Play@YSDC

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!"

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."

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!"

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.

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

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."

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?

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."

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)?

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]

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

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

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.

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.

Donald waited for the feds to come along bringing their prisoner, and opened the door for them. He checked the two men carefully to see where they were hiding weapons by the bulges under their jackets, not that he was going to act on it, but it was good to know - perhaps for later.

Donald noticed their jackets hung nicely on their body... but nothing else.

ooc,worth a try, eh?

OOC,Even though you can't see their weapons, you are aware that they are probably armed.

In the west hall, ground floor-

Rashad Sadiq,"What is happening here?" called [b]Jerry Law[/b].

OOC,[b]Rashad[/b] is moving to the thread linked below. Please stop reading the current thread at this point, and do not read posts in the new thread above the one in the link. Everyone else remains in the current thread.

Detention

Southwest of the school-
Gretchen led the way outside, with the two FBI agents and their prisoner right behind her. John Lake followed them, and Donald stood just outside holding the door.

Donald watched and followed along only so far as to see which vehicle the FBI guys took John to.

On the street-
The door closed behind Donald and locked automatically after he released it, but he had keys to let himself back inside. He followed the group as Gretchen led it through a hole in the fence and out onto the street, where they started walking west. He couldn't tell if they were walking to a vehicle or if they intended to go to the police station on foot.

Keep following.

On the street-
Donald tailed along behind Gretchen, the agents, and their prisoner. They went on for another block, where there was an RV stopped on the street. "This is where we met you," said Gretchen. "The police station is about nine more blocks from here." Her eyes were facing forward, and she didn't notice Donald following. Neither did John Lake. John Lee did look back and see him, but he didn't say anything. Ann noticed him too. "Why do you follow us?" she called out to Donald.

Donald tries to memorize the vehicle's license plate. "There are other violent people out tonight, I just wanted to make sure you made it to your car all right," Donald responded. He looked around, left and right, then back with a wave, "Looks like you're good to go." Turning about, he started heading back to the school.

On the street-
"You need not worry, Citizen," said Ann. "We can take care of ourselves."

"You have a car?" Gretchen asked Ann as Donald started walking away. "A working car?"

"We used to."

"Our transportation ceased to function inexplicably some distance from here," added Miles.

"Looks like we're walking, then," said Gretchen. "Hope you like exercise."

On the street-
"We think there was an electromagnetic pulse earlier," said John Lake as the group continued. "That must have been what disabled your car."

While they walked westwards, Donald headed east, back to the school.

OOC,[b]Donald[/b] is moving to the thread linked below. Please stop reading the current thread at this point, and do not read any posts above the one in the link in the new thread. All other characters remain in the current thread.

Detention

On the street-
"This is far enough," said Ann, stopping.

"What?" said Gretchen, turning around.

Ann raised her free hand and pointed her palm at Gretchen. The female detective gazed helplessly at her. At the same time, Miles turned his hand on John Lake, but nothing happened.

"Gretchen?" said John Lake. "What the hell is going on?" He drew his pistol.

On the street-
"They're gonna kill us!" cried John Lee.

"What have you done to her?" demanded John Lake.

"This," said Ann, turning her hand on him. He reeled, stunned, and stood as limply as Gretchen. "Silence him," she said to Miles.

Miles raised his hand and focused on John Lee, but the journalist stared back defiantly, his will too strong. "HELP!" he screamed.

On the street-
"Must I do everything myself?" snarled Ann. She held her hand up in front of John Lee's face and focused on him, but he withstood it. Miles finally started to break through his defenses. John Lee's head tilted back, pain starting to course through his body.

On the street-
Ann turned back to John Lake and pointed her palm at him, and he went rigid, pain starting to affect him. Miles continued to concentrate on John Lee, who kept suffering. Gretchen remained motionless.

On the street-
Jerry Law saw a shocking scene about a block to the west. The red-haired FBI agent, was holding up her hand with the palm outward, facing Special Agent John Lake, who was stiff with fairly intense pain. The male FBI agent was doing the same thing to John Lee, who collapsed in agony, falling to the pavement. Detective Gretchen Ehrlich was standing limply to one side, a vacant look in her eyes. None of them seemed to have noticed him yet.

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3071276/

OOc,failed

On the street-
The female agent moved her hand closer to John Lake's face as Jerry crept closer. The DEA agent's knees nearly buckled. She suddenly turned to look at Jerry, having easily heard him while he was still thirty yards away, at long range for a pistol. The male agent had turned to face Gretchen, holding up his hand and concentrating, but the detective remained motionless. He only just noticed Jerry's approach.

John Lee breathed his last and expired.

OOC,[b]Jerry[/b], roll Sanity for seeing [b]John Lee[/b] die. Sanity loss is 0/1d6. If you lose 5 or more, you must roll Idea. If you succeed at that roll, you go temporarily insane. If you do not go insane, you may act freely. If you choose to fire your pistol, you are at long range and must divide your Handgun skill in half. You are at normal range for a bow, but the chance to hit with that is only 1% without training. Your Handgun skill, as mentioned in your secrets, is 50%, but the range effectively reduces it to 25%.

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3075640/
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3075641/
Jerry saw a men being killed just by someone else looking at him. It was shooking, but after all he had saw that day, he managed to keep its self control. Two persons he didn't save today. But he knew what to do. He got his gun, and pointed at the female agent and shot.

OOC, This is embarassing, but I'm having trouble to get the result from invisible castle. What was the result of the shooting?

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3078544/
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3078545/
Jerry saw a the bullet doing moderate damage in the chest of the target.

On the street-
The bullet hit the redheaded woman full in the chest. She grunted in pain, but she didn't even falter. Was she wearing a vest?

In an instant, she and her partner drew their own guns and fired at Jerry in unison. Her first shot missed, and so did his. The woman didn't take time to correct her aim and just kept blazing away, but the man's aim was deadly accurate.

OOC,The first two shots were for last round, and their next two were their first shots for this round (they each have two more coming). [b]Jerry[/b], if you want to try to avoid the bullet (which is just a normal hit, not an impale), you may roll Dodge. Whether or not you succeed, you will be unable to attack this round, though you may still take some other action such as running away. However, they will get their second shots off before you can take your other action, and their third shots will come afterwards. In any case, you can only Dodge the first shot that would have hit you. If you choose not to try to Dodge, I'll roll and apply damage to you, and if you're still capable of firing you may do so after that.

Jerry tried to dodge, but was too surprised to react and got hit.

On the street-
The bullet creased Jerry's upper arm as he threw himself aside, though if he hadn't it might have hit him in the head. The agents continued to fire as he rolled away. The woman's shot was wild, and the recoil sent the gun spinning from her hand. The man's shot was a little better, but not much - he missed too.

John Lake could do nothing but look on, horrified and very disturbed. Gretchen was affected too, but nowhere near as deeply. However, she was no less paralyzed.

OOC,[b]Jerry[/b], it is your turn to act, but you may not fire back this round, as you tried to Dodge. The woman loses her third shot thanks to her critical failure, but the man still has another shot coming after you act. They are currently about thirty yards from you.

On the street-
Jerry scrambled behind a parked car that, thanks to the electromagnetic pulses, would never be going anywhere under its own power again. The male agent fired again, but the bullet missed by a wide margin. He pulled the trigger again, only to gape in horror when his gun jammed. "Stupid primitive technology!" he snarled.

The female agent bent down to retrieve her dropped pistol.

OOC,[b]Jerry[/b], it's your turn to shoot now if you wish. You're still at long range, so your Handgun skill is halved again and you have a 25% chance.

Jerry tried not to miss, and luck was on his side again, but he didn't made much damage, even if it was in the head.

OOC, The women, this way she won't be able to find her weapon (since the man is trying to fix the weapon).

On the street-
Unfortunately, the woman bent down at precisely the wrong time. Instead of hitting her between the eyes, the bullet merely creased her scalp. Infuriated, she snatched up her dropped pistol and instinctively fired, her shot pinging off the asphalt near the car behind which Jerry crouched. She fired again, but this shot was even further off the mark.

OOC,[b]Jerry[/b], it's your turn if you wish to shoot again. If you want to take some other action, she will get her second shot first.

Jerry decide to shoot again, but he was finally out of luck and missed.

On the street-
The woman fired another shot into the asphalt, and then one that missed Jerry by a fraction of an inch, pinging off of the car behind which he hid. Meanwhile, the man had taken the pistol from John Lake's hand and fired a wild shot at Jerry. While they were shooting, Amelia Delacroix arrived at a run from the direction of the school and took cover behind the car with Jerry, not too badly affected by the sight of John Lee's body.

"What the hell is going on, Jerry?" she gasped, looking around in shock. "We're outgunned here. We have to get back to the school and warn the others!"

The woman's accuracy was improving, and she fired her next shot right at Jerry.

OOC,[b]Jerry[/b], you must roll Dodge unless you want to get hit by this bullet. If you do attempt a Dodge roll, you will be unable to attack this round whether it succeeds or not, though you can still attempt other things (such as running away).

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3100195/
Jerry tried to dodge himself.
-Your right, and beside, I doubt I can do anything against those two...
He run away as soon as it was safe.

On the street-
Jerry ducked at the last possible second, and the bullet pinged off of the car behind which he hid.

The male agent turned his gun on Amelia, but his first shot ricocheted off of the car, as did his second. The redheaded female agent took another shot at Jerry, but she missed completely.

"Now!" cried Amelia as she and Jerry made a break for it back to the east. The agents each got off a parting shot at them, the man's bullet whizzing past Amelia and the woman's very wide. The two of them ran on, now out of range. They continued fleeing for another block.

OOC,[b]Amelia[/b] and [b]Jerry[/b] are moving to the thread linked below. Please stop reading the current thread at this point, and do not read any posts above the link in the new thread. All other characters remain in the current thread.

Bus

On the street-
Amelia and Jerry led Donald, Rachel, and Jack down the block to the west. Soon they came across Special Agent John Lake and Detective Gretchen Ehrlich. Both of them stood slackly, staring into space. The body of John Lee lay on the ground nearby, but he had no visible injuries and it wasn't apparent what had killed him. John Lake showed no sign of injury either, but he looked very weak. Gretchen did not appear to have been affected. There was no sign of the two FBI agents. Empty shell casings littered the street. Off to the west, the sun was still sinking lower and was now touching the horizon.

Rachel kneels beside John Lee's body to try and ascertain how he died.

Donald wasn't much of a medic, so he kept the others covered in the event that the Feds (or whatever they were) returned. He vigilantly moved around, keeping his senses open for any signs of someone approaching.

ooc,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3114852/]Medicine (1d100=98)[/url]

Rachel hasn't a clue about what did for John Lee. In fact, she is unsure whether he is really dead.

Jerry looks with caution to be sure that agents aren't really there.

On the street-
Donald could see no activity. Jerry barely caught sight of the two agents fleeing on foot about a block to the west. They were moving very fast and rapidly disappearing.

Amelia looked John Lake over. While he was obviously in poor health, he showed no signs of physical injury and she had no clue how to even begin treating him. She shook him hard by the shoulders, and he suddenly snapped out of his reverie.

"What the hell just happened?" he asked.

"I was hoping you could tell us," said Amelia, frowning.

"Those two FBI agents...I don't know how they did it, but somehow they paralyzed us. Then they killed John Lee in the same bizarre way. That's when Jerry showed up and tried to stop them. The man took my gun. When you escaped with Jerry, they fled. We couldn't do a damn thing."

Jack followed Amelia's example and shook Gretchen, who came to her senses as well.

"Well, they're no threat now," Donald said and pointed the shotgun to the ground. He went over to John's body and started searching the boy for any sort of clues as to why they would have wanted him dead. "Does anyone know CPR? Maybe we can bring him back?"

Rachel looks concerned.

On the street-
Gretchen went over to John Lee's body and held his wrist. "No pulse," she said, "and he's been dead several minutes already. It's too late for CPR." She stood up and approached Jerry. "At least you're alive too, but you have been shot. Let me help you." She skillfully removed the bullet and stitched up the wound very well. "A good night's rest and you'll be fine."

Donald searched John Lee's body. All he found was a wallet containing a student ID from a college in Cheyenne, a Wyoming driver's license, some useless credit cards, and some equally useless cash. He did notice that the backpack he had once worn was gone. The FBI agents had taken it from him back at the school.

"Sun's going down," said Jack, pointing to the west. While they had been talking, the sun had dropped below the horizon. There was still light for now, but it would be dark soon.

"You guys should get back to the school," said John Lake, having tried and failed to do anything about his invisible injuries. "Gretchen and I will go on to the police station and tell them what happened." He shrugged. "Maybe they'll even believe us. Besides, I don't have a weapon any more, and I can get a replacement there. We should also bring the body there so that they can perform an autopsy."

"You should be safe at the school," said Gretchen. "There are too many people there for anyone to try anything, and I'm sure Rachel can see to your defense. I'd recommend hunkering down for the night and getting some rest. I'll come by to check on everyone in the morning."

Donald nodded, taking the student ID and handing the driver's license to John Lake, "Proof of ID... good as a dog tag on the toe, I suppose."

He started heading back toward the school, "I'll get back to work on that old school bus."

Rachel nods, like Donald, and tags along with the caretaker.

ooc,I'm away for a week.

On the street-
"Good luck to you too," said Gretchen. She and John Lake picked up John Lee's body and began the long walk west to the police station while the others headed east. Before long, the school was once more in sight. It had been a terrible day, and while the dead had somehow been dealt with, there was a strange new threat at large. They had survived the first day, but what horrors would tomorrow bring?

OOC,Congratulations on surviving Chapter 6! It will probably be a few weeks before Chapter 7 starts, but in the meantime you may continue to post. Chapter 7 will pick up the following morning. If there's anything you plan to do tonight besides sleep (and finish fixing the bus), let me know here.

OOC,The story continues in the Omaha section of Chapter 7, in the following thread.

Dawn