Once Upon A Time in the Weird West

[doghead]

"There's about 30 maybe? I duno how many of them are... are THOSE things," says Ronald. "I saw you... heard the shots. Saw it wasn't Jack, so I rung the bells, else no one is gonna help us."

"My dad... he bought us here. We wanted to settle here until my Ma gave birth, but three days after we moved in, pickaxe Jack came... and, and ... my dad took his gun and went out...and...I don't know what happened to him!" he breaks into sobs. "Jack and his cronies... three of them. Outlaws... They want.. they want... Ma ... Jack he says they're waiting for her 'little un'," the boy starts sobbing uncontrollably.

30 is not so bad. Especially if they stand around outside like apples in a shooting pond.

"I'm sorry, Lena is your mum?"

Jianna looks a the young woman, then Ronald again. Brother and sister I would have thought. And then Jianna realises that if she was right, they are going to have to go out there and find 'Ma'. Two pregnanat woman, a young boy, a spectral hound and some zombies. What a party this is going to be.

Jianna notices what here horse is up to, and moves it away from the bible to somewhere it can't eat anything untoward.

 

[Krug]

"Yeah, she is," says Ronald, trying to look tough. By his body language, Jianna wonders if he was trying to impress her.

Outside, you can see the moving forms of the restless dead.

Lena lets out a groan. Jianna can tell she's probably going to give birth soon.

 

[doghead]

Jianna, human female

Jianna considers the boy, and his mum. She looks barely 10 years older than he does. Whatever, a problem for another day, if at all.

"I had hoped to be able to make it to the general store to get some things. But I don't think we are going to have time.

"Er, we need ... er, some cloth, water and soap, some blankets too. Actually, just grab anything that you think might help."

Jianna heads over to her horse and rummages through her saddlebags for anything fiting that description.

"Lena, you've done this before, anything else.

Jianna also pulls a box of cartridges and hands them to Ronald, along with her rifle.

"Your job is to keep the weapons loaded. My rifle is loaded, make sure yours is too. You know how to do it, don't you?"

Just to be sure, she takes back the rifle and works the action, expelling a bullet, which she catches and hands to Ronald, asking him to put it back. While he does, she reloads her pistol with bullets from her belt, then reholsters it.

"Keep an eye on the door, and the rifles near by. Keep the box in a pocket, in case you have to run. We don't want to lose them."

Jianna turns to the priest.

"When this is done, I think we will need to clean up this town a little."

ooc: I'm assuming soon means soon. If not, then Jianna would suggest they take advantage of the the fact the zombies are milling around the church and shoot a whole lot of them.

 

[silentspace]

The Priest looks relieved when Jianna starts taking matters into her own hands. He clearly is at a loss at how to deliver a child.

"30 zombies is a lot, even if we had a way to take them one at a time. But we seem safe in the church for now, and that's a huge advantage for us. Especially since Lena's about to give birth and we can't move her now."

Looking at Lena, he continues, "I would've waited until tomorrow, when we're fresh, to run out for supplies, but if we need to, we'll go now. Jianna, if you're willing, we can make a run for the general store. You go inside and grab supplies and I'll hold off the zombies at the door."

If they need to do this now, the Priest will Lay On Hands to heal his and Hammer's wounds and prepare to go outside again. I don't think Jianna or her horse were injured, right?

 

[doghead]

Jianna, human female.

"If the zombies are just going to stand around outside, then it would be something of a turkey shoot."

Jianna winces as she realises what she has just said, or more accurately, when she remembers what it is they are talking about shooting.

She looks around at what it is they have gathered so far and tries to determin if they need anything else. She glances over in Lena's way to see if the mother-to-be has anything to add.

 

[silentspace]

The Priest nods at Jianna. "Right... that's a huge advantage for us."

He searches about to see if they need to head right back out again.

 

[silentspace]

"Wait, are you saying you want to shoot them all from inside the church? Do we have enough ammo for that?"

 

[silentspace]

"My plan was to shoot any that are in the way to the store, quickly raid the store, and head back. You want to just shoot all of them from here?"

Are all 30 zombies just standing outside the church, or just the few that were there before?

 

[doghead]

Jianna, human female

"I don't think that there is any way we can save them. They have great big holes in their chests. If there was a way we could save them, I wouldn't suggest it."

Jianna rubs her temples for a moment.

"If it is the case that we can't, then the best thing we can do is ensure that they get a decent burial and their souls are free to move on."

Jianna looks the Priest in the eye.

"I have 3 dozen cartridges in that box, and 15 in the rifle. I have another dozen or so reloads for the pistol. I see no reason to fight fair. I doubt that they would give us that consideration."

 

[silentspace]

The Priest nods at Jianna again.

I think we have a misunderstanding. The Priest thinks only a few of the 30 zombies are in plain sight right outside the church - the few that they saw on the way in. He thinks the rest of the 30 zombies are not right outside the church, but somewhere else (they were hidden in various places before). His plan was to shoot any zombies that were visible and in plain sight. Then go to the general store. He assumed more zombies would appear out of whatever hiding places they had, just as they did before. If all 30 zombies have already appeared and shuffled over to just outside the church, then obviously they can shoot just them all and no more will appear when they step outside. The ammo question was prompted by Jianna's actions regarding ammo - which made the Priest think they might be low.

The Priest is always looking for a combat advantage, as shown by his past actions - tyring to take the zombies in a doorway, splitting them up, moving away, taking one at a time, flanking, whatever he can do.