Zombies & the Turner Thesis

Hello all,

 

This post is going to divert from the usual ATZ game…though it’s been on hiatus while my Victorious Kickstarter was plugging along. This is more about the idea of zombie apocalypses (ZA) and their fascination to Americans.

 

What first got me interested in this idea was a comment made on the “Watching Dead” Podcast (baldmove.com) where the hosts compared the shooting and camerawork of the series The Walking Dead (TWD) to a western cowboy-style show. This connected with me, and I wondered why that was. After all, other than gunplay it didn’t seem to have much similarity on the surface.

 

Then (as I’m a historian) I thought of the 1893 Turner Thesis. In essence this lamented the fact that by 1893 the “Frontier” of the United States no longer existed. Turner was concerned at this because he believed that American culture was shaped by the idea of a frontier. A place where people who failed or had trouble in one place could simply go to the frontier and ‘remake’ themselves and their lives. This created the American ideal of self-made (wo)men and hard work leads to success. In short, overcoming obstacles was a character building exercise.

 

Then it occurred to me, isn’t that exactly what a post-ZA world is? A frontier of danger and opportunities all around you? Civilization is limited to small communities constantly under threat by outlaw humans and ‘natives’ (ie zombies)? A place where people can remake themselves for good or ill? Thinking about each of the main characters in TWD (TV)…each one of them has changed and grown as people. A few went bad to be sure, but they either died because of their bad choices (Shane) or recovered a sense of humanity to become overall better people (Rick, Daryl,…arguably Carol).

 

Anyway, it seems fascinating to consider. Please feel free to post opinions!

 

Zombie Chow

 

At the Clinic

 

The spattered man in the coat blinks at Connor, then sighs and comes over to the driver’s side of the cruiser. “Damn…” the medical staffer says. “I was hoping you were police reinforcements. Do you guys have any idea of the night we’ve been having?”

 

Matt slides across the seat and opens the rear doors. The man leans in and helps the officer out of the back. The officer seems disoriented, but then fixes his gaze on Connor. With a weak flip of his cuffed hands, he mumbles “My….daughter. At home…address on keychain….check on her.”

 

With that he falls unconscious again and it takes both Connor and the medic to carry him into the clinic.

 

Inside the stark lighting reveals chaos in motion. Moaning patients on gurneys, sitting in a waiting area with bandages, and several clinic staff rushing around trying to see to as many patients as possible. The medic gestures Connor to a curtained off side room and they set the officer onto the rumpled and bloody gurney set up within. The whole place is a cacophony of moans and shouts….then there is a piercing scream!

 

ZC

 

 

Highway to Hell!

 

“Damn, I feel like I’m in a buddy cop movie.”

 

Matt wasn’t thrilled with having to sit in the front seat of the police car, sandwiched between the brothers Connor and Chance, but from what that list from the CDC said it beat getting infected. The cop in the back seat was still unconscious and despite CJ’s best attempts couldn’t be roused. His bitten arm had been bandaged but that was all they could do.

 

Matt glanced down at the policeman’s belt in his lap. He’d holstered the cop’s pistol he’d grabbed off the street back near the hotel, but he still felt awkward in putting the belt on. It felt to him that if he did that, he’d take an irreversible step in this crisis. Almost as if by that act it would make the night’s horrors a grim reality.

 

“Hey!” Connor’d been flipping through the police radio and caught what sounded like an announcement. All three listened as a mechanical voice stated:

 

“…The Tyson City airport has been closed. All first responders are encouraged to maintain distance from infected individuals. Do not bring any injured to the East Texas Central Medical Center, as the riots there are still ongoing. Contact TCCM for additional advisories.”

 

The message continued on a loop, with uncertainty growing among the trio. Chance had found a brief hotspot and used his smart phone to find GPS directions to a nearby clinic just two blocks down, one block over. Unfortunately the signal had been lost immediately afterwards.

Curiously there are only a few cars on the road, though there seems to be more pedestrian traffic than expected this late at night.

 

Your moves, gents!

 

Zombie Chow

 

Turn 14: Up and Away

 

Stars: 6

Police: 2

Zombies: 1

Tiger: 4

 

Stars don’t activate, but I use the Final Fade-Out rule that cars running still move even if the driver doesn’t activate. After all, you’re driving at full move so you wouldn’t suddenly hover in place just because you didn’t make the roll.

The tiger goes first, attacking another zombie. Zombie loses (it’s a tiger after all!) and is Out of the Fight, which means Obviously Dead. The zombies go into melee on the tiger in return…leaving the tiger battered but victorious!

The remaining policeman takes a “Leader Lost” roll to reflect the cruiser taking off, and falls back to the convention center. He fires at the zombie nearest and misses.

Zombies converge on the cop except for the one on the highway, which follows in the cruiser’s wake. Curiously no zombies are generated this turn, neither the shot nor the car engine causes enough noise.

Our Stars saunter off the board edge, and this game ends.

So, you’ve got a police car, a shotgun, a truncheon, a pistol with ammo… Where do you guys go next?

 

Zombie Chow

 

Turn 12: Bugout?

Matt doesn’t reply at first to Connor’s query, showing the bleeding police officer into the car by main strength. He falls into the back seat as well, only then replying.

“I dunno. But we need to get outta here. This cop needs a doctor. Other than you two.” Matt’s eyes are drawn to the oncoming creatures, as if mesmerized by the danger. He blinks, then continues. “I don’t know WHAT the hell’s up with that cougar over there, but it looks like more of those rioters care trying to get past it. Let’s just go north. At least there the power’s still up.”

His last words are drowned out by the continuing gunfire of the younger cop, seeming determined to shoot every weirdo coming down the street. ‘Looks like both that cop and the kitty over there as lost it.’ Matt thought frantically. Will they be next?

The cop in the back seat seemed to have passed out, and Matt quietly retrieved the policeman’s pistol and spare magazines.

 

*          *            *

 

Turn 12

 

Stars: 3

Police: 1

Zombies: 6

Tiger:  5

 

The Tiger, Stars and cop activate, zombies do not.

The Tiger attacks one of the zombies following it, and gets 2 successes over it resulting in that Zombie being Obviously Dead.

Stars move as noted earlier. Connor jumps into the driver’s seat of the police cruiser, with CJ jumping in to ride…er…”shotgun.” ;)  Matt is already helping the injured cop into the back seat so will pile in as well.

What about the other cop? As CJ is nearest to him this will be a Rally check to get him into the car. CJ rolls 2 successes, but the cop gets 4! He ignores CJ’s pleas and keeps firing at the oncoming zombies. His two shots result in a miss and an Obviously Dead result, dropping one of the oncoming hordes.

What to do? Do you leave the cop, or try again to encourage him to see sense?

Zombie Chow

Turn 10: "Whacha gonna do when they Come for You?"

*For last turn, gunshots generate no zombies.

 

 

Turn 10

 

 

Stars: 2

Police: 1

Zombies: 5

PEF: 2

 

 

The lone PEF gets no successes so doesn’t move from its place behind the retail shop.

Stars:

*Connor makes a in sight test to see the zombies moving east down the road towards them. He gets 3 successes, so sees the four moving towards them from the west (where car alarm and ambulance is).

 

*CJ makes a challenge test to see if the shotgun is in the front seat or in the trunk. As the police have been dealing with looters I’ll say only 2 successes are necessary for the shotgun to be there. CJ gets 3 successes, so surreptitiously snags the shotgun without either cop seeing him.

 

Matt moves towards the older cop to assist in melee.

 

Zombies do not activate.

 

Police go into melee with zombies.

 

Round 1

Rep 5 cop:3

Matt: 1 success

Zombie: 4 successes (2 on cop, 2 on Matt)

 

Round 2

Rep 5 cop:  1 success

Matt: 1 Success

Zombie: 3 successes (2 on cop, 1 on Matt)

 

Round 3

Rep 5 cop: 0 success

Matt: 1 success

Zombie:  1 success (on cop 2)

 

Round 4

Matt: 1 success

Zombie: 0 success

The Rep5 policeman is Out of the Fight, while the zombie is Obviously Dead.

 

Now: Cop 2!

 

Round 1

Rep 4 cop: 3 successes

Zombie: 2 successes

 

Round 2

Rep 4 cop:   3 successes

Zombie: 1 success

 

Round 3

Rep 4 cop:  1 success

Zombie: 1 success

 

Round 4

Rep 4 cop:  1 success

Zombie: 0 success

 

Zombie is killed

 

 

The Police car is left running so 3 zombies are generated. 2 from the west, 1 from the east, all 12” from the Stars.

 

***Random Event and fiction coming up!

 

Zombie Chow 

 

 

"Its not what you think...?"

Fast move

CJ: 1 success

Connor: 1 success

Matt: 2 successes

 

Using the ATZ: FFO Fast movement rules (which I like better than ATZ:BDTZ) both CJ and Connor move the 8” normal move +4” which equals 12” north. Matt with 2 successes could technically move 16” but doesn’t want to leave the group so will only move 12”.

 

Running straight north leads them right into PEF 2, which resolves as… Oh yay, a police car! Police are in a vehicle, and pass in sight test.

 

 

Meanwhile, what about that pesky car alarm?

 

The car alarm now generates zombies. As this is Day 1 of the outbreak, this urban area is treated as a suburban area (5 or 6 on d6) to generate new zombies. I roll and resolve 3 zombies that appear, one north, at 12:00, one southeast at 5:00, and the last at 6:00 south. They are placed 12” away from the noise that generated them (the car alarm) which means our heroes run right into the 12” zombie!

 

All zombies congregate on the car alarm as currently Stars are out of sight of any zombies. The two (5 and 6pm) zombies walk around the convention center and move west. The zombie walking north into section 4 turns around instead and heads south towards the car alarm. The two zombies in the street and the one on the west side of the center turn and congregate around the van; probably beating the hell out of it to get inside.

 

*          *            *

 

With Connor’s suggestion, the trio runs down the side of the street, northwards and hopefully to freedom. As they get nearer to the intersection suddenly a car’s headlights come on, and so do police lights and siren. A gruff voice over a PA system says “Hold it right there! Do not move!”

 

*          *            *

 

Now, we need to do a “Meet & Greet” for the police. Over to you folks!

 

Zombie Chow