflenet transmissions from the point she arrived at Abel. She hasn’t just stolen those drives by chance. New Canton asked her to get them. They’ve offered her private sleeping quarters, unlimited hot water, fresh fruit rations…
SARA SMITH: Wow, what do they want so badly that they’d offer such luxury for it?
JANINE DE LUCA: They want to know about our comms, so they can bring them down! Make us blind and deaf – defenseless!
[a knock on the door of the comms shack]
JANINE DE LUCA: Who is it?
SARA SMITH: It’ll be one of Sam’s friends, Janine, asking if he can come out to play.
JANINE DE LUCA: Mister Yao is on his rest break, and if that’s one of his Xbox-demanding playmates, the answer is still no, we don’t have the extra power to -
ED HARRISON: It’s me! It’s Ed! It’s urgent!
JANINE DE LUCA: Oh, come in! What is it?
ED HARRISON: Is it Tess, they say? Tess has run off to New Canton? [Molly gurgles] Settle down, Molly. Settle down. But is it her, Tess?
JANINE DE LUCA: Yes, that’s right, what -
ED HARRISON: Dammit, I… ugh…
JANINE DE LUCA: What?
ED HARRISON: I might’ve… well, the thing is, she was so… Settle down, Molly, it’s all okay. Tess was so interested in hearing about what I do, and she asked all these questions, and…
JANINE DE LUCA: And?
ED HARRISON: And I might’ve told her where I knew this bloke kept two working motorbikes in a shed behind the Last Elbow’s Diner, halfway between here and New Canton, and how I knew they were in good nick because I been out to check a few days ago, but I thought we’d leave them safe and sound, 'til we needed them because they were dry, and we…
SARA SMITH: Two motorbikes?
JANINE DE LUCA: Halfway between here and New Canton.
SARA SMITH: That’ll be where she’s heading, then. Last Elbow’s Diner… I know it. Come on, Five, if we don’t beat her there, we’ll have lost her for good!
SARA SMITH: There, there! I see her! She’s breaking the cover of the trees!
JANINE DE LUCA: Yes, I have her on the cameras now. Just keep going. If you just speed up, you can make it there before she…
ED HARRISON: What’s that she’s got… a noisemaker?
SARA SMITH: Clever thing! She’s hoping to attract zoms towards us! It’s working, there’s one behind us now! She’s only a few hundred meters away. We can get there first if we keep sprinting. Come on! [shouting] Hey, Tess! Tess, you damned traitor, selling us out for a clean bed and a hot shower, eh?
ED HARRISON: Look, Runner Five and Eight are ahead of Tess now. Not by much, but… what’s Runner Eight holding?
JANINE DE LUCA: That would be a … bastinada? Or billy club, I believe. Runner Eight is rather handy with her weaponry, and… [SARA SMITH strikes Tess; Tess shouts] Excellent swing! A boundary.
ED HARRISON: That’s got to hurt… [Molly gurgles]
SARA SMITH: We got her! And her backpack full of data storage.
JANINE DE LUCA: Yes, we saw. Very… effective!
SARA SMITH: What do you reckon we should do with her, then? There is a zom approaching.
ED HARRISON: That shed’s pretty secure. If you put her on the upper floor, and kick the ladder away…
JANINE DE LUCA: Leave her a weapon, just to be sporting. Perhaps your excellent bastinada.
SARA SMITH: And of course, that’d leave those two motorbikes! One for me, and one for Five. I believe we’re coming back home in style!
JANINE DE LUCA: Jolly good, Eight.
Codex[]
Supplies[]
The following supplies can be found in this mission.
(List may be incomplete.)
9mm Ammo
Axe
Bandages
Baseball Bat
Batteries
Book
Bottled Water
Box of Lightbulbs
Mobile Phone
Pain Meds
Power Cable
Radio
Relaxation Tape
Shirt
Sports Bra
Tinned Food
Tool Box
Trousers
Underwear
USB Key
Other Languages[]
This mission is also available in Spanish, Korean, Japanese, and French.
| Language | Title | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish | Tess | Tess |
| Korean | 테스 | Tess |
| Japanese | テス | Tess |
| French | Tess | Tess |
Trivia[]
- "Tess" was originally the seventh mission of Season 1 before the order was changed in Spring 2015.[1]
References[]
- ↑ Zombies, Run! Official Blog: Back to the Future: Season 1
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