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

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On the southwest corner of the hotel, balcony level:McCain nodded at Ramierz then stepped around him to the railing edge. Getting on his radio he said, "Thanks for the update, please keep me informed so that we can have a good defense." He then shielded his eyes from the sun and stared into the grass to see if he could spot anything hiding in it. but all he saw was waving grass. "Everyone keep a sharp lookout we do not want to be surprised again as we cannot lose anymore men!"

In the upstairs commmunication room:
Lewis stood and stretched his aching back then went over to the computers and began to fiddle with them to see if he could get a signel yet. However he could not find anything strong enough so he got back on the ground to fiddle with the wires more.

In the lower hatch chamber:
Alice got off the lift along with Jim Keer and walked over to the wall to see if she reconized any of the writing on the wall. "Huh, this kind of looks like ancient Latin from the time of Emperor Nerva of the Ancient Romens. But I cannot read it. Give me sometime and I may be able to however." Jim meanwhile walked slightly away and listened to see if he could hear anything. However all he heard was slience. He peered around to room to see if he could find anything of importance. "Hey Mr. Foo I may have found something over here!"
 
On the west side of the motel-
Duran and Thayer kept blockading the stairs as Ortega climbed up the rope ladder and onto the balcony.

In the medic's room-
"We can't give up!" said Zorie Spooner. "We've got to get his leg fixed up, at least."

"Don't bother," said Phillips. "I'm a goner."

"Not yet you're not," said Lt. Blanco, trying again and having more success this time, though there was little she could do. Zorie's help sped things up. "Another few minutes and you'll be able to walk again, or at least hobble."

On the motel balcony-
Ortega took up his position outside the comm room as ordered. On the other end of the balcony, Hockey kept watching the grass, but he saw no movement whatsoever.

In the comm room-
"You won't be able to get any signal yet," Mikhalin told Lewis. "We're not finished hooking up the gear to the satellite dish, and even if we were it's still powered down. It's best to keep the juice off until we're done connecting all the wires."

"Yes, Mr. Ramirez," said Lt. Malone as she worked on installing the equipment. "Anything you observed when you were over at the diner would be helpful to know. How many civilians are present? What are they armed with, and what is their supply situation? How structurally sound and defensible is the building? Also, Dr. Blanco said earlier that you and she were in some kind of underground facility. We need to know everything you learned about that place: its layout, any entrances or exits, what its purpose is, what it contains, and any hazards that are within it."

On the motel's roof-
While Bobby Sheen monitored the coyotes at the overturned bus on the highway to the west, Sam Black looked east through his scope. At the very edge of his vision, he observed what looked like a signal flare being fired in the distance. It had come from the vicinity of Sidney.

On the roof of the garage-
Baldwin blinked as the midday sun made it difficult for him to see and caused beads of sweat to form on his forehead and drip into his eyes. Taking out a handkerchief, he wiped them clean and then looked again to the north. This time he saw something weaving in between the piles of junk in the junkyard, approaching the garage from the north at high speed. He raised his rifle and took aim as it emerged, and he could now clearly see that it was one of the walking dead - or, rather, the running dead.

Baldwin's jaw dropped in shock, and his mind broke. This can't be real! he thought, freezing. He did not know what to do.

Outside the garage-
Wallace stood outside the garage door, which was once again open.

(Wallace, roll Listen.)

In the garage-
The mechanics continued working on the truck, oblivious to the danger outside.

On the roof of the diner-
Luke swept his gaze across the grass to the east, but he saw nothing moving except the hundred or so zombies slowly coming his way, now just over a mile off. Then a flash of orange caught his eye, and he focused on it before it disappeared. It was a signal flare, and it had been fired from somewhere in Sidney. He could also see the helicopter, only the smallest of specks, as it flew over the city and vanished from sight.

(Luke, roll Idea.)

Samantha and Willie also watched the horde get closer, waiting for it to get into range. Samantha spotted the flare too as she peered through the scope of Luke's sniper rifle, but Willie failed to notice it. Azadeh was still watching the snipers on the roof of the motel to the west.

On the east side of the diner-
Kimberly nodded. "Okay, let's go," she said. She led Joe back inside, stepping over the splintered back door.

In the diner-
Kimberly and Joe met Gary as he came up the stairs from below. "Hey," said Gary, still unrolling the lines on his way to the kitchen. "Can you two bring down some more of that ammo in the crates outside? Lynne mentioned that she could use more for her .45, and Sally might want more too."

"Okay," said Kimberly. She turned to Joe. "Really, only one of us needs to go back for the ammo while the other heads on down. Do you want to get it or should I?"

In the helicopter-
"Yeah, that's a great idea, Bob!" said Stephanie.

"All right," said Erica. "I don't really trust those Air Force people, and there's not much they can do for anyone in Sidney in the immediate future anyway, but I'll let them know." She got on the radio. "This is Trooper Erica Spears," she said. "If you can hear me, there is at least one survivor in Sidney, on the roof of Cabela's. He just fired a signal flare to get our attention as we flew overhead. Over."

Erica kept the chopper on its eastward course and quickly left Sidney behind, flying over the eastern edge of the ruined city. More ghouls were heading away in that direction too.

"I'm so glad we're not trying to drive through that," said Dr. Hausmann.

"Same here," said Bo. "Even my driving skills wouldn't be adequate."

"I think that makes all of us," said Erica. She took a moment to plug in the laptop's power cord so that it would retain its charge. "Say, how about I put some music on? It's going to be a long flight." She took out a CD and put it in the player, and soon the strains of "Don't Fear the Reaper" filled the cabin.

In the warehouse-
Michael paced back and forth again, his gun ready and his eyes and ears peeled for trouble.

In the reception area-
"Take care of yourselves," said Sally. "I'd better get back and burn that body before the others wonder what's keeping me or any more rats show up." She walked out the hallway at the back of the room, heading for the prison area.

In the guard room-
Sally hurried back through the hallway and into the guard room.

In the cell block-
Duke heard nothing, and neither did Randall. The first sign of danger they noticed was the rat skittering out of the hole in the wall and rushing towards them, its eyes bright red and its teeth bloody.

Randall jumped back in alarm, but recovered fast and raised his rifle.

(Duke, roll Sanity. If you fail, lose 1d6 Sanity points. Unless you go temporarily insane, you may fire once at the rat before it can attack. Remember that there's a -20% penalty for shooting at it.)

In the upper hatch chamber-
Ellen stood next to the open hatchway, her shotgun gripped in both hands, alert to her surroundings.

In the lower hatch chamber-
Alice could see that the strange writing did not in fact resemble Latin - or any language she had ever heard of. The symbols were bizarre and don't match any known alphabet. Jim did, however, find some writing in more or less plain English.

One message on the side was marked simply: "CROATOAN"

(Alice and Jim, roll History. Jim doesn't have points in the skill, so he rolls against the base of 20%.)

Another message said: "Fuckers ffuckers fuker fukkers fucers"

A third message said: "The apple has a worm"

A fourth message: "Inside it knows."

Mr. Foo came over to look at the writing. "Curiouser and curiouser," he said.

Jenny walked up to the sign and read it aloud for everyone:
"Project Manager- Alan Kirby
Assistant Project Manager- Samuel Niedler
Head of Geological Research- Patrick Craig
Head of Biological Research- David Muth
Assistant Geological- Judith Reagan
Assistant Biological- Gerald Starsia
Chief Engineer- Thomas Bateman
Assistant Engineer- Robert Cross
Steward- Randy Smith"

She peered down the corridor beside the sign. "There's another big room at the end of this short hall," she said. "I think we've found everything of interest in here. Shall we keep going?"
 
In the comm room-
Lt. Malone (and everyone else at the motel) heard Erica's message over the radio.

On the motel's roof-
(Sam Black, roll Spot Hidden, again with the -5% penalty, to see if you detect the zombie as it rounds the northwest corner of the garage. If you do see it, roll Sanity. If you fail, roll 1d10 for Sanity lost but treat any loss of 3 or more as a loss of only 2. You may also fire one shot if you see it, but there is no time to aim for the head before it can attack Wallace, so you'd need to roll a random hit location on 1d20.)

On the roof of the diner-
It occurred to Luke that the timing of the helicopter flying over Sidney and the flare being fired was almost certainly not a coincidence. Whoever set off the flare seems to have been trying to attract the chopper's attention.
 
on the southwest corner of the hotel, balcony level:
McCain looked around to see that his men were all in place. He then stared once more out at the sea of grass to determine if it was simply wind moving the grass or was there creatures in the grass. Although his eyes could make out about a half a mile he saw nothing in the grass to concern him. "Keep a sharp lookout men," he said.

In the upstairs communication room:
Lewis smiled bashfully then he said, "I am sorry that I tried to jump a few steps." He then begin helping to connect the gear to the satilite dish once more.

In the lower hatch chamber:
Alice saw that the writing was indeed not Latin or anything she had ever seen. "aww shucks" she said. Hearing what Jim had found she went over to the writing and looked down at the word. Her mind, along with Jim's, went back as they both tried to figure out what the word could possibly mean. However surprising it may have been Alice could not remember where she had seen this word before. However Jim did remember having paid a bit of attention to High School US History.
"Croatoan if I remember correctly comes from the first english colony settled in the New World. It was the colony of Roanoke and the British failed to come back for a few years to give it supplies thanks to the Spanish Armada or something I think. When they got back to the island they found no one there and the only thing was the word Croatoan carved in a nearby tree. Were people left down here to die by the millitary do you think?" Alice nodded angry at not remembering but then again she had studied ancient history not US so it made sense she could not remember. Jim and Alice then agreed that in order for this mystery to be solved the group needed to go on.
 
In the helicopter -

Bob continues to study the maps and tries to memorise the landmarks.

On the diner's roof -

Luke lets out a sharp whistle to draw attention from the other civilians.

"Someone shot a flare in town as the chopper flew past." Luke announces with a loud voice "So there is at least one survivor out there."

He doesn't say anything else, fully realising the implications. There's a good chance they'd be unable to get to any of the survivors. The town probably still scrawled with zombies...
 
On the Motel Roof-

Black looks out not seeing anything.

In the comm room-


Rameriz begins telling Malone what she wanted to know. "Well for starters they have what seems to be some stolen goods such as laptops, and a mix of weapons. I'm not sure of their numbers but they have a few handy
with weapons including a state trooper. The building took a hell of a beating in the blast so i'm not sure how stable it is."

In the diner-

"It's okay I'll grab the ammo." Joe tells Kimberly he heads back
outside to grab the ammo.
 
On the west side of the motel-
Duran and Thayer were still barricading the stairway. "Just a few more minutes and we'll be done," said Duran.

"I hope we have that long," said Thayer.

In the medic's room-
Malanowski stood guard uneasily while the doctors worked on Phillips.

"My brain feels like it's on fire," moaned the medic.

On the motel balcony-
Hockey kept his SAW trained on the field, but still could not see any movement. Ortega also kept an eye out, but he didn't detect anything either.

In the comm room-
"Don't sweat it," Mikhalin told Lewis. "Another three minutes or so and we'll be done."

Lt. Malone nodded to Ramirez. "It would be nice to have an exact count," she said, "but even an estimate would help. Maybe Dr. Blanco recalls some details too. I'll have to ask her when she's done downstairs. There was also a report from that helicopter as it flew over Sidney. They spotted a man firing a signal flare from the roof of Cabela's. Too bad we can't get there; they're sure to have plenty of ammo and other supplies, but at the moment we don't have a man to spare. Perhaps the civilians could attempt to mount a rescue later, once things settle down in Sidney."

"If we still had the chopper," said Captain Lereux, "we could have gotten there." He glared at her. "We've got you to thank for losing it."

"Just help us get communications up and keep your mouth shut...sir."

"If I might make a suggestion: shouldn't we salvage Cole's equipment? We've got a perfectly good M-4/203 lying on the ground, not to mention his body armor. Ramirez here is a pretty good shot, so why not put him to work aiding in our defense?"

"That makes sense, but I don't know about giving him the grenade launcher. Lewis used one earlier, though. Maybe he ought to have Cole's rifle, and then Ramirez can use yours." She looked at Ramirez. "If you can't think of anything else to add, you can go downstairs and collect Cole's equipment. The four of us can finish this up."

Outside the garage-
Wallace stood in front of the open garage door, facing west. He failed to hear the zombie as it ran around the northwest corner and came straight for him until it was too late. He did not panic, but was still taken by surprise. It lunged forward and tried to grab him, but missed badly. Its jaws snapped wildly at him.

"No!" he cried.

(Wallace may take one action before the zombie gets to attack him again. He is currently holding his rifle in his hands. If he wants to attack before the zombie attacks him again, he may not aim for the head and must roll 1d20 for a random hit location. If he does attack, he does not get to Dodge or Parry. If he does anything else, he may attempt to Dodge both attacks and may try to Parry the zombie's bite.)

On the motel's roof-
Bobby Sheen kept watching the coyotes on the highway. So far they had made no move away from the wrecked bus.

Sam Black was startled to hear Wallace cry out, and for the first time noticed the ghoul that had just attacked him.

(Sam Black, roll Sanity. Any loss of more than 2 Sanity points counts as 2. You may fire, but you cannot aim at the head if you're going to shoot at it before it attacks Wallace again and would have to use the 1d20 random hit location table.)

On the roof of the garage-
"No!" shouted Baldwin, frozen in shock.

In the garage-
"What's going on out there?" called Jimmy as he worked on the truck. He made sure his shotgun was ready, and the other two mechanics also checked their weapons.

On the roof of the diner-
Everyone on the roof froze when Wallace shouted, but it was impossible to see what was going on outside the garage from the eastern side of the roof.

On the east side of the diner-
Joe Barring had just reached the weapon crates where the extra ammo was stored when he heard Wallace on the opposite side of the building.

In the diner-
Kimberly started heading downstairs, while Gary went into the kitchen and the walk-in fridge.

Gary had no difficulty connecting the power line. Once again the juice was flowing to the fridge and freezer. "Well, that was cutting it close," he said to himself. "Now to hook the fuel line up in the garage."

In the helicopter-
Erica flew eastward over farmland. There were just as many of the undead heading east out of Sidney as there were going west. A short distance ahead, a few deserted-looking streets and buildings became visible on their left. "We're coming up on Sunol," she said. "It's a small town on Route 30 about ten miles east of where we started." She frowned. "Looks pretty well trashed, too. Not as bad as Brownson, but it's a lot smaller and it hasn't been bombed."

Stephanie stayed busy on the computer. The music coming from the chopper's speakers helped her to relax, as did the presence of Bo next to her. She snuggled up against him in the tight confines of the cabin.

In the warehouse-
Michael remained on guard duty at the top of the stairs.

In the reception area-
"It's awfully quiet," said Kerry. "Maybe too quiet. Why do I get the feeling there's something wrong?"

"Probably because there is," muttered Lynne.

In the cell block-
Duke calmly brought up his M-14 and snapped off a shot, but it went wide. Randall also fired his M-16, and the bullet passed right over the rat's head as it rushed at him. It bit his left ankle, its powerful jaws piercing both his shoe and his flesh.

Randall howled in agony as a burning sensation flowed up his leg and throughout his entire body. While he knew what was happening to him, he did not give in to despair.

(Duke may fire at the rat again, this time at point blank range. Remember that there is a -20% penalty to hit applied after your skill is doubled, and to use 1d20 for a random hit location.)

In the guard room-
"Oh, God, no!" screamed Sally, racing through the guard room when she saw the rat bite Randall. She put down the tarp and the jerry can, whipped out her .45 automatic, and ran into the cell block. She steadily raised her gun in both hands.

In the upper hatch chamber-
Ellen heard the gunshots and screaming from down the hall. "What happened?!" she shouted, clutching her shotgun.

In the lower hatch chamber-
Mr. Foo cocked an ear as he heard something in the distance from above. "Those sounded like gunshots," he said. "Probably shooting more rats. I don't think there's anything we can do about it from all the way down here, so let's keep going." He nodded to Jim. "From what was written in the journal, it very much sounds like the military left people sealed down here to die. It looks like they went crazy before they did, too. Still, there are those tunnels, so maybe some of them escaped. I don't think they sealed the hatch lightly, though. Whatever is down here, they wanted to make very sure it didn't get out to the surface."

"We're only going to find out what it is by going onwards," said Jenny. She followed the others down the hall, Max at her heels.

In the meeting room-
The explorers emerged from the short corridor into a large conference room of some sort. An oval wooden table surrounded by chairs dominated the center of the room, and there were two exits aside from the way they had come in: an alcove on the left side of the room, and a doorway at the far end. The table was badly scratched, and the chairs had all been ripped up and knocked over.

Max sniffed the air, his attention attracted by something in the alcove. Jenny followed him cautiously, poking the barrel of the M1 Garand around the corner. "There's a small kitchen and pantry back here," she said. "Careful of the broken glass."

Mr. Foo entered close behind her. A number of glass jars had been smashed on the floor, and there was broken glass all over the place, but it looked like a simple matter to simply avoid stepping on it. There still appeared to be a lot of food in the pantry, but none of it would be any good after all these years. On one wall was a message written in large red letters that simply said "KIRBY KNEW." Another, smaller, message said "We are going below." On the floor was a steak knife coated with a long-dried red residue.
 
In the upstairs communication room:
Lewis stared at Captain Lereux for a minute before telling him to get back to work and zip his lip. He then lowered himself under the desk to make sure that all the wires were being connected correctly.

On the Southwest corner of the motel balcony:
While contiuning to stand guard on the balcony, McCain used his brain to figure out if they were properly set up for defense from the creatures. However he figured that they were good.

In the meeting Room:
Alice and Jim Keer stood guard in the meeting room while waiting for everyone to be ready to go on. Both of them used thier ears to see if they heard anything from down the hall. Alice did not hear anything but Jim thought he did hear something and walked near the door to see if he could hear it better.
 
On the west side of the motel-
Duran and Thayer picked up the pace, working to finish the barricade before any more hostiles showed up.

In the medic's room-
"Let me give you some more painkillers," said Dr. Blanco, injecting Phillips with a hypodermic. "Not too much, though."

"I wish you would," moaned the medic between clenched teeth. "At least it would be over."

The doctor shook her head. "No, that would just turn you sooner. If Stephanie is right, that's what happens to anyone who dies, for any reason."

On the motel balcony-
Ortega kept peering out into the field to the west. "We're clear at least half a mike out," he said. "Beyond that, I don't know."

"Confirmed," said Hockey from the other end of the balcony.

In the comm room-
"I never stopped working," said Captain Lereux as he helped with the final stages of the installation.

Ramirez stepped out onto the balcony and climbed down the ladder to retrieve Cole's equipment.

On the motel's roof-
"Bogey outside the garage!" reported Sergeant Black over the radio. He coolly took aim with his Barrett and shot the creature that was attacking Wallace. The .50 round blew through the thing's gut and into the pavement, penetrating several inches. Yet the ghoul was still on its feet and did not even appear to notice its innards leaking out.

Bobby Sheen maintained his vigil on the coyotes at the overturned bus. "You get him, Sarge?" he asked. "So far these doggies are staying put. Looks like they found something to munch on in there."

"I hit him in the belly," said Black, "but the sucker just wouldn't go down, even with the Barrett! You really do need to shoot them in the head."

(Black, you may fire again with a random hit location, but any hit causing 20 or more damage will finish it.)

Outside the garage-
"Help!" cried Wallace as the thing that tried to eat him got shot clean through. In desperation he brought up the barrel of his Ruger Mini 14 and fired from the hip. At this range he couldn't miss, and his shot was especially effective. He also blew a big hole in its abdomen, but it was still not enough.

Even though the creature could not possibly digest Wallace's flesh, it continued trying to eat him and nearly succeeded in sinking its teeth into his flesh. It was only by the slimmest of margins that he avoided the deadly bite.

(Wallace may act again.)

On the roof of the garage-
"Help!" shouted Baldwin, though for some reason he just stood there with his rifle dangling at his side.

In the diner-
Gary returned to the hallway and then dragged the end of the fuel line to the garage.

In the garage-
Mitchell and Jimmy stopped working and raced to the garage door with their shotguns. David was close behind with his pistol drawn.

Gary entered and saw the commotion. "What's happening?" he asked, readying his own shotgun.

On the east side of the diner-
Joe Barring left the ammo crate and ran around the north side of the diner towards the sounds of battle.

On the roof of the diner-
"Should we do something?" asked Willie.

"I think the others have it covered," said Azadeh. "Besides, that mob is getting too close for comfort." She looked off to the east.

"Good point," said Samantha. "They're less than a mile away and closing. In a couple of minutes they'll be close enough that we'll have a halfway decent chance of hitting them. If we open fire then we'll use more ammo, but if we don't then we'll never be able to kill them all before they get here. Even if we do, we still might not get all of them."

In the helicopter-
The chopper zoomed by Sunol in an instant, and then it was gone. The town was nothing more than a blip on the map.

Stephanie typed rapidly, her fingers moving too fast for Bo to follow. He reached out and put his arm around her. She nestled in, flashing him a quick smile.

In the warehouse-
Michael spun around at the sound of gunfire from below. "What was that?" he called. Then he whirled back when he heard footsteps approach from above, but he relaxed when he saw who it was.

Kimberly ran into the warehouse, her SPAS-12 in her hands. "I heard it too!" she said, running for the gate. "Stay tight, I'm on my way!"

In the reception area-
"I'm going to go check that out," said Rosie, drawing her .38 and running into the hall leading to the guard room.

"Be careful!" called Lynne, wishing she could go with her. I don't know what I'd do without her, she thought.

In the cell block-
Sally held her .45 in both hands and squeezed off a shot at the rat. Her aim was deadly accurate, blasting its guts out. The creature collapsed. "Oh, God!" she said. "Randall, your ankle!" She put her gun away and grabbed her first aid kit.

Randall leaned against the wall and slid down it. "Ohhhh, shiiiit..." he moaned. He grabbed the first aid kit and hastily tried to clean and bandage his wound, but his hands were too shaky.

"Aw, man," said Duke. "I'll help." He wasn't having any luck either. "Maybe we'd better leave this to the professional." He looked up at Sally.

"I don't know if there is anything she can do to help. I mean, the bite's fatal, right?"

"Well, not in Kimberly's case," said Sally as she knelt down.

In the upper hatch chamber-
Ellen listened nervously to the commotion coming from down the hall.

In the meeting room-
Max sniffed the air and pointed a paw at the broken glass. "Woof!" he barked.

"What is it, boy?" asked Jenny. "Did you find something?" She peered at the glass shards littering the floor. "Just looks like ordinary glass to me."

"I'm not so sure," said Mr. Foo, taking a closer look. "Ah, some of this glass looks like it has blood on it. Someone must have cut themselves. That's blood on the knife, too, long since dried. Well, I think that's all that's of interest in here. Come on." They returned to the meeting room and filled in Jim and Alice about what they had discovered. In the meantime, Jim could barely hear a soft beeping sound from beyond the doorway.

"Let's go on," said Jenny. She and Mr. Foo led the way into the next room, with Max at their heels. This was a long room with a hallway at the other end leading further inside. The room contained eight small subdivisions that resembled cubicles, four on each side. The beeping was coming from the second on the right.
 
On the hotel balcony:
McCain heard the shooting from behind the T-bone and getting on his radio asked Black, "Are the civiilans trying to make a move? What is going on?" He then ran on the balcony to the other side so he could see the T-bone and get eyes on.

In the Communication Room:
Lewis continued to set up the equipment. As he did so he asked Lereux to keep quiet as he did not need to hear "a madman's ramblings"

In the underground meeting room, Level 3:
Jim and Alice walked out of the meeting room further into the hallway. Drawing his pistol Jim said to Alice, "Cover me" He then went to where the beeping sound was coming from.
 
On the west side of the motel-
Duran and Thayer continued heaping furniture on the stairway. It was almost completely blockaded at this point.

Ramirez was able to remove Cole's body armor and helmet. The helmet had a large chunk ripped off from the coyote's bite, but it would still be effective protection. He also recovered the M-4/203, the .45 and 9mm pistols, assorted ammo, three hand grenades, a Claymore, and a LAW rocket. It would be difficult to carry everything back up the ladder, but if he were to put on the armor first it would no longer be a problem.

In the medic's room-
"Unless you destroy the brain, right?" said Phillips. "If you shoot me in the head, I won't come back."

"Yes," said Lt. Blanco. "That seems to be the case."

"We'll have your leg patched up in another minute or so," said Zorie. "You should be able to walk after that, but you'll have to take it easy for the first-" She catches herself and puts a hand on her mouth. "Well, just take it easy."

Phillips removes his helmet. "That'll make it easier, when the time comes."

On the motel balcony-
Ortega remained vigilant watching the field, and it was still clear as far as he could see. Hockey was also still alert, and he could see nothing moving in the grass either. The grass did seem to be waving about three quarters of a mile back, but they could make out no details. "The grass is moving from side to side ," reported Ortega on the radio. "Can't tell what it is from this distance though. Might just be the wind. Someone with a scope ought to check it out."

McCain jogged around the south side of the motel on the balcony and soon reached the southeast corner just in time to see Sergeant Black shoot the zombie outside the garage for the second time. The powerful .50 round hit the creature in the midsection and cleaved it in half at the waist. The lower section twitched and collapsed, while the top half of its body dropped to the ground. Then, incredibly, it dragged itself towards Wallace, still intent on consuming him.

(McCain, roll Sanity. Any loss of more than 3 points counts as only 3.)

In the comm room-
Captain Lereux gave Lewis a withering look as he made the finishing touches on the installation. "You may not agree with me, Airman," he said. "You may not like me. But you should at least show me a modicum of respect. You may be able to hide behind Lt. Malone's skirts for now, but I'll be in command again before you know it."

"I've almost got it," said Alexandria Mikhalin. "I'm just having a little trouble connecting to the satellite network."

"Let me take a look at that," said Lt. Malone. She shook her head as she examined the connection. "Well, I can't figure out how to make this ancient thing start up. You'd think the CIA would have upgraded it."

"If they had, it wouldn't have been functional at all," said Lereux. He smirked at the lieutenant. "Do you need my help, Malone?"

She sighed. "Yes, sir."

"It would be my pleasure." But when Lereux tried to adjust the wiring, sparks flew from the console. "Damn!" he cried, jumping back.

(Lewis, roll Electronics.)

Outside the garage-
Joe Barring reached the northwest corner of the garage in time to see the upper half of the ghoul crawling towards Wallace. The truck driver fired again in panic, and only barely hit. The bullet shattered the thing's spine, and it lay still.

(Joe Barring, roll Sanity.)

"I'm all right, guys," said Wallace, exhaling with relief.

On the motel's roof-
Bobby Sheen kept tracking the coyotes at the overturned Greyhound bus through his scope.

Sam Black saw Wallace finish off the zombie. When he looked up, he noticed that the horde to the east had gotten closer. It was less than a mile from the diner, and within range.

(Sam Black, you may fire up to five times at the zombies to the east if you wish, and there is plenty of time to aim for the head. If you shoot at them, they are close enough for you to use your full skill except for the -5% for the headshot. There was actually no need to deduct the 5% when shooting at the garage zombie since you weren't aiming at the head, but in this case it made no difference.

If you want to look to the west, roll Spot Hidden at -5% due to your helmet. If you do this, you'll only get four shots this round. You can also remove your helmet beforehand to negate the -5% penalty, but this will also cost one of your opportunities to shoot.)

On the roof of the garage-
Baldwin blinked and looked around, confused.

In the garage-
Mitchell gaped as the half-zombie was gunned down. "Holy crap!" he cried, recoiling in fright. That thing had gotten way too close. He shuddered, but was otherwise okay. "Wallace, man, you'd better close that door and get topside pronto! There are more of them coming from the east - a lot more - and we need your rifle up there."

Jimmy nodded, twinging a little, but he didn't lose his head. "Yeah. Let's get back to work. That truck ain't gonna fix itself."

David went slack-jawed at the sight, but snapped out of it quickly. "Yeah, back to work," he said with a grimace.

Gary approached as the three men returned to the truck and resumed their repairs. "Glad everything's okay," he said, attaching the fuel line. "We've got juice for the fridge now, and this fuel will keep the generator going as long as we keep it maintained."

"I don't think we're going to be staying that long," said Mitchell, "but it's good that the food will stay fresh."

"You fellows need a hand with the truck?"

"Boy, do we! With your help, we could be out of here in maybe an hour and a quarter." Mitchell gave Gary some tools and showed him what repairs were needed. He nodded and set to work, easily integrating with the rest of the team and doing an excellent job. He called to Wallace and Joe outside. "If anyone's going back down, they need more ammo!" He noticed the .38 and the bullets lying on the floor. "Hey, there's a gun and some bullets just lying here!"

On the roof of the diner-
Samantha watched the approaching mob through her scope. "Just another minute or two," she said. "Then we can open up."

Azadeh frowned, glancing down at her AR-15. "Well, I can't without a scope," she said. "I'm probably the best shot here, too." She looked over at Willie. "Let's swap rifles for now. That way we'll get the most bang for our bullets." Willie nodded and exchanged rifles and ammo with her. "Is this all the clips there are? Forty or so bullets won't last long."

"There were more in the crate below," said Willie. "I'll go get 'em. Cover me." He climbed down the ladder.

In the helicopter-
Erica Spears looked back into the passenger cabin. "You two lovebirds getting comfy back there?" she asked, then faced forward again. More urban terrain sped by on the left, also on Route 30. This town was larger than Sunol, though still fairly small and just as deserted. "That's Lodgepole over there. Same name as the river." The helicopter flew over the section of I-80 that intersected with a local route leading north to Lodgepole. A tractor trailer lay across the intersection far below, having jackknifed and turned over on its side. A few zombies were crawling over the wreckage.

In the warehouse-
After Michael heard one final shot, there was silence. He relaxed a little, but didn't let his guard down. Kimberly proceeded downstairs.

In the reception area-
Kimberly raced into the room through the gate. "Hey, gang," she said, catching her breath. "What's going on?"

"There was some shooting a minute ago," said Kerry.

"It seem to have stopped now," added Mrs. Foo.

In the guard room-
Rosie ran across the guard room to where Sally had dropped the tarp and the can of gas. She saw the others in the cell block, gathered around the open cell. "What happened?" she asked. "Is everyone all right?"

"One of those goddamn rats bit me!" Randall shouted back.

"I'm taking care of it!" called Sally. "Can you bring the stuff and burn the body?"

"Sure." Rosie put her revolver away and picked up Sally's dropped things, then hustled into the cell block.

In the cell block-
"Kimberly didn't have any symptoms, did she?" asked Randall. "She wasn't burning up like I am."

"Everything's under control here!" shouted Sally. She felt his forehead. "Another rat attacked, and it bit Randall, but I took it out!" She took out some disinfectant and began to clean the wound. "You do seem to have a bit of a fever. This bite doesn't look as bad as it could have been."

"Well, it sure feels bad."

Sally finished cleaning and bandaging the wound, then tied a tourniquet below his knee. "Well, that's as good as it's going to get. You should be able to walk now, at least."

Rosie walked over to cell 4 and gagged when she saw the carnage. She laid out the tarp inside the cell and began dragging the body on top of it.

"Let's get the dog and all the rats too," said Duke, coming to help her. "Can't be too careful. Once we light this baby, I'll lock the door so the fire doesn't spread."

In the upper hatch chamber-
Ellen calmed down, lowering her shotgun. She glanced down the shaft. She could see the empty lift at the bottom, but there was no sign of Mr. Foo and the others.

In the meeting room-
Jim Kerr and Alice followed the others into the next room.

In the quarters-
Jim carefully approached the opening to the second cubicle on the right while Alice kept him covered with her rifle. Jenny and Mr. Foo also held their weapons ready.

The little room inside was some kind of living quarters, though it wasn't much larger than one of the prison cells upstairs. There was no door, just an opening. Inside, Jim could see a desk and chair, a bookshelf on the wall above the desk, and a small lamp on top of the desk. There was also what seemed to be a bunk, but it looked rather odd. It was shaped like a coffin, but the top was made of clear glass, and there was a panel with buttons on the side. A padlock kept it locked shut.

It was this capsule that was the source of the beeping. A text readout on the panel flashed. Peering closer, Jim could make out the words: "EMERGENCY - OXYGEN LEVELS CRITICALLY LOW- DEATH IMMINENT"
 
On the diner's roof -

"Best shot here?" Luke comments on Azadeh's remark with a smirk "Hah, you'll have to prove that to me, missy."

"And yeah, we probably should send someone over to the soldiers to see if they can spare some ammo for that AR15, but I'm not sure they'd be willing to share. But then again, they need our guns and I hope they realise that..."
 
On the roof of the diner-
"I'll gladly prove it," said Azadeh with a grin. "I'm quite sure I got more kills than anyone else last time. Well, unless you count the bomb. We'll keep a tally of our kills and see who has more when this wave is over. Good idea to get more 5.56mm. We've got more than enough for this batch, but if we can't take them all out before they get here we may find ourselves stuck. We can't afford to send anyone with a rifle over to negotiate, as we'll need everyone shooting. Hey, what about that State Trooper? He's only got a shotgun and a pistol, and he's got the authority of his badge to back him up - whatever that's worth any more. He ran over to the garage. I'll ask Baldwin to let him know. Baldwin!" He didn't seem to be paying her any attention. "What's your problem?!"

On the roof of the garage-
"What's your problem?" Baldwin shouted back.
 
OOG: Okay I am coming down with the stomach flu so this will be a quick little post for me this time around. I am not going to bother posting where the characters all if you don't mind Mr. Handy I am just going to put down what they do ok?


IC:

McCain saw what had occured and his mind snapped in horror. He did not go insane however but he did slide closer to the edge of insanity.

Lewis smiled and using a few tools he had easily fixed the problem on the counsul. "I guess you don't know everything do you, sir?"

While Alice continued standing guard Jim asked Mr. Foo to come pick the lock. He then peered into the glass top of the coffin.
 
OOC: That's fine, Steve, and I hope you feel better soon. I have off from work on Monday and will have more time than usual during the coming week, so if the players post frequently enough I can update more often.

IC:
On the west side of the motel-
Duran and Thayer finished blocking up the southwest stairwell. "Sergeant McCain," reported Duran over the radio, "the barricade is complete. What are your orders now?"

In the medic's room-
Zorie Spooner tried to keep from crying as she and Lt. Blanco finished bandaging the medic's wounded leg, but a few tears spilled out anyway.

"Hey, don't cry over me," said Phillips.

"I'm sorry," said Zorie. "I just...here, let's help you finish with your arm."

On the motel balcony-
Ortega peered intently into the grass at the movement he had spotted earlier. "There's definitely something in the grass!" he said into his throat microphone. "They're moving slowly, but getting closer. At their current pace they'll be here in less than ten minutes!"

"Where did they go?" asked Hockey. "I lost them."

McCain recovered from the shock when he heard the voices of his men reporting in on the radio.

In the comm room-
"I never claimed to know everything, Airman," said Captain Lereux. "Thank you for your work. Now we can contact Lieutenant Colonel Carmichael again - and he can reinstate my command."

"Don't be so sure of that, sir," said Lt. Malone.

The equipment finished initializing. "All systems check," said Alexandria Mikhalin, nodding. "Satellite link established. We're on the air." The teletype machine whirred into action, and text messages that had been in the buffer began to print out.

"Good job." Lt. Malone called Warren Air Force Base. "Lt. Colonel Carmichael, this is Lt. Malone. Do you read me, sir?"

"Reading you loud and clear, Lieutenant," came Carmichael's voice. "What's your status."

"We're in dire need of reinforcements and resupply, sir. We lost Corporal Alanen shortly before I signed off last time. Four infected persons attacked him just after he finished planting Claymores in the field of grass to the west. Then a pack of infected coyotes attacked about twenty minutes ago, at exactly the wrong time. Corporal Cole was killed, and our medic Airman Phillips was infected and seriously wounded. Our men just detected an unknown number of hostiles approaching through the grass, less than ten minutes away. And Captain Lereux has become mentally unstable, nearly causing a deadly battle with the civilians that could have killed all of us. I have relieved him of command."

"Don't listen to her, sir!" shouted Lereux. "I was acting under my standing orders for the mission when I impounded the civilians' helicopter. They took the first hostile action, and because of her recklessness we've now lost that asset. She's just using this as an excuse to take command!"

"Captain, with all due respect - shut the hell up!"

"Settle down, you two," said Carmichael. "From what you just told me, you can't afford to fight each other now. You're going to have to work together to survive. We're going to try to get you more troops and materiel, but they won't make it within ten minutes. You must hold your position at all costs!"

"Yes, sir. I assure you my actions were necessary for the success of our mission. On the bright side, we've now relocated the communications unit to the upper floor, and all stairways are barricaded. But unless we get additional forces and ammunition, we won't be able to hold long."

"Captain Lereux did have standing orders to seize any aircraft, but since he has become unbalanced and has endangered the mission you were right to relieve him of command. Normally you should have checked in with me first, but I understand that you were in the process of moving the communications gear and could not wait. I trust your judgment, Lieutenant."

"Thank you, sir. How soon can we expect some help?"

"Maybe sooner than you'd think." Carmichael sighs. "You're not the only one with an intractable superior. One of the fields in the 400th Missile Squadron in eastern Wyoming is in imminent danger of being overrun. Apparently the troops there brought wounded, infected personnel inside the base in violation of orders. The CO is determined to nuke the site, in spite of all my warnings and attempts to dissuade him. The XO refuses to go against him, too. A chopper is evacuating non-infected personnel from the base as we speak, along with whatever they can salvage. We've just directed them to your coordinates; their ETA is 20 to 25 minutes. If we detonate, there is a danger of fallout reaching your position. Is there a fallout shelter anywhere near your location? Also, we need an update on the world situation."

On the motel's roof-
"Sarge," said Bobby Sheen, "do you still want me to keep watching the bus? Those coyotes could be dangerous later on, but whatever's coming this way is dangerous now."

Outside the garage-
Wallace turned to Joe Barring. "I'm not sure if you're going inside or staying out here," he said, "but close the garage door when you leave. I'm going to get that ladder back and get up on the roof with Baldwin." He jogs around the north side of the T-Bone.

In the garage-
"Yeah, Alice dropped the gun there," said Jimmy. "She went totally psycho on us and actually threatened to shoot Bob. I got behind her with my shotgun and made her drop it."

"I gather there's a lot of that sort of thing going around," said Gary. "Tensions are high, and everyone's getting unsettled. Don't be too hard on her. She probably just freaked out. At least she didn't shoot anybody."

On the roof of the garage-
Baldwin just met Azadeh's gaze with a blank stare.

On the roof of the diner-
"I don't have time for this," said Azadeh, shrugging. She returned her attention to the mob coming from the east, taking aim through the scope of the M1 Garand. Samantha did likewise.

(Luke may now fire up to five times at the oncoming zombies at half of his skill, if he chooses. The -5% penalty for the head shot is applied after the skill is halved, giving him an effective skill of 35%.)

On the east side of the diner-
Willie gathered up all of the spare clips for the M1 Garand and placed them in the bag that was tied to the end of the rope. Then he headed back for the ladder.

In the helicopter-
The chopper streaked past Lodgepole and over farmland once again. After a couple of miles, I-80 curved around to the southeast.

In the warehouse-
Michael remained on guard at the top of the stairs.

In the reception area-
Mrs. Foo clucked when she heard the news. "Poor Randall," she said.

"Yeah," said Lynne. "It's too bad. He was kinda cute."

Kimberly cleared her throat, then filled the other women in on the recent events on the surface. "There are about a hundred or so more of them coming from the east, less than ten minutes away by now. I still haven't had a chance to talk to Azadeh. I think she's trying to avoid the conversation, but one threat has come up after another. Hopefully I'll get a chance after they defeat this bunch."

"If they defeat them," said Kerry, frowning.

In the cell block-
Rosie and Duke dragged the dead woman onto the tarp, then went back for the dog. "Poor Buddy," said Rosie. "Lynne must feel just awful."

They gathered all of the rats and put them in the pile. Duke poured gasoline on top of all of them, leaving a narrow trail of it leading to the cell door. "Okay, stand back," he said, taking out a lighter. They both backed out of the cell, and Duke lit the line of gas. Flames flashed quickly down it, igniting the gasoline and the corpses. The stench was horrific. He quickly slammed the door shut and locked it.

"Let's get out of here," said Sally, helping Randall to his feet. "I'm going to get you back to the reception area. I'll be with you the whole time. I wish I had some medicine that would help you besides the painkillers."

"You do," said Randall. He glanced at her pistol.

"Not yet. I'm not going to just throw away your life as long as there are still things you can do to help out. I promise I'll give you a bullet before the end."

In the upper hatch chamber-
Ellen sighed, maintaining her vigilance.

In the quarters-
Mr. Foo walked up to the coffin-like capsule. "Let's see what's inside it first before we decide to open it up," he said. "It looks pretty dark in there." He and Jim Kerr peered inside through the glass while Jenny and Alice kept watch. Lying within the capsule was a woman in her thirties, with black hair down to her shoulders and wearing a white lab coat. She appeared to be sleeping, her chest slowly rising and falling.

"This is some sort of airtight containment chamber," said Jenny. "There's an oxygen tank built into it, and I see what look like air filters."

"Well, according to this indicator the tank is almost empty," said Mr. Foo. "I don't know how she's survived in here all this time, though. She's not cryogenically frozen, and she's far too young to have been alive when this lab was operational." He knelt in front of the capsule and jiggled the small padlock. "This shouldn't be too hard to-"

An array of lights inside the capsule came on as soon as budged the padlock, lighting up the woman inside so that it was easy to see her. Suddenly, her limbs began to twitch. Her arms banged on the glass lid, but it did not break. She seemed to be having some kind of seizure.
 
On the roof of the diner-

"Lets dance." Luke says with a smile as he lines up his rifle and starts firing.

He scored 3 headshots out of 5 shots, killing 2 right out and leaving one extremely badly wounded. (2d6+4=16, 9, 13)
 
On the southeast corner of the motel, balcony level:
McCain jogged back along the balcony to the other side of the motel that faced the grass. On the way he got on his radio and said, "Sheen concentrate on the grass and take a shot if you can. The same goes for Black. Duran and Thayer get up to the balcony level ASAP."

In the upstairs communication room:
Lewis gave a shiteating grin at Lerux and then said, "Lt Malone, do you want me to get on a computer and look up info about the world situation to reley to our home base?"

In the underground quarters:
Jim jumped back toward the side wall of the room statled. Alice stood in the doorway with her rifle pointing at the coffin ready to take a shot if need be.
 
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