Still trying to get completely up-to-date.

Sunday

We assembled in the middle of Magruder, and were briefed that the Zombies had stolen some of CELO’s transmission equipment deconstructed it, and hid it throughout campus. We had to retrieve the broken pieces, and once they were reassembled, hold the area for transmission.

The first component went fine. We broke into three squads. Mine went to Ryle, picked up our component, and made our way back. Soon after we returned, the 2nd group did too. We waited and worried. The third group had been assigned the West Campus Suites, at which we’d received intel that a horde was gathering. However, soon enough, they emerged triumphantly around the bend, shouting to us in their excitement. They’d taken on that horde and not lost a single person!

Then came the hard part: holding the parking lot between Violette and Magruder for nearly 20 minutes. At first, it was fine. We just hung out there. A few zombies tested our perimeter, but more or less we held. Little by little though, they began to amass. There were maybe 7 or 8 on the south end of the parking lot, using the cars for cover, trying to catch us off guard, and more or less distract us. To our north, maybe 120 meters away, the remainder were all there. Just waiting.

Someone pointed out that the zombies’ hand would be forced: after being stunned, they would need to wait 15 minutes to rush again, meaning they would only have enough time for one big rush. If we could hold that off, it would be a victory for us. People took up positions. Sock-lobbers were assigned gunners to cover them, and people with automatics began to plan flanking maneuvers.

Across the way, someone snapped a cellphone shut, and held up their arm in signal. Then it began. Not a charge, or a rush, but a slow march. At a designated point though, they all broke into a run. A few slipped through, sliding on the still-damp grass, only to get peppered with darts as they entered the human ranks. Most of them were held back. I myself got one or two people. Pulling the trigger was getting easier. I didn’t have time to reflect on the morbidity of this, becuase suddenly a victory cry rang out.

“We got Mohr!”

And got him they did. In his brave attempt to his the zombies in their charge’s weak flank, he’d left the safety of the human perimeter. For all his gun’s speed and ammo stock though… he still missed one, and that’s how we lost him. It was a real blow to human morale to see one of our bravest leaders shouting about his insatiable need for brains. Many people cried out in anguish.

There was no time to grieve though. Several zombies still remained, and they began to regroup. We played the game of them coming slightly into the perimeter, just daring a foolish human to chase them into the labyrinth of automobiles. Soon though, they gave up, and we held the lot. The mission was complete.

I headed back to the SUB with what remained of the Bannabats, the local West Side squad. They’d taken some heavy losses that day, including their leader. I bid them farewell as I sat down to rest in the SUB and get some food before the transitional Senate meeting.

It was pretty fun fooling some zombies into thinking I’d be easy prey after my meal by just waltzing by them towards the exit; only to spin around, go up three flights of stairs, and not re-emerge until three hours later, after the meeting. HA!

Monday

My day today has been very odd indeed. The previous night I was up until 4 AM working on various homework things, take-home tests, etc. This morning I Angela took my test in to ODE. I skipped for two reasons: 1) I was exhausted after spending all night finishing it, and 2) I knew John Mohr would be waiting for me, and this his new-found-undead-ness would make the return journey all too difficult. Plus, there was a German exam to study for.

So I didn’t go to Math for the first time this year. Instead I slept another hour, showered, studied, and took off for Baldwin. After that class, I had my most dangerous treck: Baldwin to Magruder. My judgment of this route was immediately vindicated when Shane came up from behind me. I turned my gun fast enough, and he back off. As I tried to advance towards my destination though, he persisted.

Annoyed, I steadied my hand and stunned him, giving me the 15 minutes I needed to get to class safely. I tried to be stealthy the remainder of the trip, and arrived without further incident.

After class, Ian and I took the long way back from class, which was fortunately also without incident. I had a quick lunch, and worked a bit on the entry previous to this one before setting out. If I could just make it to this last class, my chances of survival would get better. I’d set up a time for a rendezvous to the mission location following my class, so once I got to the building, I allowed myself to relax, just a little bit.

Nate forced us to hang back. I desperately wanted to join the other humans in Ophelia Parish, get the briefing, and show them that I was there to support them.But we stayed. In vain we strained our ears to hear what the zombies we planning, but it was no use. The only useful thing we could discern is where they were heading. Soon after they began to break up, we received a phone call from the other humans, informing us that our mission was to retrieve a mod from Pershing.

To those humans all the way in OP, this mission seemed like suicide. They were outnumbered two to one, and had a long, long road ahead of them. We however, had a pretty easy road ahead of us. We once we got the news we bolted from Magruder across the street to Pershing. It only took us about three minutes once we were inside the building to track down the moderator, and soon Ben joined us too. Kathleen then informed us we needed to escort her back to Baldwin where she would make contact with a tech, thus completing our mission.

And so we ran. Kathleen was in the middle, with Ben, Nate, Chris, and myself each taking a corner to defend. We made it to Baldwin without even so much as a sighting of a single zombie. With the mission complete, we were then left with a pretty easy choice: cover our individual escapes while the horse was distracted, or find the humans and attempt to bail them out. Nate pulled out his phone and confirmed that the humans were pinned down inside Ryle, with the zombies showing no indication of relenting.

So we left Kathleen in Baldwin, and began the long trek to our entrance point to the fray outside Ryle. We’d barely made it a few paces outside the building when we ran into a group of four or five zombies. Finally, my time had come. This wasn’t a one-man ambush by Shane or Joey. This wasn’t me ducking into a building to avoid Rocco en route to the SUB. This was an attack. We each called a mark and chased after them. Like a fool, I hesitated, thinking it would be better to stick together as a unit, rather than risk further losses by going alone.

Soon though, I realized my feelings were not shared, and so I began chasing down my mark. I finally had a clean shot as she tried to slip into the SUB, but I hadn’t been leading my target, and she was moving, so the dart just missed. Quickly I called Nate to see what had happened to the others. When I met back up with them, I saw we’d lost Chris Owens. Ben chided Chris for not using a Nerf gun, but relying only on socks. I thought that was a little cold.

So we continued. As we neared our destination, Nate’s phone rang. The humans at Ryle weren’t willing to wait any longer for the meager reenforcement we would provide; they were rushing. Nate ordered us to double-time it, and we ran the rest of the way. As we hit the fringe of the battle, we ran into two more zombies. Nate and Ben took point, while I kept an eye on them at the rear. They then darted into the maze of the apartment complex. I ran on ahead.

As we rounded the corner, it was only then that I realized the true carnage with which we’d left our brethren to deal with. Darts littered the grass. Stunned zombies were corralled in a corner, with the live ones darting here and there. The human remnant was holding though. Suddenly, out of the apartment complex sprang one of the zombies that had been on our tail. He and I circled for a bit, he made to rush, and I fired. Another hit… this time.

We quickly dispatched of the bulk of the remaining zombies, which wasn’t much, and then started organizing the humans into escape squads based on dorm. I ended up with Zack. He and I were the only C-Hall people there, and so we began the long road home. As we walked, I told him how terrible I felt leaving the humans to fend for themselves while the four of us took all the glory.

Zack responded, “The minute we heard the Nightcrawlers were in position, we knew what our job was. ” This eased my mind greatly, that the remainder of the humans knew the mission was important above all, and gladly accepted their role, despite it being the far more dangerous one. We ran into a bit of trouble at the SUB, finding Hogey waiting for us at the front door, and a zombie that un-stunned just as we headed outside.

Eventually we just went back to back, and slowly walked across the street, guns drawn. Zack had Hogey in his sights, and I was covering two in the rear. Once we’d all collectively stopped traffic and made it across the street, a skirmish ensued. We took two down, leaving only the smallest. Zack went back for his ammo, feeling relatively safe at this point. predictably, he was charged as he stooped to pick up his dart. He raised his gun to stun her, and MISSED. At that range, she was too close; he panicked and ran.

I gave chase, and between the two of us we brought her down. It was close though; closer than I think either of us would have preferred. I hunkered down in C-Hall for the rest of the night… all I could do was await the dawn of the next day, one that would decide my fate forever.