Z-Day - 6:24 PM Central Time - Marley Warehouse, Omaha, Nebraska East of the warehouse- Darnell and a Jamaican man stood in the mouth of the alley between the warehouses at the southern end, facing off against Ron Moore, who was in the middle of the alley. Darnell had a pistol in his hand, and the Jamaican carried a pump shotgun. Both of them were pointing their weapons at the coach. Neither Darnell nor Ron were injured, but the Jamaican's leg was bandaged. Even so, he didn't appear to be very badly injured.
OOC,[b]Ron[/b], you get to act first. If you wish to shoot, you may fire one shot with either your pistol or the bow, whichever you had ready. The range is normal, and there is no time to aim for a specific body part. If you do shoot, then [b]Darnell[/b] would get to fire his first shot if he's still able, followed by the Jamaican and then [b]Darnell[/b]'s second shot. Since you can't possibly take both of them down before they get to return fire, this would be a very dangerous proposition.
OOC,I'm going to give [b]Ron[/b]'s player a couple of more days to post. [b]Ron[/b] goes first because he has DEX 18. When it's your turn, you can try to Grapple him, but you'll have to have both of your hands free to do it, which means putting your gun away. It's not your turn yet, though.
"Darnell," Ron said with his hands up, "Have I ever wanted to see you in jail? Shit, son, I've protected you and stood up for you from day one and will continue to do so. I've always treated you like a son, and I always will. No please, stop pointing the guns at me. I'm not here for anything other than to make sure you were safe. I heard that those others were coming here and I followed them in secret. I was worried about you, Darnell."
Darnell said, "No coach, you refused to let me go kill Kyle when he needed killing. If you had let me and supported me in that effort, LaTanya would not have followed the group here and would not have been murdered. You caused her death ipso facto. So once again down on your knees unless you want to lose a kneecap capache?"
Ron lowers to his knees. "Seriously, Darnel?! Let you kill a man?" Ron said shaking his head. "How could you ever think I would let you kill that boy? I've apparently failed you greater than I thought I did. You're a good kid and everything I have done for you has been in an effort to let others see just how much of an upstanding young man you are. Time and time again you haven't been given a fair shake by anyone but me."
Darnell said, "He tried to have his killed with a bomb. You would have died. Because you all adults were to scared to take frontier justice in your hands I had to. I did not kill him though as I was raised correctly but I did put the fear of God into him. And what did you all do? You chased me down like a dog in the night. For what? Standing up for what is right? No sir, God told me to do what I did. You have the blood of LaTanya on your hands and my baby on your hands also. Now tell me where the others are now."
"Darnell, don't be grouping me in with everyone else because you know that's bullshit. You can call them the 'Adults' if you want but I'm your coach. I am different from them. I treat my players like my sons. Like my own flesh and blood and always have." Ron retorted.
"I agree with you, Darnell. That kid deserved to die but you have to understand that not everyone has the guts to do what needs to be done like you and I do. All of those people at the school are so afraid. They are paralyzed with fear but you weren't and I'm proud of you for that. Hell, I was even afraid to act like I know I should have. With all those things out there trying to kill us, it... it just didn't seem right even though that dipshit had tried to kill us too."
"I came here today because I was worried about you and no one else. I came here by myself in secret to see if I could talk to you before they arrived but it looks like I was too late......." Ron's shoulders slump as he hangs his head.
OOC,No, it's not. It's not in [b]Ron[/b]'s backstory either.
Ron Moore,That's the sort of thing that would be far more likely to happen with [b]Roy McCrumb[/b], if you look at your secrets again. You might have gotten them mixed up. You may need to edit your post.
Spoiler,I made up the name Ms. Anderson just to be generic but my secrets says that I've covered his agressive sexual behavior and that he doesn't know when to stop when women say no. To have a woman say she said 'No' and Darnell did not stop is not a stretch. I said she accused him of it and people jumped on him without finding out if there was any merit to her acusations, muck like the Duke Lacross scandle. Ron defended him in this matter and he was exonerated.
East of the warehouse-
"So, what do you think?" said the Jamaican with the shotgun to Darnell. "Can we trust this guy to join us, or do we kill him? Cause those are the only choices I can see. We're wasting too much time standing around here. If we don't hurry, that cop's gonna escape."
Darnell said, "Coach I want to believe you and not have to kill you so tell you what. You really believe in me? Really want to help me? Tell us where the other cop is and lead us to her and I will gurantee you will live."
" I'm not sure where they went, Darnell" Ron said. "When I came upon the scene I saw someone rounding the corner to the north of the alley back there but I can't be sure that was them but I don't see why it matters. What they hell is a cop going to do? I'm sure no one gives a shit about shit with FUCKING ZOMBIES ROAMING THE STREETS! Shit tends to take a back seat when the dead are rising and eating the living, ya know what I mean?"
East of the warehouse-
"That didn't stop those punks from raiding us, mon," said the Jamaican, already moving to the back of the alley. "Don't know if you've noticed, but the dead are staying dead now. That cop escapes and tells people where we are, we'll have trouble. Come on, Darnell. Bring him and follow me." He hurried behind the warehouse.
"Oh no! They will tell people where you are!" Ron says, in a tone just dripping with sarcasm. "Do you really think people give a shit about you, MON? People care about staying alive and that's it. They weren't trying to raid you, shit head. They were trying to rescue the WOMEN you decided to kidnap."
"Fuck it" Ron said. "I'm done giving a shit. I'm setting out on my own and looking out for only one person. ME. Now hold your fire cause I am standing up and walking away. You two can do what ever you want. By the way, I saw those two you are looking for head to the north. The cop mentioned something about a police safehouse up there that was stocked with weapons and first aid supplies."
"I don't think you get it, Darnell" Ron said. "I don't give a shit if you kill me. It's either you kill me, or those zombies kille me. I'm done caring. I came here to see if I could salvage one last bit of humanity in world gone ferral and I see now that there is none. You bunch of savages can go do what ever you want. The two who survived the attack here, they headed north. You better get moving if you want to catch them so you can kill them before the zombies do."
With his arms still in the air, Ron began to rise: "So I'm going to get up, walk to my house and enjoy that bottle of 24 year old bottle of scotch I've been saving for a special occasion. Okay? I think the death of mankind is just such an occasion. You don't have to worry about me. I'm unarmed and don't give two shits about you anymore."
East of the warehouse-
"Damon!" called Lou from the back of the warehouse. "The guy says they went north. We need to get the van ready so we can go hunt them down." His footsteps could be heard hurrying inside.
OOC,[b]Ron[/b], since you move faster than [b]Darnell[/b] (and pretty much anyone else), you can get around the corner before he has a chance to fire a second shot if you wish.
Ron Moore,When [b]Ron[/b] stepped out of the alley's mouth, he saw that one of the garage bay doors in the front of the warehouse was being opened from the inside.
Handy,So just to be clear: I am at the front of the warehouse now. COrrect? One of the doors to the front of the warehouse is open now? Are there any weapons on the ground out here from the people who got killed?
Ron Moore,Yes, you're in front of the warehouse, and one of the garage doors is now open. The front people-sized door was smashed in and is also open. No, there are no weapons out here. Everyone except [b]Emily[/b] who was killed died inside the warehouse, and she died behind the warehouse, not in front of it.
Handy,Which direction would I be going if I were to run across the street so I was on the opposite side of the road as the front of the warehouse? What lies across the street? Is there another alley or something to hide in?
Ron continued his walk across the street to the south and enters the first alley he sees.
Handy,You said Ron gets to act first because his dex is so high, does that mean he can move faster as well? I.e. Can Ron get across the street and into an alley before Darnell get to the front of the warehouse?
Ron Moore,You'll reach the alley, but it is directly across from this one. [b]Darnell[/b] will still see you and be able to get a shot off before you can get out of his sight.
In the street- Darnell ran out of the alley and into the street in front of the warehouse. He could see that one of the garage doors was now open. Ahead of him, Ron Moore moved into an alley between two warehouses on the other side of the street.
OOC,[b]Darnell[/b], if you want to shoot at [b]Ron[/b], you will only get one shot before he can move out of your line of sight. The base skill in Handgun is 20%. If you shoot, you cannot also move.
In the alley- Ron moved briskly through the alley. Ahead of him, he could see another alley intersecting it that ran behind the warehouses. The alley he was in ended here, but he could round the corner to the left or the right.
OOC,[b]Ron[/b], you may roll Dodge in case [b]Darnell[/b] shoots at you and hits.
Ron Moore,It was actually about fifteen minutes ago that you arrived. You're not familiar with the neighborhood, and you did not come by this exact route. You do know that there is a north-south street pretty close on the right. There is another one a good deal farther away to the left (that was the street you took to get here).
Darnell thought hard about where Coach Moore lived. He knew he had been at the place for pizza parties before. He suddenly remembered and put his gun back in his pants before he started to jog down the block toward the house. He hoped that Coach Moore would know he had only been playing around so he would avoid getting shot by the gangbangers.
In the street- Darnell turned right and reached the intersection with a street heading north and south. He knew that the coach's house was about a mile and a third to the south, past the school (which was a mile away). Looking to the south, he saw Ron Moore emerge from the alley about half a block ahead of him and turn left, heading south. When Ron glanced back, he saw that Darnell's gun was no longer in his hand.
Ron stops and looks back to Darnell as he continues to walk: "I'm supposed to trust you now, son? Tell you what, slide that pistol over to me so I know that I can trust you. Just a moment ago, it was pointed at my head and I won't be having that happen again."
"You know I don't have one because if I did" Ron said "I'd be pointing it at you now. I've got no interest in harming you, son. I really don't. I don't care if you beleive me or not but if you want to come with me, we've got to start trusting each other and that starts with you sliding that gun over here."
Ron Moore,You're only 47, which is a bit young to have been in Vietnam. You'd have been born no earlier than 1963, which would make you 10 when the U.S. withdrew. Desert Storm would be more likely.
Do you still have any of your weapons, or did you drop them all at the warehouse?
Handy,Sorry. I thought I had read that he was a former solier. In my sleepless haze, I probably read drill instructor and thought "He must have been a soldier". Editing post above. I dropped the bow and arrow back at the warehouse. I was under the impression that was my only weapon.
Ron Moore,You also had the Colt .45 that you took at the auto body shop and the saber you started with. Both are listed in your weapons list. Did you leave them too, or do you still have them?
[b]Ron[/b] is a former drill instructor, and his character blurb does say he is a veteran of Desert Storm.
Handy,I thought we had stopped in the alley? Ron entered the alley across the street, then turned right and that is when Darnell caught up to him. If we are in the street, Ron would like to continue to another alley as quickly as possible.
Ron kept moving through the alleys towards his house.
Ron Moore,If you look back up a couple of updates, you'll see that the alley let out into the street after it turned right, which is where you met [b]Darnell[/b]. It did not cut through in the direction you're heading, which is south. You can proceed south to the next intersection, or you can check the alley across the street to the west to see if it cuts through. If you do that, please roll Luck.
"Listen son, you can tag along if you like but we best get off the street as soon as we can." As he walks across the street to the alley on the west side of the street, Ron pulls his Colt .45 from his waist band.
OOC,As long as he's not trying to hide it, then yes. Otherwise, [b]Ron[/b] must roll Conceal (base skill 15%), and if he fails then [b]Darnell[/b] must roll Spot Hidden.
In the alley-
The alley that Ron and Darnell had ventured down went diagonally to the southwest and let out on an east-west street. On the other side of that street was another alley leading south. It looked like the alleys cut through for several blocks. They were now about nine blocks north of the school.
A car horn sounded somewhere in the distance, but they couldn't tell where it was.
Staying out of sight in the alley Ron turned to Darnell and said "If we're going to keep going on together we need to get started trusting each other because from where I am standing I've got little to no trust for you, son. No more than 5 min ago you had a gun to my head and wanted to kill me. Now that your ass is on the line, you want to be my best friend. So tell me, what's your angle."
In the alley-
"I only acted that way because Lou was looking over my shoulder with his shotgun," said Darnell. "I'd never hurt you, Coach. I had to get away from there. Those bastards killed my girl and my baby."
Ron was not sure he could trust Darnell or not but he did not have much of a choice.
Handy,Just to refresh by memory: Is there still anyone being held at the gang hide out? I know Erika is on the run and someone else was killed but was there anyone else?
Ron Moore,[b]Erica[/b] did not escape as far as you know. [b]Emilio[/b] and [b]Kate[/b] got away. Some of the Jamaicans survived the attack. [b]Roy McCrumb[/b], [b]Heather Anderson[/b], [b]Keith Stewart[/b], and [b]Doug[/b] and [b]Lisa Marley[/b] are all unaccounted for.
[b]Darnell[/b] seems sincere as far as you can tell.
"Good to hear it, son" Ron said. "In a world going to shit, we need men to stand up for theri fellow humans more than ever. Tell all you know about the Jamacians and their hideout. What about Erica and the other hostages? Are they okay? Where are they held?"
In the alley-
"Erica's the only hostage," said Darnell. "The rest of us came willingly, but I don't think the Jamaicans would like it if we bug out. I'm pretty sure Keith was trying to bail earlier, but he couldn't slip away. Heather probably doesn't mind being there much, and Doug and Lisa are the boss man's kids. That's Damon Marley, the leader of this posse. He's got this underground hydroponic grow operation, and there's a generator down there that's still running. All that concrete must have shielded it from the pulse. There's a secret entrance hidden in one of the storerooms. A couple of the other Jamaicans survived the raid: Lou King, who's Damon's enforcer, and the sawbones, Wesley."
"Alright" Ron said, "I don't think we have much time if we are going to act. We're going to go back there while they are recovering and we're going to rescue that girl. Are you with me?"
In the alley-
"It won't be easy," said Darnell. "Damon's got a submachine gun. That's what he used to kill LaTanya. Maybe if we can get the drop on him. He still thinks I'm on his side, and if I vouch for you, he may let us in. If we save Erica, will that get me out of trouble, Coach?" He led Ron back to the street.
Outside the warehouse- Darnell and Ron reached the front of the warehouse again. The garage doors were closed, and there was no sign of anyone outside. Through the opening where the front door used to stand, they caught sight of a white man with a pile of wood, a hammer, and a bucket of nails. He was about to start boarding up the opening.
"Well, we best get moving" Ron whispers. "Here's the plan. We go in there and you tell them that I'm your old coach and I'm on your side. We walk in like nothing is wrong. We see if we can turn Keith and get him to help us. Then, we get Erika out of there. You understand?"
"One more thing," Ron said looking straight into Darnell's eyes, "You fuck me over, and I'm killing you first. You hear me?"
Outside the warehouse-
"I got it, Coach," said Darnell. He led Ron up to the open doorway to the warehouse.
In the entry hall- Brian Stevenson was about to start barricading the open front doorway when he saw Darnell and Ron walking up to it. He recognized Darnell and stepped aside to let them in. They were met with a scene of gruesome carnage. Near the blasted open front door, Ron saw the bullet-riddled body of Miguel, as well as those of two Jamaicans. Blood pooled on the floor, shell casings floating in it. In the other direction, at the far end of the hall near the destroyed back door, he could see the corpse of Tiny as well as some shredded remains that were barely recognizable as human, and through the opening was the body of Emily Lubachek. Doors lined the hall on the right, and there was a single door near the front on the left. Also near the back door were Lisa Marley and two other live Jamaicans. One of them had a leg wound and carried a Mac-11 submachine gun. Lisa sat next to him, her arms around his waist. The other Jamaican was sewing up the wound, and he looked to be more than halfway done.
"Darnell, what are you doing here?" asked the wounded Jamaican. "I thought you were going with Lou and Doug. And who's this guy?"
"Damon, this is Ron Moore, my coach from Brooks High. He came down here from the school separately to try to find me. I let Lou and Doug go without me so I could talk to the coach. They can handle it."
"I heard a gunshot earlier."
"That was just a warning shot, but the coach is cool now. He's willing to join us."
Damon smiled. "Good job, Darnell," he said. "We could really use reinforcements, and he looks big and strong too. He won't replace Malcolm, but I'm sure he'll prove useful." He looked up at Ron. "Pleased to have you on my posse. I and I am Damon Marley. So, what sorts of things are you good at?"
While they spoke, Brian got to work boarding up the space where the front door used to be, his skill highly evident.
OOC,[b]Ron[/b], please roll Sanity for seeing the gruesome remains and Spot Hidden. Sanity loss is 1/1d4+1. The base skill for Spot Hidden is 25%.
In the entry hall- Ron recognized the horribly shredded corpse as LaTanya Washington. There was so little left of her that it was nearly impossible to do so. She had to have been hit with at least ten bullets. Ron took in all the details of the entry hall. The mechanic had no guns, but he did have a crowbar. A pump action 12-gauge shotgun lay discarded just inside the front door. It looked like Chuck's shotgun that Emilio had been using. Miguel's body had a Glock 17 9mm automatic pistol on his belt. One of the Jamaican corpses near him had a .38 revolver and a fighting knife on his own belt, and the other had a Glock 17 as well as a Springfield Armory M21 sniper rifle on his back. Damon had a .50 Desert Eagle automatic pistol and a fighting knife in addition to his submachine gun, and the Jamaican treating him carried a .32 automatic. Lisa was unarmed. Beyond them, at the rear of the entry hall, LaTanya's body had an M4 carbine and a fencing foil. Out the back door, he could even see the .38 revolver and the large axe on Emily Lubachek's corpse.
Handy,What does Ron know about the zombies? Does he know that the dead are rising?
"Thanks, for having me" Ron said, extending his hand and firmly shaking the mans hand. "I'm a soldier, Damon. Served several tours in Iraq and ended my military career as a drill sergent. If you need someone to whip your men ito fighting shape and solidify your defenses, I am you man."
Scanning the area: "You've got a quite a mess here.We need to get the dead out of here before they rot. Darnell and I will start at the back door."
In the entry hall-
"Yeah, good thinking, mon," said Damon.
Ron Moore,[b]Ron[/b] not only knows that the dead were rising, he knows that they aren't any more. [b]Ron[/b] got briefed along with everyone else in the lab at the beginning of Chapter 5. The bodies in the entry hall have been dead for some time now, and they haven't gotten up.
Ron Moore,Something else, from what you've been told. The message that [b]Stephanie[/b] transmitted into space is believed to have stopped all the dead from rising all over the world, but did nothing to the ones that had already risen. The EMP has a limited area of effect with a radius of a mile or two. The pulses are fired off at regular intervals, which wouldn't keep the dead from rising by itself but would take down any that were already up (as happened at the end of Chapter 4).
Ron heads to the back door and picks up the M4 dropped by LaTonya and straps it across his back. He drags her corpse out the back door and kneels next to her. He makes the sign of the cross on his body, then hers, and mutters "Lord, protect this young lady and forgive me." He then pats down her body, looking for additional clips of ammunition on her body.
In the entry hall- Darnell helped Ron carry LaTanya's corpse out behind the warehouse.
Behind the warehouse- Darnell and Ron set the body down with respect. He began to cry and turned his head away. "Too damn late to protect her now," he muttered.
Now that Ron was outside, he could see that his bow, arrows, and saber were lying right where he'd left them. LaTanya had no extra magazines on her.
Ron scooped up his dropped bow and arrows and the sabre and stowed them on his body. "These may be useful to kill the zombies quietly," Ron said to Darnell.
Ron moved to the next body and drug it outside the back door as well.
Behind the warehouse- Darnell followed Ron back inside.
In the entry hall-
When Ron and Darnell returned, they saw that Brian was making decent progress boarding up the front entrance.
"Just a couple more minutes," the Jamaican sewing up Damon's wound said.
"Thanks, Wesley," said Damon.
The bodies of LaTanya and Emily were out behind the warehouse, but there were still a few from which to choose. Tiny lay near the back door, while Miguel and the dead Jamaicans were closer to the front.
In the entry hall-
"Sure," said Darnell. "Let's start downstairs."
"Good idea," said Damon. "Show him around the place, Darnell. I'll catch up with you later."
Darnell led Ron through one of the many doors in the hall.
OOC,[b]Darnell[/b] and [b]Ron[/b] are moving to the thread linked below. Please stop reading the current thread at this point, and do not read any posts in the new thread above the one in the link. All other characters remain in the current thread.
In the entry hall- Keith walked into the entry hall, where he saw Wesley finish sewing up Damon's leg wound. Damon held his MAC-11 in his hand. Lisa sat next to her father with her arms around him, and Brian Stevenson was about halfway done boarding up the front entrance.
In the entry hall-
"I'll live," said Damon, testing his bandaged leg.
"Roy was doing fine the last I saw him," said Wesley. "What happened? I might be able to help him."
On the main floor- Lisa slowly opened one of the garage doors by hand and waved. The VW minibus drove into the warehouse and parked next to the Mustang.
