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

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OOC- Actually, the closest group of two Cole can hit turns out to be the ones at 2 and 10 HP respectively, which are not the two that Hockey can shoot at together. I'll apply the 1d6 to the 2 HP coyote and the 2d6 to the 10 HP one. There's no need to roll Military Science, nor even time since this is essentially a split-second decision.

IC-
On the west side of the motel-
The 40mm HE grenade landed between the two closest coyotes and severely damaged them. Both undead coyotes collapsed, ceasing to function. This still left three of them, and one didn't even have a scratch on it yet...
 
In the warehouse-
"Let's hope they haven't been breched yet." Javier replies to Lt. Blanco.

In the reception area-
"Here." Joe passes Kimberly the extra shells meant for her.
 
Running toward motel:
McCain huffed and puffed regreating all the gear he was carrying and the slightly extra weight he had gained over the winter. As he ran he called into his radio, "McCain here, be there within a couple of minutes!"

On roof of garage:
Alice got up and said, "I will be right back." She then climbed down the ladder.

Outside garage:
Alice sighed for a minute and poked her head into the garage. "Listen, guys, I am sorry for earlier. I am just tense with all that is going on. Will you all forgive me and maybe allow me to help repair the truck? I promise I will not make sexual comments until me and David are alone, if David is still interterested that is.

In the Guard Room:
Jim followed Gary into the hallway. Before he did he paused to look back at Max and whistled for him to come on.

In the underground hallway:
Jim walked behind Gary and thought for a minute where he might have seen keys. The thought hit him about the keys he had seen in the guard room earlier. "Hey, I think I have seen some keys that might fit. They were in the guard room!"

On the motel steps:
Lewis saw what was going on but he managed to stay sane. However, as Lt. Malone let go of the gear, his brief look at the creatures caused Lewis to try and shoulder the weight of the equipment. It was too much for him and he lost his grip. "Shit I lost it, someone help stop that gear or we r fucked!"
 
OOC- Just a quick update for now. I'll do a full one after Stompie posts.

IC-
On the motel stairs-
Alexandria Mikhalin and Zorie Spooner struggled to keep the huge communications apparatus from falling. Fortunately, Mikhalin managed to pick up the slack and hold it steady. "It's okay, Nate," she said. "I've got it."

In the reception area-
"Thanks," said Kimberly, taking 50 shells from Joe Barring and loading one into her SPAS-12.

In the hallway-
After considering for a moment, Jim Kerr realized that the keys he had found in the guard room were unlikely to fit that locked door. There were twelve of them and they all looked identical, and he also remembered that there were twelve prison cells in the cell block.
 
In the underground hallway:
Jim paused for a minute and said, "You know those keys are not likly for that door as they are all identical. Most likly for the cell block. Lets go find Mr. Foo.

On the motel stairs:
Lewis ran down the stairs and helped take the weight of the equipment and begin to bring it back up the stairs. He was heard to say, "Thank God for his Handy help!"
 
OOC- Stompie hasn't posted here yet, so I'll go ahead and roll Sanity and the combat rolls for Hockey this round. I'll assume he fires 5 bullets at each of the two wounded coyotes.

IC-
On the motel balcony-
Justin Hockey nearly lost it when he saw the creatures rushing the motel, but he maintained his fragile grip on his mind and opened fire on the two coyotes that Lt. Malone had wounded. He missed the first one, but hit the second one quite effectively with three rounds. cutting it to ribbons and felling it. The coyote he missed and the undamaged one passed under the balcony and out of his line of fire.

No more coyotes came out of the grass, but two runners did speed out. They had been wounded by the Claymores too, but only lightly since they had been well back when they had gone off. Both of the creatures ran towards the group clustered at the bottom of the southwest stairs and were just fifteen yards away.

Captain Lereux scored another perfect hit, drilling one of them right between the eyes and blowing its skull apart. Duran shot the second one in the head, dropping it to the ground, but it continued to crawl towards the motel.

On the motel's roof-
Thayer took aim at the head of the badly wounded ghoul, but missed again. He screamed in frustration and clenched the M-16's grip so tight his knuckles turned pale.

On the motel stairs-
Lt. Elizabeth Malone emptied her magazine at the zombie with the head wound, and once more her rage fueled her deadly accuracy and precision - all but one of her bullets found their marks. The creature's head was split open and it stopped moving, its fluids leaking all over the asphalt.

"Keep going," said Alexandria Mikhalin. "We're almost to the top!" With help from Lewis, the two women were able to keep carrying the apparatus upwards and past Malone.

On the west side of the motel-
The two remaining coyotes loped forward. The wounded one pounced at Cole, and the fresh one charged Phillips. Both of them clamped their jaws down on their chosen prey. Cole had no chance to dodge aside or try to parry with his rifle, since he had just fired, and Phillips moved far too slowly. One ripped through Cole's neck and the side of his head, his helmet only providing slight protection, and the other tore apart Phillips's left arm.

Mercifully, Cole passed out from his severe head wound before he fully realized what had happened to him. Phillips was not so lucky, however. He sobbed and screamed in agony, and his mind snapped, so much so that it could not process what being bitten meant.

The formerly human zombie went after Malanowski yet again, seizing him in its embrace but bumping its head on the ground when it tried to bite him. This time Malanowski could not escape, but he did manage to break its hold.

On the east side of the motel-
McCain reached the eastern edge of the motel's parking lot and ran past the lamp post that anchored the bottom of the zipline. The screams and gunfire were louder now, but he still could not see their source.

(McCain can reach the eastern wall of the motel this round. All of the doors on ground level on this side are locked, and both staircases on the this side are barricaded. He can reach either the southeast or northeast corners, though. It will then take him one more round to reach the west side of the motel.)

At the helicopter-
Manuel Ortega stood alone at his post beside the helicopter. The radio chatter disturbed him greatly, but he was in no position to help.

In the garage-
"I'm always interested," said David.

"You point a gun at people and now you want to work with them?" asked Jimmy, staring at Alice with disbelief.

"At the moment we've got four people working on the truck," said Mitchell. "Any more would just get in the way, but Bob may be leaving soon. Even so, I don't know if you can get along with the guys enough to be of help, or if you have the necessary skills. A truck is a lot more complicated than a rifle. If you know of anyone else who can help, though, send them our way."

(Alice, roll Persuade if you want to try to convince Mitchell to let you work on the truck.)

Erica Spears walked into the garage. "The chopper's lifting off in about eight minutes," she said. "I'm looking for my passengers. Anyone seen them? There's room for four others."

"Yeah," said Mitchell. "Some of the others went downstairs to fetch them. They should be up soon. Bob here was with them." He motioned to the other pilot.

"You got a working bathroom around by any chance? I haven't gone all morning, and I'd really like to take a leak while I can."

"There's a toilet in the garage that we use. It still works - the garage was well insulated from the explosion. It's through that door." He pointed. "It's tiny and grimy, but the water still runs."

"Okay, thanks."

On the roof of the diner-
"Thank you," Azadeh told Luke. "You're really good yourself. I've served in the military before - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. I was trained as a combat engineer. I suppose I've got quite a bit of natural talent too." She looked down and saw Samantha arrive below. "Samantha, the weapon and magazines are in the bag! Just put your extra magazines in the bag after you take them out. By the way, we're going to need to set up some kind of hatchway to cover the stairs leading down. Maybe Gary could help out with that. I could too, but we've got about a hundred more hostiles less than half an hour away, and I need to be up here to shoot them when they come."

On the east side of the diner-
"Okay, will do!" called Samantha. She took the Grease gun and ammo from the bag, and placed two 5.56mm magazines inside. Azadeh hauled the bag back up to the roof and claimed them.

In the diner-
"Yes," said Lt. Blanco, "I hope so too. When we get topside I'll get a sitrep." She and Ramirez emerged from the opening where the trapdoor used to be. Now that they were on the surface, they could hear the panic and chaos on the radio. She opened a channel and spoke: "Captain, Blanco here. Ramirez and I are leaving the diner now. What's the situation, sir?"

"We're under attack by the infected!" came his reply. "You two join Ortega at the helicopter, but stay away from the motel until you get the all clear."

"Roger that, sir," she answered.

Baldwin and Willie emerged from below close behind them.

In the cell block-
"That was a close one," Randall told Duke. "If that rat had gotten away it might have turned later and come back when and where we least expected it. If more of them come, we might not be so lucky next time. We've got to make sure they don't eat any dead bodies. I think that's what made those other rats the way they were."

In the kitchen-
Lynne put her arms around Rosie's and Sally's shoulders, and they walked her out into the hall.

In the hallway-
"I am right here, young man," Mr. Foo said to Jim Kerr. "Where is this locked door?"

Gary returned to the hall. "It's all the way in the back," he said. "It probably won't be the last one, either. There will most likely be locked doors below that could use your skills, and that MP-5 will be useful in case we run into trouble. You should accompany the others when they go further into this place." He turned back to the doorway to the reception area. "If anyone else wants to come along, we could use the help."

"I don't know," said Mr. Foo. "It's important to explore the underground lab, yes, but I don't like leaving my wife."

"I'm sure she'll be fine," said Jenny, taking his arm. "Ellen and I are going. We need your protection too."

"This is true, but I'm not convinced. It might be best for you two to stay up here with me. I'll open this lock for you, but I can't promise I'll go any farther."

"Well, I'm not going back down there," said Kerry from the reception area, "not for anything. If you have any sense you won't either."

"We need to get the generator hooked up first anyway," said Gary. "We can decide what to do about the lab afterwards." He led the way back to the guard room, with Ellen, Jenny, and Mr. Foo following.

In the reception area-
"I don't know if Azadeh is in trouble or not yet," said Kimberly, "but it doesn't look good for her and she's got some explaining to do. I'm going up to talk to her." She looked at Joe. "I don't know how she'll react when I confront her, but I could use some backup. She may be badly wounded, but she's still an extremely dangerous woman if she chooses to be. You don't have to come with if you don't want to, though."

"There's room for five of us on the helicopter," Stephanie told Dr. Hausmann. "That's Erica Spears, the two of us, and two more. I think we should bring Bob as a co-pilot, and he's also a great navigator and mechanic. For the fifth seat, it would be best to bring Bo. I don't like leaving Jim Kerr here, but he's the one who wanted to explore this place."

"I'd be happy to come along with you to Omaha," said Bo.

"Ja," said Dr. Hausmann. "I agree, Stephanie. Jim made his bed, now he can lie in it. Thank you, Trooper. Your continued protection will be most welcome."

"Let's get out of here while we still can, then," said Bo. "I'll lead the way, just in case there's anything dangerous upstairs." He shook Joe's hand. "It was nice meeting you. Good luck keeping these people safe." Then he turned and headed through the gate and up the stairs to the warehouse. Stephanie and Dr. Hausmann went after him. Kimberly brought up the rear.

In the warehouse-
As Bo passed Robert, he handed him the key to the padlock that had been used to lock the gate. "Thanks for watching our backs, man," he said. "This key fits the padlock, in case you need to lock and later unlock the gate."

"No problem," said Robert. "Now that you're going, I don't need to stick around here though. With my rifle, I'd be best positioned on the roof. I'll see if one of the others wants to take over guarding the gate. Somebody needs to, in case any of them get past us and down here."
 
On the roof of the diner -

"It's not the army training, that's for sure." Luke says aimably to Azadeh, but the tone is grim "It is the cold heart that kills..."

"Killer instinct and determination, simple as that." he adds somewhat poundering.

"Samantha, can you ask someone what's in the trucks we've got here while you're doing the legwork?" Luke then shouts.


In the garage -

"Yeah, I'll work here as long as I can, but I'll be on the chopper." Bob says from underneath the truck "Gotta give these people the best chance I can give them before I get out of here."
 
In the reception area-
"Yay, I'll come can never be to careful with a dangerous subject."
Joe replies to Kimberly.

In the diner-
"This is not good." Ramirez says to himself as he draws a gun.
 
On the Motel Stairs:
Lewis grunted and strained as he moved the gear up the stairs, sweat poaring off his forehead and pooling into his beard.

East side of motel:
McCain huffed and puffed as he put on a burst of speed and ran toward the northeast corner of the motel.


In the underground hallway:
Jim Kerr followed Mr. Foo toward the locked door.

Outside the garage:
Alice thought for a minute and then realized that she really did not want to take these assholes to her families place as they could rob it or gang up and rape her. She followed Erica Spears to the bathroom door and asked her quietly, "Is there room enough for me on the helicopter?"
 
Garrage

"Jesus Christ, David. You were actually planing to fallow her?" Wallace asks, in disbelief. "Our Best bet is to find high ground. some of these critters are slow, some fast. from what I saw in brownson tells me that flat areas are bad news. Hell, on the tarmac, the sons-of-bitches coulda' came from all directions. No telling if their capible of climbing or not though. Not sure about chainlink, or small obsticles" Wallace lets a long sigh, and continues. "The way I see it, is if we want to make it through the day, we need to get the hell out of dodge, and head for rockey, steep terrain." Wallace ramble. "Tall order for this god-forsaken flat-land."

Balcony
Hockey lets the SAW swing, noting the barrel's heat, and ammo supply. He then withdraws his assault rifle.

Helo

Manuel feels very disturbed, knowing the position his commerades are in, but keeps vidgelant.

Cell Block

"Hey Randle" said Duke. "Would it hurt to burn the sunuva-bitch?" He asked, pointing at the corpse.
 
On the west side of the motel-
After Cole fell, the coyote ripped into him, tearing huge chunks out of his flesh and leaving him bleeding to death. Phillips stared in horror at his mangled arm as the coyote that had bitten him came back for seconds, and again he could not avoid its chomping jaws. This time it took a small bite out of his right arm. Malanowski scrambled around on the ground, managing to avoid the ghoul that was trying to eat him for now.

The tall grass to the west waved in the wind, but no new threats came out of it yet.

On the motel stairs-
Lt. Malone turned and looked down the stairs, pointing the barrel of her MP-5 at the creatures at the bottom. When she squeezed the trigger, nothing happened. She let out a primal growl, ejected the empty magazine, and rammed in a new one as the old one bounced down the stairs.

Lewis, Mikhalin, and Zorie Spooner managed to reach the top of the stairs.

On the motel balcony-
Lewis and the others set down the heavy gear on the balcony, gasping for breath. Captain Lereux ran over from the northwest corner to help them, with Carlos Duran right behind him. "Let's get this into the room and set up fast," said the captain. "We need to call for reinforcements ASAP!" He turned to Duran. "Airman, hold the stairs at all costs!"

"Yes, sir!" said Duran, moving to the top of the stairs.

Hockey unslung the M-16 from his back and gripped it tightly in his hands, ready for action.

On the motel's roof-
Thayer shook his head. "Oh, man," he muttered. "This is not happening. This is not happening!"

Bobby Sheen finally stirred, moaning. He recovered his rifle and stood up again.

(Sam Black will be unconscious for the rest of this round and the next one. Then he will wake up and be able to do something.)

On the east side of the motel-
Sergeant McCain reached the northeast corner of the motel. The screaming was now more distant, but he could still hear it. He peered around the corner and saw that the north side was clear.

(If McCain is going around the north side of the motel, he will see the zombies and must roll Sanity. Failure costs 1d10 Sanity, but since he recently lost 7 points for seeing zombies, any loss of more than 3 will only be 3. Thus he cannot go temporarily insane from this. He will not be able to attack the zombies this round, but next round he will be in a position where he can.)

At the helicopter-
Ortega remained at his post, unsure of what was happening to his comrades in arms but knowing that it couldn't be good. The fuel pump continued to chug away, and the second barrel was about one third drained.

In the diner-
Lt. Blanco drew her own sidearm. "Agreed," she said to Ramirez. "We'll go out through the garage, then rendezvous with Ortega at the helo." She led the way. Baldwin and Willie followed.

In the garage-
"Sorry, but I seriously doubt it," Erica Spears told Alice as she headed for the bathroom. "The chopper only has five seats. Bob, the two scientists, and I will take up four of them, and I think there were some other people with them so that fifth seat is likely taken." She went into the bathroom, locked the door, and started to relieve herself.

"We were all going to follow her," said David to Wallace, "but hey, that was before we knew what she was like. As for me still being interested, well you have to admit she is hot, and if I turned her down it might set her off again. Hell hath no fury and all that. Yeah, she'd be taking advantage of me, but I'm willing to make the sacrifice and take one for the team. You're right about needing to get to higher ground. The flat Nebraska plains do suck. I don't think these things can climb so good, but they can probably smash down fences and other obstacles. Got any place in mind for us to head?"

"Thanks for helping us out," Mitchell said to Bob. "We're sorry to see you go, but you have to look out for your people too. We'll get the truck fixed faster now due to your help."

Lt. Blanco, Javier Ramirez, Baldwin, and Willie entered the garage from the ruined interior of the diner.

On the roof of the diner-
"Yes," Azadeh said to Luke, "you're right about that." She looked down at Samantha. "I think she's got that killer instinct too. She might not know it, but she does."

On the east side of the diner-
"I'm on it!" Samantha called up to the roof. She headed back around the north side of the diner and towards the garage.

In the warehouse-
Bo led the way upstairs. Stephanie went next, the wrapped bundle containing the laptop in her left hand. In her right hand she held the bag containing two bottles of soda and some cups, but she was ready to drop it at a moment's notice and draw her pistol at any sign of danger. Dr. Hausmann was behind her, and then Joe Barring went up the stairs with Kimberly.

"We'll head up to the roof ourselves in a minute," Robert said to Beth. He shouted down the stairs. "I'm going to head up to the roof, since I've got a rifle! Can anyone down there take my place guarding the stairs?"

In the reception area-
Michael looked around and saw that he was the only one in the room who was armed. "I wanted to take a look around this place," he called back to Robert, "but I guess I can stand watch until someone comes to relieve me." He walked through the gate and upstairs.

Rosie and Sally helped Lynne into the room from the hallway and sat her down on the chair that Stephanie had vacated. Sally propped up Lynne's leg on the desk, then put down the purse on the desktop. "Keep it elevated," she said. "I've done just about all I can for you, so if you don't mind I'll go down the hall and join the others."

"Sure, whatever," said Lynne. She opened up her purse and fished out her pistols.

"You've got two guns?" asked Rosie.

"Why not? I've got two hands."

"You watch too many John Woo movies. Firing two weapons at once is a lot harder than it looks. Besides, some of us don't have any guns. The more of us who are armed, the better our chances for survival."

"Well, you stood up for me back there. I know I can count on you to watch my back." Lynne gave Rosie the .38 revolver and bullets.

"Thanks," said Rosie, "and I know you've got mine."

In the guard room-
Gary led Mr. Foo and the others quickly through the room and into the cell block. Jim Kerr went with them, and Max the mastiff tagged along as well.

In the cell block-
"Yeah, Duke," said Randall. "Burning that body's exactly what we need to do! I bet there's a jerry can up in the garage we could put some gas in, then bring it down, pour it on the corpse, and light 'er up. Wouldn't hurt to lock the door afterwards, either."

He turned his head when he saw the others enter the cell block. "Can one of you go back upstairs to the garage and fetch some gasoline?" he asked. "We've got to burn this body so no more rats can eat it and turn. We'll also need to lock this door when we're done."
 
Balcony

Hockey Turns tail, and heads for the stairwell

Cell Block

"Would it hurt to wrap the bastard in plastic first? I mean - hell. might disguise the scent. Last thing we want is the scent of burning flesh."

Garage

" I know of a place." Said Wallace. "Mountains to the south-west. About 250 miles or so. If we can get my rig running, and mount that old cowcatcher, I figure we can get their in five houers. I figure we might be able to hold up in them' mountains. Figure somethin' out."

Helicopter

The Fuel pump continued to chug, and whine.
[/b]Ortega Began to mutter a prayre
 
(Hockey does not have line of sight on Cole or the zombies from his current position, so he cannot shoot this round and can save that bullet. He would have to move to the top of the stairs in order to see them or take a shot. He can do that this round and then fire next round, and you can edit your post.

The place Wallace knows about is the one mentioned in his secrets, so there is no need to roll to see if he knows. It is located just where he said it was in your last post.)

In the garage-
"Sounds good to me, Wallace," said David.

"It's a lot closer than Idaho, too," said Mitchell. "If we leave around 1:00 or 1:30 we should make it there by nightfall. Do you know of any buildings or shelter in the area?"

In the cell block-
Randall nodded. "Good idea, Duke," he said. "I bet there's some plastic sheets or a tarp or something in the garage too. Whoever gets the gas can pick that up as well."
 
Garage

"Yeah, Mitch. Its the Redcrow family ranch." Said Wallace. "The way I see it, I need my rig. I'm sure as shit ain't sticking arround here."
 
On the motel balcony/ in the Communications room:
Lewis drug the equipment into the new communication room and began to set up the communications gear, trying to avoid hearing the shouts of fear outside the room and below where the soliders were dying.

North side of the motel:
Rifle at the ready, McCain went around to the north of the motel. He saw what was going on but he kept his grip and did not lose any sanity. He leveled his rifle at the nearest beast and prepared to fire.

Inside the garage:
Alice sighed and then pausing to flick off the group around the truck started toward the ruined diner intending to go below and explore the chambers within.

In the cell block:
Jim Kerr paused to call Max to follow him and then entered the cell block after the group.
 
On the west side of the motel-
Sergeant McCain moved around the northwest corner of the motel and moved a little to the west so he could see what was going on at the base of the southwest stairway. When he did see, he wished he hadn't. He was just in time to see Cole expire as a horribly wounded coyote feasted on his corpse. An undamaged coyote with bloodshot eyes lunged at Phillips, narrowly missing. The undead man with its intestines leaking out and unraveling behind it continued chasing Malanowski, leaping on top of him and almost sinking its teeth into him. Only his reflexes saved him from the bite, and once more he was able to break free of the creature. There was no sign of movement from the field of grass.

(McCain may fire at the zombie coyote, at a -15% penalty. He is too far to use the shotgun, so he'll need to fire his rifle. Only the zombie coyote that killed Cole remains, and it has 10 HP. If he takes time to aim for the head there will be an additional -5% penalty, though there is no need since 10 damage will kill it regardless.)

On the motel balcony-
Captain Lereux and Zorie Spooner helped Lewis and Mikhalin bring the enormous communications apparatus into the motel room nearest the top of the stairs as Hockey took up his post beside Duran. Duran took a single shot at the zombie below, taking care not to hit Malanowski or Lt. Malone. His shot was directly on target, blowing a massive hole in its chest and downing it for good.

(Hockey can fire at the coyote that killed Cole as well. The same rules that apply to McCain apply to him too.)

On the motel stairs-
Lt. Malone was not as careful as Duran. Gritting her teeth, she fired on the coyote attacking Phillips on full auto. She hit with only six rounds, but it was just enough to end its existence. However, her recklessness cost Phillips dearly. He nearly dived out of the line of fire, but his armor and his wounds slowed him down a bit too much. He caught just a single bullet, which punched a hole through his thigh. The tough medic held onto consciousness, but he had still lost his grip on his mind.

In the upstairs comm room-
Captain Lereux and the others set the gear down, and then he locked and chained the door shut behind them. "Let's get this gear working fast," he said.

"I can help out," said Zorie, "at least until it's safe to see to the wounded."

"It should take four of us fifteen minutes to get it running," said Alexandria Mikhalin. "Lewis and I are a little familiar with it and we know how to reassemble all the components, so we can bring you up to speed."

On the motel's roof-
"Sarge?" asked Bobby Sheen, glancing at Black's prone form. He saw that the man was still breathing and apparently uninjured, so he turned his attention below. He heard the gunfire, but he could not see what was going on beneath the balcony. He looked into the field, but saw nothing.

Thayer didn't notice anything either. "Shee-it," he muttered. "What do we do now?"

(Sam Black has one more round of temporary insanity. He will wake up after this round.)

At the helicopter-
Ortega remained at his post. He could still hear the distant gunfire and screams.

In the garage-
"Sounds like a plan then," said Mitchell. "With four of us working we'd be done by 1:10 or so, but even without Bob we should still finish by 1:30."

Lt. Blanco led Javier Ramirez outside through the open door, followed by Baldwin and Willie.

Erica Spears finished relieving herself in the small bathroom, then flushed and began to wash her hands in the greasy sink.

Outside the garage-
Samantha arrived at the garage door just as the others emerged. "Hey," she said to Baldwin. "Luke wants to know what's in the trucks."

"Mine's got groceries," he answered, "David's has lumber and construction supplies, and Wallace's tanker has diesel fuel. That's the one they're fixing."

Lt. Blanco waved to Ortega and started towards him.

On the roof of the diner-
Azadeh faced east, her rifle at the ready as she awaited the distant horde.

In the diner-
"I feel so awful about leaving Jim behind," said Stephanie as she climbed the stairs.

"You are too kind, Stephanie," said Dr. Hausmann. "There is only limited room, and this is for the best, really."

The two of them emerged from the hole in the floor behind Bo and into the wrecked liquor closet. Joe and Kimberly brought up the rear. Alice reached the top of the stairs as they climbed out.

In the warehouse-
Robert handed Michael the key to the gate's padlock. "Take care," he said. Then he took Beth's hand and led her upstairs while Michael took up his post.

In the reception area-
After Sally went off down the hall, Lynne frowned and looked at her broken calf. "What are we going to do with me?" she asked.

Rosie patted her on the shoulder. "Hang in there, kid," she said. "We'll get through this somehow."

"Maybe find something to use for crutches," suggested Mrs. Foo.

Kerry nodded. "There's got to be something around here we could use," she said.

In the cell block-
Randall turned when he saw Jim Kerr enter with Max tagging along. "Oh, good," he said. "You've got the keys to the cells. We can use them to lock this one after we burn the body. While you're waiting you can start checking out the other cells if you want."

"I'll go back and get the stuff you need," said Jenny, "or at least tell someone else to go get it." She headed back into the guard room.

Ellen and Mr. Foo followed Gary into the prison shower area.

In the guard room-
Jenny met up with Sally, who had just come in from the hall. "Oh, hi!" said Jenny. "I was just on my way to get some gasoline and a tarp from the garage. We need to burn that body in the cell so no more rats can eat it."

"I'll go get them," replied Sally. "We don't know what's going on upstairs, and it could be dangerous. Since you're not armed, you should stick with the others."
 
Northwest corner of motel, ground level:
McCain pointed his M-4 at the zombie coyate. Squeezing the trigger he muttered, "Yippie Ki Yay," He saw the bullet hit the beast and he saw it rip through the chest area. The beast howled as the bullet went all the way through its body. It dropped to the ground dead this time for good!


In the upstairs communication room:
Lewis gave a few brief orders on how to set up the equipment and then went about setting it up.

In the diner, top of the stairs to the underground:
Alice waited for the stairs to clear and then went down them toward the warehouse.


In the cell block:
Jim went into the cell where the body was and began to search the cell for anything of interest. However he did not find anything in the cell. " I don't see anything here. But there could be something here that I am not seeing. Do you want to take a look?
 
Hotel

Hockey takes carefull aim at the wounded cyote's head, and squeezed the trigger Hitting the critter in the head with a .223 slug, Dropping it. "Cole!" Shouted Hockey

Helo

Ortega Remained at his post, though he quickly checks his weapon over; Hearing the radio chatter; he knew that danger was close.

Garage

"She-It. I need one of them' 1911's." Said Wallace, Shifting his hand through his pocket, through the loose .357 ammunition. The .45 ammunition was more so abundant than his own; he knew that he could put the pistol to better use than a wide majority of his peers.

Cell Block

Duke goes back to his duties, and begins to whistle a cheerfull, nameless tune.
 
On the west side of the motel-
McCain's shot took down the coyote that had been eating Cole's body before Hockey had a chance to fire. Phillips lay bleeding on the ground near the bottom of the stairs, sobbing. "God, it burns!" he cried. "Jesus, take me now!" Malanowski curled up into a ball and wept.

Then another coyote rushed out of the grass near the southwest stairs, heading right for the two of them and closing to about ten yards away before anyone could react.

On the motel balcony-
Duran spun to the west and raised his rifle, squeezing off a burst that hit with only one round. It blew one of the thing's hind legs off, but still it kept coming.

On the roof of the motel-
Bobby Sheen was looking to the west when he saw the coyote emerge from the grass. He quickly took aim and fired, hitting it in the other hind leg and nearly crippling it. Thayer fired a burst and this time his shots were accurate. It took two bullets, one of which blew a big hole in its head and downed it. "Yeah!" he exulted. "Got 'im!"

Sam Black finally woke up just as the sounds of gunfire died down.

On the motel stairs-
Lt. Malone turned around looking for targets, her eyes darting from side to side and her breath heavy, but the last coyote had just gone down. An eerie silence descended upon the battlefield.

In the upstairs comm room-
"Here, sir," said Alexandria Mikhalin to Captain Lereux, guiding him as they started to reassemble the gear while Nathaniel Lewis helped Zorie Spooner.

Captain Lereux spoke into his radio: "What's the situation outside?" he asked.

"Sir," came Duran's reply, "all hostiles have been terminated. Cole's down, and I think he's dead. Phillips is severely wounded, but he's still conscious. Malanowski doesn't look hurt, but both he and Phillips have lost it."

"Thank you, Airman. Sergeant McCain, make sure the area is secure and that any wounded are seen to. Be careful, though. They're almost certainly infected. Once the rope ladder is up on the balcony we'll need that last staircase barricaded. Lieutenant Malone, I need you in the comm room to take Zorie Spooner's place."

At the helicopter-
Lt. Angela Blanco and Javier Ramirez reached the chopper. "Airman," said Blanco, nodding to Ortega. Then she got on the radio. "Sir, Blanco here. Ramirez and I have reached the helicopter."

"Good," responded Lereux. "We've defeated the enemy, but it looks like we lost Cole. Phillips is badly wounded and Malanowski could be infected. I'll need you back here on the double to examine them. Also, that helicopter is grounded until further notice. Make sure the civilians do not approach it."

"Sir?"

"You heard me, Lieutenant. That aircraft is a vital asset to our defense, especially now that we've taken more casualties."

"Sir, I don't know if we can legally commandeer the helicopter. It's Nebraska State Police property."

"We have the legal authority. Our mission to supply intelligence to Warren is vital to national security, and that takes priority."

Outside the garage-
"Okay, thanks," said Samantha as she entered the garage. "The eastern edge of the roof can support four of us, and there are two there already. I recommend those with scoped rifles go there to maximize our effective range. We've got about a hundred more coming from the east due to arrive in about 25 minutes."

Willie nodded. "I'll head back there," he said, walking around the north side of the diner. Baldwin climbed up the ladder to the roof of the garage.

In the diner-
Bo led Stephanie and Dr. Hausmann to the garage while Kimberly and Joe Barring headed in the opposite direction, to the back door. "Good luck!" called Bo.

"Same to you!" said Kimberly.

As Alice headed downstairs, she passed Robert and Beth on their way up. Alice reached the landing at the halfway point and then continued on her way down.

In the garage-
"I don't think there are any .45s left in the crates," Samantha told Wallace when she came in. "Sorry. Is the helicopter pilot around?"

"She's in the can," said Mitchell.

Erica Spears dried her hands and emerged from the cramped bathroom. When she did, Samantha approached her. "Hello," she said. "My name's Samantha. Luke wanted me to give you this Grease gun and these magazines."

"Thanks," replied Erica taking the weapon and ammo. "I'm Erica Spears, Nebraska State Police. I won't be staying long, I'm afraid. I know this is Luke's rifle I've got, and he wants it back, but I need to have a rifle to protect my passengers."

"Why don't we switch? I'm not going anywhere without the others, and I can put that rifle to good use here."

"Sounds like a good idea. I'd rather have a scope, but that M-16 will do just fine." The two women traded rifles. "Speaking of my passengers, has anyone seen them?"

Bo walked into the garage, followed by the two scientists. "We're right here," he said. "Trooper Bo Richards, at your service. You must be Erica Spears. I'm sorry I wasn't able to meet you in Brownson personally, but I had a .357 slug in my chest." He pointed to a spot near the garage door. "I was standing right there when Hammond shot me, as a matter of fact. Good thing I was wearing my vest."

"Ouch. I'm glad to see you came through okay." She looked around the big State Trooper at the women. "And you are?"

"Doctor Brigetta Hausmann," replied the doctor. "Danke, Trooper. It is good that you made it. I was getting worried that we wouldn't get off the ground. We must get to Omaha with all haste."

"Hi," said Stephanie, stepping forward and standing next to Bo. "I'm Stephanie Bridges, the doctor's assistant. I'd shake your hand if my hands weren't full."

Erica looked her up and down. "You are an exceedingly beautiful woman."

"Thank you. So are you."

"Pleased to meet you all. We'll be lifting off in five minutes. We have room for five. Bob will sit up front in the co-pilot's seat and the three of you can sit in the back. It'll be a tight squeeze, though."

"Oh, I won't mind." Stephanie smiled at Bo.

David whistled as he eyed her. "Lookin' good, Stephanie," he said.

She rolled her eyes again, her cheeks turning red. "Uh...hey Bob, you ready to go?"

On the east side of the diner-
Kimberly and Joe Barring walked out of the back door and then went a short distance to the east so they could get a good look at the edge of the rooftop. Azadeh and Luke were above them, peering to the east.

"Azadeh Samimi?" asked Kimberly.

On the roof of the diner-
"Yes?" asked Azadeh, looking down.

"Can you come down here for a minute?" Kimberly said. "We'd like to talk to you."

"What is this about?" Azadeh wasn't sure herself, and couldn't tell from Kimberly's tone of voice.

In the warehouse-
Michael stood by the top of the stairs, watching and waiting.

In the guard room-
Sally returned down the hallway to the reception area, and Jenny went back to the cell block.

In the reception area-
"I not sure what we could use," said Mrs. Foo, scratching her wrinkled head.

"Hmm," said Rosie. "I bet there's something in one of those crates up in the warehouse. If not, I'm sure we could fashion something from long pieces of wood from David's truck."

Sally entered the room and caught the last part of the conversation. "Maybe I can find something on my way back," she said. "I'm heading up there anyway to get a tarp to wrap the body in and gasoline to burn it so the rats don't-" Kerry looked down at her feet. "Is something wrong?"

"That was my friend Debbie in there," said Kerry.

"Oh, gosh, I'm sorry."

"It's okay. That thing isn't Debbie any more. Burn it. Burn it good."

In the cell block-
"Thanks," said Randall, "but Duke and I already searched this one. The only thing we found besides the corpse is that little hole the rats came through. We looked inside the first two cells on the left side of the hall and the first one on the right by using those sliding panels in the doors, but they looked empty to me. Still, we could have missed something since we couldn't actually get inside. There are also eight other cells we haven't checked yet. If you open any cells, you should lock them afterwards."

Jim Kerr could see the numbers 1 through 12 etched into each of the keys on his ring. The cell doors were also stenciled with the numbers 1 to 12. The left side of the hall had odd numbered doors, and the right side had even numbered ones. The open cell with the corpse was cell 4. The other cells Randall had indicated had already been checked were numbered 1, 2, and 3.

Jenny Cooper returned and walked through the cell block towards the door at the far end.

In the prison showers-
"It's not far now," said Gary. He led Ellen and Mr. Foo through the shower room and out the other side.

In the prisoners' common area-
"There it is," said Gary as he and the others entered the common area. He pointed at the sturdy metal door at the very back of the room. Above the door was a sign that read: "Lab Entrance. No Unauthorized Entry Beyond This Point."

"I see," said Mr. Foo, smirking. "Apparently unauthorized entry up to this point is okay."
 
In the garage -

"Yeah, sure, here I am." Bob says as he re-appears from under the truck.

"Good luck guys and godspeed." he says as he nods at the people staying behind.


On the crumbling roof -

Luke wonders what Kimberly's calling Azadeh down is all was about, and doesn't realise how serious the situation is.

"Look, she's hurt pretty bad. If she slips on the way down, she can die." Luke says "So, if you want to talk, either to it from down there or come up here, but she aint going anywhere..."
 
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