[GURPS 4e, IC] The Dying of the Light — Infection

[Stegyre]

I am thinking that events in the hallway with Steve and Ese are likely to unfold much faster than anyone anywhere else can react -- meaningfully, so I am expecting to wait until the posts result in some notification to those of us on the bridge of this change.

Meanwhile, Tal is in the midst of his conversation with the Captain. I hope someone was watching the door to the bridge -- both to keep it open for Ese and Steve and to close it against anything else . . . .

[xen0phile]

His sympathetic nervous system telling him it's time for flight, Ese just turns and begins sprinting back toward the bridge.

[dekova]

Steve stands stunned for a moment then pivots and follows Ese, sprinting down the corridor.

[Asherion]

Maxwell looks back at Tal and the others. "If we can only broadcast deck wide, this isn't going to work, is it, unless we send a preliminary team ahead to do something about the wires, locally."

[Stegyre]

Maxwell looks back at Tal and the others. "If we can only broadcast deck wide, this isn't going to work, is it, unless we send a preliminary team ahead to do something about the wires, locally."
"Sure it can. At least, we can try to lure them down, deck by deck. If the intercom is going over an entire deck, people are going to hear it coming up the stairwells. From what I've seen, these infected will go where they see or hear people.

"Anyway, do we have an alternative plan?"

[Asherion]

Maxwell shrugs "Honestly we don't have many options. Well, can I do anything to help speed the process along, then?"

[Inglenook]

ESE & STEVE

Upon hearing the noise from down the corridor, Ese immediately turns and flees back toward the bridge. For a moment Steve is overcome with surprise and fright, but a second later he follows suit. As you two prepare to turn the corner, you hear a sudden surge of roaring behind you: the infected have caught sight of you.

Steve is a bit longer legged and reaches the bulkhead door slightly before Ese—It is closed and locked.

For brevity's sake, I'm going to assume you guys want in.
Steve bangs on the metal, yelling, "Open it! Hurry!" There is an excruciating pause as you listen to those things running down the hall, just around the corner now, almost upon you … but then the bulkhead door opens. Yolanda stands there looking surprised, and you both rush in. Ese slams the door behind him.

A moment later the banging and roaring on the other side of the door begins, only slightly muffled by the metal.

Yolanda, Anna, Brenda, Jamie, John, Harmon, Speck, Owen, Sarah, the Carvers and the bloody, unconscious woman are all in the lobby.

"How did they get in?!" Jamie yells, sounding both angry and frightened. "I thought you closed the fire door?!"

1
MAXWELL & TAL

As you both discuss plans with the captain on how to lure the infected people with the intercom, you hear a sudden shouting, banging, and the slam of a door. Looking behind you through the plate glass window into the lobby, you see that Ese and Steve are back, both looking decidedly perturbed.

Morten jumps to his feet and runs through the hallway into the lobby to see why they're back, and you both follow.

Again, for the sake of brevity I'm assuming you go to the lobby with everyone else. If not, just tell me.
1
EVERYONE

Everyone is gathered in a rough semicircle around Steve and Ese. The banging and screaming at the metal bulkhead door is quite loud and makes it difficult to hear.

"So what happened?" Brenda asks, pointing her finger at the two. "How did they make it through the fire gate? They can't even open doors, for God's sake."

"Can they hear us in here?" Pete whispers to no one in particular. "Maybe they'll go away if we're quiet?"

Anna slips to Morten's side and says something to him quietly in Norwegian, her tone anxious.

Before Ese and Steve can answer, Lurch steps out of the hallway that connects to the control area. "I just got off the phone with, uh, Rebecca," he says. He suddenly notices the din coming from the bulkhead door, and his eyes widen slightly. "They got out? Or in, I mean. Did they like … eat through the fire door, because that's—"

"You just got off the phone with Rebecca … " Yolanda says as patiently as she can.

Lurch nods and continues. "Yeah. I told her to lock herself in the office down in engineering, right? So I called down there to Lukas's phone. Only took one ring for someone to pick up.

"It sounded like she dropped the phone or knocked it off the desk or something; I couldn't hear much of what happened very well. I heard a guy's voice—I'm not sure who, because there was no one else but her down there when we left. He said, 'Dammit, be quiet!', sort of angry and scared-sounding. And then a girl—Rebecca, I guess—whispered, 'Sorry!', and it sounded like she was crying. And then something started banging really loud, and there was screaming. It sounded like someone was hitting glass. Then the guy and Rebecca started screaming."

He licks his lips nervously. "And then the line went dead."

[dekova]

As the door closes and locks, Steve instinctively braces himself against it.

"Ma'am, I don't know how they did it but it sounded more like they lifted the door than broke through it."

Steve looks uneasy as he continues.

"And I don't know how long this door is going to hold against this many of them, I think we may need to go over that deck and get to the lifeboats after all. We may be able to use the firehose as a rope... Captain, what's below it and how far of a drop is it?"

Quick question about the deck (#4 (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/bridge.png)) What's on the far end on each side? A wall that seperates the public deck from the private bridge deck or does it just end?

And... how dark is it outside, what time of day/night is it?

[Stegyre]

"In the mean time," says Tal, "can we turn the intercom on just Deck 11? Maybe if we can broadcast some loud sounds up there, we can draw them up, while we are trying to go down. If we even lure just a few of them away, we might hold the door that much longer."

[xen0phile]

Ese takes a moment to catch his breath and orient himself. He sits down, his back against the wall. His eyes widen with horror and guilt upon hearing about Rebecca's death--he could, after all, have gotten her when he went down to get the fire axe and crow bar. He realizes he has his prayer beads in a white-knuckle grip, and consciously releases them.

He stands back up, using the handle of the fire axe to steady himself. "Pues, we are in the ocean. We... we can't just jump over. Need a boat to travel to the land. Ehh, I think it is a good idea; to use intercom. Me, Lurch, we can do that. Easier if we have good tools. Anyone have, ehh... a knife? A Leatherman? Screwdriver?"

[dekova]

There's a toolbox in the damage control locker. I imagine that Ese would know this.

[Inglenook]

STEVE

Morten runs his fingers through his hair, thinking. "If we dropped off the front of the deck, we'd drop down one level to the very front of Deck 09. There's a small outside deck that runs around the ship and connects all the lifeboat davits.

"If we dropped off the sides, we'd probably land, hm, three levels down, near the bow on Deck 07."

It's a bit after 1 AM, but the ship's external lights are all on, so seeing shouldn't be a real issue (unless you're trying to spot something out to sea).

To answer your other question: sternward of the "wings" on #4 (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/bridge.png) is a metal partition, and on the other side are balconies running all the way down the deck, each separated by their own partition.

You can see it pretty well in these pictures: port (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/wingport.png) and starboard (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/wingstarboard.png).

The "wings" of the bridge are on the far left of the "port" picture, and the far right of the "starboard" picture.

The blue numbers are the cabins that the balconies belong to. 1510 is Harmon's cabin, 1010 is the Royal Suite, and 1020 is Morten's cabin.

Right below cabins 1534 and 1032 you can see one of the lifeboat-lowering davit stations sticking out; a narrow deck runs all the way down Deck 09 here. Near the very bottom right of the "port" picture, you can see a ladder, which is how you can get from the davit area on Deck 09 to the lifeboat launching area of Deck 07.
1
ESE & TAL

"Yes, let's try leading them up to 11," Morten says. His voice grows stricken. "Although if there's anyone up there, they might be swarmed."

Lurch is already moving over the damage control locker. "Tools are in here," he says, rummaging around and pulling out a metal toolbox. "But I don't think we need them. The intercoms use Cat 5 cable, so I think maybe all we have to do is unplug them."

Cutting the wiring shouldn't be necessary since they're Cat 5s and easily unplug. Correctly unplugging Deck 10 requires a roll of:
- Electrician (ESL15), or:
- Electronic Operation (Communications) (ESL12)

Finding the right cable for any of the other decks is a bit harder, since you can't hear/test whether they're unplugged from where you are. To correctly unplug any of the other deck intercoms requires a roll of:
- Electrician (ESL11), or:
- Electronic Operation (Communications) (ESL8)

You can increase your ESL further by taking extra time.

[Asherion]

"How far will the alarm pull them, do you think? Would it be more prudent to pull them down to say, level one, if the lifeboats are on seven? It seems to make more sense than trying to pull all the ones below us up farther... but you fellows undoubtedly know more about your ship than I do."

Maxwell turns and studies the wires dubiously "Anyone know which ones to pull, for either situation?"

"And either way, I like the idea of getting to the boats, and using the horns as a distraction if possible. Whatever those things are doing out there, we should assume they're going to be coming in soon if we do nothing."

[dekova]

With his back against the door, Steve thinks for a moment then speaks.

"We can't plan on making the drop down to 7," Steve looks at Tal's bandaged hand, "but we can probably make it to 9. Let's get everyone on the bridge proper and lock these two hallway doors. You guys work on the intercom, I'm going to see about getting an escape route ready. Is there an extra radio I can take with me?"

Steve starts off towards the damage control locker while directing one last question to the captain: "What happens if we drop a lifeboat from the 9th deck?"

Steve's Plan:
Grab Stig's radio or a spare radio if available, if not, see if he can get Terry's.

Grab the canvas bag from the damage control locker, clip a battle lantern to the outside and put the following in it: flashlight, bolt cutters, first aid kit, crowbar, handsaw.

Check out 9th floor deck as best he can from 10th. If it's clear, see if he can find a way to attach/use the hose as a rope to get down to 9th.

Let's see how successful all of that is before deciding what he does next.

[xen0phile]

Ese goes over to the main control panel and, with Lurch's help, removes the panel to get at the CAT-5 cables. Digging through the bundle, he pulls at what he assumes is the one for deck 10:


Electrician, ESL of 15: [roll0]




Before I isolate the intercom specifically to deck 11, is the Electrician (ESL11) roll for *all* decks I need to disconnect (like, do I need to roll 12 times); or, do I just roll that one time?

Also, I just assumed Lurch was helping me, so I wrote him into my narrative; if he's actually doing something else, I'll edit

[Inglenook]

Just one roll, although you appear to have flubbed it a bit, haha. :smalltongue:

[Inglenook]

STEVE

You and Morten go down the short hallway to the control room. Lying in one of the pilot seats is a walkie-talkie and a set of key cards. A white captain's hat—Morten's—lies on the ground next to the seat.

"Take mine," he says, grabbing the walkie-talkie and handing it to you. He then bends over and grabs the hat from the floor, absentmindedly brushing off a piece of lint that's stuck to it before putting it on, sitting in the other pilot seat and beginning to press buttons.

You go back into the lobby and collect several things, placing them in a canvas sack from the damage control locker. Then you head outside.

The night air is a cool relief, and you suddenly realize how much it stank in there—the smell of adrenaline.

Vision Check: [roll0]
Hearing Check: [roll1]
Peering over the front of the boat, you can clearly see down to the open area on Deck 09. It looks completely free of people (although everything past the first five yards or so is out of sight beneath you), and you can't hear anyone.

On the starboard side, looking toward the stern, you can see the area on Deck 07 that Tal mentioned, where the crewmen were slaughtered. The deck is stained red and covered with bodies. Nothing looks to be on the davit gangway on this side. You notice that several of the lifeboats are slanted dangerously halfway down their davits, as if the crewmen had partially released them before being attacked. One lifeboat is missing.

On the port side there are several other dead bodies on Deck 07. But that's not what catches your eye.

On the davit gangway, perhaps halfway down the length of the ship, you can see three people crouched in one of the davit stations. You can't make out their features very well from this distance—one looks like a blonde woman, the other two dark-haired men—but the way they're behaving suggests that they're not the crazed infected.

1
EVERYONE ELSE:

Everyone files into the main control area, shutting and locking both doors behind them: two more barriers in case those things break through. Pete and John drag the unconscious bloody woman along.

1
MAXWELL

Anna kneels next to the unconscious bloody woman and motions you over. "Maxwell, right?" She opens up her first aid kit, pulling out a small, cylindrical white packet.

"We need to wake this woman up if we're going to get her over the railing to one of the lower decks," she explains, bending the cylinder between her hands with a tiny crack! "I have no idea what's wrong with her—she could even be violent when she wakes up—so I need you to hold her down, okay?"

1
ESE

With Lurch's help you remove the metal panel underneath the communication area, which is slightly to the right of the main controls. The inside is a mess of wires, completely unorganized and not especially well-maintained. You may have your work cut out for you.

Lying down on your back, you reach into the nest of wires, trying to find anything that resembles a Cat 5 or a connector array. You push a bundle of wires aside—

Bzzt!

Sparks fly, and a blinding, electric pain courses up your left arm. Howling, you scurry away from the communication panel on all fours.

Lurch helps you to your feet. "Whoa, you okay?" Your arm tingles, but you don't seem to be majorly injured.

"What did you do?" Morten says loudly, leaving his chair and quickly stepping over to the communications panel. He toggles a switch marked "INTERCOM" several times, but the tiny light next to it remains dim.

"The entire thing is blown," he sighs, raising his hands in defeat. "At least the VHF still works." He returns to his chair, picking up a speaker mic and depressing the button on the side.

"Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is Calypso Queen, Calypso Queen, Calypso Queen. Mayday, Calypso Queen. Charlie-Six-Foxtrot-Zulu-Zero. 3117360000. My position is … 23.650814, -82.893448 true. I am—faen—we're under attack, on fire, sick, suffering casualties, everything!" He takes a deep breath. "I require immediate assistance. Two hundred people still aboard, many of them ill. Bring weapons, as many as you can. Over."

He releases the button and turns to everyone else. "Now to see if anyone transmits back."

Ese takes one point of damage.

[dekova]

Peering over the deck rail, Steve studies the three people for a moment.

Signal them with the flashlight? Too risky.

He then turns his attention to gauging distances and weighing his options with the hose. Quickly deciding on a course of action, he heads back to the damage control locker.

"Looks like we have three uninfected hiding on the davit gangway, port side... Captain, can we drop a lifeboat from the gangway or do we need to be on deck 7?"


When he steps back inside, he really REALLY wants to get the skinny on what's involved in dropping the lifeboats from deck 9.

Then...

If the hose is connected to the locker and will reach , he'll drag the free end out to the deck and stop just short of unraveling it over the edge.
If the hose won't reach from the locker, he'll disconnect it and try to tie it off to a main railing or similar.
If the brass coupling on the hose is causing issues, he'll hack through the hose near the coupling with the hacksaw.

Worth noting: Steve's still keeping his fire axe close at hand. :smallwink:

[xen0phile]

"Just a little shock," he responds to Lurch. He sheepishly cradles his left arm, his pride hurt probably more than his arm. He tentatively tests the various joints in the injured arm, making a fist, then unclenching it; rotating his forearm; bending his elbow; and so on.

[Asherion]

Maxwell nods his agreement. "Good idea, we can't afford to carry casualties when there are other options, and risk her waking and harming someone en route."

He will kneel by her and keep hands on her arms, ensuring that he (doesn't think) he's in bite range. If she begins to fight, he will try to verbally calm her and will restrain her, but until then, he's just ready to do so.

[Stegyre]

Bzzt!

Sparks fly, and a blinding, electric pain courses up your left arm. Howling, you scurry away from the communication panel on all fours.

Lurch helps you to your feet. "Whoa, you okay?" Your arm tingles, but you don't seem to be majorly injured.

"What did you do?" Morten says loudly, leaving his chair and quickly stepping over to the communications panel. He toggles a switch marked "INTERCOM" several times, but the tiny light next to it remains dim.

"The entire thing is blown," he sighs, raising his hands in defeat. "At least the VHF still works." He returns to his chair, picking up a speaker mic and depressing the button on the side.
Scratch that plan, thinks Tal. Without a distraction, I fear these infected do not give up. They are going to hammer these doors until they get in. We will have to move.

He looks at his bandaged right hand, which he still holds up at his side, as the Doctor recommended. I'm not going to be much for climbing.

Tal goes out to the Port wing to look at the Deck 10 balconies. How easily could I climb from here onto one of those, and then from balcony to balcony,, he thinks.
'Not sure if this would be a perception roll or a general IQ roll, but Tal wants to assess the difficulty of doing that climb, considering too any negative modifier due to his injured hand. I probably shouldn't know how accurate that roll was (so historiadeosos should make it), but here is how well Tal thinks he assessed things: [roll0]

EDIT: Looks like he is going to be pretty confident in his assessment, whether it is positive or negative.

[Inglenook]

ESE

Aside from the quickly-fading tingling, your arm seems to be in fine shape. The shock appears to have done no lasting damage.

1
MAXWELL

Strength Check: [roll0]
You situate yourself near the woman's head as she lies on the ground. Taking great care to keep all your limbs out of biting distance, you firmly hold down on her upper arms. Anna holds the smelling salts under the woman's nose; she stirs slightly and begins to awaken.

As her bleary eyes focus on the two of you kneeling above her, she suddenly begins to thrash madly, attempting to break free. You were prepared for this, though, and you manage to hold her down without much difficulty. The bloody woman lets out an insanely loud scream—not rage-filled like the screams of the infected, but rather a scream full of terror and pain. It echoes off the interior of the metal bridge, and the banging on the bulkhead door intensifies in response.

Then, just as suddenly as it began, her scream stops and the bloody woman goes limp. She lies on the floor, her breath quick and shallow and her eyes staring blankly at the ceiling above.

1
STEVE

Morten looks up from the console as you ask him about the lifeboats. "They're on gravity roller davits, so a lifeboat will lower on its own as long as there's nothing stopping it. But the restraints and brakes are on Deck 09, so you technically have to be on the gangway to launch it.

"On the gangway you have to remove the boat restraints, then go to the davit station and release the brake; it lets the lifeboat start sliding down. You reapply the brake when it gets to Deck 07 level, everyone climbs aboard, and then someone has to stay at the davit station to release the break and let it lower into the water."

Going to the damage control locker, you inspect the hose inside. It's fifty feet long (more than enough to get you down to Deck 09, or Deck 07 even!) and unattached to the locker. It's also quite heavy. Your muscles bulging, you drag it back out to the deck and try your best to tie one end securely to the railing.

Knot-Tying (SL12): [roll1]
You step away from your knot, satisfied that it will hold without slipping.

1
TAL

As you head out onto the exterior deck you see Steve trying to tie the fire hose to the front railing. You move past him and step out to the furthest point of the port-side wing, hoping to get a good view of the entire port side.

The balconies along the side all share the same railing, although each balcony is separated from its neighbor by an eight-foot high metal partition. In theory it looks easy enough to sit on the railing, slide one leg around the partition, then the other once you have your footing. As long as you can hold on tightly enough with your one hand to avoid falling off, you should be okay.

Directly below the balconies, perhaps ten-to-twelve feet down, are the lifeboats on Deck 09. Each lifeboat is the length of two larger balconies, or three smaller ones. Even if you fell, you'd only be falling at most twelve feet (unless, God forbid, you accidentally rolled off the lifeboat, in which case you'd fall twentyish more feet down to Deck 07).

Vision Check: [roll2]
Hearing Check: [roll3]
You too spy three people at the port side, on the gangway underneath the balconies. One of them is a blonde woman wearing a white robe. Another is a muscular man with longish, dark hair who looks to be wearing nothing but a pair of underwear. The third is another man, lean, with short-cropped dark hair.

All three of them are crouched in one of the triangular davit stations set on the gangway amidships.

[dekova]

Finishing his work with the hose, Steve gives it a quick review then joins Tal for a moment.

"Mr. Faulkner, with your hand you obviously can't use the hose as a rope," he says pointedly. "But it's about a 12 foot drop and I promise you I'll do my best to break your fall. That is... if we have to go over the rail."

[xen0phile]

Ese turns to Morten. "Hey, how far is Miami? Or Key West? If they are near... pues, could we wait here on the bridge? Wait for the Navy, the Coast Guard?"

[Stegyre]

"Mr. Faulkner, with your hand you obviously can't use the hose as a rope," he says pointedly. "But it's about a 12 foot drop and I promise you I'll do my best to break your fall. That is... if we have to go over the rail."
"Thanks, but actually I've got something else in mind, first. Maybe I can buy us some more time. Let the others know I'm going to try to make my way to the stern and draw the infected back that way. As long as none of the infected are in any of the cabins along this side, I think I can make my was safely along the balconies, do a lot of yelling a screaming at the back, and then use the balconies to make my way back, while they pound on the doors." Grasping the railing firmly with his good hand, he puts his leg over the side and begins to make is his way.
Barring any interference, that's the plan Tal will follow: going as far back on by balcony as possible. He will make his way as quickly as he safely can from one balcony to the next, without checking in the cabins, in the hope that any infected in the cabins will be too busy trying to get out the cabin door to notice the balcony. If he meets any uninfected on his way -- i.e., if they notice him and come out to the balcony -- he will recommend that they use the balconies to make their way to the bridge.

Once he gets as far back as he can, he will enter that cabin, use the peephole to make sure no infected are right outside, carefully open the door, and – standing in the door to keep it open – start screaming to high heaven. He will keep up the racket until he can SEE some of the infected coming his way. Then, he'll slam and lock the door, hurry back to the balcony, and start making his way forward again.

Climbing roll to get there (I know he gets a bonus for being flexible, but I forget what it is): [roll0]

[dekova]

Steve looks a bit uneasy, but nods.

"Okay, Mr. Faulkner."

He finds a spot where he can monitor Tal's progress and crouches down, then he pulls out his radio and speaks into it quietly.

"Mr. Faulkner is working his way down the port-side balconies, he's going to try to create a distraction from the stern and draw them away from the door. Can I get an assessment of how well the door is holding up? Over."

[Stegyre]

Tal may need to specify whether he's headed down the port or starboard side.
Port side. It was already specified in the earlier post.

[Inglenook]

ESE

Morten checks the GPS. "We're about 195 nautical miles—that's, hm, almost 360 kilometers—from Miami. And almost 80 nautical miles (almost 150 kilometers) from Key West. We might be able to hold out that long." he says, casting a sidelong glance through the pane glass at the door which leads out to the cabins, which is vibrating furiously. "But it's definitely not a certain thing. And then there's this."

He points to the the console to his left. A screen displays the following:


SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-01 MED-01 06/09/12 04:37 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+00)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-10 STR-01, 06/09/12 04:54 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+01)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-04 CRDR-04, 06/09/12 04:59 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+02)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-10 STR-02, 06/09/12 05:00 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+03)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-11 WNDJ-02, 06/09/12 05:04 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+04)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-05 PRFM-01, 06/09/12 05:06 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+05)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-05 GFT-01, 06/09/12 05:06 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+06)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-05 CNTRM-00, 06/09/12 05:07 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+07)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-06 CNTRM-00, 06/09/12 05:07 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+08)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-07 CNTRM-00, 06/09/12 05:07 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+09)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-05 JWLR-01, 06/09/12 05:08 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+10)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-05 MRST-01, 06/09/12 05:09 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+11)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-11 WNDJ-03, 06/09/12 05:09 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+12)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-04 CNTRM-00, 06/09/12 05:09 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+13)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-05 FRST-01, 06/09/12 05:09 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+14)


"The two on Deck 10 were Steve and Tal closing off the stairwells," Morten explains. "But the rest may be legitimate fires. And the one in the Centrum on Deck 05 looks like it's spreading fast."

"Not to mention the fact," a voice suddenly chimes in, "that the Coast Guard is unlikely to respond at this point."

Turning, you see that the old man who introduced himself as Harmon has quietly moved to stand behind you and Harmon. His hands are held behind his back and his face is politely grave.

1
STEVE

[roll0]
You listen to the radio … but no one responds. For a moment you are confused, then you suddenly realize that you have no idea which channel Ese and Lurch were using. Whatever channel it was, Morten's walkie-talkie that you're using appears to be on a different one.

You crouch down and watch Tal make his way across.

1
TAL

I think Climbing is more for actually scaling things, whereas what you're doing is essentially trying to keep your footing while moving along a ledge. So I'll let you roll it as a DX roll instead; improves your success rate too, since Climbing is DX-5!

A few more DX rolls (two to spend ten minutes to get to the furthest balcony, one to start on your way back, and two to spend ten minutes getting back):

[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]

Derp, ignore that last roll. Copy/Pasted one time too many.
As you start across, you suddenly realize that this is going to be a bit tougher than you thought it would; the railing and metal partitions are slick with sea spray, and the fact that you only have one useable hand makes holding on to the partition a lot harder.

Taking great care, you begin to work your way down the port-side balconies.

About three-fourths of the way toward the stern, you're just about to swing your leg around a partition when you hear the sudden sliding of a glass door, and a voice hisses out, "Hey!" You turn in surprise.

A young man stands in the doorway that leads into the balcony's cabin. He's chubby and short, perhaps five-foot-six, with short, dark blond hair and a hairline that's already starting to recede slightly. "What's going on? The intercom said to stay in the cabin, and I—"

You quickly cut him off and tell him to head along the balconies back toward the bridge, and that there are others gathered there. It's clear he wants to ask you more, but you don't have the time; you continue onward without glancing back.

You make it to the last balcony without further encounters. As you swing your leg over the railing, you take note of the number displayed above the sliding glass door that leads into the cabin: 1588. The door is unlocked, and you step into the darkness.

Mercifully, no one is home. The dresser drawers are pulled out and emptied, and you notice an expensive set of earrings lying on the bedside table; whoever stayed in this room appears to have left in a hurry.

It's time for the distraction. You can see none of the infected through the peephole, and when you peek your head out, the hallway is empty. Although to your left and far down the corridor you can hear those things banging away at the bridge door.

You draw in a deep breath and scream as loud as you possibly can.

The effect is instantaneous. From down the corridor comes a volley of screams and the thundering of feet, and a second later those things turn the corner at the far end of the bow and begin sprinting toward you.

You slam the door, lock it, and return to the balcony. You swing your foot back over the railing to begin the arduous trip back to the bridge just as the infected people begin throwing themselves at the cabin door.

As you pass the midway point of the ship on the way back, you suddenly realize that you can hear people whispering! It takes you a moment to figure out that it's the people crouched in the davit on Deck 09 one level below you. The sound of the waves against the side of the ship and the thrum of the engine manages to muffle most of it, but you can still make out snatches of conversation:

A woman, whispering furiously: "—swear, could you go any slower, you absolute idiot?! Hurry up before those things come back!"

A man mutters back in response: "Tabarnak, ta geuele!"

There's no way to call out to them without drawing overt attention to yourself, so you begin to move on. As cross over to balcony 1552, the rubber sole of your shoe lets out a painfully loud squeak against the wet railing. You wince at the sudden noise, and the bickering below you is immediately silenced.

Chagrined at your clumsiness, you cross the balcony, and—

CRASH! The sliding glass door to your right shatters as a man throws himself through it, gibbering insanely.

[Inglenook]

Derp. :smallsigh:

[Inglenook]

Partial Surprise Initiative roll for Tal: [roll0]
Initiative Roll for the infected man: [roll1]

[xen0phile]

Ese, who has spent most of his waking hours in the engine room since departing the Cayman Islands, and has (at most) heard only passing talk about "a big riot", furrows his brow in confusion. "Eh? Coast Guard always comes. Hurricane, fire, loquisimos," gesturing to the entry, "they still come. With guns."

[Inglenook]

TAL

Tal's Combat Paralysis HT Roll: [roll0]

And success! :smallsmile:
Balcony 1552 is one of the smaller balconies, 10'x4'. You are currently standing with your back against the railing, with 5' of room on both your left and right.

The infected man is rushing at you with alarming force, his body full of broken glass.

You may act first. Be sure to specify a passive defense if you choose not to take an active one.

1
STEVE

You watch Tal climb over balcony after balcony as he heads to the stern. He pauses part of the way down before continuing onward, and a moment later you see another person begin heading along the railing in your direction. It looks as if Tal found another uninfected passenger and told him to go the bridge.

Tal finally reaches the last balcony near the stern and disappears inside; less than a minute later he rushes back out and begins to make his way back.

As you watch him return, the newly-found passenger has also been making his way steadily toward you, and you offer him your hand as he climbs past the last partition and onto the bridge's exterior deck.

He's a short young guy, probably in his mid-twenties, with a dull, deadpan face. He's soaked with sweat and shaking slightly, and his receding blond hair is matted damply against his scalp.

"'Sup?" he wheezes with a nonchalant nod of the head.

Before you can answer, you hear a sudden crash and the tinkling of glass. Looking past the new arrival's shoulder, you see that about midway down the ship, someone has burst through a glass balcony door … and is lurching madly at Tal, who is only feet away.

[Inglenook]

ESE

Harmon shakes his head sadly. "I'm afraid the Coast Guard has much bigger fish to fry at the moment, if you'll pardon the maritime pun."

Before either of you can speak further, the VHF radio suddenly crackles with static, and a sobbing voice fills the bridge, a woman speaking frantically in another language.

Morten c.ocks his head, listening. "What is that? Filipino? Does any one of you speak Tagalog?" he says, turning to all the others. No one says anything.

There's a small overlap between Filipino and Spanish vocabulary, and there are a few words that you can recognize: barco (ship), espíritu (spirit) and cubierta (deck).

[Asherion]

Maxwell looks worriedly at Anna, then at the woman, and speaks: "Miss... are you all right? If you're awake and calm, I'm going to let you go now. Can you tell us your name?"

Maxwell is trying to keep an eye on the surrounding events, but they are mostly happening without need for him to intervene as of yet. (and he doesn't speak either language, so he ignores that conversation :D )

[dekova]

At the sound of broken glass, Steve hisses a quick "Get down!"

Instinctively ducking his head, he pulls the blonde man down out of sight next to him then turns, helplessly, back to watch the drama unfold on the balcony.

Steve is still crouched on the deck to avoid being seen, hopefully the blonde guy is now as well.

[Stegyre]

I think Climbing is more for actually scaling things, whereas what you're doing is essentially trying to keep your footing while moving along a ledge. So I'll let you roll it as a DX roll instead; improves your success rate too, since Climbing is DX-5!
I'd have a small – and at this point, moot – philosophical disagreement with that: I would say that this is climbing, but very, very easy climbing, giving a +5, or more, to the skill roll. The end result is the same.:smallsmile:

A few more DX rolls (two to spend ten minutes to get to the furthest balcony, one to start on your way back, and two to spend ten minutes getting back):
That's not unreasonable – requiring the extra rolls. It does raise an interesting issue in my mind about iteratives that is worth some thought: with multiple rolls, where a single failure is tantamount to failing all of them (take this situation as a good example: if Tal slipped and fell, it would not really matter – to him – whether he slipped on the first balcony or the last one), requiring multiple rolls ultimately amounts to a reduction in the success probability. Simplifying (to avoid doing the math at this point), requiring X successful rolls at skill level 12 would be the same as requiring a single successful roll at an effective skill level of 10. This just makes me want to ponder when multiple rolls should be required versus just requiring a single roll at a reduced skill.

Enough of these mentations, already. IT'S FIGHT'N TIME!

Mercifully, no one is home. The dresser drawers are pulled out and emptied, and you notice an expensive set of earrings lying on the bedside table; whoever stayed in this room appears to have left in a hurry.
On his way to the door, Tal pockets the earrings. Whoever left these will want them back, and she probably isn't making it back to this cabin after what I'm going to do. I can pass them on to the captain.

CRASH! The sliding glass door to your right shatters as a man throws himself through it, gibbering insanely.
I'm afb, but what Tal wants to do is probably not covered in the LITE combat section, maybe not even in basic, although there's probably something about it in G:Martial Arts: He wants to try to duck down, meet the infected's charge, and try to lift-and-throw him over the balcony.

All-out-attack, committed, and if he has his Luck rolls available and the first roll isn't blindingly good, he will use them, because rule-of-cool demands it of him:
[roll0]
luck reroll (if needed and available): [roll1]
and again: [roll2]

EDIT: Here's hoping that "6" was available and sufficient! Since Tal is going AoA, I don't think there's a defense to specify. As a general rule, however, he would try to dodge, with a retreat (for +3), whenever possible.

EDIT2: I'm actually quite curious as to how one would resolve this sort of combat situation. If anyone knows, please chime in. I think I'll also ask over on the GURPS forum at SJG.

Whatever anyone says, I want to make clear that I respect the fact that how it is resolved here and now is historiodeosos call.

[xen0phile]

With regard to the call they just received on the VHF, Ese will defer to Morten; basically pause for a moment and see what everyone else does.

[Inglenook]

ESE

With no other obvious options, Morten depressed the button on the radio. "This is the Calypso Queen, requesting immediate assistance. Who is this?"

The line is silent for a moment before the Pinoy woman responds. "English?" There is another long string of Filipino words, and then a single English phrase thrown in: "—Spirit of the Sea—"

Morten's eyes widen. "That's another cruise ship out of Miami!" He speaks into the mic again. "Are you aboard the Spirit of the Sea? We need immediate assistance. Our position is 23.650814, -82.893448 true. What is your location?"

The woman responds again in Filipino, her voice now frightened and frustrated. Then, without warning, it cuts off. Morten tries hailing her again several times, but all he gets is static.

"I think the radio is no longer a viable option," he says grimly. "If we're going to use the lifeboats, I need to slow the ship to a stop. Is that what we've all agreed upon?"

1
MAXWELL

The bloody woman continues to lie there, no longer straining against your grip. As you speak, her eyes flicker to you and her lips begin to move, although she makes no sound.

Anna sets down the smelling salts and takes a penlight out of her pocket, shining it in the bloody woman's eyes. The woman gasps slightly as she squints and turns her head away from the bright light.

"Her pupil dilation is normal," Anna says, frowning as she puts away the light. "It's hard to tell until we get her cleaned off, but physiologically I don't know that there's anything wrong with her. I'm not a psychologist, but she might be in a state of mental shock."

Anna stands and bends over to grab the woman's upper arm. "Help me get her on her feet."

The woman offers no resistance as pull her to her feet. You both wait until she seems steady before letting go of her.

Up close you can tell that the woman's hair is light brown under all the blood, and it hangs to just past her shoulders. She's not unattractive, but neither are her features classically pretty: a square jaw, strong cheekbones and a large, wide nose. Her dark green eyes are her most striking feature, but at the moment they seem empty and glassy, like a doll's.

The bloody woman simply stands there with her hands tightly clenched, swaying slightly. Her head turns in the direction of the pounding coming on the other side of the pane glass, but otherwise she is unresponsive.

1
STEVE

The blond man squats down beside you as you watch Tal take on the infected man.

1
TAL

Earrings added to your inventory.
There's no time to breathe, no time to think, and your body reacts on sheer instinct.

You throw yourself at the man's legs even as he rushes at you, grabbing and lifting with all your strength. You feel a sharp, bright pain in your back as a piece of the door glass impaled in the man's stomach scrapes you.

Whatever the infected man might have been expecting, it wasn't this. His arms bat furiously at the air, and he continues to scream even as you use his own momentum to hurl him bodily over the side of the balcony.

There is a sickening thud and sudden screaming from the three people below on Deck 09. Looking over the edge of the balcony, you see the infected man sprawled across the top of the bright orange lifeboat below; his head is twisted oddly and he isn't moving.

You gingerly prod the cut on your back. It doesn't appear to be too deep that you can tell, but there's a lot of blood.

Luck roll wasn't needed after all! And the cut on your back from the glass does 1 HP of damage.

[Inglenook]

Herp derp, forgot Tal's DX roll. Good luck!

[roll0]

ETA: Success!

[Stegyre]

There is a sickening thud and sudden screaming from the three people below on Deck 09. Looking over the edge of the balcony, you see the infected man sprawled across the top of the bright orange lifeboat below; his head is twisted oddly and he isn't moving.
Sorry bloke, Tal thinks. He mouths another, "I'm sorry" to the three people below, then pauses to listen and look around to make sure there are no other immediate dangers nearby.
Perception roll, although again, the real roll should probably be a hidden one made by the GM: [roll0]
He has several balconies still to go to get back to the bridge

Luck roll wasn't needed after all!
At the moment, Tal is enjoying the sort of luck you cannot buy with character points.

Looks like the climbing rolls have already been made for the trip back. Assuming that no other excitement occurs on the trip, Tal will make his way back to the bridge, get his new cut cleaned up by Steve or Anna, and – I hope – get updated on the situation there by the others.

[xen0phile]

Ese does a small shudder, his body reacting to the adrenaline rollercoaster combined with fatigue, and begins to finger his rosary again. "Qué ch***ada piña de m*****. Yeah. Okay, and, c***, we have a fire also. We should leave the ship." He remembers there is a Spanish-speaking woman present. Blushing slightly, "Ay, perdón, señorita."

[dekova]

Steve releases his grip on the young man's arm. While waiting for Tal to rejoin them, he tries to fill the man in on what's been happening.

Speaking just above a whisper: "Lots of sick people on the ship have gone crazy, they've just gone insane with rage. The captain and some others are on the bridge," Steve gestures with his head towards the bridge door, "trying to raise the Coast Guard for help."

Waiting for Tal to rejoin them, then everyone goes inside.

If group has made decision to head to lifeboats:
Steve grabs extra axe and battle lantern from locker and gives it to someone (Owen? Blonde guy?) then will get ready to lower hose and head down to deck 9.

If it seems there's a couple minutes to spare:
Steve will check to see if Tal's hurt and attend to any injury. (Also... I don't know if Steve's wounds were checked out earlier before he and Ese made a break to grab Rebecca. If not, Steve needs to do that as well.)

[Inglenook]

ESE

Yolanda shakes her head dismissively. Her face is serious, but there's a small hint of a smile around her eyes. "Believe me, I've heard worse. Said worse, too," she says in Spanish.

Another fire lights up on the monitor.

Morten's expression is haunted as he quietly says, "I don't think we have any choice but to leave." He pulls down on a lever, and the sound of the engine changes—The ship is beginning to slow down.

1
STEVE

The blond guy's eyes widen as you explain the situation. "Wait, for real?" he says, interrupting you. He laughs suddenly, a shocking sound given the circumstances. "I thought this was some hidden camera ****. Like Scare Tactics or something. Holy ****, I can't believe it's real."

He extends a large, plump hand. "Sup? I'm Jud."

1
TAL

The sounds of the people on Deck 09 freaking out fades as you continue onward. You peer cautiously around each partition before stepping over to the next balcony, now; each cabin potentially contains another infected person. Whether it's the fact that you're careful not to make any more loud noises, or if there simply aren't any more lurking infected, you make it back to Steve on the bridge without further attack.

1
STEVE & TAL

First Aid (ESL14): [roll0]
The two of you and Jud immediately go back inside. Steve informs everyone that the hose is secured if they want to go down to Deck 09, while Tal explains how he tried to distract the infected people in the hall.

It appears to have worked, too; there's still banging at the door, but for the moment it's lessened somewhat.

The shard of glass sticking out of the infected man's stomach must have been decently long—it tore a three-inch hole straight through Tal's leather jacket. Tal removes his jacket and shirt and allows Steve to examine the wound.

It was a clean cut and there's no embedded glass that Steve can see. What's troubling, though, is that some of the blood around the wound looks as if it dripped in from the outside of Tal's jacket … which is covered in the infected man's blood.

Tal is healed for 1 HP. And Anna checked you out earlier, Steve, so you're good.
Steve goes to the locker once more and returns with the last fire axe and battle lantern, thrusting them into Owen's hands. The man blinks and looks down as if not sure what to do with them.

Steve then heads out to the front deck to where he has tied the hose. With nothing else to do, Brenda follows you outside to help.

1
EVERYONE ELSE

Morten is focused on the controls and speed gauges. Lurch, meanwhile, continues to fiddle with the intercom panel, although the look on his face suggests that he knows it's a lost cause.

"Are we abandoning ship?" Emma asks, nervously fingering the zipper of her large coat. Pete frowns at Adam, but his voice is comforting as he says, "I think so, sweetie."

Harmon has taken John and Speck aside and is speaking to them in a low voice. Speck frowns and mutters something back, but Harmon just smiles and claps him on the shoulder.

Yolanda rummages around in the damage control locker, and Jamie comes up behind her and peers over her shoulder. "Are there any guns or anything in there?"

Sarah stands in the corner, speaking quietly and calmly into a small, handheld voice recorder.

The bloody woman continues to stand off to the side, swaying with the motion of the ship. Anna and Owen both watch her: Anna with an appraising eye, as if trying to figure out what to do with her, and Owen with a look of deep wariness. His hands are tight around the handle of his axe.

Jud simply sits on one of the benches with his legs crossed and stares around at everyone as if watching animals in a zoo.

[Asherion]

Maxwell will step over to Harmon Schultz, if he's close by, and speak to him. "So, Schultz... this trip going worse than you imagined? I feel like maybe it is, at least, for me..." he grins wryly and still keeps an eye on the woman.

He will also look over to the two working on controls and intercom, and say "Any luck? Anything we can do?"

Maxwell will also look about to see if there's anything that is around that should be taken with them when they leave, since the time appears to be nigh. Obviously, portable things, food, weapons, a radio, whatever, that someone hasn't already though of. He will also volunteer to be among the first few to go down, since he's armed and has some training with it - and he has no intention of relinquishing the gun.

[Stegyre]

“Well, if we're going to abandon ship, I'd better go get Marie. She's in my cabin." Tal grins slyly in Owen's direction. No need for anyone to know who Marie is: they'll just think I'm crazy. I think I'm crazy.
I am assuming he is filled in on the fires while getting treated.
"I'll take the rear stairwell down, to avoid the centrum. 'Meet you all on deck 7. Starboard side or port?"

"Oh and captain, whoever was in cabin 1588 left these behind. I trust you will get them to her, since she can't go back." He takes the earrings from his pocket and lays them on the counter.
It's too dangerous to access the stairwells or elevator on deck 10, so Tal will make his way back across the balconies on port side, but only as far as cabin 1520. There, he will climb over the balcony and try to drop onto lifeboat 2. It doesn't look too far, and he's hoping the canvas cover will absorb most of the impact of the fall.

If he ends up near the three folks already on deck 9, he will try to hurriedly explain the plan to evacuate to them. Otherwise, he will try making his way to the rear stairwell on deck 9 and take that to deck 6.

Assuming he gets that far, he'll be exiting deck 6 on starboard side and make his way forward to his cabin. I think this will put him in the (formerly) curtained-off area of deck 6, where business-suit woman came from. Fun! Fun! Fun!:smallbiggrin:

As per standing orders, in he needs to use his luck roll to avoid infection, he will. It's a no-lose proposition for him, since infection means death, and that is the worst that can happen from any other failed roll.

[xen0phile]

Ese's eyes widden upon hearing Tal's plan. "You have someone in your cabin?" He picks the axe back up. "Ehh, you guys know how to ready the lifeboats? I'm going with Tal."

I know Marie is his guitar, but Ese does not. Tal can try to talk Ese out of coming, of course. (Though, I'd like to point out Tal has "Easy To Read" disadvantage, which makes any lies by him easier to detect). Also, if Ese *does* go with Tal, he'll leave some equipment behind (e.g. the tool set) so he will be lighter while climbing.

[dekova]

This post assumes that Steve gets to stay inside with the others since it's not "go time".

"We're not stopping the lifeboats on seven though, right? Last thing we should do is load everyone up and then hang them off of deck seven like sitting ducks. We should load up on nine and just lower everyone to the water from there."

Steve chews his lower lip while thinking.

"Go get her, but hurry up. I'll watch for you to show up on the starboard side of deck seven or nine. Once I see you, we'll start moving everyone out from here. Please don't take too long, we may not be able to wait."

"Take this Mr. Faulkner," Steve digs into the canvas bag and pull out a crowbar. "It's better than nothing."

"Oh," Steve looks at Ese sheepishly and holds up the radio, "what channel are we using?"

[Stegyre]

Ese's eyes widden upon hearing Tal's plan. "You have someone in your cabin?" He picks the axe back up. "Ehh, you guys know how to ready the lifeboats? I'm going with Tal."
"Err, not actually a 'person,' but you're welcome to come if you want," Tal responds. Eyeing the axe, he thinks, Oh crap, is this guy going to be pissed to learn he's risking his life for my guitar! The things I get myself into.

The crowbar he hands back to Steve. "Without my right hand, it probably isn't better than nothing, and I expect to be doing some climbing. I'll most likely drop it or lose it. But thanks for the thought."
With off-hand weapon penalties and the lack of weapon skill points -- neither of which he suffers using his karate skill -- he really wouldn't be able to connect with a left-handed make-shift weapon. That nominally meta-game knowledge is well within Tal's grasp from the three fights he's already been in, where he only manages to hit with unarmed attacks.

To Ese, "I don't think it's safe to try to access the elevators or stairwells on this deck, so I was planning to go over the side, onto the lifeboats on deck 9, and make my way down from there, unless you have a better suggestion."

To Steve, "Maybe as long as I'm headed that way anyway, I should be the first to try your hose rope."
Using the hose, Tal's plan would be to simply tie the end around his middle and be lowered down, so he does not really need to "climb" the rope one-handed, at all.
EDIT: I'm not sure Tal knows about the cable in the locker. If he does, he'll want a look at it and maybe bring it along, with something to cut it. You never know when something like that could come in handy . . .

[xen0phile]

"Wait; who's in your cabin?"

[Stegyre]

"Marie. Marie is in my cabin, something that means a great deal to me. You don't have to come. I would not want you to risk your life for it."

[xen0phile]

"Ehh... 'it'? Este... okay, I should help prepare the lifeboat. You, ehh, you know that we will have to leave you if... if they attack us?"


Ese decides not to go with Tal; he will also give Steve the proper radio channel.

[dekova]

Tal: "Maybe as long as I'm headed that way anyway, I should be the first to try your hose rope."

Steve shakes his head adamantly.

"Mr. Faulkner, that would mean you go down and then we sit around waiting for those ragers to come check out the racket, maybe end up with a crowd like we've got outside that door. When we go down that hose, everyone needs to go down together and straight to the lifeboats."

"I don't know what you've got down there, a dog or something maybe, but it's not worth risking her life," Steve looks at Emma Carver, "is it?"

Kind of a crude thing for him to say, but Steve's just verbally clumsy, not mean.

[xen0phile]

As Steve is trying to dissuade Tal, Ese turns to Morten. "Captain, I think I know, pues, I can try to help prepare the life boat. But, ehh, I'm not sure. Because I work on the engine, not the deck."

[Stegyre]

At Steve's comments, Tal takes a moment to look around at everyone else gathered on the Bridge. If we are as noisy as that, we are doomed. The infected move far too fast to get this many people down one hose.

"Okay, but if we are going to abandon ship, we should try to get as many others off as we can. We maybe cannot help those on other decks, but we should at least get anyone else on this deck.

He turns to "John Smith." "I've been down the port side already. Can you cover me while I check out the starboard side? If any more infected come out, I'll just duck down and hope you can . . . do what it is that you do."
Before leaving, Tal grabs the cable from the locker and stows it in his pack – assuming it is not too cumbersome. He looks at the console to see where the fire alarms have been triggered. He then sets off down the starboard side balconies. Unlike last time, this time he will be trying to look in each cabin as he passes by, although he will try not to be too close to the doors: he has not forgotten last time.

[dekova]

"Mr. Faulkner!"

Steve's clearly frustrated now.

"We can't sit here for an hour, popping off gunshots. Noise and time are the two things we can't risk. There are infected at the door, the ship is on fire and the intercom doesn't work."

"It. Is. Time. To. Go."

"Captain, let me know when we're stopped. I'll go down first, then Ese and some of the other guys. Then those that need help go down and you follow. We'll load everyone up as quickly and quietly as possible then you, Ese, Terry and I will lower it straight to the water and follow in the dingy."

"It really is time to go."

Sorry, that's a lot of dialog for one post. :smallredface:

[Stegyre]

Tal pauses again for calm before answering.

"I believe the Captain is still the authority for what will happen on this ship, and I will defer to him. In that regard," turning to Morten, I would point out that we have over twenty people here, and one rope. By all means, get started: it's going to take you a while to get down, and we can only do it one at a time.

"Nothing I do is stopping you, delaying you, or drawing the infected to anywhere you are likely to be. If anything, I will be drawing them away.

"It does not take me an hour to go across the balconies. If we save a few more, I think it is worth it.

"Even if you have to cast off without me -- and I am not asking you to wait -- there are plenty of other lifeboats to use, and I have my doubts about how far a fire can actually get on a ship like this before burning itself out.

"Captain, what do you say?"
Tal will also check the toolbox for some wire cutters usable on the cable.

Sorry, that's a lot of dialog for one post. :smallredface:
Bah, I cannot clear his throat without saying more than that! :smallbiggrin:

[Inglenook]

MAXWELL

Harmon doesn't smile at your joke, but rather, considers the question thoughtfully. After a moment he leans in and says in a conspiratorial whisper, "You know, Maxwell, it's honestly been a mixed bag."

Seeing your expectant grin, though, he quickly smiles in return. "I have some ideas, though, that I'd like to discuss with you. After we're off this ship, of course."

Moving over to the control panel, you ask Morten and Lurch if there's anything you can do.

"In my office," Morten says, "there's a journal in the bottom drawer of my desk. And a gun in the top drawer. Could you bring them to me?"

1
TAL

Morten looks dubious but pockets the diamond earrings that Tal hands him.

1
ESE & STEVE

Ese informs Steve that the walkie-talkies he and Lurch are using are set to channel 16; Steve switches his to 16 as well.

1
ESE

"I'll walk you through what to do," Morten explains, as you express your doubts about being able to prepare the lifeboat. "It's going to take a few of us working together, anyway."

1
TAL

You go over to the damage control locker that Yolanda and Jamie are rummaging around in. "I'm not sure how useful some of this is," Yolanda says, raising her eyebrow as Jamie picks up the toilet plunger.

You spot a roll of heavy cable, however, and place it in your pack; you never know when something like that might come in handy. You also look through the tool box and find a pair of wire cutters. They're small, however, and will be woefully inadequate for cutting through the cable, if that's your intention.

The fire alarm monitor now reads as follows:

SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-01 MED-01 06/09/12 04:37 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+00)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-10 STR-01, 06/09/12 04:54 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+01)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-04 CRDR-04, 06/09/12 04:59 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+02)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-10 STR-02, 06/09/12 05:00 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+03)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-11 WNDJ-02, 06/09/12 05:04 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+04)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-05 PRFM-01, 06/09/12 05:06 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+05)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-05 GFT-01, 06/09/12 05:06 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+06)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-05 CNTRM-00, 06/09/12 05:07 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+07)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-06 CNTRM-00, 06/09/12 05:07 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+08)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-07 CNTRM-00, 06/09/12 05:07 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+09)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-05 JWLR-01, 06/09/12 05:08 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+10)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-05 MRST-01, 06/09/12 05:09 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+11)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-11 WNDJ-03, 06/09/12 05:09 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+12)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-04 CNTRM-00, 06/09/12 05:09 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+13)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-05 FRST-01, 06/09/12 05:09 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+14)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-01 MED-02 06/09/12 05:10 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+15)
SMOKE DETECTED: DEC-05 SCHN-01, 06/09/12 05:10 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+16)
SMOKE DETECTED: DEC-01 LBBY-01, 06/09/12 05:10 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+17)
SMOKE DETECTED: DEC-05 STR-01, 06/09/12 05:12 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+18)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-11 WNDJ-04, 06/09/12 05:10 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+19)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-11 WNDJ-02, 06/09/12 05:10 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+20)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-04 CRDR-09, 06/09/12 05:11 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+21)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-04 CRDR-10, 06/09/12 05:11 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+22)
SMOKE DETECTED: DEC-05 SVNR-01, 06/09/12 05:12 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+23)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-06 CGR-01, 06/09/12 05:12 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+24)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-11 JADE-01, 06/09/12 05:12 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+25)
SMOKE DETECTED: DEC-05 GNRL-01, 06/09/12 05:12 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+26)
SMOKE DETECTED: DEC-05 CASN-01, 06/09/12 05:13 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+27)
SMOKE DETECTED: DEC-05 STR-02, 06/09/12 05:13 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+28)
SMOKE DETECTED: DEC-07 BLRO-01, 06/09/12 05:13 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+29)
SMOKE DETECTED: DECK-11 STR-01, 06/09/12 05:15 UTC — RESET? (Y/N+30)
ERROR
ERROR
ERROR
ERROR
ERROR
ERROR
ERROR
ERROR
ERROR

1
EVERYONE

As Steve and Tal argue over whether Tal should leave, Morten's expression grows steadily stonier. When Tal asks him what he thinks, the captain is silent.

"I'll tell you what I think," Anna interjects, her voice tense and her eyes narrowed. "There were about 200 people left on the ship after the Caymans. Twenty-one of them are in this room right now. Three are on Deck 09. Sixty-three of them were in the medical center before they broke loose. There were at least fifty more sick people who we didn't have room for, and we confined them to their cabins. At least a dozen people dead on Deck 07, wouldn't you say? Roger's dead, Stig's dead, and who knows how many others. And that's not considering the fires.

"If you go out there, you're killing yourself. All for the slight chance of finding one of the fifty people who might be alive and non-violent. And remember: Most of them would be locked up in their cabins anyway, making no noise and not answering the door if someone tried to get in. They would probably attack you even if you did get inside; the announcement said for them to defend themselves, remember?"

"What did I do?" Morten whispers, his face blanching. "That announcement … Anyone who stays on this ship is dead because of me … Anna, Tal's right; we have to find them, help them—"

"Wait!" someone suddenly shouts. Everyone's heads swivel to look at the crier.

It's Adam. He's been quiet throughout most of this ordeal, but he's now standing up, looking as if he just had an epiphany. He flushes slightly at the sudden attention before speaking. "The announcement … you said for everyone to stay in their rooms unless the emergency alarm went off, right? And if it did, they should go to the lifeboats?"

Realization creeps across Morten's face. "The alarm …"

"It probably doesn't even work, since Dumb*** here blew the intercom system," Jamie butts in, jerking her thumb roughly in Ese's direction.

Owen adds, "And if those people leave their rooms, they'll run into the middle of a swarm of crazy people. Or a fire."

"Trying to get out is better than sitting in a cabin and waiting to be murdered or roasted alive," Sarah says pointedly.

Morten looks around at everyone, and those close to him can see that he's near tears. "Should I try to set off the alarm?"

Before anyone can answer, the door to the outside deck is suddenly thrown open and Brenda rushes in. "Smoke's starting to come out of the lower deck," she gasps.

Tal can leave if he'd like. There's more information now that might affect your choice, so let me know what you decide.

Otherwise, everyone might want to weigh in on whether Morten tries the alarm.

[xen0phile]

"Yes. Hit the alarm. It might hide our noise when we launch the boat."

[dekova]

Steve nods gravely.

"Sir, hit the alarm and then let's get these people off the ship."

[Stegyre]

"Well, that will be" a blood bath "interesting," says Tal. "If nothing else, all those people coming out of their cabins will be quite a distraction from us. Probably improve our odds of making it onto the lifeboats.

"Best get started.

"Captain, just in case we get separated, are there any skeleton keys? The best hope for getting away from the infected while still on the ship will be to duck into the nearest cabin. It would be nice if we could unlock the doors."
Tal will pocket the wire cutter. It may not be much against the cable, but it can at least weaken it. How thick and how long is the cable, anyway?

Otherwise, Tal is going to wait on the balcony outside the bridge, while the crew ready the hose/rope and start lowering people down. He intends to be one of the last to go down. In the meantime, he will check back and forth between port and starboard, looking for smoke, infected, uninfected ...

[Asherion]

Maxwell nods to Harmon. "After we get ashore, then."

To the captain: "I can't see how it hurts us if people come out of their cabins. Worst case, it's a distraction. Best case, we save some more lives."

Maxwell will go to retrieve the journal and the gun for the captain, and will also quickly glance around to see if there is anything else worth picking up in the office.

[Inglenook]

EVERYONE

"What's wrong with you people?" Danielle suddenly snaps. "Talking about those people down as 'distractions'—That's sick. They're people, not barriers that are there just to buy us time!" She points her finger at Tal. "He has the right idea. We need to be trying to actually save those people rather than throwing open the doors to the cage and hoping they don't get killed!"

"Then why don't you go save them, lady?" Jamie asks, rolling her eyes.

Danielle's cheeks redden but she presses on. "Telling them to leave their rooms is tantamount to murder. All they have to do is stay in their cabins for, what, a day at most? Then the Coast Guard will be here and they'll be rescued. No one else has to die."

"As I've told several others, Mrs. Carver," Harmon says dolefully, "there will be no help coming for the people who are left on the ship. At least not in the foreseeable future. The reports of rioting that we heard in the Caymans were rather severely understated. Leaving now is the only chance they'll have."

1
MAXWELL

Morten's office is quite spacious, especially compared to some of the cramped lower cabins. It looks as if the captain halfheartedly tried decorating, but the calming blue rug and framed Winslow Homer print only make the room seem shabbier in contrast. The overhead light casts a sallow glow on the faux-wood paneling and dusty curtains. The wood of Morten's desk is scratched and pitted, and ugly grey filing cabinets are clustered behind it.

Opening the desk drawers, you find the pistol and heavy leather journal that Morten described. You give the room a quick search to see if there's anything else that might be useful:

In the desk drawers:

numerous office supplies
(directional) compass
two walkie-talkies, sans batteries
tucked in the corner: a plastic baggie containing what looks suspiciously like four rolled joints
playing cards
a gold wedding band
a large bottle of O.P. Anderson aquavit, mostly empty
desktop computer tower


On the desk:

computer monitor, keyboard and mouse
an Earth-shaped paperweight
a letter opener
a notebook with the cruise line logo and "Incident Log" on the cover
three labeled manila folders: Greg Decker, Kenneth Loeb, Rita Loeb


On a small display table:

an expensive-looking antique sextant, well maintained
five books, either antique or first-edition: 1) written in a Scandinavian language, contains scientific drawings of marine animals and plants, 2) another Scandinavian book that looks as if it might be The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen, 3) Nautical Maps of the Greater Caribbean by Luther Paulitz, 4) Plato's Republic, 5) The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway


Near the door:

a black umbrella


If you want to take any of these, let me know.
You return to Morten with the gun and journal, which he accepts thankfully. He opens up the journal and removes what looks like a photo, stuffing it quickly in his wallet and absentmindedly putting the journal on the ground near his feet.

1
TAL

The cable is 30' long and about 1/2" thick, made of braided metal fibers and very dense.
"You can take mine there on the other seat," Morten says when you ask him about the skeleton key card. He motions with his head at at the pilot seat to his left. You take the card and make your way to the outside deck with Brenda following close behind.

She was right about the smoke. Dark and foul-smelling, whisps of it are beginning to come out of the open doors and smashed windows of Deck 07. It's growing thicker by the minute, and soon you might not be able to see the three people on Deck 09. Aside from some far-off screams, you see and hear nothing else.

"What a cluster**** of a night, huh?" Brenda sighs in her scratchy, crow-like voice. She stares up at the stars. The cuts on her face have stopped bleeding by now but they're certain to scar, adding further to her unattractive appearance.

"You were right back there, what you wanted to do," she says quietly. "Not the guitar, I mean; that would be crazy, getting killed over a guitar. But trying to help the people who are stuck down there … Don would have wanted to do that too."

She gives you a sad, crooked-toothed smile. "Name's Brenda, by the way. Don't think I introduced myself earli—"

She's cut off by a sudden blast of noise.

1
EVERYONE

With everyone aside from Danielle giving their consent (or at least not protesting it), Morten opens a small protective latch marked "ALARM SIGNAL".

"If it even works," he mutters, and presses the button beneath.

The muster alarm is a familiar sound to all of you, since they played it before the lifeboat drill on the first afternoon of the cruise: all across the ship, over intercoms and air horns and alarm bells, a series of seven short blasts and then one long (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85yVAwnFxJA&t=6s). During the drill they played it only once, but now it continues on repeat. From the other side of the bridge door, the infected people shriek in response.

The fire lights begin to flash all over the ship.

"Let's get everyone down the hose to Deck 09!" Morten shouts over the maddening din.

You'll need to get everyone down to Deck 09 via the hose. Choose an order in which everyone descends (full list found here (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/characters.htm), although none of the clicky-things are working at the moment). The bloody woman won't be able to get down on her own.

Roll Climbing+9 to make it down without injury. If you don't have any points in it, Climbing defaults to DX-5.

Those who make it down earlier can do things while the rest of the group is climbing down.

[dekova]

"You guys with the guns," Steve nods at Maxwell and John, "keep watch while those of us with axes go down then you follow."

Steve scans the group.

"Then let's get the Carvers down, then the rest of the group followed by Jud and the Captain."

Steve grabs the coiled hose and feeds it over the railing, going slowly at first so the heavy brass nozzle doesn't clang on the metal deck below.

"Nothing to it, right?"

Steve takes a last look over the railing, drops his axe into the 40 feet of coiled hose below, hoists himself over the edge and slides down.


My recommendation:

These guys with weapons go first:
Steve
Lurch (doesn't have an axe, but has a weapon I think. If not, he gets the crowbar from the pack.)
Ese
Owen

Then these guys with guns:
Maxwell
John

At this point:

Steve Lurch and Ese can start to work on the nearest boat
Owen can assist others down (catch those that fall?)
Max and John "cover" everyone


Here come the Carvers!
Adam
Danielle
Emma
Pete

This is the "need help" group
Anna
Brenda
Jamie
Sarah
Yolanda
???
Tal
Speck
Harmon

Then Jud and the captain
Jud
Morten

In any case, here's my climbing roll (skill 12):
[roll0]

I'm thinking we go port side, let the other three join us.
And... obviously I took liberty in assuming that Steve could go down first, if anything happens to change that, I'll edit the post.

[Stegyre]

Tal pockets the skeleton key.

"Help me with this," he says to the Captain, lifting the coil of cable. "Tie a bowline loop into the end, and a couple of us can use it to lower those who can't climb."
The cable can be used for Emma, Dannielle, bloody lady, and anyone else. Tal is not particular about the order in which people go down.

[xen0phile]

"We should get the boat ready while everyone else is climbing down." Ese hands Lurch his axe. "Here, hold this so I can climb. Then, hand that and the crowbar to me so you can climb down." Ese moves toward the hose, but mentions to Morten right before he descends, "Captain, we need your help to prepare the lifeboat"


I am fine with that order, except that I think Morten should be one of the first down.



No Climbing skill, defaulting to DX-5 = 6. Plus 9 bonus = target of 15

[roll0]

[Asherion]

I am fine with the order suggested, and the plan for action on the lower deck. For when it is my turn to descend:

Target 15 (DX -5 =6 + 9 = 15):
[roll0]

Also, Maxwell will not take any of the items from the cabin, although the envelopes make him vaguely curious.

[Stegyre]

"Captain, we need your help to prepare the lifeboat"
Actually, I would expect the captain to be one of the last to leave the bridge, although it may depend upon his perception of where he best fills his role. There's a tradition burdening him (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_goes_down_with_the_ship), and it may be interesting to see how it plays out.

Besides, Tal spoke for him first! :smallwink:

[Doc_Pippin]

The modern form of the tradition still stands but it goes children first, non-crew, enlisted crew, officers, XO (First mate), CO (Captain or Skipper) its not the bridge though its just off the ship, They are the first on and the last off 99.99% of the time.


Sorry Im not yet a master of spoiler edicate

[Stegyre]

Best spoiler that Doc, as it's all OOC stuff.

My point is not so much that he would stay on the bridge, but that as captain, he is not going closer to the lifeboats (SAFETY!) while others are stuck further away.

On the other hand, if readying the lifeboats is seen as the position of greatest danger, then yeah, I could see him going down to get them ready, but I'd be shocked if he pulled a Lord Jim and left the ship with others still on it.

[Inglenook]

Derp, forgot Tal was being lowered down.

[Inglenook]

Morten takes the end of the metal cable and quickly ties a sturdy bowline loop that people can stand in to be lowered down.

Steve lowers himself down to Deck 09 without issue. As Ese hands his axe to Lurch and begins to climb down the hose himself, he tells the captain that they need to start prepping the lifeboats.

Morten considers this for a moment before nodding. "They'll take several minutes to prep," he says, glancing back through the bridge windows at the door on the far side of the lobby; it's beginning to bulge inwards. "And I'm not sure how much time we have." He turns to the others. "Get these people down there as quickly as you can." Then he follows Ese over the edge of the deck.

Lurch takes the crowbar from the pack and heads down, followed by Owen, Maxwell and John. Maxwell miscalculates his footing as he steps over the edge, and for a moment it appears as if he might fall—but he recovers beautifully, doing an Errol Flynn-esque swing and landing gracefully on Deck 09.

Sorry, couldn't resist the crit success. :smallbiggrin:
1
ESE, MAXWELL, STEVE

You all land on the wooden promenade at the bow of Deck 09. The hull his is punctuated by the occasional window, but no doors. A short distance down each side of the deck, the promenade suddenly ends and is replaced by the white metal davit gangway.

The smoke is slightly thicker now, and the acrid taste of it fills your mouths and causes you to cough. It's the taste of burning plastic and wood and wiring and scorched metal.

Morten leads the way down the port side, heading into the smoke toward the first lifeboat (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/wingport.png). It's a little over thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide, with an electric orange top partially covered by a tarp. The bottom half of the hull is white, and on the sides are the words "CALYPSO QUEEN 2 (https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-nRO3ioazeBY/SwqfWirz3mI/AAAAAAAACio/07ThxU4gTWM/s640/MPC32.jpg)".

On the far side of the lifeboat is one of the triangular davit platforms where the brake controls are located. "Ese, you're in charge of the brake. Lurch, Steve: get on top and unhook the three ropes with yellow ends. Get back on the gangway afterward, and pull out those metal stops there on the davit." He unhooks one rope himself and throws it over the edge of the gangway down to Deck 07. "I'll go down and lower the pilot ladder and attach the painter. Ese, when you hear me yell, release the break."

And then he's gone, running down the gangway toward the stern and disappearing into the black smoke.

Maxwell and John keep watch as the others work on the lifeboat. With the blaring of the alarms it's impossible to hear if anything is coming, and the two keep their fingers tight on their triggers.

Suddenly, three uninfected people appear out of the smoke from the same direction Morten went.

The first is a beautiful woman in her thirties with shoulder-length blonde hair. She's wearing a white robe.

The second is a muscular man with a strong jaw and longish black hair; he's naked aside from a pair of red boxer briefs.

The final young man is tall and lean, with short black hair, a small soul patch, and friendly, open features. His face is twisted in anxiety at the moment, however, and he clutches his arm tightly.

"We couldn't get the lifeboat unlocked!" the woman gasps, coughing.

The muscular man has a fairly thick French-Canadian accent when he speaks. "Is there anything we can do?"

[dekova]

Steve leans in close so the man can hear him over the blaring of the sirens.

"We're going to prep the lifeboat now. Stay here, you'll be joined by the others shortly."

Steve hesitates for a moment, then presses his axe into the man's hands.

"Just in case."

With that, he turns his attention to his assigned tasks.

Steve's doing exactly what the captain requested, unhooking ropes and then pulling out the metal stops.

[Asherion]

Maxwell will cover while the lifeboat(s) are being rigged up, will assist where necessary, and scan for infected - and keep an eye on the newcomers as well.

[xen0phile]

Ese will wait by the brake release until Morten gives him the word (or anything unexpected (e.g. infected attack) happens).


Crewman: Seamanship at 10. Feel free to roll for me if you think my activity is complex enough to warrant a roll.

[Inglenook]

TAL

"Be careful," Danielle warns Adam as he slides down the hose. She turns to Tal. "Emma needs to be lowered down."

"I've climbed trees and stuff before, Mom," Emma sighs, rolling her eyes.

"This is a lot different than a tree."

Emma complies with her mother and steps into the loop of the metal cable. Several people—Peter, Jud, Brenda, Anna and Yolanda—gently lower her down to Deck 09 where Owen and Adam are waiting.

As Danielle prepares to go next, Pete pulls her aside. "I have to stay up here and help some of the others down. All the muscle is already down there," he says, pointing at the gangway.

Danielle searches her husband's eyes and nods. She stands on her tiptoes and gives Pete a short, fierce kiss. "I love you. Be careful." Then she follows her children down.

Anna is next, and as she places her foot in the loop she asks, "Mr. Carver? Whenever you go down, can you bring that woman down with you?"

The bloody woman stands near the railing, swaying slightly and staring up at the moon. Anna managed to lead her out onto the deck easily enough simply by tugging on the woman's hand, but it's doubtful that she'd be able to stand in the loop and hold on to the cable while being lowered down.

Brenda declines to go next, saying that they'll need her help with lowering people down. "I'm not saying this to be cruel," she tells Tal, "but you ain't able to do much with that hand of yours."

Jamie is lowered down easily, and when Tal suggest that it's Sarah's turn, she bristles. "I'm blind, Tal. I can still use my arms and legs just fine, thank you."

Sarah grabs the hose and begins to step off the edge. Like Maxwell, however, she misjudges her footing. Her legs slide out from under her and she falls over the railing, barely holding on to the hose. There is a dull thud as she hits the deck below, followed by a pained scream.

Everyone rushes to the railing. Below, Owen is standing over Sarah, who is clutching both of her ankles and gritting her teeth in pain. Between the alarm blasts you can only make out a tiny amount of what she's saying: "—I th—twisted—stupid—"

Yolanda turns to Tal and Brenda. "I, uh, think I'm going to take the cable."

You all lower Yolanda down. Pete then grabs ahold of the bloody woman, placing one of her feet in the loop and then one of his own; she barely responds to his touch. The extra weight causes the muscles of your arms to burn, but the two make it down to Deck 09 safely.

You, Brenda, Harmon, Jud and Speck are the only ones left. And since you have an injured hand, you are next. You step into the cable loop and slowly descend twelve feet to Deck 09.

You can see Pete leading the bloody woman around the port side toward the gangway—and just as quickly they're gone, obscured by smoke.

Owen is still kneeling over Sarah, whose face is pale and sweaty. "She says nothing's broken," he tells you, "but she landed on her feet at an awkward angle. Her ankles might be twisted."

Sarah looks furious with herself, but manages an ironic little smile. "'Pride cometh before a fall', so they say."

Sarah is injured and can't walk without help.

Brenda, Harmon, Jud and Speck are still on the bridge deck above, but should be down shortly.

[Inglenook]

ESE, MAXWELL, STEVE

Steve hands the axe to the muscular man, and together he and Lurch begin unhooking the ropes that Morten specified.

One-by-one, the people from the bridge deck begin to trickle around the side of the ship onto the narrow gangway. John and Maxwell continue to keep watch on either side of the group.

The wind shifts slightly. Deck 07 below is still hidden from view, but the smoke is now drifting out into the darkness of the sea rather than billowing directly up to Deck 09. It's much easier to breathe and see now.

Steve and Lurch return to the gangway and remove the metal stops from each arm of the davit. Seconds later, you all hear Morten's yell from the dark smoke below. Ese hits the brake lever.

There is a mechanical click, and with nothing to hold it in place, the lifeboat slides down the davit to Deck 07. For a moment it displaces the smoke and you can all see Morten standing near a gap in the railing below.

"Brake!" he cries out again. Ese reapplies the brake, and the lifeboat stops neatly on level with the gap in the railing.

The smoke quickly fills in the hole created by the lifeboat, but between the alarm blasts, Morten's voice is clear: "Toward the stern and down the gangway ladder! Bring everyone down, hurry!"

The lifeboat is ready for loading on Deck 07.

[xen0phile]

Ese motions toward the ladder they need to climb down, but remains at the brake release himself. Taking advantage of the slight shift in wind, he quickly extracts one of his smokes, lights it up, and tries to take some shallow puffs without inhaling too much burnt plastic and wire from the ship fire. He then checks his surroundings, looking both ways down the gangway and on Deck 07, in case there are any infected in the area.


Ese intends to remain at the brake release for the moment, both in case they are attacked by infected, and so he can make sure everyone got off the bridge.

General "situation awareness" check, versus Perception of 11:
[roll0]

[dekova]

Steve looks over the group, checking to see if everyone's down from the bridge.

Mr. Faulker? The Carvers? That comatose lady? Dr. Holm?

Satisfied that everyone's together, he motions to the group to follow quietly and stay down then starts off towards the stern in a low crouch.

In a crouch to stay below the level of the windows.

[Stegyre]

"We'd best go down now, too," Tal tells Brenda. "We won't be able to help anyone else from up here, I think. I'm going to make one last look around for anything we might need later. You get in the hoop and let them lower you down. Tell the crew they should lower all of the lifeboats. That way, any other passengers that reach Deck 7 won't be stranded. They've probably already thought of that themselves, but you never know."

Tal makes a quick search of the Bridge and the Captain's Office for any remaining supplies.
Assuming he sees it in the office, he will grab the sextant and a compass, if he sees one.

The fiberglass patches from the locker he stuffs in his pack. Lastly, he grabs the extinguishers, which he will try dropping over the side to someone waiting on deck 9. He will try to quickly identify what kind of extinguisher they are. Whether foam of CO2, they can create a quick blind someone perhaps long enough to slip away.
Once all of the women and children are off the Bridge, Tal lets himself be lowered down. "I know I'm just stating the obvious," he says the the rearguard, "but if the last man loops the coil once around the railing, you can probably lower yourself down without too much trouble. It's what I would do, if I were still two-handed."

Once on Deck 9, he takes one of the fire extinguishers and removes the safety. He tests whether his right hand is up to holding and aiming the nozzle, while his left hand carries the weight of the tank and can activate the trigger, when needed.

[Inglenook]

ESE

You motion down the gangway to a metal ladder, about midway down the ship and right beside the davit station where the two men and the woman were crouched earlier. It leads directly down to Deck 07. The group takes off in that direction.

You light a cigarette and assess the gangway and Deck 07 below. Deck 07 appears clear, as does the gangway … but then you see something through the smoke. On the far end of the gangway, making their way from the stern toward the group, are two women. One of them appears to be carrying a small child.

1
MAXWELL

Right now you're still standing bow-ward of Ese, keeping watch. Act otherwise if you wish.
1
STEVE

Ese and Maxwell are both staying behind for the moment, and several others haven't yet made it onto the gangway: Tal, Brenda, Jud, Harmon, Speck, Sarah and Owen.

You lead the group toward the ladder, crouching low to keep out of sight from anything inside the Deck 09 cabins (the windows of which are to your left).

You don't go entirely unnoticed, though; the blonde woman in the robe whom the group just met shrieks as one of the things in the cabin to her left throws itself at the window. The portholes are small and thick, however, and the person trapped inside can do nothing but claw futilely at the glass.

Ahead of you, two figures suddenly appear past the ladder at the far end of the gangway, running toward you. For a moment you tense, expecting them to release screams of insane rage like the other sick people, but as the smoke shifts you see that they look terrified rather than crazy.

One is a young, short, darker-skinned Asian woman. Her hair is cut short, and she has to keep one hand on her glasses as she runs to keep them from sliding off her nose.

The other is a woman in her late 40s or early 50s with blonde-grey hair and a drawn, exhausted face. Clutched tightly to her chest is a small crying boy, perhaps three years old at the oldest, his head covered in blond curls.

They reach the ladder at about the same time as you.

"The lifeboats!" the Asian woman gasps between breaths.

With you: Adam, Anna, Danielle, Emma, Jamie, John, Lurch, Pete, Yolanda, the bloody woman (assisted by Anna and Pete), the muscular French-Canadian man, the lean young man clutching his arm, the short Asian woman, the older woman, and the little boy.

You are at the ladder if you wish to do anything in particular before going down, or if you want to go down in a particular order.
1
TAL

Technically you were already down on Deck 09 per the order everyone agreed with earlier, but I'll give you some leeway since I'm godawfully late with posting this. :smallredface:
Brenda shakes her head. "You're gonna have to tell 'em yourself; you're in a lot worse shape than I am, at least climbing-wise. I'm going to help some of the others down first." She flexes her arm and grins. "I'm tougher than I look."

While Brenda and the others are helping the rest down, you go inside one last time to do a quick scan for useful supplies. Through the glass partition you can see that the top hinge of the bridge door is about to give way.

You run into Morten's office, spotting the compass in the upper drawer and pocketing it. For good measure, you also take the antique sextant sitting on the display table; you don't know what sort of navigational supplies are aboard the lifeboats, so they may very well come in handy later.

Then to the damage control locker, shoving the fiberglass patches in your pack. You can only manage to carry one of the fire extinguishers, however, because of your bad hand. Reading the label, you see that it's a CO2-based extinguisher.

You run back out onto the outer deck and lean over the railing, shouting out to Owen below: "Hey! Catch this fire extinguisher when I drop it down!"

Owen looks up at you incredulously. "Are you kidding? I'm not going to stand here and get my head bashed in! Bring it down yourself!"

Once you're lowered down next to the injured Sarah, you test to see how well you can wield the fire extinguisher. Turns out … not very well. Your right hand can't grip the nozzle, so to use it you have to spray with your left hand and keep the canister tucked under one of your arms.

[dekova]

"The lifeboats!" the Asian woman gasps between breaths.

"Yes Ma'am, we're headed that way now."

Steve shifts his attention to the other woman and the child she's carrying.

"Ma'am, I can carry the boy down the ladder if you like. I've trained for stuff like this as a fireman."

If she's going to carry the boy down herself, Steve will go down first and ask the muscular guy with the axe to go second, Lurch to go third. He won't try to control the descend order aside from that.

If Steve's going to carry the boy down, he'll ask the muscular guy to go first, Lurch to go second, he'll go third and the older lady fourth. He'll hand the child back once she's down the ladder.

He'll let the muscular guy and Lurch lead the group towards the boat while he stands guard at the bottom of the ladder against any infected coming from the other direction.

[Asherion]

Maxwell turns to Ese "We good here? We should probably head down; I still don't see anyone, normal or... infected, either, from here."

[xen0phile]

"Yeah, you can go. But, ehh, I need to stay by the brake. I see two women and a little kid over there," pointing toward the other end of the gangway. "I think the fireman can help them, but you can see if they need any other help."

Ese takes another drag off of the cigarette and fingers his necklace some more. He begins running through his mind the various ways to leave the ship besides life boats.

[Stegyre]

Owen looks up at you incredulously. "Are you kidding? I'm not going to stand here and get my head bashed in! Bring it down yourself!"

Once you're lowered down next to the injured Sarah, you test to see how well you can wield the fire extinguisher. Turns out … not very well. Your right hand can't grip the nozzle, so to use it you have to spray with your left hand and keep the canister tucked under one of your arms.
Things to be grateful for, thinks Tal: We have multiple life boats, so I need not ride with Owen.

He kneels down next to Sarah, "You and I are going to be a team. Put your left arm around my shoulders, so I can support you. In your other hand," he passes the extinguisher to her, "hold this extinguisher, with your fingers on the trigger. It's a fire extinguisher. As long as you can fire it, I can aim it. If one of the infected charges us, we can use it to blind him and dodge out of the way. Who knows? We might even put out a fire.

"Can you manage the ladder, or should we wait for the cable?"

[Inglenook]

MAXWELL

Corrino, you wanted to join the others then with your last post, right? Let me know if not and I'll edit it.
You take off at a jog and join the rest of the group, who are beginning to climb down the ladder.

1
TAL

"I think I can make it down the ladder," Sarah says, nodding uncertainly. "It's not as if I can put my foot through a loop in the cable as is, anyway. If all else fails, I can go down the ladder on my knees instead of my feet."

Sarah puts her left arm around you and holds on tightly to the extinguisher with the other. As you attempt to stand with her, however, her ankles buckle and you both tumble backward.

Owen, who has been glancing at the two of you while Harmon is lowered down, sighs angrily and shouts up to Jud, Brenda, and Speck above: "You guys are good, right? I'm going on ahead!" Without a word, he kneels and puts Sarah's right arm around his own neck. Realizing what he's doing, you nod and both stand at the same time, easily lifting Sarah off the ground so she doesn't have to walk.

Together you head around to the port-side gangway, walking sideways since it's too narrow to accommodate the three of you standing abreast. You pass by Ese, who is manning the davit station, and continue to rejoin the rest of the group.

Like Maxwell, also assuming you want to continue on. Let me know if otherwise.
1
STEVE

The older woman says nothing, simply shaking her head and clutching the crying boy even tighter to her chest.

You point to the muscular man to whom you gave your axe, trying to remember if he told you his name.

"Éric," he offers.

You tell Éric to follow you down, then Lurch, then everyone else. And with that, you climb down the ladder to Deck 07.

The ladder is located halfway down the length of the ship, so when you step off the ladder you're very close to the burning Centrum. Through the shattered windows and splintered door, the deafening roar of the fire inside manages to drown out even the the emergency alarm. The heat and soot burn your eyes and throat as you move blindly forward.

All of a sudden you spot Morten just sternward of the ladder, directly under the amidships davit. He's unlocking a large rack of white metal barrels—almost like small oil drums—and as you watch, he begins rolling them one-by-one over the side of the ship, where they hit the water below with an audible splash.

Moving to his side and peering over the railing, you see that moments after hitting the water, each barrel ruptures and begins to inflate into a large, vivid-orange life raft (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/liferaft.png).

"In case anyone else manages to make it off," Morten coughs. "They won't have to lower a lifeboat."

You stand watch, making sure none of the sick people are coming from the direction of the stern (although you can barely see five feet ahead of you, let alone that far down). Éric and Lurch make it down the ladder, followed closely by the rest of the survivors: the woman holding the child, the Asian woman, Danielle, Emma, Adam, Jamie, Pete (who tossed the bloody woman over his shoulder in order to get her down the ladder), the blonde woman, the guy holding his arm, Yolanda and Anna.

[Inglenook]

MAXWELL & TAL

As you wait for your turns to go down the ladder, Harmon joins you from down the gangway.

"Only Richard, Brenda, and—that chubby boy, whatever his name is—are still back there," Harmon says, and pauses for a moment. "And Ese."

He turns his attention to John, who is ahead of both of you in line. "Thank you for waiting for me, Mr. Smith. If you wouldn't mind, perhaps we should let the young lady and the gentlemen helping her go first?"

"Sure," John Smith nods, the first words either of you have heard him say throughout this entire ordeal.

Anna is ahead of you all, and after she goes down the ladder, Owen starts down. "Try not falling this time?" he suggests loudly to Sarah right before his head disappears down the ladder hole; there's no kindness or humor in his voice.

"Call me mad," Sarah says, her expression deadpan, "but I'm beginning to think he might be a bit of an arse. Just a hunch."

Tal lowers Sarah to the ladder and helps her place her knees on the first rung. She looks ridiculous climbing down this way and it's exceedingly slow, but she's careful to keep a tight grip and place her knees carefully. She makes it safely to the bottom, where Owen—arse or not—is waiting for her.

Speck, Jud and Brenda have joined you by this point, and you all climb down the ladder to Deck 07 without incident.

1
MAXWELL, STEVE & TAL

Steve faces sternward, standing guard, and realizes that he's beginning to get lightheaded from the smoke and heat, and his vision is beginning to blur.

Morten finishes rolling the last of the life rafts over the side of the railing, and he clutches Steve's shoulder. "Get everyone to the boat! I'm going to get Ese!" he shouts, and as soon as Brenda (the last person) is off the ladder, he climbs back up to Deck 09.

Éric and Lurch have led all the others toward the bow in the direction of the lowered lifeboat. They are totally obscured by smoke, although Maxwell and Tal can faintly hear what sounds like a man shouting orders from that direction.

You are all at the base of the ladder amidships. Currently in your portion of the group is:
- Maxwell
- Steve
- Tal
- Brenda
- Harmon
- John
- Jud
- Owen
- Sarah (cannot walk on her own)
- Speck

Morten and Ese are currently above you on Deck 09.
1
ESE

You watch as Tal and Owen move past you, carrying Sarah between them. Then Harmon, Speck, Jud, and finally Brenda.

Everyone is gone. You're up here alone.

From Deck 07 directly below you can suddenly hear voices, although their owners are hidden by the black, belching smoke.

"We open this?" says a voice that might be Lurch.

"Yeah, I think … This way!" a man with an accented voice yells.

A moment later they are joined by other voices: the rest of the survivors.

"Watch your head—"
"—can't see anything—"
"Who's driving this?"
"Hold on to my hand."

You still don't see or hear any of the infected, but to your left you suddenly hear footsteps on the gangway. Morten emerges from the smoke, his captain's whites darkened by soot.

"Go with the others!" he says, pausing for a rattling, phlegmy cough. "I'll release the brake and find a way down. Hurry, before they leave you!"

[xen0phile]

After Brenda goes by, Ese tenses up a bit more. An extroverted person by nature, he would like to have (human) company even more in this situation. He snubs out his cigarette on the railing, simultaneously realizing how ridiculous and pointless this courtesy is, considering the present state of the ship. He picks up his axe with both hands, tightens his grip. Silently, he offers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail_Mary)


Dios te salve María, llena eres de gracia,
el Señor es contigo;
bendita tú eres entre todas las mujeres,
y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre, Jesús.
Santa María, Madre de Dios
ruega por nosotros, pecadores,
ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte. Amén.


When Morten arives, "You have a radio? We'll try to pick you up from the ocean."


If Morten does not have a walkie-talkie, Ese will give his walkie-talkie to Morten.


Ese then takes off down the gangway. At a brisk walk (as opposed to a run) so that he is less likely to not see the ladder and walk past it. His hand on the railing to provide further guidance.


roll versus Perception of 11 (plus or minus and bonus or penalty GM imposes) to not walk past the ladder:
[roll0]

Unless something else happens, Ese will go down the gangway, down the ladder, to the lifeboat.

Once in the lifeboat, Ese will either shout, or use the walkie-talkie to tell Morten that they are all set.

[Stegyre]

Tal will carry, or help carry, Sarah into the lifeboat and make sure she gets seated safely. (If Owen climbs in, too, well, some things cannot be helped.) He watches to make sure the Carvers and Jamie get in, as well.

Then he moves bow-ward to be out of the way. Once past the lowered lifeboat, he looks wistfully over the side to see how the fire is progressing on Deck 6.
Perception: [roll0]

[dekova]

Morten finishes rolling the last of the life rafts over the side of the railing, and he clutches Steve's shoulder. "Get everyone to the boat! I'm going to get Ese!" he shouts, and as soon as Brenda (the last person) is off the ladder, he climbs back up to Deck 09.

Holding his arm across his face to ward off the smoke, Steve nods his understanding and gives the captain a thumbs-up.

He then follows Brenda to the lifeboat, by turns trying to keep track of Ese's and the Captain's position and watching for infected coming from the stern.

[Inglenook]

MAXWELL, STEVE & TAL

For the sake of brevity I'm assuming Maxwell is going along with everyone else? Let me know if otherwise.
Tal wastes no time, again picking up Sarah with Owen's help and carrying her toward the bow. Maxwell, Harmon, Speck, John, Brenda and Jud are right behind. John's rifle is raised and he sweeps it back-and-forth ahead of him, tracing thin lines through the smoke.

Steve lags slightly behind, trying to watch for both attackers from behind and Morten and Ese above. The latter is a lost cause, though; Morten is lost amongst the smoke and alarms.

"**** this!" Jud wheezes, his eyes red. The wind has shifted again, now at your backs and blowing smoke toward the bow.

At last you arrive at the lifeboat. The bright-orange top has been pulled away, revealing the equally bright lifeboat (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/lifeboatexterior.jpg) beneath. A small-windowed "turret" protrudes from the top, and the vinyl door in the side is pulled open, allowing people inside. Lurch and Éric are helping the other survivors aboard.

The others in line to get inside move out of the way as they catch sight of Sarah's injury. Tal and Owen quickly drag her into the lifeboat, and Tal notices two young blonde women who weren't part of the group earlier; they must have arrived at the lifeboats at the same time as the rest of the survivors. The Carvers and Jamie have all made it and in as well.

Tal then leaves the lifeboat, wanting to assess the situation and make sure everyone else gets in. He moves to stand near the railing and looks over at Deck 06—no noticeable smoke coming from the portholes. It appears that it's all rising and being funneled up to Deck 07, the top floor of the Centrum.

Without warning, a man rounds the corner of the bow to your right.

He's a somewhat seedy-looking Asian man in his late 30s or early 40s, just starting to get paunchy. His goatee is short and scraggly, and he has shaggy, coppery-brown hair. An expensive-looking camera hangs from a strap around his neck and bounces off his stomach as he runs.

"They're coming!" he screams. A chorus of rage-filled voices echoes through the smoke behind him.

Some infected people are approaching quickly—possibly a large number of them. You may have only a few seconds before they come into sight. They are obscured by the smoke at the moment … but so are you.

Everyone has made it inside the lifeboat except for the following:
- Maxwell
- Steve
- Tal
- the man with the camera
- Éric
- Lurch
- Brenda
- John Smith
- Jud (although he's about to step inside just as this occurs)

If you wish, you may take Wait/Ready actions, or do whatever else you'd like.
1
ESE

Morten shakes his head. "I gave mine to someone." He accepts your radio with a small nod, then urges you along. "Go! Yell or have someone radio me when you're ready for me to lower it."

You set off at a fast walk so you don't pass the ladder by accident. But you needn't worry; since the gangway is so narrow, the hole in the grating is hard to miss, even with the smoke. You reach the bottom of the ladder without incident.

But as you step off the final rung, you suddenly hear a sound that chills your heart: a man's scream from the bow, followed by the roars of the infected madmen.

Dunno if this affects what you want to do.

[xen0phile]

¡C*****!

He immediately drops his axe (so that he can climb better), and begins to frantically ascend the ladder.


Climbing rules on page 349

[Stegyre]

Combat paralysis roll: [roll0]
Because unless he passes that, Tal isn't doing anything at this time.

I'll edit in more after/depending upon the roll.

EDIT: Ah, I love it! It's like free points that never actually slow me down. :smallwink:
We'll never all make it on in time

"LOWER THE BOAT! LOWER IT NOW!," Tal shouts up to Deck 9.

Anyone who cannot make it on is going to have to jump over the side.

Left-handed, he will hurl the fire extinguisher ahead into the smoke and on-coming screams, trying to make it go low to the ground. Maybe trip some of them, if I'm lucky. They can trip those behind, and so on, and so on . . . .
Note: cannot add another die roll while editing a post, so I'll live it to historias to do it.
After that, he will try to toss his back pack through the doorway of the lifeboat and make his way further down the deck.

If I can, I'll lure them away from the boat before jumping the railing myself. We don't need a horde of them throwing themselves on top of the lifeboat – ruins things for everybody.

[dekova]

"Captaaaaaiin! Lower the boat now or it's gonna get swarmed!"

Steve unshoulders his canvas bag and slings it into the boat.

"Jump in fast people or get ready to swim!"

With that he takes a couple steps back from the boat to make room for the others to load up while looking to see if there's a lifering close by.


If Steve sees a lifering it's for Tal or someone who can't swim and needs to jump in the water.

If by some miracle everyone else makes it into/on the boat before the infected round the corner, Steve will jump for the boat if it's less than 15 feet down.

If infected come charging around the corner, Steve will try to get their attention and draw them away from the lifeboat (which will hopefully be a bit down the side of the ship by then). He'll do the best he can before leaping as far out over the side (into the ocean) as possible.



And woot! Steve can swim!

[Inglenook]

Actually I can go ahead and resolve a few things while we're waiting for Corrino, since one thing in particular may change what you guys want to do.
1
TAL

DX-4, because of your injured hand (7): [roll0]
You hurl the fire extinguisher with all the force you can muster, but due to the weight of the thing and your maimed hand, the shot goes wild. The extinguisher disappears into the smoke and you hear it bounce harmlessly off the bulkhead. There's still a chance that one of them might trip over it, though.

You throw your pack through the doorway to the lifeboat (substantially lightening your load) and begin to move away from the screams of the infected.

Somewhat interrupting your "leading them away" action here, since what happens next might change what people do.
1
STEVE

[roll1]
You too throw your pack in the lifeboat and back away, preparing to draw the infected away if they come into sight.

You spy a life preserver hanging from the bulkhead perhaps twenty feet ahead of you, right where the bow starts to curve. Immediately past the life preserver, everything is hidden by the smoke.

Having lived aboard the ship for a while now, you remember that there are several life preservers spaced out at regular intervals along the length of the ship.

1
MAXWELL, STEVE & TAL

At the newcomer's cry, Jud lets out a string of profanity and climbs inside the lifeboat. Not even a second later comes the mechanical click of the brake being released: the lifeboat begins to descend.

Lurch quickly hops inside and reaches back out, grabbing the hand of the man with the camera and pulling him in as well.

But then something goes horribly wrong.

After going down only a few feet, the lifeboat suddenly stops … and starts to roll outward, away from the ship. Several of the survivors inside scream as the floor tilts beneath them and they slide against the far wall. The cables that are lowering the lifeboat slacken and start to coil loosely at the top.

Morten appears to realize something is wrong. "Faen! The painters, cut the painters!" his voice echoes from the gangway above.

It's only then that everyone remaining on the deck notices the ropes—one on each end of the lifeboat—that are attached to the base of the davit arms. Presumably they're to prevent the lifeboat from swaying with the motion of the ship, but right now all they're doing is preventing the lifeboat from descending.

The bottom of the lifeboat scrapes against the side of the ship with a metallic screech; it stops rolling, but now sits at roughly a 45° angle with the open doorway facing upward. Those still on the deck near the railing can see the people inside struggling to right themselves.

Without a moment's hesitation, Éric leaps over the edge of the ship and lands gracefully on top of the lifeboat.

Brenda looks hesitant—the top of the lifeboat is at a fairly steep angle now, after all—but the roars from just beyond the curve of the bow seem to motivate her. She jumps as well, letting out a little crow-like screech as she does so. She lands awkwardly on her butt but avoids rolling over the edge.

John simply raises the barrel of his rifle and points it in the direction of the screaming in the smoke, waiting.

I think I probably explained that poorly, so I drew an equally-crappy picture.

http://i.imgur.com/UsaL3.jpg

Basically: the lowering cables have gone slack and the only thing holding the lifeboat up are the two painter ropes. The boat is tilted outward (i.e. the top of the boat is slanted downward toward the ocean, and the open lifeboat doorway is pointing sort of upward).

If anyone wants to jump on top of the lifeboat like Éric and Brenda, roll Jumping+1 or DX+1 to avoid sliding off and falling due to the tilt. If you want to jump INTO the lifeboat, roll Jumping-2 or DX-2 to land (although you may land on some of the people inside!).
1
ESE

You drop your axe and climb the ladder faster than you've ever climbed anything in your life; when you reach the top, your limbs feel wobbly and your heart is pounding in your chest.

You were just in time, too. Directly below you, you suddenly hear someone (or something?) running past the base of the ladder toward the bow.

Only a few moments after the man's yelling, another sound comes from the direction of the bow: the screeching of metal on metal.

-1 FP due to your frenzied climb up the ladder.

[Inglenook]

Location-wise:


Morten is still at the brake station on Deck 09, almost right above the lifeboat.
Ese is amidships at the top of the ladder that goes from Deck 07 to Deck 09.
Brenda and Éric are atop the tilted lifeboat, with Eric preparing to start chopping at the painters.
Maxwell and John are near the gap in the railing where the lifeboat was a moment ago. John is preparing to fire in the direction of the advancing screams.
Steve and Tal are perhaps five yards further back than Maxwell/John from the direction of the screams.
Everyone else is in the lifeboat.

[Asherion]

Sorry if you're hung up on me againMaxwell cringes at the noise, thoughts going a mile a minute; was anyone standing close and watching, without all the smoke, they could perhaps see the frantic wheels turning in his eyes. I don't wanna die, just jump, just jump...

Pragmatism takes over. Maxwell checks the gun again, ensuring for the hundredth time that a round is chambered, and raises it in the same direction as John, ready to fire and make his few shots count.

In an urgent whisper: "John! As soon as he's cut those ropes free, we need to be getting out of here! If they follow Tal, try not to attract them back this way, yeah? Either way, we've got to let them get the ropes cut..."

[Stegyre]

Oh, sh- poop!, he thinks, as Tal sees the painters tilt the lifeboat. He moves to see (behind -- sternward -- of the two shooters) to see if he can do anything about releasing either painter from the deck. One-handed, no knife . . . nigh useless for this.

He keeps one eye forward, watching for what comes through the smoke. Something dire may be required.

The drop and the shock on the cables when the painters are released: that will be "interesting" too. 'Hope no one in the boat has a heart condition.

Can we get some sort of diagram or description of the respective positions of those still on deck 7? Relevant info, to my mind, would include who is in front of our shooters (potentially blocking their shots), how far forward we can see before the smoke obscures things, and whether we are near any halls or doorways into the ship.

[dekova]

My scissors!

Steve runs and makes a jump for the lifeboat, aiming to land near whichever painter line is farthest from Eric.

Plan is to:
Land on the boat (fingers crossed).
Take a death-grip on the painter line because the boat is going to move a LOT when Eric cuts his line.
Fish out his bandage scissors (thigh pant pocket, right side). This may take a second or two since he's still wearing the flash pants (er... pants from the flash suit). If he needs to temporarily let go of the line to do this, so be it.
Cut the line.



Target of Dex+1 to land on boat, right? That means 13 or less, wish me luck.
3d6
whoops, dice tag maybe? would look it up except on edge network traveling right now.
3d6
Guess you can't do it after an editing. I'll just let GM do the dirty work. :smallwink:

[xen0phile]

Ese takes a moment to catch his breath, then observes his surroundings.


in this order, he tries to determine:

1. who/what just ran past the ladder?
2. what's up with the lifeboat?
3. in what state is the rescue boat? is it ready to be launched, or does it need to be prepped? (E.g. are their cables securing it?)


versus Perception of 11 to see all of this through the smoke
[roll0]

[Inglenook]

TAL

You can see maybe twenty or twenty-five feet ahead of you, which is just past the bow-pointing end of the lifeboat. After that, everything is reduced to clouds of swirling black.

John and Maxwell are standing beside the gap in the railing where people where embarking on the lifeboat only moments ago. They're about ten feet in front of you, and nothing stands between them and the approaching infected in the smoke.

Steve is right beside you, but then he quickly moves toward the railing.

1
STEVE

DX+1 (13) to land atop the lifeboat: [roll0]
You run past Tal, John and Maxwell through the gap in the railing and leap over the edge. For a moment it's like you're flying alone over the sea … and then you land on top of the lifeboat.

Éric is hacking at the bow-ward painter with the axe, so you scramble toward the lifeboat's stern, moving past Brenda who has finally managed to right herself.

"You guys get the ropes!" she squawks, brandishing her broken bottle; there's fiery resolution in her eyes. "I'll hold them off if one gets on here!"

As you reach the stern-pointing painter, you notice several things all at once:

It's not so much a rope as it is a cable—a braid of hundreds of tiny metal threads. It's not especially thick, perhaps half an inch at most, but cutting it with your bandage scissors will be impossible.

There are clips on each end of the painter so that it can be easily detached from either the lifeboat or the davit hook. But the painter is so taut that getting enough wiggle room to unclip it is impossible as well.

But cutting or unclipping it might not be necessary after all. The painter clearly wasn't designed to support this kind of weight, and even as you watch, metal threads from the cable begin to snap with tiny ping!-ing sounds and curl away.

Just as the first shots are fired on Deck 07, you feel the lifeboat shudder beneath you and suddenly fall away—Éric's painter has snapped.

Continued in a moment.

[Stegyre]

A calculated risk.

No, an insane one, but waiting until they break out of the smoke would just mean it is fatal. We need more time to get the boat free, and the shooters won't be able to stop them all, no matter how good they are.

He ducks between John and Maxwell and starts sprinting forward, as fast as he can toward the smoke. "Look for me in the water," he yells back. Then, he roars like one of the infected. "RAAAWRR!"
Assuming he makes it that far before anyone breaks out of the smoke, as Tal approaches the smoke, he will duck as low as he reasonably can, while still maintaining top speed, and spread his arms wide to either side.

To hit roll, just in case: [roll0] (EDIT: OMG whiff!)

Essentially, he is going to try to bullrush the on-coming infected. His aim is to knock over or trip as many as he can, including by falling down, himself, and just flailing. If the smoke is thick enough, and he acts crazy enough, he's hoping they won't be able to tell him from each other and things will get good and mixed up.

. . . Then maybe he can find his way out, with whatever limbs are left . . .

I still have that luck roll?

[Inglenook]

MAXWELL AND TAL

John's eyes flicker in Maxwell's direction, the only indication that he heard Max's whisper.

Without warning, Tal suddenly rushes past them both, roaring and lunging into the smoke.

Too many things are happening, and all at once the deck becomes a chaotic jumble of screams and gunfire and the tearing of metal.

The infected materialize like ghosts out of the smoke, their arms outstretched and eyes rolling madly as they catch sight of prey.

Based on your post, Corrino, I'm it sounded like you were wanting to take a Wait maneuver + regular Attack (since you sounded ready to run/defend if things got bad)? Let me know if otherwise and I'll correct it. And it's cool, you weren't really holding us up; I needed a bit of time to remember to resolve the painter thing, anyway.

Pistol Skill (12) + Range (-3) + Smoke (-1) = ESL 8 to hit:[roll0]
Hit Location if Attack Hits: oops, messed up the tag, but it doesn't matter
Maxwell pulls his trigger thrice at the one closest to him—but the smoke and distance is simply too much, and all three miss.

John's rifle cracks, and the head of an infected woman to Tal's right explodes.

Dodging and weaving among the smoke and bullets, Tal shoves violently at the first infected person who comes running at him out of the smoke—a burly-looking woman with short brown hair. She roars and throws herself forward to meet his blow.

At the same moment that Tal tries to push her backward, she grabs on to the right side of his neck, digging in with her nails, and throws him violently to the side. Blood splatters from the scratches in Tal's neck as he staggers to his left and trips over the fallen body of the woman John killed. Luckily he manages to catch himself before he falls, and narrowly avoids hitting his head on the railing.

The rest of the infected appear to be rushing past, their eyes on the bigger target, but the woman is focused on Tal alone.

The woman's attack did five damage to Tal's neck. Tal is at 2 HP and reeling. He is standing/staggering near the ship's railing, perhaps two yards away from the attacking woman. He has the higher Basic Speed, so he may act before her.

[Stegyre]

I don't think there's anything for me to do yet, until I find out how my "attack" resolves.

And dang it, Corrino! If you'd only posted faster, he would have forgotten all about the painters and we could have gotten away scott-free. :smallwink:

[Inglenook]

ESE

[roll0]
[roll1]
Through the smoke, you can't determine who moved past the base of the ladder or what's happening at the lifeboat. A volley of gunfire suddenly echoes from the bow, followed by screams and a loud metallic bang; whatever's happening down there, it doesn't sound good.

You hear more footsteps from below you, and you move to the rescue boat, which is at the largest davit station immediately to your left. It's made to be launched quickly in the event of emergencies, and at first you don't see anything that needs prepping … but then you notice the two thin painter cables that connect the railing and the boat. They'll have to be removed before you lower it, of course, or you might spill over the side into the sea.

As you are checking the rescue boat over, you don't even notice the sound coming from behind you until it's almost too late. Instinctively turning and leaping to the side, an axe—your axe that you left at the base of the ladder—cuts through the air where you were just standing and slams into the railing.

Holding the axe is a man in his mid-forties. His hair is disheveled, and his scleras are pools of red. Blood leaks from the corners of his eyes like tears. He opens his mouth and lets out a horrifying sound halfway between a laugh and a scream before preparing to raise the axe again.

You may act before him.

[Asherion]

lol sorry Stegyre :D

Maxwell will fire until he has one round left, perhaps waiting until they're closer, and then, if the boat is free, he will jump to it. If he is out of ammunition (1 left), he may put the gun in pocket and just jump into the water. Are there any preservers nearby?

[Stegyre]

Tal runs. Trying to retain as much of his momentum as he can, he continues his sprint bow-ward at top speed, still raving like a mad man. You never know: they might not be able to tell the difference, and at least I'll lead one away.

He is looking for any loose items he can knock over behind him, as well as open passages he might duck into.

[Inglenook]

STEVE

DX due to the sudden snapping of Éric's painter: [roll0]
As Éric's painter snaps with a twang like a bullet, his end of the lifeboat immediately drops ten feet, leaving you, him and Brenda suddenly hanging in midair.

Éric is the worst position, and he doesn't even have the chance to regain his foothold. He windmills his arms, flying backward with a look of surprised disbelief on his before he disappears over the edge, the axe still in his hand.

You are slightly better off since your end didn't move as much, but the shock of the sudden drop is still more than enough to knock you free of your perch. You slide down the sharply tilted roof of the lifeboat, trying desperately (and failing) to regain your foothold or grab on to something.

The last thing you see before you roll over the edge is Brenda struggling to hang on. The chorus of gunshots, roars, klaxons, and the screams of those inside the lifeboat fades away, replaced by the quiet rush of the ocean as you plummet toward it.

You are falling into the ocean from approximately 17 yards above the water. If you wish to take any actions to mitigate damage from your fall, now is the time to do so.

Falling rules are on page 431. If you need to, roll damage and a hit location.

[dekova]

Steve scrabbles in vain at the lifeboat before slipping off the edge and plummeting towards the water below.

This is going to hurt.

His arms flailing, Steve does the best he can to line himself up before hitting the water.

Steve has swimming but not acrobatics so I guess we're going for the dive.

Let's see if I've got this right:
Falling from 17 yards means a velocity of 19.
Velocity of 19 means a skill penalty of -6.
Steve's swimming is 12, so the target to avoid damage is 6 (yikes!).
If he doesn't avoid damage, it will be 2d6 (1x10x19/100=1.9, round up)

Here are my rolls, I'm going to do my best not to screw this up:

Roll to avoid damage using swimming skill (target 6): [roll0]
Damage roll, if swimming roll fails: [roll1]
Hit location: [roll2]

Not sure if hit location makes sense when falling into water (2d6 to foot, groin?) but adjucate as you see fit.

[xen0phile]

Ese lunges at the axe shaft, desperately hoping to knock the weapon away from the crazed man.


See: striking at weapons, "Knocking a Weapon Away" page 401

But, in brief, a DX roll with:
-3 for weapons of reach 2 or longer
-2, additionally for all "knock weapon away" attacks
DX of 11 = need to roll a 6 to even hit :smalleek:


[roll0]

[Inglenook]

TAL

I forgot that reeling halves your Basic Speed/Move/Dodge, so actually the infected woman gets to go before Tal.

Parry, your highest passive defense (8): [roll0]
The woman runs at you. You try desperately to push her away, but your head is swimming and you are tired, so very tired.

The woman grasps you in what could almost be a lover's embrace, leaning in as if to kiss you.

But instead, she sinks her teeth into your face, thrashing her head like a dog and tearing a large chunk of flesh from your upper cheek, right under your left eye. She pulls back, chewing and screaming victoriously.

Tal takes 3 damage from the bite. He's now at -1 HP and on the verge of passing out.

[Inglenook]

TAL (CONTINUED)

HT+1 roll to keep from passing out (12): [roll0]
You pull away from the woman, reeling as blood pours from your neck, your face, your mauled hand (the wound reopened in the fray). For a moment your vision begins to dim and you realize that you're are close to passing out. You try to run toward the bow at a sprint, but in your current state you can only manage a quick jog.

You continue to gibber and roar in an attempt to mislead the infected people into thinking you're one of them, but they're all behind you now, focusing on the others at the boat. All except the woman. Still chewing on the piece of your skin that she tore away, she hoots almost happily and gives chase.

You round the curve of the bow, and all at once the smoke is gone. You can see nothing to throw in the woman's way, but you spot something ahead of you that could be your salvation:

A door, slightly recessed in the very front and center of the ship. If only you can make it there …

The woman is surely toying with you now, clawing harmlessly at your leather jacket as you run—just enough to let you know that she's right behind you. With your injuries she easily outpaces you, circling around to block you off from the front, all the while cooing and mewling insanely. She grins as you are forced to stop to avoid running into her, revealing a chunk of your cheek hanging from one of her lower teeth.

Crappy MS Paint time! You and the infected woman are here (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/talindanger.png), at the front of the bow. The woman is the green blob standing in front of the recessed doorway, and you are the blue blob.

Ahead of you—past the woman—is the recessed doorway to your right, and past that the deck curves back around to the starboard side.

To your left, over the railing, the ship's bulkhead slopes at roughly a 60° angle and leads down to a mechanical area on Deck 05 at very tip of the ship.

Make sure to roll to avoid passing out before you act.

[Inglenook]

ESE

Pretty good roll, but not good enough. :smallfrown:
You try to knock the axe from the man's hands, but he jerks away before you can strike the handle.

The infected man raises the axe high above his head, preparing to strike at you while you're within his reach.

[Inglenook]

STEVE

Usually if something that's not an attack lands on "Torso" I'll count it as general all-over-achey damage instead of having it injure a particular body part. -1 damage for the DR to your torso.

6 damage is a major wound, though, so:

HT+1 roll to avoid knockdown/stunning: [roll0]
You try to align your body into a dive, but you're falling fast, far too fast …

When you hit the water, it's like hitting a brick wall. The air is knocked from your lungs and for a moment you are stunned, unable to do anything but drift down through the darkness. But then instinct kicks in and you propel yourself upward. You break the surface and gasp for air while glancing at the situation around/above you.

The lifeboat hangs above at a precipitous angle, with Brenda's skinny legs hanging over the side. As you watch, she manages to pull herself back up.

Deck 07 and above are hidden in a veil of black smoke. Soot rises in the heat and drifts gently down to the water like snow.

Several of the bright inflated life rafts float in the water around you. You can't see Éric anywhere.

[dekova]

Steve gasps for breath and winces as stabbing pain radiates through his ribcage.

"Eric?"

He treads water, turning in a circle as he looks for the outline of a body against the water. "Eric!"

I'm assuming that Steve isn't directly under the boat and in danger of being squished.

Steve is (obviously) looking for Eric. He'll search the immediate vicinity as best he can considering it's 2am and they're in the ocean. :smalleek: Looking under water is most likely futile, but he'll do that too if there's no sign of Eric floating somewhere.

I'd do the perception rolls but those should probably be secret.

[Stegyre]

roll to remain conscious: [roll0]

Will edit in actions after I make the roll.

EDIT: Whew!
Tal throws himself over the front of the bow (where presumably he will slide down to deck 6 or 5). Groggy from the injuries and loss of blood,This is why I hate dating, he thinks.
Will add more actions once he lands and we see what condition he is in.

I may have a falling roll to make, too, but that will need to be in a subsequent post, as I cannot edit it in, and I want to check my books for any options I may have. :smallsmile:

[xen0phile]

Ese, seeing this loquisimo's axe a moment away from cleaving his body, is having the highest adrenline trip of his life; his entire being now dedicated to avoiding this axe, his (presently) useless peripheral vision being disregarded, seeing the crazed man down a tunnel vision of laser hyperfocus. His ego, even, now only a hinderance, he is nothing more than a body to avoid a blow.

The body steps back, prepares to spring away from the portent of the axe.


Ese will take All-Out Defense: Dodge with additional options:

* Retreat (page 377): step back one yard and gain a +3 bonus to Dodge

* Feverish Defense (page 357): this is an optional rule, so you don't have to allow it if you don't want to. In short, you gain +2 Defense Bonus against a single attack, but take 1 FP

Base Dodge of 8, + 2 for All Out, +3 for Retreat, (possible) +2 for Feverish = Dodge of 13 or 15

[Inglenook]

TAL

DX+1 roll to avoid land safely: [roll0]
If you don't land safety, you fall and take 1d+2 damage: [roll1]
With all other options looking decidedly unappetizing, you do the only thing you can think of: running to your left and throwing yourself over the railing. The bulkhead here slants downward at a manageable angle, and the sun- and sea-worn paint prevents you from going down at a dangerous speed.

You slide over the bulkhead and drop down the last six feet to Deck 05, landing shakily on your feet. You just narrowly miss landing on/hitting what looks to be a large crane arm.

The infected woman looks like she didn't expect this; she peers down at you, seemingly confused. Without warning she lifts her head to the sky and roars, and for a moment you are reminded of the woman you threw in the bathroom after she attacked the Carvers. She then lifts one leg and prepares to jump over the railing and slide down after you.

BANG!

The woman's shoulder suddenly explodes in a spray of blood and bone. She screams and whirls to face her attacker.

Morten stands at the front of Deck 09, just barely visible from where you're standing on Deck 05. His pistol points down at the woman on Deck 07, the barrel smoking. Your eyes meet his and he yells out a single word—"Go!"—before firing again and again.

You are on Deck 05. The area you are in is a sort of sunken pit, and raised around the outside edge (technically on Deck 06 level) is a metal catwalk, and past that: the sea. There are six ladders that lead up to the catwalk, the closest of which is just to your left.

To each side of you is a large crane arm, both with controls at the base.

The rest of the pit-area is covered with gigantic spools of cable and winches. If you had to guess, these would be for mooring the ship and lowering the anchor.

There are also several metal cabinets covered in tied-down, bright blue tarps.

Behind you, underneath the overhang you just slid down, is another recessed bulkhead door (http://www.freemanmarine.com/_GalleryFiles/BulkheadDoors/3.jpg) similar to the door that led into the bridge above. It is closed, and there is no keycard panel but rather a wheel set in the front to open it; it should ostensibly lead to the interior of the ship on Deck 05.

Photos that might give a better idea than my description of the area you're in:

- At the bottom left (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/talindanger.png). You can see the doorway (open in this picture) and one of the crane arms (the other appears to be missing for some reason).
- More (http://www.visualphotos.com/photo/1x9194199/crew_member_standing_on_a_ship_ms_monarch_of_the_1 585-546a.jpg)
- More (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_yr11RJOgII8/S-09ymFh8YI/AAAAAAAAB3I/htcvScBvx6I/s1600/0510m0814.jpg)
- More (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_yr11RJOgII8/S-09wxGv3mI/AAAAAAAAB3A/NmT-w1-gQNE/s1600/0510m0812.jpg)
- More (http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5444/6938845100_9c4ece1e53_b.jpg)
- More (http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5322/7084920983_8dbe40fff1_b.jpg)
- For scale (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_yr11RJOgII8/S-09u7m1KqI/AAAAAAAAB24/KQquEwiQ8WA/s1600/0510m0808.jpg)
- View from the bridge (http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5311/6938845384_208ceafd91_b.jpg).

Just saw that you posted, but this new information might change things. Let me know what you want to do.
1
ESE

I'd never seen the Feverish Defense thing before! I like it, though.

Dodge (15): [roll2]
You barely manage to leap out of the way in time. The axe blade misses your skull by a hair's breath and crashes into the gangway instead.

The infected man stands on the brake station in front of the rescue boat, and you have jumped back onto the gangway.

[Stegyre]

Roll to stay conscious for next round: [roll0]
EDIT: Eeeek! Have to use my luck rerolls, which will have to be in another post.

[Stegyre]

Trying to get lucky to stay conscious: [roll0], [roll1]
Reeling, Tal will look for the nearest door inside, and from there, use his skeleton key to enter a cabin. When he spots the wheel, he turns his gaze bow-ward instead. This looks like a secure area, especially if no one else knows he's here. He slowly limps to the covered alcove in the bow, where he will set down to rest where he cannot be seen from the upper decks.

[Inglenook]

STEVE

You scream Éric's name, swimming in circles in your immediate area, trying to spot any sign of him.

Suddenly you hear a rustling from one of the inflated life rafts to your left. Éric sits up and peers around groggily, then feels his chest as if making sure he's still alive. At last he looks at you down in the water and laughs heartily, a shocking sound considering the situation.

"That was awesome."

[Inglenook]

And here (http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4036/4715555695_7e43028357_b.jpg)'s a decent view of where Ese is on the gangway, more or less. That's one of the brake stations to the left.

[Stegyre]

I assume Tal can make the shelter of the bow without further incident or rolls. Once there, the first thing he will attempt requiring a consciousness roll will be some first aid to stop his bleeding (the "recover 1 hp" version). After that, he will attempt the longer, 10 or 20 minute version (are we TL 7 or 8? I see the character sheet says TL 8, although it needs to be updated with Tal's current injuries) to recover additional HP:

Stay conscious for initial first aid? [roll0]
Initial first aid attempt: [roll1]

Stay conscious for more serious first aid? [roll2]
Serious first aid attempt: [roll3] (EDIT 1: @$#@$ That would have been a lot of HP recovered. EDIT 2: double #@$@# Just checking back, Tal was only at -1; a success here would have brought him positive. Oh, well.)
HP recovered: [roll4]

Anyway, that's Tal for at least the next ten minutes.

[xen0phile]

The axe decidedly unready at this moment, the polarities of aggressive presentation suddenly reverse: Ese lunges at the axe shaft, again attempting to disarm, but now more bold than ever, without any consideration to avoiding blows.


Manuever is All-Out Attack: Determined against the axe, as per "Knocking A Weapon Away" page 401

6 to-hit the axe, +4 for All-Out Attack = 10 to-hit
[roll0]

[dekova]

Suddenly you hear a rustling from one of the inflated life rafts to your left. Éric sits up and peers around groggily, then feels his chest as if making sure he's still alive. At last he looks at you down in the water and laughs heartily, a shocking sound considering the situation.

"That was awesome."

Steve shakes his head at the man incredulously and gives him an exhausted half-smile. With a slow breast-stroke, he swims to the life raft and extends his arm to be pulled up.

If Steve makes it into the raft, give me a description of what's there to work with. (oars, flaregun, bright orange box that looks like it might hold supplies, etc)

[Inglenook]

STEVE

As Éric helps you clamber up into the life raft, you see that his fall crushed the waterproof canopy. Among the folds of cloth you spot a large, orange, waterproof container that's built into the inside of the raft.

Inside the container is the following:
- backup manual inflation pump (2 lbs)
- 35 units (.2 lbs each) of freeze-dried food ration bars
- life raft repair kit (3 lbs)
- bailer (.4 lbs)
- 2 sponges
- signalling mirror (.3 lbs)
- metal whistle and lanyard
- 3 red, handheld aerial flares (.5 lbs each)
- a red hand flare (.4 lbs)
- jackknife (.4 lbs)
- survival manual (1 lb)
- 3 mylar blankets (1.5 lbs each)
- large tarp designed for collecting rainwater (3 lbs)
- water-activated rescue strobe light (.5 lbs)
- small waterproof flashlight (.5 lbs)
- anchor (20 lbs) with a 3/4"x25' rope (4 lbs).
- 3/4"x75' rope (12 lbs).
- 3/4"x35' rope (5 lbs).
- 4 small, collapsible oars (1 lb each)

1
ESE

Again your attempt to disarm the main fails. Whatever sick joy the man was feeling a moment ago that caused him to laugh, it's gone now—you've made him mad. He grunts as he raises the axe again.

He readies his axe once more.
1
TAL

You make your way unsteadily over to the furthest point of the ship, where two ladders lead up to the gangway. Between the ladders is a small alcove, covered by the gangway above and hidden in shadow.

Behind you, Morten fires again and again, and you hear a wet thump as something—presumably the woman who attacked you—rolls over the bulkhead and collides with Deck 05.

You crawl inside the alcove, scooting behind a large spool of cable until you're entirely out of view. There are no first aid supplies handy, so concessions must be made; you gingerly peel off your leather jacket and shirt beneath, tearing the shirt into strips with your teeth and good hand.

As you bind your neck, your hand and your torn cheek, dizziness washes over you … but eventually it passes.

You wish you were able to do more, but the best you can manage at the moment is stopping the majority of the bleeding. The entire process of bandaging yourself takes about ten minutes, and by the end of it the sounds of gunfire have faded. You can't hear much else over the continual bleating of the alarms.

You are still woozy, but the danger of fainting appears to have passed for now.

TL8, yep!

And funny story: I appear to have forgotten to give you your +1 HP when your hand was bandaged by Anna in the bridge, so it plus the 1 you just recovered puts you back in the positives!

[Inglenook]

MAXWELL

Tal charges at a woman ahead of you, and as you watch she forcibly grabs his throat and tosses him to the side like a rag doll. You see a splatter of blood and then the two are hidden by the smoke.

Five more of the infected are still charging at you, however. John's shot strikes one in the throat, and then it's down to four.

You focus on the one closest to you: the black man in the Hawaiian shirt again. He's coming at you fast, the distance between you closing with alarming speed, but you have just enough time to fire a single shot.

Base SL (12) + All-Out (4) = ESL 16

To Hit: [roll0]
Hit Location: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2] x 1 (because it's a limb)
Your shot hits the man squarely in the left knee, knocking his leg out from under him and sending him sprawling face-forward on the deck.

Out of the corner of your left eye you see John throw his rifle over his shoulder and leap over the side of the ship in one smooth motion.

The man you just shot is still alive, but pretty much unable to walk.

Three more of the infected are charging at you.
- A tall man with a grey goatee, only 2 yards away!
- A woman with a long ponytail, 3 yards away
- A young boy of about 10 or 11, 5 yards away

I didn't use aim because they were sprinting at you fast enough that you didn't have two rounds to spare. But you ended up not needing it anyway. :smallsmile:

[xen0phile]

Continuing the mortal dance, Ese begins to edge back again, preparing to spring away from the axe blow.


Ese will take All-Out Defense: Dodge this turn.

If the man's axe strike is successful, he will add additional options:

* Retreat (page 377)
* Feverish Defense (page 357)

Base Dodge of 8, + 2 for All Out, +3 for Retreat, +2 for Feverish = 15

[Inglenook]

ESE

Your dance metaphor is apropos—the axe once again misses you.

You're up.

[xen0phile]

Ese once again tries to go after the axe.


Maneuver is All-Out Attack: Determined against the axe, as per "Knocking A Weapon Away" page 401

6 to-hit the axe, +4 for All-Out Attack = 10 to-hit
[roll0]

[Inglenook]

ESE

At last, success! Lashing out with the palm of your hand as the axe strikes the railing, you knock it from the crazed man's hands.

The axe flies over the edge of the railing, disappearing into the smoke and hitting Deck 07 below with a clatter.

The man screams in fury, and before you can even move he's upon you: His hands—abnormally hot and dry—encircle your throat, and he lifts you into the air.

You have been grappled by the neck. Per pg. 371, you may only: Attack/All-out-Attack, Ready an Item, or attempt to break free.

[dekova]

Steve rummages through the supplies, pulling out the flashlight and oars.

Turning on the flashlight, he gives Éric a quick once-over to make sure the man is okay then does the same with the raft, checking it for punctures or damage.

I figure Steve is a bit ahead of the others at this point (at least ahead of Maxwell and Ese) so if you want to pause him, it's cool.

If Éric and the raft are in decent shape, Steve gets the oars set up.

[xen0phile]

Ese grabs at the man's arms, desperately trying to pry them off.


Ese will attempt to break free.
Versus ST of 11:
[roll0]

[Inglenook]

ESE

The man laughs as you attempt to pry his hands off your neck. Up so close, you are suddenly aware of the stink coming off him—both his breath and his skin. It's like nothing you've ever smelled before.

The man shakes you hard enough to rattle your teeth, and then begins to squeeze.

A ST or HT roll for you to avoid being strangled: [roll0]
You can no longer breathe. There is an unbelievable pain as the man's fingers dig into and close off your windpipe, and black spots begin to dance in front of your eyes.

You are being strangled. The man has damaged your throat for 4 damage. You are Shocked, so your DX and IQ and all skills using those attributes are at -4 for your upcoming turn.

Until you break free, you will lose 1 FP on each of your following turns.

[xen0phile]

Ese will again attempt to break free.
Versus ST of 11:
[roll0]

[Inglenook]

ESE

The +5 this guy is getting for using two hands is awful. :smallfrown:

DX/HT roll for you to avoid taking more strangulation damage: [roll0]
As if roused by your resistance, the man squeezes harder and harder, continuing to laugh and blow his vile breath in your face. Something in your neck cracks horrifically, but you can hardly hear it—all other sounds are fading, drowned out by the hammering of the blood in your head.

Grey begins to overtake your vision. You are very close to passing out, and if that happens …

The man crushed your neck further for 6 damage, meaning you are down to 1 HP. :smalleek: And you also lose 1 FP.

Your DX and IQ are at -4 for your upcoming turn. 6 damage also counts as a major wound, so please make an HT roll before you act to keep from being Stunned.

[xen0phile]

versus HT of 11 to avoid stun:
[roll0]

[Stegyre]

Feeling no longer in danger of immediate collapse (although still very beat up), Tal crawls out of his hiding place and limps over to the door into the ship, carefully avoiding the fallen body of cannibal woman. He places his hand against the door to feel for heat.
Because of the first aid pause, I suspect that Tal is actually furthest ahead in time, ahead of even Steve.

[Inglenook]

ESE

Failed the HT roll, so you're Stunned and must Do Nothing. :smallfrown:
Everything is covered in a haze of grey and red, and your head throbs like an infected tooth. The man stares deep into your eyes, smiles—and then he's gone. You are falling down into darkness.

For the briefest of moments you think you might have passed out (or even died), but you then realize that you literally falling: the man has thrown you over the gangway railing to the smoke-filled promenade of Deck 07.

HT roll again to see if you can break the Stunning: [roll0]
You have broken free of your Stunning!

If you have anything you want to do to try to ease your fall, now is the time to do so. Otherwise you will hit Deck 07 quite hard. :smallfrown:

[Inglenook]

STEVE & TAL

Yeah, slight pause for you two while we get Ese and Max caught up.

[xen0phile]

The deck coming toward him fast, he flails around wildly for a moment, trying anything to make this hurt less.


Attempting a default Acrobatics rolls to reduce falling damage by 5 yards
Base of DX-6 = 5.
[roll0]

[Inglenook]

ESE

Nice roll!

That reduces the fall to a measly two yards!

Damage: (2 x 7 x 11) / 100 rounds up to [roll0]
Against all odds, you somehow manage to twist your oxygen-deprived body in midair, righting yourself and landing on your feet.

You still hit Deck 07 hard, though, and intense pain courses through your feet, ankles and legs. If you make it out of this alive, your body will make you pay for all this damage later.

"If" being the operative word here. The crazed man is still on the gangway above you, temporarily out of sight due to the smoke, but if he sees you, you doubt you'll be able to face him again and survive. The inside of your throat is completely shredded, and it's quite hard to breathe—it feels like there's a bone stuck in your esophagus or something. The harsh smoke isn't helping matters.

And the grey spots still haven't left your vision; you're still very close to losing consciousness.

A minor miracle: you spot your fire axe lying about three feet away.

You are at -2 HP. Before any and all posts in which you do a strenuous action, make sure to make a HT roll to stay conscious.

[xen0phile]

Relieved, terrified, Ese crosses himself, fingers his rosary for a brief moment, then slowly starts to stagger toward the closest ladder down to the ocean. He disregards the axe--he already has his wrench, and really doesn't feel like lugging anything as unwieldy as an axe down the ladder in his present state. He very much hopes that the lifeboat got launched, that Morten is still alive and armed, that there will be friends to pick him up from the raft down below.


Did you roll for post-combat shakes? Or, is he still in combat?

Would climbing down the ladder, even at a very, very slow rate, warrant a HT roll?

[Asherion]

Seeing John jump, Maxwell will turn, and dive off the side, using I suppose a dive maneuver and whatever else he might need to ensure
a) he's jumping in a reasonable spot
b) he mitigates as much of the fall as he can

Let me know what else you'd need from me, or if he can't make it away

[Inglenook]

ESE

I didn't yet, no.

Post-Combat Shakes (CR12): [roll0]

And if you're going really slowly you might be able to delay it some, but you're still having to continually support your own weight and keep a tight grip on the ladder to keep from falling. So let's say a HT roll about halfway down, rather than all the way at the top.
You slowly go over to the railing, the same area where Steve saw Morten throwing over the life raft canisters earlier. You peer over the side of the boat.

A long, wide ladder—the pilot's ladder Morten said he would lower earlier—stretches from Deck 07 all the way to the waterline sixty feet below. Several inflatable, canopied life rafts float in the water here. Several of them have drifted toward the bow underneath the lifeboat, but others don't appear to have moved much. One is directly underneath you at the base of the ladder.

You climb down the ladder at a snail's pace, taking deep gulps of the fresh air. Even moving slowly, however, you can't help but notice how weak your limbs are.

[Inglenook]

ESE (CONTINUED)

HT Roll: [roll0]
About halfway down the ladder, you are seized by a sudden certainty that you're about to black out. But just as quickly, the feeling passes.

Out of the corner of your left eye you notice that one of the lifeboats that's floated in the direction of the bow has two people on it! It's hard to make out their features, but from the way they are carrying themselves, one is almost certainly Steve. And the other has long, wavy black hair like that muscled guy who was hiding on the gangway earlier.

You can continue down to the raft below without incident, or do whatever else you'd like.

[Inglenook]

MAXWELL

You turn and run, your eyes set on the stern-pointing tip of the lifeboat which hasn't yet fallen.

You are almost there when you feel the outstretched hand of the grey-goateed infected man brush the back of your shirt. It's now or never. In one smooth motion you use your right arm to grab the railing and swing your body over.

DX+1 to land safely: [roll0]
You land atop the highest point of the ever-tilting lifeboat just in time to see John go sliding over the far end into the darkness; his footing appears not to have been as solid as yours. It's just you and Brenda atop the boat now. She is pulling herself across the roof of the boat on her hands and knees, trying to make it inside the open doorway. Her broken bottle is still clutched tightly in her fist.

But then you are joined by others.

The goateed man leaps over the railing after you, almost bowling you over as he lands. Near the middle of the boat, at the gap in the railing that John ran through, the infected woman with the ponytail and the infected young boy both jump onto the lifeboat as well, roaring triumphantly.

You are standing right next to the last remaining painter that Steve was inspecting earlier; it looks as if it might snap at any moment. Right beside you is Goatee.

Brenda is near the lifeboat's open doorway, and Ponytail and Youngboy have landed close to her.

The lifeboat is 30' long. The far end is no longer being held up by a painter, so it is descending steadily while your end is remaining in place, resulting in the lifeboat sitting at a steadily-steepening angle. In a couple of minutes it might be standing entirely on its end!

You are still in combat, so you may act first.

[Inglenook]

STEVE

Before you can do anything more than open the waterproof supply box, you hear a sudden splash.

"Someone fell!" Éric yells, leaping into the water. Several seconds later he pops back up to the surface clutching John Smith, who appears to be unconscious.

[xen0phile]

Ese briefly considers signalling the two people in the life raft with his flashlight, but then decides that he can wait to do that until he is safely in the life raft himself: he would rather keep all of his limbs on the ladder in his present state. He wonders if his flashlight even works anymore, after the beating he has taken, but then realizes that since most of his bodily damage is to his neck, and he landed his fall (relatively) soft, all of his potentially damageable equipment (flashlight, lighter, etc) may actually be okay.

He sighs, quite gingerly (no deep sighs when your throat feels like this), makes sure the dizziness has passed, and continues down into the life raft.


Just to confirm I haven't lost track of all the damage and fatigue he has taken, I have him down at -2 HP and 5 FP. If you had something different, I shall correct.

Also, I feel a bit silly that he still has some of his equipment after that fight and fall. The ear muffs specifically, since I was imagining them slung around his neck when he wasn't using them. But he got attacked at his neck, so I imagine those may very well have been knocked off. It's no big worry if they were, indeed, lost.

Also, his hard hat. A hard hat, however, he feels is somewhat more valuable. So, if it was knocked off during either his fight or his fall, but it happened to land close to where he landed, he would have walked out of his way, just a bit, to put it back on.

[dekova]

When they're close enough, Steve leans over the edge of the raft and grabs at John's clothing, dragging him aboard.

To Éric: "Grab the oars and keep us back a bit so nobody lands on our head."

He then bends down over the unconscious man to administer first-aid.

If they get John in the boat, Steve will check the man's ABC's (airway, breathing, circulation) and administer first-aid. This is not the "take 10 minutes to heal someone" first-aid, this is the "stabilize someone quickly" first-aid.

[Inglenook]

MAXWELL

Hit Location: [roll0]
Again, in case the first makes no sense: [roll1]

What a PITA rolling on the forum is. :smallfurious:
At point blank range, the goateed man has little chance to evade your shot; the bullet tears apart the muscle of his left arm.

The man screams and lunges forward, his right hand raised to attack you, but the tilt of the lifeboat and his sudden injury causes him to overstep. He trips over his own feet and tumbles over the edge.

Brenda tries to stand, managing a crouch before Ponytail and Youngboy attack. Ponytail aims a vicious kick at Brenda's midsection, and Brenda lets out a pained wheeze at it connects. The infected don't appear to be the most adroit bunch, though; the kick also causes Ponytail to loose her footing. Her feet slide out from under her almost comically and she falls backward off the lifeboat, snarling all the while.

Youngboy tries to leap upon Brenda's back, but she bucks madly and manages to throw him off to the side. He lands in a crouched position near the edge of the lifeboat but manages not to roll over the edge like the other two.

The angle of the lifeboat continues to increase.

It is your turn. Make sure to make a DX roll after acting.

[Inglenook]

ESE

You make it the rest of the way down the pilot's ladder without incident and hop the last few feet into the life raft.

A peaked vinyl covering renders the inside of the life raft cool and dark and detached from the madness outside.

Hm, I have you at -2 HP, 6 FP. Where did you lose the one that got you down to 5? Not that it matters terribly, I guess.

And I think most of your fragile stuff would be okay. The earmuffs are probably lost, like you said. I imagine the hard hat would have fallen near you, though, so let's say you still have that.

Short break from doing proper actions involving anything outside the life raft until Maxwell is caught up a bit, but feel free to do stuff inside the life raft or roleplay or whatever you'd like until then.

[Inglenook]

STEVE

You drag John Smith aboard the life raft; his eyes are closed and he's unmoving, but he at least appears to be breathing. His airway is clear and his pulse is sluggish.

Éric nods at your instruction and unfolds one of the collapsible oars, padding the raft a few yards back from the ship.

He has no visible wounds and isn't having trouble breathing, so there's not much you can do in the way of first aid aside from keeping him comfortable.

There is a roar of gunfire, and two more bodies suddenly fall from the lifeboat above, both of them hitting the water at painful-looking angles. After a few moments, one of them bobs back to the surface: a woman, her ponytail clinging wetly to her neck like an eel.

Her scleras are red with broken blood vessels, and her eyes look distinctly unfocused. She gurgles weakly as she spots Éric at the edge of the life raft, and begins to swim toward him. There seems to be something wrong with one of her legs because she's having difficulty keeping her head above the water.

[Inglenook]

TAL

I guess we can go ahead and get a few things done, as long as you're not interacting with the lifeboat or anything just yet.
Leaving your nook, you see that the body of the infected woman is startlingly near to where you were hiding. She lies facedown on the deck with several bullet exit wounds in her back. Stretching behind her all the way to the slanted bulkhead she rolled down is a trail of blood; she managed to crawl an impressive distance before dying.

Aside from the blood pooled around her, you notice that her head is surrounded by a halo of pinkish vomit.

You move past her to the bulkhead door tucked underneath the overhang, placing your hand against it. The metal is warm—quite warmer than the outside air—but not hot.

[Stegyre]

No pounding? Tal will carefully open the door and peak down the corridor. If the way is clear, he will make his way slowly – and quietly – down the corridor until he sees flames or people, whether healthy or infected.
stealth: [roll0]

[Inglenook]

TAL

As you open the bulkhead door, you are buffeted by puff of warm air, almost as if the ship is breathing.

Stepping inside, you note that a thin veil of smoke fills the air closer to the ceiling—not choking or oppresive (yet), but simply a foul-smelling haze.

You aren't in a corridor but rather in what appears to be the top floor of a small, narrow stairwell. It's extremely utilitarian: the metal walls are painted a dull white, and several pipes and conduits of cable run along them. The floor is made of ridged metal grating.

Directly ahead of you is a white door, similar to the door leading into the bridge observation room on Deck 10. Hanging on it is a small sign: DECK 05, CORRIDOR 07. All the smoke appears to be issuing from the thin crack between the door and the lintel.

A similar sign on the door you just came through reads: DECK 05, FORWARD MOORING DECK.

To your left is an elevator.

To your right, the stairs begin. They are made of the same ridged metal grating as the floor, and are barely wide enough for two people to walk side-by-side.

Through the grating of the floor, you can see that the stairs continue down for several flights. You hear (although the alarm blasts echoing in the stairwell would make it difficult) and see no one.

[xen0phile]

Ese takes a moment to look up: both to check if there is any sign of Morten and the rescue boat, and whether anyone, infected or otherwise, is following him down the ladder.


you mentioned you wanted me to keep my actions purely within the lifeboat until we are sunk up more; so, feel free to delay a response

versus Perception of 11
[roll0]

[Asherion]

If the top of the lifeboat is now clear, then, Maxwell will move down it and usher Brenda to get in, and will be doing so himself. Not sure what rolls to make, here's a DX for sure


DX (11 mod negatives) [roll0]

Edit: Kbai lol

[dekova]

Steve grabs an unclaimed oar and crawls to the side of the raft on his hands and knees. Unfolding the oar, he prepares to use it as a makeshift weapon.

If she gets close enough, it's an AOA-Determined with the oar. Spear-like thrusts, hoping to also keep the woman at a distance.

If she's close enough to hit/grab back, Steve is dropping the oar and using fists.

I can honestly say that in all the games I've played, I've never stabbed someone in the face with an aluminum oar.

[Stegyre]

In case of fire, do not use elevator. Tal takes a minute to remove his shoes and, laces tied together, hang them over his shoulder, so he can more more quietly. He creeps down the stairs to Deck 4, where he will again check the door and see if it is safe to enter the main area of the ship.
I.e., when he comes to a door, he first checks for heat, listens for sounds, then opens it a crack to peek out.
Stealth: [roll0]
Perception: [roll1]

[Inglenook]

MAXWELL

Taking advantage of the infected young boy being momentarily stunned, you half run/half slide down the length of lifeboat toward Brenda. Still on her hands and knees, she has made it to the upward-facing doorway of the lifeboat; she lies down flat on on her stomach and dangles her legs through the opening, preparing to drop inside.

You are skidding over the roof of the lifeboat far too fast, and Brenda seems to realize that you are about to slide past her and over the edge at the same time you do. Her hand reaches out in an attempt to grab yours and keep you from falling.

Everything happens so quickly that you can barely process it. A flash of movement as someone drops over the edge of Deck 07 above—and then a man is there, landing with surprising grace at the edge of the doorway right beside Brenda. His once-white chef's jacket is now completely red, and in his bloodstained hands he wields an incredibly large knife.

Before Brenda can even react, the chef leans in with startling speed and whispers a single word in her ear—then plunges his blade into her back, all the way up to the handle.

Brenda's outstretched hand jerks, missing yours by mere inches. The knife, buried deep in Brenda's back, is jerked from the chef's grip as she falls limply through the open doorway into the lifeboat.

The last thing you see before sliding off the edge is the chef grinning and leaping into the lifeboat after her. The screaming echoes through the warm Caribbean air.

You are falling fourteen yards to the water below. Make any applicable rolls you'd like in order to assuage the damage, then roll for damage (at the moment: 2d6) and hit location.

[Inglenook]

STEVE

Short pause until Maxwell finishes falling.
1
ESE

Peering through the doorway of the life raft, you ensure that no one has followed you down the ladder. The smoke overhead is too thick to make anything out, really, and from your angle you'd just barely be able to see the rescue boat anyway. But between the alarms, you don't hear anything from above that resembles the click of the gravity davits.

Morten is nowhere to be seen.

1
TAL

The sign on the door one level down reads: DECK 04, CORRIDOR 09. The smoke leaking from the top is thicker than that on Deck 05, and the metal is uncomfortably warm. You press your ear against the door, but all you can hear on the other side is a dull roaring and crackling, much like the sound you heard on the Deck 07 promenade—the sound of fire.

You crack the door slightly and are instantly blasted by a wave of heat and smoke that knocks the air from your lungs and causes the bite on your cheek to flare painfully.

Corridor 9 is almost completely filled with dark, noxious smoke. The air seeping through the crack is hot enough that your face begins to sweat.

You don't see any fire, although you can only really see ten feet down the corridor at most. On the plus side, without the door muffling the sound, you can tell that the crackling of flames is slightly distant.

Without warning, the alarms suddenly cuts off mid-blare, the final echoes in the stairwell quickly fading into an eerie quiet.

[roll0]
And then the silence is broken by a new sound, much quieter than the alarms but magnified and distorted by the metal stairwell. It comes from below you, although you can't place what it was—a rumble of machinery, the creaking of the ship, or perhaps even a voice?

[Asherion]

I think that my option is acrobatics or sports-diving, which are dx-6 and dx-5, so I'ma go with sports-diving, target: 6, if I've figured it correctly:

Diving (6): [roll0]
Damage, if not mitigated: [roll1]

There's that - I don't know much about what else to do, and I suspect Maxwell might not know either :D but if I'm missing any necessary roll, feel free to step in.



Maxwell slides off of the boat, grasping at Brenda, and then instantly recoiling as he slides past and watches her get stabbed. His last sight as he flies off the edge is her falling into the boat, and his last thought before hitting the water - She wasn't half bad, despite first impressions...


Fantastic fail on diving... great damage roll though, lol

[Inglenook]

MAXWELL & STEVE

Nice damage roll!

Hit Location: [roll0]
Again, if the first doesn't make sense: [roll1]
Maxwell tries to align his body for a dive, but the way he fell off the lifeboat puts him in a rolling spin that he simply can't correct. He hits the water with a great splash, but—by dint of some unknown talent or maybe just sheer luck—the shock is far less than it could have been.

Only a moment after Maxwell falls, Steve hears the yells from the lifeboat above suddenly turn into legitimate screams of terror, loud enough to be heard even over the alarms. Then … two gunshots and more screaming. Éric looks up, his eyes wide.

At the sound of Maxwell's splash, the woman who Steve was preparing to knock away with the oar suddenly turns in the direction of the noise with renewed vigor, flailing spasmodically toward the epicenter of the ripples.

Maxwell floats underwater for a moment slightly dazed but quickly bobs back to the surface. There might be some bruising later, but he is for the most part hale and whole. For the moment.

Because as he brushes away his wet bangs covering his eyes, Maxwell is met with a very nasty surprise:

Ponytail is only a few feet away, clawing at the water and gurgling as she closes the distance between them. As she opens her mouth and roars, blood begins to pour from both nostrils, dark red, almost black—not a nosebleed so much as a hemorrhage. A sudden stench rises from the water around her, a smell reminiscent of an open sewer, and the water begins to turn pink.

-2 HP for Max. Not bad at all, all things considered.

This is a combat situation, and your group has the higher initiative, so you two may go first.

For clarification, the woman is between Maxwell and the life raft. She's about ten feet from the raft and three feet from Max.

[dekova]

Steve, preparing to dive in, looks at the growing pool of frothy, putrid blood and hesitates.

"Dive under!" he yells.

[Stegyre]

Creepy, but I don't really have another direction to go. Tal continues to creep down the stairs to the next deck.
Stealth, if needed: [roll0]

Does he know about the doors to the outside on Deck 3? I'm thinking that, if those were the doors used for boarding/unboarding, he would be familiar with them. If they were strictly for crew use, he would not.

[Asherion]

Disoriented and somewhat confused, Maxwell looks about, sees Steve, the raft, and the crazed infected right by him, and then hears Steve yell "Dive under!". Without further clarification, he assumes that Steve has a plan and immediately attempts to dive a bit and swim under the surface towards the raft, perhaps circumventing the woman a bit. He's aiming for below her depth, although not too deep, as he is not a particularly talented swimmer.


Swimming (HT-4): [roll0]

Edit: *Maxwell gurgles: "Oh, ****" as he fails at this, lol

[Inglenook]

ESE

Taking the flashlight looped in your belt, you stick your head and arm through the door of the life raft covering. You point the flashlight toward the bow and quickly flick it on and off in an attempt to signal anyone else who might have survived.

Rather than being behind, you were slightly ahead of everyone else, I think. Now, though, you should be caught up.

1
MAXWELL & STEVE

[roll0]
[roll1]
As Steve questions whether to aid Maxwell by diving into the spreading pool of bodily fluids, Maxwell takes Steve's advice and dives to swim under and past the woman.

Or at least he tries to.

Not a very accomplished swimmer, Maxwell dives on instinct without taking a breath. His sense of distance is immediately distorted by the dark Caribbean water … and he swims directly into the cloud of the woman's blood.

As his vision goes pink, Max gasps reflexively and inhales, blood-laced water filling his lungs.

And the woman with the ponytail is there, having seen Maxwell dive and following suit. The water continues to darken with blood, and she reaches out with twitching fingers to grasp him—brushing his shoulders but not finding a hold.

Maxwell is 1 yard underwater, and Ponytail is right there with him. He loses 1 FP for inhaling water (and will lose 1 more if he doesn't make it back to the surface in 4 seconds), and has 4 seconds of air left before he starts losing FP every second. I couldn't find anything on the subject of failing a swimming roll while holding one's breath, so I'm just going to say that those four seconds are represented by the oxygen in your bloodstream and you don't lose them for failing the roll.

There's also no 4th-edition RAW method for combat underwater, so based on this (http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=64515), let's use the following for now:
- Make a Swimming roll every 2 seconds (when you take action) or lose 1 FP from exertion.
- Your gun's range is divided by 1,000 (HT85).
- Due to the fact that you are underwater, it's fairly dark, and the water is clouded by blood, all attacks are at -4.
- Swing attacks are at an additional -3; thrust is at -2.
- Swing damage is at -2; thrust is at -1.

Lemme know if I forgot anything. :smalleek:
As Steve watches Maxwell and then the woman descend beneath the water, he suddenly sees something out of the corner of his right eye: a bright flicker of light coming from the water amidships. Turning to look at it, he sees that it's coming from one of the now-inflated life rafts that Morten was throwing overboard.

And then all hell breaks loose.

There is a sharp twang! as the final remaining painter gives out on the lifeboat hanging above. With nothing holding it up (and the lines that were supposed to lower it having slackened), the lifeboat suddenly plummets twenty-five feet. As it reaches the bottom of the lowering cables it comes to a stop with a massive, painful jolt, and you can hear even more screaming as the people inside are rattled around like beans in a tin can.

The lifeboat swings at the end of its cables, slamming hard against the side of the ship—once, twice, thrice, each time with a horrific, scraping bang—before coming to a stop and beginning to lower as it should have from the beginning. The crumpled body of a young boy rolls off the top of the lifeboat, unmoving, and hits the water.

One voice in particular drowns out all the other screams from the lifeboat: a woman's, torn and keening.

"NO NO NO NO NO."

The lifeboat is halfway down the side of the ship, now, and appears to be descending normally from this point on. It will reach the waterline in a minute or two.

1
TAL

They're actually on Deck 01, but assuming Tal left the ship at any point during the cruise (and I'm thinking he did since you mentioned the news reports in the Cayman Islands), he would know about them; the doors are how you board/unboard the tender boats that ferry people to/from the mainland.
The door on Deck 03 reads: DECK 03, CORRIDOR 07. It is cool to the touch.

Opening the door a crack, you see that there is much less smoke here, only a slight haze that hovers near the ceiling. The air is slightly warm but nowhere near hot.

This area of Deck 03 seems to be made up of cabins. To your right you can see six cabin doors before the corridor curves left due to the shape of the bow and disappears out of sight.

A short distance down the corridor to your left is another corridor branching off at what you assume is a right angle—but it is blocked by a fire door. The red light over it flashes angrily.

From down the corridor is the sound of pounding and muffled screaming. You can also very dimly hear the far-off sound of the burning Centrum.

[dekova]

Sorry Corrino! Figured she wouldn't be able to track Max underwater with it being so dark out. :smallredface:

Steve watches helplessly as the lifeboat drops, the horrific scene inside the boat playing out in his mind. Hearing the keening woman's wail, he nearly becomes physically ill.

With the lifeboat slowly lowering, the signalling from the other raft and Maxwell and the infected woman somewhere underwater, Steve has never felt so overwhelmed and helpless.

He does nothing.

Steve's holding his action.

If crazy lady surfaces within grabbing/punching range, he drops the oar (free action) and punches her (standard attack).

If crazy lady surfaces farther out, but still in range of the oar, Steve stabs at her using the oar as a spear (all-out-attack, determined).

[xen0phile]

Ese flips the flashlight on and off for a moment, then realizes he could create the same affect by swinging the flashlight back and forth, left to right; and by moving it like this, his beam also becomes visible over a larger span (in case someone is to his right or left). He then hears the awful banging noise coming from the bow.

My God, I hope they didn't all just die. Please don't leave me alone on the ocean in this raft.

He briefly considers looking for an oar and paddling toward the bow, but he feels so weak from his injuries, he doesn't want to attempt that yet. He tries reaching for his walkie-talkie, then curses as he remembers he gave it to the Captain. So, he just continues to look on, trying to discern what is happening to the life boat.


versus Perception of 11 to see what's going on at the bow.
[roll0]

[Stegyre]

Tal, blissfully ignorant of tragedies unfolding elsewhere, decides to head to the exit doors on Deck 1 (port side). Maybe he can get it open and reach the lifeboat, he thinks.

[Inglenook]

STEVE

Pause until Maxwell acts.
1
TAL

You continue down the stairwell, passing Deck 02. There is no smoke coming from the door here, but behind it you can hear the sound of pounding coming from very close by.

The stairwell ends on the lowest level of the ship: Deck 01. The door here—the sign on it reading: DECK 01, MAINTENANCE TUNNEL 12—is slightly ajar. Suddenly, you hear that sound again, still a good distance off but slightly closer now: a mechanical groan. And then, another sound that at this distance you are able to recognize:

Voices. Too far away yet to make out what they're saying, though.

The mechanical groan continues as you make your way down the maintenance tunnel. Along the way several other tunnels, some lined with pipes, others with large bundles of wire, branch off at 90*�° angles to the left. Small paper signs are taped crudely to the walls near each offshoot tunnel: "WC", "STOR", "COM" and "MED". But you know that the tender boat loading doors are along the bulkhead, so you keep heading straight, following the curve of the bow.

At last the end of the tunnel comes into sight. It terminates in a door, which has been thrown open. And just through the open doorway …

Two men are struggling with something just out of sight, set in the bulkhead past the edge of the doorway. It scrapes and groans with the force of their combined effort, and then comes an unexpected sound: the lapping of waves.

"**** yeah, almost there!" one of the men cries. He pulls off his baseball cap and wipes his brow with his sleeve.

The other, a short Indian man with tousled hair and a short goatee, opens his mouth to reply—but suddenly spots you.

"Hank!" he yells, his eyes widening. The other man, Hank, simultaneously turns and pulls a large wrench from his belt, raising it defensively.

Hank and the Indian man are roughly twenty feet away, just past the open doorway at the end of the corridor.

[Inglenook]

ESE

The lifeboat itself appears to be descending normally, now that you look. It's swinging on its cables a bit more than it should be, considering there's no wind at the moment. From the lifeboat you hear wailing and screaming; something very bad appears to have happened to the people inside.

Below the lifeboat and a bit further out from the side of the ship, you see Steve and the black-haired man standing on a life raft very similar to yours (although the vinyl canopy appears collapsed).

They seem to be staring at the water just in front of their life raft. You can't really make out what they're looking at from this distance, however.

[Inglenook]

MAXWELL

Actually, have a look at the underwater combat rules that xen0 posted in the OOC thread, and use those instead of the ones I linked. Adding in the part I put about defenses, though.

[xen0phile]

Uncertain if there is really anything he can do to help the others at the moment, Ese ducks back into the raft, explores the interior with his flashlight, and begins rummaging through the emergency supplies.


I assume I find the same supplies are in my raft that Steve found in his (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=14341201&postcount=375).

[Inglenook]

Same contents, yep.

[Stegyre]

Raising his hands defensively and stopping where he is, Tal speaks: "Woe! It's alright. I'm not one of them; I'm healthy," he pauses as he considers how he must look, "for certain definitions of 'healthy,' that is.

"I got separated from the captain and a group of others who were letting down the lifeboats on the port side of the ship." He glances toward the open doorway. "I'm a little turned around. Is that port or starboard?"

[Inglenook]

TAL

Hank lowers his wrench slightly but eyes you with hesitance. When he speaks, his accent is a thick Texan drawl. "You sick at all? He suddenly shakes his head. "****, not that it matters. Datta here's not looking so hot himself." He motions toward the Indian man with his wrench. "Can't even get the damn door open."

"I'm fine," Datta protests. "It's just nerves. And the door is heavy."

"Yeah, well, who can tell with your ass anyway? You're jumpier than a cat in a room full of rocking chairs, and that's on a good day," Hank snaps back. He turns back to you. "And you're at port side, fella. Give us a hand, huh?"

As you pass through the doorway, exiting the tunnel, you enter a large-ish lobby, which you recognize as the loading/unloading area for the tender boats. Set in the bulkhead to your right are two of the large doors just above the waterline, one which Hank and Datta have managed to crack open about six inches, the other (at the far end) still completely shut. On the starboard side of the lobby are two identical doors, both shut.

There are also two sets of stairs here, one on each side of the lobby. Both lead up to Deck 02, you recall … but both are sealed by roll-down fire doors exactly like the ones you triggered on Deck 10. You can hear dim pounding coming from behind the starboard stairs.

As you exit the tunnel, Hank and Datta can't help but stare.

"Damn, they did a number on you, huh?" Hank says, his gaze sliding from your face to your hand. He holds up his own left hand, which is covered in a blood-soaked bandana. "One of 'em got my finger pretty bad a little bit ago. Among other things." He shoots a furious glare at Datta; the Indian man looks away quickly, his eyes filled with regret.

Up close, you notice how badly Datta's hands are trembling, fingers clenching spasmodically and then uncurling several times per second. He is drenched with sweat, causing his shirt to stick to his body.

"Anyway," Hank continues, "I can't pull as good with one hand, and this guy's useless. Think you can help him get the door open enough for us to slip through?"

[Inglenook]

MAXWELL

Modbotting for Maxwell's action, since he hasn't been around. I'll take xen0 and dekova's advice to hit her with the gun and then try shooting if that doesn't work.

Swimming Roll to use DX weapon skill (ESL6): [roll0]

And let's say it functions as a light club, but suckier (sw-2). Won't subtract the extra 1 for reach, though, since this is probably Close Range. Damage if Hit: [roll1]
Despite the fall, you've somehow managed to keep hold of your pistol. You tighten your grip, swinging it at the woman's head—but movement in the water is far too slow. The woman evades your blow easily, but her attempt to claw at you misses as well.

[Inglenook]

MAXWELL (CONTINUED)

Guns will fire underwater, right? It's time to find out. Your lungs burning, you raise the pistol, aiming for the woman's head.

But as it turns out, firing it won't be necessary. As you take aim, the woman's eyes suddenly roll back in her head and her body shudders. A great gout of pink vomit suddenly spews out of her mouth, directly toward you.

You struggle away from the vile cloud that surrounds her, trying to make it back to the surface.

Swimming Roll until success: [roll0]
Swimming Roll: [roll1] — if you don't make this one, you take 1 more FP for drowning again, then 1 FP every round until you succed.
Swimming Roll: [roll2]
Swimming Roll: [roll3]
Swimming Roll: [roll4]
Swimming Roll: [roll5]
Swimming Roll: [roll6]
You can feel your body beginning to shut down for want of air, but you continue to kick upward. Below you the unconscious (or dead?) woman descends into the darkness, a thin trail of blood and fluids following her downward.

At last you break the surface, spluttering and gasping.

You are down to 4 FP, but the woman is gone.

[Inglenook]

STEVE

You wait anxiously at the edge of the raft for someone—either Maxwell or the woman—to come up.

Maxwell surfaces at last, coughing violently and gagging as he fights to expel the seawater from his lungs.

[dekova]

"Grab hold!"

Steve extends the oar out to Maxwell, leaning far over the edge of the boat if necessary.

His eyes dart back and forth, trying to find a trace of the infected woman.

Intent is to pull Maxwell into the boat as quickly as possible, then asses the situation with the lowering lifeboat and the raft that he saw the flashlight signal.

[Inglenook]

MAXWELL & STEVE

The infected woman is nowhere to be seen.

Maxwell grabs the oar, and once he's right beside the raft, Steve pulls him in. Maxwell simply lies facedown on the raft's rubber floor, heaving up water.

You glance toward the stern, where you saw the light a few moments ago. The light appears to have disappeared, but—no, wait! There it is! It's moving around inside one of the covered rafts, glowing bright orange as it shines through the vinyl.

The lifeboat continues to descend, and at last slides smoothly into the water less than five yards away. The open door is on the other side of the lifeboat facing the ship, so you can't see inside. But you're close enough that the sounds are clear:

The groaning and crying of the injured. Panicked babbling in a language you can't understand. A woman's voice, clipped and anxious: "Keep her still!" And then the woman who was screaming earlier, sobbing almost incoherently now: "WHY WON'T YOU HELP?! NO, DON'T TOUCH ME!"

[dekova]

Steve gives Maxwell a quick once-over to make sure he's breathing on his own, then turns to Éric.

"Pull up on the lifeboat, they need help."

He starts to row.

When they get close enough, Steve leaps aboard and inside to do some triage.

[Inglenook]

STEVE

Maxwell's breathing sounds pained and he is wracked with wet coughing, but he'll live.

You leap aboard the lifeboat. One of the vinyl doors is right in front of you, but you immediately see that it won't open easily—The weight of someone falling against it when the boat was upturned appears to have severely dented the latch.

You instead cross over the top of the lifeboat to still-open doorway on the far side. As your feet scrape across the metal roof, you hear someone inside yell, "There's another one on top!" There is the crack of a gunshot from behind you, and a popping sound. Spinning, you see that someone has shot upward through the broken door you just walked past, putting a small hole in the vinyl.

[dekova]

"It's Steve! It's Steve! It's Steve!"

He instinctively dives forward across the boat, as far from the new bullet hole as possible.

He's doing a dodge and drop (pg 377) which should put his dodge target at 6+3+3 = 12. [roll0]

He'll continue shouting his name until it's clear that the folks on the inside get that he's Steve.

[Inglenook]

STEVE

"Stop, it's Steve!" a voice from inside the lifeboat cries; you recognize it as belonging to Yolanda.

Then another voice, the one you heard earlier, terse, anxious, yet calm: "Steve, I need your help now.

You notice a large smear of blood on this side near where the lifeboat crashed against the side of the ship. You vividly remember seeing the crumpled form a small boy falling into the water right after the crashing …

As you drop over the side of the lifeboat and into the doorway, you take in the gruesome scene inside (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/lifeboatinterior.jpg); it's like something out of a horror film. Everyone is battered and bruised to some degree, but some are far worse off than others.

Several of the newcomers—the blonde woman in the robe who was with Éric, one of the other blonde women (college-aged), the Asian man with the camera still around his neck, the older woman clutching the little boy—are sitting near the stern; they appear to be okay, although the boy is crying inconsolably.

The older woman is trying to rouse the short, round-faced Asian woman who was with her. "Yayah, wake up! Come on, please!" Yayah—if that is the Asian woman's name—leans heavily against the wall, her eyes open but unfocused, staring at nothing. Her glasses have snapped at the nose piece, and each half dangles uselessly from one of her ears.

Yolanda and Speck sit near the broken door on the other side. Yolanda is staring daggers at Speck, who is holding a smoking pistol and looking both abashed and resentful.

The bloody woman appears to be, well, catatonic—no real change there. She is sprawled across Jamie and Sarah, who appear to be otherwise unhurt.

Harmon is cradling his arm, looking pale and grim. Beside him is Jud, who looks a bit dazed; large scratches, similar to those sustained by Brenda earlier, run under his jaw.

Owen, by himself near the bow, is clutching his shoulder and looks mad enough to chew nails and spit rivets.

The other man who was with Éric, the one with a friendly face who was holding his arm, is now gesticulating wildly and yelling in a foreign language to no one in particular. On the arm he was holding earlier is a large, painful-looking burn. On the other arm is a bloody bite mark—clearly from a human.

Lurch sits beside the doorway, white as a ghost. His eyes are bulging and his hands are clasped over his mouth; rivulets of bright red blood trickle through his clenched fingers.

A man lies facedown in a spreading pool of blood near the doorway. Because his clothes (chef's whites?) are so thoroughly soaked in blood, it's hard to tell what injuries he may have sustained. Except for his head, of course, because they're not much left of it. Standing over him is the third blonde newcomer: a beautiful woman with a proud face, strong jaw, and vivid blue eyes. She holds a heavy, metal pipe which is covered in blood and hair and tiny shards of bone.

In the middle of the lifeboat, Brenda lies on her side on one of the metal benches, facing you and twitching weakly. A sharp point of metal protrudes from her stomach, and blood pours from the wound. Anna is knelt over her in the blood, her face stony. "Steve, I need you to hold her still. We can't—"

"HELP MY DAUGHTER, YOU *****!"

Behind Anna is the Carvers. Adam is incredibly pale but unhurt, and he stares numbly at his parents.

Pete and Danielle both appear to have taken hard blows to the face. Pete's jaw is visibly swollen. A small cut on his forehead causes blood to trickle into his eye, but he doesn't seem to even notice. Danielle is even worse: both eyes are already growing puffy and bruised, and blood pours from her nose and her split lip.

In her arms is Emma. The young girl's neck is tilted at a strange angle, and her eyes are wide open and unseeing. On her face is an expression of hurt, slightly puzzled surprise. A tiny bit of blood leaks from each nostril. She is very clearly dead.

Pete puts a hand on his wife's shoulder, but she turns on him like a wild animal, snarling and spitting. "I SAID DON'T TOUCH ME!"

Danielle holds her daughter out to Anna, pleading. "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, HELP HER! LOOK AT ME, YOU *****!"

Anna's mouth tightens until it's almost disappeared, but her head moves not an inch. She continues on as if nothing had happened. "We can't remove the knife or she'll bleed out. We need to bandage it and keep her still until we get to a hospital."

[dekova]

Inside the lifeboat, Steve's gaze darts from person to person until it locks on Emma. His eyes well up and he opens his mouth as if to speak but says nothing.

Danielle: "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, HELP HER! LOOK AT ME, YOU *****!"

Steve flinches a bit and looks down at Doctor Holm.

Anna: "We can't remove the knife or she'll bleed out. We need to bandage it and keep her still until we get to a hospital."

Steve nods, still in a bit of a daze and just stands there. Then the realization that he's needed kicks in and he tries to snap out of it.

"Uh.. yea.. uh.... Yes Ma'am."

He turns to Yolanda briefly: "Yolanda, Eric's in a raft out there with two others that need help. You're in charge of grabbing a couple people and getting them aboard."

Then he turns in place, looking desperately for his canvas bag.

"There's a canvas bag with a first-aid kit in it. Anybody see it?"

Since first-aid is a skill that suffers from penalties for lack of equipment, I don't want to screw things up by working without one unless it can't be helped.

If Anna already has one of the first-aid kits out, I'll scratch that last IC bit.

Don't know how fast you want to run this, but...

Steve will work to help/triage/etc as directed by Anna.
When he sees Yolanda, Eric, and the others are on the boat, he'll put Eric in charge of seeing what's up with the signalling from the other raft.



He's going to avoid putting his back to the door, he's a bit edgy.

[Stegyre]

Looking meaningfully at Hank, Tal responds, "I expect at this point that any or all of us may be infected. But I spoke with the ship's doctor within the past hour, and she says it takes days before the illness takes hold and turns you into a maniac. When that happens, it's going to be pretty obvious. Until then, we all need to help each other out, if we're to get out of this.
First, he looks over the doors for any locks, releases, or buttons to open them automatically (or to release the machinery to allow manual opening.
Perception: [roll0]
Assuming there's nothing there to make the task any easier . . .
He considers the gap and tries wedging his body into it, where he can push with his legs, arms, and back, without having to use his injured hand. 'Pull! There should be rafts out here, and we want to be on them before anything comes through those fire doors."

[xen0phile]

Ese pockets the jackknife, grabs an oar, and then returns to peering out of the canvas shelter.


Perception check:
* is there anything happening above him (anyone climbing down ladder, any rescue boat coming down)
[roll0]

and
* what's happening at the bow now
[roll1]

[Asherion]

Maxwell looks about groggily and assesses his situation, still choking a bit.

All right, 4 FP, what am I down to on HP now? I had myself current when I hit, I think, but then I took another blow or so, I think. Thanks for botting. Help me get back into game here, Maxwell is 'disoriented'.

Maxwell will get up and, if the lifeboat seems to be easily accessible, will climb up / into it, unless he is needed elsewhere. God, all that **** I just drank... I'm a goner, have to be... Christ.

[Inglenook]

STEVE

Yolanda nods and leaves through the open door.

At your request for the canvas bag, you hear someone quietly say, "Is—Is this it?"

It's the blonde girl near the stern, one of the newcomers. She's in her early twenties, very pretty, with straight blonde hair that falls just past her shoulders. Her skin is pale and she looks like she could possibly faint, but her cheeks are flushed with color. She holds out your canvas bag uncertainly.

You take the bag from her and fish out the gauze and bandages. They look so paltry compared to the severity of Brenda's wound …

Danielle has collapsed weeping to the floor of the lifeboat, leaving you and Anna to work in (relative) peace. Keeping one eye on the door, you kneel and gently hold Brenda's shoulder to keep her from moving. She stares up at you with her bulging eyes, sobbing weakly. When Anna places the gauze around the knife wound in her back, she lets out a weak, birdlike scream.

"Put gauze around the exit wound," Anna says without looking at you. "Then take the bandage when I hand it to you and help me wrap it around."

I asked SJ Forums about collaborating for skill rolls, and while there's a rule specifically for assistants during full-out surgery, there's no RAW sweeping way to deal with other skills. However, someone mentioned a house rule for such things that I like pretty well. If everyone's okay with it, we'll use a modified version of it (adding in small pieces of GURPS Action and GURPS Bio-Tech) for such collaborations in the future. Only when such a thing is applicable, of course.

In short:
- Many players can work together to possibly increase their chance of success at a skill roll.
- The primary skill user is the "leader", and the rest who are using ancillary skills are "assistants".
- The players involved in the collaboration don't necessarily need to be using the same skill (e.g. someone trying to infiltrate a base using Stealth could receive help from his partner who uses Fast Talk to distract the guard).
- If the players are all working on the same skill and there is no need for a leader, then for the purposes of the roll the leader will be the person with the highest SL.
- Each assistant will roll. For each assistant:
On a success by a range of 0–4, +1 is added to the leader's ESL. On a success by a range of 5–9, +2 is added. A critical success adds +3.
For a failure by a range of 0–4, -1 is added to the leaders ESL. On a failure by a range of 5–9, -2 is added. A critical failure is an automatic failure for entire group!
The maximum modifier the leader can attain this way is +6 or -6.
- The leader will then roll for success using the modifiers given to him/her by the assistant(s).

It may need some tweaking; you vets'll have to weigh in on this.

But assuming Anna is leading the First Aid roll:

Steve assisting (+1 for the first aid kit) = ESL14. [roll0]
1
MAXWELL

Updated all the character sheets. Right now you're at 8/10 HP; you only lost the two from the fall, and none of Ponytail's attacks managed to hit you.
As you sit up, you see the small Latina woman—Yolanda?—walking across the top of the lifeboat. She hops down into the raft and offers you her hand. "Steve said you guys needed help?"

Looking around, you see the black-haired man holding an oar, and the man who was with Harmon and Speck—John?—lying unconscious beside you.

You wave Yolanda off; John looks worse off than you at this point. The black-haired man, meanwhile, addresses you.

"You should go to the lifeboat and sit down. We can take care of the other guy."

Still coughing and wheezing, you jump over to the lifeboat and climb inside.

The view is mostly unchanged from when Steve entered. You may rest (while talking to others, thinking, whatever) for 10 minutes to restore 1 FP, or you may do something else if you'd like.
1
ESE

You now have the jackknife, and are wielding the oar.
Still, nothing seems to be coming down the ladder, nor has the rescue boat been lowered that you can tell. Where could Morten be?

At the bow, the lifeboat now sits in the water, lined up next to the raft that Steve and the black-haired man were on earlier.

As you watch, the black-haired man and that Yolanda woman appear to be attempting to carry an unconscious (or dead?) man off the raft. Yolanda is struggling with the weight, and after a few moments the black-haired man simply throws the unmoving body over his shoulder instead, carrying the man by himself. The three go inside the lifeboat, and a few moments later the black-haired man emerges again.

He suddenly looks directly at you and appears to spot your head sticking out of the raft. "Hey!" he calls out, cupping his hands to his mouth. "Are you okay down there? Come this way!"

[Inglenook]

STEVE (CONTINUED)

As you and Anna wind the bandages around Brenda's torso, Maxwell staggers in, followed by Yolanda, then Éric carrying the unconscious John Smith easily over one shoulder.

"How about that, Richard?" you hear Harmon say, nudging Speck with his good arm as Éric lays John down on one of the benches. "He survived! I told you this was a good idea."

"He lost his rifle," Speck sniffs disdainfully.

At your instruction to investigate the light in the life raft amidships, Éric simply nods and leaves again.

Anna looks up at you as you finish with the first roll of bandages. "I need to go look at some of the others." She glances quickly at Lurch, who is swaying dangerously on the bench beside the door, blood still pouring from his mouth between his clasped fingers. "Can you keep dressing her wound? Maybe find something to keep her warm?"

Brenda regains 1 HP.

Anna wants to know if you can perform the 10-minute version of First Aid, improving the bandages and making sure Brenda is as comfortable as possible.

If so, roll for both success and amount healed.

[Inglenook]

TAL

Looking over the door, you see no sort of button or latch that would automatically open it. The only thing is a latch to unlock it, which Datta has already done.

The door is about eight feet wide and sits on a grooved track in the floor. It's meant to be pulled, rolling inward from the bulkhead about six inches, then sliding out of the way to the right. Between Datta's shakiness and Hank having but one useful hand, they've only managed the "rolling inward" part. There is a six-inch gap through which you can see a sliver of dark sea.

[roll0]
[roll1]
If your sense of direction is correct, the lifeboat should actually have landed very close to this door …

Assuming, of course, that it landed at all.

There are several grips along the left edge of the door. Hank grips one, Datta grips two of the others, and you try to wedge your body into the gap, pushing and straining with your entire body to get the door open.

It's very heavy, but with three people you are able to slowly slide the door along the track until it's open two feet—easily enough for all of you to fit through.

If Maxwell and Steve both take their ten-minute options, they should be caught up! If not: short pause.

[dekova]

Steve nods to Dr. Holm. "Yes Ma'am."

Looking around the interior, his gaze settles on Harmon.

"Sir, see if you can back us off the cruise ship twenty feet or so until the captain joins us."

And then to Speck.

"Can you keep watch outside? Shoot any infected trying to drag themselves on board. Better we catch them outside then when they come through this door."

Turning back to Brenda, he looks her in the eye and takes her hand briefly.

"I'm going to do my best to take care of you and make you comfortable, okay? I just need you to stay still and stay tough."


IC text above assumes that this lifeboat has an engine and some controls.

Spoilering the rest of this because I dunno how it plays out.

Don't know what the lighting situation is on the boat. If it's not good, Steve clips the battle lantern to something and gives the flashlight to Dr. Holm.
He's going to look for an equipment stash like there was on the raft and grab whatever he feels will help Brenda (space blanket, etc)
He's then going to do the extended first aid on Brenda. Skill is 13 +/- whatever modifiers you see fit. [roll0]

[xen0phile]

Ese reaches for his rosary, then gingerly feels his throat in the process.

I am being a coward, hiding away like this when those people need help; but, my God, I can barely breath.

He unfolds the oar and begins to weakly paddle toward the bow.


Should I make a HT check to stay conscious even if he is paddling very slowly?

[Asherion]

Maxwell sits, and will rest until it appears that he's needed or is acted upon. He will, if the situation seems more calm in the boat, dry out the gun as best as he is able, and check rounds again to ensure that he has the number he needs, and that they are also dry.

[Inglenook]

MAXWELL

You sit one of the benches inside the lifeboat, leaning back against the bulkhead and resting.

1 FP is restored. You can't do anything more strenuous than reading or talking, but if you wanna do the gun-cleaning bit you can do so here in a moment.
1
STEVE

Harmon frowns. "I think my arm may be broken." He flexes his right arm and gasps slightly. "I don't know how to pilot a boat anyway, if I'm being honest. I'll try asking some of the crewmen, though; maybe one of them can help." He winces as he stands and walks over to several of the newcomers.

Speck look put off as he complies with your request, leaving through the doorway to keep watch outside the boat. But of course, he seems to always look put off.

Brenda doesn't say anything, but there is acknowledgment in her eyes when she looks up at you. As you continue to bandage her, you can feel her trembling like a leaf under your hands, and you're aware of just how thin she is.

"Here," says a voice from behind you.

It's the blonde woman, the one who killed the chef with the pipe. She has a thick Slavic accent. In her hands is a folded metallic package that you recognize as an unopened mylar blanket.

"I found it in the boxes," she explains. "This woman needs to be warm, yes?"

She suddenly realizes you're not done. While you spend the next few minutes winding the bandages, the woman sits off to the side, watching your every move. Her eyes are like chips of ice, cold and hard, and you get a very strong feeling that this woman is judging you in some way.

By the time you've finished, Brenda appears to have fallen unconscious. Her skin is pale and waxy, but her breathing seems less shallow, and her bandage is much more secure now.

Without saying anything, the blonde woman stands and drapes the mylar blanket over Brenda. "The doctor needs your help, I think," the woman says. She nods down at Brenda. "I'll watch her for you."

Suddenly Éric sticks his head through the doorway. "Hey, we have more people!" Then he disappears again.

Success! HP healed is 1d6 (-1 for the 1 HP already healed): [roll1]

You treated Brenda for shock, healing 4 HP.
1
ESE

Probably would need to make a HT roll, yeah, since even a weak paddle would require a decent amount of exertion considering that it's a pretty large raft.

HT11: [roll0]
Your head spins as you slowly paddle toward the lifeboat, but you manage to stay focused and keep from passing out. Still, your progress is achingly slow; it's a pretty large raft, and one oarsman who is on the verge of collapse can't do much.

"You're almost there!" the black-haired man atop the lifeboat yells encouragingly. He's been joined by the skinny, sour-faced bald man—Speck—who is scanning the ship above for signs of movement.

Your arms shake with exertion, and your throat throbs in time with your heartbeat. You're roughly twenty feet away from the lifeboat when …

See the next post.

[Inglenook]

TAL

Together, you, Datta and Hank manage to slide open the large metal door about two feet. The warm night air rushes in.

"Hot damn!" Hank cheers. Datta laughs shakily, sticking his head past you to peer outside.

The waterline is roughly six feet below the level of the door. Immediately below you is a large, covered, orange life raft. Sticking out of the canopy doors and leaning over the edge of the raft is a familiar form …

"Ese?" Datta says, sounding both surprised and happy.

"What?! No sh*t? Lemme see!" Hank yells, nudging Datta out of the way.

Ese halts his weak paddling and looks up at the three of you. Even in the low light you can see the damage to his throat; it's a solid mass of bruises, so dark that they're almost black. The very darkest bruises form a clear outline of outstretched fingers …

About twenty feet to your right is the lifeboat, sitting safely in the water. Floating next to it is another of those orange rafts, its canopy crushed in.

Atop the lifeboat is the black-haired man who was on Deck 07 with you earlier. Upon seeing you, he grins and waves, then suddenly jumps down into the lifeboat's doorway.

Speck also stands atop the lifeboat, simply staring at you.

1
ESE

Above you, you hear a sudden grinding of metal.

A door has opened in the side of the boat, and standing in the doorway are three people you know:

Tal, who met up with the group in the hallway of Deck 10. You can only barely recognize him; large strips of bloody, torn cloth cover his face and neck, and beneath his leather jacket you can see the bare skin of his chest and stomach.

Dattatraya, the second-in-command to the chief engineer. Short, pleasant and easy to get along with, although a bit neurotic by nature. He looks ill and exhausted, his face shiny with perspiration.

And Hank, the man who was supposed to replace you once your shift in the engine room was over. A young guy, nice enough but a bit stubborn, overconfident and smart-alecky. He had been on the ship for less than six months but had already been written up twice for insubordination.

"Ese, that you?" Hank calls down from above.

[xen0phile]

Ese sits for a moment, leaning out, staring up at the trio, mouth agape with both surprise and lack of breath. His expression turns to a relieved grin, happy to have some non-infected company. He weakly beckons for them to come down to the raft, and attempts to croak out of his throat, "Come. Down."

[dekova]

MAXWELL
Without saying anything, the blonde woman stands and drapes the mylar blanket over Brenda. "The doctor needs your help, I think," the woman says. She nods down at Brenda. "I'll watch her for you."

Steve nods and looks at her with genuine gratitude.

"Thanks, Miss. If she needs anything just shout for me, my name's Steve."

He stands up, wincing as his ribs remind him of the damage he's taken, and turns to find Dr. Holm.

Steve's going to continue assisting and/or taking direction from Dr. Holm.

[Stegyre]

Tal (and presumably Datta and Hank) jump down into the life raft.

"Why don't you two take the oars and paddle us over to the life boat. I'll take a look at his neck. We should have better medical care over there.

Tal gently tilts Ese's head back to get a better look at his neck.
First aid roll, although I doubt Tal will accomplish much before we reach the life boat and Steve or the Doctor can take over: [roll0]

[xen0phile]

Ese moves inside the canopy and flips on the flashlight so the newcomers can make their way around. "Ay. Gracias a Dios," he manages to whisper. He tries to find a location in the raft so that he can lean back and put up his feet: he knows enough about first aid that it would probably be good for himself to have more bloodflow to his brain. As Tal starts to look Ese over, Ese stretches out his arms, makes an angry face, mimes grabbing and squeezing something. "Crazy guy. Él me," and then folds his hands over his own throat, doing the gesture to indicate choking (http://wehoopny.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/large_miller-choke-450x402.jpg). Not having seen himself in a mirror, he doesn't realize how obvious it is to the others that his throat has been injured. He motions toward the supply container, "Blankets."

[Inglenook]

STEVE

"Dariya," the blonde introduces herself quietly. She sits next to Brenda and stares down at her, that same appraising, watchful look as before.

[roll0]
You make your way over to Anna, who is kneeling over the Asian woman, Yayah, and shining a penlight into her eyes.

"Do you remember what happened?" Anna asks.

Yayah seems to consider the question for a moment, and her voice is slightly slurred when she answers. "We were in the daycare … Me and Gabe and Maddie and Rosemary …"

The older woman holding the little boy gives a frantic little smile. "That's right! Yayah, it's me: Rosemary! And Gabe is here too, look—" She holds up the crying little boy for Yayah to see.

Yayah blinks. "And then …" She looks around quickly. "Where's Maddie?"

Anna looks over her shoulder at you, then stands and leads you a short distance away. "Here's where we stand: Yayah probably has a concussion, although I don't think it's anything more serious than that—We all got knocked around quite hard when the boat fell. That, um, chubby boy has some scratches, nothing too bad," she says, motioning toward Jud. "And I can't tell what's wrong with the black man's shoulder because he won't let me touch it."

She then nods in the direction of Harmon, who is trying to speak to the young man with the friendly face. The young man is is babbling inarticulately, pointing at his arm and then up in the direction of the boat.

"No, you little fool, I want you to pilot the damn boat. Look, PILOT," Harmon sighs, getting frustrated. He starts to mime holding a wheel, but gasps in pain as he tries to raise his arm.

Anna frowns. "The old man's arm is broken. The young guy doesn't seem to speak English, but he has some second-degree burns on one arm, and that man with the knife bit him on the other.

"That family," she points to the Carvers. Adam still sits, staring numbly at his sister's corpse. Danielle's head is buried in Pete's chest, but her sobs are silent. "The parents got hit pretty hard by the man with the knife, but the woman managed to shock him with a Taser; That's how we got him subdued. And the little girl …"

Anna locks eyes with you. "She was gone, Steve. I had to help Brenda. I had to save the people who could still be saved." She looks away, then sighs and rubs her temple. "And Lurch, people call him? We need to make sure he stays awake so he doesn't choke on his own blood." She looks somewhat disgusted. "He bit off his tongue when the lifeboat fell."

She looks at you again and shakes her head. "We need to get these people to the closest hospital ASAP."

1
ESE & TAL

Hank and Datta jump down into the raft after Tal. Datta's eyes widen as he notices Ese's neck.

"Why don't you two take the oars and paddle us over to the life boat. I'll take a look at his neck. We should have better medical care over there," Tal says.

"I've got this," Hank nods. "Datta'd probably drop the ****ing oar in the water anyway. While Hank takes the oar and begins to paddle the last twenty feet toward the lifeboat, Datta simply sits and stares up nervously at the smoke-covered deck above.

There's little that Tal can do for Ese's bruising aside from stressing that he needs to keep still. He positions Ese's head so that he's at least comfortable.

Ese recovers 1 HP.

[Inglenook]

ESE & TAL

A dull thump runs through the rubber floor of the raft, and Hank sticks his head through the canopy door. "We're here, fellas!"

Suddenly, from outside—a gunshot.

Hank swears and leaps inside the canopy, and Datta sitting directly outside the doorway lets out a little scream. And then you hear voices.

1
MAXWELL & STEVE

The gunshot from outside shocks even Danielle out of her fit of grief. Voices follow in its wake.

1
EVERYONE

From outside:

"Faen! Stop!"
"Stop, it's the captain!"

There is a grunting and the splashing sound of someone climbing up out of the water.

[xen0phile]

At the sound of the gunshot, Ese quickly pulls out his jackknife, and is about to unfold it; when he hears the Captain identify himself. He re-pockets the knife. With even this small bit of commotion, he feels dangerously lightheaded again as he gets flashes in his peripheral vision from the sudden demand for oxygen. Despite his desire to maintain his usual face of tough stoicism in the presence of pain, he appreciates that it would be better for everyone if he does not pass out; he tries to relax again, and lets Hank, Datta, and any other less injured people tend to things for the moment.

[dekova]

Steve nods as Dr. Holm talks.

"Yes Ma'am, I'll try to get the-"

His words cut off by the gunshot, he pivots and races for the door.

Steve doesn't slow down when he hears it's the captain. He's heading outside to assess the situation.

Priority 1 is to get the captain on board and
1. if he's badly hurt/shot, to get him inside and tend to him with Dr. Holm.
2. if he's not badly hurt/shot, to send him inside to prep the boat so we can GTFO.

Priority 2 is to get the others on board then further assess situation.

[Stegyre]

It occurs to me people may be waiting for Tal's action. He's just keeping his head down and continuing to see to Ese. He's too beat up to be looking for any fights, or even to check out what Speck is shooting at this time.

[Inglenook]

ESE & TAL

[roll0]
[roll1]
Datta sticks his head through the canopy door. "It's the captain!" he grins, and for a moment it's as if a glimmer of his old self is shining through.

The illusion is shattered, however, when Ese notices in the dim light that Datta's teeth are stained bright red.

He pulls his head out and disappears from sight. From outside you can hear a flurry of voices, but then Hank turns to Ese. "You don't need to be moving on your own, man. I'd help you out, but with my hand like this …" He then looks over at Tal. "And you're pretty beat up yourself. I'll bring a few people over from the lifeboat to carry Ese, cool?"

He exits the raft, and only a few moments later, another man enters: the muscular young man with the curly black hair, the one who called Ese over. He has an almost offensively inappropriate smile on his face, and his voice is upbeat when he speaks.

"You guys don't look so good!" he observes. He bends down beside Ese and looks momentarily uncomfortable. "So how should we do this?" he says, holding out his hands.

If Ese accepts, Éric will carry him over to the lifeboat. Tal may do as he wishes. If there's anything you wish to do inside the lifeboat, go ahead and do so.
1
STEVE

As you step through the lifeboat doorway, an indignant voice comes from above and behind you: "I was doing what I was told!" Turning and looking up, you see Speck standing on the roof of the lifeboat holding his smoking pistol. His hands are held up in a defensively apologetic gesture, and he's facing in the direction of the other side of the boat.

You climb atop the lifeboat as well just in time to see Éric finish helping the captain (drenched but unharmed) out of the water—Speck's shot appears to have missed him. Morten grunts with the weight of his water-soaked uniform but eventually manages to stand on the thin rubber seam that connects the orange top of the lifeboat to the white hull. He looks up at you and holds out his hand. "Help me up and inside."

As you help Morten on top of the lifeboat, you hear a twangy Texan voice behind you—one of the newcomers from the other life raft? "Hey, we have an injured guy! We need some help carrying him!"

Éric is already moving around the side of the lifeboat toward the newcomer, and he flashes you a quick thumbs up: I'm on it.

Morten moves quickly, dropping over the other side and into the open doorway. You follow him, leaving Speck to continue his watch, and Éric to collect the injured newcomers. You notice that your life raft, the one with the crushed canopy, has drifted away from the lifeboat.

You almost knock Morten over as you climb inside. He's frozen in place right inside the doorway, surveying the horrific scene just as you did when you first entered. As he catches sight of the body of the little girl, he lets out a little moan, and he seems to sway for a moment before steadying himself. Everyone's eyes (or at least the eyes of everyone who is cognizant) are on him, and at last Morten speaks.

"We're getting out of here. Now."

He runs his fingers anxiously through his wet hair and looks around at the group. "Is anyone not injured?"

"I'm mostly okay. I guess," a voice says. It's the Asian man with the camera around his neck, the one who was being chased by the sick passengers right before Deck 07 went to hell.

Morten nods. "On the roof. Get those cables off; they're connected with hooks. Get the man up there to help."

The photographer looks uncertain, but exits through the door.

The captain steps quickly over to the control area: a seat near the stern, raised high off the floor so that the pilot has a 360° view through the windowed turret (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/lifeboatexterior.jpg). He presses two buttons, and then a miraculous noise—

The lifeboat engine thrums to life!

Morten glances down at you from the raised pilot's chair. "Once those hooks are off and those people are inside, we're gone." He then looks over at Anna. She's busy inspecting two newcomers from the life raft—a disheveled Indian man and a belligerent-looking guy with an injured hand and his baseball cap sitting askew on his head. She glances over her shoulder as if she senses Morten's gaze, and the two make eye contact for a second before she returns to her work.

"What happened?" Morten says so quietly that you barely hear him. His voice is hollow and dead-sounding.

If there's anything you'd like to do before the boat leaves, now is the time to do so.
1
MAXWELL

As the group makes preparations to leave at last, you do a rudimentary cleaning of your pistol, making sure that your seven remaining rounds weren't damaged by the water (they appear not to have been).

To your left is a young woman, college-aged. She's very pretty, with straight blonde hair, rosy cheeks and a slim build.

To your right, someone has managed to prop the bloody woman up on the bench beside you. She stares blankly ahead as usual.

The blonde girl turns to you; she appears to be in a state of shock. Tears run down her face, and she's trembling. "This can't be happening, right? It has to be a dream—They can't all be dead."

"Dead," the bloody woman whispers to your right, almost a sigh.

[xen0phile]

After Hank departs the raft, Ese turns to Tal. Whispering conspiratorially (he doesn't want Datta to hear) and weakly (his throat still feels like hell), "Worried about Datta. Indian guy," pointing out of the canopy. "Teeth. Got blood."


I'll write some more in a bit about how Ese reacts to Éric.

[Stegyre]

Tal raises his eyebrows and turns back toward the flap Datta recently exited, then back to Ese, also in a whisper, "Tell the doctor. For now, let's get over to the lifeboat."
Tal will follow Ese and Eric over to the lifeboat, giving any assistance needed with transporting Ese. When he sees Datta again, he gives him a wary eye.

[dekova]

"I wasn't able to undo the second painter line. It finally snapped and the boat dropped."

Steve sighs, rubs a hand across his eyes and turns to survey the group of survivors.

"I'm so sorry," he adds quietly.

Steve will maintain his position near the captain until/unless someone needs medical attention (i.e. he spots Ese or Tal).

[xen0phile]

Ese sighs. He feels slightly embarrassed at the indignity of having to be carried, but relents: he wraps one of his arms around Éric's neck, and they do a sort of crouched supporting carry (https://rdl.train.army.mil/catalog/view/100.ATSC/633D9946-484A-4EEF-B1F0-33143F92DC9A-1274568635871/3-21.75/image045.jpg) to the edge of the life raft.

Now next to the front hatch of the lifeboat, Ese steadies himself, "Thanks. I'm Ese," he offers his hand. "Blankets. Food. Still in raft."

Ese then slowly clambers into the life boat. Flops down onto the closest bit of bench that is clear. "Ay. Qué p***... p***s locos... tal locura," then, looking around, he notices Lurch, still alive. Ese grins, briefly, then notices Lurch's pained, pale visage; then the generally morbid atmosphere within the boat; then, worst of all, the mother clutching the little girl. The color drains from his face somewhat, and he buries his face into his folded hands, which now tightly clutch his rosary.


He will let Steve examine him. He will also try to mention, off-handedly, that he is worried Datta might be feeling ill. Yes, I know the doctor is examining Datta, but probably better if even more people are aware of it.

[Asherion]

Maxwell looks to the blonde girl and shakes his head, slowly. "No, afraid it's no dream... not a dream at all..." then he looks over to the hatch.

As the others come back in, especially the injured, if Maxwell can be any help getting them in and situated, he will do so. Otherwise, he will sit here and rest, and watch, seeing little else to do until getting underway.

[Inglenook]

Okay, I'm dumb. Turns out the picture of the lifeboat interior (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/01/lifeboatinterior.jpg) I was using was from the wrong lifeboat, which may have added some confusion as to the layout.

Here (http://i.imgur.com/UBlqO.jpg?1) is a rough diagram of where everything is as far as rafts, doors, etc. There's no ladder, which means Ese can just climb slowly inside without passing out. If you want to edit your post to reflect this, xen0, feel free to do so—I think you mentioned saying something to Anna about Datta's bleeding?

I have to drive to my college for a bit in the morning, but sometime around noon I should have a fairly large update that begins drawing the first adventure to a close. :smallcool:

[xen0phile]

I edited my post to reflect that they don't even need to climb on top of the boat.

[Inglenook]

Éric lugs Ese over to the lifeboat, with Tal following closely behind. Speck and the Asian man with the camera are both standing on top of the vehicle, one on each end, working to detach the davit cables. As the three of you enter the boat, you can hear the Asian man overhead: "Got it."

Then a sudden roar: the lifeboat's engine!

Éric nods at Ese's mention of the supplies from the raft as he sets the Hispanic man down, but a moment after going out to retrieve them he returns looking shamefaced. "I don't think it's safe to get back in the raft when it's so close to the, euh, propeller."

It might have been bad if Morten had turned on the engine right as the three of you were crossing between the raft and lifeboat. If one of you had fallen in the water …

But as you take in Morten's appearance—his glassy, unblinking eyes, his trembling hands, his exhausted face contorted into a grimace as he works the controls—it's safe to say that he doesn't care about anything but getting away at this point.

Tal warily eyes Datta, who is being inspected by Dr. Holm along with Hank. It's hard to tell from where you're sitting, but her face seems to tighten as she looks over the two men.

Morten looks down at Steve, his expression anguished. "It wasn't your fault," is all the older man says before returning to checking the controls. Spotting Ese and Tal, Steve makes his way over to check their wounds, but it's immediately clear that there's not much that can be done for them at this time.

[Inglenook]

Steve may try to clean Tal's wounds, if he'd like, and/or apply better bandages. It won't restore any additional HP, but it may help prevent infection (not "Infection", just regular infection).
While Steve is inspecting Tal and Ese's injuries, Ese leans in and informs Tal that Datta is ill.

Speck and the Asian man reenter the lifeboat. "The hooks are off," Speck says, taking a seat next to Harmon and the still-unconscious John. There are grey flecks on his suit—Flakes of ash and cinder have begun to rain down from the inferno on Deck 07.

There is a slight pause, and it's Jamie who breaks the silence: "Does that mean we're leaving?"

Morten doesn't answer; he simply opens the throttle. With a low rumble, the lifeboat begins to move. As it draws away from the cruise ship, those seated near and across from the open doorway catch their last sight of the Calypso Queen's dull white hull.

All except the Asian man with the camera. He sits down next to Maxwell at the stern of the lifeboat, in the spot where the bloody woman (who has slid slightly down the bench and is slumped against the bulkhead) was sitting a few minutes ago. Several minutes pass. For the most part the mood in the boat is somber—Danielle's weeping has begun again—but the man with the camera seems restless. After looking around to make sure no one is going to stop him, he turns and opens the rear hatch of the lifeboat, raises his camera, and snaps a photo.

Several people turn at the loud click, scowling and shooting looks of disgust. Morten also turns, and his reaction is calm and to-the-point: "Don't."

Abashed, the Asian man sits back down. When he speaks, it's quiet so that only Maxwell can hear. "The fire's almost a good thing, in a way," he says, quickly glancing at Max to gauge his reaction before continuing. "It's loud, I mean. If the fire wasn't making so much noise and distraction, who knows how many more of those crazy people might have been drawn by the sound of the guns, or the screaming."

[roll0]
But someone else did hear. The college-aged blonde girl turns, horrified. "That's sick. Who knows how many people were trapped in there?" At this the photographer looks away and says no more.

Perhaps twenty minutes pass, and aside from soft weeping and the thrumming of the engine, the boat is mostly quiet. Anna approaches Steve, who is still seated next to Ese and Tal, and sits across from him, leaning in close before speaking.

"The Indian man is sick," she says quietly, turning to nod at Datta. He is sitting next to Hank, a dazed look on his face. His hair is plastered to his head with sweat, and his hands are in his lap, moving frantically even as they lie there. Tendons bulge and his fingers curl into talons, as if he's trying to claw at something that isn't there.

Anna meets your gaze, and her expression tells you everything you need to know. "Keep an eye on him."

Without warning, the lifeboat engine suddenly splutters and dies. The silence that follows is immediately filled with a stream of frightened voices.

"What happened?!"

"Did the engine die?"

"We can't be stuck out here—"

Morten hops down from his raised seat and raises his hand for quiet. "I turned the engine off. We need to have a discussion." His voice is paper thin, his face is haunted; he looks as if he's aged ten years in the space of a few hours.

Once he's certain he has everyone's attention, he continues. "We need to decide where we're going. I can't just keep piloting this thing without a destination."

"Aren't we going back to Miami?" says the blonde woman who was with Éric, the one wearing the bathrobe; she sounds slightly frantic and irritated. "That's where we got on the cruise, so why can't we go back there and get help?"

"The biggest problem with Miami is the distance. The lifeboat has enough fuel to travel about 175 miles. Even if I take the shortest route, Miami is at least 220 miles away, which means we'd have to stop for fuel somewhere near Key Largo. And if this thing is as widespread and dangerous as Mr. Schultz claims it is, fuel may be hard to come by."

"What about Cuba?" asks Adam. "Aren't we pretty close to it? Like, what if we just went south and took a plane back to Miami? Or wherever else we want to go?"

Owen has been mostly quiet since injuring his shoulder, but he rolls his eyes derisively at this suggestion. "That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard. Do you think Cuba of all places is going to welcome a bunch of Americans, especially when there are quarantines going on like in Cancún?"

Adam reddens and goes quiet.

"What is the closest port in Florida, then?" Sarah interjects.

"Key West is very close," Morten says, rubbing his chin. "Plenty of fuel to get there and go elsewhere if we need."

"And the Navy air base is there," Hank adds. "My old man trained there. ****, I don't know about y'all, but I wouldn't mind having a few guys with guns standing between me and those psycho ****s."

Yolanda frowns, thinking. "There is another big city north of Key West, right? On the other side of the swamps?"

Morten nods. "Naples and Marco Island. And Fort Myers/Cape Coral is just north of that. We may have barely enough fuel to get there." A strange expression suddenly crosses his face. "But if we have trouble on the way there or run low on fuel, we would be stuck right in the middle of the Everglades coast, I think."

Jud suddenly pipes up. "What the ****. Have none of you ever seen a zombie movie? You go to a city, you're dead." He points up to the pilot's turret. "Hey, you have a GPS up there, right? We could, like find a little island or something with no people and go there."

Jamie snorts. "Screw that, I'm not living on some crappy little island."

Anna also shakes her head. "Almost everyone here needs medical care, and I need actual medical equipment. We have to get some of these people to a hospital as quickly as we can." She then looks at Morten. "Morten, you're the captain. Where do you think we should go?"

Morten's eyes flicker for a fraction of a second in the direction of Danielle, who is still rocking her daughter's body, totally unaware of the conversation around her. "I'm not making decisions anymore," he says in that flat, papery voice.

Harmon raises his uninjured arm. "If I could interject? Some of you don't seem to understand the extent and danger of what's happened. You are under the impression that everything will be normal again in a week or two. This is a dangerous mistake." His grandfatherly smile vanishes. "Wherever we go, the fewer people there, the better. It must be defensible. It must be isolated. We need time to lick our wounds and gauge the situation. We—"

"We put it to a vote," says Dariya quietly.

Harmon's lip twitches slightly, but then his smile returns. "Of course, we have to decide as a group. But please, everyone, keep what I said in mind."

"Okay, so who are the, um, functioning adults?" the Asian photographer asks, staring pointedly at the insensate bloody woman.

"Uh, what do you mean 'adult'? I'm voting too," Jamie protests.

Rosemary smiles wanly and tries to put her arm around the girl's shoulder. "Honey, why don't you help me with Gabe while they figure this—"

"Screw that," Jamie says, jerking roughly away. "This **** affects me too, so I should get a say in it."

"You're a foul-mouthed little girl, and you need to be quiet," Owen snaps, clutching his shoulder. "I have one hell of a headache right now, and I don't have the energy for listening to loud, ignorant children."

Jamie stands, her lips curved in a somehow unsettling smirk. It's as if there's something much darker that she's trying—and failing—to hide behind that smile. "Hey, fatty, **** you. In case you didn't notice, I'm here alone. My parents are gone. I'm not anyone's kid, especially yours, so sit and spin."

Those capable/eligible of voting are:

Ese
Maxwell
Steve
Tal
Anna
Danielle
Dariya
Datta
Éric
Hank
Harmon
Jud
Owen
Pete
Rosemary
Sarah
Speck
Yolanda
bathrobe woman
college-aged blonde
Asian photographer


You may support Jamie's right to vote or tell her to be quiet.

The main destination options are:

Miami. ≈220 miles/at least 32 hours away + any time required for refueling. Refueling will be necessary.
Havana, Cuba. ≈45 miles/6.5 hours away. Plenty of fuel to get there, but possibly a hostile environment for Americans.
Key West. ≈90 miles/13 hours away. Plenty of fuel to get there.
Naples/Marco Island/Fort Meyers/Cape Coral. ≈170 miles/1 day away. Just barely enough fuel to get there.
Other. You may use Morten's GPS (*coughGoogleMapscough*) to find another location that suits your fancy. For reference, your current location is here (http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/road.htm).


Some characters firmly support one option in particular, while others' votes are more up in the air, and others don't really care and will go with whatever the group wants. You may perform influence rolls to try to convince a person, and I will give bonuses or penalties depending on how well you argue your point to that character. Whichever option has the most votes will be where Morten takes the boat.

Or you guys could come up with some other way to decide the destination that isn't a vote, if you prefer. This is meant to be pretty sandboxy, so do what you'd like.

[xen0phile]

Ese, not having much else to do, rests against a bulkhead of the lifeboat. Normally he would try to strike up conversation in a situation like this, but a combination of exhaustion with a hurt throat makes him much more quiet than normal.


presumably he gains 2 FP from resting for 20 minutes


Then Morten brings up their destination for discussion. Ignoring Jamie and Owen's argument, Ese considers Harmon's comments. "Mister, ehh, Harmon? What... pues, something happened? O sea... not just to ship?"

[Inglenook]

Harmon nods. "Like I said in the bridge: while the rest of the ship's communications were out, mine were not. What we saw on the ship was just a glimpse of what's been happening everywhere else."

"Whoa, hold on." It's the photographer, and the color is slowly draining from his face. "So the rioting we heard about in the Cayman Islands …"

"Is the work of the sick people," Harmon finishes. "And that's why we need to choose our next step carefully. The places that we used to think of as safe are in all likelihood no longer so."

The others who hadn't heard the news react about as well as one could expect. The blonde girl sitting beside Maxwell buries her face in her hands and begins to sob, and Rosemary—still holding the little boy, Gabe—moves to sit by her, whispering soothing words in her ear. Datta also seems to take this hard, crying softly but miserably, while Hank angrily shakes his head and mutters a string of profanity that would a person's hair curl. Dariya says nothing, although her piercing stare softens somewhat. Éric just looks somewhat confused, and the blonde woman in the bathrobe seems numb with shock.

Jud's reaction is the strangest of all; he simply nods as if the information affirmed something for him. No sadness or surprise—It's as if Harmon told him that it was going to rain tomorrow.

[xen0phile]

As the immensity of Harmon's revelation sinks in, Ese's eyes widen, and his face loses some color. His mouth agape, he wants to object, but no words come.

This means these crazy ****ers are... everywhere? My God, the old man really does mean the entire world. Even home. My God. Mom; Inez; Fat Carlos; the old cinema I used to take Rosa. My God.

Ese folds his hands back together again, squeezing his rosary, clattering the beads, clutching to this small bit of material certainty, an islet of somatic and devotional normalness in a world that now seems washed away by the cruel, uncaring universe.

[dekova]

"Key West," Steve blurts out suddenly.

He pauses for a moment as if he's done, then continues.

"I'm not ready to accept that the whole US is infected and heading for Key West gets us in radio range pretty quick. Hopefully we can figure out what's going on. If things are cool, they have an airbase and a hospital. If things are bad, well... we'll be close to some small islands, fuel, supplies, stuff like that."

Some bookkeeping:
Steve did indeed rebandage Tal's wound.
I'm assuming Steve also had time to treat himself so here's a first aid roll and a "HP recovered" roll. [roll0] [roll1]
When treating Yolanda, Steve looked around for an equipment stash similar to what was on the rafts, I'm assuming there is one?

[Asherion]

Maxwell, after grimacing at the man's comments (although secretly agreeing about the fire), looks over at Steve. "Yes. Key West is close, gets us off this lifeboat, allows us to resupply, get to a hospital to care for the wounded, and gets us on land to decide what next to do."

He puts a tentative hand on the crying girl's shoulder, and says "We don't know the situation elsewhere. Maybe there will be places that aren't having this problem, or maybe it's a regional incident. We'll be OK. We've made it this far."

Of course, there's always the fact that some or all of us are probably infected, he thinks to himself, but what's to be done there...

Diplomacy (13) to convince any NPCs that need convincing: [roll0]

[Stegyre]

“Key West,” Tal agrees. “It’s close and as likely a place to resupply and find out more as anywhere. If the whole world is going to He'll in a handbag,” he observes, “the Hell part doesn't really factor into the decision.

"Where do you think we should go?” Tal asks Jamie, ignoring Owen. Dumba**!, thinking of Owen, Unless her vote is a tie breaker, what does it matter?

“Also, I suggest we back track enough to maybe tie on one or two of the life rafts. A lot of us have been bitten or otherwise exposed. We need a quarantine. Doctor, I think it's really your decision, but I'll volunteer myself for it, and I think my two new friends should join me. We can wear life vests,”[/COLOR] he looks around the interior hopefully for a supply of life vests, “and if anyone in quarantine goes crazy, the others can jump overboard and swim for the other raft. Someone can keep watch from here.”

If I volunteer myself, it will, I hope, make it easier for those two to come along. We can at least isolate the most likely problem, Tal thinks to himself.

As the others talk, or whatever, he makes his way to the Carvers, "I am so very sorry." He hugs Danielle briefly.

[xen0phile]

Shaking himself away from the dread inspired by Harmon's comments, Ese clings to a thread of optimism: Maybe he really does just mean the States. Maybe he is wrong. Even if the world has ended, we are still alive: we need to go somewhere!

Hearing four people so far argue for Key West, he tries to remember what it's like there: the cruise ships routinely stop there, but he is always at work, below decks, when they do. And, being of limited means in the pricey city of Miami, he never had the ability to do a road trip.


Area Knowledge: Florida at default, IQ-4 = 6
to try to remember important facts about Key West

OOC, specifically important for him to know when considering Key West:


There is the single highway leading to the island (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overseas_Highway)
There are many small, uninhabited islands around Key West (good for hiding from zombies)
Hank already mentioned the military base (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Air_Station_Key_West); but trying to remember important details about it (I looked it up on the Internet, it has a sort of medical clinic, but not really an ER: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/navybasesunits/ss/keywest_9.htm)
the location of Key West's main hospital (which *does* have an ER: http://goo.gl/maps/Tv6ip)
actually, the fact that the military base is mostly isolated on its own key by bridges (and thus easier to defend), *and* adjacent to that big hospital are important facts. If I succeed this roll, I'm going to have him point out these facts later on
there are 1600 active-duty personnel at NAS Key West, according to: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/key_west.htm



(some of these are really basic, and he'd probably know them even on a failure, but I want to be sure to not meta-game)

[roll0]

[Inglenook]

STEVE

You recover 5 HP, putting you at 9/11.

There is indeed a supply container at the lifeboat's stern. It contains the following:

- 540 units (.2 lbs each) of freeze-dried food ration bars. It has the consistancy of wax, the taste of cardboard, and it's not at all filling, but it contains most of the nutrients you need.
- 675 units (1.5 lbs each) of drinking water in a large reservoir built into the floor of the lifeboat.
- 2 hatchets (2 lbs each).
- A jackknife (.4 lbs).
- 2 buoyant oars (6 lbs each).
- 2 buoyant smoke signals (1 lb each).
- 12 red hand flares (.4 lbs each).
- 6 red, parachute flares (.5 lbs each).
- 1 plastic flare gun (.75 lbs)
- A waterproof flashlight (1 lb).
- 14 mylar blankets (1.5 lbs each). A fifteenth blanket is being used to cover Brenda.
- 2 3/4"x50' ropes (8 lbs each).
- An anchor (35 lbs) with a 3/4"x50' rope (8 lbs).
- 2 ring buoys (3 lbs each) with 2 3/8"x100' ropes (15 lbs each).
- A survival manual (1 lb).
- 900 eight-hour doses of meclozine (1 lb total).
- 150 plastic-lined seasickness bags (2 lbs total).
- A waterproof first-aid kit (2 lbs).
- A small mechanic's tool kit (7 lbs).
- A tackle box with fishing line, hooks, lures, weights and bobs (3 lbs).
- 3 can openers (.3 lbs each).
- A metal cup (.2 lbs).
- A metal dipper (.2 lbs)
- A small fire extinguisher (5 lbs).
- A signalling mirror (.3 lbs).
- 8 D-cell batteries (.3 lbs each)
- A metal whistle and lanyard.
- A bailer (.4 lbs)
- 2 metal buckets (2 lbs each)

The average person requires 3 units of food and 3 units of water per day.
1
MAXWELL

[roll0]
The girl looks up as you try to comfort her, her eyes shimmering with tears. "I watched my friends die. Nothing is going to be okay."

And it's then that you see it—How did you not notice it earlier? Perhaps it's nothing, just an injury sustained when the lifeboat fell. But something about it still unnerves you.

The blonde girl's teeth are slick with a patina of bright red blood.

1
TAL

Jamie beams ingratiatingly at Owen before answering your question. "If the old guy isn't full of crap, then Miami sounds ****ed. I'm okay with Key West."

There is a moment of silence as everyone considers your suggestion of quarantine—and then the older woman, Rosemary, says in a high, panicky voice, "What do you mean, 'exposed'?!"

Hank holds his bandaged fingers up almost accusingly. "And what the hell does a bite have to do with anything?!"

"It's always a bite," Jud interjects. He smiles awkwardly, looking around at everyone. "Biting is, like, what zombies do. Their M.O. or whatever."

"This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Owen mutters. The fact that no one seems to have taken his side in the argument against Jamie seems to have irritated him further.

The Asian photographer nods his head slightly. "Plus, zombies are dead, right? These people are just sick, not dead." He glances quickly at Anna, his eyebrow raised. "Right?"

Everyone stares at Anna, who sighs in resignation. It's apparent that she didn't want to have this particular conversation so soon, but her hand is forced.

"I can only tell you what I know," she begins, "and that's not much. Normally when something like this happens, we would contact doctors on the mainland. But with the satellite signal out … The point I'm trying to make is that the med facility wasn't designed for intense microbiological research.

"The first case I saw was a couple from New York: the Loebs. The man bit his wife and five others before he died. His wife got off the ship in Nassau, but the other five all got sick over the next few days.

"But at the same time, other cases started popping up, totally unrelated to the Loebs … or any of the bitten people, for that matter. A family from Chicago, a woman from Dallas, dozens of others. There was nothing in common, nothing we could find to link them together. We should have stopped then—gone back to Miami."

Anna suddenly starts and looks guiltily at the captain. "I'm sorry, Morten, I didn't mean—"

"Go on," he whispers, not taking his eyes away from the controls.

Anna grimaces but continues her explanation. "We thought maybe their conditions would improve. Maybe the aggression was due to a delirium caused by the fever. But the antibiotics didn't help. Nothing helped. And people kept getting sick. Some of them were bitten … but most of them weren't.

"We managed to isolate one of the vectors. One of chefs in Vincent's Diner was sick, and the next day a large number of people who ate there the previous day got sick as well. They closed the diner, but the damage was done.

"But it still doesn't explain most of the cases. These people didn't eat tainted food, they weren't bitten, and in many cases they didn't interact with anyone who was sick."

She turns to the photographer. "So yes, Mr—?"

"Neil. Neil Murga," he answers.

"—The sick are very much alive," Anna concludes. "And the disease is bacterial in nature, we figured out that much. But it's not like anything I've seen before. And yes, it appears to be transmissible through food in some way. And bites. And blood." Her eyes flicker nervously downward for a moment. "But there are clearly one or more other factors—other vectors—that can cause it to spread.

"Quarantine is useless, Mr. Faulkner. At this point we may all be infected and asymptomatic. What we need to do is get to a hospital as quickly as we possibly can. Not only for her," she says, motioning toward Brenda's unconscious form, "but for all of our sakes. I suggest we keep a very close eye on anyone who seems to be getting ill, and continue on to Key West."

"If that's where we're going, that is," Sarah points out. "Based on what we know, does anyone have an objection to Key West?"

Silence.

"Key West it is," Morten says, preparing to press the button and restart the engine."

You can press the go-back-and-get-rafts idea if you like, but you'd need to convince Morten, since he's the one piloting, or Anna, since she seems to be the main naysayer. Make influence rolls as needed.
1
ESE

Since the ship does indeed pass by and/or stop at Key West, often, I'll grant you a bonus to that roll, although most of it is common sense anyway.
The group has decided on Key West. From what you can recall, it appears to be as good a place as any.

It has hospitals, a large military base (isolated on its own island from the main town, no less), an is connected to the mainland by a single roadway that has to be around 100 miles in length? And worst case scenario: Key West is a short distance from dozens of small, isolated islands if all else fails.

The discussion seems to be breaking up. If you want to distract Datta and allow the others to decide exactly what to do with him, now is the time to do so.

[Inglenook]

Steve, you mentioned wanting to do something before going forward.

Tal, you can push for the quarantine raft if you'd like. I'll do your interaction with Danielle once you've decided to do so or not.

Ese, now is the time to distract Datta if you wish.

If you'd like to interact with anyone or do anything particular before we continue onward, I'd recommend doing so now. I'm going to be out of town this weekend without the ability to post, but (depending on your actions) the next adventure should begin on Monday!

[dekova]

Steve lets out a long breath and stares up at nothing in particular. He scrubs at his short hair for a moment while thinking then looks from Dr. Holm to Ese and then to Datta. Coming to a decision, he squares his shoulders and steels himself before returning to the supply container. Working methodically, he pockets the jackknife, hooks a coil of rope over his left arm and then takes a hatchet with his right hand.

With that done, Steve walks to stand in front of Datta and pauses. He looks the man over briefly before speaking in a quiet voice.

"You're infected. There may be help for you once we reach Key West but I have to tie you up until we get there."

A very slight pause then Steve continues: "There's no room for discussion on this. Stand up, turn around and put your hands behind your back."

He raises the hatchet in his hand ever so slightly.

Steve's "truthfulness" disadvantage comes into play!

So... it looks like Steve is slowing the roll on ending the adventure. Sorry about that guys but it's what he would do. Steve blew all of his perception rolls so Datta is the only one that Steve knows of that's sick. (From the conversation Tal and Ese were having when Steve was tending to them).

Steve is holding his action. If Datta takes any kind of aggressive action, Steve is stepping back (to get +1 retreat bonus on parry) and using all out defense (+2 from increased defense) and parrying with the hatchet (which would inflict damage on Datta as per "parrying unarmed attacks" pg 376)

If Datta lets Steve tie him up, it's hands behind back and then tied to support beam, post, or something similar.

There's one other thing that Steve will attend to before they hit land. He's going to inventory and organize supplies but this can be handled "off screen" if you like. It will basically consist of making sure they're ready to bug out from the lifeboat with the high value supplies that are on-board.

[Stegyre]

Tal shrugs at the doctor's comments.Eh, well, I thought it was a good idea, but I guess it won't much matter if it's only a few hours to Key West.
I.e., he won't push for going back for a life raft.

[xen0phile]

Ese, thinking Key West is a good idea, does not raise any objections to their plans to head there. Then he notices Steve is about to try to tie up Datta. Ese shambles over to the two.


If Datta starts to resist, Ese will try to talk him down: "Datta, please. Women and kids here. Big military base with hosptial in Key West. We'll all be safe there."

Feel free to roll Fast Talk for me (base skill of 9) if neccessary.

Also, if we go into "fast time", Ese will probably spend most of his time between now and Key West trying to keep Lurch awake (so he doesn't choke on his own blood).

[Inglenook]

ESE & STEVE

Datta backs away from Steve, raising his hands in protest. "I'm not sick! I wasn't bitten! See?!" He lifts up his shirt, showing off his hairy but otherwise unmarked belly, then begins to roll up his pant legs. The display is frantic and sad, in a way.

"You weren't bit because I took the bite for you," Hank mutters from off to the side, but some of the usual fire is gone from the man's voice. He's paled noticeably since hearing Anna's explanation and is holding his injured hand out away from himself, as if the distance will somehow slow the onset of the sickness.

Ese steps in. "Datta, please. Women and kids here. Big military base with hospital in Key West. We'll all be safe th—"

"I'M NOT SICK!" Datta screams at the top of his lungs, spraying blood-flecked saliva. At the rear of the lifeboat, the crying of the small boy, Gabe, intensifies.

There is a shocked silence, and Steve prepares to raise his hatchet—

But suddenly Datta bursts into tears and collapses to the floor of the lifeboat, covering his face. He offers no resistance as Steve ties his hands behind his back, then ties him to one of the metal columns that run between the floor and ceiling of the lifeboat.

As Steve kneels to finish the knot, Datta turns his head to watch. One of the blood vessels in Datta's left eye has burst and the tears leaking from it are tinged pink. Feverish heat rolls off the Indian man in waves but he seems to have stopped sweating. The smell coming off him is inhuman and nearly indescribable: a bitter (almost chemical) tang. It's not just a wet smell, but swampy—like some long-buried thing that's been dredged to the surface.

[Inglenook]

TAL

As Steve and Ese confront Datta, you make your way over to the Carvers. The three of them have shrunk away from the rest of the group (as much as is possible in a thirty-foot lifeboat), and in turn most of the other lifeboat passengers seem to be trying their hardest to avoid looking at the family. Either they're trying to leave the Carvers in peace to grieve, or they simply don't know how to deal with it.

Danielle's sobbing continues unabated—wracking, hitching gasps that cause her small form to shudder. It's somewhat impossible to hug her, since her face is buried in Pete's chest and she continues to cling to her daughter's corpse, but you manage to rub her consolingly on the shoulder.

At your condolences Pete says nothing, but inclines his head slightly in acknowledgment. His scrap with the deranged chef has bruised his face so much that his expression is impossible to read, but there's no mistaking the tears streaming down his face.

Cradled in her mother's arms, Emma stares at you and through you. Less than an hour ago her eyes were wide and young and bright; now they look like glassy marbles. Already her body is beginning to look unreal, waxy, doll-like. You're no forensic specialist, but from the strange angle of her head, it's pretty obvious that her neck was broken when the second painter line snapped, ratting everyone in the lifeboat around like peas in a tin can.

Adam sits several feet from his parents, staring at his sister's body. As you approach, his dark eyes, so much like Danielle's, scan your bloody and bandaged face. His stare lingers on the bloodiest patch of gauze—your upper cheek—and you can see in his expression that he realizes what you're hiding under there.

Your eyes meet his, and it's clear what he's thinking:

I'm sorry, too.

[Inglenook]

It's now a little after 3 AM. The lifeboat will arrive in Key West at around 4 PM.

If you'd like to do anything before morning, include it in your next post (and last post of the adventure!).

Once everyone has given the okay, I'll post a small event that happens in the morning, and then the next adventure will begin.

Steve's Final Actions:
- take inventory
- hours of sleep: ???

Ese's Final Actions:
- keep Lurch awake
- hours of sleep: ???

Maxwell's Final Actions:
- hours of sleep: ???

Tal's Final Actions:
- hours of sleep: ???

[dekova]

As he finishes with Datta, Steve takes the time to add a coil of rope - not too tight - around the man's neck and around the column.

Sadly, the coil of rope around the neck and column is so Datta can safely be killed via choking from behind if he becomes violent.

Standing again, Steve surveys the interior of the lifeboat and mentally counts the occupants. With that done, he returns to the lifeboat's supplies and starts pulling out and opening seasickness bags while speaking loudly for everyone to hear.

"We don't know what's waiting for us in Key West, everything could be fine or it could be pretty bad. We may have to leave the lifeboat in a hurry so I'm giving everyone a bag with rations in it."

"We've got plenty of water here but we don't want to risk infection from everyone sharing this one cup. If you're thirsty, ladle some water into one of these extra plastic-lined bags and drink from that."

Each bag is getting 16 rations.

Steve is also taking the following OUT of the canvas bag:
Battle Lantern
Bolt Cutters
Crowbar

Steve is adding the following to the canvas bag:
Survival Manual
Fresh first aid kit
Tackle Box
A can opener
50' Rope
8 D-cells
His bag of ration bars
Extra 12 ration bars

Steve is specifically looking for volunteers to take responsibility for:
Battle Lantern
Waterproof flashlight
The other hatchet
Mechanic's tool kit
Crowbar
Bolt Cutters
The already open first aid kit

If anyone objects to him taking anything he's putting in the bag, he'll give it up to them.


"We should try to get some rest but we need to keep a couple people up and alert at all times to watch for signs of infection."

Steve will look for some relatively healthy folks to volunteer for 2-hour shifts of watch duty. There should be at least two people awake and "on watch" at any time looking for signs of infection (fever, etc.). Steve will volunteer for one of them, doesn't matter which.

After that, he'll:
1. Check on Brenda
2. Drink some water
3. Wedge himself into a corner where he feels the safest
4. Take the batteries out of the walkie talkie and pen knife (both of which were submerged in sea water... he'll see if they work after then have a chance to dry out)
5. Sleep as he's able.

[Asherion]

Maxwell will sleep where possible, and will keep an eye on the girl with the bloody mouth, but will not act on that until necessary.

Maxwell will take a hatchet or light or whatever is needed for him to carry. If anyone is completely unarmed perhaps they'd want a hatchet though.

[xen0phile]

As things start to settle down, Ese goes over to the guy who cannot speak English. "¿Halbas castellano? ¿Español?"


If he cannot speak Spanish, Ese will ask "¿Portugués? ¿Italiano?"

(Italian and Portugese are similar enough to Spanish that I, not even a native Spanish speaker, can somewhat understand what is being said.)

Ese will volunteer to take first watch. He'll also ask the doctor or Steve how to best deal with Lurch: for example, is it bad to offer him water? He'll probably end up sleeping most of the rest of the time after he is relieved.

If Hank doesn't volunteer to carry around the toolkit Steve found, Ese will.

[Stegyre]

Tal will just settle down near the Carvers to get some much-needed rest. He won't volunteer for a watch -- he feels there are plenty of uninsured people to do so -- but will watch if asked.

[Inglenook]

STEVE

As you loosely tie Datta's neck to the column, you suddenly hear a cool voice behind you.

"Good idea."

It's John Smith. He's awake now, sitting up and watching you with an inscrutable expression on his face. He looks around briefly at the rest of the group, most of whom are beginning to shut their eyes and try to fall asleep. And who could blame them? Even nightmares would be preferable to the waking nightmare you've all experienced over the last few hours.

Still, John seems entirely unconcerned with where he is or the state of the other passengers or the fact that there's a dead little girl lying only a few yards away. "My rifle?" he asks you, but he can immediately see on your face that you have no idea where his rifle went. "I liked that gun," is all he says before standing and moving over to where Schultz and Speck are sitting.

There are thirty-one living people in the lifeboat, and you quickly put together bags of rations for each of them. Maxwell volunteers to take the hatchet, while Ese takes the tool kit.

The crowbar, waterproof flashlight, bolt cutters and the used first aid kit are taken by Hank, Neil, Dariya and Anna, respectively. No one seems to want to take the battle lantern.

1
ESE

The dark-haired young man shakes his head in confusion at your attempts to communicate. Again he starts to babble in his own tongue, pointing at each of his wounded forearms and gesticulating wildly.

You have no clue what he's going on about, but it sounds like he might be rambling about someone named Ellen?

IQ roll: [roll0]
After listening to his chatter for several moments, you realize that something about the cadence and phonology is vaguely familiar: There were four men who would play cards in the crew mess hall on occasion, jabbering and laughing at ribald jokes told in a similar tongue. One of them might even have been this guy—it's hard to remember. If memory serves, though, the four men were all Greeks.

Eventually the young man throws up his hands in resignation, sighs, and points to his own chest. "Spiros. Matsoukis," he says slowly. It appears to be his name.

1
MAXWELL

Keeping an eye on the young woman beside you with the bloody teeth, you do your best to get some shuteye—easier said than done. Further upset by Datta's outburst, the young boy, Gabe, continues to sniffle and sob despite all Rosemary's attempts to console him.

After several minutes of this the blonde woman in the bathrobe, who is sitting on the other side of the bloody woman, has had enough. "Would you please shut your brat up?!" she snarls at Rosemary, massaging her temples.

Éric slides down the bench to sit next to the blonde woman, that ever-present dumb grin on his face. "Grace," he whispers to the woman in the bathrobe, "he's just a baby." Éric tries to plant an awkward kiss on Grace's neck, but she pulls away in disgust.

Rosemary looks scandalized at Grace's rudeness, and hurries to the other end of the lifeboat with Gabe cradled in her arms.

With the noise of the child's crying somewhat diminished, you are at last able to drift off.

1
TAL

Danielle's low, rhythmic sobbing—horrible as it might be—is somehow soporific. The pain from the bruises and cuts (and bites) is nothing compared to the dull exhaustion left behind by a constant outpouring of adrenaline; in a matter of minutes to are able to fall into a deep, troubled slumber.

As you sleep, the doll-like eyes of Emma's corpse seem to watch over you.

[Inglenook]

ESE

You volunteer to take first watch alongside Lurch. Morten has lowered the interior lights of the lifeboat so that people can go to sleep, but even in the low light you can see how terrible your roommate looks.

Never tan by any means, Lurch's skin is now almost chalk-white, and dark rings of pain and exhaustion circle his eyes; a beard of tacky blood covers his chin and stains his lips and shirt. If it were Halloween, he'd have one hell of a vampire costume ready to go.

Checking him again, Anna said that the bleeding of Lurch's tongue had slowed to a trickle, but until he could get to the hospital it would be wiser not to do anything that might work against the clotting, including giving Lurch water. So the two of you sit in silence, watching the others until Steve and Anna take over watch.

As you go to sleep, the sound of the crazed man's laughter—the one who threw you over the railing to Deck 07—seems to follow you down into the darkness.

1
STEVE

While Ese and Lurch keep watch, you check in on Brenda.

It's as if she's somehow shrunken. Her skin seems to large for her, sagging from her cheekbones like yellowed candle wax. Her breath is quick and shallow and gurgling, and behind her closed eyelids her eyes are moving furiously.

When you pull back the mylar blanket you see that her bandages are almost entirely soaked through with blood; the bench she is lying on and the floor beneath her are sticky with it. Her attention drawn by the crinkling of the mylar, Anna immediately comes over and changes the injured woman's dressing without a word.

As she finishes, she gives you a long look. "Considering where the knife entered," she says, pointing at Brenda's spine, "it will be a miracle if she's able to walk after this." Although by the tone of her voice, it's clear that Anna doesn't believe there will be an "after this" for Brenda.

You nestle up in the corner of the lifeboat, drinking some water and taking the batteries out of your walkie and penlight so they can dry. When it's time for you and Anna to take over watch, Anna sits with you for only a short while before becoming restless. She goes to stand next to Morten's turret, talking with him in a low voice as he steers through the dark waters of the Caribbean. It's impossible to make out what they're saying over the hum of the engine (not to mention the fact that they're speaking in Norwegian), but you can still hear hollowness in Morten's voice, and soothing consolation in Anna's.

Less than an hour into your shift, Neil approaches you with one of the mylar blankets. "You look beat," he says, handing it to you. "I've got this. You get some rest."

It seems like forever before you're able to fall asleep, and Anna and Morten's soft voices echo in your dreams.

[Inglenook]

TAL

You are woken by the sound of voices. Groggily, you check the time on your iPhone: 6:25—almost sunrise, if the pale light filtering through the vinyl doors of the lifeboat is any indication.

"I'm going to have a smoke, get some fresh air, maybe rest my eyes a bit," says the first voice, which you recognize as the captain's. "Do you think you can pilot this for a little while?"

The second voice also belongs to a man, possibly Neil the photographer? "Uh, I'm not sure about that, I've never—"

"There's nothing to it. All you have to do is keep it on course, see? If you stray off the path, the GPS shows you your degree of error and how to correct it. And if you need to stop the boat, just use the throttle right here."

Rustling in the darkness—the sound of the supply container opening and closing—and then Morten is walking by. He slides open the accordion front hatch of the lifeboat only a couple yards away from where you're sitting. He notices that you're awake, and as your eyes meet, you see the bleak emptiness in his expression. And then he's outside, closing the hatch behind him.

There is a small thump as he climbs atop the raft, and then the almost imperceptible sound of a lighter being struck. You fall back asleep.

[Inglenook]

EVERYONE

"Nei, nei, nei …"

People begin to awaken at the sound of the anguished sobbing, blinking in the bright sunlight filtering through the vinyl doors. It has all the makings of a beautiful day, and for a moment the memory of what happened yesterday feels like some distant nightmare.

At least until they notice their bruises, their bites, the corpses in the lifeboat, the stink of Datta's sickness, the coppery tang of blood in the air.

The sobbing is coming from outside, and already people are beginning to move—Tal, nearest the front hatch, Steve and Yolanda, Ese and Lurch, Éric and Maxwell, Dariya and Hank with their pipe and crowbar, Neil after killing the engine. Everyone is instantly in adrenaline mode and moving toward the nearest doorway, not knowing what is happening but already dreading finding out.

They won't have to wait long.

It's Anna. She's on her hands knees right atop the lifeboat, her face buried in her hands, her body wracked with sobs. The clinical veneer being stripped away makes her seem smaller, frailer. And then Yolanda is there, gently grabbing Anna's shoulders and turning her away from the terrible scene which she discovered.

Morten is leaned against the front of the lifeboat, his legs dangling limply around each side of the davit hook base, keeping him from falling. His face is turned slightly right toward the east as if he's enjoying basking in the newly-risen sun, but his expression is the exact same one that Tal saw only a few hours ago—dull, hollow resignation.

In one of Morten's hands is a bent, water-stained photograph. Clenched in the other is the jackknife—pilfered from the supply container—which he used to slit his own wrists.

Partially dried now, the blood running down the hull of the lifeboat looks almost black against the day-glo orange. As it reaches the white paint of the lower hull, however, it seems to shine bright red before trailing into the sea.

The captain had gone down with his ship after all; it had just taken his body a few hours to catch up.

[dekova]

Steve stares quietly for a moment then squeezes his way past the others and makes his way to the Captain. Crouching down, he coaxes the picture and the knife from the man's lifeless fingers. Steve looks briefly at the picture then slips it into the captain's shirt pocket. Wiping the blood from the knife, he folds it and puts it in his own pocket.

Steve hesitates for a moment, looking unsure, before simply closing the captain's eyes with his fingers and turning to go back inside the lifeboat.

[Inglenook]

http://patrickburk.x10.mx/thedyingofthelight/adventures/02/logo.png

Chapter 2:
LOCK AND KEY

---




Starkey was looking at the monitors again. "My daughter gave me a book of poems some years ago. By a man named Yeets. She said every military man should read Yeets. I think it was her idea of a joke. You ever heard of Yeets, Len?"



"I think so," Creighton said, considering and rejecting the idea of telling Starkey the man's name was pronounced Yates.



"I read every line," Starkey said, as he peered into the eternal silence of the cafeteria. "Mostly because she thought I wouldn't. It's a mistake to become too predictable. I didn't understand much of it—I believe the man must have been crazy—but I read it. Funny poetry. Didn't always rhyme. But there was one poem in that book that I've never been able to get out of my mind. It seemed as if that man was describing everything I dedicated my life to, its hopelessness, its damned nobility. He said that things fall apart. He said the center doesn't hold. I believe he meant that things get flaky, Len. That's what I believe he meant. Yeets knew that sooner or later things get goddam flaky around the edges even if he didn't know anything else."



"Yes, sir," Creighton said quietly.



"The end of it gave me goosebumps the first time I read it, and it still does. I've got that part by heart, "'What rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?'"



Creighton stood silent. He had nothing to say.



"The beast is on its way," Starkey said, turning around. He was weeping and grinning. "It's on its way, and it's a good deal rougher than that fellow Yeets ever could have imagined. Things are falling apart. The job is to hold as much as we can for as long as we can."





— The Stand by Stephen King

1



Friday, June 08, 2012. 4:47 PM.

"Stay where I can see you," Trish warned, the worry clearly audible in her voice.

Tyler stared at her with solemn eyes and nodded, taking Ben's hand and leading his little brother out onto the brilliant white beach only a short distance away. Ben immediately ran toward the water, screaming happily as the waves splashed around his ankles. Trish couldn't help but smile slightly.

As she watched her sons, she reflected for the millionth time just how much they looked like their father. There were tiny traces of Trish hidden in their features—something in the curve of their noses, the bows of their lips, the relative paleness of their skin. The rest, however, was all Ed: his pointed chin; his thick, straight hair; his dark, almond-shaped eyes. If she'd been a stranger, Trish would have found it hard to believe that they were her children at all.

It was probably a blessing, in any case; Trish McKenna had never considered herself a "looker". Perhaps once upon a time in her early twenties she might have conceded that she was "pretty", but the ravages of single motherhood had left her looking and feeling years older than her actual age. She was a tall, lanky woman with a long face and square jaw framed by wavy, dark-blonde hair. Poorly-fitted cat eye glasses perched precariously on the bridge of her nose. Her brow was creased with worry lines, and there was a tightness around her mouth that lent a certain anxiety even to her smiles.

Of course, now she really was anxious. No, more than anxious—terrified. Who wouldn't be after the events of the last week?

Trish rarely watched the news; it was depressing and made her feel powerless. But as the days passed, she had found herself glued to the screen, unable to look away from the developing madness, unable to keep pretending that things would be okay.

The evening of Sunday, June 3rd: An outbreak of dozens of cases of what that the media had dubbed "the Burmese Flu", unusual in the fact that it caused mouth sores in the infected. Simultaneously, large cities reported spikes in violent crime; an elderly woman murdered her husband of forty years, and as they led her away, she turned to the camera, screaming, "I don't understand!"

Monday the 4th: A man named Ron Bittle, staying at a small motel in Nebraska, made headlines when he went door-to-door in the early morning, murdering ten people. Throughout the day there were a series of what social analysts called copycat murders—ostensibly mentally ill people latching on to the day's horrific news and deciding to go out with a bang. Some sort of mass, psychotic hysteria. A man in a London tube station pushed a woman and her two children underneath a train before jumping onto the rails himself. A six-year-old burnt down his neighbor's house, killing the elderly couple inside. A high school girl in Japan brutally murdered her best friends with her bare hands. In each case, the killer was either dead or berserk when the police arrived. The Burmese Flu continued to spread like wildfire.

Tuesday the 5th: Thousands across the world died from the flu. Schools across the nations were closed. WHO declared a pandemic, calling it the worst pathogenic event since the Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918. The director of the CDC, his face a mask of calm, issued a statement telling everyone to remain indoors if possible, and to avoid contact with anyone who was ill. Reports of large-scale rioting arrived from Mumbai, Sao Paolo, Beijing.

By this time, people were beginning to flee the cities. As Trish sat at the window of her small apartment looking down at the streets of Key West, she watched hundreds of honking cars stuck in place, all of them trying to escape to the mainland via the narrow Overseas Highway. Trying to leave that way was impossible, but there was another option.

Each carrying a backpack of supplies, Trish, Tyler and Ben had walked the mile to the Easton Key West Marina, boarding the small ferry that carried her each day to her place of work: the Easton Cottages on Sunset Key, only a few hundred feet off the coast of Key West.

Trish was a masseuse at the spa, and a fairly good one a that. It had little to do with actual skill, but rather it was her appearance. A massage by someone who looked like they'd be comfortable in a business suit, for example, might seem "inauthentic"; but there was a certain earthiness to Trish that jibed perfectly with most people's idea of how a masseuse should look. She looked like someone who might have once been a hippie, or a believer in crystal vibrations and tarot cards, or a practitioner of yoga. (In truth she was none of these things.)

Clustered with several other employees around the television in the office of the cottage manager Bill's office, Trish watched the rioting spread in L.A., New York, Chicago, Atlanta. Of course it wasn't rioting at all, as they quickly discovered—it was the sick people, gone entirely mad.

A few hours before the power went, a video had been uploaded to YouTube. It was taken down almost immediately, but the damage had been done; in only a few minutes it had been mirrored across hundreds of websites.

In the video, throngs of people ran through the smoke-filled streets of a city, their screams filling the air. Flecks of ash rained down from the sky, smudging the camera lens. Out of the smoke, a dark figure suddenly emerged, launching itself at the woman running in front of the cameraman. The cameraman screamed, turning and running—but in that fraction of a second before he turned, the face of the attacker was clear:

It was a man, his eyes rolling madly in his head, his face covered in the ugly purple blossoms of burst blood vessels. And he was tearing out the throat of the woman he attacked, with his teeth.

The film cut sharply and suddenly showed a distant shot of a dozen people in white Hazmat uniforms; the group stood around a blazing pile of human corpses. The cameraman's hand was trembling, but there was no mistaking the fact that some of the bodies on the pyre were continuing to twitch as they burned.

Although the power to the television was gone, with a little ingenuity they had been able to get Mr. Cathers' FM satellite radio working. Many of the stations were dead air, but all the ones that remained had been broadcasting the same message: a disturbingly cheerful call on behalf of the U.S. government to stay indoors, avoid contact with the ill, and comply with any instructions given by the military.

And comply they had.

Unbeknownst to them at the time, the tides had turned. People from the mainland had begun swarming down the Overseas Highway toward Key West—too many people, panicked and driven to desperation, a great many of them surely sick.

They hadn't been able to see the explosion from Sunset Key, but they had certainly heard it—a vast boom that had echoed across the water like thunder. To keep the sick and dying from invading the lower Keys, the Navy had done the only thing they could: destroyed the Overseas Highway/bridge.

When the team of marines and corpsmen arrived on Sunset Key, telling Bill that each of the lower Keys was under military quarantine to prevent the sickness from spreading further, Bill had been happy to accept and offer assistance.

But as the refugees had begun pouring in from the sea, things had gone from bad to worse. Most of them were people from the north who had fled their homes by boat, hoping to find safety in the isolation of the Keys. At first the Navy had directed the newcomers to Wisteria Island just to the north, but as it became full they had starting shunting the excess to Sunset Key.

A boat had stopped at the pier yesterday with supplies, which had been immediately divvied out by the military squad who was overseeing Sunset Key. But it was nowhere near enough to keep this number of people properly fed; the restaurant's kitchen had already begun to run low, and she imagined that the pantries of the Key's residents were in a similar state. And this morning, the water had at last stopped running.

Soon people were going to start getting hungry and thirsty. And when hungry, thirsty, tired, injured, confused people were crammed on a rock like like sardines in a can …

Well, as Ed would have said: "Sh*ts going to go down."

As Trish hung her children's hand-washed laundry on the rudimentary clothesline she had strung up in Joya's backyard, a bright orange dot on the horizon caught her eye.

Another boat, steadily approaching.

God help us, Trish thought tiredly, reaching into the bucket for another clothespin.

[Inglenook]

ESE, MAXWELL, STEVE & TAL

It's a disarmingly beautiful day, all things considered. The sun shines through the vinyl doors and hatches of the lifeboat, which have been opened (save the front hatch) to allow the warm Caribbean breeze to blow through the cabin. Not even the sea air can completely remove the strange funk that lingers inside the lifeboat, though: a combination of blood, spent adrenaline, Datta's sickness, and the sickening-sweet smell of the chef's ruined corpse beginning to bloat.

Neil is pushing the lifeboat as quickly as it will go, and the drone of the engine fills the air, making conversation difficult. This turns out not to be too much of a problem; since discovering Morten's corpse this morning, most people haven't really felt like talking a great deal.

No one wanted to be the one to move him, so Morton's body remains propped up outside at the front of the boat like some grotesque figurehead on the prow of a ship.

Hank sits atop the lifeboat keeping watch, covering his eyes whenever someone steps outside to use the bathroom over the edge of the boat.

Anna sits near Brenda, apart from the rest of the group. Her tears have subsided, but the grim expression of pain on her face as stares down at the injured woman may be even worse.

The Carvers also remain somewhat separated from everyone else. Danielle no longer clings to her daughter's body but instead stares out at the sea with bloodshot eyes, her mind clearly elsewhere. Pete has covered Emma in one of the mylar blankets.

1
ESE

When you awoke this morning, you found you could barely speak for the bruising on your throat. The flesh there is swollen and almost black, and every movement of your head is incredibly painful.

Lurch half-dozes beside you, clearly exhausted but unable to fall asleep due to pain from his severed tongue. He turns his head to look at you with mournful eyes and begins to slowly trace the shapes of four letters across the metal bench you're both sitting on. His raised eyebrows make it clear that it's a question:

WHEN

1
MAXWELL

You were somewhat stiff this morning from your fall to the water, but compared to most of the people in the lifeboat, you're in great condition.

Éric sits beside you, between you and the bloody woman. For the last thirty minutes he's been talking to her, poking her shoulder, waving his hand in front of her face—anything to elicit a reaction. She simply continues to stare vacantly at the floor, nothing to indicate she's alive aside from the rise and fall of her chest and the occasional blink.

At last Éric gives up and turns to you. "What do you think is the deal with Tintin here?"

He sees the clear confusion on your face at the name Tintin, and—grinning widely—holds up a keycard from the Calypso Queen. "She had this, ah, clutched in her hand."

The room number on the keycard: 1010.

The blonde girl next to you, who introduced herself this morning as Brittany, turns her head slightly to look at the card as well, and then gives Éric a tired, disgusted look. "How can you be making jokes right now?"

Éric's smile falters slightly and he shrugs. "I thought it was a good name, so we have something to call her."

1
STEVE

You should be reaching Key West fairly shortly, if the GPS in any indication. And since you seemed to be in charge of supplies, you have one last opportunity to take inventory. The remaining unclaimed items include:

- 32 units (.2 lbs each) of freeze-dried food ration bars.
- 614 units (1.5 lbs each) of drinking water in a large reservoir built into the floor of the lifeboat.
- 2 buoyant oars (6 lbs each).
- 2 buoyant smoke signals (1 lb each).
- 12 red hand flares (.4 lbs each).
- 6 red, parachute flares (.5 lbs each).
- 1 plastic flare gun (.75 lbs)
- 13 mylar blankets (1.5 lbs each). A fifteenth and sixteenth are being used by Brenda and Pete (to cover Emma).
- An anchor (35 lbs) with a 3/4"x50' rope (8 lbs).
- 2 ring buoys (3 lbs each) with 2 3/8"x100' ropes (15 lbs each).
- 896 eight-hour doses of meclozine (1 lb total).
- 84 plastic-lined seasickness bags (1.5 lbs total).
- 2 can openers (.3 lbs each).
- A metal cup (.2 lbs).
- A metal dipper (.2 lbs)
- A small fire extinguisher (5 lbs).
- A signalling mirror (.3 lbs).
- A metal whistle and lanyard.
- A bailer (.4 lbs)
- 2 metal buckets (2 lbs each)
- Danielle's taser (apparently damaged during her scrap with the chef; one of the prongs is broken and it no longer puts out an electric arc).
- A battle lantern.

"I think I see land!" Hank calls out from the roof of the lifeboat.

1
TAL

Waking up this morning was something like torture. You still can't feel most of your injured hand, which is probably a blessing, but you can see it: red and oozing when you lift the bandage—a few spots with grey, exposed muscle.

The cuts on your neck continue to ooze yellowish fluid, and the flesh surrounding them feels strangely bloated and hot.

The crater in your upper cheek is the worst, though; every movement of your face is agony. And there's what Anna said about bites …

[dekova]

614 units (1.5 lbs each) of drinking water in a large reservoir built into the floor of the lifeboat.

Is this one large "tank" with lots of water in it or is it a bunch of individual water packs (like juice packs)?

I'll have a post up in a couple hours.

[Inglenook]

One large tank full of water.

[Inglenook]

ESE, MAXWELL, STEVE & TAL

Suddenly, the radio in the pilot's turret next to Neil squeals with a burst of static. Neil swears loudly, so startled that he almost falls out of the seat, but his tirade of profanity is cut short by the bored-sounding voice that resonates through the VHF handset.

"Orange boat southwest of Key West: This is SN Engle of the United States Navy. What is your point of origin? How many are aboard and how many are sick? Over."

Neil removes the VHF from its rack and holds it out as if it's a live snake, waiting for someone else to take it.

Also, everyone may make a HT roll because you rested. If you succeed, you will regain 1 HP.
1
VALENTINE

The light is blinding.

"Doc, you have to wake up."

You sit up stiffly from the massage table, squinting against the torrent of sunlight pouring through the now-open door. A man's form is outlined against the light, and as your eyes adjust you realize that it's Pope.

Brendan Pope is as green as they come, fresh out of boot. He's almost childlike in appearance: short and skinny with a smooth face, large, dark blue eyes, and protuberant ears. Despite being only twenty years old, he's starting to lose his hair (which was already blonde and baby-fine). You're quite certain that the other men—Laureano, especially—must tease him mercilessly about it.

Pope looks anxious. "Sorry, Doc, but Finch told me to find you. Engle says there's another boat coming in with a bunch of people, and Finch needs you down at the pier to OK them."

Having not slept for almost 48 hours, you were finally given a chance to rest this morning, and you immediately headed to the nearest bed you could think of: the soft massage tables just downstairs from the office in which Finch had set up headquarters.

You are in the spa at the Easton Cottage Resort on Sunset Key. The spa is located in the same building as the resort's restaurant and guest services. The manager's office—which Sgt. Finch has requisitioned—is upstairs.

The spa is overall rather small. The main lobby (http://images.oyster.com/florida-keys/hotels/sunset-key-guest-cottages-a-westin-resort/photos/amenities--v937654-63-1024.jpg) (which connects to the guest services area (http://images.oyster.com/florida-keys/hotels/sunset-key-guest-cottages-a-westin-resort/photos/amenities--v937631-63-1024.jpg)) leads to a hallway (http://images.oyster.com/florida-keys/hotels/sunset-key-guest-cottages-a-westin-resort/photos/amenities--v937638-63-1024.jpg), connecting a makeover area (http://images.oyster.com/florida-keys/hotels/sunset-key-guest-cottages-a-westin-resort/photos/amenities--v937633-63-1024.jpg) and five spa rooms (http://images.oyster.com/florida-keys/hotels/sunset-key-guest-cottages-a-westin-resort/photos/amenities--v937640-63-1024.jpg). Each room has double doors leading out onto a small, private veranda (http://images.oyster.com/florida-keys/hotels/sunset-key-guest-cottages-a-westin-resort/photos/amenities--v937643-63-1024.jpg), and each room also has an adjoining private bathroom.

You are in room #1, closest to the lobby. The walls are painted a comforting pale blue and tastefully-placed tropical flowers fill the room with their heady scent. You are sitting on a massage table, wearing only your pants and wrapped in a blanket. Your shirt and boots lie nearby on a small table alongside massage oils, a CD player, and a map of the Key which the resort manager Bill supplied you with. Pope has thrown open the veranda doors, flooding the room with sunlight.

Your head is still rather fuzzy from sleep, but everything will come back to you in a few minutes.

[dekova]

I'm going to pause and let someone else grab the mic so Steve's not hogging all the action.

Regarding food, I had calced it at 33 bags with 16 bars each with 12 left over. Seems I had the math screwed up. I think I see how they got split up though:
31 *16 = 496
12 in bag
32 left over.
Let me know if the 31 count was before or after Morten killed himself. If before, then we have an extra bag.

Here's my HT roll, target 12: [roll0]

I'll play with the inventory one more time after someone else does something with the mic

[Inglenook]

The 31 was counting Morten, so now there's an extra bag with 16 still in it.

[Doc_Pippin]

Blurry eyed and not near bushy tailed, Gideon wipes what little sleep he had from his eyes. "Errrr," he half growls at Pope, the false motivation hiding the obvious irritation at having to be awake. His hand instinctively reachs for his rifle, Lily. Named in the old and odd tradition of the service. It had long been one of very few sources of comfort in his career. As soon as he had assured himself that the weapon was still within arms reach he began to but is boots on.

Unlike Pope, Valentine had been around for some time, and it was plain to see. Where Pope's uniform was fresh and bright, his was sun bleached and worn as thin as pajama's, and where Pope's boots were shined and slick with polish, Valentine's were wore to near nothingness and had no semblence of ever being polished. Finally on his chest he war two unanodized pieces (http://images-mediawiki-sites.thefullwiki.org/04/1/6/3/90681362805791636.jpeg) of metal (http://www.stripes.com/polopoly_fs/1.57620.1273631153!/image/754299651.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_490/754299651.jpg), warfare devices that spoke volumes. These were the only awards worn in tactical uniforms. They symbolized a life of chosen hardship and the ill effects that it would bring with it. It was for these reasons that he had been known as an infamous Devil Doc, or in layman's terms a Senior Fleet Marine Force Corpsman.

After finishing his mourning routine of getting dressed and shaving (as best he could), the now HM2 Valentine threw his hefty Med bag over on shoulder and slung Lily over the other, he had an odd feeling that today was going to be another endless day of problems.

Collar insignia
Right side (http://www.vanguardmil.com/images/medium/00000002136100_MED.jpg) (as worn) & Left Side (http://www.marinecorpsactivewear.com/mcaw/productpics/np-6_small.jpg) as worn

[dekova]

"Orange boat southwest of Key West: This is SN Engle of the United States Navy. What is your point of origin? How many are aboard and how many are sick? Over."

Neil removes the VHF from its rack and holds it out as if it's a live snake, waiting for someone else to take it.


Steve looks from Neil to the others in the lifeboat, waiting for someone to step forward and take the mic. After a moment's pause he takes a few quick, long strides and accepts the mic from Neil's outstretched hand.

Keying the mic: "We're crew and passengers from the Calypso Queen cruiseship. We have thirty-one..." Steve catches himself and makes a correction. "We have thirty people on-board, a handful in need of immediate medical attention. At least one person in early stages of infection, he's been restrained. Over"

Probably not good that the guy with the honesty disadvantage has the mic. :smallredface:

As he finishes talking, he looks around to locate Eric. "Hey Eric, I need you to drag the captain off of the bow of the boat. It may be too late but I don't want that to be the first thing they see."