Z-Day - 10:30 PM Mountain Time - Northwest of Warren Air Force Base, west of Cheyenne, Wyoming On the road-
While the pack of zombies consumed what was left of the hapless Victor Gonzalez, the survivors fled southeast down Randall Road towards the gates to Warren Air Force Base, their intended sanctuary. Emily Montrose, together with her daughter Lauren and Kyle Perkins, had managed to escape from the flipped over pickup truck and were racing away from the scene of carnage on foot. Behind them, the Cadillac Escalade trundled along. It had burst a tire after colliding with one of the zombies, so it could only move slowly. Alfredo Bocelli drove the SUV. Kathryn McCoy sat beside him. The lovely air traffic controller was still shaken from the many terrible ordeals she had suffered. Just when safety was at hand, she was forced to witness yet another death. Normally unflappable, she had endured more than anyone should have to - and still she managed to keep it together somehow. Cynthia Louise sat next to her in the shotgun seat, still unsure how she had survived everything that had happened when so many others had perished. Ho Nguyen sat in one of the middle seats, along with Duncan Jergens and Hector Salazar. Ho had lost his store and his employees tonight and was left with nothing but the clothes and weapons on his back. Would he be able to start over in this terrible new world? In the back seats rode Joey Milano and Harvey Bennish.
Emily strapped her helmet onto her head as she ran and spoke through the hands-free radio: "Carmichael. This is Emily. We crashed a vehicle and are under attack outside of the gates. Can you lend assistance?"
"Carmichael here," replied the colonel on both Emily's and Kathryn's helmets. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid we can't open the gate if you're being pursued by the infected. We can't risk them breaching the base." Their hearts fell as the news sank in. They were trapped outside the base, trapped with the dead. Then Lt. Colonel Carmichael spoke again, his words providing a glimmer of hope. "There may still be something I can do. I have a helicopter on combat air patrol not far from your position. I'll send it your way to help you. Carmichael out."
The gates of the base were still too far away to see. The zombies behind them were no longer visible now as the darkness closed in around them.
OOC,Everyone, roll Listen and Spot Hidden. The base skill for both is 25%. There is a -5 penalty to both skills if you are currently wearing a Kevlar helmet.
Kathryn fails to see anything in the darkness surrounding the Escalade. However, after the last comment from Carmichael she hears a distinct sound .close by...
"Alfredo, what if we ditch this heap? We can use it as a beacon to attract the dead... Then we run for the fence and take 'em down when they reach the beams from the head lights?"Kat unbuckles and gets ready to follow Emily, Kyle and Lauren ahead. "The base is sending an attack-heli to help us out."
On the road- Emily could hear a faint sound to the southeast that was gradually getting louder. It sounded like a giant eggbeater whipping the air. Laurenheard it too, but she couldn't quite see what was making it. "Something's coming, Mom!" she said, pointing ahead of them. "I think I see a light or something in the distance." Kylecouldn't seenor hear it.
The Escalade rolled onwards slowly. Kathryn also heard the approaching sound. Cynthia remained motionless beside her. "You're right, we can't leave the SUV," said Alfredo. "Those guys back there ain't interested in eating this - only us. If we got out and hoofed it, they'd ignore it and come straight for us." He couldn't hear it. but he clearly saw something. "There's the chopper coming from the southeast!" he called, pointing in the direction of the gates. "A Huey, if I'm not mistaken. We're only another fifty yards or so from the gates now, too."
Crammed between Cynthia and Alfredo, Kat turns her attention to the girl. "We´re almost there, Cynthia. They have electricity and showers. We´ll have a cup of tea quite soon and I´ll tell you all about photography.... A cute girl like you should be happy. Show me a smile and we´ll be at the gates."
She takes Cynthia´s hand and squeezes it to show her that she is alive. Kat keeps the 9mm in the left hand resting in her lap.
"Kyle, Lauren: Stay close" Emily said. "Once the helicopter get's closer and lands, we'll make a run for the chopper. Be careful, though. Those men in the chopper have been through just as much hell as we have. They may think we are one of the zombies if we make a mad dash for the chopper as soon as it lands. Put your hands up and approach cautiously until thye are sure we are safe. Okay?"
Feeling relatively snug between the others, Kat pushes back in the seat and aims at the wind shield, to be ready if one of the zombies comes at the car from the front. "Then let's roll to the gates and wait this out."
Both of them ran with Emily the rest of the way to the gates. As they appraoched, the helicopter became visible to all of them. It arrived from the southeast, the direction in which they were headed, and its searchlight was moving around. They and the SUV were illuminated briefly as it passed over them. The chopper hovered overhead. The gates themselves were sealed tight and heavily guarded from the inside. Kyle grinned and waved at the helicopter.
The Escalade also rolled the rest of the way to the gates. "All right," said Alfredo. "We're here. Are they gonna land or what?"
"Stay in the car then and hope for those guys to open the gates. I´m helping my friends out. Let me out Alfredo, we have a good head start and you can close after me."Kat moves closer to Alfredo and says, "Let me slide under you - that´s the quickest way."
Emily stood in the stop light and gathered her kids neat to her with a one armed hug. She used her other arm to wave up to the helicopter in an attempt to get there attention and let them know they are not infected.
On the road-
"I think it would be easier if I just got out too," said Alfredo, "but whatever you say, Kathryn." He undid his seatbelt and pressed forward against the steering wheel while Kathryn slid past him. It was a tight squeeze, but she managed to climb out and stand on the road.
The helicopter began to descend, but it soon became apparent that something was horribly, horribly wrong. It was coming down too fast, and it slammed into the ground before going over on its left side! The main rotor snapped off as it struck the ground. The stricken Huey lay still.
OOC,If anyone goes over to the wreckage, roll Spot Hidden. The base skill is 25%.
Barely managing to get out of the Escalade, Kat says, "Fuckety fuck!" Through the com, she relays, "This is traffic controller Kathryn McCoy, your heli just went down! You want us to salvage the survivors? Then open the gates and we´ll get your guys inside!" She starts sprinting in the direction of the wreckage. As she clicks of she catches a glimpse of the heli.
"Lauren, stay here by the gates and try to get them to open them" Emily said. "Kyle, grab your rifle and come with me." Emily sprinted off with Kyle towards the stricken helicopter.
Ho stays in the truck, frozen. Oh no, what happen now? How zombies take down helicopter? A light seems to go on in his head. If someone go over there grab radio, or guns, or missile if you can. Army will need more, right? We can set up business! He rubs his hands together.
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."
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."
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?"
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.
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. Emilymanaged 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.
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.
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.
"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.
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...
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.
Katsees 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."
"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."
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?"
"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?"
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."
On the road-
More black smoke billowed out of the ruined helicopter. Lauren looked at it uneasily. "Maybe we shouldn't be so close to it," she said.
Kyle nodded as he and Alfredo helped Derek over to the women. "It's gonna 'splode!" he said again.
"I'm not sure who's in the Hummer, ma'am," said Sergeant O'Neill on the other side of the gates. "Corpsman! Toss your medical kit over for the lady." One of the other SFs with a red cross on a white armband did as instructed. The kit landed not far from Emily's feet.
Billy Roberts, a man in an orange Racal suit, got out of the back seat of the Humvee and walked up to the squad inside the gates.
In the Escalade stopped outside the gates, everyone watched and waited.
OOC,[b]Emily[/b], if you want to start treating [b]Derek[/b], you may roll Medicine. Also, everyone may roll Spot Hidden at 1/5 skill.
Kathryn McCoy,[b]Kathryn[/b] looked back to the northwest and could clearly see the pack of six zombies still chewing on the remains of [b]Victor Gonzalez[/b]. There wasn't much of him left...
[spoiler]No need to roll Sanity. You've already seen these particular zombies before.[/spoiler]
"Sgt, The only hostiles are over at the tumbled truck. We don´t have any infected following us. And your chap needs to get inside to be cared for properly. Let us in! Look for yourself! No danger..."Kat points in the direction of the truck.
"Good idea" Emily said. "Let's move as far away from the helicopter as we can but stay near the gates for when they are eventually opened."
Looking to the uniformed man at the gates: "I will get to work saving the life of your airman.I trust you and your men will help to fend off those ghouls at the Escalade once they finish their meal?"
Inside the gates-
Now that Billy was closer, he could see that the two dark-haired women and the big, strapping young man with blond hair were all lightly injured. The man who had been pulled out of the wrecked, smoking helicopter was severely wounded, but the older of the two brunettes had helped him greatly and was continuing to do so.
"Ma'am, we'll shoot the infected once they come into range and we get a visual on them," said Sergeant O'Neill, the leader of the SF troopers stationed within the gates." He peered out into the night to the northwest. "It's too dark for me to see them, but we can't open the gates while they're out there and nearby. Until they've been eliminated, these gates have to remain sealed."
OOC,[b]Billy[/b], don't forget that you can roll Spot Hidden at 1/5 skill. Since it's not on your character sheet, you only have the base skill of 25%. With the penalty due to the darkness, this means you'd need a 5 or less.
On the road-
"Hey, mister!" said the powerfully-built young man, waving to Billy. "I'm Kyle Perkins."
"Um, shouldn't we get out of here, Mom?" asked Lauren, glancing nervously at the wreckage. Flames were already coming out of the shattered windscreen. Emily had been busy tending to Derek's injuries, and so neither of them had gone anywhere yet.
Alfredo hurried back to the Escalade. "Let's go, Kathryn!" he said. "Hop in, fast!"
Kathryn McCoy,[b]Kathryn[/b] saw that the half dozen zombies to the northwest were rising up and slowly shambling towards the gates, following the road. They were coming from the northwest and would arrive in a couple of minutes. They were still too far for her to have a decent chance of shooting them in the head.
[spoiler]If you want to start shooting, you may do so for five combat rounds, but you'll only hit on a 01 and you won't also be able to move if you do. The M4 has the range, but the penalty for the darkness and for aiming at the head will reduce your skill too much.[/spoiler]
OOC,Everyone who hasn't already done so may roll Spot Hidden at 1/5 skill.
It will take [b]Emily[/b] 9 more turns to finish treating [b]Derek[/b], but if she continues to do so now neither of them will be able to move. She can always stop for now and resume at a later time.
The name Billy Rogers meant nothing to Kat. She wondered what he´d bring to the situation at the gates, but that had to wait for later. Now she hoped for Alfredo to move the car out of the blast area. "Relocating this ride, right?"
Emily turned to the men behind the gates and spoke as she, Lauren and Kyle moved the injured man away from the helicopter. "That chopper is going to blow up and we need to get him and ourselves a save distance away. If you can't let us in, can one of you come out to help your wounded friend? " When she looked up to address the men, Emily realized that she recognized Billy.
Billy spoke up. "Now I know we can't open the gates for them, but couldn't we throw some blankets over the razor wire and just let them climb over? We could lash a stretcher together with some rope and lift the wounded over if they can't climb. From what I've heard so far, these abominations don't have the dexterity or intelligence to climb, so we aren't really showing them anything. Alot better than just hoping to put enough of them down and keeping these poor souls alive in the middle of a battle with these things." With that said Billy started to look around for rope, something to use to make a stretcher, and some blankets or something to protect the survivors from the razor wire. If he had to Billy would remove his racal suit to use for it.
Inside the gates-
The gates were twenty feet high, and Billy's Racal suit didn't have anywhere near enough material to use. He couldn't find any blankets, rope, or anything that would make a viable substitute.
In the distance, a howitzer barked. A virtual sun exploded to life to the northwest, turning the night sky to day. Staggering down the road to the northwest was a pack of six zombies, one of whom had a wounded head. They were only about 25 yards from the gates. Sergeant O'Neill and the SF troops under his command stared in shock.
"Billy, take cover!" called Cassie, scrambling behind her Humvee. "The chopper's about to blow!"
OOC,[b]Billy[/b], roll Sanity for seeing the zombies. Sanity loss is 0/1d10, so you lose no Sanity if you succeed but 1d10 if you fail. If you lose 5 or more Sanity, you must roll Idea. If you fail this roll, you may act freely, but if you succeed you will go temporarily insane.
Outside the base-
"Yeah, I'm gonna move us south," said Alfredo as he hopped into the driver's seat beside Kathryn. "It'll be off the road, but there's no avoiding it. We have to get away from the chopper and those...things." He turned the SUV a bit to the right and headed off-road, parallel to the fence. Its flat tire slowed it, and before long it bogged down in muddy ground, but it was still a safe distance from the helicopter. Emily, Lauren, Kyle, and Derek ran after it and easily caught up with it. Behind them, they could hear what sounded like gunshots and small explosions coming from the chopper - the ammunition inside was cooking off. The starshell that had burst overhead made the zombies and their surroundings clearly visible. The dead had veered off of the road to follow the fleeing survivors and would arrive very soon.
OOC,The rest of you do not need to roll Sanity, as you've seen these zombies before. You have five combat rounds before they arrive at your current position and will be able to attack if you remain there, and we'll handle all five rounds at once before the next major update. There is currently no penalty for darkness thanks to the starshell, and the range is normal, so the only penalty is the -5 for aiming at the head. Those of you inside the vehicle must spend one round getting out before you can fire. If you do not spend at least one of your five rounds moving away, any remaining zombies will be able to attack you (unless you are still inside the vehicle, in which case it will take them an additional round to get to you).
"I´ll start from the left..."Kat says as she exits the Escalade and uses it as support and cover. She fires her whole clip and curses while she squeezes off the rounds. Two of the rounds hit the leftmost infected, not bothering it in any way. The third shot, however, puts it down. Cursing at the time spent, she reloads her 9mm seeing that the infected are up close and personal, by the vehicle. She keeps them at arms length and prepares to blow the closest away...
Ho snaps out of his inaction. He clambers out of the escalade and squeezes off four shots. Two connect with a zombie's head, putting it down. The rest all miss.
Handy,Totally screwed up that roll, made one extra shot and put redundant hit locations. Disregard the last I suppose, the second shot was an impale but the zombie was already dead so it doesn't matter much now does it?
OOC,The helicopter has not exploded yet. If it does and you are near the airmen, you would be caught in the blast. The airmen are on the other side of the gates as well.
Billy stood up with a bible held high and began in a loud but clear voice "LORD JESUS!!! Hear our prayer! By your grace and divine wrath, guide our hands! Stay our aim! With your blessings, let us wipe these abominations from your sight! With your power, let us lay these bodies down into the grave where they are appointed to be! I beg you to forgive their souls, for the transgressions their bodies are making beyond their control!
Soldiers! Civilians! You are in God's army now! Open yourselves to his will! Let him guide your hand and let his power flow through you! Trust in the Lord your God and give your heart and soul to him for eternity! In Jesus' holy name we pray, AMEN!!!"
Outside the base-
"They're walking corpses!" shouted Lauren, tugging at Derek's sleeve. "Run!" She hurried along with him and her mother to the south, away from the zombies.
The ammo in the helicopter continued cooking off until finally the fuel tank ruptured and exploded! The intact main rotor blade was flung towards the gates in a scything arc. The light from the starshell faded, but the burning debris still lit up the night.
Inside the gates-
The squad of six SF troopers just inside the gates screamed in terror at the sight of the zombies. Three of them descended into varying types of hysterics, but Sergeant O'Neill and the other two opened fire on the zombies. When the last one fell, O'Neill scrambled for cover behind the Hummer.
"Stay down!" cried Cassie Reynolds, pulling Billy so that he was completely behind the vehicle.
One of the other SF troopers tried to follow his sergeant into cover, but he didn't quite make it. The rest of the squad was caught flat-footed. Flaming debris, including the whirling rotor blade, smashed in the gates and sliced through the five SFs who had been standing out in the open. They were all cut down where they stood.
Kathryn McCoy instinctively keeps her head down behind the Escalade while reloading the 9mm. "Holy grief!" she gasps at the mayhem by the fence. "Can you drive through that gap, Alfredo?" She bangs the roof of the Escalade and hurries off towards the wounded SF troopers. She keeps her 9mm ready, with both hands, looking for motions.
"You OK, father?" she calls at the Humvee. Still having a way to go she closes in on the damaged fence.
Handy:
Spoiler:
Don´t know how much she will be able to do this turn. I guess I had some room to move in, as the walkers are dead.
Emily ducked and covered Lauren as the blast shook the area.
When the blast subsided, she looked up and looked to the gates in horror. "Oh jesus" she said quietly to herself as she looked to the dead soldiers. "Lauren and Kyle, get behind the Escelade with the others.I'll check on the soldiers."
Emily stood and walked to the gates: "Sergent!" she yelled, "Are you okay?"
Billy stands up and looks around, ready to rush to the aid of anyone in need. He reaches down and helps Cassie up to her feet. "Thank you Ms. Cassie. I tend to get a bit carried away sometimes, when I'm doing the Lord's work." Looking over at the whole in the fence, "Well, let's get those people inside and someone might need to radio in for a repair team for the fence. Now I'm going to go and give our dead a short prayer."
Outside the base-
"The Escalade can probably be salvaged," said Alfredo, "but it's bogged down here and the tire's still flat. I think it's a waste of time trying to get it unstuck. We need to get everyone inside the gates while we can."
"Agreed," said Joey. "The Air Force can retrieve it later. Come on, everyone, let's get moving." He emerged from behind the vehicle and led the group forward.
"But...we're supposed to wait here," said Kyle.
"I think it's okay now," said Lauren. "Cynthia, are you all right?"
"All right, let's go." Kyle helped Derek stagger to the hole where the gates used to be after Joey and his entourage.
Kathryn reloaded her pistol while she advanced. Kathryn and Emily arrived just outside the destroyed gates. Even from here, they could see that the entire squad of SFs, save the sergeant, was dead. The remains of the helicopter still smoldered, but everything that was going to explode had already done so.
Inside the gates- Cassie Reynolds went with Billy Roberts to the front gates.
"I'm all right, ma'am," said Sergeant O'Neill, coming out from behind the Hummer. "My squad..." He saw the five dead troopers, but remained remarkably collected. "Ma'am, bring everyone inside the base and wait here for further instructions." With perfect clarity, he spoke into his radio. "This is Staff Sergeant O'Neill at the Randall Road gate. The wrecked helicopter just exploded and destroyed the gates and my entire squad, except for me. We need immediate reinforcements and some engineers to barricade the new gap in the fence. We also need people to process the civilians and transport them to the clinic. I'm bringing them inside the perimeter."
The light from the starshell faded, but the burning wreckage still illuminated the immediate area.
"Sergeant," Emily said as she Lauren and Kyle arrived at the gates, " I know this is not a plesant thing to discuss but your fallen men will get back up as zombies if you do not destroy thier brains. We need to put a bullet in thier heads ASAP or we'll be right back in the thick of things"
Hearing the words from the psychologist, Kat trains her 9mm at the closest fallen SF by the fence. Awaiting the reply of the Sgt. "Anytime.." This was starting to take surrealistic proportions, she´s just a traffic controller - not a killing machine. But then again these things aren´t alive. So what´s there to kill? She blinks at the fading light of the star shell and the flickering flares of the fire, squinting.
Inside the gates-
Everyone reached what was left of the gate and scrambled inside. Kyle helped the bewildered Derek along, and Lauren hurried to her mother's side.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" said Sergeant O'Neill when Emily advocated putting a bullet in the heads of the dead troopers and Kathryn pointed her pistol at one of them. "Ma'am, don't even think about it! There is no truth to the rumor that people get back up after they're dead. It's an infection. You are not going to desecrate the bodies of my squadmates by shooting them in the head! You shouldn't even have weapons inside the base perimeter. You had all better place your weapons on the ground before the rapid response team gets here. They might get the wrong idea if they see you're armed. Don't worry, your weapons will be catalogued and returned to you once you've passed the screening and are cleared for duty."
OOC,Anyone may roll Fast Talk to convince [b]O'Neill[/b] that the corpses should be shot in the head. Persuade will take significantly longer.
"Sgt. We´ve seen it. We´ve lived it. We´ve dealt with it. It´s no rumour. We´re dead serious! GBeleive me..."Kat makes sure trhe safety´s off and presses the muzzle to the head of the closest tartget on the ground.
Inside the gates-
"All right," said Sergeant O'Neill, "I believe you. They're already dead, so there's no harm in doing as you say, I guess." He pointed his M-16 at the head of one of the fallen SFs.
OOC,Everyone may now fire at one of the corpses' heads this round with whatever weapon you have ready. The range is point blank, so double your skill and then take a -5 penalty for aiming at the head. If your weapon has more than one shot, you may fire again if your first shot misses or does less than ten damage, but you may not select a different target until next round if your first shot does enough damage.
Lauren looked away from the shooting and embraced her mother, pressing her face into her shoulder.
Derek Morrison started to approach Sergeant O'Neill, but the other sergeant held up his hand. "Don't come any closer," he said. "We can't risk the spread of infection. You'll have to wait there with the others. You can hold onto your weapons, Sergeant, but the rest of you are going to have to put them down. Please place them on the ground and step away from them. The rapid response team should be here any minute, and they might get the wrong idea if they see you armed."
Kat lays down her weapons on the ground before her. "Be sure to bring those back, we pretty sure will need them later." She says and takes off her helmet and shakes her hair free from tangles. She even unbelts the straps of the kevlar vest and leaves it open. With the job done, she can afford some respite.
"Fair, enough" Emily said giving Lauren one more squeeze.
"Sgt. O'neil, is it?" she said turning towards the man. "I am Emily Montrose. It's a pleasure to meet you and thank you for helping us."
Inside the gates- Kathryn could see some of the men checking her out when she took off her helmet and loosened her vest. Hector and Duncan were ogling her, but Alfredo and Joey gave her more admiring looks. Harvey glanced at her before looking shyly away. Kyle was paying more attention to Lauren than to her.
"Those weapons look military issue, ma'am," Sergeant O'Neill said to Kathryn. Though he maintained military discipline, he obviously noticed her. "The armor definitely is. Anything that's military property will go to the stores, but anything that's yours you'll get back once you're cleared. We'll be sure catalog everything. Once you're given a duty assignment, you may be issued equipment depending on what that assignment is." He smiled at Emily. "Pleased to meet you, Ms. Montrose, but I'm only doing my duty. You'll have to lay your weapons down too, by the way." He nodded back at Derek. "Glad you survived the crash, Morrison. My name's O'Neill. We'll see about getting you into another crew once you get a clean bill of health, but for now you'll have to go into quarantine."
"I'm AIrman Cassie Reynolds," said the short female driver. "You've already met Reverend Billy Roberts here." She motioned to the old man in the Racal suit.
Lauren placed her rifle on the ground along with the ammo she carried, the bag with her late father's golf clubs, and her knives. "Don't worry, Kyle," she said. "They'll give us back your dad's rifle."
"Okey-dokey," said Kyle. He followed suit and laid down his M4, rifle magazines, and shotgun shells.
Cynthia placed her shotgun, shells, and knife on the ground.
The roar of engines came from the south and got steadily louder. Two Stryker APCs were approaching the area in front of the destroyed gates. "Oh, good," said O'Neill. "The reinforcements are here, and if I'm not mistaken, your ride to the clinic. The rest of you should put down your weapons now. Ammo and armor too."
"Do we really gotta give up our guns?" asked Hector with a frown.
"Yeah, we do," said Joey. "Just cooperate with the Air Force." He put his own pistol and magazines down. The rest of the guys with him did likewise with their weapons.
EMily complied and put down all of the weapons she had on her. She moved towards Lauren and Kyle and grabbed their hands. He heart swooned at the possibility that they may finally be safe. She and her kids had made it. "We made it" she said to them softly as a tear rolled down her cheek.
Kat lets the kevlar down on the ground as well as the 9 clips of reserve ammo she kept in the vest pockets. Some of the buck shots to the shotgun Cynthia lay down scatters about from one of the larger pockets. Now, more exposed that she really wants, she stands with her red halterneck, short black skirt divided by the two sturdy belts she had taken from that farm yesterday. Not much to work with but she walked over to Emily, Lauren and Kyle to reestablish the original group. "Yeah, they´re military, salvaged during the course of the day, sir."
She crosses her arms subconsciously to the glares from the men and waits for their rides.
Sergeant O'Neill nodded. "You'll get them back, sir," he assured Ho. "You'll want to put your ammo with them, too, to keep everything together. It'll make things more complicated if you turn it over at the clinic."
Lauren hugged Emily and Kathryn, and Kyle put his arms protectively around the whole group. "We're finally going to be safe!" said Lauren. "Things are going to get better now, I'm sure of it! I just wish Dad were here..."
"I miss my Ma and Pa too," said Kyle.
The two Strykers approached the open area in front of what was left of the gates, where they stopped. The rear doors opened and nine heavily armed SF troopers spilled out of each one. Most of them took up defensive positions at the entrance to the base. One of them, this one armed only with a pistol, approached Sergeant O'Neill. "I'm Lieutenant Grayson," he said. "I'm taking over at this position, Sergeant. My platoon will hold it until the engineers can come and barricade the gap. Get the civilians into the Strykers. They'll take them to quarantine. Then you can catalog all of their gear."
"Yes, sir," said O'Neill, saluting. He turned to the civilians gathered nearby. "Everyone get into one of the Strykers, please. You too, Sergeant Morrison. Each vehicle holds nine passengers."
"You heard him, men," said Joey. "Let's move." He led Alfredo, Harvey, Duncan, and Hector into the Stryker on the left.
Kat looks at the tank-like vehicle and nods approvingly. She walks over to the one not used by Joey and his crew. "See you, 'Fredo!" She waves at the large man. Then she enters the metallic whale and waits for it to get crammed and moved to a better place.
Inside the gates- Alfredo blew Kathryn a kiss as he boarded the Stryker on the left.
Billy helped Derek into the Stryker on the right and followed him aboard. Emily, Lauren, Kyle, Cynthia and Ho followed them.
In the Stryker-
The troop compartment was cramped, even with one of the nine seats empty. Strykers were not designed with comfort in mind. Billy closed the hatch after everyone had boarded, and soon the APC pulled out and started moving.
Lauren tried to rub her sore back, injured when the pickup truck had overturned. Kyle was also in pain, though he tried to put on a brave face and avoided showing it. Emily had also been hurt in the crash.
OOC,Anyone in the Stryker may try First Aid on one of the injured people. [b]Derek[/b] has already received the maximum treatment, however. If you succeed, roll 1d3 to see how many HP that person regains.
Kat McCoylooks to Kyle´s wounds but can´t make any remedy to his pain. "Sorry Kyle, I´m at a loss. Maybe someone else can see to this?"Kat sits back again a little angry at herself not being able to help.
"Here, Honey" Emily said to Lauren. "Let me see if I can help you with that." Emily moved over and tried to work on Laurens back but was unable to in the back of the moving Stryker
"Ugh. Sorry sweetie. Looks like a deep tissue bruise and I can't do anything about it." she said.
In the Stryker-
"Ow!" cried Lauren. One of her cuts began bleeding afresh. "It's okay, Mom. There'll be doctors when we get to the clinic." She managed to stop the bleeding by borrowing her mother's medical supplies.
"Uh, maybe I can help," said Kyle. "I helped animals on the farm when they got hurt."
The Stryker rolled onwards for a while before it stopped. After a moment, it continued forward slowly for a short distance before turning around and stopping again. An SF trooper in an orange Racal suit opened the rear hatch from outside. "Everyone, please get out," he said. Through the open hatch, the entrance to a building was visible, but they couldn't see much from inside the vehicle.
OOC,[b]Derek[/b] recognized it as a hospital on the base, but the amount of security around it had greatly increased.
Everyone is moving to the thread linked below.
