[MW] Pennsylvania

[re_mybrains]

It's a pleasant March afternoon in downtown Harrisburg, Pennsylvania -- sunny, partly cloudy.

In the courtyard of Pennsylvania Apartments, the bang of the front door slamming is still echoing when it opens again

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[re_mybrains]

The moment the door's open, Tom darts out and whirls to cover either side. The bulk of the shamble is still a few yards away, and he doesn't want to get ambushed the way he did before.

--Oh look, that zombie in the skirt that did the ambushing is still there. Tom stares, bemused, for a bare second before bringing his gun up and firing.

The zombie's head jerks to the side as the bullet slams through half its skull; it stumbles forward another step or two and falls as Tom moves sideways to clear the door.

[accipiterpuella]

Kendra is armed for bear, zombie, and miscellaneous as yet uncategorized malevolent entities of a possibly ambitious nature. She's got a particularly large morning star in her right hand, crafted more for close quarters carnage than distance killing. She spent a goodly portion of last evening checking and rechecking her weapons, testing them for heft, balance, and sharpness

[re_mybrains]

A few zombies -- two in the middle of the shamble, one on the front line -- crane their heads back, tracking after her.

(So does Tom, for a second. Because. Damn.)

But zombies are pretty dumb. To scent after Hawkgirl, they stop in their tracks, which makes the front one a perfect target for Tom.

The rest of the shamble keeps shuffling forward, zombies at the back pressing against their slower fellows.

[accipiterpuella]

Kendra doesn't like zombies close to her friends. Were this a more leisurely pursuit, where so much danger wasn't present, she might experiment with distraction techniques, but right now all she wants to know is if she can make them keep looking at her and perhaps, if the stars are aligned, follow her.

"Up here!" she singsongs. "Hey, sooooey soooey soooey!"

Then she arches, and descends in an arc. Kendra can fly very, very fast when she's got space and time to work up speed, but gravity works almost as well in pulling her down, and she uses that to her advantage. The shamble is too close together to use her sword effectively until she picks off one or two to loosen up the crowding.

There, that guy, the male zombie at the back, pushing the shamble towards Tom.

Her mace is up with a roar - that's the fun part, when her adrenaline surges into overdrive and she can roar as loud as she can - and down it comes with a wet CRUNCH sound of breaking skull and traumatized brain matter

[got_red]

Shaun leans back against the open door, only all too happy to be guarding the rear. He's trying very hard not to think about the last time he used a cricket bat for purposes no one ever imagined.

He only hopes he doesn't look as nervous as he feels.

[re_mybrains]

In the first minute or so of combat, enough zombies go down in the front line to slow down the ones behind them. Hawkgirl's in the air; the other three are flanking the door. It's going well.

Until one of the zombies discovers that hey, it can go around those obstructions on the ground.

The remains of a young man in a hooded sweatshirt are staggering towards you, Shaun.

[got_red]

Great. Why is it always the bloody hoodies?

Maybe he should have gone with the gun after all, he reflects, as it's rather hard to get up enough leverage to kill a zombie with a cricket bat when you also have to prop open a door. Nevertheless, the hooded zombie goes down easily enough once it shambles into close enough range.

[re_mybrains]

Which is why ranged weapons are awesome, as far as Tom's concerned.

Anyway.

The zombie crumples with one arm just inside the door. The movement attracts the attention of another zombie, which tries to change direction -- and ends up tripping over one of the bodies.

It hits the pavement with a damp thwack and lies still -- for a second, until it starts inching veeeeeeery sloooooowly forward, worming and dragging itself along.

[re_mybrains]

And, less ten minutes after they stepped through the door, the metaphorical dust -- and the more literal and much grosser fragments of zombie -- is settling.

Tom takes a deep breath, ignoring the smell, and says, "Everyone okay? Elle? Shaun?"

[got_red]

"Yeah. Fine."

He absent-mindedly wipes his hand on his shirt as he goes to join the others.

[stilljustandrew]

Andrew's glancing around to make sure nothing's still moving.

"I'm good."