Larry threw open the van doors. Burt and Turk climbed into the back and hauled the ice chest, now full of cool water, out into the street. They both set to refilling the empty plastic jugs with water, while Larry opened one of the cardboard boxes. "Guys, wipe your hands," he said, "here's the brass ring." Larry tore the shrink wrap off of the bundle and handed each of them a module. "Your comp copies," he said.
"Wow," said D.J. He squinted in the dim light. "A Robert Rutlege cover," he said. Three adventurers were depicted on the front cover, fighting animated skeletons while an ominous black stone keep glowed in the moonlight behind them.
"Crudely executed, but still amazing," said Turk.
"Think he'll autograph them for us?" asked Burt.
"Great idea," said D.J, unwrapping his module.
D.J. had to hold the cover close to his nose to read, "Long ago, Ebon Keep was a place of truth and light. That was before the dark times, when a mysterious sorceress moved into the castle and slowly took control of the surrounding countryside. Now the castle lies in ruins, but is still protected by dark magic. Can your players unravel the mysteries and brave the undead Phalanx of Ebon Keep?"
Larry grinned. "We know Turk can."
"That's right," said Turk. "That place doesn't scare me."
"No," said Burt, turning the pages slowly, "but what's inside will."
"Where you at?" asked Turk, riffling his module.
"Oh, just pick a page," Burt said.
Turk stopping flipping and stared. "Oh my god," he said.
No one wanted to read aloud anything; they just turned the pages in silent awe. Finally, Larry couldn't contain it any longer. He started giggling. Soon, the others joined in. Anything to break the tension.
"Christ, this is terrible," said Larry.
"And yet, strangely arousing," said Turk.
"You're sleeping on the floor," said Burt.
D.J. and Larry laughed. Order had been restored. They were all right again. Eventually, the bad black and white artwork and game statistics got the better of them. They put the modules back in the box, shoved them up to the front, and put the cooler in the back, to minimize the chance of leakage. Then they trudged back to the site to recover more of their shrink-wrapped loot.
Chapter One: The Navel Adventures of Larry Croft
Chapter Two: 1123 Miles to Tempe
Chapter Three: Enter the String
Chapter Four: The Waiting is the Hardest Part
Chapter Five: Rutlege's Story
Chapter Six: The Plot Thickens
Chapter Seven: The Fifth Man is Revealed
Chapter Eight: It's a DRY Heat
Chapter Nine: Preparing to Lam
Chapter Ten: The Mislaid Plans of Mouse and Man
Chapter Eleven: The Danger of Talking to God
Chapter Twelve: Anchors Aweigh, Let's Go Men
Chapter Thirteen: The End is Near
Chapter Fourteen: Roll to Hit
Chapter Fifteen: Six Feet of Beef Stick for the Soul
Chapter Sixteen: Hello, My Name is Indio, California
Chapter Seventeen: Threadgill Takes Charge
Chapter Eighteen: The Players on the Other Side
Chapter Nineteen: On the Road to Perdition
Chapter Twenty: Welcome to Tempe
Chapter Twenty-One: The Game is Afoot
Chapter Twenty-Two: Should Have Known Better
Chapter Twenty-Three: Test-Run at the Waffle House
Chapter Twenty-Four: The Supply Run
Chapter Twenty-Five: The Backhoe
Chapter Twenty-Six: A Frank Discussion
Chapter Twenty-Seven: A Brief History of Larry's Van
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Go Speed Racer, Go
Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Owner of the Thumbscrews
Chapter Thirty: Brain Teasers
Chapter Thirty-One: Frick and Frack Check In
Chapter Thirty-Two: Scouting
Chapter Thirty-Three: The Stakeout
Chapter Thirty-Four: The Food Fight
Chapter Thirty-Five: Time to Dig
Chapter Thirty-Six: Deep in the Night
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Paydirt
Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Phallus of Ebon Keep
Chapter Thirty-Nine: Otto and Stacy Make Good
Chapter Forty: Thieves in the Night
Chapter Forty-One: Critical Failure
Chapter Forty-Two: Downtown
Chapter Forty-Three: The Hoosegow
Chapter Forty-Four: An Emergency Breakfast
Chapter Forty-Five: Two Early Phone Calls
Chapter Forty-Six: Threadgill Meets the Gang
Chapter Forty-Seven: Back to the Van
Chapter Forty-Eight: Five Days Later
Epilogue
Table of Contents
About the Author
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