RTA: An All Things Zombie Batrep - Part 2

With blood on his knuckles and a second body at his feet the realisation hit Troy like an offensive line. This wasn't an isolated incident; not road rage gone insane.

Something was wrong in Outbreak City. Something very wrong.

Above the typical quiet of an early morning, shrieks of terror could be heard in the distance. Low moans and guttural, feral cries replaced birdsong.

"Hey!" he yelled at the woman reaching in through his now broken car window after Hank. Her head snapped in his direction and she shambled towards him with a high pitched scream.

In she rushed, dead eyes fixed on Troy as he prepared himself for the assault. He braced himself as she came in and grabbed her flailing hands as she clawed at his face. He twisted, turned and pulled her to the ground. She almost had her teeth in him as he slammed her into the tarmac and her vicious thrashing ceased.

Hank's heart reached a crescendo as he repeated to himself 'Gotta get outta here!' under his breath. He cursed himself, frozen with fear, cowering upside down with his head in the footwell of his friend's sports car, unable to even close the door beside him.

Hank snapped out of his panic when Troy slammed the driver's side door. Troy fumbled in his pockets for a moment and realised Hank must have the keys.

"Give me the keys!" he yelled as Hank squirmed like an eel in a barrel in the ludicrous position he'd gotten himself into.

Outside, the walking dead, drawn to the commotion, shambled ever closer to the car.

Hank twisted into a seated position and scooped the keys from out of the footwell. Troy snatched them out of his hand and gunned the engine just as the undead were upon them.

As Troy struggled to keep his composure the squeal of rubber heralded their escape and attracted the attention of more creatures. Out of the darkened alleyways they came.

Troy ploughed across the intersection, the roar of the 3.6 liter engine accompanied by high-pitched screams as the undead, threw themselves at the car in a furious blood lust.

"Look out!" cried Hank as two figures lurched out into the road and Troy drifted to avoid them.

As they neared the figures Hank saw a gaping head wound and bared, broken teeth as the bloody mess flung itself towards them.

The car door slammed hard against Hank's shoulder and he winced at the impact. The body spun and crumpled and a shock of crimson spray appeared across the windshield and wing.

"Holy shit!" said Hank as he looked back at the crowd of walking dead gathered in the street.

Troy didn't say a word. Nor did he risk a glance in the mirror, for fear of what he might see.

They'd certainly had better days.

All Things Zombie

Outbreak City at Eastern Front 2011

We interrupt our scheduled programme to bring you this news from Outbreak City!

The Lead Will Walk The Earth will be running a display game at Eastern Front:The East of England Wargames Show in Norwich on Sunday 21st August 2011.

Eastern Front: East of England Wargames Show 2011

Historically, Norwich held host to a popular annual show for a number of years. The show began to wane and eventually fell by the wayside and now, after a prolonged drought, the new show organiser Kim Daniels decided Norwich was once again ready for wargaming event. Eastern Front premiered last year and was hugely successful.

The show features a number of display games, a strong list of traders, the ubiquitous bring-and-buy and three competitions: The National DBA league, Hordes/Warmachine and Flames of War.

Inspired by The Extraordinarii's stunning work on his Small Town USA project and in the tradition of all pivotal wargames events I have decided to construct a brand new 6' by 4' Modern City Wargames Table (the baseboard) ready for the event. "Quiiick!!!!" Always up for a slightly foolish challenge I dived right in and construction is in full flow, I will post a full 'this is how I did it' (or didn't quite manage it) after the event.

Luckily for me I kinda forgot that I had promised to make a Dystopian Wars Ocean table for my best buddy and, handily enough, he and Matt from Too Much Unpainted Lead will be running a Dystopian Wars display game at the show too. Double the Van-Damage! So I tried to grow and extra pair of hands (didn't work) and the garage is literally full to the brim with battened MDF. In for a penny, in for a pound. Wish me luck.

Eastern Front, The East of England Wargames Show is being held in the fabulous St. Andrews Hall venue in the centre of Norwich.

St Andrew's Hall - Norwich

Come support the show and if you do visit please drop in to The Lead Will Walk the Earth and introduce yourself.

The Lead Will Walk The Earth will returns to it's scheduled programming. RTA: An All Things Zombie Batrep Part 2 follows next episode.

RTA: An All Things Zombie Batrep - Part 1

The sun was almost up over Outbreak City. It was quiet, very quiet and too early for Hank. He'd stayed up late last night to watch the game. The Outbreak City Ragers, his team, were through to the play-offs and, seeing as adrenaline had prevented him from hitting the sack, he'd downed a few more beers to celebrate. It seemed like only a few hours ago, it probably was. Troy pulled the car up across the street from the incident. When he cut the engine Hank breathed a sigh of relief.

Troy Pulled the car up across the street from the incident.

"Does your car have to be so loud?" Hank asked.
"Said the bear with a very sore head." replied Troy, with an eyebrow raised.

The ambulance crew had called in the RTA about an hour ago, single vehicle, most likely a DUI.

"Point taken." said Hank.

This incident really looked no different from a typical scene but something didn't add up. Troy and Hank had worked together for a while now. Road Traffic Accident Analysts; Crash Scene Investigators and they had seen enough scenes to know something was amiss.

As they strode over to the scene they could see two figures stumbling around behind the crashed coupe, both bloodied, both shambling, perhaps delirious from blood loss.

"This doesn't look good." said Hank as they both started off at a trot.
"Sir. Step out of the roadway sir." Troy called out.
As one of the figures stepped from behind the car a glint of recognition flickered in Hank's eye.
"Tony? Tony are you ok? What happened?" asked Troy, setting off towards his colleague, a paramedic he recognised from the work they'd done together.

Tony lurched forward, blood oozed from a wound on his face, his jaw hung limp but his teeth gnawed. He was closely followed by another male, who had to be like the victim of the accident, with a broken nose and what looked like lacerations on his neck.
"Are you sure that's Tony?" asked Hank.
Before Troy could answer the two figures lunged towards them with viscious intent.

Gnashing and flailing the two assailants rushed towards Hank and Troy. Troy jostled with the thing that once was Tony a Hank struggled with the man on him. They were caught off guard but moments later Troy's college wrestling day came flooding back to him. He manhandled the paramedic onto the ground and held him in a headlock.
"What the hell?" yelled Hank holding the wrists of the man biting at his face.
Troy pulled hard against the paramedic till a dull crack reverberated through his limbs and, to his horror, the body went limp. He rolled up out of the hold as Hank kneed his attacker in the face. The thrashing ceased as his assailant dropped to the tarmac.

"We gotta call this in." panted Troy as Hank raced off back towards the car.
"I'm on it." came the reply as Hank opened the door and reached for the radio.
"What just happened?" asked Troy. He stopped in the street, looking back at the two bodies in the middle of the road.

Hank poked and prodded the radio as he slammed the car door
"Just static." He yelled to Troy. "It's like nobody is answering."

Troy rested his hand on his thighs and tried to breath deeply. Adrenaline coursed through his veins and his hands started to shake.
"Let's get back to the office ASAP." yelled Hank. He twisted the ignition key. He was in no state to drive, but at least he'd have the car running for Troy. The engine turned over but the car wouldn't start.

As he looked up from the instument panel to his horror he saw another bloodied figured reaching for his friend.
"Troy, TROY!" yelled Hank, but it was too late. The raging thing was upon Troy just as he seemed to be gesturing to Hank. Hank turned in his seat to open the door but right beside him was a woman, bleeding from a viscious wound on her head, clawing at the car window with hate in her eyes.

Troy twisted as cold bloody hands clawed at his neck. He brought his large fists to bear on the man who had grabbed for him. Once, twice, three times. More than any normal man should be able to take. He connected with a stong right hook and the attacker finally went down like a sack of rice.

Hank jumped out of his skin as the woman smashed the car window and reached in to grab him. He pushed himself away from her as fast as he could, kicked at her hands and cowered down in the passenger footwell.

To be continued...

All Things Zombie