Project LZR-1134 (Open RP)

"You've been in that many natural disasters? I only got on at the most recent stop myself, but I couldn't help but notice the zombie talk. Not a bad thing to prep for, since it helps with so many other things, but somehow, I'm not too concerned about graves magically spitting out their corpses. Me? I carry as well, for my own reasons."

Eliza shakes her head, "So, it's clear that three of us are indeed carrying firearms. Whacky night."

"You're actually carrying? Fantastic! I have extras, in case I would have to arm anybody I end up with in a z scenario," Celess said with a smile. "And yes, sir, I've been in that many natural disasters," she said turning to Viper. "When you travel around the country because that's where the next scholarship has sent you, you tend to run into them. Also I'm not worried about graves magically spitting out their bodies, either. There are a multitude of things that could be done, scientifically, to produce a similar effect. Also the zombie in question could be technically alive, and merely reduced to a feral cannibalistic state via some pathogen. Anything from mutated rabies, to the cordyceps fungus from the rainforest, made famous in the Planet Earth series."

"That's.... actually some pretty good arguments for a Zombie apocalypse. Ah here we go. Crap. They've gone to commercial." He leaned back in his seat and tossed a handful of trail mix into his mouth. "Look. I'm a fan of 'zombocalypse' settings as much as the next guy. Even do the yearly Zombie Walk just for kicks." He displayed pictures in his wallet to her and the others. "See? That's me... the Car accident-themed zombie standing next to Jesus. But when you get down to it, should an outbreak of undead nature happen, what are the odds really that it would affect a group of people on a bus traveling through a comparatively minor urban centre in the middle of the night. It's far more likely to happen in large cities with lots of international traffic."

Eliza rubs her forehead, "It'd never happen, though. And if it did, it wouldn't be an 'apocalypse'. The military'd just put down any infected."

Suddenly the Bus takes a -very- hard turn, slamming into a light pole and jarring everyone inside. The Driver groans and slowly picks himself off the steering wheel.

Eliza groans. She'd been thrown against the seat infront of her, and landed on the floor-- again. She gets up with a groan, "Geeze."

"Ugh... Shit, what ran out into the road?" Celess uttered, barely able to hold herself upright. She then looked toward the door, the bus's obvious weak-point.

"Don't we already have undead? I mean, do politicians count? As to the walking dead, I'll believe it when I see it. I know about the cordyceps fungus, but the mutated rabies seems a stretch." He leaned back to his seat. "So much for a peaceful rest. Well...my folks in Arizona think more about it as well...and they tell me a lot of the military would either hole up on base or more likely, run back to their families."

Viper took a look over to the picture. "Pretty convincing pics there. As to contagion,..well, I'd first look for the police station and the hospitals, and then I'd go the other way. If a zombie infestation did start, ground zero would likely be the hospital, and the cops would either dig in from the crowd needing guns, or be a second flashpoint."

just as he was about to continue, Viper felt himself get thrown forward, and landed on the floor with a thud as he bounced off his seat. "Is everyone okay...ow?" Viper cursed as his eyes assessed the situation. "Looks like we hit a light pole or something. Hey, driver, are you okay?"

The Driver shakes himself and stands up, facing the seats.  "Is everyone alright?  Some yahoo just wandered into the middle o---"  His voice is cut off by the sound of shattering glass, as arms punch through the windshield to wrap themselves around him, pulling him clear off the bus.

There was no time to waste. Viper reached under his jacket, and took his Kimber out of the holster, and began to scramble towards the driver. Probably someone hopped up on bath salts. Still, even then, what kind of person can punch through that glass. As he moved forward, he let his badge slip back around its customary place around his neck, just over the sternum.

(He's a federally-licensed bounty hunter. That's what the badge indicates)

"A Kimber. Nice... er... You may not wish to go up there," Celess observed, having pulled her Ruger SP101 357/32, keeping her finger off the trigger. "No junkie, no matter how high he was, would have had the strength in his arms to pull out the bus driver, after punching through safety glass, and lacerating his arms to ribbons."

Eliza stands up from her seat, reaching into her pack. She pulls out one, then two, Heavy Framed .44 Magnum Revolvers, zipping up her pack and putting it over one shoulder, "How about a junkie who was also a boxer?"

Viper crouched on the floor, and made his way to the front. "Not likely. And without having his arms ripped to shreds? I don't know what's out there, but if there's any chance of saving the person, I have to...I just have to verify something." He kept down as he arrived at the front and peeked outside, using the driver's panel for cover.

Eliza leans against the seat in front of her, swinging out the cylinders on her revolvers to check they're loaded properly, rolling her eyes, "How heroic."

"Mister, the bus driver is probably dead, and I'm trying to keep you from getting into danger. We could be dealing with a pack, out there, for all we know," Celess observed.

(BTW, can I get a description of what's happening out front? I need to know my next course of action, unless I can make it up)

"Check the windows on both sides, see if anything else is out there. If the lamppost was down, we'd be fried right now." Viper suddenly got a look out front, and learned to be careful what he wished for.

Eliza glances out her window, pulling the other strap of her backpack on, "Be careful up there."

((I'm off 'till tommorow, 4 AM here. If we change locations, just say ya brought Eliza along or something, I'll pick up her actions from there.))

"Thanks, you too..."

(I'm off too. Up too long as it is! Just say Viper followed along with the group)

((*yawns* Morning. I think the next few actions are up to Pesky, since we don't know what's outside the bus. ))

(( Yea I had to go to bed. It was 2:30 am and I needed to wake up at 5:30 to get ready for PT. Sorry about that. ))

Doing a quick mental checklist of body locations for possible injuries Barry came to the conclusion that while he may sport some black and blue spots in the morning he would otherwise be ok. He carefully unfolded himself from the space he had fallen into and grabbed his knapsack.

"Other than being banged about I'm good. What happened? Did we hit something?"

"The driver swerved to avoid somebody in the road. I think we may have hit a light pole, and the driver was just pulled out the windshield," Celess related, keeping an eye on the door. "We do not know what pulled the driver out, but the arms looked human."

"........" Viper could tell by the pool of blood on the ground that the driver was gone. He was being attacked by a figure, no doubt the one lying on the road earlier.

He was more concerned about the five figures slowly walking towards the bus. If it were a case of robbery or kidnapping, they'd already have weapons drawn. Not only do they not, but they don't seem to care that one of their compatriots is committing blatant cannibalism right in front of them.

He began to move back, his voice in a whisper. "Driver's gone. One of them's biting his neck, and I count at least five more moving slowly towards us. Could be a robbery for drug money, but if that were true, weapons would already be drawn, and besides, I doubt any human I heard of can single-handedly punch through a windshield."

"Even with the windshield being weakened by the impact, there is still the laceration faction to consider," Celess observed. "Walking slowly towards us? Was it a stiff shuffling gait, or could you tell?"