Zombicide Scenario M01 - The Big Rubble Part 1

"We've heard someone shooting. One, maybe two shooters. It's coming from a building in a severely damaged block downtown. We have to check it out to see if there is someone still alive, but to get there, we'll have to go through this giant, half-crumbled mall. And it's Saturday. I hate malls on Saturday."
This Zombicide batrep is based on a scenario from the Toxic City Mall expansion set and runs directly on from the last scenario that I posted recently, Death From Above. That ended with Elsa and Gary fleeing from a horde of Zombies and a flock of Zombie Crowz. This scenario answers the question of what happened next to them? The Crowz will not be reappearing but the Survivors face another new threat - Toxic Zombies, whose acidic blood can prove lethal to anyone in close proximity to them.
In this scenario I am using the three of the four Survivors from the Toxic City Mall expansion set to search for Elsa Bryce-Howard (she's the fourth Survivor from that set) and Gary Bridges. They are Derek Foster the locator, meaning he finds missing persons. He started with the +1 Maximum Range skill and a Claw Hammer. Next was Neema Freeman, a hard-nosed corporate executive, who started with the Born Leader skill (which I forgot to use throughout the game. D'oh!) and was armed with a 9mm Glock Pistol. Finally, was Raoul Nicholas the freelance mercenary. He started the game with the Webbing skill, which meant that any weapon or piece of equipment he carried counted as being in his hands. He was armed with a Fire Axe. Elsa and Gary had the starting skills of Break-in and Slippery respectively.

The photo above shows the board set up for the start of the game. There are two pimp-mobile cars and two police cars on the board and four Zombie Spawning Points. Four Toxic Walker Zombies patrol the mall corridor.

The tiles used were from left to right in the top row, 7B, 4M and 3M. In the centre row from left to right are 5C, 2M and 1M. In the bottom row from left to right are 1B, 3C and 2B. North is at the top edge of the board. The four rubble tiles cannot be entered or crossed over. They also block line of sight and Zombies cannot spawn in them.
OBJECTIVES
Find the two Survivors, Elsa and Gary. They will be in one of the Zones marked with a red "X". When found, flip the token over. If it has a white "X" underneath, Elsa has been found. If it has a green "X" underneath, Gary has been found. Note that this differs slightly from the official rule, but works better for my scenario. Once found, the Survivors must exit the board in as many cars as are needed. If anyone is left behind, the mission is a failure.
SPECIAL RULES
Find the Survivors. Add the white and green objective tokens to five red objective tokens and shuffle them with the red sides facing up. When the white and green tokens are revealed, place Elsa or Gary, as appropriate, in the Zone he or she was found. Elsa and Gary start with no equipment, weapons or experience points. Each objective token discovered grants 5 experience points to the person who reveals it, whatever the colour of it is.
Toxic Roamers. Place a Toxic Walker in each of the mall corridor Zones.
You can use cars. Each pimp-mobile may be searched only once. It will contain either the Evil Twins, Ma's Shotgun or Pa's Pistol. Draw randomly. The police cars can be searched more than once. draw a card until you find a weapon. Discard the other cards. The Aaahh! card triggers the appearance of a Walker as usual and interrupts the search.

Derek, Neema and Raoul began the game in the pimp-mobile parked at the front of the mall. Notes relating to the rules will be written in blue.
TURN 1

DEREK. "Well, we're here," Derek said as he climbed out of the pimp-mobile. "I'll check the trunk out first." Popping open the trunk, which was not locked, Derek found an unusual looking pistol. On its barrel were engraved the words "Pa's Pistol". He wondered who the hell Pa was? He checked that it was loaded. It was, although he didn't recognise the make of the large calibre bullets. Still, it might come in useful and it gave him a ranged weapon. He held it in his left hand to go with his Claw Hammer which was held in his right hand. He tried to open the door to the mall but it was locked. A single blow from his Claw Hammer shattered the lock. He smelt the room's occupant before he saw him. It was the unmistakable stench of rotten flesh. A Zombie Runner snarled at him from behind a counter. It climbed on top of the counter, ready to charge into combat with Derek.

NEEMA. The beautiful, coffee-skinned executive was not having a good day. A zombie apocalypse was not on her agenda. Still, she had survived many a boardroom fight and she was ready for a fight now. Her expensive designer suit was torn and tattered from a previous run in with the undead. Luckily for her, she had found a 9mm Glock Pistol with spare ammo at the same time as she had found Derek and Raoul. It made sense for them to stick together and so here they were at a partially ruined shopping mall, hoping to find more survivors. She exited the pimp-mobile and strode to the mall door that Derek had just opened. As soon as she saw the Runner she acted without hesitation. She fired her Glock like a seasoned marksman and blew the back of the Runner's head off with a single shot.
"It's clear now," she announced as she stepped inside the trashed store.
"Thanks," Derek said feeling relieved at not having to fight a Runner.

RAOUL. The former mercenary climbed out of the pimp-mobile and moved past his two colleagues to enter the store. His eyes took in his surroundings, missing nothing. He quickly noticed a familiar looking gun butt beneath a large cardboard box.
"Oh my, you are a beauty, aren't you?" he said as he revealed the weapon to be an AA-12 Atchisson Assault Shotgun. He had used one once during his time as a U.S. Marine. It was a lethal weapon with a 32-round drum magazine and was capable of firing 300 rounds per minute. It was the perfect weapon for killing Zombies. Raoul was a very happy man!

ZOMBIES. No Zombies appeared at Spawn points 1 and 2. One Walker appeared at Spawn Point 3 and a Fatty, accompanied by two Walkers appeared at Spawn point 4. (Note I forgot to place the two Walkers alongside the Fatty in the photo above, but I remembered them soon after. See below.) 
TURN 2

DEREK. "Raoul, you lucky son of a bitch!" Derek exclaimed as he followed his two friends into the store. Raoul just smiled at him as he caressed the Assault Shotgun. Derek began sifting through the rubbish and debris on the floor. He soon found something he thought might prove useful - a Hockey Mask. (This is actually a very useful piece of equipment as it prevents 1 Wound to the wearer per attack.) He used his Claw Hammer to bust the lock on the door leading to the interior of the shopping mall. Three Toxic Walkers were waiting just outside and a fourth was close by.
"Not again!" Derek moaned.

NEEMA. "I hope you guys have left something useful for me to find," Neema said as she also searched amongst the garbage and litter.
"Any luck?" Raoul asked.
"Oh yes!" Neema replied, smiling happily as she pulled a Machete from beneath a vending machine.
"Do you need a hand again, Derek?" she asked as she moved in front of him to look out of the wide open exit door.
"Huh?" she muttered as she raised her Pistol. "Spiky Zombies! I haven't seen them before."
This was their first encounter with Toxic Zombies. She wondered what made these Zombies different from others they had met? Her first shot punched through the centre chest of a male wearing a white shirt. Her second shot struck him in the bridge of his nose. The blood that spattered from both wounds made a hissing noise as it landed on the floor and it bubbled for just a few seconds. Neema's knowledge of chemistry immediately kicked in.
"Be careful guys," she warned. "I think these bastards have acid blood!"

RAOUL. "Duly noted," Raoul replied as once again he spotted something very useful lying behind the counter - a .44 Magnum Revolver. He was happy enough with his AA-12 but he knew that Neema or Derek would appreciate having the heavy calibre weapon.
"Any of you guys want a .44 Magnum?" he asked as he showed it to his two surprised looking colleagues.
"Oh, please!" Neema replied quickly. "I had one of those back at home."
"It's yours," Raoul said as he passed the Revolver over to Neema. She tucked her 9mm Glock into her skirt pocket and lovingly took possession of the .44 Magnum.
"Now to deal with these deadheads," Raoul announced. He selected semi automatic fire for his Assault Shotgun. Three rounds boomed out in a near deafening noise and blasted the heads off the two Toxic Walkers about to enter the store.
"Holy shit!" Derek exclaimed. "That was freaking awesome! I want one of those!"
ZOMBIES. The one remaining Toxic Walker in the mall corridor moved slowly towards the door of the store that the three humans were occupying. From Spawn Point 1 one Runner appeared. Nothing appeared at Spawn points 2 and 3 and one Walker arrived at Spawn point 4.
TURN 3

NEEMA. Making sure she kept her distance from the female Toxic Walker who was approaching the doorway, the young executive tested her .44 Magnum and found it to her liking. One shot and one kill. Making sure she didn't step in any spilled blood she moved cautiously down the corridor to the musical instruments store next door.

RAOUL. Raoul quickly followed Neema down the corridor. He tried the door handle to the store but found it locked. One blow from his Fire Axe swiftly dealt with that problem, only to reveal a new problem. Locked inside the store was a single male Zombie Walker.

DEREK. "I'll deal with him," Derek proclaimed as he quickly joined his colleagues. "Now let's see what this little beauty can do."
He aimed the strange weapon called Pa's Pistol at the head of the Walker and pulled the trigger. The Walker's head exploded in a ball of flame.
"Incendiary round," Raoul explained. "Very nice, my friend. That's a keeper, I'd say."
"Yeah, cool!" Derek replied, feeling good about his new weapon.

ZOMBIES. Attracted by the sound of gunfire from within the mall, all of the Zombies outside headed towards the rear entrance to the ruined mall. (Note the two Walkers accompanying the Fatty. I didn't forget them after all.) Unbeknownst to the Survivors they were in big trouble. All of a sudden, a Toxic Abomination emerged from Spawn Point 1. This was really bad news! Two Walkers appeared at Spawn Point 2, one Runner from Spawn Point 3 and two more Walkers from Spawn Point 4. 
TURN 4.

DEREK. Derek moved into the musical instrument store but found nothing of interest inside.
"Let's move on," he suggested.
(The objective token he found turned out to be a normal token and not one of the missing Survivors. he earned 5 experience points but nothing else.)

NEEMA. "Let's try door number three," Neema said as she walked over to the store directly opposite. It was a budget shoe shop, not the kind of shop she would normally frequent. Of course the door was locked but she thought she could smash it open with her Machete. Maybe she lacked sufficient strength or maybe she just hit it in the wrong place but both of her attempts ended in failure.

RAOUL. "Here, let me try," Raoul said in a sympathetic voice as he saw how frustrated Neema was getting. He moved alongside her and with one mighty swing of his Fire Axe he destroyed the lock. He was greeted by a male Toxic Walker who had clearly heard them trying to open the door and was standing just behind the door. The door bumped into him as it swung open and distracted him for just a brief moment. It was all the time Raoul needed to turn the Zombie's head into a fine red mist with a 12 Gauge Shotgun round from his AA-12.

ZOMBIES. The Toxic Abomination joined a Runner outside the mall's rear entrance. Elsewhere, the other Zombies shuffled their way to join them. From Spawn Point 1 came two Toxic Walkers, whilst two normal Walkers appeared at Spawn Point 2. Spawn Point 3 remained clear but one Walker appeared at Spawn Point 4.
TURN 5

NEEMA. Neema moved into the shoe shop and gave it a quick once over. It was just as litter strewn as the other stores. She saw nothing of interest and informed the two men it was clear. She moved back out into the mall corridor. (Finding the blank objective token advanced Neema to the yellow level. She gained the +1 Action skill.)

RAOUL. The muscular and ruggedly handsome mercenary moved back along the mall corridor to the only store they hadn't searched yet - a toy shop. He used his Fire Axe to smash open the locked door. He was not surprised to find a Zombie inside. This time it was a male Runner. The Runner was quick and dodged the first shot. The second caught him in the right shoulder and practically tore off his arm. The third shot was fatal and made mincemeat of his head.

DEREK. "That's the only way to deal with them," Derek said as he slapped his buddy on the back and moved inside the toy store.

ZOMBIES. Now there were six Zombies outside the mall entrance - a Toxic Abomination, a Toxic Runner, two Toxic Walkers, a normal Walker and a normal Runner. More Zombies were closing in and now that Neema was at the yellow level, their numbers would increase. From each of Spawn Points 1 and 2 came one Walker. From Spawn Point 3 one Runner emerged whilst from Spawn Point 4, two Runners arrived together. It was getting quite crowded outside and the three Survivors had no idea what awaited them. They'd find out very soon.

To be continued.