IC-THRU-Beneath the Surface(Tsuba/Lisa Crow/Sue Newton)

[Mr. Handy]

(There were a bunch of them up in the warehouse and around the broken gate. Since then, they're more thinly spread out, maybe one or two in every room you've passed through.)

[John Gaunt]

"Let's press on!" hisses Lisa, motioning Tsuba to take the lead and Susan to bring up the rear.

[Mr. Handy]

In the cell block-
Tsuba nodded silently, and they proceeded towards the end of the cell block. He saw nothing in the last two cells on the right, but Lisa found another shocking sight in the very next cell on the left. Another ancient corpse wearing an airman's uniform was inside, but this one had a belt tied around its neck and to a ceiling fixture. dangling with its feet several inches above the floor. Three rats tried to nip at the dead man's heels, but he was just out of reach.

(Lisa, roll Sanity again, with a Sanity loss of 0/1d3.)

[John Gaunt]

The sight of more vermin fails to unnerve the hardy woman and she stamps her feet to shoo them away. "Git!"

[Mr. Handy]

(It's not merely the rats that caused the Sanity rolls, it's the dead airmen in the cells. The doors are also closed and locked, so you can't get to the rats and they can't get to you either.)

In the cell block-
Lisa checked the last cell on the left, which was thankfully empty.

"I might be able to pop those locks," whispered Bill, "but I think that can wait until later. Ready to go on?"

(Lisa and Sue, roll Listen.)

[John Gaunt]

"Shh! Listen! Did you hear that?" Lisa whispers urgently.

[Mr. Handy]

In the cell block-
Lisa heard Clarence Deeds calling in the distance, back near the entrance to the facility: "Tsuba, it's Dad! Where are you, son?" Bill cocked an ear, but couldn't make out the words.

[Laraqua]

"Should we go back to him?" Sue asks, cocking an ear. "But what about any survivors?"

[Mr. Handy]

In the cell block-
Sue also clearly heard Clarence's voice.

"How about one of you two goes back and gets Dad?" suggested Bill. "Then the other one can keep going forward with me. I don't think we want to call out for him from here, just in case anything nasty nearby hears us."

[John Gaunt]

"Sue, why don't you go back and give Mr. D an update? I'll press on with my man." Winking at Tsuba: "Til death do us part, Babe."

[Mr. Handy]

In the cell block-
"Right on," said Tsuba. He led Lisa through the open doorway at the end of the cell block and into the shower room. Sue Newton went back the way she had come to meet Clarence.

In the guard room-
Clarence entered the room from the hallway leading out of the reception area just as Sue returned from the cell block. "Hey, Sue," said Clarence. "What's going on down here? Where are the others?"

"Bill and Lisa are exploring deeper," said Sue. "We haven't found much yet, just various creepy things. Dead bodies, rats, and so on."

"Shall we go join them?"

In the prison showers-
Bill and Lisa found themselves in the prisoners' shower room. There were several stalls on either side. At the far end, another open door led onwards. There was not much of interest in here. The trail of bodies petered out in this room.

[John Gaunt]

Back to back, firearms at the ready, Bill and Lisa conduct a sweep of the shower stalls as they cautiously sidestep towards the open doorway.

[Mr. Handy]

In the guard room-
"This way," said Sue. She led Clarence back into the cell block, towards the door at the far end that Tsuba and Lisa had gone through.

In the prison showers-
Bill and Lisa discovered nothing on their way through the shower room. All of the stalls were empty. They reached the door at the other end. On the other side was a large, empty area, which resembled an exercise yard. Presumably it had been the prisoners' common area, used by the inmates when they were allowed out of their cells.

In the prisoners' common area-
When Bill and Lisa entered the room, they saw another door in the opposite wall. This one was made of sturdy metal, much like the armory door, and it too was open. Through the door, they saw a large cluster of people gathered around what looked like a large submarine hatch set into the floor of the room beyond. They were clawing and scrabbling uselessly at the metal hatch, and most of them were wounded. Half of them crawled on the ground, and the rest crouched over the hatch. Bill tried to be quiet, and he was - for the most part.

(Lisa, roll Sanity. Sanity loss is 0/1d10. Also, roll Sneak. The base skill is 10%.)

[John Gaunt]

Lisa padded silently within view of the open doorway but the macabre sight therein unnerved her thoroughly.

[Mr. Handy]

(Lisa, roll Idea. If you succeed at this roll you will go temporarily insane, so you want to fail it.)

[John Gaunt]

Oops, forgot about that.

Lisa fully appreciates the unnatural horror before her.

[Mr. Handy]

In the prisoners' common area-
Lisa took one look at the red-eyed monstrosities and fled the way she had come, all thoughts of stealth forgotten. The creatures looked towards the source of the sound and began stumbling through the open metal door.

(Lisa is fleeing in panic for the next nine combat rounds, including this one. She will reach the shower room this round. This is probably the best insanity for her to get under the circumstances. She does still get a check mark for her successful Sneak roll earlier, though now the zombies have heard her.)

[Mr. Handy]

In the prison showers-
Lisa Crow ran into the shower room from the far end, panic written all over her face. Bill followed her quickly, though he was still steady. At the same time, Clarence and Sue entered from the cell block.

"What's going on?" asked Clarence.

"Fall back!" called Bill. "There's a sealed hatch further inside, and a bunch of those things were trying to get in. Now they're chasing us!" He aimed his rifle through the doorway to the common area as he retreated. "There's seven of them on their feet and seven more crawling." The walking zombies were crossing the common area and making their way toward the showers. The crawlers were filtering through the door from the hatch chamber. Lisa did not stop running, but kept fleeing toward the cell block.

(Sue, roll Sanity. If you remain sane, you may fire your shotgun once or your pistol twice at one of the zombies if you wish. The zombies are 10 yards away, and they cannot reach you this round. If you aim at the head, there is a -5 penalty. You'd do 4d6 damage at this range if you hit with the shotgun.)

[Laraqua]

Sue manages to keep her cool.

OOC: What's her best firearms skill?

[Mr. Handy]

In the prison showers-
Clarence was unshakable. "Engage or drop back?" he asked, holding his rifle at the ready.

(Sue has 50% in Shotgun and 40% in Handgun. There is a -5 penalty for targeting the head. She may only fire the shotgun once per round, however, while she can fire the handgun twice at a zombie's head provided it's at the same target. Of course, the shotgun will most likely kill a zombie with a single hit to the head, which one shot from the revolver is unlikely to do.)