Friday, November 30, 2012

Day 3: Interlude

"And now, the Suburbia News Network has a special on-scene report from Sandy Miles.  Sandy?"

"Thanks, Jackson in the WSNN newsroom.  Hi, this is Sandy Miles from WSNN reporting from the roadblock jointly established this morning by the Sheriff of Nowhere and the Blowdown County Sheriff's Department on Route 45 on the north side of Blowdown County."



"The roadblock is intended to help keep the plague that some of the regions to the north and west are experiencing at this time from spreading into these counties and eventually into Suburbia.  Reports have been coming into to Suburbia regarding the things that are prowling throughout the region and spreading some kind of disease or pestilence.  The CDC has been contacted and is also sending agents to the area to investigate the nature of this disease." 

"With me now is Sheriff Blanding from Blowdown County.  Sheriff, what other measures are being taken to ensure this plague doesn't spread further?"



"Well, Sandy, with our limited resources this is pretty much all we're able to accomplish.  However, my cohort from Nowhere has assured me that the FBI is putting its full weight into investigating the reports and that they are doing everything they can.  I'm sure it's only a matter of time until they will return to assist us and provide an explanation for everything that's been happening over the past few days."

"Thank you, Sheriff.  Is there anything that people should be aware of or that they can do to assist law enforcement with this endeavor?"

"No, Sandy.  Residents should let us handle this situation.  They can help us by calling in sightings to the special hotline that's been established.  They should call only when they first see one of these things and not everytime they see one." 



"Second, they should stay indoors as much as possible.  We still don't fully understand what we're dealing with here.  Along with that, they should keep their children and pets indoors as well."

"That's about it, Sandy."



"Sheriff, thank you for your time.  That was the Sheriff of Blowdown County taking a few minutes from his busy schedule to talk with us about the developing situation.  I'll continue to be in the area for the remainder of the day in case of any critical information coming to light, but for now, this is Sandy Miles signing off.  Back to you, Jackson."

"Thank you for that report, Sandy.  And now, in other news . . ."

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Day 2d: Out of Gas

So today being Thanksgiving and I'm several hundred miles from home, when the wife told me to do something fun today, the ONLY thing that came to mind was a zed game.  Of course, I'd been planning that for a while anyway.  Now that the game's over and posted, I can go to mess hall to enjoy my turkey dinner with all the trimmings.  Apparently they go over the top for holiday meals at the DFAC.  My instructor, a retired sergeant first class, brings her family in for Thanksgiving dinner every year, spending the time with her family instead of spending it cooking.  So anyway, here's the game and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there in zed land!

*          *          *

"Darn it!  We're almost out of gas and it's getting dark.  I guess we should have stopped at the crossroads to tank up but I just wanted to get out of there . . ."  Angel hit the steering wheel with her fist.  "We could have spend the night at the motel there, too."



"It's alright," Ahmed assured her, "we'll find something soon."

They drove on for a bit in silence.

"Hey, there's a farm up there.  Sometimes they have their own gas tanks," Ahmed pointed out. 

"OK, let's see if the farmer will let us have some,"  Angel replied, pulling off the road into the farmyard.

As they got out of the car, Bob called from the Land Rover, "Hey, what's up?"

"Out of gas!" Ahmed called back.  "We're going to see if this farmer can spare any."

Bob and Joe got out of the Land Rover to stretch their legs while Angel and Ahmed walked up to the house.  There was no answer at the door, so they walked around to the back, knocking at all the doors they found.  Nothing, but they did hear noises like someone was walking around inside.

"We can't get much farther on the gas we've got. Take a look through the window - I'll knock on the door again," Ahmed told Angel.

Peeking through the window, Angel staggered and almost fell down, stepping back off the porch.



Ahmed started towards her, concerned.  Hearing the commotion, Joe called "What's going on?"

Angel, the fear registering on her face pointed to the house, "Those things are in there?"

The others stopped in surprise.  "How many?"  Bob asked after a second.

"I . . . I only saw one," Angel told him. 

Ahmed thought for a second.  "Well, the doors are all secured, so it's either the farmer and his family inside, or a couple of the things got in there and the family left."  He peered through the window, cupping his hands around his face to get a better view inside.  "Either way it's good for us.  We can take care of the things and spend the night in relative security."

The others considered this and decided it was a good plan, especially since they had already noticed the fuel tank at the back of the yard.

"All right," Bob said.  "Let's look in the windows and try to get a feel for how many of the things are in there and the layout of the house.  That will make it a lot easier." 

*          *          *

After scouting around the house, the met back up on the porch.  They determined they could only see one zed inside, and they had a pretty good feel for the layout of the ground floor, noticing that there were a cuople of closed doors, and knowing there was a second floor and a cellar. 

"Ahmed and Angel, you stand guard out here."  Bob looked at Joe.  Ready?" Bob asked.  He nodded.  "Let's do it!"

Turn 1: The group automatically activates since the zombies can't do anything. 

As they went through the door, Bob went straight to the living room where the one zed they had seen and was still milling around.  Joe went in right behind him and stopped to watch the stairs and the hall to what appeared to be the kitchen.  Angel and Ahmed moved to opposite corners of the house to watch the yard. 



Bob's first shot hits the zombie, but only knocks him back and down. 

Shortly after that another zed appears at the top of the stairs, and starts down towards Joe.  He passes his In Sight test with 2d6 and fires one barrel of his shotgun.  He hits and gets an obviously dead against what was apparently the farmer's daughter. 

Since the sound is contained within the house, I've modified the zombie appearance roll and none show up outside the house this turn.

Turn 2: The zeds activate with a 1, while the group is inactive with a 6.  Bob's zed gets up and charges, while another zombie charges from the kitchen towards Joe. 

Bob passes his Being Charged check with 2d6 and fires, again only knocking the zed down and back. Joe passes his In Sight check with 1d6 and fires the other barrel, getting one hit, but only knocks her back and down. 



Still no new zeds appear.

Turn 3: Zeds activate first with a 2 over the team's 1.

The zeds both get up and charge.  Bob passes his Being Charged check and fires, getting two hits and an Obviously Dead, finally finishing his zombie off.  Joe also passes his Being Charged check, drops his empty shotgun and grabs a baseball bat that was sitting in a corner by the door.  And disaster strikes!  The zed passes its 1d6 Melee roll, while Joe passes none.  The zed gets an Obviously Dead result and will spend the next turn feasting on him. 



Angel and Ahmed hear Joe screaming and run to the door to see what's going on.  Angel passes 1d6 on the See Zombie Death check.  She ducks back out of the door and fails her Sanity test, putting her Out of the Fight until she can be checked on.  Ahmed fails his See Zombie Death check, running away.  But he then passes one on his Sanity check.  He will recover at the end of the game.

No zeds are attracted to the gunfire.

Turn 4: The team activates since the one remaining zed is otherwise occupied.  Bob turns around to help Joe and also fails his See Zombie Death check and runs away.  However, he passes 2d6 on the Sanity table and will recover next activation.



Still no zeds appear.

Turn 5: The team (or what's left of it) activates first with a 5 versus the zeds 4.  Bob has a big decision to make here.  He can either get to Ahmed and try to rally him, or he can run back into the house and try to kill the zed.  He doesn't know what's become of Angel, so he decides to head back into the house.  He fires at the zed's back and gets two hits, both of which result in Obviously Dead.

His shooting attracts one zed, as yet unknown to him. 

Turn 6: The team activates first with a 5 over the zed's 1.  Bob heads out the front door, looking for Angel.  He finds her huddled on the porch, terrified, but also spots the zed shambling across the road.  He passes his In Sight check and fires, getting two hits and an Obviously Dead. 

Bob does a quick check of the farm house to make sure it's safe, then pulls Angel through the house and into the mud room, shutting and locking the outside door and closing the inside door so she wouldn't see the mess that used to be Joe.  Ahmed fails his Rally roll but lets Bob lead him into the house also.  Checking on Angel again, she's pretty much done for.  She eventually declines totally into insanity and will have to be watched 24/7. 

Finally, the ordeal is over!

Wow!  That sucked!  The team survived several games, fighting off several times their number of zeds without a scratch only to lose one team member munched, one insane and one pretty much useless fighting three zeds!  Only Bob is functional, but he won't desert his friends.  This has taken a pretty interesting - and devastating - turn.  Certainly screws up my vision of what the team's going to do next. 

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Day 2c: The Sheriff of Nowhere

Sculder and Mully, on their way to their next stop, happen to venture through the town of Nowhere and stumble on the sheriff's office.

"Do you think the sheriff will be cooperative or do you think he's just trying to push this off on the Feds?"  Sculder asked Mully as they got out of their vehicle in the parking lot.



"Don't know.  Depends on how much of a hick he is," Mully answered her long-time partner.  After a second of thought she added, "Although I'd think the hicks would prefer to deal with this kind of stuff themselves."

"Well, let's see what he has to say."  Sculder led the way to the door of the office.



As they entered the building and their eyes adjusted to the darkness in the office, they found a rather shaky sheriff and his equally shaky deputy pointing guns at them. 



"Um...sheriff, if you'll just let me get my badge, I'm Agent Sculder and this is my partner Agent Mully."

"Yeah, alright, let's see it," the sheriff drawled, holstering his weapon.  He indicated his deputy should put his away as well.

Inspecting Sculder's credentials, the sheriff asked, "so what do you Feds intend to do about this?"

"About what?  A couple of random zombies wandering the countryside?"  Sculder attempted to chasten his counterpart.

"Zombies!" the sheriff exclaimed with astonishment.  Recovering, he continued, "a couple of random zombies?  Agent Sculder, you don't know the extent of this yet do you?"

This caught Sculder off-guard.  "What are you talking about?"



"Every county to the north and west of here is covered with these things.  Haven't heard from anyone south of here, or what's going on in Suburbia, but this isn't just Nowhere's problem."

Sculder and Mully looked at each other.  "That explains all the calls we've been getting."

"No point heading north if it's more of these things," Mully offered up.  "Except we might find where they're coming from."

Sculder thought for a minute.  "That would be helpful, but at what risk?  Let's head for HQ and get more info on the extent of this - then we can plan a proper course of action."

Turning back to the sheriff, Mully asked, "Sheriff, can you join up with whichever agencies around here you think are most useful and set up roadblocks to keep these things from heading south, if, indeed, they aren't there already?"

"Well, sure can.  The sheriff down in Blowdown County is a friend of mine.  I'm sure we can work something out." 

"Good.  We'll be in touch," Mully assured the local law enforcement.

As they were leaving they could hear the sheriff already getting started.

"Now Barney, I need you to go fetch Gomer and Goober and the rest of the gang so's I can deputize them..."

*          *          *
 
The sheriff's office was made out of construction paper.  Didn't turn out too well because my only resources were a pair of kid's scissors, glue stick, construction paper, graph paper and a ruler.  If it proves useful for the future, I might recreate it later since it won't survive the trip home.  For now, though, it will do the trick.  You don't see much of it in these pics, but it has five cells in the back and three separate rooms - at least one of which presumably holds weapons and ammunition.  A useful fact in the zombie apocalypse.