It's fun to stay..., Zombie Gauntlet participants only

'Nothin' wrong with bein' afraid of the dark,' she told Sheridan in an undertone as they moved into the studio. 'Especially when you know what might be in it.' And that, of course, was the problem - light would attract the deaders, but the absence of it held no guarantees they might not just bump into some anyway.

Fortunately though, they seemed to be in luck with their current room. Bambi shone the tiny flashlight into the darkest corners, avoiding the windows, and eventually settling on a door - to the office, apparently. Unless the YMCA regularly suffered from power outages, she doubted there'd be any source of light in there, but she said nothing. They had to clear it regardless.

As Magdalena brought her in, she nodded. 'I'm gonna. Idiots are good at gettin' other people killed.' Particularly when they weren't governed by the same sort of moral code as normal people, Chainsaw had that double-whammy on his side.

Bambi dutifully turned out the light whilst Alonzo barricaded the door, leaving them as faint outlines in the falling darkness. She heard, rather than saw, the redneck leave his post. 'Mags - she muttered, but it was too late: a hollow boom rang out as he put boot to door, and it was quite literally, loud enough to wake the dead.

The search for light is cut short, unfortunately, by the kicking of the door. Didn't your mother ever tell you it wasn't polite to wake the dead? As if on cue to the cacophony of the busted down door, three zombies come, shuffling and groaning, into the room. They look to be in tattered exercise wear.

Apparently the building of stamina could not save them from the undead. They are coming right for you.

DO YOU:

1. Dispatch the zombies and then attempt to search the office again for light.
2. Run away from the zombies and make a break for one of the exercise areas, to search for materials to fortify the doors of the building.

It was far from a soft suggestion but Magdalena justified their eyes would settle in within the next third of an hour. “ We shouldn’t need the light until sunrise, cloak ourselves in darkness, stay quiet and keep predators away.” Her stomach stirred at the sight of Chainsaw. She caught on the exchange of lead between the twins. A hesitance she inferred perhaps: they did not take too kindly to another bossing them about or they tapped in their twin mentality to berate her with their misgivings. However she discarded such afterthoughts once the fear was the subject in highlight. Fear had a way of enabling people as well as disabling them once the tides rushed in. There was nothing gained in overthought and getting comfortable with strangers so soon. She parted her lips but shut them for now. They had another room to clear.

Behind door number one was a relatively orderly yoga room. Their reflections casted on a wall mirror told no lies, encasing the differences in their ragtag group. Some would consider this room a lucky find but to Magdalena it provided momentary respite. One of the twins, Gunner went to the door. The lock clicked in place. “Good, Gunner.” The nearest to a thank you one could get. “Now we—”.

A swift boot to the door opened the office, the bang spun whipped Magdalena round livid, teeth bared for a bite and a bark at Chainsaw running renegade. “Don’t, don’t do it.” Congratulations ladies and gentlemen! Behind door number two, there isn’t just one, nor two but three undead yoginis and/or pilates practioners. She trained her sights at Gunner but spoke to the majority of the group. “No guns, don't make a sound.”

Magdalena wielded her weapon, tentative at what the walkers did next. That would be to eat them and then turn them into zombies. Rolling her eyes, she moved swift and silent as she could. “Get away from there…” There were five against three, although counting the noise their weapons made, she counted Gunner’s 9mm out and Chainsaw’s chainsaw out unless he bludgeoned their skulls with it.

Gunshots and the buzz of a chainsaw was a mating call and a dinner bell rolled into one big happy chow time for zombies. They did not have enough time. Lifting her machete, Magdalena would rather clear the room they were in now as well as the office (then maybe they could sit Chainsaw behind a locked office door). She swung her machete at an undead yogini’s head, swearing she would put them all down if necessary.

Alonzo didn't like this at all. His head whipped around at the loud crack of the door. "Fucking neanderthal." He hissed. Was Chainsaw suicidal or just stupid? He honestly couldn't tell right now and he wasn't sure he cared. Alonzo was not in the mood to let some idiot get him and his brother killed. Thankfully there were only three zombies coming for their flesh. He shot a sharp glare at the blonde woman. "Just because Chainsaw is an idiot doesn't mean everyone else is." He snapped.

Not in the mood for any of this.

"Sheridan." He nodded towards one of the other zombies. The Harpoon would have to do. Alonzo sidestepped the fitness zombie's uncoordinated swipe at him, stepping around the zombie and using a quick elbow to propel it forcefully towards his brother's harpoon. Was it a terrible thought to hope Chainsaw might get a very unlucky break and save them all the future trouble he was sure to cause? Because he was definitely having that thought about now.

Sheridan didn't have to think twice. When his brother called his name, he turned away from the others, hefted his harpoon a little firmer in one hand and nodded at his twin. "Right, let's do this," he said, lips pursed a second later for how close that zombie's hand came to his brother's face. He wasn't going to allow anything to kill his own blood…. but himself. Yes, their truce may have been shaky, but a sibling's rivalry was never over.

"Come here and see what I think of you trying to feast on my brother," he said low and before he could think, he raised the harpoon overhand, and then threw it right into the face of the zombie that was teetering on unsteady legs towards him. And? He got it right in the eye, just as he aimed for. He caught his brother's eye with a smirk. "There, is that what you were asking for?" he asked with admirable sarcastic aplomb before raising his chin and scowling at Chainsaw. "Were you dropped on your bloody HEAD as a baby? What the hell did you do that for?" He was thinking more and more about leaving THAT one to die.... even as he trudged over to get his harpoon out of the dead woman's face.

He didn’t understand why none of the others had taken a stab at this sooner. It was their option if they wanted to get anywhere, no matter the retardness of the choice. Arizona still didn’t see how they’d find anything useful in the office, but he wasn’t the master-mind here. He was there to do what they only talked about. He was there to put words into action. Even when nobody had specifically told him.

It didn’t take much to bring the door down. He wasn’t the smallest man, and that hadn’t been the hugest door. Rather swap those two. And of course the room hadn’t been empty. That figured. The grin on his face would’ve been obvious, if it hadn’t been for the lack of lighting. And since he didn’t have the habit of using DentaWhite, his teeth didn’t stand out either. If it hadn’t been for the blonde’s command, the chainsaw would already be kicked into gear, ready to take on the zombies in a feast of blood and guts. Especially tempting if it attracted more of them. Three were a boring number.

She went for one, one of the clones attempted another and he thought he might deal with the third. The little girl wasn’t going to dispatch of anybody with her teensy flashlight, and the gun ‘wasn’t allowed’ or some bullshit. “You said you wanted the office,” he pointed out, brushing off the attempt at insult. He couldn’t be the only one there dropped on his head as a kid. “What’re you gonna do in there anyway? Kill ‘em with pens? Great idea, Sherlock.” Setting his chainsaw on the floor, Arizona approached an undead that had shambled by him, and lifted both hands on either side of its head, smashing them together to crush the skull.

The zombies were dispatched with little trouble. And you even managed to find some flashlights in the office that worked. Good for you, now the dark won't seem so scary. But be careful how you use it. They mostly tend to be drawn to the light.

Mostly.

If you are wanting to survive the night you will have to fortify the building somehow. Better check for materials. Do you:

1. Split up and check the group exercise areas.
2. Stay together and check the gymnasium.

The harpoon is useless now, because it is now stuck and lodged in the dead zombie's face. Buahaha.

Bambi was smart enough to have stayed the hell out of the way whilst the rest of their merry band got down to the business of dispatching the deaders. 'Now you're just showin' off,' she snorted, rolling her eyes at Chainsaw's antics as she moved into the office and grabbed up their loot.

'Hey, uh - Sheridan. Catch.' Bambi tossed one of the flashlights in the ex-harpoon twin's direction, noticing his weapon was irretrievably stuck inside a zombie skull - and probably a good few inches of floorboard too. At the very least he could use the metal flashlight as a bludgeon.

So, logic dictated they make a start on fortifying the structure. Bambi took a quick glance at the fire exit sign on the wall. 'We should check out the gym,' she suggested, tapping a nail against the spot on the placard and looking around at the group - her gaze falling on Magdalena out of habit. 'They prob'ly got some benches or somethin' we can use for a barricade.' Not to mention a handy dandy fire exit which would come in useful if they got cornered.

Gunner? It was a ridiculous nickname, and Alonzo didn't like nicknames anyway. He only put up with Sheridan calling him Lonny because nothing in thirty years had been able to make the man stop. Speaking of his brother...Alonzo turned to look at him. "Yes, I was hoping for something along those lines." He gave his twin a curt nod, the look in his eyes the closest thing to a thank-you he would offer. Alonzo straightened his suit jacket.

He wrinkled his nose in disgust as Chainsaw smashed the zombies head between his hands. A disgusting and completely unnecessary display of strength. ."Let's just fortify the gym and try not to get everyone killed until daylight." He replied, agreeing with Bambi. The gym was one of their better options since none of them wanted to spend any time with Chainsaw in close quarters. It was really a shame Sheri's harpoon was stuck. Alonzo could think of several places he'd prefer to stick it right now. "Splitting up doesn't seem wise." Namely because anyone being paired with Chainsaw would end in disaster. Though...accidents did happen. It could make things easier for everyone....

For safety reasons, of course.

Three down, heaven knows how many more to go.

Magdalena glared at the chainsaw wielding giant. He challenged her authority, an act that put them all at the mercy of fate. Risks were inevitable but kicking down doors without bracing for the consequences was the best way forward to grace yourself under fire. She was not angry. She was furious. His stature was considerably larger than the rest of them but that did little to deter her from staring him down. "I don't care what's wrong with you, you can do as you like for all I care but you're either with us or against us." There were only three and thank goodness for small miracles, but where would there were a dozen, a hundred? Sure the office was not large enough to hold a hundred walkers but Chainsaw ostracised himself with his actions. She was not going to coddle him nor anyone else. "The moment you cross the line, you answer to me."

One of the twins voiced his displeasure. His whining pricked her thinning patience. "I don't know you and you don't know me; everyone's an idiot unless proven otherwise." She said coldy as she readjusted her grip on her weapon. For crying out loud, I'm not the one carrying a dinner bell for the undead. She left her musings to herself as Bambi and Sheridan fared themselves away from the needle of idiocy which pointed at Chainsaw and the other twin. "I agree with Bambi and Sheridan, let's get going..." Mags screwed herself back on the right way up, shutting away the pregnant need to break something apart with her bare hands. She moved forward. A shock of pain ripped through her core. Magdalena grimaced. Her whole body tightly wound at the onset of a familiar visitor. Of all the places, of all the hours, it started acting up now. "Damn it to hell and back."

If she could just get through the night without asking someone to bring her something deep fat fried and smothered in chocolate, Mags could go through the night without her fists slamming into faces.

It wasn’t as much showing off as it was a very effective way of getting some killing done. And much more satisfying than pulling a trigger from a distance. Now, his hands were coated in shit. Not literal shit, he had punched the wrong part of the body for that. But Arizona wasn’t going to clean it off either. He didn’t really carry with him cleaning wipes. He wasn’t a germaphobe, far from it. The little girl’s comment had him flash her a grin. “You like it?” But even though his intention hadn’t been solely to showboat, it was a not-so-subtle way of intimidating the ones around him. He’d noticed he wasn’t well-liked here. He wasn’t used to being well-liked and didn’t expect it, but if anybody was stabbing another in the back, he’d be the one holding the knife.

The blonde soon marched over to him and gave him a piece of her mind for precisely that. Mind-reader. Not that this one was hard to catch. Arizona simply looked back, halfway paying attention to what she was saying whilst shaking his hands a little. Goo was flying in odd directions. “I killed one,” he pointed out. “I coulda sat back and waited for it to get to you. That’s team-work, lady.” Answer to her? He laughed at the comment. He was a surprisingly loyal fellow. Which is why he had followed her in the first place, when the group wanted different things. But if she was going to start bossing him around without showing her own worth, he would loose interest. “Go ahead. I’ll bring up the rear.” And watch her rear.