User:ZombGG/The Great Scourgin Part VI

INTRO

The following is the sixth part of a personal account by Roftwood local ZombGG [1] about the final days of The Great Scourgin' of Roftwood, February 2018. Catch Parts I-V here!

PART SIX: THE FINAL CHAPTER

February 17, 2018

I am revived quickly at Turpin Road’s RP. Thanks to the efforts of MCDU, the Greenhow Building is operational and the NecroTech revivification syringes are being administered at great speed.

Western Roftwood is lit like a Christmas Tree. I contemplate the map and decide to scout the north eastern section of the suburb.

The Copeland Building strikes me as a great place to establish! It rests outside The Scourge-dominated Hildebrand Mall and it’s perilous immediate area. This spot is connected to 2 factories, an auto repair shop, AND the often-overlooked Pratley Road Police Department.

I see an oil empire in the making! Securing this section for my beloved Roftwood will insure the west stays lit. The factories and auto repair shop will introduce fuel cans, toolboxs, and much desired portable generators to our war effort!

Eagerly, I propose a fresh operation at the Roftwood Coordination Center, cleverly coined “Operation Oil Empire”. Volunteers rally to my idea, but many (myself including) are still trying to recover our HP and AP. FAKs and a safe spot to sleep are incredibly difficult to come by in Roftwood.

I set out to gather intel for the op. In my path along the suburb’s northern border, I come across the treasured St. Ethelbert's Hospital (Roftwood). The Scourge will not allow us into Eligius General Hospital, Perhaps St. Ethelbert’s could be something worth investing into later… Four feral zombies seem significantly easier to deal with than those hyper lethal zombies from The Scourge. Maybe this is our answer to resupplying our faction with FAKs...

Alas, I make it to the Copeland Building and rendezvous with my esteemed friend lostfire[2], head administrator of the Malton Medical Staff. Apparently great minds think alike because also here is Asa Coon[3] of the famed Malton Rangers. His presence here confirms this spot is definately of high strategic importance.

Another interesting piece of intel is Pratley Road Police Department has power and maximum barricades, but is inaccessible via free running because it is ruined inside. This unusual phenomenon is called a pinata.

Fascination consumes my mind :0

I refer to the Urban Dead wiki for greater insight into this affair. I am awestruck upon learning the process for creating a “pinata” -

To be created, all that is required is a zombie (with the ransack skill) in a building which has been heavily barricaded. A common method to achieving this is a trans-mortal tactic referred to as parachuting, which involves an infected survivor dying in the targeted building after Free Running past the barricades. Another common method is to have a survivor kill another survivors (often usually of the same group) but failing to dump the body outside afterwards. More rarely, a piñata can be accidentally brought about by a well-intentioned survivor heavily barricading a location after zombies have entered but before they have ransacked the location, and then leaving as there cannot be any standing survivors present to ransack the building. Occasionally it is actually possible to end up with a piñata containing survivors by ruining the heavily barricaded location with a revivifying body or an idled survivor inside.

This tactic reflects some serious high-level zombie play and immediately the operation zone risk is increased from moderate to dangerous :C

My last operation to restore Dempsey Grove Police Department was murdered in its infancy because of my decision to sleep inside a building deemed dangerously risky by RCC members. My bravado got the best of me. The Scourge struck us immediately and had slaughtered everyone before breakfast. My ego was shattered and my military record forever black marked. Wishing not to repeat this mistake, I propose an alternate “Plan B” for Operation Oil Empire -

Fearful of that pinata, the decision is made, Plan B. With very little AP left, I enter the base of operations for Plan B, St. Arnold's Church (Roftwood). Roftwood local Brickbat Bob[4] and my “Roftwood Elite” brother-in-arms, Doc Spalding[5] are quartered with me.

All seemed well, until the clock struck midnight.

Doc Spalding has the only living account of what happened then, a dark event referred to as the “St. Arnold’s Church (Roftwood) Midnight Massacre” -

I am dumbfounded. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT when Doc Spalding and I sought shelter in the factory 1NE of this exact church >:C

Find that account here in The Great Scourgin: February 16, 2018.

Vyol[6], an agent of the infamous Scourge, enters St. Arnold's Church (Roftwood), and destroys our generator.

Vyol’s presence is just like the “Ice Cream Man” in that 2010 film “Legion”[7]. He rolls up on us in our hideout, creeps us out wicked by killing our lights, and then is quickly followed by absolute hell-on-earth as a Scourge raiding party busts into the church, biting and clawing Brickbat Bob and I to death X_X

Doc Spalding was able to flee, but I am a wreck, both emotionally and physically. I have again made a poor judgement call that resulted in another black mark on my military record, my own death, and the death of my good friend and ally Brickbat Bob.

Again, I am painfully reminded about not sleeping in powered buildings. I thought those ENVY folks were crazy when RCC reports showed GKing inside Roftwood by ENVY hands. They firmly claimed dark buildings were safer than lit buildings. I stubbornly ignored their wisdom and have repeatedly paid the price in blood. Now I see method where I once saw madness...

February 18, 2018

Today is spent patching up. I got revived over at Turpin Road in the healthy western half of Roftwood and made my way straight to St. Ethelbert's Hospital (Roftwood) to test my luck with RNG (Old Testament).

Inside, I find another agent of The Scourge, Ted ‘Cruz[8]

I report this intel to the Roftwood Coordination Center and continue my customary searching rites inside the shadowy hospital. To my good fortune, RNG graced me with enough FAKs to get myself mostly patched all the way up.

As I tended my physical wounds, I addressed my emotional state. I wept. Before you judge me, ask yourself, who can fathom the depths of another man’s heart?

My love and passion for my home suburb of Roftwood is so great. I pour my soul into the security of its borders and the safety of its populace. Every plan I design is torn to shreds by the teeth and claws of The Scourge. I cannot manifest my heart’s desire into reality. For weeks I have stuck my nose to the grindstone and pushed and pushed and pushed for ANY sort of substantial progress against this zombie group. For weeks these Scourge have not budged.

Defeat has dawned in my heart. There is nothing I can do but weather this storm. I am simply not enough to impact the gravity of this situation.

The remainder of the day is spent sulking in the shadows of St. Ethelbert's Hospital (Roftwood), lazily awaiting a death cultist-like PKing from Ted ‘Cruz.

February 19, 2018

To my astonishment, I awake alive..? No Scourge at my bedside, no death-cultist PKing, just a … normal morning.. ?

After a good nights rest, I am no longer in a depressed state. I awake with a newfound understanding for my role in this game. I am Roftwood’s patriot. I rank among the Roftwood Elite. My essence is forever fused to this suburb. Through the good, the bad, and the ugly, I will be here with my head held high and my chest stuck out, forever battling for a brighter, safer Roftwood.

Roftwood, you are what makes it worth it for me to go on, to kill zombies wherever they haunt your ground! And you are what makes it worth it for me to die! To die truly unwavering for Roftwood is a death most magnificent!

I arise, a new man. I arise, a new warrior, and I tune to 26.03

The radio quickly informs me of the latest local news -

A quick reference to the Urban Dead wiki confirms the carnage. The Scourge have claimed Woodroffe Mall[9] meaning they are a full suburb away from my beloved Roftwood!

This news hits me bittersweetly. I feel for our southern neighbors in Tollyton, but I am relieved to be at least momentarily free from those monsters.

I charge straight into that damned pinata of a police department at Pratley Road. I smash those barricades down to very strongly, repair the building, and stuff my inventory with pistols, shotguns, and all the ammo I can carry.

The Scourge may be gone for now, but Roftwood’s streets are still swarming with brain-rotten feral zombies. The time to take back what’s ours is NOW!!!

SUMMARY

In this final chapter, I rally RCC support and initiate Operation Oil Empire, centered at the Copeland Building. The plan was to secure fuel and portable generators to support MCDU efforts in the lively northwestern quadrant of Roftwood. I stumble across my first pinata and fearfully relocate the operation to base from St. Arnold's Church (Roftwood). Ignoring the advice and tactics of ENVY, I issue a generator fueled inside and a few of us sleep. The Scourge massacre my operation in the middle of the night and I experience a paradigm shift while licking my wounds inside the shadows of St. Ethelbert's Hospital (Roftwood). Finally, the radio alerts that The Scourge have moved to graze on greener pastures / survivors (RIP Woodroffe Mall T_T ) and I smash into that pinata and reclaim Pratley Road Police Department for the survivor cause.

The fight to reclaim Roftwood and liberate Hildebrand Mall is now.

Be sure to catch my next series in ZombGG's Journal, coming soon!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

At last, I would like to pay my respects to The Scourge for their utter and complete victory in Roftwood. My heart was torn to shreds by your claws and teeth on multiple occasions. A few times I was completely ran out of Roftwood.

But as dark as things were, your ruin also bore creation. The Roftwood Coordination Center has never been tighter thanks to you! Your intense fire through Roftwood was the catalyst necessary to forge the great bonds of friendship that many of us in the RCC still hold and honor today.

Personally, you have taught me the power of striking together. The sheer force of your X:00 was like witnessing a live musical orchestration. You have crafted me into the warrior I am today, perhaps overzealous, but never wavering, eternally ready to welcome a death most magnificent for my dear Roftwood.

Shout out to Bob Moncrief for teaching me the basics of wiki editing!

Shout out to Stelar for the great fight and story fodder! I hope I immortalized our tale in good light for both our factions! Also, thanks for your kind words throughout the series :)

Shout out to AudioAttack for the support and being a straight up cool person!

BIG TIME LOVE to my powerful friend and ally Lostfire for keeping my head straight through all this! You are a MVP in the RCC and in my life :)

Shout out to Murderess for sharing your tactics and insights with me. I have learned a lot from you during this time. It is unfortunate our communities are currently in a falling-out, but do know I like you as a person and I hope we can maintain the personal friendship we forged during this time ^_^

A huge thanks to everyone in the Roftwood Coordination Center! Thank you Malton Medical Staff, Malton Civil Defense Unit, ENVY, Malton Rangers and The Scourge for all coming together to make this game and story hella great!