Freeway Warrior


Freeway Warrior is a series of 4 gamebooks, created by Joe Dever. The books were published between 1988 and 1989, detailing the complete story of a band of nuclear holocaust survivors as they flee Texas to the relative safety of California. In 2016, a Swedish company, Åskfågeln, started reprints.
The reader plays the role of Cal Phoenix, the titular Freeway Warrior, as he scouts a safe route for the rag-tag convoy of survivors on their journey to California.

Timeline

On the eventful day, Cal Phoenix was visiting his Uncle's oil-shale mine near Austin, Texas. The mine shielded Cal from the explosions, along with his Aunt and Uncle. Unfortunately they were left trapped underground. They had sufficient supplies to survive, but it took eight long years to tunnel to the surface. When they finally broke through, the world had changed forever.
Cal, Uncle Jonas and Aunt Betty-Ann managed to make radio contact with a colony of survivors near the ruins of McKinney. This colony grew over time, becoming Dallas Colony One, one of the few safe havens in Texas.
DC1 began entering troubled times; the water supply was drying up, leaving them with no alternative but to abandon their safe haven and attempt to relocate. Rumours had been heard that California survived virtually intact, so the decision was made to head West, towards California.

List of books

  1. Highway Holocaust
  2. Slaughter Mountain Run
  3. The Omega Zone
  4. California Countdown

    Game Mechanics

While based on the Lone Wolf system a further level of complexity is added, making for a deeper experience: