Play@YSDC

Outside the briefing room

In front of an UC banner, a female director´s clerk welcomes Team Bravo to a formal mission briefing. Sgt Ferrer is nowhere to be seen but it´s not uncommon that he meet up in the chopper when it lifts off.

"Welcome! Five hours ago in the Hive, a top-secret genetic research lab located in the basement of Raccoon City, there was an alarming situation and in response, the artificial intelligence that controls the complex, known as "The Red Queen" went ballistic, sealed the entire plant, killing all employees and visitors.

Umbrella Corporation, owner of the Beehive, has sent two of its teams UBCS The first, the Alpha team, penetrate into the complex to find out what happened. The second, the Bravo team, you have to rescue the directors of the Beehive, the only survivors of the disaster, and retrieve biological samples have been taken with them. No report so far from team Alpha.
We expect things to go as planned. Debriefing by team leaders when the missions are accomplished.

Now, to the specifics:"


The banner on the wall fades away and a wire frame map of a large building appears. Short headings also appear and the clerk starts the briefing.

The Briefing

She watches the assembled team and adds. "All this information is stored in Larsen´s computer." "Good luck and bring those samples in!"

All gear for the mission is placed against the wall in the hallway outside the briefing room. The sound from a helicopter warming up the engines can be heard from above. Standard procedure is to gear up before entering the transport and to check that all equipment is operational.

Crawford puts on her digital watch and communications equipment before picking up her mini binoculars. She peeks through them towards Larsen , You are the tech expert, what do you think happened to the Red Queen? She lowers the binoculars and opens her first aid kit to see if everything is there.

Larsen collects his gear too, taking special care with his laptop. "I think the Red Queen is simply obeying her programming all too well," he says. "There is no such thing as a true Artificial Intelligence that is capable of independent thought the way humans are. All computer programs, no matter how sophisticated, can only do what their programmers have instructed them. An emergency situation arose in the Beehive where a biological hazard has breached containment. The Red Queen is programmed to stop it from spreading. Her solution to the problem is a cold and calculating one, completely devoid of human emotion. She has decided that the best solution is to enforce a lockdown in order to contain the biohazard, and then to exterminate all human life in the quarantine area. If this is a virus we're dealing with here, then she must have realized that it cannot survive without a host, so she has taken it upon herself to kill all potential hosts. She wasn't programmed with respect for human life, so she doesn't have any. That means she'll do her damnedest to kill us too."

C.L. glances over his gear and closely inspecting the gargantuan five kilogram C-4 explosive charge. "Haven't been able to play with this much in quite a while," he gleamed "Should be some nice fireworks later." Looking around at the others he pulls out a cigarette and lights it.


Hale rummages through her gear and extracts a flexible touch-pad screen. She punches the pad and yanks up her gear bag and starts for the door. "Yo, got a beacon, here! They are kicking!" She waves the pad at the others. "Cool, we can order pizza with this when we´re finished!"

The others catch a glimpse of the city map as she leaves the briefing room.

The five members of Bravo Team exit with their gear. In the corridor a desk clerk arrives with a piece of paper and hands it to Crawford.
You get your protective suits on and take the lift up to the roof. There a twin rotor helicopter stand at full alert for take-off. You clamber inside and it leaves Raccoon´s newest apartment building spinning below.

The double propeller helicopter transport crosses the night sky at full speed. The aircraft, all black and with no lights on and with its rotors in silent mode, makes it almost undetectable from the ground.

The pilot's voice resonates with a snap over the intercom:
"Be prepared Team Bravo. ETA in five minutes."

The cargo hold has a blue light. Each of you are sitting with your backs against a wall on either side of the cargo hold while you prepare your gear. On the wall dividing the cargo from the rest of the heli, a small flat screen shows all mission data. These last minutes are left to review the information you have : the tracking beacon you have on the two directors of the Beehive, the plans of the mall, the last footage from the security cameras inside the mall. The latter are interesting, they show in grainy black and white as the metal shutters of stores and entrances as people fall down the floor, apparently unconscious. You have no confirmation of whether all these people are alive or dead, but in the light of what happened at the Beehive, it seems that the Red Queen has taken extreme measures. You must be prepared for the worst. But the truth is that you never seen such a disaster in the hands of Umbrella Corporation. It is necessary to cover this situation up, and the high-powered explosive charge that you carry with you will be essential to complete the mission.

There´s no sign of Ferrer yet but you haven´t checked the cockpit. A security officer sits by the cargo door next to the flat screen and he´s been watching you grudgingly. He´s only muttered and replied in short words when spoken to. From his name tag you can read: NOHMAN

C.L. pulled the heavy cargo bay doors shut when the helicopter spun free from the roof top.

With a sense of relief, Crawford leans back. "We will see Ferrer soon." she says before glaring at the flatscreen quietly. I wonder what was so important about that meeting...

The team relaxes as the pilot's voice resounds again:
" Bravo Team Leader. Go to the cabin. Mission Control wants to talk to you privately."

Nohman, the hard-featured guard, grey haired and a senior to you all, rises from his post without speaking, enters the door that leads to the control cabin of the transport helicopter. This makes you exchange a worried look.
Nohman... Nohman ...

More than a year ago you all were part of this U.BC.S.team and from the first day, the team leader has always been sergeant Ferrer. He´s a competent leader who you trust completely. Now it seems that HQ replaced him at the helm with Nohman, who doesn´t know anything about your team.
How are you supposed to act competently with a new crew chief with whom you have never worked?
And what with the attitude, not introducing himself as your team leader? Just sitting there waiting?

Larsen gets up a plan for the mall on his laptop.

Inside the cockpit

Nohman enters from the cargo hold. The Bravo team members having just got the news that their boss has been replaced by a new team leader. The radio chatter and mission commands calls. "Bravo Team leader, respond"

"Nohman, here."

"This is mission control. Make sure you check your bio-masks before the landing zone. Locate the directors. Access to the hive system can be obtained from the elevator room or the ventilation hub at the roof. Get footage from inside the mall and make sure you get a good placement for the explosives. We´ve added an operative from overseas to assist you."

A third person in the cabin turns to Nohman and salutes. A name tag identifies him as Roy Batty. Being on a special mission all the way from overseas, Rudholf Weissgeir had to pick a name to blend in with the fellow operatives. Roy Batty was a cliche from an old Sci-Fi flick, but he could live with it.

Adjusting the NVG googles over his helmet, he salutes the new team leader. While the helicopter start its engines and the rotators start running, he shouts in Nohman´s ear.
"Welcome aboard,Herr Nohman.I'm Rudholf,but you can call me just "Rud".I'll be your shadow,sir.Any problems with the guys..." He lands two punches in the rear of the cabin. "...I´ll be with you. Let's get inside and make what we are paid for sir".
Again, he starts checking the equipment while the helicopter start its ride, an old habit that i got from his old Afghan-duties.
During the ride, he attaches his microphone to the helicopter´s system to talk without shouting to Nohman.
"Sir,what our shooting polices?We are on a "Search and Rescue" mission,right?If we find something wrong,we got shoot-to-kill permissions?"

Nohman signs off the radio and grunts at Weissgeir. "We most certainly will acting on a safety protocol. Anything hostile - shoot to immobilize. Should the situation call for it use your training as guideline. As I understand it your job is to watch my back, son. Do that and we´ll be just fine." He puts his suit on, but keeps the mask off. He watches Rud prepare his suit. "Anything else before I hand out the landing orders to the team?"

Weissgeir smiles a bit trying to pierce the eyes of Nohman to capture the feelings of the team leader "No sir,nothing to ask." When the heli start flying, Rud light a cigarette while putting on the suit. The mask is off until the last moment on the roof and the HK is on his legs, charged and on full auto. This gonna be a nice day, Rud.. he mutters to himself.
When the cigarette is finished, the mask is put on and his eyes are closed until the heli touches the roof.

In the cargo hold



Nohman comes back through the door. At the same time the lighting in the cargo goes from blue to scarlet.

"Get ready!"

Nohman, now suddenly acting as a team leader focused on the mission, taking like a military veteran.


"I´m Sergeant Nohman, your appointed team leader. Mission control has our position and I want you to check your biohazard masks. I hope we will work well together."
He takes hold of a metal rung by the door to the cabin. The next phrases that come from Nohman are forcefully voiced at the team.

"Hale! When we touch down we want to use the scanner to locate the position of Smith and Sanchez.

Larsen! Before entering the building we want to know the situation inside. Get pictures off of the network of surveillance cameras down below.

CL! You'll cover Larsen.

Collins! Need to know if there are traces of biohazardous agents in the area of the roof. Keep me informed at all times.

Crawford! Look for an access point to the second floor and secure the roof."

The orders are clearly heard to the pilot and Rud inside the cockpit.

Crawford adjusts her suit and mask, feeling nervous with the change of team leaders. Ferrer never let us down before. How will this mission turn out? She clears her head and stands up. "Understood Sir." She waits for the signal to leave the chopper.

"Yes, Sergeant," says Larsen. He checks his own mask while he brings up information about the mall on his laptop. If there's one thing he does well, it's multitasking. "There are two locations on the roof from which I can interface with the mall's camera network. There's the elevator control system in the northwest and the climate control system in the south. Both are in rooms accessible from the roof. I recommend we decide which one to use based on the locations where Hale gets a fix on the directors. We can save time by minimizing the distance we'll need to go to get to whichever of them is closer."

CL checks his mask before equipping his .50 cal pistol, glancing at it and questioning with a smart-arse tone "What are the chances that I will really need this? It's a computer that is the problem right?"

After Hale checks her Mask, she glances up why are they staring at me, oh right... Hale looks down at the device she is wearing and mumbles to herself "Well then let me have a look, hmmm ya so if i push that and this, whats that. Oh right its mac'donalds got ya, i see now yep.." Hale without looking up "i wont be a minute" and Smiles

Nohman replies sourly to the comments, "Alpha team has failed to report back. I doubt this is only a computer glitch, Lienhoff! In my book, you are not only extracting the directors - you´re also looking for evidence where team Alpha went missing. And guys, keep those masks on. That might be what stalled our first team."

"If you don´t get a good reading, soon, Hale. You´ll wind up as a side dish at the burger joint!"

After tuning the tracker correctly at the building they are closing in on, Hale gets a weak signal indicating the whole mall. The conclusion is that they are somewhere within the block of buildings beneath the heli. No indication on vital signs. One odd thing, though. A reading from the roof indicates movement from a building next to the south edge of the roof. The area holds the climate control room. Close to this area is an elevator leading to the private areas of the stores. On the opposite side of the roof, in the north east, an elevator to the mall´s public area is located.

Without waiting for a reply, Nohman fastens his harness on ropes for descent. "The helicopter transport will remain at about ten meters from the roof and we descend by rope to the roof!"
The loading ramp begins to open. A howling wind comes into the bay while emergency lights goes on in the cargo hold.

Through the headset in your ear hear the voice of the pilot:
"The roof is clear. Bravo team good luck."

In position near the open ramp, you stare out in the cold night, below you the broad roof of the mall. From here you can even see the police road blocks in the streets near the building. Luckily, the mall is in an open area, no adjacent buildings.

Nohman's voice echoes in the ear phones.
"Let´s get down!"

Inside the cockpit

Scrambling out of his seat next to the pilot, Weissgeir mumbles, "Cover my ass - he says then he jumps the heli! Is this guy for real?"


The cargo hold

The team in the cargo hold barely has time to fasten the ropes, before Nohman descends quickly. Agile with his knees bent on the impact he regains his balance without any effort and unclips the rope. Two searchlights from the helicopter covers the roof and it seems empty as promised.

Weissgeir steps through the cabin door just as the sergeant jumps. The eyes of team Bravo turns towards the new arrival.

Stunned by the way things are turning out for the mission so far, Crawford grabs a rope and attaches it to herself. She looks at the original team with a slightly worried look before turning and following the leader.

Larsen also hooks a rope to himself and double checks that his mask is on securely. When his turn comes, he too climbs down to the roof.

CL attaches himself to the helicopter rope and slides down to the mall roof. Upon his feet landing he swiftly retrieves his pistol from it's holster and scans the roof for threats laughing at the thought of how there couldn't possibly be anything here that would require a bullet.

When Weissinger touches the roof,he puts himself in a cover position watching the back of the team.
As the situation calm down and nothing moves,he takes a more relaxed posture and move near the other teamates.
“Sector clear”.
Watching the team positioning and waiting for an order,the heartbeats start increasing and the blood pressure make him nervous.With a snake-voice he says :”c’mon lads,I don’t want stay on this roof for the whole day..”.He starts moving to the first available door aiming at it with the weapon without waiting a team response.

Collins ropes down after Weiss, watching the team leader standing tall on the roof waiting for the team to gain access to the mall.
Hale makes the last descent to the roof. She sees the others spread out and watches Weiss declare the roof clear. She takes time to check the scanner.

Crawford clearly hears a banging from the closest structure on the roof. According to the map it´s the climate central. She moves forward with his rifle ready to shoot, leaning on the shoulder, so that the beam sweeps the way she goes. Behind her, Collins is walking at the same pace, illuminating the front and from time to time, sweeping his back to protect the rear. Using the medical scanner, Collins receives a clear signal from inside the steel door of the climate central. All vital signs are good. The person inside needs to be tested, though. A blood sample analysis will clear if the person is affected by the gas or not .

The readings collected are completely normal, no biohazardous agents or abnormal concentrations of gases in the area. Anyway, this may not mean anything, Collins is well aware that on the roof the gas would dissipate quickly. In the closed environment inside the mall they can find the gas if it´s still there.

Larsen, with C.L. covering his back with the .50 comes to the door of the climate control room located close by where they landed.

The door is metal and has a magnetic lock, as most of the center. Next to the handle is an LED illuminated red. As you approach, the proximity of the access card that you carry with you should make it change to green. That is not the case. It remains red. The two now also hear the banging from within. Clearly a survivor has made it to this location and can´t get out. In the attempt to bypass the electric lock, this person must have shut it down somehow. There are also metal levers keeping the doors shut. A quite simple maneuver, from outside will get the jammed door open.

Hale gets a reading on the scanner that the targets are indeed in this building. On what floor is unclear. The team needs to get inside to get a good location of the directors.

In a collaborate effort, C.L. at last gets the door mechanism open for the team. He gets the door open and inside an old man in an overall greets team Bravo with a large wrench in hand. He looks weary but unhurt.


Larsen swiftly passes the maintenance guy to find a computer to hook in to. He Uses an electric screwdriver to open a panel and adds a cable and connects his laptop to the local network of the building. Knowing that the Red Queen controls the system he must be very careful. He hesitates before trying to hack the system.

Seeing that the team has the situation under control, Weiss heads for the closest set of doors, the elevators leading to the private areas of the mall. Nohman follows him closely.

Crawford scans the roof top quickly, then moves to the northwest. "We have three entry points sir. The southwest and these two up here." She leans against a wall next to a door marked emergency. "Hale, how far in do you think we need to go before you can find what floor they are on?"

Larsen knows that hacking into the system is risky, but he can't afford not to do it and is confident in his abilities to avoid detection. He tries as surreptitiously and carefully as possible to slip into the system and gain access to the surveillance cameras without letting the Red Queen know he is there.

After a fast control of the area near the elevators,Weiss moves to the old man.
Keeping a 3 meter distance and a ready-to-fire posture ,he swear to the old man:
“Drop the weapon!!Puts your hands behind the head!”
With the other hand ,he take out a pair of hand cuffs .
“Watchout team,possible menance.Armed and dangerous.” he wisper throught the Com.

"Whoooa...." choked Barry, as the wrench dropped to the floor with a clang. He had no idea what was happening or who these guys we're, but someone was pointing a gun at him so he was going to do what he was told. "I'm just the maintenance guy, been locked in there best part of the day" he pleaded, raising his hand into the air.

With a cold voice distorted by the gasmask,Weiss says:
“just keep your hands up and everything gonna be ok man.Move and you’re done”
Still aiming at his head,Weiss closes the distances ,take out his pistol dropping on the sling his Mp5 and move behind the mantainance guy.
When he’s behind him,Weiss uses the cuffs and block him.
IF HE MOVES,I SHOOT HIM IN A LEG.

When (if) he’s secured, Weiss take out again the mp5 aim and push him in a corner.
In the Com he says: “TL,Menance secured.He seems ok,maybe he know something.This “package” can be extracted by our Heli for further analysis and interrogation back at the HQ”.

Hale responds in the comm, "Should be enough to get inside the mall, the stairwell should do." She puts the scanner away and gets the MP5 ready and approaches the emergency doors. Crawford
covers the doors while Hale prepares to open the doors. Using the stairs seems to be the wise option when dealing with an automated system set to kill any threats.

Crawford checks her watch. It had read 120 when they all touched down, now it flickers and then its 119.

Outside the climate bunker, Collins produces a syringe from the medical bag for a sample of the civilian´s blood for analysis.

"Good job, Weiss. He seems mobile enough - he´ll have to follow us. We can´t leave him up here. We don´t want anyone compromising our way out. That is if he shows clean. If not put one in his head. Weiss, as you tagged him, he´s your job to care for. And the cooms are out, remember?" Weiss tries to reach the heli, but the comms seems out. The comms of the suits still work, though.

Barry grunts as he´s cuffed and braces himself at the probing needle when the syringe extracts a sample of his blood.

Collins examines the sample and reports, "No viruses and squeaky clean, this one!"

Inside the climate bunker, Larsen hacks the main frame of the mall. Larsen does not need too long to access the video surveillance system. He installs a program which lets him download directly and monitor images from the security cameras in public areas on the second and first floor of the mall, in real time to his laptop, using the wifi in the building. All they show now is images of people lying all over the place. Apparently asleep or dead.

"Bravo! Meet at the entrance of the emergency stairs, with Crawford and Hale. Larsen! Do you have these images? I want to see NOW. Hale damn, do you have the position of the targets or not?"
Nohman barks from the roof.

"Negative, sir" Hale lets out as he opens the emergency doors. He starts in, covering the inside with the flash mounted on his rifle. The beam jumps from left to right, up and then downwards.

Crawford watches as Hale disappears through the doors. The area is dimly lit by emergency lighting, shadows that fill up the stairs. According to building plans, the next landing gives access to the second floor of the mall.

C.L. waits by the door, waiting for Larsen to get back up on the roof.

Crawford pulls out her MP5-K for its flashlight and turns it on towards the stairwell to watch over Hale. "Don't go too far" she says cautiously, trying to keep eye on her and the rest of the team. She stands against the door keeping it open, waiting for Hale's results and the plan of action that will proceed after them.

"Here they are, Sergeant," says Larsen, running over to Nohman with his laptop. The guy was a lot more abrasive than Sergeant Ferrer. If this was how he acted normally, he'd hate to see how angry he got if someone screwed up.

Weiss throught the Comm "Sir,my suggestion is to lock this guy somewhere on the roof.We can use the cuffs to lock him with a pipe and prevent him from moving.If we'll need a fast extraction ,a panicked civilian can become a big problem,sir".

"Your baby, your call, Weiss!" Nohman retorts, attention on Larsen´s report and the laptop information. Weiss soon finds a suitable pipe close by the climate hub. Without any hassle he cuffs the maintenance guy to the pipe.

Nohman is ready taking in the scene on the laptop and offers, "Looks good. They are all down. Lets get that bomb planted! C.L. follow the others down the stairs! We´ll go in through the sealed off section, avoiding the fallen bodies in the main area. When we´ve reached the second floor, we should have a good ball on where the targets are."

Collins hesitates as he sees the civilian being cuffed, but follows the ladies down the stairs.

Houngan:
Dadde:

Hale takes a step by step crawling walk down the steps with the MP5 firm against her shoulder as she tries to make out where she is going with the flashlight. While doing this Hale is checking her scanner for the targets

Both Hale and Crawford begin to ask themselves whether this man is able to lead the team, but also know that according to the chain of command, they are obliged to obey.

Hale who sweeps her gun down the emergency stairs, sees something. On the landing below, next to the wall, wrapped in shadows, a body sits hunched and prone on the stairs. Someone dressed in what looks like a blue work suit, who remains perfectly still.

Hale´s scanner shows a strong signal, now, inside the stairwell. On the screen three-dimensional maps are loaded from the shopping mall and, bingo! First, she can see her own position as a blue icon. Then a second after the icons appear representing the objectives in red-orange color.
First Dr. Luisa Sanchez, whose icon appears in the private area of the first floor in a room you identify as the point of entry to the hive from the mall. It seems that the doctor has not moved much.
As for Dr. Carl Smith, his icon puts him somewhere in the first basement (parking area), but Hale can not fix the signal.

Yet the vital signs of both are something disconcerting. Those of Dr. Sanchez are very weak, as if he were in a coma, and Dr. Smith´s are completely out of control, as if he´s subjected to intense stress or exercise, or rather, as if he had had an overdose of amphetamines.

Crawford spots the worker down the stairs when Hale stops to check the scanner. Larsen, C.L. and Weiss remain topside with Nohman. Collins stop at the top of the stairs and shines his flashlight down towards the landing. "We have a body down here, sir!"

Larsen isn't surrpised to hear that there's a body on the stairs. It makes sense that someone would try to get to the roof to escape from the mall when the Red Queen started exterminating people, and it also makes sense that whoever it was didn't make it.

Crawford begins to wonder what she has gotten herself into. Ferrer has always been here for the team, guiding us. He would know exactly what to do now. "Sir, what's the plan?" she says over the comms.

Closing the coloumn ,Weiss try to spot the body behind his teamates,but his attention is focalized on covering the back of the team.

"We´ll get down as fast as possible and plant the bomb. Then we get out. If and when we get a beacon on the targets we´ll deal with them there and then. Now move it!" Nohman replies over the comms. He continues after Hale and Crawford. Collins hurries after the lead trio to check if the subject is alive. Larsen and C.L. are right in front of Weiss, who shuts the door to the roof and watches the rear.

"Hey! You!" Nohman yells, using the PA of the comms. "Make sure he´s not faking it, someone shoot him in the leg." Nohman whispers over the comms. To everyone else the man looks dead, very dead. It is a white man, about forty years or more, of slim build, thin face and straight blond hair.His blue eyes are open, staring into infinity, and his mouth is stained with vomits, which has spread all over the front of his overalls. His body is frozen in an almost fetal position, his face is fixed in a grimace of agony.



"Fuck, no." Collins says and moves between the team members and the immobile man on the landing. He kneels behind the man in blue overall and shakes his leg to see if there´s any response. There´s a name tag reading Gerald Jenkins. A pack of cigarettes are lying next to the body. He´s seen people in extreme environments, apparently dead, but yet alive. That and the fact that a shot fired in here would certainly alert the Red Queen of their whereabouts.
Collins produces a syringe and makes a cursory examination of the body. No signs of trauma to the head of any other part of the body, visible form the current angle. He draws blood from Jenkin´s lower right arm. "No need for a leg-shot, guys. This one´s down. Checking for viruses and temp. Will take a few seconds."

Nohman mutters and holsters his .50 which he had half way readied. Behind the mask he´s sweating profusely.

Down the stairs a bit further is another hallway which ends in a set of double doors leading to the second floor. The stairs continue down.

"Hale, Crawford! Check that the entrance below is secured!" Nohman barks at the two women next to him.

Collins places the sample in the medical scanner to verify what happened to the poor janitor. Most likely he suffered a seizure of some kind...

The scanner confirms the guess. According to the scanner it´s a neurotoxin, inhaled by this poor soul and who knows how many more people in this mall. The data continue to fill the screen of the scanner: in particular it is a neurotoxin type NT-056 produced by the division of biological weapons of Umbrella Corporation. It´s a lethal agent when released into the environment, but its half-life in the atmosphere is less than an hour.

And there's more, the scanner is processing data and blood cell samples from the corpse, but still not seeing any results.

It´s rare the scan takes this long...

"Should have a full report soon... So far it says the toxin released here is gone since three hours. But the scan is still running... Yet, it´s an NT-056 agent used here. Quite bad, I´d say." Collins stands up and waits for the scanner to leave a final result.

Walking down towards the landing, Larsen sees the alert light of his laptop signal. Something is happening in the mall, somewhere...

Weiss sees how the team leader is clearly off balance.

"I'm getting something here," says Larsen, checking the surveillance feeds to see what's going on. "Some kind of activity in the mall. I'm trying to pinpoint it now."

Laptop data:

Larsen holds up and gets showed a bit by C.L. who continues down to the landing, covering the next bit of stairs.

Collins look up at Larsen and waits for a recap. The viral scanner is still processing the sample.

"A guy in a gray suit and gas mask just stole a car from the garage and escaped," says Larsen, showing the others the footage on the laptop. "It's a Lamborghini of all things. Pretty sweet ride there. That's a loose end that will need tying up. I wonder if this guy is Smith. Does anyone know if he had the skills to hotwire a car? There are also more bodies on the other side of those emergency doors."

"OK! We´ll head for the room on the first floor to check on Dr Sanchez. And seal the entrance to the hive. Then we go down to the parking area and plant the bomb. I have no idea who that was bolting outside." Nohman says and upholsters his .50 again and gets it out, pointing it to the ground, away from anyone close by.

Collins keeps his head level as he takes a step away from the team leader and declares the viral scanner´s result. "Inconclusive? How can it be inconclusive? This scanner is capable of detecting any type of disease, toxic pathogens and viruses that exists, and it does not know what has happened to this man. Apparently, the body does not follow the typical pattern of rigor mortis of newly dead. The rate of blood clotting is abnormal, it´s a process of cell mitosis end, the body's electrical load is increasing rather than decreasing... and finally, it has detected a virus with a protein strain labeled as "unknown" ... We know for a fact that the neurotoxin released here was NT-056, but the effects should not be this!" He points at the scanner and waves it at the corpse of the dead janitor.

From outside, muffled by the stairwell construction, heavy automatic fire can be heard. Four distinctive bursts of ten rounds each at least.

"That's probably perimeter security shooting at the Lamborghini," says Larsen. He then responds to Collins. "Perhaps it's this unknown virus that caused the Red Queen to initiate the lockdown in the first place? That would mean it spread to the mall when the directors breached containment and left the Hive. The Queen herself released the NT-056."

C.L. remains with Hale and Crawford, .50 pistol in hand and at the ready after hearing the gunfire.

"If the NT-056 was released then shouldn't everyone be dead? Larson's probably right, rookies trying to get a kick out of shooting a beautiful car." joked C.L.

Crawford takes a deep breath and holds her gun firmly, pointing the light over the area. "Blowing up a shopping mall. How hard could it be?" She turns her head toward C.L. "ready?"

C.L. returned a look of amusement, stating with a distinct smirk "For a rookie like you, pretty hard, for me though? A walk in the park."

"The guy in the Lamborghini was wearing a gas mask," says Larsen. "That might have kept him alive. It's not unreasonable to think that the Directors might have taken precautions against the Red Queen's extermination techniques."

Hale looks at Crawford "We got our orders lets go Crawford, don't worry ill take the lead" and smiles. Hale holding her MP5 ready takes the lead.

Leading the way down the stairs Hale comes first to the next landing, wider than the previous. It is empty except for a floor cleaning cart, along with assorted mops, detergents, toilet paper, etc.
The landing has a set of double doors (closed) which, as known by the maps of the building, lead directly to the commercial area on the second floor of the mall. In addition, emergency stairs continue to go downwards.
Crawford, in firing position, watches her companion cover the stairs leading down. Through reinforced windows in the double doors Hale can see the dead resting all across the floor of the shopping area. It all looks as normal, except for the people on the ground.

Weiss is about to pass Collins and Nohman as he looks down at the progress of the two point women.

BANG! Nohman´s .50 echoes in the closed compartments of the stairs. The .50 is smoking and the wall where Jenkins used to be is a pulp of red and goo. The head had burst like a ripe melon. Through the comms, Nohman hisses, "We will access the shopping area´s second floor through the double doors down there. In attack formation. Once inside, Collins will determine if there´s any biological hazard in the environment and Hale will track the exact position of our two objectives. Should she fail finding a solid beacon, we´ll head straight down to the location we got earlier. The entry point from the subway system. Team, MOVE!"

The pack of cigarettes is all covered with back-splash from the wall.

The watches read 117.

C.L. moves down behind Crawford, flicking the safety off on his .50 pistol and scanning the surrounding area.

Larsen moves out on command, not wishing to get on the bad side of the brutal new team leader. He continues to monitor the surveillance cameras on his laptop for any sign of movement.

Larsen´s monitor shows activity in the parking garage again. The sports car comes driving into the mall, but it´s all shot up and the wind shield is completely ridden with webbed cracks. The driver, still wearing a gas mask exits the car after having stopped by the stairwell. He gets out quickly and escapes into the door of the stairs. Those stairs are located on the opposite side of the mall from here.

Other than that, all is quiet.
When C.L. gets close to the double doors, the locking mechanism goes from red to green. The proximity of his access card triggered the lock to open. Also an automatic door opening device swing the two doors open. A surge of water a couple of inches deep pour out into the stair landing. Soft music comes from hidden speakers just outside the doors. Along with the water comes papers, toys and paper mugs. You gaze out to a large hall, well lit, clear tile, like the rest of the building, with stores everywhere, all with security blinds lowered.
Besides the musical thread of the center that is echoing unnaturally the only sound are your steps in the shallow water.

Then there are the bodies. Everywhere. Some alone, others in groups, all scattered around the area, so you have to move you around them. You try to avoid looking directly into their open eyes, trying not to think that only hours ago they were men, women, children, families, all innocents who thought this day would be just like any other.

But the worst is the smell. The stench of death, blood, vomit, shit and piss from all these people, who died in convulsions and excruciating pain. The mask may protect you from biohazardous agents, but does nothing to stop the stench that fills your nostrils and even your mind.

Hale and Crawford walk up beside C.L. and stare past him.
Nohman, Larsen, Weiss and Collins come down to the landing. Weiss being the last, checking the stairs above them for movement. Collins continue halfway down the stairs to the first floor and waits there, securing that angle.

To all: Sanity checks!

Larsen feels queasy when he sees the corpses piled up, but only slightly. He reports what he saw on the laptop: "The guards outside shot up the Lamborghini, all right. The driver survived and made it back into the garage. He got out of the car and went into the stairwell on the opposite side of the mall."

C.L. looks upon the scene in the mall, feeling off about the situation but not sick.

Hale stares at all of the dead bodies and feels uneasy but pulls herself together from the smell. After getting a hold of herself she gazes down at her tracker hoping to get a better fix on the targets.

Crawford feels off, almost to the extent of vomiting, but manages to hold it in.

Collins is overwhelmed with the sensation of death all around him. It nearly brought his breakfast up... but he straightens and regains composure although he looks a bit pale. "I don't expect there's any reason to check for survivors here," he says through his mask.

Using his weapon, he turns on the light (if it wasn't already) and starts shining it at the faces of the corpses all around one-by-one checking for any reaction but expecting none. He stops checking after 4 or 5.

San fail,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2811527/]Sanity (45%) (1d100=53)[/url]

Lost 3,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2811528/]Sanity loss (1d6=3)[/url]

The stench from the opened doors to the mall reach, , Weiss up the stairs He keeps his mask on and decides to ignore the helicopter and follow the others in to the mall.

Nohamn kicks on the remains of Jenkins and walks to the others, only shrugging at the others´ discomfort. "What´s the hold up, ladies?"

Saying that, Nohman removes his mask and looks at the mayhem in the mall. He starts to move past the bodies in the puddles of water. "Team, let´s get down to the first floor!"

Collins moves the virus scanner sensor around and waits for the device to process the results.


ImpInTraining: Crawford moves forward further into the mall and is followed by C.L. the process of avoiding stepping on the dead is delicate but as in all battles casualties are expected. They move expertly onwards. C.L. eager to get his load off of his back and planted somewhere in the basement, to safely destroy this modern age tomb. Crawford
can´t drop the fact that Nohman shot that janitor´s head off. A quick count of ammunition and the dead present reveals that they have no chance to finish all off in the same fashion.

Hale tries again to get a good signal from the directors. They are still indicated to be at the approximate location as before. She scans the area ahead, the closed store fronts, the escalators and balcony walkways. While she controls the whole area, something calls the attention of Larsen, who warns her with a gesture.

"Someone is up!" There´s a movement on the first floor, and you can all see it through the balcony. It´s a young girl.

The girl, slender and with long blond hair is standing, leaning on the railing, her head between her crossed arms and moving slightly. She wears dark jeans and a sleeveless shirt. She appears to be about to faint and looks out of breath.

C.L. raises his pistol ready to fire, aiming slightly off target to avoid unnecessary bloodshed.

"Contact" muttered C.L. through the comms "Course of action Nohman?"

"Approach and test the subject. If contanimated we´ll dospose of it." Nohman says and fastens his mask to the harness of his suit. He lights a ciggarette and exhales smoke to get rid of the stench of death.

"Ten-four" responded C.L. smirking as there would surely be an opportunity for a joke soon.

Collins tilted his head at Nohman's rash action... hadn't he just got done telling them not very long ago that they should keep their masks on? At the very least, until it's declared safe. He shook his head and lowered the scanner, "All clear guys." With that said, he removed his own mask and shot Nohman a disapproving glance. Then he quickly stored his mask where he could get to it quickly when he needed it in the future. "Keep your masks handy. Though it is safe now, the Red Queen may attempt the neurotoxin gas again in effort to get rid of us. Worked pretty well the first time."

With the report of activity, Collins glanced up at the girl. "She must have been holed up in a closet or somewhere safe from the neurotoxins," he suggests as he moves to approach. He keeps his weapon at the ready, but not pointed at the girl. She doesn't seem like a threat to him. "Out of breath, and pale... natural fight or flight response. She may be in shock too. As our secondary objective, we should try to escort her to safety," he reminds.

As he moves to close the distance, he calls to her trying his best to win her confidence, "Little girl, we're here to help you. What's your name?"

"Remind me not to come and buy here." Weiss comments at the mall of dread. "I might set up shop, though. Great store protection system..." He moves up behind Nohman still with his mask on. To his boss he hisses, "What the fuck. Keep the mask on till the site is cleared! How am I supposed to cover you if you keep up this cowboy crap?"

Collins and C.L. approach the girl, intent on helping her.
ImpInTraining:
Nohman holsters his .50 and readies his MP5 behind the point group.

You can see how the girl has suffered what looks like a nosebleed, and she also seems to have vomited. She is pale, sweaty and her eyes are unfocused. She relies on the railing as if dizzy and tries to wipe her sweaty face with a handkerchief. Apparently she has not noticed your presence and can´t hear you at this stage.

Nohman´s free hand touches his neatly shaven chin while watching the girl. Then he shouts at Collins and C.L. , realizing that they are about to try to get the girl to talk.

"No. .. " he begins hesitantly. "We have to take care of the directors first. We will go directly to the first floor in search of Dr. Sanchez. Leave her!"

All players:

Collins knew the girl should be rescued. But he also realized that in her state she could be dead weight slowing them down and becoming a detriment to their mission success. He was torn between the ethics of a medic, and his duties to his job. "Damn..." he muttered, then looked over at C.L., "We'll pick her up on the way back out. She'll probably be safer here if the Red Queen starts defending against us anyway." He said it more to convince himself than his fellow team member.

Oblidging what was quickly proving to be a heartless team leader, Collins nodded to Nohman obeyfully. He said over the radio unit, "These directors... they're not likely to be fully healthy. Judging by their vitals, their body is under stress... which seems to indicate the neurotoxins probably had some effect on them though whatever precautions they had taken kept them alive. Hard to say what exactly, but ill or not... they should be taken back. The corporation will definitely want to know the effects of their precautions."

Looking to Nohman, he asked, "What way now, boss?"

"I suppose it's for the best," Larsen says to Collins as he follows along. He makes sure his mask remains on. It may restrict his vision, but it could save his life. "She may have seen other survivors, perhaps even the Directors. If someone does stay with her, that would be a good thing to ask her."

C.L. looks at Larsen before volunteering himself to stay behind. "I think myself and a couple of others should stay behind with the girl, find out what she knows and try get primary objective two out of the way."

"It could be time consuming ... she looks like she might have been slightly affected, which means we don't know what the state of her mind is. She's obviously not readily responsive. Splitting our group up might be a bad idea at this point," Collins counters looking at C.L. Turning to face Larsen, he further responds "I mean, no one wants to help this poor girl more than me, but we have an obligation to get the job done in a timely manner."

With a shrug, he looks back to the team leader and says "Whatever the case, if we do split up I need to be with the group looking for the directors so I can evaluate their state of health to make sure they're stable and ready for recovery."

Nohman looks at C.L. and Collins, "No time for a checkup. Just do what´s needed for her to be good to go. Enough to keep our pace."

ImpInTraining: "Crawford! Help him out!" "Hale! Keep that position of Dr. Sanchez open." "Larsen! You come with me and Collins and Hale!" "Collins, do you have something C.L. can give that girl to get her moving?" Nohman starts down the left escalator to get to the room where Dr. Sanchez is at according to the scanner. He quickly passes the girl at the right escalator. Hale moves the scanner around in all directions. Weiss having been given no directions keeps his .50 aimed at the wet floor with both hands and looks straight forward for a threat, close on the heels of the team leader.

Nohman turns and shouts at C.L. "You escort the girl. If you are unable to continue at our pace ... Well, you know you have to do ..."

*******

C.L. puts his gun away and approaches the girl down the right escalator. Crawford joins him to watch his back. Getting close to the girl, C.L. stands in front of the girl, takes her by the arm and says:
"Hey, are you alright?, You have nothing to fear, pretty. We´re here to save you. What is your name?"

Crawford stands a few steps to the side of C.L. and the girl, aiming her rifle at the girl.

"Heather ... my name is Heather ... " The girl replies and tries to take in her surroundings. She holds on tight to C.L.´s arm and looks into his eyes. "I ..." Heather whispers weakly. "Do not know what happened ... I was looking for something in one of the shops ..." She tries to focus her eyes "... and soon people began to faint all around ..." You understand that the girl was one of many visitors to the center who has only been lucky to survive. She has not even yet realized that the people around you are dead.

The current position of Bravo Team is between rooms 101 and 103, in and in front of a double set of escalators. Behind these escalators are elevators with access to the parking garage below. There are also another set of elevators where the mall curves to the left. Twenty meters behind the escalators are a similar set of double doors leading to the stairs you left on the upper floor. These are closed. (As are all store fronts...)
Dr, Sanchez´position is indicated to be in the grey corner between areas 116 and 128.

Larsen follows Nohman, using his laptop to try to get a look at where Sanchez is supposed to be on his laptop as he moves.

Collins nods without a moment's hesitation and prepares a concoction to give the girl in the speed applicator and hands it to C.L. "This should wake her up and get her moving," he says with a wink.

Crawford holds her rifle, wondering about what she got herself into, but trying to stay alert for any drastic actions the girl may take.

Time: 115

C.L. accepts the injector and applies it to the girl called Heather. She looks at her arm where the injector pumps the drug into her system. Her eyes grows more focused and she touches her arm next to the syringe mark. She looks around the mall, barely taking in her new companions.

Larsen looks at the plans, noting at the location of the target is marked. From the legend its´s some kind of maintenance area. An exit to the floors below is indicated at the center of the grey area. At the same time Collin´s scanner shows that the vital signs of Dr. Sanchez are getting weaker, but the subject is not moving.

Something which is moving, Larsen sees, as one of the mall´s cameras pop up on the grid, is the grey suit with gas mask is approaching from an emergency exit hallway, he´s now between areas 146 and 142.

While watching the girl, Crawford directs her attention towards Nohman for a brief moment, her attention drawn to the fact that he´s trying to gauge which spot is the furthest away from any corpses on the floor. He settles for a point he is satisfied with, and keeps his eyes on the floor. Not at the Heather girl, not in the direction of the area where the doctor is hiding at. Just the wet floor. Weiss on the other hand advances about five meters ahead of the others. He keeps his aim at the intersection ahead, where the mall bends left and where the main entrance lie to the right.
Collins is finished with his scan.

"I'm picking up some movement," reports Larsen. "It's that guy in the gas mask. He's on this floor, coming up from the emergency exit hall. He's a little further ahead and around the corner to the left from there."

Collins looks at his equipment, and then sharply upward. "We got a problem," he announces. "Dr. Sanchez... he's fading fast. We need to get to him quick!"

Without wasting any time, Collins started heading toward where Dr. Sanchez' last reported position, weapon up and at the ready.

Heather collects herself. It appears that the shots have already made their impact and the girl seems clear. Still, she looks a bit confused.

Nohman, still cranky. "Are you finished with the girl?" He blurts out to C.L.

Crawford trots towards the position of where dr Sanchez
supposedly is in need of help at. She reaches the left turn of the mall and faces a double door in grey. Staff only
A red light shines next to a key pad to the right of the doors. It changes to green as she comes within five feet of the doors.
Weiss and Hale are right at Crawford´s tail.

"Can we go now?!" Nohman bursts.

By the escalator, Heather points at the people on the ground.
"They are waking up."
You turn around to discover that Heather is right.

The people around you rise ...

As if having suffered from a sleeping drug, more wake up, most seem to be suffering some sort of seizure. Some bodies shake, others move without coordination, like learning to walk again, but the point is that slowly and surely, the people rise. They shouldn´t as they showed to signs of life a minute ago. You had made sure of that when you walked into the mall.
Many emit drowned moans, others are waking up in silence. Their eyes look without seeing, as if they are drunk. However, those close to you look straight at you.

The moans increase in volume, eclipsing the music. Their appearance, much alike the way Heather looks but it lacks her ability to focus. Now they begin to focus, but it seems that they don´t actually see but go by another sense. It is as if they are searching for something, as if they needed something desperately vital to them. Their moans and expression of infinite pain and suffering in their faces are results of them not finding it. Imagine the terror when finding out you have no air to breathe when drowning. Or when you face yourself exhausted and starting to sink after a few hours in the ocean.

This discription fits to those not close to your group. They who are close by are directed towards you, as if they had found exactly what they want. They have found their salvation. First they looked as confused as Heather when you found her. Now they move with intent as if close to the finish line.

"No ..." Nohman´s hoarse voice can be heard. "Please God, not again ..."

OOC:

C.L looks around, startled by the sheer number of people rising from the ground.

He re-equips his .50 pistol and aims for a kill shot on the nearest awakened person and commands "Stop or I will shoot!"

"Wait... they were dead," Collins says confused as he sees 3 people start to rise around them. He pulls up his weapon and asks, "What the hell is going on? We supposed to save these guys?" He continues his path toward where Dr. Sanchez was located, but will open fire on any of these late risers if they lunge for him.

Larsen hastily puts his laptop away and unslings his MP5. He isn't a very good shot, but burst fire can make up for a lack of accuracy by spraying more lead around. "They can't possibly be alive!" he says. "The neurotoxin must have killed them!"

Collins reach the doors to the area only to find himself facing one awakened customer - in the corner where the alcove ends. It´s a black balled guy wearing shirt and jeans. His face is completely limp, his jaw is dropped, his mouth open and dripping saliva and blood. Like Heather he has also suffered a heavy nosebleed. The two other awakened stumble towards Weiss. Hale moves her sight between the awakened reaching for Collins and the ones moving at Weiss, deciding that old friends die hardest, keeping her sight trained at the black guy. If Collins needs it Hale will cover his ass. The team needs a medic more than yet another troubleshooter. "What do you mean - again?!" Weiss screams at Nohman.


Situation map Collins & CO:
Further down the corridor, Nohman watches two customers awaken around him.

C.L., Larsen, Crawford and Heather are trapped by the escalator. C.L. is almost unaware of the awakened who just rises behind him on the last step of the escalator. He is barely able to get his .50 up and finish his warning before the awakened leans in and attempt to bite him. His newest infatuation is a teenage girl with a silver piercing in the shape of a cross dangling from her belly button. The top she has on is lime green and she looks almost as she is about to hug him. Besides the fact that her eyes are milky hazed. Like the eyes of a dead fish. C.L. sees a red gash at the side of her head where her blonde hair is tussled in a mess of blood and flesh.
However, being prepared for the worst, C.L. manages to shoot before getting assaulted by the reanimated shopper.
Situation map C.L. & CO: Heather moves up the free escalator, escaping from the crazed awakened. Heading up towards the safety of the second floor. Larsen sees that the two awakened in front of the escalator move towards Crawford who now has three targets, the girl hugging at C.L. but the large demolitions guy is blocking her line of sight and the side of the escalator is in the way. The closest threat is the one to the right. She sees that Larsen has one coming at him from below the escalator. She also realizes that the awakened to the left of the escalator is coming her way, it must be her good looks...

OOC:
Nohman releases a short burst at the head of the customer gaining at him and the suited sales rep for a computer company is stopped in his track as the burst paint the wall behind him red. The suit slumps down on the damp floor as the newly coloured wall drip with a new red tag.
"We gotta get outta here!" Shouts Nohman, eyes full of terror. He turns at the one coming from the other side and starts in the direction of C.L. and the others by the escalator.

Alarmed by the shooting, Heather turns around. In doing that she fails to see the six cheer leaders turning up to greet her at the top of the escalator. Larsen sees them as he targets the customer coming from below the escalator. The cheer leaders rise from both sides of the side to the escalator and the red and white dresses swarm to get down to where the team stand.

Syrinx,Hey...[b] Collins[/b] is a guy. Don't confuse me any more than I already am. :) I'm guessing the guy right next to [b]Collins[/b] ("x1") is a point blank shot for him. Not sure if I did damage right, so you might want to check that and let me know.

Collins lifted an eyebrow with the sound of gunfire in the distance and shrugged, "Sorry to do this, buddy..."

He brought his weapon up and pulled the trigger sending three rounds of fury at the black man's head. The result was relocating much of the man's brain matter from his skull, to the corner behind him.

He continues for the corridor hoping to have a more defensible spot for his team within.

Imp:
Collins goes for the unlocked "Staff only" doors or the way ahead through the mall that is turning left just ahead? He can see the main entrance to the right ahead. He can also see about fifty other awakened coming from that direction.

Collins runs through the "staff only" door, checks inside for more of those things, ready to blast them away as well.

"Heather, look out!" calls Larsen as he raises his MP5 to fire at the customer heading for him. "You're heading right for six more of them! Get back down!" He squeezes off an accurate three round burst that blows his attacker's head to bits.

Weiss flips the rifle to full auto and squeezes off ten rounds at the closest customer, hoping to move both the closest and the one further away down. He hits the closest man midsection, spraying the bullets from left to right. Three of the bullets thud into the man behind the first target. The closest falls down where he stands, splashing water at Weiss.
The second target staggers a little but continues forward. As does the closest. Drenched in a mix of blood and water, the customer at Weiss´ feet reaches one arm at his legs trying to grab him. Weiss virtually made the reanimated customer get shredded in half. Still it craved contact with him.

Hale turns in the direction of the long burst and takes aim at the customer below Weiss. The shot hits the wounded man in the head. The wounds to the midesction paired with the head shot, put the customer to rest.

"Go for the head, Fritz!" She comments as she lays aim at the second target. Weiss is already heading after Collins. The second shot goes high. Hale backs up towards the doors and shouts at the others. "We´ve got the door opened!"

Collins:

Collins spun around and pointed toward the door. When Weiss would open it, he would supply cover fire if necessary. He didn't know how many of those things were following.

C.L. aims his .50 Automatic at the nearest hostile's head and in his rush misses by only inches. He begins to move towards the nearest escape from danger, preparing to fire another round.

Actually, the girl stumbles when C.L. shoots and ends up face to barrel she goes down in a heap. C.L. sees Heather up on top the escalator turning around to see what Larsen alerted her about.

Iggy:

Collins is a team player ... he's going to stay with the group not head off like a lone wolf. He needs them as much as they need him. So he'll stick by the door and offer cover fire for anyone else on the team heading his way.

Crawford holds up her rifle, finger on trigger. "These are...people...aren't they? How many of them are in this mall?"

Collins quickly heads back to the staff only door and covers Weiss and Hale as they hurry to the more secure locale. The two hustle inside, Hale reporting through the comm, "Arrived at the location. Status? We´re at the left corner."

From his position at the door, Collins sees A blond girl in her mid teens in a pink skirt and white blouse and a pink head band. She looks unharmed, only her staggering walk tells she is not. From the smaller corridor a mass of people come, there must have bee a queue at the rest rooms... She sees six customers pour out to the main corridor and more follows. She directs her attention to the medic in the doorway.

The bulk of the people emerging head for Nohman, while only two turn their attention to where the little girl is heading. They wear leather jackets and have needles and pins pierced in their faces. Obviously some kind of punk rockers in love.

The two punk rockers and the teenie are steering towards Collins.

C.L takes a couple of steps up the stairs, seeing that eight customers come at Nohman from behind, up the corridor. He also sees six more coming from the area behind the escalator.

Crawford hesitates to shoot and lets the customer close to her almost reach her. Are they alive or what? There must be hundreds of them in here...

C.L. watches as customer walks right behind Crawford and starts to get up on the escalator, intent to pursue C.L.. The customer, a sales clerk from a perfume department walks into the line of fire of Larsen . Who also spots the six newly risen, behind the escalator.

"WE GOT TO MOVE OUT!" Nohman screams without his comm, swirling at the last spotted infected. Not having noticed the eight coming out from the corridor behind him. He lets ten bullets rip at the target. Only half hit home. It´s enough, though as the customer falls down and doesn´t move.

"Hah, you didn´t get me this time either, suckers!" Noman reloads.

Up on the escalator, Heather spins around and sees the cheer leaders, stumbles backwards to avoid their groping arms. She comes halfway down the escalator and meets C.L. . "A weapon...!" She blurts out frantically.

Imp: Sit rep, Collins, Hale, Weiss & Nohman

Sit rep C.L., Larsen, Crawford, Heather & Nohman.

Collins stands up and steps back away from the doors, pushing those behind him further in if necessary. Once the doors close, he trains his weapon on it and waits to see if these 'customers' are determined for his business. "Clear the area," he calls to Hale and Weiss.

Over the radio, Collins reports, "Weiss, Hale, and Collins accounted for. We're holed up in a secure section, Nohman sir. We will find another way out and meet up with you and the team unless you have other orders."

Off the radio, Collins says, "Nohman knows what's going on. They picked him for this mission because he's been through it before. Did you notice how freaked out he got? These things out there... they're not just people anymore. I know what I saw. There were no life signs... suddenly they're all up and doing the monster mash."

"Crawford, watch your six!" calls Larsen, raising his MP5 and aiming at the head of the customer closing in on her. He shoots it with another three round burst that does moderate damage. "Get off the escalator, you two! Rally to Nohman!"

C.L. quickly gives Heather his .50 and unshoulders the MP5. They both hurry down the escalator. Heather fires at the cheer leaders milling down the immobile stairs. The shot misses the first row of cheer leaders at thigh height and slams into the last one, in the hip area. Making her come two steps behind the formation. Five cheer leaders continue down the stairs unimpaired.

C.L. takes two strides downwards and fires a three round burst at the only remaining target between the team and Nohman. Larsen´s target falls and twitches in a puddle of water while C.L.´s target continues to come at them. Or rather at C.L. and Heather. The awakened customer, now with three puncture wounds in neat grouping in his chest is two steps away from C.L. (x3 on the map)

Crawford lets out a "Thanks, man." then sees the predicament C.L. is in and takes aim. Not wanting to risk hitting C.L. she fires a single round. It hits home in the back of the customer´s head, making him flinch forward. He tries to hold on to something - by instinct and grabs C.L.´s protective suit.

C.L.

Collins´ comments are heard by all except Nohman who has taken off his helmet. Heather can´t hear any of that either, obviously. Weiss nods affirmatively, "That´s true. That´s why I´m here. He has a, what shall we say, unstable mind. This was just what we were anticipating. The safer route would have been to head to the basement before locating the directors. Walking through this area seemed unwise if you ask me."

Hale stands well clear of the doors not wanting them to open automatically. She surveys the corridor. "We have blood spatter here!" She turns her gun at the other direction and cover their backs. Collins and Weiss remain focused on the double doors to the mall. Only the hissing of an operating air condition device in the ceiling can be heard. That and the shooting from the escalators. And something else. A distant shotgun blast from an area west of their refuge.

Syrinx:

C.L.´s suit holds as the affected customer bleeds on it. By force of momentum, the customer hangs on to C.L. as he careens past Larsen with Heather on his heels and stops. Heather puts the .50 at the clinging assailant and pulls the trigger, rending the assailant hapless on the ground. Crawford and Larsen head to help Nohman out.

Nohman sees how the rest of the team has dealt with their attackers. He hears some chatter from the comms in the helmet by his waist. He looks at it and frowns. From the corner of his eye, he sees the slew of infected coming at him from behind. Seven in all. He launches forward, away from the crowd. The three closest jump at him and try to tear and bite his suit. None connecting as the team leader swiftly escapes.

"In here, team!" He shouts and closes in on the closest store front.

C.L. breaks into full sprint towards Nohman, grabbing Heather's arm as he passes her while screaming at her "Get a move on girl!"

Nohman gets close to the store, a Sony - Ericsson store (106). He turns to Larsen, Crawford and C.L. "Where´s Collins and the others?" He dons his helmet as the metal blinds start to rise at the mobile phone store. The distance between the team leader and the automatic lock mechanism tied to his magnetic card has activated the blinds setting them in motion. Inside lights go on and at the glass windows, nine teenage kids with new mobile tech, have their faces pressed against the sheeting. Four of them girls in their early teens and five older adolescent males.

"Fuck this!" Nohman screams.

The glass doors click open as well. For now the metal blinds hinder the doors to actually open.

OOC:
Sit rep:

To the west = 9 customers
To the north = 7 customers
To the east = 9 customers

To the SOUTH= IKEA store (101) (Furniture, assemble it yourself)

In a pickle = 5 uninfected (?) people. (C.L., Larsen, Nohman, Crawford & Heather)

Sheltering without a proper knowledge of the other team = 3 people at the offices. (Hale, Collins & Weiss)

Unknown civilians = 1 or more to the west (The suited man with gas mask)

Known civilians = 2 (Dr. Carl Smith and Dr. Luisa Sanchez) Should be close to Hale, Collins & Weiss...

Collins stood up and faced Weiss, "Wait a second, you're telling me they put an unstable leader in charge of us on purpose? Whose brain child was that?" He turned away from the doors, obviously secure from what was outside. "Freakin' kidding me. You expected this? Don't you think giving us a little more heads up might have been a good idea?"

He shook his head and walked past Weiss toward the blood splatter Hale noticed, gun up and ready for whatever might jump out at him. He called over his radio, "Be advised ... Nohman is unstable. If necessary, someone needs to assume command to regain control out there, you understand me? Weiss said they knew he'd crack!"

Weiss stares Collins down, "We sent him as he has first hand experience with this kind of situation. Understand that he lost his entire team on a similar job. I´m here to see to that he is not repeating that mistake. So far he´s doing fine, he couldn´t be sure this would happen. Proceed and find that doctor!"

The three of them entered the room where the bullet holes came from. Inside on the floor in a pool of blood, a woman lies motionless. You recognize her from the briefing as Dr. Luis Sanchez.


Collins swipes his scanner at the doctor, it indicates that his vital signs are near zero, but she´s not yet dead.

A warning sign makes Hale check the position tracker again.

Her mouth goes dry when she sees the vital signs of Dr. Carl Smith drop and stop suddenly, leaving only the signal of a straight line that goes piiiiiiiii.

"According to the scanner, Dr. Smith has just died." Hale reports.

The Escalator situation

"These stores are filled with them!" Nohman screams in the comm. "Move out along this wall and exit through the emergency stairs! Then we head down to the basement and plant the bomb. Full auto on those closing in on us! Fire at will!" He lets the last eight bullets of his MP5 slam in to the group from the north. All rounds miss and the gun clicks empty.
He pulls his .50 and runs for the exit doors to the east. Straight at the five infected coming from that direction. At least his right flank is free.

"Save your excuses for someone who gives a shit, Weiss. Our ass is on the line now. Yours too," Collins retorts as he kneels next to the body of the doctor. He checks the bullet entry sights and estimates which vital organs were damaged and if stabilization is even worth attempting. He takes a sample of her blood to see if she has been affected by the neurotoxins as well.

ooc,Must wait for further information before proceeding Collins' actions.

Weiss mumbles and moves away from the room Collins entered. "I´ll secure the rest of this area." He moves along the corridor checking the doors as he follows the blood trail on the floor. "Got a locked door!" He reports over the radio. "Adjacent to the one where dr. Sanchez is at." "Fire alarm hub - it says on the door. I move on further in. Following the trail."

Hale waits by the shot up door, watching the double doors to the mall.

As Collins checks on dr Sanchez he takes in the scene. It looks like a simple storage, with a few metal shelves on the walls with office supplies. A large reinforced metal sliding door sits in one of the walls, protected by a magnetic lock with a code pad.

After examining the scene, it seems clear that the doctor had an exchange of gunfire with someone at the entrance. The signs are that both were hit. Beside the doctor, in a pool of blood, lies a Glock pistol.
The reason for the doctor´s condition is a result of having been shot in the abdomen by examining the back, the bullet is still lodged inside. The bleeding has caused her to lose a lot of blood, too. Although Collins has some medical supplies, Dr. Sanchez has little chance of survival. Collins best option would be to induce a coma and get Sanchez transferred to a hospital for blood transfusion in an ICU unit.

On the other hand, he has some drugs that could restore consciousness for a couple of minutes. But of course, that would probably kill Sanchez from the added stress to her heart.

At the moment her pulse is very weak and the blood pool is spreading.

Nohman, taking point draws four of the crazies to him. Heather moves away from C.L. and rushes after Nohman towards the exit. None of the crazies pursue her, but four set their hungry sights on C.L. Crawford sees how she gets the attention of one of the crazies from below the escalator. Larsen is not bothered by anyone and stays by Crawford and C.L. for support. No one is left alone - one of Ferrer´s rules of engagement. Something Nohman didn´t seem to have.

Collins slid the pistol away from Dr. Sanchez, over by Hale. He calls over the radio to Weiss, "Be careful, whoever you're running up against is armed." He pauses, then announces to the team, "Found Dr. Sanchez. She's in bad shape. Doubt she's going to make it. I could get some answers from her, but to bring her back to consciousness is surely going to kill her. Directions?" He waited for someone to respond, in the meanwhile did what he could to slow the bleeding.

Larsen, Crawford & C.L. hears the message clearly. "You are the doctor, doc. We could use some answers. Where´s the samples? Use your judgment Collins. We´re swamped here. Surrounded." Larsen reports.
C.L. moves after Heather and Nohman with Crawford and Larsen at his side.

C.L.
In the maintenance area-

Collins puts some pressure on the bullet wound and dresses it with bandages.

Collins applies the bandages as well as he can considering the circumstance. It´s soon evident he didn´t stop the bleeding at all. Having drawn a sample and fed it to the scanning device he awaits the result. It´s crystal clear that dr Sanchez will perish within a minute. Her pulse is growing more feeble for every second.

ooc:

Syrinx:

OOC,Just checking to make sure that [b]C.L.[/b] has all the equipment that you outlined in the draft character sheet in the PM? inc. grenades, firecrackers etc?

Collins sighs and says "With the blood she's losing, she'll never make it to a medivac." He was mostly just talking to himself, but said it loud enough so Hale could hear. He reached in his kit and pulled out the concoction that should allow Dr. Sanchez to regain some consciousness briefly. Maybe she'd give them straight answers, since he couldn't rely on his team leader to be so obliging.

By the escalator-

Crawford sprays at the four closing in on C.L. Three rounds rip into the next last of the four, doing considerable damage. His left leg is severed by the knee cap and he goes down. Falling behind the others but crawls after them towards C.L. Two rounds thud into the abdomen of the last attacker, not impeding her much. What does stop her is the fallen target in front of her feet. She falls flat down on the floor. She falls on top of the customer before her and injures her abdomen even further. The two remaining crazies close in on C.L.

Larsen lets a ten round burst fly at the two remaining. The rounds hit evenly between the two targets. The left guy is caught dead in the centre of the chest, blowing him backwards. Quite dead. The other target gets the right shoulder blown away. He on the other hand is still moving forward.

C.L. is three meters away from the remaining customer. His wing men have taken care of business - with flying colours.

Further on in the mall, Nohman and Heather bolt forward with .50s raised, forcing their way to the exit before being caught up by the customers on their tails.

Collins injects a series of drugs that relieve any pain so consciousness will return quicklier. Asit has got in to her system her heart will pump at full speed, internal injuries and blood loss will increase. So Collins applies extra pressure to the puncture area.


"Will she wake up?" Hale whispers.

Wincing, Dr. Sanchez opens her eyes. She slowly raises a blood-stained hand and touches her face.
"Oh, shit." She mutters weakly.
Then she looks at Collins, narrowing her eyes.

"Are... you UBCS?" She eyes your uniforms. "So I am totally screwed ... You´re not here to rescue me... right?"

"Good, she seems lucid." Hale comments.

Hale is interrupted by gunfire - from the west...To the west of the maintenance area comes three quick shotgun blasts followed by rapid gun fire from a sidearm. At least twenty shots are fired, with a little pause between every double tap.

She gets the area scanner up and brings up the plans of the mall. "In the area the shots come from lies a Guns & Ammo store. Sounds like we have a late shopper."

Nohman sees how Heather passes him. He shoots at the closest of the four customers running at him. He blows the brains out off his target, but is attacked by three ferocious crazies. One of them is too slow but the two remaining clings to Nohman´s protective suit. One got a hold on his left leg and tears it apart at the thigh. He munches at the tear, biting through the skin of the leg. Nohman continues to run cursing not at the pain but at the discomfort of the extra weight to drag. The other customer clings to his back and bites though at the right shoulder blade. Nohman reflexively tries to shake his attackers off by flailing with his arms.

"Aargh! You will not get me!!!" He screams as he tries to direct a shot at the one clinging to his leg. His control at this distance is acute and the clinger looses his grip and falls to the floor, with an extra breathing hole in the back of his head.

Heather reaches the exit doors to the stairs. Shakes the doors. But the light by the doors shines red. They are locked.

The crazy at Nohman´s head lifts his head to prepare another attack, holding tight as if drowning.

C.L. advances after Larsen and Crawford, firing a three round burst at the customer continuing at him. As the customer is about to throw himself at C.L. he is hit in his legs making him fall down, struggling to get on to his knees.

"Shoulda stayed asleep, moron!" He catches up with Larsen and Crawford. Crawford has taken a knee and set her sights at the customer clinging to Nohman´s back. She has switched from her MP5 to the .50. The .50 echoes in the corridor. The bullet whizzes at the two struggling combatants. Just as the bullet strikes home, Nohman turns slightly as he tries to get free. Making the bullet miss its intended target. Instead it enters the left temple of the team leader and exits through the other. The two combatants go down in a pile and the customer greedily starts to feed on the fresh wound.

She gets up and moves on.

"He was already gone. They bit him. Move on!" Crawford hisses.

In the comm, she reports. "Team leader dead. He got bit. I retired him. Over."

She passes the feeding customer and rushes past. C.L. and Larsen pass the gruesome sight too.
When she gets to Heather and the doors, they click green and open. Heather pushes them over and the team exits the mall.

In the stairwell area, they back away from the doors stepping in the few puddles that remain in the hall. The lock goes red.
Still, the music from the mall can be heard. That and the shambling steps of all the customers from the escalator area and the phone store. Catching your breath the situation sinks in. This is no ordinary rescue mission.

OOC: One director is located while one is tagged as dead by the scanner. The survivor you have rescued is well. Now, what remain is to plant the bomb. Evacuate the mall via the roof and get back to head quarters. As far as team leader status goes, Larsen has senior rank in this divided part of the team. In the other part, Weiss has highest security level, but as acting as Nohman´s backup, he might be outside the equation? Collins and Hale are to par but that leaves that part of the team with two equal leaders. The same goes for the bomb-team: C.L. has the main responsibility as he has the activation code. What he says should be considered the most important.

At the medic situation, the team is stable. But the skills of Collins are the most valuable for the whole team. Obeying his command should be the safest bet.

As things are cooling down, roll a Sanity check each for having been subjected to the rising of the dead. A failure will result in a temporary insanity rolled by the keeper. Loss are at 1/1d8 a result of above 5 is granting an instability in some way. If above five is rolled, roll against IDEA. Above the character´s IDEA score the roll is successful. If the roll is below IDEA the instability will become longer and affect future situations more permanently.

Collins hears a machinery start behind the metal door in the wall. The unmistakable sound of an elevator going up. The key pad lights up and four stars appear on the panel next to the pad.

Dr Sanchez´ heart rate goes up. If Collins has any questions he needs to ask the director he must ask them fast.

C.L. rapidly assesses the situation and makes his best call given the circumstances while preparing to target and fire upon any possible threats.

"We need to move fast and finish this mission before we lose anyone else. The best position for the package is the stairwell." He announced aggressively over the comms "I want two people with me to cover my ass while I arm the bomb, everyone else get topside with the girl. No mucking around here, if it's not us and it moves, shoot it."

OOC: People present in the stairwell are: C.L., Larsen , Crawford and the girl Heather.

Other location - Maintenance area-
Collins, Hale and Weiss are in the middle of the mall... with dr Sanchez and another civilian, according to Hale´s last report.

Not accounted for-
Man wearing gas mask, last approximate location: Guns & Ammo (146)

Crawford gets ready to accompany C.L. down half a stair to plant the bomb. Larsen gets hold of the girl and starts up the stairs.

"Collins! Evac, now!" Larsen reinforces C.L.´s order.

Weiss is unaffected by the death of the team leader and the horde of crazies in the mall. "Weiss here! Copy that. I´ve found back corridor leading west ending in another stairwell. I´m holding this position so Collins and Hale can get out this way. No targets on the way. Over!"

Maria Hale takes the plan level headedly and has no qualms with how the mission has evolved. "Just another screw-over by the company."

Crawford is trying to compose herself, she shakes her head and moves on with C.L. to watch his back.

Larsen, C.L. & Collins

Mental Status: Unknown

After the initial rush of combat and action C.L. starts to comprehend the situation fully, remaining as calm as ever.

With all the yammering in his ear piece, the medic pulls it out of his ear so he can hear the doctor.

"Dr. Sanchez," Collins says looking a bit somber, "Your injuries were extensive. I'm sorry. Is there any unfinished business you'd like to tell me of ... while you have the strength?"

"Smith ... Dr Smith and I never get along. Only the positions we have and the progress we make... keep us in the top at UC.

But today, while escaping up here, everything was revealed. Smith was carrying a reinforced suitcase and refused to explain what was in it.

I suspected something was wrong and when I demanded answers... I even warned to shoot him if he didn´t leave the suitcase in the Hive.
Then he told me he had created a situation in the Hive with the biological samples with a virus the G-virus which we were working on. Apparently out of here, he had a buyer that would pay an exorbitant amount of money and provide a new identity.

I do not know who, probably a rival company.

He offered me to join him, but I refused. That infuriated him."


The doctor suffers a violent fit of coughing. When it stops, a trickle of dark blood comes from her mouth.

"Then, somehow, he pulled a gun. We shoot at each other... I was hit... but Smith will not get very far. He caught at least two bullets. And it´s I who die...here.... Is...is it the G-Virus that interests UBCS, right? That´s why are you here ... He has the case with the samples... He must not leave this building...They will all die..."

Another cough attack interrupts her story.

Larsen takes a quick survey of the mall on the laptop to get a fuller picture of how things look. The result is alarming. The map has updated and at the location Collins and Hale are at is described as the shaft where the Hive connects to the mall. Or rather where the tube leading to the Hive is connected to the mall. The elevator is moving...upwards. Through the cameras he spots five infected outside Weiss´ stairwell. Sixteen just outside the stairwell he´s standing in and thirty seven outside Collins´ location. The situation is not as problematic as he first thought and that assures him they´ll get out without too much trouble.

Time: 107

Ooc,please roll for me to speed things up. Posting from my phone.

"We are here to save you doctors, and destroy the infected in one big explosion," Collins explains. "If you think you have the strength, I'll try to take you with me. But my prognosis isn't good on your chances, doctor."

Collins is as stable as his voice is reassuring. the team members had all been through some hideous times before. Sgt Ferrer´s coaching leadership had prepared them well. When it counts Bravo team, steps up a notch. And this is definitely time to step up.

"....we both had a shot of antivirus... Smith has a refrigerated case with him... to stop the virus you need the case..."

She looks at Collins "You do what you have to. I was sure you were here to finish me off...."

Hale is heard from the room next door. "Collins! There should be an elevator in the room you´re in. It´s going up..." While speaking, she offers her sidearm to Kim. "I´ll escort the mechanic here to Weiss´location due west. Can you manage carrying the doc?" She gestures to the mechanic to take the corridor west.

Airbornexo:

Collins grabs the doctor by the armpits and drags her out of the storage room. The doctor groans but stays conscious. A direct right to get out of sight from anyone coming up the elevators. Two breaths. As delicately as possible he lifts dr Sanchez in a fireman´s hold and starts off towards the corridor Weiss described earlier.

The sound of metal sliding against metal is heard from behind.

Kim took the unfamiliar brute of a pistol and turned it over in her hands wishing she'd put more time in at the range with pistols rather than blowing clays with a shotgun. Watching the man drag the woman into the corridor, Kim quickly assessed the fragile condition of the doctor. "Woah, wait you can't be carrying her like that in her state...Hang on, put her down a second."

Kim rummaged a few medical supplies from her backpack and attempted to patch up the Doctor.

OOC - 1d100=2 Kim impales her firstaid roll (48%) but if this is not appropriate please just edit it out.

The patient's health should come first... before Collins' pride, so yes... he would allow Kim to attempt patching her up. Perhaps she would catch something he missed or overlooked. They're all a bit under pressure, after all. He set Dr. Sanchez down and brought his weapon up training it toward the direction of the elevators. "We don't have much time to waste. Something's coming up behind us, and I'm sure it isn't good," he said to Kim.

Kim´s effort [url=ttp://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2900845/]probably is life saving[/url] Sanchez´ eyes bright up a little. "Still hurts... like... hell.." Kim helps Collins to get Sanches securely over his shoulder. Hale covers their progress in case someone or something should exit from the elevator room. Then they hurry away from the maintenance area. "We´re coming, Weiss!" Hale reports over the comms.

Getting all the way over to Weiss (South edge of 142) the three UBCS and two civilians take ten seconds to breathe. They lay Sanchez down and they secure the stairwell. Collins checks the sample taken from the director. Hale uses the tracker again to get a pin on where Smith´s body is located. "One level up. Next to the McD Restaurant. Grey area. Should be a computer area - controlling the whole mall."

Weiss checks the corners of the stairwell. A small security camera follows him as he moves around. "You sure he´s dead?"

Kim has an access card for the computer area on her key holder.

The viral scanner has completed the sample test. "Sample infected with unknown strain. Abnormal tissue mutation in process. Test inconclusive."

**********************

C.L. and Crawford reaches the parking garage level. They see the shot-up Lamborghini by another emergency stairs door, across the parking area. About forty other cars are parked in the garage. At regular intervals support pillars reinforce this lower level to the upper level. No movement can be seen here. An exit ramp leads up to the street on their left side twenty meters away.

*********************

Larsen and Heather move up the stairs methodically and soon reaches the door to the roof.


Time: 104

"I have an access card for that computer area," she fumbles in her bag and waves her key wallet.

Collins steps back from Sanchez and asks, "How are you feeling, ma'am?"

He puts the radio ear bud back in and activates the radio to speak to the group, "Be advised... Smith has a case with him. Very dangerous material inside. Dr. Sanchez suggests it be destroyed." He deactivates the radio and speaks his opinion, "I'm inclined to agree."

Larsen reloads his MP5, noticing that the magazine is mostly empty. "Stay behind me and watch our backs," he whispers to Heather. Then he tries the door and peers out onto the roof, weapon at the ready.

Larsen checks the door topside. It opens easily - unlocked. Heather waits by his side. He peers through a slight crack between the door and the frame. He spots a reflection from a laser sight from a higher location on a distant high rise.

Two floors below-
Dr Sanchez coughs heavily and spits up blood. Suddenly her breathing increases and she exhales abruptly. Then she turns still. The scanner beeps as Sanchez´ profile turns flat line.
The doctor had been living on borrowed time. The drugs induced to her system have caught up with her with a vengeance. Normally, the efforts to save her life would have been sufficient. But these are not normal times.

Weiss starts up the stairs. "This way?" He looks at Kim, Collins and Hale for directions.

Down in the basement-
C.L. plants the bomb in the center of the parking garage. As he flips the switch the Umbrella logo spins alive on a display. Enter code!

Larsen closes the door again and speaks to the team via his radio: "We're at the top of the stairs at the exit to the roof, but there's someone on a nearby high-rise with a laser sight. If there's one sniper, there might also be more than one. Seems like someone may not intend for us to leave here alive. We need to come up with an alternative way out, just in case. Hale, see if you can locate something with your tracking device. There could be a way into the sewers or something. I'll keep an eye out." He monitors the areas that the other groups are passing through, bringing up multiple windows showing what's on the surveillance cameras. He also brings up the schematics and checks for other potential exits that might not be guarded.

Collins sighed, "She's gone. With those wounds, reviving her is unlikely." Looking to Weiss, Collins nodded, "You guys move on ahead. I'm right behind you."

He turns his attention to Dr. Sanchez' pockets and checks her for anything of importance before turning away and following along. She had been infected, however, so he is not expecting her to remain down for long. He hoped to be out of there in time not to see her reanimation. In fact, just to make sure, he pulled out his pistol and let loose a couple rounds into her head.

At the west stairwell-
Collins fire two rounds from the .50 to the forehead of the dead doctor. The deed is done with no problems.
Meanwhile, Weiss, Kim and Hale move up the stairs and get to the second floor landing. Hale stops to consult the tracking device to find an alternate route out of the building.
She searches for exits and comes up with two possibilities. "There´s the elevator we left in the maintenance room. And the level below the garage...The subway. I think there´s a hidden level between the subway and the garage too. Other than that - it´s just the emergency exits and the normal entry- and exit-ways. Should we need to use the sewers, we could possibly..." She hesitates for a while. "... need to use the garage draining system to get out. It´s larger than the one at the first floor. Every restroom has a drainage but they are too tight to escape through. The water display is wider though. At the entrance, diagonally from the maintenace area towards the main entry... Advice! We´re holding at the second floor landing. On route to the computer centre. Is that plan gone? We´re detonating the bomb and leaving, without the samples? Roger."

Kim realizes these guys are running around like headless chickens.
Airbornexo: The south stairwell-
Pulling the doors shut, Larsen access the laptop. The scematics he gets up comfirms Hale´s suggestions. The drains from the garage, should be the best way through the sewers. But, the bomb will go off right there. However in quite some time...
The subway should be the obvious route. One extra level down. Then straight towards the Hive. The origin point of the virus, and towards the Red Queen.

In the garage-

Crawford surveys the garage, watching for motions. Finding none, she checks C.L.´s progress.

C.L. smiles as he puts the device towards one of the pillars. When he enters the code, suddenly his face turns pale and his smile disappeared in terror. He brushes his hand over his face, looks at Crawford, white in the face. "Guys, Guys! We have a problem ... Apparently I was to set the time of detonation, but it seems that we are being played by Umbrella. The load has been activated since the moment we came here. They don´t give a shit if we live or die! The bomb is going off in 40 minutes. Sorry guys but I can not do anything.2" C.L. lowers his head, a gesture of being defeated. He sits on the floor and checks the magazine to the HK5.

Collins holsters his pistol and takes up his rifle again, leaving the dead doctor right there where he shot her.

ooc,Apparently, nothing useful in her pockets, right?

He rushes to chase after Weiss, Kim, and Hale, looking over his shoulder a couple times to make sure nothing was on his tail.

"If Umbrella wants us dead," replies Larsen on the radio, "I'm less enthusiastic about completing the mission. However, those samples might be our only leverage with Umbrella if we do manage to get out of here in one piece. We do have some time before the bomb detonates, but not much. How long do you think it would take you to recover the samples, and how risky would it be? Something must have killed the other director. It's possible he died of earlier wounds, but I wouldn't bet on it. If in your best judgment you don't feel it would be a good idea to go after the samples, then we'll all rendezvous in the garage. Based on how much time we have left at that point, we'll decide whether to take the sewer or the subway route. I don't fancy going into the Hive with the Red Queen determined to kill us, but we may not have a choice. If you decide you are going after the samples, I'll try to meet up with you and join you. Over." He turns to Heather. "Follow me." With that, he leads the way downstairs.

"Screw the samples," Collins says over the radio. "We don't need this shit leaking out into the general public by accident. That's not something I could live with on my conscience." He asked off the radio, "Which way to the garage?"

As the decision to head to the garage is made, Hale clarifies the way to the garage. "Down these stairs again, all the way down." She puts her index finger in front of her mouth. From below, the four of them hear a man muttering. "...none of you is quiet alive, right? Guess not..."
There´s a distinct banging on the doors to the mall, from both this floor and the one below.
The door to the access corridor is shut. Footsteps are heard coming upwards...

Collins: Dr. Sanchez had a key card holder, but it was empty.

"Roger that," replies Larsen on the radio. "We're heading down to the garage too." He speaks to Heather as he descends. "Stick with me. I'll get you out of here."

Meanwhile in the Beehive-

Team Alpha reaches its destination.

Abernathy and Kaplan carefully enter the control room of the Red Queen, a room of glass and aluminum.
Behind them, the automated doors begin to close again. Kaplan looks distraught as the door closes again, but Abernathy urges him to continue. Leaning against a wall, Kaplan accesses his laptop. After a few seconds, a metal column rises in the middle of the room - the central unit of the Red Queen.
Kaplan asks Abernathy to help him and together they begin to add demolition charges around the central unit.

Having just finished priming everything, up pops a holographic image in front of them. It´s a girl of about ten years, formed by beams of scarlet light.
"Out! Get out of here. You can not be here."

Abernathy looks at the image and is hesitant.
"Don´t listen to anything it says..." Kaplan mutters. "It´s a representation of the Red Queen. Modeled after the daughter of the chief programmer."

"You have to leave." The girl continues.

"It will attempt to deceive, to confuse ..." Kaplan says.

"I beg you." The girl implores.

"Beg all you want." Kaplan responds, holding in his hand on the power switch.

The girl turns her face toward them. "All will die down here."

Kaplan pulls the switch and a click followed by a singing electric purr. All the lights go out.

********************

In the mall-

All the emergency lights wink out. From the doors the red lights fade away. A clicking sound can be heard. The only thing visible in the corridors and the stairwells are the flashlights mounted on the HK5 rifles. Weiss who has started downwards towards the voice coming from below flips the beam on. "Hold it!" He scans the stairwell after the source of the voice.

Collins calls over the radio in the blackout, "Uh guys... just out of curiosity, what happens to the electronic locks to the secured section when the power goes out?" He trains his flashlight and weapon up the stairs behind him to cover the descending group's rear flank.

"Fuck!" Hale gasps and rushes up the stairs to the doors. She reaches the doors and jams the HK5 through the loops of the handles. She uses the strap for the rifle to tighten the hold. She unfastens the flash light and beams it upwards. "Guys, are we really heading down there? The locks will have been nullified."

"Good point," says Larsen as he hurries down the stairs, "but I don't see that we have any choice. Unless you want to take your chances with snipers, our only ways out are through the garage. We just have to move quickly before they can enter the stairwells in large numbers. Be ready, people. It looks like when Alpha Team took out the power in the Hive, it went out here too. They've already run into the Red Queen there according to the data I received on the laptop." He shines the light on his MP5 around as he descends with Heather in tow, prepared for trouble.

In the garage-
C.L. reports from the garage. "We´re securing the escalators leading down to the subway. Should be just about between you guys. Moving north east. " Crawford scans the darkness below with the flashlight attached to the HK5. From the bottom of the stairs come two Rottweiler dogs running. They more gnarl than barks and are gaining fast. "Got dogs!" Crawford comments over the radio. "Just great..."´She mutters and quickly checks with C.L. "If we shoot we may attract the infected, right?" She goes for her switchblade and assumes a low point of gravity, waiting for the first dog to arrive. The two dogs take one aisle each, so they arrive simultaneously, almost, to C.L. and Crawford.


The West Stairwell-
The light from Weiss´ flash light hits the man below in the face. It´s the masked suit from the garage.

The South Stairwell-
Having passed the second floor doors Larsen and Heather is about to pass the doors to the first floor when they start to swing open and 10-20 infected mill out in the stairwell. Slipping out of the hold of Larsen, Heather escapes close to the railing and down towards the basement, before Larsen and the sixteen infected customers.

Handy:West stairwell

Unfortunately, Larsen is just a little too slow, and there are too many attackers for him to get safely past. "Fall back!" Larsen calls to Heather as he retreats back up towards the second floor. He speaks into his radio. "We got cut off at the first floor landing by a mob of them, heading back to the second floor. I need an alternate route, Hale."

Heather continues down the stairs and comes to the garage level. In the darkness she stumbles but keeps her balance when she feels the last foot fall come down to hard on the concrete floor. Across the garage she sees Crawford´s and C.L.´s flash beams shining down the escalator.

She also sees the green display on the explosives charge in the middle of the garage. Clutching the .50 she was handed earlier, she runs towards the two UBCS officers. Behind her down the stairs come six of the infected customers.

Up at the second floor landing, where Larsen has reached, ten of the customers from the first floor pursue him as he gasps for an alternate route. While throwing a glance at the customers on his heels, Larsen sees that a severely wounded Nohman is dashing down after Heather. His helmet is gone and huge parts of the body armour are torn away, exposing open flesh wounds.

Handy: Through the comms, Hale responds. "Head to the second floor, run straight over the mall towards the blue ATM and use the fire exit. It´s a smoke tower.There should be a ladder to the basement there. Minimum exposure. Wait... the tower goes trough the climate hub we visited before. You might gain access there. Not sure though."

Luckily, the second floor is clear. "Thanks, I'm on my way," replies Larsen, pushing open the door and running into the second floor of the mall. He tries to barricade the door if he can do so quickly before heading for the ATM and the fire exit. "Heads up, you've got six of them heading your way down the stairs, plus Nohman is right behind them, infected and on his feet again."

There´s not much to barricade the doors with except a garbage bin - or the HK5...
Down in the garage, Heather is unaware of what Larsen just said. "Come again?" Hale replies.
The ATM is visible as soon as Larsen gets into the main open area on floor two. Just a short corridor and an access panel with a fire sign on.

The west stairwell-
As Hale speaks over the comms, the doors below Weiss´ position open and the horde of infected customers pour out in the stairwell... 36 of them! He barely manages to shine his light over the crowd and sees that the corridor beyond is packed with them. The first four scatter around the landing and soon connects with poor Sanchez in the corner. "Eh... get up here, man!" He retreats up the stairs and flicks the light off. Leaving the masked man and the customers below.

Larsen lodges the garbage bin under the door handle before running for the ATM and the fire exit. He can't afford to give up his MP5, not when he's on his own. "I repeat," he says into the radio, "there are seven infected persons coming down the stairs towards you, including the late Sergeant Nohman. I've got ten of them on my tail, but I think I can slow them down and shake them. I'm on my way to the smoke tower now."

Heather having no helmet or radio closes in on Crawford and C.L.. She can hear the shambling in the stairs as one of her pursuers falls and smacks his chin at the steps below. Crawford picks up the comms conversation. "I see her by the explosives, Larsen. We got her."
She steps to the side as the Rottweiler reaches her position. Unfortunately she fails to move quickly enough... Crawford just barely makes it from getting bit in the gut.Her switchblade connects with the dog´s shoulder.

Iggy_pop:

"Aw, Nohman died? And I had such high hopes for him," Collins said, looking crossly over to Weiss.

ooc,I'm sorry, I'm completely lost. I don't know where I am, or how it is I'm looking down at Sanchez when I thought we were heading down toward the parking garage and should have left her above us. And a question, am I the only active player in the group I'm with?

In the darkness of the stairwell, Collins feels a bit disoriented. The running up and down the stairs - and now in darkness is playing tricks on the doctor.
Location and players:

Johnny instinctively rushes up the stairs away from the mob of crazy customers.

C.L. pulls out his machete and slices instinctively at the nearest dog, landing a well placed blow.

The machete splits the chest of the Rottweiler as it plunges at C.L. Being a precise move, C.L. has time to get the attack absolutely right. The dog not as much as yelps, just falls down.

ooc:

On the way to the ATM, Larsen sees about twenty customers some ten yards away from his path. Only three of them are close to his trajectory to get to the ATM area. Ten of them are more than ten yards away.

Ahead he can see, there´s a skylight letting moon-light in to the mall, the fluorescent sign of the emergency hatch.

ooc:

In the garage-
The dog tries to biteCrawford as she pulls the switchblade out.

Crawford sidesteps and avoids getting caught between the teeth of the canine. Her blade goes past the target, though. "Die already!" She hisses. She manages to stay away from the dog´s bite yet another time. But that costs her balance and she misses the target again. A blade fight isn´t just her thing. She changes tactics and uses her knee to finish the Rottweiler off. Unfortunately she slips and falls backwards resulting in the Rottweiler being on top of her at once. "Off!" She growls as she tries to ward off the drooling beast.

Heather is now only ten yards away from the escalator and closing in.

C.L. having seen the fight and the trouble his friend is in has got within range to wield his machete.

Time: 39

As he runs, Larsen takes out his switchblade and grips it in his right hand in case he needs to attack or parry silently, and in his left he holds his .50 pistol in case of an even worse emergency, though he knows that the noise would cause him more problems. He tries to slip past the mob, but he isn't having much luck at all.

OOC,I don't see Dodge listed on my character sheet, so I guess it's just my base skill of 20%.

In the west stairwell-

Hale gets off the radio and doubles back up the stairs. She hesitates weather to take time to untie the MP5 but decides against it and continues upwards. Weiss and Kim also moves upwards. Realizing the imminent danger the team members are in Collins too joins the run upwards.

Johnny is tight on their heels, handguns at the ready and the shotgun slung over his back.

From below the team can hear the milling of too many people at the same tight spot. However, a few of them can be heard coming up the stairs. Being in a state of panic, Hale checks her PDA device for a way out of this stairwell not using the exit doors. She finds one. Next to the doors leading to the roof is am access panel for electrical wiring and air ventilation. She flicks out her switchblade and starts to loose the screws. The panel is 1,5 x 1 meters and two can work simultaneously to get it open. There are four screws on each side.

ooc:

MrHandy: Larsen ducks away from all three of the customers in his way, miraculously. Not really believing what just happened he reaches the ATM without too much noise. The fire hatch is just there. Being designed to open and let smoke out, the panel is folding inwards and he´ll just have to pus it to squeeze through.

ooc:

Hale works quickly with two of the screws, but the two last are being reluctant.

Larsen manages to wriggle through the hatch without tearing his suit. Once on the other side, he looks around and sees if there's any way he can jam it shut.

OOC,Thanks! I never saw that character sheet before, only the abbreviated one in the Character Sheets thread.

On their ascent, Collins keeps a look out for any environmental advantages that he can use to slow down their pursuers, like shooting a hole in the hot water pipes.

Once by the vents, Collins does what he can to help with the unscrewing of the vent. He quickly regards the stranger they ran into and says, "Hey... Collins. Your name?"

The first screw loosens without any problem. Three to go...

ImpInTraining:

OOC:   BTW is anyone else lacking full stats to their character?

Larsen has no other means to obstruct the door but by damaging the hinges so they won´t glide when pushed. Someting cylindrical through one of the hinges would do. The hinge is formed like the letter D. With an opening inside the D, roughly five centimeters wide.

Rungs lead up and down from here. He still has the harness and rope available on his suit. The tower is 1,5 meters wide.

Larsen cuts off a length of his rope and slides it through the hinge to jam it shut and cut off any pursuit. Then he attaches the rest of the rope and harness to himself so he can climb down the ladder more safely, tying the end of the rope to one of the rungs. "I made it into the smoke tower," says Larsen quietly into his radio as he begins his descent, "and I'm on my way down. What's your status? Over."

Kim shakes herself out of her funk and then smiles warmly at Collins, "Hi I'm Kim, just a repair girl in the wrong place. My keycard should get us access though." She continues on upstairs.

OOC - The two groups of characters are confusing me slightly. Who am I with (and which ones are players rather than NPCs) apart from Collins.

[OOC:]Maybe I should have divided the threads? I´ll look in to that later today. At least the actions will be easier to follow then.

The two groups are as follows.

Group 1 - West stairwell - top of the stairs next to the roof doors.
Kim - Airnornexo
Collins - ImpInTRaining
Johnny - Kabukiman
Weiss - NPC
Hale - NPC

Group 2 (divided)
C.L. - Iggy_Pop Garage
Crawford - NPC Garage
Heather - NPC Garage

*********
Larsen - Mr Handy - Second floor, climbing down through a smoke tower towards the garage.

The man in the suit replies as he reaches the top of the stairs, "Johnny Walken, director at UC. " He turns towards the darkness below, aiming two 9mm at the sounds coming up from there.

On the way up the stairs, Collins can find nothing worth obstructing the stairs with. What he finds when he reaches the top is a huge fire axe, secured with rubber grips behind a safety glass.

Airbornexo:

-Guys, just tell me you are still alive AND won't shoot at me... Johnny says as he waits for the ensuing customers.

"I for one and very much alive and you'd better not shoot me man!" Kim looks up at the suited man and waves jauntily despite her pale face and worried expression.

ooc,Yes please... I for one would really appreciate having the teams on different threads. I didn't even know we met up with [u]two[/u] new people.

Collins nodded, and moved away from the vent to secure the axe, "Nobody's shooting anyone who's talking... just yet. I've got medical test gear here that we can confirm everyone here is happy and healthy... but let's get out of our current predicament first."

The machete C.L. swings down at the Rottweiler cuts on of it´s hind legs clean off, putting the threat to rest on top of Crawford. She pushes the dead dog off of herself and spits.

Kim nods ascent to Collin's suggestion at getting the hell out of there as soon as possible. She then shouts up to Johnny again, "say since we are all friends now why don't you join us so we can say hello properly?"

OOC: I´ll fix the group threads over the weekend and put up a flow chart with all characters.

In the garage-

Crawford gets to her feet and whispers, "What took you so long?" She winks at C.L. and puts away her switchblade after wiping it on the dog´s fur.
Heather, out of breathe, joins the two UBCS operatives

From the stairs fifty meters away, the pursuing mob of infected customers come to the garage level. C.L. and Crawford flick of the lights on their guns and usher Heather between them down the escalator.

In the west stairwell-

Hale gets the last three screws out. She lifts the panel away and lets Kim and Johnny through. Hale and Weiss wait for Collins to climb in. The UBCS operatives can hear the foot falls of the customers in the stairs closing in.

In the smoke tower - between floors -

Larsen descends quickly as possible, secured to the rope, he doesn´t have to worry about falling. He arrives at the bottom and unfastens the rope. He checks around for the smoke inlet and finds it. Peering through, he can hear commotion in the middle of the garage. Apparently, the infected customers beat him to the parking. No sign of Craford, C.L. or Heather.

"Right now," Collins said, "Everyone inside the vent, and try to stay quiet." He lets the others get in first, handing the ax to Kim as she passes. He will go last and attempt to pull the vent cover back on if he thinks he can avoid being seen doing it. Taking up the rear, he will keep his flashlight off if no one is following immediately and keep his weapon trained to the rear of the formation.

"I'm at the bottom of the smoke tower," Larsen whispers into his radio. "I can hear some of the infected that followed Heather downstairs out in the middle of the garage. What's everyone's location and status? Over." He checks his laptop to get a view of what's going on in the garage.

[OOC:]
New thread for Larsen and C.L. (Heather, Crawford) : Garage

New thread for Collins, Kim, Johnny (Weiss, Hale) : West Stairwell

A flowchart has been added as well.
Cheers!