IC- Zombie Apocalypse Chapter 2- The Quick and the Undead

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On the north side of the hotel -

"Don't worry about it Thayer... Just don't let it happen again. You could've gotten yourself killed." Cole says "Next time, stick together & we'll kick ass together. These things come for you anyway, so no need to go rushing forward like an asshat."

Once Cole has reached the hotel, he starts to walk casually towards McCain.


At the diner -

"It might not seem like much, but if you have nothing to do you might want to secure us some drinks, Willie." Luke suggests "Humans can last several days, even weeks without food, but we can't last long without water."

"So it could be pretty useful if you brought some beverages around to places likely to hold people during an attack. It's almost impossible to know how long we could be kept surrounded in the next assault, so it's better to prepare for it."

"Besides, drinks should be good for moral... So if you could get us some water or coke distributed, it'd be greatly appreciated."
 
On the Roof-

"Got it." Black replies over the radio he then turns to Sheen
"now lets refresh, what we have learned about our targets ?"
 
OOC- Fearlessfred, don't forget to write for Joe Barring and Javier Ramirez as well.

IC-
On the roof of the motel-
"Well, Sarge," said Bobby Sheen, "we know the best way to kill them is to shoot them in the head. Otherwise it takes a lot of lead to bring them down. Some of them move very fast, but most of them are slower. Even dogs can be infected, and they're really fast and hard to hit.

"We know that if they bite you, you'll probably turn into one of them. Possibly even their touch could do it. That federal agent who came back in the truck might be immune, though. Since they used to be people like us, most of them come from populated areas. There are cities and smaller towns along the highway to the east and west, but not much to the north and nothing to the south. I think the only reason so many came at us from the north was because they were chasing the truck. They seem interested only in going after people and eating them."

Sheen looked off to the west, across the high grass. "I don't see anything out there, but that doesn't mean they aren't there. They're real hard to see in that grass."

On the motel balcony-
"If the civilians are going to help us," said Captain Lereux as he took off his shirt and put the body armor on, "they'll have to do it without coming near the motel. I can't risk the possibility of them passing on the infection to our people. They're already helping by shooting the incoming infected and providing useful intel. I don't want to lose any more people either. I think we can hold this place for now with the forces we have as long as everyone keeps it together, but I intend to ask Warren AFB for reinforcements and resupply once our comm gear is back online or Malanowski's radio is working again.

"We lost Alanen because he was out in the field planting mines and we didn't see the enemy coming through the grass. I disagree about putting our guys on the edge of the field. They'll be vulnerable down there. We need them up on the balcony. Once we get everyone and everything upstairs and block off the last stairway, the enemy won't be able to get at us." He spoke into the radio. "Cole and Thayer, I want you two up on the balcony, not on the edge of the field. Rejoin your fire teams on the northeast and northwest corners."

(OOC- Persuade does not work on everybody, though McCain still gets the skill checked for a successful roll.)

Duran and Hockey stayed at their post on the northeast corner of the balcony, vigilant for any further sign of trouble.

"Sergeant," said Phillips, moving along the west side of the balcony and past the stairway, trying the doors as he went, "all of the doors are locked. I think Lt. Malone has the keys, but I'd better not go near the others until then. Is it okay if I wait until they come upstairs and open up a room for me? In the meantime I can help stand guard up here."

"I wish those morons would make up their minds," muttered Thayer under his breath. He shrugged and headed up the stairs with Cole close behind him. "Whatever. I'd rather be up here than down there anyway. Our clueless leader sure put on that armor fast. Maybe he's afraid someone will frag him. Maybe he's right, too." He reached the northwest corner of the balcony and took his position. Cole arrived right after him, standing near him and McCain.

In the comm room-
Ortega shrank away from Lewis into the corner of the room, out of everyone's way. The others in the room continued their work.

(Ortega has one more round of insanity after this one.)

Outside the garage-
Erica jogged up to the truck, arriving just as Baldwin did. "Come on," she said. "Let's go get the chopper fast." She got into the cab and sat in the middle seat.

"We'll have to go off-road to do it," said Baldwin. "The Claymore, remember? I'll spin you up, turn around, make sure you get in the air, and then come back. Shouldn't be a problem now that those zombies are toast, but we may want a little extra security just in case. Wallace, Joe, either of you two want to come along? I also found Kimberly's car, but it got blown up, and her computer won't be playing Minesweeper ever again." He got behind the wheel of his truck. "Once we're back we can move the fuel outside and start feeding your bird."

In the garage-
David continued working on the truck with Mitchell and Jimmy, glancing at Alice every so often.

On the roof of the diner-
"Yeah, I'll do that," said Willie. "I'm getting kind of thirsty myself, now that you mention it. I'll bring something to drink up here first, since people are going to be here for a while. Unless you'd rather move to the roof of the garage. It's a lot more stable." He climbed down the ladder, went in the back door, and made his way to the kitchen and into the walk-in refrigerator.

Samantha arrived at the base of the ladder and waited for Willie to finish climbing down and go back inside. "That sounds like a good idea," she called from below. "That roof could hold all of us if it has to. You two want to come down and move the ladder over there?"

Beth shrugged. "What do you think?" she asked Luke.

In the reception area-
Zorie nodded to Javier Ramirez and headed out the gate and up the stairs, passing Jenny and Michael as she did. The two of them entered the reception area.

"Hi, Stephanie!" called Jenny.

Stephanie looked up as she typed and smiled. "Hey, Jenny. What's up?"

"This is Michael Walters, one of the other guests at the motel. You two really should talk. Michael, this is Stephanie Bridges."

"Charmed," said Michael. "Jenny tells me you're a rather brilliant scientist and all-around superhero."

Stephanie blushed. "Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration," she said.

"You look familiar. Have I seen you somewhere before?"

She thought for a moment. "No, I don't think we've ever met."

"No, I'd have remembered that. I meant on the telly. Yes, I remember now! You look just like that beautiful lady on that science fiction programme. Like two peas in a pod, you are."

"Oh, yes, I get that a lot. I love that show! Wait...you think I'm beautiful?"

"Well, it's bloody obvious, innit?" Michael cleared his throat. "Look, I'd love to chat you up some more, but we've got pressing matters to attend to. Jenny mentioned that you know about those mosquito-like alien creatures in the meteorites."

"Yes, you know about them too?"

"Know about them? I've seen them. I watched them kill six people and barely lived to tell the tale."

Stephanie gasped. "Oh my God."

In the warehouse-
"Are you ready, Kerry?" asked Mr. Foo.

"I am," she said.

"Good. Now, I'm going to have to take you back to the cage. Horst is done, and he's leaving the cage."

Kerry shivered and hugged herself. "It hurts so much...I can see Debbie, and she's in even worse shape. There are a lot of women in the other cages, maybe twenty or thirty. Girls, too, some of them as young as ten. They're a diverse group. Some are white, some black, some Asian, some Hispanic.

"Now some of the men are coming over to my cage, and some are going to Debbie's. No, get your filthy hands off me! They're dragging us out and holding us on the ground. I can't move!"

"Kerry, come out of-"

"No, not again!" She screamed, and her eyes shot open. She looked around, confused. "Wh-where am I?"

"You're in a secret facility underneath the T-Bone truck stop."

"How did I get here?"

"We were hoping you could tell us."

Zorie walked into the room from below on her way up.

In the kitchen-
Angela Blanco continued setting Dr. Hausmann's arm, while Sally watched over Kimberly.

In the armory-
"We didn't find anything in there last time," said Robert, "but maybe we missed something. At least now we know what to look for." He led Duke out of the room, across the hall, and back into the office.

In the office-
Robert walked over to the bed and starting poking around. This time he noticed a crumpled piece of paper under the bed. He picked it up and unfolded it, then read it aloud to the others:

“TO: General Thomas Grey-
From: Captain Robert Duffy
RE: Termination of Operation Deep Mole
DATE- 01/22/1962

All activities regarding Operation Deep Mole have been terminated as per instruction. The Laboratory has been closed. No signs of activity or life have been found. Base personnel prepared for evacuation. When the fuck are you getting us out of here you son-of-a-bitch. Sincerely, Captain Robert Duffy.”

(Jim Kerr, roll Idea.)
 
On the Roof-

"Good, also they don't seem to have a good thinking process as their main tactic is rushing blindly towards us.
We know dogs can be infected but what about other animals? If others can be infected we will have a major problem on our hands."
He also looks to the west "I know what you mean."

Outside the garage-

"I'll come. I just hope I won't have to use these." Joe replies with the shells in his hand.

In the reception area-

"I'll be back in a second." Javier says to Stephanie. He rushes to catch up with Zorie.
 
At the hotel -

"Watch that kind of talk, Thayer, someone less sympathetic might hear you." Cole warns with a smile before entering "Besides Lereux is mostly harmless, McCain is the real liability."

"Captain, this is Cole, might I make a few suggestions, sir?" he asks on the radio once he is in position "If we are taking the high ground together, the balconies are useful, but rather restricting. It might be wise to send an extra one or two shooters up to the roof instead of to the balconies. This way we can move our firepower from one side of the building to the other more swiftly if necessary."

"We should also make sure we maximise interlocking fields of fire with the civies... That way we are both relieved of a little pressure. But that means someone has to go over to them and inform them, of course." he says "Maybe even supply them with a liaison, to make sure communication is swift and that our instructions on the lines of fire are followed."

"And finally, if the shit really does hit the fan, we might need to think of egress, sir. As Sun Tzu said: 'if you make sure no one can get in, you sure as hell can't get out'." he argues "Since we are on higher ground and the enemy doesn't seem to smart, might I suggest to perhaps build a zipline from the higher locations to somewhere away from the most likely points of concentration."

"If the worst comes to pass, you probably wouldn't want use that line since it won't get you very far, but it sure as hell beats doing nothing." he adds.


On the diner roof -

"That's good advice Willie, but I'd rather not put all my eggs in one basket. I was thinking that if something happens, the people in the garage could go up on the roof. Better fields of fire that way and we have a wider field of view." Luke answers.

"You're free to move over Beth, but I think at least one of us needs to remain here. I should have some rope and a hook in my backpack, so I don't actually need the ladder. Hell, I could probably just jump down from here if needed."
 
Northwest corner of hotel balcony:
McCain sighed silently and then turning away got on his radio. "Cole your orders are to get your ass up here and begin building the last barricade on the stair. Also build that zip line you talked about. That is your punishment for desertion of your team. Thayer I want you to be a liason to the civilians. Tell them to prepare for an defense of the area but not to come near the hotel unless they want to be shot. That is your punishment, just in case you are infected also. Comm room have someone bring the keys up here ASAP."

In the Comm Room:
Lewis sighed and turning back to Ortega said, "Listen man I am sorry, just stressed with everything that is occuring." He then heard McCain request the keys and said to Lt. Malone. "Let me bring the keys up to the soldiers, I can bring some small radio parts up also if you wish. Can I go?"

In the Garage:
Alice looked around and smiled at David and Jimmy. She then continued to work on the gun.

In the office:
Jim listend to the the piece of paper being read and thought of what that could mean. He got excited as a great idea came and jumped up and down ready to shout it out.
 
On the roof of the motel-
"Yeah, good point, Sarge," said Bobby Sheen. "We've only seen a few dogs so far, though. Most of those infected are - or, rather, were - human. I wonder why that is. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. If a dog can be infected, other animals could be too, though."

(Sam Black, roll Idea.)

Bobby untied the rope from the dish and went over to the northeast corner of the roof. "They're going to need that rope to build the zipline and a rope ladder," he said, "so I'll lower it down for them and take a look in that direction." He untied the other end of the rope from the ladder and called below. "Rope coming down!" He lowered one end of it so those on the balcony could reach it. "I don't see anything in that direction either."

On the motel balcony-
Thayer laughed. "I'm not infected!" he said. "Those sons of bitches didn't even get close to me before we killed them dead."

"And you're damn lucky too," said Lereux. "You could have been infected or killed going out there like that. We need you here to defend this place, so I can't spare you as a liaison. Your job is killing the enemy."

"With pleasure, sir."

"Good. Ramirez is already over there, and he knows these people at least a little now, so he'll be our liaison. Setting up a zipline is a good idea, and that rope I saw is long enough that we can still cut off part of it and make a rope ladder too. Cole, take the rope and make the zipline first. When that's done, you can move furniture close to the last stairway to prepare for the barricade, but don't actually block it off until everything and everyone below is up here. If you still have time left before then, start on the rope ladder.

"We could use one or two more guys on the roof, but we don't want too many people up there. The roof overhangs the balcony, and if any of the enemy get past our defenses and up on the balcony they won't be able to get a line of sight on them and our comm people would be sitting ducks. Sergeant McCain, I'll leave it up to you to decide who else goes up on the roof."

Duran took the rope that was dangling from the roof and offered it to Cole.

Phillips look nervously out over the field of grass while he waited. "I think I see something moving out there!" he called. "A bunch of somethings. They're still over a mile off and I can't make out any detail, though."

In the comm room-
Ortega huddled in the corner, shaking. Then he blinked and started to calm down. He hung his head. "I'm sorry, ma'am," he muttered. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Just don't let it happen again, Airman," said Lt. Malone. She handed him the keys. "Since you need to get back upstairs anyway, take these and unlock two rooms, the one nearest the stairs for the gear and another one for Airman Phillips. Lewis, I still need you here. Let's keep working. It'll only be a few more minutes before we're ready to start moving the equipment."

Outside the garage-
"Thanks man," said Baldwin as Joe Barring climbed into the shotgun seat and shut the door. He passed him the second box of shotgun shells as well. "Here, you should hold onto these too and give them to Kim after we return." He started the truck, put it into first gear, and pulled out to the north, driving off-road in order to stay clear of the Claymore.

On the north road-
The truck got stuck just as Baldwin drove past the warning sign, its wheels spinning in the mud. "Aw, hell no!" he shouted. "Let me see if I can get her loose. This is a fully loaded 18-wheeler, so there ain't no way we could get out and push."

In the garage-
David smiled back and winked at Alice, whistling while he worked on the truck.

In the walk-in fridge-
Willie began to look around for something to drink. He was unfamiliar with the place and didn't know where everything was, but he quickly found some 2-liter bottles of soda. He gathered a few different kinds and put them in plastic bags.

On the roof of the diner-
"That's okay," said Beth, "I'll stay here. I think I could jump down too, and you've got the rope and hook anyway." She called down to Samantha. "If you want to go over to the garage, you can take the ladder with you once Willie comes back with the drinks." She gasped as she looked out to the east. "Sam, look out! There's eleven of them coming in fast! They're only a couple minutes away!"

Beth shivered, but did not panic and raised her rifle, taking aim. "Get up here fast! They're a bit far for me to hit just yet, but that'll change soon enough."

(Luke, roll Sanity. Assuming you stay in control of your faculties, you may fire five times at the zombies this round with no range penalty. Only those on the roof of the diner or on the east side have a line of sight on the zombies. Currently that means Luke, Beth, and Samantha. The snipers on the motel roof cannot see them, and next round the zombies will be close enough that the diner itself will block line of sight from the roof of the motel.)

On the east side of the diner-
Samantha glanced back over her shoulder and saw the creatures coming for her, but she kept her head and hastily climbed up the ladder to the roof, where she took up a position facing east.

In the warehouse-
Javier Ramirez caught up with Zorie Spooner in the warehouse. She turned when he approached. "Hey, what's up?" she asked.

"Mr. Ramirez," came Captain Lereux's voice over the radio, "I need you to coordinate our defense with the people in your location. Help them set up their defenses, and work with Sergeants McCain and Black to maximize our interlocking fields of fire. I'll leave the details up to the three of you."

"I can't really remember most of what happened," said Kerry. "Part of me thinks that's a good thing, but I need to know what happened to me. Thank you for getting me out of that place." She looked over at Zorie. "Is that a biohazard suit? What's going on around here?"

"It's a long story," said Mr. Foo. "Do you remember anything about being in that prison cell or how you got there?"

"Not really. I remember the events you got me to relive earlier. Did you actually hypnotize me?"

"Indeed I did. I would like to continue. The information locked up in your subconscious may be useful to us all."

"Then let's get it over with."

"Good. Try to relax, please." Mr. Foo took out his pocketwatch again and dangled it before her, and she reentered her trance.

"Wow," said Mrs. Foo. "You so good at this."

"Thank you, my dear. I've never found it this easy to hypnotize someone before, though. Perhaps her state of mind makes her more suggestible."

In the reception area-
"I don't rightly know how I survived myself," said Michael. "Young Alex had jogged up the road to the north a few miles and had come across the meteorite. Felice, an Italian art dealer who'd been staying at the motel, drove up later and caught up with him. I followed and stopped behind her, and the Lathans were in the car behind mine.

"When Alex went up to the meteorite, it started buzzing. Then it burst open, and those wretched things swarmed out and attacked us."

"Do you think it was his presence that caused the meteorite to unleash them?" asked Stephanie.

"It would be too much of a coincidence for me to think otherwise. One of the aliens stung him, and he went down. It wasn't an especially bad wound, so I suspect the sting was poisonous. Mr. Lathan had gotten out of his car, and they went for him next. Fortunately, Felice and I had our windows rolled up so they couldn't get inside at first, but one of them smashed through the window of her car. She floored the gas pedal and got out of there, but she'd been stung too and she wrapped her car around a tree.

"Mr. Lathan got stung to death as well, and so did his two boys." He thought a second. "The beasties ripped Mrs. Lathan apart instead of stinging her repeatedly like the others. Odd, that."

"Maybe she was immune to the venom!" said Stephanie, her eyes lighting up. "I bet that's it. I don't know if it's the same toxin or not that the animated corpses produce when they bite people, but Kimberly was bitten by one and didn't get sick, either. I wonder...is there something they have in common? Maybe they were on the same medication or something."

"You're a right genius, you are! I saw Mrs. Lathan popping pills back at the motel."

"Hey, that's right!" said Jenny. "Some kind of tranquilizers. Valium, I think. But didn't Mr. Foo give one to her husband too? The poison affected him."

"True, that, but he only had the one pill. She looked like she'd been taking them for a while."

"Kimberly's in the kitchen, along with Dr. Blanco and Dr. Hausmann. One of us should let her know about this. I'd go, but I need to keep working on this."

"I'll do it," said Jenny, heading for the hallway.

"Thanks, Jenny. So, what happened next, Michael?"

"The dead people got back up and came after me," said Michael. "I hightailed it out of there to the north, then made a couple of right turns and ended up in Brownson. Those things just kept chasing me. On my way, I passed a bunch of dead alien mosquitos. I think they may have been killed by germs or some such."

"Oh, like in War of the Worlds!"

"Precisely! I met up with the whirlybird when it landed, and helped defend and refuel it. Then I got in and rode back here."

In the kitchen-
Jenny knocked on the door and poked her head in. "Hi," she said. "I'm Jenny Cooper, Stephanie's friend. Listen, there's a guy named Michael Walters who survived an attack by those alien mosquitos and saw them kill six other people. Five of them died from a poisonous sting, but one of them seemed to be immune and was ripped to pieces instead. She'd been taking Valium, and Stephanie thinks maybe Kimberly was on something like that that could have made her immune to the bite."

"Really?" said Kimberly. "Hmm. It could be drugs that have mind-altering effects that confer immunity. It must have been LSD that made me immune. That's the only one I've taken that fits the category."

"You're jumping to conclusions here," said Lt. Blanco. "Even if it works, dropping acid would impair our mental abilities too severely."

"I'm not suggesting we actually ingest that, but if I'm right Valium or other similar tranquilizers should work just as well and with fewer side effects. I don't know if they'd actually cure the infection, but it might possibly be used prophylactically."

"We'd have to carry out experiments before we know anything for sure. And I still don't believe in aliens."

"But we have a witness who saw them right here!" said Jenny. "He just got back from Brownson and described them to me before any of us told him about them. He saw them come right out of the meteorite when it opened up!"

"Okay, I believe these organisms are real," she said. "Whether or not they are extraterrestrial remains to be seen."

"But there's nothing like them on Earth, and they came from outer space!"

"I'd like to see one for myself, all the same, and interview this Michael Walters too."

In the office-
Jim realizes that since this was Captain Duffy's office, the memo would not have been here had he actually sent it to General Grey. The fact that it was crumpled up on the floor under the bed and the unprofessional insult to a superior officer also indicate that he never sent this memo. He wonders what else he might find in here.

(If you want to search the office further, roll Spot Hidden and specify where you're looking.)
 
OCC -

was unable to reach InvisCastle again. (this time from another location and another provider). i guess they're having stability or DNS problems.

Luke's rolls:
San 99, roll 56
Rifle (80%-5%=75%, 2d6+4): roll 35, 10 dmg; roll 55, 12 dmg; roll 22, 15 dmg; roll 67, 8 dmg; roll 13, 8x2=16 dmg;


IC -

At the hotel -

Cole thanks Duran for the rope, but shows no direct intention to go to work on the zipline. Instead he walks towards McCain's position while talking over the radio.

"Black, eyes on, Philips spotted movement a mile out." Cole says.

"Captain, might I suggest sending Ortega up, sir. Safe position and distance might ease his mind and prevent him from loosing his marbles in the next engagement..." Cole suggests.

Once Cole reaches McCain, he makes sure his radio is off.

"Accusing me of desertion of all possible things? Disregarding a direct order, yes, probably, but how about showing initiative and loyalty to my men. You'd have let Thayer die, you yellow dog. No military court would sentence a soldier for recovering his men safely." Cole says looking straight into McCain's eyes "Need I remind you that you showed cowardise in the face of the enemy? At the first freaking engagement I might add. If we bring that up to a court martial, you're going to the brig or at best getting a dishonorable discharge. So it might be in your best interest to lighten the fuck up, sergeant."

"You don't like me, but that's fine, because I don't like you either. Luckily for both of us, neither of our job descriptions state that we have to give eachother handjobs, so that's just fine." he explains "But what you do fail to realise is that I don't need you as much as you need me. And that there is no slander, insult or threat that will motivate me to be your lapdog, so save that for the rookies."

"Now lets cut the freaking crap and do our jobs, alright? You stop being an ass and get your shit together, in return I'll do my job. But god help you if you continue to threathen, slander and insult me..." He warns, with fire shooting from his eyes.


On the roof of the diner -

Luke immediately focuses upon the warning that some are comming in fast, but doesn't let his own eagerness foul his aiming... All five shots strike the targets, downing four, and severely wounding a fifth (8dmg).
 
On the Roof-

"Well it's a possibility that they have better survival instincts then humans.
If you add that to there greater flexabliity some could have gotten away." He continues to look west but still does not see anything.

In the warehouse-

"Will do." Ramirez replies over the radio he turns back to Zorie and drops his voice.

On the north road-

"Well it's better then getting stuck here without those things all around us then half way to the heli."
 
Northwest corner of hotel balcony:
McCain glared at Cpl. Cole and making sure his mike was away from his face said, "Look, perhaps we got off on the wrong foot. Its stressful up here ya know. Personally I like you and I think you are a good trooper so how bout we just do our duty and get along. If you have a complaint about me let me know about it and I will see what I can do to help out, Ok?"
McCain then moved away and got back on the radio, "Thayer and Ortega I want you up on the roof ASAP." He walked over to Captan Lereux and again moving the mike away said, "Captain a word? Listen I think proper military discipline would be for you to come to me and change orders instead of changing them in front of the men and making me look bad. I already have an problem with Cole and he is the type to start a rebellion against me. I don't need that and I believe neither do you. I will obey you but please lets not have more of a problem then we already got, ok?"
McCain sighed and placing the map of the area in his mind tried to think about a good interlocking field of fire plan. However his head hurt too much from the stress and he could not get a plan straight in his mind.
Sighing he got on his radio again and said, "Sgt. Black and Mr. Ramirez, this is Sgt McCain. You have any ideas that we can use to max interlocking fields of fire?"

In the Comm Room:
Lewis sighed realizing his effort to get out of work was not going to happen. He went back to taking the gear apart and stacking it in a place where it could be carried upstairs.

In the Garage:
Alice paused for a minute and looked around. Spying David she said, "David, is there anything that I can do to make you feel happy?" She smiled in wicked anticipation for his answer.

In the office:
Jim looked around the office and sat back down at the desk determined to make a more careful search of it this time. He thought that maybe there would be a secret drawer that he had not seen before. "Hey will you look at that!" he said as he found something.
 
OOC- I'm going back to work tomorrow, so updates won't come as frequently - probably twice a week. Since I have a little time left tonight, I'll write one more while I can.

IC-
On the roof of the motel-
"Yeah," said Bobby Sheen. "I think you're right." He looked out over the field to the west again. "I can't see what Phillips is talking about either."

(Black, you don't have Military Science skill, but you can roll Idea to get some inkling of what to do.)

In the comm room-
Lt. Malone and the others continued disconnecting the apparatus and started loading peripherals onto the dolly. Ortega left the room and headed out the back door. "Just a couple more minutes and we'll be done," said Malone.

On the motel balcony-
"Very well, Sergeant," said Lereux as he put his shirt back on over the body armor. "I'll come to you first as long as circumstances allow. If Cole steps out of line and you can't handle him, you can come to me and I'll help you get him back in."

(McCain, you can also roll Idea to get some guidance about coordinating defenses.)

Thayer grabbed the grenade and LAW rocket from the ammo crate and then headed around the west side of the balcony and down the stairs.

Ortega climbed the stairs from below, reloading his weapon as he went. He unlocked the door of the room nearest to the stairs and the one next to it. "I've unlocked the doors," he reported over the radio. "On my way to the roof now. I'm leaving the keys on the table in the room we're going to use for the comm gear." He put the keys down and turned back for the stairs.

Duran stood at the northeast corner, next to Hockey. "There's some gunfire over at the diner," he said, "but I can't see whatever they're shooting at. That truck is heading back north. It went off the road to avoid the Claymore, but it's gotten stuck in the muddy ground."

Phillips watched the movement in the grass. "They're still a little over a mile away," he said. "At the rate they're going, they'll be here in ten or fifteen minutes. They're not moving as fast as the four that attacked Alanen, at least." He went into the second room Ortega had unlocked.

On the north road-
Erica cleaned her rifle while she waited in the truck.

"I don't intend to stay stuck here any longer," said Baldwin. He shifted into neutral and pressed down on the gas pedal, revving the engine. Then he popped the clutch and slammed the truck into gear. The rig burst free of the mud and continued on its way. Once safely past the mine, Baldwin got back onto the road and drove the rest of the way to the chopper. When he arrived near the chopper, he stopped the truck. "Okay, we're here."

"Excuse me," said Erica to Joe. "I need to get out."

Outside the garage-
Wallace stood guard outside the door and watched the truck free itself from the mud and head off to the north.

In the garage-
"Oh, I can think of a few things that would make me happy," said David. "A backrub would be good for starters. This kind of work is hard on the muscles. When you finish fixing your rifle, maybe you could give me one. Once the truck's fixed I'd be happy to return the favor."

In the walk-in fridge-
Willie slung his rifle on his back and picked up the bags containing the soda bottles. He left the fridge and headed through the kitchen to the back door. When he heard the gunshots, he quickened his pace.

On the east side of the diner-
Willie hurried out the back door. "I found some-" he started, and then he caught sight of the zombies running towards him. "Guh!" His eyes bulged, but he retained his composure.

On the roof of the diner-
The zombie that Luke had wounded was still coming, but it was a good deal slower now. The other six continued full tilt.

Beth began firing at the zombies loping towards the T-Bone, landing three hits. She killed one, horribly wounded another, and blew the top half of the head off a third.

Samantha also fired, hitting four times. She killed two outright, finished off the one Beth had wounded, and badly wounded another.

Only two zombies remained, and both of them were staggering as they approached. One was about a hundred yards off, and the other was even further away.

(Luke may fire up to five times this round to finish them off. One has taken 8 damage to the head and the closer one has taken 9. Any head hit will be enough to finish either one.)

In the warehouse-
After speaking to Ramirez, Zorie said goodbye and headed upstairs.

"Kerry," said Mr. Foo. "I need you to continue telling me what happened, but whenever you are attacked I want you to skip past it from now on."

"Okay," said Kerry. "They're taking me back to the cage now and locking me back in. Debbie's in the cage next to mine. I try to talk to the girls in the other cages, but they don't really understand English. Debbie speaks French, though, and she's able to talk to a couple of them and translate for me. A lot of them were from Eastern Europe, and they were lured to this country because they were promised well-paying jobs or husbands, but they ended up here instead. Sometimes girls were taken out of cages and into one of the buildings. Nobody ever comes back, and everyone's afraid of going inside.

"It's so cold outside at night, and I can't sleep. In the morning, I'm so hungry. They bring us food and water and I devour it. Now I'm starting to feel funny. I think they put something in it. My limbs feel so heavy. Now a few of them come over to my cell and open the door. They grab me again. I try to resist, but I can't do anything. They drag me out and-

"When they're done, they lock me back in the cage. They do this to all of us. It goes on for a long time, over and over. It must have been three weeks. Every muscle in my body hurts. I freeze at night without any clothes, but I don't want to go inside because it might be worse there.

"The men come back to my cage and Debbie's, but this time it's different. They're taking us into the compound building! I'm so scared, but I can't fight back any more, and it wouldn't do any good. They bring us inside and down some stairs, underground. There's a cell block down there and they lock us in cells. There are other girls in some of the cells.

"The men leave us there, but a little later they come back and bring us into a big room with video equipment and a set and stuff. They make us act in porno movies, S&M stuff. It's horrible, but they said if we cooperate and do a good job they might let us go.

"I don't believe them, though. Then that night they take another girl into the studio. When they come back outside, they're carrying her. She's...oh, God, she's dead! They must be making snuff films!"

Kerry's eyes snapped open again, and she shivered. "I remember that now." She hugged herself. "I can't believe I survived all that. But how did I get out of there?"

"I'll put you under again," said Mr. Foo, "and we can find out."

(Ramirez, roll Sanity. Failure costs 1d2 Sanity points. Also, you may roll Idea to get some guidance on preparing defenses, since you don't have Military Science.)

In the reception area-
Jenny returned from the hall. "Michael," she said, "I spoke to Dr. Blanco. She's still being a skeptic, but I convinced her that what you saw was real. She'd like to talk to you when you get a chance. Maybe if we had one of these dead creatures to show her..."

"Yeah," said Stephanie as she typed on the laptop. "We could also do an autopsy on it, analyze the toxin, and learn a whole lot more about them. I'm just relieved they died so quickly." She turned to Michael. "You didn't happen to bring one back, did you?"

"Ah, no," he said. "Sorry, I was in a bit of a hurry at the time. Those ambulatory bodies were chasing me, and I couldn't stop."

"That's all right. They're not going anywhere. Maybe someone can collect some later. What about the ones that came out of the meteorite you found? What happened to them?"

"I saw them fly off to the northwest."

"That must have been in the direction of the PMS compound," said Bo. "Those skinheads mentioned that they'd already been hit when they came here, before things turned violent. That dying guy they had in their pickup truck might have been stung."

In the kitchen-
"Why do you find it so hard to believe in aliens?" asked Sally.

"I'm a scientist," said Lt. Blanco as she started putting a splint on Dr. Hausmann's arm. "I believe the evidence I can observe myself. There's been a lot of talk of aliens for decades, but the proof has always been lacking. If aliens had been visiting the Earth, there would have been evidence of it."

"Still," said Kimberly, "there sure is plenty of evidence now. These meteorites come down, deadly creatures emerge, and the dead walk. This is not a natural process. Someone...something is causing it."

In the office-
Jim Kerr searched the desk thoroughly, but there was absolutely nothing left in the drawers and there were no hidden compartments. Duffy had to have cleaned it out completely.

(Just because you succeed at a Spot Hidden roll doesn't mean you'll find anything. Sometimes there is nothing to find in the place you're looking. If you'd like to keep searching the office, you can specify where you're looking and make another Spot Hidden roll.)

In the underground hallway-
"Well, we're not going to find the generator in there," said Gary, "and I can't afford to wait around here. That food is going to go bad if the power stays off much longer. The rest of us ought to go ahead into the guard room. You can catch up to us when you're done in the office."

Gary led the others through the open door at the end of the hall.

Robert emerged from the office. "Well, I'll go stand guard now," he said. He returned down the hallway and walked up to Bo. "I'd like to help you protect the scientists."

"Thanks," said Bo. "I'd really appreciate that. I've got this hallway covered, so maybe you should go upstairs and relieve Bob. His skills could be used better elsewhere. If trouble comes, give us a holler and get everyone up there through the gate. There's a padlock next to it you can use to lock it, and I've got the key in case we need to get out."

In the guard room-
The guard room had two more doors leading out, one in the opposite wall that was open, and another door in the right wall that was closed. There were two bunks, a table, and chairs for the guards. The room also contained a couple of desks and a filing cabinet. More pinups from the early 1960's lined the walls.

"We went through here before," said Lynne. "That far door leads to the cell block where we found the girl, but I don't know where that other one goes." She examined a desk, rooting through the drawers, but she found nothing.

Randall also took a look around, but he didn't notice anything interesting either, nor did Gary.

Max trotted across the room to the open door leading to the cells and sniffed the air. He wrinkled his nose and whimpered.
 
On the roof of the diner -

Shooting the now slow moving zombies was like shooting fish in a barrel after killing the others.
rifle (hs: 75%) (1d100=4, 2d6+4=13, 1d100=68, 2d6+4=13)

Luke immediately started to reload his spent magazine.

"Now is the time if you want to get off the roof. Can't say how long it'll take before another batch comes our way." Luke said "I think those faster zombies are often the front runners of a slower group."


At the motel -

Cole went to his duties and started moving stuff closer to the point where the barricade would be built to speed up the assembly once everything needed was upstairs.

After that he started to look for a suitable point for his zipline idea that would be relatively easy to reach by the squads on the roof as well as the squads on the balconies.
 
In comm room:
Lewis continued to work, by this time he was stacking the equipment on the dolly cart. He paused for a minute to wipe the sweat from his brow. "How much longer is this going to take?" he asked.

Northwest corner of hotel balcony:
McCain thanked Captian Lereux for agreeing to his propsal. He then turned away and as he scanned the area, he tried to figure out a good way for interlocking defenses. He came up with what he thought would be a good plan. Getting on his radio mike he said, "Sgt Black and Mr. Ramierz, I have come up with a plan for defense. The army will stay at the hotel and fire at the targets in the field to the west. The civilians at the T-bone will fire at targets coming from the east. Snipers can most likly hit both areas until the eastern targets get close and are blocked from view. Since most of the cities and towns in this area are on I-80, almost all of the creatures will come from those two directions. We also need to watch the north and south and both areas can do that, although not much should come from those directions. I have not a clue where the civis can fire from however having not been there yet, if you know Mr. Ramierz or Sgt Black now is a good time to speak up."


Inside the Garage:
Alice grinned at David and said, "Pooky bear, I can give you alot of things. Once I am finished fixing this rifle I may even be able to fix other guns in this garage. And if we ever get to my parants place, we are still going right?, then I will give you the time of your life and you will thank the gods that you met me." She then blew him a kiss.

In the guard room:
Jim entered the guard room. He said, "Hey guys, I was thinking, most of you know I am a cop. Duffy must be out of his mind. Why else would he write a message and curse out his superior? So maybe he wants to hide something? Also why hide something in the office when he has his own room? If it is in the office, it is not in the desk, we know because we have searched there twice now. But there could be a hiding place. Perhaps a loose floor board, a loose brick, or maybe even behind a ventilation grill. It would have to be someplace close that he could keep his eyes on it, someplace where others would not notice him checking and someplace where others would not be able to get to. I think we need to go back to the office and do a very through search. What do you say?"
He then went to the filing cabinet which he began to search. He found something and pulled it out to look more closly. "Hey look at this!" he said.
 
OOC- Actually, Captain Duffy's office is his room - there's a bed in there, so the office doubled as his own quarters.

I went ahead and rolled Sanity for Ramirez myself.

IC-
On the roof of the motel-
Airman Bobby Sheen peered through his scope at the grass, and he finally detected movement. "I see 'em, Sarge!" he said. "There must be a few dozen of them. They're a mile off and closing. I might be able to hit them at this range, but it's iffy. Shall I open fire, or wait until they get closer?"

On the motel balcony-
"The truck got loose again," reported Duran. "It headed back north a ways, and then stopped." He cleaned off the SAW in the crate.

Captain Lereux nodded. "That's right around where the chopper landed."

Hockey grabbed a fresh belt from the ammo crate to replace the one he had exhausted. "Hey," he said, "since we've got incoming from the west, maybe I should move over there so I can mow 'em down."

Phillips locked the door to his room and secured the chain. "Okay," he said over the radio. "I've locked myself inside, but I'd really rather be out on the balcony shooting at those things. I'll let Ms. Spooner in when she gets here."

In the comm room-
"About another minute or so," said Lt. Malone. "Then we can start moving stuff upstairs."

Malanowski loaded more peripherals onto the dolly while Mikhalin continued to detach cables from the main unit.

On the west side of the motel-
Cole reached the bottom of the stairs and began to gather furniture from the nearby rooms on the ground floor. He estimated that it would take him about five minutes to gather enough to make a good barricade. He knew that the top of the zipline could be attached to the satellite dish, and it would be best if it came down on the east side of the motel rather than into the grass on the west. He recalled seeing a couple of tall posts in the motel parking lot that might suffice to anchor the other end.

On the east side of the motel-
Thayer jogged around the south side of the motel and arrived at the base of the ladder leading to the roof. Ortega was right behind him.

On the north road-
When Joe Barring didn't move quickly enough, Baldwin opened his door and stepped outside, holding it for Erica.

"Thanks," she said as she climbed out and looked around. "Now I'll just lift off and hop back to the garage." She headed around the truck towards the chopper.

"Look out!" shouted Baldwin, unflinchingly drawing his revolver and pointing it to the west. A drooling coyote with red eyes was bounding across the ground, heading straight for them - and it was very close!

Baldwin fired twice at its head, hitting it in the forehead and the left eye. The creature stopped cold and collapsed. "Phew! Got 'im."

Erica looked back over her shoulder. "Nice one! Cover me while I get in the air." She slid into the helicopter's pilot's seat, started the engine, and strapped herself in.

Outside the garage-
"They're at the chopper now," said Wallace, looking off to the north.

In the garage-
"I don't think we've got any other broken guns that can still be fixed," said David, "and I hope it stays that way, but maybe you could lend a hand with the truck. And of course we're still going to your parents' place. I wouldn't miss that for anything."

"We're going to need enough vehicles to fit everyone," said Mitchell. "We've got three trucks, and three people can ride in each one's cab. The trucks run on diesel, so once we get this one fixed they'll all have enough fuel for the road. The cars can't take diesel, though, so we'll have to find fuel for them as we go or be forced to abandon them."

"If that happens, there's room in the back of my truck for people, but it won't be comfortable. Alice can ride in the middle seat of my truck's cab, and maybe that lady fed can ride shotgun. She can put handcuffs on me any time."

"The Foos' Outback is parked right out there, and it seats seven. That makes room for sixteen, but we've got about thirty people. There's also a Chevy Blazer nearby that doesn't look badly damaged. I'm not sure whose it is, though."

"Damned if I know."

"I reckon it's ours now," said Jimmy as he repaired the tanker.

On the roof of the diner-
"You're right," said Samantha. "That's what happened before. About one in ten of them are the faster kind, so we can expect a hundred or so of the slower ones to show up later." She climbed partway down the ladder, took a bag containing two bottles of soda and some plastic cups from Willie, and passed it up to Beth. "We'll take the ladder over to the garage and get on that roof."

"I'll stay here," said Beth. She opened a bottle of Diet Coke and took a short drink, then screwed the cap back on.

On the east side of the diner-
Samantha reached the ground and picked up one of the other two bags Willie had brought from the fridge while he took the other. They slipped their arms through the handles and then picked up the ladder.

In the diner-
Zorie Spooner reached the top of the stairs and headed for the front door.

In the warehouse-
Ramirez was disturbed by Kerry's horrific tale, but he remained calm and professional. Just what was going on around here?

Mr. Foo tried to put Kerry into a trance again, but this time she was a little too unnerved to relax. "I'm sorry," she said. "I want to know the rest of what happened to me, but I'm still kind of shaky."

"Perfectly all right," said Mr. Foo. "I'll try again."

Robert passed through the gate and came up the stairs from below. "I'm going to stand guard here," he said to Bob as he took up a position beside him. "If there's something else you need to do, I can cover the gate by myself."

In the reception area-
"Hold on a minute," said Stephanie. "There's a flaw in the idea that mind-altering drugs confer immunity. Mr. Goldberg, the man I spoke to in Hawaii, had been on shrooms for a long time and just gave them up this morning, but he got infected when his friend returned from the dead and bit him. Why wouldn't they work?" She crinkled her brow. "Maybe...I've almost got something. I'm this close."

"What if it's because shrooms are naturally occurring, but Valium and LSD are pharmaceuticals manufactured in a lab?" asked Jenny.

"Yeah, that's it! Thanks, Jenny. I don't know anything about how that class of drugs is manufactured, though - but I bet Kimberly does."

"I can prescribe drugs," said Michael, "but I don't know how they're made. Sorry."

In the kitchen-
"Could these mosquito creatures be genetically engineered?" wondered Angela Blanco out loud. "That would explain why they've never been seen on Earth before. Perhaps they're a new hybrid of some kind."

"They could be," said Kimberly. "Perhaps they were designed or altered to attack humans on sight, maybe bred or trained for it. They could be an alien biological weapon of some sort."

"I was thinking rather that they could have been made by humans."

"Still don't believe in aliens?" asked Sally with a smirk.

"I believe what I can see. Show me a real alien, let me dissect it, then maybe I'll believe."

In the guard room-
Duke entered the room behind Jim Kerr, who pulled a ring of a dozen keys out of a hidden compartment at the back of one of the filing cabinet's drawers. He also noticed the words "Sgt Hodkins 8, Prisoners 0" stenciled into the desk next to the cabinet.

"You can search the office again if you like," said Gary. "I need to find that generator fast so our food doesn't spoil."

"We'd better stick with you, Gary," said Randall. "There could be anything down there, and if you go off by yourself we could lose you. I think the dog has sensed something bad up ahead."

"Max?" said Lynne. "What is it, boy?" The dog just glared at her, then looked away. She examined the hallway. "It's the same cell block we were in before, and I don't see anything in it. There are twelve cell doors, six on each side of the hall. They're spaced pretty far apart, and the cells are big enough to easily hold two people each. That second door on the right is the cell we found Kerry in, and the door's still open. The others are all closed and, I presume, locked. There's another closed door at the far end of the hall, but I don't know what's down there."

"What about this door?" asked Duke, pointing at the closed door on the right wall of the guard room.

"Dunno. Never went in there."
 
Northwest corner of hotel balcony:
McCain sighed loudly and then bent over and grabbed another M-4 clip giving him 6 fully loaded clips as well as the 1 he currently had loaded. Walking over to the door that Phillips he knocked and then said, "Phillips, its for everyone's good that your in there, including yours." Turning he looked at Hockey and said, "Hockey move over to the west and fire at the targets." McCain then got on his radio and said, "Cpl Cole, do you need help building the barricade?"

In the comm room:
Lewis stacked some equipment on the dolly and then stood to stretch his tired and sore back.

In the garage:
Alice looked up at David and said, "Sure I will help you fix the truck as soon as I am done. It will be about 10 more minutes I think." She then bent back over and continued to work on the gun.

In the guard room:
Jim nodded and said, "Look we are a group and we should stick together. These keys may help us as we continue exploring. Its just in the back of my mind that office has to hold something that we are missing. We need to find it as it may help us!" Jim quickly explained to Lynn, Duke, and Randall why it was so important to go back and search. Jim could tell that Lynn was not going to be convinced. Duke listened but then turned away. However Randall started nodding. Jim then squatted and called out to Max to get him to come also. Max looked up and then began to walk over to Jim.
 
On the roof -

Luke carefully checks his entire field of view. This is one of the times he'd hate being right...


Underground -

"I guess I could use some fresh air. And perhaps they can use another mechanic or something..." Bob replies as he starts to make his way up.


At the motel's (soon to be) barricade

"Depends on the deadline, sarge." Cole answers as he huffs and puffs from lugging around the furniture and whatnot "Guessing I've got 5 minutes work to lug the stuff here, so it is ready to be used when the stuff has been moved upstairs."

"Zipline isn't up yet, of course."
 
northwest corner of hotel balcony:
McCain heard the reply from Cole and said into his radio, "Okay, I will be right down to help out....unless more creatures show up that is.
 
On the north road-

Joe quickly got out of the truck and began to look around for any more of those things.

On the Roof-

"Just wait a minute for them to get closer." Black replies as he looks to the west but doesn't see anything.
 
On the roof of the motel-
"Roger that, Sarge," said Bobby Sheen. He continued to track the approaching mob through his scope, but he held his fire for now. "At their current pace, I guess it'll be another five minutes before they get into a comfortable range for me to shoot them, though you could probably hit them if you could see them." He pointed out their location.

(Sam Black, roll Spot Hidden again, this time with a 20% bonus: +25% for Sheen's help in pinpointing the targets, but -5% due to his helmet. If he sees them, he may fire four times with no range penalty and spend a fifth action to reload. Taking off or putting on the helmet would take one combat round. Once he has seen the zombies, he can continue to shoot at them without rolling Spot Hidden again unless he stops tracking them for some reason.)

Thayer reached the top of the ladder while Ortega held the bottom steady for him, and he climbed onto the roof.

On the motel balcony-
McCain made his way to the stairway and headed down, while Hockey brought his SAW over to the northwest corner and set it up on the balcony's railing. He looked out across the field. "Targets acquired!" he said. "They're too far away for me to spray 'em now without wasting a whole lot of lead, but when they get closer I can hose 'em down."

Captain Lereux went over to the northwest corner and stood near Hockey. He too peered through the grass. "My eyes must be going, Airman," he said. "All I see is grass."

In the medic's upstairs motel room-
Phillips sighed as he paced back and forth across the floor.

On the west side of the motel-
McCain reached the bottom of the stairs, where Cole was already at work gathering furniture.

(If the two of them work together, it will only take them two more minutes to bring out the rest of the furniture needed for the barricade.)

In the comm room-
Lewis and Malanowski finished loading the peripherals onto the dolly at around the same time Malone and Mikhalin disconnected the last of the wires and cables from the main unit.

"Okay," said Lt. Malone, "we're good to go. Let's be careful moving this stuff. We can't afford to damage any of it." She and the others slowly began pushing the dolly out of the room and down the hall.

On the north road-
Baldwin reloaded his revolver while he and Joe Barring looked around. Baldwin saw a few shambling figures far to the west in the high grass, but nothing anywhere nearby. Joe didn't detect anything. "There's a couple way out there," he said, pointing, "but they're too far away to hit or be concerned about. We'll be out of here long before they show up."

The helicopter roared to life, and the rotors picked up speed. Erica Spears took the controls and masterfully lifted off. When she reached a decent altitude, she turned about to the south and opened the throttle. The chopper flew south over the dirt road, towards the T-Bone.

"Okay, let's make tracks," said Baldwin. He got back into the driver's seat of his truck.

Outside the garage-
"The chopper's coming this way," said Wallace. He waved as it approached.

Samantha and Willie walked around the north side of the T-Bone and arrived outside the garage. They leaned the ladder against the west side of the garage.

In the garage-
"Thanks, sweetie," said David.

"If we're going to use the Blazer," said Mitchell, "we'll either need the keys or someone who can hotwire it. I've never tried it before, but I know enough about cars that I think I could do it if nobody else can. First we need to get this truck roadworthy again, though."

On the roof of the diner-
Beth also surveyed their surroundings. "The chopper's on its way back, but I don't see anyone nearby," she said. "There's a little movement on the highway a couple miles east of here, but I can't make anything out from this distance. See anything through your scope?"

(Luke, roll Spot Hidden.)

In the diner-
Zorie Spooner cautiously made her way through the wreckage of the diner. "I'm on my way over," she reported on her radio. "I should be there in a couple of minutes." She walked out through the shattered doorframe and headed across the parking lot.

On the stairs beneath the T-Bone-
Bob climbed the long stairway back towards the surface. He reached the landing halfway up.

In the warehouse-
Mr. Foo managed to put Kerry back into a trance. "Okay, Kerry," he said. "I need you to tell me how you got out of the PMS compound. Can you remember?"

She nodded. "I remember now. I don't know how long we've been down there, since we can't see the sun. Every so often the guards molest us and the other girls, and sometimes they take us to the soundstage to make more of those disgusting movies. We see a couple more dead girls being carried out as time goes by.

"One night they take us back to our cells after making a film, and a few of the men assault Debbie. They beat her up pretty bad, too. When they're done, they leave the cell, but they don't lock the door. Maybe they assumed they had battered her into submission and she wouldn't try anything, or maybe they just forgot. Most of them go away, but one of them sits down in a chair in the hallway to guard the cells. Soon he falls asleep.

"I'm in the cell next to Debbie's, and I whisper to her to try to convince her to sneak out and steal the keys from the guard so we can escape. At first she's too scared, but I manage to persuade her that we can't stay down here any longer or we'll likely end up dead.

"She manages to creep up to the guard and get his keys without waking him up, and then she lets me out of the cell. I try to get the other girls to come with us, but they've been down here longer than us and they have no will to resist any more.

"First we try for the stairs going up, but some of the skinheads are in the guard room at the top, so we can't get out that way. Our only choice is to try to find some way further down so we can find another way out, or at least a place to hide until the way up is open.

"We find some stairs going down from an old storeroom. They go down quite a long way, and eventually we emerge into some kind of underground warehouse. We go down another flight of stairs and through an old gate.

"That sounds so familiar," said Robert, "but I can't quite put my finger on it."

"A long stairway with a warehouse at the bottom?" asked Mr. Foo. "Does it look like this one?"

"Yes," said Kerry, "it looks a lot like this one, but nobody has used it for a long time."

Robert nodded. "Yeah," he said, "of course!"

"What's on the other side of the gate?" asked Mr. Foo.

"There's a room down there," she said, "with another hall leading further in. We follow it past four doors into some kind of guard room, and there's another hall behind that with twelve old prison cells, all locked. At the end of that hall we find some showers and then a common prison area. Behind that is a chamber with a hatch set into the floor. A door at the back leads to a small room with an old generator.

"That place must be identical to this one," said Robert. "Gary was looking for the generator here, so it's probably in the same place. Someone ought to go tell him."

In the reception area-
"You know," said Michael, "even if we can't manufacture our own drugs to run experiments on, I think I know where we could find some. Mrs. Lathan had some Valium on her. It might still be in her car or on her person. The remains of the meteorite would be there too. Going up there might be dangerous, though. It's a few miles north from here."

"That would also mean going past the turnoff to the PMS compound," said Bo. "If they're watching the road, they could notice."

In the kitchen-
"Have you people got enough to eat and drink?" asked Lt. Blanco.

"I wouldn't touch anything down here," said Sally. "There's some rotten food in the fridge that must be almost 50 years old. When I opened it I nearly lost my breakfast. The food in the pantry is also way past its sell by date. There is some stuff in the fridge upstairs, but when the bomb went off the power cut out. Gary's looking for the generator so he can run a line up there before it goes bad.

In the office-
Randall and Max followed Jim Kerr. "You three go on ahead," called Randall to the others. "We'll catch up to you."

The three of them left the guard room and returned to the office. "Okay," said Randall, glancing around the room again. "Where do you think we should look?"

In the guard room-
"Let's check this room first," said Lynne, striding over to the closed door on the right wall. "I'm curious about what could be in there. Cover me." When Gary and Duke moved into position, she opened the door.

In the interrogation room-
The room on the other side of the door had no other exits, and the only pieces of furniture were a table and two chairs. One of the chairs had restraints of some kind. There was also an empty water bucket in one corner, and a small, strange-looking electrical generator.

"Hey, will that do?" asked Lynne, pointing at it.

Gary shook his head. "That little thing?" he said. "It doesn't have anywhere near enough juice." He thought for a moment. "You know, this place looks like something out of a spy movie. I bet this is where they interrogated the prisoners. That device must be for administering electric shocks."

"I bet you're right," said Duke. "This must be where Sergeant Hodkins got his torture jollies."

"Not much in here," said Lynne. She examined the table. "There are some dark stains here. They look like old, dried blood." She shivered. "Come on, this place is giving me the creeps. Let's go back and check out the cell block."

The three of them left the chamber of horrors.
 
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