Urban Dead: The Price of the Oath

[Josh]

"She's pregnant," he said. "Is everything okay with that?"

Because if it wasn't, sucking on a gun barrel would be about the best option.

[Caz]

Phillip sighed and turned to face Petro, his broad shoulders heaving in a tired shrug.

"Does it look like we have a goddamn ultrasound in there, General?" he asked.

He hadn't even checked anything save for her neck and her leg, as nothing else appeared injured. But as far as his professional opinion was concerned, she wasn't exactly fighting off the staff of Hell to stay alive or anything. It was a nasty but fairly superficial wound, end of story.

[Josh]

"Well maybe we should get one!" he shot back, turning his back on the surgeon before succumbing to an overwhelming urge to slug him, and entered the room.

"Hey baby," he said.

[Caz]

"Hey, you," Melanie said with a smirk. Her neck was heavily bandaged, along with a few other scrapes she hadn't even been aware she'd gotten. Overall, she looked pale and her voice was a tad softer than usual, but nothing appeared out of place.

[Josh]

"Jesus christ, Mel. You scared the shit out of me," he said as he sat down at bedside. "Chop-shop man says you're gonna be okay. That so?"

[Caz]

"'Course I'm fine," she said. "Lot of blood, but it's nothing bad. Once my head stops spinning I'll just head back to our place."

She looked up at him, then smiled encouragingly.

"I'm fine, really."

[Josh]

"You are not going out again," he said emphatically. "God damn..."

[Caz]

"It's a damned bite," she said, sitting up. "How many have we gotten since this shit started? I'm going to be out of here after an hour and a bit to eat."

Not that she'd be leaving the mall again. Her ankle still hurt like a bitch.

[Josh]

"Yeah, and if you got infected? What then? No," he said firmly. "I shouldn't have brought you along in the first place."

[Caz]

"If I got infected, we have more antibiotics than any damn hospital in Malton." She eyed him fiercely. "I'm not just some recruit you can tell to take a break--I'm one of the reasons we're still in this war."

Which was true. After all, assuming the extra seventy to eighty people from the Guard hadn't arrived, they'd be in a tight spot.

[Josh]

"And you're pregnant," he pointed out. "I can get people to cover my back. I can't get another you."

[Caz]

"And I can't get another you," she said, "but I'm dealing with it, aren't I?"

She sat up fully, her legs dangling over the edge of the bed and holding a pillow in her hands.

[Josh]

"There's a difference," he said. "There's two of you for me to worry about now, and when it goes on the line, I'm the expendable one here."

[Caz]

"Tell that to the people who depend on you," she said. "Nobody here is expendable. I'm not signing a goddamn death warrant by going out there. Mike came back with a bite just like this and you don't see Sherry coddling him."

[Josh]

"Jesus fucking christ, there's no talking to you," he said, shaking his head. "If you can't understand what the hell I'm talking about here..." he threw up his hands.

[Caz]

"I understand," she said, "and I know you're just trying to keep me safe..." Taking his hand, she stared down at it for a moment and then looked back up to him.

"But I can't just stop being useful because you want to protect me. I'm going to pull my own weight around here just like anyone else."

[Josh]

"And there's plenty of weight that can be pulled here instead of going out and playing tag with zombies," he said. "When we start running our training setup, this place is going to be crazy fucking busy, because we're going to have to churn people through as fast as we can to get them ready for spring."

[Caz]

The only problem was that she was a mediocre shot and by the time they actually had the training camp established, chances were that she'd be doubled over and miserable.

But she just sighed, shook her head.

"We'll talk about this in private," she said, knowing how thin the sheets were. She stood, took a few uncertain steps.

"Where's my coat?"

[Josh]

"I don't know," he said. "We'll get you back up to our room, then I have to get ready. The attack jumps off in an hour."

He rose to his feet, pulling off his own coat and holding it with one hand, while he helped her up with the other.

[Caz]

"Wait," she said, "if Sherry's leading one team and Marley's taking the other, then why do you have to go?"

[Josh]

Oh christ, not this argument again. "Everybody who can is going. We're stripping our defenses and making as hard a push as we can. Only medical staff and noncombatants are out. And Frank, who'll be running the communications from the command center."

[Caz]

She grit her teeth, but held her tongue. I should be out there too and you know it, bastard, she thought. But through a monumental act of self control, she kept quiet.

"Okay," she said. Besides, they had the chance now. It'd be stupid not to.


Meanwhile, Sherry had assembled the First Irregulars in their war room. The first few moments were tense and silent as all waited to hear if the rumours about Steve's condition were true. She sighed.

"We'll deal with that when we come to it, but for now, his condition isn't worsening." She chose the words carefully, not adding the fact that he hadn't improved either.

"We can't be focusing on that tonight, everyone," she said.

[Josh]

He helped Mel back up to their room, then started getting his gear ready. It occurred to him on the way up that he'd let that creepy fuck Reaper wander off in his haste to get Mel into the infirmary, and now he was wandering around somewhere inside his mall.

He clicked the harness on, which still reeked of zombie guts, and slid the knife into its vertical sheathe on his chest hastily.

[Caz]

As he was readying his things, she took a deep breath, knowing she had to bring it up because someone else might not:

"How's Sherry?"

Disguised as concern was a good way to do things. She cared about the girl's well-being, sure, like a sister or a weird sort-of-daughter thing, but if she had to choose between Sherry's or dozens dead because of her instability...

[Josh]

"Scared shitless," he said. "Not sure if she's up to the job. Worried about her perceived failures last time."

He strapped the hatchet onto his hip. He needed to get some more practice in throwing the thing. Of course in the movies firefighters could toss their axes around with unerring precision, but it was never a skill he'd practiced much. Other than that one time...