Things Fall Apart, Part 1

Everything was a blur, Eric ran as hard as he could, his breath coming in ragged gasps that burned his chest.  Dodging left and right, Eric weaved around grasping figures.  He crashed through a yard gate, tripping over an abandoned trike.  Adrenaline and fear pushed him on, crawling along the ground until he could get back on his feet.  In blind panic Eric kept running...

At the end of the last scenario, Eric failed a received fire check and ran away.  The rest of the team is following behind - Eric is just a kid, so no way are they going to just abandon him.  They don't know where he is exactly, or what has happened, so they need to search for him.

In addition to the normal setup, I have six markers I have numbered creatively 1-6.  These will not move, and can be revealed by a figure getting to 6" away and drawing line of sight.  They have the following effects:
 
1.  Eric - Found!:  Eric is found.  His condition is determined by a d6 roll, with a +1 per other marker found; see condition chart below.
2.  Signs of Life: Signs of Eric moving through the area.  The group may take an additional activation (free turn).
3.  Pack of the Dead: A group of zombies, 3+d6 spawn in the same manner as a PEF.
4.  Feast of the Dead: 2+d6 zombies feasting for d6 turns. The first group member must pass a zed or no zed check to verify the victim is not Eric.
5.  Ambush!: roll a d6 - [1-2] 3 random gangers attack (go straight to insight checks) from nearest cover [3-6] 5+d3 zombies attack from hiding, spawning in equal numbers in melee with each living figure.
6.  Help!: 1-2 civilians being chased by 3+d3 zombies.  Civilians are Rep 3 with improvised weapons, follow normal meet and greet rules.

Eric's Condition from d6 roll:
1: Dead
2: Hurt, Infected
3: Not Hurt, Runs off
4: Hurt, not infected (considered Out of Fight for keeping it together)
5: Missing weapon, not hurt, ready to return
6-9: Okay, ready to return
10: Okay, ready to return has one random draw from resource deck
11: Okay, ready to return and has one random living person (civilian, ganger, survivor) ready to join group

The rest of the setup is normal, with 10 zombies starting on the table and 3 PEFs.  It is still afternoon of day 58, the ER is 5 and I am using the house rule that if any of the PEFs raise the ER beyond 6, it will increase the spawn chance of zombies by 1.  If doubles are rolled for initiative twice, night will begin to fall and sight distance will drop to 12" over the course of three turns.  Victory conditions for everyone is surviving and finding Eric, or whatever happened to him.  Dawn's victory conditions are the same, plus nobody else dying.  If this mission is successful, she will have a normal keep it together roll after this game, otherwise she will start on her check as a  mission failure.

Starting the search

Dawn followed the muddy footprints along the road.  A burned out house near a cemetery was on her left as the tracks faded into the pavement.  Looking around, the rest of the team paused with her.  "He must have come this way."  Dawn said, pointing towards the ruined house.  "We'll check this neighborhood."
"I hope that isn't a sign of things to come."  Tina said pointing at the cemetery.
"No need to be so grim."  Jack said, stretching his arms.  "Let's go find Eric and then head back to the house."

Moving up

The group moves up to the ruined house, getting close to the first search marker.  Tina takes two shots and misses the nearest zombie.  The shots spawn one more zombie.  The next turn starts with doubles and a random event.

Handy, but not yet!

Brenda looked across the street at the utility company shack.  "Hey that looks like it could still be pretty secure.  I bet we could hole up in there for the night if we needed to."
"Good idea."  Joyce said.  "Maybe we head there once we find Eric and then decide what to do."

The small garage is the designated safe house.  There is a PEF inside currently, but if the team gets inside, they can end the scenario once it's cleared.  When initiative is finally settled (with the survivors going first) two PEFs move in closer.

What's moving closer?

The first PEF is revealed to be 'something out there' and the ER moves to 6.  Dawn decides to kick off the search and steps out of the ruined house, revealing both the PEF and the search marker.

Dawn steps out...

Rustling from the nearby bushes drew Dawn's attention as she crossed the ruined entryway.  Shuffling along the road and dragging through the shrubs was a group of zombies.  "Not that way."  Dawn muttered, looking around the front of the house. 

The PEF is a horde of zombies

Search marker is 4

Dawn reveals the search marker, it is a 4.  I roll a 5, and we get 7 zombies in a feast.  At least I roll a 6 for number of turns, so that helps a bit.  Dawn passes the zed or no zed check, the poor victim isn't Eric at least. The feast will draw away some of the other zombies - any that come into contact with the group will join the feast.

Zombie Feast!

Dawn still has plenty of movement left, so she moves back through the ruins.  Everyone heads around the back, they will go through the cemetery.  Unfortunately, I forgot about the 'see the feast' check, which will be required for all the civilians.  Dawn and Jack are survivors, and don't have to check.  Tina and Joyce pass 2d, and are stunned for one turn.  At least they will become survivors after this!  Brenda passes 1d, ducks back and is stunned for 2 turns.  On top of all that, Dawn manages to run out of ammo as well.

What a mess

Dawn drew a bead on a nearby zombie, squeezing the trigger of her handgun only to hear a dull click.  Quickly she pulled out a new magazine, having to pull out three before she found one with rounds left.  "I'm running low!"  She yelled towards the rest of the group.

"I know how you feel."  Jack replied, stitching a burst from his SMG into a nearby zed.  "Make them all count!"  An undead woman, wearing a tattered wedding dress lurched around a tombstone and charged at Jack as he tried to aim his weapon...

The zombies move

Jack is charged by one zombie, and easily succeeds in his charge test.  firing three more shots, he kills the zombie before it can get to melee.  Something goes right...

A few more zombies appear...

A couple of zombies spawn in front of the house and in the cemetery.  The survivors win initiative the next turn.  Tina and Joyce recover from their stuns but Brenda has another turn to go and zombies moving closer.  Dawn runs back to guard her until she recovers, recovering her out of ammo by passing 1d - if she runs out again this game, she is out for good.  Tina and Joyce don't move, which means Jack pretty much stands his ground as well.  I had hoped to run through the cemetery, I'd like to get some distance between the survivors and the undead!

This doesn't seem like a safe place to hang out...

The zombies move in closer, with one getting to melee Dawn, and another charging Jack.

Here they come!

There they go!

Jack shoots the zombie charging him, killing it easily.  Dawn faces a lone zombie coming through the ruined house and chops it apart in melee.  If they can get moving, things should still turn out pretty well.

The next turn has the survivors activate, but the zombies do not.  Great!  Time to try and get moving.  Jack, Joyce and Tina split off from Brenda and Dawn, moving further into the cemetery and shooting up the zombies.

Jack and the girls shoot up the dead

More zombies keep appearing...

Brenda finally snapped out of her fear, standing up, loosing her grip on her spear.  "I'm better.  Sorry, I just never saw anything like that."  she said to Dawn, shaking off a shiver.

"No problem, but we need to get back with the rest of the group."  Dawn said, glancing towards the cemetery, the long grass hiding smaller monuments.  "We don't want to be caught alone out here."

"Let's go."  Brenda said, still a bit shaken, but determined to move forward.

They're strung out again...

The survivors go first, and Dawn and Brenda run to catch up to the others.  I'm not thinking - Brenda has to make another 'see the feast check'!  Luckily she passes 2d this time.  She is stunned, but once she recovers she will also qualify for survivor status.  At least there is a silver lining.  Jack, Dawn and Tina shoot up a few zombies, clearing the area at least a bit.

Dawn stays close to Brenda

Just short of the next search marker

 The zombies move, but don't quite make it to melee.  They do get pretty close though...

A few zombies get close

At the end of the turn, a few more zombies appear, including some rather close to the survivors.  With them strung out so far, shots from one end spawn zombies on the other end.  I know better than to be this spread out, time to group up again next turn.

More zeds appear!

The next turn the zombies activate and the survivors don't.

Oops.

To be continued...