Play@YSDC

Z-Day - 8:50 AM Mountain Daylight Time - At the motel
In the motel lobby-
Ms. Foo was going over the night receipts and the number of guests last night with Ellen Cody. The pretty Italian girl, Felice Piccone, was coming in to pay her bill. She glanced outside to check on Mr. Foo who was still doing Tai Chi.

She also saw the old guy, Bud, who came in last night was outside. He was checking out the Italian girl. Horny devil, but she was a pretty one. She could also see that Englishman - Michael Walters wasn’t that his name? - was up and looking towards the horizon with a pair of binoculars.

In front of the motel-
Walters was looking off to the horizon. He thought a meteor came down to the north, somewhere over the horizon. Still couldn’t seem to find it with the binoculars though. Maybe he should go and have a look.

Father McCormick had already left his room and was about to go pay but was watching Mr. Foo practice his Tai Chi. He saw a young man in athletic clothes doing push-ups. The young man was in pretty good physical condition and reminded McCormick of his past. A young woman, Azadeh, walked behind him and said, “Good morning.” A very pretty girl, noted McCormick. McCormick had also noted the pretty Italian woman who drove a Porsche was going to the main office, probably to pay her bill.

Alex was practicing his pushups and anticipating his run. His noise had woken up Jenny Cooper who was getting out of her sleeping bag from a nearby tent. She thought she was alone out here in the middle of Nebraska. She poked her head out to see Mr. Foo exercising. She also noticed Mr. Walters looking along the horizon with a pair of binoculars. Perhaps he was also interested in checking out the meteor?

Mr Foo was doing his Tai Chi exercises and wishing the young Marine was more quiet and would try to concentrate, to meditate and remove the sound of his pushups.

In the Lathans' suite-
The Lathan family was still getting up and hadn’t left their suite yet. Ms. Lathan was enjoying the shower while Mr. Lathan tried to convince the kids to get going. Bobby was turning on the TV to see what was on HBO while Scotty sat on his twin bed, playing his Nintendo Switch.

In Samantha's room-
Samantha lay on the bed in her motel room, asleep and blissfully unaware of what was happening in the world around her.

While Ellen is very fond of Ms Foo, her droning about last night visitors and their bill makes Ellen drowsy. She wonders what Charlie is doing, smiling secretly about the quick kiss they shared last night.

Old Bud:

Bud watched Felice walk into the lobby, nice looking girl - not the one he's looking for, but nice all the same.
He spots Jenny climbing out of the tent nearby looking a little lost, and Azadeh walking nearby.

"Nope... and nope."

He really was getting too old for this s***, but a man's gotta pay the bills somehow.
With a sigh he followed Felice into the lobby.

8:51 AM
In the motel lobby-
Bud followed Felice Piccone inside. The beautiful Italian woman headed for the front desk. If he wanted to speak to Ms. Foo, he'd have to get in line behind her. At least the view was good.

Ms. Foo had been starting to get annoyed by Ellen worrying about her health. She knew she meant well, of course, but...

Felice walked up to the desk and rang the bell. "Ah, saved by bell!" Ms. Foo turned to face her. "Good morning, Missy Felice. Good seeing you."

Felice smiled and spoke in English with an Italian accent. "Good morning to you too," she said. "I'd like to check out please." She fished in her purse for her credit card.

"How you like stay? Room fine? Everything fine?"

"Oh, yes, it was magnifico! Say, there's one thing I was curious about. What is that huge satellite dish on top of the motel for?"

"Ah. It for TV, of course."

"For the TV?"

"Yes, TV. That how you get free HBO in every room."

"But I've never seen one so big before."

"We got dish in seventies. You too young to remember, but all dish big in seventies. My husband say they called BUD. Big Ugly Dish."

The old private detective perked up when he heard his name, but then he realized they weren't talking about him and went back to staring at Felice. Ms. Foo clucked at him and shook her head.

Felice laughed. "It's amazing the thing still works after all these years." She finally found her credit card and handed it to Ms. Foo, who began to process her bill, glancing out the window every so often to check on her husband exercising outside.

Ms. Foo frowned when she tried to run the card. "That can't be right..." she mumbled. "I try again." She tried a few more times, but the reader still did not accept the credit card.

"Is there a problem?" asked Felice.

"I not understand," said Ms. Foo. "It not take card." She called to the maid. "Missy Ellen, please to help me. Machine not take card. I think I do something wrong."

In front of the motel-
Jenny Cooper climbed out of her tent and stretched. She was fully dressed, having slept in her clothes, which were now rather rumpled. She noticed Michael Walters looking off to the north with his binoculars. "Morning," she said. "Did you see that meteor come down last night?"

Mr. Foo practiced his Tai Chi in the yard outside the motel, moving seamlessly from stance to stance and battling imaginary opponents. His motions were almost dance-like in many ways. He had drawn a small crowd this morning to watch him. There was less traffic on the highway today, which should have done wonders for his inner peace. The priest and the Iranian woman were quiet enough, but the young man doing pushups was making a lot of noise, going "HUT!" each time he did one.

Alex also seemed to be taking an interest in Mr. Foo's exercises.

In the Lathans' suite-
Cathy Lathan relaxed in the shower, closing her eyes and letting the water wash over her.

In the boys' bedroom, both Bobby and Scotty did their best to ignore their father telling them to get ready for breakfast.

Bobby flicked on the TV. He was about to change the channel to HBO when he grew interested in what he saw on the screen. The CNN logo was on the bottom of the screen, and there was an image of an urban neighborhood on fire. "Cool!" he said. "Not sure which movie this is yet. I don't think I've seen it before."

Mr. Foo wants to finish his exercises in peace, and is torn between leaving for some place quieter and stubbornly clinging to his routine. If he notices his wife's difficulties inside he might take that as a sign to quit his current local.

Old Bud:

Great... she doesn't even know how it works... this is going to take a while.

Bud stands and waits impatiently as Ms. Foo tries to figure out how the card reader works. He alternates between watching the exasperated motel owner, an occasional glance at the lovely Felice and gazing out through the window.

8:52 AM
In front of the motel-
Azadeh walked into the motel lobby.

The Marine watching Mr. Foo finished his pushups and then began to follow his movements, rather poorly.

Jenny Cooper was pointing to the north. "I figure the meteor came down in that direction," she said, "probably ten miles to the north, but probably right off that road." Although Jenny didn't know it, she was pointing in the general direction of Horst Jaegermeister's PMS compound.

"Yes, I think you're right," said Michael, offering her the binoculars to let her take a look. "I'm Michael Walters. Are you interested in astronomy?"

"Oh, yes!" she said eagerly. "I just got my Master's in astronomy, and I'm thinking of going for a Ph.D. Piled Higher and Deeper. I'm Jenny Cooper. Nice to meet you." She peered off to the north through the binoculars.

In the motel lobby-
Ellen tried running the card, but she got the same result. "No, you're not doing anything wrong," she said. "The card's been declined. It says to claim the card."

Azadeh entered the lobby and got in line behind Bud. She looked impatient to pay and get going.

Felice reached into her pocketbook and found another credit card. "Here, try this one," She said, handing the Discover Card to Ms. Foo. Ms. Foo tried the other card, which also failed to work. As did a third card, a Diner’s Club card. Strange that. On the third attempt the machine read an error message in an old code. Unsure what the code meant, Ms. Foo checked the manual, causing more delay. According to the code, it seemed that the message could not be transmitted.

Felice was a bit embarrassed. “I don’t have enough cash for the bill, and I assume you don’t take checks?”

If the Foos took checks they would never stay in business.

Uncertain what to do, Felice said, “I don’t understand why this doesn’t work. Perhaps you should take the next customer.” She stepped aside to let Bud come forward while Mrs. Foo examined the card reader.

In the Lathans' suite-
"But I'm in the middle of a game!" protested Scotty.

"Mom's still in the shower," said Bobby. "We got time."

"I'll go get your mother. You just be ready when she is. We've got to go get breakfast so we can hit the road."

"Oh, all right."

The boys started to get dressed as their father went across the suite to the room he shared with Cathy. "Honey, time to get dressed! We need to get some breakfast!"

Cathy sighed, coming out of her reverie. Reluctantly, she shut off the water, dried herself off, and began to get dressed.

OOC,[b]Tony Lathan[/b]'s Fast Talk roll (60% skill) to get the children to get ready: [dice]0[/dice] [b]Mrs. Foo[/b]'s Electrical Repair roll (35% skill) examining the credit card reader: [dice]1[/dice]

Old Bud:

"I can wait."

Bud steps out of the way to allow Azadeh through.

"Maybe this young lady could pay first?"

8:53 AM
In front of the motel-
"Astronomy is also an interest of mine," said Michael, "though I'm probably nowhere near as much of an expert as you are. It's good to meet a fellow watcher of the stars. I'm a psychologist, here on holiday. Have you seen any other unusual things in the sky, Miss Cooper?"

"No, just the meteors," said Jenny, "though those are unusual enough. You don't usually get them this time of year, and they almost always burn up in the atmosphere."

OOC,[b]Mr. Foo[/b], please roll Psychology and Spot Hidden.

In the motel lobby-
"Thank you," said Azadeh with a smile as she walked past Bud to the counter and handed Ms. Foo her credit card. There was still no response.

She examined the credit card reader, realizing with relief that the problem was probably with it and not with her mind. Physically, it seemed all right and had power, but it could not send or receive data over the network. "I so sorry," she said. "This never happen before. You have traveler's cheques, maybe?"

"I don’t have no traveler’s checks,” said Felice. The young Italian seemed distraught. “I do have some jewelry… but it's so much more valuable than the cost of the room.”

Azadeh was also impatient. "Traveler’s cheques? No. But I think I have cash," she said. She reached into her purse and found a few twenties for the night and paid the tab.

In the Lathans' suite-
Cathy and the boys continued to get dressed.

Old Bud:


"Maybe you could let this lady make call to her bank? See if something can be arranged? Seeing as it's your machine that isn't working."

Bud walks to the window and watches what's going on outside while he waits for Ms. Foo to be free.

Spot Hidden - Passed,[b]Spot Hidden (55%) roll for Old Bud, in case it's needed:[/b] [dice]0[/dice]

8:54 AM
In front of the motel-
"Yes, that's certainly true," said Michael. "Would you like to go take a look at the one that came down to the north?"

"Um...yeah!" said Jenny.

OOC,[b]Mr. Foo[/b]'s Psychology roll (82% skill) outside the motel: [dice]0[/dice] [b]Mr. Foo[/b]'s Spot Hidden roll (76% skill) outside the motel: [dice]1[/dice]

Mr. Foo,[b]Mr. Foo[/b] picked up that Alex was very sensitive to instruction, but also that his demeanor would make him an excellent instructor. Such an individual would make an excellent teacher. [b]Jenny[/b] seemed to be a genuine and pleasant young woman, very well educated but a little socially awkward. [b]Mr. Foo[/b] suspected that [b]Michael[/b] was not what he appeared. He suspected that [b]Michael[/b] was in disguise. There were more reasons for this - [b]Michael[/b] had been hanging around the area and asking questions. Why would anyone stop at this motel for more than a night or two?

In the motel lobby-
"Yes, good idea, grazie," said Felice. She took out her cell phone and tried to make a call, waiting for a response. "I not get through. You go ahead, Signore."

Old Bud,Looking out the window facing eastward, [b]Bud[/b] could see a faint orange glow on the horizon, coming from the direction of Sidney. It looked like something was burning, and it had to be a big fire for him to be able to see it from miles away.

In the Lathans' suite-
The Lathans finished dressing and gathered in the suite's common area.

Seeing Alex’s attempts, Mr. Foo laughs good naturedly. “No, no. Like this.” He performs some basic moves slowly for the young man’s benefit, and explains the basics of tai chi and zen as best he can.

Old Bud:


Bud walks back to Ms. Foo, taking a photo of a girl out of pocket.

"I'll be sticking around for a few days, more than likely, so no need to settle the bill yet."

He shows the photo to the motel owner and Emily, then says, "I'm looking for this kid, her folks are real worried, the best lead I have is that she might have been seen around Motel 8."

Bud smiles at Ms. Foo, "Have you seen her at all? Maybe a week or two ago?"

8:55 AM
In front of the motel-
"Let's get some breakfast first," said Jenny, her stomach growling. "I just got up."

"Good idea," said Michael. "I doubt that meteorite's going anywhere. The food's pretty good at the T-Bone." The two of them began walking to the east, soon crossing the dirt road that led to the north, about halfway between the motel and the T-Bone.

"Sir, nice to meet you, sir!" said Alex. "The name is Alex, sir! It looks really cool, sir! I'm already a black belt in Kung Fu, but I'm interested in learning a new style."

Azadeh emerged from the motel's front door and walked across the lot, nodding to the priest.

OOC,[b]Jenny Cooper[/b] and [b]Michael Walters[/b] are moving to the thread linked below:

Breakfast

In the motel lobby-
"Let me think..." said Ms. Foo, peering at the photograph. "She look familiar...I sorry, I not remember. Maybe ask my husband. He outside. Or maybe have better luck at truck stop across road."

OOC,[b]Ms. Foo[/b]'s Know roll (55% stat) about the photo: [dice]0[/dice] [b]Ms. Foo[/b]'s Idea roll (70% stat) about the photo: [dice]1[/dice]

Ms. Foo,[b]Ms. Foo[/b] was also curious about [b]Bud[/b]. He could be the girl's father, a cop, or an investigator.

On the east balcony-
The Lathans emerged from their room and headed for the stairs. The noise finally woke up Samantha, who was in one of the rooms they passed.

Old Bud:


"Thank's, I'll do that."

Bud puts the photo back in his pocket. "Like I say, I'll probably be here for a few days, so if you remember anything, let me know."

Before opening the door he says, "It looks like there's a big fire over in the direction of the town. Maybe that explains why your machine's acting up."

Bud will steps back outside and stands for a second to observe Mr. Foo and Alex. He would have headed straight for the T-Bone first, rather than interrupting the guy's Tai Chi, but he figures he might get the chance to join the conversation if he waits a moment.

8:56 AM
In front of the motel-
Azadeh continued walking to the east, toward the T-Bone.

The Lathans came down the stairs from the balcony.

OOC,[b]Mr. Foo[/b], if [b]Bud[/b] shows you the picture, please roll Know.

In the motel lobby-
"A fire?" said Ellen, peering out the window. "Oh, that's a big one! Good thing it's far away. Looks like it's all the way in Sidney. Better call it in." She took out her cell phone. "Damn, no signal."

OOC,[b]Ms. Foo[/b]'s Spot Hidden roll (25% base skill) looking out the window: [dice]0[/dice] [b]Ellen[/b]'s Spot Hidden roll (32% skill) looking out the window: [dice]1[/dice] [b]Felice[/b]'s Spot Hidden roll (50% skill) looking out the window: [dice]2[/dice] [b]In Samantha's room-[/b] [b]Samantha[/b] got out of bed and began to get dressed.

Old Bud:


Bud stands watching Mr. Foo showing Alex some Tai Chi moves for a minute. He stands close enough to be noticed, and to hear anything they say, but doesn't interrupt unless spoken to.

OOC,As per my previous post, Bud's not going to be rude and interrupt, he figures he can talk to Mr. Foo later if need be. So I'll wait for a post from Cotton before approaching Mr. Foo with the photo. Or I'll wait a full minute for the next update before walking across to the diner. I know that I'm wasting precious time, but I don't think Bud's got reason to think anything serious is going down. I'm not even sure if he witnessed the meteor shower?

8:57 AM
In front of the motel-
The Lathans walked off to the east, heading for the diner.

"Good morning, sir!" said Alex with a salute, noticing Bud standing nearby and watching.

Those outside the motel could now see a dark trail of smoke coming from the area of Sidney, far to the eastern horizon.

OOC,[b]Bud[/b] didn't see the meteor shower himself, but he did hear about it. Right now the only thing he knows that has gone wrong is that distant fire. Give Cotton a few more days while I'm away to respond, and if he hasn't by the time I return, I'll post for him as an NPC. I'll post the information for [b]Mr. Foo[/b] now since I'll be away, and there's a 99% chance he'll succeed at his Know roll anyway. Presuming he sees the picture and passes his Know roll, he may read the below spoiler button. [b]Azadeh[/b] is moving to the thread linked below:

Breakfast

Mr. Foo,[b]Mr. Foo[/b] recognized the girl. She came in and booked a room for the night on the way to San Francisco, she had said. She had paid in advance then went to the diner for a meal. This was a few months ago. According to [b]Ellen[/b], the girl had left the room in the same state it had been when she had arrived. There was no car in the parking lot and no one remembered if she left early in the morning or late at night. In fact, the last [b]Mr. Foo[/b] remembered was that the girl went to the diner, but he can't recall her returning.

In Samantha's room-
Samantha flicked on the TV while she got dressed, but it did not work.

In the motel lobby-
"I sure someone see fire and report it," said Ms. Foo. "Try TV. Maybe it on news."

When Ellen turned on the television she got only snow from local stations and frozen images from national networks. She tried every station without success.

Seeing Bud, Mr. Foo says, "Oh hello. Do you need help with something?"

Old Bud:


"No need to salute me son."

Bud grins, "I wasn't ever an officer, just a grunt."

He takes the photo back out of his pocket and shows it to Mr. Foo, "I spoke to your wife inside. She thought you might remember this girl? I'm looking for her for her folks, she's been missing for a while."

8:58 AM
In front of the motel-
"Good to meet you, sir!" said Alex. "My name's Alex. I'm in the Marine reserves. Semper Fi!" He peered at the photo, scratching his head. "She doesn't look familiar, sir. Pretty, though."

Father McCormick also came over and looked at the picture, but he didn't recognize the girl either.

OOC,[b]Mr. Foo[/b], please roll Know. If successful, and you almost certainly will be, you may look at the spoiler button in the 8:57 update. [b]Tony[/b], [b]Cathy[/b], [b]Bobby[/b], and [b]Scotty[/b] are moving to the thread linked below:

Breakfast

In Samantha's room-
Samantha shut off the TV and finished getting dressed, suppressing a yawn. She was rather tired, having spent most of the night watching the meteor shower.

In the motel lobby-
"First credit card reader not work, now TV," said Ms. Foo. "And big fire in Sidney. What is happening?"

Ellen shrugged. "I guess I'll go clean the rooms," she said, stepping outside.

"What should I do?" asked Felice. "I must go. Could I sell you an item of my jewelry for cash, and then pay with that?"

"Don't know if we have enough cash," said Ms. Foo. "Let me take look, Missy Felice." Felice showed her a ring, and the old Chinese woman examined it with a practiced eye.

8:59 AM
In front of the motel-
"I remember seeing her, about a few months ago," said Mr. Foo. "She came in and booked a room for the night on the way to San Francisco, she had said. She had paid in advance then went to the diner for a meal. Ellen said she had left the room in the same state it had been in when she had arrived. There was no car in the parking lot and it's not clear if she left early in the morning or late at night. In fact, the last I remember was that she went to the diner, but I can't recall her returning."

"Anything I can do to help, sir?" Alex asked Bud. "I can tell from the way you carry yourself that you were once in the Corps too. We Marines have to stick together."

OOC,[b]Mr. Foo[/b]'s Know roll (99% stat): [dice]0[/dice]

In Samantha's room-
Samantha stepped out of her room and onto the balcony, closing the door behind her.

In the motel lobby-
"I give you a hundred for the ring," Ms. Foo told Felice, "plus cost of room."

"It's worth more than that," said Felice.

"You ever come back, I give you free night here."

"Well, that's not likely to happen...but I guess I don't have any other choice. Here." She handed her the ring, and Ms. Foo counted out five twenties and gave them to her.

OOC,[b]Ms. Foo[/b]'s Bargain roll (35% skill): [dice]1[/dice] [b]Felice[/b]'s Bargain roll (5% base skill): [dice]2[/dice]

Old Bud:


Bud thanks Mr. Foo, "Thanks a lot for the help, I could do with some breakfast, so I'll go ask across the road."

He looks at Alex, "Yes, I was a marine. Delta Company, 2nd Light Armored Recon Battalion – The Outlaws. I'll buy you a coffee, if you'd like to join me?"

9:00 AM
In front of the motel-
"You're welcome, sir," said Mr. Foo to Bud with a bow.

"Thank you, sir!" said Alex. "It would be my pleasure. Did you see action, sir?"

Ellen Cody, having gathered her cart of cleaning supplies and the vacuum, let herself in to one of the empty rooms downstairs to begin cleaning it.

Samantha came down the stairs from the balcony, yawning again.

Felice exited the lobby and headed for her car, a red Porsche 911.

"Breakfast sounds good right about now," said Father Roger McCormick. "I think I'll head over to the diner too." He headed to the east, a short distance behind Alex and Bud. They crossed the dirt road leading north, which was about halfway between the motel and the diner. From here they could see that there was a Bell helicopter of all things in the parking lot, with three men working on it. A State Police cruiser was also parked nearby with a State Trooper behind the wheel, with two women in lab coats carrying laptops standing outside it. A lovely, dark-skinned woman was walking slowly past a Chevy Blazer parked in the lot, where two bald men were sitting. Two black men emerged from the diner.

In the motel lobby-
"Thank you, have nice day," said Ms. Foo as Felice left. She continued going over last night's receipts.

Old Bud:


"Yeah, a little in Panama and a lot in Desert Storm.

"I'll tell you about it over breakfast."

Bud nods to the two black guys when he passes them, walking straight to the diner.

9:01 AM
In the motel lobby-
Ms. Foo, now alone inside the motel, kept herself busy.

In the motel room-
Ellen started the vacuum cleaner and began running it across the carpet.

In front of the motel-
Felice slid behind the wheel of her cherry red Porsche 911 and started the engine, which purred like a kitten.

Samantha walked up to Mr. Foo. "Good morning," she said. "Did you see that meteor shower last night?"

Bud, Alex, and Roger entered the T-Bone's parking lot.

OOC,[b]Bud[/b], [b]Alex[/b], and [b]Roger[/b] are moving to the thread linked below:

Breakfast

Mr. Foo replies "I did yes. It was really something wasn't it?"

In front of the motel-
Just then, gunshots ripped the air in the distance.

OOC,Everyone in front of the motel may roll Listen to try to determine where the gunshots originated. The base chance is 25%. Those inside the motel will need to roll Listen just to hear the shots, and better successes will give you some indication of direction.

9:02 AM
In front of the motel-
After two gunshots, the shooting stopped and all was quiet again - at least until Felice pulled out with a screech of tires. I'm getting out of here not a moment too soon, she thought, driving east to the dirt road, then turning right and onto I-80.

Mr. Foo jumped slightly at the sudden sounds. To Stephanie he said, "I think we had better get inside.", and he will start heading for the motel.

9:03 AM
In front of the motel-
"Yeah, good idea," said Samantha. "Here, let me help you." She guided Mr. Foo back to the door to the lobby and held it open for him, then followed him inside.

Mr. Foo,There were only two gunshots, and then the shooting stopped. They had come from the direction of the old junkyard east of the T-Bone's garage. I think you meant [b]Samantha[/b], not [b]Stephanie[/b]. Speaking of [b]Stephanie[/b], you are supposed to be playing her too, but you haven't posted for her since early in the game. Please make sure you post for her as well.

In the motel lobby-
Ms. Foo looked up from her paperwork, when she saw her husband enter, followed by Samantha. "Something wrong?" she asked, seeing the expression on his face.

Between the motel and the T-Bone-
Alex and Bud crossed the dirt road halfway between the motel and the truck stop on their way back.

In Chinese, Mr. Foo replies to his wife, "There were gunshots outside, near the diner I think. Maybe just some rednecks, but stay inside until we know more."

9:04 AM
In front of the motel-
Alex and Bud reached the front of the motel in time to see the others go inside. Alex reached into his tent for a minute, taking his AR-15 and a few magazines after slinging his staff across his back. "Got it, sir!" he said.

In the motel lobby-
Ms. Foo nodded and replied in the same language. Samantha just looked confused.

Mr. Foo,"First a fire in Sidney, now this," said [b]Ms. Foo[/b]. "What is happening?"

OOC,[b]Samantha[/b]'s Other Language:Chinese roll (1% base skill) to understand the [b]Foos[/b]: [dice]0[/dice] [b]Felice[/b] is moving to the thread linked below:

Drop Dead Gorgeous

Old Bud:


Bud keeps an eye out in the direction of the junkyard and says, "Let's check on Mr and Mrs Foo, make sure they're okay. Maybe they know what's going on over there."

9:05 AM
In front of the motel-
"Good thinking, sir," said Alex. He and Bud entered the motel lobby.

In the motel lobby-
Ms. Foo looked up when Alex and Bud entered. "Can I help you?" she asked.

Mr. Foo waited to see what Alex and Bud were going to say. He didn't think they'd start any trouble, but today had been very strange already.

9:06 AM
In the motel lobby-
"What's going on?" asked Samantha.

OOC,Everyone may roll Listen. The base skill is 25%.

Old Bud:


"There were gunshots from the junkyard," says Bud, "We came to check that you folks were okay? Alec grabbed his rifle just in case."

Listen,Old Bud - Listen (45%): [dice]0[/dice]

9:07 AM
In the motel lobby-
"Gunshots!" gasped Samantha. "What do we do?" She checked her cell phone. "There's still no signal!"

Old Bud:

"Maybe we should, just stay in here for the minute."


Bud looks at Mr. Foo, "Do you have a gun? Just in case?"

9:08 AM
In the motel lobby-
"I do," said Mr. Foo. "Can't be too careful, especially with those racist nuts nearby. They hate anyone who isn't white, and many of those who are."

Old Bud:

Bud nods knowingly, "Can't be too careful with folk like that about."

He goes to take a look out through the window to try and see what's going on.

Spot Hidden,Bud, spot hidden [dice]0[/dice]

"Best keep that gun handy until we know what's happening."

9:09 AM
In the motel lobby-
Bud only saw what he had seen before. That fire in the distance in Sidney was a glow on the eastern horizon, and black smoke was rising from it.

"If you'll excuse me," said Mr. Foo, "I have business to attend to. Dear, can you handle the front desk?"

"I always do," said his wife.

Mr. Foo bowed and unlocked a door behind the counter, through which he disappeared before shutting it.

OOC,[b]Bud[/b], please roll Listen.

9:10 AM
In the downstairs motel room-
Ellen Cody finished cleaning the room and shut off her vacuum cleaner.

In the motel lobby-
"Now what do we do?" asked Samantha to Bud and Mrs. Foo.

OOC,[b]Bud[/b]'s Listen roll (45% skill) in the lobby: [dice]0[/dice]

Bud,[b]Bud[/b] could hear a sudden exclamation in Chinese beyond the door where [b]Mr. Foo[/b] had gone. [spoiler][b]Bud[/b], you may roll Other Language: Chinese, which has a base skill of 1%, and Psychology, which has a base skill of 5%.[/spoiler]

OOC,Welcome back! I do plan to update all of the threads tomorrow and get back to more frequent updates. The game had stalled for a while, so you didn't miss too much. That roll was close enough that you get something, at least.

Bud,[b]Bud[/b] only knew a few words of Chinese he'd picked up here and there. While he didn't know the exact meaning of the words [b]Mr. Foo[/b] uttered, he got the impression that they were curse words.

Bud steps up to the counter, to be better heard through the closed door and calls out to Mr Foo, "Hey! Is everything alright back there?"

To Samantha he replies, "Well the shooting has stopped at least, so it's probably worth taking a closer look. Find out what's going on."

9:11 AM
In the motel lobby-
"I am well!" called Mr. Foo from behind the door. His wife seemed relieved by that.

"Yeah, that's a thought," said Samantha. "I'm feeling peckish, too. Haven't eaten yet."

"We never did get breakfast, sir," said Alex to Bud. "Let's head back over to the diner. I still have my rifle, just in case."

"I'll get my own rifle. It's in my room. It'll only take me a few minutes, if you'll wait for me. I'll bring my shotgun too, just in case."

The three of them stepped outside.

In front of the motel-
Ellen Cody exited the motel room that she had finished cleaning at the same time as Alex, Bud, and Samantha left the lobby. She moved her cleaning supplies toward the next room over.

Old Bud:


Bud leads the way back towards the diner.

9:15 AM
In front of the motel-
It didn't take too long for Samantha to head upstairs to her room, retrieve her long guns and ammo, and return back down, the rifle slung over her shoulder and the shotgun in her hands. "There," she said. "Now we're loaded for bear. Hey, maybe there was a bear. That would explain the shooting."

OOC,I just needed to get this thread in sync with the others. I'll start moving you to the diner once I'm ready to do a major update on them too, probably this weekend. Two of the players haven't posted yet, so I'll give them a little longer.

9:16 AM
Between the motel and the T-Bone-
Samantha walked with Bud and Alex toward the T-Bone, crossing the dirt road heading north and south between them. "A pistol won't do much to a bear," she continued. "Firing one may frighten one off, but shooting the bear would only make it angry. You need a long gun to have any chance. Of course, when I'm working in Yosemite, I use tranquilizer darts if any bears get ornery. We don't want to kill the animals there."

Ahead of them in the parking lot, they could see three men working on the helicopter, where there were three fuel barrels gathered. They detached the hose from one barrel and attached it to another. One of the men called:
"Why all the weapons? You all expecting trouble?"

9:17 AM
Between the motel and the T-Bone-
Alex, Bud, and Samantha reached the parking lot.

OOC,[b]Alex[/b], [b]Bud[/b], and [b]Samantha[/b] are moving to the thread linked below:

Breakfast

9:18 AM
In the motel room-
Ellen was now more than halfway done cleaning the room. She ran the vacuum over the carpet, the noise drowning out all outside sound.

In the motel lobby-
Ms. Foo remained at the front desk, waiting for any of her customers to return or for her husband to come out of his private room.

9:19 AM
In the motel lobby-
Ms. Foo started a game of solitaire on the computer and began to play.

9:20 AM
In the motel lobby-
Ms. Foo, distracted by the game, heard nothing.

OOC,[b]Ms. Foo[/b]'s Listen roll (25% / 2 = 12.5% base skill) in the lobby: [dice]0[/dice]

9:21 AM
In the motel lobby-
Ms. Foo finished the game of solitaire.

OOC,[b]Ms. Foo[/b], please roll Spot Hidden. The base skill is 25%.

In the motel room-
Ellen was nearly done cleaning the room.

Mrs Fu puts the computer on sleep mode; she can't concentrate on the game anyway. She decides she's got time for a cup of tea before inspecting the rooms after Ellen has cleaned them.

Spot hidden,[dice]0[/dice]

9:22 AM
In the motel lobby-
Ms. Foo noticed nothing out of the ordinary as she poured herself a cup of tea.

In the motel room-
Ellen finished cleaning and shut off the vacuum cleaner.

As it is quiet, Mrs Foo puts down her cup and goes through the door behind her in search of her husband.
"Mr Foo? she says as she pushes the door open.

In the motel lobby-
Ms. Foo found to her surprise that the door to her husband's private room was locked.

How very odd! Mrs Foo knocks hard on the door,
"Mr Foo! What happening in there? Open the door!" she puts her good ear to the door and listens hard.

Listen,[dice]0[/dice]

9:23 AM
In the motel lobby-
There was no answer on the other side of the door, and Ms. Foo could hear nothing through it. It was strange that her husband did not seem to hear her. What could be happening in there? She had never been in his private room before, at his instructions, but she did have keys to every room in the motel including that one.

OOC,[b]Mr. Foo[/b]'s Listen roll (58% skill) to hear his wife: [dice]0[/dice]

In the motel room-
Having finished cleaning the room, Ellen stepped outside.

In front of the motel-

Ellen Cody,When [b]Ellen[/b] stepped outside, she saw two vehicles parked on the dirt road between the motel and the T-Bone, facing north. One was a white panel van, and the other was a large white pickup truck. A skinhead knelt in the back of the pickup truck, with a sniper rifle on a bipod fixed to the far end that he had trained on the diner. Another one was running back toward the van, and several more were entering the diner through the front doors. She realized that the running man held a detonator in his hand, and there was a satchel by the gas pumps. [spoiler]Spot Hidden roll (32% skill) looking at the skinheads: [dice]1[/dice][/spoiler]

"There's trouble at the T-Bone!" Ellen called, loud enough for Ms. Foo to hear.

"There trouble here too!" Says Mrs Foo, sharply. "I hope Mr Foo he not have bad turn. You stay here while I get key." She says to Ellen and then rummages through her keys for the correct one.

Mr Handy,Where does Mrs Foo keep her gun?

9:24 AM
In the motel lobby-
Ellen hurried into the lobby. "A bunch of those skinheads showed up at the T-Bone!" she gasped, out of breath. "They came in two vehicles, a van and a pickup. They parked in the dirt road between here and the truck stop. There's a sniper in the back of the pickup truck with his sights trained on the diner, and another skinhead just ran back to the van with a detonator in his hand! There's a satchel charge by the gas pumps! The rest of the skinheads all went into the diner. Charlie's in there! What can we do?"

Ms. Foo found the right key and unlocked the door to her husband's private room and stepped inside. Hopefully he would know what to do. She was surprised by what she saw. Mr. Foo sitting in a chair in front of a console of equipment that was probably high-tech in its day, though its day was long gone. His back was to the door, and he had headphones covering his ears, which explained why he hadn't heard the knocking and calling. He also had an MP-5 submachine gun strapped across his back and his antique sword in a scabbard on his belt. A suppressor was screwed onto the barrel of the MP-5. He was sweating profusely, wiping his brow with a handkerchief every so often.

Ms. Foo,You don't actually have a gun of your own, just the skill to use one. You do know that [b]Mr. Foo[/b] has a pistol, but the MP-5 is new to you.

Mrs Foo walks around to stand at her husband's side and get his attention. If he takes off his earphones she says,
"It all happening again, Mr Foo? Thinking of a time in their distant past when they had to survive against the odds.

9:25 AM
In the motel lobby-
Ellen followed Ms. Foo into the private room.

In the private room-
Mr. Foo sprang up when his wife entered his field of vision and assumed a defensive stance automatically, then relaxed when he recognized her. He took off his headphones. "Something like that," he said after she spoke, "only worse. The world will never be the same."

Ellen gaped at her surroundings. "What is this place?" she asked. "Never mind, the world can wait. We've got trouble right across the road." She explained to him what he had told his wife. "We have to do something! Charlie's at the diner!"

"No! We cannot go over there, it not safe for us. Charlie, he be okay. Maybe, Mr Foo we all go upstairs and look from balcony?" Says Mrs Foo. She is relieved to see her husband is okay, whatever his accessories.

9:26 AM
In the private room-
"But what if he's not?" cried Ellen.

"We shall see what the situation is before we do anything," said Mr. Foo. "My wife is right that we need to get on the balcony. That will give us the high ground and a better view. I'll explain all this later - if there is a later. This way." He headed back out to the lobby, motioning for the women to follow. Ellen went along, still looking bewildered.

Mrs Foo hurried after her husband after locking the door again. She might boss him around on a usual day but in a crisis, as in the olden days, Mr Foo was the boss.

9:27 AM
In the motel lobby-
Ms. Foo followed her husband and Ellen, who stepped outside through the front door. She could still see what was going on out there through the open door even before she stepped outside.

Outside the motel-
Mr. Foo and Ellen Cody stepped outside on their way to the balcony stairs, where they saw Michael and Jenny scurrying to Michael's car and getting inside. They looked surprised to see Mr. Foo carrying a large submachine gun with a suppressor attached to its barrel and wearing an antique Chinese sword on a scabbard on his belt. Two vehicles were parked on the dirt road halfway between the motel and the T-Bone, facing north. A white panel van with a skinhead in the driver's seat was parked in front of a large white pickup truck with another skinhead with a sniper rifle trained on the diner. Both men were focused on the diner and the area in the front of it, and they paid none of them any heed. The man in the van held a detonator in his hand as Ellen had said.

Outside the diner, the Lathan family exited in rather a hurry. There was an eighteen wheel truck parked next to the broken-down helicopter, and Baldwin was loading a barrel into the back of the truck with the help of another black man and the pilot. The satchel charge was also visible against one of the gas pumps.

"Are you all right?" Mr. Foo asked Michael and Jenny. "What is happening at the diner?"

Mrs Foo looks with concern across the road and calls through the door. "Ellen, you wait!" And then in Mandarin she says,

Mr Foo,"Look, Mr Foo, that spiky young man in the truck has a detonator and there are the charges by the gas pump. I remember those from the old days and they go up with a whoomph! If we are outside when it happens then we are flatter than the burgers at the T Bone!"

Michael opens his window and speaks to Mr Foo.
"Yes thanks; we are just off to look at that meteorite that landed to the north. I'm sorry, I don't know what's going on over there, I think these skinheads are intent on talking to someone at the restaurant, I don't know who and I don't know why they are armed to the teeth."
He starts the engine.

9:28 AM
Outside the motel-
The engine turned over, and Michael was able to start driving. "The meteorite came down several miles that way," said Jenny, pointing along the dirt road. "I guess we'll have to drive past the skinheads, but they left us alone so far."

Samantha rounded the far corner of the T-Bone, disappearing from sight, but the Lathans started to walk back toward the motel, their hands raised in the air. They soon reached the dirt road.

Mr. Foo groaned. "If they keep coming this way, the skinheads could look back at the motel," he said. "They must not see me armed." He ducked back into the lobby.

In the motel lobby-
Mr. Foo stood beside the window so that he could see out, though he kept his weapons out of sight from outside. He spoke to his wife in Mandarin.

Mr. and Ms. Foo,"I don't know how much explosives there are," he said, "but I doubt it's enough in that small charge to reach all the way to the motel, even when the gas cooks off. There's a football field's worth of distance between here and there. I'd hate to be in the diner if it blew, though. Unfortunately, my MP-5 is just the baby brother of an assault rifle. It doesn't quite have the range to hit reliably from here. It's a difficult shot, and while I would probably make it, I can't guarantee it. I'd need to sneak closer, but I can't do that while they might be looking this way. There's nothing but open ground between the motel and the road."

Mrs Foo replies to her husband in Mandarin. She sounds like she's telling him off and she's expressive with the use of her finger.

Mr Foo,Why would you want to blow up the gas pump? Think of the damage. And it would put the visitors off once the news got out. Now you be nice to this family and their sweet boys.

Michael steps on the accelerator and drives carefully out of the parking lot and onto the road, heading in the direction of the meteorite.

In the motel lobby-
Mr. Foo spoke calmly in Mandarin.

Mr. and Ms. Foo,"You misunderstand," he replied. "I don't want to detonate the bomb. I want to kill the skinhead with the detonator so that [i]he[/i] cannot detonate it. Then I'll have to worry about the sniper, but I think I can take them both out quietly. I can use the van itself for cover when I go after the one with the detonator. With the pickup truck parked behind it, the sniper won't be able to see me. I just have to get up close to them without them looking in this direction."

9:29 AM
Outside the motel-
Michael drove off onto the dirt road north of the skinheads' vehicles, with Jenny in the passenger seat. The skinheads glanced their way, but they did nothing.

The Lathans crossed the rest of the distance to the motel. The skinheads looked back at them until they were safely past, then returned their full attention to the diner.

Mr. Foo emerged from the motel's front door, still armed. "Good morning," he said.

OOC,[b]Jenny[/b] and [b]Michael[/b] are moving to the thread linked below:

Fallen Star

Tony lets out a breath once they get past the skinheads without issue. That could have gone far worse.

He stars at Mr.Foo mouth agape as the armed man greets them as if it's the most natural thing in the world. But today had been weird so far.

"Hello there," he finally says, not wanting to tick off the motel owner. "We're just going to get a few snacks from inside the motel and then hit the road! ha, ha."

Mr Foo,"Oh, of course! Yes, that would be an easy shot for you. I'll stay here. Take care, dear."

Mrs Foo cackles to her husband in Mandarin. She kisses him and then watches him go through the door. She sees the family coming forward and goes to sit behind the counter, reminiscing on the old days.

9:30 AM
Outside the motel-
"Of course," said Mr. Foo. "My wife can check you out, sir." He removed a pistol from his inside jacket pocket and passed it and a small case of magazines for it through the door to Ms. Foo. "Hold on to these, dear, but stay inside. All of you should stay inside for now, just in case."

"Are you gonna kill those guys?" asked Bobby, his eyes wide. "That is so awesome! I wanna watch!"

"That would not be advisable. Stay in the motel, and don't go near the windows. If you hear gunshots, you'll know something went wrong. If you hear an explosion, you'll know something went very wrong."

"Be careful," said Ellen, ducking into the motel. The Lathan family entered the lobby as well.

Mr. Foo began to make his way stealthily toward the van. He had only gotten about halfway to the vehicles when the sniper suddenly looked back. "Nitro, behind us!" he called.

OOC,[b]Mr. Foo[/b]'s Sneak roll (66% skill) to approach the skinhead silently: [dice]0[/dice] Detonator skinhead's Listen roll: [dice]1[/dice] Sniper skinhead's Listen roll: [dice]2[/dice]

Tony leads his family inside the motel and to safety. But something in him was concerned about the owner. the Foos had been friendly to them, and he hoped nothing bad happened to either of them. So as the rest of his family goes further inside he glances out the window to see what was happening.

When he sees what is happening, he gasps. "Uh oh. I think one of them has seen him."

Mrs Foo looks very pale standing behind the counter with the revolver clasped in her wizened hands. She is trying very hard not to rush out and help her husband.
"Mr Foo, he know what he doing. Him very capable man!" she says loyally but they could she she was almost at the point of panic. "He my wuxia!" She whispers.

9:30:12 AM
Between the motel and the T-Bone-
"Get him, Deadeye!" shouted Nitro, fumbling with the detonator. The sniper struggled to detach the rifle's bipod so that he could turn and fire the other way.

This gave Mr. Foo the opportunity to fire first. While he normally had enough fire discipline not to go full automatic, this situation called for it. He had to take down Nitro before he set off the bomb, and he had to shoot Deadeye before the sniper plugged him. This meant that he needed to divide his fire between them, which would make hitting more of a challenge, but he had to take a chance in order to hit both targets before either could act. Nitro was riddled with bullets, several striking his left arm, two hitting him in the upper body, and one snapping his head back. The detonator slipped from his dead fingers to the floor of the truck, and there was nothing left of him but a bloody mess. The SMG made very little noise. Mr. Foo then turned the barrel on Deadeye, but it pulled up and to the right, the bullets passing harmlessly over him. Then Deadeye got his rifle free and returned fire, striking Mr. Foo in the chest. The old man collapsed, motionless.

OOC,[b]Mr. Foo[/b]'s Submachine Gun roll (53% skill) firing a burst of 10 bullets at [b]Nitro[/b]: [dice]0[/dice] How many bullets hit [b]Nitro[/b]? [dice]2[/dice] Hit location for 9mm bullet #1: [dice]3[/dice] Damage for 9mm bullet #1: [dice]4[/dice] Hit location for 9mm bullet #2: [dice]5[/dice] Damage for 9mm bullet #2: [dice]6[/dice] Hit location for 9mm bullet #3: [dice]7[/dice] Damage for 9mm bullet #3: [dice]8[/dice] Hit location for 9mm bullet #4: [dice]9[/dice] Damage for 9mm bullet #4: [dice]10[/dice] Hit location for 9mm bullet #5: [dice]11[/dice] Damage for 9mm bullet #5: [dice]12[/dice] Hit location for 9mm bullet #6: [dice]13[/dice] Damage for 9mm bullet #6: [dice]14[/dice] Hit location for 9mm bullet #7: [dice]15[/dice] Damage for 9mm bullet #7: [dice]16[/dice] [b]Mr. Foo[/b]'s Submachine Gun roll (53% skill) firing a burst of 10 bullets at [b]Deadeye[/b]: [dice]1[/dice] [b]Deadeye[/b]'s Rifle roll (75% skill) shooting at [b]Mr. Foo[/b]: [dice]17[/dice] Hit location on [b]Mr. Foo[/b]: [dice]18[/dice] Damage to [b]Mr. Foo[/b]: [dice]19[/dice] Everyone who was watching or who looks outside now, please roll Sanity. Sanity loss is 1/1D4+1, so you lose 1 Sanity if you succeed but 1D4+1 Sanity if you fail. If you lose 5 Sanity, you must roll Idea. If you succeed at the Idea roll, you go temporarily insane. If you don't go insane, you may act freely. The sniper is 50 yards away from the motel right now, which is extreme range for Ms. Foo's pistol. Her skill would be divided by eight if she were to fire from here. [b]Deadeye[/b]'s rifle has plenty of range, on the other hand.

ooc,Woah. Do not envy you all those rolls. Also poor Mr. Foo. :(

San 60%,[dice]0[/dice] Possible loss if fail [dice]1[/dice]

Tony is shocked by the violence, but handles it surprisingly well. The fact that this was so out of the ordinary for him had to have helped.

"Holy hell!" he exclaims, before looking back at Mrs. Foo. "Your husband was shot. And I don't see him moving... We need to stay inside; that man has some kind of rifle and he'll be able to hit any of us if we go outside!"

Much as Tony wants to help in some way, he's unarmed and has his own family to look after, so he intended to take his own advice and stay inside.

"Aiiiiiii!" Mrs Foo wails. She drops her revolver on the counter and runs outside, flailing her arms and sobbing. She collapses down onto Mr Foo, crying in Mandarin.

Sanity roll,[dice]0[/dice][dice]1[/dice]whoops. Idea:[dice]2[/dice] I decided she'd do this anyway before the dice rolls as it is such a massive loss for her. Let's see if she goes insane. Poor Mrs Foo!

Between the motel and the T-Bone-
In the distance, the police cruiser stopped shortly after it started, and the man in the shotgun seat aimed his rifle out the window and shot the skinhead sniper in the back of his left leg, rupturing his femoral artery and severing the limb. He fell, bleeding out in the bed of the pickup truck.

OOC,[b]Ms. Foo[/b] does go temporarily insane. When I do a full update, I'll roll for her insanity, but it may not be what you have planned. She might not be able to go outside (and there's a limit to how fast she can move), and she may hold onto the pistol (which is an automatic rather than a revolver). It's even possible that she'll become so enraged that she'll go on a rampage against the skinheads still in the diner and try to gun them down.

9:31 AM
In the motel-
"Whoa, awesome!" gasped Bobby, who of course had watched from the window, as had his brother Scotty.

Cathy rushed up to them and took them by the shoulders. "You heard him, boys, stay away from the-" Then she saw the carnage and gulped. "I haven't forgotten how to be a doctor." She grabbed the first aid kit from the wall and ran out the front door.

"Ready player one," said Scotty, snatching up Ms. Foo's dropped pistol and running outside.

"Mr. Foo!" cried Ellen, following them.

"Hey, wait for me!" called Bobby, also leaving. "I wanna gun too!"

Only Tony remained in the lobby for now.

OOC,[b]Ellen[/b]'s Sanity roll (current level 75) for seeing [b]Nitro[/b] and [b]Deadeye[/b] killed messily: [dice]0[/dice] [b]Cathy[/b]'s Sanity roll (current level 45) for seeing [b]Nitro[/b] and [b]Deadeye[/b] killed messily: [dice]1[/dice] [b]Bobby[/b]'s Sanity roll (current level 55) for seeing [b]Nitro[/b] and [b]Deadeye[/b] killed messily: [dice]2[/dice] [b]Scotty[/b]'s Sanity roll (current level 65) for seeing [b]Nitro[/b] and [b]Deadeye[/b] killed messily: [dice]3[/dice] [b]Scotty[/b]'s Sanity loss: [dice]6[/dice] [b]Scotty[/b]'s Idea roll (70% stat) to avoid temporary insanity - failure is good: [dice]7[/dice] Type of [b]Scotty[/b]'s temporary insanity: [dice]8[/dice] Duration of [b]Scotty[/b]'s temporary insanity: [dice]9[/dice] Type of [b]Ms. Foo[/b]'s temporary insanity: [dice]4[/dice] Duration of [b]Ms. Foo[/b]'s temporary insanity: [dice]5[/dice]

Ms. Foo,[b]Ms. Foo[/b]'s actions so far can stand, as they fit with her temporary insanity, but she has only just gotten outside of the motel at this point. However, her temporary insanity is to flee in terror, so she won't stop at her husband. You may choose which direction she runs. Her insanity lasts for 12 combat rounds, including the five that just passed. There are seven remaining.

Scotty Lathan,[b]Scotty[/b] believes that the real world is a video game, and that he's the hero. His insanity lasts for 10 combat rounds, including the five that just passed. There are five remaining.

In front of the motel-
As everyone emerged from the motel, the corpse of Deadeye began to twitch. Leaving the rifle in the bed of the pickup truck in a pool of his own blood with his severed leg, he climbed over the edge and flopped onto the ground, his eyes red and full of more hate than he had ever had when he had still been alive. He then began to drag himself across the ground toward where Mr. Foo lay.

In the distance, the police cruiser pulled onto the highway and then did a U-Turn, facing east. The driver stopped the truck and got out of it.

OOC,Everyone, please roll Sanity for seeing [b]Deadeye[/b] rise from the dead. Sanity loss is 1/1D8, so you lose 1 Sanity if you succeed or 1D8 if you fail. If you lose 5 or more Sanity, you must roll Idea. If you succeed at the Idea roll, you go temporarily insane. If you are [i]already[/i] temporarily insane, the duration of your insanity will be extended. You may also conceivably go indefinitely insane if you lose enough Sanity. If you don't go insane, you may act freely. [b]Deadeye[/b] is fifty yards from the motel, and [b]Mr. Foo[/b] is 25 yards from both.

San 59%,[dice]0[/dice] [dice]1[/dice] potential loss.

"Kids! Cathy! What the heck are you doing? Get back in here!" Tony follows after his family.

Then he sees the man start to move. The man he is certain was dead just a moment ago. His face grows pale and his eyes go wide, and he just barely holds onto his composure.

But Scotty is still running closer towards him, and he knows that this man will hurt his son.

"SCOTTY!"

So Tony attempts to catch up to his son, restrain him, and make him drop his gun.

"Everyone stay back! There's something wrong with that man, he should be, should be dead!"

grapple,I don't have my book in front of me so am uncertain what the default for grapple is, though I believe it's 25%? Hoping I get some sort of bonus given the size difference between Tony and his son. But here it goes. [dice]2[/dice]

Ms Foo runs off in a blind panic, wailing and tearing her hair; but due to her old legs it's more of a doddering stumble round in circles. She doesn't even seem to see her husband lying on the floor. Eventually she stumbles in the direction south along the length of the motel.

Sanity,[dice]0[/dice]

9:31:12 AM
In front of the motel-
"Leeeerooooy Jenkins!" shouted Scotty as he ran toward Mr. Foo, spotting the dropped submachine gun. "Wow, that's much better than my starting weapons!" He managed to clear most of the distance.

"Scotty, stop!" cried Cathy, who could barely keep up with him.

Bobby trailed behind, perhaps getting a third of the way there. Ellen was terrified, but she ran toward her fallen boss to help him however she could, closing half the distance. Ms. Foo hobbled south, in the direction of the highway, reaching the bottom of the nearest set of stairs that led to the balcony. Tony emerged from the motel and chased after his family as fast as he could, which wasn't all that fast.

The dead sniper crawled toward Mr. Foo slowly, his eyes red with hunger. He couldn't move very fast, and he was still twenty yards away from the old man.

Across the way at the diner, a man had leaned around the corner of the garage and fired a rifle, which had struck the dead man in the back, but he didn't even seem to notice. Then two skinheads burst out of the diner's front doors, one with an assault rifle with a grenade launcher under its barrel, and the other with a shotgun. The truck driver fired twice at the one with the rifle. One shot hit him in the chest, but he was only knocked back a little. Then he fired a grenade into the truck driver, which exploded and shredded his left arm!

OOC,[b]Ms. Foo[/b]'s Sanity loss for seeing the zombie: [dice]0[/dice] [b]Ellen[/b]'s Sanity roll (current level 74) for seeing the zombie: [dice]1[/dice] [b]Ellen[/b]'s Sanity loss: [dice]5[/dice] [b]Ellen[/b]'s Idea roll (65% stat) to avoid temporary insanity - failure is good: [dice]6[/dice] [b]Cathy[/b]'s Sanity roll (current level 44) for seeing the zombie: [dice]2[/dice] [b]Bobby[/b]'s Sanity roll (current level 54) for seeing the zombie: [dice]3[/dice] [b]Scotty[/b]'s Sanity roll (current level 60) for seeing the zombie: [dice]4[/dice] [b]Tony[/b]'s Fast Talk roll (60% skill) to get [b]Bobby[/b] to stop ([b]Scotty[/b] is insane, and [b]Cathy[/b] will not drop back without him): [dice]7[/dice] The default level for Grapple is 25%. There's no bonus for the size differential (a smaller target would actually find it easier to evade or wriggle away). You do get a +10 bonus due to your special thing, but you'll have to catch up to [b]Scotty[/b] in order to grab him, and he's faster than you and has a headstart. I'll hold that roll in reserve in case you do reach him. The roll succeeds as it is, and it's an even better success with the bonus.

Idea 70%,[dice]0[/dice] Shoot, well there goes my idea. :o

"Scotty stop right now or I swear to God you're grounded until college!" Tony attempts to reason with his son, but he's ineffective at the best of times and this is decidedly worse.

He sees the violence and chaos going but his only focus is on stopping his son from doing something stupid. If only he had taken the stairs more often rather than the elevator, maybe he'd be able to reach him. But as it was he's already huffing and nowhere near close enough to Scotty to stop him.

Ms Foo continues to wail and tear her hair.

9:31:24 AM
In front of the motel-
Cathy, Scotty, and Ellen all reached Mr. Foo. "These graphics are Intense!" said Scotty, stooping to retrieve the dropped SMG. "Check out all the blood and gore!"

Tony kept pursuing his family, having gotten about two thirds of the way to Mr. Foo. Bobby was a couple of yards in front of him. The dead man kept clawing his way forward, and he was now about fifteen yards from Mr. Foo - and those who had reached him.

Ms. Foo ran onward, reaching the southeast corner of the motel. Ahead lay more parking lot and then I-80, while around the corner the high grass behind the motel was visible in the distance.

To the east, the man next to the garage was joined by a woman, who fired a shotgun at the skinheads in front of the diner. The man fired his rifle at them. Unfortunately, both of them missed. Then the skinhead with the shotgun returned fire, blasting the woman in the right arm and dropping her, though the man beside her was unhurt.

"We got innocent people in here!" shouted the skinhead with the assault rifle. "Hold your fire and stay away, or they might get hurt!" Then both skinheads began to backpedal to the diner's front doors. However, the truck driver showed no sign of stopping. While his left arm was useless, his right arm still held the revolver. Seeing the woman go down, he took aim at the skinhead with the shotgun who had dropped her...

Tony continues to pant and pursue Scotty, his eyes widening as he picks up the SMG. "No! Don't touch that!"

9:31:36 AM
In front of the motel-
Across the road outside the diner, the truck driver fired at the skinhead with the shotgun, but he missed. The man returned fire, blowing off the driver's leg and sending him sprawling backward. The man who had been in the truck with him was using the truck for cover. At the same time, a man fired a rifle over the roof of the State Police cruiser out on the highway and shot the skinhead with the assault rifle in the heart, downing him. The man by the garage pulled the wounded woman around the corner and out of view.

Scotty slipped his pistol into his waistband and snatched up the submachine gun a split second before his mother was going to grab it to keep it away from him. "Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho!" he shouted. He turned it on the crawling dead man and sprayed bullets at him until the gun ran out of ammo. The gun made very little noise when it fired, sounding like someone farting, due to the suppressor on the barrel. Half of the bullets struck the crawling dead man, two in the head, two in the chest, and one in the arm. The dead man finally stopped moving. "Yeah!" cheered Scotty. "I killed the zombie! This game is easy!"

"That was the most awesome thing I ever saw," said Bobby, who had just caught up with Scotty, his eyes wide. "Way to go, little bro!"

"Scotty, this is not a game," said Cathy, torn between worry, astonishment, and admiration.

"Isn't it?"

With the immediate danger over, Cathy knelt to do what she could for Mr. Foo. She did an excellent job and managed to stabilize him and stop the bleeding. The bullet had passed straight through him, so it didn't need to be removed. Mr. Foo gradually regained consciousness. Just then Tony arrived, almost out of breath.

OOC,[b]Cathy[/b]'s initiative roll on DEX 15: [dice]0[/dice] [b]Scotty[/b]'s initiative roll on DEX 15: [dice]1[/dice] [b]Scotty[/b]'s Submachine Gun roll (15% base skill + 15[automatic fire] = 30%) shooting at the zombie: [dice]2[/dice] How many bullets hit? [dice]3[/dice] Hit location on zombie, bullet #1: [dice]4[/dice] Damage to zombie from 9mm bullet #1: [dice]5[/dice] Hit location on zombie, bullet #2: [dice]6[/dice] Damage to zombie from 9mm bullet #2: [dice]7[/dice] Hit location on zombie, bullet #3: [dice]8[/dice] Damage to zombie from 9mm bullet #3: [dice]9[/dice] Hit location on zombie, bullet #4: [dice]10[/dice] Damage to zombie from 9mm bullet #4: [dice]11[/dice] Hit location on zombie, bullet #5: [dice]12[/dice] Damage to zombie from 9mm bullet #5: [dice]13[/dice] [b]Cathy[/b]'s Medicine roll (75% skill) treating [b]Mr. Foo[/b]'s wound: [dice]14[/dice] HP regained by [b]Mr. Foo[/b]: [dice]15[/dice] [b]Tony[/b], you'll be able to grab [b]Scotty[/b] after he acts. There's no need to roll Sanity for seeing [b]Baldwin[/b] killed, as your attention was elsewhere and he is quite far away.

On the highway-
Ms. Foo kept running, reaching the asphalt ribbon of I-80, which went off into the distance to the left and right. To the left was the police car. Ahead was nothing but flat wilderness.

Tony lets out a scream when Scotty fires the gun, and his eyes widen when he tears the menacing creature apart.

"Holy--" (The resultant profanity is mercifully cut off by the sound of a rifle shot.)

Then reality hits,and he shakes off his surprise and grabs Scotty. "That's enough of that, young man! What were you thinking? You could have gotten you, Bobby, and your mother killed!" Part of him's concerned that neither of his son's seem all that horrified by the zombies or the horrific violence, but maybe that was for the best.

He sees his wife save the life of the old man, and he breathes a sigh of relief. "Good going, hun." Oddly, he feels more attracted to her now then he has in years. Nothing like a near death experience to bring back that sense of romance their marriage had been missing lately.

Ms Foo keeps on rolling...

9:31:48 AM
South of the highway-
Ms. Foo kept running south across the highway and into the grassland beyond.

Ms. Foo,You have three more rounds of fleeing. Also, you are not obligated to keep running in the same direction if you don't want to keep going that way.

In front of the motel-
Across the road, the skinhead with the shotgun was hit in the groin by the rifle shot and fell next to his buddy.

"I need more ammo," said Scotty, squatting down next to Mr. Foo and taking a magazine from his belt, which he then proceeded to reload into the SMG. Bobby patted Scotty on the head, and he beamed. Then Tony finally caught up to Scotty and grabbed him. "Don't be silly, Dad," said Scotty. "I'm really good at this. Anyway, if we die, we just respawn back at the last save point."

"Um, what?!" said Cathy.

Mr. Foo sat up gingerly with Ellen's help. "Thank you, ma'am," he said to Cathy. "I thought when I was shot that that was finally the end of me." He saw Scotty with his submachine gun. "Young man, I would like that back, please. And the pistol. Where did you get it? I gave that to my wife...where is she?" He glanced around.

OOC,Everyone, please roll Spot Hidden. The base skill is 25%.

Tony's equally perplexed by Scotty's behavior. He looks to his wife and shrugs.

Then Mr. Foo gets up, much to his relief. "Oh, thank God. I thought... well, you know. The skinheads are mostly dead, though a few retreated inside. Be careful, though. One of them came back or something."

An idea occurs to him, and he struggles to remember the video games he had played back some decades now. "Oh, did you hear that, Scotty? Um, Princess Foo is missing. We need to go find her before the, uh... goombas get her." He says, trying to convince his son to avoid shooting anything else and hopefully give the weapons up.

fast talk 60%,[dice]0[/dice]

If only this was like Super Mario. Then you could stomp on the things heads. I'm not sure that works with whatever we're dealing with.

Edit:

Spot Hidden 25%,[dice]1[/dice]

Ms Foo comes to a stop as soon as the ground turns rough underfoot. Then she abruptly turns and starts running back towards the motel. "Ellen you come pick up this rubbish from floor!" She chatters.

ooc,If I'd known that, she would have run up the stairs to the balcony!

9:32 AM
On the highway-
Ms. Foo turned around and ran back, crossing I-80 again.

OOC,I'm sorry, I should have made it clear. It shouldn't affect anything, and you should be at the base of the stairs by the time the insanity wears off if you keep going this way. Please roll Spot Hidden. The base skill is 25%.

Between the motel and the dirt road-
Mr. Foo stood up with Ellen and Cathy's help and looked around as Scotty returned his weapons to him. Then Scotty shook his head and blinked. "Wait, that was real?" he said. "But zombies aren't real. That means that was a real live, real dead zombie - and I killed it!"

"Well done," said Mr. Foo, "but now I suggest that you and your family get inside. I must see to my wife. More trouble is coming." Ellen helped him move toward Ms. Foo, and they made it about a quarter of the way back to the motel.

OOC,[b]Mr. Foo[/b]'s Spot Hidden roll (76% skill) in front of the motel: [dice]0[/dice] [b]Ellen[/b]'s Spot Hidden roll (32% skill) in front of the motel: [dice]1[/dice] [b]Cathy[/b]'s Spot Hidden roll (25% base skill) in front of the motel: [dice]2[/dice] [b]Bobby[/b]'s Spot Hidden roll (25% base skill) in front of the motel: [dice]3[/dice] [b]Scotty[/b]'s Spot Hidden roll (55% skill) in front of the motel: [dice]4[/dice]

Mr. Foo,[b]Mr. Foo[/b] saw a group of four skinheads with two female hostages emerge from around the rear corner of the diner and run toward the vehicles. One of the skinheads with a pistol and one of the hostages pulled ahead. The other three, two with shotguns and one with a pistol and the other hostage, lagged behind a little. He also noticed that there were some people walking on the road almost a mile to the east, heading slowly closer, but he couldn't make out details yet.

Scotty Lathan,Your temporary insanity is over.

"You heard him," Tony says. "Let's all get back inside. Those skinheads types are going to be mad, and I don't want to be around when they come back." He ushers his family back to the motel. "Let's all get some breakfast."

He calls out to Mr. Foo and Ellen. "Hey, uh, be careful guys. I don't think it's safe out here."

Mrs Foo totters back towards the motel.

spot hidden (25%),[dice]0[/dice]

9:32:24 AM
In front of the motel-
Ms. Foo hurried back to the motel, soon reaching the bottom of the stairs to the balcony. Cathy, Bobby, and Scotty were just outside the motel's front door by now, and Tony was nearly there. Mr. Foo, with Ellen's help, had nearly reached his wife.

"Are you all right, dear?" he asked. "Quickly, get inside." He glanced back, nervously.

Across the road, the man with the rifle got back in the police cruiser, which drove into the parking lot.

Ms. Foo,Your temporary insanity is over.

Tony keeps heading to the motel, trying to usher his family inside before following them in.

Mrs Foo can't believe her eyes at seeing her husband back on his feet and she seems a little confused. Looking back towards the road, "I was looking for Ellen- I thought there was a mess, it needed cleaning up but now I'm not so sure." She shakes her head and takes her husband's hand, grasping it tightly. She has a big beaming smile as he leads her back towards the motel.

9:32:36 AM
In front of the motel-
Cathy and her sons entered the motel.

Mr. Foo gave his wife back the pistol. "Inside, quickly," he said. The two of them, along with Ellen and Tony, were now outside the front door.

One of the skinheads, one hand holding his pistol and another clutching Sally by the arm, rounded the front of the van, dragging her with him. In the T-Bone's parking lot, the State Police cruiser pulled back onto the highway, while two men got into the truck and closed the doors. No sooner had they done so than the dead truck driver began to stir. His eyes opened, red with rage and hunger. Though he had only one leg and one usable arm, he was still somehow able to move...

OOC,Everyone, please roll Sanity for seeing him rise from the dead. Sanity loss is 1/1D8, so you lose 1 Sanity if you succeed or 1D8 if you fail. You can lose at most 8 total Sanity for seeing zombies during this chapter, so if you've already lost Sanity for seeing zombies, the maximum you lose will be capped. For instance, if you lost 4 Sanity previously for seeing a zombie, you can lose at most 4 now. Any roll of 5 or higher will count as 4 instead. If you lose 5 or more Sanity, please roll Idea. If the Idea roll succeeds, you will go temporarily insane. If you do not go insane, you may act freely.

San 55%,[dice]0[/dice] Loss [dice]1[/dice]

The sight of the skinheads were bad enough. But when another one of these dead things started to rise, Tony screams. He runs to the hotel door and looks towards the others. "Everyone get inside!" Hoping to usher them in before closing and locking the door behind him.

Mrs Foo takes the revolver with a steady hand; she is feeling so much better now. She sees the dead body start to scrape across the floor and she clutches her husband's arm.

Sanity 55%,[dice]0[/dice] lose 1 San.

"Look, look, that dead man he get up again. Quickly we go up the stairs and you shoot him!" She gabbers. "I shoot him, nasty thing!"

9:32:48 AM
In front of the motel-
The Foos, Ellen Cody, and Tony Lathan fled inside, Tony slamming and locking the front door behind them.

OOC,[b]Ms. Foo[/b] started with 55% Sanity, but her Sanity score has been reduced since then, so that roll is a failure. [b]Mr. Foo[/b]'s Sanity roll (current level 85) for seeing [b]Baldwin[/b] rise from the dead: [dice]0[/dice] [b]Ms. Foo[/b]'s Sanity loss (maximum of 6): [dice]1[/dice] [b]Ellen[/b]'s Sanity roll (current level 69) for seeing [b]Baldwin[/b] rise from the dead: [dice]2[/dice]

In the motel lobby-
Bobby and Scotty watched from the window in stunned silence. "Get away from there!" cried Cathy, pulling the curtains shut. Bobby backed away, but Scotty remained motionless until his mother pulled him away from the window.

"We don't have the range to hit them from here," said Mr. Foo. "The only way to the upstairs rooms is to go outside and climb the stairs to the balcony, but it's too exposed out there. The skinheads will get that sniper's rifle, and they could pick us off, and they have hostages. Hopefully they'll clear out of here soon."

"And take the hostages with them?" asked Ellen.

"I hope not, but there's no way we can stop them. Were I not wounded, I might have a chance, but I'll never survive a second shot from that rifle. And if I were to die, I would most likely become like the others who died."

OOC,[b]Cathy[/b]'s Sanity roll (current level 43) for seeing [b]Baldwin[/b] rise from the dead: [dice]3[/dice] [b]Bobby[/b]'s Sanity roll (current level 53) for seeing [b]Baldwin[/b] rise from the dead: [dice]4[/dice] [b]Scotty[/b]'s Sanity roll (current level 59) for seeing [b]Baldwin[/b] rise from the dead: [dice]5[/dice] [b]Scotty[/b]'s Sanity loss (maximum of 7): [dice]6[/dice] [b]Scotty[/b]'s Idea roll (70% stat) to avoid temporary insanity - failure is good: [dice]7[/dice] Type and duration of temporary insanity: [dice]8[/dice] [dice]9[/dice] Everyone may roll Listen. The base skill is 25%.

Scotty Lathan,You are now temporarily insane for the next 11 rounds. You are catatonic and can do nothing on your own, though you will offer no resistance if others move you.

"Oh jeez," Tony says, running his hand through his hair. "This is not good. Another one of those dead things is walking around. What is this gonna do to the life insurance industry? Can you imagine all the claim disputes?"

"We just need to call the police. They'll know what to do." He takes out his cell and dials 911.

"No, not call police, too many questions. Mr Foo he be in big trouble, shoot man! We put tables in front of door. And make some tea!" Mrs Foo is almost feeling her old self again now she is back on her own turf.

9:33 AM
In the motel lobby-
Tony found that his phone had no signal.

"The police are the least of our worries," said Mr. Foo, sitting down in a chair and gripping his SMG, his wound sapping his strength. "My wife is right, though, we must barricade the door. Or rather, you must. I don't think I'll be of much help."

Ellen and Bobby dragged one of the lobby tables over to the front door, turned it on its side, and blocked the entrance with it.

The sounds of gunfire came from outside.

OOC,You may still roll Listen.

"I make you special Chinese medicine tea! Make you feel right as rain!" Mrs Foo pats her husband's shoulder and goes into the back to make some special tea. She is too busy clattering around to hear anything.

Listen,[dice]0[/dice]

ooc,sorry for the delay, was away for a few days.

Tony frowns and looks at the phone. "It's not working now anyway."

He nods at Mr. Foo. "Yeah, you're right. We need to hold up here until the police can restore order. Are there any good places to hide around here? We'll hunker down, turn off the lights, and wait till things calm down." He looks around for objects to add to the barricade.

listen 25%,[dice]0[/dice]

9:33:12 AM
In the motel lobby-
"Thank you, dear," said Mr. Foo to his wife as she began to prepare the tea.

Ellen helped Tony reinforce the barricade with unused chairs. "Is this good, Mr. Foo?" she asked.

The old man nodded. "In this situation, any barricade is good feng shui. My private room may be the best place to hole up, except that there is only way one in and therefore only one way out. However, the equipment in there does allow me to monitor and communicate with the outside world. Ideally, we'd want to go up on the balcony and blockade the stairways. Then we'd have access to all of the upstairs rooms, and we could use ropes if we needed to get up and down. However, the equipment is down here."

Tony Lathan,The gunfire [b]Tony[/b] heard came from the diner on the far side of the dirt road. He recognized bursts of assault rifle fire, a couple of single rifle shots, a shotgun blast, and four handgun shots. He could also hear the van that was on the dirt road between the motel and the diner start moving.

"This equipment can contact the outside world, you say?" Tony asks Mr. Foo. "Maybe you should get on it and try to contact someone who can help us. As for the rest of us, I think fortifying this place as best we can is the best use of our time at the moment. The rest of us should try and block off the stairways with whatever we can find, and get to work setting up some sort of rope pulley thingamajig like you suggest."

He cocks his eat. "Yikes. A lot of shooting out there, sounds like it's coming from the diner. I heard what sounded like some bursts of assault fire, a couple of sniper rounds and some handgun fire as well. Think there was a shotgun blast in there too. All those Schwarzenegger movies really paid off, wow. The van that was outside has also started moving as well."

Mrs Foo comes back with a steaming cup of tea. "Here your tea, dear. Now you sit and drink it all up." She gives Mr Foo the tea and then speaks briefly to him in Mandarin,

Mr Foo,"How are your injuries? Can I do anything else to fix them?

"Those horrid skinhead men, they big trouble, they not coming in here!" She waggles a finger towards the diner.
"Now anyone else want tea? Today, no charge." She looks at Tony and his family.

"Tea would be great thanks. None of us had breakfast." Tony smiles at Mrs. Foo.

"Tsk, they all crooks, owners of diner. They bring trouble to truck stop; it all their fault." Mrs Foo nods and heads back to make more tea. "Maybe I have biscuits for growing boys!"

9:33:24 AM
In the motel lobby-
"And candy from the vending machines!" added Bobby as he helped Ellen barricade the front door. "Dad promised us candy!"

Mr. Foo spoke to his wife in Mandarin.

Mr. and Ms. Foo,"[b]Mrs. Lathan[/b] has already done an excellent job, thank you, dear," he said. "It will take me weeks to get back to full strength, but I will live."

"The people I heard from were far away and needed help themselves," he said in English as he rose to his feet with Cathy's help. "I can try to reach Warren Air Force Base, only forty or so miles to the west. If anyone is close enough and has resources to help us, it would be them." He staggered through the door to his private room. "The stairways are all outside, as is our storage where you might find rope, but don't go out there. I don't think it's safe just yet." As if to accentuate his point, there was a massive explosion coming from somewhere outside, followed almost immediately by another one!

Tony Lathan,The explosions had come from the area outside the diner - the gas pumps to be precise.

"Thank you, ma'am? "Tony says. "What do you say, boys?"

"Getting the air force's help sounds good. I'm sure they can get things under control again. I think we shoul--" The explosion cuts him off. "That sounded like the gas pumps!"

9:33:36 AM
In the motel lobby-
"Thank you, ma'am," echoed Bobby as he helped Ellen with the barricade. Scotty was still staring slack-jawed.

In the private room-
Mr. Foo slid into the chair and slipped the headphones on over his ears. Then he adjusted the control panel. "Warren Air Force Base, do you read me?" he said into the microphone. "Over."

Scotty, manners," Tony snapped, but when he sees his son continue to stand there with a distant stare in his eyes, he grows concerned. "Hey, uh, Cath. I think Scotty's in shock or something. He must have realized what just happened. Could you look him over?"

He looks to help the other with the barricade.

9:34 AM
In the motel lobby-
"Scotty, what's wrong?" asked Cathy, worried. He didn't respond. All she could do was hug him.

With Tony's help, the barricade of the front door was complete. "There's also the back door," said Ellen. "Maybe we should do something about that too."

OOC,[b]Cathy[/b]'s Psychoanalysis roll (1% base skill) to bring [b]Scotty[/b] around: [dice]0[/dice]

In the private room-

Mr. Foo,"This is [b]Major Andrews[/b] at Warren Air Force Base," replied a man's voice. "Who is this? How did you get on this network? This is supposed to be a secure connection." "My name is [b]Mr. Foo[/b]," replied [b]Mr. Foo[/b]. "I am a former CIA operative - although nobody is truly 'former' in my line of work - operating a listening post in southwestern Nebraska." "This is the first we've been able to communicate with anyone outside in almost an hour. All satellite communications have been down." "While my post does have a satellite dish, it also is connected to an underground cable network. That must be how we're talking."

Tony frowns. In some ways he wished his son still thought this was all just a game. At least then he wouldn't be terrified. He wished he could do something, but his wife was always better at this sort of thing, so he leaves it to her, as he had done so many times before while he had gone off to work while she raised the kids. This trip had been meant to bring them together closer as a family; In some, unfortunate, ways he supposed it had.

"A great idea," he tells Ellen. "Frankly I say we barricade both ways in as much as we can. Throw every spare piece of furniture at them. Hopefully Mr.Foo can get through to the air force. I'm sure they'll send help. It's better we wait for them than go outside; if those dead things don't attack us, whoever is doing the shooting might. In here, we have food and shelter, not to mention protection."

Mrs Foo comes back with a tray of cups of green tea for everyone. There are also some matcha tea kitkats on a plate.
"Here is tea, oh my, that big barricade." She looks a little miffed at the use of all her furniture but she says nothing about it.
"You want Kitkat?" She proffers the plate to Scotty who doesn't respond.
"This boy not all here. You come sit down." And she pulls his arm to lead him to a chair.

9:35 AM
In the motel lobby-
Ellen and Bobby barricaded the back door just as thoroughly as they had the front. "Yeah," said Ellen, "we'd probably never see them coming through the tall grass out back. Of course, these barricades won't hold forever if they try to get inside, but at least they'll buy us some time and give us some warning. I hope the Air Force can help."

Ms, Foo set down the tea tray on the counter, where those who wanted anything could help themselves. She led Scotty to a chair and sat him down. Then he blinked and came around.

In the private room-

Mr. Foo,"Are you able to find out what's happening in the rest of the world with your equipment?" asked [b]Major Andrews[/b]. "Indeed I can," said [b]Mr. Foo[/b]. "It's not exactly standard protocol, but I can relay intelligence to you. However, my position is not secure, and that's where you might be of assistance to keep this post running." "What is your location? What defenses do you have?" "I'm at a motel I own across from a truck stop called the T-Bone. It's located between Sidney and Potter on I-80. There's a huge satellite dish on the roof that should help you see it from the air. I'm armed with an MP-5 with nearly a thousand rounds of ammo, and I'm very good with it. I also have a sword and martial arts skills. However, I am getting on in years, and I'm also wounded from a sniper's bullet." "A sniper?" "Yes. The truck stop was besieged by a group of heavily armed neo-Nazis called the Prairie Militia Society. They planted explosives at the gas pumps. I took action and took out the one with the detonator to stop them from blowing it up, but their sniper shot me before I could take him out as well. Someone else killed him, or I'd probably be dead now. The skinheads appear to have retreated, but they managed to detonate the explosives anyway. You can see the blown gas pumps from the air too, I'm sure. They took hostages as well." "Is there anyone else with you?" "Yes, my wife is here. She has my pistol, but she's not as capable a shooter as I am. [b]Ellen Cody[/b], the maid, is here too, as are a family of four who are staying at the motel. They're barricading the entrances, but our position is very tenuous. We need immediate assistance." [spoiler][b]Mr. Foo[/b]'s Persuade roll (66% skill) to convince [b]Major Andrews[/b] to send help: [dice]0[/dice][/spoiler]

Tony scratches his head, deep in thought. "Well, are they smart enough to try and get inside? It's why I think we shut all the lights or things that would attract their attention off, and, to quote Mr. Fudd, 'Be vwewy, vwewy quiet." He does the accent. Or attempts to. " Maybe we can all go hide with Mr. Foo in his room and barricade that door. That way, even if they get in they won't know where we are. Unless they can smell us." He frowns, the thought having just occurred to him.

He sees Scotty blink and forces a smile on his face. "Hey there, champ! How are you feeling. You spaced out for a bit there, but it's okay. We're all safe." He picks up one of the kitkats and bites into it. "Ah, very... nice ma'am," He says, though the look on his face reveals it's not a snack he's accustomed to. He reaches into his wallet and pulls out a twenty. "Hey Bobby, why don't you go grab some snacks from the machines? None of us have had breakfast yet, after all."

"Ahh, you better now, boy!" Mrs Foo cackles and pats him on the shoulder. "Growing boys eat proper food, not this rubbish!" She scolds Tony and wags a finger at him. "I make Chinese bleckfast. You help!" She points at Mrs Latham. Then she turns and heads back to her own little kitchen.

9:36 AM
In the motel lobby-
"Thanks, Dad!" called Bobby, running off to the vending machines and buying as much candy as he could.

"I'm not the world's best cook," said Cathy, following Ms. Foo, "but I'll help if I can."

"No, that would be Charlie," said Ellen. "I hope he's okay."

"Thanks," said Scotty around the kitkats with which he had already stuffed his mouth.

In the private room-

Mr. Foo,"That's not going to happen," said [b]Major Andrews[/b]. "We've got our own problems to worry about. Hordes of infected from Cheyenne are constantly trying to breach our perimeter, and we're lucky we've managed to hold it so far. We've already lost one helicopter this morning, and we can't afford to take risks. Besides, I don't even know if you are who you say you are. Any intelligence you can provide about what's going on in the world will be useful - if it's accurate." "Just a minute," said [b]Mr. Foo[/b].

Mr. Foo took off the headphones and called out to those in the lobby. "I've spoken to a Major Andrews at Warren Air Force Base," he said, "but he's not willing to send any help. He says they have enough problems of their own, and I don't think he even believes my story. It does sound rather implausible."

"Whatta do you mean he's not willing to send help?" Tony says. "I'm an American citizen! The government damn well come down here and help us! Let me talk to him." He demands.

"Oh dear! Husband not happy; he shouty shouty!" Mrs Foo exclaims as she hears Tony down the corridor. She turns the heat on under a huge pan of stock.

"Chop this!" She puts a bundle of greens in front of Cathy and then starts rummaging around a cupboard for various dried ingredients, muttering to herself in Mandarin.

9:37 AM
In the motel lobby-
Mr. Foo gestured for Tony to enter, and Tony joined him in the private room.

Bobby took his armfuls of candy over to Scotty, and the two of them began to pig out on it.

In the kitchen-
Cathy began chopping vegetables, not sure why she was doing what she was told other than that she needed to feel busy doing something.

In the private room-
Mr. Foo disconnected his headset as Tony entered the room. "Major Andrews," he said into the microphone, "this is Mr. Tony Lathan, a guest at my motel. He, his wife, and their two children are some of the people in danger here." He passed the microphone to Tony.

"Mr. Lathan," said a man's voice from the speakers.

OOC,[b]Tony[/b], please roll your choice of Fast Talk or Persuade, in addition to making your speech. Persuade takes more time and has a lower chance of success for you, though it will also make sure he stays convinced permanently if you succeed, unless someone else uses Persuade on him successfully to counter it. A success on Fast Talk may wear off after a while.

"Pleased to hear your voice, Major," Tony says. "Things have been a bit crazy here. First those skinheads held us up in the truckstop across the road, then one of them turned feral after being shot. My son had to shoot it seven or eight times to put him down for good. Anyway, I'm Tony Latham, I'm an insurance salesman from Akron, Ohio. 'Rubber Capital of the World'!

"Listen, Major, me, my wife and my two young boys are trapped here in Mr. Foo's motel given all the craziness happening outside, and we're sure appreciate a rescue. Mr. Foo is also injured pretty bad and could use some medical attention. Thankfully my wife patched him up. Cathy used to be a doctor,and I'm sure she could look any of your men over that might need it. More to the point, we're Americans; we're supposed to be able to rely on our government. Please send us help ASAP, or as soon as possible. It's been such a crazy morning, and if more of those rabies victims show up I fear for my wife and kids safety. Please don't leave us to die!"

Tony Fast talk 60%,Opting for fast talk now. [dice]0[/dice] So cruel. Perhaps a bonus due to Tony's folksy nature? Maybe the major's in the market for insurance? :oops:

In the private room-
"I'd like to help you, Mr. Lathan," replied Major Andrews, "but we have our hands full ourselves. Our base is under siege, and we can't send anyone out there to deplete our defenses and possibly get infected without a real good reason. Whoever goes out there, it would be a one way trip for them. The intel Mr. Foo can provide about the world situation is important, but I don't know if I can justify it to my superiors."

OOC,There is a way you can get a bonus and make it succeed, but you'll have to figure it out for yourself. Keep talking. You may roll Idea for some help there.

Idea 70%,[dice]0[/dice]

Tony pales slightly when he hears that even the air force are having problems; apparently this wasn't just a local issue. He racks his brain but comes up with no further ideas, but continues to try and beg for help.

"Look Major, I understand that you're probably juggling the world right now, but our position is pretty precarious. We've barricaded ourselves in the motel but if a large group of skinheads or these rabies victims try to get in here, we'll be sitting ducks. Mr. Foo can't give you any information if he's dead, and if we don't get some help out here, I'm not sure how long we can hold out if we attract more attention. "

"You slo mo? You chop like this." Mrs Foo takes the knife from Cathy's hand and uses her 80 plus years of experience in the kitchen she slices the cabbage with blinding speed. She throws the cabbage into the soup with noodles and says,
"Bowls in cupboard, spoons in drawer." As she totters down the corridor to the reception.

9:38 AM
In the kitchen-
"Uh huh," Cathy said blankly, going over to the cupboard.

Cathy Lathan,[b]Cathy[/b] took the bottle of Valium out of her purse once [b]Ms. Foo[/b] had left the room, slipped a pill from it, and dry swallowed it. Then she stashed the bottle back in her purse.

In the motel lobby-
"Everything okay?" Ellen asked Ms. Foo when she had returned from the kitchen. The boys continued to eat.

OOC,[b]Ms. Foo[/b], please roll Spot Hidden. The base chance is 25%.

In the private room-
"You're right, sir," said the major. "Mr. Foo can't give us intel if he's dead. Okay, I'll run this up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes. I can't promise they will, and even if they do, it's going to take some time to organize and deploy our people, but I'll try my best. In the meantime, you'll need to look to your own defenses and hold your position at all costs. Mr. Foo, I need you to monitor the world situation and provide me with the raw data. I have to go talk to the Operations Officer about getting you some help, so I'll be gone for a few minutes, so gather what information you can before I return. We've been in the dark too long already."

"Understood, Major," said Mr. Foo, "though I am our best defender, even wounded as I am. I can't do both at once."

"I appreciate that, major," Tony says, already feeling relieved. Things were starting to look up, and they might still make it to Yellowstone after all.
"We'll hold down the fort here. We've got this place pretty well barricaded up, so we should be alright for some time at least. Though the sooner you fellas can get help out here, the better."

He turns to the motel owner. "Don't worry about defending, we can handle that. There's no way anything gets in here without a bit of a struggle first, so we'll have plenty of time to warn you if we need assistance. Speaking of, that was a pretty nice gun you had earlier. Got anymore of them? None of us are much of a shot- except Scotty apparently- but I'd feel better having something in case one of those things gets in."

"Ellen, food ready. You boys like noodle soup,eh? Go get it!" Mrs Foo points back towards the kitchen and then walks towards the private room.

Spot hidden 25,[dice]0[/dice]

9:39 AM
In the motel lobby-
The boys rushed into the kitchen while Ms. Foo went into the private room. Ellen followed the children at a more sedate pace.

In the kitchen-
"Hey, Mom," said Bobby as he and Scotty entered.

"Help yourselves," said Cathy with a vacant stare. "You need to eat more than just candy. There's vegetables."

"I'm hungry enough I could actually eat them, but not while there's other stuff."

"Yeah, the old lady mentioned noodle soup," said Scotty.

In the private room-
"I only have one MP-5, and I'm trained to use it well," said Mr. Foo. "My only other gun is my pistol. While I'm a better shot, I've given it to my wife, as I can't use both at once. I have my sword, and my body is also a deadly weapon. Right now, however, I am a glass cannon."

"All right, I'll leave you to it," said Major Andrews to Tony. "Over and out." He broke the connection.

"The world is in a very bad way," said Mr. Foo, fiddling with the controls. "This monitoring station allows me to keep tabs on things all over the place, but mainly China and Southeast Asia, and the news is not good. China is in chaos, and so is most of Asia. The more people, the more problems, it seems. There's too much information for me to possibly sort through it all, but there's rioting in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The People's Republic of China has lost control of the cities and is struggling to hold onto its military bases, many of which have already been overrun or are in chaos themselves. Some of those in power suspect this is part of a preemptive attack and have escalated their nuclear readiness.

"Closer to home, Washington, D.C. is in chaos. The President has taken refuge in a secured bunker in the mountains of West Virginia. Mount Weather, I believe it's called. The Marine Corps is trying to secure CIA HQ in Langley, Virginia, but they're under pressure. No one is being allowed in. While most military bases in the country are still operational, they're in lockdown and not letting anyone inside. I'm not hearing anything from populated areas, but those nearby are being attacked by mobs and are forced to block entrances and secure perimeters. Strategic assets are on high alert, and our own government suspects that this is some kind of attack, but they're not sure. Worse, Strategic Air Command thinks the Russians and the Chinese will take advantage of the chaos to launch an attack on the USA, and they're debating the merits of launching first. Most of the others operating listening posts like this one are still operating. I've spoken to some of them. The problems seem to be worse in the Northern Hemisphere, but the Southern Hemisphere is still experiencing heavy damage, and the problems are worldwide. Vessels at sea, both civilian and military, are being told not to land in port. Aircraft in midair are uncertain where to land. They're requesting permission to land at military bases, but they're being denied. Many are being diverted to some of the recently closed airbases, where U.S. military forces have tried to secure them with mixed success."

It was at this point that Ms. Foo entered, though she had heard everything they were discussing.

"That's a shame," says Tony. "I was hoping you'd have a bit more of an arsenal in here. The good news is I don't think anyone knows we're here, what with all the craziness out there. So hopefully we can avoid attention until the military gets here. If something gets in here before help arrives... well, I'm a patriot and all, but I have a family to look after. I say in that case we all hightail it out the other way wand try to get to my RV."

He lets out a low whistle as Mr. Foo explains the situation. "Yikes, that hardly sounds good. Usually I'd be happy with all this, given I'm in the insurance business and all. But something tells me most folks aren't in much of a position to buy at the moment- or for the money to be paid out. Anything we can do to help here in the motel?"

Mrs Foo toddles in.
"The military come here? That is good job. Who causing all this chaos in the world ? People? Is it more walking dead guys? I came to tell you noodle soup ready but you decide what we do first." She looks at Tony and then to her husband,
"You think we here for long time? Us, Ellen and Latham family?"

9:40 AM
In the private room-
"I don't know how long we'll be here," said Mr. Foo. "The Air Force may be coming, but it's not a sure thing. We'll hold as long as we can and keep providing intelligence to the Air Force. It might help if I teach you how to use this equipment. That way you can fill in for me in case I'm needed elsewhere to fight off any attacks. It probably is more walking dead guys that started the chaos, though people are sure making it worse. The military is at DEFCON 2 right now and preparing to go to DEFCON 1. That's as bad as it gets." Just then, an alert sounded and he put on the headset. "Nuclear detonations have been detected in China and both North and South Korea," he added after pausing to listen.

In the kitchen-
Ellen, Cathy, and the boys began to eat.

"Uh oh," Says Tony. "That doesn't sound good."

"I'd really like some of that delicious soup ma'am, but I think I have to stay here and learn the equipment like your husband suggests. I've been told I have the gift of the gab. I've been the most successful insurance seller three years on, and I like to think some of that is due to my winning personality." He chuckles. It had certainly helped him with his secretary Sharon. He hopes she's alright back in Ohio. He had come on this trip in large part because he wanted to make his marriage work once again. But by the same token he did care about Sharon. She looked up to him, and with his wife distant and his kids preoccupied she had seemed like the only one who had.

Might have to try and call her when I can.

He shakes off his internal thoughts and smiles at Mr. Foo. "Sure thing Foo-San." He replied, using the term he recalled his son using from those Chinese cartoons he liked so much. "Happy to help anyway I can. Least I can do for you sheltering my family here, eh?"

OOC,I am having entirely too much fun playing Tony. I really hope nothing bad happens to him or his family; doubt the poor guy could handle it!

Mrs Foo peers at Tony
"You insurance man? You outa job now mister- better learn new one quick quick!" She wheezes over a chuckle.

ooc,Never thought I'd hear that about an insurance man!

9:41 AM
In the private room-
"Thank you," said Mr. Foo. He showed Tony how to work the microphone and speakers first. "That's the most important thing. If you plug in the headset, the sound will only come out of the earphones, but I think at this point we all need to hear. Next I'll show you how to send and receive, and then how to monitor the world situation so you can find out what's going on and provide data to Warren Air Force Base. I can also analyze the intelligence we receive, but that is not something I can quickly teach. I spent a long time learning how to do that. Fortunately, the Air Force has people who can do that. All you'd need to do is provide them the raw intel and let them interpret it." He examined the alert data. "India and Pakistan have gone nuclear as well, it appears. Almost all the major cities in China are gone. North Korea has been hit with multiple blasts, as has Seoul, South Korea."

In the kitchen-
Everyone continued eating.

"Yes ma'am." Tony says, offering Mrs. Foo his business card. "Things are tough now, but I'm confident the military will get things back to normal soon enough. After this is all over, if you or your husband need any insurance, look me up. I'll get you a good rate."

That said, he gets to work learning the equipment. "This is a pretty neat setup you have here, Mr. Foo. I'll certainly do what I can to help our armed forces at the moment." His good hearted grin sinks as he hears the older man's next words. "Really? That's really not good. I'm sorry about your people. T--that can't happen here, right? Nukes going off in our cities?" It would seem the gravity of the situation was finally getting through to him.

Mrs Foo has a stony look on her face. "I sorry for them but that is not our home- not for long time." She looks at her husband and they both remember the bad times long ago.
"I bling good here, you eat." She heads back to the kitchen, on the way she peaks out of any gaps to look out the front of the motel.

Spot hidden,(25) [dice]0[/dice]

9:42 AM
In the private room-
"Thank you," said Mr. Foo. "My people have been living under a brutal Communist dictatorship for over seventy years, with vicious civil war and Japanese invasion before that. I feel for them, which is one reason I do what I do. This is worse, but at least it is over quickly. The nuclear detonations in Asia have all been in populated areas, not strategic military targets - except for the ones in India and Pakistan. They may very well be at war, each blaming the other for the crisis. I suspect that in the other countries, they have either nuked their own cities in an effort to contain the infection, or someone else has done it for them at their request. South Korea does not have its own nuclear weapons, but America surely has some in the area on submarines." He did not answer Tony's question about whether or not it could happen in America too, perhaps because it was rhetorical, or perhaps because he didn't want to either tell him the truth or lie to him. He continued to show Tony how to use the equipment, this time explaining how to collect data and intelligence from various sources.

Mr. Foo/Tony Lathan,[b]Mr. Foo[/b] and [b]Tony[/b] have learned the following: The CIA compound in Langley is still operational but is being overwhelmed with reports causing intelligence confusion. They are also being besieged from outside, but the Marines are holding the perimeter. The President has moved to West Virginia and is still en route. Numerous bases across the US are no longer operational. Air traffic is chaotic. No communication from urban military bases with few exceptions, such as Fort Bragg. No nuclear strikes in the US. No nuclear strikes against the US fleet abroad. US Air Force bases abroad are under siege in all locations or are not in communication. Satellite network is largely non-operational. Reasons unknown. US forces are using Fuel Air Explosives in the Middle East. Nuclear detonation in Russia. Looks like China nuked North Korea. Looks like China nuked itself in Shanghai. Unclear who nuked who in Taipei. US forces on high alert worldwide. Russia in high military alert. London is closed for business. Ditto Paris, Berlin, Rome, Madrid. Latin America is a mess. No one cares about Africa. In Australia, police are still in control of a few cities but most of it is out of control. Lots of reports of mass cannibalism. No nuclear strikes on major US bases in Europe. No hostilities among Naval forces, including submarine groups abroad. Most US cities are claiming high emergency. Most cities do not have functioning control. All major television networks are down. CDC under siege. Claims that this is the result of Unidentified Alien Virus based on latest DNA analysis.

In the motel lobby-
Ms. Foo peeked out the window as she passed.

Ms. Foo,[b]Ms. Foo[/b] could see the columns of flame and smoke rising from where the gas pumps used to be. The entire front floor to ceiling window of the diner had been blown out, and there were a few people on the roof, as well as one on the ground in front of the diner, though she couldn't make out details from here.

In the kitchen-
Ms. Foo entered the kitchen and found Ellen, Cathy, Bobby, and Scotty eating. "Everything okay?" Ellen asked.

Tony gives a nod of appreciation to Mrs. Foo as she goes to grab him food, but otherwise he is quiet, focused on learning the equipment.Much of his earlier optimism had left him, but he focuses on the task at hand. As long as he had something to do, there was no need to panic.

"The Marines are pretty tough. Good to know they're still on top of things. And no nuke strikes, that's pretty good news. Seems like folks are remaining level headed. Wait a second, did that last report say alien? Like, Little Green Men?" He whistles. "Yikes. And here I thought the dead folks rising up again was bad enough."

"So we have to report this all to the Air Force? I wish we could contact some of these other people, but they're probably overwhelmed as it is and I doubt they'd find most of our information useful at the moment."

"Yes everything velly good. The gas station still burning and your husband helping Mr Foo with communications. You like food? Good Chinese food good for boys. I take men food and come back soon. Mrs Foo beams and then loads a tray with bowls and walks back to the private room again.

9:43 AM
In the kitchen-
"Yeah, Chinese food is great!" said Scotty, perking up.

"Say thank you, Scotty," said Cathy.

"Thank you, Scotty."

Cathy rolled her eyes.

Ms. Foo gathered a tray of food and returned to the private room.

In the private room-
"We have a young Marine staying at the motel," said Mr. Foo. "He certainly seems tough. It's a shame he isn't here now, as we could use his help. Wherever he is, I hope he's all right. Yes, we'll need to relay all of this information to the Air Force. It may be possible to communicate with some of these people over the network. It reaches very far."

The speakers crackled into life as Ms. Foo entered the room carrying a tray of food. "This is Major Andrews," said the voice of the man they had spoken to earlier. "I have some good news. Command has approved deploying Security Forces to your position to hold it. It's going to take some time to select and equip the teams, and then they'll be deployed by helicopter. They should be there in less than an hour."

"Thank you, Major," said Mr. Foo. "We have news for you too from monitoring the world situation. Much of it is not so good, but it could have been worse."

"Oh thank the Lord!" Tony lets out in a display of gratitude. He's only vaguely religious, but this certainly felt like the time to give thanks. "Thanks for making our case, Major. I knew you boys wouldn't leave us behind."

"As for news, I'll let Mr. Foo here brief you on most of the news, but there's apparently been quite a few nuke strikes. None here though, or against our fleet or bases abroad. Frankly I'm glad to hear it. Even if they can stop this disease or whatever it is, fallout's pretty bad."

He picks up something off Mrs. Foo's plate and pops it into his mouth, chewing as he continues speaking. "Yeah, this setup Foo-San's got is pretty great. It can hear stuff from all over the world. Maybe we can relay you guys orders to some of our folks overseas."

Mrs Foo nibbles a bit of food while she listens to the radio. Then she looks around for the pistol, opens it, checks the ammunition, says 'tch!' and snaps the chamber shut. It looks like she's done it a few times before. She puts it in the pocket of her apron with the safety catch on and then nibbles some more food.

9:44 AM
In the kitchen-
Ellen and the Lathans continued their meal.

In the private room-
Major Andrews whistled when he heard the report of nuke strikes. Mr. Foo gave him a quick summary of their findings. "I believe the strikes on populated areas were either self-inflicted or inflicted at the request of the countries whose cities those were, in an effort to contain the outbreak," he added.

"That does seem most likely," said the major. "Keep an eye on those areas. It would be interesting to see how effective the nukes are."

"The strikes between India and Pakistan may actually be a nuclear exchange, as some of them hit strategic military targets. They've both been on a hair trigger lately, and whoever struck first may have assumed the other is behind what's happening today."

"It would be good to be able to communicate with others, though we'd have to relay it through your station. I'd like to talk to them directly, but I don't know if that's possible with your setup."

"It might be, but it would take some time."

"Well, our teams will have specialists who can look into that possibility. I can't exactly give out orders to people in other locations, who may very well have their hands full as we do. The most important thing is to reestablish command and control. You said the President is en route to West Virginia but hasn't arrived yet?"

"That's right. My guess is that he's heading to Mount Weather. That's where he'd go if he had to flee Washington and maintain continuity of government."

OOC,Everyone, please roll Listen. The base skill is 25%.

Listen 25%,[dice]0[/dice]

Tony lets Mr. Foo take over, still glad help was coming. He grabs another bite of food and smiles at Mrs. Foo. "My compliments to the chef."

Mrs Foo nods wisely, sure of her expertise.

listen,20?[dice]0[/dice]

9:45 AM
In the kitchen-
Everyone kept eating.

In the private room-
"Yes, that would make sense," said Major Andrews. "He'll be out of communication until he lands there, then. Maybe you can contact Mount Weather and get an ETA, and once he arrives there, you can relay orders and information."

"Yes, I think I can reach it on this network," said Mr. Foo, "but this equipment can only have one channel open at a time. I'd have to get off with you to talk to them. It might be possible to modify the equipment to create a direct connection between both locations, but it would take time, and we wouldn't be able to use it during that time."

"Any modifications, if they are to be made, can wait until our teams arrive at your location. We'll have specialists capable of doing that."

OOC,[b]Mr. Foo[/b]'s Listen roll (58% skill) in the private room: [dice]0[/dice]

Ms. Foo,[b]Ms. Foo[/b] could hear a car arriving from the north. It came down the dirt road between the motel and the truck stop and drove into the diner's parking lot.

Tony continues eating, now considering the possibility of getting a medal from the President after this was all over with. He and Mr. Foo were really dong important work, after all.

Maybe the kids will finally realize their old pop is pretty cool after all. Come to think of it, could probably use this in advertisements, help get my business back on track. The happy thought makes him smile despite the grave circumstances. The military was on it. Things would be fine.

Mrs Foo plucks Tony's sleeve, disturbing his reverie. "Hey, Mister, you deaf? Wake up, someone coming: I hear car!" She is rather surprised being somewhat deaf herself.

"Hmm? Really? I didn't hear anything. Hope it's not more of those skinheads, last thing we need is another firefight. At least these rabies victims can't drive. At least, I assume they can't.

"For the time being I think we should stay quiet and try not to draw any attention to ourselves. Seems like the folks at the diner have their own problems."

"Okay okay." Mrs Foo clears the empty plates and toddles off to the kitchen. But on the way she has a jolly good look through the front window to see if she can see the car and its occupants.

Spot hidden,base[dice]0[/dice]

9:46 AM
In the kitchen-
Ellen and the Lathans kept eating like there was no tomorrow. After all, there might not be.

In the private room-
"See if you can contact Mount Weather, then," said Major Andrews. "You've given us enough intel to get a good overview of the world situation, so we can let you go for a few minutes while we digest and analyze it. We're not being attacked at least, except by the infected, but let us know if anything changes. Call us back once you've gotten through and let us know what you learn."

"Will do, Major," said Mr. Foo. "Over and out." He disconnected the call and opened up a new communications channel.

"Emergency Operations," said a woman's voice. "Who is this?"

In the motel lobby-

Ms. Foo,Peeking out the window after nudging the shade slightly aside, [b]Ms. Foo[/b] could see [b]Michael[/b]'s car parked in front of the diner, but there was no sign of [b]Michael[/b]. [b]Jenny Cooper[/b] stood outside the car, talking to people she didn't recognize. The two dogs from the T-Bone were there too, and they went over to [b]Jenny[/b].

Tony is torn-- he wants to go and see his family, but he feels like Foo needed him here now. He stays put and lets the older man do the talking, ready to step in with a charm offensive if need be.

Mrs Foo continues to watch. Everything seems so normal. Apart from the burning gas pumps of course.

9:47 AM
In the kitchen-
Everyone continued to eat.

In the motel lobby-

Ms. Foo,[b]Ms. Foo[/b] saw the dogs, [b]Max[/b] and [b]Buddy[/b], greet [b]Jenny[/b] affectionately. The people in the parking lot continued to talk.

In the private room-
"This is Mr. Foo," said Mr. Foo. "I am operating a CIA listening post, and I have established contact with Warren Air Force Base. They are requesting an ETA on the President's arrival."

"How do you know all this?" replied the woman. "How did you even get on this line?"

"As I said, I'm operating a CIA listening post. This network dates back decades and has a backup system that is not affected by the satellite outages. I am capable of contacting various facilities, and of relaying orders. The very fact that I am on this line shows that I can do this." He rattled off a series of letters and numbers that were no doubt some form of security clearances.

"All right, sir. I'm afraid we don't have an ETA on the President. Air Force One disappeared from the radar a few minutes ago."

OOC,[b]Mr. Foo[/b]'s Persuade roll (66% skill) to convince the woman: [dice]0[/dice]

Tony lets out a breath.

"Oh geeze, that's not good. Oh, hi, Tony Lathan. I... work with Mr. Foo. Do we know where the vice president is? Because it seems to me that now is definitely not the time for us to not know who the heck's in charge!"

Mrs Foo toddles back to the kitchen .
"It all much better outside. People standing chatting. It look like normal day." She says as she walks in. She tuts as she sees the mess.
"I think we wash up now!" And she directs the two boys to the sink.

9:48 AM
In the kitchen-
The boys didn't even complain and just put the dishes in the sink and washed them, too numb from this morning's events to protest.

"Wow, you're good," said Cathy to Ms. Foo. "Have you had any children of your own?"

In the private room-
"We don't know," said the woman. "The last we heard before the satellite network went down was that the Vice President was en route to an undisclosed location. Without any connection to the outside world, we've been unable to send or receive orders anyway, until you called. You're our only link. What can you tell us about the situation?"

"It's pretty bad. Worse overseas. Been several nuclear exchanges, but none against our territory or bases." He tries to fill in everything they've learned, hoping Mr. Foo pipes in if he forgets anything.

There is a momentary look of sadness on Mrs Foo's face. Then she sniffs and says,
"Five boys, tree girls. Much noodle soup!" And she laughs and puts the kettle on.
"Now we have tea."

9:49 AM
In the kitchen-
Cathy laughed too. "That's a huge family!" she said. "I have my hands full with just two boys. I don't know how you do it. Tea sounds like it would hit the spot, thanks."

In the private room-
Mr. Foo gave Mount Weather a concise summary of what they had found and his analysis.

The woman on the other end of the line whistled. "That is pretty bad," she said, "but I suppose it could always be worse. Thank you for letting us know. I'll pass the information along here. I'd better let you get back to monitoring the situation, unless there's anything you'd like to add. There's little we can do about it here, but we can hold our own for now."

"I think that's all any of us can do at the moment," Tony says. "Stay safe out there."

After she gets off the line, he looks at Mr. Foo. "Well, bad as things are, it's good to know the situation's stable in some parts. I'll feel a lot better once the military arrives to back us up, though."

Mrs Foo stirs the tea and then waits for it to infuse.
"I see people outside. They talking." She says as she collects small bowls and lines them up. Then she pours the tea.

9:50 AM
In the kitchen-
"Which people?" asked Ellen, interested. "Was one of them Charlie?"

In the private room-
"You too," replied the woman. "Over and out."

Mr. Foo reestablished a connection to Warren Air Force Base, showing Tony what he was doing at every step to teach him how to do it himself. "Major Andrews," said the major's voice on the other end of the line.

"This is Mr. Foo," he said. "I've spoken to someone at Mount Weather. The President did not arrive there, and Air Force One disappeared from their radar just a few minutes ago. The Vice President is en route to an undisclosed location."

"Looks like we're still on our own for now, then. Hopefully our command and control will remain intact."

Tony pays attention to every step, committed to doing his part. "I know you got a nasty gunshot wound, there", he tells Mr. Foo. "So don't push yourself. If you need to rest, I can take over."

He remains silent as Mr. Foo speaks to Warren.

"No, not Charlie" Mrs Foo shakes her head, "Only visitors and garage men, I think." She puts two cups on a tray and takes it to the private room.

9:51 AM
In the kitchen-
"Oh," said Ellen. "I wish we could go over there and make sure he's all right. And the others."

In the private room-
"Thank you, I can manage for now," said Mr. Foo. "Your wife is a good doctor." He showed Tony how to gather intelligence and monitor alerts from all over the world. Over the system, the news reports indicated mass riots and chaos in cities throughout South Asia: New Delhi, Karachi, Calcutta, Tehran, Baghdad, Damascus, Tel Aviv. There was a large blast in central Istanbul. Libya had closed off its borders. Sudan was silent. Morocco and Algeria seemed to be in full fledged civil war.

Then an alert came in that there was a nuclear blast at a U.S. naval base in Italy, just as Ms. Foo entered the room.

"That she is," Tony beams with pride. "She'd be glad to hear that."

Unfortunately the news quickly dampens his mood once again, and he starts to wonder if they really could survive this. Even if they did, would there be anything left to rebuild?

He pales once the explosion at the military base is announced, but tries to find the bright side . "At least it wasn't on our soil, I suppose. Still, all this radiation is going to be tough to handle. Makes me wish I remembered how to duck and cover."

Mrs Foo listens to the report as she gives the men their tea. She fires something in Mandarin at her husband and then repeats it in English for Tony's benefit.
"They bombing all the bases with nuclear? Why? What about military base near here? If they bomb that, we..." she drags a wizened finger across her neck.

9:52 AM
In the kitchen-
"You must care about him very much," Cathy said to Ellen.

"Yeah, I love him," said Ellen. "I never actually told him that..."

"I'm sure he knows. And I'm sure you'll get the chance later."

In the private room-
"Just one base," said Mr. Foo, but then more alerts came in over the comm system. Another U.S. base, an Air Force base in Germany, just went nuclear. Then another base in England and one in Spain. That said, the U.S. Sixth Fleet in the Med seemed to be intact. Reports of a U.S. naval vessel firing its guns into Naples, Italy. A U.S. base in Norway just went nuclear. A base in Iceland was overrun. A Base at Thule, Alaska was fine and on high alert. A base in Scotland seemed to be in quarantine. A nuclear blast in Marseilles. There was no news from Vienna, Zurich, Venice, or Milan. News traffic from civil authorities suggested mass civilian riots, many dead, overwhelmed authorities. Military could not hold.

Mr. Foo contacted Major Andrews again and reported the bad news.

Tony goes quiet. Sometimes, there was nothing to say. He listens to Mr. Foo fill in Andrews.

9:53 AM
In the private room-
"There is a protocol where a base commander can detonate nukes if a base is being overrun in order to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands," replied Major Andrews. "It's never actually happened before, but there's never been a situation quite like this before. That may explain what happened in Europe."

OOC,Everyone, please roll Listen. The base chance is 25%.

In the kitchen-
"But what if something happened to him?" asked Ellen. "Why has nobody come here from the T-Bone?"

OOC,Everyone, please roll Listen. The base chance is 25%.

Listen 25,[dice]0[/dice]

"Well hopefully that doesn't happen here, Major. I'm still not sure what's wrong with these people, but I saw one of the skinhead that got shot fall to the ground. Then he got back up a little while later and started 'draggin himself towards us, ignoring the gun he'd dropped! I mean, I just don't get it. But maybe people suffering from this sickness don't have the wherewithal to use weapons? If that's the case, we don't have to worry about them shooting nukes off at least."

listen,(25)[dice]0[/dice]

Mrs Foo just looks sad. It was a terrible mess; one that the young people might spend their whole lives sorting out.

9:54 AM
In the kitchen-
"I don't know," said Cathy, "but it's too dangerous to go back there. I won't risk my boys, and I don't think Charlie would want you to put yourself in danger. If he can get back here to you, he will."

OOC,[b]Ellen[/b]'s Listen roll (51% skill) in the kitchen: [dice]0[/dice] [b]Cathy[/b]'s Listen roll (60% skill) in the kitchen: [dice]1[/dice] [b]Bobby[/b]'s Listen roll (25% base skill) in the kitchen: [dice]2[/dice] [b]Scotty[/b]'s Listen roll (25% base skill) in the kitchen: [dice]3[/dice]

In the private room-
"From what I've heard," said Major Andrews, "the infected don't use weapons, but that doesn't make them any less deadly. In large enough numbers they can rip you apart, and they also spread the infection. Their bite will do it, and even their touch may be contagious. Whatever you do, keep your distance from them. We have also had reports of them being able to sustain a lot of damage before going down."

OOC,[b]Mr. Foo[/b]'s Listen roll (58% skill): [dice]4[/dice]

Ms. Foo,Though it was hard to hear anything outside this room due to its insulated nature, [b]Ms. Foo[/b] did hear someone calling out "Anybody in here?" from outside the front door, followed by a knock on it.

Tony absorbs the new information silently.

9:55 AM
In the kitchen-
"Thanks," said Ellen. "But what if he did come back and found the place all barricaded up?"

In the private room-
"Understood," said Mr. Foo. "Is there any danger of any of your missile silos being overrun?"

"That's always a risk. We don't know the situation out there fully, as we're not able to communicate with the silos. We have choppers out on patrol that can get a view from the air."

"If that does happen, could the silo commanders detonate nukes if they fear their silos will fall?"

"Protocol is that the base commander has to authorize it, but there's no telling what they'll do at the silos if they're desperate and unable to contact us. There's also the chance that the base commander would authorize it."

Mr. Foo nodded. "The prevailing winds are east. If that happens, the fallout will pass directly over us."

"That is a danger. Do you have a fallout shelter?"

"Not at the motel. It's possible there's one at the T-Bone."

"I'd uh, rather not have any fallout to worry about," Tony says. "Hopefully no one does anything rash. After all, we still want there to be a country after we get this illness contained. Given what's happening 'round the world, we might be the only ones left."

"Will we have time to get in shelter?" Asks Mrs Foo "Maybe we stock up with food, just in case!"

9:56 AM
In the kitchen-
"Then he'll knock on the door and we'll let him in," said Cathy. "We'll have to move the barricades first of course."

"What if he's being chased?" asked Ellen. "There won't be time!"

"Well, then he could climb in the window. We'll open it for him. He'll be fine."

In the private room-
"So far, it's not a danger," said Major Andrews. "We're still in radio contact with the missile silos, and none of them are in immediate danger of being overrun. Our forces should reach your position before they are in danger."

"We're not the only ones left," said Mr. Foo. "We're still getting information from various spots around the world. If they were all down, we wouldn't be hearing anything. Things are worse in Asia and Europe than they are here. The problems seem to be moving westward. It started in Asia earlier, and now Europe's starting to get as bad as they were hours ago."

"We'll all sure be glad when your forces get here Major." Tony says. "But we'll hold down the fort until they do."

Mrs Foo listens in and nods wisely. "Ah yes, Asia, Yurope then next here. Maybe there is danger in the darkness. We get ready for nighttime!"
She cackles evilly.

9:57 AM
In the kitchen-
"I hope you're right," said Ellen.

In the private room-
"Do you know yet how long before they get here?" asked Mr. Foo.

"ETA is about forty minutes," replied Major Andrews. "The teams have been selected and are being equipped, and the choppers are being fueled and armed. It won't be long before they're ready to lift off. Keep me informed of anything that changes with the world situation. We're counting on you."

Tony looks at Mrs. Foo strangely. Gee, that old lady's creepy.

But hearing the news of the help coming cheers him up. He looks to Mr. Foo. "Mind if I go and tell my wife and kids the good news? I'll be back in a few minutes." Assuming the other man agrees he heads off.

When the younger man has gone, Mrs Foo says to her husband,

Mandarin,"My great grandmother had a favourite fairy tale about the darkness spreading across the land and with it came monsters and the people went mad as soon as it touched them. This reminds me of that."

9:58 AM
In the private room-
"Will do, Major," said Mr. Foo. "Foo out." He nodded as Tony left, then turned to his wife and spoke to her in Chinese.

Mr. and Ms. Foo,"I have heard something similar," he said, "but the madness was already here. It just needed a catalyst to bring it to the forefront, like a spark igniting a tremendous fire. It's been said that civilization is only three meals away from anarchy, but it didn't even take that long."

In the kitchen-
Ellen looked up as Tony entered. "Help yourself to some food and tea," she said.

"Hey, Dad," said Bobby. Scotty was too busy playing his Nintendo Switch, which he had plugged into a wall socket to save and recharge its battery power. Cathy nodded but didn't say anything.

"Much obliged," Tony says cheerfully,and helps himself to the refreshments. He's never one to say no to a free meal.

"Good news, everyone! Mr. Foo and I just spoke to the air force. It was a little touch and go, but I managed to get them to send help to us; should be here in about 40 minutes or so. All we have to do is sit tight till then! I can't stay long unfortunately, I'm helping Mr. Foo collect information for our boys in blue. But thought I should let you all know help's on the way!" He neglects to mention all the nukes going off.

9:59 AM
In the private room-

Mr. and Ms. Foo,"There is that," replied [b]Mr. Foo[/b] as he continued to monitor the control panel. "The military here is better than in China, that's for sure, but that doesn't mean we can trust them. Under the circumstances, they may decide to take whatever they want regardless of things like private property. This room is not the most secure, it's true. The upstairs rooms would be better, but moving the equipment would not be easy or quick, and there would be no using it while it is being moved and reinstalled. Perhaps the Air Force will want to do that when they arrive."

In the kitchen-
"That's wonderful news!" said Cathy, brightening at last.

"Cool!" said Bobby. "I bet they'll have all sorts of awesome guns!"

Tony beams with pride; it was rare his family did anything but complain, so he happily soaks up the indirect praise. He also notes that maybe they should have put Bobby in therapy after all, but supposed he was dealing with this awful day in his own way.

"I'm heading back now. Just try and wait. Help is on the way." He heads back to the Foo's.

10:00 AM
In the kitchen-
"Maybe the military will let me have a gun," said Bobby.

"No," said Cathy flatly. Then she paused, barely hearing something.

"No fair! Scotty got to use one!"

In spite of his distraction due to his game, Scotty's ears perked up when he heard something out back. Ellen also noticed. "Shh," she hissed. "There's someone walking around out there." She pointed to the barricaded back door.

OOC,[b]Ellen[/b]'s Listen roll (51% skill) in the kitchen: [dice]0[/dice] [b]Cathy[/b]'s Listen roll (60% skill) in the kitchen: [dice]1[/dice] [b]Bobby[/b]'s Listen roll (25% base skill) in the kitchen: [dice]2[/dice] [b]Scotty[/b]'s Listen roll (25% base skill) in the kitchen: [dice]3[/dice]

In the private room-
Tony returned to find the Foos talking to each other in Chinese.

Mr. and Ms. Foo,"That's a good idea," said [b]Mr. Foo[/b]. "We'd have to temporarily move one of our barricades so those doing this can get outside, as there's no access to the balcony from within. The upstairs rooms accessible from the balcony will have plenty of furniture to use for barricading the stairs, but there are four stairways. We shouldn't barricade all of them, as we may need one open in case the military wants to move this stuff upstairs when they arrive, but we wouldn't finish barricading three of them by then anyway. They may have their own ideas about defense too."

Tony enters the room again. "Any updates, chief?" He asks Mr. Foo.

Mrs Foo looks up, "Ah, Mr Latham, we get ready for military; we make stronghold upstairs; barricade steps. You help, Latham family all help. We go now, chop chop."

10:01 AM
In the kitchen-
Gulping, Ellen put a finger to her lips and slipped out of the room.

In the private room-
"We were discussing how best to defend this place," said Mr. Foo. "The motel has four stairways leading to the balcony, from which the upstairs rooms are accessible. They cannot be accessed from within the motel, so we'd have to move one of the barricades to let people out to go work on barricading the stairs. We need to leave one stairway open for now so that people and equipment can be moved upstairs, but there's not going to be enough time to block them all before the Air Force gets here anyway. Perhaps you and your family can help. The furniture in the motel rooms can be used to make barricades. I can give you the room keys."

Ellen arrived at the entrance to the room. "Mr. Foo, we heard someone moving around behind the motel!" she hissed. "I think it's...one of them..."

"Really?" Tony looks reluctant. "Not that I'm opposed, but I thought I was needed here, in case Mr.Foo needed to take a break. But if you really think it will help, I guess we can try it-- though it might be easier to try and destroy some of the stairs to prevent these people from getting to the second floor."

He would have said more, but Ellen's entry makes his eyes widen. "We should stay inside. If we're very quiet, maybe they'll leave."

In the kitchen-

Cathy/Bobby/Scotty,"No, I ain't one of them," called a young man's voice from the other side of the door. "It's [b]Mitchell[/b] from the garage. Please let me in!"

In the private room-
"Unfortunately, the stairs are made of concrete," said Mr. Foo. "We cannot destroy them, only block them."

OOC,Everyone in the private room, please roll Listen. The base skill is 25%. If you succeed, you may open and read the spoiler button above.

Mrs Foo listens.

Listen,base[dice]0[/dice]

10:02 AM
In the kitchen-

Cathy/Bobby/Scotty,"Hold on, we have to move the barricade!" [b]Cathy[/b] called. "Come on, [b]Bobby[/b], lend a hand." The two of them moved the furniture, and finally they opened the door to reveal a young man in overalls. They stepped aside. "Come on in," said [b]Cathy[/b].

In the private room-
Ellen nodded. Nobody made a sound.

OOC,[b]Mr. Foo[/b]'s Listen roll (58% skill) in the private room: [dice]0[/dice] [b]Ellen[/b]'s Listen roll (51% skill) in the private room: [dice]1[/dice]

Tony stays silent, hoping his family are safe. One loud sound could attract the attention of the thing,and who knew how many friends it had.

10:03 AM
In the kitchen-

Mitchell/Cathy/Bobby/Scotty,[b]Mitchell[/b] stepped into the kitchen, closing the door behind him, and [b]Cathy[/b] and [b]Bobby[/b] moved the barricade back into place. "I'm [b]Cathy Lathan[/b]," the woman said. "These are my sons, [b]Bobby[/b] and [b]Scotty[/b]." She indicated each in turn. "Hey," said [b]Bobby[/b]. [b]Scotty[/b] didn't react. He was too busy playing Zelda on his Nintendo Switch.

In the private room-
Ellen shivered nervously and waited silently. All seemed silent outside the room too.

"Hi. I'm Mitchell. I work in the garage for Boss Earl." Mitchell replies. "I don't know what's going on out there but from what I can tell, we need to stay undercover and make sure that any glass windows are covered.

He moves closer to Cathy and speaks softly so the boys don't overhear.
"That girl Jenny just came back from where the meteor landed and she said it was full of alien bats that kill you with their stingers."

Tony really wants to go check on his family, but he knows any movement now could jeopardize all their safety. He inches closer to the door but remains in the room for now.

10:04 AM
In the kitchen-
Cathy's eyes went wide. "I'll go find my husband, Ellen, and the Foos and let them know," she said. "I'll be right back." She headed out through the lobby.

"Do you have a gun?" Bobby asked Mitchell. "If you do, can I see it?"

In the motel lobby-
Cathy went over to the open door to the private room.

In the private room-
Cathy stepped into the doorway. "It wasn't one of them," she told them. "It was Mitchell, from the garage. I let him in. He said Jenny came back from looking at the meteor, and that it was full of alien bats that kill you with their stingers. I don't know if it's true or not."

"Has he seen Charlie?" asked Ellen.

"I don't know. You should probably ask him yourself."

Tony lets out a breath of relief. "Good to know. Well, except for the alien bats. The natural ones are creepy enough." He looks at the Foos. "Hey, maybe we can get him to help us fortify the place."

"Yes, many hands make light work. We start now." Mrs Foo smiles at Tony and Cathy. "Come, your boys better with something busy to do." She puts a hand on her husband's shoulder and leads the way to the nearest stairwell.

10:05 AM
In the private room-
"Good thinking," said Mr. Foo. "Mitchell is young and strong, he'll be a great help." While everyone else went back to the lobby, he contacted Warren Air Force Base and reported to Major Andrews what he had been told about the flying creatures.

In the motel lobby-
Ms. Foo, Ellen, Tony, and Cathy returned to the lobby. Through the open door to the kitchen, they could see Mitchell with Bobby and Scotty. The stairways were all outside the motel, so they would need to move either the barricade on the front door or the one at the back door in the kitchen aside in order to get outside.

OOC,Everyone in the motel may roll Listen. The base skill is 25%.

Tony enters the kitchen, giving a brief reassuring smile to his boys. "Good to know others are alive out there," He says to Mitchell. "Mr. Foo wants us to start barricading the stairs that lead up to the balcony. There's four sets of them, and we'll want to leave one open to allows folks to come up and down, but if we can close off the other three this place will be a heck of a lot harder to penetrate. "Any chance you can get anyone else out there to help us reinforce the motel?" He asks.

Listen 25%,[dice]0[/dice]

OOC,Listen 25 [dice]0[/dice]

"Any chance you can get anyone else out there to help us reinforce the motel?" He asks.

"I don't know. I think they went to check out the diner. They may come over here with any survivors." Mitchell responds. "Why do we want to go outside and barricade the stairs. We should just stay inside. But I'll help out anyway I can."

"Maybe we keep stairs nearest kitchen free. Then we reach food easy. Also not far to Mr Foo's private room." Cackles Mrs Foo.

10:06 AM
In the private room-
"This report doesn't sound very reliable," said Major Andrews. "We haven't heard of anything like what you describe."

"I'm not sure if I believe it myself," said Mr. Foo. "I only heard it secondhand. But it is a potential danger to consider."

OOC,[b]Mr. Foo[/b]'s Listen roll (58% skill) in the private room: [dice]0[/dice]

In the motel lobby-
"Actually, the front of the motel is closer to the private room," said Ellen. Then her jaw dropped. "Did you hear that?"

"Tony, get the boys out of there!" screamed Cathy. "Someone's coming up to the back door, fast. Two of them!"

OOC,[b]Ellen[/b]'s Listen roll (51% skill) in the motel lobby: [dice]1[/dice] [b]Cathy[/b]'s Listen roll (60% skill) in the motel lobby: [dice]2[/dice]

In the motel kitchen-
"Do I have to?" asked Scotty. "I'm in the middle of playing Zelda." Then his mother shouted from the lobby. Before anyone could react, there was a mighty pounding on the back door. In spite of the tremendous strength of whoever was on the other side, the barricade held. The door behind it was dented, but it remained miraculously intact.

OOC,[b]Bobby[/b]'s Listen roll (25% base skill) in the kitchen: [dice]3[/dice] [b]Scotty[/b]'s Listen roll (25% base skill) in the kitchen: [dice]4[/dice] Damage to door and barricade from zombie: [dice]5[/dice]+[dice]6[/dice]

Realizing his family was his danger again, Tony leaps into action.

"Time to go, boys! Those infected people are trying to get in!"

He hopes neither of them need further instructions, but will attempt to pull Scotty if he does not start moving immediately. He begins to head out of the room, screaming for the others.

"Get Mr. Foo!" He's not sure if they should try and make a stand here or run out the front of the motel, but right now is focused on a putting as much distance in between his kids( and him) and the back door as he can.

Mitchell will aim his shotgun at the door in case it breaks down.

"Is there somewhere else that's safer? Do you have any guns in here?" Mitchell is beginning to panic. He thought coming into the motel would make him safer but he doesn't feel very safe right now.

Mrs Foo turns and runs for her pistol. (in the lobby under the desk?)

10:06:12 AM
In the motel kitchen-
Bobby and Scotty rushed back into the lobby with their father, leaving Mitchell as the only one remaining in the kitchen. He aimed his shotgun at the back door, which shook and shattered under the impact of the battering it was taking. The barricade reeled from a mighty blow, fragments of wood splintering away. It wasn't quite destroyed yet, but it wouldn't hold up to much more punishment.

OOC,Damage to door and barricade from zombies: [dice]0[/dice] [dice]1[/dice]+[dice]2[/dice]

In the private room-
"Trouble, got to go!" Mr. Foo said into the microphone. Rising as quickly as his old frame would allow, he drew his submachine gun and his sword as he made his way back to the lobby.

In the motel lobby-
Ellen peeked out the window. "The front is clear," she said, "and this is the only other way outside. We don't want to be trapped in here, so we'd better move the barricade away. It's going to take a while, so we'd better start now. We can move it in front of the kitchen door if Mitchell gets out of there."

Cathy helped Ellen start to shift the furniture blocking the front door, while the boys arrived and Ms. Foo retrieved her pistol. Mr. Foo entered from his private room, weapons at the ready. "Yes, we have guns," he said. "If we could get onto the roof, that would be the safest place. There's a ladder stored outside we could use, and then we could pull it up after us."

OOC,[b]Ellen[/b] and [b]Cathy[/b]'s STR roll ((10 + 9) = 19 x 5 = 95% stat) to move the barricade: [dice]3[/dice]

"Hurry up Mitchell!" Tony calls out. "We're repositioning the barricade!"

He lends his strength to moving the barricade, trying to move parts of it in front of the kitchen door once Mitchell leaves.

Mitchell will move into the motel lobby with the others, still aiming his shotgun at the hallway.
"They are smashing the door. This won't stop them."

Mrs Foo gesticulates wildly and yabbers loudly in Mandarin,

Mandarin,"Why waste time rebuilding the barricade; it won't stop them! We have to shoot them! Husband are you ready?"

And the wizened old woman stands pointing a pistol towards the kitchen door with a resolute look in her old eyes.

10:06:24 AM
In the motel lobby-
Bobby helped his father move the furniture that had been blocking the front door to the kitchen door after they shut it, while Cathy and Ellen moved more out of the way of the front door, though it would still take some time to clear the exit. Loud smashing sounds came from the back of the kitchen as whoever had bashed down the door forced their way into the motel. Mr. Foo said something to his wife in Chinese, keeping his weapon trained on the kitchen door. Then he spoke in English: "The barricade will not stop them, but it will slow them down long enough for our guests to get to safety."

Ms. and Mr. Foo,"We are armed, but our guests are not," said [b]Mr. Foo[/b].

OOC,Damage to barricade from zombies: [dice]0[/dice] [dice]1[/dice]+[dice]2[/dice]

Tony keeps pushing more furniture in front of the door to the kitchen.

10:06:48 AM
In the motel lobby-
Tony and Bobby kept stacking furniture in front of the kitchen door as fast as Ellen and Cathy could remove it from the front door, while Mitchell and the Foos kept their weapons trained on it. The door was hit with a mild blow, and then a shattering impact destroyed it and damaged the barricade. They shored it up as best they could, but it was hit twice more and broken. Behind it stood two tall men with red eyes. One of them, who had just destroyed the last of the barricade, was built like a linebacker. The other was scrawnier, but still looked dangerous. The front door still had a small part of its barricade blocking it.

OOC,Damage to kitchen door and barricade from zombies: [dice]0[/dice] [dice]1[/dice]+[dice]2[/dice] [dice]3[/dice] [dice]4[/dice]+[dice]5[/dice] Everyone, please roll Sanity for seeing the zombies. [b]Mitchell[/b] does not need to roll, as he is used to them now. Sanity loss is 1/1D8, so you lose 1 Sanity if you succeed or 1D8 if you fail. If you've already lost some Sanity for seeing zombies, the amount you've lost so far for them reduces the maximum amount of Sanity you can lose by the same amount. For example, [b]Ms. Foo[/b] has lost 3 Sanity from seeing zombies, so she can lose at most 5. Any loss of more than 5 counts as 5. [b]Tony[/b] has lost 5, so he can lose at most 3 more. If you lose 5 or more Sanity, you must roll Idea. If you succeed at the Idea roll, you go temporarily insane. As long as you don't go temporarily insane, you may act freely. Those of you with firearms may shoot at one of the zombies, which are at point blank range, so your skill is effectively doubled. Even if your skill is 100% or more, you should still roll in case of Malfunction or impale (or critical). If you hit, you should roll for a hit location and damage. The shotgun can fire once, but the pistol can fire twice. Please specify which of the two zombies you are trying to shoot.

Tony screams, but regardless of what happens he knows he has to remain in control for his family. Grabbing Bobby's hand he tries to run towards Mr. Foo's private room. He's under no delusion that he can outrun the infected men, but he hopes they'll instead be attracted to the rest of the group in front of them, and that said group can kill them before they reach them.

"Get back!" He yells to Cathy and Scotty.

San loss,Whoops, sorry about that. [dice]0[/dice]

Dex 40%,Dice, please be merciful! [dice]1[/dice] Thank you! :geek:

"SHOOT THEM!" Mitchell screams and fires at the one smashing the barricade.

OOC,Shotgun 50 [dice]0[/dice] Damage [dice]1[/dice] I didn't halve it because I wanted to hit him in the head.

"Aaiiiiiieee!" Screams Mrs Foo. She is startled at the ferocity of the red-eyed men but stands her ground, firing twice into the skinny one.

Rolls,San (55)[dice]0[/dice] lose 1pt. Pistol [dice]1[/dice] [dice]2[/dice] Damage [dice]3[/dice] +1=3 Location [dice]4[/dice] Right leg

10:07 AM
In the motel lobby-
Mitchell fired first, blowing off the head of the stronger zombie that had destroyed the last of the barricade. Mr. Foo, not daring to use fully automatic fire when others could be hit by stray bullets, fired a single shot, putting a bullet deep into the other one's thigh and clipping his femoral artery. What should have killed him or at least knocked him down had no noticeable effect. Bobby tried to take a swing at the skinny one, screaming with rage, but Tony found a surge of adrenaline and pulled him out of harm's way into the private room. Scotty also darted into the room, and Ellen pulled Cathy away from the front door and followed him. Ms. Foo also fled after them, screaming. Before Mr. Foo could fire again, his target lunged at him and almost chewed a massive chunk out of his shoulder, but he interposed his sword and blocked the attack. Then he fired again, hitting it in the chest, again with no appreciable effect.

OOC,Resistance Table roll ([b]Tony[/b]'s STR 13 vs. [b]Bobby[/b]'s SIZ 19 (40% chance) trying to pull [b]Bobby[/b] away: [dice]0[/dice] [b]Ms. Foo[/b]'s DEX x 5 roll (30% stat) trying to flee from the zombie: [dice]1[/dice] [b]Bobby[/b]'s DEX x 5 roll (45% stat) being pulled away from the zombie: [dice]2[/dice] [b]Scotty[/b]'s DEX x 5 roll (75% stat) fleeing from the zombie: [dice]3[/dice] Who does zombie attack (1=Mitchell, 2=Ms. Foo, 3=Mr. Foo)? [dice]4[/dice] Bite attack on [b]Mr. Foo[/b] (30% chance): [dice]5[/dice] [b]Mr. Foo[/b]'s Sword roll (64% skill) to parry the Bite attack: [dice]9[/dice] Grapple Attack on [b]Mr. Foo[/b] (25% chance): [dice]6[/dice] [b]Mr. Foo[/b]'s Submachine Gun roll (53% x 2 = 106% skill) shooting at zombie, point blank: [dice]10[/dice] Hit location on zombie: [dice]7[/dice] Damage to zombie from impaling 9mm bullet: [dice]8[/dice] [b]Mitchell[/b], you may act again.

In the private room-
Once everyone retreated to the private room, it became apparent that there was no other way out of here. The door was the only one to this room, and there weren't even any windows.

"I wonder what we taste like," said Cathy.

"Hello?!" came Major Andrews's voice over the microphone. "I heard gunfire! What's going on?"

Ms. Foo,Your temporary insanity is to flee in terror and lasts for five rounds, which includes the round that just ended and the current round. This room is a dead end, but once the other zombie is down, you will flee that way. You did not fire any shots, as your insanity overrode your will. You are also indefinitely insane, though your indefinite insanity will not kick in until after the temporary insanity is over.

Cathy Lathan,Your temporary insanity is a craving for human flesh, though you do not need to act on it. It lasts for eight rounds, which includes the round that just ended and the current round. You may otherwise act freely. You are also indefinitely insane, though your indefinite insanity will not kick in until after the temporary insanity is over.

Bobby Lathan,Your temporary insanity is a homicidal rage. It lasts for thirteen rounds, which includes the round that just ended and the current round.

Scotty Lathan,You believe firmly that life is a video game. Whatever happens, you are sure that if you die, you can just respawn at the last save point.

Tony's relieved his entire family is safe, for the moment. When Andrews' voice asks for clarification he looks towards his wife, not even really paying attention to whatever it was she was saying.

"Watch the kids, honey." He releases Bobby and answers the microphone.

"Hello, Major? Tony Lantham here again, we have a bit of a situation here. Two of the infected broke in the back of the motel. Mr. Foo and one of the guests are shooting at them, but the rest of us without weapons fled into Mr. Foo's private room. I know at least one of them is dead, but we're still not sure if the other one is. I'll let you know once we have some confirmation on that.

"Righto, a few things, Sir. Firstly, we barricaded this place up really good using all the furniture on the ground floor of the motel, but two of them still broke down the back door in under a minute. I'm not sure if they were just naturally strong or this illness makes them stronger, but it seems like most barricades are only good for slowing them down. Which is still useful, of course, it may have saved our lives. But it's something to be aware of. And oh, right! They were runners, these two, far quicker than the other one I saw. And your men may already know this, but you might want to shoot them in your head. One shot took one of em down good, but I saw the other shot in the thigh with a powerful weapon and he stayed up."

OOC,I'm not sure how shooting into melee works. If it will give me a big penalty, I will try to use the butt of the shotgun to smash the infected's head. If not, I will shoot it in the head. [dice]0[/dice]

OOC,Damage [dice]0[/dice]

Mitchell watches as his first shot blows the head off the infected. While Mr. Foo fights off the other one, Mitchell takes a step to the side and trains his shotgun on the infected's head.

"Sorry Mr. Foo. We need to kill these things as fast as possible." Mitchell says as he pulls the trigger.

10:08 AM
In the private room-
Bobby ran out of the room as soon as Tony released him, and Ms. Foo followed him once the zombie dropped.

"Yes, that's consistent with the reports I'm getting from our snipers," said Major Andrews. "Head shots pretty much always kill, as you'd expect, but an infected target hit in the chest doesn't go down. Our machine gunners have had more luck bringing them down by firing into large groups, though it takes a lot of bullets. We've also had reports that while most of them are slow, a few of them move very quickly. It seems to be about one in ten. Those two that broke in may be the leading edge of a large group. They got there first due to their speed, but the slower ones will probably show up later. If there were two fast ones, you can probably expect close to twenty slower ones from the same direction. It's very important that you don't let the infected touch you. Their bite is known to transmit the infection, and it's suspected that their touch does too. We don't think it's airborne. God help us all if it is. Our forces are wheels up in a few minutes and will soon be on their way to you. ETA is thirty minutes. You have to hold your position until they arrive."

"The levels just get harder as we go along," said Scotty.

OOC,Everyone, please roll Listen. The base skill is 25%.

In the motel lobby-
The scrawny zombie's head was blown to bits, and the rest of it fell. Bobby rushed out of the private room and began kicking the dead bodies. Ms. Foo was a short distance behind him.

"Thank you, young man," Mr. Foo said to Mitchell with a bow. "If you hadn't been here, we would have been hard pressed to escape unharmed."

Ms. Foo,Your temporary insanity is over. Your indefinite insanity is a fear of the dead, whether zombies or mere motionless corpses, such as the two headless ones lying on the floor in front of you.

OOC,Everyone, please roll Listen. The base skill is 25%.

"Thank you, young man," Mr. Foo said to Mitchell with a bow. "If you hadn't been here, we would have been hard pressed to escape unharmed."

"No problem. I'm just glad my aim was good."

Mitchell will reload the shotgun as he scans the motel lobby.

"We've got to find someplace safe. Obviously, barricading ourselves inside isn't safe. Is there a basement or attic in here?

"Understood," Tony says. "I'll go tell the others and get em ready. Someone will be back in a few minutes. Over and out!"

He disconnects and heads out of the room, reasoning that with another shotgun blast and the lack of screaming meant the threat was safely contained. Though he shakes his head at Scotty as he passes.

Back to thinking this is a game. That boy ain't right.

Back in the lobby, he's relieved to find the threat dealt with.

"Glad to see you're both alright! Just spoke to Major Andrews-- he's seen these fast ones as well, and says they're likely the front line of a much larger group, maybe 20." he gulps. "The, ah, good news is that they should be slower. We need to hold this place until the military gets here in 30 minutes or so. Mitchell, can you get anyone else that's left with a weapon and bring them here? We'll need all the help we can get to secure this place. I'm no strategist, though I have watched a game or two of college football in my day. I think we should get some folks up on the balcony-- they'll be able to see the threat and hopefully deal with it before it reaches us. We should also barricade the stairs if we can-- nothing too fancy, they're going to break it down anyway, but anything that forces them to stop for a few seconds gives us a bit of a breather. Had we had no barricades up at the back door this may have gone very differently.

Speaking of the back door, we should try and reinforce it again. How about we get one of the vehicles and park it in front of the opening. Be a bit cumbersome for us if we need to leave that way, but should slow the infected folks down, right?

"Oh, and we need to aim for the head, though you all seem to know that already. And don't let them bite you. The Major thinks that's what spreads this, and touch may as well." It's then that Bobby's actions occur to him. "Bobby! Stop that at once, you don't wanna be touching these things!"

Mrs Foo pushes past them and heads through the kitchen to the wrecked door, heedless of anything. She yabbers loudly in Mandarin

Mandarin,"Must get out, must get out, must get out!"

In the motel kitchen-
As Ms. Foo moved through the kitchen toward what was left of the back door, she saw Samantha there. "Hello, don't shoot! Is anyone normal in there?" she called, loud enough for everyone in the motel to hear.

In the motel lobby-
Mr. Foo nodded to Tony. "A sound strategy," he said. "The roof would also be a good place for snipers. There is no attic, but there are exterior slanted doors in the ground leading to the cellar. However, that won't be a safe place. There's only one way in, but also only one way out. We also need the height advantage; we have to see the enemy coming." He waved back to Samantha and called out to her. "Normal is a relative term, but we're not infected, if that's what you mean!"

OOC,Everyone is moving to the thread linked below:

Hold Down the Fort