Chapter 3: Life On The Murder Scene

((OOC: Yes, I like MCR ^^ To business.))

Silence prevailed over the convoy. No-one spoke. Everyone was sat huddled in one corner or another, keeping to themselves. Occasionally the alarm would be sounded as the trucks passed a group of shamblers, but shots were never fired. The survivors simply watched with a mournful disinterest as the surprised infected lurched one way or another. They had seen too much bloodshed for one day. Even Silva seemed subdued.
They drove for several hours, and the light of mid-afternoon soon became the fading brilliance of sunset. It was as the great disc's lowest tip began to fall below the horizon that Ryn saw what he was looking for.
"Go left!" he cried suddenly. Surprised, Darkman swerved violently, almost tipping the truck. As he saw the others following suit behind them, he turned to Ryn.
"What the hell was that about?!"
"Well...this is the way you have to go."
"Right. Gimme some warning next time, yeah?"
"Yeah. Sorry."
The group returned to their stony silence, hearing only the reverberating hum of the engines. Kelvin was evidently uncomfortable in the prickly atmosphere built by combat, lack of sleep and lack of direction, and tried to break the silence several times. But each time he was met only with cold faces and blank expressions. At least, that was until he vocalised something that they had all been thinking for several minutes.
"So, er....there are quite a lot of infected round here."
Darkman glanced across. "Yes."
Kelvin was so surprised by actually getting a response that he found himself spewing forth a torrent of words, just to fill the silence.
"Yeah! I mean, I know there lots of them normally, haha, but they're generally quite spread out round here in the countryside aren't they? But there seems to be a whole lotta groups of 'em, just wondering about. And they're all going the same was as us as well. Weird, huh?"
The rest of the cabin looked at him, and, in a single moment of crushing realization, knew just where the undead were going. The exact same place they were. It wasn't that there was any real evidence to suggest it. They just knew. Having been around for this long, they recognised a coincidence when they saw one, and this was most definitely not a coincidence.
It was Titus who finally said it.
"Shit."

* * *

Ten minutes later, they knew they had been right. With guns blazing out the windows, the group cut a bloody swathe through the loose ranks of the undead, towards a collection of large, low buildings, perhaps a mile distant.
Darkman withdrew to reload. "Well, at least we know they're still alive in there," he declared.
Titus yelled his assent from outside. "Damn right! Why else would this many motherfuckers gather in one place at one time?"
Though his grim, blood-spattered face did not show it, the light of hope shone in Ryn's eyes. It had been a long time since he had seen his friend...he'd better be alive...
"Hey!" he cried out, "I think they've seen us!"

And sure enough, spotted they had been. Jimmy Dean stood proud on the roof of the warehouse, observing the convoy's progress. He looked down at the masses of undead hammering at the barricade below him.
"We're gonna have to let the barricade down to get them in, y'know." said a voice beside him.
"I know. D'you think we can stem the tide for long enough to get it down and back up again?"
The man beside him stepped up to the lip of the roof and he too glanced down.
"It's gonna be a big job."
Jimmy looked at him. "That a yes then?"

Edited by Fire Ze Missiles!, 06 April 2008 - 11:04 AM.

Kelvin's mood was beginning to raise a bit... more people

they all seem to be coming out of the wood work, but kelvin wasn't about to complain, he knew the old saying 'safety in numbers'.
as they came closer he fired pot shots at infected, sometimes even dead ones... just in case
boo climbed out of the backpack, and sat on Kelvins lap
"hey there little buddy, finally decided to come out did you?" Kelvin put the rodent into his pocket, stroking its head.

"looks like they have a barricade up... do you suppose they will move it for us? or will we have to find another way in?" Kelvin really didnt want to have to get out and try climbing the think, it had any number of sharp and unfriendly looking bits sticking out of it...

Jamie started to clamber onto the roof of his SUV, the huge numbers were mind blowing, and he knew that being outside would not help the survivors cause.
"You There!" shouted Jamie, pointing at a random survivor in his SUV, "Drive the truck for us, but make it a little slower. Try pulling up to building, I'll jump off. If any of you lot think you can follow, try it as well, but else I think they'll be trying to open, the close the 'cade. They'll sure need a hell of a lot of manpower, and I'll be there to help them!"
As the big rig gas guzzler drew closer to the wall, Jamie crouched, knees bent, ready to jump.

((OOC: Description of the situation is all nice and flowery, but what the actually building is like would be great ))

Edited by Fire Ze Missiles!, 07 April 2008 - 11:17 PM.

Silva had been simply resting on ihs gun, not bothering to waste any ammo on the passing infected. Bu now they had a changce of making thier group bigger he was letting loose shots left right and centre. His senses were suddenly alive again, he could hear the gunshots, smell the cordite and feel the huge vibrations and heat formt he monster of a gun between his hands.
"If we need to get this barricade out of the way, i'll gladly help suppress these fuckers,"

Titus decided that he had rested for long enough; his mind had been absolved of all the killing he had done in the past few days. I mean, come on, they're trying to FUCKING EAT ME. The least I can do is take them down first. He popped open the rear window on the truck, and squeezed his torso through the hole. He began firing on the endless mass of rotted flesh, to try to stem the tide. When some got a little too close for comfort, he slid back through the window, and popped it shut again.

"Well, it seems they don't like that..." he stated, while reaching for the radio. "Hey, Silva. Put a few volleys up our right side, will ya? Those fuckers out there are getting mighty ballsy. Even trying to climb into the back of the truck."

((YAY for controllable NPC's!!))

Ryn grabbed the radio and started fiddling with it after Sliva began firing his salvo; he had always kept his shop radio locked at a certain band for certain emergencies.

87.4 - His shop's emergency band, kept in secret by a safehouse and only used when the goods might be in danger of being discovered. "Jim, or whoever's still there - It's Ryn. I'm in that setup right outside - bring everything out of hiding and get Rob to crank the emplacements up. Soon as that happens we'll be able to get these things out of our way just fine and bring down the barricade. Just to verify it is me, I'm labeling this as a situation Omega with situation authority code 1276. I would be one of the few in the state, let alone the country, that would know that. Get to it."
_________


Back inside the office of the warehouse, Tomas had been the one listening to Ryn's message. Because it was a standard boombox-type setup, he couldn't let Ryn know he was getting to work.

First he ran up top. Out of breath, he managed to get what he needed out. "Cars... its Ryn... situation Omega... bring up guns... pull out stock..."

Jim couldn't believe what he had just heard - survivors were totally possible in this situation, but Ryn had come from so far off. He knew the odds were so low that at first he was a skeptic. But a small sliver inside claimed otherwise.

"Gotcha" Silva said down the radio as he heaved the large gun around, still firing. th ehuge bullets ripped through the rotted flesh with delightful ease, and it was only a matter of seconds before the infected were forced back away formt he truck. "Haha whats the rush in getting inside!?" Silva shouted above the gunfire "I could do this all day!!"

"Yeah, until you run out of rounds and they overrun you!" John yelled up as he opened up with his M16, going full-auto and not worrying about aiming. There was so many infected it didn't matter as they rushed to get the convoy and it's human flesh. "Anyone have any grenades? I don't want to use the flares, the trucks might catch or worse."

"Hey, Ryn, hand me the radio for a sec, and tune it to both vehicles," said Titus, thinking of what this situation reminded him of, off a TV show: fishing with grenades during salmon spawning season.

"Okay, its just gotten too thick. Its time to bust out the depth charges. Back at Blodo's warehouse, I found some grenades, and filled a few sacks with them. We've got around eighteen grenades, and the perfect opportunity to use them. First off, Silva, keep up the fire to get those bastards away from the truck - I need to get in back. Then, get ready to catch, and pass the love - I'm going to have to throw some of the grenades to you, in order to get them to you, there's no way in hell I can get them across any other way. Then, hand them down to the others in your ride, we need you more on that gun anyway. Then, let loose. Just be careful, though, and keep them away from the truck. Only use a few, we need to keep as many as we can."

Titus opened the window again, and started firing at infected again, trying to get them away so he could climb out.

Edited by Nology5890, 08 April 2008 - 11:14 PM.

Kelvin had been letting off shots left, right and center, he wanted to get into the makeshift fortress, where he could relax, even if only for a few minutes, his hands were beginning to tremble slightly, from the shock of everything that was going on, and the lack of good sleep...

"dont worry boo, soon we will be safe, temporarily, atleast, and we can plan what to do next..." he stroked the rodents exposed head, which it had popped out of his pocket...

The truck slowing, with Jamie on top, he jumped and grabbed hold of a wall. The impromptu barricade had created plenty of handholds, and he managed to climb over the barricades quickly. Dropping to the other side he saw a group of frenzied looking survivors, each pulling out weapons, or getting ready to move the barricade.

"Guys, there's more of us outside! I don't know if you guys know him, but Ryn is outside, he mention about some guy called Jim or Tomas? Is that any of you guys? I know getting everyone inside is going to be hard, so I'll help suppress them ok?"

"Gotcha" he yelled to Titus, and again he swing the gun around, and proceeded to tear through the crowd with great ease, "Its lucky we brought alot of ammo, haha" he had pushed the hoarde back for a second, just enough time for Titus to get out, "Go for it mate"

Jim had stayed up top of the building to start cranking up the gun emplacements. He hadn't noticed the man jump out of the van and climb up over the barricade - he was too busy operating a system that brought up the gattling cannons housed in secret compartments on each of the four corners of the warehouse.

He had never understood why Ryn placed or recieved that order for the four - until now. In the face of unsurmountable odds with their lives and their items at stake, four fully functional gat cannons might just save their skin... whether defending from the Feds, foe Mafias, or an unending wave of the living dead.

-------

'Buckin' Bill Gandy, a rodeo boy gone store clerk was downstairs when the man managed to get over the barricade. "Jim's up top," he said, "And Tommy is downstairs bringing up our stock. I we ain't gonnna need any help suppressing, though..."

Jim gave out a yell on the roof - he needed three more guys to hop onto the cannons and start shooting. Bill looked back at the barricade jumper guy and said "Cmon. We've got earcover thingies to cope with the noise from the guns inside - We'll led you a pair. Best get to helpin Jim out now."

As he ran back into the store he stopped. "My name's Bill, by the way. Muchly pleased ta meetcha."

--------

Ryn, instead of shooting at the hordes, had been watching the roof. Soon as he caught a sign of the gattling cannons he had mounted months earlier, he grabbed the radio. "Titus, somehow I'm imagining that we won't be needing your grenade trick any time soon... Just make sure the truck stays close to the barricade. Bullets are gonna start raining from the sky real soon, if you know what I mean."

Jim had let off the first few shots from each gun, putting them off out into the sky somewhere to make sure that the guns would actually fire. As he got into position, he picked exactly two targets - The Truck, and the Van-Bed. Anything else he was free to hit.

Edited by Copaman, 10 April 2008 - 01:02 PM.

The wave of fire ripped through the horde like four red hot knives in a massive lump of mouldy butter, and not a moment too soon. The convoy roared to a halt close to the barricade, unleashing a storm of fire in all directions. But despite this, the crowds pressed in closer, ever closer. They may not have been fast, but they were relentless. Gradually, the tide of bodies ebbed nearer, until it was almost close enough to reach out and touch. And still the guns blazed, red-hot barrels smoking as round after round exited them.
But, like the avenging angels of old, the gattling cannon did their work. Swathes were cut, and the undead began to thin as bullet after bullet slammed into their rotting forms, severing limbs, torsos and heads in fountaining sprays of gore. The very air seemed thick with the stench, the taste, even the colour of blood. Death was everywhere.

And as the bullets flew, and the empty space around the convoy slowly grew larger, the barricade began to fall...

((OOC: Hahaha I read that post and I was like "WTF? 4 gat cannons and we STILL cant win?!" and then I double checked and figured it out))

((FZEDIT: Yeah, on reflection that was a little unclear...oh well ))

Edited by Fire Ze Missiles!, 10 April 2008 - 09:26 PM.

(("The wave of fire ripped through the horde like four red hot knives in a massive lump of mouldy butter"

tht made me laugh!

lol))

Edited by war_angel, 10 April 2008 - 04:52 PM.

(OOC: My bad. Took me a while to claim some computer time.)

Titus saw the swathes being cut into the hordes, and knew that he could climb out now. He squeezed through the back window again, and emerged on the truck's bed. He grabbed two sacks of grenades, and with great care, tossed them to Silva, who was holding fire, waiting for the gatling cannons to do their job. He held onto a sack himself, which he materialized a grenade out of.

Well, Randy Johnson, let's see you do THIS!

Titus pulled the pin on the grenade, and got into a pitcher's stance. He threw a fastball at a horde, tackling in the face one of the infected shamblers within with the 87-mph projectile. Due to the hard landing into partially-rotten bone tissue and brain matter, the grenade detonated prematurely, dropping the undead group instantly, and causing a blood mist to erupt from a few of them. A gat cannon soon sprayed the area with hot 7.62 mm rounds, making sure that the group was completely eradicated.

Titus then climbed back in through the truck window, and picked up the radio again: "It may not have been necessary, but it sure as hell was warranted. Anyway, we now have the grenades dispersed between vehicles, so we have more firepower in case if we leave your little 'Fort Knox'," he chuckled, seeing the castle-like structure, had a castle been made this century with spare materials at hand.

Edited by Nology5890, 12 April 2008 - 08:37 PM.

((Right. I have been on spring break for the last week, and just managed to ply the family computer away from my sister and falloutboyfan.com or whatever the fuck she does with it [probably also myspaceforhorses.com or something, knowing her]. Having stolen into my lair on the second floor of my home and sealed the entrance to my batcave, I'm posting this. I have been on break, sorry that I havent been able to post. . My posts will be resuming on Monday. I have to go golf now.))

((FZEDIT: In a similar fashion, I also intend to do some posting soon. Right now I have to go babysitting, in an annoying way, but I shall return! But don't let that stop you if you were gonna post anyway. In fact, please do.))

Edited by Fire Ze Missiles!, 19 April 2008 - 05:28 PM.

((OOC: Copa, apologies if you had something planned but...well, it's been long enough. Jump in guys.))

Carl was tired to death. Old, tired and blood-spattered. But he was happy. Happy he had survived, happy he done his duty to the group. As the horde was pushed back from the convoy, he collapsed back into the truck, hastily reloading his spent magazine. As he did so he glanced behind him, and was glad to see the barricade pulling itself apart, a truck sized gap beginning to open in the centre. Carl was too tired to do anything more than smile grimly as he pulled himself back to his feet, and returned to the fight.

***

He sprinted away form the trucks, the blood, fire and death behind him, straight towards the barricade and the safety it offered. Even as he ran, Dean could see the topmost fortifications being hurriedly pulled away, the breach widening with every step. And then he was there, scrabbling at the outside for some purchase. Soon, he had clambered over the barricade and was helping these unknown strangers destroy their handiwork. His friends would not die out there. Not on his watch.

John started running towards the barricade, "Come on everyone! Let's go!" He looked back and shot at the creatures still following. Four of the them fell and he sprinted to help the strangers.