IC-OMAHA-Person of Interest(Amelia/Johns/Gretch/Jerry/etc.)

[Mr. Handy]

Z-Day - 6:37 PM Central Time - Brooks High School, Omaha, Nebraska
In the north stairwell, ground floor-
Donald and Becky entered as Ann O'Neill and Miles Graham brought John Lee down to the ground floor landing. Rashad, John Lake, and Gretchen Ehrlich were close behind them.

"Hold on!" said John Lake. "Do you two have a warrant?"

"Our paperwork was lost in the outbreak," said Ann O'Neill, "but we did have a warrant."

"As federal agents, none of us have jurisdiction here unless the local police give it to us." He looked at Gretchen.

"Yes, that's right," she said. "We really will need to see a warrant before we can release him to your custody. Where did you lose your paperwork?"

"Back in Cheyenne," said Ann. "We're going to head back there with our prisoner. You'd be welcome to come along."

"I'm afraid he's not going anywhere with you until you can show me your authorization."

"We can't exactly have Cheyenne fax a copy over. Communications are down. You're asking the impossible. Besides, under the Patriot Act, we can take Mr. Lee into custody, especially in light of the national emergency."

"This is ridiculous!" protested John Lee. "I didn't do anything! It was all them!"

[ImpInTraining]

Donald nodded affirmatively to John Lake and Gretchen, to let him know that he agreed with their side. "I'd like to take a closer look at your identifications, agents. I trust you are responsible to prove you are whom you claim to be. For all we know you're the terrorists trying to pull the wool over our eyes, and he's a patriot. Seems to me you've no reason to rush back with your prisoner, it won't make matters any less worse than they already are."

[Mr. Handy]

In the north stairwell, ground floor-
Becky moved past the crowd and into the hallway.

Ann O'Neill sighed and pulled out her identification, showing it to Donald. It had her photo on it and identified her as Special Agent Ann O'Neill of the FBI. She put it away, and then Miles showed his, which said he was Special Agent Miles Graham. The photo matched the face on that one too. As far as Donald could tell, they were authentic. "Satisfied, mister? Now, if there are no further interruptions, we'll be on our way." She and Miles hustled John Lee towards the door to the hallway.

"No!" screamed John Lee, dragging his feet. "Don't let them take me!"

[ImpInTraining]

Donald frowned and raced ahead of the agents, "Now... hang on a second," the janitor said holding his hands up. "Why are you in such a rush anyway? This place you're running off to, is it devoid of these zombie critters? I'm pretty sure even if it is, the way back won't be." He looked toward the others, then back to Ann, who seemed to be in charge as he said "I ask because we're in the process of building a zombie-proof vehicle. Could be a great asset for your return trip. I don't suppose you drove a tank here, did you? And we don't really have any place in particular to drive to picked out just yet... might as well be in your direction."

Donald's gut instinct was that he didn't trust the agents. They were acting shady... and seemed all too anxious to leave the relative safety of the school for more dangerous lands - all for what? To bring a traitor to justice? Something just didn't add up. He hoped the agents would take him up on the offer. It would buy them time to get to the bottom of it. And if they were on the up-and-up, and they knew of some place safe they weren't talking about, they'd have to take the others along. Either way, seemed like it should work out for the best.

[kouchpotato]

Rashad shakes his head. Something's up, this is way too suspicious. He continues following the agents.

[Mr. Handy]

In the north hall, ground floor-
The agents moved a good deal faster than Donald, so he had to follow them into the hall along with Rashad, John Lake, and Gretchen.

"A tank?" said Ann as she and Miles hauled their prisoner onwards. "I don't see you with one. Don't try to claim that that decrepit bus out back is zombie-proof. It doesn't even look like it's running. We really must be on our way. Time is of the essence."

"Please, travel is dangerous," said Gretchen, "especially at night. At least spend the night at the police station. You can keep your prisoner secure in a cell, and there are enough officers to make sure the precinct stays safe. Perhaps we can even arrange transport for you in the morning."

[ImpInTraining]

ooc,They're dragging a struggling prisoner... am I so old I can't run ahead of them? Really? Not like they threw the poor boy over their shoulder and started sprinting.

Donald almost snarled, "That bus will be running in no time. And we got the tools to make it zombie-proof. Could use a few extra hands to help with welding and materials. It'll go over a zombie horde a lot better than your sedan will."

ooc,Can Donald at least get close enough to attempt to pull one of their weapons?

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,Each of the agents has him by one arm, and they are physically lifting him off the ground and carrying him that way. They don't seem to be expending much effort to move him. He is not slowing them down significantly. It is not simply a matter of age that you cannot catch up to them, it is a matter of DEX. However fast you are moving, they are easily able to match your pace moving away from you. You also cannot get close enough to try to grab one of their weapons, but that may be a good thing. [b]Becky[/b], on the other hand, is already ahead of them. She entered the lobby before they did on her way to the cafeteria, and she has a shotgun. You could call out to her, but if you want her to do anything dangerous, you'll need to roll Fast Talk (base skill of 5%). Also, [b]John Lake[/b] and [b]Gretchen Ehrlich[/b] are with you. You can talk to them or even whisper to them. You could try to grab one of [i]their[/i] weapons by making a Grapple roll (base skill 25%), but that might very well alienate them to say the least.

[ImpInTraining]

ooc,This is a case where game mechanics overrules logic, apparently. I can't imagine them 'matching my pace' even at a sprint. But whatever. It's not meant to be, I get it. But Donald isn't going to start enlisting a riot. If the others don't seem compelled to make a stand, then so be it. But Donald is following along. He's going to get their license plate number and description of their vehicle at the very least.

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,There is a logical reason why they're able to keep ahead of you, but you don't have all of the information at this time. I probably shouldn't even have told you that much.

[ImpInTraining]

ooc,I knew it... roller skates. Blast it all!

[Mr. Handy]

In the north hall, ground floor-
Everyone followed the agents and John Lee into the lobby.

In the lobby-
Ann and Miles marched John Lee around the corner to the right, heading for the west hall. Down the east hall, Becky was visible heading for the cafeteria.

"This police station," said Ann, thinking, "is it well defended? How many officers are there left? How far away is it?"

"It's about a mile to the west," said Gretchen. "I'd say it's well defended. We held out all day against the hordes. There are about two dozen or so officers who survived. I was hoping to find another one here, Officer Kate Wheeler. I know she patrols the school and surrounding area."

Ann sighed. "Very well. Please guide us there, Detective."

[ImpInTraining]

Donald continues following silently, trying to appraise the agents and John Lee for sincerity or underhandedness.

ooc,What do you think, psychology check? I know, I don't have it... but should still have a 1% chance of reading them, right? Should I roll once per person (4 rolls)?

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,It's a 5% base chance, and you can go ahead and roll. You can make four rolls, one for each of them, if you like.

[ImpInTraining]

Donald couldn't really tell anything from Ann and her thugs. Their training probably instructed them on how to have the perfect poker face. But John Lee's nature was quite transparent to Donald.

rolls,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2976276/]Psychology for Ann (5%) (1d100=75)[/url] [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2976277/]Psychology for John Lee (5%) (1d100=2)[/url] [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2976278/]Psychology for Thug #1 (5%) (1d100=68)[/url] [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2976279/]Psychology for Thug #2 (5%) (1d100=60)[/url]

[Mr. Handy]

Donald Woodridge,[b]Donald[/b] could tell that [b]John Lee[/b], in spite of his outbursts, was not crazy, or at least no more so than anyone else. He seemed terrified and sincere about his claims of innocence. Also, while [b]Miles Graham[/b] came with [b]Ann O'Neill[/b], [b]John Lake[/b] is with [b]Gretchen[/b] and took her side earlier in objecting to the two FBI agents.

[Mr. Handy]

In the west hall, ground floor-
Gretchen, John Lake, Rashad, and Donald hurried after Ann and Miles as they hustled their prisoner down the west hall towards the exit.

"Hold up!" called Gretchen. "I can't keep up with you. I'll need to get in front if I'm to guide you to the police station."

"Of course," said Ann. She and Miles stopped to let the others catch up. "We should search him at this point anyway." She held onto John Lee while Miles took away his backpack, unzipped it, and rooted through it.

"A weapon," said Miles, pulling out a tire iron.

"That was to protect myself against those things!" said John Lee.

Miles continued his search and pulled out a featureless DVD case. He snapped it open and, just as quickly, closed it. "Found it!"

"Good," said Ann.

In the east hall, ground floor-
Becky went into the cafeteria.

OOC,[b]Becky Clarke[/b] is moving to the thread linked below. Her player, if she ever has one, should stop reading the current thread at this point and should not read any posts in the new thread above the one in the link. Everyone else remains in the current thread.

Suppertime

[kouchpotato]

What? You found what? What is that? Rashad looks at John. What's the CD?

[ImpInTraining]

Donald takes the opportunity to move ahead of the FBI to stand by the door that they intend to exit. He checks it to make sure it's locked for the moment.

[Mr. Handy]

In the west hall, ground floor-
"I don't know," said John, "I never got a chance to play it."

"It's evidence that he removed from the crime scene," said Ann. "Classified evidence."

Miles put the DVD case in an inside jacket pocket and shouldered the backpack.

Back in the lobby, Jerry Law emerged from the security office.

Donald went over to the door to the west stairwell. It was a door without handles that you could push open and would swing shut afterwards, but it wasn't normally locked. He passed through it into the stairwell. Gretchen went after him, followed by Ann and Miles carrying John Lee. John Lake brought up the rear, leaving Rashad in the hallway.

In the west stairwell, ground floor-
Donald made his way over to the fire exit that was the only other way out of the stairwell since the stairs were barricaded. The door was locked, but only from the outside. From the inside, anyone could push it open. That would ordinarily trigger a fire alarm automatically, but with the EMP that wouldn't be working. There was no way to lock it so that it couldn't be opened from the inside; that would have been a violation of the fire code.

The others entered the stairwell shortly behind Donald.