OOC- Sam Black may be jumping to conclusions about what he sees. You shouldn't assume you have an idea what a roll like Spot Hidden will reveal unless we've told you beforehand. Also, it seems he must be talking to Lereux, since he says "sir" and Lereux is the only male officer - if he's talking to McCain, he should say "Sergeant".
I was able to find the rolls for Joe Barring at Invisible Castle. All you need to do is click on "Find Rolls" and then look up the rolls by character name, in this case "Joe Barring".
IC-
In the helicopter-
After the truck went zooming by, the zombies on the road turned and tried to pursue the helicopter, but it too high for them to reach. Erica Spears turned to the west and opened the throttle again, quickly leaving them far behind and passing the truck.
"Doesn't look like there are any more large concentrations of them on the road ahead," she said. "We need to start thinking about setting this bird down some place safe. It occurred to me that anything could have happened at the T-Bone. Considering that smoke, I don't think it's good. We could be flying into a mess."
"Good point," said Kimberly, looking nervously at her bandaged arm. "We don't want to land too far away, though. We'll have to head back on foot, and it'll be a pain to bring the rest of the fuel out to it."
Erica looked below as the chopper soared overhead. "There isn't really a good place to set down near the T-Bone," she said. "In fact, I can't see any place else suitable down there."
"Me neither," said the federal agent. "We may not have any choice. Michael, do you see anything?"
(Michael, roll Spot Hidden.)
On Route 30-
"That was too close," said Baldwin, shaking his head. "I hope there aren't that many more of them ahead of us." He glanced in the side window at the ghouls in the road behind them. Some had been bowled over by the speeding rig, but they were getting back on their feet. The helicopter flew past and was soon out of sight.
(Joe Barring, roll Spot Hidden.)
West of the motel-
Airman Thayer watched from the balcony as the three helicopters disappeared in the distance and covered Corporal Alanen as he ventured into the field to the northwest of the motel. The corporal found a good spot to plant his first mine, placed it so that the cone of fire faced northwest, and armed it. Then he hustled off to the south to set the next Claymore.
On the roof of the motel-
As Sergeant Black scanned their surroundings, he noticed the dozens of dead bodies littering the field to the west, riddled with machine gun bullets. He swept around in a circle and saw little other movement, but then paused as he spotted something on the highway. A woman was dragging herself out of a wrecked car with one arm, the other one hanging from her side and apparently broken. She rose and began to stumble across the highway towards the turnoff leading to the T-Bone and the motel.
(Sergeant Black and Airman Bobby Sheen may now act again. If either one is going to shoot the woman, remember that there is a -5% penalty for a headshot. Anyone who isn't shooting may roll Spot Hidden to see if he notices anything else, but anyone who is shooting will need to use his full attention to aim and cannot also look around.)
In the Comm Room-
"Hold on there, Lewis," said Lt. Malone. "We've already got the gear working, so let's not tinker with it just yet. I'm not sure what you're trying to do exactly, or even how to use this antique. If you're planning on shutting it down so we can bring it upstairs, let's get a handle on the world situation first."
She then spoke into the microphone again: "Colonel, one of these messages was from Langley. It says that they are being overrun and that they can no longer support the communications network. The timestamp is close to half an hour old. I don't know how long this station will remain operational."
"Understood, Lieutenant," responded Carmichael. "For as long as it does, however, you are to continue operations."
"Yes, sir. If the network does go down, how are we to return to base?"
"We'll have to get back to you on that. In the meantime, your orders are to hold until relieved. Hold until relieved."
"Yes, sir." Malone shuffled through the messages. "There are a couple here from Diego Garcia, describing their observations of the effects of nuclear weapons on the infected."
"And-"
"And it appears that while many of the infected were slain close to ground zero, sir, there is actually an increase in the infection's spread in the surrounding areas. Hmm. Sir, I've had a thought. What if the radiation is somehow making the outbreak worse?"
"Possible, but we'd need more data."
"I shall endeavor to collect it, sir, but I would advise against any use of nuclear weapons until we know more. The risks are simply too high."
"I agree, Malone. I'll forward this recommendation to the CO, but I'm not certain he'll listen to me. Keep me posted."
(Mikhalin, roll Electronics to familiarize yourself with using the communications gear.)
East of the motel-
"I'm on it, Sarge," said Airman Carlos Duran. He picked up a few signs stacked near the ammo crate. Each of them had a large biohazard symbol on it and read in large letters: "Approach no closer! This area is under quarantine by the United States Armed Forces. Anyone passing beyond this point may be met with deadly force." Then he jogged off to the highway south of the motel. As he arrived, he too noticed the injured woman on the road. She seemed to notice him too and started to walk towards him. She was only about fifteen yards away. He keyed his microphone. "Uh, Sergeant McCain - there's a woman here, badly hurt. Her arm looks broken. I don't know if she's infected or not. What are your orders?"
"Hang on, I'm comin'!" called Airman Steve Phillips. The medic hurriedly moved closer to back up Duran.
Between the motel and the T-Bone-
"Those were my thoughts exactly," said Angela Blanco to Ramirez.
"Sergeant Black," said Captain Lereux into his radio, "is this something you and McCain can handle, or is my attention truly needed? I'm rather busy at the moment." He looked back at the others. "Damn straight, Ramirez. Nobody who's potentially infected or a potential security risk sets foot in that motel. Period. Now, the computers, please..."
"Okay," said Stephanie. She sat down and put the carrying cases gently on the ground. She next opened up the one with her own computer, carefully unwrapped the foil, and examined it. Fortunately, the damage was only minimal, and it booted up with no problem.
"Why did you wrap your computer in tin foil?"
"It's a Faraday cage, to protect it in case of a nearby electromagnetic pulse. As long as everybody's sensible enough not to set off a nuke around here it should be okay to expose it for now. Looks like only superficial damage to the casing. The computer itself still works." She spun the laptop around so he could see the screen.
"Slide the computer over here." Stephanie complied, and Lereux bent down and picked it up. He opened up the Start menu and selected My Recent Documents, then opened up a report she had written the night before about her latest findings on the Leonid compound. He crinkled his brow as he skimmed the text, then looked intently into Stephanie's eyes. "Reading this is making my head hurt. Dr. Blanco, you're the expert." He handed the laptop to the doctor. "Look through these files and tell me what in the hell they're talking about."
Angela looked at Stephanie with puzzlement. When the other scientist nodded, she began to examine the file. "Yes, sir," she said.
"Good." Lereux turned back to Stephanie. "Now the other one."
(Ramirez and Zorie Spooner, roll Psychology and Idea. Since Zorie doesn't have the Psychology skill, she rolls against the base of 5%.)
In the parking lot-
David smirked, gathered two armfuls of lumber, and followed Alice back to the gathered survivors behind the diner. "I didn't mean we'd practice here," he said. "We don't have the time to spare anyhow now, but there are lots of trees between here and Idaho. Maybe we'll find us a lumberjack somewhere too. I can help fix the tanker, but we're gonna need the parts from the junkyard and some help to get it done fast. Maybe Mitchell and that new kid Jimmy can lend a hand. I know you're not a slut. I haven't seen you act like this around anyone but me, and that's just because I'm irresistible to women. And my equipment is much bigger than you think. Maybe when we get some privacy I can prove it to you."
East of the diner-
Alice and David arrived and rejoined the others. "Here's some wood to help shore up the access to the basement," said the trucker, handing his lumber to Duke. "We can't stay here long, though. We need to get organized, get packed, and get moving as soon as possible. We already have a route planned out. We need someone to take an inventory of working vehicles. Jimmy, I want you to help me fix Wallace's tanker. We're going to need that gas on the road. Where's Mitchell? We can use him too."
"Our Outback holds seven," said Mrs. Foo. "It parked at garage, so it should be okay." She counted off on her fingers. "My husband will drive, I go with, also Missy Ellen. That leaves four more seats."
(Alice, roll Persuade if you want to try to convince people to come to Idaho.)
In the diner-
"If I can't fix this," said Gary, "ain't nobody can. Robert, why don't you and Duke lend me a hand? Bring me that lumber and then start tearing down that loose roofing I pointed out earlier. I'll work on shoring up what's left of the liquor closet. Luke, maybe you should recruit and organize people to act as sentries."
Gary got to work packing the debris to fill the gaps in the walls and keep the roof from caving in on the liquor closet. Almost anyone else would have had no luck, but he was among the best. Robert collected some of the lumber and brought it to him.
Mitchell gathered some food and bottles of soda from the fridge and carried them downstairs.
Underneath the T-Bone-
Lynne backed away, and Dr. Hausmann clucked as she examined Azadeh. "She is in bad shape," she said. "Maybe internal injuries, too. It is a miracle she is alive at all." The doctor got busy, her one good hand easily doing the work of two. She managed to stitch up the unconscious woman's wounds, but the damage to her body was too extensive to repair further outside a hospital.
Azadeh coughed and her eyes fluttered open. She seemed to be trying to speak. "Shh," said the doctor. "Try not to talk just yet, Fraulein. You are badly hurt, but alive, ja?"
Sally rooted through the medical kit and found some sedatives. She measured out the proper dose and injected it into Kerry's arm while Lynne held her still. The distraught woman soon stopped screaming and hugged herself, shivering and crying.
Mitchell came downstairs and brought the food and drink over to Kerry.
Max curled up in a corner and closed his eyes again, trying to ignore the commotion and get some rest.
"I think there's a good chance that State Police chopper will get through," said Bo, taking a box of fifty shotgun shells and another twenty in a smaller box from one of the crates. "If it does, it'll take about half an hour to refuel it. It'll still need to be refueled some more between here and Omaha, though." He looked around the warehouse. "I don't see any rags here. I did have a gun cleaning kit, but I left it in my cruiser. Those .45s will need cleaning too."
"Here's a couple," said Lynne as she poked through a weapons crate. She pulled out two gun cleaning kits, handed one to Jim Kerr, and started wiping down her new pistol with the other.
"Jim," said Dr. Hausmann, "we must wait to see if the chopper gets here. The roads are not safe for travel. It will take some time to treat people anyway. If the chopper does not make it, then we have no choice but to go by road. Bob, I'll look at your wounds next. Then I take that bullet out of you, Trooper."
Bo nodded. "Thanks, Doctor. I'll make sure that you and Stephanie get through to Omaha, one way or another."
I was able to find the rolls for Joe Barring at Invisible Castle. All you need to do is click on "Find Rolls" and then look up the rolls by character name, in this case "Joe Barring".
IC-
In the helicopter-
After the truck went zooming by, the zombies on the road turned and tried to pursue the helicopter, but it too high for them to reach. Erica Spears turned to the west and opened the throttle again, quickly leaving them far behind and passing the truck.
"Doesn't look like there are any more large concentrations of them on the road ahead," she said. "We need to start thinking about setting this bird down some place safe. It occurred to me that anything could have happened at the T-Bone. Considering that smoke, I don't think it's good. We could be flying into a mess."
"Good point," said Kimberly, looking nervously at her bandaged arm. "We don't want to land too far away, though. We'll have to head back on foot, and it'll be a pain to bring the rest of the fuel out to it."
Erica looked below as the chopper soared overhead. "There isn't really a good place to set down near the T-Bone," she said. "In fact, I can't see any place else suitable down there."
"Me neither," said the federal agent. "We may not have any choice. Michael, do you see anything?"
(Michael, roll Spot Hidden.)
On Route 30-
"That was too close," said Baldwin, shaking his head. "I hope there aren't that many more of them ahead of us." He glanced in the side window at the ghouls in the road behind them. Some had been bowled over by the speeding rig, but they were getting back on their feet. The helicopter flew past and was soon out of sight.
(Joe Barring, roll Spot Hidden.)
West of the motel-
Airman Thayer watched from the balcony as the three helicopters disappeared in the distance and covered Corporal Alanen as he ventured into the field to the northwest of the motel. The corporal found a good spot to plant his first mine, placed it so that the cone of fire faced northwest, and armed it. Then he hustled off to the south to set the next Claymore.
On the roof of the motel-
As Sergeant Black scanned their surroundings, he noticed the dozens of dead bodies littering the field to the west, riddled with machine gun bullets. He swept around in a circle and saw little other movement, but then paused as he spotted something on the highway. A woman was dragging herself out of a wrecked car with one arm, the other one hanging from her side and apparently broken. She rose and began to stumble across the highway towards the turnoff leading to the T-Bone and the motel.
(Sergeant Black and Airman Bobby Sheen may now act again. If either one is going to shoot the woman, remember that there is a -5% penalty for a headshot. Anyone who isn't shooting may roll Spot Hidden to see if he notices anything else, but anyone who is shooting will need to use his full attention to aim and cannot also look around.)
In the Comm Room-
"Hold on there, Lewis," said Lt. Malone. "We've already got the gear working, so let's not tinker with it just yet. I'm not sure what you're trying to do exactly, or even how to use this antique. If you're planning on shutting it down so we can bring it upstairs, let's get a handle on the world situation first."
She then spoke into the microphone again: "Colonel, one of these messages was from Langley. It says that they are being overrun and that they can no longer support the communications network. The timestamp is close to half an hour old. I don't know how long this station will remain operational."
"Understood, Lieutenant," responded Carmichael. "For as long as it does, however, you are to continue operations."
"Yes, sir. If the network does go down, how are we to return to base?"
"We'll have to get back to you on that. In the meantime, your orders are to hold until relieved. Hold until relieved."
"Yes, sir." Malone shuffled through the messages. "There are a couple here from Diego Garcia, describing their observations of the effects of nuclear weapons on the infected."
"And-"
"And it appears that while many of the infected were slain close to ground zero, sir, there is actually an increase in the infection's spread in the surrounding areas. Hmm. Sir, I've had a thought. What if the radiation is somehow making the outbreak worse?"
"Possible, but we'd need more data."
"I shall endeavor to collect it, sir, but I would advise against any use of nuclear weapons until we know more. The risks are simply too high."
"I agree, Malone. I'll forward this recommendation to the CO, but I'm not certain he'll listen to me. Keep me posted."
(Mikhalin, roll Electronics to familiarize yourself with using the communications gear.)
East of the motel-
"I'm on it, Sarge," said Airman Carlos Duran. He picked up a few signs stacked near the ammo crate. Each of them had a large biohazard symbol on it and read in large letters: "Approach no closer! This area is under quarantine by the United States Armed Forces. Anyone passing beyond this point may be met with deadly force." Then he jogged off to the highway south of the motel. As he arrived, he too noticed the injured woman on the road. She seemed to notice him too and started to walk towards him. She was only about fifteen yards away. He keyed his microphone. "Uh, Sergeant McCain - there's a woman here, badly hurt. Her arm looks broken. I don't know if she's infected or not. What are your orders?"
"Hang on, I'm comin'!" called Airman Steve Phillips. The medic hurriedly moved closer to back up Duran.
Between the motel and the T-Bone-
"Those were my thoughts exactly," said Angela Blanco to Ramirez.
"Sergeant Black," said Captain Lereux into his radio, "is this something you and McCain can handle, or is my attention truly needed? I'm rather busy at the moment." He looked back at the others. "Damn straight, Ramirez. Nobody who's potentially infected or a potential security risk sets foot in that motel. Period. Now, the computers, please..."
"Okay," said Stephanie. She sat down and put the carrying cases gently on the ground. She next opened up the one with her own computer, carefully unwrapped the foil, and examined it. Fortunately, the damage was only minimal, and it booted up with no problem.
"Why did you wrap your computer in tin foil?"
"It's a Faraday cage, to protect it in case of a nearby electromagnetic pulse. As long as everybody's sensible enough not to set off a nuke around here it should be okay to expose it for now. Looks like only superficial damage to the casing. The computer itself still works." She spun the laptop around so he could see the screen.
"Slide the computer over here." Stephanie complied, and Lereux bent down and picked it up. He opened up the Start menu and selected My Recent Documents, then opened up a report she had written the night before about her latest findings on the Leonid compound. He crinkled his brow as he skimmed the text, then looked intently into Stephanie's eyes. "Reading this is making my head hurt. Dr. Blanco, you're the expert." He handed the laptop to the doctor. "Look through these files and tell me what in the hell they're talking about."
Angela looked at Stephanie with puzzlement. When the other scientist nodded, she began to examine the file. "Yes, sir," she said.
"Good." Lereux turned back to Stephanie. "Now the other one."
(Ramirez and Zorie Spooner, roll Psychology and Idea. Since Zorie doesn't have the Psychology skill, she rolls against the base of 5%.)
In the parking lot-
David smirked, gathered two armfuls of lumber, and followed Alice back to the gathered survivors behind the diner. "I didn't mean we'd practice here," he said. "We don't have the time to spare anyhow now, but there are lots of trees between here and Idaho. Maybe we'll find us a lumberjack somewhere too. I can help fix the tanker, but we're gonna need the parts from the junkyard and some help to get it done fast. Maybe Mitchell and that new kid Jimmy can lend a hand. I know you're not a slut. I haven't seen you act like this around anyone but me, and that's just because I'm irresistible to women. And my equipment is much bigger than you think. Maybe when we get some privacy I can prove it to you."
East of the diner-
Alice and David arrived and rejoined the others. "Here's some wood to help shore up the access to the basement," said the trucker, handing his lumber to Duke. "We can't stay here long, though. We need to get organized, get packed, and get moving as soon as possible. We already have a route planned out. We need someone to take an inventory of working vehicles. Jimmy, I want you to help me fix Wallace's tanker. We're going to need that gas on the road. Where's Mitchell? We can use him too."
"Our Outback holds seven," said Mrs. Foo. "It parked at garage, so it should be okay." She counted off on her fingers. "My husband will drive, I go with, also Missy Ellen. That leaves four more seats."
(Alice, roll Persuade if you want to try to convince people to come to Idaho.)
In the diner-
"If I can't fix this," said Gary, "ain't nobody can. Robert, why don't you and Duke lend me a hand? Bring me that lumber and then start tearing down that loose roofing I pointed out earlier. I'll work on shoring up what's left of the liquor closet. Luke, maybe you should recruit and organize people to act as sentries."
Gary got to work packing the debris to fill the gaps in the walls and keep the roof from caving in on the liquor closet. Almost anyone else would have had no luck, but he was among the best. Robert collected some of the lumber and brought it to him.
Mitchell gathered some food and bottles of soda from the fridge and carried them downstairs.
Underneath the T-Bone-
Lynne backed away, and Dr. Hausmann clucked as she examined Azadeh. "She is in bad shape," she said. "Maybe internal injuries, too. It is a miracle she is alive at all." The doctor got busy, her one good hand easily doing the work of two. She managed to stitch up the unconscious woman's wounds, but the damage to her body was too extensive to repair further outside a hospital.
Azadeh coughed and her eyes fluttered open. She seemed to be trying to speak. "Shh," said the doctor. "Try not to talk just yet, Fraulein. You are badly hurt, but alive, ja?"
Sally rooted through the medical kit and found some sedatives. She measured out the proper dose and injected it into Kerry's arm while Lynne held her still. The distraught woman soon stopped screaming and hugged herself, shivering and crying.
Mitchell came downstairs and brought the food and drink over to Kerry.
Max curled up in a corner and closed his eyes again, trying to ignore the commotion and get some rest.
"I think there's a good chance that State Police chopper will get through," said Bo, taking a box of fifty shotgun shells and another twenty in a smaller box from one of the crates. "If it does, it'll take about half an hour to refuel it. It'll still need to be refueled some more between here and Omaha, though." He looked around the warehouse. "I don't see any rags here. I did have a gun cleaning kit, but I left it in my cruiser. Those .45s will need cleaning too."
"Here's a couple," said Lynne as she poked through a weapons crate. She pulled out two gun cleaning kits, handed one to Jim Kerr, and started wiping down her new pistol with the other.
"Jim," said Dr. Hausmann, "we must wait to see if the chopper gets here. The roads are not safe for travel. It will take some time to treat people anyway. If the chopper does not make it, then we have no choice but to go by road. Bob, I'll look at your wounds next. Then I take that bullet out of you, Trooper."
Bo nodded. "Thanks, Doctor. I'll make sure that you and Stephanie get through to Omaha, one way or another."
