OCC-
Alice's Idea score is 85 after all. The listing on her character sheet is in error.
IC-
West of the motel-
Thayer and
Phillips continued reinforcing the barricade on the northwest staircase. It would take them about another four minutes to complete the job, but the stairs on the southwest corner would have to remain open until the gear was moved upstairs.
"After we finish this," suggested
Phillips, "we can make a rope ladder while we're waiting for them to move the equipment up there, to allow people to climb up and down from the balcony. We could also move more furniture near the stairs so it's ready when we are."
Just as
Corporal Alanen reached his new position, he
saw a man walking towards him through the tall grass about thirty yards to the northwest. Instead of placing the final Claymore, he raised his SAW and stood his ground. "Sergeant!" he called. "There's a guy in the grass coming this way! What are your orders?" He turned his attention to the man. "Hey, you! Stop where you are!"
(If anyone is going to take a shot, he needs to succeed at a Spot Hidden roll first in order to see the target.)
On the roof of the motel-
Black and
Sheen observed as the semi resumed its southward journey. It was approaching quickly.
(
Black and
Sheen may each roll Spot Hidden. Make sure you specify in which direction each of you is looking. If you succeed when looking to the west, you may take a shot at the man if you wish.)
In the comm room-
"Even if the Russians do have naval assets still in the Black Sea," said
Lereux, "I wouldn't necessarily rule them out as being responsible for Istanbul. For all we know they could have deliberately left some ships there to avert suspicion from themselves. It's worth checking out, however.
"First let's see what the other countries in the area are talking about. I don't think we've got anyone who speaks Chinese, though."
"Sir," said
Malone, "
what about Mr. Foo? He must know Chinese, and he's already familiar with the equipment."
"He's also quite possibly infected, and has had physical contact with at least one infected person. I won't risk him turning while he's in here and infecting any of my people. Not to mention that he's a potential security risk."
"Sir, I think it's worth taking a chance, considering-"
"Well, I don't! I won't have civilians in this facility. I'm in charge, and my decision is final. Is that clear,
Lieutenant?"
"Yes, sir."
Malone lowered her gaze, but didn't look too happy about it.
(
Malanowski,
Mikhalin, and
Lewis may each roll Psychology. Remember, if the skill is not listed on your character sheet, in this case the base value is 5%.)
"Good. Anyone else know of one of our people who speaks the lingo?"
Alexandria Mikhalin shrugged. "Sorry, sir.
I've got nothing."
"Hold on,
what about Zorie Spooner? She doesn't speak Chinese, but I believe she knows Hindi."
"Isn't
she a civilian, sir?" asked
Malone.
"You know what I meant,
Malone. She's one of our people, even if she's not military. She's wearing a level 4 Recal suit, so we know she's not infected. It'll be good to have a medical researcher here to analyze this intelligence too." He radioed her. "
Ms. Spooner, please report to the communications room in the motel."
Just then, a new alert came in. "Sir, ma'am," said
Mikhalin, "one of our nuclear submarines in the Sea of Japan just vanished!"
"Vanished?" asked
Malone.
"It just disappeared from the screens, ma'am. It was down pretty deep, nowhere near the surface."
"Could this be connected to the detonation over Istanbul?"
"It's possible, I suppose, but we don't have enough information."
North of the T-Bone-
"I'm on it, Corporal," said
Duran. "I haven't set the mine yet." He was already standing in the middle of the dirt road a short distance to the north. He put the Claymore away and raised his M-16 as the truck drew near. "Stop right there!" he called, holding up his left hand. He knew that if the truck didn't stop it could flatten him, but fortunately it slowed to a halt about thirty feet away.
Baldwin rolled down his window. "Let us pass, soldier! We got a whole mess of those things comin' after us and one of us is hurt!"
"
That ain't happening. And it's Airman, not soldier.
Airman Carlos Duran. Even if I wanted to let you past, I got orders to stop you. I was just about to mine this road."
"Look, if you leave us out here we're gonna die, brother!"
Kimberly rolled down the window on the passenger side and flashed her ID. "I'm a federal agent, and I've got two Nebraska State Troopers with me. We're on official business, now please let us by!"
Duran seemed to soften a little at her words. "Well, since you put it that way, hermana," he said, "let me see what I can do." He got on the radio to
Sergeant McCain. "Sarge, I stopped the truck. There's six people inside, including a very attractive lady fed." He looked closely at her. "
Her arm is bandaged. I think she's hurt. There's also a couple of State Troopers with her. They said a bunch of infected people are chasing them. I think we should let 'em by. There were also some gunshots recently, a few from the junkyard and one from the east."
At the junkyard-
David rocked
Alice gently in his arms and spoke soothingly. "It's okay," he said. "We're getting out of here. We've got the part now, so we can fix the truck and then go to your family's home in Idaho." He followed
Jimmy out of the junkyard. "Let's get to the garage and inside." As he emerged, he noticed the truck stopped on the road. "Hey,
Baldwin's back!"
In the parking lot-
"On my way!" replied
Zorie Spooner. She turned around and headed back to the motel.
Stephanie ran up to
Bo and threw her arms around him, hugging him tight. "I'm so glad to see you again," she said, resting her head on his chest. "I was so worried about you."
"
You were worried?" said
Bo, returning her embrace.
"Yeah, it looked like you were hurt. Did one of those things..."
"No, no, I got shot in the chest."
Stephanie gasped, then released him. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I might have hurt you squeezing you like that."
"Nah, I'm okay. My vest stopped the worst of it. We'll talk more inside." He put his arm around her and led her to the diner's entrance. "From now on, you don't go anywhere alone."
Rosie sighed as she watched them walk away. As much as she wished things could have been different, she was happy for them both.
Mr. Foo walked over to
Mrs. Foo, hugging and kissing her while exchanging words in Chinese.
"I realize you're happy to see each other," said
Angela Blanco as she walked towards the diner, "but shouldn't you avoid physical contact? If any of you are infected, that might spread it."
Stephanie turned her head back and smiled at her. "I don't think that's a danger, but I'm willing to take the risk. Coming,
Javier?"
"Well, I think it's sweet," said
Jenny. "Wish I had someone who cared about me like that."
Ellen fought back her tears.
Charlie's body lay just feet away, its head blown to bits.
East of the diner-
Mitchell looked around when he heard
Luke's rifle go off, but
he couldn't see what the hunter was shooting at.
Samantha, however,
spied the dog rushing towards them through the low grass to the east. Something human-sized would have been clearly visible, but the dog was hard to see.
"Look out!" she cried, raising her rifle to her shoulder and taking aim. The dog was running at quite a fast clip, and was almost upon them. She only had one shot, and she knew she had to make it count. She had done this sort of thing before, bringing down a grizzly bear with a tranquilizer dart before it could maul her. But a bear was a much bigger target and easier to hit.
Samantha fired as the dog burst from the grass,
drilling it perfectly between the eyes and
taking the creature's head right off. The body kept running for a few seconds before it collapsed.
Samantha looked at the remains thoughtfully. "Got it! You know, I've seen chickens run around after their heads were cut off, but I don't believe dogs do that. I bet it was already dead, just like the people that attacked us. If dogs are affected too, then any animal could be."
On the roof of the T-Bone-
"The truck's here,"
Beth called below, "but one of those military guys stopped it!"
In the diner-
"Oh my God," said
Stephanie as she saw the destruction.
Bo guided her carefully around the carnage and towards the hallway. "This way," he said. "The doc's downstairs."
"Downstairs?"
"Yeah, there's a huge warehouse down there, and more. There's a lot to tell you."
"I've got a whole lot to tell you, too. You wouldn't believe half of it."
"After the last few hours, I could believe anything." He led her into the ruins of the liquor closet and down the stairs.
Angela Blanco and
Javier Ramirez followed them inside.
Rosie,
Ellen, and
Jenny were close behind them.
"Say," said
Jenny, "do you know where we could find some guns? I feel so defenseless without one."
"There's some left in the crates they brought up," said
Rosie, "just outside the back door. No more pistols left, though, just long guns I think."
Underneath the T-Bone-
Dr. Hausmann noticed Azadeh stirring. "Try not to move so much, ja?" she said. "Is something wrong, Fraulein?"
"I...think I'm missing something," said
Azadeh. "Do you know who carried my things downstairs after the explosion? Has anyone been looking through my stuff?"
"You think someone stole something from you?"
"I'm not sure. It's probably nothing, maybe it got lost in the confusion or rolled into a corner or something."
Kerry kept eating, still oblivious to her surroundings.
In the reception area-
The party of explorers passed through the gate and looked around. The well-lit room inside the gate was exactly as they had left it. "There's the junction box I found," said
Robert, pointing it out.
"Thanks," said
Gary. He got his tools out and examined it. "Hmm...
I don't think I can do anything from here. We'll need to find the generator itself. Then I can run a line from there through this place and upstairs. But we're gonna need a lot of cable. Could be some back in the warehouse."
Looking around the room, the survivors could see a reception desk, some filing cabinets and empty bookshelves, and a whole lot of dust. A hallway at the back of the room led further into the complex.
(If
Duke wants to search the room, he should roll Spot Hidden.)
"Hey,
I just thought of something," said
Randall. "What about the gate? If we lock it behind us and the people up there need to get in, they'll be stuck. But if we don't, something could get out behind us. I guess we could leave someone behind on guard duty. I'll do it if nobody else wants to."