Play@YSDC

Z-Day - 4:27 PM Central Time - Brooks High School, Omaha, Nebraska
On the roof-
"Sorry, this is the only gun I've got on me," said Erica Spears to Megan Petrovich as she took aim at a wounded ghoul. "We lost most of our weapons and ammo at the airfield. I lent my Grease gun to Lucy and my Beretta to Stephanie. Dr. Hausmann's got Bob's Beretta, and Dr. Smith has a Ruger P-85 that belonged to State Police Sergeant Diane Ford. Neither Bob nor Sergeant Ford made it." She got a sad and distant look which then turned to anger. She fired again, striking her target in the head and finishing it off. Only one zombie from the original group remained. It was still clawing at the bottom of the fence and trying to claw through, and it was nearly done. The other zombies gathering all around the fence were making progress too, but they had arrived later and weren't quite as far along.

Elijah Smith walked over to Adam Donnelly and examined the device with curiosity. "Is this the EMP generator?" he asked. "Is something wrong with it?"

In the north stairwell, upper floor-
Lucy Armstrong followed Becky Clarke through the door on the landing and into the hall.

In the north hall, upper floor-
Lucy went with Becky into the special projects lab as Rachel Cohen emerged, and Julianne Landers made her way to the balcony. The hallway was otherwise clear in all directions. Rachel looked inside the science classroom across the hall, which was empty.

In the special projects lab-
"I've also run the simulations several times," said Dr. Hausmann. "You can see the resulting data on the memory stick. We have also done some investigation into the toxin that the bite spreads. We did not have any samples, but we know that one woman at least seemed to be immune: a federal agent named Kimberly. She was bitten defending the helicopter when it landed in Brownson to refuel, before it picked us up, but she did not show any symptoms. Perhaps she is still a carrier, but we don't know. We had no time to run tests or even get a sample of her blood, and all we can do is speculate about why she may be immune. She mentioned that she has sickle-cell trait. It protects against malaria, so maybe it protects against this too. Another possibility is that psychoactive drugs may provide resistance to the toxin. Kimberly had taken LSD during undercover drug investigations. There was a woman who was killed in by a swarm of those mosquitos who had been taking Valium. Those with her were killed by the poisonous stings, but they did not seem to affect her. Instead, the creatures ripped her apart. Still, we do not even know if that poison is the same one that is transmitted from the bites of the dead, only that it seems similar. What we need are samples to analyze."

Stephanie looked up when Becky and Lucy walked in. "Hey, Lucy, good to see you again," she said, still typing away. "What's going on out there?"

"I was hoping you'd know," said Lucy.

In the southeast hall, upper floor-
"Thanks, Diana," said LaTanya as the other girl helped her up. "Yes, I can walk, but I'd still better see the nurse." She picked up the 9mm pistol, which Kyle had dropped when he had been knocked out by the baseball. He lay still, a lump forming on his head. He did not move even when Diana took his shotgun. "We're okay! He's down for the count!" She limped back to the balcony.

On the balcony-
Julianne crept onto the balcony, where she found Darnell standing stunned. LaTanya stumbled back from the southeast hall, her eyes overflowing with tears. Darnell slowly came to his senses.

OOC,[b]Darnell[/b], you may act freely again.

In the north stairwell, ground floor-
Ron Moore remained where he was, seemingly uncertain of what he should be doing.

In the north hall, ground floor-
Miguel spun on his heel. "Right, the keys," he said. He hurried back to the lobby, leaving Keith and Jerry behind.

In the lobby-
Miguel entered from the north hall and unlocked the security office's door for Vice Principal Sharon Kaplan. At about the same time, Tariq al-Tikriti and Lori Desmond arrived from the east hall. Amelia Delacroix was next, with Principal Lawrence Adler bringing up the rear. "We've got trouble in the cafeteria," said the principal, brandishing his bat. "At least one of those things broke open the kitchen's fire exit and got inside. We barricaded the door to the cafeteria, but it won't hold long." He cocked an ear. "Thought I heard something. What happened out here?"

Amelia gasped. "Oh no!" she said. "Sounds like the barricade just got broken in!"

Vice Principal Sharon Kaplan


Sharon felt her face pale as she listened to the new arrivals. She would have made some sort of remark in an attempt to comfort the students but she was too stunned.

"I think..." she said, too horrified to care about language, "shit just hit the fan, in all meanings of the phrase."

She took the door off Miquel's hands. She held it open, but continued to stare off into space. Her heart beat furiously in her chest and she could feel a cold sweat coming on. This day just kept getting worse, and worse, and worse, and worse.

"Would you all kindly get into the security office? she said, "for protection, obviously."

In the lobby-
"There's no way out of there," said Principal Adler. "If we go in there, we'll be trapped! Everyone who isn't going to fight needs to get upstairs - and that means you, too."

Vice Principal Sharon Kaplan

Sharon suddenly sound herself feeling rather embarrassed. She rubbed her foot against the floor and looked down, feeling like a schoolgirl again. She hated the feeling.

"Well.... you know, airvents... and..." she replied waving her hand in random directions, "Besides, where are we suppose to go upstairs. Either way we are trapped."


She pursed her lips and put her hand into her pocket, withdrawing a ring of keys. She had been meaning to save them as a bargaining chip, but she thought she ought to reveal them now. It seemed appropriate with matters spiraling out of control.

"My car is out front." she said, "In the parking lot. If we can just get there, we might be home free. The school is no longer a haven."

Darnell turned to LaTanya and said, "LaTanya i am so sorry. I did not mean to hurt you. I tried to hit Kyle but I screwed up. I understand if you never wish to talk to me again. If that is the case can I have my school ring back along with my Varsity Jacket? But know this. I will marry you and help you raise this child and he will not know any pain or suffering. I will be a good father to him."

Alvin said, "I can fight. I may not have many weapons but I can fight. I also can train others to fight. So where do you want me?"

Lobby



Roy looks up at Darnell,

"Yo dude, what the hell? You wanna get yourself killed, you crazy punkass?"

He holds his hands up,

"Gimme my bat!"

Balcony



Julianne relaxes her grip on the fire extinguisher when she sees that something has just concluded. She moves to intercept LaTanya when she sees her limp.

"LaTanya, honey, what happened?"

Jerry
-Was it just one? We could try to... no better that we retreat. We will return to the main group upsters. And we will try to barricade each door, to slow them. Seems that the fence being repair won't matter much. Now we must hurry.
Jerry starts to return to the main group.

Michiko
If that zombie is killed befor he finished to destroy the fence and the electric system is repair, maybe we still have a chance...

Keith Stewart


[sub]Keith turns pale at the talk of zombies inside the school.[/sub]

"Yeah, Jerry is right, lets go up the stairs"

Mr. Handy,Does Keith have his gun and knife on him?

Diana Forrester


Diana smiled weakly at the couple. Darnell really was sweet in his own way. The moment really had been beautiful.

"That was lovely Darnell," she said, "Truly it was. However we have some pressing matters to deal with now."

Her smile dropped and to her the air gained a foreboding quality to it. It would not be long before the screaming came and all their hope would be washed away. A defiled sanctuary would replace the school. Abandon hope all ye who enter here. Oh god, innocent blood would soon paint the walls. Her face became chalk white.

"We really really need to come up with a plan. If we don't we all are gonna die." she turned to Darnell, "Do you have any suggestions? We could go try to find someone. Someone else might have a plan. A helicopter's upstairs. Or, we could continue to the library. We could barricade it and escape out the windows and steal a car."

"I suggest getting somewhere where we have an exit as well, baracade ourselves in for the night, and hope to hell that those scientists get the work done so that this all ends. I do not think that we should leave the school however."

"So... library? The Labs? I think our best bet is on the second floor. I highly doubt the barricades in the cafeteria will hold much longer so we'll have to rely on the ones in the stairs. We'll be able to get a visual on things happening below before all hell breaks loose up here." she said, "We also need to decide whether Kyle is worth saving.

Darnell Jones,Your bat is indeed broken in the lobby below, so you'd have to get another one. Roy's bat is lying at your feet, but he wants it back.

Keith Stewart,Yes, you have them both on you.

On the roof-
"Damn straight we have a chance!" said Erica, aiming at the crawling zombie.

On the balcony-
LaTanya put an arm around Darnell and leaned on him. "I know you didn't mean to hit me, Darnell," she said, "but your words were aimed at me, and they hurt worse than that bat did. I guess...I guess I just need some time to think, but that's the one thing we don't have. I guess everyone's going to know I'm pregnant now, but you really are the father. I only told Kyle it was his to get him to stop, or at least to make him drop his guard. Guess it worked, huh?" She looked back at Diana. "The library has no windows, and there's only one way out of there. What about the roof?"

In the lobby-
"If you can fight, I can use you right here with me," Principal Adler told Alvin. "We can't let these things run loose in the school. If we can stop any that have already gotten inside and set up new barricades, we can still hold the school if they can get the power back on. Blocking the cafeteria doors with something will buy us a little time. Anyhow, the road leading off school grounds is blocked off. The only way out of here by car would be to smash through the fence."

On the Balcony:

Darnell looked at LaTanya and smiled, "I will be a good father and husband to you. Looks like my NFL dreams are over anyway." He kissed LaTanya and then coming up for air said, "Lets go to the roof. Safest place there is here."

In the lobby:

Alvin grabbed his weapons and got ready to fight. He looked at Keith and Roy and said, "Boys better get upstairs before you lose the chance to ever become a man."

Adam, on the roof:


To Elijah:
"Something wrong with it? I'm not sure, kid. I put it together in a bit of a hurry, so now I'm checking to make sure I didn't screw anything up. Lives depend on this hunk of junk working."

He thinks for a moment...

"Hey, want to give me a hand? There's some heavy physics at work here, but it's not every day you get to play with this kind of top-secret weaponry, I bet."

Adam turns his attention back to the device, then shoots a quick glance back at Elijah.

"And look...when I say 'play,' I mean it in the most delicate, don't-screw-it-up-and-set-it-off kind of way..."

Chester, in the special projects lab:


After hearing Dr. Hausmann's story:

"Then maybe we should all find and take some LSD. Maybe a little psychadelic therapy is what we need..."

He forces a smile.

"More seriously, though...a more pressing matter that we should analyse is what the hell we're going to do next, provided we all live to see that signal interrupted and the EMP set off. For starters, we should probably round up all the survivors in the building if we're considering leaving. I'm not sure how many people are holed up in the school."

-Well, at least in japan the number of zombies must be very low, you see, we cremate our deaths.

Keith Stewart

[sub]Keith hears Alvin's advice and continues upstairs, although he wants to see what has happened with Roy and Kyle.[/sub]

Keith Stewart

[sub]Keith hears Alvin's advice and continues upstairs, although he wants to see what has happened with Roy and Kyle.[/sub]

Lori Desmond loks from one person to the other being utterly confused. 'escuse me' 'anyone got a better weapon for me then this kitchen knife i got?' 'a smaler revolver or something?'

Tariq

Tariq is slightly confused, especially by the absence of headshotted enemies. He walks up to Kaplan, and peers into the security office to see if there are any guns in there, planning to take at least one if he sees any.

He then turns to Kaplan,

"Ms. Kaplan, do you really think that your car can get out? I have equipment and weapons - automatic weapons, not baseball bats - at my house, which isn't far. We could stop there, arm ourselves, and then flee town. If we made it to the airport, I have a little experience with helicopters, and could probably get us out if the weather was good. Of course, it might be less risky to go to the roof."

he then speaks slightly louder, still nominally adressing Ms. Kaplan, but hoping anyone will answer his questions,

"and what is this about headshots and teenage romance? If anyone has a gun, I can probably use it best when the enemy in the cafeteria gets here."

Lobby



Roy tries it louder this time,

"DARNELL! MY BAT!"

Balcony



Though LaTanya ignored her question, Julianna has seem enough. She runs back to the lab as fast as she can with the fire extinguisher to inform the others.

Special Projects Lab



Feeling useless and anxious, Becky pokes her head out the door to see if anything is happening. She sees Julianna running awkwardly back up the hall with the fire extinguisher and chortles to herself. She remains stubbornly in the doorway, amused in more ways than one that the hot teacher has to squeeze past to her to get inside.

Special Projects Lab



Julianna raises an eyebrow at Becky,

"Excuse me!"

Back in the lab, Julianna addresses Dr. Hausman,

"The gunshots weren't what we thought. It was students shooting at each other! The instigator is unconscious and disarmed. But something has apparently found its way into the kitchen. I counted at least three guns out there, so they may be able to handle it."

She sets the extinguisher on the floor next to the door,

"I'm going back."

Special Projects Lab



Hearing this, Becky grunts and starts down the hall with her bat.

Darnell tossed the bat to Roy and said, "Join us up on the roof." He then turned to LaTanya and said, "You trust me enough to come with me to the roof baby?"

Down in the Lobby Alvin continued to prepare to fight.

Rachel Cohen

Julianna pushed pass Becky into the lab; Rachel watched on, amused by their antics.

OOC,A few things: [b]LaTanya[/b] wasn't ignoring [b]Julianne[/b], I just forgot that she had asked the question when I made the minor update. I was going to have her answer in this major update anyway, but it had been delayed. Also, [b]Julianne[/b] cannot get all the way back to the lab in the turn that just ended (though she can still shout so that those inside hear her). She's in the north hall in the upper floor right now, and this turn she can make it back into the lab. [b]Jerry[/b] is in the north stairwell on the ground floor, and this turn he can make it up to the upper floor landing. You can check your characters' locations in the Locations thread, and you can use the maps in the Maps thread to plan your route. By the way, if you have more than one character in the same thread, you do not need to make separate posts for each of them. You can post for multiple characters in the same post. If they're in different areas, you can just use headings indicating the location like I do.

On the roof-
"Unfortunately, there was no time to cremate everyone who died today before they rose up," said Erica. "That's where most of the walking corpses came from, because of the alien mosquito-things in the meteors that came down last night. I'm sorry, but this is happening all over the world. Luckily I brought the people who can put a stop to all this here." She squeezed the trigger yet again and finished off the crawling zombie that had nearly made it through the bottom of the fence. "Yeah!"

Elijah carefully examined the EMP device. The young prodigy quickly assessed the EMP device and nodded to himself. "You've got the leads wired up the wrong way," he said. "We just need to reverse the polarity and everything will work fine. It'll take me about ten minutes. If it's okay for Michiko to help, we might get it done even faster."

On the balcony-
LaTanya went with Darnell back down the hall to the north. "Yes, let's get up on the roof," she said. "If we have to get off the roof in a hurry, there are always the fire escapes. Come on, Diana."

In the north hall, upper floor-
Darnell and LaTanya followed Julianne down the hall. Ahead of them they saw Rachel Cohen already in the hall and Becky emerging from the lab. "We're all okay!" shouted LaTanya. "Kyle Rogers tried to shoot Roy McCrumb with a shotgun, but Roy jumped off the balcony and wasn't hurt. Then someone down in the lobby shot back at Kyle, and Roy started throwing things at him. He managed to knock Kyle out. My leg got hurt by accident during the fight, but I'll be fine."

In the special projects lab-
Dr. Smith moved for the exit when he heard what had happened, and Michelle went with him. "I'm Michelle Marquez, the school nurse," she told him.

"Glad to have your help," he said. "I'm Dr. Bernard Smith. Dr. Hausmann, you should stay here in the lab and continue your work. I think the two of us can handle this."

Kelly Cameron lowered her head and turned away, swallowing.

"Well, I wouldn't go so far as to drop acid," said Stephanie to Chester Johnson with a grin as she typed. "Valium might be just as effective with fewer side effects, but even that can impair you. We don't even know if it does make you immune anyway, but if it does maybe we could isolate whatever it is that confers immunity from the more dangerous components of the drug."

In the lobby-
The aluminum bat landed near Roy with a clang.

Miguel left the keys in the lock of the open door to the security office. Inside the room, a cabinet was visible where a couple of nightsticks were kept locked up, but no guns were kept there. The keys that Miguel had left would unlock the cabinet. There were also keys on the ring for the two detention cells that were around the corner of the L-shaped security office. Neither one was currently occupied. "Kyle had a shotgun and a handgun," he said. "I'm sure someone can use them. I've got a gun too, but it's the only one I have." He took out his Glock 9mm. "Principal Adler, I'm with you."

"All right," said Adler. "First, let's block off the door to the cafeteria. That might get us a small reprieve." He grabbed the chair from behind the security desk and headed down the east hall. Miguel followed him.

In the north hall, ground floor-
Keith and Jerry hurried down the hall and entered the stairwell.

In the north stairwell, ground floor-
Coach Ron Moore was still waiting on the landing when Jerry and Keith entered.

In the north hall, upper floor:
Darnell whispered to LaYanya, "Thanks for not ratting me out for hurting you. I appreciate it."

In the Lobby:
Alvin hurried after Jerry and Keith entering the stairway. "Wait gentlemen." he cried out.

-Yes?-asked Jerry



Michiko
-It will be an honour to help.

In the Lobby:

"Students shooting at each other? I hope my son wasn't involved in this, but finding out will have to wait. I don't know about anyone else, but I've fired a handgun in combat more than once, so I think whoever has Kyles might want to toss it to me."

Tariq looks around, planning to stay and fight if he can get a gun, but also ready to flee what he is sure is a foolhardy stand.

Alvin asked, "where are you guys going? If you are going to get that teenage punk and put him in the dentention cell I know that a few of us can sure use his pistol and shotgun."

Ground Floor, East Hall



Roy shouts after Darnell and the others,

"Why is everyone retreating all the way to the roof? HEY!"

Roy trots after Principal Adler and Miguel,

"Principal Adler, what the hell are those punk-asses doing? One zombie was spotted in the kitchen and they're giving up the whole first AND second floor? What about the doctors in the lab? Why can't we bust some heads and keep the whole building?"

OOC - who has the shotgun? please tell me it didn't just go to the roof - it's a close-combat weapon!

Roy shouts after the group on the second floor,

"Hey, what the hell are you guys doing? HEY!"

Roy trots after Adler and Miguel down the East Hall,

"Principal Adler, why are they retreating all the way to the roof? One zombie was spotted and they're giving up both floors? Why can't we bust some heads and keep the whole building?"

OOC,Where's the shotgun? Please tell me it isn't being taken to the roof - it's a close-combat weapon.

Balcony



Becky reaches the balcony and sees Adler, Miguel and Roy move out of sight into the East Hall downstairs. She moves around the balcony to her right, toward the Southwest Hall, to see where they are going.

Balcony



Comforted by LaTanya's update, Julianna continues back down the North Hall to the Balcony. She hears Roy calling out to the principal downstairs. She moves to the left toward the Southeast Hall of the second floor to see if anyone is tending to the unconscious Kyle.

"Unless someone tells me where the pistol is, I'm heading for the roof also," says Tariq.

"It isn't a matter of giving up the building, its a matter of fighting where you have the greatest advantage. Having an extra fifty feet of hallway behind you won't help, but being able to shoot from a balcony will."

"Giving up the building is our greatest advantage? Dude, when the ball snaps I don't run all the way back to my own fuckin' goal line. I gain yards. And I'd rather have 50 feet of hall behind me than get trapped up there with a bunch of pussies. Your pea shooter isn't gonna save us. Those docs in the lab are. You wanna just throw that away? You wanna let all those people get eaten to save your own ass for a few hours? What happens when you run out of bullets? When the building is full of zombies and surrounded by 'em and you get too hungry to swing a bat? If there's a hole somewhere we gotta plug it up! Grow some balls and help us, man!"

Adam, on the roof:


Adam looks at Elijah, surprised by his diagnosis of the EMP generator. He examines the leads.

"Damn silly mistake. Good thing we caught it. I guess I can let the kid do it... under supervision. It's simple enough."

To Elijah:
"Impressive, kid. You can go ahead and swap those lines. The girl can help out if you want. Don't mess with anything else without showing me first. Got it?"

Adam passes over his toolkit and steps back to oversee the operation.

Keith Stewart

[sub]Keith is undecided on what to do next.[/sub]

Michiko tried her best and was happy to make some progress.

Tariq is confused again.

"Docs in the lab? Are going to save us? Who do you think probably caused this? But if we have assets in the building - I see what you mean. This is why I asked someone to tell me what was going on. And you shouldn't forget who's on your side, either - I can understand these are pretty bad circumstances for you, and anger can be a good way to deal with immediate combat, but you have to stay, what is the word, "cool" at other times. I've fought against overwhelming numbers of enemies before, and people who get upset easily die fiery deaths."

Lori Desmon

Lobby ground floor:

Lori Desmond looks up towards the balcony and realizing she was almost alone in the lobby. She started to run towards the north hall passing by Tariq continuing towards the stairs, second floor and balcony.

ooc:

Dr Singh

In the lab, Dr Singh hovers around the laptop, watching the events unfold. Finally, he shrugs and heads over to Dr Hausmann - "Dr Hausmann, is there anything I can do to expedite the research or EMP setup?"

Megan

Feeling rather helpless without a weapon, Megan decides to scout out the current situation around the school grounds from the roof.

Roy drops his eyes and examines the tip of his bat with his fingers, suddenly feeling like a little kid dressed up in 200 pounds plus of muscle.

"Sorry Mister T. Uh... yeah. Hey, that shotgun is still up there on the balcony if you want that. Just don't let Kyle get it again."

Keith Stewart shouts to anyone nearby, "So what's happenin', are those critters in the kitchin going to be beaten back, or are we gonna run?"


"I wonder what is going down out there in the lobby?" she thinks.

in the north hall, ground floor
Alvin said to those around him, "Should we not move someplace else so we have a fallback position?"

In the north hall, upper floor:
Darnell asked LaTanya, "How r you doing? Would u like me to try and bandage your wound for you?"

OOC,[b]Lawrence Adler[/b], [b]Miguel Garcia[/b], and [b]Roy McCrumb[/b] are moving to the thread linked below and should stop reading the current thread at this point. Everyone else remains in the current thread.

Dread

In the lobby-
Roy followed Miguel and Principal Adler down the east hall toward the cafeteria, while Amelia Delacroix and Murray followed the others going north. Only Vice Principal Kaplan remained, standing uncertainly outside the open door to the security office. Then there was a pistol shot from the east hall, but it was impossible to see what was happening there from where she currently stood.

In the north hall, ground floor-
Murray hurried along behind Alvin, glad to be out of the lobby. He barked when the gunshot rang out.

"Hurry, keep moving!" said Amelia, running alongside Tariq and Lori. "We have to get upstairs!"

In the north stairwell, ground floor-
Jerry Law and Keith Stewart ran past Ron Moore on their way upstairs.

On the balcony-
Diana stood on the balcony, cradling the shotgun in her hands. Julianne went to the southeast part of the balcony and saw Kyle sprawled out in the hall a few dozen feet beyond, still unconscious. He had no weapons visible, only the backpack on his back. The baseball that had knocked him out had rolled a short distance past him. Becky went around to the southwest part of the balcony and looked over the rail. She caught a glimpse of Principal Adler, Miguel, and Roy heading down the east hall on the floor below before they passed beyond where the ceiling blocked her view. A second later, the pistol shot echoed from the east hall downstairs.

In the north hall, upper floor-
"I'll be okay," said LaTanya to Darnell. "Thanks for helping."

"Thank you, Darnell," said Michelle Marquez, "but we can take care of her leg now. Let's all go into the lab." She took LaTanya's arm and helped her along.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Bernard Smith," said the elderly black man with her. "I just arrived in the helicopter."

"Nice to meet you," said LaTanya, letting him and the nurse guide her into the lab.

In the special projects lab-
"If you could collect samples, that might help," said Dr. Hausmann. "Best of all would be one of the dead bodies. I haven't had a chance to do an autopsy of one yet. Don't take any chances trying to get one, but if the others have killed any..." She stopped speaking when the nurse and doctor returned with LaTanya.

Liz grabbed a few chairs and lined them up in a row. "Here, you can lie down on these," she said. "If you two need help, I am a medical doctor."

"I think Adam Donnelly is looking after the EMP device," said Dr. Saunders, "but if he needs help I can assist him. I didn't know that your expertise extended to physics as well, Dr. Singh."

On the roof-
Megan looked around the school grounds. Though the cluster of ghouls at the northwest corner had been destroyed, there were now dozens more scattered around the fence trying to claw their way in - and some of them were dangerously close to doing so. Erica saw them too and took a shot at one that was most of the way through the fence, only to miss.

"Got it," said Elijah as he continued to work. "Thanks, Mr. Donnelly!" With Michiko's help, it was going a lot faster.

OOC,It will take four more minutes to finish fixing the EMP generator.

"By all means, Roy, get angry if you still want to fight at whoever is about to come down this hall. Be more enraged than you've ever been. But be angry at him. He is the enemy. I'll see if I can find one of Kyle's guns upstairs and come help. I don't know about shotguns - they weren't too popular back in Iraq," Tariq calls, then heads up the steps.

When Alvin heard the shots he said, "Oh Shit here we go again!" He began to run toward the East Hall.

-Now what? Let's see what is happening.
Jerry goes in direction of the shot.

Lori Desmon


In the north hall, ground floor.

Lori will continue to move towards the balcony of the second floor.

Keith Stewart watches in dismay when Jerry heads back towards the sound of the shot, "Jerry, wait for me!" he says and scrambles after him.

Second floor, southeast hall



Julianne kneels beside Kyle. The contusion on his head doesn't seem too bad to her, but she isn't sure, and doesn't try to move him. She scans the area nearby for any more weapons, and then looks inside Kyle's backpack.

Balcony, west side



When the shot rings out Becky hurries back to the north side of the balcony. Seeing Diana there with the shotgun, she walks right up to her and grabs the barrel.

"Gimme that!"

In the lab:
"Dr Hausmann, as a contingency, can you scientists move out of the lab with your laptops and up to the roof? I wonder how safe it is here."

In the lobby-
Alvin rushed in from the north hall with Murray hot on his heels. Vice Principal Sharon Kaplan still stood outside the open door to the security office, seemingly paralyzed with shock. Two more gunshots rang out from the east hall, and then they heard Miguel cry "Oh, crap!" Murray sniffed the air and whimpered in distress. He closed his teeth on Alvin's pants leg and tried to pull him back toward the north hall.

OOC,[b]Alvin[/b], you can continue on without rolling anything to get loose if you want. [b]Murray[/b] can't really hold onto you this way. By the way, everyone in this thread except those on the roof heard the gunshots automatically. If you're on the roof, you can make a Listen roll to see if you hear them.

In the north hall, ground floor-
Amelia kept running for the stairs with Tariq and Lori when Alvin went the other way. They heard the gunshots too as they entered the stairwell.

In the north stairwell, ground floor-
Jerry and Keith reached the ground floor landing as the group from the cafeteria entered from the hall. Ron Moore finally seemed to make up his mind and went through the door into the hallway.

On the balcony-
Diana released the shotgun, backing away from the big bus driver with fear all over her face. Becky inspected it and saw that it still had three shells remaining.

In the southeast hall, upper floor-
The only weapon Julianne could find in plain sight was the baseball Roy had used to knock Kyle out. However, when she knelt down and unzipped Kyle's backpack, she found eight pipe bombs inside, along with two boxes of shotgun shells, one of which was open, six .40 magazines, and a large fighting knife.

In the special projects lab-

OOC,[b]Rachel[/b] was in the hall before. Did she go back into the lab? [b]Darnell[/b] is also still standing out in the hall, as I didn't get a post for him.

"Nein, Rachel!" called Dr. Hausmann. "We need this equipment to send the signal once the power comes back on. If we have to we can temporarily move to the roof while Stephanie works on her laptop, but someone would have to come back here to transmit."

"She's right," said Dr. Saunders. "This equipment isn't exactly portable."

LaTanya handed Michelle the handgun she was carrying. "Kyle had this," she said. "Maybe you can use it."

"Thank you," said the nurse. "Let's have a look at your leg." She examined the injury. "Looks pretty bad, but at least it's not broken. It's not the sort of thing I'm used to."

"At least it's just my leg and not...something more important." LaTanya put a hand on her belly.

"Allow me," said Dr. Smith. He tried to help, but was also unable to do much.

Dr. Hausmann came over. "I'm not doing much at the moment," she said.

"Go help her," said Stephanie, still typing rapidly. "I've got it covered."

Dr. Hausmann frowned when she saw the girl's leg. "Ja, this is a difficult one, but I can manage it." She rubbed ointment on the bruise and bandaged LaTanya's leg, repairing most of the damage.

On the roof-

OOC,Repair progress: 2/5

"They're almost through the fence!" shouted Erica with alarm. She fired again and scored a hit, wounding her target's head severely - but it continued crawling on the ground and clawing its way through the fence.

Elijah smiled at Michiko and Adam as the two students continued to work on the EMP generator. "We're doing great," he said. "It should be configured in just a few more minutes."

Keith says to Jerry, "Alvin is heading down the East Hall, where those shots came from."

OOC,Yep, Rachel has gone into the lab. It is easy to forget ZA is played out one moment at a time.

When Dr Hausmann said how vital the equipment in the lab was, Rachel's heart sank; she began to doubt the scientists would be finished in time before the zombies broke into the school.

In the Lobby:
Alvin paused for a few seconds to shake Murry off. As he continued to run he said to the dog, "We need to help our friends. If you are too scared to go you may stay here." He then continued to run to the East Hall.


In the Special Projects Lab:
Darnell poked his head into the lab and said, "Anything that I can do to help you out here?"

Southeast Hall


Julianna grabs the knife and quickly strips the backpack off of Kyle. She rushes back to the balcony, where she hopes she can see what is going on downstairs.

Balcony



Becky gives Diana her baseball bat,

"Now get out of here kid. Go to the lab or something. There are more people in there."

She leans against the balcony wall and tries to see or hear what's happening downstairs. She sees the hot teacher coming back from a visit with the sack of potatoes formerly known as Kyle, and she tightens her grip on the shotgun. No way is she giving that up.

Balcony



Julianna sees Becky with the shotgun and approaches her,

"Do you know how to use that thing?"




Becky replies,

"My first birthday present was a 20-gauge, dollface."

Julianna digs in the backpack for a second and hands Becky the boxes of shotgun shells,

"Happy birthday."

In the special projects lab-
"You can come over here and stay with me if you've got nothing better to do," said LaTanya.

In the special projects lab:

Darnell came over and stood near LaTanya. He looked away however as he did not like what had occured to her leg. He whispered, "Baby i am so sorry."

"Sounds like things are getting interesting out there," says Tariq when he hears the shooting.

He continues to hurry to the second floor.

In the lobby-
Murray went into the east hall along with Alvin. Though he was afraid, he could not let his friend face danger alone. Sharon Kaplan finally grabbed the keys and ducked into the security office.

OOC,[b]Alvin[/b] and [b]Murray[/b] are moving to the thread linked below. Please stop reading the current thread at this point unless you have another character in it, and do not read the posts in the new thread above the one in the link. Everyone else remains in the current thread.

Dread

In the security office-
Sharon looked around quickly and soon found the locked cabinet where the nightsticks were stored. She hurried over and unlocked it. She heard another shot from the east hall, and then the fluorescent lights overhead came back on.

In the north hall-
Ron Moore rushed into the lobby as Jerry and Keith entered the hall from the stairwell. They all heard the shot, and then the lights came back on.

In the north stairwell, ground floor-
Amelia, Tariq, and Lori ran upstairs.

In the north stairwell, upper floor-
As the group arrived from below, they also heard the shot and saw the lights come on again.

On the balcony-
Diana took the bat and ran off down the north hall without a word. Becky took the boxes, which contained a total of 45 shotgun shells. The 12-gauge shotgun itself held three, though it could hold up to five. She and Julianne couldn't see down the east hall from up here, but they did see Alvin and Murray head into it and Vice Principal Kaplan enter the security office. They heard one more gunshot from the east hall, and then the power returned.

In the special projects lab-
"It's okay, Darnell," said LaTanya. "It's not as bad as it looks, and the doctors are really helping."

Michelle examined the injury closely. "Yes, it's not so bad," she said. "You'll be up and about in a few minutes I think, good as new." Dr. Smith helped out, but there was little else Dr. Hausmann could do. Dr. Liz Somerville came over and took her place.

Everyone in the lab heard the pistol shot, and then the lights flickered back on. "We have power!" cheered Dr. Saunders. "Stephanie, are you ready to trasmit?"

"I need more time!" said Stephanie, typing feverishly.

"How much more? The fence is powered again, but we don't know how many of them got through."

"Ten minutes, maybe a little less. I'm almost done!"

On the roof-
Erica took another shot, but this time she missed. The zombies continued forcing their way through the chainlink fence, and a few got inside, including the one she had shot in the head before, which crawled across the field west of the school building. She saw another pair stumble in at the north and northeast corners.

Then the zombies that were still clawing at the fence jerked around madly before collapsing. They did not move again. "The power's back on!" cheered Megan.

Elijah and Michiko continued to fix the EMP device.

OOC,Repair progress: 3/5

Darnell said, "Is there anything I can do for anyone? I feel kind of out of place."

Lori Desmon


'Shit' the Gothgirl burst out 'wtf going on!' as the lights turn on she peeks carefully down the north hall

In the north stairwell, upper floor-
Looking through the doorway and down the hall, Lori saw Diana Forester running back up the hall in her direction from the balcony, carrying a baseball bat.

In the special projects lab-
"We could always use someone else to help defend the lab, if you're up to it," said Dr. Saunders. "If you want to help, don't take any unnecessary risks, and stay behind Rachel. She has the guns."

In the north hall-

"Hey, Jerry, I am sick of lugging around this damn chainsaw and sabre. Do you want them?, because I'm gonna leave them right here."


In the special projects lab-

Rachel asks Darnell, "I don't suppose you know how to use a gun?"

Balcony



Becky shoves two shells into the shotgun to fill the chamber. She looks at Julianna hurrying up the north hall with Kyle's backpack, and looks over the wall to the lobby below. The commotion continues down the east hall, and it sounds chaotic.

"Oh fuck it."

Becky stuffs the remaining shells in her pockets and trudges up the hall toward the north stairwell. Speaking in her mind to whoever is down in the east hall,

"Hang on, you idiots - I'm coming."

Second floor, north hall



Shaken by the sight of the makeshift bombs, Julianna speedwalks to the Special Projects Lab. She holds the bag out carefully to avoid jogging it. That boy needs to be guarded or locked up, and she will need help to move him.

-Sure, I take the chainsaw and sabre. We can always throw the chain in the worst case- says Jerry.

"Jerry, I'm not so keen on close combat any longer, I've decided the mess that chainsaw will make of a zombie's face is enough to put me off dinner, for ever. Now this little beauty is my style of weapon," Keith produces a handgun which has been concealed in his pants. "It is highly illegal, but who cares now?"

In the security office-
Sharon Kaplan snatched up the two nightsticks and then returned to the lobby.

In the lobby-
Ron Moore ran into the east hall. As Sharon emerged from the security office, Keith and Jerry arrived. Then Miguel's voice came from Jerry's radio: "This is Miguel Garcia. We took down the zombie that broke in, but Roy McCrumb is seriously injured and needs a doctor in the east hall downstairs. We also need reinforcements here to guard and barricade the kitchen exit. Over."

OOC,[b]Ron Moore[/b] is moving to the thread linked below. Please stop reading the current thread at this point, and do not read the posts in the new thread before the one in the link. Everyone else remains in the current thread.

Dread

In the north stairwell, upper floor-
Lori looked through the door and saw the people coming from the balcony. Tariq and Amelia were right behind her.

OOC,[b]Tariq[/b], I can't remember exactly where you were headed and you haven't posted since the last major update. Were you going to the roof? The special projects lab? If you were heading to either location, you can consider yourself already there.

In the north hall, upper floor-
Becky Clarke and Julianne Landers headed north down the hallway from the balcony, Julianne gingerly carrying a backpack. Diana ran back into the special projects lab.

In the special projects lab-
Dr. Hausmann walked back over to Stephanie. "You're doing an excellent job, Stephanie," she said. "Don't worry, I'm sure you will finish in time."

"Thanks, Brigetta," said Stephanie, smiling at her as she typed.

The other doctors finished working on LaTanya's leg. She carefully stood up and tested it out. "Wow, this is great!" she said. "It still hurts, but I can walk again without much difficulty."

Michelle nodded. "That's good to hear, but try not to over-exert yourself and keep off of it as much as possible. And put ice on it!"

Then everyone in the lab heard Miguel's message on the radio. "Guess our work is never done, huh?" said Dr. Smith.

Kelly's ears perked up when she heard the voice on the radio, and she smiled a little.

"Diana, are you okay?" asked Teresa when her friend returned to the lab. She went over and hugged her. "Were you there when Kyle started shooting?"

On the roof-
Erica frowned as the two zombies to the north started trudging across the football field. Leaving the crawling zombie for now, she turned her attention to the one due north of the school building. She put a bullet in its skull, reducing it to a crawl but not slaying it. Elijah and Michiko continued to work while Adam looked on. They were almost done now.

OOC,Repair progress: 4/5

Jerry follows to the east hall downstairs.

In the lobby-

"Action stations! We are needed in the kitchin, Jerry."


In the lab-

"Dr Hausmann, I'm sure to be of more use downstairs, I'll go; okay?"

Tariq was headed for Kyle's unconscious form.

When he meets Julianne along the way, he recognizes the dangerous contents of the backpack and offers to relieve her of it.

OOC,Okay, [b]Tariq[/b] is in the north hall right now and will make it to the balcony at the next major update. [b]Amelia[/b] is with him, and [b]Lori[/b] may keep up with them too if she wants.

In the special projects lab-
"If you think that's best," said Dr. Hausmann. "A few of us up here have guns now if anything gets up here some other way."

Dr. Saunders nodded. "Keep your radio on you so we can stay in touch," she said.

"We shall meet again. Sorry if that sounds dramatic!"
Rachel Cohen leaves the lab, she is heading for the kitchen.

Darnell perked up upon seeing LaTanya walking. "Baby that is good!" He kissed her and said, "I need to go help Roy and maybe guard the kitchen door. Would you mind if I did that?"

In the special projects lab-
"And leave me here?" said LaTanya. "Oh, hell no! I'm coming with you, and no arguments."

Rachel Cohen looks back.
"Darnell, LaTanya, lets all go to the kitchen together."

"As you wish LaTanya." Darnell held her hand in his and walked behind Rachel.

[spoiler-button],How does Julianne respond to Tariq's offer? She seemed pretty nervous about carrying the backpack.[/spoiler-button]

North Hall



"Yes, thank you Tariq! Get these things the hell away from me!"

Special Projects Lab



After handing the backpack to Tariq Julianne continues to the special projects lab.

"Can anyone help me with Kyle? He's still unconsious, but I found pipe bombs in his backpack. I think we need to put him in detainment for his own safety and ours."

North Stairwell



Becky continues making for the cafeteria from upstairs via the north stairwell

Tariq continues to head for Kyle, glancing at the homemade explosives and trying to make a quick evaluation of them while he is moving.

In the lobby-
Sharon Kaplan followed Jerry and Keith into the east hall.

OOC,[b]Sharon Kaplan[/b], [b]Jerry Law[/b], and [b]Keith Stewart[/b] are moving to the thread linked below. Please stop reading the current thread if you don't still have another character in it, and do not read the posts in the new thread before the one in the link. Everyone else remains in the current thread.

Dread

In the north stairwell, basement-
Declan McLeod entered the stairwell in time to see the others heading up the stairs.

In the north stairwell, ground floor-
Donald, Emilio, Chuck, and Tiny arrived at the landing from below. The wheelbarrow was where Donald had left it, but he saw to his dismay that the chainsaw and axe were gone.

In the special projects lab-
"When you return, please bring the body back for autopsy!" called Dr. Hausmann as the others left. Dr. Smith, Michelle Marquez, and LaTanya followed Rachel to the stairs. Julianne entered the lab just after they left.

"Yeah, I was there," said Diana. "I'm fine, Teresa. Nobody got killed. I thought we were all going to die at the time."

In the north hall, upper floor-
Dr. Smith, Michelle, and LaTanya entered the stairwell with Rachel, Becky, and Darnell. Amelia went with Tariq to the balcony.

On the balcony-
Tariq and Amelia arrived. They would have to go around the corner to reach where Kyle had been left. Tariq could tell that the eight pipe bombs within the backpack were crude homemade explosive devices. They were nowhere near as powerful as C-4, but they could still cause significant damage. The bag also contained a long fighting knife and six .40 magazines, but there were no guns inside.

In the north stairwell, upper floor-
Dr. Smith, Michelle, Becky, Darnell, LaTanya, and Rachel entered the stairwell.

On the roof-
Erica fired at the zombie to the northeast, which was not yet hurt. She missed badly. Her target had mostly crossed the football field at this point, and the one she had just hit was about halfway across. The one to the west was crawling closer too.

"All set!" shouted Elijah as he closed up the panel on the EMP device to protect the circuitry inside. "Michiko and I have prepared it to work properly when the time comes."

Michiko is very glad for having helped.

ooc mr handy

Darnell held LaTanya's hand as he followed the rest of the group. He sighed sadly.

Donald paused at the wheelbarrel, rubbing his head and looking around, "Now where do you suppose those things wandered off to?" When the others look at him questioningly, he mentions, "I had an axe and a chainsaw in here. Someone must have snatched them while we were busy. Well, I suppose we'll find out right quick if someone starts up that chainsaw."

He got behind the wheelbarrel and started pushing it in a direction to one end of the school to start the rounds checking for excessive energy consumption.

North stairwell, upper floor-

"We'll return with a zombie, the corpse will be of immense use to the scientists," says Rachel Cohen. "Strange to think that whoever the zombie was will have 'died' twice, after I've shot it that is."

North Stairwell

Becky grunts in acknowledgment of Rachel's dark thought.

Special Projects Lab

Julianna pauses in the doorway, looking between the blank faces in the room and the figures heading down the hall toward the balcony,

"Or is that already happening?"

She slaps the doorjamb and rests her forehead against it in frustration.

"If only I could get my hands on a pistol," she whispers.

North Hallway



Collecting herself, Julianna heads for the north stairwell on a mission to comfort the shooters defending the campus perimeter, and hopefully be comforted by the activity.

Mr. Handy wrote:

OOC,I haven't forgotten [b]Lori Desmond[/b], but I didn't get a post from her since before the last update, and the most recent post didn't specify where she was going. The last I heard she was in the stairwell, on the upstairs landing, looking through the door into the hall. Is she going with [b]Tariq[/b]? To the special projects lab? To the roof?

Mr Handy

Tariq rounds the corner.

"I'm glad you are with us, Becky," says Rachel eyeing the shotgun, "You look capable of handling the living dead."

Declan continues chasing after the others up the stairs.

Emilio catches a glimpse of Declan hurrying after the mechs. "Hold up Chuck! Declan is lagging..." He grips the baseball bat in a double grip and surveys the exits from the stairwell. He looks for any signs of movement on the areas where people may exit or enter the stairs...

In the north stairwell, ground floor-
Chuck grumbled and waited with Emilio for Declan to catch up from below, holding Tiny back. The dog let out a similar grumble. Darnell, LaTanya, Dr. Smith, Michelle, Becky, and Rachel arrived from upstairs.

In the north hall, ground floor-
Donald rolled through the hall, pushing the wheelbarrow. He could tell that the lights have been left on in the gym and the workshop, as well as the bathrooms, from the light visible underneath the doors.

In the north stairwell, upper floor-
Julianne entered the stairwell in time to see the others descending.

In the special projects lab-
Heather shivered at Julianne's words. "We, like, are gonna totally die, aren't we?"

"Not if I have anything to say about it," said Stephanie, still typing. "I only need a little more than five minutes to finish up. If we can hold out until then, we'll be all right."

On the balcony-
Amelia followed Tariq and Lori around the corner.

In the southeast hall, upper floor-
Tariq and the others arrived to find Kyle still lying unconscious where he had been left. The baseball that had formed the lump on his head was on the floor nearby.

On the roof-
"Great!" said Adam. "We can't use it yet, though. Steph isn't done doing her thing."

Now the zombie Erica was aiming at had entered the parking lot, and another had crawled most of the way across the football field. The zombie to the west wasn't far away from the school either. Her next shot was even wilder. "I'm going to have to zero this rifle again," she said to herself, starting to adjust the sights.

Upstairs, North Stairwell



Julianne leaps barefooted up the stairs toward the roof.

Ground Floor, North Hall



Becky spead-walks down the hall toward the kitchen area, determined to kick some freak ass.

Lori Desmon


In the southeast hall, upper floor

Lori picks up the baseballbat 'he must have been hit with this, dont you think Tariq?'

North stairwell, ground floor-

Rachel watches as Becky waddles off, she is obviously eager. "C'mon everyone, lets move it, there are the hallways and cafeteria before we come to the kitchen."

When Declan reaches the car mechs, Emilio heads upwards with Chuck and Tiny. Since they arrived to the generator via the gymnasium, Emilio checks the sports hall for activity from his location in the stairwell. "The idea is to get topside, right? Should all else fail, we have a way out down here - down the rabbit´s hole..."

Darnell held LaTanya's hand as he walked with the rest of the group. He was ready for action despite the fact that he only had 4 baseballs to fight with.

Donald decided to start at the gym. He wasn't sure if the others were going to be following, but he figured it would be nice to have the company if they were, or nice to have the promise of silence if they weren't.

He left his wheel barrel out in the hallway as he entered the gymnasium and headed for the light switches / fuse panels.

Handy:

"Darnell, we'll pass through the lobby on our way to the kitchin, you may be able to pick up a useful weapon at the security office."

Becky,It is Becky's personality to ignore people, isn't it? :)

Tariq glances through Kyle's open locker and personal belongings, just in case there are any weapons. Then, setting the homemade bombs down with himself between them and Kyle, he tries to gently rouse Kyle and see how severe the injury is.

"Can you hear me?" he says, gently touching Kyle's shoulder.

Then he turns to Lori.

"I'm going to try to help this kid. I don't know exactly what he was trying to do or why, but I'm not going to leave him here like everyone else did. You should probably consider your priorities right now. I might be able to use your help, but I can't think of anything in particular right now. If there is something else you would rather be doing, I'm fine handling this by myself. "

In the southeast hall, upper floor-
Tariq could see that Kyle had only a minor bruise on his head from where the baseball had struck him. He had another bruise elsewhere on his body, but he had been hit hard in the chest and one of his ribs might have been cracked. There was no sign of any other weapons that he had not already found either on Kyle or in his locker.

OOC,[b]Tariq[/b], roll First Aid to revive [b]Kyle[/b]. If you succeed, roll 1d3 to see how many HP he recovers. [b]Lori[/b], you may also try if you wish. The base skill level is 30%.

Lori Desmond,Remember your character secrets. [b]Kyle Rogers[/b] is a friend of yours.

Lori kneels down to Kyle 'who did this to you kyle!' she screams out not expecting anyone to answer 'maybe i can help him a bit' she says to Tariq

First Aid (1d100=83)

Upon encountering the crowd coming down from topside, Emilio asks during the squabble about getting to the kitchen and the talk about weapons in the security office. "Why are you guys heading for the kitchen? Isn´t it better to stay up top, now that the electric fence is working again? Do you have a radio by the way? I need to get confirmation that the fence really is operational. Or else, I´ve got to go down there again..." He looks back at the pit they just had left. He looks back to the team scurrying down the stairs, ..."maybe you want a helping hand over with the pots and pans? Can´t be too careful, there might be some infected people who got through the fence... Who´s checking in on Donald? He went to the gym..."
Being torn between his options, Emilio decides to follow Donald who helped out fixing the generator. "On second thought, I´ll better look after a mate, he´s wandering off to the gymnasium. Hey, Chuck, Declan, come along here! We can´t let Donnie stray away, can we? We fixed that gennie, lets get this place sealed properly, then get upstairs. Besides, we can pick up some gear from the supply room while in there." He waves at the self assured, strict, blonde who eyes the mechanics who crowd the stairs. They let the four women and the young athlete pass them towards the kitchen area. The lead being taken by his boss Becks. Taking charge as always...

Handy:

Location,Emilio will not leave Donald hanging in the gym. This may result in him not stumbling into the women coming down the stairs. Unless he realizes he wants to help Donald out and lose a round for his undecidedness... I´ll go with him actually heading up a bit to meet the women and Darnell. Then he raises his concern about Donald. Hopefully this will help Donnie out in the end.

Darnell said, "LaTanya maybe I should go with this man. I know there are other weapons in the gym as I found them earlier today. So do you want to go with me or can I leave you if I promise to be back soon?"

Donald's hard-soled shoes echoed across the (hopefully) empty gymnasium as he crossed toward the light controls.

"Emilio, I have a radio, please, use it.
"We," Rachel indicates the group, "are going to deal with the threat in the kitchin, and claim a zombie corpse. A grisly prize! However, the scientists need one, to complete their research; it is a task that must be done - for all our lives. If you kill a zombie, Emilio, you know what to do with it, the scientists are in the lab upstairs."

"I will ensure LaTanya's safety Darnell, if she wants to stay with us."

Emilio takes the proffered radio, "Thanks!", and uses it to contact the team on the roof. "This is Emilio of the generator crew. North stairwell, ground floor. We have got the juice going as you might have observed. I hear we have visitors in the kitchen... I´m about to secure the gym from intrusion. How´s the fence going? Can you get a visual from the roof?" He releases the send button and says to Rachel, "Sure will bring a sample if there´s been a breach. Take care in the kitchen! We´ll accompany you when we have finished the gym." He looks at his fellow mechanics for any sign of joining him to the gym. He hesitantly awaits a reply from the roof.

Tariq fails to revive Kyle as well.

"Maybe we can get carry him to someone who can help," he says to Lori.
"You take the combat knife - which you should probably keep for yourself until he wakes up - and carry the explosives for me. I'll try to carry him. Unless you don't feel comfortable with the explosives, in which case I could carry them and we could both try to move Kyle together - but I'm pretty sure they won't go off by accident. I think there are scientists in the science workshop, and maybe some of them have medical skill."

Mi-Go Agent wrote:Tariq fails to revive Kyle as well.

"Maybe we can get carry him to someone who can help," he says to Lori.
"You take the combat knife - which you should probably keep for yourself until he wakes up - and carry the explosives for me. I'll try to carry him. Unless you don't feel comfortable with the explosives, in which case I could carry them and we could both try to move Kyle together - but I'm pretty sure they won't go off by accident. I think there are scientists in the science workshop, and maybe some of them have medical skill."

'Good idea' 'lets do it' Lori takes the backpack from Tariq and help him getting Kyle over his shoulder.

In the gym-
Donald entered the gym and found it deserted. Both fire exits were closed and undamaged. He went over to the light switches in the back to turn them off. He also heard three gunshots in the distance.

OOC,[b]Donald[/b], roll Spot Hidden to see what else you notice before you turn off the lights. Also roll Listen to see if you can tell where the gunshots were coming from.

In the north stairwell, ground floor-
Declan remained on the landing while Chuck pulled Tiny into the hall after Emilio, followed by the others.

OOC,[b]Declan[/b], you haven't posted, so I don't know if you want to go upstairs or into the hall after the others. You should roll Listen too.

In the north hall, ground floor-
Dr. Smith, Michelle, Darnell, LaTanya, Rachel, Becky, Chuck, Emilio, and Tiny all heard the gunfire too as they entered the hall.

"If you're going to the gym, I'm going with you," said LaTanya to Darnell.

OOC,Everyone, roll Listen.

In the special projects lab-
Dr. Saunders went over to the window and peered outside, then spoke into her radio: "This is Dr. Saunders, in the lab. I'm looking out the window, and I can see a few them hitting the fence and going down, so the juice is definitely on. Be careful, there's another one just reaching the building's northeast corner and one crawling out of the football field into the parking lot to the north. We're almost done up here. We just need..." She paused, and Stephanie raised one of her hands from the keyboard for a second, spreading her fingers wide. "five more minutes." After she finished, the gunshots rang out.

OOC,Everyone, roll Listen.

In the southeast hall, upper floor-
"Hold on," said Amelia before Tariq and Lori could pick up Kyle. "Let me have a try first. I know a few things." However, she was unable to help too. "All right, let's lug him back." She helped them carry Kyle. Then they heard the shots ring out.

OOC,Everyone roll Listen. There's no need to roll to carry [b]Kyle[/b], as the three of you together are more than strong enough.

On the roof-
Julianne emerged onto the roof and saw other people there. Trooper Erica Spears stood at the northwest corner of the roof in her flight suit, adjusting the sights of her rifle. Megan Petrovich stood near her, watching. The helicopter was also on the roof, its rotors still. Near the stairs, Adam Donnelly stood with Michiko Watanabe and Elijah Smith beside a complicated-looking electronic device.

As Erica readied her rifle again, the standing zombie vanished around the northeast corner of the building, out of her view. "Damn, one of them got past me!" she said. One zombie was crawling across the parking lot just north of the school, and another crawler was getting close to the west side.

OOC,Everyone on the roof will have to roll Listen to even hear the gunshots from up here. Also, [b]Julianne[/b], roll Sanity for seeing the zombies. Sanity loss is 0/1d10. [b]Erica[/b] did not get to fire this round due to her critical miss last round.

In the southeast hall, upper floor- Lori Desmon Listen (1d100=28) Success roll.

Emilio hears nothing but the gunfire. He continues through the corridor.

Michiko was too concentrate with the work.

OOC: Failed for 1!

"Okay, LaTanya, stay safe.
"From what Dr Saunders said on the radio, another zombie has reached the school building, hell! That's at least two of them isn't it?"

Listen,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2050839/]Listen 30%? for base skill (1d100=58)[/url]

Darnell stood for a minute but did not hear anything. "LaTanya baby I love you, you know that, but last time there was a fight I ended up hurting you and with these things all around us we could get into a fight in the gym and I may end up hurting you again. I need you safe and I need our baby safe as well so I think you should stay with the group and I will find you later."

Lori Desmond,The gunshots came from below and some distance to the north. They most likely came either from the cafeteria, the kitchen, or the gym.

Rachel Cohen,The base skill for Listen is 25%, but remember the bonus you get in your secrets. That brings it to 40%, I believe, but this roll still fails.

Darnell Jones,Roll Fast Talk to convince [b]LaTanya[/b] to go with the others.

The Roof

Julianne's heart skips a beat and her stomach rises when she sees the zombies moving around down below, and she barely keeps it together. She moves walks briskly to the strange machine and puts a hand on Adam's shoulder, "Is this something that can help us?"

On the roof-
"Yes, but we can't use it yet," said Adam. "This is an electromagnetic pulse generator. When activated, it will send out a pulse that will fry every electronic circuit from here to Omaha's suburbs. Stephanie also believes that it will disrupt the electrical impulse that is causing the dead to be reanimated, but until she finishes her work down in the lab we can't try it. It'll wreck every integrated circuit in the computers and electronic equipment down there, and she needs them to transmit a signal that will stop the dead from rising - not just here, but all over the world. It won't do anything about the ones that have already risen - that's what the EMP will hopefully accomplish - but once the signal goes out, the dead should stay dead. She had learned this morning that the electromagnetic pulses that were triggered by nuclear detonations in other countries did not shut them down, at least not for good. The first one was effective, but after that something compensated for it by continuously trying to reactivate them. Once she sends her signal, that should be stopped too."

OOC,[b]Julianne[/b], don't forget to roll Listen to see if you hear the gunshots.

The Roof

Julianne then hears something.

On the roof-
Julianne heard the gunshots coming from somewhere downstairs, but she couldn't tell exactly where they were.

Lori jumps as she helps carrying Kyle. 'Tariq!' 'that shot was from below and to the north , the cafeteria, the kitchen, or the gym' 'im damn sure it must be from one of those places' 'common let help kyle first'

Darnell saw that he had failed to convince LaTanya.

Handy,You had to comment on my excellent rolls and jinks me. :P

In the north hall, ground floor-
"I said I'm coming with you," said LaTanya. "There's no way I'm going to let you go off without me and get your ass killed, Darnell. If you're going anywhere, I'm going to be there to protect you."

In the southeast hall, upper floor-
Amelia helped Lori lift Kyle off the floor. "Okay, let's go," she said, looking at Tariq for assistance.

ooc,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2052571/]Spot Hidden (25%), Listen (25%) (1d100=86, 1d100=1)[/url] Failed Spot Hidden. Critical success on isten, if that matters.

Donald doesn't seem too preoccupied with the rest of the gym. He's been in there thousands of times before, and the amount of time he spends polishing the floor was enough to hurry him along with his task. As he started flipping the lights out, he heard gunshots and looked in the direction of the noise, even though it was obscured by several walls inbetween.

Tariq helps carry Kyle as well.

"Don't worry about the shooting - we can't do anything about it now, and once we get Kyle some help we can all go to the roof, which I think is the best defended part of the school. If we are lucky we might even find the school nurse."

Exiting the stairwell, Emilio takes a direct left into the gym to see what Donald is up too. Need to get something other than this bat to make a difference.

With the lights off, Donald turns back toward the entrance of the gymnasium and starts jogging toward it. If he sees Emilio, he mentions "There was gunfire in the kitchen. Someone shot something or someone. Are they in the building?"

In the gym-
Emilio, Darnell, and LaTanya entered the gym, passing Donald as he left. The athletic supply closet was still open, and a couple of bats were left. The lights were off, but enough sunlight came in through the windows to see. The gym was otherwise deserted. More gunshots echoed in the distance.

OOC,If you grab anything from the closet, you won't also be able to leave the gym this round. [b]Emilio[/b]'s baseball bat is actually a very good weapon for him, and there was nothing better in the closet for someone with his skills. Everyone, roll Listen.

In the north stairwell, ground floor-
Declan remained where he was on the landing as the gunshots continued.

OOC,[b]Declan[/b], roll Listen.

In the north hall, ground floor-
Bernard, Michelle, Rachel, Becky, Chuck, and Tiny headed into the lobby while the gunfire continued in the distance. Donald saw them ahead of him when he emerged from the gym.

OOC,[b]Donald[/b], roll Listen.

In the lobby-
"We're almost there," said Michelle, following Becky and Rachel. She and Dr. Smith had their guns ready. Chuck held his shotgun in one hand and Tiny's leash in the other, prepared to release the dog and grip his shotgun in both hands if needed.

In the special projects lab-
Diana watched Stephanie work with fascination and curiosity. "But what's causing all this?" she asked.

"You must have been out of the room when I explained it earlier," said Stephanie.

"Just let her work," said Dr. Hausmann. "Do not distract her."

"It's okay, Brigetta, I can multitask. Anyway, the source of the dead reanimating and the other horrors that we've been facing today is extraterrestrial. And as you may have guessed, this didn't happen by accident. There's an intelligence directing all of this."

"It is aliens!" Diana said triumphantly. "I knew it!"

In the southeast hall, upper floor-
Tariq, Amelia, and Lori picked up Kyle and carried him back to the balcony.

On the balcony-
Tariq and his companions reached the balcony. More gunshots echoed from below, from the same direction as the earlier shots.

On the roof-
Erica took one more shot at the crawling zombie to the west, missing by only a few feet. "Dammit!" she shouted. Both visible zombies reached the school building.

In the lobby-
Rachel does a survey of everyone's weapon, "We are all tooled-up, so to speak, but we'll take care; stick together, no one rush off. If we fire together a zombie won't stand a chance!"

ooc,Not this time. [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2058081/]Listen (25%) (1d100=63)[/url]

Donald rushed past his wheel barrel and up to catch up with the others up ahead. "In the kitchen!" he called out to the others, in case they didn't have a good bead on where the gunfire was coming from. He looked around for a firebox in the hallway, hoping maybe there might be an axe in the case, but he didn't see any.

ooc,Too busy running I guess. [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2058084/]Spot Hidden (25%) (1d100=62)[/url]

Lobby



Hoping she actually gets a change to blow something away, Becky moves slowly toward the east hall waiting for the group to assemble and proceed.

Roof



Julianne breathes a sigh of relief, smiles and winks reassuringly at Elijah and Michiko,

"That's the best news I've heard all day. This all may be over very soon. Let's cross our fingers!"

Darnell marched over to the open cabinet and grabbed a baseball bat. "About time I got another weapon again." He was too busy to hear anything.

Veering off from the gym and down the hallway towards the kitchen area, Emilio heard naught.

Tariq peers down from the balcony to see if he can discern anything. Since noone near him has a firearm, though, his interest is mostly casual.

"We can't do anything about whatever is happening down there," he says to Lori and Amelia, "so we might as well keep going to the science workshop."

OOC,I've taken over the character of [b]Declan[/b] for now due to extended player absence. He'll revert back if and when Iam477 returns.

In the gym-
LaTanya was far too distracted to notice anything else. "I already got what I need," she said, patting her foil. "Let's go, Darnell."

In the north stairwell, ground floor-
Declan suddenly heard something that snapped him out of his reverie. He hurried through the door and into the hall.

In the north hall, ground floor-
"I just heard more banging on the doors," Declan said to Emilio. "It's coming from the auditorium!"

In the lobby-
Dr. Smith, Michelle, Chuck, and Tiny followed the women into the east hall just after Donald entered.

In the east hall, ground floor-
The five humans and one dog entered from the lobby and were shocked to see a dead body on the floor of the hall just outside the cafeteria, surrounded by a pool of blood. The body was of a black man in his forties, with his hair in dreadlocks. He was coated in some kind of gray dust, and he had several bullet holes in him. Dr. Smith shuddered when he saw it, but his experiences as a doctor and exposure to today's events desensitized him somewhat. Michelle was also deeply disturbed, shrinking back in utter digust. She was certain that she would meet a similar end, and she knew she had to do something to prevent it.

"What the-" started Chuck, holding relatively steady. Tiny only growled.

OOC,[b]Becky[/b] and [b]Rachel[/b], roll Sanity for seeing the body. Sanity loss is 1/1d4+1, so you'll still lose 1 Sanity even if you pass. [b]Donald[/b], you'll have to make this roll too if you enter the east hall. Also, [b]Becky[/b] and [b]Rachel[/b], but not [b]Donald[/b], should roll Psychology. The base skill is 5%.

On the balcony-
Amelia and Lori continued helping Tariq carry Kyle north.

In the north hall, upper floor-
Tariq and the women hauled Kyle onwards. "The lab is just up ahead," said Amelia. "I'm sure we'll find someone there who can help him."

In the special projects lab-
"Ugh," said Heather. "She's, like, always going on about aliens. Little Diana Scully."

"Actually, Mulder was the one who believed in aliens," said Diana. "Scully was the skeptic."

"Like, who cares?"

Stephanie hurried to finish her work, knowing that everyone was depending on her. The pressure was intense, but it also motivated her like nothing else. She'd never thought she'd really be saving the world, but now she truly might be. Just a few more minutes... she thought.

On the roof-
"I sure hope so," said Erica to Julianne, frowning. "That's two more of them got past me now."

"It would have been a lot more if not for your shooting," said Adam. "Anyway, Stephanie's almost done, and once she is it won't matter. I know she can do it."

"I just hope nobody else gets killed first. But you're right, she can. She's an amazing woman."

"That she is."

"Have you known her long?"

"We've worked together often during the past year."

"I'd better get down below and make sure she's protected while she finishes up." Erica hurried down the stairs.

Donald entered from the east hall and looked at the body and frowned. "What a mess..." he is heard to say knowing that he'll be the one expected to clean it up. "What's all that gray ash on him? Did he crawl in through a chimney?"

Donald headed for the kitchen to see where this man could have gotten in from.

Sanity check,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2063974/]Sanity (60%) (1d100=49)[/url]

Seeing the majority of the others head towards the kitchen shooting, Emilio affirms Declan´s observation and says, "Let´s check that, maybe someone needs help to get in. That female cop might have circled the school to avoid the nasties. If not it could be nasties wanting to get in, then we should take care so that won´t get inside!" He opens the door to the auditorium and keeps the bat up.

OOC,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2064580/]Sanity 60% & Psychology 60% (1d100=94, 1d100=79)[/url][url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2064661/]Sanity loss (1d4+1=4)[/url]

Rachel sees the corpse. The cumulitive horror at the school is too much for her and she is stricken by a mental blow.

Darnell nodded and said, "Lets go check out the basement." He led the way down the stairs toward the locker room hall.

Donald paused for an instant near the corpse as he peered at the gray soot. It seemed he had seen it before somewhere. "Oh, I know what that's from," he said as he turned toward the kitchen and started heading on in.

Donald says to the others, "This fella came through from the east side of the school... over by the construction area. I'm heading into the kitchen to see how he managed to get into the building. Anyone coming with?"

Lori Desmon.

'Lets hurry Tariq' 'he might be badly injured'

"Anything can happen once people start getting hurt - but I don't think he's in too bad shape."

Tariq continues to move him into the science workshop, where he will ask if anyone has any medical experience and might be able to help Kyle.

[spoiler-button],By the way, I'm not sure, but I think there might be someone in the workshop who doesn't like Kyle. Tariq is prepared to physically protect his body from any angry teenage assailant - he would try not to hurt the person, but rather to block and restrain him or her.[/spoiler-button]

Entering the auditorium-
Opening the door, Emilio pushes it open using the bat as a pole, avoiding close contact with the door itself, prepared to move back... "Watch it!" he says to Declan.

In the gym-
LaTanya followed Darnell down the stairs to the locker room area.

In the locker room hall-
Darnell and LaTanya emerged from the staircase and rounded the corner to the left. On the left side were two doors, the first leading to the girls' locker room and the second to the boys' locker room. This was familiar territory for both athletes. The door at the end of the hall led to the swimming pool.

"So, is there some reason we're down here?" asked LaTanya. "Or did you just want to be alone with me?"

In the north hall, ground floor-
Declan went into the auditorium with Emilio.

In the auditorium-
Emilio and Declan cautiously entered the auditorium. It appeared empty and undisturbed, except for two of the fire exits. The west door was barely hanging on by one hinge, and then it was suddenly knocked inward, onto the floor. A dead woman with a bullet hole in her head crawled across the threshold and over the fallen door. The door at the northeast corner of the huge room was in very bad shape too, and it too was smashed down. The animated corpse of a teenage boy, also with a gunshot wound to the head, crawled in.

Declan stared in shock. "Mary, Joseph, and Jesus!" he cried, his psyche utterly overwhelmed, but he was able to function without thinking.

OOC,[b]Emilio[/b], roll Sanity for seeing the zombies. Sanity loss is 0/1d10. You've already lost 1 Sanity for seeing zombies, so a loss of 10 counts as 9 instead. If you remain sane, you may act. The zombies are not close enough to attack you unless you choose to attack one hand-to-hand. Trying to hit one in the head will have a -5 penalty to your skill. Any hit of 2 or more damage to the head will finish either zombie off, so you don't need to roll damage if you hit. Your damage bonus guarantees that you'll do at least 2 damage.

In the east hall, ground floor-
"No, I won't let them get me!" said Michelle. "I won't let them turn me into one of them!" She stared at the barrel of her pistol.

Becky took the corpse more or less in stride, but she was too distracted to notice anyone's behavior.

Dr. Smith didn't notice anything either. He went through the door to the cafeteria with Becky, Rachel, Chuck, and Tiny.

Michelle remained behind in the east hall. Donald walked in and caught up with her.

OOC,[b]Donald[/b], roll Psychology. The base skill is 5%. You may enter the cafeteria this round.

In the cafeteria-
When Rachel and the others entered, they could see that the door to the kitchen had been smashed open from the other side. Fragments of tables that had been used as a makeshift barricade were scattered around it. From beyond the door and outside they could hear another gunshot. Then there was silence.

In the north hall, upper floor-
Amelia helped Tariq and Lori carry Kyle into the special projects lab. Erica emerged from the stairwell and entered behind them.

In the special projects lab-
The people gathered looked to the door when they saw the three people carrying the unconscious Kyle. "Are there any doctors in here?" asked Amelia. "He's hurt pretty bad."

"Ja," said Dr. Hausmann. "I can help. Put him down over there, bitte." She indicated the line of chairs where she had helped treat LaTanya earlier.

"I'll help too," said Dr. Liz Somerville.

"I'm not a medical doctor," said Dr. Helene Saunders, "but I may be able to aid him some."

"I've still got a couple of minutes left to finish up," said Stephanie as she typed, "but maybe I can assist when I'm done." She concentrated harder, her brow furrowing. The last few pieces of the puzzle were falling into place.

Erica Spears entered. "I'm glad you're almost done," she said. "I shot all I could, but a few of them got past me. With the power restored, the fence is holding now, but we need to do something about the ones that got through before it came back on."

On the roof-
"Hang in there, kids," said Adam to Elijah and Michiko. "We're going to be all right, I'm sure of it. It's almost over."

Emilio gasps at the dead forcing the fire doors. The gasp is stuck in his throat as he attempts to breathe. He manages to wriggle his mind around what he sees and and decides to head in to the auditorium to finish the sad bastards off. He keeps the bat at the ready to ward off an attack and attempts a punch at the one at the north eastern entrance. His fist connects with the teenage boy´s head and sends him to rest. He wipes the back of his hand and starts to walk to the remaining moving corpse.

"Come here, Declan, I could need a helping hand..." His mind going in overdrive, Emilio walks with purpose and aim.

Cafeteria



Hearing the gunshot beyond the smashed barricade was comforting to Becky somehow. It sounded cool and controlled, as opposed to the wild sound of a clip being emptied in panic. She grips her shotgun and speeds through the room toward the kitchen,

"Come on!"

Mr Handy,I'm sorry I disappeared - The update alert only seems to work when certain players post, so I need to check in more often manually.

Roof



Weaponless, Julianne decides to continue running around; only now with a more focused intent of reconnaissance and communications between groups with no radios. She begins by slowly walking the perimeter of the roof looking for signs of zombies getting into or approaching the building.

Darnell smiled and said, "I always liked seeing you in your cheerleader outfit. Can we go in the locker room and you can try it on for me?"

Julianna leans as far over the edge of the roof as she dares, but fails to spot any new menace.

"So, what exactly are you working on here? I heard you have a solution to the whole problem." Tariq asks, while he watches the doctors help Kyle.

Donald greeted Michelle as he passed by on his way to the cafeteria, "Hi there. I was just going to check out the kitchen area to see how that guy got in here. Want to keep me company?"

ooc,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2074346/]Psychology (5%) (1d100=64)[/url] - fail.

In the east hall, ground floor-
"What's the point?" said Michelle. "We're all doomed anyway."

Daniel blinked and responded as he passed her by, "Suit yourself. Stay here in this hallway all by yourself then."

Rachel watches Becky speed off, "Oh Christ! Becky, Becky!" she shouts. She draws her pistol and trots after her.

Becky almost trips over herself stopping in her tracks, also nearly causing Rachel to slam into her. "Eh?"

It is like slamming into a brick wall - almost. "Becky, what about my pep talk, sticking together. If you like, I'll go screw myself, but when your head gets munched by a zombie it'll be too late for told you so!"
Under her breath, "And I'm not dragging your carcass up to the science lab."

OOC,Everyone is moving to the thread linked below.

Victory?