TEXT:  
  
   
   
  Andrew Chapman has most recently published the 
  fantasy novel Ashkar the Magnificent, of which an 
  excerpt is included at this end of this electronic book. He 
  is also the author of five fantasy books in Puffin’s highly 
  popular Fighting Fantasy series, namely Space Assassin, 
  The Rings of Kether, Seas of Blood and, with Martin 
  Allen, the two volume Clash of the Princes. These books 
  have been translated into numerous foreign languages 
  and were published in the United States by Dell. 
  Amongst other short stories, he has also contributed the 
  children’s tales The Drawing of Ixt and Rostgoblin Road 
  to Addison Wesley Longman’s Spinouts fantasy series. 
   
  Andrew 
  Chapman’s 
  website 
  can 
  be 
  found 
  at 
  www.users.bigpond.com/andrew.chapman/ 
   
  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  First published 2001 
   
  Copyright © Andrew Chapman, 2001 
   
  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form 
  or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by 
  any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the 
  copyright owner. 
   
   
  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the 
  product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to 
  any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. 
   
  To email the author: Invaders_gamebook@hotmail.com 
  The author’s home page: www.users.bigpond.com/andrew.chapman/ 
  
   
   
   
  INVADERS 
  
  CONTENTS 
   
   
   
   
  INTRODUCTION 
   
  CABRALOWIE 
   
  SPECIAL SKILLS 
   
  CARRYING THINGS 
   
  WOUNDS 
   
  GLOSSARY 
   
  MAP 
   
  THE ARRIVAL 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  ASHKAR THE MAGNIFICENT EXCERPT 
   
  
   
  6 
  Introduction 
  You are one of those rough and ready characters who 
  survive on the geographical fringes of society: in your 
  case, the desert and marginal lands of outback New 
  South Wales, Queensland, and South Australia. Your 
  territory is immense and your business, for the moment, 
  is that of a travelling bush doctor and dentist – out here 
  the distinction is blurred and your duties are dictated 
  more by the demands of the moment than the dictums of 
  the AMA. 
   
  It is in this role that you arrive in the tiny sheep town of 
  Cabralowie and find yourself confronted by a strangeness 
  that explodes beyond control.... 
   
  Cabralowie 
  Cabralowie is a scattered and remote town that you have 
  just added to your territory. As such you are only vaguely 
  familiar with the town’s thirty or so inhabitants. There is 
  Old Ces the retired shearer whose false teeth you have 
  repaired and are now returning, Max the pig shooter, 
  Flash the policeman, and Agnes the postmistress. These 
  people you have met. The others are largely unknown. 
   
  Your arrival starts in normalcy but things will rapidly 
  change. To help you to cope there are a few things you 
  should know: 
   
  Special Skills 
  To help you survive the following 24 hours and to reflect 
  the long history of diverse occupations and activities of a 
  
   
  7 
  seasoned fringe dweller you can select three special skills 
  from the following list: 
  STRENGTH 
  SPRINTING 
  CRICKET PLAYING 
  EXTRA STAMINA 
  KEEN EYE 
  FAST REFLEXES 
  BUSH SKILLS 
  SHOOTING 
  FLYING 
  WINE MAKING 
  Keep a note of which skills you have chosen as once you 
  start you may not change your selection. 
   
  Carrying Things 
  There will be times when you will need to carry 
  weapons, keys and other objects about with you. All 
  objects that can be carried will have a WEIGHT written 
  next to them. Whenever you come across one of these 
  objects you may ‘take’ it but be sure to keep a record of 
  its WEIGHT. 
   
  The total combined WEIGHT that you may carry is five. 
  If ever you pick up an object and find yourself carrying 
  more than five WEIGHT points then you must instantly 
  discard one or more objects to reduce the number of 
  WEIGHT points carried to five or less. 
   
  You can throw away anything you are carrying at any 
  time. 
   
  
   
  8 
  As you are a bush medic you start your adventure with a 
  suitable piece of equipment: a Medical Kit whose 
  WEIGHT = 1. Make a note of this and any subsequent 
  finds or losses. 
   
  Wounds 
  As the seemingly normal environment around you is 
  liable to become suddenly dangerous you must expect 
  some physical damage. This is reflected by a loss of 
  WOUND points. You start the book with a total of five 
  WOUND points which, if you are hurt, will be reduced. 
  If the number of WOUND points you possess ever 
  reaches zero then you have died and your adventure is 
  over. Keep a record of the current status of your 
  WOUND points. 
   
  Glossary 
  A number of possibly unfamiliar words and terms are 
  used by Australians and are explained below: 
   
  ANZAC ~ Australian and New Zealand Army Corp, a 
  military force identified with the first and second world 
  wars. 
   
  BONNET ~ the front part of the car that covers the 
  engine, also sometimes known as a hood. 
   
  FIBRO ~ fibreboard, once made of asbestos. Typically 
  grey and often used to make cheap houses or holiday 
  homes, hence ‘fibro shack’. 
   
  GRAZIER ~ a farmer who keeps cattle or sheep. 
  
   
  9 
   
  KELPIE ~ a medium-sized breed of dog with short hair. 
  Noted for their intelligence, they are often used as 
  working dogs on farms. A grazier’s best friend. 
   
  MALLEE ~ a small outback tree, but also used as a 
  word to denote an area where these trees grow, such as 
  ‘The Mallee’, a broad area of South Australia. 
  Remarkable for its fantastically gnarled roots, which also 
  make excellent firewood. 
   
  RAP ~ to spin the wheels of a car and cause a screeching 
  sound and smoke. Also known as a burnout or ‘to burn 
  rubber’. 
   
  SEMITRAILER ~ a large articulated truck or lorry. A 
  double B semitrailer possesses two trailers. In the 
  outback such vehicles can often have more than two 
  trailers and are known as ‘road trains’. 
   
  SHEARER ~ a person who cuts the wool from sheep. 
   
  TRUCKIE ~ a truck driver. The same thing as a lorry 
  driver or a trucker. 
   
  UTE ~ utility truck: a sedan-sized car with a tray top 
  instead of a rear passenger compartment. The same thing 
  as a pickup truck. 
   
  YABBIE ~ a fresh water crayfish, normally about hand-
  sized. Quite delicious. 
  
   
  10 
   
  
   
  11 
  The Arrival 
  The highway thumps along beneath your battered and 
  dilapidated car, speedo on 110, tyres rumbling on the 
  rough bitumized surface, headlights cutting a pallid 
  yellow light through the desert night. This is your third 
  hour out on the empty road. Bourke lies hundreds of 
  kilometres to the rear and now, shifting restlessly in your 
  seat, you begin to feel the weight of fatigue settling on 
  eyes and shoulders. 
   
  Perhaps because of this fatigue you miss the first sign of 
  the strangeness. A kangaroo flicks by through your high 
  beam, its head and limbs lolling at some impossible 
  angle, something hideous frozen to its back. It is gone, 
  the numbness of the road letting you see but not register 
  its weirdness. The only thought in your mind is fixed on 
  the lights of your destination coming into view ahead: 
  Cabralowie – and rest. 
   
  After checking in at the town’s only motel, and while 
  slowly eating a late meal, you miss the second warning of 
  the impending strangeness: a travelling salesman, drunk 
  and nervous, sidles over to your table in the tiny motel 
  restaurant, excuses himself, and begins to complain about 
  the unusual scuttling not-quite-possum sounds coming 
  from under the floor in his room. ‘Always thought the 
  little mongrels lived in the roof!’ he curses, ‘and I’ve 
  never heard them hiss before. At least, not like this.’ He 
  shivers as he pulls away from the table. ‘Gives me the 
  creeps.’ 
   
  
   
  12 
  After he has gone you spend a few moments pondering 
  tomorrow’s engagements: a couple of checkups on some 
  of the town’s children, a set of new teeth for Old Ces, 
  and probably a filling or two. Should be an ordinary sort 
  of day, you think. Tomorrow, unbeknownst to you, the 
  strangeness will be here and you will be lucky if you 
  manage to survive, let alone indulge in an ordinary day. 
  Peaceful, in ignorance of your deadly peril, you retire to 
  your room to dream dentist dreams without so much as a 
  thought for the scuttling sounds which will take the 
  drunken business rep away forever or the twisted 
  kangaroo which waits out in the desert for your eventual 
  return. 
   
  
  1─2 
   
  1 
  The morning is bright and lazy, with a hot sun climbing 
  over the weathered tin roofs of the town. Stepping out of 
  the room to stand beside your car, you stretch and yawn, 
  before noticing that one of your tyres has deflated, the 
  obvious cause being a broken bottle underneath. With a 
  shrug you step forward, kick the tyre, and then continue 
  to the boot, rummaging through the clutter for the jack. 
  Cursing yourself for not noticing the glass when you 
  parked, you set about replacing the wheel. When finished 
  will you: 
  Go to the garage to have the tyre repaired? 
  Turn to 111 
  Go to the motel reception and pay your bill? Turn to 178 
  Set about the business of the day by either: 
  Going to the hippy commune to see if any of the kids  
  there need a check-up?  
  Turn to 233 
  Delivering Old Ces’ new dentures?  
  Turn to 329 
   
  2 
  The eldest son scrambles into a jeep. You fling yourself 
  into the back – landing between a shotgun and a case of 
  whisky. The car starts up and flies down the dusty road 
  toward the centre of town. After you have covered about 
  two hundred yards you are attacked by a couple of cars 
  that had been lurking out of sight in a nearby hay shed. 
  They race up beside your vehicle, gunning their motors 
  and kicking up clouds of red dust as they clash fenders 
  with the jeep. If you have a Can of Kero, you could make 
  a Molotov Cocktail to throw at one of your assailants 
  (turn to 138); otherwise, you could shoot them with the 
  shotgun (turn to 110) or make Molotov Cocktails out of 
  the whisky (turn to 173). 
  
  3─7 
   
   
  3 
  The coffee smells delicious so you agree to a cup and 
  turn towards the rear of the shop. If you have a KEEN 
  EYE, turn to 62, otherwise turn to 89. 
   
  4 
  You hastily stack a bit of furniture against the door then 
  exit the hotel. Turn to 99. 
   
  5 
  There is an octagonal door in the western wall and two 
  corridors running north-south as exits. Will you go: 
  North?  
  Turn to 389 
  South?  
  Turn to 182 
  Through the door?  
  Turn to 313 
   
  6 
  After you have called out a couple of times, Ces appears 
  from behind a rusty water tank where he admits he’d 
  been having ‘a bit of a snooze.’ You describe to him your 
  monstrous attacker. He doesn’t seem surprised, and tips 
  his head as if to say, ‘I told you so.’ Believing in safety in 
  numbers, the two of you decide to check out the other 
  end of the water pipe. Turn to 220. 
   
  7 
  You open the door and step into a small, dark room. A 
  tiny cry of surprise escapes your lips and then a scream 
  as the floor suddenly gapes open to drop you down a 
  tremendously deep pit. The fall seems to take forever in 
  
  8─10 
   
  pitch darkness before it ends at high speed far, far below. 
  Your adventure is over. 
   
  8 
  ‘We’ve got to escape,’ you implore, grabbing the man by 
  the arm, trying to save him from himself. He is a 
  belligerent fellow, though, and not used to madmen 
  telling him what to do. Touching him is a mistake. He 
  spins and plants a punch on your nose that sends you 
  reeling backwards bloody and stunned – lose 1 WOUND 
  point. He stamps back toward the cab. Turn to 25. 
   
  9 
  You enter a Y-junction: honeycomb tunnels proceed to 
  the north, south-west, and south-east. There is little light 
  and the only sound is a terrifying crashing as tunnels 
  collapse under millions of tons of earth and rock. 
  Subtract 1 from the amount of TIME LEFT. 
  Will you go: 
  North?  
  Turn to 24 
  South-West?  
  Turn to 41 
  South-East?  
  Turn to 67 
   
  10 
  You head towards the nearest house, jogging to conserve 
  energy. At the front gate you are intercepted by a 
  wizened creature who you recognize after a moment as 
  being the local agricultural business rep. He eyes you 
  suspiciously while pointing an antique .303 rifle threat-
  eningly at your midriff. After a moment’s careful 
  scrutiny he lowers the gun. ‘There’s been a few too many 
  strange vermin trying to get into my property in the last 
  
  11─12 
   
  half hour. Guess I’m getting a bit too suspicious.’ He 
  explains how he’s tried calling for help, but no one seems 
  to hear, and now even his radiotelephone is on the blink. 
  Suddenly, a shadow passes over and from above you hear 
  a rush of air and a creak of pinion. A huge bird of prey, 
  eyes invisible and talons dripping a menacing black fluid, 
  is diving toward you. The rep scuttles off into the shelter 
  of his veranda. Will you follow him (turn to 362) or stand 
  and fight (turn to 399)? 
   
  11 
  Cautiously, you reach deep into the hole. Your hand 
  closes on something smooth and round. When you draw 
  it forth you find in your hand a blue sphere crisscrossed 
  with yellow lines and stamped with a pattern that looks 
  like the number 76. An alien egg! Its WEIGHT is 1. Turn 
  to 29. 
   
  12 
  The door opens into a sitting room. Like the entrance, it 
  slams shut behind you and bulges in its frame. After a 
  menacing pause everything in the room bursts into action 
  at once. The ceiling extrudes a dozen wicked-looking 
  blades, screws and spikes, and begins to slowly bulge 
  down towards you. As if this isn’t enough, all the 
  furniture in the room rushes across the floor in a great 
  banging of timber and squealing of casters as they jostle 
  each other in their eagerness to throw themselves at you. 
  A small coffee table manages to bounce between a 
  rolling two-seater and an easy chair to be the first to 
  carom into you. The nasty little thing springs a brace of 
  curved razors and slashes you in the calves – lose 1 
  
  13─15 
   
  WOUND point. Realising your peril, you leap on its 
  wooden tray, jump onto the two-seater, and bounce over 
  to the clear side of the room. If you have any of the 
  following items, you may employ one in your defence, 
  otherwise turn to 327. 
  Shotgun  
  Turn to 142 
  Axe or Chainsaw  
  Turn to 185 
  Fire Fighting Equipment  
  Turn to 269 
   
  13 
  The corridor leads you to a small room from which exits 
  yet another passageway. However, some bizarre force in 
  this room exerts a disorienting influence on both you and 
  your compass such that you cannot be sure which 
  corridor is which, nor which directions they head in. Will 
  you proceed down the nearest exit (turn to 132) or the 
  other (turn to 154)? 
   
  14 
  Several suitably sized rocks lay scattered about but your 
  aim is woeful and the spider-things easily avoid the 
  projectiles. Their hisses are like laughter as they prance 
  all the more energetically. The rain of boulders becomes 
  heavier. Finally a massive rock hits you in the back and 
  smashes you to the ground. Instantly a dozen other 
  missiles find their target with horrible effect. Your 
  adventure is over. 
   
  15 
  The door takes you into a small, featureless room filled 
  with a peculiar odour. Nothing happens and there are no 
  
  16─17 
   
  other exits so you retreat the way you entered only to find 
  that the scenery has altered. Turn to 249. 
   
  16 
  The tunnel takes you to a dismal scene: a large party of 
  Fuhuruh block the passage as they commit ritual suicide. 
  Alongside, a small machine – a trumpet on legs – plays a 
  mournful dirge in accompaniment. Subtract 1 from the 
  amount of TIME LEFT. You must turn about and return 
  the way you came. Turn to 275. 
   
  17 
  The house is one of those old colonial places with a 
  galvanised iron roof and a wide veranda. High wooden 
  fences and the odd tree delineate a dry yard. A large 
  number of boar and fox carcasses hang from a string of 
  posts. This is obviously the residence of the local pig 
  shooter: Max the Turk. As you approach the house you 
  see that it has been the site of a ferocious battle: pools of 
  grey ooze abound and the yard is littered with bizarre 
  machines alongside the heaped bodies of nightmare 
  creatures not of this world. You enter the gate and 
  cautiously approach the front door. As you step under the 
  veranda, three men – Max and two of his sons – leap 
  forth and douse you with petrol from a four gallon 
  bucket. They wait expectantly for a moment, watching, 
  then greet you warmly whilst apologising for the petrol. 
  ‘Don’t mind the fumes. Destroys the buggers,’ Max says 
  with a sweep of the arm at the bodies in the yard. ‘A 
  bloody dangerous practise, but can’t be too cautious. For 
  instance, the government bloke who picks up me skins 
  comes out here this morning and goes straight for me 
  
  18 
   
  throat!’ They tell you that they’re just about out of petrol 
  and ammunition and that they intend to split up, try to 
  reach the highway, and then get out of town. Just as Max 
  is suggesting that you accompany his youngest son, a 
  terrific shaking goes through the house followed by a 
  great up-thrust of writhing branches and vegetable limbs 
  smashing through the floor boards. They seize you and 
  carrying you aloft, pinning you against the ceiling. 
  Somehow you struggle free from the tangle, leaving 
  behind everything you are carrying that has a WEIGHT 
  greater than 1. Dropping to the floor, you pull a muscle in 
  your arm; lose any STRENGTH ability that you might 
  have. ‘Run!’ Max yells as the entire house begins to 
  disintegrate from the combined attacks of even more of 
  the tree monsters coming through the floor. Will you run 
  with: 
  The ELDEST son?  
  Turn to 2 
  Max?  
  Turn to 44 
  The YOUNGEST son?  
  Turn to 81 
   
  18 
  In a mad rush, you thrust the barrel of the gun against the 
  creature’s body. It immediately coils a few tentacles 
  around your wrist, causing you unbelievable pain - lose 1 
  WOUND point. You pull the trigger. The blast tears the 
  creature from both your hand and the lawyer’s neck and 
  flings it into the back of the plane. The lawyer collapses. 
  If you have FLYING experience, turn to 216, otherwise 
  turn to 315. 
   
  
  19─21 
   
  19 
  You enter a small room from which two corridors lead. 
  You can go either south (turn to 394) or west (turn to 59). 
   
  20 
  The owner leads you around to the back of the garage 
  toward a small tool shed in which he has locked his dog. 
  ‘Seems strange,’ he says, unbolting the door, ‘losing all 
  its teeth. Must’ve done it on some wire.’ The door swings 
  open to reveal a most peculiar looking animal: fur short 
  and somehow slick, eyes seemingly all pupil, and – as the 
  man says – not a tooth in its slack, drooling, mouth. 
  Stooping forward to have a closer look sends the animal 
  into a low hissing stance. Convulsions roil along its body 
  like tidal waves as a warning wail issues from its throat. 
  Weird! You retreat with the owner outside where you 
  hypothesize that the animal might have a dangerous and 
  exotic disease. Will you re-enter the shed to have a closer 
  examination of the dog (turn to 137) or recommend that 
  ‘Flash’ the local copper should he sent for so that he can 
  deal with the crisis (turn to 165)? 
   
  21 
  You use the Lock and Chain to secure the door, at least 
  temporarily, against your pursuers who – outraged – start 
  pounding against it with some heavy object. At your feet 
  lies a hand-sized red hemisphere, indented with the digits 
  ‘196’, which you may take if you wish (its WEIGHT = 
  ½). If you have another of these, add the digits indented 
  on the two together and turn to the page that equals the 
  total; otherwise, you leave the hotel. Turn to 99. 
   
  
  22─25 
   
  22 
  As you are completely defenceless and have nowhere to 
  run or hide, the advancing Fuhuruh soldiers have little 
  trouble in catching and executing you. Your adventure is 
  over. 
   
  23 
  Your encounter with the obviously inhuman Flash has 
  been too strange. In a state of confused panic, you flee 
  across a narrow, scrubby field. A motor starts with a roar 
  behind. Twisting as you run, you see the driverless police 
  car bucketing after you across the dusty ground. Gunning 
  its engine, it picks up speed. Will you stand where you 
  are, in an attempt to defend yourself (turn to 318), or 
  keep running (turn to 382)? 
   
  24 
  You proceed along the tunnel but find that falling rubble 
  and the bodies of half-formed adolescent Fuhuruh have 
  blocked it. There is nothing to do but turn back and head 
  south. Subtract 1 from the amount of TIME LEFT. Turn 
  to 9. 
   
  25 
  You scuttle away. The truckie strolls up to his door and 
  grabs the handle. Instantly, a steel tentacle curls out of 
  the driver side window and coils around his neck. With a 
  strangled cry the man is dragged into the dark cabin 
  through the open window. The last you see of him are his 
  legs thrashing in the air before he disappears in one final 
  jerk. 
   
  
  26─29 
   
  A few moments later a pair of sinister eyes, glowing red, 
  appear over the dash and the truck roars into life. Gears 
  crunch and the motor hammers as the vehicle begins to 
  accelerate in a wide arc towards you. Will you take off 
  across the surrounding flats (turn to 53) or stand and fight 
  (turn to 78)? 
   
  26 
  If you have the quality of STRENGTH, turn to 130, 
  otherwise turn to 295. 
   
  27 
  The door leads you into a large chamber with three deep 
  niches set in one of the side walls. The contents are 
  hidden from view. A slight rattling, perhaps of chains, is 
  all you can hear. Will you inspect the: 
  First Niche?  
  Turn to 45 
  Second Niche?  
  Turn to 61 
  Third Niche?  
  Turn to 82 
   
  28 
  The shoots continue to twine over the bulldozer, 
  surrounding and slithering into the cabin where they 
  eagerly burrow into your vulnerable flesh. Trapped and 
  defenceless, your adventure is over. 
   
  29 
  The room contains nothing of interest, so you return to 
  the conveyor room where you discover the belts going in 
  the opposite direction. You proceed across the room 
  safely and head north up the corridor. Turn to 147. 
   
  
  30─33 
   
  30 
  ‘Turn the valve, thanks, Ces,’ you call. He nods, walks 
  along the top of the bank, and grabs the valve. Instantly, 
  the clanging sounds stop. After a brief pause, during 
  which Ces manages a quarter turn of the wheel, the pipe 
  first shudders, then comes rippling out of the sand. It 
  twists like a snake, the newly exposed end suddenly 
  baring steel teeth in a strangely articulated jaw. With a 
  rapid coiling motion it springs at Ces, bites, and then 
  throws him at your feet. The old man, bleeding badly, 
  staggers to his feet as the monstrous device rears into the 
  air, readying itself to strike. Will you run up the bank into 
  the trees (turn to 238) or along the river bed (turn to 
  262)? 
   
  31 
  Desperately, you look about for a suitable weapon, but it 
  is too late: the bird swoops, lashes your head with its 
  dripping talons and wheels off into the sky. A searing 
  headache grips your skull – lose 1 WOUND point. Turn 
  to 362. 
   
  32 
  The shop is tiny and has only two obvious exits: the front 
  door, through which you entered, and a narrow opening 
  into what appears to be a small back room. Will you run 
  for the front door (turn to 79) or the other (turn to 328)? 
   
  33 
  You enter another Y-junction: honeycomb tunnels 
  proceed to the south, north-east, and north-west. There is 
  also a dying Fuhuruh here. Resembling a giant vegetable, 
  
  34─35 
   
  it considers you with lambent green eyes. Eventually it 
  grunts and waves a leafy frond up the north-west 
  passage. Subtract 1 from the amount of TIME LEFT. 
  Will you go: 
  South?  
  Turn to 334 
  North-East?  
  Turn to 288 
  North-West?  
  Turn to 119 
   
  34 
  Running crouched, you circle behind the shop and then 
  dash toward where your car sits beside the highway. Out 
  of the corner of your eye you see that Flash, having run 
  out of ammunition, has thrown his pistol to one side and 
  taken up a pump-action shotgun from the back of his 
  patrol car. You dive into your vehicle, fumble with the 
  keys, and start the engine. In the rear view mirror you see 
  the two men running toward the rear of your car. Will 
  you slam the car into reverse (turn to 188) or take off 
  forward at full speed (turn to 372)? 
   
  35 
  A fist-sized rock lies adjacent. Snatching it up, you hurl it 
  with eye-blinking accuracy at the head of one of the 
  spider-things. It tries to duck but instead tumbles stunned 
  from the ledge to crash at your feet. Another rock and the 
  second Fuhuruh joins it on the ground. The two creatures 
  begin a furious process of reconstruction: their heads are 
  split open but this has evidently only temporarily 
  immobilized them because, as you watch, masses of 
  tissue wave from the wounds and begin to knit skin and 
  bone back together. Perhaps even more bizarrely, you 
  suddenly notice that each creature is draped in a scaled 
  
  36─38 
   
  tunic with deep pockets on front and back. Will you risk 
  looking in these pockets (turn to 90) or just make good 
  your escape (turn to 139)? 
   
  36 
  As the sheep bound ferociously over the side of the tray 
  top you smash them back with vicious blows from your 
  weapon. The grazier aims steady shots from the other 
  side of the vehicle while the dog savages anything else 
  that gets through. Most of the sheep you hit fall thrashing 
  to the ground, but oblivious to the most frightful wounds, 
  instantly leap back into the fray. The fight is long and all 
  three of you suffer – lose 2 WOUND points. Eventually, 
  though, the sheep are repulsed. As a single mob they 
  suddenly turn and drag their beaten woolly hides back 
  down the road, disappearing around the corner. Turn to 
  343. 
   
  37 
  You step into a small, complicated room with numerous 
  buttresses and niches, all executed with the greatest 
  precision. In one niche on the western side is an 
  octagonal door while open corridors pierce the southern 
  and eastern walls. Will you proceed: 
  South?  
  Turn to 313 
  East?  
  Turn to 389 
  Through the door?  
  Turn to 19 
   
  38 
  After you reach the ashram and drop the hippy into the 
  arms of his wife and friends, it becomes apparent that the 
  man needs urgent medical attention to recover from his 
  
  39─40 
   
  severe wounds. There are only two radios in Cabralowie 
  that are suitable for calling the Flying Doctor: one in 
  Flash the policeman’s car and the other at the residence 
  of the local Agricultural Business rep (who lives just 
  across the highway). Will you contact Flash (turn to 91) 
  or the rep (turn to 10)? 
   
  39 
  For you there is no escape! The hive continues to 
  collapse and though you can escape the Fuhuruh you 
  cannot escape being buried alive. Your adventure is over. 
   
  40 
  The door leads into a desolate room. There is only a 
  hand-sized, red hemisphere – indented with the digits 
  ‘200’ – lying in the middle of the floor. Soft scuttling 
  sounds break out in the ceiling, as if half a dozen 
  possums were playing football up there, and pinpoint 
  eyes glare balefully down at you from several dark holes. 
  A sinister whispering starts up, although you can make 
  no sense of it. You may pick up the hemisphere if you 
  wish – its WEIGHT = ½ – and then, if you haven’t 
  already, proceed either through the other door (turn to 
  12), or down the corridor (turn to 96). 
   
  
  41─44 
   
  41 
  You enter another Y-junction: honeycomb tunnels 
  proceed to the south, north-east and north-west. Large 
  boulders dot the floor, and you are forced to leap a small 
  chasm to continue on your way. Subtract 1 from the 
  amount of TIME LEFT. Will you go: 
  South?  
  Turn to 86 
  North-East?  
  Turn to 9 
  North-West?  
  Turn to 288 
   
  42 
  When you stand on the accelerator, pressing with all your 
  might, the car undergoes an instant metamorphosis: a pair 
  of rocket engines erupt from the boot while stubby, black 
  wings fold out of the rear and front fenders. With an 
  out-of-control roar the engines ignite, throwing the car 
  through the air in a screaming arc over the town and then 
  down, crashing into the sandy bed of the Burang Creek. 
  The impact rips you from the grasp of the metal arms and 
  pitches you through the windscreen into the outside 
  world – lose 2 WOUND points. Dazed, you clamber out 
  of the creek into a wide paddock. Turn to 10. 
   
  43 
  The corridor terminates at a corner; another passage 
  heads off at right angles. Will you go south (turn to 63) 
  or east (turn to 84)? 
   
  44 
  Max takes off across a wide field that lies between his 
  property and the rest of the town. You follow close on his 
  heels, glancing back at the destruction being wreaked 
  
  45 
   
  upon his house. ‘Oh, no!’ cries Max, as the ground 
  beneath the two of you collapses away, pitching you 
  straight into a subterranean bowl with smooth metal 
  sides. Triangular plates with cutting edges that glint 
  wickedly in the dim light, spring out of the rim and begin 
  to spin down the sides of the bowl in wide spirals. They 
  will cut you to pieces in a matter of moments. Max 
  quickly recovers his wits. Raising his 10 gauge, he begins 
  to blast everything in sight: triangles and bowl. There is 
  an explosion followed by a prodigious amount of smoke. 
  ‘Come on,’ hisses Max as he drags you through a jagged 
  hole into a rough-hewn passage. Another two machines 
  advance toward you. The larger, three metres high, looks 
  like a tracked garbage disposal unit, a mobile mouth; the 
  smaller, a football sized sphere, is simply a levitating eye 
  sporting a long antenna. Max raises his shotgun again, 
  but there comes the loud click of the hammer falling on 
  an empty chamber. ‘Wouldn’t you know it,’ he growls, 
  looking at the useless weapon with scorn. If you have any 
  of the items below, you may use one, otherwise you’re 
  going to have to think of an alternative, and quickly (turn 
  to 225). 
  Pistol  
  Turn to 114 
  Can of Kero  
  Turn to 149 
  Axe  
  Turn to 181 
   
  45 
  In the back of this niche, chained and bloody, is one of 
  Cabralowie’s residents: Max the Pigkiller. He seems 
  definitely the worse for wear and can only signal to you 
  weakly. Will you assist him (turn to 106), or inspect 
  
  46─49 
   
  another of the niches: either the second (turn to 61) or the 
  third (turn to 82)? 
   
  46 
  Using a wild, twisting action you break free of the seat, 
  but the effort has cost you dearly. Somewhere, deep in 
  your body, some vital organ has been severely strained – 
  lose 1 WOUND point. Turn to 148. 
   
  47 
  You jump into the co-pilot’s seat, tentatively taking hold 
  of the controls. You pull a bit here, push a bit there, then 
  die as the aircraft hurtles into the ground at 160 miles per 
  hour. Your adventure is over. 
   
  48 
  When you step on the conveyor the black material flows 
  over your feet and pins you fast: trapped! Steadily, you 
  are carried towards the mechanical alien. The device 
  continues to ignore you. By a sheer stroke of good 
  timing, you sweep past it as it pursues its mindless 
  stomping from left to right. When you reach the other 
  end of the room the conveyor releases you with a 
  squishing sound. The door at this end of the room leads 
  into a dark box, empty but for a deep hole in the centre of 
  the floor. Will you reach into this hole (turn to 11) or 
  leave it alone (turn to 29)? 
   
  49 
  In one athletic bound you fly over the counter, landing on 
  the dog and bringing it to the ground. It makes no sound 
  and seems to be unhurt. Instantly, though, it rotates its 
  
  50─53 
   
  head and extends its rope-like tongue to seize you by the 
  wrist. The sensation is hideous, being like acid and 
  knives – lose 1 WOUND point. Dropping the shovel you 
  wrench your arm away and retreat to the other side of the 
  counter. Scruff leaps to his feet and trots away into a 
  room at the back of the store. Turn to 364. 
   
  50 
  The tunnel continues on an irregular level for a great 
  distance before engaging in a ninety-degree turn. You 
  can go either north (turn to 177) or east (turn to 159). 
   
  51 
  Dropping to your knee, you take careful aim and squeeze 
  off several shots at the bird. It explodes in a cloud of 
  feathers. As the shotgun is out of ammunition now, you 
  throw it away. Then, you notice the bird’s carcass lying 
  on the ground nearby. Small worm-like limbs have 
  exuded from its wounds and are busy reconstructing the 
  creature: extruding little feathers which slowly unroll, 
  like drying butterfly wings; pulling the buckshot scars 
  together; and, when you get too close in your amazement, 
  spitting poison at you. Turn to 362. 
   
  52 
  Turn to 400. 
   
  53 
  If you have Max’s youngest son with you, turn to 160, 
  otherwise turn to 102. 
   
  
  54─58 
   
  54 
  The pipe hangs above your head. After a few 
  unsuccessful leaps, it proves to be beyond your reach. 
  Meanwhile, the yabbies continue to snap and bite, 
  severely injuring you – lose 1 WOUND point. Giving up 
  on the pipe, you swim for the bank. Turn to 95. 
   
  55 
  As you scuttle behind the bar, Max leaps onto it, grabs a 
  stool and tosses it with a crash through a nearby window. 
  With the creatures hard on his heels he jumps to a table 
  then through to the outside world. Several beasts follow 
  in hot pursuit. Meanwhile, you have crawled into the 
  lounge bar, which appears devoid of all life. If you have a 
  Lock and Chain, turn to 21, otherwise turn to 4. 
   
  56 
  The wings flit close by. The filament trails like a great, 
  white rope. If you have a KEEN EYE, turn to 207, 
  otherwise turn to 179. 
   
  57 
  You extract the Grenade from a pocket. Whilst arming it, 
  you notice that two buttons are set in one end: a red one 
  and a blue one. Which will you press, the red (turn to 
  186) or the blue (turn to 352)? 
   
  58 
  The two of you flop across the floor, your attacker 
  attempting to envelop your face and you fighting to twist 
  free. With a solid thump you roll into the Carrot, 
  knocking it face first into the machine. With a powerful 
  
  59─61 
   
  shudder the device proceeds to gobble up the vegetable. 
  The Carrot keens horribly. Flicking its tail from side to 
  side, it grabs you with its feet as it is rapidly drawn into 
  the mincer. Only by the most extraordinary luck are you 
  saved: the Carrot’s feet have actually taken hold of your 
  attacker, ripping it from your body, and the two of them 
  quickly disappear from sight to the accompaniment of a 
  loud chop, chop, chop .... 
   
  The door out is welded to its frame. To escape, you must 
  climb through the pantry window. This is such a tight fit 
  that you must abandon any items you are carrying whose 
  WEIGHT is greater than 1. Turn to 169. 
   
  59 
  You enter a room constructed of neatly cut stone blocks, 
  stacked regularly and formed into arched openings where 
  two passageways lead into darkness. You can go either 
  south (turn to 258) or east (turn to 19). 
   
  60 
  You angle slightly to the right, immediately hearing a 
  loud report and then feeling a stinging in your back. 
  You’ve been shot! Fortunately, only a few buckshot 
  pellets fired at extreme range have hit you and the wound 
  is neither fatal nor disfiguring: lose 1 WOUND point. 
  Altering course back to the left, you continue to sprint 
  across the open field. Turn to 217. 
   
  61 
  The second niche contains the apparently unconscious 
  form of one of Cabralowie’s residents: the Post Mistress. 
  
  62─64 
   
  Her breath is incredibly shallow and her complexion an 
  alarming alabaster. Will you assist her (turn to 134) or, if 
  you haven’t already, inspect another of the niches: either 
  the first (turn to 45) or the third (turn to 82)? 
   
  62 
  Out of the corner of your eye you see the tail of a snake 
  slowly disappearing around the edge of the Post Office 
  counter, endangering Agnes! Close at hand is a long 
  letter knife. Will you act instantly by stabbing the snake 
  (turn to 124) or be more cautious and alert the woman to 
  her imminent danger (turn to 303). 
   
  63 
  You follow the passage into a cavernous room whose 
  surfaces bulge inward, quivering as if ready to explode. 
  There are three corridors leading from this room. Will 
  you go: 
  North?  
  Turn to 43 
  South?  
  Turn to 330 
  East?  
  Turn to 101 
   
  64 
  The two of you stumble down the hill, with the man 
  leaning on you for support. As soon as you enter the corn 
  field you are set upon by a creature both mystifying and 
  terrifying: a man of corn, looking like a raffia-work 
  human, steps out of cover and seizes the hippy. Long 
  tendrils shoot out of the corn creature’s hands and body, 
  twining around the unfortunate man and burying their 
  tips under his skin, eliciting the most horrible screams. 
  Will you try to tear the hippy free with your bare hands 
  
  65─66 
   
  (turn to 314) or look about for a suitable weapon (turn to 
  395)? 
   
  65 
  The Medical Bag contains a number of items: ethanol, 
  anaesthetics, small tools, and numerous papers – nothing 
  immediately useful. While you fumble around in the 
  interior of your case, trying to decide what to use and 
  how, the car approaches with increasing speed. At the 
  last moment you realize your peril. In a complete flap 
  you throw the entire bag plus contents at the speeding 
  vehicle before leaping to one side. The bag catches on the 
  grille, scattering bottles, phials, and folders over the 
  windscreen. Every breakable item smashes into a million 
  pieces. Instantly, the car collapses dramatically into its 
  constituent parts: a fender here, motor there, a couple of 
  wheels rolling away across the field. A cloud of dust rises 
  into the air. Stupefied, you leave your bag in the 
  wreckage and wander off. Soon you become aware of a 
  choice of directions: the road to Mindip lies northwards 
  (turn to 241) while Cabralowie is to the south (turn to 
  10). 
   
  66 
  Leaping from the cabin, you run over the back of the 
  dozer and slash a hole through the twisting shoots, which 
  almost grow faster than you can cut them. With a short 
  run up, you jump to freedom and hasten back to the 
  house. If you haven’t already, you could use the 
  Chainsaw (turn to 259) or the Fire Fighting Equipment 
  (turn to 287). 
   
  
  67─69 
   
  67 
  You enter another Y-junction. This one is in the process 
  of rapid disintegration: parts of the walls have slumped 
  and there is a continuous rain of gravel and boulders 
  from the ceiling. One of these strikes you – lose 1 
  WOUND point. Subtract 1 from the amount of TIME 
  LEFT. Will you go: 
  South?  
  Turn to 152 
  North-East?  
  Turn to 275 
  North-West?  
  Turn to 9 
   
  68 
  Opening the door, you lean into the car and take the 
  papers in hand. Suddenly, something strikes you in the 
  back, knocking you to across the seats. The door slams as 
  the engine starts. With a crunch of gears and a squeal of 
  tyres, the car hurtles out of the car park. Sitting up, you 
  find yourself behind the wheel of a driverless car that is 
  accelerating wildly up Highway 102, toward the centre of 
  town. A pair of articulated steel limbs snakes out from 
  beneath the dash and seizes you by the arms, pinning you 
  to the seat. This is all a bit sudden and bizarre, but you 
  somehow manage to retain enough sense to try to keep 
  yourself alive: will you try to use your body weight to 
  wrestle free (turn to 26) or try to snatch your arms out of 
  the iron grip (turn to 130)? 
   
  69 
  When you step on the conveyor the black material flows 
  over your feet and pins you fast. You can’t move! 
  Steadily, you are carried forward on an intercept course 
  with the machine. When you are inexorably dragged into 
  
  70─73 
   
  the alien it explodes in an insane fit and slashes you to 
  pieces. Your adventure is over. 
   
  70 
  As the sheep bound eagerly over the side of the tray top 
  you spray them with clouds of vile toxins, but all to no 
  effect. You cast the spray aside. Turn to 393. 
   
  71 
  You run, but too slowly! The wings accelerate with rapid 
  hawk-like strokes and dart into you. The collision knocks 
  you off balance. You fall, skid, grapple with the edge of 
  the bridge, then plummet to your doom below. Your 
  adventure is over. 
   
  72 
  The truck rattles off down the road. Flash starts the car 
  and repeats his request, ‘Get in the car.’ His irritation is 
  obvious, since he refuses to look at you, even from 
  behind his silvered sunglasses. Will you jump in next to 
  him (turn to 183) or offer to walk back to town so as not 
  to inconvenience him (turn to 298)? 
   
  73 
  To your dismay, you find that the jerry can has fallen 
  over during takeoff and leaked its contents all over the 
  back of the plane. The stench of fumes is overpowering. 
  You’re desperate though. Seizing the can, you return to 
  the cockpit to find the pilot still struggling desperately 
  with his attacker. Through the windscreen you watch 
  with horror at the heart-stopping velocity with which the 
  ground is approaching. Gathering your nerve, you shake 
  
  74 
   
  the open can over the struggling pair, but only a few 
  drops fall out, mainly landing on the pilot. But a dribble 
  falls upon a tentacle, which instantly explodes into flame 
  then shrivels to a tiny nugget. The monster, shrieking, 
  retreats into the back of the plane, relinquishing its hold 
  on the pilot, who immediately collapses. The aircraft is 
  out of control. If you have FLYING experience, turn to 
  216, otherwise turn to 47. 
   
  74 
  You finally make it to the edge of Highway 102. 
  Cabralowie lies about a kilometre to the north while to 
  the south marginal grazing land stretches as far as you 
  can see. However, you notice a large double-B semi-
  trailer approaching the town up the highway, its driver 
  utterly oblivious of the mortal danger ahead. As the truck 
  draws closer, you step out onto the road and madly wave 
  it down. Exhaust brakes hammer and gears grate as the 
  behemoth comes to an unsteady halt. The driver climbs 
  angrily from the cab and marches at you. A hysterical 
  exchange follows as you try to warn him about the 
  dangers in the town. The man takes you for a complete 
  loony and begins to edge warily back toward his truck. 
  To your dismay, you see several metal darts fly from the 
  roadside scrub to bury themselves soundlessly in the side 
  of the truck: assimilating and leaving no trace. This can 
  mean only one thing. ‘Run for your life!’ you cry, but the 
  truckie stamps back to the cab, unaware of his peril. Will 
  you try to stop him (turn to 8) or run for cover (turn to 
  25)? 
   
  
  75─76 
   
  75 
  The door opens into a long tunnel of roughly blasted rock 
  that spirals up toward the surface. You follow it eagerly 
  and all your hopes are realized when you finally break 
  free into the cool air of the nighttime bush. After a couple 
  of refreshing breaths you take stock of your position: to 
  the west you can make out the dark shape of the trig 
  point, so you figure you must be near the road to Mindip. 
  To the east, only a hundred yards away, is what is 
  obviously Ur-Sheriff Xox’s spacecraft. As you approach 
  the vessel you notice a blue field of energy hanging 
  around its perimeter like a thin curtain. Only the 
  multitudes of dead bugs that lie around its perimeter give 
  any indication of its deadly function. 
   
  ‘Halt,’ says a loud, artificial voice, ‘is that you Xox?’ 
   
  Will you try to pose as the Ur-Sheriff (turn to 113) or 
  claim only to be his deputy (turn to 145)? 
   
  76 
  Pondering on the last few minutes’ bizarre happenings, 
  you slowly walk out the front of the store. Suddenly, a 
  series of shrill screams and cries for help attract your 
  attention. You rush over to see that the garage owner has 
  recovered from his swoon and is attempting to murder his 
  wife with his bare hands. He appears to have gone quite 
  mad. Sweat pours from his contorted face and strange 
  inhuman gurgles escape his lips as his wife calls to you in 
  confusion and terror. Your car is parked nearby and from 
  it you could fetch your Medical Kit to administer a 
  sedative to the man (turn to 309), otherwise you could 
  
  77─80 
   
  just leap into the fray to try to physically separate the two 
  (turn to 346). 
   
  77 
  When you look up from your fruitless endeavour to halt 
  the vehicle, you notice that it is heading suicidally toward 
  a large gum tree, intent on destroying both itself and you 
  along with it. Seizing the steering wheel, you wrestle 
  wildly with it to force the car to alter course. If you have 
  the quality of STRENGTH, turn to 171, otherwise turn to 
  144. 
   
  78 
  If you have either of the weapons listed below, you 
  may use one, otherwise you will have to run (turn to 53). 
  Pistol  
  Turn to 131 
  Axe  
  Turn to 246 
   
  79 
  You grab the door handle and receive a very nasty shock: 
  several clamps extend from the locking mechanism and 
  latch onto your wrist. Not only does the door not open, it 
  proceeds to administer a painful electric shock to your 
  hand! Only by dint of the most strenuous twisting, 
  accompanied by prodigious screams of pain, do you 
  finally manage to break free. Burn marks crisscross your 
  hand – lose 1 WOUND point. Turn to 328. 
   
  80 
  After only a short distance the tunnel undergoes a right 
  angle turn. You can go either south (turn to 240) or east 
  (turn to 97). 
  
  81─83 
   
   
  81 
  Max’s youngest son heads south. You trot beside him, 
  crossing wide fields of closely grazed land, and both 
  surveying the surrounding countryside with suspicion. A 
  couple of kilometres pass underfoot without you seeing 
  anything wore dangerous than a sparrow (but even then, 
  can you be sure?) With the town safely skirted, you enter 
  a paddock of waist-high Lucerne, tinder dry. Instantly 
  you realise your mistake. The young man gives a sudden 
  cry of pain and terror as masses of grassy tendrils twist 
  from the soil and wrap themselves around his calves. The 
  tips bury themselves deep under his skin and you watch 
  in horror as blood pumps out of his body and into the 
  thirsty weed. Out of the corner of your eye, you see a thin 
  pair of grassy stalks, each terminating in a small optic 
  node, rise out of the lucerne to stare across at you. To 
  free the boy, will you attack the tendrils (turn to 117) or 
  the stalked eyes (turn to 235)? 
   
  82 
  This niche contains the unconscious form of the 
  travelling salesman who spoke to you so nervously on 
  your first night in Cabralowie about the noises coming 
  from under his floor. He appears to be in a shocking 
  condition. Will you assist him (turn to 157) or, if you 
  haven’t already, inspect another of the niches: either the 
  first (turn to 45) or second (turn to 61)? 
   
  83 
  Stooping, you swing the shovel under the counter, 
  eliciting a loud ‘crack’ and a startled cry. The dog shoots 
  
  84─86 
   
  out from cover, limping, and darts into a room out the 
  back of the store. When you withdraw the shovel you 
  notice it has become covered with a steaming, black 
  substance totally unlike blood. Slowly it etches dark lines 
  into the metal. Turn to 364. 
   
  84 
  You follow the corridor for only a short time until you 
  come to a junction of three passages. You can go: 
  North  
  Turn to 13 
  East  
  Turn to 226 
  West  
  Turn to 43 
   
  85 
  The two of you fire wildly into the milling sheep as they 
  swarm about the car. Occasionally one or two of the 
  creatures leap into the vehicle and run amok, biting and 
  snapping before you can deal with them, but most are 
  kept at a safe distance. They continue their assault for a 
  few minutes, oblivious to the most hideous wounds, 
  before turning tail and disappearing back up the road. 
  However, you have not escaped unscathed: your weapon 
  is out of ammunition and must be thrown away. Also, 
  one of the sheep managed to give you a nasty bite on the 
  shin – lose 1 WOUND point. Turn to 343. 
   
  86 
  You enter another Y-junction. Honeycomb tunnels 
  proceed north, south-east, and south-west. A number of 
  Fuhuruh hatchlings have broken from their cells and are 
  flicking long feelers into the tunnels, searching for food. 
  
  87─88 
   
  Cautiously, you dodge past. Subtract 1 from the amount 
  of TIME LEFT. Will you go: 
  North?  
  Turn to 41 
  South-East?  
  Turn to 172 
  South-West?  
  Turn to 195 
   
  87 
  Falling to your knees, you proceed to scoop large 
  handfuls of dry sand away from the pipe end. The hole 
  gets deeper and deeper, eventually hitting metallic 
  bottom about 18 inches down. A small sigh sounds, 
  followed by a tremor through the ground. You draw 
  back, just in time it seems, as a spinning silver disc with 
  flashing silver barbs erupts from the bottom of the hole 
  and flies into the air. The device hovers for a moment, 
  orientating itself, and then swoops to one side, flinging a 
  stinging metal barb into your hand as it goes. Lose any 
  CRICKET PLAYING ability; you’ll never throw a ball 
  again. Ces sums the situation up: ‘Run!’ he cries. Will 
  you flee up the bank into the trees (turn to 238) or along 
  the riverbed (turn to 262)? 
   
  88 
  When you step on the conveyer the black material flows 
  over your feet and pins you fast. You’re stuck! Steadily, 
  you are carried forward on an intercept course with the 
  machine. When you are inexorably dragged into the alien 
  it explodes in a mad fit and cuts you to pieces. Your 
  adventure is over. 
   
  
  89─92 
   
  89 
  Without warning, you receive a sharp blow to the head 
  that sends you reeling – lose 1 WOUND point. 
  Tenaciously, you manage to retain consciousness. Slowly 
  you turn to discover the once familiar Agnes totally 
  transfigured by the development of a mass of tentacles in 
  place of her legs. With a shrill, alien cry, she leaps over 
  the post counter to come rushing at you. Turn to 202. 
   
  90 
  The Fuhuruh growl as you work your way through their 
  pockets but otherwise remain paralysed. Your blows 
  must have inflicted some extreme damage on their 
  central nervous systems. In one of the pockets you 
  discover a glowing red sphere with 10 pulsing blue bands 
  set about its equator. You may keep this if you wish (its 
  WEIGHT = 1). Turn to 139. 
   
  91 
  A short distance along Highway 102 you come across 
  Flash the policeman sitting in his blue Falcon, listening 
  to the footy on the radio. Between gasps from your 
  searing lungs, you explain to him the bizarre happenings 
  of the morning. ‘Get in the car,’ he says as he turns off 
  the radio. As he leans forward, looking into the dash, a 
  huge semitrailer roars past, lights flashing and horn 
  blaring. If you have a KEEN EYE, turn to 227, otherwise 
  turn to 72. 
   
  92 
  You grab the creature with both hands, intent on ripping 
  it free of the man’s neck. Instead, it winds a few spare 
  
  93─95 
   
  tentacles around your wrists. The pain is so hideous that 
  you can think of nothing other than struggling free. The 
  pilot, likewise afflicted, pays little attention to the 
  controls. The plane crashes into the ground, killing all but 
  the creature which, though dazed, continues to assimilate 
  your bodies. Your adventure is over. 
   
  93 
  You slash and hack into the surrounding shoots, making 
  deep cuts through the abnormal timber. Quite a pile of 
  wood starts to grow beside you, and the work is tiring, 
  but finally an obvious gap presents itself. With a quick 
  leap and a slash to right and left you break free. You run 
  back to the house. If you haven’t already, you could use 
  the Fire Fighting Equipment (turn to 287) or the 
  Bulldozer (turn to 311). 
   
  94 
  The tunnel leads to a blank wall of stone. Evidently the 
  Fuhuruh terminated their tunnelling here. As there is no 
  possible way forward, you return from whence you came. 
  Turn to 243. 
   
  95 
  With a few strong strokes you leave the yabbies behind 
  and reach the bank in safety. Turning to look back at the 
  pool, you realize that the yabbies must have been in 
  terror-stricken flight. Jutting out of the water behind you 
  is a cobalt head, three feet across, flat topped, and 
  stamped on either side with a pair of poisonously yellow 
  eyes. This monstrous creature appears to be examining 
  you with inscrutable motives. Then something brushes 
  
  96─97 
   
  your foot. Looking down, you see a slimy cobalt digit 
  wrapping itself around your ankle. The other end 
  disappears into the water. With a jerk, it drags you back 
  into the pool. Will you kick out wildly (turn to 108) or 
  drag yourself ashore (turn to 174)? 
   
  96 
  Cautiously, you tiptoe down the corridor, the chopping 
  getting progressively louder. The passage terminates in a 
  bizarrely modified kitchen: long, steel blades slope from 
  ceiling to floor and all the furniture has been replaced 
  with machinery whose function – on the whole – is 
  utterly incomprehensible to you. Standing in front of a 
  machine with its back to you is a gigantic carrot: long, 
  green fronds stand upright from its flat head while its 
  bandy red legs appear to grow directly from the floor. It 
  is feeding small lumps of material into the machine, 
  which gobbles them up with unnecessarily loud chopping 
  sounds. Without warning, something terrifyingly silent 
  seizes you from behind. Long cords, pulsing with life, 
  spiral around your body and arms. Panicked, you jump to 
  the side but succeed only in bringing both yourself and 
  your unseen assailant to the floor with a loud crash. The 
  carrot carries on about its business, completely oblivious. 
  In your struggle to break free, will you try rolling toward 
  the carrot (turn to 58) or the steel blades that line the 
  walls (turn to 281)? 
   
  97 
  The passage twists then begins a series of sharp, dog-leg 
  turns. When you halt to consult the compass, you see that 
  you can go either south (turn to 218) or west (turn to 80). 
  
  98─99 
   
   
  98 
  You take the scythe in hand and cast it at the bird. The 
  implement arcs past your target and disappears over the 
  roof of the house – lost. The bird, unperturbed, continues 
  its dive – raking your head with its claws. Lose 1 
  WOUND point. Turn to 362. 
   
  99 
  As Cabralowie has become such a dangerous place you 
  head south, leaving the town far behind, and keeping the 
  highway just in sight to the right. No traffic moves along 
  it. After a while you stop to rest in a shallow, dry gully 
  that crazes through the parched saltbush that covers the 
  plains in these parts. You settle into a narrow, shady 
  crack and try to sleep… 
   
  A loud whoomph jolts you awake. Sitting up with a start, 
  you see in front of you not more than ten yards away a 
  bulky, bear-like creature dressed in what appears to be 
  deep-sea gear. It holds an equally bulky weapon that it is 
  nonchalantly discharging at some un-seen target further 
  up the gully: great gouts of purple energy fly out of sight 
  from the barrel to explode with a static roar. As you try to 
  shrink into the ground the beast turns and sees you. With 
  one bulky paw it points a small device at your quivering 
  form before apparently indicating with a wave that you 
  should approach. Will you do this (turn to 205) or 
  scramble over the top of the gully to escape (turn to 
  377)? 
   
  
  100─102 
   
  100 
  You take to your heels, sprinting with all your might 
  towards the thin line of trees that straggle beside the 
  Burang Creek. Suddenly, to the left, you notice the 
  garage owner’s dog running at breakneck speed to head 
  you off. Its coat seems to be covered with glistening oil 
  and its ears appear to have disappeared along with its 
  teeth. Will you veer to the right, risking gunfire from 
  Flash, but avoiding the hound (turn to 60), or continue 
  straight on (turn to 217)? 
   
  101 
  The corridor leads you straight into a well-lit T-junction. 
  Lights and reflections skitter along the metal walls. All 
  three exit corridors appear to lead into rooms. Will you 
  go: 
  South?  
  Turn to 266 
  East?  
  Turn to 381 
  West?  
  Turn to 63 
   
  102 
  With heels powered by fear and desperation you sprint 
  off to the southwest, moving as you have never moved 
  before. Unfortunately, the truck is considerably faster and 
  you have nowhere to hide. You duck, weave, and 
  successfully evade for a few minutes before fatigue – 
  your murderer – brings you to a stumbling halt. The truck 
  blares its horn in victory as it runs you to the ground. 
  Your adventure is over. 
   
  
  103─104 
   
  103 
  You drop the rock, leap to the side, and scream as the car 
  collects you with a fender. You tumble to the ground, 
  lying in dull agony, able only to watch as the car 
  executes a wide turn to finish you off. Your adventure is 
  over. 
   
  104 
  The plasma generator ejects a massive, whirling blob of 
  orange energy that crashes into the cluster of enraged but 
  confused aliens. They disintegrate in a loud and 
  tremendously powerful explosion. A few more pop out of 
  the tunnel and dart in a pincer movement to either side of 
  your position. You fire off a few more shots, displaying a 
  rather poor aim with the unfamiliar weapon but getting 
  most of the creatures anyway because of the incredible 
  explosive power of the plasma projectiles. Yet a couple 
  of machines suddenly rise right beside you and swing 
  long razors at your body. The Ur-Sheriff reappears at this 
  crucial moment and throws himself between you and the 
  aliens. He disintegrates one with a touch from a small, 
  green card but the other manages to strike him before it, 
  too, is destroyed by a touch of the card. The Ur-Sheriff 
  collapses to the ground, red haemoglobin flowing from a 
  two-foot gash in his body. ‘I’m done for,’ he says, ‘but 
  fortune has been kind to me and I have been left a 
  deputy. There will be no shame on Ur-Sheriff Xox… 
  You must get to my spacecraft and put the eggs in the 
  genetic analyser. This will generate the weapon with 
  which you will destroy the Apex of the hive…’ He 
  coughs up some blood, his strength waning rapidly. 
   
  
  105─106 
   
  ‘… go through the tunnels to my ship, down and 
  north-east.’ As he dies he presses what is obviously a 
  compass into your hand. To your consternation, though, 
  the plasma generator seems to lose energy as quickly as 
  the Ur-Sheriff, and once he is gone becomes completely 
  useless. Slowly, you rise to your feet and look down at 
  the dead Xox. Then, developing the necessary resolve, 
  you climb over to the saltbush from whence the aliens 
  sprang, find the hidden tunnel, and drop down it. 
   
  You slide for a few metres before being ejected into a 
  dimly lit underground cavern whose floor is as smooth as 
  the walls and ceiling are rough. Turn to 398. 
   
  105 
  Taking the anaesthetic in hand, you leap up to the trig 
  and give it a jab in the jaws with the needle, which 
  promptly shatters, spilling anaesthetic everywhere. The 
  trig fights you off with another slash of its deadly razors 
  – lose 1 WOUND point. Will you try the Surgical Braces 
  (turn to 155) or the Ethanol and Matches (turn to 193)? 
   
  106 
  Max is desperately weak from blood loss and exhaustion. 
  He explains how the creatures in this underground 
  labyrinth have been saving him for purposes unknown 
  but almost certainly dire: every hour or so a mobile 
  surgical apparatus arrives to drain off some blood from 
  him. You loosen his chain from the wall – all too simple 
  – and give him directions to effect his escape. He 
  staggers weakly to his feet and says: ‘Watch out for a 
  room they’ve built under the pub... very dangerous.’ He 
  
  107─109 
   
  totters off, back the way you entered. Will you inspect 
  the second niche (turn to 61) or the third (turn to 82)? 
   
  107 
  You press the only button on the cylinder. To your initial 
  confusion, then dismay, the cylinder slowly unfolds into 
  a steaming plate of mixed vegies in a dark, brown sauce. 
  A tinny recorded voice chimes: ‘Another delicious meal 
  brought to you by Syzygotron Auto Food Converters...’ 
  Turn to 22. 
   
  108 
  Like a man demented, you kick out and thrash around 
  until you succeed in breaking free. With desperate speed 
  you regain the shore and scramble to safety, leaving 
  whatever it is glaring up at you from the muddy water. 
  Close at hand you notice a pile of eight-inch railway 
  spikes whose purpose here is obscure but which now 
  offer themselves as effective throwing weapons. Will you 
  cast a couple at the thing in the dam (turn to 341) or leave 
  well enough alone and run away (turn to 375)? 
   
  109 
  The corridor leads you into a long, narrow chamber 
  occupied by a single machine that continuously walks 
  from the left side of the room to the right in two equal 
  strides, turns, and walks back with two equal strides. It 
  ignores you. From your feet, running the long axis of the 
  room, are three black conveyer belts: all moving to the 
  other side of the room at a walking pace. With each of its 
  strides, the machine straddles one of these conveyer belts 
  with splayed feet. The distance between you and the 
  
  110─111 
   
  device is about five paces. It is standing on the left most 
  conveyer, about to step right. Which conveyer will you 
  walk, or run, down: 
  Left?  
  Turn to 48 
  Centre?  
  Turn to 69 
  Right?  
  Turn to 88 
   
  110 
  After pumping a shell into the breach, you blast a rapid 
  series of shots into one of the cars. Since the vehicle 
  appears to be driverless, you aim for the hooded motor. 
  The car takes about ten shots before slowly slewing to 
  one side and coming to a halt, its battered duco pitted 
  with a thousand buckshot holes. The shotgun is now 
  empty and therefore useless. Turn to 213. 
   
  111 
  The small garage is a rundown affair. In addition to 
  rather primitive vehicle repair facilities, it encompasses 
  the town’s general store and sheep auctioning yards. The 
  owner, upon being presented with your punctured tyre, 
  shakes his head and tosses the wheel into the back of his 
  shed. ‘Sorry, mate. Day after tomorrow.’ Oblivious to 
  your outraged demands for immediate action he turns 
  away, disappearing behind a large stack of truck tyres. 
  ‘Oi, wait a minute,’ he says, head reappearing, ‘You’re 
  that new dentist, aren’t you? Look, the dog’s gone a bit 
  funny overnight: lost all its teeth somehow and 
  developed a funny temper. If you have a look at it I might 
  find me way to moving your tyre to the top of the pile.’ 
  He leers at you expectantly. Will you agree to look at his 
  dog (turn to 20) or, if you haven’t already, either go to 
  
  112─113 
   
  the motel to pay your bill and book what looks like is 
  going to be another night’s stay (turn to 178), or deliver 
  Old Ces’ dentures (turn to 329)? 
   
  112 
  Desperately, you slash and hack indiscriminately into the 
  surrounding shoots. The air fills with the smell of exhaust 
  gases and bleeding sap as you try to cut your way free. 
  It’s hard work! As fatigue begins to overwhelm you, you 
  momentarily drop your guard. Instantly, a couple of 
  forked treelets spring through the pile of wood you have 
  created and impale themselves in your legs – lose 1 
  WOUND point. In a last panicked manoeuvre, you slice 
  through your attackers and dive into the gap created, 
  flailing wildly from side to side with the saw. Free! You 
  stumble back to the house. If you haven’t already, you 
  could use the Fire Fighting Equipment (turn to 287) or 
  the Bulldozer (turn to 311). 
   
  113 
  A powerful beam of light fixes on you once you have 
  made your reply. Then, in a voice that booms across the 
  flats, the spacecraft intones: ‘Intruder, you do not 
  resemble Xox in shape or mind, and though you carry the 
  mark of deputization your deceitful nature reveals you to 
  be a creature of evil.’ It pauses, then in the electronic 
  silence it continues: ‘By the power of attorney, 
  judgement, and extreme force invested in me by Sector 
  Central I sentence you to disintegration!’ It blasts you 
  into the next world with a short zap from a laser. Your 
  adventure is over. 
   
  
  114─115 
   
  114 
  You fire at the garbage disposal without effect – bullets 
  either ricochet off in dangerous directions or punch 
  ineffective holes in its skin. The ball rushes toward you at 
  high speed and smashes into your stomach – lose 1 
  WOUND point. If you have either of the items listed 
  below, you may use one; otherwise you’ll have to think 
  of an alternative (turn to 225). 
  Can of Kero  
  Turn to 149 
  Axe  
  Turn to 181 
   
  115 
  Fortunately, you still have your Medical Kit on hand. 
  Reaching into this, you come up with a bottle of Ethanol 
  and a Box of Matches. After splashing the Ethanol over 
  the surrounding dry corn, you set fire to it, instantly 
  creating an intense blaze. This seems to strike terror into 
  the mice who turn and flee from sight. A Large Stake lies 
  nearby (its WEIGHT = 2) which you may take to fend off 
  further attacks. Shepherding the children, you return to 
  the ashram, where you discover that the man you left on 
  the trig point managed to rip himself free and return 
  before you. His wounds are grievous and will require 
  hospitalisation. There are two radiotelephones in town 
  that you could use to get help: one in Flash the 
  policeman’s car (turn to 91) and the other at the residence 
  of the local Agricultural Business rep, which lies just 
  across the highway (turn to 10). 
   
  
  116─119 
   
  116 
  The tunnel climbs and dives steeply several times before 
  taking a sharp turn. You can either go south (turn to 177) 
  or west (turn to 218). 
   
  117 
  If you have your Medical Kit, you could set fire to the 
  tendrils with the enclosed Matches (turn to 156); 
  otherwise if you have the Can of Fly Spray, you could 
  use this (turn to 187). If you have neither of these, you 
  will have to attack the tendrils with your bare hands (turn 
  to 209). 
   
  118 
  The bird is almost upon you when you finally get the 
  aerosol can in hand and let fly with a good long burst of 
  insecticide. Incredibly, the bird explodes into flames, 
  goes out of control, and smashes into the ground before 
  rapidly dissolving into little more than a smoking pool of 
  grey ooze. Perplexed, you read the fine print on the can’s 
  label: 
   
  Active ingredients: 
  0.01% Nitropolypeptides 
  0.7% Ascorbic acid 
  Propellant: Hydrocarbons. 
   
  Which is hardly illuminating! Turn to 362. 
   
  119 
  You follow the tunnel only a short distance before you 
  find it blocked by a pile of huge boulders. A persistent 
  
  120─121 
   
  rumble runs through the walls and ceiling. Suddenly, 
  before you can react, another huge boulder crashes from 
  the ceiling and strikes your body – lose 1 WOUND point. 
  Subtract 1 from the amount of TIME LEFT. You turn 
  around and head back the way you came. Turn to 33. 
   
  120 
  The door opens to reveal the mother lode of them all. 
  Inside is what must be the Apex of the Fuhuruh hive: a 
  vast chamber full of massive aliens strutting grandly 
  about amidst an army of metallic and organic soldiers, 
  workers, and other castes whose functions you can only 
  guess at. Your presence is noted immediately and a weird 
  hooting wail starts up as several hundred nearby guards 
  rush in one body to destroy you. The members of the 
  Apex begin to retreat toward a dozen large holes in the 
  rear of the chamber. Now is the time to release the 
  Biological Toxins! If you have the necessary Gas 
  Grenade, add 7 to the number printed on it and turn to the 
  page that equals the total. If you don’t have this weapon, 
  turn to 22. 
   
  121 
  You try to hide in a crack but the Fuhuruh, enraged by 
  the gas, quickly discover you. The plasma projector roars 
  in your hands and a great whorl of orange energy shoots 
  into the nearest alien who explodes into a thousand 
  pieces. The blast is so violent and you are so close, 
  though, that the projector is knocked from your grasp and 
  you are hurled to the ground in a daze. The other aliens 
  that have survived the disintegration of their comrade 
  
  122─125 
   
  throw themselves on your body and tear it to pieces. 
  Your adventure is over. 
   
  122 
  The can flies through the air, hits the dog on the chest in 
  mid-leap and cracks open, spilling its contents onto the 
  slick fur. Immediately, the animal crumples and drops to 
  the floor as small clear flames flicker in lazy bursts 
  wherever paint touches fur. With frenzied complaints, the 
  writhing animal begins to dissolve. This is all too strange, 
  so you retreat hastily from the storeroom and bolt the 
  door. Turn to 76. 
   
  123 
  The door takes you into a small, empty room. Nothing 
  happens and there are no other exits so you retreat the 
  way you entered only to find that the scenery has 
  changed. Turn to 210. 
   
  124 
  With lightning reflexes you snatch the paper knife and 
  dive to the floor, inflicting a deep wound on the snake. 
  Paradoxically, Agnes howls like a banshee. As soon as 
  you stand, you see why: Agnes, once human, has been 
  transformed by the replacement of her legs with a mass 
  of writhing purple tentacles, one of which is bleeding 
  profusely from your knife-inflicted injury. Turn to 163. 
   
  125 
  With long strides and a wary eye on the edge of the 
  walkway you sprint to the safety of the other side of the 
  chasm. The wings immediately give up the chase and 
  
  126─128 
   
  return to a rather aimless flapping about the cavern. Turn 
  to 237. 
   
  126 
  As soon as you step from cover, the man stops his 
  splicing and turns lambent yellow eyes upon you. You 
  stare at each other, and then he extends his arms. Dry 
  streamers shoot out of his wrists and fly at you, wrapping 
  around your body and sending needle tips questing under 
  your skin for major blood vessels – lose 1 WOUND 
  point. Stumbling back, you rip the streamers loose and 
  beat a hasty retreat. Luckily, the creature has only one leg 
  and it is unable to pursue. Turn to 230. 
   
  127 
  You find yourself at a bend in a corridor. A wide, tiled 
  passage heads north, while a darkly crumbling tunnel 
  heads west. Will you proceed north (turn to 192) or west 
  (turn to 348)? 
   
  128 
  You fill the pack with Kerosene and approach the closest 
  tree to give it a tentative spray. Instantly it explodes into 
  flames, vigorous blue tongues racing from trunk, to 
  branch, to leaf. In a matter of moments nothing remains 
  other than a largish puddle of stinking, grey ooze. The 
  other trees, seemingly aware of their comrade’s fate, 
  begin to move away from you. Taking this as an 
  encouraging sign, you waste no time in dealing death via 
  spitting kerosene to the remaining intruders, wiping them 
  out to the last. Turn to 208. 
   
  
  129─130 
   
  129 
  The two of you creep into the barn, pick up a couple of 
  jerry cans of aviation fuel each, and then sneak out the 
  back way to avoid the machine. You slowly make your 
  way to the airstrip by a circuitous use of natural and man-
  made cover. When you finally arrive you discover a lone 
  twin-engined Beechcraft parked beside the dirt strip that 
  serves as the runway. The lawyer scoots over beside one 
  wing, opens a fuel tank, and begins to fill it from his can. 
  He signals you to follow suit. Eventually, once the two of 
  you finish refuelling the plane, you climb inside, fire up 
  the engines and accelerate down the runway. The lawyer 
  takes the pilot’s seat. Just as the plane edges into the air 
  you notice some ominous green slime flowing from the 
  locker beside the pilot. ‘Hey...’ is all you have time to say 
  before a hissing octopus-bat-thing bursts into the cockpit 
  and attaches itself to the lawyer’s neck in a strangling 
  and biting hold. All at once, the lawyer tries to scream, 
  tear the beast free, and fly – succeeding at none. The 
  plane starts to bank sharply. There is still some fuel left 
  in one of the jerry cans that you loaded on board, and this 
  may be useful. Otherwise, if you have one of the other 
  weapons listed below, you could use that. Will you use: 
  A Pistol?  
  Turn to 18 
  An Axe or Scythe?  
  Turn to 380 
  The Aeroplane Fuel?  
  Turn to 73 
  Your Hands?  
  Turn to 92 
   
  130 
  With a tremendous effort, you manage to snap yourself 
  free – ripping one of the steel arms out of the dash as you 
  do so. The remaining arm, deciding to change tactics, 
  
  131─134 
   
  pins both your ankles to the floor. When the car begins to 
  accelerate to an even more dangerous speed you try 
  turning off the ignition but with no success. Will you 
  reach under the dash to pull the ignition wires out (turn to 
  267) or try putting the gear stick into neutral (turn to 
  337)? 
   
  131 
  You turn to face the truck, pistol in hand. If you have 
  Max’s son with you, he keeps running and soon 
  disappears over a slight rise. If you have any 
  SHOOTING skill, turn to 219, otherwise turn to 191. 
   
  132 
  Turn to 84. 
   
  133 
  You slip to one side as Flash fires. The bullet sings past 
  your ear; the blast temporarily deafens you; your shirt is 
  singed with powder burns; but you are alive! As quick as 
  a mad crab, you scuttle to the rear of the car – using it for 
  cover as Flash emerges, firing wildly. You could pick up 
  a rock and throw it at him (turn to 214); otherwise, if you 
  have either of the items listed below, you could throw 
  that at him: 
  Iron Spike  
  Turn to 247 
  Metal Stake  
  Turn to 279 
   
  134 
  When you approach and lean over her, she suddenly 
  explodes into a mass of writhing tentacles, resembling a 
  gigantic, land-based anemone. Fuhuruh! The monstrous 
  
  135─136 
   
  alien quickly twines its protoplasmic feelers around your 
  body and drags you toward a snapping, five-part mouth. 
  This is desperate! If you have one of the items listed 
  below, you can use it to try to escape; otherwise, as you 
  are defenceless, you are dragged helplessly screaming to 
  your doom and your adventure is over. 
  Tube of White Paste  
  Turn to 167 
  Fire Extinguisher  
  Turn to 198 
  Metal Pipe  
  Turn to 221 
   
  135 
  The sheep rush upon the car, milling around, rocking the 
  vehicle, and bleating ferociously. You take the kerosene 
  in hand and splash it about indiscriminately over their 
  woolly backs – intent on torching the lot of them. Before 
  you have a chance to throw a match, though, all the 
  sheep-things that were hit by the kero spontaneously 
  explode into rippling blue flames. They race about in 
  terror as they are quickly eaten away, and soon leaving 
  no trace of their existence other than a number of large 
  puddles of stinking, grey ooze. The remaining sheep set 
  up a terrified babbling and race off in all directions, panic 
  carrying them out of sight. The kerosene container is now 
  empty. Turn to 343. 
   
  136 
  When you draw opposite the granitic statue it gives a 
  small wheeze through a single nasal slit and expels a 
  poisonous gas. You stagger under its influence and 
  collapse to the ground as your consciousness slips away. 
  Your adventure is over. 
   
  
  137─138 
   
  137 
  Re-entering the shed you both approach the dog. The 
  owner makes for what used to be the biting end while 
  you circle behind. ‘There, there, Scruff,’ he says, giving a 
  soothing stroke to his pet’s head. Scruff, apparently not 
  himself, extends an oozing tongue that rapidly coils and 
  slithers a couple of feet along his master’s arm; the tip 
  buries itself under the skin of his shirtless armpit. The 
  garage owner screams and slumps unconscious to the 
  floor. Scruff disengages his tongue, winds it back into his 
  mouth, and takes to his heels – flying through the open 
  doorway. Deciding that the animal must be stopped 
  before it can spread its unknown disease, you give chase. 
  Outside, you see your quarry disappearing into the store. 
  Taking a nearby shovel in hand you step into the gloomy 
  interior and cast about for the hidden Scruff. When you 
  stop to listen, you hear the soft click of claws on lino 
  coming from behind the sweets’ counter, obviously the 
  dog. Will you dive over the top, weapon in hand (turn to 
  49) or hook the shovel under the counter in a cutting arc 
  (turn to 83)? 
   
  138 
  After ripping a sleeve from your shirt to use as a fuse, 
  you stuff it in the spout of the can and strike a match to it. 
  As if aware of your intention, the car starts to weave 
  wildly and side swiping the jeep. Your aim is true, 
  though, and you successfully lob the bomb onto the car’s 
  windscreen. With a violent explosion and a flash of heat, 
  the vehicle goes completely out of control and runs 
  directly into the side of the jeep. It explodes with a loud 
  
  139─142 
   
  roar, the blast killing both you and Max’s son. Your 
  adventure is over. 
   
  139 
  Using the utmost caution combined with the greatest 
  haste, you push the two Fuhuruh into one corner, pile all 
  the boulders and rocks that lie on the floor onto them, 
  then use this pile as a step ladder to jump to the ledge and 
  safety above. Free! Turn to 237. 
   
  140 
  You move. Flash’s gun goes off with a roar. The bullet 
  embeds itself in your chest and the force throws you to 
  the ground where you lie, unable to move, as 
  consciousness seeps away. Your adventure is over. 
   
  141 
  The corridor leads you into a sharp bend. At the very 
  juncture of the two corridors you see an irregularly 
  shaped door. Will you proceed: 
  Through the door?  
  Turn to 75 
  South?  
  Turn to 162 
  West?  
  Turn to 305 
   
  142 
  The furniture rushes toward you again, led by a small 
  standard lamp displaying a particularly distasteful zeal. 
  You kick it to one side, evade the chairs and piano, and 
  end up facing the door, which you blast shot after shot 
  until the magazine is empty. The door collapses in its 
  frame, allowing you to break free into the corridor. 
  Without wasting time you block the entrance to the 
  
  143─144 
   
  sitting room with the shattered remains of the door and 
  the now useless shotgun. If you haven’t already, you may 
  either go down the corridor (turn to 96) or enter the other 
  door (turn to 40). 
   
  143 
  The Ur-Sheriff explains that the Fuhuruh have 
  constructed an elaborate system of tunnels, caverns, and 
  elevators under and around Cabralowie. His intention, at 
  the moment, is to clear out a small nearby section in 
  order to search for some of the necessary alien eggs. ‘I’ll 
  just drop a canister of MOG-5 gas down the entrance. It 
  doesn’t kill them but they sure don’t like it! I want you to 
  stay here with this plasma generator and shoot anything 
  as soon as it sticks its head out.’ He passes you the 
  weapon you saw him firing earlier and then trots past a 
  nearby clump of saltbush, dropping a small canister 
  under it. A vigorous cloud rises followed by an 
  astonishing number of twisted, anthropomorphized 
  aliens, organic and machine, springing from the hidden 
  entrance and racing up the gully. Will you fire the 
  generator at them now (turn to 104) or let them pass then 
  shoot them in the back (turn to 121)? 
   
  144 
  Your efforts to control the vehicle are quite futile and the 
  maniacal thing continues on its way, eventually smashing 
  into one of the trees that line ANZAC Grove – lose 1 
  WOUND point. The metal arms release their grip and fall 
  to the floor, allowing you to climb – dazed – from the 
  wreck. Once clear, you turn to watch as the car begins to 
  bury itself into the ground, tossing heaps of dirt over 
  
  145─147 
   
  itself until all that remains is a small periscope which 
  rotates to fix its gaze full upon you. Shaken, you retreat 
  rapidly. Turn to 158. 
   
  145 
  A powerful beam of light fixes on you. The spacecraft, 
  taking note of your halo, intones: ‘Indeed, you bear the 
  mark of deputization. You may proceed to the main 
  airlock.’ A break appears in the blue energy field and you 
  hastily advance through. You quickly discover the main 
  airlock and find four numbered buttons inside, as if it is 
  also an elevator. Will you press button number: 
  One?  
  Turn to 175 
  Two?  
  Turn to 189 
  Three?  
  Turn to 212 
  Four?  
  Turn to 234 
   
  146 
  Breathing as quietly as possible and tiptoeing through dry 
  twigs, you step closer. If you have BUSH SKILLS, turn 
  to 206, otherwise turn to 255. 
   
  147 
  Eventually you arrive at a T-junction: two corridors head 
  north and west while the third disappears into the south. 
  From this southerly corridor you can hear the distant 
  sounds of metal striking metal. Will you go: 
  North?  
  Turn to 210 
  South?  
  Turn to 109 
  West?  
  Turn to 170 
   
  
  148─150 
   
  148 
  Flash tries to punch you in the head while keeping one 
  hand fixed on the wheel. Dodging the blow, you grab the 
  pump-action shotgun that lies between the two front 
  seats, and then dive out the door. Thankfully, the car is 
  still moving slowly so you manage to get away with only 
  being bruised and cut by the rocks on the roadside – lose 
  1 WOUND point. The shotgun has a WEIGHT = 2, if 
  you wish to keep it. Flash hits the brakes, bringing the car 
  to a screaming halt, and leaps forth, Magnum in hand, 
  firing wildly. You could pick up a rock to throw at him 
  (turn to 214). Otherwise, if you have one of the items 
  listed below, you could use one of these: 
  Shotgun  
  Turn to 196 
  Iron Spike  
  Turn to 247 
  Metal Stake  
  Turn to 279 
   
  149 
  You unscrew the lid from the Kerosene and hurl the can 
  into the gaping maw of the advancing garbage disposal. 
  The can smashes a steel tooth before disappearing down 
  the chute without effect. The ball circles and dives into 
  your chest – lose 1 WOUND point. If you have either of 
  the items listed below, you may use one; otherwise, 
  you’ll have to think of an alternative (turn to 225). 
  Pistol  
  Turn to 114 
  Axe  
  Turn to 181 
   
  150 
  The door swings open to reveal a low-ceilinged chamber 
  with two doors side by side in the eastern wall. Both look 
  well used. To keep the door open you leave the key here 
  
  151─152 
   
  – cross it from your equipment list. If you want to ignore 
  this room, you can proceed north (turn to 141); 
  otherwise, you can open either the left door (turn to 27) 
  or the right (turn to 7). 
   
  151 
  You spin the can toward the dog, hitting it on the snout 
  and removing its head with disconcerting ease. The body 
  skids to a halt, remaining standing on all fours, while the 
  head comes to rest nearby. Stunned, you stare in disbelief 
  as the body begins to grow a pair of eyes on long stalks 
  out of the middle of its back. Not to be outdone, the head 
  sprouts a number of spidery legs and scuttles out of sight 
  behind a biscuit barrel. After a few moments the gaping 
  neck wound on the body resolves into a collection of 
  rasping insectoid mouthparts. This last improbability 
  galvanizes you into action: with one graceful movement 
  you leap out of the room and slam the door shut, keeping 
  the horror on the other side. Turn to 76. 
   
  152 
  You enter another Y-junction: honeycomb tunnels 
  proceed north, south-east, and south-west. From one of 
  these tunnels – you cannot be sure which – exudes a 
  refreshing hint of a breeze. Subtract 1 from the amount of 
  TIME LEFT. Will you go: 
  North?  
  Turn to 67 
  South-East?  
  Turn to 243 
  South-West?  
  Turn to 172 
   
  
  153─156 
   
  153 
  You fill the pack with herbicide before approaching the 
  closest tree and give it a tentative spray. No effect. You 
  keep spraying some more and then notice that the tree is 
  no longer moving, at least not as quickly as before. 
  Encouraged, you set about spraying the others, quickly 
  bringing them all to a grinding halt. Only occasionally 
  will one of the trees give a tiny lurch forward or wave a 
  branch. Will you go find the rep and tell him about your 
  success (turn to 208) or refill the pack with another 
  chemical, either kerosene (turn to 128) or insecticide 
  (turn to 190)? 
   
  154 
  Turn to 305. 
   
  155 
  Diving back toward the trig, you slip the braces into the 
  metallic jaws, which owing to their liberal coating of 
  blood are quite slippery. With a few deft twists, you lever 
  the mechanical mouth open; the man slides away and 
  collapses to the ground. The trig lashes at you again with 
  its whirling razors, drawing even more blood – lose 1 
  WOUND point. Turn to 64. 
   
  156 
  Scattering matches in your haste, you fumble with the 
  box before striking a light and holding the naked flame to 
  the point where the blood-sucking tendrils emerge from 
  the soil. Instantly, they wither and exude a toxic gas that 
  you unwittingly breathe in – lose 1 WOUND point. Turn 
  to 366. 
  
  157─158 
   
   
  157 
  When you kneel down next to the man to feel his pulse 
  he jerks into sudden motion. His eyes flick open and 
  from his mouth extends a blue tongue at least six feet in 
  length that slithers around your body and arms with 
  terrifying speed. In a matter of moments you are 
  hopelessly trapped! Then the man’s body swells and 
  explodes like a spore ball – covering you with hundreds 
  of infant Fuhuruh grubs that begin to eat you alive. Your 
  adventure is over. 
   
  158 
  You head for the nearest building, which is the 
  Cabralowie Post Office and Coffee Shoppe. This 
  establishment also acts as a bank and newsagent, and is 
  run by a friendly middle-aged woman called Agnes. You 
  rush into the cool interior to be greeted by the delicious 
  aroma of brewing coffee. The pot sits on an old kero 
  heater in the coffee shop section at the back. Agnes cries 
  out a loud ‘Hello, doc!’ She is standing behind the Post 
  Office counter, sorting sheets of stamps. You rush up to 
  the counter, explaining the bizarre happenings of this 
  morning, and then falling silent as you realize that the 
  authorities should be instantly notified. Agnes, wanting 
  to hear more, invites you to sit down in the back of the 
  store to tell your story. Will you take time out for a 
  coffee to calm your nerves (turn to 3) or push on 
  immediately to contact the police (turn to 303)? 
   
  
  159─161 
   
  159 
  In a niche in the wall ahead, you see what appears to be a 
  statue of a pile of refuse. Its surface is pitted and 
  granite-like, yet its form is that of a heap of rotten old 
  socks. It is completely immobile. Will you creep past it 
  (turn to 136) or retreat westward along the tunnel (turn to 
  50)? 
   
  160 
  The two of you run like rabbits, sprinting across the flats. 
  But the truck gains quickly and it soon becomes clear 
  that you will be dead in a very short while. Suddenly the 
  boy stops and turns. In a display of incredible self-
  sacrifice, he starts to throw rocks at the approaching 
  vehicle. ‘Keep running!’ he cries. You hesitate, but the 
  lad cries out angrily, ‘Get away!’ The truck accelerates 
  toward the boy, giving you time to widen the gap. You 
  run for your life. Eventually the behemoth either crushes 
  the boy or gives up the chase – you cannot see which – 
  and turns once more in pursuit of you. You can keep 
  running (turn to 201) or, if you have either of the items 
  listed below, fight with: 
  Pistol  
  Turn to 131 
  Axe  
  Turn to 246 
   
  161 
  You walk across the paddock behind Ces’ house toward 
  the windmill. Its fan turns lazily in the breeze. ‘Watch,’ 
  says Ces as he leads you in a wide circle around it. Sure 
  enough, as you walk, the tin blades turn to follow your 
  movement, even against the wind. Figuring that there 
  must be a natural explanation, you approach closer, 
  
  162─164 
   
  noting the water pipe that issues from the pump in the 
  mill’s base: one end cuts across the paddock to the creek 
  and the other leads to the dams alongside the road. You 
  might as well check the pipes first. Will you follow them 
  toward the creek (turn to 220) or the dams (turn to 271)? 
   
  162 
  You enter a small room of extraordinarily strong 
  construction: steel girders hold back the walls and on the 
  eastern side is a circular steel door that looks like it 
  should belong in a bank. The number 30 is stencilled 
  boldly across its face. If you know how to open this door, 
  you may do so now; otherwise you will have to leave the 
  room by the only exit: north (turn to 141). 
   
  163 
  Her intentions regarding your welfare are quite obviously 
  less than positive. You scramble to the other side of the 
  store as the Agnes-monster leaps from the counter in 
  pursuit. Time to look to your defence! If you have an 
  Iron Spike, you could throw this at her (turn to 316), or 
  even throw one of the large jars of sweets that lie close at 
  hand (turn to 331). Otherwise, if you have your Medical 
  Kit, you could try to sedate her with an anaesthetic (turn 
  to 357). 
   
  164 
  ‘Victory is in our grasp!’ he exclaims as you reveal the 
  sphere. ‘This is a Machine Egg, the rarer of the two 
  types. Keep it safe, and don’t get it too warm or it may 
  hatch.’ That means, of course, that you now need only 
  find an Organic Egg. If you have a red sphere that you 
  
  165─166 
   
  want to show the Ur-Sheriff, turn to 184, otherwise, turn 
  to 143. 
   
  165 
  The garage owner goes off in search of Flash while you 
  wait about to keep an eye on the dog. After half an hour, 
  Flash’s blue Ford pulls up in a shower of dust and gravel. 
  The two men get out of the car and approach, neither 
  saying a word, both keeping eyes fixed upon you. ‘Hi,’ 
  you say a little nervously, wondering what’s got into 
  them. In response, Flash draws his Magnum Python and 
  opens fire, the bullet ripping through your shirt and 
  grazing your chest. Amazed, but quick off the mark, you 
  dive behind the shed as a hail of bullets follows. Then 
  there is only a silence in which you hear the shed door 
  being opened and paws running on dirt. Will you make a 
  dash for your car (turn to 34) or head cross-country 
  toward the Burang Creek, keeping the shed between you 
  and your assailants (turn to 100)? 
   
  166 
  The tunnel past the machine continues for a great 
  distance, dimly lit by sparsely placed light nodes in the 
  ceiling. Eventually it climbs up and terminates in a room. 
  After only a moment’s hesitation, Max declares this to be 
  the cold room beneath the Cabralowie Pub; a door in the 
  opposite wall presumably leads out. A sinister machine 
  with a multitude of arms and spidery legs holds a crushed 
  beer keg aloft; amber fluid drips slowly from the barrel 
  onto the device’s head and thence to the floor, which is 
  awash with the stuff. The machine remains immobile and 
  apparently inoperative. Slowly, you become aware of 
  
  167─170 
   
  sounds of pursuit rising from the tunnel below: metallic 
  clanking and servos hissing and whining. Will you roll a 
  couple of full kegs down the hole (turn to 360) or leave 
  the room via the door (turn to 391)? 
   
  167 
  You pull the tube from a pocket and immediately start 
  fighting off a couple of tentacles that try to snatch it from 
  your grasp. But you get the lid off and squeeze the white 
  contents over the Fuhuruh’s slimy body. No effect. The 
  creature jerks you from your feet and bites your life 
  away. Your adventure is over. 
   
  168 
  The car is hurtling towards you at eighty clicks by the 
  time you have picked up a few rocks and waited for it to 
  get within range. You hurl the first rock, which bounces 
  from the bonnet and over the roof; your second plummets 
  through the windscreen; and your third, still in hand, 
  never gets thrown as the car is upon you! If you have 
  SPRINTING ability, turn to 382, otherwise turn to 103. 
   
  169 
  Outside the house, in the driveway, you discover an old 
  Ford Zephyr, keys in ignition and door unlocked. It 
  appears to be quite normal. Will you take this car (turn to 
  339) or run toward the nearest house (turn to 17)? 
   
  170 
  You find yourself in a small, neat room constructed of 
  dressed stone blocks. There are two exit corridors: north 
  (turn to 272) or east (turn to 147). 
  
  171─173 
   
   
  171 
  With a heroic effort you manage to turn the car from its 
  course. In retaliation, it promptly goes out of control and 
  spins to a standstill. The door flies open, seat tilts, and 
  you find yourself unceremoniously dumped beside the 
  road. With a roar, the car starts up and accelerates along 
  the highway, rapidly changing colour and shape. Its new 
  extensions make it look somewhat like a police car… 
  Turn to 10. 
   
  172 
  You enter another Y-junction, but the floor of the 
  southern tunnel has fallen away into what is effectively a 
  bottomless pit: impassable. Subtract 1 from the amount 
  of TIME LEFT then decide whether you will go 
  north-east (turn to 152) or north-west (turn to 86). 
   
  173 
  You rip a sleeve from your shirt to use as a fuse, stuff it 
  in the neck of the bottle, and ignite it. The fuse gutters 
  badly, suggesting that the whisky is not of the best 
  quality. Regardless, you’re not going to drink it, you’re 
  going to throw it! As you lob it onto the car’s hood the 
  fuse is instantly blown out. The bottle smashes and turns 
  into a fountain of glass and whisky. Amazingly, the car 
  literally falls to pieces from this single blow: all the doors 
  and wheels fall off to leave the body of the car to nose 
  dive into the road where the process of disintegration is 
  culminated when the motor flies through the grille and 
  bounces after you. Impressive! Turn to 213. 
   
  
  174─175 
   
  174 
  With fingers dug deeply into the red clay of the dam bank 
  you try to drag yourself free. To your surprise your hands 
  close upon a buried sphere. Once you’ve pulled it into 
  open sight, it reveals itself to be a glowing, red colour 
  with six pulsing, blue bands set about its equator. You 
  may keep this if you wish (its WEIGHT = 1). 
  Meanwhile, your struggles are all to no avail. With 
  terrifying ease, the monster in the water gives you a sharp 
  tug and drags you under. Water fills your lungs when you 
  gasp in fear – lose 1 WOUND point. In a fit of hysteria 
  you begin thrashing about wildly. Turn to 108. 
   
  175 
  The elevator descends and you soon find yourself in what 
  appears to be the ship’s engine room. Machinery of 
  titanic power and massive proportion looms all around 
  you. There are numerous racks and boxes containing 
  large numbers of well-secured tools and instruments 
  whose purpose you can only guess at. Below is a list of 
  the few that you recognise as being potentially useful. 
  You may take as many as you can carry: 
  ITEM  
  WEIGHT 
  Chain and Plumb Bob   
  1 
  Circular Saw Blades   
  1 
  Fire Extinguisher  
  1 
  Metal Pipe  
  1 
  Hydraulic Spanner  
  2 
  Roll of Foil  
  1 
   
  When you have finished your selection, you return to the 
  elevator and press another button: 
  
  176 
   
  Two  
  Turn to 189 
  Three  
  Turn to 212 
  Four  
  Turn to 234 
   
  176 
  Fearfully, you walk out onto the road, revealing yourself. 
  The grazier views you with no small amount of 
  suspicion, as does his dog, which bares its fangs and 
  growls. After a few moments, during which you fill the 
  man in on the morning’s happenings, he relaxes. He 
  returns to replacing the tyre, explaining how overnight 
  his sheep have turned into savage beasts with a blood lust 
  unparalleled by anything in his experience. ‘Been 
  shooting them all morning,’ he says, patting his shotgun, 
  ‘doesn’t seem to kill them, but keeps them at a safe 
  distance.’ The kelpie suddenly stiffens, ears pricked up, 
  and then leaps to its feet, howling. ‘Here we go again,’ 
  says the grazier, climbing into the back of the ute, ‘you’d 
  better get in.’ A soft bleating begins, gradually getting 
  louder and louder. Then, from around a bend in the road, 
  comes a large mob of Killer Sheep: eyes silvery and 
  crazed, blood spattered across fanged mouths. When they 
  see the car they let cry a most horrific cacophony – a 
  blood bleat – before charging. Taking great bounds, 
  nostrils flaring, they quickly surround the vehicle. Time 
  to select a weapon! If you have any of the following, turn 
  to the appropriate page, otherwise turn to 393. 
  Chainsaw or Axe  
  Turn to 36 
  Herbicide/Insecticide Spray  
  Turn to 70 
  Pistol or Shotgun  
  Turn to 85 
  Kerosene Spray or Can  
  Turn to 135 
   
  
  177─178 
   
  177 
  The tunnel leads you into a circular chamber whose 
  rocky walls are punctured on the eastern side by an 
  irregularly shaped door and in the other three directions 
  by passageways. Will you proceed: 
  Through the door?  
  Turn to 361 
  North?  
  Turn to 116 
  South?  
  Turn to 50 
  West?  
  Turn to 280 
   
  178 
  You head off to the motel reception where you pay the 
  bill and exchange a few pleasantries with the proprietor. 
  As you turn to leave he mentions that the travelling 
  salesman who spoke to you the previous night seems to 
  have disappeared. ‘Strange,’ says the motel keeper, ‘but 
  all his things are still in his room, and his car’s still 
  parked out front. Although…’ he says, scratching his 
  head, ‘I could have sworn that when he checked in last 
  night he was driving something different.’ Anyway, he 
  asks you to keep an eye out for the missing man and 
  suggests that if he doesn’t turn up soon the police will 
  have to be contacted. When you leave the reception and 
  walk past the salesman’s car you notice several papers 
  laying on the front seat, perhaps an indication of what has 
  happened to the fellow? Will you look at these 
  documents (turn to 68) or, if you haven’t already, either 
  go out to the hippy commune to see if any of the kids 
  need a checkup (turn to 233), or go to the garage to have 
  your tyre repaired (turn to 111)? 
   
  
  179─181 
   
  179 
  Mistiming your grab for the darting wings, you glide past 
  the filament and plummet into the abyss. Though deep, 
  the pit is not bottomless. Eventually the floor of the 
  cavern terminates your flight. Your adventure is over. 
   
  180 
  The key explodes in the lock (cross it from your 
  equipment list) and the door does not open. Discouraged, 
  you leave the door and head back through the north exit – 
  turn to 141. 
   
  181 
  Flourishing the axe you fall upon the larger machine, 
  smashing into it with decisive strokes. The blade is sharp 
  and your eye is good. After only three blows the garbage 
  disposal grinds to a satisfactory halt; smoke billows from 
  two of the cuts. However, the floating eye does not take 
  the destruction of its comrade lightly and rushes to its 
  defence, striking you in the legs with its body – lose any 
  SPRINTING ability. It circles away, banks, and dives 
  again. This time, though, you intercept it with a lightning 
  fast blow from the axe. It goes out of control and careens 
  down a side passage in a flurry of sparks; it is gone. Max 
  leads the way past the smoking garbage disposal. Turn to 
  166. 
   
  
  182─184 
   
  182 
  The corridor leads you to a metal walled T-junction. 
  Three passages fly straight as arrows. Will you go: 
  North?  
  Turn to 291 
  South?  
  Turn to 356 
  West?  
  Turn to 381 
   
  183 
  You get in the car. Instantly, articulated steel bands arc 
  out of your seat and wrap themselves around your chest, 
  pinning you. Flash drives slowly down the road, turns his 
  head toward you with a queer motion, and then smiles an 
  eerie, pebble-toothed smile. ‘You will be dead soon,’ he 
  says, ‘you will all be dead... soon.’ With the realization 
  that all is not well in downtown Cabralowie, you struggle 
  against your bonds. If you have STRENGTH, turn to 
  292, otherwise turn to 46. 
   
  184 
  ‘Ah,’ nods the Ur-Sheriff sagaciously when you present 
  the sphere, ‘notice the pulsing bands on the side? This is 
  not an egg but a key.’ He explains that the Fuhuruh 
  sometimes make use of circular steel doors to defend 
  strong points in their hives. To use such a key for the 
  purposes of this book, if you come across one of these 
  doors there will be a number printed on it; multiply this 
  number by the number of bands on the key then turn to 
  the page that equals the result. If you have a blue sphere 
  that you want to show the Ur-Sheriff, turn to 164, 
  otherwise turn to 143. 
   
  
  185─186 
   
  185 
  The furniture rushes forward, but this time you are ready! 
  With heavy blows you carve into the soft timber and 
  upholstery: the two-seater collapses; the coffee table goes 
  in one blow; the easy chair virtually dissolves. The only 
  piece that gives you any real trouble is the upright piano 
  which, charging like a bull elephant and giving off 
  plangent chords like screams of pain when you strike it, 
  backs you into a corner and then almost kills you by 
  falling on top of you. Fortunately, you skip to one side, 
  and then finish it off at leisure, knocking its frame to 
  pieces. Under a pile of debris that you recognize as once 
  being the two-seater, you discover a glowing cobalt-blue 
  sphere stamped with the digits: 300. You may take this if 
  you wish; its WEIGHT = 1. You exit the room. If you 
  haven’t already, you may either proceed down the 
  corridor (turn to 96) or enter the other door (turn to 40). 
   
  186 
  When you press the button the grenade instantly begins 
  to violently expel a mustard-yellow gas. You lob the 
  weapon into the centre of the chamber and watch with 
  fascinated horror as every one of the grand-looking Apex 
  Fuhuruh dies in convulsions. The several hundred 
  remaining aliens immediately seem to lose track of what 
  they were doing: the soldiers who were charging you halt 
  and begin to commit suicide. The other Fuhuruh either 
  wander aimlessly or fall to attacking each other in 
  paroxysms of violence. Then a great shudder runs 
  through the ground as the hall behind you collapses, 
  completely blocking your exit. The entire warren is about 
  to self-destruct! Nearby, you spot another of the circular 
  
  187─189 
   
  steel doors. This with the number 35 stencilled across it. 
  You dodge your way over toward it, avoiding despairing 
  aliens and collapsing earthworks. If you have the key to 
  open this door, you may do so, otherwise turn to 39. 
   
  187 
  The Fly Spray proves itself to be very effective! Upon 
  being sprayed, the tendrils instantly wither. As a bonus, 
  the stalked eyes, which are probably part of the same 
  blood-sucking vegetable, also dissolve into a small pool 
  of ooze. Turn to 366. 
   
  188 
  Slamming the gear stick into reverse and putting your 
  foot to the floor sends the car sliding straight back into 
  the two men, knocking both to the ground. You stop and 
  get out, but recoil in horror when you see the bodies: 
  chitinous limbs loop from necks and chests as the 
  remains twist and thrash into new shapes. Flash turns his 
  head and hisses – no teeth, no tongue, a pair of glowing 
  red eyes set in the back of his throat. Retreating from the 
  scene, will you go over to the police car to radio for help 
  (turn to 321) or go into the store (turn to 355)? 
   
  189 
  The elevator opens to reveal the night-covered plains 
  north of Cabralowie. If you wish to leave the spacecraft, 
  turn to 254, otherwise press another button: 
  One  
  Turn to 175 
  Three  
  Turn to 212 
  Four  
  Turn to 234 
   
  
  190─192 
   
  190 
  You fill the pack with insecticide and walk into the trees, 
  spraying from left to right. There is no immediate effect, 
  so you spray a bit more, then again a bit more. Suddenly, 
  a loud rumble sounds through the air followed by the 
  eruption from the ground, at ten-foot intervals, of fully-
  grown trees. Waving their branches insanely, they tear 
  through the earth and set upon the rep’s house, turning it 
  into a pile of matchwood and corrugated iron. What have 
  you unleashed! In terror, you race through the rampaging 
  trees, being torn by a branch here, a root there, and 
  stumbling in the furrows – lose 2 WOUND points. 
  Eventually you break free of the newly created forest. 
  After casting a glum look back at the remains of the rep’s 
  house – wondering what has become of him – you set off 
  into Cabralowie, running for the nearest house. Turn to 
  388. 
   
  191 
  As the truck bears down on you, the glowing red eyes are 
  fixed and glaring, presenting a suitable target. You fire a 
  series of shots and produce a number of bullet holes in 
  the windscreen but none seem to have deadly effect. Turn 
  to 102. 
   
  192 
  You enter a tiny room of triangular shape. The walls are 
  apparently made from old fibreboard that has been 
  dragged down from the surface. There are two exit 
  corridors: will you go south (turn to 127) or west (turn to 
  210)? 
   
  
  193─196 
   
  193 
  Keeping out of range of the trig’s razors, you splash it 
  with some Ethanol, intending to set it alight with the 
  matches. To your surprise, and the hippy’s relief, the 
  alcohol seems to first paralyse, then disintegrate the 
  device: all the joints and moving parts come undone and 
  collapse into an untidy pile on the ground. Turn to 64. 
   
  194 
  In a terribly athletic display, you jump on the bar, leap 
  across to a table, then bound through a plate glass 
  window, cutting yourself to ribbons. Collapsing on the 
  ground outside, you quickly bleed to death. Your 
  adventure is over. 
   
  195 
  You enter another Y-junction: honeycomb tunnels 
  proceed to the south, north-east, and north-west. From 
  the southern tunnel a wan light emanates alongside a 
  continuous sound of falling gravel. Subtract 1 from the 
  amount of TIME LEFT. Will you go: 
  South?  
  Turn to 229 
  North-East?  
  Turn to 86 
  North-West?  
  Turn to 334 
   
  196 
  You raise the shotgun, pump a round into the breach, and 
  fire. The blast punches a hole through Flash’s chest and 
  knocks him to the ground. Tentacles – each six inches 
  long and bile green to boot – thrash from the wound. 
  Flash calmly raises his head to look at you and says, ‘I’ll 
  be right in a moment, then we’ll continue.’ The tentacles 
  
  197─199 
   
  cease flaying about wildly and begin to rebuild the 
  wound. Weird! Turn to 23. 
   
  197 
  As you run up, the man grabs you and throws you to the 
  ground. He dives down beside you, keeping a wary eye 
  upon the machine that is busily dismembering your car. 
  He explains that he is a lawyer from Pitt Street, Sydney; 
  he probably runs the property you are on as a tax dodge. 
  He goes on to tell you that he flew up to Cabralowie 
  today only to discover that all his sheep had developed 
  psychopathic tendencies. In addition, his station hands 
  had devolved into axe wielding maniacs. ‘Not to mention 
  finding that in the shed!’ he exclaims as he points to the 
  agricultural machinery devouring your motor vehicle. He 
  wants to fly out but needs your help to carry the aircraft 
  fuel to the airstrip. ’It’s just inside the barn,’ he says, 
  grinning. Will you trust him (turn to 129) or not (turn to 
  242)? 
   
  198 
  The Fire Extinguisher is not a Fire Extinguisher after all: 
  when you point it at the Fuhuruh and pull the trigger it 
  unfolds and reveals itself to be a container full of fine 
  tools of the most intricate nature. ‘Oh, no!’ you scream as 
  the creature wrenches you forward into its snapping 
  maw. Your adventure is over. 
   
  199 
  The bottle arcs through the air and smashes against the 
  animal’s shoulder. Instantly, it bursts into fire: small, 
  clear flames flicker over its coat, penetrating like acid. 
  
  200─203 
   
  Taking a nearby fire extinguisher you spray the dog with 
  carbon dioxide, but all to no avail. Slowly it dissolves 
  away to leave nothing but a sticky pool of viscous, grey 
  sludge that stinks of burnt cinnamon. Strange! You saw 
  no sparks. And besides, nothing burns down to… to that. 
  Bemused, you exit the storeroom. Turn to 76. 
   
  200 
  The key explodes in the lock – cross it from your 
  equipment list. If you have another key you could try to 
  open the door with this, otherwise your adventure is over. 
   
  201 
  If you have a KEEN EYE, turn to 228, otherwise turn to 
  102. 
   
  202 
  She pounces: her arms squeeze your torso while tentacles 
  and tails twine through and around your legs. Her face, 
  becoming less recognizably human by the instant, leers 
  inches from your eyes. Snapping and snarling, she makes 
  several death bites at your neck. Things are getting 
  desperate! You have just enough leeway to twist a bit or 
  slam your weight against hers. Will you: 
  Elbow her in the midriff? 
  Turn to 222 
  Bash her against the nearby banking grille? Turn to 265 
  Trip her over the coffee furniture? 
  Turn to 285 
   
  203 
  SUCCESS! The door swings into the roof to reveal a 
  broad subterranean pool of clear water. Once you step 
  into the room you notice the most refreshing odour of 
  
  204─205 
   
  ozone. You test the water, scattering a few drops from 
  your fingers onto your tongue. Eventually you drink 
  deeply and wash the worst of your cuts and bruises. To 
  your astonishment, all fatigue drops away and you feel 
  whole again: recover all your WOUND points. After one 
  last swig of liquid you go back through the door and up 
  the stairs. Turn to 266. 
   
  204 
  You enter the room on tiptoe, glancing from left to right. 
  With a rush silent as death, the dog bounds at you from 
  behind the furthest row of shelves. In a panic you grab 
  the nearest thing to hand and throw it at the animal. Did 
  you throw a: 
  Can of Paint? 
  Turn to 122 
  Can of Beans? 
  Turn to 151 
  Bottle of Turpentine? 
  Turn to 199 
   
  205 
  Cautious: you slowly ease yourself toward the creature 
  until you are just out of arm’s reach. Your heart leaps in 
  your chest when the beast quickly steps forward and 
  slaps a grey device the size of a matchbox onto your 
  head. But your alarm soon subsides as you hear speech 
  injected straight into your brain from the box: ‘Relax, 
  fellow sentient creature. I am the authorized Ur-Sheriff 
  for this sector,’ here it performs a short dance, possibly a 
  salute. ‘The situation, though critical, is under control.’ It 
  fumbles in a deep pocket and pulls forth a spiky ball that 
  it tosses toward you. The fist-sized device hits you in the 
  chest, changing to a bright red colour, then begins to 
  orbit around your head like a halo. The Ur-Sheriff says, 
  
  205 
   
  ‘You have been deputized in the defence of your planet 
  against the Fuhuruh, who I am sure you are quite familiar 
  with.’ The Ur-Sheriff then gives you a short lecture 
  concerning the menace that has fallen upon Cabralowie: 
  The Fuhuruh are a space-borne hive culture of twin sexes 
  – one organic, the other mechanical (the arrangement. is 
  somewhat complicated) – whose eggs drift in deepest 
  space, occasionally falling onto an unsuspecting planet 
  and wreaking catastrophic damage if left unchecked. 
  When dried and crushed the eggs have a mild 
  hallucinogenic effect upon certain rich, space-faring 
  species. The Ur-Sheriff conjectures that this is how the 
  monstrous Fuhuruh were brought to Earth. ‘Probably 
  some young rocket-head bringing his she-and-it beast out 
  here to smell some egg dust, sit in the backseat, and 
  watch the yurdle furd. The sheer irresponsibility!’ he 
  curses, the grey box not translating. The Fuhuruh are 
  completely without sentience or moral sense and behave 
  in much the same way as ants or bees. To destroy them 
  the Apex of their society, several ‘Kings’ and ‘Queens’, 
  must be eliminated, thereafter the rest of the hive will 
  spontaneously commit race suicide. Unfortunately, the 
  creatures are incredibly resilient to even the most 
  punishing physical maltreatment and the only sure way 
  of exterminating them is to perform a detailed genetic 
  analysis of a couple of their eggs (as the creatures 
  spontaneously mutate from one generation to another 
  their genetic material alters) to derive some suitable 
  biological toxins with which to attack them . ‘So,’ says 
  the Ur-Sheriff, ‘our task is to find a couple of eggs – one 
  mechanical, the other organic – and get them back to my 
  spacecraft for the genetic analysis.’ These eggs, he tells 
  
  206─208 
   
  you, usually look like bluish-coloured spheres and are 
  difficult to find. If you don’t trust this creature, turn to 
  377. Otherwise, if you have a bright red sphere, you 
  could show it to the Ur-Sheriff (turn to 184), or if you 
  have a bright blue sphere, you could show him this (turn 
  to 164). If you have neither, or wish to keep them 
  concealed until later, turn to 143. 
   
  206 
  When twenty yards away, you can hear the grazier 
  cursing under his breath – between turns of the wheel 
  brace – about his ‘damn sheep going all strange’ and 
  bewailing the fate of his faithful hound. Will you 
  continue to creep closer (turn to 255) or step out onto the 
  road so he can see you (turn to 176)? 
   
  207 
  With one deft leap you grab the filament a foot above 
  where it joins the wings. To your discomfort, you 
  discover that it secretes a clear acidic fluid that badly 
  burns your hands (but, as you’re dangling over a 
  bottomless pit, you hold on regardless) – lose 1 WOUND 
  point. The wings fly hither and thither but eventually 
  bring you close enough to the exit on the other side for 
  you to drop to safety. Turn to 237. 
   
  208 
  The rep is pleased to see you with your pack on your 
  back and a triumphant gleam in your eye. ‘That should 
  hold the buggers!’ he cries gleefully. After a brief 
  discussion, the two of you decide to round up as many of 
  the local residents as possible, assemble at the rep’s 
  
  209─211 
   
  place, and conduct a systematic attack on the invaders. 
  Straws are drawn and it is left to you to go in search of 
  help. If you wish to keep the Pack it has a WEIGHT=2. 
  There are three obvious directions in which to go: 
  The nearest house 
  Turn to 388 
  The only other house in sight 
  Turn to 17 
  The Mindip Road 
  Turn to 241 
   
  209 
  You grab the tendrils with your hands. To your horror, 
  the blood sucking vegetable extrudes a whole brace of 
  new tendrils that waste no time in winding themselves 
  around and up your arms; a few even reach your neck. 
  All bury their tips under your skin; all drink. You feel 
  yourself slipping away, a new, invasive element intruding 
  into your mind, making it its own. Your adventure is 
  over. 
   
  210 
  You enter a large, circular chamber whose walls are 
  carved directly from the living rock; the finish, though, is 
  quite smooth. There are four corridors flying to the four 
  quarters of the compass. Will you go: 
  North? 
  Turn to 313 
  South? 
  Turn to 147 
  East? 
  Turn to 192 
  West? 
  Turn to 249 
   
  211 
  You leap to the man’s aid, trying to prize the jaws apart 
  with your hands. The trig fights you off with several 
  whirling razors that slash out of its triangular carapace 
  
  212 
   
  into your arm – lose 1 WOUND point. Fortunately, you 
  have your Medical Kit under arm. After having a quick 
  search, you come up with three items that may be of 
  some use in rescuing the man. Which will you employ: 
  A Hypodermic of Anaesthetic? 
  Turn to 105 
  Surgical Braces for Mouths? 
  Turn to 155 
  Ethanol and Matches? 
  Turn to 193 
   
  212 
  The elevator opens onto what appears to be a sort of lab 
  or maybe even living quarters: there is a large chair, a 
  huge bunk, several monitors, and a whole host of delicate 
  instruments, machines, and devices of dubious function. 
  You enter the room and after a detailed search discover 
  three small devices scattered around the place that fit in a 
  general sort of way the machine described by Xox as 
  being necessary for the manufacture of the anti-Fuhuruh 
  biological toxins. Each device has a different pictorial 
  label (you can’t decipher the flowing script written on 
  each); these are: 
  
  213─214 
   
  If you do not have both of the alien eggs you will have to 
  return to the elevator (turn to 387). Otherwise, select 
  which device you will put the eggs in: 
  One 
  Turn to 268 
  Two 
  Turn to 310 
  Three 
  Turn to 332 
   
  213 
  The other car, driving on the opposite side of the jeep, 
  veers in and sideswipes your vehicle. A complicated set 
  of robotic arms erupts through the thin skin of a rear door 
  to grab Max’s son from where he sits behind the steering 
  wheel and then tosses him into the back seat of the car. 
  He disappears from view with hardly a sound. Your jeep 
  begins to veer out of control. Having finished with the 
  young man, the robotic arms are now reaching for you! 
  You dodge their chromium talons, jump into the recently 
  vacated driver’s seat and gun the motor to avoid your 
  attacker. You are heading at speed for the crossroads 
  over ANZAC Grove: a long line of trees stretches across 
  your path. Will you attempt to force the other car into 
  one of these trees (turn to 251) or attempt to evade it 
  (turn to 297)? 
   
  214 
  With one swift motion you sweep down, grab a boulder, 
  and cast it at the policeman. Your missile strikes him in 
  the shoulder and completely removes his arm, gun and 
  all. Flash, nonplussed, sways uneasily and looks down at 
  his detached limb. The arm, incredibly, rapidly sprouts a 
  number of spindly insectoid legs and two limpid eyes on 
  stalks. This mini creature scuttles toward you, firing the 
  
  215─217 
   
  gun as it comes, still clasped in Flash’s bloodless hand. 
  Fortunately, its aim is poor and only one of the bullets 
  hits you, grazing your arm – lose 1 WOUND point. Turn 
  to 23. 
   
  215 
  The remaining invaders advance quickly in a series of 
  hops, bounds and slithers. You have no obvious weapon 
  to employ and even one of the creatures would be enough 
  to kill both of you. Discretion seems to be the better part 
  of valour in this ease: you run. Will you dive through a 
  window (turn to 194) or exit through one of the side 
  doors (turn to 55)? 
   
  216 
  You take the controls on the co-pilot’s side of the cockpit 
  and pull the plane out of the dive. The octopus-thing, 
  which has been only temporarily disabled, comes 
  hopping and flying out of the rear cabin in a rage to 
  attach itself to your shoulder. The tentacles snake out and 
  the pain becomes unbearable. You cannot keep the plane 
  under control. There is very little time and nothing in 
  sight other than a fire extinguisher and a medical kit. 
  Which will you hit it with: the extinguisher (turn to 286) 
  or the kit (turn to 239)? 
   
  217 
  The dog, looking less and less dog-like by the moment, 
  narrows the gap. Finally, it leaps upon you and brings 
  you to the ground. Instantly its tongue extends a good 
  eighteen inches, wrapping around your arm and probing 
  with its needle tip for a major vein or artery. Will you hit 
  
  218─220 
   
  the creature (turn to 257) or try to lever its tongue off 
  your arm (turn to 379)? 
   
  218 
  You enter a large cavern to immediately find yourself 
  under bombardment from an unknown number of 
  squealing little critters all lodged in cracks and holes in 
  the ceiling that pelt you with rocks. One strikes you a 
  nasty blow on the head – lose 1 WOUND point. There 
  are four exits, so will you proceed: 
  North? 
  Turn to 97 
  South? 
  Turn to 280 
  East? 
  Turn to 116 
  West? 
  Turn to 394 
   
  219 
  The truck approaches at speed and continues to 
  accelerate. Thick fumes pour from its twin exhaust. You 
  fire two shots: the first punches a neat, star shaped burst 
  in the windscreen; the second does likewise but succeeds 
  in taking the red eyes with it. The truck gradually veers 
  away, turning tighter and tighter, until it jack-knives and 
  rolls. The vehicle immediately sets about reconstructing 
  itself, so you take the opportunity to quietly slip away 
  unseen. Turn to 99. 
   
  220 
  The two of you follow the water pipe toward the Burang 
  Creek. Passing a thin line of trees, you descend into the 
  dry, sandy bed. The pipe, thin and rusty, has its intake 
  buried in the sand while the control valve sits level with 
  the bank. Clanging sounds of metal on metal can be 
  
  221─223 
   
  heard rushing through the pipe. To investigate these 
  noises, will you dig up the buried end of the pipe (turn to 
  87) or turn the supply valve (turn to 30)? 
   
  221 
  You pull the pipe out, intent on bashing the creature, then 
  hear a faint – possibly telepathic – voice whisper: 
  ‘Blowpipe.’ Distracted by a sudden, tugging wrench from 
  the Fuhuruh you ignore the voice, but when you raise the 
  pipe overhead 
  the 
  voice 
  becomes unmistakable: 
  ‘Blowpipe.’ Taking this as a hint, you raise the pipe to 
  your mouth and blow down it: a long, lusty puff of air. A 
  ferocious spate of iridescent pink spheres exudes from 
  the open end and fall upon the monster, reducing it to a 
  pool of grey ooze in an instant. Free, you notice that there 
  are two doors in the back of the niche. Will you open the 
  left door (turn to 252) or the right (turn to 307)? 
   
  222 
  You perform a snap twist, rolling in her arms, and sink 
  your elbow into her sternum. Astoundingly, her chest 
  caves in as if constructed of paper; your arm sinks from 
  sight. A horrible snapping follows as a pair of enormous 
  jaws formed in her chest and hidden beneath her clothes 
  snap shut on your arm, ripping it to shreds. You collapse 
  in her grip, overcome by pain, shock, and blood loss. 
  Your adventure is over. 
   
  223 
  Since you are substantially slower than the kangaroos, 
  their vanguard is soon on your heels. You slide to a halt 
  and spin to defend yourself but the creatures are too fast. 
  
  224─227 
   
  Merciless, they slash with talons and gore with fangs 
  until you are dead. Your adventure is over. 
   
  224 
  After a few minutes the process is complete and the 
  device shoots a jet-black cylinder into a silver tray ready 
  for your collection. Possibly it is a Gas Grenade. The 
  number 100 is stamped on its case. If you wish, you may 
  take it (its WEIGHT=1). Turn to 387. 
   
  225 
  Hypothesizing that the darting smaller machine is a scout 
  – literally an eye for the larger – you decide that this 
  should be destroyed or incapacitated first. Will you strike 
  it with Max’s empty shotgun (turn to 293) or use your 
  bare hands (turn to 260)? 
   
  226 
  You follow the corridor until it undergoes a sharp turn. 
  Just at this point, you discover a narrow, octagonal door 
  set back in a niche. Will you proceed: 
  Through the door? 
  Turn to 381 
  North? 
  Turn to 305 
  West? 
  Turn to 84 
   
  227 
  The truck rattles off down the road. When you turn back 
  towards Flash, you notice that his ears seem to be 
  somewhat pointier than you remembered them, and that 
  his skin appears to have an unnatural blue cast to it. He 
  sits rigid in the seat, staring straight ahead through 
  impenetrable sunglasses. ‘Get in the car,’ he says slowly, 
  
  228─229 
   
  as if having difficulty with the words. Will you do as he 
  says (turn to 183) or refuse (turn to 298)? 
   
  228 
  The truck is right behind you and death is only an instant 
  away when you notice a deep ditch to one side, partially 
  hidden behind some saltbush. The trench’s purpose is not 
  clear and its depth unknown, but you fling yourself into it 
  regardless. With a victorious blast from its horn, the truck 
  drives straight over you. One of the front wheels 
  plummets into the ditch, showering dirt over you. For a 
  heart stopping second the tread hangs only inches from 
  your face, but the impact on the truck sends it completely 
  out of control. It buckets as the wheel lifts out of the 
  trench, skids, and then jack-knives and flips over with a 
  terrific crash. After what seems an eternity of dust and 
  shrieking metal, it comes to a jagged halt on its side. 
  Shaken, you climb unharmed from the hole to discover 
  the vehicle busily reconstructing itself. Fortunately, it has 
  been sufficiently disabled to allow you time to escape. 
  Turn to 99. 
   
  229 
  After only a short distance you find your way completely 
  blocked by the body of a truly tremendous Fuhuruh. Its 
  bloated, putrescent body – glowing feebly – fills the 
  narrow tunnel while its one exposed limb mindlessly 
  lashes at the walls, tearing rocks and gravel free. Subtract 
  1 from the amount of TIME LEFT. You head back north. 
  Turn to 195. 
   
  
  230─232 
   
  230 
  Pursuing the children, you hear their cries for help 
  becoming even shriller. After a moment you stumble 
  upon a few of them brushing frantically at their bodies, 
  which are covered with tiny, squirming creatures that you 
  soon realize are mice. But what mice! Somehow the 
  rodents have developed huge fangs that they are greedily 
  sinking into the kids. And their eyes… their eyes are like 
  the eyes of no animal of this earth. Will you try pulling 
  the vampiric mice from the children’s bodies (turn to 
  385) or cast about for an alternative (turn to 115)? 
   
  231 
  The two of you synchronize your plans, then jump to the 
  beer taps and begin to spray the amber fluid around the 
  crowded room. The creatures appear to be completely 
  impervious to it, but the effect on the machines is 
  impressive: all begin to disintegrate. A large proportion 
  instantly collapses into piles of useless scrap while the 
  remainder go completely berserk and start cutting up 
  everything in the room. This has its pros and cons: most 
  of the creatures in the room are ripped to shreds, but in 
  their frenzy the machines also attack you – lose 1 
  WOUND point. Eventually, all the machines are 
  destroyed and only some of the creatures remain. Turn to 
  215. 
   
  232 
  You pour the Vodka into the pool then taunt the crab 
  beasts to approach. They flick their paddle-shaped rear 
  legs and sluice across toward you, instantly disintegrating 
  when they come in contact with the alcohol. Triumphant, 
  
  233─234 
   
  you enter the pool. Make a note that the Water Number = 
  5. Turn to 5. 
   
  233 
  You drive north along the highway, leaving the town. As 
  you approach the turn-off to the hippy ashram you notice 
  ‘Flash’ – the local copper – sitting in his blue Ford and 
  zapping passing trucks with his roof-mounted radar. You 
  wave and nod, then turn off, bumping along the rough 
  dirt track. When you arrive, you discover that the hippies 
  are about to set off on a short expedition to the trig point 
  on the hill overlooking the commune. Evidently the 
  children have recently become frightened that the place is 
  bewitched. One even claims to have been bitten by the 
  trig marker. One of the parents, a tall amiable man with 
  hair and beard almost to his waist, is about to take all the 
  kids up to the trig to show them there’s no reason to be 
  afraid. He invites you along, saying they’ll only be half 
  an hour and that you can give the kids their check-up 
  when you get back. Will you go with them (turn to 371) 
  or, if you haven’t already, either go to the motel 
  reception to pay your bill (turn to 178) or deliver Old 
  Ces’ dentures (turn to 329)? 
   
  234 
  The elevator rises and opens into a cramped chamber 
  dominated by a mammoth crash couch and several banks 
  of inscrutable instruments. A small locker to one side has 
  several items in it that may be of some use to you; they 
  are listed below and you can take as many as you can 
  carry (keep in mind that your maximum WEIGHT 
  allowance is 5). 
  
  235─236 
   
   
  ITEM 
  WEIGHT 
  Uncharged Power Gun 
  1 
  Sticky Mine 
  2 
  Tube of White Paste 
  1 
  Map of Stars 
  1 
   
  The only other thing of interest in the room is a large red 
  hemisphere set in one arm of the crash couch. You can 
  take this if you wish (turn to 326), otherwise you return 
  to the elevator and press either the first (turn to 175), 
  second (turn to 189), or third button (turn to 212). 
   
  235 
  Employing a gigantic bound, you stomp onto the stalked 
  eyes and kick them into broken twigs. You can’t help 
  noticing that they immediately start to reconstruct 
  themselves with a writhing frenzy. However, the boy has 
  been freed, since the eyes are obviously part of the same 
  organism as the tendrils. More tendrils erupt from the 
  ground, this time at your feet. If you have FAST 
  REFLEXES, turn to 264, otherwise turn to 312. 
   
  236 
  With flagging strength you clear the fence and land in the 
  tall grass, nearly breaking your ankle on the ploughed 
  furrows that crease the dry ground. In despair, you 
  hobble away. Revving its motor and blaring its horn in 
  delight, the car races through the barbed wire fence and 
  into the field, only yards behind you. Fortuitously, the 
  same furrows that have hobbled you remove the car’s 
  front wheels with a crash. It slides nose down in dirt and 
  
  237─238 
   
  grass to a devastatingly sudden halt. Its motor growls 
  aggressively and showers of dirt spray up from its 
  spinning rear wheels, but otherwise the vehicle remains 
  completely crippled. Warily, you limp away from the 
  wreckage until it is out of sight. You have two choices: 
  northwards, the road to Mindip is in sight (turn to 241), 
  or southwards lies Cabralowie (turn to 10). 
   
  237 
  You walk down a short corridor and into a large hall 
  whose ceiling appears to be constructed from the 
  foundations of one of Cabralowie’s buildings. The whole 
  thing is saved from collapse by a series of roughly pitted 
  columns of rock running around the walls. The hall is full 
  of the mechanical variety of’ Fuhuruh, clicking and 
  whirring. Upon seeing you, they spring into immediate 
  and hostile activity. Several tall creatures on articulated 
  steel legs scamper in a pincer movement to entrap you, 
  while a variety of steel spheres roll directly forward. If 
  you have one of the items listed below, you may employ 
  it in your defence, otherwise turn to 392. 
  Chain and Plumb Bob 
  Turn to 324 
  Circular Saw Blades 
  Turn to 294 
  Sticky Mine 
  Turn to 263 
   
  238 
  Old Ces leads the way up the bank, surprisingly nimble 
  for a man in his condition. Once at the top you notice 
  silvery shapes, low and silent, slithering between the tall 
  gum trees. You hesitate, caught between the machine 
  behind, which is advancing up the bank via clumsy 
  bounds, and the unknown yet certainly menacing things 
  
  239─241 
   
  in front. Suddenly, one of the silver shapes springs from 
  a tree and lands on your shoulders. Instantly it slashes 
  you with metal talons. Its eyes, red machine nodes 
  encased in an iron shell, glare inches from your face. 
  Blood flows freely from your arm – lose 1 WOUND 
  point. Ces, proving himself to be a man of action, picks 
  up a stick and knocks the device from your shoulder. He 
  leads you stumbling back down into the riverbed. Turn to 
  262. 
   
  239 
  The medical kit is useless: its soft plastic case bounces 
  harmlessly 
  from 
  the 
  creature’s 
  leathery 
  skin. 
  Unconsciousness sweeps over you as the pain becomes 
  too intense. The plane, once again out of control, soon 
  crashes into the scrub below. Your adventure is over 
   
  240 
  The passageway ejects you into yet another rough-cut 
  chamber: this one with a black, crystalline floor and three 
  exit tunnels. Which will you enter? The: 
  North? 
  Turn to 80 
  South? 
  Turn to 322 
  West? 
  Turn to 258 
   
  241 
  You stalk across the fields toward Mindip Junction, 
  glancing warily from side to side and hoping for sight of 
  one of the few farmers that live out this way. When you 
  finally reach the road, you see a car parked on the verge 
  some distance ahead. You approach warily, keeping to 
  the sparse cover that grows in an uncleared strip beside 
  
  242─244 
   
  the road. When within thirty yards, you see it is a grazier 
  replacing a flat tyre on a battered old Holden ute. Beside 
  him lie two kelpies, one apparently dead and the other 
  wounded by a deep gash in a forepaw, but keeping a 
  suspicious watch. Will you approach cautiously, keeping 
  to the scrub (turn to 146), or step out onto the road and 
  declare yourself openly (turn to 176)? 
   
  242 
  Ignoring the man, you sprint off towards the house in the 
  vain hope of eluding the machine. It pursues with 
  disheartening speed and steel-gnashing enthusiasm. 
  Eventually it snatches you with a gigantic pincer, hoists 
  you in the air, and deposits you in a mouth-like grinder 
  set in its top. Your adventure is over. 
   
  243 
  You enter another Y-junction: honeycomb tunnels 
  proceed south, north-east and north-west. The breath of 
  fresh air is even stronger here, although its direction is 
  still indefinable. Subtract 1 from the amount of TIME 
  LEFT. Will you go: 
  South? 
  Turn to 94 
  North-East? 
  Turn to 317 
  North-West? 
  Turn to 152 
   
  244 
  You pull hard on the wheel, exacerbating the already 
  pronounced left hand roll of the car to such an extent that 
  the vehicle flips, rolls, and then smashes into a tree – 
  crushing both cabin and you in it. Your adventure is over. 
   
  
  245 
   
   
  245 
  The stairs go down about thirty feet until blocked on a 
  metallic landing by a copper door. Next to this door is a 
  panel of buttons: each with a peculiar set of dots, boxes, 
  and a number next to it (see illustration). To open this 
  door it seems you will have to push a certain number of 
  buttons. The dots may be a clue; in fact one set of dots at 
  
  246─248 
   
  the bottom do not have a button at all! When you have 
  decided which buttons to press, add up the numbers next 
  to all of the buttons you have selected and turn to the 
  page that equals the total. If the section you turn to does 
  not start with the word SUCCESS, then you have made 
  an incorrect selection and are destroyed immediately by a 
  powerful electric surge from the door. If you do not care 
  to try to open the door, you may return the way you came 
  – turn to 266. 
   
  246 
  You toss the axe lightly from hand to hand as you turn to 
  face the oncoming truck. If you have Max’s son with 
  you, he keeps running and soon disappears over a slight 
  rise. If you have CRICKET PLAYING ability, turn to 
  383, otherwise turn to 308. 
   
  247 
  Taking a spike from your pocket and still dodging shots, 
  you fling it at the policeman. Flash doesn’t even attempt 
  to evade the missile, letting it land square between his 
  eyes where it embeds itself in his skull like a gigantic 
  rusty pin. He laughs and tries to shoot you again, but 
  somehow the spike in his head seems to have put his aim 
  off and he just fires, stiff armed, into the air. ‘Damn,’ he 
  curses, looking at his errant arm and struggling to pull it 
  down with his other. Extraordinary! Turn to 23. 
   
  248 
  Max grabs a couple of bottles of Scotch while you take 
  the Vodka. With a nod to each other, you leap to your 
  feet and hurl the bottles indiscriminately into the 
  
  249─250 
   
  crowded room. The alcohol-filled missiles don’t appear 
  to harm the creatures (other than an odd bruise, perhaps) 
  but the effect on the machines is devastating: most 
  instantly collapse into piles of useless scrap while a few 
  go completely berserk and wreak a horrible carnage upon 
  the organic creatures in the room, ripping most of them to 
  pieces, before finally disintegrating. As the Vodka 
  appears to be useful, you may keep a bottle for later use – 
  its WEIGHT = 1. Make a note that it is stamped with the 
  large gold numerals: 200. All of the machines are 
  destroyed and only some of the creatures remain. Turn to 
  215. 
   
  249 
  You enter a chamber whose walls are made of neatly cut 
  stone blocks. There are no doors apparent, only three 
  corridors leading straight as arrows into darkness. Will 
  you proceed: 
  North? 
  Turn to 394 
  East? 
  Turn to 210 
  West? 
  Turn to 272 
   
  250 
  Easing your way through the thin stands of maize, you 
  come upon a curious sight: sitting on the ground, splicing 
  himself together with long sheaves of dry leaves and 
  husks, is a man constructed entirely of corn plants. One 
  leg lies thrust before him while he works on weaving the 
  other together, having completed the thigh but with still 
  the lower part of the limb to go. Will you approach this 
  creature (turn to 126) or retreat and resume your pursuit 
  of the hippy children (turn to 230)? 
  
  251─253 
   
   
  251 
  By employing a series of vicious twists of the steering 
  wheel, forcing your jeep to collide with the car, you 
  successfully force your attacker into one of the stately 
  pines that line ANZAC Grove. The machine disintegrates 
  into a pile of fenders and rolling hubcaps. Things are not 
  all tea and bickies for you, however, as the collision has 
  bashed you around badly – lose 1 WOUND point. You 
  continue west along the road, which you soon realize is 
  taking you toward the airstrip. Turn to 339. 
   
  252 
  The door opens into a passage which you follow until its 
  termination in a small room. On the other side of this 
  room is a miniature train, about ten feet long and a foot 
  or so high, but large enough to sit on comfortably and 
  resting on miniature rails that disappear to left and right 
  down a couple of tunnels. The train appears to be getting 
  up steam, so will you climb aboard (turn to 282) or return 
  to the niche and open the right hand door (turn to 307)? 
   
  253 
  The car is doing about eighty clicks by the time you have 
  raised the gun to shoulder and taken aim. You let fly six 
  rounds in quick succession, destroying the windscreen, 
  puncturing a tyre, and pitting the car’s body with 
  buckshot. The vehicle swerves slightly, owing to the 
  shredded tyre, but maintains its deadly pace. You throw 
  the empty shotgun away and turn to run. Turn to 382. 
   
  
  254─257 
   
  254 
  You climb down a short ladder and walk through the gap 
  in the energy field. Now, unfortunately, you must return 
  to the labyrinth below to continue the fight against the 
  Fuhuruh! You find the corridor that brought you to the 
  surface and, re-entering it, spiral deep down into the 
  earth. Turn to 141. 
   
  255 
  One of your steps is misplaced and elicits a sharp crack 
  from a breaking twig. The grazier’s dog leaps to its feet 
  and barks hysterically. Quick as a flash, the grazier drops 
  the wheel brace, snatches a shotgun from under the car, 
  and lets fly several quick blasts in your direction. If you 
  have FAST REFLEXES, turn to 300, otherwise turn to 
  273. 
   
  256 
  As you stand, preparing for the onslaught, it becomes 
  clear to you that there are too many of the creatures. 
  Your fate is certain and within minutes is fulfilled: your 
  broken body lies on the ground and the not-quite-
  kangaroos stand about, discussing in their own guttural 
  tongue what to kill next. Your adventure is over. 
   
  257 
  With hysteria induced strength you punch wildly into the 
  animal, breaking it in two. Dumbfounded, you watch as 
  the rear half – standing on two thin and shaky legs – 
  begins to grow a spindly set of arms, a couple of stalked 
  eyes, and a large nose. Likewise, the upper half 
  transforms what used to be the dog’s forepaws into a set 
  
  258─260 
   
  of hands and arms while the mouth, forgoing its 
  improbably long tongue, starts to develop an impressive 
  set of fangs. The front part grabs you with its brand new 
  hands and sinks in the teeth – lose 1 WOUND point. You 
  shake the little creature off and continue with your flight 
  toward the river. Turn to 10. 
   
  258 
  You stumble along the tunnel for a while until you reach 
  a T-junction. Rough, blasted passages disappear into 
  darkness. Which way will you go: 
  North? 
  Turn to 59 
  South? 
  Turn to 296 
  East? 
  Turn to 240 
   
  259 
  The chainsaw you select is in a battered but working 
  condition (its WEIGHT = 3); the fuel tank is full. You 
  start it up and walk out toward the trees, attacking the 
  nearest and driving the saw deep into its trunk. The tree 
  shudders, halts, and then falls to one side with a crash of 
  breaking limbs. Ha! Easy. Revving the motor, you turn 
  towards the next but suddenly find yourself surrounded 
  by twisting lithe shoots that spring from the ground at 
  your feet. They grow with such speed and in such 
  profusion that you quickly become trapped. If you have 
  EXTRA STAMINA, turn to 93, otherwise turn to 112. 
   
  260 
  You launch a tackling dive at the sphere, taking it by 
  surprise and clutching it to your chest. It protests 
  vigorously; servos whine and small puff jets buffet you 
  
  261─263 
   
  as it tries to break free. Eventually, as a last resort, it 
  rakes you with a searing jet of burning hydrocarbons, 
  probably using up its fuel reserves but certainly inflicting 
  excruciating pain on your body: lose 1 WOUND point. 
  However, it’s too late to save itself. Still smoking, you 
  stumble up to the three-metre tall garbage disposal and 
  hurl it down the chute. As soon as the eye disappears 
  from sight the larger machine becomes completely 
  inactive and grinds to a halt. Max leads the way past it. 
  Turn to 166. 
   
  261 
  The door takes you into a small empty room. Nothing 
  happens and there are no other exits so you retreat the 
  way you entered only to find that the scenery has 
  changed. Turn to 170. 
   
  262 
  The two of you head off along the sandy bed. You affect 
  a stumbling gait while Ces scuttles ahead. His speed 
  proves to be his undoing; suddenly the sand beneath his 
  feet falls away, revealing a deep hole. Ces plummets into 
  this pit and disappears from view with an unnatural haste, 
  almost as if he has been dragged under. A soft hum 
  vibrates through the ground. Will you stop and try to free 
  the old man (turn to 325) or run for your life (turn to 
  351)? 
   
  263 
  The Sticky Mine is a sphere of glass with a long metal 
  handle attached to one side. You (hopefully) arm it by 
  twisting a ring switch in the handle. Will you throw it 
  
  264─267 
   
  into a gaggle of Fuhuruh who are quite near (turn to 342) 
  or at the ceiling of the hall (turn to 368)? 
   
  264 
  As you were expecting the worst, the plant does not take 
  you by complete surprise and you are able to escape 
  without so much as a scratch. Turn to 366. 
   
  265 
  With a tremendous hop and thrust of your body, you 
  manage to send her stumbling against the bars. She 
  grunts, presumably in pain, and loosens her grip, but this 
  is only so she can get her teeth into your shoulder – lose 
  1 WOUND point. There’s no more leverage to be got out 
  of the banking counter, so will you push her toward the 
  coffee furniture (turn to 285), or elbow her in the midriff 
  (turn to 222)? 
   
  266 
  You step into a small stainless steel room. There are two 
  exit corridors and a narrow staircase leading down, and 
  from which arises a rather dank odour. Will you go: 
  Down the stairs? 
  Turn to 245 
  North? 
  Turn to 101 
  West? 
  Turn to 330 
   
  267 
  Leaning forward, you reach under the dash, grab a fistful 
  of wires, and pull. A huge shower of sparks erupts into 
  the car’s interior, setting fire to your trousers. You 
  quickly beat the flames out but not before you have been 
  sorely burned - lose 1 WOUND point. Turn to 77. 
  
  268─271 
   
   
  268 
  You open the device and place the eggs inside; a light 
  comes on when you close the door. After a while this 
  light goes off and a soft chime sounds. When you reopen 
  the machine something small and hideous, all teeth and 
  antennae, leaps out into your face. The infant Fuhuruh’s 
  surprise attack is swift and deadly: your life departs and 
  this is the end of your adventure. 
   
  269 
  If you have STRENGTH and FAST REFLEXES and a 
  KEEN EYE, turn to 353, otherwise turn to 327. 
   
  270 
  The door takes you into a small empty room. Nothing 
  happens and there are no other exits. Fearful of the 
  Puffer-fish, you reluctantly retreat the way you entered 
  only to find that the scenery has changed. Turn to 37. 
   
  271 
  The pipe terminates over one of the dams, hanging 
  limply in rusty decline above a muddy pool of water a 
  few feet below. There is nothing apparently wrong here 
  other than some dry, metallic gasping sounds coming 
  from the open end of the pipe, but this may be quite 
  normal. Will you try to look in the end of the pipe to see 
  if anything is blocking it (turn to 306) or leave the dams 
  to inspect the river end of the pipe (turn to 220)? 
   
  
  272─275 
   
  272 
  The corridor carries you straight and smooth into a 
  T-junction. Two other corridors shoot away from the 
  intersection. Will you go: 
  North? 
  Turn to 65 
  South? 
  Turn to 170 
  East? 
  Turn to 249 
   
  273 
  You try to take cover, but aside from the grazier being an 
  excellent shot you are too slow. One of the blasts hits you 
  full in the chest and fatally wounds you. You collapse, 
  hearing your last sounds: the grazier’s voice, ‘Good dog, 
  we’ll stop those vermin yet…’  Your adventure is over. 
   
  274 
  You crunch gears, wasting time, and rap the car in 
  reverse. Your plan half succeeds as only the front half of 
  your car is crushed by the raging mechanical behemoth 
  as it drives straight over the bonnet. The car stops dead 
  and you climb free. From beside the barn you see what 
  appears to be a man waving at you. Will you run towards 
  him (turn to 197) or towards the house (turn to 242)? 
   
  275 
  You enter another Y-junction. The soft sound of a 
  melancholy tune comes drifting from the northern 
  passage. Subtract 1 from the amount of TIME LEFT. 
  You can go: 
  North 
  Turn to 6 
  South-East 
  Turn to 384 
  South-West 
  Turn to 67 
  
  276─278 
   
   
  276 
  Fighting the wheel, you manage to regain enough control 
  to steer the car off the road and between a pair of dusty 
  native pines. The vehicle comes to rest in a slight 
  depression. Crawling out, you see that a large semitrailer 
  that had attempted to avoid your fish-tailing vehicle has 
  itself left the road, careered across the front of the garage, 
  and come to rest embedded in the side of the police car. 
  Flash and the garage owner have been crushed in the 
  smash. The bodies, hidden under the twisted wreckage, 
  are not immediately retrievable. The owner’s wife 
  appears and together you decide that the proper 
  authorities must be immediately contacted. She informs 
  you this can only be accomplished by using the 
  radiotelephone at the Agricultural Business rep’s house – 
  the nearest dwelling to the store. Turn to 10. 
   
  277 
  You spring to your feet and splash kero from left to right 
  in a wide arc. The creatures instantly explode into flames, 
  especially the one footed things, their screams filling the 
  room. As the horrors die, the remaining machines – 
  which are completely unaffected by the kerosene – leap 
  at you ferociously. They brandish a diverse collection of 
  slashing and stabbing instruments and waste no time in 
  cutting you to pieces. Your adventure is over. 
   
  278 
  You trot along the edge of the gully, following it first to 
  the east and then to the south. A dust cloud appears ahead 
  and soon you see the forms of a large mob of kangaroos 
  
  279─281 
   
  bounding toward you. As they get closer you see that 
  these animals, like just about everything else in this 
  wretched town, have been substantially modified: long 
  talons curve from their strangely hand-like front paws, 
  and their teeth are long fangs. Will you run (turn to 223) 
  or fight (turn to 256)? 
   
  279 
  With a wide swing, you cast the stake across the car 
  toward Flash. It hits him and bounces off with a soggy 
  thud. Flash laughs out loud as if smacked by a feather. 
  Now that he has a clear view of you as you try to retreat 
  back behind the vehicle, he fires again. The bullet strikes 
  you in the chest and kills you instantly. Your adventure is 
  over. 
   
  280 
  You enter a rough-hewn room whose ceiling appears to 
  be constructed from the chassis of a large car. Nothing 
  springs out at you though, so you continue on your way. 
  There are three tunnels. Which will you proceed down: 
  Northern? 
  Turn to 218 
  Eastern? 
  Turn to 177 
  Western? 
  Turn to 322 
   
  281 
  Your efforts to break free are completely fruitless. The 
  attacker remains strapped about your body. Then it slides 
  a noisome flap over your face, which begins to extrude 
  slimy tendrils into your nostrils and mouth: insinuating 
  themselves into your bronchial passages, cutting off all 
  
  282─284 
   
  air and threatening to suffocate you. If you have EXTRA 
  STAMINA, turn to 369, otherwise turn to 335. 
   
  282 
  True to the nature of things lately, the train proves itself 
  to be less than friendly. When you sit over the first class 
  section of the lead carriage the engine glares at you with 
  a single angry red eye and blasts you with a jet of steam – 
  lose 1 WOUND point. To your dismay, the train begins 
  to disassemble itself, no doubt constructing a more 
  dangerous version of itself. Retreating with prudent 
  haste, you return to the niche and proceed through the 
  right hand door. Turn to 307. 
   
  283 
  You lean against a shelf and begin rocking it until, at the 
  right moment, it slowly topples forward. The row falls 
  onto another, knocking that over, which in turn takes the 
  next with it and so on until the room is a chaotic 
  profusion of smashed shelves and goods. Kicking about 
  in the debris you come across the dog, a sight that makes 
  your blood freeze. Crushed under a shelf of cans you 
  notice tentacles and thin bony limbs working feverishly 
  through the broken fur: reconstructing… 
   
  In seconds you are back in the store proper, a bolted door 
  between you and whatever it is that lies crushed in the 
  room beyond. Turn to 76. 
   
  284 
  The corridor takes a ninety-degree turn. You can either 
  go north (turn to 381) or east (turn to 356). 
  
  285─287 
   
   
  285 
  You jump and throw yourself against her solidly 
  constructed body. The two of you stagger into a chair, 
  bounce from a table, then collapse onto the kero heater, 
  tipping it, the coffee, and yourselves over the floor. If 
  there is any broken glass on the floor (from your previous 
  manoeuvres) then you cut yourself badly and lose 1 
  WOUND point. But the Agnes-monster has been dealt a 
  serious and possibly fatal blow: she writhes on the floor, 
  small blue flames racing across and through the 
  thousands of hairline cracks that have appeared across 
  her skin, tentacles and all. In horror, you crawl to your 
  feet. Turn to 32. 
   
  286 
  The fire extinguisher is heavy and the intense pain has 
  made you so weak that you can hold nothing. The device 
  drops from your grasp and falls to the floor with a loud 
  clunk. The force of the fall sets it off and the cabin fills 
  with a white gas. Almost miraculously, the creature dies 
  from these fumes: it scrunches up, relinquishes its grip, 
  and falls to the floor like a dead bug. You regain control 
  of the plane and bring it down to land on Highway 102 – 
  fortunate that traffic is so rare in these parts. As you are 
  unable to navigate the aircraft, you taxi it off the road and 
  abandon it. Turn to 99. 
   
  287 
  The Fire Fighting Equipment consists of several pack-
  sized pump-action spray units, all empty. Nearby, 
  
  288─290 
   
  however, are several large drums of assorted chemicals 
  with which you could fill the sprays instead of water. 
  Which will you try: 
  Kerosene? 
  Turn to 128 
  Herbicide? 
  Turn to 153 
  Insecticide? 
  Turn to 190 
   
  288 
  You enter another Y-junction only to immediately 
  plummet into a deep pit that opens under your feet. The 
  fall is not too serious, though, since you are not killed 
  outright – lose 1 WOUND point. Subtract 1 from the 
  amount of TIME LEFT. There are three directions you 
  can go: 
  North 
  Turn to 358 
  South-East 
  Turn to 41 
  South-West 
  Turn to 33 
   
  289 
  You pursue the children down into the cornfield where 
  they disappear from view, although their screams 
  continue to be audible to front and left. To the right, 
  though, there is silence punctuated by an odd thrashing 
  sound, as if some wounded creature lies disabled in the 
  corn. Perhaps one of the kids has tripped and fallen? Will 
  you continue after the sounds of terror (turn to 230) or 
  investigate the thrashing noise (turn to 250)? 
   
  290 
  After a while the room bursts into activity: most of the 
  mucous-sliding creatures slither out of the bar and into 
  the poolroom where they disappear down a wide tunnel. 
  
  291─293 
   
  The machines follow in a clattering shambles. The 
  remaining creatures converse for a while in low growling 
  voices before all throwing their empty soft drink bottles 
  behind the bar. ‘Jeez, yow!’ you hiss as one of bottles 
  bounces from your head to the floor. The invaders 
  instantly leap to their pseudopods and come hopping 
  toward your position. Turn to 215. 
   
  291 
  You enter a large hall whose floor surface is dominated 
  by a shallow lake in which float two alien machines 
  cunningly wrought to represent gigantic crabs. If you 
  have already destroyed these creatures, turn to the ‘Water 
  Number’ now, otherwise continue: they consider you 
  with solid, ball bearing eyes and slowly work their 
  mandibles. It would be folly to enter the water, which is 
  obviously what they are hoping you will do. If you have 
  the bottle of Vodka, add 32 to the number that was 
  stamped on it then turn to the page that equals the total, 
  otherwise you will have to retreat north (turn to 389). 
   
  292 
  Your bonds are strong, but poorly anchored. By applying 
  leverage in the right spot, you manage to burst free, 
  tearing a couple of the steel bands from the chair at the 
  same time. Turn to 148. 
   
  293 
  If you have CRICKET PLAYING ability, turn to 347, 
  otherwise turn to 304. 
   
  
  294─297 
   
  294 
  Like a ninja, you spin the sharp blades at the advancing 
  Fuhuruh: shearing an arm off here, a leg there, and 
  occasionally even cutting one of the machines in two. 
  Eventually you run out of missiles and the remaining 
  Fuhuruh – goaded into a blistering rage – tear you to 
  pieces. Your adventure is over. 
   
  295 
  You heave and strain against your mechanical bonds, but 
  all to no avail; the arms hold you as tight as ever. To your 
  horror, a couple of long electrodes spring out of the 
  steering column and light up with in sudden arc of bright 
  blue electricity, burning you – lose 1 WOUND point. In 
  mad desperation to escape, it occurs to you that your legs 
  are free and as such could be used to either step on the 
  foot brake (turn to 390) or the accelerator (turn to 42). 
   
  296 
  After a considerable distance you come across a large 
  hexagonal door set in the eastern side of the tunnel, 
  which continues to cut a rough path to the north and 
  south. Will you proceed through the door (turn to 322) or 
  along the tunnel, either to the north (turn to 258) or south 
  (turn to 374)? 
   
  297 
  Using skills born of feverish desperation, you manage to 
  keep yourself at a reasonable distance from the attacking 
  car, all the while continuing toward ANZAC Grove. 
  Having other things on your mind, you do not notice that 
  you are heading directly for one of the massive pines that 
  
  298─300 
   
  line the road just ahead until it is almost too late. At the 
  last moment you see it and stand on the brakes. In a 
  screech of tyres and burning rubber, you slide to a halt 
  with only millimetres to spare. Your pursuer, horn 
  blaring triumphantly, attempts to ram you but appears to 
  lack brakes and fails to slow down enough to effect the 
  necessary turn. It flies past your car and runs straight into 
  a tree with a terrific crash of metal, the ensuing collision 
  bending it like a banana. You continue west along the 
  road, which you discover is taking you toward the 
  airstrip. Turn to 339. 
   
  298 
  His reaction is both instantaneous and unexpected. You 
  find yourself looking down the barrel of his police issue 
  .357 Magnum Python. ‘Get in the car,’ he says, turning to 
  face you for the first time. You notice that his tongue has 
  a pronounced fork in it and that his teeth are strangely 
  rounded, as if somehow not real. Will you do as he says 
  (turn to 183) or dive aside to avoid the gun (turn to 367)? 
   
  299 
  The choice you act upon is incorrect. When you step 
  forward, thinking the monster is going for another 
  entrance, it suddenly lashes out and strikes you with a 
  hooked claw – lose 1 WOUND point. You stagger into 
  the room. Turn to 340. 
   
  300 
  Thankfully, you see his reaction before he starts firing 
  and so you have just enough time to drop to the ground; 
  the buckshot passes uncomfortably close overhead. ‘Hey, 
  
  301─303 
   
  don’t shoot!’ you exclaim, ‘I’m harmless.’ The grazier, 
  justifiably wary, commands you to stand up. Turn to 176. 
   
  301 
  The Wombat is fast but you waste no time in quickly 
  scrambling up the steep sides of the gully to safety. The 
  beast seems disinclined to follow; instead, it starts a low 
  penetrating howl whose purpose is not at all clear. Turn 
  to 278. 
   
  302 
  The two of you lie quietly on the floor, listening to the 
  howling and growling as the creatures talk, or sing, or 
  whatever they’re doing to each other. Suddenly, there is a 
  loud knocking under the floor. You start back and then 
  cry out in sheer terror as a pair of gigantic steel claws 
  rips through the floorboards. The cold optic sensors in 
  their carapaces consider you malevolently before the 
  giant steel jaws suddenly lunge forward to seize your 
  body and crush the life from you. Your adventure is over. 
   
  303 
  Before you can utter a word, Agnes gives a weird hooting 
  cry reminiscent of a tortured owl, and then displays a 
  nimbleness rarely seen in a lady of her age by leaping 
  onto the counter! Your mind bulges in outraged 
  astonishment when you notice that Agnes’ lower half has 
  been replaced by a mixed set of purple tentacles and 
  diamond-backed snake’s tails. She hisses at you through 
  slitted mouth and pebble teeth; a couple of tentacles flick 
  menacingly. If you have FAST REFLEXES, turn to 163, 
  otherwise turn to 202. 
  
  304─306 
   
   
  304 
  Taking the shotgun, you jump forward and strike the ball 
  a killing blow. As the sharp edge of the butt penetrates its 
  iris, the little machine spews out smoke and drops to the 
  ground with the velocity of a flying brick. Cackling, you 
  hand Max his gun and step over the hulk. While you’re in 
  mid-stride the ball violently explodes, propelling you into 
  the ceiling and ending your days. Your adventure is over. 
   
  305 
  You enter a room of typical steel construction with a 
  single irregularly shaped door in the northern wall and 
  three exit corridors in the others. A squeal attracts your 
  attention. As you turn toward the sound, something akin 
  to a terrestrial puffer fish leaps from a hidden recess and 
  latches onto your face with needle sharp fangs – lose 1 
  WOUND point. You free yourself with a sharp slap, 
  sending the horror flapping and sliding across the floor. 
  Time to flee. Will you proceed: 
  Through the door? 
  Turn to 270 
  South? 
  Turn to 226 
  East? 
  Turn to 141 
  West? 
  Turn to 13 
   
  306 
  The pipe projects some way past the side of the dam and 
  requires considerable dexterity to lean out on; more than 
  you possess. You slip and tumble into the scummy water 
  below. Astonishingly, it starts to boil violently around 
  you as a host of abnormally large yabbies begins to climb 
  over your body, pinching with three-inch claws. To 
  
  307─309 
   
  escape this painful assault, will you leap for the pipe 
  overhead (turn to 54) or swim to the lowest part of the 
  bank (turn to 95)? 
   
  307 
  The right hand door opens into a long passage, which you 
  follow. Eventually it runs into the side of another passage 
  whose branches disappear into the murk to left and right. 
  Will you go left (turn to 363) or right (turn to 338)? 
   
  308 
  The truck roars up towards you. When it is at the very 
  edge of throwing range you toss the axe at it. The silver 
  bladed weapon spins through the air and buries itself in 
  the vehicle’s grille, eliciting a cloud of steam. The truck 
  shifts gear but does not change course. Turn to 102. 
   
  309 
  Jumping to your car, you extract an ampoule of general 
  anaesthetic and a hypodermic with which to administer it. 
  The owner, otherwise engaged with leaping up and down 
  upon his wife, does not notice when you approach and 
  has no time in which to react when you grab him by the 
  arm and inject the serum. He collapses to the ground, 
  immediately unconscious, and seems to casual inspection 
  to be quite dead. His wife, who looks like she’s about to 
  accuse you of murder, suddenly steps back aghast with 
  wordless horror written over her face. Contrary to normal 
  human practise when dead, the man begins to undergo a 
  frightening transformation: clear flames race across 
  brittle cracks that begin to craze through his skin; slowly, 
  as if settling down into the ground, he dissolves into a 
  
  310─312 
   
  shapeless pool of grey muck. ‘The police,’ whispers his 
  wife, ‘we must get the police.’ Will you suggest that she 
  go to get Flash the policeman and you notify the nearest 
  neighbours (turn to 10) or vice versa (turn to 91)? 
   
  310 
  You open the device and place both the eggs inside. 
  Cross them from your equipment list. Add the numbers 
  on the eggs together and turn to the page that equals the 
  total. 
   
  311 
  The bulldozer is probably the newest piece of equipment 
  here, no more than ten years old. It starts instantly, and 
  after a few moments of familiarization with the controls 
  you roll off toward the trees. The dozer picks up speed as 
  you lower the scoop and aim for the nearest intruder, 
  ripping it from the ground with a tremendous crash. The 
  response is instant: hundreds of lithe shoots spring from 
  the ground and surround your machine. Some twine 
  around and through the motor, removing essential parts, 
  and bringing you to a clattering halt. Time to get out! If 
  you have an axe, scythe, or chainsaw, turn to 66, 
  otherwise turn to 28. 
   
  312 
  The tendrils slither as quickly as electric eels and attach 
  themselves to one of your feet with alarming ease. 
  Needle sharp tips sink greedily into your ankle, and your 
  blood begins to flow down into the earth – lose 1 
  WOUND point. Fortunately, your other leg is still free 
  
  313─316 
   
  and you manage to use it to apply some leverage to break 
  free, ripping the tendrils from the ground. Turn to 366. 
   
  313 
  You find yourself in a long corridor that stretches out of 
  sight to the north and south. Will you go north (turn to 
  37) or south (turn to 210)? 
   
  314 
  Jumping to the man’s aid, you tear at the tendrils binding 
  him to the corn creature, ripping bloodstained suckers 
  from the man’s flesh with your bare hands. The monster 
  tries to fight you off with a large clump of fibres that 
  penetrate the skin of one of your arms – lose 1 WOUND 
  point. Eventually, the corn man finds the two of you too 
  much to handle and begins to loosen its vampiric grip. 
  Taking advantage of its confusion, you manage to pull 
  yourself and the other man away to safety. You sprint 
  down the hill. Turn to 38. 
   
  315 
  You jump into the co-pilot’s seat. Tentatively pulling at 
  the controls, you have no idea how to steer the damn 
  thing. It’s all over in moments as the aircraft flies into the 
  ground at 160 miles per hour. Your adventure is over. 
   
  316 
  You toss the spike, hitting the Agnes-monster right in the 
  middle of its chest, but the blow apparently has little or 
  no effect. She hisses as she sinks down on her coiling 
  limbs, then springs across the sweet counter at you, 
  tentacles stretching for your neck. Turn to 202. 
  
  317─320 
   
   
  317 
  You enter another Y-junction: honeycomb tunnels 
  proceed north, south-east and south-west. Again, there is 
  fresh air to breathe! Subtract 1 from the amount of TIME 
  LEFT. Will you go: 
  North? 
  Turn to 384 
  South-East? 
  Turn to 52 
  South-West? 
  Turn to 243 
   
  318 
  You slide to a halt and spin to face the accelerating 
  vehicle. Will you use: 
  The Shotgun? 
  Turn to 253 
  A Rock? 
  Turn to 168 
  An item from your Medical Kit? 
  Turn to 65 
   
  319 
  When you step forward, thinking the monster is going for 
  another entrance, it suddenly lashes out and strikes you 
  with a hooked claw – lose 1 WOUND point. You stagger 
  into the room. Turn to 340. 
   
  320 
  The bar does not have any obvious weapons of deadly 
  force. If you have a can of kerosene, you could splash 
  this over the creatures (turn to 277), otherwise you’ll 
  have settle for throwing bottles of spirit at them (turn to 
  248) or spraying beer around the room from the taps 
  behind the bar (turn to 231). 
   
  
  321─323 
   
  321 
  The police car proves to be more than it seems. When 
  you approach, it suddenly lashes out with a spidery 
  metallic arm that issues from the door handle and seizes 
  you by the leg. Long razors slide out of its claws to 
  lacerate your skin – lose 1 WOUND point. Struggling 
  and bleeding profusely, you reach through the open 
  window to grasp a spare revolver that Flash had left lying 
  on the dash, and open fire into the car door. The arm 
  relinquishes its grip, allowing you to escape to a safe 
  distance, pistol still in hand (you may keep this; its 
  WEIGHT = 1). Turn to 355. 
   
  322 
  You enter a large rough-hewn chamber from which lead 
  three broken looking tunnels. Also, an irregularly-shaped 
  steel door is set in the western wall. Will you proceed: 
  Through the door? 
  Turn to 15 
  North? 
  Turn to 240 
  South? 
  Turn to 398 
  East? 
  Turn to 280 
   
  323 
  The three of you run toward Cabralowie. The dog and 
  grazier set a cracking pace, even though the animal is 
  wounded. Eventually you are left behind. Alone, with the 
  sheep bleating close at hand, you decide to drop 
  everything you are carrying which has a WEIGHT 
  greater than 1. You pick up speed and the sheep are left 
  behind, and soon the town comes into sight. Will you 
  approach a nearby house (turn to 17) or continue south 
  
  324─326 
   
  and skirt around the town to reach the highway (turn to 
  74)? 
   
  324 
  You swing the Chain and Bob overhead like a medieval 
  morning star, smashing your way left and right through 
  the advancing machines, denting carapaces, smashing 
  optic sensorium and twisting antennae. But eventually 
  your weapon becomes entangled in one of the tall alien’s 
  legs and you find yourself suddenly defenceless. The 
  Fuhuruh waste no time and pounce upon you ferociously. 
  Your adventure is over. 
   
  325 
  You dive to your knees, scooping madly into the sand 
  where Ces disappeared. In response to your efforts, the 
  ground shudders sickeningly before collapsing beneath 
  you as it did for Ces. You slide down through a large iris 
  lock and into a dark space full of stabbing hypodermics 
  and rending steel talons. Your adventure is over. 
   
  326 
  You discover that the hemisphere cannot be detached and 
  is, in fact, the launch button for the spacecraft. A great 
  shudder runs through Xox’s craft as the engines ignite 
  with a titanic roar. Before you can blink, you’re no 
  longer on Earth but accelerating away out of the solar 
  system to a destination unknown! The Earth is doomed 
  and you are helpless. Your adventure is over. 
   
  
  327─328 
   
  327 
  You have nothing adequate with which to either defend 
  yourself or actuate your escape. The furniture eventually 
  backs you into a corner and pins you to the wall. The 
  piano takes an obvious delight in this as it strikes up a 
  stirring rendition of God Save the Queen when the roof 
  finally bulges down far enough to skewer you with a 
  couple of blades. Your adventure is over. 
   
  328 
  You retreat into the back room, discovering an open door 
  to the outside world and a clutter of possibly useful 
  objects. After this morning’s events it occurs to you to 
  grab a weapon of some kind, but in your haste to leave 
  the Post Office you snatch only one item. Select one of 
  the items from the list below. 
   
  ITEM 
  WEIGHT 
  An Axe 
  1 
  Three Cans of Paint 
  2 
  Can of Kerosene 
  1 
  Bundle of Wire 
  1 
  Lock and Chain 
  1 
  Insect Spray 
  1 
   
  Once you have done this you dash out the door and into a 
  dusty Cabralowie street. There are two houses at 
  convenient distances from the Post Office. Will you go to 
  the first (turn to 10) or the other (turn to 388)? 
   
  
  329─330 
   
  329 
  You drive out along Airstrip Road, stopping at the 
  battered fibro shack that is Old Ces’ home. The ancient 
  shearer, gnarled and brown as mallee, ambles out the 
  front door and greets you in the yard. ‘G’day, doc,’ he 
  says, mincing toothless on his words. ‘Got me new 
  choppers have yer?’ You hand over his new teeth and 
  make sure they fit properly before stopping for a bit of a 
  chat. It seems Ces has been troubled by the pump that 
  fills his dams from the Burang Creek. ‘I’ve been around 
  bores ‘n pumps for forty years,’ he says, ‘but I ain’t ever 
  seen one act like this.’ Evidently, the fan of the windmill 
  has been turning to follow him, even against the wind. 
  Sounds like sheer senile paranoia to you, but the old man 
  is quite insistent that the windmill is turning to look at 
  him. He even asks you to go look for yourself, daring you 
  to make a liar of him. Will you humour him by having a 
  look at the windmill (turn to 161) or, if you haven’t 
  already, either go to the store to get your flat fixed (turn 
  to 111) or go out to the hippy commune to drum up some 
  business (turn to 233)? 
   
  330 
  The corridor brings you into a cubicle-sized room. Two 
  of the walls are completely replaced by entrances to 
  passageways and another of the walls is completely filled 
  by an irregularly shaped door. Will you go: 
  Through the door? 
  Turn to 261 
  North? 
  Turn to 63 
  East? 
  Turn to 266 
   
  
  331─334 
   
  331 
  You grab a jar of boiled sweets and lob them at her head. 
  She ducks to one side, letting your missile sail harmlessly 
  by to smash on the floor; shards of Broken Glass scatter 
  widely. She hisses as she sinks down on her coiling 
  limbs, then springs across the sweet counter at you, 
  tentacles stretching for your neck. Turn to 202. 
   
  332 
  You open the device and place the eggs inside; cross 
  them from your equipment list. Subtract the smaller of 
  the numbers stamped on the eggs from the larger then 
  turn to the page that equals the result. 
   
  333 
  You take the scythe and slash into the corn creature, 
  cutting through it with dry strokes and rapidly 
  dismembering it until all that remains of the monster are 
  a number of small clumps of interwoven corn strips. 
  Then you notice a small movement as one of the clumps 
  sends out a tendril to an adjoining bit of corn, pulling it in 
  and weaving it through its own structure. The hippy, 
  though weak from blood loss, points out in a stammering 
  voice that all of the clumps are behaving alike, slowly 
  reconstructing… Both of you take off down the hill. You 
  may keep the scythe (its WEIGHT = 1). Turn to 38. 
   
  334 
  You enter another Y-junction, but because one of the 
  tunnels entering it has entirely collapsed, you can only 
  proceed in one of two directions. Subtract 1 from the 
  
  335─338 
   
  amount of TIME LEFT then decide whether you will go 
  north (turn to 33) or south-east (turn to 195). 
   
  335 
  In a very short time you run out of air: brain and heart 
  bursting for life. Unconsciousness sweeps over you as 
  you feel the first growths of the tendrils merge with your 
  flesh, assimilating and making you their own. Your 
  adventure is over. 
   
  336 
  As this Wombat is considerably larger than its more 
  normal hairy-nosed brethren, it is correspondingly faster. 
  In a trice it has you spiked on its antlers and thrust into 
  the ground, where it fatally gores you. Your adventure is 
  over. 
   
  337 
  You take the gear lever in both hands and pull, 
  wrenching the unfortunate mechanism clean out of the 
  floor. A few grinding noises follow but no slackening of 
  speed. Turn to 77. 
   
  338 
  You follow the passage until it bursts into the side of a 
  gigantic cavern. From below your feet springs a very 
  narrow walkway that crosses over a pit so deep and so 
  dark that you cannot see the bottom. From the roof of the 
  cavern hangs a long white filament reaching almost to the 
  bridge, and which terminates in a large pair of seagull’s 
  wings. These wings fly about the cavern, tethered by the 
  filament and seemingly without purpose, but at great 
  
  339─341 
   
  speed. Will you attempt to walk across the bridge (turn to 
  378) or grab the wings (or filament) and use this to 
  convey you across the pit (turn to 56)? 
   
  339 
  You drive along Airstrip Road until a large new house 
  appears on your left. A sign with ‘Airport’ on it points up 
  the access road that passes in front of this house. Taking 
  the turn-off, you drive past the house and the huge barn 
  that stands behind it. When you draw level with the barn 
  you bring the car to a halt so that you can inspect the 
  surrounding countryside. With a crash and a roar of 
  turbines, a massive machine that seems to be loosely 
  based on a tractor – but several times larger – launches 
  itself through the door of the barn and races down to 
  crush you. Will you slam the car into reverse (turn to 
  274) or accelerate forwards (turn to 386)? 
   
  340 
  Which exit will you take from the room: 
  North? 
  Turn to 19 
  South? 
  Turn to 249 
  East? 
  Turn to 218 
  West? 
  Turn to 365 
   
  341 
  You snatch up one of the spikes, turn, and throw it as 
  hard as you can at the monster, striking it on the head 
  with a hollow sort of clunk. The creature appears stunned 
  and slowly sinks from sight, leaving only a string of 
  bubbles. You may take several of these Spikes for future 
  protection (WEIGHT = 2). Turn to 375. 
  
  342─344 
   
   
  342 
  You cast the mine, striking one of the tall Fuhuruh on the 
  chest. The glass sphere breaks and exudes a sticky 
  substance that instantly glues the mine to the alien. The 
  Fuhuruh tries desperately to wrench the weapon free, but 
  after a few seconds the mine explodes with incredible 
  violence. The ensuing blast reduces several of the 
  machines to twisted scrap, but the survivors waste no 
  time in pouncing on you and tearing you to shreds. Your 
  adventure is over. 
   
  343 
  The sheep have been beaten off. The grazier and his 
  hound, though both slightly wounded, are still with you. 
  Unfortunately, the car was also a victim of the sheep 
  attack. The little horrors are obviously smarter than their 
  grass-chewing cousins and have punctured all the 
  remaining tyres. Escape by vehicle is now impossible. To 
  your dismay the dog begins a low wailing. Sure enough, 
  the soft sound of angry bleating comes drifting on the 
  wind. Sheep! Time to run. If you have any SPRINTING 
  ability, turn to 323, otherwise turn to 373. 
   
  344 
  You correctly anticipate the monster’s next move and 
  jump into the room without being harmed. The creature 
  seems unaware of your presence and continues 
  mindlessly reaching for the exits. Turn to 340. 
   
  
  345─348 
   
  345 
  If you rolled a beer keg down the tunnel in the cold room, 
  turn to 290, if not turn to 302. 
   
  346 
  You dive on the man, bringing him to the ground. For the 
  next few minutes you both roll about in the dust beside 
  the highway, trading punches and grappling for holds. In 
  his insane desperation he manages to bite you on the arm 
  – lose 1 WOUND point – but finally you manage to get 
  him under control and bundled into the shed which 
  formerly housed his equally demented dog. You slam the 
  door behind him and bolt it securely. He obviously needs 
  urgent hospitalisation and to arrange this you will need a 
  radio: you could use ‘Flash’ the policeman’s (turn to 91) 
  or the local Agricultural Business rep’s who, the owner’s 
  wife informs you, lives in the nearest house to the store 
  (turn to 10). 
   
  347 
  Taking the shotgun, you step forward and hit the ball 
  with the flat edge of the butt, employing your best cover 
  drive. The ball flies out of control and straight into the 
  mouth of the mobile garbage disposal, which mindlessly 
  swallows it before becoming instantly inoperative. 
  Success! Max retrieves his gun then leads the way past 
  the huge machine. Turn to 166. 
   
  348 
  You enter a rough-hewn chamber with tunnels running 
  into it along its east-west axis. Set in the northern wall is 
  a large hexagonal door. Will you proceed through the 
  
  349─351 
   
  door (turn to 280) or along a tunnel - either east (turn to 
  127) or west (turn to 398)? 
   
  349 
  Using giant strides, you reach the fence and leap over it 
  cleanly before pounding off toward the nearest flock of 
  sheep. The car, moving ever faster, smashes through the 
  barbed wire with a loud twang and runs into you from 
  behind, sending your body spiralling over its roof. Your 
  adventure is over. 
   
  350 
  The door swings open to reveal what are obviously the 
  breeding chambers of the hive: honeycomb cells, each as 
  large as a coffin, make up walls, floor and ceiling. The 
  process of destruction continues even here: large chunks 
  of rock fall from the ceiling, littering the floor, and 
  enormous cracks craze in all directions with a chilling 
  abruptness. Time is running out! Write on a piece of 
  paper the words TIME LEFT and under this the number 
  10. This is how many units of time you have in which to 
  find your way to the surface and safety. If TIME LEFT 
  reaches zero then you are instantly killed and your 
  adventure is over! You head off south into the breeding 
  chambers. Turn to 9. 
   
  351 
  You take to your heels, dodging from side to side as 
  other holes identical to those that swallowed Ces appear 
  in front of you without warning. After a hundred yards of 
  this you finally break free of the creek by running up a 
  culvert and onto the bridge that carries Highway 102 over 
  
  352─354 
   
  the Burang. You stop for a moment, catch your breath, 
  and then start walking along the road toward Cabralowie. 
  Turn to 91. 
   
  352 
  When you press the button, the can instantly breaks down 
  into three parts and changes colour to an off-white. A 
  mechanical voice chimes, ‘Biological weapon MOG-
  1201 disarmed.’ Oh no! Desperately, you try to screw the 
  pieces back together but it is too late. Turn to 22. 
   
  353 
  Displaying several rare qualities simultaneously, you 
  seize the weighty pack in both hands, lift it over your 
  head, and dash it through the heavily meshed front 
  window. The pack splits open (rendering it useless – 
  cross it from your equipment list) but the hole it has 
  created is large enough for you to dive through. But as 
  you jump, a small standard lamp seizes you with its 
  electrical cord and you become jammed in the hole. In 
  your efforts to break free and scramble through the 
  window you are hurt – lose 1 WOUND point. You are 
  also forced to drop everything you are carrying whose 
  WEIGHT is greater than 1. Turn to 169. 
   
  354 
  The sides of the gully are pitted with deep holes, which 
  you use as steps to climb to the bottom. Once you reach 
  the sandy floor you hear a low snuffling sound which is 
  quickly followed by the appearance of a monstrously 
  distorted Wombat: it is at least eight feet long, and 
  bizarre antlers grow ten feet across from its massive 
  
  355─357 
   
  head. Hunger fills the herbivore’s eyes when it beholds 
  you, but now it obviously wants meat! Will you flee 
  down the gully (turn to 336) or climb back up to the plain 
  (turn to 301)? 
   
  355 
  Retreating towards the store, you run into the garage 
  owner’s wife. She’s obviously alarmed by the recent 
  furore and has come out to see what’s been happening. 
  Outraged, she demands that you immediately go to the 
  house of the local Agricultural Business rep and use his 
  radiotelephone to call for help from Bourke. After she 
  points it out as being the nearest house to the shop, she 
  sends you on your way and then rushes to attend the 
  wounded. Turn to 10. 
   
  356 
  The passageway runs only a short distance before ending 
  in a turn. As you pause to consider which direction you 
  should go, a large spike shoots out of one of the walls 
  and stabs you in the leg – lose 1 WOUND point. The 
  spike laughs in glee and rolls its metallic eye at you, and 
  then comes back for a second try. Leaping to one side, 
  you avoid its thrust. You take to your heels. Will you go 
  north (turn to 182) or west (turn to 284)? 
   
  357 
  As you fumble with your bag, trying to get an ampoule of 
  anaesthetic in hand, the Agnes-monster leaps onto you 
  and grips you in a suffocating embrace. Eight or nine 
  tentacles pin your arms as you struggle to manoeuvre the 
  needle into her arm and inject the serum. The result is 
  
  358─360 
   
  both sudden and hideous: her grip instantly slackens as 
  she collapses in spasms to the floor, where to your 
  increasing horror she undergoes a rapid series of 
  improbable transformations, firstly into a wolf creature, 
  then a squid, and finally a knotted heap of barnacle 
  things. Turn to 32. 
   
  358 
  You follow the tunnel for only a short while before 
  finding your way blocked by a large number of dying 
  Fuhuruh. These have vast segmented bodies and lie 
  twisted together like gigantic poisoned caterpillars, with 
  their legs feebly twitching and foam running like water 
  from mouths slack with pain. You turn and head back to 
  the south. Subtract 1 from the amount of TIME LEFT. 
  Turn to 288. 
   
  359 
  You take the stake and run at the straw creature, impaling 
  it and knocking it to the ground. Its blood-soaked tendrils 
  are ripped from the man’s body. Yet, after only a short 
  moment the creature stands up as if hardly affected. With 
  deliberate strength, it slowly slides the stake from its 
  body, leaving no sign of scar or injury. With a rustling 
  but fluid motion it flings the stake back at you, grazing 
  your chest – lose 1 WOUND point. Wasting no time, you 
  seize the now wounded man by the arm and stumble 
  away down the hill. Turn to 38. 
   
  360 
  Max slides past the machine to tip a keg over to the floor. 
  He flicks a hand at you and together you roll the barrel 
  
  361─362 
   
  back to the tunnel. With a loud, ‘Go!’ you send the beer 
  plummeting down, where it disappears before crashing 
  against something hard. There is a muffled explosion 
  followed by a pall of smoke shooting into the cold room. 
  Silence. Satisfied, if unable to breathe, you head for the 
  door. Turn to 391. 
   
  361 
  The door takes you into a small room, empty but for a 
  peculiar odour. Nothing happens and there are no other 
  exits so you retreat the way you entered only to find that 
  the scenery has changed. Turn to 192. 
   
  362 
  ‘Hurry up, over here,’ says the rep, motioning from the 
  house, ‘there’s no point in fighting the birds; they only 
  get thicker in the air.’ You run after him, gaining shelter. 
  The two of you quickly discuss the appalling strangeness 
  that seems to have fallen like a night curse upon this 
  sleepy town. Together you resolve to make the rep’s 
  house a bastion until help arrives. ‘Good,’ he says, 
  reloading his rifle, ‘You go out the back and stop the 
  trees from coming closer. You know, I’ve lived here for 
  fifty years and there’s never been a tree growing closer 
  than a hundred yards, and then this morning I wake up to 
  find the damn house in the shade!’ He slams the bolt into 
  the breech and heads for the gate. ‘Get moving, use 
  whatever you can find.’ You stroll out to the rear of the 
  house where you are confronted by a forest of gum trees. 
  Well, not quite gum trees, as these trees are moving 
  towards you with a tortured gait, tearing their way 
  through the soil and leaving ploughed furrows stretching 
  
  363─364 
   
  back to the creek. The rep’s yard is full of the most 
  bizarre junk, new and old, but all agricultural. After a 
  quick search through the cleanest looking quarter (and 
  thus, you hope, the most serviceable), you discover three 
  possible weapons: 
  Chainsaw 
  Turn to 259 
  Fire Fighting Equipment 
  Turn to 287 
  Bulldozer 
  Turn to 311 
   
  363 
  You walk only a short distance before the floor collapses 
  under your feet and pitches you into a dark chute. Slime 
  exuded by some unimaginable creature facilitates your 
  long slide to the bottom, where you emerge into a high 
  ceilinged room. Suddenly, a boulder crashes with a dull 
  thud on the floor beside you; a smaller rock follows. 
  Looking up, you see two spidery Fuhuruh scuttling along 
  a narrow ledge some fifteen feet above you. Occasionally 
  one of them pauses to drag a rock or boulder to the edge 
  and then cast it down at you. It is only a matter of time 
  before they hit and kill you. You decide that your only 
  hope is to throw some rocks back at them. If you have 
  any CRICKET’ PLAYING ability, turn to 351, otherwise 
  turn to 14. 
   
  364 
  Cautiously, you approach the doorway into the other 
  room, listening carefully but in vain for the soft clicking 
  of dog claws on the floor. You observe that the room is a 
  storeroom: tall shelves stacked with paint cans, sacks of 
  flour, bottles, and other supplies fill the small area in neat 
  rows. If you feel reluctant to follow the animal into this 
  
  365─368 
   
  room, you could try pushing one of the shelves over and 
  hope that the resulting domino effect might catch and 
  crush it (turn to 283), otherwise can you step into the 
  storeroom to look for it (turn to 204). 
   
  365 
  The passage continues straight for a short time before 
  depositing you at a sharp bend. You can go either south 
  (turn to 272) or east (turn to 394). 
   
  366 
  The two of you stumble onwards, skirting around the 
  town to avoid anything that might be even remotely 
  alive, and eventually coming to the southern branch of 
  Highway 102. Turn to 74. 
   
  367 
  If you have FAST REFLEXES, turn to 133, otherwise 
  turn to 140. 
   
  368 
  You cast the mine at the ceiling. The glass sphere breaks 
  on impact and exudes a sticky substance that glues the 
  bomb to the concrete. A few seconds later a tremendous 
  explosion follows and tears a huge hole in the roof. To 
  your surprise, from this fracture pours a large amount of 
  beer, broken beer kegs, and bottles of liquor; obviously, 
  you’re under the pub! The alcohol has an instant and 
  dramatic effect upon the metallic Fuhuruh standing 
  below the cascade, utterly reducing them to scattered 
  piles of steel and aluminium. Thinking on your feet, you 
  jump into the pool of beer that has spread across the floor 
  
  369─371 
   
  and thus avoid the few Fuhuruh that have managed to 
  survive, their fear of disintegration outweighing their 
  desire to destroy you. On the other side of the hall is a 
  large circular steel door. The number 20 is stencilled 
  across its face. If you can open this door, do so; 
  otherwise you are trapped in this room and your 
  adventure is over: the Fuhuruh by the other exit are just 
  waiting for you to step from the beer to finish you off. 
   
  369 
  With a mad effort you wrench the flap off your face, all 
  the while biting and snapping at the tendrils to keep them 
  at bay. Your arms are still pinned and you’re still on the 
  floor. Will you try rolling toward the Carrot (turn to 58) 
  or the blades again (turn to 397)? 
   
  370 
  The choice you act upon is incorrect. When you step 
  forward, thinking the monster is going for another 
  entrance, it suddenly lashes out and strikes you with a 
  hooked claw – lose 1 WOUND point. You stagger into 
  the room. Turn to 340. 
   
  371 
  The hill in question climbs around a hundred feet behind 
  the ashram with a straggling and very dry cornfield 
  covering its flanks, an unlikely crop in this part of the 
  world. The group spends about fifteen minutes slowly 
  weaving its way to the summit. Some of the children 
  giggle nervously at the prospect of meeting the ‘ghost.’ 
  ‘There,’ says the hippy to the kids when everyone is 
  finally at the summit, ‘see, nothing to be afraid of.’ He 
  
  372─373 
   
  steps forward and slaps a hand onto the angular black trig 
  marker, giving it a good shake to show how safe it is to 
  touch. Immediately, a set of metallic jaws spring from a 
  hidden recess in the trig’s post and latch onto the man’s 
  hand, the razor teeth sinking in deep and holding tight. 
  The children dissolve screaming down the hill, running in 
  sheer terror. Will you try to help the man break free (turn 
  to 211) or pursue the children to make sure that none of 
  them come to grief in their panic (turn to 289)? 
   
  372 
  You throw the car into gear and accelerate wildly onto 
  the highway. Flash fires off several shots into the back of 
  your vehicle, shattering windows, destroying tyres, and 
  sending you hopelessly out of control. The car fishtails 
  from one side of the road to the other before veering 
  sharply to the right, threatening to roll into the trees of 
  ANZAC Grove that line the highway here. As you fight 
  with the wheel, will you try to turn the car left (turn to 
  276) or right (turn to 244)? 
   
  373 
  The three of you run toward Cabralowie. The dog and 
  grazier set a cracking pace, despite their wounds, and you 
  are soon left behind. Alone, with the sheep bleating at 
  your heels, you decide to shed some weight – lose 
  everything you are carrying except for 2 items, both of 
  which must have a WEIGHT = 1 or less. Lighter now, 
  you begin to out distance your pursuers. Then the town 
  comes into sight. Will you approach a nearby house (turn 
  to 17), or continue south and skirt around the town to 
  reach the highway (turn to 74)? 
  
  374─378 
   
   
  374 
  The tunnel continues at an irregular depth for a short 
  distance before engaging in a ninety-degree turn. You 
  can go either north (turn to 296) or east (turn to 398). 
   
  375 
  Leaving the dam, you stride back toward the windmill. 
  Ces is nowhere in sight. Will you look for the old man 
  (turn to 6) or head back into Cabralowie to tell somebody 
  about the fantastic creature you’ve just had a run in with 
  (turn to 158)? 
   
  376 
  The device hums and rattles a bit, and shortly the process 
  is complete. The door on the machine opens and inside 
  you find a hand-sized cylinder of jet black steel: a Gas 
  Grenade with the number 50 stamped on it. Its WEIGHT 
  = 1. Turn to 387. 
   
  377 
  You leave the creature in the gully and continue your 
  lonely trek to the south. After a few minutes you come 
  across another gully that is much wider and deeper than 
  the other, and cuts directly across your path. Will you 
  enter this gully (turn to 354) or try to skirt around it (turn 
  to 278)? 
   
  378 
  After a dozen paces onto the bridge you notice that the 
  wings have taken a sudden and alarming interest in your 
  presence. They have circled behind you and are now 
  
  379─380 
   
  diving with the obvious intent of striking and knocking 
  you over into the abyss. You’ll have to run for it! If you 
  have SPRINTING ability, turn to 125, otherwise turn to 
  71. 
   
  379 
  Desperately, you grab the animal’s saliva coated tongue 
  and prize it free of your arm, all the while keeping the 
  hypodermic tip at a safe distance. With a savage kick you 
  bowl the creature over and turn to run, noticing as you do 
  that the dog has begun to transfigure itself horribly: a 
  vast tooth-lined maw opens in its chest while a dozen 
  eyes and poisonous barbs pop up at seemingly random 
  intervals around its body. At high speed and with terror 
  nipping at your heels, you continue across the field. Turn 
  to 10. 
   
  380 
  The weapon you have selected is not really suitable for 
  this kind of work, but you make a few tentative cuts at 
  the creature anyway. It becomes irritated and spits a great 
  gob of poison at you – lose any EXTRA STAMINA 
  ability. Finally, though, it gets so irritated that it lets go 
  of the lawyer and grabs your blade, intent on climbing 
  along it to reach you. Without hesitation you throw both 
  into the back of the aircraft (cross the weapon from your 
  equipment list). The lawyer has collapsed across the 
  controls. If you have FLYING EXPERIENCE, turn to 
  216, otherwise turn to 315. 
   
  
  381─383 
   
  381 
  You enter a large room whose walls appear to be 
  constructed entirely of stainless steel. You can see your 
  reflection in the mirror like surfaces: a tattered and 
  bloody human being, alone against a race of mindless, 
  homicidal aliens. There is an irregularly shaped door in 
  the north wall and three exit corridors in the others. 
  Will you proceed: 
  Through the door? 
  Turn to 123 
  South? 
  Turn to 284 
  East? 
  Turn to 182 
  West? 
  Turn to 101 
   
  382 
  You sprint away from the car, although it continues to 
  gain rapidly. Only a short distance directly ahead are two 
  fenced off fields: one is flat and bare, obviously used for 
  grazing sheep, the other is waist high with tinder dry 
  lucerne. Will you run across the sheep paddock (turn to 
  349) or the other (turn to 236)? 
   
  383 
  You wait for the truck to approach to within a 
  comfortable throwing range before sending the axe 
  spinning through the air. The silver blade and long 
  wooden handle arc toward the cabin and smash straight 
  through the windscreen into the glowing red eyes. The 
  vehicle immediately goes out of control, turning slowly 
  at first, then faster and faster until it jack-knives and rolls 
  with a scream of twisting metal. As the dust clears, you 
  see that it is busy reconstructing itself! Time to clear out. 
  Turn to 99. 
  
  384─386 
   
  384 
  You enter another Y-junction, but when you stop for a 
  moment to decide in which direction to proceed, the 
  ceiling suddenly gives way without warning and 
  thousands of tons of rock rain down with brutal force, 
  crushing you to death. Your adventure is over. 
   
  385 
  You grab the nearest child and start brushing the mice 
  from her back, only to find the horrible little critters 
  grabbing onto your arm and racing over your body, biting 
  and clawing as they go – lose 1 WOUND point. You 
  drop the girl and start beating at your attackers. Turn to 
  115. 
   
  386 
  With wheels spinning and gravel shooting from the rear, 
  you lurch out of the behemoth’s path. To your 
  consternation, though, the ground beneath your vehicle’s 
  front wheels collapses to reveal a deep pit. The car falls 
  and bends when it hits the bottom. You smash your head 
  on the steering wheel and receive a nasty gash over one 
  eye – lose 1 WOUND point and any KEEN EYE skill. 
  The massive machine that launched itself at you wheels 
  ponderously about and takes hold of the rear of your car 
  with several massive steel claws. It starts to drag you out 
  of the hole, the boot of the car disappearing into the 
  machine’s interior accompanied by showers of sparks. As 
  you jump free of the wreckage, you see what appears to 
  be a man waving to you from beside the barn. Will you 
  run towards him (turn to 197) or towards the house (turn 
  to 242)? 
  
  387─389 
   
   
  387 
  You enter the elevator. Which button will you press: 
  One? 
  Turn to 175 
  Two? 
  Turn to 189 
  Four? 
  Turn to 234 
   
  388 
  You approach the house and knock on the door, which 
  you discover is unlatched. Slowly it swings open to 
  reveal a gloomy corridor. Hesitantly you call out, ‘Hello, 
  anyone home?’ Taking careful steps, you slowly enter the 
  house. The door immediately slams shut and bolts itself 
  with an ominous finality. When you turn around you find 
  it displaying the most undoorlike behaviour: it bulges in 
  its frame, exerting a fierce pressure, and what appear to 
  be a pair of nuggety eyes glare at you from a central 
  ridge. Steam issues from several cracks as the door 
  groans from the pressure. You don’t dare approach it and 
  can only go deeper into the house. But at this moment 
  you become aware of a terrifying chopping sound 
  coming from the other end of the corridor. Will you: 
  Enter a doorway to the left? 
  Turn to 12 
  Enter a doorway to the right? 
  Turn to 40 
  Go down the corridor? 
  Turn to 96 
   
  389 
  The corridor proceeds straight and then executes a 
  ninety-degree turn. You can head either south (turn to 
  291) or west (turn to 37). 
   
  
  390─391 
   
  390 
  You stand on the brake pedal with both feet, trying to 
  push it through the firewall. In response, the car locks all 
  four wheels, drops its gearbox onto the road, and then 
  spins wildly out of control. A second later it smashes into 
  one of the trees that line ANZAC Grove – lose 1 
  WOUND point. The metal arms release their grip and fall 
  to the floor, allowing you to climb dazed from the car. 
  Once free, you turn and watch as the car begins to bury 
  itself into the ground, throwing heaps of dirt over itself 
  until all that remains is a small periscope that rotates to 
  fix its gaze full upon you. Shaken, you retreat rapidly. 
  Turn to 158. 
   
  391 
  The door opens onto some stairs that lead you up behind 
  the main bar. Sounds of activity on the other side make 
  you climb with caution. Once upstairs, you risk a peek 
  over the bar to discover that the drinking area is full of 
  equal numbers of deadly machines and the most foul 
  looking creatures: some are blobs with one or two legs 
  while others are solid clam-like horrors sliding on 
  mucous membranes. The machines are standing isolated 
  and inactive while the creatures lie about on the floor as 
  if torpid and lazy, all with two-litre bottles of soft drink 
  clutched in their claws or held to their vile orifices by 
  nearby machines. You slide out of sight behind the bar, 
  which you notice is well stocked with a wide range of 
  spirits. Will you remain where you are (turn to 345) or 
  launch a surprise attack on the invaders (turn to 320)? 
   
  
  392─394 
   
  392 
  As you are completely defenceless, the Fuhuruh have 
  little trouble in capturing you. They are utterly merciless 
  and as such waste no time in putting you to speedy death. 
  Your adventure is over. 
   
  393 
  Desperately, you look from side to side in search of a 
  suitable weapon. Alas, none is to be found. The sheep, 
  smelling blood and victory, leap high over the sides of 
  the car, biting and snapping, and tearing at life and limb. 
  They carry you from this world into the next. Your 
  adventure is over. 
   
  394 
  The passageway leads you into a square hall constructed 
  of neatly piled bricks. However, from the ceiling hangs a 
  monstrous spidery creature. Its blind sack of a body 
  clings to the roof with four legs while its other four limbs 
  snake out at different times to grab anything that might 
  be entering the hall through one of the four corridors that 
  terminate here. There appears to be a pattern to its blind 
  gropings, and you pause to watch which leg moves and 
  when. The creature reaches for west-east-south-north-
  north-west-east-south. Which entrance will the creature 
  go for next: 
  North? 
  Turn to 370 
  South? 
  Turn to 344 
  East? 
  Turn to 319 
  West? 
  Turn to 299 
   
  
  395─398 
   
  395 
  Lying close at hand you see a large Metal Stake and next 
  to that a small hand Scythe used to cut ears of corn. Will 
  you use: 
  The Stake? 
  Turn to 359 
  The Scythe? 
  Turn to 333 
  Your Bare Hands? 
  Turn to 314 
   
  396 
  The two hemispheres slot together to form a red sphere. 
  The digits fade to be replaced by five pulsing blue 
  stripes. The sphere has a combined WEIGHT of 1. You 
  pocket the strange device, and with your pursuers already 
  breaking the door down, you exit the pub. Turn to 99. 
   
  397 
  Once again your efforts to escape meet with failure, and 
  once again the stinking leathery flap slides over your face 
  and insinuates tendrils down into your lungs. Turn to 
  335. 
   
  398 
  You are in a small dimly lit cavern with rough looking 
  tunnels heading off in three directions. Will you go: 
  North? 
  Turn to 322 
  East? 
  Turn to 348 
  West? 
  Turn to 374 
   
  
  399─400 
   
  399 
  If you have any of the following weapons you may use 
  one, otherwise turn to 31. 
  Shotgun 
  Turn to 51 
  Scythe 
  Turn to 98 
  Insect Spray 
  Turn to 118 
   
  400 
  The tunnel leads into a dead end, but the ceiling is 
  cracked wide open and from here air and dim light filter 
  down from the outside world. The sound of the 
  destruction of the Fuhuruh hive reaches a crescendo 
  behind you as you climb up the broken wall and through 
  the ceiling. After a few moments you break out onto the 
  surface. There is a pre-dawn glow in the sky and a heady 
  crispness in the air. There comes a final tumultuous 
  sound of destruction and a vast mushroom cloud of red 
  dust billows from a thousand collapsed holes that carpet 
  the plain as the Fuhuruh hive is completely destroyed and 
  the last of the aliens are vanquished. Without pausing to 
  congratulate yourself, you slap the dust from your limbs 
  and then limp slowly back toward where you can see the 
  low rooftops of the township against the dawn horizon. 
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Vault2.0.-.Fiction-and-audiobooks/Books/Fighting Fantasy/Fighting Fantasy Amateur Invaders.pdf