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

[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.

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'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: (3d6)[8]

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

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Strength Check: (3d6)[10]

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.

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Knot-Tying (SL12): (3d6)[12]

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).

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Vision Check: (3d6)[6]
Hearing Check: (3d6)[9]

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.

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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): (3d6)[10]

[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]

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Tal may need to specify whether he's headed down the port or starboard side.

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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

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(3d6)[12]

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

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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):

(3d6)[8]
(3d6)[10]
(3d6)[8]
(3d6)[10]
(3d6)[12]
(3d6)[15]

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]

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Derp.

---

* post roll count doesn't match database

[Inglenook]

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Partial Surprise Initiative roll for Tal: (1d6)[5]
Initiative Roll for the infected man: (1d6)[1]

[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

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Tal's Combat Paralysis HT Roll: (3d6)[11]

And success!

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?"

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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.

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

[Stegyre]

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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!

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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.

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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):

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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.

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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:
(3d6)[9]
luck reroll (if needed and available): (3d6)[6]
and again: (3d6)[11]

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]

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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

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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.

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

[Inglenook]

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

(3d6)[5]

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.

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Perception roll, although again, the real roll should probably be a hidden one made by the GM: (3d6)[10]

He has several balconies still to go to get back to the bridge

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Luck roll wasn't needed after all!

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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."

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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

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First Aid (ESL14): (3d6)[10]

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.

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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?"

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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.

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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.

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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!

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."

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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]

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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."

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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."

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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:

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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."