C1E18 | Trust Me

Welcome back to The Big Red Button — where the wasteland doesn’t wait for you to be ready.

In this episode, the Stragglers pick up in the aftermath of chaos as the group regroups near the wreckage of the vertibird and realizes the danger is far from over. With injuries mounting, nerves fraying, and an overwhelming number of cannibal cultists emerging from the darkness, the crew is forced to make impossible decisions under pressure — and to place their trust in unlikely hands.

Episode Highlights:

The Calm Is Gone: After fending off an initial threat, the group realizes they’ve drawn the attention of something much larger — “20, 30, 40 cultists pouring out” from beyond the walls of Mitten Point.
Desperate Planning: With the vertibird grounded and the enemy closing in, the team scrambles for cover, supplies, and any advantage they can find.
A Dangerous Weapon: Attention turns to a damaged mini nuke launcher — powerful, unstable, and possibly their only chance to survive what’s coming.
Unlikely Faith: As fear peaks and options run out, one member steps forward with a plan so bold it borders on madness.

Notable Quotes:

“Just eat me. I’m already cooked.”
“I want to press the big red button.”
“This is only way. I save little Peanut.”
“Please just trust me.”

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) Emergency Broadcast & Cold Open
(00:03:25) Welcome Back & Table Chaos
(00:09:54) Situation Recap
(00:12:48) The Cannibal Horde Revealed
(00:15:22) Retreat to the Vertibird
(00:18:19) Discovery of the Mini Nuke
(00:23:08) Assessing the Blast Radius
(00:26:20) A Risky Decision
(00:32:09) Fallout at Mitten Point
(00:44:09) Ending

Transcript

[00:00:00:00 - 00:00:48:05]
 (Music) You shouldn't leave your shelter until officials say so. (Music) (Music) This is the emergency broadcast system. This is not a test. Repeat, this is not a test. Citizens are advised to take the following steps. Stay alert to news media events or local emergency alert notifications. (Music)

[00:00:57:11 - 00:01:27:09]
 It has been far too long. I feel oblivion on the horizon. The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plains. I reckon it's hardly ever happened in Hartford, Heringford and Hampshire. I had a beautiful time in Barcelona. That was touching me. All I want is a room somewhere far away from the cold night air. I don't know what we're singing here. From my fair lady. From my fair lady.

[00:01:29:19 - 00:01:31:20]
 It's Liza Doolittle.

[00:01:33:05 - 00:01:36:02]
 Is she the one that can talk to animals?

[00:01:38:15 - 00:01:39:08]
 That's his daughter.

[00:01:40:11 - 00:01:55:15]
 She's all that where they pick the nerd and then class her up and Freddie Prinze Jr. is like, "Oh, I'm in love with her now." No, that's the one with tampons in her nose and she plays soccer as a boy. No, that's she's the man.

[00:01:56:19 - 00:02:26:23]
 So, which one is tampon you love? This aristocrat takes a bet that he could pick a sea urchin off of the street and make people think that she's royalty and it's Audrey Hepburn. She starts out singing. All I want is a room somewhere far away from the cold night air. With one enormous chair. Oh, would never be lovely.

[00:02:28:14 - 00:02:43:16]
 And then by the end of it, she's like, "Arachans hardly ever happen in Hertford, Haringford and Hampshire." But at the beginning of her lesson, she's like, "Arachans hardly ever happen in Hertford, Haringford and Hampshire."

[00:02:46:03 - 00:02:49:19]
 I feel like Jasper Ford would love everything that just happened.

[00:02:51:04 - 00:02:53:06]
 I didn't understand a thing.

[00:02:54:06 - 00:03:17:04]
 Just throwing a reference to an old American car and you just did a Jasper Ford book right there. Those were all going to happen in this campaign today. All right, guys. Welcome back, you idiots. No, wait, wait. You intro it as you before we get into. All right, guys, welcome back, you idiots.

[00:03:18:19 - 00:03:24:12]
 Alex, just take it. There's only a voice change. That's the only difference.

[00:03:25:19 - 00:03:27:15]
 Cody has been playing himself.

[00:03:28:22 - 00:04:01:14]
 I'm keeping all of that in the edit. Welcome back, you idiots. And if you're still listening to and why on earth are you still listening to these morons? I do want to just add a quick editor's note here in the live recording. He's referring to the three of us as the you idiots and then everyone else. He's just welcoming back. He's not saying welcome back, you idiots to everyone. I need to make that or abundantly clear. He is incorrect. Welcome back, you idiots.

[00:04:04:19 - 00:04:33:04]
 All right. Welcome back, everybody. And if you're just joining us, why go back to the backlog. Start from the beginning. This is a serialized. This is a serialized story right here. And you are too late to be joining us. You should go start at the beginning. Go back to the beginning. Listen to us four times. Let's get those monetization numbers up. But you are listening to the big red button.

[00:04:34:07 - 00:04:36:18]
 I am your cranky author.

[00:04:44:00 - 00:04:55:05]
 I feel like there's some kind of like the real world, you know, bleeding into your character. Do you think that's true?

[00:04:56:21 - 00:04:58:18]
 It's like, you know, Chris Pratt, you know, he just plays Ryan Reynolds. They just play themselves and everything. Chris Pratt just plays Ryan Reynolds. You couldn't say that.

[00:05:05:01 - 00:05:09:19]
 Couldn't have said it better yourself if I tried.

[00:05:11:09 - 00:05:13:21]
 We do all share one brain cell.

[00:05:14:22 - 00:05:20:08]
 And we take turns getting to use it. That's why you're throwing tonight. It's like the eye amongst the fates.

[00:05:21:12 - 00:05:28:12]
 Here with us is our illustrious. Producer. And he's a great producer. He's a great producer. He's a great producer. He's an illustrious producer.

[00:05:29:19 - 00:05:35:18]
 Dallas. How are you doing today, buddy? Hello. I'm doing fantastic. Did you just say? Did you just say a downgrade?

[00:05:36:20 - 00:05:44:22]
 Yeah, I was going to say, is that an upgrade or downgrade to illustrious? Game Master. Lustrous. There you go. Illustrious illustration.

[00:05:46:00 - 00:05:54:15]
 The illustrious succulent. Dallas. Ooh. I feel like we need to leave the recording. We got a little.

[00:05:55:19 - 00:06:20:00]
 Saucet. We need some time. I need you guys to knock up for a second. He's just going to use illustrious for everyone. And the illustrious. And the illustrious. I couldn't get rid of him if I tried. And believe me, I tried. It's our neurotic British robot, William Murphy. Wait a minute. I've worked to earn the term illustrious. I've been polishing my dome all day.

[00:06:21:19 - 00:06:38:00]
 It's a metaphor. It's a metaphor. Well, I don't speak in there. I speak in absolutes. And finally, Jake Weiner, our gaslit friend, even though gaslit is not real, played by another.

[00:06:39:03 - 00:06:53:16]
 Alex. That's right. It's just Jake Weiner. Jake Weiner. Oh, Jake. I didn't even realize I said that. Well, own it because that's going. Wow. Houston. Tell me how you really feel.

[00:06:55:09 - 00:07:15:06]
 Wait. Okay. Now all of a sudden I'm watching as Dallas goes into our system and he changes my name from Jake Winger to Jake. That's crazy to do. Oh, there he goes. And one day he did it. And he smelled it. He's good. I'm sorry. I have an accent.

[00:07:16:19 - 00:07:22:20]
 An accent? Oh, man. Yes, I'm Jake Weiner. That's not an accent. That's a Freudian slip.

[00:07:23:23 - 00:09:54:16]
 Tell me how you feel. Lord, he's Freud alive. He's still alive. He feels like he would be a ghoul. So Game Master Dallas, we have gone on a crazy journey so far. Yes, we have. I believe. Let me see if I can get everyone caught up right now. We have, we all met and we're our town of Dust Ridge. Our town of Dust Ridge was attacked by cannibals. We were sent out by our sheriff and our mayor to go up north to try to track down the source of these attackers. We made a friend named Robert Short who lived in a library just north of us on our way back we ran into the Brotherhood of Steel. We also ran into a weird robot lady who then introduced us to a bunch of super mutants. The super mutants had a super mutant leader who is unequivocally not Santa Claus. Not Santa Claus. I mean, Mr. Claus Zinski then led us back to our hometown but not before dropping the bomb that one of our closest friends in Dust Ridge, our hometown, was actually the same security officer that worked in their vault where they were the super mutants were experimented on. And one of our closest friends was actually an evil scientist who was plotting to destroy all of us. So we have made our way back to Dust Ridge and the cannibals are upon us. They've attacked us and the super mutants and now are we heading into a final showdown? Is that where things stand? So we had a small band of cannibals that we disbanded. Yes. But then we are outside their compound and we can see the doors swinging open and a much larger group of cannibals are heading our way. Just eat me. I'm already cooked. And I think that the cannibals are probably upset. They're like, look at all of that delicious meat that you're just leaving on the ground. How dare you? Okay. Are they still? Oh, I mean, we probably need to wait and let you set the scene. I have been so nervous for this all day. Okay. Okay. I'm nervous. I'm nervous. I'm nervous. I'm nervous. I'm nervous. I'm nervous. I'm nervous. I'm nervous.

[00:09:58:19 - 00:10:13:02]
 In our group chat. Yeah. The votive candles that showed up from Amazon today from an unknown sender, that it's a light when appropriate. Is that the sorry for your lost card I got in the mail from you today.

[00:10:14:10 - 00:10:23:15]
Yup. That's all surprises for you. For the picture of Mother, Mary and the Rosary, also from, you?

[00:10:24:20 - 00:10:25:00]
 No,

[00:10:28:02 - 00:10:40:10]
 From me. What about the Jehovah's Witnesses that showed up? Did you? Yes, that was for me. He said them, he said them. Look, based on what I know of Fallout season two, I just wanna be left home alone.

[00:10:42:05 - 00:11:08:11]
 (Laughing) You could, yeah, you could, and you'd probably be better off. All right, so up until this point, you are correct. You did fight a band of cultist cannibals, and right before that, the reason why you were fighting them is your friend Robert Short was shot, if you recall, and you guys did save him, tried to save him with True Love's Kiss,

[00:11:09:18 - 00:11:11:07]
 which failed gloriously.

[00:11:12:18 - 00:11:17:00]
 But while trying to figure out who shot your friend,

[00:11:18:02 - 00:11:29:19]
 if you guys recall, Jake Winger was captured, kidnapped, and taken on the run, while the rest of the group followed in a vertibird piloted by Klesinski,

[00:11:31:09 - 00:11:51:22]
 and he had brought some special weapons and special tools, and you guys stopped the kidnapping in a fiery crash and fought tooth and nail, and some of you are wounded pretty badly, but the danger in your area was done.

[00:11:52:23 - 00:12:46:23]
 You all have done a great job fighting and fending off the cultists in your area, but the sounds and the explosions and the screams and cries of pain have alerted what seems like the rest of the cannibal camp, because there is a, out in the distance in the darkness, past some trees, there is what looks like an old wall to an old town, because you guys were headed towards a mitten point during your chase, and you had deduced that this is probably where the cultists camped, had infiltrated this portion of the country, and you had, in your investigations and your interrogations previously of some of the cultists had said that they had run low on food, and so that is why they were scouting this area

[00:12:48:05 - 00:13:34:18]
 and pouring through the gate of this wall, of this city, that you all have alerted, looks like 20, 30, 40 cultists pouring out, and behind them it seems like they're just almost piling up, trying to get through to where you guys are. Too many to count by the time you guys get your bearings, and they are bearing down on you pretty quick, and this is, you see knives, you see guns, you see porches, you see all kinds of equipment used to butcher and flay human flesh.

[00:13:36:10 - 00:13:49:08]
 All right, okay, all right, all right, all right. How far away are they currently? Actually, you know what, I want to retreat to the vertebird. Can we seek temporary shelter inside of the vertebird?

[00:13:50:12 - 00:14:07:02]
 You can try, the vertebird is in dire straits, obviously non-flyable. I mean, no, no, no, I don't want to get in an attempt to man it away, I just want to seek, like, block their view of us by retreating to the vertebird. I'm gonna need some rolls.

[00:14:08:17 - 00:14:11:05]
 Well, I'm looking for something.

[00:14:12:13 - 00:14:18:04]
 Yes, so we're going to be using perception and survival.

[00:14:19:12 - 00:14:33:15]
 Two. It's gonna be your rolls. I mean, to move, but just to get there. No, just to judge distance between you and the-- All right, I will roll as it is my request.

[00:14:36:12 - 00:14:38:05]
 A six. A six.

[00:14:39:09 - 00:14:39:23]
 What did you need?

[00:14:41:05 - 00:14:55:03]
 Perception and survival, I have a seven in perception. Yeah, so you more than-- Eight to two in perception, okay. Attaboy. All right, do I need to roll again? It is a D20, or a two D20. Okay, I will roll again.

[00:14:56:21 - 00:15:09:06]
 And a 12. And a 12. Okay, so the first one did it fine. Okay. So you peek out into the distance and it looks like they are about,

[00:15:12:04 - 00:15:22:18]
 400, 300 yards away, and it is about 70 yards to the vertebird from your location. Okay, I would like to gesture to everyone

[00:15:23:18 - 00:15:26:23]
 and retreat around to the opposite side of the vertebird,

[00:15:28:06 - 00:15:33:11]
 just to provide some temporary cover while we plan.

[00:15:35:01 - 00:15:35:06]
 Okay.

[00:15:37:02 - 00:15:39:09]
 Sorry, my heart is beating so fast.

[00:15:41:19 - 00:15:49:11]
 All right, so Godfrey is moving towards the vertebird and so are-- And I'm gesturing everyone to come with me.

[00:15:50:14 - 00:15:53:07]
 I stumble back towards Godfrey.

[00:15:54:10 - 00:16:31:01]
 And I-- Going in that direction. I would like to gesture the most aggressively to Mr. Klozinski as he was the pilot on the vertebird. Jeremy Stompi and Grumbly are by the vertebird, which crash landed by a bunch of trees on one side of, on the right side of the road. In the middle of the road, we have, in varying states of injury, the rest of the boys and Klozinski is darting nimbly and way faster than someone of his size should be able to.

[00:16:32:12 - 00:16:42:01]
 There's obvious fear in his eyes as he's trying to get them up as fast as possible at the coming horde of cannibals from the north.

[00:16:43:08 - 00:17:00:12]
 Stompi, can you be a lookout and let me know when the cannibals are like 50 yards. Give me updates as they get closer. And Jeremy, will you help me search the vertebird? I'm looking for a parachute. Is there a parachute inside the vertebird?

[00:17:01:22 - 00:17:17:17]
 There are no parachutes inside the vertebird. Too risky, be chopped to pieces if ever jump out. You just kind of risk it for biscuit. Risk it for biscuit. Is there some sort of large like cloth or some sort of tarpaulin, some sort of, I don't know, piece of burlap?

[00:17:19:01 - 00:17:22:07]
 Tarpaulin, is that actually the full version of the word tarp?

[00:17:23:20 - 00:17:33:03]
 Yes, of course it is. I'm sorry, pause, is it really? Oh, a blanket, like a fire blanket or an emergency like warming blanket, just something. A tarpaulin.

[00:17:35:17 - 00:17:45:02]
 Tarpaulin, that's a tarpaulin. It's like, it's a tarpaulin. I will say tarpaulin and aluminum all I want to.

[00:17:46:15 - 00:17:55:15]
 (Laughing) It's three flavors of tarps. You got chocolate tarps, your vanilla tarps and strawberry tarps.

[00:18:00:01 - 00:18:17:20]
 No, no tarp, only thing in there. Front pilot seats removed. Kaczynski, large super mutant. There's only old couch. It looks like guns are damaged, but it does look like secret weapon is inside a vertibird. What? Yes.

[00:18:19:00 - 00:18:32:03]
 Is there a way, can you rip the covering off of the couch? Please, I know you're very strong. I know you're very strong. Yes, I can. Okay, and can this weapon be activated remotely?

[00:18:33:04 - 00:18:37:06]
 No, it cannot be. It is mini nuke launcher.

[00:18:38:12 - 00:18:54:11]
 I'm over in the middle of the road and all of a sudden I turn around and I just go, did I hear a secret weapon? Yes. Where's that been this whole time? It didn't vertibird. We crash, kind of got busy. Okay, all right.

[00:18:55:15 - 00:19:23:22]
 Hand me the covering to the couch. So Jeremy has ripped off the coverings to the couch and he has handed it to Godfrey. Okay, I'm back out of the vertibird and I, please commence with your secret weapon. I have an idea. It's a bit ludicrous, but I have an idea. Okay, so Godfrey is doing his secret thing. All these things are happening at the same time. Jacob Houston, what are you guys doing right now? You said something about a secret weapon. Yes.

[00:19:25:16 - 00:19:31:06]
 Could I look for said secret weapon? You can, it was tucked into the vertibird

[00:19:32:12 - 00:19:52:13]
 and it was just kind of propped against the side while you guys were flying it, but it has been bounced around inside of the vertibird. Now this is the Nuke launcher, that they were like, oh, don't touch that, don't touch that, is this the same thing or is this a different secret weapon? All right. No, this is it. Okay.

[00:19:54:19 - 00:20:43:21]
 While they are, Jeremy-- You had your turn. You had your turn. While they're doing that, I'm tattering the edges of the couch covering. What if we just use the Nuke launcher? Do we have anything that we'd be able to use that for? The Mini Nuke is actually, it was on the Mini Nuke launcher inside of the Vertibird. So there is a Mini Nuke on a Mini Nuke launcher in the Vertibird right now. Yes. Okay. It was a present that Klesinski brought. Brought, okay. Yes. The effective range of said secret weapon and how far do we need to be from that? Yes, what is the blast rate? Do I need to roll for intelligence or anything? You do. You need, okay, so this one is going to be a-- I wanna press the big red button.

[00:20:45:08 - 00:21:06:20]
 That is not how that works. Probably needs to be aimed first to launch-- This is an intelligence and big guns. Okay, intelligence, I have seven. And I have zero in big guns. So I'm gonna roll and I got a 20.

[00:21:08:03 - 00:21:14:12]
 No, and please have a one just to even things out. Please, rolling, rolling, rolling.

[00:21:15:20 - 00:21:16:13]
 A 17.

[00:21:18:12 - 00:21:44:02]
 So I'm out in the middle of the road. I'm like, guys, guys, I have a question. And I just face plant. This is part one, I don't know what else is gonna happen with the, I don't know what else tells his plan. I just like face plant and skid across the ground. And I sit up and I like make a reference to a movie that doesn't exist in this universe. And I'm like, I really have to have my elbow real bad, guys. (Laughing)

[00:21:45:14 - 00:21:54:22]
 It is busted, Jay Kwinger's lip. And so as he was trying to say out loud what he thought the effective range was,

[00:21:55:22 - 00:22:01:12]
 he has a harder time speaking. So you wouldn't even be able to understand him at this range.

[00:22:03:09 - 00:22:07:17]
 Guys, I think my lip is bloody.

[00:22:09:18 - 00:22:26:08]
 Houston, would you like to-- Taste like Coca-Cola caps. Yes, I want to aim the secret weapon at our opponents. We're trying to figure out what blast radius this thing is. Dude, if you set up a nuke right now and all die.

[00:22:28:12 - 00:22:31:22]
 Maybe that will be okay. And also the cannibals are right there.

[00:22:33:05 - 00:22:41:19]
 (Laughing) They are still closing. They are still closing. They are closer than when we started by, I would say a hundred yards.

[00:22:42:20 - 00:22:50:19]
 So they're about four, five, or so. This is some sort of, yes, please Houston, roll. Please, see if you have knowledge of this. All right.

[00:22:53:12 - 00:22:59:15]
 He got a four. Okay, and he needed a 10. So that's fantastic. Just roll one more time for me just to see what we got.

[00:23:02:05 - 00:23:06:22]
 And a six. And a six. And that combined is worth a 10. That is 10.

[00:23:08:10 - 00:23:24:06]
 (Laughing) So Houston pulls out the launcher and dusts it off and looks at the side. As someone who has been hit with a nuclear weapon at least 35 times. I kinda know how these things work.

[00:23:25:19 - 00:24:38:11]
 (Laughing) So he lets you know that the effective range is, they can launch to about 200 yards. And the blast radius is about 100 yards from one edge to the other. Oh, sorry, I'm at 50 yards. So it would definitely cover the road. I mean. And up into parts of the trees on each side. And you can launch it to about 200 yards. And like I said, they're about 400 or 500 yards. So they're not within. Now also. What is this vertebrate made of? It is just made out of steel. So it's not like led blind. We couldn't climb inside of it. And no, no, no, no. This particular model of Mini Nuke has got about a 50 yard on either side blast radius. Now, as Houston inspects it. Well, as he inspects it, before he presses any red buttons, he does notice that the sled that the Nuke launches off of is heavily mangled. And that it does not look like it would be able to fire, said Mini Nuke. Godfrey, can you fix this sled?

[00:24:39:13 - 00:25:06:23]
 Do you have like a welding torch? I have a torch. I'm fairly good at lock, pick and repair. Can I, is it something that I could heat up with the flamethrower and possibly like straighten it back out really quick? And meanwhile, I'm still laying in the road with my skinned elbow and busted lip. I'm wiping away the blood. No, and guys, it hurts really bad. They're closing in on us. Whatever you're doing, you've got to make it quick.

[00:25:08:12 - 00:25:16:14]
 They are at about three to 400 yards at this point. Can I attempt to repair with what I have lying around me?

[00:25:17:14 - 00:25:30:23]
 You can, but this is very risky because this is a finely tuned sled because if there's any bump, it's going to blow up and kill everyone. Could we use Godfrey as a Mini, as a launcher?

[00:25:32:13 - 00:25:39:09]
 You cannot use Godfrey as a launcher. Like sacrificial play, like a sacrificial play. There's no other option.

[00:25:42:04 - 00:25:44:01]
 I'm going, I'm gonna roll some dice.

[00:25:48:04 - 00:25:48:09]
 No.

[00:25:51:01 - 00:25:52:21]
 Two. Two. What does that mean?

[00:25:54:05 - 00:25:54:14]
 Five. Five.

[00:25:56:04 - 00:26:18:20]
 As you guys are contemplating different ways and machinations that you could get this nuke across the yardage because they are now within the 200 to 300 yard range. Houston, you feel a hand on your shoulder

[00:26:20:05 - 00:26:28:16]
 as another hand picks up the Mini Nuke launcher from you and removes the Mini Nuke from its sled.

[00:26:30:03 - 00:27:05:07]
 And as you look up, you see Honkin has picked up the Mini Nuke and he has started jogging towards the group of cultists. Honkin, what are you doing? This is only way. This is only way. Honkin, no. No other way. I save little Peanut, I save Metal Man, I save Jerky Boy. This is only way. Metal Man can live again. Brother, no. Brother, come back. I need you to come back, no. Let me do it instead. So Jeremy is running after Honkin

[00:27:06:07 - 00:27:45:05]
 and the other ones are trying to, but they are just too wounded to really make up a difference. And so Honkin and Jeremy kind of collide and they're in a fight and they drop the Mini Nuke and both of them are going for the Mini Nuke to try to go after the cultists. I turn to the rest of you and I say, "Please just trust me." And when I give the signal, I need you to bow to me.

[00:27:46:09 - 00:28:23:13]
 Can I, trust me, I need you to bow. Okay, weird request. And I speed forward, I speed forward out visibly. I throw the covering of the couch over me that I have like tattered so that it's bits and bobs of flowing in the wind. And I turn so that my flamethrower attachment is directly behind me. And I hold my two other arms directly up in front of me and I float up into the air and I fire my speakers as loud as I possibly can. And I say, "My children,

[00:28:25:21 - 00:28:30:23]
 "your brothers are big dead.

[00:28:32:16 - 00:28:39:13]
 "Their bodies lay, they were killed, "trying to sneak out of your compound.

[00:28:40:22 - 00:28:46:11]
 "They were killed because they renounced me.

[00:28:48:06 - 00:28:58:00]
 "These, these, these are amongst my most loyal servants." Oh, oh, I think that was the sign.

[00:28:59:09 - 00:29:10:09]
 And I just start like throwing myself, I mean, I'm already on the ground so it's a little easier to be fully prone. All hail the mentally deranged bucket of bolts.

[00:29:11:10 - 00:29:23:14]
 Don't know, just the wind, the wind, the big, the wind to go. "They will be rewarded for I, "I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

[00:29:24:22 - 00:29:27:19]
 "I will lead you to the true body.

[00:29:29:10 - 00:29:35:04]
 "The one flesh together. "We will dine eternal.

[00:29:37:04 - 00:30:09:15]
 "You are my flesh eaters "and I am your wind to go." And I fire, please tell me this works. Please tell me. I whisper over to Winger and I go, did he just start a religion? I fire the flamethrower behind me to cast, you know, the dramatic effect into my body in silhouette. He's going full Oz on us. So the mob, it looks like they stop. It looks like they stop.

[00:30:10:22 - 00:30:16:01]
 And they start heading back the other way pretty quickly.

[00:30:18:02 - 00:30:22:13]
 And they are running at a pretty,

[00:30:23:18 - 00:30:39:04]
 for as big as a group this size could go, a pretty quick clip back to the wall. But Jeremy and Honkin are still fighting over the Minnie Nuke. You did not do enough to distract them from what they were doing.

[00:30:40:11 - 00:30:59:13]
 So they make it about to the gate. Oh, the cannibals make it to the gate. They do. And once they make it to the gate, you see what looks like a giant shadow step out from the gate and they stop.

[00:31:01:06 - 00:31:12:13]
 And then turn around and start heading your way. Is that the real Wendigo? Uh, shoot. It was a good try buddy.

[00:31:14:15 - 00:31:16:18]
 (Laughing) So as you look,

[00:31:17:22 - 00:31:20:13]
 as the super mutants are fighting,

[00:31:22:07 - 00:32:08:05]
 Honkin jumps up and punches Jeremy square in the face and knocks him to the ground. Wounded from the fight. He's way weaker than Honkin right now. And so Honkin bends over, picks up the Minnie Nuke and runs as fast as he can towards the cultists. Honkin, no, don't do it. And so the other super mutants get up to their feet and they start to run and Klesinski grabs them to stop them because he knows that they will do anything to stop him but also knows what happens if they get too close and Honkin does what he knows Honkin is going to do. And so you see Honkin running and you see Honkin jump

[00:32:09:07 - 00:32:24:20]
 and he flies well over the cultists and lands about two thirds of the way into the cultists. And then you see a mushroom cloud erupts and trees are splintered.

[00:32:25:22 - 00:32:34:01]
 Body parts are flung into the air. It looks like it has just completely disintegrated the wall to the city.

[00:32:35:20 - 00:33:02:04]
 But as the mushroom cloud pulls up into the air, it does not look like there are any cultists still standing. And while you are all standing there, bits of cultists and wood start raining down. Like as the mushroom cloud is starting to clear, do we see like, is there another wave coming behind it? Have they all been knocked? Has this, can I-- Have they retreated? What can I perceive?

[00:33:03:08 - 00:33:13:02]
 Okay, so I need you guys to do some rolls. Okay, 20. We're doing in perception and survival. Perception and survival.

[00:33:16:03 - 00:33:29:13]
 Seven, my perception is seven and my survival is-- And a three for Houston. All right, let's see what I can do. I have 17 for the first one. I got an 11 and I needed, it was what, perception and what? Survival. Survival.

[00:33:30:14 - 00:33:31:07]
 No, I need an eight.

[00:33:32:14 - 00:33:34:00]
 So 11 won't do it.

[00:33:35:12 - 00:34:38:04]
 And an eight, two and nothing. We will not. It does look like as the mini nuke went off, Jake and Houston were looking a little too close to the blast and they got a little flash blindness. But Gottfried, not all of his eye stalks were pointed at the explosion as it went off. And so as Gottfried takes a look at the wreckage and what is left over, it looks like all of the cultists, there is no body standing. The wall is now gone so you can see inside of the small village of Mitten Point. And it doesn't look like you can see any body from this far away. Now we're talking about five, 600 yards away, but you don't see any new movement. You don't see anybody moving, but your auditory sensors do hear what sounds like cries for help from within Mitten Point.

[00:34:40:05 - 00:34:42:11]
 Master Wing, I hear someone calling for help.

[00:34:43:23 - 00:34:46:18]
 I can't hear anything. It's like my ears are ringing.

[00:34:48:03 - 00:34:53:15]
 Is it someone we know? I don't know, can I tell? Is it male, female, old, young?

[00:34:55:01 - 00:35:03:03]
 It sounds like more than one person and it sounds like they are of mixed age. Mixed demographic.

[00:35:04:07 - 00:35:04:12]
 Yes.

[00:35:07:18 - 00:35:22:03]
 Now I'm unfamiliar with these mini nukes. Do they provide unsettling amounts of radiation to the fleshy ones around me? Once it is cleared, can we walk around the crater?

[00:35:23:04 - 00:35:38:15]
 The epicenter, the crater itself would have residual radiation, but going around said crater would be fine. And the crater is not the entire 50 yards. It would just be the middle, maybe 10, 20 yards.

[00:35:39:18 - 00:35:40:03]
 All right.

[00:35:43:09 - 00:36:07:05]
 Before we, do we want to try and provide aid? Do we want to? All right, so I say, all right. And I start pressing myself up off of the pavement. My ears still have that tinnitus ringing them. And I go, all right, Godfrey. And I push up against him and I pull myself up. Thankfully his thrusters are able to help me into the air.

[00:36:08:18 - 00:36:46:21]
 I trust you and I, rushing dirt and dust off myself cause I'm covered in debris and bits and pieces of the cannibals that's rained down on us. And maybe some super mutant too mixed in there. Just, I don't know what to do. I think we have to go help. I don't know. It could be a trap, but we've come this far. If there's anyone we can help. If there's anyone in trouble like it or not, or good people who are trying to do the right thing. Let's do it. I turn to the rest of the super mutants and I say, my friends,

[00:36:48:01 - 00:36:52:12]
 Honkin bought us time. He bought us life.

[00:36:53:15 - 00:36:59:12]
 Those among you who can stand, those among you who can fight, those among you who can provide aid.

[00:37:01:01 - 00:37:09:10]
 There are people who need our help, who can now possibly be rescued because of his sacrifice.

[00:37:10:10 - 00:37:35:18]
 Let's add the proverbial kerosene to the flame that he lit and let the ripple of his sacrifice provide waves of good across this land. That's a Ryan Johnson line if I ever heard it. Um, we win, Houston, not. By destroying the things we hate, by saving the people we love.

[00:37:37:00 - 00:37:49:00]
 The spark that lights the flame that lit up the kerosene that spun the flame thrower that will bring the cannibals down. In sad and even smaller donut holes.

[00:37:50:12 - 00:38:02:23]
 (Laughing) It just donut holes all the way down. Now it's time to flee, but it is not this day. It is time for us to leave Earth and thank you for all of the fish.

[00:38:03:23 - 00:38:07:07]
 (Laughing) Wait, no, I've combined way too many franchises there. No, no.

[00:38:08:12 - 00:38:10:22]
 Sorry, Terry, my bad. It's here to be this day, dang it.

[00:38:13:12 - 00:38:13:12]
 (Laughing)

[00:38:14:14 - 00:38:18:05]
 Are there aliens in the Fallout universe? Oh, yes there are.

[00:38:19:07 - 00:38:19:13]
 (Laughing) Okay.

[00:38:20:22 - 00:38:35:23]
 So the super mutants, they are just in shambles. Physically, a lot of them are still horrifically wounded, but they are all just weeping and heartbroken.

[00:38:37:09 - 00:38:43:12]
 But Kloziski stands, tears running down his gummy green face

[00:38:44:13 - 00:38:46:00]
 and he tells you.

[00:38:48:01 - 00:39:02:06]
 We will be right behind you. Let me console the boys. Patch them up as much as I can and we will be right behind you. Go save them, little ones. Go and be who you are supposed to be.

[00:39:03:23 - 00:39:27:17]
 And so he bends down and he continues to work on the super mutants that are still down on the ground while the rest of them are dragging around, kind of dumbfounded, just kind of staring blankly off into the distance. Some of them, it looks like they are trying to find their weapons, trying to just get it together.

[00:39:29:08 - 00:39:31:14]
 Before we go barging in there,

[00:39:32:17 - 00:39:39:18]
 can I make like a stealthy attempt to go in? Yes. I don't know, make a second, all right.

[00:39:42:04 - 00:39:46:08]
 I all plan on traveling as a group or are you going to scout?

[00:39:47:09 - 00:39:48:07]
 Can I go scout?

[00:39:50:02 - 00:40:06:21]
 You can, absolutely. Do I have a means of communicating like a radio, walkie talkie? There are no radios but you could flash your light. We all have Bluetooth earbuds that are invisible like in most Marvel movies.

[00:40:08:17 - 00:40:10:01]
 (Laughing) Touch our ears.

[00:40:11:15 - 00:40:12:14]
 That's certainly me.

[00:40:13:14 - 00:40:43:13]
 Because I know Houston, you're in dire straits and Master Wingate, you are quite clumsy. I saw you face plant into the road back there. Hey. Plus I have a decent-- I got hog tied by those cannibals, then my RV got blown up and thrown around and now I'm, yeah, I did trip on my own accord but I'm not that clumsy. And I have a decent agility and I have a decent sneak. You do.

[00:40:44:16 - 00:40:45:12]
 And lockpick.

[00:40:46:16 - 00:40:55:13]
 I will flash a light twice. Whatever you do, Godfrey, don't be suspicious.

[00:40:56:20 - 00:40:59:20]
 I won't be suspicious. I won't be suspicious.

[00:41:01:01 - 00:41:18:12]
 Okay, I will, if it's safe to come, I will do one of my famous bird calls and that's how you will know. No, actually if it's safe to come, I will say it's safe to come, come on. I'm a bird, it's safe to come.

[00:41:19:14 - 00:41:34:09]
 And if it isn't and I need urgent rescue, I will do a, I tell you what, I just want-- Let's just do this thing. Yes, let's do it. All right, I need you to roll your agility and sneak.

[00:41:35:09 - 00:41:41:01]
 Agility is, I have a seven in agility and a five in sneak. And a five. 12 higher.

[00:41:43:00 - 00:41:46:00]
 You were 10, all right, I'm going to roll it again.

[00:41:47:10 - 00:42:56:16]
 And a nine. I'm trying to shoot low. There we go. All right. So you successfully sneak on up. It takes you a while because there are a couple hundred yards for you to maneuver through and the terrain has now changed quite a bit. And as you peek into the rubble of what looks like the mitten point, you see just bedlam from the bomb that went off and there are knocked down buildings, buildings that are on fire. It looks like that there's a building that's half crumpled and they're all tucked into the woods pretty nicely. And the woods kind of loom over what's left of this little community. But as you're looking in there, it looks like there are small cages with people in them in varying states of woundedness. Some of them look like they're missing limbs and it looks like those limbs were not taken by injury but taken on purpose.

[00:42:57:22 - 00:43:05:18]
 And some of the cages are just missing folks altogether but they have all been pushed down, knocked over,

[00:43:07:01 - 00:43:15:00]
 toppled in different piles. But that seems to be where the cries of help are coming from. Do I recognize anyone?

[00:43:16:21 - 00:44:08:13]
 You do not, not from this far away. You are kind of at the edge of the town. But it doesn't look like there's anyone else moving alive. Looks like the majority of the cultists had came out in mass and it looks like Honkin took them all out single-handedly. All right, so I will turn back around and signal to my compatriots, those who are of able body to come to their aid. Houston and Jake make their way through the rubble. Jake paying closer attention not to get to the epicenter of the radiation as they make it to you. And as you overlook what's left of the Mitten Point and the wounded prisoners,

[00:44:09:20 - 00:44:12:03]
 that is where we will end this episode.

[00:44:13:22 - 00:44:20:09]
 I can't believe you would do that to us. Every week I feel like you'd leave us on a bigger cliffhanger than the last.

[00:44:22:08 - 00:44:28:11]
 But at least this week, we weren't trying to get a lens cap off a camera. Frank Lloyd.

[00:44:30:10 - 00:44:40:00]
 That's one of my favorite episodes. Listen, I gave such a repulsive performance that an entire band of cannibals ran away from me.

[00:44:42:12 - 00:44:56:06]
 Either that or it was so impressive and they all actually didn't believe and they believed that the Wendigo had returned and they were scared because they knew retribution was coming. I'm gonna choose to believe that one. Yeah.

[00:44:57:11 - 00:47:00:10]
 You keep believing that, William. Keep telling myself that. I don't know how you keep leaving us on bigger and bigger cliffhangers, but you're managing it. So does that mean that it's just down to this? Is this it? There's something else. Was this the penultimate episode and we didn't even know it? This is the end. Hold your breath and count to 10. I'm sure he probably thought that we were going to get one episode out of a certain story run and because we did super mutant poetry and it took 20 minutes to take a lens cap off, it stretched into two or three. And you know what a beautiful thing that is because the big red button is part of the Grapefruit Network. If it's your first time here, like Cody said earlier, what are you doing? Go back and listen to the whole show to get caught up. But thank you for coming along for the ride. We are part of the Grapefruit Network on the whole. So we have two sister shows. We have Potter Plus, which is William's personal project where he is dissecting the world of the upcoming HBO Harry Potter show. And then the show that started it all, a doctor and a lawyer walk into a bar where we-- Yeah. Dissect pop culture, play a game, occasionally do movie commentaries. It's a grand old time and coming up by the time that this is aired, we will also be airing our March Madness. Every March we do March Movie Madness. So, and because this is the beauty of podcasts, whenever you're discovering this, go back and listen to the old March Madnesses that we've done before. They're so good. Even best. Even if you only came here for a live action role playing of this, we guarantee there's something else in the Grapefruit Network for you. Swing by our Patreon if you feel like supporting the show that keeps the lights on and it pays for more mini nukes.

[00:47:01:15 - 00:47:19:18]
 But as always, thank you for stopping by. I have been Jake Weiner. That is my new name going forward. Yes. I'm Dallas McKinney. Your illustrious game master. I am up for my first Oscar.

[00:47:20:20 - 00:47:36:09]
 Your name is not Oscar. It's Gottfried. Spelled G-O-T-F-R-E. Spelled in the traditional King's English. Oh no. G-O-T-F-R-E-Y, however, I changed it by liberation from my own prison. I should not have. And it's Jake, the Oscar Meyer winner.

[00:47:37:18 - 00:47:48:02]
 (Laughing) And Cody. And Cody. You're doing it. No, no, no. And Houston. Just Van Houston. Just Van Houston. Oscar, Oscar Meyer, Jake Weiner.

[00:47:49:05 - 00:47:53:00]
 And Houston. We will see you guys next time. Bye!