Urban Dead: The Price of the Oath

[Caz]

The second zombie dove straight between Reaper and Petro, snarling incoherently as it threw itself into the fray without really knowing or caring who it was attacking.

[Cynical Cat]

Wendigo seized the zombie and tossed it down the stairs with a snarl.

[Josh]

He one-armed the shotgun into position, firing a burst that shredded one of the zombie's legs and sent him spinning precariously with the recoil combined with the treacherous footing.

[Cynical Cat]

Reaper steadied the human, bent to pick up his axe, and swung. The blade wrecked the zombie's left shoulder.

[Caz]

The second zombie fell and landed in a dumpster, thrashing madly as it tried to gain footing in the rubbish, and as Petro shot the first, it finally seemed to give up the fight as Reaper's assault on its jaws and Petro's work with the shotgun had more than disabled it.

[Caz]

The zombie howled as the axe connected, thrashing wildly on the small walkway.

[Josh]

"The pickup!" he yelled. Much as he'd love to stay and give both of the fuckers a good cranial blasting, priorities...

He darted across the slick ground, shifting Melanie around to a football-style carry under his arm.

[Cynical Cat]

Reaper snarled and smashed the zombie in the head with his axe. "Rearguard," he said.

[Caz]

The zombie ceased its jerking and went rigid, then relaxed as its muscles went slack.

[Cynical Cat]

"You lead. I follow."

[Josh]

He deposited his shotgun in the back, opening the door and pitching Melanie into the seat, then slamming it behind her. "C'mon!" he yelled as he jumped into the bed, retrieved the shotgun and bounced to the right side of the vehicle, opening the driver's door.

[Cynical Cat]

Reaper dived into the bed of the truck. "Go!"

[Caz]

In the truck's cab, Melanie pawed for something to staunch the heavy bleeding from her neck. Upon not finding anything useful, she simply used her hands, which was proving to be ineffective.

[Cynical Cat]

Wendigo thrust the scarf back into the truck's cab. "Use this."

[Josh]

He slammed it into gear, peeling out of the parking lot. He glanced over at her. "FUCK!" He slid the pickup through a turn, nearly spinning out, then roared down the road back toward the mall.

[Caz]

She snagged the scarf as it was offered and folded it, pressing it against the jagged rip in her neck, hands slick with blood as she applied as much pressure as she humanly could. The dizziness was already there, but she wasn't going to risk a transfusion when they returned.

The truck seemed to near the mall at a snail's pace as she waited, staring up at the ceiling.

[Josh]

They reached the mall, hitting the parking lot. He eased off of it, then realized he really didn't have enough room to slow it down enough to stop in time.

"Hang on!" he yelled, making a quick calculation. Slowing down as much as he could on the slick parking lot, he cut hard right and brought the tail of the pickup around, slamming it into one of the barriers they'd erected. The tail crumpled, concrete sprayed, and he and Melanie were jammed back against their seats.

Well.

They were parked now.

He threw open the door, grabbing her. "Hang on, baby, we're gonna get you inside." He put his hand over hers, pressing down on the wound. Fuck. Never should've let her come along, no matter how much she would've carped about it or used fucking logic on him.

[Caz]

"I'm okay," she whispered, wiping the blood from her face with the back of her other hand. The first was still clamped around the wound.

The medical staff didn't seem to notice Reaper, possibly due to the high collar of his coat, which hid a bit that anything was amiss, and ushered all three of them into the infirmary like waiting mother hens.

[Cynical Cat]

The Reaper's diet didn't make him smell very good, but his flesh was whole, not decayed. He lurked in the shadows, away from the humans.

[Josh]

He spoke to her the whole way in, holding her hand as the medics hauled her through the building, rather heedless of the way the shotgun barrel waved around in his other hand, causing more than one person to jump aside.

[Caz]

Although some eyes were wide at the sight of their leader covered in so much blood, the Guardsmen were ever professional when bringing them in.

Regardless of his status as the general of the entire goddamn militia, Petro didn't have the privilege of being allowed on the other side of the curtain until about a half an hour later, when they informed him that she was conscious, just a bit out of it.

[Josh]

"She's going to be okay?" he asked, heading for the curtain. Heaven help anybody who tried to stop him now. At least he'd put the shotgun down, or handed it to somebody, he wasn't really sure.

[Caz]

The surgeon had already brushed past him, so there was no answer to his inquiry.

Inside the curtained-off 'room,' Melanie was recumbent in one of the beds, the only sign of life being the movement of her large eyes beneath the curtains of her bangs as he entered.

[Josh]

He reached back, snagging the collar of the outbound surgeon and hauling him back.

"Is she going to be okay?" he asked.

[Caz]

The on-duty doctor turned back as Petro grabbed his shoulder.

"She'll be fine," he assered, "probably a bit dizzy and nauseous, but we kept the bleeding under control and kept it sterilised so there won't be a spreading infection like Ms. Sinclair's."

He paused for a moment, then said: "Her right ankle has a fair sprain, but that shouldn't keep her from walking."

Phillip hadn't been expecting to speak that much. He coughed into his sleeve, then said:

"You can see her if you want; we didn't need to put her under. Might be a bit loopy from the blood loss and pain medication, but she's awake."

He brushed past the general without another word.