Chris K

"Still the same as before," Sid says. She doesn't turn to look at Chris K, instead focusing on the outside with rapt attention. "The dogs are still waiting out there. I don't see anything else except, like, birds and squirrels and stuff, I guess."

Vivian has transitioned to a sitting position on the floor where she can watch Rose. She has her back against a magazine rack and arms crossed over her knees, holding her pistol in one hand with her index finger resting on the slide.

"I'm fine," she says, looking up at Chris K, but now that the adrenaline has worn off, it's clear she's feeling her injuries. Her face is pale and there is a sense of fatigue about her. After a moment, she gestures to Rose. "She's...she hasn't changed."

The door is silent. Testing the knob reveals that it is unlocked.

Chris looks at Vivian "keep an eye on this door, in case its not me that comes out, ok."

He nods at there, and then slings his M4 behind him, switching to his Glock for close quarters. He checks to see if the door has an automatic closing device. If it does, he swings the door open wide and holds it open with his foot, then crouches down into a kneel and looks
into the interior, his weapon up and ready

Chris K

The door does not seem to have an automatic closing device, or if it did, it does not function without electricity. The door opens wide and stays wide, bouncing gently off of the opposite wall. The back room contains a modest desk cluttered with papers under a cork bulletin board, plus boxes of merchandise yet to go out to the shelves. Two doors are set into one wall, marked with male and female bathroom signs; from what Chris K can remember of the building's size, they must be unusually large for simple bathrooms. This room would never have been large, even if empty, but the boxes of merchandise make it feel particularly cramped and claustrophobic.

Chris pauses to listen again, as well as to try and read any markings on the boxes to make out what they are. if he hears nothing he moves to the nearest door and listen at it, being careful to be quiet (I assume, there is no litter on the floor here?

08:54, Today: Chris K rolled 24 using 2d10+5.  Listening at nearest door.

08:54, Today: Chris K rolled 24 using 2d10+5.  Listening at entrance Per + Int/2 = 5.

Chris K

The boxes contain the same merchandise as Chris K saw on the shelves and floor of the customer-accessible section of the store. They boxes themselves are varied, but don't seem to contain anything surprising. At least this merchandise hasn't been stepped on or kicked around; indeed, the floor is clean.

Chris K listens at the door with the male sign. As far as he can tell, it is silent.

Chris will look to see if there is any obvious sign of a first aid kit in this area, if there is he will grab this and take it back out to Vivian. If not he will open the door to the male toilets, and have a check inside. He will look under the door of any stalls, and make sure any ways out/in are secure as well as check for a first aid kit.

Chris K

Chris K does not even need to enter the other rooms; tucked under the desk with the corkboard is another first aid kit, though both the kit and the space around it is covered with an undisturbed layer of dust that is months thick at least. As he takes it back out to Vivian, he finds the women pretty much as they were before. Sid has moved to another part of the window, while Vivian has switched to a more comfortable sitting position. Rose might have moved her arms, but Chris K can't be sure.

Vivian gives a small wave when Chris K enters the room. "Find anything?"

Chris shuts the door behind him and holds up the first aid kit.

Moving over to Vivian he tries to patch up her wounds using it, before treating himself

"How is Rose" he asks as he works

ooc
08:40, Today: Chris K rolled 25 using 2d10+5.  PE + In = First aid


08:40, Today: Chris K rolled 14 using 2d10+5.  PE + In = First aid on self.

Chris K

"Rose is..." Vivian pauses, glancing at Rose's prone form. "She hasn't changed. Or, I haven't seen any change, anyway."

She slips off her jacket so Chris K can provide first aid. "How about you? How are you holding up?"

Chris cleans up the wound as best he can, and covers it with a sterile dressing with a bandage over the to[, and then does the same to his wound. As he does so he talks to Vivian, and Sid

"Hey Sid how we doing out front?"

In answer to Vivian he says "I'm ok - sorry for ROse and you, and hell, even me, that I underestimated the threat from the dogs. I didn't think theyd go for us that badly. But I guess a lot of their normal food is scarce. And theyre obviously fussy enough to avoid walkers. I just hope ROse can make it till we can get help."

At this point he pauses "Something for us to seriously consider is heading back to the others - we know they have a medic. Whether they would help us or just open up on us is up for grabs. But otherwise, her chances aren't good. I don't know enough to fix her up, and the chances of finding someone else who can are slim."

ooc

22:45, Today: Chris K rolled 4 using 2d4.  Chris.

22:45, Today: Chris K rolled 5 using 2d4.  Vivian. - is there any bonus for rolling a Double 10??

Chris K

"I think the dogs are getting bored," Sid says. After a moment, she looks over at Chris K. "You know, I was thinking, dogs are, like, just wolves with some breeding, right? So they probably still know how to hunt in packs and stuff. Except, wolves are scared of humans, but dogs aren't, so that makes them even more dangerous."

She looks back out the window. "Not dangerous enough to deal with guns, though."

"I don't think we can go back," Vivian says gravely. "We stole food on the way out, and we know how Malcolm and the others feel about people stealing from them. You heard what Lawrence said in Milton.

"We've already bandaged Rose up. She's just lost too much blood. Diana's not carrying around blood bags with her...I think."

"Wait..." Sid looks over, her eyes brightening. "Blood transfusion isn't that hard. They used to do it in ancient China with bamboo shoots!"

"How do you know that?" Vivian asks dubiously.

"It was on TV! But, like, an educational show!" Sid stands up, clenching her fists in determination. "We just need to find the right supplies, like, tubes or something, and we can give her our blood! There's got to be something we can use in the next town!"

Chris nodded at Vivian "I agree, but I wanted to let you guys consider it as an option." AS Sid speaks Chris sits back on his haunches and looks at her, somewhat dubiously.

He packs up whats left of the med kit, and hands it to Vivian "I'm not sure about that, but if we don't come up with anything better I think we can try that. But maybe we should look for like a saline drip or something first and try for that? But good to see your thinking Sid" HE stands up carefully, wincing slightly at his leg.

"We should check this place out though before we move on, and we need to fuel up, so, Sid - can you keep watch, and Vivian - keep an eye on ROse, but see what you can salvage from this mess in here. I'll go out back and finish checking it out. ok?"

Assuming all is ok, Chris will head out back and cautiously check out the ladies toilets, and also to see if there is any other way out of here. Once hes happy that the place is clear, and the ways out, he'll start checking through the boxed merchandise for anything usueable.

Chris K

Sid looks disappointed and clearly wants to say something, but bites her tongue. Vivian is also silent, but shoots Chris K a thankful look before she starts digging around in the spilled merchandise.

The women's washroom turns out to be a small locker room, though it includes a toilet stall as well. It has a small window near the ceiling, but it's clearly only there to allow natural light; he'd have to grab the edge and do a pull-up just to see outside, let alone use it as an exit. The men's room is identical, except one locker is sealed with a combination lock.

The back room has a large rolling door, most likely intended for trucks dropping off merchandise. It is currently closed, but can be unlocked and opened from the inside. Much of the boxed merchandise is usable, depending on what Chris K wants to use it for - sugary and fatty snacks, magazines, cigarette lighters, cigarettes, roadmaps, and other supplies one would expect to find sold in highway convenience stores.

Chris rummages through the finds and takes an armful of snacks, a road map, a couple of lighters with a couple of papers magazines to everyone, as well as looking for anything to drink. he'll also search the desks and lockers as well as any cupboards for anything useful - even checking the stalls int he toilets for any toilet paper.

As he gives Sid and Vivian the items he advises them to eat some now, but save some for later, that the road map each is in case they get split up, and the magaziines/paper are as kindling.

ooc
Not sure what you might find in roadside stores in the US, and not sure how big a road this is, but depending on where you are in the UK, then things vary.

I think Interstates are similar to our Motorways, but not sure about other roads.

For example on Motorways, the shops sell all sorts of weird and wonderful things, which vary by season - summer you find picnic blankets and chairs, in winter it might be low temperature screen wash and snow shovels, so is there anything like that here?

Hers a couple of rolls, just in case

08:39, Today: Chris K rolled 21 using 2d10+5.  Scav 2.

08:39, Today: Chris K rolled 14 using 2d10+5.  Scav 1.

Chris K

Chris K has his selection of candy and other snacks. None of it is likely to provide much nutritional value, but at least it will provide the energy to keep him and the others going. Fortunately, non-perishable drinks like soda are not kept in the formerly-refrigerated sections of the storeroom, so he doesn't need to brave the stench of long-spoiled milk and juice to get something to drink. There are plenty of roadmaps, hundreds of lighters, and more magazines than even the truck could carry. The locker rooms contain toilet paper and, unexpectedly, bar soap, while the desk has some pens, pencils, and now-irrelevant papers regarding budgets, time schedules, and the like.

There is no cold-weather gear such as antifreeze or snow shovels. It's possible the station may have stocked such things in the winter months, but even then it's unlikely they'd have been big sellers this far south. There are no picnic baskets or transportable chairs or anything of the sort, but there is a stock of folding umbrellas and leather driving gloves.

Heading out to the others, he finds that Vivian has also gathered up a lot of snacks, a few cigarette lighters, a road map, and - judging from the even greater stench - even braved the walls of fridges to gather some soda of her own. When Sid sees Chris K bring out soda, however, she suggests that they stock up - they'll need more water than anything else, and they can store plenty of it in the truck bed.

Chris nods at Sid and agrees "Good thinking Sid, I'll pull out all I can from back. We should all eat and drink some whilst were here. Hows things out front?".

As well as the other items, Chris takes some driving gloves for protection, and suggests the others do the same, and also half a dozen umbrellas. Sunshades or rainproofing, either way they could be useful. He checks on Rose with Vivian, before spending time to bring out all the snacks and drinks he can find, and piling them near the door - preferably in boxes, and if he needs to dump out other things to do that, he will. He eats a few snacks and drinks some soda as he works. He'll also check if the water is running. If it is#, and looks clear he'll fill up his water bottle, and suggest they dump out some of the bigger soda bottles and fill up with water.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:07, Fri 18 June 2021.

Chris K

"Still pretty much the same," Sid says. "I think the dogs are getting bored. Nothing else has showed up."

Vivian hasn't changed much, but Rose seems more cognizant than before. As he comes close, her eyes follow him, and she acknowledges any attempts to communicate with slight movements or facial expressions. She does not speak, however.

Most everything in the back of the rest station is still stored in boxes, presumably direct from the producer. The total stock of the building is far more than even the truck can carry, and to get an even supply of every snack and preserved drink, Chris K has to switch out some supplies in the boxes for some others. The snacks and drinks Chris K eats are a welcome supply of calories after the hard work and weeks of post-apocalypse, but he can already tell his body won't appreciate it if he's forced to live on them exclusively.

The water is not running. The store does have some bottled water, but it's the minority compared to the sugary (and aspartamey) soft drinks.

Chris makes sure he collects all the water he can find, and piles it with the other supplies near the door. He tries to get Rose to drink a little water, before looking around to see if there is anything in there they could improvise a stretcher from

Chris K

Collecting the water is easy enough, as the boxes in the back are clearly marked with their contents. Improvising a stretcher is much harder. The store caters towards quick, convenient purchases, and sells nothing large enough - such as clothing - to serve as an easy stretcher. With some work, Chris K and the others may be able to clear a wooden pallet in the storeroom, but that won't be large enough to fit Rose's entire body.

Preparing a stretcher for Rose's trip to the truck may also be of little benefit. The truck isn't large enough for her to remain lying down unless she lies in the open truck bed as they drive. Her wounds are bandaged enough that she can probably survive the trip to the truck's rear seats without a stretcher.

Chris looks out the window to see how the dogs are doing, and for a sign of any Zeds, after the supplies have been piled by the door.. He grimaces at Sid and gives her some water to drink, before taking three bottles and heading over to Vivian and Rose. He gives one to Vivian and says "Drink some of that, we've all lost blood and need to stat replacing it." He drinks himself, watching as Vivian takes some before saying "Ok. You need to finish that bottle soon. Lets see if we can get ROse sat up and get her to drink some too."

With Vivians help he carefuly tries to sit Rose up and offers her some water "Hi Rose. Pretty bad morning, you need to try and drink some water - can you do that?"

Chris K

Sid is too focused on the other side of the window to catch Chris K's grimace, but is able to grab the water bottle with her peripheral vision. True to her words, the dogs are still outside but look unexcited, while there are no sign of any walkers.

"Thanks," says Vivian as she takes the bottle, uncapping it. She stats with a sip, but seemingly almost involuntarily, turns the entire bottle upside down, chugging its contents in one go. Afterwards, she looks both relieved and surprised at herself.

Chris K and Vivian get Rose up safely. She doesn't speak, but she nods weakly, making eye contact with Chris K. While she needs someone else to hold the water bottle and thus can't control the pace, she seems even more desperate for water than Vivian, gulping it as quickly as possible. She doesn't even look relieved when she's finished, just eager for more.

Chris says to Vivian "You help Rose stay up, I'll get you both some more water." He moves off and lets them drink another bottle each, while he thinks about things"

"OK, we need to get back in the van, but I think as soon as we move outside, those dogs will be at us again. So we need to try and find a way to scare them off, which won't attract walkers. Then we can load the supplies into the van, and try and refuel here."

ooc
In the office, were there any manuals about eg how to operate the pumps in a power cut?

Chris K

Rose drinks down the second bottle of water, while Vivian holds on to hers for the moment.

"We could just shoot them," Vivian says quietly. "They're already scared. They'll probably back off if we kill any more. I'll go out and you can cover me. We have guns, they don't, and they've lost the element of surprise. They're just dogs."

"Why don't we wait them out?" Sid retorts. "Like, there's more food here than we can carry anyway, right? We can just sleep here until they get hungry and leave."

She glances at Rose and frowns uncomfortably. "It might be better for Rose, too."

Some investigation reveals a thin, cheaply printed and bound manual in the desk. Among other things, it describes the operating procedure for a blackout. Apparently, there's a portable, gasoline-powered generator on site that can be used to power the gas pumps.

Chris listens to both of them, before scratching his head.

"I don't think we should shoot them - we should save ammo, and also it would attract Zeds, and we still need to try fueling up. Waiting them out might work, but until they're gone we can't fuel up. I would suggest trying to scare them off with fire, but a fire at a gas station, well..." he trails off.

"I think we should wait some and see if they do move on, though theres a risk they'll attract zeds as well."

HE looks around the store

ooc
I assume the store is mainly windows, so zeds coudl see us inside if they were outside? HOw clear are the windows?

Also, is there anyway to get to the roof we saw on the way in?

Chris moves over to the door with Sid and looks at the dogs "Can you point out where they all are Sid" he asks, and tries to get sense of how near they are, and also what sort of posture they have ie alert, bored