Siege of Ackland Mall

As a part of the Mall Tour '06, Ackland Mall was under attack by a group of Zombies from the 8th till the 29th of January. Unlike other Malls, the survivors decided to make a stand. Both humans and zombies did rally to the mall to join what might have been the most contested part of Malton for nearly a month. The siege end with a Zombie victory in the early morning hours of January 29th.

More plastic trees to the front!

Zombie Count

Current count at 18:18 GMT, Jan 28th:

NW: 398 (?? bodies) | NE: 38 (?? bodies)

SW: 10 (?? bodies) | SE: 38 (?? bodies)

History

• January 8th: The siege starts with a horde of zombies descending onto Havercroft. Moseley and Yapp Police departments are among the first to fall as mobs move in from RidleyBank. There are some zombies in the area, but any that approach the mall are quickly cleared by patrolling zombie hunters.

• January 11th: Martha and Ephrem Hospitals to the north of are attacked because of their roles as free-running entrances and safehouses for low levels. While Martha manages to hold, Ephrem is cracked and its inhabitants slaughtered or forced to flee to the mall proper. Zombie hunters continually cleared out the hospitals of zombies until the numbers at the mall became a serious threat.

• January 14th: The mall itself is under heavy attack, most notably the NW courner with 100+ deaders standing outside. However the mall defense is organised now, with the survivors recieving substantial reinforcements from the surrounding buildings as well as expeditionary forces from Caiger Mall.

• January 15th: The seige is looking like it's starting to die out little by little. Survivor numbers inside the mall remain strong, while the zombie ranks seem to be growing thinner. The NE and SW corners are now completely devoid of zombie presence, and the SE has just 3 active. The NW remains the hotspot, with about 150 Zombies outside. Despite the increase in numbers in this section, the fact that the overall population of zombies on the mall has dropped by about 40 is encouraging.

• January 16th: Action is still tough in the NW courner, with reoccuring medium sized incursions happening reguarly, but being repelled by the survivors. Survivors begin making syringe runs to nearby necrotech buildings. Current estimates place 198 zombies immediately outside the NW corner of the mall while defenders notch up their numbers accordingly with larger numbers of survivors in adjacent blocks monitoring their own squares or resting outside of the main drive until they're ready to take their turn on the perimeter.

• January 17th: During the night, the NorthWest corner of the mall remains under heavy attack for several hours. Some brave survivors have helped keep the barricades up, while others take their rest over the night. Morale is high, the zombies will be held at bay. More survivors arrive in the mall to strengthen the defenses by the hour.

• January 18th: Even more reinforcements arrive, while the Zombies (still concentrated outside NW courner) are beginning to dwindle in numbers. The survivors are in good spirits.

• January 19th: A suprise attack during the night succeeded in breaching the barricades. Several Zombies made it inside. However, survivors, woken up by the horrible smell, fought them back and restored the barricades before further harm could be done.

• January 20th: The Pwotters zombie horde, having eaten nearly all survivors in their local haunts, have decided to shamble into the Havercroft area. The Humans spend the day repelling the Zombie incursions.

• January 21th: Throughout the day, there have been several breaches of the barricades. The survivors are rebuilding them as fast as they can, but the zombies have made it through several times.

• January 22nd: The Siege continues, and zombie breaches are becoming more and more common. The surivors inside Ackland Mall establish the policy, 'cade first, then heal, kill last, for when dealing with breaches in the barricade.

• January 23rd: The siege is getting critical, with 300+ zombies in the NW, and incursions are an often occurence. However, any zombies find themselves trapped in crossfire as soon as they enter, and the holes in the barricades are repaired as soon as they are created.

• January 25th: Two days have passed since the arrival of the Pwotters swelled the Zombie ranks, but the horde is still being repelled. Some survivors are contemplating an offensive, while others preach the wisdom of "Barricade, heal, kill, dump". The mall is under siege for 2 weeks now.

• January 28th: The number of zombies surrounding Ackland Mall reach above 400 as the first members of the Mall Tour arrive. Spirits amongst the survivors are still high.

• January 29th: After a restless night the barricades are up, but about 80 zeds are still in the mall. However, this rebarricade was too little, too late, and by 1730 GMT the Mall was devoid of survivors. As the Mall Tour begins to move on towards Caiger, the few survivors of Ackland are running to keep ahead of it, and bolster the already impressive numbers amassed there...

The siege is over! The Zombies have won. After a 3 week struggle, the the barricades are breached one last time and the survivors abandon the stores and corridors they have defended for so long. Some scatter to the surrounding save houses, some die in their sleep, but more still make their way to Caiger Mall, where the final stand of Mankind vs Zombiedom will be made.

Special acknowledgement goes to all the feral players, both dead and alive. Seldom has a siege been so professional and fun without a large presence of groups.

Designated revive spot

The wasteland at (31,44), one west of the NW courner of the mall.

Note that there are several rotters blocking the revive spot. Checking the near by NT buildings is suggested.

Groups taking part in the Siege

Both sides consist mainly of ungrouped feral players. Nonetheless, both attackers and defenders seem to be well coordinated.

Humans

• Caiger Mall Survivors: A part of the Caiger Mall Survivors got bored with waiting for the Mall Tour to arrive and decided to help Ackland Mall during the warm up.

The spirit of Caiger Mall is alive where ever humans decide to stand and fight.

• Mall Security: A new group formed in response to the Mall Tour '06. All members (such as they are) currently based in and around Ackland.

• Rolls Cinema Survivors: The Rolls Cinema Survivors have been operating in and around the mall, keeping Ephrem Hospital open for business and supporting the Mall's barricades.

• The Cannonball Crew: The Cannonball Crew was fighting the wave of zombies heading west from Barrville. Although they slowly lost ground, they are now based at the mall, helping the other survivors defend the area.

• The AMDF: The AMDF has begun to send an expeditionary force to the area around the mall in an attempt to help resist the incursions as well as any other needed jobs.

• Galbraith Hills Defence Union: A part of the Galbraith Hills Defence Union has been helping out at the Mall and more are expected to arrive once preparations are complete.

• The Chi Vai Hunters: Majority of the Hunters came to Ackland Mall when they heard that Chi Vais were found inside the mall. With them are some axes, syringes, FAKs and ammos to aid the said mall.

• The GolemLabs Centurions: When Centurion SpitfireMkV reported that Ackland Mall was under siege, Admiral (self-proclaimed) Ryan Wilson led his clan to the battle, in the hopes of furthering the human cause, and making the zombie crybabies cry even harder about how unfair life is.

• The Havercroft Survivors: The HS have been here from the word go. We currently have several members in and around the mall helping with heals and barricades while others are keeping off-site survivors from being mauled by the horde(s).

• A portion of the MFD firefighters from NW-5 are assisting in the siege.

• The SHC Some of the SHC have gone up to caiger, the rest remain at Ackland, helping to rebuild the mall and clear the area of zombies.

• The 9th Air Force has comitted their whole orginization to assisting in breaking the Seige of Ackland Mall.

Zombies

• The Pwotters horde, after a brief feast in the west of Galbraith Hills, are attracted by screams and Feeding Groans emanating from over the border in Havercroft, and are properlly followed by a group of the Predators, who look upon the Pwotters as Gods. They are assisted in their demonstration by strong solidarity from Ars Requiem, Zombie Inc, and ferals. The angry mob quickly turns the brujaja into a protest against mall apartheid, with zmobies desperate to get inside to make a stand against living-segregated malls. A harman is heard yelling "Zombies-only sections are at the exterior of the mall" shortly before having his face eaten off by a member of the living dead in a cowboy suit.

Ruining of Pwotters recently issued a formal press statement regarding Ackland Mall. Standing before a gathered crowd of undead, he said, "We're not that worked up over it." He then proceeded to take a bite out of an arm before shambling back into the masses.

• The arrival of the vanguard of the Mall Tour '06 was enough to swing the balance of the siege in a definite undead direction, building on the outstanding work of the Pwotters to make one final, definitive break-in that sealed the Mall's fate.

Side Notes

• Fuel Cans: We need more fuel cans in order to keep the cell phone mast up, to help stay organized. If anyone is in the area with a few spare cans, stop buy and refuel the generator in the North East corner of the mall.