Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in oldmandonner's LiveJournal:

[ << Previous 20 ]

Friday, July 24th, 2009
11:56 am	I've got a job for you part X After their last firefight and the constant banging and groaning that was coming from the other side of the recently barricaded doors the group of survivors was hesitant to go back the way they came. Fortunately, there was antoher entrance in the back of the room near where Wheels had landed. Emjay volunteered to scout ahead and report back with what he found. He stealthily made his way down the hallway and successfully took out two zombies with shots to their heads from his crossbow and discovered the sky walk that lead to the nearby botanical garden which was locked with a complex keypad. He quickly made his way back to his comrades and told them that the path was clear. They followed Emjay's lead and stopped to see if there was any way to disable the lock and despite their best efforts could not disable the lock. They did however discover a note in a bloody fanny pack that belonged to an unfortunate guard. The note read that the pass code was kept in the security office on the first floor. They all swore vehemently at their discovery and pressed on followed the hallway towards the back of the museum. The hallway they were following reached an intersection with another that ran back to the front of the building where they could see a large group of zombies milling around. They wisely chose to move as quietly and as stealthily as possible while they took the long way around. Emjay took the lead followed close behind by the pair of Nigel and Dr. Jake. Detective Munch and Martin stayed a ways behind to watch their back and to keep an eye on the nearby zombies. After the group dashed across the hallway they continued on their way following the hallway and glancing every once so often outside at the billowing cloud of smoke that exited the parking ramp. The scouting trio of Emjay, Nigel and Dr. Jake were about 40 some feet in front of Detective Munch and Martin when they heard the sound of zombies from inside of one of the locked exhibit rooms down the hallway. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009
8:05 am	I've got a job for you part IX The group of survivors (Wheels, Martin, Nigel, Dr. Jake, Detective Munch, and Emjay) picked up the pieces after their fight in cubicle hell that was the second floor of the Vanderheiden Building but with the exception of Wheels, they were relatively unscathed. They agreed it would be best if they moved onto the third floor and that they should not split up. With Wheels more or less patched up and conscious but much more humble, they continued up to the third floor. They easily noticed the sky bridge that joined the office building with the nearby parking garage, and that there were two large offices that occupied the northern part of the floor. Wheels tried to open the closest door but found it secured even after several minutes of repeated bashing. Emjay easily pushed aside his battered comrade and after a few moments had the door unlocked and waltzed inside. The rest of the group nearly fell over themselves trying to get inside and after several minutes of searching they discovered a stash of fine cuban cigars, several bottles of expensive brandy, and a very expensive necklace. They immediately set off to ransack the adjoining office and discovered the companies financial records and Martin deciphered them and found evidence of a massive fraud being carried out by the company, along with a stash of cash. With their personal fortunes substantially enriched they set off for the last unexplored room and discovered a gruesome sight. Nigel opened the door confident of discovering something valuable and instead nearly threw up as he saw a disturbing scene of corpses strung to resemble Rembrandt's The Anatomy Lesson. Detective Munch was unfazed as he moved through what had been a break room looking at the dissected body lying upon the table and the corpses strung up around him, and began to lecture to the rest of the group that were remaining outside. Nigel spoke up as Detective Munch was leaving the room, "I still say that the slasher has to be a man, you would have to be really strong to set up those corpses like that." "The bodies were wired up with the aid of a pulley my befuddled friend. You should look it up, they provide a huge mechanical advantage." The detective replied dryly. Disturbed by the sight and enlightened by the detectives words Nigel lead the group to the skyway and finding it open set off for the parking garage. The sky walk opened up onto the roof parking and they spread keeping an eye out for any zombies there and trying to make as little noise as possible, something that Dr. Jake just could not accomplish. He was doing jut fine till he tripped and fell onto a car, everything was fine for a few seconds until the alarm began to blare. Wheels and Martin quickly deactivated it by yanking the car battery and they were all pleasantly surprised when no zombies appeared on the roof. Emjay and Martin set off for the ramp leading down to the lower levels while the rest of the group spread out and began making their way to the next sky walk. The duo easily heard the sounds of a large number of zombies coming from below and glanced down the ramp to see several groups of zombies milling about. They decided that using the last of Emjay's pipe bombs would be a prudent decision and trew the last two. As they were throwing them down the ramp the pair caught glimpse of a propane trunk and they watched spellbound as the pipe bombs rolled towards it. "Run for you lives!!!" Martin screamed as the pair took off running. They were only a few feet away as the first of the explosions began. Flames were jetting out the sides of the lower floor and ground was shaking as the pair sprinted for the lives jumping over concrete dividers and cars to make it to the safety of the next sky walk. They quickly realized that the rest of the group was glaring at them, to which the pair could only shrug their shoulders apologetically. "Oops." Emjay muttered abashedly. A huge cloud of black smoke was rising from the parking garage and every so often another burst of secondary explosion would take place. Not wanting to head back through that stygian roof they continued on their way to the museum. It was only a short walk till hey reached the entrance and found it unlocked and open. Once more they tried to be as quiet as possible but Dr. Jake just couldn't seem to walk quietly as he again tripped and knocked over a huge vase. The sound echoed through the hallways and they could easily hear the sound of zombies moving towards them. Martin knew the layout of the museum and lead them to a nearby exhibit room to hold out in. They were just inside the room when the zombies closed with them and to the survivors horror there was a monstrous zombie with them. The firefight was fierce as the survivors opened up with every weapon that they had. Emjay was cursing himself for using up all of his pipe bombs as he aimed his crossbow for a head shot. Dr. Jake was letting loose a spray of bullets from his automatic rifle, and Nigel opened up with his rifle. The zombies continued to advance and soon Emjay was using every judo trick he knew to keep himself from being dragged to the ground. Martin was aiming his pistol and scored a pair of head shots that dropped two zombies, but all it did was open a path for the monstrous zombie to close in and begin pummeling the survivors. Wheels found himself flying through the air after being on the receiving end of a punch from the monstrous zombie, he was unconscious before he hit the ground. Detective Munch opened fire and hit the huge zombie three times in short order but it shrugged off the wounds and kept moving towards them. The normal zombies were dwindling but the survivors couldn’t afford to focus all their firepower on the big zombie or they would be swarmed by the rest. The survivors scrambled back to buy themselves some space. Martin and Nigel opened fire on the regular zombies while Dr Jake let loose another barrage from his assault rifle that ripped off large chunks of flesh but still it kept on moving towards them. It began barraging the survivors with sculptures and whatever else that it could get its necrotic hands on. Martin barely dodged a recreation of the Venus de Milo followed by a smaller version of David. Detective Munch render whatever aid he could to the unresponsive Wheels and fired one lone shot at the huge zombie, when the bullet struck the zombie stiffened for a moment and then collapsed to the ground with a tremendous crash. The remaining zombies tried to move past Emjay but he was stalling them using his judo techniques and the rest of the group opened fire mowing them down before the could shamble another step. They piled the corpses in the corner of the room and barricaded the door, it wasn’t the best of accommodation but it would do for them now. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009
9:12 am	The garden is mostly planted After spending almost a combined 12 hours between my sister and myself our family garden is mostly planted with a healthy batch of 31 tomato plants, 9 raised beds with onions and soon to be planted vegetables, 6 trellaces of beans and cherry tomatoes. All that remains will be some furher rotatilling after the rotatiller's pull start is repaired to prepare a few more raised beds to grow carrots in. The garden as it now is 15 paces long by 6 paces wide, and if we are fortunate harvest time should kick off at then end of July. (Comment on this)
Friday, May 22nd, 2009
4:08 pm	I've got a job for you part VIII Yay finally updated!! It was a mixed group that gathered at the old East Precinct Station house. The squad room had become their impromptu war room to plan their hunt for the serial killer who had become known as 'The Possum Slasher' after his brutal slaying of several individuals. Marcus and Standos would be staying behind to keep the station house secure while the rest would join Detective Munch in the hunt. Wheels, Martin, and Nigel were joined by two other survivors who had sought sanctuary inside the precinct house. The first introduced him self as Dr. Jake, he was a member of the army surgical corp. and had been cut off from his unit. The other was named Emjay and was a native of the city who had been unable to make it to the hospital for evacuation and had been rescued by Detective Munch. Glancing around they could see the walls of the squad room were covered with crime scene photos, corresponding maps of the sites, and newspaper articles describing the grizzly crime scenes. “I see that you’re admiring my work.” Detective Munch announced. They were startled for a moment as the implications set in, and they were casually reaching for their weapons. Nigel was the first to speak, “You mean to say that you are responsible for all of this!” “Were you born daft, of course I am. Do you see any other officers still here on the job? I swore I would take care of the bastard and that’s why I’m still here. Now seeing that I have your attention we should best get down to business then.” Over the next few minutes he explained that he had narrowed down the possible lair of the killer to the building complex to the north, and that they best possible entry point would be in through the office building. “Sounds like a straightforward plan, are you expecting many problems?” Nigel quipped. “Oh no just the usual you know a serial killer and zombies. I fully expect it to be a walk through the daisies…” His sarcastic tone left no doubt as to what he truly thought would take place. “Oh I get it.” Nigel replied. “Well then if there are not any more questions then I suggest we get this manhunt underway.” Munch took the lead and was followed by Martin, Nigel, Wheels, Emjay, and Dr. Jake following behind. Marcus was in no shape and volunteered to keep watch at the precinct house. It was only a short two block jaunt till they reached the broken doors of the VanDerheiden office building The complete lack of activity coupled with the pale illumination from the emergency lights did little to convey the sense of theirs being an easy task. The entranceway was deserted with two sealed doors on each side of a vacant receptionist desk and the group split into two group to take a different door and advanced into the building proper. They emerged into a large open area with two doorways labeled stairs on the left and right sides of the building, a large room labeled conference at the far end of the building, a much smaller room labeled break, and lastly an elevator shaft between everything. The floor was a mess of scattered files and spilled equipment, seeing no threat of zombies the group wandered about…however none choose to investigate the elevator shaft. It was when they entered a large break room that they found their first indicator that they were on the trail of the ‘Possum Slasher’ and it was quite gruesome. The room had been redone to resemble a gruesome mockery of corpses strung up to resemble Leonardo DaVinci’s The Last Supper. Detective Munch was one of the few who was not fazed by the sight and instead took out his notebook and began taking notes of the scene. He quickly realized that all of the victims were missing their ears and had a singular cut across their throat, and that the macabre scene was incomplete. He broke the silence, “He’s missing one.” “Does it really matter?” Martin voiced from the hallway. “Yes, it does. He’s trying to emulate a genius’s masterpiece I would definitely say that this matters. ” He replied After several more moments of studying the scene and taking notes Dective Munch walked out of the conference room shutting the door behind him. Most of the group had spread out away from the conference room entrance with the exception of Nigel and Martin. “So what did you learn from staring at those corpses?” Nigel Asked. “First off that the slasher is responsible for the lack of zombies around here and that the slasher is left handed.” Munch replied. “What do you mean he’s responsible for the lack of zombies and how do you know that he is left handed?” Nigel asked perplexed “There is long complicated explanation I can give you in regards to angle of attack and the depth of the wounds but the simple explanation is I am a homicide detective and I know what I am talking about. Also at this time there is no reason to presume that the slasher is a male.” Munch answered. “There is no way that a woman is going around killing those people.” Nigel roared back. “I suggest that you broaden your horizons when it comes to determining what those of the opposing gender are capable of, and for the record the slasher is probably hunting zombies because there were no people here.” Munch calmly replied. “So what you’re saying is that we’re the hunted not the hunter.” Martin interjected. “Quite possibly but I have no intention of losing my ears of having my tenor singing voice ruined today or any other day. Now I suggest we rejoin with the rest of our motley crew and press on.” Munch stated. Martin stopped any further questions from Nigel and the trio regrouped with the other members. Dr. Jake was adamant that they search out the basement and then work their way back up to the second floor. The group again split up taking opposing stairwells and arrived at the basement in no time and discovered it to be completely deserted. The thin layer of dust showed that there had been no activity in some time, the group decided to investigate the three locked doors and after Emjay was able to open discovered that they were full of office supplies, cleaning supplied, and the furnace. Martin made sure to take a shovel with him in the hopes of selling to Paddy McMurphy for a small sum, but the rest of the group were disappointed and choose to make their way to the second floor. It was only by chance that Nigel tried to open the door on first floor and realized that it was braced shut and the other group faced the same situation, someone else was with them in the building. Unfazed they continued on their way to the second floor and to what would be cubicle hell. separated by a maze of cubicles and a large mass of zombies that emerged from several directions to close in on the survivors. It was a frantic dirty mess of a fight. Emjay, Dr. Jake, and Nigel entered from the left stairwell and Martin, Wheels, and Detective Munch entered from the right side. They were separated from each other by a maze of cubicles and a large mass of zombies that emerged from several directions to close in on the survivors. It was a frantic dirty mess of a fight. Emjay wasted no time in opening fire with his crossbow and dropped the first zombie. Nigel opened fire with his rifle scoring two hits but not enough to drop it, and Dr. Jake opened fire with his assault rifle hitting several zombies but not enough to slay any outright. Wheels advanced into the room and opened fire with his rifle winging two and then drew his sword screaming and waving his arms with great abandon. Martin and Detective Munch were content to stay near the doorway shooting at targets of opportunity, bringing down two more and then the zombie swarmed out of their cubicles. The survivors were now outnumbered almost three to one! Wheels soon found himself surrounded and was frantically swinging while he was dragged to the ground under a mass of necrotic bodies. While his comrades by the other stairwell were son being pushed back by an undead mob who were a rifle barrels length from swarming them. Nigel opened fire on the run dropping a zombie and freeing a path of escape along the eastern wall. Dr. Jake opened fire on the advancing horde, meanwhile Emjay not content with his crossbow pulled out his pipeboms and began lobbing them at the zombies...it did not start well. The first bounced back and rolled towards him before exploding, the explosion threw him back several feet and bashed him around some but none to terribly. Muttering if at first you don't succeed he tried again and this one was by far more successful. It landed inside a cubicle and the explosion set the walls flying outward squishing three zombies into a necrotic paste, smirking at his success he pulled himself back up and assumed a judo stance as the zombies closed. On the other side of the room Detective Munch was screaming, “Stop squirming!” He was taking careful aim to avoid his comrade but with all the movement it was a crapshoot. He let out the breath he was holding and opened fire at the zombies swarming Wheels. Two ceased their movements as their heads exploded in a shore of grey matter, but the third was only wounded and continuing to maul Wheels. With a roar of rage Martin charged in brandishing his pistol as a club and smashed the zombies skull in, and frantically began dragging his unresponsive comrade toward the stairwell. Several zombies pursued the fleeing Nigel and Dr Jake while three attempted to swarm Emjay and pull him to the ground. Their attempts were futile as he used his knowledge of judo to easily avoid their grappling attempts. Other zombies were moving in pursuit of Martin but he was able to drag Wheels just fast enough to avoid them. Nigel jumped on top of a desk to shoot a zombie in the cubicle next to him and after killing it he jumped into for a moments respite, Dr. Jake was close behind him though he was not able to jump as gracefully as his comrade and fell into a heap on the floor. Martin practically threw Wheels into the stairwell and turned to stand should to shoulder with Detective Munch as they opened fire on the advancing zombies, and the horde was dwindling under their concise gunfire. Dr. Jake and Nigel were using their temporary sanctuary to reload their weapons and not a moment to soon as a group of zombies neared their cubicle. They decided to choose discretion over valor and leapt over another cubicle wall and had a perfect line of sight at the zombies attacking Emjay and they opened fire. The two zombies already battered by his knowledge of Judo crumbled to the ground. Martin and Detective Munch were dealing with three zombies that kept moving towards them no matter how many times they were hit. They were able to close to melee with the two survivors despite the fact they were suffering from shattered and missing limbs, thankfully they were unable to hit the pair with their clumsy swinging. Nigel and Dr. Jake jumped upon a desk and opened fire over the all of cubicles at the zombies that had almost caught them. Nigel took careful aim with his rifle while Dr. Jake let loose a swarm of bullets that reduced the zombies to a heap of broken bodies on the floor. The only remaining zombies were swinging at Martin and Detective Munch, but their attempts were poor…even for zombies. They were quickly dealt with a number of point blank shots that dropped them in no short order. The survivors had survived the battle of the cubicles but not without cost, Wheels was horribly wounded and possibly infected and their prey probably knew exactly where they were. Martin began to tend to the battered and bloodied Wheels, and the rest began to explore the second floor. They found signs of a fight at the northern end of the building but no bodies, whoever had attempted to fight off the zombies before them was long gone and quite possible one of the undead they had just so recently dispatched. Dr. Jake investigated the elevator and was shocked to see that the doors to the shaft were open yet there was no cart. Mystified he shined his flashlight into the shaft and discovered a rope that lead down to the first floor and further down the shaft there was a broken mass of bodies, many of which bore the telltale wounds of the slasher’s victims. He was utterly disgusted at the sight and hurriedly drank from a bottle of whiskey he was keeping for times like these. The group decided to rest here for a while before continuing their pursuit to the third floor. (Comment on this)
Monday, May 18th, 2009
12:38 pm	Phew what a write up Last campaign update took 12 pages and it was a beast to write up, the party continues to be pulled in different directions under the control of different individuals. On a non game related note running is going great, 4 mile race this Sunday and I hope to be running six miles three to four times a week in the coming weeks. Then the Bellin and all the pain that it brings. (Comment on this)
Friday, May 1st, 2009
10:06 pm	I've got a job for you part VII In which a series of unrelated unfortunate events come together in a most unexpected way and is resolved by an unlikely savior. The group of Marcus, Nigel, Martin, and Wheels were glad to be in the relative safety of the hospital, though it was a lot more crowded then their last stay only a few days prior. They realized that the best possible source on information on the Wolves would probably come from Paddy, and that they all could use a good nights rest after the episode on the ship...poor Nigel was still unconscious. As they trudged their way up several flights of stairs they heard raised voices coming from up ahead, one of whom they identified as Brigid. They sprang up the last few steps to catch sight of two men arguing with her. Just as they were approaching they caught sight of Flynn moving in behind Brigid with his long coat open just enough to reveal his sawed off shotgun. Brigid face transformed to a sickly sweet smile, “I will not have anyone interrupting the rest of the patient under my care. Why don’t you little boys go and run off now before I lose my temper?” The pair wasted no time in fleeing down the stairs and nearly collided with the group as they were coming up. The two apologized as they dove to the side of the stairs and continued to flee. The group soon caught sight of a laughing Brigid, “Ah did you see the scare I put into them Flynn? Those little bastards should be grateful they have a roof over their heads, I gave birth to a baby in a burning building and you don’t see me complaining about small things like the toilets not flushing!” She ceased her laughter as she caught sight of the group and her voice lost its jovial tune, “Oh well what the hell are you doing back up here and where is my granddaughter and great-grandson?” Martin acted quickly to placate Brigid and explained that Watson had requested that she rest up for a day or so before being moved and that they would be brining her back to the hospital in the next day or so. “So you see Brigid everyone is safe and we’re on our way to talk to your husband for a few minutes if he’s able to have visitors of course. If he is not then we’ll come back later.” “Oh don’t worry my no-good-poor-excuse-for-a-husband is awake and complaining so feel free to visit him. By the way you boys look like hell and you’re pal there over there looks more dead then alive.” Brigid said pointing at Nigel. “We ran into some riffraff that just wouldn’t listen to reason, but now that you mention it we really could use some rooms for the night.” Martin replied. “Well I suppose you want some nice ones then? Come on then you bunch of bastards follow me and I’ll have you squared away.” That said she walked up the stairs to the recovery ward motioning for them to follow her, Flynn however stayed behind in the stairway and began to stuff a pipe with tobacco. Brigid lead them to a large room with 4 ample beds, the dumped Nigel on one of them and making sure that he was comfortable set off with Martin in the lead they set off for Paddy’s room while Brigid continued on her rounds. They soon arrived at his room and found the normally jovial and feisty Irishman rather subdued “Boys, thank god you’re here. Tell me now; one of you knows something about mechanics right?” Paddy was frantically pointing at some odd blending of a heart monitor and a very large alarm clock. “That banshee of wife had some guys build this contraption that the moment my ticker starts acting up that damned things starts blaring enough to wake up a Scotsman after a 3 day bender. I can’t live like this always being calm and polite. Its like, oh bloody hell Sean you tell him what it’s like.” “Its like a fate worse then death Paddy.” Sean replied calmly. Paddy took several deep breaths and quietly responded, “Damn it Sean say it with some fire in your belly!” “It’s like he devil himself is cutting me open with nothing but an Englishman’s butter knife!” He roared. “There that’s better Sean.” “Thank you Paddy, I try.” Marcus meanwhile was investigating the device that so vexed Paddy. He poked and prodded carious components and after a few moments study proclaimed, “I’m pretty sure that I can disable this if you want Paddy.” The relief was evident on Paddy’s face as he frantically began nodding, “Well get on with it then, time is a wasting.” Marcus had laid out a variety of tools and put on what looked like a fusion of a surgical helmet and miners hat began to work. Everyone watched with rapt attention as he removed the outer casing revealing a poor jumble of wires and gears. He paused for a moment and cursed out,”Martin and Wheel get over her I need a few more sets of hands.” The trio now clustered around the machine and waited for Marcus’s instructions. As Martin held a screwdriver at particular junction he watched intently as Marcus worked intently and became curious, “So how exactly did you go from being almost a doctor to picking up mechanics?” Wheels echoed his statement, “You were a doctor? You don’t strike me as the doctor kind.” He remained focused on his task as prepared to slice several wires, “There was an incident and to answer your question Martin it’s not all that different from operating on a person.” “Well except for the screaming right eh?” Martin added jovially. Marcus paused and had a far away look in his eyes if only for moment but it was long enough for Martin to see it. He forced out a laugh, “Yeah no screaming at all.’ Wheels was likewise holding a panel open and quipped, “Not to criticize your methods Marcus but why don’t we just pull the chord out of the wall?” “Well, Antonio there is the small issue of it having a built in battery.” Marcus replied. “So how about we pull out that to, I mean it has to be easier then what we’re doing.” Marcus continued to slice a wire and replied as if explaining to a child, “The goal of this operation my dear friend Antonio is to disable the device and have it appear as though it is still working and in order to do so without bringing the wrath of Brigid down upon us and I believe cutting this wire should do so….or set off the alarm. Well then let us find out shall we.” There was a resounding snip and then silence. “Well I declare this operation a success. Paddy, you may know feel free to let out yell…though not so loud just to be on the safe side. “ “Good advice, the wife might be near.” Paddy replied, now then boys what can I do for you and when are you bringing back me granddaughter and great-grandson?” Martin stepped in and immediately began explaining what was going on…without mentioning the Giovanni’s of course. “We’ve been contracted to find out about a group of thugs calling themselves, ‘The Wolves’ and we were hoping that you knew something about them.” Paddy paused for a moment, “I’m sorry I don’t know much about the independents. Sean you know anything about any new up and comers?” “Do you have anything of there’s that has any identification on them?” Wheels tossed him bullet ridden and blood smeared jacket that he had taken with him from the freighter. Shane deftly caught it and examined it looking for any other identification and noticing the hastily stitched on logo be carefully pealed it off revealing another logo underneath. This one read, ‘Jackson Irregulars’ and they were a group that Sean was quite familiar with. “This group ran a few drug houses out by the old East District, the city started condemning and buying up their property for a redevelopment. If you’re looking for any of this group that’s where you’ll find them, be careful though damn pill heads are more likely to shoot you then talk to you.” The trio talked amongst themselves for a moment and agreed they would have to set out there tomorrow and spend the rest of the day in preparation and recovery. They thanked Paddy and Sean and set off back for their room but Wheels realized that he still had the keys to the van and promptly went back inside Paddy’s room and left them on the counter, apologizing for his forgetfulness and hurried to catch up with the rest of the group. Nigel was still out snoring away peacefully. Martin was more then content to stay put and get some rest, the other two had different things on their mind. Marcus was dead set on adding some more medical tools to his medical supplies and Wheels wanted to procure some specific organic remedies. They both agreed to return in a few short hours and would be ready to go by morning and that they would not cause any problems…something that Martin was not so sure about. Marcus set for the surgical ward to procure several scalpels and a bone saw, his bloodstained white lab coat easily blended in with the rest of the medical staff and he easily procured the tools. He was just about to leave when he caught sight of a doctor shepherding a group of new residents into a large room marked orientation, with nothing better going on and his needs procured he followed them in. There was video projector aimed at the wall but with the lights on no image could be made out. Marcus was just about to leave when the same doctor that had lead them into the room began to speak. “These are trying times and you need to be prepared for what you will see in surgery. We don’t have the time to go about this in a timely and controlled manner so we’re showing you a tape of one of the worst incident that has ever happened here at Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center. What you are about to see is no way staged or a reenaction of any sort. You as doctors will be in situations like this and you need to mentally prepare yourselves.” Marcus was genuinely intrigued by what they would be showing. He mused that it was too bad that they had not had something like this when he was here it might have extended his professional medical career. “All right everyone take a seat and if you can’t find a seat then just stand there and shut up. If you are going to run screaming out of the room don’t run out into the grounds unless you want to start a panic and if so help me go if anyone laughs at one happens I swear to god that I will make your days here a living hell. What happens in this film could happen to anyone and I will not brook any mockery!” The doctor barked out authoritarianly. Marcus found a spot in the back just as the lights were being tuned off, as the film began there was something about it that just seemed familiar but he could not place it. It was rather vexing but he was sure that it would come back to him…Marcus could not have been more right. He easily recognized the surgery as being an open heart surgery and winced along with almost everyone else as the ribs were spread open with a sickening crack. The team was preparing to perform the surgery when suddenly the patients arm began to twitch and spasm, the surgeon began yelling out orders and suddenly the man sat up and was almost nose to nose with one of the team. The patients arms shot up in an almost Frankenstein esque pose. There were several screams from the audience and suddenly it hit Marcus where he had seen this before…this was his last surgery. He was horror struck as he watched himself and he knew that the worst was yet to come. The patient’s organs began to slowly flow out of his open chest cavity, his younger self frantically plunged his hands into the open torso and soon the audio was a mix of frantic screams. Marcus watched as the patients arms grasped onto his younger self and squeezed. He still remembered the feeling of his arms being crushed and suddenly in his mind he was back there in the surgical room and almost in queue with his past self he began screaming. His hands were frantically trying to hold the intestines in as the rest of the team were trying to pull the patient back onto the table….but they could not pry his arms off us Marcus. He remembered the feeling of the organs between his fingers and the crushing pressure on arms and all that mattered was getting away. The video skipped ahead to a now free Marcus running out of the room and down the hall. Present day Marcus was reenacting his past complete with screaming and running…except he was doing so with a bone saw clutched in one hand and several scalpels in the other. A pair of orderlies caught sight of him running for the stairs and wisely stepped to the side. The larger of the two commented to his partner, “On any other day that might seem odd.” To which his partner dryly replied, “Yeap it certainly is amazing what passes as normal during a zombie attack.” Wheel meanwhile was out walking through the various refugees looking for a certain type of individual and after nearly an hour of searching found him by the communal bathroom bush. He walked up behind him and promptly pulled out his rifle and aimed it point blank at his targets head. “If you think that this will intimidate me you haven’t really been paying keeping up on your current events lad. Now you can either shoot me or talk business if not then back the hell off so I can finish doing my business!” He answered defiantly. “I just wanted to make sure that I had the right person, I need a few bags of herbs and you seem like the man that could get me some.” Wheels replied. “Yeah I could do something like that, but as you can see my hands are busy and I really can’t help you while there’s a gun at my head so we’re at an impasse until you holster that.” “Well of course that can be done.” A moment later Wheels had holstered his rifle and realized that five men had been moving up on him and they did not look very happy. The dealer pulled up his pants and commented business like, “Now then are you looking for a hybrid or perhaps one of the new hydro breeds?’ A few moments later Wheels had several plastic bags and was whistling a merry tune while being watched by several vengeful pairs of eyes. Wheels arrived back at the room to find Nigel still asleep, martin was reading a book, and Marcus was laying on bed as if he were a corpse, What truly unsettled him was the fact he was clutching a large saw in one hand and several scalpels in the other. “He’s been like that since he came in, I wouldn’t try taking them away either unless you want to lose a finger.” Martin commented from behind his book Wheels was irate, “So were just going to sleep in the same room with someone clutching a wide variety of blades?” Martin set down his book and added dryly, “I doubt you’ll find a better bed then these, well I hope you have a good night.” Wheels shut off the lights and grumbled in the darkness, “Well this is just simply wonderful. I should have stayed with the Giovannis and begged Luigi for forgiveness.” “And keep it down some of us need out sleep.” Martin yelled from across the room Morning came and the four men were feeling much better after their rest, especially Nigel who had been sleeping for the better part of 24 hours asleep. Marcus was mystifies as to why he was clutching a bone saw and scalpels and suddenly remembered and looked quite embarrassed. They each grabbed their equipment and made their way back to the van and for their trip to the East District, and that is when they realized that they had no keys. They set off back for Paddy’s room grumbling along the way, and on their way they met Brigid doing her morning rounds. She was in the midst of yelling at a patient as they chose to walk past and not interrupt and continued on their way to Paddy’s room. As they made their way down the hallway they could the faint sound of singing growing louder the nearer they got to Paddy’s room and as they opened the door an empty bottle of Guinness rolled out. Looking inside they found a quite jovial Paddy and a nearly empty case of alcohol. “Boys thanks for undoing that doohickey, I can drink and sing in peace and there’s nothing that witch of a wife can do to me. “ He paused out an enormous belch. “Won’t you join me for a drink?” It was at that moment each of them truly felt afraid of what Brigid would do to them. Martin and Marcus sprang out of the room to stall Brigid leaving their comrades to somehow deal with Paddy. Nigel tried to grab the bottle that Paddy still had in his grip and after several failed attempts all he accomplished was falling flat on his face and aggravating Paddy. “You’ll nay take me Guinness ye black tied sloth.” Paddy roared out brandishing his bottle as a club. Wheels retreated till he was well out of Paddy’s reach, the last time that he had been hit in the hit by a beer bottle it had hurt for day and he was in no hurry to relive the experience. Wheels dragged Nigel by his out of Paddy’s range, “I think we’re going to need a plan here Nigel, barring that a miracle otherwise Brigid will kill us” Nigel suddenly had a realization as Wheels helped him to his feet and he had a far away look in his eyes, “Wheel you are a genius. God has all the answers!” Wheels was completely confused by his comrades reply and could only stare blankly as Nigel rushed for the only dresser in the room and began pulling open drawers frantically searching for something. A moment later he triumphantly pulled out a well worn almost ancient looking bible. “Nigel now is not the time to find religion, now is the time to find a way to keep Brigid from killing us.” “Oh this book holds all the answers my friend.” That said Nigel opened the cover and triumphantly withdrew a bottle containing an unknown liquid and held it out pleasingly towards Paddy. Wheels wasn’t sure but it looked like it had the consistency of something between motor oil and honey. “Open up wide Paddy here is your medicine.” Paddy grasped the bottle out of his hand and eagerly drank half of the bottle in few swings and followed it with a gulp from the Guinness bottle. In short order he let loose a massive belch and with the two watching his eyes rolled over in his head and he collapsed onto his bed snoring. Nigel quickly grabbed the bottles before they could spill and returned the Guinness to the case and the unknown liquid to the bible. “Well it wasn’t easy but that should keep him quiet so he won’t bother Brigid.” Nigel offered. “I know I was worried we would have to hit him over the head, but he looks a lot more peaceful this way. I still can’t help but think we forgot something.” “We cleaned up the room, hid the booze, all that is left is to head over to the East District and we’ll be on her way to a productive day.” “All right then let get the other guys and get out of here.” Just Wheels was reaching for the door he remembered what he had forgotten, “Damn it Nigel we forgot the keys. We have to find them!” They both turned to stare at the one person that knew where the keys were and he answered by snoring away peacefully. They did what anyone would do in that situation…they began to panic and tear the room apart in a mad attempt to find the keys. Martin and Marcus meanwhile were trying to keep Brigid’s attention away from Paddy’s room as the two alternated bluffing and misdirecting her attention. Marcus would ask for help interpreting charts while Martin praised her with flowery compliments…however Brigid wasn’t buying it. She knew that something was going on she just wasn’t sure what it was and she was nearing ever so closer to Paddy’s room. Thankfully though she did not enter and there was no sound of singing, drinking, or carousal of any sort coming from it. The both let out a sigh of relief as Brigid passed it by and then nearly jumped out of their skin to reveal a panicked Wheels frantically motioning for someone to come close. “We can’t find the keys!” Wheels frantically whispered. “Keep looking we’ll stall for as long as we can.” Martin answered in a hushed tone and then he caught sight of Paddy’s state and his face just took on a look of complete and utter shock, “What the hell did you do to him!” “It was the only way to stop him from hitting us with Guinness bottles! And be quiet she might here us!” He frantically whispered back. “Fine keep looking!” That said Martin rushed off to catch up with Marcus and Brigid before his absence was noticed. As the three of them made the way down the hallway with Marcus asking bizarre question about even more exotic diseases Martin suddenly had a brain storm. The keys if there weren’t in the room had to be with someone and the only other person in the room had been Sean he had to have them that was the only solution that made any sense. He stealthily made his way back down the hallway towards the stairs and there was Sean sitting on a chair and lecturing the same two ruffians from before about the benefits of organization. “So there you see it. Once you are organized you can spread out and protect what you worked so hard for.” “It all makes sense now.” Ruffian number one replied. “I’ve been doing everything wrong for my entire life.” Ruffian number two stated. “I hate to interrupt your intense discussion but I was hoping Sean that you still have the keys for the van we need to borrow it to run an errand.” Martin was in negotiator mood right now and his face revealed none of the anxiety he felt or the fear of what Brigid might very well do to him if he was not gone in the next few minutes. “Sure here you are.” Sean idly tossed the keys to him. “Thanks Sean…oh you might want to leave the floor for awhile. Brigid is going to be seriously cross and upset with Paddy and those who associate with him.” He added emphasizing associates. Sean’s face had gone white and he frantically asked, “What happened? Is the old goat all right?” “Oh he’s all right Sean. Paddy’s just dead drunk.” Sean sprang to his feet and raced down the stairs yelling, “Sweet Jesus she’s going to kill us all. Run for your lives lads and we’ll resume out lessons at a later date and time.” The other two thugs looked perplexed for a moment and then followed in pursuit of their new leader. Martin looked at the keys in his hand and moved as quickly as he cold without drawing attention to himself back to Paddy’s room. Wheels and Martin had destroyed their room in an attempt to find the keys and were now sitting down resigned to their fates at Brigid’s hands. When the door opened they were grateful it was Martin who tossed the keys and quickly explained. “Get to the van, have the motor running, and be ready for us. And for all out sakes don’t make a scene leaving the floor” Wheels grasped the key as if it were going to disappear and nodded reverently. Martin left the pair behind as he set about rescuing Marcus from Brigid. Something that turned out to be much easier then he would have thought possible. Brigid had just entered a room on the far end of the hallway and before Marcus followed her he caught sight of Martin frantically waving at him with a triumphant look on his face. He quickly said his apologized, “I’m sorry Brigid it looks like my friends are leaving so we’ll catch up later. You have fun lancing those boils.” “I’ll catch you later then deary you have a good time with your friends.” She replied in a kind caring grandmotherly way…right before she jabbed a rather large needle into her patient. A few moments later Marcus had caught up to Martin who was racing down the stairs, taking some almost an entire flight at a time. “Slow down Martin, we got the keys what is the problem?” “The problem my dear friend Marcus is that the only idea our comrades could come up with of calming down Paddy was to get him dead drunk.” He yelled out between breaths. Marcus stopped and let the realization sink in as to what had happened and then frantically screamed out, “We must move faster!!” Just as the two were nearing the ground floor there was a slamming of a door from somewhere above them and a frantic scream echoed down the stairway, “Boys you come back here this instant!!!” Scared for their continued existence the two sprinted at a pace that would have set several records and nearly collided with their comrades who were just opening the door to let themselves out of stairway. It was only through a chance happenstance of amazing athleticism that prevented them from crashing into each other and the smashing into the door, somehow the four of them exited the stairway at the same time erupted into the lobby in a disorientated run. They stumbled out of the hospital and made their way to the parking lot in a confused mob as they scrambled for every ounce of speed they could. The van was in sight and wheels sprinted ahead with the keys out and sprang into the van and turned the key. Fire spat from its exhaust pipe as the engine roared to life as the other three piled in, Wheels wasted no time as he shifted to drive and left a series of tire marks on the pavement as he drove for the exit and freedom. Just as they were pulling past the National Guard barricade Wheels caught sight of an irate Brigid shaking her fist at them with each filled with large needles with a look on her face that promised vengeance. “Do yourselves a favor guys and don’t look back.” He uttered frightened, but they couldn’t resist the temptation and thus they knew what fear looked like and she brandished a very large needle. They drove in silence till they reached the sanctuary that was Watson’s storage shed, here half a zombie infested city away from the hospital they felt safe from her wrath…until the first text message from Sean arrived; hiding in the basement I think I’m safe. “Aw hell, the poor man doesn’t have a chance. She’ll smell his fear and find him.” Wheel sighed. The phone beeped again; I hear something moving outside…it sounds angry. “What’s going on? Do the Giovonnis want an update?” Marcus asked from the back seat. Wheels replied, “No it’s far worse then that.” “What could be worse then a mob boss calling to ask us how the job we agreed to do is doing?” Martin asked perplexed. “Sean is being hunted by Brigid and he thinks that she is getting closer.” They let out a simultaneous, “Oh.” Any further discussion was interrupted by the buzzing of the phone; oh blessed saints it’s her I can hear her yelling like all the damned souls crying out. “He is sure being poetic in his horror isn’t he?” Martin quipped and suddenly cringed as there was a knocking on the window directly behind him. His head snapped around at record speed to stare face to face with Lee McMurphy. He breathed a sigh of relief and nearly jumped out of his skin when the cell phone began to beep again, “Can’t you put that on silent!” “It’s another message from Sean.” Wheel replied; bring lots of chocolate and flowers it might be enough to get us through the worst of her anger. “Are we trying to preserve out lives or take her out for a date?” Nigel asked thoroughly confused. Wheels hesitantly looked at display to see that it was indeed Sean calling. He unconsciously wiped his hand across his brow and answered the phone. “He Sean, how are you doing?” “I’m dealing with some anger issues right now boys and trying to find something I can work some aggression out on!” A voice answered that was definitely not Sean’s. Wheels nearly dropped the phone and as he scrambled to grasp it activated the speaker phone function and everyone in the van realized just who was on the other land and her state of mind. Over the course of several minutes they received the worst verbal onslaught in the history of verbal exchanged. Martin’s attempts at trying to calm Brigid failed drastically. The entire group was ready to give in to hopelessness when their savior arrived and with the voice of an angel laid down an enormous amount of BS that smelled like roses. “Now granny you know that these good boys couldn’t have been the cause of that problem. It was probably Paddy that tricked these poor innocent boys into doing something that they did not want to.” After a momentary pause Brigid replied, “You’re probably right Lee, you know how Paddy is. They’re just a bunch of dumb gullible fools that got taken in by him. They weren’t the first they won’t be the last.” Nigel took offense at the “dumb gullible fools” remark but wisely kept it to himself “Beside grandma to make up for all the problems they caused they’ve volunteered to go pick up a complete baby room set for my little Cullen.” Marcus glanced at the others and muttered, “When did we agree to that?” He then caught sight of Lee and he saw in her face that it was less an agreement then more so like a demand. Like mother like daughter he thought. “Well you boys take care and I’ll catch you all when you bring Lee and Cullen back to the hospital.” That said Brigid ended their conversation leaving the group with another task to complete. They explained to Lee what they were going to do and after they found the information they were seeking they would return and pick up anything that she wanted. Lee agreed and after a quick chat with Watson the group set off for the police precinct in the East District. Their trip there was uneventful but they were shocked by the transformation of the historic buildings to new office buildings. After driving past several construction sites they found an old fashioned building that was in stark contrast to the surrounding environment and as they pulled around to the back of the building they found what looked like the garage entrance. They exited the van to approach the door and found it sealed shut. Martin began to pound on the door and yelled that they were not zombies. While everyone else was standing guard they became aware of a hissing noise and Wheels rushed off to check the van and realized someone had slashed their tires. Wheels began screaming out demanding that whoever did this come out and face him, there was no response. As he made his way back to the sealed door a small section of it slid open and a shotgun pointed out and demanded that they drop their weapons. The voice identified itself as Detective Munch and revealed that he had a past with Wheels after he condescendingly called him ‘tricycle’ and made reference to one of Wheels first jobs that did not go well. Wheels was subsequently crestfallen and refused to speak. The group was allowed to enter but the garage ceiling was to low to allow the van access. They walked past several zombies that Marcus was able to diagnosis as ding from multiple knife wounds and that their ears had been sliced off. He explained that he would help them find the information that they needed in return for help him to hunt down a serial killer named the “Possum Slasher” otherwise they were more then welcome to look for the information themselves. The massive evidence room was a chaotic mess of boxes and files. They held a quick conference and agreed to help the Detective hunt down the madman. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
10:28 am	Zombie Campaign #8 We Gotta get out of this place The dead outnumbered the living in the church. Mr. Ryan, Timmy, and Alaric were the only ones that lingered after their costly firefight with the Revalationists. Timmy and Mr. Ryan were searching the bodies of the slain and dragging them into the coatroom. Their first idea was to throw them outside and let the zombies put their corpses to good use, Alaric stopped them from prying open the doors and asked for silence. He placed his ear against the door and instantly became aware of the large group of zombies pounding on the entrance. They were in no shape to fight anything for the foreseeable future so they decided the coatroom would become an impromptu tomb, and the trio began searching the church. Mr. Ryan immediately went to the rectory and began taking chalices and a jug of wine, in order to allow others to appreciate them. Alaric chose to remove the relics from the altar and take them away from this befouled place. Timmy was beaming with excitement after he discovered a number of empty jars for which he kept their future purpose only to himself. The group made their way back to the creaky spiral staircase and descended into the sewer access. They held a quick discussion amongst themselves and decided to try to reseal the access point to the sewers before they returned to the hospital. It took only several moments for their combined efforts to reseal the entrance and in a short while later they were back at the hospital. As they made their way out of the sub-basement Alaric went off to seek medical aid while the rest set off to find Captain Noir and report in on their trip to the church. As they exited the hospital they found the grounds ablaze with activity as dozens of people scrambled about with supplies and equipment. They message was simple, we're leaving and we're taking everything that isn't nailed down with us. In the midst of the chaos they found Captain Noir but he could not be disturbed for several hours as he was in an important meeting. They were finally allowed in as a group of National Guard officers were leaving, he was looking over various maps of the countryside and frantically writing notes and marking locations. It took several moments before he even realized that there was anyone else in the tent, and when he finally noticed the new guests. They were shocked to see that he looked as though he hadn't slept for days. He reached for a nearby mug of what might have been coffee and gulped it in one swallow, after several moments with a look of dead seriousness he began speaking, "I'm going to be honest with you, we can't hold the hospital much longer. The fuel tanks are running low and water is becoming scarce. Your group has been moving about the city the past week, I need any type of mass transport that can be brought back to the hospital ASAP." Stan recalled that there was a semi parked at the factory where they rescued Kass. He spoke confidently, “I know where we can find something that’ll help.” “That’s great news.” Captain Noir replied. “Well what are you waiting around here for go get it.” Stan was biting his lip and looking very hesitant to say something, but kept his mouth shut until they were out of the tent and lead them back inside the hospital to an empty room. As they entered they ran into Alaric who was just leaving surgery and holding several slugs in his hand. “Call me crazy Alaric but don’t slugs need to have cartridges to be fired.” Timmy asked honestly perplexed. Broken out of his reverie by Timmy’s question he responded, “These are the ones they took out of me Timmy. I’m keeping them for good luck.” At that comment most of the group was honestly disturbed at their comrade’s actions but kept it to their selves as they entered their impromptu war room. “I didn’t know that you could drive a semi Stan. I wish you would have told us earlier.” Timmy retorted. “That’s the problem.” Stan shut the door a d replied bashfully, “I can’t.” There was a moment of silence as the group stared at him aghast. Mr. Ran was the first to find his voice and he was shaking with rage, ”You mean to tell me that you just volunteered us to travel halfway across this zombie infested city in order to get truck that you can’t even drive.” “Technically, it’s called a semi not a truck.” Stan interjected. “It’s the zombie apocalypse Stan, now is not the time to argue semantics!” Alaric roared. “I got caught up in the moment the guy looked like he needed some good news. I thought one of you guys would be able to drive.” Stan replied. “Stan when you assume you makes us zombie chow.” Alaric cursed. Stan seemed unfazed, “I don’t see why you guys are so upset. I mean it can’t be that hard to figure out, I’m sure that we’ll get the hang of it after a few minutes.” Timmy did not share his confidence. He was twitching uncontrollably muttering, “Oh this is going to go very badly.” He ranting was cut short, as there was an urgent knocking on the door. “Who is it?” Stan asked. “National Guard sir, Captain Noir sent us to provide transport for you. Are you ready to leave?” A gruff voice answered.” Stan glanced at his comrades; Timmy was still trembling, Mr. Ryan mouthed the phrase ‘you owe me’, and Alaric was shaking his head yet looked resolved. “We’re just finishing our planning, we’ll be right outside.” He replied. “Good meet us at the hummer by the east entrance.” “Look at the bright side guys, we won’t have to walk through the sewers, and we sealed the factory so it should be a cakewalk” Stan stated. “Why does that make me worry more?” Alaric replied as he opened the door and walked out. Timmy followed muttering, “System going into danger, Prognosis not good.” Mr. Ryan walked up to Stan and simply stated, “You owe me.” The impression that he gave off lead Stan to believe that it would be not simple favor. Stan hurried out the door after his comrades yelling, “You guys are making a mountain out of a molehill.” There was no reply. It was a few minutes later that the group found themselves inside a hummer with two national guardsmen. The driver introduced himself as Bartles, and gunner was named James. Once the duo completed their introduction and the group was onboard they were speeding out of the parking lot and through the city. There were surprisingly few zombies on the streets, only once or twice did they see any zombies at all. Stan took this as a good sign, “You see there are barely any zombies out at all, no reason at all to worry.” Bartles cut him off, “Sir the reason for that is every trip outside the perimeter takes a different route through the city. It keeps the zombies spread out, but we make any really loud noise and we’ll have a horde on us.” Stan was noticeably shocked by Bartles statements and remained quite for the rest of the trip, which much to his comrades’ dismay only lasted a few more minutes. A trip that would have taken almost an hour through the tunnel was over in a few minutes and there they were parked in front of the factory. The guardsmen would not leave the hummer despite the groups suggestions. “Oh hell no, I’ve seen this movie.” James replied, “Besides someone has to guard the gun.” “I’ll keep the motor running if you run into problems.” Bartles replied. Stan tried one last tactic; “Well could you play some loud music over your speakers to draw any zombies to us?” “We were doing a lot of that during the first week.” Bartles retorted, “Then the sergeant went and wrecked our radio.” He pointed at a gaping hole in the console. Stan had a look of disappointment and utter shock as he muttered, “That is not right.” “You’re telling me.” James yelled. “Now we’ll never know if zombies prefer easy listening over polka.” Bartles was laughing and then stopped, “You guys better hurry up. It looks like we got company.” The group glanced about and saw a pair of zombies stumbling towards them. James sighed and cursed, “Well where there is a pair that means a mob is on the way. Hurry up, we’ll take care of these guys.” Stan was in the lead followed by Alaric, then Mr. Ryan, and finally Timmy taking up the rear. Once they were past the main doors all inside of the entrance they found things just as they had left them, the next set of doors in front of them were still closed were the doors behind the counter to their right. Stan was all in favor of charging and securing the area but Alaric convinced him to recon first, he jumped over the counter and silently opened the door and easily spotted multiple zombies moving around. He quickly informed the group that they weren’t alone and Stan drew his sword and kicked the door open. Timmy suddenly did something completely unexpected and was the first to enter the factory proper and promptly screamed as he saw a multiple normal zombies and one monstrous zombie moving for them. Alaric jumped over the counter and stepped next to Stan with his gun ready. The regular zombies surged for the entrance but could not close the distance. Mr. Ryan was readying his shotgun. Stan pulled a pipe bomb and chucked it at the big zombie and failed horribly. His aim was off and instead of hitting his target he hit the conveyor belt and bounced back toward them. He ran inside and frantically dragged Timmy back inside the entranceway; somehow he was able to close the door before the explosion hit them Timmy was shaking from his brush with the explosion and promptly ran outside, in his opinion it was far safer out there and screamed there were more outside. The moment he was out of the building the weakened door gave way and several zombies surged in to face the remaining trio. Alaric immediately opened fire with an auto burst and hit the first wave, although every zombie was hit none were damaged enough to drop. Then the huge zombie charged into the fray but could not get close enough to hit. Mr. Ryan was torn but seeing that Stan was readying for combat and yelling for everyone to get out of the building. Thus inspired he raced outside to aid Timmy. Timmy lined up for a headshot at the closest zombie and scored a hit, but it just kept coming towards him. The normal zombies pushed forward and swung at Alaric and Stan, fortunately none of them hit. Alaric jumped back over the counter and opened fire and dropped a zombie. Stan was now alone with the zombies and the huge one was charging right for him and trying to grapple him to the ground, fortunately he was able to block the grabs with his sword but then the zombie grabbed his sword. Mr. Ryan easily disposed of a zombie outside and wounded another. Stan was safe from the zombies for the moment but he could not get his sword free. Timmy continued his onslaught on the unkillable zombie but despite the damage it just kept moving towards him. Stan was in much greater danger as he was mobbed by the zombies and dragged to the ground despite his best efforts, there were just to many. Alaric had a zombie problem of his own as one burst through the door next to him and was practically breathing down his neck. He gambled that he would be safe more the moment and let loose a burst of fire into the squirming mass of zombies that were covering Stan, between the explosion and his earlier barrage it was enough to finish them off and free Stan…leaving him to face the huge zombie. The lone zombie by Alaric hit him twice but it wasn’t serious. The huge zombie searched for an outlet for his rage and tried to drag Stan to the ground again and very nearly succeeded but he was barely able to stay just far enough away. The pair of Mr. Ryan and Timmy were occupied with mopping up the zombies outside and could offer no help. Fortunately Alaric was able to deliver the deathblow to the surviving zombies inside the factory and they could begin preparing the semi for transport. Stan was surveying the damage, what had once been a well-painted hallway was now a gore-stained mess. He turned to Alaric; who was reloading his gun and asked with a tone of genuine curiosity, ”Didn’t I tell you to leave?” He swung his submachine gun back on his shoulder and honestly replied with a smile on his face, ‘I couldn’t hear you over Timmy’s screaming.” Stan couldn’t help but laugh at that. (Comment on this)
Friday, April 24th, 2009
3:38 pm	I've got a job for part VI After the bloodbath that was the battle in the hallway, the survivors were content to try and get some rest after the savage beating they received after their bloody triumph over the undead crew. Standos was lead away by the cook to have his wounds looked at, Marcus had avoided melee and was relatively unscathed, and Nigel had been beaten up pretty badly but he was not in the condition that Standos was in. Their Eastern European resembled a chunk of battered hamburger and with each breath he took they were amazed that he had not succumbed to his wounds. Marcus, Nigel, Martin, and Wheels watched as the surviving crew carried Standos to what served as the infirmary to be operated on....by the cook. Despite their concern for their comrade each member of their little group knew that they had to complete their mission for Caesar Giovanni, and that had to take precedence. Their first action was to take care of the surviving zombies that were locked in the bunkroom; none of them were willing to take the chance that they might somehow escape. They were a problem that to be taken care of immediately. The four arranged themselves in a firing line and Wheels opened the door just a crack and bolted back to the rest of the group. They did not have long to wait as a necrotic arm forced its way through the opening and the door was forced open, the instant the head of the zombie was visible they opened fire. The first zombie was dead before the door was fully opened, the second made it past the threshold before it expired, the third and fourth followed suit barely exiting the room before falling to the combined barrage. The last two zombies were able to strike the survivors, but they were unable to land any blows before they were ripped to shreds by their combined gunfire. With the zombie threat gone for the moment the group along with the surviving engineer went off to inspect the engine room and assess the damage. They found most of the control panels smashed and it was a struggle to restore power to the cranes and open the holds, but through a combination of knowledge, tenacity, and all out dumb luck they succeeded. The sound of the holds opening reverberated through the ship. The engineer told the others to go as continued to repair the other systems. Nigel immediately sprinted off for the weather deck to see just what was in the holds. “Do you think he knows that the only way to enter the hold is using the crane?” Marcus asked. Martin paused for a moment and after further thought quipped, “I’ll go keep an eye on him.” Wheels and Marcus made there way to the bridge to find the remaining officer working on the radar console, he was cursing in what they assumed to be Portuguese as he spliced wires together. From their vantage point the duo could easily make out Martin discussing something with a dejected looking Marcus near one of the open holds. Wheels had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach; something was just not right, he scanned the docks and the water around the Albatross but could not make anything out. He began mumbling to himself and began to pace back and forth. His feeling of unease would not go away and as he kept pacing he lost track of his surroundings and his foot struck the radar console it blinked to life and began flashing. The ensign glanced at the now functioning console and became aware that two blips were moving towards their location. He became quite animated and started screaming even more loudly. Wheels could decipher the tone if not the words and automatically pulled out the phone to get their translator, fortunately he had Vinnie on speed dial. The ensign was frantically pointing at the console trying to convey some message but it was not coming across. Vinnie groaned, “Oh bad luck to not have accurate working radar.” Wheels was irate, “Vinnie! Enough already with the bad luck speech, just tell us what he jabbering on about!” “Fine then, kids today no respect for their elders wisdom. Your ensign is screaming something about picaroons which for those that have no spent time in the Iberian Peninsula means corsair, or as it is more commonly called pirate.“ “Well Wheels.” Marcus said patting him on the back, “At least their not zombie pirates.” “That is not helpful Marcus. Vinnie ask him how far away the pirates are.” ‘The word is picaroon and he’s yammering on about how the system is caught on a loop. This is showing us the past!’ “How long ago?” Marcus asked with a hint on concern on his still smiling face. “About 10 minutes.” Marcus pulled out his rifle and began to rant, “Well isn’t this just fin how do you do! Marcus, go tell Martin and Nigel what the hell is going on. I’ll stay here and cover you.” The tone of his voice made it clear to Marcus that it was not a request. He was just about to leave the bridge when the sound of gunfire broke out. Wheels knocked Marcus out of the way and rushed out the door with his rifle in hand screaming, “Vaffanculo! vai in culo!” Marcus shrugged his shoulders and headed for the weather deck muttering, “Eh, what can you do about it.” At the other end of the ship Martin and Nigel were busy staring down at the now open holds and chatting between themselves. Most of their conversation was Nigel trying ot convince Martin to lower him into the hold using the crane and Nigel trying to politely refuse. Nigel was not willing to concede so easily and countered, “But you said you knew how to operate it.” “I’ll concede that point, but I am not lowering you into a hold that is filled with property that belongs to our employer.” “It can’t all belong to him. I just want to take a look and do some exploring. I promise not to touch anything.” Martin was now in full of lecturing tone and would not relent, “You will not take anything. We entered into a sacred accord that we will not break. Do you understand me?” He made to poke Nigel in the chest for emphasis only to have him tumble backwards as a bullet struck him right in the chest! Whirling around Nigel saw six figures with weapons drawn that had climbed up the side of the ship and were taking aim at him, suddenly there was a resounding crack and one of the picaroon fell to the deck clutching his gut. The remaining boarders scattered and dove for cover to avoid the sniper, but Martin and Nigel were feeling awfully outnumbered. Wheels had moved outside the bridge and had a great view of the entire weather deck before him. He was having a great deal of fun sniping away and struck a beautiful headshot on the picaroon that was crawling towards his gut shot comrade. He was yelling out insult between shots and was thinking that he would need a new nickname, just as he finished that thought he was under fire and struck twice. His vest took the worst of it and he dropped down behind cover to reload. With the threat of the sniper gone the picaroons advanced on Martin and Nigel and opened fire. Martin was hit once while Nigel was hit several times, thanks to their vests they took minimal damage but they were still taking a pounding. They both returned fire and wounded their targets but no enough to drop any of them. They both dove for cover to Marcus was moving as much as fast as possible to aid his comrades but it would take some time for him to reach them. Wheels ceased his cursing long enough to pop up and fire two quick shots that dropped another picaroon and yelled out, “You make great targets but lousy shooters!” This drew another barrage but with his almost complete cover they all ricochet away from him. With more then half of the boarding party dead the remainder fought even harder, Nigel took several more shots in the chest and while his armor prevented any serious wounds he was so beat up from the impacts all he could do was crawl behind cover. Martin dropped one and pistol whipped another to death leaving him dead in the sights of the final picaroon….until a shot rang out dropping the final boarder to the ground. Martin glanced back and saw Marcus gasping for breath and using Nigel’s body to stabilize his shot. He was waving with his free hand and still smiling. The fight was over and from his vantage point Wheels could see the two small motor boats that the picaroons had used fleeing towards land. He lined up his rifle for a headshot and was thrown off balance as he heard what sounded like a jet taking flight. He couldn’t believe his eyes but there it was the Beagle was passing the bow of the Albatross and heading right for the small boats, he could see the look of complete horror in theirs eyes as Vinnie brought the beagle right their midsection shattering them into pieces. Suddenly the cell phone began to ring and it was evident it was Vinnie screaming out, “Oh bad luck to be a pirate when the Beagle is on the sea!!!” While Vinnie was cleaning up one mess, Marcus was checking the damage done to Nigel. He diagnosed that he was fine and that he should wake up in an hour or so and that all he needed was bed rest. The group held a quick conference with the crew and agreed that they had to bring the ship into port. It was a surprisingly easy task given the assistance of Vinnie translating the commands of the ensign to them and in a short while they found themselves back on dry land with their cargo intact and ready to be delivered. Caesar was most surprised at what they ha to tell them about their attackers. Wheels explained that they were all wearing jackets with the same name patch sewn to the back that read wolves. Marcus added that many of them had empty prescription pill containers in their pockets. Caesar and Luigi could safely say that they had not heard of this group and they must have sprung up recently. Caesar spat out a curse and ordered the group to find out who these filth were and where they were. That said Caesar and Luigi went to inspect the Albatross and bid the group a good day. Despite the injuries and exhaustion the group was more afraid of Brigit then dying and immediately loaded the medicine along with their injured comrades into their van and sped off for the hospital. Wheels had them there in mostly one piece in a short while and they were greeted by a number of orderlies and Brigit. She was downright gleeful that they had been able to finish her task so promptly, though after glancing about inside the van and looking around outside she did have a perplexed look on her face and asked, “So just where is Lei and my great grandson?” (Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
10:22 pm	I've got a job for you part V Standos, Marcus, Nigel, Wheels, and the three remaining crew members were still staring at the bloodied engine room door; behind it were at least 18 zombies and the controls to open the sealed holds. Not willing to start a firefight early Standos began searing the hold of the ship and came upon a sealed room. He motioned to the surviving crew and with the aid of Vinnie was able to find out that there should not be any zombies inside. He was not willing to take chance and had his shotgun at the ready as kicked the door open and promptly cursed in his native tongue. There sitting on a chair halfway into the room was a body sans its head. Standos peered further into the room and saw a shotgun lying on the ground beside the corpse and a massive bloodstain on the ceiling. He hesitantly stepped into what he now realized as the bunk room and examined the corpse carefully looking for any clues as to what had happened to it. As he searched it was evident early on that this person was wearing their dress uniform and had some type of rank insignia, he found a few shotgun shells in a pocket but it wasn't until he found a bite mark hidden by a sleeve that everything slid together. Standos remarked, "Poor bastard got in here and then blew his head off once he found out he had been bitten. Bloody hell, at least he got to leave on his own terms." Standos was lost in thought as he walked back to his comrades, the fate chosen by the officer weighed heavily on his mind. Would he do the same thing in his situation? Meanwhile Marcus and Nigel were desperately trying to come up with a plan that gave them the best possible chance of survival...they were not having much success. Nigel began, "So opening the door and throwing dynamite in is out because of the damage it would cause to the engine room." "Correct, that it we wouldn’t be sure of how many we would get and we have no dynamite." Marcus replied somewhat somber but otherwise cheerful. "We can't fight them head on because they outnumber us about six to one." "Yeap." "So tell me again why the hell are we even considering doing this?" "The scary Irish lady and scary Italian man." Nigel mused for a moment, "Two valid points indeed." Marcus interjected with a smile, "I'm willing to concede I almost more scared of failing those two then the zombie horde in the basement but I still want to live to experience more misfortune in the future.” “I think that I have a plan that just might work” Standos offered. “Well it can’t be any worse then what we’ve been coming up with. By the way if you thought of trying to use dynamite we’ve thought of that one already.” “It was a good idea to... even if Nigel left it all in the van.” Marcus quipped. Standos thought of the pipe-bomb still in his possession and was about to tell the others about it when he remembered the officer, no best to keep it for a last resort. “I was thinking more alike the lines of ‘Pied the Piper’ actually.” The pair listened intently as Standos explained his plan of using the boom box to lure the zombies into the bunkroom and then shutting the door behind them. Marcus mulled over the plan for a moment, “That could work, but we’ll still need to get them out of the engine room.” “So long as the music as playing and the door is open they should come out, so whoever opens the door better be fast, and trust me that’s not me. There’s a good reason I got into cars.” Nigel explained. “I’m not that fast either, and whoever it is that goes out there has to get out of sight quickly or they’ll follow him and ignore the music.” Marcus offered shamed. Standos saw the other two unwilling to meet his gaze. He let out a sigh and muttered “Well then nothing to it but to do it then. Start the music first and I’ll head over and open the door.” Marcus and Nigel went inside the redecorated bunkroom and let out a scream of surprise at the state of affairs. Standos jovially yelled, “Oh yeah there’s a corpse missing its head in there. Don’t worry he’s perfectly harmless.” Standos was cut off from saying anything else as the loud roar of a hard rock ballad filled the air. Marcus and Nigel rushed out with their hands over their ears as they ran down the corner, they split up with Nigel going to the left and Marcus going to the right and rounding a corner. Marcus gave a thumb up for good luck before he ducked behind a corner. The crewmen and Wheels had gone to the weather deck leaving just him in the hallway and the soon to be freed mob of zombies. Nigel steeled himself and walked down the short flight of stairs and clutched the blood stained wheel handle, he was breathing so hard he barely noticed the door give way and open with hardly a squeal. The room was full of zombies but they were all hammering away at something on the far side of the room, something that looked like a gigantic generator that was giving off a constant whirling noise, until one caught sight of him. It let loose a wordless moan and turned to stagger after him, the rest soon followed as they stumbled over one another to reach him. Standos was moving before the first moan and he lunged up the stairs and down the hall. He ran faster then he had in years, his chest was heaving and his breath came in ragged gasps as he rounded the corner and nearly collided with Nigel. As far as they could tell the plan was working, the zombies were leaving the engine room and ambling down the hallway towards the music but something just would not sit right in Standos’s mind. He thought back to his quick glance of the engine room, he pictured the zombies’ relentless pounding against the steel encased generators. Their single-mindedness towards the destruction of what was giving off noise…and that’s when his thought became a fear. He motioned to Nigel to cover him and he took off running down the hallway towards the bunkroom. He could see other zombies at the far end of the hall making their way towards him and he could see 7 or 8 already inside of the room…they were all clustered around the radio trying to smash it to pieces. Standos slid to a stop just as the doorway and slammed the door shot locking the first group of zombies inside and readying his shotgun for the approaching group. Marcus and Nigel could not believe what Standos had just done or why he had done what he had done. Marcus was secretly thankful that he had gotten rid of the wretched sounding music…he much rather preferred classical, but what the hell was he thinking really? Nigel was likewise confused but he readied his rifle and was preparing to start shooting at the first unliving thing that he had a shot at. Standos was standing his ground as the zombies advanced towards him; he wasted no time in firing off two quick shots at the lead zombies and then executed a strategic retreat down the hallway towards his comrades at top speed. The sight of Standos running towards at top speed was humorous but heralded ill tidings as that meant a large group of zombies were coming this way. Marcus and Nigel took their shots almost gleefully as the zombies advanced, and they had destroyed all but two of the zombies. The rest had fallen from a combination of headshots and critical wounds, the other two were now close enough to attack Standos and they dragged him to the ground. Standos struggled but was unable to escape until the last second when he squirmed out of the zombies grasp and scampered back several feet. Marcus and Nigel resumed their barrage but without much luck as both zombies were still standing albeit with several holes in them and what was when the third group of zombies arrived in mass. The trio of survivors was now outnumbered three to one and the situation got a whole lot more desperate. Marcus was able to hit the lead zombie of the next group disabling him but the rest kept advancing and Standos found himself being dragged to the ground by the same zombie he had just escaped from. He became little more then a punching bag as the neighboring zombies pounded him relentlessly as he struggled to escape. His thought went back to the officer and resolved to blow his head off before he would be infected. That would not happen this day, somehow he escaped the undead mob as one zombie mistakenly struck the zombie grasping him, the blow struck with such force that its head was utterly demolished. Standos praised whatever saints were watching over him and whatever devils were tormenting him as he scrambled for the stairway. Nigel and Marcus were disgusted at his action but they could understand them as they held their ground opening fire on the mob. The zombies thinned out to attack the two and both would receive several wounds from a severe bashing. The situation was rapidly passing the point of desperation and that’s when Standos made his triumphant return. He still looked little better then a piece of raw hamburger but he defiantly yelled out what could only have been a curse I his native tongue and threw a small tube at the mob. It seemed to be flashing as it sailed past Marcus and Nigel into the midst of zombies and suddenly there was tremendous flash of light and roar of thunder that nearly knocked of the two of them to the ground and then they were covered by a blossoming cloud of necrotic tissue. The explosion had thinned out the mob noticeably but four zombies were still barely standing and they renewed their assault on Marcus and Nigel. The two responded in kind with several shots but were only able to drop one more zombie. The remaining three were still somehow standing. It fell to Standos who charged like a mad bull into their midst and placed his shotgun to each of their heads in kind and opened fire. The three fell in short order leaving the three breathing but heavily battered survivors in control of lower deck and several zombies trapped in the bunkroom. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
3:35 pm	Zombie Campaign #7 We're gonna get some religion The group of Stan, Alan, Alaric, Timmy, and Cecil rapidly made their way through the tunnels to the church. They were all unsure of what awaited them at the church but they were as prepared as they could be. Thanks to their recent encounters with the Revalationists they were all outfitted with night vision goggles making the trip much easier…with the exception of Alan who tried not to blind the others with her flashlight. As they continued through the tunnels they quickly became aware that they were not alone. Alaric and Stan fearing that there were Revalationists preparing another ambush signaled for the group to halt while they snuck ahead to take a better look. They caught sight of two people with flashlights heading towards them. The duo did not appear to be Revalationists and did possess any heavy weapons but Stan and Alaric were leery to reveal themselves. They both agreed that someone had to confront them and that the rest of the group would then jump in and catch them hopefully unaware. That said they waited until the duo drew closer and Alaric stepped out with his submachine gun aimed at them and demanded, “Halt, and identify yourselves!” They were shocked to see a gunman revealed in front of them and each reached for a hip holster only to be stalled as Stan suddenly sprang in front of them with his sword drawn and ready for a decapitation. The pair broke the silence as they identified themselves as police officers and after asking Stan for permission reached into a pocket to reveal his shield and id. Stan and Alaric lowered their weapons and called for the rest of the group to come out. The police officers identified themselves as Detectives Al Giordello and Meldrick Lewis, and that they had had been in the sewers trying to find a way out that wasn’t crawling with zombies. Giordello was wearing a suit that had seen better days as a variety of stains covered his jacket while Lewis was wearing more casual clothes. They were both off duty when things had gone to hell and they were each down to their last clips of ammunition and had been on the move for the last few days. Giordello asked with a thick Italian accent, “I don’t suppose that you could tell us how to get out of here could you?” Stan seemed to ponder for a moment before giving them directions to the subbasement entrance of the hospital. With the detectives set on their way, the group turned to Timmy to navigate their way to the church and with their somewhat jittery comrade in the lead they marched for several more blocks before they arrived at a sealed access point beneath the church. The group debated for several moments as to how to enter the church, the street or trying to break open the sealed sewer entrance. They hastily agreed that staging a frontal assault on a fortified building would account to them all becoming zombie fodder their only option was to break into through the sealed entrance. The group worked carefully over the course of an hour to crack the seals and gain entrance with as little noise as possible. They entered a dimly lit storage room that had an ancient metal spiral staircase that lead to an upper floor. They further examined the staircase to find it a disaster waiting to happen as at the slightest pressure it would loudly creek. The group while not sure that the church was a haven for the Revalationists, they in now way wanted to announce their arrival. Alaric offered to lead the way and ever so carefully and slowly he made his way up the spiral staircase to find himself in a darkened room with a closed door leading further into the church. He motioned down that it was safe and the group followed in the order of Stan, Timmy, Cecil, and Allan taking up the rear. The only problem came when Allan tried to move to quickly and the stairway loudly groaned, but thankfully it did not cause any alert to go off. With the group clustered around the stairwell and unable to hear any noise they advanced into the next room, it was another storage room but they could see light coming in from beyond another door. They could hear people speaking but they could not get an accurate number or what they were talking about due to the muffling of the walls and door. It was a classic case of desperate times calling for desperate measures and Cecil came up with a daring plan. He would enter into the church playing the role of a survivor lost in the tunnels who came upon the open entranceway in the sewers. If they were indeed Revalationists he would lead them into an ambush in the supply room, if they were not then he would give the all clear and the group could come out. Alaric offered to hide in the supply room to spring the trap while Stan would lead the rest and catch them in a classic hammer and anvil strategy. The plan seemed like that it couldn’t fail, unfortunately those are the ones that tend to crash horribly. As Cecil prepared to enter the church proper Alaric hid behind a row of robes and the rest of the group slid back into the room with the stairwell and began waiting. Cecil tried his best to play the act of a terrified survivor and opened the door to greet the possible cultists just as he opened the door 5 people turned to face him as his arrival brought their conversation to a halt. Cecil quickly related his fabrication of being separated from his comrades, finding the open grate in the sewer and was able to convince them of its truth. The leader of the group explained that were a group of likeminded individuals who were following the will of a higher power who were dedicated to following the one true word. At his point Cecil noticeably relaxed, until the leader pulled out an all to familiar bible. “For you see my child.” The leader began with the conviction of a true believer, ”The time of rapture has come and we the unworthy have been left behind.” At this point the congregation began to echo the leader’s words. “We must hasten the reunification of our brothers and sisters with the divine!” “We must hasten the reunification of our brothers and sisters with the divine!” Their chanting hauntingly echoed through the church. “Harm not the zombie for it is truly god’s instrument of reunification!” “We shall harm not the zombie for it is truly god’s instrument of reunification!” “Aid the zombies in their divine mission!” “We shall aid the zombies in their divine mission!” “Remember my children we must not turn our cheeks to those who seek to thwart our holy mission for we shall smite them with the fury of the divine!” “We shall smite those who seek to thwart our holy mission!” Cecil glanced about nervously but hastily agreed that the end times had arrived and some were found lacking, “Mostly in terms of sanity.” He thought as he watched the once tranquil congregation whipped into a blood letting frenzy. Their leader was now brandishing a sword and pointing towards the very door that Cecil had entered and screaming out, “Let us go my children to bring out brothers and sisters to their eternal salvation! For only once they are in the loving embrace of out Lord God can we join them in his ever-loving embrace! To the tunnels! We shall sally forth and join our brethren that already our doing god’s will!” “For god’s will, to the tunnels!” They cheered, and even Cecil felt himself being caught up in the moment…something that chilled him to the very bone. One member of the congregation turned to him and motioned with a gun for him to take a seat in front of him. “For your own protection I must insist that you stay here, in case something happens we wouldn’t want you to be in harms way now would we? You can never tell who would want to stop the lord’s will now can you?” He commented as he started directly into Cecil’s eyes, however he was so adamant upon intimidating and holding a gun to the back of Cecil’s head he was completely unaware of Cecil palming a knife into his hand. This small oversight would have tremendous consequences in only a few moments. The three other Revalationists followed their leader into the small room where Alaric was preparing to unleash hell and promptly turned on the lights dazzling Alaric and caused him to miss his three shots and that’s when all hell broke loose. The three cultists aimed their firearms at the pile of robes and opened fire while their leader charged in with his sword. Somehow amidst the flying bullets and the sword slashing nothing managed to hit Alaric and he promptly responded firing shots at the leaders arm, but while they both shots hit he was still able to wield his blade. The next round of attacks was much better aimed as suddenly Alaric was hit four times by a combination of gunfire and sword strikes that nearly knocked him unconscious but somehow managed to stay upright an let loose a barrage hitting the cultists several times but did not cause enough harm to drop any of them. Stan chose this moment to make his triumphant entry and immediately sliced a cultist up and continued with his momentum onto the leader who blocked his strike with his own sword surprising the hell out of Stan. Allan and Timmy fired from the other room but were not able to hit. Cecil was dealing with his own problems while the firefight was breaking out in the supply room, namely the loaded gun to the back of his head. Most people would have lost their mind in the same situation, but Cecil was not like most people, he would being knives to a gun fight then convince the other person to leave, and that is exactly what he did. He convinced his guard to go help the leader who was in danger. With a desperate cry of, "Leader I'm on my way!" His guard took of running towards the door; Cecil waited for a moment and threw his hidden knife at the fleeing guard. It was a perfect throw and hit him right in the arm, but somehow he kept hold of his and turned to open fire only to find Cecil had taken cover behind the baptismial font and was pulling out more knives. They would spend the next few minutes stalking each other but not dealing damage to each other despite their best efforts. Stan and Alaric had a huge break when the cultist with the shotgun misfired and jammed, this bought the pair the perfect opportunity to concentrate on the rest of the their foes. Stan tore into the other sword wielder and clove him in two with a massive swing while Alaric tore another apart with a deadly barrage. Timmy and Allan moved closer to the doorway and delivered the final blows to the shotgun wielding cultist The remaining foe seeing his comrades dead dove behind a pew and prepared for his final stand, but as soon as Stan caught site of him he broke into a full out run and charged him but could not cause enough damage to drop him so he would live for a few more moments. They were short moments indeed as Alaric crawled, leaving a trail of blood behind him, to the doorway of the storage room and opened fire on the cultists exposed legs. The shot had to sail past Stan but it hit something vital and their last foe collapsed to the ground dead. As the adrenaline wore off and it rapidly became aware that there was no one left to fight Alaric politely yelled, “Someone fetch me my bag, I need to operate on myself!” (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, April 10th, 2009
10:53 am	I've got a job for you part IV Of the 4 people occupying the bunkroom all were in relative good shape...everyone except for Standos. It appeared that Lei's haymaker had caused more damage then was thought and his jaw had a minor albeit painful sprain. Dr. Watson was more then eager to help and to the amusement of the rest of the group he wrapped a thick layer of duct tape around his chin and looping it over his head. "Now then, we leave this on for a day or so and when I rip it off it'll hurt so much that you'll forget about your jaw." Standos replied with a mumbled series of phrases that appeared at least from the tone were not very nice. Marcus offered him a straw from his first aid box to use and Nigel was enjoying cracking jokes at the Slavic mans expense, “Hey Standos next time I see you we’ll have to chew the fat and catch up. Standos could take it no longer and promptly scribbled on a piece of paper, "I'll be in my bunk!" "I didn't hear you could you speak up a little bit louder." Nigel replied. Even Martin could not avoid getting in a quip, "Well this'll make any negotiations a lot easier." To which Standos replied with a universal hand sign involving a solitary finger and stormed off amidst a sea of laughter. As the trio of martin, Nigel and Marcus made there way back to see Lei they caught sight of Antonio spray painting the McMurphy logo off of the van. "Trust me.” He began. "If we are going to the docks we don't want to have anything linking us to the McMurphys. There's some bad blood between the families. So don't be saying anything good about McMurphy. Don't Say anything about working for McMurphy. On second thought just don't say anything at all. I'll do the talking just nod." Martin looked contemplative as if preparing his next move while Nigel and Marcus just shrugged their shoulders. "There we go, it’s all set and with the modifications I made to the van she'll have a lot more power. Mount up and let’s get a moving?" He barked out while pulling down the visor of his crash helmet. Watson caught a glance of the van pulling out of his compound and just for a moment he could have sworn that flames were shooting out of the muffler. With shake of his head he commented to the wind, "Damn it Antonio, won't you ever learn." "Hey doc, did I just see what I thought I saw?" One of his 'angels' yelled out from the roof. "Don't worry Michael I saw it to." Watson replied. "Doesn't that fool remember the last time that he did that to a car? I mean you barely had enough to put him back together doc" A different voice chimed in from the roof. "I'm sure he does Raphael." "Well he hasn't learned from it all." The final 'angel' commented as he walked away from the now closed gate. He was wearing a stained flak vest over combat fatigues that fit his six foot frame as if it were tailor made, but his face remained hidden behind the somewhat scorched visor of a riot helmet. "Gabriel, don't worry they're still there." Raphael snorted a reply. "Doc, why didn't you ask me for any help with the pregnant women? I've delivered babies before." "Elementary my dear Raphael, I always wanted a chance to bring some life into the world; I hope that you don't hold that against me." "Not in the least doc. How is she doing?" "Fine as I can tell. She's still resting but both she and the baby are doing fire." "That's great news!" "I just hope Antonio doesn't come back in as many pieces as he did last time. Oh that reminds me, would you like to take a look at the roughian they left behind?" "What wrong with him?" "He is suffering from a sprained jaw and soon to be severe follicle loss." "Follicle loss, what the hell caused that?" "Nope, duct tape applied to set the jaw. I'll be taking it off in a few hours." Everyone broke into a hearty laugh at his diagnosis...all save for Raphael. His face was the perfect image of confusion, "Why the bloody hell did you use duct tape?" Watson replied plainly, "His manor displeased me." Shrugging his shoulders Raphael replied, "Fair enough. The operating room is a chapel and that as close to god as the lot of us are ever going to get." It was several blocks to the harbor and 'Wheels' delighted in taking every turn as almost 90 degrees with the breaks squealing like a stuck pig. The passengers went back and forth from being terrified and amazed at his driving ability. As they rounded a final turn they were on a street that was remarkably clear of zombies. They were finally able to see the river and a heavy duty steel chain fence marking the border of the docks with a guard shack by a heavy duty gate, and that’s when the passengers saw something that had not seen before. ‘Wheels’ was seating bullets and trying very hard to keep a calm exterior, and failing badly. He turned to face the other three, “Listen up good.” ‘Wheels’ began, “This is the last time I’m going to say this. Do not talk unless spoken to. Keep your answers to the point, and under no circumstance are you to say anything about Paddy McMurphy or any of his extended family. I’m going to walk over to the gate and hopefully not get shot.” “What did you to do to piss of the Giovanni’s?” Martin asked with a look of concern. “Its not so much what I did, its how I went about doing something. Stay in the car and don’t make any threatening gestures unless you want to lose whatever it’s attached to.” That said he climbed out of the van and walked towards the gatehouse with his crash helmet under his arm. They watched as ‘Wheels’ chatted with the gate guard and after a few moments he walked back to the van. “All right.” He began.” They’ll let us in, but all our weapons need to stay in the van. We’ll be talking to Caesar.” “We’re going to meet a salad?” Marcus asked confused. “No you idiot, Caesar Giovanni, the family patriarch.” ‘Wheels’ commented in disgust “Oh.” “Anyways, leave everything we’re going inside the warehouse to negotiate.” That said wheels climbed back into the van and drove towards the gate, once they pulled up to it they could see a metal gate that was slowly being hoisted up by two pulleys and as they parked they were lead to a nearby warehouse. There they met a man in his early 60 who was wearing a designer suit that hadn’t been washed in several days. “It has been a long time Antonio; it is good to see you in this troubled time my cousin. Now shall we get to business?” He asked in a kind but stern way.” “Father, should we be discussing things amongst outsiders.” A new voice interjected. “Ah Luigi, I’m glad you could make it. I’m sure you remember Antonio; he has a business proposition for us. We shall speak of this over lunch." "I am sure that Antonio can couch for the members of his crew. Can't you Antonio?" "Of course, I've worked with them before." "There, you see Luigi. There is nothing to worry about." That said Caesar lead them to another warehouse where there were signs of a large group of people living there. A large garden was being maintained by two people and a number of cots were set up for sleeping quarters. He motioned for them to a circular table had been set up with a simple meal of pasta and salad laid out and motioned for Antonio to sit to his left while Luigi instinctively sat to his right. The rest of the group found appropriate spots but made sure to sit together. They ate their meal in relative peace with Caesar asking innocent questions to learn more about Antonio's companions. He was able to quickly recognize Martin and commented, "Ah we've never had business before but I must say that I have heard a lot about you." "I hope all of it good." He replied hastily. "Quite the opposite actually, you've cost several people in my circle quite a lot actually. You truly are an exceptional mediator; I believe that we can do great things together. You should have Antonio bring you back to speak to me later." Beneath his careful maintained negotiator's facade Martin was very worried as to what to do, he wanted to maintain good graces but he didn't want to become indebted to him as well. He spoke as placating as possible, "Pf course but first I must finish my current task and then hopefully we will be able to speak of things later." Marcus and Nigel did not speak much and offered only the barest of information about them. Caesar deduced that Nigel was the muscle and that Marcus must be the sawbones of the group. After the meal was finished ‘Wheels’ turned to Caesar and spoke plainly, “I thank you for your hospitality cousin.” He cut him off with a raised hand, “Please Antonio I insist that you call me Uncle.” Luigi had a look of chock and disgust on his face that was easily seen by everyone except for Caesar and Antonio. “As you wish uncle, as you know that I am not a man of many words cousin so I will quickly get to the point. I have been asked to retrieve some crates of medicine for the hospital and we believe that they are in your warehouses. If you would be willing to allow us to retrieve them we would do three jobs for you in return.” Caesar gaze focused on the wine in his glass he swirled it back and forth for a moment, “Far be it for me to decline an opportunity to utilize the skills of individuals such as yourself and your crew. You have the shipping number?” He listened intently as Antonio repeated the number given to him by Brigid, and then turned to his son “Please help your cousin and his friends to find what they are looking for.” Then with a curt nod Luigi rose from his chair and walked to a nearby door. He rejoined the group with a thick binder and after a few moments found the shipment in question, and his facial expression changed only for a moment but it was long enough for Marcus to catch sight of an almost joyful expression. “It seems father that the shipment in question never arrived in port. It is in all likelihood still onboard the Albatross.” “Well that makes things much more difficult then I would have hoped for then.” He hastily replied.” “So the ship never made port?” Martin asked concerned. “Oh it arrived.” Caesar answered, “It’s just that it never unloaded its cargo.” “That is not a very good sign is it uncle?” “Luigi knows more about it and he can explain it better then me.” “Thank you father, the ship arrived several days ago and dropped anchor in the river. They ignored all of our radio contact and instead launched two skiffs that sailed west of here. They would probably have made landfall at the park. They returned to their ship a short time later at great speed and that is the last contact that we’ve had with them. Her running lights are still on, but we haven’t observed anything on her weather deck.” “Thank you Luigi. It would seem that Fortuna has smiled upon us in providing us with similar goals. I would like for your crew to investigate the Albatross and secure the ship. I will provide transport to the freighter and in return the crates you requested will be yours. I trust that this will be in agreement with you gentlemen?” ‘Wheels’ of course did not hesitate for a moment before agreeing. “I believe that it would work best if we were to leave as soon as possible uncle, but is it possible that we could procure a radio to use to distract the zombies.” “Of course, Luigi will guide you to the boat and procure you a radio to use.” Luigi promptly rose and made his exit from the building with the group following him…all save for ‘Wheels’ who tarried for a moment at the door. “Uncle I wish to speak to you for a moment.” “Of course nephew what is on your mind?” ‘Wheels’ quickly spoke of the situation in the city and of the need to set aside old feuds in order to survive. Caesar looked troubled for a moment but offered to speak more with him after he returned. As ‘Wheels’ was preparing to leave he turned back to Caesar and bluntly asked, “Is Luigi still mad at me?” “Antonio, Antonio. It will be a long time if ever truly forgives you. Our family has ancient saying which dates back to the founding of Rome itself. It has always guided me in every one of my decisions. I am going to share this saying with you in hopes that it offers you the same guidance that it has done for me,” Completely shocked by his statement ‘Wheels’ dumbfoundly nodded, “I would he honored uncle.” He saw the elder man pause for a moment as if pondering and nodding sagely he spoke with a clear tone of dead seriousness. ‘No matter what ills you have with any man. You should never break their nose the night before their wedding.” Then to ‘Wheels started dumbfounded as Caesar started to laugh uncontrollably for several moments till he paused and almost regretfully spoke, “Ah to be young and foolish again.” “I wish I had known that before the party.” “Something you only learn with age nephew, now I suggest you make your way to the dock before your crew leaves without you.” Their conversation over ‘Wheels’ raced out the warehouse door to see his friends driving towards the dock. “Those ungrateful bastards didn’t even wait for me!” As ‘Wheels’ fumed and ranted at his fate the rest of the group were parking near a small dock where a tug boat was tied up. Luigi left the van to chat with the captain a man named, Vinnie de Gama. Luigi had described as a man who loved trading but hated fees. His boat seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary, but Marcus and Nigel had suspicions. From what they deduced the “tugboat” was probably able to outrun most police vessels and even give the coast guard a run for their money. Martin was laughing quite loudly after seeing that the figurehead of the boat was a beautifully crafted snoopy, complete with flying goggles and scarf. The ships name was beautifully painted next to it pronouncing it to be the ‘Beagle’. As they were examining the Beagle they heard a conversation that Luigi was having with someone that had a very odd accent, it wasn’t Spanish or French but it sounded familiar, “Argh tis be bad luck to go for a boat trip after eating a meal.” The other voice belonged to Luigi, “Vinnie, that may be true but it is even worse bad luck to say no when Caesar asks you to.” “Aye tis even worse bad luck to refuse Caesar. Take me to those unfortunate bastards that’ll be on my boat.” A few moments later a midsized man with a brown leather holster standing out against the vibrant background of orange overalls and wearing a grey stocking cap appeared on board. He stared at the trio waiting on the dock and grunted, “Oh it’s a bad day to meet new people.” Marcus glanced at his comrades not sure of what to make of their transport but refused to let it bother his cheerful disposition, if the undead could not break his mood then this surly sea captain had no chance. Martin began thanking the captain for the use of his ship and complimented him on his fine vessel, while Nigel was mentally preparing himself for the coming fight. Just they were sizing up each other ‘Wheels’ wheezing and complexly out of breath after running after them, “Oh cousin Antonio.” Luigi commented with faked sincerity.” I’m sorry I must not have seen you as we drove off. Just keep breathing and I’m sure that you’ll be just fine.” “It’s all right cousin, I’ll manage.” He managed between gasps of air.” “Oh it’s a bad day to go for a run.” Vinnie commented while shaking his head. After ‘Wheels’ was able to breath normally the group boarded the Beagle. Luigi waved from the dock and after a moments consideration threw a small parcel at them as the ship was pulling away from the dock. “I almost forget the batteries for the radio, take care cousin.” Luigi offered with a wave. “Wheels.” Martin began, “What did you do to that man.” “I’ll tell you later.” The trip was relatively short as the tug made its way to the apparently deserted freighter. Martin and Marcus were scanning the vessel as soon as they could, but aside from the running lights being active they did not see anything on the deck moving…alive or otherwise. “Argh, tis be bad luck to be boarding a ghost ship.” Vinnie announced as they approached the Albatross. “Argh tis even worse bad luck to name a ship Albatross.” As they were planning on how to board the freighter Vinnie was fount of knowledge and providing them with the use of grapple and a knotted rope to scale the hull. He also suggested that they keep a line of communication open, fortunately they still had the phone that Sean gave them and they quickly discovered that it was high quality satellite phone. With their preparations finished they group prepared to board the freighter, Wheels offered to go first to check it out and after stumbling a bit he was able to pull himself onto the deck. He quickly glanced left and right and found it completely deserted with the doorways to the bridge and to lower decks completely open, and discovered the holds were sealed and the cranes were deactivated. As Wheels was getting the lay of the land the rest of the group boarded the ship. Marcus set out for the bridge and found it a mess with maps spread out over the floor, and after several minutes of searching he discovered the ships log. He casually flipped towards the end of the log searching for the final entries and what he found greatly troubled him. 16th day out of port: we are nearing our destination of Possum City and I will be eager to have this cargo unloaded and to make speed for home. Unconfirmed rumors have crew on edge and they want to make landfall. 17th day out of port: I have ordered the crew to drop anchor until we have ascertained the situation of things in the city. I was not hailed by the harbor master upon our arrival and there are several plumes of smoke coming from beyond the city proper. 18th day out of port: Crew is growing restless and several have organized a landing party to assess situation. They have armed themselves and are preparing to leave. City in chaos, landing party was attacked by mob once they made landfall, several crew members injured and are below decks. The Vanderheiden Memorial Bridge has been collapsed downriver making usual route blocked. 19th day out of port: Those that were attacked at landfall have passed after suffering terribly. I am leery to respond to any communications from mainland. My god above the men that died have arisen and are attacking the rest of the crew, they are mustering in the engine room and have disabled several systems. I am arming bridge officers and will put down revolt, may god forgive me for what I am to do. He began to feel an overwhelming sense of dread despite his cheery disposition and ran out looking for the rest of the group. A quick discussion took place and they agreed they had to go below decks and assess the situation. As they made their way below decks they found the hallway illuminated with ominous red light. The hallway was empty and as they rounded the corner they found a severed arm still clutching at a door that lead to a short stairway and a closed door. They surmised that the engine room was behind the door but before they could make any plans they became aware they were not alone. Three new figures had made their way into the light and were preparing to attack the group but they backed down once they say that they were not zombies. As they lowered their fire axes and crowbars it rampantly became aware that communication would be a major problem as neither side could understand what the other was saying, they were at an impasse until Marcus remembered the cell phone and called Vinnie. He responded with, “It’s a bad day to answer the phone.” It took several moments to explain what was happening and after being placed on speaker phone and conversing with a now joyful trio of survivors Vinnie’s tone dropped and lapsed into a series of, “Oh its bad bad luck. Oh its just plain horrible luck to have a crew!” “Vinnie, pull yourself together.” Martin yelled, “What are they saying, how many are down there.” “What’s left of the whole bloody crew is down there boy, that’s around 19 soulless wretches now according to the Portuguese speaking boys you found. Ah they might as well just call her the Flying Dutchman cause that’s all that’s left down there now.” Vinnie’s voice cut out as the group simultaneously stared at the closed door. (Comment on this)
Friday, April 3rd, 2009
3:20 pm	I've got a job for you part III As the group was under fire and talking shelter in the Shanghai Restraunt and Lounge one lost little sheep was trying to catch up to them. Nigel had finally shaken off the effects of Paddy's home brewed Hearth Ale and set off to find his fellows. He made his way back to Paddy's room and after conversing with Flynn, the guard with the sawed off shotgun, he set off to find his way to the subbasement and track down Sean...a task that was easier said then done. After several minutes of stumbling around and getting lost he finally came across a skinny man with a large duffel bag and a fat man with a clipboard that were able to help him as he was passing by he halfheartedly asked what kind of work they were doing. They both replied eerily simultaneously, "Why the good fathers of course." "What a coincidence, so am I. Well I have to go and catch up with the others, they've probably already left. We have to go do a little pickup for him across town." "How are you going to get past all the zombies?" The fat man asked obviously interested. "Oh we're using the tunnels. You can enter through the subbasement. Well I have to go take care and good luck with your job." Martin yelled back as he rushed around a corner, "Watch out for his wife, she's a real piece of work." Both men locked eyes with a look of bewilderment on their faces, "Wife?" With his new found directions Nigel was easily able to find his way to his destination and found Sean with a half formed whittled pipe in one hand and pistol in the other that was aimed at Nigel's face. "Oh its you Nigel, well have got your guts in order now lad?" With his eyes locked on the gun he shakily replied, "Yeap, guts in order but I might need some new shorts. You mind moving your gun away from my face?" "No worries, you missed the rest of your mates by a couple of minutes but you should be able to catch up to them if you hurry." That said Sean repeated the directions that he had given the rest of the group and after reopening the locked chain and grate Nigel was on his way. As he was closing in on his destination Nigel could easily hear the sounds of gunfire and could see sunlight through an open manhole. Nigel raced up the manhole rungs and emerged triumphantly onto the surface right in front of the parking lot...only to see his comrades burning rubber in their new van in the opposite direction leaving him and many zombies. Nigel quickly scanned through the parked cars and found one to his likening, it was an older SUV that had seen better days but suited his needs...and promptly broke in. His efforts at starting however were not as successful as the horn stated blaring, cursing vehemently he returned to his work and just as the zombies were closing in the SUV blared to life. Shifting rapidly Nigel sped off after his comrades. Despite his best efforts Nigel could not catch up to him comrades as the street he was taking was choked full of debris forcing him to slow down or risk a serious collision and he had no way of contacting them to apprise them of his location. He was just about to pull up to the restaurant when he saw something flung from the restaurants roof and plummet to the ground a few feet in front of the SUV, it looked oddly tubed shaped as it rolled on the ground and then erupted upwards in a cloud of smoke that chocked the street. Nigel was completely unprepared and drove right into the crater at full speed and flipped the SUV on its side with the wheels facing the apartments. It took him several minutes to shake out of his dazed and confused stupor which once done he promptly kicked out the sunroof and emerged still a little dazed onto the street...only to be promptly shot at from the apartments. Nigel dove back behind the car for cover as bullets were pinging off the SUV's chassis and he promptly took stock of his situation, the closest cover was the corner of the restaurant and that was a long 30 feet away. The snipers in the apartment building were keeping up a stubborn potshots at his position and a chance glance followed by a an almost whiplash second look revealed a veritable mob of zombies being drawn towards the loud music, it appeared that choice was a luxury that was quickly fading away to nostalgia. While Nigel was pondering his next course of action those that were already inside were discussing their next course of action as well. They were all completely unaware of Nigel’s struggle and those that heard the gunfire just assumed it was those crazy cultists again firing away trying to get to them. Standos was currently trying to make his way unnoticed to the bar only to fail and have O'Mannon staring at him with murder in his eyes and a machine gun in his hands, "You step away from that elixir of life you commie bastard." "I'm not a communist." Standos roared back. "I never said you were, I said you were a commie!" O'Mannon screamed back. Martin quickly tried to calm the situation, "Gentlemen we are a little on edge but I think we should concentrate on the matter at hand." Needless to say between the yelling match between the trio of O'Mannon, Standos, and Martin; Marcus attempting to keep Lei calm, and the blaring gospel music outside...Nigel was left to his own devices. As the bullets were pinging off the chassis along with the occasional arrow and the horde of zombies drawing ever so nearer Nigel knew that he had to do something desperate, he inched slowly away from the car until he was as far his cover would allow and fired blindly over the car. His shots weren't even close but they bought him a moments pause in the snipers fire and he took it sprinting for all he was worth. He was 20 feet from the corner when the gunfire started again, 10 feet later the shots were getting closer, he was close now he could almost reach out his hand and touch the brick building and that’s when he was hit. His back felt like a hammer struck his back and he was spent spinning thankfully out of the line of fire. Nigel’s armor had prevented the bullet from doing any serious damage but it still hurt like hell and it only grew worse as he climbed on top of a car and onto the roof. He was shocked at the massacre scene and barely kept his stomach from emptying as he crawled over the roof to the open skylight...only to see an irate one legged man with a machine gun pointing it threateningly at someone inside. "Umm hello? I'm here to help." "What the bloody hell. Are all these people coming out of the woodwork?" O'mannon ranted. "Oh, juh jen sh guh kwai luh duh jean jan..." Lei added "Paddy sent me to help." Nigel answered. "Its all right O'Mannon, he's one of our." Martin stated." "Well okay then come on down here." "How? Its a bit of a drop and I don't want to get myself hurt." "Oh for the Blessing of St. Patrick, are you daft use the bloody ladder." "Oh...I didn't see it there. I'll be right down." Nigel added abashed. Once he was rejoined with the group Nigel shared what was going on outside. "Well the snipers we knew about, but zombies oh this is just great." Marcus cut in. The group held a quick conclave to discuss their option, all of which were not appealing. O'Mannon explained that the cars that were parked in front of the entrances were in park they had to break into them to move them into position. There were no keys. O'Mannon had a brilliant idea of spotting finding the snipers through the use of a series of mirrors and identified the four sniper nests across the street. Nigel was prepared to crawl underneath the service truck and attempt to counter snipe at the cultists. The plan fell through as they were not sure how to escape if the zombies were to arrive en mass while they were fighting the cultists across the street. Marcus sensing that they were at impasse decided that he had to take action. He made his way to one of the service exits and after finding that the door opened inward he crawled into the car and began working on the electrical system. It was at the opposite of the restaurant close to the factory so the snipers would not be able to fire at him while he worked on the car and after only a few tries the car was roaring to life just in time as Marcus was easily able to see zombies approaching the restaurant. He drove car ahead a few feet so that no one else would have to climb through a window and ran back inside to help move Lei. Standos now full armed took position in the trunk, or gunner’s seat as he called it, Nigel would be driving with Marcus and Nigel in the back with Lei in-between them. They were all set go when O'Mannon dropped a figurative bombshell. "I'm not coming with you, somebody needs to draw of them zombies and it sure as hell isn’t going to be the likes of you." He answered plainly as he ushered Lei to the car. She whirled around to face him and nearly toppled over. "You'll be killed you damn drunken oaf of an idiot. Did you lose your common sense when you lost your leg?" Lei screamed out. "If you're not going then I'm not either." "Lei Ratchet McMurphy you get in that car right now or so help me the next time I see you I'll throttle the little be Jesus out of ya!" She stood defiantly and locked him in a gaze.""Kuh-ooh duh lao bao jurn." "That car is leaving right now Lei and if you don't get on you'll regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow if we live that long, but soon and for the rest of your life." Lei wrapped her arms around him and was crying hysterically, "You promised you wouldn't leave me!" "Don't you worry girl I’ll be okay, I've got a job to do and that is doing whatever it takes to make sure that you stay safe. Where I'm going, you can't follow. What I've got to do, you can't be any part of. Lei, I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of two little people don't amount to a bottle of whiskey in this crazy mixed up world. Someday you'll understand that." Marcus and Nigel helped to guide her into the backseat as O'Mannon reached for a satchel on the floor pulling out a set of bagpipes and marched defiantly out into the street away from the car. O'Mannon pounded on the back of the car as it started to pull away. "Well hello nasties. Let see how you like this Belfast boy!" He roared as he pulled out his pipes and prepared to burst into song. He caught one last glance of Lei looking out the window at him. He spared a last glance her and smiling fiendishly yelled out, "Here's looking at you, kid." Then the gospel music was drowned out by the blaring noise of a bagpiper echoing through the streets. Nigel was frantically swerving past group of zombies and debris, and errant fire from the apartments as the cultists fired a final volley toward the car, several which hit but did not cause any permanent damage as Marcus determined from his auditory diagnosis. All things considered though he had the easier task as Martin and Marcus were trying to restrain and console a sobbing Lei. Standos was being thrown about in the trunk and cursing vehemently. That’s when Murphy's Law really started to mess with them as Lei started screaming out in a combination of Chinese and Gaelic that from its tone was not a happy phrase. Marcus's worst fears were being realized, she was starting to give birth. "Ta ma de! Nimen de bizui!" Lei roared. "Call the other number Marcus." Nigel yelled out. The realization hit him like a ton of bricks and he rapidly dialed it as the car swerved around another pile of debris. The rings seem like they took an eternity till a crisp voice answered on the other end." "Doctor Watson speaking, how far out are you?" "Where are you?" His voice suddenly became cold and threatening, "Who is this? How did you get his number? You have till the count of three before I hang up." "Don't hang up! Paddy sent us, we have Lei and she's about to give birth. We just left the restaurant and are headed for....Nigel where the hell are we headed for?" "Marcus, tell him I'm about 6 blocks out from the harbor." "Don't bother I heard him. Tell your driver to head for the self storage buildings near the harbor. Does he know the way or should I give you directions." "Nigel do you..." "I know the way hold on to something and tell that women to keep that baby in her this is going to get bumpy!" At that everyone in the back seat turned to look down the street and seeing the debris strewn street with zombies milling about Lei yelled out. "Wuh de ma." Several minutes later one battered car that was partially on fire arrived at the reinforced gate of the fenced in storage yard. They could see two men perched on top of building with rifles trained on them. An exhausted Marcus uttered, "All right we're here open the gate." "Cheerio good chap the boys will have it open in a moment. Now once you are in head down the lane and stop at the third door on your left." The gate was pulled back before them and they ambled through the entrance way and after driving over a trench that was being dug past the wire they were being waved down by an older man wearing a surgical gown. "How bad is she hurt?" He asked waiting for a reply. "Hurt not all, she's just giving birth." Nigel replied." "Oh this'll be a first." Watson replied with a laugh. "What's so funny?" Marcus yelled from the back. "I'm a coroner. Never brought anything living into this world. Well there's a first time for everything isn't there. Now then to the surgical room." He yelled with flourish as he pulled open the storage room to reveal a fully set up operating table with equipment. "Now then you boys get her out of there and onto the bed and be quick about it I've read these things can last for hours so the sooner we start the better!" Webster added with a roaring laugh. "This might not be the best time to suggest it but I think he has a few screw loose." Marcus muttered under his breath. By this time Standos had emerged from the trunk shaken and a little disorientated. "Ah excellent more help, you there thug help hold her down." Watson commanded upon seeing him. "Huh. Okay." Soon Watson was giving commands to the rest of the crew as well, Marcus found himself monitoring vitals, Martin became the surrogate lamoz coach, and Nigel was helping to hold her down. It took several hours but soon the world was blessed with a healthy beautiful boy with a blend of Irish and Chinese features. Marcus took this opportunity to take several picture with the camera phone and began sending them to Sean. "Oh he's so perfect what will I ever name you." Lei said as she wrapped her arms around him. "How about bait?" Standos chuckled darkly to himself. It was unfortunate for him that he did not realize how good of hearing Lei had or how hard she punched as he found himself walloped hard twice by the irate mother and was rolling on the ground. As luck might have it Marcus was able to catch the full exchange with the video recorder and forwarded on to Sean, along with several photos of Stando's bruised face. “Anybody else want to offer any suggestions. Seeing none now get the hell out of here and let me spend some time with my son.” Lei wailed with the force of hurricane. Marcus and Nigel each grabbed an arm and dragged their dazed companion out of the room leaving only Watson to stay behind with the new mother and her son. “They’re a bunk room through the last door on the right, get some rest boys you’ll need it later.” Watson yelled from behind them. As they were making there way to the bunkroom they heard squealing tires and the sound of metal on concrete as the front gate opened again to allow access to a familiar van. “Antonio 'Wheels' Bianchi had finally caught up to them and from the pieces of zombie corpses stuck to the undercarriage of the van it was not an easy trip. Antonio got out of the van and walked over to a storage container and much in the same way that Dr. Watson had opened a door to reveal a complete operating room, his storage container revealed a nearly complete garage. He waved absently to the others as they stared dumbfounded at his arrival, but upon seeing the car they came in his demeanor changed completely he grew excited and almost joyous as he made his way over to them. "Excuse me guys, you mind if use that car you came in on for spare parts? I kinda lost a few pieces of the van and I don't want Paddy mad at me." Martin nodded and soon Antonio was popping open the hood and examining the engine for anything of use, while the rest of group made their way to the bunk-room for some well deserved shuteye. Morning came far to early for the group as they decided to check up on Lei and see how she was doing. As they walked to the operating room they passed their car, except it was now little more then a frame as Antonio had spent the night taking it apart for spare parts. Watson explained that he had Lei on an IV and that she would probably be ready to move in a day or two, and thats when the cell phone started to ring. Marcus answered and It turned out to be Sean on the line asking how Lei was and that he had someone that wanted to speak to them over the speaker phone which he enabled and was promptly shocked when the voice did not belong to whom they expected "Hello boys. " The warm voice of Brigid McMurphy greeted them, " Thank you for the wonderful photos of me great granddaughter, they were amazing you had a real eye for details." Marcus found his voice and ever so carefully asked, "What can we do for you Mrs. McMurphy?" "Now boys call me Brigid, only my patients call me Mrs. McMurphy or if you prefer you can call me 'that thrice damned wailing banshee' when you think I can't hear you." Every member of the group involuntarily gulped at that and nervously glanced around looking at each other. "Now then boys I have a job for the likes of you. I need you to pick up some medicine for the hospital that never got delivered to the hospital. It's either in one of the warehouses down by the docks or its still on the freighter. Give me a call when you find it and try to make to much of a mess." The four looked amongst themselves and after a momentary discussion agreed, "We'll do it for you Brigid." At that moment Antonio walked into the room wiping engine grease off his hands, "I'm all done taking what I need off the car the rest is all yours... "Antonio is that you? How are you doing?" The phantom voice of Brigid boomed from phone. "Are you going with the boys on their little job for me?" "Will it be anything like the last one I did for you Brigid?' "They just have to pick up something from the docks for the hospital. It'll be easy." "Thats what you said about the last one." "You healed right up, and besides you said you always wanted to build a car from scratch." "Yeah but not my own car from the twisted pieces of my old car." "Bah quit all that belly aching, you're making a triple bypass out of an appendectomy. Now you boys play nice now." Antonio looked at the other our as if they had signed their own death warrants and with his face hidden by his hands added sullenly, "You guys do know that the Giovanni control the docks right?" (Comment on this)
Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
3:14 pm	I've got a job for you part II I took a little liberty with the dialogue as it was almost a week ago and I can remember the mood I was trying to set if not the words themselves. Apologies :( The group of Martin, Nigel, Standos and Marcus had just finished striking their accord with Paddy when there was a series of knocks on the door, first one rap and then three more in a quick fashion and Paddy's face transformed from it calm state into a panicked one as he roared out, "Hide the booze, hide the guns, make yourselves presentable before she gets in, don't provoke she's got a left jab that can knock out god, and for gods sake Sean hide the bible!!" A bevy of movement took place as Paddy tried to reclaim his role as a recovering patient as the door opened up to reveal a women in her late 60's who resembled the stereotypical image of a kindly grandmother, one that would great you at the door of her house with a fresh batch of cookies and other baked treats. The illusion shattered as she began wailing at Paddy with all the fury of an enraged banshee as she stormed into his room and began poking him painfully in the chest. "Don't try to pull that act of being a good patient you devious little man I know that you've been out of bed and don't bother asking how I know I just know and there'll be hell to pay for it you dirty Fenian!! I'll be using a garden hose for your catheter if you break the rules one more time!!" It was at that time that the enraged nurse caught sight of the onlookers. "Now who might you bastards be? Are you causing a ruckus in my ward? Speak up! Does a cat have your tongue! Speak up or I'll throttle you after I get done throttling that ungrateful bastard of a husband of mine!!" The group was floored at the realization that the thrice-damned banshee was in fact Paddy's wife. Paddy tried to reassure her that, "Now Brigid, these are a good bunch of boys that are going to get our granddaughter and bring her back safe and sound." "We don't need boys to do that Paddy we need men!" Brigid roared. "What are they going to politely walk up to one of those thrice damned unholy abominations and ask them to let them pass like good little boys. We need someone that's going to shoot em in the head, burn their corpse's, and grind their bones into dust!!" As Brigid was finished her tirade Martin tried to calm her down and to assure her of their qualifications by explaining his past dealings. It was fortunate for everyone that Brigid had her of him, "Ah yes, your the man that helped us get the little punks down the street to help with the blood drive. All right Paddy I'm sorry I went off a little bit, it’s just that I want my little granddaughter safe and sound." Paddy reached over and tenderly grasped his wife's hand, "I know Brigid it'll be all right." "Ah Paddy, who would have thought that we would live long enough to be great grandparents?" There was an unspoken oh crap moment amongst now employed minions who now realized their job had just gotten a lot more complicated. Sean ushered the four out of the room where Nigel immediately leaned against a wall for support. He was reacting very badly to whatever it was that they drank. "I'm no good like this guys, leave without me an i'll meet you at the restaurant." As Nigel rushed off down a corridor the remaining three now had a serious problem...they had just lost their driver. Sean was able to belay their fears. "Don't worry boys I know someone that can do the job, and hopefully he's still where I left him. With Sean leading them to the floor lounge where they met a man of obvious Italian ancestry wearing a red racing suit with driver inscribed on the back with his feet propped up on a crash helmet. "I see you found some boys crazy enough to join me Sean." He quipped as they entered. "Boys this Antonio 'Wheels' Bianchi one of the best professional drivers I know. Antonio, these are Martin, Standos, and Marcus. They're doing a pickup for Paddy on the other side of town" Sean offered by way of introduction. Standos could not bite his tongue as he spoke under his breath, "Yeah, its really difficult to drive around a circle." Antonio's face went from cheerful to grim and in less then a heartbeat he bolted to his feet and was face to face with Standos, "Three time off road rally champ you reject from a gulag." He replied through clenched teeth. Sean forcibly separated the two before things got out of control and played the role of the diplomat, "Like it or not the 4 of you are working together. So shall we dispense with the bull and get to the matter at end." Standos and Antonio both backed down but continued to lock gazes as Sean unfurled a map on a nearby table. "Now then like a said before the destination is across town at the Shanghai Restaurant and Saloon, I can provide a car you just have to get to it." Antonio's feud with Standos was gone as he focused on the task at hand, "Where's the car, and what's the condition of it Antonio?' "Three blocks north of here in a nice parking lot, right where it's been since I dropped off Paddy for his surgery and it's just been tuned up. She'll get you there and back." "So there's just the three blocks full of zombies between us and the car and then a city between us and the girl, no make that pregnant girl. Sounds like a walk in the park." Standos interjected. "It will be if you listen to what Sean has to say you kolboynick. You've obviously never planned anything more sophisticated then a snatch and grab!" Antonio fired back. "Antonio, Standos, unless you want to explain to Paddy and Brigid why their one and only favorite grandchild was eaten before she could bring their great grandchild into this upraid (Gaelic for chaotic) world then you can go right ahead. Or the two of you an spend the next day or so working together and then go kill each other till your hearts content!" Neither looked eager to deliver that news. "Now Antonio no problems right!" "No Sean." He replied quietly. "Standos, do you have a problem fulfilling your part of the deal?" "Nope." He replied abashed. "Now then, the best way to get to the car is through the sewers, and I swear to the lord father almighty that if anyone is going to make a crack about there being gators in the sewers so help me I will strike you down like Cuchillian did to those treacherous dogs from Connacht." Seeing that the four of them were silent he went on. "You can gain access through the subbasement and from there its laid out like the streets above, except that there shouldn't be any zombies down there and with these flashlights you'll be able to see if anything is coming. Now then any questions?" His eyes glanced around the table and seeing none he continued. "Well then follow me and I’ll get you to the basement." Sean lead them to a locked door marked 'Hospital Personnel Only' with a heavy reinforced door, "Now this'll take just a few shakes of a lamb's tales boys." Sean remarked as he pulled out a set of lock picks and worked his magic on the door; opening it seconds later. "Now then boys down we go." Several flights of stairs later, they arrived in the surprisingly well-lit subbasement that was eerily quiet save for the whirling of a generator. Sean paused for a moment to collect his bearings and lead them to a T intersection and turned to his right and motioned for them to follow. After a few minutes of walking Sean pointed out various rooms, "There's the generator, storage, fuel, water, not the best of conditions buts it’s better then most of the places we've holed up in Antonio." "This is nothing compared to that time in Ulster eh Sean?" Both broke into a roaring laugh as the rest looked on. "I still can't believe we got away from that intact.” "To my dying day I'll probably never see someone do what you did with that double decker bus." "What did you do?" Standos asked obviously intrigued. "There was a spike trap in front of me, pulled a 180 at a round about and charged the bobbies, cut down a side street, pulled another 180 drove back over the deactivated spikes without chipping the paint on the bus or the bricks on any of the houses. All while the Bobbies were trying to get out of the roundabout." Well here we are boys.” Sean interjected pointing at a steel grate with an oversized padlock. "This'll take a moment talk amongst yourselves." "That is why in my country we have no roundabouts, they are evil." "That's impossible. " Marcus replied flabbergasted. "If you're half as good as you say you are then that's all that matters." Martin replied. "It was a tough little bastard but he gave up in the end." Sean offered as he pulled the grate open revealing complete darkness below. "I don't hear anything so it should be clear. Now take a left at the first intersection and head straight for three more intersection and then you'll be near the parking lot." Handing a cell phone to Martin he continued, "There's two numbers on there, call the first one when you get to the restaurant." Martin nodded in acknowledgement and with Standos in the lead they descended leaving Sean to guard their way back. They marched in single file with flashlight in their off hands, or in Martin's case it was taped to his maimed hand. The sewers were dark but empty as they pressed onward will they realized that they had forgotten the keys, cursing under his breath Martin rushed back to the entrance where Sean dropped them down to him. "You can't miss it. " Sean yelled down the passage after Martin as he sped off down the tunnel and a few moments later he caught up to the group and they arrived at their destination. Antonio glanced through a storm drain and saw two zombies milling about the parking lot. The group decided that they had to chance it and Antonio forced the manhole cover up giving them access to the surface. Standos did not wait for Antonio to emerge as he squeezed past him and climbed out onto the street and surveyed the situation, he caught sight of two zombies but chose to wait and see how things developed. Antonio emerged and promptly opened fire on the nearest zombie scoring a great hit but drawing the attention of nearby zombies towards them. The rest emerged from the tunnel and Standos climbed on top of a SUV and delivered a beautiful headshot to a nearby zombie as the other three spread out. The zombies began to move towards them, but they were being picked off one by one by the group until a very large zombie climbed on top of a car and began hurling concrete blocks at Standos scoring a direct hit that nearly forced him off the roof of the car. Sensing the prudence of the situation Standos jumped down and joined Antonio taking shots at large zombie. Marcus was scoring hit after hit as well, but the resilient zombies were slowly making their way towards him. It was almost too much for him to handle and in the tense situation he missed the lone surviving zombie as it pounded him and dragged him to the ground. Antonio and Standos brought down the larger zombie and were making mincemeat out of the others till Standos stepped in front on Antonio to deliver the final blow when is shotgun promptly jammed leaving him defenseless as a zombie reached out for him. Antonio was able to move around Standos to flank the zombie and delivered the final shot taking it out. Martin was unwilling to fire into melee as Marcus struggled against the zombie instead rushed up and pistol-whipped him again and again trying to break its skull open. The zombie proved resilient would not let go of Marcus no matter how much damage Martin inflicted, but it was enough to weaken its grip, as Marcus was able to force his way free and deliver a final bullet to kill the last zombie. Just as the group was going to start congratulating themselves, they each realized that they could easily hear the loud sounds of moaning zombies moving towards the parking lot. Far more zombies were coming then they had any hope of defeating. They quickly started looking for Sean's car, knowing only, "That they couldn't miss it." As they frantically scanned the parked cars Martin notice a large green van labeled, "McMurphy’s Construction. Screaming out it location he lead a mad dash for the van. Antonio slid into the driver's seat and pulled his crash helmet on, "Hold on boys it'll be a little rough. The group quickly learned that Antonio was as good as he said as he sailed around corners and swerved past obstruction, he made the van dance as they sped away. It was only a few minutes of white knuckle driving later they arrived at the restaurant. Antonio opted to stay with the van as the group exited the van, as he sped off down the road the group found themselves staring at a fortified restaurant with a vehicle parked in front of each door and window. They opted to climb up to the roof and as the were starting to climb on top of a supply truck as a shot suddenly rang out followed by several other from across the street. They quickly climbed on top of the restaurant under fire and saw a gruesome sight. There were several dead bodies laid out on the roof, dead from obvious gunshot wounds and behind them was an open skylight. Staying as low to the roof as possible they crawled over only to hear a scream of rage from the inside. "Ah you damned religious whackos come to try to get some of Erin's finest ah, well come on I’ll send you back to god in pieces." It was then that they caught sight of a heavily muscled man with a prosthetic leg wielding a machine gun aimed at the open skylight. "Say hi to god for me and tell the devil to make some room cause I’ll be sending the whole lot of your damned people with you!!!" "Don't shoot Paddy sent us!" Martin yelled down. "If Paddy sent you then one of you should have a cell phone toss it down, carefully I wouldn't want to get startled in my advanced age." All the while keeping his gun aimed towards them. "Sean, its O'Mannon, describe the boys you sent over here. Okay I see the squirrelly thin one, guy with only one hand, and a damned East European. All right they're all here. Now then come down slowly and leave your guns at your feet." The three men followed O'Mannon's directions and did as instructed. Glancing around Martin saw that the restaurant was deserted save for one other occupant, a woman of obvious Chinese descent, as he moved to talk to her she glared at him. "So you're all that me grand pappy sent to come get me. I hope that you're as good as you told him otherwise this will be one bloody short rescue." Martin was temporarily shocked at the sudden realization that this was Lee McMurphy. "What are you staring at me for, are you daft? Have you never seen a pregnant woman before? You aren't a eunuch are ya? Bad enough to lose a hand but to lose that as well, I can see why you came to get me, maybe work off some tension on the way?" She replied with a thick brogue accent. "I am not a eunuch I am a negotiator!" "Oh is that what they're calling it now?" "Lee, let the poor man be. He came here to help us and since the last group that went to go get help never made it past the roof well be nice." Standos quickly explained how snipers were in the apartment building across the street. "Oh those dirty bastards, well I got them now." The group watch dumbstruck as he made his way to the kitchen and through the swinging doors caught sight of him entering the freezer and returning with a large crate. "Well now that I know where you little bastards are, I hope a band of drunken Fermions befoul your underwear." O'Mannon produced a match and lit a wick on an odd shaped tube and lobbed it out through the skylight and waited. A few moments later he was rewarded with a loud rumbling explosion. Standos was awestruck, "Just how many of those do you have?" "Oh about 3 more cases full to the brim my commie friend." It was at that moment that everyone became aware of loud gospel music coming from somewhere outside, "Bringing in the sheep. Bringing in the sheep." (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
3:08 pm	WEMTA or why my head feels like it will explode Spent esterday at WEMTA or if you prefer Wiconsin Educational Media & Technology Association. It was a great trip down to Madison, had dinner with an old friend and went to a great couple of workshops, hence the reason my brain felt like it was going to explode. I was lucky enough to pick up a copy of the new CCBC booklet of A++ books for all ages and i'll be crossing off my list as I read them this year. On a related note I was able to get a chance to read Rapunzels Revenge, its a reimagining of the tale incorporating western themes and it was a great picture book to read. A little bit higher up with the text not so much the pictures driving the story. On an alltogether different note I have conquered another recipe, this one being twice baked potatoes. Now all i need ot find a recipe to use for my slow cooker an we shall see what culinary challenge awaits me next. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, March 22nd, 2009
1:30 am	Information on how to fight in Racoon City http://zombie.wikia.com/wiki/Redeker_Plan A bit cold but the plan does have make a lot of sense. (Comment on this)
Friday, March 20th, 2009
9:52 am	New Zombie Campaign I've got a job for you part I The sky was clear, the sun was shining, the zombies were groaning, and the survivors bunkered in at Mercy Hospital in lovely Raccoon City were terrified beyond all measure. There were four people in particular that were not terrified and had in fact joined together to form an ad hoc group to help patrol the parking lot in the back of the hospital. They were an odd group that only a zombie attack could have brought together. There was Stavos, a man from Eastern Europe with connections to the seedier parts of the city. Nigel was a straight out brawler who enjoyed using a hatchet to dispatch the recently undeceased. Martin the one handed negotiator was the most levelheaded of the group, and was well known throughout several circles. The final member of the group was a man named Marcus, but as much as matters of the mind troubled him he was gifted in other areas. The four had spread themselves out through the northwestern part of the deserted parking lot, unlike the main driveway which had ambulances wedged into the concrete wall blocking entrance the side entrances had trucks that could be moved to allow entrance and exit. As Nigel was walking through the parking lot towards the trucks he rapidly became aware something was wrong. He could only stare in dumbstruck horror as the truck that had been blocking the entrance to the parking lot slowly began to roll down the entrance and it was picking up speed as it entered the parking lot and jumped the sidewalk and with a loud crack rolled into the hospital. Six zombies surged through gap towards the closest human and unfortunately it was Nigel. Somewhere above them a NG screamed out, “Zombies in the wire! There are zombies in the wire!” His voice disappeared amongst the sounds of gunfire as he opened up on the zombies that were still outside of the wall leaving the interlopers for the four men on the ground. Martin was the farthest away and frantically sprinted from the back of the hospital to try to get within range of the first opening shots but he couldn’t get a shot off. Stavos took aim with his shotgun and promptly opened fire on the zombie hitting and blowing off several large pieces of rotting flesh. Marcus took aim with his rifle and squeezed off two rounds that hit, but did not drop his target either. Nigel nearly overwhelmed by zombies started frantically swinging with his hatchet nearly decapitating with his first strike, but somehow the zombie’s head stayed attached. His second swing finished it off, but the five other zombies getting ready to swarm him prompted him to retreat back to the rest of the group. The zombies again surged forward and this time one was able to smack Nigel but his plate armor was able to turn away much of the damage. Martin was easily able to shoot a zombie on the edge of the crowd and promptly hit it three times dropping it. Marcus joined in with his rifle and resumed firing at the closest zombie and aimed for a headshot…but the zombie kept coming. He aimed again for another headshot and it was a sure hit but the zombie just kept coming. Marcus started screaming as his mind couldn’t fathom how the zombie was still moving, his two shots had destroyed its brain and most of its face but it just kept coming. His arms were shaking wildly as he fired one final shot and hit the zombie center mass finally dropping it. Stavos stepped up and unloaded with his shotgun blasting another zombie into oblivion. Nigel swung again with his hatchet striking a good hit but not enough to drop it, and with that the zombies surged forward again to attack and Nigel found himself under attack again and was struck again, but as before his armor prevented most of the damage. The three zombies surged forward again with one striking and actually dragging Nigel to the ground, while the other two closed in on the rest of the group. Marcus was able to bring himself back to reality and opened fire on the approaching trio dropping one and wounding another. Stavos’s shotgun quickly ended the threat posed by the pair of zombies leaving Martin to aid Nigel. He quickly sprinted to his fallen comrade and proceeded to pistol whip the zombie repeatedly, but it would not let go. Nigel continued his struggle with the zombie was unable to break free, but he was able to keep from being bitten thankfully. Stavos and Marcus quickly made their way over and after taking careful aim and promising not to hit Nigel opened fire on the final zombie grappling with Nigel. It was after a combined total of 6 rifle and shotgun hits did it finally fall apart. Their thoughts of success were broken when the NG rifleman was screaming at them to move the van back to blocking the entrance. Nigel looked at the entrance to see a large group of zombies slowly moving towards the entrance, he sprinted for the van and prayed it would start. Stavos moved to cling the outer wall and was readying to open fire at the first zombie that entered the parking lot. Martin and Marcus moved close enough to have clear shots, but stayed far enough away from the entrance. Nigel was fortunate enough to find the keys still in the ignition and was able to successful drive the truck back to its original position and block the zombies from getting inside. He glanced back towards the zombies to see there was a noticeable pile of zombie corpses that were near the entrance, the rifleman hadn’t been idle during the attack, as it appeared he had been picking off zombies that were trying to enter while they had fought their own group. A few moments later a squad of NG showed up to find that area secure and the four were given leave to grab some chow in the hospital and rest up. The meal was quite a spread as the power to the freezers was being shut off to conserve energy, a spread of steaks, chicken, and other perishables were lead out for them to feast on. A few moments after they had finished eating a man whom they did not know approached them. He asked to speak to them about a job and if they were interested they could please follow him to the third floor. A quick consul amongst themselves the group followed the stranger up to the third floor where they stopped outside a room guarded by two very stern looking men, one of whom had a sawed off shotgun hidden in his coat. Martin quickly suggested that everyone let him do the talking before they entered the room. Inside they met a mountain of a man lying in a bed recovering from what appeared to be a major surgery as they could see a thick red scar across his chest with fresh staples easily visible. He introduced himself as Paddy McMurphy, and he wanted to know if they were the boys that had been causing so much of a ruckus outside his window. Martin glanced out to see that his window offered a perfect view of their brief fight with the zombies. Paddy continued, “Oh don't worry so much about the noise boys, it reminded me of time in Belfast. Now then me granddaughter is holed up in a restaurant on the far side of the city and I want her brought here where its safe. That damned wailing banshee of a nurse Ratchet won’t let me out of this thrice damned room and she won’t let me have me Guinness! That thrice cursed banshee wench keeps to close of an eye on me so I can’t sneak out so I need someone off her radar.” At this point Stanvos bluntly asked, “How much you paying us.” Martin cut him off, “What I believe my comrade is asking is that if you could offer us in aid to go and escort your daughter back to the hospital.” “No worries about that boys, you bring my granddaughter back and I’ll pay you well. Now what kinds of firepower you boys be packing.” The group agreed to bring his granddaughter back and the deal was struck. “Now be careful, me granddaughter Lee can be a bit stubborn and can be a wee bit temperamental. In the old days we would seal an accord with Guinness but thanks to that thrice damned banshee I can have that. I mean do I look like a man with one foot in the grave and the other in the tavern do I Flynn?” “Not at all Paddy.” “Good lad. Now bring me bible and lets see what the good book as to say about accords.” Flynn reached for an oversized bible that looked thicker that a New York phonebook and gently passed it to his boss. “Now then I believe we can strike a proper accord now.” Paddy popped open a latch to reveal a dark unlabeled bottle and beckoned for Flynn to pour drinks for the group. “Now don’t forget Flynn I can’t drink so you’re drinking for me.” “Of course Paddy.” He replied as he poured an additional glass. “I said you were drinking for me Flynn.’ With a sigh and a deep breath he poured yet another glass, “But Paddy I only have two hands.” “Fine then give me one, but if that thrice damned banshee finds out Flynn, may the curse of Mary Malone and her nine blind illegitimate children chase you so far over the hills of Damnation that the Lord Himself can't find you with a telescope! Now then may you all be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're dead.” Paddy offered as he tossed his drink back. As the potent drink coursed their throats each had a different reaction. Martin suffered the most as he felt as the drink slammed into his feet and left the room slightly swaying; Nigel and Marcus fared a little better as both were able to remain rooted. Stavos was the least effected has he had much experience with such potent drinks, though this one felt as though it was burning more then distilled alcohol should. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009
3:16 pm	Zombie Campaign #6 oh a splunking we will go As the game opened up in the factory the group came to the conclusion that the factory would better serve them at a latter date rather then an immediate one, and that while the prospect of driving a semi back to the hospital would be safer...none of them knew how to drive one and the risks outweighed the gains. Timmy, Stan, Cecil, Mr. Ryan, Alaric and Cass the newly rescued survivor set off back for the hospital via the sewer tunnels. Closing the doors behind them the group stealthily made their way back to the tunnels and into the darkened depths. The group continued in relative silence until Cecil alerted by something called for a halt and explained that he heard something that sounded like talking of them. Alaric offered to go and scout ahead, Cecil at Stan' prompting gave Alric some night vision goggles that he had found in the factory. A few stealthily moves later Alaric found 4 people waiting in ambush! He moved quickly back to the group and told them what was ahead, the group agreed that they had to be hostile and they couldn't afford to waste the time. Alaric volunteered to draw their attention by running the gauntlet first, followed by Timmy and Mr. Ryan. Stan, Cecil, and Cass would then wait for the opportune moment to engage and finish them off. Moving as stealthily as possible Alaric moved to the edge of the intersection and lunged across hitting two the ambushers lying in with shots from his submachine gun, in the confusion that followed Timmy and Mr. Ryan easily made it across...and then all hell broke loose. With their foes disorientated, Alaric fired two more shots into the other pair but both missed. Cecil was taking careful aim with his bow, Timmy moved to keep Alaric between him and the enemy, and then the four hostiles opened fire on Alaric who frantically dodged and still was hit with two shots but his mesh protected him. Mr. Ryan responded with a pair of shotgun blasts that hit but only one of his targets fell and the other somehow was able to stay upright. Stan readied himself to move and wait for the perfect moment, and Cass was hanging back waiting to see what would happen. Timmy looked behind for any other hostiles, Cecil kept aiming, and Alaric stepped out into the hallway and opened fire wounding the other pair and dropped back to be should to shoulder with Mr. Ryan. The now wounded quartet opened fire on Mr. Ryan and Alaric hitting only Mr. Ryan but the damage was minimal thanks to the protective mesh. Mr. Ryan was feeling rather indignant after being shot and returned fire with his shotgun dropping one and then demanded they surrender stating, "There's more of us then you!" The hostiles replied, "Well, thats good to know." All to late did Mr. Ryan realize that he had now alerted them to the rest of their group, fortunately at that exact moment Stan emerged nearly beheading one of the still standing trio. Cecil lost his shot as Stan had moved in front of him and Timmy was still looking for another threat. Taking careful aim at the remaining two Alaric opened fire trying to disable the pair, both shots hit and the first was able to cause enough damage to drop the first hostile and the next shot caused the final hostile to drop his gun. The lone still standing hostile clutched his bleeding arm and surrendered, what would happen next would forever be remembered by Alaric. Each of the four were wearing trench coats that concealed their own ballistic mesh, night vision goggles, 9mm pistols, bibles, and the one that Alaric had disabled had concealed a shaped charge of plastique upon himself. The only thing that saved the group was he had the trigger located next to his now disabled arm and could not reach it with his other arm. Stan immeadiately knocked him to his knees and demanded to know who he worked for. Cecil had been scanning through the bibles and found them to be heavily edited especially in regards to Revelations, through the garbled mess of crossed out words and insertions he found a horrifying message. "All those that have been saved have already been saved and it is up to us to return all to gods embrace. Spare not the man, the women, or the child from the vessels of god's deliverance those that walk once more." Stan utterly dumbfounded by the now revealed cultist's motivations of, "The book of prophecy tells us so and so we do." In an instant Stan let loose a scream and put all of his strength into a blow that severed most of the kneeling cultist's head. Alaric tried to stop him arguing that thy needed him for intelligence, but Stan would not be swayed and there was no time as he was dead before he hit the ground, Stan merely shrugged his shoulders and set off down the tunnel for the hospital followed by Cecil and Timmy. Alaric and Mr. Ryan each shouldered the surviving cultists as Cass shared Alaric's feelings as to what happened. Thr group arrived back at the subbasement entrance to the hospital and NG were waiting to let them in, and after few comments about the state of their prisoners they left the NG to drop off their prisoners at a holding area and to find Captain Noir. The captain was much more at ease then the last time they saw him, the helicopter flights were becoming less frequent and there had not been an zombie attacks against the hospital for the past day or so. he explained that the only thing that he knew of that needed immediate attention were the strange lights appearing in the church at night. The group decided to rest up for the night and set off in the morning through the tunnels and investigate the church along wit ha potential firefight with the cultists who they assumed were hold up there. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009
3:32 pm	A second time warp ironically back to Zombie Campaign #2 The group made up of Allan, Cecil, Alaric, the hillbilly, and the survivor were cruising in style through the city, or as others saw it driving with a maniac driver behind the wheel as they frantically made their way across the city to the hospital. It was after a few minutes that the group came upon a problem as they were nearing the hospital, a barricade that had been at one time manned by the NG. The group pulled to a stop and got out about half a block before the barricade and moved towards it on foot, the closer the got they discovered that their was a humve behind the barricade and several slumped over figures. As they neared the barricade they noticed that the tires had been shredded and what looked like arrows had been shot into the NG. Allan and Cecil were on one end of the barricade, while the pair of Alaric and the hillbilly were on the other and just as they were about to cross the barricade the not so recently deceased began to stir and come after them. With the dead rising up Cecil backed up away from combat while Allan opened fire upon the closest pair, likewise the hillbilly and Alaric opened fire dropping one of a pair of zombies that were approaching them. As the trio continued to trade gunshots the zombies moved closer and while Allan was able to successfully avoid an attempt at grabbing and biting...the hillbilly was not so lucky. It was only a lucky shot from Alaric that enabled the hillbilly to break free and finish off the zombie as it crawled towards him. Likewise Alaric and Allan polished off the last zombie and a relative calm filled the area. The group set about moving the deflated hummer out of the way and found that almost everything salvageable in the interior had been smashed to pieces and that doomsday flyers had been left strewn about calling the zombies god's agents of divine wrath. Whoever had caused such devastation to the humve however left the mounted M60 and Allan went to work removing it from its mount, after several moments of cursing, screaming, all-out racket, and one broken screwdriver the mount came off and the hillbilly now had a gun bigger then him. Allan cursed her fate for not knowing how top operate heavy weapons and with the humve out of the way the group returned to their car and sped off for the hospital....unfortunately it was not that easy. Once they arrived at the hospital they found it surrounded by zombies with NG troops firing into the crowd keeping the mat bay, Allan had to pull off some fancy driving maneuvers to get the car through a tight gate as a NG opened up with a M60 to thin out the crowd to allow them entry. A short time later they were being questioned by the NG captain who appeared to be out of his depth in this situation and after the group informed him of what had happened to the NG that had been manning the barricade he left to see to other matters. A lower ranking NG came up to see to their needs and upon seeing that they had a bitten survivor things were tense for a moment till Alaric was able to convince him to let her stay in the courtyard and that she would not enter into the hospital proper. (Comment on this)
1:30 pm	A time warp back to Zombie Campaign #1 It was just another at day at Dan’s Sporting Goods Store in the peaceful little city, this city had been spared the unrest and anarchy that had been unleashed in so many others. The riots had been extensive and were only barely being contained, and in some cases spreading out of the cities as panic stricken civilians fled. Several individuals with no prior connections were gathered together for a rendezvous with destiny, a very hungry destiny. After a long period of the pcs slowly getting to the wonderful sporting goods store that is "Dan’s Sporting Goods Store" The pcs were doing various shopping chores, some were picking up goods and supplies for a camping trip, while others were looking for that last minute deal. Lady luck was with them as it turned out through some chance happenstance everyone was located in the back of the store when the zombies broke into the store and began munching on the cashiers. What happened over the next few minutes was scarred forever into the survivor’s minds as the undead slowly lurched towards the survivors. Al opened fire, with a brand new and not yet paid for gun, on the first zombie while the hill-billy midget tried to climb the shelves to seize the high ground...something that he gave up after several attempts and fired into the crowd of zombies with a new shotgun. As Al and country boy slowed the advance of the zombies the rest of the group arrived after some endurance checks and opened up with their new weaponry and made short work of the small horde. As the group cautiously made their way to the front of the store they found a lone cashier still clinging to life amidst the partially devoured bodies and as several of the survivors ventured out into the parking lot they found flyers being dropped from an airplane. These flyers described that the NG was digging in at the hospital and making it a safe haven. Al was tending to the cashier completely unfazed at operating amidst the severed and dismembered bodies of recently living, and was able to stabilize her. Before departing the group lead by Stan engaged in a massive 100 percent off sale buyout of anything and everything that they could get their grubby little hands on, tents, survival equipment, flashlights, bullets, they were preparing for the camping trip from hell and back. Thus supplied the group set about arranging transport to the hospital, the group had used various public transport to get to the store and did not envy the prospect of walking to the hospital. Someone came upon the brilliant realization that there were in fact a lot of cars outside the store and after digging through the severed limbs of the deceased and recently re-deceased they found a set of car keys and set off for the hospital. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009
2:02 pm	Zombie Campaign episode #5 The cast of players was greatly increased with some old comrades returning to the party and a startling discovery was made along with plans for the future. With the group scavenging for supplies at the public works and with the addition of a clerk the group departed the building with their hummer and sped back to the hospital, the clerk took the remote to the garage door with him as they departed allowing them future access. After a relatively pleasant trip back to the hospital the group reunited and set out trying to plan a course of action. Everyone agreed with returning to investigate the factory; however they were divided as to how to get there. Allan upon seeing the hummer that the group had appropriated, or the funve as he called it, was dead set on driving through the city taking names and painting it in zombie blood. Alaric and Cecil wanted to sue the tunnels as an alternative route and thus keeping the hummer for later uses. As the group debated the merits they finally reached a decision to take the tunnels and avoid the zombie choked streets. The group made up of Alan, Alaric, Carmichael, Cecil, Mr. Ryan, Timmy, and Stan made their way to the now guarded subbasement and set off for the tunnels. It was at the halfway point that they encountered a large group of zombies at a major intersection; a quick consultation of the maps by Timmy revealed that there were sewage water and gas lines running above them ruling out the use of explosives of any sort. As the zombies became aware of fresh meat, Carmichael and Stan went to the front ranks standing shoulder to shoulder to hold the zombies at bay as battle was joined. The zombies kept surging forward to receive multiple gun shots from the rest of the party as Mr. Ryan, Alan, and Alaric opened fire. Cecil and Timmy bided their time taking careful aim from far behind the front ranks. The dozen zombies were aided as well as hampered by their numbers, the size of the tunnel only allowed two to approach to engage the survivors. Yet for every zombie that was blasted, chopped, or fell apart; another would stumble forward with no wounds and attempt to drag the defenders down. Carmichael was engaged in a fierce struggle as he punched and kicked for all his worth, but the zombies were somehow able to slip under his guard and rip into him despite his best efforts at blocking. Stan fared better as he expertly used his blade to block the zombie blows, often causing the final bit of necessary damage to drop them. Timmy was greatly enjoying his relative safety as he was able to score three headshots dropping two of the zombies that threatened Carmichael and Stan, hi next shots would not go so well however. With Carmichael wounded and needing cover, Stan stepped forward drawing the zombies’ attention, he was soon joined as Mr. Ryan stepped forward to fill the gap and open fire with his shotgun at point blank range. His success however drew the zombies towards him and not his sword wielding comrade and he was soon knocked to the ground by a well placed zombie strike. The zombie’s success was short lived as Alaric opened up at point blank range with this submachine gun to eliminate the threat. Just as things were looking well Timmy slipped and instead of delivering a sure headshot he shot Alan in the back. Fortunately, it was not serious as the bullet went in and out through her shoulder; Cecil had spent the last few moments taking careful aim ala Robin Hood and was able to skewer a zombie with a great headshot. Stan was able to actively attack the remaining zombies and with some assistance from Carmichael now wielding a pistol the remainder was quickly dispatched. Not wanting to spend anymore time in the tunnels then necessary the group followed their route to the factory and discovered a manhole that opened up directly in front. Alaric volunteered to go first and scout out the area, he discovered the doors were closed but not locked and was able to stealthy make his way back to the group. So well in fact that he was able to slip across the street, down the ladder, and rejoin the group without them noticing. The group entered the factory after Alaric patched up Carmichael and Alan the group scattered to take in the factory. Timmy upon opening the main door was faced with a shot up zombie corpse and promptly screamed drawing the attention of the party, prior to this the bulk of the party were trying to open a safe without any success. Stan was able to discover a trail of footprints that lead up the stairs to the second level where they discovered another blasted zombie and unfortunately lost the trail. As the group scoured the area they came upon a series of closed doors that appeared to be barricaded from the inside, Stan knocked on the door and was greeted with a hesitant hello. Cecil began talking to the survivor (Cass) and was able to convince him that they were not "Thrice demanded religious whackos" and to let them into the room through a side door that wasn't heavily barricaded. Stan explained that his group had been making there way to the hospital when people started shooting arrows at them forcing them to scatter and he fled for the factory. With Stan in tow the group set off to explore the factory after Stan and Alaric loaded up on supplies from the cafeteria. The group returned to the first floor and scattered throughout the first floor caring about various tasks, Alan was trying to rewire two forklifts as to be silent and was unsuccessful on both attempts and wrecked both electrical systems and shocked himself in the process. Timmy came upon the central control room and began drooling over what he could do after discovering the emergency power supply. Alaric went back to guarding the front entrance and Carmichael was able to remove a propane tank from the back of another forklift. There were many options open to the party, some wanted to return to the hospital and come back with the hummer while others wanted to see if the semi was able to be driven to the hospital with a load of propane to use as improvised explosives. An idea that Alan was greatly in favor as it gave him a chance to use demolitions and his new found craft pipe bombs skill. The group decided to hole up in the factory for now and discuss more next session. (5 Comments |Comment on this)