The Colony

[Lycan 01]

7:30 PM / SUNSET


The sun is setting. Shadows crawl across the ground as the light slowly fades into nothingness. So too has humanity faded almost from existance, forced nearly to extinction by a mysterious plague. 93% of the world's population has been wiped out, reducing rural areas to empty wastelands and urban and developed locations into sprawling ghost cities. It is in one such Necropolis that a group of survivors who were either immune to the disease, strong enough to fight off the infection, or just lucky enough to avoid getting sick have gathered together under a highway overpass.

There are six of them, and they've managed to settle into a small camp of some sort beneath a bridge. They are all huddled around a campfire that they have managed to either start themselves, or happen across. There are two sleeping bags nearby, who no one in particular has ownership of, as a small blanket. Besides what each individual has for themselves, there is a small box near the fire which contains three cans of tomatoe soup, a small bag of potatoe chips, two candy bars, and three full bottles of water.

Nearby, there's a small road that crosses under the bridge. On the opposite side of the street, there's a blue four-door sedan which has crashed into a support column for the bridge. The driver's side door is open, but the rest of the doors and the trunk are closed. Even from across the street, it can be seen that the car is too damaged to drive.


---

Resource: Amount per person (time will sustain group)

FOOD: Two meals (2/3 DAY)
WATER: Half a bottle per person (1/2 DAY)


(Some people have food for themselves. They can contribute this too the group's supplies, increasing the amount of the time their resources will last them. Or, they can keep the supplies to themselves, and use them if/when the group's resources run out to take care of themselves. The choice is yours.)

[Krrth]

Joshua


It had been a long night. Hell, it had been a long couple of months. HE wasn't sure why he was still alive. He had gotten sick with everyone else, but he had survived. He had engaged in a little looting, if survival could be called looting, and had at least gotten warm and sturdy clothes out of it.

Joshua sighed as he looked over his new companions. He didn't know any of them well, but they were all that was left.

No matter. Joshua walked over to the car and started to search it.

Anyone want to help me with this car? We might be able to salvage something out of it. A first aid kit, some clothes. If we're really lucky, even a crowbar or automotive kit.

[infinitypanda]

Derek

To say that Derek was enjoying himself right now would be a lie. That said, there were times that Derek enjoyed the quiet, lonesome nights. They reminded him of camping as a child, and while he definitely did not consider them worth the plague, one can't fault someone for trying to find the best in a bad situation.

Derek looks over at where Joshua has gone over to the car. He looks back to the fire, sighs, places his hands on his knees, and pushes himself up.

"Yeah, I can help you look. Even if we don't find anything, we might be able to remove the headrests, or cut out the foam, and at the very least make some pillows or something."

As he walks over to the car, Derek grins. Some pillows would certainly be nice.

Edit: formatting changes.

[Lycan 01]

Upon inspecting the car, you find that the doors are unlocked, but the trunk is stuck. It appears that the impact jammed the mechanisms to release it. It can only be opened now through either force or some sort of tool.

The inside of the car is a mess. Broken glass, scattered scraps of paper, food wrappers, leaves, dead bugs, and other detrius litter the seats, dashboard, and floors. There might be usefull items scattered amongst the mess, though. The seats look like they might provide material, but it'll take a knife or brute force to remove strips of the upholstery. The headrests do look like they'd make good pillows, but you'll have a time getting them loose.



To open the trunk:
-Large Melee Weapons roll to force trunk open (failure might damage weapon)
-Pry it open with a Crowbar (simply state you wish to use it)

To search the car:
-Make a Spot Hidden AND a Luck roll. (Results of both determine discovery)

To remove upholstery:
- STR x 5 roll to pull strips off of seats (failure might hurt muscles)
- Cut out strips with a knife of some sort (simply state you wish to do so)

To remove headrests:
- STR x 3 to rip them of the seats (failure might hurt muscles)
- Large Melee Weapons roll to bash them off (failure might damage headrest)


You may make these rolls in the OOC thread, or at the end of your post. Whatever works best for you. :smallsmile:

[infinitypanda]

Derek is going to search the car, let Joshua and anyone else who wants to search the car, then use his pocketknife to remove the upholstery and get to the foam padding.

Spot Hidden (31)
[roll0]
Luck (70)
[roll1]

[Krrth]

Joshua

Joshua sighs and helps the other survivor search the car. Once that is done, he gets a crowbar to force the trunk. No sense in harming themselves.

Get a crowbar or something. There's usually something useful in the trunk.


Rolls

Spot:45
[roll0]
Luck:50
[roll1]

[infinitypanda]

"Okay, I'll go looking around for a crowbar or something."

Completely forgetting about the foam, Derek is going to attempt to get to the top of the bridge, rather carefully, and give the local surroundings a quick look-round.

Sneak (10)
[roll0]

[Lycan 01]

There are no on-ramps to the bridge nearby, and it would be too dangerous to try to climb the concrete walls that lead to higher ground in the growing darkness.

Map

|...:------:...|
|...:------:Y.|
|X.:------:...|
|...:------:...|

| = concrete wall
.. = grass
--= road
X = cramp
Y = car



Yeah, I need to learn to make maps. :smallannoyed:

Right now, exploration isn't what you're supposed to be doing, remember? You're supposed to be introducing yourselves, and getting to know earch other, as well as deciding on how best to use your resources. The car is there to teach ya'll how to search and scavenge. So yeah... Don't get too ahead of yourselves. :smalltongue:

[infinitypanda]

Right, my bad, my bad. It's just kind of weird to be introducing ourselves when there's only two of us to be introduced so far. In that case, Derek will just harvest the delicious foam from the car, since after botching his spot hidden roll so poorly, that's about all he can do (that I can think of, at least).

[infinitypanda]

Ahem. Hi there, I'm Derek Johnson. I'm a twenty year old college student, who was on vacation when all this happened. I was studying journalism and the culinary arts, so I'm pretty good at making grub and talking to people. I used to go camping a lot as a kid, so I'm at least partly used to the physical hardships we have to go through right now, but not quite the same with the mental hardships. Sometimes I deal with the stress of the world going to hell by focusing on something unimportant (foam!) or with gallows humor. Usually of the deadpan, snide variety.

I'm really excited to be with another group of survivors. No one should be alone at a time like this.

[Krrth]

Joshua


Standing up from the Car.


Good to meet you. I'm Joshua Wright. I used to teach at one of the community colleges around here up until they closed everything.

[infinitypanda]

"Heh. It's kind of funny that for some reason we haven't introduced ourselves until now. It's also kind of weird that everyone else is in a coma."

[Krrth]

Joshua


It's probably the shock. Seeing loved ones die, friends, family.

*shakes head*

Honestly, I've been in a bit of a daze myself. Interaction with others is a must right now, I think.

[Lycan 01]

8:00 PM / Nightfall

Derek manages to carve open a few car seats, and remove some foam cushioning from inside. He is able to pull out three 1x1 square-foot chunks of varying thickness. Its not the softest material ever, but it probably would make a decent pillow or serve as insulation if stuffed between layers of clothing.

The sun has set, and darkness falls. The starts and crescent moon provide some light, however. In fact, it is due to the pale starlight that the shadow of an approaching figure can be seen making its way up the road, heading towards the camp. It appears to be a person, though their identity and intentions is uncertain...

[Badger Man 22]

Fenrir

After a long walk from my latest raiding I saw a fire in the distance.
Hmm. Fire usually means people. People means food. Food means I live. After those thoughts I picked up my pace towards the flames and gripped my crowbar strongly.

Hey. 'Sup dudes? You got any food? Or weapons? Or stuff?

I looked at the man near the car. (Joshua)

What you got there?

And I proceeded to walk in his direction.

[infinitypanda]

Derek looks up at the approaching figure. "Oh, fa****ls," he mutters under his breath when he sees the weapon. He puts his pocketknife away; the chance of the blade snapping shut on his fingers in a fight is too much. Then Derek looks over to Joshua, waiting to see how he'll respond to the intruder.

[Talking Donkey]

Jennifer looks up from her seated position at the intruder. She berated herself from not paying any attention, she had been thinking about home before things went to hell. She watches intently to see what happens keeping a firm grasp on her gym bag.

(OOC: I had no idea this thread was up and was still posting in the recruitment thread the past few days. My bad.)

@Lycan
What was the determination on Jennifer's weapon? Last I heard you were undecided because you though it made sense for her to have but were unsure if you wanted to let us start with a weapon. I only ask because she would have slid her hand inside her bag to ready her weapon because of her nerves.

[Krrth]

Joshua

*standing up and looking the newcomer directly in the face*

Perhaps you should just keep on moving son. We have nothing for you.

[Badger Man 22]

Nothing? You sure 'bout that?

I pointed towards the box near the fire.

Then whats in there?

I walked towards the box, gripping my crowbar in one hand and watching everyone I could.

[Krrth]

Joshua

*Stepping in front the newcomer*

Nothing for you. We've got little enough as is, as we certainly don't have anything for someone who just walks in and demands things.


*thinking*
Crap. Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap. Just what we need, some young punk trying to muscle in and take our stuff. I really hope these others back me up here. This guy will probably back off if we all stand up. If not, my brains will most likely be leaking over that crowbar of his.

[infinitypanda]

Derek moves out from behind the car. "You heard him. we have barely enough for ourselves as it is." Derek looks down at the crowbar that the intruder is holding. "Although," he says, "we might be able to make a trade."

OOC: Sorry for the short post, my internet is down so I had to post this from my cell. I'm still going to keep posting at least once a day until my internet comes back, but they will be short like this.

[Jalor]

The large, hooded man sleeping against a rock stops snoring abruptly as he wakes. As he pulls himself up slowly and shakily, his face comes into the light. Or rather, what remains of it. His facial features are obscured by burn scars and skin grafts, and there doesn't appear to be a nose on his face. He pulls the hood of his jacket forward a bit and steps forward towards Joshua and the newcomer. He speaks in a deep, gravelly voice,

"Another survivor? Seems you've stumbled across our little bastion of civilization. If you want food and supplies, you'd be better off helping us scavenge than demanding what little we have."

[Lycan 01]

Bwah hah hah hah... I just realized, this game is turning out more like Fallout 3 than the Colony. First raiders, and now a Ghoul. :smallbiggrin:

In all seriousness, though, don't expect me to step in and resolve this situation. If things get out of hand, things get out of hand... :smallwink:


I would, however, like to point out that I'd like to get the plot moving along eventually. But it seems we've still got some slow-pokes who need to catch up, or even show up. Tuesday afternoon I'm sending out PMs to the late players. If they don't post by Wednesday afternoon, when I move ya'll on to the next area, they'll be removed from play due to inactivity... Is that too harsh? :smallconfused:

[Talking Donkey]

Jennifer thinks to herself, "At least a few of these people have their heads screwed on straight." Still eying the suspicious stranger she reaches her hand into her bag, pulls something out of it and stuffs it into her pocket. Before the group can see what it is she then stands up, leaving her gym bag on the ground next to the fire and takes a few steps towards the intruder.

Usually people are surprised, and often intimidated by her large, athletic build. She hopes it has the desired effect on this new "@$$hole".

[OOC: Badgerman, sorry for calling your character an @$$hole but she calls them like she sees them. No hard feelings I hope.]

[infinitypanda]

Derek looks over to the fire, where he sees that his companions are now awake. He looks back at the intruder. "No need to do anything hasty or irrational. either set down your crowbar, or move along. Unless you feel like having an unnecessary Mexican standoff, I guess."

[Talking Donkey]

After closing part of the distance, Jennifer decides that she is going to try and disarm the situation rather than escalate it.

"Come on over here and have a seat. We will see if we can't work this out, maybe see if we have a little food or something to calm your nerves."

She turns her back to the man and walks back to the fire having a seat. Jennifer points to the block of wood next to her that she had been using as a seat.

"Come on, sit here."


Using either persuasion or fast talk depending on which the GM deems more appropriate. (I lean towards persuasion myself)

Persuasion is 80%
Fast Talk is 65%


(OOC: Bah, pressed preview on accident.)

[Talking Donkey]

Persuasion roll for post above: [roll0]

[Badger Man 22]

I reach into my backpack and put my crowbar in it and proceed to pull out a small foil bag.

You know I have no reason to co-operate with ya'll. But I am feeling generous.

I begin to open the bag. And pull out a single poptart.

I'll give you this thing here.Gestures towards poptart.If ya'll allow me to join your 'group'

I then put the bag back in my pack and pull out a pencil and a notebook.

So do ya'll agree or no?

Remembering that the woman had pulled something out of her bag he put the pencil and paper back in the pack and retrieved his crowbar.

What you got there ma'am? It better not be mace or pepper spray. That will just get me all angry like. So how 'bout you put it back in your bag. I say this slowly enunciating every syllable clearly.

[Talking Donkey]

Not wanting to go down that road. She reaches into her pocket and instead of pulling out the item from before, she pulls out her wallet and shows it to the man. "It's just my wallet... it's more of a habit from before all this happened." She says as she puts the wallet back into her bag.

"I"m sorry if "I" scared "you". The name is Jennifer. What's yours?"

[Badger Man 22]

You? Scare me? Ha. And my name is Fenrir, ma'am. And if you mess with me ya'll might as well put your hands in a wolf's mouth.

I walk past David, bumping him harshly with my shoulder.

We got off on the wrong foot.Howe 'bout I give you my poptart and we'll call it even.
I pull the poptart from my pack.
I am a survivor too. Probably saw more people fall than any of you. Now ya'll wanna call a truce?

[infinitypanda]

Derek cuts in with a question, which he makes sure to ask with as calm and respectful of a tone as he can. "How about instead of the giving us a Poptart you come pop open this car trunk. It's been giving us a lot of trouble, and once we get it open we can have a round of introductions, Mr. ...?"

Persuasion: [roll0]

[Badger Man 22]

Were you not listening? I am Fenrir.
With the crowbar in hand I stride towards the car.
Pop it open? Can I get something from it?
I then pop open the trunk with my crowbar.

[Lycan 01]

The trunk lid creaks, and then pops open. Inside of the trunk, there is an old backpack. There's also a cardboard box, with a small blue tarp under it.


OOC: Spot AND Luck rolls to search the backpack and box.


You can't convince other players with rolls. Its up to them to decide if your words have any meaning to their characters... :smalltongue:

[Badger Man 22]

((OOC: Remember that I popped open the trunk. >.>))

[infinitypanda]

"Let's see what's in here."

Spot hidden (45 I believe, but I can't get to my sheet right now):
[roll0]

Luck (70):
[roll1]

"Once we see what's in here we can discuss how to split it up."

[Badger Man 22]

Right...

I grab the crowbar with both hands and swing at Derek.

[Badger Man 22]

ROLLS
[roll0]Weapon + Damage Bonus of [roll1]

[Lycan 01]

Ahem... You have to roll to hit him first. :smallwink:


And you should have waited. All I'm gonna say... :smalleek:

[Badger Man 22]

Right. I roll a d20 to hit right?

[roll0]

[Jalor]

OOC: Screw it, I'll just make a new post after the results of the action.

[Badger Man 22]

Right. Just rolling what lycan tells me. >.>

[roll0] Large Melee (35)

[Talking Donkey]

Seeing the deranged biker swinging widely at one of her companions, Jennifer calmly, so as not to draw his attention, walks up behind the biker. As she approaches she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small personal protection tazer. As she approaches she quickly remembers trying it out on her brother and the effect it had on him. (The 10,000 volts knocked him unconscious for about 5 minutes).

Without saying a word she attempts to press the tazer to the base of the bikers skull (being a medical student she is going for full effect) and send a jolt of 10,000 volts down his spinal cord.

Attack Roll:
[roll0]

Small Melee Weapon: 25

Not sure which you would prefer to use.

[Lycan 01]

Chaos erupts.

As Derek approaches the trunk, Fenrir rears back with his crowbar. But just as he swings, Derek obliviously reaches into the trunk and grabs something in the cardboard box. The crowbar goes right over his head, leaving Fenrir off-balance. Jennifer sees her chance, and attempts to tazer the psychotic biker. But just as she jabs at the base of his skull, Fenrir ducks and steps to the side.

As it is, Derek is leaning into the trunk. Jennifer is standing next to the trunk, adjacent to Derek. Fenrir is a few feet away from the two of them.

Who dares, wins.

[Badger Man 22]

Umm. Right.

I then swing at Jennifer. Seeing she has a tazer my mind instinctively tells me she is my main concern.

[roll0] Large Melee (35)
Damage: [roll1] (Base) + [roll2](Damage Bonus)

[Krrth]

Joshua

Joshua was momentarily stunned when the fight broke out. He really didn't think the new guy would try to take on the other six by himself. Grabbing a burning branch, Joshua swung it at the thug. Hopefully the thug couldn't deal with a large number of people trying to take him down.




Roll to hit with large chunk of wood: [roll0]

[infinitypanda]

Derek, surprised and not exactly paying attention, is going to grab the bag and dive away from Fenrir, then turn back to facing Fenrir to take stock of the situation. Derek definitely wants to distance himself from that crowbar.

OOC: Why did Jennifer's taze miss? Did Fenrir roll Dodge successfully? If knowing why she missed would require knowledge Derek shouldn't know, feel free to not respond. Keeper's privilege and all that.

[Lycan 01]

OOC: Check your PM box. :smalltongue: But yes, Badger made his Dodge roll... Its your turn now, actually.

I'd say that upon having a crowbar swing over his head, Derek looked over his shoulder and witnessed Jennifer attempt to taze Fenrir, and Fenrir dodge it. Fenrir is now about to swing at Jennifer, who is beside you, and Joshue is running up to hit Fenrir with a burning torch.
Actually, Fenrir will succeed in hitting Jennifer, and then Joshua is going to smack him. After your action, I'll write up the results of this turn...

[infinitypanda]

I'm going to get out of there. There's a hatfull of crazy going on too close for comfort.

[Lycan 01]

OOC: Oh... Okay then. :smallconfused: Which way do you run? And did you take the item you found with you?


And guys, can we please try to tone down OOC discussion in this thread? If you want to ask about or say what you want to do first, do it in the OOC thread. That way I can tell you if you need to roll anything, and clarify details... I'm just getting lost in all the OOC chatter. :smalleek:

[infinitypanda]

Once I'm out of the way, I'm going to pull the thing I found on Fenrir and shout "DROP THE ****ING CROWBAR!" And it will sound like all caps.

Edit: I run away from the car so that it is between me and the camp, so that Fenrir is sillhoueted (sp?) by the fire, hopefully making him easier to see.

[Lycan 01]

OOC: Ah. Okay, then... And just so we're all clear, Jennifer loses 8 HP, and Fenrir loses 5 in this round.



The next few seconds are a blur. Fenrir lunges forward, swinging his crowbar with no regard for Jennifer's life. The metal tool connects with her cheek with a sickening crack, and she is thrown to the ground with a sharp cry, blood streaming from her nose and mouth. Joshua reaches into the campire and yanks out a burning branch. He quickly runs over to Fenrir, and smashes the firebrand into the biker's face. The impact is loud, and the disturbing sound of sizzling flesh can be heard over the howl that escapes Fenrir's throat. Sparks fly as the burning timber explodes on impact, ashes and cinders filling the air and casting ever-changing shadows over the melee. In the confusion, Derek runs into the darkness. A short moment later, the sound of a handgun's safety being clicked off is heard, followed by Derek's harsh command of: "DROP THE ****ING CROWBAR!"

[infinitypanda]

Derek aims the gun at Fenrir (using the aim action) and let's him know that if he so much as speaks, Derek will unload the gun into his stomach, and that's not a nice death. Derek gives Fenrir three seconds to drop the crowbar, and gets ready to shoot him at the slightest provocation.

[Badger Man 22]

Oh. Aren't you a big boy? I say to Derek.
You going to shoot me? Heh. Go ahead.
I put the crowbar in my pack and walk towards Derek, hands extended so he can see there is nothing in them.
And there are more of me waiting outside of camp. You shoot me and you all go down. I say
I walk closer so I can see Derek's face.
This is all a misunderstanding. You see, I have multiple ideals in my head. I guess the one that wanted you dead won out.

[Talking Donkey]

Jennifer, on all fours, attempts to pick herself up off the ground. Her moves are slow and lethargic. She spits blood and sees a tooth fall out on the ground. Her first thought is that her jaw is broken, but quickly that fades away as everything goes black.

[infinitypanda]

Triple-tap.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

Edit: I forgot to roll damage and can't edit those rolls back in, but that's okay because I think I missed anyways.

[Lycan 01]

9:00 PM / Darkness

As Jennifer tried to get up, only to pass out from the trauma she'd endured, Derek warned the biker not to say a word. His words were not heeded, however, and Fenrir went on to brag about his friends, and his reasoning for the attack. As soon as the words left his mouth, three shots rang out.

The first shot suprised Derek, who was not used to handguns. The recoil caught him off guard, and the bullet passed right over the biker's shoulder. He fired the second shot out of instinct, but the recoil had that one zip a foot or so over Fenrir's head. The biker, seeing his chance, charged at the journalist. However, Derek was able to correct his aim, and fired a third shock into the charging figure.

The bullet struck Fenrir on the far-right side of his chest, directly below the collar bone. The 9mm round easily punched through flesh, muscle, and bone. It blew through the major artery that led into his arm, and a small fountain of crimson erupted from the gunshot wound as Fenrir's heart began to pump his warm blood directly into the cold night air. The biker, wide-eyed with shock that he'd actually been hit, staggered forward, and grabbed the journalist by the shoulders.

Derek and Fenrir locked eyes. Blood continued to spray from the wound, dousing Derek like a macabre baptism. A snarl tugged at the edge of the bikers lips, but he found himself unable to muster the strength to speak. As his face paled, he slowly sank down to his knees, pulling his killer down with him to his level, never breaking eye contact.

Derek watched as the spark of life left Fenrir's eyes, unphased by the results of his actions. He felt grip on his shoulders loosened, and the biker slumped backwards onto the ground, his body sprawled out in a pool of his own blood. Fenrir the marauding biker was dead, his life ended by a culinary reporter's lucky shot.

Silence returned to the night.

[infinitypanda]

"Right," Derek says, as much to himself as to everyone else. "Um, ok. I, uh, wow, I think maybe someone else should carry the gun for awhile. And someone needs to check on Jennifer. I'll check to see if Fenrir, err, has anything, you know, useful."

As Derek holds out the gun for someone else to take, his hands are visibly shaking.

[Forgotten T.S.]

Bradley sits there, quietly staring into the fire. He hadn't moved once since they all met up... his dirtied Marine-fatigues all a'ruffle. When he met up, he seemed happy enough to finally meet people that weren't out of there minds. He quietly offered to share an MRE to the group food supply, not wanting others to go hungry while he could help it. The ranking bar on his shoulder easily identified him to those who know the Military-coding as a Captain in the USMC, whatever that meant anymore. He has no other identifying marks, aside from the USMC Crest and Ranking Bars on his right shoulder, but those look like they can be removed with a simple pull.

After the initial meeting, he went oddly quiet. If talked to, or questioned, he doesn't respond... just stares off into the flames as he's searching for something undefinable.

As the ruckus starts up, he still doesn't break out of his revere. However... the bullet shots do it. Instinctualy he rolls back off the rock he's sitting on, his body nimble as he comes back up in a low crouch, a deadly looking tomahawk in his right hand, and a serrated combat knife in his left. His hands moved in preparation for a fight, and then he noticed the dead man falling down, not twenty or so feet from him.

He stands back up straight, noticing the man with the gun. He frowned as he twirled both deadly melee weapons on his fingers and then stored them in their appropriate sheathes along his Molle Tactical Vest. Bradly had a gun on him, on an underarm holster rig, but he had quietly confessed upon his meeting with everyone that he had run out of bullets for it over a week ago. He moved over to the man, his movements calm and predictable, not wanting to tax the fellow anymore then he was. His hands came out and slowly slid the pistol out of the mans hands, quickly popping the magazine out and clicking the safety over as he empties the chamber of anything.

"You did fine, son." His free hand came up and patted Dereck on the shoulder, "You did just fine. Why don't you have a seat... it's not an easy thing to do what you just did. It'll hit you hard in a second. I'll look over the man..." Bradley remembered the first time he had killed a man... the violent illness that took him over and caused him to puke up his guts in a small trench in the middle of no-where in Southern Iraq.

He slipped the magazine into a pouch on his tactical rig, and then slipped the gun into an empty holster under his right arm. He carefully moved over the dead man, and knelt down. He raised three fingers to his lips and made the Orthodox Cross, as he whispered the last rights, and began divesting the man of any gear and equipment he can find.



-----------------------




Bradley will add the following to the Food Supply:

MRE - 1

[Krrth]

Joshua

Joshua looked down an the biker. Mixed emotions ran though his brain: Sadness at another life ended. Happiness that it wasn't his. Elation that he wasn't badly hurt.

Looking around, he saw that the shooter was being calmed down. As he moved to check on the young woman.

Does anyone have some bandages or a first aid kit?



Sanity roll
[roll0]Goal 50
[roll1]
First aid check Goal 50 [roll2]

[Talking Donkey]

Jennifer - Campsite

After a few moments, and with Joshua's help, Jennifer begins to come around. She slightly lifts her head and lets it drop back down, almost as if the effort is too much.

"Thank you," she says to Joshua, her words barely audible of the faint crackling of the fire. "Yeah, yeah. No. No, I'm fine" she tries to assure Joshua that she is fine. "Just give me a few minutes, I'll be ok."

With Joshua's help, Jennifer was able to sit up. The bleeding in her mouth had slowed somewhat. She accepted some of the water that was offered to her, and rather than use it to rinse her mouth out, she drank it. She'd rather have a little bout of nausea from the blood than dehydration from wasting their pathetic water resource.

After waiting a few moments to regain her strength, Jennifer pulls herself up, dusts herself off somewhat and makes her way to her bag. She sits next to it by the fire, digs around inside of it and comes out with a small make-up compact. Looking in the mirror, she try's to assess the damage. Neither the jaw nor the cheek bone is broken all both are bruised and swollen. There are a few breaks in the skin but nothing that won't heal with time. She might have a small fracture or two, but without X-Ray equipment there is no way to tell.

Putting the compact back in her bag, Jennifer makes her way towards Derreck, stopping along the way to pick up the tazer from the ground. She sees he is really beating himself up and attempts to console him. "Thank you. You saved my life. I know it doesn't make it any easier, but you can't blame yourself. You were protecting yourself, as well as me and the others here. Once again, thank you."

[Forgotten T.S.]

After stripping the dead biker down of any essential gear, he will move the body off a ways from the group, and return. He casts a weary glance around, "I apologize for my inaction, these weeks have taxed me, and like most of you... it has been difficult. I won't let it effect me like that again." He felt remise in his duties, as a Marine, for cracking under the pressure... even if it was in such a minor way, during a critical point.

"I should probably introduce myself... as I'm sure we will be together for a time. Gerad, Bradley Alexander. Captain, USMC, Recon Intelligence MOS. I normally go by Captain Alexander, however, I won't expect any of you to conform to my rank. Brad is fine, if you must. I am a Marine, always have been, always will be. I have working and educated knowledge in Chemistry and Engineering, as those are more formal degrees." He lifts a hand and runs it through his slightly longer hair, a look of annoyance passes his face.

"At daybreak... we will want to start searching for a more defensible location. Scatter-team for supplies..." His eyes keep moving around for movement in the darkness as his mind double-times different ideas for future actions; obviously getting back into his element and his training.

[Talking Donkey]

Jennifer turns from Derreck and faces the Captain, her face taking on a slightly more saddened look than before. "My boyfriend was," she stops for a fleeting moment, as if steeling her resolve, "no, is a Marine as well. He was deployed to Camp Tillman, Afghanistan when all of this happened." She motions her hands around in a look at all of this motion, obviously referring to the outbreak. "He's a SSgt... SSgt Daniel Coyle. He's stationed at Camp Lejeune, NC, deployed with the 2 MEU. He's an 0211 in the CI Department. Anyway, enough rambling about the past I guess."

I am a Med Student, actually only 60 hours left on my rotation until I am finally a doctor. Not that that matters any more. I know quite a bit about the various sciences as that is what most of my classes were in, and if push comes to shove, I can use a pistol." Jennifer feels the need to explain herself here, "My father bought me a pistol after my dorm was broken into, Daniel made me practice with it fairly regularly."

Getting away from the past and focusing on the troubles at hand, Jennifer starts again. "I couldn't agree more with Captain Alexander, we need to find somewhere we can defend. After that, or maybe even while searching for a place to defend, we need water, food, medical supplies, and weapons. The only reason I put them in that order is, apparently between us we have a few weapons now. Hopefully they will suffice until we get settled in somewhere else."

[infinitypanda]

Derek nods. His shaking decreases perceptibly. "Okay. I'm going to try to get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a big day." Derek walks over to the fire, places a piece of foam under his head, and tries to get some sleep.

[Krrth]

Joshua

*glancing around*

We may want to consider moving sooner rather than later. While that rather deranged individual claimed he had friends out there, I don't think we should risk finding out he was right.

[Talking Donkey]

Jennifer - The Campsite

"I agree."

Jennifer picks up her bag and makes her over to the car where the fight erupted. Knowing that no one had time to look through it earlier she takes a few minutes to search for anything of use before the rest of the group is ready to leave.

Spot Hidden Goal 25[roll0]
Luck Goal 80[roll1]

[Forgotten T.S.]

Alexander looks around for a moment, "If we kill the light, we should be fine for the night. Walking around in the dark is a bad idea... if we wait for pre-dawn, we'll stand a better chance. Give everyone a chance to cool their heels and collect themselves." He tossed a glance to Dereck, obviously wanting to give the man a bit to rest.

"I will assist you, Doc." He moves with the woman to the car, checking through it for various things of use*. As they search together, he speaks softly, "You say you have some training with a pistol? Do you know if anyone else does? Depending on how many bullets we got here, can split them between my pistol, and this new one. Even out our chances a bit."

------------------



*- Search the Car.

[roll0] (Goal: 65)
[roll1] (Goal: 65)

I will be using my Tomahawk to collect resources from the car.

I will also be popping the hood of the car, and collecting any wiring/useable parts.

I will also be taking what water we have, and collecting it into as many single bottles as I can. With any spare bottles we have left, and/or using any gascans/empty things we have, and I'll collect what gas I can out of the vehicles gas tank by poking a small hole in the underside.

[Talking Donkey]

"Yeah, I could kick myself for taking the bus to the hospital the day everything went to ****. If I would have taken the car, I had my Glock 27 fully loaded with 13 rounds and another box of 50 in the glove-box because I had planned on going to the range when I got off work... There I go dwelling in the past again."

Rummaging around the trunk, Jennifer lets a small "Yes!"

"Hey guys, look what I found," Jennifer says as she holds up a box of water bottles. "Looks like we have 6 unopened bottles of water here!"

"Oh, the others, I don't know how much training or ammo they have... guess we should ask them. If Derreck doesn't want it, I'll hold on to the pistol."

[Forgotten T.S.]

Alexander nods slightly, "I was just coming home from a long assignment. Then all this happened, and I went to work. We knew as little as anyone else... I've had to drop so much since I started. All of my men... then my gear." He frowns as he chops at the seat with the tomahawk.

"Well... won't make up for your lose, but it'll keep you, and me, feeling safe. Dead man had a Glock 17, and we got 14 rounds left to split." He reaches down and pops out a magazine and starts swapping ammo, loads the the Glock, primes it, then flips it to safety and hands it to the woman, "Make each shot count if you ever have to fire it."

He smiles at the large amount of water she finds and he nods, "Amazing... that's great. That'll keep us going another couple days... til we can find something stable." He reaches under the driver-side seat and pulls out a prescription bottle. He carefully reads the cover, "Got some painkillers here... that'll come in handy. You might want one... your jaw doesn't look like it's giving you much pleasure." He wanted to see a woman smile again.

Moving back, he pops the hood open and starts ripping out the wiring and stuffing it into the bag he took off the biker, "This'll come in handy for some things I'm thinking up. Hopefully." Slamming the hood down, he twirls the deadly looking tomahawk on his finger and sheathes it in an interior case under his tactical rig, "That's all I'm seeing for now..."

[Krrth]

Joshua

Right, that was...interesting.


Joshua pokes around in the trunk of the car and under the hood. You can never tell when something useful may turn up...




One last search, trunk and engine for usable bits of metal. Maybe even a jack or auto emergency kit.
Search(spot) [roll0] goal 45
Luck [roll1] goal 50

[Talking Donkey]

Jennifer - Campsite

Jennifer takes the pistol and the rounds. "I'll make them count. Don't worry."

Jen looks at the pain-killers and once she realizes the brand, knows the dosage without having to look. Instead of the 2 pills she is supposed to take, she only takes 1, not knowing when they will find another bottle. She hands the bottle back and gives a small smile to the Captain. "Thanks, it doesn't hurt that bad." she lied. She swallowed the pill without water, once again rationing what she could.

Looking over towards the group Jen asked, "Anyone have need of this tazer? I don't think I'll be needing it now."

[Forgotten T.S.]

Alexander nods and slips the pills into one of the many empty pouches on his tactical vest. He will take a few minutes to inventory his gear back out with the things he picked up off the Biker. He hangs the crowbar off his belt, and lays the boots down next to the fire, "If anyone wants these, I don't need a backup. Just got new ones in... thankfully." He cracked a smile and stretched out, "I know this might be a bit much to ask of you all... but we need to setup a watch rotation. I don't mind taking the first few hours... but I've been up for Lord only knows how long."

[infinitypanda]

Derek looks up from where he's laying down by the fire. "If no one else wants it, I can take the tazer. I would prefer the crowbar, but I don't know if one of you has dibs on it yet."

[Forgotten T.S.]

Alexander moves over to Derek and kneels down as he hands the man the crowbar, "We'll all need to learn, real quick, that there aren't any dibs. There's only what we have... and what we don't. That's if we're going to survive all of this." He smiles down at the man and pats his shoulder, "Get some rest... we've all got a tough day coming up quick."

Unless there are any objections, Alexander will douse the fire out with dirt. Then, he'll move over to the Sedan, and lay down ontop of it, taking place for his watch.

[Talking Donkey]

Jennifer - The Campsite

Remembering Daniel talk about how tough the middle watch was Jennifer volunteered. "I'll take the 3rd watch." Not giving any reasoning for the choice.

Jen sets the tazer by the crowbar and takes the boots. "If no one minds." she says.

Edit: assume this is at the same time Joshua goes for the crowbar.

[Krrth]

Joshua

*Joshua shrugs*

I'm a semi-decent shot with a rifle, but that's about it. Y'all take what you can use. I'll keep using this chuck of wood until we find something decent for us all.

*looking around*

Oh, hey! This could be useful!

*Joshua pulls out a two rather damaged small cardboard boxes from the trunk.*

We have soap! And band-aids.

[infinitypanda]

"Thanks for the crowbar. I'll also take a watch shift; it doesn't matter to me which one."

[Jalor]

David was staring intently into the distance. It's quite plain that the events of the night took their toll on him, although his face is of course difficult to read. Eventually, the conversation gets his attention.

"Dr. David Ellison, PhD. No need for the titles though, just call me Dave. Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie-Mellon until my accident, and after that I studied architecture. As you can probably tell, nerve damage means I won't be much use in a fight. I do have a hammer with me, but I'd prefer to use it for building rather than killing."

"Let me have a look at that car; its owners seem like they were pretty well prepared."

He walks closer to the car and starts rummaging around, checking under the seats. He also attempts to extricate any electronics he can scrounge from the dashboard and radio, using the claw end of his hammer if necessary.

[Talking Donkey]

Once David finishes pulling the radio out of the car, Jen bids everyone good night and crawls into the backseat of the car with her bag. She pushes everything of the seat, locks the doors, and curls up in a ball, hoping sleep will making the pain in her face and head go away.

She is not looking forward to the wake-up call for her shift in a few hours but, she is still adamant about taking the middle watch.

[Jalor]

David clambers out of the car with a slightly scuffed radio in his grip. "It looks like it should work, but I'll need a power source, speakers, and something to use as an antenna. Luckily, we have one of those right here."

He deposits the radio in his backpack before going around to pry the antenna off. After that's done, he shoves it into the backpack as well, lies down against his rock, and goes to sleep.
[roll0] Mechanical Repair? to get it off intact; need 84. If not that, then just substitute whatever.

[Lycan 01]

The night passes by quickly, with most of the survivors sleeping peacefully while some of them take turns standing watch. Two things of interest occur. While the first watch goes by without a hitch, something occurs during the second watch. While Derek stands guard, he hears something nearby. A few growls, a snap, another growl, the sound of something ripping, more growls... With a lurch in his stomach, Derek realizes that its a dog eating something. And there's only one logical thing it could be eating... He shakes his head to clear the thoughts from his mind, and stares up at the moonlight, trying to keep himself distracted...

Later on, when Jennifer is on watch, another odd thing occurs. As she leans against the car, looking around, she notices one of the survivors slowly stand up and stagger around drunkenly. He slowly approaches her, and the moonlight reveals that it is bugsy. "They're out there. The bugs... They're out there thriving..." he growls. Before she can react, he adds, "But not if I have anything to say about it." And with that, he runs off into the darkness, muttering to himself. "Bugs bugs bugs bugs bugs"

The next morning, the survivors all awaken and gather their things. Its time to head off and look for supplies, shelter, and safety. They eat a quick breakfast, consuming the MRE and pop-tarts so they'll all have enough energy for the day ahead. Once they're done, its time to go...


An hour or so of searching passes by. Idle conversation is shared, but mostly everyone is focused on their surroundings. Abandoned buildings, wrecked cars, even a few skeletons of various life forms picked clean by carrion birds. But not a single sign of life. Eventually, the survivors spot a gas station in the distance. They decide if there's any chance of supplies being found, its worth checking out...


The gas station has been trashed. Outside, most of the gas pumps, air compressors, and other machines have been torn apart and scavenged for parts. If there was anything to be taken from them, its gone now. Inside isn't much different. It looks as though a storm has been through the convience store, leaving nothing but debris in its wake. The counter has been robbed of its various cigarettes and candies, and the cash register is on the floor behind the counter. Most of the eisles have been picked clean, and the then shelves pushed over on top of each other. Cool air pours from the shattered glass doors that once housed the drinks. The shelves that once held said drinks are all empty. There are also two doors that you can see, one behind the counter which probably leads to the managers office, and one on the far wall between two refridgerated sections, which probably leads to storage.

If the survivors wish to search, they may one search once. Areas of interest include:
-Door behind Counter (has flies buzzing around and under it, for some reason)
-Door to storage (is locked. Lockpick roll to unlock, STR x 5 to break down)
-The floor (dropped items may be lost in the detrius covering the whole floor)
-The shelves (a few unwanted items may be left on the shelves)
-The Counter (There's some junk and broken items strewn about behind it)

If you want to stand guard, just say so. If you want to try the cash register, rolls to pick from are: Lockpick, Electrical Repair, STR x 2. If you have any other bright ideas, just say so. :smalltongue:


RESOURCES:

-3 cans of soup
-1 Small bag of chips
-2 Candy Bars

1 DAY OF FOOD

-6 Bottles of Water

1 DAY OF WATER

ITEMS:
-2 sleeping bags
-2 blankets
-1 tarp
-chunks of foam and carboard
-radio+antenae (needs power, speakers)
-1 bottle of Painkillers
-1 box of Band-aids
-1 bar of soap

[infinitypanda]

Derek looks around the gas station. He hefts the crowbar. "That locked door to storage back there looks pretty interesting. I think I might try to pry it open, or break it down, or something. Unless you guys have any better suggestions, I guess."

"Man, with all this crowbar hefting and puzzle solving and insanity, I'm starting to feel like Tom," Derek mutters to himself.

[Jalor]

"I doubt I'd be much use breaking doors down. There could be something useful here behind the counter." David begins rummaging around in the debris.
[roll0] Spot Hidden; need 75
[roll1] Luck; need 55

[Forgotten T.S.]

Captain Bradley Alexander Gerad - USMC


Alexander casts a cautious eye around the building and nods slightly, "That's a good idea, Dereck. Why don't you pry that door open, get anything of use you can find. If you need any help, call." He casts his eyes to the Jennifer, "I'd put a coin down that behind that door," he indicates the one where flies are buzzing crazily, "is a body, Doc. You are the most qualified of us to deal with something like that. I know it's dangerous to mess around with bodies, lots of diseases and such. If any of want to check out that room, I suggest it be you."

He casts a glance back outside, "I don't like not having friendly eyes on my back. I'll trust you all to do your best in finding things in here. I'm going to move around a little outside, keep guard on our location. If anything goes wrong, yell for me." Unless there are objections, he makes his way out of the building, and begins walking guard cautiously, and generally keeping an eye out.


-----------------------



I am going to assume you will want these rolls for my Watch.

[roll0] (Goal: 65)
[roll1] (Goal: 55)

[Krrth]

Joshua

*Looking at the locked door*

I can try to pick that if you'd like. If not, I'll search the shelves.

[infinitypanda]

Derek looks at Joshua, pauses, and mulls over his offer.

"Naw, I'll just pry it open with the crowbar. Thanks for the offer though."

Strength x7 (84)
[roll0]
Luck (70)
[roll1]

[Jalor]

"Go ahead. It'll be easier than breaking it down, even with that crowbar. While you're at it, why not try the cash register? Money's probably worthless by now, but we might as well be prepared in case it's not. We could always strip it for electronic parts if it's not bolted down."

[Krrth]

Joshua

Alright, I'll...

*sound of the door being forced*

Find something else to do. Guess I'm a little late on that one.

*looks toward the counter*

I have a bad feeling about that door. There's only a few reasons for flies to be buzzing like that, and one is dead meat. SOmeone should keep an eye out for trouble.

[Lycan 01]

David manages to find a broken radio behind the counter. Most of it has been trashed in some sort of struggle, but the speakers look salvageable. (Mech Rep roll to remove them without damage)

Captain Alexander keeps watch outside. There's nothing to report, other than a bunch of ravens and crows watching him from nearby telephone wires. They, of course, don't seem to have much to say...

Derek manages to pry the door open. The Storage Area can now be searched.

[Krrth]

Joshua

*calling back to the storage area*

Anything good back there?

[infinitypanda]

"I don't know; lemme check."

Spot hidden (31)
[roll0]
Luck (70)
[roll1]

[Krrth]

Joshua


With any luck there's a lot. Let me help.

*Joshua moves back to the storeroom and helps search*




Spot Hidden goal 45 [roll0]
Luck Goal 50 [roll1]

[Jalor]

"There's a broken radio here. I think I can get the speakers off intact!" He busies himself with extricating the speakers.
[roll0] Mech. Repair; need 84

[Talking Donkey]

With the flies buzzing, Jennifer shakes her head and makes her way to the back. She pokes her head in to make sure there is no danger before going in to search.

Spot Hidden: 25[roll0]
Luck: 80[roll1]
Medical: 95 (if needed)[roll2]

[Lycan 01]

With a snap-crackle-pop, the speakers pop out of the radio intact, a few wires dangling from them.

The storage room is in shambles. Battered cardboard boxes, empty food containers, plastic wrappers, and other garbage litters the floor. Joshua and Derek both start checking boxes. The boxes that Joshua checks are all empty. Derek does managed to find three bottles of water, though.

[infinitypanda]

Derek grabs the water bottles. "These will definitely help." He heads back to where everyone else is and passes out the water bottles. "Make sure to save the empties. We can always fill them up, or use them to carry something other than water."

[Talking Donkey]

SAN:70 [roll0]

Jennifer closes the door quickly, and tries to keep from wretching. She prepares herself, reopens the door and begins to search the area. She also checks over the body checking to see if their is anything of use.



Luck: 80 [roll1]
Spot Hidden: 25 [roll2]
Medicine: 95 [roll3]
First Aid: 95 [roll4]

[Forgotten T.S.]

Alexander walks slowly around the building, spinning his tomahawk carefully in his right hand, relieving a bit of tension as he keeps guard. A bit across the road, his eyes slide across a large semi truck that is flipped over, and a corvet that seems to have it's entirity changed into a smashed up can. He cracks a smile with a shake of his head, "Ahh, the age old debate of built-for-speed vs. built-for-lasting. Guess who won." He jogs a little over to the car, a smile on his face as he notices the interior empty.

"Whoever it was, they got away. Lucky bastards." He lifts a hand to move a blanket hanging in the window out of the way, and stops cold in his tracks. Slowly his jovial smile slips away, leaving a somber, if not angered look in it's place. His eyes narrow into beads as they become hard as rocks. His right hand begins to tremble, but the tomahawk forces him to grip hard, taking control of himself.

Slowly he lowered the blanket, and cast his eyes away in shame. After a moment, he moves around the car and pulls the smashed up hood away. He stares hard at the contents, his mind digging as deep inside as it can to get away. He reaches in slowly, and removes a box of unopened disinfectant wipes, and shoves it into his field rucksack. He reaches back down... and pulls a folded up babystroller out. Releasing a breathe he moves back around the car, and takes a seat in the drivers seat... and leans into the back of the car. He takes a dab of water out of his water bottle, and softly performs the last rights on the deceased occupant of the car. With that done, he reaches up, and removes the blanket from the window, and puts it over the body. He cuts a small sliver of the blanket off, and ties it on the necklace holding his dog tags.

'I hope the bastard didn't make it far.' He closes the door to the car and cuts an X into the doors side. Hopefully no one would disturb this place. With all he could do, done, he makes his way back to the building the others are in, and resumes walking guard. Though... his eyes are detached, and his face hard.

[Talking Donkey]

Jennifer rummages through the storeroom, knowing there is nothing that can be done for the man, as he has obviously been dead for days. She does at least find a little more food in the way of 2 Candy Bars. "To think, I used to never eat this stuff, and now I practically live off of it." She thinks out loud. Nothing else of interest is in the room, except for a few empty vodka bottles that could be used to store water of fuel in a pinch. Maybe even to make Molotov Cocktails... assuming someone knew the recipe.

Jennifer leaves the room, pulling the door behind her and informs the group of her discovery.

[Jalor]

"Jessica, was there anything else in the room? Even empty crates are worth our attention, for the raw materials."

[Talking Donkey]

"It's Jennifer, but you can call me Jen." She says with a smile. "And no, aside from a few empty vodka bottles, and some trash it is rather empty. I guess you could get the rope if you really wanted... I'm not going to mess with it." She is obviously a little disturbed from seeing the body hanging there, but is trying to keep from dwelling on it.

[Krrth]

Joshua

*shaking his head at finding nothing useful*

I hate to interrupt, but did anyone notice we apparently still have power here?

*points at the cold air coming from the drink isle*

The refrigeration is still working.

[infinitypanda]

"Huh. I wouldn't have thought this would still have power. Do you think that the water might still be on too? I'm gonna go check and see if there's a water fountain or a bathroom here so we can fill up yesterday's water bottles." Derek goes off to check if the water is still running.

[Jalor]

"That's perfect! A power source was the last thing we need to make a working radio! Not only that, but working refridgeration could be useful for storing food. Joshua, you've some experience with electrical engineering, if I'm not mistaken. Let's see if we can't unplug one of these machines and locate the outlet."

David looks around for any other exposed outlets we may have missed. He also checks whether the cash register has power or is bolted down to anything.

[Krrth]

Joshua


*looking a little worried*

It would be helpful, but focus.

*glancing around and then out the window*

The only reason I can think of for this place to have power is if someone fixed it. That means they are coming back.

*gestures over at the flies around the body*

That indicates they aren't friendly. We may want to grab and scoot, if you know what I mean.

[Talking Donkey]

I don't suspect foul play in his death. From my time doing ER rotations and the couple of autopsies I sat in on would lead me to believe that he died from strangulation... or rather hanging. Wait, I guess suicide is what I am trying to get out. None the less, I say we stay on our toes.

[Forgotten T.S.]

Captain Bradley Alexander Gerad - USMC

---------------------------------------------------------


Alexander walks into the building holding a small folding baby-stroller, and looks around as he sets it down, "Found it outside." He offers no further explanation, and the tone of his voice demands folks not to ask for one. He listens as they talk about various things and nods slightly, "We'll need rope..." His voice takes on a steel edge as he walks behind the counter, and slowly opens up the door to the Managers Office, "I'll see if I can find anything else."

His tomahawk comes to his hand as the door closes behind him.



---------------------------------------------------------



I will be getting the body down, and doing my best to collect as much of the rope as I can without cutting it.

Then I will be searching the room.

[roll0] (Goal: 65)
[roll1] (Goal: 65)

[Krrth]

Joshua

If we've got the time, I'll try the store room again. Lots of boxes we didn't get to, and if it were locked it should still have something important in it.






[roll0] Spot (45)
[roll1] Luck (50)

[infinitypanda]

"I'll go look around on the shelves and floor."

Spot hidden (31)
[roll0]
Luck (70)
[roll1]

[Lycan 01]

OOC: Eek... :smalleek: Um... Forgotten, it goes without saying that you'll have to make a Sanity check. 0/1d3 SAN loss for pass/fail results.

----


Alexander heads into the manager's office. The body is in bad shape. Decomposition has done a number on it, but not as much as the flies. The smell is horrible. He approaches the body, stands up on the desk to reach the noose. As he fiddles with the knot, the body begins to sway from side to side. This, it turns out, puts too much stress on the weakened neck. There's a sickening pop, and the head seperates from the body. The corpse crumples to the floor with a dull thump, increasing the stench and number of airborn flies exponentially. Almost in a comical manner, the head spirals through the air, bounces off the desk, and then rolls across the room. On the plus side, though, Alexander obtains 4 feet of nylon rope. As he hops down from the desk, he notices a large bottle of hand sanitizer on the floor. Lucky break...

Joshua manages to find two bags of chips in one of the boxes he searches. Hopefully, somebody in the group likes BBQ flavor... Derek's searches also turn up some usefull items. He manages to find three toothbrushes, and a tube of toothpaste. Hopefully, the survivors will be able to practice good dental hygiene again soon...



+4 feet of rope
+1 bottle of hand sanitizer
+2 small bags of chips
+3 toothbrushes
+1 tube of toothpaste

[Talking Donkey]

"Surely a place like this has a bathroom... Since the power is on, maybe the water still works. I'm sure we'd have to boil it, but here is to hoping." With that, Jennifer looks around the place hoping to find the restrooms.

Spot Hidden-25[roll0]
Luck-80[roll1]

[Talking Donkey]

After a few minutes of searching, Jen comes back looking rather dejected. "Well I have bad news, and worse news. The bad news is there are no bathrooms. The worse news, there is a water found... that doesn't work. Just my luck."

[Forgotten T.S.]

Captain Bradley Alexander Gerad - USMC

---------------------------------------------------------

Alexander walks out of the room, a bit greener then he was when he went in. The rope is tied onto a clip on his belt as he puts a bottle of hand sanitizer down on the counter. It has obviously been used at least once, judging by his clean hands. "No one wants to back in there."

[Talking Donkey]

Jennifer looks at the Captain with a look of understanding. "I thinks it's about time we leave this place."

[Talking Donkey]

Personally, I think we need supplies, shelter, and safety... not necessarily in that order. We could look for the hospital, of course, it was probably one of the first places raided. Still, we might find a few much needed medical supplies. Another option would be a school. Few people would think to check there, they have cafeterias, nurses station, a lot of computers for parts, library for some books in case we need them. They even have tool sheds.

I recommend the school but I guess we should vote.

[Krrth]

Joshua

I agree that we can't stay here. There's not enough food and no water. A school sounds like a good choice

[infinitypanda]

"We should get a move on. I've never been to this town, since I'm only here because I had a layover flight that went through here when all this went down. I have no idea where any hospitals or schools or anything are, so I'll just follow you guys." Derek gets ready to leave.

[Forgotten T.S.]

Captain Bradley Alexander Gerad - USMC

"I believe our first priority is shelter. Whether it happens to be in a school, or a hospital, or a bank... we need some place secure to rest our heads. I wouldn't mind something along the lines of a machine-shop. Going to need a place where we can do a lot of work, and have a lot of space. We'll just need to search around and find what's best. Either best for now, or best for the long haul."

[Jalor]

"A machine shop would be nice. I don't know this city very well. I was invited to speak at a convention, and my hotel burned down when things started going south. Hence my having nothing but the clothes on my back and free stuff from the convention. I'll check this room one last time and see if there's a road map or an atlas anywhere; otherwise I don't know where anything is besides the convention center."

"I suppose the school is a good idea." He begins rooting around in the debris on the floor, looking for a road map.
[roll0] Spot Hidden; need 75
[roll1] Luck; need 55

[Lycan 01]

David manages to find a small map designed to help tourists and travellers find their way around the city.

To the North, there is a hospital. It would only take a few hours to get there, as long as the main bridge across the river through the city is still clear... or in existance.

To the South, there are several industrial sites. Specifically, several auto shops and repair businesses. It'll take almost all day to get there, and it'll take you right through the cities downtown.

To the East, there lies the city's main public school. It would take several hours to get there. It is also the direction you came from, and Fenrir's friends may or may not be waiting.

To the West, you have the convention center, as well as several hotels. It would only take a few hours to head in that direction, but you may not be the only people who thought to head towards those locations.

[Krrth]

Josha

*looking at the map*

Well.....I'd vote for either the car shops or the school.

[Forgotten T.S.]

Captain Bradley Alexander Gerad - USMC


"I think the industrial section is going to be the best, myself. As we're passing through downtown we can see what we can scrape by. We're bound to pass a couple markets or anything else."

[Talking Donkey]

"Well, I don't want to be caught outside when night comes again. If we want to set up a sort base of operations at some kind of machine shop, then I say we do that first, and head to the industrial park. Once we find a safe place, we can always try the school for supplies and such. Since we would be coming from a different direction then, I don't think we would have to worry about the lunatics friends.

I vote machine shop first."

[Jalor]

"The only part of town I really know is to the West of here, but I doubt we're the only ones who would have thought to head that way. Going through downtown to the repair shops is probably our best bet. We can stock up on food and supplies downtown and set up a more permanent homestead in a place with tools."

[Talking Donkey]

"So we are all in agreement? Speak now or forever hold your peace."

[Forgotten T.S.]

Captain Bradley Alexander Gerad - USMC


Alexander nods his head, content with the decision.

[infinitypanda]

Derek nods also.

[Jalor]

Dave nods along with the others.

[Krrth]

Joshua

*shrugs*

It's not like I have a better idea. Let's go.

[Lycan 01]

And so it is decided that the survivors will make their way downtown. Once out of the gas station, the group makes their way South down several main streets. It is a depressing journey. Wrecked cars are a common sight, some with flocks of carrion birds perched in and around the vehicle. Many buildings are boarded up - some are even surrounded by yellow quarantine tape. A few are simply burned-out husks, since there's been no such thing as a fire department for weeks. Every now and then, there is noise in the distance - vague screams, echoing gunfire, explosions or other loud sounds. But they are all too far away to be of any major importance. But their presence is still not easy on the mind.


Sanity Checks, please. 0 for pass, 1d2 for fail.

Eventually, while passing through a less devastated area of Downtown, the group of survivors notice something interesting. There is what appears to be a dollar store nestled away between a paint shop and a gardening business. Most of the windows are boarded, and the front door is chained. However, a small section of window has been broken out, and a section of the boards hacked away, it seems.

Will ya'll stop and check the store out, or keep moving?



RESOURCES:

-3 cans of soup
-3 Small bag of chips
-4 Candy Bars

1.5 DAYS OF FOOD

-9 Bottles of Water

1.5 DAYS OF WATER

ITEMS:
-2 sleeping bags
-2 blankets
-1 tarp
-chunks of foam and carboard
-1 radio+antenae+speakers (needs power)
-1 bottle of Painkillers
-1 box of Band-aids
-1 bar of soap
-4 feet of rope
-1 bottle of hand sanitizer
-3 toothbrushes
-1 tube of toothpaste
-1 box of disinfectant wipes
-1 baby stroller

[Jalor]

"We should probably check the store. If there's anything to be found, I'd rather not pass it up."

[Krrth]

Joshua

*looking around*

You know, this may not be a bad place to stay. Why don't we hide here for the night and see if there's anything usable inside.
After all, I don't want to be wandering these streets at night.

[Lycan 01]

OOC: It's about 2 PM. If you're lucky, you could make it to the industrial areas around 7 PM or so, just before nightfall. Staying here until nightfall might be a waste of time, or it might be a smart move. Ya'll decide...

[Jalor]

"We'd probably be best off spending the night here after searching. I doubt that Fenrir buffoon had an actual gang, and even if he did, they'll have a tough time finding us. We might find food, or batteries, or something else useful. I would like us to be prepared when we start a permanent dwelling."

[infinitypanda]

"Okay, sure. Let's search the building. Anyone opposed, or does the motion pass?"

[Forgotten T.S.]

Captain Bradley Alexander Gerad - USMC


He cast his eyes around wearily, constantly on the alert for danger or anything else. It was starting to eat at him... ever since that mustang. He frowned and listened to the conversation, rolling his eyes slightly at the mention of passing motions. This was not a democratic situation... and if it was, it wouldn't last long once survival demanded hard decisions.

"It won't hurt to take a look around."

[Talking Donkey]

Feelilng a little uneasy, Jen slides her hand into her bag and pulls the pistol out. Bag strapped across her body, pistol held firmly in both hands, she eyes the building before looking back to the others.

"I'm fine with staying here, but we need to be prepared."

[Forgotten T.S.]

Captain Bradley Alexander Gerad - USMC


Alexander lets out a breathe as he gains some of his composer, "Alright... Dereck, you and Josh are with me. Jennifer, I want you covering our backside with that pistol, everyone else... you need to keep low, and move fast. If shots get fired, hit the ground. We're going to do a simple single line formation, with a hook entry. I'm going to breach the door... while I maintain distraction as the center focus, Dereck, I want you to come swing in past me, and hook down the right-hand wall. Joshua, you are going to swing in, and hook down the left-hand wall. I'm going to move in straight and draw any unwanted attention as you spread out. Jennifer, you and David will bring up the rear. I want you to remain outside until we give the all clear from the inside. Watch our backs, and make sure no one else is making an approach."

He pauses as he looks away from the building and back to everyone, for a moment saw his platoon... and then in a haze it all washed away. He frowned, "Oh... frak. I'm sorry folks. Did anyone not understand what I just said? We need to go in expecting hostiles to be in there. Once we secure the store, we can branch our thought processes out from there. That's if we want to go into this."

[Krrth]

Joshua


*blinks for a moment*

You want me to move down the left wall while you go up the middle, hopefully flushing out anyone there, correct?

[infinitypanda]

Derek pulls out the crowbar."Pretty sure I got that. Go in, go right, stay low, right? And you won't need to tell me twice to keep my head down when bullets start flying." Derek grins at Alexander, then turns to the door. His grin fades, to be replaced with a look of grim seriousness. "All right, let's do this."

[Jalor]

David unzips his backpack and takes his hammer out, testing the weight in his hands. "I think I understand. You three spread out, and then Jennifer and I come in?"

[Talking Donkey]

Jennifer nodded, having heard the lingo before, it was somewhat comforting. "Got it. I"ll cover our six." Turning around she slowly backs up until her back is nearly against the outside wall.

[Lycan 01]

OOC: Feel free to make Spot, Listen, Sneak, or Hide rolls at your own discression... Let me know when somebody goes in, so I can decide how this is going to work...

[Forgotten T.S.]

Captain Bradley Alexander Gerad - USMC

Alexander nods slightly, but grabs the shoulders of Josh and Dereck, "Remember. If shots are fired, you hit the ground. Don't play heroes... that's my job. Shots ring out, you back off." He reaches down and pulls out his Beretta, flips off the safety, and hammers it back.

Slowly he advances to the storefront, keeping low, and making sure that he doesn't let himself be seen through the holes in the boards. As he gets up to the door, he signals for the others to advance, and then for Josh and Dereck to take position next to him. He has to water down his hand signals, making sure they are simple enough for civilians. He motions at Jennifer and David to keep distance, but be prepared.

Once every is in position, he stands up straight, brings a foot up and kicks the door in. He moves takes a step into the building, giving just enough room for the other two men to slip behind him and go down their designated walls. His eyes scan around wildly as his gun comes up.




[roll0] (Goal: 65)
[roll1] (Goal: 55)

[Krrth]

Joshua


Joshua does exactly what he has been asked to do: Go down the left side of the wall looking and listening for any trouble. Walking quitely, he hopes the place is deserted.




[roll0] Spot Goal:45
[roll1] Listen Goal:25
[roll2] Sneak Goal:20

[Lycan 01]

OOC: You don't have a chance to get inside, at any rate... :smalleek:

---

Alexander kicks in the door, and it swings violently inward. He rushes in, but before anyone else can enter the store, a loud voice yells out: "DROP THE WEAPON NOW!! DROP IT OR YOU'RE DEAD!!"

[Forgotten T.S.]

Captain Bradley Alexander Gerad - USMC


Alexander hears the shotgun slide back, he sees the man before he calls out, and instantly falls into his years of combat training. Seeing the figure as he begins to lower the barrel of the gun, he brings his gun up, aiming straight down between them and fires his pistol!


-------------------



[roll0] (Goal: 80)
[roll1] (Goal: 80)
[roll2] (Goal: 80)

[Krrth]

Joshua

Upon hearing the order, Joshua immediately drops to the ground. Hearing the gunshots over his head, he's rather glad he did so.

[Lycan 01]

Two of the bullets find their mark, striking the man in the chest. He lets out a short yelp, and collapses behind the counter. The shotgun clatters to the ground, discharging upon impact with the floor. It fires into the air, blowing a large hole in the ceiling near Alexander. Bits of plaster and dust rain down near him, and then everything grows still and quiet. All Alexander can hear now is the pounding of his own heart, and the labored breathing of the man behind the counter.

[Forgotten T.S.]

Captain Bradley Alexander Gerad - USMC


Alexander swings his gun around the building, his eyes locked to finding anyone else who might endanger them. After a second, he can hear the labored breathing of the man, and buckles, "Damnit. Jennifer! Get in here! Dereck, Joshua, get in here. Sweep around as planned. David, keep a watch on the street." He holsters his gun, whips out his tomahawk and sprints to the counter, slides over it, comes to a halt over the man.

[Jalor]

Grasping his woefully inadequate weapon in both hands, David watches the street.
[roll0] Spot; need 75
[roll1] Listen; need 25

[infinitypanda]

"Holy****holy****holy****holy****," Derek says as he covers his ears and tries to deafen the ringing in them. He only pauses for a second before running down his assigned hallway, crowbar held ready.

Spot hidden (31)
[roll0]
Listen (65)
[roll1]
Luck (70)
[roll2]

[infinitypanda]

The forum ate my rolls. Sorry for the double post.

Spot hidden (31)
[roll0]
Listen (65)
[roll1]
Luck (70)
[roll2]

[Lycan 01]

David watches the surroundings, but nothing jumps out at him. It seems the gunfire has not attracted unwanted attention.

Meanwhile, inside the store, Derek runs along the wall, stumbling through the darkness and wincing from the ringing in his ears. He sees Alexander jump the counter, as well as the body of a dead man sprawled out in the center of the store. He's lucky not to have been hit in the exchange of gunfire, since running into the store at that point was a bad idea.

Alexander rushes to the help of the man he just shot. He finds the man behind the counter, writhing in a rapidly growing pool of his own blood. Even in the darkness of the dimly lit store, two red stains in the center of his shirt can be seen growing larger by the second. His arms are locked at his sides, his elbows bent and his hands clawing at nothingness above his torso. Alexander can't see the details of his face, but he appears to have a scraggly beard and unkempt hair. The man begins to cough and gag violently as blood sprays from his mouth and runs down his face, while his eyes dart back and forth wildly before locking on Alexander's eyes with a hate-filled gaze. His mouth forms a snarl, but another coughing fit prevents him from speaking. He doesn't have long left...

[Talking Donkey]

Jennifer Lockheart, M.D.?

Hearing shots ring out, Jennifer presses herself against the wall. Moments later she hears the Captain calling out to her. Afraid he ha s been hit she sprints inside to assess the situation. She sees the Captain kneeling next to a man with an obvious sucking chest wound. "Damnit, I don't have the supplies for this." She says before diving in.

I can't access my char sheet ATM so someone please double check my goals as this from memory after not looking at my char sheet for a week.
[roll0] First Aid 95
[roll1] Medical 90
[roll2] Sanity 69

May not need Sanity as she should be used to trauma.



Edit: Added color since I couldn't while on my phone.

[Krrth]

Joshua

*getting up off the ground where he had dropped*

I really don't want to go in there do I?

[Forgotten T.S.]

Captain Bradley Alexander Gerad - USMC


Alexander stands up, "You'll have to do with what God gave you." He looks around, and nods as Dereck slips along his side of the wall. However, he can't see Joshua, and calls out, "Joshua! Get in here and cover your side!" He had to hold back so much... he wanted to scream louder, be harder... but these were regular people, and as of yet, he wasn't ready to think about turning them into Marines.

[infinitypanda]

Derek continues along his stretch of the hallway, keeping low because of the gunshots.

[Talking Donkey]

Jennifer Lockheart, M.D.?

Realizing she was going to have to do this the hard way she called back, "I need a 2x2 piece of plasic or rubber, something flat, a piece of garbage bag would work, ziploc is better. I need a knife and a lighter. Bring water as well.". She said all of this matter of factly without yelling or stressing anyone, a stark contrast to the Marine Captain. "I need some one to apply pressure, anyone, just get over here."

Edit: Added color since I couldn't while on my phone.

[Forgotten T.S.]

Captain Bradley Alexander Gerad - USMC



Alexander reaches his vest and pulls out a long and curved knife. At the pommel there is a circle of metal which he slips his finger through and spins it expertly to hand over to Jennifer. Once she relieves him of it, he reaches into a pouch and extracts his wallet, and hands her a credit card, "Probably the only use I'll get out of it now."

He looks around and calls back out, "Everyone maintain position. Keep lookout." With that he spins his tomahawk back into position, kneels down, and looks to Jennifer for directions.

[Krrth]

Joshua

*A little shaken, Joshua still does as ordered and moves inside.*

We should probably all get inside. Who knows if anyone heard that gunshot.

[Talking Donkey]

Jennifer Lockheart, M.D.?

"Not exactly what I need, but it 'might' work". She takes the card and presses it onto the wound trying to get suction to take hold so the air will stop seeping out of the man's chest. "Here hold this card in place here. Put a lot of pressure on it." Once Alexander begins applying pressure, she reaches into her bag and grabs one of the bottles of water and begins rinsing some the blood away. Once she can see the other wound, she pulls out her extra shirt from the bag and uses it to apply pressure. "Come on, I really need a lighter, fire, something hot. Come on guys, find me something!" She says, hoping to get them moving. This man only had a few moments before he bled out. Even if they stopped the bleeding he would be far from out of the woods.

She grabs her stethoscope and listens for a moment as she waits for someone to bring a lighter. "****! He's gonna need a chest tube as well." Jen pauses for a moment, trying to think of something to use, before reaching into the bag and pulling out a pen. "Damnit I hope this works." She says, taking the pen apart. When she has is dismantled she takes the knife and slowly inserts it between the man's 3rd and 4th rib, bilaterally so make a small hole just large enough for the hollow frame of the pen to slide into. She inserts the pen and a small gush of blood flows out. Jen holds the pen in place with one hand, and use the other to move the stethoscope over his chest listening. "Ok, that will hold for now. Damnit where is that lighter?!"


Jen just needs something hot enough to heat the blade of the knife to caulderize the man's wounds.

[Lycan 01]

The man's skin takes on a ghostly palor, and cold sweat forms across his face. He begins to cough and retch violently, and a torrent of blood erupts from his mouth and nose. His eyes flutter a few times, and then shut. His head suddenly lols back, and his arms collapse limply to his sides. He has stopped breathing...

[Talking Donkey]

Not quite the M.D.

Realizing that she is fighting a losing battle, Jennifer drops her head. Her lips purse together as she moves her hands to the mans head and closes his eyes. She uses the blood stain shirt that she pulled out of her bag to cover his face and part of his torso. Silently she gathers her belongs and puts them back in her bag. She stands up and walks back outside before pulling the pistol out and standing watch.

[Forgotten T.S.]

Captain Bradley Alexander Gerad - USMC


Alexander watches slightly detached and shakes his head as Jennifer moves away. He silently makes the Orthodox Cross over the dead man and stands up, "Alright. Dereck. Joshua. Continue moving around your walls until you meet up. Once this area is secure, we will check on any side/back rooms. After this building is secured, we will scavenge what we can and move out."

With that, Alexander moves around, his tomahawk at the ready as he assists the two in securing the entirety of the building.

[Lycan 01]

A quick search of the building turns up no other suprises. Its clear.

The small convience store is divided into four areas. There's the main store area, which consists of several shelves and eisles as well as the check-out counter, a door to a bathroom across the store from the counter, a door to the manager's office behind the counter, and a set of double-doors to the storage area at the back of the store.




As before, you're each entitled one search of just one area. Also, Sanity Checks please.

Jenniffer loses 1 Sanity Point since she was already rolled for.

Alexander faces 1d2/1d4+1 for pass/failure since he killed a man.

Everyone else faces 0/1d2 since their group indirectly led to a man's death.

[Forgotten T.S.]

Alexander sticks his head out the door and looks to Jennifer and David, "All clear. Come inside." Once they are inside, he will scan the road for any danger, and close the door.

Looking around he seems a bit wild looking, his tomahawk is gripped hard as he looks around nervously for any other signs of danger despite their relative safety, "Alright... let's see what we can find. We've got half an hour to make the most of this as we can."

With that, he moved over to the door to the Managers Office and checks it out, attempts to go in and look around.

----------------------------



[roll0] (Goal: 65)
[roll1] (Goal: 65)

EDIT: -sigh- :smallmad:

[Krrth]

Joshua

Joshua moves past the body and tried not to look. Putting the death out of his mind he heads into the storeroom to see what he can find.

[Talking Donkey]

Jennifer Lockhart

Jennifer makes her way to the bathroom, hoping against hope the water is on so she can wash some of this blood from her hands. As she passes the Captain she puts a hand on his shoulder. "You did what you had to do, don't blame yourself." She opens the door to the restroom and searches for anything of use while she also checks to see if the water works.


Luck: 80[roll0]
Spot Hidden: 25[roll1]

[infinitypanda]

Derek decides that his time is best spent searching the main store area.

Spot Hidden (31)
[roll0]
Luck (79)
[roll1]

Sanity (67)
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Jalor]

David enters wordlessly and begins to search the main store area.
[roll0] Spot Hidden; need 75
[roll1] Luck; need 55

[Lycan 01]

Early Afternoon, Dollar Store

The survivors begin to search the store. Aside from the dead clerk, there is also a deceased vagrant in the middle of the store, sprawled out in a pool of his own blood. The gaping hole in his chest is an indication of how else the prior situation may have resolved itself. (No Sanity Checks - ya'll have seen enough to not care right now) Most of the shelves are still intact, though barren in many places. The power is also out. Most of the lighting is from sunlight filtering in through gaps in the barricades, as well as a few electric lanterns scattered around the building.

Alexander tries to open the door to the manager's office, but the door is jammed. (STR x 5 to dislodge) Joshua heads to the storage room. A lot of cardboard boxes have already been emptied. However, he does manage to find gallon jug of water.

Jennifer checks the bathroom. Junk litters the room, and a hole has been smashed in the wall to allow for ventilation. Apparently, the store owner used it for a variety of purposes - storage, cooking, garbage disposal, and its usual functions. The remains of a small fire can be seen in the corner of the bathroom, just below the hole in the wall. There's a small skillet resting on one of the sinks, along with a medium-sized can of baked beans. Jennifer also manages to scrounge up two small bottles of hand sanitizer and a roll of toilet paper.

David and Derek search the main store area. Between the dim lighting, the shock of what they've seen, and the distraction dead vagrant's corpse, they have a hard time finding anything usefull. David does, however, find a small bag of beef jerky.



It has taken 15 minutes to perform this search. You can perform another round of searches if you'd like, taking another 15 minutes. Really, ya'll can do as many searches as you want. You just have to decide how much time you want to spend on it...

Btw, is anyone standing guard? :smallconfused:

[Talking Donkey]

Jennifer

"Hey guys, while it may not mean much to you all, I found some T.P. Oh, I found some other goodies as well, but not too much."

Putting the skillet, beans, hand sanitizer, and toiler paper in her bag, Jennifer moves back to the door to stand watch.

[Lycan 01]

Alexander kicks in the door. The room is pretty dimly lit, but he can make out the shape of a sleeping bag on the floor.

Jennifer heads to the doorway, and peers outside. Nothing seems out of the ordinary to her...



OOC: Sooo... Another search, or will ya'll be moving on? :smallconfused:

[Forgotten T.S.]

Captain Bradley Alexander Gerad - USMC

Alexander picks up the sleeping back and comes back out, tying it to his back just below his regular pack. He closes the door and kneels down, checking over (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7155116&posted=1#post7155116) the storekeepers body, and picking up the shotgun. "I will be ready to go, in a moment."


-------------



OOC: hopefully it'll be quicker to search a body then an entire room?

[infinitypanda]

Derek looks around at his companions. "I think we should get a move on soon. I wouldn't want to spend more than maybe another 15 minutes here, if that."

[Krrth]

Joshua


Actually, maybe we should stay here for the night. It's defensable, and we might not find anything else before night falls.

[Talking Donkey]

Jennessen

"Actually, I guess that's not a bad idea. I don't really care to get caught outside again."

OOC: Depends on what time of day it is.

[Krrth]

ooc:early afternoon.

[infinitypanda]

"Huh. Hadn't thought about staying here. We have a few hours of daylight left. If we do decide to stay here, should we explore the neighborhood a bit to make sure it's safe, or should we hole up?"

[Lycan 01]

The time is around 2 PM. It would take another couple of hours to make it to the Industrial Zone. There would still be a few hours of daylight left when you arrived, though.

Alexander quickly checks over the deceased clerk's corpse. He finds two shotgun shells in the mans pocket, as well as a ring of keys, the man's wallet, a lighter, and a small multi-tool. (Small serated knife, small screwdriver, small metal file, small clippers/scissors, and small compass built into it.) The man also has a small cross hanging from his neck - the type of metal is unrecognizable due to the blood on the religeous icon.

[Jalor]

"I agree, we should definitely stay the night. I found some beef jerky." He holds up the bag before continuing to root through the debris.
[roll0] Spot Hidden; need 75
[roll1] Luck; need 55

[infinitypanda]

"Sounds like a plan then. Let me help you look."

Spot Hidden (31)
[roll0]
Luck (70)
[roll1]

[Forgotten T.S.]

Captain Bradley Alexander Gerad - USMC


Alexander pockets the items, except for the shells which he expertly loads into the shotgun. After getting it locked and loaded, he flips on the safety and tucks it down his pack for now. He'd see who could use it later, if anyone could. Not that it took a trained military man to use a shotgun.

He looked around at the others, "Might be for best... we can see what else is left here, then make our way bright and early to the industrial section. Give us plenty of daylight then to look around and find the best place to hold up. If everyone wants to keep looking around, I'm going to keep watch and such, see if maybe we can get to the roof. This interior isn't the best of places."

Still in a daze, he hops over the counter and makes his way to the front door, and then outside. He'll patrol a little, getting a feel for their position and looking for any accessible ways up to the roof.

[Krrth]

Joshua

Bringing in the gallon of water.

Hey, look what I found!

After placing the jug on the table, Joshua goes back to searching the storeroom.



[roll0]search goal:45
[roll1]Luck goal 50

[Lycan 01]

David turns to start digging again, but suddenly stops himself from taking a step. Pulling his foot back, he realizes that he almost stepped on a Box of Oreos. As David reaches down to pick it up, Derek also points out a Bag of Instant Noodles. Joshua heads back into the storage room, and manages to find a bottle of Gatorade.

Alexander heads outside to keep an eye out...

[Talking Donkey]

Jennifer

"Well, since we have the time, I guess maybe we should check this storage room out again."

Spot Hidden 25: [roll0]
Luck 80: [roll1]

[Lycan 01]

(OOC: Ooooh, a crit on the Spot Hidden, and a success on Luck... I gotta give you some nice stuff for that.)

After several minutes of searching, Jennifer finally manages to find something. Several cardboard boxes are empty, but she manages to find one that contains some bath and hygiene products, including a bottle of shampoo, a bottle of body wash, four toothbrushes, a small can of spray-on deoderant, a small box of dental floss, and a box of 4 disposable razors.

[Talking Donkey]

Jennifer picks up the Hygiene bag, opens the body wash and takes a huge breath, sniffing the fragrance coming out of the bottle. "Oh, what I would give to be able to have 5 minutes in a hot shower with this stuff."

[infinitypanda]

David looks over at David. "Oreos? For real? **** yeah! Man, I would kill for some milk." He stops, and looks around at his companions. "Err, metaphorically speaking. Sorry, figure of speech," he says sheepishly.

[Jalor]

David smiles, which is an interesting sight with his face."I haven't had Oreos since before I came here for the convention. It's so strange to see all these little comforts from before, in the wake of all the devastation. A good kind of strange, though."

[Forgotten T.S.]

Alexander pops his head in the front door, "Heads up... been hearing some cars few blocks away. Nothing serious now... but if you hear pounding on the roof, it's me. If you hear three long, two short... something bad is happening." With that, he pops back out, and heads up to the roof via the louder. Checking things out, and getting a feel for the place they shall be staying.

[Lycan 01]

Alexander climbs up onto the roof. There's nothing spectacular about the roof itself - the walls are about 4 feet high, and there's an air conditioning unit up there. But he notices a few things tucked over in one corner. Alexander manages to find a sleeping bag, a can of bug spray, and an empty drink cooler.





The Time is now 3 PM.

The next progression of time will take us to around 4 PM. If you'd like, you may "schedule" activites between now and then, and go ahead and roll for them. Searches take 15 minutes. Standing guard takes an hour. Repairing, barricading, cooking, and other activities will take various amounts of time. If you do not chose to take action, your character will rest or otherwise waste time until the next plot progression.


-----

RESOURCES:

-3 cans of soup
-3 Small bag of chips
-4 Candy Bars
-1 Medium Can of Baked Beans
-1 Small Bag of Beef Jerky
-1 Box of Oreos
-1 bag of Instant Noodles

3.5 DAYS OF FOOD

-6 Bottles of Water
-1 Gallon Jug of Water
-1 bottle of Gatoraid

1.5 DAYS OF WATER

ITEMS:
-1 pump-action 12 gauge shotgun (3 shells)
-1 small multi-tool
-4 sleeping bags
-2 blankets
-1 tarp
-4 chunks of foam and carboard
-1 radio+antenae+speakers (needs power)
-1 bottle of Painkillers
-1 box of Band-aids
-1 bar of soap
-4 feet of rope
-3 bottle of hand sanitizer
-7 toothbrushes
-1 tube of toothpaste
-1 box of disinfectant wipes
-1 baby stroller
-1 Small skillet
-1 roll of toilet paper
-1 bottle of shampoo
-1 bottle of body wash
-1 can of spray-on deoderant
-1 small box of dental floss
-4 disposable razors
-1 can of bug spray
-1 empty drink cooler

[Forgotten T.S.]

Captain Bradley Alexander Gerad - USMC


4:00 to 4:15

Alexander will look around for anything else up on the roof.


[roll0] (Goal: 65)
[roll1] (Goal: 65)



4:15 to 5:00

Alexander will check out the streets, keeping a lookout for danger. He will keep himself obscured behind the miniature wall, hoping not to reveal his position to anyone passing by, or that he might not see.


[roll2] (Goal: 65)
[roll3] (Goal: 65)
[roll4] (Goal: 65)

[infinitypanda]

"Gotcha, Alexander. Hey guys, I'm gonna stay here and look around some more."

Edit: goddamnit, previewing your post messes up your rolls. I did these rolls in the OOC thread because I didn't want to double post.

Also don't forget that we have a crowbar too. I didn't see it on the equipment list. Or is that because I currently have it, so it's not in the equipment pool?

[Lycan 01]

Alexander manages to find a small bag of chips stashed in the sleeping bag, upon closer examination. His stomach gives a small growl. He could take the chips back to the group, or eat them himself... Its a choice of conscience, essentially.

While standing guard, nothing gets Alexander's attention. The only movement he sees are birds overheard and smoke rising in the distance. The only noises heard by him are the caws of crows and very, very distant echoes of gunfire.

(For future reference, Hide Rolls should be made to keep from being spotted by anyone...)

Derek gets lucky while searching the storage room. He finds a few boxes that haven't been completely emptied out. Over the course of an hour, he manages to find 2 rolls of toilet paper, a flashlight, and a box of (6) blueberry flavored breakfast bars.

[Krrth]

Joshua

Joshua spends another 30 min searching the various rooms for goods. After that he spends some time resting.


Anyone mind if I grab the shotgun? I'm feeling a little underarmed with just a piece of wood.


Spot roll 1 [roll0]
Luck roll 1 [roll1]
Spot 2 [roll2]
Luck 2 [roll3]
edit:Spot goal 45, luck 50

[Talking Donkey]

Jennifer

"Go for it, I prefer this pistol myself. I'm gonna go see what I can find in the managers office. Wish me luck."

Jennifer spend the entire hours searching the room.

4:00PM - 4:15pm
Hide Goal:10 [roll0]
Search Goal: 25 [roll1]
Luck Goal: 80 [roll2]

4:15PM - 4:30pm
Hide Goal:10 [roll3]
Search Goal: 25 [roll4]
Luck Goal: 80 [roll5]

4:30PM - 4:45pm
Hide Goal:10 [roll6]
Search Goal: 25 [roll7]
Luck Goal: 80 [roll8]

4:45PM - 5:00pm
Hide Goal:10 [roll9]
Search Goal: 25 [roll10]
Luck Goal: 80 [roll11]

[Jalor]

David continues to search the main area. He does this for the remainder of the hour. [roll0] Spot Hidden; need 75
[roll1] Luck; need 55

Spot Hidden; need 75
[roll2] Luck; need 55

Spot Hidden; need 75
[roll3] Luck; need 55

Spot Hidden; need 75
[roll4] Luck; need 55

[Lycan 01]

Joshua stumbles upon a pile of newspapers in the manager's office. They may contain interesting information, or at least prove to be useful materials.

Jennifer finds a neat little treat - a box of packaged peanut butter cracker sandwitches. The box contains 8 small packets, each with 4 little packets each. She also finds another bag of instant noodles.

David scrounges a small bag of potatoe chips from the main store-front, as well as a candy bar.



That's almost another full day of food... Good job. :smallbiggrin:

To scoure the newspapers for info, a Library Use roll and/or a Luck roll will suffice.

Oh, and Forgotten is the only one who needs to make Hide rolls. :smalltongue:


The time is now 4 PM.

Unless anyone has something special in mind, the next time update will be 5 PM. You may make rolls or schedule actions until then, if you'd like.

Lets try search rolls differently this time. If you wish to search, simply say how long you wish to search, and then make one roll of Spot/Luck. I'll weight the results, and tell you what you've turned up by the end of the hour. Standing guard works the same way. Cooking, repairing, barricading, and other things still require individual actions and specific time amounts, though.

[Talking Donkey]

Jennifer

"Hum... I think I'll take a look at those newspapers when you finish. But first I want to take inventory of our medical supplies, get everything labeled and and organized so we can find them when we need them."


Jennifer wants to take half of the time to organize our medical supplies into a standard First Aid kit (if possible).

First Aid Goal: 95 [roll0]
Medicine Goal: 95 [roll1]
Pharmacy Goal: 76 [roll2]
Luck Goal: 80 [roll3]

Looking through the Newspapers for any info of use, particularly regarding the virus. Heck if I am lucky maybe even a funny comic to help people restore some Sanity. Or a crossword lol.

Library Goal: 40 [roll4]
Luck Goal: 80 [roll5]

If I can't do both, or if someone else uses the newspaper, I'll put that off to next turn, and the maybe try and organize a hygiene kit with the all of the items we've acquired.

[infinitypanda]

"Here, let me see those newspapers." Derek spends the first half hour looking through the newspaper, then hands them off to Jennifer once she's done with the first aid kit. After that he searches for 30 minutes.

Library use (45)
[roll0]
Luck (70)
[roll1]

Spot hidden (31)
[roll2]
Luck (70)
[roll3]

[Forgotten T.S.]

Alexander maintains his vigil on top of the building.




[roll0] (Goal: 65)
[roll1] (Goal: 65)
[roll2] (Goal: 10)

[Krrth]

Joshua


Hey guys, I found some newpape...

*papers get snatched out of his hands*

Ok......

[infinitypanda]

"Heh, sorry. Got a bit excited there. You can read them first if you want to."

[Lycan 01]

Jennifer finds an interesting article in one of the newspapers. It is from a few weeks before the virus spread to America, after it had been ravaging Europe, Africa, and Asia for nearly a month. Titled The Modern Black Death?, the article describes how entire towns and villages in rural areas have been completely wiped out, while urban locations are enveloped in panick and paranoia. There are even reports of bodies being burned, rather than burried, to limit exposure to the virus. Scientists are having trouble studying the virus - samples are difficult to obtain for various reasons, and the horrifying truth is that there are multiple strains of the virus. It mutates rapidly, eliminating all hope of creating a vaccine and making it almost impossible to treat. The casualty figures are climbing too fast to keep track of, but there is one rough estimate that catches your eyes - in the first week of infection in China alone, over 1 million people were infected. By the second week, that number had climbed to 50 million people were infected. There are no figures or statistics to indicate what percentage of those infected survived the disease.

If Jennifer wants to make a first aid kit, she only needs to say what she intends to put in it, and what to keep it in. However, by sheer luck, she stumbles upon a pressure bandage roll.

Alexander doesn't see or hear anything noteworthy from his perch atop the building. However, there is a rather annoying raven perched about 10 feet away from him. Its not afraid of him, and it won't stop staring and occassionally cawing at the marine.

Derek flips through the newspaper articles, but finds himself distracted by a recipe for french toast. He proceeds to get upset, because the writer obviously has no idea how to make a decent breakfast meal. He's so aggrivated by what he reads, that he can't focus enough on searching to find anything useful...

[Talking Donkey]

Jennifer

Letting out a low whistle stares at the paper a few more seconds before looking up at the people around her. "I was so busy at the hospital the few weeks back, I never even realized how bad this stuff was." She reads the most important parts of the article aloud to those around her. "I wonder how volatile this virus still is, or if it's run it's course already?"

Jennifer will also, put the following items for the First Aid Kit in one of the waterproof, external compartments on her gym bag. The following items will go in there:

-1 stethoscope (From Jennifer's personal belongings.)
-1 pressure bandage roll
-1 small multi-tool
-1 bottle of Painkillers
-1 box of Band-aids
-1 bottle of hand sanitizer (2 will stay out)
-1 box of disinfectant wipes


"Hey guys, the first aid kit is done, if someone gets hurt and I'm not around, or if I'm the one hurt, it's here in this pocket of my bag." Jennifer points to the external pocket of her bag that now holds the first aid equipment.

[Forgotten T.S.]

Captain Bradley Alexander Gerad - USMC



Alexander comes down after his shift, throwing that raven a nasty look and contemplating whether he should shoot it. As he comes inside he sets the shotgun down on the counter, "Everything seems immediately fine. Still a lot of ambient noise in the city to remind us to be constantly vigilant. The roof is a pretty decent place... and easily defensible. Only way up is a ladder, which we can pull up with us. Put our bedding down, and hold out for the night. Won't have to worry about people trying to bust down doors or anything else... rather tall wall to completely obscure us from the streets and such. I think it'll be our best option for sleeping tonight."

[infinitypanda]

"That bastard, dismissing the possibilities of banana bread french toast right out of hand," Derek mutters angrily. "Wouldn't know a great breakfast if it walked up and bit him in the ass..."

[Talking Donkey]

Jennifer

"Sounds like a good idea Captain... maybe we could set our tarp up overhead, just in case it rains. I found out the hard way, nothing like wet clothes, and sleeping bag to make for a bad day... or week."

[Forgotten T.S.]

Alexander looks at the others, and decides to take their silence as an affirmative, "I will use the daylight still available to rig something up. In the mean time... Jennifer, will you go through the food? Make sure everything is in good condition, and then, with whoevers help, figure out a rationing plan? We need to be careful with all of our foodstuffs, and not take anything for granted."

With that, Alexander makes his way back outside, and to the roof. He will attempt to assess the general weather, but unless it looks like it's going to storm in ten minutes, he will follow through with his plan. He will attempt to assess how level the building is, and hopefully find a slight, if not greater, slope. Either way, he will use the tarp and several rocks from to setup a makeshift roofing. Once secured, he'll bring their bedding supplies up and fix that up in preperation.

[infinitypanda]

"I'll help with the food too. Who wants warmed up canned beans? Or do you guys want ramen instead?"

[Lycan 01]

7:00-ish PM, Dusk

The sun is beginning to set. Using the blue tarp, one of the blankets, and some chunks of concrete, Alexander manages to set up a make-shift shelter up on the roof. He sets the blanket and the tarp on corners of the roof's barrier, and uses the chunks of concrete to keep them secure. The loose corners are placed on one of the air conditioning vents, and secured by more hunks of concrete. Combined, the tarp and blanket form one giant tent, which covers up about a quarter of the roof and provides a rather decent shelter from the weather. But luckily, the weather is actually quite decent at the moment - apart from a few scattered clouds, the skies are clear, and the temperature is mild.

Everyone heads up to the roof, where they spread out the sleeping bags and remaining blanket and make themselves comfortable. Derek tries to put his culinary skills to good use, but stops just before he begins to cook up the can of baked beans. The survivors don't have a can-opener, or forks... So instead, the team decides to just have dry foods for dinner. Everybody grabs a small bag of chips, and they also go ahead and open up the box of peanut butter cracker sandwitches. They also finish off 5 bottles of water, to stay hydrated and quench their chronic thirst. They figure that after such a long day of work, they need a filling dinner. And to mark the end of a good day, they split up two of the candy bars, which they calmly munch on as they watch the sunset.




---

Feel free to roleplay and plan and stuff for awhile. I've got something I need to figure out... Once that's taken care of, I'll move the plot along. :smallwink:

[infinitypanda]

Derek looks around and grins. "Well, all in all, not too bad, eh? Could have been much, much worse. It's a pity about the shopkeeper, and that Fenrir guy, but they seemed pretty unavoidable. Still, we're alive."

[Krrth]

Joshua

Indeed we are, and with a good nights sleep as well.

*looking around*

I'm almost tempted to stay here....but something tells me that's not a good idea.

[Forgotten T.S.]

Captain Bradley Alexander Gerad - USMC

Alexander keeps silent vigle over the group, only joining them for a few moments to wolf food down as fast as he could, and then move back over to his post. At the mention of the Shopkeep and Fenrir he lets out a huff of breathe, but says nothing.

[infinitypanda]

"So, if it hadn't been for the infection, what would you guys be doing right now? I'd probably just be finishing up some college courses, maybe writing restaurant reviews. You guys?"

[Forgotten T.S.]

Captain Bradley Alexander Gerad - USMC

"I had just been recalled for a new tour of duty. Of course, I could tell you that where I was going is completely classified. However, I don't believe normal procedure takes place here. Right about now," he looks up, calculating time and probable mission success, "I'd be in Serbia, looking in on possible hidden nuclear facilities."

[Krrth]

Joshua

Me? I'd be grading papers right about now.

[infinitypanda]

"Ah, so the virus is an improvement of situation for you, I see."