Beginning of the End? (Inactive)

Game Master RocksAhead

Marcus what do you mean by "your viewpoint"? I still think what they did was treachery they left us unguarded and with the sickos able to reach us we were in an unsafe spot. I just think they did so because they were scared of you. Let's hope the truck is there but if it isn't it wouldn't be that far of a walk to Backwoods from Sandy Point.
Greg takes a second to look around at the group. I think that is what the consensus is. We try to see what of your gear and stuff remains at the parking lot. We will be walking past the resort so we can check it out from the road. For now I suggest staying to the road. We would be able to see anyone approaching more easily. I also think we have our weapons at the ready at this time.

The group packed up the sleeping bags and load up the canoes. It was a quick paddle to the Sandy Point landing site. Upon arrival they noticed quickly that there are two more corpses where the truck used to be. The Canterbury treachery did extend as far as GTA. The party took a few minutes to decide how best to get to the outfitting company's parking lot where hopefully their stuff was waiting for them.

Marcus shakes his head and laughs quielty, "In due time, I will no longer be a culture shock to you all. For really, that is what I am to you all and then you use me as your scapegoat. The Canterbury's were selfish a-holes, nothing more, nothing less."

When the group gets to shore ...

Marcus laughs quietly in frustration when he doesn't see the truck, shrugs, and shakes his head. He takes out his handgun without covering anyone with the business end and holds it at the ready waiting for the group to move out, "Let's go and hope we can at least pick up our vehicles and your gear? Movement is life!"

Marcus shakes his head and laughs quielty, "In due time, I will no longer be a culture shock to you all. For really, that is what I am to you all and then you use me as your scapegoat. The Canterbury's were selfish a-holes, nothing more, nothing less."

"The guy that cut me off in traffic is a selfish a+!#&@% too but I ain't gonna use a pit maneuver and send him into the ditch," JoJo says quietly to his friends.

"Sometimes I want to strangle phone guy in the theater," Schmitty adds.

"Or the three people that have to walk side by side slowly down the hall."

"Or 'I've got a coupon.'"

"Or socks and sandals."

"Or crocs."

The trio tried to contain their laughs but were failing miserably as they packed and hoped in canoes.

Listen: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21

Marcus smiles at Jojo, "Well I didn't put a bullet in your head and skull f*~%ed you through the bullet hole when you were f&~&ing off with the pickup truck's radio because you were not stranding us on an island. There is a difference. As for the guy who cut you off in a vehicle, he deserves to be in a ditch for risking your life. If that scum bucket wants to risk his life, he should go and do it alone."

Yael glances over as she hears the last line. Her eyes narrow and her tone becomes icy.

More like "lack of culture" shock. And I'm not sure we can really get over it if you keep threatening people. Jesus f&!!. Next time you threaten someone in our group, I'm taking off. And if you shoot at me while I'm leaving, you had better kill me with your first shot.

The cold fury in her voice leaves the implication with little to interpret.

"Please calm down! We are hungry, slept really bad and right now we need to work together. This means all of us. Now let´s secure our way to the parking lot and get ready to find answers, food and shelter. And by the way movement is not safety. I think there is no safety anywhere!"

All three stand in shocked silence. Did he just say that? Did he just smile while saying that? That was some Joker s@+@. "You mother..." JoJo wasn't one to jump to anger to quickly but Brian was. He grabbed an oar and advanced. Only the other two and Richard's timely intervention stopped him. "You f!##ing hate them so much you can go swim after them." He points violently at Marcus but advances no further. JoJo and Schmitty manage to pull him back. One thing was for certain now, JoJo didn't want to share a canoe any more.

Greg pulls Marcus off to the side and talks to the man softly. We need you man. But we need you to hide your g*% d*%n end of the world erection from us for a bit. I know you think this means you were right along despite all the people misunderstanding you before whatever triggered this mess we are dealing with. But that force multiplier you keep talking about you need to stop coming across as commandant if you won't it to stick around. How about you give JoJo some time off and we switch places you and I.

Very confused on timeline here it seems like some of this interpersonal communication happened back on the island. But also Marcus posted a reaction to the truck being gone after returning. So in the proper order of thing let's assume conversation between party occurred on island and the party is now at the parking lot with the truck gone. Marcus said his last line about "movement being safety" and Richard responded with "And by the way movement is not safety. I think there is no safety anywhere". And space here for any other reactions to the truck being gone and being at the parking lot. I will be posting in about 5-6 hours what happens along the walk.

Sorry. I missed your post between Marcus and Greg. Without an avatar, it seems to get lost. Ignore the part about riding in a canoes in my last two parts and we're good. So we're walking back now?

No worries Jojo. Let's start here because the first part is what happen when Marcus overheard Jojo? ...

"Let´s secure our way to the parking lot and get ready to find answers, food and shelter. And by the way movement is not safety. I think there is no safety anywhere!"

Marcus nods at Richard, "You maybe right Richard?!"

Next, Ranger Greg talks to Marcus for all his actions up to this point. And Jojo does not require any down time because the island incident did not occur.

Marcus walks over with Ranger Greg, safely holstering his weapon, he responds to Ranger Greg in the same low and respectable tone,

Marcus holds out his hand to shake Ranger Greg's

Greg shakes Marcus hand and says
Yeah not sure if Geoffrey is that good or just lucky. But the man hasn't missed and actually may have saved two people from catching whatever these Sick People got. Kinda hard to yell at that. As for being a leader I think that everyone is still in that default mode since I was just their guide. All I want isome for all of us to get along until we figure out where we can go to return to a life as close as it used to be.
Greg returns to the rest of the group and then says Ok guys its a short trip to the office and lets see what the situation is there.

Marcus shakes his head in disagreement while he shakes Ranger Calder's hand, "You are not getting my point but I will keep to my promise for now. Someone has to start somewhere and if it is me to do it, then so be it. Let's move out for what I meant by movement is life is sticking around here, we are bound to have more sickos walk up on us or worse that we may not be able to handle. Besides, I am hungry and cranky like everyone else." Marcus unholsters his weapon, forms up on the road, and goes back to being more friendly, "Please lead us Ranger Greg with that boom stick of yours?"

Marcus keeps his head on a swivel while moving down the road ...

Spot: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22

Geoffrey nods to Greg.

"That sounds like a good idea to me. Out here, we are essentially flying blind; hopefully, if we can resupply, and get some more intel about what, exactly, is going on, we will have a better chance of getting through this."

The group of survivors made their way by foot out of the parking lot and down the road. The sloped slightly uphill away from the Sandy Point parking lot. No cars were visible the first few hundred feet of the road. The walk was uneventful for the first thousand feet or so. Then they noticed the current state of the wrought iron fence and stone pillars of the Grand Ely Lodge and Resort. The fence between two stone pillars was bent at 45 degrees to the ground between two stone pillars. The fence was leaning towards the resort. It wasn't the fence that was the disturbing scene however. The parking lot of the resort was littered with bodies and a vast amount of people moving about aimlessly bumping into each other. The group assumes that the people were Sickos and there were a lot of them. A conservative estimate would put the crowd in the parking at about 25. The smell was overwhelming even though all the blood and gore was not fresh by any means. It seemed like some of it was baked on the asphalt of the parking lot. All the blood was a deep red dry stain on the asphalt. Several smaller sized sickos were observed in the crowd as well as small body parts scattered across the parking lot. The crowd milling around the parking lot was moaning quite loudly.

First special save. Overwhelming Gore Check DC 18. This is a specialized Fortitude save. On failure nauseated for 3d6 rounds. It doesn't appear like the mass of sickos has spotted you yet.

1d20 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 1 = 18

Marcus looks at the carnage and thinks to himself, "Wow, we never could get it this good during our plays! Probably a good thing too! Focus Marcus, enemies a foot."

Marcus is smiling right now and points his weapon at the zombies to indicate enemy spotted but does not say a word nor shoots anything giving away their position for sure. He then looks back and forth between the zombies and Ranger Greg waiting for a hand signal to GTFO.

Fort: 1d20 + 3 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 3 + 6 = 15.

Geoffrey looks decidedly green.

This is worse than the time I had to help out after a fully-laden semi-trailer ploughed into a diner off the inter-state...

FORT: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18

Richard is also smiling ... lol. Smiling actually helps mitigate the gag reflex. And it actually works.

Earlier

As the group walks back, JoJo meanders over to edwin who I believe is the oldest. "Hey, do you remember any old, um, ish movies about zombies? Like Night of the Living Dead? What's going on here kinda reminds me of some of the scenes from that movie."

Now

Gore Check DC 18: 1d20 ⇒ 7 Nope.
3d6 ⇒ (2, 6, 6) = 14

"Oh Jesus." JoJo pinches his nose as the wind brings him the smell of death. It was so overpowering that the one whiff was almost enough to gag him. The scene at the parking lot only served to amplify that. He was thankful he hadn't eaten anything yet because he surely would have lost it. It takes a minute for him to get control of his stomach.

Fortitude: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9 welp
Nausea: 3d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 2) = 9

The normally hardy Edwin, pauses for a moment and crouches as he tries to steady himself.

Breathe....just breathe....It's a tier more disgusting than gristle.....just get used to it....breathe.....

"I need a minute..."

Overwhelming Gore: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7
Nausea: 3d6 ⇒ (3, 1, 3) = 7

As the smell of rotting flesh engulfs the group, Yael's stomach clenches. She gags, and holds up one finger as she clutches a hand over her mouth with the other.

I swear these d20s hate me

JoJo spoke load enough the others might be able to hear him and make a roll for zombies.

Several in the group dry heave as the stench and sight of the Grand Ely Resort parking assails their senses. Only Marcus and Richard appear immune to the scene. With Marcus actually having a smile on his face. not Richard unless he says he is. Neat bit of information though Marcus may need to explain it to the rest of the group.
It is Marcus's wariness however that about a half a minute later makes out the shapesame of Sickos emerging from the woods about 100' done the road. He can make out 9 of the poor victims. They appear drawn towards the group of reaching humans.
Until they close within 30' I will not do individual initiative. Instead just post any actions you will be taking in the round. This event takes place 6 rounds after the test. So most of you are still limited to a single move action per round. All of the NPCS are also dry heaving right now.

I was just posting Richard was smiling too, aka joking around, not controlling his character for him hence why it was in OOC

I was just posting Richard was smiling too, aka joking around, not controlling his character for him hence why it was in OOC

I figure that but wanted to clarify also I meant it that is an interesting piece of info.

Edwin just concentrates on getting better, if he spots the sickoes, he'll try to move farther away.

Having smelled much worse in the lab Richard can stomach the smell, but that seeing sooo many sickos makes him almost despair. Molotovcocktail. Nein. Dann explodiert alles. Ob vielleicht was anderes hilft? Ich brauch ein Labor"

"S+#@." JoJo still hadn't gotten over his bout of nausea and more trouble was approaching. Not only that, but if they fought them, they'd likely draw the attention of those in the parking lot. "We gotta go. Or we need a distraction."

With the half the group disabled by their current sick state. The group of sickos gains ground on them by moving steadily up the road.

In game terms I am saying that everyone is keeping pace with the nauseated members which means moving 30' per round. The zombies haven't really locked in on you yet and are only doing a double move action moving 40' and gaining 10' on the party. They are now within 90' and consider it 7 rounds after the test.

Edwin keeps trying to move out of the way until he's recovered, beating his chest silently and trying to recall the scent of his wife's peach cobbler. Might ruin the memory actually.

Well I am still out for 7 more rounds. Is there some place to hide if no one is going to do anything?

Keeping his voice low only for the group to hear, "Let's keep moving, faster if possible, the roving zombies are catching up to us but they don't seem to notice us? We need to get far enough away from the larger group before we have a mob we can not handle, preferably both groups. If we have to, it maybe better to duck into the forest and off the road."

Yael finally gets over the stench, but her eyes are still watering. She moves along with the still sickened members of the group, keeping her weapon at the ready in case any zombies get near.

Would Yael be able to distract the zombies somehow without attracting attention to their location? Like shooting something on the other side of them? With the silencer, the only sound that the zombies would hear is where the bullet hits. Or do the zombies see us

Unless you hit something metallic, the sound from the gun would be louder. Silencer doesn't literally silence, just lessens.

Would Yael be able to distract the zombies somehow without attracting attention to their location? Like shooting something on the other side of them? With the silencer, the only sound that the zombies would hear is where the bullet hits. Or do the zombies see us

There is a stop sign located a few feet from Yael probably not a good thing to shoot it now but maybe a few turns later when you are further away. You don't know if they have seen you yet. None of you are trying to make eye contact with them to see as you are moving forward and throwing glances over your shoulder. A spot check would reveal some information. I have attached a google doc pdf of the area with some notes. In short there is a water tower about 100ft away as the bird flies. There is the Resort which is behind bent in gates and has scores of sickos that you have seen, there's also the Cultural Center of Ely this is repurposed administration building from the abandoned mine that is now Miner's Lake.

Pointing to the center Richard whispers "We have to find a place to rest and recreate! Maybe there is some food. Even a vending machine might help!"

Edwin,still getting his bearings, nods in quick agreement. Some carbonation helped the old stomach whenever he was having a shaky morning.

Marcus whispers back, [::]"It will probably safer to get off the road or off this road as soon as everyone is done with their dry heaving. Until then, let's keep to the road heading in the opposite direction of the patrolling zombies."[::]

The patrolling zombies were coming from the West heading our direction or the opposite direction from the boat ramp side, correct?

So the link I previously posted had North to the left. The Zombies are coming up the road from Sandy Point they must have been deep in the woods and drawn to the sound of dry heaving. They are still a bit away. I have 2 people voting for making your way to the Civic Center and 1 person voting for staying on the road. JoJo and Greg are out for 7 more rounds at the current pace of things with the sickos gaining 10' on you every 6 seconds they would be pretty close after 7 rounds. You would be another 210 feet down the road so have left the map below at the bottom. You can see ahead that the road opens to either side you can't quite make out if its a cross street or not.
In between gagging Greg squeezes out a brief wheezing The Civic center has a turn-about about 150' ahead. Maybe we stay on the road till then and then head over there in the open instead of making a path through the underbrush to get? You get the feeling he wanted to say more but his gagging returned.
Current Location

Al I see on the map is little icons for speech bubbles. I don't know how to open them or reveal them so I have no idea where we are.

Marcus shrugs and in a hush tone, [::]"The civic center maybe just as infested with zombies as the resort but we should still try? And if the road is clear, that would be better route than the underbrush."[::]

Let's get this going again shall we.
The group of survivors whisper in hushed tones as several members are still gagging and wheezing due to the horrible sights of the parking lot of Grand Ely Lodge. There is a large number of sickos about 90 feet down the road the way they came. The sickos seem to be gaining on them drawn towards the sound of retching. The group of survivors is considering their options including making a distraction to lure the moving dead away from the group or hoofing it to the civic center which is nearby on the Southern side of the street.

In game terms there are some of you JoJo whose has 7 rounds left of single move action only. The zombies can double move at this point and so are gaining they haven't had the reaction you've seen in the past where they would charge you and attack but they due seem drawn towards the noise. It's possible that they haven't "seen" you yet and can only hear the noise you are making. I have updated the map so you can see what I was calling out previously. It's the groups turn to act.

CURRENT LOCATION MAP

In future if any links I provide aren't working for you please let me know ASAP. If you are having trouble seeing probably every one else is too.

Any objections to continuing along the road to the roundabout Greg mentioned? At the current speed you would get there in 5 rounds and the sickos would be within 40 feet. If anyone wants to do something different like move and shoot (if you aren't gagging still). If you want to do something besides move 30' each round for the next 5 rounds post your intent on on what round. The sickos are getting 10' closer per round starting at 90'

Unable to do more than go with the flow, JoJo follows along, taking deep breadths and trying not to barf again.

Richard carefully adjusts his straps and joins the trott

Marcus keeping his promise to Ranger Greg, and without making sounds, he keeps everyone moving and dry heaving towards the Civic Center trying to keep the gagging group from attracting the lodge zombies. Marcus does not want to engage any of the zombies until the group is on the lake side front of the civic center. To further throw his muffled gun shot off from their true location.

Edwin follows.

No idea if I'm still nauseated...

Edwin follows.

No idea if I'm still nauseated...

You recovered after two more turns of moving down the road. Only people still nauseated are Greg and JoJo and both are in this state for 2 more rounds.

Roll for initiative. The zombies will act in 3 groups of 3 for ease of PBP. Map will be up later today.

Marcus makes a mental note of how far they can sniff out humans.

Is the wind blowing? If so, what direction?

Init: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9