Operating Area: Abandoned Park

((Michael Barre lost Broken Beer Bottle))

The shibito came frighteningly close to catching Sarah, but she managed to jump into the truck and slam the door at the last second. Unfortunately, because she was so frantic in her escape, she couldn't adequately search the vehicle. Suffice to say, however, the keys were not in the ignition. How could the fireman have thought to take them out before he bolted? She couldn't tell, but whatever the fireman's reasons for removing the keys, they were either lying around the cab or he still had them on him.

Meanwhile, she was highly disturbed by the vigorous shaking of the bums on the now-locked door. "Damn, she locked it! Little bitch," the foul-mouthed bum swore, rapping his fists against the glass of the window. "I'll work this door... go around the other side, Joey."

Joey, seeming to lack the intelligence to walk around to the other door, instead began to awkwardly mount the front of the truck. Once he got up, he began beating on the windshield frantically with both hands. "Open the damn window!" he shouted inside, as if there were some sort of button that naturally opened up an engine's front windshield. Sarah could still see the glint of the knife in one of his balled fists.

Mike was having a hard time escaping from his pursuer, despite the man's heavy clothing. Running to the sandbox, he lost his footing on the side and tripped, allowing the fireman to catch up with him. "Phew, I'm beat," the fireman sighed ironically, hoisting the axe above his head as he prepared to strike. Luckily, at the last second, Michael came to the rescue and grabbed the fire hose. He'd never aimed one before and had no idea how to work the hose's pressure, but luckily he managed to guess the optimal usage pretty effectively and blasted the fireman over like a house of cards. He now appeared to be unconscious on the ground, since his movements had stopped completely. Maybe he was dead for good this time...? That didn't seem likely, judging by the first bum's recovery.

Ixbalanque climbed onto the back of the fire truck over a ladder. It seemed that the bums had begun to ignore him, focusing entirely upon Sarah. Luckily for Michael, they didn't seem as concerned as they should be about the hose either.

------------------------------

Objective: Escape in the Fire Truck.

DIRECTIONS: From the sandbox or the front of the park, the fire truck lies dead ahead. From the gazebo, one may either approach the back of the park, the front, or the sandbox area.

Sarah, Michael, and Ixbalanque are together at the fire truck. Sarah and Michael are detected. Mike is moving across the sandbox area. Sarah is being pursued by both of the bums, each on the fire truck.

Mike Almega: 4/10 Vitality
Sarah Taylor: 7/10 Vitality
Michael Barre: 10/10 Vitality
Ixbalanque: 10/10 Vitality

The 4 players detect each other and three people nearby, all identified:
Hosed Bum @ Fire Truck: 10/10 Vitality
Bum "Joey" @ Fire Truck: 10/10 Vitality
Fireman @ Sandbox: Unconscious
"Gonna have to thank him later..." Mike sighed, looking at the KO'ed Fireman. "Better grab that axe from him and see if he has anything else..." Mike mumbled as he quickly got up onto his feet and ran towards the Fireman's body, soking wet as it were, he attempted to grab the Fire Axe from him, putting the bike handle down for a little biet, as he began to search the man's body.

(grab Fire Axe, put down Bike Handle if Fire Axe is obtained)
(Spot Check: Fireman's belongings)
Sarah was rather intimidated by the men who were now banging at the glass all around her. Her salvation was far from safe and peaceful.

The murderers had even helped her out. As soon as one mentioned the other door, she dove across the cabin to lock that one, too. "Goodness. Close one." she thought, horrified by the thought that all her hard work could have been blown away by that simple mistake.

Once both doors were locked, though, she was left to do something. She knew exactly what she wanted to do, too; she needed to find that key. There seemed to be one way out with this truck, and that required it to be driven. She figured there were two places it could be. A look out the windshield, past the murderer trying to get at her, showed her that the man with the terrible looking gash in his shoulder was covering one possibility. She decided to try the other.

And so, trying to block out the sound around her, the intimidating banging and hollering of the murderers, the distraction that the overlaid sight caused, as well as her own minor injury, she started to do what she had planned. She wondered where someone would have left a key in most cars: seats, in the seat, under them, on the floor, on the dash, in the ignition, or even in the glove compartment or visors. She wasn't sure how much being in a fire truck changed anything, but it did make the cab slightly more spacious, for better or for worse. She would just have to search the whole thing. And so she did.

She hoped she could find the key. Once she had that everything would really start looking up.

[SPOT CHECK: search for key]
Hearing the rough bumps from the bottom of the vehicle, he knew that the girl was already under attack from the two bums. The boy felt no eyes on him, which was a good thing. ... He needed to help the girl, however. Odd. They did not even introduce their names to each other yet.

Ix stealthily took steps towards the front of the truck, crouching low to prevent detection. Once ready in position, he took a glass shard from his pockets... and threw it in quick succession-- the beer bottle ready for any close-ranged retaliation he might be getting next. The silverhead focused on downing the bum at the truck door first, as he seemed to be portraying more intelligence than 'Joey'.


[Hide? Check -- movement to front of truck]
[Attack - Glass shard throw @ Hosed Bum]
The force from the hose had surprised Michael a bit, but he had been able to successfully save the big guy from his pursuer. The guy was now making no attempt to getting away, but without anyone around he was probably fine. Maybe he could even nab that axe off the fireman.

Now, on to more pressing matters.

The other two zombies were literally crawling all over the fire truck that the hoodie girl had just dove into. Michael was not alright with that. They were more occupied with the girl, oddly enough, so Michael took a moment to heft the hose before stepping a bit farther from the truck. He still had a straight shot at the one banging on the door, so he chose that one first. Pointing the lethal hose straight at unarmed zombie at the truck door, Michael pushed the hose lever once again. He imitated his stance from the last burst to stay steady and on target.

After a few seconds of spray at the first zombie, Michael let up on the hose and quickly moved away from the truck to get a clear view of the knife wielding zombie on the truck. The guy wasn't likely to be getting through the glass any time soon, but Michael wasn't taking any chances. Once again assuming his hosing position, he directed the nozzle at the zombie on the truck. "Hey, buddy! Take a hike!" he shouted, pressing the lever for the third and hopefully last time. He released the lever soon after, but kept it pointed in the two current threats' general direction.

((Use hose on bum at door to knock away))
((Use hose to knock knife-wielding bum off truck))
((Mike pocketed a Fire Truck Key and equipped a Fire Hatchet. Mike dropped a Bike Handlebar.))
((Ixbalanque dropped one Glass Shard.))

Searching the fireman's body, now dripping with both the man's own blood and a generous application of cold water, Mike gingerly rooted through the pockets to try to find something of use. Locating a key, he quickly pocketed it and then grabbed up the fireman's axe just to be safe, dropping his metal handlebar.

Sarah, still held up inside the fire truck, managed to locate a few things of interest, including the fireman's ID and what looked like a back-up fire hatchet. Whoever that fireman was, he sure did seem to have an odd reliance on fire hatchets... Or perhaps he was trying to be prepared, knowing that such an outbreak was occurring? Either way, it might be a useful weapon to carry. There was also an window scraper, although that seemed somewhat outclassed and useless by comparison. Unfortunately, no matter how hard she looked, she just couldn't find what the fireman had done with that key. [Lore item added]

Looking through the back of the fire truck, Ixbalanque found most of the tools unfamiliar and quickly gave up, instead turning his attention to rescuing Sarah from her predicament. The glass shards he threw didn't do much but scratch the coat of the bum that he targeted them towards. Perhaps more unfortunately, it also informed the bum as to Ixbalanque's location.

Before the bum could act on the information, however, Michael set to work on the two remaining zombies with his hose, trying to wash them down off of the truck and thereby save Sarah. Both bums were knocked off of the truck, falling into dripping heaps by the truck's side. Unfortunately, neither was disabled, and both now arose with their attention focused upon Michael. "It's cold as hell out here tonight, what're ya doing?!" the bum named Joey growled, approaching Michael with his knife still in hand.

------------------------------

Objective: Escape in the Fire Truck.

DIRECTIONS: From the sandbox or the front of the park, the fire truck lies dead ahead. From the gazebo, one may either approach the back of the park, the front, or the sandbox area.

Sarah, Michael, and Ixbalanque are together at the fire truck. Sarah, Ixbalanque, and Michael are detected. Mike is situated in the sandbox area. Michael is being engaged by both of the bums.

Mike Almega: 4/10 Vitality
Sarah Taylor: 7/10 Vitality
Michael Barre: 10/10 Vitality
Ixbalanque: 10/10 Vitality

The 4 players detect each other and three people nearby, all identified:
Hosed Bum @ Fire Truck: 3/10 Vitality
Bum "Joey" @ Fire Truck: 3/10 Vitality
Fireman @ Sandbox: Unconscious
Sarah hadn't found a key. Either she had missed it, or it wasn't here. And that was a bad sign.

Either way, she had found some interesting other things. She found a weapon that they could use in defense, which may finally put them on equal grounds with the armed opponents. She also found some papers that appeared to have belonged to the Fireman who had come to save them before deciding to kill them. There was something interesting about it.

She was going to look through it, but she was interrupted. All of a sudden the Firetruck and the two crazy murderous homeless people were soaked. She laid the clipboard and ID down in the seat next to her and peered out her window to see what the cause had been. The water covered window obscured her vision, but she could make out a human shape. She figured from the size and colors that it was the boy with the bomber jacket.

He had bigger issues though. While the presence of the murderers on the hood and at the door had worried her, she had some very thick glass and metal keeping her safe; the boy who just distracted them had nothing of the sort. He was in danger.

Sarah tried to think quickly. She didn't have much time, so she went with the first thing she thought of; she was in a vehicle, so she could beep the horn.

So she did.

She practically jumped up and pressed her palms and all her weight upon the horn, hoping that the prolonged loud noise would annoy, distract, or bother the crazy men, just enough to save the bomber jacket boy. She didn't let up. The button was staying down, as it was all she could think of at the moment, and she wasn't going to give up just because she had no better ideas.

Besides, it could work.

[Distract Check - Use FireTruck's Horn to bother Joey and Hosed Bums]
Pocketing the key and picking up the handlebar, Mike quickly turned to the Fire Truck and ran to it, as fast as possible, wielding his weapons in case he was attacked.

(run to the firetruck, ready to protect self and counter attack if attacked)
"Finally picked up on the real threat, have we?" Michael said rhetorically under his breath. He wasn't too worried; using the hose from close range didn't seem to present any sort of problem. He was pressed for time, though. Stepping back a bit, Michael pointed the hose at the zombies once again. As usual they didn't look like they cared much. Michael was prepared to change that, shifting the nozzle in his hands and planting his feet again.

It felt like he had been spraying these resilient zombies with a hose for days despite the whole exchange only taking a short while. All too eager to send the zombies flying, Michael braced himself and pressed down on the hose with the intent to stop the two hostile targets from getting closer. After maintaining the assault for a few seconds, Michael let up on the nozzle and retreated back more. He was still wary of the threats. Of the people in his own group, the hoodie girl was still safe in the truck and the kid had essentially disappeared. Probably for the best at this point, Michael thought.

Off to his side, the big guy he'd saved before was now heading towards the truck. It was nice to see something had gone right today, but Michael wouldn't be happy until he wasn't being attacked by knife-wielding zombies.

(Use hose on approaching bums)
Ix got distracted by the horns resounding, and just lie flat on the top of the truck.

[[HIDE?]]
((Mike pocketed Bike Handlebar and Fire Truck Key.))

Amazing, despite honking the horn, Sarah found that the two shibito she'd intended to distract were solely focused upon her unfortunate ally outside of the truck.

Ixbalanque easily hid himself once again, losing the attention of the shibito.

Mike, collecting the useful tools around, him, began to head back towards the truck. Before he had time to worry about the shibito there, however, Michael had defeated them both using the fire truck's hose, knocking the two flat on their backs just past the front of the truck. Mike got a nose full of the awful stench as they rolled past him.

All three shibito now seemed to be unconcsious. This could be the proper moment for an escape.

------------------------------

Objective: Escape in the Fire Truck.

DIRECTIONS: From the sandbox or the front of the park, the fire truck lies dead ahead. From the gazebo, one may either approach the back of the park, the front, or the sandbox area.

Sarah, Michael, Mike and Ixbalanque are together at the fire truck. Ixbalanque is hidden.

Mike Almega: 4/10 Vitality
Sarah Taylor: 7/10 Vitality
Michael Barre: 10/10 Vitality
Ixbalanque: 10/10 Vitality

The 4 players detect each other and three people nearby, all identified:
Hosed Bum @ Fire Truck: Unconscious
Bum "Joey" @ Fire Truck: Unconscious
Fireman @ Sandbox: Unconscious
Sarah saw the murderers fall, which totally distracted her from the fact that her silly strategy had totally failed. She figured this was a good chance to make sure everyone got in. The large guy, who looked awfully bloody, was running over, the guy with the bomber jacket was close, and she figured the boy couldn't have gotten too far away.

So she dashed, figuratively, into action. She quickly unlocked the door next to her, and then dove across the cab to unlock the other one, too. She opened both doors, leaned out from the driver's seat and shouted. "C'mon! Get in, hurry!"

She leaned on the door and beckoned for the men to get in.

She wasn't sure what they'd do once they were in. But they could figure something out. Maybe they'd find the keys after she had some people helping. Or maybe one of the guys knew how to hotwire a fire truck. It was possible. And anything was better than being out there and killed by murderers.
"...and stay down. Bastards," Michael cursed, relaxing his body a bit. His short moment of calm was interrupted by the hoodie girl calling for him to get in the truck. He gave a quick nod to indicate understanding before turning to examine the hose and where it was coming from. He wasn't too confident of his ability to properly store the hose, but if it could be achieved quickly enough he would try.

Once he was finished with the hose, Michael glanced around for the bottle he'd discarded before. It wouldn't hurt to keep a weapon close by. Despite only tossing it a few minutes ago, he wasn't sure where he had left it before confronting the zombies. "Anything else I can use around here..?" Michael mumbled to himself, his eyes darting around in the early morning light.

After his search, Michael looked around again. The big guy seemed like he was making out fine, and the boy was still out of sight. Weapon or no weapon, Michael ran to the front of the truck to the driver's side door. Seeing the hoodie girl occupying that seat, he grunted and sprinted around to the other side of the truck. On the other side, Michael grabbed a handhold on the fire truck and hoisted himself into the passenger seat of the truck. He made a quick side note that he hadn't actually spoke to any of these people yet. Well, time to make a good first impression.

"You have any idea how to drive this thing?" he asked the girl in the the driver's seat.

(Attempt to stow hose on truck, skip if unable)
(Spot check for discarded bottle or new weapon, grab first found if any)
(Enter fire truck on passenger side)
By the time everything seemed to settle down, he could hear the girl shouting for them to get into the truck.

... Might as well.

Thankfully, he was unharmed from the ordeal. Survival was tops on his own list of things now, and he had a nagging feeling that his beer bottle was not going to last long. Whichever the case, they should escape from this place first... Provided if someone knew how to drive.

He got down cautiously from the truck, backtracking his steps to the back of the vehicle and climbing down from the ladder. He didn't even use most of the ladder steps-- he jumped down as soon as he got a secure footing of the lowest one he could reach.

Once on the ground, he made his way towards the passenger side of the cabin to climb into.

[[Geddown from top of truck]]
[[Climb into cabin]]
Quickening his pace, Mike quickly ran over to the driver's side door, seeing it open, as he placed the key in the ignition, turning it in a vain attempt to get the Fire Truck to move and get them the hell out of there as he climbed into the cabin, pushing his compatriots over as he put the fire truck in reverse, closing the door as he did so, and put the pedal to the metal, hoping they could get out of there right here, right now.

(start fire truck with key, get into cabin, put truck in reverse, GTFO OF THE PARK)
((Michael acquired and equipped a Fire Hatchet.))

Michale dropped his hose back onto the truck and collected the fire ax Sarah had seen earlier. Better to be armed just in case they ran into more of the gruesome men.

The four park-dwellers, finally together, got into the truck together, the smaller being forced to move to the back. Using the keys, Mike started up the truck for their getaway. With a little bit of maneuvering, they managed to get out of the park, leaving it behind as quickly as they could like a bad memory. Unfortunately, getting the truck wouldn't end their problems. The group would face increasingly more terrifying situations as the day continued, but for now, their road was clear.

-- AREA CLEAR --

((All gain trait: "Hopeful." Note that the definition of "Hopeful" has been revised.))
((Please wait for next area to be readied...))