Entering into one of the little semi-cubicles, Ron looks around for an object to throw as a distraction. He sees a hefty stapler on the desk, picks it up, and hurls it right at the doorway, where it slams into the floor with a clang. The scuffling sounds cease for a second, and are then replaced with somewhat slower, more controlled steps, as if something is cautiously approaching the doorway. From his hiding spot, Ron readies the 750, raising the big hunting rifle up to his shoulder and steadying the barrel against the cubicle wall. A form appears in the doorway, then looks almost right at him- an infected through and through, humanoid but with bloodshot eyes, pupils so dilated that they're barely dots, mouth hanging open, revealing two rows of yellowed and bloodied teeth. It lurches towards him and Ron fires unhesitatingly, driving a bullet right through the forehead of the beast and sending it flying back. Suddenly, another appears around the corner, and Ron puts it down before it even sees him.
Bio
Male, 37, 6'2" and well-built. In prime condition for a man approaching his 40's, but it's all muscle built from weight lifting, not cardio activity. Has an unkempt neckbeard and a shaggy mane of brown hair. Of Polish descent.
Weapons
Remington Model 750 (8 rounds loaded / 30 spare rounds)
Glock 17 (17 rounds loaded / 17 spare rounds)
Fire Axe
Passive Abilities
Muscular (+1 in melee combat)
Inventory
-5 methamphetamine injectors (+1 to rolls for 2 rolls, -1 to rolls afterwards for 1 roll)
Conditions

"Let's go to the university. It's not very far away." "Why would we?" Henry asks, looking a little confused. "Dunno. I just have a good feeling about going there." As John begins to stride towards the door, he slips in a puddle on the floor. "OH SHI-" Instinctively throwing up his arms, John slams into the tiling with a thud, mercifully sparing his face from being smashed. "Ow. OK. Now let's go to the university." Getting up, John walks to the door, with Henry carefully sidestepping the puddle and following him. They leave the corner store and look around, but the university is nowhere in sight. "Which way do we go, now?" Henry asks.
Bio
Male, 32, has a goatee. Suspected relative of Gordon Freeman.
Weapons
Crowbar
Beretta U22 Neos (18 loaded rounds / 0 spare rounds)
Passive Abilities
Cool Under Pressure (+1 during stressful or dangerous situations)
Inventory
-Bigass Bottle of Vodka (Consumption will dull pain but cause drunkenness; can also be used as fuel for fires and as a disinfectant)
-Roll of Duct Tape
-Mini-Map
Conditions

Weapons
.32 Revolver (5 rounds loaded / 0 spare rounds)
Metal Shaft
Condition
Healthy

"Whelp, off to the hardware store, I guess." "OK then." Raphael and Charlie set off towards the hardware store across the street, only to find the door locked shut. There are bars on the windows and door, so they can't just break in with brute force.
Bio
Male, 24, tall, lean, and agile. Has black hair, grey eyes, and light skin.
Weapons
M1911 pistol (7 rounds loaded / 249 spare rounds)
-Suppressor attached
Crowbar
Passive Abilities
Free Runner (+1 movement/navigating terrain)
Inventory
-Suppressor for M1911
Conditions

"Whelp, off to the hardware store, I guess." "OK then." Raphael and Charlie set off towards the hardware store across the street, only to find the door locked shut. There are bars on the windows and door, so they can't just break in with brute force.
Bio
Male, 26, tall, thin. Used to be a paramedic.
Weapons
Metal Pipe
.356 Revolver (6 rounds loaded / 12 spare rounds)
Passive Abilities
First Aid (+1 on healing)
Inventory
-Flashlight
-Bandages
-Utility Knife
-Lighter
Conditions

As Fred shuts the door behind him, he hears Matt calling, "You'll never guess what I found!" "Oh? What would that be? I found a backpack... and sadness... lots of sadness..." Fred replies. Matt simply holds up a bloody pistol as an answer. "This'll fetch a pretty penny," he says, nonchalantly twirling it around with his fingers. "Nice find. Guess this is going pretty good all in all. I'd really like to find a live human, though." As Fred moves on to the next room, the last in their short hallway, he gets a small tingle before reaching for the door knob, only to find it locked. "Ah, damn."
Bio
Male, 22, medium height, brown hair. Fairly athletic.
Weapons
M1 Carbine (25 rounds loaded / 50 spare rounds)
Trench Spike
Passive Abilities
Blades: +1 to melee attacks on zombies
Inventory
Large Backpack
Backpack
Conditions

Matt reaches down and picks up the bloodied gun- it'll have to be cleaned before it's used, but it seems to be in working order. He peeks out into the hall to make sure Fred's alright and sees him emerging from another room looking rather dispirited. "You'll never guess what I found!" Matt says with a grin. "Oh? What would that be? I found a backpack... and sadness... lots of sadness..." Fred replies. Matt simply holds up the bloody pistol as an answer. "This'll fetch a pretty penny," he says, nonchalantly twirling the .45 with his fingers. "Nice find. Guess this is going pretty good all in all. I'd really like to find a live human, though." Matt moves on down to his final door in the short hall, and opens it to find an unoccupied and almost entirely empty room within. He hears Fred faintly saying "Ah, damn." from down the hall.
Bio
Male, 23, medium height, thin and lean. Has medium-long brown hair, dark brown eyes, and pale skin. Wearing tennis shoes, jeans, a purple T-shirt, and a grey striped hoody.
Weapons
HK45 (10 loaded rounds / 159 spare rounds)
Fire Axe
Passive Abilities
Adrenaline Rush (Heightened reflexes and senses, slower time, greater strength and alertness when confronted with danger [IE: dire combat, mortal injury, perilous terrain] followed by weakened recovery period)
Inventory
Man-powered LED flashlight
Six-pack of beer
Conditions

"Gotcha, ♥♥♥♥." Ron waits a bit to make sure there are no more guests prowling nearby, then moves forward with the 750 still raised to make sure the infected are down for the count. Neither of the forms move, so Ron leans down and rolls over the nearest body with the barrel of the 750, uncovering a male infected. The fatal shot tore his jaw half off, leaving the face in a rather grotesque condition. Rummaging through the pockets of the man's jeans, stretched and ripped from the rapid muscular growth in the legs that accompanies infection, Ron doesn't find much other than some lint and loose pocket change. He moves on to the second body, another man, albeit a younger one. Quickly patting down his cargo shorts, Ron uncovers a pack of unopened cigarettes in one of the pockets, but not much else.
Bio
Male, 37, 6'2" and well-built. In prime condition for a man approaching his 40's, but it's all muscle built from weight lifting, not cardio activity. Has an unkempt neckbeard and a shaggy mane of brown hair. Of Polish descent.
Weapons
Remington Model 750 (8 rounds loaded / 30 spare rounds)
Glock 17 (17 rounds loaded / 17 spare rounds)
Fire Axe
Passive Abilities
Muscular (+1 in melee combat)
Inventory
-5 methamphetamine injectors (+1 to rolls for 2 rolls, -1 to rolls afterwards for 1 roll)
-Pack of Cigarettes
Conditions

"THIS WAY!" John instinctively sets off towards the general direction of the university, and after several confusing minutes of seemingly random wandering, he rounds a corner and sees the entrance to it in the distance, about a block away. "Hey, look at that!" Feeling quite proud of himself, John turns around to look at Henry, whose face is in total shock. "Uh... have you noticed the small problem with going down that way?" he asks. Confused, John turns back around and yelps: no less than a dozen infected are feasting on bodies in the street.
Bio
Male, 32, has a goatee. Suspected relative of Gordon Freeman.
Weapons
Crowbar
Beretta U22 Neos (18 loaded rounds / 0 spare rounds)
Passive Abilities
Cool Under Pressure (+1 during stressful or dangerous situations)
Inventory
-Bigass Bottle of Vodka (Consumption will dull pain but cause drunkenness; can also be used as fuel for fires and as a disinfectant)
-Roll of Duct Tape
-Mini-Map
Conditions

Bio
Male, 28, about 5'10", lean and rugged, short black hair and black eyes. Wearing a white polo and jeans.
Weapons
.32 Revolver (5 rounds loaded / 0 spare rounds)
Metal Shaft
Condition
Healthy

"Try to be silent," Charlie warns as Raphael raises his crowbar. Raphael gives it a swift swing at the door, landing the hooked end through the anti-burglary bars and smashing the glass front, creating a large hole and splintering much of the surrounding glass. He sweeps it around in a circle and knocks many of the smaller fragments out, then reaches in and turns the doorknob from the inside, automatically unlocking the door. Pushing through the door, Raphael is quickly followed by Charlie into the store.
Bio
Male, 24, tall, lean, and agile. Has black hair, grey eyes, and light skin.
Weapons
M1911 pistol (7 rounds loaded / 249 spare rounds)
-Suppressor attached
Crowbar
Passive Abilities
Free Runner (+1 movement/navigating terrain)
Inventory
-Suppressor for M1911
Conditions

"Try to be silent," Charlie warns as Raphael raises his crowbar. He looks around as he hears the smash of glass to make sure there are no infected nearby, then follows Raphael into the store a few seconds later when he unlocks the door.
Bio
Male, 26, tall, thin. Used to be a paramedic.
Weapons
Metal Pipe
.356 Revolver (6 rounds loaded / 12 spare rounds)
Passive Abilities
First Aid (+1 on healing)
Inventory
-Flashlight
-Bandages
-Utility Knife
-Lighter
Conditions

Fred calls down the hall, "Ey, Matt! Back me up down here if you aren't busy. Something's off." Matt comes over, fire axe ready. "What's up?" he asks. "The door's locked and when I tried to open it, well, it doesn't feel right." "Alright then, I've got your back. Let's go." With a nod, Fred kicks the door, hard, near the knob, but instead of knocking it clean open, he ends up making a huge splintery hole. "I've got this." Matt breaks down the already weakened door with a few loud chops of the axe, and all the while they hear something moving in the dark room frantically. As Fred shoulders open the splintered door, somebody in the room screams and he is promptly hit in the face with a textbook. "OW! WHAT THE ♥♥♥♥?!" he yells, recoiling from the impact, his nose shattered and bleeding. "Who the hell are you?! Stay back! I've got a gun!" Matt and Fred quickly identify the speaker as a girl, about their own age, visibly shaking and sitting on her bed, pointing a small 9 mil at them. Matt jumps ahead of Fred, letting his fire axe drop a little as he says, "Whoa, calm down! We're not psychos or anything, we're students here. Seriously. We were going around looking for supplies and other students. C'mon, put the gun down..." After looking at the two of them, she relents and starts lowering the weapon, taking a few shaky breaths. "Oh my god, that was about the scariest moment of my life... I thought you were looters or one of those freaks." she says, putting the gun down and standing up. "I'm Chelsea, by the way." "Matt, and my friend over here is Fred." Fred grunts as he tries to stop the blood flow from his nose with his sleeve. "Sorry about that," Chelsea says with a remorseful puppy-dog eye look at Fred. "Dun worry bout it..."
Bio
Male, 22, medium height, brown hair. Fairly athletic.
Weapons
M1 Carbine (25 rounds loaded / 50 spare rounds)
Trench Spike
Passive Abilities
Blades: +1 to melee attacks on zombies
Inventory
Large Backpack
Backpack
Conditions
Broken Nose - Pain (-1 to next roll)

Fred calls down the hall, "Ey, Matt! Back me up down here if you aren't busy. Something's off." Matt comes over, fire axe ready. "What's up?" he asks. "The door's locked and when I tried to open it, well, it doesn't feel right." "Alright then, I've got your back. Let's go." With a nod, Fred kicks the door, hard, near the knob, but instead of knocking it clean open, he ends up making a huge splintery hole. "I've got this." Matt breaks down the already weakened door with a few loud chops of the axe, and all the while they hear something moving in the dark room frantically. As Fred shoulders open the splintered door, somebody in the room screams and he is promptly hit in the face with a textbook. "OW! WHAT THE ♥♥♥♥?!" he yells, recoiling from the impact, his nose shattered and bleeding. "Who the hell are you?! Stay back! I've got a gun!" Matt and Fred quickly identify the speaker as a girl, about their own age, visibly shaking and sitting on her bed, pointing a small 9 mil at them. Matt jumps ahead of Fred, letting his fire axe drop a little as he says, "Whoa, calm down! We're not psychos or anything, we're students here. Seriously. We were going around looking for supplies and other students. C'mon, put the gun down..." After looking at the two of them, she relents and starts lowering the weapon, taking a few shaky breaths. "Oh my god, that was about the scariest moment of my life... I thought you were looters or one of those freaks." she says, putting the gun down and standing up. "I'm Chelsea, by the way." "Matt, and my friend over here is Fred." Fred grunts as he tries to stop the blood flow from his nose with his sleeve. "Sorry about that," Chelsea says with a remorseful puppy-dog eye look at Fred. "Dun worry bout it..."
Bio
Male, 23, medium height, thin and lean. Has medium-long brown hair, dark brown eyes, and pale skin. Wearing tennis shoes, jeans, a purple T-shirt, and a grey striped hoody.
Weapons
HK45 (10 loaded rounds / 159 spare rounds)
Fire Axe
Passive Abilities
Adrenaline Rush (Heightened reflexes and senses, slower time, greater strength and alertness when confronted with danger [IE: dire combat, mortal injury, perilous terrain] followed by weakened recovery period)
Inventory
Man-powered LED flashlight
Six-pack of beer
Conditions

Bio
Female, 20, about 5'6", lean, long sandy curly hair and bright blue eyes. Wearing a red hoodie and short cut-off jeans.
Weapons
9mm Pistol (12 rounds loaded / 12 spare rounds)
Condition
Healthy