The Apoc-Fur-Lypse, Group 4, Scene 7a
The Zombie Apoc-Fur-Lypse
Group 4, Scene 7a
copyright 2010 comidacomida
"I'm startin' to think that this might work." Jeff offered, perched between Sam and Andy in the lorrie's cab, "A few more blocks and we'll be at the 'M'."
"Almost." Sam nodded, "A little bit further than that, but almost." he reached forward and drew a finger across the picture taped to the top of the console, "Not too much farther."
"I hope the girls are alright in the back." Andy offered, glancing back toward the rubbish bin even though there was a thick wall of metal separating it from the cab.
"They're fine, Andy." Jeff offered, "'ell, mate... they're better protected than we are up 'ere."
"Except for the smell." the paramedic offered.
Jeff grinned, "Well... if it means stayin' alive, I'd take a bad smell over gettin' torn apart any day."
"No objection there." Andy nodded, "Here, Sam... make a right." he motioned to the side street a short distance up the road.
"Not sure I like how narrow that carriageway is, Andy..." the raccoon noted.
"Don't gotta worry about traffic now, mate." Jeff elbowed him with a smirk, "We get right-a-way."
Sam nodded and slowed the lorrie, turning right. Everyone caught themselves as the lorrie came to an almost immediate stop; barely twenty meters away was a mob of zombies staring them down.
"We can back up." Andy suggested.
"Not the easiest thing to do in one a these, mate." Sam explained, "unless you want someone to get out and spot."
"I don't think a little scratched paint will be much of a big deal." Andy reasoned.
"Probably not," Sam confirmed, "But if we get stuck somehow then we're buggered."
"Okay..." Jeff shrugged, "Just ram em." Andy and Sam both looked critically at the young husky. "What?" he questioned, "it worked fine before!"
"There weren't as many last time." Sam pointed out. The zombies began approaching.
"We don't really have time to argue..." Andy noted, "Just... hit it."
Sam complied. The lorrie had an opportunity to accelerate in the distance between where it started and where it impacted into the walking dead. The raccoon kept both paws on the wheels as the lorrie shuddered and began to skid on rotting flesh. "Hold on!" he ordered, and jerked the wheel one way and the other, attempting to correct the lorrie's trajectory. It bounced off of a building's brick wall and careened into another mob of zombies. The newest impact was too much.
"We're going over!" Andy shouted, grabbing the paw-grip of his door. The lorrie went up on a single set of wheels and Sam scrambled to get it under control, holding it steady. It remained careening forward... toward a construction site across an intersecting roadway.
"Turn!" Jeff cautioned.
"I can't... if I try we'll tip the rest of the way!" Sam declined.
"We're gonna crash!" Jeff pressed the issue.
"Grab hold of something!" Andy shouted.
"TURN!" Jeff screamed. The lorrie went up and over a dirt berm and the whole world dissolved into chaos.
* * * * * *
It took time for the dust to clear and for everyone's senses to return to them. Everyone in the cab was coughing as they worked to gain their bearings and try to peer through the hazy air. Water vapor emerged from the hood of the lorrie and the already-smashed windshield was now completely broken. The horizon lay vertical across the lorrie's hood, finally allowing the disoriented passengers to realize that the vehicle was on its side.
Andy grabbed hold of the door to his left and began pulling himself up. He released his safety restraint and climbed out onto the side of the lorrie which, in its current position, was the top. "Girls!" he shouted, and scrambled his way down to the ground.
Back in the cab, Jeff was still fumbling to get himself righted, glancing down to Sam beneath him, "You alright, Sam?" he asked.
The raccoon slowly shook his head, and moved his left arm, revealing a long metal pipe sticking through the lorrie's door. Jeff's eyes widened when he realized that he couldn't see the end of the pipe-- it was lodged in Sam's abdomen. "Awgodam..." the young husky murmured.
"Before this all started I never got a chance to drive." Sam noted, looking down at the pipe sticking into his gut, "Now I wish I'da had more time training..."
"Sam..." Jeff whined faintly.
The raccoon turned to regard the husky, "Sokay... it doesn't hurt." he rested a paw on the pipe.
Jeff's eyes widened further, "Sam... you 'ave a PIPE stickin' outta yer gut!"
"Yea... I know." he nodded calmly, "I can't feel my legs either..."
Jeff wiped the developing tears from his eyes and gazed around the center console at the enclosed, twisted metal that had once been open space for the driver's legs, "Awgodam..." he murmured.
"Sounds bad..." Sam rested his head against the window frame beneath him.
"Sam... just... just try to stay calm..." the husky fidgeted, "I'm gonna get 'elp... I'm gonna go get Andy..." and he placed one foot on the steering column and the other on a portion of the gear box. One of Sam's paws grabbed him by the ankle before he could climb out.
"Wait..." Sam requested.
"I gotta get 'elp, Sam." Jeff noted.
"Can't be helped, Jeff..." the raccoon explained, "this isn't a little thing that a medic can patch up..." he slowly ran a paw across the pipe between his stomach and the door, "no... Andy can't help..."
Jeff whined, "I wanna 'elp, Sam... I gotta do somethin..."
Sam nodded, "Alright... grab my shovel..." the raccoon motioned to it where it lay with a broken pole next to one of his pinned, crushed legs.
"Got it." Jeff confirmed, grabbing the half-shovel.
"Good..." Sam noted, gazing at the picture of his kits, running a finger across it again, "now use it."
"T'pry your legs out?" Jeff asked, one ear falling.
"Nah.." the raccoon closed his eyes, raising his paw to point at his neck, "Right here..."
Jeff dropped the shovel immediately, "Wha?" he paused, paws shaking, "No..." he murmured, tears falling down his cheeks as he shook his head, "No! Nononono! You're not gonna do this, Sam."
"Don't have much of a choice, Jeff..." the raccoon opened his eyes again, turning his head so he could look at the husky, "I need you to do this... I can't do it myself." Sam said, lowering his head back down as his paw went back to the picture.
"But... you gotta see your kits again, Sam... you can't die here!" the young dog pressed.
"Not up to me, mate.... sorry." the raccoon noted, arm slowly lowering away from the picture. He worked hard to breathe, "But... I need your help to make sure.... I don't come back."
"No, Sam... you gotta live... you gotta!"
"Jeff..." the raccoon murmured, "I need your help with this..."
"You can't ask me to do it, Sam..." the husky shook his head, crying, "Don't ask me to..."
"I don't want to come back, Jeff..." the raccoon said, words slurred.
"You gotta see your kits again, Sam... don't die..." the husky fell to the raccoon's side, hugging him, crying.
The raccoon's eyes glanced up at the picture, "I do... see them..."
Shaking all over, the young husky cried, holding the raccoon close, "Don't leave me... not you too!" he wailed, "No... please... god.... no..." the raccoon didn't respond, blank eyes gazing up at the faded picture of two young raccoon kits. "No..." Jeff whimpered, "not you too..."
The husky remained laying against Sam's body, gripping the raccoon's jump suit as he began to breathe deeply. Jeff swallowed, working to regain a sense of composure. "Alright..." he whispered, "I'll do it..." and he looked around for the shovel. The raccoon's eyes rotated, focusing in on him. Jeff screamed; the shovel was too far away.
* * * * * *
Andy pulled on the rubbish bin doors, trying to force them open. He had tried yanking at the broken lever, but it was useless. He heard pounding from the inside of the compartment but he had no luck forcing it. The wolf was just about to call on Jeff and Sam for help when his work was disrupted prominently by a blood curdling scream. "Jeff!" Andy shouted, and he ran back around the lorrie.
The wolf scrambled back up to the top of the vehicle so he could look down into the cab... but, by then, it was too late. "Bloody... bloody hell..." the wolf stood aghast at the zombie that had once been Sam tightly gripping the unmoving form of Jeff; the young husky's throat had been completely torn out and his wide, surprised eyes gazed upward at nothing. "No...." he murmured, "no..."
Andy's eyes scoured the inside of the cab quickly, looking to the control panel near the driver's seat as he tried to remember which one forced the rubbish bin doors open. He knelt down atop the side of the lorrie and picked up a dislodged piece of brick and took aim. Dropping the stone, it hit the control panel directly and the sound of the hydraulic doors opening was like music to his ears.
Looking back down into the cab, Andy watched as Jeff's body began to twitch. The paramedic watched, aghast, as the young husky rotated its head on a half-eaten neck and looked up at him. The zombie that was once Jeff growled. Andy was just about to turn and run but his eyes fell to the radio at Jeff's hip, "Shite..." he murmured, and slowly stepped back from the door's broken window, giving the zombie husky the opportunity to climb out.
Before the zombie could fully get free of the window, however, Andy lunged forward and kicked one of its arms off of the metal surface of the lorrie, causing it to lose balance and scramble for purchase where it hung into the cab from its place on the door. The medic pinned its head against the metal with his medical bag, evading its free, flailing paw as he grabbed for the radio.
As his fingers clenched the device, Andy pushed back against the zombie that had been Jeff, forcing it back into the cab. The wolf clumsily hopped down to the ground and, stumbling, quickly went around to the back of the lorrie. "Come on!" he quickly announced to the two others, "We gotta go... NOW!"
"Where's Jeff?" Mandy asked, glancing past Andy.
"He's... not one of us anymore." the wolf explained, grabbing hold of her paw, "Come on... we HAVE TO go!"
Becca emerged from the rubbish bin holding a metal pipe, "If we're going, then I'm not going unarmed." she glanced around, "Come on... there's gotta be somewhere around here to hide."
"We were heading for the motorway..." Mandy pointed, motioning to the west.
"Without transportation we're just a walking meal for those things." Andy explained, not bothering to stop as they discussed their options on the move, "We have the radio... we're not THAT far from the police station... if they transmit again then we should consider going there."
"Take it from me..." Becca interjected, "Not everyone that survived the event is helpful... we might just end up getting trapped there too."
"Just keep going..." Andy sighed, "I need to think... and I don't want to see Jeff again... not like that."
<END SCENE>
With the story winding down to a final conclusion things are getting more chaotic than ever. When we last tuned in Group 4 had managed to get back to the lorrie after recovering two survivors from the university. At this point, they just want to get out of Ratherbig. Considering that the group is now in a Harrowing Event, we'll have to see how that turns out...
Will the group have to face-off against any zombies?
This is a Harrowing Event; of COURSE they will!
How many zombies will the group face?
Roll 3d10 and add the numbers together to determine the number of zombies attacking the party.
Rolls of 3 + 6 + 3.
The group faces 12 zombies.
The party will ram the zombies.
Average Luck (12) to succeed in getting past and escaping.
Sam 0 + trait of 5 = 5
Jeff 2 + trait of 4 = 6
Andy 3 + trait of 6 = 9
Mandy 1 + trait of 5 = 6
Becca 8 + trait of 6 = 14
Average roll of 8. FAILURE
Survivor with the lowest luck roll takes damage from the resulting crash.
Vitality (10 + amount by which the prior roll was missed). Target number (14)
Sam 1 + trait of 6 = 7 FAILURE
Sam takes 7 points of Vitality damage and will die.
Sam asks Jeff to finish him off so he won't become a zombie.
Tenacity (10) for Jeff to finish him.
Jeff 2 + trait of 4 = 6 FAILURE
Jeff can't do it.
Will Jeff be able to escape the zombie raccoon?
Contested Agility roll.
Zombie 6 + trait of 5 = 11
Jeff 4 + trait of 6 = 10
The Zombie gets Jeff.
Can Jeff escape?
Sadly, Jeff is out of plot points, and is finished.
Jeff dies.
Does anyone think to get the police radio from Jeff's corpse before he turns?
Endurance or Tenacity (12) to loot the corpse.
Andy 4 + trait of 9 = 13 SUCCESS
Mandy 3 + trait of 5 = 8 FAILURE
Becca 4 + trait of 5 = 9 FAILURE
Andy will grab the radio.
Can the remaining survivors avoid further zombie encounters?
Random roll on a single dice. Any roll lower of 7 or lower results in a zombie attack.
Roll = 8.
Nope... it looks like they're zombie free... for now.
Determine the group's next unofficial leader.
Influence roll, highest wins.
Andy 9 + trait of 4 = 13
Mandy 3 + trait of 8 = 11
Becca 0 + trait of 5 = 5
Andy is back to being the group's unofficial leader.
No one in this chapter loses a Plot Point because there is a Harrowing Event taking place. With how close we're getting to the end, Plot Points are more important than ever.
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.
Non-contributing readers may still provide a single vote for the character of their choice they
would like to survive; the character with the most votes will automatically gain 1 plot point.
But wait-- there's more! Characters now have the capacity to recharge Plot Points. Contributing and Non-contributing readers may provide bonus plot points for any character by providing fan art (with a cap of up to 5 bonus Plot Points per contributor).
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! 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!
The contributing reader James Matrix will take control of Becca, the survivor he introduced to the party, while the contributing reader Andy Silverhair may elect to give control of Mandy to another reader, or let control be maintained by the author (that's me, kiddies).
Contributing readers please choose the next direction for the group. As the leader of the group, Andy gets 2 votes while everyone else gets 1.
Option 1: Find somewhere nearby to hide.
Option 2: Keep running for the edge of town and don't stop.
Option 3: Get to the police station.
Plot Point Opportuntity:
Any character may spend a plot point to have a more centralized roll in next chapter. This close to the end of the story this means that they guarantee their survival (for this next chapter only). not only that, but sometimes being seen as the 'main character' can often garner a character public support by readers; just think of all the possible votes! Warning: if Andy or Mandy is the main character then there is the possibility of adult M/F interaction.
Hang in there, Group 4-- the end, for better or for worse, is that much closer. Hold out for just a little bit longer and you might get through this alive.