Stay tuned - Season 2 coming soon!

Chet, Colton, Kim, and Greg scramble to get the APC up and running
before a growing hoard of Zombies is upon them.  Will they be able to
get moving in the nick of time?  Will they run away and abandon the APC?
Find out sometime this Fall as the campaign continues in Season 2 of
Zombie Revelation!

[update - due to scheduling conflicts, Season 2 has been delayed...] 

Session 9 Synopsis

Real Date: May 14, 2012
In-Game Date: December 21, 2011

Session Title: Arms & Armor

In the relative safety of the M113 APC within the C-130 transport plane, the group was finally able to get some rest.  Only the occasional scrape against the plane or dull thud at the side cargo door interrupted sleep.

After several hours of sleep, Greg and Chet awoke and went to the front of the plane to see what the new day had brought.  A large group of Zombies milled about on the tarmac a few hundred yards in front of the plane.  In their elevated position in the cockpit of the plane, Greg and Chet figured they could take out the 70-90 Zombies before them.  Greg went to the back of the plane and grabbed a sturdy metal bar and attempted to break out a couple windows to use as shooting ports.  The tough glass proved to be a worthy adversary for Greg as he managed to pull a muscle before succeeding in breaking out a pair of windows.

Chet started the combat with a volley of .308 rounds taking out a few Zombies and drawing the attention of the remainder.  As the hoard lumbered towards the plane, Chet switched to one of the recently found M16s loaded up with .223 ammo.  Greg ran a few rounds through the MP5 and was met with marginal success.  The exertion of knocking out the windows obviously had an effect on his shooting abilities.

A large portion of the original Zombie force remained as they arrived at the plane and disappeared out of sight under the fuselage.  Occasionally one popped out long enough for Greg or Chet to peel off a shot, but it was slow going and the shots were difficult to make.  Colton came up from the cargo hold about that time and took a few shots as well, but eventually they all gave up and left the cockpit in search of an alternative plan.

Chet hopped in the M113 and began familiarizing himself with the levers, switches, and various gauges in an effort to figure out how to start and drive the machine.  The Zombies pounding on the skin of the plane did not contribute to a quiet learning environment, but Chet was able to get to a point where he thought he could get the APC started up and moving.  Greg and Colton searched around for how to manually lower the cargo door and eventually figured it out.  In an effort to minimize the chances of something terrible happening during the pending chaotic moments after the doors opened, Greg hopped in the M113 and prepared to batten down the hatches.

With a few seconds of anxious anticipation as the engine cranked over, Chet successfully started up the M113.  The loud rumble of the diesel engine covered the pounding of the Zombies and the exhaust fumes began to cover the decomposition of the corpses still remaining within the plane.  Colton manipulated the cargo door and it began to slowly descend.  He joined the rest of the group in the M113 and the hatches were secured.

Chet carefully put their new ride into gear and with a sudden lurch the machine pulled out of the rear of the plane.  Several Zombies began attempting to climb and pound on the M113 as Chet cleared the cargo bay and sped out onto the tarmac. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMrBihciO7I  (reference material for how the M113 drives)

The tracks of the M113 proved to be quite well equipped to run down Zombies.  Chet motored in large circles around the tarmac running down the remainder of the Zombies from the large group.  Figuring that worked pretty good, Chet and crew decided to run the APC around the main part of the runway to help clear out any roaming Zombies they came across.  Every once in awhile a Zombie found a hand-hold and was able to begin climbing up on the APC, but were met with the business end of Greg's shotgun.

1: C-130   2: Hanger/crater 3: Broken M113  4: Military Barricade

After several trips up and down the runway several Zombies were mashed into the cold cement.  As the number of visible targets dwindled, the group returned to the hanger with the grenade launcher Humvee they had spotted the previous day.

Investigation of the Humvee found it empty except for the mounted grenade launcher armed with two remaining grenades. Figuring that was better than the empty .50 cal currently mounted on the M113, the group was able to wrangle the grenade launcher off of Humvee, remove and store the .50 cal in the passenger compartment of the M113, and re-mount the grenade launcher.

The hanger contained a couple Zombies which had sustained significant trauma hindering their movement and senses.  After quickly dispatching them, the group then searched the otherwise uninteresting hanger.  Looking out the back door of the hanger, however, revealed a dark crater flanked by a couple heavily damaged buildings. 

Chet pulled around the M113 to get a better view of the crater as Colton and Kim went in to check it out.  Corpses were strewn all over the place - obviously caught in the blast.  As the pair investigated the carnage, a sound was heard from one of the damaged buildings.  Kim decided to investigate as Colton continued around the blast area searching for anything of use.  Chet and Greg looked on from 50 yards away from within the M113.

As Kim climbed over the remains of a broken wall, she was met with a pair of Zombies walking out of the rubble.  A quick hack with her axe took out one of the beasts and she moved back out into the crater area.  Several more Zombies shambled out of the ruined building and joined in a terrifying chorus of groans.  Colton joined Kim in close combat and Greg spotted more Zombies moving in from a treeline just south of his comrades.

Fearing damaging the M113 in all of the rubble, Chet and Greg disembarked and headed towards the combat.  The quickest Zombies from the new group viciously engaged Colton and Kim before they could finish off the Zombies which emerged from the building.  Several daring shots were taken by Chet and Greg as they fired into the melee in an effort to make a hole for the group to escape through.  A couple shots whizzed past Kim's head as she hacked away at the Zombie attackers. 


Chances of running back to the APC diminished as Chet and Greg were met with yet more Zombies coming from around the damaged building and cutting off the escape route.  Many close calls later, the group stood among a pile of Zombie corpses - each with one or more holes through the head.  Several one-eared Zombies were among the destroyed due to a few near-misses by Chet's .45. 

1:  Crashed Humvee with Grenade Launcher  2: Hanger  3: Crater next to office building (bottom) and steel door room (top)  4: Disabled Crawler

With all things quiet again, Kim headed back inside the building this time taking Colton with her.  Greg and Chet stood watch near the crater and did some digging around as they waited.  Most of the building was in shambles, but one room seemed to still be intact.  Colton checked the door and finding it locked, he knocked.  With no answer after a few seconds, Kim began hacking at the lock with her fire axe.  After a misplaced hack into the steel frame of the door, a chunk of the fire axe's cutting edge cracked off in a grand display of sparks.  The axe seemed to still be usable and she was able to finish off the doors locking mechanism allowing the door to swing open freely.

Chet and Kim opened the door the rest of the way and were surprised by a pair of Zombies springing out of the room at them.  A few hacks later, the pair beat down the Zombies and the dust began to settle.  Taking a closer look at the Zombies, Chet saw that they were in military dress and had a large amount of dried blood streaking down from their ears staining their shirt collars.  No wonder they couldn't hear the knocking...

Searching the room resulted in finding a few bottles of water as well as some food in the form of a MRE.  One of the corpses contained a M9 in holster complete with a few rounds of ammo.  Other than that, nothing much of interest was found in the room.

Another nearby damaged building appeared to be offices.  Going through it quick didn't turn up much except for a M1911 .45 handgun stored safely in a top desk drawer.  The firearm appeared to be quite old, but in mint condition.  A clip filled with 7 rounds sat neatly next to the weapon. 


Searching the remaining area behind the buildings turned up a single Zombie crawling along the fence line with its only appendage being a single arm - obviously a 'survivor' of what ever created the crater.  Kim quickly put the beast out of its misery and returned to the rest of the group.  Between the crater and the fence a motor pool was found containing several Humvees in various states of repair.  None of them contained any armaments so the group left them and returned to the M113.

Chet turned the APC around and headed back out onto the main runway.  A few more Zombies had made their way out onto the tarmac which Chet took a few sharp turns towards in an effort to run them down.  Eventually the APC approached a large barricaded area complete with the Abrams tanks as seen in their previous scouting fly over.  Zombies occupied both sides of the concrete and metal barricades and some of which were drawn towards the group.

Once again, Chet mowed down several Zombies as he steered the M113 around the tarmac.  After running down the last of a small group, Chet and Colton heard a 'ping' from one side of the APC accompanied by a small jerk of the steering mechanism in Chet's hands.  Chet immediately slowed down and began heading back to the C-130 to check out what happened.  Suddenly another 'ping' was heard followed by a series of 'clanks'.  Chet halted the APC and shut down the engine.  Popping out of the hatch, Colton did a quick scan around before climbing down.  Taking a quick look at the left side of the M113 instantly revealed that they had thrown a track.

The group took their essentials and headed on foot the rest of the way to the cargo plane in search of parts.  Without further incident, the group quickly moved out of the open tarmac to the warehouse area and finally back to the C-130.  After 15-20 minutes of looking through crates, the group had gathered up what they thought to be replacement pins & tread sections and headed back towards the M113.

As the group approached the APC, several Zombies - actually LOTS of Zombies - were spotted approaching from the trees on the north side of the runway.  Rushing back the remaining couple hundred yards to the APC, Chet and the group started to assess the situation and try to figure out how to repair the track before being overrun by the oncoming hoard...

Zombie Destruction Totals Character Session All Time Colton 62 303 Greg 53 226 Chet 120 326 Kim 56 202 Total 1057

Human Interaction Totals Rescued Killed Session 0 0 Total 23 5 (Miles on M113: 21)

Session 8 Synopsis

Real Date: April 30, 2012
In-Game Date: December 20, 2011

Session Title: Behind Curtain #1...

Memorable Quote

  Colton: "Well, it sounded like a good idea..."

Just after noon, Colton and Greg continued talking with Rich at the small airfield and decided it was time to fly to the military airfield to the north as part of the plan to liberate one of the Blackhawk helicopters.  They accepted Rich's offer of lending them the suppressed MP5s and attached 100 round drum mags (full).  Those, along with several other weapons and ammo, they loaded up the Cessna.  After a quick taxi to the runway, Greg eased the plane into the air without issue despite the slightly windy conditions.

During the few quiet minutes of flight, the two decided what they would take with them once exiting the plane.  Greg would take most of the ammo for any of the guns they were bringing (which was fairly substantial), his shotgun, .45 handgun, MP5, a couple melee weapons, flashlight, satellite radio, and a couple bottles of water.  With that load he would be lightly encumbered, but leaving the ammo did not sound good to him.  Colton was loaded with his crossbow along with about 50 bolts stuffed in his backpack, his trusty hatchet, knife, flashlight, MP5, .357 all putting him at a normal encumbrance level.  Neither decided to weigh themselves down with any food as they expected to be back after a short time.

Before they knew it, the large expanse of Dobbin's AFB stretched out before them with its two mile long primary runway and several other secondary strips flanking it.  Zombies could be seen scattered around the tarmac and the surrounding brown grassy areas.  Fortunately, one end of the runway looked clear of obstructions (moving or otherwise) and Greg guided in the Cessna for a smooth landing.  After cutting the engine, the two exited the plane and headed quickly to some woods about 300 yards to the southwest.

1: Airplane Landing   2: Tree battle  3: Crawler  4: Crashed Humvee  5: Zombies in/around hanger  6: Bus battle  7: C130

Taking advantage of the cover of the trees, the two looked back to the plane.  Several Zombies had begun moving towards the plane and after a couple minutes it was surrounded by a dozen of them.  Not wanting to face them if they needed to make a hasty retreat, the two made their way back towards the plane, and once in range, Colton took a couple out with his crossbow.  Having no cover, Greg and Colton were easily spotted by the remaining 10.  All but one of them began moving towards Colton as they let off ghastly moans.  In a series of hasty fire and retreat maneuvers back towards the woods, Colton had taken out most of them.  Greg found himself quite winded after the quick sprints.  Whether it had been too much riding around in a semi and missing his what used to be regular workouts, or the stress of the situation, he could feel the endurance sapping out of him.

With the remainder of the pursuing Zombies dispatched, Colton turned towards the woods just in time to notice another group of Zombies approaching them.  Greg was oblivious to their approach as the sound of his heartbeat dominated his ears.  By the time the groans broke out, the Zombies were nearly on top of him.  Melee combat ensued and soon the small group of Zombies from the woods were beaten down to the ground.  Greg attempted to rest, but his nerves got the best of him and he was filled with tension.

While giving a rest a second try, both Greg and Colton heard the cracking of branches and crunching of leaves as a much larger group of Zombies moved through the woods towards their location.  The two decided to climb a nearby tree rather than run back out on the tarmac or into another unknown location.  Just as Colton finished giving Greg a boost up and pulled himself up into the tree, more than two dozen Zombies were upon them surrounding the tree and groaning in hunger.  They clawed at the bark in vain grasped for the lowest branch which was just out of reach of even the tallest of the group.  Colton braced himself in the tree and began targeting the beasts with his crossbow.  One after another they fell, but more lumbered in - attracted by the commotion - to take their place.  Soon the pile had grown to 2-3 bodies high around the base of the tree and the lowest branch was now in reach as the new arrivals stepped on the corpses of the fallen.  One of the Zombies was able to grasp the lowest branch and pulled itself quickly up, but failed to have the coordination to get to the next branch and fell back to the ground onto the others.  More climbing was attempted from below, but fortunately Colton's pack of bolts outlasted the Zombies in the woods below them.  The woods stood quiet and the two shimmied down the tree.

Colton reclaimed most of the bolts he had fired, as the two searched through the corpses that littered the ground around the tree.  Other than a purse slung on one of the shoulders of one of the fallen Zombies, no other bags, weapons, or other useful items were found.  Unfortunately the once fashionable purse did not even contain anything useful to the two guys.

Moving along the treeline after searching, Colton pulled out his binoculars and scanned around a bit.  One item of interest was a Humvee that had apparently crashed into a building across an open expanse of cement from them.  It appeared as though a 40mm grenade launcher was mounted on the roof turret.  Making note of that, they continued along the treeline until they heard some sounds coming from deeper into the wooded area.

Colton went into hunting mode as he crept through the woods and Greg followed close behind.  Soon the source of the cracking branches was spotted.  A Zombie which had experienced some significant trauma and was missing its left leg and large chunk of its side was pulling itself along towards the previous commotion around the tree.  With a smooth pull of the trigger, Colton put a bolt in the back of the head of the crawler.  This particular Zombie was dressed in a military uniform and upon searching, a set of keys was found.  In addition, Greg looked at the dog tags and the uniform to know this was once Sergeant Willis.

The treeline began a jog back and away from where they wanted to go so Colton did another scan of the area.  Five Zombies were spotted lingering around an airplane hanger next to the building that the Humvee crashed into, but other than that it looked pretty clear. 

Meanwhile, back at the Cessna, Kim decided it was time to get out of the plane and find the other two [Shelia joined the session].  Immediately outside the door, a Zombie which had at one time been severely burned on half of its face stood motionless.  Kim quietly opened the door, and quickly moved into position with her fire axe.  With a swift hack to the side of the head, the immediate area around the airplane was clear of Zombies.  Following the trail of corpses created by Colton to the treeline, Kim was able to find and catch up to the other two.

The trio began moving towards the hanger and the few Zombies hanging around beside it.  Colton unleashed a couple bolts to take down two as Kim and Greg moved in to finish off the rest with melee weapons.  As the group hid next to the hanger, some noise was heard inside.  Kim peaked around the corner and noticed several - perhaps a dozen or two - Zombies moving behind a set of long windows which provided a view into a walled in section of the hanger.  The closer of the two windows was already broken out so she ducked back around the corner to avoid being spotted. 

Looking out from a new point of view, a large plane was seen a couple hundred yards to the southeast.  Nothing was seen moving around it, but it did look like there were several corpses rotting on the cement around it.  Thinking it might contain something useful, the group decided to check it out.  Following along the grassy area next to the tarmac, the group neared the plane.  Before heading directly over to the plane, however, Colton noticed some movement in a small wooded area near them.  Moving a bit closer to to the woods, Kim confirmed that something was there and was, in fact, now moving towards them.  Kim, Colton, and Greg all readied their melee weapons and moved through the woods to meet what ever it was head on.

They found themselves face to face with several Zombies as they came through the small patch of trees to a road.  At first it was just a few, but more joined in at the sound of the the first group's moans of hunger.  Even more moved in coming from behind an olive green bus which was off to the edge of the road.  The Zombies swarmed around the group attempting to grab and bite each of the three survivors.  Many of the attacks, especially those directed at Greg, were far too close for comfort.  With the seemingly unending flow of Zombies, Greg and Kim both attempted to make an escape.  As they attempted to make headway and beat down the Zombies in front of them, others from the sides and rear clamped their icy hands around their arms and legs preventing the escape.  Fortunately, the group's teamwork pulled them through and somehow all three survivors still stood - un-bitten - amongst a pile of bodies.  Greg's nerves were shaken and his body nearly collapsed in exhaustion after the battle.  Over 50 Zombies were slain in this fray alone.

The group headed towards the bus to check it out.  One of the front tires was blown and had been running on the rim.  Corpses were laying haphazardly around the bus and concentrated at the doorway.  Greg couldn't take the smell flooding the area and decided to keep watch a few yards away, but Kim and Colton moved into the broken doors hanging by the hinges to check out the interior.  Upon entering, the foul stench of decomposing bodies was nearly overpowering.  Through watering eyes, several ammo boxes could be seen strewn around the aisle of the bus.  Kim made her way down the aisle past uniformed corpses.  Shell casings covered the seats and floor making it even more difficult to navigate the interior.  From all of the carnage, Colton and Kim were able to recover 3 M16 rifles, 12 M9 pistols, and a M249 machine gun.  No live rounds were to be found as they were apparently all expended on the Zombies littering the area around and along the road where the bus once traveled.  Looking out the rear windows of the bus revealed a long gouge and black rubber bits scarring the road marking the last efforts by who ever was driving the bus to escape the undead onslaught.

The stench of the area did not provide a very good place to rest so the group moved on towards their target of the big plane.  Colton and the others scanned the area at the edge of the woods as they prepared for the final move to the C130 cargo transport plane.  Seeing no movement, the group scurried up to and against the cold aluminum skin of the plane.  Stepping over the corpses littering the area, the trio positioned themselves around one of the side access doors.  Kim thought she saw some motion at one of the windows so Greg decided to knock.  The knocking was met with something pounding on the inside of the door.  Everyone stepped back as Kim began hacking at the door with her fire axe. 

After a considerable amount of effort (and noise), the door suddenly flew open as a Zombie pushed its way out.  Colton was ready with the crossbow and skillfully struck the Zombie down from its mid-air leap.  Glancing around, the group noticed several more lumbering shapes heading towards them from the woods to the south.  Greg, not wanting to be involved in any more combat, quickly jumped up into the plane as the other two guarded the open doorway.  The initial handful of Zombies was nearly dispatched when Greg's scream was heard from within the plane.  Ten Zombies had moved from behind crates and were attempting to dig into the new fleshy meal that had stepped into their tomb.  Noticing that more Zombies now approached from the hanger, Kim and Colton headed inside the plane to both help Greg and create a choke-point for the additional Zombies approaching. 

More close calls and failing endurance left Greg in little position to fight.  The other two knew they had to keep him alive - if not for his good company, his piloting skill was their ticket out of there.  After a few rounds of fierce melee combat only a few precious seconds remained for the group to prepare for the next oncoming threat.  Colton helped get the door closed as Kim jammed the fire axe to hold it shut.  Zombies were heard pounding at the door as the group began looking through the rest of the plane to make sure they had no other unwanted residents.

The cockpit area was accessed with Kim's fire axe revealing two decomposing corpses in civilian clothing adding to the wretched stench of the plane.  Judging from one of the cracked windows, it looked like they at one time had tried to escape.  They apparently failed.  Moving to the back of the plane, a large canvas curtain separated off the back portion of the cargo hold.  Pulling the curtain back revealed an armored personnel carrier as well as a four barrels of diesel fuel.  A .50 caliber machine gun could be seen mounted on top which enhanced the spirits of the group.  Unfortunately, no ammo for the big gun could be found in or around the APC.  Greg continued searching by popping open the crates in the holding area only to find various machine parts.

M113 Armored Personnel Carrier (Soldiers not included)

The incessant pounding on the door provoked the group into dealing with the situation outside of the plane sooner than later.  Greg stood to the side of the door preparing to remove the fire axe from the door while Kim and Colton readied the suppressed MP5s and set their sights on the doorway.  On the count of three, Greg yanked the fire axe out of the door and backed away as the door fell open allowing the Zombies outside to literally climb over each other to get inside the door.  Kim and Colton were able to dispatch of several of their attackers until one slipped through.  Greg was ready with his crowbar and dispatched it and was able to clear out of the way to let the other two continue with their MP5 assault.  After another dozen Zombie corpses filled the doorway and were being pulled out by the next set of Zombies, one more slipped through, but met its fate at the hands of Greg. 

After the frenzy subsided, the doorway was cleared out and the door again shut and barred - this time with one of the machine parts.  The group headed up to the cockpit to get a view of the area.  Several more Zombies milled around the opening to the hanger and the binoculars revealed that they were all severely burned.  Most of the clothing had been melted away and the skin was a bit charred.  Still, they walked and searched for where their fully-functional brethren ran off to...

Directing their attention back to the APC, Colton and Greg searched around for a manual fuel pump, but were unable to find one.  Kim joined the search and quickly piped: "Is this what you're looking for?".  Sure enough, they attached the pump to one of the drums and filled the fuel tank up by draining one of the drums. 

The group discussed trying to make it back to their Cessna, but Colton pointed out it was already after 6PM and didn't think it would be a good idea to try to fly as it starts to get dark.  It was agreed that they would try to get some rest inside the APC despite the terrible stench of rotting corpses scattered throughout the plane. 

Zombie Destruction Totals Character Session All Time Colton 97 241 Greg 33 173 Chet 0 206 Kim 51 146 Total 181 585

Human Interaction Totals Rescued Killed Session 0 0 Total 23 5

Session 7 Synopsis

Real Date: March 26, 2012
In-Game Date: December 16, 2011

Session Title: Fatties, birds, and theories.

Memorable Quote
  Greg: "Anybody know how to drive a tank?"
  Chet: "Its just like a big truck isn't it?"


A restful sleep was met with a chill in the air from the mid-December morning.  The group wasted no time getting on the road and were soon traveling back east towards their Home Depot.  As nobody was sure where the Zombie hoard was, Chet diverted from the interstate to the back roads.

Perhaps it was the stress of the gunfight the day before which clouded their minds, but somehow the caravan found itself on a different set of back roads than their previous course. Greg and Chet discussed briefly at several different intersections as to which direction to take and decided that as long as they were going northeast-ish, they would make it back up to the highway with a good chance of bypassing the hoard.

Other than an occasional abandoned car, these back roads were much the same as the day before.  As the group enjoyed their peaceful country drive, a lone figure was seen walking through a grassy pasture.  Greg snatched up a pair of binoculars and was pretty sure it was a Zombie.  Since it was a couple hundred yards away from the road and seemingly oblivious to the caravan passing, Chet drove on and the caravan peacefully carried on down the road.  A few miles later, more Zombies were spotted near a set of hog confinement buildings.  Although the buildings were not very far away from the road, the plan was again to just bypass them and keep on going.

That plan was suddenly interrupted by a gunshot heard from one of the buildings on the farm.  Since the gunfire didn't seem to be directed at them, Chet pulled the semi into the driveway to investigate what was going on.  Several more Zombies ambled around the corners of the buildings as they heard the semi approach.  Seeing that they were outnumbered and in danger of being overrun, Chet turned the semi around and headed back to the road in hopes of luring some of the Zombies away from the site.  As they were driving along the driveway, a white cloth being waved from a loft window in what looked to be a machine shed was spotted by Greg.  In the process of getting in and out of the site, several Zombies met the end of the front spike enhancement of the semi.  Scraping them off with the more recent enhancement of the hydraulic spike cleaner left a wake of pierced Zombies writhing on the ground.

1: Gunshot & Survivors     2: Semi parked and scores of Zombies taken out     Red Dots: Zombies  Green Line: Semi Path

Sure enough, about 40-50 Zombies followed the slow moving semi down the road.  Once led a bit down the road, Chet stepped on the gas to pull ahead of the herd a few hundred feet.  Chet pulled out the AR-15 (apparently left there by Kim as her and Colton drove the RV ahead to safety) and Greg borrowed Chet's rifle.  Chet took to the AR-15 like a pro and slaughtered dozens of Zombies as Greg fumbled with the bolt and made a few awkward shots with Chet's .308.  Soon, Chet had emptied the first of two 30 round clips and was into the second.  Greg then decided that his efforts would better serve the two by putting down the .308 and just reloading the AR-15 clips for Chet.  Soon, the herd was thinned to its last couple stragglers which were quickly finished off.

Heading back to the hog site, several more Zombies were spotted coming from the confinement buildings.  Chet pulled up to the window of the machine shed lining up the crow's nest under the 2nd floor window of the loft.  A few Zombies began climbing the semi's cage, but were put down by Chet as Greg helped the pair of legs emerging from the window down into the nest.  A frantic young woman, later introduced as Samantha, stood nervously awaiting the rest of her friends to make it out the window.  A shout from a man's voice inside the building was then heard:  "Yvonne ain't gonna make it out that window!  Her ankle is hurt and she is just plain too big!".  Just then, Chet and Greg noticed some additional Zombies lumbering out from the nearest building.  These were different...their bodies were extremely bloated and they walked a bit slower than their 'normal' counterparts.

[gross alert - do not read if eating or plan to be soon and have a weak stomach...]
Although slow, the building was not far away and one made it to the cage of the semi and threatened Chet with an open mouth.  Regurgitated meat oozed in chunks out of the Zombie's open maw as it pressed itself against the welded bars of the semi.  Reeling from disgust of the sight and smell of the beast, Chet lifted his 9mm and blew a large hole in its head.  Falling to the ground, more chewed meat was extruded through what remained of the jaw.
 [end gross alert]

As Chet tried to pull his eyes away from the horrific scene laid out before him, Greg pounded on the roof of the semi and yelled "Let's move!" as he saw several more 'fatties' approaching from the buildings.  Samantha, thinking they were leaving her friends in the shed, began yelling "Don't leave them!  Don't leave them!" as she dramatically clung on to Greg trying to keep his balance while trying to push her away with one arm and wield the shotgun in the other.  Between the lurching of the semi into motion and the frantic flailing of Samantha, Greg lost his balance and fell out of the nest onto the ground as the semi's rear tires rolled past his head.  Samantha gasped, while somehow managing to cling on to the roof, at seeing Greg go over the edge in what she realized could have been a deadly accident.  Chet caught the motion of Greg falling off the roof in his side mirror and quickly brought the semi to a halt.  Greg scrambled to his feet, scooped up his shotgun from the ground next to where he fell, and took a quick aim at an approaching Zombie.  Before firing, however, he changed his mind and decided to jump on the semi rather than stand to fight the growing numbers of Zombies around him.  Chet shifted back into gear and continued out of the driveway.

Once down the road a bit, still within easy sight of the machine shed refuge, Chet popped open the cab and took a few more shots with the AR-15.  Greg gathered himself a bit, but still gave a good piece of his mind to Samantha as he shooed her down into the cab.

With the area temporarily cleared out, Chet hopped back into the cab and pulled back up next to the shed holding Samantha's friends.  The flow of Zombies from in and around the confinement buildings continued to hamper the rescue mission.  Chet was able to keep them at bay as Greg wielded the fire axe to chop a larger 'window' for Yvonne to get through.  Without too much trouble, the tin and 2x4 window frame yielded to the axe.  A man in his 70's in blue overalls pushed down the newly chopped tin and formed a makeshift ramp onto the top of the semi.  He held on to Yvonne's hand as he and Greg helped her get into the birds nest.

With the roof of the semi sagging a bit due to being grossly over crowded with Greg, Yvonne, and the man who was quickly introduced as George, Chet put the rig into gear and pulled away from yet more 'fatties' as well as several regular Zombies following along.  With some navigation help from George, who turned out to be a farmer from the area, the group was soon back on the interstate and heading back towards the Home Depot.

After a very welcomed uneventful drive 'home', the new survivors were introduced to the rest of the Home Depot crew.  Yvonne was taken to the makeshift infirmary and Greg assessed the situation with her ankle.  The broken ankle had festered after going untreated for a couple weeks and the prognosis was that amputation was needed.  Fortunately the infirmary was fairly well stocked from the supplies and equipment collected from a nearby clinic in the weeks prior by the Home Depot survivors.  Greg was able to perform the surgery after narrowly escaping the unfortunate mistake of taking off the wrong leg [he rolled a 1 on his medical skill, but fortunately had a Survivor Point to use to re-roll].  Yvonne had some ups and downs in her recovery, but with the help of antibiotics and Greg's care, she was able to stabilize over the next couple days. 

As Yvonne was recovering, Chet, Greg, and Kim talked a bit about rigging up the semi with an extra fuel tank and making up some makeshift napalm to spray from the bird's nest.  With that idea in mind, they decided to go over to WalMart and pick up some supplies and get a tank off one of the semis in the parking lot.  Immediately after parking the semi near the side entrance to WalMart, the group knew something was wrong.  The door with the sign on it stood ominously half open.  Cautiously, the group approached to investigate the situation and immediately found John behind the counter slumped to the side in his chair with a bullet hole in his forehead.  The pool of blood forming on the floor next to him had partially dried hinting that he had been dead for at least a couple days.

Kim, a bit shaken over the loss of John, decided it would be best if she went back to the cab and stood guard in case anyone - or anything - was still around.  Chet and Greg decided to take a look around for the supplies they needed and to check for Zombies or the murderers still hanging around.  As the two moved quietly through the dark aisles, shuffling was heard from somewhere close by.  Coming around the corner, the two were suddenly came face to face by a Zombie - arms extended and mouth open.  Between the two of them, they were able to beat down the Zombie as well as a second one that quickly descended on the noisy scuffle from a couple aisles away.

Not seeing what they were looking for on the shelves, Chet and Greg decided to head to the back warehouse area of the store.  Heading through the door to the loading docks, their nostrils were assaulted by the wretched smell of decomposition.  The source of the smell was quickly spotted - a pile of corpses stacked along the wall.  Nothing of interest was immediately apparent so the two left the room and back to the surprisingly refreshing smell of the stagnant air filling the main part of the store.

Joining Kim back at the semi, the group drove out into the parking lot and found a semi with an exposed fuel tank that looked relatively easy to remove.  After a couple hours of work, they were able to get a tank free and secure it temporarily on the back of the semi.

With that, the group decided they should think about looking into the missing radio team that was dispatched to the tv/radio station.  None of them liked the idea of trying to drive there and walking sounded like an even more dangerous option.  Another air-recon mission was met with unanimous agreement so the group headed back onto the highway towards the small airfield they had previously flown from to initially investigate the refugee camp.

The trip to the airfield was, again thankfully, uneventful.  As they exited the highway onto the surface roads leading to to the airfield they chuckled as they gave a friendly wave to the bikers who had tried to gather a toll from them during their last visit.  A short few minutes later, they were pulling into the airfield and were met with a few armed men coming out of one of the buildings.

Kim, Greg, and Chet filled in 'Rich' who appeared to be the leader of the group with their successful trip to and from the refugee camp. They also mentioned their 'mission' they were sent on to rescue a group of Chinese military/technicians that were responsible for the radio/tv transmission.  Rich accepted the request and asked a couple of the guys around him to make sure the plane was fueled and ready to go. 

Again, the conditions were fairly windy, but Greg had no problem getting the plane airborne and on track to where they thought the radio station was.  Using the map that was given to them by Wu Chang, they were able to get into the general area and spotted the radio tower and satellite dishes without much trouble.  Greg was able to skillfully guide the plane in for a fairly close pass by the area to give Chet who was on the video camera a couple good minutes of footage as they circled.  It was obvious to see what the problem was...the place was overrun with Zombies.  At least a couple hundred of them and the area was cluttered with vehicles, buildings, and trees.  There was evidence, however, that survivors could still be within the buildings given the pile of corpses outside the walls and lack of broken down doors/windows.  Adding an interesting twist, three Humvees painted in desert camouflage were spotted parked near the radio/tv station.  One appeared to have a .50 cal mounted to a turret on the roof.  Zombies milled around the vehicles, but other than that no signs of human life could be seen.

1:  3 Military Humvees      Red Dots: Zombies

Greg pulled the plane back up to a navigable altitude and headed towards what he thought might be an interesting sidetrack.  Dobbins Air Force Base was shown on his paper map and he figured it would be a good place to check out.  Kim and Chet agreed and after a few minutes of flying, the large airfield was spotted and the Cessna was brought into a circling pattern.  There was obviously once a large battle vs the Zombies here given the rows of barricades and corpses littering the parking areas and around the buildings.  Several tanks sat in silence as a dispersed hoard of Zombies aimlessly meandered around the entire airfield.  Although much less densely positioned around the airfield, the numbers of Zombies were similar to that of around the radio station.  One, actually two, items that particularly caught the group's attention was the presence of a pair of Blackhawk helicopters parked near one of the large buildings.  Corpses as well as mobile Zombies littered the area in and around the birds, but they appeared to be intact. 

1: Blackhawk Helicopters (blue squares)      2: Tanks (blue dots)     Red Dots: Zombies

With that, Greg pulled the plane back up and set course back to their small airfield.  A few minutes later Greg brought the Cessna in for a near perfect landing and taxied back to where they had taken off from.  Before the engines had shut completely off four guys from the buildings, including Rich, approached them and led them back and inquired about what they found out.

Air Recon Path           A: TakeOff/Landing   B: TV/Radio Station    C: Air Force Base

Chet hooked up the camcorder to the tv in the 'viewing room' and the group reported what they found.  Much discussion went on trying to figure out a way to get into the radio/tv station.  Rich expressed interest in the group bringing back any Chinese survivors to the airfield for 'questioning'.  One plan that solved both the driving and walking issues was quickly brought up by Chet, Kim, and Greg was to use a Blackhawk to go to the radio/tv station.  Rich mentioned that although they have no helicopter pilots here on base, he does know someone who can fly a Blackhawk and could coordinate getting him to the military base.  Rich continued by offering the group a pair of suppressed MP5s each with a 100 round drum magazine.

As the group continued to develop the plan, Rich was asked if he had any theory on how this whole mess started.  He said they believe it had to be some type of terrorism - probably by the Chinese themselves.  "Their products manufactured on their soil including toothbrushes, drinking glasses, and kids' toys using who knows what kinds chemicals, are touched and used every day.  Now, suddenly they have their military-run camps all over our country?"  Although coming off a bit like some sort of conspiracy theory and a bit far fetched, the group certainly had something to ponder...

Zombie Destruction Totals Character Session All Time Colton 0 144 Greg 14 140 Chet 88 206 Kim 3 95 Total 105 585

Human Interaction Totals Rescued Killed Session 3 0 Total 23 5

Session 6 Synopsis

Real Date: February 27, 2012
In-Game Date: December 15, 2011

Session Title: What has the world come to...

Memorable Quote

  Greg: "Everybody's gotta keep busy with doing something..."
  Refugee Camp Resident: "I keep busy with eatin' Catfish."

Before them to the north, the piled cars proved to be a significant obstacle to a northern detour.  Since somebody obviously put a lot of work into erecting the wall, the group decided against tearing it down.  Instead, a southern route was chosen to hopefully bypass the zombie hoard ahead of them on the interstate.  Working from a map with limited detail, it looked like the best way to go would be to go south through Carrollton and then back up on Highway 16 to the interstate.

Planned Detour Route

A few scattered abandoned vehicles encountered along the roadside proved to be a relief from the tight confines of the interstate traffic.  After only a few cautious, yet uneventful, minutes of travel a pickup truck was spotted pulling out of a convenience store parking lot onto the road heading towards them.  Chet brought the big rig to an easy stop in contrast to the screeching halt the driver of the faded orange pickup responded with.  An additional squeal of the tires, accompanied with the smell of hot rubber and a small cloud of smoke, returned the pickup to the parking lot to make way for the cage and spike equipped semi cab and its occupants. 

Easing the cab forward, Chet crept ahead a few yards to return the pickup to their line of sight.  Chet and Greg both gave a friendly wave and called out to the truck which was met with silence as the three occupants of the orange Ford were seen deliberating within.  Two others could be seen in the back of the truck recovering their positions amongst the suddenly shifted duffel bags, cases of water, sleeping bags, and even a couch and rocking chair.  Soon, however, a quivering voice came from the driver: "Hey, we don't want any trouble...".  Chet and Greg hollered back in agreement and the two groups began talking more openly.

The pickup and its five occupants had heard the radio broadcast in Carrollton and were heading north to catch the interstate west to the refugee camp.  Chet and Greg warned their new found friends about the hoard of Zombies heading westward that would impede their progress if they continued that way.  Fortunately the driver of the old Ford was from the area and knew a back road not on the high level road map.  It would avoid Carrollton and the raiders that the pickup occupants warned the group.  In addition, the back roads would be a lot shorter.

Back Road Detour Route

A: Exit where hoard of Zombies was spotted ahead
B: Ambush site
C: Triangle intersection
D: Back on the interstate with no Zombies in sight
E: Refugee Camp

Jed, the pickup driver, offered to lead the caravan with his pickup and the whole group headed on their new course southwestward.  Chet and Greg followed behind in the Semi with RV and van following in line.  (Kim and Colton slumbered in the sleeper...aka not playing yet...)

After only a mile down the road the screeching of the pickup tires brought the caravan to a halt.  Greg could see ahead of the truck from his point of view atop the semi that there was something in the road ahead.  Before any details could be gathered, everyone instinctively cringed and ducked at the sharp crack of gunfire.  Greg grabbed on to the top of the semi as Chet slammed it into reverse and began backing up following suit with the pickup in front of them.

Dust kicked up as Jed sped past the semi in an effort to outrun the gunfire barrage only to have a rear tire shot out resulting in an abrupt stop at the side of the road.  Chet's eyes darted back and forth looking around for the source of the gunfire, but backing up the truck took too much concentration to see anything else.  Greg scanned the area as well, but was also preoccupied by clinging on to the roof of the semi while slamming in slugs to replace the shot he had loaded.  Chet brought the semi to a halt once he reached some mature trees between the road and the houses - better than being completely in the open.  Now taking fire from several of the houses, Chet and Greg heard the howl of pain from  someone in the pickup.  The rest of the occupants drug the injured person out and towards the opposite side of the road.  Unfortunately, the there was not much of a ditch to provide cover and the poor souls were pinned nearly in the open.

Ducking from the clanging of bullets ricocheting off the semi, Chet had a hard time finding a target as he scanned the houses through his .308 scope.  Greg spotted someone shooting from a window in a building close to them and sent a slug towards the assailant, but it failed to find its mark.  A quick second pull of the trigger of the semi-automatic shotgun resulted in a dreaded 'click' with no 'boom' following - a dud.  Fumbling to clear the round took his attention away from the ensuing battle for a few precious seconds.

Adding to the cracks of gunfire, the rev of a large diesel engine rumbled from the road where the caravan had passed just moments ago.  A tractor pulled a large wagon across the road blocking any retreat.  Fortunately the RV and van which carried the other survivors from the Home Depot and Fairfield Inn were able to make their way down the road to safety before the tractor moved into position.

Greg heard the wiz of a bullet fly by ending in a sharp pop next to him.  Looking to his side, a thumb-sized hole was neatly punched through the fiberglass of the semi's air foil forming their crow's nest.  Greg's short life of studying, hanging out at the beach house, and driving around with his buddies quickly flashed before his eyes as he knew what it would mean to be wounded without the proper equipment to provide medical care.  Even worse, he realized he was the only medic around and shuddered at the thought of whose untrained hands would be digging around in his body...  Fortunately, he wouldn't have to worry about that right now and quickly shook of the idea as he spotted movement in one of the windows.  Blasting with his newly loaded slugs, the crunch of bone being shattered was heard as he put down one of the gunmen.

Chet shouldered his .308 as he turned from the doorway of the semi and took aim at the tractor driver.  With an focused squeeze of the trigger, the side window glass of the tractor cab spider webbed and the driver slumped forward.  A split second later, Chet was ducking back behind the door of the semi as shotgun pellets rained across the aluminum hood next to him.  Spotting the source of the blast, Chet snapped his rifle to his shoulder and hastily pulled the trigger.  Wood fragments blew from the doorway, but the gunman went unscathed.  Skillfully manipulating the bolt action, a quick second shot caught the left shoulder of the gunman and tore it from his body.

The piercing scream of one of the pickup's occupants was the next sound which barely made it above the din of the gunfire.  Looking over, Greg could see that three of the five lay just off the side of the road.  The other two began to move hunched over with hands over ears towards the cover of the semi.

Greg scampered down the back of the semi yelling to Chet "I'm goin' for the Tractor!".  Dust kicked up just a stride behind him as shotgun pellets threatened his plan to reach the tractor.  Greg took a brief moment to catch his breath, probably lost due to the previous adrenaline filled moments rather than the short sprint his toned body should have had no trouble with.  He then flung open the tractor door to reveal the slumped figure at the wheel.  Yanking at the arm of the young man, probably no older than he was, Greg easily dislodged the corpse from the seat and subsequently slid it down the tractor stairs and into a heap on the ground.  Pulling himself up into the cab, Greg's eyes widened at the sight of a hole he could fit his fist through and matching spider webbing - painted with a dark red mist - in the opposite door's window. 

Greg scanned over the blood spattered levers and knobs of the tractor in an attempt to get it moving.  Another shotgun blast broke up part of the rear window of the tractor which fortunately damaged nothing else besides Greg's concentration.  Chet hopped out of the cage of the semi and headed up along the treeline to provide some cover fire.  His aging, yet still quite able, ears led his eyes to one of the lower windows of the two story house (#6) which was the source of the shotgun fire aimed at Greg.  Chet fired a round at the figure and heard a grunt as it disappeared from the window.

Finally finding the right combination of levers and figuring out the clutch, the tractor lurched into motion.  Greg cranked the wheel around to line up on a collision course with the closest house (#6).  A few seconds later, the tractor was enveloped in a cloud of dust as the aged wooden siding popped and crushed at the relentless advance.  Breaking down the corner support for the house, the wheels then crashed through what once was a living room before crashing out the adjacent side of the house. Shattered fragments of wood, insulation, and other derbies filled part of the wagon as it followed behind the tractor.

Circling around, Greg set his sites on another house that he remembered gunfire coming from (#3).  This smaller house yielded in a similar way, but not before taking its toll on the cab and one of the front tires of the tractor as well as snapping off the derbies filled wagon at the hitch.  Half of the cab had collapsed breaking out what remained of the already weakened glass and steering became increasingly difficult as the remaining front tire strained to keep on course.  Greg lined up the tractor as best he could with the next house down the line (#4) and jumped out of what remained of the cab.  Clearing the dirt from his eyes, he was able to note that the tractor skimmed by the next house - taking out some siding, but leaving it structurally intact before continuing on its wayward course into the woods.

As the rumble of the tractor gave way to snaps of tree branches and finally silence, Chet hurried over to one of the houses (#5) to make sure it was clear.  Peaking a searching eye into each of the ground floor windows revealed nothing so he slung his .308 over his shoulder and smoothly drew his 9mm handgun from its holster.  With gun at ready, the fingertips of Chet's free hand tentatively turned the old glass doorknob to unlatch the back door.  Slipping inside, Chet moved through the lower level scanning each room for danger.  The gently blowing curtain from the open window in the dining room caught his attention and upon further investigation, the body of a younger man, probably in his 40's, lay on the floor - missing a good part of his shoulder.  Judging from the bloody trail leading from the window back 10' to where the body rested, someone drug this man after he had fallen.

Eyes wide, Chet scanned the remaining corners of the room and concentrated on the sounds around him.  Almost as expected, a board creaked directly above his head.  With that, Chet crept towards the staircase he noticed during his walk of the house, but found a few creaky boards himself.  The squeal of the board was felt through his spine and his face grimaced as he froze in his tracks listening for any additional movement from above.  Finding the stairs to be as creaky as apparently every other board in the house he was sure his position had been given away.  Reaching the top of the stairs, Chet's eyes began adjusting to the minimal light forcing its way through the thick shades of the windows.

After clearing the first room on the way to the area he expected the noise to have come from, Chet stood in the hallway with 9mm pointed forward.  Listening again, the dead silence was a bit unnerving and known to be the calm before the storm.  With a quick breath, Chet mustered his strength, pivoted into position and slammed his foot into the door.  The latch tore through the frame as the door flew open punching a doorknob sized hole in the adjacent wall before swinging lazily on its hinges.  Chet rolled out of the way as a shotgun blast tore through the upper corner of the door frame.  "Drop the gun and come out!" Chet barked as he regained his breath from the close call.  "Go away and leave me alone!" cried a woman's voice from the room followed by another shotgun blast aimed towards the doorway.  Chet calmed himself and tried to talk the woman out of the room, but the sobbing and incoherent screaming coming from the room led him to believe that she had totally lost her nerve and was not coming out any time soon.  After the 4th shotgun blast, Chet did a quick slide-by of the doorway and shot blindly into the room.  That seemed to silence the woman and a few seconds later he heard a clicking noise coming from the room.  Breathing heavily, Chet was suddenly met with a scream as the woman charged out of the room and at the same time both weapons discharged.

About this time, Kim woke up in the semi (Sheila arrived and joined the session) to the frightened sounds of the two pickup truck survivors.  After taking cover behind the semi, they had climbed up and hunkered down in the relatively safe confides of the cab.  Grabbing the cool metal of her AR-15, she climbed out and smoothly pulled herself up to the crow's nest.  She scanned the houses and listened for any further gunfire.

The slug that the woman had unknowingly loaded whizzed past Chet's ear, but the 9mm round found its mark and pierced the woman's heart.  Chet trudged a few steps down the hall, pushed the heavy curtain aside, opened the window and exclaimed "Chet lives!".  The anxiety that briefly welled up inside both Greg and Kim as the muffled gunfire broke the silence was relieved at the sound of Chet's strong voice.  Ears still ringing from the confined gunfire, Chet ruffled through the pockets of the woman's body which now rested in a slowly growing pool of blood before he continued on to clear the rest of the rooms. A pump 12ga shotgun and a couple handfuls of shells were added to the growing arsenal of the group.

Greg peered through the windows of the smallest house of the series (#4) before finding himself at the back door constructed of scraps of partially rotted through plywood.  Kicking the door open, he burst into a living room area.  As he navigated a path through a floor littered with empty beer and food cans along with other garbage, Greg found the house empty with nothing of value save a couple unopened canned goods.

Chet made his way northeast to the largest house (#6) to verify it was clear.  Kim saw movement and leveled her rifle at the target before realizing it was Chet.  Fortunately she held her fire as Chet made his way around the house.  Having an entire corner ripped away left this house in a very unstable condition.  Chet realized the hazard and avoided going up stairs or even near the damaged area.  He did, however, find blood on the walls and along the floor in what once was a mud room entry way.  The spatter of blood trailed back to the kitchen.  Leading the way with his handgun outstretched, the entry opened into a kitchen.  The picked through contents of a first aid kit strewn all over the table was the first detail to draw Chet's eye.  A small pool of blood at the edge of the table which still dripped to the floor below ended the trail.  The back screen door stood open and lazily swung with in the limited breeze from outside lead Chet to poke his head out and begin searching for the gunman.  Chet was not able to pick up a trail by looking for blood on the ground, but a series of broken branches and crushed weeds led in the direction of an outbuilding (#8).  Moving to the large metal structure revealed a bloody smear along the door and handle.  Finding the door locked, he scanned the area once more before considering it too dangerous to follow into the woods and headed back to the rest of the group.

Ambush Site

 B: something spotted on the road
1: house - first gunshots fired from - gunman escaped
2: machine shed - one gunman firing a shotgun
3: house - another gunman
4: empty very run down house
5: two story house - one gunman and lady upstairs
6: two story house - two gunmen - one escaped out the back
7: machine shed - tractor pulled out with wagon to block escape
8: machine shed - bloody smear on the door, but nobody found

Once all of the houses had been quickly gone through to verify they contained no hidden gunmen, Greg sprinted across the road to the three motionless bodies of the pickup truck group.  Checking for vitals confirmed that all three had bled out from their various gunshot wounds.  Jed, the driver of the truck and once familiar with the back roads, was among the casualties. 

The rest of the houses were then searched and some shotgun ammunition along with a broken double-barrel shotgun was found.  In addition, some food supplies were found in the houses.  Having already fully stocked up on the supplies found at the fallen checkpoint back on the interstate, there was no room for any of the food in their vehicles so it was left.

Chet and the two hiding in the semi changed the pickup's blown out tire in silence as Greg went to get a closer look at what Jed had spotted on the road before the chaos erupted.  A makeshift tire spike strip cobbled together from some plywood panels pierced with a series of nails stretched across both lanes of traffic.  He drug the panels off to the side of the road and roughly flipped them onto the embankment.

After about two hours from when the caravan's travel was disrupted, the group was back on the road.  This time Chet led the rest of the vehicles in the semi.  Fortunately Chet had a good memory and was listening as Jed explained the alternate path and the group found their way back up to the interstate without getting lost.  Save a couple reassuring mentions between the group that it was all in self-defense and there was nothing they could have done to prevent the incident, traveling along the back road went by in silence.  Attempts to rationalize how fellow humans battling the same unimaginable undead terror could so viciously attack one another went without answer.

The somber mood was broken as they left the nearly empty back roads and were once again negotiating the semi along the crowded shoulders of Interstate 20.  Several miles down the road, a new obstruction made itself known.  Across all lanes of the interstate, a 10' high earthen embankment had been pushed up.  A white sign contrasted with the natural earth and had written "Refugee Camp" along with a red arrow pointing towards the exit.  Chet guided the caravan down the exit ramp and around the embankment before climbing back up to continue the path down the interstate. 

"Interstate Diverter"

A short while later, another sign along the side of the road indicated that the camp was to be found by exiting onto a dirt road leading north.  Less than a mile down the heavily forested roadway, another earthen wall could be seen towering about 20' above the ground.  The path continued on and led to a large metal door embedded within the wall.  The camouflage painted gate began to open, withdrawing to within the walls, and allowed entrance to the camp.  Chet, Greg, and Kim hopped down out of the semi, reluctant to pull the entire caravan within the walls without first checking it out on foot.  As the group passed through the gates they were met by two men dressed in camouflage uniforms topped with helmets and toting the bull-pup weapons identical to the one found at the checkpoint encountered on the interstate.

Another man, also neatly dressed in a uniform minus helmet, approached the group and introduced himself as Bing Yi.  "We welcome you to the camp.  Please follow me and we will get you right in." Bing Yi said calm and reassuring voice.  His English was perfectly spoken and had a noticeable, but not distracting Chinese accent.

The group questioned Bing Yi about what he knew of the outbreak and about the camp itself for several minutes.  Bing Yi responded and did not seem bothered by the many questions.  Everything he could not answer, he referred the group to Wu Chang - the person in charge of the camp. 

Chet offered the supplies they had brought from the checkpoint, but Bing Yi encouraged them to give the food and water to other survivors and that they had plenty here.  Supply drops supplemented by the nearby catfish farm kept the camp of about 200 residents well fed. 

Eventually the group finished their questions of Bing Yi, but still refused to become official 'residents' and requested to see Wu Chang before making a decision.  The rest of the survivors made their way in to a what was once a small farmhouse.  The once open living area had been neatly separated by white screen dividers which formed separate screening areas in which blood was drawn to screen for infection.  Photographs, names, and previous occupations were also taken before a thermal printer powered by an unknown source spit out a badge with all the new resident's information printed on it.  An attendant attached a lanyard to the badge and handed it to the individual to whom it belonged.  The whole process was reminiscent of waiting in the DMV for a driver's license crossed with a trip to the doctors office - neither of which would be happening again in this day's world.

As the group waited, Bing Yi provided a document containing the rules of the refugee camp.  Questions around having to stay within the complex were then attempted to be cleared up by Bing Yi.  He stated that it is not uncommon for organized groups of scavengers or others with specific business to be issued waivers to allow the coming and going.  The rule is just to prevent attracting unwanted attention by people meandering around the camp.  There were no requirements that had to be met by the residents except to help out the camp with what skills they had and to follow the rules for the safety of all.  Bing Yi explained that residents were encouraged to carry a side arm or hand weapon in case of a breach, but should not fire or make other loud noises within the walls for any other reason.  The military would provide food and shelter to each resident and provide for the bulk of the security needs.

After about a half hour, Wu Chang walked through the inner gate and greeted the group.  The formal hat he wore atop his head helped him almost top 5' tall.  Although his accent was a bit thicker than Bing Yi's, he was still very easy to understand as he firmly spoke "Hello.  How may I help?".  Wu Chang's uniform included an overcoat which was decorated with a few sewn on medals.  As with the rest of the camouflaged soldiers, an emblem of China's PLA was affixed to his jacket's right upper sleeve.

One bit of interesting information acquired from Wu Chang was the status of the various countries.  He reported that the US, Mexico, parts of South America, and Western Europe had the highest infection rates.  Eastern Asia, India, and the bulk of Africa each experienced some levels of outbreak, but to a lesser scale.

Once several more questions were answered, telling the group mostly what they already knew, the group shared their plan to bring more people back to the camp.  Wu Chang took interest to this and inquired as to their interest in a mission.  A group of six soldiers and two technicians responsible for setting up the television and radio broadcast was more than 24 hours overdue for their radio check-in.  Wu Chang indicated that he would be able to give a satellite enabled phone for the group to report back their findings.  As a sign of trust, however, the phone would only be given to someone who committed to be a resident of the refugee camp.


After much deliberation, Greg finally accepted the offer and had his blood drawn, gave his name and occupation, and was given his resident badge.  Wu Chang then led him into the camp to give him more details on the mission and to retrieve a radio. 

Refugee Camp Overview

From far right to left:  main gate and refugee processing center, parking area, medical and mess hall, resident tent area (built up on a 10' mound), military barracks and offices

Wu Chang and Greg made their way through the various gates until they reached what was once a small machine shed.  The farm equipment had been replaced with several cubicles constructed out of corrugated metal.  Wu Chang grabbed a printout of the area surrounding the television station as well as a satellite phone and vehicle charger off of a desk.  He gave both to Greg and gave some quick instruction on how to turn the phone on and off and where to push to talk.  The phone would automatically (and exclusively) call into the camp.

TV/Radio Station Area Overview

Greg kept up with Wu Chang's quick moving legs as he looked at the map as the two briskly walked back to the entry to the camp.  Upon Greg's return, Kim and Chet headed back to the RV to get some dinner.  Greg headed back inside the gates to check out the tent area and see if anyone was walking around.

Soon after climbing up the hill to reach the columns of olive green tents, Greg met one of the residents walking toward his general direction.  The man in his late thirties seemed friendly enough and the two talked about where they came from.  He said he was from Birmingham and was part of a group of four.  Six other group members fell dead as they attempted to acquire some supplies from the Anniston Army Depot.  Greg described their situation and then asked how the conditions were here in camp and if everything was going well.  The resident confirmed with confidence that the place was safe and other than one trouble maker trying to pester some of the women in camp, uneventful.  Also, the food was pretty good and usually warm.

The two then headed down from the mound to the mess hall.  The building was not overly crowded and going through the food line was a quick procedure - a little like a high-school lunch line.  Greg noticed that there was electricity in the building which lit up the lights as well as powered some sort of fan system drawing the food smells down into the ground.

Food trays in hand, the two brought back the evening's meal to the man's tent.  As they talked further, the resident asked Greg if he planned on picking out a tent.  Greg responded by stating that he and his friends planned to go out to rescue other survivors and bring them back.  The refugee asked why he wanted to do that - it sounds dangerous!  Greg replied: "Everybody's gotta keep busy with doing something..." to which the resident responded simply: "I keep busy with eatin' catfish." as he plucked another tender morsel of fish from his plate.

Greg finished up his food fairly quickly and headed back out to join his friends in the RV.  Greg and Kim mentioned in passing that they were surprised that the place seemed to be run in such a Democratic sort of way.  Chet seemed a bit disturbed as to how the youngsters could mistake this Socialist/Communist society for a Democracy.  Whatever the social underpinnings, the camp seemed to be keeping the people safe for the moment and he decided to drop it before it turned into a political debate.  The group found the beds of the RV and semi sleeper to be of great comfort after the mentally exhausting day and hoped for a better tomorrow.

Zombie Destruction Totals Character Session All Time Colton 0 144 Greg 0 140 Chet 0 118 Kim 0 92 Total 0 494

Human Interaction Totals Rescued Killed Session 17 5 Total 17 5

Session 5 Synopsis

Real Date: January 23, 2012
In-Game Date: December 13, 2011

Session Title: Aerial Recon and Armed Escort

Packed into the undersized break room in the Home Depot, the group talked with some of the other survivors and between themselves to get a plan together regarding the TV broadcast.  Someone suggested checking the radio to see if there was any additional information being broadcast and sure enough, the same message as on TV was being received by the radio. 

After some discussion, it sounded like a dozen people had decided that they wanted to make their way to the refugee camp.  Greg, not giving up on his hope to fly an airplane, suggested that they do a bit of recon to verify the location and validity of the camp before anyone left.  Although excited to get on the road, the survivors were convinced to stay put - at least for a day while the party found out more information. 

Chet and Greg then decided to head to Walmart to pick up a camcorder to record what ever they saw.  Solid video evidence would be more convincing one way or the other than their word alone.  Hopping back in the semi, the two headed over to their favorite shopping location.  As they approached the entrance, they noticed three individuals start running from the entrance of Walmart and into the nearby wooded area.  They had what appeared to be some shopping bags, but did not appear to be looters so they were let go without further consideration.

After the customary knock, the group was relieved to see that John answered the door as usual and the three individuals that ran off were confirmed as regular customers.  After a bit of difficulty finding a camcorder on their own, they recruited the help of John to locate a one with suitable zoom to show ground detail from an airplane.  After the regular checkout process with John acquiring the card imprint, the group was back in the semi. 

From there, the group started the trip to the nearby airport that Greg noted on their road map.  According to the map, the airport was about 6 miles towards downtown Atlanta.  They started by attempting to enter on the eastbound ramp and found several disabled vehicles blocking the way.  Unfortunately, as Chet was pushing through the vehicles a few welds of the metal cage protecting the semi were cracked.  The damage was considered minor and the group continued down the now mostly clear eastbound lanes.

After only about a half mile down the road, six Zombies were seen shambling along the side of the highway slowly westward in the direction of the semi.  The group decided to ignore them for the time being and just continue on their mission.

Chet proceeded at a cautious speed of about 25mph to allow for Greg to properly observe the surroundings from the bird's nest above.  Just over a mile down the road, Greg spotted what appeared to be a couple humans on the overpass above the interstate.  They did not appear to be hostile so Chet pulled close enough to be within easy talking distance and stopped the semi.  The two explained that they came from about 30 miles south and are on their way to the camp they heard about on the radio.  The broadcast they heard was about a week ago and directed survivors to the same camp that the party had just learned of the day before. 

Just as the group was considering giving the strangers a ride, the two guys yelled in fear and took off running northeast along the fenced in overpass.  Chet pulled the semi ahead past the overpass and waited for a couple minutes in case the guys ran back towards the semi.  After seeing several heads and torsos of Zombies moving quickly (relatively speaking) across the overpass in pursuit, it was decided to move on and hope the guys could outrun the beasts.

A few miles later of being on alert, exit 49 appeared and Chet attempted to exit.  With some minor nudging and a bit of agile driving skills the semi was brought in one piece to the surface roads.  Cautiously, the semi crept northeast as the group looked for signs for the air field.  The road looked like it had been cleared of most disabled vehicles and no Zombies were in sight.  Suddenly, the unmistakable rumble of a pair of Harley Davidson's was heard coming from a nearby parking lot and towards the group.

Airfield Recon Overview (click to enlarge)

A: Home Depot        B: Walmart        C: Overpass        D: Airfield

Fingers were on triggers as one of the riders rolled up next to the semi and explained that this was their territory and a toll must be paid.  He stated that they do a lot of work keeping the area safe and a small toll of a couple packs of cigarettes or a box or two of ammo was a small price to pay.   Despite having plenty of currently useless .410 ammo to pay the small toll, the idea of paying a 'toll' at all did not sit well and the group decided against paying the biker.  Despite a warning from the biker that not paying would not be a good idea, the semi began to pull forward.  Both bikers disappeared around a corner just as a shot rang out immediately followed by a slight lurch forward as the front passenger tire blew out.  Frantically, everyone looked around for the shooter, but were not able to spot anything.

Continuing forward, Colton and Greg kept their eyes open for another semi they could get a wheel from.  The rumble of motorcycles could be heard at a short distance as the semi limped forward adding to the tension.  Finally, another broken down semi was spotted just off the side of the road which Chet parked right next to.  Colton and Greg quickly hopped out with a tire iron and started to remove a tire from the semi.  Chet, scanning the buildings around them, spotted what he thought to be a rifleman in a shop across the street.  Deciding to get out of the line of fire, Chet pulled the semi around to put the disabled semi between them and the gunman.  Greg and Colton gave up the progress on the first tire, they moved to the other side and began working again.  Suddenly another shot rang out and the tire they had nearly removed from the disabled semi blew out in their hands.  Enraged and a bit shaken, the two climbed back into the semi.

As they fumed and tried to decide what to do next, Chet spotted one of the bikers riding up the street towards them holding up a white flag.  He got within a loud talking distance and asked if the group had reconsidered paying the toll.  Not willing to risk their lives any further nor the complete disabling of their semi, the group agreed under the condition they be allowed to remove the first tire they were working on.  The biker agreed and waited as Greg and Colton removed the tire and loaded it up on the hitching area of their semi.  Colton then grabbed a box of .410 shells and set it on the ground between him and the biker.  As the biker walked up to pick up the box, Colton shot a bolt through the front tire of the parked motorcycle.  The biker looked in surprise as Colton quickly mounted up.  Chet wasted no time pulling forward and continuing down the road.  As they pulled away, yet another shot rang out taking out one of the rear tires.  No other shots were fired and apparently the gunmen considered the score 'even'.

Distracted by the bikers and gunshots, the group managed to miss the first set of landing strips at the airfield which happened to be across from where they were trying to fix the tire.  Continuing down a road flanked by fairly thick woods, they spotted what turned out to be a back entrance to the airfield and found that they did not overshoot their destination at all.  A couple twisting turns later, the large expanse of concrete of the airfield was before them.

Just after stopping between what looked to be airplane hangers, the group was met by five well-armed men approaching them.  One of the men spoke up and greeted them asking if he could help.  Chet explained that they needed to change their tire as it was shot out by a biker gang.  The man explained that the 'biker gang' was part of their scout team and he was aware of the encounter. 

Since the toll was paid, the man welcomed the group to perform the repairs and inquired as to why they had come.  Greg said they were looking to rent an airplane, but the man said they were not for rent - only for sale.  Before a price could be decided on, Greg continued and said that their plan was to perform an aerial surveillance on the refugee camp they had heard about on the radio and television.  The man said he did not know what Greg was talking about, but asked for a few minutes while they revisited the option of rental.  With that, the armed men went inside the building and emerged several minutes later giving the group plenty of time to finish the front tire repair. 

The man agreed to the rental request and asked for the information they gained during the mission in return.  Chet slowly drove the semi as he followed the group of men to a small private jet.  Having not flown a jet before, Greg mentioned that a single prop airplane would work better for a slow fly-by recon mission that they had in mind.  Nodding in agreement, the men continued along the tarmac and showed the group to a Cessna Skyhawk.  Checking the fuel gauge and some quick calculations indicated that they had plenty to get there and back.  After loading their gear from the semi to the plane and a pre-flight check, they were soon taxiing down the runway.

Despite a fierce crosswind coming from the north, Greg was able to make a successful takeoff and headed west along the interstate.  Not wanting to draw unwanted attention to the interstate below, the flight altitude was a bit higher than perhaps they wanted.  It was clear, however, that the eastbound lanes did have a path which was mostly clear.  Other than a single vehicle heading west, there was not much seen moving on the road.

Overview (click to enlarge)

 

A: Home Depot        B: Walmart        C: Overpass        D: Airfield

E: Zombies at Minivan        F: Checkpoint        G: Zombie Hoard

Before long, the aircraft's GPS indicated that they were approaching the supposed coordinates of the camp.  Sure enough, a set of earthen mounds surrounded what looked to be tents and a few solid structures near a small lake.  As Greg circled above, Chet thought to try his GPRS radio to see if anyone happened to be listening in the camp below.  After scanning through most of the channels, a voice answered and said he was one of the refugees.  The refugee indicated that conditions were good and they were being supplied and treated well.  There are about 200 in the camp and it seemed quite safe.  The refugee continued by mentioning he was waiting for word from some others from his group that they were split up from while coming from Birmingham and that his radio battery was about to run out. 

Refugee Camp (Point H on Overview map) - Aeriel Surveillance from Cessna

 After shooting sufficient footage of the camp, Greg began to head back towards the airfield.  Upon arrival, Greg was happy to see that the wind had died down a bit.  As he made his approach, he was coming in a bit hot so he pulled back up for a second attempt.  With solid skill, he was able to safely land the plane and park it where they had started an hour or so prior. 

The armed men were there waiting next to the group's semi.  After moving their gear back to the semi they noticed that the rear wheel had been repaired while they were gone.  The group thanked the armed men and inquired about a TV to watch the footage.  In one of the buildings the men were able to hook up a generator to a TV and Chet attached the camcorder and everyone watched the footage. 

The day was growing late and the group was anxious to get back to Home Depot to show the rest of the survivors what the camp looked like. The armed men wished them well and let them know they shouldn't have any problems with the 'biker gang' on their way out.  As the semi approached the ramp for the interstate, the bikers could be seen following at a distance.  Hand signals were exchanged from the appropriately named "bird's nest" and the group was back on their way westward. 

As Chet approached the overpass with the semi, a figure was seen sprinting from the shadows under the road towards the semi, hurdled the concrete median and jumped on the hitching area of the semi.  As he was running, Greg identified him as one of the men on the overpass and kindly decided not to gun him down before reaching the semi.  At the urging of the man's yelling of "Go! Go! Go!", Chet continued forward a couple hundred yards before stopping to bring him into the safety of the cab. 

Initially out of breath and in shock, the man could say nothing.  As the semi rolled forward, the six Zombies lumbering along the side of the road were once again spotted.  Kim decided she needed some practice shooting from a moving vehicle so she took aim with her AR-15 and soon eliminated all six.  A couple miles later the man recovered enough to tell him his name and that his buddy didn't make it...

Back at Home Depot, the group was greeted by the anxious survivors and the camcorder was soon hooked up and playing back the results of the scouting mission.  Highly encouraged by the video and radio conversation, four more of the survivors changed their minds and now planned to go to the camp as well.  The group then decided to post a notice at Walmart letting people know about the camp and that they could join the caravan. 

They drove over and asked John to post a sign stating that anyone wanting transport to the refugee camp should come over to Home Depot.  With that, the group headed back to Home Depot and got some well earned rest.

After some breakfast cooked for them by the other survivors, the group headed over to Walmart to see if anyone inquired about the sign.  It took John longer than usual to answer the door and it looked like he had just woken up.  John reported that no customers had come in after he had seen them the night before, but he would pass along the message.

Before going back to lead the caravan, Chet decided to head over to the shop to repair the welds of the semi cage that were broken the day before.  After a 20 minute welding job the repairs were finished and they headed back to Home Depot.

Waiting for them were the 17 survivors, plus Harry who had volunteered to drive the RV, all packed up in Chet's RV and a large van.  The caravan headed west on I-20 with enough supplies to last everyone at least a couple days.

Again, proceeding cautiously at about 30mph,  the group traveled about 10 miles before spotting activity on the road ahead.  Colton, using his binoculars, reported that a mob of 75-100 Zombies had trapped a minivan about a 1/4 mile ahead.  Radioing back to the RV and van to hold position, the semi group headed forward to within Chet's rifle range.  Chet laid on the horn to try to draw the Zombie's attention, but even fire from his rifle did not seem to distract the beasts from their meal at hand.  Pulling forward to within 150 yards, Kim let loose with several rounds of AR-15 fire as Colton and Greg gripped the stocks of their shotguns firmly hoping to get within range soon.  Still, the Zombies paid the semi no attention as one of them broke in one of the windows of the van. 

In a last ditch effort to give the passengers of the minivan ahead any chance of surviving, Chet pulled the semi forward and into the Zombie mob.  Several of them were impaled on the spikes in front of the semi and the rest of the group unleashed all of their firepower - shotguns, AR-15, and 9mm handgun all blasted Zombies down.  Several Zombies without direct access to the car now directed their attention to the newcomers on the scene.  A few of them awkwardly climbed within the semi's defensive cage only to be met with Chet's 9mm and Greg's shotgun.  Kim and Colton kept blasting from the bird's nest above, but could not take out enough Zombies fast enough to prevent three more of the minivan's windows from being smashed in.  The flailing of legs hanging out from the vehicle left the group with a grizzly picture of what must have been happening inside the minivan.  Chet continued pushing the van and Zombies forward occasionally hearing the unsettling, yet strangely satisfying, sound of a skull popping under the weight of a semi tire.

After unloading much ammunition, the bulk of the Zombie mob was reduced to a pile of motionless rotting flesh and bone.  Everyone dismounted from the semi and finished off the remainder with hand weapons.  Colton and Greg worked together to pull at the Zombie legs protruding from several of the minivan windows and with the help of Kim dispatched them. 

Despite their best efforts, the passengers emerged from the van - four guys each with bite and claw marks and one woman.  Although apparently physically unharmed, the woman had completely lost her nerve and was in obvious shock.  The group knew that it would only be a matter of time before those bitten would succumb to their bites and become one of the walking dead.  At gunpoint, the minivan occupants were given the option to be checked out and if they didn't have any bites they could come along with the caravan.  Not having the strength to fight a well armed group after the Zombie assault, the minivan occupants didn't know what to do except continue on foot towards the refugee camp on their own.   What will probably spell the death of the woman with them, the group let the five occupants continue on their way as they moved the wreck of the minivan out of the way.

Approaching checkpoint

Continuing on their way, the caravan continued on past the corpses now littering the roadway.  Another 15 miles down the road, another set of corpses was seen dotting a bridge ahead.  The group approached cautiously and got out to check the scene on foot.  Over a hundred Zombified corpses were counted - all dispatched with medium-caliber head shots.  At the midpoint of the bridge, a few vehicles were piled up and formed a makeshift checkpoint.  Within the checkpoint, a dozen crates were stacked.  All were sealed except for one which contained bottled water and food rations.  Other than a flag painted on the side of each crate, there were no other markings. 

After deciding that the group had no idea about where the flag was from, it was finally shown to those in the RV and van.  By chance, a couple of the original Home Depot survivors were able to recognize it as the People's Liberation Army - Ground Force flag.  Further clarification identified it as a flag of the Chinese army. 

With the flag identified, the group pushed aside the oddity of the discovery and tried to assess how much of supplies they could take with them.  Already fairly full with people and their belongings, they were only able to pack the contents of two of the large crates throughout the three vehicles of the caravan.  As the supplies were being packed up, Colton took a look at the many shell casings littering the ground around the checkpoint.  The casings were identified as 5.8x42mm - something he was not familiar with during his time at Cabela's.

Once things were loaded up, the caravan continued the journey.  After only a half mile past the checkpoint bridge, another set of six Zombies was spotted.  One of the Zombies looked to be in military dress including helmet.  In an effort to conserve ammo, the group dismounted and rushed forward with melee weapons at the ready.  A few defensive maneuvers were needed to avoid being bitten, but the combat was quickly over.  Although a bit tired out from the combat, Kim was still ready for some more action with her trusty fire axe in hand.


Searching the area, Colton turned over the military dressed Zombie of Chinese heritage to find that it still had a rifle strapped to its chest.  Immediately upon seeing the distinctive weapon, Colton exclaimed "Hey, that's a Type 95!".  Unfortunately there was no ammunition to be found, but the weapon was quickly snatched up for possible future use.  A Type 77 sidearm was also found on the soldier - also lacking ammo.

Loaded back up and on the road again, the caravan traveled another ten miles or so before another mass in the road was spotted about a mile ahead.  The slight headwind carried a stench which confirmed that the mass of moving creatures ahead was indeed undead.  Although impossible to accurately count, those in the bird's nest estimated the hoard at several hundred strong. 

Fortunately an exit from the interstate happened to be between the caravan and the hoard blocking their forward progress.  Once safely off the exit, the group was faced with a barricade of stacked vehicles which blocked northward access.  Greg and Kim hopped down off of the semi and climbed over the 'wall' to check out what was on the other side.  The street was fairly clear of vehicles - undoubtedly used to construct the blockade.  Neither Zombie nor human was to be seen roaming the streets so the pair checked out a few abandoned fast food restaurants.  Nothing there either but a few rats...  Passing by a few boarded up buildings, the two figured they had seen enough and headed back to the semi.

Pulling out the maps, the group contemplated both finding an alternative route and the feasibility of pulling down part of the wall with the semi...if only they could find some chains...

Zombie Destruction Totals
Character	Session	All Time
Colton	21	144
Greg	36	140
Chet	34	118
Kim	46	92
Total	137	494