Z-Day + 1 - 7:23 AM Central Time - Marley Warehouse, Omaha, Nebraska Outside the warehouse- Jeromedidn't hear anything as he waited, but John Lake was much more attentive. "I just heard the rear entrance breaking!" he shouted. "Do it now!"
"Breach!" yelled Jerome. He and Megan ran at the boarded up doorway with the portable ram and smashed it wide open. John ran in behind them, gun drawn.
In the entrance hall- Jerome, Megan, and John charged into the hall through the front entrance. The rear had been broken open too - from the inside. A teenage girl with blonde hair was running towards that opening. "That's Heather Anderson!" shouted Megan.
Behind the warehouse- Brian Stevenson bolted from the warehouse, finding himself in an alley that ran between two rows of similar warehouses. To the left, not far away, a street was visible. The alley went a long way to the right before reaching another street. A narrower alley ran between the warehouse he had just escaped from and the one next to it, leading back towards the front. It was from this that three people emerged: a cop in full body armor with a helmet and a submachine gun, a short man with a revolver, and a blonde woman in a navy blue suit with an automatic pistol.
Samuel Kensington led the way into the rear alley, followed quickly by Jimmy and Gretchen. They got there just in time to see the short, stocky guy with the crowbar emerge from the now open rear entrance to the warehouse.
"Police freeze!" shouts Samuel. "Get down on the ground now!"
Brian near wets himself, being so close to freedom and not quite comprehending that it's a cop, nor truly believing that cops existed anymore. "Oh crap, no!" He drops the crowbar and starts stumbling toward the left, arms raised up like he could ward off the bullets. "No, no, they're killin' everyone in there!" He keeps heading to the left, stumbling, barely looking, lost in the fear and adrenaline of being close to safety.
OOC: I'll leave it to Syrinx or an NPC to decide how to deal with Brian as Samuel is also my PC. In truth, I suspect that he'd yell at him until he dropped to the floor, cuff him and leave him. How many cuffs do I have? any twistie tie cuffs? If he can see Heather, he'd aim at her so long as Brian's not close enough, as Brian's dropped his weapon and this new woman may be armed.
Kowalski leaps at Brian and pulls him down, securing him by pinning him down with a knee. "Stay down, son - or your back´ll snap." As he speaks to the guy, he aims his King Cobra at the running blonde.
OOC,[b]Samuel[/b], [b]Jerome[/b], [b]Gretchen[/b], and [b]John[/b] each have one pair of handcuffs - the traditional metal kind, not the plastic twist cuffs. You couldn't actually see [b]Heather[/b] at the moment, but she is about to come running out of the back door, so you'll see her at that point.
In the entrance hall- Heather bolted through the rear exit when Megan called out her name.
"Stop her!" shouted Megan. "She's one of the ones who kidnapped Erica!" She followed Jerome and John, pursuing Heather to the back door.
Behind the warehouse- Heather rushed out from the warehouse only to run into Samuel, Jimmy, and Gretchen. "Like, don't shoot!" she cried, halting and raising her hands. She had no visible weapons.
Gretchen pulled Brian's arms behind his back and secured them with her handcuffs. "Where's Erica Spears?" she demanded.
Jimmy Kowalski rises from Brian´s back as Gretchen cuffs him. He circles around the blonde referred to as Heather and peeks inside the corridor for doors leading deeper into the warehouse.
Show,[b]Brian[/b] hadn't actually gotten down on the ground and was still ambling away, but in his confused and generally compliant state, you coulda leapt him and dragged him down without a roll so we'll go with that, yeah?
Brian just looked around, bewildered. "Am I safe?" he asked, confused.
"Get down on the ground, Heather, and there won't be any problems," said Samuel, still with his gun trained on her. "I've got this! You three keep an eye on the rest of the building." Damn amateurs. "And keep every door covered. We don't know where they'll be coming!" He nodded for Gretchen to deal with her as well.
Jimmy enters the corridor, keeping to the left side and crouching making a small target. Reaching any door - he´ll wait for support by the others before moving on.
Behind the warehouse-
By this time the sound of gunfire had stopped.
Gretchen had already used her handcuffs, but John Lake gave her his. Heather got down on the ground, and Gretchen cuffed her arms behind her back too and read her and Brian their rights. Then she patted Heather down while John searched Brian. He came up with a handful of .38 bullets that he found in one of Brian's pockets. "There's about a dozen live rounds here, but no gun," he said.
"I asked you a question," Gretchen said to Heather. "Where is Erica Spears? You better hope we find her alive for your sake." Her search turned up a large amount of crystal meth.
Heatherbroke down and cried. "Look, I'll tell you anything you want to know! They've got like this whole secret drug lab underground. One of the storerooms on the left has a trapdoor that's normally hidden that leads down there. They've got a generator that's still working, so it's lit. At the bottom of the stairs is a door leading to a big hydroponics room where they grow their weed. There's a door on the right end of that room that leads to a bunch of storage compartments where they got her locked up. You better hurry, they're probably raping her right now."
"What was that shooting?" asked Jerome.
"They had Emilio, Coach Moore, and Kate captured, but they escaped and took down Damon Marley and took his guns. His daughter Lisa has a shotgun, and they started shooting at each other."
"Kate?" asked Gretchen. "You mean Kate Wheeler? She's in there, alive?"
"She was when I got away. She's got a broken leg from when they shot her yesterday. They'll bang her too. They would have totally raped me next if I'd stayed."
"You came here with Doug Marley and the others to join them. Why would they rape you?"
"Because I'm, like, super hot."
"Ms. Anderson, anyone can be sexually assaulted regardless of appearance. It's about power, not sex."
"Like, whatever. Look, I'm not really part of this gang. I only went along with Darnell because he was like, my new boyfriend and stuff. But he and Keith turned on them, and now they're both dead. So's Doug and Roy, 'cause Keith killed them. It was only a matter of time before they figured out I didn't really wanna be there."
Jerome cautiously followed Jimmy into the warehouse corridor.
In the entrance hall- Jimmy and Jerome entered the warehouse. The corridor stretched all the way to the broken open front entrance. There were several doors on the left wall. All of them were closed except for one door near the rear entrance that had been left open. There was also a closed door on the right wall near the front.
Jimmy waits by the open door directly to the left and quickly polishes the side of his revolver, he then moves it at an angle to Catch a reflection of the room behind the door opening on the metal of the gun. It´s not a mirror but it´s worth a try. If it looks clear he will enter, gun raised and planting one foot to block the door from being pushed into his face while scanning the room from centre, to the left then to the right. All this assuming the door is hinged on the left inner side and the roo streches to the right.
Samuel heads over to Jimmy and Jerome. He gives Jimmy a moment to try his gun trick, catches Jerome's eye and gestures to his own eye and to the left, then to Jerome's eye and to the right. Basically, he's inferring that when they enter, Samuel look left and Jerome look right so they can both have a chance to shoot folk in their respective angle without being blind sided by everyone looking in the same direction.
Behind the warehouse-
"Stay here and watch them," Gretchen said to John and Megan. "I'm going in. If Erica and Kate are still alive in there, they're going to need me. If those are .38 bullets you found, give them to me. You hold onto the drugs." She handed the meth to John, who gave her the bullets. She pocketed them and then followed the others into the warehouse, leaving John and Megan outside with Heather and Brian.
In the entrance hall- Jerome nodded. He and Samuel had done this sort of thing many times before. If their element's scout had survived, he would have had a mirror on a stick that he could have used to look into the room. Jimmy tried to do the same thing with his revolver, but it wasn't as effective. He saw no movement, however.
In the storage room- Samuel and Jerome sliced the pie and moved around the corner of the open doorway, each looking in one direction. Nobody else living was in there, and nobody was hiding behind the door. It was just as Heather had described it. There were rows of shelves stacked with boxes, but one of the rows was out of place, shoved up against another one. Where it should have been was an open trapdoor in the floor. It was designed to be very well concealed, as the outer surface of the trapdoor looked indistinguishable from the floor. However, it was very obvious when it was open. Narrow, steep stairs led down into darkness, but there was a faint light coming from below. Also, the body of an African-American in his late teens lay on the floor between the door and the trapdoor. His chest and shoulder were all chewed up by what looked like a shotgun blast at close range.
OOC,[b]Samuel[/b] and [b]Jimmy[/b], please roll Sanity. Sanity loss is 0/1d3.
The stairway was empty, but the only way to see everything that was below was to go down there. Jerome gestured for Samuel to follow him, then took the lead and crept stealthily down the stairs, the barrel of his M16 leading the way.
OOC,[b]Samuel[/b], please roll Sneak if you go down the stairs. The same applies to [b]Jimmy[/b] if he follows. The base skill is 10%.
Behind the warehouse-
"I'm not leaving without them," said John Lake to Brian.
"Then let us go," said Heather.
"Yeah, right."
"I'll give you a blow job if you do."
"Not happening."
"I'm eighteen," she lied. He didn't respond. "Guess you must be gay then." She turned her head to look at Brian. "You offer him a blow job."
In the storage room- Gretchen followed the others downstairs, bringing up the rear.
In the basement entryway- Jerome managed to creep through the basement room with the featureless concrete floor to the only other exit, an open metal door that led into a vast hydroponics room that was brightly lit. Rifle in his hands, he moved up against the wall on the right side of the doorway. Samuel arrived next and made his way over to the wall on the left side of the doorway. Peeking in, they could see a Jamaican-looking girl and man. The girl was in her very early teens and carried a shotgun, and the man was about forty years old and holding a Desert Eagle automatic. They were watching a big man who was lying on the floor in a pool of blood on the left side of the room, near a door. One of his legs was missing. Beside him was a corpse of a man that had clearly been shot dead. Another Jamaican man, this one very tall and muscular, entered the room through a door in the right wall. He carried a Mac-11 submachine gun, which he trained on the one-legged man as he strode across the room. "Your turn, mon," he said.
Jimmy reached the bottom of the stairs, followed by Gretchen. In spite of the noise they made compared to the SWAT officers, the Jamaicans beyond the door did not appear to notice.
OOC,[b]Samuel[/b] and [b]Jimmy[/b], please roll Sanity for seeing the dead body. Sanity loss is 0/1d3. [b]Jimmy[/b], you've already lost one for seeing a corpse, so you can lose at most two more. If you roll a 3, it counts as 2. Regardless of the rolls, you may act freely.
OOC,[b]Samuel[/b], you are at 2 HP and unconscious, and your leg is broken. [b]Jimmy[/b] it is your turn to act. If you wish to shoot, you may fire one shot with your revolver, which does 1d8+1d4 damage if you hit.
Staying dead still, Jimmyshoots the last Jamaican in the gut. He then moves his gun back and forth after more targets. "Shit, man! " He hisses and almost chokes as he inhales, the tension is getting to him.
In the hydroponics room- Jimmy's shot dropped the Jamaican, causing him to bleed out and expire. The girl shrieked. She and the one-legged man were the only ones still alive in the hydroponics room.
OOC,[b]Jimmy[/b], please roll Sanity for killing the Jamaican. Sanity loss is 0/1d4.
I'm sorry, but I forgot to ask for a Dodge roll from [b]Samuel[/b] last night. [b]Samuel[/b], please roll Dodge now, with a -10 penalty due to your armor. If you succeed, I'll edit my post above. You won't get to attack, so nothing will change aside from you not getting wounded if you succeed.
Behind the warehouse-
"I hear shooting below!" said John Lake. "Wait, it just stopped."
In the hydroponics room- Gretchen rushed into the room.
"I'll live," said Jerome through gritted teeth as he slid to the ground next to his partner. "Help Sam first." He began to inspect the wound. "Hang in there, buddy...damn, his femur's shattered! That was one high caliber round. There's not much I can do."
Gretchen frowned as she tried to help. "He's going to need a doctor." All she was able to do was apply pressure and stop the bleeding. She called out to Jimmy as he began to explore. "Hey, don't get ahead of us! We could use some help here, and we don't want you running off and getting killed."
"There aren't any more," said the man with one leg, watching with disgust as the man he had kicked bled out. He suppressed a shudder. "I'm Ron Moore, the coach at Brooks High. That girl's Lisa Marley, one of the students. If she hadn't intervened, I'd be dead."
"What about Erica Spears and Kate Wheeler?"
"They're hurt, but they're alive. The Jamaicans locked them up in a storage compartment, through there." He pointed at the door on the right side of the room. There were also doors on the left side (in front of which Ron lay) and directly ahead. "Help me over and I'll see if I can do anything for your man. I'm no doctor, though. That guy was." He indicated the dead man with the Desert Eagle.
Jimmy moves to the door at the right side and tries it to see if it opens. "Gotta free the hostages, then we get out of here, right?" He pushes the door, with anticipation.
In the hydroponics room-
"Wait, you'll need the keys," said Ron before Jimmy got very far. "This guy's got 'em in his pockets." He prodded the Jamaican he had killed with his one remaining foot.
Behind the warehouse-
"Maybe you'd better go check that out," said Heather. "Your friends could be in trouble."
"Right, and leave you here alone?" asked John Lake.
"We're totally not going anywhere, right, Brian? Megan can keep an eye on us."
"All right," said John. "You going to be okay on your own with them?"
"Yeah, I can manage," said Megan. "I'm an Iraq vet. They know they better not mess with me."
"Okay, then." John hurried inside the building.
In the hydroponics room-
"Thank you," said Ron. "I didn't think anyone would rescue us. The women are in one of the compartments on the right side of that hall. It's directly across from one that has its door open. We were locked up in that one before we escaped. It didn't work out..."
When Jimmy went through the door, Gretchen came over and helped Ron stand and lean on her. While still keeping an eye on Lisa, she walked him to where the two wounded SWAT officers lay. He slid down to the floor and tried to help, but he only made matters worse. "I better not try again," he said. "I damn near killed him. I'm just useless."
Gretchen swallowed. "Are Erica and Kate okay? Were they..."
"I wasn't with them the whole time, so I don't know. But they'll survive."
Jerome tried to help, but he couldn't do anything either. "I think we'd better wait until Erica and Kate get out here," he said. "Maybe one of them can help my partner."
Outside the storage compartments- Jimmy entered the hall, stepping over a pool of blood. The corridor was lined on either side with metal doors leading to storage compartments, most of them padlocked. He found the open one a short distance away, and across the hall from it was a padlocked door that looked much like the others.
Outside the storage compartments- Jimmy could see that the storage compartment with the open door was empty. He remembered that Ron had said that that was the one where he had been kept. The women were in the one directly across the hall, which was locked with a padlock. Jimmy had found some keys in the dead Jamaican's pocket that looked like they might fit.
Kowalski tries the keys till he finds a match and opens it quickly. He keeps his boot against the bottom of the door - to avoid getting the door slammed in his face and takes a step back as he opens the door.
Behind the warehouse-
"We can make a break for it now," Heather whispered to Brian as she lay handcuffed next to him. "She can't chase both of us, and she doesn't have a gun."
In the storage room- John Lake entered the open storage room from the hall and found the trapdoor leading down to the basement.
In the hydroponics room-
"Hang on, buddy," Jerome said to the unconscious Samuel. "Hang on. We're going to make it."
Outside the storage compartments- JImmy pulled open the door to reveal two beautiful women standing huddled together in the cramped compartment. One was tall, with short auburn hair. She was wearing nothing but a bra and panties, and her head and leg were bandaged. Her well-toned arms were handcuffed behind her back. The other woman was blonde and looked to be in even worse shape. She still wore the pants of a police uniform, though one of its legs had been cut away and a makeshift splint was on her broken leg. She also had no top, only a bra, and her face was streaked with tears. She had her arms wrapped around the other woman's waist for support and stood on her good leg. Both of them cringed when the door opened, but they were relieved when they saw that it wasn't one of the Jamaicans there.
"Oh, thank God!" cried the woman with the broken leg. "I thought nobody would ever rescue us. I'm Officer Kate Wheeler, Omaha PD."
"And I'm Trooper Erica Spears, Nebraska State Police," said the other woman.
Jimmy checks the keys to see if there´s a key that fits for the cuffs. While doing so he says. "We´re getting you out of here. I´m Kowalski, your escort." Fiddling with the keys he adds. "Can you move with the cuffs on and we get out of this cupboard and get those off at a more secure place?" He offers a hand to stabilize their balance getting out of the storage room.
Behind the warehouse-
"Like, I'll go first," Heather whispered to Brian. "If she goes after me, then you can get away too. Meet me behind Brooks High School. They'll totally never expect me to go back there."
In the basement entryway- John Lake made his way carefully down the stairs and saw light beyond the open metal door. "Don't shoot, it's just me!" he called.
Outside the storage compartments- Jimmy hadn't found a key for the handcuffs.
"I can walk just fine on my own," said Erica. "Nothing wrong with my legs. As long as you can help Kate, it'll be fine."
"Thank you so much," Kate said to Jimmy, wrapping her arms around his waist. With his help, she was able to hobble back to the hydroponics room, with Erica close behind.
In the hydroponics room-
"We're in here!" Gretchen called back through the door leading out. "It's over, but we've got wounded and can use some help."
"Officer Kate Wheeler?" asked Gretchen. Kate nodded numbly. "I'm Detective Gretchen Ehrlich, and these SWAT officers are Jerome Hooper and Samuel Kensington. "They're wounded and they could use your help." She glanced at Erica. "You Trooper Erica Spears? My handcuff key should get those off of you. They're all pretty much standardized."
"I'll do what I can," said Kate. She looked over at Jimmy. "Help me over there, please."
"Help Sam first," said Jerome. "He got it worse than me."
"Are you okay, Officer Kate?" asked Lisa.
"I'll be fine, sweetie," said Kate. "I'm just relieved you're all right."
Kowalski gets at work patching up the two officers. His treatment of Sam goes fine and Jimmy smiles at the officer."That´s better?" His second attempt to act as medic goes well but not good enough. He is not able to stop the bleeding and the bandages soon are soaked with blood. "Dammit! I need help with this..."
Behind the warehouse-
"Distract her," Heather whispered to Brian behind the warehouse.
In the hydroponics room- John Lake entered from the basement entryway and took in the scene in shock. "Holy crap!" he cried, quivering. "And I thought I saw some bad stuff yesterday."
Jimmy Kowalski managed to make an excellent splint for Samuel Kensington's broken leg, and Kate slid down to the floor next to him and helped stitch him up. Samuel awakened, and the intense pain he felt let him know that he wasn't dead after all - though Officer Kate Wheeler looked positively angelic sitting beside him in less than half of her uniform, cradling his leg. "Hey," she said with a sorrowful smile. "Welcome to the club, buddy." She tapped her own broken leg.
OOC,[b]Jimmy[/b], you're getting ahead of yourself. You only had time to treat one person so far, and others get chances to act. You can try to help [b]Jerome[/b] this turn, but your second roll has already failed. Fortunately, that was a critical success on your first First Aid roll, so [b]Samuel[/b] gets back both d3s, giving him 5 HP back from that (plus one from [b]Kate[/b] dealing with his other injury.). This brings him to 7, but his leg is still broken.
[b]Samuel[/b], you are now conscious and may act freely.
"You're my new favourite person." Samuel hisses his pain out through his teeth and straightens into a sitting position. "You can be my God if you can give me some sedation and tell me I don't gotta lose the leg, doc."
Behind the warehouse-
"Fine, I'll do it," hissed Heather to Brian. She pointed to the alleyway between the warehouse. "Someone's coming!" she said to Megan. "It must be a zombie!"
"Nice try," said Megan, crossing her arms and frowning. "How stupid do you think I am? All the zombies are down, anyway."
In the hydroponics room-
"Got any handcuff keys?" Erica asked.
"Yeah, let me get those off you," said Gretchen, taking out her tiny key and removing the cuffs.
"Ah, thanks." Erica rubbed her sore wrists.
Kate managed a faint smile. "I'm no doctor," she said to Samuel, "though I could sure use one too. I only had EMT training. I don't have any sedatives, but you'll keep the leg. Kowalski here did a great job. I'm Officer Kate Wheeler, by the way."
"Don't hog her all to yourself, Sam," said Jerome. "I could use some of that TLC over here."
"I'll go help your friend now," Kate said, squeezing Samuel's hand. "You rest easy." She scooted over across the floor to where Jerome sat nearby, where she extracted the bullet and stopped the bleeding.
"Thank you so much, Kate," said Jerome with a grin. "I feel tons better. I think I can even walk now."
"Any time," said Kate.
"Well, we'd better get out of here and get all of you some medical attention," said John Lake.
"There are some doctors back at the school," Kate said. "Dr. Somerville, Dr. Hausmann, Dr. Smith, plus there's a nurse there. It's a mile away, so it'll take us a long time to get back there."
"They may be gone by the time we get back," said Gretchen. "They may have left already, in fact. They were planning to evacuate when we were there earlier. They've fixed up and armored some rinky-dink old school bus. Still, they'll have left some people behind to guard the prisoner and make sure the EMP device stays running."
"We´ll doing some leaving ourselves."Jimmy helps the officer with the splinted leg up. "OK, we got this in the bag. Bailing out next? Or do we sweep all levels?"
Behind the warehouse-
"Zombies are totally real," said Heather. "Like, where've you been for the last day? They've been roaming around eating people. There are Martians too! They're the ones who made the dead rise up and stuff."
"I don't think they're from Mars," said Megan, "but, yeah, we think there are aliens behind all this. There are some scientists at the school who rigged up an electromagnetic pulse device to disable the zombies in the area yesterday afternoon. That's how I knew Heather was full of crap. That, and her lips were moving."
In the hydroponics room-
"We don't know that they've evacuated already," said Gretchen, "but even if they did, there will still be a few people who stayed behind. We're heading back to the school. We found the ladies and finished off the Marley posse, so there's nothing else for us here."
Jerome Hooper was able to walk on his own. John Lake helped Ron Moore.
While Jimmy helped Samuel stand and walk, Erica helped Kate up and supported her. "Come on, Lisa," said Kate. "Let's go."
Lisa stood up and hurried over to Kate's side. "Am I in trouble, Officer Kate?"
"It's not up to me, but I'll put in a good word for you."
"Are you going to be all right, Kate?" Gretchen asked. "You and Erica were held captive for over twelve hours. Did they..."
Kate shut her eyes and winced. "They tried. Damon Marley was this close to it when Lisa stopped him. She wasn't able to stop him this morning, but Emilio and Ron saved me shortly before you get here."
"They tried a couple of times with me too," said Erica. "That McCrumb kid would have if Keith hadn't stopped him, and Lou King attacked me when Damon went after Kate this morning."
"Oh, God..." said Gretchen.
"Hey, we're okay - thanks to you guys."
Kate took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes, thank you," she said, opening her eyes. "I'll be all right now. There are a couple of working vehicles on the main floor. They're old, so the EMP didn't affect them. There's a classic Mustang that Emily Lubachek and Emilio had, and the Jamaicans had a VW minibus."
"All right, we'll take them back to the school," said Gretchen. "Let's go." She led the way back to the basement entryway.
In the entry hall- Jimmy supported Samuel and helped him up the stairs, while Erica assisted Kate and Ron Moore leaned on John Lake. Gretchen, Jerome, and Lisa moved on their own. It was slow going considering that two of them had broken legs and one was missing a leg entirely, but they managed it.
"Megan, we're back!" Gretchen called out the open back door. "Bring the other prisoners inside and follow us to the main floor. There are some vehicles there we can use to get back to the school. We've rescued Officer Wheeler and State Trooper Spears, and the posse is dead. We have Lisa Marley in custody. We've got wounded, including Kensington, Hooper, and Wheeler. We also rescued Ron Moore, the coach from the school. He lost his leg."
Behind the warehouse-
"We're on our way!" Megan called back. She nodded to Brian and Heather. "All right, you two, get up and head inside."
Brian shrugs and gets to his feet. "I can help carry the wounded, if you like. That way your gunners can have their guns out." Not to mention he's a bit worried about how the old captives will respond to him.
On the main floor-
"That won't be necessary," said Gretchen to Brian as she led the way through the door to the main floor. "There are working vehicles in here."
Everyone entered the main floor, where two vehicles rested. One was an old green VW minibus, and the other was a classic red 1960s Ford Mustang. Megan followed Heather and Brian inside, bringing up the rear, while John Lake manually opened one of the large garage bay doors.
"All aboard," said Gretchen.
"Hey, how come Lisa's not in cuffs?" asked Heather, paying attention for once. "She killed two people!"
Jimmy whistles at the red, dented car. "Need a driver? I´m born at the wheel." He gets to the Mustang and opens the driver´s door and tilts the seat up, giving space for the others to pile in.
On the main floor-
"Wanna make it three?" Lisa snarled at Heather.
Heather laughed. "You thought you were a big shot 'cause your daddy was in charge," she said, "but now that he's totally dead and junk, you can't lord it over me any more!"
"Lisa, don't let her get to you," said Kate. "Remember, she's in handcuffs and you're not."
"Okay," said Gretchen, opening the garage door manually. "Everyone with only one working leg should get in the minibus. I'll drive that vehicle. Lisa, you come with us too. Mr. Kowalski, you can drive the Mustang. Special Agent Lake, you go in that with Megan, Heather and Brian."
On the main floor-
"We'll go out first," Gretchen told Jimmy before she got into the VW. "You follow us back to the school." Soon everyone had boarded the vehicles, and the drivers were able to start them up with the keys they had found on the dead Jamaicans. The Mustang's powerful engine purred.
"I helped fix this car, you know," mentioned Brian, who was sitting in the shotgun seat across from Jimmy. In the back seat were John Lake and Megan Petrovich, with Heather between them.
The minibus rolled out through the open door, down the short driveway, and into the street, followed closely by the Mustang.
Samuel sullenly gets into the vehicle. There was his glorious track record gone. Back in the day (or rather, back a few days ago), he could hope a surgeon would repair the leg and get him going again. Now he might even die of gangrene or tetanus. There certainly wouldn't be any knee reconstruction or physiotherapy to help him on his way. He couldn't even pretend he'd ever be out of crutches again. Heck, in this world, after what he'd seen, there was a good chance he wouldn't last the week. And even if he did, what then?
What exactly was the point?
His family were dead. His girlfriend ... dead. Everyone he'd ever really known other than few cops were dead. And now he was just going to slow them down. Weaken the group. Take up useless penicillin that'd be better off given to people who weren't crippled to life.
Wow, he thought to himself. I'm really not as resilient as I thought I was.
In truth, that wasn't it. He saw now that he hadn't been resilient with all of his heroics beforehand. He'd been useful. He'd taken pride in that usefulness. He'd had something to do. He'd envied those people who'd taken refuge in the police station but he'd been glad not to be one. Not to have to just sit there and wait and hope that everything would be okay. He'd had purpose. Something to do.
Behind the wheel, Kowalski is feeling almost refreshed. He checks the mirror. The downside is that the car is full of cops.
Thinking about that, he snickers. Hell, I´m like a cop now. He smiles to himself and presses the gas. "Good work, Brian. She purrs real good."
I wonder who beat her up like this...
He keeps two car lengths between them and the WV.
Maybe I can keep this and get to the drop after all? There must be some order left, right?
At this he checks the handling of the red car. "Hold on!" Right then left.
On the streets- Jimmy Kowalski found that the Mustang handled excellently, in spite of its age and the obvious damage. Brian had done a good repair job. The tank showed that it was mostly full. He followed the minibus through the deserted streets of Omaha and back towards the school.
Jerome knew his best friend all too well. He looked back over his shoulder at Samuel. "Hey, buddy, don't look so glum," he said. "We're gonna get through this. You just gotta have faith. Those scientists at the school already got this thing licked. Now we just need to pick up the pieces and restore order. Sure there's bad guys, but there's a bunch less now thanks to you. Most of the people left are just gonna want to get on with their lives. And your leg will get better. There are doctors back at the school - including a pretty lady doctor, if she hasn't left."
It didn't take long for the vehicles to cross the city and make their way back. Before long, the school was in sight.
OOC,Everyone, please roll Spot Hidden. The base skill is 25%. There is a -5 penalty if you're wearing a helmet.
From the wind shield, Kowalski has a perfect view of the school grounds. If anything should turn out odd, he´d most certainly notice. To be on the safe side, he shifts down and puts the Mustang in a slow drive before following the mini bus. "Now, let´s be careful here, shall we?"
Jimmy Kowalski,[b]Jimmy[/b] saw that nothing at the school seemed changed. [b]Dr. Helene Saunders[/b] was visible on the roof near the EMP device, and [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3810520/]she appeared to see them too[/url]. She waved at the approaching vehicles.
In the rear parking lot- Gretchen and Jimmy drove along the side of the school until they reached a hole in the fence large enough to drive through. They reached the parking lot behind the school and pulled in there. The old school bus that had been parked there earlier this morning was gone.
In the rear parking lot- Gretchen also got out of the minibus and approached the entrance with Jimmy. Dr. Helene Saunders looked over the edge of the roof. "Is everything all right?" she asked.
"We rescued the women," said Gretchen, "but we have several wounded - including Officer Wheeler. Misisng and broken legs seem to be today's theme. The Jamaicans are all dead, not counting Lisa Marley. We have a couple of others in custody. Where are the doctors?"
"They've all left in the school bus when they evacuated the children - except for Kyle. We've still got him locked up."
"Could you help the injured?"
"I'm sorry, Detective. I'm a Ph.D., not a medical doctor. I know basic first aid, but it sounds like the wounded need more than that. What about at that police station of yours?"
"There's a medical examiner there. The M.E. is more used to working on the dead than the living, of course, but we all have to make adjustments. We're low on space in the vehicles, but we can send someone back to pick up anyone who stays behind at the school and the EMP device. It would fit in the Marleys' minibus."
Jerome considers the options and glances down to his bloodstained pants leg, then across to the grim faced Samuel. Nodding slowly as if he had come to a decision he turned to Kowalski, "This M.E. You think he might still be at the station?", without waiting for a reply he continues, "We have people in serious need of doctoring. So if nobody objects I'll go fetch him here."
In the rear parking lot-
"I was thinking of bringing the everyone who's wounded to the precinct," said Gretchen, stroking her chin, "but bringing the medical examiner here may be better. It might not be a good idea to move these people any more than necessary until they've been looked at. If you're sure you're okay to go, you can take the Mustang. I'm sure the M.E. hasn't gone anywhere. Don't go alone, though. Mr. Kowalski, you want to go with him?"
"Hey, where this baby goes, I go," said Jimmy, patting the steering wheel. "Hop in, officer!"
"Okay. Special Agent Lake, would you please get the prisoners out of the back of the car?"
"Sure," said John. He escorted Brian and Heather out of the car.
Jerome walks slowly up to the passenger door of the mustang, and smiles at the way Kowalski pats the steering whell like an excited child, "So are you Starsky or Hutch?", the smile becomes a grin as he slides into the seat.
In the rear parking lot-
"I'm whichever one drives," said Jimmy as Jerome slid into the shotgun seat. He pulled out of the parking lot and drove around the school building to the south, heading for a large hole that had been torn in the school's perimeter chain link fence. "We'll be back at the precinct in no time at all."
On the road- Jimmy drove through the hole and out into the street, turning left following Jerome's directions. Jerome checked his weapons, which were all in good condition. He'd fired a burst from his M16 earlier, but otherwise he hadn't used any bullets since he'd left the precinct about a mile to the west this morning. The streets were deserted. All of the survivors in the area had already been evacuated back to the police station yesterday evening.
"You okay, man?" asked Jimmy.
OOC,The last post in the Locations and Weapons thread lists all of your weapons, ammo, and armor. I update it as you use ammo or acquire or lose equipment. You have a fully loaded Glock 17 9mm pistol with two spare magazines (17 shots each) and an M16 loaded with 27 out of 30 rounds with four spare magazines (30 shots each). You also have a nightstick, some mace, a flashbang, a Kevlar helmet, and a Kevlar vest. Unfortunately, you were shot in the leg, but you're capable of walking now. It just hurts a lot.
Having finished a quick ammo check Jerome looks down at the blood stained bandage around his wound, "Hurts a bit, but nothing I caint handle", he grins at Jimmy,"Let's just find the damned Doc, and watch the road, being shot was bad luck, being killed in a car wreck would be just damned stupid"
Spoiler:
OOC: Thanks jsust wanted too make sure I was keeping up to date on ammunition
Outside the precinct- Jimmy parked a block away from the precinct, and he and Jerome got out of the car and walked the rest of the way. All was quiet, and Jerome could see one of his fellow officers with a rifle up on the roof and a second cop acting as a spotter. The front entrance was barricaded thoroughly, just as it had been when he had left. Access was via the fire escape, which was normally raised but could be lowered by the spotter. She caught sight of the two men as they approached, recognized them, and waved. She climbed down the fire escape to the bottom landing and dropped the ladder so they could climb up. "Welcome back, Officer Hooper," she said, noticing his leg. "You're wounded! And where's your partner? What happened?"
Puffing from the climb, which had made his leg hurt like hell, Jerome smiled grimly, "It's a long story, but the short of it is we have need of the Doc. Is he still here? Then almost as an afterthought he waves at the nearby figure of Jimmy "Jimmy Kowalski, he's okay".
On the fire escape- Jimmy follwed Jerome up the ladder, after which the officer raised it. "Nice to meet you," she said to him. "Officer Renee Wallace. Yeah, Dr. Samuels is still here. He's tending to the wounded in the forensics lab, which we've converted to a sickbay." She opened the door on the landing that led into the interior of the building. "i have to get back up to my post on the roof, but you'll find him in the basement. Just go down that hall until you get to the stairs and go down two flights. The lab is the third door on the left down there."
"Thanks" Jerome nods to the officer as she begins the climb back to the roof.
Hoping that Jimmy is keeping close, and following the instructions he heads for the basement and the door to forensics. Once there he taps politely on the door, "Hey Doc, you at home?" His leg is itching again so he stoops slightly to rub it, I sure do hope so? he thinks
On the fire escape- Jimmy winked at Renee. "Thanks, darling," he said. "I'll see you later." He went with Jerome, helping to support him as they followed her directions to the forensics lab. They passed a few officers and civlians along the way.
In the forensics lab-
"Come in, come in," said a gravelly voice from within the lab. "I'll be right with you." Jerome and Jimmy entered. Several cots had been set up in the lab, a few of which were occupied by injured police officers. The medical examiner, Dr. Samuels, was a man in his late sixties with glasses and a narrow beard. He peered at the new arrivals. "That's a nasty wound you've got there, Officer Hooper. GSW, is it? Lie down on the nearest empty cot and let me take a look at it."
With some difficulty Jerome climbs onto one of the empty cots. "Yep shot in the line of duty", he laughs, "You know how it is, Doc".
Grimacing in anticipation of Doc Samuel's ministrations, "Others were hurt bad Doc including Sam Kensington whose knee got bust up pretty bad. Biting back a sharp intake of breath, he continues, "They can't be moved so we are kinda hoping that you might come with us to have a look at them?" Jerome looks slowly around the room taking in the wounded, "Or failing that if you might know of somewhere close that we might find someone with the necessary medical training?"
In the forensics lab-
"Of course I'll come with you," said Samuels as he set to work examining the wound. "We've scouted out the area around here already, and I'm the only doctor we've got. I'm more used to working on dead people, but I'm managing okay with the living. Looks like a through and through, so no bullet to extract. Whatever it was, it was high caliber. You're lucky your leg's not broken." It took him several minutes to clean, stitch, and redress the wound. Jeromewas doing much better now. When he stood up and tried walking, he only had a slight limp. "I think you'll be fine. I'm ready to go when you are." Just then, there was a small tremor. The ground shook for several seconds before it stopped. "Again? We just had one of those about an hour ago."
In the forensics lab- Dr. Samuels shrugged. "We don't usually get them around here," he said, "but there is a major faultline in the Midwest: New Madrid. It's a ways from here, but it's a big one. If it went off, we'd sure feel it. Last time that happened was in 1811, and that was a truly nasty one. We're about due for another, but I don't know. If it was New Madrid, I'd think the tremors would be stronger. Does it really matter? We've got wounded to help."
Jerome nods, "Yeah you're right", he flexes his leg once more as if to make certain, "Grab what you need doc, then Jimmy here will transport us backto the school". He galnces around the room at the injured there, "That's if you're ready?"
Without waiting for an answer Jerome makes his way to the door.
In the forensics lab-
"Yes, I'm ready," said Dr. Samuels, grabbing his medical bag. He followed Jerome and Jimmy out into the hall. "There's an officer here with EMT training who can look after the wounded in the lab while I'm gone." The three of them walked back down the hall to the stairwell, went up two flights, and then went down the upstairs hall to the fire exit. Ordinarily, opening the door would have set off the fire alarm automatically, but that didn't happen with the power out.
On the fire escape-
The three men emerged onto the fire escape landing. There was no sign of Renee, but she poked her head over the edge of the roof when Jimmy whistled.
"Go ahead and lower the ladder," she said. "I'll raise it again after you leave. The coast is clear."
With the ladder dropped, Jerome climbs down then scans the street for movement as the others descend. The moment the last of them reaches the ground he waves towards Renee, "Okay pull her up when your ready" then to Jimmy and Doc Samuels he motions toward the parked mustang, "Lets go".
On the road- Jerome, Jimmy, and Dr. Samuels made their way down to ground level as Renee climbed down to the landing from the roof. She raised the ladder while they walked away. The medical examiner followed them back to the Mustang and got into the back seat when Jimmy opened the door for him before getting behind the wheel. Jerome rode in the shotgun seat again. Once everyone was on board, Jimmy pulled out and drove back towards the school. They had just reached the road in front of the school grounds and were heading for the hole in the fence when there was another rumble, stronger and longer lasting than the first. It subsided without any visible damage.
OOC,[b]Jerome[/b], please roll Listen. There is a -5 penalty due to your Kevlar helmet. While Invisible Castle is down, you may use Dark and Moody's dice roller, a different online roller, or actual dice.
Jerome takes off his helmet and sticks his head out the window to see if that makes any difference. He looks to the north toward the school where he thought the rumbling noise had come from.
In the parking lot- Jerome removed his helmet, but the rumbling sound had stopped and he could no longer hear anything of interest. Jimmy drove the Mustang through the gap in the fence and started heading across the parking lot so that he could go around behind the main building.
Jerome shakes his head and asks Jimmy, "Did you hear that rumbling sound? I thought it sounded like it was coming from here." As he spoke he glanced towards the roof of the building in expectancy of seeing someone.
In the parking lot-
"Yeah, I heard it, man," said Jimmy. "You're right, it came from the school building - or rather beneath it." He drove around the side of the school to the rear parking lot.
In the rear parking lot- Heather, standing handcuffed next to Brian, shivered nervously. She glanced at John Lake. "Can I have my meth back?" she asked. He glared at her but said nothing. "Come on, just a teenth? I need a hit bad."
The Mustang came around the side of the school and parked in the lot next to the minibus. "Oh, thank God they're back," said Kate, smiling at Samuel Kensington.
Dr. Helene Saunders was at the rear of the school's roof, looking down.
OOC,[b]Brian[/b] and [b]Samuel[/b], you may also roll Listen to see if you heard the rumbling. The base skill is 25%. [b]Samuel[/b] gets a -5 penalty for his helmet.
OOC,Laraqua is playing them. She hasn't posted for them in a long time, but she recently returned to the game and has posted for another of her characters.
Samuel Kensington,[b]Samuel[/b] had heard the rumbling sound coming from beneath the school. Now, a couple of minutes after that, he could hear something big moving up from below. It was on the other side of the back door leading to the stairwell!
In the parking lot-
"What?" said Gretchen, confused. "What's going on?"
Samuel Kensington,Whatever was on the other side of the door started moving past it and up the stairs.
On the roof-
"What do you mean, we have to leave?" called down Dr. Helene Saunders. "I'll need some help with the EMP device. I don't think I can carry it myself. And we still have Alvin Drummond guarding Kyle Rogers in the detention cell. Someone needs to go get them." She tried to move the EMP generator, but it was slowing her down.
Jerome climbs from the car, and looks around. "From beneath?" he turns and faces the Doc as he climbs from the car, "You'll find the injured inside, doc, I'll just take me a look see"
In the parking lot-
"I'll come with you," said Gretchen, going with Jerome to the back door with her pistol in one hand and a set of keys in the other. She unlocked the door and opened it. On the other side, she could see that the stairs going up and down were covered with dust, small bits of debris, and a black, slimy residue. "That wasn't there before," she said, frowning.
Both of them could now hear something big moving upstairs.
Not sure if he is liking the look of the slime or the noise from above Jerome checks the load of his gun, With a nod towards Gretchen he mouths 'one, two, THREE' and launches himself through the doorway to the stairs beyond.
In the north stairwell, ground floor- Gretchen gripped her pistol and followed Jerome closely into the stairwell. She wasn't up on SWAT tactics, so she didn't slice the pie while rounding the corner, but she moved with a certain amount of grace and competence. Whatever was above them could be heard moving upwards, but it could not be seen from here.
Keeping his gun pointing up the stairwell in a double handed grip, Jerome whispers quietly to Gretchen, "I'll go up first okay? Keep an eye behind, don't want anything creeping up and giving us a scare."
He smiles encouragingly and without waiting for a reply begins to slowly climb the steps carefull to watch the corners ahead.
In the north stairwell, upper floor- Gretchen followed a short distance behind Jerome as he carefully made his way upstairs. By the time they reached the next landing, whatever was above them was already above them and out of sight, though its trail was still visible on the stairway leading up to the roof.
On the north fire escape, on the roof- Helenestrained as she tried to budge the EMP device, but she wasn't able to make much progress. It was too difficult for her to get it safely down the ladder.
"Shit!" hisses Jerome, don't like it but.. He turns his head and whispers towards Gretchen, "We need to move a bit quicker, just keep watching our asses."
Putting his words into action he speeds up slightly, attempting to decrease the distance between himself and whatever it was ahead.
In the north stairwell, upper floor- Gretchen followed Jerome up the stairs, but nothing could have prepared them for the horror about to ensue. They made it to an intermediate landing between the second floor and the roof exit, where it doubled back before rising in the other direction, when they finally saw it.
Gretchen Ehrlich/Jerome Hooper,The monstrosity filled the entire stairway, bulging against the wall as it oozed a viscous black slimy substance. It looked utterly enormous, and while they could not see its front, its rear was simply horrifying. The thing was dark gray beneath the black slime coating it, and it was roughly cylindrical, though it tapered somewhat at the back. It looked vaguely like a gigantic worm, but there was something very, very wrong about it. Something like this should not exist at all.
It was still surging upwards, and it completely shattered the door leading out to the roof - along with the walls of the enclosure that contained it! Bricks and dust flew in all directions.
[b]Gretchen[/b] looked at it in awe, then at her handgun in dismay. [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4086431/]She did not panic[/url], but [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4086432/]she was deeply shaken[/url]. "I don't think this is going to cut it..." she said, her jaw dropping.
[spoiler][b]Jerome[/b], please roll Sanity. Sanity loss is 1d3/1d20. If you lose 5 or more Sanity, you must roll Idea. Failure means you may act, but success means you go temporarily insane. As long as you do not go insane, you and [b]Gretchen[/b] both act before the creature. Due to its enormous size, any attempts to hit it are at +20, as you're much less likely to miss. Range is point blank, but the +20 applies after doubling your skill. If you want to use it, your M16 can fire a burst, but the burst limiter restricts it to three rounds and gives you a flat +20 to hit (also applied after doubling your skill). With your skill this gives you a 170% chance to hit, so you'd only miss on a Malfunction, and you'd get an impale on a 34 or less. If you hit, roll 1d3 to see how many bullets strike it if you fire a burst. Each does 2d8 damage. If you get an impale, it only affects the first bullet (which then does 4d8). If you get a critical hit (5 or less), there is no additional damage, but you will ignore its armor with all bullets that hit it.[/spoiler]
OOC,Since you failed, you now need to roll 1d20 to see how much Sanity you lose. If you roll 5 or higher, you must then roll Idea. If you succeed at that roll, you go temporarily insane. Otherwise, you may act freely. Note that if you lose at least 20% of your current Sanity (8 or more), you will automatically go indefinitely insane, regardless of the Idea roll. However, that won't kick in until after this encounter is over...if you survive.
For a split moment Jerome feels waves of black terror clawing at his mind. Then with a shake of his head, professionalism takes over. He raises his pistol, knowing it will do no good but if he can attract the things attention long enough to give those on the roof an oportunity to escape, and fires two shots at the hideous bulk above him.
OOC,Please make your attack rolls. The range is point blank, so your skill is doubled. After that, you get +20 due to the creature's enormous size. For each shot that hits, please roll damage. Your pistol may actually fire three shots before the creature gets to act. Your Handgun skill is 60%, so you'd have a 140% chance to hit. You will only miss on a Malfunction, and you impale on a 28 or less. The pistol does 1d10 damage, or 2d10 on an impale. If you roll a 5 or less for your attack roll, that's a critical hit. It only does 1d10 damage, but it will bypass the monster's armor. You may prefer to use your M16 instead, which may fire a single shot or a burst as I described above.
OOC,You didn't make your attack and damage rolls, so I rolled for you. You may act again now, but you cannot see the creature this round and thus cannot attack it at this time.
In the parking lot-
Everyone below watched in shock as the rooftop enclosure exploded, sending bricks flying all over the roof. Then the most horrible thing imaginable slithered across the roof and loomed over the fire esacpe. It oozed a viscous black slimy substance. It looked utterly enormous and was dark gray beneath the black slime coating it, and it was roughly cylindrical, though it tapered somewhat at the back. It looked vaguely like a gigantic worm with a squid-like head that had long, wriggling tentacles. Something like this should not exist at all.
OOC,And there goes the neighborhood! :twisted: Everyone in the parking lot (including both [b]Brian[/b] and [b]Samuel[/b]), please roll Sanity. Sanity loss is 1d3/1d20, so you lose 1d3 Sanity even if you succeed and 1d20 if you fail. If you lose 5 or more Sanity, please roll Idea. If you succeed at that roll, you go temporarily insane, but if you fail, you do not.
Once that has been processed, you must make another Sanity roll for witnessing [b]Helene[/b]'s gruesome demise, against your reduced Sanity score following the first roll. Sanity loss this time is 0/1d6. If you lose 5 or more, an Idea roll is required as above. Yes, you can go temporarily insane twice. This will just result in a longer duration for your insanity in this case. As long as you don't go temporarily insane from either roll, you may act freely. If you have a gun and want to shoot at the creature, it is at normal range. However, you get a +20 bonus due to its incredible size making it harder to miss. You can assume you have the weapon in your hand and can use its full rate of fire.
In the north stairwell, upper floor-
"Come on, let's go!" shouted Gretchen, pulling Jerome by the arm. He holstered his pistol and unslung his M16 as he followed her down the stairs at a run. They made it to the landing on the second floor by the time they heard the creature above them. "No, it's following us!"
"Fuck knows! It must have been drawn by the EMP. I heard insects can feel that shit. Magnetic directions and such. This mother must be super-sensitive to that shit."Jimmy lets the clutch go and reverses to the front of the school, aiming to put some distance between themselves and the beast. "Where to now, guys?"
In the north hallway, ground floor- Alvin, Murray, and Kyle burst in from the lobby.
In the north stairwell, ground floor- Gretchen and Jerome raced down the stairs. The sound of the creature slithering through the stairwell above them spurred them on.
In the rear parking lot- John Lake continued to stand there, staring slack-jawed at nothing in particular.
"Where are they?" asked Erica, sitting in the shotgun seat next to the empty driver's seat. "Hurryhurryhurry!" When she saw that John wasn't moving, she threw open her door and jumped out to go get him.
In the front parking lot- Jimmy pulled out, the rubber tires screeching as the Mustang took the corners at high speed. He drove around the side of the building to the front. The hole in the fence leading to the street was visible.
"What about John Lake?" protested Megan, pointing at the empty shotgun seat. "We can't just leave him there! We've got to go back for him!"
"Like, who the hell cares?" muttered Heather. "Wait, he's got my crystal! I totally need that!"
"I got some stuff. And John shoudda moved his ass. We´re out of here." This time around he is positively slowing down when passing the hole. As he does, he strokes the lining of the open window. "Yeah, baby - slow and easy."
In the north stairwell, ground floor- Gretchen and Jerome threw open the fire door and rushed outside. A moment later, Alvin, Murray, and Kyle entered the stairwell from the hallway and made for the exit. But before they reached it, the monstrosity arrived, slithering down the staircase. It looked like an enormous worm with a squid-like head, coated in black slime.
In the rear parking lot- Erica tried to haul John back to the minibus, but he wouldn't budge. Gretchen and Jerome flew out of the back door. "It's right behind us!" cried Gretchen.
On the road- Jimmy pulled through the hole in the fence and reached the road south of the school. It stretched off to the left and right.
"You do?" said Heather, brightening. "Can you spot me some? I hope it's the blue stuff; that's the bomb!"
"Nobody is going to be getting stoned in this car," insisted Megan. She frowned at Jimmy. "Look, if you won't go back for him, at least take us to the police station so we can warn them. Just turn right here. It's about a mile down the road."
"Like, no way!" cried Heather. "I'm too pretty to go to jail!"
In the rear parking lot- Jerome helped Erica grab John and drag him to the minibus, where they shoved him inside. Erica jumped behind the wheel, while Gretchen and the others piled inside, cramming themselves in. Before they could drive off, the monstrosity burst through the back door - and took large chunks of the wall with it!
On the road- Heather sulked in the back seat while Jimmy navigated through the streets, steering around wrecks and debris. It didn't take him long to reach the location Megan had told him, but something was very wrong. The police station was a huge pile of rubble, with sections of wall still standing amidst the ruins. It looked like it had been demolished.
"No!" cried Megan, shaking her head. "All those people..."
OOC,[b]Brian[/b] and [b]Jimmy[/b], please roll Spot Hidden. The base skill is 25%.
In the rear parking lot-
The monstrosity didn't seem to have any eyes, but at the same time it appeared to be looking right at Erica. With a shudder, she floored the accelerator and pulled out, driving the minibus around the side of the school as the lumbering behemoth slowly dragged itself after the vehicle.
Outside the police station- Megan Petrovich looked around, her battlefield instincts kicking in - after all, this was a battlefield of a different sort. Her tour in Iraq had sharpened her senses, for her life had depended on them, and the lives of others. And so they did now. "I see someone!" she cried, pointing into the rubble of the ruined building. "There, a hand!" She got out of the car.
Jimmy leaves the car idling and jumps out at the heels of Megan. He looks for the sign of life she had observed. His hands are free and the revolver is tucked in the back of his jeans.
In the front parking lot-
The minibus pulled around the side of the building. Erica gripped the wheel and frantically looked back in the rear view mirror at the horror pursuing the vehicle. She gunned the gas pedal, shoving through the hole in the fence and onto the street.
Outside the police station- Jimmy got out of the car and followed Megan.
In the ruined police station- Megan led the way through the rubble that used to be the police station, followed by Jimmy. He couldn't see the hand until Megan pointed it out. It was a woman's hand, sticking out from the debris. The two of them worked together to dig her out. She was dirty, her hair and uniform coated with dust, but Jimmy recognized her as Renee Wallace. Megan felt her wrist. "She's alive," she said, "just unconscious." She tried to revive her. "She's not waking up."
OOC,[b]Jimmy[/b], please roll First Aid if you want to try to help. The base skill is 30%.
In the ruined police station- Megan lifted Renee's legs and tried to help Jimmy carry her.
OOC,[b]Jimmy[/b], please make a Resistance Table roll, pitting the sum of your STR (10) and [b]Megan[/b]'s STR (8) against [b]Renee[/b]'s SIZ (11). This gives you an 85% chance.
Outside the police station- Jimmy had no problem carrying Renee, and he didn't even need Megan's help. They emerged from the rubble as Erica Spears pulled up in the minibus. She slammed the brakes, bringing the bus to a screeching halt.
"Erica, what's wrong?" asked Kate from the rear of the minibus.
"I...I don't know," she said. "I just...I can't go on any more." She slumped over the wheel.
"This isn't good!" said Jerome. "That thing was still following us when we left the school. It's a lot slower than the vehicle, but it'll catch up if we stay here too long."
OOC,You haven't gotten into the Mustang yet. All of this happened as you arrived.
Outside the police station- Jimmy put Renee in the shotgun seat and got behind the wheel.
"Erica?" asked Kate in a soothing tone. "Is this...is this because of what happened to us at the warehouse? Are you giving up?"
"No, it's not that at all," said Erica, shaking her head. "I want to live, I want to keep going, I just...I can't!" She burst into tears, sobs convulsing her body. Then she sat bolt upright. "It's that thing! It's keeping me here somehow!"
"Fight it, Erica! You have to fight it!"
Erica struggled to start driving again, but she found herself paralyzed. A fresh round of crying started. "It's no good! I'll have to get out here. You all go on without me."
"Hit the road!"Jimmy shouts as he honks the horn and puts the rear in making a three point turn and drives up next to the minibus. Driver side to driver side he stops. "What's the hold up ladies?" He watches for any pursuit and tilts the gear stick back to reverse, just in case.
