Rapid footsteps echo down throughout the damp basement archives of an old lighthouse on the north east coast of England. There are rows of shelves with boxes filled with magnetic tape reels, labelled seemingly meticulously but using a system that's impossible to discern with a casual observation.
A figure carrying a lantern makes their way down the maze of corridors, checking over their shoulder repeatedly as if searching for a pursuer. Wearing a wide brimmed hat, Tom searches frantically, unsure how much time he has left. The librarian knows this system better than anyone else, and he knows where what he's looking for should be stored.
Towards the back of the chamber, somewhere that is carved into the sea bed itself, he slides a ladder and clambers to a high shelf. There he finds a sealed box, a label on the front of it. He grabs it, putting the box under his arm, and prepares to leave.
"What are you doing with that, Mr Bamford?" Tom nearly falls from the ladder. After steadying himself her turns to see Morgan, wearing his ceremonial tarper robes. "I thought we agreed that the listeners don't need to hear this one.
"They have the right. They deserve to know. They want it."
"I'll be dead before this podcast changes like that. The episode in that box will change Larps and Tarps forever." Morgan grips the ladder. "And I'll be damned before I let you release that episode." With a push, the ladder is tipped and Tom went sprawling, barely keeping a hold of the box.
"Now!" Tom shouts, scrambling to his feet. From behind Morgan, a figure emerges and kicks in his back. Cloe stands behind him, her kid kicking boots shining in the torchlight.
"Run Tom! Go!" Tom sprints through the archives, sprinting towards the ladder at to the studio. When he hears a click, he knows what's coming. He doesn't look behind him to watch the boulder trap rolling towards him. Running for his life, seconds ahead of the boulder, he finds the ladder missing, the hatch above too far to reach.
Just when he thinks its all over, a rope falls down from above.
"Honk!" says Kerrie, as Tom scrambles up the rope, the boulder missing him by seconds. He sprints across the studio where Alex is waiting to upload the episode. Tom hands the box to him, and Alex tears it open to see the episode and its label.
"Larps and Flaps."
"Do it, now!"
There's a scream from the archives.
"You have to hurry! He's found the gonkster!" Green code runs over the computer terminal as Alex rushes to upload the episode. Just as a monstrous road fills the lighthouse, Alex presses enter.
Got any questions, comments, or suggestions? Feel free to get in touch and follow us on our socials! Find us @larpsandtarps on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Want to support us? Find us on Patreon!Get £15 off your first Empire Ticket with the following codes:Alex - 11870.22389 Cloe - 11871.22424 Kerrie - 11872.22558 Morgan - 11673.22378 Tom - 10603.19518
