Game: The Walking Plague

A game set in the World War Z Expansion. GMed by Pinguinus, and played by Stryracosaurus Rider as Character: D'Angelo.

''This is a broadcast of Radio Free Earth. The North American continent has been infested. US forces are virtually non-existent after the battle at Yonkers. Survivors are encouraged to head north into Canada, or else follow retreating government forces to the safe zone west of the Rocky Mountains. Keep silent, and avoid urban areas at all costs. This is a broadcast of Radio Free Earth...''

1
''You are on a small road. To the north there is a highway crowded with a few dozen refugees, all heading towards Toronto. To the south is an empty road which leads back to the burned-out remains of Buffalo. To the east you can see an exit which leads towards a small town, and the west is a thick expanse of coniferous forest.''

2
I'm heading north, for obvious reasons, even though that's exactly where you want me to go.

3
A few refugees eye your gear, but none seem brave enough to try to take it.

''You walk for a little while, but soon you discover a roadblock. Several cars have been tumped on their sides, forming a wall from one side of the road to the other. The refugees start to argue over what to do.''

4
I just walk off the side of the road, around the wall, and beckon for the others to come.

5
''Most of them come with you, except for a stubborn few who try to climb over it. One of them sets off a small explosive, killing him instantly. Immediately a chorus of moans comes from the surrounding forest.''

6
I sigh and pull out my gun.

7
''Fifteen zombies stumble out of the woods- they will reach you in six turns. The refugees scream and begin scrambling to the north as fast as they can, except for an old man who gives you a questioning look. He is armed with a Mossburg 500, FYI. ''

8
I raise an eyebrow at the old man and spend four turns shooting at the zombies. 4, 5, 2, 4.

9
''The old man shoulders his weapon and fires- 2, 4, 4, 6. All in all, seven zombies are killed. The remaining eight continue to shamble towards you.''

10
I roll a 4 and then turn tail and follow the refugees to be on the safe side. "You coming or what?" I holler at the old man with the gun.

11
''The old man pops off another shot (6) and follows you. You quickly catch up with the refugees, who are arguing over food. Night is approaching.''

12
"Either you share or you starve," I grumble at them. "That, or you go and catch something yourself." (I am rather tired of the brainless bickering.)

13
''The arguers scowl at you, then return to bickering. The old man shakes his head.''

''"These idiots are gonna die." He looks at you thoughtfully. "Where are you heading, kid?"''

14
"Up to Toronto. You?"

15
"As far from Toronto as I can get, that I can tell you. Apart from that, I'd rather not say."

16
I raise my eyebrow at him again. "Care to drop any hints?"

17
''He sighs. "Some buddies of mine have a cabin up by the Arctic Circle. I'm heading there." He pauses. "Son, I don't think you fully understand what you're doing, heading for Toronto at a time like this. A crisis on this scale is gonna disrupt food shipments. What you're heading towards is about to become a frozen hell-hole populated by two and a half million starving people. You'd be better off marching back to Buffalo."''

The sun is setting.

"It's dark. Here's a deal: we'll take guard duty in shifts tonight, so we'll both get some rest and security. That's a combination hard to come by in a time like this."

18
"Right." I shoulder my gun. "Now, who's going first?"

(I probably shouldn't have asked that.)

19
''"Why don't you let an old man sleep for a bit?" He lies down. The sun sets.''

20
I heave a sigh, and keep an eye out for the pesky shambling zombie hordes of imminent doom while everyone else snores like nothing was amiss.

21
''Late into your shift, a you hear further arguing over the few cans of food the refugees possess. The argument grows louder and louder- until a gunshot and a scream finish the dispute. You can hear a moan coming from the south, apparently quite far away. The old man wakes up.''

22
I throw the old man his gun. "Heads up," I say.

23
''He takes it. You can hear progressively more and more moans advancing on your location. Several of the refugees begin running to the north as fast as they can. A couple of thugs (one with several cans of food) pull out handguns and head off towards the zombies.''

24
"Keep an eye out," I say to the old man, and then follow the band of thugs with the food.

This is probably a death sentence, but whatever.

25
''You are on the road where you and the old man dispatched those zombies. Their bodies are still on the road.''

''One of the thugs smirks at you. "Look who's joined the men! Looks like the kid here decided to grow a p-"''

''A zombie stumbles from behind a tree and bites his shoulder. The other thug, panicking, fires off a number of wild shots, further injuring his comrade (but not the zombie). The gunshots attract still more of the undead- six fresh ones begin coming from the south, and will reach you in three turns.''

26
I shoot the zombie that attacked the thug (thank you deus ex machina) and roll a 4. Then I snatch the food out of the now presumably unconscious thug and make a break back towards the camp. If I am correct than all this has taken up two turns, right?

27
''Right. You hear the other thug being torn apart as you run. His screams echo throughout the forest, doubtlessly attracting more zombies. The old man is furious, muttering about idiotic young people. ''

"Let's get as many people as we can and get out of here. Are you at all familiar with this area?"

28
"A little bit. It's probably best to keep going north, we can find shelter there." I hand the old man the cans of food. "Would you be able to give these out?"

29
''"Sure." He begins to distribute it over the remaining the six refugees.''

The moaning of the surrounding wood has gotten substantially louder- you estimate that at lest thirty ghouls are advancing on your position.

30
I brush the dirt off my gun (cause I'm cool that way) and wait for the hordes to arrive.

31
''The first wave becomes visible in what little moonlight is available. Thirteen zombies come towards you, and will reach you in four turns. The old man frantically tries to get the refugees moving north.''

32
I shoot and roll a 5, 2, 2. Then I start heading north with everyone else.

33
''You quickly come to a crossroads- the main road goes straight through a small town, and the other leads west into a rural area. The moaning grows louder. ''

34
Which way is everyone else going? Also I load my gun, because it never hurts to do so.

35
The old man starts leading everyone through the rural area.

36
Well, I follow them, seeing as I have nothing better to do, and hope that there's no long grass around.

37
''There is no long grass. You come to a farmhouse. The old man turns to you.''

"We'll have to check the inside. The refugees can hide here for the rest of the night."

He goes in.

38
I follow him, hoping for some working electricty inside.

39
''You come into a small hallway. At the end of the hall is a living room. There is also a door from which you can hear moaning and clawing from inside. ''

40
I stay away from the door and look at my surroundings, looking for anything that may be of use to me.

41
''There are a number of paintings on the hallway wall. The old man walks into the living room, and motions that it's all clear.''

42
I am predictable so I follow him.

43
''In the living room, there are two couches and a rocking chair, all positioned for optimal exposure to a small television set. There is an archway which leads into a kitchen, a staircase that leads to the second floor, and a door that leads you know not where.''

44
I don't open the mysterious door :P "Mind if I check upstairs?" I ask the old man.

45
''He glares at you, then whispers 'I don't mind'. He heads into the kitchen.''

46
I creep up the stairs - very, very quietly.

47
''Upstairs, you find a bedroom. Inside there is a bed, various blankets and pillows, and a Mossburg 500 propped up on a wall. An old woman lies on the ground with her head blown off.''

48
I shrug, step over the body and take the Mossburg.

49
A door falls over downstairs, and you hear a gunshot.

50
I scurry back down, and make a mental note to check the stats of a Mossburg 500. (doing that now :P)

edit: AW YEAH

51
''The old man is standing beside the corpse of a zombie. He grins. "All clear down here," he says. "Is that a Mossburg? Good choice. Let's check this door now."''

52
I grin. "Right."

Who knew that you could enjoy the apocalypse

53
''The old man opens the door- there is an basement down a flight of stairs. The moans of zombies can be heard.''

54
I load the Mossburg, and search for a light switch. "You ready to kick some zombie derrière?" I ask the old man.

55
"I've been looking forward to it for quite some time."

The light switch doesn't work, but there is a conveniently located headlight sitting near the door.

56
Well, I switch that on, and plug the first zombie(s) I see. 2,1,4.

57
''You kill two child zombies. Two more advance towards you, with a woman zombie close behind. Your missed shot ricochets around the basement. The old man ducks behind a wall to avoid it.''

58
4, 1, 3, and I hope my missed shots ricochet into a zombie's skull. When will they reach me?

59
''The lady zombie is killed, and one of the missed shots ricochets and cripples one of the children. That one is shot and killed by the old man. The other, however, grabs onto your leg.''

60
I kick it in the face and then decapitate it with my katana. (knew that thing would come in handy one of these days)

61
A grown man zombie stumbles into the room, but the old man dispatches it.

''In the basement is a wealth of objects, some junk, some concievably useful. There are clothes (including jackets and other insulators), furniture, a radio, and a small generator. There are also boxes of books.''

62
I check the generator for gas or other similar fuel. Are there any bottles down here, by any chance?

63
''A few cases of empty beer bottles, and a bottle of vodka the old man helps himself too. The generator has plenty of gas, and a few more cans are closeby.''

64
I fill as many of the bottles with gas as I can. "Gimme a minute, and I help bring the cans back up to the group. We can take the generator if you want, too."

Also, what is the furniture like? And is there any rope?

65
''You fill up twenty four bottles of gas. 3 cans are left. The furniture is comprised of old wooden chairs, mostly broken. No rope, but there are a few old curtains.''

''"The generator's pretty much useless. We don't need anything electric just to walk a ways. The sound would just attract more ghouls, anyway." He points at the bottles. "You making explosives?"''

66
I smile. "Learned how when I was stationed right around the time of the Arab Spring. Molotovs, to be precise. I figure they'd come in handy." I rip out the curtains. I tear half of them into rags and the other half into strips (which I guess will have to be as good a rope as any. "You're supposed to tie the rags on the bottleneck, but I tie 'em to the bottom instead. Leaves the neck open for a throwing handle." I assemble one, and hand it to the old man.

67
''The old man is impressed. "I'm impressed," he says, taking the Molotov. Outside, some of the refugees start screaming. "I reckon we ought to get back out there," says the old man.''

68
"Right." I take the cocktails and my artillery, ready to kick and possibly burn more zombie derriere.

69
''Four more zombies have appeared, and are devouring a teenage boy in your group. A few dozen others are just visible on the horizon. The remaining refugees are running into the farmhouse, screaming.''

70
I glare at the annoying refugees, pump out two shots (2,6!), and throw a cocktail.

71
''Two of the zombies are killed outright by your shots. The other two are ignited by your cocktail- these two, still burning, begin stumbling towards the farmhouse (which is made mostly of wood, BTW.) The old man shoots down one of them. The other will arrive in two turns.''

''A mass of roughly three dozen zombies is rapidly approaching the house. You have six turns until they arrive.''

72
"Cover me!" I pump out a shot at the closest zombie (4, so it's dead...dead again...re-deaded? what's the terminology) and dart toward the barn.

Honestly, screw most of the refugees, but I'd like to save a couple in case we need bait.

73
''By barn, do  you mean farmhouse? Or are you running towards the barn I didn't tell you about but happens to be nearby?''

The word you are looking for is "re-kill".

74
Farmhouse, barn - same thing :P But I am running where the refugees are screaming.

75
''You enter the farmhouse. Once all of the refugees are in, the old man starts leading everyone upstairs.''

"Come on up, then help me destroy the staircase!", he yells at you.

The zombies, by this point, are banging on the door...

76
I have a feeling I know the way this will turn out, but I follow the old man anyway.

77
''You go upstairs, and soon the staircase is demolished. Several dozen zombies enter the house, unable to reach you though. They stand where the stairs once were and moan, reaching futilely towards you.''

''A refugee snorts. "Now what?"''