With a stomach churning impact Renee guided the plane into a less then gentle landing on Lake Mcconaughy, the severed front landing gear sharply digging into the water and turning what would have been a smooth skip across the water into a jarring lurch, that turned the interior of the passenger area into a maelstrom of flying debris and howling dogs.

After struggling to unfasten their seatbelts, (Riley taking the easy approach of cutting his off) the group opened the exterior door and began evacuating the interior of the plane as it began to rapidly fill with water, Renee remarking this was the last time she was going to pilot anything with wings as she joined them on the submerging wing of the jet and they began paddling for shore, Jamie, Heather, and Renee helping Riley and Jessy with swimming due to their injuries.

After a challenging swim to the shore, the group found themselves a short walk from a State Recreation Area, courtesy of the Nebraska Game and Parks commission, the sign claming it to have, of all things, a movie theatre. (yes strange, but they have a theater there in real life as well.) With darkness settling around them the group finally arrived, damp and shivering at the gates, surprised to find the lights still operational, (thanks to the hydro electric dam that the lake is held back by) and were immediately suspicious the area may be occupied by unsavory types.

With Riley’s  ecently injury still too painful for him to move easily, the group agreed to let Heather and her two trusted dogs conduct a little recon, Renee insisting on accompanying her “just in case,” the both of them blushing several shades of red at Tommy’s “they jus want private time ta make out” comment.

As the two ladies proceeded past the front gate deeper into the interior of the complex Riley noticed an unusual light on the lake in the distance, similar to a spot light. Jessy briefly suggested shooting out he light near them to keep it from attracting the attention of whoever is on the lake, and was quickly reminded by Riley the sound of gunfire would make for an even bigger attention grabber, especially if whoever was on the lake were the owners of this facility.

Meanwhile inside the recreation area Heather and Renee followed the scent of popcorn, finding the movie theatre entrance, with the sounds of screaming coming from within. Fearing innocents may be in danger they both stormed inside, running through the darkened empty lobby to kick open the theatre doors and level their weapons at the unknown enemy within.

What greeted them was a darkened theatre, the large screen displaying one of the more gruesome scenes from Jaws, with dozens of swimmers screaming in terror as the shark feasted upon a hapless swimmer, the movie drowning out the low growling of Heathers two German Shepherds. No sooner did they lower their guns in relief and begin to look at each other in embarrassment then Renee felt a pair of hands clasping about her ankles and ripping her off her feet into the darkness under a row of theatre seats.

Back outside Riley finally unwrapped his binoculars from the recesses of his traveling pack and focused on the distant light, mildly surprised to see the boat in the distance appeared to be a game warden craft, and was sailing in a rough circle near the planes crash site, it’s spot lights piercing the murky water.

A brief discussion between Riley and Jessy followed, Jessy eager to send up a signal flare to alert them to their location, Riley, hesitant on bringing potential trouble to their location in the state they were all in. Unknown to both of them however, the boat on the lake was in the process of rescuing a survivor of the plane crash, a young child calling out for it’s mother…

Back inside the theater Renee’s scream mingled with those on the screen to be all but indistinguishable, Heather reaching out to grasp Renee’s hand and pull against the undead force clawing her into the darkness. With a enraged series of barks Heathers dogs lunged into the darkened row of seats, vanishing from view, and Renee attempted to kick out at whatever had her by the legs, screaming for Heather not to let go of her.

Outside Jamie mentioned she thought she could hear Heathers dogs barking further in the compound but couldn’t be sure, Riley telling her to take the other dog and check it out while Jessy and he kept an eye on the boat, which seemed to be heading their way slowly across the waves. No sooner did Jamie disappear past the gate with the remainder of heathers dogs then the flat crack of gunshots echoed across the darkening lake, muzzle flashes reflecting off the still waters brightly.

Diving to the ground Jessy prepared to return fire with his MP5’s until Riley yelled to him they were shooting at something on the boat, not at the shore line, the last fingers of light from sunset letting him make out a vicious battle on boat deck through his binoculars. No sooner did he describe the events unfolding to Jessy then two figures on the boat pitched over the side, quickly sinking from view, the remaining occupant accelerating towards the shore at full throttle.

The scene shifted back to the theater, where Heather had gained a little ground in her battle against zombies death grip on Renee, the sound of tearing flesh accompanying the enraged growling Heathers dogs. Without warning the grip on Renee’s feet released, sending both her and Heather tumbling backward in a tangle of arms and legs into the theater lobby, right at the feet of a very surprised Jamie, who was knocked down seconds later by the airborne body of a grossly bloated zombie sailing into her, the pack of dogs tearing into it with a vengeance.

Drawing her .44 magnum Heather hesitated, trying to find an opening to deal the zombie a fatal blow without hitting Jamie or her dogs, Renee lunging for the light switches and flooding the interior of the theater and lobby with a yellow haze.

Losing patience Heather stepped forward and used the silver tip of her right cowboy boot to land a vicious kick into the side of the zombie’s skull, a sickening crushing sound followed by the corpse going limp in final death, the dogs continuing shred the decayed body as Jamie gasped for air and tried in vain to push the maggot filled corpse off of her.

On the lakeside Tommy, Riley and Jessy retreated back from the shore as the patrol boat tore into the docks at full speed, exploding through the wooden pier in a shower of splinters and burying itself in the gift shops side wall with a deafening crash, the propeller props sounding like the buzzing of an angry bee hive in the silence that followed.

* * * * *

Did the pilot of the boat survive his arrival on shore?  Did their planes crash landing draw any more unwanted attention? Does the recreation area hold further fun and games for our brave adventurers? Find out in the next adventure synopsis #13!