IC-OVER-Storming the Castle(All but Dawkins/Erica/Kathryn)

[SuAside]

As soon as Bob is done reloading, he'll pull Alvarez off the ground and attempt to restrain/calm him down.

[Mr. Handy]

In the tower lobby-
"Alvarez, Flynn; Are you two okay down there?" came Dawkins's voice on their radios. "Those running rot bags didn't cause any trouble down there, did they? I've got Kathryn up here with me and Gardner is on his way down the fire escape with the pilot, heading to the chopper."

"There's no time to lose!" said Rick, already running for the stairs while loading a fresh round into his revolver's empty chamber. "We have to save those ladies!"

"I'm with you," said Bo, following him to the stairwell and up towards the second floor landing. Diane went up after them.

Dr. Bernard Smith gradually came to his senses and took in the scene. He noticed Alvarez lying on the floor near him. "Alvarez!" he said, helping Bob with the medic after the pilot had reloaded both of his pistols. "Get a hold of yourself, man. We need your help!" His words got through, and Alvarez was himself once again.

"Stephanie, you should get back to work," said Dr. Hausmann. "You've done your part to save Erica, and now it's up to Bo and the others to finish the job. We've got a whole planet to save, ja?"

Stephanie nodded, knowing that there wasn't anything else she could do. She took the laptop from Dr. Hausmann and sat down at the reception desk with it. She easily found her place and resumed typing.

"Funny meeting you here, Dr. Hausmann," said Dr. Smith. "I'm glad to see that you and your lovely assistant are all right."

"Danke, Dr. Smith," she replied. Stephanie also smiled and waved from her seat. "We won't be truly all right until we get to Omaha, though."

Lucy just sat with her back against the wall and sighed.

[Mr Zombie killer]

Alveraz picked up his M-4 and said, "Bo, I am going to try and cut them off outside!" He then ran for the doors heading outside for the chopper to stop Gardner.

[kabukiman]

-I'l go with you, it's easier if we are two!

[Mr. Handy]

West of the tower-
Flynn and Alvarez left through the shattered front doors and walked over to the helicopter. Nobody else was around outside. The fuel barrel that was hooked up to the pump was now empty, all of the fuel having been loaded into the chopper's tank, which was now two-thirds full. Erica Spears's weapons and her light Kevlar vest rested on the front passenger seat.

The shrill fire alarm finally stopped.

In the tower lobby-
Dr. Bernard Smith went over to Lucy. "Hang in there," he said comfortingly. "We're going to be all right now."

Lucy shook her head wildly from side to side. "No, we're not," she said. "We're still doomed. The whole world is doomed."

"Not if we haf anything to say about it, it's not," said Dr. Hausmann. "Once Stephanie and I get to Omaha, we may be able to put a stop to this madness."

Stephanie nodded again as she continued to type rapidly. Just then, the fire alarm stopped ringing.

On the stairs-
"The elevator's indicator light said it was on the fourth floor," said Rick as he led the way upstairs. "With the fire alarm going off, the elevator will just sit there with its doors open and can't be used. We'll check there first."

"We also have to do something about that sniper on the roof," said Diane. "We can't go outside while she's still up there."

As the three State Troopers passed the second floor landing, they noticed a discarded laptop computer. They continued up to the third floor, where a fire extinguisher had been left on the landing. Just after they got there, the fire alarm ceased.

(Rick, roll Listen.)

[Mr Zombie killer]

"Flynn lets use the fire escape. Maybe we can get a jump on the SOB. Remember we want to try and take him alive if possible for trial by courts martial but if he resists blow the bastard away. He will not hestiate to do the same to us."

[kabukiman]

-Catch him alive? Well, if you insist... But our priority is that we stop him and both stay alive.

[Mr Zombie killer]

"Well of course. But I say we try and get the drop on him and if he shows any signs of resistance...any at all....we blow him to kingdom come."

[Mr. Handy]

West of the tower-
Flynn and Alvarez took off at a run towards the east side of the tower, cutting through the lobby on their way to the rear exit near the bottom of the fire escape.

In the tower lobby-
As Flynn and Alvarez ran through the lobby, they heard Dawkins on their radios. She said: "Alvarez, Flynn. That bastard Gardner is on his way down the inner stairs from the roof. He has the pilot with him still. I assume you two are done following his crazy ass orders, seeing how you allowed the men to escape from the warehouse. I'm done following his orders too."

Lucy Armstrong wallowed in despair for a few moments longer, oblivious to the good doctor's efforts to help her. Then she slowly came to her senses, stood up, and retrieved her steel pipe.

Dr. Smith turned his attention to Dr. Hausmann. "Really?" he said, intrigued. "I suppose you must know a lot more about what's going on than I do, if you're close to being able to stop it." He walked with her back to the reception desk where Stephanie was typing away, and he looked at the computer screen. "Does it have anything to do with this?"

"Ja," said Dr. Hausmann. "We haf vital data that we must get to the Crisis Response Center in Omaha. We landed here to refuel, since our chopper's fuel tank did not hold enough to get us all the way there."

Bernard nodded. "I got out of Cheyenne on one of the last commuter flights to Omaha. I was on my way to the Crisis Reponse Center too, to help out however I can. They wouldn't let us land there this morning and turned us back, however, so we put down here. Some of the people here made off with it and all the other aircraft, except the old crop duster in the hangar. It's broken down, but Lucy and the cops won't need too much longer to fix it."

(Everyone, roll Listen. Alvarez and Flynn, you both have a -5% penalty because of your helmets.)

On the stairs-
Rick led the way upstairs to the fourth floor, where the elevator was currently stopped. He didn't hear anything, but Diane clearly did. She held up three fingers and pointed up the stairs. The three of them crept cautiously upstairs, their guns ready, but their bootsteps echoed on the floor.

[kabukiman]

Flynn is delighted with the idea of shooting Gardner, so he doesn't hear a thing.

[Mr Zombie killer]

As Alvarez walked through the lobby he thought to himself giddy thoughts of blowing Gardner away. Because of this he failed to hear anything.

[SuAside]

Bob observes.

Listen (1d100=42)

[Mr. Handy]

On the tower stairs-
The three State Troopers heard the elevator suddenly come to life and move upwards past them. They quickened their pace.

(Bo Richards, Diane Ford, and Rick Brenner are moving to this thread: Tower of Terror. Everyone else remains in the current thread.)

In the tower lobby-
Bob could hear the elevator start moving far above. It rose upwards, stopped for several seconds, and then began to descend.

Suddenly, a loud explosion came from far above, seeming to shake the tower!

"Oh my God!" cried Stephanie, her forehead creased with worry.

"Alvarez, Flynn," barked Dawkins on their radios. "Report. What's going on down there?"

[kabukiman]

-I heard an explosion, but i don't know anything else.

[Mr Zombie killer]

I did not hear a thing. Flynn and I are ready just in case. Most likly it was a distraction move by Gardner. If you see him emerge shoot his head off.

[SuAside]

"The elevator went up, then back down and boom..." Bob says, feeling tempted to find out what happened, but judging it more wise to stay and protect this side of the building.

[Mr. Handy]

In the tower lobby-
Bob recognized the source of the explosion. It was a hand grenade, very much like the one that had nearly killed him. Alvarez was familiar with the sound too.

"Medic! She´s hurt bad!" called a woman's voice from far upstairs that everyone recognized as Kathryn McCoy, the air traffic controller.

The elevator stopped briefly a couple of floors up. Then it moved back up again, and then stopped again.

"Should we do something?" asked Dr. Smith, looking at Alvarez.

"Don't go up there, it's a trap!" said Lucy. "That Kathryn chippy is Gardner's girl, I'm sure of it. She's trying to set you up for him!"

"We must get out of here!" said Dr. Hausmann, heading for the front door. "Bob, Stephanie, kommen zie! We haf to start the helicopter up so we can take off at a moment's notice."

"But..." started Stephanie, "we can't just abandon Erica!" Still, she saved her progress, closed up the laptop, picked it up, and followed her. "What about Bo? And what's to stop that sniper from shooting us?"

"Erica sacrificed herself to save us. If we do not get to Omaha, it will all be in vain. And I haf a feeling Bo would not be coming with us anyway. He was probably the one who gave up his seat for Alvarez. Hopefully Bo and the others will rescue her, but if they all get killed, what do you think Gardner will do to us? Not to mention that everyone who dies will get back up. There should be just enough fuel already loaded to reach Omaha. We can be ready to leave just in case our friends don't prevail, but if they do we can stay."

"Alvarez, Flynn." said Dawkins over the radio again. "That sounded like a hand grenade and it sounded like it went off right below me. Get everyone out of the tower, now!"

[Mr Zombie killer]

"Everyone out of the tower right now. Flynn lets go we will stay behind for now and try to trap Gardner in the tower but everyone else go now!"

[kabukiman]

-Hum, we will wait until all have left and then we will go. Unless our dear corporal appears of course.

[SuAside]

"Have that sniper women get off the tower too. It's too dangerous." Bob says hearing the radio "Surely a well prepared sniper has a rope up there to rapel down from in such a case of emergency."

"As for Dr. Hausmann, she's right about one thing: we have to get a move on." Bob says "Even if we get to the chopper before all the others, we can still spin her up and prepare for departure... But the doctor and the data need to be aboard and ready to leave, for whatever reason."