((OOC: A bit behind because of internet issues, but I should be back and able to keep on track now. Bear with me. ))

Austyn snagged a Twizzler and sat down on the floor of the mansion. She hadn't supposed this was a pizza roll sort of party and now it was sounding as if she had been correct. She chewed on the twizzler wished that she could wish herself back to her apartment. Death was all fun and games when it was in a video game, but when faced with the actual thing...Austyn shuddered and blocked out the conversation around her. She wasn't interested in dying or near death experiences, thank you very much. She was a respectable gamer with a loving (sort of) cat-dog that depended on her. Maybe she could sneak out the back while no one was looking.

She wasn't sure how long she sat on the floor of the mansion. Long enough to eat several dozen twizzlers, sure, and definitely long enough for her feet to fall asleep. Not long enough to fall asleep herself.

The mansion was mostly quiet, and she had had quite enough excitement for one lifetime, so Austyn made her way back to the front door, passing the open door to the common area. There was a small group of people huddled around a piece of paper. Austyn couldn't hear all that they were saying, but she could hear enough.

"Zombies," said one person. "Track down...immobilize," said another.

This was not happening. Not to Austyn. Not before breakfast.

She turned around and went back towards the kitchen. "This is not happening without coffee." She paused on the threshold of the kitchen. "And maybe there are hot pockets in here somewhere."

Bryan's ears perked up at the Darkling's list of requirements.

"I've done some tracking," he began. "Not of zombies - until today I didn't think they existed - but I think a lot of the same techniques will work. And with a little practice I should be able to distinguish between zombies and the animals I'm used to tracking.

"But there are probably others here who are stealthier than me, and I know there are others better with a gun. My kids used to tease me that I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn."

"I'd be happy to make coffee," Aron said. It was one of the few things he remembered how to do. "Since some of us are staying, anyway. It will tide us over while we wait for the others to get back."

He went into the kitchen and glanced at the coffee pot. To his surprise, it was already full. Oh, well. That was less for him to do. He poked his head back out of the kitchen. "I'll just bring this out to everyone, I guess. Would anybody like cream and sugar?"

"I guess it'll be the three of us, then," Delia said, nodding at Bryan. "Let's catch us a zombie."

Official Gamemaster Business

Given the strengths and weaknesses of the three characters and the options available in this story, your success will be determined by a 6-sided die. You must roll a 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 to successfully track a zombie. If you successfully track a zombie, you must roll a 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 to successfully capture a zombie. The roll will be done for you, and the characters involved will be PM'd with the result of their roll and instructed how to proceed.

(((OOC: To keep everything moving along, there is going to be a brief time jump to Neal and Co. returning to the mansion after a failed attempt at catching a zombie. )))

Well, the first mission to capture a zombie was a roaring success. And by success, that means it was a failure. It was hard enough trying to find then corner one of the walking dead and even more difficult to restrain one without having to blow its brains everywhere. The alley behind the Ditto Tavern and the tavern itself were now officially off limits, so there was that.

"We need to tell the others what we've discovered and then try something different." Neal said as he stepped towards one of the shadows cast by the mansion. "And don't mention anything about the children... not yet at least."

With that, the Darkling glanced around quickly before disappearing into the shadows. A second later the front door of the mansion opened and Neal motioned for Delia and Bryan to enter.

Bryan nodded and followed the Darkling's lead. The light and safety of the Mansion was a haven after their adventure.

It had started out well enough, given that they were zombie hunting. Tracking bears or deer in the woods was one thing; this was completely different. The usual clues to tracking animals or even humans in the woods were of limited use. To make things worse, animals might avoid town but that was exactly where they'd come upon the zombie.

What followed then would haunt his dreams - and he didn't consider himself at all squeamish. Zombies had crossed the realm from fiction to nightmarish reality. And the children...the faces of his own little grandchildren came to mind, superimposed upon what they'd just seen.

His own safety, and that of those in the Mansion, was certainly a top priority. But his own family weighed right up there too. He would do whatever he could to save them from such a horrific fate.

"Well, that was depressing," Delia mused, picking bits of zombie brain out of her hair before walking in to the Mansion. They joined those who had left behind, and glumly studied each other.

"If you can't tell, we didn't catch a live one."

Doc returned from her basement exploration looking even more odd than usual, if it were possible. From her neck down she was still wearing her masquerade gown, having left her trusty overalls at the Inn Between. On her head, however, she was wearing a full knight's helmet. She was carrying two more, one in each arm.

She rejoined the group in time to hear Delia's statement.

"So what now?" she gave the rest of the group an inquiring look which they, obviously, couldn't see. "Do we plan a different capture strategy with a new team or do we work through how to keep the mansion defensible? Or do we abandon all hope of defense and plot an attack?"

Bryan turned toward Doc. Her summary of options seemed reasonable. He couldn't help but be distracted by the knight's helmet on her head, and the contrast it made with the gown. A line from a book he'd read so many times to his grandkids came to mind. Do you like my hat?

He forced that thought down. "I think another capture attempt is a good idea. I don't know if we need to change strategies or teams - maybe our failure was just bad luck - but am open to ideas, or just trying this again.

"Not everyone can attack or fight, so I think we should wait to attack. Defending, on the other hand, is something we all can do. Maybe we should work on both - capture and defense. And not just the Mansion, but our families and friends too."

He gestured toward the newspaper. "Miss Delia, is there any indication of how widespread this outbreak is? Local, national, even worldwide? I imagine most of us know people all over the place and might want to warn them or help them somehow, if we can. Maybe that's another thing we can brainstorm about."

"What if we split our team into two groups of four, team defense and team capture?"

"Absolutely," Aron said. It seemed like a sound, logical plan. "If you need someone to hold down the fort, I'd be happy to help with the defense team."

Delia grabbed a cup of coffee, then flipped over the paper she was reading earlier in the morning.

"I'm going to say that is fairly widespread...I mean, this morning's paper is talking about the outbreak being confirmed in Monstropolis. That's not exactly close by--I mean, we're a 'burb, but we're still pretty far out," Delia mused. "And then if the rumored outbreak in Ditto-by-the-Sea is true, well, that's nowhere near here, so I'm going to say it's at least continent wide. Maybe worldwide. But it seems to have started in Monstropolis...and they put out a curfew, kept people in their homes...and it still spread...."

Delia frowned, and then stabbed a finger at the paper.

"So what's making it spread? What are we missing? Splitting into teams isn't a bad idea, but...what are we missing?"

"Could it be airborne? Or some sort of biological weapon someone deliberately let loose?" Annie asked.

"If it's everywhere at once, including where people have been locked up, it might be in the food... or drinking water." Neal ventured as he sat down at the table, balancing his fedora on one knee.

"As for a possible second excursion, two teams sound like a good idea. We know the Ditto Tavern and the alleyway behind it are swarmed with zombies so it shouldn't take them long to start spilling out into the square. Any ideas on how to fortify an old mansion from zombies?" he asked to whole room.

"They've been locked up in their own homes...but if it's airborne, or water-borne, for that matter, how come none of us have turned?" Delia slurped out of her coffee, then looked at the cup. "I mean, like, who hasn't drunk or breathed anything today?"

She stabbed at the paper with one long finger.

"I'm gonna put my money on the mysterious health officials being right--the virus probably moves the same way that it does in the movies--spit or blood. The question is, I guess, who's the petri dish? How'd the virus get into the public bloodstream?"