IC-UNDER-In Too Deep(Everyone)

[OathinBlood]

Michael enters the decontamination chamber, his eyes and his mind sharp, trying to redeem himself for abandoning his friends.

"We should seal it up and get in those suits, people."

He counts how many suits there are and if the apparatuses to go with them are in working order.

[Mr Zombie killer]

Kerry looked around and thought for a brief moment. "I don't think that getting in the suits will help us or save us. Take a look at them carefully please." She then turned to Mrs. Foo and said, "Sure I can give up my cane but it is my only weapon besides the acid and grenades so I would need to trade someone for a shotgun or something."

[kabukiman]

Max is all happy but cover in any place he find safe near his friends.

[Mr. Handy]

In the upper lab hallway-
Alice perished in the creature's belly, crushed to death and completely digested. Mr. Foo was also slowly being crushed and consumed within it. That wasn't enough to sate its hunger, however. It dragged Lynne towards the open door, and it would have eaten her too if she hadn't gotten caught in the doorway.

"I tried..." sobbed Jenny, still powerless to avert their doom. "I'm so sorry..."

Duke mumbled and gradually came to his senses, though he was still pinned by the tentacle and unable to do anything. Then the monster belched again and underwent another growth spurt. The massive thing now filled most of the office. His eyes went wide in horror.

"It gets bigger, stronger, and tougher each time it consumes someone!" gasped Jenny in complete realization. "That means it's practically unstoppable now! It's a good thing that hatch is sealed. I just hope the others get away..."

In the decontamination chamber-
Max joined his friends inside the decontamination chamber. Willie sealed the outer door once he and Michael had made it inside.

"I couldn't even put one of those suits on with my leg the way it is," said Sally, "let alone walk around in one."

"I think I've got the only shotgun any of us have," said Ellen, "and that's my only weapon."

"Well, I'll try my best to move with just one cane, then, but I'll need help to get anywhere."

Kerry recalled that she had seen Alice with a shotgun slung on her back during her run past the office upstairs. She was pretty sure Alice hadn't had one the last time she had seen her, but where could she have gotten it down here? While going back for Alice's shotgun was out of the question, there could have been another one accessible somewhere.

There were twelve suits in all. Both Kerry and Michael noticed that the suit labeled "Judith Reagan" had holes burnt through one of its gloves, as if by acid. Similar burns were on the soles of the boots of the suits with nametags reading "Craig" and "Niedler." The burn marks looked eerily like the burns on Ellen and Sally's clothing where the creature's tentacles had touched them. The other nine suits were intact and fully functional, but clearly the first three had not protected their occupants. The suits were very bulky, and it would be difficult and slow to move around while wearing them. They provided little physical protection; rather they were designed to protect against environmental hazards. They were probably more trouble than they were worth.

(The suits provide only 1 point of armor, but this protection covers the entire body. However, anyone wearing a suit suffers a -20% penalty to all of the following skills: Climb, Dodge, Hide, Jump, Sneak, Swim, Throw, and all Melee/Parry skills, in addition to a -10% penalty to Listen and Spot Hidden. They also reduce your effective Dex by 4 while worn.)

Michael and Kerry also both remembered that Jenny had said the creature might be harmed by water. The decontamination chamber had sprinklers built into the ceiling that could spray water to clean off the suits as part of the decontamination process.

[OathinBlood]

OOC - Is there anywhere else to go but stay in the chamber?

[Mr. Handy]

(Yes, of course. The door leading back to the hallway is sealed now, but you could open it again if you decide to go back into the lab area for some reason. Additionally, there is the open door on the opposite end of the chamber. According to Jenny, the shaft that leads down to the tunnels is that way.

I won't update Under just yet, since nobody has posted actions for characters, but I won't wait all that long before I do. Go ahead and post as soon as you're ready.)

[Mr Zombie killer]

Kerry pointed out the holes in the suit to everyone and then said, "I wonder if water will cause this thing to be affected somehow? I personally do not think we should stay here and find out and I dread going back down again but it looks like we will have to. So whatever anyone else wants to do I will do."

[ryansommer]

Looking around at the others, and taking stock of everyones armaments, Sally says "Based on what we have here, I don't think we can take that thing." Not wanting to head down, she searches her brain.

(OOC: Was Sally around to read the lab notes or journals? Does she know about the researchers ideas about water hurting it?)

[Mr. Handy]

(Sally wasn't there when the others read the biology lab notes late in Chapter 2 or the journal Jim found earlier. Jenny was, and based on that she did tell everyone early in the battle that water hurts the creature. She also mentioned that fire, electricity, and acid can hurt it at the same time. Sally did hear most of the recorded logs. If you haven't already, you should read Zombies Behind Bars, Trapped, and then all of this thread to see what Sally has done so far in this chapter. Michael and Kerry already passed their Idea rolls, and that's when they thought of the water. The decontamination shower can be turned on manually and left that way.

I'll wait until tonight to give OathinBlood a chance to check in before I update Under.)

[ryansommer]

Sally suddenly gets an idea, "We could turn on the decontamination shower in here if we leave. Perhaps it will prevent it from following us since water is supposed to hurt it. Heck, we may be able to trip the sprinkler system if there is one and rain some death down on that thing!"

[Mr Zombie killer]

Kerry said, "I was thinking the same thing. You go girl! Great minds think alike High Five!"

[Mr. Handy]

In the upper lab hallway-
Mr. Foo was dying inside the creature, still being crushed and eaten alive. It turned its attention to Joe Barring. It dragged the unconscious State Trooper over to the office door in an attempt to eat him, but he was turned the wrong way and was too big to fit through.

Then Kimberly began to stir. Her eyes shot open, her pupils red with fury. Lynne was just starting to come to her senses when she caught sight of her, and she managed to keep from going to pieces again. Kimberly tried to go after her, but the monster hoisted the dead woman into the air and away from its other prey to keep her from eating them. She thrashed and tried to break free, but the thing was now too strong for her to escape. It sent its tentacles right for her head, missing with the first but hitting with the second and crushing her skull. She stopped moving for good.

Jenny stared in horror, and she shivered at the sight. Duke lost it again, his brain fried. He was aware of his impending death, and he began to cry. "We're going to die..." he sobbed. "We're all doomed...the whole world is doomed..."

"No," said Jenny drawing on the remainder of her courage. "We may die, but the others will get out. They'll survive. And the world isn't doomed. It's not too late. Stephanie and Dr. Hausmann are on their way to Omaha, and they're going to save the world. I know they can do it."

In the decontamination chamber-
"Unless there's some reason to stick around here," said Rosie, "we should head down to the tunnels now. That's a good idea to turn on the shower when we leave the chamber, and then we can seal the inner door behind us. I hope that will keep it from following us. It won't be safe down there, but staying trapped up here would be worse. Come on." Rosie and Ellen helped Mrs. Foo through the open inner door and into the room beyond at the top of the shaft. Willie and Max followed them.

In the shaft room-
This room was small. Its only feature besides the door back to the decontamination chamber was an industrial elevator in the center at the top of a shaft leading straight down. A continuous steel rail stretched from the ceiling down the shaft, and the elevator was designed to ride along it, operated by a series of cables and electrical lines. Cables and gears were attached to the ceiling above the elevator. The elevator was a platform that looked identical to the one that had brought them down into the facility from the prison level, except it was operated by switches rather than buttons. A switch on a gear box could be used to send the elevator up or down, and similar switches were both outside the elevator and on it. The elevator could hold up to six people. Since the seven humans who had made it this far were smaller than average, it could hold all of them, but it would be a tight squeeze. Max could fit too if someone carried him. The elevator appeared to be in full working order.

"Are you three coming?" Willie called back. "The sooner we get out of here, the better."

[Mr Zombie killer]

" Yeah it is better to stay together then be apart. Plus maybe I can help us out down here." Kerry stepped into the shaft room and prepared to go below. "Should someone seal the door and turn the water on?" she asked.

[kabukiman]

Max follow them (like if he had any other options!).

[ryansommer]

Before she let, Sally looked out the window in the decontamination chanber, looking for signs of an overhead fire sprinkler system, but was not able to spot anything. "Let's go then" Sally said as the others filed out of the chamber. She turned the decontamination shower on as she left, and closed the door behind her.

[Mr. Handy]

(OathinBlood hasn't posted in quite some time, so I'm going to assume Michael gets on the lift with the others in order to keep things moving forward. If he's going to stay up top for some reason, let me know and I'll edit.)

In the upper lab hallway-
Mr. Foo finally dissolved inside the monster's gut, and once again it expanded. Part of it extended through the office door and out into the hallway. It lunged for Joe, but he still eluded its mouth.

"We are going to die," said Lynne, "but I knew I wouldn't survive much longer anyway. At least we're getting it over with, and there are a lot worse ways to end up."

"There's so much I never got around to doing," said Jenny from inside the office, where she was trapped in the creature's grasp, "and now I'll never get the chance. So many things I'll never know. I tried my best. That's all anyone can do."

In the shaft room-
Sally turned on the showers in the decontamination chamber and sealed the door just after Michael followed her through it. Then everyone crowded onto the lift platform. Rosie picked up Max in her arms and stood crammed in among everyone else. It was a very tight fit, but everybody managed to get aboard. Willie pulled the switch, and the lift began its long descent into the unknown depths.

(It will take a few minutes for the elevator to reach bottom. During this time you can talk to each other as much as you like, but you won't be able to do much else considering how tightly packed everyone is. If you're done talking and just want to skip to the time when you reach the bottom, let me know in an OOC comment in one of your posts on this thread. Once all the PCs have done so, I'll move things forward quickly. If you don't post in this thread for a week, I'll assume you have nothing to say and treat it as if you had told me you're ready to move ahead.)

[Mr Zombie killer]

Kerry told everyone her story on the way down.

[ryansommer]

(OOC: Sorry, I am new to this character. Can I get an update on what kind of weapon, if any, Sally has and how much ammo she has? Also, is Sally able to tend to her wounded leg on the ride down?)

"Smoke if you got'em" Sally says, trying to break the tension of the descent. "And reload if you are able too"

[Mr Zombie killer]

Kerry also asked if anyone had a weapon she could have since she only had a couple of grenades and a walking stick and she needed fire power.

[Mr. Handy]

(This useful thread tracks everyone's locations, weapons, ammo, and the like. I update it frequently, so you should check it often to see what your characters have. Kerry has two flasks of acid in addition to the weapons that were mentioned above. Sally is armed with a Colt .45 M1911A1 automatic pistol and an M-16 5.56mm NATO assault rifle, both fully loaded and with an extra bullet in the chamber. The .45 holds 7+1 rounds, and the M-16 holds 30+1 in its magazine and chamber. She also has a total of 100 .45 bullets in all of her magazines, including the one currently loaded in the pistol, and she has 196 5.56mm NATO bullets. She cannot do anything about her leg during the descent due to the cramped conditions; everyone else is pressed up tightly against her.

Kerry told her story in early-mid Chapter 2, spread throughout pages 8 to 12 in the sections that took place in the warehouse. You can find it by going to the thread called The Story So Far and going to the Chapter 2 link. Mr Zombie killer, are you going to have Kerry describe how she's telling the story and choose the words she speaks yourself? Are you telling everything, or is there anything you want to keep private?)