Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Damnation Alley (Part 2)

"I've been wandering the neighborhoods and working my way around downtown."  Blake fished out a candy bar and tore into it hungrily.  "I've seen military, police, gangs, all kinds of people drive through the freeway.  You were the first in a few days that looked like someone I might be able to hitch a ride from."
"Is there anything we should be worried about?"  Larry asked over his shoulder, swerving around a stopped car.  "I mean, besides the obvious..."
"Well, there is a check point another mile or so up the road here.  It was empty a few days ago, but they still have barricades up, you can't just fly through there."  Blake checked his pistol as they drove along the highway.  "There's been other groups besides the cops that have taken over the barricades."
"Hey are those people on that overpass?"  Dawn said, looking ahead.  "Slow down a touch, let's see what is going on."

This is the fourth road board for the group to cross, it is an off ramp and an overpass.  There are a couple of usable vehicles, in the opposite side lanes.  There is a PEF located just before the overpass.
The approach to the overpass
Entering the area

Larry guided the Hummer around a zombie, aiming to get around wrecks scattered into the roadway. "It looks like some people on the overpass."  He said, looking upwards out the windshield.
"Are they cops?"  Dawn asked looking ahead.
"Did you say cops?"  Blake yelled, turning to the front quickly.  "Get us outta here!"

The first turn, the zombies don't act, and the survivors get a free turn.  Moving forward, the group triggers the PEF.  It turns out to be 5 police officers with a SWAT van.  I decide to have the cops trying to recover a damaged police car, or recover officers from the wreck.
Police executing a recovery operation
Once the group triggers the PEF and the police are placed.  The police are 4 SWAT officers (Rep 4, Assault rifle, BAP, Baton) lead by a lieutenant (Rep 5, BAP, Nightstick) all are protected.  They are working to get to a patrol car (which I added to the road) with two officers at the car, the lieutenant at the top of the ladder, and two officers covering the group on the overpass.

The Police go right to insight checks, engaging the lone "military" Humvee.  Things are bad in town.
Low in sight checks
Police are ready to rock
Two officers with assault rifles on the overpass scored three successes, and went first (well, the same time as Anna) firing at Larry, the driver.  Each scored one hit, luckily neither scored a kill right off.  Larry is wearing the liberated body armor from earlier, so has a chance to shrug it off.  He only passes 1d, and goes out of the fight.  He passes 2d for one check, for what its worth.
Anna fires back, missing with three shots.  Now the group is in an out of control Hummer. Great...
The next shots go, with the police lieutenant starting off shooting at Dawn.  She scores two hits, one of which is a kill right off.  Dawn uses her Hard as Nails to treat it as knocked down.  She passes 2d on both of her knocked down tests, and being protected gets to carry on.  The final officer that can act fires at Anna, but misses.
Blake is out of position to shoot at anyone.  Dawn fires back at the lieutenant, scoring one hit, and a kill result right off. At least something goes right for the team.
Not a great development
Automatic gunfire erupted in the morning air, and glass splintered from the windshield of the Hummer.  Larry let out a yelp, followed by a groan, and went limp in the drivers seat.  Dawn and Anna fired at the few people they could see, trying to return fire from their attackers.  "Larry's hit!"  Dawn yelled.
"Help me move him!"  Blake yelled, yanking Larry out of the front into the back.  "Hang on!"  Blake started climbing into the front as the Hummer slammed into the wreckage of a sedan...
Crash time
Blake manages to pass 2d on a difficult test, with a -1 penalty for being in the backseat, and takes control of the Hummer as it crashes into the wreck.  The hummer plows through the wreck, knocking it aside and continuing on its way. 
The police pass their leader down checks, and continue the fight.  The group passes 2d for received fire checks and everyone stays in the fight.
Anna fires at the two officers on the street level (they return fire as well) killing one.  The return fire from the police miss, shots thudding into the Hummer.  The second officer fails his received fire check and decides to run.
 
With all the gunfire, plenty of zombies spawn...
The next turn, the survivors don't activate, the Police activate and finally the zombies.  Being in a moving vehicle, the group moves 12" (current speed) straight ahead.
Plenty of zeds, but falling behind
A lone zed on the overpass
One officer kills the zombie on the overpass, while the other tries to shoot the Hummer before it escapes.  The shots thud into the Hummer, missing Blake driving.
The police keep firing
Finally, a pair of zeds charge the Hummer, their undead drive trying to get at the humans inside.
Two zeds try to stop the Hummer...
With predictable results.
Larry gasped for breath, rolling in the back of the hummer as it swerved violently around the wrecks.  "It feels like I got hit by a car!"  He coughed and grimaced, sliding to the right as the Hummer skidded on the road.
"They stopped shooting at us."  Dawn said, looking back out the side window.  "If you're fine driving, keep going Blake."  Dawn said, changing magazines.  "Let's get some distance from those cops.  What happened back there?"
"I've seen that the past few days.  Most of the police seem to have some sort problem with the military.  They have been fighting each time I have seen them together."  Blake said.  "I have no idea what happened, but we should do our best to avoid both groups."
"No argument there."  Anna replied dryly.  "Larry are you going to be okay?"
Larry was still bent over and slumped in his seat.  "I'll be okay.  Just give me a few minutes."
Speeding away from the overpass
Road section 5 is another straightaway, with ten zombies and a couple of sedans that may be useful.  My plan is to keep going as fast as possible, but I may try and stop to search one of the cars.
Open road ahead
Larry will be out of action for this section, but back in action for the next road.  I am rolling a 2d6 check, once 2d are passed an OOF character will return for the remainder of the sections.  They have to miss at least one road session.

The team speeds in,, plowing over one zombie in the road.  They get initiative and trigger the PEF.
The team finds the PEF
Six more zombies!
Blake slowed the Hummer down, having to turn between wrecks.  "Go you bastard!"  He yelled, trying to coax the huge truck into more nimble moves.  "Hang on, this thing isn't exactly a Ferrari!"
"They're coming at the doors!"  Anna yelled as zombies started pummeling the side of the Hummer.  "Keep us moving!"  She fired at the zombies closing on the truck.

Anna fired three shots, missing unfortunately.  The zombies swarmed the Humvee, trying to get at the living inside.
Zombie Swarm!
Can they get inside?
The zombies swarm all over the Hummer, but they can't manage to get any purchase.  Blake manages to at least tie or win the charge test against all the zombies.  They are all hit by the vehicle...  
Nope.
A few more zombies stumbled into the road, attracted by the truck noise and gunfire.
A few more zeds
Blake gunned the engine, the heavy truck lurching down the road, putting distance between the survivors and the lumbering dead.  "That one is pretty close!"  He said, pointing out a zombie stumbling past a signpost.
"I'll get him."  Dawn said, aiming her pistol out the window.
One zombie close
The survivors win initiative, and speed off towards the next road section.  They don't quite make it off the board, and Dawn takes aim at the lone zed.
The team is clear
Blake pulled the Hummer to the side of the road.  The nearest zombies were far away, and this seemed the best opportunity to change up drivers again.  "Are you sure you're good?"  He asked as Larry slid into the driver's seat again.
"Yeah, still sore, but I'm good."  Larry stretched out his arms, wincing a bit in pain.  "Besides, this body armor saved me once already, if we get shot at again, it will help again."
Blake closed the rear door as he got back in the Hummer.  "As long as you're good, I'll ride."
"Let's get rolling again."  Dawn said as Larry started the truck.  
As they rolled ahead, a mile or more down the road, they could see a structure in the road.  "Looks like a roadblock ahead."  Larry said.
"We'll need to be careful.  No telling who is actually in control of it these days."  Blake said.
"I guess we'll find out."  Dawn said as the Hummer slowed its approach to the roadblock.

Road section 6 will have the major roadblock.  That is where I will pick it up next time...

There may be a bit of a delay, with the holiday weekend and family commitments...

16 comments:

  1. I really believed it was the end with so many police officers and Larry down.
    Good they made it so far. Happy Easter holiday!

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    1. Speed made a difference. Cover from the vehicle wasn't bad either. This was dangerous, I am not sure the team is up for a more difficult encounter.

      Happy Easter to you as well!

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  2. Great batrep again......keep them coming :)

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    1. Thanks! I'll try and keep them coming as soon as possible.

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  3. The encounter with the police could have gone horribly wrong. Good to see the team pulling through and surviving. Have a great Easter!

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    1. Yeah, with the automatic weapons, the high reps and the tough terrain, it was going to be touch and go. Good thing the hummer didn't wreck.

      Have a happy Easter as well!

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  4. Great continuation Steve. It almost got a little hairy with the cops, nice tension builder. Let's hope the team can keep on trucking!

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    1. They are going to need some luck, but hopefully they can persevere. We'll see what the group can do!

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  5. Wow, the police do seem to be a bit touchy, don't they?! I really thought that it was curtains for the team, with so many automatic weapons aimed at them.

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    1. I had decided on a back story for the area, and realized that nothing was really coming from it. I'm going to try and work some of it in as the group continues. Speed and cover helped out a lot!

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  6. Good aar, with the interesting twists and turns we've come to expect, but like C6 I did think it was going to go much wirse than it did.
    Excellent terrain btw ad you've now got me thinking how Iwouold do something similar.

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    1. Thanks Z!

      The roads and such are pretty much recycled hardboard and card stock. It's meant to be flexible and I want to be able to use it for many scenarios. I really should increase the length of the road sections, four feet goes by pretty quick when you can move 16" a turn!

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  7. I like the fluff about army versus police, that's a nice touch and thought provoking for me at least.

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    1. Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.

      I had decided on a 'story' for the area, and it wasn't coming through much. I'm going to try and work more elements into the scenarios as I go.

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  8. Wow that was a lucky escape. I thought the SWAT were going to have them for breakfast and at least cause some major problems for the group! Great report really enjoyed it.

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  9. The group got lucky that Blake could take over the Humvee and they didn't crash. Had I been thinking, I should have had the SWAT guys shoot at just the truck, trying to disable it. Something I will have to remember...

    Glad to hear you enjoyed the report!

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