Parking Lot Problems

Part two of Day One at Work.

Pamela opened the fire door at the bottom of the stairs, slamming it shut to cut off the alarm that sounded.  The morning air was bright, but the smell of smoke from somewhere was strong enough to make her worry about a fire nearby.  Sirens and the occasional thump of an explosion could be heard all around the city.

Pushing her remote, Pamela could see the lights flash on her car, in the last stall.  She also saw two zombies stumbling towards her from the street, and one lurking near the parked cars.

"Gotta go sometime..." she muttered and headed for her car.

Starting at the fire door.

Pamela ducked into the parked cars, hoping to lure the zombie into trying to crawl over the parked cars, and allow her to run by.  The tactic seemed to be working.

Three zeds close in

Around the front of the building, a crowd of panicked civilians fought off two zombies that attacked.  This caused the entire group to decide to bolt, and they ran off over the next couple of turns.  I was surprised that the panicked civilians did so well.  In retrospect, this boosted my own confidence beyond where it should have been...

Two zombies charge into the mob

Mob rules!  Zombies are knocked down.

Pamela jumped over the low stone wall, confusing the zombies, who shambled towards her as best they could.  In game turns I had two turns where I activated and the zombies did not.  The panicked mob ran off the board (ran in a random direction, which took them off board.)

Pamela got to her car, looking over the lot, she could see four zombies moving toward her.

Ducking behind a wall

Finally at the car

I had a random doubles roll of 10 (two 5's) and for this scenario I had decided a double would indicate another vehicle entering the board.  I randomized the entrance and exit goals, and randomly rolled an SUV - entering the far side, and trying to leave the near side.

Crazy driver alert!

Meanwhile, two zombies had made it to the downed driver of the wreck, and had started feasting.  This didn't matter to the game, but you can see them in the above picture.  the SUV zoomed through the intersections, ran over one zed (barely stayed on course) and shot off the board.  The vehicle rules have changed slightly from BDTZ, with vehicles moving even when not activated - this is much more realistic, and keeps them moving, as you would expect.

Pamela tried to start her car, but it wouldn't turn over.  Pamela started sweating, why wouldn't it start?  She could see the zombies getting closer, panic welling up, the wiper blades stared a clatter across the windshield, and Pamela tried again to start the car.  It wouldn't catch.  The thump at her window made her scream.  The zombies were right out side her door.

How long will a window hold out a zombie?

Things went bad, and stayed bad.  I had three turns of no activation, and then missed another starting the car roll.  The zombies proceeded to melee the car, which held up for a couple of turns, but I didn't get to activate, and they just kept hitting the car...eventually something was going to give.

Pamela watched in horror as the driver's window stared to spiderweb.  Dropping the keys she dug into her glove box - at least she had a screwdriver (improvised weapon) when the window broke.  Which it did - a spray of glass came across her and two zombies were pushing through the opening.

I ran melee with two zombies versus Pamela, seated in her car.  I improvised and reduced everyone's dice by one (the zombies were interfering with each other and Pamela was basically prone).  The dice gods gave me some hope, as Pamela held her own, knocking both down.

The next activation was a random event (I rolled 6 and 6) which turned out to be a barricade fails.  The car wouldn't stop the zombies any longer.  The next turn, Pamela didn't activate, and the zombies piled in...

Damn cheap hatchback!

Again, the dice decided to give me hope, Pamela killed one and knocked another down, and managed to get to evenly matched with the third zed.  All I needed to do was activate, disengage and run for it.  I got doubles again for activation, and an ATV entered the board.

I didn't think this was street legal

The zombies charged the ATV, and killed the driver in one shot.  It went careening down the road, and came to rest in the street.  The zombie battle continued in the car.  Pamela managed to activate, but missed the roll to disengage.  That made the situation that much worse...

Pamela fought, but felt the teeth clamp on her shoulder.  Another blow from one of the zombies sent her world spinning towards darkness.  The last thought she had was that she hoped Mark wasn't trying to come and get her...

The end of the line.

Once again, fighting zombies is dangerous.  I had several activations to start the game without the zombies activating.  That made me overconfident and I paid the price.  It was a bad string at the end, I only had one turn of activation in the last five turns, and the zombies activated four times.  Still, it's a good lesson on not getting cornered, and keeping in mind what your objective really is.

Next scenario will be Mark arriving on the scene.  Let's see if he is hero material or zero material...