IC-GOLD-Home Stretch(Kat/Emily/Ho/Cynthia/Derek/Billy/etc.)

[Mr. Handy]

On the road-
"Do what you can to help the survivors, ma'am," replied Sergeant Bloch over Kathryn's and Emily's helmet radios, "but we can't open the gates while there are infected out there. I'm sorry."

Kyle followed Kathryn and Emily over to the wrecked chopper. "Be careful!" called Lauren, turning to face the gates.

Broken glass and twisted metal fragments lay scattered about the crash site, as well as a spreading puddle of aviation fuel. The entire front windshield was shattered, allowing access to the crew compartment. The pilot's mangled body was barely recognizable as a woman in her mid-forties in an Air Force uniform. Blood poured freely from her shattered corpse. An M4 carbine was slung on her back, and a 9mm pistol and a knife were on her belt. A man lay in a spreading pool of blood in the left door gunner's seat, pinned by the ruined machine gun he had been manning. He was unconscious, but Kathryn and Emily could see his chest was still slowly rising and falling, though he was struggling for breath and would not last much longer. There were a few small fires burning at the back of the chopper.

OOC,[b]Kathryn[/b] and [b]Emily[/b], both of you roll Sanity for seeing the pilot's body. Sanity loss is 1/1d4+1. If you lose 5 Sanity, roll Idea. If that roll succeeds, you go temporariily insane. If it fails, you may still act. You each have one chance to save the gunner's life by rolling First Aid. If you succeed, roll 1d3 to see how many HP he recovers. You may both try, but only one success is needed or allowed. [b]Kyle[/b] will get a chance to try too if he doesn't go insane and neither of you succeed.

Lauren waved to the SF troopers on the inside of the gates. "Please, open the gates!" She glanced over her shoulder, terrified. "Hurry! You've got to help your people in the chopper, and we all need to get inside!"

"Ma'am, we can't," said one of them with sergeant's stripes on his sleeves. "We have orders not to open the gates while there are infected in the area until it is confirmed that they are dealt with."

"But your people are dying! We could die out here!"

"I'm sorry, ma'am. We have our orders."

"What is wrong with you people?!" Lauren began to cry.

Alfredo pulled up outside the gates and got out of the Escalade, unshouldering his rifle. "I'm going to go back up Kathryn, boss," he said. "The rest of you, wait here."

[Dave Syrinx]

Seeing the female pilot makes Kathryn think of Erica Spears - understanding that it´s not her, she begins to help the wounded gunner. She just watches the breath of the gunner become more strained as she tries to apply pressure to the wound. "This is more your apartment, Em. I´ll see to that the pilot won´t be a hassle."

[ryansommer]

Emily holds it together and gets down to work. "Quickly, we need to get this man clear of the wreckage. Be careful, though. Something caused this chopper to crash.... where is the rest of the crew?"

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,The man is dying, and moving him at the present time would be an extremely bad idea. If you do not help him now, he will be dead within seconds. You should roll First Aid if you want to have any chance of saving him.

[kouchpotato]

Ho cringes. This bad! This very bad! He pulls out his pistol, just in case.

[Mr. Handy]

On the road-
The dead pilot did not bear much resemblance to Erica Spears. Erica had been beautiful, every bit as beautiful as Kathryn herself. This woman was an ugly mess, and looked like she had been unattractive even before the crash that had killed her. Emily managed to stabilize the dying man and stopped just about all of the bleeding. She now felt it would be safe to move him.

Derek's eyelids fluttered open as sensation returned to him, and that sensation was pain. He saw a dark-haired woman in her late thirties kneeling over him and stitching him up, a military helmet strapped to her head. A gorgeous, much younger blonde wearing a short black skirt, a military-grade bulletproof vest, and a matching helmet was examining the obviously dead Captain Jones. The sharp tang of aviation fuel was in the air, as well as the scent of burning plastic. The fires at the rear of the chopper were spreading and growing.

Then a huge young man of about twenty, with short blond hair, clambered into the wreckage through the hole left by the shattered windscreen. He took one look around and gulped, but he managed to stay calm for the most part. "Holy moly!" he said, heading over to where the man was pinned under the ruined machine gun. "Hey, mister! Are you okay? My name's Kyle."

Alfredo Boccelli reached the helicopter and poked his head in, rifle at the ready. The scarred, tough Italian-looking man was about forty years old and wore a dark suit, a tie, and sunglasses. He kept his trademark cool when he noticed the dead pilot. "Kyle and I can get him outta there," he said. "You gals get yourselves clear of this thing."

"Ma'am, I'm sorry," said the sergeant inside the base's gates. "These gates have to remain closed. There are thousands of people whose lives would be at risk if we opened them while the infected are coming."

"My mom is in there!" Lauren pointed at the wrecked helicopter, tears still streaming down her cheeks. "Please, I've already lost my dad today. I can't lose her too!"

"Ma'am, there's nothing I can do."

"Relax," said Joey to Ho. "We're at the base. Now we've just gotta get them to let us in."

Hector reached over the front seat and patted Cynthia on the shoulder. "Hey, chiquita, you all right?" he asked. "You ain't said much."

OOC,[b]Derek[/b], roll Sanity for seeing [b]Jacqueline[/b]'s mangled corpse. Sanity loss is 1/1d4+1. If you lose 5 Sanity, roll Idea. If that roll succeeds, you go temporarily insane. If it fails, you may still act freely.

[Misfit]

Derek's whole world is pain as he looks around frantically for Jacqueline. Seeing her mangled corpse his mind recoils in horror. He barely manages to hold it together as he turns his head away and tries to breathe through the pain. "Who are you" he asks the woman who is tending to him.

Sanity,[url]http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2718840/[/url]

Idea,[url]http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2718842/[/url]

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,You didn't actually roll Sanity. The 1d4+1 Sanity loss is only if you fail the roll. Please roll 1d100 and try to get less than or equal to your current Sanity, which is 65. If you succeed at that roll, you lose only 1 Sanity. If you fail, then you will go temporarily insane.

[Dave Syrinx]

Kat unstraps the M4 from the female pilot. Then she starts to move away from the wreck to let Alfredo and Kyle to help the gunner away to safety.

[Misfit]

Sanity,[url]http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2719303/[/url]

[ryansommer]

"Let's get clear of the chopper" Emily said as she grabbed Kyles shoulder and began walking backwards towards to gates. "Do we have eyes on the infected that attacked the car?" Emily asked.

[Laraqua]

Cynthia just shrugs him off and keeps staring at the helicopter. It made sense... Out of everything that happened so far, that crashed helicopter made the most sense...

[kouchpotato]

Ho keeps the pistol out. Just in case they try to take truck. It all we have.

[Mr. Handy]

In the helicopter-
"You go ahead," said Kyle to Emily. "I gotta help get this guy outta here."

Kathryn unslung the M4 carbine from the pilot's remains. Then she and Emily climbed out of the wreckage. Kyle and Alfredo grabbed the twisted metal that had previously been the door machine gun and easily tossed it aside. It had felt light as a feather to Kyle, and he was sure he could have done this all by himself.

Alfredo gave a worried glance at the spreading flames. "Come on, kid," he said. "We better beat feet before this bird goes boom!"

Kyle held out a hand to Derek to help him up. "Let's go, mister," he said. "It's gonna 'splode!"

On the road-
Kathryn and Emily found Lauren outside the gates, just twenty feet or so from the wreckage. Several armed USAF Security Forces personnel were just within the gates, led by a sergeant. "Mom!" said Lauren, running up to Emily and hugging her. "I haven't seen the infected. These guys just won't listen to me! I can't make them open the gates!"

"If they did try to take my Escalade," said Joey from the back seat of the SUV, "they wouldn't be able to get very far with it, not with a flat tire."

OOC,Everyone may make a Spot Hidden roll at 1/5 of your skill (due to the darkness). The base skill is 25%, so you have only a 5% chance of succeeding if it's not on your character sheet.

[Dave Syrinx]

Kat sees nothing in the darkness. She walks up to Lauren and pats her on the back. To the Air Force soldiers nearby she says, "Will you be putting suppressing fire in that direction guys?" She points over the Escalade. "A flare would be great then we could take them down before they reach us. Messy to rely on the 9mm."

[ryansommer]

"Hurry, Kyle" Emily yells to the young man. Fully focused on the spreading flames, Emily sees litle else.

Moving to Lauren and giving her a hug, Emily says: "It's okay sweetie. I'm sure they will let us in once they are sure it's safe to do so. We'll be okay. I promise."

[Mr. Handy]

In the helicopter-
Alfredo and Kyle each slung one of Derek's arms over his shoulder, and the three of them emerged through the destroyed windscreen. Greasy smoke was also starting to come out of the wrecked chopper.

On the road-
"Suppressing fire does nothing against the infected, ma'am," the sergeant told Kathryn. "They have no concern for their own safety. The only thing that works is shooting them in the head. Rest assured we'll do that if they get close enough for us to take a shot. I'll see if I can get a starshell to light up the area." He studied her. "Are you in the military, ma'am? Your equipment and the way you speak seems to indicate that." He spoke into his headset radio. "Sir, this is Sergeant O'Neill at the the Randall Road gates. Can we get a starshell to illuminate the area to the northwest so we can see the infected?"

"I hope they hurry," said Lauren, glancing over her shoulder. "I can't see anything out there."

"Looks like someone survived the crash," said Joey to the others in the Escalade when he saw the three men climb out of the tangled mess.

Just then, a Humvee inside the base came up the road from the southeast. It stopped just inside the gates.

[Dave Syrinx]

"No, Sgt. I´m an air traffic controller. I´ve been forced to protect myself the best way I can. These clothes serve the situation better than these..." She removes a flap of the protective vest to show her halterneck. "More on that when we get in, right?" "I´ve had enough of crazed people for a lifetime. You guys can sure get your gear back, just let me in and give me some decent clothes." She looks at the Hummer and adds, "´Tis the keys?"

[ryansommer]

Emily moved to Lauren and put her arm around her as she awaited the return of Kyle. She turned to the man on the other side of the gates: "Sir, I am Emily Montrose. The airman they are bringing over is in need of medical help and I can provide it to him if you'll throw over a med kit."

[kouchpotato]

Ho flips the safety on his gun on and off.