Is there any way to save Zoe Road 96?

[ENDING SPOILERS] about zoe...

i completed my first playthrough last night and i have to say, what an amazing experience this game was. i grew attached to the characters, even the ones who i disagreed with morally and motivation-wise, but the character i felt the most attached to was zoe.

so you'd imagine how upset i was when she was shot and killed at the border during the ending chaos. to be clear, i had helped her escape petria by sacrificing myself, then during the ending (the vote ending) she returned and was shot and killed during the commotion at the border.

i just want to ask, is there any ending where she lives? does she always die no matter what?

Zoe didn't die in my ending. I spent a lot of time, trying to promote voting and didn't help with the revolution at all, vandalising posters at most. I also chose to help out with the protest which ended in my character (I assume) being shot and Zoe running up to him in grief.

Date Posted: 4 Sep, 2021 @ 6:06pm

Posts: 13

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once I let Zoe die in episode 4, because I was making diverse teens (episode 1 was a revolucionaty, episode 2 was pro Florres, ep 3 was a revolucionary and I made the ep 4 a free spirit and crossed with Zoe, because they haven't another choice and was reluctant) and then Alex died along with my ep 6 teen in the end (I've got the revolution ending and John also died).

Also, nothing changed much, Robert mentioned that it was possible to send the documents without Zoe).

Zoe is one of the main 8 characters in Road 96. Much like the character you play as, she is a troubled teenager trying to get to the border and flee Petria. However, over the course of the story, she becomes a Brigade member and is tasked to get classified government documents to the neighboring country in order to expose Tyrak for his crimes.

Appearance[]

Zoe is an eighteen year old teenager, based on how the Road 96: Prologue book that takes place in 1986, she is eight. She has light skin with freckles on her face, red hair, and green eyes. She has an eyebrow piercing and at least one tattoo: a bird on the front of her left shoulder. She has a dark green tank top underneath a ragged long sleeve black shirt that has a purple alien head design on the front, with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. She has light blue ripped jeans with one leg rolled up, and black boots with purple laces and green designs on the boots. She wears a black backpack and carries a trombone with her.

Role[]

Zoe is attempting to leave Petria in the summer of 1996, during a time of great turmoil within the nation as the next election is coming up. She sets out, hitchhiking across the thousands of roads of the large country to reach the border, out in the mountains thousands of miles away.

However, the Brigades, who know that Zoe is the daughter of the Minister of Oil, free her when she had been arrested. She goes with them, and a cutscene shows that she has a meeting with Robert and John, two prominent Brigade members. While the player can’t hear the dialogue, when the player encounters Zoe it is revealed that she had joined the Brigades in taking down Tyrak. She has acquired classified government documents that incriminate Tyrak for crimes he committed. She is tasked to get the documents across the border in order to bring it to foreign news outlets.

Personality[]

Zoe is a laid back teenager, but with an attitude toward adults and authority figures. She is not afraid to speak her mind when it comes to how she feels towards the cops and the government. She is a free-spirit at the beginning of the game, but at the end discovers a passion to help others like her in Petria.

Encounters[]

Smells Like Teen Spirit[]

The encounter begins with the character arriving at an RV park at night called the Night Skies Campground. Traveling through the RV park and going up a set of stairs that lead you to the RV park’s office, you can hear an argument between Zoe and the RV park owner down another flight of stair, with Zoe up on an RV’s roof and the guy yelling at her from down below. When walking up to them and asking either what’s going on, the owner claims that Zoe stole his money, to which Zoe denies. The character will take Zoe’s side, leading the owner to storm off back to the office. You and Zoe talk, and you can ask where would be the best place to sleep, free or paid for.

Zoe will either direct you to talking to the owner to rent an RV for the night, or finding cardboard near a character named “Dancing Carl”. Regardless of either option, once you fall asleep and gains back some energy, Zoe will wake you up, asking you to hang out with her. Following her up to the outside of her RV and sitting by the fire, the two of you begin talking about Zoe’s journey to the border. You learn some tidbits about her: when she left home, why she left, small information about her father, the border, and The Pits. After sometime, she’ll stop the conversation and asks you to play Bella Ciao on her trombone. Which leads into a quick rhythm mini game. After finishing it, the owner will yell from below at the two of you, kicking you both out of RV park for making too much noise. Before you leave, Zoe can give you a tape depending if you have not collected all of them. Then you say goodbye and are given the options on how you want to leave, either by hitchhiking, calling a taxi, catching a bus, or by walking alongside the road.

No Concession[]

Before the actual encounter starts, the player is given a cutscene of Zoe walking alongside the road, attempting to hitchhike. She get’s pick up by a van with a couple inside. Once the cutscene ends, Zoe begins talking to you, as you have also gotten picked up by the couple as well. Then, she asks if you want to play a game and listen to one of her songs on her Walkman. You agree, and end up playing a mini game of Connect Four, where if she wins or it results in a tie, you can have another rematch. If you win, the game ends. Once the game(s) over, she will take back the Walkman and give you a tape if you have not collected all the tapes.

You then ask her questions about herself and why she left home. After a few questions, she reveals to you that her father is the Minister of Oil. Once after the revelation is made, the man in the passenger seat, Geoff, will ask you two a couple of questions. He asks if you two are political, but regardless if you answer yes or no, he will insists that you are since you are trying to leave Petria. He will then ask what you plan on doing to change the country. After answering him, police sirens can be heard from behind. Pulling over, the couple asks you two to keep quiet. The officer is apart of Petria’s Road Control, doing checkups on the cars on the road. He notices you and Zoe, asks the couple if you are their kids, to which they say no but are offering you rides. The officer then walks up to your window, and says how you look like a recent missing teen, and needs to see your papers. The woman offers to bribe the cop to look the other way, however Zoe gets angry that they would try to pay him off, as she sees it as it only aiding Petria’s corrupted system. The officer pulls Zoe out of the van and arrests her.

You are given the option to either stay in the car or try to save her. If you stay in the car, she is taken away and the couple will drive you to your next encounter. If you try to save her, you fail, but the cop will not arrest you. You are then left on the side of the road and have to walk to the next encounter.

Fire Starter[]

The character walks by a gas station that had a police van nearby further away from the actual gas station, with the cops sitting on benches closer to the gas station. Zoe is handcuff to the van outside. She will call you over, and begs for your help by getting the van keys from the cops by distracting them. Inquiring about her situation, she tells you how she was being taken to The Pits before her dad had found out where she was, and is now being taken back to him. There are two ways to help her:

• Syphoning the vans gas, buying some matches, and lighting a pile of trash near the gas station on fire
• Opening a yellow box on the telephone pole behind the gas station and breaking/cutting the wires, destroying their signals on their radios

Once choosing either one, you sneak around the gas station to the bench and grab the keys. Then, running back to the van to open the car doors and getting the keys for the handcuffs. As you are trying to un-cuff her, the cops will shout at you to stop, then arresting you too and placing both you and Zoe inside the van. Zoe will express remorse for getting you in trouble, and as you two talk and you express how worried you are, she advises you to get some sleep and you two will think of a way to get out once you wake up.

You two are woken up by cars speeding into the gas station as they shoot at the cops. Once the cops leave, it is revealed that they are Brigade members, as John is also present. One of them opens the car door, saying how they need Zoe to come with them and that you two need to split up. Saying your goodbyes to Zoe, you are only given the option to run alongside the road.

Road 96[]

Before the actual encounter starts, there is a cutscene where Zoe is with the Brigade members John and Robert, taking her to one of their hideouts. There is no dialogue, however they are seen debating around a table. Zoe is seen placing a paper down on the table, and then it cuts to her leaving the hideout, waving goodbye to John and Robert. John seems to be angry, while Robert seems pleased with what was discussed. The cutscene follows Zoe’s journey to get to the border, and is on the road that the character takes to get to the cave near the border.

The character, crossing the road that leads to the pathway to the waterfall, is greeted by Zoe hiding behind a rock. She asks you to follow her to the cave system, where you two talk about the journey that you two have had to safe. Getting to the cave entrance, Zoe will see the graffiti left by other crossers and will spray paint the brigade symbol, signifying that she is now a member. She will hand you the can and you have the option to spray paint “Revolt”, “Vote”, or “Only Trust Yourself”. Once after, you two travel further into the cave, coming across and old journal, giving you the option to read it or not. Zoe then will suggest’s starting a fire near the entrance of the cave, so you look for a box of matches and logs. Once getting the fire started, you two sit down.

She begins to tell you about a plan that she has to help Petria when she crosses the border. She then shows you classified government documents that reveal how Tyrak was the one to cause The Peak Collapse of 1986, and not the Brigades. The Brigades plan to make a distraction at the border in order for her to cross. Once she does, her plan would be to bring the documents to the news outlets to reveal to the world on what Tyrak has done. You can offer to help, or not say anything. She will still tell you to get some sleep before you two continue your journey. Waking up, you see that she is gone but left a note, saying how she would rather do this on her own than drag you into it. Getting up and going to the exit of the cave and pushing aside a boulder, you find Zoe’s Walkman on the ground, and pick it up.

Getting to the outside of the border, you come across Zoe again, as she is trying to find a Walkman in order to listen to a signal that he Brigades would be sending to her. You let her know you found hers, and then you two make your way to a campsite that overlooks the border. There, you put it on a radio station, where John gives the signal secretly through his radio show, letting Zoe know what time the distraction occurs. Then she asks you to come with her, as she thinks it would actually be better. Going to sleep then waking up, you two then crawl through an opening underneath the wall as a truck crashes into the wall. Making your way through doors and hallways, you come across a door that will get the security to be triggered once it’s unlocked. Once it is, you two jump down and run to the exit that is closing. Zoe gets shot, and you have the option to either leave, resulting in her death, or to sacrifice yourself and save her.

Quotes[]

”My name’s Zoe. I don't know about you… but I’ve had a pretty intense journey to get here.”

"You're in a hurry to cross. I like that."

"My dad thinks I'm lucky to have a big house and go to a prep school. But I'm not. Believe me."

"Tomorrow is the beginning of the end of Tyrak...I hope."

"All I'll say is, after everything, I'm a different person. And that's good. Believe me."

Headcannons[]

All of Zoe's Voice Lines

Trivia[]

• Zoe is the one narrating at the start of the game, asking you trivia questions about yourself, and will narrate your ending fate and the ending you get for the game.
• Zoe only has four encounters, making her the character with the shortest amount of encounters.
• Zoe’s encounters take place in the order; Smells Like Teen Spirit, No Concession, Fire Starter, and Road 96. This makes her the only character to have a set order for her encounters.
• If you get Jarod’s Beat It encounter once after she has been freed by the brigades, you can find a letter at the trailer park that was written by Zoe, detailing how Robert recruited her, and that she unsure about what she has to do, but will still do it anyway.
• Zoe can be heard playing the trombone and humming Bella Ciao at the RV park, which is an Italian folk song known for being a anti-fascist hymn of freedom and resistance, tying into the core themes of the game.
• Zoe talks about how she remembered the day construction ended for the wall.
• Zoe talks about how she went to a prep school before leaving home.
• If you choose to sacrifice yourself at the border, Zoe will show up at the ending of the game, either dying by a cop if you choose to flee, or witnessing a teen dying if you choose to join the fight.

Who should I save Mia or Zoe?

What happens if I don't save Zoe Road 96?

What happens if you join the fight in Road 96?

How do you get the good ending in Road 96?