ZRP-2: Chapter 5: Pariah's Warning

"Haha!"

Abel laughed as he grabbed the cigar back.

"You aren't supposed to inhale cigar smoke, man!"

(Pariah)
"Okay this is dull. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and cross dressers......lets move out. Send the word to the other camps, begin the attack!"
=He climbed into one of the troop trucks=

"Lets ride people! We have a town of heathens to burn!"
=The convoy started up, and drove out of the camp and down the road towards the city. At the other camps, vehicles began driving to the city. The attack was starting ahead of schedule=

"Well I didn't *wheeze* know that!"
I laugh all the same, feeling like a total idiot.

=The trucks didn't move far though. Neither did the other groups, reasoning that with the walkers still at the door charging in would make them more vulnerable. So they remained outside the city, and began setting up the special items they towed along behind the trucks: artillery guns, small enough to be towed and taken from a military base, there wasnt enough ammo for a prolonged siege, but enough for a decent salvo=

(Pariah)
"Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house right in."

(James)
"Either way......we're going to have to do some sorta supply run after this, because as stocked as this place is, I can't see it feeding us for very long, not with all the extra mouths."

(Sarah)

=I look down the sights of my rifle, scanning the area. I then spot something=

Oh shit...this is bad...

=I radio Andrew=

Uh...Andrew? I hate to bother you, but could you come up here? Cause you have GOT to see this. 

(Andrew)

=I nod, heading back to the wall=

Hold on...I'm coming=

=I make it back to the wall=

Uh Sarah...what is it I should look at?

(Sarah) 

=I gesture for him to look down the scope. An ear-burning curse in German confirms that he saw what I did=

(Andrew)

=I get on the radio, trying to contact James=

Hey James, you got a moment? Cause man...you're gonna want to see this.

=I look out into the distance=

Because I think the Pariah's about to hit us with the big stuff. And I don't mean walkers.

Abel could have sworn he heard a vehicle's engine in the distance, but ignored the thought, knowing he's been prone to hearing things that weren't really there.

"Well you do now, and you know what they say, knowledge is power."

Abel stared down at the floor for a moment.

"So, you said you left this place, and went back to the lockdown town? why'd you come back?  Was it the Shepard attack?"

"It was that, yeah. But for a different reason then you think."
I look back at Jennifer, who hasn't noticed us talking. At least I presume she hasn't.
"It's because of her I came back. I wasn't sure I could protect her by myself."
I look back at him.
"So I took the most logical route. Brought her here."

(James)
=My radio crackled, and I got it out of my pocket=
"What was that? I didn't make that out, so say again?"

(Pariah)
"Alright, lets do this: LEROOOOOOYYYY JENNNKIIIINS!!!!!!"
=The moment he shouted the name, the first gun fired. An artillery shell arced through the air, and fell just ten feet short of the wall. A car exploded, and many of the walkers were thrown down. The Pariah looked through his binoculars, grunting in disappointment=

"Dammit, aim just a bit higher, we almost got the wall."

(James)
=The moment I heard the explosion, I got the general idea of what Andrew was trying to tell me=
"Nevermind. Got the message."

(Sam)
=I was standing on the wall, and the freakin shockwave from the explosion nearly sent me stumbling down=
"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!!!"

(Andrew and Sarah)

SONUVABITCH!

=The explosion thew us on our asses and rattled our teeth=

(Andrew)

=I radio James again=

Where the hell did he get those ?!?!

=I look to the horizon=

Because right now, he's beating us with a fucking sledgehammer.

(James)
=The walkie in hand, I broke into a run.....away from the wall=
"Everyone, get off the walls and move back to a safe distance. They're going to try and bring it down! Hibiki, come on!"

(Sam)
"Dammit! Eve, grab the ammo and lets move!"

(Andrew)

=I motion to the people on my wall=

Move it people, unless you want to wear that wall for a hat!

=Taking my own advice, Sarah and I book it away from the wall=

Good Grief...this guy's a freaking lunatic

=Sarah and I run, the artillery like a distant thunderstorm=

Hibiki grabbed her stuff. "Snipers! Use the hotel as height and snipe the artillery men! Try and hold the wall!" She shouted.

Eve gathered the ammo. "We can't hold the compound like this."

The earth shook and rattled the walls as the explosion detonated.

"What the hell was that?!"

Abel stood up, looking over the wall trying to figure out what was happening.  He heard James' voice break over one of the soldier's radios, yelling to get off the walls.  Abel quickly climbed down the ladder, jumping off the last few steps and hitting the cement with a thud.

(James)
"Got it. But right now we need to vacate the walls, it's too dangerous with the guns up."
=I spotted Book running towards us, along with other soldiers. Grabbing my walkie, I called Cooper=

"Cooper, please tell me you guys have some long range weapons in the stadium. Like a mortar or something."

*Cooper*
"What the hell is going on out there? I'm hearing reports of explosio--"

(James)
"They have some kind of artillery weapons. Not sure how much ammo they have though."

*Cooper*
"Dammit, the only thing we have is one man portable mortar, and three shots for it."

(James)
=Safely sheltered in the hotel, I took a moment to tell the roof team to look for the artillery=
"Cooper, that may be our best chance. If we can get within range, we use the mortar to take out their guns."

*Cooper*
"Shit....alright, I'll have it packed up and ready to move. I'm sending someone who knows how to use it."

(James)
"Got it."

(Sam)
"Yeah well it's all we've got, now ju--"
=Before I finished saying "jump," the middle of the wall just exploded into the compound. Eve and I, being close to the end of the wall, were thrown down to the pavement, and landing with the SAW was not comfortable in the least. But worse....the walkers had a way in=

"Hwaa?!"

There was yelling, a lot of yelling. Most of it being 'Get off the walls! Everybody get off the walls!" I look back at Jennifer.
Who was already up and heading to the other ladder. I turn to look back at Abel, finding out he's gone too.
So I find a ladder and slide down it. Sure it burns my hands but I need to get off.

Eve managed to roll and land in a pretty graceful...heap?
Standing quickly, she snapped up her pistol and fired at a few walkers coming in.
"Containment! Get us a truck here!" She shouted. "Sam! Get the gun and move! THEY ARE COMING!"

(Sam)
=I did my best to stand up quickly, but goddamn, the fall made me hit my head a little and I felt a bit dizzy now. Still, I brought up the gun and fired, the kickback enormous but I kept my arms steady as I mowed down incoming walkers. Other shots rang out as soldiers came to our aid. But the walkers kept pouring in=

(James)
"Shit! All hands, cover the breach. Get the bus in here now to help, but don't plug the wall. Until the artillery is taken out, nothing we do will help."

Eve gritted her teeth.
"What are we doing to kill those artillery guns?"

Hibiki started for the stadium. "I'm gonna get a rifle! Tell cooper I need his best snipers as soon as possible!"

(James)
=I grabbed her arm=
"Hibiki, we have no best snipers available. Only ones are Dex and Ace, and they're too far away. The others are keeping to the roof tops. Want to help? Then stick close, and help me escort the mortar team."

Abel turned to Tyler who just got down sliding down the ladder.

"The fuck was that explosion?"

"We need to find out and quick. Because whatever it was it made everybody get off the wall."
It takes a second for realization to set in. This is big. Very big.

(Andrew)

=I look to see walkers surge through the gaps=

Shit...

=Sarah and I fire into the gaps, hoping to stop the walkers that were coming through. I get on the radio with James=

Tell me you have some damn good news, man.

"Go find James, ask him what's happening.  I'll stay here and keep this wall secure."

Abel racked a shell into his shotgun and got ready for an impending assault.

((Hey guys, I won't be on 'til about late Monday.  So if you guys get pretty far, like: you leave the city or something, I give you permission to control Abel so he can follow.  In the mean time, he'll just hold the wall.))

"Right. I'll be back."

I turn and sprinted off, hoping to find James where I saw him last. 

But he wouldn't be on the wall if he just told everybody to get off...so where would he be?

(James)
"Andrew, best advice I have is to stay behind the walls, but not too close. We have no idea how many guns they have and where else they're pointed. And whatever you do, don't abandon your position, the hole can be managed right now."

(Sam)
"Keep the pressure on! Focus on their heads and take them down!"
=My shoulder was beginning to ache from the kickback of the machine gun=

(Andrew)

=I nod grudgingly, putting down what fire I can= 

Good.

=I take down a few walkers=

Because I want to throw a Texas-sized monkey wrench in that motherfucker's plans.

(James)
Texas sized monkey wrench? What the fuck?
"Uh, okay. Just stay where you are Andrew. If they break down your wall and you're not there to help keep the walkers out....."

=I didn't really need to finish that=

Out of ammo, Eve retreated behind Sam.
"We have to find a more defensible position Sam." She said.

Hibiki scowled. "We have to hurry."

(Sam)
=And just as the gun clicked on empty too=
"I know Eve! But we have to keep them contained!"

=There was a rumbling of engines and I looked behind us. The bus, front machine gun already pointed in our direction, came rumbling down the street=
"Get behind something!"

=I yanked her with me as I ran, ducking behind a car just as the heavy machine gun opened up, cutting down the walkers like grass before a lawn mower=

(James)
"I know Hibiki. So what's it going to be? Help me escort the mortar, or go with the riflemen?"

I stop and look at the massive hole in the wall. The zombies pouring in. Now I know what the explosion was. 
Then I see the bus driving up, firing into the horde. I pull out my pistol and switch the safety off.

(Pariah)
"HIT 'EM AGAIN!!!"
=Another salvo from the howitzer's was fired, though they had to be careful with ammo. At best, they had another three shots per cannon, six if they focused on just one=

(Sam)
=I watched as more walkers came in, simply unfazed by the bullets they walked into. Some simply exploded, others were torn apart and their limbs flew everywhere. But then the bus had to reload, and I was left to fire on them with my pistol=
"Eve, reload the SAW while I keep them busy!"

Eve scrambled for the gun, and managed to reload it.
"Done!" She shouted.

Hibiki looked at James.
She scowled. "Lets go."

Before even thinking about it, I fire at the creatures. Scoring a couple headshots, dropping them right there.
"Crapcrapcrap! Am I the only one here?!"
I switch targets the ones getting too far into the compound. Getting headshots on those, then having to reload.

(Sam)
"Good, now get down!"
=Grabbing the weapon, I brought it to bear on the walkers, opening up on them and taking them down. Not every shot was a headshot, but I was able to slow them down=

(James)
=I nodded, then grabbed the walkie=
"Cooper, where are we meeting the mortar?"

*Cooper*
"I'm sending him and his partner to you. He already has a route, just stick with him and keep him alive."

(James)
"Got it!"
=It didn't take long before I saw a pair of soldiers run towards the hotel, holding a collapsed mortar and a bag full of rounds for it=

"Over here! We're your escort."
=They just nodded, and started moving in a new direction. I glanced at Hibiki, signaling her to follow=

Eve hit the ground.

Hibiki ran after him. "We need to hurry."

(James)
=We followed the team to the north wall, and waited by the entrance. There was a roar of an engine, and a pickup truck rolled towards us=
"That we do. Okay, do you guys have any idea where we need to set up?"

*Riley*
"Sorta. Recon team on the tower spotted the artillery due west of the wall, middle of the street. We'd snipe them, but they have cover and assaulting them isn't an option since they kinda fortified the area. We need to get within range, then drop as many shells as we can on the gun, or their ammo."

(James)
"You know just where to shoot?"

*Riley*
"Yeah, recon team will give us better details though once we set up. But real problem is the walkers. We're going to be driving through them."
=He climbed into the back of the pickup, along with his partner. They both pulled out assault rifles=

(James)
"I'll drive."

(Sam)
=The machine gun was getting close to empty again, and the walkers kept coming, in a frenzy now that they knew we were inside=

(Andrew)

=I continue to fire, the rifle barely stopping the surging walkers=

Alright, you ready?

=Sarah nodded= 

On my mark...

(Sarah)

Say it.

=I waited a few beats and she looked to me=

Switch!

=Sarah and I switched rifles, and we unleashed a torrent of fire, the reassuring weight of the HK 416 in my hand as I went full auto. We pushed forward, changing sides as we continued to push back the walkers on our side=

(James)
"Alright, I need people on the wall to hose those walkers so we can get through!"
=People began climbing onto the wall, and once in place fired into the walkers below. It was a full minute before the doors opened, and I saw the heaps of walkers laying on the ground=

"Okay.....here we go."
=Then I floored it, and we were on our way, driving into the horde. The doors closed behind us=

As the gun was running empty, Eve dropped down and rifled through her bag. Yanking out a a grenade, she pullee the pin and chucked it at the breach.
"Ire in the hole!" She shouted, diving for the third ammo belt.

(Sam)
=That grenade Eve threw did the trick, killing more walkers in a single move than I did with the machine gun=
"Nice toss."

(James)
=We had to keep our momentum high, so that we wouldn't be slowed by walkers as they threw themselves at us. Easier said than done though, and the truck jumped a little as we ran over walkers. Riley and his partner fired off shots to keep walkers at bay=

"Thanks." Eve pulled her bow out. "Reload Sam..." she frowned.

Hibiki held on. "Dammit. This is gonna go badly."

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