[TE Arcade] Zombie Holocaust

[Jason Tandro]

ROUND 2: The Nightmare Begins

Date and Time
---
July 12
Morning - Afternoon - Evening - Night

Weather Conditions
---
Raining
New Moon - Waxing Half Moon - Full Moon - Waning Half Moon

Play BGM

---

psychokind:
HP: 20/ 20
Stamina: 9/ 10
Infection: 0%
Weight: 3/50

The pub on Water Rd....

Psychokind knocks on the securely bolted door of the pub.

"Who is it? Are you living?!" Comes a tense voice. A slot opens beneath the peephole and the end of a rifle sticks out.

"Don't shoot!" Psychokind shouts, only pretending to be scared. "I got chased out of my house! I need a place to lay low for the night."

The rifle slowly withdraws. The sound of several bolts coming undone precede the door opening and a middle aged man holding the remainder of the rifle greets him.

"Hm... you don't look dead," The man says.

"May I please come in?" Psychokind asks.

"Huh? Wha- of course. Get in, get in!" The man nods, waving his hand in an impatient manner. He points the gun around the street and then walks in behind psychokind.

"You are a gutsy one, you know that," comes the voice of one of the women.

Psychokind turns his attention to an enchanting woman with long black hair wearing a short black dress.

"Not many men would be brave enough to wander the streets at night nowadays," she says, stirring a blood red drink.

Psychokind smirks. "I'm not like most men. I need some supplies."

"We don't got much, but whatever you can find in the way of food you're welcome to," The man says, setting the rifle down and walking back behind the bar.

Psychokind looks around. A group of around 50 humans are huddled together in the small place. Apparently it is one of the places they were able to take refuge from the zombies.

"There's something fishy going on here," the man curses. "More of them keep showing up."

"More people are dying," another man says. "That's why."

"The whole town will be overrun if we don't do something," a woman gasps.

"A little late for that," psychokind says, taking a seat next to the dark-haired woman. "I've been out there. There are only a few places in town like this. Everywhere else is overrun."

"Where's the army when you need them?!" A drunken man shouts from the back. There is a murmuring of assent.

"Our best bet is to stay here and wait for rescue," the bartender says.

"But for how long can we wait?" Asks a woman leaning against the wall.

"I've got food here to lasts us all for about a week," the bartender says.

"This is the Aegis Corporation's fault. If their damned drugs worked, we wouldn't be in this mess!" Shouts a teenager.

"You wanna go take it up with the corporation, be my guest," the bartender says. "All I know is we got no other choice."

The woman runs her hand subtley up psychokind's leg as she gets out of her chair. She nods in the direction of the bathroom. Psychokind excuses himself and joins her.

She sits gazing at her reflection... or lack thereof... in the mirror.

"I knew right away you were one of us," the woman smiles as psychokind walks in.

"What are you doing in a human settlement?" Psychokind asks. "I was unaware that there were many more freelance vampires nowadays."

"You must be from the Order of Alucard," the woman laughs. "This Vampire's Code nonsense keeps us from feeding well. And in these desperate times when our race is virtually driven to extinction."

"I've not time to discuss ethics with commoners," Psychokind cocks his head dismissively. "Did you have something of relevance to say?"

"Yes," the woman says, her eyes flashing blood red. "There are some of our ilk who not only ignore the designs of the Order, but who actively work against it. Do not assume that all vampire are your friends."

"I did not need to be advised of that," Psychokind nods. "Anything else? What of this Aegis Corporation? What do you know?"

"The humans were convinced that their silly little drugs could stop the spread of the undead curse. Have you been online?" The woman opens her purse and pulls out a PDA. She taps on the screen with the stylus and opens up a webpage.

Psychokind looks at the webpage. "Aegis Corporation's webpage?"

"To those who can read between the lines there is an interesting story to be heard. If I were you, I would head over to Prison Lane. There's a man in the prison there, assuming he's still alive, who knows all about what the Aegis Corporation has been doing here," the woman smiles.

"I may do that. What was your name?" Psychokind asks.

"Natalya," the woman smiles. "Or 'filthy commoner' if you prefer."

Psychokind hands back the woman's PDA. "I haven't ruled it out," he smirks.

Options:

A) Go to Aegis Corp, Wyrick Business Park
So Aegis Corporation is behind this! But still should I rush into the battle without knowing what I'm dealing with?

B) Go to the Old Mansion, Dark Forest.
That mansion has been around for eons. Rumor has it this isn't the first time that an outbreak like this has occurred, and perhaps that mansion may hold some secrets.

C) Go to the Euro Maximum Security Prison, Prison Lane.
The prison was cut loose when the outbreak hit. There's no power and the place is full of the undead. If my source is still alive, he is no doubt in extreme peril.


---


Freedan
HP: 50/ 50
Stamina: 9/ 10
Infection: 0%
Weight: 4/60

The city was in worse shape than Freedan could have imagined. The zombies seemed to be wandering the streets aimlessly. And worse yet, a large group of them seemed to be flooding through the mall.

"Perhaps this was not the most well-thought out plan," Freedan sighs. "I thought we had more time."

Not one to be discouraged, Freedan glances down at the shipping dock of one of the anchor stores and decides to use it as his way in. He climbs up through a loading dock, knocking over some skids and then climbs up a ladder to the second floor.

He emerges in the back of a large clothing store. There is still power in this portion of the mall, but the lights are flickering.

Suddenly a shot rings out behind him and Freedan ducks just in time.

"Who goes there?!" Shouts a man.

"Take it easy!" Freedan shouts. "I'm friendly!"

The man is dressed in full desert camo and is holding a shotgun.

"You don't look like a zombie," The man snorts.

"Thanks for noticing," Freedan grunts, annoying. "Got any more noisemakers?"

The man looks down at his shotgun. "Sure do, but I'm not giving them out to strangers. This is my neck of the woods. The settlement kicked me out because I wanted to blow some zombie heads off and what happened? They come crying to me for my guns."

"So they don't have any weapons?" Freedan asked.

"They got some," the man snorts again. "But I carry the good shit. Now why don't you get your ass out of my little piece of paradise before I blow your brains out."

"With pleasure," Freedan curses, walking out of the store.

The cry of the undead echo through the large mall. Freedan tightens his grip on his baseball bat.

"Well I brought this on myself," Freedan shrugs. "The human settlement is over on the other end of the mall, but Natal mentioned a security office down on the lower level that might have a gun."


Options:

A) Head to the Human Settlement
They're short on weapons thanks to that nutjob. Maybe I should see how they're doing.

B) Head to the Security Office.
It's on the first floor, and I may have to fight some undead, but there should be a proper weapon and maybe some first aid supplies down there.

C) Leave the Mall.
In light of the situation retreat might be a realistic option here. There's got to be hundreds of zombies wandering around here!


---

EverPhoenix/ Chicken/ Blade

EverPhoenix
HP: 20/ 20
Stamina: 9/ 10
Infection: 0%
Weight: 3/40

Chicken
HP: 20/ 20
Stamina: 9/ 10
Infection: 0%
Weight: 3/40

Blade
HP: 20/ 20
Stamina: 9/ 10
Infection: 0%
Weight: 3/50

The three men move in perfect formation through the dark hallways. There are the pitiful moanings of the undead all around them.

As Chicken opens the door the stairs, a group of zombies begin to pour out. One takes a swipe at Blade, who drops his knife.

"Shit!" Blade curses.

Chicken fires a couple rounds at the zombie, knocking it down. They rush forward to the stairs leading up to the next level. They enter the sixth floor and continue to search the area.

"I guess this will do," says Blade, picking up a Baseball Bat from a supply closet.

"Roof hatch is over here," EverPhoenix says, opening a door.

They climb up the stairs and EverPhoenix props the door shut.

They look around the fort, but before they see anything they hear the gunshots and screams, and smell the smoke.

"Damn. You think they might have let us know about this!" Chicken curses.

"Come on, let's try to get a vehicle or something," EverPhoenix sighs.

"And go where? Into town? You honestly think that's better?" Chicken asks.

"We still have a job to do," Blade reminds them. "We should go check on the mayor make sure he's okay."

"Freedan might be able to help us out," EverPhoenix suggests. "He's built that place in the Dark Forest... WereHouse, I think. We should go see what he's up to."

"What about the guys here. Don't you think they could use our help?" Chicken asks.


Options:

A) Report for duty.
Helping the others at the fort seems like the decent thing to do... although we probably can't do very much.

B) Check on the mayor.
We should see if the mayor of Euro is okay. We should head to the capitol building.

C) Head to WereHouse.
Freedan is not only an old friend, but a werewolf. He should have his ear to the ground on this issue.

---

inferiare
HP: 75/ 75
Stamina: 9/ 10
Infection: 100%
Weight: 4/ 50

The Old Mansion lives up to it's name perfectly. The thing looks almost two hundred years old. As inferiare walks into the main foyer she sees a video playing on an infinite loop against one of the walls.

"So, the queen of the zombies has lost her power?" Comes a deep voice.

inferiare turns and sees a man in a black trenchcoat and hood, a goatee the only visible feature.

"Who are you?" inferiare demands.

"I am Vladrac," the man nods, bowing. "Brother of Alucard, one of His divine servants. And you...without your orb of control... are nothing more than a tasty snack."

Vladrac moves closer, and inferiare raises her bat.

"Wouldn't you rather have at least a little power?" Vladrac asks, pointing at the bat. "This mansion has many secrets. Ghosts, Ju-Ons, even a vampire or two dwell within these walls."

"I can come by my own power, thank you," inferiare curses.

"Ah, but Brother Lioncourt used you, did he not? The way all who lack Alucard's blessing are designed to be used. We know your power, inferiare, and we would love to have you join us. As an equal to us. We would hate to have to simply use you as a puppet," Vladrac smiles. He glides past her towards the exit. "But you cannot trust me yet. That is very well of course. But I'll give you a hint. The bathroom here is haunted by a Ju-On. Unless you wish to be cursed, I would steer clear of it. I might try the library."

And with that, Vladrac leaves the mansion.

Options:

A) Enter the library.
I wonder what Vladrac meant by that...

B) Enter the bathroom.
A Ju-On? Really? Is he trying to hide something from me?

C) Head into town.
Maybe there is no reason to be here after all.

[EverPhoenix]

ill follow the sounds of gunfire to reach some survivors around here. maybe someone will know what the hell happened. after that, paying freedan a visit might be worth it. need all the help we can get - although we should try to avoid going around full moon

[chicken]

we're still in an ARMY fort and i've never seen zombies with automatics. so lets take a good look from the rooftop, maybe we can figure out how to move the safest possible way from point A to B...

searching for survivors is probably the best idea and checking for weapons too.

[Blade]

"We should report for duty, there's not much we can do with our sub-standard-weapons, and I don't wanna end up as Zombiefood <.<"

[EverPhoenix]

so, we go and scout the building?

[Blade]

I think nobody in my group (including me) gets what we actually can do

[Freedan]

I'll risk a run-in with the zombies and head for the security office.

[inferiare]

"Hmph. Unholier than thou head-so-far-up-his-ass vampire scum. Whatever. I'll be cautious when I go into the library, just in case that is where that Ju-On is. Never know with those types."

[psychokind]

I have no other clue. I'll take a look, maybe I find the prisoner in the Euro Maximum Security Prison, Prison Lane. I should be capable of handling the undead.

[Jason Tandro]

ROUND 3: Moving the Pawns

Date and Time
---
July 12
Morning - Afternoon - Evening - Night

Weather Conditions
---
Thunderstorm
New Moon - Waxing Half Moon - Full Moon - Waning Half Moon

Play BGM

Note: The BGM I WANTED to use this round was blocked by my works SafeFilter. Stupid Cradle of Filth songs all having innapropriate titles... ERG. Oh, and props to Blade for supplying them. I'll have them running by next round come hell or high water.

---

psychokind:
HP: 20/ 20
Stamina: 8/ 10
Infection: 0%
Weight: 3/50

Euro Maximum Security Prison, Prison Lane...

Morning has come, but the thick cloud cover protects psychokind from the harmful rays of the sun.

"Nature is on my side, it seems," psychokind observes as he leaps over an abandoned guard post into the prison.

The smell of smoke is thick. Recent tire tracks all lead out of the prison. It seems that the human guard all fled when the outbreak hit. Any prisoners inside must be dead... or among them.

"Is there any point to this? Who could possibly survive these conditions?" psychokind thought.

psychokind walks through the front gate and finds that the power has also been cut, as he suspected. The lack of light was not a problem for psychokind, but it made his situation appear all the more hopeless.

He creeps through the main lane. In the distant he hears the chattering feet of some undead menance. It sounds much too fast for an ordinary zombie.

He turns a corner down one of the cell blocks. Inside each cell he sees either a rotting corpse or a partially re-animated walking husk, trapped eternally by the prison bars. It would seem that the guards shot as many prisoners in the head as they could before fleeing, but were innacurate in several places.

A hand lunges out of one of the cells and a voice cries out. "Get me out of here!"

psychokind turns his head to see a man in prison garb, a thick beard covering his face. None of this growth remained on his head, which was bald to the point of shimmering dully against the scant external light.

"Who are you?" psychokind asks, dryly.

"I am General Alexander Lang... or at least I used to be. Before I was demoted to private, dishonorably discharged and thrown in this stinking pit," the man curses. "It's been three days since our problems began. About 48 hours ago the guard just up and left. Tried to kill anybody who was showing signs of infection... but goddamn it they just left the rest of us to rot!"

"You have survived this far though," psychokind notes.

"Yeah, drinking the water out of the damn toilet before that ran out, and occassionaly catching a rat. I'm dying here!" Lang shouts. "Let me out already. Do you have any food on you?"

"None that you would be able to eat, I'm afraid," psychokind smiles grimly, flashing his fangs.

Lang bursts out in maniacal laughter. "This is just my damned luck isn't it. Waiting two days for rescue and I'm found by a godforsaken vampire. Go ahead, kill me you stupid bastard. No reason for both of us to go hungry."

"Believe me nothing would give me more pleasure, but I have need of you. I need to know about the Aegis Corporation, and I was told that you can be of service," psychokind began. "But I am so rude. You graced me with an introduction and I am honor bound to do the same. I am pyschokind, Brother in the Order of Alucard. First in service to his unholiness. Take a moment, if you can, to ponder the significance of this. I am, perhaps, the most powerful vampire alive, aside from Dark Priest Alucard. I am condescending to a mere mortal and begging of your assistance. You should be honored."

"I'm just thrilled," Lang scoffs. "Now does this grand speech have a point?"

psychokind smiles and continues. "Why yes, it does. As I have stated quite plainly. I require information from you."

"Right," Lang sighs. "The Aegis Corporation. I would figure you almighty types would be in the know."

"The Aegis Corporation did their job of keeping this disaster a secret well. We 'almighty types' are aware that you humans are good at hiding things. Give me the information I require, and I may even help you," psychokind nods.

Lang considers this for a moment, stroking his beard, and finally he nods his head.

"There was a man in my command. His name was Sergant Major John Dennis Riley. Usually went by Dennis," Lang nodded.

"This could never be the same Sergeant Riley from the incident almost two years ago? The Freejia outbreak?" psychokind asks, intrigued.

"That's right!" Lang nods. "The same guy. We all had a hell of a lot of respect for him. He'd actually seen it, you know." Lang laughs. "Well hell you DO know."

psychokind's smile fades in an instant, and a scowl replaces it. "My mentor was killed in that encounter."

Lang continues to smile. "Ah... Lestat De Lioncourt was among your Order? I wish I could express my sympathy, but frankly I don't give a damn how many of your lot died."

psychokind feels the fury building inside him. For his noble Order to be adressed by this vermin as "your lot"? The audacity was truly beyond him. But he must calm himself. Wait until he has the information he needs and then do what he will.

"Anyways," Lang continues. "He said something was funny inside Aegis HQ. Said that they were tainting some of their drugs. Trying to spead the outbreak."

"Why would they do that?" psychokind asks.

"Come on, you're supposed to know all about us filthy mortals. Greed! Plain and simple. More outbreaks mean more drug sales. Profit goes through the roof. At least that was the theory. Well nothing was proved. There was no conclusive evidence. And that snake in the grass Walker... if you ask me he's the real brains behind the company. Always smooth talking, wallpapering over any kind of expose. We had our guys try to do an inside job after Sgt. Riley dissapeared, and what happens? Our entire unit gets court marshalled. I tell you Aegis set it up. They've lined their pockets with bribe money from the local senate and I'll bet they didn't want anybody spilling the beans..."

"This is all rather confusing to me. Who is this Walker?" psychokind asks.

"Tim Walker. Great guy when you first meet him. All smiles. He was the PR Director of Aegis Corp. I think he's been hiding out though. Nobody knows where to find him. I'd place a fair wager he's either at Aegis Corp, his home on Water Street, near the mall, or for all we know he could be hiding out with the senate in the capitol building. I don't really know and I don't care. Now what about our deal?"

Options:

This round you must make two decisions. How to deal with General Lang and where to go next.

General Lang's Fate
A) Let him go free
He has helped me out, but he has also profaned the order. Letting him free maintains my Honor but prevents him gaining access to our secrets.

B) Feed: Turn Lang into a Vampire.
If I feed, then I am honor-bound to allow Lang to become a Vampire. My stamina will be restored to full, but in doing so I will give Lang vampiric powers and abilities. I know he'd never refuse the offer and turn into a Ju-On.

C) Kill Him
There is no honor in this action. And also no purpose. But he has profaned the order. Perhaps it is worth it.

D) Let him rot.
It would be dishonorable to kill him. By leaving him here, I am not technically breaking our vow.


Where To?

A) Aegis HQ
Perhaps the time has finally come to delve there.

B) Walker's Home
A logical place to start looking.

C) Capitol Building
If nothing else, I'm sure there are high ranking mortals who may have more information.

---

Freedan
HP: 50/ 50
Stamina: 8/ 10
Infection: 0%
Weight: 4/60

Freedan stealthily walks down the rows of the mall. So far, so good. No sign of zombies. As he rounds the corner into the hallway leading to the security office, however, he hears gunshots ring out. A man dressed in a security uniform is shooting at a horder of three zombies.

"Hey man! Get outta here!" The security guard shouts.

"I came to help!" Freedan yells. "Do you have another piece?"

"Not on me, but here!" The security guard throws a small hatchet towards Freedan.

Freedan picks up the hatchet. "Well it's better than this piece of junk."

Freedan drops Baseball Bat (2d6). Freedan equips Hatchet (3d6).

"Okay, now let's finish them off!" Freedan shouts.

==BATTLE EVENT==

Allies

Trent Butler
Human (Mall Security Guard)
HP: 23
Infection: 45%

Enemies

Jane Parker
Zombie (2 days old)
HP: 18
Infection: 100%

Frank Parker
Zombie (2 days old)
HP: 16
Infection: 100%

Laura Kent
Zombie (1 day old)
HP: 12
Infection: 100%

Combat Options:

A) Melee Attack (2d6)
As a Werewolf, my punches pack a mean hit and have 100% accuracy!

B) Hatchet Attack (3d6)
Hatchets are close range weapons, so my accuracy is pretty close to 100% Does more damage than my fists too!

C) Attempt Early Transformation (10% chance)
It's the New Moon. My odds of transformation are slim to nil... But if I succeed, my power doubles!

D) Retreat
Those who fight and run away...

---

EverPhoenix/ Chicken/ Blade

EverPhoenix
HP: 20/ 20
Stamina: 8/ 10
Infection: 0%
Weight: 3/40

Chicken
HP: 20/ 20
Stamina: 8/ 10
Infection: 0%
Weight: 3/40

Blade
HP: 20/ 20
Stamina: 8/ 10
Infection: 0%
Weight: 3/50

Dropping down to the bottom level from the fire-escape, they run in the directions of gunshots. A massive horde of zombies are approaching a large APC, which the soldiers are trying to load.

"Hey, thanks for the help, jackass!" Blade shouts to one of the soldiers.

"Jesus we thought you would be zombie food by now!" The soldier gasps.

"Would have been if I wasn't so damned impatient," EverPhoenix curses. "We want on this APC."

"And some better weapons!" Blade adds.

"Here, take my sidearm," the soldier nods, handing Blade his pistol.

Blade drops Army Knife (1d6) and equips Pistol (2d6+10). Soldier hands over 30 rounds for Pistol. These rounds have been treated with Holy Water.

"Look if you want to get on this ride outta here, that's fine by me, but we're just going back into town to help out the civilians," the soldier nods.

"So? That's our job isn't it?" Chicken asks.

"At least we're doing something!" Blade nods.

"Fine. We need to clear the path first!" The soldier glances at the three men more carefully. "Hey wait a minute you're the guys who were in this mess last time. Tell you what, you take the APC. There are three gunner positions on this new model. A cannon and two 50-cal machine guns. We need to take down this horde and keep the APC intact. You ready?"

"Hell yeah! You just said the magic words, buddy!" Blade laughs, jumping to the top of the APC cannon.

"Of course you'd take the top spot," EverPhoenix sighs, sitting behind one of the machinegun positions.

==LARGE-SCALE BATTLE EVENT==

Allies

1st Division
Units: 210

Turrets
Units: 20

APC Heavy Armor Divison
Units: 35


Enemies

Zombie Horde, South
Units: 240

Zombie Horde, North Gate
Units: 350

Combat Options:

Blade- Cannon

A) Fire Main Cannon (2 rounds) [1d100 damage]
What else can I do?

B) Reload Cannon
The cannon can hold a maximum of 4 rounds. Each time I reload, I add one round.

Chicken- 50-Cal

A) Concentrated Fire (300 rounds) [5d10 damage]
Fire 50 concentrated rounds at one group

B) Spread Fire (300 rounds) [1d100 damage]
Fire a total of 100 rounds at both groups.

C) Reload 50-Cal
The 50-Cal can hold a maximum of 500 rounds. Each time I reload, I add 100 rounds


EverPhoenix- 50-Cal

A) Concentrated Fire (300 rounds) [5d10 damage]
Fire 50 concentrated rounds at one group

B) Spread Fire (300 rounds) [1d100 damage]
Fire a total of 100 rounds at both groups.

C) Reload 50-Cal
The 50-Cal can hold a maximum of 500 rounds. Each time I reload, I add 100 rounds
---

inferiare
HP: 75/ 75
Stamina: 8/ 10
Infection: 100%
Weight: 4/ 50

The library is filled with a massive number of musty old tomes.

"Great. You really left me a lot to work with Vladdy," inferiare sighs.

One book lies open on a table. Two lit candles illuminate the pages. Figuring there is no better place to start, she moves towards the book.

The title of the book, she finds, is called Call of Darkness. The page that the book is open to is titled...

"The Orb of Control?" inferiare gasps.

The Orb of Control
This mystical artifact is said to be the way in which the King or Queen of the undead controls their hordes. It is created by the gathering of the blood of all five key divisions of undead: Nosferatu, Lycanthrope, Poltergeist, Wrayth, and Ghoul.


"Hmm... archaic terms. Nosferatu must be Vampire. Lycanthrope is Werewolf. Poltergeist are ghosts. Wrayth are probably Ju-On and I'm guessing Ghoul must be..." She looks down at her own husk form. "Zombies."

Extract the five ingredients with a silver knife. Add a drop of their own blood and place it in a Dark Font.

There is a note scrawled on the side of this passage.

Dark Font... Dark Forest in the woods behind Lake Cass. Ingredients can be collected in silver vials.

Suddenly the drawer of the table opens up and inside, five silver vials.

inferiare adds the five Silver Vials to her inventory.

"Hmm... one of the essences I need is a Ju-On... and didn't Vladrac say there was one in the bathroom?" inferiare smiles darkly.

Options:

A)Capture the Ju-On
Ju-Ons are very tough opponents. If I cannot beat the Ju-On I will become one... and that should not hinder my progress any more than being a zombie does. Ju-Ons when they are defeated leave very little behind, but the Grudge Stain they use to mark their territory should suffice.

B)Capture a Zombie
There are some zombies just outside. Perhaps I could go kill one and drain it's... well not its blood, but I guess some of its pus will do.

C)Capture a Ghost
I thought I saw a ghost haunting the music room. That's tricky. Perhaps some of its ectoplasm will do.

[Freedan]

Hatchet powers, activate!

By your powers combined, you are....

... well, a hatchet.

Slashy slashy.

[Blade]

FREE -FUCKING- FIRE ZONE! THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN!
[means A) Fire]

[EverPhoenix]

spray and pray. for headshots. B)

[chicken]

i'll concentrate my fire on the southern group. lets see if i can hit some heads with my uber-assassin-ability

[psychokind]

*sigh* alright, you're free. Make your way out yourself.

- I head to Walker's home -