Bleed It Out (Conclusion)

Dawn caught a glimpse of the gang leader jumping into the back of the Hummer.  He was too fast for her to shoot at, so she continued to fire rounds into the truck.  She could hear the occasional staccato from Jack as he sought targets for his rifle.  The thump of return fire impacting the house had faded away, Dawn felt things may be turning out better than expected.

Shades gets his SUV running

This is the continuation of the attack on the gang.  It is still day 81, morning, and the battle in the street is raging.  Dawn and Jack have managed to take down most of the gang, and now it appears the surviving gang members are trying to escape.  

Not many zombies for a zombie game...

Zombies have started to spawn, although they will not again after this turn, as the turn started with the ‘No More Zombies’ random event.  I rolled a 6 for one of the zombies during the spawning, so no more zombies from shooting.  There are still two PEFs which may be zombies, or more gang members.

Zombies appear

Mary stood on her barricade, watching the carnage unfolding around her.  She couldn’t believe poor Ned had been killed so quickly by Shades.  This day was going to be a grim one, regardless of who won.  The civilians in the camp huddled near their tents or the back walls, looking like a frightened flock of birds, ready to take flight. 

Will clutched his shotgun and hid behind the barricade.  She knew he was out of ammo, but he held out hope of reloading it someday.  Mary waved at him to move back.  “Will, stay with the others.  If people need to leave…” She was cut off by a rifle slug hitting her in the chest.  As she blacked out, Mary hoped somebody from the camp survived…

Wow.  Blurry.

The last assault rifle armed ganger has a shot at Mary, even though she is partially covered; she is still a pretty easy target.  He fires, gets a hit and knocks her Out Of the Fight.  At least she’s not dead.  The ganger is out of the line of fire from Dawn and Jack, as he is behind the second Hummer.

Shades gets moving

With a rumble and a puff of dark exhaust the Hummer Shades had jumped into fired up.  That drew Dawn and Jacks attention back to it.  Neither could see the driver, but the truck was a pretty big target anyway.  Dawn fired a burst into the truck, followed by Jack, they couldn’t seem to find anything that would break.

“Alright!” Shades yelled from the backseat.  Just back us up into that alley and we can get out of here!”

The scared driver did his best to move the lumbering vehicle backwards while crouching beneath the driver’s wheel.  The patter of bullets hitting the hood and cracking through the windshield was making him flinch and jerk the truck around.

SUV moving for the alley

The SUV shades is in manages to get moving.  He is going to have it back up into the nearby alley, so they can either drive away in cover or he can bail out and run away without getting shot by the SAW.  The first turn of movement goes well, the Hummer backs up a bit and they are on their way.

Zombies moving towards Dawn and Jack

Dawn saw the Hummer moving away, she concentrated her SAW on the front of the truck, bullets shredded the body panels, shattering a headlight and puncturing a hose that started leaking.  The Hummer accelerated, getting closer to the alley and cover.

“Keep shooting Jack!”  She yelled, sparing a glance at the other Hummer.

Jack Followed Dawn’s lead and fired into the front wheel, finally something gave and the wheel jerked and tore itself loose.  The hummer careened backwards into the Dollar store.  After a brief pause, a fireball exploded from the SUV, incinerating the wreck and everyone inside.

“Hell yeah.”  Jack said with a smirk.  “No problem.”

Jack stretched from his firing position, checking his ammo.  “Told ya we’d get ‘em.”  He smiled as he looked around.  “Hmmm.  Looks like the neighbors are out.”  Jack finally noticed the zombies closing in on the house they were using for cover.

“You take care of them.” Dawn said, shifting her position.  “I’ll try and take out the other truck.”

Truck goes BOOM!

Dawn fires at the SUV again, finally getting a good damage result versus the vehicle.  Per the rules, it flips over and explodes!  The cars in ATZ must have been all 80’s action movie leftovers.  Rolling for the impact 4 hit, both the driver and Shades are killed.  That ends that problem quickly. 

 

The situation gets...Explosive.

Dawn was surprised by the sudden fireball that bloomed out of the SUV.  She couldn’t believe the truck exploded just from her shots and slamming into the store.  She waited a moment, watching for anyone escaping the wreck.  Nobody came out.

She glanced at the last Hummer, with the gang members huddled behind it.  She figured they didn’t pose much of a threat right now.  “Let’s clear out these dead.”  She said to Jack, who was already picking off the nearby zombies.

Zombies shamble towards the final gang members

Dawn and Jack are in a pretty good position.  They have the gang tied up behind the final SUV, and with Shades out of the battle, the gang is at the mercy of the NPC reaction roll.  One zombie charges the SUV and tangles with the driver, who wins, but bails out and joins the others hiding behind the truck.

The gang has been decimated.

Quite a few zombies have closed in on Dawn and Jack, so they need to spend some time clearing out the zombies that are moving in on them.  Meanwhile, the gangers are stuck behind the SUV, one can’t recover from duck back, and neither of the others is going to step out of cover. 

Here come the dead

The zombies manage to score a turn where they activate and the gang doesn't.  It's funny how the fight between the gang and the survivors took so much attention, and now here come the zombies to clean everything up!

Dawn covers the gang while Jack takes on the zombies

Dawn turned away from the zombies gathering at the house.  Jack was taking them down as they slowly clawed up the stairs towards the pair.  Instead of concentrating on the dead, Dawn focused on the second SUV.  She started firing bursts into the truck, trying to knock it out or flush out the gang members hiding behind it.

The bursts from the automatic weapon were like a ringing dinner bell to the undead.  More shambled towards the broken house and slowly they crawled up the stairs, only to find Jack waiting for them.  Gunfire continued to ripple through the town.

Zombie snack!

One zombie manages to charge the nearest ganger.  She rolls no passes on her charge check, and the zombie wins with its one pass.  She fights as if unarmed for the first round, and looses by 1.  It takes a couple more rounds of fighting, but in the end the ganger falls to the zed.

Maybe the zombie will flush out the gangers

Janet watched as the zombie tore down Sally.  In horror, she watched as the undead clerk turned his attention towards her.  Panic took over and she ran down the street, not waiting for anyone to help.  She had to get away!

Ganger Janet runs away

The next turn the zombies activate first.  The one nearest the gangers charges the ducked back ganger, causing her to run away.  He moves on to the last ganger, armed with a rifle.  He turns and deals with the zombie easily.

Charging the rifleman...

...ends predictably.

Dawn watched the ganger run from the zombie.  She considered, momentarily, gunning her down.  Shooting someone running away, in the back just didn't sit well.  The chatter of gunfire from behind the SUV, and the dead body of the zombie flopping back into the street told her the last gang member was still there.  "I'll watch the gang.  You got the zombies?"
Jack laughed, "No problem.  You take care of business with them I got us covered back here."

Jack is charged

Jack is charged, but shoots the zombie as it tries to get to him.  He moves up afterwards and kills the next two trying to crawl up the stairs.

Jack takes out zombies

The battle is starting to wind down, and finally the last PEFs move out of their buildings.  We still don't know what one is, but the other comes out in sight of Dawn...

This PEF moves out of sight

What comes out of the store?

Dawn watched the SUV, waiting for a shot at the hidden rifleman.  She heard Jack firing behind her, trusting him to take care of the zombies while she used the SAW to finish off the gang threat.  Suddenly, the doors to the dollar store burst open and three people ran into the street.

She paused, not wanting to shoot some other survivors.  The trio were waving around with their weapons, trying to find a target.  As Dawn watched, she could tell they were talking to the rifleman.

"Jack!  More Jackals."  Dawn swung the SAW towards them.  "I got 'em."

 

Dawn spots the gangers

The PEF resolves as three more gangers.  They chose the wrong time to appear, as they are armed with pistol, machine pistol and BAP.  Dawn goes right to in sight check and opens fire.

Dawn guns down more gang members

Ducking back from the SAW

The last ganger from the trio ducks back, and next turn fails her recovery roll and runs away.  Not much support for the gang there.  The last PEF moves up through the nearby ruined house.  Jack and Dawn are ready for it - the last rifleman ganger just won't leave or attack (I keep rolling 1 pass for him, he just stays in cover!)

Dawn and Jack are ready...

Dawn turned her attention to the nearby ruins.  Both her and Jack could hear something moving in the rubble.  Her shoulder hurt from the jackhammer recoil she suffered through during the day.  The ringing in her ears nearly obscured the sounds from the ruins.
"You ready?"  Jack asked, leaning on a damaged support beam, aiming his rifle towards the oncoming sound.
 "Ready enough."  Dawn replied.

The last PEF appears

Three gangers!

Three gangers appear, armed with pistols (2 of them) and a machine pistol.  We go straight to in sight checks.  Dawn gets three successes, the gangers best is only 2.  The SAW opens up on the group...

In Sight checks

Ouch.

To be fair, Dawn only takes down two of the gangers.  Jack takes out the last ganger, who manages two shots but misses.  Not exactly a major threat.  The last rifle man decides to finally attack, moving out and triggering In sight with Dawn, which he wins!

Dawn gets 2 successes

The rifleman gets 4 successes

 Bullets thumped into the ruined house, several others buzzing the air around Dawn.  Turning quickly, Dawn saw the last rifleman had stepped out and was firing at her.  She quickly brought the SAW around, flinching from wood splinters as a bullet hit her nearby cover.

"Watch out!"  Jack yelled, unable to see the gunman.

Well, he tried.

Dawn returns fire, and gets a kill result.  The gangers on the table have been eliminated, Dawn and Jack have several OOF gangers to deal with.  They also meet the camp, again.  Time to decide if they take on the rest of the gang or try and get away.

The gang looses this round...

Dawn and Jack manage to take out the gang members on the attack.  They make contact with the camp, again.  Scoring more successes than the civilian or the last standing survivor, Will.  Dawn and Jack have to figure out what to do next.

Dawn approached the older man treating Mary's gunshot wound.  It looked like she would pull through as far as Dawn could tell.  The man looked up as Dawn stepped closer and said "Well, you've certainly made a mess of things."
"Excuse me?"  Dawn said, incredulous.
"The gang will just come back with more."  He said, wiping his hands on a towle.
Jack laughed.  "We hit them pretty good, I can't believe they'd want any more of this."
The man shook his head.  "I am Doctor Chapra, formerly of FEMA.  We've had a tense time here, but the gang has kept their bargain."  Dr. Chapra continued calmly.  "I  have had this same discussion with Mary here.  She never understood either."
Will shook his head.  "You just wanted to surrender and hope the Jackals would leave you alone."
Dawn  nodded, understanding.  "Well, Jack and I want to stay alive, so we either finish this with the gang or get moving."
Everyone looked at each other, trying to decide what to do...

I am not sure if the group continues to try and attack the gang or just get away at this point.  Dawn and Jack won't get another ambush like this, they need more people to help!  With Zomtober kicking off, I am going to take a moment to decide what course for them to take.  Any ideas?

A Simple Run (Conclusion)

Dawn attacks the feasting zombies

Dawn saw the zombies tearing at the ganger and knew he was dead.  She couldn’t stand to see the zombies feasting and ran from the car wreck she had been using as cover towards the grisly scene.  Holstering her pistol, she used her machete to finish off the zombies as well as ensure the ganger would not rise later.

Jack jogged up beside her.  “It seems the locals aren’t too happy with us.”  He gestured back at the barricades.

Dawn checked and reloaded her SMG, glancing at the woman staring at her.  “I don’t get it.  You’d think they’d be glad to have some help.”

“LEAVE!”  The woman shouted and pointed at Dawn.  “GO AWAY!” 

Dawn shrugged and pointed across the street.  “We’re going to check these buildings and then we can leave.”  She said to Jack, who nodded.

“If we can get some gas we can move on.”  He suggested, looking back at the camp.  “I still don’t get what their problem is.”

Jack catches up to Dawn

We pick up part 2 with Dawn and Jack killing the zombies that were feasting on the ganger.  They still need to search the shops nearby, they need fuel and food to continue their trip.  Dawn clears her out of ammo, getting her SMG reloaded and operational.  They move across the street to the discount store.

Dawn and Jack approach the dollar store

Peering through the broken glass doors, Dawn could see the interior of the dollar store was a tumbled mess.  “Looks looted.”  She said to Jack as she pulled open the door and they entered.

Sunlight from the street illuminated the interior and the crunch of broken glass gave away their movement as they entered the shop.  Displays were knocked over and piles of boxes and clothes littered the floors.  A turned over display blocked the center of the store, and as they approached it, a young black woman stood up, holding a sub-machine gun at the ready.

“That’s far enough.”  She said.  “You’d best be getting back in camp.  When the boss hears about this, he’ll be pissed enough.  Maybe if you get back in there, he’ll let some of you live.”  She sneered as she spoke.

“What the hell do you mean?”  Jack said, his own weapon at the ready.  “We’re just trying to get back to our friends east of here.”

The young gang member laughed.  “You’re not even from here?  Yeah, right.  Nobody is on the road these days, I bet you’re from the school camp, out making trouble.”  She lifted her SMG to aim.  “Maybe I should shoot you now…”

A lone ganger

Checking the building, they find a lone ganger.  The meet and greet goes to Dawn, she scores more successes than the ganger.  We don’t learn much more, but I decide Dawn isn’t going to leave a ganger who is threatening to kill a bunch of people alone, and we go to in sight checks.

Jack fires and knocks the ganger out of the fight.  They take her SMG and search the store and find nothing.  Time to move to the next shop.

Checking out the liquor store

Checking the liquor store, Dawn and Jack find the building empty.  Searching yields nothing of value.  This is starting to look like an empty town.

The store is empty

There is a small tanker truck on the street, it is inoperable, out of fuel.  The tank on the back was most likely water or heating fuel (it’s a small truck) but still worth checking out.

Old Tanker truck

Jack stood looking at the small tanker truck, sitting on the sidewalk.  Bullet holes pockmarked the tank and the cab.  Shaking his head Jack checked the valves, getting nothing from opening them.  “Looks like a bust again.”  He said as dawn hopped down from the cab.

“Yeah, the cab is empty too.”  Dawn shrugged and pointed across the street.  “Let’s check the rescue truck, it looks like it’s in rough shape, but maybe there is something useful.”

A ruined rescue vehicle

Checking the truck as they cross the street, they find nothing of value.  It is out of fuel, so no point wasting any more time with it.  Dawn and Jack continue to the gas station.

Jack closed the utility cover with a clunk.  “I can’t believe there isn’t anything on these trucks.”

“Well, they did say some gang was around here.”  Dawn replied, gesturing to the camp.  She shook her head when she saw Mary still standing at the barricade, bow ready.  “They probably stripped this place clean.”

Jack sighed and scratched his chin.  “If that’s the case, there won’t even be a scrap left at this place.”  Moving forward with his SMG at the ready he continued “Never know ‘til ya try!”

As they walked towards the pumps, Dawn stopped, looking at the pearly white sedan parked at the gas pump.  It was in good condition, barely any dirt on the white paint.  Looking at the rear, it had a dealer name where the rear license plate should have been.  “Well this seems odd.”  Dawn said, looking around.

“Hey, alright!”  Jack said flashing a thumb’s up.  “About time we get some luck!”

Finding a car with gas

Moving to the gas station, the pair check the car parked at the pumps.  I check and it has gas (4 units – the most you can find) and the keys!  Did someone just leave this here?  It never fails to amaze me how the randomness of the dice rolls create things sometimes.

Not much left to do – time to check the gas station.

Checking the gas station

“We’re going to go at the ready.”  Dawn said, checking her SMG and stretching out her arms as she and Jack stood by the brand new Buick.  “I have to think whoever left this car here is inside looking for whatever else might be left.”

Jack nodded, checking his own weapon.  “Makes sense.  I can’t believe anyone would just leave a new car and gas just sitting.”  Cracking his back with a twist, Jack added “Let’s do this.”

Dawn and Jack plunged through the doors of the station, a small bell tinkling as they entered.  Holding their weapons at the ready, they startled a young man rummaging through some boxes at the counter.  He quickly held up his hands, not even trying to raise the shotgun he had slung.

“Don’t shoot!  I’m no threat!”  He yelled, panic edging his voice.

“Who are you?”  Dawn asked, not relaxing.

“I’m Will.”  He gestured slowly towards the camp barricades.  “From the City Park Camp over there.”

“We’re moving east, towards some friends.”  Dawn said, easing her weapon down.  “You’re welcome to come along.”

Will shook his head.  “I appreciate it, but my home is here.  Besides, you have plenty of trouble ahead of you.  The Jackals are a big gang and they do not forgive.”

Jack snorted a short laugh.  “Nothing we can’t handle.  Hell we’ve been on the road since Minneapolis.  Roads are rough, but if we keep moving we’ll be fine.”

Dawn nodded.  “I doubt any of that gang wants to bother trying to chase us down.”

Will shook his head slowly.  “Those guys you shot are just a few of the Jackals.  They are going to chase you down and kill you.  They have plenty of military hardware, and I’ve seen it happen.”

“What do you mean?”  Jack asked, his grin slowly fading.

“A dozen men attacked our camp two weeks ago.  We did what we were told to do by the Jackals - we gave up everything the raiders demanded, but within an hour or so, more than twenty Jackals showed up.  It didn’t take long for the Jackals to win, they shot a few of the raiders and took a few prisoner.  The others fled, but the Jackals chased them all down and dragged their bodies back in front of us.  We didn’t get the food back, and what they managed to do during that hour…”  Will shook his head.

Dawn nodded, looking out the window.  “So you’re saying they are already coming here to kill us?”

“I’m sure of it.”  Will said.  “Mary should have invited you in and kept you until the gang showed up.  That’s what we’re told to do, until the Jackals can show up.  If you go now, the Jackals will chase you down.”

A long silence followed, as Dawn and Jack exchanged glances.  Dawn slowly shrugged, looking around the gas station she asked “Well, what do you think Jack?”

With a sigh, Jack replied “Looks like we’re back on the road.”  Pointing out the front window he asked “Is that your car?”

Will shook his head.  “No.  That was left here by the Jackals.  They have a few cars and trucks around town, probably some supplies as well.  Nobody touches their stuff, if they catch you messing with it at all…  Well,  they have killed and maimed people.  It’s not worth it.”

Dawn snorted.  “Looks like we have fresh wheels, right Jack?  If they are going to chase us down, they will know what car to look for.”

Will’s eyes went wide.  “You’re crazy!  Why would you make them more upset?”

“If they’re coming anyway, we might as well use their gas to get a head start.”  Dawn said.  “Well, Jack, Ready to roll?”

So the gas station is not empty, we meet another survivor.  The meet and greet is tied, so he is talkative, but won’t join.  His story is a pretty standard development in the post-apocalypse, there is a gang that has taken over the town.  If Dawn and Jack leave, there is a chance the locals won’t be punished, and instead ‘The Jackals’ will hunt down our survivors.

I decide to take the car; they will head back to the station wagon and load up.  At least they have the fuel to move if they need to.  Given what this gang can muster for equipment, they need to get moving.

The new ride attracts some attention

Dawn starts up the car and she and Jack drive back out of town, past the camp and stony gaze of the leader, Mary.  I can’t believe I couldn’t get some better People skill rolls or even reaction rolls.  The dice really don’t want these people to get any help.

Leaving town in their new car

Dawn drove down the county road, circling back to the house where the station wagon was parked.  The morning was giving way to midday, the heat and humidity was going to make the day miserable.  Even the bright sunlight did little to brighten the mood.

“We should have done something.”  Jack said for the tenth time since they got in the car.  “Something to help.”

Dawn pulled up next to the station wagon, turning off the car.  “You heard them.  Us being gone was the best chance they had.”  Getting out into the summer heat reminded Dawn of the morning.  “Transfer the gas to the wagon, leave enough to ditch this thing when we can.”  She said, walking to the back of the car.

Jack grabbed a siphon hose from the station wagon and began to transfer the fuel.  Grumbling he said “We should do something.”

“Jack, make sure to leave a gallon or so behind.”  Dawn said from the rear of the car.

“I’m done.  You want to torch this or something?”  Jack asked, walking to the rear of the station wagon.

Dawn tossed Jack an assault rifle.  “I think it will be good wheels to get back to town.”  Dawn replied and checked the action on the SAW she had pulled from the back of the car.  “I’m not going to wait for them to find us.  Let’s go see what these ‘Jackals’ are all about.”

Jack smiled.  “Damn right.”

A Simple Run (Part 1)

“This should be decent cover.”  Dawn said to Jack as they walked around the station wagon, parked on an overgrown gravel driveway.  The house had burned, and several trees had gone with it, but the rest of the area was covered in weeds and scattered trees.

Jack threw a few branches over the roof, scattering more around the car.  “Yeah it will do fine.”  He said, standing back and looking over the scene.  “I wish Traci had shown up.  I really thought she would come back.”

Dawn shook her head, adjusting her pack and checking her SMG.  “She made her decision.  We need to find food and fuel and keep moving.  She had a week to change her mind, plus we left that note.”

“I know.”  Jack said, also checking his gear.  “I had just hoped she would come to her senses.”  Looking around, he pointed to the burned out subdivision ahead to the right.  “We should cut through there, the ruined homes should give us cover and we can take a peek at that camp we saw before we get too close.”

“Sounds good.”  Dawn replied, looking ahead down the road.  “Hopefully they are friendly and want to trade.”

Slowly the pair moved down the road in the muggy morning air.

Dawn and Jack approach the camp

It is morning of Day 81, Dawn and Jack have moved on from the wayside where Traci had left them a week ago.  She didn’t return to the group, so they are continuing towards the east.  While they have plenty of guns, they need food and fuel and are approaching a small town, hoping to find some supplies.  They have scouted the edge of town a little, and found a camp they have decided to approach.

The camp

The camp is in a city park, behind some hastily built junk walls.  There are four tents and one camper, scattered around some trees and a small pond.  There is also a generator, which will not be running.  At the start of the game, a ‘blank’ PEF is placed in the center of the camp.  Once one of the survivors can draw line of sight to it, I will determine the camp make up.  The PEF will automatically resolve as an encounter, and each tent and the RV will each have a roll for occupants as well.  I’ll explain it when it happens.

There are three more PEFs on the table, treated normally.  There are also 4 zombies on the table, wandering as they have no active targets to start.  It is morning and I will be using really tight ammo rules, but normal looting rules.  The area is suburban and has an ER of 5, zombies will appear on a 5+.

Dawn and Jack look for a vantage point

“Let’s try that house up there.”  Dawn pointed ahead as the pair moved around a burned out shed.  “Those stairs look rickety, but we should get a better view from the second floor.”

Jack looked towards the house Dawn had pointed out and nodded.  “Good idea.  Though I think I saw something moving just east of here.”  Jack pointed with his SMG to their right.  “Let’s be careful.”

Dawn and Jack on the second floor

The first few turns are uneventful, zombies wander randomly, though one does get close enough to detect Dawn and Jack, and starts moving towards them.  The PEFs move around, moving away and then moving closer.  There is a ruined house with stairs to its ruined second floor.  This will give good sight lines towards the camp, and Dawn and Jack move to it and climb up.

Dawn sees the camp

Scorched boards creaked as Dawn stepped through the ruined house, passing through what might have been a bathroom.  She stepped out towards the east edge of the second floor and looked out across the street, over the low ramshackle wall that had been built around the camp.  The morning sun still cast long, deep shadows from the trees in what had been a park.  As Dawn watched, three people walked into the center of camp.  They didn’t appear armed, and one of them stopped and pointed towards Dawn.

“Here goes nothing.”  Dawn muttered, standing up and waving to the people.  The three seemed to be confused and had a quick discussion amongst themselves before one waved back.  Dawn relaxed a bit and said to Jack “They seem friendly.  Let’s approach the wall.”

Giving a snort Jack answered “Well they didn’t shoot.  I guess that’s a start.”

Moving towards the camp

Dawn triggers the Camp PEF and I roll for occupants.  I get three citizens.  What an odd find after day 30, I didn’t expect that.  Each tent and the RV have a 50% chance for occupants, I get two tents and the RV and rolling for those, I get survivors, more citizens and zombies.  I decide the zombies are actually citizens – I don’t need to have a separate battle in the camp to deal with.

The long distance meet and greet goes okay, Dawn wins by 2 successes.  That means the camp isn’t initially hostile, but we need to do a meet and greet at close range to get a final result.

She also triggers the nearest PEF and finds 3 zombies, who move towards the camp...

Moving closer to the camp

Zombies attack the barricade

Dawn and Jack picked their way through the ruined house, their movement kicking up gray clouds of ash as they crossed the burned yard.  As the sun rose into the morning air, the humidity rose as well, making the day uncomfortable.  “This is like moving through a wet ashtray.”  Jack said, wiping away grime from his face.

Dawn nodded, glad when they finally stepped onto the pavement of the road.  “Let’s head around that car, it should shield us from the zombies over by that gas station.”  She said and pointed ahead.

“Right with ya.”  Jack said, checking his SMG.  “I’ll watch our back and you talk with the nice folks.”

Commotion from the walls ahead made them pause, and Dawn saw a woman stand up on the barricade and fire an arrow, killing the nearest zombie.  A man in a mix of camouflage and hunting gear moved to the wall with a bayonet on an old rifle, making short work of the last zombies threatening the walls.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped out from behind the pickup truck... 

Dawn meets the camp

Holding her SMG down, Dawn stepped from behind the wrecked pickup truck towards the woman on the barricade.  “Hello!  We’re not looking for any trouble!”  She called out.

“Stop right there.”  The woman replied, holding her bow ready, but not drawn.  “You need to leave.  Now.”

Dawn was surprised and disappointed.  “We’re just passing through, we won’t cause any trouble.”  Dawn let her SMG hang on its sling and held out her open hands.  “Do you have any food or fuel to trade?  We can offer a couple of guns.”  Dawn suggested.

The woman shook her head waved off Dawn.  “No, we have nothing to spare or trade.  You need to go, right now.”  Looking around towards town she turned back to Dawn.  “Whatever you do, don’t fire those guns or they’ll be coming after you.  Just go, if they catch you, they will kill you!”

“We can handle the dead.”  Dawn said, shrugging and checking her weapons.  “We’ll leave you alone, but we’re going to at least check the gas station for fuel.”

“Don’t be stupid!  Just leave while you can!”  The woman yelled back, before her attention was drawn into her camp.

 

Time to leave the camp

So the meet and greet goes poorly.  Dawn only gets one success and the survivor gets four.  At least they don’t draw down on each other.  Why the survivor is so hostile is a bit of a mystery, I tried a PEP test to get to barter and Dawn failed at that as well.  Not a great turn.  Time to move onto the buildings, maybe there is something worth salvaging.

Dawn and Jack move away from the camp

 “Well, let’s check the gas station, hopefully we can get some gas.”  Dawn said to Jack as they walked away from the camp walls.  “I wonder why they are so unfriendly.”

Jack shrugged, looking at the barricades.  “Well, those walls aren’t all that sturdy, maybe they just want to keep the dead away and stay safe.”  Giving a short laugh he added, “Maybe they have had to deal with some people coming in and taking their stuff.”

Dawn nodded.  “That’s true, we have certainly met our share of assholes on our trip.”

Jack laughed again.  “Maybe if we show we’re not, they might be more friendly.”  Jack moved to cover at a car wreck and became more serious.  “Sounds like some dead moving around here.  Better be careful.”

Dawn moved next to Jack, hearing the same tell-tale movement in the grass.  “I’ll check it out.”

Dawn and Jack moving in the street

Dawn and Jack move off, picking their way from car wreck to car wreck.  The last two PEFs move up, almost together.  I figure now is as good of a time as any and Dawn steps out to trigger them.  The first is two zombies, but the second is three gangers.  It’s time for another meet and greet…

Dawn sees the dead and the gang

Dawn stepped out from the car wreck, expecting to find zombies wandering towards her.  Instead a loud voice boomed out at her.  “Just stop right there sweet pie!”  It was followed by a gruff laugh.  “See I told ya, Zeke would find something.”  The other men laughed.  “You were warned if we found any of you outside the camp, there’d be hell to pay!”

“Darren!  She’s not with us!  She doesn’t know!”  The woman yelled from the barricade of the camp.

“Shut up Mary!”  Darren yelled back, ignoring the zombies that now seemed interested in the humans.  “The rules are the rules!”

Dawn looked warily at the three people, just beyond the pair of zombies they had apparently been following.  They were a rag-tag looking group, the leader, Darren, was sporting a wicked looking machine pistol, and the guy to his left was carrying a shotgun.  The last man had a pistol at the ready, clearly watching for zombies sneaking up from behind.

“We’re just passing through.  I’m not looking for any trouble.”  Dawn said, tightening her grip on her SMG.

“Well you sure found trouble!”  Darren laughed and gestured to his companions.  “Brett what do you think?”

Brett with the shotgun gave a half smile and looked Dawn up and down.  “I bet she could be fun to play with.”  Brett ran his hand down the slide on his shotgun and gave a lewd look at Dawn.  “Been a while since I got to play.”

“Whach you think T-Diddy?”  Darren asked the man with a pistol.

“Rules are rules.  What you say goes Darren.”  T-Diddy replied, glancing around.

“Well, I give you this chance.” Darren said turning to Dawn.  “Toss down your hardware, you come with me and the boys to that liquor store over there and after we all get a tumble, we’ll let you go.”  Darren gave a wide toothy smile.  “If you play nice that is.”

Dawn gave Darren a cold stare.  “How about we all just go our separate ways and everyone lives to see another day?”

“Ha!”  Darren let out a loud laugh at Dawn.  “You know that ain’t gonna happen, right?”

Gunfire erupted on the quiet street…

Time to draw down

What an odd development.  Revealing the PEFs, I get 2 zombies from the nearest.  The second PEF is three gangers.  After this came up, I decided they must be the reason for the camp to not be friendly.  There is gang in this town that is in control, and they are ruthless.  This could lead to some other encounters, if we get through this game first…

Anyway, the meet and greet goes about as you expect, with the gang scoring more successes.  We go to in sight checks and Dawn gets four successes (a good time to get a good roll!) and goes first.  Jack is still behind cover, so will not participate.

Dawn fires, trying for all three, and gets two hits.  Darren and Brett each get hit.  I roll a one for Darren, he is Obviously Dead and a 4 for Brett.  Brett is knocked down and goes Out of the Fight.  T-Diddy fires and hits Dawn, getting an obviously dead result!  Dawn’s Hard as Nails kicks in and she is knocked down instead.  Passing 2D she carries on.  Wow, what an in sight round!

Dawn gets two down

Dawn felt the punch of a bullet slamming her shoulder, spinning her around and down to the pavement.  Rolling up she saw T-Diddy’s eyes go wide as he jumped for cover.  Raising her SMG, Dawn pulled the trigger snapping off a single shot that went wide before the magazine dropped from the weapon.  Cursing to herself, Dawn let the SMG hang from its sling and pulled her pistol.

Jack finishes off two zombies

Dawn passes 2D for received fire, and fires again, missing and going out of ammo (triple ones came up!)  T-Diddy passes 1D for received fire and 2D for man down and elects to duck back, moving to the cover of the car behind him.  Jack moves up and kills the closest zombies, but as T-Diddy has Ducked Back, he can't be seen so no in sight check.

A few more zombies appear from the shooting noise.  It’s making the area a mess, and the zombies activate first the next turn.

More zombies appear

T-Diddy heard the two zombies closing in around him, watching the rear of the car, he saw an undead salesman step out, reaching for him.  Firing quickly, T-Diddy killed the zombie, quickly shifting to the second zombie that just burst from the nearby bush.  Grappling with the zombie, he managed to draw and plunge his knife into its skull, killing it before it could bite.

Looking over the car hood, he saw the crazy chick had drawn a pistol that looked like a small cannon.  Some dude had joined her and was moving towards the car with an SMG at the ready.  “Hell with this!”  T=Diddy said to himself.  Pushing the dead out of his way he turned and sprinted up the street, yelling behind him “You’ll all pay for this!  We’ll be back for you all!”

Mary yelled back from the barricade “No!  They’re not with us!  We’re not breaking the deal!”  She watched T-Diddy running away, a look of desperation taking over.

“Jack, we need to stop him!”  Dawn yelled at Jack, pointing at the fleeing ganger.

“On it.”  Jack replied, running after the young man.

Jack takes his shot

T-Diddy passes 0D to recover from Duck Back and will Run Away.  Normally this is just the figure being removed, and T-Diddy almost makes it with a double move to the exit table edge.  He is out of range of Dawn and only Jack has a chance to shoot him.

Running up, Jack fires and manages to hit T-Diddy once, knocking him down.  T-Diddy passes 2D for knockdown and is stunned for one turn.

More zombies!

Four new zombies spawn, and go first the next turn.  Unfortunately for T-Diddy, a pair of zombies are close enough to find him delicious.

The zombies find the ganger tasty!

Dawn watched as the zombies devoured the gang member.  His screams were cut short in a wet stuttering gasp as the undead tore into his chest.  Clearing and reloading her SMG, she waved at Jack “Let’s kill those things.  Nobody should go out that way.”

Jack nodded, looking around to see Mary firing an arrow from the barricade.  “You’re welcome!”  He yelled and gave a mock salute before jogging off.

“That’s not all of them!”  Mary yelled.  “They’ll be back and we’ll be the ones to suffer!”  She watched as Jack and Dawn ran up and killed the zombies feasting on T-Diddy.  “Why didn’t you just leave?  Just go away!”  She yelled.

To Be Continued...