Separate Ways (part 4) - ATZ an English Adventure

"F*CK THIS" April screamed hoarsely, as she brought down the heavy police issued baton on the top of the nearest D-sub's head with as much power as she could, staving in the skull and dropping the infected being to the floor. This caused the zed following behind to trip over the prone body, and into the zombie that she had tripped earlier. The clumsy creatures became tangled and the red-haired reporter was able to take advantage of the mess to crack another skull before retreating a step and taking another wild swing at the pack of zeds that were desperately trying to drag her down. The swing caught the chin of the leading zed turning its head with such force as to snap it's neck. With that, April realised she was temporarily clear of the press and used that time to sprint backwards toward the woods where the phone was still issuing its strident call, that had already attracted way too much attention. 

thankfully the distance the zeds have to walk and the knocked down zed, 
keep the numbers that can attack April to a mere 3.
Still its a lot for a single citizen to fight

but she does amazingly well and clears those immediately facing her

its then her turn to activate and she decides that discretion is the better
form of valour and retreats to the woods to try to silence the cell phone

April reached the phone just as the gadget rang off, looking at the screen it showed the caller as 'The Boss'. The reporter snorted, that could mean anything from the phone owner's manager at the local Maccy Ds, to their tyrannical life partner, or to the chief bastard operative that were chasing after April! Throwing the phone back into the undergrowth, she ran along the light treeline at the back of the tavern toward the bridleway that would lead her in a northerly direct, and toward her colleague Bobby. Glancing wistfully at the tavern and what she hoped was a fully stocked bar, she sped on fully aware of the mob of zombies shuffling after her. While the thick walls of the medieval building might offer her good protection, it might be more prudent to come back with her camera man in tow, plus she was running behind schedule.

April sighs as she thinks of the soft beds, warm fires and soothing brandy within

but is reminded of the present threat

so she escapes off the board following a successful mission

So that ends my first foray back into the world of ATZ and it was a close run thing, although my narrative may not have conveyed that.  There was a massive amount of luck involved that helped April especially as she was still a citizen and had to take 'citizen brown pants' tests in order to be able to fight back against... well basically everybody! She only failed it twice and both times it didn't have a detrimental effect, just causing her to 'duck back' and away from danger. Thankfully the 'meet and greet' with Matilda and Max did not go badly, although they didn't join her they also didn't attack her with their superior weaponry. Her encounter with the MiBs could have gone hideously wrong with both scoring more successes when it went to 'insight' meaning that they both could act before her. Thankfully both soldiers were rep 3 only and had to roll high to even hit April with their tasers, which they did not. April punished them with higher melee rolls and despite being outnumbered knocked one down before killing the other and then 'popping the weasel' with the knocked down MiB. The triple event following this fight also could have done for her as well and by the end of it she had 13 zeds on the board. Thankfully she is now fully kitted out with the recovered tactical gear of the MiBs and has an interesting map. More importantly she has fulfilled all of the requirements for transitioning to a survivor and will no longer need to test for brown pants and she also gains an increase for a skill and I choose shoot - making it 4. Thematically it should be melee as she was quite the melee star but her rep 3 for shoot means it highly unlikely she ever hits a target so I wanted to change that and thematically she can always do a bit of target practice to improve - sorry. Anyhoo now she is racing toward her meeting with Bobby and the story will progress.

hope you enjoy

dGG 

Separate Ways (part 3) - ATZ an English Adventure

April cautiously swung open the heavy front door of the farmhouse and stepped out into the hazy daylight. Scanning left and right and seeing nothing in the immediate area, she rushed over to the bridge and sprinted across the ancient flagstones, too keyed up to even stop and admire the beautiful medieval structure. 

April darts across the stone bridge

Safely across the far side of the bridge and away from the obvious vulnerability of the exposed structure, she slowed and nipped under the boughs of a tree, just as a dark shadow sped across the ground. High above, an enormous helicopter buzzed in a lazy circle before accelerating off north, the weirdly muted blade sounds indicating the military nature of the dangerous machine. April pressed herself against the bark of the tree, trying her best to meld with the ancient trunk in an effort to hide. Her eyes scanned for any of the government operatives or MiBs, as she had taken to calling them. 

and passing under the boughs of the tree, heads around the eccentric building

Just as an enormous helicopter buzzes overhead

Satisfied that there weren't any of the black clad spec-ops heading in her direction, she broke into a sort of crouched run toward the stilted building in front of her in the hopes of getting undercover as quickly as possible. Following the events in the farmhouse, she clasped the rubberised handle of the ASP in her right hand and gingerly opened the heavy door with a slight creak and dashed through the opening in an effort to rush anything/body lurking in the shadowy depths.

opening the door she finds...

2 MiBs!! gulp... Insight goes badly for April and she goes last in the encounter

April heard the gasp as she dove through the door and rolled across the living room floor. Ahead of her a dark clad soldier reached for a bulky yellow taser, just as his colleague reached for his own weapon. Their intention to capture and presumably 'question' the reporter was obvious as they favoured the non-lethal weapons over the more dangerous assault rifles strapped over their backs. April ducked as the twin darts of the first MiB's taser flew a hair's breadth over her right shoulder, lodging into the ancient timbers of the door. His fellow soldier cursed as he too missed his mark when she used the momentum of her duck to tuck into a forward roll, coming out of the move with a can of pepper spray in her hand. Depressing the spray she released a stream of police issued PAVA full in the face of the surprised MiB. Flailing with his hands at his burning eyes, he caught his partner off guard and managed to trip him to the floor. With a hefty swing, April drove the ASP in her other hand into the jaw of the pepper-sprayed combatant with a loud crack denoting a possibly fatal head injury. With a look of sorrow at the necessity of her actions and the tragedy of lost life, she turned to face the soldier who had been tripped by his partner, only to find that he had hit his head and neck against a heavy oak coffee table, and was currently bleeding out from a torn carotid artery. April scanned the room for anything moving and when she realised she was alone in the dusty living room, she burst into tears at the reality of the situation. 'Killing' the D-Subs was one thing but this had been a living, breathing man, with hopes and dreams and all that came with it. He might have a family waiting for him on the mainland somewhere, praying for his safe return, and knowing that one day they will receive the awful news that their loved one had been taken from them in defence of the realm (or what other lie they had been told). Instead, here they were on home soil and bleeding out while trying to capture a fellow citizen of the United kingdom of Great Britain, in order to take her to some black site and torture her. "Well, when you look at it like that..." she said to herself, her eyes drying and feeling a little better about her actions. Looking around she found some more food and added it to her pack before stripping the kevlar vest off of the smallest soldier and trying it on for size. With a few adjustments of the straps to better distribute the surprisingly heavy armour, she reached for his rifle and ammo pouches slinging them over her shoulder and then hefting his partners weapon in her hands, feeling the weight and looking at the actions of the weapon with the eye of someone who knew their way around a firearm. Better than all of that though, she spotted a map pouch on the guy bleeding out on the floor and found a (now blood spattered) map of the local area and a compass with a few areas marked with circles and crosses... interesting, the red haired reporter thought to herself.

Checking the load out she had now burdened herself with, she headed back out of the building confident that she was on the right track to her RVP with Bobby. 

April leaves, heading for the RVP

Event 1 - Ahead the 'dead' zed in front of the tavern twitches...

and comes back to life!

Moving around the back of the stilted building, she began to make her way across the courtyard, wary of the helicopter that had to be in the area or anymore of the MiBs in the vicinity. A few metres in front of her, the face down 'remains' of a D-sub twitched and unexpectedly rose up to it's feet. April lifted the heavy assault rifle to her shoulder and snatched at the trigger, firing a single shot at the approaching nightmare. The bullet flew way too high and over the head of the zed and April was forced to fend off the creature with the butt of the weapon. With a thrust she managed to knock it off it's feet to land in a heap on the floor before her. Raising the heavy gun to perform the coup de grace, she was about to slam the butt into the forehead of the prone zombie, when all hell broke loose.

April stands over the prone figure of the zed...

With a loud bark, a big brown mastiff ran toward her with it's tongue lolling from it's jaws in obvious exhaustion. Trailing behind it, in pursuit was a group of four zeds with various bite marks - from the dog it would seem. Just as she was adjusting to this new information, the strident ringing of a mobile phone began, it's piercing ring tone drawing more of the infected from the nearby locale. 

event 2 - a big dog appears followed by zeds

and they appear in front of the tavern

immediately after, event 3 - a cell phone rings!

and draws 9 zeds from behind the eccentric building...

"Ahhh shit!" the young woman had just enough time to gasp, sling the clumsy rifle and draw the more familiar ASP, before the zeds rushed up to her their blood streaked arms outstretched...

last part coming soon

hope you enjoy

dGG

Separate Ways (part 2) - ATZ an English Adventure

The beautiful old farmhouse was typical of the ancient town of Sandwich, and April felt her spirits rise as she approached the  quaint wooden door, even as she felt sorrow while stepping over the ruined body of what could possibly be the former owner of the house.

With an eerily loud creak, April inched the heavy timber door open and peered into the gloomy interior of the living room. Weak light streamed through the small windows providing little illumination and leaving the majority of the room in shadows. Stepping further in, her ASP raised defensively in front of her she scanned the area, her senses screaming at her to be wary. With a slight rustle of leather on leather a dark shape rose from the sofa and into a pool of light.

using a risk/reward card reveals a Rep 3 survivor - Max!

"G'day," the figure drawled in a low whisper, his soft Australian accent causing the statement to sound almost like a question.

"Hi" April replied in a bright but clearly brittle voice, taking a step back as a rugged man in his 30's walked slowly into view. "I'm April, nice to meet you" she burbled inanely as the bizarre tableau played out.

The man dressed all in black leather, a little worse for wear naturally, was of average height and build, but somehow projected both a confidence/competence that belied his stature and in a weird duality a kindness in his eyes that comforted the nervy woman.

"Name's Max, it's a pleasure" He reached out to shake her hand automatically, almost forgetting that it held a sawn off shotgun, which he hastily pointed back down to the floor, blushing.

April was taken a little back at this contrasting and confusing man, almost disarmed by his pleasant nature and friendly tone. "What're you doing here Max?" she asked before her brain caught up with her mouth. She flinched at her unfriendly, frosty tone and softened it with one of her trademark smiles that had melted the heart of guys in the past.

"Aw nuttin really, mate. I was just heading out as it happens" Max said as he made his way to the door.

April stepped aside, relieved that he seemingly hadn't taken her comment badly, and saddened that her legendary charm with the opposite sex had apparently ran out with the ending of civilisation.

outside Matilda once again starts edging toward April

Matilda cross with herself for being so timid, strode around the side of the tavern (again!) determined to catch up with the only other human she had seen that wasn't infected. As she got close to the bridge, the door to the farmhouse was thrown open. Matilda expecting to see the flame red hair of the other lady was therefore taken back when a gruff looking male, dressed in black leather came out instead. Both humans stopped dead in their tracks, their weapons twitching in their hands. Matilda was first to  recover and flashed a shy grin at the road weary survivor. "Hey there" she shouted across the bridge and raising her hands to show that she meant no harm. "I'm Matilda, I'm human... not that the creepers aren't huma.. I mean, weren't huma.. ah i'm burbling on like a child..." she trailed off when she realised the irony of a child stating that she was acting childish. "well I'm just Matilda". She stared her shoes, cheeks burning with embarrassment.

Matilda rolls "meet and greet" and it allows the two to chat and exchange pleasantries

Matilda walks closer to Max and starts to cross the bridge

"Hey there just Matilda, I'm only Max" the Aussie retorted dryly "I'm not a creeper either" he added with a humorous but tight smile, that reassured her that he wasn't teasing the young woman. Matilda realised that this limited banter was about as friendly as the rugged man would probably ever show, but at least he wasn't fake or hiding anything more sinister. Stepping onto the bridge, she began walking toward him when she felt another shiver run down her spine, her instincts screaming that something was wrong but not from the man on the other bank. Spinning around, she scanned the immediate area but found nothing out of the ordinary. With a shrug, she carried on over the stone structure and joined Max on the far side.

the last PEF hurries along the river bank...

and reveals as...nothing!

In the farmhouse, April walked into the kitchen disappointed that the capable looking man had walked out. Focusing on her immediate problems however, she searched the cupboards and managed to scrape together some tins of salmon and some dry biscuits, which she stuffed into her bag. With that she headed up the shadowy back stairwell and onto the landing of the old building, floorboards creaking alarmingly underfoot. A quick scan in the back bedroom showed nothing of value and April was starting to think the Australian had scavenged all the useful stuff. Therefore she was a little blase when she opened the door to the master bedroom and strode confidently in.

the kitchen, unsurprisingly has some food in it

the back bedroom is empty of anything of value, however...

the master bedroom reveals two zombies!!

The creak of floorboard was the only sound as wrinkled old hands with wicked looking nails reached out toward her. Thankfully that sound was just enough to warn April of the danger and she stumbled backward, lifting her ASP and fending off the old male D-Sub in his nightclothes. A second creak indicated a second D-Sub and again the fiery journalist had to use her police baton to knock the grasping hands of the second old male in his nightwear away. The once cute matching PJ set now streaked with blood and gore was the stuff of nightmares and April backed away to give herself some space. Dropping to one knee, she thrust the heavy baton into the midsection of one of the infected and folded it over and causing it to overbalance and topple to the floor. Like an insane ballerina, she sprang up and pivoted on her left foot, driving her strong right foot onto the back of the fallen zed's head and grinding its head into the ancient wooden floor with a crack. At the same time she swung the heavy metal tipped end of the weapon into the jaw of the other zombie, shattering it's jaw and sending it flying backward to crumple against a solid looking wardrobe.

and she takes them out!

Stopping to catch her breath, she looked out of the grimy window in time to see the girl and the older man join up on the near bank by the bridge and head off down a southerly path. "Good for them" she muttered as she straightened up and headed back down the stairs, she had too much to do to run after them and daylight was burning.

coming soon part 3!

hope you enjoy

dGG

Separate Ways (part 1) - ATZ an English Adventure

The morning sun was climbing higher into the sky, warming the young woman's weary body as she trudged through the light wood. April Nillson, investigative reporter and winner of various journalistic prizes was thoroughly lost... The directions provided by Andy Wosa - the hefty EMT nicknamed "Gobbo" for some inexplicable reason, were forgotten and she found herself wandering through the wooded countryside on the blighted Isle of Thanet. Hearing the rushing river just slightly north of her position, she headed in that direction, hoping to follow it to a crossing point, which she prayed was a stone bridge she vaguely remembered from Gobbo's instructions.

April advances onto the board and generates 2x zombies. One near the river and
the other near the bottom of the table edge.

The sound of the river almost drowned out the low moaning of the D-subs (zombies) that she knew had been trailing her for the last 15 minutes and were now closing in on either side of her.

April spies the river ahead

the zeds get closer as she tries to dash in between them

April, hearing the loud cracks of dead twigs and the groaning of the creatures as they crashed through the underbrush, tried to move faster but felt the strength drain from her legs as fear coursed down her spine. Slowed to a crawl, she willed herself forward, stumbling on jellied limbs through the last few trees and out toward the river bank. Across the burbling waters was a beautiful 'oldy worldy' tavern, typical of the medieval flavour of the town of Sandwich and it's surrounding hamlets. Buoyed by the sight of the buildings, that meant she was not as lost as she thought she was, she was none-the-less startled when she saw a girl crouched by the side of the tavern.

failing her citizen brown pants roll, she bursts out of the treeline near the river

across the water she spots a PEF (possible enemy force)

which turns out to be a girl... 

The girl spotted April at the same time, and with a liquid grace spun around and stood facing the journalist, pointing what looked like a pistol at her.  Raising her hands in as non-threatening pose as she could, April called out the girl who looked around 13 years old.

"Hi" she called across the waters in as kind a voice as her strung out nerves could manage. "I'm April, who are you?".

"Hi yourself, I'm Matilda." She answered, lowering the pistol when she saw that April was human, rather than one of the creepers.

"Are your parents nearby?" asked the red haired reporter, a relatively innocent question given Matilda's age. 

"Yeah, sure" she yelled back, a shadow coming over her countenance that pierced April's heart at the obvious lie. "Yup, uh huh! they're in the pub here" she gestured at the tavern, with its whimsical sign 'The Brock's Rest'. The young girl began walking toward April, intent on closing the distance when she saw a small movement by the side of the building causing a shiver to run down her spine.

A PEF moves within Matilda's LoS but turns out be nothing

That small distraction caused her to take her eyes off of April and therefore she failed to spot the zombie that came crashing through the undergrowth behind the older woman, teeth bared and hands outstretched like claws...

look behind you!!

Matilda gasped, retreating in fear as she saw the ragged figure emerge from the treeline reaching for the woman across the raging river. 

Matilda retreats behind the Tavern

April, seeing the horror spread across the girl’s face even from this distance, spun quickly on her left foot like a ballerina shaking out the policeman’s ASP as she turned. The D-Sub slowed by the thick brambles it had stumbled through, reached out with it's filthy fingers in it's efforts to bring the reporter closer into it's grasp. April took a step back and left her right foot trailing, tangling the zeds legs and causing the clumsy creature to stumble and fall. With a heavy thump of the ASP, April crushed the skull of the pitiful former resident of Thanet.

the zeds close in on April

and she deftly finishes it off

A loud crashing sound off to her left caused her to lift the bloodied ASP from the ruined head of the D-Sub at her feet and scan the area. Stumbling along the river bank, a zombie approached April dragging a bloodied shovel and bared its ragged teeth in a menacing growl.

Matilda paced back and forth, trying to pull herself together. Despite only being 13 years old, she was old beyond those meagre years and treasured her normally steely calm. Hefting the pistol she had lifted off the Russian sounding dude, who had been dragged down by a group of the creepers the day before, she rushed back around the side of the building in time to see one of the dead things bearing down on the pretty woman across the river. 

Matilda draws a bead on the zed across the river

Hurriedly, the teenager pointed the pistol at the creeper and snatched at the trigger, astonished at the kick back of the weapon. More astonishingly, the heavy grain bullet sped across the short distance to crash through the side of the shuffling infected's head, dropping it to the floor instantly.

And remarkably, drops the zed. The shots don't even draw anymore zombies into the area!

April, stood rooted to the spot as the approaching zombie's head exploded in front of her. Across the river, the girl once again faded behind the building. With a shrug and a hastily shouted thank you, she turned toward the nearest building hoping to find some supplies.

Matilda once again backs away (as an NPC she is controlled by the game)

part 2 on its way soon

hope you enjoy 

dGG