The Zombie Apoc-Fur-Lypse, Group 5, Chapter 5a
The Zombie Apoc-Fur-Lypse
Group 5, Scene 5a
copyright 2010 comidacomida
"Do NOT turn it on." Cadence commented.
"We already decided; turn it on, Jake." Ty ordered.
"Wait." the monkey pressed, continuing down the street, and motioning for everyone else to follow, "If you're going to turn it on that's your decision... but wait... just seventeen more seconds." she stated firmly.
"Maybe if you'd bother explaining wh--" Ty objected, but he was interrupted.
"You still have a problem listening, Nurse-in-training." Cadence continued walking, "It doesn't matter if I bother explaining, so you will just have to understand that I know best."
"That's it..." Ty scowled deeply, "turn it on, Jake."
"Do NOT turn it on." Cadence pressed.
"Turn it on." the wolf ordered, and the fox did so. Cadence sighed and moved to stand next to a nearby alley as the radio began sounding off.
*STATIC* "Attention residents of Ratherbig. This is the fourth of five messages, set to be transmitted at the top of every hour and one minute thereafter for five minutes. If you are hearing this message, know that you are not alone. If you are in condition to travel, use the most direct route to reach the Ratherbig Police Station. If you encounter any stricken individual do not attempt to interact with them; get away immediately. Bring any receiver with you that you can, but keep the device off until the top of every hour. These messages will repeat and more information will be made available as it comes in. There will be one more message for this hour." *STATIC*
"There." Ty placed his paws on his hips, "Now, aren't you glad we turned it on?" he inquired, patting Jeff on the shoulder. A low-toned growl caught everyone's attention, preempting the fox's response.
"Not anymore." Cadence pointed out.
*STATIC* "Attention residents of Ratherbig. This is the fifth of five messages, set to be transmitted at the tip of every hour--" the transmission continued, but everyone's focus was instead on an enormous warthog lumbering toward them.
"Damn it... damn it!" Ty cursed, "How did that bloody thing find us?!" he questioned of nobody in particular.
"Likely the same way they did." Cadence explained casually, motioning to a large mob of over a dozen zombies approaching from the side opposite the gigantic warthog.
"Find something... anything." Aldo quickly directed. Ty pulled his scalpel out of his medical kit while Jake pulled a rusty metal bar free from a street grate. Aldo picked up the lid of a rubbish bin and brandished it like a shield. They had little time left to prepare as the zombies were upon them.
Ty backpedaled quickly toward the alley, but Cadence pushed him back into the street, "No... you do NOT want to go in there." she explained, pulling a small metallic cone out of one of her pockets. The wolf didn't have any more time to watch the monkey as he was set upon by a zombie Terrier. With nothing but his scalpel, he managed to do little more than cut it up and force it away from him with random swipes.
Jake jumped up onto a parked car and began kicking at the zombies that drew close to him. Swinging his metal bar wildly he managed to keep them at bay but, in the end, he was pulled from his perch, screaming as he was torn at and clawed. "Jake!" Aldo shouted, and waded into the mob, metallic bin lid bashing, slamming, and crunching. Three zombies fell to the pavement before the orca reached the fallen fox. He received several nasty claw marks across his flesh, clothes torn by grazing blows and he took a balanced stance in an attempt to protect Jake... but the tide of combat suddenly shifted.
A high pitched whine caused all of the survivors to stop and cover their ears. It was a horrific tone that made them grit their teeth in discomfort, ignoring even the zombies around them-- but that wasn't an issue because the zombies responded even more radically. As one, the entire zombie horde looked up at Cadence, who held the metallic cone in the palm of her hand, pointed tip glowing faintly as the whole thing vibrated.
"Interested in this, are we?" she questioned of the entranced zombies, "It's right in there." Cadence explained, and threw it into the alley, "Go get it."
The enormous mob charged into the side-passage, practically falling all over themselves to chase down the mechanism. Cadence casually stepped to the side of the alley's entrance, and into a doorway. The ground gave a sudden heave, shaken by a powerful shock wave that rocketed out of the side street. Pieces of zombie bodies were punted out at high speeds, some even managing to make it all the way across the road.
"Bloody HELL!" Ty exclaimed, "What in the fuck was that?!?"
"A horrible waste." Cadence explained, "But now is not the right time for questions."
"Jake?" Aldo inquired, leaning down over the prone fox. Jake lay still, unmoving. "Jake?" he demanded, trying to get a response.
Ty moved quickly and knelt down beside Aldo, checking Jake. The wolf swallowed, sighed, and shook his head. "He's gone."
Aldo lowered his head and exhaled, "He just wanted to get out... find his loved one..."
Cadence spoke up, interrupting Aldo's grieving, "We have a larger problem right now."
Aldo and Ty followed her gaze to the colossal warthog, who rose up from a smoldering pile of rubble, and began stalking toward them again. Shuffling beside it was another zombie that had somehow likewise survived the blast. "Later..." Ty spoke to the orca.
"Later... yea..." Aldo confirmed, "right now we run." and the party wasted no more time on talking.
Ty quickly took the lead as he raced down the street. He jumped up onto the boot of a car and vaulted over the cab and onto the bonnet, hopping down to the asphalt once again as he kept running. Cadence quickly squirmed her way between several of the cars blocking the road and limped after Ty. She paused, but only for a moment, picking a spare tire up off of the road and spinning once... then twice... and launching it like a discus. The tire flew true, and collided with the warthog's head, stunning it for a moment, but otherwise leaving it unharmed.
Aldo took the opportunity to stumble after the others, his injuries not making it easy. He tried leaping up onto the car, but his damaged leg gave out and he stumbled, sternum impacting with the bumper. The orca scrambled up to his feet, but by that time the warthog had already charged, and he had just enough time to throw his arms up in defense as the huge zombie collided with him.
Aldo was hurtled through the air, completely over the car, and flew nearly 10 meters before impacting against a small sedan beside Ty, crushing in the top of it. The vehicle somehow managed to break his fall without breaking his bones. Ty came to a screeching halt, the orca barely missing him. "FUCK!" the wolf cursed, and spun to face the warthog, which idly flung a car out of its way as he barreled down the street toward them.
Ty quickly moved to intercept the zombie, ducking low as it swung a huge ham fist out to try and attack him. The wolf stabbed forward with his scalpel, burying it several centimeters into the thing's thigh, but it completely ignored the attack, continuing its charge. Aldo, still reeling, managed to extract himself from the crushed roof of the car and grabbed a torn piece of metal. He braced one end of it against the seat inside the vehicle and held the other at the ready, not unlike a pike man awaiting a charging horseman.
The warthog zombie barreled into the car, fists coming down like two gigantic blacksmith's hammers... but Aldo quickly rolled off of the vehicle, leaving the zombie to impale one of its arms on the waiting metal post. It looked at the protrusion of metal sticking out of its forearm and paused for a moment... then let out a powerful roar and turned, just in time to receive a swinging broken lamp post in the face. The streetlamp broke, as did one of the zombie's tusks. Cadence dropped the torn metallic street lamp post and stepped out of swinging distance.
Aldo's mouth dropped open as he watched the display, "How did you just--?" but he never had a chance to finish his question as the warthog picked up the car to which its arm was affixed, and brought it straight down on the orca. Aldo's attention quickly shifted from Cadence to the car, and he sprang to the side... but his leg gave out again and he fell. The car came down, completely removing him from view; red sprayed out in every direction from beneath the jagged, torn pile of wreckage.
"NO!" screamed Ty, "NO! NO! NO! NONONONO!!!" he howled, grabbing anything and everything that was within reaching distance. Pieces of metal, hunks of plastic, broken bottles... everything was thrown at the warthog. Sadly, it did little but attract its attention. Fortunately, a distraction was exactly what Cadence was looking for.
The zombie was not watching the monkey and didn't notice as she picked up a motorcycle by its front tire. The zombie did nothing to prevent the motorbike from colliding with its skull. The warthog collapsed on the street and Cadence walked up beside it. She swung the motorcycle down onto its head two more times like a fisherman clubbing a trout. Ty stood, completely shocked by the display. Once the warthog's head was little more than bits of meat and a puddle of fluid on the ground, Cadence casually discarded the bike and glanced back at Ty.
"Are you coming?" she asked calmly rotating one of her wrists until she managed to elicit an arthritic pop from the joint.
Ty slowly sat down, his tail curled between his legs as he started shivering. The wolf folded his arms around his shins and pulled his knees to his chest, laying down on his side in a fetal position.
"This isn't the place to take a nap." she stated flatly, moving to grab him by the wrist and heft him up to a standing position with ease.
Ty, gasping, pulled his paw free of hers, "What ARE you?" he demanded, eyes wide.
"A macaque. I would have thought you'd have seen one before." she explained, "We're quite common in south town, you know." her voice held no indication of humor-- if anything, she seemed agitated, "Now are you done with questions? There are plenty more of them waiting to have a chance at you."
"I'm not going anywhere until you answer some questions." he stated, a faint snarl to his voice.
"What a shame... I thought you'd want to survive." she countered, and began shuffling down the street.
"HEY!" he growled, jogging to catch up, "I'm not done with you yet!" he challenged.
"Is Ty your full name, or is it short for something else, like 'Tyler'?" she asked casually.
"This isn't about me, damn it... it's about you." the wolf scowled, easily keeping pace with her slow, limping shuffle.
Cadence reached into her pocket and pulled out a police radio, "Jeff won't have much use for this anymore." she commented, holding it out to Ty, "I think you will probably want it."
"Bloody...." the wolf began, gritting his teeth, "God damn it, Cadence!" he fumed, "Can't you just--"
"Dr VanHousen." Cadence interjected. Ty howled unintelligibly in frustration. The monkey sighed, "With outbursts like that, you're liable to die before you get to the police station, Tyler."
"I--" he paused, and his paw tightened around the radio, "I thought you said that we shouldn't turn the radio on... why do you think it's a good idea to go to the police station now?"
"Simple." Cadence answered, "Turning on the radio has nothing to do with my thoughts about going to the police station."
"But we found out about the police station by turning on the radio." Ty countered, "Isn't that what you were trying to keep us from doing? Is this some kind of game for you?" he growled, ears laying flat.
"Nothing of the sort, silly lad." she countered, "You make the most blatantly foolish leaps of logic. I did not know anything about the police station being intact... only what would happen if you used the radio. The police station announcement, in fact, is the silver lining to the cloud you brought upon us all." she spoke cryptically.
"Could you be any more vague?" he challenged.
"Perhaps..." she answered, a wide grin spreading across her thin lips.
"If you want to help, then tell it to me straight." he demanded.
"Very well... so long as you will actually listen this time." she noted calmly, leaning against a store front. Ty paused, then stood with both feet firmly on the ground, staring at her. "What do you want to know?" she asked plainly.
"How do you know all of this?" he asked.
"I worked on a project for Azure Dynamics-- I was privy to a lot of information." she answered.
"What kind of information?" Ty questioned.
"The kind of information that I've been trying to use to help but keep getting ignored." she responded.
Ty scowled, "That's being vague again." he challenged.
"So it was." she acknowledged with a shrug, "But we are incredibly short on time, and I have a feeling you could question me for hours."
"What do you mean, short on time?" Ty demanded.
Cadence picked up a rubbish can lid and pointed. Ty about-faced, his muzzle dropping open as he saw the top half of Aldo crawling toward him. The orca's eyes held a blank gaze, as his teeth were snarling, maw opening and closing reflexively as he reached toward the wolf. It was the last Ty saw of Aldo's head as a thrown metal lid cleanly separated it from the reaching body. "It's very simple, boy..." Cadence spoke, "I plan on helping you get to the police station so you have a chance at surviving."
"You mean 'we'." Ty clarified.
Cadence chuckled, "You are a very, very slow nursing student." and she continued walking down the side walk.
"Hold up..." Ty challenged, trotting after her, "We're going to the police station together, right?"
"Correct." she confirmed.
"So... what's the--"
"Once you are at the police station I am going back to Azure Dynamics." she answered before he had a chance to finish.
"Azure Dynamics? That's where this all started, isn't it?" he questioned.
"It's where it will all end." she clarified.
"Well what if I want to come with you?" Ty asked.
"Are you suicidal?" cadence countered.
"I might be able to help." the wolf stated.
"Most likely you'll die." the monkey explained, "You're better off at the police station."
"And if I decide to come with you instead?" he questioned.
"That's your decision... and, so far, you've ignored my advice for just about everything, so who am I to assume you'll actually take it this time?" she didn't bother looking his way as she continued shuffling along the street.
"Well I've made up my mind." Ty stated in a straight-forward tone.
"Wonderful." Cadence noted with mock enthusiasm, "So do I get to save at least one of you, or do I cut four kilometers off of the round-trip?"
<end scene>
Ouch... just plain old OUCH. The most unfortunate Group 5 is now suffering their third Harrowing Event in a row. Yet another member of Group 5 is now at 0 (or less) Plot Points; So Furry readers will really have to intervene to help the party survive because there are still others at risk for dying.
The group has elected to use the radio, and that could mean trouble. The fact that the group is moving forward into yet another Harrowing Event suggests that the supposed trouble is trouble in fact.
The rolls are as follows, showing in exact numbers just how bad things got. Now's your chance to see just how dire the situation is-- time to help, because they need it.
Exactly how bad is the Harrowing Event this time?
**Roll 4d10 to determine the number of zombies the group must face after the radio broadcast.
Roll of 7 + 4 + 3 + 5.** A group of 19 zombies comes to attack the party.
Sadly, the group has really pushed their luck with all these Harrowing Events. We're throwing in a special zombie too.
**A roll on the 'special' zombie encounter index is made.
Result of 1d10 = 9.**
The party encounters an VITALITY zombie in addition to the 19 standard zombies.
The group has a chance to disable as many zombies as possible before they're overcome.
Agility (12) to hit with a melee attack, (13) to hit if unarmed. Roll must be +1 over difficulty to kill. Each character may continue their attack until they fail to hit or kill a zombie. Cadence may roll Ingenuity (11) one time but she gets a phenominal success with a 16 or higher.
**Cadence 7 + trait of 9 = 16 PHENOMINAL SUCCESS
Jake 4 + trait of 5 = 9 FAILURE
Ty 2 + trait of 4 = 6 FAILURE
Aldo 9 + trait of 7 = 16 SUCCESS-KILL
Aldo 9 + trait of 7 = 16 SUCCESS-KILL
Aldo 6 + trait of 7 = 13 SUCCESS-KILL
Aldo 0 + trait of 7 = 7 _ FAILURE**
Cadence is able to distract a portion of the zombies and Aldo kills 3._
How many zombies does Cadence manage to handle?
**Ingenuity roll equals the number of zombies that fall for her ruse.
Cadence 6 + trait of 9 = 15**
Cadence deals with 15 zombies. 1 Zombie and the VITALITY zombie attack.
Can everyone manage to escape the zombies without being torn apart?
**Agility or Awareness (10 +1 for every 2 zombies) to avoid DEATH while holding them off. Target # is 11.
Cadence 9 + trait of 4 = 13 SUCCESS
Jake 0 + trait of 5 = 5 FAILURE
Ty 7 + trait of 7 = 14 SUCCESS
Aldo 3 + trait of 7 = 10 FAILURE**
Jake and Aldo will die unless they are very lucky.
Jake and Aldo better be pretty lucky.
**Luck (10 + amount the prior roll missed the target #) to survive.
Jake 6 + trait of 5 = 11 Target number of 16. FAILURE
Aldo 8 + trait of 2 = 10 Target number of 11. FAILURE**
Neither of the survivors manage to escape the zombies. (-1 luck for needing the roll).
How hurt are they?
**Vitality (10 + amount the prior roll missed the target #) to to avoid taking a serious wound.
Jake 4 + trait of 4 = 8 FAILURE
Aldo 8 + trait of 2 = 10 FAILURE**
Jake takes 7 points of damage to Vitality while Aldo takes 1. Jake dies.
Can Aldo manage to escape the zombies without being torn apart?
**Agility or Awareness (9 +1 for every 2 zombies) to avoid DEATH while holding them off. Target # is 10.
Aldo 6 + trait of 7 = 13 SUCCESS**
Aldo beats a hasty retreat.
The VITALITY zombie cannot be outrun.
**Agility (10) to hit the zombie. A roll of 10 over the target number - the number of hits already taken by the zombie are required to kill it. Cadence's Character Hook comes into play for the rest of this scene.
Cadence 7 + trait of 2 = 9 + 5 SUCCESS-1 HIT
Ty 4 + trait of 4 = 8 FAILURE
Aldo 0 + trait of 7 = 7 _ FAILURE**
The VITALITY zombie is still active, and attacks._
Who does the VITALITY zombie attack?
**Luck roll. Character with the lowest result is attacked.
Cadence 4 + trait of 7 = 11
Ty 7 + trait of 4 = 11
Aldo 6 + trait of 1 = 7**
Aldo is attacked by the VITALITY zombie!
How much damage is the VITALITY zombie capable of doing?
**Roll 2d10 to determine damage caused by the VITALITY zombie.
Roll is 6+4.**
The VITALITY zombie deals 10 points of damage.
Aldo will have to endure the attack.
**Vitality (10) to avoid dmg. -1 Vitality per point by which the roll is missed.
Aldo 2 + trait of 1 = 3.**
The VITALITY zombie will deal 7 points of damage to Aldo. Aldo myst spend 3 plot points to reduce the damage to 0, as he cannot lose any Vitality without dying. Aldo is back to 2 Vitality.
Combat with the VITALITY zombie continues
**Agility (9) to hit the zombie. A roll of 10 over the target number - the number of hits already taken by the zombie are required to kill it.
Cadence 8 + trait of 2 = 10 + 5 SUCCESS-1 HIT
Ty 4 + trait of 4 = 8 FAILURE
Aldo 7 + trait of 7 = 14 _ SUCCESS-2 HITS**
The VITALITY zombie is still active, and attacks._
Who does the VITALITY zombie attack?
**Luck roll. Character with the lowest result is attacked.
Cadence 6 + trait of 7 = 13
Ty 7 + trait of 4 = 11
Aldo 4 + trait of 1 = 5**
Aldo is attacked by the VITALITY zombie!
How much damage is the VITALITY zombie capable of doing?
**Roll 2d10 to determine damage caused by the VITALITY zombie.
Roll is 2+5.**
The VITALITY zombie deals 7 points of damage.
Aldo will have to endure the attack.
**Vitality (7) to avoid dmg. -1 Vitality per point by which the roll is missed.
Aldo 9 + trait of 1 = 10.**
Aldo manages to avoid the worst of the damage.
Combat with the VITALITY zombie continues.
**Agility (7) to hit the zombie. A roll of 10 over the target number - the number of hits already taken by the zombie are required to kill it.
Cadence 0 + trait of 2 = 2 + 5 SUCCESS-1 HIT
Ty 7 + trait of 4 = 11 SUCCESS-2 HITS
Aldo 2 + trait of 7 = 9 _ SUCCESS-3 HITS**
The VITALITY zombie is still active, and attacks._
Who does the VITALITY zombie attack?
**Luck roll. Character with the lowest result is attacked.
Cadence 4 + trait of 7 = 11
Ty 8 + trait of 4 = 12
Aldo 9 + trait of 1 = 10**
Aldo is attacked by the VITALITY zombie AGAIN!
How much damage is the VITALITY zombie capable of doing?
**Roll 2d10 to determine damage caused by the VITALITY zombie.
Roll is 8+7.**
The VITALITY zombie deals 15 points of damage.
Aldo will have to endure the attack.
**Vitality (15) to avoid dmg. -1 Vitality per point by which the roll is missed.
Aldo 7 + trait of 1 = 8.**
Aldo takes 7 points of damage. He runs out of Vitality, and is slain.
Combat with the VITALITY zombie continues.
**Agility (4) to hit the zombie. A roll of 10 over the target number - the number of hits already taken by the zombie are required to kill it.
Cadence 9 + trait of 2 = 11 + 5 SUCCESS-KILL**
The VITALITY zombie is slain by Cadence.
How do the survivors respond to seeing his fellow survivors die?
**Endurance (14) to maintain their wits.
Cadence 7 + trait of 9 = 16 SUCCESS
Ty 8 + trait of 6 = 13 _ FAILURE**
Ty loses his nerve._
Can Cadence calm Ty?
**Influence (11) to help Ty snap out of it.
Cadence 6 + trait of 5 = 11 _ SUCCESS**
Ty snaps out of it._
What information can Ty get out of Cadence?
**Ty rolls Influence against Cadence's roll of Tenacity.
Cadence 6 + trait of 6 = 12
Ty 5 + trait of 2 = 7**
Ty gets nothing out of Cadence.
Will Cadence reveal any information on her own?
**Tenacity (10) to avoid speaking on the subject.
Cadence 4 + trait of 6 = 10**
Cadence says very little.
Cadence tries to convince Ty to go to the police station.
**Cadence rolls Influence against Ty's roll of Tenacity.
Cadence 3 + trait of 5 = 8
Ty 0 + trait of 8 = 8**
I'm leaving this one up to Ty's contributing reader.
No one in this chapter loses a Plot Point because there is a Harrowing Event taking place. Everyone's hard-fought battle to save Jake, sadly, has been for not, as he was simply too far gone on the Plot Points to be saved. The horrific clencher of this scene is that Aldo likewise met his end-- it just goes to show you that low luck is a killer too. Keep in mind, however, that there are now just two characters left... and there's no guarantee that they'll survive.
During this Harrowing Event, rolls will help a character survive but what it really comes down to are Plot Points. The more Plot Points a character has the better chance they will have to survive. Since no plot points are lost this story, everyone has at least 0... but they will probably want more than that. This is where readers come in.
Now that only two survivors remain, things get more difficult. Non-contributing readers may no longer provide bonus plot points with votes-- from here on out, only bonus points earned during Harrowing Events will count. This means that the only way to regain Plot Points is by providing fan art (with a cap of up to 5 bonus Plot Points), and only during Harrowing Events.
You heard me: FAN ART! Post a link to your fan art on this story page. You could have done it yourself or it could be commissioned. Fan art may be of any character or might be a snapshot from one of the scenes thus far... it maybe it could be a fake movie poster for the Apoc-Fur-Lypse, a la something from Left 4 Dead. Make it creative, make it fun, make it meaningful-- just make it! And you may want to make it quickly because the results of the Harrowing Event will be up next week! You have one week from the date this story posts.
Contributing readers also have an opportunity to earn 1 bonus Plot Point for their character either by submitting their own art, or do a write-up of events from the character's point of view (2-5 pages), either in the form of a journal entry, train-of-thought, or personal narrative. Providing a link in a comment to this post is the way to go! Heck... you may want to advertise it on your page to encourage others to come vote for you too!
Also, Foreverwolf, Ty's contributing reader, will have to decide on whether the two of them continue onward to Azure Dynamics, or if he'll take Cadence's advice and head for the police station.
Once all Plot Points are tabulated we'll be able to see if anyone is left standing. Among the remaining characters, bad rolls and low Plot Point scores may result in even more deaths so snap to it folks... you don't have much time!
There are only 2 members of Group 5 left so it's time to start doing all you possibly can to help them survive. without you, everything may already be lost...