You scream, moving back, and topple over the back of your barstool. Cormac laughs.\n\n"Well, hello, Hobart," he says. "You're the new Seeker, eh? This will be over quickly."\n\nFrom the floor, you glare at him. "Sorry. Your face is quite frightening. Is that where your last name derives from? Mangle?" You stand slowly.\n\nCormac sends you a small, twisted smile, and then, before you can register anything, he has your throat encased in his hand and your back's against the nearest wall.\n\n"Scary, is it? Still scared?" Cormac asks.\n\nDO YOU:\n \n[[A. Kick out and twist away from him, starting a brawl?|Branch 4A]]\n\nOR SAY:\n\n[[B. My apologies, your highness.|Branch 4B]]\n\n

You slam your tumbler on the table, grab what used to be Jarin's whiskey, and down that, as well.\n\n"That's a marvelous way to begin repenting, Hobart," Cormac says.\n\n"Repenting? At the end of the day, it is only you that will need to repent for your sins," you say.\n\n"We'll see," Cormac responds, smirking. "Shall we get started on the rules, or would you like another round?"\n\nDO YOU:\n\n[[C. Take another drink?|Branch 4C]]\n\n[[D. Get started?|Branch 4D]]\n

Cormac appears in the doorway, halting you from your escape.\n\n"Tsk, tsk," Cormac says. "I expected better from you, Hobart."\n\n"Don't know why," you say.\n\nHe studies you. "You've been on the list for a while, Hobart. I've just been waiting for the perfect time to...pick you."\n\n"Pick me? You act like I'm a piece of fruit," you say.\n\nHe grins. "I wouldn't joke about fruits, mate. The big man takes those delectable treasure seriously."\n\nYOU SAY:\n\n[[A. I doubt he likes it when someone poses as him and sends hundreds of people to their deaths, either. Maybe you should repent.|Branch 3D]]\n\n[[B. Let's stop the chitchat and get to business. We both know I'm walking into a slaughter house.|Branch 4D]]

"Too bad. You're losing precious prep time. Let's get going," Cormac says.\n\n[[Back|Branch 5A]]

Cormac takes the lead as you make your way out of the pub. It's dark, but torches illuminate the area around you. Everyone that had disappeared from the pub is outside waiting for you. They line the path you take, as your axe hangs limply by your side. \n\nCormac is grinning maniacally, but you ignore him. \n\nYour hands and feet should be shackled by the way they're all looking at you. A condemned man. Going out to a war that you'll never win, because even if you do walk away from it, you still lose. You lose your sanity. Your humanity. Yourself.\n\nEveryone reaches out to touch some small part of your body. Your shoulder, your hand, your back. Because they know you're not coming back. Even if you win, you - as you are now - aren't coming back.\n\nYou don't look at them, staring at your feet, as you continue down the path. Once you reach the end, Cormac rubs his hands together.\n\n"Shall we?" he asks.\n\nBefore you can respond, Cormac snaps his fingers, and you both appear on top of a snow-capped mountain. Everyone else is left behind. And it's just you. Just you and Cormac. And your now-gloved hands. You flex them.\n\nCormac notices. "Wouldn't want your hands to freeze."\n\n"Awfully thoughtful of you," you say.\n\n"What can I say? I'm a thoughtful guy."\n\nYou give him a look that says 'seriously?'\n\n"Right. Well, it looks like you've got a few seconds until the New Year begins. Good luck, mate," Cormac says. "10. 9. 8..."\n\nA ticking sound gets louder and louder. You glance around. The sun has set, but it does nothing for you, as it's still dark. Flecks of light filter through the canopy so that you have enough light to see your general vicinity. \n\n7. 6. \n\nAngrily, you take your axe to the nearest tree, chopping and chopping until it's barely standing, hanging on by a now-thin trunk.\n\n5. 4. \n\nYou turn and ready your axe, counting down the last few seconds.\n\nWhat's coming? \n\n"3. 2. 1," you whisper. \n\nA loud CRACK echoes through the mountains, and then a large growl reverberates through the area. You spin on your heel slowly, alert and waiting.\n\n"RAWAWWW!" A Canadian lynx leaps out of a bush to your left.\n\n"Here we go," you mutter.\n\nDO YOU:\n\n[[A. Wait until it's almost on you, then chop the tree?|Branch 6A]]\n\n[[B. Forget the nearly chopped tree and swing aimlessly at the beast?|Branch 6B]]\n\n[[C. Run away?|Branch 6C]]\n

In the Durango Pub, you sit at a round table with two of your friends - Jarin Tuttle and Jackal Parish. You all nurse a whiskey as you glance at the large clock tower through the pub's dingy windows. It's dark out. It's always dark out. \n\nSUDDENLY, all the candles and torches in the pub sizzle out, cloaking you in complete darkness! A single candle flickers and you glance side to side. The bar is empty, save for you. When you look up, it's into the eyes of Cormac Mangle.\n\nDO YOU:\n\n[[A. Scream like a little girl, startled?|Branch 3A]]\n\n[[B. Knock back the rest of your drink?|Branch 3B]]\n\n[[C. Bolt for the door and try to escape?|Branch 3C]]

The hare pounces at you, teeth bared, but you feint left. It follows and you dance around it.\n\nAxe lazily by your side, you pretend to yawn, tree against your back. It pounces again, you dodge right, and it rams into the tree. You laugh outright as it turns, disoriented. As it moves towards you, you back up, lose your balance in the snow, and fall.\n\nThe hare pounces, takes your neck in his teeth, clamps down, and YOU ARE DEAD.

It's 6013, and you're in the snowy, windy city of Durango, Colorado. The sun sits just at the surface, as minimal light brightens the land. Candles and torches light the way around you, Hobart Gustier, as you enter the pub and sit with your friends. \n\nThere is no power. At all. Hasn't been for 986 years, to be exact. That's when the apocalypse happened. And as every bit of power vanished from the world, a lone man gained it all - Cormac Mangle.\n\nHe believes himself to be God, and as such, hosts the Days of Repentance annually. Before the start of each year, he chooses one person, the Seeker, to compete in a series of tasks. As only eleven people have won this event in the past, there will only be eleven levels in the 986th year.\n\nWill you make it twelve?\n\n[[Begin|Branch 2]]

The now-two-part hare lies, bloody, in the snow at your feet.\n\nYou run a hand through your hair, check your bitten hand, and then continue on your way, at a downward slope, through the mountains. It's dark, but you have no choice but to continue.\n\nAs nothing out of the ordinary catches your attention, you whistle a tune, walking without a care. You walk straight into a blocked clearing - blocked by a herd of caribou. You stop whistling. All of the caribou's attention turns to you.\n\n"Heh, heh, hi?" you say nervously.\n\nThe closest one blows steam out of its nostrils, rears back, and then charges forward. \n\nYou chop off his head in a clean shot.\n\n"You should have gone with hello, Three," you say. \n\nThe other caribou come at you at once. Swinging your axe, you take each one out easily. Once they're all dead, you look up at the sky, grin upon your face.\n\n"Now, don't make it too easy for me, Cormac! I thought Repentance was supposed to be difficult!" you scream at the sky.\n\nA quaking grumble answers you.\n\nYou stay on guard, axe ready.\n\nThe quaking is faster now, and you struggle to stay on your feet. Through the trees in front of you, a great, large musk ox appears!\n\nNumber Four. \n\nAs it pauses to study you, the quaking stops.\n\nYOU SAY:\n\n[[A. That's more like it.|Branch 10A]] \n\n[[B. Careful what you wish for, Hobart.|Branch 10B]] \n

You run, limping. You drop your axe, and it becomes submerged in the coming snow. \n\nThe snow catches you, pulls you under, and YOU ARE DEAD.

"Repent?" he asks with a grin. "But that's what you're for. [[Shall we get down to business|Branch 4D]]?"

You crawl over the boulder and curl up as the snow pelts around you, over the boulder. It doesn't cover you, though, and as the snow settles, you realize you've survived.\n\nYou stand on shaky legs, axe still in hand. You head back up the mountain, at a slant...\n\n...And find three women, scantily dressed, calmly lounging on snow-covered boulders and fallen tree trunks.\n\nYou gape at them. Surely this isn't real. And this could not be Ten. Women? How hard would it be to slay them?\n\n"Do you not speak?" one asks.\n\n"Uhh... Y-yeah, I speak," you say.\n\n"Not a lot," the second taunts. She runs her fingertips over her bare leg as she watches you, beckons you with her eyes.\n\n"He just looks a bit nervous, sister," the third says. \n\n"Come sit with us," the first beckons. She pouts and flicks her long mane of golden curls over her shoulder. \n\nDO YOU:\n\n[[A. Sit with them, but keep your axe close?|Branch 14A]]\n\n[[B. Drop your axe and join them?|Branch 14B]]\n\n[[C. Start slaying the pretty birds, your humanity all but gone?|Branch 14C]]\n

You jump over the closest fox and flat out run. Twigs and leaves slap your face, but you're already winded, so the foxes gain on you. You look over your shoulder, and they're five feet behind you. You look over your shoulder again, and this time, they're mere inches away.\n\nAhead of you, you see an old, weathered signpost. The words are illegible, but that's not important. What's important is that the stake might just be sharp enough for a weapon.\n\nYou use the last bit of strength you can muster to push ahead and jump for the signpost. As one of the foxes comes barreling towards you, you pull the stake from the ground and hold it up as a shield. Just as the first fox seems like it's about to pounce on you, it's impaled by the stake.\n\nYou quickly pull the stake free of the fox's chest and stab at the next fox! They just keep coming, and, teeth grinding, you run right at the next fox, forget the stake, grab the beast, mangle it, and toss it intentionally at two hurtling foxes, knocking them into a tree. You impale the next fox as the two, fallen foxes gain their bearings and turn towards you. \n\nThey glance down at the mangled fox for a moment, as if contemplating their next move. They both look to the other and snarl. You pick up the forgotten stake.\n\nThey take a step closer to you. One jumps forward and you impale it with the stake. As the other leaps at you, you hit it with the metal sign, and then follow to where it falls and impale it with the stake. \n\nYou wipe your brow of sweat, exhaling heavily. You're exhausted, weary to the bone. You could probably benefit from some shuteye, but do you dare risk it? \n\nYes, yes you do. \n\nYou're no use exhausted anyway, right? You decide to take a small breather, and then you'll go back for your axe. You spot a nearby tree with a hollow large enough for a human to crouch in. It seems safe enough, since you only plan to stop for a moment or two.\n\nKeeping an eye out for the next challenger, you dart across the way and duck into the hollow. It's not exactly dry, with the bed of soil beneath you, but it's relatively warm and protects you from some harsh winds, which blow from the north.\n\nAs you crouch there, warming your hands, you notice a beautiful, pink and orange flower not much bigger than a lemon. Against your better judgment, however, you decide to pick it. \n\nBig mistake!\n\nThe flower is but a mere appendage of a larger organism buried deep within the dirt, but as you inhale the flower's sweet scent, you fail to notice the soil shifting as the organism digs its way to the surface. When it breaks through the topsoil, it swallows you whole.\n\nThat was either Six, or you're just incredibly unlucky.\n\nYOU ARE DEAD.

You tug sharply at the axe one last time, and it breaks free of the tree branch. You start chopping and chopping as the foxes wail, growl, and claw at you. Eventually, you've slain them all. \n\n'Bring on Six,' you think.\n\nYou stagger out of the area before collapsing back against a tree. \n\nWhen you glance up, six burly, giant men stand in front of you. With the tree at your back, there is nowhere to run.\n\n"People? I'm supposed to slaughter people, now?"\n\n"Or be slaughtered by people," one says. The others chuckle. \n\nYou're none-too-pleased with this turnout. They're huge! \n\n"Are you going to let me rest for a bit? Or do you want to get right into it?"\n\n"Why not get it over with?" another says. He cracks his knuckles.\n\n"Right. If you insist," you say. You stand up straight, grip your axe, and swing at the one to your right.\n\nYou miss, but that doesn't deter you. You move to the next one, duck beneath his arm, and cut through his leg. The man wails angrily, staggering. \n\nThe third one throws you against the tree, and you slump on the ground. As he races towards you, he slips on the ice, and lands face first onto your axe blade.\n\n"Bad luck for you, mate," you say. \n\nYou yank the axe free and stand shakily, using the axe as your crutch. The first man comes back towards you, but you're ready this time. You swing your axe strongly, and it chops his head off neatly. \n\nYou face the last three men. They all creep towards you. You crack your neck, race forward, and swing at the fourth man. The axe cuts his chest, and he falls to the ground, dead.\n\nYou duck behind the fifth man, push him, and he trips over his fallen friends. You stand off against the sixth man. He charges forward, you feint left, he follows, and you embed the axe in his throat.\n\nYou turn to the fifth, fallen man. As he gets to his knees and tries to get up, you swing the axe at his neck, chopping it off. It rolls down the mountain slope. \n\n"Guess you should have let me rest," you say.\n\nThe stench of blood and sweat makes you move on, leaving behind the dead. You don't get very far when a snow leopard leaps off of a high branch with a yowl. \n\nSeven.\n\n"The whole Days of Repentance taking a year is a joke! Can't I get a small break?" you ask, exasperated.\n\nThe leopard circles you, getting closer and closer. It jumps, and you swing. It dies in a heartbeat. \n\nYou roll your eyes, but another leopard appears in front of you. It glances at its comrade, then back at you.\n\nIt leaps, and you strike.\n\nFive more appear in its place.\n\nLike a mad man, you quickly turn in circles, swinging your axe. As each leopard takes a swipe at you, your axe executes it. \n\nIn its place, drops another beast - this time a wolverine. \n\n"Eight," you say.\n\nDO YOU:\n\n[[A. Throw your axe at it, exhausted?|Branch 12A]]\n\n[[B. Ready your axe and gesture for it to come towards you?|Branch 12B]]\n\n[[C. Drop the axe, lay down, and go to sleep?|Branch 12C]]\n

You slaughter every person in the building, including the nurse staff and doctors. \n\nCormac comes to congratulate you on winning and surviving the Days of Repentance, but you're already too far-gone. \n\nAs you lose the last shred of your humanity, you lose the last shred of your sanity. You spend the rest of your life in a nuthouse with other survivors, certifiably insane.

She continues eating her JELLO, and you drop the axe to your side, slumping in the chair. You grab her free hand in your bloodied, gloved hands. You take a deep breath and relax for the first time in what seems like forever.\n\nYou spend the rest of the year waiting out the Days of Repentance, as a nurse of sorts and helping out with the patients. You're not able to leave the infirmary, as it is still your final task.\n\nWhen the final day of the year comes around, Cormac comes to congratulate you. He snaps his fingers, and you appear in a bright, bright meadow full of flowers, sunshine, and two other people - previous Seekers thought to be dead.\n\n"I don't understand," you say, turning to Cormac.\n\n"Life is about choices, Hobart. Make the right choices, and you succeed. Make the wrong ones, and you leave others defeating your battles. Welcome to the right choice."\n\nCormac slaps your back, then takes a step back and snaps his fingers, disappearing. \n\nYOU WIN.

By stabbing yourself in the throat, you've hit a major artery, and YOU ARE DEAD. But at least you didn't take any more people with you, right?

You lay back, relieved, as the lynx's body slumps on top of you.\n\nSuddenly, you hear a distant growl. You close your eyes, take a deep breath, and push the animal's body off of you. You stand and yank the now-bloody axe out of its neck.\n\n“Well hello, Two,” you say.\n\nLooking around, you see nothing but trees, but the growling gets louder and closer from behind you.\n\nDO YOU:\n\n[[A. Turn and face it?|Branch 8A]] \n\n[[B. Take off in the other direction?|Branch 8B]]

986

"Alright, let's get down to business. You get one weapon of choice in the Days of Repentance. What's your fancy?" Cormac asks.\n\n"An axe," you say.\n\n"Good, good." Cormac snaps his fingers, and an axe appears on the table. "The rest is self explanatory - you win, you live. You lose, you die. Shall we get going then?"\n\n[[A. Yes.|Branch 5A]] \n\n[[B. No.|Branch 5B]] \n

Cormac slams into you, again, and you punch him in the gut. \n\nCoughing, Cormac surveys you calmly. "That's enough," he says and snaps his fingers.\n\nYou freeze in place, and he circles you as if you're his prey. And, really, you are. He is the only predator in this world. The only enemy. \n\n"You're the new Seeker. Accept it," he says.\n\nNever.\n\n"Deal with it," he says.\n\nAbsolutely not. \n\nYou glare at him, but he isn't fazed. He snaps his fingers, and a bar stool knocks you off your feet, settles under you, and slides you back to your table. He snaps his fingers, again, and you unfreeze. \n\n"Now, down to business," Cormac says, "You get one weapon of choice in the Days of Repentance. What's your fancy?"\n\n"An axe," you say, crossing your arms.\n\n"Good, good." He snaps his fingers, and an axe appears on the table. "The rest is self explanatory - you win, you live. You lose, you die. Shall we get going then?"\n\n[[A. Yes.|Branch 5A]]\n\n[[B. No.|Branch 5B]]\n

You grab Jackal's glass and knock it back, too. \n\n"You have to get started some time," Cormac says, amused.\n\nYou barely glance at him as you make your way to the bar. You grab a bottle of whiskey from behind the bar and take a swig.\n\n"Now I'm ready," you say.\n\n"Alright, now down to business. You get one weapon of choice in the Days of Repentance. What's your fancy?" Cormac asks.\n\n"An axe," you say.\n\n"Good, good." Cormac snaps his fingers, and an axe appears on the table. "The rest is self explanatory - you win, you live. You lose, you die. Shall we get going then?"\n\n[[A. Yes.|Branch 5A]] \n\n[[B. No.|Branch 5B]] \n

"I prefer King, actually," Cormac says. "Now, down to business. You get one weapon in the Days of Repentance. What's your fancy?"\n\n"An axe," you say.\n\n"Good, good." He snaps his fingers, and an axe appears on the table. "The rest is self explanatory - you win, you live. You lose, you die. Shall we get going, then?"\n\n[[A. Yes.|Branch 5A]]\n\n[[B. No.|Branch 5B]]\n

You wait with baited breath. As you exhale, a puff of white air momentarily blurs your already-dark vision. \n\nThe growling has stopped. Your skin prickles with gooseflesh and your neck hair stands on end.\n\nWHAM!\n\nA large arctic hare hops out of a bush. Jumping back in surprise, you stare at it. It stares back.\n\n"Well, aren't you a harmless, little thing," you say.\n\nThe hare hops forward, all innocent, looking up at you. You bend down to eye level, hand out to entice the furry creature. You begin to smile, and then it claws at your face and bites your outstretched hand!\n\n"Owww! Not harmless! Definitely not harmless!" you scream. \n\nThankful for the gloves, you brandish your axe, and:\n\n[[A. Chop off his head in a clean swipe.|Branch 9A]] \n\n[[B. Taunt the hare by lazily dodging its attempts to get you.|Branch 9B]] \n\n[[C. Back away and run!|Branch 9C]] \n

The ox grunts and charges. You try to sidestep, but your shirt is hooked to the tree behind you, and you get yanked back.\n\nAs the ox comes upon you, you swing the axe, miss, and it impales you with his horns.\n\nYOU ARE DEAD.

You grin, open your arms as if to say 'come and get it,' and bow like it's a formal duel. The ox scrapes his shoes against the icy ground, rears back its head, and growls!\n\nIt charges forward, and you jump straight up, hanging onto a semi-sturdy branch with one hand. You let go once the ox is under you. You twist and land on the beast, facing forward and sitting on its back.\n\nYou laugh as it tries to buck you off. You hold onto its fur with one hand. \n\n"C'mon, mate, give me a lift?" you say.\n\nIt growls, bucks more wildly, and you flip off to land on your feet behind the ox.\n\n"Well, if you're going to be like that."\n\nYou swing your axe in your hand, ready yourself, and, as it charges at you, you sidestep. You lift your axe and sling it into the ox's fur. \n\nIt gives an angry, pitiful wail, staggers, and then collapses.\n\nYou wipe your forehead of sweat, breathing heavily. You use the ox's fur to clean your blade, and then you leave the clearing, stepping over dead, caribou carcasses.\n\nYou continue to clear a path by slicing low branches. Swiping at a particularly thick branch, your axe gets stuck. Jiggling and tugging doesn't release your weapon. To your left, you hear rustling leaves.\n\nPanicking and breathing heavily, you tug at the axe harder - it doesn't budge.\n\nAn arctic fox leaps out of the shrubbery, and you freeze. \n\nYou let out a shaky laugh. "Ring-ding-ding, eh?"\n\nYou slowly inch towards your axe, give it a sharp tug. It stays embedded in the tree. The fox tilts its head and watches you. \n\n"You'd think as the levels keep moving forward, they'd get harder. I just defeated an ox, you know? You look puny compared to it..." \n\nThe fox continues staring. \n\n"Not that I'm belittling your scariness. Don't think I've forgotten the hare! You could be mighty scary...if you didn't just stare at me..."\n\nMore and more rustling leaves echo around the area. You flinch.\n\nGulping, you say, "Unless there's more of you, of course."\n\nThe fox bares his teeth as more and more foxes join him, surrounding you.\n\n"Of course there're more of you, Five." \n\nDO YOU:\n\n[[A. Ditch the axe and run?|Branch 11A]]\n\n[[B. Give the axe another tug?|Branch 11B]] \n

You run through the mountains, swinging your axe at low branches to give you a clear path. It's dark, but you run anyway. You glance over your shoulder and trip on some icy rocks. You roll down the slope of the mountains and panic. While trying to stop your slip with your axe, you slip on your grip, and it embeds itself in your chest. From too much blood loss:\n\nYOU ARE DEAD.

As you retreat, the lynx gains on you, pouncing at your back and taking a chunk out of your neck with its razor sharp teeth.\n\nYOU ARE DEAD.

Without a weapon, it attacks, and YOU ARE DEAD.

You trip on a branch, and the lynx pounces. You encase his throat with one hand while it hisses and paws at you. With your other hand, you swing the axe and embed it in the lynx's neck. \n\nIt dies, [[you live|Branch 7A]].\n\n\n

The tree falls with a crash, the axe stuck in the tree, and the lynx moves out of the way. It's upon you quickly. The lynx seems to laugh in your face before it pounces, jaws wide and teeth sharp.\n\nYOU ARE DEAD.

It jumps at you, and the bunt of your axe knocks it into a tree. \n\nIt screams. Like really screams. Loudly. The answering scream is only but a loud grumble as the mountain starts quaking. \n\n"Not another ox. Please not another ox," you say.\n\nThe wolverine jumps at you again, and you slice off its head. \n\nThe grumbling doesn't stop though. Instead, you see, through the cracks and foliage of the trees, mountains and piles of snow hurtling towards you.\n\nAn avalanche.\n\n“Please be another ox. Please be another ox,” you plead.\n\nThis has Cormac all over it, and that's when you know: the next level isn't a human or a creature. It's an avalanche. And there's no way you're surviving. \n\n"This is Nine? C'mon!"\n\nYou run anyway. You slip, slide, and race down the mountain. \n\nBut you trip and ram into a huge boulder. \n\nYou're almost to the bottom of the mountain, now, but it's no matter. The avalanche is gaining on you.\n\nDO YOU:\n\n[[A. Crawl over the boulder?|Branch 13A]]\n\n[[B. Get back up and run?|Branch 13B]]\n

Brandishing your axe, you slowly back away from the arctic hare. It lunges at you, and you instinctively raise your arms to protect your face. This throws you off balance and you slip in the still-warm blood of the Canadian lynx. The hare doesn't hesitate but goes straight for your jugular. \n\nYOU ARE DEAD.

You barely blink as the third and final 'damsel' falls at your feet, dead. \n\nYou're beyond caring. You just want out. Whatever it takes.\n\n"C'mon, Cormac! What's the last level? What's my final quest?" you scream into the mountains. \n\nA SNAP answers you. \n\nYou turn on your heels and come face to face with the man that put you here - Cormac.\n\n"Back so soon?" you ask.\n\nHe grins.\n\n"I'll be honest. I'm surprised you made it this far. Maybe I was wrong about you, Hobart," Cormac says. \n\n"Enough chitchat. I want to end this. My final task?"\n\nHe eyes you, suddenly serious. He snaps his fingers and both of you are transported to your small city of Durango, Colorado. You're both standing outside of the infirmary. Everyone stares at you, but you barely register they're there.\n\n"What is this?" you ask.\n\n"Your final task, Hobart. Level Eleven," he says. \n\nHe walks towards the infirmary doors and you follow. Once inside, he pauses. \n\n"To win this, Hobart, you must face your most difficult task yet. You will slay every ill woman, man, and child in this building, or you will fail and die."\n\n"Wait, what?" you exclaim. Your humanity makes a brief appearance as surprise flits across your face. \n\n"You heard me. I won't repeat myself, Hobart Gustier. I'll leave the choice in your hands. Choose wisely." He snaps his fingers and disappears. \n\nYou stare at the bedridden patients, your knuckles white around your axe handle.\n\nYou see an older woman in a cot. She glances at you and your axe, before turning back to her JELLO.\n\nYou raise your axe.\n\n"Either imbed that axe in my throat or hold my hand, sonny. I'm not in the mood for any in-betweens," she says.\n\nTake a deep breath and:\n\n[[A. Slaughter everyone.|Branch 15A]]\n\n[[B. Take a seat and hold her hand.|Branch 15B]]\n\n[[C. Grab a scalpel and stab yourself in the throat.|Branch 15C]]\n

Big mistake. As soon as you're in their grasp, you see their nails are filed into claws. One claws the side of your face, while the second holds your hands back, much stronger than she originally seemed. The third grins before she produces a dagger and stabs your heart.\n\nYOU ARE DEAD.

Your axe is nothing to them. While you're focused on two of them, the third stabs you in the back with her dagger.\n\nYOU ARE DEAD.

Exhaustion overwhelms you as you look at the sky with your arms spread and ask, "A wolverine? Really?"\n\nYou toss the axe to the ground and lay down next to the last leopard you killed. Using it as a pillow, you quickly fall asleep.\n\nYou are so tired that the wolverine clawing and chewing at your exposed fleshy parts doesn't wake you. \n\nWith a loud snore, YOU ARE DEAD.

Emily Harrison\n\nContributions by: \nAmanda Adamson, \nKrystina Balogh, \nand Michael Arscott\n\nEdited by: \nKrystina Balogh\nand Emily Harrison