Just as the group was ready to leave the house, a strange, familiar feeling tugged at the back of Xynthia's mind.

"Wait!" Xynthia's tone was a mix of worry and confusion. "There's something out there..."
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:21, Sun 19 July 2009.

"What's out there?" Karen asked as she looked over at the peculiar woman. There was something just not quite right about her or her husband, but if she thought there was something out there and if it caused her even the slightest bit of dread, then it was worth considering a threat, even if only in the vaguest of terms.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:22, Sun 19 July 2009.

Xynthia put a hand on the window glass and concentrated for a moment. "I... I think it's the same thing we met at the parking lot."

Then she smiled and continued brightly: "And he's got company, too! Wow, there must be at least fifty of them out there... Cool! Hey, you think they wanna play?"

  Hector thought Xynthia's.....extremely odd declaration over as he quickly redid the various locks, and bars, over the front door, "Why would there suddenly be so many of them out there? I know they can sense living people, but we've been sitting here fine so far; why would they suddenly gather like that?"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:39, Tue 21 July 2009.

"Fifty?  That's...not good." said Nephi.  He glanced at Dr. S and asked "Don't suppose there's another way out of here, right Doctor?"

"Fifty?" Betty asked with exasperation at the revelation, her encounter with one of the monsters had left her wary of ever doing battle with any again.  She gripped the newly provided rifle tightly, her green eyes scanning as much as she could see from the doorway.

Geoff checked the magazine of his pistol, "Ma'am," he said to Xynthia, "you made mention of being able to control these things. Would you be able to deal with them, or would it be easier if we took this lead zombie out?"

He thought for a moment, "That's if you're willing to condone violence against them at all."

"Condone? Those things are trying to eat us, whether this fu... loon condones violence or not, I will use it to preseve my life and your lives as well." Karen said balling up her fist as she shook uncontrolably, not certain if it was from some andrenaline rush, stark naked fear, or some effect this 'lead zombie' might have.

"You're with me in this right Nephi?" She asked looking for some moral support at the very least, if not phsyical as well.

Xynthia turned abruptly to look at Karen: "Oh, shut it!"

For a moment, the mark on her forehead, now partially uncovered, seemed to shift and change under Karen's eyes.

Then she regained (for some values of the word) her composure and chuckled: "Now, now, let the grownups speak, little one... This isn't a matter that concerns you."

Xynthia passed a hand through her hair and looked pensively at Geoff: "I think they want Allan and Nephi: they are the greatest danger to them at the moment, and the fact that the Minister followed us all the way to the house suggests that it thinks so too. Now, I can probably shoo away a dozen or two, but the Minister can recall them before they take five steps, so you will have to get rid of it before I can help."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:39, Mon 20 July 2009.

"Well, that's some great news... So, Doc, any secret passages outside the house?"

Although Eddie was actually thinking of Doc S senior, Tony was as used as his old man to being called Doc, and answered reflexively: "The security of the house was meant to hold off burglars and whatnots long enough to allow the police time to intervene... Or let the undead starve to death. Getting out unnoticed was never a priority."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:22, Mon 19 Oct 2009.

"OK, time for plan B... Anybody got a cannon or something?"

"Well..." Started Tony.

He stared at the three uniforms for a moment then shrugged: "I kinda have an assault rifle."

He nodded toward the briefcase he had brought with him.

"I don't think it'll help much, though: you need to aim carefully to kill these things, and for that the M1 is a much better choice than my poor AK-47. Mostly, I brought it because I didn't want to lose it."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:17, Mon 19 Oct 2009.

Allan shot Karen a stern look. "I assure you that my wife and I are not on the side of the undead, and have no moral qualms with destroying them."

Turning toward Geoff, he said, "Xynthia's influence over them has limits and puts her at risk any time she uses it. I'm not saying that she that won't use her unique abilities, I just think that any plan involving her doing so should be carefully thought out."

"I don't think we can kill them all. There are too many. We need a distraction so that we can get to the vehicles and make our escape. Perhaps Xynthia and I can be that distraction. They won't attack her, and if that creature specifically wants me, perhaps I can draw its attention away from the rest of you."

"What about the big guy out there?" Monica asked. "Would killing him be like cutting the head off of a snake? Would the others be less of a problem once he's been put down?"

Monica looked at the older of the two doctors. "What kind of household chemicals do you have stored here? Some Molotovs might work to create a distraction."

"I'd rather we didn't have a bunch of untrained people handling, and throwing, explosives that go off on impact, Mon." said Hector, sarcastically, as he put the final latch was put back into place, "But what of this 'zombie lord' you're talking about? Is it possible to snipe him out?"

Startled for a moment by Xynthia's outburst, Karen didn't know what to say let alone if it was safe to say anything, had she even wanted to say anything. However upon noticing the strange color changing... whatever it was on Xynthia's forehead, Karen shuddered slightly, growing quiet nd contemplative at it's sight. Whatever it was wasn't natural, but when it seemed the preacher's wife regained an iota of her composure and the preacher vouched for his wife's 'loyalties', Karen decided not to make a scene... but she might just bring it up later in private and away from Xynthia.

Coming back to reality, Karen asks a very important question about the creature outside, not really expecting an answer, "Better question, how dangerous is it? Does it move any faster than those zombies outside? Is it stronger? What can it do?"

Nephi, blushing furiously, gave Karen a quick one-armed hug and said "Of course I am.  I don't want to get eaten, and I'll fight to stop anyone else being eaten as well."  He then turned to Monica, Jane and Hector "You might want to load those Blessed clips.  With fifty zombies out there, normal ammo isn't going to help."

Tony raised an eyebrow: "Uh... Blessed clips? No offense, but I don't think the parasites care about superstition. We should still have several glass bottles in the basement: with the fuel for the generator, I think we can make a few molotovs."

At this point, Doc S intervened: "Anton, I agree with agent DeSanto on this: having people throwing incendiary bombs around the house is not a good idea."

Anton smiled to his father: "Open to suggestions here, dad..."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:18, Mon 19 Oct 2009.

Xynthia brushed away her fringe: under the hastily-reapplied makeup, the strange, colorful mark on her forehead was almost shining through: "You'd be surprised how far a little applied superstition can go, Tony dear... How many bullets do you have for that machine-gun of yours?"

Tony was almost mesmerized by the strange mark on Xynthia's head.

Fighting off a surge of nausea, he finally replied: "I... Here with me? Three double clips. That's..." Unable to concentrate, he stumbled on the simple math for a moment: "A hundred and eighty. Rounds. Total."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:18, Mon 19 Oct 2009.

Xynthia ruffled her hair to cover her forehead again and bit her lower lip: "I should probably Bless one or two of those... The Minister can sense Allan and Nephi, he'll expect them to do something like that, but I don't think he will-" She suddenly stopped and doubled over in pain.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:38, Tue 21 July 2009.

"Sir," Geoff said to the Reverend, "I hope you didn't think I was saying you were allied with the undead, I just didn't want to go upsetting people by assuming anything."

He looked over at Anton, "You're right, throwing molotovs around might be disaterous. Could you get a shooting angle on the "Minister" if you headed upstairs?"

Blushing deeply as she feels Nephi's arm wrap around her, Karen almost faints from the sheer exuberance. However, spotting the mark once again, and fighting off a surge of nausea that brings the taste of bile to her mouth, Karen watches as the witch doubles over before her. Not certain what do to, or even if it was safe to go near her, Karen turns to her husband, "Is she ok?" Ofcourse she wasn't, she was doubled over on the ground, but what else was there to say?

Monica looked at Doc Sr. and shrugged. "We've got a handful of people with guns versus their army outside. They've got us outnumbered. If we take the time to shoot a lot of them, they'll have time for reinforcements to show up. I just figured a couple of molotovs could help even the odds a little faster." Turning to Hector, Monica added, "And babe, as for no experience with that kind of stuff, remind me later to tell you about my childhood." Monica picked up her gun and proceeded to load it with one of the blessed clips.

Allan rushed to the side of his wife, concern etched on his face. "Xynthia, what's wrong?" He put his arm around her to support her.

Nephi raised an eyebrow at Anton.  He stated "Superstition?  Maybe you think so, but I took out two of them with one swing of my Blessed Rapier before we got inside."

He then looked at Xynthia with worry as she doubled over.  Sure, she's nuts, but she's still human.

 Hector said back to Monica, "It's not a matter of hitting them that I'm worried about, it's the whole 'accidentally setting the neighborhood on fire' thing that's got me so upset. I somehow doubt the fire department's still operational if an on fire zombie stumbles into an abandoned house and sets the whole thing ablaze, and what the hell could we do?"
 At which point Hector noticed something more important then scoring  a point in the 'argument game', "Hey, is Xynth all right?"

Betty felt a brief wave of nausea sweep over her and wondered for a moment if she was about to fall ill.  She noted that Xynth looked particularly worse for wear, "Are you alright?" she asked the woman walking in her direction, her nursing skills taking over.

Xynthia grabbed hold of her husband and cradled her head between his neck and shoulder.

She stayed like that for several seconds before finally coming up for air and turning to look at Betty.

From the look in her eyes, it was clear that she wasn't quite on this planet at the moment, and her words a moment later only confirmed that suspicion: "Mommy and daddy are fighting again!"

She sniffled: "Mommy says daddy doesn't like me..." A tentative smile appeared on her lips: "But I'm her favorite: she's always sending me gifts!"

"Doctor;" Betty called with a degree of urgency in her voice, seeing an odd change come over the woman and wondering if she was manifesting a psychotic episode.  "Are you seeing them now?" Betty asked clincally, keeping her posture neutral.

Looking from Xynthia to Nephi and the rest of the group, Karen can only watch as the strange woman becomes even stranger as she apparently has a mental break down. "What is she talking about Reverend?"

What was worse? The mad woman before her, or the growing legion of shambling corpses outside? For now the answer was obvious, but if things took a turn for the worse someone would have to do something immediately.

"Xynthia will be alright," Allan said to the group. "This is just how she copes with the situation." Returning his attention to his wife, he spoke in a softer voice. "Is she sending you another gift? Perhaps you should sit down for a moment."

"Gift?" Betty asked quizzically, looking at the pastor, puzzled by his explanation.  "What do you mean?"

"A gift like Nephi's?" Karen asks, her eyes moving from Cynthia to Nephi as she speaks. The idea wasn't completely comforting, 'A mad woman like this one with powers like Nephi?' Mind that she only ever heard of Nephi healing her from the brink of death from the others, as well as an excellent show of swordsmanship time and time again. 'But still, a gift?'

Xynthia looked up at her husband and nodded in a very childlike way, then tried again to hide in his arms.

"Xynthia?" Tony called gently: "Did you take your medicines today?"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:19, Mon 19 Oct 2009.

Nephi noticed Karen's worry about Xynthia's possible new gift, and spoke quietly and comfortingly to her "I wouldn't worry about it.  She might be crazy, but she's still human and wants to live.  We represent the best chance she has to do that, and her husband will help."

Monica watched the others ponder what to do about the preacher's wife, and felt completely out of her element. "I guess there's more than enough healer types, both medical and spiritual, to look after the reverend's missus." Monica stood up. "Since I'm kinda useless in that department, I'm gonna go upstairs and see if there's a window that can give me a better view of the situation outside."

"I'm with you on that, Monica," Geoff agreed, "after you."

He followed Monica upstairs.

Nodding as Nephi spoke to her, Karen began to feel better about the situation she found herself in, even if it was only a litt;e. "I understand, thanks Nephi." Karen replied trying to hide the gentle blush she always got with Nephi spoke with her.

"Think I'll come along too," said Hector as he briefly gave Geoff a look of suspicion behind his back before following them up.

"Her meds can only do so much, Tony," Allan answered. "Given the stress, it can't be too surprising that Xynthia has occasional episodes. It will pass." Allan led Xynthia to one of the couches and sat down next to her, cradling her in his arms.



Allan looked at Nephi and gave him a slight nod, a silent thank you for the support.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:15, Fri 31 July 2009.

Monica stepped into the first room at the top of the stairs, which turned out to be the doctor's studio, and peeked through the curtains at the scene outside.

There were two lines of zombies in the street, cutting access to all the vehicles parked there. None of them was moving, as if they were waiting a signal of some kind.

More zombies were waiting on each side of the front door.

Standing near a large, white vehicle that looked more like a garbage truck than an RV, there was the same zombie that Allan and Xynthia had met at the parking lot.

Being run over by a motorhome hadn't improved its looks, but it also didn't seem much worse for the wear: still mostly decomposed, charred from head to toe, and completely naked, with flesh looking more like molten wax than anything else.

"Damn. They've blocked the door and cut us off from the vehicles. Wish we had something like a fire hose to knock 'em down and push 'em back." She looked at the two men with her. "Any ideas?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:12, Tue 04 Aug 2009.

Geoff shuddered as he saw the charred mass.

"Should we try shooting it or do you think that would just tick it off?"

"Well move out of the way, yeh behemoth!" said Hector with humor as he playfully nudged Geoff massive form away from the window, so he could see.

"Well.......that's disturbing." said Hector after examining the situation for a minute, "I'm guessing Mister Burns over there is waiting for reinforcements to charge us; for now he's using what forces are at his disposal to keep us from our vehicles until then. This is bad guys, he's showing a keen tactical mind one doesn't usually associate with the mindless dead. We're talking serious intelligence behind all this."

"So how do we kill him?" Monica said, as she looked at the charred zombie. "My uncle Teddy always used to say, 'When in doubt, blow shit up', but I don't know if that would be the best idea right now. And he's not our only problem. We still have the undead army out there to contend with. There's too many to pick off with guns. We need to create some kind of barrier between us and them. Then we'd just have to worry about picking off the handful that slip through."

"What if we ask the Doc if he has any silver nitrate solution?" Geoff asked, "that way we could spray the crowd with it."

"Oh yes, the doctor managed to steal whole barrels of an expensive chemical compound from his labs which he conveniently has kept in his own home. Right. Next to the nuke, I assume." said Hector, dripping with sarcasm.

Geoff shrugged at Hector's sarcasm, "Silver Nitrate is the simplest of all silver salts, you should remember that from school, Hector. Given that the good Doctor has turned his house into a fortress, it's also possible, just possible that he stocked up on some of the best way of defeating the things he was defending against. Hell, given some nice silver cutlery and some nitric acid, he might have even cooked it up himself."

Geoff looked out at the crowd, "Now I'm not saying he'll definately have it, only that it may not be as beyond the realms of possibility as your tone might suggest. That being said, how do you suggest we proceed, Hector?"

"Geoff has a point. It's not like the Doc would have to steal it from his lab, anybody can get it. If I'd known this bug was lurking out there, I would've stocked up on some." Monica shrugged. "We won't know until we ask him, and it certainly couldn't hurt to ask."

"OK," Geoff said, "I'll pop down and ask him."

Geoff clattered downstairs and popped his head back into the room, "Uh, Doc. I know it's a long shot, but you don't happen to have any silver nitrate in the house do you?"

"That sounds good in theory," Replied Anton, "But silver nitrate is not that effective on infected creatures: you would need to inject them."

The older Doc S cleared his throat: "Unless you use a highly concentrated solution..."

Tony looked at his father and waved a hand dismissively: "Yes, yes, also good in theory, but dad, we are talking about a lot of silver nitrate - to say nothing of the logistical problems, like having to keep the water just below boiling point."

"It's more than a good theory, Antek." Replied Doc S. somewhat sheepishly. "If you go down in the basement, you'll find is a 25 gallons barrel: it contains about 500 pounds of silver nitrate solution. you'll have to warm it up, of course, but..."

"Are you kidding me?" Tony did a couple quick equations in his mind: "That's enough to buy another house!"

The doctor scoffed: "Oh, Antek, don't be so overdramatic... Yes, yes, perhaps I could have bought a new car with the money I spent on it, but what help would a brand new car be right now?"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:19, Mon 19 Oct 2009.

'What a convenient turn of events... thank you.' Karen thinks to herself thanking whatever merciful omni-present authorative entity came to mind first, most likely god. "But doc, do we have any means of dispersing the silver nitrate effeciently?" Karen asks as she looks around the room before looking back at the dock, "Like maybe a preasure washer or chemical sprayer?"

The doctor looked somewhat embarrassed: "I... Never really thought I would actually need it."

"Well, that's still good news... Now all we need is some old pipes, a blowtorch, and an A-Team montage." Smiled Eddie. "But seriously, you said this thing has to be hot when we spray them. How hot, exactly?"

The doctor thought for an instant: "Well, the hotter the better, but anywhere around two-hundred will do."

  "Well don't I feel like a dumbass" said Hector, despairingly, to Monica after Geoff left,"I hate it when my childhood education, or lack there of, shows it's ugly head. Fucking Peru..."

"That's ok, hon. You've got other kinds of skills that are just as important." Monica looked out the window once more. "In this new world we've got happenin' around us, nobody is gonna care if you can name all the state capitals. Knowin' how to survive when the shit hits the fan, that's what's gonna keep us alive." Monica walked over and caressed Hector's face with her hand. "Don't be puttin' yourself down. I kinda like you the way you are." She leaned in and gently pressed her lips against his.

And so that famous tongue of Hector's made its appearance in Monica's mouth again, and it was just as fun as last time.

Monica was tempted to linger in Hector's arms, but she knew the sooner they got out of here, the better. Every minute that they wasted gave the horde outside time to attract even more infected. She broke the embrace as suddenly as she had begun it. "Let's see if the doc's got anything around here that might be useful." She started to search the study, like a cop looking for evidence.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:58, Thu 13 Aug 2009.

"Good news guys..." Announced Jane, entering the studio, then she looked at them suspiciously: "Am I interrupting something?"

Monica gave Jane a sly smile. "Not yet, but give us time." She winked at Hector before returning her attention to Jane. "What's the good news?"

Karen watched Jane sneak up stares to where Monica and Hector had disapeared to, as she herself grew a little ansty about what the circumstance was outside. With an inner sigh, Karen followed, hoping to hear some more good news. Once upstairs however, Karen watches the scene play out before her eyes before interrupting. "So how are things outside? Do you think we can hit this boss zombie, the reverend mentioned?"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:01, Thu 13 Aug 2009.

Jane looked from Monica to Hector and back, and grinned: "Good! Keep up te good work! Anyway, turns out Doc has a load of silver nitrate down in the basement. If we find a way to spray it on those things outside... Well, the eggheads downstairs say that's gonna make some difference."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:07, Thu 13 Aug 2009.

Nephi considered following Karen upstairs as well, but decided against it.  Monica and Jane are up there, and would castrate Hector if he tried anything funny.

"Cool," Monica said. "Let's go check out the doc's basement, and see what else he might have." She headed for the stairs.

As they came back to the living room, Eddie tool the other two cops aside, and asked for a quick report; after ascertaining that things were indeed as grim as Xynthia had predicted, he stroked his chin pensively and said: "OK... So we have plenty of bad news to go round. Listen, I keep hearing this (censored)messed up stuff(/censored) about blessing bullets or whatever. You've seen this guy do that before right? Does it really work?"

As she followed the group back down stairs, Karen noticed Eddie take Geoff and Hector aside, curious to see what they were saying, Karen listened in as much as she possibly could.

"I can't give you a definitive answer, Sir," Geoff said, "the world seems to be messed up in so many different ways that it's difficult to sort out reality from perception. However, what I do know is that Nephi took an injured woman who was, in my opinion, beyond help and healed her enough that she's walking around now, that's Karen I'm talking about. He also took an injury I had and accelerated the healing, look at it," he showed his superior the scar, "it looks a couple of weeks old, Yeah? Well I took the injury a few hours ago. As for the blessed bullets. Again I can't give you impirical evidence, but before the rounds were blessed it took Hector and I two clips to drop one of those things, since then, we've been dropping them in one or two shots. Granted, we know where to hit them now, but either Hector's been putting in range time on the quiet and not telling me, or he's gotten really, really lucky, or there's something to this religious stuff."

Not having anything better to do while trying to figure out the next move, Nephi tries to listen in on the cops talking.

Monica bounded down the stairs and stuck her head into the living room. "Hey." She hesitated for a moment as she looked at the younger Doc S. "Tony, right? You said there's some stuff in the basement. How 'bout you show me."

Tony hesitated for a moment, then shrugged: "Yeah... Sure, this way."

"Antek," His father stopped him, "You are going to need the key."

"We lock the basement now?" Anton replied, surprised.

The older doctor smiled thinly: "With gasoline and silver nitrate down there, I thought it would be prudent, in case we had guests with kids or something like that."

"Oh... Yeah, probably a sensible precaution. Where's the key?"

"It's under the vase on the shelf next to the door."

Tony raised an eyebrow without commenting.

"It's not meant to be burglar-proof! It's just not to leave it in plain sight."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:20, Mon 19 Oct 2009.

"Anton, wait." Xynthia seemed to have regained her mental stability, but how long that would last was anybody's guess. "Speaking of keys... I need yours. For the briefcase."

"Briefcase?"

"The one with the assault rifle? You remember that, right?" Asked Xynthia, somewhat sarcastically but not aggressively so.

"Uh, it's a combination briefcase... 709-340."

"Thank you."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:59, Mon 24 Aug 2009.

Monica looked over to her friend, Jane. "You comin'?" Not waiting for an answer, Monica turned and followed Anton down the basement stairs.

Not certain if she was invited or able to gleam much out of the conversation Eddie was having with the other two officers, Karen follows Monica into the basement to see what they can find.

Realizing Monica wasn't coming back to the make out session Hector finally started down the stairs.

"Sure am." Smiled Jane. "Say, think we will find a rocket launcher or something?"

Eddie shook his head: "Whatever works, I guess." Taking his last full magazine of 9mm ammo, he continued: "Funny: I always thought prayers helped the ones on the business end of one of these..."

"I would be pleasantly surprised, but do you think it'd do much good against the big one out there?" Karen commented as she followed the other girls down into the basement.

"What we need is a plane, so we can take off and nuke 'em from the air." Monica smiled at Karen. "It's the only way to be sure."

She followed Tony down the basement stairs. It was musty and dark. Tony flipped a switch that turned on a bare, overhead bulb, casting everything in shades of gray. The walls were unfinished, consisting of whitewashed concrete. It looked like an ordinary basement, with dust covered boxes and other things that were being stored. Monica looked back at the two women who had come with her. "Am I the only one that kinda expected to find a mad scientist's lab down here?" Then noticing Tony, and remembering that the old man was his father, Monica gave him a half-apologetic shrug.

She spotted a trio of barrels along one wall, and went to take a closer look. "Looks like he's got some diesel fuel over here," Monica called over her shoulder to the others. "Lord knows, I like Hector." A devilish smile crossed her face as she turned to look at Jane. "You've seen the way that man's butt looks in his uniform!" Facing the barrels once more, she continued. "But if it comes down to me or them, I will set 'em on fire." One thing Monica had learned growing up the way she did, was how to be a survivor.

She stood up an continued to survey the dank room. Seeing a smaller barrel, marked with several warning signs, she addressed Tony. "Is that the zombie-killin' chemical?"
This message was last edited by the player at 13:44, Mon 31 Aug 2009.

Tony passed a hand on the top of the smallish barrel, removing the light layer of dust that had accumulated and revealing a label with the formula of the content: "That's it alright. Some thirty grand of silver nitrate..."

Tony smiled ruefully: "I guess this is a mad scientist's lab after all."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:21, Mon 19 Oct 2009.

"Hey, if this thing works, you won't hear any complaints from me." Jane looked around pensively: "But how do we bring it upstairs? Your father said it weighs, like, five hundred pounds... And how do we spray it on those things out there, for that matter?"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:27, Mon 31 Aug 2009.

"Don't forget that you will also need to warm it up. It won't be half as effective if it's cold." Tony added. "And in case you are thinking about it, lighting a fire under the barrel is a bad idea."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:21, Mon 19 Oct 2009.

Monica moved a couple of boxes out of the way, to reveal an old electric water heater. "Hey Jane, take a look at this. Do ya' think we could jury-rig somethin' with it?" Looking at Tony, she added, "Maybe we could use this to heat that stuff up."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:01, Mon 31 Aug 2009.

"Now if only we had a water hose and a sprayer we'd be set, oh not to mention a pump too." Karen added as she thought out loud to herself, "As for what the doc said, I doubt we'll find any of those things down here."

Jane moved behind the old thing and knocked on it a couple of times: "Dunno, maybe... Hey, Tony? How long has this thing been down here? And how broken was it in the first place?"

Anton scratched his head: "Maybe five years... It wasn't broken, my parents just got a better one."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:21, Mon 19 Oct 2009.

Jane eyed the white tank critically: "Let's get the guys. I'm gonna see if I can make something out of it."

Meanwhile, upstairs, Xynthia had unlocked the large briefcase Tony had brought in, revealing exactly what the young doctor had said it would contain: a circa-1960 assault rifle... Or, more accurately, all the pieces required to rebuild the aforementioned rifle.

A foam padding had carefully been carved out and placed on both the top and the bottom halves of the suitcase to precisely accommodate all the pieces, plus the minimum of tools required for reassembly, a small bottle of oil, and the magazines Anton had mentioned: six of them, tied in pairs, so that after the first was spent the shooter could simply switch to its twin without having to waste time looking for one.

Xynthia took one of the paired magazines out of the briefcase, looked around for her purse, realized she'd left it in the motorhome, and sighed: "Would any of you happen to have some nail polish? I want to mark the one I bless..."

(At that, Doc S pinched the root of his nose between two fingers, as if fighting a headache.)
This message was last edited by the player at 08:20, Tue 01 Sept 2009.

Nephi felt slightly sick as Xynthia began doing whatever it was she was doing, but did his best not to show it.  "Sorry.  I don't have anything to mark them with."

"I'll go get them." Karen volunteered as she climbed out of the basement and looked for Hector and Geoff, "Guys, was wondering if we could get a hand down in the basement. Jane found an old water heater and thinks she might be able to use it for something." She said standing near the doorway to where she last saw the three policemen.

"No problem, Ma'am," Geoff said, heading for the basement, "I'm on the way."

He made his way down to the basement, careful not to bump his head, and looked around, "Hey," he said, "what do you have in mind?"

Xynthia looked over at Karen: "Oh, hey... You wouldn't happen to have some nail polish, or perhaps some lipstick, would you?"

"Umm, no, sorry... I'm pretty sure I lost that with my purse when Nephi and the others found me." Karen replies before offering a suggestion, "Maybe you should ask Mrs. S. if she might have something like that."

"See the barrel over there? I want to use this," She pointed at the heater, "To heat up the contents of that."

She smiled at Geoff. "The other details are still fuzzy. You know, how to get the content from there to here, how to spray the zombies with the stuff... But for now, I need some help with the heavy lifting. You grab it from that side, I'll lift from this one." With that, she squeezed herself in the limited space behind the heater, where Geoff was as likely to fit as the proverbial camel through the eye of a needle.

"Right, thanks!" Xynthia smiled at Karen and looked around: "Uh... She was here a moment ago?!"

"OK," Geoff said, bracing his knees, "and, lift."

He took up the strain, pleasantly surprised that the tank was lighter than he'd expected. He placed it down in the centre of the basement ans said, "OK, we've got a good reservoir to work with. Now, like you said, we need a delivery system. You check that side for some sort of method of dispersal, I'll check this side."

"What about other kinds of weapons. Jane and I are armed, and so are you boys in blue." Monica began a mental tally of everyone. "Nephi's got his sword, and that freaky Reverend showed up with a gun. Tony's gettin' his bullet's blessed now." Monica tried not to smirk as saying that last part out loud made a dirty joke cross her mind. "I guess that just leaves the ladies upstairs, Blondie, Crazy, and Nephi's little groupie. I don't know about you guys, but I'm ok with not puttin' a weapon into the hands of the flaky preacher's wife, but the other girls should probably be armed with somethin', just in case."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:23, Tue 01 Sept 2009.

"I'll go out on a limb and assume 'Blondie' is Betty..." Commented Tony drily. "She has my Garand, but she'll need a lot of training before she can shoot something other than her own foot. For now, it's much safer if she doesn't use it."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:22, Mon 19 Oct 2009.

'Just keeps getting stranger and stranger...' Karen comments to herself as she makes her way back down stairs where the others wer hard at work. "Has anyone else noticed Xynthia's eyes lately?" She asks kind of out of the blue.

"Ya mean that crazy-eyed look where ya half-expect her to go postal at any moment, and then afterwards everyone will be sayin' she was so quiet...?

"No... I mean the color, I think they've changed, but into a color that I can't even begin to explain." She says before considering Monica's words, "But yes, I've noticed that too."

Mrs. S. came back and handed a small bottle of light pink nail polish to Xynthia "There you go dear."

Carefully avoiding looking her in the eye, Xynthia smiled to the old lady: "Thanks, Mrs. S."

She painted a tiny mark on the 30-round magazine and blew on it twice to help it dry. "Okay... Here goes nothing." She finished.

The air around Xynthia shimmered briefly, then she sighed and put the magazine back in the briefcase: "Well... That was different. Easier than I thought, too."

"She better not start sproutin' tentacles," Monica replied to Karen.

Geoff looked at the water heater and the barrel of silver nitrate. His quick calculations put them at too heavy to carry as it was, and that was without a method of delivering the chemicals and a power source to heat the tank. Interesting he thought to himself.

"Hey!Tony." he called up the stairs, "Is there anywhere else I might find stuff for the A-Team montage?"

Tony called back, "Back up the stairs and take the door on your right, it leads to the garage."

Geoff mounted the stairs and entered the garage. Almost immediately he found the answer to two of the problems, a power washer would provide the delivery system and a huge so-called "portable" generator was wired into the fuse box.

He thought for a moment and then returned to the drawing room, "OK," he said, "I have the guts of a working system, but it's very heavy and means disassembling the generator in the garage. I have two questions, one, do you have a power source that we could use that doesn't involve dismantling your back up power? And two, do you have a wheeled jack? That might help us with the weight."

"Don't even joke about that... with what's happened so far, I wouldn't be surprised if something like that happened." Karen remarked, half joking and half serious. "The last thing we need is for 'Crazy' to become even crazier."

Tony thought for a moment: "We used to... Have you checked the garage?"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:22, Mon 19 Oct 2009.

"Tony?" Called Xynthia: "I marked one of your clips: when you use those bullets, one or two should be enough to take down a zombie, wherever you hit them."

She threw a look at the open briefcase: "But maybe you should put the thing back together, first..."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:12, Mon 19 Oct 2009.

Tony decided that antagonizing her wasn't worth it: "Ah... Thanks. Let me just help officer Wayne and I'll get right to it. "
This message was last edited by the player at 14:23, Mon 19 Oct 2009.

Heading upstairs and toward the garage curious to see what the boys were up to, Karen runs into Geoff while he makes his sweep of the garage. "Hello Geoff, how goes the search? Need any help?"
This message was last edited by the player at 19:14, Wed 09 Sept 2009.

"Yes, Karen," Geoff said, "that'd be great thanks. I need to see if there are nay lighter generators of other power sources in here and I'd like some way of spreading the weight, a jack or something like that."

"Well, what would the jack look like?" Karen asks as she begins rummaging through the supplies in the garage, not quite certain what she was looking for.

"A little wheeled trolley with a scissor-like contraption on top and a handle on one side," Geoff replied amiably.

"Ok, and what does it do?" Karen asks as she begins moving cases and trunks from the wall. "I apologize if I'm asking too many questions." She says just as the stack she was digging through collapses burrying her beneath a number of light cardboard boxes.

"Generally you use it to slide underneath a car and raise the vehicle so you can change a tire or work underneath it," Geoff said, "It's basically a larger, safer version of the jack in the back of your car that you use if you get a flat."

  And then a black hand came out of the darkness and came closer.......and closer.......and closer, 'till it dropped on Geoff's shoulder!
  But it was just Hector, "Hey gang, what's up?"

Pushing the empty stack of boxes off herself Karen looks around to make sure no one saw the avalanche of cardboard that had buried her alive only seconds ago before removing the final box from the stack revealing what appeared to be a jack. "Hey Geoff, think I found it." Karen says as she wheels the jack around to where Geoff was standing.

"That's excellect!" Geoff said, "we'll be able to use that to offset the weight. It'll never be speedy, but it might stop us from getting chomped."

He gathered the materials together and said, "Karen, Hector, could one of you pop up and ask the doctors if they have a portable generator as well as the one rigged into their home system?"

Geoff looked around the garage, "I wonder if there's a smaller jenny here?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:08, Fri 18 Sept 2009.

Monica followed the others into the garage and overheard Geoff's last comment. "I wouldn't be surprised if the Doc had a second backup generator. From the looks of this place, he was set to lay low her for quite awhile." She began to search among the various items stowed in the garage.

Monica moved some gardening equipment out of the way. "Jackpot," she said as she found a second generator.

"OK," Geoff said, "excellent work, Karen, Monica, we'd be stuck without this."

He looked at the materials they'd gathered, "This is going to be an unweildy beast. We'll need someone with the sprayer on their back and aiming it at the zombies, I'll lug the water boiler around on the jack, that way I can provide some security for the group and a third person will have to lug the jenny around."

He bent down to start assembling the weapon he hoped would get them out of this mess.

"I've got the generator," Karen said as she watched Geoff put the rig together.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:08, Fri 18 Sept 2009.

"Hey! You want to spoil my fun now?" Asked Jane, looking at Geoff with a smile on her face. "I got tools..."

Indeed, in her hands was a blue metal toolbox.

"Jane," Geoff said smiling, "be my guest."

He moved to one side and continued, "I'll act as gofer, tell me what you want."

The work went quickly and easily. With couple of pipes, retrieved from the basement, and a funnel, borrowed in the kitchen, they had a way to refill the heater.

Some turns of climbing rope later, said heater was secured to the jack and ready to be rolled around.

The pressure cleaner had to be attached somewhat unconventionally, since there was no pump to keep the pressure in the heater, but in the end they had what looked like a viable solution.

The generator was the least of their problems, as all they really needed to do was plug the cleaning equipment in the socket...

After checking her work one last time, Jane looked over at Geof and smiled: "Well, this could actually work. Let's get some water and try it out!"

"I'm not sure how we could do it, but it would be nice to test that mixture on just one of those things before we go up against the whole horde," Monica said. "I'd hate for us to get surrounded only to find out that they've developed an immunity to that stuff."

"We could use a window on the second floor couldn't we? It'd also show us how far it'd spray. But how do we get it all up there?" Karen asked as she thought to herself. 'Geoff and Jane had managed to get the water heater out of the basement together, and the rest would only take a few others, so it's not impossible.' "We could carry it up stairs, then load a little of the chemical into it for testing. Any one have any better ideas?"

Tony was standing on the threshold, looking approvingly at the results of Jane and Geoff's hard work.

Lifting his arm, he brought the fruit of his own work into view: "Well, I don't know if it's better..." He said, pulling back and releasing the bolt catch, chambering a round and reading his AK-47 for action: "But I do have an idea."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:12, Mon 19 Oct 2009.

Behind Tony, Xynthia chuckled: "Be careful, Tony dear, or you might run out of ideas."

"Oh, don't worry: there's plenty of ideas to go 'round." Grinned Jane, giving a light pat to her own gun.

"OK," said Geoff, "does anyone want to give us a hand getting all of this junk upstairs?"

"Yeah yeah, might as well put the black guy to work." said Hector with a grin.

Eddie had enlisted the family's help in order to safely bring the nitrate up from the basement: the task had not been easy, since the barrel weighed half a ton, but with the help of some boards they had built an improvised ramp. The heavy lifting had been up to Eddie, but the rope tied to the barrel, and secured upstairs, had guaranteed that a slip wouldn't see him accidentally crushed.

The barrel with the silver nitrate was now resting next to the stairs.

Eddie took a look at their new squirt gun: "Say, where are you going to bring this thing?"
This message was last edited by the player at 19:03, Fri 02 Oct 2009.

"People want to head upstairs with it, put in a trial dose and see if it is successful on a single zombie." Geoff said, "I know it's a pain but it makes sense to test it before we head out and trust our life to something dreamt up by a lazy bum of a cop, gathered together by Lazarus and constructed by a blonde."

He knew he was going to pay later for the blonde gag, but you got your digs in when you could with Jane.

Coming out of the kitchen with a large double handled cooking pot Karen holds it up before the exasperated Eddie. "We can do this the smart way now, a bucket or pot at a time... though we may need to dilute it, I don't know. Is it ok if we use this Ma'am?" Karen asks indicating the pot she had collected from their gracious host's kitchen.

Mrs. S looked over at her husband, who nodded.

Tony nodded as well, and said: "Good... Let's see the nitrate then."

With some effort, Tony opened the barrel, revealing the white powder within.

"Uh... Dad? I thought you said it was in solution form."

"Well, I thought it was..." Replied the older Dr. S.

Utterly nonplussed, Tony stumbled through the words: "You... Thought? You... You bought half a house worth of chemicals and never even bothered to check that they hadn't made a clerical error and sent you half a ton of, say, baking soda?"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:14, Mon 19 Oct 2009.

"Is this going to be a problem for us?" Asked Jane pragmatically.

"Actually, it's better this way." Admitted Tony. "All we have to do is warm up the water first and then add as much nitrate as we feel necessary."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:14, Mon 19 Oct 2009.

"OK," Geoff said, "Anton, could you work out the quantities for about thirty pints of solution to start with? That should give us plenty to experiment with."

Tony concentrated for a long moment: "30 pints total? That's about 80 pounds of solution. About fourteen and a half/fifteen pints of water, I think, and the rest should be nitrate..."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:14, Mon 19 Oct 2009.

"That's a lot of water, guess we should get started then huh?" Karen said before returning to the kitchen grabbing several large pots and a liquid measuring cup, measuring out fifteen pints of water and distributing them to the number of large cooking pots she had found.

Nephi followed Karen to the kitchen, and helped ferry water.

It took a while to carry and warm up the water, and even more to transport and dissolve the nitrate. Finally, the generator was turned on, followed by the cleaner.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:37, Sat 10 Oct 2009.

Once everything was set up on the second floor, Monica opened up one of the windows. "Here's hopin' this fancy super soaker does the trick." She picked out one of the zombies below and took careful aim.

Geoff said, "Good shooting, Karen. Jane, let's keep a check on teh mechanism to see if there are any glitches."

A burst of water hit the nearest zombie (a half-decomposed woman in what looked like the remains of a wedding dress).

Barely a second after the stream hit it, the creature recoiled from the spray, spoiling Monica's aim
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:49, Sat 10 Oct 2009.

Peaking out the window Karen turns to the others and says, "Well I don't know if it kills them, but they sure don't like it, that's for sure."

Monica hollered over her shoulder, "Hey doc, how toxic is this stuff to those things? That one I shot down there, has she been exposed to enough of the chemical that it will eventually kill her?"

Monica turned to look at the others. "We've got a limited supply of this stuff, and may have some other mobs to weed through before we find shelter. I don't know if I should keep spraying until they drop right now. Maybe we should just spray enough to get 'em to back off a little and clear us a path. I'm hopin' this stuff will act like a poison, and maybe a few hours from now that zombie bride down there will still "die" from the chemical exposure."

"That's a fair point," Geoff agreed, "we don't need to kill them all now, what we need is to get to a reasonable base of operations. If it keeps them away long enough to get to the vehicles, that's enough for now."

"Just as long as they don't build up an immunity to it, not killing them right now should be fine."

The zombie that had been hit by the spray began to... Scream? Sing? Howl? Hum? The sound it made was all of it at once, and more. The other zombies, until then perfectly still, started shuffling forward.

Next to the Reverend's garbage truck/RV, the half-molten zombie started screaming/singing/howling/humming as well.

Most of the zombies were now too close to the wall to see them from inside the room.

Moments later, a large vibration shook the house.

And again.

And again.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:17, Tue 13 Oct 2009.

"What the... Are they trying to punch through the wall?" Wondered Tony, astonished: "It's reinforced concrete!"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:15, Mon 19 Oct 2009.

"I don't know... but I'm pretty sure the entire house isn't made of reinforced concrete, they might find a way in some way, and if they do, we need to be ready to fight or run. or run and fight." Karen replies looking around at the faces surrounding her, surprised that she wasn't quaking in fear. But what else is there to fear when she's already experienced death once before? As long as she had Nephi, and as long as they each had eachother, they'd get through this somehow, some way.

Nephi was much calmer then he expected to be, and added "The house may be made of reinforced concrete, but I'd say they'll eventually break through anyway - given the force they're hitting with."  He then ran and grabbed his rapier.

"OK, people," Geoff said, "let's get this contraption downstairs and get our stuff together. It looks like we just outstayed our welcome."

It proved more difficult to bring the squirt cannon down than it had been to bring it up, for now it weighed a good 80 pounds more, but with a little care they managed. However, it would take a while to heat up more water and dissolve more nitrate in it: if they wanted to leave immediately, the amount they had would have to suffice.

Nephi really didn't want to go out and face the waiting horde of zombies, but knew that they would soon be finding a way in if the group didn't.  He looked at the others, rapier drawn, and said "Well, how are we going to do this?  We need a plan, and quick."

  "Well" said Hector as he rubbed a sore spot in the small of his back for carrying the blasted water tank, "once they're done making this damn thing a full metric ton, instead of just a short ton, Geoff, Monica, and I are going out there to do a little water blasting complimented by a little shotgun action. Once we yell a little 'all clear' rest of you run out to start the cars; making sure to drive one as close to the front door as possible, so Geoff and I don't completely cripple ourselves loading this bastard on."

"That sounds reasonable..." Karen remarks as she waits for the others to prepare, not much for her to do now since everything has been decided, all she can do now is try to not killed eaten alive and help the others do the same.

Geoff checked the load of his pistol and got ready, "Ready when you are."

"Filling up the tank would take" *BANG* "at least another hour, and then it will be dark outside." *BANG* While the zombies kept banging no the walls, door, and windows, Tony shouldered his backpack and rifle, leaving the now-empty briefcase. "We'll have to take our chances with what we have."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:23, Mon 19 Oct 2009.

"The sprayer and all it's gear will have to go with the Reverend.  The cruiser and my car can't take it."

"That makes sense Nephi," Geoff agreed, "OK, Monica, when we move out, we should have Hector and the others lead, they're faster and can respond more flexibly than we can. Then we'll follow, Monica first, then Karen and I'll bring up the rear, we'll use the sprayer to try to hold off the crowd whilst the others get the vehicles. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good to me, big guy." Monica followed the rest of them downstairs.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:49, Wed 21 Oct 2009.

Nephi took a moment, as he knelt down with his drawn rapier, to pray to the Lord for His help, protection and guidence.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:45, Tue 20 Oct 2009.

Limbering up, Karen stretched out as they wait for the moment of truth to occur. Please, let us all make it through this right now... She thought quietly to herself almost like a prayer to God.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:23, Thu 22 Oct 2009.

Monica positioned herself behind her best friend Jane. "Ready when you are, Eddie."

Nephi stood, and got his keys out of his pocket.  He held them out to Karen and said "When we get to my car, could you drive it to the RV?  It'd save us some time."  He then took up a position next to Karen and gave a little smile.  "Don't worry.  The Lord is watching over us."

Taking the keys and holding them tightly Karen nods and smiles as she replies, "That's very comforting Nephi, especially coming from you." She says daring to lean in close to the young miracle worker, and if she even thought she saw the signal to give Nephi a kiss, and if she misread a peck on the cheek.

Nephi turned his head towards Karen, just in time for her lips to meet his.  His face turned bright red at the unaccustomed contact, and he quickly turned away, stuttering incoherently.

"How does this sound?" Geoff said, "As soon as we get out and shut the door behind us, we move slowly toward the cars using the sprayer to hold off the zombies. Once we're at the cars, we can see how the mob is reacting. Hopefully we can hold the mob off at the cruiser and a small group can get to the RV and drive it to us. If that's a no-go, we just move slowly to the RV."

He paused for a moment, "As soon as we get out we may need to use guns to hold the zombies off until we can deploy the sprayer, after that I'd suggest we try to conserve ammunition as much as we can. OK, is that clear enough for everyone? Or does someone else have a different take on how we get out?"

Turning away just as quickly, Karen smiles softly touching her lips as she feels her heart flutter with joy, even in the middle of the chaos all around them as the dead rise to consume the flesh of the living, with the help of some kind of alien parasite ofcourse.

Nephi recovered his composure as he heard Geoff's voice going over the plan, and he added "I've already given Karen my keys to drive my car to the RV.  Your way sounds better though."

"Okay then." Nodded Eddie, recovering his shotgun. "I'll lead."

They quickly worked out a suitable marching order; Xynthia, who would be the last to follow, moved to the side of the door, ready to open it.

Then they were out. Several zombies slowly turned to look at them.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:22, Mon 26 Oct 2009.

Monica looked at the horde of zombies in front of them and caught the gaze of the zombie leader. It felt as if his eyes were burning through her soul. Her skin went pale as she broke out in a cold sweat. She stood there, staring into empty space, frozen and unable to move.

Xynthia, feeling the zombie leader's aura, gritted her teeth and swore under her breath.

"Don't look at their leader!" She yelled - somewhat too late to help Monica.

"Mon, duck down so I can get a clear shot," said Hector as he tried to get a bead on the one to Monica's left with his shotgun. "Mon......MONICA!" he then shouted to get her attention. Realizing she was frozen to the spot he then called out, "Shit....Nephi, I think we need some of that healing mojo over here!"

Grabbing Monica Karen moves her out of the way while keeping her eyes off the leader, wherever it was. "I'm certain it's just shock." Karen states as she waves Nephi over for his oppinion and help.

Nephi spared a glance at Monica, and said "Pretty sure it's shock.  I'm a little more worried about the incoming zombies though.  Snap her out of it if you can."

He then set himself, and prepared to strike the first zombie to come within reach of his blade.

Something was wrong with Monica and Geoff didn't have time to find out. He stopped manhandling the heavy boiler on its jack trolley and pulled out his Beretta.

He aimed at the first of the two zombies approaching from his side and fired at its spine. After shooting at the first zombie he switched to the second and fired again.

Releived that Nephi agreed with her, Karen turned back to carring for the stunned Monica/ "Mon, Monica hun, snap too we need you back to your old self." Karen said snapping her fingers before Monica's eye and even gently shaking her.

Allan pointed his glock at the zombie directly across from his wife, and aimed for the spine.

Geoff's bullets hit both zombies with uncanny precision. They both fell in mid-shuffle, face first, dead once again.

Allan's zombie lunged forward - and the movement brought it square in the path of a bullet that would have otherwise narrowly missed its spine. It fell to the ground in a heap.

Anton leveled his assault rifle, aiming for the nearest zombie, and released a short burst that hit in all the wrong places, missing the spine completely.

And yet, the zombie fell, and didn't seem inclined to stand again.

A moment later, a cry of outrage resounded, as the leader zombie realized the nature of the bullets Tony was carrying.

Slowly, it started toward the group, a trail of black ichor marking the spots where the deformed masses of flesh that one might have called its feet touched the ground.

"Keep moving!" Allan yelled. "Drag Monica with you if you have to, but don't stop." He took Xynthia's hand to keep her close to him as he continued to move forward.

"Do like the Rev says!" Geoff concurred, "Karen, take over the sprayer, Jane, you look after Monica."

Geoff got ready to move the heavy gear forward as the rest of the group reorganised.

"Ok, I'll do my best." Karen says manning the sprayer and aiming it at the closest zombie before giving it a good spray.

Karen, having to juggle the sprayer and the generator, lost precious seconds; taking advantage of the delay, the last remaining zombie lunged at Nephi, exposing itself mindlessly to his rapier in its hunger.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:15, Tue 03 Nov 2009.

Jane didn't lose any time trying to snap Monica out of her trance: she hauled her friend over her shoulder and started forward.

Catching the incredulous looks the others shot her, she simply commented: "Girl dates firemen, she learns a thing or two..."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:13, Tue 03 Nov 2009.

Nephi allowed a smirk to cross his face as the two zombies came within reach of his blade.  "Too easy." he said, as he struck twice...

Not wanting to spray Nephi by accident, let alone given the fact that he had handled the zombies nearest to them, Karen managed to move the gen and handle the sprayer, so far.

As the next wave of Zombies approached, Allan once again took careful aim and fired a shot at the zombie on his left.

Another bullet, another zombie. Allan's target fell backwards and did not try to move any longer.

After two lightning-fast slashes, Nephi's zombie was also dead (again) - enough for two of them in fact...

Things almost seemed to look up for our heroes, but now the ugly zombie leader was getting closer to them.

An aura of pure fear emanated from the ugly thing, which emitted piercing, blood-chilling shrieks every time one of its minions was shot down.

Like a mythological beast, the mere sight of the alien being could paralyze a man, and the effect only became stronger as the creature approached.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:54, Tue 10 Nov 2009.

As Nephi looked around, and prepared to deal with the next zombie to come in range, he happened to note the blood and gore beginning to decorate the clothes of those he was fighting beside.  His eyes widened, as he remembered something rather important.  "Karen!  I need to go home!" he said urgently.

"What?" Karen asks instantly confused by Nephi's statement.

Geoff levelled his pistol and fired at the zombie to his left. The things were like junkies, bust one and another ten scuttled out. The Beretta bucked in his hand as a bright shell spun from the gun and tinkled as it landed on the floor.

Allan sidestepped so his wife would not be in his line of fire as he aimed and fired at the next zombie.

A quick burst from Anton's AK, a thrust from Nephi's rapier, a well-placed bullet from Allan: three undead had fallen in as many seconds, but five more had come to take their place.

"We kill one, two more come up! Maybe if we kill that thing-" As he looked straight at the Zombie Leader, Tony froze in mid-step - and fell.

He broke his fall at the very last moment, narrowly avoiding hitting the pavement face-first, and scrambled to his feet. Shaking his head to clear it, he swore under his breath.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say starring directly at the zombie boss is a bad idea... which leaves one of two options. We hurry up and get out of here, or we see if the sprayer can do it's thing when fired blind."

Geoff realised that the lead zombie was going to be a major pain in the ass if they couldn't look at it directly. Time to take one for the team, buddy, he thought to himself.

He steeled his nerves and looked at the shambling monstrosity...

A white, bitter crater on a cold brown moon.

Red-hot, acidic worms, eating a high-pitched blue flower while a silent wind roars in the void.

A swarm of pink piano beer insects on cold blue white orange lemon roots pepper tree leaves green rose horse cat house car where did I put my keys coffee candy teatime are we there yet are we there yet are we there yet there's a light at the end of the tunnel...


That.


Was.


Weird.


Somehow, Geoff managed to hold his grasp to his sanity through the images (sounds? smells? whatever) that the sight of the Zombie Leader evoked, and for a moment he found himself in an island of perfect calm.

How long the respite would last, he couldn't say, but right there and then he felt better than he had in a long, long time.

Now it was the creature's turn to freeze in its tracks. Was it surprised?

Nephi looked at the Zombie Leader, secure in the knowledge that the Lord will protect him.  He felt nothing more then a slight irritation at it's cries as he prepared to strike the next zombie.  He said "At the rate we're moving, we'll have to deal with the leader.  When we get closer, let me through to deal with it, unless one of you can take it out earlier."

"I'll back you up when you make your move," Geoff said, "its power isn't affecting me for the moment. Someone'll need to take my place on the generator when we make our move."

"Monica," he said calmly, "If you want, I can direct your water cannon fire onto the leader now and you won't have to look at it. What do you think?"

His mind was racing, there was no telling how long he'd be able to resist the foul creature's powers and yet he didn't have a shot where he was.

"Mon's still a bit out of it Geoff, but yeah, you can handle the sprayer." Karen replies as she holds the sprayer with one hand, and manages the rig with the other.

"Oh hell!" screamed Hector as he bent down to pick Tony up, "If you're going to do something about the bastard, Geoff, do it fucking now!"

This message was deleted by the player at 08:05, Fri 27 Nov 2009.

"I think it will take more than bullets to vanquish the leader!" Allan yelled, as he fired another shot at the nearest zombie.

Monica shook her head, as if she was coming out of a fog. "Jane, what are you doing? Put me down!" She said, as she scrambled out of her friend's grip. Monica quickly took in the activity around her. "Jeezus, I was hopin' this had all been a dream."

She aimed her gun at where the zombie leader's spine should be, and fired off two rounds.

"Welcome back little one... Now I can join the action too." Jane grinned and went for her .45, aiming for the zombie leader.

The creature, perhaps sensing the change in the group's attitude, stopped and howled... And then the zombies began to run.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:09, Thu 10 Dec 2009.

With Hector's help, Tony managed to quickly recover from his defaillance.

Nodding a quick thanks to the cop, the young doctor steeled himself and raised his assault rifle against the Zombie Leader. A flurry of extremely weird almost-but-not-quite-images flashed in his mind, but this time he was ready, and was able to fired unimpeded.

All bullets hit the monster, but because of the creature's aura of fear Tony was unable to aim the bursts precisely, and missed the spine.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:00, Mon 14 Dec 2009.

The creature stumbled and fell, and was finally silent. Jane grinned savagely and turned to Monica to brag... And found her friend paralyzed. Again.

Muttering a string of curses under her breath, Jane once again flung Monica over her shoulder, fireman-style.

"You know..." She started - but then froze: the zombies had started to run at them.

All the zombies.

"STOP!" Xynthia's cry froze the zobie nearest to her in its tracks. The creature - the reanimated corpse of a recently-deceased bald girl, clad in a white dress that dreadfully accentuated her extreme thinnes - peered curiously at Xynthia.

"Stop dear. The Mother is very disappointed by your behavior." She continued, gently, as if talking to a child. "Come now, let's leave the unbelievers alone."

The creature was making an evident effort to think, but whatever was moving its body was not acting too effectively on its brain. Xynthia's voice, calm and persuasive, seemed to have hypnotized it.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:27, Sun 20 Dec 2009.

Nephi calmly watched the incoming zombie, it's arms outstreched to grab him, and waited for the right moment to dodge.  And stumbled.  But surprisingly, this left him in the perfect position to parry and counter.

"I think we should run for it while we can." Karen says as she notices the other zombies picking up the pace. Luckily the big daddy zombie seemed to be dead for good now, but the other only seemed madder, if that was even physically possible.

Tony, Betty, Eddie: overwhelmed the zombies that jumped at them. Jane: busy carrying Monica. Xynthia: keeping a zombie in her thrall. All of them incapacitated for all practical purposes.

Then, when the group was already reduced to half strength, more and more zombies were starting to appear.

Suddenly, Karen's suggestion had begun to seem most sensible. Still, running now would mean abandoning the fallen members...

Grabbing the sprayer, Karen turns the nozzle to the nearest zombie and prays there's still enough pressure to fire as she squeezes the trigger.

"Hector," Geoff yelled, "get Monica and Jane to the car, we'll cover you. Get back to us as soon as you can."

He twisted around, his gun in both hands and said to Karen, "Let's move back slowly, once the sprayer is out, run for the car, I'll cover you for the count of three then I'm after you."

"Sounds as good a plan as I've heard all week." Karen replies as she aims the sprayer at the nearest zombie and sprays away.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:22, Sat 26 Dec 2009.

^{(Deleted by the GM)}
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:51, Sun 18 July 2010.

"Not good." Nephi muttered as he saw most of the people on the left get overwhelmed.  "And Karen has my keys.  Can't do a thing with a car without the keys."

He made a decision, praying that Karen would be safe while he acted, and moved, aiming to free his downed comrades before it was too late for them.  As he did, he yelled out "Reverend!  Get moving before we're swarmed!"

Allan felt a familiar wave of nausea. His wife was risking what was left of her sanity to protect them. "Xynthia don't..." He muttered as he averted his gaze. Allan knew better than to look at her in that moment. "Just run to the cars, I'll take care of it." He sidestepped around his wife to get a clear view of the zombie Xynthia had enthralled. Not wanting to take the time to aim his gun, he gestured at the creature and yelled, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:40, Sun 18 July 2010.

Nephi's strike swiftly downed hos two targets. The last zombie, however, while impaling itself on Nephi;s rapier got close enough to grab his hand: the protruding bones, hard and sharp, pierced through Nephi's uniform's sleeve and slashed his wrist.

The would was not life-threatening, but it was painful, and it made it difficult to hold his sword. Furthermore, the dark trail left on Nephi's sleeve by the creature's hands suggested that whatever was on the creature's fingers wasn't healthy.

The dead young girl that was gazing adoringly at Xynthia turned to look at Allan. The air seemed to shiver, and the creature dropped dead - again.

Nephi yelled in pain as the dying (again) zombie wounded him.  He knew that the Lord could easily Heal the wound, but the required prayers would leave him open to further attack.  He made his decision as he used his left hand to steady his rapier, keep fighting until safety is reached, then Heal.

Xynthia looked at her husband, and a voice spoke in his head: TAKE THEM AWAY FOOL! SHE WILL BE SAFE WITH ME!

The Reverend had never heard a spider talk, but he was pretty sure that voice was what one would sound like.

"Bring them to safety! There's no time left!"

The look in her eyes was sad and sweet: "I'll be OK. I promise. I'll come back to you."

She raised her hand to touch his face, thought better of it, and then, suddenly, MOVED. She was fast, much faster than a person who was just walking had the right to be, like someone out of a sped-up old movie.

Like a butterfly, like a cat, like a bird, like a dream, she danced over the grass, reached the fallen zombie leader and touched it. As she did, several zombies turned to look at her. She beckoned them with her head, and suddenly around the group an empty circle was forming.

It wouldn't last long, but the zombies who were running at them were far enough that they now had a chance to get to the cars without fighting over every inch of ground.

Tony knew now why it had taken him a while to realize it: the smell of rotting bodies was so strong that it was impossible to tell what was beneath it.

Looking at the fallen zombie leader, however, there could be no mistake: the body was already surrounded by a thin mist. Once one knew what to look for, it was clear that the other fallen zombies were surrounded by it too, albeit to a much lesser extent.

The mist was pooling slowly on the ground, unaffected by the wind. Tony felt a sudden cold on his leg, and realize that his foot, next to a fallen zombie, was in a pool of mist.

He tried to shout a warning, but failed. He tried again, and this time one word came out: "POISON!"

Dropping the sprayer Karen turned to follow the others as they moved toward the cars until Anton mentioned something about poison. "What poison? Either way lets go while we still can." She said as she moved to Nephi's side noticing the wound before asking, "You ok Nephi?"

Betty, a bewildered look on her face, was still watching Xynthia. There was something alien about the way she moved, and she couldn't look at her face without feeling a sense of dread

When Tony spoke, she turned to look at him, and inadvertently took a step back, tripping over a fallen zombie. Her legs suddenly began to feel cold.

Nephi was grateful for Karen's concern, but said as he quickly moved to the cars "Don't worry about it.  It hurts a bit, but with the Lord's Blessing it'll be fine.  I'll just need to get somewhere peaceful for a minute.  Are you okay to drive?"

Geoff pulled back with the others until they reached the cars, "OK," he said, "let's get in and get the hell out of Dodge."

Eddie quickly bent over to help Betty back on her feet, but he soon realized that the girl could barely stand up: "What happened? Are you hurt?"

"Don't... Touch the bodies." Tony finally managed to say: "They are poisonous."

"I can't hold them much longer. You have to move now." Xynthia's voice was extremely clear, especially considering her mouth wasn't moving.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:56, Sun 18 July 2010.

Eddie scooped up Betty, but he immediately realized he wasn't going to run anywhere carrying her, and Tony seemed to have problems standing as well. "We won't reach the cars like this!"

"I can make them ignore the Touched ones... Those who where poisoned. As long as there are Unfaithful... Other people around." Xynthia's voice was strained, and she was evidently struggling to find the words. "Two of you take them back to the house. The others will act as a diversion. Once the cars are gone, we'll follow them. You can leave the house then. It's the best I can..."

She stopped and all the zombies shivered for a moment. "Go..."

"Hector! You take the doctor. Everyone else, to the cars. Move! Move! Move!"

"Xynthia..." Allan started to take a step toward his wife, but knew there was nothing he could do for her now except heed her wishes and save the others. He quickly turned away, afraid that if he took the time to think about it, he would change his mind and get them all killed.

He ran up next to Jane, who was still carrying the catatonic Monica. "Get her to the Unicat, I'll cover you!" He pointed to a large vehicle that looked more like a cross between a tank and a garbage truck than it did an RV.

This message was last edited by the GM at 22:40, Sun 18 July 2010.

"I should be." Karen replies to Nephi's question about her ability to drive. "Lets go, we don't have any more time to lose." She adds making sure Nephi's keys were still in her pocket before grabbing his hand and leading them in the direction of his car.

Hector shot a glance at Jane (or, more accurately, at Monica), and for a moment he seemed on the verge of refusing, but that would have gotten them all killed, and he knew it. Gritting his teeth, he helped the doctor toward the house.

The group split, four moving slowly back, the rest running for the vehicles.

A few seconds later, the zombies started following the latter group, quickly picking up speed.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:48, Sun 18 July 2010.

Geoff backed up to the vehicles, covering the others whilst he could. He made sure that the others were all in the vehicles safely before getting in himself and closing the door behind him.

As he reached his car, Nephi yelled out a reminder to those going to the Unicat "Let us lead!  I need to go home and pick up a few things!"

By the time Jane reached the Unicat, a zombie was there to greet her. Short on time and patience, and still carrying Monica over her shoulder, she simply swept at the creature, which fell in a pile.

"Got it Nephi!" She yelled back, and then almost tripped and fell over: the leg that had kicked the zombie was going numb.

With Allan's help, she and Monica got into the Unicat, and finally the group drove away, following Nephi's lead.

Ed watched the cars leave through the window. Luckily the Reverend's scary had somehow kept her promise to keep the zombies away from them, and the good doctor had once again let them into his house.

And now they were stuck there.

Anton and Betty were conscious, but feeling sick.

Hector was keeping to himself, and shooting him icy looks.

And of course Doc S and his wife were not really happy to have them as their guests once again.

Yeah, that was gonna be fun.