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

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OOC: Walkers from the east: 57/99 dead, 6 with 9 damage to head, 6 with 8 damage to head - 30 zombies inside (18 in hallway near Samantha, 2 on lower stairs with 8 damage to abdomen, 7 damage to right arm, 3 near bottom of stairs, 3 in hallway near Azadeh with 4 damage to right leg, 7 to right arm, 4 to right arm), 4 in the hallway at the eastern end
Runners from the east: 18/19 dead, 1 with 9 damage to head in hallway grabbing Samantha

IC:
In the comm room-
"I know you could shoot me, Ramirez," said Lereux, "but if I lower my weapon I'm a dead man anyway. Malone's going to kill me - unless you or McCain do it first. Even if you do kill me, I'll still pull this trigger. If I go down, I'm taking her with me."

"I'm not going to negotiate with terrorists," said Malone. "He isn't lowering his weapon in any case. And someone really ought to take that call."

"Don't even think about it." The captain nodded to Lt. Blanco. "You can answer, Doctor."

"Yes, sir," said Lt. Blanco. She went over to the microphone and depressed the button to talk. "Sir, this is Lt. Blanco. We have a situation here. Over."

"What kind of situation?" asked Lt. Colonel Carmichael, concern evident in his voice. "Why aren't I speaking to Lt. Malone?"

"Tell him," said Lereux.

"Sir, Captain Lereux returned with several survivors from the diner to retake command. He tried to arrest her, but she is refusing to give up command and others are helping her resist."

On the motel balcony-
Thayer began to twitch, his anxiety and tension rising with each passing second. Gary had too much on his mind to notice, but Baldwin saw it. "Chill out, man," he said. "I'm sure this will all be straightened out soon."

Thayer gritted his teeth and spat at the big black man. "Shut yer piehole, ni-" He paused for a second. "Nincompoop."

Baldwin stared back at him, looming over him and pointing his rifle at him. "I know what you were going to say, you racist sack of slime!"

"Easy, there," said Gary. "Shooting him isn't going to solve anything."

"It'd make me feel a hell of a lot better, that's for damn sure!"

"Just try it!" shouted Thayer, bringing up his own rifle.

David walked around the southeast corner of the motel and stood beside Malanowski. "You're not thinking about shooting my friends, are you?" he asked. He held his Sig Sauer casually in his hand, not pointed at anyone yet.

"I'd really rather not," Malanowski answered.

"That's good to hear. You give a rat's ass about who's in charge now?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I do."

In the medic's room-
Zorie Spooner and Phillips stood near the door. "Well, I'm not hearing anything," she said. "I guess that's a good sign."

Phillips nodded, but he couldn't help thinking that this might just be the calm before the storm.

On the motel's roof-
Sheen kept searching the low grass east of the collapsing diner, but still couldn't find any targets.

In the diner parking lot-
Impossibly, the zombie with the sucking chest wound from a grenade blast at close range ran towards the exit from the diner and the two men standing nearby. Hockey shot again, barely hitting and finishing the creature off. "Scratch two hostiles," he said to Willie.

"Nice shooting, young man," said Willie.

"The name's Hockey. Airman Justin Hockey."

Willie shook hands with him. "You can call me Willie. I've seen quite a bit of action in my long life, but I'm nowhere near as good as you are. I'm a war correspondent."

On the roof of the diner-
Azadeh struggled to climb back onto the roof under her own power, but couldn't pull her legs back up. The three zombies from the kitchen arrived below her and reached for them, but somehow they stumbled over each other in their haste to get at her and none of them could grab hold.

Unfortunately, Azadeh could not hold onto the edge of the roof. Her fingers slipped and she plunged into the ruined diner below, looking up desperately at Luke. She landed badly, rendered unconscious from the fall. The zombies closed in hungrily.

Samantha also tried to pull herself back up, but she couldn't find purchase either. She did, however, maintain her grip.

The zombie beneath her tried for her legs again, seizing her and almost plunging its teeth into her soft flesh. She twisted out of the way of its teeth, but it still wrapped its arms around her legs and began to crush them.

Then the horde of slower zombies surrounded her. Only two of them had room to try to get her, The first one bit her calf deeply. Held in place by the faster zombie, she could not escape this time. The pain was nearly unbearable and she screamed in agony, but she managed to stay conscious and keep her wits about her. The second ghoul couldn't get past the others to feast on her.

(Luke, all three zombies near Azadeh are at point blank range. You may shoot one before they get a chance to act. You could also reach Samantha next round; you don't know for sure that she's been bitten or grabbed, but if you did that you'd be abandoning Azadeh. With the zombie grabbing her, you'll need to roll a STR vs. STR Resistance roll first to break its hold - it has a STR of 20, but you may combine her STR of 8 with your own, giving you a 50% chance. If that succeeds, you could then try a STR vs. SIZ Resistance roll to pull her up. Her SIZ is only 9. She was also supposed to have 10 HP total and not 9, so I fixed that.)

In the diner-
The four straggling walkers finally reached the diner and clawed their way inside over the broken eastern wall. They headed for the big group surrounding Samantha.

In the helicopter-
As the helicopter flew onwards, it passed a horde of two or three hundred zombies shambling west on the highway far below. "They must have come from Ogallala," said Erica Spears.

(Bob, roll Spot Hidden.)

In the warehouse-
Kimberly ran towards the line of defenders, only to stumble and fall. Joe's momentum carried him past her, but he was able to stop not far beyond her when he saw her go down. The zombies closed in on her, the runner in the lead and two walkers trailing it.

Sally remained cool and collected, as did Michael and Rosie. Randall nearly lost it, but managed to keep his head.

The runner pounced on Kimberly, embracing her and starting to devour her. Her fall had stunned her and she could not evade it. It ripped a decent-sized chunk from her left arm.

"She can survive a bite!" called Sally, taking aim at the closest walker. "We can still save her!" She fired at its head, only barely hitting, but it was more than sufficient to take out the ghoul before it could reach her.

Michael reacted slowly, and the second walker lunged for Kimberly, but luckily it just missed her. Michael fired three bullets at its head, hitting twice and destroying it. The missed shot was heading right for Kimberly, and she couldn't move while she was pinned down. It gouged a furrow in her left thigh, but she narrowly held onto consciousness. "Sod me!" he cried.

Randall shot the runner in the head with his M-16, and it expired on top of Kimberly. Rosie rushed over to her and looked up at Joe. "Help me get her back to the stairs, before more of them come!"

In the lower hatch chamber-
"Come on," said Kerry. She swallowed her fears and led Lynne and Mrs. Foo into the meeting room.

"Oh, dear," said Mrs. Foo. "I hope my husband okay."

In the meeting room-
The three women entered the meeting room just as Ellen ran into the living quarters.

In the living quarters-
Ellen rushed through the living quarters. "Mr. Foo!" she shouted. As she ran, she saw the monster go down. While she couldn't see much past it, she was relieved to see it fall.

In the upper lab hallway-
"We're all alive and mostly well!" called Mr. Foo. "Alice is seriously injured, though. Stay back from us and this thing! I have reason to believe that it has infected all of us!"

"You mean like Judith Reagan was?" asked Jenny, gulping. "Oh, no...wait, maybe we can find or develop a cure down here. The scientists here must have been working on one, so if we can find their research it would help."

"Yes, and there could be something that would help on that reel of tape. Ellen, go back upstairs and seal that hatch! It was locked for a very good reason, and these things mustn't get out of this place. While you're up there, we need fresh a 9-volt battery sent down so we can get the reel-to-reel working."

"But I can't!" she yelled back.

"Ellen, you must lock us down here, for everybody's safety."

"No, it's not that - the diner's been breached! We were going to lock ourselves in to keep them out, then escape through the tunnels."

"Have we seen any running water on this level?" asked Duke, helping Jim treat Alice. She was still far too weak and injured to move under her own power. "I believe there was a sink in that alcove off the meeting room, but if that water is anything like the water up in the prison I wouldn't chance drinking it. But what are we going to drink?"

"The PMS compound must have water," said Mr. Foo. "We'd better find a cure fast. We can only last a few days without water - and that's if the infection doesn't get us first."

"We can do it!" said Jenny. "I'm a scientist...well, a lab assistant anyway. I'm not as skilled as Stephanie, but I'll give it my all." She looked at her burns from the creature's tentacles, but couldn't do anything for them.

"I know quite a bit about biology and other sciences," said Duke. "Between the two of us we should be able to come up with something." He examined Alice's skin where the creature's tentacle had touched it. He was able to bandage her very effectively. "It burned right through her shirt and into her flesh."

"Yes, but it wasn't like an acid exactly. That creature must have come in through the vent. Wait, how would it have fit?"

"We've seen it alter its shape," said Mr. Foo, coming over to help her and patching her up. "It may have been able to squeeze through by contorting itself. It's also possible that it wasn't always so big. It might have been smaller when it broke through, and grown when it ate the flesh off of that skeleton - presumably Kirby. Or - well, you're not going to like this, but there may be more than one of them."
 
On the motel balcony:
McCain said, "Thayer and Lewis, calm down right now. That is an order" Lewis nodded but kept his defensive stance ready to fire the grenade launcher if neccessary. McCain then began to walk over to the door of the communication room. On the radio he said to to Lt. Malone and said, "Lt. This can all be solved if you simply let the civilans stay here. We need their help as we cannot do it alone. Please, if you do not agree we all will become like those creatures. Please?" However he saw that she was not going to give in.

In the Project Manager's Hallway:
Alice lay on the ground and moaned in pain. "Whiskey" she said.
Jim Kerr smiled at that. He stood up and looked around for more of those creatures. He also tried to listen to see if he heard anything. He did not spot anything but thought he heard something below. "Max, come here boy." he called. Then he thought for a few seconds and said, "Gang, some of you may know that i work for the US fish and wildlife service. Now these creatures are not seen in nature but maybe I can help think about where they might be hiding or how to truly defeat them without getting injured ourself. Let me think." But try as he might he could not figure out anything about them. Most likly because there was nothing in his experience that would show how they lived.
 
OOC: McCain can't freely walk anywhere he feels like in the middle of a standoff with people pointing guns at each other without provoking a reaction, so you should edit your post above. There's no need to make another post after this one unless he refuses to stop. Remember, he's eight yards north of the open comm room door, just south of which Lewis is keeping Jimmy and Mitchell at bay (and vice versa). He can still say what he says to Lt. Malone over the radio, but it's still not going to work. Also, roll Fast Talk for McCain to see if he can get Thayer to calm down temporarily. There is no time to use Persuade.

IC:
On the motel balcony-
Before McCain could take two steps, Mitchell pointed his shotgun at him. "Don't come any closer!" he demanded. Jimmy trained his shotgun on Lewis.

In the upper lab hallway-
Jim Kerr heard only silence coming from downstairs. Max did not respond to his call.
 
On the motel balcony:
McCain stopped dead in his tracks. "Thayer you need to calm down and not do anything to get yourself or god knows me shot!" He saw however it was not going to work.
Lewis meanwhile said, "You want to be careful where you point that weapon. I will fire this grenade launcher and take us all to hell I shit you not."

In the Project Managers Hallway:
Jim walked to the top of the stairs and said, "Max, come here boy"
 
In the comm room-

Rameriz continues to try and reason with Malone .
"Lt. Malone please let the civilians stay the only reason they support him is because they belive he will let them stay
if he regains his command." Rameriz see's that he's getting through to her.

In the warehouse-

Joe helps Rosie move Kimberly to the stairs.
"Hold on you'll be ok just hold on."

On the motel's roof-

Black gazes out towards the diner prepared to shoot at
anything that may come out.
 
OOC: Oh, yes. There will be blood... :twisted:

Walkers from the east: 59/99 dead, 6 with 9 damage to head, 6 with 8 damage to head - 28 zombies inside (22 in hallway eating Samantha, 2 near bottom of stairs with 8 damage to abdomen, 7 damage to right arm, 2 in warehouse (1 with 5 damage to head), 2 in hallway eating Azadeh with 4 damage to right leg, 7 to right arm)
Runners from the east: 18/19 dead, 1 with 9 damage to head in hallway eating Samantha

IC:
On the motel balcony-
"You'll get yours too, McCoon," muttered Thayer under his breath. Baldwin inhaled sharply as the two men faced each other down.

"Don't let him get to you, bro," said Gary. "I don't like this punk any more than you do, but if you fire a shot then everyone will start shooting and we'll all die. If there's a battle here, nobody can win it...nobody but the dead."

Baldwin ignored him, seething with rage. He and Thayer stared at each other with hate in their eyes, neither one blinking or backing down.

"Don't do it, Thayer," said Ortega.

Thayer's mind wrestled with itself. Intellectually, he knew that he would die too if a firefight broke out. He almost stopped at Ortega's words, but ultimately brushed them aside. The hate that had been drummed into him since childhood swelled up in him, and the events of the day that had worn on him finally caused him to snap. Gary's speech did have an effect on him, but not the intended one.

If I shoot this big black buck, he thought, they'll all die: Lereux, McCain, and all the other inferiors. I'll die too, but it's worth the sacrifice. The PMS will survive, and the white race will rule this new world. "Today is the day," he said. "Today is the day of the Great Race War." He sprayed death at Baldwin, easily hitting him with one round in the gut for heavy damage. The huge trucker almost fell, but he remained on his feet.

When Jimmy heard the burst of gunfire behind him, he instinctively pulled the trigger on his shotgun. From this close he couldn't miss. Mitchell reacted quickly too, starting to squeeze the trigger on his shotgun.

"No!" cried Ortega, bringing up his rifle with moderate quickness and pointing it at Thayer.

(Lewis, roll Dodge unless you want to take 4d6 damage to your unarmored self. The base skill is Dex x 2. If you do this, you won't be able to attack later in the round, but if you get hit chances are you won't get to anyway.

McCain, roll 1d100 to see if you go before Mitchell, since both of you have 16 Dex. Lowest number goes first, so you need to get below his score of 33 to act before he does. Ortega goes on 51. In the event of a tie, the tied combatants will reroll.

McCain has only a split second to act before Mitchell tries to shoot him. The range is not point blank, so firearms rolls are at normal skill. If he goes first, you must make a successful Dodge roll or you'll take 4d6 damage, possibly reduced by armor. A Dodge attempt means you won't get to attack this round whether it succeeds or not. Mitchell and Jimmy each get two attacks with their semiautomatic shotguns, and a character can only try to dodge the first one.

If you go before Mitchell, you may choose to Dodge or try to shoot someone first, but there is no time for a called shot. Because of the timeframe, there's no time to say anything before he fires his first shot, though he will hear it before firing a second time. If you were to fire the shotgun, you'd be in the 1d6 damage range but could hit 1d6 targets. This wouldn't be enough to knock anyone out, so you'd probably prefer to fire the rifle. I'll post the rest of the combat round on the balcony in a minor update after you post your rolls and actions.)

In the comm room-
Before Malone could respond, there was a burst of automatic gunfire from outside the room followed by a deafening shotgun blast. Captain Lereux reflexively pulled the trigger on the Colt Viper, putting a bullet in her before she had a chance to dive aside. The .38 hit her in the chest and severely wounded her. She staggered back and dropped to her knees, but stayed conscious. Blood flowed from her wound and she coughed up more as she struggled to unsling her MP-5 and the captain thumbed back the hammer to chamber the next bullet.

(Ramirez, you may fire once before Lereux gets his second shot, but there is no time for a called shot. The range is point blank. I'll post the rest of this round in the comm room in a minor update after you post your rolls and actions.)

In the medic's room-
Zorie screamed when she heard the gunfire break out overhead. "What the hell happened?" she asked, frightened.

"I don't know, but stay behind me," said Phillips. He moved between her and the door, his M-4 at the ready.

On the motel's roof-
"Sarge, what do we do?" Sheen asked Black when the shooting started.

In the diner parking lot-
"We're coming!" shouted Hockey when he heard Luke's call for help. He rushed back inside the wrecked diner, Willie close on his heels. They heard the gunfire coming from the motel, but didn't yet know what it signified.

On the roof of the diner-
Samantha desperately tried to kick the injured runner in the head with her good leg, but it was holding onto her legs too tightly. It squeezed, snapping her bones, and she fell through the hole in the roof. She was dead before she even hit the ground.

Luke saw the first zombie fall, but the other two reached Azadeh. One of them reached her and began to munch on her flesh, sadly ending her life.

The south wall of the diner began to sway and crumble.

(Luke may either fire one shot, or he may retreat to the safety of the garage roof. If he remains where he is, he must roll Luck after he takes his shot.)

In the diner-
Hockey and Willie raced through the restaurant area. They got into position to see through the doorway to the hall just as the zombies began to consume Azadeh. "No!" cried Willie. "We're too late!" His mind was already numbed by the horrors he had seen.

"We've got to get out of here!" said Hockey, reeling in disgust and terror.

Further back in the hallway, out of their line of sight, Samantha's corpse vanished beneath a pile of ghouls. They began to tuck into their meal, though they left her body relatively intact.

In the helicopter-
Erica Spears looked forward as the chopper flew onwards, and she noticed the same faint orange glow on the horizon that Bob had seen. She pointed it out to her passengers.

"What is it?" asked Bo, putting a comforting arm around Stephanie.

"It's Ogallala," she replied. "Or what's left of it. The city's on fire. I saw the same thing in Sidney as I was coming into Brownson."

In the warehouse-
Kimberly looped one arm around Rosie and the other around Joe. They helped her back to the stairs leading down to the gate, keeping ahead of the three zombies that emerged from the stairs above. "Okay, that's far enough," she said. "Let me down so I can help hold the line."

"No, you've got to get below," said Rosie. "You can't take another hit like that, and you can't move fast enough to stay ahead of them any more. I'll help you down there. Thanks, Joe, I can take it from here."

"I'm sorry," said Michael, taking aim at a ghoul.

"Don't sweat it," said Kimberly. "I'll live, and I'd be dead if you hadn't shot that thing and saved me. And if I do have to die, I'd rather it be from a bullet than from one of them."

Sally fired at the head of one of the zombies, scoring a hit and seriously wounding it.

Michael fired three times and put two rounds in his target's head, slaying it.

Randall fired and missed.

(Joe Barring, you may now fire your handgun twice at a zombie's head provided both shots are at the same target. Remember to deduct the -5% penalty for a head shot.)

In the upper lab hallway-
From the top of the stairs, Jim Kerr could only see that the hall continued below. There was still no answer to his call.

Duke went over to Mr. Foo and treated his injury. "There ya go," he said. "I couldn't tell you anything about that thing beyond what you've already come up with. All I know is that it was trying to eat us."

Jenny tried to help Duke, but without success. "Max!" she called, whistling. "Here, boy!" She paused, and there was a distant, answering bark, so he had to have heard her.

"Thank you," said Mr. Foo to Duke. He tried to return the favor, but was having little luck. "We can't just leave Alice lying out in the hallway. There must be some place we can put her where she can rest."

"One of those capsule beds?" suggested Jenny. "That's what they put Judith in."

"Yes, that might be a good idea. We can't get to the ones in the living quarters, though. The creature's remains block the entire corridor, and its very touch causes injury. Fortunately, there was one in the back of the project manager's office."

In the meeting room-
Ellen Cody ran back in. "Someone needs to go back upstairs fast!" she shouted to the others as they entered. "We need a fresh 9-volt battery, and we don't have long before the warehouse gets overrun."

"I'll do it!" said Kerry instantly. Anything to get out of here! she thought, rushing back towards the lift.

"What happen?" asked Mrs. Foo. "Is my husband okay?"

"Some kind of horrible monster attacked everyone, and it almost killed and ate Alice. The others aren't hurt bad, but its touch alone is enough to burn, and Mr. Foo believes that it also spreads some kind of infection. We can't go near them, or that thing they killed. They're going to search the lab in the hopes of coming up with a cure."
 
OOC: You are at point blank range, so that shot would have hit as long as you didn't roll a malfunction. Ramirez and Joe are done for this round, so you should wait until after the next major update before posting for them again.

IC:
In the comm room-
Lereux grunted in pain, but it wasn't enough to stop him from shooting Malone again. The second shot also struck her chest, and she fell dying.

"Elizabeth!" cried Lt. Blanco. She immediately dropped the microphone and rushed to the bleeding officer. She got the blood loss under control quickly and minimized the damage as much as possible. Malone's eyes fluttered open, and she grabbed for her submachinegun.

"No!" shouted Mikhalin, drawing her Beretta and putting a bullet into the captain, nailing him in the belly with a powerful shot that barely penetrated his armor.

"What just happened?" roared Carmichael's voice from the speaker. "Lt. Blanco! That was gunfire I just heard, and from your room! Goddammit! Cease fire! Cease fire immediately! THAT IS A DIRECT ORDER!"

(Only those in the comm room can hear this. The volume isn't loud enough to carry to the balcony over the noise of battle.)

On the motel's roof-
"I don't know, Sarge," said Sheen. "I don't think it matters all that much in the end. They're killing each other down there, and if it's true that the dead are rising then whoever wins won't have much of a victory."

In the warehouse-
The zombie that Joe had shot twice fell, but continued crawling towards the defenders.
 
In the Project Managers Hallway:
Alice cried out in pain and said, "Please leave me somewhere but not alone. I do not want to die alone or have to face those creatures again alone." Jim paced back and forth on top of the stairs and said, "We need to go below and find Max and we need to explore the lab below to see if there is a cure. For all we know we could end up like Alice."

On the motel balcony:
Lewis stared at the shotgun and realized he was dead. He pissed himself but was unable to dodge out of the way. "You motherfuckers are going to get yours," he cried out as his finger tightened on the grenade launcher trigger.
McCain saw Mitchell swing his shotgun up and figured if he was shot the armor he was wearing would protect him enough. He raised his M4 and fired at Mitchell. The gun however jammed! "Oh shit I am one dead soldier" he muttered.
 
On the Roof of the Motel-

"Somebody give me a sit rep what the hell is going on?" Black calls
over the radio. "Prepare to fire on the civies." he tells Sheen
 
OOC: Once SuAside posts IC I can go ahead with the next major update. Characters that have already taken combat actions cannot go again until after that. Lewis attempted a Dodge, so he cannot fire his M203 this round (that would constitute an attack). He is unconscious and dying, so he won't get to pull the trigger next round either.

IC:
On the motel balcony-
Jimmy's shotgun blast hit Lewis in the right leg and practically blew it off. With his femoral artery breached, he fell, lost consciousness, and started to bleed out.

Mitchell fired at McCain, but his first shot went wide. The next shell was automatically chambered.

Ortega shot Thayer in the right arm, crippling it and dropping him like a rock.

Duran finally sprang into action and fired his M-16 at Jimmy. His aim wasn't off by much, but it was off enough to hit McCain in the back of his right arm, nicking him slightly. He felt the bullet strike him from behind. "Mierda! Sorry, Sarge!" Duran called.

Wallace aimed his Ruger Mini 14 at McCain and squeezed off a shot. It struck him in the upper chest, but his body armor stopped the bullet.

Baldwin didn't let the fact that Thayer was unconscious stop him. He pumped a round into the man's already crippled right arm, severing it at the shoulder and finishing him off. "Take...that...mother..." he started, the pain of his wound making speech difficult. His rage kept him going, however. He chambered the next round, almost shrugging off the deadly encounter, and looked around for a new target.

At the same time, Gary stepped up beside Mitchell and Jimmy and fired his first barrel at McCain, but the blast missed.

"Come on," said David. He and Malanowski ran west along the south side of the balcony, reaching the southwest corner.

Jimmy, seeing that Lewis was down for the count, adjusted his aim to McCain. Mitchell fired his second shell, but again he missed. Gary also let loose with his second barrel, and went just as wide.

On the motel's roof-
There was no reply over the radio so far. Bobby Sheen looked around and took aim at Luke, the only civilian he could see. "Roger that, Sarge," he said. "I have one target in my sights. Awaiting orders."

(Luke, roll Spot Hidden to see if you detect him taking aim.)

In the upper lab hallway-
"I quite agree," said Mr. Foo. "We cannot leave her alone, though I also don't like the idea of splitting up."

"I'll stay with her," offered Jenny. "I'm not much good in a fight, but I'll do what I can. Even if another one attacks and I miss, at least you'll hear the shot."
 
On the dinner's roof -

Luke makes a break for the garage roof, sad from the loss of two of his 'friends'. As he reaches the garage roof, he spots the scope flare from Bobby's rifle.

A quick calculation goes through his mind: he does not stand a chance without the M14. With it, he could've tried to dodge and get a shot off in defense, but now? He's stuck, even if he succeeds in finding temporary shelter, he's lost without the M14.

So instead, he drops his shotgun on his sling and sticks both his hands in the air, signaling surrender. But at the same time he tries to signal the sniper that he does not understand why he suddenly took aim on him... A gambit, but it's all he's got.
 
OOC: Walkers from the east: 62/99 dead, 6 with 9 damage to head, 6 with 8 damage to head - 25 zombies inside (22 in hallway eating Samantha, 1 in warehouse with 9 damage to head, 2 in hallway eating Azadeh with 4 damage to right leg, 7 to right arm)
Runners from the east: 18/19 dead, 1 with 9 damage to head in hallway eating Samantha

IC:
In the comm room-
Lt. Malone stared down the barrel of Captain Lereux's revolver, still woozy from her wounds. Weakly, she pointed her MP-5 at him. Either Lt. Colonel Carmichael's order hadn't registered with her, she didn't count on him to obey it, or she simply didn't care any longer.

Whatever the case, nobody would ever know. Lereux shot her a third time, blowing through her stomach and snuffing out her life. "She'd have shot me!" he said quickly and coldly. "I had to!"

Lt. Blanco gasped as her patient died in her arms, but did not break down. Mikhalin's eyes flashed with anger, but she remained in control of herself too.

(Ramirez may now act this round. Roll Sanity for seeing Malone get shot to death. On a failure, lose 1d6 Sanity.)

On the motel balcony-
Malanowski hesitated, unsure what to do. "Thayer," he said when he saw the corpse. He knew the man had fired the first shot, but from his position he couldn't tell what had prompted him to do so.

Jimmy fired at McCain, but the buckshot harmlessly hit the motel wall. Mitchell slowly took aim at him as well, while Duran was quicker on the draw and adjusted his aim at Jimmy. Ortega seemed stunned from Thayer's violent death and his own role in it.

(McCain, roll 1d100 for initiative at Dex 16 again. Duran goes on 31, Mitchell on 85, and Ortega on 97. If you go after Mitchell, roll Dodge if you want to try to avoid his first shot, but this means you won't be able to attack. If you go before him, you may choose whether to roll Dodge or attack and make your rolls as before. You may move and Dodge at the same time, but you may not attack if you do either. Movement will take effect during the second Dex cycle, after everyone else gets a shot. Your M-4 is jammed, and to clear the jam would take 1d6 combat rounds even if you succeed. Because your shotgun is attached under the barrel of your rifle and separated from its stock, it is treated as a sawed-off shotgun for range purposes. At your current position, you are not at point blank range, though this has also saved your bacon for now since those shooting at you haven't gotten a point blank bonus either. If you fire the shotgun, you will hit 1d6 targets and cause 1d6 damage to each in a separately rolled random hit location. I can make all these rolls for you if you prefer. Presumably you'd be targeting the six civilians unless you state otherwise. You could also draw your handgun and get one shot off this round, but that would come during the second phase of the round after everyone else gets their first shots and Jimmy gets his second. You may also draw it if you try to Dodge. You may go ahead and make attack rolls now if you roll less than 85, even if Duran would go first since he shouldn't interfere with you this time. It's only Mitchell you need to compare your roll to. If you tie his roll, make a second initiative roll for yourself and I'll make one for him.)

In the medic's room-
Zorie and Phillips waited nervously as more gunfire echoed overhead, along with the ominous thuds of bodies hitting the floor.

On the motel's roof-
"He's seen me and put his hands up in surrender," said Sheen. "There are no other civilians visible, Sergeant."

On the roof of the garage-
Luke could see that the sniper was still tracking him through his scope, but he hadn't fired. He realized that this might just have something to do with Captain Lereux's plan to take back command that he overheard and the excessive amount of gunfire he could hear from the motel.

(No Idea roll necessary for that. This one's pretty obvious, so it's a freebie.)

In the diner-
The zombies continued their macabre feast on the two dead women. "I hear more gunshots from downstairs," said Willie. "My friends are down there! We've got to help them!"

"But there's fighting going on at the motel!" said Hockey. "I need to get back there!"

"It'll all be over before you get there. These people need help now!"

Hockey nodded. "Okay, let's go!" He led the way into the hall to the top of the stairs, and Willie followed right behind him. They avoided the zombies that were gnawing on Azadeh just feet away.

In the helicopter-
As the chopper flew closer to Ogallala, the view became clearer. There were several fires blazing throughout the city, though from a distance they had appeared to be one big fire. Another group of a few hundred ghouls was streaming away from the city towards the west, and more were fanning out in all directions. To the left, just north of Route 30, an airfield was visible. It too was crawling with the undead.

"That's Searle Field," said Erica Spears. "It's pretty much a loss too."

In the warehouse-
Rosie helped Kimberly limp down the stairs while the others held the line and two more zombies entered from the stairs leading up. Sally shot her target again, stopping it for good. Michael got off another three shots and once more hit with two of them, felling one of the newly arrived zombies. Randall shot the other one in the head and killed it.

(Joe Barring, you may fire twice at the last zombie which has taken 9 damage to the head. Any one hit to the head will finish it, so you don't need to roll damage.)

In the lower hatch chamber-
Kerry leapt onto the lift and slapped the button. It began to rise back towards the prison level. She sighed, glad to be getting out of there.

In the meeting room-
Mrs. Foo cleaned her dirty revolver, borrowing a gun cleaning kit from Lynne, who sank into a chair and slumped over with exhaustion. Ellen looked around warily. "I hope they can stop the creatures upstairs," she said. "From the sound of it, whatever's down here is even worse." She peeked into the kitchen and pantry area, noting the broken glass on the floor but nothing else of interest.

In the upper lab hallway-
"I'll help you with her," said Mr. Foo. "Then I'll catch up with the others and help them explore." He and Jenny carefully carried Alice into the project manager's office.

Duke stood next to Jim Kerr at the top of the stairs and peered down. The sound of paws scrabbling on the floor below came closer, and then Max appeared at the bottom of the stairs. He stopped there, not willing to come back up.

In the project manager's office-
Mr. Foo and Jenny placed Alice in Kirby's capsule. "Do I close the lid?" she asked.

"I don't know if that's necessary," he said. "We've all been exposed already. Just lock the door after I leave, and be careful."

"You too."
 
On the motel balcony:
McCain snarled as he saw Lewis lying bleeding to death. He knew there was nothing he could do for the man and that Lewis would soon join the others who had went on before. "If I live I must put a bullet in his head to make sure he don't get up," McCain muttered. He saw Duran move his arm ready to fire but said, "me first old chap." Knowing his M-4 was jammed and pretty much useless for now, McCain raised the shotgun part of his weapon and prepared to fire. However when he fired the buckshot went wide! "Dammit," he yelled. He was still ready to fire if he could get another shot off before being hit himself.

In the Project Managers Office:
Alice opened her eyes and said to Jenny, "Can you help heal me?"

On the stairs and below:
Jim Kerr said to Duke, "Lets go" He walked down to the bottom of the stairs and stopped waiting for Mr. Foo to come and spending the time looking around. While he waited he petted Max.
 
On the roof of the garage -

Luke points his hand at the motel and then at himself, shaking his head, attempting to signal that he has nothing to do with it.

He then points at the general direction of his M14 and then 'shoots' with his hand in the direction of the zombies.

Figuring that either the message would register or that he'd die anyway, he slowly moves to his rifle, picks it up and starts moving to a shooting position where he can fire upon zombies, while reloading his shotgun and keeping his back towards the USAF sniper (leaving himself open, with no attempt to concela himself).

OCC - yeah, i had made the link to the powerstruggle, just didn't suspect the USAF would be nutty enough to blow away the civilian defense. :)
 
OOC: Most of the USAF wasn't nutty enough, but Thayer was. Not only was he a violent neo-Nazi, but he also went indefinitely insane earlier in this chapter and developed a psychosis. The confrontation at the motel and Baldwin being in his face pushed him over the edge.

Now we just need to wait for Fearlessfred before I can move things onwards.

IC:
On the motel balcony-
Duran put a bullet into Jimmy, punching a large hole in his abdomen, but the young man was sturdy enough to stay upright.

Mitchell returned fire on McCain, though he still couldn't shoot straight.

"Thayer started this!" Ortega shouted into his radio. "He was some kind of Nazi, and he went nuts and fired on one of the civies because he's black! Stop killing each other!"

It was too late to stop the current volley of fire, though. Wallace took another shot at McCain, but he fired so badly that he accidentally shot Mitchell in the right shoulder, ruining his arm but not quite bringing him down.

Gary snatched up the M-4/203 that Lewis had dropped as Baldwin fired at McCain, only to miss because of his recent wound. Instead of hitting his target, it hit Jimmy in the right arm, blowing it off and killing him instantly. "What have I done?!" he cried, the shock too much for his mind to handle. He realized that he may have killed not just one man, but everyone at the motel. In a panic, he turned and ran.

Mitchell gaped in shock at the sudden death of his new friend, but he carried on grimly. Gary broke down crying, though he quickly pulled himself together. Wallace remained solid.

It was too much for David, however. Furious, he stepped into the gap left by Baldwin and leveled his pistol at McCain and squeezed off a round. It struck home, embedding itself deep in his right thigh.

Mitchell was also enraged, and he continued trying to finish off McCain while holding the shotgun with his good arm. His fury made his accuracy deadly - the sergeant's entire right leg vanished in a cloud of red mist and he fell, breathing no more.

Gary fired a burst at Duran, but somehow all three bullets missed their mark.

Lewis twitched and spasmed briefly as his lifeblood flowed out of him. Then he too expired.

On the motel's roof-
"You hear that?" Sheen asked Sergeant Black when the radio message came in. "The civie picked up his rifle, but his attention is on the east, where those creatures were attacking the diner. I don't think he had anything to do with the civilians coming here."

In the project manager's office-
"I think we've done all we can for you," said Jenny. "I'm not a doctor, but I'll try. Maybe those two doctors in the orange suits from the motel could help you. I don't think it's a good idea for anyone else who hasn't been exposed yet to get close to us."

In the lower lab hallway-
Duke went downstairs with Jim Kerr. When Jim tried to pet Max, he scampered back warily and barked.

The two men could see that the hallway stretched on ahead for some distance. On either side was a large open door and a huge glass window showing laboratories in states of disarray. Both doors had airtight seals on them, but they had been left open. At the far end of the hall, there were two smaller doors. One, on the right side, was closed, but the door at the opposite end of the hall stood open.

Max retreated towards the lab on the right.
 
OOC: Walkers from the east: 63/99 dead, 6 with 9 damage to head, 6 with 8 damage to head - 24 zombies inside (22 in hallway eating Samantha, 2 in hallway eating Azadeh with 4 damage to right leg, 7 to right arm)
Runners from the east: 18/19 dead, 1 with 9 damage to head in hallway eating Samantha

IC:
In the comm room-
Captain Lereux stood stock still. He didn't lower his revolver, but held it pointing at Malone's unmoving corpse. "This is Captain Lereux," he said into the radio. "Everyone stand down. I'm in command again, and Lt. Malone is dead. Lt. Blanco is my new executive officer. Ramirez turned traitor, and he and Airman Mikhalin both shot me and are holding me at gunpoint. I'm going to need some assistance. Everyone report in with your position and status." He looked Ramirez in the eye. "I'm giving you one chance and one chance only. Stand down and give me back my rifle."

On the motel balcony-
"Don't shoot!" shouted Malanowski. "We're standing down!" He lowered his weapon, as did Ortega and Duran. The civilians stopped shooting and started to relax a little. The balcony was eerily silent once the gunfire stopped, littered with dead bodies and shell casings. He spoke into his microphone. "This is Malanowski, outside the comm room. Sergeant McCain, Airman Thayer, Airman Lewis, and one civilian are dead, with two civilians wounded. I'm on my way to assist you, sir." He strode to the comm room door and stepped through it, Wallace and David close behind him.

"Duran here, sir," reported Duran, heading south with his weapon pointed down. "I'm on the northwest corner of the balcony, moving south to render first aid to a wounded civilian." He reached Mitchell as the mechanic leaned against the wall and slumped down.

"This is Ortega," said Ortega over the airwaves. "Outside the comm room and also going to help a civilian." He hurried after Baldwin, as did Gary.

Baldwin staggered to the southeast corner of the balcony, doing his best to keep his insides from spilling out. Gary caught up with him. "Baldwin!" he said. "Hold up, man! You can't go anywhere like that, you need medical attention! Look, what happened wasn't your fault. It was that bastard Thayer."

"Just...leave me...alone..." croaked Baldwin, brushing him off.

In the comm room-
Malanowski and Wallace entered, blocking the doorway. David stood right behind them. "What do you think you're doing?" asked Wallace. "Lower your weapons! Haven't enough people died already?"

"Blanco!" yelled Carmichael from the speaker. "Where are you? What's your status?"

Lt. Blanco returned to the microphone and spoke into it. "Sorry, sir," she said. "I had to leave to try to save Lt. Malone. The captain shot her twice when fighting broke out, then Ramirez and Mikhalin wounded him. After I revived Malone, she went for her weapon and the captain shot her dead. Sir, this was caused by Airman Thayer. He opened fire on the civilians."

Mikhalin's eyes spilled tears when she heard the news over the radio, and she broke down briefly. "Murderer!" she shrieked, the hand with which she held the gun shaking. She doesn't even bother to address the captain as "sir." "You killed Malone in cold blood, and you got Nate killed too!"

"It was self-defense," said Captain Lereux. "She went for her weapon, you all saw it!"

"Not the first two times you shot her! This was all your fault! You brought these people here and caused all this!"

"No, it was Thayer who started this, remember? I only fired instinctively because I thought Ramirez had opened fire on me already when I heard the shots. All of this could have been avoided if Malone had just yielded the command back to me, or not seized it in the first place - or if Ramirez here hadn't gone turncoat."

In the medic's room-
"This is Phillips," the medic reported in. "I'm still in my room. Zorie Spooner is here too."

"Will you be okay on your own for now?" asked Zorie. Phillips nodded. "Now that it's stopped, I'd better go help the wounded." She opened the door and stepped outside. He locked and chained the door after her.

On the west side of the motel-
Zorie Spooner headed for the rope ladder. "Zorie Spooner here," she said into her microphone. "I'm heading back up to treat the wounded. I have the toolbox too."

On the motel's roof-
"Airman Sheen here," said Bobby Sheen. "Sergeant Black and I are both still on the roof. We're five by five." He peered into the low grass east of the diner to try to see what Luke was aiming at, and he finally saw them. He continued on the radio. "Twelve infected persons are crawling slowly through the grass about two hundred yards east of the diner." He turned to Black. "Do you want me to start shooting? I think the civie on the garage roof can plug them all before they reach the diner, so it could save me some ammo. Besides, people might get the wrong idea if they hear a rifle shot."

On the roof of the garage-
Luke could see the low grass to the east of the diner, where he knew the zombies had been crawling earlier. He had two rounds still left in his M-14, one in the chamber and another in the magazine.

(Luke, roll Spot Hidden to see the zombies in the grass again. No need for a Sanity roll since you've seen them already. If you succeed, you may fire one shot. Any hit to the head from the M-14 will finish any of them, so there's no need to roll damage. If you fail the Spot Hidden roll, you might want to reload a weapon while you have time. You can swap magazines in the M-14 or load two shells into the shotgun in the one combat round you have available. You can't see the zombies inside the diner from the garage roof.)

In the diner-
"Thayer did that?" muttered Hockey to himself. "I can't believe it." He spoke into his throat mic. "This is Hockey. I'm in the diner with the civie I rescued. It's falling to pieces and there's a lot of those ghouls inside eating the dead. I'm going below with the civilian to help his friends." He led the way downstairs.

In the helicopter-
The chopper flew by Ogallala to the south. North of the highway was the river, and past that the railroad tracks and Route 30 ran through the southern part of town. A large, lush green park was on the northwest corner of the city. Many buildings were still ablaze, and the undead prowled the streets much like they had in Sidney.

On the stairs-
"The shooting's stopped," said Willie. "Is that good or bad news?"

Hockey shrugged and put a finger to his lips as he neared the landing. He moved silently and sliced the pie, keeping his back to the wall as he swung around to look down the second flight of steps. The only zombies on them had already had their brains blown out. He gave Willie a thumbs up, and the cameraman joined him on the landing, though with a bit less stealth.

In the upper hatch chamber-
The lift reached the top of the short shaft, and Kerry hopped off and ran through the door. "We need a fresh 9-volt battery fast!" she called. "Check the warehouse! The people downstairs got attacked by a monster that may have infected them with something! One of them almost died, but they killed it!"

In the reception area-
Rosie helped Kimberly through the gate and across the reception area to the hallway leading deeper into the prison. Rosie clearly heard what Kerry was shouting and relayed the message back up to the warehouse. Kimberly heard the shout, but couldn't make out the words.

In the warehouse-
"Reload while you can, everyone!" said Michael. "The next wave could come any second now." He took his own advice and swapped out the 9mm magazine in his Glock for the only full one he had left. Sally did likewise with her M1911, and Randall reloaded his M-16.

(Joe Barring, roll Listen - this is not to hear what Rosie told you, that's automatic. Also, roll Idea. If you want to search for batteries, roll Spot Hidden, but if you do this you cannot do anything else this round, such as reloading or trying to unjam your shotgun.)

In the meeting room-
Ellen returned to the meeting room, and she and Mrs. Foo also took seats near the table. "What happen here?" asked the old woman, looking around in wonder at the graffiti and the disarray. "Messy, messy."

"Well, don't ask me to clean it," said Ellen. "I'm on my lunch break."

In the project manager's office-
Mr. Foo left the room, and Jenny locked the door. She looked nervously at the destroyed ventilation grille and then returned to try to help Alice, but she could do nothing more for her than make her comfortable. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm not really any good at this. My specialties are astronomy and physics. I don't know much about biology or medicine. If I keep trying, I'm as likely to make it worse as I am to make it better."

In the lower lab hallway-
"Dude," said Duke, "maybe it's not such a good idea to touch the dog. If we're infected with something we might spread it to him."

Max nodded and slipped through the door on the right. Duke peered through the window. "This lab looks like it's geared towards geology," he said. Then he crossed the hall and looked through the other lab's window. "This one's a biology lab! I'd recognize it anywhere, but the equipment's so antiquated."
 
In the Comm Room-

"Bullshit if I shot at you you would have felt it sir.
Permission to give an accrete report of what happed here sir to Carmichael?
Rameriz hands over his rifle.

In the Warehouse-

Joe hears nothing but comes up with an idea while
trying to unjam the gun but to no succusses.

On the Roof of the Motel-

"Don't fire on them your probaly right."
 
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