Episode 2

[farside]

While everyone is staring at the radio a dawning realization comes over J.R. "Stop where you are! Don't f**king move a muscle!" Once everyone has stopped and is paying attention to J.R., he says "If the can set up a radio and do SigInt (Signals Intelligence) they can sure as hell make IEDs. Everyone back out slowly, try your best to only step where you or someone else has. I'll have to clear this house if we are going to take anything from it." With that J.R. slowly moves away from the radio and starts to check the place out for any booby traps. He's just scanning visually.

Demolitions Roll: 1d100

[Tori]

Perception: 1-20
Bernie froze while JR conducted his search. "Hell man, maybe it ain't sig-int. Maybe the groaners have a net..."

Bernie took note of the radio's design, then pulled out his I-phone to record what frequency it was set to. He took great care to notice if it was set to the Cochise frequency or to another.

"Like Sgt. Apone said, nobody touch nuthin'. We'll get the dynamo, the radio, and all the other shit once this house is clear. Something is not right."

Bernie passed the machete to Anna and took out the photos he confiscated from the dead dead outside. He compared them to photos on the wall and the three dead to see how many members of this household were unaccounted for.

"I don't like it at all. Those were goons. There's something still in here. Hiding, I think... Basement or..." Bernie began to scan the ceiling for folding steps. "...Attic. Those dead outside had no need for wallets. If they had brains, they would have thrown them away. Fatboy couldn't even wear more than pants. The brain's still here. Probably with a couple of groaners in reserve. Walk heavy and be mindful of hollow sounds and trapdoors. We're in danger. Get ready. And Bobbie, any movement outside?"

[sellsword]

With Raised eyebrow and smirk Bryan looks to J.R. "I dont know about that,we've swept a four bedroom house and havnt come across any i.e.d or booby trap.i mean i appreciate the fervor,but dont go scaring the shit out of me now that im in the middle of this fucking place,know what i mean."He rolls his shoulders and shakes his head side to side,taking of his hat and he wipes the sweat from his head onto his forearm.readjusting himself and taking shotgun in hand,he turns around and walks out the neareast exit.

[Tori]

"Bryan? If they can rig up that radio and antenna with a dynamo, they can rig up a bottle of black powder, with an igniter and model rocket engine. Add some BB's and our easy day turns into a bad day. We swept the place for zombies, and I think we are not done, but if JR thinks we have bombs, then let him sweep. Yesterday, I didn't think zombies could do more than stagger. Now we clearly have them setting up a comnet, and Patty has told us they can drive and shoot. These aren't stupid groaners. This is a clear and present tactical problem. We're not losing anything just to let him double-check if we are safe."

Bernie watches Bryan mop his brow, and passes him a canteen. "C'mon, Bryan. We stick together. And right now? I think there is something nasty in this house. We need you. We need everyone here. I'm going to keep you safe, and that goes for all of you. And I promise you this, because I know you have my back. Things aren't like they used to be. We don't have 911. There's no more cops, fire departments, ambulances or national guard. J.R. he's just about the last of the army. There's no one else. If you're going to keep from dying, you're going to have to depend first, on yourself, and second, on your buddies. That's us. I'll give my life for you, and I know you'll do the same. I wish it was different. I wish J.R. came up with a company, but here we are. We got us to keep each other alive.

"And by the way, none of us need to rely on Cochise. That's an accident waiting to happen. People playing house when they ought to accept responsibility for their own safety. They are willing to trust others and have a drink, when the town is a herd away from disaster. Us, and I mean this entire team, we're going to look out for ourselves, and as many others who will listen. So Bryan, I need you, and I need Bobbie, and I need everyone in this house. There's no bosses and no pawns. Everyone gives what we got to stay alive. Because this is all we can hope for, right now."

[farside]

J.R. gets in real close and whispers "I'm going to scare whatever brainy zed is hiding out in there. I'm going to toss some water and make it think I'm going burn the place." J.R. then runs over to his HUMVEE and gets his knife and the basic EOD tools while he's there, really making the trip in case the smart zombie is watching. He then jogs back to where everyone is at. Dropping the EOD tools and handing his M-4 over to Big Mac, "Here, this might get too close for the carbine." he whispers to Mac. Still whispering he asks everyone to cover him. Then loud enough to be heard by anything inside the house: "I'm not taking any chances with booby traps and who knows what else those things have done in there. I don't know about ya'll but I don't want anything those filthy hands have been on anyway. I'm torching the place!" He then pulls out his tomahawk and his canteen while walking in the house. Making sure the rest of the group can still see him, he proceeds to splash the water from his canteen noisily about the place (though keeping it away from the radio setup). "Let the stinker find a new home!" Putting the canteen up and pulling out his lighter and making a show of flicking it. All the while holding his tomahawk at the ready.

Perception: 1d20+1 Initiative: 1d20
Strike: 1d20+2 Parry: 1d20+4 (-1 if NOT a zombie)
Strike: 1d20+2 Parry: 1d20+4
Strike: 1d20+2 Parry: 1d20+4
Strike: 1d20+2 Parry: 1d20+4
Strike: 1d20+2 Parry: 1d20+4
Strike: 1d20+2 Parry: 1d20+4
(-1 action if NOT a zombie)
Damage for strikes:2d6+72d6+72d6+72d6+72d6+72d6+7

[farside]

For some reason the Dice roller is dropping my bonuses off the d20 rolls. +1 to Perception, +2 to strike, and +4 to parry.

[sellsword]

Bryan stops at the sound of Bernies voice his shoulders slump a little as he hears what he has to say."There dead Man,and unless your asking me to start beleiving in the supernatural ,they dont talk or think.at best id say this radio was setup when they were still breathing and these poor bastards are just going through the motions.Now maybe theres some sick hills have eyes type mother fucker holed up in here that turned the welcome commitee loose on us.But zombies using that radio i dont buy it.And chochise is just a pit stop ran by folks with not much more than good intent." Bryan turns to Bernie as he finishes his piece "I hear you about us sticking together and iv'e no problems with that.ill be outside while you army guys do your thing." Bryan walks over to the door they came in where he stands just outside its frame his shotgun still in his hands.

[foxx]

Joe shakes his head; Bernie bad mouthing their hosts while their some of their hosts were standing by was asking for trouble. Good to have an opinion, but it was a bad time to share it while looking for one of those smart ghouls that could be armed. As long as it do not attack them with a hockey mask and machete, he was good for the moment.

Joe takes J.R. m4, moving his shotgun to the back. Been a while since he handle one of those babies, but he felt a little time and effort would bring his skills back. Sooner rather than later would be nice of course.

Perception: 1d20

[brianfenris]

GM POST

At J.R.'s urging, Patty takes Rob by the hand and quickly heads back outside, the pale girl clearly not interested playing with any explosive surprises that might be waiting for them in the house.

J.R.'s search of the radio set and the rest of the house turns up nothing. There are not explosives or other booby traps waiting for the unwary.

I need a Radio Basic roll for Bernie as he messes with the radio set to determine if he figure out what freq it's on and if it was monitoring Cochise.

During the search of the house, Bernie did see a trap door in the ceiling of the hall going to the bedrooms. There no cord, instead a metal handled designed to be hooked and pull down the folding stairs the leads up there. Currently it is closed with no sign of ever being opened before today.

Bobbie says he doesn't see any movement outside the house then he quickly exits at the mention of zombie rigged explosives hidden in the house. He chooses to stay outside even after J.R.'s all clear.

As Bernie, Anne and Big Mac standby with Bryan standing in the kitchen door, J.R goes through his routine of loudly setting the house on 'fire', splashing the water from his canteen everywhere and flicking his lighter.

Several minutes pass. The desert wind blows, causing the curtains to billow and flutter in the broken windows, set to the metal rasp of J.R flicking the flint on lighter, but becomes painfully clear that no horrified zombie is going to come running out of the shadows to get out of pretend house fire.

[farside]

(Rolls held over)

After pausing for a moment, J.R. shrugs his shoulder's and finishes clearing the house. Once he's done he heads outside and tells annouces the all clear. Looking over at everyone and saying "Better safe than sorry." he then heads over towards Joe to retrieve his M-4 and to thank him for holding onto it.

That being done, he starts to help with the stripping of the house. Grabbing anything useful and placing it in ordered piles outside the house. He does make sure to check the attic to see if there is even anything up there.

[Tori]

Radio basic 1d100 needs 73
Perception 1d20

Bernie watched JR's elaborate ruse but said nothing. He thought a smart zombie would wait them out, and a dumb zombie wouldn't care.

"I think this house is clear. Let's go on to the next one before we strip this one. JR, if you'll figure out how to seal the door, we'll make sure there's no danger in the next house, and take what we want when the coast is clear. I guess there isn't anything lurking..." He didn't really believe it, either, but it was possible that this house could use the CB to communicate with the next house.

"Yeah, they're dead, but remember what Patty said. She had one geek driving a cop car and taking shots at her. If they can do that, then groaning into a microphone is not too hard. These batteries are charged, not depleted since the Wave. Something's been cranking that dynamo, and it looks like something dead. Stay frosty."

He walked out of the house. "Before we pick this corpse dry, let's clear the other house," he told the others outside. "Same drill as before. I think it's better to be secure while we pack up, and am worried about surprises. Bobbie, your job is to watch this house we just cleared, and keep an eye on the trucks. You see anything odd, tell us, and we'll handle it."

[sellsword]

Perception: 1-20


Bryan continues to wait outback thinking that he was about as surprised to see no zombies running out as he was to see the water not burst into flames.As J.R. looked at the bunch he returned with a shrug of the shoulders as if to say better luck next time.Bryan nods his head to Bernie acknowledging that he understund what the man had said.
He thought to himself , Bernie had a point if what Pattty said held true,a zombie driving a car and shootiing a gun.There was more to this radio setup thats was certain and leaviing this house without searching that attic might not be a good idea but Bernie had a plan and it sounded good enough to him. Taking a long drink and deciding not to put a goober in the jews canteen he closes the lid and tosses it back,"Thanks Man." "Sorry if i came off as Ahole back there but its just,... all this shit already sucks and now it could possibly suck even more."

[Anna]

Anna said little, but followed Bernie to the door. "You're fine Bryan. Everything's fucked up. We're just now figuring out how to deal with it."

[foxx]

Mac hands the gun back to its owner and gets his shotgun ready to go once more. Well, no signs of anything smarter then the dead zombies was a good sign. He heads outside of the stuffy house back into the hot air of the desert. It seem more relieving than having to be inside.

"when we get done with these houses, lets torch the stiffs. We don't want them contaminating the area." Mac said. Just because the apocalypse had kicked didn't mean they were going back to the dark ages. Even reanimated bodies recently put down could spread diseases; or attract more zombies.

[brianfenris]

GM POST

J.R.'s quick sweep of the attic shows nothing but old dusty boxes and stale air. For a nice change, nothing comes bounding out of the shadows towards him today.

Before they start breaking down the radio and it's components, Bernie notes that radio was set to a civilian emergency frequency. Perhaps the set up was from some previous survivor that fell to the undead, but the evidence on the crank handle would suggest otherwise.

You're quickly scavenge through the abandoned house and it was not in vain. You find a small treasure trove of supplies that you would can make use of. Even better, in the master bedroom you find a pump shotgun along with 10 rounds of buckshot. From the greedy light in Bobbie's eyes you can tell he would be must happy to take possession of it.

Patty brings her van around for you to load up and then at Bernie's suggestion, drives you to the drive way of the other house you saw earlier, the one that was all quiet.

((Again, sorry for the long delay. Starting tonight I'll be get this game back on track. My next post will be this Sunday. I'll give you complete list of the house loot then.))