The Zombie Apoc-Fur-Lypse, Group 4, Scene 1
The Zombie Apoc-Fur-Lypse
Group 4, Scene 1
copyright 2010 comidacomida
"Is he gonna be alright?" the policeman leaned over the paramedic, trying to catch a glimpse of
the young husky laying on the floor.
The medical professional motioned him away. "There's not a lot of light in here as it is,
Sergeant. He'll be alright... he just took a nasty blow to the head." the paramedic explained.
The officer took a step back, moving out of the way of the afternoon light that filtered in
through the single window in the room. "God, I'm glad you were here..." the sergeant noted to
the paramedic wolf, looking down at the teenage husky before speaking softly, "Don't worry,
Jeff... you'll be fine."
Once the medic had the young husky resting he stood and looked back to the older husky, "It's a
good thing you were here too." the wolf noted, eyes going to the open door where a fallen
newfoundland lay crumpled in the hallway of the housing complex, "That guy almost had me."
"It's my job." the officer said with a shrug.
"Well this is mine." the paramedic noted, motioning to the prone husky.
"You're good at it. Cheers." the police husky offered the paramedic a paw. They shook.
"Andy... Andy Silverhair." the paramedic introduced himself.
"Sergeant James Matrix." the Sergeant responded, "That's Jeff... my younger brother."
"You both look alike." the wolf smiled, taking off his latex gloves.
"Yea..." James noted, looking fondly at the unconscious husky, "Everyone said that a lot when we
were younger."
The two were quiet for several minutes, both professionals checking their respective equipment
before they went back to fussing over Jeff.
"Listen..." Andy noted, resting a paw on James' shoulder, "Your little brother lives here, so
you must come by now and again... you know the gal that lives in twenty-one zed?"
"Mandy. Yea. Nice lady. Planning on becoming an instructor... helped Jeff now and again on
some of his class work. Why?" the Sergeant fussed over his younger brother's torn shirt.
"That's my fiance." the medic explained simply.
"Oh..." James answered, "When I came in I checked every open apartment. Her door was wide open
and he wasn't there... no blood or anything; don't worry."
"Thanks..." Andy offered a half-hearted smile, but his attention went quickly back to the prone
young dog, who mumbled and groaned. "Woah there, Jeff... stay still."
Jeff reached a paw up to rub his face, "What... 'appened?"
"You were on the ground when I got here, Jeff." James noted, kneeling down next to his brother,
"I was gonna ask you the same thing."
The young husky bolted upright, but was quickly lowered back into a laying position by the
paramedic, "Oh... ow... my 'ead..." and he rubbed at it with his paw again, but his breathing
was faster, "The... the people in the hallway!" he spoke up, "There were... and the... with a...
bloody 'ell!"
"He'll be fine." the paramedic noted to the officer, and patted them both on the shoulder, "at
least, as far as the head injury is concerned.
"Alright... can you stay with him for a bit? I heard moving around upstairs a few hours ago and
I wanna go take a peek."
The medic shook his head, "I don't think that's such a good idea, Sergeant... chances are it'll
be more of those... things... and besides, there's barely any light in the halls."
"I have my torch..." he patted where it hung to his belt, and if there IS anyone up there that
needs help, well, that's why I do what I do." the husky stated in a casual tone.
"JUst remember that your little brother and I could use some help here ourselves... you're the
one with the gun, Sergeant."
"Firearms Unit has its advantages." the officer noted, and he disappeared out into the hall,
"I'll be back in 15." Andy nodded simply in response and went back to tending the young husky.
"So, Jeff... can you tell me what day it is?" the medic asked the young husky.
"Tuesday... the... um... 4th." the teenager replied.
"That was yesterday, but that's alright... you've been out for about 14 hours."
"Fourteen? Aw man..."
"And your full name?" Andy continued.
"Jeffrey Alexander Matrix." the husky responded, "fourteen hours... fuckin'ell." he mumbled
"Yes... fourteen... now follow my finger." and the paramedic moved his paw left, right, up, and
down, watching the dog's eyes to make sure they were tracking it. "Good." he smiled, "Can you
read my name plaque?" he asked, presenting hthe chest of his paramedic uniform for the husky to
see.
"Silver'air..." the young fur noted, and he quickly added, "'ey... you must be Mandy's
boyfriend."
The comment gave Andy a moment for pause, but he quickly recovered as he regarded the husky,
"Yes... that's me. How did you know about that?"
"Mandy 'elps me with some of my class work. She can't stop talking bout you."
Andy chuckled at that, "Is that so?"
"Yea... you're the reason she won't go out with me... says that you're gonna give her a ring one
a these days." Jeff grinned.
"Well... you're obviously feeling better." Andy chuckled, and slowly helped the young husky to
his feet.
"Are ya?" Jeff prodded.
"Am I what?"
"Planning to ask 'er ta marry ya."
"I planned to yesterday," Andy admitted, his ears drooping slightly, "Before all THIS happened
anyway."
"Ah..." the young husky noted, his ears likewise falling, "but..." they rose again, "I'm sure
she's fine. She wasn't here at the 'ousing yesterday.. she was over at the university turning
in a dissertation."
"You're sure?" Andy's ears rose up just a little, and for the first time in over a day, a faint
wag barely managed to return to his tail.
"Yea... course I am. I asked if she wanted someone ta walk 'er." the teen grinned.
"She has a car." Andy countered.
"Can't blame a bloke for tryin'." the husky winked. They both shared a much-needed laugh. It
was cut short when James returned.
"Got two people from upstairs... but we have to get outta here NOW." the words came out quickly,
almost frantic, "Get your boots and your coat, Jeff..."
"What's wrong, James?" the young husky got to his feet and went to the coat rack.
"There's still plenty of those things in the building... I got a couple people out, but there's
too many of those... those..."
"Zombies?" Jeff asked, sliding his paws into his boots even as he was securing his jacket.
"Yea... sure." the officer shrugged, "Come on... you too, Andy... it's not safe here."
The paramedic didn't have to be told twice. He grabbed his medical supply kit, latched it
closed, and followed the two huskies out. No one bothered to close the door, and they moved as
a group down to the end of the hallway where a German shepherd and a red fox were waiting for
them, each carrying a torch. The shepherd was lean, but muscular, and carried a metal pipe.
The fox was watching the stairwell, free paw tucked way into one of the pockets of his large,
black overcoat.
"You two don't have flats 'ere." Jeff noted blankly, "I know everyone in the building."
"I came over from the council housing across the way; nice building you got here. We can talk
about it more when we're not at risk for being eaten alive." the German shepherd stated crossly.
"Right." the Sergeant acknowledged, "There's room for five in my car."
"The jag outside?" the German shepherd quipped, "I'm still trying to figure out how the CRP
could buy all those cars with this horrible money shortage."
"Like you said before..." the sergeant countered, "We can talk about it more when we're not at
risk for being eaten alive."
The group descended the stairs quickly and made it to the ground floor before moving into the
lobby of the building. They came to a halt as they saw several torn and bloody bodies shuffle
about in the foyer, and it didn't take long for them to be noticed in turn.
"Jeff... get behind me." the police sergeant ordered to his brother; the young husky needed no
further encouragement, and he backed up into the stairwell, "Anyone without a weapon should
probably step back-- this is bound to get ugly."
Everyone took a position and James paused long enough to line up a clear shot. The gun bucked
three times in his paws, and the closest zombies collapsed, each drilled through the head.
"Here they come." he announced as all remaining mobile cadavers in the lobby pressed in on them.
"I'm thinking this was one hell of a bad idea." the German shepherd announced.
"You could have spoke up earlier." the fox offered, backing into the stairwell as the officer
let another two shots off, dropping two more zombies with clean hits to their head.
"JAMES!" Jeff shouted from behind the group. He stumbled down the steps, a mangled Yorkshire
terrier bounding its way down the stairs toward him. The German shepherd leaped past Andy and
brought his metal pipe up right into the yorkie's jaws before they could close on the young
husky. with a metallic grinding, the shepherd twisted the weapon out of the undead dog's jaws
and brought his other paw up in a closed fist, knocking the smaller dog down. With two beats of
the pipe, the terrier stopped moving.
"You okay, kid?" he asked Jeff.
"Yea... and I'm not a kid." the young husky replied.
"I'm out!" James shouted from the front of the group. He began to reload. Everyone took
another step back toward the stairway... but after that, everything exploded into chaos.
Sections of the front of the lobby buckled in as a large blue and yellow back-end of a lorrie
slammed into the building. Zombies were thrown along with the rubble to all parts of foyer, and
a haze of dust hung in the air.
"COME ON!" the group heard a shout from outside, and the back of the rubbish bin on the garbage
lorry opened, "GET IN!" a second voice directed.
Everyone in the lobby glanced to one another, then, in unison, shrugged. They ran for the open
rubbish bin and the lorry's engine revved twice. Several zombies had already recovered and were
moving to block the party's path. A double-tap from James' gun removed one from their way while
a savage srike from the German shepherd's pipe dropped another. Andy swung his medical kit into
the gaping maw of a jackal, causing it to stumble back as its bite was interrupted.
It recovered quickly but didn't get a chance to try again as the red fox in the black overcoat
stepped forward and issued a quick, stomping kick to the zombie's knee. The attack grazed down
to its instep and, as the fox exerted forward pressure with his own knee on the back of the
zombie's, its stance buckled. The fox quickly grabbed the jackal's ears and twisted to the
right, eliciting a loud snap from the zombie's neck. It collapsed like an unattended kebab.
"Wow..." Andy commented.
"Yea... not bad for one... but I'd rather not try and hold off all of em." the fox
responded, and grabbed the paramedic by his shirt sleeve and pulled him after the rest of the
group. James helped Jeff into the back of the lorrie, followed by the shepherd, then Andy, and
finally the fox, who helped him up in turn. "We're in!" James shouted. Two seconds later, the
vehicle was pulling away from the building, several pieces of ceiling tile and wall crumpled
behind them, slowing the zombies from following.
Once the lorrie was out onto the road, those in the back let out their breaths... then almost
wish they hadn't.
"Gawd..." Jeff pinched his nose closed.
"Yea... rubbish, but at least we're alive." James put a paw on the younger husky's shoulder.
"Smelliest escape ever." the teenager stated.
Andy quickly checked his emergency kit, unlatching it to peek inside before closing and securing
it again. He looked to the German shepherd and the fox, "Thanks again."
"Glad I could help." the fox smiled, and leaned back against the dirty inner wall of the lorrie.
The shepherd didn't comment, simply tossing the pipe into the rest of the rubbish before gazing
out the back of the half-open rubbish bin.
There was silence among the group for nearly twenty minutes until the lorrie began to slow.
Looking out, the group could see that they were well within the city and that the larger
buildings all around them hinted at them being close to midtown. "That's the Ratherbig Cathedral, I think..." the
fox noted, "We're almost at the city center."
"Why would we come HERE?" the German shepherd questioned gruffly as the lorrie came to a halt.
The group heard the sound of the doors at the cabin open, and footfall as those inside came
around to the back of the rubbish bin. A raccoon and a wolf climbed inside with everyone.
"Okay... you--" the German shephard pointed to the raccoon, who wore a sanitation uniform,
"match the lorrie, but the wolf looks like just another bloke walking in off the street."
"Except not a lot of people wander into the trash bin of a garbage truck." the fox countered, his american accent becoming more obvious as he spoke.
"Name's Sam." the raccoon introduced himself, "I'm one of the crew assigned to this rig... the
last of the crew, anyway. This is Dezzi..." he motioned to the wolf who had climbed in with
him, "we met up after the power went out." The group went around in a circle, James introducing
himself and his brother, Andy greeting everyone, and the shepherd and fox introducing themselves
as Steve and Tommy respectively.
"Does anyone know what's going on?" Andy asked the group. His question was met with a
resounding no.
"What's going on isn't as important as figuring out what to do next." James stated, "We need to
find somewhere safe."
"This lorrie's about as safe as anything out there." Dezzi offered, "and it's mobile."
"For another few miles, anyway." Sam stated, "not much fuel left."
"Well, we can go get some petrol and--" Steve began.
"Diesel." Sam noted.
"Whatever. We can go get some FUEL and be on our way." the shepherd finished the thought.
"Hard to do if all the pumps run on electricity." James countered.
"Hey..." Steve growled, "I don't see you offering any--"
"Alright... enough... enough..." Andy spoke up, "Listen... we can't afford to start being at
each other's throats--"
"Yea... those things out there'll do it for us." Jeff interjected.
"What I mean is, we need to figure out what to do next." Andy finished.
"We're near the hospital." Sam spoke up, "It seemed like a good place to start. It's been quiet
in this part of town ever since the power went off, and I think we might need some supplies.
Between the cafeteria and the pharmacy, we should be able to get everything we need."
"I'd rather go in the cathedral... it's right across the way from the hospital. If we're hungry
we can put the wine and wafers to good use." Steve noted, "Anyway, it's a solid building... good
protection."
"Unless everyone ran in there thinking they were going to pray the zombies away and became
zombies themselves." James spoke up.
"Listen, SERGEANT," the wolf sneered, "I don't hear any good suggestions outta you, so why don't
you just shut yer gob?"
"The police station." James countered, "Chances are it's still in one piece. We can get
reinforcements, and anyone else from the Fire Arms Squad on duty will be better than 10th
century architecture for keeping people safe."
"Relax, Steve..." Tommy offered, "We're just brainstorming."
"Yea... well last time I brainstormed with the Filth I got screwed."
"There's usually a reason for that..." James commented dryly.
"I'd... kind of like to get to the university..." Andy spoke up quickly to forestall any further
argument. Jeff glanced at him, ears drooping. The two shared a knowing nod.
"Whatever we do, we need to be in agreement... we don't have a lot of miles left in this thing."
Sam noted.
<END SCENE>
The Zombie Apoc-Fur-Lypse begins now for Group 4. The mid-town group comes together as all six party members are introduced along with a plot-hook/little-brother named Jeff.
Here is a behind-the-scenes look at the breakdown of the action thus far.
Andy must treat Jeff's wounds.
_**Ingenuity (8) to treat the head injury.
Andy rolls 4 + Trait of 8 = 12 SUCCESS**_
Group must figure out a way to avoid zombies in the lobby
**Survival roll (10) to avoid the zombies.
James rolls 3 + Trait of 6 = 9 FAILURE
Steve rolls 4 + Trait of 4 = 8 FAILURE
Andy rolls 2 + Trait of 7 = 9 FAILURE
Thomas rolls 0 + Trait of 8 = 8 FAILURE**
James fires three times at the three zombies closest to the group.
**Agility roll (10) to hit. Roll must be +1 over difficulty to kill.
James rolls 7,9,8 + Trait of 7 = 14, 16, 15 SUCCESS x3**
James fires two more times at the two nearest zombies.
**Agility roll (11) to hit. Roll must be +1 over difficulty to kill.
James rolls 6,8 + Trait of 7 = 13, 15 SUCCESS x2**
Steve moves to protect Jeff and attacks with his pipe.
**Agility roll (12) to hit. Roll must be +1 over difficulty to kill.
Steve rolls 8 + Trait of 8 = 16 SUCCESS**
Group must get to the lorrie by killing at least 3 zombies in one round.
**Agility roll (11) to hit for gun, (12) to hit for melee, (13) to hit ifunarmed. Roll must be +1 over difficulty to kill.
James rolls 4, 8 + trait of 7 for a total of 11, 15 = SUCCESS (hit), SUCCESS
Steve rolls 6 + trait of 8 for a total of 14 = SUCCESS
Andy rolls 8 + trait of 4 for a total of 12 = SUCCESS (hit)
Thomas rolls 9 + 8 for a total of 17 = SUCCESS**
With three zombies killed, the group can go safely to the lorrie.
**Group gains an unofficial leader.
Influence Roll. Highest roll wins.**
**Sam rolls 3 + trait of 2 for a total of 5.
Dezzi rolls 0 + trait of 7 for a total of 7.
James rolls 2 + trait of 6 for a total of 8.
Steve rolls 4 + trait of 2 for a total of 6.
Andy rolls 8 + trait of 4 for a total of 12.
Thomas rolls 4 + trait of 2 for a total of 6.
Andy becomes the current unofficial leader.**
Each character involved in this chapter now loses 1 Plot Point for successfully surviving without a Harrowing Event taking place.
Non-contributing readers, you may now vote for your MVP to regain their lost plot point. Anyone who does not have a character involved in this story arc may vote. You may vote by personality, contribution, style, personal preference, or any method you like to make sure your preferred survivor continues to fight another day.
Contributing readers, please choose the next direction for the group. The ad hoc leader (Andy) gets 2 votes while everyone else gets 1. Here are your options:
Option 1: Head to the hospital.
Option 2: Head to the cathedral.
Option 3: Head to the university.
Plot Point Opportuntity
Any contributing reader may spend a plot point. Their character rolls against a target number of 12 on Survival (Survival trait + 0-9). If successful, the character knows where the city's closest link to the power grid is, and the party may attempt to go restore power to Ratherbig. This preempts the group's vote if successful. If the roll fails then the plot point is wasted with no benefit.
Congratulations Group 4 on surviving Chapter 1!