Zombietown: After Dead IC

[TechnoScrabble]

It's been thirteen days since the first zombie was reported on television.

It's been seven since they took over Galliwich, an old town located in Maine. What better place to survive the apocalypse than New England, right?

Nobody you know knows for sure how the zombies first came about, a popular story involves a Canadian flight attendant and a monkey, but they may have stolen the idea from something else. The first zombie in Galliwich, though, was on the nearby small installation of Fort Wool, which mainly supported airforce, but had other military personnel inhabiting it. An airman got back from a relief effort, suffered an aneurysm, and woke up an undetermined amount of time later to bite his coroner. The quarantine was quick. As far as you know, anyone who's tried to leave Wool County gets killed, and there's a large wall that was quickly built on the south side of town before the quarantine was actually put into place. Cellphone service went down on the third day, nobody knows why. There's still power and some running water (limited and with low pressure), but most of the landlines for phones are out.

Radio and some television broadcasts still reach you. Whether they're the only ones still up or the only ones not blocked, nobody knows. From what they've told you, most of the world is aware of the zombies, and is doing an okay job of holding them at bay. The Isle of Dogs, ironically enough, is the only known zombie site in the UK, including Ireland, Wales, and Scotland, but that's been quarantined.

Nobody knows yet what causes someone to reanimate. On the second day, you saw a man shot in the chest during a riot get back up on television, drooling and biting. Yesterday, some poor woman you never got the name of gave up and slit her own wrists, but she didn't become on of them.

You do know that the zombies need to suffer some sort of brain damage to permanently kill them. How much varies from account to account, and a good whack to the torso has proven to stun them for a bit.

All of you have, in some way or another, found your way to a small warehouse in an area of Galliwich that could best be described as a 'small business district', which has some of the town's oldest and sturdiest brick building, with a small number of your belongings.

There are four other people in the warehouse with you. Simon Barukh, the warehouse manager who believes that the zombies are a test for human kind (though he hasn't said how or why), two junior varsity track students from the local Galliwich High School (GO BEARS!) who just ran in yesterday and haven't spoken much since, and Henriette Cerridwen Richard, local poet and florist, and frequenter of both the coffee shop down the street and the '420 house' in the coffee shop's basement.

Simon estimates there's about five day's worth of nonperishable food in the warehouse, and enough nitrates and flouride for the chemical toilet and chemical water treatment tank to last two or three weeks. He can't be sure until he gets his papers or his laptop, both of which are in the office for the warehouse, which is two buildings down and supposedly filled with zombies.

You're up.

[razorback]

Ed woke, realizing, again, that the nightmare was real. Looking at the others, he wondered if he had the same drawn out and haunted look. Probably.
Stretching a bit from his sleep, he felt the aches and pains of lying on concrete, his small bag and jacket a poor substitute for a bed.
He sat there for a few moments as the dullness of sleep left him. Standing, he paced a bit as the others looked at him. Two buildings down... more information... possibly zombies, and maybe lots of them. His thoughts began to pick up speed as he thought. How many of these jerking, unbelievable monstrosities would there be between here and there, let alone how many might be in the building?
Not for the first time, he looked around at the area that they had found refuge in, looking for anything that might be of use as he wondered what they could do to help stay alive.


Looking around for what kind of items are available in the warehouse. A list of assets would be helpful (especially if there is a wheelbarrow and a holocaust cloak).


[roll0]
+5 if search, +0 if spot

[TechnoScrabble]

Ed

Most of the crates here are well sealed and would take some effort or a key to open. On top of that, the labels on them give away nothing but product code and the customer or delivery company storing it. Luckily, there are a few open crates already. Two contain various mechanical parts, one seemingly to a large lawnmower, the other, you don't know to what. Another has been mostly fished through (you recall it was the one the TV Simon watches the news on was found in). There's a small cardboard box of electrical wiring equipment, though, and in a broken locker in the delivery employee room you find a wrinkly set of military fatigues decorated in the blues and greys of old urban camo, a parka, and a sturdy wooden broom handle with a metal tip meant to screw into a push broom head long lost. You also find a first aid kit on the wall of a restroom.

((So, results are 3 units of mechanical parts, 3 units of electrical parts, a first aid kit, a parka, urban camo fatigues, and an improvised weapon (-4 on attack rolls but not damage rolls) that is 4 pounds, size large, does 1d6 damage, crits on natural 20s, and can be used on enemies up to six feet away if you stretch your arms out real far.))

[rorikdude12]

Alexis walks up to Simon.

"Well then, what are our assets? Any equipment present? Any weapons? Is there anything useful in here? Our opponents outnumber us and have us by the throat in terms of time. We are suely dead without restoking provisions. The notes are almost equally important."

[razorback]

Ed, after a bit of searching, managed to find some useful items, which he stowed just outside of the 'camp' they set up.
There is probably more stuff in those crates he said to the others as he pointed at the crates But I'm afraid of cracking them open and drawing undo attention. Simon, I don't suppose you could draw a map of the other warehouse?
He looked at the others, hoping they could hold it together.

[JackMage666]

Jimmy 'Gearbox' Ryan

The young kid with the unkempt blue mohawk climbs down from the upper levels of storage, where he'd been sleeping (he figures, in case they bust in during the night, at least he'll be too high up to get.) He climbs down the slightly diagonal ladder he'd secured a few days prior using some nails pried from storage crates, some bailing wire, and other things found around the warehouse.

"Morning. What's for breakfast?" he notices Ed inspecting the locked boxes. "I got some lockpicks with my stuff, nothing fancy, mostly use them to jimmy cars, but they're all pretty standard so should work. Or, we could use a hammer or a screwdriver to just take the crate apart, it's the long way, but it'll work..." Gearbox perks up when he sees the mechanical parts, and starts mentally planning a way to make a generator from the parts, just in case.



OOC, his sleeping nest and ladder look a bit like this

________
SC......../
SC......./

SC= Storage/Crates, and the / is the angle of the ladder, diagonally tilted back to make it more difficult to climb, but increasing protection from zombies. I assume with a few days and the basic tools he has he can make something relatively stable from things commonly found in a warehouse.

[TechnoScrabble]

Alexis

Simon is a tall, slightly pudgy (all those muscles from years working the floor went away when he became manager) man with curly dark hair. He wears a light grey button down the front shirt, a black tie, black trousers, and black loafers. He's been sleeping in his second floor manager's office, keeping it locked and an eye on the wide plateglass window that gives it a view to the work floor. He tips his head to Alexis when she walks up to him.

"Sorry," he says, tipping his head slightly to the left, "But I can't tell you what exactly is in the crates without checking the supply codes, and my laptop is in the main office. Maybe we should wait a while, see if they leave. Maybe help will come?"

Ed

He turns to Ed and tips his head.
"Go ahead and open any crates. They aren't getting delivered any time soon. Just...er...stay quiet, please? I don't want any more of those...dead men to come by. There should be a keyring and a crowbar in the employee room. A map? I...I don't have one, but I could try to sketch one...and my son drew this on blueprint paper once," he hands you a blueprint of the warehouse itself.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd460/TechnoScrabble/warehousemap.png
1. Employee locke and supply room and office on the second floor.
2. Catwalk
3. Stairs
4. Delivery garage
5. Elevator to basement

He grabs a sheet of paper from his desk and scrawls something in pen.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd460/TechnoScrabble/officemap.png

"That's the best I can draw the office, sorry."

Jimmy

Henriette throws a poptart package at Jimmy.
"There're more in the employee room, if anyone wants any."

[SirDalyus]

"Today's just not my day, Is It?"

Trick unfolds himself from the corner he's been sleeping In. Watching him rising to his full height is unnerving, as It looks like won't stop growing In height. Topping out at 6'6" Trick probably overshadows most people In the room.

He looks around the room, looking for doors leading in or out. He looks down to the shop floor, trying to spot anyone moving around, and then he pats himself down to check his firefighting equipment is still attached.

"Unless anyone has any better ideas, I say we make this place a fortress. Is there any access to the roof from here? What are the enterances and exits to this room? Where do they lead?"

Trick laughs.

"And of course, It's nice to meet you, I'm Trick and I'll be your friendly neighbour hood fireman for the upcoming zombie apocalypse.

OOC;Rolling spot and search to check the work floor, and investigate to check out exits and entrances. I'd also like to know more about the lawnmower.

Investigate [roll0]
Spot [roll1]
Search[roll2]

[TechnoScrabble]

Trick

Your search doesn't reveal anything other than what's already been found in open crates. The rest need to be opened up. There's an elevator that goes into the basement, and a ladder that goes from the catwalk to the roof.

[SirDalyus]

So, up or down?

[JackMage666]

"Fortify? This place?" He looks around. "We can do better. There's too many ways in here. We know there's some Teethers in the next building over, and overall, low food supply." He perches on a crate and starts to eat his poptarts. "Plus there's no natural defenses outside. No gate that's holding them off, no ditch for them to fall in, nothing."

He munches, and looks around a bit. "This place is so vulnerable, it wouldn't even make a good place to grow weed, let alone wait out the end of days." He looks towards Simon. "No offense."

When he's done eating, he digs around the electrical components, nonchalantly. He takes a look at his useless cell phone "We could maybe build a radio out of this stuff, using the speakers from a cell phone for transmitting. Find out if anyone's out there, y'know?"

[SirDalyus]

"Sounds like a plan. Any volunteers to help me search the roof top?"

Trick looks at the man who's just spoken.

"And what do I call you?"

[JackMage666]

"Gearbox" He looks at the man in his firefighter costume. "You might want something with less reflectors sewn in if you're going out there, you're going to light up like a flare."


Is there a forklift in this warehouse?

[TechnoScrabble]

"None taken," Simon says, "It's a warehouse, not a bunker. There should be a radio in the employee room, but the only HAM is in the delivery truck, and Howie took the truck out for a tune-up before this all started..."

There is an old forklift in the garage, but it is out of fuel at the moment.

[SirDalyus]

OOC:I'm Imaging my suit to look like this: http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/7194/firefightersuitf.jpg

Trick looks at himself.

"You make a good point about the reflectors."

Trick takes off his jacket and overpants, and shrugs on the military fatigues. He keeps his axd and bolt-cutters on him though.

"I'm heading to the roof. Is anyone coming with me?"

Trick heads over to the door, axe ready In one hand.

[razorback]

Ed, nice to finally get around to introductions, present situation excluded. he says to the rest of the group.
I wasn't planning on cracking them open right now, but we should come up with a plan. And,... Gearbox is right. This place is a coffin waiting to be nailed shut. I think we need to get to the other building, if reasonably possible, and salvage whatever we can from there. Until then, I think we need to foritify this building as quietly as we can. I'm thinking if we can find rope, we might be able to climb down the outside of the building if we can secure all the entry points... but, that also locks us in here. There is a lot of crates and, once we have removed anything useful, they can be used to barricade thoese doors. But, quiet as a mouse is how we need to live our lives. All that stuff he says as he poiint so some hanging items that could fall and break needs to be carefully taken down and stowed. I think a quick, careful look from the roof is in order. Anyone else coming with Trick and me?

OOC
How well do we know the area?

[JackMage666]

"Here," Gearbox fishes around his pack and pulls out a small compact set of binoculars, and hands them to Ed. "They don't have much range, I used them to survey from down the street, just some crappy pair I picked up on sale, but better than just your eyes. You guys are lucky I was on the job when all this went down."

He inspects the forklift. "If we find any gas, we can use this as a distraction. Jam the forward movement with a brick, open the door and hope the zomoids follow. Or we could sharpen the forks and cover it with sheet metal and make it a very slow death machine.

[razorback]

Ed laughs, the first time in a few weeks.
I don't see the rolling death machine as a good option. If you suggest we take over a mall, I'm going to strap you to the fork lift as we send it on it's way. You know, if we can jam a load horn into the on position and send it on the straightest line possible, we will have quite the diversion. Good thinking. he says as he gives the mohawked kid a nod as he reaches for the binoculars.
In the mean time, it will make a good door jam if we can get it pushed over there.

[rorikdude12]

Alexis puts his cell phone next to the teenager.

"Well, youngster, seems as though you have a plan. Mine might as well be scrapped, plus I can help you with the building and dismantling of electronic devices. However, we need weapons, and fast. Oh, and do you folks have ANYTHING in the way of tools for electronics?"

[JackMage666]

Gearbox blinks, then sighs. He pushes over a small canvas bag with some mismatched, unorganized basic electric and mechanical tools. Some have names etched on them. "I told you, you're lucky I was working. Don't lose those."

"You, happy hippy." he talks to Henriette. "Got a smoke?"

[TechnoScrabble]

The characters have all lived here long enough to provide a +5 circumstance bonus (that stacks with other bonuses) to any checks made to find your way about town or remember something about it.

Oh, and I forgot to describe Henriette and the teenage boys. Henriette looks to be in her early thirties, with short, braided and tucked up hair and bright floral clothes. The boys wear their blue and silver junior varsity track uniforms and white sneakers, and one has short brown hair, while the other's hair is long and blonde.

"Mindy liked to work with a soldering gun and some old computer boards up on the catwalk during lunch breaks. Maybe there's something up there? And these crates are heavy, with or without stuff inside them, I could run the forklift and set some in front of the doors. The forklift won't beep as long as I turn the alarm off, and it's a lot quieter in neutral...my car's out front, but it doesn't use the same gas, I wouldn't think."

Henriette smiles at Gearbox.
"If you think you can handle one, hun. Cloves or...er...'glaucoma treatment'?"

"I wouldn't think getting anyone high is a good thought right now," Simon warns.

Trick and Gearbox

You notice one of the boys-the blonde one-heading into the employee locker room, looking around to make sure he's not seen. He doesn't notice you noticing him.

[CymruEclectic]

At this moment 'Arry staggers in through the warehouse doors.. "'Ells Bells, there is someone alive in 'ere."

'Arry towers over even the tallest people with a height of 7 feet and a width to match. He really looks like someone not to mess with.

The 1st thing you notice about 'Arry is his impressive height and width. According to legend, he is actually smaller than his now deceased father; a boxing legend. Thus earning him the middle name 'small'. Outside matches, 'Arry usually wears a pair of worn jeans, cowboy boots, and a leather jacket. His hair is long and blond, flowing over his shoulders in an almost feminine way.

After carefully closing the door, he walks up to the group of people discussing plans. And introduces himself; "The name's 'Arry 'small' Morrison. You may call me 'Arry. Any of you ever watch boxing? You might 'ave seen me. Been 'iding out there on the streets for a few days now, it's absolute 'ell. I'm burning up 'ungry... Could soon start biting necks myself if I don't 'ave a bite to eat..."

'Arry looks around the group notices they were discussing something; "Ow 'ell, I broke into another conversation did I? Excuse me, continue as If I didn't interrupt, maybe I can 'elp?" After this 'Arry smiles; "Gather that with all this 'ell breaking loose, we better consider each other friends 'ey?"

[TechnoScrabble]

Simon is surprised by 'Arry and grabs for the nearest thing that could be used as a weapon-a simple wooden board, too short to board up any of the warehouse's garage doors but long enough to smack someone upside the head.

"Did you lead any of them here? Did you get bit? No, don't come closer. Stay back 'afore I plant one on your head."

Henriette sighs.
"I guess the couch by the door wasn't enough. Someone help me get something else over there."

[CymruEclectic]

'Arry smiles at Simon; "That's no way to greet a new friend. I checked the street before I entered none of those dead was in the street."

He smiles at Henrietta; "no, if you want to block a door, better use one of those crates" he indicates the crates in the warehouse.

He looks around the group of survivors; "who's in charge 'ere? Why 'aven't you blocked all exits with those crates? If the dead und break through those we've got loads of time to get 'igh ground on that catwalk. Is the roof connected to any other building? Could be an escape route."

As the giant talks you get the faint idea he's not as dumb as he looks.

[razorback]

We were just discussing that he says to the newcome giant.
Looking at Simon, he continues You have to have some pallet jacks around here we can use to lever some of those crates. I still think the best idea is to find a more defendible spot but we should fortify this as best we can in the mean time. Food and water are obviously a necessity.
Looking at Alexis and Gearbox If you guys can figure out a way of communicating with the outside world, that would help.
Looking at the rest of the group If the elevator still has juice, we should go try to go down there and find anything that might help, too. He ponders for a moment before continuing If it doesn't work, we may be able to cut a hole in the bottom of the car and rope down. Anyway, if someone could check the elevator in the mean time and search a bit if it works, that would help
Picking up his backpack and sliding in the binoculars, he looks at Trick and says Ready? as he heads towards the catwalk and up to the roof.

[CymruEclectic]

When 'arry sees the 2 men going up he adds, "might be better if one of you two stayed up there. Nothing personal, but a lookout to warn us from incoming dead uns is 'andy. In the mean while the rest of us can try to turn this building into something more fortressy. We can then concentrate on food and water, maybe even a ve'icle."

He then moves to one of he crates to check if it is at all movable.

[TechnoScrabble]

The power's still on and the cargo elevator still has a green light on it's control panel, so one can assume it would work.

Simon lowers his board and sighs.
"Sorry. Just taking precautions."

He turns to Ed.

"There should be two jacks in the employee room, but I don't know if they're big enough to move all of the crates. The front door is really the only one I'm worried about, the delivery doors and the emergency exit have been hit with cars and been none worse for it, and there's no way to open them from the outside. Well, I mean, you could open the garage doors, but you'd need the codes or the remote."

[CymruEclectic]

'arry smiles at Simon, "no worries there, I know I'm quite intimidating. So the front door is the one to worry about, let's see if we can jack the crates there. If that fails we could also block the doors to this storage area, sacrifice the offices and reception area" He smiles at earlier ideas; "with some work this building is actually quite defendable. We should make that our first priority. Check the elevator later."

[CymruEclectic]

OOC; sorry for the double post, behind a computer now...

'Arry will attempt to jack the crates around (in my opinion, I've worked with these things, it's childplay as long as the floor's empty.) But here's a strength check anyway [roll0]

He will jack the crates according to the following plan; and direct anyone helping him to do the same:


If the floor to the reception room is suitable flat, and he can find enough crates of a size which will just fit through the door; 'Arry will place at least one row(if possible 2 rows in an interlock pattern(think brickwork)) of crates in front of any outside door and vulnerable window in the reception room.

If this plan fails(due to the floor, or lack of suitable size crates); 'Arry will attempt to block any passages from the reception area into the rest of the building in the same manner; with as large crates as possible. After removing anything usable for survival from the reception room search:[roll1]

Now all options to enter unwanted from the outside(of which Simon told us) should be covered right?

Hopefully the stairs to the catwalk and manager office go up from the storage area?

[TechnoScrabble]

There isn't really a reception area. This is the warehouse, not the office building. Which just makes it easier to block off the doors. The crates still haven't been opened, but they're not stacked in such a way that would cause problems when it comes time to open them (I assume from your plan).

There are seven of these smaller crates, and five larger ones that just can't be moved without the forklift, no matter how hard you try. Simon helps to block off the door, and just to make sure, places the extra crates in front of the garage and emergency exit doors.

And now for an updated warehouse map! There are three crates by the main entrance to the right, 3 by the garage door, and one by the emergency exit. The yellow box is the forklift.

http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd460/TechnoScrabble/warehousemap2.png

"You guys have everything figured out, don't you? Like you've been waiting on a day like this or something?" Simon remarks, dusting his hands off.

[CymruEclectic]

'Arry smiles at Simon; "No friend, just watched one too many films. And using common sense.. I want to be able to sleep easy tonight." He then turns to Henrietta; "Now girl, that's 'ow you block a door. Even a guy my size would need a few minutes to push all that aside.. And it would make a 'ell of a lot of noise..."

He then turns back to Simon; "Now I want to do two things more to en'ance our defence. We should use that forklift to place a big crate right be'ind the once already in front of the front door; just to be sure. And then form a second line of defence in front of the stairs.. Anyway we could fabricate a ladder? We could then maybe destroy or block off the stairs altogether.."

[rorikdude12]

Alexis takes the tools, sits on a crate, and begins writing something in a notebook.

For those who look over his shoulder or something,
Step 1: Gain electrical power. Either get a generator and a reliable source of gas, or have to build solar panels from scratch.
Step 2: Fortify area once others are done eliminating hostiles by building electric fence.
Step 3: Get some one grabbing plug-in hybrids or something,+ hook up computers.

After writing this, he dismantles his cell phone.

"I wonder why I didn't do this sooner."

[SirDalyus]

Trick heads upto the rooftop, fire-axe in one hand and eyes constanty scaning for trouble.

OOC;
Standard spot search and investigate for trouble on the way up.
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[TechnoScrabble]

"There is a ladder in the garage, but I don't know if it's tall enough to reach the catwalk," Simon points to the garage, "And if the gas in the car out front doesn't work at all, the gas station down 9th has diesel. What happens if you use the wrong gas? I never tried, figured they said not to for a reason."

"Pretty sure that's a bad idea, doesn't it ruin the engine?" Henriette smokes one of her cloves.

Rooftop

The warehouse is on a corner. The corner of 9th and Bradley, to be specific. 9th runs east and west, and Bradley turns south off of 9th. Down Bradley is the H&T warehouse office, and at the end of the first east down 9th is a Fast-r-Fill gas station. There aren't enough zombies to constitute a horde, and they're spread out here and there, but there's enough to make a walk down the road worrisome. Especially two blocks west on 9th, where a coffee shop has a good crowd milling about outside it.

[JackMage666]

"For our purposes, nothing terrible. It should work. It'll tear up the engine, in time, but we're not looking to ride this to freedom. Either way, this isn't the place to hole up, we need somewhere with food, water, and defenses that arn't ready to be smashed.
Gearbox steps out from behind the crates he'd been sitting behind while smoking the clove he'd bummed. He puts it on the the cement floor, not really caring about proper manners.
"As for a ladder, I can make one, but it'll take time and make noise, an undue risk for a place we should migrate away from."

[razorback]

Ed and Trick make their way to the roof access. As quietly as possible, they tryo to pop the roof hatch so as not to gain any unwanted attention. Once they pop the hatch, Ed slides up carefully and crawls towards the nearest ledge towards the main office, pulling the binoculars to see what he can see.

[TechnoScrabble]

Rooftop

The warehouse is on a corner. The corner of 9th and Bradley, to be specific. 9th runs east and west, and Bradley turns south off of 9th. Down Bradley is the H&T warehouse office, and at the end of the first east down 9th is a Fast-r-Fill gas station. There aren't enough zombies to constitute a horde, and they're spread out here and there, but there's enough to make a walk down the road worrisome. Especially two blocks west on 9th, where a coffee shop has a good crowd milling about outside it.

Inside

"Why do we need to leave so soon? This place still has power and water, and these crates have everything we need, I'm sure!"

"They're thinking on the long term, Simon, you have to think on the long term. What will happen when these crates run out? Or looters come by?"

"We'll be fine! There's a ladder in the garage, we have crates of food, a water purifier, all I need is the key from the office!"

"Then go get it," Henriette scowls at Simon.

[CymruEclectic]

'Arry smiles at Henriette and Simon before turning to Gearbox; "Now why do you all thinks this place is so indefensable? It's a warehouse, usually made to keep unwanted people out. No windows on the ground floor, and only 3 exits; two of are quite fortified by themselves, and the third we can easily block with all those crates lying around. Which I've already down while you were having your moment"

At this point he grins and winks at Gearbox "Nothing wrong with that friend; even better if you tell me who your supplier is. Now, if those zombies eventually break through one of those doors; we can always move up the stairs and 'ole up in the office up there. That's why I say we try to block or take the stairs down, and use the ladder. We could easily pull it up in case zombies come in."

He then smiles at Henriette; "Don't worry love, we'll get those keys once we have our defences 'ere covered. If 'aving the keys means we've got food covered; we should pile all that food in the office. And find a way to store water in there too."

'Arry then turns to Simon; "Now, Is there running water in the office too? Or do we need to find something to store it in and transport it upstairs?"

[JackMage666]

"This place may be defendable from zombies, as you said, but we'd be trapping ourselves in. There's no escape the zombies can't be out and around, other than the roof, but we'll get a nasty sprain jumping from there. And what about other people? This place is basically a giant arrow saying "loot me" considering how much may or may not be here. We're practically defenseless from even a small gang that means us harm. All that and we know zombies are camping out just a few building over."

[CymruEclectic]

"Got a point about being trapped up there.. Or maybe not; with the ladder we might be able to get either out of the office up there, or off the roof. And 'eck, maybe there are adjacent building close enough to cross too in an emergency. We don't know until those other two come back down. Still, that's why I'd pile the food and water up there. If we get trapped up there, we can just sit it out, wait until the majority of zombies move away and fight our way out..."

[SirDalyus]

Trick looks around the rooftop.

"One of use should stay here and watch out for zombies. The other should head back, see if they can find some walkie-talkies. "

OOC:Are there buildings adjacent, and what is on the rooftop that can be picked up and moved.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[razorback]

Ed give a very slight 'ah' as he pulls his backpack around so he can reach into it.

Give these back to the kid, I just realized I found some of these a couple of days ago as he hands Trick the binoculars they borrowed from Gearbox.
I'll stay up here for a bit and see what I can see. I have a walkie-talkie but I'm reluctant to waste the batteries. Maybe someone can stay somewhere on the catwalk that I can talk to them in case something happens? Don't forget about me up here. Maybe you guys could send someone up to relieve me in a couple of hours?
With that he begins to scan around, counting the zombies he can see near the warehouse, store, etc.


Listen
[roll0]
Search
[roll1]
Spot
[roll2]

[TechnoScrabble]

Ed and Trick
There's nothing on the rooftop with you but a few discarded cigarette butts.

The rooftop of the next building over down Bradley might be within reach, if someone could get a running start or a bridge to cross. The others you're not so sure about.
There are about seven individual zombies roaming the streets on their own, and eight milling about outside the coffee shop, with a few more inside. There are only four cars, one in the warehouse's parking lot, two by the gas station, and another by the coffee shop. The rest were taken when people tried to flee the quarantine via the main highway north of Galliwich, the resulting commotion drawing most of the zombies into the north of town.

The buildings around here are all red brick, aside from the plastered coffee shop, the wood-paneled grocer's, and the white and green striped gas station. Most of the roofs are flat concrete or lightly sloped brown tiles. Of interest, there is the small grocer's, the gas station, the coffee shop, the air force recruiter's office, and a graffiti covered pawn shop with barred windows.

Wait...hold on.

There's someone on top of a pub west and across 9th street, about two blocks past the coffee shop. They're waving to you, and they have some sort of longarm. It's hard to see from here, and at this angle you can't see the buildings arond the pub very well.

[SirDalyus]

"There's someone alive over there!

Trick waves with both hands to get his attention. He then takes a look through the binoculars, to try and identify the survivor, and his gun.

"Ed, run back to group and grab Harry, and a ladder or a plank or something. And make sure he's got a weapon of some sort on him."

Trick makes sure the survivor can see him, but stays near the door. If the survivor turns out to be nuts, he wants to be able to make a quick getaway.

[rorikdude12]

Alexis looks up from his notes.

"Going already? Well, I gueass the tactical issues present are enough..."

He gets up and puts his notebook, pens, the electrical tools, and the electrical parts back in the day back.

[CymruEclectic]

'Arry smiles at Alexis and looks at the work he's done in blocking all exits.. "Don't think we'll be really leaving this place, sounds more like a search and rescue mission to me"

He then moves to retrieve the ladder and manoeuvre it to the roof. Up there he'll scan the area for anything interesting.

"Could we reach the pub via the rooftops? Certainly less dead uns up here."

spot check; [roll0]

ooc; could the DM sketch us up a map of the surrounding area we can see? Makes planning a bit easier.. Also how far is the 3 blocks to the pub? About 300 meters?

[razorback]

Ed makes his way down to the cat walk and calls down to Harry to come up with a the ladder or any other long, sturdy item, before making his way back.

I guess this is something we should have talked about: other survivors. I'm thinking that Simon isn't going to be too keen on this, but I'm not about to let others die through my inaction.

[CymruEclectic]

"Actually, Simon is pretty well 'oled up in 'ere while we go out to see if we can save some souls.. 'E wouldn't mind to save some live would 'e? And besides, maybe while we're out there we can go get those keys for 'im?

[TechnoScrabble]

Here, have a map!
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd460/TechnoScrabble/streetmap1.png
1. The warehouse
2. The office
3. Gas station
4. Coffee Shop
5. The pub
6. Grocer's
7. Recruiter's Office
8. Pawn Shop
9. Apartments under construction

The light grey is just ground, the black is roads, the brown squares are buildings, and the dark grey areas are parking lots!

Trick

It's not a man, it's a woman! She's a bit on the husky side, but she's not obese or anything. She has short-cropped brown hair and she's got a rifle in one hand while she waves at you with the other.

Inside

"You fellows know I can hear you talking, right?" Simon asks, an angry look on his face and his arms crossed.

[CymruEclectic]

While manoeuvring the ladder up the stairs and to the roof 'Arry answers grudgingly; "Sorry there mate, tact 'as never been my strong side.. Probably going on a bit of recon out there; you keep 'oled up in 'ere and see if you can block of the main stairs with crates. That way, should any zombies break through the door while we're gone, you could 'ide up 'ere."

[TechnoScrabble]

"If they can break through crate at the door, they'll have no trouble breaking another," Simon glares right back at Henriette, the two apparently having their own little cold war, "And bring back whoever you want. As long as either they or you can carry their weight and they don't screw us over, it's fine. I don't know how long it'll be until they clear the town our, but it can't be more than a month. If we can survive until then, we'll be fine."

Henriette nods.

[rorikdude12]

Alexis sits back down on a random crate and begins reading notes from his almost-finished PhD dissertation.

[razorback]

Back on the roof, Ed thinks for a moment.
What do think we should do? At least two major streets to cross... and lots of open ground. I can't see more than one or two people going over there. We probably need 4 lookouts, one on each corner, to make sure everything is clear. You either have that parking lot here to clear or circle around the backside of that donut shop... either is pretty dangerous.

[CymruEclectic]

'arry looks around. "well, we could go about it completely different. Sneak to the office, pick up Simon's precious keys. And then sneak from there to the petrol station. I bet one of those cars has the keys in the ignition. Then use that car to get to the pub, just hit and drive over zombies. And indeed we should go with 2 or 3 people tops. Don't attract too much attention, and take only those who can defend themselves without firing a gun!"

[TechnoScrabble]

Henriette peeks her head out from the ladder to the roof.
"Will smacking one of those with a car kill it?"

[CymruEclectic]

'arry winks at Henriëtte; "'onny 'ave you ever seen a person get 'it by a car? Even with a smaller car, you break legs and pop 'eads. So if it doesn't kill 'm it will certainly slow 'm down. It's 'ard to walk with broken legs or spine."

He looks Henrietta straight in the eyes, grinning menacingly; " pop, snap, squilch! That are the sounds I want to 'ear down there."

[TechnoScrabble]

Henriette shudders and climbs back down the ladder. She doesn't want to think of such things.

[razorback]

Ed looks at 'arry, a thoughtfull expression on his face

You're probably right about the cars. You know, we might be able to find something useful at the gas station and pawn shops, but I'm not sure if its worth it right now. First thing is secure this building and secure provisions. After that? Who knows how long this will last. Is there a government that still exists beyond where we can see? Maybe. At least the power is on, but we can't count on that forever. I don't know how many zombies are in the area, but we are going to have to deal with them eventually.

[CymruEclectic]

"Well, this building is already quite secure. There's really only one weakness and that's the front door. I already blocked that with crates.. Blocked the others just to be sure. Apparently there's food in the crates, and the keys from the office should open the crates. So that would provisions be taken care of. No, if we can take down the stairs to the catwalk, or block them off with the rest of the crates, we have 2 lines of defence.

Looks like that next building over is within reach, if the zombies break into the building we have time enough to escape to the roof before they break through the crates by the stairs or figure out how to climb a ladder. I we park the car or cars right outside the next building we could use that as an escape route."

[TechnoScrabble]

Simon climbs up the ladder and looks around. He lets out an exasperated sigh.
"This city's gone to ****. What's going on up here?"

[razorback]

Ed looks at Simon and then offers him a hand up.

Trying to make the best of a bad situation.

Looking back at 'arry, he continues the conversation.
Well, we should look into creating a sturdy way of getting across to that building. From there, if we fortify it a bit, to keep any wandering zombies out, while leaving a way for us to exit, wouldn't be a bad idea.

[CymruEclectic]

'arry ponders for a second;

"We might be able to strike to birds with one stone here. Are the stairs to the catwalk steel? Usually stairs to a catwalk are. If so might we be able to detach them? Use them to make a bridge to the other building? It will be a bit of hard work though.."

[TechnoScrabble]

"Galvanized aluminium, I think," Simon grunts, looking out over the streets.
"There's a person over there."

[CymruEclectic]

'arry smiles at Simon. "Isn't aluminium a lot lighter than steel? We're in luck then. And yes, we we're actually just discussing what to do with those people over there. And maybe if we should 'op by the gas station to pick up a truck, and pick up your keys on our way over."

[razorback]

Sounds like a plan. If we go by the gas station, we should think about finding what we can. Weapons, supplies... in case looters come by or we need what is in there. Maybe gas or naptha and oil to make some crude version of Greek Fire, even though I'd prefer not to, it may be something to keep in the back of our minds.

[TechnoScrabble]

"Let's try not to burn the town down...There's a pawn shop nearby, isn't there? On 9th, I think..." Simon looks around.
"And that lady's got a gun..."

[CymruEclectic]

"Well shall we go then? Simon you tagging along? Or is it just the two of us?"

'Arry start manouvring the ladder as a bridge between the warehouse and the closest building.

strength check if need be [roll0]

[TechnoScrabble]

The ladder is a lightweight extendable aluminium ladder, it's easy to move.

Simon swallows nervously.
"If you want me to come along, I suppose I could."

[SirDalyus]

"No worries Simon, let Harry and I handle this."

Trick nods at Harry.

"After all the plans best with less bodies. We run In, crack some skulls, grab the girl, and then get back here before you've noticed we're gone. And no offence Si, but we are in much better shape than you."

[razorback]

Ed looks at the pair, and then at Simon, and then back to 'arry and Trick.

Simon, probably best if you stay here. Here, take these as he hands over Gearbox's binoculars And we'll keep an eye out for these two.

Looking back at 'arry and Trick he says
I have a walkie-talkie. Do either of you or anyone downstairs? We can be spotters and let you know if you guys are going to run into any trouble that we can see.

[SirDalyus]

"I have a walky-talky, but It's keyed to the firestations frequency. Maybe you can do something with It? "

Trick throws the radio to Ed.

"Other than that, I'm outta luck. Check downstairs? Si you got anything we can use?"

[CymruEclectic]

'Arry nods his agreement; "Well, while you try to get communication sorted I'll go scout the other roof for any way down. If we can't find an extra walkie talkie you could always use the other roof to keep a look out for us. If you see any zombies you can just raise your voice and shout. Any zombies drawn in then go to the building next door."

'Arry smiles at his own cleverness and drops to his hands and knees to then cross the 'bridge'.

OOC; hands and knees gives you a lower point of gravity therefore improving your balance in possible tricky situations.. Should be rather easy to cross the ladder this way.

Balance check anyway, should the GM desire so [roll0]

[TechnoScrabble]

It's easy to cross the stairs as a bridge, though a bit frightening. You get a good view of the garbage bins in the ally below.
"Er...I've got a workman's monitor with audio and video and all that, but it's only one way. It's like a baby monitor for paranoid bosses," Simon half-smiles, then grimaces at the implications of himself owning something used by 'paranoid bosses'.

[SirDalyus]

Trick takes a look around, to see If any zombies are nearby.


[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[CymruEclectic]

Once on the other side 'Arry fishes a pair of brass knuckles from his leather jacket and dons them.

He then continues to search the roof for anything usefull and a safe way down.


search [roll0]
spot [roll1]
investigate [roll2]

[TechnoScrabble]

The closest zombie is about half a block down Bradley.

This roof has nothing on it but three spent rifle casings and a ladder to the ground below built onto the side. At the bottom are a few old aluminium garbage bins.

[razorback]

As 'arry and Trick move to the other building, he sets his bat down and pulls his vest off and lays it flat, putting Trick's walkie-talkie down. Taking a small pen screwdriver from his backpack, he opens it up and lays all the components on his vest so as not to loose them. Thankful that it is still one of the mechanical-crystal set ups rather than the newer digital ones, he start to go to work on it. After a short time, he pulls his walkie-talkie out and turns it on low. Closing up Tricks newly modified one, he turns this one on low and pushes the button, hearing it on his own walkie-talkie. With a self-satisfied grin, he looks up at Simon and says

That is how it's done. So, can you still see them?

[CymruEclectic]

Well, seems like we now have a very defend-able place to hide. Only reachable by ladders, haven't seen any of those creeps climb ladders. We could be reasonably safe up here.

[TechnoScrabble]

"Give me one of those pairs of binoculars, and I can have you covered far as the eye can see," Simon toys with the binocs, wondering if he has a battery charger.

[razorback]

So, I wonder if we can turn that other building into some kind of death trap... you know, kind of like a corral for cattle... but for zombies. We could control the environment and eliminate them
he says to Simon as he hands him the binoculars.
I'll look on this side, you keep an eye on that side.
As he directs Simon towards 9th and North while he covers Bradley and the unnamed backstreet.

[TechnoScrabble]

"I don't know if I like the idea of havign a bunch of 'em near the warehouse, right?" Simon grabs himself a comfy spot looking over the streets, "Like they might draw more of them?"

[SirDalyus]

OOC, for DM:What would I need to roll to try and land in the garbage?

[TechnoScrabble]

((You wouldn't, it's an easy fall))

[SirDalyus]

Trick taps Harry on the shoulder.

"Let's take the express elevator."

Trick steps off the roof, aiming to land In the garbage.

[TechnoScrabble]

Luckily, the rubbish bins were overflowing with bags, and these bags cushion your fall.

Unluckily, one of them pops and spills shredded paper and discarded lunch trays over you. Ewwwww.

[CymruEclectic]

'arry bursts into laughter. "Express elevator indeed. I'm going to stay clean and take the ladder if you don't mind. 'Ope you're not going to attract any zombies with that smell"

Harry checks the alley for any zombies before climbing down the ladder.

spot check [roll0]

[TechnoScrabble]

The alley is empty. The street nearby has a zombie shambling across it, but it's looking away from you.

[CymruEclectic]

Halfway down the ladder 'Arry realises something and goes back up to the roof. He walks back to the ladder to the other building and asks Simon "Before we spent an 'our searching your office, where are the keys in your office?"

[TechnoScrabble]

"There should be a key rack beneath the front desk," SImon keeps looking over the street.

[razorback]

Ed keeps an eye out and calls out quietly to Simon

I'm not so familiar around here... is there a sporting goods store around here?

[TechnoScrabble]

"There's a ****'s Sporting Goods way down on twenty second, but that's about half an hour if you drive," he looks out at the coffee shop, "I wonder if there's anyone in there..."

[razorback]

Ed grunted, knowing that driving for half an hour wasn't good for anyones health these days.

Can you see the coffee shop where you're from through those binoculars?

[TechnoScrabble]

"Yeah. It's surrounded by those...Let's face it, they're zombies. Walking dead, flesh eating, bite-you-and-you're-gone zombies," Simon sighs, "At least the army was competent enough to close the city off."

[razorback]

Seeing the expression on Simon's face he turns and looks back in the direction he is supposed to be watching out.

I bet that word has been on everyone's mind but I think that is the first time any survivor has said it. The news, before it went dark, hinted at it in a very oblique way but never said the word. Makes me think they had some kind of government pressure. Of course, that could just be paranoid conspiracy theory.
As he scans around he continues
You know, we can't stay here forever. If the government completely collapsed, survivors will coalesce together eventually. Either that, or we might be looking at some kind of raider/warlord scenario.

[TechnoScrabble]

"Quarantine's still up, isn't it? Pretty sure that requires a working military," Simon shifts his view to the zombie near Trick and Harry.

"Harry, Trick, you've got one nearby but hte's walking away from you."

[razorback]

Not sure if 'arry or Trick here, Ed crawls over to where Simon is crouched down.

Did they hear you?

[TechnoScrabble]

"I dunno, they haven't said anything," Simon keeps an eye on the zombie.

[SirDalyus]

Trick brushes himself off and scans the alleyway, looking for escape routes for when things go wrong.



Spot search investigate, we know the drill.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[razorback]

Ed, not knowing if 'arry or Trick see the shambling dead, grabs a handful of gravel from the roof and throws it down at them. When they look up, he points towards the direction that the zombie is.