IC - 24 - They Think It's All Over

[Mephistophilis]

Johnny has got a significant lead over Jocelyn and she is making no progress up the slippery brick wall until Simon skids in behind her. He rather reluctantly puts out his hands to give her a boost and visibly winces as she places her dirty shoe into his palms. He struggles to lift her but she's able to get an arm over the top of the brickwork and haul herself onto the top of the wall. Looking over to the other side she can't see any sign of Johnny. It's a long narrow back garden, slightly overgrown, patchy lawn bordered by unkempt flower beds. To the right side there's a brick wall that leads to some kind of concrete yard, beyond it she can see the carpark at the rear of the apartment block where one of the AFOs is patrolling. On the left of the garden there's a wooden fence adjoining another long garden with a vegetable patch and greenhouse.

After his impressive slide across Jocelyn's car bonnet, Kris makes a final burst of speed and arrives at the wall in time to see Simon push Jocelyn to the top.

I like to think of Kris's belt leaving a massive scratch across Jocelyn's car.

So Johnny got plenty of time to get away or hide, I'll end the chase now. Jocelyn gets to make an action on the other side of the wall and Simon and Kris can then figure out how to get over themselves.

[Mr. Handy]

Jocelyn lowers herself beyond the wall and quickly runs down the alleyway on the other side to where the brick wall is, reasoning that Johnny may have thought that his best chance to escape and that he couldn't have gotten past the AFO, who she signals to join her, and that the others will catch up with her in time if he's still hiding in the alley. However, if he has kept moving, time is of the essence to catch up to him. She will look into the garden beyond the fence as she moves, but she'll try to climb the brick wall for now in case he's still in view on the other side.

[Silver Priest]

OOC:   Excellent rp of Simon-- he's going to need a wipe or two after this.

Wiping his brow, he turns towards Kris. "You better go on ahead, you have more experience capturing perpetrators than myself. I might be able to give you a boost." He does not seem enthused with this prospect.

[Philulhu]

Kris nodded, not trusting himself to speak without wheezing like an asthmatic pensioner. Stepping on Simon’s hands, he pushed himself up onto the wall, lifting himself up and taking a moment to scan the area in front of him in case Zero had taken cover, letting his pursuers push on and leaving him behind… …

I’m envisioning Kris sliding across the bonnet in slow-mo, leaving a trail a sparks in his wake… …

[Mephistophilis]

From the top of the wall Jocelyn signals to the AFO who she can see in the car park behind the apartments. They nod and indicate that they're going to bring the car around.

I'm not sure I've described the situation too well. Here's a map/diagram:


Simon and Kris are behind the wall. On the other side is Jocelyn, in a garden with a fence on one side (left as she faces to the right of the image - fence in white) and a wall on the other side (right as she faces to the house on the right of the image - in brown). The apartment block they found Johnny in is to the bottom left of the image, and that's where the AFO is. At the far end of the garden Jocelyn is in there is a house (right of image) which then looks onto a main road (far right of image). Over the wall (brown) to her right is a concrete yard that runs from the garage to the left of the image (just above the apartments) along a wall (brown) that separates it from the gardens everyone just ran through, past the wall Jocelyn climbed over (it sort of doglegs past it), and ending up behind what looks like another set of apartments. This second set of apartments (middle of the image) lead onto a cul-de-sac that does not seem to be directly connected to the carpark of the first set of apartments, where the AFOs are parked up.

So Kris can climb over - roll Spot Hidden to see if Johnny is hiding. Jocelyn can roll Spot Hidden to look over the fence into the adjoining garden. Do I take it that Jocelyn is going to try and climb the wall on her right, into the yard behind the apartments (in the middle of the picture)?

The AFO will drive round to the first alleyway they ran down unless Jocelyn signals anything different.

[Philulhu]

(40%) 1d100

Edit: Success! Kris should spot him, if he’s there.

[Mr. Handy]

Jocelyn easily spots something from her higher vantage point and prepares to signal the others, including the AFO.

Spot Hidden roll (60% skill) looking over the wall and the fence:
d%

[Mephistophilis]

Kris stands atop the wall, looking down into the garden. He can see Jocelyn clearly enough, she's peaking over a wooden fence, but he can't see Johnny hiding in any of the usual locations, in the bushes or beside the house. What he does notice is that the top of the fence is damaged, there's splintering of the wood, and it looks recent, the raw wood hasn't had time to darken or discolour.

Looking over the fence, Jocelyn can see several indentations in a vegetable patch, probably footprints, and then more muddy marks on the fence beyond.

Luck roll (45%) - did Johnny run or hide: 1d100 87. Luck roll (45%) - did Johnny run over the wall or the fence (good) or somewhere else?: 1d100 16. Over the wall or over the fence (50%): 1d100 94

[Mr. Handy]

Jocelyn points out the damage on the top of the fence and the muddy footprints to the others as she scrambles to intercept Johnny, reasoning that he has climbed the other fence too. Instead of climbing both fences, she can circle around to the other side of the second fence on ground level if it'll save time and there's a way to do it.

[Philulhu]

Reckoning that Jocelyn was trying to cut Johnny off, Kris decided to go over the fence in case he tried to double back. He grabbed the top of the fence but, without Simon’s assistance, he lacked the upper body strength to pull himself over.

Kris isn’t particularly adept at climbing (20%), so this may prove to be an error…

1d100

Edit: And so it proved!

I’ve edited my post to reflect Kris’ lack of success.

[Mr. Handy]

"Give him a boost!" Jocelyn tells Simon as she runs.

[Silver Priest]

Having no idea where Johnny has got off to, Simon tries to help Kris if able.

OOC:   Sorry but I'm a little confused where Simon is relative to Kris at the moment, but if able to assist him or get into a position where I can I will.

[Philulhu]

Simon helped Kris climb the previous wall, so I think he’s standing on the other side?

[Mephistophilis]

The AFO brings the car round to park up near Jocelyn's abandoned vehicle. He jogs down the alley to where Simon is standing, peering up at the rather high wall that he's helped Kris climb. 'You want a boost?' he asks, eyeing Simon's outfit sceptically.

Jocelyn can't see a way around to get to the far garden, the one she's in is completely surrounded by brick walls, the wooden fence, and the house itself. She uses an upturned plant pot to help herself get over the fence and lands in the larger nextdoor garden. This one does have an unsecured side passage leading out past the house into the road, but she's seen the marks on the fence and she sprints over to some kind of raised wooden vegetable box and uses that to vault into the garden beyond. There's a shed and some kind of lean to against the main house. One of the upstairs curtains twitches and she sees the edge of a face. It looks like an old woman.

Seeing Jocelyn, Kris tries the fence again and this time manages to just about haul himself over. Thankful that nobody else is watching. He comes down into a muddy vegetable patch and his feet sink into the fresh soil, which tips over the top of his shoes.

Here's the map:

[Mr. Handy]

Jocelyn waves for the others to follow her as she tries to climb the next fence with the marks.

[Silver Priest]

Simon considers then shakes his head. "There are quite a few fences in my way, and I'm not the best climber," He admits. "If you are any better I'll be happy to give you a boost and try to find another way around."

[Philulhu]

Feeling his feet sink into the earth gave Kris an idea, and he immediately started looking around for footprints that might indicate that Johnny Zero had come this way.

[Mephistophilis]

Kris sees the footprints Jocelyn noticed in the vegetable patch leading to another set of muddy scuff marks on the fence beyond. He reasons that's probably why she climbed over.

The AFO rather reluctantly places his weapon on the ground and allows Simon to give him a boost up onto the wall. He reaches down to retrieve his MP5 and catches Simon rubbing his hands on the wall in distaste. Looking around the AFO shouts down, 'You wanna a hand up?' he asks, obviously expecting a negative answer. 'Or you could take the car up to the next opening, he points further up the road, maybe cut him off if he hasn't go too far?' He throws down the keys to the Armed Response Vehicle. Simon is pretty sure he's not supposed to be doing this.

Can I get DEX rolls for anyone jumping over a fence. If Simon climbs the wall he doesn't need one as the AFO will help to pull him up.

[Philulhu]

Kris sprinted over to the other fence and jumped, hoping his momentum would carry him up and over the top…

(50)1d100

[Mr. Handy]

"Follow me!" Jocelyn hisses to Kris and the AFO as she leaps up on the fence. She almost gets caught on it, but she manages to get over the top.

DEX roll (65% stat) climbing the fence:
d%
Spending 1 Luck to make that a success!