It sounds like 10,000 zombies moaning for flesh, or that could be your imagination.
hmmm...
"Dave? What's wrong?"
"You guys hear that? From across, at the mall? Does anyone else think its weird that the place would be humming with activity at a time like this? Either theres a fantastic sale on, a lot of looters ... or a sh!tload of zombies..."
"In either case, we need to move with caution. I suggest our sniper take a post to cover the rest's advance, while shotgunners head up th front."
Johnnie pumps a shell into the chamber.
An eerie din leaks through the trees unsettling the otherwise peaceful, cloudy summer afternoon. You see nothing moving there, so perhaps its coming from the mall, on the other side of the narrow park according to your map.
"In either case, we need to move with caution. I suggest our sniper take a post to cover the rest's advance, while shotgunners head up the front."
Sam jumps out of the back of Patrick's Van and slides her Tonfa into her belt, along with a torch. She then puts on a backpack containing 10 spare clips for the Beowulf and 10 spare clips for the SIG. She leaves the H&K Sniper Rifle in the van with another bag containing another 10 clips for it. Lastly, she holsters the SIG and picks up the Beowulf.
Catching Johnnie's remark to Dave, she says "so do you guys want me with you guys with this baby or do you want me to hang back and be on Sniper duth with that?" She points at the H&K Case lying next to the backpack in the back of the Salami Mobile. "This does have a scope though, so I will be good to go on the move with this thing backing you up." She pats the Beowulf lovingly. "I'm happy either way, but we should move quickly just in case."
Mike checks his guns before sticking his head out of the window for a moment.
He leans over toward Dave.
"What the f~$# is that noise?"
Before Dave can answer, Mike steps out of the Camaro and draws his guns.
"You guys hear that? From across, at the mall? Does anyone else think its weird that the place would be humming with activity at a time like this? Either theres a fantastic sale on, a lot of looters ... or a sh!tload of zombies..."
Patrick switches off the radio and puts the van in park. He strains to listen, keeping his new rifle at the ready at his side.
"We gotta be careful. Hopefully there is something distracting them for now and we can get our stuff before they spread out."
He looks at the group
"We gotta go as quiet as possible, and cover each other's backs."
Everyone stands quietly and listens to the mummer in the distance. It sounds something like a growing crowd. The gunfire from downtown is less frequent now.
The doors are locked; it looks like you'll have to break the plate glass windows to get in, but with the city's power grid still up, the alarms will probably ring. Perhaps you could cut a hole through the wall somewhere or get onto the roof?
“I’ll try the roof.” Dave slings the sniper rifle over his shoulder by the strap, and looks around for a likely starting point to get up there. “Unless you guys just want to bust the doors. But if you want me to do lookout sniper duty, I’d probably be best off up there anyway.”
"And ... um ... maybe we should hurry..."
“I’ll try the roof.”
From where you stand here, it looks like it's going to be a potentially dangerous PVC drainpipe. You could walk down the block (towards the woods) and check neighboring buildings for quicker climbs, of course. It's up to you.
Sniping from a neighboring roof, such as one of the buildings across the street to the south, is also a possibility.
Dave starts heading down Roosevelt towards the park at a quick jog, keeping an eye out for suitable ways up onto the buildings on either side of the street – there is a tree outside the next building down which looks semi-promising. Things to look out for: deep windows, decorative ledges, heavy cast iron downpipes, barred windows, awnings, balconies, fire stairs, conveniently parked tall vehicles etc.
As the others look on, Dave jogs quietly east toward the woods before cutting north behind the block of three coterminal buildings of which the supply is one part. Behind the buildings he moves cautiously, scanning all around him, and finds a very rigid electrical conduit that can take him high enough to swing across to an unextended roof access ladder. As far as escapes routes go it looks pretty good; one could easily jump from the ladder to the roof of the van and make a getaway.
On the roof:
Judd pulls himself up onto the roof at an easily but efficiently. Those down below looking up may see him standing atop the far roof, peering towards the mall. He unshoulders his rifle and peers through the sites for a few long seconds, before turning and running back along the building roofs, easily vaulting the minor obstacles in his way.
When he gets back to the top of Grainger Supply, he leans over the parapet, looking down towards the guys on the ground.
“Hey,” he calls, at only a little louder than his normal speaking voice – not a shout by any means. “We’ve got … complications. There’s a bunch – I mean, few hundred maybe – zomboids in the park … just kind of milling around under the tree canopy. I’m not sure what they’re doing, but it’s spooking the hell out of me. Seems to be some people – at least I think they’re people – trapped on the roof of the mall over there too.” He points across the park.
“Oh, and I don’t think there’s a conventional way in up here, though I might be able to force my way in through an AC vent. I don’t think we want to set off the alarm though…”
Patrick keeps an eye out for any wandering zombies. He keeps Lucretia running, but steps away from the door to keep an all-points view of the area.
Fear has sharpened Patrick's senses beautifully.
“Oh, and I don’t think there’s a conventional way in up here, though I might be able to force my way in through an AC vent. I don’t think we want to set off the alarm though…”
Sam grabs the walkie talkie and says to Dave, "well that's annoying, I didn't even think of an alarm. Can anyone else think of another way in without trying to smash through a brick wall, which would probably make just as much noise as an alarm? Can we like smash the electricity meter circuit box thingy and stop the flow of power to the building? It would mean we'd have to stumble around in the dark with our torches, but thre'd be no alarm. Anyone have any better suggestions?"
“Oh, and I don’t think there’s a conventional way in up here, though I might be able to force my way in through an AC vent. I don’t think we want to set off the alarm though…”Sam grabs the walkie talkie and says to Dave, "well that's annoying, I didn't even think of an alarm. Can anyone else think of another way in without trying to smash through a brick wall, which would probably make just as much noise as an alarm? Can we like smash the electricity meter circuit box thingy and stop the flow of power to the building? It would mean we'd have to stumble around in the dark with our torches, but thre'd be no alarm. Anyone have any better suggestions?"
"Well, the real question is whether or not the zombies would be attracted to the sound of the alarm."
Mike scratches his head with the barrel of his magnum (safety ON).
"'Course it might also attract looters, which, from personal experience, are no f&*~ing picnic to deal with."
He shrugs.
"What would Max Brooks do... ?"
Mike starts looking around at the cars parked on the street.
Mike:
"You know, the open wall of the warehouse probably isn't alarmed, though there might be motion sensors inside. And hey, cinder blocks aren't all that tough- if they're really weak, you can even kick 'em in. F$*#, man, the police probably won't even respond. You know, because, there's, like, f#%&ing zombies all over the place. If someone were to breach the west wall, there wouldn't be a line of sight to the zombies in the woods, but breaking the plate glass would give a clear line of sight."
Dave speaks into the walkie talkie this time, a little embarrassed that he did not think of it before. “Alright, you guys brainstorm on the alarm and getting in. I’ll keep an eye on the zombies. Over.”
He picks up the rifle again and sights through the scope, looking for signs of activity or movement at the near fringe of the park.
"What if we just blast the door's locks with the shotguns? It always works in the movies...."
Johnnie looks around, "It's just a thought."
"I know it's a hare-brained idea. But since we're doing a discussion I thought I'd start out with the icebreaker."
"Let's look for the ventilation, perhaps we can crawl through."
"Let's look for the ventilation, perhaps we can crawl through."
Sam leaves her Walkie Talkie on as they discuss their options, so Dave can listen in on the conversation.
"The problem with ramming a car through the wall of the building is that it will create a lot of noise, which in turn would most likely alert the Z's to our location. Damn I wish we had picked up some huge mallets at the hardware store. All we got were some small ones and some axes. Dave how far away do you think those Z's are, and how long do you think it would take them to get here if we did make enough noise to alert them?"
The zombies seem rather slow in both speed and reaction, and somewhat awkward.
The zombies seem rather slow in both speed and reaction, and somewhat awkward.
“They’re all over there in the park Sam, under the trees. I guess they’d take a while to get here, but probably not long enough for us to get in our requisite amount of looting.” Judd lowers the rifle for a moment, and has another look at the ventilation ducts. It’s unlikely there’ll be anything big enough to crawl in through – at least not without a tight squeeze – in a building of this size … maybe if there’s some basement level parking that needs to be exhausted or something.
"Dave yell if those z's start moving our way!"
Moving back and away from the door to avoid any ricohet, Johnnie unloads two blasts at the door's locks.
After blowing the locks out, Johnnie steps up to the door and pushes it open, stepping in. No alarm is audible.
Patrick trips the walkie talkie.
"OK, looks like Johnnie's in. I'll keep watch on the vehicles down here, Dave keeps an eye on the Zs down at the mall and the rest go and fill up on goodies. Sound good? Over."
Johnnie looks around as he enters. "I can use some backup!" He aims his shotgun at any possible target, i.e. Zs.
There is a small store inside with a long catalog littered desk. Some popular tools and products are on display, charts with all manner of connectors, samples of laminate, and posters advertising a staggering array of construction equipment are on the walls.
None of the things you were looking for are here in the front end shop, although you do see a display case with remote thermometers. The promotional poster claims that they can read surface temperature as far as 10 yards away.
The lights are off.
Judd
Johnnie waits for backup before taking any supplies or equipment. In the meantime, he looks for the light switch.
Johnny, your ears are ringing from the shotgun blast, it was louder than you expected after practicing all morning with ear protection.
"What!" Johnnie shouts as he thought he heard his name being called.
"What!" Johnnie shouts as he thought he heard his name being called.
Sam walks in behind Johnnie, Beowulf at the ready. "Whoh easy there tiger. I'm right here. Let's check this place first. I'm assuming that because it's been locked up that it'll be clear, but I'd rather at least do a cursory search instead of having a rabid Zombie jump out unannounced and try to chow down on me. Then we'll get what we want as quickly as possible while Dave and Pat keep a lookout. Johnnie, you and Alex (Mike) will grab the heavy stuff and I'll do a run collecting the incedental stuff. We want at least one if not two generators, large ones if they're mobile enough, but just get the biggest you can that looks like we can move it easily."
With that, Sam walks cautiously into the store, looking to turn on the lights first and then do a quick search for unwanted visitors. Once clear, she'll get to work gathering any incidental equipment they may need.
Dave’s been thinking. He picks up the WT again, mulling over some ideas. Maybe if they create a diversion a few streets away … set of a few car alarms or something, they can see if the Z’s respond to loud noises, and maybe attract them away. Meanwhile, his crowbar would probably make reasonably short work of the cinderblock wall, be more controlled than ramming a car into it…
Then there comes a double bang. “F*ck!” he exclaims, momentarily frightened. He looks down to see what it’s all about – “Bloody hell…” Then back through the gun scope at the park.
Kruel:
“Uh, guys,” he says into the WT. “I’ve got some zombies shambling this way. I don’t think they’re all moving, but some are. Once they get outside the trees I’ll try to give you estimated numbers and speed … but let’s hurry with that looting eh? I’ll try to hold ‘em off, but if one of you guys want to grab the H&K and give me a hand…”
He spends a moment lining up the lead zombie in his scope, planning to wait until it breaks the tree cover and is a little away from the ones that don’t seem to be moving before he fires off his head shot.
Judd
How many? 20 of them. There is no way of knowing how many are in Mackay Park because it dips down into dense brush. There is a creek inside with runoff from the mountains to the north and the foliage is very robust.
If the zombies come directly to the warehouse it might take 1-3 minutes depending on whether they walk directly or sniff around. At this moment they are just moving out of the underbrush and have not yet reached a position where they have line of sight to the door. So everyone can either go in now, or get back in the cars and flee, and either way they won't be spotted.
With that, Sam walks cautiously into the store, looking to turn on the lights first and then do a quick search for unwanted visitors.
After nosing around for about 20 seconds Sam finds the light switch and flicks them on. A peek into the warehouse and she knows that they're going to have to find what they need in the catalogs first.
“Alright guys,” says Dave, trying to keep the rifle steady with one hand whilst he juggles the WT he’s talking into with the other. “Looks like about twenty or so of them moving this way. I don’t think they’ll have spotted you yet, so I suggest you either get inside quick and close the door, or otherwise get off the street. I’m gonna try to create a diversion.”
Crouching low, trying to keep out of sight below the roof parapet, Dave moves about halfway across the roof, until, looking up, he can see the cars parked in a lot between two free-standing buildings near the park-side end of Roosevelt.
Taking a quick look again through the scope, he fires off two quick shots at two of the newer, more expensive looking cars parked there, hoping to set off some alarms.
Does this look useful?
... you do see a display case with remote thermometers. The promotional poster claims that they can read surface temperature as far as 10 yards away.
There is even an infrared imager.
The rest of the merchandise in the display room consists of new models of the usual power tools, some high tech fasteners and anything else that features a new technology - things that contractors might not know about but could possibly be interested in.
Sam flips through the catalogs for stock numbers of generators and gas masks.