Reaper
Background: After recovering from the bizarre events at the Umbra Corp compound the team visits the law firm again. There they are informed that Joanna Westhaven was found dead, presumably having died in the fire that swept the "abandoned" research facility two days ago. Though details are sketchy the law firm has more or less officially ruled her as "accounted for". This, of course, leaves Amy Heseltine's absence still at issue. When representatives of the legal firm handling their parent's estate don't seem to be making a special effort to track her down, the team begrudgingly takes it upon themselves yet again.
After getting Amy's address and employment from the more helpful legal aids the team attempts to contact Amy at home, receiving only her answering service. Calls to her place of business go unanswered, the message indicating the offices are closed and giving the standard hours of operation as though it were late at night rather than midday.
Elisa researches Umbra Corp and discovers that they are primarily a research corporation. Most recently they received some measure of notoriety for uncovering certain plants in the far east with some surprising medicinal properties. They have a reputation for investigating myths and old folklore remedies for modern applications. She can find no further information other than references to the incident at the Umbra Corp facility several days ago.
Once they've decided to visit the Umbra Corp research facility the team load up their gear and head out, each in their individual vehicles. They travel for eight hours and arrive at the facility late that evening.
[Thursday 6:00pm-10:00pm]
Arriving at the entry gates of the compound the team is refused admission to the facility by the security guards there. Elisa takes over and tells them they are trying to contact a friend of theirs who works at the facility, Amy Heseltine, and haven't been able to get through to the mansion. After chatting the two men up a bit she soon has their attitude bumped up from Indifferent to Helpful. They admit they haven't heard anything from the mansion since yesterday, including their fellow security officers at the gatehouse. They've grown very concerned but regulations strictly prohibit contacting the authorities or abandoning their post without specific instructions from their supervisors. They've already contacted Umbra Corp's HQ but have yet to receive word back from them.
When Elisa claims to be a private detective (making her Bluff check) and offers to investigate the two men consider it before finally agreeing to let the team through. They do so on the strict condition that they make it quick and that they let them know what's going on up at the mansion when they come back through.
The team drives on through the gate, entering the compound and soon approaching the mansion itself. Outside the gates of the facility the PC's can see there are lights on in the mansion but the curtains are all drawn. Most interestingly it seems the windows of the gatehouse are broken out and no guards are visible there.
Poking his head into both gatehouses Crash finds copious amounts of splattered blood but no bodies. Crawling through the window into one of them he finds the doors locked. A clipboard lists all the security personnel and he makes note of it before spotting the assault rifle locked in a case beneath the window. He calls April over and she gets to work picking the lock. After working it for a minute she crawls back out the window and opens the trunk of her car. Returning to Crash she hands him a crowbar and just grins.
After working on it for over two minutes Crash is finally able to wrench the case open and get to the Steyr AUG assault rifle and its clips, at which point April and Elisa set him to work retrieving its twin from the other gatehouse. Once this is done the team moves onto the grounds via the gatehouse windows.
Almost immediately upon setting foot on the grounds they hear a strange sound to their right. Spinning about they find two Doberman pinschers hissing at them. It only takes them a moment to realize the dogs are trying to growl at them...and that they're missing a disturbing amount of flesh...and that they're practically covered with maggots.
1)
Crash decides to go hand-to-hand with the dogs and avoid gunfire that might alert whoever/whatever is in the mansion. He leaves his newly acquired assault rifle slung and draws his machete. He steps in front of the girls to provide himself as a target but does not engage the dogs.
As the two zombie dogs move in for a bite of him Crash gives one a serious whack with his machete. Both attempt to bite him but he dodges out of the way easily.
While Elisa swings her Winchester rifle like a club, hitting nothing, April steps back and screws her suppressor onto her Desert Eagle.
2)
Crash takes another swing at the zombie dog as they both nip at him again. None of them manage to hit anything. Elisa also fails magnificently to land blow with her makeshift club.
April, however, drops one of the dogs with a soft "pop" from her silenced pistol, leaving the other two to wish they'd thought to acquire silencers.
3)
When Crash lands another damaging blow with his machete April follows up on it with another soft "pop" and drops the last zombie dog.
After watching to be sure the dogs are "dead" the team moves on quickly to the front door of the mansion. There they find one apparent employee of the facility standing before the door and thumping softly on it over and over again with one hand. Dreading that they may be looking at another zombie the spread out a little and Crash calls out to it. Sure enough when it turns around they can see one eye and half its face missing. As soon as it spots Elisa it ambles forward to attack.
1)
April immediately opens fire on the One-eyed Zombie, missing. Elisa back-pedals, still wielding her rifle like a club but not having much confidence she can hit anything with it. One-eyed Zombie changes course as soon as Elisa is farther away than April and heads for her instead at which point Crash moves to engage, dodge a clumsy swipe and plants his machete in it.
2)
April fires again, hitting and dropping "One eye".
The team quickly checks the corpse once they're sure it's dead and takes the 9mm pistol, car keys and green security pass card from it. Deciding that trying to fight quietly is going to prove too dangerous (with zombies running about the place) the team head back to their cars via the gatehouse and break out the big guns. They all keep their pistols and Elisa keeps her rifle. April and Crash consider keeping the assault rifles they found in the gatehouse but in the end dump them in the trunk and stick with their Winchesters as well. After satisfying themselves that they've got what gear they'll likely need they head back to the front door.
Intent on finding Amy quickly the team walks right into the building's lobby where they are confronted with two very dead-looking gentlemen who are wandering around the room. The moment they enter the two zombies move to attack.
1)
Elisa shoulders her Winchester and fires at Zombie Malcolm, hitting him. Crash fires off a round from his rifle at Zombie Malcolm as well but misses. Zombie Malcolm moves to engage Crash.
April fires at Zombie Kevin and hits hard while Zombie Kevin, in turn, moves to engage April.
2)
Elisa moves way the hell across the room, having no particular desire to get up close and personal with dead people. She fires at Zombie Malcolm, hitting and dropping him to the floor. Crash turns and fires at Zombie Kevin and, despite his proximity to April, hits and drops him.
The team takes a minute searching the room for anything interesting (as well as giving time for another threat to show up, if it's going to). They find little of interest and nothing else wanders in to attack them. Breaking out range packs they loot the security guards of armor and weapons as well as a red bordered security pass card. April notices the security cameras are all moving and apparently still functional.
They head to the right then and enter the library. Finding no other exits from the place they spend a moment glancing over the books. April and Elisa quickly determine that while the books aren't the sort to likely hold any true mystical power (assuming such exists considering there are zombies roaming the grounds) but there are somewhat valuable rare editions here and there. In the end the team decides looting isn't their top priority but rather finding Amy, or at least determining her fate. They exit back into the lobby to try another door.
As soon as they exit the library and the door closes they hear the distinct sound of its electronic lock engaging. After only a moment to glance back at the door they hear the door they were heading for open, revealing two security officers. One's neck is obviously broken and the second has a large hole punched into his chest. They hear the sounds of other doors opening in the lobby around them as well.
1)
Zombie Erica, Zombie Michael and Zombie Samantha move out of the Applications Entrance and cross the Lobby. Elisa can see the three zombies entering the room from her vantage point and calls out a warning to April and Crash. She then fires at Zombie Erica, missing.
Zombie Heather and Zombie Darrin exit the Kitchen and move around the stairwell into the Lobby while Zombie Jamie enters the Lobby from the Dining Hall and shuffles toward the short hallway where the PC's are.
April decides the two zombies ahead of them represent the path of least resistance and takes aim. She fires at Zombie Brian, hitting and dropping him instantly. Crash takes his cue from April and fires at Zombie Sam, spending an action point, and hits.
Zombie Abe enters from the Kitchen and moves toward the short hallway, lining up behind Zombie Jamie. Zombie Sam then moves to engage Crash who lashed out and hits. Unfortunately it has no discernable effect (undead immunity to nonlethal damage).
2)
Zombie Erica, Zombie Michael and Zombie Samantha continue forward and reach the hallway where the PC's are. Elisa fires at Zombie Sam, the only zombie left blocking their way out of the hallway south, and drops him. Elisa then hurries down the hall right past the others, leaps over Sam's corpse and into the Ballroom before the zombies in the lobby can catch up with her.
Receiving new orders Zombie Heather, Zombie Darrin and Zombie Jamie suddenly turn and head for the Dining Hall while April and Crash rush into the Ballroom with Elisa, slamming the door behind them and leaning on it.
As April and Crash lean on the door to keep the zombies out they suddenly hear the electronic lock on the door engage just as the library door did moments ago. A second later they hear the locks of every other door in the Ballroom lock as well. Several moments then pass where the PC's can hear zombies approach the door they're leaning on. After only a moment they also hear a crash of breaking glass from the room east of them.
The PC's use the time to reload and fall back to the stage. There they recheck their weapons and prepare for the assault they are certain is about to come. Sure enough only moments later they hear the faint sound of several door locks disengaging and doors swing open on all three sides of the Ballroom to admit zombies. To their surprise two of the southern doors admit four zombie Doberman pinschers as well.
1)
The four zombie dogs lurch forward directly toward the team. Zombie Erica, Zombie Michael and Zombie Samantha enter from the north door where the team first entered and head for the stage, eyes hungry for PC's innards.
Elisa fires on Zombie Dog, missing. She moves back against the wall.
Zombie Heather and Zombie Darrin enter behind the dogs from the south and head for the stage. Zombie Jamie enters from the east and heads directly for the PC's.
April realizes they're screwed, slings her rifle and dashes for the nearby window. She jumps through it taking 2 points of damage from the shattering glass. She falls 10', making a Tumble check to land safely. Crash then follows behind April, since she was nice enough to break the glass for him. He makes his Reflex save for half damage and suffers 3 points from the fall.
Zombie Abe enters the Ballroom from the Dining Hall and heads for Elisa.
2)
The four Zombie Dogs all reach the stage and scramble up, intent on mauling Elisa, while Zombie Erica, Zombie Michael and Zombie Samantha reach the stage and start to shuffle up onto it as well.
Elisa opts to run for the window and dive through rather than withdraw. One of the Zombie Dogs nips her as she scurries by. Jumping through the window she fails her Reflex save and takes 4 damage from the fall.
On the ground outside the mansion Elisa spends an action point on a Treat Injury check and restores 4 of her hit points. Meanwhile April reloads everyone's rifles and Crash digs around for his detonators and Semtex. He places detonators on all four blocks of explosive with wired blasting caps.
Once done the team immediately smashes out the windows next to them and peeking inside the room to be sure there are no zombies waiting. The team then works together to break the bars loose from the wall giving them access to the window.
Once they've climbed into the room they are surprised to find they've broken into the office of Amy Heseltine, the Senior Applications Vice President. Looking around the office quickly for any clues they find nothing of interest and nothing that might lead them to her. The team then shoulder their rifles and move on, determined to check each room briefly and scour the whole building until they find Amy.
Moving quickly the team checks all four doors alongside the hallway, finding nothing of immediate interest in any of the north rooms. The singular southern door, however, opens into a large room walled in black velvet with a significant amount of blood splatter. First impression is that this is where the trouble started. As they near the end of the hall they hear movement behind them and find that the side hallway they neglected to check must have contained a small horde of zombies...because they're coming into the main hallway after them.
1)
Zombie Aldo staggers down the hallway toward the PC's. Elisa shoulders her rifle and fires at Zombie Aldo, hitting him. Zombie Maggie moves toward the team as well while April fires at Zombie Aldo, missing him.
Zombie Roscoe shuffles forward and Crash fires at Zombie Aldo, hitting him but still he doesn't fall. Zombie Anelisa, Zombie Elisabeth and Zombie Vo all move forward down the hall making a total of six zombies blocking the hall and walking calmly towards them.
2)
Zombie Aldo moves toward the PC's, only one round away from reaching them. Elisa drops her rifle, draws her Desert Eagle and fires at Zombie Aldo, missing. Zombie Maggie moves forward, alongside Zombie Aldo. April drops her rifle, draws her Desert Eagle and fires at Zombie Aldo, hitting him and finally dropping one of the zombies. Zombie Roscoe moves forward, replacing Aldo.
Crash drops his rifle and draws his Desert Eagle. He fires at Zombie Maggie, hitting and dropping her. Zombie Anelisa, Zombie Elisabeth and Zombie Vo all shuffle forward.
3)
Elisa and April both fire at Zombie Roscoe, only April hits him. They both draw their knives, preparing for close quarters combat. Zombie Roscoe moves to engage April and she lashes out with her knife, hitting nothing but air.
Crash draws his machete and fires at Zombie Roscoe, hitting and dropping him (much to April's relief). Zombie Anelisa moves to engage Elisa and she slices with her knife, missing. Zombie Elisabeth moves to engage April, taking Zombie Roscoe's place.
If things weren't bad enough Zombie Terry opens the door directly behind the team, revealing six more dead people lined up by two's to take a bite of them in the next room.
Zombie Vo moves forward to engage Crash, who misses with his machete. Zombie Mack attempts to grapple Crash from the room behind him, flanking him with Zombie Vo. Zombie Mack hits but loses the grapple check and Crash breaks free.
Zombie Red, Zombie Lee and Zombie Danny wait their turn to eat as Terry and Mack are blocking the door.
4)
Elisa fires at Zombie Anelisa, hitting and destroying her. April fires at Zombie Elizabeth, hitting with a critical that drops her instantly.
Crash gets a little crazy and attempts to grapple Zombie Vo, the last zombie between them and some breathing space. Zombie Vo lashes out but misses him and Crash wins the grapple check. He spins around, trading places with Zombie Vo and placing Vo's back to the room full of zombies.
Zombie Terry attempts to grapple April from the room behind her. Her knife slash misses and he grabs her but she manages to yank free.
Zombie Vo, still grappling with Crash, simply bites him. Zombie Mack likewise attempts to grapple April but fails to land the grab.
The remaining zombies are all bottlenecked beyond the doorway.
5)
Elisa and April both fires on Zombie Vo, hitting and destroying him, clearing the last of the zombie from the hallway. Crash then falls back down the hallway and fires at Zombie Terry, hitting him. Zombie Terry attempts to grapple April but she swings wild and slashes him with her knife, dropping him. Zombie Mack attempts to grapple April as well but fails to land the grab. Zombie Charles moves up to take Zombie Terry's place and engages April.
6)
Elisa falls back down the hallway and fires at Zombie Mack, hitting him and dodging his grasping claws. April also falls back down the hallway and fires at Zombie Mack, hitting him. Crash fires at Zombie Mack but misses.
Zombie Mack pursues April out of the room and into the hallway, engaging her. Zombie Charles moves into the hallway to engage Elisa and Zombie Red moves into the hallway toward Crash.
Zombie Lee and Zombie Danny, finally able to move, step into the hallway as well.
7)
Elisa takes a step back and fires at Zombie Charles, hitting. April takes a step back and fires at Zombie Mack, hitting and destroying him. Crash fires at Zombie Charles and drops him too.
Zombie Red moves to engage Crash, Zombie Lee moves to engage April and Zombie Danny moves to engage Elisa.
8)
Elisa takes a step back and fires at Zombie Danny, hitting. April takes a step back and fires at Zombie Danny: hitting and dropping him. Crash takes a step back and fires at Zombie Lee, hitting him.
Zombie Red moves to engage Crash and Zombie Lee moves to engage April.
9)
Elisa and April both take a steps back and fire at Zombie Lee. They both miss. Crash takes a step back and fires at Zombie Lee, hitting him.
Zombie Red moves to engage Crash while Zombie Lee moves to engage April.
10)
Elisa and April both take a steps back and fire at Zombie Lee. Elisa misses but April lands a hit and drops him. Crash takes a step back and fires at Zombie Red, missing.
Zombie Red moves to engage Crash.
11)
Elisa and April both take a steps back and fire at Zombie Red. Elisa misses but April hits, though she doesn't drop him. Crash takes a step back and fires at Zombie Red, hitting and destroying him.
The team takes time to retrieve their rifles and reload their weapons before moving into the next room. There they find what is clearly the security control center for the building. Elisa soon confirms that the door locks are almost certainly controlled from here as well. With whomever has been controlling the doors and apparently the zombies now gone the team takes advantage of the opportunity to start smashing monitors and doing their best to destroy the lock controls.
Having done that they find they have a choice between two doors and two stairways. The stairways both lead up to the Entry level of the building, the very same level they just dove out a window to get away from a few minutes ago. They decide to check the doors. In the first on the left they are surprised to find what appears to be a small security break room. On the walls are several lockers containing shotguns, body armor and some type of grenades. While Crash considers how to break into the lockers to get to them April takes a closer look and discovers the grenades are tear gas grenades. Likely not very useful against zombies.
In the other room, however, they find the only survivor they've manage to come across since entering the place. After a short standoff the man introduces himself as Clint Castle, the Security Chief for the facility. When asked how he came to be alive he dithers a bit until Elisa gets him to admit he helped the demon who's now controlling the facility in exchange for his life. Pressed on that minor detail Castle gives a description of the demon and describes its ability to reanimate corpses and control them, even from a distance. It's been using the security station to direct his zombies and has thus taken control of the entire building.
When asked about Amy Heseltine he claims he doesn't know whether she's alive or dead. When Elisa pushes him on that matter he finally admits he can't recall having seen her at all since everything went literally to hell. When Castle laments that the demon has his red bordered pass card or he'd get the shotguns and armor from the break room the team produces their stolen pass card and informs him that they just came from there. Castle immediately asks if the team will help him take down the demon and regain control of the facility. Though the team all agree that they don't care about the demon beyond the fact that it's standing between them and finding out what happened to Amy they finally acknowledge that this is the next logical step. With that they leave the office to go to the break room to arm and armor Castle.
When they open the door they find a small horde of zombies waiting for them. Crowded onto the door they begin to pour in almost immediately. Behind them in the Primary Security room they can see the hideous Reaper fiend laughing with sadistic delight and urging his undead minions to feast.
Surprise round:
Zombie Malcolm attempts to grapple Crash. It hits but fails the grapple check.
Zombie Kevin moves into the room, engaging all three PC's.
Zombie Heather and Zombie Jamie move up to fill the gap.
Reaper's Fear Aura:
Crash - fails his Will save, paralyzed 3 rounds
April - makes her Will save
Elisa - fails her Will save, paralyzed 4 rounds
Castle - already immune for the day
1)
Zombie Malcolm again attempts to grab Crash. With Crash paralyzed by fear he grabs easily and makes the grapple check unopposed. Zombie Kevin attempts to grapple Elisa. It makes the grab easily and wins the grapple check unopposed.
April takes a step back and tries to grab Elisa to pull her free. She lands the hit easily but fails the grapple check to pull her loose from Zombie Kevin.
Zombie Heather joins the grapple on Crash. It wins the grapple check unopposed.
Reaper communicates telepathically with the PC's, sending horrific mental images and taunting them with threats.
The remaining gaggle of zombies are bottlenecked outside the door, trying to get in and feed. Security Chief Clint Castle runs to hide under his desk, gibbering with terror.
2)
Zombie Malcolm takes a bite out of Crash while Zombie Kevin takes a bite out of Elisa. April tries again to wrest Elisa free but fails again. Zombie Heather takes a bite out of Crash.
The Reaper continues terrorizing the team telepathically.
3)
Zombie Malcolm takes a bite out of Crash and Zombie Kevin takes a bite out of Elisa. April spends an action point on one more try with Elisa. She fails terribly. Zombie Heather takes a bite out of Crash and he's now unconscious and dying.
Crash spends an action point on his attempt to stabilize but fails.
4)
Zombie Malcolm takes a big bite out of Crash. Zombie Kevin takes a bite out of Elisa and she's now unconscious and dying as well.
Elisa spends an action point on her attempt to stabilize but fails. April tries yet again with Elisa, spending another action point. She finally succeeds and yanks Elisa back a step from Zombie Kevin.
Zombie Heather takes a bite of Crash and Crash dies.
5)
Zombie Malcolm continues gnawing on Crash's innards while Zombie Kevin moves to engage Elisa again. Elisa spends another action point on her attempt to stabilize and succeeds.
April drops Elisa, draws her Desert Eagle and fires at Zombie Kevin, spending an action point and hitting.
Zombie Heather gnaws on Crash some more until the Reaper telepathically orders Zombie Kevin and Zombie Heather to stop eating and go after April.
6)
Zombie Malcolm stands up from gnawing on Crash, eyeing April hungrily, while Zombie Kevin grabs at Elisa. It makes the grab and grapples unopposed. April fires at Zombie Kevin, spending another action point. She hits him, destroys him and knocks him off of Elisa. April then moves over to Crash's corpse.
Zombie Heather stands up, eyeing April hungrily.
7)
Zombie Malcolm moves to engage April and Zombie Erica moves into the doorway to take his place. April digs around on Crash's corpse for one of his explosives while Zombie Malcolm and Zombie Erica flail at her. Zombie Erica scratches her a bit. Zombie Heather also attempts to grab April but misses.
8)
Zombie Malcolm attempts to grab April but she dodges him. Zombie Erica steps over Crash's corpse and engages April again. April now holds the wired detonator and tosses the block of Semtex outside the doorway, hoping the detonator stays attached. She then detonates the explosive. Bang!
Zombie Darrin, Zombie Jamie, Zombie Terry and Zombie Mack are all badly damaged. Zombie Sam is destroyed.
Zombie Heather attempts to grab April but she dodges.
Zombie Darrin and Zombie Brian moves in to fill the ranks, still trying to get at April.
9)
Zombie Malcolm and Zombie Erica both attempt to grab April but to no avail. April grabs another Semtex charge from Crash's corpse while the zombie claw at her. She fires at Zombie Malcolm but misses. Zombie Heather attempts to grab April but misses.
The Reaper orders the three zombies in the room to flank April and allow the rest of the zombies into the room.
10)
Zombie Malcolm moves around behind April. Since she hasn't got a melee weapon in hand she uses her Handgun as an impromptu weapon but misses him. Zombie Erica moves to April's side, clearing the doorway.
With her hands full and unwilling to drop either the handgun or the explosive, April can't grab Elisa and drag her away as she intended. She tosses the explosive out the door and is relieved that she doesn't yank the detonator loose in the process. She detonates the Semtex charge. Bang, again!
Zombie Darrin, Zombie Jamie, Zombie Brian and Zombie Mack are all destroyed. Zombie Terry takes a significant amount of damage.
Zombie Heather moves to April's side while Zombie Abe enters the room, engaging April. Zombie Terry steps into the room over Crash's corpse and engages April as well. She now almost completely surrounded.
The Reaper moves forward, grinning at April, and reanimates Zombie Darrin. It taunts April telepathically, sending her images of being eaten alive by zombies.
11)
Zombie Malcolm finally succeeds in grabbing April. She swings her Desert Eagle at him but misses. He attempts to grapple her but she wins the grapple check and barely yanks loose. Zombie Erica attempts to grab April and misses.
April changes tactics and fires at the Reaper, hitting him. She then grabs Elisa with her free hand, preparing to drag her around the file cabinets and make a stand there. As she turns away to reach down all the zombie around her lash out at her but, miraculously, only one manages to scratch her. Zombie Heather attempts to grab April but misses.
The Reaper, furious at being wounded, howls at April then moves to Crash's corpse...and reanimates it!
Zombie Abe and Zombie Terry attempt to grab April but miss.
Zombie Darrin is stuck outside the doorway.
12)
Zombie Malcolm attempts to grab April and she swings her pistol at him, missing. Zombie Erica attempts to grab April and gets hold of her arm. April attempts to break free but Zombie Erica has her fast, leaning into her space to take a bite out of her.
Crash the Zombie stands up and eyes April hungrily.
April makes an Escape Artist check to break free of the grapple before Zombie Erica can gnaw on her any more. She's very close to gone now and she knows it. Furious, she fires at the Reaper again and hits him. To her complete surprise she drops the fiend dead where it stands.
Unfortunately the zombies don't all fall down dead like she'd hoped. They all take a swing at her when she fires but none of the them land a hit. Zombie Heather and Zombie Abe attempt to grab April but fail. Zombie Terry attempts to grab April and gets hold of her but she manages to yank free.
Zombie Darrin is still stuck outside.
13)
Zombie Malcolm both Zombie Erica attempt to grab April but can't get a hold on her. To her horror Crash the Zombie attempts to grab her and succeeds! April spends an action point to win the grapple check and pull free of him.
April then drags Elisa toward the file cabinets, withdrawing. Moving into and out of a second square threatened by two zombies she provokes attack. Neither Zombie Malcolm nor Zombie Erica manage to hit her though.
Zombie Heather moves after April, following her around the file cabinets and comes short of engaging her. Zombie Abe likewise pursues and comes around the corner. Zombie Terry staggers in behind Zombie Abe and Zombie Darrin gets to enter the room at last to make his way to the filing cabinets.
14)
Zombie Malcolm moves and lines up behind Zombie Abe while Zombie Erica moves and comes in behind Zombie Malcolm. All the zombies but Zombie Darrin are now lined up by twos at the entrance to the short alcove behind the filing cabinets, blocking April's exit.
Crash the Zombie moves around the filing cabinets and takes his place in line.
April snatches Elisa's first aid kit from her satchel and attempts to restore some hit points to her, hoping for another gun hand since she's one zombie bite away from unconsciousness. She succeeds and Elisa comes to, greeted by the sight of a gaggle of zombies coming to eat her.
Zombie Heather moves to engage April and Zombie Abe moves to engage Elisa. Zombie Terry moves forward behind Zombie Heather, eager for its turn to eat. Zombie Darrin comes around the corner of the file cabinets and takes its place in the chow line.
15)
Zombie Malcolm moves forward behind Zombie Abe while Elisa stands up, shakily. Zombie Abe and Zombie Malcolm both swipe at her while she's defenseless but amazingly fail to hit her.
Zombie Erica moves forward behind Zombie Malcolm and Crash the Zombie takes its place at the buffet.
April drops the first aid kit, draws her knife and fires at Zombie Heather, spending an action point (her last one). She hits but doesn't drop him. Zombie Heather grabs April but she manages to wiggle free.
Zombie Abe grabs Elisa but she yanks free as well.
16)
Elisa is very happy to still be holding her Desert Eagle in a death grip and fires at Zombie Heather. April almost cheers when Zombie Heather drops in a heap. But then April fires at Zombie Abe and misses by a mile. Zombie Abe grabs Elisa but she snatches free before he can bite her.
Zombie Terry moves forward to engage April and she lashes out with her knife. To her complete surprise she actually drops Zombie Terry with that cut. Zombie Darrin then moves forward to engage April.
17)
Elisa fires at Zombie Abe, missing. Zombie Darrin's and Zombie Abe's both swing at her and miss.
Zombie Erica moves in towards April behind Zombie Darrin. Crash the Zombie steps forward at the back of the line.
April fires at Zombie Darrin, hitting him but not dropping him.
Zombie Abe grabs at Elisa and Zombie Darrin grabs at April. Both miss.
18)
Elisa fires at Zombie Abe, missing. Zombie Darrin's and Zombie Abe's both swing at her and miss.
April attempts to fire at Zombie Darrin only to realize she's out of ammo. She ejects the empty magazine and reloads with her last magazine.
Zombie Abe grabs Elisa but she manages, barely, to yank free.
Zombie Darrin grabs April. She tries to break free but is just too tired and weak. He bites her hard and she's down, dying.
19)
Elisa turns and fires at Zombie Darrin, hitting and destroying him before he can do April any more damage. Zombie Erica moves to Zombie Darrin's place, engaging both Elisa and April.
Crash the Zombie moves up in line.
April continues to bleed as Zombie Abe tries to grab Elisa.
20)
Elisa fires at Zombie Abe and hits. Zombie Abe's and Zombie Erica's both fail to claw at her. Zombie Erica manages to grab her but she yanks free before she's bitten.
April fails her Fortitude check and continues to bleed out.
Zombie Abe manages to grab Elisa but she spends an action point and breaks free uninjured.
21)
Elisa fires at Zombie Abe, spends an action point and hits, destroying him. Zombie Erica attempts to grab Elisa but misses.
April fails her Fortitude check and suffers another hit point loss.
22)
Zombie Malcolm snatches at Elisa but misses. Elisa grabs her first aid kit from the floor and attempts to stabilize April, despite the zombies clawing at her. Amazingly she succeeds. Zombie Malcolm's swings and misses in the process of this but Zombie Erica tags her, knocking her down to 1 hit point. Zombie Erica follows up with a grab attempt but misses.
Crash the Zombie moves in behind Zombie Malcolm.
23)
Zombie Malcolm and Zombie Erica grab at Elisa but miss. Elisa fires at Zombie Malcolm and hits. Zombie Malcolm and Zombie Erica swing at her but miss.
24)
Zombie Malcolm and Zombie Erica grab at Elisa but miss. Elisa fires at Zombie Malcolm and hits. Zombie Malcolm and Zombie Erica swing at her but miss.
25)
Zombie Malcolm and Zombie Erica grab at Elisa but miss. Elisa fires at Zombie Malcolm and hits, dropping him like a dead rag doll. Zombie Erica swings at her but miss. Crash the Zombie moves to engage Elisa and she reluctantly swings her knife at him, missing.
26)
Elisa ejects the magazine and loads a fresh one. She fires at Zombie Erica, hitting her. Crash the Zombie and Zombie Erica swing at her but miss. Both attempt to grab her but miss as well.
27)
Elisa decides she's been ridiculously lucky up to that point and doesn't want to push it any further. She turns and vaults over the filing cabinets to the far side, landing in a heap amidst the corpses there. Crash the Zombie and Zombie Erica swing at her as she scrambles over but fail to connect.
Zombie Erica can't see any more moving targets so she grabs April. Crash the Zombie joins her.
28)
Elisa careens around the filing cabinets to attack from behind. She fires at Zombie Erica, hitting and dropping her before she can sink her teeth into April.
Crash makes an unopposed grapple on April and starts eating. April is now at -9 and no longer stabilized. April makes her Fortitude save and, in keeping with the insane luck they've had so far, actually stabilizes.
29)
Elisa charges and bull rushes Crash the Zombie. Elisa wins the strength check and shoves him back 5 feet. Crash the Zombie immediately grabs Elisa but she spends an action point and manages to break free.
20)
Elisa takes a step back and fires at Crash the Zombie, missing, as he comes after her.
21)
Elisa takes another step back and fires at Crash the Zombie, hitting him hard. Still he advances.
22)
Elisa takes another step back and fires at Crash the Zombie, spending an action point but still missing. Crash keeps on coming and Elisa is running out of retreat space.
23)
Elisa takes yet another step back and fires at Crash the Zombie, hitting and finally dropping him.
Elisa takes a minute to catch her breath and stop shaking. After that long battle she has only two rounds left in her Desert Eagle, 1 hit point left and April is stabilized at -9. Crash is, of course, very dead. Twice over.
Once she's able to Elisa goes to Crash's corpse and reluctantly strips it of weapons, placing them in her range pack. She then goes to be sure the Reaper is really dead and places her last two rounds in its head to be absolutely sure. She then stows her pistol and holsters Crash's. Checking on April she finds there isn't much she can do for her other than dress the wounds and shove the corpses away from her.
After a moment it occurs to her that Clint Castle is still cowering under the desk. She goes and snatches him out from under there, ripping into him for not helping them. When he sees the Reapers is dead, however, his demeanor suddenly changes and he snatches at a concealed holster.
1)
Elisa wins the Initiative and draws Crash's Desert Eagle. Clint shoves at her with his free hand but she steps out of range and fires. She hits him and drops him stone dead.
With April unconscious, probably for some time yet, Elisa reluctantly moves out without her (shutting the office door on the way out). Moving up the stairs to the Entry Level she doesn't spot any zombies in the Applications Entrance or the Lobby. Remembering that the last time they saw them was in the Ballroom she moves very quietly up the lobby stairs to the Second Floor. There she moves with extreme caution, listening at every door and moving quietly until she finally becomes bold enough to have looked around in every room before moving up to the Third Floor.
Elisa checks the northern offices and the bathrooms, finding nothing and no one. In the Gathering Room, however, she finds the gaggle of zombies she's been dreading coming across. Though she peeks through the door and attempts to retreat quietly two of them spot her and come after her. When the others follow she leads them all to the stairs and retreats down to the Second Floor. When they follow her onto the stairs she bolts full tilt for the opposite stairwell back up to the Third Floor. With any luck, she reasons, they'll head downstairs after losing sight of her or at least remain on the Second Floor.
Back on the Third Floor she checks the Gathering Space and the two offices beyond it, beginning to despair when she still has no sign of Amy Heseltine. Moving up the eastern stairwell she find two doors to either side. Checking the one to the south she finds a standard set of quarters, nicely furnished, with nothing especially interesting in sight. The opposite room she finds locked. Having no skill in lock picking and such she simply shoots the lock out with Crash's handgun. To her surprise she quickly finds the door has been barricaded from the other side as well. Realizing that there's probably someone inside the room she calls out. Amy Heseltine hesitantly answers and identifies herself. She is stunned to find her childhood friend drenched in gore, wounded and heavily armed at the door.
Elisa attempts to convince Amy that it's time to get the hell out of Dodge and finds her more than agreeable. According to Amy the company (Umbra Corp) should be sending someone soon to burn the place to the ground, whether they're still inside or not. After determining that Amy hasn't the first bit of experience with firearms she leads her down to the Third Floor near one of the stairwells, then goes down the other one herself to get the zombies after her. Once they hit the stairwell she runs to collect Amy and head down the other stairs to the second floor. There they flee downstairs to the Ground Floor to collect April, hoping they've lost the pursuing zombies in the process.
After taking a moment to be sure no dead people are going to toddle down the stairs they each carry April down the hall to Amy's office and barricade the door with her desk. Before she does it occurs to Elisa that Crash's car keys are still with him and his car is bigger than hers. She rushes back down the hall to retrieve his keys from his body and then returns to help Amy barricade the door. Elisa then climbs out the window and heads out to where they parked. Taking Crash's Crown Victoria she easily batters down the front gate and drives around to pick up Amy and April.
Amy then takes April's Jetta while Elisa takes her own Acura and they get the hell out of there. At the outer gate both Amy and Elisa warn to two security guards who originally let them in that company cleaners are coming to clean up the mess...which may well include them if they're still around. Not waiting to see if the two men took the warning to heart they speed off and put as much distance between themselves and the compound as possible.
Hours later at Elisa's hotel room April finally recovers enough to refuse a hospital visit. Amy contacts her superiors in Department 7 to inform them of developments. Elisa notices this and questions Amy about who she just contacted but Amy only replies, cryptically, "Some old friends of the family."
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Crash is zombie food so Johnny rolls up...Jack Spade; Strong 1 (Melee Smash 1, Armor Prof light, Personal Firearms Prof) / Smart 1 (Savant, craft mech).
April Wallace takes a second level of Fast, choosing Point Blank Shot for her bonus feat and Two Weapon Fighting for her 3rd level feat.
Elisa Alvarado Morales takes a third level in Charismatic, choosing Favor for her talent and Educated for her 3rd level feat.
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