Shoot 'Em in the Head: The Zombie Survival Horror RPG IC Thread

[wiegeabo]

"How's it going, Airman?" I shout through the window to the front of the truck?

"We're getting low on fuel. We'll have to stop soon, sir."

I sigh. "Damn. I was hoping we'd make Atlanta before we needed another fillup."

"Wishful thinking, Captain. We're still in Virgina."

"Really? We haven't even hit Tennessee yet?" I poke my head through the opening to look out the windscreen. "This is taking forever. I thought we'd be there by now."

"Well, normally we would. But I'm having to drive this thing slow to avoid all the wrecks on the road." She looks at me, lowering her voice. "Why? How's Nguyen doing?"

I spare a glance back at the other airman who's sleeping fitfully. "I think he's getting worse. I was hoping we'd make it to the CDC before things got too bad."

"At this rate, it's going to be another day, at least, sir."

"Hopefully Nguyen's got another day."

"It's that bad?"

"It's not getting any better. I really wish we didn't have to leave the base so quickly." Leave. More like get the **** out while we had the chance.

I glance back and notice Nguyen starting to come around. "Ok. Next gas station we'll fill up and try to clean them out of anything that's left. God knows we've got plenty of room back here."

"And what are the chances they'll have extra ammo?"

"Somewhere between zero and nil would be my guess."

"Which means we don't have any to spare."

"So keep the engine running while you fill up."

"Won't that cause the truck to explode?" she says with a small smile.

"Urban legend."

"It better be."

"Doc...?"

"That's your cue, sir."

I pat Penn on the shoulder. "Just get us there fast," I say softly before turning to the back of our covered truck.

"Well, airman. What seems to be the problem...?"

"How's he doing, Doc?"

"It burns...sir..." Nguyen says, weakly.

"It'll be alright, airman. We're going to be stopping for gas soon, and I'll clean the place out of meds."

"Nice try, captain. But I don't think...that's going...to help much."

"We'll see. There wasn't exactly a chapter on the walking dead back in med school. So we'll figure something out."

"Yeah...sure." Nguyen struggles to pull his sidearm out, and when he does...he hands it over to me. "Just in case, sir."

I glance at Penn, and she quickly turns her eyes back on the road, trying to make it look like she's not wiping them.

"We've been through too much, Nguyen. Lost a lot of people already. I'm not losing anymore on my watch. You are going to get better. That's an order."

"What will you do if I disobey," he laughs.

"...I'll think of something." I help him get a sip of water, then let him rest.

I crawl forward to talk with Penn.

"How long does he have sir?"

"I don't know. His fever is spiking at 104. Nothing I've given him is bringing it down. If it gets much higher..."

"He's going to become one of them, isn't he."

"No. I'll make sure that doesn't happen."

We drive quietly, passing a sign that says Welcome to Knoxville. "Find somewhere outside of town. I don't feel like being in a big city again. Not after last time. And not with it starting to get dark." I check to make sure my gun is fully loaded.

"Let's make this fast."

 

[wiegeabo]

Veronica says, "You should've known me when I had a badge and a set of handcuffs. I used to be a lot more laid-back. "

She smirks and says, "I don't have to obey the law anymore."

I pull the young lady close to me. No, not that one. The older one. What kind of guy do you think I am? Wait...who am I talking to?

"I'm a little scared of her," I whisper.

 

[Keyser Soze]

"You don't understand," I start. "You were out of it when people started getting sick. It was crazy times. Everyone was panicking. People would have done anything to get away, even if it was driving on the wrong side of the road."

"I seen some **** in Athens, man. You wouldn't believe. I was almost killed when my frat house caught fire. They thought they could stop those things by burning them....but that didn't stop them. Lost a buddy in that fire. Saw him a few days later walking down the street, most of his body burnt up from the fire."

We continue walking in silence. The bag filled with guns begins cutting into my shoulders as we march down the pavement. I don't really feel like sharing my stories. As bad as Curtis' story is, mine is worse. It's one thing to have your friends turn into those....things, but your whole family? That's not something you want to talk about to anyone.

We're in downtown Atlanta after an hour of walking. I crane my neck up to look up at the big buildings.

"Never been to Atlanta?"

"Been here four times my whole life. Twice I went to see the Braves play and twice I went to Six Flags so this is my only time being downtown."

The thing that bothers me is the quiet. Millons of people live in and around the city, but yet the only noise nearby is our footsteps.

"You guys getting the feeling all that talk about Atlanta being a safezone was bull****?"

"Quiet. Do you hear that?"

Of course, Curtis is right. This doesn't feel good at all. At best, Atlanta is a ghost town. And at worst...

I turn around, and notice a small group of about half a dozen walkers has accumulated behind us, emerging from various vehicles and dark corners.

"Don't panic. We can outrun them. There's only a few of them, nothing to worry about. We'll just find another route out of the city so we don't have to go through them, then get the hell out of here. There's nothing but death here."

Leaving the walkers behind, we continue our journey forward into the city. I keep on spotting the creatures lurking at various spots. Some see us, and start following. Others just sit there on the sidewalk, as if too tired to move in the baking heat. I spot a tank, a couple of other abandoned vehicles. It seems like the army had been here, at one point. But obviously it didn't work out.

"Okay, we turn this corner, walk down a block, then double back out the city. By the time the stragglers catch wind of us we'll be long gone..."

We turn the corner, and are faced with what must be hundreds of walkers, all crammed in the road in a seething pile. Seemingly in unison, they all turn to face us, hunger in their eyes.

"Oh no."

 

[Byrd Man]

Leaving the walkers behind, we continue our journey forward into the city. I keep on spotting the creatures lurking at various spots. Some see us, and start following. Others just sit there on the sidewalk, as if too tired to move in the baking heat. I spot a tank, a couple of other abandoned vehicles. It seems like the army had been here, at one point. But obviously it didn't work out.

"Okay, we turn this corner, walk down a block, then double back out the city. By the time the stragglers catch wind of us we'll be long gone..."

We turn the corner, and are faced with what must be hundreds of walkers, all crammed in the road in a seething pile. Seemingly in unison, they all turn to face us, hunger in their eyes.

"Oh no."

"Just stay calm. We can calmly turn around and sneak off without them running after us."

I turn to Rick and nod and then turn to Curtis.....who's already running and halfway down the street. The all-conference speed of his getting put to work, I suppose.

"**** what I just said, run!"

Rick and I turn and sprint back down the street towards Curtis. I don't want to look behind me, I can't look behind me. I can tell they're gaining by the sound of the feet hitting the pavement.

"S***! S***! S***!"

I turn a corner and run down a side alley. Rick keeps running forward and doesn't see me dart off from the path. I try to call out to him, but the undead start running down the street after him. A few of them veer off and come after me. I take off again, running down the alley and leaping up to grab hold of a fire escape ladder. I can feel them all down there, watching me as I climb up to safety. I look down just once to see dozens of the undead eyeing me.

I suddenly feel like a lobster in one of those water tanks they have at grocery stores. Least the lobster dies before he's eaten.

 

[Carnage27]

I pull the young lady close to me. No, not that one. The older one. What kind of guy do you think I am? Wait...who am I talking to?

"I'm a little scared of her," I whisper.

I join Bill in a hug of Wichita, basically making a sandwich, "I completely agree with Bill."

She pushes the two of us off of her and confronts the newcomer, "Listen, I don't know who you are but if you're gonna roll with us, you play by our rules. If you haven't noticed, there more of us."

She smirks and begins, "Oh yea-"

She's cut of by Little Rock, who puts a gun in her back. When our new friend shows a look of shock, the little girl smiles, "I'm like a little ninja. And I can be a ***** too."

 

[Carnage27]

"Wesker, what floor are they on?" I ask as quietly as I can as we traverse the dark hallways of the Umbrella Tower. We're only a few yards in, and I already think this is a mistake. It's darker than the devil's ***hole in here, and the tight quarters can easily equal a bite. After a few moments of Wesker not answering, I ask a little louder, "Wesker, what floor?"

"Sixty-five," he responds nochalantly. I can tell he's checking the bodies, making sure they're truly dead. But his lack of focus bothers me.

"What the hell was that?" Jill says as a crash is heard further down the hallway. I illuminate the other end and find three undead staring back at us. As they begin to groan, four others exit the doors that line the rest of the hallway.

"****, anyone see a way out of this!?" I respond, burying two bullets into the heads of two if the infected. More of them continue to leave the rooms, and they keep scrambling towards us. They truly are horrifying, and with a mob of them coming towards you you barely have the capacity for rational thought.

"Back to the roof? This isn't worth it!" Rebecca responds firing a few shots

"No, we're not leaving without the people in this building," Wesker responds between shots. "It's our job."

"Stairs!" Jill yells from behind us. The group runs that way, and I'm the last one through the door, but I catch three reaching arms in it.

I pull against them, not letting the undead to get in, and look frantically for something to push them back. And then I see a fire axe, "Wesker! Axe!"

He acts quickly, smashing the glass and grabbing the weapon, chopping off the infected's extremities. I manage to close the door, block it closed with the axe, and turn to my team, "Let's go. Only ten floors to the survivors."

"How the hell are we going to get extracted?" Jill asks.

"We'll figure that out when the time comes," I respond, heading down the stairs.

 

[MST3K 4ever]

I join Bill in a hug of Wichita, basically making a sandwich, "I completely agree with Bill."

She pushes the two of us off of her and confronts the newcomer, "Listen, I don't know who you are but if you're gonna roll with us, you play by our rules. If you haven't noticed, there more of us."

She smirks and begins, "Oh yea-"

She's cut of by Little Rock, who puts a gun in her back. When our new friend shows a look of shock, the little girl smiles, "I'm like a little ninja. And I can be a ***** too."

Veronica ***** one eyebrow and says, "Interesting" and without even looking down at Little Rock swipes the gun from Little Rock and says, "Never pull a gun unless you're going to use it."

She then hands the gun back to the Little Rock and says, "Former Ranger and Sheriff makes me a nightmare to deal with on a personality level, but in a bad situation I hold my own."

Veronica then looks out the window and says, "As far as rules go" she shrugs her shoulders and says, "Whatever i'm not looking to be a leader I'm presenting options that increase our chances to survive and I'm looking to follow two rules. Those two rules are one survive, and two anything that impeeds rule one is to be eliminated."

She then focuses ahead and says, "I spy with my little eye four things coming up the backside of the house that could prove to give us more issues than just the sparkling conversation we're having."

Veronica then chambers a round in each of her 45s and says, "and if there is one thing I've already learned about these things they travel packs meaning there are more on the way."

Veronica quickly checks the front and says, "Fronts clear for the moment if we want to get moving now might be the time to start considering it."

 

[Catman_prb]

Jack awoke to the sound of moaning and groaning. And not the good kind. A quick hand to his head felt the clotted blood that was matting his scalp. His eyes flew open as his head darted around to find the source of the noise. He grabbed the axe which the hijackers had thankfully left on his back and brought it down with a thunk into the only dangerously close walker. As he pushed himself to his feet, he could see more moving towards him through the corn crop. It was lucky he'd been so far outside civilisation when he got jumped.

Jack took a step back, a hand on his dizzying head. Too many to fight. Time for flight. He started stumbling down the road towards Atlanta. A guys got to hope.

"Oh man does this suck,"

 

[Keyser Soze]

"Just stay calm. We can calmly turn around and sneak off without them running after us."

I turn to Rick and nod and then turn to Curtis.....who's already running and halfway down the street. The all-conference speed of his getting put to work, I suppose.

"**** what I just said, run!"

Rick and I turn and sprint back down the street towards Curtis. I don't want to look behind me, I can't look behind me. I can tell they're gaining by the sound of the feet hitting the pavement.

"S***! S***! S***!"

I turn a corner and run down a side alley. Rick keeps running forward and doesn't see me dart off from the path. I try to call out to him, but the undead start running down the street after him. A few of them veer off and come after me. I take off again, running down the alley and leaping up to grab hold of a fire escape ladder. I can feel them all down there, watching me as I climb up to safety. I look down just once to see dozens of the undead eyeing me.

I suddenly feel like a lobster in one of those water tanks they have at grocery stores. Least the lobster dies before he's eaten.

I run through the streets, frantically putting bullets in the heads of walkers left and right. I realise as I'm doing it that I'm wasting bullet and making noise to attract more walkers. I look over my shoulder and see no sign of Matt or Curtis. Can't think about that now.

I run into a shopping mall, slamming the glass doors closed behind me and locking them. I take off the satchel on my back, containing an axe. I take out the axe, cradling it in my hands.

"Fat load of good this did me...."

"GEEEEEEEEEUUUURGH!"

A walker lunges out at me from behind a coat rack. Instinctively, I swing the axe, burying it into the thing's skull.

Pulling out the axe, I look up at the doors. Already, a mass of those things are pressed up against the glass, trying to get in.

"How the hell do I get out of this?"

 

[sabetoonth]

​

Nick, Rochelle, Ellis and I sit in the safe house. It’s small, like really small. Two metal doors with bars on opposite sides of each other, we think it used to be a bomb shelter or something, like the kind those paranoid people made during the Cold War and ever after, the kind most people forget about.

“Hey Coach, what did ya coach?” We haven’t really asked about each other’s pasts, I guess it’s my time to share then.

“Defensive coordinator for FHS tour team.” I start, then we hear it, the door on the side we came through is starting to stress under a lot of force. We’re maybe half a day’s walk out of Atlanta, getting eaten this close to a safe haven would suck. “Ok everyone, let’s get a move out, before that door gives in and we all get eaten.” I stand up and grab my shotgun, pistol is sitting right next to it and I tuck it into my waist band, I approach the door, grab the handle and look back at the others.

Nick gives me an assured nod. Rochelle doesn’t do anything just grabs her guns and stands ready. Ellis bobs his head as if to give me approval to head out. The door continues to groan under the stress, there’s a sound of gnashing teeth on the other side of it. The door I have a grip on is cold, there’s no sign of hostile’s on the other side. I take in a deep breath and yank the door open, taking a wobbly run out the opening and into the night air, my slight limp keeps me from retaining the lead but it doesn’t leave me behind by much. I look back and see a group actually running.

“****! They can run!” I stop running, turn around with my shotgun and start blasting. There are maybe 20 of them; it’s a narrow choke point. A tall brick wall on one side and a chain link fence on which the other side, devoid of infected for now. They come charging down the narrow path, clawing out at the air, a dead hunger in their eyes. I squeeze the trigger on the shotgun and there’s a loud BANG and then a thud as a corpse hits the floor, the head completely destroyed in an explosion of gore. I turn my head for a second to see if the others are still running; Ellis is actually running back my way. He fires his weapon off to each of my sides and I turn around to make distance to catch up to the rest of them. When I catch up to Nick and Rochelle, I look back to see Ellis running like hell to catch up, a horde coming in behind him.

“What y’all waitin' for?! SHOOT’EM!” As if on cue we all discharge our weapons at the oncoming horde of flesh eaters that are chasing Ellis. The sound is bound to attract more, so as soon as we finish off the group we make haste in the direction of Atlanta.

 

[wiegeabo]

Veronica ***** one eyebrow and says, "Interesting" and without even looking down at Little Rock swipes the gun from Little Rock and says, "Never pull a gun unless you're going to use it."

She then hands the gun back to the Little Rock and says, "Former Ranger and Sheriff makes me a nightmare to deal with on a personality level, but in a bad situation I hold my own."

Veronica then looks out the window and says, "As far as rules go" she shrugs her shoulders and says, "Whatever i'm not looking to be a leader I'm presenting options that increase our chances to survive and I'm looking to follow two rules. Those two rules are one survive, and two anything that impeeds rule one is to be eliminated."

She then focuses ahead and says, "I spy with my little eye four things coming up the backside of the house that could prove to give us more issues than just the sparkling conversation we're having."

Veronica then chambers a round in each of her 45s and says, "and if there is one thing I've already learned about these things they travel packs meaning there are more on the way."

Veronica quickly checks the front and says, "Fronts clear for the moment if we want to get moving now might be the time to start considering it."

"You people. Always so tense. Tell you what. I'll deal with this, and you can partake of my herb. Well, not the little one."

"Hey!"

I jog up the stairs to my room, sit in front of the mirror, and go to work. Two minutes later, I'm back down the stairs, pale skin, deep set eyes, fake blood, the works.

"Took you long enough. They're at the back stairs."

"Just chill out and let Uncle Bill take care of the scary bad guys." I put my wig on, give my new friends a wink, and limp outside.

"Uuuggghhh...."

Two of the undead immediately start walking towards me. The other two look on as if they're confused. Which I imagine isn't a very hard condition to have when you're dead.

"Uuuugghhh..."

"Rruuughhh..."

"Raaahhhggghh..."

"Uuugghugg...?"

"Rugghggg?"

"Arrugghhh..."

I vaguely point and stumble in the direction away from my house. "Uuhuughguughuu..."

"Uggggguuuuu..."

"Rrraaaaaaggggguuuugggghh..."

"Uurrggghhh" They four fellow follow along with me. I start taking smaller steps, letting them pass by, giving them a grunt as I do. Then I stop altogether while they keep going. I tiptoe back towards the house, then run up the stairs back inside where everyone was watching.

"See? Works every time. I've got the munchies. Who's up for popcorn?"

 

[MST3K 4ever]

"You people. Always so tense. Tell you what. I'll deal with this, and you can partake of my herb. Well, not the little one."

"Hey!"

I jog up the stairs to my room, sit in front of the mirror, and go to work. Two minutes later, I'm back down the stairs, pale skin, deep set eyes, fake blood, the works.

"Took you long enough. They're at the back stairs."

"Just chill out and let Uncle Bill take care of the scary bad guys." I put my wig on, give my new friends a wink, and limp outside.

"Uuuggghhh...."

Two of the undead immediately start walking towards me. The other two look on as if they're confused. Which I imagine isn't a very hard condition to have when you're dead.

"Uuuugghhh..."

"Rruuughhh..."

"Raaahhhggghh..."

"Uuugghugg...?"

"Rugghggg?"

"Arrugghhh..."

I vaguely point and stumble in the direction away from my house. "Uuhuughguughuu..."

"Uggggguuuuu..."

"Rrraaaaaaggggguuuugggghh..."

"Uurrggghhh" They four fellow follow along with me. I start taking smaller steps, letting them pass by, giving them a grunt as I do. Then I stop altogether while they keep going. I tiptoe back towards the house, then run up the stairs back inside where everyone was watching.

"See? Works every time. I've got the munchies. Who's up for popcorn?"

Veronica looks at Bill intensely for a moment and then asks, "And they gave the Oscar to Sean Penn and not you? Idiots!"

She then starts laughing and says, "I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. Excellent! Let's see Penn do that!"

Veronica holsters her 45s and says, "If you got any of that herb left I'd like to take hit or two."

 

[NiteMare Shape]

We've been driving mostly in silence for hours. The girl hasn't said two words to me since we lost Blake at the gas station. So we drive on, letting the sound of the wind whistling through the crack in my window the only thing keeping it from being a truely silent journey.

It's times like this that I truely miss the radio, at least then it wouldn't feel so damn awkward.

She hasn't forgiven me, and I can't blame her. The last glimpse she'll ever have of her best friend was me...putting a bullet between his eyes. The fact that those things had bitten him, and were about to do a whole lot worse than that doesn't change what I did...at least in her eyes. She'll never see it for what it was...

An act of kindness.

So we drive on in silence. Until she finally looks away from the window that she'd been staring out the entire time since we left that gas station.

"Where are we going?" She asks, her voice strained.

"West. I heard there's a place out there...some amusement park where there aren't any of those things."

"Sounds an awful lot like Columbus."

"Yeah, it does. But hell...we won't know if we don't check it out."

 

[wiegeabo]

"How's he doing, Doc?"

"It burns...sir..." Nguyen says, weakly.

"It'll be alright, airman. We're going to be stopping for gas soon, and I'll clean the place out of meds."

"Nice try, captain. But I don't think...that's going...to help much."

"We'll see. There wasn't exactly a chapter on the walking dead back in med school. So we'll figure something out."

"Yeah...sure." Nguyen struggles to pull his sidearm out, and when he does...he hands it over to me. "Just in case, sir."

I glance at Penn, and she quickly turns her eyes back on the road, trying to make it look like she's not wiping them.

"We've been through too much, Nguyen. Lost a lot of people already. I'm not losing anymore on my watch. You are going to get better. That's an order."

"What will you do if I disobey," he laughs.

"...I'll think of something." I help him get a sip of water, then let him rest.

I crawl forward to talk with Penn.

"How long does he have sir?"

"I don't know. His fever is spiking at 104. Nothing I've given him is bringing it down. If it gets much higher..."

"He's going to become one of them, isn't he."

"No. I'll make sure that doesn't happen."

We drive quietly, passing a sign that says Welcome to Knoxville. "Find somewhere outside of town. I don't feel like being in a big city again. Not after last time. And not with it starting to get dark." I check to make sure my gun is fully loaded.

"Let's make this fast."

"How far can we get?"

"Two full tanks of gas will get us all the way to Atlanta, no problem. How did you fare, sir?"

"Let's just say we weren't the first ones to find that station. Or the second. Or the third."

Penn sighs. "Struck out, did you?"

"Just about." I open up my satchel. "Found a couple bottles of water rolled up under a shelf. A bottle of aspirin, a toothbrush-"

"Thank god."

"-and a package of antacids."

"Got a tummy ache? Sir?" she adds quickly.

"When food gets scarce, they'll help with the hunger."

"...oh."

"Yeah. That's a mood killer. How're you holding up, Airman?"

"I'm fine sir. Not my first long haul. You just take care of Nguyen."

It's my turn to sigh. "Yeah. Sure. If I only knew how. I've given him some aspirin. Actually...a lot of aspirin. Hopefully it'll keep his fever down long enough for us to get to the CDC."

"At this rate, that could be half a day."

I hear Nguyen stir and start to move towards the back. "...make sure it's not."

 

[wiegeabo]

Veronica looks at Bill intensely for a moment and then asks, "And they gave the Oscar to Sean Penn and not you? Idiots!"

She then starts laughing and says, "I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. Excellent! Let's see Penn do that!"

Veronica holsters her 45s and says, "If you got any of that herb left I'd like to take hit or two."

"Not the God...a god...i'm not...God...god...not-!"

"Whah?!" I shutter myself awake, and take a few moments to let the wooziness pass.

I slowly look around the room, blinking my eyes, and smacking my dry mouth.

"Wow...Harrelson wasn't kidding when he said this was the good stuff."

Everyone is passed out around me. Tallahassee is laying upside down in a chair. Wichita is curled up with Columbus. And Little Rock is laying on the floor next to the new chick.

"Anyone want some rice crispy treats?

I somehow stand up and make my way towards the kitchen. I walk past the guy standing there. "Hey, how ya doin'?"

I open the cupboard door, pull out the box of treats, and start walking back out of the kitchen.

"mmmuuuhhhhraarh..."

"Yeah, you're telling me." I stop halfway to the living room. "Wait..." I turn around. "...Eddie Van Halen?"

"Arraahhhahhmmmraar..."

And then I hear the shuffling of feet coming from other rooms. "Oh. Well this isn't a good thing..."