Zombie Rampage: A Riot Quest

The severity of the pandemic had been obfuscated by media blackouts in the first two weeks. Valley City continued about its regular daily routines until the Mayor, Martin Miller called a townhall wherein any permanent inhabitant of Valley City could attend on September 5th. The meeting was held at the local community center and attracted hundreds of people who by this time were growing nervous about what was happening in the major cities. There had already been daily flyovers of military aircraft and the sudden arrival of FEMA medical equipment, a large food convoy, and national guard troops into Downtown.

For the people of Valley City, the presence of military troops caused the most anxiety, they knew there were some rioting and protests happening in other parts of the country but their home was generally quiet and peaceful. It was strange for the National Guard to have been deployed before any such violence had occurred. They knew there was some kind of new virus breaking out but seeing truckloads of food and medical equipment cross the Albert Kingsley Bridge toward Mavericks Stadium was disturbing.

The townhall opened its doors at 7 PM and three hundred concerned citizens flowed into the Valley City Community Center. There were only enough seats for two hundred and so many stood. Outside there were two thousand people waiting to hear the news of what the hell was actually happening to their beloved community. At 8 PM, the mayor and city council along with Police Chief Al Doyle, Fire Chief Jim Hurst, Dr William Sipps who served as Director of Valley City General Hospital, and a gray haired man wearing military fatigues took their seats on stage.

Mayor Martin Miller approached the podium and began to speak, the crowd quieted, "Thank you for attending this unscheduled townhall meeting. I know that you are all quite worried about recent events and I am here to clarify those events as well as detail our plan to protect Valley City from the emergent pandemic."

"As you have no doubt witnessed on the news and social media, there has been an outbreak of a new virus which has reached the United States. I was contacted several days ago by a FEMA coordinator to develop a plan for Valley City to ensure the safety and health of its inhabitants."

"The arrival of unperishable food and medical equipment to establish a field hospital at Mavericks Stadium is part of that plan. Recent rioting in Portland as well as other major US cities prompted the Oregon National Guard to provide our community with a small detachment of troops from nearby Fort Bryanson. As you can see, Colonel Daniel Porter, is in attendence tonight as he wants to calm any worries you may have about the safety of yourselves and your children."

"Furthermore, the people you see on stage have been organized into what we're calling an Emergency Disaster Team, fully capable of handling any emergency in my opinion. After meeting together, the emergency team has decided to pass the following ordinances."


[] The city will be under curfew from 7 PM to 7 AM. Only essential employees will be permitted to travel to and from work. [+1 Civil Unrest, + 1 Secure for every Ward]

[] Any suspected illnesses must be reported to local authorities immediately. That individual must arrive for testing at Mavericks Stadium or Valley City General Hospital. [+2 Civil Unrest, -1 Medical System OpCap]

[] At Midnight, September 7th, a program of rationing will begin in anticipation of possible but unlikely supply chain issues. [+3 Food Supply, +3 Gas/Diesel Supply, +2 Civil Unrest]

[] Suspension of Habeas Corpus, any persons arrested during this time of emergency shall be held indefinately, without trial until the crisis is declared over by the Governor of Oregon. [+5 Civil Unrest, +3 Secure points for all wards]

"The declaration of these ordinances caused an uproar from some in the crowd. Martin Miller was not especially liked by Valley City conservatives who chanted "Fake News!" for awhile. Liberals on the otherhand were mostly concerned about their property values, they had fought so long and hard to keep a homeless shelter from being built in Roselyn, now this!"


Two days following the townhall meeting, large groups of conservatives assembled downtown to protest the city ordinances. Many were MAGA supporters calling the pandemic, "fake news" or "not that bad", they claimed that Antifa were to blame for the rioting that had broken out in Portland, Oregon the previous night. Likewise, liberal groups arrived to support the measures adopted by Valley City's city government. They smugly dismissed the conservatives as "dumb hillbillies" and "deplorables".

Fighting broken out between opposing groups at around 1 PM and local police dressed in riot gear began to engage with both crowds. The Valley City Police Department tended to protect conservative demonstrators as its ranks had been swelled with right-wing recruits under Police Chief Al Doyle's tenure. Despite some pushback by the police riot squads, the protests continued unabated and local anarchists managed to set fire to the Wendys on 8th Avenue as well as several downtown businesses known to have posted, "Nobody Wants to Work" signs in their windows.

As tear gas and smoke blanketed the downtown square a muscular tattooed man wearing his Outlaws biker vest rode his motorcycle through downtown. He had made the long journey from Los Angeles to visit his ailing mother and was trying to find a clear path to Pleasant Hill. His mother had been diagnosed with lung cancer after years of smoking and was expected to die within the next few days. The biker had started feeling under the weather after stopping at a gas station in Redding, California but he was tough and was determined to make it to Valley City to see his dying mother.

He wore a bandana to filter the air which coincedentally had the anarchy symbol on it. While paddling his motorcycle through, a police officer noticed the bandana and promptly knocked him off his bike. Two other cops ran to support their fellow officer and the biker was arrested. Subsequently he would be left in a paddy wagon with five other protestors for several hours while the SARNED virus multiplied in his system. When he was finally taken to the city's jail he was unconcious, police officers thought he was passed out drunk or high on opioids.

They threw him in a holding cell and eventually called paramedics who arrived half an hour later. When they arrived they entered the cell and immediately recognized the black buboes of the new virus and immediately called the military hotline they had been given. Unfortunately for the paramedics, two police officers, and biker, they NG team would arrive too late. After examining the scene, it was determined that the biker had turned into a zombie right after the paramedics arrived and had attacked both of them. The biker then left through the open cell door and took out two police officers seemingly by surprise.

When Colonel Porter was informed of the incident, he followed protocol by keeping the police department quiet through veiled threats of detention and violence. He dispatched multiple squads to search for the missing biker and ordered the bodies of the deceased to be sent to their HQ for testing. Captain Felix Goodman, the NG's second-in-command at Valley City asked his superior, "Do you think they'll reanimate, Sir?"

[+15 Infected] [NG Squads deployed in search of escaped zombie]


There wasn't an an ordinance closing down public schools but student attendance dwindled to 25% after the mayor's townhall meeting. It wasn't just local events that spooked parents but the news pouring into their living rooms. There was uncontrolled rioting and looting in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, among other major cities including Portland, Oregon. The media was barely towing the government line, linking the viral outbreak with recent upticks in violence but stopping short of telling the full truth.

Footage showed national guard columns entering New York City on September 9th by request of New York's governor to "restore order by any means necessary". Active Duty forces were organizing around major installations and facilities, preparing to support quarantine efforts already being executed by the NG. On television and radio, President Biden gave his first speech regarding the pandemic.

"My fellow Americans, three weeks ago, virologists from our own nation and Europe detected a new virus spreading rapidly across the world. Initially we believed this virus to be a new strain of COVID and implemented the appropriate measures to contain its spread. However it appears that the contageon is something different. I have authorized by my power as Commander-In-Chief the full mobilization of active duty, national guard, and reservist personnel to help our nation in this time of emergency."

"Already national guard units have entered our beloved cities to help maintain order and provide security for medical professionals who once again stand on the front line against a deadly disease. As the virus is not airborne, I have not yet decided to place the country on lockdown, after conducting a meeting with my cabinet, it was agree upon that the economy must continue functioning. However state and local authorities may feel it prudent to maintain a curfew along with other emergency measures they find suitable. "

"We have received news from...."

Throughout Valley City, people are out at bars, clubs, and particular a warehouse where a popular local DJ has organized an End of the World party. It's a strange mood in the city, people have yet been able to decide what is real or not, many of them are in denial while others are fearing another lockdown and want to get out of their homes before the cage is shut on them once again. The police have come out in full force with their riot gear but there's simply too many people out drinking and protesting to control the situation.

At an abandoned warehouse in South Valley, more than one thousand people gather. A beat pulsates across the chilly autumn evening. Only adults over the age of 21 are allowed but a few teenagers manage to sneak around. There are many intoxicated people, stumbling around or passed out, the lights and pyrotechnics obscures the lower parking lot from the warehouse and vice versa. Close to 11 PM, the police feeling helpless about being unable to control the downtown scene, approach the party with police cruisers, paddy wagons, and trucks carrying riot squads.

However the crowd refused to disperse and soon there is a pitched battle. Tear gas and rubber bullets are sprayed into the partygoers. For 30 minutes there's a back and forth until the commanding officer, a right-wing proud boy, orders his forces to open fire with live ammunition. The crowd disperses in a panic as teenagers and adults alike fall to the ground dead and wounded. After several minutes, the gunfire dies down. There's still a pulsating beat as the DJ had kept the music playing but underneath were the groans of the dying and the laughter of the police officers.

In a secluded forested area behind the warehouse, a zombie wearing an Outlaws biker gang vest is feasting on a chunk of thigh. The wounded man laying behind him is convulsing, the final stage before pure homicidal mania. Did you make it to the party?

[] Yes [roll your Survival dice, DR 3, if you roll under you are wounded, over you're health and got away from the cops, a 1 is a fumble and means you died. You may create another character if you died.]

[] No [whoever doesn't vote or say Yes will be put into a pot and be randomly selected to have a zombie encounter]

[+3 Civil Unrest]

*Note: I will update Player Characters soon. The players that received an extra d6 Survival die from the last vote is DiscordOxymoron, Digmata, Kingster, Jack727, tcvmx.