Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Doc Toppers

Bowlers, stetsons, the occasional eyewear.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Dollars

NorteAmericano dollars. Not the only currency in Amarillo, but certainly the preferred one.

Revolver Bullet

Useful for many things. Shooting monsters is only one.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Consumables

Nostrums, drinkables, tobaccos and other treatlets.

Ally: Warren Castillo

Warren Castillo of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Afraid of Heights

You were born on the ground and you'll die on the ground. Preferably not just after a fall.

Ally: Jack Ishiguro

Jack Ishiguro of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Game version number.
Thanks for playing Zero Summer!

Man in Black

Your ethical Orientation. Your concerns are self-empowerment and getting things done.

Seer of Rabbits

You have seen rabbits and struggle to un-see them.

Hallowed Ground

You've been taken in by the strange beautiful kindnesses of the Mission.

Cutting Your Spurs

You're performing certain necessary if distasteful tasks for the Stars and Spurs.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

White Noise

The unnatural world is becoming all too real.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

The Door

A Tarot card. It shows a door in a meadow and a man in front doing a handstand, one leg crossed over the other.


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Dollars

NorteAmericano dollars. Not the only currency in Amarillo, but certainly the preferred one.

Revolver Bullet

Useful for many things. Shooting monsters is only one.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Afraid of Heights

You were born on the ground and you'll die on the ground. Preferably not just after a fall.

Ally: Jack Ishiguro

Jack Ishiguro of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Seer of Rabbits

You have seen rabbits and struggle to un-see them.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

White Noise

The unnatural world is becoming all too real.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

The Door

A Tarot card. It shows a door in a meadow and a man in front doing a handstand, one leg crossed over the other.


A Gunslinger in Amarillo

There are endless opportunities here for you to brush up on all the things a gunslinger needs to know.

This is one of Zero Summer's "grind" cards. "Grind" cards can be replayed as often as you like. And most of their branches have a chance to produce a Rare Success, which will significantly increase one of your Styles and yield certain other benefits as well.

Opportunities

Draw cards from here to raise your Styles, meet your Allies, and risk your Antagonists.

Cleaning House for the Pony Express

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

A chancy challenge

Word is that that a Pony Express carrier is due in tomorrow, and Governor Berkshire will show his appreciation to anyone who clears out the Pony Express office beforehand. Abandoned buildings tend to attract varmints, pests and squatters -- especially in Amarillo, and even the Pony Express office. Carriers tend to be particular about their spaces being clear. And given how much Amarillo depends on them, it's no surprise the governor is taking extra precautions.

            5
            You need Gunslinger 5 (you have 5)

            5
            Unlocked with Gunslinger 5 - you have 5

Bullets for Little Japan

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

A very modest challenge

Traeger the gunsmith on Short Vine is looking for someone to deliver a package to Little Japan, an apartment building on the west side of town where every unit is owned by one large Japanese-American family. According to Traeger, they're secretive, stand-offish, and endlessly thirsty for bullets. No one but him will do business with them.

            4
            You need Gunslinger 4 (you have 5)

            4
            Unlocked with Gunslinger 4 - you have 5

Keeping the Peace

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

A straightforward challenge

The beating heart of Amarillo's commercial district is the Wall Market, a sprawling parking lot bazaar and former supermarket where you can buy or barter anything you desire. Petty theft is obviously a problem.

A doughman for Butterloaf Bakery is looking for warm bodies to fill the morning security shift. A bad case of food poisoning from the salmon jerky stall has the regular crew doing the Texas two-step. The way the doughman tells it, they're having a graphic morning. Borderline tragic.

            3
            You need Gunslinger 3 (you have 5)

            3
            Unlocked with Gunslinger 3 - you have 5

Getting to Know the Roughriders

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

A straightforward challenge

The local police -- the Roughriders -- have exactly two jobs: keeping the Rule of One and handling the local unnatural fauna. The chief of police is fiercely-mustached Nicco Carfora. He's asked for a civilian volunteer to take one of the Roughriders' aging motorcycles out for a loop around the nearby farms and snoop for unnatural activity.

            1
            You need Gunslinger 1 (you have 5)

            1
            Unlocked with Gunslinger 1 - you have 5


Beating the Rug

Cleaning House for the Pony Express

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

A very modest challenge

            5
            You need Gunslinger 5 (you have 6)

            5
            Unlocked with Gunslinger 5 - you have 6

The Pony Express office is a two-story brick house not far from the Wall Market. The front door is locked but two of the windows are open. You crawl in and take stock. No visible pests but a handful of mouse pellets on the kitchenette table. Food remains and a mussed dirty blanket on the couch. Nothing a few new window-locks and some rat traps won't fix.

1 change point, 6 more needed to reach level 7.

Gunslinger has increased to 6!

You succeeded in a Gunslinger challenge! (Risky challenges mean you learn more.)

You've gained 1 x Reputation (new total 7).


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Doc Toppers

Bowlers, stetsons, the occasional eyewear.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Dollars

NorteAmericano dollars. Not the only currency in Amarillo, but certainly the preferred one.

Revolver Bullet

Useful for many things. Shooting monsters is only one.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Consumables

Nostrums, drinkables, tobaccos and other treatlets.

Ally: Warren Castillo

Warren Castillo of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Afraid of Heights

You were born on the ground and you'll die on the ground. Preferably not just after a fall.

Ally: Jack Ishiguro

Jack Ishiguro of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Man in Black

Your ethical Orientation. Your concerns are self-empowerment and getting things done.

Seer of Rabbits

You have seen rabbits and struggle to un-see them.

Hallowed Ground

You've been taken in by the strange beautiful kindnesses of the Mission.

Cutting Your Spurs

You're performing certain necessary if distasteful tasks for the Stars and Spurs.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

White Noise

The unnatural world is becoming all too real.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

The Door

A Tarot card. It shows a door in a meadow and a man in front doing a handstand, one leg crossed over the other.


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.


A Gunslinger in Amarillo

There are endless opportunities here for you to brush up on all the things a gunslinger needs to know.

This is one of Zero Summer's "grind" cards. "Grind" cards can be replayed as often as you like. And most of their branches have a chance to produce a Rare Success, which will significantly increase one of your Styles and yield certain other benefits as well.

Opportunities

Draw cards from here to raise your Styles, meet your Allies, and risk your Antagonists.

Cleaning House for the Pony Express

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

A very modest challenge

Word is that that a Pony Express carrier is due in tomorrow, and Governor Berkshire will show his appreciation to anyone who clears out the Pony Express office beforehand. Abandoned buildings tend to attract varmints, pests and squatters -- especially in Amarillo, and even the Pony Express office. Carriers tend to be particular about their spaces being clear. And given how much Amarillo depends on them, it's no surprise the governor is taking extra precautions.

Bullets for Little Japan

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

A low-risk challenge

Traeger the gunsmith on Short Vine is looking for someone to deliver a package to Little Japan, an apartment building on the west side of town where every unit is owned by one large Japanese-American family. According to Traeger, they're secretive, stand-offish, and endlessly thirsty for bullets. No one but him will do business with them.

            4
            You need Gunslinger 4 (you have 6)

            4
            Unlocked with Gunslinger 4 - you have 6

Keeping the Peace

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

A straightforward challenge

The beating heart of Amarillo's commercial district is the Wall Market, a sprawling parking lot bazaar and former supermarket where you can buy or barter anything you desire. Petty theft is obviously a problem.

A doughman for Butterloaf Bakery is looking for warm bodies to fill the morning security shift. A bad case of food poisoning from the salmon jerky stall has the regular crew doing the Texas two-step. The way the doughman tells it, they're having a graphic morning. Borderline tragic.

            3
            You need Gunslinger 3 (you have 6)

            3
            Unlocked with Gunslinger 3 - you have 6

Getting to Know the Roughriders

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

A straightforward challenge

The local police -- the Roughriders -- have exactly two jobs: keeping the Rule of One and handling the local unnatural fauna. The chief of police is fiercely-mustached Nicco Carfora. He's asked for a civilian volunteer to take one of the Roughriders' aging motorcycles out for a loop around the nearby farms and snoop for unnatural activity.

            1
            You need Gunslinger 1 (you have 6)

            1
            Unlocked with Gunslinger 1 - you have 6


Not Exactly Reading Miranda

Keeping the Peace

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

A straightforward challenge

Turns out you're a natural at working security. It only takes a few minutes to figure out what 'suspicious behavior' looks like. You nab half a dozen bread thieves, one with his hand into a basket of hot-from-the-oven rolls, and hand them over to Wall Market security proper, a group of neckless thugs who work out of a windowless office inside the gutted supermarket.

You're assured by the doughman that the thieves are in for a bleak afternoon -- bleak but not fatal, he's quick to add.

2 change points, 5 more needed to reach level 7.

Gunslinger is increasing...

You succeeded in a Gunslinger challenge! (Simple challenges mean you don't learn so much.)

You've gained 1 x Reputation (new total 8).


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Doc Toppers

Bowlers, stetsons, the occasional eyewear.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Dollars

NorteAmericano dollars. Not the only currency in Amarillo, but certainly the preferred one.

Revolver Bullet

Useful for many things. Shooting monsters is only one.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Consumables

Nostrums, drinkables, tobaccos and other treatlets.

Ally: Warren Castillo

Warren Castillo of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Afraid of Heights

You were born on the ground and you'll die on the ground. Preferably not just after a fall.

Ally: Jack Ishiguro

Jack Ishiguro of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Man in Black

Your ethical Orientation. Your concerns are self-empowerment and getting things done.

Seer of Rabbits

You have seen rabbits and struggle to un-see them.

Hallowed Ground

You've been taken in by the strange beautiful kindnesses of the Mission.

Cutting Your Spurs

You're performing certain necessary if distasteful tasks for the Stars and Spurs.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

White Noise

The unnatural world is becoming all too real.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

The Door

A Tarot card. It shows a door in a meadow and a man in front doing a handstand, one leg crossed over the other.


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.


A Gunslinger in Amarillo

There are endless opportunities here for you to brush up on all the things a gunslinger needs to know.

This is one of Zero Summer's "grind" cards. "Grind" cards can be replayed as often as you like. And most of their branches have a chance to produce a Rare Success, which will significantly increase one of your Styles and yield certain other benefits as well.

Opportunities

Draw cards from here to raise your Styles, meet your Allies, and risk your Antagonists.

Cleaning House for the Pony Express

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

A very modest challenge

Word is that that a Pony Express carrier is due in tomorrow, and Governor Berkshire will show his appreciation to anyone who clears out the Pony Express office beforehand. Abandoned buildings tend to attract varmints, pests and squatters -- especially in Amarillo, and even the Pony Express office. Carriers tend to be particular about their spaces being clear. And given how much Amarillo depends on them, it's no surprise the governor is taking extra precautions.

Bullets for Little Japan

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

A low-risk challenge

Traeger the gunsmith on Short Vine is looking for someone to deliver a package to Little Japan, an apartment building on the west side of town where every unit is owned by one large Japanese-American family. According to Traeger, they're secretive, stand-offish, and endlessly thirsty for bullets. No one but him will do business with them.

Keeping the Peace

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

A straightforward challenge

The beating heart of Amarillo's commercial district is the Wall Market, a sprawling parking lot bazaar and former supermarket where you can buy or barter anything you desire. Petty theft is obviously a problem.

A doughman for Butterloaf Bakery is looking for warm bodies to fill the morning security shift. A bad case of food poisoning from the salmon jerky stall has the regular crew doing the Texas two-step. The way the doughman tells it, they're having a graphic morning. Borderline tragic.

Getting to Know the Roughriders

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

A straightforward challenge

The local police -- the Roughriders -- have exactly two jobs: keeping the Rule of One and handling the local unnatural fauna. The chief of police is fiercely-mustached Nicco Carfora. He's asked for a civilian volunteer to take one of the Roughriders' aging motorcycles out for a loop around the nearby farms and snoop for unnatural activity.


A Cool Welcome

Bullets for Little Japan

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

A low-risk challenge

The delivery goes off without a hitch. At six stories, Little Japan is one of the tallest buildings left in Amarillo. You can see what Traeger means about stand-offish: all the windows are blacked out and all the doors are reinforced steel.

As instructed, you knock on the front door and wait for a full minute. The door cracks; a sallow, veiny hand emerges with a folded white envelope. You trade the envelope for your bag of bullets. The hand withdraws; the door slams shut.

The envelope feels thin to you, but Traeger seems pleased. He promises to find you if he has any paying work.

4 change points, 3 more needed to reach level 7.

Gunslinger is increasing...

You succeeded in a Gunslinger challenge!

You've gained 1 x Reputation (new total 9).


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Doc Toppers

Bowlers, stetsons, the occasional eyewear.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Dollars

NorteAmericano dollars. Not the only currency in Amarillo, but certainly the preferred one.

Revolver Bullet

Useful for many things. Shooting monsters is only one.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Consumables

Nostrums, drinkables, tobaccos and other treatlets.

Ally: Warren Castillo

Warren Castillo of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Afraid of Heights

You were born on the ground and you'll die on the ground. Preferably not just after a fall.

Ally: Jack Ishiguro

Jack Ishiguro of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Game version number.
Thanks for playing Zero Summer!

Man in Black

Your ethical Orientation. Your concerns are self-empowerment and getting things done.

Seer of Rabbits

You have seen rabbits and struggle to un-see them.

Hallowed Ground

You've been taken in by the strange beautiful kindnesses of the Mission.

Cutting Your Spurs

You're performing certain necessary if distasteful tasks for the Stars and Spurs.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

White Noise

The unnatural world is becoming all too real.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

The Door

A Tarot card. It shows a door in a meadow and a man in front doing a handstand, one leg crossed over the other.


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Dollars

NorteAmericano dollars. Not the only currency in Amarillo, but certainly the preferred one.

Revolver Bullet

Useful for many things. Shooting monsters is only one.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Afraid of Heights

You were born on the ground and you'll die on the ground. Preferably not just after a fall.

Ally: Jack Ishiguro

Jack Ishiguro of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Seer of Rabbits

You have seen rabbits and struggle to un-see them.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

White Noise

The unnatural world is becoming all too real.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

The Door

A Tarot card. It shows a door in a meadow and a man in front doing a handstand, one leg crossed over the other.


Small-Town Cityslicker

Compared to the big cities up norte, Amarillo is a smear in the desert. But over the Wall, Amarillo is the center of civilization. Nowhere rivals it in size or style. And being this close to Corpus Christi, Amarillo's social scene always carries an exciting hint of danger.

This is one of Zero Summer's "grind" cards. "Grind" cards can be replayed as often as you like. And most of their branches have a chance to produce a Rare Success, which will significantly increase one of your Styles and yield certain other benefits as well.

Opportunities

Draw cards from here to raise your Styles, meet your Allies, and risk your Antagonists.

What The Boys Said

Cityslicker

Social Style.

A straightforward challenge

The sand and crowds and sweat of Amarillo are new to you, but to the children born here after the Longest Day it's all they've ever known. And to the animals -- cats and dogs and rats and every conceivable urban creature, constantly barking and hissing and underfoot.

A romping yipping puppy streaks past you on the street with a throng of stick-thin boys close behind. If you collar one of the boys, you might be able to talk a little local flavor out of him.

            1
            You need Cityslicker 1 (you have 2)

            1
            Unlocked with Cityslicker 1 - you have 2


Loneliness, Solidarity

What The Boys Said

Cityslicker

Social Style.

A straightforward challenge

Most of boys shrug you off when you try to catch their sleeves and attention, shouting back that their mothers said not to talk to strangers, and look at the scars on his hands, and there on his forehead a spreading purple bruise! But one boy slaps your palm on his way past, an act maybe of pity for the stranger, or maybe one of solidarity with the weird rejected outcast. It's a dominant feeling here, that sense of aloneness. It seems carried on the hot dry frontier wind.

2 change points, 1 more needed to reach level 3.

Cityslicker is increasing...

You succeeded in a Cityslicker challenge!

You've gained 1 x Reputation (new total 10).


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Doc Toppers

Bowlers, stetsons, the occasional eyewear.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Dollars

NorteAmericano dollars. Not the only currency in Amarillo, but certainly the preferred one.

Revolver Bullet

Useful for many things. Shooting monsters is only one.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Consumables

Nostrums, drinkables, tobaccos and other treatlets.

Ally: Warren Castillo

Warren Castillo of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Afraid of Heights

You were born on the ground and you'll die on the ground. Preferably not just after a fall.

Ally: Jack Ishiguro

Jack Ishiguro of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Man in Black

Your ethical Orientation. Your concerns are self-empowerment and getting things done.

Seer of Rabbits

You have seen rabbits and struggle to un-see them.

Hallowed Ground

You've been taken in by the strange beautiful kindnesses of the Mission.

Cutting Your Spurs

You're performing certain necessary if distasteful tasks for the Stars and Spurs.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

White Noise

The unnatural world is becoming all too real.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

The Door

A Tarot card. It shows a door in a meadow and a man in front doing a handstand, one leg crossed over the other.


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.


Warren Castillo

The first friendly face you saw in Amarillo, Warren's. A Jackrabbit of some authority, although really who can tell. His door, he said, is always open.

Opportunities

Draw cards from here to raise your Styles, meet your Allies, and risk your Antagonists.

The Mercurial Jackrabbit

Luck

Watch for the fall of a card.

A matter of luck: it could go either way.

His door may always be open, but whether Warren's inside is another story. When he can be found, he's solicitous and curious if also slightly withdrawn; at other times his absence is a strange ache, as from some small familiar thing suddenly gone from your bedside table.

Perhaps Not

Your plate is already full.


Opportunities

Your plate is already full.

Opportunities always come around again.


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Doc Toppers

Bowlers, stetsons, the occasional eyewear.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Dollars

NorteAmericano dollars. Not the only currency in Amarillo, but certainly the preferred one.

Revolver Bullet

Useful for many things. Shooting monsters is only one.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Consumables

Nostrums, drinkables, tobaccos and other treatlets.

Ally: Warren Castillo

Warren Castillo of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Afraid of Heights

You were born on the ground and you'll die on the ground. Preferably not just after a fall.

Ally: Jack Ishiguro

Jack Ishiguro of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Man in Black

Your ethical Orientation. Your concerns are self-empowerment and getting things done.

Seer of Rabbits

You have seen rabbits and struggle to un-see them.

Hallowed Ground

You've been taken in by the strange beautiful kindnesses of the Mission.

Cutting Your Spurs

You're performing certain necessary if distasteful tasks for the Stars and Spurs.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

White Noise

The unnatural world is becoming all too real.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

The Door

A Tarot card. It shows a door in a meadow and a man in front doing a handstand, one leg crossed over the other.


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.


A Country Doc

Amarillo is bracketed by stone, sand and sky. There are things to see and explore beyond the Roughriders' barricades. And unexpected dangers. Which nearly anyone will tell you can add spice to an otherwise humdrum life.

This is one of Zero Summer's "grind" cards. "Grind" cards can be replayed as often as you like. And most of their branches have a chance to produce a Rare Success, which will significantly increase one of your Styles and yield certain other benefits as well.

Opportunities

Draw cards from here to raise your Styles, meet your Allies, and risk your Antagonists.

A Walled Garden

Doc

Mental Style.

A chancy challenge

Sometimes nature is best seen from a distance. On the east side of Amarillo is a quiet wealthy neighborhood full of two-story houses with front porches and sweeping views of the desert. The Heywoods' porch is a notorious hang-out/salon for retirees, mostly old men and the widow Heywood herself; they spend their days playing rubbers of bridge, smoking cigars and emptying bottle after bottle of Cornskunk's best.

Rumor has it that the widow Heywood is also a first-class birdwatcher and liberal with her binoculars. If you can talk your way onto her porch, you could get all the nature you want without risking an unfriendly few moments with a rattlesnake.

            3
            You need Doc 3 (you have 3)

            3
            Unlocked with Doc 3 - you have 3

A Walk in the Scrublands

Doc

Mental Style.

A straightforward challenge

Miz Nils turns out to be the Jackrabbits' resident naturalist. She recommends a walk through the Scrublands north of Amarillo to get a feel for what grows around here. It might look hot and dry and dead, she says, but keep an eye: the scrub is teeming, alive, and way better at surviving in the desert than any person.

            1
            You need Doc 1 (you have 3)

            1
            Unlocked with Doc 1 - you have 3


From This Remove

A Walled Garden

Doc

Mental Style.

A chancy challenge

It turns out the widow Heywood is more than happy to add a little fresh blood to the mix. She and her septuagenarian friends set you up in a comfortable chair with a cigar and binoculars and a sweet Cornskunk julep that goes down like motor oil. The widow Heywood lectures the assembled on how to make a good mint julep -- the trick apparently is to crush the mint against the glass with your thumb before you add ice -- while you take a long look across the desert. From this remove it looks empty but for the occasional scrubby tree and the long straight highway to Wichita. But already you know better.

3 change points, 1 more needed to reach level 4.

Doc is increasing...

You succeeded in a Doc challenge! (Risky challenges mean you learn more.)

You've gained 1 x Reputation (new total 11).


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Doc Toppers

Bowlers, stetsons, the occasional eyewear.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Dollars

NorteAmericano dollars. Not the only currency in Amarillo, but certainly the preferred one.

Revolver Bullet

Useful for many things. Shooting monsters is only one.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Consumables

Nostrums, drinkables, tobaccos and other treatlets.

Ally: Warren Castillo

Warren Castillo of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Afraid of Heights

You were born on the ground and you'll die on the ground. Preferably not just after a fall.

Ally: Jack Ishiguro

Jack Ishiguro of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Man in Black

Your ethical Orientation. Your concerns are self-empowerment and getting things done.

Seer of Rabbits

You have seen rabbits and struggle to un-see them.

Hallowed Ground

You've been taken in by the strange beautiful kindnesses of the Mission.

Cutting Your Spurs

You're performing certain necessary if distasteful tasks for the Stars and Spurs.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

White Noise

The unnatural world is becoming all too real.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

The Door

A Tarot card. It shows a door in a meadow and a man in front doing a handstand, one leg crossed over the other.


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.


Small-Town Cityslicker

Compared to the big cities up norte, Amarillo is a smear in the desert. But over the Wall, Amarillo is the center of civilization. Nowhere rivals it in size or style. And being this close to Corpus Christi, Amarillo's social scene always carries an exciting hint of danger.

This is one of Zero Summer's "grind" cards. "Grind" cards can be replayed as often as you like. And most of their branches have a chance to produce a Rare Success, which will significantly increase one of your Styles and yield certain other benefits as well.

Opportunities

Draw cards from here to raise your Styles, meet your Allies, and risk your Antagonists.

What The Boys Said

Cityslicker

Social Style.

A straightforward challenge

The sand and crowds and sweat of Amarillo are new to you, but to the children born here after the Longest Day it's all they've ever known. And to the animals -- cats and dogs and rats and every conceivable urban creature, constantly barking and hissing and underfoot.

A romping yipping puppy streaks past you on the street with a throng of stick-thin boys close behind. If you collar one of the boys, you might be able to talk a little local flavor out of him.


Loneliness, Solidarity

What The Boys Said

Cityslicker

Social Style.

A straightforward challenge

            1
            You need Cityslicker 1 (you have 3)

            1
            Unlocked with Cityslicker 1 - you have 3

Most of boys shrug you off when you try to catch their sleeves and attention, shouting back that their mothers said not to talk to strangers, and look at the scars on his hands, and there on his forehead a spreading purple bruise! But one boy slaps your palm on his way past, an act maybe of pity for the stranger, or maybe one of solidarity with the weird rejected outcast. It's a dominant feeling here, that sense of aloneness. It seems carried on the hot dry frontier wind.

0 change points, 4 more needed to reach level 4.

Cityslicker has increased to 3!

You've gained 1 x Reputation (new total 12).


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Doc Toppers

Bowlers, stetsons, the occasional eyewear.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Dollars

NorteAmericano dollars. Not the only currency in Amarillo, but certainly the preferred one.

Revolver Bullet

Useful for many things. Shooting monsters is only one.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Consumables

Nostrums, drinkables, tobaccos and other treatlets.

Ally: Warren Castillo

Warren Castillo of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Afraid of Heights

You were born on the ground and you'll die on the ground. Preferably not just after a fall.

Ally: Jack Ishiguro

Jack Ishiguro of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Game version number.
Thanks for playing Zero Summer!

Man in Black

Your ethical Orientation. Your concerns are self-empowerment and getting things done.

Seer of Rabbits

You have seen rabbits and struggle to un-see them.

Hallowed Ground

You've been taken in by the strange beautiful kindnesses of the Mission.

Cutting Your Spurs

You're performing certain necessary if distasteful tasks for the Stars and Spurs.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

White Noise

The unnatural world is becoming all too real.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

The Door

A Tarot card. It shows a door in a meadow and a man in front doing a handstand, one leg crossed over the other.


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Dollars

NorteAmericano dollars. Not the only currency in Amarillo, but certainly the preferred one.

Revolver Bullet

Useful for many things. Shooting monsters is only one.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Afraid of Heights

You were born on the ground and you'll die on the ground. Preferably not just after a fall.

Ally: Jack Ishiguro

Jack Ishiguro of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Seer of Rabbits

You have seen rabbits and struggle to un-see them.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

White Noise

The unnatural world is becoming all too real.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

The Door

A Tarot card. It shows a door in a meadow and a man in front doing a handstand, one leg crossed over the other.


Miz Nils

The most appropriate thing about Miz Nils is the crocodile skin belt cinching her hips -- it's her in spades. Tough, durable, and quite reminiscent of a creature that lurks silent until snapping its jaws and locking on tight. Not one given over to the silks and velvets of the Stars and Spurs, is Miz Nils. No, she is far more enamored of the open sky, the dust outside of the town, and the rough nature of the Scrub.

Opportunities

Draw cards from here to raise your Styles, meet your Allies, and risk your Antagonists.

Perhaps Not

Your plate is already full.

Dust Devils

Out back of the Burrow, Miz Nils is ensconced by her lonesome on the creaking wooden porch. She has a small jar of oil, a whetstone, and a little dog-eared notebook on the table next to her. The expression on her face is one of very serious concentration.


Concentration

It's not that Miz Nils doesn't enjoy company. It's that she dislikes small talk. Instead of wasting breath, the two of you pass the time by sharpening the Burrow's knife collection, honing down the steel and polishing it mirror-bright. She takes down a few notes as you finish.

"Need some new blades soon," she says. "Wouldn't mind something that holds a better edge."

0 change points, 8 more needed to reach level 8.

Gunslinger has increased to 7!


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Doc Toppers

Bowlers, stetsons, the occasional eyewear.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Dollars

NorteAmericano dollars. Not the only currency in Amarillo, but certainly the preferred one.

Revolver Bullet

Useful for many things. Shooting monsters is only one.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Consumables

Nostrums, drinkables, tobaccos and other treatlets.

Ally: Warren Castillo

Warren Castillo of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Afraid of Heights

You were born on the ground and you'll die on the ground. Preferably not just after a fall.

Ally: Jack Ishiguro

Jack Ishiguro of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Man in Black

Your ethical Orientation. Your concerns are self-empowerment and getting things done.

Seer of Rabbits

You have seen rabbits and struggle to un-see them.

Hallowed Ground

You've been taken in by the strange beautiful kindnesses of the Mission.

Cutting Your Spurs

You're performing certain necessary if distasteful tasks for the Stars and Spurs.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

White Noise

The unnatural world is becoming all too real.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

The Door

A Tarot card. It shows a door in a meadow and a man in front doing a handstand, one leg crossed over the other.


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.


The Skunk Brothers Farm

Long brick buildings and ordered greenery and verdant climbing hops! In the distance purple mountains; in the foreground amber waves of grain! And everywhere the scent of yeast and its vast gassy microscopic hunger, and the buzzing of bees by the gated clover, and the low humming churn and splash of beer and whiskey being made as fast as Darren and Lloyd and the whole Skunk family can make it.

Increase your Helping the Skunk Brothers Quality to open up new branches!

Opportunities

Draw cards from here to raise your Styles, meet your Allies, and risk your Antagonists.

Water for the Vats

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

A straightforward challenge

The call goes out through Amarillo: the Skunk well's gone dry! Suddenly every idle hand is laid on jars and jugs and even glasses of water. There's no money in it, you're told, but no one can imagine the Skunk Brothers vats going unwatered. Perhaps you should lend a hand.

Making the Rounds

Cityslicker

Social Style.

A chancy challenge

Demand for Cornskunk sour mash bourbon has climbed over the last few months. Theories abound; production volume has exploded; the brothers Skunk are being tightlipped about the whole thing.

To handle logistics, Lloyd Skunk is looking for a few good drinkers to hit all their distributors and come back with orders. It's not glamorous and it doesn't pay, but it will keep the whiskey flowing.

That Cornskunk Taste

Doc

Mental Style.

A chancy challenge

Darren Skunk -- quiet thoughtful alchemist! brewmaster, taste-maker! -- needs taste-testers for a new batch of bourbon. He's taking anybody, no special training required. Which means you could get involved. For charitable reasons, of course.

Perhaps Not

Your plate is already full.


Heckled

Making the Rounds

Cityslicker

Social Style.

A chancy challenge

Sales is a challenge, even for liquor. Outside the High Noon Saloon you're heckled by a pair of ancient barflies; they tell you, at length and volume, that Cornskunk used to cost less and taste better and come hand-delivered by the brothers Skunk themselves, which (the barflies say) was a touch of class in a tumbled-down world. Once you finally disengage there's no time to hit the east side hotels. And more's the pity: their orders, according to Lloyd Skunk, would not have been small.

1 change point, 3 more needed to reach level 4.

Cityslicker is increasing...

Cityslicker 3 failed in a challenge! (When you try a challenge that's difficult for you, you learn more even when you fail.)


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Doc Toppers

Bowlers, stetsons, the occasional eyewear.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Dollars

NorteAmericano dollars. Not the only currency in Amarillo, but certainly the preferred one.

Revolver Bullet

Useful for many things. Shooting monsters is only one.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Consumables

Nostrums, drinkables, tobaccos and other treatlets.

Ally: Warren Castillo

Warren Castillo of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Afraid of Heights

You were born on the ground and you'll die on the ground. Preferably not just after a fall.

Ally: Jack Ishiguro

Jack Ishiguro of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Man in Black

Your ethical Orientation. Your concerns are self-empowerment and getting things done.

Seer of Rabbits

You have seen rabbits and struggle to un-see them.

Hallowed Ground

You've been taken in by the strange beautiful kindnesses of the Mission.

Cutting Your Spurs

You're performing certain necessary if distasteful tasks for the Stars and Spurs.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

White Noise

The unnatural world is becoming all too real.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

The Door

A Tarot card. It shows a door in a meadow and a man in front doing a handstand, one leg crossed over the other.


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.


A Country Doc

Amarillo is bracketed by stone, sand and sky. There are things to see and explore beyond the Roughriders' barricades. And unexpected dangers. Which nearly anyone will tell you can add spice to an otherwise humdrum life.

This is one of Zero Summer's "grind" cards. "Grind" cards can be replayed as often as you like. And most of their branches have a chance to produce a Rare Success, which will significantly increase one of your Styles and yield certain other benefits as well.

Opportunities

Draw cards from here to raise your Styles, meet your Allies, and risk your Antagonists.

A Walled Garden

Doc

Mental Style.

A chancy challenge

Sometimes nature is best seen from a distance. On the east side of Amarillo is a quiet wealthy neighborhood full of two-story houses with front porches and sweeping views of the desert. The Heywoods' porch is a notorious hang-out/salon for retirees, mostly old men and the widow Heywood herself; they spend their days playing rubbers of bridge, smoking cigars and emptying bottle after bottle of Cornskunk's best.

Rumor has it that the widow Heywood is also a first-class birdwatcher and liberal with her binoculars. If you can talk your way onto her porch, you could get all the nature you want without risking an unfriendly few moments with a rattlesnake.

A Walk in the Scrublands

Doc

Mental Style.

A straightforward challenge

Miz Nils turns out to be the Jackrabbits' resident naturalist. She recommends a walk through the Scrublands north of Amarillo to get a feel for what grows around here. It might look hot and dry and dead, she says, but keep an eye: the scrub is teeming, alive, and way better at surviving in the desert than any person.


You're a Crowd

A Walled Garden

Doc

Mental Style.

A very modest challenge

            3
            You need Doc 3 (you have 4)

            3
            Unlocked with Doc 3 - you have 4

The widow Heywood's porch is packed for the moment, almost overspilling into the lawn and driveway. Apparently a cutthroat rubber of bridge is underway. A high-stakes pot is on the table. Perhaps you should come back later -- when things are less intense.

0 change points, 5 more needed to reach level 5.

Doc has increased to 4!

Doc 3 failed in a challenge! (When you try a challenge that's difficult for you, you learn more even when you fail.)


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Doc Toppers

Bowlers, stetsons, the occasional eyewear.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Dollars

NorteAmericano dollars. Not the only currency in Amarillo, but certainly the preferred one.

Revolver Bullet

Useful for many things. Shooting monsters is only one.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Consumables

Nostrums, drinkables, tobaccos and other treatlets.

Ally: Warren Castillo

Warren Castillo of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Afraid of Heights

You were born on the ground and you'll die on the ground. Preferably not just after a fall.

Ally: Jack Ishiguro

Jack Ishiguro of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Game version number.
Thanks for playing Zero Summer!

Man in Black

Your ethical Orientation. Your concerns are self-empowerment and getting things done.

Seer of Rabbits

You have seen rabbits and struggle to un-see them.

Hallowed Ground

You've been taken in by the strange beautiful kindnesses of the Mission.

Cutting Your Spurs

You're performing certain necessary if distasteful tasks for the Stars and Spurs.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

White Noise

The unnatural world is becoming all too real.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

The Door

A Tarot card. It shows a door in a meadow and a man in front doing a handstand, one leg crossed over the other.


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Dollars

NorteAmericano dollars. Not the only currency in Amarillo, but certainly the preferred one.

Revolver Bullet

Useful for many things. Shooting monsters is only one.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Afraid of Heights

You were born on the ground and you'll die on the ground. Preferably not just after a fall.

Ally: Jack Ishiguro

Jack Ishiguro of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Seer of Rabbits

You have seen rabbits and struggle to un-see them.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

White Noise

The unnatural world is becoming all too real.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

The Door

A Tarot card. It shows a door in a meadow and a man in front doing a handstand, one leg crossed over the other.


Jack Ishiguro

Always smiling is Jack Ishiguro, resident fast-talker, quick on the draw with a high pitched giggle. The life of the party. One odd Jackrabbit. But very little escapes his tiny cheerful eyes.

Opportunities

Draw cards from here to raise your Styles, meet your Allies, and risk your Antagonists.

Perhaps Not

Your plate is already full.

The Power of Confidence

Seeing Jack Ishiguro move through a crowd -- sliding unimpeded, shoulder slouching, confidence glowing off him like heat from a lamp -- is quite the thing. People smile and swoon and flutter when he bumps into them. And not just women. A friend to all, is Jack Ishiguro, and universally charming. You could learn a thing or two.

You Scratch My Back

A recurring theme in Jack Ishiguro's many upbeat rambling conversations is how he's lean on cash. Liquid assets. Valoota. He never quite explains what he needs the money for, but you get the impression that his life would be somehow even cheerfuller if he had it.

And not empty-handed is Jack Ishiguro, no beggar at the door: he's made clear -- and not just once -- that he's sitting on a box of bullets he doesn't have any plans for, and would be happy to come to an arrangement involving bullets and dollars and a quiet exchange.

            1
            You need 1 x Dollars  (you have 2)

            1
            Unlocked with 1 x Dollars  - you have 2


A Different Kind of Education

It's all, Jack Ishiguro says, in how you hold yourself. How you walk on the outsides of your feet, letting your weight roll you forward, shiplike and easy. How you walk through the saloon and lean against the bar with casual, self-focused confidence.

Want nothing. Ask nothing. And everyone will want to know you, even if they don't know your name -- even if you don't, Jack Ishiguro says, and slaps your back in a good-natured way.

Cityslicker has increased to 4!


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Doc Toppers

Bowlers, stetsons, the occasional eyewear.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Dollars

NorteAmericano dollars. Not the only currency in Amarillo, but certainly the preferred one.

Revolver Bullet

Useful for many things. Shooting monsters is only one.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Consumables

Nostrums, drinkables, tobaccos and other treatlets.

Ally: Warren Castillo

Warren Castillo of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Afraid of Heights

You were born on the ground and you'll die on the ground. Preferably not just after a fall.

Ally: Jack Ishiguro

Jack Ishiguro of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Man in Black

Your ethical Orientation. Your concerns are self-empowerment and getting things done.

Seer of Rabbits

You have seen rabbits and struggle to un-see them.

Hallowed Ground

You've been taken in by the strange beautiful kindnesses of the Mission.

Cutting Your Spurs

You're performing certain necessary if distasteful tasks for the Stars and Spurs.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

White Noise

The unnatural world is becoming all too real.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

The Door

A Tarot card. It shows a door in a meadow and a man in front doing a handstand, one leg crossed over the other.


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.


A Gunslinger in Amarillo

There are endless opportunities here for you to brush up on all the things a gunslinger needs to know.

This is one of Zero Summer's "grind" cards. "Grind" cards can be replayed as often as you like. And most of their branches have a chance to produce a Rare Success, which will significantly increase one of your Styles and yield certain other benefits as well.

Opportunities

Draw cards from here to raise your Styles, meet your Allies, and risk your Antagonists.

Operational Support

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

A chancy challenge

The Roughriders periodically sweep the city for gun caches. They're looking for a spotter to help them clear the neighborhood around the Highrise Hotel. Gangs with loose interpretations of the Rule of One often squirrel away guns, bullets and heavier ordnance. Everywhere is a potential hiding place: abandoned buildings, converted stretches of sewer, even dead trees with false knot-holes.

            7
            You need Gunslinger 7 (you have 7)

            7
            Unlocked with Gunslinger 7 - you have 7

Cleaning House for the Pony Express

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

A low-risk challenge

Word is that that a Pony Express carrier is due in tomorrow, and Governor Berkshire will show his appreciation to anyone who clears out the Pony Express office beforehand. Abandoned buildings tend to attract varmints, pests and squatters -- especially in Amarillo, and even the Pony Express office. Carriers tend to be particular about their spaces being clear. And given how much Amarillo depends on them, it's no surprise the governor is taking extra precautions.

            5
            You need Gunslinger 5 (you have 7)

            5
            Unlocked with Gunslinger 5 - you have 7

Bullets for Little Japan

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

A straightforward challenge

Traeger the gunsmith on Short Vine is looking for someone to deliver a package to Little Japan, an apartment building on the west side of town where every unit is owned by one large Japanese-American family. According to Traeger, they're secretive, stand-offish, and endlessly thirsty for bullets. No one but him will do business with them.

            4
            You need Gunslinger 4 (you have 7)

            4
            Unlocked with Gunslinger 4 - you have 7

Keeping the Peace

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

A straightforward challenge

The beating heart of Amarillo's commercial district is the Wall Market, a sprawling parking lot bazaar and former supermarket where you can buy or barter anything you desire. Petty theft is obviously a problem.

A doughman for Butterloaf Bakery is looking for warm bodies to fill the morning security shift. A bad case of food poisoning from the salmon jerky stall has the regular crew doing the Texas two-step. The way the doughman tells it, they're having a graphic morning. Borderline tragic.

            3
            You need Gunslinger 3 (you have 7)

            3
            Unlocked with Gunslinger 3 - you have 7

Getting to Know the Roughriders

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

A straightforward challenge

The local police -- the Roughriders -- have exactly two jobs: keeping the Rule of One and handling the local unnatural fauna. The chief of police is fiercely-mustached Nicco Carfora. He's asked for a civilian volunteer to take one of the Roughriders' aging motorcycles out for a loop around the nearby farms and snoop for unnatural activity.

            1
            You need Gunslinger 1 (you have 7)

            1
            Unlocked with Gunslinger 1 - you have 7


We're All In It Together

Operational Support

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

A chancy challenge

You and a pair of Roughriders comb the west side for guns. People scatter before your belching roaring motorcycles.  At every stop, different faces watch you from a distance: cultured pale blonde ones at the rifle cache by the pond in Thompson Memorial Park, tanned stubbled ones atop brown leather lapels by the grenade hideaway in the old maple tree by the playground at Highrise. One of the Roughriders waves at them. When asked, he cheerfully explains: we're all in it together, yeah?

3 change points, 5 more needed to reach level 8.

Gunslinger is increasing...

You've gained 1 x Reputation (new total 13).


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Doc Toppers

Bowlers, stetsons, the occasional eyewear.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Dollars

NorteAmericano dollars. Not the only currency in Amarillo, but certainly the preferred one.

Revolver Bullet

Useful for many things. Shooting monsters is only one.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Consumables

Nostrums, drinkables, tobaccos and other treatlets.

Ally: Warren Castillo

Warren Castillo of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Afraid of Heights

You were born on the ground and you'll die on the ground. Preferably not just after a fall.

Ally: Jack Ishiguro

Jack Ishiguro of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Man in Black

Your ethical Orientation. Your concerns are self-empowerment and getting things done.

Seer of Rabbits

You have seen rabbits and struggle to un-see them.

Hallowed Ground

You've been taken in by the strange beautiful kindnesses of the Mission.

Cutting Your Spurs

You're performing certain necessary if distasteful tasks for the Stars and Spurs.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

White Noise

The unnatural world is becoming all too real.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

The Door

A Tarot card. It shows a door in a meadow and a man in front doing a handstand, one leg crossed over the other.


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.


Travel Around Town

Amarillo was once a largeish city; even now it covers a lot of ground. It takes time to move from one place to another.

Pinned

Pinned

Move to Burrow and Briar

Both an intersection and the tumble-down hideout of the Jackrabbits, Burrow and Briar represents a significant chunk of suburban Amarillo.

Move to Platform #1

The last stop on the Rio Sur line, located right here in Amarillo. A bustling place! Hub of commerce and social interaction! Mind the gap.

Move to St. Francis's

This tiny church near the heart of Amarillo is nevertheless a social hub -- for the worshipful few, the devotees of Santo Guerrero, and the better sort of criminal, the latter flocking like peacocks to the public fountain just outside.

Move to The Highrise Hotel

The tallest building in Amarillo was once public housing. Now its lower floors serve as flophouses for the indigent. And its upper floors? Rumors abound; no one can say for sure.

Move to the Wall Market

Beating heart of Amarillo's commercial district! Once a supermarket, now a sprawling swap meet where dollars and goods are bought and sold and bartered by hands both filthy and clean.

Move to the Scrublands

Step lightly through the lonely grass and sweeping sands north of Amarillo, where homesteaders and farmers and more unnatural things compete for water and precious black soil.

Move to the Mission

All brick and broken statues of angels. Here live the homeless and hopeless of Amarillo. The smell of chickens and the sound of singing will let you know you've arrived.

Move to Little Japan

On the west side, a forbidding place of blacked-out windows, steel doors and standoffish Japanese-Americans. Very few people are seen going in and out.

Move to Downtown Amarillo

A latter-day suburban sprawl! Choked with dust and the bright energy of commerce! Even now the wheels turn in Amarillo's rusted heart.

Move to Amarillo Academy

The former local college has been converted into an ivory fortress. Few students are accepted; none seem to leave. The masthead over the iron gate reads "Amarillo Academy of Arts and Speculative Sciences." Security is said to shoot on sight. It seems more credible than not.

A colored flyer on the gate announces a lecture series starting Friday, May 22nd on the subject of "Actuating Transposition in a Biplanar Society." The presenter will be Prof. M. J. Freiburg. The flyer promises light snacks and a Q&A.

            1
            You need An Invitation to Amarillo Academy 1

            1
            Unlocked with An Invitation to Amarillo Academy 1

Move to the Pony Express

The heart of Amarillo: its living breathing center. Its distributor of mail. Its carrier of justice. Only open when a postal rider is in town.

            Unlocked when Date is:

May 22, 2026 - Morning

May 22, 2026 - Afternoon

May 22, 2026 - Evening

May 23, 2026


The Sweaty Crush

There's hardly room to breathe in the Wall Market. Let alone walk or do business. Nevertheless people manage it, even keeping such things as fresh fruits free of dust and ground meat free of flies. Enviable. Commendable! Maybe don't stay too long.

You have moved to a new area: Wall Market


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Doc Toppers

Bowlers, stetsons, the occasional eyewear.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Dollars

NorteAmericano dollars. Not the only currency in Amarillo, but certainly the preferred one.

Revolver Bullet

Useful for many things. Shooting monsters is only one.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Consumables

Nostrums, drinkables, tobaccos and other treatlets.

Ally: Warren Castillo

Warren Castillo of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Afraid of Heights

You were born on the ground and you'll die on the ground. Preferably not just after a fall.

Ally: Jack Ishiguro

Jack Ishiguro of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Man in Black

Your ethical Orientation. Your concerns are self-empowerment and getting things done.

Seer of Rabbits

You have seen rabbits and struggle to un-see them.

Hallowed Ground

You've been taken in by the strange beautiful kindnesses of the Mission.

Cutting Your Spurs

You're performing certain necessary if distasteful tasks for the Stars and Spurs.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

White Noise

The unnatural world is becoming all too real.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

The Door

A Tarot card. It shows a door in a meadow and a man in front doing a handstand, one leg crossed over the other.


Shankman's Outfitters

Wall Market

The gutted husk of a pre-Longest Day supermarket and its vast parking lot have become the sprawling Wall Market, a humming place of barter and commerce where daily bread and stranger things can be bought and sold.

An assortment of trinkets and delicacies is Shankman's Outfitters! A curated display of precious things that blends the ephemeral with the practical. Proprietor the thin-eyed M. Shankman, whose hands are crisscrossed with scars. Rumors abound: that he ran a kibbutz until a stray rocket from the West Bank destroyed his family's dairy; that he served in the Pacific in WW2 and found the Fountain of Youth, or at least the Fountain of Youthfuller. M. Shankman himself is close-lipped. Buy something or move along.

Pinned

Pinned

Thorny Walking Stick

For carrying while walking softly.

+1 Gunslinger when equipped.

            30
            You need 30 x Dollars  (you have 2)

Patented Leather Boots

Built with Doc Roslyn's Patented Insoles. A working man's fashion statement.

+1 Gunslinger when equipped.

A Barman's Best Friend

Kept behind the counter to resolve disputes.

+2 Gunslinger when equipped.

            90
            You need 90 x Dollars  (you have 2)

            90
            Unlocked with 90 x Dollars  - you have 2

Heavy Steel Wristwatch

Charming and imposing all at once.

+1 Gunslinger and +1 Cityslicker when equipped.

Long Hunting Knife

Carried by homesteaders and cowboys from Amarillo to the Wall.

+3 Gunslinger when equipped.

            270
            You need 270 x Dollars  (you have 2)

            270
            Unlocked with 270 x Dollars  - you have 2

Shiny-Spurred Boots

Steel-toed. Thick-soled. Surprisingly fashionable.

+2 Gunslinger and +1 Cityslicker when equipped.

Starched White Shirt

Smells of fresh laundry and respectability.

+1 Cityslicker when equipped.

            30
            You need 30 x Dollars  (you have 2)

            1
            You need Paladin 1

            30
            Unlocked with 30 x Dollars  - you have 2

            1
            Unlocked with Paladin 1

Black Leather Duster

For gangsters, villains, and other rough types.

+1 Cityslicker when equipped.

            30
            You need 30 x Dollars  (you have 2)

            1
            You need Man in Black 1 (you have 1)

            30
            Unlocked with 30 x Dollars  - you have 2

            1
            Unlocked with Man in Black 1 - you have 1

Natural Linen Suit

A breathable fabric for a miserable climate.

+2 Cityslicker when equipped.

Tweedy Jacket

Yellow tweedy wool. Liable to overheat. Confers an air of knowledge.

+1 Cityslicker and +1 Doc when equipped.

Flowing Silk Longcoat

Imported from Japan. Black silk and white flowers. Also called a "kimono."

+3 Cityslicker when equipped.

Doctor's Overcoat

Crisp medical whites. An air of sophistication and wisdom.

+2 Cityslicker and +1 Doc when equipped.

Horn-Rimmed Spectacles

Perenially in fashion. Nevertheless a little bookish.

+1 Doc when equipped.

Jar of Black Ash

Devotees of Santo Guerrero apply it to their foreheads.

+1 Doc when equipped.

Stainless Steel Stethoscope

For all your doctoring needs.

+2 Doc when equipped.

Colorfully-Banded Stetson

Shankman's Outfitters

Wall Market

The stetson impresses and intimidates. The colorful band implies cleverness.

+1 Doc and +1 Cityslicker when equipped.

The Monkey's Paw

A clenched monkey's fist. Who knows where it came from? Caveat emptor.

+3 Doc when equipped.

Ten Gallon Hat

A tall stetson for a rough-and-tumble dude. Keeps your head cool for advanced thinking.

+2 Doc and +1 Gunslinger when equipped.


Opportunities

Draw cards from here to raise your Styles, meet your Allies, and risk your Antagonists.

Shankman's Outfitters

An assortment of trinkets and delicacies is Shankman's Outfitters!—

Travel Around Town

Amarillo was once a largeish city; even now it covers a lot of ground...

Absolom the Tinker

Eternally present -- an abstraction in a world of speculation...

The Bazaar

The Wall Market is the noisy sweaty sprawling heart of commerce in Amarillo...

The Amarillo Exchange Commission

A little joke: the Nimble-Fingered Assistant at Traeger's forge on Short Vine will trade anything that folds for anything that shines...

Pinned

Pinned

Miz Nils

The most appropriate thing about Miz Nils is the crocodile skin belt cinching her hips -- it's her in spades...

A Country Doc

Unlocked with Doc 1 - you have 4; Unlocked when Date is:

May 21, 2026 - Morning (you have this)

May 21, 2026 - Afternoon

May 21, 2026 - Evening

Amarillo is bracketed by stone, sand and sky...

Small-Town Cityslicker

Unlocked with Cityslicker 1 - you have 4; Unlocked when Date is:

May 21, 2026 - Morning (you have this)

May 21, 2026 - Afternoon

May 21, 2026 - Evening

Compared to the big cities up norte, Amarillo is a smear in the desert...


Absolom the Tinker

Eternally present -- an abstraction in a world of speculation. A perpetual possibility! Unredeemable is Absolom the Tinker; dignified, invisible, moving without pressure; hidden, birdlike, quick; undisturbing of the dead leaves that bury the path in front and the path behind. He cannot bear much reality and so is always moving. His everchanging pack contains many things. For a price he may share them with you.

Pinned

Pinned

"November in New England" and "Fifty Miles South of Lexington"

A certain thing was found, says Absolom the Tinker. Will he say where? There is a hint of vicinity. A little light mimework: the broad-tongued licking of an envelope. The implication is not unclear.

And this certain thing? A few pages. Typewritten. Numbered but undated. A sampling from a greater set. This the first installment. Perhaps more to be discovered. Details sparse but include a young lady's monologue and a much longer Beowulfish thing.

And what for compensation? A rude broad-tongued noise. Donkeylike snorting. Call it a forgivable loan. Only come back for the rest. He would see it reassembled, would Absolom the Tinker. Would see the set reset.

This branch unlocks "New England in November" and "Fifty Miles South of Lexington." This content totals more than 20 unique Storylets and will take dozens of Actions to play through.

This content is currently Pay What You Want.

When you click this branch, you'll be given the opportunity to pay.


A Reader!

[Thanks for your interest in this content! We're trying out a new pricing model: Pay What You Want.

We believe "November in New England" and "Fifty Miles South of Lexington" is worth your dime to play -- it's some of our most beautiful, compelling, and challenging work, and it'll go a long way to help you understand the world of Zero Summer.

If you choose not to pay, that's fine! You'll have the chance to reconsider when you've finished.

And if you choose to pay? You'll be supporting a team of indie devs and writers who live in part on your contributions. We thank you.

NOTE: this content originally cost 45 Nex.]

Absolom the Tinker presses the pages into your hand, and with them a second little thing. A toothsome morsel? Is it a cake, or something more substantial? He is silent on the matter. But it must not be opened until you're through reading. On this he is insistent. And that your reading begin immediately.


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Doc Toppers

Bowlers, stetsons, the occasional eyewear.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Dollars

NorteAmericano dollars. Not the only currency in Amarillo, but certainly the preferred one.

Revolver Bullet

Useful for many things. Shooting monsters is only one.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Consumables

Nostrums, drinkables, tobaccos and other treatlets.

Ally: Warren Castillo

Warren Castillo of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Afraid of Heights

You were born on the ground and you'll die on the ground. Preferably not just after a fall.

Ally: Jack Ishiguro

Jack Ishiguro of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Man in Black

Your ethical Orientation. Your concerns are self-empowerment and getting things done.

Seer of Rabbits

You have seen rabbits and struggle to un-see them.

Hallowed Ground

You've been taken in by the strange beautiful kindnesses of the Mission.

Cutting Your Spurs

You're performing certain necessary if distasteful tasks for the Stars and Spurs.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

White Noise

The unnatural world is becoming all too real.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

The Door

A Tarot card. It shows a door in a meadow and a man in front doing a handstand, one leg crossed over the other.


Open Your Eyes; Breathe in the Past

Pay nothing!

Thanks for your interest in this content! We're trying out a new pricing model: Pay What You Want.

We believe "November in New England" and "Fifty Miles South of Lexington" is worth your dime to play -- it's some of our most beautiful, compelling, and challenging work, and it'll go a long way to help you understand the world of Zero Summer.

If you choose not to pay, that's fine! You'll have the chance to reconsider when you've finished.

And if you choose to pay? You'll be supporting a team of indie devs and writers who live in part on your contributions. We thank you.

NOTE: this content originally cost 45 Nex.

Don't worry: we're cool with it.

Enjoy -- and thanks for playing!

You have moved to a new area: New England in November

You moved to a new setting: Reading the Past.

Not to be opened until you've finished reading New England in November and Fifty Miles South of Lexington.

You've received a Wrapped Package from Absolom the Tinker!

You're playing Pay What You Want content for free. Enjoy!


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Doc Toppers

Bowlers, stetsons, the occasional eyewear.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

1 x A Wrapped Package from Absolom the Tinker

Not to be opened until you've finished reading New England in November and Fifty Miles South of Lexington.

Consumables

Nostrums, drinkables, tobaccos and other treatlets.

Ally: Warren Castillo

Warren Castillo of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Free Player

You're playing Pay What You Want content for free. Enjoy!

Version

Game version number.

Game version number.
Thanks for playing Zero Summer!

Man in Black

Your ethical Orientation. Your concerns are self-empowerment and getting things done.

Hallowed Ground

You've been taken in by the strange beautiful kindnesses of the Mission.

Cutting Your Spurs

You're performing certain necessary if distasteful tasks for the Stars and Spurs.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.


Page 8

New England in November

A colder place, a different time.

Once upon a time when trees were taller and for climbing and when their leaves changed colors it was for you -- like: that elm is turning red this year because red is your favorite -- and when if you acted sick enough you could stay home and watch your Papa rake the leaves into a pile and jump into it when he went to the store because you'll absolutely die if there's no orange juice --

Once upon a time my Papa took me into his study and told me my Salad Days Were Over. That starting that very night I'd be helping out around the house instead of quote "hiding in a book in whatever corner you get off to."

This was on the order of dishes and sweeping and yardwork but right then it was like my free time was a Thanksgiving turkey and chores were the buzzing electric knife from Macy's my Papa had just bought.

We were standing in front of the book shelf with the Ws. I was looking right at To The Lighthouse and a dog-eared paperback of Brief Interviews With Hideous Men.

The window was open and the air smelled like woodsmoke.

Pinned

Pinned

Turn the Page

Page 8

New England in November

A colder place, a different time.


The Next Page

Turn the Page

Page 8

New England in November

A colder place, a different time.

The paper is fragile and fine; it feels like it could break at any moment.

You're reading New England in November!


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Doc Toppers

Bowlers, stetsons, the occasional eyewear.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Dollars

NorteAmericano dollars. Not the only currency in Amarillo, but certainly the preferred one.

Revolver Bullet

Useful for many things. Shooting monsters is only one.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Consumables

Nostrums, drinkables, tobaccos and other treatlets.

Ally: Warren Castillo

Warren Castillo of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Afraid of Heights

You were born on the ground and you'll die on the ground. Preferably not just after a fall.

Ally: Jack Ishiguro

Jack Ishiguro of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Man in Black

Your ethical Orientation. Your concerns are self-empowerment and getting things done.

Seer of Rabbits

You have seen rabbits and struggle to un-see them.

Hallowed Ground

You've been taken in by the strange beautiful kindnesses of the Mission.

Cutting Your Spurs

You're performing certain necessary if distasteful tasks for the Stars and Spurs.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

White Noise

The unnatural world is becoming all too real.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

Reading New England in November

You're reading New England in November.

The Door

A Tarot card. It shows a door in a meadow and a man in front doing a handstand, one leg crossed over the other.


Page 9

New England in November

A colder place, a different time.

That night we went down to the garage where my Papa had his woodshop and got into the woodpile for a length of cedar he thought he'd put there for something about the deck, which we found -- the length of cedar -- and got it set up and ready on the workbench where he kept his tools in a line like soldiers on parade.

And he let me work the band saw, did my Papa, which was a first; and he set me to turning the corners while he got the big drill ready; and he drilled two orderly rows of holes into the cedar while I fetched some leather for the handle; and we sanded it and sanded it, and when we were through he hung it from a peg by its handle right by the hood of his Mercedes, but not over the hood of his Mercedes because he reminded me safety first.

Pinned

Pinned

Turn the Page

Page 9

New England in November

A colder place, a different time.


The Next Page

Turn the Page

Page 9

New England in November

A colder place, a different time.

New England in November is increasing!


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Not to be opened until you've finished reading New England in November and Fifty Miles South of Lexington.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Free Player

You're playing Pay What You Want content for free. Enjoy!

Version

Game version number.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

Reading New England in November

You're reading New England in November.


Page 10

New England in November

A colder place, a different time.

And do you know what my Papa said to me then?

He knelt down so we were face to face and I could see his old St. Bernard eyes peering sadly out from under his great gray eyebrows and said that if I ever talked back again about the dishes or the raking or how all these chores were cutting into my Lizbeth Time, he'd send me out to the garage and have me take down the hard cedar paddle we'd just made together, and he'd have me take down my jeans and lay myself across his lap, and he'd tell me to pray to whatever God I still knew that I could sit down a week later when he was done.

Pinned

Pinned

Turn the Page

Page 10

New England in November

A colder place, a different time.


Onto Fifty Miles South of Lexington

Turn the Page

Page 10

New England in November

A colder place, a different time.

Here the pages skip numbers. Here starts what Absolom the Tinker called "Fifty Miles South of Lexington."

You have moved to a new area: Fifty Miles South of Lexington

You've finished reading New England in November!


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Doc Toppers

Bowlers, stetsons, the occasional eyewear.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Dollars

NorteAmericano dollars. Not the only currency in Amarillo, but certainly the preferred one.

Revolver Bullet

Useful for many things. Shooting monsters is only one.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Not to be opened until you've finished reading New England in November and Fifty Miles South of Lexington.

Consumables

Nostrums, drinkables, tobaccos and other treatlets.

Ally: Warren Castillo

Warren Castillo of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Afraid of Heights

You were born on the ground and you'll die on the ground. Preferably not just after a fall.

Ally: Jack Ishiguro

Jack Ishiguro of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Free Player

You're playing Pay What You Want content for free. Enjoy!

Version

Game version number.

Man in Black

Your ethical Orientation. Your concerns are self-empowerment and getting things done.

Seer of Rabbits

You have seen rabbits and struggle to un-see them.

Hallowed Ground

You've been taken in by the strange beautiful kindnesses of the Mission.

Cutting Your Spurs

You're performing certain necessary if distasteful tasks for the Stars and Spurs.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

White Noise

The unnatural world is becoming all too real.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

The Door

A Tarot card. It shows a door in a meadow and a man in front doing a handstand, one leg crossed over the other.


Page 114

It gets colder in the Midwest when it rains in late September than it ought to. And even on the interstate you get these long Kentucky earthworms. It's a fiction that they come out when it rains. They come out before. Are hip to the weather. Make their long thirsty crawls early. And so are smeared across the road by unimaginable forces. Every time it rains is earthworm D-Day.

But we're long past seeing any earthworms out the windows of the truck. The rain is coming down so hard the windows look glazed. The soundscape is mostly truck-noise.

Up front the driver has a tape in the deck. It's only got one song recorded on it, which the driver's been playing over and over since like Charleston. Sometimes the wheels sync up and we can hear a little music over them.

The song is Come Thou Font of Every Blessing. The driver is whistling along through a missing front tooth. And he clicks with his tongue -- loudly, once -- between when the music stops and when it starts up again.

Pinned

Pinned


The Next Page

The paper is fragile and fine; it feels like it could break at any moment.

You're reading Fifty Miles South of Lexington.

You're reading Fifty Miles South of Lexington!


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Doc Toppers

Bowlers, stetsons, the occasional eyewear.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Not to be opened until you've finished reading New England in November and Fifty Miles South of Lexington.

Consumables

Nostrums, drinkables, tobaccos and other treatlets.

Ally: Warren Castillo

Warren Castillo of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Free Player

You're playing Pay What You Want content for free. Enjoy!

Version

Game version number.

Game version number.
Thanks for playing Zero Summer!

Man in Black

Your ethical Orientation. Your concerns are self-empowerment and getting things done.

Hallowed Ground

You've been taken in by the strange beautiful kindnesses of the Mission.

Cutting Your Spurs

You're performing certain necessary if distasteful tasks for the Stars and Spurs.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

Reading Fifty Miles South of Lexington

Reading Fifty Miles South of Lexington 1

You're reading Fifty Miles South of Lexington.


Page 115

We were sitting in two rows on fold-out benches with our knees pointed inward. Facing me from left to right were:

Peter John Paul from Boston MA. Our back-up wheelman and de facto chaplain. When he was a plebe his nickname was Mulcahy, as in from M*A*S*H. Which lasted about two weeks until he put a certain firsty's best front teeth down his throat. Otherwise PJP is peaceable, unfussable. And he can quote from Scripture, which isn't nothing.

Marcel Cooper, also from Boston MA. Transferred when he was a sophomore at Amherst. Majored in English. Can't recite Proust despite much prodding from Robert. Blond-haired, blue-eyed, complexion like raw milk. Sweet but undependable. Not a great mixer.

And Robert Lee from New Haven CT. About whom see much prev. Now somnolent. This a feature of certain coastal New Englanders: the tendency to nod off in bad weather. Little boys from CT must be dreams on long car trips.

We were maybe an hour south of Lexington on I-75...

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Pinned


Fifty Miles South of Lexington is increasing!

0 change points, 22 more needed to reach level 22.

An occurrence! Your 'Lizbeth's Cityslicker' Quality is now 21!

An occurrence! Your 'Lizbeth's Doc' Quality is now 21!

An occurrence! Your 'Lizbeth's Gunslinger' Quality is now 21!


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Doc Toppers

Bowlers, stetsons, the occasional eyewear.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Dollars

NorteAmericano dollars. Not the only currency in Amarillo, but certainly the preferred one.

Revolver Bullet

Useful for many things. Shooting monsters is only one.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Consumables

Nostrums, drinkables, tobaccos and other treatlets.

Ally: Warren Castillo

Warren Castillo of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Afraid of Heights

You were born on the ground and you'll die on the ground. Preferably not just after a fall.

Ally: Jack Ishiguro

Jack Ishiguro of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Version

Game version number.

Man in Black

Your ethical Orientation. Your concerns are self-empowerment and getting things done.

Seer of Rabbits

You have seen rabbits and struggle to un-see them.

Hallowed Ground

You've been taken in by the strange beautiful kindnesses of the Mission.

Cutting Your Spurs

You're performing certain necessary if distasteful tasks for the Stars and Spurs.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

White Noise

The unnatural world is becoming all too real.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

Lizbeth's Gunslinger

Physical Style.

Lizbeth's Doc

Mental Style.

Lizbeth's Cityslicker

Social Style.

Reading Fifty Miles South of Lexington

Reading Fifty Miles South of Lexington 2

The Door

A Tarot card. It shows a door in a meadow and a man in front doing a handstand, one leg crossed over the other.


Conversations in the Rain

Play through the dialogue branches below to learn more about Lizbeth's companions.

You won't have time to play through them all, so choose carefully!

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Pinned

Talk to the Driver

"How's the road look?" I asked the driver.

Talk to Marcel Cooper

Marcel was drumming his nails on his knees. We hit a bump and leaned so heavily to the side it looked for a second like he was floating backwards headfirst into the window.

Talk to Peter John Paul

"I don't know if I'm looking forward to being back," PJP said reflectively. "But I don't know if I'm <i>not,</i> either. You know?"

Talk to Robert Lee

Robert was sitting with his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. I imagined I could see what he was thinking, that it hovered in a speech-bubble there over his head.


The driver hit Stop on the tape deck.

"Looks wet," he called back. "I can see maybe three feet past the bumper. There was this Accord ahead of me right outside Lexington. Maybe he's still up there, maybe not."

You're Talking to the Driver!

You're having conversations in the rain.

You're having Conversations in the Rain!


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Doc Toppers

Bowlers, stetsons, the occasional eyewear.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Dollars

NorteAmericano dollars. Not the only currency in Amarillo, but certainly the preferred one.

Revolver Bullet

Useful for many things. Shooting monsters is only one.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Not to be opened until you've finished reading New England in November and Fifty Miles South of Lexington.

Consumables

Nostrums, drinkables, tobaccos and other treatlets.

Ally: Warren Castillo

Warren Castillo of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Afraid of Heights

You were born on the ground and you'll die on the ground. Preferably not just after a fall.

Ally: Jack Ishiguro

Jack Ishiguro of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Free Player

You're playing Pay What You Want content for free. Enjoy!

Version

Game version number.

Man in Black

Your ethical Orientation. Your concerns are self-empowerment and getting things done.

Seer of Rabbits

You have seen rabbits and struggle to un-see them.

Hallowed Ground

You've been taken in by the strange beautiful kindnesses of the Mission.

Cutting Your Spurs

You're performing certain necessary if distasteful tasks for the Stars and Spurs.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

White Noise

The unnatural world is becoming all too real.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

Lizbeth's Gunslinger

Physical Style.

Lizbeth's Doc

Mental Style.

Lizbeth's Cityslicker

Social Style.

Reading Fifty Miles South of Lexington

You're reading Fifty Miles South of Lexington.

Conversations in the Rain

You're having conversations in the rain.

Talking to the Driver

You're talking to the driver.

The Door

A Tarot card. It shows a door in a meadow and a man in front doing a handstand, one leg crossed over the other.


Conversations in the Rain

Play through the dialogue branches below to learn more about Lizbeth's companions.

You won't have time to play through them all, so choose carefully!

Pinned

Pinned

Talk to the Driver

There was a lull in the tire-noise. I asked the driver why he was playing just one song over and over.

            1
            You need 1 x Talking to the Driver  and  no more than 1 x Talking to the Driver (you have 1)

            1
            Unlocked with 1 x Talking to the Driver  - you have 1

Talk to Marcel Cooper

Marcel was drumming his nails on his knees. We hit a bump and leaned so heavily to the side it looked for a second like he was floating backwards headfirst into the window.

Talk to Peter John Paul

"I don't know if I'm looking forward to being back," PJP said reflectively. "But I don't know if I'm <i>not,</i> either. You know?"

Talk to Robert Lee

Robert was sitting with his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. I imagined I could see what he was thinking, that it hovered in a speech-bubble there over his head.


Talk to the Driver

            1
            You need 1 x Talking to the Driver  and  no more than 1 x Talking to the Driver (you have 2)

            1
            Unlocked with 1 x Talking to the Driver  - you have 2

"I was on this long haul the day after Halloween," the driver said. "It was snowing like the arctic winter. Right outside Minneapolis I was channel surfing when this old frog-voiced guy came on. He was talking about All Saints' Day, how in his small lakeside town everyone got up early on All Saints' Day and made their way to the Lutheran church so they could listen to everybody's kids sing all the beautiful old songs.

"And but so he started singing Come Thou Font of Every Blessing right there live on the air -- I think just improvising -- and it was so good and sad it kept me going way longer than he was actually singing it. It was snowing so bad. But I hardly noticed.

"So this," the driver said, "is my bad weather song. Of course it's a different singer -- but to this day all I can hear is that old Lutheran plodding through it."

Talking to the Driver is increasing!

Conversations in the Rain is increasing!


Gunslinger Gear

Guns, gloves, boots.

Cityslicker Duds

Coats and clothes for every occasion.

Doc Toppers

Bowlers, stetsons, the occasional eyewear.

Talismans

Relics, charms, tokens of authority.

Currency

Spendables of all sorts.

Reputation

Your standing in the community.

Dollars

NorteAmericano dollars. Not the only currency in Amarillo, but certainly the preferred one.

Revolver Bullet

Useful for many things. Shooting monsters is only one.

Usables

Treasures, mementos, relics.

Not to be opened until you've finished reading New England in November and Fifty Miles South of Lexington.

Consumables

Nostrums, drinkables, tobaccos and other treatlets.

Ally: Warren Castillo

Warren Castillo of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Afraid of Heights

You were born on the ground and you'll die on the ground. Preferably not just after a fall.

Ally: Jack Ishiguro

Jack Ishiguro of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Ally: Miz Nils

Miz Nils of the Amarillo Jackrabbits.

Free Player

You're playing Pay What You Want content for free. Enjoy!

Version

Game version number.

Game version number.
Thanks for playing Zero Summer!

Man in Black

Your ethical Orientation. Your concerns are self-empowerment and getting things done.

Seer of Rabbits

You have seen rabbits and struggle to un-see them.

Hallowed Ground

You've been taken in by the strange beautiful kindnesses of the Mission.

Cutting Your Spurs

You're performing certain necessary if distasteful tasks for the Stars and Spurs.

Time of Day

The time of day.

Date

Today's date.

White Noise

The unnatural world is becoming all too real.

Cityslicker

Social Style.

Doc

Mental Style.

Gunslinger

Physical Style.

Lizbeth's Gunslinger

Physical Style.

Lizbeth's Doc

Mental Style.

Lizbeth's Cityslicker

Social Style.

Reading Fifty Miles South of Lexington

You're reading Fifty Miles South of Lexington.

Conversations in the Rain

You're having conversations in the rain.

Talking to the Driver

You're talking to the driver.

The Door

A Tarot card. It shows a door in a meadow and a man in front doing a handstand, one leg crossed over the other.


Conversations in the Rain

Play through the dialogue branches below to learn more about Lizbeth's companions.

You won't have time to play through them all, so choose carefully!

Pinned

Pinned

Talk to the Driver

"Have you ever been over the Wall before?" I asked.

            2
            You need 2 x Talking to the Driver  and  no more than 2 x Talking to the Driver (you have 2)

            2
            Unlocked with 2 x Talking to the Driver  - you have 2

Talk to Marcel Cooper

Marcel was drumming his nails on his knees. We hit a bump and leaned so heavily to the side it looked for a second like he was floating backwards headfirst into the window.

Talk to Peter John Paul

"I don't know if I'm looking forward to being back," PJP said reflectively. "But I don't know if I'm <i>not,</i> either. You know?"

Talk to Robert Lee

Robert was sitting with his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. I imagined I could see what he was thinking, that it hovered in a speech-bubble there over his head.


Talk to the Driver

            2
            You need 2 x Talking to the Driver  and  no more than 2 x Talking to the Driver (you have 3)

            2
            Unlocked with 2 x Talking to the Driver  - you have 3

"Once," the driver said shortly.

Then after a long moment: "I had a cousin in Tucson. One of those big spiders had got his window open while he was sleeping. I went for the service. The neighbor boy told me he saw my brother when they were taking him away. That my brother looked like a kiddie pool with all the air let out."

I could hear the tape turn over in the tape deck, and the click of the driver thumbing the Play button again.

Talking to the Driver is increasing!