Eddie frowned: "Doctor, I have some civilians here, would you please let us in?"

"How do I know they haven't been infected?" Came again the voice from behind the armored door.

Nephi snapped out of his stunned state, and addressed the person behind the door.  "Doctor, none of us are infected.  The Lord would have shown me if they were, and used me to Heal them.  Ask anyone here how the woman beside me is still alive now."

Eddie sighed: "Okay, I think we can start looking for another house now..."

Sure enough, no more answers seemed to come from behind the door.

 At which point Hector gave Nephi a rather dark look, then he swallowed, gritted his teeth, and as calmly as he could he said to him, "Nephi..... until you've actually done your Saint routine in front of someone, please don't say you are one to people that still think the world is a sane, rational, place. Just a few hours ago if you said that to me I'd of probably tried to convince you to get into the back of my squad car, then I'd call in for a background check to see if you were just off your meds, and needed to be brought back to your caregiver, or needed to be brought back to your asylum."

  Then Hector took a moment to gather his thoughts, knocked on the doctors door and called out to him, "Alright if that's how you feel, we'll go. We only came here to pick up our fellow officer and friend, after all. Of course you must realize if they've gotten this far from the city the 'infected', as you called them, must be everywhere. A new horde could form outside your door again any minute. Then you and your wife will be all alone, weaponless, unable to contact anyone as the phones are out, with only a couple inches of wood between being torn apart and eaten. Likely you two will be in your attic, in vain hope they won't find you, huddled together in fear as the door breaks down, wondering why you didn't let in the three heavily armed policemen, and their two expert marksmen girlfriends, that all offered to help you, in. But hey, it's up to you. No skin off my nose. Byeeee!"

Hector's description may have been somewhat overdramatic: the doctor had concrete walls, grates at the windows, and an armored door. Being an ex-hunter, he may still have had his shotgun, though he had given most of the bullets he had left to Eddie.

Overall, he could resist the zombie attack for days, but... You can't really outlast the living dead, and that was a factor to consider.

The heavy locks clunked and the the door was opened partially. The chain was still attached, but at least they had made that much progress.

An elderly man with light blue eyes gazed suspiciously at the group: "I don't need you. I can protect my house, and we have supplies for several weeks. We can wait this out."
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:27, Fri 06 Feb 2009.

"That's understandable, Sir," Geoff replied, "you were good enough to take our friend in when things were desperate, but you didn't know then that so many people would come here and then try to impose on your hospitality."

He smiled, "Things are looking bad here and it's time to look to your own safety, Sir, and the safety of those you love."

He went to turn and then looked back into the man's glittering blue eyes, "We'll go and try to find people that can help restore order. It's a big call and we may well not succeed, but if we do, we'll be back to get you, Sir. In the meantime, is there anyone you'd like us to try to reach? If we can, we will."

He smiled again, the lopsided smile he used that made his ugly features transform into that curious bulldog grin that people found cute, he never knew why, but hey, it worked, "I wish you good luck, Sir. Also, they seem vulnerable to fire and getting hit in the spine, if you try to shoot them I suggest you aim for the base of the throat, that might be the easiest way to take them down. Again, thank you for keeping my friend safe until we could come get him and I wish you long life and happiness."

As he waited for the old Doctor to tell him if he wanted anyone contacted, Geoff turned and said, "Uh, Eddie, Sir. I'd like to try to swing by a radio station that's still functioning, what we know about taking these things down needs to be broadcast."

"Stasio? What are you doing?" Came a voice from inside.

The doctor looked behind his shoulder and replied: "Don't worry about it, Anka, it doesn't concern you."

"You aren't leaving these poor people out to fight those... Things, are you? The kid back there must be the same age as Antek."

The "kid" was probably Nephi - who wasn't really a kid by any sensible definition of the word, but did have kind of a boyish look...
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:46, Wed 11 Feb 2009.

Nephi decided to leave the talking to the others, then looked at his family rapier.  Snorting in disgust, he looked around at the 'dead' zombies, and started cleaning off the gore dripping from the blade.

Eddie smiled conciliatorily: "Look, Doctor, there is no real threat anymore, so all we really need is to make a quick phone call to the precinct to see what the situation is, and I'm sure we will be out of your hair in no time. Right guys? Guys? What are you looking at?"

Eddie turned around to follow the others' gaze, and noticed, in the distance, a corpse in advanced state of decomposition advance towards them. Judging from the floreal dress, a woman, who had died at least a decade earlier...
This message was last edited by the player at 13:30, Fri 13 Feb 2009.

Nephi stopped cleaning his blade and looked at the slowly approaching zombie.  With a dramatic swish of his rapier, he assumed the 'en guarde' stance and said "Doctor, may we continue this conversation inside?  We believe these things can sense the living, and the next one may not be so slow."

The doctor glanced at the approaching zombie, then sighed.

The door closed, and a couple of seconds later opened again, this time without the chain: "Come in... If something happened to you, I'd never hear the end of it."

Nephi glanced back and said "Thank you Doctor."  He then looked at his companions and, without breaking his guarding stance, said "Ladies, after you."

Geoff let out the breath that he hadn't even known he'd been holding and waited for the others to get inside before following them into the house.

The doctor stood aside and let the small procession through. The house was very tidy and clean, with furniture that looked like it was made from real wood and soft, thick carpets on the floors.

The doctor and his wife were short, and looked even shorter beside giants like Hector and Geoff.

After locking the door behind the last visitor, the doctor turned to look at them and sighed.

His wife smiled friendly, inquiring politely if someone wanted something to eat or drink.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:53, Tue 17 Feb 2009.

Nephi's stomach growled loudly, and he looked at the others, rather embaressed.  "If it's not too much trouble Ma'am."

"That would be wonderful, Ma'am," Geoff agreed enthusiastically, "but only if you're sure you can spare it."

"If it's not too much trouble..." Started Karen.

Mrs. S laughed heartily: "When my son was a kid, he used to bring home plenty of friends for lunch, or dinner, or a snack, or... Well, after cooking for a small army of hungry adolescents, half a dozen people shall be no trouble at all."
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:26, Wed 18 Feb 2009.

Indeed the Szczedrzykowicz family seemed to have no problem putting on the table enough food for a whole football team. While she cooked, Mrs. S chatted amiably with everyone within earshot, and in a few minutes the group learned that the Szczedrzykowicz's had a good reserve of food, water, and other first-necessity items stashed in the cellar, plus a diesel generator with enough fuel for weeks.

  "So Eddie," said Hector as he rested the shotgun against the wall near the door and sat down at the kitchen table, "mind telling us what you know about the crazy crap going on out there?"

While the cooking was progressing, Nephi asked to use the bathroom, so that he could finish cleaning his rapier.  Once finished, he then sheathed it and sat in the living room.

"Yes, Sir," Geoff agreed with Hector's request, "just what is going down here? Things seem a tad wierd at the moment."

Eddie couldn't do much more than shrug: "I don't know any more than you do: I came to investigate a report of a domestic disturbance, and found half a dozen crazy guys waiting for me. Except that they weren't crasy, as much as dead."