Moving Day

Grasping hands wrapped around Mark's throat.  He could feel the breath going out of his lungs, almost like he was underwater.  Zombies shambled all around this blasted ash choked wasteland.  No matter how he struggled, the grip stayed firm, his breath leaving him gasping...
Mark woke with a start and coughed up a huge clump of phlegm.  Spitting out onto the ivory carpet of the upstairs bedroom, he could see the ruined neighborhood outside.  Smoke still billowed from the ruins of the nearby homes, a pond had formed in front of the house, covering the street near where a fire hydrant had been yesterday.  The sun was high in the sky, but the whole area had a washed out, gray look from the ash and smoke.
Everyone was starting to wake up, coughing much like Mark.  "We look horrible!  We sound horrible too..."  Dawn said as she stretched out and coughed from the smoky air.  "Looks like moving day."
"We need to talk about our plans.  Where do we go?  Who do we trust?"  Ella asked as she folded up her bedroll.  "I don't know where is going to be safe - do we try the FEMA camp?"
"I am not going there."  Mark said flatly.  "I have never heard a good thing about those setups, and think, this is everywhere." Gesturing out the window.  "I am not sure it matters where we go, we are best just taking care of ourselves."
"I'd like to go home.  See my family."  Allen said quietly.  Everyone looked at him, and could see his apprehension.  Allen hadn't heard from his wife in nearly three weeks, and news reports last week mentioned Minneapolis in ruins.  "I..."  Allen turned away and finished packing his bag.

So the group needs to decide what to do for the future.  Overall the neighborhood is a disaster, and barely livable (in a post-apocalypse sort of way, it would be fine, but not just yet) so it is time to go.  Most of the group are locals, but Allen has family in Minneapolis, which is about 300 miles away.  Regardless of what the group decides, they will need to gather their supplies, pack their SUV and leave the house they are in.

A new day dawns

For this scenario, the group needs to loot one of the remaining houses.  There need to be 2 successful searches in the garage (doesn't matter what is found) once the group returns to their house, three characters will need to work on packing and modifying the SUV for the trip.

The two new members of the group are Gene (Rep 3, SMG) and Horace (Rep 4, Shotgun and pistol).  The figure for Gene is a Wargames Factory Survivors: The Men build.  He is a pretty straight build, although I had to cut a hand/pistol down to get the SMG in his hand.

Gene, with SMG

 Horace is a Terell, Zombie Survivor from Reaper Miniatures.  He is based on a Secret Weapons "Urban Streets" beveled base.  I have quite a few of these bases, and I am big fan of their quality and look.

Horace, BAP and nightstick

The game starts in the morning, with 17 zombies on the board, 3 PEFs and an encounter rating of 4.  All the normal rules apply, although there will be no police response (even though this is day 18) zombies will spawn from noise (gunfire, running vehicle, etc) on a 5-6.

To start out, the group shot up the zombies to the east, as well as a few close ones to the west.  Mark finished one off in melee.  Most the spawned zombies appeared to the west, opposite where I wanted to go.  The group moved around the pond (which will slow movement by half) and cleared a path to the red house.

Cleared out a few

So far, so good

Time to storm the house

With an echoing click, the shotgun was empty.  "Reloading!" Horace yelled.
"I'll cover you.  Everyone else head in!" Allen said as they ran to the house.  "We'll be in once we deal with our unwelcome friends."
Mark crashed through the door, Dawn and Ella right behind him, Gene following in last.  They paused in the front room, getting themselves oriented.  "What's that?"  Ella cried out as zombies swarmed the room...

Greeting visitors in the house

Nothing is ever simple.  The group entered the house and found 7 zombies.  The group was surprised, but managed to fire, not killing a single zombie!  sigh.  It's going to be one of those days...

Hand to hand went better, with Gene killing his opponent, and Ella dropping one of hers.  Mark only knocked down the two he was facing, and Dawn knocked one down, and was evenly matched with another.

Stay Down!

Outside, Horace reloaded and he and Allen held their fire as zombies approached.
The next few rounds saw the fighting in house see-saw back and forth.  The group just couldn't kill the zombies, they just kept knocking them down.

Guarding the door

This place needs remodeling

Zombies out of the pool

Finally cleared out

Horace leveled the shotgun at a group of zombies.  The buckshot shredded through the rotting flesh and bones of the zombies, destroying the brains and dropping them to the ground.  Allen fired his pistol and dropped another zombie as it tried to grab him.  "Inside, let's get what we can and get out of here!"  He yelled.

Allen and Horace entered the house, and split up with the rest of the group to search the rooms.  Mark and Dawn went to the basement, Ella and Gene went upstairs and Allen and Horace went for the garage.  I wish I had left the SUV that was here instead of using it as a roadblock, but too late to worry about that.

Time to search

Zombies start to enter the house

More zombies close in

I played lead the zombie through the house.  The rest of the group loaded up gear in a wheelbarrow in the garage.  I treated the wheelbarrow as a shopping cart, with Allen pushing it.  Gene would open the garage door - Mark was bringing up the rear.

Zombies fill the house

I get initiative to go my way a few times, and the group moves back towards home.  Zombies slowly start following out behind them.

Get the truck ready

Once the group gets back to the truck, I roll a 4 for number of turns until ready.  Just need to hold out for a bit and the group can take off.

Shotgun kills a bunch

Just two turns left

 As the zombies closed in, Allen was yelling "Almost got it!  Blast those deadheads and get in!"  Allen slid behind the wheel as Gene hoisted the last of the supplies to the roof.

Gunfire echoed through the neighborhood as everyone fired at the zombies scattered around the house.  Bullets ripped up the decaying bodies, tumbling them into the ash covered landscape.

Firing at the zombies

Horace ran out of ammo for the shotgun, but otherwise it was a decent round of shooting.  The truck was finished, and everyone piled in.  Allen took the wheel, and the group drove out of the neighborhood.

Modified truck hitting the road

It even goes off-road!

Last view of the neighborhood.

The dead shambled through the ashes and ruins of the neighborhood.  The rumble of the SUV was swallowed by the swirling wind and clouds of ash from the ruined homes.  Allen skidded across the driveway and through the side yard.  The burned ground crunched under the wheels, and the truck lurched as he turned back onto the road.
"Last chance to take a look back."  Allen said, and paused as he was driving.  "It was good while it lasted."
"I'm going to miss that place."  Dawn replied.  "It was great!  At least until we lost power."
"And the fires.  That ash got into everything!"  Ella complained.  "Still, we were safe for a time..."
"Any port in a storm.  Cindy did a good job finding us this place."  Mark quietly said.  "Hopefully we can find another port someday..."
Allen cleared his throat.  "Well, where are we heading?"


The group finished the grab and run scenario.  It wasn't terribly difficult, although it did prove that even crossing the street during the zombie apocalypse can be dangerous.  Now the hard part is answering what to do next.

Does the group help Allen get home?  Do they try and get to a refugee camp?  How about just finding a new place to make a stand?