"Is everyone alright?" “Amy?”
"The Pilot didn't make it. A tree branch came thru the cockpit."
"Damn. Amy, Doug, Wanda, take care of the pilot and then gather our packs. Ned, check the weapons. Josh and I will scout the surroundings."
The pilot had done a fantastic job in getting us from F’d SF, to the outskirts of DC. Refueling at remote airfields had meant only a few minor encounters. But had eaten into our ammo supply.
Our time on the yacht had ended, courtesy of a lack of parts. While basing out of Alcatraz, we picked up a Civil Defense broadcast which has led us here. It made sense. There must have been plenty of security and military in the area. The Hope for a sanctuary was impossible to ignore.
"Ned, how is it looking?"
"Damn Phil. That first tree we grazed a mile back ripped the belly out of the plane. Our gear is history!"
"Alright. Spilled Milk. We've been here before. Grab what you can. The outskirts are about a klick away. When we get there, spread out and start searching. Priority is weapons. Check? Check. Let’s move out.”
As planned, the team entered the town from several side streets. Initially all seemed quiet, save for sounds of battle coming from the White House area.
Wanda saw an APC straddling the intersection and rushed towards it having heard people inside. The others began entering various shops, hoping to find fellow survivors and weapons.
Damn. The area was crazy with baddies. For support, the group began to pair up. We needed to have each other’s back.
Things were getting hairy. Wanda was about to be overwhelmed. Her Friends rushed to stem the tide.
Amy entered the remains of an Eckerd Drugs, just in time to help save the pharmacist from several zombies. She escorted him out, he thanked her and said he needed to see if his family was safe, and took off down the street.
Amy wanted to know why Phil was Smiling. “Kid, you realize you just saved that P.I. dude from Hawaii!” “ Or his long lost twin….”
Blushing, Amy headed into the next store, hoping there’d be some undead she could ‘vent’ on.
On the other side of Main Street, Josh was surprised to discover a couple young kids hiding in the rubble.
Knowing he couldn’t leave them, he scooped them up and went to find the others. Josh was desperate to pawn these squids off on one of the others. After all, he prided himself on his Lone Wolf image.
Something was up at the far end of the block. Too much noise for an empty building. Having rearmed with discoveries, they all began to pick and weave towards a Diner. Out maneuvering zeds more important than ending them. The sun had set, and a tough job was made worse. The dark had everyone on edge. What you can’t see, can hurt you.
They’d spent too much time searching, the streets were flooding with zombies. A moonless night. Only occasional groans from the dead to tweak our nerves. Soon a flood would wash over the group.
Wanda and Amy broke into the sealed up Diner. Ned joined in.
Once the trash was taken out, Amy discovered yet another survivor, locked in a back room. And when Josh entered the Diner, his two charges screamed with joy, seeing their mom.
The team threw up a hasty barricade, hoping to slow the horde. Then exited the only way open, out the back service door, a mile closer to the sounds of war coming from the White House.
They needed to gain some separation from the horde and find a safe haven to wait out the night.
To be continued…..
Debrief:
Our first Zombicide 2E game. We were skeptical about changes being made to one of our favorite systems. However, we are liking these changes. And the Campaign mode is fun. Although, we only gained 1 XP per survivor. So extra benefits will have to wait. Four of the six characters suffered wounds. We really liked the day/night, companions, and especially the story cards for the mission.
We are borrowing ideas from other systems for handling wounds. After the mission, any wounded characters will make a roll per wound. Results will be things like “just a scratch “ “a heal able wound” “permanent wound” and worse case “turned”.
With so many cool survivor minis to play, having some churn suits us.
