A Stop in the Country (Part 1)

Dawn looked over at Jack, shaking her head as she saw him watching Traci checking her SMG.  Glancing at Traci, Dawn shook her head at the girl's skimpy outfit.  Clearing her throat Dawn mentioned "You don't need to wear that you know."
Traci slapped the magazine home in her SMG, holding it in her right hand and striking a pose with her left hand on her hip.  "This was one of my favorite outfits at the club.  Besides it's hot as hell, I'm not sweating my ass of like you are in all that leather you have."  Traci blew a kiss towards Jack and slung her weapon as she gathered up her backpack.  "Besides Jack doesn't seem to mind, why should you?"
Jack laughed and raised his water bottle in a toast to Traci.  "Wear whatever you want, I won't complain, especially if you want to look that good!"
Dawn shook her head.  " I don't care what you wear, I'm just saying you don't need to dress like a stripper if you don't want to."
Traci paused, looking over at Beckie who was finishing up a bottle of water from breakfast.  "Beckie told me that when we got out that club, didn't you Becks?"
"Damn, just leave me outta this."  Beckie replied.  "If we are heading to some farm, let's get going.  It's already hot and I want to get moving again."
"Good idea."  Dawn said, putting her own pack on.  "Let's go."

It is day 65, morning and the group has moved east towards Ella's farm.  The group have been hold up in a ruined building for a few days, getting to know each other and figuring out a plan to move east.  The area is rural and has an ER of 3.  Zombies will appear on a 6, and 7 zombies are active on the board to begin with.  There are three PEFs on the table as well.

As usual, I am using very tight ammo and scarce looting house rules.  These are pretty standard in my campaign now, as the time moves into months after the outbreak. It makes it tough, but it is a more survival oriented game.

From the previous game, Jack has lost his SMG.  He is now using a BAP as his main weapon, and has a pistol as a backup.  Finishing up the two new survivors, I found that Traci had a luxury item as well as her SMG.  Beyond the guns, both Beckie and Traci have improvised melee weapons as well.  The group is down to two units of food, one unit of fuel, one unit of meds and everyone except Beckie has a luxury item.  They need to find 4-5 units of fuel to keep moving east with the sedan they have.

A new day dawns!

Stepping out into the morning light, Traci walked to the front of the sedan as she scanned the road for zombies.  As everyone filled in behind her she heard Jack groan in disappointment.  Glancing back she asked "What's going on?"
"Well that's just great."  Jack said and pointed at the rear tire on the passenger side.  It was flat, the car wasn't going anywhere.  "Let's hope there's a car we grab around here."

What a start.

We start out finding the car has a flat tire and isn't going anywhere.  It still has one unit of fuel, so there's that at least.  When the turn finally starts, all three PEFs close on the group.  One gets revealed as it exits the nearby garage.

What is coming next?

As Traci stepped into the road, the door of the garage across the street slowly opened and banged shut.  She paused, looking closely for any threat from the building.  Nothing came out of the doorway and she focused on the zombie in the road ahead of her.
"That was creepy!"  Dawn said from behind her.  "Take out that zombie, we'll all cover you."

Traci takes aim

The first PEF turns out to be nothing.  Traci moves up to shoot the zombie in the road and triggers another PEF.  It turns out to be 'Something Out there' and the ER is increased to 4.  Traci fires at the zombie, and manages to run out of ammo.  What a way to start!

Dawn charges the zombie in the road

Dawn charges the lone zombie and kills it easily.  The rest of the team moves up, I want to be ready for the nearby PEF if it decides to pop out.

Ready for trouble

Beckie watched the ruined house, hearing a creaking from the upper story.  As she watched, a few loose shingles slipped from the broken roof.  A creek and scratching sound echoed from the building.  "Watch out!  Something's moving!"  Beckie yelled.  Traci worked to reload her SMG and everyone else stood ready for whatever was coming from the house.
With a loud 'CAW' a large black crow scrabbled out and flew into the summer sky.  Everyone relaxed, realizing nothing was there.
Jack laughed and gave a shrug and grinned at Traci.  "Well, sweetie, you don't need to worry about reloading for that!"
Slapping in a fresh magazine, Traci gave a smirk back at Jack.  "I think I can handle myself."
"Enough you two.  There's more zombies to deal with, pay attention!"  Dawn yelled.

The PEF moves out

The final PEF turns out to be nothing.  Whew.  Traci manages to reload, but if she runs out again this game, she is out of ammo.  they move forward, getting into position to shoot up the zombies as they stumble forward.

Moving towards the house

The next turn the zombies don't activate, so I take the chance to investigate the house.  Dawn leads the way into the ground floor, kicking open the door.  I am using a generic house layout for the interior, each room has a chance for zombies, using a draw from the risks and rewards deck.  In addition, I will roll for zombie spawns inside the house.

Dawn leads the way into the house

"Everyone, let's check the house before those zombies attack!"  Dawn yelled, jogging to the front doors and kicking them open.  The dark humid interior smelled of something rotting and the faint tang of spilled blood.  "Be careful in here!"  She added as she ducked inside.

Dawn enters the living room

Dawn heard rough shuffling from ahead as she passed a pair of recliners in the living room.  Watching ahead, Dawn saw pictures of a happy family, kids at play and a family vacationing at a beach.  She paused looking at the images of a world gone, momentarily feeling grief for a life she wouldn't have a chance at.  The door creaking open from Traci entering behind he snapped Dawn back to the present, and she moved ahead.

Dawn finds two zombies

Everyone checks the house

Dawn fires twice and misses, Traci fires and manages to kill one zombie.  The shots bring out two more zombies, and the next turn the survivors go first.  Dawn charges the zombie she missed, with Beckie and Traci shooting up the other two zombies.

More zombies appear

The zombies are put down

 With the ground floor clear (no more zombies appear from the shooting) everyone spreads out to search.  Jack manages to find some food in the kitchen.  Beckie gets lucky and finds a luxury item by matching with Carolee (she counts as an automatic match for anything in the deck).

Everyone searches

Dawn glanced out the front and saw the zombies coming closer.  "Time's up!  Let's head back out there and take care of the ones on the road."  Dawn pulled her machete and ran out the front door to attack the zombies.

Dawn charges the closest zombie

After a couple of turns, the ground floor has been searched.  I decide to head out, I want to check the vehicles and see if I can find a new ride for the group.  Dawn leads the way, with everyone else following up... eventually.

Traci takes a shot

Beckie's shotgun clears a chunk of the street

Jack watched everyone run out the front door.  Pausing as he heard gunfire, he opened the refrigerator door and pulled out the can of beer he had found earlier.  "Might as well enjoy this while I take another peek around here." he thought as he heard Dawn yelling about a last zombie.  Taking a swig, he looked through the junk from one of the drawers, hoping for something valuable.

Jack's greed keeps him in the house

Jack spends an extra turn searching the house thanks to his greed attribute.  I roll a 1 for the number of extra turns, so I am not going to worry too much.  Yet.