Play@YSDC

Z-Day - 6:10 PM Central Time - Near Brooks High School, Omaha, Nebraska
In the street-
While he had been eating dinner, Captain Rochelle Blake had brought in Detective Gretchen Ehrlich, a narcotics detective for the Omaha PD. She had been assigned to join him on his assignment to Brooks High School, and he already knew her from the interagency task force they worked on together. She also knew the undercover detective at the school, who was her partner, so she was a natural choice to send with John.

The two of them had walked most of a mile to the east, heading for the school. They were only a couple of blocks away now.

OOC,[b]John[/b] and [b]Gretchen[/b], please roll 1d100 against your Spot Hidden skills.

John Lake,Checking spot hidden (1d100=14) Success!

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In the street-
About a block ahead, John saw an RV stopped in the middle of the road. A strong-looking man about forty years of age was nearby, armed with a pistol and shotgun. He saw John and Gretchen and took cover behind the vehicle.

He motions for Gretchen to get behind cover and to cover his approach to the RV, standing slighthy to one side to let her have a clear line of sight to the target. John then walks for a little while, his fire arm holstered, his hands clearly in view, then stops calling out

"You at the RV, we're federal officers....do you require assistance?"

In the street-
John and Gretchen carefully approached the RV. They had to get very close to get within pistol range. Gretchen kept behind cover, using parked or stopped cars. She stopped when she got within about fifteen yards of the RV.

As John came near, Jack called out loudly from behind the RV: "Who are you?" At that point John replied "You at the RV, we're federal officers....do you require assistance?"

Jack leaned out a bit and replied "You're a bit late, they're all dead now, those things and my family. Do you have any badges I can see? And before you get near me, none of those things bit you did they? If they did, stay back."

"I am reaching into my pocket to get my I.D. and I am going to come closer so as you can see it...ok?"

"You haven't been bitten have you? If you have, PLEASE stay away!" On seeing the badge Jack relaxed and asked "Are we the only ones left? What happened and why did it stop like that?" Taking a breath he continued, "Where is your partner, I saw two of you." Jack started looking around obviously concerned for his own safety.

In the street-
Jack saw that John's badge identified him as Special Agent John Lake from the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Gretchen came forward, her own badge in hand. "No, we haven't been bitten, sir," she said. "I'm Detective Gretchen Ehrlich of the Omaha Police Department. We're not the only ones left. There are many police officers still operating out of my precinct."

"Ok, so what now? Anybody else alive or just the police?" Pausing for a moment, obviously holding back tears, Jack said "Sorry, I just don't know what to do. My whole family is dead and my life is just GONE. If you all need help I'm pretty handy at building and fixing things, if you'll excuse my failure on getting this thing running again." Pointing at the RV. I have a good bit of food and some more tools in here. Plus, all sorts of cookware and dishes." Pausing again "We, I, had to learn how to be pretty self sufficient on the farm."

"I'm sorry about my manners, the name's Jack Brunner." "If you guys want a bite to eat, I have some food here, and some perishables in the RV. Just please stay out of the back bedroom. That's where my family is. Anything you can think anyone needs or wants, just grab it. I don't want to go back in there."

"I'm John Lake DEA, & my partner back there is Detective Ehrlich. We've come from a police station about a mile from here. We're on our way to check out the school. Could be we could help fix up the RV...but I have to ask...your family are dead inside the RV is that correct?"

He motions for Ehrlich to come forward

"Yes, you did hear me right. We were attacked and swarmed. They're how I figured out about the bites starting the process and head shots ending it. It started with two breaking into the RV and turning my family into those things. It ended with me on top of the RV ready to take out as many of those things as I could before ending my own life. Before it got to that point, all of them you see here, just fell over at once. After that the RV wouldn't work. The electrical system is utterly dead. I've been wondering if they aren't somehow connected, but can't figure out how." Pausing to gather his strength, Jack said "So anyway, yes they are in there, just the bodies mind you. After it was all over, I wrapped them in spare sheets and put them in the back bedroom." Tears were now running down his cheeks, "We had a lot of good times together is this old thing. Now it's a mausoleum for them." Jack then put his face in his hands and tried to control his sobbing.

"I'm sorry for your loss Mr Brunner...we're on our way to a local high school to see if there are any survivors...I think it'd be safer if you came along with us...would you mind if I checked inside the RV?"

"I'll go, not a problem with that. I'll help out in any way I can. Like I said before, you're welcome to whatever is in there. Mostly food and cookware inside. The tools and all are in the bottom storage compartments on both sides of the RV. Just let me know whenevr you're ready to go."

John nods to Brunner and then taking a deep breath he heads inside the RV

Jack Looks to Gretchen, "So other than the police station, how is the rest of the city holding up?"

OOC,[b]Gretchen[/b] came forward and introduced herself already in the last update.

In the street-
Gretchen put a comforting hand on Jack's shoulder. "I'm sorry, sir," she said. "We've only just started to scout out the neighborhood around our precinct in the last hour and a half or so. The other nearby precincts have all fallen, but we did find scattered pockets of survivors along the way. No groups were anywhere near as big as ours, though. We're hoping we'll find a lot of people alive at the school. It's pretty big. We're only a block away from it now, in fact. It's over there." She pointed to the east.

OOC,[b]Jack[/b], roll Spot Hidden.

In the RV-
The first thing John Lake noticed when he stepped into the RV was the stench of death and decay. Shell casings, blood, and broken glass made it obvious that a fight had taken place here. The lights inside the RV were all off, and nothing would make them turn on. All of the doors to the various rooms were open except for one at the back, which was closed. That must have led to the back bedroom that Jack had mentioned.

Jack looked where Gretchen pointed, but his eyes were still blurry from the tears. He then smiled wanly and said "At least it's good to know that some people have made it. What are you telling the survivors to do? Go to the precinct? Do you all have enough food and water? Have you been sending out groups to gather supplies? What about..." Jack paused then and looked at Gretchen. "I'm sorry, I got carried away. I'm still trying to figure this whole thing out. I'm kinda lost without my family, I'm so used to everything being centered around them."

l John heads into the back of the RV and looks around to see if there is anything useful &

In the street-
Gretchen saw all there was to see with her keen eyesight, which often served her well in her job. "There's a middle-aged woman on the roof of the school, waving at us!" she said, waving back. "She's in her mid-fifties and wearing a lab coat. Must be one of the scientists. And there's some kind of device up there with her." She glanced back to the west. "We've got more company, John!" she called into the RV, then turned to face the new arrivals.

A man and a woman in black suits and ties approached down the street from the west. Both of them wore sunglasses and had pistols in belt holsters. They both appeared to be about thirty years old. The man had short, straight black hair, while the woman had red shoulder-length hair in ringlets. She stepped forward first and took out a badge from her suit jacket's inside pocket, showing it to Gretchen and Jack. "I'm Special Agent Ann O'Neill from the FBI, and this is Special Agent Miles Graham."

"Detective Gretchen Ehrlich," said Gretchen, displaying her own badge, "Omaha Police Department. I'm with another federal agent, John Lake from the DEA. He's inside the vehicle."

In the RV-

John Lake,[b]John[/b] found the toolkit that [b]Jack[/b] had told him about. He tried the door at the back, which was not locked. It opened to reveal a scene of horrific carnage in the rear bedroom. The bodies of a woman and five children, one of them a baby, lay on and around the bed. All of them had been shot in the head from close range. The two biggest children also had bullet wounds in their torsos. [spoiler][b]John[/b], roll Sanity. Sanity loss is 0/1d3.[/spoiler]

he is appalled and deeply saddened by the sight of Brunner's family. He quietly closes the door and notices that his hands are shaking. He waits a few moments to gather is composure before heading out...remembering to grab the tool kit. Once he is outside he is surprised to see the new comers, he puts down the tool box and shows his ID.

"John Lake, DEA. Don't recall seeing you at the precinct house What brings you here?"

Finally Jack speaks up, "Sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier, I'm Jack Brunner. I'm not an officer, just a farmer caught up in all this."

In the street-
"We're from the Cheyenne field office," said Ann, displaying her identification to John. It looked like every other FBI ID he had ever seen. "We just got into town not too long ago and our car stopped working, so we're hoofing it. Nice to meet you."

"We're investigating a murder that took place in Cheyenne recently," said Miles. "We're looking for a person of interest named John Lee, and we have reason to believe he's in Omaha. He's a Chinese-American in his late teens, average height and build." He took a small photo out of his wallet and showed it to John, Gretchen, and Jack. It did not look familiar to any of them. "Have you seen him?"

"Sorry," said Gretchen, shaking her head.

"Sorry can't help you...we're about to check out the school. You may as well tag along...you might be more lucky"

In the street-
"Yes, we'll do that," said Ann. Miles put the photo away, and both of them walked east down the road with John, Gretchen, and Jack.

After a minute or so, they got close to the perimeter chain link fence surrounding the school. There were various holes in the fence here and there that looked like they had been ripped in it. On the roof of the two story building, everyone could now see the woman in her mid-fifties. She waved to the new arrivals. "I'm Dr. Helene Saunders," she called down to them. "Welcome to Brooks High School. There are a bunch of us still alive here."

John scans the area looking for signs of the walking deadand then shouts up to the woman on the roof

"How many are you, what's the situation like in the building...is it safe for you to come to us?"

In the street-
John saw nothing of note nearby.

"There's a few dozen of us," answered Dr. Saunders. "Most of the others are in the cafeteria eating dinner. We had a lot of trouble here earlier, but things are calmer now. I'm glad you're here. I can't come down to you, unfortunately. Can't leave my post. But you can come on in." She looked over the north side of the roof. "There's some folks coming out the back door now, You should enter that way." She called down. "We have some visitors! They look friendly!"

A man with Middle Eastern features came onto the roof from an access door, carrying a tray.

In the street-
"Come on, let's get inside," said Ann. She and Miles walked through a hole that had been ripped in the fence, stepping over numerous dead bodies. Some had been shot in the head, but others showed no apparent signs of injury.

"Sounds good to me," said Gretchen. She led John and Jack after them through the hole.

West of the school-
The small group made its way past a baseball diamond over a well-manicured lawn. The school building rose above them to the east. On the roof, the man with the tray gave something to Dr. Saunders and spoke to her. Everyone would have to go around the northwest corner to reach the rear of the building.

OOC,Everyone, roll Listen.

As Jack followed behind Gretchen and John, he wondered at the fact a school had survived the recent events. Then he heard something.

Jack Brunner,[b]Jack[/b] heard the man on the roof speaking with [b]Dr. Saunders[/b]. "Here's you dinner, Doctor," he said. "Thank you, [b]Tariq[/b]," she answered. "If you don't mind, I'd like to ask you about this EMP device. I'm curious about it." "What did you want to know?" He could also hear people around the corner, on the north side of the school.

West of the school-
A man's voice came from around the corner, on the north side of the school: "Advance and be recognized or I will shoot!"

Jack got a very thoughtfull look on his face and was ovbiously deep in thought. The look progressed into a puzzled one as he mulled over what he heard, but just couldn't figure it out. He then stepped around the corner and introduced himself to the sentry. "Name's Jack Brunner, I'm here with Agents Lake, O'Niell, and Graham and Detective Ehrich. We're human and friendly."

OOC,Actually, in this case I'll allow a Know roll to be aware of what an EMP is and what it can do, so you succeed. Everyone is moving to the thread linked below. Please do not read any posts above the one in the link.

Bus