Play@YSDC

Z-Day - 4:37 PM Central Time - 26 miles west of Holdrege, Nebraska
On the road-
Flynn drove the RV back to the road and turned right, toward the farm where Jack and Kathryn were waiting. It didn't take him long to reach the intersection with the road going north and south that he had passed going the other way. The farm he was heading for was another mile down the road ahead to the east.

Flynn was happy, feeling that finally he was safe for sometime.

On the road-
Flynn drove on for another mile and soon saw the farm where Gardner had been hiding on the left. A dirt road branched off in that direction to the farmhouse and behind it to the barn. The garage door and the front door were both closed, and there was no sign of life - or unlife - as far as he could see.

Flynn starts to scream:
-Ey! Time to go away!

Flynn heard Jack's relieved voice coming from behind the farmhouse: "Harry, we're back here! I heard you guys found fuel. What else can we stand to re-up?"

-Food, guns and anything that we can use to repair the Rv if necessary, leave the rest.

At the farmhouse-
Jack Montrose came into view from around the west side of the farmhouse. He saw the RV stopped on the road in front of the house, with Flynn in the driver's seat.

"A zombie?! Alvarez, keep talking to me," Jack commands. "Where are you guys situated? Are you in a fortified location? What are Emily and Lauren doing?" he asks worriedly.

The sudden confluence of events strikes Jack as somewhat odd, perhaps even suspicious. His practiced prosecutorial ear tries to gauge Alvarez' truthfulness but a sudden squelch of static prevents him from doing so.

Diverting his attention, Jack waves to Flynn and then motions him in. "Harry, back er up into the driveway, there's some supplies here we oughta take with."

-Ok!
But suddenly Flynn get's suspicious: and if Gardener is still alive and this a trap? He looks to the house to see anything suspicious.

At the farmhouse-
Jack heard Alvarez reply on the radio: "Yes we are in a safe place. Hold on a minute."

Flynn surveyed the front of the house. The area in front of the garage and the walls to either side of the door were scarred and pitted from the grenade blast, but they did not appear to be weakened much. The only thing that looked odd or out of place was that the closed garage door did not appear damaged at all. There was no sign of Gardner anywhere.

Kathryn followed Jack to the front of the house, clad in a red halter top and black miniskirt. Flynn saw that her left arm was badly injured, and it had been crudely bandaged with black material that looked to have been torn from the bottom of her skirt. In her right hand she held a crowbar, and a first aid kit was slung over her shoulder.

Did the grenade blow out the windows on the front of the house?

"Alvarez, I don't understand. If you're in a safe place what's preventing either of my girls from speaking to me?"

-Hi Kathy. I'm glad you are ok. We came to rescue you but it was Jack who was the real hero: if he didn't agreed to came, we we would never be here, and it was him who save you, after Alvarez got shot. And Lucy said she was sorry for misjudged you. But at least they were in the air.
Then turning to Jack:
-The people from the farm seemed nice, but i prefered that ALvarez stayed there with the weapon, you never know. I will help you to load the RV:

"People from the farm? What people from the farm?" Jack asks, alarmed. "There's food and water in the back. Gardner's corpse is in the garage but I haven't searched it yet as I accidentally locked the door. I haven't given the house a through going over either. What people at the farm? Tell me everything that happened since we parted company. Please."

-Well, we stoped at a farm to get gas. We didn't saw any zombies, so we started refueling when the owners appeared: they were quite angry at the beginning, but we explained that we thought that the place was empty like many others. They relaxed and asked if we wanted to stay there for the night. That's when you called, and i returned to pick you, but i thought better that Alvarez stayed with the girls. They are 2 guys, a father and a son.

Kat smiles at Flynn and waves with the crowbar -"Nice boss you guys had!" She watches the garage doors. "Too bad our plan didn´t pan out in the tower..." "Is Alvarez badly hurt?" Feeling a bit less worried with a familiar face around, Kat starts to breathe a bit more slowly. She listens Alvarez´s recap of current events.

OOC: Actually it's Flynn who is here, and Alvarez with the girls.

-Yes, he lost the leg when we try to attack this place to save yout. We retreated then, leaved with the VR and left Jack to save you. By that time a I was losing all hope to save you: that bastard had killed a lot of people and we escaped by pure luck. If he had some self-control he could be a real asset against the zombies.

"Waitaminute," Jack says, startled. "You left my wife and daughter with two strange men? And now Alvarez is being suspiciously evasive over the radio? I don't like this. Not one bit." The irony obviously escaping Jack that he did the very same earlier in leaving Emily and Lauren with Flynn and Alvarez.

Jackweighs Flynn's words and searches his face for any hint that he's being less than entirely forthcoming.

"What are this father and son's names? Are they armed? Do they have the means to listen in on the radio? What's really going on, Harry?"

Looking past Harry, Jack tries to ascertain if there is anyone else inside the RV.

OOC: Damn! Where were these rolls when Malanowski needed em?

OOC: Indeed!

-What do you mean that Alvarez is evasive? You think that something is happening? So let's load quickly to get there!

"Alvarez said Emily and Lauren couldn't talk on the radio because all of them 'might' be dealing with a zombie. He didn't mention anything about a coupla farmers and you haven't answered my questions yet, Harry," Jack says archly.

-Perkins and Kyle. And of course that in a farm they are armed. I don't know if they have a radio, but what are you afraid? That I'm lying and that Alvarez is trying something against the girls? After losing all that blood? If we wanted to trick you, all we have to do was to go away, leave you with Kath and turn off the radio. And we had the guns remember? They could't do anything against us- Flynn is is becoming to get angry with Jack suspicions.

"Calm down, Harry. What I'm afraid of is that my girls are being held captive. What I take issue with is not being kept in the loop. I've been talking with Alvarez on and off and not once did he mention being in the company of armed farmers nor did he mention that you were on your way to get us. A little odd, don't you think, Harry? Maybe even suspicious?"

Jack removes the pistol from his waistband, taking care to keep it pointed at the ground.

"I've already dealt with one hostage situation today. It doesn't seem unbelievable that I could be dealing with another..."

-Ok, forget the things, let's go now.

OOC: Ok.

(Thanks for waiting. Lauren did post a reply in the other thread this morning, but I couldn't post until tonight.)

At the farmhouse-
Jack heard Lauren's voice on the radio: "Daddy are you ok? We need help there is one of those people outside the door." There was nobody in the RV besides Flynn, and as far as Jack could tell he wasn't holding anything back.

Jack holds up a finger to Flynn to indicate one moment and points to his headset.

"Honey, what's going on? Remain calm. What is everybody doing? If you're armed and barricaded, you should be OK. We'll be there as soon as possible!"

"It's my daughter, she sounds worried, they may be under attack. Kathryn, turn the horses loose please, we're leaving! Harry, gimmee a hand with Gardner's things. He's in the garage. Let me see if I can open the garage door from inside."

Mollified by the sound of his daughter's voice, Jack turns toward the house and breaks out any remaining shards of glass in the blasted out window before stepping through.

At the farmhouse-
As Jack started back to the house, he heard Lauren reply on the radio: "Hold on dad." After a pause she spoke again. "God dad we need help."

Jack halts in midstep and whirls toward the RV. "Change of plans! We're leaving now!" Running toward the RV: "Harry, are the keys in the ignition?! It sounds like they're in danger!"

Into his helmet mike: "Lauren. Keep talkin' to me sweety. Describe to me what's happening."

Jack tries to gauge Lauren's mental and emotional state but again, his concentration is interrupted by a loud squelch of static. Is her distress real or is she being coerced?

Flynn starts the engine, and as soon everybody is in the VR, Flynn will goes to the other farm.
- Everyone have some weapon? We may have trouble but I don't know who are the enemy right now.
Flynn is praying that the enemy will be only zombies, he isn't interested to kill living people.

At the farmhouse-
Lauren spoke to her father again: "We found these people who took us in but this guy's mom got bit or something and now I think she is one of those things that tried to get us. What do we do dad?"

Jack takes a seat on the passenger side and speaks decisively into his headset: "Lauren, keep away from the infected! Where are you in the house? You, your mother, Alvarez, barricade yourself somewhere or run away. Shit-" Jack says as he realizes the impossibility of what he just said in regards to the amputee guardsman.

"OK. scratch that, I know Julio can't run but he's the best with a gun. Play keep away and aim for the head. They're slow and dumb. Use that to your advantage. We're on our way."

Turning to Flynn, he says resolutely "Punch it, Harry! I've still got your pistol and a grenade."

With that, Jack chambers a round and switches out the partial magazine with a full one.

Kat listens to Jack´s convo with his daughter. Meanwhile she gets over to the passenger´s side of the RV and enters. "Got something that beats a crowbar?" "Let´s move already!"

(The pistol Jack has belongs to Alvarez. Flynn still has his own pistol.)

On the road-
Once everyone was aboard, Flynn sped off to the west, toward the other farm.

(Everyone may talk freely now. I'll let you know when you get there.)

"Harry, what's the layout of this farmhouse? It would seem that the farmers' wife/mother has been infected. What sort of armament were they sporting?" Turning toward Kathryn: "Kat, when we get there, we'll need you to take the wheel and keep the engine runnin'. You OK with that?"

-Tell them to run in our direction, the zombies will atack the members of the house first if they stay there.

-Here we go!
Flynn drives the VR as fast as he can.
-Just now that everything seemed ok! I shouldn't have leaved there, it was to good to be true!

Kat turns to Jack, "Hey, Jack! Thank´s for finishing that a-hole off. I don´t know if I liked him better as a beast. Then I could understand his motivation. Let´s get your gals out of harms way and over to the Warren later!"

"You're welcome, Kat," Jack says earnestly. "The world may be going to hell but that doesn't recuse us from doing what's right. Now let's get to this farmhouse and rescue my family and Alvarez. Speaking of which, Harry, can you give me an idea of the layout of this farmhouse? How many floors or rooms did it have?"

On the road-
Flynn sped onward, and soon the RV reached the intersection with the other road going north and south. He zoomed through it, knowing that the farm was only about a quarter of a mile ahead.

Jack heard Lauren's frightened voice on the radio: "Dad can you hear me? We are in trouble here dad. Please help us. Please!!"

(Flynn has never been inside the house, but he knows that it has a ground floor, a floor above it, and possibly an attic above that.)

"Lauren, we're on our way! What floor of the house are you on? What room are you in? Describe to me what's happening! Help us help you!"

Flynn explain what he know of the house and continues driving.

On the road-
Flynn drove on down the road, and soon the driveway leading to the farmhouse was coming up on the left. The front door and the garage door were still closed, and the windows were all still shuttered. The barn was visible a short distance behind the house. If anything was amiss, they couldn't see it from the road.

Jack heard Emily's voice on the radio: "Jack? Jack, are you there?"

(Everyone, roll Spot Hidden. Jack, you have a -5 penalty because of the helmet you're wearing.)

Jack thought he saw something but the ill fitting helmet slid over his brow obscuring his vision.

"Em?! Yeah, it's me! What's going on?! What room in the house are you?!"

On the road-
"Jack!?" replied Emily. "Oh, thank god you are okay. I was so worried. We're in the attic of the house. We pulled the ladder up so we should be safe enough for a little while. There are at least two of them in the house. Lloyd's wife was bitten and she turned and attacked Lloyd. He will have turned too. Lloyd killed Alvarez when Alvarez shot at Lloyd's wife when she broke in. He is probably one of them too, now. Jack, please be careful."

Flynn had now reached the driveway leading to the farmhouse and the barn behind it.

"Waitaminute! Let me get this straight, there's Lloyd, who's infected, and his wife, who's already turned, and then there's Alvarez, so that makes three. Right? What about the son, Kyle? Where is he? We're heading up the driveway as we speak. You're in a good spot. We will get you out of there. Are there any windows in the attic or is there a way for you to bust through the roof?"

Addressing his companions, Jack says "Did you two catch that? The girls are trapped in the attic. There's at least two, maybe even three or four infected in there. Harry, I'm sorry, Alvarez is dead," he says solemnly and squeezes his shoulder.

Switching gears, Jack turns his thoughts back to the situation before them. "Now, how should we game plan this? We could make some noise and try and draw them out, pick em off one by one or we could pull up alongside the house and me and you, Harry, could get on top of of this rig and either climb up to the second floor or if Em and Laur can get out of the attic somehow, they could drop on to the roof of the RV. That's all I've got right now. Do either of you have any ideas?"

OOC: before coming with some ideas, I will make some roleplay...

Flyn saw something on the road, when he heard about Alvarez.
-Alvarez... dead? Are you sure? It can't be! Not after all we past! To survive Gardener and the zombies just to be killed by a stupid farmer??? WHAT'S THE POINT OF EVERYTHING? WHY CAN WE JUST SURREND TO THE ZOMBIES? We are in mortal danger and we keep killing each other! Sooner or latter we will all be infected!

Too disturbedby the information received, Kat fails to notice anything but the NG losing his coolness in the RV. "Harry! Calm down! We´ve got to be smart about this. Getting freaked out won´t make us more able to save the girls. Think of them not Alvarez... This is your job! You´re trained for this. What´s the most strategic thing to do for luring out hostiles?"
Changing her attention towards Jack she reasons, "I don´t know how fast the ´turning´takes, but if Alvarez didn´t kill'em off before he got infected he´ll surely be dangerous - immobile but armed... Hopefully he´ll not have the wits to use his weapon." "To head for a place where they can jump out of the farm house where there´s no exit on the ground level would be preferable. Then you could cap the zombies when they approach around a corner. That is if they have an exit way from the roof." "Do we only have two guns? I´d really like something better to arm myself with if we´re going into battle. And I´m not against the option to enter the place and shoot the bastards up. We´d have three shots at the first target if we´re all armed properly." "Now, I´m only coming with a suggestion: Drop a shooter off on the road, drive up to the front door, honk the horn and wait for the infected to see ehat´s what, lure them out and ram them with the RV! Shoot any stargglers if they survive. The shooter could lay suppressive fire from a second location as we who are in the vehicle shoot through the wind shield or side window. Doable?"

Kat waits for feedback...

Flynn close his eyes for a second, and then looking to the road says:
-Your right. I-I'm sorry. But when everything started we were strangers and now we were friends. He sacrifice his seat and his hope to see his girlfriend and now all seems in vain... But your right, we must save Jack wife and daughter. But I don't know if it is a good idea of one of use going to the road, since we can't use the guns, it's too risky, we could hit the fuel and destroy everything. I would prefer to call the zombies with a shot in the air, that should be enouth and then ram them with the VR.

"We'll sort it all out after we rescue the girls, Harry, now stay on task. As Sun Tzu once said: 'If one must fight, let it be on a battlefield of one's own choosing.' I'm opposed to going inside just now because we don't know the layout, so let's choose our field of battle. Going up to the front door and luring them out is a sound plan. If I've noticed a tendency in these things, it's that they cluster. Remember when you found us, Harry? A bunch of em just circled around us while we were on top of this RV. They also don't seem to be much for climbing, so I'd guess that our opponents are gathered below the attic entrance. Harry, did you say there was a gas pump? Maybe we could use that somehow...lure them into a puddle of fuel and torch em... Scratch that, too many variables." says Jack, his mind obviously racing.

"Now, remember Kat, you're gonna be driving this boat. It's kinda unwieldy so running those things down is gonna be our last option. As of right now, we only have the two pistols, so while we're short on firepower, let's not forget our most powerful weapons," tapping his forehead to emphasize his point.

-Let me see if any of those creature is outside, we can already take care one of them. But tell wour wife to not make any noise to see if we can atract them outside and destroy them.

"Sure, I´ll wheel this baby and wait for the bastards to clear out of the house. I could simply scream for them to get out when we get there. Then you take care of them. Should they come too close, I just put in the reverse! Let´s do this, and expect something to go wrong... Let´s keep the side windows open so we can get up to the roof of this heap, you said it worked last time. Never change a winning strategy." Hopefully the conversation gets all parties calmed down.

Mr. Handy, can we get a better description of the farmhouse? Is there a front porch with a roof in front of the farmhouse?

"How about this?" Jack says thoughtfully, a plan beginning to take place. "Harry, you get out of the RV with a pistol, the better for you to enhance your maneuverability and draw fire. Kat, you take the other pistol and the communications unit, keep the engine running and pull up as close as you can to the house under one of the windows. Me, first I'll take the crowbar to the front door and then get on top of the RV's roof and work on one of the upper story windows. You guys start a ruckus, honk the horn, yell obscenities, whatever. Harry, only go as far into the house as you feel comfortable - or not at all. It's up to you. When we've sufficiently drawn them out, Kat, you communicate to Emily, my wife, that I'm coming in. Dispatch the zombies to the best of your ability but don't let that be your primary concern, drive away if you have to. Getting the hostiles out of the building and my family out unscathed is the goal. Kat, if you need to drive away, come back and we'll drop onto the roof. How's that for a plan?"

-Not bad, but remember we need the gas and we don't know how the other places are.

(What Flynn saw was the light coming from the attic window, not anything on the road. The "communications unit" is the radio that is built into the helmet, so Jack would have to give the helmet to Kathryn for her to have it.)

At the farmhouse-
Flynn drove up the driveway to the front of the farmhouse, which had a peaked roof. There was a porch just outside the front door with a small roof that was below a window on the upper floor. There was an attic window above that, below the peak. It was shuttered like the other windows, but Flynn noticed that light was filtering out through its slats. It was impossible to tell what the rear of the house was like from here, but he remembered that there was a storm cellar and a back door, as well as the fuel pump near the barn.

"Kyle is up here with is," Emily said on the radio. "There are windows in the attic; we'll go to the one in the front of the house and see if we can get out to the roof. Perhaps we can jump onto the roof of the RV from there or get on the roof yourselves and pick off those bastards as they come out for you." She paused, then resumed speaking. "Lauren is going to try and open the window. Let us know what you want us to do."

(If you want to go ahead and start executing your plan, you may. We can assume you transferred the helmet last round if you wanted to do so. Jack, if you want to use the crowbar on the front door, make a Large Club roll. A "miss" in this case means that you failed to damage the door, not that you actually missed it. If you hit, roll 1d8+1d4 damage. If you want to go for the upstairs window above the porch roof, Flynn can park alongside it, and then you can climb up the ladder leading up to the RV's roof and step onto the porch roof. If you do this, it will take the entire round and you will not be able to do anything else up there until after my next major update.)

Couldn't Harry pull parallel to the front porch? Then getting onto the porch roof would just be a short step from the RV to the porch? How much of a drop is it from the attic to the top of the porch? We can say I transferred the helmet to Kathryn, np.

Jack places the pistol and extra mags on the dashboard. "Kathryn, ask Emily if they have some kind of rope to lower themselves down. If not, gather up some of our sheets from the living area back there for them to use instead. Harry, you ready for this buddy?" Not waiting for an answer, Jack exits the vehicle, runs to the front door and attempts to wedge the crowbar into the door jam but the stress of his family in peril makes his palms slick with sweat and he is unable to grip the door frame with the pry bar.

"Goddamn it," Jack curses almost inaudibly. Steadying himself, he wipes his palms off on his shorts and takes a deep, calming breath. "Kat, ask Em to ask Kyle where we can find a ladder around here."

(Yes, Harry can pull parallel alongside the porch roof. That's what I thought you had in mind all along. Kathryn can put on the helmet and collect the gun and ammo this round, and you now have her crowbar...or at least you did until a second ago. Jack can't act again yet.)

At the farmhouse-
Jack tried to pry open the door, but it was proving oddly stubborn. He gave it his best effort, but he strained so hard that he pulled a muscle and the metal bar flew out of his hands. It struck a metal chair on the porch with a loud clang.

"You know what I just realized?" says Jack. "We've got these shamblers locked in a box. There's no need to draw them out until after we've rescued the girls and Kyle. What do you guys think?"

Kat makes her first call to Em while she gathers the ammo and makes the gun ready. The hours at the shooting range had made the moves flowing. "Em, this is Kat McCoy, your husband is going in through the upper storey window, front side. Do you have a rope to lower yourselves down? And do anyone up there know if there´s a ladder out here somewhere? Don´t worry, we´ll get you out!"
She adjusts the fitted mouthpiece of the helmet and adds, "Over!"

-I will climb the VR and wait here. In the case it is necessary, I can shoot them, but it is a good idea to not atract their attention until everyone is safe.

At the farmhouse-
Jack rubbed his sore arm, the sound of the crowbar striking the chair still ringing in his ears. Flynn climbed up the ladder at the rear of the RV onto its roof. He saw the shutters of the attic window being opened above him, and Lauren was right behind it, wearing a helmet. From here Flynn could easily step onto the porch roof and reach the window of the floor below the attic. Jack and Kathryn were unable to see Lauren from where they were currently positioned.

(Everyone, roll Listen. Kathryn, you have a -5 penalty if you put the helmet on last round.

Jack, you cannot try to force the door again until you treat your arm. No HP damage has been done, but a successful First Aid roll by you or anyone else will make it better. You may retrieve the crowbar if you wish.)

"Damn! I must have hit my funny bone," Jack mutters, massaging his wrist and forearm as he moves to retrieve the the crowbar.

Hearing something, he stops in his tracks.

At the farmhouse-
Jack heard scrabbling sounds from inside the house, approaching the front door from within. There seemed to be two sources of that noise, and it sounded like a couple of heavy things crawling or being dragged across the floor. He could also hear running footsteps on the floor above moving in the same direction.

Jack picks up the crowbar from where it flew and brings his index finger to his lips with a "Shhhhhh!" Attempting to catch his compatriots' eyes, he points urgently at the front door and above him and makes walking motions with his fingers.

(Anyone who succeeds at a Listen roll will hear the same things Jack did, but won't be able to deduce all the things he did about the noise unless it's a critical success.)

At the farmhouse-
Just then there was a sound of breaking glass from the upstairs window, the one below the attic. A woman in her forties shoved open the shutters from within. Blood dripped from her mouth, and her eyes were the same color. She tumbled through the shattered window, flopping onto the porch roof. Then she regained her footing and lunged toward Flynn with astounding speed.

(Flynn, roll Sanity. Sanity loss is 0/1d10, but any loss of more than 6 counts as 6 instead, since you've already lost 4 for seeing zombies. If you remain sane, you may act. If you want to shoot the zombie, you may have one shot before she attacks, but there's no time to aim for the head. If you hit, roll 1d20 for a random hit location and 1d10 for damage - or 2d10 if you get an impale. If you want to do anything other than attack, also roll Dodge just in case.

Jack and Kathryn, you cannot see the zombie yet. If you move out from under the porch or from inside the RV and then move some distance away, you'll be able to see her and must roll Sanity as well. You will not, however, also be able to attack this round.)

Kat hears the crashing window, but can´t make out where it comes from, except that it´s from above. "Harry, Jack, what´s happening?"
She keeps the engine running, and makes sure the pistol´s safety is off. Her eyes are pinned to the front door, expecting it to burst open, any time soon.
Reflexively she puts the car in to reverse and keeps the clutch down. Waiting...

Flynn didn't hear a thing, but suddenly sawthe women.
-Oh s***! Not again!
Lady Luck had finaly abandoned Flynn, and he failed his shot.



OOC: I don't know if Flynn have remained sane, so if not, just ignore the 2º part.

"Zombie on the roof!" Jack yells, terror infecting his voice.

OOC: What's the deal w/ Jack's arm? Can he still use it (if not to pry the door)? If it goes untreated, how long does the effect last?

"Kat! Don't leave without me, I'm coming in!" Jack yells as he breaks for the rear door of the RV.

"Harry, get down from there! We´re backing out - got to regroup!" She waits for Jack to get in to the RV, pistol trained, watching the front door to swing open. She expects Harry to drop on the roof of the RV anytime now.

[OOC: I was under the impression the RV was idling front first to the front doors. The porch above and by backing the vehicle, Kat will get proper aim up at whatever is on the porch roof. She sits on the left side, giving Jack the choice of entering through the passenger´s side door. When Jack shouts she kicks pushes the door open for him.]

(The RV is stopped alongside the porch, and Kathryn is on the side farther from the front door and the porch roof. It will be a simple matter to pull out either forward or backward when your turn comes again. If she wants to see what's on the porch roof, she'll have to back up.

In the interest of keeping things moving, I'm going to roll Idea for Flynn and make another roll for a character in the other thread whose player hasn't been on in the last couple of days. Flynn is now temporarily insane and cannot act on his own, not even to Dodge.)

At the farmhouse-
Flynn realized that his luck had finally run out, and he was unable to move, frozen in shock. Before anyone else had a chance to react, the zombie ran off of the porch roof and onto the roof of the RV. She rushed Flynn, only to stumble and fall at his feet.

Jack and Kathryn heard the zombie run onto the roof of the RV, and then they heard a thump on the porch roof as something heavy dropped onto it from above, but neither of them could see what had caused the noise. Jack made it inside the RV through the side door while Kathryn remained ready in the driver's seat. A loud smashing sound came from just inside the front door, followed by a less powerful blow striking the door itself. It held for now.

Flynn in shock, started to think in all the persons who died in that day...

Clutching the nearest countertop, Jack drops the crowbar and calls "Kat, put 'er gear and toss me the gun!"

The thoughts rushes through Kat´s mind. Harry on the roof of the vehicle, with a zombie. Yet another one on the porch roof - ready to get on to the RV´s roof.... Two more out through the front door - soon...

Using her skill of multitasking from the control tower, and yes, she always wanted to become a pilot. This was as hectic - at least.

"Hold on tight!", she shouts for Harry and Jack while releasing the clutch and forcefully hitting the gas. With her left knee pushed up against the steering wheel, she secures the RV from making a turn. "Try to dodge this!" Feeling compelled to part with the gun she feels the safety of actually, at last, having the means of defending herself - she holds on to the gun. Waiting for either the zombie to come fall off of the RV´s roof or the thing on the porch roof to come in view... She holds the gun in her good hand and points it forward waiting for the target...

Flynn starts to laugh like a maniac.

(Flynn is catatonic right now, so he cannot laugh or take any action of his own free will. He can still think, however.)

In the attic-
Emily ran to the window, and Kyle was right behind her. When they looked outside, they could see what was happening below.

(Again, Emily may try a Persuade roll at this point to see if she's convinced Kyle that his parents are dead, since she's been talking to him for long enough now. Either of them, but not both, may attempt a Climb roll this round to get down to the porch roof where Lauren is standing. The base skill is 40%. If you try and fail, roll Jump. The base skill for that is 25%. Kyle, if you're being played by someone and you want to shoot at Betty, make a Rifle roll and remember to include your bonus. There's also a -5 penalty for aiming at her head. If you miss, roll Luck to make sure you don't hit Flynn by mistake. Emily may throw a weapon at Betty if she wishes, using her Throw skill, which has a base of 25%. She would also have a -5 penalty for aiming at the head and would need to roll Luck if she misses. Her bonus applies in this case too.)

In front of the farmhouse-
Something powerful smashed the front door again, nearly knocking it off of its hinges. Another blow followed it, finishing the job. The door fell, revealing Alvarez and Lloyd Perkins on the floor behind it, their eyes crimson. Lloyd's head had been badly mangled by his wife's teeth. Both of them started crawling through the doorway.

When Kathryn began backing up, Flynn remained on the roof, standing stock still as he had been. Betty had been lying flat on the roof and was not thrown off. She seized him in her powerful arms and dragged him down onto the roof. Kathryn spun the steering wheel once clear of the porch and drove backwards down the driveway. As she did, she saw that on top of the porch roof stood a brown-haired girl in her late teens, wearing a helmet like her own and very much alive. She was probably Jack's daughter, Lauren.

Lauren stood on the roof of the porch, thinking about where she could run. The broken window behind her led back inside the house, to the upstairs hall. The RV had pulled away, so she could no longer simply walk onto it. She could not see the zombies that had just come out of the front door, though she did hear it getting broken open. In the driver's seat of the RV, she saw a stunningly beautiful young woman with a helmet on top of her blonde hair. She wore a red halter top, and her left arm was badly injured and crudely bandaged. This had to be Kathryn.

(Kathryn, roll Sanity for seeing the zombies that came out of the front door. Sanity loss is 0/1d10. Jack, you'll need to roll Sanity as well if you move to somewhere you can see them. Kathryn, you may fire your pistol twice this round if you stay sane, but not at Betty since you can't see her. There is a -5 penalty for aiming at the head, but if you do shoot at the head, both shots must be at the same target. It will take only 2 damage to the head to put Lloyd down, but Alvarez still requires a full 10 damage to the head in order to kill him. You may drive this round or shoot, but not both. If you want to try to shake the zombie off while driving, roll Drive Auto.

Lauren, you can't see those two zombies yet, so don't roll Sanity at this point. If you want to try to throw a weapon at Betty, roll Throw, with a -5 penalty for aiming at the head. If you miss, you must roll Luck to make sure you don't hit Flynn. If you want to try to leap onto the roof of the RV, roll Jump. If you try this, you will not also be able to attack this round. If you fail the Jump roll, you will land on the ground and will see the zombies, so you'd have to roll Sanity at that point. Oh, and a couple of Dodge rolls too, considering you'd be right in front of them and all. If you climb inside through the broken window, roll Luck.)

Lauren decides to throw a knife at the lady to at least try and distract her if not injure her. She Failed to hit the beast.
She was a little lucky.

Jack runs to the front of the RV and takes a seat on the passenger side, his eyes alighting upon the zombies bursting through the front door. Nonplussed at the sight, he yells out the window: "Lauren! Sit tight, you've got two nasties below you!" Turning to Kathryn: "Did you hear me?! Gimmee the gun and do some hard driving to shake the one off up top!"

Emily pleaded with Kyle: "Kyle, look at that thing, it is not your mother. It is a monster who is trying to kill Mr. Flynn. Please, use that rifle and shot the best in the head so that Flynn, who is alive, will not be hurt!"

In the attic-
Kyle nodded sadly and unslung his .22 rifle. He took careful aim at Betty's head. "I'm sorry, Ma," he said, squeezing the trigger. His shot struck home and did massive damage, but did not quite destroy her.

(Now I just need to wait for Jack and Kathryn to act before the next update.)

OOC: since Flynn cannot talk, I will digress about his insane thinkings until he recovers...


Flynn was walking in a sunny day. He arrived at the picnic. He saw all his friends: Bo, Bob, Gardener, Alvarez. Dawkins was with a bikini and mirror shades taking a sunbath. Gardener was cutting a cake and asked:
-Anyone wants a piece?
Bo and Bob were bringing more food from the truck and asked help to bring the rest. Alvarez was discussing with his girlfriend, telling her he would arrive late to her birthday.
Flynn decided to eat some chicken and then continued his walk. He arrived at a house in a hill. He ringed the bell and he saw his old aunt Agnes. He was a bit puzzled: she was from his British side of the family, and she lived somewhere in the UK, and she should be probably dead by this time: he had only seen her once, when he was a little boy. She was spurn by the rest of the family, since she was considered odd; she had suffered some mental breakdown in WWII, but had been very nice to him, and he had good memories from her...

Kat looks at the two dead things, they should be dead, though the face of Alvarez makes her flinch before she gets two shots off at him. Being stressed by the situation she hits the dirt road with the slugs!
"I´ll finish them off, just one more go!" she replies to Jack.

Can Jack attempt to mash his foot on the gas pedal and twist the wheel to dislodge the zombie?

"Goddammit, Flynn is getting eaten! Would you drive!?" Jack yells at the recalcitrant rescuee. "Those two in front of the house are the least of our worries! They're not in a position to hurt us yet! Harry needs our help NOW!" He frantically grabs at the wheel...

(Remember that there's a -5 penalty for aiming at the head. The rolls would have missed even without it anyway.

Jack, I'll give you that, especially since you got a critical success! Of course, things may turn out for the worse because of it...)

In front of the farmhouse-
Jack slammed his foot onto the gas pedal and swerved the wheel, backing up along the driveway until the vehicle reached the main road going east and west. As he did, Betty tumbled off of the roof, still with her arms wrapped around Flynn. He hit the ground hard, and Betty landed on top of him and wasn't quite as badly damaged. Lloyd and Alvarez turned around and crawled back inside the house, vanishing from view. Both of Alvarez's legs were now gone. Betty began to squeeze Flynn, injuring his ribs fairly badly. She tried to bite him too, but the damage to her head affected her coordination. Lauren, Emily, and Kyle saw all of this from above.

(Jack and Kathryn, roll Sanity for seeing Betty for the first time. Sanity loss is 0/1d10. If you remain sane, you may act again. Betty has taken 8 damage to the head, so 2 or more damage to her head will finish her and save Flynn, who is conscious but still insane. The other two zombies are no longer visible. Kathryn, you get two shots again this round. For each shot that misses, roll Luck. If you kill Betty with the first shot, the second shot will be disregarded.

Lauren, Emily, and Kyle, roll Listen. Base skill is 25%. Lauren, you have a -5 penalty due to your helmet. Then you may act. Kyle, you may shoot at Betty again with your rifle. Any hit to the head with the .22 rifle will finish her off, so there's no need to roll damage if you hit. If you miss, roll Luck to keep from hitting Flynn. Emily and Lauren, you each have the option of throwing a knife using your Throw skill, but again roll Luck if you miss. You will need to roll damage, since it's possible for a knife to do only 1 damage. Remember to apply the -5 penalty for aiming at the head, and also apply any secret bonus you have in this situation.)

Jack is becoming thoroughly jaded to the sight of zombies!

Since he's obviously not going to get any cooperation from Kathryn, Jack strides to the back of the camper to retrieve the crowbar.

(OOC: Hi there – I'll be playing the role of Kyle)

Kyle fights to keep back the tears, trying to line his rifle up on his ma. Having hoped that his previous act would release his ma from her undead condition, he struggles with the idea that he must shoot her again, and also that he might hit this man.

"Ma! Stop that, ma!"

He fails to hear anything over the shouting as he tries to steady his aim on the thing that was his ma.

When she was about to turn to Jack and hand him back the gun, Jack slams the gas. Seeing the falling zombie doesn´t make her lose her concentration. Taking aim at the woman´s head she sqeezes twice as Jack walks to the back of the camper. The first shot misses barely pang-click, unfortunately the second squeeze jams the gun! "Get up Harry!!!"
, she yells at the fallen friend.
(Hi and welcome, Yellowsigh! Mr. Handy, as the second shot was a jam, I´ll roll luck for the first shot only... )

OOC: Welcome to zombie apocalypse!

Flynn entered in his aunt house. He saw she had guests: Loyd and Betty. They drinked tea and ate some cookies. They asked how school was, and Flynn explained that he had already finished school, and now he was a pilot. Suddenly a dog started to bark and they all seemed nervous.
-Is anything wrong, Aunt Agnes?
-Well, you see Harry, some time ago, a group of new of neighbours have came to live here. They are very noisy, always screaming and using guns. And now they started to make threats, and worst of all, Diane has disappear. I'm not telling it's them of course, but it's all very suspicious.
-Do you want that I talk to them, Aunt?
-Absolutely not! They are dangerous people, and I don't want to have to tell to your mother that something has happened to you!
-There is no problem at all, look, I will just talk to them, if there is any sign of trouble I will leave the place immediately, ok?
-Your a nice little boy, Harry, eat another piece of pie.
After eating, Harry prepared himself to go to the new neighbours.

Hearing the pistol's report, Jack opens the rear side door facing Harry and, upon seeing the still active zombie readies himself to rush outside and assist the prone Airman.

Lauren can't hear anything through all the excitement.
Lauren realized that ever since she had thrown the knife she had stopped breathing. Now that Flynn was safe she relaxed. She was worried though about what happened to Alvarez and Kyle's father. She looked back and saw Kyle's tears. "I am so sorry Kyle. I cant imagine the hurt your feeling. But you saved that mans life." She then turned to her father and shouted"Dad is Flynn alright and who was that lady."

"All in good time, Pumpkin, all in good time!" Jack calls out excitedly to his daughter.
"Watch out! The gruesome twosome headed back into the house, don't let them sneak up behind you!"

(We´ll see, JG. Hopefully it is so.... Hopefully.)
"I´ll drive over and get your girls out, alright? Or are you getting Harry on board first?" She let´s the engine wind down to a slow hum, to be able to hear the reply.

Jack waits with trepidation to see what mishap occurs next.

Kat checks the fuel gauge... Then makes sure the gun is operationable. "I´m holding..." She looks at the house to see what´s going on on the porch roof.

Kyle watches Lauren for a moment, rifle hanging slack in his hands, and then glances past her at the corpse of his ma.

"Is ma okay now? Has she gone to heaven?" He wants to go and be with her, but he isn't sure what's happened to the zombies in the house. He looks around the attic, his eyes flitting briefly over assorted bric-a-brac, then looks up at Emily. Kyle isn't used to taking the initiative; he'll do as she says.

(OOC: edited to account for my confusion about just how far away Lauren was from Kyle, as per the next post).

(Oops, I´ve been imagining Kat´s skill as 50%! Faulty memory on my behalf. Luck roll is coming...)
Lucky Kat...

Kyle is confused and grief stricken. He thought that the one shot should've done the trick, but ma obviously hasn't gone to heaven yet. He decides he is going to shoot, despite the risks, because he can't bear the idea of his ma being some sort of monster.

The shot goes wide, but doesn't hit anyone else.

Lauren couldn't stand the thought of more people dying so she took the chance of throwing a knife at the monster attacking Flynn. She hit the bastard.
(OOC: Im not sure what the damage roll is for a knife.)

She hurt it but only barely.
(OOC: GOD DAMNIT!)

Kyle grits his teeth and looks away, into the gloom of the attic.

(OOC: Does he need to make any SAN rolls for seeing his ma's repeated head trauma?)

(OOC: Sorry for the delay. I missed the posts that were going on)

With everything going on outside, Emily fails to hear anything.
"Nice throw, Lauren! Sweetie, can you climb back up here? Those others are back in the house and I fear they may come out the window as well."
"Jack, where are the others? Lauren is vulnerable up there"

In front of the farmhouse-
Jack retrieved his crowbar and made his way to the RV's door. Kathryn pulled the trigger of her pistol twice. The first shot missed Betty by only a couple of inches, striking the dirt harmlessly. The second shot caused her weapon to jam. The fuel gauge showed that the tank was about half full, and it was enough fuel to get the RV almost all of the way to the truck stop. Kyle's shot missed Betty's head, and Lauren's thrown knife only gouged her ear on its way past. In spite of the heavy damage to her head, Betty was able to continue crushing Flynn in her powerful arms. He was only slightly injured this time, and her head wounds caused her attempt to bite him to fail.

(Amazingly, Flynn has not only survived, he is still conscious. He is also still insane, however, and cannot take any action. Everyone else has one more chance to save him. Any hit to Betty's head will finish her off. Jack, you may run out and take a swing at her head if you wish. You'll have a -10 penalty to use the crowbar, in addition to the -5 penalty for targeting her head. You can also simply try to punch her, which will do more than enough damage if you hit and has only the -5 penalty. Kathryn, you may also run out and make an unarmed attack if you want. Hand to hand attacks do not require a Luck roll if you miss. You may instead try to clear the jammed pistol. To do this, roll against your Handgun or Mechanical Repair skill, whichever is higher. If you fail, you wasted your turn. If you critically fail, you break the weapon. If you succeed, roll 1d6 to see how many rounds it will take to finish clearing the jam. Lauren, you may throw another knife now. If you miss, roll Luck. If you want to try to climb up to the attic window or down to the ground, roll Climb instead. If you're climbing down and you fail, roll Jump. If you're climbing up, only roll Jump if you critically fail; all failure means if you get a normal failure in that case is that you remain stuck on the porch roof.)

In the attic-
Emily and Kyle watched in horror as Betty continued squeezing Flynn to death. The pilot wouldn't last much longer.

(Emily, you may throw one of your knives, probably the small one, if you wish. To do this, make a Throw roll at -5. Kyle, you may shoot at Betty's head again, also at -5. Remember to apply any secret bonus you have. If either of you miss, roll Luck.)

"Hang on, Harry!" Jack cries as he rushes out of the RV in foolhardy effort to save his new friend. The crowbar makes for an awkward weapon though, and Jack's swing whiffs.

Realizing her persistence in using the gun has put them in a worse situation than if she had handed the gun over to Jack, Kat exits the front door leaving the RV running and runs for the badly wounded Harry. While running she pushes the gun between her belts and prepares for the unarmed assault. At the huge zombie-mom she lifts her hands high and brings her clenched fists down at the neck as the monster attempts to taste Flynn.

Flynn finnaly arrived at the other house. It was indeed very hot. He started to shout to see if anyone appeared, but nobody answered. He saw that the door was open; he decided to enter. Inside the house was a complet mess, full of dirt, rotten food, and fungus growing in the walls.

(The penalty to use the crowbar is because of Jack's injured arm. Otherwise it would make a good club. I just need actions from Emily, Lauren, and Kyle now before we continue.)

In front of the farmhouse-
Kathryn's swing missed horribly. Jack got in her way when he made his own failed attack on Betty, and her fists connected with his left leg, hard!

OOC: I understand the to hit penalty is due to his muscle strain but I missed because I rolled an 81 and wouldn't have hit under any circumstances with that roll. I'm just dramatizing, try not to take my every utterance so literally.

"Ow!" Jack exclaims at Kat's errant punch.

Flynn saw some stairs to an upper floor and decide to used them.
-Hello? Is anyone there?

Lauren decided that staying down on the porch roof was a stupid stupid idea.Lauren climbs back up without any problems.

Kyle glances around as Lauren climbs up, a look of relief flickering briefly across his face, then changing to one of concern and possible confusion. He steps forward to the window, takes a deep breathe, and lines up his rifle. He tries to be grown up about it, fighting back the tears.

The rifle shudders, the bullet going wide again. Unfortunately, not wide enough.

Flynn at the top of the stairs, saw several rooms. One had the door opened and he entered. There was a bed, a wardrobe, and a mirror. Slowly, he walked in direction of the mirror. When he was less than a meter, his reflection started to blur, and was substituted by a couple.

(I just need to wait for an action for Emily before I can update. The bonus no longer applies at this point, but the shot would have missed regardless.)

In front of the farmhouse-
Kyle's bullet accidentally struck the man he was trying to save in the chest, where it was luckily absorbed by his body armor. But unless someone else did something fast, Flynn would not survive.

The couple was a young one. They were in a garden at night; they were dressed as the begining of the 20 century, she looked rich, he was probably a blue colar. They started to discuss, but Flynn couldn't hear the words. In horror Flynn saw the young man strangle the women.

(OOC: Sorry for the late response. I've been out of town visiting a sick grandmother.)

Emily looked down at Harry and felt sick with frustration at her inability to do anything to help him. Remembering the knife in her pocket, she pulled it out and hurled it down at the zombie attacking Flynn in a desperate attempt to do anything to help him. Not only was the shot a long shot, but Emily made a terrible throw. Unfortunatly, the blade struck the man she was trying to save. Fortunatly, the knife did minimal damage.

(OOC: Sorry, Kabukiman. I was trying to help you.)

(That's all right, ryansommer. Real life comes first, of course. I hope your grandmother feels better.

You're correct again, John. It's random who gets hit from a stray attack. There is no range penalty, but that roll was a critical failure and would have hit someone else regardless of your Luck roll. In fact, if your Luck roll had critically failed as well, it would have been an impale!)

In front of the farmhouse-
Emily's knife struck her husband in his right leg, nicking it as it sailed by. Betty continued crushing the helpless Flynn, and this time he expired. She began consuming his corpse.

(Jack and Kathryn, roll Sanity for seeing Flynn killed. Sanity loss is 0/1d6. If you stay sane, you each have an opportunity to make an unarmed attack this round. Targeting the head has a -5 penalty as always, but you'll only hit the wrong person if you critically miss. Flynn, you may post whatever final thoughts you have before you die.)

In the attic-
Lauren scrambled back up the drainpipe and through the open window. She climbed inside the attic again to rejoin her mother and Kyle, and she turned just in time to see Flynn die.

(Emily, Lauren, and Kyle, you must also make a Sanity roll with a Sanity loss of 0/1d6. If you succeed at your roll, there's no Sanity loss, but if you fail you lose 1d6. If you lose 5 or more points, you'll need to make an Idea roll, and you want to fail this roll. If you succeed at the Idea roll, you'll go temporarily insane and cannot act normally. If you fail, you may act normally. Each of you may make a ranged attack if you wish and you stay sane, but you do not have to do so. Emily already threw her small knife, so she only has the big one left. Lauren has two small knives left, and Kyle of course has his rifle. As before, there's a -5 penalty for aiming at the head, and if you miss you must roll Luck. If anyone wants to climb back down to the porch roof or the ground for any reason, roll Climb. If you fail, roll Jump. Only one person may attempt this per round.)

OOC: You only hurt the ones you love, eh Emily?

"Oh no!" Jack cries in anguish. If only the airman had stuck to the original plan, he thought. Perhaps it wouldn't have come to this.

Adjusting his grip on the crowbar and swinging it like a Louisville slugger, the desperate prosecutor buries the clawed end of the crowbar in the undead Betty's face, dropping her finally.

"Kat! Quick, before he turns! Grab Harry's pistol!"

"Oh crap! Sorry, darling" Emily says applogeticly. "I was trying to help Harry."
After all she has seen today, the sight of the zombie did not phase Emily.

"Jack, I know it's hard, but just finish off Harry. He would want us to do it to prevent him from coming back" Emily says, solomnly. "Besides, there are two more of them around here somewhere."

Kat watches with disgust as the mother thing eats away at Harry. She hulks and dives for Harry´s dropped gun.

"This isn´t happening!" Kat sceams then adds, "Whack him - before he turns! Then he probably won´t rise?" Don´t panic! Both airmen are gone - have to stay alive to get that girl off of the porch roof before the things indoors get her...

OOC: No problem, it's all part of the game! It was a great scenario and I hope you succeed to survive and to kill my "new self". Maybe we will join latter in the new chapter. Anywhy, I risked by getting to the roof, I was trying to get a saffer approach and wasn't lucky. My mystake.

(I now all this, Kat however has a jumbled perception of everything that´s happening... )
Getting the gun in both hands she levels it at the back of Harry´s head. "Sorry, Harry!"
The aim is true and the gun buries a round in the airman´s skull.
She makes sure the gun is clear for further use and prepares for another round. They have to be sure he won´t rise again as Gardner had in the garage.

Kyle is horrified when his mother sinks her teeth into Flynn, splattering his blood over herself. The blood drains from his face and it dawns on him what sort of monster his mother has become.

(OOC: I'm not sure what happens now, with Kyle hitting the Temporary Insanity mark on his first shock, due to a rare moment of understanding - if you still need rolls for Betty's death on top of that, the results are failed SAN, significant trauma, but no further insight. Fair to say he's quite shook up.)

(Yes, Kyle does still lose the Sanity now from the second failed Sanity roll. He will go indefinitely insane as a result of losing at least 20% of his Sanity within one game hour, which will result in a long-term mental illness, but it won't take effect until after his temporary insanity wears off. A successful Psychoanalysis roll from Emily will both end his temporary insanity and delay the onset of his indefinite insanity for 24 hours - which is an eternity in this game! Kyle was the last one I expected to go temporarily insane, but even a low Idea score can get a success sometimes. Feel free to roleplay your madness, which will last eight rounds unless he's brought to his senses.)

In the attic-
Kyle's mind snapped, and as he watched his mother eat one of his new friends all he could think about was how hungry he was. It was supposed to be dinner time soon, and he hadn't eaten in hours. But he didn't have any food up here, none of them did. All he could see was that open box of magazines. He wondered if he could eat those.

In front of the farmhouse-
Kathryn put a bullet into Flynn's skull and did significant damage, but she could tell it wouldn't be enough to keep him down.

(Kathryn, you may fire two point blank shots this round. He's taken 5 damage to the head, so another 5 will guarantee that he won't rise up again. Jack may attack after she finishes shooting, or he may do something else if she does enough damage on her own.)

(OOC: Can Emily make an action to Psycoanalysis?)

(Embrace yourselves, jinxed guns here...)
Kat puts pressure on the trigger, feeling a strange tingling down her spine, the gun goes off...

Utterly astounded by Kathryn's ineptitude, Jack shakes his head in disbelief. He hobbles closer to the motionless Flynn and raises the crowbar high overhead and brings it down but the shooting pain in his legs diminishes his concentration and results in a failure to connect.

(Yes, Emily may go ahead and roll Psychoanalysis now.)

In front of the farmhouse-
...or rather, Kathryn's gun did not go off. It too had jammed, just like the other pistol she held.

(Kathryn's second shot does not happen, as her gun is now jammed. She and Jack will need to wait to act again until my next update, but Emily, Lauren, and optionally Kyle may still act.)

Lauren looks at her dwindling supply of knives and decides that trying to help her mother with kyle would be the best thing.

Seeing Kyle sink into madness, Emily approached him: "Kyle, I'm sorry, honey. There was nothing you could have done. Your mother was gone a long time ago. You're actions will allow us to give her the proper burial she deserves. I'm sure she was a good woman and will live on that way in your memories. Something crazy is going on out there, and we don't know what it is, but I am sure everyone is doing all they can to put an end to this. I don't know when that will be, but I do know that you'll be alright. Lauren, Jack and I are here for you, and we always will me. We'll get through this together."

Emily could tell that she was able to get through to Kyle.

In the attic-
As Emily and Lauren spoke soothingly to him, Kyle returned to his senses.

(Kyle, you may now act normally.)

In front of the farmhouse-
Flynn continued to lie still, but there was no telling how long he would remain that way.

(Jack, you may make another hand to hand attack this round with the same chances as before if you wish. Kathryn, you may make an unarmed attack this round, or you could try to unjam one of your pistols instead. If you try that, I'll count that second Handgun roll from last round as your roll to clear the jam, in which case you'd need to roll 1d6 to see how many rounds it will take in all. Anyone may also take some alternative action, of course.)

"Kat, let's get back in the RV. When Gardner turned, it happened quick - no warning at all. We'll straighten out the pistols and take care of him from a distance."

Not waiting for an answer, Jack limps to the driver side of the vehicle and enters. Once seated, he locks the door and rolls up the window.

Not intending to stick around and time the rise of the dead, Kat hurries to the passenger´s side and gets in, locks the door and hands one of the guns to Jack.

Kyle's thoughts were on nothing but the magazines - he was sure there were old cookery magazines amongst them, brimming full of pictures of food, good enough to eat off the page - but a voice brought him out of his coccoon of distracting memory, reminding him of the good woman his ma was, that he had to accept she was gone now and that he couldn't hide away, because that was to deny that she'd ever been.

Turning his eyes away from the boxes of magazines, Kyle falls to his knees and begins to sob, wishing his ma was still there to hold him.

OOC: The hits keep on coming!

Taking the proffered weapon, Jack puts the vehicle in gear and plants his foot on the brake. Keeping an eye on the prone Flynn in the rear view mirror, he goes to work on the jammed pistol and is dismayed as it comes apart in his hands!

"Dammit! This pistol is toast! Kat, call up to the attic and tell Lauren to instruct Kyle to finish off Flynn! How's your pistol looking?"

The mother in Emily took over. She sat next to Kyle and as he sobbed and embraced him. "We're here for you, Kyle. All of us are." As Emily sat there with Kyle, her thoughts drifted to her own family. She suddenly realized that she how badly she wished to hug them.

Kat reflects on the fact of the defective guns, in her eyes the guns are faulty - not her handling. The gun mechanism works quite alright. Though something´s wrong never the less.
She jerks the mantle back and tries to clear the blockage, again.

She adds as she looks at Jack´s gun that refuses to clear, "Why not just ram the Harry-thing when it rises?" She checks the gun in her hands and tries to make out the problem. "This will take a while..."

"Running Harry down is an option but not our first option," Jack replies calmly. "I hit one of these things earlier this morning and it wasn't put out of action. The only thing that seems to keep them down with any degree of certainty is severe head trauma plus, I'd rather not risk damaging the vehicle any more than it is. Do your best with the pistol. My family is safe in the attic - for now."

(OOC: I know it was mentioned by either Jack or Kat,but did either of them yell out for us to have Kyle shoot Harry? I just want to make sure they asked before we ask Kyle to do it.)

Giving Kyle another squeeze around the shoulders Emily says: "Kyle, we need you now. We all do. We need you to shoot poor Harry in the head so he doesn't get up and try to attack my husband and Kat. Let's go Kyle, let's keep fighting."

Kyle wipes his nose, nods, and clambers to his feet. Taking careful aim at Flynn's head, he pulls the trigger, but it misses the mark. He grimaces, tears still stinging his eyes.

(OOC: How many shots can he conceivably take within a post? And how many shots does he have left? I've fired three with him now).

Hearing the shot fired, Kat wakes up from the task of clearing the pistol jam. Dammit I forgot to communicate with the lad!
In the comm she says, "Almost there Kyle, you´ll get with the next one, watch out so the gun doesn´t jam!"

Jack sets aside the ruined pistol and takes his foot off the brake and turns the steering wheel, easing the RV forward straight towards the farmhouse.

Lauren wanted to do something. Wanted to comfort Kyle. Wanted to get out. But she just sat there looking off at nothing.

Kyle pulls the trigger once more. His shot connects, but barely, doing minimal damage.

Emily moves over to Lauren and hugs her: "How are you doing, sweetie?"

(With Kyle's rifle, he may only shoot once per combat round. This is not necessarily once per post, however. I'll let you know when you may shoot and how many shots you may fire, but in general it will only be one at a time. A combat round doesn't usually start until I make a major update, so even though you might make more than one post between major updates - as part of a conversation, for instance - you can't fire a shot in each of them. You've gotten ahead of yourself there, firing two shots before I had a chance to start the next combat round. In this case nothing has happened that you know of during that time, so your second shot will simply borrow your action from this round, but from now on please wait until I tell you that you can shoot before you do so. Also, don't forget that there's a -5 penalty for aiming at the head, so your chance is 40%, not 45%. The .22 rifle holds 6 bullets in a magazine. You fired 3 shots earlier, one shot in the round that just ended, and one shot in the round that's starting now. That leaves one bullet left in the rifle. Reloading the rifle takes a full combat round, so you can't do that now, as you've already used up your action. You can check the locations and weapons thread to see how much ammo you have and how much is loaded; I update it frequently. The rifle is also bolt-action, so you don't have to worry about it jamming. If you roll a Malfunction with it, on a 99 or higher, then it probably just means the bullet was a dud.)

In the attic-
Kyle's first shot missed. He fired again and creased Harry Flynn's scalp, but did not do much damage. Lauren heard Kathryn speak over the radio.

(Kyle, you've already used up your action for this round, so you cannot shoot or reload yet. I'll let you know when you can. Lauren may throw a knife if she wishes by making a Throw roll. It will only take 2 more damage to the head to do enough damage to Flynn to ensure he never rises. Emily may also throw her large knife, which does 1d6 damage, but it's the only one she has. Remember the -5 penalty for aiming at the head.)

In front of the farmhouse-
Jack drove the RV back to the front of the farmhouse, pulling up beside the porch again. Flynn remained motionless on the ground where he had fallen - for now.

(Jack and Kathryn, you may both act now. Either of you may try to clear the jammed, unbroken pistol at this point, but you can't both attempt it at once. Roll Handgun or Mechanical Repair, whichever is higher. If you succeed, roll 1d6 to see how many rounds it will take, including this one.)

"As good as I can be considering Alvarez is dead. Flynn is dead. Ive been throwing knives at people. My dads hurt and theres some crazy lady with him. Plus were stuck up here with more monsters in the house." Lauren looked down then up at her mom." I feel like we are all just waiting to die."

Jack keeps the engine running and goes back to the living area of the RV. Retrieving the first aid kit, he fishes about for a chemical ice pack and some bandages for his deep thigh bruise but sadly, the medi-kit doesn't seem to have a chem-ice pack. He next turns his attention to the nick he sustained from Emily's errant throw and his muscle tweak.

OOC: Can Jack continue to make 1st aid attempts on himself to patch himself up or if he fails is he done? I know that he can make separate attempts per wound.

"Kat, please call up there and tell them it's up to Kyle to keep Flynn down. Let them know we're patching ourselves up down here and that the pistols are out of commission."

This time she acknowledges Jack´s instructions. This man must be used to stressful situations. And he´s not as bad as I thought... "Lauren! Tell Kyle it´s his shot to take down Harry-thing when it rises. Our weapons are faulty and we are patching things together here. Stay up there and we´ll be alright! Use the distance to your advantage."

Meanwhile, Kat picks the pistol aparttrying to determine what´s wrong with it. It was a simple double-feed, the extractor had failed to extract the empty case... to make sure the gun don´t malfunction the first thing when she fires again. She has to do some damage control "This will take a few minutes...let´s keep the distance from that thing....and hope Kyle get´s a precise shot in."

In the attic-
As Kyle looked out the window, he was horrified to see Alvarez drag himself out of the window of the floor below and flop onto the porch roof. Both of his legs were missing. Then, to make matters worse, Kyle's father crawled out of the window right behind him! They began to crawl toward the roof of the RV stopped next to it.

(Kyle, roll Sanity for seeing the zombies. Sanity loss is 0/1d10, but you've already lost 5 points for seeing a zombie, so any loss of more than 5 counts as only 5. If you do lose 5 points, you must roll Idea again and fail it to avoid temporary insanity. As long as you don't go temporarily insane again, you may fire one shot at the head of either of the two zombies below, or at Flynn's corpse. Both Lloyd and Flynn have taken 8 damage to the head, so any hit with the .22 will guarantee a kill on either of them and there is no need to roll damage. Alvarez hasn't taken any damage to the head, so it would take 10 damage to stop him for good. Remember the -5 penalty for aiming at the head. Emily and Lauren, if you look out the window you must roll Sanity as well. Emily, you've already lost 2 Sanity for seeing a zombie, so you can lose at most 8 more. If you lose more than 8, it only counts as 8. If you remain sane then you may attack with a thrown weapon. Right now neither of you is aware of the zombies, but you'll hear them if you succeed at a Listen roll. Lauren, yours is at -5 due to your helmet. Kyle, you're the only one aware of the zombies, and you may tell the others if you remain sane.)

In the RV-
Kathryn began working on dislodging the jammed shell while Jack tried unsuccessfully to treat his wound.

(Neither of you is aware of the zombies on the porch roof yet, but if you succeed at a Listen roll you'll hear them. Kathryn, you have a -5 penalty due to your helmet. It will take four more full rounds to finish clearing the jam, during which time you may speak and move but can't take any other actions. Jack, you may make another First Aid attempt this round if you wish.)

Turning his attention to the knife wound on his other leg, the gauze slips from Jack's adrenaline-shaking hands, his concentration utterly absorbed.

Her fingers run over the piece as she tries to get the shell out. Between the clickings she hears a noise from the porch roof. Something´s moving on the roof...

Looking upwards she says, "Jack! There´s movement on the porch roof! And it´s not someone walking..." Into the comm she relays to the attic, "Someone is on the porch roof! Visibilty zero, here! Can you take him out...it out?"

Mr Handy!,(If Kat hears two definite sources of dragging sounds she will deduce that both zombies are on the porch roof. In that case she will advice the women to get down from the attic and out the back entrance and tell Jack to drive to the other side of the farm house. That will give her time to fix the jam and be ready when the Things have taken a fall and crawled after the RV. I´ll await the reply from the attic and then voice the plan!)

Kat adds in the comm, "Girls, there are two sources on the porch roof! That would leave the house safe, for now. Go down from the attic. Head for the rear entrance and we´ll wait for you there with the RV. Bring Kyle too." To Jack she says, "If we back away, they will try to reach us and drop to the ground...Then we drive to the back entrance. This will give us time to fix this gun. And get the girls into the RV. Doable?"

Lauren heard the radio message from the woman and relayed everything to the group. "What do you see Kyle? What should we do mom?"

Kyle is in shock, having seen the two zombies appear. It's hit him hard seeing that his dad is now crawling around looking like one of those monsters, but he doesn't quite make the mental leap that plain old dad is now a killer like his ma.

Dumbly, he mutters "It's my da..."

(OOC: SAN down to 29 from 34)

Kyle still wasn't sure about his dad, so took a shot at the other zombie. The bullet whizzed by, failing to connect.

Rushing forward with the med-kit in hand, Jack retakes his place in the driver's seat and throws the RV in reverse, aiming the hulking vehicle towards the prone corpse of Flynn.

"Lauren, tell them we will try and take out zombies. By the time we get the ladder down and all three of us get down, they could be on us. Kyle can take them out from up here. That will allow us time to get the fuel for the RV we need."
Hearing Kyle take a shot, Emily turned towards Kyle: "Just take your time, Kyle."

(No, he's not at point blank range. That would require him to be within his DEX in feet from his target. His DEX is 11, but the porch roof is about 15 feet below the attic window.

Jack already acted last round trying to apply First Aid, so he cannot take the action you just posted so soon. I'll count it as his action for the coming round instead, though something else does happen before he can do it.)

In the attic-
Kyle's shot hit Alvarez, but it did not do enough damage to put him down. When he tried to draw back the bolt he realized that the magazine was now empty. Both zombies on the porch roof crawled over onto the roof of the RV.

(Kyle, your rifle is empty. You may reload it this round, but you may not also fire. Emily and Lauren, if either of you go to the window and look out of it, you must roll Sanity as described above. If you want to open the attic door, you'll need to roll STR x 5. If you both work together, you may add your STR scores together and roll against that multiplied by 5. Kyle may assist too, but not if he also reloads. Any STR total of 20 or more will automatically succeed without having to roll. If more than one of you team up to open the door, anyone in the team may make the roll.)

In front of the farmhouse-
As Kathryn continued working on her pistol, she heard the crawlers on the porch roof clamber onto the roof of the vehicle. Jack hurried to the driver's seat, shifted into reverse, and backed down the driveway again. He heard a crunching sound as he backed over Flynn and damaged him somewhat. The jolt knocked Lloyd off of the RV's roof. He fell to the ground extremely hard and then began crawling towards the driver's door.

(Jack, you've already acted this round, so you may take no action other than speaking. Kathryn, you are free to act, but you may not drive - Jack has the wheel and he's already driven this turn. Neither of you needs to roll Sanity, as you've already seen these zombies before.)

(Assuming the RV came to a stop just now.)
Kat listens to the sounds from the vehicle´s roof. When, if, the sound indicates something is crawling down on her side of the RV, or when the thing shows it´s ugly face, she unlocks the door. Then gets ready to kíck the door violently to get the zombie to fall off of the RV´s side.
If the Thing remains in position up on the roof, she´ll continues fixing the gun!

"Just keep on shooting, Kyle." Emily says.

(OOC: Are both infected on the ground now or is one on the roof still?)

Kyle struggles to reload the rifle.

(Lloyd fell off of the RV's roof, but Alvarez is still on top of it.)

In the attic-
Kyle finished reloading his .22 rifle and chambered a round. As he did, he saw Alvarez drag himself across the roof of the RV with his arms, toward the front.

(Kyle, you cannot see Alvarez any more after the events below, but you can still target Lloyd. You do not get the point blank bonus, as he is nearly 20 yards away. If you hit him, you will do enough damage to finish him off.)

On the road-
Lloyd crawled after the RV as Jack backed it up all the way to the road. Before he could turn the corner, both he and Kathryn watched in terror as Alvarez reached over the top of the windshield and brought his fists down on it, shattering it completely. Broken glass flew as he slid into the RV through the now open front, landing between Jack and Kathryn!

(Jack and Kathryn, roll Luck to see if you get hit by any of the broken glass. Lloyd will reach the RV when it's his turn unless one of the two of you drives away from him or Kyle finishes him off. If you do drive, indicate which way you're going. The back of the RV is facing the road, which goes east and west. You will have to drive around the corner in reverse. There is no need to make a Drive Auto roll for this, but Alvarez will be able to attack you afterwards. You will get to Dodge, however. If you attack Alvarez hand to hand, you will not get to Dodge. He has taken 5 damage to the head, so 5 more will finish him. Jack, you still have the -10 penalty to attack with the crowbar, with an additional -5 for targeting the head. Kathryn would only have the -5 penalty for targeting the head. Jack, you may also use the crowbar to try to parry Alvarez's bite by rolling against your Large Club skill, again with the -10 penalty. You may parry if you attack, but not if you're trying to drive away, as you won't have your hands free. If you retreat into the interior of the RV, Alvarez will not be able to attack you this round. Kathryn, you may keep working on your pistol while retreating. It will take 2 more rounds to clear it.)

"Sheeit!" Jacks yells more in surprise than pain as he's showered in glass. Throwing the RV into park, he retreats hastily to the back of the RV, medikit and crowbar in hand.

In the RV-
Jack was struck by several shards of glass.

Whispering "Goodbye dad," Kyle took aim with the rifle once more. Despite his reservations, his aim was true, though the bullet seemed to bounce off a bit of skull, doing minimal damage.

Evadingthe partly shattered windscreen, Kat retreats to the rear with Jack. Simultaneously she fiddles some more with the gun. As she does, she looks for interior doors to shut as she gets away from the Alvarez-thing.

(There´s a rear exit? Door or window..?)

(There are two rear exit doors, one on the left and one on the right.)

Jack moves toward the rear right door.

Hopefully this gun will be operationable, soon! Kat thinks and watches Alvarez...

"Nice shot, Kyle! Keep on shooting until they don't move anymore!"
Turning to Lauren: "Lauren, I'm going to need your help. Those zombies are far enough away from the house that I think I can get downstairs without too much trouble. I am going to go an get LLoyd and Flynn's guns and bring them back up, okay? I need you to stay by the attic stairs and pull them up if there is any trouble before I get back, okay?"

(Then Kat will retreat to the interior doors leading further back.)

Jack scrambles to open the right side door, his free hand clutching the crowbar in preparation to fend off the scuttling Alvarez.

"Your saving our lives Kyle. I want you to know that... And yea mom ill help out with the stairs." Lauren looked out the window to the chaos she could barely make out. "Hurry mom we have to help out dad."

In the attic-
Kyle's shot put an end to Lloyd for good.

(Emily didn't see any of this because she never looked out the window while the zombies were visible, and neither did Lauren, or they would have had to roll Sanity earlier. Kyle, however, knows that neither Lloyd nor Alvarez have their guns on them, and that Kathryn has already picked up Flynn's pistol. If all three of you work together, you can open the attic door and lower the ladder this round, but none of you will be able to climb down it yet.)

In the RV-
Kathryn retreated to the rear of the RV. She had nearly cleared the jam in her pistol. Just a little more effort should do it. There was one closed interior door on the left of the vehicle and two on the right, but she didn't know where any of them led. Jack paused at the door leading outside on the RV's right and threw it open, but Alvarez caught up with him before he could get outside and started to drag him down, his teeth about to clamp down on him!

(Jack, give me two Dodge rolls, one for the Grapple and one for the Bite, and one Parry roll for the Bite if the second Dodge fails. The Parry roll is just a Large Club roll, with a -10 penalty because of your arm. Don't act otherwise until I tell you what happens. Kathryn, you may make a hand to hand attack on Alvarez's head if you wish, or you may finish unjamming the gun and/or go through one of the interior doors. You may want to wait to see what happens to Jack before deciding.)

Attention diverted by the inexplicably difficult to open door Jack [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1763396/]fails to evade Alvarez's grasp and is dismayed when he fails to interpose the crowbar between Alvarez's jaws and his own exposed calf.

OOC: Good Bye everyone, it's been fun.

(The door wasn't that hard to open, it just took a couple of precious seconds to do so. It's been great having you play, and I'm sorry Jack didn't make it after all that.)

In the RV-
Jack nearly got away, but his arm injury prevented him from blocking the deadly bite in time. Alvarez seized his legs and dragged him to the floor just inside the door. He bit down very hard on his right arm, shattering the limb and leaving him bleeding to death.

(Okay, now you may act, Kathryn. It will take 5 damage to the head to finish off Alvarez.)

(OOC: Has Kyle finished off the zed that is out there?)
Emily moves to the window to see how things are going.
"The RV is stopped. What the heck is going on? Lauen, ask your father what is going on over the radio."

Kat finishes clearing the gun, back to the rearmost of the RV. Seeing Jack trying to fling the door open she also sees Alvarez quickly spruttle and bite at Jack´s arm. "Nooo!" she screams and points the gun at the Thing attached to Jack´s arm.

Kyle watched his dad drop. Grimly he turned towards the two women trying to shift the attic door, and put down his rifle.

(OOC: He'll assist with his STR of 16)

"Lady whats happening.. Is everything ok? Whats happening we cant see anything." Lauren walks over and while waiting for an answer decides to throw her strength towards the door as well.

In the attic-
Working together, Kyle and Lauren opened the attic door, lowering the stairs to the hallway below. They couldn't see much down there from up in the attic, but it looked just like it had when they had gone up. There was no sign of any zombies in the hall.

(One person may climb down to the hall this round. There is no need to roll anything.)

In the RV-
Kathryn heard Lauren's message on the radio as she finished clearing her jammed pistol. Alvarez crushed Jack in his mighty arms and gnawed on his body, ignoring her. Jack had risked his life to rescue her from an unspeakable fate, and she could hardly believe he was gone.

(Kathryn, roll Sanity with a Sanity loss of 0/1d6. Any loss of 6 counts as 5 instead, as you've already lost 1 this chapter for seeing people die. Presuming you don't go insane, you may act now. Alvarez is at point blank range, and you may fire up to twice at his head. It will only take 5 more damage to the head to put him down. If you do this, double your skill first and then deduct the -5 penalty. You may also reply on the radio while you take another action.)

Seeing the ladder was down, Emily made her move: "You two stay up here and keep an eye on things. If you see anything, shout. I'll be right back." With that, Emily headed down the attic stairs.

Kat stares at Jack as he dies before her. Shesnaps !

(So she finally loses it! Actions?)

Kat sees the ramifications Jack´s death has to her own situation, and the inevitable rising of Jack the Thing with white hair... She clutches the gun feverishly and tries to say something in the comm.

In the RV-
The enormity of everything that has happened today - to the world, to her personally, and now to her rescuer - hit Kathryn hard. She started to sob uncontrollably, her trembling hands gripping the gun. She couldn't give voice to any words. All Lauren heard over the radio was the sound of her crying.

(Kathryn's temporary insanity lasts for 9 rounds, including this one, unless Emily reaches her and snaps her out of it sooner with a successful Psychoanalysis roll. Lauren could try now, but she only has the base skill of 1%. Lauren, roll Idea for a way you could help Kathryn.)

In the attic-
Lauren knew that her mother would be much better at talking Kathryn through whatever was troubling her than she was. If she were to take off her helmet and get it to Emily, then Emily could talk to Kathryn directly.

"Hey Kyle i need to go give this helmet to my mom quickly. I think something really bad is happening." Lauren decided to go down the stairs and try to find her mother.

(OOC: Emily was headed for the kitchen/area where Flynn and Lloyd were attacked to get there guns. Unless Lauren stops her or calls to her, that is where she will go. )

(OOC: I figured as much. I just wanted to make sure you knew what her intentions were.)

Under the sobbing and hulking, Kat wishes everything bad just, just disappears. Then she can sit there and cry her heart out - alone. She tries not to be disturbed by the sounds from the middle of the RV...

Deep in her mind she hears her uncle "This won´t take long..." She starts to shut down, as so many times before, to a lifeless carcass. Something not moving. Not present.
(Don´t know if this makes sense or even if it´s possible. Just thought that the stressful situation could remind her of previous experiences...)

Kyle let's the two ladies out of the attic before leaving himself. Whilst holding the door open, he notes his rifle and anything else that might come in handy, and grabs them before following.

(OOC: I'm assuming nothing - if a roll is needed, I've got a 48, which would be a fail on Spot Hidden or Luck)

(Kyle has 50 Luck, so that roll would have succeeded had a Luck roll been required, but that doesn't apply in this case.)

In the attic-
Lauren took off her helmet as she ran to the trapdoor in the floor. She saw her mother below at the bottom of the attic stairs and handed the helmet down to her. Kyle looked around the attic, but saw nothing more of interest.

(One more person may climb down to the upstairs hallway this round. Kyle has already indicated that he'll let Lauren go first if she wants to go down.)

In the upstairs hallway-
Emily reached the bottom of the ladder just as Lauren reached through the open trapdoor above to pass her the helmet. The hallway was as she remembered it, though the front window overlooking the porch had been smashed open from the inside. Stairs led down to the ground floor.

(Emily, you may take the helmet and speak to Kathryn now. You may also put on the helmet if you wish, and you may make it downstairs to the living room this round in addition to peforming these other actions while you move. Roll Psychoanalysis to try to snap Kathryn out of it.)

In the RV-
Kathryn remained standing where she was, weeping and trembling, as Alvarez continued eating Jack's corpse.

(Kathryn, if Emily succeeds at her Psychoanalysis roll, you may act freely this round. If you do, you may fire twice at Alvarez's head at point blank range as described before, and it will take 5 damage to the head to finish him. It's fine that she had a flashback as part of her temporary insanity.)

Emily puts on the helmet: "Kathryn? Kathryn? This is Emily. What is going on over there? I need you to focus for me, can you do that? We need you over here." Emily continues to talk to Kathryn, snapping her back to reality.

As he talks to Kathryn, Emily heads down the stairs keeping an eye out for threats as she heads down the stairs.

Hearing Emily, seeing Alvarez chew on Jack, Kat puts two shots in the thing´s head. "Better safe than sorry..." she thinks and snaps back to the RV. Two rapid shots echo in the comm, following is Kat´s distorted voice; "Alvarez got Jack, he´s hurt bad.... I think he´s... dying...I killed that thing!" Kat surveys the RV´s interior, to find a way to get out without stepping over Jack and the bits and pieces of Alvarez?

(Did I get the damage right?)

"Jack's hurt? How bad? What happened to him?" Emily said, panic starting to well inside her.

(OOC: I am going to assume that it will take me another round to get down to the kitchen, and to the guns. Correct?)

Lauren follows her mother down the stairs and upon hearing what he mother was saying a sense of dread filled her.

(I'll go ahead and update now, since Kyle's player logged in since the last one and he already said what he's doing anyway.)

In the attic-
Kyle waited his turn while Lauren descended the stairs to the upper floor's hall.

(Kyle may now go to the upper floor's hallway.)

In the farmhouse-
Lauren made it down to the upstairs hall, while her mother went down the stairs to the living room. Emily could see that the bookcase that had been blocking the front door had been smashed to bits, and the door itself broken open from within. On the right side of the wall opposite the front door was a doorway leading into the kitchen, where she could see Lloyd's shotgun and Alvarez's M-4 lying on the floor in pools of blood, which was smeared in a trail leading from the kitchen, across the living room, and out the front door. Another, larger, doorway to the left of that one led to the dining room. There was no sign of any zombies.

(Lauren, you can make it to the living room this round. Emily, you can get into the kitchen and retrieve both guns.)

In the RV-
Kathryn's first shot blew Alvarez's brains out, and he fell on top of Jack's body. It was obvious that Jack was dead, and it was too late to help him, except possibly by putting a couple of bullets in his head. She could get out through the left side door, or through either of the front doors, without stepping over the bodies, but she would need to go past them. She would only need to step over them if she went out the right side door.

(Kathryn, if you want to you may shoot twice at Jack's head at point blank range, with the same chances as before.)

Waiting to hear a response from Kathryn, Emily cautiously moves to the kitchen to retrieve the shotgun and the M4. She also looks for a towel to wipe the blood from them.

Kat listens to Emily and takes aim at Jack´s forehead. "Jack´s infected, I´m dealing with him right now! So you don´t have to see him, like this..." The first shot misses, the second shot barely hits as she feels it´s wrong to shoot her rescuer. She curses inwardly and stares in disbelief how bad shot she is. She can almost hear Jack mocking her skill at handling the gun. "Fuck, I fucked up! I couldn´t shoot him...he´s about to rise again..must try again..." Kat feels the palms of her hands get all slippery. She braces herself by pushing her back to the RV´s interior. Don´t want to lose my balance...

Lauren follows her mother down to the living room waiting to see what is going on.

Kyle follows Lauren, rifle resting over his shoulder.

In the farmhouse-
Kyle climbed down from the attic and into the upstairs hall, while Lauren went downstairs to the living room. Emily went through the open doorway to the kitchen and retrieved the shotgun and the M-4, wiping the blood off of both weapons with a dish towel. The shotgun currently had four shells loaded, though it was capable of holding five. The M-4's 30-round magazine was a little more than halfway full. There was no extra ammo visible in the kitchen. On the left side of the room was a closed door that apparently led to the dining room, and another, smaller closed door was on the right wall. The back door, on the opposite side of the room, had been smashed inwards by Betty. She couldn't see anything moving behind the house.

(Kyle, you can make it down to the living room this round. Lauren and Emily, either of you may move through any one door or doorway.)

In the RV-
Kathryn's first shot penetrated the floor of the RV and hit something sensitive, damaging the vehicle further. Her second bullet barely grazed Jack's jaw. His body still showed no sign of movement.

(Kathryn, you may fire two more shots with the same conditions as before. Jack has taken 1 damage to the head so far.)

Lauren walked up to her mom and grabbed Emily's arm. "What is happening? What is wrong with that lady!"

Kyle follows the others down to the living room.

Kat, not knowing she actually damaged the car.. continues to put Jack´s forthcoming rise to rest. The first bullet hits.... The second misses terribly...(if not jam)

(I´ll wait to see the effect of the 96 roll...)

" I don't know what's wrong with her, honey" Emily said as she tried in vain to diagnose Kat.
"Kathryn, what is going on out there? What do you mean you are taking care of Jack? Can he talk? Let me talk to him. We are in the bottom of the house and have weapons now, we need to get out of here. We need to fuel up the RV and get to the comm center. Tell Jack to get to the gas pump while I get the key."

Turning to Kyle who just arrived down stairs: "Here, take this," she said as she handed him the M4. "You're the best shot with a rifle around here. Give Laurn the .22 and the remaining ammo you have. Where is the key to the fuel pump?"

Emily thinks to herself: Is the comm center going to be safer than holing up in the attic?

"Listen to me, he´s dead. Alvarez killed him! I´m seeing to that Jack doesn´t become a walking dead! He got bitten and a large chunk of flesh is gone from his arm! I´ll spare you the sight of seeing him rise." Kat looks for the crowbar Jack used before....

(This roll was a 97, actually. I've never seen so many critical failures as there have been during this encounter! Hopefully your luck will turn around soon. By the way, it is Jack's arm that was bitten, not his leg.)

In the RV-
Kathryn's next bullet creased Jack's scalp, and the one after that ricocheted wildly. Luckily it didn't hit her, but it did damage the vehicle even more. The crowbar was easy enough to find, as Jack still clutched it in his death grip. He had not risen yet.

(Kathryn, you may take two more shots now. If you want to get the crowbar instead, you'll need to go up to Jack and make a STR x 5 roll.)

In the living room-
Lauren met up with her mother as she returned from the kitchen with the long guns. Emily handed the M-4 to Kyle, who had just come down the stairs. Then she heard the terrible news from Kathryn.

(Emily, roll Sanity for learning of Jack's death. Sanity loss is 0/1d6. Lauren did not hear this, so she does not roll Sanity yet. Kyle, you may hand her the .22 and its ammo this round while moving. All three of you can get outside and halfway to the RV this round if you wish, though Emily may only act freely if she remains sane.)

Kyle passes over the .22 and ammo, wondering why the older lady seems to be talking to herself. He kind of understands she's talking to someone outside, but can't work out how.

From where she stands Kat fires at Jack again. The bullet made sufficient damage to his head.

Upon hearing of Jacks death, Emiily wobbled on her feet a bit and had to grab the wall to steady hersefl. Her thoughts drifted to the fight she and Jack had recently had: 'I'm sorry, Jack. I'm so sorry' she thought to herself. Emily was grief stricken and couldn't believe Jack was gone, but her instinct was to protect her daughter but her was suddently unsure of how to do that. With a steel resolve, she fought off most of her doubts.

"Roger. I copy, Kat." Emily said into the mic. "I'm thinking we should stay here for the night and get some rest. The attic is safe for us to rest in tonight."

"Kyle, we need your help gathering supplies. Since this is your house, can you start gathering up good and water? Also, where are the extra shotgun shells?"

Turning to Laruen, Emily leads her off to the side of the room: 'Lauren, honey....... dad was attacked in the RV. He's gone. He's dead." Emily hugs Lauren tightly and begins to cry.

(When the next update comes, this is what Kat does.)

Kat walks over to Jack´s corpse and takes the broken gun and pockets it. Hearing Emily´s response she replies, "I..I´m sorry for your loss...I´ll come to you. We´ll work out a plan to reach the base."

Lauren couldn't bear the fact that her father was dead. She blurted out, "He was sposed to save us. Daddy kept me safe..."
Tears fell down her cheeks but she kept the pain from incapacitating her.
The fact of her father dying kept her from having any ideas.
(OOC: can you crit fail an idea roll? Does lauren get an aneurysm for trying to think to hard or something.)

(OOC: Failed an Idea roll, unsurprisingly, just wanted to check how stable Emily was - whether she goes temporarily insane - before registering her request about the shotgun shells).

(OOC: Sorry Handy. I keep all of my characters in a OneNote notebook and I was looking at Carl Furst, not Emily. The text I added about protecting Lauren was just flavor text. It wasn't meant to imply that she was adding her 'protection bonus. My post above has been edited. Idea roll below.)

Emily's mind raced as she tought hard on the best way to protect Lauren and Kyle. Through determination along, she was able to filter out everytying that was going on around her and come up with an idea.

Making sure the coast is clear Kat exits the RV and closes the distance between the RV and the house. While she covers the ground with the hand gun she reflects on how to get Jack´s girls and the farm boy to safety.
Hoping that the short run wouldn´t go bad she was expecting another infected to intercept her on her way...

The idea of actually getting everyone on a boat still seems as a good idea. Is there any lakes nearby? she wonders as the idea resurfaces in her mind.

(That's okay. I hadn't realized you were looking at another character's stats. I just got the wrong idea because of the text and the fact that the roll was exactly 20 more than Emily's current Sanity.)

In the farmhouse-
Emily, Lauren, and Kyle all stood in the living room when they heard one last gunshot, followed by silence. Emily realized that while they would be safe up in the attic since the zombies couldn't reach them, they could be trapped up there again if zombies got inside the house and underneath the trapdoor. Last time Jack and Kathryn had returned and were able to draw the zombies away, but now they couldn't count on someone else coming along to rescue them. They could get stuck up there until they either died of thirst or had to take a chance climbing out the window. While they could delay the inevitable by bringing food and drink up to the attic with them, it would not last forever. In addition, the house itself was rather unsafe. Both the front and back doors had been destroyed, along with the barricades that had been meant to reinforce them. This entire mess had been started by just one zombie, and now there were less people around to deal with any others. However, if they were going to hit the road and find somewhere else to spend the night, they would have salvage what they could and leave quickly. There were only about two hours of daylight left, though they could stretch it to nearly three by heading west. Driving through the night to reach their destination was an option. It was risky, but so was staying somewhere that wasn't completely safe.

In the RV-
Kathryn's last shot blew Jack's brains out. As his body shook under the impact, it relaxed its grip on the crowbar. She retrieved his broken pistol and also noticed that he had a hand grenade on his belt as she was about to leave the vehicle. As she considered what to do next, it occurred to her that the RV was now badly damaged and would not be able to go as fast as it once could. It could be repaired, but that would take hours, and it would be dark long before they could finish. They could switch vehicles if there was another one available at the farm, but they would have to transfer everything they needed from the RV to it and it would not hold as much cargo, forcing them to abandon some things. The RV also had a fridge and freezer, as well as beds, a toilet, and other conveniences that would be absent in any replacement vehicle. They could always take both vehicles if they got another, but that would force the other vehicle to slow down to match the RV's pace. While traveling, it would be best to stick to back roads and avoid major highways and cities. Her idea of finding a boat was a good one. The zombies seemed too mindless and uncoordinated to be able to swim. However, she didn't know how to pilot a boat, and she didn't know if any of the others did either. That was presuming they could find one. There were rivers and lakes throughout Nebraska. In fact, there had been a lake bordering the north side of the airfield. Staying on a boat indefinitely could be a problem, though. They would have to live on lake water and whatever fish they could catch unless they went ashore for supplies. As a means of travel, however, a boat on a river could be very useful. The Lodgepole Creek went all the way west from Chappell to a point not far north of the truck stop, and beyond towards Warren AFB, parallel to Route 30 and I-80. Chappell was a long way to the west, though, and the creek itself was narrow.

(Kathryn, feel free to take the grenade and crowbar on your way to the house to join the others. All four of you may talk and interact freely now, but remember that you're burning daylight. Any actions you take will cut into the time remaining before it gets dark.)

"This is Kat again, maybe we should leave this place? The house is battered as the RV... I believe we´ll have to stick to low gears at low speed. But that will take us towards the base at least. I´ll drive up to the house and you can gather the supplies on the porch. What do you say?" Realizing the RV isn´t ready for the scrap yard - just yet, Kat retrieves the grenade at Jack´s belt and drags the two corpses out of the interior and dumps them in the field. Then she fires up the engine and drives up to the house that used to be Kyle´s home.

"Kyle, this is your place, so you know where things are. Where can we find food and water and such? Is there anything useful in the cellar? I'll gather up food and supplies, can you go to the barn and grab some tools we might need as well as the extra ammunition? Do you have a hunting rifle or any other guns? Lauren, can you go grab some sheets and pillow cases from upstairs to put all of the supplies in? While up stairs, grab any medical supplies you might find, okay? Thanks, darling."

Emily turned to the kitchen and peered out the windows to make sure there were no infected coming. As she opened the cupboards to look for food, she keyed the radio mic: "Kat, do you think you'd be able to wipe down the RV a little bit? I the blood and stuff might be too much for Lauren..." Emily stoped as she became choked up and started to quietly cry. 'Keep it together, Emily. You've got to be strong for Lauren' she thought to herself.

"I´ll prep the mobile before you board, yes! I´ll get back when I´m ready to take passengers. Over!" Stopping the RV at the porch, Kat starts to search the mobile home for a cleaning spray and a piece of cloth or a mop. She sprays the splattered area at the rear exits. Then she cleans the goo off. The bits and pieces of the windshield gets thrown out and she makes sure there´s no leakage under the car... "It´s set and ready to board, Mrs!" It all feels like being back at the tower, Kat thinks and places the helmet on the dash board, she flexes the comm, setting it on receive only, awaiting a reply. She picks up the digital and resumes the report, "Kat McCoy, survivor...lost three good men today...our numbers are reinforced to four now. Got ambushed at a farm...in the middle of nowhere... two of Jack´s family members and a survivor from the farm make four of us to get to WAFB...our vehicle is damaged...the sun is going to set...soon. A fair amount of ammunition and weapons if I grasp the situation correctly. We might still make it out of this nightmare...Is this really happening?...going to patch up and regroup in the RV. back later...McCoy, signing off."

(Is there a possibility to get the arm wound in better condition with the first aid kit? Kat managed to stop the bleeding earlier...But maybe if someone else more skilled at medicine can improve her mobility?)

Lauren took the rifle from her mother and eyed it warily. "I cant handle a gun mom... I don't know what I'm doing at all." She started thinking about her father and what he would think of her holding a gun. "We should go to the cities mom. There will be people there to protect us. We could even walk it can't be that far." She had a feeling deep down that these were all bad ideas but the situation was clouding her judgement.

Kyle smiles, if grimly (after the deaths of his parents), nodding then relaying the information. "There's grub in the kitchen and in the pantry, I s'pose. And the food and water down in the cellar for emergencies. We don't have any other guns, least not that I know of. I only ever saw the rifle and the shotgun. Ah..." Kyle pauses "What sort of things am I looking for in the barn?"

Kyle's just lost both his parents, so he's a bit lost. If anything he feels like he needs a little guidance to what he should be doing. He really can't see where his future lies now - he can only see as far as making his new friends happy.

Unclipping the magazine from the broken hand gun, Kat pockets the ammo and switches the comm to send and receive. "I´m all set! Can you send Kyle down to have a look at the RV? I believe I might have damaged something below deck... So, gather some warm clothes and food and we´ll be off to the base. We can discuss different tactics on the road. Does this farm has a long range comm-radio?" Kat checks the surrounding yard to make sure they are not ambushed.

(Is there a possibility to tweak or tune the settings on the helmet comm or on-board radio to contact the base? Relying on Kat´s skill as a radio operator at the tower?)

"Yeah, Kyle will go out and take a look at the RV. How are the head lights on it? Are they functional? If we are traveling at night, we need to make sure the head lights work."

Turning to Kyle: 'Kyle, do you know how to repair a vehicle at all? The RV is a little damaged and could use a little mending if you are able to do so."

In the RV-
With a good deal of effort, Kathryn dumped the bodies of Alvarez and Jack on the lawn by the driveway, close to the road and near the other three corpses, and then drove back to the front porch. The vehicle responded sluggishly, and it would not go faster than about 30 or 35 miles per hour. The truck stop was almost 170 miles to the west and the base was 40 miles beyond that, so there was now no chance of reaching either before nightfall, though they could get a good deal closer. The damage was not the kind of thing that could be repaired quickly. It would take several hours at least to get it back up to full speed, and probably a couple of days to restore it to prime condition. It might be best to repair it overnight once they found a safe place to stay. She easily found cleaning supplies in the kitchen area, mopped up the blood and gore near the side door, and then cleared away the broken windshield. There was no sign of any movement out front or on the road. The area looked deserted. She tested the headlights and saw that they still worked.

(Kathryn's extensive knowledge of electronics lets her know that the helmet radios have much too short range to reach the base from here. Their maximum range is five to ten miles, if you're lucky. The RV does have a CB radio, but she has no idea what frequencies might be used by the Air Force. The airfield where she worked saw primarily civilian traffic and was only taken over by the National Guard and Air National Guard this morning in order to secure it as a place to refuel and maintain aircraft.)

In the farmhouse-
Lauren went upstairs and gathered empty pillowcases and sheets, along with some basic medical supplies from the bathroom. They were no better than what they already had in the RV, and certainly not up to the standards of the medic's kit carried by Alvarez, but at least they now had more of them. She brought them down to the front porch. Emily went into the kitchen and began collecting food from the cupboards. Peering out back, she saw nothing unusual either. She returned to the front of the house with some of the food from the kitchen.

Kyle could get a close look at the RV now that it had parked right out front. The damage was severe, but it could still be driven. He had worked on his dad's truck before, so he could probably repair it given time - a lot of time.

" I don't thinkg going to the city is a good idea, Lauren. More people, means more of those infected. It would be much too dangerous there."
Looking at the RV, Emily did not like the idea of having to drive to too far. "Kyle, you said your dad had a truck, what kind of condition is it in?"

"Everyone, gather around," Emily said to everyone and to Kat. "I don't like the idea of traveling in that RV anymore. The wind screen is broken out and will provide no protection from infected should we have to stop for the night. The roof of it is the only area we will be safe at night or if we get stuck. Any touble or need to go off road could easily cause it to be non functinal. We can try and repair it for a few hours tonight then get some sleep here in the attic before leaving in the morning. Another idea is to take all of us in the truck, and another idea is to take both vehicles so we have a back up in the event something happens. What do you all think?"

"A five hours drive to the bus stop, at least. This beat lady won´t go faster than 30...We have lights though. Maybe the other farm gives better protection. There was a loft there and some horses." She speaks to Kyle as he checks the fuel lines. "Have you got any diesel we can fill up?" To the women shell say, trying to neglect the fact that they had lost the man in their lives as well as the farm boy had 'lost' his parents. "The farm we left earlier...might be safer. If we get there before sunset and it´s still deserted."

Failing to completely disguise her compassion she starts to say, "I´m sorry..." but it breaks up as she gets reminded that she was a great part in things going as badly as they had. Had she just managed to shoot properly...A few hours more practice. Had she had handed Jack the gun instead on insisting on shooting it herself. Had she...
Erica, Dawkins, Bob, the police officers in the tower, Alvarez, Flynn, Jack and, and Gardner.

(Kat isn´t entirely sure that´s the csae though, just tried to drop the names she´s come across today. It does look like a death list, though.)

Kat will fill the RV up as the others stock the RV up for supplies.

Kyle looked dumbly from one person to another as the questions came, then tried to sort out his answers. "I... I dunno. I can look at the... the 'RV' thing. I can have a look and poke around at it. I know a bit about trucks and things. My daddy showed me." Kyle beamed briefly, then remembered his daddy was dead, and that he'd had to shoot him in the head, and the smile disappeared quickly. Then, in more of a whisper, he added "Yeah... his truck's around somewhere. It's... ah... I think it's in the barn..."

The question about fuel suddenly registered. "Oh! There's a diesel pump by the barn! Come on, I'll show you!" Kyle starts wandering that way, with a sudden sense of purpose.

Lauren decided to follow her moms advice about not trying to walk to a city. "Just tell me what to do mom ill get it done. And also... I don't think taking the RV is a good idea. I don't know if i can hang around in a place where dad was killed and I want to get out of here. We need to find someplace safe...."

" I know sweety, I don't want to take the RV either. You and I will take the truck, okay?" Emily sypatheticly said to Lauren as she caressed the side of her face. "I'll get us out of here, okay? Now, lets get some food together, okay? I will go into the cellar and bring food upstairs, could you grab the keys to the truck, pull it around front, and start loading up the truck and the RV?"

Email heads to the cellar door, listens at it, then opens it with her shot gun leveled. He looks for a light switch and heads down stairs.

Preparing to get the convoy together, Kat starts to look for stuff that would suit as close combat equipment. Should the bullets run out they needed something to fight with. So to pass the time for getting the vehicles loaded as well as pitching in with loading the supplies, she runs off to retrieve the crowbar by Jack´s body. If she can find one she´ll grab a toolbox or pitchfork as well from an outhouse or barn. She puts the helmet on to be in talking range of the others while getting the gear.

(The communications center is at a truck stop, not a bus stop. The pickup truck is fully fueled, but the keys aren't in it. Lloyd most likely had them on his person. The pickup has some room for cargo in the back, but nowhere near as much as the RV. If you're abandoning the RV and taking only the truck, one of you will have to ride in the bed of the truck since the cab only has room for three people. This means even less cargo space, so you won't be able to bring as much stuff with you in that case. The pickup will make much better time by itself and can reach the truck stop before it gets dark if you leave very soon. It has enough fuel to reach the base and then some, and it can also go off-road. There is no outhouse; the farmhouse has indoor plumbing.)

At the farm-
Kathryn drove the RV over to the barn following Kyle's directions and hooked up the fuel pump. There was a toolbox in the RV, and there were bound to be more tools in the barn. While the gas tank was filling up, she went back to the side of the road where the five bodies lay. She picked up the crowbar that Jack had been carrying, but he had nothing else that looked useful. The other bodies were likely sources of close combat weapons and other useful things. Kyle opened up the barn door and looked inside. The pickup truck remained parked in the center, but it was locked. There were three horses in the stalls. They couldn't keep pace with the vehicles, but he could set them free before leaving.

Emily cautiously descended into the storm cellar, but other than the doors that had been smashed open from within, there was no sign of disarray. A bare light bulb hung from the ceiling near the entrance, and she pulled the cord to light the cellar. It was deserted, with huge containers of water and boxes of emergency rations stacked on shelves. With Lauren's help, she brought up half of the food and water. This was all that would fit in the back of the pickup truck if that was the only vehicle they were taking and somebody were to ride in the back with it. If they were to also take the RV they could fit all of the food and water inside it, but it would move much more slowly and be restricted to the road.

"Darn, the doors locked!" Kyle quickly covers his mouth for saying a bad word. He then suggests "My dad shoulda had the keys, I guess." He's really hesitant to go near his dad's corpse though.

Kyle looks up at the horses, wonders about feedin them, as that had often been one of his chores. But it doesn't immediately cross his mind to release them.

Kat searches the other bodies then heads back to the barn. Speaking in to the comm of the helmet, Kat asks, "Shall we prepare both vehicles and make slow pace or cram in to just the truck? If we take both we´ll be more comfortable and can get everything we need with us. We´ll have to spend a few hours night-driving... The truck will get us to the truck stop before sunset, we´ll have to leave some stuff though." She looks at Kyle while she speaks and raises an eyebrow questioningly. She scans the barn for melee weapons.

"Lets take the truck. It's in better shape, and is more mobile." Emilys says into the radio. "If we get there before nightfall, we can just stay at the motel where the comm center is. I am sure the soldier protecting it have set up all sorts of defenses and such. Pack all the food, water, tool and ammo that we can. Pack it around the outide perimeter of the bed of the truck so the person riding in back can have a space in the middle of the supplies. It will protect them from the wind and.... other things out there."

"Then it´s settled!" Kat replies. "Kyle, I´ll get the keys!" Kat runs off the retrieve the keys on the lad´s dead dad.

At the farm-
Kathryn found some keys on Lloyd's body. Some of them would be for the house, but they would no longer be needed. One would have to fit the pickup truck. She also found two boxes of shotgun shells. One had not been opened yet and contained 25 12 gauge 00 buckshot shells. The other had been opened and had another 20 of the same. There was nothing of interest on Betty, but Kathryn was able to retrieve the three small knives that Lauren and Emily had thrown at her. On Alvarez she found several magazines for his M-4, a combat knife that had been damaged but was still perfectly usable, a golf club that he had borrowed from Jack that went in the bag of clubs Lauren had slung on her back, and another hand grenade. Flynn had almost twenty 9mm magazines for her pistols and another combat knife, this one in pristine condition. Both men had a bunch of MREs in their packs, and they both still wore their body armor. Flynn's vest would be too big for all of them except Kyle, on whom it would actually be a little tight. The one Alvarez wore would fit any of the three women, though it would be rather loose on Lauren. Once she had salvaged everything she could, she went back to the barn to rejoin the others.

While Kathryn was busy looting the dead, Emily, Lauren, and Kyle carried the food and water from the storm cellar into the barn and packed it into the back of the pickup truck, strapping it down to keep it in place. All told, they had enough to last all four of them for ten days. There were four 5-gallon containers of water and boxes of rations surrounding an open space in the center where one of them could ride. Inside the barn, Kyle found two more unopened boxes of shotgun shells and a box of 25 magazines for the .22 rifle that Lauren was borrowing. He also found an large axe for chopping wood and a smaller hatchet, a sickle, a pitchfork, and a second toolbox. When Kathryn returned with the keys, he eventually figured out which one fit the pickup truck by trial and error. He unlocked the doors and started up the engine.

(If you're ready to leave, let me know where everyone's sitting: who's riding in the back, who's driving, who's riding shotgun, and who's sitting in the middle of the cab? You may distribute the weapons and ammo you've found freely amongst yourselves while you're driving without taking any extra time. If you want to take the two vests, it will take a couple of additional minutes to remove them from the bodies. It will also take time to put them on, but you can do that while you're on the move unless you're the one driving the truck. Remember that each minute you spend here before leaving is one less minute you have before it gets dark.

The Kevlar vests provide 8 points of armor to the torso and abdomen against bullets, shotgun shells, and explosives. They provide 4 points against melee attacks, and no protection at all against falling or being crushed. However, they restrict your movements and have -10 penalties to many useful skills while you're wearing one: Climb, Dodge, Jump, Swim, Throw, and all melee attacks and parries - this includes unarmed attacks. The wood axe, hatchet, and sickle all use the same skill, which has a 20% base level. The wood axe does 1d8+2+db damage, and the hatchet and sickle each do 1d6+1+db damage. None of them can impale. The pitchfork causes 1d8+1+db damage and can impale, but the base skill is only 15%. Let me know who takes what.)

Looking down at her halter neck blouse, Kathryn decides to strip Alvarez of the body armor. Also getting the other flak jacket she loads the looted guns and ammo using the armor as a make shift bag. Then after spending the extra minutes of manhandling the corpses she returns to the truck with the keys, throwing them to Kyle. To her new family Kat says, "I don´t drive very well so maybe you guys can decide who´s driving? I volunteer to ride in the back with the luggage. I got a handful of shells and some protection. I´d like to keep one of the flak jackets for the ride. And the 9 mm."
Kat puts the loot on the back of the truck; the grenades, shotgun shells, body armor, M4 mags, two knifes and some throwing knives, etc.

(She basically takes all but the golf club.)

"The luggage should be arranged as a horse shoe around the cabin." She starts to arrange the stuff brought out. Arranging pitch forks and sharp poles as a hedgehog protection. "Do we have some strong flash lights? Would be nice to flash our attackers blind if we get stuck in the night... We could also drop a flash light and kill the headlights to get attention away from our vehicle."

"I dont care where i sit i just want to get the hell out of here.." Lauren stretches her arms then picks up the gun and starts fooling around with it.

"Flash lights are a must," Emily says. "As for the truck, I think Kyle should ride in back as he is the best shot out of all of us. I can drive and Kat you can ride shot gun. Literally." Emily hands the shot gun towards her. "I would not like to be empty handed while I drive, though, so your pistol would come in use. Lauren can ride between us and reload us if needed."
"Let's get some flashlights and get the heck out of here. The comm center is which direction?"

"Then we decide that and get out of here!" Kat helps with the last load of supplies and gets ready to hit the dirt roads.

At the farm-
There was already a flashlight in the pickup truck, another in the barn, a third in the storm cellar, and a fourth in the RV. Kyle collected them since he wasn't busy doing anything else and stored them in the truck before climbing in the back. Emily got behind the wheel, Lauren sat beside her in the center of the cab, and Kathryn sat in the shotgun seat. Emily drove around to the front of the farmhouse and up the driveway, where it met the road going east and west.

(Only the driveway leading back to the road is dirt. The road itself is paved.

Please confirm if Kathryn takes the shotgun and gives Emily her pistol and magazines. I'll assume Kathryn holds onto the shells she found if this is the case. Kyle, you haven't acted in a while, so I've just assumed you did what was needed. If you want to exchange equipment with anyone or pick up anything stored in the back of the truck, let me know. You may also put on the body armor back there if you want. Kathryn will put hers on in the coming round.

Everyone roll Navigate to plan your route to the truck stop. You know that it is almost 170 miles west and 12-15 miles north of the farm, but getting there by the back roads will not be easy. The base skill is 10% if you do not have it on your character sheet. If nobody succeeds, the trip will take longer than expected as you will likely get lost along the way.

If anyone wants to do anything else before leaving the farm, let me know. Remember that actions take time, and you've already spent a good deal of time here.)

Kat has a general idea of where they are heading, but no idea where the two farms visited are located compared to the presumed truck stop and AFB.
She handed the working 9mm to Emily when entering the truck and prepares the shotgun as soon as she has put on the body armour.

(A shotgun has a base skill at 30%, right? Is the second 9mm utterly broken or can Kat spend time mending it?)

Emily puts the 9mm on the dash board in front of her and pulled up to the road. With tears welling in her eyes, she recalled the maps and planning she and Jack had done for their trip and believed she had a route to the truck stop. (OOC: Invisible Castle is not working. I rolled manually and got a 13, but I can wait until it is working if you'd rather I do that.)

On the road-
Emily turned left onto the road, heading west and starting the long journey to the truck stop and, beyond it, Warren Air Force Base. Kathryn put on the Kevlar vest. It was heavy and a little tight, but at least she felt less exposed. Lauren sat between them, examining the .22 rifle, and Kyle sat silently in the bed of the truck, holding his M-4 and looking around alertly.

(No problem, yellowsigh, and congratulations on the new house. The chapter is just about over and there's not much left to do, so I'll assume Kyle is merely quiet for now. Everyone may talk freely. Kyle may put on the second Kevlar vest if he wishes and take whatever he wants from the back of the truck. Anyone may exchange equipment and reload weapons, as you've got plenty of time. Just let me know what you want to do.

I'll take that manual roll of 13. It still fails, so there will be some delay on your trip, but not that much.

Yes, the base skill for Shotgun is 30%. The broken pistol can be repaired, and you have plenty of time to try to do so. Make a Mechanical Repair roll. The base skill is 20%. Everyone except Emily, who is busy driving, may attempt this roll once, so if Kathryn fails she can hand the gun and the tools to someone else. However, if one of these Mechanical Repair rolls is a critical failure - 96 or higher - the gun will be broken permanently.)

After reloeading the 9mm, Kat examines the malfuncioning gun. Being thorough she dismantles the whole piece and is extra careful to blow the components clean of particles. Then as the truck bumps over uneven patches in the road she puts it together, loads the magazine and checks it for funcionality. Smiling she pockets the gun and looks at the .22 Lauren is handling.

Emily scanned the road ahead of her for possible threats and remembered to keep an eye out for the spike strip that had been placed in the road. She slid the back window open, and said to Kyle: 'Keey and eye out back there, will ya?"

(OOC: I don't remember is we put the spike strip in the road or not, but I want to make sure to watch for it.)

(The spike strip was never deployed. There was no need to do so with Gardner out of the picture, and it was left in the RV.)

On the road-
Kyle nodded and looked all around, holding the M-4 ready as the truck rolled down the road. Kathryn didn't actually need to dismantle the pistol; after just a few seconds she managed to realign the firing mechanism and it was as good as new. Lauren sat in the middle seat holding the .22 rifle, which Kathryn could see was in good working order. It didn't have very good range compared to other rifles, and its bullets wouldn't cause a lot of damage, but it was still better than most pistols. It was a bolt action rifle, so it was not prone to jamming, and it was fairly reliable. Emily kept her eyes on the road ahead as she drove. All four of them had suffered terrible loss and hardship, but they had survived. The sun was sinking ever lower in the sky, but they weren't riding off into the sunset to live happily ever after. Instead they were racing against the sun, hoping against hope to be somewhere safe before it went down. But was anywhere really safe any more?

(Congratulations on surviving Chapter 3! During the break between chapters, I'll leave this thread unlocked so that the four of you can continue to post. Feel free to roleplay, talk to each other, and exchange equipment at any point. Now that you have two working 9mm pistols, Kathryn and Emily should decide how many magazines each of them gets. Right now Emily has all but the one Kathryn just took to reload her pistol. You may also wish to consolidate partial magazines, and reload your other weapons as well. Check the locations and weapons thread to see what each of you has and what's in the back of the truck. There's a long journey ahead of you, so there's plenty of time to do all of those things. There's no need to roll any more dice, however, as nothing will happen until the start of Chapter 4.)

Kat starts to sort through the magazines for the 9mms and fills up the used mags to full 15 loads. While on route to the truck stop she looks for the farm where the police cruiser is 'parked' . Gardner had a 9mm too. she thinks and voices, "Is the other farm on the way? There was a load of ammunition in the cruiser. If this infection thing has spread, we might need a ton of ammo."

Being occupied with the guns keeps Kat away from the small talk. Something she feels awkward about as she was the cause of these people´s loss, in more ways than one. Feeling the shoulder ache she asks Emily to check Kat´s shoulder when Lauren takes over the wheel after a few hours drive.

(Do we roll skill checks at the start of chapter 4?)

(Thanks for the extensive feed back. It was the skill improvement rolls I referred to. Great to have made the chapter! Sadly to a high cost in lives...)

Kat sits at the passenger site and suddenly says, "Good thing the lad is riding in the back..." she looks at the two women next to her, "...Just as girls here. Safe...from...men, you know. I mean you know what they...do?" When she puts the shotgun down on the floor next to the seat she lets out a sigh of pain.

" I do know what they do, Kat." Emily said detecting something in Kat's voice. "They rush into danger and risk their lives to save the life of a complete stranger; like my husband did for you. They stand their ground so that others may flee to safety and end up being eaten alive live Alvarez did. Not all men are monsters, Kat. Tell me what happened to you, perhaps I can help you."

(Is this where Kat´s earlier threads can be read by the parties concerned?)

Kat almost start to defend herself by talking back to Emily, but understands she´s trying to help her. "This day started just fine..." She holds up the digital camera. "Then we got visitors to the airfield and the National Guard took command of the tower. Gardner tied me up and promised to do me. A visiting helicopter interrupted his intentions and I got free from my ties and managed to warn the pilot, Erica, they got away at last. Many men and women died by the hands of Gardner... He took me to the farm..and eventually had his time with me...many times...Like my uncle had at the farm...during the summer holidays....again and again...and...then your husband rescued me...and I killed him..and Harry and Alvarez. I should have died at the tower as Dawkins...You´ll die too - for helping me - don´t help me I´m damaged. They..they can see that... They want to use me...like Gardner did...." Kat pauses and stares out the side window.

In a brake in the story recap Kat shuffles the 9mm mags and divide the full ones between Emily and herself. When the session continues she says, "I know Jack was a good man...Harry and Alvarez too. Now I...feel better...need to rest though." She tries to rest as the truck heads onwards to the next stop.

Fade out-

OOC,The story continues in the Juno section of Chapter 4, on the following link:

On the Road