Play@YSDC

Z-Day - 12:26 PM Mountain Time - At the motel
(Walkers from the west: 2 dead, 1 with 9 damage to head)

West of the motel-
The fire expanded until it reached the leaking fuel from the helicopter's fuel tank, and the wreckage went up in a massive fireball, spraying flaming debris all around. Fortunately everyone was well clear of it and nobody was injured further. The chopper continued to burn, and secondary explosions from ammo cooking off followed.

Duran shaded his eyes from the sudden blast, then peered out across the field. His eyes widened as he saw the dead shambling ever closer. "I see them!" he reported over his radio. "Range approximately 400 yards west and closing slowly. They just turned towards the helo when it went up." He raised his M-16 to his shoulder. He began to shoot, but at this range all of his shots missed.

Melinda noticed that little Adrian's breathing was somewhat shallow, and his sleep was fitful. She gently placed a hand on the boy's forehead and felt that it was hot, as if he had a fever. She turned back to look for his father, but he had already headed for the motel where the wounded were gathering.

"Ow!" cried Lt. Doolittle as Frank Hodges attempted to help her. "That really hurt! And that's Lt. Doolittle, Airman. Just because the world is coming apart at the seams doesn't mean we can ignore military protocol. Look, there's other people hurt worse than I am, and it's probably best to leave it to the professionals. Your skills would be put to far better use putting those things down before they can reach us." The two of them arrived at the southwest corner of the motel, where Lt. Angela Blanco and Zorie Spooner stood waiting.

Brian Kincaid arrived just behind them, and Zorie went over to assist him. "We shouldn't stay out here too long, just in case," she said. "There's a rope ladder here, and there are metal ladders on the east side of the motel. It'll be a difficult climb with those wounds, but maybe we can at least patch you up a little first." She tried to help suture the worst of his cuts, but her needle slipped and she made matters a bit worse. She shook her head. "I'm so sorry." He tried to repair the damage himself, but he was unsuccessful.

Cole also made it to the southwest corner of the motel with Kincaid, followed closely by Ernest Granger, Roger Coltrane, Gordon Cheng, Greg Applebee, and Dr. Dale Owens. Applebee looked back in fascination at the blazing, smoking wreckage that had nearly been his funeral pyre.

Lt. Alan Curtis arrived last of all. Lt. Blanco tried to bandage Frank Hodges's wounds, but the bleeding wouldn't stop.

In the northwest part of the parking lot, Clarence addressed the rest of the Rough Riders: "We'll make our stand here. With us and the military shooting at those things, we have a good chance to win. Stay with the vehicles in case we're forced to retreat. That ladder's a bottleneck, and there's no way we'll all get up to the balcony in time. Better to let the wounded get up first while we use our mobility to our advantage. If you've got a rifle, use it and start plugging the enemy as soon as you see them." He took his own rifle and searched the field with his eyes but couldn't see clearly.

Lisa Crow straddled the motorcycle and kept the engine running. "You can go ahead and start shooting, hon," she said. "If we need to hightail it out of here, just hop on."

Colin Lewis looked through the scope of his Marlin rifle into the grass and clearly saw the mob of ghouls. "There's over fifty of them!" he called as he opened fire, scoring one hit out of two that felled it. "It's still coming!" he called, watching the beast crawl onwards in spite of its terrible head wound.

His friend Joe Soarez aimed his Ruger Mini-14 into the field. He also spotted the enemy and fired twice, missing badly both times. His next two shots also missed, though only narrowly.

Airman Steve Phillips caught sight of the marauding corpses. He held his fire, knowing that they were still too far for him to have a decent chance of hitting.

Amanda Deeds easily saw them too. She prepared her M2 carbine. Its range was poor, so she decided to wait as well. Lewie Newton couldn't see them yet. His wife Sue waited on her motorcycle.

(If you want to shoot at the zombies in the grass, you must first succeed at a Spot Hidden roll to see them. This roll has a -5% penalty if you're wearing a Kevlar helmet. Once you've succeeded at a Spot Hidden roll, you do not need to roll again to see this group of zombies. You may begin shooting as soon as you've seen them. Looking for them takes one combat round, so you'll have four rounds left. The Winchester and the Marlins have a rate of fire of 1/2, so each of them only gets two shots. If you have a scoped rifle, you use your full skill with only the -5% penalty for aiming at the head. If you have any other rifle, you fire at half skill, with the -5% penalty applied after your skill is halved.)

On the motel's roof-
Black and Sheen were distracted momentarily by the exploding helicopter. They still could not get a fix on the reported incoming creatures.

(As before, each of you may attempt to roll Spot Hidden again, with a -5% penalty due to your helmets. If you succeed, you may then shoot for four combat rounds, using your full skill with just the -5% penalty for aiming at the head. The Barrett fires once per round and gets four shots, but the M-24 only fires every other round and gets two.)

In the comm room-
(David, I'm not sure what exactly you wanted to do with your pistol. Are you unloading it, or are you trying to combine all the bullets into a single magazine?)

When David fiddled with the communications gear, the connection suddenly went dead.

"What did you do?!" cried Alexandria Mikhalin. She desperately examined the equipment, then breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew! You just knocked a wire loose." Now that she had identified the problem, she simply plugged it back in and the gear began to reinitialize.

"Permission to head out to the balcony to assist with our defense, sir?" Igor Malanowski asked Javier Ramirez.

Baldwin staggered into the comm room. "Man, I need a doctor," he said.

"They all went downstairs," said Mikhalin.

The big trucker shrugged. "Hey, there's my piece," he said, retrieving his .38 revolver and the spare bullet. He loaded it into an empty chamber. He glanced at the bodies. "Damn shame about the captain. I was just starting to like him, too. My revolver's almost dry. So, is anyone using this 9 mil on the table, or can I have it?"

On the motel balcony-
Acting Senior Airman Manuel Ortega stood at the railing on the southwest corner of the balcony. He looked into the grass and sighted the ghouls. He opened up on them with his M-16 and landed a single hit, slaying one.

Wallace saw the zombies too and began shooting. He also hit one and blew its brains out.

(Ortega and Wallace get five more combat rounds to shoot, at half skill.)

On the Roof of the Motel-

Black looks but still can't see anything.

In the Comm Room-

"Permission granted." Rameriz tells Malanowski. He turns to David "I think we should explain the bassics of operating this equipment to you
before you touch it again."

In the comm room-
"Thank you, sir," said Malanowski, stepping out the door and onto the balcony.

On the motel balcony-
Malanowski looked out across the field, but he couldn't see a thing yet.

Sheen peered through his scope out at the field once again. This time he saw the creatures through the waving grass. "Sarge, follow the direction my scope is pointing and you will see them. Taking aim at creature #1's head." He took aim and fired.At first he thought the bullet was going to miss to the right but at the last second it hit the creature in the head. The creature's head exploded like a ripe melon on a summer day. "Target down", Sheen reported. He then cocked the rifle and took aim at a second creature. He fired and saw the bullet hit the target in the center of its head. The target lost most of its head but it kept on coming toward the motel. "Shit, second target almost gone but still advancing." He cocked his rifle a third time and waited to fire.

(This is just a minor update, so you don't have a chance to shoot or roll Spot Hidden again yet.

Walkers from the west: 3 dead, 2 with 9 damage to head)

On the motel's roof-
The noise of gunfire echoed loudly in the snipers' ears.

(Black and Sheen, roll Listen. Remember the -5% penalty from your helmets.)

Standing in the back of his truck, Keith was able to spot the inbound infected. He raises his rifle and takes aim at the nearest one.
(OOC: I assume that Keiths M16 does not have a scope attached. Correct?)
His first shot was not even close. "Damn it all" he muttered to himself as he made corrections for wind. His next three shots all struck home, devestating the already rotting rotting heads. The first round drilled a neat hole into the infected head and exited with explosive force, dropping the creature. The second round took the mandible completely off the shambling corpse, yet it continued its hunger driven march. (OOC: I rolled the impale damage for the second hit seperatly since I was hoping the initial damage would take it down. Unfortunatly, the additional damage still did not take it down!)
The third round also found it's mark, but like the second round, it failed to fell the infected, and it mindlessly marched on.
"God damn! These buggers is harder to take down than an enraged Razorback!" Keith cursed. "Pa, Tsuba, we should get drivers ready in the trucks so some of us can continue to shoot if we have to go mobile. We can probalby leave the bikes here for the time being. Wha' duyya think?"

Blushing slightly, Frank replied "Right. Sorry Lt." Frank scanned the grass again for the infected. "Damn, where the hell are they!" Not able to spot the infect approaching, Keith looks to the wounded and starts helping them up the ladder. "Come on now. One step at a time. There you go." he encourages them as they make their way up. 'Shit, they are never all going to make' he begins to realize.

On the Roof-

Black is to consetrated to hear anything.

Motel parking lot:
Dr. Dale turned to look back at his son and then said, "Hi, I am a doctor, does anyone need any help?"

In the communication room:
David loaded his gun competly by making sure it was fully loaded. He then said, "Hey I am sorry bout knocking the wire out. I am good at electronics however so I would like another shot at it. What do you say?" He smiled at the girl and winked at her as he flirted.
He also licked his lips in anticipation.

Bobby Sheen tried to listen to things around him but the noise of the guns was way to loud for him to hear anything.

(Walkers from the west: 20 dead, 3 with 9 damage to head)

West of the motel-
Duran continued firing as the creatures got closer. Now they were near enough that he had a better chance of hitting them. This time he landed three hits. The first one was lethal. The next target remained on its feet after getting hit, but the next shot knocked it down. However, it crawled onwards.

Clarence Deeds tried to shade his eyes from the bright sun overhead, but he still couldn't see the ghouls. Bill Black also peered into the field, only to have the light momentarily blind him. "I think we should bring the bikes with us too if we're forced to retreat," said Clarence. "We might not have the chance to come back for them if those things swamp the motel. We'll fall back to the east side of the building first, and then what's left of the diner. Everyone stay near your vehicle so you can hop on it."

Colin Lewis emptied the rest of his magazine, scoring one devastating hit and another good one. Both of his targets were obliterated. Joe Soarez got five shots off and got three excellent hits. His first two blew his targets' brains out, and the third finished off a wounded zombie.

Now that the zombies were closer, Phillips opened up. His wounds and his anxiety got the better of him, and they were still rather far off. All of his shots missed. Amanda Deeds still held her fire, and Lewie Newton still couldn't see any targets. Little Adrian Owens stirred in his sleep while Melinda watched him.

At the southwest corner of the motel, Lt. Blanco spoke to Dr. Dale Owens: "Thank you, Doctor," she said. "We don't have time to treat anyone's wounds or check for signs of infection right now. We've got to get everyone upstairs so we can look at them later. I'd appreciate your assistance. In addition to this rope ladder, there are two metal ones on the east side. If you don't have a rifle, head around to the other side of the motel now and get up on the balcony. If you do, start shooting as soon as you see the enemy. Lt. Curtis, you should climb this ladder here. You're needed in the comm room. Zorie, come with me." With that, she and Zorie Spooner walked around the south side of the motel to the base of the ladders on the east side. Lt. Rebecca Doolittle and Brian Kincaid followed them.

Lt. Alan Curtis started to climb the rope ladder, but his wounds prevented him from making much progress.

Airman Thomas Cole looked into the grass. "I see the sons of bitches!" he called. "I am so gonna kick their asses!" As he raised his rifle, he glanced down and also noticed one of the bodies lying near the base of the barricaded stairway that looked very familiar. "No...Ian!" He recoiled from the shock of finding his brother's mangled corpse. It had only a minor impact on him so far, as he funneled his pain into rage. He began shooting, but his anger did not translate into accuracy and only one shot hit, though that one was extremely deadly. Airman Greg Applebee forced his attention away from the blazing helicopter and back into the field, without any luck.

(Everyone, you now have another five combat rounds. If you've already passed a Spot Hidden roll trying to see into the field, as Keith Deeds has, you may use all of those rounds to fire. You are now at full skill when using any kind of rifle. Don't forget the -5% penalty for aiming at the head.

If you have not yet passed a Spot Hidden roll, you may attempt one now. If you have a helmet, remember there's a -5% penalty. If you fail, you cannot shoot during this set of combat rounds, but you can do other things. If you succeed, you have four rounds remaining in which to fire.

Nobody can climb the rope ladder this round, as Lt. Curtis is still trying to climb it.)

On the motel's roof-
Black and Sheen could hear nothing over the noise of gunfire, Sheen could see his targets clearly, though Black had yet to pinpoint them.

(Black, you may roll Spot Hidden at -5% again. If you succeed, you then get four shots. Sheen, you get three shots now.)

In the comm room-
When nobody objected, Baldwin snatched up the Sig Sauer P-226 and its magazines.

"I'm willing to give you another chance," Alexandria Mikhalin said to David, "if that's okay with my superiors." The gear finished initializing, and she reestablished a connection to Warren AFB. "Lt. Colonel Carmichael, this is Mikhalin. Are you reading me?"

"I read you, Airman," he replied. "The line went dead all of a sudden. What happened?"

"It was nothing, sir. The new guy accidentally knocked one of the wires loose, but I got it back in. The equipment's fine."

"That's good to hear. Wait, what new guy?"

"One of the civilians has some experience with eletronics, sir, and-"

"You're letting civilians into the comm room?!"

"It wasn't my decision, sir. Maybe you should talk to Ramirez about this."

"Hey, I was just leavin'," said Baldwin, returning to the balcony.

On the motel balcony-
Malanowski finally saw the incoming zombies and began shooting, hitting three times. One shot dropped its target outright, and the other two took out another.

Ortega fired another five rounds, only missing with one. All four of his hits were fatal.

Wallace hit with his next shot, but then his rifle jammed. The ghoul Wallace did hit was slain. Grunting, Wallace attempted to clear the jam, but without success. He tried again, and this time managed to dislodge the errant bullet, though it took quite a while.

(Wallace loses three more combat rounds from the next set of five clearing the jam. He will have two left to shoot.)

Baldwin emerged from the communications suite and searched the field for targets. He easily found some and took a couple of shots with his rifle. The first missed, but the second was perfect. It blew the zombie's head off. However, more than half of the creatures remained on their feet, and they would reach the parking lot in just a couple of minutes.

On the Roof-
Black tries to follow Sheen's scope but still can't see the aproaching targets.
"Where the hell are a pair of binoculers when you need them?" He once again takes of his helmet and sets it beside him trying to focus on where
the incoming zeds should be.

In the Comm Room-

"Only for the short term sir. We have incoming infected personal closing fast and we are curently restablishing our defenses." Rameriz says trying to defend himself to the Lt. Colonel.

In the comm room-
"I understand that you've taken some casualties and lost key personnel," says Carmichael, "but having civilians present in that room is a serious security risk. We haven't vetted any of these people. If enough people survived that crash, you won't need to worry so much about not having enough, and Lt. Curtis is a very capable communications officer."

(Ramirez, roll Fast Talk or Persuade if you want to convince Lt. Colonel Carmichael to let civilians stay in the comm room.)

Standing in the back of his pick up, Keith took aim and the approaching infected and let loose with 5 quick shots. Four of the shots found their mark. Two of the were infected were wounded and kept coming. The third shot hot it's target cleanly and took it down. The fourth shot was devestating and took the beasts head clean off.
"Lets mount up and move into prosition" he called the other Rough Riders. "Melina, sweetie, you think you can drive my truck here while I shot from the back?"

Unable to spot the approaching infected, Frank looked around for a building from which he might be able to get a better vantage point. With all the scurrying around and comotion, Frank was unable to spot another vantage point.
Frustrated, he ran to the ladders on the east side of the motel and began to climb. The ladder, however, had other ideas and Frank did not make much progress.

Bobby Sheen smiled as the head of a creature came up in his scope. He squeezed the trigger and fired. The bullet hit the creature and saw most of the head blown away but the creature kept coming. Bobby decided that he had damaged the creature enough however and he could get it again later on. He cocked anotehr bullet into the rifle and he shifted his aim at the head of a second creature and fired. The bullet could not have hit truer if God himself had pushed it through the creatures skull. The head exploded like a ripe melon on a hot summer day.
Grinning Sheen cocked a third bullet into the rifle and took aim again at a new creature's head. The bullet flew straight and true hitting the creature in the head. Bobby saw the bullet had torn the head of another creature and he crowed in delight at the red mist in the air.

He loaded the last bullet in the clip into the chamber, ejected the clip, and reinserted another full clip leaving him by his count 38 more clips before he ran out of ammo for this beauty.

OOC: Is Cheng better now, and can he shoot?

ooc- since the moderator isn't here, can dale get back to his kid in time. Right now I am estimating he should be freaking out about being seperated from his kid.

Cheng is looking in vain for a zombie.

Dale owens runs quickly for his truck, frantic of the thought of being seperated from his son.

David speaks up, "Say, guys, is this little pistol I got gonna be any good versus a zombie, or should I have a rifle." He looks around at the room he is in and continues,"Course, maybe blowing a rifle off in here might get you some bad ricochets, but I dunno. What do you think, guys?"

(Walkers from the west: 40/54 dead, 5 with 9 damage to head, 3 with 8 damage to head

Bosco hasn't been online in almost two weeks and hasn't posted for even longer, so I'll run his characters as NPCs temporarily. I've already been running Kranix's characters as NPCs for now.)

West of the motel-
Duran kept firing, but he only hit twice, finishing off a wounded zombie and killing a fresh one. Half of them were now down for good, and a few of the remaining ones had been slowed to a crawl, but that still left over twenty undamaged and they were getting closer.

Adrian groggily came to, awakened by all the gunfire, and rubbed his eyes as his father got into the driver's seat. The SUV was in park, but the engine was still running. "Daddy, what's happening?" he mumbled. "I don't feel so good..." Meanwhile, Ernest Granger also rushed back to his truck and got into the driver's seat.

Clarence still couldn't locate the enemy. Tsuba had better luck this time. He raised his AK-47 to his shoulder and opened up. The first shot missed badly, and the second caused the weapon to jam. "Stupid Russian piece of crap!" he cried. He worked feverishly to clear it, but his first attempt was a failure. He finally started making some progress, but it was extremely slow going.

Colin Lewis reloaded, and then he fired twice more, hitting both times. Both targets bit the dust. His friend Joe Soarez fired five times and hit four, and his first shot was especially deadly. Two targets were slain outright, and another was wounded twice but still crawled on.

Steve Phillips fired again, hitting three times and slaying two of the ghouls. Amanda finally began shooting. Her first two shots missed, and her M2 jammed on the third. She struggled with the weapon and it took her a long time to start clearing it, though once she did it did not take her long. Lewie Newton spotted them at last and squeezed off a couple of shots, but they were both way off.

Back at the motel, Lt.Alan Curtis still couldn't get up the ladder. Cole fired some more rounds and scored two hits. Both of his targets went down but continued to crawl. Roger Coltrane couldn't locate anything to shoot. Greg Applebee saw movement in the field, but he could not pinpoint the enemy well enough to fire.

Those who could see the creatures could tell that they had nearly reached the flaming wreckage of the Huey and were closing in on the northwest corner of the parking lot. Fourteen remained on their feet, and another seven lagged behind on their hands and knees.

(Everyone who has passed a Spot Hidden roll to see these zombies previously must now roll Sanity, with a 0/1d10 Sanity loss. That means that you lose no Sanity if you get less than or equal to your current Sanity, but you lose 1d10 points if you roll higher. The following PCs on the west side of the motel must roll: Keith Deeds and Lewie Newton. Since you can only lose a maximum of 10 Sanity per chapter for seeing zombies and he has already lost 6, any roll that causes you to lose more than 4 will count as 4 for Keith. If you lose 5 or more, then you must roll Idea. If this roll succeeds, then you go temporarily insane. Otherwise, you keep your wits about you.

If you do not go insane, you have five combat rounds in which to act before any surviving walking zombies reach the edge of the parking lot. At that point everyone will be able to see them. If you want to shoot during this time and you haven't yet passed a Spot Hidden roll to locate the zombies, you must make a roll now. If you succeed, you must then roll Sanity as described above. If you remain sane, you get four combat rounds to shoot. Greg Applebee has lost 10 Sanity from seeing a zombie already, so he doesn't roll Sanity if he sees them.)

On the motel's roof-
Sergeant Black kept searching for targets, and this time he caught sight of them - and immediately wished he hadn't.

(In the notes on Invisible Castle I had forgotten not to give Black the -5% penalty, but he would have seen them either way. Black and Sheen, both of you roll Sanity. If you stay sane, Black gets four shots and Sheen gets two after he reloads.)

In the comm room-
"Well, a pistol will still work if you shoot them in the head," says Alexandria Mikhalin, "but you usually have to hit them twice or even three times to take them down. A rifle would only ricochet if you miss, but that would be a risk. Of course, you won't be allowed to stay in here anyway unless Ramirez can convince the colonel to let you stay. There are a few rifles out on the balcony belonging to the dead, but we've got a few people without them who could use one and it's up to the CO whether you'd get one. You any good with a rifle?"

(David only has the base skill in Rifle. According to the rules, that's 25%, but we've been allowing unskilled people to have 30% in this game.)

On the motel balcony-
Malanowski missed several shots, three of them narrowly, but he did land a single hit that only slightly wounded his target. Ortega barely missed a couple of times, and the other three bullets hit home fatally. Wallace cleared the jam and fired two more times, hitting with both shots. He knocked down a wounded zombie and blew away a previously unharmed one. Baldwin reloaded and then emptied his magazine, getting two hits. He obliterated two more ghouls. This left only six on their feet and eight more crawling.

(Stompie, if you return, Ortega and Wallace must make Sanity rolls now.)

East of the motel-
"What are you doing, Airman?" asked Lt. Blanco. "You've got a perfectly good rifle. You should be back on the other side of the motel, helping to defend it. You won't be able to see them from here. I know you're wounded, but the others were hurt worse than you and they're still back there."

Lt. Doolittle easily scaled the shorter ladder, and Airman Brian Kincaid had no problem climbing the taller one and swinging onto the balcony to join her.

(Frank Hodges, if you try to climb a ladder your failed roll will count now. However, Lt. Blanco has made it clear where she wants you to go.)

On the Roof-

"Son of a bitch." How the hell could he have missed them? He took aim at the nearing zeds rapidly fires off four shots.
Each shot hitting their mark. Soon four more bodies hit the dirt each one of them slain.

In the Comm Room-

Rameriz waits patiently checking his weapon over hoping that he wouldn't have to use it.

Sheen saw the creatures emerge from the tall grass. He thought of going mad for a second but realized that these creatures could be taken down with good old sniper fire and he prepared to fire. He took aim at one of the creatures heads and fired. The bullet flew straight and true hitting the creature square in the head. The head exploded in lots of gory little bits and red mist.
Bobby gave the rebel yell and then took aim at a second creature's head, after cocking another round in his chamber of course. He fired and while the bullet did not do as well as the first shot it still hit the creature in the head. Sheen looked through his scope to see most of the creature's head gone but it still crawling up toward the hotel.

(Walkers from the west: 49/54 dead, 5 with 9 damage to head

I went ahead and rolled Sanity for Sergeant Black myself, since it's important for the other players to know how many zombies are left. He would have flipped out and those four shots of his would have been called back. Your madness would have lasted for 8 rounds, including the current group of four. However, I found a roll of 27 on Invisible Castle afterwards that was just before your shots, so I'll count that as your Sanity roll instead.)

On the motel's roof-
More rifle fire came from the direction of the diner, and the rest of the standing creatures fell. Only five remained crawling through the grass.

(Any hit from a rifle is guaranteed to do enough damage to finish off any of the crawling zombies, so there's no need to roll damage. Even if all of the remaining zombies are eliminated, everyone must still roll Sanity. The snipers on the roof have already used up their actions for this set of combat rounds, but there should be no problem finishing off the rest of the zombies. If they're all gone by the time it's your turn, you can do something other than shoot if you remain sane.)

David talks to Ramirez,"Umm, I'd like to do some shooting with the rifle out on the balcony, since it makes sense with my skill level to do that. But, if it gets bad, can I retreat into the room with you guys?" Roll of 1 on persuade. link=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1551291/

ooc- Thanks that was my sanity roll but I must have forgot to put it in sorry about that.

In the Comm room-
"Very well take one of the rifles just give it back after the shooting stops."

East side of the motel
The crack of gunfire snaps Airman Hodges back to the task at hand. With his rifle in hand, he sprinted around to the other side of the motel and and immediatly spoted the shambling infected. As the infected moved past the burning helo, the intense heat of the fires ignited their hair and causes their skin to crackle. Revulsion and horror welled up in Hodges, however, he quickly repressed it. His jaw set in defiance, Hodges rised his rifle and let loose with three shots. The first round missed it's mark, but the next two hit their targets square in the head. Both targets fell the the ground and moved no more.
(OOC: This appears to be the start of the round where veryone gets 5 actions. Hodges had to run around to spot the enemy and make a sanity roll which I am going to guess takes 2 rounds. Thus, I am taking three shots. If I have made a mistake, please ignore the shots he does not get and let me know so I can edit my post. Second hit was an impale that did 9 damage without the additional impale damage. I didn not bother rolling the additional damage)

In the back of his truck
Keith nearly recoiled in horror as the walking dead came ito full view. The though of his family, his brother, and the lovely Melinda allowed him to push any thoughts of panic aside. He let loose with five shots. The first two rounds struck home, dropping their targets where they stood. The third shot missed and his trusty AR15 jammed on the frouth shot.
"Damn it", he cursed as he worked to unjam the gun.
(OOC: What do I roll to unjam the gun?)

(The only zombies left now are crawlers who have already taken 9 damage to the head, so there's no need to worry about rolling damage. Your characters just killed four of them, so there is only one left. Everyone who has yet to act who already saw the zombies must still roll Sanity, even though the last one will almost certainly be taken out.

To unjam Keith's rifle, you must either roll against Rifle or Mechanical Repair skill. Since his Mechanical Repair is higher, you use that one. I counted your fifth roll for that, which is a success. You just need to roll 1d6 to see how many combat rounds it takes to clear the jam. This includes the fifth round in this set of five, so you may have to use up to all five rounds from the next set to finish.)

On the motel balcony-
David left the comm room and examined the bodies of the dead. There was an M-16 assault rifle lying near the corpse of Airman Bruce Thayer. There were M-4 carbines by the remains of Gary and Sergeant McCain. Gary's had an M-203 grenade launcher attached under the barrel, while McCain's had a Remington 870 12 gauge pump action shotgun. Gary also had a 20 gauge double-barreled shotgun, and Mitchell and Jimmy had 12 gauge semiautomatic shotguns. The dead Air Force personnel also had Beretta M9s, and Airman Nethaniel Lewis additionally had the late captain's Beretta 1951A1.

Keith tries to unjam his rifle, but will require more time to do so.

David picks up the grenade launcher and the shotgun. OOC- he grabs the grenade launcher, only if there's obviously a lot of ammo. David looks towards the zombies. He rolls a 97. Link=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1556214/

OOC- can Dale drive away now?

OOC: Are we waiting for another major update before we can act again?

(Yes, that's what we were waiting for and here it is. I had hoped Wimrock would have posted by now, but I need to move this forward. I'll just assume David took the shotgun but not the grenade launcher/rifle combo.)

West of the motel-
Carlos Duran got a clear look at the remaining creatures as they closed in on the motel and got gunned down by his comrades, but he had seen plenty before and the sight didn't really affect him. He barely missed with his first shot and with his second, and the third was wide by a decent margin. His fourth shot missed by just a hair, but his final shot was on target. "That's all of them," he reported over the radio. Then he turned to Phillips. "Let's get back to the motel."

Phillips stood gaping, his already fractured mind cracking again. However, he managed to keep from thinking about it and ran back to the southwest corner of the motel.

"Okay, folks," said Clarence Deeds, "let's all move to the parking lot on the other side of the motel. It's not good to be so close to the grass. I'll be heading over to the diner to check things out there. Anyone who wants to should come with me. If you're going over to help with the wounded, go with Amanda."

Amanda kept her wits about her and finished clearing the jam while she hopped onto her bike. "Melinda, would you be a dear and drive Keith's truck while he rides in the back?" she asked.

Tsuba shuddered, though he was getting used to the awful things by this point. He too got on his Harley. I mustn't let my family down again, he thought. Lewie Newton remained solid as always, and he and his wife Sue got onto their bikes as well.

Colin, however, lost it, unable to cope with the horrid creatures. He knew that they were going to get him, make him one of them.

Suddenly, he was back in Iraq, on the outskirts of Fallujah. His convoy was stopped at a farmhouse and had just fought off an ambush by insurgents. He saw the smoking remains of the helicopter and knew that they had brought it down, that good men and women had died. What's the point? he wondered. He lost all will to fight and wandered towards the field of grass to meet his fate.

"Colin!" shouted his friend Joe Soarez, who stayed collected. "Where are you going? Come back! We need you, buddy!" But Colin wasn't hearing any of it. "Colin, wait!" shouted Amanda. He ignored her too.

Lewie recognized the symptoms of Colin's flashback. "Lewis!" he barked in his best sergeant's voice. "Return to the convoy, we're pulling out! That's an order, soldier!"

Colin came to his senses and returned to reality. "I'm sorry," he said, getting back into his truck. "I don't know what came over me."

"It's okay, man. It happens. Let's just keep moving."

"Daddy?" asked Adrian as his father started up the SUV and began to pull out with the other vehicles. The pack moved around the north side of the motel.

At the southwest corner of the motel, Cole trembled, but he was starting to get used to the ghouls and it didn't hit him as bad as it could have. Lt. Curtis nearly made it up the ladder, only to slip and fall. He landed badly, but wasn't hurt much.

On the motel's roof-
Black and Sheen saw the last of the crawling zombies go down.

In the comm room-
"Be careful!" called Alexandria as David left the room. She picked up the microphone again. "Colonel, we've finished off the last of them and both civilians have left the communications room."

"That's good to hear," answered Carmichael. "Any word on Lt. Curtis?"

"No, sir, I haven't heard from anyone from the chopper. I don't know what's keeping them."

East of the motel-
Lt. Blanco and Zorie Spooner followed the survivors from the helicopter crew up the ladders to the east side of the balcony as the vehicles came around the north side of the motel and into the eastern parking lot.

On the motel balcony-
Lt. Rebecca Doolittle led Brian Kincaid around the south side of the motel balcony. "We shouldn't even be here!" she groused. "We should be up in the air, and now we're trapped on the ground with those...things!"

"Don't worry, ma'am," said Kincaid, "I'm sure they'll send someone to extract us."

Doolittle said nothing. I can't spoil the kid's illusion, she thought.

Wallace was remarkably calm as he swapped out his magazine, having nothing left to fear at this point. Baldwin, however, couldn't take it and still had plenty left to lose. He staved off madness only by a hair's breadth. He reloaded his rifle and stood shivering.

Malanowski was taken aback too. He snapped like a twig, his own mind betraying him. He stood frozen in place. Ortega remained in control of himself and reloaded while he had the chance.

David detached the Remington 870 shotgun from under the barrel of McCain's M-4 and reconnected the stock. The weapon still had five shells in it out of a maximum of eight, and he also found a couple of boxes of 12 gauge shells, containing an additional 50 in all.

-Yes, of course i will help. Let's go!- She says anxious to get out of there.

In the Comm Room-
"I'll go see what's keeping him." Rameriz moves out on to the balcony wondering if the undead would ever stop coming.

On the Roof-
Black breaths a sigh of relief now that the last of the dead had fallen. "If this keeps up there will be no more infected in the area for us to kill. Atleast I hope so."

David reloads up to the maximum possible reload for the shotgun while he waits for more zombies to appear.

In the back of his truck
"Melinda, sweetie, go ahead and follow the other to the other side of the motel." Keith said to Melinda while he finished unjamming his gun.
"Once we get over there, I'm gonna head to the diner with my Pa. You think you might be able to help Amanda out with the wounded?"

At the motel

Frank scanned the areafor more infected.

(Frank Hodges succeeded at his Spot Hidden roll. If you had failed, you would have noticed nothing, but don't assume there's nothing to be seen if you succeed. In this case, there is something to see! Also, Lt. Doolittle is up on the balcony above his position, though she is part of the helicopter crew. It is Lt. Curtis who is his CO, and he is currently on the ground with Hodges, having just fallen off the rope ladder. You may want to edit your post above.)

West of the motel-
Peering into the grass, Frank Hodges caught sight of seven more ghouls loping through the high grass to the west. Unlike the others, these were moving very quickly indeed - and they were less than a hundred yards from the motel!

(Frank Hodges, roll Sanity, and remember your +10 bonus. Sanity loss is 1/1d10 as before. If you do not go temporarily insane, you have two combat rounds left to shoot before they start to emerge from the grass.

If anyone else on the ground west of the motel, the balcony, or the roof who hasn't acted yet wants to roll Spot Hidden and you succeed, you must also roll Sanity unless you've already lost 10 Sanity points from seeing zombies since the chapter started. If you remain sane, you have only one combat round to shoot - you are assumed to be looking in response to whatever warning Frank Hodges is sure to give. If you fail your Spot Hidden roll, you do not see the zombies until they come out of the grass and into the parking lot.)

-Ok, i will try.

Frank scans the tall grass and catches sight of more infected heading towards to motel. But these ones were different. The others had been infected. Sick. They moved slowly. Lumbered along as if their illness was a weight being dragged behind them. These ones, however, moved so fast. Like a deadly predator hell bent on taking down it's prey. Festering tears of flesh and flopped around as they sprinted towards him.
The usually cool Frank Hodges, began to unravle. His mind reeled, then snapped.

OOC: Can Cheng shoot again? Does he need to make a spot hiden check?

Cheng continues not seeing anything.

Dale moves the truck to follow the rest of the group that is on the other side of the hotel. As he pulls out, he looks back at his son . He asks Melinda, "How's he doing?"

David looks down from the balcony. "All armed and nothing to do. Let's get me some freaks to shoot!"

In the back of his truck
As Melinda moves the truck around with the others, Keith scans the surroundings fro signs of the infected. However, he is too busy keeping his balance to spot anything.

At the motel
(OOC: Frank has gone insane. I think I remember you saying that you roll what kind of insanity and duration. If I am wrong, let me know what to roll.)

(Runners from the west: 2/6 dead)

East of the motel-
Keith Deeds managed to finish clearing his jammed rifle while Melinda drove around the motel. She stopped in the parking lot on the east side to slide over to the shotgun seat, and Keith got back in his truck's driver's seat to follow his father, brother and friends over to the diner. Dr. Dale Owens and his son Adrian remained behind, as did Ernest Granger. Amanda remained with them as well.

(Melinda and all Rough Riders except Amanda Deeds are moving to this thread: Blue Plate Special. Please stop reading the current thread at this point.

Everyone else, including those listed in the Others category, remains in the current thread.

Frank Hodges has fainted, and he will come to when his temporary insanity wears off. The duration was only three rounds, which include the two rounds when he would have gotten to shoot. The current round is the third out of six.)

West of the motel-
Frank Hodges passed out when he saw the creatures. He had no chance to give a warning to anyone.

Carlos Duran trotted back towards the southwest corner of the motel as fast as his wounds would allow. He noticed that his rifle only had one bullet remaining in the chamber, so he loaded a full magazine. He was about halfway back to the motel when six creatures burst from the grass in pursuit of him and rushed him from behind. He never heard them coming until they were on top of him. The first one swiped at him and missed, and he recoiled in horror. Panic seized him, and he knew his doom was upon him. He wailed miserably as the others swarmed him. The second zombie tripped over its own feet and fell, scrabbling at the asphalt of the parking lot. The third seized him in its mighty arms and brought him down to the ground, and the fourth grabbed him from the other side. The fifth would have gotten him had the others not been in its way, and the last one could not get through its comrades to feast.

Lt. Curtis had just regained his footing, and he turned when he heard Duran cry. He did not panic, but he did scurry up the ladder with a surge of adrenalin. "Six hostiles in the western parking lot! Man down! Fire at will!" he shouted over the radio as he climbed.

Thomas Cole, already inured to the sight of these horrible creatures, fired at the first one and hit it in the chest, but it did not even slow down. Greg Applebee was also numb to the shocking appearance of the zombies. He wished he could have used his flamethrower on the cluster, but Duran would have gotten caught in the flames. Instead, he shouldered his rifle and shot it dead center, all but destroying its ribcage. Yet the thing still did not go down. Senior Airman Roger Coltrane gaped in horror, but recovered fast and shot the lead ghoul too, ripping a chunk from its right leg. Steve Phillips nearly lost his mind again, but barely held onto his wits. He also took a shot, hitting the wounded zombie. The bullet blew through the zombie's torso, and its limbs were hanging on only by slender tendons, the bones having been pulverized.

(Gordon Cheng, roll Sanity. Sanity loss is 0/1d10. If you remain sane, you may fire one shot. You may use your full skill, with only the -5% penalty for aiming at the head.)

On the motel roof-
Black and Sheen saw the zombies rush out of the grass and overwhelm Duran.

(Both of you roll Sanity. After that, you may also shoot following the above rules if you stay sane.)

On the motel balcony-
Wallace and Baldwin moved further north to give Ramirez some space on the crowded southwest corner. Lt. Blanco and Zorie Spooner also arrived from the east. Then the shooting started and everyone looked into the parking lot.

Malanowski was still frozen. Zorie Spooner gasped, but was not too badly affected. She drew her pistol. Ortega remained steadfast. He missed his target with his hasty shot, however. Unfortunately, the stray bullet hit his friend Duran, shattering his left leg. "No!" he cried. "Lo siento!"

Duran gritted his teeth and was able to stay awake despite the intense agony. "It's okay, amigo!" he called out, knowing these could be his last words.

Lt. Rebecca Doolittle drew her M9 and squeezed off a shot, but she missed too - and she also hit Duran! The bullet hit his arm and downed him. "God, no!" she cried, mentally stunned by what she had just done. She shuddered, but kept from losing it completely. Ortega was horrified by the role he had played in causing his friend's death, but his final words had eased his mind.

"You did him a favor," said Lt. Blanco. "He was already bitten, and he was about to suffer a slow and agonizing demise."

Brian Kincaid swallowed his disgust and took out his pistol too. He shot the grievously wounded zombie, finishing it off.

Wallace remained in control of himself. He shot the second zombie and blew its skull apart. He let out a whoop. Baldwin completely lost it. His mind splintered and he could not handle what his brain was processing. He stood rooted to the spot.

Lt. Blanco remained stable and took out her Beretta, only to have it jam when she pulled the trigger.

(David and Ramirez, roll Sanity. If you stay sane, you may take one shot at the zombies in the parking lot. They are 15 yards away, so you get to use full skill with any weapon, with only the -5% penalty for aiming at the head. David can use either his pistol or his shotgun. The base skill for shotguns is 30%. If you hit with the shotgun, roll 1d3 to see how many zombies you hit, and then roll 2d6 damage for each one that you hit. The pistol can fire two bullets per round, but only at the same target.)

In the comm room-
Alexandria Mikhalin waited nervously, monitoring the equipment.

East of the motel-
"Let's get upstairs fast!" said Amanda when she heard the gunfire erupt again. She climbed the shorter ladder and got onto the balcony.

(One more person can climb up to the balcony this round, using the taller ladder. There is no need to roll anything to climb the ladder since you are not injured.)

Cheng is uninpressed by the "infected". He decide to shoot in the head and see it exploding.

On the motel balcony-

Rameriz recoils in fear but begins to fire anyway
hitting one of them in the chest .

On the Roof-

"Black turns his head and is horrified by what he sees. Knowing that that he should have seen
them coming. He doesn't even move to fire.

Bobby Sheen saw the creatures emerge onto the parking lot. He started to freak a little bit. However he managed to keep his head and cool and prepared to fire.
He aimed at one of the runners heads and fired. The bullet hit the creature in the eye socket and bobby saw the head rip apart from the force of the bullet. As the creature dropped to the ground, Bobby cocked another round into his rifle and took aim at another head. However this time he did not judge the wind and the bullet missed to the right. "Dang it."

I just talked to John who is playing David. He cannot get online until Wed at the earliest cause he does not have internet access due to not having internet and he cannot get to the library until then.

Frank Hodges remained passed out

(OOC: I will await word from you as to when he wakes up or I should say if he wakes up......)

David rolls a 46 for sanity. His sanity is currently 44. http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1575347/. He loses 4 points of sanity. http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1575353/

(Wimrock, you sent me a PM saying you fixed David's post, but he still did not take any action. I really need to update this, so he's just going to miss his chance to shoot and hold his fire. This is actually very reasonable, as he doesn't have all that much on him and there are other shooters who are more skilled than he is. You also never corrected your post for Dale. He was originally staying behind at the motel to help the wounded, but you posted for him over at the diner instead. I'll just have to assume that's what you wanted him to do all along. If you want him to return to the motel, he can do that in this coming round. From now on, please don't move your characters to new threads until I tell you to.

Frank has been unconscious for three rounds out of six so far. This coming round is the fourth.

Gordon Cheng may fire once at Duran's head. See the instructions below at the end of the balcony segment.)

West of the motel-
Two more of the dead went down, but the other two began to gnaw on Duran's body. One more rushed out of the grass and charged the SFs gathered at the southwest corner of the motel. Cole took aim at its head, scoring a great hit and wounding it badly. Roger Coltrane also fired at it, missing by only a couple of feet. Greg Applebee hit it and took it down. Phillips almost hit one of the pair eating Duran, but the bullet whizzed past its ear.

On the motel balcony-
Malanowski just continued to stare blankly. Ortega shot a ghoul between the eyes and blew its head off. Lt. Doolittle fired two shots. One almost hit the last zombie and the other embedded itself in Duran's still-twitching body. Kincaid shot twice and hit its head once, ending its miserable existence.

"You've got to shoot Duran in the head, so he doesn't get back up!" said Lt. Blanco. She took Lt. Curtis by the hand and helped him into the comm room. "Come on, let's get in touch with HQ while I bandage you up. You folks below, go around to the east side of the motel. Zorie, go on down and start helping them." She handed her the motel keys.

Wallace put a round into Duran's head, but his helmet slowed it down greatly. Baldwin fired too, but he narrowly missed.

(Anyone else on the west side of the balcony may fire at Duran's head during this combat round if he wishes. There is still a -5% penalty for shooting at the head, and his helmet reduces the damage from each shot by 5 to a minimum of 0. It will take another 7 damage getting through the helmet to ensure that he does not rise up.)

Amanda met Zorie as she came around the southeast corner. "We're going to put the wounded in the ground floor rooms on the east side," Zorie said. "Go on down, I'll be right with you. Everything's under control now." Amanda nodded and climbed back down the ladder.

On the motel roof-
Sergeant Black passed out from the shock of seeing Duran getting devoured.

(Black is out of it for seven rounds, including this one. Sheen cannot fire this round, as the M-24 can only be fired every other round and he fired last round.)

In the comm room-
Mikhalin looked up as the two lieutenants entered and saluted. Dr. Blanco took over the microphone and spoke into it: "Colonel Carmichael, sir?"

"Yes, Lt. Blanco?" he replied.

"I've got Lt. Curtis with me, sir. He's pretty banged up, but he'll pull through. I'm putting him on now." She handed him the mike.

"Sir," said Curtis. "Lieutenant Alan Curtis reporting as ordered."

"What's your status, Lieutenant?"

"Not good, sir. Five of our people are dead. The pilot, one of the crewmen, and three of my people, including our medic. The people at the motel just lost a man too, though he had been bitten previously."

East of the motel-
Keith and Melinda pulled up in his truck as Amanda reached the bottom of the ladder. Ernest got out of his truck and joined her.

Cheng missed.

Rameriz shoots at Duran's now lifeless body hoping he will stay down. His first shot seems to cause atleast minor damage due to the helmet. His second misses.

(It's no problem for me to run Wimrock's characters as NPCs until he can return. I hope he gets his computer problems straightened out.

We're out of single combat rounds per update again, so Frank Hodges can act now.)

West of the motel-
Cole fired at Duran's head, but he missed. Coltrane took a shot too, also without success. Applebee couldn't hit him either. It was Phillips who finally scored a hit that punched through the helmet and destroyed his brain. After the shooting stopped, Frank Hodges finally came to his senses.

On the motel roof-
Sheen watched the others put enough bullets into Duran's head to make sure he stayed down before he had the chance to fire again. Black was still out of it.

(Sam Black still cannot act, but he will be okay after the next update. Sheen is free to act.)

On the motel balcony-
"This way," Zorie said to the two surviving members of the helicopter crew. She reached the ladders and climbed down to the parking lot. Lt. Rebecca Doolittle and Airman Brian Kincaid followed her to the ladders, reloading their pistols as they went. Malanowski continued to stare into space.

In the comm room-
"What about the wounded?" asked Lt. Colonel Carmichael.

"All of the survivors of the crash are wounded to some extent, sir," said Lt. Alan Curtis, "myself included. The doctors are going to treat them now. Lt. Blanco is looking after me personally. Nobody has been incapacitated, sir."

"That's good to hear. Lt. Curtis, now that you've arrived, I'm officially placing you in command of the military personnel at your location and relieving Lt. Blanco. I hope you won't take this the wrong way, Doctor, but Lt. Curtis is specialized in communications and more qualified for command. You will continue to serve as his executive officer if he so wishes."

"I understand, sir," she said. "To be honest, I never wanted command anyway."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. If only the other officers we sent had felt the same way, the recent tragedy would have been averted."

Lt. Blanco easily mended Lt. Curtis's injury from falling off the ladder.

"Good work, Doctor," he told her. "I'm sure you'll make a fine XO."

"Thank you," she said. She spoke on the radio. "Attention all personnel. This is Lt. Angela Blanco. Lt. Alan Curtis in now in command. I will be his executive officer."

East of the motel-
Zorie Spooner reached the bottom of the ladder, where Amanda Deeds and Ernest Granger stood waiting. "Okay," she said. "I'll start opening up the rooms on this side. The wounded people should be on their way now that the danger has passed, and we can start prioritizing them for treatment." She looked up as Dr. Dale Owens arrived in his SUV, parking near the ladders next to the truck where Keith Deeds and Melinda Christie had pulled up a minute ago.

At the motel:

Keith Deeds gets out of his truck and runs around to the people at the motel. "We've got a group of about 100 inbound from the East." he shouts as he approaches, making sure the snipers on the roof hear him. He approaches on the of soldiers on the groud, "Excuse me, the sniper on the garage roof out of there is low on ammo and could use some food and water. Do you have any you can spare? He needs 7.62x51mm -or .308 Winchester ammo."


Frank Hodges sits up after passing out, and scrambles to his feet, remembering the infected that were approaching him from the grass.
He looks around, looking for the infected that were after him.

(The only military people Keith can see are the snipers on the roof, Lt. Blanco, Lt. Doolittle, and Airman Kincaid on the eastern side on the balcony, at the top of the ladders. The SF troopers are on the west side, near the southwest corner. Amanda Deeds, Ernest Granger, and Zorie Spooner are on the ground on the east side.)

West of the motel-
Frank could detect no movement in the grass on the west side of the motel as far as he could see, which was about half a mile out. All of the ghouls lay dead in the parking lot with bullets in their skulls, as did Carlos Duran.

East of the motel-
Amanda smiled and waved at her son when he got out of the truck. "They also need 12 gauge shells," added Dr. Dale Owens as he parked next to him, "and your dad wanted you to bring back that shorter ladder so people can get up to the garage roof easily."

Not wanting to take the snipers ammo, Keith jumps into his truck. "Okay, thanks" he says to Dale before driving around the motel until he sees military personel.


Frank regains his composure, and seeks out Lt. Doolittle.

Rameriz steps back into the comm room glad that atlest Duran did have to join the ranks of the infected.

Sheen came out of his thoughts and looked through his scope at one of the zombie's heads. He fired and hit the creature square in the middle of the head. The creature had his head turn into little clouds of red mist. As it fell, Bobby said, "yes" and then shifted his scope to another creature again aiming at the head. He fired and although the bullet did not fly as true it still hit the creature in the upper cheek. The creature stopped for a minute as again its head flew apart and the bullet flew out the back. As it fell Sheen muttered, "And they said Oswald could not have taken a shot this good. hell this is like shooting ducks back on the farm." He aimed at a third head and fired. The bullet flew truer then the last one and creased the nostrils of the creature. Bobby watched as the bullet blew most of the head off but the creature continued to walk towards the motel. "damm." He grabbed a magizine and loaded his rifle preparing for more shooting.

(Walkers from the east: 2 dead, 1 with 9 damage to head)

In the comm room-
"What's our personnel situation?" asked Lt. Curtis. Lt .Blanco filled him in. He got on the radio again. "Sergeant Black, you will remain in charge of our defenses and you'll answer directly to me. Senior Airman Roger Coltrane and Acting Senior Airman Manuel Ortega, you will both answer to Sergeant Black. Airman Sheen will also report directly to Sergeant Black as before. Cole, Cheng, and Applebee will answer to Coltrane as Fire Team Alpha, while Phillips, Malanowski, and Hodges will report to Ortega as Fire Team Bravo. Lt. Doolittle, you'll report directly to me, and Airman Kincaid is under your command. Mr. Ramirez, you, Airman Mikhalin, and Zorie Spooner will report to Lt. Blanco, who reports to me. All injured personnel, report to the east side of the motel, ground level, for medical treatment and screening for infection. All civilians are to report there as well immediately. Lt. Blanco, you and Spooner will deal with the injured and the civilians. Sergeant Black, you and the men under your command are to defend this position the best way you see fit. Are there any questions?"

"I'm on my way, Lt. Curtis," said Lt. Blanco as she exited to the balcony.

On the motel roof-
Sheen saw all three of the creatures he shot fall, but the last one was still crawling slowly onwards, lagging behind the rest. The pack was now about 3/4 of a mile from the ruined diner. There were still over 80 of them left.

(Black, you may take up to five shots at full skill, with only the -5% penalty for aiming at the head. Sheen, your rifle is empty and you must reload it now. After that, you may have two shots.)

West of the motel-
Keith and Melinda pulled around the southwest corner of the motel, where they saw six injured USAF Security Forces troopers and stopped the truck. Senior Airman Roger Coltrane approached the cab and spoke to Keith: "We've got to get over to the other side of the motel, sir. Can you give us a lift in the back of your pickup? It's not really safe for you near the grass anyway."

On the motel balcony-
Lt. Blanco emerged from the comm room and spoke to David, Baldwin, and Wallace. "I'm sorry, but you three are going to have to come with me to the other side of the motel and downstairs. Lt. Curtis is in command now, and he wants everyone screened for possible infection before you're allowed back up."

Wallace gulped, but she took no notice. "Come on, guys," said David. The three truckers circled around to the east side of the balcony and the ladders leading down. Lt. Doolittle and Airman Brian Kincaid climbed back down them.

East of the motel-
Zorie Spooner opened up a few of the rooms that still had furniture. Dr. Dale Owens helped his son Adrian out of the SUV and towards one of the open rooms. "Okay, Adrian," he said. "We'll go inside and you can have a nap while Daddy takes care of his patients."

"I'm ready to help out too," said Ernest.

Zorie nodded to Lt. Doolittle and Airman Kincaid when they reached the ground. "This room is yours," she said, pointing to the room just south of the front door. "I'll get started treating you two. Amanda, why don't you come with me. The wounded airmen from the chopper should be here in a minute or two, and so should Dr. Blanco."

On the Roof-

Black wakes in time to hear his instructions. He then resumed fire hoping his passing out wouldn't cost any lives. Each of his shots hit their targets. Soon five more of the infected dropped dead.
While shooting he quickly thought up how he could improve the motel defenses.

In the Comm Room-

"Understood sir." At least now they had someone with some sanity in command.

(Actually, I'd forgotten about Black having fainted. He missed five rounds after the last update, so he should miss one of these, but I'll count it against the five rounds following the next update. After that one he'll only have four combat rounds.

Walkers from the east: 7 dead, 1 with 9 damage to head)

On the motel roof-
Black recalled that the wave that had attacked an hour ago had tripped all three Claymores in the field to the west, and now there weren't any planted out there. Planting more of them in the grass would slow them down and serve as an early warning system. Sending someone out there could be risky, however, as he remembered how Senior Airman Alanen had died. He also realized that it would be a good idea to coordinate with Luke and the new arrivals who had joined him at the diner. By pooling their resources and cooperating, they all stood a better chance of survival. There was also the ammo crate on the north side of the balcony, which had about 100 extra rounds for each of the sniper rifles as well as plenty of 5.56mm magazines. Since he was running low, it would be a good idea to order someone to bring more ammo up to the roof.

Can Cheng shoot? Or anyone help his injuries?

Cheng goes then to the east to get treated.

Frank Hodges reports to Ortega. "Sir, where do you want me?"

"Sure thing, hop in" Keithe says as he stops the truck. "That fella on top of the garage over there is running low on ammunition, food and water. Can ya'll help him out?" Once everyone is loaded up, Kieth heads to the others at the motel.

On the motel balcony-
"Hodges, go over to the east side with the others and get your wounds looked at," Ortega called down. "Then you can shoot at the incoming from the east unless Sergeant Black gives us new orders." He shouted to Keith next. "I'll ask him if he can spare any ammo or other supplies." He repeated Keith's request over the radio to Sergeant Black.

"Yes, sir!" Hodges says before double timing it over to the east side of the motel to get looked at.

On the Roof-

Black hears the request over the radio and quickly replies. "All right for the food and water check and see if you can get any off one of the bodies from the previous incident as for ammo we should be able to spare some.
What type does he need?" Black takes a breath "And does any of our infected military personal feal like doing us another possible dangerous favour?"

Sheen reloaded his rifle and then aimed at the head of one of the creatures. He fired and the bullet missed far to the right hitting the ground. He cursed and aimed again firing once more. This bullet hit square in the head going hundreds of miles per hour. It was an excellent shot and the zombie's head exploded in blood and gore.


(OCC-I have a question. Even though Sheen missed with that 1st shot since there is a huge group of 80 zombies he is firing into would not the bullet have a chance to hit one of those?)

No, Melinda will limited to stay as close as possible to Keith.

Hodges arrives at the east side of the motel.
"I need to get checked out ASAP so I can regroup with Fire Team Bravo" he says to whomever is in charge. (OOC: Can he see the appreaching infected here?)

On the west side of the motel:
While awaiting a response from Ortega, Keith says, " Sir, we've been using hit and run tactics on these buggers up until now. I was thinking that some of your boys could hop in the back of the truck while I drive around to pull the swarm away from the motel. A few of your boys could pick them off from the back of the truck, and your snipers could mop them up while they are disctracted. Whadd'ya think?"

OoC: Unless I'm missing something shouldn't he have to be told my reply as it was over the radio?

On the Roof-

"And while your at it grap one of the radios and give it to him. It should help with our communication problems."

(OOC: My mistake. I assumed that since I was standing near Ortega, that I would have heard the message come over the radio. I can edit my post if needed.)

(OoC: No problem we could simply say you did hear it over the radio or that Ortega relayed the message as Black said it.)

(Those with radios hear what's being said through microphones in their ears, so it's not possible to overhear unless you're standing right next to someone, and even then you'd need a Listen roll. Since Ortega is up on the balcony, there's no way to hear it, but he could always repeat what Black said.

Hodges is part of Fire Team Bravo, as per the last update. There is no Fire Team 3. Lt. Blanco has just arrived at the east side of the motel, so he'll be talking to her.

Walkers from the east: 8 dead, 1 with 9 damage to head)

In the comm room-
Lt. Curtis heard the exchange over the radio and sounded in: "Sergeant Black, you are free to give to Luke and the other civilians any ammunition and other supplies you feel we can spare. I'll leave that up to your judgment, as you're far more familiar with what we have." He turned to Alexandria Mikhalin. "So, who can we reach on this unit?"

"In addition to Warren, sir, we can reach NATO HQ," she said, "though things were pretty bad there the last time we spoke to them and I'm not sure they're still operating. We can also reach the Crisis Response Center in Omaha and Diego Garcia, as well as a few other listening posts like this one."

"Hmm. Well, let's try to raise NATO HQ and get an update. If they are still on the air, this may be our last chance."

"Connecting now, sir." Mikhalin opened up a line to Brussels. There was no reply.

Lt. Curtis frowned, then looked at Ramirez and Mikhalin. "Any suggestions on who we should try to contact next."

On the motel roof-
Sergeant Black recalled that each SF trooper had been issued 3 days' worth of MREs, so the rations of the fallen amounted to a good deal of food. Each MRE included something to drink with the meal as well. Alanen's rations had already been salvaged and were in the ammo crate on the north side of the balcony. The rations belonging to McCain and Thayer were still on their bodies on the balcony, and Duran's rations were on his in the western parking lot. Bobby Sheen used 7.62x51mm ammo. He had about 180 rounds on him, and there were another 100 in the ammo crate. The only 12 gauge ammo they had was for McCain's shotgun, which David was currently borrowing, and for the newly arrived Airman Thomas Cole's shotgun. They had about 100 shells between them, which was probably enough for themselves, but didn't leave much to share. They had no .308 ammo or weapons. There were some spare radios due to the recent casualties. The SF troopers' radios were integrated into their helmets, but Captain Lereux, Lt. Malone, and Airman Lewis all had radios that could be given to the civilians.

(Black, you may take four shots at the zombies now. Sheen, you get two shots.)

On the motel balcony-
Ortega repeated Sergeant Black's message to Keith, then spoke on the radio himself: "Sarge, one of the civilians who just arrived has a good suggestion. His group has been using hit and run tactics, and he's offered to use his truck to get some of our guys closer to the enemy and then pull back before they advance. If we do this, we could really whittle down the opposition. I'd volunteer to do this, and I could bring Malanowski with me. Hodges still needs his injuries treated, and it sounds like you've got something else in mind for Phillips, so that half of my team would have to stay here."

Lt. Blanco circled around to the east side of the balcony and arrived as Wallace and Baldwin were climbing down. David waited his turn at the top. "So, will you be examining me personally?" he asked her.

"Either me or my assistant, Zorie Spooner," she answered. "It depends on who's available."

"Hey, if either one of you is available, that makes me happy. Both at once would be even better. I won't have any problem taking off my clothes in front of you ladies."

"Um...oookay." Lt. Blanco rolled her eyes.

West of the motel-
"If you're looking for infected volunteers, Sergeant," said Phillips with a sigh, "I guess I'm it. Duran just bought it out in the parking lot, so I'm the only infected guy we've got left. What do you want me to do?"

Coltrane, Cole, Hodges, Cheng, and Applebee all got into the back of Keith's truck. He drove them around the south side of the motel to the eastern parking lot.

East of the motel-
The SF troopers in the back of Keith's pickup got out when he arrived on the east side of the motel as Wallace and Baldwin got to the bottom of the ladders. Hodges and the others could see the approaching mob in the distance to the east, but it was still too far away for anyone without a scope to have a decent chance of hitting.

Zorie Spooner started directing the new arrivals to motel rooms. "Two to a room, people," she said. "Room 4, the one directly south of the front door and the ladders, is already taken. Room 3 is just south of that and available, as are Rooms 5 and 6 north of the ladders. All of those rooms are still fully furnished. Rooms 1, 2, 7, and 8 are on this side, but most of their furniture has been taken away to barricade the stairs. Amanda, you can go on into Room 4 and start working."

Lt. Doolittle and Airman Kincaid went into Room 4, and each lay down on one of the twin beds. Amanda went in after them.

"I'll be in Room 5," said Dr. Dale Owens. "This will be my son's room too, so there's only room for one more in there. By the way, they need that shorter ladder back at the garage. Come on, Adrian." He picked up the boy and carried him in, placing him gently on the bed closer to the door.

"We brought that ladder over from the garage originally," said Baldwin. "Someone ought to be able to take it back once David and the other doc get down here."

"I'll head into one of the other rooms and get started once you guys pick one," said Ernest Granger.

In Room 4-
"Who wants to go first?" asked Amanda, unpacking her medical bag.

"Treat Airman Kincaid first," said Lt. Doolittle. "His wounds are worse than mine."

"All right." She went over to Brian Kincaid and examined him. "That does look nasty. Just let Mama take care of that for you." She cleaned and stitched his wounds from the crash and did a decent enough job.

On the east side of the motel:
"I'll be in Room 7" Hodges said and started walking towards the room. As he walked, he keyed his radio, "Ortega, this is Hodges. I'm at the east side of the motel. There is quite a holding pattern over here. I'll be in room 7 while I wait to be treated, if you need anything in the meantime, let me know."

On the est side of the motel:
Keith Deeds drops the soldiers off at the east side of the motel. "Here ya'll go" he says as he gets out of his truck. "Say, who's in charge here" he shouts to the military personel at the motel. " The shooter on the garage roof needs some rations and 7.62 x 55mm ammo so he can keep on killing these things. Can anyone help me out?"

Ooc: Ya becareful Black didn't say anything.

In the Comm Room-
"Try to reach Omaha it is important that we know their situation and when and if the helicopter lands." Rameriz suggests before sitting down on the floor to finally rest
for a moment.

On the Roof-

Black first deals with the supply request while firing off four more rounds with three of the shots hitting their targets. Soon three more bodies hit the ground. "Allright get oneof the meals off Duran and give it to him along with both the late Captain Lereux and Lt. Malone's radios." He then asks Sheen "How would you feel about spareing some ammo?" Finally he informs Phillips of what he needed him to do. "I need you to set some more claymores out in the field to the west."

Sheen sighed, "How much do you think I should give up Sgt? I mean I am a good shot and can use all the ammo I can get my hands on. However if it is for the good of the defense then I can give some as long as I was assured that I would have some later on if needed."
Sheen then aimed at another zombie head and fired. The shot hit the zombie in the left eyesocket and Sheen saw the head explode and the zombie crumble to the ground.
Sheen sighed with happiness and then took aim at another head and fired. Again he hit although this time the shot entered more of the left nose not the eye but oh well it was still enough to drop the zombie to the ground.

On the Roof-
Lisening to Sheen Black makes an inquirery over the radio "How much ammo does he have at the moment? Is it enough to out last this comming group?"

In motel room 7:
Hodges wait patiently to be treated in motel room 7. He takes off his flak jacket and helmet and walk to the sink and turns on the water.
(OOC: does water flow from the faucet?)

On the eastside of the motel.

While he waits, he scans the area, but sees nothing out of the ordinary.
"Say, I've got an idea. If you have an extra radio, I'll just run the radio over to the man on the garage roof so you can coordinate with him directly instead of me waiting around here when I can be doing something. You get some shooters in the back of my truck and we'll drop off the ladder and radio on our way out. You all can then coordinate with him while we all take care of the infected and when we get a breather you can resupply him or he can come over here and join you. Let's decide fast, though, cause I got family over there and we all have big ass group of angry, biting mother f'ers coming our way."

Giving the soldier in charge a moment to think, he calmly walks back to Melinda and asks with a smile, "How are you holding up, doll?"

(Walkers from the east: 13 dead, 1 with 9 damage to the head)

In the comm room-
"Okay," said Lt. Curtis. "Mikhalin, connect me to Omaha."

"Yes, sir," said Alexandria Mikhalin. She made the connection.

"Y'ello," said a man's voice on the other end.

"This is Lieutenant Alan Curtis of the United States Air Force," replied Curtis. "Is this Omaha?"

"Well, it ain't the North Pole. The name's Adam Donnelly. I'm with the CDC's Crisis Response Center. What can I do for you?"

"You can fill me in on your situation, for starters. I've only recently taken command here, but I have a man here who is more familiar with the situation on our end, Javier Ramirez."

"Our situation? Well, it's pretty grim. We managed to electrify our fence, but we're completely surrounded by thousands of people who don't know how to stay dead. No way in or out any more except maybe by helicopter. We're doing our best, but some key personnel who were supposed to get here this morning never arrived. I guess we've got maybe three hours before we get gnawed to death. To be honest, I'd rather be fishing."

Lt. Curtis offered the microphone to Ramirez. "Go ahead and ask him what you want," he said.

On the motel roof-
Black and Sheen were beginning to thin out the ranks of the dead, having downed about 1/6 of them, but the rest of the mob kept advancing. It was now a little over half a mile from the ruined diner.

(Black, you have four combat rounds to fire now. I forgot to deduct one from the last set because you needed to reload, so I'll deduct it here. Sheen, you will have to reload your rifle, and you may also fire twice this time.)

On the motel balcony-
"I'll bring the two radios to the civilians, Sergeant," said Ortega over the radio. "Hodges, roger that. I'll let you know if I need you for anything. Malanowski, I need you to go down and salvage whatever you can from Duran and then bring one of the MREs to the civilians." He ducked into the comm room to retrieve his late commanders' radios, then circled around the south side of the balcony to the east while Malanowski climbed down the rope ladder.

"I've got two radios for you to bring back!" Ortega called down to Keith. "I've got someone getting food for you too! Then both of us will get in the back of your truck. Does the guy who needs the 7.62mm ammo have enough to withstand the current wave?"

Lt. Blanco, already on the east side of the balcony, climbed down to the ground along with David.

West of the motel-
"I'm on my way, Sarge," said Phillips on the radio as he started across the parking lot. "I've got one Claymore on me, and I know Duran had a couple, so I'll pick up his on the way. Hope someone's covering my ass." He took the pair of mines from Duran's pack and moved into the field as fast as his injuries would allow.

East of the motel-
Wallace went into Room 6, while Baldwin went to Room 5. Coltrane and Cole took Room 3, and Applebee joined Hodges in Room 7. Cheng was left standing outside. "Ortega can help you out," said Lt. Blanco to Keith. "I've got patients to look after." She motioned for Zorie to go to Room 3 while she started towards Room 6. Ernest Granger followed Hodges and Applebee into Room 7.

In Room 3-
Coltrane and Cole got on the twin beds. Zorie Spooner came in a little behind them. "Hang in there, guys," she said. "I'll have you back in fighting form soon." She went first to bandage Coltrane's wounds, repairing most of the damage he had suffered in the crash.

In Room 4-
"Thank you, ma'am," said Brian Kincaid.

"No sweat," said Amanda. She crossed over to Lt. Rebecca Doolittle's bed, "Your turn." She did an excellent job of patching up the pilot's injuries from the crash, restoring her health greatly.

In Room 5-
Baldwin collapsed on the second bed and took off his shirt, waiting for Dr. Owens to come over. The doctor tucked Adrian in, and the boy was soon asleep again. Then he took out his bag of medical supplies. "That gunshot wound is a nasty one," he said. "I'm not sure if I'm good enough to do anything for it."

In Room 6-
Wallace lay nervously on the bed, waiting for one of the doctors to come and dreading what they might discover.

In Room 7-
Room 7 still had its twin beds, but all of the other furniture had been removed to barricade the northeast stairway. The water flowed normally when Hodges turned the faucet.

Applebee lay down on one of the beds as Ernest Granger walked in. Ernest looked at Hodges. "I'm just a farmhand, not a doctor," he said, "but I'll do my best." He noticed the medical kit that Hodges had borrowed from Amy Janssen. "I'll use that if you don't mind. It's a lot better than anything I've got." He disinfected his wounds and stopped the bleeding, then stitched them up. He couldn't do much, though.

-Hum, isn't time i get a gun now? I know i'm not a professional, but i have some training with weapons...

Cheng is geting impatient to be treated.

Cheng enters in room 6

On the est side of the motel:
"Thank you, ma'am....err Lt." Keith said to Lt. Blanco.

As Ortega climbed down the ladder, Keith called out to him, "Sir, I'm not sure how much ammo he has left. He said he was running really low and wouldn't last much longer if they kept on coming in these numbers. I suppose anything would help. He also said that any scoped rifle with ammo would help in the event you cannot spare any ammo. We can drive th radio over to him when we do some hit and run on those fuckers. I was thinking I could take the other spare radio you have so I can communicate with the soldiers in my truck while I drive. What do you think?"

Keith then returns to Melinda and says "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, sweetie. I can't have you riding shotgun in my truck without no shotgun, now can I?"

Kieth scanned the area for a fallen soldier near by from procure a pistol and ammo for Melinda as he walked over and grabbed the ladder to take back to the garage.

In Room 7

Hodges gladly hand the first aid kit to the farm hand.
Seeing the water flow from the sink, Hodges keys his radio. "Sgt. Black. The water in this joint is still running, but who knows for how long. Perhaps we should fill the bath tubs with water in the event the pipes stop running."
Hodges walk to the bath tub and begins to fill the tub with cold wanter. While it fills, he dives his hands under the cold, running water and splashes it on his face. The cool water is refreshign and envigorating. For a fleeting moment everything feels normal again. Then the sniper fire from above sends him crashing back to reality. A reality where the dead walk and are hungry for human flesh.

On the motel balcony-
"The only scoped rifles we've got are the ones the snipers are using," Ortega called down. "Malanowski and I have our own radios, and since we're going with you, you won't need your own. It might make more sense to give the second one to your father." He got on the radio. "Sergeant Black, are there any weapons we can spare? One of the civilians is unarmed and needs one."

East of the motel-
There were no dead Air Force personnel on this side of the motel, but Keith remembered seeing Duran's body in the parking lot on the west side of the motel. Malanowski was on his way there now to salvage his equipment, so he could perhaps bring something back. There had been more bodies up on the balcony as well.

"Yes, sir." Keith said in response to Ortega's suggestion that Clarence take the other radio.
Grabbing the ladder and heading back to his truck, Keith called out to Ortega, "Do any of those bodies on the balcony have a hand gun my girl could use?"

In the Comm Room-

Rameriz takes the radio "Hello this is Javier Ramirez would the personal you metioned be Dr. Brigetta Hausman and Stephanie Bridges? They were at this location before as their helicopter had some problems. Luckly a state trooper helicopter was able to land and refuel nearby. They where heading towards you when they left. Make sure to tell them that in the event they need to return Lereux won't be a problem any more. I just hope that their reaserch is worth it. It caused a lot of problems over here."

On the Motel Roof-

Black fires four more time or atleast he tries to. "Worthless peice of 12,000 dollar crap!"

In the comm room-
"Yes, that's them!" said Adam Donnelly excitedly. "Oh, that's the best news I've heard all day. We were talking to Stephanie late this morning. She said there was a huge bunch of the dead coming her way and she had to get on the roof, and that she'd try to call us back soon. We didn't hear from her for a while, and when we tried to call in earlier we couldn't establish a connection. We were afraid she and Dr. Hausmann were dead. If they're on their way here, there's still hope if they can get here in time. The fence is holding, but there's a gap in it and we won't be able to secure it indefinitely. Tell me, did they bring Dr. Hausmann's computer with them? It's very important that they have the data on it."

On the motel roof-
The Barrett jammed when Black tried to fire the first shot.

(You have three combat rounds remaining in this set of five to clear the jam. I'll count that second roll you made as the roll to clear the jam, which is a success. Roll 1d6 to see how many rounds it takes. If one or two, then the third and/or fourth rolls you made will count too, depending on how many rounds are left. If it takes four rounds or longer, you'll borrow the extra rounds from the next group of five.)

In the Comm Room-
"They probaly meant to contact you after we came unfortunatly the civilians where removed before they could.We then moved the equipment to an upstairs location. They still have their computers but it was a close call I am just glad that Lereux didn't find out that they had them. I hope whatever is on them is worth the risk.

On the Motel Roof-
Black manages to fix the jam quickly and fires off two more shoots both of which hit their targets. Both targets go down headless. "Shame we can't get them all together in a neat little line that last shoot would have killed two or three of them."
He then responds to the other talk over the radio " Ortega if they need a handgun give it to them the rest we will destribute after this wave is destroyed. Good thinking Hodges get on that asap."

(occ-Sorry it took me so long to post up. Dealing with beginning my game and making characters. I have a new found respect for you Mr. Handy and i had lots of respect for you before last week anyway!) (also just found out that invisible castle is not working for some reason. I rolled the results on my own dice. If that is a problem for you I can wait until it comes up again.)

IC:
Sheen reloaded his rifle and then took aim at another creatures head. He fired and hit the creature in his upper jaw. (die roll was 16) The bullet slammed out of the creatures head and it fell dead once again. (die roll was 11 +4 for 15) He smiled and took aim at another creatures head but this time he missed. (die roll was 97 so did he jam the rifle?)

(That's okay, and thanks for posting. Yes, it's fine to roll physical dice when Invisible Castle isn't working. It's working again now, by the way. The M-24 is not jammed, as it's a very reliable weapon and only malfunctions on a 100.

Walkers from the east: 16 dead, 1 with 9 damage to the head)

In the comm room-
"Believe me when I tell you that the fate of the world depends on those women getting here with that computer," replied Adam Donnelly. "It was definitely worth the risk. Thanks for everything, man. If we ever meet, I owe you a beer. You don't know how relieved I am. How long ago did they leave? I'd say it's about a three hour flight, but they'd need time to refuel. I think they'll probably get here in time, but we may be cutting things close.

"Anyway, I've been working on building an EMP generator as Stephanie suggested. Should have it done in a couple of hours, but I won't be able to test it for obvious reasons. Using it would be a last resort, anyway, as it would knock out our communications and the electric fence, plus we're not even sure it would work on those things."

(It's been almost an hour since the helicopter left.)

Mikhalin went into the bathroom and began to fill the bathtub.

On the motel roof-
Black and Sheen managed to drop a few more zombies, but about seventy still remained. They were now around half a mile from the eastern edge of the diner and slowly closing the distance.

(Black, you may fire five shots. Sheen, you may fire three.)

On the motel balcony-
Ortega swung onto the taller ladder and climbed down to the parking lot below.

West of the motel-
Phillips found a good spot southwest of the motel and began trying to plant the first Claymore, but he wasn't having much luck so far.

Malanowski jogged over to Duran's corpse and took what he could. He left the body armor and helmet on him for now, as it would take too long to strip them off, but he grabbed all of his weapons, ammo, and rations. Then he hurried around the south side of the motel.

East of the motel-
"Everyone start filling the bathtubs in your rooms!" called Lt. Blanco.

David grumbled when Cheng got into Room 6 ahead of him and Lt. Blanco followed him inside. He trudged off to Room 2 instead.

Ortega got into the bed of Keith's pickup. Malanowski came running around the southeast corner and joined him there. "I left his armor," he explained, "since I didn't really have time to get it off. Got his M-16, his pistol, ammo for both, grenades, LAW rocket, and knife."

"I think we're ready to head over to the diner, then," said Ortega. "We can exchange gear on the way."

In Room 2-
David walked through the unfurnished room and into the bathroom. He started running the bath too.

In Room 3-
"Okay, now it's your turn," Zorie Spooner said to Thomas Cole. She did an adequate job treating his injury, and he felt a little better. Coltrane started filling the tub while he waited.

In Room 4-
Amanda continued working, treating Lt. Doolittle's injury from falling off the ladder and restoring her to full health. In the meantime, Brian Kincaid opened the tap and started filling the bathtub.

In Room 5-
"Keep trying, doc," said Baldwin. "I'm sure you'll get it."

Dr. Owens nodded. He started the water running in the bathtub and then returned to take another look at Baldwin's gunshot wound, but he still couldn't extract the bullet. "I'd better leave well enough alone," he said. "Now, if you were a horse, I'm sure I'd know what to do."

In Room 6-
Wallace went into the bathroom and started filling the tub while Lt. Blanco took a look at Cheng's injuries. "You're real lucky to be alive, Airman," she said. He had injuries all over his body from the helicopter crash, and she began the long process of cleaning and binding all of them. He felt somewhat better already.

Wallace came back out of the bathroom and lay down on his bed again. "Tell me, doc, do you think you can find a cure for this?" he asked.

"I hope so, but it's going to take a long time even if we can. It's probably too late for anyone who's already been bitten."

"Oh."

(It will take a total of ten minutes for her to finish examining Cheng, and one minute has gone by so far. He gets back 2 HP from her treatment, which I've given him now. Feel free to talk to the others in the room.)

In Room 7-
While the bathtub began to fill, Ernest Granger started to examine Applebee next, frowning when he saw the extent of his injuries. "This may take a while," he said, rooting through the medic's kit.

On the Roof-
Black fires five more rounds at the incoming horde each hitting their target. Soon five more dead bodies hit the ground.

In the Comm room-
"No problem I was just glad that the helicopter was able to take off. Our previous commander had ordered our sniper team to fire and that caused more than a few problems. This was about an hour ago. If you haven't I suggest you start creating barricades in the building. It should help if the infected do manage to get in."

(You only made four damage rolls. Please make a fifth one. It'll almost certainly be enough for a kill, but you'll need to roll to make sure.)

In the comm room-
"Thanks again," said Donnelly. "Sounds like we should expect them in another two and a half hours then. They'll probably contact us by radio when they get closer. We are working on interior barricades in case we're breached, but those will only slow them down, not stop them for good. Your previous commander sounds like a Grade A asshole, and I'm glad they managed to get out of there in one piece."

Ooc- wasn't that roll was an impale? so unless I miss understood something it would be 4d10+2d8+6 which would be 12 at worst. Anyway
roll one and if I was wrong roll two.

In Room 7.

While the bathtub filled, Frank stripped off his armor and helmet and cleaned off in the bathroom sink. The cool water was refreshing and calming. Once done, he began cleaning his rifle while the bathtub filled and he waited to be trated.

Outside of the motel

With everyone in the truck, Keith headed back to the garage as quickly, but safely as he could.

-Well, i had better landings. And actually, when we crashed, i really thought we were finished. And all because one of use was infected!

Bobby Sheen looked through his scope and quickly squeezed off three shots at three different zombies. (He had made up his mind that they were zombies as he had watched enough horror movies.)
The first shot hit its target in the middle of the head. Sheen saw the zombie stagger but keep on walking with most of its head gone. Cursing under his breath he squeezed off his second shot. This shot hit the zombie in the eye and Sheen saw the bullet pass out of the head and the zombie crumple to the ground. He aimed and fired his third shot. This shot also hit the zombie square in the forehead. The zombie stopped for a brief second and then die as its head exploded.

(Walkers from the east: 27 dead, 1 with 9 damage to the head, 1 with 8 damage to the head.

Manuel Ortega, Igor Malanowski, Keith Deeds, and Melinda Christie are moving to this thread: Blue Plate Special, on page 3.

Everyone else remains in the current thread.)

In the comm room-
Lt. Curtis borrowed the microphone back from Ramirez. "This is Alan Curtis again," he said. "What exactly is this data that they're transporting, and how is it supposed to help against this crisis?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that," replied Adam Donnelly. "It's classified, and you don't have clearance. Just rest assured that Dr. Brigetta Hausmann and Stephanie Bridges are both brilliant scientists and are very capable of carrying out the task at hand. If everything works out, I'll let you know how it went. If it doesn't, well, I won't be able to. We'll do our jobs; my guess is you have enough to worry about doing yours."

Curtis offered the microphone back to Ramirez. "Anything else you want to ask or tell him?"

Mikhalin came back in. "The tub's filling up now," she said. "It'll take a while, though."

On the motel roof-
Luke opened fire from his position on the garage roof, and Black and Sheen continued shooting with deadly accuracy as well. Less than sixty zombies remained on their feet now. Two crawled slowly onwards after having been badly wounded in the head, and the rest all lay dead in the fields to the east. It would take the horde another five minutes to reach the eastern edge of the diner. Keith's truck pulled up at the garage, where Clarence and another man took the ladder and set it up. Three men climbed up to the garage roof using the ladder and a rope that had been let down from the roof.

(Black, your magazine is empty and you must now reload. You may also fire four shots. Sheen, you will have to reload as well. You may fire two shots.)

West of the motel-
Phillips was still having difficulty setting the Claymore in the field southwest of the motel.

In Room 2-
David took off his shirt, whistling as he did so. He admired himself in the mirror for a moment, flexing his muscles.

In Room 3-
Zorie Spooner started giving Cole a more detailed examination, and she made rapid progress in further treating his wounds, repairing them very thoroughly. Coltrane cleaned his weapon and replaced the magazine while he waited his turn.

In Room 4-
Amanda went over to Brian Kincaid. "Okay, lie down now," she said. "I'll see if I can do anything more for you." He complied and let her work, but there seemed little she could do.

In Room 5-
"I don't want this bullet in me any longer than it's gotta be," said Baldwin. "Keep at it, doc."

Dr. Owens shrugged and tried again to remove the bullet, and he finally got it. He began cleaning and sewing up the wound, and Baldwin felt significantly better. "Thanks, doc," he said.

In Room 6-
"How did one of you get infected?" asked Lt. Blanco with concern as she continued to treat Gordon Cheng, examining him carefully and looking for any indications of bite marks. "Was anyone else on the helicopter infected? Did anyone get bitten? I thought there were standing orders not to bring anyone who had been bitten on the helicopter. How could this have happened?"

"You mean they were supposed to leave someone behind just because they've been bitten?" said Wallace. "Kimberly was bitten, and she didn't turn into one of them. What were they going to do, put a bullet in his head?"

"Only if he actually turned. Phillips was bitten over an hour ago, and I made sure nobody killed him. Humanitarian concerns aside, we can learn a lot from studying the progress of the infection. But we can't allow anyone who's been bitten upstairs. That would risk the security of the communications room."

In Room 7-
The tub continued to fill, though it would take some time before it would be completely full. Ernest Granger tried again to help Applebee, but he accidentally jabbed him with a needle.

"Arrgh!" cried Applebee, though the wound was more painful than anything.

"Damn, I'm sorry," said Ernest. "Let me bandage that up, then I guess I'd better call it quits. I'm not cut out for this. Maybe I'll have better success with my rifle."

-That's the strange problem. We had several persons who were hurt, but none had been biten. Maybe a person doesn't need to be biten, only hurt, and by the air the virus enters in the wound. But in that case, i would be already infected! It doesn't make any sense!

In room 7 -

Seeing that Earnest was not having much luck, Hodges walked over to the bed where Applebee lay. "Here, I have a little first aid training, maybe I can patch you up...or at least not hurt you further," Frank said to Applebee with a wink. Frank picked up the first aid kit and was able to tend to Applebee's wounds.

In Room 6-
"No, it's definitely not an airborne virus," said Lt. Blanco. "If it were, we'd all have gotten it like you said. Stephanie Bridges theorized that the bite simply transmits a lethal poison. The fact that everyone who dies, whether bitten or not, rises up - unless they're shot in the head - bears this out. The one in the helicopter who turned must have died somehow."

"If it's a poison," said Wallace, "then maybe there's an antidote."

"If there is, we don't know what it is yet and we're a long way from finding it."

Cheng realized that he had never gotten a good look at Airman King. It was possible that he had been bitten and Cheng simply hadn't known about it - but wouldn't Lt. Curtis and Amy Janssen have known if that were the case?

In Room 7-
"Thanks, man," said Applebee as Hodges began to undo the damage Ernest had caused. "Maybe when you finish up we all ought to go outside and start shooting those things. They're probably close enough by now, or they soon will be."

In Room 7
"Yeah, we probably should get out there. Can you take a look at my wounds first and see what you can do about them?" Frank said to Applebee.
(OOC: Has Frank, or does he know that it is suspected that the bites causes the dead to rise? If so, did he see any bites on Applebee as he bandaged him up?)

(Roll Listen to see if you overhear the discussion in Room 6. There's no penalty since you've removed your helmet. He does know that everyone who is bitten will eventually become a zombie. He did not see any bite marks on Applebee.)

In Room 7-
"Me?" said Applebee. "I'm no medic. Ernest already bandaged you about as well as I could have. Unless you want to risk him taking a look at it, it's probably best to wait for one of the doctors or that nurse to get to you."

"I don't know if I'd call that a bandage job though," Hodges said with a chuckle as he looked down at the work Ernest did. Over hearing the conversation next door, Frank says, " Sounds like bites from the infected are what are causing others to become infected. I don't see any bites on either of us, so I suppose we are good..... for now. Come on, lets get to shooting."
Keith turns off the bathtub, dons his body armor and helmet and grabs his rifle as he heads to the door with Applebee.
"Sgt. Black, Hodges and Applebee are ready for action. Where would you like us?" Frank said as he exited the motel room.

On the Roof-

Black reloads while talking "I'd like you to cover Phillips just be ready to engage the incoming infected." He then takes aim and fires four more times. The first two shoots hit their targets the third missed and the four also found it's mark.
Once again three bodies feel dead or at least deader.

In the Comm Room-

"Just one thing." Rameriz takes the mic "Good luck and remmember you can contact us any time if there is anything we can help with."

-Ok, i think i will go now. Ey, anyone needs another shooter here?- He says as a jock.

Frank exits the motel and scans the surrounding area for Airman Phillips and [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1610790/]but only spots the approaching hoard in the distance. [url]
"Come on, Applebee. Let's go cover Phillips" he says as he jogs around to motel to the southwest.

OOC: Sounds good. I will edit my post above.)

Sheen reloaded his rifle and aimed at another zombie head. He fired and saw the bullet hit the zombie in the lower jaw. The zombie dropped dead as the bullet zinged around its brain pain spreading brains and blood all over the place. Bobby smiled and aimed at another zombie head. He fired and the bullet moved to the right hitting the zombie in the right cheek near its ear. The zombie paused for a brief second and then dropped to the ground dead once again.

(Walkers from the east: 35 dead, 1 with 9 damage to the head, 1 with 8 damage to the head)

In the comm room-
Lt. Curtis took back the microphone. "Yes, good luck, sir," he added. "We also have a couple of medical researchers here that I'm sure would like to talk to you when they get a chance, but they're quite busy at the moment. We'll call you back when at least one of them is available."

"Thanks," replied Adam Donnelly. "Same to you. We'll talk some more later."

Curtis disconnected the call. "Okay, we'd better get in touch with Warren again and fill them in on the latest." Mikhalin opened a connection back to Warren. "Colonel Carmichael, this is Lt. Curtis. Do you read me?"

"I read you," said Carmichael. "What's your status?"

"Medical treatment and screening of the wounded is underway, sir. There is a large number of hostiles closing in from the east, but our snipers and other combatants are dealing with them with the aid of the civilians. We're also planting some Claymores in the field to the west to improve our defenses and warn us of any approaching hostiles from that direction."

"I've tried again to convince the general not to go ahead with his planned nuclear detonation at the missile base in eastern Wyoming that's being overrun, but he will not change his mind no matter what. He's going to go ahead and do it in about half an hour. The warhead is already prepped and ready to be deployed."

On the motel roof-
The snipers continued to thin the ranks of the dead. There were now about fifty remaining. They could also see the pickup truck with Ortega and Malanowski in the back pull onto I-80 and drive a few hundred yards to the east before stopping.

(Sam Black, you get five more shots. Bobby Sheen, you get two more.)

West of the motel-
Phillips still wasn't having any luck with the Claymore.

In Room 2-
David continued watching the tub fill up, stripping down to his boxers.

In Room 3-
"I'm heading outside to see if there's anything I can do to help, ma'am," said Coltrane. "Call me back in when it's my turn."

"Will do," said Zorie Spooner as she worked on Cole.

Coltrane stepped outside.

In Room 4-
Amanda continued her treatment of Kincaid. This time she did a better job, bandaging the cuts he received from falling off the ladder.

In Room 5-
Baldwin leaned back and tried to relax while Dr. Owens worked on him.

In Room 6-
"You're not ready to go back out there yet, Airman," said Lt. Blanco. "I still need several more minutes to treat you. You've been very badly injured in that helicopter crash. I also need to check you over and make absolutely sure you're not showing any symptoms before I can clear you to go upstairs. If an emergency comes up, you can go outside and start shooting, but unless that happens I'd advise against it."

East of the motel-
Coltrane emerged from Room 3.

"I can hear you, you know," said Ernest Granger to Hodges. He went back into the bathroom to open up the tap again. "Better leave the water running. It'll take several minutes to fill all the way, and this battle will be over before that happens."

"He really didn't do such a bad job on me," said Applebee as he and Ernest followed Hodges outside.

"I think I'll stay out here," said Ernest. "I've got a scope on my rifle, so I'll be able to start shooting once they get a bit closer."

(Hodges did not have time last round to circle around the motel, as he was busy applying First Aid, putting his armor back on, and leaving the room. Now he has time to go around the motel to the southwest, but that will take up the entire round in terms of movement. Feel free to keep talking, though.)

Ooc: It is Carmichael that is trying to prevent the lauch of the warhead right? Also I know that Rameriz may not be able to prevent that nuke going off but I might as well give it a try so I was thinking I should that I should roll Know, Idea, Luck, Psychology and Persuade. Are these the right skills and should I even bother?

In the Comm Room-

"Shit, he can't be allowed to detenate that nuke under any circumstances. It could very well trigger a nuclear war if somebody detects it and thinks it was the russians or god knows who else." Rameriz takes a deep breath while trying to think up ways they can prevent a nuclear war.

On the Roof-

Black chooses his targets and rapidly fires at them all. He hit every single one and soon five more of the infected hit the ground. While doing this he keeps an eye on Sheen.

(Carmichael is trying to prevent the launch. There's no need to convince him, as Lt. Malone already did that back in Chapter 2. Psychology would only give you insight into Carmichael, but not into the CO since you've never met him. Persuade wouldn't be useful for that since you can only talk to Carmichael, who's already on your side. You would need to talk to the CO personally, but that's not going to be easy. You'd have a better chance of preventing the launch if you were back on base, but you've been ordered to hold your position and it would be almost impossible to get there within half an hour anyway. There's really very little you can do from here. You can go ahead and roll Idea if you like.)

In the comm room-
"I'm not all that worried about another U.S. facility detecting and misinterpreting our launch," said Carmichael. "If they do detect it, they'll know the warhead came from Warren and figure we nuked our missile base as per standard protocol. No, the real problem is that the detonation will do no good and will in fact cause great harm. There's just no getting through to our CO. There's no way to stop the launch short of a mutiny, and you know how badly that can turn out, Mr. Ramirez. The XO is still loyal to him too, which would make it even more problematic.

"I am concerned about the possibility of nuclear war, but from an entirely different cause. The CO is convinced that the Russians are going to carry out a preemptive nuclear first strike on the U.S. because they're afraid we're going to launch on them. I don't even know whether or not they still have the capability, and we're completely unable to communicate with them. The best we can do is to have you use your facility to eavesdrop on Russian communications and try to get a feel for what they're up to. The Russians aside, there's the possiblity that the CO may eventually decide to preempt their preemption and launch first, even though it may very well turn out they have no intention of launching on us."

In the Comm Room-

"Is there any way you can get him to talk to us at all? Even if it is a stalling tactic it will be better then nothing." As he is talk he he tries to think of an idea that can stop this.

In the comm room-
"It's extremely doubtful I can get him to talk to you directly," said Carmichael. "I can't even talk to him; I have to go through the XO. Chain of command, you know. If you really want me to go to the XO and try to have the CO speak to you, maybe I can, but chances are he'll be far too busy to do it. Plus, if I try it I may endanger my own position here. I could end up...reassigned, like Major Andrews. Then you'll be talking to someone who agrees with the CO on this matter. I've been trying to stall all along, dragging my feet at every opportunity. If I hadn't been, that detonation would have already happened by now, but I've exhausted all of my options at this point."

Ramirez realized that there's almost nothing that can be done to prevent this launch. He might be able to prevent future launches if he can get back onto the base. If he did try to spur Carmichael into action, there would be little chance of success and he would risk losing a valuable ally.

(Roll Psychology if you want to get a better impression of Carmichael. If you want to try to convince him to talk to the XO to get the CO to talk to you, you'll need to roll Persuade. If you want to try to convince him to mutiny, you can roll Persuade, but you'd need an exceptional success to get him to take action before the launch. Even if you succeed, Carmichael will be highly unlikely to pull it off with less than half an hour to prepare. If he has more time to get ready and find allies on the base, it will improve his chances, but they will still be low. If he tries this, the most likely outcome is that you will lose him. Also, keep in mind that Lt. Curtis is in the room with you and he is your superior. You can make a Persuade roll on him too without taking any extra time - you're presenting the same arguments to both of them at once.)

In the comm room-

Rameriz desperately tries to to think of something that could prevent the CO from launching the nuke. "Does the CO know our radio capabilities? If not there may be a chance we can stall him long enough for me to get back to the base and try and do something." At this part he tries to think of any story that the CO may believe. "What if we told him that we had Intel on the russians maybe that their communications are all screwed up and their just trying to get in contact with their high command and if they detect a nuke on US soil their going to take it as the signal to start bombing?"

Hodges starts jogging around to the southwest side of the motel.

Cheng returns to his assign group.

(Walkers from the east: 48/86 dead, 1 with 9 damage to the head, 1 with 8 damage to the head)

In the comm room-
"The CO is fully aware of your communications capabilities," said Carmichael. "I've stalled all I can, and the launch is going forward. You'd never make it back to base in time to stop it, but you might want to look around for someplace nearby where you could take shelter in the event that the fallout drifts your way. With the prevailing wind patterns, it's a tossup whether it'll hit you or not."

"We can't go back to base anyway," said Lt. Curtis into the microphone. "We have our mission and our orders, sir, and we'll be here to carry them out as long as we're capable of doing so."

"That's right, Lieutenant. As for claiming you have intel on the Russians that you don't really have, I can't condone that. If the CO ever got wind that we were feeding him false intel, all our necks would be on the block and he'd never trust anything we say again. If you can get us some real intel on the Russians, we'd highly appreciate it."

"My Japanese isn't half bad, sir, but I wish I understood a word of Russian other than 'da,' nyet,' and 'vodka.'"

"Sir, I speak Russian," offered Alexandria Mikhalin.

On the motel roof-
For whatever reason, Sheen held his fire. The three men in the truck out on the highway to the east opened fire on the dead, bringing several more of them down. There were now only a few dozen still on their feet, and they were a quarter mile from the diner. They started to angle southwards, towards the stopped truck. They would reach it in about a minute.

(Black, you will need to reload at some point, so you may fire four shots. Sheen, you did not fire since the last update. You may fire three times now.)

West of the motel-
"Oh, come on," muttered Phillips as he tried yet again to arm the Claymore. Finally, something clicked within him and he set it up perfectly. "Yes!" At last he felt his luck was turning around tremendously - but not enough to save his life from the poison even now coursing through his veins.

Cheng and Hodges followed Coltrane and Applebee around the south side of the motel. Soon all of the men stood on the southwest corner. "How's it going?" called Coltrane into the field.

"I got one mine set up so far," answered Phillips. "It's starting go more smoothly now, so it shouldn't take long to get the other two ready. What's going on in the east?"

"They've put most of them down, and I think they'll have the rest of them finished before they can even reach the diner."

In Room 2-
David continued to wait impatiently.

In Room 3-
Zorie Spooner made more progress in examining and treating Cole.

In Room 4-
Amanda tried to treat the worst of Kincaid's injuries, but it was proving difficult. Lt. Rebecca Doolittle sat up and absently cleaned her weapon.

In Room 5-
Baldwin tried to nap while the doctor worked on him, but the sounds of gunfire kept him awake.

In Room 6-
Lt. Blanco frowned when Cheng left the room before she could finish working on him. "Just make sure you come back when it's over!" she called after him. "I haven't finished patching you up or screening you!" She turned to Wallace. "Well, your turn now."

"I'm not hurt," said Wallace, a little too quickly.

"Perhaps not, but I need to check to make sure you haven't been bitten." She started to look him over, easily detecting that there was something very wrong with him. When she took his temperature, she saw that he was running a fever. The clincher came when she had him lift his shirt and saw the bandage on his abdomen. She took it off to examine the wound, and the bite mark beneath it was apparent. "You have been bitten!"

"But it's only a small bite! Maybe I'll be okay?" Wallace sounded like he was trying more to convince himself than her.

Lt. Blanco lowered her head sadly. "I'm sorry, sir. Once you start showing symptoms, it's invariably fatal within two hours, three at most. How long ago did this happen?"

"About 25 minutes ago, up in the comm room. It was Lt. Malone, after she turned."

Ooc: I am afraid it is unlikely that i'll be able to post for about a week. If it is not to much truble could you make black's rolls. Sorry if I can I will post but I may not be able to.

Cheng was annoyed.
-Will this take much more time? They are needing me to fight, but if you think it's better, i'l stay...

(That's all right, and I won't be updating Through before Saturday anyway.)

West of the motel-
"You can go back to the east side of the motel if you want," said Coltrane. "The three of us are enough to cover the field, and there are still a bunch of hostiles on the other side of the motel that need shooting."

East of the motel-
Ernest Granger started firing at the dead, but all of his shots missed - two of them by very little. He adjusted his sights to correct for the wind.

Cheng goes to the east side.

Frank scans the area for a car or soemthing to stand on to get a better look around.

West of the motel-
All of the newly arrived vehicles had been moved to the eastern side of the parking lot, but there were still a few cars in this part of the lot that Frank Hodges could stand on.

(Roll Spot Hidden to take a look around, with a -5% penalty due to your helmet.)

Frank jumps on the roof of a nearby car, and scans the area.

West of the motel-
Peering into the grassy field, Hodges could see Phillips to southwest. He had just finished arming a Claymore and had started walking north to set the next one. His steps were painful and labored. The rest of the field was clear as far as he could see, which was only half a mile or so.

"Phillips," Hodges said over the radio, "How are you doing out there.... I mean, how are you feeling?"

(Walkers from the east: 71/86 dead, 4 with 9 damage to the head, 4 with 8 damage to the head)

In the comm room-
"All right, sir," said Lt. Curtis. "We'll try to listen in on the Russians. We'll call you back if we learn anything new."

"Thank you, Lieutenant," said Lt. Colonel Carmichael. "I'll keep you posted too. Good luck." He disconnected the call.

"Okay, Airman. Let's see what we can hear."

"Yes, sir," said Alexandria Mikhalin, adjusting the controls. "We can only eavesdrop on certain parts of the world. The focus appears to be on China, but we can hear most of Southeast Asia as well as the eastern parts of Russia. We can't listen in on Moscow, but maybe we'll learn something." She puts on a pair of headphones and listens while she fiddles with the console. "The Russian Navy units based in Vladivostok already put out to sea hours ago. Most of them are out in the Pacific somewhere. There are a couple reports of mutinies, and a couple of their ships have simply disappeared without any explanation. There's more, but they're talking too fast for me to make it out."

On the motel roof-
Bobby Sheen resumed firing, scoring a hit with every bullet. He killed two zombies outright and finished off a wounded one. Sam Black fired, reloaded, and fired thrice more. With perfect accuracy, he eliminated four more. Only nine remained on their feet, and seven more were crawling on the ground. The pickup truck pulled out and sped to the east, the zombies in slow pursuit.

(Black, you may fire up to five times if you wish. Sheen, you may fire twice provided you also reload.)

West of the motel-
"I feel like hell," replied Phillips on the radio. "I can get these last two mines, but after that I need to lie down and rest." He proceeded north until he was due west of the motel, then took the second Claymore out of his pack while the three men covered him.

In Room 3-
Zorie Spooner was almost finished getting Cole back into fighting form.

In Room 4-
After waiting a minute, Amanda tried again to help Brian Kincaid and did a much better job. She couldn't do much for him, but she was able to work quickly.

In Room 6-
"I have to go examine the other patients," said Dr. Blanco. "Just try to rest. Zorie or I will return to check on you alter." She left Wallace in the room and went outside, speaking on the radio. "Wallace, one of the civilian truck drivers, has been bitten. His symptoms are progressing slowly, but he cannot be admitted upstairs."

East of the motel-
Lt. Blanco left Room 6 and walked south, then entered Room 5.

Gordon Cheng arrived at the east side of the motel, where Ernest Granger was still firing at the few remaining zombies far to the east. He hit twice, killing one and nearly killing another.

(Cheng, you may fire up to five times, but your skill will be halved due to long range. The -5% penalty for aiming at the head will be applied after halving your skill.)

Hodges turned to Coltrane, who was next to him "Shit man, he's gonna turn any moment. We goota watch his ass. The moment he lays down, I'm thinking we need to finish him before he becomes one of those things. I'd want you to do it for me, man."

Frank continues to scan the area for signs of infected.

OOC: I will wait until they are at full range, i don't want to waste ammo.

Sheen saw that the wave was almost gone. He aimed at another head and fired. However he had been way to eager and missed to the left. Cursing under his breath he ejected the empty clip and reloaded another clip into his rifle. He then aimed at the same zombie again and again fired. This time his aim was better and he managed to hit the zombie near the right temple. The zombie paused for a moment then its head exploded and it dropped dead to the grass. "Yes I am king of the world!"

(Walkers from the east: 76/86 dead, 4 with 9 damage to the head, 4 with 8 damage to the head)

On the motel roof-
The people at the diner also whittled down the enemy. Now only two of them stood uninjured, and eight others crawled slowly through the grass towards the truck.

(Whoever hasn't acted yet can still fire before the update. Two walkers are still at full HP. Any hits on a crawler's head with a rifle will finish it.)

"Phillips, Hodges here. You aren't looking so good, man. I know everyone can hear this and what I am about to say ain't going to be pretty, but it needs to be said." Hodges said into his radio. "You've been infected and we all know what happens then. I know you don't want any of us to get hurt. If you turn, you're going to come and attack us and could hurt, if not kill several of us. I don't know how to say this in a pretty way, so I'm just going to say it: If you feel faint, or like you're going to pass out, you may want to end it before the infection takes you, bro. I don't like the idea of it any more than you do, believe me, but it's better than turning."

Even injured, Kincaid heard the chilling radio message.

"For chrissakes, darlin," he groaned at Amanda, raising himself painfully to one elbow, "my buds are dyin out there. I can't just leave 'em to get infected one by one"

Kincaid felt sick to the stomach knowing how powerless he was to help his squadmates stuck in this motel room. His frustration, much as he was trying to resist, was boiling over into anger.

"If you can't do anythin more, just give me my damned gun and let me go do my duty."

He slumped back down again, the efforts of the last few hours pressing down on him like a pallet of bricks. Kincaid smiled sardonically to conceal an involuntary grimace of pain.

"On second thoughts, maybe I'll just lie back and see what you can do..."

OoC: And I'm back.
On the Roof-

Black decides to take out the two infected that still stand. He fires twice hits both and soon The crawlers are all that remain.

In the Comm room-

Ramirez stands with his back against the wall thinking about what will happen if that nuke goes off and trying to think off a way to get back to the base.

(OOC: How does the numbering system on the rooms go? Is Room 4 adjacent to Rooms 3 and 5, or rooms 2 and 6? How thick are the walls? Can we hear conversations going on in the other rooms i.e. that one of the others has been infected in Room 6?)

[edit: missed the bit where Blanco put the word out on the radio. Sorry!]

(Welcome back, Fearlessfred!

The motel rooms are sequential. On the east side of the ground floor, rooms 1-8 are in order from south to north. The lobby is between rooms 4 and 5, in the middle. The west side of the ground floor has rooms 9-16 laid out in a similar manner. On the balcony level, rooms 17-26 are on the east side and rooms 27-36 are on the west, also in order from south to north. The comm room is room 27. The walls are fairly thick, but you can hear what's going on in an adjacent room if you pass a Listen roll. If you have a helmet on, this is at a -5% penalty. Note that rooms 4 and 5 are not adjacent since the lobby is between them.)

In the comm room-
Mikhalin frowned, continuing to listen to the rapid-fire Russian speech on her headset. "I know they're talking about nuclear weapons," she said, "but I can't make out exactly what they're saying yet."

"Well, keep trying," said Lt. Curtis. "We need to know."

(Javier Ramirez, roll Idea.)

On the motel roof-
Black and Sheen saw the people at the motel finish off all but one of the crawling zombies, and that one was hundreds of yards away from anyone.

West of the motel-
"Believe me," replied Phillips on the radio, "I don't want to turn either. When the time comes I'll do it myself, but I'm not there yet. I can still help out until then." He started to set up the second Claymore due west of the motel, but it was taking him a little while.

Coltrane turned to Hodges. "Unless he's about to turn and it's an emergency situation, it's not our call," he said. "That's up to Lt. Curtis and Dr. Blanco to decide. I know where you're coming from, but I don't like the thought of putting a bullet in a fellow airman's head. We'll keep our eyes on him, though."

In Room 3-
Zorie Spooner finished up treating Cole. "Okay, you're good to go," she said. "Report to Coltrane, and he'll tell you where he wants you. You haven't been bitten and you're not showing symptoms, so I'm clearing you to go upstairs if you have to. I'll be in Room 4 if you need anything." She got on the radio. "This is Zorie Spooner. Airman Thomas Cole is cleared to return to duty, and I've screened him and am confident he is free of infection."

In Room 4-
"I'll just be a few more minutes," said Amanda. "You'll have to wait until one of the doctors takes a look at you anyway before they'll let you up on the balcony."

"That's right," said Lt. Rebecca Doolittle. "I want to do something too, Airman, but charging into battle isn't going to do much good. Let the SFs do the fighting. They've got the heavy weapons. If it comes down to our 9mm peashooters making a difference, we're already screwed. Our expertise will be of much more use carrying out repairs and helping out in the communications suite. Once we get up there, we can find out how long it'll be before they can send another chopper to pick the two of us up. We shouldn't even be here."

In Room 5-
Lt. Blanco spoke on the radio as she entered the room: "Phillips was infected a little over an hour ago, and it takes about two hours to run its course. The symptoms will get progressively worse over time, but we'll have plenty of warning before he goes. Phillips, once you're done with the mines I'll need you to report to Room 6. You'll share it with Wallace. I'll also need a volunteer to keep an eye on you two, and to end it if you can't when the time comes." She nodded to Dr. Owens. "How's it going, doc?"

"I'm making progress," he said. "You're not going to shoot those infected guys, are you?"

"Not until their time starts to run out, sir. There's virtually no hope to come up with a cure in time to help them. We'll keep them alive and comfortable as long as we can and monitor the progress of the infection, but there's nothing else we can do for them. In the end we'll have no choice. I'll go examine your son while you're working on Baldwin."

"No, that's okay. Adrian's fine. I checked him out myself."

"He may not be injured, but that doesn't mean he isn't infected too. I don't want to alarm you, but I'd better check him myself." She rolled up the sleeping boy's shirt and easily saw the bite mark on his chest. "You checked him out yourself?! Listen, I don't appreciate being lied to. Wallace tried it, and now you have too."

Dr. Owens begins to cry. "Nobody's going to shoot my son!"

In Room 6-
Wallace lay down and tried to rest.

East of the motel-
Cheng watched as all of the zombies except for one of the crawling ones were shot in the head and put down. The threat seemed to have passed for now. Ernest nodded to himself and reloaded his rifle.

Kincaid blanched at the reprimand, and cooled down.

"Sorry ma'am." he apologised, sincereley, to Lt. Doolittle "Guess us machine-gunners are a bit Rambo sometimes." He grinned lopsidedly.

"Sure as hell wish that I had one of those heavy MGs right now, though. With that kind of firepower..." His grin becomes rueful.

He lay back and awaited the arrival of the doctor.

In Room 4-
"That's okay, Airman," said Lt. Doolittle. "I do appreciate your bravery. Maybe they've got a spare machine gun lying around up there, you never know."

On the Roof-

Black waits for the last of the infect to die before giving out his instructions.

In the Comm Room-
Still standing by the wall Rameriz tries to think about how he can help but the stress of the situation was getting to him and he couldn't think of anything.

Sheen says, "Black should I go down and find more ammo now that we have a break?"

On the Roof-

"It would be better if one of the others gets the ammo and brings it up to us. That way if worst comes to worst we can both fire at any targets."

Hodges turns to Coletran, "Man, I don't like it either. I'm just trying to be logical about all this, despite everything that has happened today flying in the face of logic. If it happens to me, I want go on my terms. I sure as hell ain't gonna put you or Applebee or anyone in danger. I'm gonna put myself down before any bad happens. If, god forbid, I don't have to strength do to it, I want you to do it for me, man. Don't let me turn into one of those. Alright?"

"Maybe, ma'am, but I reckon you're probably right. I'm a far better tech-head than I am a shooter, especially with a rifle. If we're gonna make this place defensible, I can probably be of more use making it as secure as possible than popping things with a nine."

Knowing the doctor wouldn't be long, and trusting she'd be able to get him back on his feet, he started to think about ways of maximising the motel's defensibility. Kincaid reckoned that he could hotwire pretty much any car in the parking lot and use them to funnel the infected into fire corridors, if he got the chance to make good his plans. He'd run the idea past his superiors first, but he reckoned it would work with a bit of care. Really, he needed to get outside and have a proper look.

[OOC: perhaps I'm taking a bit of a liberty with his Repair Mechanical skill?]

On the Roof-

Seeing the last of the infected killed Black begins to talk over the radio. "The last of the infected has been killed. Anybody cleared by the doctor and without another task we could use more ammo up here. There should be some more in the ammo crate and if anyone can bring it up it would be a great help. Also if possible remove the armour and anything useful from our recent causilties. We could use one of the rooms on the second floor as an armory if possible." Black takes a breath and turns to Sheen. "Cover Philips the last thing we want is some more to sneek up on us." Back on the radio he tries to talk to the group at the diner. "This is Sgt. Sam Black of the USAF to the diner group are you lisening?"

Hearing the news that the immediate threat had been dealt with, Kincaid was anxious to start scoping out the defensive potential of the motel. He might have been young and inexperienced, but he was going to try damned hard to keep as many people alive as he could.

"Come on doc..." he breathed, almost silently, idly drumming his fingers on the kevlar helmet by his side.

"Yes Sgt!" Sheen kept his scope pointed at Philips just in case.

"Now hold on a cotton-pickin' minute! Are you tellin' me Wallace done got bit?!" Baldwin exclaims upon hearing Lt. Blanco's revelation. Wincing in obvious pain as he sat up, Baldwin glares at Blanco: "Wallace is a good man and me an him helped get those scientist folk on their way to Omaha. It was your people that shot up my truck and I suspect gut shot me! Now I'm gonna go sit with my friend," he says through clenched teeth as he struggles to his feet. "You got a problem with that, I don't recommend you try an solve it."

OOC: Which tires on Baldwin's rig were shot out? Were they on the tractor or the trailer?

[OOC: Obviously Kincaid waits for Lt. Black to finish speaking to Sheen, but fearlessfred hasn't been on yet and I want to get this show on the road... or blocking it so to speak]

"Lt. Black, sir?" Kincaid said over the radio. "As soon as the good doctor patches me up, permission to make a defensive survey of the motel and surrounds please? I have a few ideas, but I need to have a visual sitrep of my own to see if they'll work before I take up your time telling you what they are."
Kincaid privately hoped that he'd get a couple of volunteers to assist him - maybe even someone with more authority or experience than him who would give out orders and have them followed, rather than a green MG gunner trying to tell experienced grunts what to do. They were about as likely to listen to him as he was to start cossack dancing before the doc got in here!

OoC: Black is a Sgt not a Lt.

On the Roof-

Black responds to Kincaid. "Sure thing just stay near the motel and be careful."

"Roger that, Sergeant. Will make sitrep ASAP. Anyone fancy giving me a hand? I could do better with a few more eyes and brains, and we don't seem to be in any immediate danger right now."

"Coletrane and I are available to help, providing that Black or Sheen can keep an eye out for Phillips," Hodges said into the radio.

"Senior Airman Coltrane, Sir, would that be okay?" Kincaid knew the tough soldiers would be invaluable. "If that's an affirmative, and the Sergeant okays it, could you please check to see how many of the cars in the lot are mobile? I'm thinking we use them to limit points of approach to the motel, creating fire corridors. If it'll work - and I think it will, those things don't seem to have much in the way of smarts - we can defend key points with a minimum of personnel and seriously enhance our ability to hit the dead bastards. We'll work out the best points for this, then block up any leftover windows by breaking up the furniture. Could someone out there find some tools? A hammer, nails - hell, even a nailgun if there's one handy. The less points of access the infected have, the easier this place will be to defend. I'm in Room 4 right now, a bit banged up, but I think I get the Doc's once over next, so I shouldn't be too long."

He turned to Lt. Doolittle, sitting nearby. He didn't want to overstep his - rather meagre - authority, and really wanted the tough Lieutenants' approval before he did anything drastic.

"Lieutenant, ma'am, do you think it'll work?"

"Heck, the cars don't even have to be able to run." Hodges said. "There's a junk yard and a town truck over there across the highway. We could tow some junkers over here and possibly build a wall around this place."

[OOC: Where's Wallaces rig? The fuel he's carrying could be VERY useful, if the load hasn't gone boom yet]

"Good idea, sir, but I think it might be wise to leave a few gaps. Those dead things tend to take the easiest possible route to their target, so if we make funnels, we can herd them into killing fields and blow the bastards away. Board up the windows that face in other directions and they will HAVE to come at us from exactly where we want them to. Hmmm... If we make some loose barriers as well we can close up any point that gets compromised with a minimum of effort. Maybe rip off some car hoods as well, for a bit of extra ablative." Kincaid's brain was whirring into overdrive as he ran through the possibilities - if they had time, this could really work!!

"Oh, and sir? If you head over to the junkyard, be careful - there could be anything out in those wrecks." The thought of someone getting infected through his plans was a horrible one.

" Now that you mention barracades, I think I remember one of the truckers talking about having a load of lumber and tools in their cargo." Hodges reported.

(Baldwin's truck is stopped on the road between the motel and the T-Bone, about 50 yards to the north. The two tires that were shot out are both on the left side, in the center of the trailer. Wallace's rig with the gasoline is inside the garage, but its repairs are incomplete. Those who arrived in Chapter 3 don't know about it, however.)

In the comm room-
Mikhalin tried to focus on the Russian speech, which was becoming more alarmed by the second as a pounding sound came from the other end of the microphone. She still couldn't make much sense of it. Then came a crash of splintering wood, and the Russian's speech became completely incoherent. He shouted "Bozhemoi!" before a gunshot rang out. This was followed by a scream, the sound of tearing flesh, and finally ominous silence.

"I'm sorry, sir," she said. "I couldn't understand what he was saying. All I could make out was his last word: Bozhemoi. It means 'God help me.' Then they must have got him."

Lt. Curtis lowered his head. "God help us all, then."

On the motel roof-
It was difficult for Bobby Sheen to even see Phillips in the field of grass.

(Sheen, roll Spot Hidden, at a -5% penalty due to your helmet.)

West of the motel-
Phillips armed the second Claymore. "Two down, one to go!" he called as he started limping further north.

"Don't worry, Hodges," said Coltrane. "If it's within my power, I'll do it for you. Chances are it will be Ortega who would have to do it, though. You're part of his fire team, and once he gets back he'll be taking command of you and Phillips again. And I'm up for helping out with moving the cars if the sergeant okays it." He glanced around the parking lot. "There are only a few cars here, but there are more on the other side of the motel. There were more near the diner, but most of them have been destroyed."

In Room 3-
"Cole here," said Cole on the radio. "I've been cleared and I'm on my way up to get the ammo." He left the room right behind Zorie Spooner, then climbed the ladder to the balcony.

In Room 4-
"I sure hope it'll work," said Lt. Doolittle. "Once they give you a clean bill of health, you can go help set up the barricades. I'll head upstairs to the comm room to find out what's going on and see if I can help out there."

Zorie Spooner walked into the room. "How's it going in here?" she asked.

"They're just about as healthy as I can make them," said Amanda. "Got a couple minutes left to finish up with this guy. He's champing at the bit to get out of here."

"You can go ahead and examine him first," said Lt. Doolittle.

In Room 5-
Lt. Blanco turned from Dr. Owens to Baldwin. "Sir, I'm sorry about your friend," she said. "It was only a minor bite, so he'll last longer than most, but I'm afraid there's still probably nothing I can do to save him. It happened upstairs during the battle, after you left. Captain Lereux killed Lt. Malone, and she got back up and bit Wallace. As for your gutshot, Thayer was not acting with official sanction. He tried to kill you - and all of us, I might add - because he was a racist scumbag. That's what started the whole fight upstairs and set off the whole chain of events. You tried to split in your truck, and one of the snipers shot out your tires to keep you from heading off and getting yourself killed. We'll do what we can to help replace those tires. You will be at risk if you share a room with an infected person - but the same thing applies if you stay in this room."

She looked back at Dr. Owens. "Sir, your son has a very weak and irregular heartbeat. You are free to remove him from the premises if you wish. Nobody will shoot him unless he turns."

"Not even then," growled Dr. Owens. "We'll find a cure!"

"Sir, there's not enough time. How long ago was he bitten? And don't try to lie to me again."

"It was more than two hours ago. Closer to three. So you're wrong about everyone turning in two hours. Maybe he won't turn at all."

She shook her head. "Everyone turns. As I said, if it's a small bite you'll last longer. If he was really bitten that long ago..."

(Baldwin, roll Spot Hidden.)

East of the motel-
"Well, that's all of them," said Ernest. "Guess I'll go inside and wait for one of the docs to take a look at me." He joined David in Room 2.

"Sheeeit!" Baldwin explodes upon hearing Lt. Blanco's explanation.
"Now lemmee see if I can follow this. My rig's tires were shot out to prevent me from driving off and getting myself killed?! Then some racist cracker clips me but it was 'unsanctioned'. Seems to me if I were permitted to leave in the first place, I wouldn't be here, listening to your convoluted logic, trying to hold my guts in and waiting to be overrun by those cannibals!" the enraged black man seethes. "You're damn right Uncle Sam owes me a coupla tires! Scuse me if I don't hold my breath waiting for em" he mutters as he staggers to the door, pistol in hand. He turns and addresses the room: "Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna go sit with my friend in the next room for whatever he has left remaining of his life." Softening, he addresses Dr. Owens: "Sorry bout your little boy, Doc. Thanks for patching me up"

He pauses momentarily in the doorway,something catching catching his eye.

In Room 5-
"Well, I'm not actually done yet," said Dr. Owens. "I still need to finish binding those wounds. But thank you."

Baldwin noticed that Adrian was lying very still. He saw that the boy's chest was no longer rising and falling as it had been.

Baldwin looks at Lt. Blanco and motions with his eyes to the dying (dead?) boy. "You're not done yet, Doc? Well goddam! That explains why these bandages don't feel like they're setting right. Mind coming over here and adjusting em for me? Whew! I need a breather," he says tiredly as he steadies himself with his left hand against the doorway.

"Ok, Hodges, Coltrane, I'll be with you in a minute - Spooner's just going to check me over and patch me up. Can we find out what else the truckers were carrying? I still think car hoods are a good idea. If we can brace them somehow then they'll make a good way of slowing the infected down - some of those things move pretty damned quickly."

He looked over at Lt. Doolittle and smiled reassuringly. "Sounds like someone upstairs is cutting us a break if there's a truck full of lumber and tools sitting just outside."

Sheen looked through his scope trying to find Philipps. However he could not find him! "Sir I cannot find my target. He is somewhere in the grass last I saw of him but now has disappered.

Cheng goes find Coltrane.

On the Roof-

Black turns when he hears that Sheen can't find Philipps. He scaned the field but he couldn't find him either.
"Keep looking see if you can notice and sudden movements in the grass that may indicate where he is."

In the Comm Room-

"God help us? God help those who are about to be killed because some CO can't understand that nukeing the base is just going to make things worse." Rameriz goes back to thinking how he could stop the nuke. He still can't think of anything though.

"How's it going out there, Phillips?" Frank said as he [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1633405/} scanned the area. Watching to see Phillips progress. [/url]

(I'm sorry I forgot to reproduce the radio messages from people in Blue Plate Special last round. I'm putting them in the current update.)

In the comm room-
"Any other Russians speaking?" asked Lt. Curtis.

"I'm sorry, sir," said Alexandria Mikhalin. "The two I overheard speaking were the only ones saying anything that might be relevant. When the first one went off the air, the second had nobody left to speak to. Well, except us, but he has no way of knowing we're listening. All I could understand is that they were discussing nuclear weapons and something about contacting Moscow. They were talking very fast. Guess that guy knew he didn't have much time."

On the motel roof-
"Clarence Deeds here," replied Clarence on the radio. "Reading you loud and clear, Sarge. What can we do for you?"

Ortega also spoke: "Luke, this is Ortega. Are you all right where you are, or would you rather join the others at the motel?"

The grass was waving in the wind, and neither sniper could track the medic's movements below easily.

(Black and Sheen, roll Spot Hidden. Black is not currently wearing his helmet, so he does get to use his full skill.)

West of the motel-
Phillips made his way north through the grass. Soon he was northwest of the motel, not far from the wreckage of the helicopter. He took out his last Claymore.

Gordon Cheng circled around the south side of the motel and joined up with Coltrane, Hodges, and Applebee at the southwest corner. "Phillips is setting the last mine now," said Coltrane. "Once he's done, we can go back and get screened, and anyone who's still hurt can get patched up." He peered into the grass too. He and Hodges both saw Phillips, and so did Applebee. The three of them were also the only ones who saw something else: a pack of eight coyotes loping through the grassy field straight towards the medic, their eyes unnaturally red. They would be on him in seconds.

Phillips himself saw them too out of the corner of his eye, but only because he had previously removed his helmet. His jaw dropped in panic, but he somehow pulled himself together. Coltrane freaked out at the sight of them, but only briefly. Applebee was getting used to these things and stood ready, bringing up his rifle.

(Hodges, roll Sanity with a +10 bonus. Sanity loss is 0/1d10. Since you've already lost 8 Sanity for seeing zombies, any loss of more than 2 counts as 2. Cheng, roll Spot Hidden, with a -5% penalty because of your helmet. If you succeed, you must roll Sanity, but with no bonus. Black and Sheen will also need to roll Sanity if they succeed at their Spot Hidden rolls.

Hodges, you have one combat round to shoot at the coyotes. They are 90 yards from the motel, so you get full skill with a rifle. They are out of grenade range for you. Phillips and Applebee will also get to act. Nobody else will get a shot this round, but anyone who passes his Spot Hidden roll this round will get a chance in the following round. There is a -15% penalty to hit due to their speed and size, and another -5% penalty for aiming at the head, for a total of -20%.)

On the motel balcony-
Cole made his way to the ammo crate and grabbed all of the .50 and 7.62mm magazines within. While he was there he took four of the 5.56mm NATO magazines. Then he headed back to the ladder.

In Room 2-
"How's it going?" Ernest asked David.

"Since I'm about to have a gorgeous lady doc examine every pore of my body," he said, "I'm doing great, considering. Too bad women always take forever to get ready, huh?"

Ernest merely shrugged.

In Room 4-
"Okay," said Zorie Spooner. "Let's have a look at you." She started to look him over, but it was taking her a little while. Amanda continued to work on him in the meantime.

"Those truckers are staying right here at the motel," said Lt. Doolittle. "We can just ask them what's in their trucks."

In Room 5-
"I would go with you," said Dale Owens, "but I need to stay with my son. I have to look after him - and I don't want anyone shooting him while I'm gone. " He glared meaningfully at Lt. Blanco and just barely missed noticing the boy's condition. "Maybe she can finish up."

Lt. Blanco also didn't notice, nor did she see Baldwin's look. "I am sorry about your truck, sir," she said. "It wasn't my decision, and I wasn't even there when the snipers did it. They must have decided to do it on their own, since it was so chaotic that nobody was in charge any more. I was busy fighting for my life in the comm room and trying to save your friend Wallace."

In Room 6-
Wallace lay down in bed, unaware of the conversation going on in the next room.

While the two women continued to work on him, Kincaid raised the radio to his mouth again.

"Anybody in a room with one of the truckers, could you please ask them what they were hauling? Apparently, one of them had a large consignment of lumber and tools we could use to make this place more secure. Please could I have confirmation of this, and any other loads?"

He lowered the radio. Great. He thought. I'm in a motel room with two hot girls, and all I can think about is work. Despite his injuries, and the situation, he started to chuckle.

Cheng saw the coyotes.
-What, the coyotes can get infected too?- He beggin to think about the consequences and was sick with that, but managed to retain some control of himself.

Sheen continued to move his scope thorough the grass trying to find Philipps but it was all in vain. "Sir I still cannot find Phillips."

Frank's mouth dropped open at the sight of the coyotes bolting through the grass. his mind reeled as stories of the last coyote attack ran though his mind. He tried to fight off the his rising fear and panic, but was barely able to.
San loss.

"Doc," says Baldwin, steadying himself in the doorway, "you'd do well to step back from your boy for a minute and watch and see what happens next."

[OOC: I was referring to Zorie Spooner and Lt. Doolittle, Handy... ]

[also OOC: unrelated, but if Baldwin's in the doorway, surely everyone within earshot can hear him?]

[OOC: damn. I keep mixing the number system up in my stupid brain...]

Kincaid lay back and let the medics examine his injuries, trying desperately not to laugh at his ever-so slightly perverse thoughts. He kind of missed Sgt. Hendrix - the big, experienced soldier would've kicked him into touch faster than a fast thing, of that he was sure...

On the Roof of the Motel-

Black is still looking for Phillips when he sees him and the coyotes . His face losses all colour and he barely has time to shout "Contacts! West side!" Over the radio before they reach Phillips.

In the Comm Room-

Rameriz stays silent knowing this might have been their only chance to get any information on the russians.

Baldwin meets Dr. Owens eyes and in an earnest, carefully modulated voice says: "C'mon, you don't need to leave the room or even let your boy out of your sight. I can understand how you feel, what you're going through..."

Something in Baldwin's calm, reassuring manner sounds convincing and heartfelt to Dr. Owens.

(OOC: Sorry. I get the story confused sometimes. Post edited above for san loss and continuity.)

Frank set aside his fears, and took aim at the rapidly approaching beasts. Frank let loose a round at one of the coyotes. Missing badly.

"Phillips, incomming!" he shouted at the top of his lungs

West of the motel-
"Help!" called Phillips, already turning and running for the motel as fast as his wounds would allow. The undead coyotes pursued him at a rapid clip, and soon they closed to within a dozen yards. He was less than ten yards from the edge of the tall grass, but he didn't think he was going to make it.

Applebee raised his rifle to his shoulder and shot one of the coyotes in the head, downing it. Coltrane fired and barely hit, taking down his target. The remaining six continued undeterred. "It's a pack of infected coyotes!" he reported on the radio. "Two down and six to go, but they're close!"

(The zombie coyotes are now 50 yards away from the motel and 12 yards away from Phillips. A thrown grenade is likely to catch him in the blast radius. The M203 that Cheng has might not. If you fire that, you would get to double your skill since you'd be aiming at the ground near the coyotes and not the creaures themselves, but your skill would be quartered due to range - the overall effect would be to cut your skill in half. If you use it and miss, roll Luck. You may also use your rifle, but remember that there's a -15% penalty to hit. There is no time to aim at the head before they get to attack Phillips, so you'll need to roll a random hit location on 1d20. You may fire a burst, which will give you a +20% bonus. When combined with the penalty, you get +5% to hit overall. If you hit, roll 1d3 to see how many bullets hit and then roll a separate hit location and damage for each one. If you get an impale, only the first bullet does 2d8 damage. Both Cheng and Hodges may fire now. It takes 40 damage in general or 10 damage to the head to take one out. I'll roll for Coltrane and Applebee during the next update.)

In the comm room-
Lt. Curtis turned at the sound of gunfire. "We'd better call HQ and fill them in," he said.

Mikhalin nodded and connected him to Warren AFB. "Carmichael here," said the colonel, "go ahead."

"Sir, this is Lt. Curtis. We're under attack by a pack of infected coyotes. My men killed two, but there are still six more closing in."

"I hope they can handle it. Any word on the Russians?"

"We tried to listen in on them, sir. Airman Mikhalin knows some Russian, but she couldn't understand everything they were saying. There were two Russians talking about nuclear weapons and contacting Moscow, but they were talking too fast for her to make out any more details. Then one of the Russians got taken out, presumably by the infected, and their communications ceased."

"Well, that's of great concern, but we can't be sure what it all means. Is there any other way to get some intel on the Russians?"

(Ramirez, roll Idea.)

On the motel roof-
Luke replied on the radio: "Luke here. I'm fine where I am. If we all move to one position, we'll lose some tactical advantage I think. And makes us a little less effective. I could use a resupply though. I've got somewhere around 80 bullets left for the M-14 and I really wouldn't mind some of that body armor you mentioned..." He paused. "I think we also should take the opportunity to get some food distributed. I've got something to drink and some snacks but in the end we don't know how long we'll be stuck if we end up pinned down..."

Sheen still couldn't see any targets in the grass, but Black did. Cole reached the top of the ladder and rushed over to the west side of the roof. "I've got the ammo, Sarge," he said, readying his rifle.

(Black, you may take one shot, but there is no time to aim for the head before they attack Phillips. There is a -15% penalty to hit due to the coyotes' size and speed. Sheen, roll Spot Hidden at -5% again. If you succeed, roll Sanity with a Sanity loss of 0/1d10. Since you've already lost 2 Sanity for seeing zombies recently, any loss of more than 8 counts as 8. If you see them and remain sane, you'll be able to fire after the next major update.)

In Room 2-
"Sit tight," said Ernest as he heard the gunshots. "The troops will take care of it."

In Room 4-
Amanda finished binding Brian Kincaid's injuries. "There you go," she said. "I'm all done."

"I'm not quite done yet," said Zorie Spooner. "Just another minute or two..."

Lt. Doolittle looked nervous when the gunfire started again. "I hope everything's all right out there," she said.

In Room 5-
"Yeah, okay," said Dr. Owens. He walked over to Baldwin near the door.

"What's going on?" said Lt. Blanco. She looked over at Adrian, who was starting to stir. Suddenly, the boy sat up with his arms outstretched and his eyes full of crimson rage. She held her panic in check, but with her weapon still jammed she had no choice but to run.

Dr. Owens stared in shock when he saw his son, but he did not break. "Don't hurt him!" he cried.

Adrian lunged for Lt. Blanco as she fled, but he stumbled and missed, falling to the floor. He got up and chased her.

Lt. Blanco rushed past Baldwin and Dr. Owens and through the door. "Room 5, help!" she shouted into the radio. "The little boy was bitten and turned!" She drew her pistol and started clearing the jam, but it was taking a very long time.

(Baldwin, roll Sanity with a +20 bonus. Sanity loss is 0/1d10. Since he has already lost 5 Sanity recently for seeing zombies, he can lose at most 5 more. Any loss of more than 5 counts as 5. If he does lose 5, you'll need to roll Idea - failure is good, because success will cause temporary insanity. If you stay sane, you may if you wish fire your pistol three times before Adrian attacks - twice for the current round and another time for next round. The range is point blank, but there is no time to aim for the head, so you will need to roll a random hit location on 1d20. If you take the last shot, you will not be able to dodge if you are attacked. You may alternatively fire the first shot aimed at the head, and then either take a second shot at a random location or try to take some other action afterwards.)

In Room 6-
Wallace jumped up when he heard Lt. Blanco call for help. He grabbed his rifle and rushed outside.

In the Comm Room-

The outbreak of gunfire distracted Rameriz. He still couldn't consentrate.

On the Roof-

Black ignores the radio and quickly fires a shot at one of the coyotes. He shot is perfect and does massive damage.

Keith aimed at the rapidly approaching pack of coyotes and fired again. The shot struck one of the coyotes in the right front leg doing a fair amount of damage.

(OOC: I forgot to paste the URL for the location between the URL tags and moved onto the damage and lost the link. I searched for it and cannot find it. I rolled a 15, which is a right leg hit. Sorry about that.)

Although this is the outcome that Baldwin was dreadfully anticipating, the badass brother, nonetheless, is jarred by the alacrity and ferocity of the reanimated little boy. His mind reels but he is unable to fully grasp the implications of all that he seen and felt today.

As if on autopilot, Baldwin sites down his arm past the barrel of his newly acquired Sig Sauer P-226 9mm automatic. Bringing his aim to bear on the unfortunate little boy's skull, he squeezes the trigger gently, as if coaxing the bullet from it's slumber and lands a well placed shot that, amazingly, merely creases the undead antogonist's skull, parting his hair!

In Room 5-
"No, stop!" cried Dr. Owens, looking aghast. "Adrian!" He drew his pistol, but was not yet pointing it at anyone. The boy ran straight for the two men, barely even slowed by the bullet.

(Baldwin, you may fire one shot before Adrian attacks. If you do something other than attack, roll Dodge instead. Also, roll Psychology regarding Dr. Owens.)

Baldwin attempts a snap judgement of Doc Owen's mental status before skedaddling out the doorway, stumbling over his own feet in the process.

In Room 5-
Baldwin could tell that Dr. Owens was holding up well, considering. There was no way he was ever going to shoot his son, and he still didn't accept that Adrian was dead. If he did realize it, the revelation could unhinge him.

(The failed Dodge roll doesn't mean you trip, it just means that if Adrian decides to attack Baldwin and if his attack roll hits, Baldwin will be unable to get out of the way. I'll let you know what happens in the next major update.

EDIT: It turns out Baldwin's earlier Sanity losses were both from seeng zombies. I couldn't search for them on Invisible Castle, so I went back and checked. This means he could only lose 1 Sanity point, and there was no danger of him going temporarily insane. He has 22 Sanity now, not 18.)

Kincaid whistled a Porcupine Tree riff as he waited for the doc to finish up...

Sheen moved his scope trying to find Philips again. But he failed to find him. "Black I still cannot find Philips. Can you give me a hint?"

Cheng was turned apart: he could miss and hit one of the soldiers, but to let the coyotes was much worst so he risked and shoot them.

OOC: How can i see the damage, and who i hit? it's better that you do that Mr Handy if you don't mind...

(No problem, I'll gladly roll hit locations and damage. Each coyote takes 3d6 damage, and you've hit all five of the remaining ones. It takes two full combat rounds to reload the M-203. The hit location chart is the same as for a human, but "arm" hits hit the front legs and "leg" hits hit the rear legs.)

West of the motel-
Cheng fired the M-203 straight into the center of the pack of coyotes. It exploded and shrapnel tore through all five of them. Two of them had their skulls shattered, and they fell. Two more each had a leg blown off, and the last had its leg injured. Phillips was unharmed - and greatly relieved.

Coltrane fired a burst at the lead coyote, hitting with two rounds in the gut for heavy damage, yet it still did not fall. Applebee sprayed lead at a different one and hit with all three bullets. Its limbs were shredded and it collapsed in a twitching heap.

Phillips spun on his heel and faced the two remaining coyotes, knowing he could not possibly outrun them. He shot very accurately, also hitting with three rounds. The other three-legged coyote was struck full on and dropped. The final one, which Coltrane had wounded, closed the distance and leapt at the medic, landing near him with its jaws snapping.

(Anyone may fire a shot at the last zombie coyote. It has only 9 HP remaining. If you miss with a single shot, roll Luck to make sure you don't accidentally hit Phillips since he is now in melee. If you fire a burst, you must roll Luck either way, unless you roll 3 on 1d3 when you check how many bullets hit. There is no time to aim for the head, but no need to do so either since it is so badly damaged. Remember the -15% penalty to hit.)

On the motel roof-
Black saw all but one of the coyotes go down, but Sheen still couldn't make out anything, and the dirt kicked up by the grenade only obscured his vision more. Cole peered into the grass, but he saw nothing either.

(Black, you may fire a shot using the same rules as above. Sheen, roll Spot Hidden again at -5%, but you will not be able to shoot this round as well.)

In the comm room-
Mikhalin thought for a few seconds. "I've got it!" she said. "This system was designed to eavesdrop on China primarily, and you can bet the Chinese are as keen to discover what the Russians are up to as we are. If we listen in on them and they learned something, we can find out too. We need someone who can speak Chinese, though. Mr. Foo and his wife both do, but they went down into the underground facility a while ago, and nobody's come out of there since."

"They could be dead for all we know," said Lt. Curtis. "Even if they're not, we may not have time to wait for them to get here. Luckily for us, I believe one of my men, Airman Cheng, knows a bit of Chinese. Once we take out the rest of the infected, I'll have the docs check him out first and then send him up here."

In Room 2-
"Yeah, no point in me getting killed now after all I've been through," said David. "They do what they do well - when they're not shooting each other, that is."

In Room 4-
"Well, I've done all I can here," said Amanda, readying her carbine and watching the door. Lt. Doolittle had her Beretta out. Zorie Spooner continued to inspect Brian Kincaid and nodded in satisfaction. "Okay, you're good to go. You're next, Lieutenant." She got on the radio. "Spooner here. Airman Brian Kincaid is not infected and is fit to return to active duty."

In Room 5-
Adrian rushed at Baldwin, who could not get out of the way in time. The boy moved with alarming speed, seizing the huge trucker in a tackle and trying to chomp down on him before he could even get close to the door. In spite of his small size, Baldwin discovered the undead child possessed immense strength and was crushing him mercilessly.

(Baldwin, roll Dodge again. Your first roll failed to avoid the Grapple, but you also have a chance to avoid the Bite and thus possibly save your life. I hadn't expected both rolls to hit, but they did. Don't take any action yet until I post a response after your second Dodge roll.)

Dr. Owens tried to pry Adrian off of Baldwin, but he simply wasn't strong enough. "No, stop it!" he cried. "You've got to fight it, Adrian. We'll find a cure! I won't let anyone hurt you!" He looked up as Wallace arrived in the doorway. The other truck driver gasped in shock at the sight of the boy trying to devour his friend. He stood stock still, unmanned, and he knew Baldwin was just as doomed as he was - as they all were. "I'm surrounded by them!" he cried. He saw Dr. Owens trying to get past his son, obviously trying to eat Baldwin as well. He raised his rifle...

East of the motel-
"Don't sweat it," Ortega said to Malanowski as the pickup approached the motel. "It's been a tough day for all of us."

Keith pulled up in the parking lot just as Wallace rushed into the doorway of Room 5, obstructing it. Nobody in the truck could see what was going on in the room beyond him. Lt. Blanco ran over, still struggling to clear her jammed pistol. "The doctor's little boy died," she said quickly, "then he got up and attacked me! He's in Room 5 with his father and Baldwin!"

"Okay, let's move!" said Ortega.

Jamming his helmet on, Kincaid whacked open the motel room door with a renewed sense of purpose.
"Thanks ladies!" he called over his shoulder.

The half-smile dropped off his face as he heard the yells from Room 5 though, and he drew his pistol instinctively, motioning to Doolittle and Deeds to keep low with a gesture honed from the practice grounds in Basic. Moving in a half-crouch, already fearful of what he might find in the motel room beyond the lobby, he moved cautiously towards the source of the commotion.

Seeing the last coyote pounce on Phillips, Frank Hodges instintivly took aim and fired at the coyote, but missed as man and beast wrestled on the ground. Lickily, the bullet did not strike Phillips.


On the East side of the motel -

Keith Deeds put his truck in park, and shut it down. He jumped out of the drivers seat with his AR15.
Looking to Ortega he said, "Looks like we have a situation, sir. Tell me how I can help. Afterwards, we can talk about the diner."

Sheen moved his scope around trying to find Philips but failed to see him. "Sarge I still cannot see him. Where is he?

Baldwin screams in anguish, as he fails to evade the ravenous undead lad's serrating maw.

(Ouch, bad luck there. That bite means Baldwin is doomed, and it's a critical hit too. At least it'll probably be a quick death. Everyone who has already acted since my last major update cannot act again yet. This is just to finish up the round that's ending. Those who have yet to act should still do so.)

In Room 5-
Adrian ravenously gnawed on Baldwin's left leg, sundering his flesh and causing intense, burning pain.

(Baldwin, roll Con x 5 in order to stay conscious. Also, make a Sanity roll with a +20 bonus with a loss of 0/1d10 because you know the bite is lethal. If you succeed and stay sane, you may fire one shot before Adrian attacks again and most likely crushes you to a pulp. Your Dodge rolls are for last round, so you are free to attack now. The range is point blank, but there is no time to aim at the head, so you'd need to roll a random hit location on 1d20. If you happen to hit the head on a 19-20, you will get free even if you fail to do the 9 damage needed to finish him. Alternatively, you may try to break Adrian's hold by making a roll on the Resistance Table of your STR against Adrian's STR of 20. If you succeed, he will still get to attack you, but you will at least be spared the 1d10 damage you would have taken from being crushed and you would still get to roll Dodge for each of his attacks. If you fail to get free but do not attack, just roll one Dodge for his Bite - the Grapple does damage automatically next round.)

Cheng is loading his weapon, in the case of any other threat appears...

On the Roof-

Black also shoots at the coyote but he also missed.
luckily the shot only hit dirt.

In the Comm Room-

"Good idea." Ramirez looks hopefull perhapes they may stop the nuke yet.

Baldwin, despite the near fatal sundering of his femoral artery stays conscious through sheer force of will but his mind spins. This time, fully appreciating the gravity of what has just occurred, his sanity recedes.

West of the motel-
Phillips swiveled his barrel at the last coyote and cut loose with a burst. With the beast so close, he could not miss, but only a single bullet struck home. Luckily it was enough to finish the thing off. "This is Phillips," he said into the radio. "The threat to the west has been eliminated. I'm going to set that last mine now."

Coltrane eyed the grass warily, but he saw nothing out there. Applebee looked out too. "Applebee here," he said. "Confirmed, we're clear to the west."

On the motel roof-
"Well, I'm glad that's over," said Cole. "Sarge, I've got your ammo here." He handed Black nine full magazines of .50 ammo for his Barrett. "I've got twenty mags for the M-24, but it's the same caliber that Luke fellow wants. Do you want to give some of it to him, and how much? I've also got some 5.56mm on me if anyone needs it, and I can get some more from the crate."

In the comm room-
"Thank you," said Lt. Curtis into his microphone. "Airman Cheng, I need you to report to either Lt. Blanco or Zorie Spooner for immediate screening. Once you're cleared to come upstairs, report to the communications room. I need someone who can understand Chinese." He then spoke to Carmichael. "Sir, the attack has been repulsed. we're going to try to use this equipment to listen in on the Chinese and see if they've got any intel on the Russians. One of my men knows some Chinese, so he may be able to help."

"Sounds good to me," said Carmichael. "Keep me posted, Lieutenant."

In Room 2-
Ernest held his rifle steady, keeping an eye out at the doorway. David waited nervously.

In Room 4-
"Be careful, Airman!" called Lt. Doolittle. "We can't afford to lose you!"

"Or you," said Zorie Spooner. She looked the pilot over. "Yep, you're clean." She got on the radio. "Spooner again. Lt. Doolittle is also uninfected and cleared for duty."

In Room 5-
Baldwin realized that there was no longer any use in fighting it. He surrendered to the sweet embrace of death, wondering if Horst would be waiting for him when he got to hell.

"Stop!" called Dr. Owens, his hand outstretched toward Wallace as he stepped forward. All Wallace saw was another zombie reaching out for him, and he sprayed lead at him. His aim was very poor due to his desperation, but he was close enough that it didn't matter. One round struck the doctor in the head and knocked him out cold.

Adrian started to put the squeeze on Baldwin, aggravating his already severe injuries. Somehow he was still alive, but then the boy bit him again, ripping open his arm and slaying him instantly.

East of the motel-
Lt. Blanco continued to work on her Beretta while the men piled out of the truck. "You can come with us and help, sir," said Ortega, "but stay back." He, Malanowski, and Keith Deeds reached the door to Room 5, which Wallace was still blocking. Kincaid was just behind them. Inside the room, Adrian had his arms wrapped around Baldwin's corpse and was busily chowing down. Dr. Owens lay motionless on the floor nearby, a single bullet in his head. Ortega blanched when he took in the scene. He shrank back in panic, barely comprehending what he was seeing. "We're all gonna die!" he cried, sitting down in the parking lot, laying down his rifle, and waiting for the end.

(Malanowski and Keith Deeds, you don't need to roll Sanity since you've each already lost 10 points for seeing zombies recently. Kincaid does need to make a Sanity roll with a loss of 0/1d10, but since he already lost 6 any loss of more than 4 here counts as only 4, and therefore he cannot go temporarily insane. Each of you has one combat round to act. If you want to fire at Adrian, you may aim at his head. You will roll against your normal skill, with just a -5% penalty. Kincaid may fire twice with his pistol, and the others may fire once with their rifles. If you miss, roll Luck to make sure you don't hit the wrong person.)

"Hey, Geronimo, outta the way!" Malanowski yells commandingly at Wallace. Going into a steady crouch, he sights the undead boy's demonic face and gently pulls the trigger. The shot pierces the zombified lad through the left cheekbone failing to drop the ravenous undead.
"Zed still up!" yells Malkowski. "Keep it together, Ortega," he says urgently through clenched teeth, punctuated with a reassuring slap on his comrade airman's shoulder.
OOC: Does Malanowski know that bites lead to eventual reanimation?

Keith took aim at the gore covered child, and fired off a round, but missed. Luckily, the round did not strike anyone else.

Cheng obey the order.

Though his mind recoiled at the scene of horror in the motel room, Kincaid swallowed his fear and squeezed off a brace of shots. He watched in horror as his first, shaky, shot went wide and flew towards one of his comrades.

(OOC: Damnit. Now I wish I'd failed the SAN roll)

His USAF training meant he'd already put the second shot in the air though and that one, too, missed and flew inexorably towards his friends as well.

(OOC: Damn damn damn. I am sooo throwing this pistol away!)

(Failing the Sanity roll wouldn't have made you go temporarily insane, so you'd have fired those shots anyway. This is just a minor update so you'll see who gets hit by the bullets and how bad it is. I need to wait for a few other players to post before I can make a major update, but I hope to do that tomorrow.)

East of the motel-
Kincaid could only watch helplessly as both rounds struck Wallace in the back, one lodging itself in his spine. He crumpled into a heap in the doorway.

On the Roof-

"Thank you Cole." He turns to Sheen "How about we give him eight of the mags?" As he is talking he puts his helmet back on.

In the Comm Room-

Rameriz takes the time to begins to clear his jammed gun. He quickly finds the problem and it is soon fixed. He begins to clean Alanen's colt.

Keeping his weapon trained on the face of the gore-covered zed, Malanowski darts a furious glance at the errant shooter: "Stand down! You just dropped a civvie!" he shouts.

Lt. Doolittle, once cleared, almost immediately makes a b-line for the comm room. Right now the only thing on her mind is to get things fixed and get another chopper as soon as possible. Over and over in her head as she made her way to the room all she could think was, "I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be here."

West of the motel-
Phillips hustled back to the position he had previously held, reloading his M-4 as he went. Then he crouched down and resumed setting the final Claymore. Coltrane and Applebee continued covering him.

On the motel roof-
Sheen currently had 34 magazines for his M-24, each with 5 rounds. Cole had twenty additional magazines that he had retrieved from the ammo crate.

(Giving Luke eight magazines means he'd only gain 40 additional rounds, while Sheen would still have well over 200. Decide amongst yourselves how many magazines you think you can spare.)

In the comm room-
Ramirez was easily able to dislodge the jammed round. Then he took out his gun cleaning kit and started cleaning Alanen's pistol, which had been sullied by a grenade blast. It would take him another minute to finish. Mikhalin kept monitoring the equipment while Curtis shut off the water to the bathtub, which was now nearly full.

In Room 2-
David shut off the bathtub's tap while he waited. Ernest stood watch at the door.

In Room 4-
Amanda turned off the water and followed Zorie Spooner and Lt. Doolittle outside.

In Room 5-
Adrian continued eating Baldwin, oblivious to the bullets embedded in his skull.

East of the motel-
"This is Luke, zombie spotted in Room 5 of the hotel," said Luke over the radio. "Be careful, there might be more. I don't have a clear shot at this time."

Lt. Doolittle exited Room 4 near the base of the ladder. She climbed up halfway until she was level with the balcony, then swung onto it. The comm room was all the way on the southwest corner.

"This is Blanco," replied Lt. Blanco. "Roger that. That's the boy Adrian I reported earlier. He's the only one, but if anyone has been killed they'll rise up soon too." She looked up from fiddling with her Beretta when Zorie emerged with the others from Room 4 and Cheng came around the southeast corner of the motel. "Zorie, take a quick look at Cheng. We've got wounded I need to see to just as soon as the shooting stops."

"Okay," said Zorie. "Be careful!" She hurried over to Cheng. "You ready for me to check you out, Airman? I'll try to make this quick."

Ortega just sat where he was and moaned uselessly. Amanda approached, but hung back to stay out of danger. "It's all right, sonny, Mama's here," she said. "You've got to get up now. Your friends need your help."

Ortega came to his senses and got to his feet, scooping up his weapon. "Thank you, ma'am!" he called.

(Malanowski, Kincaid, and Keith Deeds, you have another combat round in which to act. Since Wallace has fallen down, he is no longer in your way, so you may use double your skill if you decide to shoot, with a -5% penalty for aiming at the head. Adrian has taken 8 damage to the head so far, and another 2 will finish him. Any rifle hit to the head will do at least 2 damage so there is no need to make a damage roll, but Keith's pistol, which can fire twice, may do only 1 so a roll is still needed. If you miss, roll Luck.)

Kincaid obeyed Malanowski's order, numbed by the terrible act he'd just comitted, albeit accidentally. He staggered sideways and sank to the ground with his back against the wall. Tossing his pistol aside as though it had stung him, he let his helmet fall to the dirt beside him.

"I...I...just...accident..." he managed to stammer through the wall of blackness that had slumped down on him. He put his head in his hands and tried not to weep.

(OOC: Sorry all, bad, bad rolling...)

Wrapping the rifle strap around his forearm, Malanowski feels himself entering "the Zone". He takes the shot. Hitting the target cleanly behind the ear this time, the undead flops.

"Zed down!" Malanowski declares decisively into his mike and gives the all clear signal before standing up and striding toward the prone Native American. "Two to the head," mutters Malanowski to himself, disgustedly shaking his head, "fuckin' sloppy."

Igor is going to check Wallace to make see if he's still alive. Will that require a 1st Aid roll?

Cole looks around the roof. It's obvious he's anxious to put a hurting on some more of the zombies.

-Ok, but be quick.

Lt. Doolittle's pace picks up into a jog as she nears her destination.

The East side of the motel -
Keith looks at the carnage with a hint of sadness. "Poor kid," he says as he peers into the room. "Malanowski, this ones dead, but probably not for long. Probably best to..... you know...... make sure he stays down." Keiths says while making a gun with is hand and putting it up to the side of his own head in the customary 'shoot in the head' mime.

On the West side of the motel -
Frank Hodges continues to cover Airman Phillips. "Whew, that was a close call," he says to Applebee and Coletrane.

"Medic!" Malanowski yells urgently. "This civvie in the parking lot is still breathing! Medic!" Bringing up his rifle and moving towards the open doorway Malanowski says to Keith: "Do what ya gotta do, man. I got ya covered."


I know how many headshots Adrian took. Malanowski was commenting on his own handywork. He's a proponent of the one shot one kill methodology.

(OOC: I probably should have made sure Keith knew that bites spread the infection before my previous post. Let me know if I should edit.)

Letting out a deep sign, Keith aims at the head of Baldwins corpse and pull the trigger. He winces as he pulls the trigger and ends up barely hitting the corpse in the head. The bulllet blows a massive hole [url] in its [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1647776/] head.

(OOC: Sorry about that. I thought it was 2d8, but I didn't check. Post eidted above)

In the Comm Room-

Rameriz countinues to clean the gun.

On the Motel Roof-

"On the other hand if your okay with getting only 30 rounds I'm sure he would put the rest to good use."

"What about this other civvie in here, Keith?" Malanowski asks, training his rifle on the prone Doc Owens. "Dead, wounded, or infected?"

West of the motel-
Phillips armed the final Claymore. "This is Phillips," he said into the radio. "Claymores are all set. I'm heading home."

"You're telling me," said Coltrane to Hodges and Applebee. "Good work, both of you."

On the motel roof-
The three men on the roof continued to discuss how to distribute the ammo.

In the comm room-
Lt. Doolittle rushed into the room just after Ramirez finished cleaning the Colt .45. Lt. Curtis looked up. "Ah, there you are, Doolittle. You weren't originally supposed to be part of my team, but now that you're here maybe you can be of help. I'm sure you've had some training with electronic systems, but I don't know if you've ever had experience with anything as old as the gear we've got here. I certainly don't, and you're even younger than I am."

In Room 2-
Ernest let out a sigh of relief when the shooting stopped, but he did not let down his guard.

East of the motel-
Baldwin lay still permanently, his brains blown out. Lt. Blanco rushed forward and peeked into the room. "Doc Owens is alive," she said. "I don't know if he's infected or not, but Wallace was even before this happened, so I'd better help him. Amanda, can you take a look at Owens? Ortega, cover her."

"Will do," said Amanda, following Ortega and carefully stepping over the bodies and into Room 5.

Lt. Blanco got to work trying to extract the bullets from Wallace. "He's going to live," she assured Kincaid, "at least until the toxin in his bloodstream kills him in a couple of hours or so." She spoke into her microphone. "Blanco reporting. The threat in Room 5 has been neutralized. One civilian was killed by Adrian after he turned, and two more have been wounded by friendly fire." She removed one of the bullets from Wallace's spine and restored him somewhat.

Wallace groaned as he came to. "They're everywhere..." he mumbled.

Zorie Spooner inspected Gordon Cheng carefully. "Have you been bitten?" she asked, looking at one of his wounds from the helicopter crash. "I'd better take a closer look at this."

Colin Lewis pulled up in the parking lot, stopping next to Keith's truck. Joe Soarez was in the shotgun seat.

In Room 5-
Amanda looked Dr. Owens over. "Yeah, he'll live," she said. "I just hope there isn't any brain damage." She tried to help him, but was having no luck.

Shouldering his rifle, Malanowski moved to assist Amanda. "Here, ma'am, lemmee see if I can't help you." Drawing from his reservoir of battlefield experiences, with deft and precise movement, the veteran airman wrapped the unfortunate doctor's head in gauze and marginally staunched the flow of blood.

The patient stabilized, the airman assesses the scene, making a mental note of the array of firearms throughout the room. As his practiced eye sweeps the room, it catches Amanda's. "I'm guessing from the way you handle yourself, you've probably done this sort of thing before..." he said, casting a downward glance at the patient.

-No, i wasn't bitten. But i almost died in th crash.

Lewis gets out of the truck and walks over to Keith, "Hey do you need a rider next time to shoot the zombies?"

Doolittle looks at the ancient equipment in front of her and tenses up. The thought of still being stuck here because the gear she has to work with is older than her mortifies her.
In an unsteady voice she replies, "I'm sure i can figure something out. Have to I suppose, what other choice do I have."

That said she goes over and begins to look and see what she can do to make things right. Despite thinking she has a handle on how to fix these things, she fails miserably.

Lt. Doolittle lets out a little sob.

(ooc): sorry screwed up on the invisible castle my roll was a 93, ill get it right next time.)

In the Comm Room-

Rameriz looks up with a worried look. "Are you okay?" He asks Doolittle as she lets out the sob.

On the Roof-

"Good work Phillips." He then waits for Sheen to comment on how much ammo should be givein.

Outside of Room 5 -
"Yeah, I could use always use another gun in the truck when out and about. In fact, I've got to run some ammo and supplies between here and the gas station. Want to come?" Keith said to Lewis.
Keith looked to Ortega, "Ortega, any word on the ammo for the gunman on the garage? I was going to make a run back over there and check on my pa and borther and I figure I might as well resupply them while I am at it. Lewis here offered to ride along as protection."

On the west side of the motel -
Frank keyed his radio, "We are all set over here. What are our next orders?"
Looking to Coletrane and Applebee, "Lets stay frostym guys. There's no telling who else is out there and when Phillips is going to turn."

Kincaid climbed shakily to his feet, retrieving his helmet and gun. He moved over to Malanowski and pulled a smart salute, somewhat spoiled by the vestigial tremors in his hand.

"Sir, requesting formal trial by court martial when this whole shit sandwich is out of the way... I shot a civvie sir..." He suppressed a sob. "...However, I request permission to continue active duty and get this place defensible. I cannot trust myself with a gun following this accident, and hereby surrender my weapon to you."

He offered the gun, grip first to the superior officer, and stood waiting for a reply.

"Sir?" Malanowski asks quizzically. "I work for a living. It's Airman. Lt. Blanco is the CO here, talk to her. Regarding the civvie..." he shrugs, "collateral damage."

How many firearms did Malanowski count in room 5?

"I will go. Maybe Joe will too. He is a good man in a fight."

West of the motel-
Coltrane nodded. He and Applebee kept covering the field. Phillips emerged from it onto the parking lot and rejoined his comrades at the southwest corner of the motel.

On the motel roof-
Cole and the snipers were still apparently undecided about how much ammo they could spare for Luke.

In the comm room-
"This is Lt. Curtis," said Curtis. Thank you, Airman Phillips. Hodges, I need you and the other men with you to report for medical treatment and screening. Considering what just happened, there must be someone with a rifle accompanying anyone who has been bitten at all times from now on. I'm reluctant to have them stay at the motel at all, but there are few alternatives available. The garage across the road is one possibility, I suppose, and there's also that underground facility. Lt. Blanco, are they in any condition to be moved?" He keyed off his microphone and turned to Doolittle. "Hey, don't sweat it. I don't understand this stuff either. I have to rely on Ramirez or Mikhalin just to make a connection. All I know is how to speak into the mike, and that's all that matters. As I said, it's still in working order. As long as it stays that way, we're okay."

"Malanowski can probably handle the equipment too, if it comes to that," said Mikhalin.

In Room 2-
Ernest returned to his bed and sat down again to await the doctors. "At least that's over," he said to David.

East of the motel-
"Phillips might be, sir," replied Lt. Blanco on the radio. "I wouldn't advise moving Wallace until I've had a chance to treat him." She glanced over at Kincaid. "Keep your weapon, Airman. You might need it. It was an accident, everyone knows that. Just don't use your weapon unless it's an emergency, and hold your fire if there's anyone in the way. If things don't get really desperate, leave the shooting to the guys with the rifles."

"You were knocked out in the crash, weren't you?" Zorie said to Cheng. "You could have been bitten while you were unconscious. Dr. Blanco, I think Airman Cheng may have been bitten! Can you come and take a look at him?"

"Coming, Zorie!" Lt. Blanco rushed over. "Go see to Wallace. I extracted one of the bullets, but the other's still in him." She examined the wound that Zorie pointed out to her. "Ah, don't worry, Airman, you're fine. The wound only resembles a bite. It must have been made by a jagged piece of metal. I can see why Zorie got mixed up. It almost fooled me for a second. Get on up to the balcony, then report to the comm room on the southwest corner." She spoke over the airwaves again. "Airman Cheng is cleared to go upstairs."

Zorie took out her forceps and tried to remove the second round from Wallace's back, but could not get a grip on it. Wallace slowly recovered his wits. "Oh, no," he said, when he saw Dr. Owens start to stir and speak within the room. "I shot the doc. I thought he was one of them. I'm so sorry..."

"You bet I'll come," said Joe Soarez to Colin Lewis. "You can't ditch me that easy, buddy."

In Room 5-
"Thanks," Amanda said to Malanowski. "Yeah, this isn't the first time I've treated a wound on the battlefield. I was a combat nurse in 'Nam. That's where I met Clarence."

Dr. Owens groaned as he regained his senses. To his horror, one of the first things he saw was his dead son with a few bullet holes in his head. "Adrian!" he cried. He had lost everything today: his wife, his home, and now his only son. Perhaps he was simply numb from shock, but he recovered almost immediately.

"I'll take it from here," said Amanda. She gently squeezed Dale's shoulder. "I'm sorry. There wasn't anything else anyone could have done. Your son was already dead before he..." She started very efficeintly cleaning and repairing his head wound to a decent extent. "You're going to be all right, Doc. The bullet went clean through."

Meeting Amanda's eyes, Malanowski asks: "Where to after this? Do you and the rest of your gang have a destination in mind? Keith had mentioned trading the Rough Riders' services for goods." Looking over the blood spattered corpse of Baldwin, Malanowski points out: "This guy doesn't look like he's going to be needing his weapons any longer..."

In Room 5-
"Warren AFB might be our next stop," said Amanda, "if we can get inside. After that, I'm not sure. I'll need to discuss it with my husband and the boys. We are looking for more guns, ammo, water, and food. Medical supplies would be nice too. We can help out with defense, repair work, and heavy lifting while we're here."

Malanowski found a Remington Sportsman 74 rifle on Baldwin's back. It was loaded with 3 rounds, and he had another 26 in several magazines. He also had two handguns in his belt: a .38 Colt Viper with 4 bullets left, and a 9mm Sig Sauer P-226 that had formerly belonged to Lt. Malone. He had fired the latter gun once, and he had three full magazines remaining.

"Well, I might be able to assist in that regard," the Airman replies cryptically. Recognizing the Sig Sauer in the dead trucker's palm, Malanowski pries it from his death grip and holds it up for emphasis: "This is USAF property," he says, pocketing the three accompanying clips. "That rifle and pistol, though, could be safely liberated..." he remarks with a sly wink.

Pulling himself together with a visible shudder, Kincaid raised his voice over the chatter.

"I think moving is a bad idea. Who's to say we're safer anywhere else than we are here? We've got plenty of food, and plenty of material to make defenses with. I've already got some ideas in that respect. Besides... one of the soldiers already here told me that they're mission was to hold this position no matter what. Are we going against orders now? If we are, I'm staying here anyway. Don't much fancy my chances out in the open, with no cover and no avenue of resupply. At least I know what I got to work with here, rather than at an airbase that might already be full of zeds..."

Lt. Doolittle turns to Rameriz, "I'm fine...I just really wanna get out of here. Fixing this thing is our best shot of that. so if you don't mind I'm just gonna keep working."

She turns back and tries her luck again to get things running. This time she seems to have better luck

A satisfied smile appears on her face.

Cole, still absent mindedly looking about, says, "Sarge, I figure giving 5 mags to the luke guy will be plenty. Stands to reason the more I have the more I get to kill is all. We don't know what kind of shot he is or nothing, you know."

Sheen says, "Sarge I agree with whatever you say but all I know is that this is the only thing I am good at so if you give too much ammo I will have nothing to do."

-Ok, i will go now.
Cheng follow to the upstairs.

Ooc: Does Luke have the mike?

On the Roof-

Black thinks for a moment.

In the Comm Room-

"I understand. Before today I was apart of the DSS. When the shit hit the fan they gave me a gun and told me to help out."

(Sorry bout all that)

In comm room:

Doolittle seeing she knows nothing about the equipment she has to work with just slumps down in defeat and buries her head between her legs.

"I just wanna get out of here."

On roof:

Cole waits patiently for the Sarge's decision on how the ammo should be divided.

On the Roof-

Black talks over the radio to Luke. "This is sgt Black to luke. How would you feel about joining us up here?"

In the Comm Room-

Rameriz has a worried look on his face. He doupts Doolittle will be flying any time soon.

On the southwest side of the motel-
"Roger that," Frank says into his radio. "On our way back to the east side now."
Frank takes one last look around the area. "Alright, looks like it's back to quarintine for us," he says to the others before starting to jog off to the east side.

East side of the motel-
"Is everything okay over here, ma?" Keith says, walking up to his mom and giving her a hug. "As soon as these guys have this ammo situation worked out I am going to go back over there and check on dad. I'm gonna bring Melinda back here as well. Will you look out for her?"

(Don't worry about it.)

West of the motel-
"Yeah, let's go," said Phillips. He went with Coltrane, Applebee, and Hodges around the south side of the motel until they reached the east side.

On the motel roof-
Black and the others waited for a response from Luke.

In the comm room-
"Keep it together, Doolittle," said Lt. Curtis. "I know you weren't supposed to be here, but until and unless someone can extract you and Kincaid you can still help out. I'll ask the colonel about it the next time I call the base, but you may be in for a wait. They've only got a limited number of helicopters, and that number just dropped by one half an hour ago."

"We're still waiting for the resupply that Lt. Malone requested an hour ago," said Mikhalin. "We've got enough ammo for now, but it will only last so long. We need more people too."

"Before we can call in, let's see if we can learn anything from the Chinese. Cheng is on his way here, so let's tune in and get ready for him."

"Yes, sir." Mikhalin adjusted the equipment, and soon unintelligible Chinese speech was coming from the speakers.

On the motel balcony-
Gordon Cheng climbed halfway up the ladder until he was level with the balcony, then swung his legs around and set himself down on it. He headed to the south side so that he could go around to the communications room.

In Room 2-
"How long are they gonna keep us waiting?" asked David.

Ernest shrugged. "Guess they're gonna look at their own first," he said. "Some of them were wounded real bad in that crash."

East of the motel-
Coltrane, Hodges, and the others arrived from the south side of the motel. Lt. Blanco greeted them. "Go on and pick out a couple of rooms," she said. "I'll be with you shortly. Oh, and someone ought to shut off the tap in room 3. That tub must be getting close to full right about now."

Zorie tried again to remove the second bullet from Wallace's back, this time with more success. She fully healed the lesser wound. "Okay, let's get you into a room."

"Go on, take Baldwin's guns," Wallace called to Amanda. "If you're still here when I snuff it, you guys can have mine too. I won't need 'em no more then."

In Room 5-
Amanda hugged Keith back when he came into the room, then resumed treating Dr. Owens. "Everything's fine here now, son," she said. "Dr. Owens will be all right. I think it would be a good idea to bring Melinda here. She'll be safer than at the diner. She's a real nice girl. I like her a whole lot, you know. Why don't you collect Baldwin's weapons and ammo? Maybe Melinda could use that rifle. I've already got a .38, and so does Sue. She's also got a lot more .38 ammo that she might be able to spare to whoever gets that gun. I don't think Ernest has a pistol, so maybe he ought to have it. I can spare some of my ammo for him until Sue gets back. Oh, and would you be a dear and shut off the water in the bathroom, please? That tub must be close to overflowing by now." She looked at Malanowski. "Thanks. I think we will be better off on the move in the long run, though. Most of those things are too slow to keep up. The problem is keeping our bikes fueled and staying supplied."

"It's okay, Wallace," said Dr.Owens. "I'm not sore at you for shooting me. It was a very confusing situation. I might even have shot you without thinking if you had shot Adrian instead. That Kincaid kid didn't mean to shoot you either. We'll just have to be more careful from now on."

Lt. Doolittle looks up, doing her best to control herself.

"I'm sorry, you are right. What do you need me to do till then?"

In the comm room-
"Any contribution you can make to our survival would be a good one," said Lt. Curtis. "If you can keep trying to learn how to use the equipment, that would be beneficial. I'm sure your repair skills are good. Is there anything around here that needs fixing?"

"Malanowski said earlier that his weapon broke when he was trying to clear a jam," said Mikhalin. "We've got some tools in this room. Maybe you can fix it."

Feeling slightly more together, Lt. Doolittle considers her options. Sure breaking down and crying was tempting but would solve nothing. She could try to fix the weapon. Or she could figure out how to use this stupid equipment.

Fearing any more failure with the gear will drive her insane, Doolittle says, "Hell with it, gimme the tools. where is his gun?"

On the motel roof-
"Wouldn't mind bein' high and dry. And closer to the ammo stash," Luke replied over the radio. "But I'm not entirely convinced it's in our collective best interest. It leaves a potential blind spot. Though you're the professional sniper, so you ought to know best."

In the comm room-
"Malanowski's still got it," said Mikhalin. "He borrowed Sergeant Black's spare M-4 in the meantime, and I think he recovered an M-16 from one of the guys that didn't make it."

"Okay, go for it," said Lt. Curtis. "I'd prefer if you worked on the weapon in this room, however. That way the tools will still be here if we need them in an emergency. We could also always use your advice when we're communicating and discussing our options."

On the east side of the motel -
Frank Hodges find an empty motel room and awaits to be treated.

On the est side of the motel-
"I'm gonna go check on dad, mom. You be careful over here, alright?" Keith said after embracing his mother.
Turning to Ortega, "Any update on the ammo or supplies for the others over at the diner? I'd like to head over there and resupply them and bring my girl back over here where it is safe."

"where is Malanowski? I was in that room most of the time. I'll go get his gun and bring it back here to work on it." Lt. doolittle says.

In the comm room-
"Last I heard, Malanowski went with Keith Deeds in the back of his truck," said Lt .Curtis. "They ought to be back by now. You can ask him where he is on the radio."

In Room 5-
"Okay, you be careful too!" said Amanda. She gave Keith a quick peck on the cheek before he left. "I love you, son."

"Let me check," said Ortega. He spoke into his microphone. "Sergeant Black, any word on ammo and supplies for the folks at the diner? Keith Deeds is getting ready to head back over there."

Kincaid scans the surroundings to see what could be used to build barricades.

"Sir," he said into his radio, "permission to co-opt a couple of able bodies to get some defences set up? Any volunteers would be welcome."

Way he saw it, he and Doolittle were going to be stuck at the motel for quite a while. He'd feel better with a few feet of ablative between him and any ravening infected.

On the Roof-

Black responds over the radio "I understand that would it be possible that one of the bikers takes your place?"

Room 2

"Just sit tight," Ernest said, "I'm gonna go and see if I can give a hand out there, you'll be fine."

Ernest walks outside

On the motel roof-
The three men on the roof awaited Luke's answer.

In the comm room-
"Sergeant Black," said Lt. Curtis, "our defenses are in your hands as always. Assign your men as you see fit." He looked up as Gordon Cheng entered the room. "Good, there you are, Airman. How's your Chinese?"

"I speak passable Mandarin, sir," he said, a bit nervously.

"Well, I'm not sure what dialect these people on the other end are speaking, but give it a try and see if you can understand it. This apparatus is designed to eavesdrop on communications in Red China. We're particularly interested in anything to do with nuclear weapons and what they know about Russia's intentions."

"I'll try, sir." Cheng listened to the Chinese speech coming from the speakers, He was able to understand it well enough. "Sir, they're very concerned about the effects of nuclear weapons. The first detonation this morning seemed to be very effective, knocking out infected people well beyond the blast radius for miles around, so they had used several more of them to try to pacify the cities during the early stages of the outbreak. However, later detonations proved to be much less effective. Only those directly in the blast radius were killed, and incidences of infection actually increased in the surrounding areas."

"That jives with what we know," said Mikhalin.

"It gets worse. The Chinese discovered that those knocked out beyond the blast radius of the initial detonation had simply gotten back up again later."

(Lt. Doolittle, roll Physics.)

In Room 2-
"Okay, I'll wait here," called David as Ernest left the room.

In Room 3-
Hodges went into Room 3, followed by Applebee and Lt. Blanco. Applebee shut off the water to the tub, then both men lay down on the beds. Lt. Blanco began to examine Hodges and redress his wounds, doing a good job of it and undoing some of the damage. "Looks like you're not infected either," she said. "It'll take me several more minutes to get you back into fighting form, and then I'll have a look at Applebee."

In Room 4-
Coltrane entered Room 4 and lay down, waiting for his turn.

In Room 5-
Amanda continued working on Dr. Owens. She would be finished in just a couple more minutes. Phillips also walked into the room and lay down on one of the beds. "Might us well have me and Wallace in the same place," he said. "That way, one guy can watch us both."

East of the motel-
Ernest emerged from Room 2 and took in the scene. Kincaid looked around the parking lot and saw that there were several vehicles on this side of the motel that could be used as barricades. The motel furniture was adequate for barricading the stairways, but was too small for the purpose of blocking off outdoor areas. The vehicles might do, but all of them were in working order and might be put to better use for their intended purpose. There was a junkyard north of the T-Bone across the road that was filled with wrecked vehicles, and there was also a tow truck there that could be used to move them into position.

Keith Deeds left Room 5 and got into the driver's seat of his truck.

"Thanks, doc," said Wallace. "Hey, now I know what it feels like too." He glanced at Kincaid. "No hard feelings, man."

Zorie helped Wallace up and brought him back into Room 5, returning him to his bed.

"Malanowski, what is your location. This is Lt. Doolittle, I'm coming down to get that broken gun. Hopefully i can fix it," Doolittle speaks into the radio. She also can't help but listen in on the conversation at hand.

physics roll

"I'm in room 5, Lieutenant," Malanowski answers into his mike. "Had to put down an infected. There are two living bite victims here: Airman Phillips and a civilian. You want I should keep watch on em, Lieutenant? I do still have that busted M4, it's not going anywhere."

Covering the microphone with his free hand, Malanowski makes eye contact with the infected Phillips and says solemnly "Just say the word, buddy. I will keep my promise to you."

Coltrane lies his weapon beside him on the bed and inspects his wound. "Damn this stings."

"Hey Kincaid, need a hand? Seems to me that it's quieted down a bit. Might be an idea to put up some defenses." Ernest said, while looking at the horizon, but failing to spot anything.

"Sure. Are you armed?"

On the motel roof-
"I think the bikers are aiming to press on, when their buddies get back," Luke replied over the radio. "But it doesn't hurt to ask."

In the comm room-
"Malanowski, Sergeant Black should answer that question," answered Lt. Curtis, "and your fire team leader should be the one to ask. I know this is an unusual situation, but you still need to follow the chain of command. It's there for a reason. Black is in charge of our defense, so it's up to him who gets assigned to which duties anyway."

In Room 4-
Coltrane could tell that his wounds weren't that bad, and they had already been bound very well. Some further medical attention could improve his condition, but that would be best done by one of the medical professionals.

(Coltrane, if you want to try it yourself, you may make a Medicine roll. The base level is 5%. If you succeed, you may heal 1d3 damage, up to the maximum you've lost in the injury. If you critically fail, you will worsen it. On a regular failure, you just waste time.)

In Room 5-
"Thanks, man," said Phillips, "but I'm not ready yet."

East of the motel-
Kincaid cannot miss seeing the scoped Marlin rifle slung across Ernest's back.

"Last time I checked, Lieutenant," Malanowski spits out, "the Senior Airman was having a bad day. Sergeant Black, permission to come top side?"

Muting his microphone, the Airman moves to the door. "Chain of command? Unusual circumstances?!" he mutters disgustedly through clenched teeth. "More like a royal circle jerk."

(Understood, but having recently witnessed the Sr. Airman lose his shit, the Airman is having serious reservations about this mission and the whole chain of command.)

Igor glances at the Senior Airman as he strides toward the door. "Ortega? What're we doing here, man? I gotta ask Lt. Blanco something."

Coltrane tried to fix up his uncomfortable bandages. "S**t." he said as his wound began to bleed again.

(ooc - How much do I lose with a botch?)

Keith stood patienly by his truck, surveying the surrounding area but did not see anything unusual.
"All quiet down here. How about we get some of those supplies for the diner gathered up ASAP so I can take them over before more infected come along," Keith yelled up to the roof with only a hint of annoyance.


Frank lay on the motel bed, inspecting his bandages. "So I am all clear? Can I return to duty?"

Lt. Doolittle heads down to room 5 looking for Malanowski. All the while she runs through her head every possible thing she can think of to try on that equipment. As much as she wants to get airborne again, at least fixing this gun will take her mind off of it, a little.

On the motel roof-
There was silence on the radio for a moment, presumably while Luke asked the bikers if any of them could take over for him. The three men heard Keith's annoyed shout from below.

In the comm room-
Mikhalin shrugged when Cheng translated the Chinese speech and Lt. Doolittle left the room. "Maybe those scientists who were here earlier could make some sense out of it, sir," she said, "but I sure can't. All I know is using nuclear weapons is a bad idea. Maybe they'll be interested in this at Omaha, and I'm sure the base would like to know too."

"Okay, we'll be sure to pass on the information to both of them," said Lt. Curtis. "What else can you gather from what they're saying, Airman Cheng? Anything about the Russians?"

Cheng continued to listen. "Sir, the Chinese are just as concerned about the Russians' intentions as we are. They know the Russians have stopped using nukes, but they aren't sure why. Some of them think it's because they too realized it's counterproductive, others believe they lack launch capability...and still others believe they're holding their weapons in reserve, waiting in the hopes that China will deplete its arsenal and to see what the United States will do. China and Russia both know that we haven't touched off a single nuke all day, and they're very nervous about our intentions. China doesn't have good intelligence about the situation in Russia, so they can only speculate."

"Hmm. More questions than answers there."

On the motel balcony-
Lt. Doolittle headed around the south side of the balcony and soon reached the east side, at the top of the ladder. She could now climb down and find Malanowski.

In Room 2-
David continued to wait impatiently. "Why do women always take so damn long?" he muttered. "Still, gotta love 'em."

In Room 3-
Lt. Blanco frowned. "You haven't been bitten, Airman," she said, "but I wouldn't proclaim you fit for duty just yet. You are badly wounded, and it's going to take me a while to finish treating you. In an emergency you could go back out there, but otherwise I wouldn't advise it."

In Room 4-
To his dismay, Coltrane saw that he had reopened his wound and it had started bleeding again.

(Your roll was only a 96, so you just took 1 damage from that. That point of damage can be healed simply by making a successful First Aid roll - just don't botch again!)

In Room 5-
"Well, I'm going to watch over these two until I get different orders from Sergeant Black," said Ortega. "You're free to go talk to Lt. Blanco if you like. Don't forget that Lt. Doolittle is looking for you."

"She's in Room 3," said Zorie. "Wallace, do you mind if I leave you for a while to check on my other patients?"

"Go right ahead," he said. "I'm dead anyway, in the end. Treat the others first."

Zorie nodded sadly and left the room.

"I'll be done in just one more minute," said Amanda to Dale Owens. "Then maybe you can help me with the rest of them."

East of the motel-
Keith and the others waited for the men on the roof to respond.

After a worried few seconds, Coltrane managed to staunch the flow of blood again. "Maybe I'll just leave it alone for the moment."

On the Roof-

Black still waits for the reply.

In the Comm Room-

Rameriz keeps lisening wondering how the russians would take the news that a nuke has been detenated on U.S. soil.

On the motel roof-
"Looks like we got two pairs of eyes to take my place for now," Luke said over the radio. "I'm coming over to the motel."

At his truck
While waiting for any word from the roof on ammo, Keith looks around for any other supplies he might take over the to diner.
Seeing the chaos and disorganization going on around him, Keith now has reservations about staying here at the motel.
'God damn! These guys can't even figure out how to resupply an effective sniper, how the hell are they going to manage defenses?' Keith thinks to himself.

On the motel roof-
The men on the roof saw Luke climb down from the roof of the garage across the road and start to head over to the motel.

In the comm room-
"Thank you, Airman Cheng," said Lt. Curtis. "You may return to your duties. Senior Airman Coltrane and Sergeant Black can tell you where they want you. Dismissed." He spoke to Mikhalin. "Let's report this to the colonel and see what he says."

"Connecting to Warren now," said Mikhalin. She adjusted some settings on the control panel.

"This is Lt. Curtis calling Warren," said Curtis. "Come in, please."

"This is Carmichael," replied the colonel. "What have you got to report?"

"We did manage to learn some things from listening in on China, sir. Airman Cheng was able to translate." He filled his superior in. "Unfortunately, they're as much in the dark about the Russians' intentions as we are. Strange how the first nuke they touched off seemed to work, but then afterwards they proved ineffective. Maybe your scientists can make some sense of it. I'll pass on that intel to Omaha, with your permission, sir."

"You can tell them what you've learned about the effects of nuclear weapons, but keep anything classified out of it."

On the motel balcony-
Lt. Doolittle climbed down the ladder.

In Room 2-
David kept waiting.

In Room 3-
Lt. Blanco continued to treat Frank Hodges, cleaning and redressing his wounds. "It'll take me several minutes to finish up," she said, "so we might as well talk while I work. You must have seen a lot of action, even before today, I mean."

In Room 4-
Coltrane managed to stop the bleeding as Zorie Spooner entered the room. "Okay, let me look you over," she said. She began to examine him, but it was slow going.

In Room 5-
Amanda finished bandaging Dale Owens's head wound and helped him to his feet. "You ready?" she asked.

"I think so," he said. "Let's see what we can do for the others."

Ortega and Malanowski stood watch over Phillips and Wallace, who lay in their beds.

East of the motel-
Lt. Doolittle reached the ground. The door to Room 5 was a little to the north, just to the right of the main lobby door. Keith could not see any supplies just lying around, and he guessed that most of them were upstairs, where he wasn't allowed yet. He also saw Luke climb down from the roof of the garage across the road and start to jog towards the motel. So did everyone else on the ground. Colin Lewis still stood outside his truck, while his friend Joe Soarez remained in the shotgun seat. Ernest Granger was outside Room 2, and Airman Brian Kincaid remained where he was outside Room 5.

Lt. doolittle made her way to the door hoping the man she was looking for was still there.

_____________________________________

Cole looks around anxiously.

"So, ummm, what now? Any word on the ammo?"

Cheng go find Senior Airman Coltrane and Sergeant Black.
-I don't do anything besides walking from one place to the other-mumbles Cheng.

-Inside Room 5

Striding toward the open doorway, Igor keys his mike: "Lt. Blanco, Airman Malanowski here. What's your twenty? Over."

At his truck
Seeing Luck from the diner start running to the motel, Keith says, "What the fuck. He's just gonna leave the rest of them there?" Keith hops in his truck and hauls butt back to the diner where Melinda and the rest of his family are.

Lewis jumps into the back of the truck before it takes off.

East of the motel-
Malanowski saw Lt. Doolittle as soon as he reached the door. She had been on her way over to find him.

(You two can talk and transfer the weapon at this point. Also, Cheng, you do have your radio, so you can ask Coltrane for orders without having to go and find him.)

"Here ya go, Lieutenant," Malanowski says as he proffers the disabled M4. "I hope yer able to get her functional. I was just on my way to see Lieutenant Blanco."

Coltrane over the radio: "Cheng, get yourself some grenades and set up some booby traps to the East. You can be our forward line of defense. Once they get close in, fall back to the roof."

OOC: I presume Cheng have stil several grenades, right?
-Yes sir!
Finnaly Cheng was getting a nice job and he walked happily to the east.

"Thanks. If you need me for anything else, I'll be up in the comm room." Lt. doolittle says to Malanowski. With that she heads back the way she came to begin her repairs.

- Outside of Room 5 @ the Motel

Malanowski pauses to observe the departing Keith Deeds before making his way to Room 3, glancing into Room 4 as he passes.

In motel room 3-
"Yeah, I've had my fair share of action. I've never been one to stay with a lady too long, you know." Frank says to Lt. Blanco. He lets the words hang for a bit, before smiling and saying, "Oh you meant in combat! Nah, I'm kidding. Anyways, I've seen some combat, but nothing as bad as this. What about you?"

Joe Soarez keeps his eyes open and his Ruger Mini at the ready when Keith jumps into the truck and speeds off. Glancing over at him, he then quickly looks to the back of the truck, sighing with relief seeing Colin made it to the back at least.

Malanowski nods in acknowledgement to Coltrane as he passes by on his way to room 3.

While laying on the bed, Frank Hodges keys his mic, " Oretega, Black: There was talk about setting up defenses around here. What is the status of that? I'd like to help out when I return to duty if I may."

On the motel roof-
The snipers and Cole watched as Luke jogged west and Keith Deeds drove back to the garage in his pickup truck, with Lewie Newton in the back.

(Luke is on his way over to the motel, where he can share the 7.62mm ammo with Sheen. Cole is currently carrying the extra 7.62mm magazines, which he might want to give to Sheen.)

In the comm room-
"Thank you, sir," said Lt. Curtis. "I'll give Omaha a call, and we'll keep monitoring the world situation. Curtis out."

Mikhalin connected to Omaha next. "Yo," replied Adam Donnelly.

"Mr. Donnelly, this is Lt. Curtis again. We've found out some intereting things about the effects of nuclear weapons. It seems that the first bomb that China used this morning did have an effect, at least temporarily. All of the infected for miles around went down as soon as it went off. This encouraged them to use more, but later detonations failed to achieve this, and in fact they increased the spread of infection in surrounding areas. Further, the infected that dropped after the first nuke were only incapacitated and later were discovered to have gotten back up. Is that information any use to you?"

"You bet it is. Sounds like what Stephanie was talking about earlier. She'll be real interested to hear that. Thanks again. Is there anything else?"

On the motel balcony-
Lt. Doolittle reached the top of the ladder and climbed onto the balcony, carrying Malanowski's broken M-4. Cheng arrived at her position just afterwards.

(Cheng does have four hand grenades. The other USAF personnel have more. It is possible to set up booby traps with them, but Claymores would make even better ones. He doesn't have any, and neither did anyone he arrived with, but maybe some of the people who were here before have some left. Phillips had just planted a few in the field to the west not long ago. He also has many 40mm grenades for his launcher, but they don't pack as much of a punch.)

In Room 2-
David yawned and stretched.

In Room 3-
"This is the first time I've been in a combat situation," said Lt. Blanco as she worked on Hodges. "I'm a medical researcher. I've had basic, of course, but I'm not trained for front-line fighting. Before today I've never fired my pistol at an enemy. This whole situation is way beyond anything I've been prepared for. I've participated in outbreak and disaster exercises before, but those don't even come close." She looked back at the door. "I'm in here, Malanowski!" she called when she saw the airman approach the door and enter. "What can I do for you?"

In Room 5-
"I think Zorie Spooner and Lt. Blanco can use some assistance," said Ortega. "I'll stand watch in here."

"Okay, thank you," said Amanda. She took Dr. Owens by the arm and led him outside. They went across to Room 4 and walked in.

In Room 4-
"Let me try again," said Zorie Spooner, pausing to look back as Malanowski glanced into the room. She did a much better job this time and started treating Coltrane's injuries, helping him on his way back to full health. "There we go. It'll take me a little while to finish redressing your wounds. You're going to be fine, and you haven't been bitten."

"Maybe we can help speed things up," said Amanda as she helped Dale Owens into the room.

East of the motel-
Joe Soarez remained in the shotgun seat of Colin's truck. He had left the keys in the ignition when he got in the back of Keith's truck, so Joe could still drive it if he wanted to do so. Ernest Granger and Brian Kincaid remained where they were. Keith drove east to the garage.

(Keith Deeds and Colin Lewis are moving to this thread: Blue Plate Special. Please don't read the posts above the one in the link, as you do not know what happened back at the garage since the last time you were in that thread.

Everyone else remains in the current thread.)

Joe watches to see where Keith's truck is heading, then scoots quickly into the driver's seat of Colin's truck, starting it, hoping to catch up as quickly as possible. He isn't about to let his friend go this by himself.

In the doorway of Room 5 -

"Just curious, Lieutenant," Malanowski says as he stands at attention, saluting smartly, "you've been underneath the diner. What's it like? What's down there? Is is defensible? I'm wondering if we'd all be better off down there than up here, Ma'am."

On the roof-

Black waits patiently for luke to arrive.

In the comm room-

Rameriz while still staying silent is glad that things finnally are getting doe here.

Cheng starts making some traps.

(I plan to update Through tomorrow night. I'm just waiting to give a few players one last chance to post first.)

In Room 3-
"Yes, both Ramirez and I have been down there," said Lt. Blanco to Malanowski. "Near as I can tell, it was some sort of secret federal prison facility dating back to the Cold War that has long since been abandoned. Down two flights of stairs there was a warehouse that was still in use, presumably by the owners of the T-Bone. Below that was a reception area with a hallway leading farther back. The only other room I saw was the mess hall and kitchen area off of that hallway, but there was a lot more to the place than that. I wouldn't exactly call it defensible. It's much better to hold the high ground than to go below. Many of the civilians either took shelter down there or were trapped when the diner was overrun, and nobody has heard from them since - or from Airman Hockey, who went down to protect them. Some of the newly arrived civilians went down to investigate, but the chances of them finding any survivors are slim. We need to hold this position as long as we are able anyway. It would make an effective fallout shelter, however. If a nuke is detonated, we may have no choice but to take our chances down there."

On the motel balcony-
Cheng could rig up a tripwire to a grenade to make an effective booby trap. These traps could be set up on the eastern edge of the motel parking lot or the east side of the diner, or perhaps both.

(Cheng, it's up to you whether you want to head over there first or set up the traps first. You can make it to the bottom of the ladder this round if you wish. Alternatively, you can try to rig the first trap. If you do, roll Mechanical Repair. Once it's prepared, you'll be able to secure the tripwire when you reach the position where you're going to place it.)

(OOC: Is Hodges still being worked on )

-In the doorway of room 5

Malanowski speaking to Lt. Blanco: "Well, if underground was some kind of federal facility, I can't imagine that there's only one way in or out. It's the prospect of nuclear events that have me thinking we'd do well to hole up in there or, at the very least explore it more fully... Thank you, Lieutenant.'

Malanowski salutes Lt. Blanco before exiting the room, keying his mike as he leaves. "Sergeant Black, Airman Malanowski seeking permission to come topside. Over."

"Thanks, that's much better" says Coltrane as Spooner finishes bandaging him up. "I'd better get back in the action. No rest for the wicked!" He picks up his gear and heads for the east side of the motel.

(over the radio:) "How're you going with those grenades, Cheng?"

On the motel roof-
The men on the roof watched Joe Soarez drive off in Colin's truck, following the other one back to the garage. They also saw Luke jog up to the east side of the motel below.

In the comm room-
"No, that's it for now, sir," said Lt. Curtis. "We'll let you know if we learn anything else that can help you."

"Okay, then," said Adam Donnelly. "I'll talk to you later - I hope."

Lt. Rebecca Doolittle entered the room after circling around the balcony on the south side.

(Lt. Doolittle, roll Mechanical Repair if you want to start fixing the broken M-4. It will take a while to complete the repairs.)

On the motel balcony-
Cheng climbed down the ladder and came down in the motel parking lot.

In Room 2-
David continued to wait his turn.

In Room 4-
"Wait, I'm not done!" called Zorie Spooner, following Coltrane outside. Amanda and Dr. Owens went with her. "Why don't you two go help Dr. Blanco in Room 3?"

"We'll do that," said Amanda, leading Dale to the next door over.

"This is Zorie Spooner," said Zorie on the radio. "Senior Airman Coltrane has not been bitten and is cleared to go upstairs."

In Room 3-
"You're welcome, Airman!" called Lt. Blanco to Malanowski as he left the room. "We don't have the manpower to spare to explore the facility at this time, but we can let the civilians do it and then ask the them what they found down there." She continued working on Hodges. "Lt. Blanco here," she spoke into her microphone. "Airman Hodges is also cleared, and he'll be ready to return to duty in a few minutes." She looked up as Amanda and Dr. Owens walked in.

In Room 5-
Ortega watched over Phillips and Wallace as they lay in their beds. Phillips fell asleep and began to snore.

East of the motel-
Joe Soarez drove Colin's truck away to the east.

Cheng reached the bottom of the ladder just as Malanowski and Coltrane were coming out of their rooms and Luke arrived from the east. Ernest Granger looked at the small gathering from where he stood outside Room 2. Just then there was a brief, sudden tremor that shook the area. It was rather mild as earthquakes went, not anywhere near powerful enough to knock somebody over, but it was disconcerting.

"What the hell was that?" asked Ernest.

(Cheng, since you did not roll Mechanical Repair yet, I had you move down the ladder to the parking lot. You may roll it now to set up the first trap on the eastern edge of the parking lot if you like.

Joe Soarez is moving to this thread: Blue Plate Special. Please stop reading the current thread at this point. You may read your new thread from the linked post onwards, and you will post there instead of here.

Everyone in the entire thread felt the tremor, not just those east of the motel.)

"Oh Christ. I really hope Warren didn't just go nuclear. I guess we'll know in a few moments, though, eh?" Frank said with an uneasy chuckle.
Laying on the bed, gazing at the ceiling in boredom, he keyed his radio mic. "I heard talk about defenses earlier, Sgt. Black. Who is in charge of that, sir? The reason I ask is because we could probably get some tools and supplied from the junk yard over there. I think I heard one of the civies talking about that big rig across the way being filled with lumber and tools. That would sure go a long way to securing the second floor and creating a perimeter around the motel. I'd like to help, if I can, sir?"

-I just hope that the earth swallow all those creatures- mumbles Cheng.
Unfortunely, he wasn'table to make the trap.

"Alright - but quickly now, please. There's battle to get to!" Coltrane waits impatiently.

"Now what the hell was that?" Malanowski mutters to himself as he scans the horizon for telltale mushroom clouds.

On the Roof-

"Alright Malanowski you can come on up."

In the Comm Room-

"Maybe we should see if Warren felt that."

On the motel roof-
The men on the roof were startled a bit by the tremor, but not adversely affected by it.

In the comm room-
"I doubt they felt it," said Lt. Curtis, "unless it was a lot stronger and the epicenter was much closer to them. Still, I was about to call them anyway to tell them about it. Mikhalin, connect me to Warren."

Mikhalin complied, and soon Lt. Colonel Carmichael spoke. "Carmichael here," he said.

"Sir, this is Lt. Curtis. We just felt a mild earth tremor. Have you detected anything? Has a nuclear weapon been detonated?"

"No, Lieutenant, the detonation of that missile base is still ten minutes away. A tremor? That is unusual for your neck of the woods. We've felt nothing like that here, and there were no reports of anything like it from any of the missile bases."

"Thank you, sir." He got on the radio. "This is Lt. Curtis. I don't know what caused that tremor, but I can tell you that it was not the result of a nuclear detonation. Everyone, stay alert."

In Room 2-
"Not again," grumbled David. He got up and stepped outside to see what was going on.

In Room 3-
"Well, that's a relief," said Lt. Blanco when she heard Curtis on the radio. "It wouldn't be Warren itself going nuclear, anyway. It's one of the outlying bases they're planning to nuke. I really wish they'd reconsider." She turned to Amanda and Dr. Owens. "Thank you, I'd really appreciate any help you can give me, and I'm sure Airman Hodges would as well."

Amanda helped out, doing an adequate job. Dale did a good job too, and Hodges was back on his feet in short order. "Okay, you're good to go," said Lt. Blanco. "Your turn, Airman Applebee."

In Room 5-
"Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!" said Ortega when he felt the earth shake. Phillips stirred, awakened by the sudden shift.

"This happened once before," said Wallace. "It was a few hours ago. Nothing unusual happened afterwards - well, nothing unusual for today, anyway."

Ortega nodded and got on the radio. "This is Ortega," he said. "One of the civilians reported that there was a similar tremor here a few hours ago. Must have been before we arrived."

East of the motel-
There were no mushroom clouds on the horizon as far as Malanowski could see.

When Zorie saw Luke, she went over to him. "I'd better screen him first, Senior Airman Coltrane. There isn't a battle on at the moment, as this is one of the few lulls we've had. If you want to do something else, go ahead, but I'll need to finish up later and it will take a little while." She examined Luke quickly and nodded to herself. "You're fine," she said, then reported it on the radio. "Luke is cleared to enter the motel."

Kincaid went over to where Cheng was working on the eastern side of the parking lot. "Here, let me help you," he said. "We'll get these defenses up faster if we work together, and I've got nothing better to do at the moment." He didn't make much progress either.

(I'll run Kincaid as an NPC until thewordwasaphex returns.

Malanowski, since you're looking around, roll Spot Hidden. Remember the -5 penalty for your helmet. You or Luke may climb the ladder next round, but not both of you. If you both want to climb it, Malanowski can get there first since he has higher DEX.

Cheng and Kincaid, you may each make another Mechanical Repair roll if you want to try again.)

Mr. Handy wrote:East of the motel-
Zorie examined Luke quickly and nodded to herself. "You're fine," she said.

"Why thank you. And so are you, young lady." Luke responded with a knowing glance and a naughty but charming old man smile (App 16 ).

He then moves towards the ladder.

In the comm room-
Lt. Rebecca Doolittle sat down and began working on repairing the M-4.

(Her player hasn't posted in a while, so I went ahead and made the roll, which succeeded. It will take her 10-15 minutes to complete the repairs. I'll count her as having started last round, and this round will now make two.)

Heeding Sergeant Black's command, Malanowski backs toward the ladder but spots something during his scan of the outlying area.

East of the motel-
While peering eastwards, Malanowski could make out a large group of shambling figures over half a mile beyond the diner, making their way slowly closer through the low grass and barely visible through the ruins. There were about eighty or ninety of them.

Zorie blushed, her expression hidden behind her orange suit's helmet.

"People, we've got incoming from the east! A whole horde of em! Rough estimate, eighty or ninety zeds about a klick away!" Malanowski exclaims urgently into his mike as he turns and hurries towards the ladder.

On the motel roof-
Now that Malanowski had alerted them, the snipers were able to see the approaching mob to the east. From up here they had a fairly clear line of fire.

(Black and Sheen, you have five combat rounds to fire at the zombies. Black is at full skill, with only the -5 penalty for aiming at the head. Black may fire five times, but Sheen has a slower weapon and may only fire three times. Other characters who are on the roof or on the east side of the motel may fire as well, but they will have penalties. Luke and Bobby Sheen would still be at half skill, but in a couple of minutes the zombies will be close enough that they'll be able to use full skill, so Luke may want to use that time to get up on the roof. Others with scoped rifles will be at 1/4 skill, but the zombies will soon be close enough for them to use 1/2 skill. Those with M-16s without scopes may also use 1/4 skill, but it will be a while before they get to 1/2 skill range. Those with other rifles would be at 1/8 skill for now, but the zombies will be at 1/4 skill range soon. The -5 penalty for aiming at the head is applied after your skill is divided.)

"Sarge since i have limited ammo I am going to wait until they get a bit closer ok?"

"Thanks, Doc!" Frank said as he sprang out of bed. Keying his mic, "Ortega, I've been cleared for duty. Where would you like me?"

(If you count the ammo that Cole retrieved, Sheen does have over 250 bullets. However, he'll be sharing that with Luke, who has far fewer.)

In Room 5-
"Stay on the east side of the motel and fire at the incoming hostiles when you're ready," said Ortega on the radio. "If you get a chance, climb up to the balcony before they get into your effective range, but let the snipers up first and don't take time climbing up there that would be better used for shooting."

OOC: Sorry for being away for a lil while.

Lt. Doolittle begins working on the gun, trying her best to concentrate all her thought on the job and think nothing of the fact that there are currently more dead things coming, or to put any thought to the tremor. After she got that gun fixed, she was going to tackle the radio equipment again.

_________________________

Cole hears word of the approaching zombies causing his face to contort into an expression of both fear, and stranger yet, excitement. He makes sure his gun is loaded and looks over at Sheen.

"Hey, take these." Cole says, not even waiting for a response, tossing five of the 7.62 mags at him.

He then stands at the edge of the roof looking east. He sees nothing at first but still aims the gun. Twitching at the thought of putting more bullets in those bastards.

"Let's get those fuckers!"

Cole finally sees them and grows even more excited. His trigger finger gets jittery but knows he shouldn't fire till they are with in range.

"come on, come on, hurry up. I wanna shoot ya"

Cheng tried harder, and finally was sucesseful.

Luke will climb up carefully as soon as he's able to.

Hodges asks Oretega over the radio, "I'd like to run over there and do some hit and run with those fellas at the diner so we can maximize the damage we inflict, if that is okay."
"Folks at the diner, do you read me? This is Frank Hodges of the USAF, over."

"After you, Eagle Eye," Malanowski says with a nod as he defers the ladder to Luke.

(Fearlessfred asked me to NPC his characters while he is away.

Walkers from the east: 4 dead)

On the motel roof-
Sergeant Black opened fire on the distant horde. His first shot barely missed, but the rest were on target and very lethal.

Luke made it to the top of the ladder and climbed onto the roof. In addition to Black, Bobby Sheen and one of the newly arrived USAF people were present. The new man looked familiar.

(Luke, roll Know. You may also begin shooting at this point for up to five combat rounds, though for now you'd still be at 1/2 skill. After the next update, you'll be at full skill. The same applies to Bobby Sheen.)

In the comm room-
"Sir, I've just received word that another horde of over 80 hostiles is coming from the east," said Lt. Curtis to Warren. "They're half a mile away, and I can hear one of our snipers shooting at them already. It sounds like it's about the same size as the last group, so I don't think they'll pose a problem, but they are eating into our ammo reserves. Any word on when we'll get resupplied?"

"We're working on it," said Lt. Colonel Carmichael. "Maybe in another hour, or possibly a little longer. Can you hold out until then?"

"I hope so, sir. As long as their numbers don't increase beyond what we're used to and there are no surprises."

"Actually, the numbers seem to have peaked," said Ramirez. "They seem to have been more numerous in the morning, before you and your men arrived. If they continue to decline, we'll be in good shape."

Doolittle continued working on the M-4, but it would take her a lot longer before she'd finish.

In Room 3-
Lt. Blanco began to clean and rebandage Applebee's injuries. She did an excellent job, repairing much of the damage. "Good news," she said. "You haven't been bitten. I think we'll have you up on your feet in a few minutes." Amanda helped out, and so did Dr. Owens.

Hodges heard Ortega's reply, but there was no reply from anyone at the diner.

In Room 5-
"Sergeant Black," said Ortega on the radio. "Airman Hodges requests permission to join the civilians in carrying out hit and run attacks on the incoming enemy. Can we spare him?"

"I think so," replied Black. "Permission granted."

"Okay, Hodges, you're cleared for duty."

East of the motel-
As gunshots rang out from the roof, a few of the leaders of the horde began to fall. Closer to the east, Lisa Crow emerged from the stairway under the ruins in a state of panic. She fled to the west, running past the garage and heading for the motel. Keith could be seen making his way over to the top of the stairs, while Joe Soarez got behind the wheel of a truck and Colin Lewis stood ready in the back.

As Luke scaled the ladder, Ernest Granger approached Zorie. "Why don't you check me over next?" he asked. "I could do a lot more good up there with my rifle than down here." Zorie nodded and began to examine him.

Gordon Cheng tied one of his hand grenades to a tripwire and stretched it between two lampposts on the eastern edge of the parking lot. If anything disrupted the wire, it would cause the pin to come out and the grenade to detonate - a crude but effective trap. Kincaid tried to set up another one further north using one of Cheng's grenades, but he still couldn't manage it.

(Cheng, you may roll Mechanical Repair again to set up another trap if you wish. One more person may climb the ladder this round.)

Airman Malanowski follows on the heels of Luke up the ladder to the roof.

Cheng used another grenade but to no avail.
-I should spare the grenades to use them to launch, and not in this stupid way!-Thought Cheng

Frank exits the motel, and begins to jog over to the diner.

The gun shots ring through Cole's ear, his finger becoming all the more itchy.

Luke takes a moment to catch his breath and collect his strength. He's in good shape for his age, but still, climbing up a ladder with all his gear is tiring.

"Hadn't quite expected it to be this crowded here." Luke comments.

OCC: Success Know (1d100=13)

(Cheng is using his hand grenades for the booby traps. He still has 19 40mm grenades left for the M203, which he has still not reloaded, by the way. That takes two full combat rounds, but you can't do it while setting traps.

Walkers from the east: 11 dead)

On the motel roof-
Luke now realized why this other man was familiar. He bore a close resemblance to Ian Cole, who had arrived with the first USAF group, though he was younger and still alive. In fact, the name on his uniform said "Cole." He had to be a relative.

"The more the merrier," said Black, reloading and then taking aim. "We've got plenty of room up here. The motel is pretty big." He squeezed off four shots, every one a hit and every one overkill. The herd was already starting to thin out, though there were still over seventy left. Malanowski got up onto the roof. Across the way, Lewie Newton began shooting the zombies from the roof of the garage, and Lisa paused in her run. Joe Soarez drove a few hundred yards to the east with Colin Lewis in the back of the pickup.

(The zombies are now within half a mile of the motel, so Sheen and Luke may now fire at full skill. Since Luke still hasn't had half an hour of continuous rest, he'll need to roll CON x 4 if he starts shooting. Failure means he'll have -5 to all his shots until he does get rest. If he succeeds, there's no penalty. Other scoped rifles are now at 1/2 skill. Rifles without scopes are at 1/4 skill.)

In the comm room-
"We'll keep you posted, sir," said Lt. Curtis.

"Okay, Lieutenant," replied Carmichael. "There's nothing else I can do to prevent the CO from detonating that missile base. We're at T-minus eight minutes now. I'll let you know when it goes off, and we'll monitor the effects from the air. We've got a few of our choppers in the area for that purpose, which is one reason why we're short on airpower for now. Those birds will have to return to base and refuel before they can go out on more missions. It'll take the fallout time to reach your area even if the winds blow it your way, so you'll have time to get to shelter, but you might want to secure that underground facility sooner if you can."

"Understood, sir. Curtis out."

Lt. Doolittle kept working on the M-4 wordlessly.

In Room 3-
Hodges left the room, and the three medical professionals continued working on Applebee. They would be done in a minute.

In Room 5-
Phillips lay back on the bed, trying to relax. He clasped his hands and began to pray silently.

East of the motel-
Hodges made his way across the parking lot, being careful to avoid the booby traps that Cheng and Kincaid were setting up. He jogged east towards the garage. Kincaid tried again to set up his trap, and this time he managed it. He strung his tripwire up about a dozen yards north of the other one with one of Cheng's hand grenades.

(Cheng, you may roll Mechanical Repair again to try to set up your second trap, presumably south of the first one.)

Zorie finished examining Ernest. "You're all set," she said. She spoke over the radio. "Ernest Granger is cleared to go upstairs. That only leaves David and the people who have gone across the street to check."

"That's my cue," said David, swaggering up to her confidently. "Wanna see my scars?"

Seeing that he has some time before he has a reasonable chance to begin notching zeds, Airman Malanowski takes a knee, chambers a round and then swaps out his partial clip for a full one. That done, he will begin consolidating the ammo in his partial clips.

Igor has six partial clips and can consolidate to three full clips, 2 empties, and a partial w/ 11 shots, accounting for the one round in the pipe. I realize he might not have time to do all that but that's what he's doing to kill time until the horde is at least 1/2 skill range.

- Dammit! I can't seem to get this grenade in place!

"As long as we have ammo, crowds are fine." Luke nods "But after that, we might be in a load of trouble... We must consider ourself lucky to be in a thinly populated area like this."

"Anyhow, we should start thinking about shifts & supplies. Water for instance is important. Dehydration is a sneakier enemy than these zombies are. Food is of course important as well. I've got enough to keep me going for a while, but I suspect not everyone has planned that far already." Luke comments as he looks for a good spot to set down his gear "Unless you think you can't handle these, I'd also think it best for me to sit thisone out, else all overwatch riflemen will be tired at the same time..."

"If you need a break, old timer, can I use that scoped rig of yours?" Malanowski darts a quizzical look at the elder huntsman.

"Not really mine to begin with... I lost my scoped bolt action. Damn fine rifle that was." Luke says as if he lost a good and loyal friend "But you better keep this in one piece, or I'll tear you a new one."

"I've seen you shoot, so I believe you Gramps!" Malanowski retorts good naturedly. "While yer resting, would you mind consolidating these clips for me? After we mop up this mess," he cocks his head toward the impending horde, "I'll personally see you get that ammo you need."

With that, the airman lies prone on the roof and sights the impending horde through the elder huntsman's rifle assemblage.

I'm assuming Malanowski is now using Luke's M-14A1 7.62mm NATO rifle with scope and bipod. If that is indeed the case, can you give me relevant range and ROF, Mr. Handy?

Igor goes four for five with Luke's rifle, dropping three of them, the fourth left staggering with a gaping head wound.

"Hot damn, Pappy! I might not give this piece back!" Malanowski exclaims excitedly.

Sheen aimed and fired at three zombie heads. All three shots hit. However only the second shot managed to take down a zombie.

(I did it this way because I was kind of in a hurry this morning. Hope it is okay to do it like this.)

"Try it & I'll skin you alive, airman." Luke replies with a grin as he twirls his oversized Bowie knife in his hand.

(Yes, that's fine that you did it that way. You accidentally rolled six shots instead of three, so I just counted the first three.

Walkers from the east: 23 dead, 1 with 9 damage to head, 1 with 8 damage to head, 1 with 7 damage to head.)

In the comm room-
"Anything new on the board?" Curtis asked Mikhalin.

"Nothing yet, sir," she said. "The Russians still aren't talking, at least not in the part of Russia we can listen in on. We are limited to eastern Asia. I can't believe Warren's actually going to go ahead and nuke one of our own missile bases."

"It's standard protocol, as much as I disagree with it under these circumstances."

In Room 3-
"You're all set," said Amanda to Applebee. Lt. Blanco and Dr. Owens helped him to his feet.

In Room 5-
"Maybe I can muster the strength to go out there and shoot me some more dead guys," said Phillips to Wallace and Ortega. "We sure could use an extra rifle - or three. If we all go together, you can shoot and keep an eye on the two of us at the same time, Senior Airman."

East of the motel-
Ernest Granger climbed the ladder up to the roof. Zorie Spooner shook her head at David's remarks. "I just need to make sure you haven't been bitten," she told him.

"Sure, let me get my shirt off," said David, pulling it over his head. He flexed his muscles. "Ain't I just the picture of health?"

"Um...I'm not sure yet."

"Well, take all the time you need, baby."

Kincaid jogged south across the parking lot to rejoin Cheng. "Need any help with that last one?" he asked.

(Cheng, roll Mechanical Repair if you want to try again to set the trap.)

On the roof-
The zombie that Malanoswki had wounded fell, but crawled slowly to the west. So did one of the ones that Sheen had wounded, but the other one stayed on its feet. Luke began refilling Malanowski's magazines while Cole waited in eager anticipation for the zombies to get close enough for him to shoot.

Ernest climbed up onto the roof. "Howdy, guys," he said.

"I think we can handle this bunch," said Sergeant Black to Luke. "Sheen and I aren't tired yet, but I'm sure we will be before too much longer. It'll be a good idea to work out shifts now that there are more of us - once we're done with the current round of shooting." He took aim at the approaching horde again, which was now a third of a mile from the diner. He scored five more hits and five more kills. There were now around sixty standing, not counting the crawlers that were falling behind the main group.

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion northwest of the motel, followed almost immediately by another to the southwest. "Claymores!" shouted Black, recognizing the sound.

(Everyone at the motel heard the explosions, not just those on the roof. Anyone on the roof of the motel may continue shooting at the zombies to the east for five more combat rounds. Black has two rounds left in his magazine, so he'll need to reload once soon and will get at most four shots. Sheen has just one round in his rifle. He'll need to reload using one combat round, so he'll only get two shots. Malanowski can have five shots. All three of them can use full skill shooting at the zombies to the east. Anyone else using a scoped rifle without a bipod is at half skill. Those with rifles without scopes are at 1/4 skill.

Anyone may also look to the west using one combat round. If you do, roll Spot Hidden. If you have a helmet, this roll is at a -5 penalty. Whether you succeed or fail, wait until I tell you what you see before using any additional combat rounds. You may look west and reload at the same time.)

Upon hearing the explosions, Frank stops in his tracks and scans the area where the explosions came from.