| abstract
| - Immediately following the Crash Course campaign, The Turnpike is the first chapter of the third campaign, Death Toll. After a fly-backwards cut scene showing players the way forward, the chapter begins. The Survivors start on a highway leading to the "historic" town of Riverside. It is nighttime and before them is a litter of abandoned cars. One of the Survivors says (even though it was already mentioned in the Crash Course campaign) that they heard that the military was holding out in Riverside and as they have no better plan, it is good idea to head there. In front of them are Tier 1 weapons and ammo in the trunk of a police car with first-aid kits scattered inside and around the back of the vehicle. A dried-up river gorge spanned by a demolished bridge forces the group to climb down the embankment and climb back up on the other side using a ladder set into the bridge abutment. Immediately in front is a road tunnel half a mile long driven under a mountain ridge which leads to Riverside. The tunnel is cluttered with vehicles, demolition debris―and Infected. Francis will often comment that he hates tunnels. Along the way the group is offered opportunities to explore small side rooms and passageways containing supplies such as Molotovs and gas cans. The tunnel is barricaded and blocked and the group takes a left turn into a side passage leading to a ventilation pumping station servicing the road tunnel. The area at the barricade is a likely place for a Smoker attack launched from a section of collapsed roof. The ventilation room is heavily populated with alert and aggressive Common Infected. The group can either take a door directly onto a walkway overlooking the ventilation control gear or choose to enter via a side room that usually offers Pills and grenades. Once the ventilation room is cleared, Survivors can jump down and restock on ammo from a pile on some boxes against a far wall and supplies from a couple of back rooms. A Boomer will invariably waddle down the stairway leading to the open air above at this point. Snagging a Gas can or Propane bottle is a good idea as it can be thrown out from the top of the stairs to counter some of the Infected in the area outside. Once at the top of the stairs, the Survivors can either proceed to the right through a gap in the fence or swing left and come out in a narrow gap between the cliff and a large rock. This latter route channels enemies into a choke point and brings the Survivors right up close to a large mob of Common Infected standing in a small depression in the terrain. A grenade, a Gas can, or a Propane bottle thrown down here is an ideal force multiplier. After this episode any AI Bots will speed up and run for the safe room. If time permits, it is possible to proceed past the safe room door and go up to the upper floor of the safe room building. Note that this is a "for interest" excursion since this floor contains nothing of value, except in Left 4 Dead 2 where it's more likely to spawn temporary heath items and melee weapons. The safe room prefaces this campaign's sequel―The Drains.
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