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

[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."

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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

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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.

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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.

"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.

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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


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."

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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.

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roll versus Perception of 11 (plus or minus and bonus or penalty GM imposes) to not walk past the ladder:
(3d6)[13]

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.

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Perception: (3d6)[11]

[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

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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 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.

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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.

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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.

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Climbing rules on page 349

[Stegyre]

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Combat paralysis roll: (3d6)[10]
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.

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 . . . .

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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.

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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]

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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

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DX-4, because of your injured hand (7): (3d6)[11]

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.

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

---

1
STEVE

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(3d6)[10]

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.

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



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.

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

[Inglenook]

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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]

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Sorry if you're hung up on me again

Maxwell 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.

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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.

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Plan is to:

1. Land on the boat (fingers crossed).
2. Take a death-grip on the painter line because the boat is going to move a LOT when Eric cuts his line.
3. 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.
4. Cut the line.

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

[xen0phile]

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

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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
(3d6)[12]

[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

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DX+1 (13) to land atop the lifeboat: (3d6)[9]

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.

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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!"

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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: (3d6)[17] (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.

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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:(3d6)[15]
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.

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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]

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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.

[Inglenook]

ESE

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(3d6)[15]
(3d6)[14]

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.

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You may act before him.

[Asherion]

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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

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DX due to the sudden snapping of Éric's painter: (3d6)[15]

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.

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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.

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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): (3d6)[13]
Damage roll, if swimming roll fails: (2d6)[7]
Hit location: (3d6)[9]

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.

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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

(3d6)[8]

[Inglenook]

TAL

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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): (3d6)[15]

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.

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