Urban Dead: The Price of the Oath

[Caz]

"We're about to find out, looks like," she said, not bothering to hide the apprehension in her voice. "Not to mention the fact that our general, two of our best doctors, and several of the best fighters aren't here right now."

She sighed, stared off toward where the skyscrapers of Malton's newer downtown loomed like ruins on a desolate planet.

"But I'm hoping they can make it back," she said, more for her own benefit than his.

[Josh]

And that was less than encouraging. He pondered just tossing the radio out the window and claiming loss of communications. Hell, the battery could just die.

He had around forty people he was responsible for, and no interest in getting them into a suicidal stand like Giddings, Hildebrand, or Nichols. Giddings in particular had been claimed as an impregnable stronghold, and they'd been butchered in three days flat. Word was hundreds, possibly thousands dead.

They could survive out in the woods, as it were, running ahead of the hordes. It was stupid to try to hold a strong point against enemies that couldn't be killed.

Against that was balanced one fact. Melanie Booth was in there, and she was staying in there, apparently.

He thought about it for a few moments longer, then pressed the key. "We'll be in there as soon as we can."

If it got too thick on the way, he'd pull them back, Melanie or no Melanie.

[Caz]

"Promise me something, Chief," she said, regressing to the use of official titles for the time being. "If I tell you it's too bad, or if you get the idea it's too thick on your way here, head for the northwest woods."

She sighed, closed her eyes.

"The mall needs our help, yes, but the Guard is an independent entity. And I'm not going to have you butchered."

[Josh]

"Done," he said. He'd already been planning on it anyway. Easy to agree with.

[Caz]

"Thank you," she said. And then, to add to unpleasant matters: "Swinger and Left-Nut--" affectionate codenames bestowed to Gil and Dorian, respectively, "--are over here with me... If anything should happen to me, they're the ones to fall back on. As far as outside the mall, Headmistress and Sandman are the ones you can fall back to."

[Josh]

"Got it," he said. "We'll be by in a bit. Is it true they have showers there?"

[Caz]

"Aye," she said. "And kittens!"

[Josh]

"Kittens," he said. "Great. Listen, we're going to have to get moving now, if we're going to beat the crowd."

Assuming they wanted to. That was something he'd think long and hard on. It would be very damned easy to foot-drag a bit and then pull back.

[Caz]

"Stay alert," she said. "These organised types are more volatile... Their bites are more likely than not infected with that new mutation, as well."

Which then prompted:

"Have you sustained any casualties since I last dropped by?"

[Josh]

"Scrapes and bumps. The population's thinned out, guess they were pulling into the horde. One sprained ankle with one of our new people, but she's making it."

[Caz]

"Good," Melanie said in a voice that easily conveyed her smile.

"Just 'cause I'm staying here doesn't mean we're changing anything about how we operate, Chief," she said. "I just needed a spot to recover and then..." and then I what? Found a better reason to stay?

She cursed to herself, hating how she felt she'd been disregarding them.

[Josh]

"It'd be nice to have a place to stay," he said wistfully. And that was the deadliest sentiment in Malton right now.

[Caz]

She laughed a bit. "Well if I'm still around after this all goes down, I'll show you around the place myself."

But behind the laughter, it was easy to tell that she was uncertain.

[Josh]

She was really making it tempting to stay back.

If they made it in clean, he'd look at getting her out, and screw these Militia whackos. Like she said, they weren't Guard.

"We'll be there soon."

His mind was made up. In as fast as they could, and out as fast as they could too. If he had to club her over the head and carry her out.

[Caz]

"Thanks," she said. "I know you'll do what you can. 'S what makes us better than them."

She paused, then finished:

"If you can make it by the end of tonight, I can have our cooks make enough extra for you all to have a hot supper on the table when you get in. Queen Bee out."

[Josh]

The notion of hot food prepared in a kitchen was almost worth a suicidal fight to hold a mall.

Almost.

He rose up, heading out of the conference room of the office building the team was disperesed throughout. "Okay, get moving. We're going to try to sneak into the Caiger and get our boss out," he told his second in command. "Hell's about to hop on that mall."

[Caz]

She switched from channel nineteen to open citizen's band, took a deep breath.

"Hey," she said in a small voice. "Not sure if you can hear me out there, Head Hunter, but I just wanted to let you know that there's a little boy back here who's worried so sick about his Da that he put himself right to sleep."

[Josh]

The evening was dwindling toward night when Petro's radio crackled at him. He put it up to his ear, catching the faint signal. He couldn't send back, but hearing her static-distorted voice put a small smile on his face.

The mall was still standing and his family was still alive. Good.

[Caz]

Melanie sighed.

"I could really use some of your confidence right now," she said with a sick laugh. "Nobody thinks we're going to make it."

She downplayed her accent so no one would recognise her voice. It had worked in the past. Plus, this wasn't her normal frequency, so the usual audience probably wasn't tuned in to listen.

"But I'll make sure we do," she said, "if only to hold up my end of the bargain. Because if I hold out to wait, it means you'd better come home."

[Josh]

Christ, how bad were they letting morale sag back there?

He pondered an abort of the mission.

The evac plan was in place, and supplies dropped on the mall could be recovered after the horde passed. And the supplies would be needed, one way or another.

God damn all the fuck-shit timing in the world for a fucking horde to come in, though.

[Caz]

"I'm trying--we all are--but the news from the other strongholds is so grim... They don't understand that we're better-prepared here. We've got the means, they just don't fucking..." She grumbled something, then sighed again, shoulders sagging.

Taking a deep breath, she finished:

"And then... Jared was talking about how he couldn't hear you. And he asked both Punt and I if you were dead..." She paused. "But I know you aren't. Something tells me that I'd... Know. Somehow."

Another lengthy pause.

"So... If you can hear me... Come back as soon as you can. Dorian's restless for Ace and Mike, I'll bet, too. But... This is mostly for me. I just want you here again. If anything happens to me, I've informed my people of how to divide themselves," she abruptly said, "but I'm not worried about that. I just want to see you again, even if you're just going to bring bad news and bother me, okay?"

[Josh]

"Yeah," he said quietly to the silence.

How did that shit go? 'Needs must, when the devil drives'?

Or was it the other way around?

Either way, inordinately fucking depressing. And also not what he needed to be focused on right now. If it was going to hold, it'd hold, and if not, Silver would get the civvys out, and make sure to take care of Mel. Then they'd roost and grab the theoretical supply drops when they came.

And they damned well better, or he was going to be taking an axe to some people at Necrotech, one of these days.

He listened to the radio for a moment longer. Silence. She must have finished.

He reached down and pulled the crucifix she'd given him out of his shirt and pressed it to his lips. Dark was almost on, and it was time to get the fuck into the building. The streets were getting more crowded all the time, and in another few blocks, they'd be in downtown.

Life was about to get very interesting, and if they weren't at top form, very brief.

[Caz]

"Homesick?" Sherry said as she approached from behind him, lighting up a small cigar and offering him one from the three-pack she'd scrounged up.

She yawned, obviously having been running herself ragged in going back and forth between checkpoints. But god, the burn in her legs was great. The mall life wasn't made for her, as much as she loved the kitties and how often she could snag 'her' doctor from his office.

[Josh]

"Doesn't sound like morale is so good there," he said. "But Silver will bang heads together. They may not be happy when they go on the line, but they will go on the line. Nobody's gonna let him down."

Nobody who had any fondness for living, anyway. If there was anyone in Malton more scary than the monsters they faced, it was Darek Silver.

He lit the cigar. "We stay at our pace," he said around it. It was tempting to push harder, faster, but in horde territory, it was a recipe for death. They had absolutely no margin for error now, and at this point there wasn't going to be any more stops for the day. A day, day and a half at sneaky pace, and they'd be at Mike's building. "Mike busy unloading?" he inquired, rising to his feet.

[Caz]

"He's inside right now," she said, "he and I made a pass of the next few blocks. Looks easy enough, perimeter-wise, but there was a fairly nasty-ass fire that's got the south and east blocks, well, blocked."

She took a deep drag.

"He found a map of the complex or already had it or something," she said. "Told me he wanted to head in with me and see about firing up the complex's generators before the whole team heads in. Dunno why; he's the expert."