"...I put a point into each of my stats, to see what they do. This must be what LUK does."

Quest Complete: Seven Bells for Seven Hells!

“Huh, useful.”

"You have the souls? All seven of them?"

"Two scavenged, five from... the Fuchsia Coterie? And here's a rifle for you."

"The gunfire was audible from here. What happened?"

She reveals the soulcycle, a red motorbike with a similarly bulbous engine to the cars outside, and transfers the jar of glowing souls to its tank.

"Give me your report, and help me bolt a sidecar on."

“First hostile rifleman was taken by stealth, these void guns are great for that. Tried getting close enough to another rifleman for a silent takedown by deception but he got suspicious, so had to shoot him using the rifle taken from the first. Two of his sword wielding friends on the ground were easy to take out. Joon took out one of them himself.” She leaves out how she had to hand him practically gift wrapped to Joon and how Joon had to be pushed to finish him. She doesn’t need Cypress to think they are less useful to her. “The gunfire brought the attention of 3 more riflemen on the rooftops, I took out one and two undead conglomerations attracted by the gunfire took out the other two.” She also leaves out that the mega zombies were Joons fault too. Though she gives him a look when she says it. “We made our way to the Fuchsia Coteries supply crate that I spotted while dropping. Looted a chemical sprayer that I assume was for the previous inhabitant of this body and some better melee options. We scavenged two more souls from non Fuchsia dead found along the way.”

Tanya has to resist the urge to stand at attention while giving a report.

"When I sent you out there, I'd been expecting at least one of you to die. You've greatly exceeded my expectations."

"With seven souls for power, the weapons you procured, and the disruption you've made to the Coterie's cohesion, we can punch through Comfort along the main road. Driving in shifts, we could reach Silmar City in under two days."

She turns to Tanya.

"The alternative, which I mention only because of your military experience, is to follow the rules of the Trial by Adversity and head for where the Host awaits us instead. A stint in their service would earn a legal amnesty, provided you survive the 'accidents' that would be arranged if another of the Coterie survives to report on your apparent betrayal."

“How highly do you rate the chances of survival for your plan of heading to Silmar city.  Is there a way out there? I’m not afraid of ‘accidents’ but I also have to take Joons chances into account. ” Honestly a stint in another military wouldn’t bother her. But she has Joon to keep alive now. Whatever being X plans to do with him she will foil it. Plus she finally has someone else she can talk to about this. Not being able to tell anyone or else be thought crazy was very stressful in her second life.

(A loyalty tracker might notice a tick upwards)

"Silmar City was the target of the attack that formed the Risen Lands, it’s awash with the walking dead, and there was once a secret facility there dedicated to the study of necrotic field effect, which I believe contains a key we can use to teleport ourselves to safety. With the equipment you've acquired, I give us... seventy-five percent odds of escape, assuming no further outside opposition."

“Joon? Thoughts? Teleportation means freedom, but I’m fine with a few years in the military if you think that is safer.” It is his his life being risked here. She likes those odds for Silmar but maybe the game powers change the calculus for him.

If this was a game he was running...

"How do you know about the key? Is it connected to the mission that brought the Fuchsia Coterie here?"

"Cypress was a pseudonym. I am Princess Amaryllis Penndraig, tenth of her name, Special Liaison on Existential Emergencies for the Kingdom of Anglecynn, long may it stand."

"My position gave me clearance to learn of the secret facility. Political enemies had me sent here, with the Fuchsia Coterie dispatched to ensure my death. They've made the crucial mistake of underestimating a Penndraig."

"Once we get out of here, I will continue to need competent and reliable allies, and I will have access to more resources to reward you with." 

This could be a shortcut to the top! To safety! To a political position! She’d pick helping a princess even with way worse odds. Tanya is sick of being stuck with frontline duty as a soldier! “Ally of a princess beats being a military grunt. I vote Silmar.”

Yeah, this is clearly the intended route.

"Silmar City it is."

They depart a few minutes later, the soulcycle crackling into motion as the mechanism to harvest the energy of the souls reaches ignition and sets the wheels turning. 

"That tank is the best place for them," Amaryllis says, noticing Joon's discomfort with the concept. "A soul that disperses naturally instead of evaporating in a bottle goes to the hells. There are nine thousand of them, each more unpleasant than the last."

Tanya is the lightest of the trio and also the best shot, so she gets the sidecar. It's a rattling ride, with no suspension beyond the limited cushioning of the old tires themselves. Joon is stuck on the back, clinging to Amaryllis, which makes an even worse position to try firing from.

"I'll take your word from it," he says, then mutters something about 'grimdark' under his breath.

With the chaos sown in the ranks of the Fuchsia Coterie, a couple of the foot soldiers sighted along the way but neither ready to do more than snap off a few inaccurate shots in their direction as they pass, their exit from Comfort proceeds smoothly.

Up to a point. 

With the addition of the sidecar, the soulcycle is loud on the cracked surfacing of the unmaintained roads, and only a little faster than a sprinter would be. They attract a growing train of undead behind them, and as the chase continues those undead begin to flow together into larger and faster forms.

"Tanya -" Amaryllis begins, voice tense.

She is taking shots at component zombies of the big one with her rifle, hitting hearts more often than not. But she is holding off on the chemical sprayer until the zombie conglomeration gets big enough, and close enough, that she can properly end the threat in one go. “Wait for it….”