80

You sleep deeply but not for very long: the truck comes to a stop barely an hour after you closed your eyes, and you are woken by the sudden lack of movement. ‘Where are we?’ you ask, shielding your bleary eyes from the glare of the early morning sunlight.

‘ ’Bout a mile from the border,’ says the captain, as he pulls open the tailgate latch and lets the heavy section swing down noisily. ‘There’s trouble up ahead. You two had better take a look for y’selves.’

You and Sergeant Haskell stretch your aching limbs, and then ease yourselves down from the truck to take a look at your surroundings. You have stopped on a boulder-strewn highway that descends towards a town occupying a narrow mountain pass. North, beyond the sun-bleached buildings, the peaks of the Florida Mountains dominate the skyline. To the west of the town, another highway branches away at a junction that is marked with a battered road sign.

If you possess a pair of Binoculars or a Telescope, turn to 126.

If you possess neither of these Backpack Items, turn to 232.