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

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Concrete Divider

"Sir! Civie Truck. Orders?!" He asked again, watching Cole jump the divider.

Underneath the T-Bone

Duke switched on his flashlight, Testing the battery

West of the T-Bone

Wallace attempted to make room. "What about the undead fuckers that are on our tail?" He asked. "Need to take care of them...
 
Occ- My bad roll for Alice Sainity and then 10 points off caused me to role play it the way I am, if this is not what someone who has just took a massive blow to thier sainity would do I am glad to change it. Otherwise it is an interesting role play and i would like to see how I can do in this case.

IC:

West side of the motel:
McCain saw the wolf stop moving and his M-4 went back to his side so he would not accidently shoot anyone of his team. "Good job, Thayer, now get back to building the barricade." He got on his radio, "To anyone near the truck, stop them until we get other orders. If they refuse to stop, shoot to wound, not kill. Any questions?" McCain then looked around at the field but failed to see anything to be worried about.

In the Comm Room:
Lewis listened to the Russian for a minute then sat back in his chair and rubbed his beard thinking of what to do to carry out the orders given in reguards to this phase of the mission. An idea occured to him and he stood up quickly. "Sir, I think I know how to figure out what is going on!", he said.

In the junkyard:
Alice screamed in terror as the thought of what could have occured passed through her mind. She crumpled to the ground crying in terror unable to move, think, or even breath in more then shallow gasps as her heart pounded in her chest. She began to see creatures running at her and rolled into a protective ball screaming "Get them Away, I don't want to die"


In the warhouse basement, underneath the T-bone:
As the group left, Jim stared hard at Dr. Hausemann. He quickly studied her and realized why she was acting the way she was. Going up to her he put his arms around her giving her a friendly hug and then said, "I will stay if that is what you truly feel is right for me to do, please accept my apology. I just feel so helpless here you know what I mean?"
 
On the north road-
"We can't do that here," said Baldwin as his new passengers tried to find room. "There's just six of us, and we're low on ammo. Even if we could take out all of the ones chasing us, more would take their places by the time we finished. Those things will follow us back to the T-Bone, but I don't think there's anything we can do about it until we get there." He put the truck into gear and started driving south. "Once we're there we can find a better defensive position to fight them off, then bring the rest of that fuel back to the chopper. Hopefully those military guys will do something about them. Can't ram them with my truck, or they'll get caught under my wheels. Unless anyone's got a better idea, I don't see any choice."

West of the motel-
"Yes, Sergeant," said Thayer. He rejoined Phillips in constructing the barricade.

In the comm room-
It occurred to Lewis that other countries in the region might have observed the detonation and have more intelligence on its source. From his limited experience with the communications gear, he knew that it was only capable of listening in on East Asia. It covered eastern Russia, China, Mongolia, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Bangladesh, and parts of India. If they couldn't understand the Russians, perhaps they could listen in on the other countries. But who did they know of who could understand the languages?

He also realized that ships could no longer pass through the Bosporus strait between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. It might be worth checking to see if any Russian naval assets were still in the Black Sea. Would the Russians have nuked Istanbul if that were the case?

"I'm listening, Airman," said Captain Lereux.

In the junkyard-
When David saw the state Alice was in, he handed the part to Jimmy and knelt beside her. "It's okay," he said. "You're safe now. I killed it." He picked her up, one arm underneath her knees and the other supporting her back. "I'll protect you, Alice. I won't let anything happen to you. We're getting out of here now. We're going some place safe." He carried her towards the exit, with Jimmy leading the way.

East of the diner-
Luke's sharp vision caught sight of a large dog, probably a German shepherd, a short distance to the east. It was running towards the people gathered behind the diner at high speed.

(If Luke wants to shoot at it, there is a -15% penalty to hit with another -5% penalty for a headshot.)

Underneath the T-Bone-
The flashlight turned on instantly when Duke flicked the switch. The batteries were fresh and had plenty of juice.

"Thank you, Jim," said Dr. Hausmann. "Apology accepted. We are all under a lot of stress. I know how you feel. Please, stay with me and protect me. I'm glad you're not going down there after all."

Azadeh inspected her weapons and reloaded both of them. Then she looked through the rest of her things, a puzzled expression crossing her face.
 
In the Junkyard:
Alice reacted to David's touch and moved in his arms calling out, "Leave me alone, Leave me alone!" She tried to get down and when she could not she put her thumb in her mouth and sucked it, moaning under her breath.

In the Comm Room:
Lewis looked at the people in the room and said, "Sir it occured to me that there are other countries in the region that might have observed the detonation and have more intelligence on its source. Now i have only spent a few minutes with this communication gear but it is only capable of listening in on East Asia. That means we can only get eastern Russia, China, Mongolia, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Bangladsh, and maybe India on a good day. But if we cannot understand the Russians, why not listen in on those other countries. We only need someone who can undersand those languages.
Also, ships can no longer pass through the Bosporus strait. It might be worth checking to see if there are any Russian naval assets in the Black Sea. If that is the case, why would the Russians have nuked Istanbul?"
 
OCC- I had forgotten about the Idea roll rule: if you lose 5 or more Sanity at once, you get to make an Idea roll, and if you fail the roll then you avoid temporary insanity. Luckily for Alice, she failed hers, so she is not temporarily insane. She is still very badly shaken, of course.

Another Sanity rule that will come in - well, handy - is that once you have lost the maximum amount of Sanity you could lose for seeing a monster once, you lose no more for seeing that same type of monster for a while. Alice lost 10 Sanity for seeing a zombie, so she is now immune to further Sanity loss for seeing zombies for the time being (human, canine, or otherwise) - she's used to it. Anyone who loses a total of 10 Sanity for seeing zombies likewise won't lose any more for some time.

This immunity will probably last for the duration of the chapter, to keep things simple. However, if the chapter goes on for quite a bit of game time, it may end sooner. While Alice can't lose any more Sanity from seeing zombies until it expires, she can still lose Sanity in other ways. If she loses even 2 more points in the same timeframe, she will go indefinitely insane, which happens when someone loses 20% or more of their current Sanity within a short period of time.

I plan to post a major update on Tuesday or Wednesday. If there's something you want one or more of your characters to do and have not yet posted for them, please do so.

EDIT: Alice's Idea score is 75, not 85 as I mistakenly typed at Invisible Castle. The roll is a failure in any case.
 
OCC- Yes, that's fine. She might want to take her thumb out of her mouth before she speaks, of course. :wink:
 
OOC- What would the ramifications of persuading Baldwin to turn the undead behind them into dirt-road-spinart be?
 
OOC- Maybe we should move this discussion to the OOC thread.

First, he'd have to succeed at a Persuade roll, which is hard with only a 32% skill. You can roll that if you want to. Baldwin already mentioned some of the possible difficulties involved, and as a trucker Wallace knows that he's right. You would also have to turn the truck around on a narrow dirt road, which won't be easy (a Drive Truck roll would be required). If successful, another Drive Truck roll would be required to ram the zombies. Failure on either of these rolls could mean getting the truck stuck...with a large group of zombies closing in. This would be a bad thing, especially keeping in mind that most of the people in the truck are low on ammo.
 
Concrete divider -

"Hockey, I need you cool. Are you cool?" Cole replies still standing on the divider "Then stop being so fucking jumpy, get a grip."

"And don't fucking sir me, mkay?" as he looks at the approaching civie truck.

"We got an incomming civie truck. I think they're headed for the claymore. Someone might want to intercept them..." Cole says over the radio.


East of the diner -

Luke grumbles as his shot misses the infected German shepherd. He readjusts the scope's zero and readies himself for another shot.
 
Concrete Devider

"Corp- err." Said Hockey. "Yeah... Yeah - I'm chilly. Theirs nothing about this fucking day thats chilly- but I'm pretty damn chilly, all things consitered." Said Hockey.
 
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."
 
West Side of the Motel:
McCain sighed deeply longing for a drink and allowed him some hope that the motel had some beer for later that evening when he was off duty. He then spoke into his radio mike, "Corporal Alanen, if the man refuses to stop then shoot him but try to hit his knees and only wound him. That order goes for Black and Sheen if you see the man continue to advance. Airman Duran let the truck come on through but have it pull up to the motel for medical checkups first. Also before you do that pick someone to hold hostage for good behavior by the rest of the truck group. Any questions?"



In the Comm Room:
Lewis stared at Captain Lereux for a brief minute trying to get a read on why he was being such an ass. But try as he might he could not figure it out. He stood up, took a deep breath and then going over to the Captain said, "Sir, respectufully I think that you are wrong in your orders about the civilians. They know what is going on here better then we do since they were here last night. When I was going through basic my Airman told me that a good leader uses his assets. You are not doing that. Instead you are acting like General Custer who got his man killed. I will not be some martyr for you or anyone. That of course if just my opinon." Lewis stared at Lereux for a minute then turned his back on him.

In the Junkyard:
Alice suddenly realized that she was being carried by David and that her thumb was in her mouth. Taking it out of her mouth she looked at David and said, "Why are you carrying me, am I wounded, was I bit? Let me down" She then realized that she did not have her carbine and sitting up in David's arms quickly she said, "Did someone grab my weapon, I remember it falling as I hit the ground. Please tell me you got it!"

In the warehouse basement:
Jim stopped pacing long enough to see if he heard anyone down in the tunnels. He wanted to be prepared to fight if he heard a scream for instance. But he did not hear a gol darn thing. He resumed pacing back and forth, back and forth.
 
Reception Area

"Gimme a second, guys. Lemme see if I can't find something of value dow here" Said duke. He begins to search the surfaces of the room for anything of use, but finds nothing
 
On patrol -

"Thanks, hon." Luke yells to Samantha.


Underneath the T-Bone -

Bob frowns as Azadeh stirs. What could be so important to have when you just escaped death by a hair... Did she have something to hide?


The concrete divider -

"Hockey, same as before, eyes front, I'll cover that truck, you cover the civies at the diner." Cole says as he jumps back into cover and checks if his M203 is properly loaded. If needed, he'd blow that rig to kingdom come...
 
Concrete Divider

"Yeah... Sure thing, Corporal... Just a bit stir-crazy." Said Hockey. Hockey craned his head "Corporal. Why don't a fire team perform a Thorough sweep-and-clear out behind the garage? Try'n'stey any hostiles from catch'n us with our pants down?
 
EDIT: OOC- Welcome back, Gonzalez! I submitted my post just after you did, so your characters may all act again now. The Psychology roll that Malanowski made is really a success, since his skill is 34%. I'll send you a PM about his Psych roll later.

IC-
West of the motel-
"Roger that, Sergeant," said Alanen. The man continued to approach. He knew his SAW was deadly - too deadly, in fact, to just wound a man in the legs without killing him. It would also burn ammo like crazy. He slung his M-249 on his back and drew his sidearm, a Colt M1911A1 .45 automatic pistol.

Still the man did not stop. Alanen took aim at his legs and fired, hitting him in the kneecap and blowing a huge hole in it. The man, however, didn't fall and kept coming, dragging his crippled leg. "I got him pretty good in the knee but he's still up and moving closer!" called Alanen. "He's got to be infected!"

Thayer and Phillips shored up the barricade further.

On the roof of the motel-
Black could not see the man in the field yet. Both snipers noticed the truck pulling up and Duran stopping it.

(Again, Black and Sheen may each roll Spot Hidden and specify a direction in which to look, and Black may take a shot if he sees the zombie in the grass to the west. Sheen already saw the zombie, so he can shoot even if he doesn't succeed at Spot Hidden again. However, he cannot fire this round since his rifle has a rate of fire of 1/2.)

In the comm room-
Captain Lereux got on the radio. "Belay that order, Duran," he said. "Nobody gets through our perimeter without my express permission, and that truck is certainly not getting near this motel. I'll be out there in a minute."

Next he turned to Lewis, a vein bulging in his neck. "I am doing what I'm doing precisely because I don't want my men killed," he said, making an effort to keep his voice calm and steady. "You don't have to understand or agree with my orders, just obey them. Your opinion is noted, Airman. I don't have time for you now, but I'll deal with you later." With that, he turned and hustled out of the room.

Mikhalin watched the exchange with interest, then returned to her duties.

Lt. Elizabeth Malone finally got used to using the equipment. "The Russians do have some ships stuck in the Black Sea," she said, analyzing the information she was gathering. "There are also Russian naval assets in the Sea of Japan, just a few dozen miles south of where our sub disappeared. They're moving south at high speed. And there's a Russian fleet in the eastern Mediterranean, and it's moving west. I'm getting some more Russian radio traffic. Let's see if we can make out what they're saying."

(Mikhalin, roll Russian. Mikhalin, Lewis, and Malanowski, roll Idea.)

East of the motel-
Captain Lereux emerged from the motel as Zorie Spooner arrived. "Ah, there you are," he said. "Come with me to the truck. I need you to check out our new arrivals. One of them is injured. After that, I'll need you in the comm room. Your knowledge of medicine and fluency in Hindi could be useful."

"Sure thing, Captain," said Zorie. She followed him north along the road.

North of the T-Bone-
"I'm sorry," said Duran. "You'll have to wait for the captain to clear you before you can proceed. What happened to your arm?"

Kimberly loaded a shell into her shotgun while she waited to replace the one she had fired on the road. That only left her with one extra shell. Her wound was itching too, and she really wanted to get it looked at. She saw the captain and a woman in an orange suit coming up the road from the south.

Kimberly hesitated. "Why don't I wait for the doctor to get here, so I don't have to explain everything twice?"

Erica Spears swapped out the clip from her Beretta for a fresh one. The cab was very cramped with six people, but for the short distance they'd needed to travel it had been tolerable.

Captain Lereux and Zorie Spooner reached the truck. The captain's watch beeped. It was precisely 1100 hours.

(Zorie Spooner, roll Spot Hidden.)

At the concrete divider-
As Cole watched the truck, he saw the captain and Zorie Spooner arrive. Hockey kept his eyes on the T-Bone.

(Cole and Hockey, roll Spot Hidden.)

Outside the junkyard-
David set Alice down on her own two feet and looked her over with obvious enjoyment. "You look just fine to me," he said. "I wasn't sure earlier, the way you were screaming. Don't worry, I've got your carbine. I wouldn't leave this behind." He unslung the Winchester from his shoulder and handed it back to her. "Come on, the sooner we fix the tanker, the sooner we can get this show on the road." He followed Jimmy over to the garage as the boy loaded a new shell into his shotgun.

At the garage-
David, Alice, and Jimmy reached the garage. Wallace's truck was parked with the cab poking out of an open bay. It obstructed their vision, but they could see bodies lying on the floor of the garage beyond it.

(Alice, roll Listen, Spot Hidden, and Idea.)

In the parking lot-
"May we come inside?" asked Mr. Foo. "Perhaps there's some place in there where I can be kept isolated and under observation, but I don't believe I'm infected. From what Stephanie said, I couldn't be."

"Well, you're not showing any symptoms," called back Lt. Angela Blanco, "so if even if you are infected we've got time to get you somewhere isolated. Stephanie's probably right about how this virus is transmitted, anyway. Okay, come with me.

The Foos entered the diner and followed the doctor.

East of the diner-
"Any time," Samantha called back to Luke. "Keep your eyes open, people. There could be more of them about." She approached the decapitated zombie dog and examined the body and the severed head closely.

Jenny Cooper and Ellen Cody came out the back door of the diner and made their way over to the crates of weapons. "Oh, yeah!" said Ellen, taking Hammond's shotgun and a box of 12 gauge shells from one of the crates.

"I'm not too bad a shot with a rifle," said Jenny, sorting through the weapons. "I've done a bit of hunting, but not that much." She smiled as she took the M-16 and several magazines. "Nice." She loaded the weapon and began cleaning it off.

(Luke and Ellen Cody, roll Spot Hidden.)

On the roof of the T-Bone-
Beth began to take a good look at the T-Bone's surroundings, more alert than ever to the possibility of more threats.

In the diner-
"This way," said Angela Blanco as she and Javier Ramirez followed Stephanie and Bo down the stairs.

Rosie helped the Foos cross the ruined front area of the diner towards the hallway and the liquor closet.

Underneath the T-Bone-
"What is it you are missing?" asked Dr. Hausmann.

"Oh, some of my ammo," said Azadeh. "Either I lost it in the confusion, or someone took it while I was unconscious thinking I wouldn't need it. Now that I'm awake, though, I'd like it back. I used a lot of it earlier and I don't have much left."

"I didn't see anyone looking through your things, but I didn't get here all that long ago. There were crates with more ammo in them, but they took a couple of them upstairs."

(Jim Kerr and Bob Larkin, roll Psychology.)

Bo and Stephanie came down the stairs and into the warehouse. Stephanie put a hand on her chest when she saw the doctor up close. "Oh, Brigetta!" she said, rushing over to her. "Did Horst do that when he rose up after he died? Did he...did he bite you?"

"Nein, he just crushed my arm. He did try, though."

"Oh, thank God!" Stephanie hugged her, being careful not to touch her broken arm. "The State Police chopper landed nearby, about a mile to the north. I'm not sure why they didn't land here, but I've got a pretty good idea. They must have seen the destruction from a distance and decided it wasn't safe." She lowered her voice. "I think they also don't trust these people from the military."

"I am glad to see you in one piece, Stephanie." Dr. Hausmann noticed that her hands were empty. "Where is mein computer?"

"Captain Lereux, the guy in charge of the people from Warren Air Force Base, stopped me and demanded that I show him what was on the computers. Mine still worked, it turns out - it was just a little dented. Anyway, I had to bypass the login on your laptop. I found that backdoor you put in, and...the text file you left for me."

"Ja, I did that when you left for the garage. I didn't have a chance to tell you before. Does he have my computer?"

"He gave it to Javier Ramirez to hold on to. He's nice and reasonable, but he's under orders not to give it back and to find out from you what the stuff on it is about. There's also an Army medical researcher, Lt. Angela Blanco. She's got my computer. She's a decent sort too, and very smart. Both of them are following us down here."

In the reception area-
The explorers began to look around the room. The filing cabinets and the desk drawers were all empty, and had been for quite a long time judging by the quantity of dust on the furniture.

"Hey, check this out!" said Robert as he examined the desk. A few lines of text had been written on it in various places. The messages read:
"I am dieing of boredom."
"Victor Chenko DIED here."
"This place is a hellhole. Please God let me get the fuck out of here."
"Sgt Hodkins Tortures For Pleasure."

"Who the hell is Victor Chenko?" asked Sally.

"I don't know, but I hope he stays dead."

The search turned up nothing else of interest anywhere in the room, so Lynne gave Randall the key to the padlock and he took up his post near the gate while the others moved into the hallway. There were five doors, two on each side and one at the far end. The door at the other end of the hallway was open.

"We went straight down the hall the last time we were in here," said Robert. "We didn't check out any of these other doors. Anyone got a preference?"
 
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