IC-Highway to Hell(Randall/David/Tisha/Willie/Felice)

[Silver Priest]

Psychology 30%,[dice]0[/dice]

"I don't know what's wrong with him. Ugh, this is just my luck." Tisha lamented, wondering what she'd do if Randall wasn't able to do his job.

[Mr. Handy]

9:04 AM
On the highway-
"Relax, Tish, I've seen this before," said Willie. "Happens all the time in combat zones. Usually to green folks who haven't seen the elephant yet, but sometimes even hardened guys go a little nuts. It's post-traumatic stress, but this kind is rather mild. All he does is repeat other people's words. I think he'll snap out of it in a few minutes."

"Relax, Tish, I've-" started Randall, but then he shook his head. "Geez, man! She was eating him!"

"Yeah, it happens. Seen it myself once in Southeast Asia. You want to continue that lesson on how to hold a mike? Might help get your mind off...things."

Randall gulped and nodded, and Willie went back into instructor mode. Neither of them were paying much attention to the road ahead, and Tisha wasn't either. Tears welled up in her eyes unbidden, blurring her vision so that she couldn't see. It thus came as a tremendous shock to her when her vision cleared and the Greyhound bus suddenly loomed up in front of her a short distance past the turnoff to Dix. The bus was on its side, having rolled over. It had been traveling eastward on the other side of the highway, but it was slewed across both of the eastbound lanes and one and a half westbound lanes - the ones they were in right now. It might have been possible to squeeze past it by straddling the shoulder, but a few people were staggering and crawling around on that stretch of road. More were climbing out of the bus's shattered windows. They had various horrifying injuries, apparently from the crash, which appeared to have occurred recently. It was a wonder that they were all still moving.

OOC,[b]Willie[/b]'s Psychology roll (5% base skill): [dice]0[/dice] Everyone, please roll Sanity. Sanity loss is again 1/1D8. Further, you can lose a maximum of 8 Sanity for seeing them. If you've lost 1 earlier, you may only lose a maximum of 7 here. Any loss of higher than 7 would thus count as 7. [b]Willie[/b] can lose no more than 3 and [b]Randall[/b] can lose no more than 2, so they'll remain sane(ish). If you lose 5 or more Sanity, you must also roll Idea. Again, success at the Idea roll will result in temporary insanity. If you don't go temporarily insane, you may act. Also, [b]Tisha[/b], please roll Drive Auto. [b]David[/b], please roll Drive Truck.

[Silver Priest]

San 54%,[dice]0[/dice] Possible loss [dice]1[/dice]

Drive Auto 30%,[dice]2[/dice]

Tisha does not buy Willie's explanation. For one thing,they were not in a warzone. And the man who had been eating had gotten up and seemed to have been chasing them. Tisha did not believe in zombies, though she had heard a few jokes over the last couple of hours that this was what that was. (The jokes had gradually grown more serious.) But she did know that something was very wrong here. Her current suspicion was on some sort of virus.

When she sees the overturned bus it comes as a shock, but she struggles to keep cool, and mostly succeeds.

"Nobody move. These people may be like the ones we saw back a ways. They could be infected with something or in a state of shock. Either way, we don't want to get near them."

She attempts to keep moving past them, but she's only an average driver at best and her nerves seem to get the better of her.

[Dave Syrinx]

David curses as he hits the brakes to avoid hitting the van or the bus vreckage. "MICHAEL BAYYYY!!!!" He screams as he bites down hard as he slams his foot down.

Spoiler:

Sanity @40% loss 1-8

[dice]0[/dice]

1d8 if fail...

[dice]1[/dice]

Truck Drivin´@55%

[dice]2[/dice]

In panic, David calculates the speed and distance to impact and the possible effects of his truck smashing right through the roof of the bus.

Spoiler:

Idea @55% failure is good...

[dice]3[/dice]

[Mr. Handy]

9:05 AM
On the highway-
The overturned Greyhound just came up too fast, and there was no time to avoid it. Tisha slammed on the brakes and jerked the wheel. "Look out!" screamed Willie, trying to grab the wheel himself, but he was too slow. Randall, who was a good driver, was all the way over in the shotgun seat and unable to reach the wheel. All he could do was watch in horror as the van skidded and slammed sideways into the front of the bus with a sickening crunch, now fully blocking the highway. As if that wasn't bad enough, David's truck was right behind them. With the van in front of him, he hadn't seen the bus until it was too late. He pressed down on the brakes, frozen in terror. The huge eighteen-wheeler plowed into the other side of the van, sandwiching it with a screech of metal being twisted in a way no vehicle was meant to endure outside of a demolition derby. Fortunately, unlike in a Michael Bay movie, there was no explosion. However, Tisha and her passengers were now very badly injured and trapped in the van, as the doors would not open due to the vehicles on either side. The windshield was shattered, however, so it might still be possible to escape once they unbuckled their seatbelts, which had very likely saved their lives.

Over at the bus, the three shambling figures on the shoulder turned and began to lumber toward the wrecked van. More were clambering out of the windows on the side of the bus that now faced the sky, crawling over the bus toward the van and plunging to the highway below.

OOC,[b]Willie[/b]'s Sanity roll (current level 50) for seeing the zombies: [dice]0[/dice] [b]Willie[/b]'s Drive Auto roll (30% skill) to seize the wheel and try to avoid a collision: [dice]1[/dice] [b]Willie[/b]'s Sanity loss (maximum 3) for seeing the zombies: [dice]5[/dice] [b]Randall[/b]'s Sanity roll (current level 59) for seeing the zombies: [dice]2[/dice] Type of [b]David[/b]'s temporary insanity: [dice]3[/dice] Duration of [b]David[/b]'s temporary insanity: [dice]4[/dice] Damage to news van from collisions: [dice]6[/dice] Damage to truck from collision: [dice]7[/dice] Damage to [b]Tisha[/b] from first collision: [dice]8[/dice] Damage to [b]Willie[/b] from first collision: [dice]9[/dice] Damage to [b]Randall[/b] from first collision: [dice]10[/dice] Damage to [b]David[/b] from second collision: [dice]11[/dice] Damage to [b]Tisha[/b] from second collision: [dice]12[/dice] Damage to [b]Willie[/b] from second collision: [dice]13[/dice] Damage to [b]Randall[/b] from second collision: [dice]14[/dice] Trouble table rolls for news van: [dice]15[/dice] [dice]18[/dice] Trouble table rolls for truck: [dice]16[/dice] [dice]19[/dice] Number of zombies that emerge from the bus this turn: [dice]17[/dice] [b]David[/b], you are catatonic for the next seven combat rounds (1.4 minutes). You cannot act on your own, though someone else could lead you. Fortunately for you, the others are closer to the zombies, so they'll go after them first. Those in the van who are still conscious and wish to try to get out through the broken windshield, please roll Climb. The base chance is 40%. Failure won't injure you (unless maybe it's a critical failure), it just means you'll still be stuck inside.

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,[b]Willie[/b]'s CON x 5 roll (40% stat) to stay conscious: [dice]0[/dice]

[Dave Syrinx]

"If I just sit here, it won´t be that bad. 100, 99, 98, 97..." David adjusts his grip on the wheel while counting backwards at every other position. When the hands meet, he changes direction till they meet again. All the while he watches the stumbling people outisde.
"I´m alright, I´m all all right", he comforts himself.

[Silver Priest]

Tisha blinks, dazed for a moment, but she uses the pain to focus.

Oh hell. I am not going to die here in the middle of the highway. Not like this.

Unhooking her belt, she looks back at Randall and Willie, relieved to see they're both awake. Willie because she genuinely liked the older man, and Randall because if it came to it, he'd provide a distraction.

No, not gonna think like that.

"We need to get out of here. These people could have the same disease that infected the others. S*it, we'll have to leave the equipment behind for now too.

She tries to climb through the window.

Climb 40%,[dice]0[/dice]

And she makes it out. Thank the Lord for Jenny Craig and the desire to look good on camera.

If she can, she limps around to Willie's window and tries to assist him. "Grab your camera, if you can! We need to get this!"

[Mr. Handy]

9:06 AM
On the highway-
Randall and Tisha scrambled through the shattered windshield, which like modern windshields had broken into countless glass pebbles upon impact rather than into dangerous shards as older ones did. They made it out very quickly, spurred on by adrenaline. Randall was even able to bring his baseball bat with him. Willie nearly made it out on his own, but his severe injuries slowed him down, and he remained half in and half out until Randall and Tisha teamed up to pull him the rest of the way, and just in time. The first three of the apparently infected people shambled up to the van, with another some distance behind them and four more emerging from the wrecked bus.

"The truck doesn't look too badly damaged," said Randall quickly. "That's our only way out of here!" He scrambled over to the truck and tried the door on the passenger side of the cab, but it was locked. "Hey!" he shouted to David. "Let us in!" Yet David did not react, still frozen in fear.

OOC,[b]Randall[/b]'s Climb roll (40% base skill) trying to get out through the broken windshield: [dice]0[/dice] [b]Willie[/b]'s Climb roll (40% base skill) trying to get out through the broken windshield: [dice]1[/dice] Number of zombies that emerge from the bus this turn: [dice]2[/dice] [b]David[/b] is still catatonic for the next two combat rounds and cannot act yet. The only way to bring him out of it early is with a successful Psychoanalysis roll, which has a base chance of 1% and will take your action this round if you wish to attempt it. There are three zombies right up near the rest of you, and they will get to attack after all of you have acted unless you use your action to run away from them to the east, out of their potential reach. If you wish to try to do this, please roll DEX x 5. [b]Tisha[/b] and [b]Willie[/b], you have no weapons, but you have the option of making unarmed attacks. However, if you do so, you will not be able to try to Dodge their attacks.

[Silver Priest]

OOC,Could I encourage Randall to try and break open the window with his bat? If that's possible, and Tisha ran for the van with Willie, would they be able to avoid taking attacks this turn from the zombies?

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,Yes, you can do that and run at the same time. That would require a Fast Talk roll, in addition to the DEX x 5 roll for fleeing. The zombies won't be able to attack you if the DEX roll succeeds, but otherwise they might. The zombies are already at the van, so you'd need to run toward the back of the truck.

[Silver Priest]

Tisha looks over at Randall and summons all of her charm.

"Use the bat to break the window open, quickly!"

Fast Talk 80%,[dice]0[/dice]

Then she takes off towards the back of the truck, hoping she's fast enough to avoid whatever these things were.

Ah Hell. She was just going to call them zombies.

Dex*5 60%,[dice]1[/dice] Phew!

[Mr. Handy]

9:06:12 AM
On the highway-
Willie sprinted toward the back of the truck right behind Tisha.

Randall didn't hesitate, smashing the window with his baseball bat. Unfortunately, this left him vulnerable to the three infected people. One of them tripped over another, knocking them both to the ground, but the third one wrapped its arms around Randall, its jaws chomping on empty air! David still didn't react.

OOC,[b]Randall[/b]'s Large Club roll (65% skill) smashing the window: [dice]0[/dice] [b]Willie[/b]'s DEX x 5 roll (55% stat) retreating from the zombies: [dice]1[/dice] Zombie 1's Grapple attack (25% chance) on [b]Randall[/b]: [dice]2[/dice] Zombie 1's Bite attack (30% chance) on [b]Randall[/b]: [dice]3[/dice] Zombie 2's Grapple attack (25% chance) on [b]Randall[/b]: [dice]4[/dice] Zombie 2's Bite attack (30% chance) on [b]Randall[/b]: [dice]5[/dice] Zombie 3's Grapple attack (25% chance) on [b]Randall[/b]: [dice]6[/dice] Zombie 3's Bite attack (30% chance) on [b]Randall[/b]: [dice]7[/dice] It's a new combat round now. [b]David[/b], this is the last round during which you'll be paralyzed. [b]Tisha[/b] and [b]Willie[/b] are both out of harm's way for now, as the three nearby zombies are all directing their attention at [b]Randall[/b].

[Silver Priest]

OOC,Since the one zombie fumbled, any chance he and the one he knocked down could have to take the turn to stand up? Sorry for asking, but I want to give poor Randall the best chance of surviving. Tisha sure ain't helping him. ;)

Tisha feels a tinge of guilt when Randall goes down, but quickly suppresses it.

She looks to Willie, the one of them more likely of them to do something rash. "Don't even think about it, Willie. Neither of us are armed. But now's our chance; let's get into the truck!"

She steps forward and tries to gauge if she'll be able to avoid the zombies and crawl through the window. Hopefully they'd all be distracted with Randall and there would be enough space to slip through.

ooc,If the plan is workable Tisha will do it. Climb roll if needed(hopefully not:P) [dice]0[/dice]

[Mr. Handy]

9:06:24 AM
On the highway-
Willie and Tisha ran back for the truck's passenger side door. Willie reached through where the window used to be, unlocked the door, and threw it open. "Get in!" he screamed. Tisha scrambled into the cab, followed quickly by Willie. "Get us out of here!" he shouted to David, who finally came to his senses to realize that he had picked up a beautiful woman after all, though not in the way he had expected.

Randall swung his baseball bat wildly and howled in agony as the man who had seized him tackled him to the ground and crushed him, cracking his ribs. The other two regained their feet.

OOC,Yes, that's exactly what I had in mind. The two zombies that fell lose their actions this round, and the third one is busy with [b]Randall[/b], so you have a free run to the truck. There's also no need for a Climb roll this time, as you can just reach through the broken window and unlock the door, then open it. [b]Willie[/b] will think of it if you don't. [b]Randall[/b]'s Large Club roll (65% skill) attacking the zombie that grabbed him: [dice]0[/dice] Zombie's damage to [b]Randall[/b] from Grapple: [dice]1[/dice]+[dice]2[/dice] Zombie's bite attack (30% chance) on [b]Randall[/b]: [dice]3[/dice] [b]Randall[/b]'s CON roll (70% stat) to stay conscious: [dice]4[/dice] [b]David[/b], your temporary insanity is over and you may now act freely.

[Dave Syrinx]

"...seven. Heaven girl, I´ll just slide it in reverse. An´we´ll be clear in a jiffy." David attempts to steer out of the wrecked van and bus pile-up. He smiles at the lithe woman and the older man. "Name´s Dave. Theres some JD in the glovie." He studies the face of the late 20´s girls face as he steers using the side mirrors on the passenger side. "You have some grime on your lip there, hon. Use the bourbon to clean that."

[Mr. Handy]

9:06:36 AM
On the highway-
David expertly switched into reverse and pulled the truck back away from the cannibals, soon getting out of their potential reach. Their interest was entirely consumed by Randall, however.

"Wait!" screamed Randall in desperation. "Don't leave me!" With a surge of adrenaline, he broke free of the grip of the man who had grabbed him and threw him backwards. Unfortunately, one of the other two began to chew on his right arm. The other tried to gnaw on his right leg, but he managed to roll out of the way somehow.

Willie shuddered and opened the glove compartment. "Poor kid..." he said. "At least I made sure you survived, Tisha." Inside the glove compartment, in addition to the bottle of Jack Daniels, there was also a first aid kit that he removed. "Ah, just what we needed!" Both he and Tisha were badly hurt from the double crash, and they were bleeding on the upholstery.

OOC,[b]Randall[/b]'s Resistance Table roll (STR 14 vs. zombie's STR 15: 45% chance): [dice]0[/dice] Zombie 1's Grapple attack (25% chance) on [b]Randall[/b]: [dice]1[/dice] Zombie 1's Bite attack (30% chance) on [b]Randall[/b]: [dice]2[/dice] [b]Randall[/b]'s Dodge roll (26% base skill): [dice]11[/dice] Damage to [b]Randall[/b] from Bite attack: [dice]7[/dice] Hit location: [dice]9[/dice] Zombie 2's Grapple attack (25% chance) on [b]Randall[/b]: [dice]3[/dice] Zombie 2's Bite attack (30% chance) on [b]Randall[/b]: [dice]4[/dice] Zombie 3's Grapple attack (25% chance) on [b]Randall[/b]: [dice]5[/dice] Zombie 3's Bite attack (30% chance) on [b]Randall[/b]: [dice]6[/dice] [b]Randall[/b]'s Dodge roll (26% base skill): [dice]12[/dice] Damage to [b]Randall[/b] from Bite attack: [dice]8[/dice] Hit location: [dice]10[/dice] [b]David[/b], you may now make a three point turn to get the truck facing back to the east. Because you're a good driver and the zombies are otherwise busy and will not interfere, there is no need to roll. [b]Tisha[/b] and [b]Willie[/b], you may if you wish each make a First Aid attempt on one of your injuries, either your own or the other's. You can't really treat [b]David[/b]'s injury while he's driving, nor can he treat anyone else at this time. The base skill for First Aid is 30%. If you succeed, please roll 1D3 to see how many HP the person being treated recovers, up to a maximum of the amount lost in that particular injury. Each of you has two injuries and could be treated successfully twice.

[Silver Priest]

"Damn shame," Tisha says, looking away. She'd never admit it, but that look of desperation in Randall's eyes was going to haunt her for a very long time to come. It was better to look away. If she didn't see it, maybe he would survive. Or she could tell herself that anyway. "Even worse, we don't have any good footage." She checks to see if she still has her cell. Maybe she could record herself for a minute or too and have something to upload later. "But thanks for that, Willie. Knew there was a reason I kept you around." Joke aside, she was glad her cameraman had survived. He was like family to her.

She smiles at their driver, but inwardly groans. Just great.She'd be being leered at the whole way by this creep. But there weren't any better options at this moment.

"Thanks for your help back there." What little it was.I'm Tisha, this is Willie. You may have seen us around. Channel 5 at 5? We were on the way to the air force base to find out what we could about all this when this all happened. I'm good friends with the commander, and think I can get some answers. More importantly, I think the world around us has gone crazy and that would be the safest place to hold up for a bit."

Taking the first aid kit, she sets to work attempting to treat her injury. She also takes a swig of the Jack Daniels, though not too much. She wanted to be able to focus on her interview later.

First Aid 30%,[dice]0[/dice] Nice! Is that double then? [dice]1[/dice]

[Dave Syrinx]

David turns the truck at first safe opportunity and looks for a turnoff to get them around the wreckage on the highway. The plan is to take the smaller roads to WAFB and the intended goal of his run, in close vicinity to the base.
"Sounds sweet. I´ll find us a way around the get to them flyboys."

[Mr. Handy]

9:06:48 AM
On the highway-
Tisha was able to treat some of her bruises very effectively. She felt much better, and none of her injuries would show up on camera. Her cell phone didn't have a signal, but she was still able to get some video. Remarkably, Randall scrambled to his feet and somehow eluded all three of his pursuers, who lumbered after him slowly. He bolted for the truck as David made a three point turn. "Wait!" he cried.

Willie borrowed some of the first aid supplies, but in his weakened state he wasn't able to help himself much.

David now had the truck facing east. If he waited for a few seconds, Randall could catch up and climb into the cab, though it would be a tight squeeze. Still, there was a sleeper compartment in the back of the cab that could fit him, and from the looks of him he needed to lie down anyway. The last turnoff he had seen was a few miles back at Potter. He knew that he'd be able to either turn left and get onto Route 30 just south of Potter, which ran parallel to I-80 and would pass through Dix and Kimball, or he could turn right and hope to find some other way west.

OOC,[b]Randall[/b]'s DEX x 5 roll (65% stat) to get away from the zombies before they attack: [dice]0[/dice] [b]Willie[/b]'s First Aid roll (30% base skill) treating his more severe injury: [dice]1[/dice] Since that's a critical success on the First Aid roll, I'll say that it automatically heals the maximum of 3 HP for that injury without having to roll. [b]Tisha[/b], you may also make another First Aid roll to try to treat your other injury or one of [b]Willie[/b]'s, again healing 1D3 HP if you succeed.