Back at the base, the team rushes Rodney to the clinic, where Lara and the Army medic patch him up. While it is a very serious wound, they discover Rodney’s constitution is is tougher than they previously thought – apparently, those Norwegians are tough sonsabitches. Once the team is back, and know that Rodney will be OK, Tony and Teddy decide to head back to the gun store by themselves to dish out some revenge for their beloved teammate.

They are able to make it back with out incident and park behind the guns store and dismount for a stealthy approach. With the hopes that the hoard had done the shopkeepers in, they discover the bars on the doors and windows were working to good effect against the zombies – more undead bodies piled outside the store, cut down with ease with the firepower from within the store. Once again, acquiring a car mirror to tactically view into the store, they discover one of the workers behind the counter, with the other nowhere to be seen. Making an Annie Oakley trick shot using the mirror, Tony attracts the attention of the worker who proceeds to spray the window frame with lead while shouting out more hillbilly-like phrases and insults. Deciding to split up, Tony sneaks around to the opposite side of the store, where he passes by Rodney’s pool of blood. He is able to get the shop worker caught in a crossfire, only to be answered back in kind by the other hidden worker.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the store, without looking, Teddy sticks his pistol in the window and, like a highly trained Taliban fighter, takes blind pot-shots at the workers within, wreaking havoc on the ceiling and store shelves. Bursts of return fire answer teddy back and he is forced to duck back down under the window. Hearing Tony’s continued gun-play from the opposite side of the store, Teddy, in a flash of genius (or stupidity), grabs the closest dead body outside the window and props it up at the window as a decoy to distract the shop keepers. Teddy feels the thud of bullets as burst after burst impacts the dead body. This distraction allows Tony to catch one of the workers off-guard and he hits one of the workers in the arm, rendering it useless. This allows Tony some time to sneak around to the front doors only to discover that they are securely locked. To cover him, Teddy takes more blind shots with his pistol. Miraculously, he hits one of the workers, and hearing the screams of a son who has just lost his father, Teddy knows he’s killed one of them.

Finally getting the break he’s been looking for, Tony makes a dash for a car parked in the front parking lot and starts to hot-wire the car. Just as the car is started, Tony hears a hand-grenade explode inside the shop near Teddy’s position. Jamming the gearshift into drive and slamming his foot on the accelerator pedal, Tony rams the car into the front of the shop, smashing brick and metal to destroy the front of the store. He then quickly jumps out of the car and climbs on top of the store counter to see the young man with another grenade in his hand. Tony promptly shoots the man on the head and jumps down to secure the grenade before it can fall out of the man’s hand. Luckily, the pin wasn’t pulled.

Once the fight is over, Teddy and Tony discover a reinforced hideout in the back storeroom…

Once clear of the line of fire, the team takes quick stock of the situation, and then jumps into action. Rodney and Tony jump out of the Hummer and approach the side of the gun shop. Once they get to the shot-out side window, more small arms fire comes from within accompanied by a heavy southern accent bellowing “Git outta here!! You sonsabitches can’t git my GUNS!!” The team makes multiple attempts at peace with the shop owner, which are consistently answered with paranoid responses and bursts of gun fire.

Tony approaches the back of the gun shop to discover a thick, metal-plated door. He attempts to kick in the door, but soon realizes that his efforts are fruitless – it’s just too heavily built for a puny guy like Tony to have any effect. Teddy gets out of the Hummer and sidles up next to Rodney to help with the “negotiation”, which only ends up in more gun play. After a futile peace offering with a candy bar – Rodney decides to sneak around the building to the opposite side of the gun shop to get a better view of the store and the occupant within. Tony, recounting his old SWAT days, decides he needs a mirror to tactically “peek” in the shop windows without getting shot. He heads off to a side parking lot to wrestle a side mirror off of a parked car.

Meanwhile, while sneaking into a better position at the front of the store, Rodney is spotted by the shop owner and is critically hit in the neck by a burst of gunfire and, unknowingly to the rest of the team, starts to bleed out. Tony, after exerting some effort to tear off a car mirror, finally returns to the shop and slowly edges his mirror around the side of the store window. He barely gets a peek into the shop before a well aimed shot shatters the mirror out of is hand. More gunfire ensues and the team discovers that the shop owner is not alone, however, one of our brave team members is able to get a good burst in and hit one of the shop workers.

By now, all this gun play has attracted many infected to the shop. Noticing this and feeling a sense of dread concerning Rodney, Lera calls a retreat. Everyone (except Rodney) piles back into the Humvee and Lera drives around to the other side of the building to discover many undead closing in on a nearly unconscious Rodney at the front of the store, who is laying in a pool of blood and trying to staunch his neck wound. Lera hops out to pull Rodney into the truck while the others fend off the quickly approaching undead. In a hail of gunfire and zombie moans, the team is able to rescue Rodney and escape the general area. Once safe, they immediately stop and Lera uses her doctor skills to perform first aid on Rodney’s wounds. Once he is stable, they head back to base…

Early in the morning, our heroes are awakened by automatic weapons fire around the base. Running out to the airfield to investigate, they discover many dozens of zombies are attacking the fence line on the western perimeter of the base, where a dozen or so infected creatures have beached the barricades and are closing on the defenders. With the extra firepower of the team, the base is able to repel the attack and eliminate the threat. However, one of the sergeants tells the team that the number of zombies has been increasing over the last few days and worries if they will have enough firepower and ammunition to keep holding the zombies off.

After the attack, the team eats a nutritious breakfast of powdered eggs, burnt toast and orange Kool-aid. They then go discuss the day’s plans with Lt. Col. Baker. Col. Baker restates the need for weapons and ammunition, as well as all the other critical supplies, such as fuel. They discuss the possibility of a mission to an ammunition plant on the other side of Kansas City, but our group decides that before such an undertaking, they need to procure more weapons, and plan a short mission out to a nearby gun shop.

Heading out, they get to the neighborhood of the gun shop without incident, but are sidetracked by a home surrounded by dozens of infected. Assuming there are people in need, they attempt to lure the creatures away from the house with the Humvee driving around honking its horn while Rodney bails out of the Humvee and approaches the house from the rear. The diversion is semi-successful and the group is able to take out any remaining creatures around the house. The team discovers an over-zealous father protecting his family with a shotgun. Luckily, nobody gets hurt and they are able to rescue the family before any remaining creatures get too close.

With the Humvee now packed to the gills with people and luggage, the team swings by the gun shop to appraise the situation. While pulling up to the parking lot, they notice multiple bodies down outside the shop and in the parking lot. Just then, a long burst of automatic weapons fire pelts the Hummer and, thankfully, nobody in the truck is hurt. Lera, who’s driving, floors it and steers the Hummer out of the line of fire and around the side of the building…

On the return to base, the team scouts more of the area. In particular, Lera wants to investigate the nearby hospital. While passing by, they see that the parking lot is completely full with cars and “command” trailers from the local health and fire agencies. The team decides it is not worth the risk of investigating the hospital any further. Along on highway 71, they encounter a car surrounded by a dozen or so creatures. Drawing the creatures away and then swinging back around to the car, the team finds three people in the car; one dead, and two alive. The team rescues the two teenage boys from the car before the group of zombies can come back. With the Humvee crammed full of supplies and survivors, the group decides to head back to base.

Back on base, waiting for his friends to return, Teddy learns from the base commander that the group of reinforcements that the Army is expecting has been overrun and decimated by a mass zombie attack. With no reinforcements and limited supplies on hand, Col. Baker considers the situation dire and doubts the safety and longevity of the base. With the view that he now needs all able bodied men, and seeing what an asset the team has proved to be, he suggests that Teddy and his group to join the Army with battlefield commissions. He also stresses the need for more scouting missions for supplies, weapons and ammunition.

When the rest of the team returns, they learn what Teddy was told and decide to sleep on this new information…

With new marching orders, our heroes head back out to reconnoiter the local area. This time, Teddy stays behind while Lera goes along to help look for medical supplies. During their travels, the team notices many cars backed up on U.S. 71, going south (away from the city). While approaching the highway, they spot a sedan traveling north on 71, but the Humvee is too slow to catch up. Getting off the highway and taking a circuitous route around the safe zone to check out the area, the group encounters a frantic woman along the road with a broken down car – She and her two children were stuck trying to leave the city. While the Team takes the family back to the safety of the base, Tony attempts to woo the woman with his knowledge of Jewish catch phrases but she is too scared and frantic to catch what he’s pitching. If anything, she seems a bit turned off by the creepy guy talking in tongues.

Heading out yet again, Lera drives the Team to a nearby CVS pharmacy in order to scavenge medicine and first aid supplies. Pulling into the parking lot, they are immediately forced to confront two sick creatures. Lera runs the two creatures over with the Humvee and pins them beneath the vehicle while Rodney, Tony and Vince hop out and try to dispatch them quitely. After multiple failed attempts using blunt trauma, Rodney loses patience and kills one of the infected with his rifle. Lera then squashes the other’s head with the dreaded Humvee Tires of Death!™.

With the threat of undead eliminated from the parking lot, the Team heads around to the back door of the CVS and breaks in. The stock room is clear of threats, so our heroes move into the store itself, and immediately encounter multiple creatures. This time, Rodney dispenses with trying to help out the poor souls and instead follows Tony and Lera’s lead and immediately starts putting them out of their misery. After a close call with a younger looking creature, the group is able to take out all eight of the creatures. However, Rodney and Lera take some minor injuries in the process, luckily with only just some bruises – no bites.

With a mob of infected creatures attracted to the store by the moans of the undead within and the loud gunfire, our Team quickly scrambles to collect as much medicine, medical supplies and other supplies as quickly as possible before the store is overrun. They are able to escape without incident and leave the CVS with every nook and cranny of the Humvee stuffed with loot…

After clearing out the office space of the distribution center, the team investigates the interior doors leading to the warehouse itself. Hearing ominous noises on the other side of the doors, the team prudently decides to attempt entry into the warehouse from the outside. Moving out and around the building, Rodney is able to pry open an entry door at the loading docks. Once inside, the team discovers pallets of various goods ready to be loaded onto semi trailers. While the others stand guard, Teddy investigates the contents of the open semi trailers and Vince heads outside to check out a truck already hooked up to one of the loaded trailers. Rodney notices movement on the other side of the strip curtains separating the loading dock from the rest of the warehouse. With impending doom just a few feet away, the team decides that the unknowns in the warehouse are too much to handle for the moment and they leave with half-loaded semi truck and Humvee.

Meanwhile, back at the base, Lera works with the Army medic to investigate the base water supply. Discovering a water storage tank and pump system, they are able to flush out the years-old water and refill with fresh water to ensure weeks of drinkable water for the base.

Back out in the danger zone, Vince manages to get the semi stuck at a railroad crossing while heading back to base, however, the team is able to pull it free using the winch from the Humvee. Otherwise, the team is able to return to he safe zone without incident. Upon return they report to the base commander and tell him what they had encountered. The commander is grateful for their find and the truckload of supplies, but is disappointed that they had not ventured out very far – after all, this was supposed to be a reconnaissance mission for the general area and to secure a fuel supply for the base vehicles. He asks them to go back out and gather more information…

After talking with Col. Baker, the team decides they will assist the Army in reconnoitering the areas immediately around the base and look for needed supplies, especially fuel. For this mission, the colonel temporarily gives the team a HUMMWV and two weapons of their choice and points them in the direction of Belton, the town just outside the base. After looking over some local area maps and deciding on a route, the team heads out on their excursion. The scouting party consists of Tony, Teddy, Rodney and Vince. Lera, Ken and Gary decide to stay back on base for this mission, where Lera meets the base Medic, pools their medical supplies and consults with him on an ideal clinic setup and operation.

Out on the road, the recon team finds some random minor car accidents and a few pockets of “infected” activity, particularly around a “pre-fabricated” home development just a mile or two outside of the base. The team previously planned on the Quicktrip truck stop as their first destination. On their way there, with infected people in pursuit, Teddy makes a turn into a driveway, and while uttering a “fuck it…” under his breath, plows through a gate at the end of the parking lot. With a loud crash and scraping noises, the gate gets stuck under the Humvee and forces the team to stop and untangle the fencing from the vehicle’s undercarriage. Once free of the wreckage, the team discovers they are in the storage yard of an electrical utility company; one driveway too soon before their intended location. Instead of turning around, Teddy decides to crash through the fence line into the property of their intended destination. However, he is unable to thread the needle between huge spools of electrical wire and ends up blocking his path through the fence. With one last muttered curse, Teddy finally breaks through the back fence of the storage yard and is able to make his way over to the Quicktrip building, all the while dragging 25 feet of chain-link fence with him.

Now able to pull into the Quicktrip parking lot, they discover what their maps failed to tell them: this isn’t a truck stop, but a distribution center for the truck stop chain stores. The team decides to enter the building through the front lobby. With as much stealth as he can muster, Tony misjudges his strength and slams the front door open. The glass door shatters with a resounding crash, resulting in the moans of someone from within. Tony’s futile attempts at calming the infected person inside results in a one-sided firefight with three more infected office workers.

Once those are taken care of, the team moves down the the hallway to a door that reverberates with the thumping and scratching of someone (or something) on the other side. Blake and Teddy unlock the door (which was unlocked the whole time) using good old-fashioned firepower and blow the lock off the door. Once “unlocked” they try to push the door open with little result: someone (or something) seems to be blocking the door from the other side. The team decides that firepower has served them well so far, so they fire multiple bursts into the wood door, which disintegrates into a pile of splinters as four infected workers burst through the door, hungry and grasping for human flesh! The creatures are right on top of the team, but fortunately, our heroes are able to quickly dodge out of the way before anyone can be hurt. With a dramatic, shoot-with-dual-pistols-while-diving-backwards move, Tony takes out two of the creatures with headshots, which results in gore and brains splattered all over the hallway. The remaining two creatures are finished off, but not without a near-miss of crossfire from Tony…

… as Tony attempts his second takeoff, warning lights and horns blare once again, but this time, Tony realizes he forgot to switch on the fuel booster pumps and flips the proper switches before the chopper stalls out again. With this crisis resolved, Tony uses his superhuman flying skills to land the chopper a distant 100 yards away to where the fuel trucks are parked. Leaving the engines running (and rotor blades spinning) the team commences a “hot refuel”. While this is going on, Rodney and Lera discover another helicopter parked in a nearby hangar tent, this one with the universal red cross painted on the nose and sides. While awaiting the refuel to finish, Rodney and Lera are able to scavenge some medical supplies and tools from the medivac chopper. With the refueling operations complete, the team takes off with a full load of fuel and heads north towards the Kansas City safe zone.

En-route, Tony and Teddy are able to raise the Kansas City safe zone on the radio and are able to clear themselves for landing. The safe zone appears to be set up in part a deactivated air force base south of the city. The team is able to land their helicopter in the safe zone to the welcome sight of army soldiers pointing weapons at them. The team exits the chopper and is directed to state their identity and intentions. After a few tense and awkward moments involving Rodney’s misdirected military salute and Tony’s ambiguous overtures toward the camp commander, the group is escorted off to a nearby hangar for a mandatory strip search.

Cleared of any incriminating bites, marks or injuries, the team is welcomed into FOB Belton, the military designation for the safe zone south of Kansas City. They are quickly debriefed by the ranking officer of the base, Lt. Col. John Baker. Afterwards they are taken to a barracks area where they can sleep safely for the night.

The next morning, Col. Baker summons them back to his office to give them a more detailed breakdown of the current situation and also to ask for their assistance…

Back at the Springfield airport, Tony works on having another go at the helicopter sitting on the tarmac while the rest of the team works to unload the airliner.

During his stealth mission, Tony discovers this helicopter is part of an Army aviation maintenance company, but unfortunately this particular helicopter is out of commission due to missing critical parts. Deftly avoiding and sneaking by numerous infected in the area, Tony makes his way to the maintenance hangar. Once inside, after a bit of searching and a short bout of self-doubt, he discovers six more helicopters in various states of repair, two of which are airworthy and ready for flight. He proceeds to prep one of them for flight.

Meanwhile, the others are across the airport unloading cargo containers from the cargo hold of their airliner. Deciding the minivan is not the ideal method of unloading the cargo containers, the heroes search for other equipment to use. Soon after, in a race of airport ground vehicles, Teddy is able to beat Lera to the airplane with his much more appropriate “scissor-lift truck”. Once they have the proper unloading equipment they easily unload and inspect the six containers in the cargo hold to find their luggage and equipment – all to the ever-increasing audience of nasty creatures pounding on the glass walls of the airport terminal. In a moment of indecision on helicopter weight limits, fuel range and what equipment should stay or go, one of the glass panels of the airport terminal gives way to the ever increasing group of creatures. The team judiciously decides to just pile everything onto their vehicles and vacate the area before they are forced to confront the approaching hoard.

The team makes it’s way across the airport to link up with Tony and his shiny new helicopter, but soon realizes that mass of creatures in the area of the maintenance hangar will pose a problem, so they take the infected creatures on a wild goose chase down the runway, all the way honking their vehicle horns. This is enough to distract the creatures while Tony and Rodney get the hangar doors open and push the chopper out of the hangar. This stirs some activity at one of the interior doors of the hangar, but our heroes are able to block the door with equipment to delay the impending doom.

With the chopper fired up and the team and equipment loaded, Tony pulls back on the collective and brings the chopper to a hover, ready to take flight for Kansas City, the safe zone and freedom. However, the Gods of Aviation are frowning upon him today! (roll of 99) Missing a couple of critical steps in the startup procedure, warning lights flash and klaxons blare while the helicopter loses power and plummets 100 feet to the ground. With a last desperate wenching of the controls, Tony is able to roughly land the helicopter without seriously injuring anyone, however, the chopper is damaged beyond repair.

Our heroes, in a state of shock and despair, quickly work to pull the only other good chopper out of the hangar before the hoard of creatures that was previously lured away is able to converge on their position. Upon rolling the new helicopter out, they discover the pounding creatures in the hangar have burst through the team’s makeshift barrier of toolboxes blocking the office door and are now advancing towards the chopper.

With the help of Rodney’s handgun (finally liberated from the luggage) and Lera’s “Scissor-Lift Truck of Death™” the team is able to fend off the new creatures from the hangar while Tony and Teddy prep the aircraft for takeoff. Once the rotor blades are up to speed, everyone loads up and buckles in. Tony spins up the engine throttles, pulls back on the collective and…

Hungry and low on gas, our heroes stop at the ever popular combination gas station/carry-out/McDonald’s. While Lera starts to pump gas, Tony, Teddy, Rodney and Vince head into McDonald’s to grab a bite to eat. Upon entering, the place is empty except for the devoured remains of some poor patron in the dining area. Most everyone takes it in stride except for Vince, who promptly vomits all over Teddy’s shoes. With nobody at the counter and an ominous thumping from the rear area of the kitchen, our heroes decide that a Big Mac & Shamrock Shake aren’t important enough to investigate any further. Maybe something quick from the carry-out next door?

In the meantime, when Lera’s credit card is consistently refused at the gas pumps, Gary decides to head into the carry-out to pay for the gas. Once in the store, Gary’s loud search for the attendant draws the attention of an undecided infected shopper as well as two more creatures in the beer cooler. With quick wit and thinking, our heroes arm themselves with improvised weapons in order to hold off the creatures: Rodney with his Funyuns and baseball bat, Tony with poor little Sara Baker’s kidney fund and a stinky tube sock, Teddy with this improvised flamethrower, and Lera with her dreaded “Twinkie Rack of Doom™”! With these weapons of power, the team is able to outsmart the infected creatures and beat a hasty retreat to the minivan.

Once back on the road, the team decides that they need better weapons. Remembering their checked luggage still in the cargo bay of the airliner, they decide to head back to the airport to get their handguns and any other equipment that could prove useful. Tony decides while the rest of the team retrieves the equipment, he will work on getting that military helicopter running. Tony bails out of the minivan in the middle of the airfield while the rest of the team continues to the airliner. The remainder of the team figures out how to open the cargo hatch on the side of the aircraft and start to look for their equipment…