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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jcayer" data-source="post: 6036265" data-attributes="member: 76960">Session 3War of the Dead, Session 3, 10/23/12 After a three week hiatus, we got back to the game. We had done some email gaming while on the lifeboat. In the end, the 6 players, their 3 family member NPCs, and 8 other NPCs remained on their boat. We were missing Kris tonight, so his character was handled by Bob. After 2 weeks at sea, the survivors finally spotted land. Using the remaining fuel, they landed at the Calm Seas Marina. Looking around, they saw a couple smaller boats, a mostly empty parking lot, and a small, 2 story building. They gave Lt. Dan the binoculars and one of the two security radios they had obtained on the ship and set him as lookout. The other NPCs remained in the lifeboat. Mike took a few minutes to investigate the two boats while Bob scanned the radio stations and the other 4 guys headed for the building. Mike found very little of value, taking some rope and a couple of mop handles, hoping to fashion spears out of them. Bob managed to hear some of the Emergency Broadcasting System directing North Carolina residents to Jacksonville. The rest of the gang hit the building. After taking a quick lap to make sure there were no suprises out back, they headed in, but only for a couple minutes. Looking around, they noted a stairway up, and a door to the left. Otherwise, the room was a total disaster. It had been completely ransacked. Jeff got on the radio and reported back to the lifeboat. Waiting for the others to join them, they decided it best to open the door on the left first. Ever so cautiously, Jeff opened the door an inch wide. He placed his foot as a stop and braced it with his shoulder. Looking through the crack, the room looked like another ransacked room. Heading in, it was obvious this room had also been cleaned out. The only thing of note was a door that they assumed led to the basement. Not yet wanting to open the door, they pushed some shelving against it and headed upstairs. Once again, more of the same...a completely ransacked and looted office. Returning to the basement, Jeff and Bob cracked the door. Any hope they had that the infection had not spread to the mainland was doused as the stench of rotting flesh assaulted their senses. Jeff managed to keep his lunch in through an amazing roll. Bob on the other hand immediately vomited....then they heard it, the moan(I love making the moan sound, it really creeps my players out). Quickly closing the door, they did catch a glimpse of the first zombie and noted the gunshot wound to the chest that likely killed the person. They also believed they saw additional creatures moving in the dark. At this point, Mike and Bob went outside to see if there were basement windows. Luck was with them and after breaking a little glass with his mop handle, turned makeshift spear, Mike speared one through the head. Unfortunately, the way the body fell, it prevented any other zombies from approaching the window. The second window they approached had boxes stacked against it inside, so they could not see anything inside. A third window yielded similar results to the first, with a second dead zombie left inside. Returning to the stock room, after MUCH discussion, Joel pushed the door to the basement open, and Jeff and Bob pushed some large shelves down the stairs, smashing into the two zombies that were still on the stairs. They were plowed over and then pinned to the ground, allowing Jeff and Mike to make quick work of them with axes. Like the rest of the building, the basement was empty of anything useful. After a few minutes of debate about what to do next, they heard a single gunshot off in the distance. Bob and Mike were not interested in investigating it. Based on their previous track record of meeting people, they were very hesitant to look into it. Instead the group went to the parking lot to see about commendeering a few vehicles. A quick inspection of each showed the gas tanks had been emptied and anything of value removed. Snagging a few tire irons, some maps, some fishing gear, and other odds and ends, they moved on. They found a newspaper bin and rifled through it. They discovered a newspaper from two weeks ago with no other new publications. The paper was hastily made - a one-sheet. And on the front page was the headline: PANDEMIC STRIKES ENTIRE WORLD. Giving details of a never before seen sicknes and stating the government was setting up evacuation centers. The newspaper listed the closest evacuation center in the local area. The players compared this against their maps. Another gunshot range out. The group then decided they did not want to spend another night in the lifeboat, so they relocated all of their food stuffs(plenty of the lifeboat supplies were left), to the small building. And they heard another shot. Mike was able to identify the sound as a hunting rifle. Still unwilling to go into the woods to investigate, the group split, with Jeff, Kris, and Joel following the treeline south west and Mike, Bob, and Adam heading northeast. The southern group followed a small trail into the woods, and encountered a single zombie. They easily dispatched it and continued to explore. The northern group came to a small road that led them deeper into the forest and closer to the gunshots. Cautiously following the road, they saw a farmhouse in the distance, with a dozen dead zombies in the yard and a few more milling around. Bang, another one dropped. Ever so cautious, they decided not to investigate further and returned to the marina for an uneventful night. After more discussion about what to do, including ideas of rowing one of the 20 foot boats to Jacksonville, I decided it was time to move things along and brought Hell Furrie, Spiderbait, and the rest of the Ghost Riders to bear on the survivors. The roar of motorcycles is a hard thing to not hear, so the survivors were not surprised when 24 bikes, with 36 bikers, arrived at the Marina. A few hasty suggestions were made, such as fleeing, etc, unfortunately, the survivors ran out of time and tried to set themselves up in the 2 story building. Bob ran downstairs into the basement and scrabled to find a place to hide weapons. His eyes were drawn to the corpses that remained there. Using the hole in the chest of the first, he deposited a Glock in the first zombie's chest. He hid another Glock in the stomach of the second. Jeff hid a Glock in Lt Dan's wheelchair. Adam stepped forward as the spokesman for the group. Hell, realizing he finally found some bait for his raid on Newport, ordered the players to throw down their weapons and come out of the building. They replied with, "No." Hell was not satisfied with that response and told his guys to "Burn it down." That got a different response from the survivors and they all came out of the building, except Mike and Joel. Both were up on the second story and thought it suicide to give up their weapons. After a few back and forth comments, Hell had a couple of his guys toss grenades at the building. Having learned of the food stores that were inside, he decided burning was less of an option. Fortunately for Mike and Joel, the first grenade just missed their window, instead landing in the flowerbox just outside. After diving to the side, they both managed to avoid taking damage. The other grenade was tossed in the front door. At this point, Joel came out but Mike continued to resist. Ultimately, he slung the M16 he had over his shoulder and come out the front door, a glock in each hand, ready to fire. Cards were dealt and Spiderbait got to go first. She double tapped, hitting and shaking Mike. Adam screamed at Mike to stand down as 6 more M16s were aimed at him. Filled with frustration, Mike refused to lower his pistols, but did continue to talk. Hell then briefed them on his plan. He would take the six of them to Newport, NC. A small town about 25 miles away. They would not be armed, but instead, sent into the city to act as a distraction. So his force could hit a local mall. If they returned, they would be free to reunite with the rest of the NPCs, who would stay at the marina under Spiderbait's watchful eye. Mike still resisted giving up his weapons. In the end, Hell decided to respect Mike's nerve and told him, when they got to Newport, Mike would be given a fully loaded glock and one additional clip. Mike agreed and the survivors were loaded into a box truck. Bob requested they be permitted to keep their ship's flares, which may help with the distraction. Hell agreed. Hell was not so agreeable when the party suggested he give them a motorcycle, however. After a 30 minute ride, the door was lifted and they found themselves a mile or so outside the city. On the ride over, Adam asked for a cigarette and a lighter, which one of the bikers provided. Adam's wife complained, saying that Adam didn't smoke. Adam later explained that he didn't get a cigarette - he just got the group a fuse. It was roughly 10AM when they asked Hell were they were to rendezvous with the Ghost Riders after making the distraction. Hell told them, right here, but we aren't staying later than 2:30. The session ended with Hell reaching into his pocket and handing the characters a restaurant-style place mat map of the city and telling them to get going. This was a tough session in a couple regards. First and for most, I need to say, I was really not happy with how things with the Ghost Riders went down. I knew what Mike's reaction would be and tried really hard NOT to have Hell kill him out right as would have been the likely outcome if I'd have played it as I should have. Additionally, the players floundered at the start. With no clear goal to attain, they were distracted and took over 2.5 hours to explore the 2 story marina building and kill 4 zombies. I think they actually spent close to 20 minutes talking about how to position shelves to best block the basement door. I'm certainly part to blame here, which is why I finally moved things along by bringing the Ghost Riders in. We tentatively play again in two weeks. It's election day, so that might shift a bit.</blockquote>

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