Play@YSDC

Z-Day - 8:50 PM Mountain Time - Chimney Rock, western Nebraska
South of the ranger station-
Dan Aldrich reached the ruined body of Mutt, the skinheads' late and unlamented leader, in time to see his fellow ranger Julie St. James put an arrow right through his eye. Katarina Iliescu, one of his former captives, stood nearby with her pistol drawn. She had not been so accurate, but she was learning how to use the unfamiliar weapon. She had personally killed Mutt with a hand grenade, saving herself and Sally from the depravity he had had in store for them. The ground began to tremble slightly, and then the sensation passed. Dan and Julie did not know the significance of the tremor, but Katarina did. She had felt similar tremors at the skinheads' compound this past afternoon, and she remembered all too well what had happened there.

OOC,If anyone wishes to search [b]Mutt[/b]'s body now, roll Spot Hidden. This will be your action for the entire turn if you do so. If you do something else, you may look around the area instead by rolling against 1/5 of your Spot Hidden skill.

Outside the ranger station-
Zoe Gallagher was at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the ranger station. The rangers' green pickup truck was parked right nearby, and she knew that they and Katarina were a short distance away, though it was hard to see them. The light cast by the ranger station only extended about five yards before dissipating into the darkness. Her hands were still cuffed together, the handcuffs tight around her wrists, a constant reminder of her all too recent captivity. If it hadn't been for the rangers, she wouldn't be free now. Instead she would be in the same dreadful situation that Lara Voronova had to be in right now. Two of the skinheads had taken her hostage and escaped with her in their van, carrying her off to a terrible fate. But right now Zoe was more worried about herself. She too knew what the minor quake meant.

OOC,[b]Zoe[/b], you may also roll Spot Hidden at 1/5 skill to see what you notice, whatever else you decide to do.

In the ranger station-
Raquel Orozco had been sitting at the table, crying quietly. Her best friend Alicia was dead, and now two of her former captors had made off with Lara. Now that she was free, she didn't know what to do with herself. Then the trembling started and stopped, and she looked up. "What was that?" she said. "Oh, no, not again!"

On the roof-
Sally was alone on the roof, except for Doc's body. Mutt had murdered him as one of his last acts. He would have killed her and Katarina too - or worse - if she hadn't had those grenades and if Katarina hadn't had such good eyesight and accuracy. The thought of what had to be happening to Lara was even more disturbing because it could have been her. Doc had risked everything and ultimately given his life to protect her. Now he was gone, but the information he had given her shortly before his death about a potential safe haven might still keep her and the others alive. Then she felt the ground begin to shake, and memories of the horror beneath the ground that she had narrowly escaped came flooding back. The ground stopped shuddering almost right away, but she didn't.

OOC,[b]Sally[/b], you may also roll Spot Hidden at 1/5 skill to see what you notice, whatever else you decide to do.

OOC: Did Sally put a bullet in Doc's head, yet.

Panic welled up in Sally as she felt the ground shake. She thought of nothing more than the need to get all of them out of the area and saw little as she gathered her things and begane to descend the ladder.

ooc,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2679003/]Spot Hidden 1/5 (1d100=83)[/url]

Zoe talks to Sally.
"The ground is trembling--I think we know what that means. Do you think it is safe here?"

Julie bent over to search Mutts Body. "Huh I think i found something." she said.

Katarina backed up towards the building, looking around anxiously as she felt the trembles. "Wh-what?"

OOC,[b]Dan[/b]'s player hasn't posted yet, though he's been logged on more than once in the last few days, so I'll go ahead and update anyway.

In the ranger station-
Raquel jumped to her feet and helped Sally down off of the ladder. "We have to get out of here!" she said, putting Sally's arm around her shoulder and letting her lean on her for support as she hurried to the exit.

OOC,You may roll Spot Hidden at 1/5 skill again.

South of the ranger station-
Katarina backed away while Julie searched Mutt's corpse and Dan stood idly by. Mutt had already been picked over thoroughly. Both his backpack and his utility belt, along with all they contained, had already been taken. There was no sign of any keys, so presumably they were gone as well. That would explain how the skinheads had gotten the van started. If his keys had been on a ring, they would have just grabbed it and taken them all at once. It would be a lot trickier to start the skinheads' pickup truck now, which was parked outside the farmhouse to the northwest. Her own truck was just to the north, outside the ranger station, and both she and Dan had keys for that. However, only three people could fit in the cab, leaving everyone else to ride in the bed of the truck - a dangerous proposition. With two trucks, everyone could ride in one of the cabs.

The one thing Julie did notice almost right away was the bulge under Mutt's shirt. She hastily unbuttoned it and saw that he wore a bulletproof vest underneath it. It had already stopped some buckshot as well as shrapnel from a grenade. No wonder he had been so hard to kill. It was a very big vest, much too oversized for all of the women, though Raquel might have been able to get away with wearing it. It could fit Dan in a pinch, though it would still be fairly loose on him.

OOC,Anyone who wants to take the vest off of [b]Mutt[/b] will need to spend the entire turn doing so. Actually putting on the vest would take a second turn. Anyone who does something other than taking the vest may roll Spot Hidden at 1/5 skill, as before.

Outside the ranger station-
Katarina backed away from the body and into the circle of light surrounding the ranger station. Zoe saw her emerge from the darkness, but she couldn't make out anything else yet.

OOC,Both of you may roll Spot Hidden at 1/5 skill again if you like, in addition to whatever you decide to do.

As she hurries to the exit, something caught her eye.

Sally held it together mentally as yet another of the relentless indead plodded towards the Ranger station.
"We have incomming!" Sally yelled to everyone. "Coming down the road from the north."

"Let's hit the son of a bitch with everything we got, that way we'll be sure to take it down."
Zoe readies the grenade.

"Julie, afterwards drive me over to the other truck at the farmhouse, I reckon I can get it started."

"No need to waste our ammo" Sally said. "Dan, do you still have your rifle?"

OOC,sorry I thought Chptr. 6 was starting on the 12th.

Dan tenses at the rumbling and the girls reactions. He decides the vest could be invaluable and pulls it off of Mutt.

Zoe changes her mind about blowing up the zombie with a grenade--she's not a good at thowing, anyhow. She races back to the ranger station.

In the ranger station-
Raquel guided Sally out the door and down the stairs. "We have to go before it gets here!" she cried.

Outside the ranger station-
Zoe was actually already at the bottom of the station's stairs where the green pickup truck was parked, since she hadn't gone anywhere yet. While she was fairly accurate with either a baseball or a grenade most of the time, the darkness made it impossible for her to see where it was. By the time it got into the light, it would be too close. Katarina stood still, unsure of what to do.

Raquel and Sally emerged from the station and came down the stairs. Sally could see that the zombie was still a short distance away.

Sally,If you wish, you may fire at the zombie for up to five combat rounds. You are at 1/5 of your skill due to the darkness, with an additional half skill penalty for the first round due to long range. There is an additional -5 penalty for aiming at the head, but you do have that built-in +20 bonus (for a net modifier of +15 after dividing your skill by 5 or 10). This gives you a 20% chance to hit with a handgun in the first round and 25% for the next four.

South of the ranger station-
Julie watched while Dan removed Mutt's shirt and then took off his Kevlar vest. Underneath, his wounds were visible. The buckshot wounds on his chest had been bandaged, but he had never had the chance to do anything about the shrapnel, some of which had penetrated the vest.

OOC,Putting on the vest, if you choose to do so now, will take the entire turn. [b]Dan[/b] does still have both the AK-47 and his hunting rifle, but he would need to see the zombie before he can shoot at it.