storymilo

I decide to stay and fight, as running away will only delay the inevitable. We make our way back to the gas station and clamber onto the roof (by first supporting each other up, and then pulling the last person up), taking our weapons with us. Since we have very few surplus bullets, I tell the man and woman to wait until the zombies are close to shoot, to ensure they don't miss. The safety of the roof should guarantee no zombies reach us, but I hand each person a knife to skewer them through the eye with, should any find a way up. Once we have carefully taken care of all zombies and checked that each one is thoroughly dead (avoiding contact of course) I decide to see what else can be found in the gas station and refuel the car before deciding my next move.

someonecompletelyrandom

I decide that it's time to fight these cretins. But I'm uneasy with the thought of having so few bullets to fight so many zombies. None of us are combat trained, so it's likely we'll miss a lot. And if we fire at close range, we're only risking ourselves to exposure.

So I take the sawed off shotgun with one shot in one hand and the 9mm in the other. I tell the man and the woman to cover me and use their 9mm to the best they can at a distance while I dash for the freshly fueled car. I'll probably have to shoot a few on the way.

I start that bad boy up and use it as zombie battering ram. Driving at high speeds in straight lines, knocking out large groups of zombies at a time. If I have any close calls, I'll use my sawed off shotgun blast. After knocking out the hordes, I'll head back to the gas station and the man, woman, and I will finish off the few remaining that I couldn't quite hit with the (which is best for taking out groups of zombies at a time.)

After this, the car is too damaged/contaminated to use. So we'll head South on foot. Remaining in proximity to the roads, but not visible on them.

James

I get the man and the woman to stay inside and leave them with their two 9mms and the kitchen utensils, this should be enough to hold off the zombies for a few minutes. With me I take the shotgun and one 9mm. I act as a distraction to the zombies, flailing around so that they'll follow me and shooting any that come too close with the 9mm. I dash to the car and wait to it is surrounded by zombies, while waiting I check the trunk for supplies. With the shotgun's last bullet I shoot the car's gas tank from a safe distance and an explosion kills most of the zombies. The remaining trail of fire as a result of the excess petrol on the ground also kills a good few. I run back to the other survivors quickly, killing remaining zombies on the way before the fire spreads and the whole station blows.
We continue along the same road on foot, by he side of the road so we don't lose direction.

ThePhanastasio

You do survive, but you are now remarkably low on ammo. You did, however keep the car with a fresh tank of fuel, which is very helpful. In the car was the first aid kit, and your remaining food stuffs.

You survive, and have more ammo left over than storymilo did, but you are also short a car. Fortunately, you are far enough from the roads not to draw attention, and heading in a direction which doesn't seem to be as heavily populated by zombies for the time being.

You do survive, but only just as the explosion would be quite massive. In addition, you have certainly made enough commotion to lure any zombies from any direction towards the gas station, and you no longer have a car for any security at all.

NEXT SCENARIO: storymilo

storymilo

Yay So...

SCENARIO 6: The Fork

You manage to find enough food in the gas station to last for about a week, and after packing up the car you decide to set off in a Southern direction. The travel is uneventful for three days, until you spot a smoke trail slightly to the west and decide to investigate. You park the car outside some trees and head through them to a clearing, where the embers of a campfire still burn. There are pots and pans scattered about, as well as some food which you pick up. You also find, to your relief, two cases containing 25 9mm rounds each.

You then spot specks of blood surrounding the rim of the fire. After some closer inspection, you see that there is a trail of blood leading in the direction away from your care, through the trees. A set of footprints looking rushed point off in a different direction, though it is also away from your car.

At this discovery the man raises his gun and points it at you. He says that he is tired of being bossed around and wants to start making some decisions. He also says not to bother pulling out our guns, as he unloaded them last night while we were asleep. Although you're holding one of the cases of ammo (the man has the other), by the time you get it open and load your gun he could already have killed you both. He then announces that he is going after the trail of blood "to shoot some er them goddamn brainsuckers" and that you're welcome to go with him, but he's not adverse to leaving you behind. The woman tells you that she is going to follow the trail of footprints and wants you to go with her.

You have a choice here. The man has proven himself an adept shot and carries an additional 25 bullets, as well as half the food found at the camp and his 9mm. The woman is not quite as accurate, but knows a bit of first aid and will likely die if you don't continue with her, as she is out of ammo and food. They won't compromise and go with each other, but there is also the option of returning to the car (which contains all the food and the first aid kit) and taking off by yourself.

What do you do?

someonecompletelyrandom

I go with the woman. Attacking the zombies is risky and pointless, and I don't have a deathwish or thirst for revenge like he might have. I want to locate as many survivors as possible, so going with the woman is logical because I would have followed those footprints anyway. My first and foremost concern is uniting the remaining humans into organization. We'll get our chance to fight later. So I divide my ammunition with her and carefully investigate - being very observant of my surroundings and even leaving markings on trees so I can find my way back to the car later.

ThePhanastasio

The woman has, to this point, easily been the most logical of the two. The man keeps trying to get into unnecessary scrapes with the zombies, and although he is a good shot, he's extremely reckless. In addition, he was extremely ruthless in unloading my weapon during a zombie apocalypse to "make a point", and I'm not interested in power struggles amidst everything else that's going on.

I'd go with the woman. At this point, I believe leaving both her and the man to die would be stupid, as there is safety in numbers. I'd load both of our weapons, keeping the five additional bullets in my pocket, and we'd proceed with caution to follow the footprints.

My suspicion is that there's a good chance that the person who ran off was bitten by the zombies in the altercation evidenced by the campsite, but it also appears not to be the main direction the zombies were headed. Also, that would add another member to our party (potentially) if they had survived - and they would probably be quite adept at survival.

The woman and I would proceed silently, taking time to scan to the sides of the path for any evidence of survival or any potentially helpful items the person may have dropped during their running through the woods.

storymilo

Hm... although Conan answered this one first, ThePhanastasio answered it in more detail, which I think is what counts in a situation where you both answered the same. You also described my feelings about the man exactly.

Next scenario: ThePhanastasio

ThePhanastasio

SCENARIO 7: The Refugees

You and the woman make your way through the woods cautiously, carefully following the foot prints and keeping your weapons at the ready. After five minutes or so of following the prints, the woman becomes noticeably uneasy and says that she feels like you're being watched.

You also become uneasy, and share the suspicion. You're sure it's not zombies, as they'd not just sit back and observe you, and you keep your weapon up and ready to fire.

Just as you're coming into a clearing, from above you in one of the trees comes the click of the safety being turned off of a gun, and a voice comes from the tree.

"Drop your weapons and go back the way you came," the voice instructs.

From the side of the path, a second person raises up from a ditch they'd been hiding in, baseball bat in hand.

You can barely see the person in the tree, as they're mostly obscured by branches, which makes a clear shot difficult. The person on the ground has no noticeable weaponry aside from the baseball bat.

Based on the blood trail you saw at the campsite, you know that being unarmed in these woods would be especially dangerous as there is evidence of a zombie presence within the woods.

You have:

The two handguns with 10 shells in each (One for each you and the woman)
The five remaining shells
Several knives from your original kitchen implements

The woman immediately drops her gun and begins backing out of the clearing.

What is your course of action?

thomasracer56

I would first try to negotiate with them.

If they are still hostile, then I would move away from the forest after gathering our weapons back to open visible grounds and start heading down the road for more sanctuary farther south.
If they befriend me, I agree to keep weapons with us, if negotiations provide for it, and either secure the forest from zombies or travel down the road to more visible grounds anyways in the same direction as before specified.