Event: Itinerant Horde

[decaymod]

THE HORDE ARRIVES...

Friday morning brings with it biting temperatures, a thick fog which dissipates not long after the sun rises, and many, many zombies. As the Horde shambles into the area, the survivors of the Quad area are setting finishing the last touches of their plan and getting into position for their operation to Split and Destroy the Itinerant Horde.

This post will be used for all miscellaneous scenes set during this plot line. There will be a second post going up for mission scenes which will count for plot success activity tomorrow morning. Characters who volunteer for missions all know the plan but will not receive their own assignments and partners until late this evening, at which point the Cascade Hills teams will be dispatched to their locations.

Meagher Valley teams will be positioned Saturday morning, Providence Ridge teams Sunday morning, and Trumbull Valley teams Monday morning. The Horde is impassable by car, so please be mindful to note which side of the Horde your character is on at any given time. Those on teams will be prepared to camp out for a few days at their final locations, and will have safe elevated spots scouted for them ahead of time, but are also welcome to shelter at any community once the Horde has cleared it (ie, if you are assigned to Loch + Keogh, you can return to Whitney Field after the Horde clears it on Saturday afternoon).

If you have any questions about logistics, please do not hesitate to ask me either here or in the #questions channel on the Discord server. I realize this is a little complicated but I'm happy to help figure out where your character will be and be able to get! I'll have team assigns for people at about 9pm PST tonight, and the post for mission scenes will go up tomorrow morning.

FRIDAY 10:45 AM

The Horde reaches Morgan's Crossing in Cascade Hills.

Beau Betancourt and Ares Makepeace are positioned here to make the first attempt at splitting the horde with Burton Wolfingbarger (Biker) and Vic (Deadhunter) [18].

FRIDAY 2:45 PM

The Horde crosses the Kelenqua River at the Bridge Fort in Cascade Hills.

FRIDAY 5:30 PM

The Horde passes the UU Church south of Lowl.

FRIDAY 9:30 PM

The Horde passes through Downtown Lowl.

Arlo Rattray and Mud are positioned here to make the next attempt at splitting the horde with Otto (Responder) and Keller (Responder) [12].

SATUR. 8:00 AM

The Horde passes Loch and Keogh Self-Storage in Cascade Hills.

John Hwang and Margarita Son are positioned here to make the next attempt at splitting the horde with Carly Vega (Scav) and Howie Standish (Lundegaard) [7].

SATUR. 1:45 PM

The Horde passes by Whitney Field Depot.

SUNDAY
12:30 AM

The Horde passes the Wind Farm in Meagher Valley.

Mara Kaufman and Gideon Ames are positioned here to make the next attempt at splitting the horde with The Witch (Deadhunter) and Della Heydecker (Responder) [15].

SUNDAY 6:00 AM

Approximately halfway through its journey through the Quad area, the Horde passes Grace Lutheran Church in Meagher Valley.

Roswell and Billie Kaplan are positioned here to make the next attempt at splitting the horde with Nolan (Scav) and Bell (Network Agent) [6].

SUNDAY 4:45 PM

The Horde passes through the village of Sawyer's Crossing before passing Lundegaard Lumber.

MONDAY 6:15 AM

The Horde passes Camp Winchester on its way to Marshall.

Bunny Rabbit and Lola Bellison are positioned here to make the next attempt at splitting the horde with Brandson Gunn (Lundegaard) and Elwood Gunn (Lundegaard) [16].

MONDAY 11:40 AM

The Horde passes by the city of Marshall in Trumbull Valley.

Reggie Goodleaf and Angel are positioned here to make the next attempt at splitting the horde with Bug (Deadhunter) and Amy McBride (Scav) [20].

TUESDAY 4:00 AM

The Horde reaches the town of Spencer's Mill in Trumbull Valley.

Dutch and Edgar de Leon are positioned here to make the next attempt at splitting the horde with Foxy (Deadhunter) and Mickey Wilkerson (Network Agent) [6].

TUESDAY 5:00 PM

The Horde reaches the town of Fairfield, where the Quad teams intend to lure any remaining zombies to the Fairgrounds on the other side of town.

Carter Betancourt and Court Slaughter are positioned here to make the final attempt with Jonah Shaw (Responder) and Big Mike (Biker) [19].

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Comments

SCENES: SUNDAY

[decaymod]

SCENES: EARLY SUNDAY: Court & Carter

[castnet]

 

NOVEMBER 10, 2013 ▪ Prescott ▪ 4:26 AM

 

Court couldn't sleep. Tomorrow they left for Fairfield in the evening, and it'd be helpful if she got some shut-eye, though it didn't really appear to be in the plans. Thankfully(?) they wouldn't be jumping straight into the fray of things, but it just gave Court all the more time to worry about everyone that had gotten injured or was still trapped.

So she focused on the one person she could, in theory, assist now: Carter. The younger woman had decided she and Potato would be most at home under a stairwell; causing Court to momentarily wonder if she was the weird one because she slept in a bed after all.

Rounding the stairs to where Carter lay, Court came bearing the gift of a room temperature bottle of water and a piece of only slightly soured beef jerky for the pup. "Hey. Guess we're already on the same wavelength if neither of us can sleep," it's a bad joke, but she doesn't care as extends her offerings.

SCENES: EARLY SUNDAY: Court & Carter

[fixeddown]

This is the perhaps third or fourth night since they left Seattle that Carter has not spent a night with her twin sister sleeping an arm's length away from her. It's everything she can do to not reach for her sidekick and ask if Beau's not sleeping well, either. But she deserves to sleep, and Carter hopes she is. It's a rare world where she'd be happy to be perceived by a Responder. She came all the way down here to make sure she wouldn't be.

Still, she takes the water and extends the jerky to Potato, who considers it a worthy offering. After a beat, she sits up in her makeshift bed and scoots over to make space for Court. She may as well try to get along. They're going to be forced together for days. "Worst kind of telepathy." She confirms, smiling tightly. "Pre-show jitters?"

SCENES: EARLY SUNDAY: Court & Carter

[castnet]

Court takes the hint, crawling under the stairwell to sit next to Carter with Potato in between them munching away. There's a wooden aspect to her that uncharacteristic, at the moment, but she'd not sure if it's nerves or what exactly. "Hah, yeah." Good one, Courtney.

"You could say that," she replies from where she's pulled her knees to her chest and peers over at the other. "I've done search & rescue for years, but never anything like this even after the world ended... You?"

SCENES: EARLY SUNDAY: Court & Carter

[fixeddown]

Carter hardly knows Courtney enough to read nuances into her voice and body language, but some are universal. Of course she's nervous. Carter should be, too. But all she feels is a layer of energy, and one of resigned calm.

"I never did search and rescue." She deflects, smiling, but. This was someone that she was about to spend at least three days with. If there was any time to break the glass a little. Probably it was now. "I've killed plenty of zombies. But. I don't think anyone's done anything. Exactly like this. Not yet."

SCENES: EARLY SUNDAY: Court & Carter

[castnet]

"No one's been stupid enough to try the shit we're gonna try." The summary she offers of Carter's words is given in jest, though Court knows there's truth to it, and for good reason.

"You're originally from around this area, right? I swear I heard that about you or your sister, but hell if I can remember where." She's trying not to ramble and it's going okay.

SCENES: SUNDAY: Niko & Blythe

[soliloquacious]

 

NOVEMBER 10, 2013 ▪ PFS KITCHEN ▪ 2:00 PM

 

It can be hard for Blythe to acknowledge the gravity of a situation sometimes, even when he's in the middle of it. But he's here in Prescott now as members of the half-baked mission roll in with varying degrees of injuries and traumas, and he can only help so much. Which is the worst part. Bring me this, take that over there, can someone please clean up this blood — he can do all that just fine, but then he's useless again. Just an artist in the apocalypse.

With a brief lull in the action, he makes himself scarce and out of the way, looking for some kind of break room where he can hide himself for at least a few minutes. He finds the kitchen, and starts to brew up the first instant coffee he can find. Because that's something he can do, and clearly what everyone needs right now is a stimulant.

SCENES: SUNDAY: Niko & Blythe

[trustmeimadoctor]

Niko walks in, bleary-eyed and more than a little bit out of it. He tosses yet another pair of blood-smeared gloves into the trash, not even noticing Blythe until he's almost walked into him, muttering to himself all the while.

"Stupid fucking bullshit plan, fu—OH! Hey Blythe! What are you doing here?" He tries to force a smile, but his voice has gone hoarse.

SCENES: SUNDAY: Niko & Blythe

[soliloquacious]

Oh, it's time for concern, or maybe comfort. It's time to activate Morale Mode.

"Just, uh— just making coffee," he answers as the machine beeps to life behind him. "Want a cup? Take a seat, I'll make it."

SCENES: SUNDAY: Niko & Blythe

[trustmeimadoctor]

"If I sit down, I might not be able to get back up," Niko jokes weakly, but he does as he's told anyway. He slumps into a chair and props his feet up on an overturned milk crate sitting on the floor.

"Thank you, you're a life-saver. I appreciate it," he says fondly, genuinely grateful for the offer.

SCENES: SUNDAY: Niko & Blythe

[soliloquacious]

"We could wheel you around in a chair if it comes to that." Blythe watches the coffee drip into the pot, slow and unhurried, unaware that there's lives in risk right outside their walls. "You deserve the break, and I desperately need to be useful."

The dripping coffee slows to a halt and Blythe springs to like an experienced server. "How do ya take it?

SCENES: SUNDAY: Carter & Dutch

[fixeddown]

 

November 10, 2013 ▪ PFS Workshop ▪ 10:48 AM

 

Carter doesn’t know how many weapons she’s built at this point. She just has to keep going. It feels like a never-ending pile of them, carefully stacked into boxes and bags. She’s on the easy ones now; pre-made molotovs, a supply of bottles into which she’s pouring a measure of Whitney Field’s highest proof alcohol, a rag, secure it, repeat. The precision of the process is distracting, soothing. She can focus on this instead of the radio calls going on in the dispatch station, just a little way away, pouring in bad news and limited victories. The only person next to her is Dutch.

Carter puts down the rag, and looks up at her leader, younger than she is, certainly, but one of the few people in this world she trusts. Apropos of only the tally in her head counting up the approximate zombies (too many) there still are in the main horde, she asks, “Do you think. This is still going to work. Right?”

SCENES: SUNDAY: Carter & Dutch

[deadhunter]

"Uh, yeah," Dutch says, not even glancing up from the work she's doing with her soldering iron. She envies Carter her assignment for Tuesday, which is a job she perceives as being much cooler and more important than her own job is. "What could go wrong?"

While she's kind of joking, she also means this in a sincere way: the plan isn't rocket science, and killing zombies is what she does best.

SCENES: SUNDAY: Carter & Dutch

[fixeddown]

This kind of perhaps baseless but still assured confidence is helpful, seeing Carter has spent most of the past few nights staring at the corrugated metal in her ceiling spinning over that question exactly.

"It's just. Lots of people are getting hurt. I don't want them to blame us. After. When it's mostly skill. I forget not everyone's a professional."

This comes with half a smug smile, but it's directed at a bottlecap so that's okay.

SCENES: SUNDAY: Arlo & Court

[castnet]

 

NOVEMBER 10th, 2013 ▪ PRESCOTT ▪ 9:47 PM

 

Court's nearly vibrating with nervous energy, pacing around the main bay of the fire station in an attempt to keep herself from quite literally bouncing off of the walls. There's so much going on already, so many people hurt, and all she needed was to find a bit of peace in this chaos to steady herself before starting her, at least, three day long trek with Carter, Jonah, and Big Mike.

So she's pacing and counting her breaths and clutching her backpack straps tight, not willing to take it off as the next second might be the one they were finally called to jump into the tail-end of this mission.

There's a commotion coming in towards the bay, an empty stretcher pushed alongside what was soon to be revealed a hulking mass being carried by someone on either side. What the hell... "Rattray!" she shouts out as her pace quickens towards where he's being led inside.

SCENES: SUNDAY: Arlo & Court

[halligan]

Thank fuck the Black Fever's got his tongue because he was about to croak back 'Rattray!' — a name that's neither factually correct nor welcome. Since that gives him an extra few moments to get his shit together, he shoos away Otto and Keller by insisting he won't drop and get a concussion between there and the field hospital proper, but really he just like. Is tired. And doesn't want an audience but does want to see Court, so.

Does he look like shit? Well, he's been on a rooftop for two days—with half the supplies they'd needed—tending Black Fever, a bite wound, and a withdrawal-ridden drunk with a broken femur—puking and bleeding his electrolytes out all over his stupid shirt. So, like, not his best, but he's trying his best, and that's what counts.

"Guess who–" okay, maybe he wasn't steady as he thought, but he can just lean on this table "–got his–" wheeled table "–zed bite–" wheeled table with no brakes "–merit badge–" that part's gasped out when his support whooshes out from under his hand and all however-many-hundreds-of-pounds-of-less-solid-man-than-he-was-three-days-ago-but-still-pretty-solid man tumbles to the floor into a dignified* and very handsome** heap.


* not verified by an objective source
** nor this

SCENES: SUNDAY: Arlo & Court

[castnet]

"Arlo!" Idiot, idiot, idiot man, she can't help but think to herself as she quickly clears the space between them around the same time as Otto and Keller. She glares at the latter, not liking their vibe at all, in turn getting across "back off" wordlessly as she starts to help the bloodied, unsteady dimwit (affectionate) up. This is why you just couldn't leave men to their own devices as it turned into the blind leading the blind.

"C'mon, big guy, let's get you up," Court says through a grunt as she moves to a crouch to help Arlo to stability, opposite Otto attempting the same.

SCENES: SUNDAY: Arlo & Court

[halligan]

"Table's fault." Arlo grunts himself when every limb aches like it grew whole new offshoots just so they can ache multitudes more and his attempt to obscure it's middling at best.

"Was gonna text you," he mutters, not wanting to concern Court any more than he has even though that's a stupid notion for about twenty reasons, but he's a little more than aware for the moment of how many times he's played damsel in distress this past week and a bit. "To be safe. Didn't think you'd be here still."

SCENES: SUNDAY: Arlo & Court

[castnet]

"Uh huh, I'm sure," she simply agrees with him; knowing calling him out in front of an audience wasn't going to help anyone. There's also the part where she's terrified to see him like this, so obviously unwell to the point he wasn't even denying it.

Despite herself she smirks at his words, readjusting his arm over her shoulder some before looking at the hunched giant while they walked. "Yeah? That's smart, cuz I hadn't even considered maybe playing it safe." Perhaps better than anyone Arlo would know how much Court leaned into her humor when anxious.

"Couldn't let you army crawl your sick ass to the field hospital, so I told them to wait up." She'd done no such thing, but again it was easier than acknowledging how worried she'd been or how unsettled she was by the current sight of him. "...though now we gotta make sure we get you checked for a concussion, as well."

SCENES: SUNDAY: Roswell & OPEN

[homesteading]

 

Nov. 10, 2013 ▪ LUNDEGAARD SUPPLY PANTRY ▪ 11:10 PM

 

Before they’d set out, the idea of sneaking all the way through a zombie-filled landscape had seemed almost insurmountable to Roswell, who’s become very accustomed to the safety of the village in the time since they built it. He’d never tolerated the danger and action of the immediate aftermath of the outbreak. Sometimes he’s still not sure how he survived it at all.

But it returns to him more easily than he thought it would, and even after they enter Lundegaard and he drops the rest of the group off at the inn, he finds himself still moving silently. Old force of habit returned to him. He’s even being intentional and quiet as he shuffles through things in the supply pantry, looking for anything that might make Billie more comfortable even though he knows they’re very short on everything useful. Stealth was never his strong suit, but he’s quiet enough that he hears it very clearly when someone else enters the pantry. For a moment he freezes, and then his shoulders drop. There are no zombies inside the walls. It’s fine.

“It’s just me,” he announces, lest whoever just came in also mistake him for the undead.

SCENES: SUNDAY: Court & John

[castnet]

 

NOVEMBER 10th, 2013 ▪ PRESCOTT ▪ 10:18 PM

 

No sooner than she had regained composure from seeing Arlo sick, bloodied, injured, and stubbornly doing what he saw fit, there came the next wave of patients as she made her way out of the field hospital back towards the main station. In her mind she'd been keeping tabs on who had left and hadn't come back yet, still it was a punch to the gut to look over and see yet another person she was tangled up with carrying the obvious signs of Black Fever.

And insisting on walking in, no less.

Men were, without a doubt, going to be the death of her. Not today, but mark her words.

It's with a heavy sigh she peers down the hallway separating them, watching him shuffle forward with assistance like some undead impersonation before getting out softly, "John?"

SCENES: SUNDAY: Court & John

[lineman]

Her sigh made him freeze.

Now stopped, John could not tell whether the look on Court's face meant she was happy to see him. He understood there could be a complicated mix of emotions at play: relief that he was not dead; residual frustration that he might have died; resentment, even, that he made her feel these things in the first place. Ordinarily, a daunting set to disentangle. But today, right now, while he was exhausted and still lightly bleeding from his nose? Too overwhelming to fathom how he should respond.

"You'll have to kill me another day, Court." Humor, when in doubt.

SCENES: SUNDAY: Court & John

[castnet]

There's the breath of a chuckle and a tight smile in response to his joke, Court herself not sure exactly which emotion was trying to take hold, at the moment. There was for sure relief that he wasn't dead, fear that he currently had Black Fever to make it through, and also worry for herself & Carter that would be setting out soon. "That probably wasn't my finest moment of the weekend, but I'm glad you got the message loud and clear."

Almost as if she needs it to believe he's truly alright, Court reaches out to gently brush her fingers over John's mid-back. "It's good to see you. Though this isn't your best look..." There's so much that could be said there, yet no one is surprised when Court defaults to joshing.

SCENES: SUNDAY: Court & John

[lineman]

"No?"

The skin under John's nose is stained with an old nosebleed, two streaks of red. When he speaks, his teeth are faintly red, too, his gums more vividly so. He sweated out the worst of his Black Fever in the storage locker, feels mostly achy and weak on this, the end of his second day. Hot with fever, still, but survivable. No longer vomiting, at least. Or hallucinating.

"I feel like a million merit," he says seriously. But he's joking, too. If that's how Court prefers to deal with things, John is happy to follow along.

"You look healthy," he continues. "What Mara said—it's not too late to change your mind."

SCENES: SUNDAY: Court & John

[castnet]

"I'll make sure they put that at the top of your chart," she returns in kind with a weak smile, wishing she could say something worthwhile here. Like how glad she was to see him or how much fear she'd been carrying around since seeing his bulletin board post.

Court breaks away from John's gaze at his observation of her health, willing herself to not get agitated or distressed, and knowing she'd probably say the same thing if their roles were reversed. Still, "We both know I can't back out of this now." A shake of her head as she furrows her brows, gazing to the other again. "If I let myself bitch out now, I'd never let myself live it down, especially as I'm not sending Carter out there alone." There were a million other reasons she could come up with, but it came down to her mind was made up.

"Please, John--" Her voice almost cracks, but Court keeps it together; reaching a hand out towards him in an offering of stability, "Just let me help you get settled in here, okay?"