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Overdoze posted: If you're interested, head over to #retribution on SynIRC to chat with other sad goons. All #dws chatters: Go to the #retribution and we'll use it as an umbrella room for Retribution stuff.   Welcome to The Survivors, a choose-your-own-adventure (or rather, choose-their-own-adventure) game where you play as Roland, a man attempting to save his family from the zombie apocalypse. Your first decision will be to choose a route out of the city, from there you will have to make decisions to fight or flee, to explore or leave as quickly as possible. The most important thing is your survival. Steph and Holly can both be killed and the game will continue. Since Holly is so young, she has one less life point than adult characters. Health can be regenerated by finding first-aid kits or food. Your character can also find weapons to use against the infected, from shotguns to chainsaws. Steph will always remain close to Holly, even if equipped with a melee weapon. Holly is too young to use a weapon. You may meet other characters along the way who will be added to your party. To play, please choose from one of the options in the game (A, B, X, or Y) and then post with that option. Please bold the vote. You may also combine votes in some cases, usually when inspecting an area or doing a special action.  The Airport follows a course along the freeway to an airport that may or may not have departing flights. The Docks will probably have a boat to escape on, but if there isn't one, you'll be high and dry. The Suburbs offer a chance to find an evacuation zone but you first have to go through downtown. The North Forests will get you away from the infected at the expense of having to cross a narrow bridge out of town. Page 3: The decision is debated and finally agreed: We're going to the forests up north. You gather up the family and make sure the hallway in your building is clear. Unbarricading the door takes a little time, but when you are finished you're greeted with a welcomed sight: no zombies. The potted plants have started to turn brown and the window at the end of the hallway is shattered, wind blowing through it. (You have no option A, for reference. You may select option B in addition to X or Y, but be warned that it will slow you down and zombies may show up.)  Page 4: Inspect the area and then go to the lobby. Your floor appears to be abandoned. You kick in the doors that are locked, but most open freely. No one is home. Everyone appears to have left in a hurry. You found a week-old bowl of cereal sitting on a table with small flies all over it. In a neighbor's residence you find a set of tools and a bottle of ibuprofen. Of the tools, you decide the hammer is the most formidable as a weapon. The ibuprofen can be used to make you feel better later, as it only has a couple of pills left. You get the family on board the elevator, jam the lobby button, and proceed slowly. The building is relatively dark but emergency backups are keeping essential functions on when everything else is off. Suddenly, however, the elevator's lights go out and a red flashing letter appears on the LCD display: E. Pressing the buttons does nothing. Possibly you just used up whatever batteries were left in the generators. Pushing open the door a little, you can make out a human shape silhouetted against the window at the far end of the hall. They seem to be standing about halfway to it, not really moving. Possibly they're looking out the window?  (Note, you may use your items either when prompted or by having at least ten votes for a specific action with them. In the case of the ibuprofen, a specific action would be "Give Roland the pain pills.") Page 6: Attempt to communicate then attack if infected. You open the doors a crack and hop down out of the elevator silently, gripping your hammer tightly. It feels tiny in your hands, as if it's growing smaller by the second. Slowly, you pull the bottle of ibuprofen from your pocket and toss it down the hall towards the stranger. It clatters loudly along the carpet and comes to a rest at his foot. Without looking at the bottle, his head turns unnaturally far to face you and his jaw unhinges, revealing teeth stained in blood. He stumbles turning and then begins to charge. He looks ridiculously uncoordinated, but he's moving fast and somehow staying on his feet. You raise your hammer for impact, but his movement makes it hard to judge where his face will be. Before you realize it he's grabbing at you in an attempt to knock you over. You hear your family scream somewhere behind you.   You manage to keep to your feet and your hammer lands a clean blow, spraying blood all over the hall. Your opponent slumps immediately, defeated. You're not bit, or whatever it is that zombies do to make you a zombie, but you've been hurt. Your arm burns where the zombie's long fingernails have deeply cut your skin. You pick up your bottle of ibuprofen as your family comes up behind you to see what's going on. Holly hides her eyes behind Steph's legs.  Page 8: Inspect the area and then take the stairwell. You manage to break into all of the rooms on this floor easily, mostly using the hammer to your advantage. Inside you find more of the same: Half-deserted lives with most useful things taken. You manage to find more ibuprofen. And, thankfully, a new weapon, a cordless power saw. The batteries seem to have lots of charge. You also manage to find a nice leather motor-jacket for a little more protection. You step back into the hallway to find your wife holding your daughter back against the wall, protecting her. Fear is in her eyes. You follow her gaze and see that only a few feet from you is another infected inching its way toward you slowly. Its eyes are a dull shade of green and blood covers its face. The only clothes its wearing are a pair of pink boxers. You realize you must have wasted too much time, made too much noise... Just when you have to make a quick decision you hear you're daughter say, "Look, mommy, a policeman has come from the stairs to help!" You're pretty sure that ain't no friendly policeman.  Page 10: Retreat Into Apartment You shout to your family to get into the apartment, that there must be another way out. Steph grabs your jacket and whispers, "I've got a plan." The Tehlad Maneuver Steph shouts to Holly to go wait by the window which she does hastily, screaming hysterically. Steph takes a position against the wall, out of the infected's view. You follow her lead and take an opposite stance.  The first zombie is made short-work of. Your circular saw slices through the zombie's neck and takes it's head straight off. It was so distracted by Holly that it never even saw what was about to hit it.  The second zombie is a little messier than the first, but it too goes down without a fight. Steph runs over to Holly to comfort her while you take a quick breather. You made a lot of noise, there may be more of these... things coming. They're not terribly fast, but they don't shuffle like the movies said they would. Steph stands up, breathing heavily from the rush of adrenaline. "Now what?" she asks, barely audible. She wipes her forehead off on her sleeve. Surveying the carnage, you spot a holster on the police officer. And, luckily for you, you find a fully loaded pistol. You're not exactly sure how to use the gun, but you know that you can switch the safety on and off and that pulling the trigger a little (it's heavy) causes the hammer to lift up in the back. All the action movies you've seen have led you to the believe that if you pull the trigger hard enough the gun will go off. It can't be all that hard, right? Aim and shoot.  Page 12: Take the fire escape No sooner do you pry open the window and step out onto the fire escape than do you hear a horrible and wretched sound coming from the hallway. You look back to the door and see nothing, but a shadow cast from the window at the end of the hall tells you there's another infected out there, and it's heading your way. Steph picks Holly up and scrambles past you as you keep an eye on the door. The grip on your pistol feels weak and sweaty. "Roland, let's go!" Steph says urgently. You take a look over your shoulder to see she's already heading down the steps. It doesn't take you long to abandon your post at the window and follow her. But as you do, you take one more look at the doorway in the apartment you just left and see a shape coming around the corner in the darkness. Instinctively you pull the window down as you exit, but it doesn't close all the way. Better a little than none. Catching up to Steph, you realize you may have made a fatal error. Floor after floor you see hovering shapes of men and women staring out of the windows. Each one becoming restless as you pass. Above you, a few floors up, you hear the shattering of glass, and small white rocks and shards rain down on your and your family. Steph shields Holly's eyes, and the three of you seem to be uninjured. Smash! More windows shatter. Your legs ache as you descend the floors. The fire escape is rickety and feels like it could fall apart at any minute. You can also feel the vibrations of other people on it, above you. They are reckless in their movements and could cause this whole structure to collapse. Finally, as if mercy was shown upon you, you reach the bottom and find the ladder down. You pull up the release lever -- and nothing happens. It's stuck! You yank harder and harder, but it won't budge. You can see the streets below you, probably only twenty feet down; but from here it feels like a hundred. You and Steph both desperately try and pry the lever up, but it won't give. Neither of you speak a word, but the panic between you is thick. Holly stands silent, watching the figures above drunkenly descend the stairs.  Page 14: Break back into apartment building Steph pulls the hammer out of your back pocket and raises it to strike down on the handle but you grab her arm. "No time," you whisper while looking up. The infected are just feet above you, scrambling down the stairs. Without looking, you smash through the window behind you and back into the dark apartment building. Your jacket took the most abuse from the glass, but you were fortunate. Holly wasn't so lucky. As Steph picked her up to put her through the window, Holly's leg scraped the glass and she now has a bleeding cut. Holly began to cry, probably more from the fear than the pain. Steph climbs through the hole with just seconds to spare as you take aim, uncertain what to do. She passes by you and protects Holly near the door, waiting to know what your plans are. The three zombies rush at the window, desperate to grab you, but unable to all push through the same space at once. There is a hollow terror in their face that sends chills down your back. You think you recognize one as a neighbor from your floor who had a cat and was always very friendly to you and your family. His philosophy has apparently changed.  Page 16: Take the stairwell Making a snap decision, you push the family out the door and into the hallway of the second floor. The elevator sits useless, so you slam through the door to the stairwell. You lead the way into the pitch black. For a moment you think that this must be how Jack Bauer feels. Reality comes crashing back when you make the third round of stairs down and hear a groaning from all around. You pause to listen. Holly buries her face into Steph's shoulder. "What is it?" Steph asks in a whisper. The groaning continues. There is a sudden pop! that reverberates through the stairwell and the floor shakes. The groan intensifies and starts to sound like a freight train running into the building. You and Steph both crouch, watching the door to the lobby, not knowing what else to do. The sliver of light under the door offers little explanation. The sound fades, but pops and cracks continue to be heard. Cautiously you decide, with an encouraging nod from Steph, to take a peek around the door. With the stairwell door only open an inch you can see the front doors to the building ahead of you. The street! You're almost to safety -- or at least you hope. But what was that noise? Steph leans in close and you can hear Holly's muffled cries. Steph whispers, "I think it was the fire escape. Maybe it fell off the building." Imagining it collapsing in your mind, you can see how it would make that sound. You nod. Figures shuffle-run in the distance outside of the glass doors (or what's left of the glass doors). You decide that everything in a mile-wide radius likely heard that horrible sound and the infected are probably descending on it. Maybe they're looking for something to eat. What's important to you is that none of them seem to be stopping to look inside of the apartment building. After a minute of not seeing any zombies run by, you step into the lobby. But where to now?  Page 18: Take the front doors Quietly the three of you sneak out the front door while keeping an eye for any movement. Thankfully there's nothing to see, so Steph picks up Holly and you follow her through the broken door. Neither of you would dare try moving the doors in the state they're in as it looks like they would make an awful racket. The city is eerily quiet at street level. You can hear shouts and loud grunts coming from around the corner of the building leading you to believe the infected must have found something to satiate them. It looks like the coast is clear. Down the street are an abandoned ambulance and fire-engine. Both look ransacked to the point of ruin. You make your way toward the vehicles to use as shelter when you hear a hissing laugh rise in pitch. Your victory is short lived. Coming around the corner of the fire-engine is a hideous beast. At first it looks as if it's just as man, but it doesn't take long to notice something is attached to him. Green tendrils fork from the back of his head, waving with inhibition, slithering over the man's shoulders, arms, and around his face. He pays them no attention. His focus is square on you and the girls. He stands there for a moment, just laughing. It's the first time you've seen an infected not immediately attempt to attack you. Slowly, between chuckles, its jaw unhinges and falls loose. SCREEEEE! The infected pierces the air with a tremendous scream. Holly covers her ears in fear. It only screams for a moment, but it was enough to attract attention. "Roland!" Steph shouts from behind you hysterically. You turn in time to see a group of slack-jawed infected shuffling their way furiously toward you. Turning back to the monster standing in your way, you see his face contort into what must be a smile. He stands before you, defiant, as the tendrils shake in the air with anticipation.  Page 20: Fight past the boss infected It's hard to decide, you don't know what to do. Should you search? Should you just shoot? You're running out of time! Finally your instincts get the better of you and you pull the trigger. The gun erupts and the monster in front of you staggers, hit hard in the shoulder.  It leans back and let's loose a blood-curdling scream. The ends of the entrails open to reveal what looks like spore pods, aim at you, and spray you with slimy mucus. It burns the skin and you recoil in shock. You're so disoriented that you barely notice its awful smell. "Roland!" A quick glance behind you, rubbing the snot out of your eyes, shows that you're in trouble. The infected behind you know they have you trapped and are salivating as they approach. In front of you the tentacle-infected snickers again. Time to wipe the smile off that face. You take careful aim as it staggers toward you and pull the trigger. In one shot you split the monster's head and a series of small entrails erupt from the brain cavity, squirming in the air.  It drops to its knees and its arms go slack, but the tentacles seem more alive than ever. They take aim on you and your family and slowly open.  Page 21: Fight past the boss infected The creature in front of you readies its attack. Realizing that you're bullets will do nothing to stop quivering tentacles, you shout over your shoulder, "Steph, a little help?!" The words barely escape your lips before you realize you're being strangled. You turn back in horror to find that the now-headless-infected has its tentacles extended and wrapped around your throat. You can't breathe. You can't even scream. In futility you pull away from it, but it tightens its grip.  Looking back you can see Steph busy with mowing down the first of the infected descending on your family. It's getting harder to focus on the situation at hand, but it seems like Steph has noticed your predicament.  Suddenly the tightening around your neck loosen and fall to the ground. Without thinking you pull the rest away and grab Holly, who has already started to run away in panic. As the blood races back to your head, you realize that Steph came to your rescue as you were passing out. Taking a quick inventory of your situation, you see Steph on your heels and Holly is clinging to your head as you carry her on your shoulders. A glance back reveals you're outrunning your pursuers. You've survived. End of Chapter One After what feels like an agonizing length of time running (and not seeing any infected), you slow down to a trot and then a halt. You're somewhere downtown now, standing in front of a convenience store. Cars lay abandoned in the parking lot and the store looks looted. And worst of all? It's starting to get dark.  Page 22: Take pills +1 Health for Roland Inspect area Steph and you take turns searching the parking lot and the convenience store while watching Holly. The parking lot is relatively empty. The cars that are here are fairly looted; one is torched beyond recognition. The best thing found searching the cars is a single playing card (the four of clubs) and a pair of broken jumper cables. Inside is a little more lucrative, but not by much. The first thing you stumble upon is a poster plastered to the inside window. It reads: BITTEN OR SCRATCHED? You may have come in contact with a deadly parasite. Proceed immediately to VIRGINIA MASON MEDICAL for immediate attention! Without treatment this parasite may cause Hallucination Dehydration And Death You may be detained if not voluntarily seeking aid. Federal Emergency Management Agency fema.gov Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cdc.gov You haven't told either your wife or daughter that you're not feeling well. There's a little tickle in your throat, and this sign is a worrying testament that something may definitely be wrong. You know for a fact that you came into dangerous contact with... something back there. Was it a parasite? Why was it sprouting from the back of a man's head? You search to take your mind off your internal fears and make a discovery! In the counter under the register you find a new lighter. It has a decorative eagle on the cover. Not surprisingly, the cigarettes are all gone. Boxes remain scattered all around you, but every last stick is missing. Your wife shouts from the other end of the store, "Roland! I found a hammer!" A hammer? you think, we've already got a hammer. Approaching Steph you realize why she was so excited. In her hands is the biggest hammer you've ever seen. It's a huge yellow sledgehammer. Steph speaks as if carrying a precious jewel. "It's got some reach. And it's quiet." You nod in silent agreement. You push into the back alley and search the trashbins, only to find nothing worth salvaging. Like everything else, they both appear to have been practically overturned to find anything. You don't even find so much as a bag of chips. The clouds are starting to get darker overhead. Night is fast approaching.  Page 25: Go to hospital for treatment After fiddling with the gun for a few minutes contemplating how you might be able to count the bullets still inside, you decide that it would be best to move on and figure out how it works while on the move. The hospital isn't too far away but it takes some serious internal debating whether to go there or not. Ultimately you decide that, even if you escape the city, you're not feeling so great and could possibly die if not treated. You're hoping against hope that there's something at the hospital for you. People, equipment, even make-shift weapons. You decide to tell your wife the bad news. Quickly, like removing a bandaid. "Steph, I'm hurt." Pulling at the collar of your shirt with a finger, you reveal the cut to your throat. Blood has dried at the corners. "Is it bad?" Steph asks with genuine concern. "You're not having trouble breathing, are you?" "No, I mean I'm hurt." You know your daughter is watching you and trying to figure out what you mean, but you can't look her in the eye. "I'm not feeling so well. I think we should at least attempt to swing by the hospital to see if there's something there that can... patch this up." Steph nods with solidarity. Holly puts on a big smile and says comfortingly, "Daddy, you're going to be JUST fine." She looks just like her mom. You give her a reassuring smile in return. "Let's get going then, it's starting to get dark." After all the excitement at the apartment, you're starting to wonder where all the infected are. Since you started heading east, and then south, you've seen not a single shuffling monster. As these thoughts roll over your mind, you suddenly come to a halt. Somewhere in the distance you hear the sound of automatic gun fire. It's just like in the movies, but it seems thicker -- more visceral. Besides the pistol you just fired an hour previously, you had never heard a gunshot, but there is no mistaking the sound in the air. It seems to be coming from the north. After a moment of no sound, and an anxious look between you and Steph, you decide to push onward toward the hospital. The sound gives you hope that out there, somewhere, is someone else fighting to escape. The nagging voice in your head reminds you that they might not be shooting at zombies. You decide to cut through the new park downtown, hoping it might provide even a little coverage from sight. A winding boulevard runs through the park and you stick to it, planning to get to the other side unscathed. "What's that?" Steph asks. Ahead of you lies... something. A mass, of sorts. It's completely still except for what appears to be breathing. It's green, but appears to have some sort of thing covering, like a cocoon. Under the thin green shape is another shape that is unrecognizable. Your thoughts immediately jump back to the awful monster you fought earlier that afternoon. But unlike that beast, this one isn't slimy. Nor is it moving. It might not even be alive. Maybe it's some sort of weird art project and your mind is playing tricks on you? Regardless, you've come to a complete halt and aren't sure how to proceed. What is it?  Page 27: Go around lump on ground Whatever it is that's on the ground certainly doesn't look safe to prod at given your earlier encounter with the infected. Taking your family into consideration, you decide to play it safe by going around the lump on the ground and continuing on toward the hospital. Emerging from the other end of the park, you see the hospital looming only a block away. The street looks deserted and cleared, save for a mass of empty cars parked at odd angles. It appears as if you're in the right area, as you can see tall emergency lighting (now out of power) apparently directing where survivors should go. What worries you is that you don't see anyone else, meaning that if anyone was here, they're long gone. Cautiously you approach the building. Out of the corner of your eye you think you spot movement, and without a word come to a complete stop. Staring at the spot reveals nothing. You tell yourself it was shadows between the cars, or possibly a light reflecting off a windshield. You feel terror sinking back into you. Your heart is beating hard against your chest. It's only when you begin to move again do you notice more growths. You weave through them as you inch towards the hospital; the closer you get the more you notice on the ground. From a close distance you can tell they quiver a bit, but their shape is unidentifiable. They are odd piles of... green stuff. And as if it add to your worry, you notice the hospital has similar growth growing on it. Green veins are attached to the walls and windows, snaking along the base of the building and around corners. A gentile film covers everything, as if the hospital has been wrapped up by tent-caterpillars. Whatever's going on, this looks like it's the epicenter.  Page 29: Burn the hospital down Perhaps your entire life has led up to this point: Maybe this is the reason for your purpose. As you stand there, in the quiet city, it seems more and more obvious to you what you should do. "Steph, take the gun and wait for me by these cars." She grabs your shoulder and asks, "Aren't we going in?" "Just me. It's too dangerous. If I'm not out in five minutes, head north." Steph is reluctant to let you go. Holly picks up on this and asks, "What's wrong, daddy? The hospital is want to make you feel better?" Kneeling down, you give Holly a kiss on the forehead. "I'll be right out, sweetie. I just have to go in for a few minutes by myself." "Okay, daddy. I'll wait here with mommy." You give her a little hug. She hugs back and whispers, "I love you." You take a step back and look over your girls, possibly for the last time. You give a little wave to the both of them, pick up the sledge hammer and head towards the entrance at a jog. --- Out front you find an overturned table with pamphlets and empty boxes scattered, fluttering in the evening breeze. As if it were destiny, you find an abandoned pickup with a tool box open in the back. Peering inside, you're able to spot and pick up a full gas can. You check your pockets to make sure you still have that lighter you found and you do. One step at a time. Maybe this will work. Your nose feels a little funny, like you're coming down with a cold. It's amazing how distracting such a small nuisance can be. A prying headache is working its way up the back of your skull. You wish you still had some ibuprofen. The glass doors to the lobby have been shattered and you're able to duck through them. With daylight ending, the lobby is almost pitch black. It occurs to you that the abandoned pickup may have a flashlight in the tool box, so you jog back to check. Thankfully it does. Testing the button works! Success! When you return to the lobby you're able to see just fine, but what you find is haunting. From floor to ceiling, the lobby is covered in what looks at first like halloween spiderweb decoration. It drifts lazily in the open breeze, creating a haunting effect that chills you to the bone. Spiny veins run along walls and over furniture. The emergency room is in dire emergency. Every few feet, or in clusters, lie more pods. Or what's left of them. Most are ovular in shape, others have a distinct humanoid form. Sprouting from all of them are long branches of green tendrils. From your view at the door you must be able to see dozens. You wonder momentarily how long ago all of this must have happened. A few days? A few hours? It looks like it's been abandoned for years, but that can't be right. Stepping inside, you take a look around. At one point it appears that a queue was setup to check people in. You decide to have a look when one of the pamphlets from outside catches your eye. It must have floated in. Setting down the gas can, you pick it up and read it by flashlight: Inoculations distributed inside Inoculations will not fully kill parasite! The parasite is treatable at Quarantine Facility Follow instructions by medical staff to receive inoculation and proceed with checkout for air transfer to Quarantine Facility Inoculations? You take a look around and spot some medical supply boxes near the end of the queue. You worm past the growth covering it and discover the boxes have all been emptied in what looks like a hurry. What luck! In frustration you kick a single box, flipping it on its side. Out roll three syringes, each containing a green liquid and marked with an orange band around the top. Hastily you swoop down and pick them up -- sure enough, they are marked INOCULATION 2010-A. Another success! Your victory is short-lived. Just as you're preparing to administer one of the shots to yourself, the building begins to groan. At first you're not sure what the noise is, but soon you see the tendrils flexing and swaying against the walls. The walls start to crack in places and loose furniture is pushed around the room. You decide it's time to leave. Just as you pocket the three syringes, a sudden jolt throws you several feet back and lands you next to the gas can you set down earlier. The building is shaking, and an awful sound rises from the floors above you. You can't tell if metal is twisting or if whatever above you is screaming in unison. You don't want to find out either way. Quickly you unscrew the cap to the gas can and tip it over. The gasoline immediately starts pouring out, but there's no time to help spread it around. You get to your feet, somewhat unsteadily, and flick open the lighter. Without looking back, you lock it so that the flame continues and throw it at your feet. Time to run! You make it to the glass doors when you hear almost a comical WHOOOSH! from behind you. You are suddenly dowsed in orange light. The hospital shakes, and you're forced to grab at the broken glass for support. A cut on the hand is no big deal it seems. A glance back reveals that your plan is going as intended: The lobby is ablaze. The tendrils and the webby silk are burning quickly. You realize that smoke is washing over you since you're at the only exposed entrance. The heat from the flames rises as they worm their way to fresh oxygen from outside. Out the front-door you run and around the side of the building. There, crying, wait both your wife and daughter. You smell of smoke and your hand is bleeding, but you're no worse for the wear. The building behind you, however, is another matter altogether. Flames pour from open windows as the fire rises from floor to floor. The building groans and shutters. You know you're supposed to do something, but you're having a hard time remembering exactly what it is.  Page 32: Inject syringe, do something or other "I found something... something inside." You're having a hard time getting the words to come out, and you know that it's now or never in terms of getting rid of this infection. Slumping to the ground, you pull out one of the syringes. It's hard to see in the near-dark and your only major light source is the burning hospital. You are vaguely aware that there is the sound of twisting metal in the distance and bright embers floating around you. Your entire focus is on that syringe. And strangely, as if mocking you, it seems to be growing more distant. There is pressure on your shoulders, a scream, and then blackness. --- Your eyes flutter open. It is very dark and very quiet. In front of you appears to be flat shapes that don't make any sense to you. Lifting your head a little, you find yourself under a warm blanket and are in the back of what appears to be an ambulance. Next to you is Holly, sound asleep. She lies curled up between you and Steph. Steph's eyes are fixed on you and she looks relieved. In a hushed tone she whispers, "I thought you might not come out of it. You look like hell." "I feel like hell." Your reply is a matter of fact. You notice Steph casually retract the pistol and stick it in her belt behind her. You decide not to ask why it was out. "What happened?" "I saw the syringe before you passed out. I dragged you back to this ambulance and gave it to you. It says it's an inoculation. A few minutes after I gave it to you your nose started to bleed. Holly was worried, so I told her to wait in the back of the ambulance. After awhile the bleeding stopped, and you felt less clamy, so I made a makeshift bed and decided to see about getting some rest." "And the hospital?" "We're about a two blocks away. It's burned to the ground, but it's still burning. No more infected people have shown up. I'm not sure where they were -- I was worried with a racket the hospital was making it would be like a beacon for them. I haven't checked outside in about an hour, but it's been awfully quiet." You sit up and throw the covers off. You feel better, but are still weak in your arms and legs. Crawling to the door, you swing it open a little and then hop out, taking a look around. In the distance the glow from the hospital lights up the city skyline. The clouds have parted and the stars are out against the inky black sky. You pause for a moment to think about how you had never seen so many stars in the city. Reaching into your jacket, you find the flashlight from earlier and click it on. The dark shapes around you come to life in the light, but they were anything but living. Empty cars and other street clutter for as far as you could see. "How long was I out, Steph?" She swings her legs over the bumper as she scoots towards the back. Holly stands behind her, rubbing her eyes. "It's been about three hours. It's pitch black out." There is a slight hesitation. "Should we stay in the ambulance or do you think we should keep moving?" Steph asked. She let the question hang in the air.  Page 34: Sleep, search in the morning After a few minutes of thought, you realize your head is still swimming and that sleep sounds good. You check out the doors to the ambulance and decide that it could be used as a temporary shelter. It certainly looks sturdy enough. You give a once-over glance of the area again just to make sure you don't see any movement, then say, "Alright, Steph, let's get back to sleep. I feel better but could use some rest. I think we all could." Holly adds, "I'm cold, Daddy." "Then let's snuggle back up, snuggle bug!" You fake a quiet laugh and give her a big squeeze. She giggles in delight. It's nice to hear her laugh, you're really worried about the mental toll she must be facing in this nightmare. She's going to have one heck of a therapy bill, you think to yourself. If we survive this. The three of you hop in the back. You give a quick glance up front and make sure the doors are locked and windows up. Everything looks fine. "We should go through the van one more time before we leave in the morning, Steph." Stephanie nods her head in agreement as she latches the back doors closed. The blanket is warm, albeit a little hard, but getting to sleep is relatively easy. You do not remember your dreams. --- Your eyes open to a warm light in the cabin of the van. Steph is attempting to get up without waking Holly. "What time is it?" you ask her. "Just about six. Sun's almost up. Looks like it's going to be a sunny day." Together the two of you search the van as silently as possible. Checking out the front windows shows that there doesn't seem to be any zombies outside, but you don't want to take your chances. Steph gives out a shout of joy. "Look what I found!" You turn to see her hunched over a small compartment in the very back of the cabin. She holds up a bottle of painkillers, a victorious smile on her face. "Great! Put it in your pocket. How full is it?" "I would say about a quarter left. Good for a few uses." Your eyes fall on the center-console radio system. You attempt to decipher it, but it appears to be a incomprehensible matrix of toggle switches and push buttons. You could take a risk and see what the buttons do, but you're too worried at the moment of pressing the wrong thing and activating the sirens. At the very least you experiment with the handset briefly, but can't tell if you're broadcasting or if anyone's responding. A glance down the side of the radio controls gives you cause for celebration. There, tucked half-way into the floormat, is a set of keys. They look like they were dropped accidentally. Without saying a word, you pick them up and stick them into the ignition. A half-turn confirms your find: The lights on the dashboard light up. "We've got keys!" Steph rushes to the front, waking Holly. "Are you serious?" "I'm not going to turn it on all the way until we need to leave, but it says we have almost a quarter of a tank of gas and the instrument lights are on!" Steph gives you a big hug. "Can we go home now, Mommy?" Holly asks from the cabin. "Pretty soon, honey." She gives Holly a hug too. "We need to go see grandma first." "In the Big Woods?" "That's right, sweetie," you reply. "And this van can probably get us there." Steph kisses you on the cheek. It's nice to celebrate for once without something bad happening. "Let's go look around first," she says, "Then we can head out." The three of you climb back through the cabin, fold up the blankets and climb out the back. You fiddle with attaching the ambulance keys to your keyring when Steph backs up into you. You're about to protest when you look up and see your worst fears. You've been discovered.  Page 36: Go go Slambulance! "Girls, into the ambulance!" you scream at your daughter and wife. Steph doesn't hesitate and picks Holly up and they jump into the back. You have enough sense to climb in the back yourself and make your way to the cockpit. It's an awkward climb over the toolbox and seats, but you make it. In the process you see Steph latching down the back doors and getting ready to roll. Out front a small mob has formed, and they look hungry. They are shuffle running towards the van. With only a foot to spare, you jam the keys over in the ignition and the ambulance roars to life. There's a moment of hesitation as you look for the shift knob, but find it located on the center console. You throw the ambulance into reverse, back up a couple dozen yards, and put it into drive. You press down on the accelerator as hard as you can (a little too hard, it threw Steph and Holly against the floor and Holly starts to cry) and the heavy ambulance starts to rocket towards the group. There's a lot of power here for a stuffy van!  The zombies don't have a clue what hits them. "Infect this!" you shout angrily over the steering wheel.  For a brief moment you think you catch a look of surprise on each of their faces, but it's fleeting as they're pulled under the ever-oncoming ambulance and trampled by the weight of the van. The ride bounces around, almost out of control, and then regains stability and continues on. In your rear-view mirror you see success: not a single zombie remains standing. A look back confirms that Holly must have bumped her head, and is in a full wail. More reasonable thoughts kick in and you try to comfort her. Steph cradles her in her arms and gives you a sharp look of that clearly says, "Calm down, jackass." --- The drive through the city streets is bizarre. You've driven all of these streets in much happier times: Dates with your wife, meetings with clients or coworkers, and nights out on the town. But now, as the sun burns away a thin layer of fog, you can see a forgotten place littered with debris, ruin, and the occasional body. There looks to have been a riot at some point, but it's hard to keep focused too long on anything but the road -- objects block your path and it takes concentration on the road to keep from running into something dangerous. Finally you reach the onramp. There is a line of empty cars (or are they empty?) leading up to the freeway that you simply bypass on the left. The freeway is a little trickier, but you're able to maneuver through cars. So far, you haven't seen any other zombies. You're really hoping your luck doesn't run out. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happens. With the bridge in sight, you come upon an inescapable mass of congestion. Where the abandoned traffic was once orderly, the cars here are strewn about in odd angles. You come to a stop and hop out. Steph and Holly join you. Holly has quit crying and is looking around with red, anxious eyes. Steph doesn't say a word to you but merely stands at your side holding your hand. In front of you, as far as you can see, is the bridge. It is literally covered in cars. The weight of all the vehicles, especially after the week it's likely been in this condition, is causing the bridge to groan and squeal. It is a dreadful noise that makes you think of events from the night before. Holly whispers, "What now, brown cow?"  Page 38: Head across bridge on foot, inspect area You decide to take it slow and go across on foot instead of making a potential racket. After gathering your supplies, you set out on foot -- hand-in-hand -- to simply get to the other side and end this nightmare adventure. Checking a few cars and trucks on your way by, you find many doors left wide open and junk left behind. To your dismay you find a lot of food, but most of it perished a long time ago. Cans are rare and you have no means of opening them (Steph suggests shooting one open, but you decide it's too much noise and you need to conserve ammo; you still have no idea how many bullets are left). Taking the cans with you is no option, as you feel already burned and have no backpack. Searching for a backpack instead turns useless. You find a couple of cardboard boxes and some plastic grocery bags, both soggy from a week's worth of rain and exposure. Happily, you find a package of Twinkies left behind and share them with the girls. They are delicious. Mostly trinkets are left behind. Holly finds a teddy bear while you search the trunk of an unlocked car you stumble upon. No batteries, no ammunition, no radios. In-dash radios play the same emergency broadcast you've heard for the last week. Frustrated, you reach your next challenge. As you approach the first quarter of the bridge, you realize something is amiss. The cars farther down are parked at even odder angles than the sea of vehicles you've just been crawling through. Light poles are bent and overhead signs are toppled. It is a mess. At a few feet from the chaos, you realize why: The bridge segment has separated, but only by about two feet. Everything on the deck shifted when it partially collapsed. You debate whether to continue (it hasn't fallen down yet, afterall) when you hear a scream from Steph a few yards from you. She runs up, grabbing you. All she says is, "I think it was a carpool." Looking over her shoulder, you see what she means. Three zombies are shuffling slowly toward you. As if your worst fears were confirmed, they must have been some trapped in a car this whole time and Steph accidentally released them when searching the vehicle they were in. They're all dressed in business attire. Worse, they're blocking your route back. It's either fight past them or take your chances on a possibly-collapsing bridge.  Page 40:  Hmm... I've run out of posting space in this OP, so you'll have to continue the thread in the individual posts. Page 42:  Having fun? Want to do something really nice for me that I will love you forever for? I just started a project on Kickstarter (check out the thread in Creative Convention) to restore a family car before it rusts away. I could use all the help I can get. Plus you get awesome stuff in return. http://tinyurl.com/yasv6ku ExtraNoise fucked around with this message at 06:44 on Feb 25, 2010 |
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Jan 10, 2010 17:34
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I'm gonna have to go with the docks. take a chance
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Jan 10, 2010 17:36
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Fitzy77 posted:I'm gonna have to go with the docks. take a chance Yep the docks for me too. Let's get a boat out of here!
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Jan 10, 2010 17:38
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The docks, worst comes to worst you can drown your kid. Can zombies swim?
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Jan 10, 2010 17:38
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We need to get as far away from population centers as possible. Lets go to the forest. At this point the airport is most likely not providing flights, the suburbs are bound to be crawling with infected, and the risk of a boat not being available is too great to gamble on. Do we even know how to drive a boat?
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Jan 10, 2010 17:39
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Rodya Raskolnikov posted:The docks, worst comes to worst you can drown your kid. Can zombies swim? No. These are not fast zombies. At least Roland doesn't think they are...
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Jan 10, 2010 17:39
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I'm gonna have to go with The North Forrest. With any luck you'll be able to hide away from everything/craft makeshift traps and weapons in a Rambo style.
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Jan 10, 2010 17:41
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ShortStack posted:We need to get as far away from population centers as possible. Lets go to the forest. At this point the airport is most likely not providing flights, the suburbs are bound to be crawling with infected, and the risk of a boat not being available is too great to gamble on. Do we even know how to drive a boat? I'd say forest too. Not only this but it might be possible to at least scavenge for resources as you go through until you reach safety. Gin and Juche fucked around with this message at 17:47 on Jan 10, 2010 |
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Jan 10, 2010 17:42
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Going to say The North Forests Even if there is a chance of a boat at the docks, it's basically all or nothing...
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Jan 10, 2010 17:45
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Go the the North Forests. Hopefully there'll be industrial buildings where we can find weapons. The docks is a bad idea, by the way. Once you're on a boat you're trapped with only whatever supplies you had when you first boarded and if one zombie gets on or someone turns on board, you're screwed.
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Jan 10, 2010 17:50
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The North Forests Boat was second choice but most are already gone/stolen. Even if we found one could Roland hot-wire it or sail it? What does Roland do for a job, any skills that may come in handy surviving an apocalypse? PS: Nice to see a CYOA in GBS again. Shame about the others.
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Jan 10, 2010 17:53
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Edit: Changed to airport.
DEAR RICHARD fucked around with this message at 18:41 on Jan 10, 2010 |
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Jan 10, 2010 17:54
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Forest Unlikely to get yourself cornered there, try and find some kind of large vehicle along the way and just plow through the bottleneck at the bridge when you get to it.
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Jan 10, 2010 17:56
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I'm leaning towards the docks, but the forest is a close second if we need to beat a hasty retreat.
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Jan 10, 2010 17:57
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Forest Make for the trees! Also, what stuff do we have in the house food/weapon wise?
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Jan 10, 2010 18:00
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ShotgunWillie posted:I'm leaning towards the docks, but the forest is a close second if we need to beat a hasty retreat. Gonna have to agree on the docks.
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Jan 10, 2010 18:01
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Forest, least populated is always the best option in a zombie apocalypse.
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Jan 10, 2010 18:03
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I'm voting for the Docks. The important thing is to get out of the city as soon as possible, in case the military decide to drop nukes.
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Jan 10, 2010 18:04
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Zombies can't swim, but they can hide behind trees. To the docks! Put your back against the ocean!
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Jan 10, 2010 18:08
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I'm going to go with Suburbs. No mercy was the best campaign dammit.
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Jan 10, 2010 18:08
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Korhal posted:Forest, least populated is always the best option in a zombie apocalypse. There is also no place to HIDE in a forest. Plus the docks will have lots of industrial tools. Get in a crane and drop shipping containers on a zombie. *skoosh*
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Jan 10, 2010 18:13
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Docks seems like the most reasonable option. Lets get on any old boat and flag down the first ferry we see!
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Jan 10, 2010 18:13
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I think your best bet is to go to the forest. It would be easy to hide and there is a big area.
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Jan 10, 2010 18:14
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Forest Because I don't think Zombies can climb trees...can they? 
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Jan 10, 2010 18:15
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The forest because that's where the most squirrels will be.
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Jan 10, 2010 18:16
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Even if there's no boats at the docks, we can put our backs to the water and make a better defense from there.
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Jan 10, 2010 18:16
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Forest is the way to go. You can use branches to hit zombies with.
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Jan 10, 2010 18:17
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Lets go with the forest -- if we choose the docks and get on a boat, we can't take that choice back and turn around once we're miles off shore. In addition if we need resources later, we'd have to rely on landing the ship somewhere in order to pick them up. If we can find some way to defend ourselves, lets just go into the forests.
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Jan 10, 2010 18:17
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But if we take a boat we can get to a city that is not infested with zombies. We'll be quarantined but that is reasonable I guess so I have no qualms with that.
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Jan 10, 2010 18:19
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Going to the forest is a terrible idea, we should go to the docks!
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Jan 10, 2010 18:22
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Going to say Forest Plenty of natural shelter, animals to give the heads up, foraging, and general lack of people seems like a good idea
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Jan 10, 2010 18:24
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We're going to have to face zombies any direction we go, so it's better - if we're going to face a horde - to face it early while we have full health. Once we're through the city, it should thin out some, though probably not by much. By breaking into people's homes we are likely to find a lot of finished goods like guns, chainsaws, axes and ninja swords, and especially food. Also, what household doesn't keep a first aid kit lying around? Granted, many others may have fled and taken their supplies with them, but for every house that fled there's probably five where the occupants turned to zombies and left all of their supplies behind. Also, quick question: What does it take for a party member to turn into a zombie? I'm assuming because we have health that it isn't just one hit game over for players, but what about zombie bites? Are they one hit K.O.s? ::EDIT:: I still think we're most likely to find the most supplies in the suburbs, but with the docks closer we might as well take the chance there first, and if that doesn't work out, we can always head south from there keeping right up against the water's edge to limit the number of directions we can be attacked from as we head into the 'burbs. Ghstman fucked around with this message at 18:32 on Jan 10, 2010 |
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Jan 10, 2010 18:25
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The North Forests all the way. Much easier to gather resources and defend if you have a bit of time to setup. You can also make plenty of traps and have a refuge to fall back to a lot easier than all the others. For a while the infected will be in small numbers in that area due to most wandering around the city where the majority of the populace was. This is all based on the fact that we are taking about Zombie Survival Guide zombies
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Jan 10, 2010 18:25
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I would say Suburbs There is an increased risk, but there is also the greatest chance that we will be able to find food and weapons.
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Jan 10, 2010 18:26
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General Zombie has a million light infantry but no navy. DOCKS
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Jan 10, 2010 18:27
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I was originally going to say docks or forest, but I feel those two are dead ends for the following reasons: -If the evacuation has already come and gone, then every boat in the dock has likely been taken. Further complicating this would be the fact that handling a boat is significantly more complicated than driving an automobile, making getting anywhere but the seabed a rather complicated task. -Even if you were to get a boat, the food supply is extremely restricted. You are restricted to whatever is already carried or whatever you can fish. Water supplies are also tricky, you are restricted to attempting to filter out whatever you can from sea water or collecting rain water. -The forest is then an obvious choice, right? The airport is clearly a death trap. the docks are a slow death, and who in their right mind would go to the suburbs? It seems pretty clear cut and that is exactly the problem; every single straggler, bandit, and wounded/infected person is going to realize the obvious and start a migration towards the north forests. Humans are far more dangerous than zombies at this stage of the infection, especially desperate humans, so you can bet there will be a series of skirmishes up north as people start to kill each other for what little resources are available up there. That isn't counting the stream of bitten or otherwise infected that are likely to accompany them, especially if the vector is unknown. -In short, the forests seem like an excellent idea and an obvious one at that, and that is precisely why it is possibly the most dangerous option. I'm going to give my vote to the underdog: The Suburbs. There will likely be plenty of readily available food and water for our city slicker protagonists, you probably only have to deal with zombies instead of marauding humans, there is a possible evacuation, and if not it's just another less traveled way out of the city where you can stock up on the way out. And if worse comes to worse you can always go out in a blaze of glory, not unlike your namesake.
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Jan 10, 2010 18:28
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Airport for sure. Have we learned nothing? The original Night of the Living Dead took place in a house in the forest. And we know how that ended. For a while I would have gone to the docks, but then I saw Zombie II where there was a shark vs zombie fight, so water isn't a deterant. In the suburbs there will be too many people milling about. Airport is best because it is the most secure, and the less populated. Also you could get into the tower and hang there for a while.
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Jan 10, 2010 18:29
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Suburbs need some supplies plus on top of a flat building in the middle of an easy to scavenge area (which would clear out early on) is as good as anything else.
Soviet Stranger fucked around with this message at 01:17 on Jan 11, 2010 |
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Jan 10, 2010 18:32
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I'm gonna have to go with North forrest
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Jan 10, 2010 18:36
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bollig posted:Airport for sure. Have we learned nothing? The original Night of the Living Dead took place in a house in the forest. And we know how that ended. Yeah a posse of good ol' boys rounded up all the zombies and killed them!
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Jan 10, 2010 18:39
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