Thomas stops just shy of the front porch not wanting to crowd Mike in his rush to push the doorbell.  Thomas is surprised when the ring is answered so quickly and takes an involuntary step back just as Mike tells the man about our recent development.

The door swings open to reveal the body of the man who was speaking to you. He's a large man in his late 30s wearing a stained flannel shirt and worn jeans. With the door open you can hear the sounds from within more clearly and it sounds like a television running in a room deeper into the house.

He takes another look at you and nods slowly, "Looks like it was a bad one from the state of you. Wouldn't be the first crash on that road though it's normally kids driving way too fast. You had better come in and we can call a tow truck."

He steps aside and holds the door open to allow you entry. As he does so you can see that by his side, propped up against the side of the doorframe, is a shotgun...

Location: Baker Farmhouse, Status: In severe pain, left side ribs
"I was always shocked when I went to the doctor's office and they did my X-ray and didn't find that I had eight more ribs than I should have or that my blood was the color green." Nicolas Cage

Jason in a low voice asks, "Can you get me a doctor first? I think I've got a busted rib or two."

Mike nods.

"Yeah, a doctor would be a good idea," he says.  He'll enter the house as invited and look around to figure out where to sit himself.

He'll also be looking to see if he sees anyone who might have been the source of that scream.

"Didn't that scream come from in there?" Kyle looks around at his 'mates', watching for signs of alarm, but nothing particular strikes him. "Well, in the state I am in, no wonder I hear things."

He steps closer to Jason, and gently nudges him on the left arm, without causing pain and possibly more injury to his side. He fishes out a key, with an attached plastic square. One side shows the same motel name as Jason's, while the other is No.7.

"What's the deal here? You remember this hotel we both come from currently?"

As you file in to the farmhouse the man watches you enter with a somewhat quizzical expression. You enter in to a short hallway and are then ushered towards a lit room at the back which turns out to be a sitting room in which a homely woman, probably a similar age to the man, and a teenage girl are sat on a sofa watching what appears to be a horror movie on a large television at one side of the room. Another small sofa and a couple of arm chairs fill out the room around a worn coffee table.

The woman looks up at you with a surprised expression and as the man walks in behind you he nods at the television, "Anne, turn that garbage off would you?". She obliges, flicking the set off with a remote control to his side. "These folks have had a crash and need a tow truck" and adds at Jason's request "and a doctor."

The woman immediately gets up and starts fussing, clearly used to taking care of people. She sits Jason down, as apparently the worst injured, and fetches ice and a towel though how much assistance they may be for a broken rib might be questionable. She talks to you all as she does so, Oh dear, this looks nasty. You must have come off the road at quite a pace? Was it a deer? We get them round here sometimes and they can just come out of nowhere..." The girl looks slightly put out by the interruption and simply pulls her legs up beneath her and starts to fiddle with her cellphone.

Meanwhile the man leaves the room and you can hear him on the telephone. He returns a few minutes later and announces, "There's an ambulance on the way, it can take you in to the care centre in town and they should be able to patch you up there. I've called Dave too, he should be here with a tow truck in a bit. Where were you headed? Dave can get you in to Clio if that's where you are?"

"We're staying at the Coach & Lantern," Mike says, recalling the name of the town from the keychain.  He looks around, uncomfortable.  He wanted to ask what sorts of things there were to do in town, to try to understand why they were there, but if they'd already been staying at the hotel that question might sound odd.

"Ah, a horror movie. I'm relieved." Kyle remarks quietly.

When the man finishes his announcement about the ambulance, he asks him "And ... what town are we talking about, please?"

The couple look somewhat surprised but cover it reasonably well, "It's Clio, Michigan. We're just outside the town limits here but it's just a few miles in to town."

The man chimes in, "The Coach and Lantern is the local motel. It's the far side of town from here but I'm sure Dave won't mind giving you a lift over that way, it's not a long way."

"We appreciate you calling the tow truck," Mike says.  "We're going to be in town a few days at least.  Are there any must see or must do attractions around here?"

Thomas listens to the description of the groups location.  Thinking to himself "What could I possibly be doing here?  And more importantly who are these people I'm driving in the van with?"

The question of what there is to do in the area generates a derisive snort from the teenager in the corner who gets herself a sharp look from her mother as a result. The lady, Anne, exchanges a quick look with her husband and then shakes her head, "There's not really any attractions hereabouts. It's a quiet kind of a place. There's Flint down the road, that gets all the looky-loos these days, but generally you either live here or you're just passing through."

Mike frowns, trying to dig up some memory of why they were all in town in the first place.  He'd been hoping for some obvious answer that a group would be here.  Maybe something back in the hotel rooms will give us a clue? he thinks.

19:15, Today: Mike Moore rolled 4 using 1d6.  Trying to remember, Insight die.

Mike's frown suddenly turns into a wide eyed look as something crosses his mind.

"A ruined house in a cornfield," Mike says suddenly.  Then he looks around, knowing he sounds like an idiot.  "We were there earlier," he explains, "but after the accident I can't remember where it was."

"Does that sound familiar?" he asks the family.

The couple exchange another glance and the woman shrugs at him before the man answers, "Well, there is the old Cooper farm - that sounds like what you're describing. Been abandoned since before I was I kid and it's the local 'haunted' house. Kids are dared to spend the night in there and the like. It's just a ways up the road. What would take a bunch of out-of-towners like you there though?"

His question is interrupted by the bark of a car horn outside. "That will be your ambulance. Ready to go? When Dave arrives I can send him out to your car and then let him know where to find you after."

"Thanks for your help," Mike says sincerely. "We really appreciate it."

He'll head out to the ambulance, working to remember about the old Cooper farm.  He wasn't sure if he wanted to investigate it or stay away, but either way they needed to know more.

Location: Baker Farmhouse, Status: In severe pain, left side ribs
"Speed does not always kill. And not only that, sometimes speed saves a life.”
- Mokokoma Mokhonoana

Jason, still in a low voice agrees, ""Thank you! Thank you so much!"
When the ambulance folks arrive, Jason explains his severe pain on his left side.

You all head out into the evening where a rather ramshackle looking ambulance is idling in the driveway crewed by two paramedics. They give you all a once over and when it's apparent none of the injuries need immediate attention they load you into the back, likely violating all sorts of occupancy limits, and set off to the medical centre.

As promised the drive into the town centre is only a few miles. Suddenly the rolling farmland and occasional wood is replaced by an urban sprawl - or at least as much of an urban sprawl as  you find in rural Michigan. Evenly spaced low rise buildings seem to make up most of the town and there is very little life on the streets despite the (comparatively, if you're used to city life) early hour.

The ambulance pulls in to a parking bay lit by a large neon sign which proclaims that you are at the 'Clio Medical Centre'. Disembarking from the ambulance you walk the short distance to a set of automatic double doors which slide open to allow you access to a waiting area, tiled neatly in white and lit with unforgiving strip lighting. Behind a small screened desk a man, probably in his early 20s, spins idly in an office chair in front of a computer. He looks up when you come in, suddenly interested, and beckons you forward, "Hello, how can we be of assistance this evening?"

"We've been in an accident," Mike says.  "Our van crashed somewhere out there, the details are pretty fuzzy."

"Some of the others are worse off than me," he gestures to the rest of the group.

Clearly it's a quiet night at the Clio Medical Centre as the receptionist ushers you straight through to the back room where you are introduced to a frustrated looking bald, bearded man in a lab coat which identifies him as "Doctor Cowie".

The Doctor casts a critical eye over you as the receptionist hands out a series of clipboards with cheap, standard issue forms attached. A quick glance over them suggests you might struggle, in your current state, with almost all of the fields to be filled...

The Doctor quickly identifies that Jason seems to be one of the most ailing and asks him to step in to a small curtained off room to one side, "I'll start with this gentleman given the way he's limping about and then get around to the rest of you. If you can complete the paperwork while you wait then we won't get shut down. Now," he turns to Jason, "what seems to be the matter?"

In reply to The Keeper (msg # 47):

Jason responds, ""I was in a car accident doc, my side hurts so very bad!  Can you help me?"

The doctor gives Jason a thorough examination, tutting slightly at various points. He swiftly diagnoses a cracked rib and carefully bandages it. He then completes a fairly routine inspection of Jason's other injuries and notes Jason recoiling and coughing heavily from the throat examination.


As he finishes up the doctor explains to Jason it's a cracked rib and a number of more minor scrapes and injuries. He hands over a bottle of mid-strength painkillers and provides some care instructions for the rib.

In turn he examines the rest of you (albeit in a more cursory fashion) but, barring a couple of stitches in the more significant cuts he signs you all off with cuts and scrapes which don't require medical attention.

Before you leave he then gathers up the clipboards...

OOC: Given the insurance forms require information you simply don't remember how do you want to play it? Make things up (it seems obvious it won't be carefully scrutinised for a while), be honest or something else?

Mike fills in what he can given the information he has in his wallet, and makes up something suitable for the rest of it.

"Well, folks," he says to the rest of the group once the doctor is gone, "back to the motel?  Might be something there to give us a clue."