Urban Dead: The Price of the Oath

[Pcm979]

Sherry kicked open the door of the old biomedical lab. She went in with her gun and axe held CQC style, Wyatt fucking Earp if necessary. "Looks clear," she said to Mike as she disappeared into the dark of the room.

"Good." He said, bringing up the rear with his rifle. "Okay." He continued, once he was sure the lobby was clear. "The good news is that the floor we need can only be reached by elevators, so the only Zombies down there are people who died there at the start of the outbreak. That's also the bad news."

Sherry didn't seem affected. "We'll deal with that when we have to," she said, all business. "Where's the elevator and how can we get into the shaft?"

Mike led the way past the front desk, defaced with numerous derogatory slogans and a fair amount of dried blood, and brought them to an elevator lobby, four chromed slide-open doors gleaming dully in the poor light.

"Okay. We can take the shaft five floors down, or take the emergency exit staircase down four first." He looked at her for tactical assessment.

"Let's take a look at the stairwell. If it looks blocked off or unsafe, we'll head down the hard way."
She looked to him for instruction to the stairwell.

It was hidden in the shadows at the back of the elevator lobby. Mike flipped on a torch, deeming the use of the precious batteries worth not falling and breaking one's neck, or meeting an employee who quite literally wanted to pick your brains. The door had been ripped off and used as barricade material, leaving a ragged hole in the wall.

"Ouch." He said, peering down the steps. "That, is a lot of blood."

Dried blood covered almost the entire stairwell, from jagged cuts on the handrails, drag marks on the floor and splatters on the steps to a variety of desiccated internal organs haphazardly scattered over the area.

"I think we know what happened to the previous tenants." He commented.

"But it's dry so we shouldn't fall and crack our backs," she said with a shrug. She took the first few steps in, a bit nauseated by the thick stench of decay, then offered Mike her hand. "Shall we?" she asked.

"Just watch out for ones that couldn't climb the stairs." He commented, grabbing her hand and playing the torch around.

Sherry was more concerned with her ears than her eyes at that point, and as they slowly descended, she couldn't hear anything resembling a threat. Then again, zombies didn't have to breathe, did they?

"Damnit." He cursed. "I can't hear anything."

"Yeah," she said, "neither can I. But let's take that as a good thing, eh?" she asked with a grin.

"Well, I was hoping to hear the building's backup generator." He pointed out.

"Where's the generator room?" Sherry asked, turning to face him at the bottom of the third stairwell they'd gone down. As she did this, she realised her mistake: turning her back on the curve of the stairs that they couldn't see. She barely had time to cry out in surprise as the thing threw itself at her; she wheeled around and caught it with the side of her axe--unfortunately, not the blade--and for a brief moment she saw the look on Mike's face before she tumbled down the stairs, grappling with the zombie as it tried to chew at her neck.

Mike yelled her name and yanked his axe off his belt, the light playing around crazily as he vaulted the stairs, landing ahead of the tumbling pair with a painful crunch as his legs protested at their treatment. Without a second thought he grabbed Sherry's hair and yanked her head clear of the Zombie, burying the axe in its neck.

Sherry squirmed frantically out of the way of the blade as it thunked messily into the already-half-gored zombie's neck, severing the head, which she kicked away from herself in her frenzy to get back. "I'm okay!" she assured him, panting as she pulled herself up to lean against the cold wall of the stairwell. Just startled.

Mike was about to say something when a loud snort sounded below them. Then a scraping sound. He grabbed her hand and led her back up the stairwell.

"We'll try this floor's elevator shaft, hey?" He gasped, kicking the stairwell door open and slamming it behind them.

Sherry paused momentarily to secure a chair beneath the handle of the door, which then shook as something heavy slammed against it. She jumped back a bit, startled, then turned to scramble after him.

"Door." Mike said, yanking a crowbar from his belt. He wedged it in one side of the elevator door and started pulling it open.

She wedged the blade of her axe in the bottom of the door and applied pressure with her foot as she yanked on the door with her hands. After a few moments, it gave and they slid it cleanly open. She snagged Mike by the shirt collar as he tried to peer in. "Hold on!" she said, "Don't want to be doing that if the elevator's above us... if we put any pressure on the cables it could give out..."

But what was the fucking option if not the cables? She sighed, tried to think.

"Done any rock climbing?" Mike asked, pointing to a maintenance ladder set tantalisingly against the far wall. The door buckled behind them.

"You'll learn quickly." He commented, carefully beginning to shimmy around the edge of the elevator shaft.

She clung to the thin ledge carefully, sliding around on the opposite side as he was, and chanced a look up.

The elevator appeared to be stalled in the shaft, having fallen a bit and gotten wedged in diagonally around the sixth or seventh floor. Already that made her stomach crawl a bit. She just hoped they could get this over with quickly.

She let Mike go first as he seemed to know what he was doing, then climbed down after him, making a comment on how he'd better not look up her skirt. She was wearing jeans.

As they climbed down, she felt her pack catch on something and told him to hold on a second.

"My strap's snagged on something up..." she said, "up here..." fiddling around with it.

He glanced up at her, further up at the elevator, and slightly down at the open doors above them. "I'll get the doors open." He said and slid the rest of the way down the ladder, abrading the skin on his hands slightly. He pulled out his crowbar and set to work, leaving the torch aimed up at Sherry so she could see what she was doing.

She could still hardly see exactly what it was her backpack was caught on, and didn't exactly have the option of sliding it off her shoulders and working around it as the space didn't allow for it.

But of course she tried anyway.

And of course she managed to.

She yanked on the bag once, twice, three times, then cursed under her breath. Preparing herself, she yanked hard and pulled the pack free. Simultaneously, she felt some part of the structure break free and tumble to the bottom of the shaft. It was a long fall.

The cables creaked.

"Come on, Mike!" she whispered urgently.

He grunted as the doors slid open far more noisily than the set above. A low moan sounded from the floor they'd come from; The Zombie. Mike dashed under the ladder and hissed, "Jump!"

"Jump, are you crazy!?" she said through gritted teeth. But she did anyway, only as opposed to really jumping she simply flung herself off the latter toward him.

Simultaneously, the Zombie jumped and grabbed the elevator cables, instantly turning the creaks and groans into a full-blown ROAR as the elevator ripped free and came hurtling down the shaft.. Mike caught Sherry as she fell and managed to turn his collapse into a backwards leap, flinging them out of the shaft seconds before the elevator crashed down on where they were moments before.

"Well." Mike panted, finding himself underneath Sherry, their bags, and a large amount of dust. "There goes our flashlight."

"And our way out," Sherry said, looking to the wreckage that now blocked the doorframe.

[Pcm979]

Sherry let her limbs fall slack as she closed her eyes. "Fuck," she said, "'m all achy now."

"We can rest for a minute." He mumbled, relaxing likewise. "Been going for half a day."

"My side hurts," she said breathlessly. It had been since the stairwell but she hadn't said anything.

"Let me see." He said, propping himself up and fumbling for his medical supplies.

She nodded, sat up a bit as she undid the straps of her bandolier and pack, pulling the hem of her shirt up. There was a sickly-coloured dark bruise from where she'd fallen and landed on a railing for the staircase below. Nothing else.

"You are going tooooo..... Live!" He said with a grin. "Just take this for the inflammation." He said, popping a pill and handing it to her.

"Doesn't mean it doesn't bug the fuck outta me," she said with a smirk.

"The pill'll help. In the meantime, you take a seat and let us uncrippled ones do the hard work." He winked.

"Ass," she said, yanking herself off of him and leaning up into a sitting position with a bit of a wince. Knocked the damn breath out of her lungs.

"So where're we headed?"

"We have to find the generator." He said, piling their scattered stuff together and standing up. "But there's no rush yet. First, I'm gonna give our pal more to chew on before he gets to us." He picked up the crowbar and, levering it in the elevator doors, pulled them shut most of the way before the damage to the shaft stopped him from going further.

She watched, nodded in agreement, and looked around the dimly lit corridor. What had once been immaculate white tile was now brown with decay and chemical burns, a bright smear of blood across the double-doors down one side of the hallway.

"Poor fucks never stood a chance." Mike muttered, following her gaze to the blood. "Mental note: Don't open those doors."

She sighed. "It's too bad," she agreed. After all, the survivors from a complex like this could actually help them as opposed to the frightened civvies that just ran from every shadow that went bump in the night.

"They'll still be back there, you know." He commented, levering open another set of elevator doors and peering up cautiously. "Two of them, plus how ever many killed them."

"Great," Sherry said with more than a little sarcasm. Perhaps it would be better to take the stairs.

"I think we can get out this way, in a pinch." He concluded, stepping back from the shaft and hooking his crowbar back to his belt. He walked back over to her and slid down beside her, pulling a grubby map from his pocket.

"Okay, the computing wing is here..." He squinted at the page, pointing with a grubby finger. "The medical wing is right there." He pointed up at the bloodstained doors. "That must be the loo." He guessed, pointing to a door that, indeed, had a large puddle of sewage water leaking out from under it.

"Which leaves that one." He finished, turning his head towards the last door in the room, set behind the elevators. Where the stairs were on the upper levels, in fact.

"Might as well," she said with a shrug. That was the good thing about Sherry: she never hesitated to pick a course of action, even if it seemed suicidal. Reluctance just wasn't her style.

"Once more unto the breach." Concluded Mike, standing up and holding out his hand.

She took it and jumped up, feeling the dull, thudding ache in her side but not worried about it. "So what do we do when we get there?" she asked as they headed toward what they could only assume was the generator room.

"Well. We'll, erm, start the generator." He said with a bit of an impish grin. "Somehow." He continued.

She laughed and nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me!" she said, pushing the doors open and pausing to see if anything could be heard in the hallway. Nothing. Not even the creak of hinges.

"I've seen Jurassic Park." He continued, feeling his way down the hall. "It looks easy enough. Hop in, flip all the switches, avoid the Dinosaur on the way out."

She chuckled a bit, really damned upset that they'd lost their flashlight at that point, and pulled out her lighter. The tiny flame illuminated hardly anything in the hallway... But then again, there wasn't much to illuminate. Just tiles that used to be white, a few benches, and down toward the far end what appeared to be another bathroom.

Water pooled from underneath the bathroom door, long ago overflowed when the city's waterworks failed. "Caution, slippery when we-" Mike began inanely, when his foot came down with a sickening squelch. He stood stock still, then carefully lifted his foot and brought it back. He knelt down slowly, unwillingly.

"Ear." He said tonelessly, loosening the axe on his belt. "Bring the lighter over here, I-" He stopped again, as the flickering light illuminated the pool extending from the bathroom. It was tinged with red.

[Josh]

Freddy looked over the mall defenses as the militia escort brought him through the lines.

He had to admit, they did have a good setup here. Cleared firezones, fire trenches ready to burn...

The dump-off trenches were fucking creepy as hell, but a smart innovation. Blocking off the entrances with debris was likewise a good move. On the roof, obvious weapon emplacements were covered with canvas and tarps to keep the elements out.

So far, nobody had built defenses like this. Impressive.

But would it be enough?

He hooked onto the pulley system and was reeled upward. An obvious external elevator system was halfway built, likely abandoned in the rush to fortify the defenses.

There was some serious engineering going on here.

[Caz]

And a familiar face was waiting for him atop the roof, smiling cautiously down at him. However, it wouldn't be the face he expected.

"Would you look who it is," Dorian said with the same guarded smile he'd always had. "Welcome aboard."

He offered Freddie a hand, helped him up over the ramparts.

"Melanie's in her room right now; she's taking care of something right now. I'll take you over."

[Josh]

"Got it," he said, looking at Dorian. Aside from the obvious limp, he was looking better. Better-fed, obviously, but... relieved somehow. "She said something about hot food for the team?" he waved at his people behind him.

[Caz]

The gaunt man nodded. "I'll show you all to the mess hall while I round her up. That sound good?"

Like there was any other option, really. He had one of the other Guard members take over and show Freddie's unit to the mess hall, where the cooks had used some of the potatoes and assorted dried vegetables and jerky to create the closest thing to fresh stew that the newcomers would have had in months.

[Josh]

Once he'd gotten Dorian alone, he grabbed his arm, leaning close to him to talk. "Listen, do you think this place can hold? Because I'm not leaving her here to die. Worse comes to worse, we grab Melanie, we make a run for it and leave these bastards behind."

[Caz]

"These bastards that are leaving their food and beds to you?" Dorian said in a flat tone, scrutinising the other man without even looking at him.

"It'll hold," he said, wiping his bangs from his eyes. "It'll hold because the people here know they have no other option, because we've been training the people who come in here, and because if you try running out, guess whose warm bodies will seem more accessible to the mongrels outside."

It would be apparent to Freddie that more than Davies' appearance had changed. He'd apparently quadrupled the weight of his balls.

[Josh]

"Be practical, man," he said. "Every mall that's tried to hold off a horde has been smashed. If we die here, we won't do anybody any good. The horde is still a bit off, we can go now and make it out alive."

[Caz]

Dorian looked to him with a bit of a sigh, pushed the glasses up onto the bridge of his nose.

"Look, Chief, were it up to me I'd have never come here."

He stared Freddie down as though he were about to pounce.

"But you and I both know that the final say isn't up to me."

[Dark Silver]

It took time to get the team prepped, time they didn't have. Within the three hours it took Freddy to get to the Mall, word had spread about what was planned.

Silver was taking out nine others of his team, to attempt to take thin the horde, or divert them. Each were members of the Second, battle tested, trained by Silver, Punt and Decimus in the best ways to eliminate their foe.

They were lined by the elevator which would lower them down, rigged out with spears, bows and arrows, and something which was unseen in Caiger, automatic weapons, MP-5's and AK-47's, weapons Silver and company had confiscated from thier missions, and raiding Police Depot's, they were the weapons for use in the last rounds of the battle.

Silver walked along the line, looking each over, the spiked gauntlet he wore creaking as he flexed his fingers.

There was a chance none of them would make it back, but if they bought the Decimus, Frank and Punt a few more hours to clear the citizens....

Then it would be all worth it.

[Josh]

"She's sticking it out, isn't she?" he said with a sigh. The problem with working for crusaders and visionaries was that when they got their heart wrapped around something particularly stupid, there was no dissuading them.

[Caz]

For a moment, he looked almost regretful of what he was about to say.

"If you can talk her out of it, bless your heart. Because these people will either win or they won't, but whether or not we're getting our own killed won't affect anything other than casualty reports. We're not fighters."

Melanie had been right when she'd told him that. However, he had something else to add:

"If you can't dissuade her, then take your men and go," Dorian said evenly. "But don't expect me to follow. As much as I disagree with her motivations, she's still the boss and she still thinks we can win this."

[Josh]

"God damn the both of you," he said quietly. "We're not dying here."

His features had paled, his hands were clenched into fists.

"Let's go talk to her."

[Caz]

Dorian put his hands on Freddie's shoulders, stared down at him evenly.

"This isn't a personal battle for you, I understand. But Melanie and I have been here for a month, longer in her case, and these people have cared for us. They've given us a roof and they've given us their food, their ammunition, their protection. It wouldn't mar you to leave here now, but for both her and I, it would be like slapping their generosity in the face."

[Josh]

"You've gone native," he said simply. "You're one of them now."

He unclenched his fists. "Let's go see what we can do."

It wasn't quite a commitment, but...

They had taken in Guard members and sheltered them. There was a debt here. That much he could agree on.

[Caz]

As they jogged up the stairs, Dorian pointed the newcomer in the direction of the import shop and then turned to head back down.

"I'm manning their infirmary right now and we've got a patient getting over an emergency appendectomy, so I can't stray for long," he explained. "Good luck."

When Freddie approached the door, it was apparent almost immediately that there was a crying child inside. Almost as apparent were Melanie's quiet attempts to soothe him.

Jared stared up toward her, lower lip trembling as he clung to a pillow from the bed.

"I dunno where he is! Bjorn aint never run off before," he said with a sniffle. She put an arm around his shoulders and said:

"After everyone's done eating, we'll bring the whistle and come look for him, all right? We'll go all over the whole mall if we have to, but I know he's somewhere."

"My head's still buzzin'," he said with a small sob. "It hurts an' I don't know what's goin' on..."

[Josh]

Freddy cleared his throat loudly. "Hey," he said. "We're here."

[Caz]

Jared jumped at the voice, clinging to her, and she put a hand on the back of his neck.

"It's all right, boy," she said, "they're friends."

Looked toward the door, she motioned for him to come in.

"Good time as usual," she said with approval. "I trust Dor's got your bearings set?"

[Josh]

"Yeah," he said, laying his pack down on the floor. "That he has. Are you sure about this place, Melanie?"

[Caz]

She looked up to him as though he'd just asked whether or not gravity existed.

"'Course I'm sure," she said, "I damn well wouldn't be here otherwise, would I?"

[Josh]

And once Booth had her mind set, the only way to get her out of it was to club her over the head and haul her unconscious ass out.

He looked at the boy in her arms, then back to her and grimaced.

"Fuck it," he said finally. "Wasn't planning on living forever anyway. You and Dorrie are fucking nuts, you know that?"

[Caz]

She chuckled a bit. "Regardless of standing by me, Dorian has his own reasons. You remember how he was when we found him, don't you? Disoriented, scared, at war with himself..."

Smiling fondly: "He's blossomed here. He's found a placr where he really belongs."

[Josh]

"I noticed," he said. "You're looking better too."

For both of them, the changes were pretty damned blatant. For all their persistance and stubbornness, both Melanie and Dorian had a certain element of going through the motions in their activities, when he'd known them before.

Now, there was a strange light to both of them. They had found something more than surviving to fight for.

"For Queen and country," he said, a touch of irony in his voice. "Who do I talk to about getting our people worked into the defense plan around here?"

[Caz]

"His name's Frank Zimmerman," she said, untangling herself from Jared and hushing the boy, assuring him that she'd return. "And I warn you now he's a right bastard, but he's a bright one."

She grabbed her backpack and slung it lazily over one shoulder, a movement the calculated and self-conscious woman he'd first met wouldn't ever consider. Digging through one of the pockets, she produced a pack of Austrian cigarettes: blacks, no filter, nothing to kill you quicker.

"Been saving these," she said playfully. "Want?"