Zombie Apocalypse Quest Chapter V (cont.)

>>518454

You bid farewell to the three, and the two of you return in a struggle up the stairs, you by this feeble body and him by the burden of that feeble body. You look once over your shoulder, the candlelight shrouding the three in an eerie and luminous glow. Marked. They wave, they salute, and they return to their conversation of hushed whispers. All among the hungry screams of the dead beyond a door and their furious banging that follows in suite. Every bang succeeding in causing you to flinch. Like war drums, the dead announce their coming. And your inevitable demise.

By some terrible causality, you know they cannot be stopped.

Only delayed.

Harry does not speak for the entirety of the climb. For that, again, you are grateful. You need to think now, not exchange meaningless words in an attempt to make equally meaningless conversation. You approach the end of your climb, as ascertained by the faint glow of dancing flames on a number 6 in black flourish. Beside it, the entrance into the 6th floor. He grunts as he heaves you up the last flight of stairs, and you yelp at every greater exertions on your muscles. The two of you stop for a breather at the top, the platform just before the door. You bid a silent farewell to the candles, and they flicker in response as if to wave back. Still dancing for now, then, and for what may come. Harry moves to push on the metal door, its hinges squealing from age and it's shadow washing across the walls.

And the infant flames whisper secrets in your ears.

Voices fill the silence once more. People still whisper worries and concerns. Their faces stricken with angst and anxiety. Their bodies move with nervous energy.

“Down there,” you tell Harry. He nods.in compliance.

You come to your door. Familiar. It's particular gleam on its particular doorknob. Mirroring your head in comical proportions. You pay your body for keys. You couldn't find them earlier down at the lobby. But now you find them in a small pockets on the inside of your coat. Small enough to prevent any movement, and jingling of brass against brass that may otherwise get you killed when sneaking past zombie hordes. You unzip the pocket and draw out your keys, searching the right one inside the right lock. It one decisive twist and a welcome push by Harry, the door pops open.

“I’ll be okay from here,” you assure Harry. You dumped all your supplies out of your bag before leaving. An unruly pile of things including the water bottles and food cans. You’re not sure if you want to share them just yet.

“You sure?” he asks. You nod.

“Thank for all the help,” you say.

“No problem, Robert,” he says, offering a slanted smile.

[2/2a]

Wrote more than I meant to again.

>>518457

The two of you part and you push your doors open, staggering in and quickly closing the door behind you. People still fill the halls outside. You fall into a wall for support.


Bike, check. Knife, check. Multi-tool, check. Bag, check. No machete or flashlight, check.

What now?

List things you want to get or dk before you leave. Remember not to be so open about leaving. You're working under the assumption that no one will approve of this suicide mission.

>Write in

[2/2b]

>>518458
Eat something with a high amount of calories (hopefully with potassium too), we're going to want something in our gut as energy reserves. Drink plenty of water to replenish lost supplies and similarly have a reserve.
To relieve the buildup of acid in our muscles, stretch and massage your muscles for a few minutes. This should help with the burn and aid recovery.

Make sure the knife is clean and sharp. They dull quick.

Find something to use as gloves, if you have no actual gloves. Stuff some extra clothes into your shirt and pants as padding - reducing your noise AND offering some minor bite protection AND helping with the terrible chill.

Take some computer cables and stuff them into the bag. They can ge used to quickly bind a doorway shut and give you some extra time. Or they can be used to make impromptu trip lines. Make sure only to pack your longest wires.

Leave your apartment keys on the top of your door. If you die, might as well let people in to use supplies you no longer need. Plus, no worries of them slipping out somehow.

>>518479
Nice, nice. This is a write-in.
Everyone roll 5d10

Rolled 9, 2, 1, 2, 6 = 20 (5d10)

>>518547
Ho, new dice? Very cool.

>>518479
>keys
At top where?

>>518613
Doorframe
Common spot to stash keys

>>518479
>>518591

You need food. You've burned too many precious calories earlier. You stagger over to the pile of cans and bottles, using the wall as support in order to ease yourself onto the floor. You remove your multi- tool from your pocket, blessedly within reach like a fat man’s remote. You grab a few.cans and pop them all open, your breath catching in the canals of your throat as your muscles cry out from the exertion of carving off the lids. You finish a few cans and two bottles of water quick. Supplies.
are going fast. You’ll need to restock soon.

You massage your muscles, every application of pressure sends a shock of pain. You force yourself up on your feet and begin a few simple stretches that you vaguely recall from your high school years in physical education. It pays off. You find yourself gritting your teeth at the pain but the difference afterwards is appreciable, if only slightly. You test your body, attempting lightly bouncing off the balls of your feet, instead coming out to clumsy stomps. Pain still ripples through your body. It’ll have to do.

Time to suit up.

With the scarce little clothing you have, you throw out of you closet and into your bed. You under and begin to year as much as you can without restricting movement. Tighter, softer layers at the bottom, looser, harder layers and the too. You'll need protection from both the cold and the zeds. This is the close as you’ll get. You check your knife, cleaning and sharpening what you can with your multi-tool.

You’ll also need whatever edge you can get. You locate your extension cords. Two. 20 feet each. Long enough to plug your laptop’s charger into and walk to the bathroom. Which you've done before. There is no “calling time” for potty breaks on raid night. You roll the wires up and pack them into your bag.

You take a moment to gaze out the window. Swaying corpses consume your vision. Pale, skin, frosted with winter chill. All painted with different shades of dried blood. They swarm your building, all moaning and groaning and howling. They are weak now. Slow and stiff with their dead bodies and even more so by addition of the penetrating cold. But how long until those in the lobby thaw enough to start pushing with real force? How long until the stairwell door gives? How long until they swarm the building and devour every still- living human in cannibalistic glee?

You recover your [stolen] bike from day 1, removing it from the wall and rolling it to the door. Pushing it open, you take a final glance behind you and salute. The DOVAHKIIN is out.

You stash your keys at the top of the door frame. Residents gawk at you as you roll your bike out. Some in profound silence, others respond with louder whispers. They all presume you've gone crazy, perhaps.

How do you leave?

>Through the same apartment and window.l you took earlier with the group
>Surely your building has a basement too. With a back door to boot.
>Write in

>>518745

Inventory: hunting knife, multi-tool, camping bag, 20 ft extension cords (2), racing bike, too many layers of clothing, non- squealing boots

>>518754
>non - squealing
non-squeaking
Going to take a nap. Likely to be an hour, I think. 2 tops.

>>518745
Basement,
We're in no condition to haul a bike silently down a fire escape. The stairwell should be much less steep and wont have any drops from ladders.

>>518834

You're in no condition to haul your bike down the cold, metal frame of the fire escape. Much less silently. But what else is there?

Aah, the back door. Thanks, Allison.

If you recall, the elevator is cut, meaning the only way to make it to the basement is the stairs. Looks like you’ll be reuniting with those candles a lot earlier than you had presumed. Candles are usually used to send off the dead. You’ll just ignore that. But perhaps more importantly, it also means you’ll have to somehow convince Gerald and the rest to allow you to leave alone. And then there’s the obstacle of the the barricade. If luck feels generous today after all that's happened, there'll at least be a space to slip through on the platform and continue your descent.

You scan the frightened faces for Harry. He’s not here. You roll your bike over to the stairwell, gears clicking, and push open the metal slab. It's squeal overlays the chorus of choked moans and metallic impacts that climb the stairwell in a hollow echo. You allow the the candles to stretch your shadow along the stone walls. And meld the others around you in a maw of jagged black. You begin your descent.

Every step elicits every jump of the bike from one step to the next. The climb down is an awkward one. Bouncing rubber tires and your jittering body. You've only made it to the 3rd floor when you see Gerald and three others approaching you. With only just enough light to discern that they are indeed human. But that doesn't prevent you from jumping in your skin.

“Robert?” Gerald speaks first. You looks at you for a moment, then you bike and finally behind you.

“Who’re you going with?” he asks. His face is etched with concern but his eyes reflect suspicion.

How do you handle this?

>Lie (write in)
>Persuade (write in)
>Be honest and hope for the best
>Intimidate in order to show we can handle ourselves (write in)
>Write in

Ending here. Catch you tommorrow, anon. Good night and stay cool.

>>519200
>Be honest and hope for the best
Might as well. And hey, we could show off our ideas - the cloth armor (nigga TRY to bite through multiple sweatshirts, you wont be able to), the impromptu tripping/grappling/door securing cords, the uh...knife.
You know, on second thought, if someone around here had a broom handle or pool cue or something similar, we could fashion it into a pretty good spear just by sharpening it, or by duct taping the knife to the end.

>>519259
>be honest and hope for the best

Anons, I think I'm dropping the quest. Not enough time now and I'll only have less time in about a week's time. And with this crushing pressure, I can't find the motivation to write. Id only be creating crap if I forced myself. I had fun while it lasted but I think this is good bye. Sorry.

If anyone wants to continue the thread as the new QM, I'm definitely cool with that.

>>520777
Oh. We'll miss you.

>>520777
That's a shame, but it was a fun little ride!

I might take you up on that, I've got some free time later and wouldn't mind trying out QM

File: b3ef8ee1a70b4981303f84473981c8c8[1].jpg (59KB, 480x720px) Image search: [Google]

59KB, 480x720px

>>520777
>>520316
>>519259
>>519200

>“Who’re you going with?” he asks. His face is etched with concern but his eyes reflect suspicion.

You hesitate for a moment, but you decide there's no point in lying.

"I'm not going with anyone, this is something I need to do myself"

Gerald remains silent, his brow furrowing deeper as he quickly glances at you head-to-toe. You can tell he's not convinced.

"I have some gear, a-and these layers should give me some.. bite protection" you stammer, showing off your thickly padded arms. "Plus I can move quickly and quietly with the bike, at least until I find Rawan and Mallory".

[i]If they're even still alive..[/i] The thought unsettles you.

"I can't leave them, it's already my fault that Matthew.."

Your sentence trails off into the dark stairwell. [i]Matthew[/i], the name hangs heavily, punctuated only by the distant thumping coming from the lobby downstairs. The flickering orange candlelight dances across the concrete walls and the grim faces everyone on the landing.

[1/2]

>>530723

"Fine" sighs Gerald at last, breaking the silence. "I don't like it, and you're gonna get yourself killed, but I can see there's no stopping you Robert." His eyes meet yours.

"At least tell us where you're going. I take it you're trying to head to the basement and sneak out the back, what then?"

That's a good question, you hadn't really thought that far ahead.

>I'm heading for the mall. If Rawan and Mallory made it away, that's where they'd go.
>I'll sneak back to where we got separated. They could be holed up somewhere nearby.
>Somewhere else (write-in). There are still some things I need.

>>530723
>>530724
I'm a little free on the weekend so I thought I'd check in. I recommend startng a new thread like Chapter 5 (cont...again) or something because threads are saged after 72 hours and this thread's well beyond that.
>To the mall! For the plot!

no raj

Rolled 2 (1d3)

no raj 2.0