Used Cars (Part 2)

Things were going from bad to worse...

Zombies swarm the living

Agent Carr swung his sword in a deadly arc about him.  The zombies trying to reach him suddenly found hands and arms cut off, or legs sliced out from under them.  A single cough from the agent with him told of a shot to one of the charging creatures.  Quickly, the tide turned in the agents favor.

Not surprisingly, the single agent fired and killed a charging zombie.  Agent Carr killed one and knocked over two others in the ensuing melee.  Maybe I made the agents a bit overpowered.

All in a days work

Mike swung his bag out, knocking the first zombie down.  "Take that!"  Mike cheered.  The second zombie grabbed his bag, getting tangled up in the process.  As Mike struggled with that zombie, he felt the last zombie grab him from behind.  "No...NO!"  he screamed as the zombies teeth sank into his neck and the world went dark.

I doubt anyone wanted to see Mike survive, but he did actually give a good account of himself.  He beat one zombie, but didn't kill it, managed to get to a tie with another before ultimately loosing (and being killed) by the last zed.  Treacherous git deserved it, but at least he could have taken one with him...

Mike has a chance!

No, no he doesn't.

A loud crash from flying cookware sounded in the restaurant, and Dawn pulled her machete from the head of the zombie she had just killed.  "I'm okay!  I see more coming though!"  She yelled.
Nadine struggled with the zombie attacking her, finally kicking its legs out, slamming it to the floor.  "This one is still fighting!"  She yelled.

Dawn won and killed the zombie she was fighting.  Nadine only managed to knock hers down.  Better than losing though.

One more down

Marcel and Leon fired wildly at the zombies as they charged.  Leon felt one crash into him, then felt nothing at all.
"No!  Leon!"  Marcel gutted a corpse with his knife, smacking another with butt of his pistol.  Seeing his friend die had driven him to madness.  Unfortunately he didn't see the zombie that clubbed him from behind, knocking him unconscious.  As darkness slipped over him, Marcel could see the dead reaching out for him...

Facing long odds, the gangers couldn't quite pull it off.  They managed to kill one zed during the charge, and even a couple more in melee.  One ganger was killed outright from a zombie, while the other fell OOF, which surrounded by zombies is as good as dead.

And the gang is eliminated

The agents easily clean up the zombies near the Hummer, and all of them jump in, ready to take off next turn.  I would have more pictures of this action, but there wasn't much to see...

The agents are ready to roll

"Kelly is down!  Those bastards are just leaving her on the street!"  Mark shouted.  "Everyone out there, we'll grab Kelly and get out of here!"  Mark burst through the doors and charged the zombies standing over Mike and Kelly.

Mark charges out

Everyone protects the downed members

Zombies are closing in from both sides, plus right on the other side of the building.  The team faces a choice here: they could bug out, take the loss and move on, stay behind the building and kill the zeds as they came through and around, or pick a side and try and fight through (they still need to search 3 cars to succeed at this scenario).

No guts, No glory

Mark took quick stock of the situation.  "If we wait here, they'll be all over us.  Let's go for the right side.  Dawn, you and I will hold them in the alleyway.  Nadine and Larry, carry those two and no shooting unless you have to."  Everyone looked nervous, but ready.

"I'm ready."  Dawn said "Let's go!"

Can't move too far

It may be cheating, but I know if I hang back, I can face the zombies in limited numbers.  I figure Dawn and Mark can hold off quite a few of the zombies in hand to hand.  If they get into trouble, or the numbers look too overwhelming, Larry is close with his shotgun and Nadine can grab Kelly's shotgun if needed.  I want as little shooting as possible - there's enough zombies already!

Here they come!

Dawn's machete cut a gory swath through the zombie in front of her, it's lifeless corpse pitching backwards into the street.  Looking just past the crumpled body, Dawn could see more zombies shambling towards her.  "They're still coming!"  She yelled.

Mark kicked the legs out from one zombie while smashing his bat into the head of another.  "Keep chopping them down, once we find a gap, we'll make a break for it!"

Just like chopping wood

So I have Mark and Dawn bottling up the zombies pretty well, meanwhile the gangers are helping out on the right flank.  It's kind of a final sort of help...

Zombies feast

The gangers being eaten are helping hold off the zombies on the right side.  They will be tied up for 5 turns, hopefully long enough for the group to slip away.  The next wave of zombies crash into Dawn and Mark.  I may have miscalculated a touch - the zombies get around Mark, and one crawls onto the dumpster in front of Larry.

Maybe not a great plan

Time to move

The horde is still closing in, I reverse my plan, and have the two OOF members moved back to the front of the store.  The zombies are getting close, and are going to be able to get past Mark and Dawn I fear.  I reposition Mark and Dawn, with Mark managing to kill another 2 zombies.  

Fun fact - the zombie cheerleader is seemingly invincible, as neither Dawn nor mark can kill it while it is lying on the ground.  Damn you dice!

Move back!

Dawn stomped her left foot down on the zombie's ribcage, hearing a crackling sound as she shattered bones.  Jammed on her foot, the squirming zombie clawed at her legs, its undead energy desperate to grab her and bite.  "Enough!"  She yelled and sliced through the head of former cheerleader.

Mark gave a laughing cheer.  "Finally!  I couldn't kill that one!"  Gesturing at the remaining zombies stumbling towards them he continued "Just a few more.  Go ahead shoot a couple if you can!"
Dawn nodded, pulling out a large caliber pistol.  "About damn time!"  She shifted he machete to her left hand, readying for the inevitable charge of the zombies.

Dawn accomplishes the impossible!

The survivors win initiative, and Dawn finally kills the annoying cheerleader zombie.  Rather than moving forward, I just reposition slightly, I figure this should keep the zeds from getting past.  Dawn is going to take a couple of shots when charged this turn.  There aren't too many zombies left, and I figure a couple more at this point will be no big deal.

Zombies surge forward

Zombies crashed into Mark and Dawn.  Dawn fired as they approached, watching two of them tumble to the ground and stop moving.  A third zombie slammed into her as she swung wildly with her machete. Loosing her balance, Dawn fell to the ground, seeing stars as she hit her head on the pavement.
"Dawn, watch out!"  Mark yelled, laying about him with his bat.  Zombies fell all around as Mark fought to get to Dawn.

Dawn caps two zeds

Dawn is down!

Dawn got amazingly lucky.  First she managed to kill two zombies in reaction to their charge.  Then she looses melee, but is only knocked down, and being protected, manages to carry on.  Good thing she eliminated two of the zombies before the disastrous melee.

The next turn, only one zombie appeared from Dawn's two gunshots.  It appeared out near the entrance to car lot.  The survivors win initiative, and get a free turn (the zombies don't activate) Mark finishes off the two prone zombies.  Dawn gets up, and just knocks down her zombie.  The team has managed to chew its way through the horde.  Now just a run through the car lot and they can still manage a successful scenario.

Free turn!

Dawn gets ready for round 2

Team Mark wins initiative and Mark charges the newest zombie.  Dawn finishes off her opponent, and everyone moves up.  The group of zombies continues to feast the next block over, and I decide to leave them alone.

Time to go through the car lot.

The rest of the scenario is pretty boring.  The team moves through the parked cars, searching them, but finding nothing.  Thanks to a random event, the yellow hatchback turns out to have it's keys in the ignition.  The team will have to remember that for the future...

Moving into the car lot

Searching the last car

Regrouping in the park

Allen sputtered back to consciousness.  "What...what happened?"
"You got shot man.  Luckily this vest you have stopped the worst of it."  Mark said.  "We got them, and I think we're close to your house now."  Mark offered a bottle of water to Allen.
"Thanks."  Allen took a deep drink of water.  "Is everyone okay?"  Allen was looking a Dawn, who was rubbing her right arm.  "I'd hate to get someone killed so close to home."
"I'm fine."  Said Dawn as she cleaned up her arm and checked her right ankle.  "Just a bruise."
"I can't believe Mike tried to go back to the company."  Kelly added as she massaged her side where she had been tasered.  "I should have known he was up to something, he was always complaining, and then he was so quiet as we approached that Arby's."
"Forget it."  Nadine scoffed.  "He was a weasel, and we're here and he's not."
"Well, where to next?  Larry asked.

Both Allen and Kelly recover after the battle.  Dawn passes a Harry are you okay? check (which I didn't need to do, but in the end it didn't matter), Nadine still doesn't get a rep advance,  but both her and Larry move to survivor status (having killed gangers as well as zombies) leaving just Kelly a civilian.

Next I roll the keep it together check.  The mission was a failure for Allen and Kelly (they went OOF) but it was a successful mission for everyone else.  Larry doesn't have to check from the previous mission.

Mark rolls 5 dice and gets 4 successes.  Dawn and Kelly get 2 successes on 4 dice, and Nadine gets 1 success on 3 dice.  At least those 3 won't have to check after the next mission.  Allen rolls 6 dice (modified per my house rules) and gets 5 successes.  The next mission is heading for his house, or he leaves...

"Enough screwing around.  My home is just a few blocks away.  I'm not stopping anywhere else until I go home."  Allen said firmly, standing up and checking his weapons.  "You're all welcome to come along."
"We're all with you."  Mark replied.  "Let's get you home."