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“Thanks, Sergeant,” Shep says over the external speakers. “Take point. I’ll stay to the rear and keep an eye on the wagon.” After a brief pause, he adds, more measured than directive, “Use your infra scanners as you go. Let's keep an eye out for other survivors”

He then turns away from the wagon and walks toward Mazur and Jack, slowing as he approaches them. His voice, when it comes, is quieter but steady. “Boys… I need to tell you something before we move.” A short pause, just long enough to brace himself. “Your parents didn’t make it.”

Mazur stares blank-faced at Twilight without a word. Jack blankly stares at Shep, as his eyes well up with tears, before he promptly buries his face in his hands, wracked with sobs. Cal jumps off of the horse, avoiding the emotional moment, to assist with preparing the wagon.

Hank shouts back at Reggie and the boys, "Off the horses, boys! We need your help with steadying Twilight and Bronzie to pull this thing." The uneasy silence catches the sheriff's attention as Mazur falls off of the horse and faceplants into the hard gravel. Jack leaps down to help him, wiping his face of tears and snot. "What happened?" The sheriff obviously oblivious to the loss of the Mayor and his wife, as well as Jack's father, Simon, who was there the day Shep lost his memories. Mazur finally stands, revealing a massive bloody nose.

Carl sparks to life, "Shep, I'm detecting elevated your heart rate has elevated. Do you need any assistance, little buddy?"

Reggie returns his dad's hug just as strong. "I am so glad to see you still breathing Dad," he says. Then, as they pull apart, he pulls out the pistol Hank had given him before and hands it back. "I didn't need to use it, but you're way more likely to hit the target if we do need it."

"We saw Hughe and Ryan earlier, they were using an ATV to draw some zombies away from town. Oh, and this is Cal, he volunteered to come back and help us."

For an instant, Shep’s body starts to move toward Mazur—then he stops, forcing himself to stay where he is as Mazur appears to be okay. Just a bloody nose. He looks away instead, jaw tight. He swallows once. His body aches as the adrenaline roller coaster continues. He sags inside the suit.

CARL’s voice cuts in, bright and concerned.

“I’m fine,” Shep says quietly. No edge to it—just tired, as he tries to force his heart rate down.

He turns back toward the wagon, toward Hank and the others. The weight of the suit suddenly feels heavier than it should. “Let’s get them moving,” he says, low and plain. “We shouldn’t linger.” All he can do is stand by and wait while scanning the surrounding area for any threats. In the suit, he’d only be in the way trying to hitch up the horses.

Reggie returns his dad's hug just as strong. "I am so glad to see you still breathing Dad," he says. Then, as they pull apart, he pulls out the pistol his dad had given him before and hands it back. "I didn't need to use it, but you're way more likely to hit the target if we do need it," he glances back towards town, "We saw Hughe and Ryan earlier, they were using an ATV to draw some zombies away from town. Oh, and this is Cal, he volunteered to come back and help us."

"Those two should be able to handle themselves," the sheriff seems confident as he crouches, handing Mazur a clean handkerchief.

For an instant, Shep’s body starts to move toward Mazur—then he stops, forcing himself to stay where he is as Mazur appears to be okay. Just a bloody nose. He looks away instead, jaw tight. He swallows once. His body aches as the adrenaline roller coaster continues. He sags inside the suit.

As CARL’s voice cuts in, bright and concerned, Shep concentrates, “I’m fine,” Shep says quietly. No edge to it—just tired, as he tries to force his heart rate down.

He turns back toward the wagon, Hank and the others. The weight of the suit suddenly feels heavier than it should. “Let’s get them moving,” he says, low and plain. “We shouldn’t linger.” All he can do is stand by and wait while scanning the surrounding area for any threats. In the suit, he’d only be in the way trying to hitch up the horses.

The crowd, along with Jack, Al and Cal, hoist the barding side of the wagon up as the sheriff and a few of the other able bodied citizens attach the rigging and make sure the horses are comfortable. Hank hops in the coach's seat and pats the bench, "Mazur and Reggie. Come join me. Anyone else not able to walk quickly needs to climb into the back. As MANY as POSSIBLE!"

With that, the elderly, handicapped, Mazur and just naturally slow begin climbing into the back, including Jack. The rest prepare for the arduous journey back to town. Sgt. Williams shoulders his CR-40 and cleans his gauntlets off in the dirt and gravel, not wanting the townsfolk seeing the more gruesome side of eliminating their former family, friends and colleagues.

After a few moments, the trek begins. The journey out of the farmyard is met with many sadly looking at the farmhouse as the sheriff mutters, "I should burn it down," under his breath. After a few minutes, the traveling group reaches the bridge, where the graves of the dead elderly couple are.

A minute later, the group arrives in town. At the far end of the street, an ATV, with two boys on the back of it, comes barreling towards the group. Hughe is up front screaming, "Almost out of gas! Help!" Seconds later, Several of the fast moving undead burst into view clumsily running almost at the same speed as the four wheeler.

"Up ahead, I count six undead," Carl mentions to Shep, "Inside the buildings, scanners pick up about a dozen more. There may be quite a few more since my scanners aren't designed to see through one wall, let alone several."

"Good grief!" The sheriff exclaims as Al already has his pistol out. The sheriff produces the Desert Eagle and gets ready. He hands Reggie a ball peen hammer, "One of you take this. Aim for the head."

OOC: If I recall correctly, we brought a couple shovels and/or picks back to use if we had to fight, I'd been assuming Reggie had a shovel for melee.

Reggie is glad to see Hughe and Ryan alive and sort of well (more Ryan than Hughe admittedly), with luck they can at least coast over to the wagon.

Reggie passes the hammer over to Mazur, then hops down beside the wagon and readies his shovel. He hopes the ones armed with guns can pare down the zombies' numbers before they get close. Three at once was bad enough, six would be pretty scary. He moves up a bit, to try and keep the dead away from the horses.

Shep lifts off just enough to gain a clearer angle on the road ahead, keeping himself offset from the wagon rather than directly over it. His attention locks onto the ATV and the shapes gaining ground behind it. He brings the suit’s railgun to bear, steadying his breathing as he lines up his first shot on the closest of the fast movers—focused on thinning the immediate threat before it can reach the boys.

OOC: Ill post tomorrow. Had a long day and am gonna watch some fantasy shows.

OOC2: And yes, the group still has the tools that they'd hauled. Would Reg like a shovel along with the hammer?

Reggie is glad to see Hughe and Ryan alive and sort of well (more Ryan than Hughe admittedly), with luck they can at least coast over to the wagon. Reggie passes the hammer over to Mazur, then hops down beside the wagon and readies his shovel. He hopes the ones armed with guns can pare down the zombies' numbers before they get close. Three at once was bad enough, six would be pretty scary. He moves up a bit, to try and keep the dead away from the horses.

Shep lifts off just enough to gain a clearer angle on the road ahead, keeping himself offset from the wagon rather than directly over it. His attention locks onto the ATV and the shapes gaining ground behind it. He brings the suit’s railgun to bear, steadying his breathing as he lines up his first shot on the closest of the fast movers—focused on thinning the immediate threat before it can reach the boys.

Hughe and Ryan continue up the street, outpacing the zombies by a town block, which isn't very far.

Sheriff 22
Shep 16
ATV (Hughe) 14
Jack 10 (1st)
Sgt Wilson 10 (2nd)
Al 9
Mazur 7 (1st)
Townsfolk 7 (2nd)
Reggie 6
Zombies (6 of them) 4

The sheriff halts the wagon to create potential distance from the incoming undead. Shep pops off a shot, causing most of the crowd to jump. One of the zombie's upper halves explode in a shower of flesh, bone and blood. Five left.

"Good shot, my fully capable descendent!" Carl cheers as Sgt Williams shouts something similar over the loudspeaker.

Hughe and Ryan are a block away as the ATV sputters and dies, "Out of gas! Run!" Ryan shouts as he hops off and begins running towards the wagon party. Hughe continues trying to start it, before he's forced to dismount and run behind Ryan, only to find that he's much slower.

Al, and a few other townsfolk with firearms, move in front of the wagon and take aim. He continues to wave at the boys, "Run along the side! We don't have a clear shot!"

Jack with his homemade sword and Reggie with shovel and hammer, make up about a dozen citizens forming a defensive line around the wagon; ready to defeat these rabid humans.

Sgt Williams takes a lower altitude than Shep and pops off a shot, killing two more zombies in one shot. Shep carefully shoots again, narrowly missing and creating another crater in the road. Sgt Williams begins flying forward as he fires another round, also missing. Shep fires off a third shot (N20! Nice Shot!). Of the remaining zombies, Shep evaporates two of them and tears the left arm off of the remaining zombie. Al pops off a shot and misses.

The sheriff glares at him, yelling, "They aren't clear yet! Quit shooting until the boys are clear!"

The shots begin to take their toll on the people down below as Reggie can hear a high pitched tone over everything else. He barely heard his father scold Al.

The remaining zombie nimbly jukes as Sgt Williams fires two more times. Shep and Reggie aren't sure that Hughe and Ryan will be able to outrun it. Al frowns and begins running forward, along the buildings, staying out of line of fire, while waving at Ryan and Hughe to come to him.

At that moment, another SAMAS appears over the rooftops of town, taking aim from a different angle. Shep recognizes it as Lt. Mikado's power armor.

Shep does a quick scan behind and to the sides, making sure all of this noise hasn’t attracted anything else. The wagon. If satisfied that there’s no immediate movement, he brings the railgun back to bear and lines up another shot—waiting until the boys are well clear before he commits.

He wages a brief mental struggle with himself, wanting to surge forward and put himself between the boys and the last of the undead. But he knows that would leave the wagon exposed if anything were to spill out of the surrounding buildings, so he holds his position, sight steady, ready to fire the moment the angle is clean.

Reggie is relieved as the number of zombies steadily decreases, But his concerns rise again as Ryan and Hughe are forced to flee on foot from the last one. Reggie knows that his urge to go and help them would be counterproductive, as that would only place himself into the line of fire, complicating things for those with firearms, but he still feels it.

Trying to distract himself from something he can't help with, he scans the nearby buildings, watching for more survivors or more of the unquiet dead.