Suddenly, a low hum filled the air, seeming to come from every direction at once.

Nephi, feeling that this couldn't possibly be a good sign, immediately hustled Karen back to the car and grabbed his rapier.

"What's wrong Nephi? Do you think that humming is the zombies?" Karen asks concerned as she is hustled back to the car where Nephi grabs his rapier.

Looking around to try and figure out what is causing the humming, Nephi replied "I don't know, don't much care either.  All I know is, humming from nowhere in particular can't be a good sign, so I'm trying to be alert.  Better safe than sorry."

"But of course." Karen replies as she remains calm, grounded in the fact that she still has Nephi with her and that none of them have met with a grisly fate, yet.

Monica was almost too busy kissing Hector to notice the hum - almost. She paused, and cocked her head to the side. "Do you hear that?" Her arms were still wrapped around Hector, but she had relaxed her hold.

The first hole opened in the middle of the road, some 50 yards behind Eddie's car.

A heavily decomposed zombie, sporting huge, misshapen hands, burrowed its way out of the asphalt.

It stepped out of the hole and bowed deferentially to the man that followed.

This one was a large black guy with short, irregular hair, and a large scar on the left side of his face. Whatever had left the scare had made a mess of his eye as well. His face looked pale, but not quite decomposing.

His most significant feature, however, was that he was sporting what looked like a full military equipment, including camo fatigues, combat webbing, and, most troublingly, an assault rifle.

He looked straight at Hector and greeted him with: "Mr. DeSanto... You're a hard man to find."

Standing protectively in front of Karen, Nephi paled as the zombie(s) reveal themselves.  'Smart zombies.  Really, really bad sign.' he thought as he waited for Hector to make his move, rapier at the ready and prayer on his lips.

"Nephi, assault rifle beats rapier nine times out of ten, this is not a fight we can win, perhaps if we're lucky thought it'll be one that we can escape." Karen whispers into Nephi's ear as she places a hand on his rapier weilding hand.

Whispering back, Nephi replies "I know that.  I realise the only hope I have against him would be if I wait until he reloads then take out the gun, but where would we go?  They're kinda in the way."  He took a breath and continued "Anyway, you'd better get in.  Be ready to move, and keep your head down."

"Of course." Karen replied as she got back into the driver's seat of Nephi's car, making sure to sit down low just in case the armed new arrival decided to start firing.

"Watch out!" Jane pointed at two new holes opening on the other side of the road. Two more rat-faced zombies came out of them, and now they were caught in the middle.

Hector practically threw Monica back towards Nephi's car and screamed, "RUN!" then ripped the shotgun off his back and lowered it at the behemoth screaming out at it, "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU?!"

Monica positioned herself near Jane, with her back against the unicat. She pulled out her own gun and aimed it at the talking zombie's good eye. "I am not running without you, Hector! Not this time."

The undead leader nodded at Monica: "You got that right little girl... You are not running this time." He raised his unarmed hand, and a wave of nausea overcame Monica.

Sitting low behind the driver's wheel, door closed Karen began cursing herself mentally, and praying quietly. There was only one course of action that came to mind and it was crazy regardless of how you put it.

First, Karen would check if the car was still running, she didn't think Nephi or anyone else for that matter had turned it off; second she would peak up over the dashboard or look in the rear view mirror, whichever direction the zombie leader was, checking to see if anyone was in front of or behind the car; she would then lay into the horn hoping the sound would reach the others and inform her friends of her crazy plan.

If no one was standing between the car and the zombie leader, or if they were and moved out of the way once she began blowing the horn, Karen would then attempt to run the leader over with the car, hopefully killing him or at the very least stunning or distracting him long enough for someone else to come up with an equally insane or better plan.

"Pai nosso, que estàs nos céus;
santificado seja o teu nome;
venha o teu reino,
seja feita a tua vontade,
assim na terra, como no céu.
O pão nosso de cada dia nos dà hoje,
e perdoa-nos as nossas dívidas
assim como nòs perdoamos aos nossos devedores.
E não nos induzas à tentação,
mas livra-nos do mal.
Amen"

She began to pray in her native language as she revved the engine before enacting her crazy plan, assuming her friends were out of the way.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:50, Sun 13 Mar 2011.

Nephi heard the engine rev and moved out of the way.  He stayed ready though, preparing to run after Karen and hoping that whatever she was planning wouldn't get her killed.

The creature smiled as his attack hit home. Monica's eye glazed over for a moment...

Then he turned to look at Karen, apparently taking his sweet time to ponder an appropriate course of action: "Mr. DeSanto... What is it about you that always leads your friends to horrible deaths?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:46, Sun 01 May 2011.

"Why don't you shut up?" Retorted Eddie as he nonchalantly pulled out his .45 and pointed it at the zombie leader's head: "Hey, wanna see what I can do with this?"

As Eddie pulled the trigger, another rat-faced zombie rose from the ground, directly between him and the zombie leader. The cop's bullet hit the new threat in the chest with no apparent effect.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:12, Fri 01 Apr 2011.

All the color drained from Monica's face as her knees buckled and she staggered backward. She leaned against the unicat to keep from falling down. Her hand holding the gun began to shake.

The new zombie was a problem for Karen as well: not only was just about everyone else in her path now, but the new zombie was most likely not going to quietly move out of the way as she tried to ram its leader...

Who turned to look at Nephi and asked: "Why do you resist the Blessing of the Father?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:42, Sun 03 Apr 2011.

Lifting her foot up off the gas Karen continued to lay into the horn hoping that the other two would hear the warning.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:16, Sat 02 Apr 2011.

Nephi felt ill, and knew with some horror that the Lord would not be granting any Blessings until he recovered from this sickness, this Taint on his soul.  Worse, his Blessed rapier felt wrong, almost as if it were fighting against his grasp.  He coughed, and rasped out "Why wouldn't I resist the so-called 'Blessing'?  No matter what you do, no matter the odds against me, I will fight.  I will fight for freedom, for life, for my Lord, and for those that stand with me."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:43, Sun 03 Apr 2011.

"YOUR LORD HAS ABANDONED YOU!" The creature yelled. "Look around you! Ninety-nine percent of the world population is dead, and those who are not will soon wish they were. The Father offers you a new existance! How can you reject his gift?"

Nephi yelled back "HE HAS NOT ABANDONED ME!  He Healed Karen, He Blessed my sword with a portion of His power, and He waits for me to purify myself to call upon Him again.  I reject you, I reject your 'Father' and his curse, and as long as I draw breath I will NOT submit."

  With a slightly quavering voice Hector yelled at his monster,"That's it, I don't know what you want with me and I don't care, you're going down, freak!" and fired his shotgun!
This message was last edited by the player at 21:23, Fri 08 Apr 2011.

Opening the rear door, Karen almost felt like throwing up but thankfully when the creature's attention turned to Nephi the sensation passed, only to be filled with one of dread for the man she loved. They couldn't very well run could they? Not with the other two out there? But at this moment, it was the only option that made sense to her, but she wouldn't leave without Nephi, she would never leave Nephi behind.

The shotgun bullet hit the zombie leader square in the chest, leaving a large hole in his back.

The creature looked quite annoyed at Hector: "You shouldn't have done that..."

Suddenly, more zombies popped out from below the ground, and now there were five zombies plus the zombie leader... And the zombies started to move in on the group.

Nephi looked at the zombies surrounding the group, and tightened his grip on his rapier.  "Heck with it." he said as he charged the zombie behind his car.

Taking account of where everyone was, Karen looked behind her as she left the door open. She could possibly run the zombie over, if Nephi wasn't charging it right now, or if there wasn't a large hole where it stood. Either way, Karen remained in the vehicle to provide a get away car in case they needed it, which looked like they might.

Nephi's rapier ran the zombie clearly through. The creature shuddered, then fell.

Smiling, the zombie leader aimed his assault rifle at Hector.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:37, Tue 12 Apr 2011.

Nephi cursed as his rapier slipped from his grasp.  Being rather glad that there didn't seem to be any other zombies in attack range, he bent to retrieve his weapon.

Monica's hand was still shaking. If she fired her gun right now, she was just as likely to hit one of her companions as she was a zombie. She blinked her eyes, trying to clear her head. When she opened them again, all she saw was the zombie leader's gun pointed at Hector. "Noooooo!" She reacted on instinct and quickly stepped in front of Hector, blocking him from the monster's shotgun.

  Hector's eyes suddenly widened with revelation as he saw his own reflection in  this monster's eyes, at which point he lowered his face with shame and said with some resignation, "No Monica.....I deserve this. If I'm right then this......was.... a boy I killed with my own hands, all those years ago. He was just a dumb kid who listened to too much commy propaganda and fell in with the Maoist guerrillas trying to bring about their own 'great leap forward' in my own country, but that doesn't justify what me and my unit did to him......and his family.  Somehow I always knew this day would come...just get out of here girl and leave me to him." 

The zombie leader lowered his assault rifle just a little, and smiled. The zombies stopped.

"Mr. DeSanto... I'm touched. But cheer up, you didn't quite kill me - but not for lack of trying. You did leave me something to remember you by..." He raised a hand to his disfigured face: "And believe me, I remembered you very well. "

The creature raised his rifle again.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:39, Wed 20 Apr 2011.

A quick burst shot out from the monster's rifle. A moment before, Monica was straight in the bullets' path... And a moment later, three holes appeared on Hector's back, as he had, at the very last moment, somehow managed to interpose himself between the zombie leader and Monica, and was now holding her in his arms.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:37, Mon 02 May 2011.

"HECTOR!!!" Monica's voice was louder than the gunshots.

For a few seconds, her brain seemed to shut down.

The monster clucked its tongue: "Mr. DeSanto... That is cheating. But I don't think your friends have body armor."

He scanned the area with his rifle, looking for a new target, taking its time.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:26, Tue 10 May 2011.

  Hector fell to his knees, clutching his stomach in pain. But then he looked up, spat out a wad of black blood, and gave the super zombie a shit-eating grin, "Is that all you got, freak job?"
 "You know what?" he shouted at the monster as he got up, still clutching his stomach, "I've changed my mind: I'm glad we did what we did to you and 'family' of fellow freaks! You people were worse then the goddamn cartels. They were just out to make a profit; but you twisted fanatics wanted to massacre tens of millions to create your own 'great leap forward', just like they did in China! So if brutally putting you, and a handful of others, down like the sick dogs you were prevented the greatest mass murder in South American history then hey, I'm happy I did my part! So go ahead and take your so-called revenge, shooting one of the random soldiers that fought against you isn't going to magically make it all better! You and the "Great Peoples Cause" failed, we won, and there's nothing you can do to change that!"

Monica's brain struggled to process the scene around her. Hector was still alive, at least for now, but none of them were going to last much longer facing the pissed-off super zombie. "Hector, we need to go! Now!" She pulled on Hector's arm and tried to help him stand, so she could lead him to the door of the unicat. She shot a quick look toward Jane, hoping her friend would join them in the tank of a vehicle.

Having retrieved his rapier, and taken a firmer grip than usual, Nephi looked sharply to the front at the sound of gunfire.  Given the other slowly approaching zombies, he did not like his chances of sneaking around behind the leader, or surviving the encounter if he did.

The zombie leader began to laugh. It was an unpleasant, uncertain sound, like an old machine that hasn't been used in ages and suddenly is started again.

"Nothing I can do about it, Mr. DeSanto? Then what do you call this?" He waved an arm around in an inclusive gesture. "And we are just getting started. Tell me, Mr. DeSanto, do you like surprises? 'Cause I have one for you..."

He filled his lungs with a long breath and... Screamed? Howled? A cry out of a nightmare, and yet familiar, for not a day earlier they had heard it from another monster.

Something was coming...

And come they did. A whole pack of mole-zombies popped up from the ground, and these guys were not the shuffling, slow-moving kind either: they were as fast as anything, though their movements were nothing like a human being's.

The ensuing fight was a complete mess, and none of the survivors could remember the exact sequence of events afterwards.

A few images, however, would stay with them for a long time:

Karen tried to run the zombie leader over, but instead he wound up crashing through the windshield, and right next to her.

Five zombies ganged up on Nephi, obviously having identified him as one of the biggest threats, which prevented him from reaching Karen before it was too late.

By the time Nephi was done with the zombie leader, little remained of its body that could be identified as such, but that did not offer him much solace.

Guns began to jam for no apparent reason. The zombies took full advantage of that, three of them jumping on Monica, two on Jane, and four on Hector.

Confusingly enough, nobody attacked Eddie. Maybe they didn't consider him a threat? The net result was that he lost a few precious seconds trying to decide which fire to put out first, and in the end that was enough.

Monica froze for an instant at just the wrong time, and two zombies sunk their teeth in her neck, quite literally severing arteries left and right.

Nephi's healing powers took only a few minutes to come back after the fight was over, but by then both Karen and Monica were too far gone to be helped.

The others just had some cuts, scratches, bruises, bites, and a set of minor injuries that were all easily healed. The other wounds, however, would take a lot longer to mend.

Nephi sighed, his face blank as he looked at the two dead girls.  Great power he had been granted by his faith, even when the lead zombie had done something to corrupt it, but restoring life to the dead was beyond him.  What made it worse was that he'd felt there was potential for a true relationship with Karen, and now it was impossible.  He looked at the others, and said "At the risk of sounding cold-blooded, we need to make sure they can't rise again, and remove their heads before we bury them."