Project Genesis: Surviving Hell in New Angeles [CANCELED]
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		<h2 id="linktree">Play-By-Post: Extreme =&gt; Extreme Small Groups =&gt; Topic started by: Caitlin on 03-06-2012, 14:17:06</h2>
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				Title: <strong>Project Genesis: Surviving Hell in New Angeles [CANCELED]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Caitlin</strong> on <strong>03-06-2012, 14:17:06</strong>
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				<div align="center"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="bbc_size">Project Genesis: Surviving Hell in New Angeles</span></div><div align="center">OOC Topic (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=141555.0)</div><div align="center">Character templates (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=141555.msg6357391#msg6357391)</div><br><div align="center"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="bbc_size"><strong>This game is canceled, the reboot can be found here (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=143653.0).</strong></span></div><br><br><strong>May 23, 2012 – 3:42 p.m. - Research Facility Gamma, New Angeles.</strong> <br>Armed men in hazmat suits run coordinated through the secret research facility, as the toxicology alarms were blaring loudly, the red sirens giving the hallways an eerie appearance. Minutes earlier a colorless and odorless gas had escaped from one of the several the quarantined laboratories, it's high dosage overwhelming several of the nearby research staff, knocking them nearly instantly unconscious. One of the other researchers who saw what was going on had the sense to hit the bio-hazard alarm, alerting the entire base that something had gone seriously wrong. <br><br>“Alpha team, seal off those laboratories! Beta team, set up defensive perimeters near all exits! Nothing gets in or out, gentlemen. Now move it!” A seasoned Major yelled, his men diligently following his orders, just as they had been trained to do.<br><br>“Bloody hell, it's hot in these suits...” A frustrated Captain cursed, more to himself than to his squad members.<br><br>Safety precautions dictated that all air circulation and conditioning units had to be shut down, least any of the lethal gas escaped. As a result, however, the research facility was quickly heating up.<br><br>“We got a twitcher!” One of his Lieutenants yelled, causing the Captain to focus on the task at hand.<br><br>“Remember, headshots only, it's the only way to put them down,” the Captain growled in his microphone. <br><br>A double shot from the M16 followed his order, blowing small pieces of skull and brain off the researcher's head. <br><br>“Another one here,” a second Lieutenant yelled, “Crap, it's getting up!”<br><br>“Well then shoot the bloody thing! It's not going to ask you out for dinner, damn it!”<br><br>A short burst followed, ending the former researcher's life permanently, shortly after his corpse had reanimated itself.<br><br>“I think we got them all, Capt-...” <br><br>“Jesus Rob, watch out, there is one right beh-...”<br><br>“Ahhh!! Get it off me-... -Gurgle-...”<br><br>Several marines and their Captain fired at the undead researcher, as he was biting the throat of Lieutenant Rob Jenkins. Unfortunately for the marine, however, their support came too late and his wounds were too bad to save him. <br><br>“Sorry Rob, but I'm doing you a favor,” the Captain stated, as he aimed his Desert Eagle at the head of his Lieutenant and fired a single bullet right between his squad member's eyes, putting the choking Lieutenant out of his misery.<br><br>“Is that all of them?” The Captain asked with a gruff voice.<br><br>“Yes, sir! Perimeter cleared. No other twitchers were found,” one of his Lieutenants reported.<br><br>“Good, that was a close call. Let's get to decontamination and out of these damned suits. Drinks are on me tonight.”<br><br><br><strong>May 23, 2012 – 4:18 p.m. - Filtration room, Research Facility Gamma, New Angeles.</strong><br>For the researchers it had been several exciting minutes, as this was the first time they had seen their chemical weapon in action. The weapon wasn't ready for field testing for another several months and the teams were still working hard on perfecting both a vaccine and a cure for their own troops. <br><br>With the situation under control and a minimal loss of four men, the research facility returned back to its normal operation procedures. <br><br>By the time the air filtration was turned on again most of the lethal virus had evaporated into harmless substances, however, a small amount still lingered in the air. With the air conditioning on again, the air quickly cooled, stopping the evaporation of the virus. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, since the toxicology filters would detect all harmful air and then heat it to 392 degrees Fahrenheit, killing all lethal substances. However, unknown to the technical staff of the facility, the toxicology filter in the filtration room that was supposed to detect this specific strain of virus, had been damaged after its installation. It was no longer capable of detecting anything, however, since it still gave the right electrical output its defect went by unnoticed. <br><br>If the air conditioning had been turned on four minutes later, then none of the virus would have remained, but now the last remains of the virus slipped through the filtration room unnoticed; starting its long journey upwards towards the surface of New Angeles.<br><br><br><strong>May 23, 2012 – 4:23 p.m. - Air shaft #4, Research Facility Gamma, downtown, New Angeles.</strong><br>Downtown was busy as usual, as early commuters were hurrying to catch the bus, tram or metro from work to travel to their homes. Nobody paid any attention to the many air rosters in the ground,&nbsp; from which one in particular a colorless and odorless gas escaped. It only took the inhale of a single breath to infect a small group of commuters who were standing on top or near the roster, before the last of the virus evaporated, without leaving a single trace behind. <br><br><br><strong>May 23, 2012 – 8:17 p.m. - 17 Reno Street, outskirts, New Angeles.</strong><br>James Reynolds had an annoying cough and a slightly raised temperature. His wife blamed it on him working too hard and putting in too many hours at the office. Unknown to her James had been visiting his mistress and didn't leave her house until slightly after 6 p.m. He had been feeling well today, until he got on the bus several hours ago. He had felt slightly nauseous, but he had assumed it was due to being packed in a bus full of people, like a sardine in a can. <br><br>Even being with his mistress didn't improve his mood like it usually did and he became angry when he was suffering from an erectile dysfunction, something which had never happened before, cutting the visit with his mistress short. The damn cough that became increasingly worse didn't help his mood anything either. <br><br><br><strong>May 23, 2012 – 9:53 p.m. - 17 Reno Street, outskirts, New Angeles.</strong><br>James was getting very tired, normally he didn't go to bed until 11 p.m., but he agreed with his wife that it was probably for the best if he hit the sack early that night. Despite taking some cough syrup, his cough had turned from a regular cough to a badly hacking cough. Not only that, he also noticed an annoying itch at his throat, which was slowly spreading over his body. However, no matter how much he scratched, the annoying itch just didn't seem to go away. His temperature had also gone up by several degrees and the damned aspirins didn't seem to help any either. <br><br>To get some rest that night, James had swallowed two tablets of Halcion, hoping the drugs would allow him to fall asleep. <br><br><br><strong>May 23, 2012 – 10:23 p.m. - 17 Reno Street, outskirts, New Angeles.</strong><br>The heavy sleeping pills hadn't missed their effect, though James was still coughing in his sleep. Mary, his wife, noticed that he was also sweating profusely. Finding it unusual she wondered if she should call a doctor, however, with James dead to the world it wouldn't do him much good right now. She decided that she would talk James into calling in sick the next day and then visit the doctor with him the first thing in the morning. <br><br>Swallowing a single tablet of Halcion herself, she quickly fell asleep. She had started to feel nauseous and there was an annoying itch in her throat that she just couldn't seem to scratch...<br><br><br><strong>May 24, 2012 – 5:07 a.m. - 17 Reno Street, outskirts, New Angeles.</strong><br>Mary woke up to the sound of James vomiting next to her. She was expecting to find a messed up bed when she opened her eyes and it annoyed her that she had to get up early to change the sheets. During the night her coughing had become increasingly worse and her body felt terribly hot. Slowly opening her eyes, she was greeted by their sheets covered in blood, the sight instantly waking her up.<br><br>With a frightened voice, she pleaded, “James, James!? What's wrong with you!?”<br><br>James tried to say something, but words wouldn't come out of his mouth, instead he threw up more blood, mixed with something she couldn't identify.<br><br>Terrified for her husband’s well-being, Mary got out of bed and dialed 911, calling for an ambulance.<br><br><br><strong>May 24, 2012 – 6:38 a.m. - Mercy Hospital, New Angeles.</strong><br>James was wheeled into the Emergency Room, after having lost consciousness forty-seven minutes earlier. Mary was lying in the bed next to him, after she too started to throw up blood. The doctors were running all sorts of tests on them, but so far they had no idea what was wrong with either of their patients. Their symptoms didn't match any of the known diseases and what little information they had managed to get out of Mary didn't indicate anything unusual. <br><br><br><strong>May 24, 2012 – 8:22 a.m. - Mercy Hospital, New Angeles.</strong><br>Eight other patients had joined James and Mary at the Emergency Ward with identical symptoms. Several other hospitals in the city had also reported patients who were in a similar condition. <br><br><br><strong>May 24, 2012 – 2:57 p.m. - Mercy Hospital, New Angeles.</strong><br>A task force of leading doctors and scientists was put together under the guidance of FEMA, with the&nbsp; intent to find out what was causing the epidemic. Since the first patient was brought to Mercy Hospital the task force set up their command center there. Meanwhile, Mary Reynolds had lost consciousness several hours earlier. The situation of her husband, now better known as Patient Zero, rapidly decreased, despite the doctors pumping his body full with all sorts of drugs. One of the first things the task force did was compile a list of symptoms and the different stages the disease went through. They tried to find out if they could cure their patients at earlier stages, giving up on the patients that vomited blood. If their tests had revealed anything, it was that those patients were too far gone to be helped by any of the regular medicine. <br><br><br><strong>May 24, 2012 – 5:16 p.m. - Mercy Hospital, New Angeles.</strong><br>More patients were coming to the hospital, the task force decided that it was best to evacuate all uninfected patients to other hospitals, least they get infected as well. Additionally, every patient that was not in dire need of medical attention at the hospital was sent home, to make more beds available for the sick people. At the same time all new patients that matched the symptoms of this disease were gathered at Mercy Hospital. That way the majority of the patients would be quarantined at a single location and treatment could be administered faster if a cure was found.<br><br>Patient Zero had slipped into a deep coma, while his body seemed to get eaten away from the inside out. So far the doctors had been helpless to stop the virus from wrecking his body. The task force wasn't a single step closer to finding out what caused the disease or how they could fight it. The only thing they knew for sure was that it seemed to be viral and spread rapidly by bacillus when an infected person coughed. They also found that swapping saliva, or coming into contact with blood from infected people infected new victims and at a much faster rate than when one was infected through bacillus. <br><br><br><strong>May 24, 2012 – 6:00 p.m. - Mayor's Office, City Hall, New Angeles.</strong><br>After having been informed by the lead scientist of the task force, Doctor Hu, the Mayor decided to interrupt the regular six o'clock news with an emergency broadcast. <br><br>The American flag stood proudly next to the Mayor, who sat behind his large oak desk. He wiped away the small drops of perspiration that had formed on his brow under the hot lamps. He cleared his throat one more time and then the red light of the camera went on, indicating that he was now live.<br><br>“Dear citizens of New Angeles... Today a virus was detected in our beloved city, which is currently spreading at an alarmingly rapid rate. Effective immediately I am declaring a state of martial law. Nobody is allowed to enter or leave the city any longer.<br><br>“All flights at New Angeles Airport will be canceled effective immediately and all exits and entrances to the city will be guarded by the National Guard. I am also setting a curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., anybody out after these times will be arrested. <br><br>“Currently we are unaware of what caused this virus, but we do know that it is airborne. The first symptoms of the virus are coughing and a slightly raised temperature, while in the next phase your skin becomes itchy and the coughing turns into a hacking cough. You will also start sweating profusely. If you noticed any of these symptoms, then I strongly urge you to stay inside, least you infect more citizens.<br><br>“I also strongly recommend that everybody covers their mouth with a mouth mask, or whatever else is available. If you do not have to go outside, then stay inside your home. The best way to prevent infection is to avoid contact with other humans as much as possible. A special telephone number will be activated shortly, which you can call to indicate that you were infected. I urge you all not to go to the hospital or to visit a doctor, since they are already flooded with patients and are unable to take on any new patients.<br><br>“It is understandable that this is very inconvenient and if it were an option to take less drastic measures then we would most certainly do so, but we all have the duty to prevent this disease from spreading any further.” <br><br>The Mayor didn't look pleased at all with the announcements he had to make so far and he could see the cameraman gulp as the message hit home.<br><br>Looking straight into the camera, he finished his message with, “More information will follow with the regular eight o'clock news. People of New Angeles, know that the thoughts and prayers of America are with you. Stay safe, have faith and know that together we will survive.”<br><br>A few seconds later the red light turned off and the Mayor let a breath of relieve escape his lips. His body, which had stood firm and proudly moments ago, now sacked like a bag of potatoes.<br><br>Putting his hands in his graying hair, he muttered, “Dear God... May You have mercy on our souls.”<br><br><br><strong>May 25, 2012 – 3:19 a.m. - Emergency Room #2, Mercy Hospital, New Angeles.</strong> <br>The heart monitor of Patient Zero started to beep irregularly, setting off an alarm at the nurse station. Several doctors immediately rushed to the bedside of Patient Zero, to examine what was going on and to see if they could somehow counter the new situation. <br><br>In the past several hours abscesses had formed all over the body of Patient Zero, which now began to leak a dark yellow fluid, which permeated a sickly smell that triggered the gag reflex from one of the nurses. The badly dehydrated body of Patient Zero looked like it was at least twenty years older than his actual age of thirty-four.<br><br>As the heart monitor continued to beep more and more irregular everything the doctors were trying only seemed to make matters worse. <br><br>“Beep... Beep... Beeeeep....”<br><br>“Crap, he's dying. Prepare the defibrillator!” Doctor Hu ordered. <br><br>“Defibrillator charged.”<br><br>“Clear!” The sound of an electric discharge and smell of burned flesh filled the air, but to no avail.<br><br>“Try again!”<br><br>“Defibrillator charged.”<br><br>“Clear!”<br><br>However, the second attempt had no success either... After a long, gruesome struggle, Patient Zero had died.<br><br>“Damn it! We're still no closer to what's causing this,” Doctor Hu cursed in frustration, as he swept the sweat from his brow. <br><br>After letting out a deep sigh, Doctor Hu ordered, “Alright, tag him and bag him. We'll cut him open in the mortuary and see if we can learn anything new.”<br><br><br><strong>May 25 2012 – 3:26 a.m. - Mortuary, Mercy Hospital, New Angeles.</strong><br>Patient Zero was wheeled into the mortuary, soon surrounded by several doctors, who were getting ready to perform an autopsy on him.<br><br>“Is the recording equipment turned on?” Doctor Hu asked, who was selecting a scalpel.<br><br>“Yes doctor, video and audio are running.” One of the nurses confirmed, after checking the equipment one more time.<br><br>“Very well, then let’s begin…”<br><br>Doctor Hu turned around and was about to start an incision to open Patient Zero’s chest, however, to is utter shock and dismay, Patient Zero opened his eyes, his body lightly twitching.<br><br>“My god, it is a miracle…” Doctor Hu stated, a collective gasp of surprise filling the air.<br><br>“Mister… Reynolds, how are you feeling?”<br><br>James Reynolds slowly sat up, ignoring the doctor completely. His eyes were out of focus and his jaw was making a movement as if he were chewing on something.<br><br>“Mister Reynolds, are you okay?” Doctor Hu tried again, finally getting James' attention. <br><br>James looked at the doctor with bloodshot eyes, the abscesses on his face and his dehydrated body giving him a sickly appearance. It was almost as if his eyes were glowing red. James was studying the doctor intently for several long moments, his jaw making an increasingly more twitching movement. <br><br>“Mister Reynolds, we thought we had lost you for sure. If you could lie down we’ll put you on medicine again and wheel you back to your room.”<br><br>However, James didn’t seem to comprehend any of what was said. When Doctor Hu put his hand on James’ arm to force him to lie down again, he made a snorting noise, which made his nostrils flare in defiance. This in turn seemed to awaken other instincts in James. Who now slowly inhaled the air, sniffing the smells around him.<br><br>Doctor Hu turned around and spoke into the camera, “Though I have no logical explanation for this, it seems that Patient Zero, Mister Reynolds, is reanimated after having been dead for more than ten minutes. The patient doesn’t seem to respond to verbal commands, but does react to touch. As of right now we’re-…”<br><br>“Doctor… Doctor!” One of the nurses yelled, drawing Doctor Hu’s attention.<br><br>Doctor Hu turned around and saw how James was trying to get off the bed, not comprehending that the blankets were blocking his legs and wildly pawed at the cloth to rip it off him. <br><br>“Well, at least his motoric functions seem to be okay…” Doctor Hu stated. <br><br>James finally freed himself and got off the bed, much against the wishes of Doctor Hu, “Mister Reynolds, please lie down on the bed again. We will make sure that you get the best medical attention possible, but we need your cooperation.”<br><br>His verbal request, however, didn’t seem to be understood in any way. Doctor Hu grabbed James’ arm, more forcefully this time, which resulted in a low growl from James, who was now staring intently at the hand of Doctor Hu. <br><br>For a deadly sick man James seemed remarkably strong and when Doctor Hu pushed him back against the bed, something seemed to snap in James. <br><br>With a sudden and vicious strike he bit Doctor Hu in his biceps, ripping right through the cloth of the unfortunate man’s lab coat, leaving a large and terrible bite behind. James jaws snapped shut and he ripped the muscle tissue from Doctor Hu’s arm.<br><br>“Argh! Get him off me, get him off me!!”<br><br>Two other doctors and a strong orderly grabbed James, but he seemed to possess an inhuman strength and threw one of the doctors off, snapping at another doctor and biting him in the face. The big orderly, seeing that things were quickly getting out of control, threw a heavy punch in the face of James, breaking the man’s nose and throwing him back against the bed, where he laid dazed for a moment.<br><br>Instead of hearing him scream or moan in pain, however, he merely seemed to taste the blood and flesh he had just bitten off the doctor, sampling it slowly in his mouth, just as one would do with a delicate piece of meat or a rare, fine wine. <br><br>“He bit me in the face!” the injured doctor stated in complete disbelief and shock. <br><br>Doctor Hu grimaced, as he examined the bite wound he had received on his arm, while the other doctor was struggling up to his feet.<br><br>James seemed to reach a conclusion and swallowed the meat he had just bitten off the doctor’s face, his eyes suddenly focusing with renewed energy on the group of humans in front of him. His dented face was an eerily sight, especially since he remained completely calm, seemingly uncaring about his broken nose and not even feeling any pain. As he slowly stood up, he let out a guttural groan, which silenced all around him.<br><br>“What the hell…?” The big orderly asked, as James seemed to focus on him next.<br><br>However, before he could do anything else, James jumped on top of him, this time going for the kill and biting the orderly’s throat as if he were a lion that was trying to kill a buffalo on the African savannah. The strong man pounded James on the ribs, undoubtedly breaking several of them, in an attempt to get him off, but it was to no avail. James was unstoppable and no matter how much pain he had to be enduring, or how many bones were breaking in his body, he kept biting and biting, until the orderly bled out. <br><br>The other doctors in the room were too shocked at this display of grave violence to do anything more than stand and stare at the scene that was unfolding in front of them. None of them could believe that what they were seeing was actually happening, the scene so unreal that their pain didn’t even register for several moments. <br><br>However, when James looked up and turned his eyes on them, fear finally overtook them and they fled the room.<br><br><br><strong>May 25, 2012 – 3:41 a.m. - Mercy Hospital, New Angeles.</strong><br>Doctor Hu and the other two doctors quickly fled from the mortuary, completely forgetting about the video recorder that was still taping the entire scene.<br><br>Chaos ensued in the hospital, where most patients were in a fitful, restless sleep. Panic spread quickly when the doctor who was bitten in the face hit the fire alarm, alerting everybody that there was a danger going on. Unfortunately, with the hospital filled to the brim and even patients sleeping in the hallways, the chaos was soon complete, especially as James, who was running after the doctors, entered the hallway and now had a full scale of victims to choose from. <br><br>Forgetting about the doctors he randomly attacked the people closest to him, his strength regenerating as he consumed more flesh and blood, until he was finally satiated and staggered around the hospital aimlessly, leaving a wake of gore and destruction behind. By the time he was satiated everybody knew to avoid him like the plague, however, there were still several brave doctors, nurses and fellow patients around that did their best to save the bitten victims that were still alive.<br><br>Doctor Hu locked himself up in his office, and tried to clean his wound with antibiotics and alcohol, the stinging pain was nearly unbearable and the skin around his wound was already turning black, signifying that the living tissue was dying due to necrosis. <br><br>As he did his best to clean the wound his movements were becoming increasingly irregular, his arm making sudden and uncontrolled twitching movements, until he could no longer concentrate on his task. His thoughts changed from focusing on his wounds, to his family, as he saw his life flash by him. There was also something else growing inside him, an all-consuming hunger…<br><br>The feeling was growing stronger and stronger by the minute and eventually pushed aside all his other thoughts, until he could only feel this hunger. However, instead of the juicy steak that made his mouth water, his thoughts turned more and more to the scene that he had seen only minutes earlier. His desires were turning increasingly more to flesh… Human flesh…<br><br>And with those final thoughts in mind, Doctor Hu’s heart stopped, his body unable to overcome the virus he had just been infected with.<br><br>A minute later Doctor Hu reanimated and slowly stood up again, a crazed look now possessing his eyes. Screams of terrified patients reached his ears, drawing his attention. Only his carnal desires now ruled his mind, leaving room for nothing but basic instincts.<br><br><br><strong>May 25, 2012 – 6:01 a.m. – Mayor’s Office, City Hall, New Angeles.</strong><br>News of what had happened in Mercy Hospital reached the Mayor’s ear, who took immediate action and called in the SWAT teams to surround the hospital and kill everybody who wasn’t acting human. The teams were quickly dispatched, but it soon became clear that none of the patients or hospital personnel were acting quite human. Most were terrified and in a total state of panic, while others, who were covered in blood were surprisingly calm and wandered around aimlessly, seemingly in shock. Yet again others were actively running after panicked people, with a crazed look in their eyes and biting the humans they grabbed.<br><br>These were the ones the SWAT teams focused on, quickly finding out that only headshots would stop their attacks.<br><br>Unknown to the Mayor, however, Mercy Hospital wasn’t the only hospital that was in a state of chaos. He focused the majority of his law enforcement officers on getting the situation at Mercy Hospital under control and though the majority of the patients with symptoms from the disease had been diverted to Mercy Hospital, it wasn’t the only hospital that housed infected patients. Within hours reports were reaching his ears that similar situations were occurring at the other hospitals, forcing him to split up his law enforcement officers and spreading them across the different hotspots. <br><br><br><strong>May 25, 2012 – 11:29 a.m. – Mayor’s Office, City Hall, New Angeles.</strong><br>More and more reports of incidents were coming in and now it wasn’t only the hospitals that were reporting issues, but also other areas in the city, specifically downtown and the outskirts. It soon became clear that those who were bitten would turn into crazed people themselves. <br><br>The Mayor had already called in the support of the military several hours ago and they were now ordered to defend the uninfected civilians, although it seemed hard to determine just who was infected and who wasn’t. Luckily most people had followed up on the advice to stay home and not to go to work. With all the shops closed it saved out on a lot of people going on the streets, which undoubtedly helped to slow down the infection rate.<br><br><br><strong>May 27, 2012 – 2:14 a.m. – Downtown, New Angeles.</strong><br>After people had been ordered to stay in their houses for several days, with nothing to do but follow the depressing news, more and more people became disgruntled and fed up with the situation. Riots and civil unrest where starting to take place. As people’s resources were running out, looting was&nbsp; becoming more common, even the risk of getting shot when caught didn’t prevent people from going out on the streets, violating the curfew. <br><br>As more and more people went to the streets, plunder became a common sight and soon the law enforcement was unable to respond to all the incidents, instead focusing on keeping critical areas, like the power plant, water purification plant and City Hall, from being overrun. Another unfortunate side effect of the riots and looting was that the epidemic could now spread like a wildfire. Citizens who were intent to score some easy items would end up getting bitten and without medical treatment available, they soon turned into a crazed people themselves, adding to the growing hordes. Those who were killed by one of the crazy people would reanimate a minute after death, while those who were lucky enough to escape with their body mostly intact, ended up attacking their friends and family within several hours, after their infection killed them and they reanimated. Until then the plague had been mostly limited to the hospitals, but now the plague also spread over the outskirts and downtown area.<br><br>Due to the crazed people running around wild, traffic accidents in the city center were such a common occurrence that they happened nearly every minute, completely jamming the streets with cars. People panicked when a crazed person would jump on top of their roof and would just abandon their car, preferring to run away on foot, rather than waiting for a crazed person to smash in their windows and eat them alive.<br><br><br><strong>May 29, 2012 – 1:21 p.m. – Mayor’s Office, City Hall, New Angeles.</strong><br>Some good news finally reached the Mayor’s ear. Apparently there was a limited supply of vaccines available. Where it came from, or who produced it was knowledge that was kept away from him, but being at the top of the command structure in New Angeles, the Mayor was given a shot, luring him into a false sense of security.<br><br>As it was his command structure was barely still functioning. He had lost his chief of police several hours ago due to a group of crazed people, or zombies as they were now more commonly referred to, that had overrun the police’s headquarters. At the same time he had lost many members of his staff due to the virus that they had attracted outside the City Hall. He kept away from them, though they tried to do their jobs for as long as they still could. The military received priority on the vaccine, but it soon turned out that the vaccine wasn’t as effective as they had hoped to be…<br><br>Apparently the virus had already mutated, rendering the vaccines and cures mostly useless.<br><br>With the situation quickly spinning further out of control, the Mayor gave his final orders to the loyal troops that still carried out their duty and gave them permission to abandon their posts, which was something that many had done already anyway. The amount of zombies was becoming too large to effectively fight off and he recommended survivors to hole up and wait it out. Help would come, but when and from where were details he couldn’t give.<br><br>In the days that followed it became clear that help wasn’t coming and that the military would shoot anybody who tried to get out of the city. Survivors had no other option than to hide in the city, as they lost more and more friends and family members every day. Supplies were getting increasingly harder to find, even though they were plentiful. However, with all the people hoarding as much as they could get their hands on and hiding valuable supplies in their houses, it was soon hard to get access to those supplies.<br><br><br><strong>June 1, 2012 – 3:06 p.m. – Downtown, New Angeles.</strong><br>Three days after the Mayor had given his final orders, large parts of the downtown area had transformed into a battlefield. Zombies were walking around aimlessly in broad daylight, occasionally chasing after an unlucky survivor who couldn’t keep quiet enough to stay undetected. <br><br>As long as people didn’t make any sudden movements, uttered any sounds and kept their distance from the zombies, they could actually get around without a lot of trouble. Unfortunately, however, most people didn’t have the willpower that would prevent them from screaming when a zombie so much as looked into their direction, immediately drawing the interest from several other nearby zombies.<br><br>There was a strong suspicion among the survivors that the virus had been fabricated, although where and by whom it had originated was unknown. In the midst of all the chaos and destruction an irrational witch hunt was started, that caused many biological scientists in the city their life, even though they had nothing to do with the virus. In fact, throughout these improvised trials no evidence of any involvement was found and those who could actually help with finding a cure, or developing a vaccine, where now hunted for the association with profession. <br><br>Several large gangs had formed, but due to the distrust, rivalry and strife for leadership these groups were generally short-lived. They fall apart quickly in small groups of survivors, a process that rarely happened peacefully and resulted in many additional deaths among the remaining survivors. Rape, torture, kidnapping and slavery were becoming more common with the day and generally resulted in the more decent people from shying away from the large groups. <br><br>The gang leaders, wanting to control key locations downtown, challenged each other for control, resulting in a short, but very violent gang wars. Ironically, it was the zombie hordes that were drawn to all the noise who eventually restored the peace. Attracted by all the action going on they massively attacked the fortifications of the gangs, either overrunning them or making the defending gang waste so much ammunition that they ran out of bullets, which effectively ended the gang wars only days after they had started. <br><br>Other parts of the downtown area had set up neighborhood watch programs, where a local community would help each other survive. These communities were a lot more successful to survive the attacking zombies. <br><br><br><strong>June 1, 2012 – 7:56 p.m. – New Angeles.</strong><br>Of the population of six million citizens less than twenty-thousand had remained uninfected, while the rest of the population was either dead or undead. These survivors were now trapped and scattered across a city that was intended for a much larger population. With most of them having gone into hiding, only occasionally daring to go outside in search for supplies, it was becoming extremely rare to see another living being outside. <br><br>Those who did see others outside were generally wary of contacting them, even though no new viral infections had been detected for weeks. The original infection through bacillus had ceased to be a form of infection weeks ago, when the last of the quarantined patients had died. In that regard the Mayor’s advice of wearing mouth masks and avoiding contact with anybody else as much as possible, had effectively prevented a greater harm and the only way to get infected now was by being bitten and coming in contact with the saliva of zombies.<br><br>Several people were slowly making an appearance again on the streets, in search of supplies and fellow survivors, hoping to find a safer location than their current safe house and a way out of the city. Like reptiles, the zombies seemed much more active during day time, making the nights an ideal time for raids. Despite the lesser visibility and greater risk of running into zombies that one overlooked, it was also possible to get a lot closer to zombies undetected. That is, as long as you didn’t aim your flashlight directly in their faces, which would instantly anger them. Other than directly provoking them they were generally much more docile at night.&nbsp; 
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				Title: <strong>Re: Project Genesis: Surviving Hell in New Angeles [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Caitlin</strong> on <strong>03-06-2012, 14:17:49</strong>
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				<strong>June 1 (Day 10), 8:12 p.m. - Mall, Downtown</strong><br>Caitlin Walker and Carl Johnson were running as silently as they could, doing their best not to draw unwanted attention. Thirty minutes ago they had lost the other two members of their scavenge group and Carl had lost everything he cared about.<br><br>Neither of them gave it any thought right now though, being distracted led to making mistakes and making another mistake was the last either one of them could afford at this point. <br><br>“In here,” Caitlin whispered, pointing to a big hole in the glass window, which was left behind by other raiders.<br><br>Being careful not to cut themselves on the sharp edges of the glass, or to step on the broken glass on the ground and create unwanted noise, Caitlin stepped inside, followed by Carl. His overweight body had considerably more trouble to do so than Caitlin's athletic form and despite his best efforts he still received a minor cut on his shoulder, making him utter a soft curse, despite being a priest. All of the food and water supplies were already stripped of the shelves, leaving only non edible and useless products behind. <br><br>It wasn't the shelves Caitlin was interested in though, she knew there had to be supplies in stock in the back of the store, where customers weren't allowed to go. <br><br>Some of the lights were still working and flickered irregularly, adding to the eeriness of the scene. Apart from the flickering of the lights it was deathly quiet. Even the usual sounds of birds were absent. Caitlin still wasn't used to the quiet outside, in a busy metropolis as New Angeles life went on 24/7, there was <em>always</em> noise of cars and people outside, but not tonight. Or the night before...<br><br>Focusing on the task at hand, Caitlin hoped to find at least a vending machine with candy bars. Though snacks weren't healthy, they did at least give them the much needed energy. Having only had a meager breakfast this morning, her stomach was rumbling in protest. <br><br>Though Caitlin could almost walk without making a sound, Carl was quite a bit noisier and clumsier. He tripped over some broken can on the floor, kicking the item away and breaking the silence with a nearly deafening noise as he fell on the ground. Caitlin winced at the loud sounds and hoped that they didn't attract any unwanted attention, but luckily nobody seemed to have noticed them. Carl struggled to his feet, with a heavy sigh and softly muttering some foul language, he rejoined Caitlin, who was breaking away a lock on a door with her crowbar.<br><br>Success... <br><br>When they opened the door they found a room with a whole supply of stocks that would be enough to last a dozen survivors for several weeks. They packed as many food cans, Spa Blue bottles and candy bars as possible in their backpacks, Carl taking the majority of the load. Caitlin also hid away as many of the cans as she could in desk drawers of the offices further down the hall. She doubted that the supplies in this supermarket would last very long, now that these doors were opened. Other survivors would come to the same conclusions as she had and search for supplies. The more that was hidden away now, the more that she hoped would be saved for later use.<br><br>They locked the doors as well as possible, trying to make it seem undisturbed and left to explore the rest of the mall, hoping to find some other useful items.<br><br>When they came to a store with hunting supplies, Carl indicated that he had to take a rest. His stamina wasn't as good as Caitlin's and his heavy breathing indicated that he was worn out. <br><br>Unfortunately most useful weapons in this shop were already stolen, especially all of the big knives. After some searching Caitlin did, however, find a a Swiss pocketknife with a lot of useful tools. Putting it away in her trousers pocket, she sat next to Carl and unwrapped a Snickers bar, offering Carl a Mars bar as well. They chewed their treat in silence, giving Caitlin a moment to consider all that had happened in the past week...<br><br><br><strong>May 24 (Day 2), 4:15 p.m. - Mercy Hospital</strong><br>There had been a steady stream of patients all day long coming into Mercy Hospital, some more sickly than others, but all sharing the same symptoms. Some sort of task force that was investigating this new epidemic had decided that all new patients that shared these symptoms were to be diverted to Mercy Hospital, while all non critical patients were to be released and go home. Those who needed critical attention would be transported by ambulance to the other hospitals as much as possible. <br><br>Caitlin had volunteered to escort a patient to Angel Hospital. The patient had been in a car accident and needed surgery. Officially a doctor had to go with him, but Mercy Hospital simply couldn't spare any and since Caitlin had proven in the past that she could keep a patient stable long enough for the doctors to operate on him, her request was approved. Truth be told, Caitlin was afraid of getting infected by this new epidemic she had heard her colleagues talk about and had avoided contact with anybody that as so much coughed, or sneezed in the wrong way. She had jumped at the opportunity to get out of Mercy Hospital and do her duty as a nurse elsewhere. <br><br>Thankfully the rest of her workday at Angel Hospital ended without incident, after which she had gone home to her fiancé, Rick Patterson. She had met him at college and they had been a couple for several years, until he popped the big question a month ago. Rick was the son of a rich banker and with his athletic frame, short, blond hair, blue eyes and wide smile, he was pretty much the dream of every girl. Or perhaps not every girl, but at least all her girlfriends envied her to no end. On top of that, his father had, despite the financial crisis, still a considerable amount of wealth and it looked like her life couldn't get better. She was sure she would lead a happy life with her husband-to-be, while doing a job she loved doing. Perhaps in several years from now they'd start a family and would move out of the big city to somewhere more easy-going. <br><br>As she told about her day at work, she had relaxed in his comforting embrace on the couch, only paying half attention to the series playing on television. After cooking them a wonderful meal they had gone to bed early that night and made passionate love, before falling asleep exhausted.<br><br><br><strong>May 25 (Day 3), 8:03 a.m. - Angel Hospital</strong><br>Caitlin had missed the news the previous night in which the Mayor had told about the curfew and state of martial law, but it was impossible to miss that news on the radio in the morning. She had still felt obliged to do her duty as a nurse, but when she arrived at the hospital that morning there were several police cars and a SWAT van outside. Having police cars over was a regular occurrence, however, a SWAT van definitely was not. <br><br>Apparently there had been some incident at intensive care. Caitlin had remembered how Angel Hospital also housed several of the infected and she had realized that this could be the start of something much worse. Curious as to how bad it could be, she had gone up to the nurse station of the intensive care level and watched the security monitors; in one of the room she saw blood all over the floor and a violated corpse with human bite marks. It had made her face turn white as a sheet. Combined with the news she had heard in the morning, she decided to turn around and skip work for the rest of the day. <br><br>In the chaos with her temporary transfer to Angel Hospital she had doubted that she'd be missed anyway and she had headed for the grocery store instead. She had wanted to hoard as many useful supplies as she could, before other people would realize the same thing she did and the supplies would be gone. If this epidemic turned out to be nothing bad after all, then they would have surplus supplies for several weeks, but if her premonitions turned out to be true, then at least they'd have enough water and food to get by for a while. She had to admit to herself that she was coward, but with the city under lock down and no way to get out, she was forced to make do with what she had.<br><br><br><strong>May 26 (Day 4), 8:09 a.m. - Angel Hospital</strong><br>Rick had convinced her to go to work, despite the incident at Angel Hospital in the morning, nothing else had happened there and her patients and colleagues needed her help. Reluctantly she had agreed with him. The evening before she had been frightened that the end of the world was upon them at any moment and it had taken Rick a lot of time to soothe her. He hadn't looked to pleased at all the supplies she had bought either, but she was glad that he had let that go.<br><br>When she arrived at the hospital she wasn't allowed to go in, being halted outside by the police. Yesterday it had only been a small group of law enforcement that was present, but today their numbers had grown significantly. There was an emergency hospital set up in a close-by park and the police requested that she'd help out there. There were a lot of wounded people that needed help, mostly due to traffic accidents. <br><br>Caitlin remembered how she had thought that something more was going at the hospital that the police wasn't telling her, but it was impossible to get any closer. Instead she set those thoughts aside and did her best to apply first aid to all the wounded people. She was pleased to see that there weren't any people who were unconscious or vomiting blood, but despite the mouth mask she was given by one of her colleagues, she had still stayed far away from anybody that was coughing, or sneezing, finding all sorts of excuses not to get near them.<br><br>The rest of her work day had gone by without further incident, apart from the fact that it had been a totally bizarre situation to work in an outdoors hospital, in what was usually a lovely park. She had worked much longer than she normally did as well and pulled a double shift. She had felt guilty about having skipped work the previous day and hoped to make up for it now.<br><br>There had been several reports in the city of crazed people, who apparently had turned cannibalistic, but she hadn't seen any of them herself. The idea seemed too unreal anyway, despite what she had seen with her own eyes the previous day.<br><br><br><strong>May 27 (Day 5), 2:44 a.m. - Caitlin &amp; Rick's Apartment, Downtown</strong><br>The riots had started night and despite being in a relative quiet part of the city, all the noise of protesting people outside had still terrified Caitlin. Rick hadn't seemed too sure of himself either and though he did his best to reassure Caitlin, she had felt that he was just a scared and had only put up a brave face to soothe her. Especially the terrified screams of people under attack had frightened them both to no end.<br><br>She had begged him that they would find a way to get out of the city the next morning, or at least away from downtown and move to the quieter outskirts. Rick had agreed with her and that night they packed all the essential supplies they thought that they needed for a prolonged stay elsewhere, being ready to move out at the dawn of light. If they couldn't make it past the road blocks, then they would at least find a safer place to stay at. <br><br><br><strong>May 27 (Day 5), 7:53 a.m. - Caitlin &amp; Rick's Apartment, Downtown</strong><br>They had only had a fitful sleep of maybe two hours, if that, before Caitlin and Rick took the supplies to their SUV, which was parked in the garage located at the basement level of their apartment building. <br><br>Rick drove the car outside the parking garage onto the streets. Though it was quiet now, it was easy to see that there had been quite the battle the night before. They were shocked to see mutilated corpses laying in the streets and Rick had thrown up at the sight of them, nearly crashing their car into a parked one at the side of the street. With a concerned voice Caitlin had asked him if he was okay and helped him get out of his soiled shirt, throwing it out the window, after she got it off him.<br><br>They had driven through the lanes of the city, as fast as Rick dared to go and he avoided hitting the many abandoned cars, but eventually they had to stop at a blocked intersection. There had been a big crash there involving multiple cars and if their car had been smaller then they might have been able to drive over the sidewalk, but as it was their car was simply too big and there was no way around the obstruction, unless they continued on foot.<br><br>After a short, but intense discussion, that was exactly what they decided to do. Their car was full with supplies, but it had simply been to much to take with them on foot. Caitlin had had the sense to bring a backpack and gym bag too, which they now stuffed full with supplies. Additionally, Rick had a baseball bat made of steel with him, while Caitlin carried a crowbar. They weren't the best of weapons, but they had to make do with what was available to them and they could dish out some decent damage like this if anybody attacked them. <br><br>After locking the car, they went on their way. They hadn't even walked for three hundred meters, when they came across a middle aged man in a tattered business suite. He was standing eerily quiet, as if he was observing them. He had a nasty bite mark on his thigh and had obviously been in a fight with somebody. Half the buttons of his shirt were torn away and his pants was ripped. <br><br>Rick had taken a step forward and had asked if they could help him, but instead of answering, the man threw his arms wildly in the air, running to them at full speed. Rick had been too surprised to react and hit the fucker with his baseball bat... <br><br>If only he had done so he might have still been with her...<br><br>Instead, by the time Rick was ready to react it had already been too late. The crazed person had thrown himself at Rick and attacked his throat, biting through the arteries, which resulted in a fountain of blood that spurted from his throat. Caitlin had been less indecisive and hit the crazy person full in the head with her crowbar, making the guy's head twist at an unnatural angle, instantly killing him. After she had pulled him off her fiancé, she had done her best to apply first aid to her lover, but it had already been too late. With a guttering voice Rick had tried to tell her something, but with his vocal cords cut and him drowning in his own blood, she couldn't make out what he was trying to say. She liked to think that he was expressing his love for her, while he was choking to death. <br><br>Caitlin hadn't known what to do next, she didn't want to leave Rick behind like this, but she wasn't strong enough to carry his body either. She stood around, unable to make up her mind, when Rick's body unexpectedly twitched and he suddenly opened his eyes. However, instead of the scared look she expected in his eyes, there had been something else...<br><br>His facial expression was twisted in a strange, not quite human way and he had the same crazed look in his eyes as the businessman had. Rick sat up, trying to grab her and realizing that her lover was gone, she swung the crowbar at the temple of his head, right next to his ear. A sick crack followed and she had to lever the crowbar out of his head, but now Rick was truly gone. <br><br>Though dazed by what had just happened, survival instinct had taken over and Caitlin figured she should search for a safe place to stay at. Several times she had to run away from other crazed people, her good stamina allowing her to escape unscathed. <br><br>Seventeen minutes later Caitlin stumbled upon a church. Though the front doors were heavily fortified, she hoped to find a way in through a side entrance. As luck would have it, the local priest, Carl Johnson, saw her trying to get in. Later he had told her that he wouldn't have allowed her access if she had shown any kind of wound, but since she hadn't and since was obviously much fitter than the infected that were coughing and stumbling around, he had allowed her in.<br><br>Caitlin didn't remember much about the rest of the day, she had spent most of it crying and grieving for her loss. She realized that her once perfect life would never be the same again...<br><br><br><strong>May 28 (Day 6), 10:28 a.m. - Catholic church, Downtown</strong><br>The next day Caitlin had helped out in the church, by taking care of the few wounded people present. Carl had taken great care to ensure that there weren't any bite wounds on the people he allowed in. It was mostly scratches and bruises that people had gained in their haste to escape, that Caitlin had to patch up.<br><br>Since Caitlin was also a good cook she helped out with preparing the meals. Basically she did anything she could to occupy her mind from what happened the day before. At the same time Carl held continuous services for his flock to spread the word of the Lord and offer comfort to those around him. Outside the civil unrest continued and the group of eighteen survivors experienced several frightening moments. They could hear the zombies, as they were now calling the crazed people, lurking around the building, until they were distracted by something else and ran away.<br><br><br><strong>May 29 (Day 7), 9:32 p.m. - Catholic church, Downtown</strong><br>Supplies had run out on May 29 and people were growing hungry. Up until then they had been rationing the supplies that people had brought with them and drank the wine from the church that was normally used for the services, but now they were completely out. The people at the church realized they had to scavenge for food on a daily basis from now on, or they'd starve to death. Carl had come with the excuse of having to care for the remaining, frightened people and how he was a priest and not a fighter, so he was excluded.<br><br>Caitlin, however, did volunteer to go and two groups of four people each were quickly formed. She was armed with her crowbar, while one of the survivors in her group had a gun and the other two were armed with makeshift weapons. Each group would visit a different mall to increase the chance of finding useful supplies. <br><br>Initially Caitlin's raid had gone well, but on the way back the zombies had spotted them. The two men with makeshift weapons hadn't made it, while Caitlin and the gunman survived to live the tale. Thankfully they had brought stuffed backpacks with them, since the other group didn't return at all.<br><br><strong>May 30 (Day 8), 11:57 a.m. - Catholic church, Downtown</strong><br>The eight day had been the worst one yet. Things had taken a turn for the ugly and gangs were shooting at everything that moved and didn't wear their sign. The fourteen remaining survivors had made sure that the church was well barricaded and be made to look as uninteresting as possible. They had spent the majority of the day in the basement below ground, locked away behind a heavy oak door, as the church took several hits and they heard the stained windows breaking, much to the dismay of Carl.<br><br><br><strong>May 31 (Day 9), 8:11 p.m. - Catholic church, Downtown</strong><br>Supplies had run out again and though there were still fights going on outside, the gunfire was becoming increasingly rarer, until it had ceased in the evening. Not a shot had been fired for the past hour and the survivors in the church had agreed to organize another scavenge hunt, once more with two groups. Despite the arguments Carl had uttered two days earlier, he did admit to being a pretty good with a gun and reluctantly agreed to go with Caitlin's group. It had been obvious to her that he preferred the relative safety that his church offered, but she had lied to him that she knew of a good place that was safe to raid. He had bought her lie and gone with her group.<br><br>Caitlin's group would raid the same mall as before, while the gunman of her previous group would lead another group and visit a local supermarket. Carl was armed with an old revolver, while the other two members of her group had armed themselves with large, heavy candleholders. The things were about a meter big and could do quite some damage if they hit you in the head.<br><br>During the raid there were a couple of close calls, but both raid groups returned unscathed, although they didn't nearly get the amount of supplies that they needed. <br><br><br><strong>Today, June 1 (Day 10), 7:34 p.m. - Catholic church, Downtown</strong><br>Caitlin had noticed that the zombies were easier to avoid in the evening than during the day. She hypothesized that zombies had poor eyesight and probably couldn't see as well in the night as they could. It was only a theory and one that could very well be wrong, but the others agreed that it had some sense to it. <br><br>As such the raid groups had decided to go out in the evening again. The previous evening the other raid group had found some explosives and prepared a bomb that they could use in an emergency situation. Though the thing looked very amateurish to Caitlin, she didn't doubt it's explosive potential. <br><br>Her group had just left the church and was only fifty meters away when disaster struck. Something had gone wrong with the bomb of the second group and the thing exploded in, or near, the door opening. Caitlin had her back turned to the church when it went off, so what exactly happened was a mystery to her, but when she turned around she saw that several heavily wounded people lay on the ground. The doorway seemed damaged beyond repair. Realizing that shit would hit the fan quickly, she turned around and searched for cover. The first thing she saw was a truck that was toppled over and had its back doors unlocked. <br><br>Two of her fellow raiders ran back to the church to see what assistance they could offer to the screaming wounded and Carl was about to go after them, but Caitlin pulled strongly on his sleeve, nearly making him topple over.<br><br>She remembered how she hissed with an insistent tone, “We have to hide! Now!”<br><br>That was probably what saved both their lives, since it didn't take long for the zombies to get drawn the location of the explosion and burning fire. Thankfully it wasn't the zombie horde of thousands that she had expected, but there were still well over a hundred zombies running towards the church, attacking the remaining survivors. <br><br>Caitlin had to slap Carl hard across the face to make him forget about his stupid church and get his attention. She felt appalled that he cared more about the building than the wounded people, who were now eaten alive. <br><br>Together they thought up a new plan of survival. First they would get supplies as they had wanted to get originally and next they would search for a new safe house to hide in. After that, they'd just have to come up with a new plan of attack.<br><br>That all happened thirty minutes ago and as Caitlin finished her second candy bar, she hoped that they would find some other survivors to team up with. There was safety in numbers and your chances for survival increased if you found others with useful skills.
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				Title: <strong>Re: Project Genesis: Surviving Hell in New Angeles [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>AribethAmkiir</strong> on <strong>04-06-2012, 08:45:16</strong>
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				<strong>May 23, 2012 – 3:40 p.m. – Peterson High School, outskirts, New Angeles</strong><br>Rebecca was talking with Meagan near their lockers.&nbsp; It was the last Wednesday of their senior year.&nbsp; Finals were nearly over.&nbsp; Prom had come and gone, and she didn’t even want to think of her soccer season, which had ended abruptly and disappointingly.&nbsp; Another week and they would be done with this place.&nbsp; Rebecca had already been accepted into the University of Wisconsin, and Meagan was planning to attend a school in Iowa which would only be a six hour drive.&nbsp; In three weeks, they would leave for the senior trip to Jamaica, which promised almost no adult supervision.&nbsp; To say she was a ball of nerves would be an understatement.&nbsp; The only thing really preventing her from the rest of her life was a Trig final and an English paper.<br><br>She excused herself from Meagan’s company, and gave her BFF a brief hug when she saw Tony approaching.&nbsp; She covered the distance between herself and her boyfriend quickly, threw her arms around his neck, and then kissed him fully on the mouth.&nbsp; It wasn’t like the teachers were going to do anything this close to the end of the school year.&nbsp; She swatted him and laughed when his strong hand squeezed her ass.<br><br>Minutes later they were hand-in-hand, walking across the student’s parking lot to his Jeep Wrangler, and fifteen minutes after that they were parked in front of her house kissing again.<br><br><br><strong>May 23, 2012 – 5:27 p.m. – Lawson’s Residence, 32 Reno Street, outskirts, New Angeles</strong><br>Rebecca was texting both Tony and Meagan as her mother ran around, as she normally did, before she left for work.&nbsp; Becka was only distantly aware that her mom was wearing the pink and tan scrubs she’d bought for her last Christmas.&nbsp; They looked cute on her mom, though she wouldn’t ever tell her that out loud, not unless it was a special occasion.&nbsp; The eighteen year old, was also distantly aware that her brother was in the entertainment room playing Left 4 Dead II on his 360.&nbsp; The sixteen year old’s curses through the mic to his "supposed" friends was simple white noise.<br><br>“Becka.&nbsp; Can I get your attention for five minutes?”&nbsp; Her mom asked in an exasperated tone.&nbsp; <br><br>Rebecca rolled her eyes and glanced at her mother for five seconds before glancing back at her mobile phone.&nbsp; Meagan was going to hook up with Jason at the Friday night party.<br><br>“Rebecca!” her mother snapped.&nbsp; “Dinner is in the oven. Your father will be home around his normal time.&nbsp; Don’t let the food burn.&nbsp; Your brother needs to get off the Nintendo in an hour.”&nbsp; <br><br>This actually caught Rebecca’s attention and she even replied.&nbsp; “Mom, he doesn’t listen to me.”<br><br>The edges of Rebecca’s lips curled up into a small, triumphant smile when her mother yelled at Max to listen to his sister.&nbsp; Even if it did little good, it was always nice to know that she could get him into trouble.<br><br>“Okay, I’m going to be late.”&nbsp; Her mother stated to herself more than Rebecca.&nbsp; “Do you need any money or anything for tomorrow?”<br><br>Rebecca shook her head indifferently.<br><br>“I love you.”<br><br>An indifferent nod.<br><br>Then her mother disappeared though the door that led to the garage and a moment later her green Toyota Camry pulled out of the driveway and she headed to her shift at Mercy Hospital.<br><br><br><strong>May 23, 2012 – 6:26 p.m. - Lawson’s Residence, 32 Reno Street, outskirts, New Angeles</strong><br>It had been a fight to get Max off of the Xbox, during which she’d let the lasagna her mother had left in the oven blacken around the edges.&nbsp; Still it had tasted good enough; when she and Max had sat down to eat.&nbsp; He spent all of fifteen minutes on his homework afterwards.&nbsp; Meanwhile her head had begun to slowly throb as she hovered over her Trigonometry book.&nbsp; By the time Max was killing zombies, Rebecca had already texted Tony to come over and help her study.<br><br>Forty minutes later they had gone to her room.&nbsp; Ten minutes later they were doing everything but studying.<br><br><br><strong>May 23,2012 – 9:29 p.m. -&nbsp; Lawson’s Residence, 32 Reno Street, outskirts, New Angeles</strong><br>David Lawson pulled into his driveway, exited his vehicle, and entered his home.&nbsp; He was greeted by a string of profanity from his sixteen year old son, along with simulated gunfire flowing from the Bose speakers of his entertainment system.&nbsp; <br><br>He dropped his briefcase to the floor and sighed irritably before yelling into the room Max occupied. “ Max turn it off.&nbsp; I want to see your homework and then you’re to be in bed in thirty minutes.”<br><br>He hated being the “bad guy”, but it wasn’t fair to Rebecca to have to deal with a sixteen year old boy, and his wife, Nancy, had decided to go back to the night shift years ago so that the kids wouldn’t come home to any empty house.&nbsp; <br><br>David loosened his tie and walked into the entertainment room, stared at his son until the teenager turned off the gaming system, and then switched the television to the local news.<br><br>“Where’s your sister?”&nbsp; David asked.<br><br>“She’s in her room with Tony,” Max said with a smirk.&nbsp; It was time to pay his sister back.<br><br>David had seen Tony’s Jeep parked in front of their home, but it was such a common occurrence that David hadn’t noticed.&nbsp; He took the stairs two at a time and paused only briefly to listen before he knocked on his daughter’s door and entered without waiting for a reply.<br><br>Rebecca lay on her stomach at the foot of her bed, Tony sat beside her and they both had their attention on the screen of her laptop.&nbsp; The sheets and covers of her bed were sloppily tossed back, but that seemed to be the normal state of his daughter’s bed these days.&nbsp; Rebecca’s hair was back in a tail, normal enough, even if her soccer season had ended three weeks ago.&nbsp; The only thing David saw that was suspect was that Tony’s hand was under the back of his daughter’s shirt and resting on the small of her back.<br><br>“Tony, hands above the clothing, please.”<br><br>David smiled at the quickness with which the boy removed his hand completely from his daughter’s back and the crimson blush which flushed his daughter’s face.&nbsp; It was all the reassurance a father needed that his little girl was still a little angel.<br><br>“Rebecca, keep the door open.&nbsp; Tony, how’s your family?&nbsp; Tell your dad we’re still on for this weekend.”<br><br>Tony nodded, said everyone was fine, and that his dad was looking forward to it.<br><br>David glanced around the room once more, not exactly sure what he was looking for.&nbsp; The smell of cinnamon made him struggle with his suspicions, but Rebecca and Tony were both athletes.&nbsp; She was a girl and girls liked nice smelling things.&nbsp; The waste bin was empty, and he had no reason to believe that they were doing anything but studying, except that the door had been closed.&nbsp; With as loud as Max had had his game, maybe they were just trying to focus on their studies.&nbsp; It was finals week after all.<br><br>David made sure the door to Rebecca’s room was open wide before he made his way to his room and changed out of his shirt, slacks, and tie.&nbsp; Moments later he was in the kitchen, eating the burnt lasagna.<br><br><br><strong>May 24, 2012 – 5:00 a.m. – Lawson’s Residence, 32 Reno Street, outskirts, New Angeles</strong><br>It was a normal morning for the family.&nbsp; Rebecca was taking her time, getting ready for the day, in the bathroom.&nbsp; Max was still asleep, and David was in his own bathroom shaving before he planned to hop into the shower.<br><br>The only thing that seemed odd was when an ambulance passed the house with lights and sirens.&nbsp; David may’ve even missed it had he not been pulling out of his driveway at the time.<br><br><br><strong>May 24, 2012 – 6:40 a.m. – Lawson’s Residence, 32 Reno Street, outskirts, New Angeles</strong><br>Tony pulled his jeep into the driveway of Rebecca’s house and honked twice.&nbsp; His thoughts were still on the night before.&nbsp; She was so hot, and he was so lucky that she was with him.&nbsp; It seemed like Homecoming had been years ago, the night they had fist done it in the hotel room he had rented for the occasion.&nbsp; The coming summer and Jamaica was going to be awesome.&nbsp; Then he’d be off at college and having the time of his life.&nbsp; Sure, it would suck that Becka wasn’t going to be with him, but they’d still see each other on holidays.&nbsp; He knew the long distance relationship wasn’t going to work, but that didn’t mean he didn’t care for her.&nbsp; Hell, he even liked her punk brother.<br><br>His mind drifted to lunch, and he wondered where Rebecca would want to go.&nbsp; He also wondered if she’d be willing to skip fifth period and hang out at his house for awhile.&nbsp; His parents were always gone during the day.<br><br>Rebecca and Max exited the front door and made their way to Tony’s Jeep just as their mother was pulling into the drive.&nbsp; The passenger side window rolled down and she spoke to both of her children momentarily before waving politely at Tony.&nbsp; A wave he quickly returned.&nbsp; Then the Camry finished pulling into the garage.<br><br>Tony watched as Mrs. Lawson exited her vehicle, and had to admit that she was sort of a MILF.&nbsp; If he and Rebecca stayed together, he knew she’d still be hot when she was old.&nbsp; He leaned over and kissed Rebecca good morning, even as Max made a guttural protest, then made sure they were both buckled before pulling out of the driveway and heading to school.<br><br><br><strong>May 24, 2012 – 6:00 p.m. – Lawson’s Residence, 32 Reno Street, outskirts, New Angeles</strong><br>Max was racking up the kills.<br><br>“Dude, you fucking suck,” he shouted at zombierex229 over his headset.&nbsp; Then followed his double head shot kill with a melee kill to a noob.<br><br>“What the fuck?”&nbsp; He yelled at his sister when she turned the channel to the news.<br><br>Max quickly glanced around the room to see if their dad was home.&nbsp; He was the only one who watched that boring shit.&nbsp; “Becka, I’m serious switch it back,” he said with a mildly threatening tone.<br><br>When his eyes returned to the television, he noticed that the American flag was waving in the background and some guy who the text at the bottom of the screen labeled Mayor of New Angeles was getting ready to talk.&nbsp; He grimaced as he heard the sound of his avatar’s death and the taunting of some poser through his headphones.<br><br><hr><span style="font-family: courier;" class="bbc_font">“Dear citizens of New Angeles... Today a virus was detected in our beloved city, which is currently spreading at an alarmingly rapid rate. Effective immediately I am declaring a state of martial law. Nobody is allowed to enter or leave the city any longer.<br><br>“All flights at New Angeles Airport will be canceled effective immediately and all exits and entrances to the city will be guarded by the National Guard. I am also setting a curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., anybody out after these times will be arrested. <br><br>“Currently we are unaware of what caused this virus, but we do know that it is airborne. The first symptoms of the virus are coughing and a slightly raised temperature, while in the next phase your skin becomes itchy and the coughing turns into a hacking cough. You will also start sweating profusely. If you noticed any of these symptoms, then I strongly urge you to stay inside, least you infect more citizens.<br><br>“I also strongly recommend that everybody covers their mouth with a mouth mask, or whatever else is available. If you do not have to go outside, then stay inside your home. The best way to prevent infection is to avoid contact with other humans as much as possible. A special telephone number will be activated shortly, which you can call to indicate that you were infected. I urge you all not to go to the hospital or to visit a doctor, since they are already flooded with patients and are unable to take on any new patients.<br><br>“It is understandable that this is very inconvenient and if it were an option to take less drastic measures then we would most certainly do so, but we all have the duty to prevent this disease from spreading any further.” <br><br>The Mayor didn't look pleased at all with the announcements he had to make so far.<br><br>Looking straight into the camera, he finished his message with, “More information will follow with the regular eight o'clock news. People of New Angeles, know that the thoughts and prayers of America are with you. Stay safe, have faith and know that together we will survive.”<br></span><br><hr>“No, fucking way,” Max laughed.&nbsp; “Dude, you fucking hear this?&nbsp; New Angeles has a virus outbreak.&nbsp; We’re ground zero, man.&nbsp; It’s like Raccoon City.&nbsp; We’re going to have fucking zombies and all kinds of shit.”<br><br>Max had momentarily forgotten his game and was simply speaking to the other players through his headphones.&nbsp; &nbsp;When he glanced back at his sister to see if she thought this was as funny as he did, he noticed that the color had drained out of her face.<br><br>“What’s wrong?”&nbsp; The first sincere thing he’d likely said to her in months.<br><br>“Mom… she left for the hospital thirty minutes ago.”<br><br>Max was self absorbed, arrogant, and a pretty big jerk at times, but he wasn’t stupid.<br><br>“What the fuck?&nbsp; Call her.&nbsp; Call the hospital.&nbsp; Do something.”&nbsp; <br><br>He himself pulled out his phone and quickly dialed his mom’s cell.&nbsp; It went straight to voice mail.&nbsp; He dialed the hospital and got the annoying recording about all operators being busy and the bullshit about his phone call being important.&nbsp; The fucking wait time was thirty minutes.<br><br>“Fuck!”&nbsp; Was all he could say as he tossed his phone across the room where it hit the wall and shattered into several large pieces, and caused Rebecca to scurry off like a scared rabbit.<br><br>He couldn’t really blame her.&nbsp; His temper was fierce and he made her life miserable when he was angry.&nbsp; That realization just made him angrier and he flipped the television back to the auxiliary and returned to his game.&nbsp; <br><br>His mind wasn’t really in it, and his scores were reflecting that.&nbsp; What the fuck was he supposed to do though?&nbsp; Not thinking about it was for the best.<br><br><br><strong>May 24, 2012 – 6:50 p.m. – McGavin, Baker, and Louis Office Buildings, downtown, New Angeles</strong><br>David had seen the Mayor’s speech.&nbsp; He knew the kids were likely frantic by now.&nbsp; He’d tried to call Nancy’s phone and the hospital, but couldn’t get through.&nbsp; He waited until his latest coughing fit subsided, wiped his brow of the excess sweat, and then dialed his daughter’s phone number.<br><br>She answered it after the first ring, “Dad?&nbsp; Dad, I can’t get a hold of mom.”<br><br>The panic in her voice made his chest ache.&nbsp; He covered the mouthpiece of his phone as a series of coughs rattled his lungs again.<br><br>“Honey, I need you to calm down.&nbsp; Your mom is going to be okay.&nbsp; I just talked to her.&nbsp; They’re extremely busy but she’s all right.&nbsp; Listen, honey, I’m not going to be coming home tonight.”&nbsp; <br><br>Between the constant coughing and the pain he felt when he heard her concern he felt his voice weaken.&nbsp; <br><br>After a drink of water from the glass on his desk, he continued, “Honey, I can’t come home because I’ve got a cough.&nbsp; It’s nothing really.&nbsp; Look I need you to be strong and brave.&nbsp; Look after Max, okay.&nbsp; I’m going to call Mr. Burkhart and ask him to look in on you before you go to sleep tonight.&nbsp; Honey…&nbsp; Rebecca, listen.&nbsp; I’m going to be fine.&nbsp; Your mom said they were working on a cure.&nbsp; She said they were already giving it to the patients.&nbsp; You have nothing to worry about, okay?&nbsp; Just stay inside and do as the Mayor said.&nbsp; Make sure your brother does too.&nbsp; I’ll see you in a few days.&nbsp; We’ll look back at this and laugh.&nbsp; Rebecca, I love you.&nbsp; I’m proud of you.&nbsp; Do as I said.&nbsp; Bye.”<br><br>David collapsed his phone and set it on his desk just as another coughing fit overwhelmed him.&nbsp; He hated lying to Rebecca, but it was better that she held on to hope.&nbsp; He would call Todd.&nbsp; If there was anyone in the entire world that he could trust the safety of his children with, it was Todd Burkhart.<br><br><br><strong>May 24, 2012 – 7:00 p.m. – Burkhart Residence, 1420 Stafford Court, outskirts, New Angeles</strong><br>Todd Burkhart was overseeing the preparations his wife, Mary, and son, Tony, were working on when his hunting buddy David Lawson called.&nbsp; Todd answered the phone on the second ring and immediately left the room where his son and wife were taking stock of their supplies.&nbsp; He moved to the other side of the house and closed the door behind him.&nbsp; The sound of David’s voice wasn’t good.&nbsp; It reminded him of the last words of a dying man, and he was momentarily taken back to his tour in Iraq.<br><br>“Hey buddy.&nbsp; Yeah, no, don’t worry about that.&nbsp; I’ll take care of them.&nbsp; Hey, you can’t stand me up for this Saturday.&nbsp; I guess I’ll just have to take the kids fishing without you, huh?&nbsp; Yeah, she’s a good girl.&nbsp; Tony likes her a lot.&nbsp; No, I haven’t heard anything about the hospitals.&nbsp; Hey, I know they said not to, but go to the hospital.&nbsp; Look, C.D.C...&nbsp; F.E.M.A. they’re at the hospitals.&nbsp; They’ll have antidotes or vaccines for this.&nbsp; Those people have stockpiles of the stuff for just this occasion.&nbsp; David, look, drink lots of fluids, keep yourself hydrated.&nbsp; If you can’t get to the hospital, than get to a clinic or something else.&nbsp; Okay, then.&nbsp; Save your strength tonight and make your way in the morning.&nbsp; Leave early to avoid everyone else.&nbsp; You can pull through this.&nbsp; Yeah.&nbsp; Hey David, one more thing, where do you keep your hunting rifle?”<br><br><br><strong>May 24, 2012 – 7:15 p.m. – Lawson’s Residence, 32 Reno Street, outskirts, New Angeles</strong><br>Rebecca answered the door after she had peered out the window and saw Tony and himself on David’s doorstep.&nbsp; Todd allowed her to hug his son before he pushed both teenagers into the house and locked the door behind them.<br><br>“Rebecca, I need you and your brother to pack some clothes.&nbsp; You’re going to stay at my house tonight.”<br><br>Todd moved through his hunting buddy’s house efficiently.&nbsp; Nancy had always kept a clean house, and the kitchen was no different.&nbsp; Todd moved to the pantry and began emptying the shelves into a backpack he had brought.&nbsp; After clearing the second shelf, he glanced up to see Rebecca staring at him dumbfounded.<br><br>“Rebecca, write your mom a letter telling her that you’re with Todd and Mary.&nbsp; She’ll know who you mean.&nbsp; Tell her Max is with you and that she’s to join us there.&nbsp; Your dad already knows what’s going on.&nbsp; We’re going to hold up at my house until this all blows over and we need supplies.&nbsp; Tony, help me gather canned food and nonperishables. “ Todd had to smile when Rebecca nodded, disappeared, and returned a moment later paper and pen in hand.&nbsp; Tony traded places with him at the pantry, and Todd patted his son on the shoulder.<br><br>“Mom just went shopping.&nbsp; We have a fridge full of food,” Rebecca added helpfully as she finished the letter.<br><br>Todd smiled and nodded, “okay, we’ll get that after you get packed.&nbsp; Bring some clothes for any type of weather.&nbsp; Like you’re going hiking, Rebecca.&nbsp; I know your dad has taken you hiking before.”<br><br>Getting Max to cooperate was a different story.&nbsp; Hell, getting him to leave his blasted game was a struggle.&nbsp; Todd didn’t like putting hands to David’s boy, but he didn’t have time to rationalize and explain to a sixteen year old spoiled brat.<br><br>Todd stood at the bottom of the stairs for a moment until he was certain that Max had gone to his room.&nbsp; Then Todd opened the door to the Lawson’s garage and opened both mechanical garage doors with a push of two buttons.&nbsp; He moved through David’s garage with the same efficiency he had shown in the house.&nbsp; Hammers, nails, fishing gear, camping gear, a half filled gasoline tank, and David’s propane gas stove and lantern all went into the back of Todd’s SUV.&nbsp; He then went into the kitchen, instructed Tony to put the rest of the supplies into brown paper sacks, and carried the backpacks to the vehicle.<br><br>After adding more provisions and equipment to the trunk of the SUV, Todd paused aand glanced both ways down the street.&nbsp; The street was calm and silent.&nbsp; No one was out, and no one seemed to be reacting the same way he was.&nbsp; He wondered for the first time if he was actually overreacting.&nbsp; He had felt silly, and Mary had been giving him plenty of flak before David had called.&nbsp; There had been something in David’s voice though.&nbsp; <br><br>If this was a terrorist act against the United States, then it was pretty big.&nbsp; Even if this was an accident, it was large enough for the Mayor to give a public address.&nbsp; They had closed off the entire city after all.&nbsp; That meant no F.E.M.A. relief effort.&nbsp; If things lasted for a few days, it’d get pretty bad.&nbsp; Looters and rioters would be just the beginning.&nbsp; People were under feet of water in New Orleans, and they had still turned into crazed animals.&nbsp; He’d make sure nothing bad happened to his family, or David’s.&nbsp; He’d made a promise.<br><br><br><strong>May 25, 2012 – 6:00 a.m. – Burkhart Residence, 1420 Stafford Court, outskirts, New Angeles</strong><br>The police scanner announced that S.W.A.T. teams were being deployed to Mercy Hospital with orders to use extreme prejudice against openly hostile individuals.&nbsp; <br><br>Todd turned down the volume as to not wake Mary, before he slipped out of bed and checked on the children.&nbsp; They had given Rebecca the guest room, and he’d had to chase Tony out of the room three times that night.&nbsp; The world was ending, and the damn teenagers were only worried about getting laid.&nbsp; He had to snort at the ridiculousness.&nbsp; Max was asleep in Tony’s bed, and Tony had bunked on the couch.&nbsp; It hadn’t been difficult to convince Tony to give up his bed.&nbsp; Likely because he thought he’d share Rebecca’s.&nbsp; Todd shook his head once more and cursed David.&nbsp; Why his buddy had gone off and gotten himself sick, God only knew.&nbsp; God sure knew that Todd had no desire to play chaperone to two horny teenagers and an obstinate brat.<br><br>Todd continued to the ground floor of his house and peered out the window.&nbsp; It was promising to be a sunny day, much like the day before.&nbsp; He wasn’t quite sure if he had expected fire and brimstone or an active war zone.&nbsp; Either way, it seemed surreal that birds were singing and the paperboy had delivered right on time.<br><br>Todd double bolted the front door and put the chain on after he had retrieved the newspaper.&nbsp; The mayor’s address was on the front page.&nbsp; There was nothing concerning any breakthroughs for a cure, though it was promised they were close.&nbsp; No address from the President.&nbsp; Three different articles on how the National Guard was covering every major entryway into New Angeles finished off the front page.&nbsp; Todd idly wondered if they were covering the dirt roads and the hiking trails.&nbsp; He also noted that the obituary page was oddly absent.&nbsp; That likely wasn’t a good sign.&nbsp; He performed a perimeter sweep of the interior before returning to bed, his mind too busy to return to sleep.<br><br><br><strong>May 26, 2012 – 7:00 p.m. – Burkhart Residence, 1420 Stafford Court, outskirts, New Angeles.</strong><br>Rebecca had finally talked Mr. Burkhart into allowing her to return to her house for her phone charger.&nbsp; She had hoped she'd be able to get away for a short time and maybe be alone with Tony.&nbsp; She needed him to just hold her, and it felt extremely awkward to even embrace with Mr. and Mrs. Burkhart watching them 24/7.&nbsp; Unfortunately, Mr. Burkhart had insisted on accompanying her.&nbsp; Nevertheless, her phone was charged when Meagan sent her a text.<br><br>9 p.m.&nbsp; Protest.&nbsp; Downtown.&nbsp; <br><br>Rebecca didn’t hesitate to call her friend.&nbsp; What was Meagan thinking?&nbsp; Mr. Burkhart had agreed with the Mayor that they should stay inside and avoid people.&nbsp; Aside from a few short walks around the house and talking to neighbors through the fence, that’s exactly what they had done.&nbsp; It had been two days of movies, which in all truth, had become extremely boring.&nbsp; &nbsp;Still, she knew something had happened at Mercy Hospital, but neither Mr. nor Mrs. Burkhart were willing to tell her, and none of her friends knew anything either.&nbsp; <br><br>All she had learned was that the S.W.A.T. team had been called and a lot of people had been shot.&nbsp; Survivors had been taken to another hospital, supposedly.&nbsp; When she asked, Mr. Burkhart assured her that both of her parents were okay, but that she couldn’t go see them because of the outbreak.&nbsp; She didn’t fully believe him.&nbsp; She knew they would have wanted to talk to her.&nbsp; Above everything, these last few days, she wanted to believe that they were okay.&nbsp; Her desire to believe that they were alright was the only thing that was helping her keep it together.<br><br>Now, on top of everything else, Meagan wanted to go to a protest in downtown.&nbsp; Rebecca’s friend finally picked up after the fifth ring.<br><br>“Meagan, are you nuts?&nbsp; You need to stay home.&nbsp; I don’t care.&nbsp; Stay home.&nbsp; What?&nbsp; No, I have to watch Max.&nbsp; Besides I’m with Tony.&nbsp; No, his parents are here too.&nbsp; Just promise me you’re not going to go.&nbsp; Promise.&nbsp; Okay, I’ll talk to you later.”<br><br><br><strong>May 27, 2012 – 3:00 a.m. – Burkhart Residence, 1420 Stafford Court, outskirts, New Angeles.</strong><br>Rebecca was woken by the insistent ring of her phone.&nbsp; Half asleep, she answered it.&nbsp; Static and confusion poured through the phone and into her ear.&nbsp; Rebecca eyes opened wider as she heard screams, and gunshots.<br><br>“Hello?&nbsp; Meagan?”<br><br>Meagan’s sobbing voice finally came through the earpiece, “Rebecca they’re everywhere.&nbsp; They’re attacking people and biting them.&nbsp; They got Jason.&nbsp; There was so much blood.&nbsp; They took him right out of my hands.&nbsp; They’re cannibals.&nbsp; They’re eating everyone.&nbsp; I… I saw him die.”<br><br>Rebecca had to mentally replay what Meagan had just told her.&nbsp; If this was some practical joke, she wasn’t in the mood.<br><br>“Meagan, what are you talking about?&nbsp; Whose killing people?&nbsp; You’re downtown, aren’t you?&nbsp; I told you not to go,” before Rebecca could really start in on the lecture Meagan screamed and a loud growl was heard over the phone.&nbsp; What she heard over the phone next made Rebecca scream which woke the entire house.<br><br>It took Max, Tony and his mom all night and late into the morning before Rebecca calmed down, and finally cried herself to sleep&nbsp; The radio had confirmed what Rebecca had heard, and was urging people to avoid the downtown area.&nbsp; After that, it didn’t take Rebecca long to put everything together.&nbsp; Then, she had become hysterical.&nbsp; &nbsp;<br><br>Later in the day, Max quite offhandedly admitted that he believed their parents were gone a day or two ago, and his casual confession had caused Rebecca to hate and despise him.<br><br><br><strong>May 29, 2012 – 12:00 p.m. – Burkhart Residence, 1420 Stafford Court, outskirts, New Angeles</strong><br>Rebecca hadn’t talked to him since yesterday morning.&nbsp; He hadn’t meant how uncaring what he had said sounded like, but it had been pretty obvious that something had happened to their parents.&nbsp; He knew his biological warfare and plague scenarios all too well.&nbsp; He had even accepted that if a biological terrorist attack or catastrophe ever truly happened, his mom, and most other medical professionals, would be among the first casualties.&nbsp; He had figured it all out the first time he had ever played Resident Evil Two.&nbsp; <br><br>He wasn’t uncaring, or heartless.&nbsp; It was just the bitter truth.&nbsp; It didn’t do anyone any good to ignore the truth.<br><br>Max himself hadn’t talked to anyone since the previous day.&nbsp; Not really, anyway.&nbsp; Todd had tried, but Max had simply told him he was fine.&nbsp; It was odd, really.&nbsp; For the first time he could recall, he wasn’t angry.&nbsp; He just felt numb.&nbsp; <br><br>He had always thought that it was a cool effect when games showed a peaceful, tranquil place only blocks away from a war zone.&nbsp; It seemed like the developers had finally gotten something right. <br><br>More gunfire echoed in the distance and Max tried to place the type of gun that was being used.&nbsp; He didn’t think of himself as a gun expert.&nbsp; Hell, his dad had only allowed him to shoot his father's hunting rifle a few times at the range.&nbsp; Dad had said that he wasn't responsible enough for a gun of his own, yet.&nbsp; Dad had said that Max had thought everything was a game.<br><br>Max picked up the gravel from the Burkhart’s house’s shingles and tossed it off the edge of the roof.&nbsp; Todd Burkhart had commanded them to board and seal up all the windows and doors on the ground floor.&nbsp; Since then, they’d begun to use the access from the second story to the roof as a type of lookout.&nbsp; Max knew that Tony had used this same route to sneak out and visit Rebecca during this entire last school year.&nbsp; Neither of his parents believed him when he told them.&nbsp; They'd died believing Rebecca was their innocent angel daughter.&nbsp; Even those thoughts didn't cause an emotional response in him.&nbsp; <br><br>Max didn’t know what he was supposed to be looking out for.&nbsp; When they were boarding up the doors and windows, Max had been quite certain that Todd was out of his mind paranoid.&nbsp; Now, with the constant gunfire in the distance, Max had to grudgingly admit that it hadn’t been a bad idea.<br><br>He was tossing another handful of pebbles from the roof when he saw him.&nbsp; Max thought it was a him.&nbsp; It was a solitary figure two blocks down the street, and even at this distance Max could tell the person had been maimed and disfigured.&nbsp; The man, Max was sure it was a man now, was wearing torn and shredded clothing.&nbsp; The sixteen year old gamer had to stand for a better view.&nbsp; The figure, or man, looked as if he was in a daze, and Max swore to himself that the person was a zombie.&nbsp; <br><br>It wasn’t until Max’s Social Sciences teacher, Mr. Mau, exited his house and approached the figure that Max began to holler.&nbsp; He was yelling well before the zombie turned in Mr. Mau’s direction and bolted toward him, latched onto the teacher’s throat and began to feed.<br><br>Max wasn’t even sure what expletives he was saying as he hurried back into the house to get Todd.&nbsp; Todd didn’t believe him at first, but Max was persistent and finally grabbed Todd’s hand and pulled him to the window.&nbsp; <br><br>Even with the surreal scene happening down the street, Max had to admit that the military grade binoculars Todd was using were pretty dope.&nbsp; He momentarily wondered what type of zoom they had.&nbsp; If he was bothered at all by what he'd just witnessed he wasn't showing any outward signs of it.<br><br>“See I told you.&nbsp; We've got to go kill them now,” Max said with an unhealthy bit of excitement in his voice.&nbsp; A single look of disgust from Todd reeled Max back in, but just barely.<br><br><br><strong>June 1, 2012 – 6:00 p.m. – Highway 40, outskirts, New Angeles</strong><br>More and more zombies had appeared over the last few days.&nbsp; Todd had blamed himself.&nbsp; He hadn’t been quick enough to kill the first one, or Mr. Mau.&nbsp; They’d both bitten two more people by the time he had gathered his gun and exited his house.&nbsp; Two had turned into six which had turned into fifteen and soon the zombies were all over the neighborhood.&nbsp; He should have been better prepared.&nbsp; He should have had more supplies loaded in the car.&nbsp; As it was, he had been lucky enough to escape Mr. Mau, Mrs. Mau and their fourteen year old daughter.&nbsp; All of whom had gone bloodthirsty mad.&nbsp; He been even more fortunate to drive his family, and David's kids out of there.<br><br>Fortune had quickly run out on him after he had decided to take the highway to the old hiking trail he and David knew about.&nbsp; Thousands of cars were stopped end to end on all four lanes of the highway.&nbsp; Over half of the vehicles had been abandoned, and more than enough clogged the greenbelts between the east and west bound roads.&nbsp; It was eerie to see not a single car for miles on the other side of the highway, the road that traveled into the city.&nbsp; The National Guard had done their job well.&nbsp; The five of them had slept in the SUV that night.<br><br>Now, Todd and the boys were pushing vehicles out of the way so that Nancy and Rebecca could drive the SUV through the greenbelt between the east and west bound highways.&nbsp; A bit of muscle, and a good piece of driving by Mary, and the SUV was now on the opposite highway.&nbsp; Todd took the wheel again and pointed the vehicle away from New Angeles.<br><br>Thirty minutes later they were at the roadblock and meeting extreme hostility.&nbsp; A hundred vehicles or more had drivers who had had the same idea as Todd.&nbsp; A Sergeant with a bullhorn continued to announce that people would need to turn around and vacate the premises or be prepared to be fired upon.&nbsp; None of the drivers of the vehicles in front of them seemed to be listening, and Todd wasn’t about to either.&nbsp; The United States Army wasn’t about to open fire on American citizens.&nbsp; Even with that assurance firmly in his mind, Todd had a nagging feeling.&nbsp; <br><br>He noticed that vehicles on the other side of the highway had been torched.&nbsp; It also appeared as if a number of cars on the opposite road had a few holes in their windshields and opened doors.&nbsp; Not wanting to risk the lives of his family on an exit that didn’t seem to be panning out, Todd put the SUV in reverse and turned it around.<br><br>He hated watching the roadblock disappear in his rear-view mirror, but Mary’s reassuring hand on his arm helped him feel he had made the right decision.&nbsp; There was another way to the hiking trail that led to a remote spot that was known to him and David as a good hunting, fishing, and camping area.&nbsp; He’d just have to drive around the city to get to it.&nbsp; His largest fear, though, was that they would need to travel close to the downtown area to get there.<br>
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				Title: <strong>Re: Project Genesis: Surviving Hell in New Angeles [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>wiccaangel311</strong> on <strong>04-06-2012, 10:54:14</strong>
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				<strong>June 1 (Day 10) 8:15 pm Mall Downtown</strong><br><br>Katherine Walked as fast as she could with the injured Samantha using her for support. Sam had an incredibly large cut on her leg and Katherine had done her best to keep it clean and bandaged up but it needed stitches, and Kate was no doctor. She was a police officer and only knew emergency first aid. She did her best to keep Sam's wound from getting infected but she was running out of supplies. She decided to head to the mall to look for anything that could help. They found a whole in the glass and since her leg was injured Sam couldn't help but step on the glass. Luckily it wasn't loud enough to catch the attention of anything. <br><br>"Come on Sam we need to get to the Security office, There could be some supplies in there.” She said making her way through the strangely deserted mall towards the security office. <br><br>“Kate I'm just slowing you down.” Sam said “I wouldn't blame you if you left me here.”&nbsp; She added. <br><br>"Are you kidding Sam, you're my partner remember.” Katherine said. "I'm not leaving you."” She said she found the security office door and luckily it was unlocked. Unfortunately there was nothing left in the supply area. <br><br>“Shit!” Kate yelled.<br><br>It's alright Kate.” Sam said sitting in the surveillance Chair. “just get out of here.” <br><br>“I’m not…” Katherine Started to stay, but something caught her eye on the surveillance screen behind Sami’s head. It was a camera in one of the shops by the looks it was a hunting shop. But what caught her eye was a woman sitting and eating a candy bar she recognized the face from one of the hospitals. “I know her.” Katherine told Sam “I think she’s a Nurse.” She said. The truth was she knew she was a nurse&nbsp; for she definitely Recognized that face from the many times she spent at the hospital due to her job <br><br>“Do you think she could fix my leg” Sam asked. <br><br>“Maybe there’s only one way to find out.” She said. “Come on” she added as Sam swung her arm around Katherine’s neck. Seeing the Nurse again made her recall everything that had happened during the week and she clutched the necklace hidden behind her uniform shirt.<br><br><strong>May 26 (Day 4) New Angeles Police Station.</strong><br><br>Katherine spent most of her days at the Station. She hadn’t been home in a long while with only calls from her husband to comfort her. Since the riots had started the Station had been trying to keep things in order mainly. She had to admit this was crazy all the Mayer had just issued a curfew and something about a disease.<br><br>“Kate.” one of the other cops said “go home get some rest you’ve worked yourself to the bone this week.”&nbsp; He said. “Ryan’s worried sick about you he’s called the chief six times.” He added with a laugh as Katherine Smiled. That sounded like her husband. <br><br>“I can’t go home and leave you all here.” She said.<br><br>“Trust me Kate we have it covered.” The other cop said. “Just Go.”<br>&nbsp;<br>She sighed but was grateful for the Break. Her husband Ryan had been coughing and Katherine worried he was infected with the virus. She headed out the back way and made it to her Squad car.<br><br><strong>May 26 (Day 4) Katherine and Ryan’s House</strong><br><br>When Katherine drove the car outside her house she could see Ryan Packing the truck. She got out he turned and ran to her. “Come on baby we’re getting out of the city.” He said grabbing her hand. <br><br>“Ryan I can’t just leave the whole department and everything.”&nbsp; Katherine said. <br><br>“Oh yes you can I’ve already got it set up with the chief and everything.” He said “We’re leaving tomorrow early morning.” He said.<br><br>“Ryan this is nuts.” She Argued.<br><br>“I saw one Kate!” He said and she could now see the worried look on his face. “it walked through the Neighborhood the neighbor’s kid finally killed it with his father’s shot gun.”<br><br>She didn’t know what to say “Alright Ryan….we’ll leave.” she said.<br>&nbsp;<br><strong>May 27 (Day 5) Gas Station Downtown</strong><br><br>Kate and Ryan had been driving for hours and decided to top off on gas before getting out of the city if they could manage.<br><br>&nbsp;“Ryan, fill it up.” She said getting out of the car and handing him a gun. They had had way to many close calls with both Zombies an rioters today and Katherine didn’t want to take any more chances. She grabbed her hand gun and ran inside. <br><br>When she got there the place was deserted and eerily quiet. She walked in her gun ahead of her. She looked there was no one around. “Hello?” she called out. She heard a squeak from the bathroom and rushed over there.&nbsp; In the hallway was a dead man covered in blood face first on the floor.&nbsp; She opened the Bathro om door and found a teenage girl with a bloody mop in her hands.<br><br>“H…H…He tried to kill me” the girl said tears streaming down her face. <br><br>“It’s Alright come on.” She said holding out her hand. The girl took it and the two ran out of the gas station.<br><br>&nbsp;“RYAN START THE CAR!” Katherine yelled and as they rounded the van they were met with Growling “SHIT!” Kate yelled as she pushed the girl away and fired a bullet into The Zombie Gas station manager’s head.&nbsp; It wasn’t until later that she noticed her Husband half eaten body on the ground.<br><br><strong>June 1 (Day 10) Mall Downtown</strong><br><br>The two made it to the hunting Store. Katherine was just Praying that no one would mistake her for a mindless Zombie right now. Though she had to admit she had been wishing to be shot for quite a few days. She couldn’t bear to leave Sam behind though. Granted they weren’t related but ever since that gas station they have had a sisterly relationship. Plus Sam Had proved to have her fair share of uses from time to time.<br><br>“Kate, My leg hurts really bad I think the medicine is wearing off.” Samantha said wincing.<br>&nbsp;<br>“Come on we’re almost there Sam.” Katherine said helping her walk the rest of the way.<br>
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				Title: <strong>Re: Project Genesis: Surviving Hell in New Angeles [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Caitlin</strong> on <strong>05-06-2012, 00:14:44</strong>
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				Caitlin heard a sound in the distance, the shuffling of feet. She gripped her crowbar a little tighter and hissed to Carl, “Someone is out there, hide!”<br><br>Carl didn't let her tell that twice to him and he duck behind some shelves. He cocked his old revolver as quietly as possible, ready to shoot at any threat.<br><br>Caitlin, wanting to take no risks either, dropped her backpack near Carl and scouted the area. She wasn't a fighter, but she was no coward either and if there was a zombie out there then she would make sure to get the first hit and kill it before it could bite her. <br><br>Just as with the good old game of hide and seek that she regularly played during childhood, she stalked closer to the entrance of the hunting shop, being careful to stay in the cover of shadow. Peeking over the top of the counter, Caitlin saw two figures staggering in a straight line for the shop.<br><br>“That's odd...” Caitlin thought, “It's almost as if they know we're here...”<br><br>Caitlin also noticed that one of the figures was obviously supporting the other. Looking closer she could make out a woman and a teenage girl. It was the teenage that seemed to be limping on one leg, while the other woman was supporting her. She was also holding a gun in her free hand...<br><br>However, they didn't appear threatening and they were in obvious need for support.<br><br>As they got closer the woman seemed familiar, Caitlin thought she had seen her before, but couldn't remember where. She noticed the police uniform the woman was wearing, however, and she figured she must have seen her at the hospital.<br><br>Taking a chance, Caitlin crawled as silently as possible to the door opening and half whispered, half spoke, “Over here,” waving the couple over.<br><br>Caitlin was observant of her surroundings, making sure the two hadn't brought any unwanted company with them, but the coast seemed clear. <br><br>“Carl, my backpack,” Caitlin insistently whispered.<br><br>The lights in the shop were all turned off, Caitlin and Carl didn't want to draw any unwanted attention and the zombies seemed drawn to light like moths to a lamp. <br><br>Carl seemed upset at the arrival of the women, but Caitlin ignored him and got her first aid kit out of her backpack. It was the one thing she never left without. <br><br>“Hi, I'm Caitlin and this Carl,” she whispered, pointing at Carl behind her.<br><br>The older man gave a short nod, but the concern was clear to see on his face. Caitlin supposed she couldn't blame his distrust of people after what happened with his church earlier. <br><br>“I'm Katherine and this is Samantha,” the police officer offered in response.<br><br>Samantha could only wince in pain as she laid down and stretched her wounded leg slowly.<br><br>“Crap... This is going to take me a while to stitch up,” Caitlin cursed, more to herself than anybody else, after seeing the big wound in Samantha's leg.<br><br>“Katherine, could you and Carl set up a defensive perimeter? We wouldn't want any unwanted visitors to disturb us and we won't be able to move Samantha for a while,” Caitlin explained.<br><br>“Please call me Kate,” Katherine whispered back with a smile, “I'll go take care of the defense yes.”<br><br>Caitlin offered Samantha a small wooden stick, saying, “Here, bite on this. It might sting a little.”<br><br>Samantha graciously accepted the stick and completely froze in pain when Caitlin poured the disinfectant in Samantha's wound. She was trying to be as gentle as possible, but she also had to be thorough. The poor teen had her eyes tightly shut and tears were billowing down her cheeks, while she did her best to suppress her screams, only uttering small sounds of discomfort.<br><br>Having only her flashlight to see by, Caitlin had to take some extra time to make sure the entire wound was clean. Grabbing a sterilized needle and thread, she started knitting the wound to close it. She did it in such an effective way that in a few weeks from now you likely wouldn't even see a scar.<br><br>“There, you're all done,” Caitlin breathed with a sigh of relief, happy that this was over.<br><br>“Thank you,” Samantha replied with a grunt, speaking her first words since entering the shop.<br><br>“Sorry about the pain, but I had to be thorough, least it starts to infect and fester. Your leg should be completely healed within a couple of weeks and you likely won't even see a scar. It's best not to put too much pressure on your leg for the coming three days though,” Caitlin explained, offering the teen a warm smile.<br><br>Meanwhile, Kate had done her best to make the shop as defensible as possible. Caitlin gave the two women a candy bar and a single bottle of Spa Blue. Water especially was on ration, since she didn't trust tap water and she wasn't sure when they'd run into another shop that had bottled water, but at the same time it was clear to see that both Kate and Sam were very thirsty.<br><br>“I wonder what will happen next,” Caitlin thought, “With Samantha injured and exhausted it's probably best to rest for a while longer, while we come up with a plan of attack.”
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Project Genesis: Surviving Hell in New Angeles [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>AribethAmkiir</strong> on <strong>05-06-2012, 04:03:04</strong>
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				<strong>June 1, 2012 – 7:25 p.m. – Highway 40, entering downtown New Angeles</strong><br>The SUV ran idle as Todd sat in the driver’s seat and stared at the destruction which had befallen the highway in front of them.&nbsp; Accidents had piled traffic up in every lane.&nbsp; Dead, mutilated bodies, too destroyed to reanimate, littered the pavement of the road.&nbsp; They had only been sitting in the vehicle for a few minutes, thus far.&nbsp; Light still filled the sky, though the sun promised to set within hours.&nbsp; Mary was busy looking at the map and trying to find another way around.&nbsp; Rebecca was being comforted again by Tony.&nbsp; The pair sat in the back seat with the teenage girl between his son and her brother.&nbsp; Max, was being Max, and Todd was doing his best to ignore the ridiculous and inane comments the sixteen year old was making.&nbsp; It took most of Todd’s inner strength not to reach back and cuff the boy.&nbsp; <br><br>Instead, Todd simply stared at the boy through the rear-view mirror and then said that was enough.&nbsp; Todd wasn’t sure if it was his own chastisement or the way Rebecca further recoiled from her brother that caused the boy to fall into silence.&nbsp; Either way, he was grateful.<br><br>“Mary, the off ramps are all congested.&nbsp; There’s no way to get there except through that,” Todd said as he pointed ahead. <br><br>It was the barest of movement that caught his attention and he reacted without thinking.&nbsp; He jarred the clutch into reverse and forced the gas pedal to the floor.&nbsp; The wheels slipped momentarily before the SUV lurched backwards just as the shambling dead began to converge on the vehicle.&nbsp; Uncoordinated and weak slaps at side windows startled the kids and his wife.&nbsp; The vehicle traveled fifty yards in reverse before Todd slammed upon the brake and turned the wheel hard.&nbsp; <br><br>He traveled five miles upon the highway in the opposite direction they had just come, mostly because he had no idea what to do next.&nbsp; Finally, as his adrenaline began to subside, he parked the SUV in the center of a road on top of an overpass. <br><br>“Everyone keep your eyes opened for those things,” he wouldn’t call them zombies.<br><br>The kids did as he said and he glanced at Mary from the corner of his eye.&nbsp; The color was only now beginning to return to her face, and he placed a tender, affectionate hand on her arm to try and help steady her.<br><br>Todd knew that the gas gauge had read a quarter of a tank for the last ten minutes.&nbsp; He also knew that his vehicle’s gauge tended to drop quickly once it passed half.&nbsp; <br><br>He was out of ideas, and after a moment, knowing all in the car could hear him, he gave Mary an apologetic shrug before speaking, “I’m open for suggestions.”<br><br><br><strong>June 1, 2012 – 8:15 p.m. – Downtown Mall</strong><br>Rebecca couldn’t contain her anguish any longer.&nbsp; The past few days had passed in a blur of numbness, but the last hour had been a slow torturous grind through Hell.&nbsp; She was only distantly aware of Tony’s arms around her shoulders, and Mr. Burkahat’s guiding hands upon both of them as they moved through the darkened mall.<br><br>The mall had seemed to be the most defensible place at the time.&nbsp; Mr. Burkhart had thought they could find some supplies with luck.&nbsp; They had lost half of what they had.&nbsp; They had lost more than that.&nbsp; Rebecca felt like she had lost it all.&nbsp; She didn’t want to think about what she would do if she lost Tony as well.<br><br>The hiking pack on her back was beginning to pull her to the ground, and she no longer wished to move her legs.&nbsp; Only Mr. Burkhart pushing her along kept her moving.&nbsp; He promised that they would stop soon, and she clung to Tony even tighter.<br><br>Her mom and her dad, Mrs. Burkhart, then Max; she wondered how much more she could endure.&nbsp; She wondered how much more God planned to take from her.&nbsp; Even in her state, her eyes scanned the darkness certain that the shadows concealed a number of monsters and behind every corner waited the end for one, if not all, of them.<br><br>She was pulled to a halt by Mr. Burkhart and then crouched down low at his insistence.&nbsp; She had to look ahead to see what had caught his attention.&nbsp; The fright the sudden stop had caused momentary clarity without the tinge of despair.&nbsp; <br><br>Ahead, in the store Mr. Burkhart was apparently leading them to, there was certainly movement.&nbsp; Rebecca thought she saw two forms at least.&nbsp; One hovering over the other.&nbsp; She was also hearing something as well.&nbsp; The pained whimpers of somebody being eaten alive?&nbsp; <br><br>If Tony hadn’t been holding her so tightly, she would’ve bolted right there and then.&nbsp; Instead, she felt Mr. Burkhart rummaging and tugging at the backpack she wore.&nbsp; A moment later he had what she could make out as a flashlight in his hand.&nbsp; Her head shook emphatically as she pleaded silently with him to not draw attention upon them.&nbsp; Rebecca heard him whisper to them to get ready to run, and then in utter horror she watched as Mr. Burkhart covered the lens with his hand and turned the light on. <br><br>Mr. Burkhart controlled the amount of light that escaped with the palm of his hand.&nbsp; Three quick movements followed by three slower and longer delays, which allowed more light to escape, then followed by three short and quick movements, which let only a little bit of light escape.&nbsp; An S.O.S.<br><br>A moment later, a voice was telling them to come to them.<br>
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Project Genesis: Surviving Hell in New Angeles [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Raziel</strong> on <strong>09-06-2012, 15:01:23</strong>
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				<strong>May 25th 05:15 am – New Angeles Police Department, SWAT Division</strong><br>Chris Wade currently had his feet up on his desk with his hands clasped behind his head and his eyes closed, a low snore coming from him. However he was soon brought out of his slumber by a tap on his shoulder.<br>With a snort he opened his eyes and glanced up at Ezekiel Taylor, his best friend and SWAT’s point man smiling down at him. Zeke towered above most people, standing at 6’6 but had a heart of gold. He’d served as a sniper in the USMC for a few years until his mother got sick. When she had died Zeke decided not to return to the military and to pursue a career in law enforcement, making it into SWAT after attending the training.<br><br>Several years later, when he was 32 he met a young NAPD officer named Chris Wade, an eager young man with one hell of an accurate shot. The two hit it off, and despite a slight age difference became best friends. It was Ezekiel who had persuaded Chris to try out for SWAT, even putting forward a recommendation to Commander Henry Westchester the Commander of SWAT. When Chris was accepted into the division he replaced Ezekiel as their sniper and was promoted to point man.<br><br>“Why are you sleeping here? I thought Ellie was letting you sleep at her place while they fix your plumbing.” <br><br>With a yawn Chris put his feet on the floor and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.<br><br>“She is.”<br><br>“Then why are you sleeping at your desk?”<br><br>“Because Zeke there are a few things I don’t want to know about my sister and how well she performs in the bedroom is defiantly one of them. Unfortunately for me I got to hear her latest conquest moan that Ellie has, and I quote: “The most skilled tongue she’d ever had inside her.” Chris answered “I don’t need to know that kind of stuff.”<br><br>“Well good for Ellie.” Zeke chuckled, earning himself a glare from Chris. “Oh come on man, at least she’s getting some.”<br><br>Chris sighed and rolled his eyes as he stood up and started walking towards the door “Here we go.” He muttered.<br><br>“Seriously how long has it been since you last got laid?” Zeke asked as the two made their way down the hall towards the break room.<br><br>“I don’t know dude, it’s not like keep track.” Chris replied.<br><br>“Oh come on, you’re a guy of course you’ve kept track.”<br><br>“Well I guess I’m not like most guys.” Chris countered as they entered the empty break room and made their way over to the drink machines. <br><br>“Yes you do.” Zeke said.<br><br>“No I don’t.”<br><br>“Yes you do.”<br><br>“Don’t.”<br><br>“Do.”<br><br>“Don’t.”<br><br>“Do.” Zeke repeated as he dropped a few quarters into the coffee machine.<br><br>“I’m not having this conversation with you.” Chris replied.<br><br>“Fine.” Zeke sighed “But you need to find a woman.”<br><br>Chris sighed as he glanced around the room, making sure nobody else was there before elbowing the coke machine hard in the spot he knew would make it release a can. Grinning when he heard the can roll down the inside of the machine and land in the slot before bending down and reaching inside to grab it.<br><br>“You know that’s technically theft right?” Zeke grinned.<br><br>“Hey the amount cash this thing has stolen from me without giving me a drink over the years, it owes me.”<br><br>Zeke laughed “Whatever you say man.”<br><br>“It’s true.” Chris replied as he took a gulp from his can. Their break was cut short however when an officer walked in and looked at them.<br><br>“Hey guys Westchester is looking for you.” He said.<br><br>Sharing a glance the two friends made their way back to the SWAT office, wondering if they were going to be sent out or if he just wanted to remind them about their paperwork.<br><br>“So if it’s a mission what do you think it’ll be this time? Bank robbery? Hostage situation?” Zeke asked as they stepped into to room.<br><br>“You two there’s been a report of a nutjob running around Mercy hospital biting people, it’s nothing serious yet but I want you guys to gear up just in case we’re needed I’ve already called in the rest of the team.” Their boss said. <br><br>The two friends nodded as they turned to leave “Crazy person running amok, been a while since we’ve had one of those.” Chris said as they made their way do to the equipment room.<br><br><strong>05:45 am – SWAT Equipment Room</strong><br>Chris slipped his tactical vest on over his BDU and stuck his gloves and balaclava into one of the vests pockets. Next was his radio and earpiece, which, after testing it, he slipped into its own pocket on the vest although he left the earpiece out for now before lastly picking up his helmet and placing it into his mini-locker in the van.<br><br>Next stop was to the weapon lockers. The first thing he took, as always was the FN-P90 he’d been using as his main weapon since the day he’d been assigned to SWAT. He clipped the SMG to the front of his tac-vest before heading over to the pistol locker.<br>His choice of secondary weapon was always the HK USP Compact Tactical .45 ACP. It was a sturdy handgun with the option of attaching a laser light or a flashlight depending on the situation, which he placed in his thigh holster. <br><br>His final stop was to the rifle lockers where he collected the briefcase which housed a Remington 700p Sniper Rifle which he placed in the van. With the rest of team also finishing gearing up all that was left was to play the waiting game and see if they were requested and sure enough at a little past 0600 they were deployed by the Mayor himself to Mercy Hospital.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <br><br><strong>06:40 am – Mercy Hospital</strong><br>When they arrived they met up with Captain Franks, SWAT’s field commander, who was currently coordinating Beta team’s setup on the south side of the building. When he was finished, he turned his attention to Alpha team, conducting their briefing from outside the rear of their van.<br><br>“OK people listen up, at 0330 this morning the NAPD received a report about a man running around biting people. A few uniforms were sent in to apprehend this suspect but when they arrived on the scene witnesses claimed that he had killed several people and had been seen…eating their flesh.”<br><br>The team exchanged a concerned glance before Captain Franks continued their briefing, “Since then the situation has escalated, more people inside the hospital have become violent and a danger to others, that’s <br>why we were called in. A few of those managed to get outside into the grounds and are attacking civilians. ”<br><br>“Rules of engagement?” Zeke asked.<br><br>Franks glanced around at the team “This order comes from the Mayor himself, anyone who is actively hostile...” He paused for a moment “Shoot to kill.”<br><br>The team shared a look, normally they would find a peaceful, non-lethal means to take down a suspect, only using lethal force when absolutely necessary but being told to kill anything that moved still gave them an unpleasant feeling.<br><br>“Beta team is in position on the south side, Alpha your covering the north. Zeke you’re on point, Ryan and Scott providing support. Ramirez as the medic you’ll be going in to help any survivors, and Wade you find a good spot provide sniper cover.”<br><br>Chris peeked around their truck to look at the hospital before studying the surrounding buildings, assessing each one as he went until he stopped and pointed at one building to the east of their position; just outside the barricade the uniforms had setup.<br><br>“That one there will give me the best vantage point for this side of the building.” He said.<br><br>Franks nodded “Then get going we’ll hold off until you’re in position.”<br><br>Chris grabbed the case containing his rifle before jogging off towards the building he had selected “Good luck guys.” He yelled over his shoulder.<br><br><strong>06:55 am – KGH Building, opposite Mercy Hospital</strong><br>It hadn’t taken Chris long to climb the fire escape of the building and setup his rifle. From his position he could see through every window on every floor of this side of the hospital as well as the courtyard.<br><br>“This is Wade, I’m in position.”<br><br>“Understood, what’s it looking like down there?” Franks’ voice replied. <br><br>Chris looked down the scope of his rifle and gasped at what he saw. In all his years on the force he’d never seen as much blood as he was seeing right now.<br><br>“It’s carnage guys, a real gore fest. I’d brace yourselves, it’s not going to be pretty. I count 50 hostiles and 20 civilians…”<br><br>For the team Wade’s voice was cut off by the sound of a gunshot.<br><br>“…Correction, make that 49 hostiles.” Wade said<br><br>“Good job Wade, alright everyone move out.”<br><br>Chris observed his team as they started their assault on the grounds, while Zeke and the others took out the zombies, he covered Juliana Ramirez their medic, who was attending to several wounded. Eventually they cleared the first little area, buying them some time to rest and reload before moving on. <br><br>As he gave a sweep of the building he could see several people shuffling around that he could only describe as zombie looking. As he continued to scout the other floors he saw a man eating the corpse of a person in a white doctor’s coat. However the man stopped and seemed to sniff the air before turning around. <br><br>Chris shifted his rifle to see what the man had discovered, it was a young nurse who screamed and turned to run away. The man quickly went after her. Chris lined up his crosshairs on the man’s head then moved slightly ahead of him, doing the math in his head. It took him only a few moments to calculate the distance, wind speed and travel time for the bullet in relation to the man’s running speed. He aimed slightly higher to take into account gravities effect on the bullet and took a deep breath.<br><br>In that moment everything around him went deathly silent as he focused himself. Below him the flashing lights of the police cars and the crowds of people ceased to exist, they all just faded out of existence; it was just him and his target. His finger gently squeezing back on the trigger of the rifle…<br><br>The whole event took less than a second but with the loud crack from his rifle the man was dead and an innocent had been saved. He quickly adjusted his view to cover his team, watching as they took out a few more crazed people. And yet the more they killed the more seemed to appear, it was going to be a long day.&nbsp; &nbsp;<br><br><strong>17:00 – Eleanor Wade’s Residence; Outskirts</strong><br>Chris let out a load yawn and rolled his shoulder as he stepped out of his car, it had been a long day. Heading to the trunk he opened it and removed the two bags containing his gear. Given the situation developing they had been ordered to keep their gear with them to avoid having to head to the station if they were called out again. Opened the door, he entered his sister’s house, proceeding to drop both bags by the floor before moving into the living room and collapsing face first onto the couch.<br><br>“Chris?” he heard Ellie shout from the direction of the kitchen, followed a few seconds later by footsteps and raised his head slightly to look at her when she entered.<br><br>“Hey where did you go earlier? You left without saying goodbye.”<br><br>“Well you were busy…” Chris muttered as he watched her grin as she remembered her latest one night stand.<br><br>“Oh yeah…” she chuckled.<br><br>Chris shook his head before lowering it again.<br><br>“Did you hear about what happened down at Mercy Hospital?” Ellie asked.<br><br>“I was there.” Chris nodded.<br><br>“I saw how bad it was. Are you okay?” she asked, her voice soft with concern.<br><br>“I’m fine.” He muttered before feeling Ellie’s hand gently touch his arm, looking up at her he gave her a reassuring smile. “Really El, I’m fine just tired.”<br><br>Ellie nodded “OK, dinner will be read in about an hour.”<br><br>After having dinner Chris went to sleep, knowing full well that with everything going on and the curfew in effect that things were probably going to get really busy for him and the rest of the NAPD in the coming days.<br><br><strong>May 27th 10:30 AM, Downtown</strong><br>Sure enough the last 2 days had been busy for Chris and the rest of his fellow officers with various incidents occurring across the city and the hospitals being closed a general sense of uneasiness could be felt throughout the city. And today the riots and looting began, as if zombies weren’t enough to deal with. He had already broken up 5 different fights within the first hour of his shift and he was pretty sure it was only going to get worse as the days went on. He was then dispatched to the city’s power plant with the rest of Alpha team to help protect it.<br><br><strong>May 29th 12:45 pm, New Angeles Police Department</strong><br>Gunshots and screaming echoed through the halls of the NAPD as zombies and officers fought each other. Chris and Zeke had been sleeping in the SWAT office for 2 days now, ever since the rioting had started, but as bad as it had been, neither of the would have assumed they would be fighting their way out of their own headquarters.<br>They were currently fleeing several zombies who had been pursuing them. Zeke was at the front, leading them towards the stairs to the garage and taking out any zombies that were in their way with his shotgun, while Chris covered their backs, firing off bursts from his P-90.<br><br>“This is fucking insane!” Chris yelled as they ran through offices and more corridors, ignoring the corpses of their fellow officers as they went.<br><br>“Tell me something I don’t know!” Zeke shouted back as he shot a zombie himself.<br><br>“Anna in accounting has a crush on you!” Chris replied with a grin as he shot a zombie in the head, its brains splattering across the wall behind it.<br><br>“WHAT!?” Zeke yelled, getting a chuckle from Chris as they burst through the doors into a stairwell and locked it behind them, hearing the zombies banging on the thick metal door, trying and failing to get through, allowing the first to catch their breath.<br><br>Chris bent over and sucked in a few lungful’s of air before standing up and reloading his P-90 and, having realised he only had 5 magazine’s in his tac-vest for it, decided to switch to his USP for a while, knowing that he had more ammo for that.<br><br>“Anna has a crush on me?” Zeke asked.<br><br>“Uh huh.” Chris nodded as the two slowly made their way down the stairs towards the garage. “I thought you knew?”<br><br>“No.”<br><br>Chris turned to look at his friend, “Why do you even care? Last time I checked you were in a happy, healthy relationship.”<br><br>“I am.” Zeke said defensively “It’s just nice to know the ladies still dig the big Z.”<br><br>Chris chuckled as they continued their decent, thankful that the stairwell had been empty; a fire fight in those close quarters would had been risky.<br><br>However the garage was another story as they opened the door and peeked out to see a horde of zombies gathered there, some staggering around while others were eating the remains of their colleagues.<br><br>“Holy mother of God.” Zeke whispered as he clutched the crucifix around his neck.<br><br>Even Chris had to admit they were in a bad way as he turned to look at his best friend.<br><br>“Hey you know I’m not big on the whole God thing but if you can call in a favour with your guy up stairs and get us a little divine intervention, well I may just convert.”<br><br>Zeke usually shrugged off Chris’s jokes about his faith, since he knew his best friend never meant any harm in them but today he was serious and nodded “I’ll see what I can do.”<br><br>Chris peeked out the door again and surveyed the area.&nbsp; The good news was, he could see their SWAT van parked across the garage and knew it had been freshly fuelled and resupplied last night. The bad news was the 100+ zombies and corpses that occupied the space between it and them.<br><br>“How the fuck are we going to get over there?” Zeke whispered.<br><br>Chris looked out the door and back to his friend and then repeated the action as he contemplated his next move before looking back at Zeke.<br><br>“Give me your 9 mil.” He said.<br><br>“What?”<br><br>“Your 9 mil give it to me.” Chris repeated.<br><br>“What are you going to do?” Zeke asked.<br><br>“What do you think? I’m going to distract them so that you can get the van.” <br><br>“Are you insane?”<br><br>“Do you have a better idea?” Chris countered.<br><br>“I…”<br><br>“Exactly. Besides, we both know that I’m faster and a better shot than you anyway. Look I’ll draw them away from the van; you get there then come get me, running over them as you go, simple.”<br><br>Zeke glanced out the door at the horde before sighing and reluctantly handing over his gun and the clips he had “Just be careful.”<br><br>Chris took the gun and slipped the magazines into his vest with a nod “You too and don’t piss about get that van and come get my ass.”<br><br>Zeke patted his friend on the shoulder “I got your back man.”<br><br>“I know, besides their slow and stupid I’ll easily outrun them.” Chris grinned “See you soon.”<br><br>Zeke could only watch as his friend quietly crept through the door and made his way along the wall away from it.<br><br>When he knew he was far enough away from the stairwell he stood up and glanced out at the horde. “Oh Chris what the fuck are you doing?” he muttered under his breath as he stood up.<br><br>“Hey who wants lunch?” he yelled, watching as the horde turned to look at him before snarling and running towards him…wait running?<br><br>“Oh shit.” He cursed as he started running away from the “Zombie’s aren’t supposed to fucking run!” he yelled as he fired off a few rounds behind him. Gunshots echoed around the parking garage as Chris shot zombie after zombie as he darted in and out of parked cars and over corpses.<br><br>He leapt onto one car and started hopping to the next one and the one after, all the while shooting any zombie that got close to him until he came to a white van at the end of the row and climbed onto its roof, gasping for breath.<br><br>Luckily despite being fast these zombies were at least stupid, making it easier for him to pick them off one at a time while avoiding their arms as they reached up to try and pull him down. He reloaded the two handguns and fired at any zombie that came close to him, spinning in a circle on the roof of the van as he went to avoid getting surrounded.<br><br>But it wasn’t enough as the zombies began to overwhelm in and when he had emptied the clips in his guns a second time the few that had fallen behind ran at him. The force of all of them charging at once caused the van to sway before tipping over. Chris leapt into the air just as it went and managed to land on the car opposite and took off into a sprint while the zombies recovered and began chasing him again.<br><br>As he ran Chris pulled out another two magazines for the guns and started reloading, however as he was doing so he missed the corpse of a female officer lying just ahead of him and tripped over it, which face planted him into the concrete and drop one of the guns, which slid a few feet away from him.<br><br>With a curse and a groan as he started pulling himself up when he felt something grab his leg and turned around to see the officers corpse come back to undead life and snarl at him before tugging and sending him to the ground again.<br><br>“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” He cursed as he kicked at the woman with his free leg, all the while shooting the approaching zombies with his USP, which he had managed to keep a hold of when he fell, but cursed when it <br>clicked out of ammo.<br><br>Dropping the gun he lifted his trusty P-90 and shot the officer’s corpse who was still trying to gnaw at his leg. He felt a little guilty at shooting a fellow officer but ignored it as he scrambled away from her body and picked up his USP before running again, grabbing the 9mm that had slid away from him and took off into another sprint.<br><br>He ran down the ramp onto the 4th underground level of the car park and froze when he saw 2 police officers lose a battle with another horde and fell to the ground, screaming in terror and agony as they began feasting on them. <br><br>Swallowing the bile he felt rising in his throat he glanced over his shoulder to see his own horde following him up the ramp and cursed.<br><br>“Come on Zeke, where are you?” he cursed, fear filling his very soul. He couldn’t go forward otherwise he’d draw the attention of the second horde and he couldn’t go back since the horde that had been following <br>him was there. He realised he was literally backed into a corner.<br><br>Having no other choice he clambered on top of the car closest to him and aimed at the approaching horde, knowing full well that the sound of the gun would draw in the second group too, but if he was going down, he would go down fighting.<br><br>The gunshot echoed throughout the garage and tore through the skull of an approaching zombie, killing it but also drew the attention of the second group of zombies, who stopped feasting on his 2 fallen comrades and rushed towards him.<br><br>He fired the two handguns until they both clicked empty. Holstering them he switched to his P-90, hoping the rapid rate of fire from the SMG would dispatch the zombies quicker, which it did, however it wasn’t enough to reduce their numbers as the two hordes merged into one and were about to surround him.<br><br>Chris fired a constant stream of bullets into the crowd and kicked as hard as he could at any zombie that got too close. For a while he managed to hold them off until the 50 round magazine in his P-90 fired its last round. For Chris this was it, the end of his life. Not exactly how he imagined he was going to go out, being eaten to death by zombies.<br><br>It was then that he heard the screeching of tyres of a vehicle and saw the SWAT van skid around the corner and stop in front of him.<br><br>“Chris, get down!” Zeke yelled.<br><br>Doing as he was told, Chris jumped off the car and crouched behind it as Zeke fired his shotgun into the horde. It wasn't enough to kill all of them but did provide enough distraction to Chris to crawl under the car beside him and escape from the horde, at least he thought he had as he rolled out from under the car, only to come face to face with a zombie.<br><br>“Aw crap.” Chris cursed as the zombie looked down and lunged at him. Reaching up, Chris grabbed the zombie’s shoulders and threw him into the side of the car before jumping up and running away, watching as Zeke drove ahead of him and turned the van around.<br><br>“Move your ass Chris!” Zeke yelled out the window.<br><br>Turning around Chris saw the rest of the horde charging towards him as the one he’d just thrown into the car pulled himself up. Turning back Chris ran towards the van, ducking when Zeke aimed his shotgun at him and fired above him.<br><br>Using the last parked car in front of him, Chris leapt onto it and off, however he mistimed the leap and ended up landing on top of Zeke’s van.<br><br>“GO!” he yelled as he banged on the roof, grabbing either side of it as Zeke gunned it, rushing towards the horde. <br><br>“Oh this is going to get messy.” Chris muttered as he dropped his head and hung on for all his life was worth, wincing when he heard the squelching of bodies when the van hit them, ignoring the blood that splatted up and over him.&nbsp; <br><br>He slid from side to side on the roof whenever Zeke turned a corner and heard and felt the bumps and splats whenever they ran over a zombie. Glancing up he saw that they were near the exit and clung on as tightly as he could to the sides of the roof as the van shot up the ramp and out into the street.<br><br>Two blocks later Zeke slowed the van down to a stop, allowing his friend to slide off the roof. Turning off the engine he hopped out and ran around to see his friend sitting on the floor with his back against the van and his eyes closed.<br><br>“You alright man?” he asked.<br><br>It took a few moments for Chris to open his eyes and respond, turning to look at him he shook his head “I thought that was it man. That was too close.”<br><br>Zeke nodded “It looked like it…Do I have great timing or what?” he added with a grin, watching as Chris chuckled.<br><br>“Yeah you do thanks.”<br><br>Zeke shrugged “You would have done the same.” He replied as he reached down and pulled his friend up. “Nice distraction by the way only had to deal with a couple of stragglers.”<br><br>Chris nodded as he reached into the back of his pants and pulled out Zeke’s 9mm he had tucked into them when he had ran out of ammo and handed it back to him.<br><br>“Thanks for the gun. Sorry I used all the ammo.” <br><br>Zeke laughed “Don’t worry about it; there’s more in the van.”<br><br>After restocking their ammo, the two got into the van and started driving, although where they were going to go they didn’t know. During the siege of the station, everything was in disarray as the officers fled for their lives.<br><br>Chris reached up and grabbed the radio “This is Sergeant Christopher Wade are any NAPD personnel monitoring this frequency?”<br><br>“Wade? This is Captain Franks, am I glad to hear your voice. Where are you?” <br><br>“About a few blocks from the station.”<br><br>“I’m glad someone made it out, it was a nightmare in there.”<br><br>“Not just me, Sergeant Taylor is with me.”<br><br>“Thank God, I was afraid we’d lost all of alpha team.” Franks replied.<br><br>“What?” Zeke gasped in shock.<br><br>“Oh…I sorry men, the rest of your team were killed trying to hold off the zombies while other officers escaped. They died heroes.”<br><br>The two friends remained silent for a moment as they remembered their friends before Chris spoke <br><br>“Thank you for letting us know sir, what happens now?”<br><br>“The Mayor has ordered the remaining personnel preforming their duty to abandon their posts. Go and take care of your families men…and stay safe.”<br><br>“Thank you sir, stay safe yourself.” Chris replied.<br><br>“God speed Gentlemen, Franks out.”<br><br>The two friends remained quiet for several minutes after Franks had stopped speaking. It was Zeke who was the first to break the silence.<br><br>“So that’s it? Just abandon our posts?”<br><br>“I can’t blame the Mayor really. I mean come on Zeke look at this place we’ve got rioters, looters and fucking zombies! We’re living in hell and we’ve lost a lot of officers, we don’t have enough people to do our jobs. <br>And personally I’d rather be at home with Ellie after what I’ve seen today.”<br><br>Zeke had to agree with his friend “Yeah your right, come on I’ll take you home.”<br><br>Chris nodded “Thanks.” He replied as he leaned back and closed his eyes.&nbsp; <br><br><strong>15:30 pm, Eleanor Wade’s Resident</strong><br>Zeke pulled the van up outside Ellie’s house and watched as his friend climbed out and looked at him “Thanks for the ride man and for saving my life.”<br><br>Zeke nodded “Your welcome, but if you hadn’t provided the distraction I would never have got the van so…”<br><br>Chris nodded with a grin as he grabbed his gear “OK bro take care and look after yourself.”<br><br>Zeke smiled “And you dude, say hi to Ellie for me.”<br><br>After Zeke had drove off he entered the house and made his way to the bathroom, not seeing Ellie sitting in the living room, who screamed and gasped when she saw him.<br><br>“CHRIS!” <br><br>Jumping out of his skin, Chris spun around to see Ellie run towards him “What happened? Are you alright?” she asked.<br><br>Chris nodded “Not really, but don’t worry it’s not my blood.”<br><br>“What happened?”<br><br>“I’ll tell you later.” Chris replied “I’m going to take a shower.”<br><br>After he’d showered and put his weapons and ammo away he explained everything that had happened that day.<br><br><strong>May 31th 17:05 pm, Eleanor Wade’s Residence, Outskirts</strong><br>In the two days since he had arrived home, things had gotten even worse in New Angeles. Yesterday gang wars had broken out in the streets which had abruptly ended when the infected arrived on the scene; the gangs stood no chance against the horde. Some members stayed to fight the horde and were killed, eaten and turned or fled when they ran out of ammo.<br>In his area a few zombies had started arriving, causing the local residents to band together, and with each family having gathered supplies and pooling their resources had amassed enough supplies to keep themselves safe for a while.<br><br>Since Ellie’s house was the easiest to defend, Chris and the others had spent the majority of yesterday boarding up the house and adding as much protection as they possibly could. Mr Wilson from a few doors down was an ex-marine and had brought over his supply of guns and ammo, although it wasn’t much. After they had barricaded the house as best they could he and Chris had taught some of the others how to <br>shoot, just in case.<br><br>They were gathered in the living room discussing the virus and what could have happened when Chris’s cell phone rang.<br><br>“Hello? Whoa, whoa Veronica slow down, slow down what’s going on? He did what? When? Alright, alright calm down I’ll be right there. No stay where you are, lock the doors and don’t let anybody in unless it’s me <br>okay? Okay I’ll see you soon.”<br><br>After he hung up the phone he stood up, seeing everybody looking at him, although it was Ellie who asked the question they all wanted to know.<br><br>“Chris, what’s going on?”<br><br>“Zeke thought he could slip into the NAPD armoury and grab some more ammo and he hasn’t come home yet, Veronica’s worried so I’m going to go find him.” Chris replied as he retrieved his P-90, USP, the ammo he <br>had for them and slipped on his Tac-Vest, hoping that most people would see the huge SWAT letters on the side and back of it and not shoot him on sight.<br><br>“You’re going out there? Are you insane?” Ellie yelled.<br><br>“She’s right Chris, your safer staying here with us.” Several others echoed.<br><br>Chris looked into his older sister’s eyes “He’s my best friend, he saved my life a few days ago, and if the situation was reversed he’d come for me.”<br><br>Ellie felt the tears brimming in her eyes and pulled him into a hug “Be careful and come back okay.”<br><br>Chris nodded as he returned the hug “I will and you stay safe too.”<br><br>Ellie nodded and sniffed as the tears began to fall “I love you.”<br><br>Chris smiled “I love you too.” He replied as he pulled away “You guys stay safe, be careful and if things get worse out here then stay together but leave, head somewhere else.” He added before he grabbed his car keys and left.<br><br><strong>18:00 – Danvers Bridge</strong><br>Chris could see Danvers Bridge in the distance, it was a large bridge that separated the outskirts of the city from Downtown and from there it was only a short drive from the bridge to the centre of Downtown. He glanced down at the clock on the dash to see what the time was and looked up in time to see someone standing in the middle of the road.<br>He swerved to avoid hitting them and battled the car as it spun in a circle around and around before flipping over and rolling several times before landing on top of several other cars that had been abandoned on the bridge.<br><br>It took a few minutes for his vision to clear but when it did he undid his seatbelt and groaned when he fell onto the roof, luckily his guns were within his reach and his ammo was stored securely in his vest, so he didn’t have to worry about those. Grabbing them he kicked open the door and climbed out, ignoring the pounding inside his skull. <br><br>Looking around he couldn’t see any sign of the person he had avoided hitting before realising that the car had travelled far further than he had thought since he was now on the bridge. Catching a glimpse in the mirror he was thankful that he had managed to escape with only a few scratches where the glass had broken.<br><br>It was then that he smelt something he really wished he hadn’t, the smell of petrol. Looking down he saw that his car was leaking petrol, as was the two that his car had landed on.<br><br>“Oh fuck.” He muttered as he started running across the bridge, thankful that he had started practicing parkour when he was younger…granted he’d only studied it because it looked cool but now it allowed him to leap over a lot of the abandoned cars, although if he could outrun flowing petrol was another question entirely.<br><br>He’d made it about halfway when he decided to glance over his shoulder and saw that his car had started to burn and started running faster, jumping on and over cars as he tried to get to the other side.<br><br>He was about a third of a way across when he heard the car explode and glanced over his shoulder again in time to see the other two cars explode too which then set of a chain reaction as the petrol from the cars spread across the bridge, the fire followed and caused those cars to explode as well.<br><br>He could feel the heat on his back before the shockwave picked him up and threw him forward, through the air and over the other abandoned cars before he landed on the other side of the bridge with a scream as he landed on his left hand, hearing something, most likely his wrist break.<br><br>Clutching his arm, he rolled over and fought against the wave of dizziness that washed over him and tried to ignore the ringing in his ears as he staggered to his feet before dropping to his knees as the world started to spin and he passed out.<br><br><strong>June 1st 17:30 – Somewhere in Downtown New Angeles.</strong><br>“They're coming, we need to leave.”<br><br>“What about the officer?”<br><br>“Take his guns and leave him.”<br><br>“We saved him last night; we can’t leave him to die now.”<br><br>“Those things are coming goddamn it! That barricade won’t hold for long.”<br><br>“But…”<br><br>“No buts, he’s out cold and we need his guns, we should have just taken them and left him for dead last night.”<br><br>“We’re not savages Rick.”<br><br>The tall burly man ignored his wife and walked over to the unconscious police officer and reached down to unclip the SMG from his vest, gasping when he cops right arm shot up and grabbed his before finding himself flipped over with the cops left forearm pressed against his throat and his right holding his handgun at his head.<br><br>However a loud crash drew his attention away from the cop and towards the closed door but before he could say anything the cop was pulling him to his feet.<br><br>“Zombies?” he asked.<br><br>Rick nodded “Yeah.”<br><br>“You got a gun?”<br><br>Again Rick nodded.<br><br>“Then let’s go.”<br><br>Chris had started coming too just in time it would seem as he heard the man and woman talking about him and waited for the perfect moment to strike. He didn’t know where he was but the man wanted to disarm him and that wasn’t going to happen.<br><br>He waited until the last moment before opening his eyes and grabbing the man’s arm and flipping him over, driving his forearm against the man’s throat, ignoring for a moment the pain in his wrist and the fact it was wrapped in a piece of torn t-shirt. He wanted to know what was going on but the sounds of wood breaking drew his attention.<br><br>When the man called Rick told him it was zombies he stood up and helped the man up, now was not the time.<br><br>A brunette woman entered the room “We need to go!” She yelled.<br><br>“Is there a back way out of here?” Chris asked.<br><br>“This way.” The woman replied.<br><br>Chris and Rick followed and made it out the back just as the zombies broke into the room they used occupy. <br><br>Chris turned around and fired his USP at them, taking them down with accurate headshots as the woman and Rick climbed over a fence. Rick then covered Chris as he leaped over the fence. It took them a few blocks before they had escaped.<br><br>Now that they were away from the infected Chris stopped to catch his breath, noticing for the first time that his head was pounding, he was dizzy and felt nauseous.<br><br>“Are you alright?” the woman asked as she knelt down next to him.<br><br>“I’ll live.” He muttered.<br><br>“Are you sure? You looked in a pretty bad way when we found you. Do you remember what happened?”<br><br>Chris looked up at her and nodded “Yeah I was trying to make my way into town and I saw someone in the middle of the road, swerved to avoid him and crashed. Then there was an explosion and I was caught in the front end of it.”<br><br>“Well you got banged up pretty badly and you’ve been unconscious for almost 12 hours. You’ve broken your wrist, which I’m sure you already know but I did what I could to bandage it with what I had.”<br><br>Chris chuckled “Yeah I noticed, thanks for helping me, I appreciate it.”<br><br>The woman smiled “Your welcome, my name’s Sarah and this is my husband Rick.”<br><br>“Chris.” He replied.<br><br>As Rick helped him up “I’m sorry about trying to leave you and take your weapons, I normally wouldn’t have done something like that but I…” Rick paused, clearly ashamed of what he had done.<br><br>“I guess I can’t blame you.” Chris replied. “Where are we?” <br><br>“We’re about 20 minutes outside downtown.”<br><br>Chris nodded “Then that’s where I need to go.”<br><br>“Are you insane, you’re not in a good way, you should stay with us until you feel better.” Sarah said.<br><br>Chris shook his head “I can’t, I need to find someone. I’ll be fine.”<br><br>“Sarah’s right, at least stay with us for tonight.” Rick added.<br><br>“Thanks but I can’t.” Chris answered as he checked him ammo, he had 6 clips for his P-90, each holding 50 rounds and 9 .45 rounds for his USP and 2 clips for a 9mm that he didn’t have any use for leftover. Glancing over at Rick he noticed that his gun was a 9mm and handed them over.<br><br>“Here you need these more than I do, consider it payment for helping me last night, you didn’t have to.”<br><br>“I…thank you.” Rick replied as he took the ammo and shook the officer’s hand.<br><br>“So which way am I going?” Chris asked, watching as they pointed to the south and bid them goodbye as he headed off.<br><br><strong>20:00 – Downtown Mall</strong><br>What was supposed to be a 20 minute walk into downtown, turned into several hours due to a combination of blocked paths, bands of survivors and of course infected, although it was slightly easier to sneak past them at night than during the day.<br><br>He knew where he was when he spotted the Mall and decided to head inside, hoping to find a bandage for his broken wrist and with a bit of luck a few more ammo clips for his gun, although he wasn’t holding out much hope for that. Any ammo would have been looted the first chance people got, which is probably why Zeke had stupidly decided to go to the NAPD armoury.<br><br>“Damn it Zeke what the hell were you thinking?” He muttered under his breath as he thought about his friend and entered the Mall, his eyes scanning the room down the sights of his P-90 as he went.<br><br>As he made his way through the mall every zombie movie and video game he’d ever seen and played ran through his mind, which only enhanced the creepiness he felt considering the last time he had been in this mall it had been full of life and people, and now was reduced to a quiet soulless shell of its former self.<br>It didn’t take long for Chris to arrive at the pharmacy, opposite the hunting store and started searching for bandages and painkillers. As he started rummaging through the shelves he failed to notice someone spot him from the store across from him…<br>
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				Title: <strong>Re: Project Genesis: Surviving Hell in New Angeles [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Caitlin</strong> on <strong>10-06-2012, 11:38:20</strong>
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				<strong>June 1 (Day 10), 8:34 p.m. - Jackals and Shots (hunting supply store), Mall, Downtown.</strong><br>Carl wasn't pleased. It had been a very rough week on him that thoroughly tested his faith and today things had definitely taken a turn for the worse. Not only had he lost almost all of his flock, no, even worse was that he also lost the house of the Lord himself. <br><br>It was only an hour ago that his church had been blown up in a tragic accident and was overrun with zombies. Since then he hadn't quite been himself and he swore vengeance on the demons that trashed his church at this very moment. Surely the others would understand the priority that liberating his church had?<br><br>Even worse, however, was that he even led a <em>woman</em> take charge of the situation. The man was the head of the family and he should be the one leading this group of survivors. After all, the Bible said so!<br><br>Then again, he was clueless what they should do next and these women did have some good ideas of how to stay alive. He wasn't sure yet what to think of the man and two teenagers that joined them only minutes ago. It seemed that they had gone from just him and Caitlin, to half a dozen survivors in a matter of minutes. <br><br>Perhaps it was a sign of God though. Perhaps the good Lord was sending him new people to convert and join his growing flock. Yes, that had to be it.<br><br>The demons that were sent from hell itself by the Devil were hard to reason with and they listened much better to the sound of bullet penetrating their skull, than the voice of reason. Carl was glad that so many new people joined them. Like last week, it offered him an opportunity to lead the group and let everybody do the work for him, while he would give orders and make sure that everything would run smooth. <br><br>He'd make sure that they took care of his needs, after all, he was a man of God and he deserved their respect. They should be happy that he was here to lead them, even if he didn't have his church anymore where they could pray to God.<br><br>Still, not all was lost. As long as Carl stayed alive he could preach to these people and convince them to confess their sins to him, so they could repent themselves and turn back to the holy ways. He would lead them out of this hellhole and prove God that he was worthy to praise Him in heaven. <br><br>The last several days his preaching was needed more than ever before. His only regret was that Carl wasn't more prepared, as he should have been. New Angeles was slowly turning into a new Sodom and Gomorrah. The signs had been everywhere, people were sinning on every corner of the street. Men kissing men, husbands visiting prostitutes, children smoking pot and having uninhibited sex, casinos and strip clubs were becoming more and more present and the worst of all; that no-good son of a bitch Governor had actually legislated gay marriage, which had to be one of the worst sins of them all!<br><br>It was as if people did not fear God anymore and did not care if they went to hell. And to hell they all would surely go if they kept up this behavior. If it wasn't for Carl-... His trail of thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he spotted a man at the pharmacy across of them. <br><br>The young man seemed wounded, but his actions were slow and deliberate, much unlike the demons that had raided his church. The big SWAT letters on his back indicated that he was part of the law enforcement. Just the kind of man that Carl needed to talk to. Surely this brave young officer would help him liberate his church from the demons and help him restore order.<br><br>With an insistent, “Psst” he drew the attention of the man on the other side of the hall. <br><br>“Over here,” Carl indicated, waving the man over.<br><br>When the young man joined them and Carl got a good look at him, he concluded that he was a pretty sore sight for his eyes with his bloodstained, dirty pants, torn shirt, slightly damaged body armor and his face covered in... Well, he couldn't even tell due to the darkness. On top of that he also smelled pretty badly of old sweat, gasoline and some things he couldn't even identify. Carl figured the man had seen quite a bit of action the last several days. <br><br>Yes, perhaps this&nbsp; man was sent by God after all, an avenging angel, here to do the Lord's bidding, sent to save his church.<br><br>“Were you bitten?” Carl asked, giving the young man a stern look, like only an old authoritative priest could.<br><br>“No Sir, just wounded. I broke my wrist while I was trying to avoid getting blown up,” the young man explained.<br><br>Carl considered his words for a moment, yes, he was truly sent by God and now Carl would make sure that the man received the medical attention he required.<br><br>“Caitlin, Mister... What's your name, son?” <br><br>“Chris, Chris Wade.”<br><br>“Mister Wade here broke his wrist. Can you patch him up?”<br><br>“Sure Carl. Please hold my flashlight while I inspect your wound, Chris.” Caitlin replied, with a smile on her face, “Say, you were at the pharmacy a minute ago? Were there any supplies left?”<br><br>“Yes, several.”<br><br>“Good, I suggest we gather supplies from the pharmacy as well then,” Caitlin stated to the group in general, once again taking charge of the situation.<br><br>It annoyed Carl to no end that he didn't think of that. It seemed that inspiration for sensible ideas was slow to come-by lately, but no matter. Brilliant leaders didn't need to have brilliant ideas, that's what strategists were for. He would just have to assume command of the group as soon as they got out of this dangerous situation and someplace safer. He was sure they would see the wisdom in letting him lead, after all, he was the oldest of all the survivors and a man, not to mention a priest. Naturally, that made him the wisest of them all, the logic in this was flawless and with a small smile on his lips he returned to his duty; scouting for other survivors to join his ever-growing flock.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Project Genesis: Surviving Hell in New Angeles [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Caitlin</strong> on <strong>11-06-2012, 22:27:18</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<strong>June 1 (Day 10), 8:41 p.m. - Jackals and Shots (hunting supply store), Mall, Downtown.</strong><br>Eight minutes after Chris had joined their growing group of survivors, Caitlin had put his wrist in splints and bandaged the entire package in such a way that he couldn't move his wrist, but that he still had enough flexibility to use guns and knives, though she warned him not to overexercise his wrist. <br><br>“Maybe a short introduction is in order,” Caitlin suggested with a soft voice, still wary of zombies overhearing them, “That way we all know who everybody is. Can everybody tell their name, their profession and what they were planning to do after visiting the mall? After introductions are over I want to suggest that we scavenge for supplies and figure out what to do next.”<br><br>Caitlin looked around the group of survivors and saw six faces that either nodded, or grunted their approval of her idea.<br><br>“Well, I suppose I'm first then...” Caitlin started, feeling a bit uncomfortable now that she seemed to be the center of attention.<br><br>“I'm Caitlin Walker, twenty-three years old and I worked as nurse at Mercy Hospital, before it was overrun by the zombies. I met Carl several days ago after I lost my fiancé to the first zombie we encountered and we've been together since. After scavenging supplies here I was thinking of finding a safe house for the night and see if I can find a way out of the city.”<br><br>Caitlin looked at Carl and indicated that he should say something next.<br><br>Carl let out a deep sigh, before he said, “I'm Carl Johnson and I am... Was... The priest of Saint Mary Church, which is two blocks away from here. Earlier tonight there was an accident and those demons overran the church, killing the survivors that were still inside.”<br><br>Carl's tone had turned quite venomous as he spat out these last words, indicating his disgust with the zombies. <br><br>After he took a moment to regain his composure, Carl continued, “I'm planning to take back the Lord's house and offer refuge and comfort to the survivors that are still out there and need my help.”<br><br>Sternly he looked around with hope in his eyes to find supporters for his holy cause, his eyes especially resting a long moment on Chris, but he found none. Carl bit his tongue and let somebody else tell his or her tale instead.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Project Genesis: Surviving Hell in New Angeles [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>wiccaangel311</strong> on <strong>11-06-2012, 23:05:29</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				June 1 (Day 10), 8:41 p.m. - Jackals and Shots (hunting supply store), Mall, Downtown.<br>Kate was sitting beside Sam who had apparantly recovered well enough to move her leg. "My name is Katherine James." she said "Just call me Kate though." she added with a smile. "I'm a police officer for the downtown precinct." she said. "Sam here Just got out of highschool." Sam waved as her name was Spoken. <br><br>"I graduated early." she added with a shy smile.<br><br>"we ran into eachother at a gas station a few days ago when me and my husband were trying to get out of town." Kate said. "Our plan is to survive and try to get out of the city. Survivng has been hard since one of those damn gang members cut open poor Sam's leg over here." Katherine said looking over at Sam "Thank you for fixing that by the way." She looked around the room and her eyes seemed drawn to Chris she knew him from the Swat team in fact she had trained with him when the whole department was going in for anti terrorism training. <br><br>"If you're looking for a safehouse me and kate may have found one on the way over here." Sam said quietly "the library just a few miles away." She added "there weren't that many Zombies around that area, I guess they have no need for books anymore." Sam said with a laugh trying to lighten the mood. She knew it was a pointless effort but she was always optimistic and tried to find the bright side in everything. She also eyed the room. Her eyes fell on Carl he seemed like a sweet old man,but there was just something in his eyes that made the hair stand on the back of her neck. her eyes didn't linger for long.<br><br><br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Project Genesis: Surviving Hell in New Angeles [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Raziel</strong> on <strong>11-06-2012, 23:52:27</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<strong>June 1, 8:33 p.m - Jackals and Shots (hunting supply store), Mall, Downtown.</strong><br><br>Chris grunted as Caitlin put his wrist in splints and bandaged them but had to commend the young woman on her work. She'd bandaged it up so that he couldn't move it, allowing it to heal properly while allowing enough movement for him to at least used his weapons in a fight. He'd already flexed his fingers and tried holding his gun and seemed to do okay, although the kickback would probably hurt like hell.<br><br>They were soon gathered around as Caitlin started the introductions, although he could tell she was nervous being the centre of attention and listened as she introduced herself, a sadness filling him when she spoke about her fiance. Followed by the priest who had noticed him earlier and introduced himself before announcing his plans to retake his church, no doubt hoping people in the group would help him on his quest. Chris noticed that Carl was looking at him the longest, probably because he was the most armed person in their group, not that Chris was going to volunteer for that mission he had his own problems to deal with.<br><br>Chris thought he heard a noise and glanced over his shoulder, hearing a new voice introduce herself as Kate and that she was a police officer. After confirming that there wasn't anything there he turned back to face the group, in time to see Sam wave at them all when she was introduced. It was when Kate's eyes was drawn to his that he realised he knew her, remembering they had trained together during some anti-terriorism thing a while back.<br><br>He decided he would go next "My name is Christopher Wade, but everyone calls me Chris." he said with a slight wave. "I'm a sniper on the NAPD SWAT team and I was down at Mercy Hospital when everything went to hell, after which I did what I could to help out."<br><br>He paused "A few days later my best friend Zeke and I had to escape the NAPD when it was overrun with zombies." he gave a soft snort "We barely made it out of there alive." Shaking his head he continued "We found out that everyone had been given the order to abandon our posts so I went back to my sister's house in the outskirts of town, we had a pretty good defence setup there when I left so it's another possible safe haven if we can make it there."<br><br>He glanced around the small group already seeing the <em>Why are you out here then?</em> question forming on their lips and couldn't help but smile slightly as he answered their unasked question. "I'm out here now because Zeke's girlfriend called me saying that Zeke stupidly decided to go back to the NAPD and break into the armoury for some more weapons and ammunition, and if that place is anything like it was when we left it..." Chris paused and looked down at his heavily bandaged wrist as he tried to hide the worry he felt for his friend, knowing full well the odds of Zeke being alive was slim to none.<br><br>Taking a breath he looked up at the group, a determination in his eyes "I don't know what I'm going to do after this except head back to the outskirts, find my sister and get the hell out of here. But for right now I only have one goal: find my friend."<br><br>There was a long silence when Chris had finished as they waited for the next person to introduce themselves.<br><br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Project Genesis: Surviving Hell in New Angeles [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>AribethAmkiir</strong> on <strong>12-06-2012, 05:34:33</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<strong>June 1, 2012 – 8:41 p.m. - Jackals and Shots (hunting store) – Mall, downtown, New Angeles</strong><br>A loud sob escaped Rebecca’s lips when people began talking about Mercy Hospital.&nbsp; Tony was there in an instant, hushing and consoling her.&nbsp; Todd had been watching the others.&nbsp; The strangers seemed to be on the up and up, two police officers, a nurse, and a priest.&nbsp; Normally, he would have felt like he was surrounded by upstanding citizens and would’ve been happy to be considered part of their group.&nbsp; These weren’t normal times.&nbsp; He’d lost his wife just minutes ago.&nbsp; While he noted that others had lost loved ones as well, Todd wasn’t about to be sympathetic just now.&nbsp; He had to focus on the mission, and the mission was getting his son and Rebecca to safety.&nbsp; When Rebecca sobbed, Todd had stepped between her and the strangers.&nbsp; It was a small and subtle thing, but he wasn’t going to allow anyone’s fear of being found hurt those he was protecting.<br><br>“Todd Burkhart, my son Tony, Rebecca Lawson.&nbsp; She lost her mom at Mercy, she was a nurse too,” his eyes fell on Caitlin for a moment before shifting to Chris.<br><br>If he could play on their sympathies it was more likely they’d understand, and possibly help if someone went after Rebecca.<br><br>“We just lost my wife and her brother getting here,” he took a deep breath to fight back the overwhelming anger that had boiled up inside him.&nbsp; “I’m going to protect my son and Rebecca, and we’re going to get out of the city.&nbsp; There’s an old hiking path that leads to a decent hunting ground.&nbsp; We already tried the highway and the Army seems hell bent to box us in.&nbsp; I figure the only way out is by way of something that isn’t on any map.&nbsp; Something only the locals would know about.&nbsp; That hiking trail fits the criteria.&nbsp; As far as finding a safe house for tonight, the mall has been safe so far.&nbsp; I say we find one of these shops that have a chained gate that lowers and protects the entire entrance, one with no windows to break through to enter, close it up and wait out the night.”<br><br>He glanced at the priest and spoke softly, “maybe praying for those we’ve lost can set some people’s minds right.”<br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Project Genesis: Surviving Hell in New Angeles [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Caitlin</strong> on <strong>12-06-2012, 22:42:57</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Carl nodded in understanding at Todd and replied, “Yes, praying for those we have lost offers consolation. The Lord comforts those who seek Him in their time of need. The end of days may be upon us, but He will never abandon His children.”<br><br>Silence ensued for several long seconds, before Caitlin said, “I remember your mother Rebecca... I wasn't very close to her since we worked at different floors, but she was always very friendly and helpful. I remember her as a cheerful and strong-willed woman. I'm sorry for your loss.”<br><br>Hearing Caitlin talk about her mother like this, made Rebecca sniff, several tears billowed down her cheeks, as Tony did his best to comfort her. Caitlin thought she was a very brave girl, she had lost all her family, while Caitlin was an only child and her parents were still alive. They were probably worried sick about her, but at least they were spared from this horrible fate.<br><br>Another minute of silence followed, everybody seemed lost in their own thoughts, remembering all those who died so recently. There had been so many deaths lately, so little survivors. Those who were fortunate enough to still be alive were cursed with the burden of horrible memories. Loved ones, friends, family... All gone.<br>&nbsp;<br>Caitlin let a deep sigh escape from her lips. Though it was good to remember the dead, they were still alive and if they wanted to stay so, they'd better search for supplies and a safe place to stay.<br><br>“Perhaps best if we first figure out what we want to do next, before everybody runs off to scavenge for supplies?” Caitlin asked, her eyes going over everybody in the group, holding their gaze for a second.<br><br>“I don't think that we'll survive very long with the limited amount of weapons and ammo that we have. No matter where we'll go to, we're bound to run into more zombies, remaining gangs, other survivors or perhaps even the military. I'm in favor of helping Chris find his friend and arm ourselves better while we're at it, but it'd be stupid if all of us go. Sam, for example, shouldn't even be moving around very much with that leg of hers and, no offense Carl, but I think some of us also lack the stamina that's required,” Caitlin continued, looking at Samantha and Carl.<br><br>Carl's face turned into a scowl, but then he seemed to consider the wisdom in Caitlin's words and the scowl left his face.<br><br>“I suppose you're right yes,” Carl replied with a deep sigh, “I am not as young as the rest of you and I am not up for a lot of running around. So what do you suggest?”<br><br>“Well, depending on if everybody agrees,” Caitlin started, this time only looking at the adults, “I want to suggest that Carl and the teenagers hole up in a safe place and guard the fort, so to speak, while the rest of us go with Chris and attempt to rescue Zeke, while also getting better weapons and more ammunition. Between the four of us we have two trained law enforcement officers, one man who knows how to shoot with a hunting rifle and me, a nurse. I may not be the best shooter around, but I'm very stealthy, can defend myself and Zeke will likely need medical attention.”<br><br>Looking around for confirmation, Caitlin asked, “What do you all think of that idea? Gather supplies first, then create a safe place to stay and after that help Chris with rescuing Zeke? I know you're all scared and rather not risk your life, but helping one another is the one of those things that separates us from those zombies. Additionally we have a good chance for getting guns and ammo, which we'll both need if we want to survive for a longer time.”
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Project Genesis: Surviving Hell in New Angeles [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Raziel</strong> on <strong>13-06-2012, 00:13:04</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Chris had been sat to one side listening to the conversations going on and decided to speak up when they started discussing helping him find Zeke.<br><br>"Excuse me everyone but as much as I appreciate it, I don't expect any of you to risk your lives trying to save someone you don't even know." He stood up and glanced at the others "The fact is I don't know if Zeke's even in the police station or if he's still alive."<br><br>He paused for a moment "And I know that I'm probably crazy and that going back into that station, especially if it's as bad as it was when I left it's...it's nothing short of suicide, which is why I don't expect any of you to come along. I'm a cop, a good one and our motto is "To Protect and Serve" this...insane mission is none of those things, it's why I wasn't going to ask any of you to help." He paused and chuckled as he looked down at his bandaged wrist "Hell if it wasn't for my wrist I wouldn't have even come into the mall and met up with all of you."<br><br>He looked up at the group again. "Maybe he's there, maybe he isn't, all I know is that that's where he was going so that's where I need to go. Hopefully he'll be there and alive, if he is great, if he's dead..." he paused and shuddered at the very thought "Then at least I'll know." he added, albeit with a much quieter voice.<br><br>"I'm not stupid, if it's as bad as it was in there when Zeke and I escaped the first time then the more people with me the better odds I have of making it out of there alive, and the only thing I can possibly say to convince you is that if we can make it to the armoury, I can guarantee you that they'll be enough guns and ammo in there to arm a small militia. But with that said, and I don't want to sound rude here but with you or without you it doesn't matter, I'm going."<br><br>He could see them all looking at him if he was crazy, and maybe he was "Look you all think I'm crazy and maybe your right but Zeke is more than my best friend, he's my brother and I can you now that if the situation was reversed, he'd do the same thing for me."<br><br>"Look, I'm not trying to be a jerk and I'm sorry if I am, but I already lost 12 hours yesterday that I couldn't afford to lose, and no offence but being here now is costing me more time I don't have. You guys have a nice litte group here and all your trying to do is survive, you need to do what's best for all of you. If you decide to help me out then great, I can probably use it and I'd be greatful but like I said I'm not expecting anyone to volunteer, I wouldn't hold it against you." He paused "I've said what I wanted to say, if you guys are willing to help me find my friend that's great and in return I will help you get to the armoury and do whatever I can to help you get to someplace safe after that, if not...then at least for me nothing has changed."<br><br>"Caitlin thinks you guys should help me, maybe she's right, maybe she isn't. But when I left the NAPD a few days ago it wasn't easy and odds are it's only gotten worse since then. I already decided to risk it for my friend, it's the sole reason I'm out here now, standing before you and I really wasn't expecting to run into any of you so if any of you are even remotley considering helping me I appreciate it."<br><br>The group exchanged a look "I'll give you some time to discuss what you want to do." With that said, Chris stood up and walked out of the store and started looking around the mall, making sure that there wasn't anything hostile sneaking around the area.<br><br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Project Genesis: Surviving Hell in New Angeles [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>wiccaangel311</strong> on <strong>13-06-2012, 05:27:25</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"Chris wait." she said following him out of the store. "I don't care if the others don't want to go but I'm Helping you." she said. "I know I don't really know you or Zeke but going into that station alone is commiting suicide." she said. "Protect and serve is the motto and that goes for officers of the law as well." Kate was completely serious in this matter. She Knew Chris was gonna need help she had seen the likes of that station after all hell had broken loose. "If Zeke is in that Station then I am going to help you and do my Damnedest to get him out of that hell alive." she said. "Besides, I'm dying to get a little payback for what those things did to my husband." Kate said with a smile. <br><br>Sam looked over at Rebecca and Tony and Smiled sympathetically. "Hey." she whispered over to Rebecca as everyone else was talking. "I lost my mother and Brothers too so I know how you feel." she said trying to comfort her. "I Know I can't really know since everyone thinks differently, but if it helps I'm sorry." she added. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Project Genesis: Surviving Hell in New Angeles [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Raziel</strong> on <strong>13-06-2012, 23:49:34</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Chris gave a nod and a small smile "Thanks Kate.". He turned to look at her after she mentioned her husband, and although she smiled he could see the pain in her eyes and felt he should say something. Even though they were far from friends, having only trained together for a brief time, there was a bond that was shared between all cops, especially those that served in the same station, they were a family.<br><br>"I'm sorry about your husband, I know as cops we're used to dealing with death on a daily basis but it’s always different when it happens to us. I'm not going to give you the cop speech about how I know how you feel but with everything going on..." he paused "It can't be easy for you, but if you want to talk…” he never finished the sentence, knowing she knew what he was offering her.<br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Project Genesis: Surviving Hell in New Angeles [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>AribethAmkiir</strong> on <strong>14-06-2012, 20:50:24</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Rebecca smiled softly at Kate when the other girl joined her and Tony, wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve angrily, and whispered a thanks.&nbsp; &nbsp;All things considered, she was keeping it together fairly well, Todd thought, especially with what they’d just seen.<br><br>He stepped away from the teenagers and moved toward Caitlin.&nbsp; He kept his voice low, more out of fear of attracting zombies than being overheard by the other humans, “I’d like to ask that you stay with the priest and the kids.&nbsp; I don’t know which floor you worked or what your background is, but your medical knowledge is too valuable to risk on a wild goose chase.&nbsp; We both know the chances aren’t good of finding his friend.&nbsp; Twelve hours yesterday and all of today without knowing if his friend is alive, for all we know his friend could be back with his wife by now.&nbsp; The guns aren’t as valuable as they seem.&nbsp; These things aren’t that smart, and as long as we remain rational and think things through we can outsmart them.&nbsp; Just consider this, without medical facilities we’re back in the dark ages.&nbsp; People can die from infections and broken wrists just as easily as an attack.&nbsp; You have the knowledge to save a lot more lives by playing it safe and keeping yourself out of harm’s way.”<br><br>Todd studied her face for a moment, wondered if anything he said had sunk in, and then moved on to where Chris and Kate were.<br><br>He spoke to them in the same hushed tone.&nbsp; “Look, I can’t tell you what to do.&nbsp; I don’t have that right, none of us do.&nbsp; I know leaving a man behind is hard, especially if he’s your best friend.&nbsp; It'll haunt you for the rest of your days, I know that.&nbsp; I respect you for having the passion to go and drag him out of that hell.&nbsp; You said it was hard getting out of there.&nbsp; I’d like to hear how hard it was.&nbsp; What exactly do you think you’ll run into?&nbsp; The fact that these things overran a fortified, armed installation doesn’t bode well for us.&nbsp; You had armed and highly trained officers to hold that place.&nbsp; My gut would’ve thought that would’ve been the safest place in the city.&nbsp; You had days after the Mercy Hospital incident to fortify the Police Station.&nbsp; Somehow none of that was good enough to keep the place safe.&nbsp; Now you want to sneak into this same facility.&nbsp; How many floors and buildings are you going to have to search?&nbsp; You don’t even know if he’s still there.&nbsp; For all you know he could be back home with his wife.&nbsp; You want to confirm that Zeke is still there before you lead a bunch of people to their deaths?&nbsp; I know the mayor decided to tell everyone that they could abandon their posts, but you decided to put on that uniform afterwards, with all that uniform comes with.&nbsp; You have six civilians here you can Serve and Protect or you can lead people to a building where we know these things have been for someone who may not even be there.&nbsp; S.W.A.T., special weapons and tactics, means you think before you act.&nbsp; You’ve been trained to think without being influenced by your emotions, right?&nbsp; I can’t tell you what to do.&nbsp; &nbsp;I won’t tell you that you’re making a mistake, I’m just asking you to think this through.”<br><br>Todd looked between Kate and Chris, before looking into the store at the others.&nbsp; Someone with Chris’ training would go a long way to protect those Todd was responsible for, but if the man was capable of ignoring his training, and selfish enough to willing put others in danger, maybe Chris wasn’t the type of person who could benefit the group.<br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Project Genesis: Surviving Hell in New Angeles [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Caitlin</strong> on <strong>14-06-2012, 23:00:33</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Todd spoke wise words to Caitlin, which made her reconsider her earlier proposal. <br><br>Her face turned into a scowl and took on a look of frustration, as Caitlin though, 'Damn it, I really want to kill some of those mindless creeps. One killed my fiancé right in front of my eyes. It's been five days now, I'm done with mourning, I <em>want</em> revenge!'<br><br>Her mind worked overtime to find a flaw in his reasoning, as she considered his words again and again, but no matter how she looked at it, he was right, which frustrated her all the more. She hated admitting that she was wrong.<br><br>Still, she couldn't let her emotions get the better of her. Not now, not here, not when there was an actual chance of surviving this nightmare. Slowly Caitlin's expression cleared up, the scowl gradually leaving her face.<br><br>Caitlin let a sigh escape from her lips, she really hated admitting that she was wrong, but replied, “I... I suppose you're right, Todd. I hadn't considered that. I guess it is for the best that I stay behind, but at least bring me a gun and several ammo clips if you can, okay? It would at least ease my mind if I knew that I could defend myself better. I've seen first hand what they can do and they're not as docile, or stupid, as you might think.”<br><br>Todd nodded noncommittally and moved on to where Chris and Kate where standing. An idea occurred to Caitlin and she walked after him, following the ongoing discussion with an interested ear.<br><br>After Todd and Chris were done discussing their plans, she pulled her mobile phone from her jeans and remarked, “We should all exchange cell phone numbers. That way we can stay in contact. The connections outside of the city might be cut off, but the communication inside the city still works fine. For that matter, you might want to let your sister know that you're still alive, Chris, and give her an update of your situation.”
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Project Genesis: Surviving Hell in New Angeles [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Raziel</strong> on <strong>15-06-2012, 01:37:46</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Chris listened to Todd, and he knew everything he said was true and he understood it, which was why he hadn't asked any of them to help him, had even encouraged them to say no. Protect and Serve in this case meant protect them from going on crazy suicide missions with him. But the man wanted to know what the fight was like when he escaped, so he'd tell him. "Your right." He said "You want to know what it was like in there? Then I'll tell you."<br><br>"Inside the building wasn't so bad, 30, maybe 40 of them and the stairwell was clear when we got inside it." He paused as his memory flashed back "The parking garage was...chaos. There must have been a hundred of them, maybe more I don't know and there was one van left, unattended but surrounded." He looked up at Todd. "We needed a distraction so I told Zeke to give me his gun and I'd lure them away, give him time to get the van, and I did. You want to know how bad it was?." He tapped the P90 that was clipped to his vest. <br><br>"This is an FN-P90 personal defence weapon." he reached into his vest and pulled out one of his extra magazines. "Each magazine holds 50 rounds of 5.7x28mm bullets, double-stacked, that's 100 rounds before you need to reload. The P90 can fire them at a rate of 900 rounds a minute. I had one fully loaded clip in the gun and 5 extra magazines in my vest, that's a total of 300 bullets." He placed the magazine back into one of the vest pockets and pulled out his USP .45.<br><br>"This .45 is a semi-automatic handgun, each magazine holds 12 rounds, I had 12 spare magazines for it, that's 144 bullets total. And I had Zeke's 9mm, it held 15 rounds and I had 5 extra magazines for that, that's 75 bullets. In total I had 519 bullets on me spread over 3 weapons. I used all of them in about 5 or 6 minutes and despite the fact I killed a lot of them, there were always more. They had me pinned and were about to eat my ass alive, then Zeke showed up in the van, killed a few of them with a shotgun and then we used the van to run over any of them that were in the way. That's how hard it was, which is why I didn't ask any of you to help me." Chris paused and took a breath "But please remember that that was 3 days ago, it's possible they've already gone from there."<br><br>"However you asked me how the police station could be overrun with all the firepower we had and the experience. Well need I remind you what else was going on in this city at the time besides the zombies? Almost every cop in this city was spread across it, dealing with undead, trying to protect hospitals and oh yeah dealing with the rioters and looters that were running around the city when they should have been locked inside their homes. The station was overrun because there wasn't enough of us left <em>to</em> defend or barricade it. You asked why we didn't fortify it after Mercy Hospital, do you know where I was after Mercy Hospital? First I was dealing with looters in the street, then I was defending the cities power generators so that everybody had power and a lot of other cops were busy doing the same."<br><br>Although Chris had been calm throughout his speech he chose now to glare at the older man, although he kept his voice calm "And don't you <em>dare</em>&nbsp; stand there and tell me what tell me what being in SWAT means, I am well aware of what it means and I do think before I act, before this shit happened and after. I have a sister who I love more than anything else on this planet and I left her with a bunch of people I don't know to come here and find my friend and do you want to know why? I am not a leader, I am a Sniper. Do you know what a Sniper's job is hmm? My job is to sneak into hostile territory alone and scout out an area, getting the lay of the land, seeing how many bad guys there are, where they are, what patrol patterns they use... and of course to kill people. I left my sister there because I <em>know</em> I can get in and out of there, especially since I know the lay of the land, so when I tell you I've thought about this you <em>damn</em> well better believe me."<br><br>Taking a breath his face took on a more calmed expression "As for your other questions? It's only one building with 25 floors. The good news is the armoury is on the 3rd floor, so we don't have to search every one and there's only one way to get there which lowers the search time and the risk. As for how I know he's not back at home with his wife? It's the same way I knew he was missing in the first place..." He reached into his pant pocket and pulled out his cell phone "She would have called me." <br><br>Chris sighed and ran his hands over his face "Look I'm sorry if I've been coming across as a jerk but if there was someone you we're willing to die for and they were in trouble, wouldn't you try to help them? But I do understand where your coming from, and if it helps you I will go and do what I am trained to do, sneak down there and scout out the building, see what's going on, how many there are and how dangerous it is, then you'll know exactly what you'll be facing if you decide to come with me, how does that sound?"<br><br>After Chris' and Todd's discussion ended Caitlin recommended that they all exchanged phone numbers.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Project Genesis: Surviving Hell in New Angeles [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Caitlin</strong> on <strong>15-06-2012, 13:18:52</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Carl felt left out by the other adults, the conversation seemed to be going on more outside the store than inside. He was the oldest of them all and he should be doing the leading here!<br><br>Carl moved his old and heavy body over to the place where all the decisions seem to be made and waited for the perfect opportunity to add his own opinion. He had to get in control of this group and set their priorities straight.<br><br>A calm Chris was giving Todd a heated piece of his mind and treated him rather hostile in Carl's opinion, whose eyes glazed over, as he saw this was the perfect opportunity to be the voice of reason. It did sound like he had a good strategic idea, but before Todd could reply, Carl interjected himself first.<br><br>“Listen, son,” Carl started, putting his hand on Chris' shoulder for a moment to get his attention, “We have all been through several very rough days. There is no need to speak with such vehemence in your voice to any of us. Mister Burkhart was not accusing you of anything or claiming that you do not know how to do your job. Obviously you are a very skilled individual and know very well what you are doing, but you have to remember, sometimes everybody needs to accept some help. <br><br>“In the Bible there is a story about a merchant who got robbed and was left behind wounded on the side of the road. He was passed by several of his own people, one of them even being a rabbi, who all walked around him with a wide circle. None of them offered the wounded merchant any help. Then a Samaritan, an stranger in the land of his people, saw him and helped him out. Not only did he take care of the man's wounds, he also made sure that the man was treated well in an inn and had time to recover. He even paid for all of the man's expenses. Had the man not been helped then he would have surely died. Like you now, he needed help to stay alive.”<br><br>Carl hoped that his words made the young man see things in a different light and concluded his little speech with the words, “I will leave you be now to comfort the young among us. I am sure that if we put our faith in the Lord that we will succeed, but we <em>must</em> work together for our survival. There is both strength, and comfort, in numbers.”<br><br>Carl felt pretty smug about having seized control of the discussion like this, but was careful not to let it show on his face. He was sure that without his leadership this group would fall apart and he would see to it that this would be prevented. Then, when the time was ready, he'd have the manpower he needed to liberate his church and continue the Lord's work.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Project Genesis: Surviving Hell in New Angeles [IC]</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Raziel</strong> on <strong>15-06-2012, 17:59:48</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"Look it'll be fine, I'll go, scout out the station and we'll go from there." Chris said as he turned on his heel and walked away from the group and out of the mall.<br><br>He'd made it about halfway to the station when he heard a noise from behind him and turned around, but failed to see anything there. He spent a few minutes scanning the area with his eyes but failed to spot anything. With a shrug he spun around and continued his journey. <br><br>A few minutes later he heard another noise and spun around, only to again find nothing there, but he knew he'd heard something. When he turned around again he barely had time to react to the zombie who was rushing towards him. He raised his weapon but was too slow as the zombie collided with him, driving them both to the ground, his P90 being forced from his grip and flying away from him.<br><br>Raising his good arm he tried to hold the zombie at bay, but it managed to take a bite out of his arm, causing him to scream in pain. Using as much strength as he could muster he flipped the zombie over his head and rolled over, retrieving his .45 from the leg holster and taking aim as the zombie staggered to his feet and turned around. Chris fired and watched as the bullet tore through the zombie's skull.<br><br>Panting his groaned as he looked down at his arm. "That's probably not good." he muttered as he staggered over to retrieve his lost P90. He just picked it up when he heard another snarl from behind him and slowly turned around, seeing 10 other zombies standing there.<br><br>"Oh...fuck." he cursed as he raised his weapons and fired.<br><br>It didn't take long for the zombies to overwhelm him, the sounds of gunfire stopping suddenly and being replaced by a blood curdling scream, but even that was soon silenced only to be replaced with the sounds of zombies feasting on their latest meal.
			</dd>
		</dl>
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