Grakmar wrote:It seems somewhat interesting, but 50 AP runs out really quick when you don't have a plan.

Da Boss wrote:Zombie!

Last Saturday night, I scrambled up to Postlethwaite Crescent Fire Station and rummaged around long enough to dig up a radio receiver, some wire cutters, a flare gun, and--praise His Name forever!--a fire axe. Of course, I spent the last few days swinging this marvelous find at ambulatory corpses and have managed to get pretty good at smacking the hell out of them (or perhaps back into them?). Just this evening, for example, I stepped out of St. Izzy's for some fresh air only to find a zed loitering around. Not so many swings as I would have guessed later, this example of the living dead was back among the dead dead. Even so, the whole affair left me pretty winded and I'll need to rely on firearms if my long-term plan is going to have a ghost of a chance of a hope. I'll also need some like-minded friends . . .

Something over the radio caught my attention this evening: a report on St John's over in Vinetown on the southeast side of Malton. Apparently the place was torn apart, which is a terrible shame. This hell hole only has five really notable churches despite the terrific number of tiny ones like St. Izzy's. Most locals mistakenly call all of them cathedrals, but only two of them are technically cathedrals. Anyway, the big five are all beauties or at least used to be. I haven't laid eyes on a one of them since the outbreak. Something about them getting ransacked really gets to me, though. They ought to be havens amid this chaos.

It's got me thinking: there's no reason to stay anchored at St. Isadore's forever, especially in light of the rising numbers thanks to Caiger's fame. With every nine who've managed to hold onto sanity there's at least one full-fledged nut job in the pews. I only stayed long enough over at Postlethwaite to pick up the axe but they had a bunch of folks hanging around, too, and it felt even less homey than St. Izzy's. The accusations against Evanna shook me up pretty bad and now I can't look around without trying to size up the next troublemaker. This Caiger-minded crowd isn't helping.

Moving on to St. John's might be a good idea for a number of reasons: (1) it's not famous, (2) Houldenbank to the immediate east is overrun, (3) there's a mall two blocks down, (4) Vinetown needs to get mobile service running, and (5) defending a holy place on that scale is a pretty damn good cause in and of itself. It's a hell of a challenge and way over my head if I try to go it alone. But I might be able to get some veterans in on it. I've only been crawling around Malton for a month--far, far less than travelers like Evanna and ChaosFlare. They're bound to get hungry for something more meaningful than staying alive outside of Caiger. This could be an adventure . . . well, just getting there will be an adventure.

There's a lot to get done before moving, however, if I'm to hope for success at St. John's or anywhere less famously defensible than Caiger for that matter. I need to learn a bit more about how to operate in this world: how to move between buildings without crashing through the streets, how to put up and reinforce barricades, and how to handle my sidearm a bit better . . . maybe even move up to something with more stopping power. And that means shopping. By next week, I'll probably be among the looters at Caiger. My priorities are getting a phone, some first aid kits, and ammo.

With any luck, mid to late July will see me (and hopefully a few others) ready to move on to new and more fulfilling purposes. Til then, it's a matter of avoiding the creeps while guarding my peeps. Ya'll know who ya'll are.

I must have slept through the morning but it seems I didn't miss a thing. Jazz Jackson was still lecturing everyone about the inevitable siege of Caiger in a so-called "vengeance tour" while others huddled around the radio listening to frantic reports from Ackland Mall down in Havercroft. A fellow called Weequay (must be a Star Wars fan) hurried in with a breathless eye-witness confirmation of the siege and called for volunteers. He left, as far as I know, all by his lonesome. It seems that whatever is going on at Ackland has nothing to do with Jazz's rantings. According to him, the "vengeance tour" is currently busy way over in the far southeast side of Malton at Joachim Mall. Joachim straddles the Freybank and Penny Heights neighborhoods and is only a few miles southeast of Vinetown. News from that far away isn't reaching us here in Darvall, although it may be because all eyes are turning to Ackland.

The defenders there seem to be putting up a good fight and I'm sure it makes everyone in Caiger feel all the safer. But if push really came to shove again, as Jazz is suggesting, I wonder how well they'd really do? Caiger fell not too long ago, after all. What happens when survivors rest on their laurels? They end up dead or running away from whatever life and home they've built up over the last couple of months.

There is always the possibility that Jazz is a decoy. I just find it odd that not a drop of news about Joachim has reached us. It must be a pretty pathetic tour if it can't compete with the low-level emergency at Ackland. Then again, maybe Ackland is worse off than we think.

In any case, I don't really plan sticking around long enough to find out. St. Isadores's felt like home for a few brief weeks but there is no lasting sense of community in a place like this. St Izzy's is like a bath tub: there's a steady build-up of scum. By next week or sooner, I hope to be moving out east and then maybe I can catch a glimpse of Jazz's "tour" with my own eyes. I've been drawing up some maps based on my own knowledge and conversations with others, updated here and there by radio reports, and I think I've charted a safe route to Vinetown. This plan should fit with the terrible things Evanna told me about inner-city Malton. We should get close enough to fly under the raider but stay far enough out to keep safe as long as we're moving.

We'll start by skirting across the south of Darvall Heights to Richmond Hills and then scramble over the top of Ketchelbank (keeping clear of Barrville to the south) to the northwesternmost tip of Roachtown. From there, we cut obliquely down through Roachtown, Pimbank, and Edgecombe til arriving in Vinetown. St. John's is in the upper center, a little to the west, of that neighborhood. Getting as far as the outskirts of Edgecombe will be an exhausting trip and we'll have to rest somewhere on the side of Pimbank farthest from Ridleybank to the west and Randallbank to the north or in the western side of Edgecombe. The best bet may be Tynte Mall on Pimbank's eastside, although I'm not sure about an entrance point. Alternatively, Edgecombe is known for tight barricading--I'd just hate to get there and not find a way into shelter. We might as well--

::entry breaks off::

There's a zombie in the church. I just came in from swinging at three outside and I don't think I have any more strength to do something about this one. Maybe it's Heidi again? Did I miss dumping a body? Anyway, it doesn't seem to be threatening anyone and the barricades are still up . . . puzzling. If it's still standing around in a few hours, I'll knock it over myself. In the meantime, I'll just have to rest with my eyes open.

I feel like I'm learning much more rapidly about how to survive in this place these days. I've gotten pretty good with this trusty old fire axe and as soon as I get some rest I'll be strong enough to hop between buildings rather than running through the streets all the time. I still have a lot to learn about effectively barricading buildings before I can leave the relative safety of good old St. Izzy's in Darvall. Plus I need to go on an extended shopping trip in Caiger while I'm still around--

::entry breaks off again::

Well, some labcoat called Zoras needled the zed. Evanna doesn't look happy. Wonder what's up?

We'll have to figure out a better way to communicate in the post-apocalypse.

::written in the margins::

remember to ask Evanna if she's heard from Alan or sent him a text lately

::in the main body::

I haven't been in a mall for ages. Caiger sure beats the PX back on base. And talk about crowded! If the zeds do come a knockin', they'll find plenty of folks fighting back--or at least I hope so. Many of them are just moving through like me and who knows how many more would flee? I sure hope it stands, though. It'd be nice to come back one day when the heat dies down on Evanna. And maybe a good siege will clear out the low-lifes.

Speaking of which: As if we needed it, another reason to leave St. Izzy's walked through the door yesterday. This creep strolled into the church and began to narrate all his actions (and the fictional actions of others) in the third person before proceeding to kick the generator in. As soon as the lights flickered off, you could hear the parishioners closing in on him. Evanna couldn't join in for obvious reason but warned him. Funny how people never listen to her right before they die. I didn't even bother looking into who the psycho was this time. If it's another case of multiple personality . . . well, let them deal with it. I've already moved on.

Back to my little shopping spree: Luckily enough, I got a phone straight away and also managed to pick up a pistol clip and a GPS unit. I'm not sure how useful the GPS unit will be, but I might as well carry it for a while. It's not too heavy and knowing exactly where I am might come in handy on our trip--or not; I have a pretty clear idea of where we're heading. Pity I didn't spot any first aid kits, though.

Sent a text to Evanna right off and found she had already left St. Izzy's and was staying in North. So that's where I'm sitting now, surrounded by books. By the looks of the shelves, folks are still very much into reading. I couldn't resist picking up a book and found an interesting hand-written manuscript--clearly not a text original to this library but something left by another survivor, maybe even the author. I didn't get through much of it but it seems to theorize that the source of the infection is a naturally occurring virus called Solanum.

This stands in stark contrast to the nonsensical rumors about MRSA. If you think about it, blaming this mess on disrespect for the dead and meteor showers is just as silly. Maybe whoever wrote this journal is right . . . but the information about Solanum here doesn't match up with what we see around us. I mean, revivification? How does that make any sense?

I'm too tired to think much right now. The last couple of fights I got into plus looting Caiger really tuckered me out. Even in a zombie-infested world, you gotta shop til you drop. I had hoped to study up on barricading before we left but I guess there will be plenty of action along the road. The main thing is to be in prime condition before moving out so that we can get as far as possible, barring taking a wrong turn or two along the way. I should be ready to leave by tomorrow afternoon or night. Leaving any sooner means we won't make it to Tynte in one day.

I tuned my radio into what might be the Vinetown local channel (there's some confusion about whether it's 26.17 or 26.18) but it's just static. I'll tune it to 26.18 if I don't hear anything soon. I keep thinking about what we'll find over there up against Houldenbank. Will we be able to make St. John's into a better home than St. Isadore's? I hope so. It's worth a try no matter what.

Made it through the most dangerous part of the trip. Currently resting in Tynte, managed to find radio transmitter. May be handy later. Will move on to St. J's next morning or afternoon. Remember to tell Evanna not to stop in St. J's--we should proceed to Mitchem and ask some questions, shop, get the vibe of Vinetown.

Poor Ackland. Should be lesson to all--there is no where to run. More later.

The cades are coming down all over the cathedral. There are ten zeds shambling around. What can be done?

Melissia wrote:The game really hates newcomers.

DA's Forever wrote:Very much so, I cant seem to find any buildings i can actually get into