Play@YSDC

Z-Day - 4:44 PM Central Time - Downtown Omaha, Nebraska
On the police station roof-
John Lake stood on the roof of the police station where he had been trapped for the last several hours. The horde outside had only grown larger during that time, as more and more of the infected had swarmed the police station. They had forced their way in, smashing down the doors, and the only refuge was on the roof. The interior of the building was crawling with them too, and the barricaded door that led back inside would not hold much longer. The building was surrounded, the city of Omaha lay in ruins, and there seemed to be no hope for the beleagured group of survivors. They were led by Captain Rochelle Blake, a tall black woman in her early forties and the commanding officer of this precinct of the Omaha PD. She had taken charge of the situation with remarkable confidence and skill, and it was thanks to her that anyone had survived at all. There were a couple of dozen police officers up here as well, including two sergeants and a few plainclothes detectives, as well as a handful of civilian workers.

The hammering on the door was getting louder, and though the cops tried to hold it shut, it was clearly about to give way. John realized that this was the end at last. Even with their weapons and the knowledge that they had to shoot these people in the head to get them to go down and stay that way, they wouldn't have a chance against hundreds of them - if not over a thousand by this point.

Then, without any warning or apparent reason, the mobs in the parking lot surrounding the building just fell over. Not one of them was left standing. The battering on the door ceased just as suddenly.

OOC,[b]John Lake[/b], roll Spot Hidden.

John was silent as the sound of bodies falling ended. He looked around at the people around him to see if they were as stunned as him. John then examined his surroundings carefully.

On the roof-
John noticed that at the same instant the infected had fallen over, all of the lights in the buildings that were visible nearby had suddenly gone out.

John took note that all the lights had gone out."Possible connection? Electrically powered? Ill have to investigate further." he thought to himself. He turned to Capitan Rochelle Blake. "Well what now Capitan?" he said walking towards her.

On the roof-
"Good question, Agent Lake," said Captain Blake. "I'm not sure what just happened or why, but I'm not complaining." She took the radio off of her belt and turned it on. "That's strange. It's not working."

One of the sergeants tried his radio too. "Mine's out too, ma'am," he said.

The captain looked skeptically at the access door. "What do you think? Should we risk opening that up and taking a look? We don't know for certain if the ones inside went down, but they sure stopped hammering on the door. We also don't know that they won't get right back up."

OOC,[b]John Lake[/b], roll Idea.

OOC,http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2492973/ I failed.

"I don't think we will ever know unless we open that door. Besides if they do wake up we wont last long up here anyway" John replied to the Capitan. He walked over towards the door while un-holstering his weapon. "If you will allow me to open it....".

On the roof-
The captain drew her service pistol and pointed it at the door, as did some of the other cops on the roof. She nodded once. "You may do the honors," she said.

John nodded and raised his pistol to face the door. He unlocked the door and put his left hand slowly on the handle. Taking a deep breath he quickly swung the door open while stepping back brining his left hand quickly up to grip his pistol.

On the roof-
The officers on the roof shouldered the barricade aside and made room for John to get through. He pulled open the door, and a few bodies that had been leaning on it collapsed and fell inward, but they didn't move. The stairway leading back inside on the other side of the door was similarly strewn with them. One of the cops stepped over to one of the fallen and checked for a pulse. "This one's dead," he said.

A detective checked one of the others. "Him too," she said. "It looks like they're all dead. I think an autopsy is in order to find out the cause of death. How could they all have just suddenly died?"

"Good idea," said Captain Blake. "Let's proceed cautiously. You two, take a look downstairs." The sergeant and the officer she had indicated made their way down, stepping over the corpses. "All clear!" the sergeant called from below. "Nobody down here but more dead people."

Crew still felt a bit nervous about the dead all round. He looked at the people behind him and then slowly started to descend the stairs passing the bottom until he reach the final step. He looked around to see what lay before him.

In the upstairs hall-
Captain Blake walked down the stairs with John Lake, cautiously stepping over the dead and making their way into the hallway on the upper floor. More bodies lay around. The hall was dim, as the lights were now out, but sunlight came down from the open door to the roof to faintly illuminate the area. The stairs continued down to ground level from here. The rest of the people on the roof trickled down to join them.

"Does anyone have a working radio?" asked the captain. She took out her Blackberry and tried it. "This thing's kaput too." She checked her digital watch. "My watch stopped. It's not showing anything."

"I got an old mechanical watch," said the sergeant who had led the way down. He looked at it. "Still running. It's about a quarter to five."

"So it's only electronics, then? And it's not just a power failure. Portable devices are broken too. Maybe it was an electromagnetic pulse? That's harmless to human beings, though. That can't be what killed all of the infected. I know that the CDC set up a Crisis Response Center at Brooks High School this morning. If anyone was working on a solution to this disaster, it would be them. Maybe their scientists can explain what happened."

John looked at the Capitan. "Maybe we should go check out the high school, if they've got a weapon that works it could definitely help us."

In the upstairs hall-
"Right now all we have is speculation," admitted Captain Blake. "Let's not rush off into the unknown just yet before we have a chance to assess the situation. It may still be highly dangerous out there. Someone try a landline phone and see if it works."

An officer ducked into an office. "No dial tone!" she called shortly afterwards, hurrying back.

"I was afraid of that. Okay, people, here's what we'll do. We have to scout the surrounding area and make contact with nearby precincts to see if there are other survivors nearby. Nobody goes anywhere alone. I need four pairs of volunteers. You can try your cars, but they probably won't start if it was an EMP, not with an electronic ignition. If they don't, take bicycles. Head for the closest precincts to the north, south, east, and west. Keep your eyes open on the way, share information when you arrive, and then hurry back to tell us what you've learned. Don't take unnecessary risks." She turned to the female detective who had spoken earlier. "Detective, I need you and the remaining forensic techs to perform an autopsy on one of the bodies. See if you can find out what killed them. We need to do this while there's daylight. In a little over two hours, the sun will be setting."

John was restless from being on the roof for so long. "Capitan I volunteer to go to a precinct."

In the upstairs hall-
"Thank you, Agent Lake," she said. "What might help more is if you go to the DEA field office for me to coordinate with any survivors there. I can send Sergeant McGregor with you." She indicated the sergeant with the working watch, a thirty-year veteran of the Omaha PD. He was getting on in years, but he had plenty of experience.

The field office was about two miles from the station. It was a quick drive, but it would take a little while to get there by bicycle and even longer on foot.

John nodded to the Capitan. "Why dont we try a car first before we head out on foot." John said facing McGregor.

In the upstairs hall-
"That's a good idea," said McGregor. He shook John's hand. "Stick with me and you'll be fine." He saluted Captain Blake. "Ma'am."

"Good luck, both of you," she said, returning the salute.

In the parking lot-
John Lake and Sergeant McGregor went downstairs, along with another eight volunteers who would be checking out nearby precincts. They reached the ground floor, which was just as much a shambles, though there were fewer corpses down here. A short walk down the hall and across the lobby led everyone outside and into the parking lot. More bodies littered the asphalt, but these all had bullet holes in their heads. The survivors on the roof had shot them dead when they had been trying to breach the building. Once the barricades on the doors had given way and the hordes had swarmed inside, it had been too late. If not for the inexplicable miracle, everyone in this building probably would have been eaten by now.

McGregor went over to his squad car, unlocked the door, and then put his keys in the ignition and turned them. The car refused to start, even after a few attempts. "Well, it was worth a try," he said. "Let's go grab a couple of bikes." He led the way to the bicycle rack, where officers who went on bike patrol kept them. The other officers who had come outside were already taking them.

OOC,[b]John Lake[/b], roll Luck to see if there are any bikes left by the time you get to the rack.

In the parking lot-
Fortunately, there were still a few bikes left by the time John Lake and Sergeant McGregor reached the rack. Each of them grabbed a bicycle and got aboard. "Lead the way," said McGregor.

Lake headed towards the DEA office at a fairly light pace making sure that he would try to avoid any cramped places and stay in the open in case he needed to pick up speed.

On the streets-
Sergeant McGregor followed John Lake as he pedaled through the ruined streets of Omaha. Fires burned in various buildings, but at least they seemed unlikely to spread further. He couldn't help but wonder how - or if - the fire department was holding out. There were bodies on the street here and there, some showing signs of injury, others not. Wrecked cars clogged the streets in some places, but it was easy to navigate around them on the bikes. They found no sign of anyone living as they rode.

Outside the field office-
Ten minutes later, the two men arrived in the parking lot of the DEA field office, which was inside a tall office building. It too was the scene of violence. Some more bodies lay in the lot with bulletholes in their heads, but not anywhere near as many as outside the police station. Lake didn't know whether that was a good sign or a bad one. The glass front doors had been smashed to pieces, and beyond them trails of blood were visible in the lobby.

Lake pulled out his pistol and held it to his side right side pushing the left front door open with his left hand and looking around the lobby.

Outside the field office-
Sergeant McGregor drew his service revolver and also cautiously proceeded inside, leaving the bikes outside.

In the lobby-
The huge lobby appeared to be deserted, though there were bloodstains on the tiled floor. Potted plants stood in the corners, undisturbed. The security desk was unmanned, and behind it was a bank of elevators. To the left, at the back of the lobby, a door led to the stairwell.

"And to think I was going to retire next week," said McGregor. He carefully approached the desk and peeked behind it. "We're clear." He pushed the button to call the elevator a few times, but nothing happened. "Yeah, didn't think that would work. Looks like we're taking the stairs."

John Lake knew that the DEA field office was only one of many offices in this federal building. It was on the tenth floor, so it would be quite a hike.

John "....Damn...." he whispered to himself. He walked towards the stairwell and opened it ready to begin the march to the tenth floor.

In the field office-
Lake and McGregor made their way up nine flights of stairs. By the time they reached the landing on the tenth floor, McGregor was huffing. "Not as young as I used to be," he said.

Both men emerged from the stairwell and into the main area of the field office. It too was deserted, devoid of all life. No bodies were to be found out there, though they hadn't checked individual offices yet. At least it wasn't a mess like the lobby, and it looked much like he had left it this morning, other than the lack of people. Had everyone evacuated the office, or had they all been infected?

"HELLO!?" John shouted down the office to see if anything would hear him.

In the field office-
There was no answer to John's call. Sergeant McGregor cautiously peeked into the offices, his pistol at the ready. "They're all empty," he said. "Whoever was here must have left in a hurry. There were a couple of partially filled cups of coffee on the desks. It's gone cold at this point, so they left a while ago. Anything you need here, or should we go?"

"Nothing I can think of" John said. "Where should we go though?"

In the field office-
"Back to the precinct," said McGregor, taking a drink at the water cooler. He handed John a second conical cup full out water. "Drink up now, it's a long walk down. When we get back, we can report that we didn't find anything, and then we can find out what the other groups learned and decide what to do next from there." He led the way back down the nine flights of stairs and outside.

Outside the field office-
The bikes were still there waiting for them when Sergeant McGregor and John Lake got back outside. The sun was lower in the sky now, but there was still about an hour and a half of daylight.

"We should hurry, I dont want to be stuck out on the street at night if more of these things appear." Lake said getting on the bike and heading back towards the precinct.

Outside the field office-
"Yeah, I hear ya," said McGregor, straddling his own bike and following John. They took the same route they had used to reach the field office.

In the parking lot-
Ten minutes later, John Lake and Sergeant McGregor reached the police station's parking lot. The other bikes that had been taken by the officers who had gone out scouting were all now back in the rack, and the two men returned their own bikes as well. "It's past 5:30," said McGregor, checking his watch. "Let's go in and report to the captain."

Lake nodded and walked towards the building to meet with the capitan.

In the lobby-
John Lake and Sergeant McGregor entered the police station. There was a female sergeant sitting behind the front desk, sorting through paperwork. She looked up when they entered. "Welcome back, guys," she said. "We were beginning to worry about you."

"We had to go up nine flights of stairs to the field office with no elevators, and then back down again," said McGregor. "Where's the captain?"

"She's in the operations room." The other sergeant pointed to a door behind her, and the two men walked in.

In the operations room-
Lake and McGregor saw that the operations room was very busy. Captain Blake was pacing back and forth in front of a street map of Omaha with various multicolored pins stuck in it all around the precinct's location. Officers were walking back and forth on various errands, and some were conversing in small groups or sitting and drinking coffee.

Sergeant McGregor saluted. "We're back, ma'am," he said. "Unfortunately, we found nothing much of interest."

Captain Blake returned the salute. "I'm glad you made it in one piece," she said. "You look exhausted. Why don't you have a seat while I fill you in?"

"Thanks, ma'am. My dogs are killing me." McGregor collapsed into an empty chair.

"The other groups that went out didn't have much luck either. All four of the nearest precincts were overrun, with no survivors found inside. Small groups of civilians were found alive en route, and they've been instructed to remain indoors. We've made a note of their locations and we'll be collecting water, food, and medical supplies and bringing them out to them this evening. They've completed an autopsy on one the infected people, and there are some very odd results. This particular body went down less than an hour ago with all the others, but according to the pathologist, the time of death is sometime this morning, around 10 or 11! Not only that, but the cause of death was extreme blood loss. The corpse had very little blood left inside it when we found it."

Lake was intrigued by the description of the infected.

"If it had died earlier why did it decide to drop only an hour ago?" he asked wondering if the Capitan had more information of the infected.

In the operations room-
"I know," said Captain Blake, "it doesn't make any sense, but there you have it. They're doing an autopsy on a second body right now."

"Yeah, it has to be some kind of mistake," said Sergeant McGregor. "Dead bodies don't get up and walk around, much less try to chew your face off. Maybe in the movies, sure, but not in real life!"

Lake laughed nervously. "Yea just the movies" he thought to himself.

"So whats our next move in the mean time?" he asked the Captain.

In the operations room-
"Well," said Captain Blake, "earlier you expressed interest in checking out Brooks High School. You could find out if there are survivors there. Maybe those scientists have some ideas or have figured something out about what's going on."

"I don't think I can make the trip, ma'am," said McGregor. "I'm not as young as I used to be, and I'm bushed."

"That's fine, Sergeant. I need you here anyway. I can find someone else to go with if you like and if you're willing to go, Agent Lake. Also, there may be a couple of police officers in the area. In addition to the undercover detective you already know about, Officer Kate Wheeler was on foot patrol not far from the school. We haven't heard from her since all hell broke loose, but it's possible that she's still alive. If you could make contact with them and fill them in, I'd appreciate it."

In the operations room-
"Can I get something to eat first?" asked John Lake. "I'm starving."

"Yeah, I could use some chow too," said Sergeant McGregor.

"Of course," said Captain Blake. "I'll have something brought in." She signalled to an officer to fetch some food. "You can head over to the school after dinner. We don't want to wait too long, though. Anything could be happening out there, and daylight won't last much longer. I don't even want to think about what will happen when it gets dark."

OOC,Thus ends Chapter 5. Chapter 6 will pick up again after dinner.

OOC,The story continues in the Omaha section of Chapter 6, in the thread linked below.

Law and Order