ATZ (B Team-5): 3 Men and a Little Lady

Introduction

[B Team-4 is this way <==]

It's been almost 3 months sine I played a game of All Things Zombie, so I reckon it's high time for another!

When we last saw the B-Team, they were running down a street in panic after 2 of their members were attacked by a child zombie.  Are they infected?  Nobody seems to be sure, so maybe finding some medical assistance quickly would be a good idea.  The trouble is that the way to the nearest emergency centre is on the far size of an area of town with a reputation for gang violence.  The B-Team aren't exactly hard men and they also have a woman and a small child in tow, so how will this work?  Read on to find out...

The Scenario

This is a straightforward search for assistance.  The party must find someone to help them (either a doctor or little Lucy's father, or both).  Failing all else, they must exit the far end of the table.  Not a very clear set of goals, but life isn't always fair!

At the moment, the B-Team and allies consist of:

• Ernie: REP 3, golf club.  Sometime leader.
• Bob: REP 3, hammer.  Dumbass.  He'll be fine as long as a leader tells him what to do.
• Sid: REP 3, crossing sign on pole (improvised 2-handed weapon), bottle of antibiotic pills.
• Michelle: REP 3, bow, expensive handbag.  Slow
• Lucy: REP 2, big-ass pistol (it's her daddy's gun and she won't give it to anyone else!), 2 large knives (she found them; they're hers).  If Lucy fires the pistol without bracing it first then she is automatically stunned.

The Game

As can be seen from the picture above, random placement led to Possible Enemy Forces (PEFs) along the main road, whilst some groups of zombies were generated in the parking lots and back alleys.  This was just the luck of the dice and not any cunning plan of mine as gamesmaster!

The party advanced slowly, wondering why everything was so quiet and deserted.  Almost immediately, the REP-5 PEF from the burger bar was resolved as a lone survivor.  Kitty may have been little, but she was a very feisty and determined girl.  She and the B-Team exchanged pleasantries:
Ernie started: "Er, hello.  Are you lost?"
"No, I'm not.  Are you?" replied Kitty.
"Well, we're looking for someone.  Have you seen a tall, kind man in any shops?" (this was the only description they had managed to get of Lucy's dad).
"Sorry, no.  Look, I've got to go now, or else I'll be late for tea"
"Er, wait a moment.  It's dangerous out here; wouldn't you be safer staying with us, just until we can get you home?"
"What, with a bunch of losers like you?  No, thanks!"  With that, Kitty skipped down the road and off the table.  [This was something of a relief to me, as I had visions of the B-Team becoming a magnet for every little girl who is out alone in the zombie apocalypse.  Why are there so many of them and so few gangers or police?!]
As she passed the party, Kitty looked over her shoulder and called out.  "I wouldn't go that way if I were you.  You'll be sorry!" [the REP-4 PEF in the school bus was also resolved, but as a heightened sense of danger/encounter level].

The B-Team ambled on, pondering the words of the departing girl and wondering what she knew that they didn't.  They would have done better to pay attention to their surroundings, as they suddenly became aware of a couple of zombies who were almost upon them [The B-Team missed several activations in a row.  It was just as well that there were only 2 zombies!].

Now came one of those fateful moments on which a game can change completely.  The players had basically 3 choices:

1. Run for it (i.e. down the street)!
2. Attack the zombies before they moved again.  At least the party would have had the initiative.
3. Retreat into the book store and barricade the door.

So, which option would you take?

A very appropriate "Friends to the End" random event card was drawn; the B-Team acted as one without any dissent.  Not fancying their chances in melee and wary of other groups of zombies and the last PEF in the open, they chose to enter the store.  Fortunately for them, the door wasn't locked (50% chance!)

Sadly, the inside of my book store model isn't detailed.  At least it has flooring!

Unfortunately for the B-Team, the building wasn't empty.  A single, ragged zombie stood in the middle of the building, looking directly at them.

The men froze; everything happened too quickly for them.  Firstly, the zombie shambled towards little Lucy.  She saw it coming and fired her pistol, but missed and stumbled backwards in surprise at the noise and recoil [Lucy's special rule: she is automatically stunned if she fires the pistol without resting it on something solid first].  Before anyone else could react, the zombie was on top of the fallen girl and had bitten deep into her shoulder!

Michelle was the only one to react.  "Get off her, you monster!" she yelled, as she lunged at the zombie.  She tripped and fell, but the zombie's attention was now on her instead of Lucy.  It stooped over the prostrate woman and tore a gaping hole in her throat.

This was too much for Sid.  With a whimper, he fled up the stairs to the next floor of the building, leaving Bob and Ernie shocked and motionless [failed "brown pants" rolls]!

Sid didn't find safety on the upper floor, though.  He had just reached the top of the stairs when he realised that the store manager, warehouseman and a shopper were all present.  Sadly for him, they had clearly succumbed to the zombie plague and were moving towards him.  If nothing else, the firing of Lucy's gun must have alerted them.  Sid screamed and turned to run back down the stairs.

He stumbled and tripped down the stairs, finally landing on top of the single zombie that was busy trying to eat Michelle's corpse.  Fortunately for Sid, the zombie's neck was broken when it cushioned his fall.

A moment later, the 3 men found themselves fighting for their lives, as the 3 zombies from the upper floor and the 2 zeds from outside in the street all converged upon them at once.

Desperation must have given them strength, as within moments the B-Team had knocked most of their attackers to the floor.  The zombies were slow to rise [i.e. they failed some critical activation rolls!] and the men went on a frenzy of hitting the fallen undead again and again, with hammer, golf club and crossing pole.

Within moments, there was nothing left of the attackers; the only things still moving were the B-Team themselves.  Sid retched violently when he saw what was left of Michelle, while Ernie approached Lucy with trepidation.  "Hey, guys!" he called "she's still breathing.  She's alive!"
"Oh, man!" exclaimed Bob.  "What do we do now?  I'm not a doctor; I don't know any first aid".
Ernie continued "I dunno.  Maybe we could wash her wound, or something like that?  There's a McDooms just up the road; there must be some water in the toilets there."
Bob and Sid both stared at him.  He realised that they were looking at him oddly and then he blushed.  "The restrooms will have sinks, guys!  They'll have taps with clean water.  What the heck did you think I meant?"

The B-Team paused briefly to redistribute the weapons from the fallen woman and girl, then they cautiously exited the book store.  A trio of zombies were shuffling up the street, but they had their backs to the men and didn't notice them.  With Bob cradling the unconscious Lucy, the team made their way carefully across the street and into the fast food joint.

My McDooms building doesn't have a detailed interior either...

Inside the burger bar, a solitary zombie was sitting at a table, barely noticing the entrance of the people.
"I've got this" exclaimed Ernie, as he pushed past his friends and strode up to the zed.  He swung his golf club hard onto its head and the creature slid beneath the table, crushed.

"Argh" grunted Bob as Ernie pushed past him to attack the zombie.  He didn't let Lucy fall, but in struggling to keep his balance, Bob's foot became trapped between the restaurant's door and its frame.  "Shit, that hurts!" he mumbled as he struggled to avoid shouting out loud.

The B-Team found some water (in the kitchen) and tried to wash Lucy's wound with it.  Sid also found a first-aid kit on the wall; he squeezed out most of a tube of Germoline and rubbed it over the girl's shoulder, hands and face.  It didn't seem to do much good, but "It can't hurt, can it?" was his attitude.

There wasn't much else they could do inside McDooms, so the men left the building after looking carefully out of the window for hostiles.  The 3 zombies were still ambling slowly up the road, but they were heading away from the restaurant and didn't see the B-Team.

The B-Team stood and watched the undead for a few moments, just to make sure that the creatures were indeed unaware of their presence.  Ernie spoke: "Isn't that, er, you know?  Her from the telly?  Ah, the presenter from 'Cake Challenge'?  Always wears a big string of pearls?"
"You mean Mrs. Danvers?" replied Bob.  "It could be...I'm not sure.  I guess she's past caring about her appearance now!"
Sid had been somewhat withdrawn since the action in the book store.  He chimed in, rather harshly "Well, if you want the pearls then why don't you go and take them?  She won't mind - all you have to do is crush her skull, you know!"
Ernie looked at the older man, but since he couldn't think of an appropriate response, he just shrugged.

After a short pause, Ernie exclaimed "Right, we've got to get out of here!"  He stuck the pistol into his belt and took the wounded girl from Bob, then ran along the road and down a side street.  Bob hobbled after him as fast as he could with his sprained ankle.  Sid was left behind a bit; he was examining the bow that he had taken from Michelle's dead body, trying to figure out how to use it.

Within moments, 3 fresh zombies (ex-hobos and gangers, by the look of them) had appeared on the flank of the party.  Sid wasted some time trying to shoot arrows at them, but he missed.  "Dang, this isn't as easy as it looks!" he muttered, as he jogged down the road after the rest of the party.

Suddenly, he realised that Ernie and Bob had disappeared and left him behind.  Sid ran to catch up, loosing one last missile from his bow.  Surprisingly, the arrow hit one of the zombies; the creature paused to look at the shaft sticking out of its chest.

The other 2 zeds ignored this distraction and closed in on the man in the dayglo uniform.  Sid gave a little shriek as he felt them clutching at his coat, but with a short sprint and a kick he was clear.

He even managed to catch up with the hobbling Bob, before both of them followed Ernie off the table and away to safety - at least, for now.

Aftermath

This was a failed mission by any standards: the B-Team didn't recruit any more help and didn't find a doctor (or even someone with first-aid training).  Not only that but they lost one team member and had another one bitten by a zombie.  Not good!

The ATZ:FFO rules say that REP can go down after a failed mission.  Each character rolled a dice: Bob and Ernie are OK, but Sid decreases to REP 2.  I guess his nerves are shattered; he can't take much more of this!

Then we come to the part that I was dreading: what happens to Lucy?  We rolled a dice to see if her zombie bite is infected and it came up as a natural '6'.  Lucy's bite wasn't contaminated and she won't turn into a zombie - at least, not on this occasion!  Of course, she's still injured and won't be fully effective (!) for a while.

I think I've finally decided that the wounds taken by the men from a child zombie in Game 4 are not infected.  It just seems too harsh to do anything else (and it was a strange situation); the B-Team have enough troubles without this as well!

So, what next?  These guys are stumbling from one crisis to another, just about surviving.  Should they continue looking for Lucy's dad, or for a doctor?  Or should they hole up somewhere and try to recuperate?  The 4th member of their group, Sam, is still in a hospital somewhere after being shot by the police (Game 2), so maybe they should try to find him?  I'm not sure...

ATZ (B Team-4): Little Lost Girl. Part 2

Introduction

A short while ago, I published Part 1 of "Little Lost Girl".  Since it was my wedding anniversary, I didn't have enough time to complete the story in a single sitting.  That was then, so here is the 2nd and final part of the battle report...

Bob's Friends?

Bob was jolted out of his bacon roll reverie by the sound of footsteps approaching from the far side of the nearest van.  He was just starting to be alarmed when 3 humans walked into view (Vincenzo, Mary and Timmy - all REP 4).  Their leader, a tall, fit-looking man in a brown suit, eyed Bob up warily.  "We heard shots" he said, calmly.  "Was that you?  I don't see any zeds around here..."
"Yes" replied the flustered tradesman.  "Er, no.  No - I haven't got a gun, see".
"Hey, don't sweat it" said Vincenzo.  "We're not trying to rob you or anything, OK?  Just looking out for ourselves.  You do know that noise seems to attract the Zs, don't you?"
"Sure, well of course".
"OK, then.  You take care".  With that, the 3 people started to walk away, in the direction of the restaurant.

"Er, no - I wouldn't go that way!" called Bob, as he realised which direction the newcomers had taken.  His warning came a little too late, though, as the family almost bumped into the zombies who were following the sounds of Ernie's and Sid's argument.

There was a sharp rattle of gunfire as both Vincenzo and Timmy opened up with automatic weapons.  Although they did kill 1 zombie and knocked down others, the remainder were upon them before they could do much.  Mary fled as the creatures approached and Timmy managed (just!) to fend off his attackers.  However, Vincenzo was quickly surrounded.

Timmy ran after Mary as soon as he could free himself from the attackers' clutches.  For a moment, it looked as if Vincenzo would also be able to get away...

...but the remaining zombies overwhelmed him and tore the big man apart in a frenzy.

Bob's Enemies

While the fight was going on behind him, Bob was faced with another pair of zombies that had been attracted by all the commotion.  Fortunately for the builder, there was only room for one of these to approach at once due to the narrow gaps between the cars in front of him.  Bob readied his hammer and waited for the first assailant to come into range.  To his complete surprise, his swing was perfectly timed to catch the zombie right in the middle of the skull; it went down hard and stopped moving.

He swung again and once more his hammer hit just the right spot, caving in the zombie's skull and sending it crashing to the ground.  "Huh" he muttered.  "They're not so tough.  It's all in the wrist.  Go, me!"

The snarling sounds of the zombies behind him, feasting on Vincenzo brought Bob back to the real world.  Quickly, he ran through the lines of abandoned cars and joined his friends in the gun shop.  Bob was just in time to see Sid charging across the floor and delivering an almighty blow to a zombie with his crossing sign.

Once the immediate threat was neutralised, the team looked around the shop.  Much of the merchandise was locked away in cabinets that they couldn't open, but Michelle took a hunting bow from a rack on the wall.  "I used to be quite good at archery in summer camp" she explained, looking slightly abashed.

Sid rummaged around behind the counter and came up with a bottle of antibiotic pills.  "I wonder why the owner kept them here, in the shop?" he mused.

"Lucy, where are you?" called Michelle, realising that the little girl was no longer in sight.  The child popped her head up from beneath the desk, grinning from ear to ear.  "Look what I found!" she exclaimed.  "It's a real knife!"  It was one of the biggest Bowie knives that any of the adults had ever seen (What are the odds?  Lucy drew the "Machete" card again from the reshuffled Risks and Rewards deck!).

The group moved to search the rooms above the shop.  They split up to investigate the separate rooms, but Lucy's father wasn't anywhere to be found.  Instead, two very heavily armed women (Emma and Jenny) were holed up in the apartment.  Politely, but very firmly, they asked the B-team to leave.

Sid and Ernie's bickering continued, until a zombie heard the noise and followed them up the stairs.  The two friends fell silent as they realised what they had done, then Ernie knocked the creature down and Sid finished it off by jamming his pole where it wasn't designed to go.

The street appeared to be empty as the party left "Bob's Bargain Bullets" (because all the zombies were wandering on the other side of the line of traffic and couldn't see the people).  They decided to move on to the adjacent book store, hoping to find Lucy's father there.

Alternate Ending (?!)

On the night of the game, I was going to finish at this point so as to have plenty of time to pack up.  The hall we hire is used by some dance group immediately after us and therefore we need to be out promptly.  Often we're a bit slow in halting the play; it usually takes longer to pack up than I have allowed!

However, this time the players remonstrated and pointed out that we had a few minutes more.  We played on for a little, but in a considerable hurry.  Rather than present photos of the action within the book shop (which is an "empty shell" build anyway), here's a quick summary:

• Ground floor: 3 zombies.  1 shot by Michelle with her new bow, 2 others killed in melee.
• Upper floor: 2 zombies (1 adult and 1 child).  Adult zombie dispatched, but the child infected both Ernie and Sid.  Lucy ran away screaming, pursued closely by Michelle and Bob.

So, here's a dilemma; one that I've never faced before.  I probably shouldn't have continued the game - we were in too much of a rush and mistakes were made.  I imagine that we played some rules wrong as well as some of the hasty tactics being flawed.  But the truth of is that we did play on.

Do I let the results stand (i.e. 2 party members zombified and the others fleeing - a failed mission), or should I only count up to where I had initially wanted to halt (where everyone was still alive and the mission was a minor success)?  What do you think?  Live or die?  The game length that was intended or what was actually played?

ATZ (B Team-4): Little Lost Girl. Part 1

Introduction

In the last game of All Things Zombie that involved the B-team (here) Bob, Ernie and Sid managed to escape from a police station that was besieged by zombies.  Just ahead of them, a little girl (Lucy) and a stranger (Michelle) had also managed to run away.

Now that they've put some distance between themselves and the zombie horde, Michelle and Lucy have stopped running.  It's time for some explanations:
"What's your name, dear?"
"Lucy"
"And how old are you, Lucy?"
"I'll be seven next month.  My daddy told me not to speak to strangers, you know"
"Well, I'm Michelle.  There - we're not strangers any more.  Um, where is your daddy, anyway?"
"He went out to do some shopping.  He said I should stay home, but it wasn't safe there.  The bad people were all around and so I came out to rescue daddy".
"OK, I think we need to try to find your daddy.  There are some shops in the next block; do you think he might have gone there?"
"Maybe..."

Scenario

The Setup

The player characters (B-team, Michelle & Lucy) are to the north of a main road.  On the other side of the street are several shops, but the route is obstructed by a large number of abandoned vehicles.  There are a few zombies wandering about and 3 PEFs (possible enemy forces) are also present.

The Mission

Victory is determined by searching for Lucy's father.  If one or more civilians are discovered anywhere then he'll be amongst them on a roll of 5 or 6.  The players don't necessarily have to find him, but they have to make a reasonable attempt.

The Characters

This is not a high-powered zombie-hunting team!  Rather, they are all citizens in the relatively early period of the Z-apocalypse (it's Z-day+21), just trying to survive.

• Ernie: REP 3, golf club.  Leader.
• Bob: REP 3, hammer.  Dumbass
• Sid: REP 3, crossing sign on pole (improvised 2-handed weapon)
• Michelle: REP 3
• Lucy: REP 2, big-ass pistol (it's her daddy's gun and she won't give it to anyone else!)

The Game

While Michelle was wondering what to do next, the B-team quickly caught up with the ladies.  "Need a hand, love?" called Sid.
Ernie quickly interjected "Ah, what my friend means is that we'd all be safer sticking together.  Especially after what we've just been through."
"Well..." was as much as Michelle managed to answer when there was a deafening bang from just beside them, closely followed by another.  The adults looked round and were horrified to discover that Lucy had braced her pistol on a nearby wall and was firing at something.

Bob, whose knowledge of building techniques was considerable, stared at the nearby burger bar.  "'Ere, that middle window isn't in its frame properly", he said.  "I reckon they were in the middle of replacing it and never finished the job".

The others were interested more in something much closer, though.  The closest PEF turned out to be 3 zombies who had just come round the building and were approaching rapidly.  Little Lucy's shots had been wide of their target and had only served to encourage the shambling creatures.

Even as the 3 zombies charged to attack, others were coming through the lines of vehicles to find out what had caused the noise.
Surprisingly, Bob, Sid and Lucy all passed their "brown pants" test and stood to receive the attacks.  Things didn't look at all good for the humans, especially for Lucy (at REP 2 and without a melee weapon, she'd roll 1 dice in melee plus 1 automatic success, whereas even a single zombie rolls 3 dice).  Bob fended off his attacker with his hammer and Sid whacked the zombie he was facing with his crossing pole.  Amazingly, Lucy side-stepped deftly and tripped her clumsy assailant as well (must be the effect of all those early dance lessons!); all 3 undead ended up on the ground.

There was another loud roar as Lucy pointed her pistol at the fallen zombie's head and pulled the trigger.  Bob and Sid laid into their foes with pole and hammer and finished them off too.

The humans then looked up and saw how many more zombies were approaching.  "Eek!  Run, everyone!" called Ernie, so the party sprinted towards the building.  They knocked aside the unfinished window and entered the burger bar.  The zombies followed, but slowly.

Inside the restaurant, the party felt safe enough to have a quick look around.  Michelle noticed a handbag amongst some abandoned clothes at one table.  "That's a Chloé!  I'm having that..." she muttered, as she scooped it up.  Ernie found a "Legends of Manchester United" football DVD which he pocketed surreptitiously.  But it was Lucy who surprised the adults, though.

"What have you got there, dear?" asked Michelle.
"A knife" replied the girl, holding up a large butcher knife that she had retrieved from a drawer in the kitchen.
"Um, perhaps I'd better look after that for you?"
"No!  I found it - it's mine!"
"Er, OK then."

At the same time, Ernie muttered to Sid "You shouldn't have said that to her, back outside.  It was disrespectful, you know."
Sid replied "What are you talking about?  Don't you have a go at me; I haven't done anything wrong!"
The pair of them muttered and grumbled about what was appropriate when talking to a strange woman for most of the rest of the game, with neither prepared to give way.  Fortunately for the rest of the party, the disagreement was fairly low key and not especially noisy.

The humans left the burger bar by the employee entrance at the back.  For the most part, they were quietly optimistic.  The zombies were well behind them and several of them had found interesting items to play with.  However, the players failed to notice that they were being stalked by a particularly enthusiastic (REP 5) PEF; it was just the other side of the nearest camper van.

They carried on blithely, across the street and into the nearest shop (an armoury called "Bob's Bargain Bullets").  Only when they got there did the group realise that Bob wasn't with them.  Ernie, the leader, had been concentrating so much on arguing with Sid that he hadn't realised they'd left Bob behind.

Bob had been daydreaming about his next bacon roll (i.e. he'd failed his "dumbass" roll) and hadn't noticed that the rest of the group had gone on without him.  He was left to face the PEF all on his own!


To be continued...

[Update => forward to Part-2]

ATZ (B Team-3): Complaining to the Police

Introduction

In Game-2 of my B-team All Things Zombie campaign, 3 friends tried to run a police blockade.  This turned out to be a complete disaster, as Bob was arrested, Sam ended up in hospital and Bert was shot and killed.  That game also puzzled my participating group of young players at the club: they thought that they were playing "zombies" and yet only 1 such creature appeared.

For this game (Game-3), I decided that there wouldn't be any such confusion...

The Scenario

The 4th member of the B-team (Ernie) wasn't involved in the previous debacle as he'd taken the bus home instead of walking.  He's heard about the disaster (maybe Bob used his 1 phone call to tell him about being locked up?) and has decided to walk down to the local police station to try to find out what really happened.  Ernie is accompanied in this by a neighbour, Sid, for moral support.

Ernie and Sid

• Ernie: REP 3, dumbass, golf club
• Sid: REP 3, dim, crossing pole

Ernie and Sid aren't the only people in the vicinity, though.  There's also a young woman (Michelle) who is furious at having received a parking ticket in the post.  She intends to storm into the police station and let the desk officer know just what she thinks of this!

Michelle

•  Michelle: REP 3, slow, high-heeled shoes

Finally, Lucy is a plucky youngster who has heard that nasty things are happening on the streets.  With more boldness than sense, she's filched her daddy's pistol and gone out to try to stop the bad people all on her own.

Lucy

• Lucy: REP 2, B.A. Pistol .  If Lucy fires her huge pistol without bracing it on a wall or other solid object first, or if she fires whilst moving, then she is automatically stunned.  It's her daddy's gun so she will not give it to anyone else!

So we have several groups of citizens wandering about, each with their own agendas.  What could possibly go wrong?!

Unknown to the players, there are only a few cops in the police station as most officers are out dealing with the current civil emergency.  Bob is indeed locked up in one of the station's cells.

No PEFs (possible enemy forces) are used in this game.  Instead, clusters of zombies will appear at random locations along the edges of the table.  The first group of 3d6 zeds enters 2 activations after the players have all had at least 1 move, with further groups of 2d6 zombies arriving 2 and 4 activations after that.  That's 7d6, which if I remember correctly is the number suggested for a suburban encounter with 7 characters (Ernie, Sid, Michelle, Lucy, 2 cops and Bob).

Finally, the encounter rating is '3', so random events will occur on doubles of '3' or less.  I'm using 2 random event decks: my own and Spendlove's.  If an event occurs then I'll draw a card for the effect rather than rolling on the table in the ATZ rulebook.  Events will be drawn alternately from each deck in turn, just to make things unpredictable.

The Game

The First Wave

The first few turns were quiet, as the players waited for their characters to become active.  When this eventually happened, all the civilians moved towards the police station.  Then, with a loud moaning sound, the first herd of 10 zombies appeared.  With exceptional bad luck, the zeds were placed behind the burger bar, beside the red pick-up truck.  The undead creatures immediately shambled towards the nearest humans.

Lucy and Michelle were both in intense danger now, as each had a pack of zombies within 1 move of them.  Arguably, Michelle had more chance of escaping since she was REP 3, but it didn't look good for Lucy at REP 2.  Everything would hang on the next roll of the activation dice!

The dice were rolled: a low double: a random event!  Amazingly, the end wall of the lock-up garages collapsed outwards.

A wall collapse devastates one zombie pack.  I don't have any model rubble, so we had to improvise with concrete blocks!

The falling masonry crushed one zombie to death, while flying bricks knocked down all the rest of the group.  Looks like little Lucy might have a chance to escape after all!  But Michelle is still in trouble...

Another low double was rolled on the next activation test.

This time the event benefited Michelle.  The angry woman walked slowly through the car park, thinking of the best phrases with which to harangue the police.  She was awakened rudely from her reveries by a moaning pack of foul-smelling zombies as they shuffled past her.  Perhaps Michelle's cheap perfume had confused their dulled senses?  Or maybe they'd mistaken her momentarily for another mumbling, lurching undead?  Either way, she was now very aware of her peril!

Official Reaction

Sid and Ernie were arguing with 2 officers who were in the foyer of the police station.  "We've come about my friend, Bob" Sid said.  "You need to let him out; he should never have been arrested.  He's innocent!"
This was met with a stony look from both policemen [Sid took a People challenge against the cops and failed miserably].  Realising that things weren't going his way, Sid changed tack.  "At least, could you tell us whether he's being held here?  Please."

A series of screams were heard from close by the front door.  Both policemen immediately became more alert.

One of the officers ran out of the station doors, just in time to see a young woman racing towards him as fast as her high heels would let her.  She was pursued by a lurching mob of zombies, so the cop didn't hesitate for a moment.  He drew his handgun and started shooting at the group.

Hearing gunfire, his fellow policeman also ran out of the building.  Whilst the first cop attempted to keep the nearest zombies at bay, the second officer spied Lucy toddling round the corner of the garage.  She was pursued by the zombies that had survived the collapsed wall; by now they had picked themselves up and were hunting again.

The officer sprinted over to the terrified little girl.  "Run!" he said.  "Go to the police station; you'll be safe there.  I'll be right behind you".

Lucy ran, passing the first cop as she went through the front doors.  The first cop was barely holding his own against the nearest zombies and there were more on the way...

The Second Wave

Another herd of zombies appeared, though as many again had now been attracted by the gunfire from the policemen.  Although these hadn't got into the action yet, bad things were happening to the humans anyway.

The cop who had assisted Lucy managed to shoot down 3 of the zombies who were following her.  The 4th zombie attacked him on the blind side whilst he concentrated on the penultimate one.  Predictably, this last enemy grappled with the officer and tore his torso open, killing him instantly.

The other policeman was also in real trouble.  He was surrounded by zombies and had been bitten and knocked to the ground.

Even as the last uniformed cop struggled to regain his feet, another officer appeared out of the door.  This was detective Lestrade, who had been asleep in his office upstairs until now [in other words, he was a replacement character for the player who had just lost the other policeman].  The detective had grabbed a shotgun and rushed downstairs; he now aimed at the writing mass of bodies and pulled the trigger.

At close range, the shotgun blast did destroy one of the zombies.  Sadly, most of the force was taken by the uniformed cop as he stood up, cutting him to ribbons.  The zombies started to scrabble around for all the meaty chunks [the only good news about this sorry incident was that the feast would keep the zeds occupied for 6 turns].

Meanwhile, inside the police station everything was confusion.  Initially, the guys were reluctant to leave the lobby in case they were arrested.  However, Ernie soon decided to go looking for the cell block.  Sid was not so sure.  "You can't go through there, Ernie", he said.  "It's restricted."  He didn't like being left behind though, so he trailed behind.

As Sid passed the back door, he heard scrabbling sounds coming from the other side.  "Ernie, wait for me!" he called.  "There's something bad out there, I'm sure I can hear it".  He was right: a few zombies were trying to break in.  These were all individuals who had been attracted by gunfire, including one that was wearing body armour [courtesy of another event card].

Michelle tried to use the phones on the front desk to call for help, but all the lines seemed to be dead.

Lucy toddled along as fast as she could, just trying to put distance between her and the front door.

In the cell block, Ernie discovered 2 prisoners.  Nicky was a small-time crook [replacement for the second player to lose a cop], who immediately called out for rescue.  Bob, Ernie's friend, was in the second cell.

Outside, the weather was turning bad.  The empty store across the road was struck by lightning, though no-one was close enough to suffer any ill effects from this.

More and more zombies gathered outside the station's front doors.  There seemed to be plenty to interest them in the body of the slain cop, so for now all they did was gather together.  Detective Lestrade waited just inside the building, petrified with indecision.

Finally, Lestrade realised that he didn't have any reloads for his gun.  In the heat of the moment, his spare box of ammunition had slipped from his pocket, probably outside near the zombies.  Once he'd fired the shells from the shotgun's magazine then that was it.

All Hell Breaks Loose?

The sky darkened; it was obvious that heavy rain was imminent.

Ernie had already released Nicky from his cell.  The little man didn't show any gratitude at all, but instead started to run for the side exit.  Although the latch on the door gave him some trouble, Ernie finally managed to open Bob's cell as well.

While the B-team were engaged in mutual congratulations, Lucy wandered round the changing room, looking into all the lockers.  She was delighted to find a teddy bear in one of them and hugged the toy close to her chest.  Perhaps it had been a mascot, or a present intended for some policeman's child at the end of his shift?  Either way, it was hers now.

Michelle was the only one in the room who seemed concerned by the threat of zombies.  She started to drag loose items into a barricade behind the door to the lobby.  Unknown to her, Lestrade was on the other side and attempting to enter; he grunted in surprise when the door wouldn't budge.  Michelle screamed out "They're trying to get through the door!  A little help here, please!"  She applied all her strength to the barricade [rolled 3 successes out of 3 in a REP test, while Lestrade failed 4 out of 4] and the door held firmly shut.

Nicky had noticed the side door that led out of the locker room.  He opened it, observed that there were no enemies nearby and fled on his own.  Michelle followed a bit more cautiously.  She waited for Lucy, having noticed that the little girl appeared to be lost.  "Where are your parents, dear?" she asked.  Lucy looked troubled, so Michelle continued "OK, come with me.  We'll find somewhere safe together, won't we?".  The two of them left as fast as they could go.

After them, Ernie, Bob and Sid came out of the police station, just as zombies broke in through the back door and the mob at the front door finished their feast.  The 3 friends also ran into a side street, away from the almost-abandoned building.

Last Man Standing?

What of Lestrade?  After failing to open the door to the changing room, he retreated up the stairs and stood quietly.  He'd hoped to avoid notice, but the zombie mob found him anyway.

Seeing no possibility of defeating the herd, Lestrade backed away up the stairs to the rooftop heliport.  But there was no helicopter coming to rescue him today.

In desperation, he jumped down onto the roof of the office below.  His landing wasn't good and it knocked the wind out of him.  Zombies poured over the edge like an unliving waterfall.  One of them broke its neck as it fell, but others fared much better.

The detective was incredibly lucky to win 2 unanswered activations in a row.  He regained his feet and then jumped towards the ground.  This time his fall was partly broken by a nearby tree and he managed to stay upright.  Several zombies were still close behind him, though...

In an ironic distraction, one of the dead policemen's walkie talkies now crackled into life.  Lestrade couldn't afford the time to find and answer it, though - he was fighting for his life!

Again, Lestrade got a lucky break.  He recovered from the fall before the 3 nearest zombies, levelled his shotgun and fired.  One creature was blown apart at such close range, whilst the other 2 were bowled over.  The man immediately turned and ran as fast as he could, vanishing into the darkness before any more enemies could catch up with him.

Conclusion

Incredibly, the B-team (and indeed the other civilians) accomplished their main mission: survival.  Bob was freed from jail, though I imagine the authorities now have more urgent things to do than look for him.  Lestrade is shaping up to be the hero that he turned out to be later on in my other ATZ campaign [see Quarantine!].  Indeed, the only humans to fail miserably were the 2 uniformed officers.

The players lobbied hard for REP advancement rolls after this game had finished.  While I haven't decided for sure, I'm inclined to deny this.  None of them killed any zombies as required by the rule book.  I don't want to make it too easy for them, after all!

The 2 decks of event cards certainly added a lot of character to the game.  There were times when we were just stunned at the outrageous fortune of some of the players, as unusual things conspired to aid them.  There were one or two "not relevant" events during the game and I haven't bothered to document all of these, but no really bad things occurred.  It could so easily have gone the other way!

[Update => forward to Game-4]