Urban Dead: The Price of the Oath

[Caz]

For a long moment, she didn't say anything. She knew he'd come back if he was at all able... But what she was more worried about was being caught in the battle and swept off in the evacuation. Even if he knew where to rendezvous, she knew what would be going through his mind... The doubt, the worry, the sinking feeling upon finding the mall empty...

"I wouldn't want you as a patient either," she said with a hearty grin, slapping Zimmerman on the back, twisting his words.

[Josh]

"Unlike him, I'm cooperative and I don't carp endlessly and tear up perfectly good suture jobs," Frank pointed out. "If you'll excuse me..."

He wandered off to start a new load of equipment heading for the roof.

[Dark Silver]

After Silver had finished briefing the nine men he'd elected to bring along in their futile attempt to stop the wave of undead headed their way, he'd find that Melanie was standing toward the back of the room, awaiting a moment of his time if he could spare it.

Her hair was pulled back, her arms crossed over her chest. All in all she appeared not only worried, but also hardened in her resolve to see this fight through to the very end. Gone was the skittish, apprehensive, and confused woman he'd first met; she was a warrior now, just like the rest of them. And if that meant dying to protect the place they called home, so be it.

Silver had turned away from the men for a moment, allowing them a few moments to give thier goodbyes. His face was vacant of emotion, eyes hardened and focused, he looked fearsome, the wickedly spiked gauntlet on his right hand, shotgun and battle axe on his back, bandolier with three clips and his m1911 strapped to his chest, the C4 charges at his side, and a brace of flares on his right hip.

He spied Melanie, standing to the back, as if in wait, and since he had nothing else to do, moved towards her. She looked as if she wanted to talk. He could give her a few minutes before they left.

"Hey," she said with a supportive smile as he approached. "Was hoping to get a word in before you headed off."

She re-folded her arms and stared up at him, easily a foot shorter.

"You wouldn't mind?"

He shook his head, his shaggy hair bouncing with the movement, "Got a few minutes....then we're heading out. "

He watched her, the diminutive woman he met those months ago, unintentionally seeing her naked, though they had gotten past that rather well. What's more, she was family, being Petro's wife.

"I was hoping to devise a sort of signal," she explained. "If you can't deter them, some way to signal us back home to rally the men to the rooftops. After all, the more time we have..." She let the sentence trail off, knowing full well that he understood.

"Already set a cut off time with Punt, Decimus and Frank. If we're not back or heard from in six hours, Caiger goes into lockdown. No one goes in or out, and everyone's on maximum alert." his voice was calm, nonplussed even as he talked about possibly sending his men out to thier deaths.

"Aye," she said. "But we'll be hearing from you," she said, her voice even as she offered him a grim likeness of a smile. But that smile then faltered. "The boy wanted to know... Is Punt going with you?"

"Negative" Silver looked up, eyues focusing elsewhere for a moment, "Decimus and Punt are both staying behind...I'm not risking them on it."

She nodded, agreeing with his decision. "If anything happens to Petro and me," she said, "the boy's to be put under Punt's care. It's what he'd want. They're... Close," she said, "oddly."

"Ain't shit happening to you and Petro...." Silver said matter of factly, "If the defenses are to be breached, you will lead the civillians down the escape tunnel. Petro will know better than to risk the First in a stupid attempt if we're fucked here."

Silver inhaled sharply, then let the breath out slowly, "and that's not subject to negotiation, as long as I'm alive, and Petro is not here, I'm incharge. If I go down, Punt, Decimus and Zimmerman have joint command, and standing orders to make sure your out with the civilians."

"I can't do that, Silver," she said with pleading eyes. "You know I can't. Before all of this, I formed the largest goddamn aid organisation in this shitstain of a town, so I've made my name just like all of you."

His voice was low, not brooking negotiation, "And then you know you'll be best leading the non-combats out and to safety, away from the horde. With anyluck, you won't have to do it....."

He shrugged, looking back into her eyes, cold, hard ice blue orbs fixed on her face, "Don't argue with me, just do this."

"What about my men, then?" she asked, boring her eyes into his. Despite their difference in both size and disposition, she was unafraid and made that very clear. "They need me."

"Take them out with you, they'll cover the evaccuies. The Militia and what's left of the Second will see to holding the line."

He breathed out a low sigh, "You'd do better to leave witht he Guard before the horde comes, but you won't do that...your to damn hard headed"

She shrugged a bit, her jacket hanging off her shoulders. She was obviously stressed if she was this fidgety.

"It's not about me," she said quietly. "It's about my people. I've got seventy men here, and while thirty of them are medics only, those other forty need guidance. They need someone to show them why this is just important for them as it is to us."

"If they need that right now" he said matter of factly, "then they don't need to be here."

He crouched down, just enough to be on eye level with her, "I'll be blunt with you on this Melanie, I don't expect to be coming back....We never hit a horde this big, none of us in the Irregular's have. Your men need to make up thier own mind if they want to fight with the people whose been helping feed them, seeing to it they get a nice bed at night, have a had a chance to live some sembelence of a normal life. I can hear the voices still....I know the pussbag's won't stop until we're either one of them, or food."

She stared back at him, then snorted a bit through her nose. "Don't you fuckin' tell me that," she sneered. "You've got a lot of nerve, being the spearhead of this mission and thinking it's okay to just run off and resign yourself to getting killed!"

She put a hand on his shoulder.

"If you guys can't head them off, fuck 'em doggystyle. Don't just assume we're going down on this."

"I'm the spearhead, because unlike Decimus, Punt, Frank, or anyone else in this place, I have nothing to lose."

He straightened back up, looking down on her physically. For all her faults, she was one thing he wasn't. Brave. "The rest of you have something to live for. See that you live for it."

With that, he turned and walked away, having the final word on the matter, before yelling for his team to prepare to head out.

She watched him go, sighed a bit. He was right: he didn't have anything else to live for. But it was his own damn fault for making sure of that.

[Josh]

The horde was definitely homing in on the mall now. The meat-stench of the humans inside wafted unceasingly to them, calling out to them, driving them. Already, they were breaking up as the as the faster among them surged forward.

This would be the most vulnerable moment, before they began to recoalesce before the walls and attack.

[Dark Silver]

Silver's team had spread out, as they approached the horde, five groups of two, each taking positions of advantage.

They had waited until the horde had begun it's first dispersal, before Silver's voice broke the radio silence, going over all local channels, Silver had ordered the radios set to hands free for the mission.

"Commence"

from atop a three story brick building, a scared white cylinder flew from the air, a roadflare illuminating it's path. It landed amoungst a group of closely gathered Zombies, before the crack of a rifle broke the night.

The explosion was dazzling as the fireball engulfed the zombies closest to it, the shockwave of exploding compressed propane sending a shockwave which threw other zombies, and members of the Second, to the ground.

The explosions where followed by two more, in other sections of the horde, as the battle had been joined.

[Cynical Cat]

Wendigo stirred. He was rested now. Strong. He sliced off a strip of meat and began to chew. New thoughts had occured to him. He could store meat now. He could hunt when he had plenty and save what he took for leaner times.

He finished the strip and hung the torso from the line. The shamblers were closing in on the . . . . . . the mall. The mall. The shamblers were closing on the mall. He could pick off some more from the back, away from the leaders. He hefted his axe and began walking.

[Josh]

The horde reacted with confusion as the explosions went off in its midst, the nearer zombies to the attackers moving toward the motion and noise as others were blasted down by the concussion and small amounts of shrapnel tearing through them. Others milled about aimlessly, then began following those chasing the teams.

[Dark Silver]

"Fall back, position 2"

The voice was calm, as Silver watched. The horde was being distracted, pulling away from the mall. It was working, but pulling the horde away, meant his mean were in that much more danger.

"Prep det packs, t-minus sixty seconds"

The man at Silver's side nodded, as Silver lifted up his propane tanks, they had brought 5 of them, one for each team, and just enough to help corral the horde. A mass of them, such as this one, couldn't be beaten, just slowed, and that's what Silver had intended.

He cracked open the roadflare, shoved it in the spiggot of the propane tank, and threw it into the air.......

Where it exploded after not clearing 4 meters.

The force of the explosion threw Silver and his mate back, metal shards flying out. Silver impacted with a A/C unit on the roof, as the other man was killed when a particularly large piece of the tank sliced his head in half....

[Josh]

The front ranks fell, scythed down by the blast.

But more kept coming. The horde could not be stopped, only delayed.

[Cynical Cat]

Fire. Fire. This was something . . . . old. "Fire," he rasped. "Matches. Lighter. FIRE!" The shambler closest to him turned toward him. Wendigo hit him between the eyes with his axe. As the zombie flopped on the ground, Wendigo drove a hook through the underside of his jaw with practiced ease. So much to think about. Hang meat. Eat. Grow stronger. Grow smarter. Remember.

[Dark Silver]

The radio crackled with the calls, "X-1, come in X-1. thier rushing in on your position! Get the fuck outta there!"

Silver groaned, his head having impacted against the air conditioner hard, he was still seeing stars. The sounds from the radio crackled in his ear, but he couldnt make sense of them, as he staggered to his feet.

He stumbled to the edge of the roof and looked over, the rush of zombies coming for his stakeout. They were flowing around the building, he was trapped.

He fumbled with the mp-5, as he switched it to semi-auto, and took his aim.

"X-1 to all teams, Harriman is down. Begin Operation: Corral on my Mark. Prep Det Packs for thirty second delay, then haul ass."

Using the C4, the teams were to destroy several key buildings in the area, long ago staked out, just incase a horde attacked. When these buildings where taken out, they would chain collapse, creating a ring of debris, which would hopefully be hard pressed for the zombie's to cross with any speed.

The mp-5 burped forth hot lead, as Silver swept the barrel at the front ranks of the horde. They drew closer still as he did so.

"Mark!"

No replies came back, but Silver went ont he assumption they were performing his duty. All he had to do was keep them occupied for another 30 seconds...then he would ignite the C4 they had in this building...a good 40 lbs of the stuff....

It would be a glorious explosion, to bad he wouldn't be able to see it.

[Josh]

The horde was disorganized now, assailed from all sides. Their primitive instincts were overwhelmed, their unity shattered for precious moments. Reverting to base instinct, they closed in on the nearest targets, becoming a broken mob.

They closed in on Silver, the pistol-caliber bullets having much less impact than hearty shots from a rifle or shotgun. Nevertheless, he was buying precious time.

The receiver locked on an empty chamber as the detonations started. The building next to Wendigo Reaper collapsed, as did several others. One explosive package failed to detonate, but what did go off was enough.

All hell broke loose...

[Cynical Cat]

His roar of rage was lost in the thunder of the explosions. Bricks fell on him, breaking bones and half burying him. Pain. PAIN. He writhed and twisted. But his belly was full, his strength at its height. Muscle began to knit together, bones strengthened. It wasn't quite right though. He began to toss bricks away. He was hurt. He wasn't healing right. He wanted to cause pain. He wanted . . . . . revenge.

[Dark Silver]

The explosions went off right on time, and his gun ran out of ammo not a moment later - damn it.

He unslung the shotgun from his back, quickly checked the breech, and slide three shells into the choke. He slide the pump, cocking the shotgun, and moved as quickly as he could towards the C4.

He set the timer just as the first zombie was bursting through the door, leveling his shotgun and blowing off the top of it's head.

He threw the activator on the timer, just as hemade his break for it. 45 seconds began to count down.

So little time, C4 was a major demolitions explosive, there would be no way to outrun the explosion in less than a minute, but he needed to make sure he caught as many of the bastards as he did, slow them down, hurt them...

He ran, legs pumping faster and faster, out of the buildings rear, and into the street, as the bomb exploded, the explosive flash and sound reaching even the distant Caiger.....

[Cynical Cat]

The explosion nocked Wendigo off of his feet, but didn't serious injure him. He sprang back onto his feet. The left leg, the . . . . thigh bone had healed bad. Bent. Harder to walk. He threw back his head and screamed. He screamed and screamed and screamed. Three shamblers looked at him oddly. Like the couldn't decide what he was.

He buried his axe in the skull of the first. Gore spurted from the would and it dropped. The other two made up their minds and came for him. Slow. Stupid. He leaped clumsily on one and jabbed his thumb spikes through its eyes and into its brain. It toppled back, taking him with it. The third one smashed him in the back of his head. He rolled away, roaring.

He kicked the shambler's legs out from under him and got back to his feet. The shambler staggered up. He tore off half of its face with his claws and opened its throat. Hurt but not down. Claws were slow. That's why he had started to carry knives. It punched him in the chest, but that only hurt a little. He grabbed it's right shoulder with his left hand and decapitated it with one strike.

He looked around. No shamblers were paying attention. Meat was everywhere, but he didn't care. Only a few shamblers were eating. Only a few zombies at the dead. He didn't care about food now. Food, which had driven him for . . . weeks, which had been the only thing that mattered, was no longer important. He screamed to the uncarrying sky. "YOU HURT ME!"

He picked up his axe. A shambler came his way. It was missing most of the flesh on its left side. He pulled a pistol and shot it in the head. A large chunk of skull splattered out the back and it toppled. He walked forward. "YOU HURT ME!" He would share his pain.

[Josh]

And all at once, the final bit of coherence fell away from the horde fell away. Maddened, they fell upon the nearest available targets, tearing each other to shreds.

Unfortunately, some had closed the distance with members of the second. Shrill screams broke out into the sky as men were torn limb from limb.

Time had been purchased, precious time. The horde was falling to pieces, killing and rampaging.

But it would rise once more.

[Cynical Cat]

Wendigo advanced. Twice shamblers had come to close. He left them crippled or dead. The leaders had died or lost control. But if even one of them survived, it would soon master the horde. Wendigo didn't care. He was smarter now. Once the leaders were the only thing he needed to fear, as they would know he was different, a threat to them.

But leaders hadn't done this. This had been done by others. The others the shamblers hunted. The ones that used tools. They had hurt him. Made him heal bad. "I WILL GIVE YOU PAIN!"

[Josh]

A man rose up from the rubble, blood streaming from his leg. He obviously could barely stand. Leveling a submachinegun at Reaper, he squeezed the trigger, howling incoherently at the monster that spoke with the tongue of a man.

[Dark Silver]

The shockwave had carried him away from the blast, hurling him through the air. Sharpnel had torn into him, tearing apart his legs, flaying the flesh, but not quiet breaking them.

He'd live, if he didn't bleedout first....

Slowly, he began to crawl, on his elbows and forearms, away, trying to put as much distance as he could against him and the horde...

[Cynical Cat]

A lot of the bullets missed. Some of them didn't. The man aimed low, recognizing that Wendigo was wearing a flak vest. Half healed muscle tore. Weakened bones shattered. Howling, he fell to his knees. He fumbled for a pistol. The other was out of bullets. He was reloading. Wendigo fired. Missed. Fired again and again and again. The pistol went dry. He dropped it, pulled another. The man reloaded.

Wendigo had hit him, but he wore armour let Wendigo and did not die. He raised his new pistol. The man reloaded. A burst to the chest caused him to fall over backward. Wendigo fired and missed. The man retreated. Shamblers were coming. His legs weren't working right. He turned to the shambler. "NOT FOOD!" he screamed. He emptied that pistol and then another one before they went down. He would have to find . . . . ammunition. So he could reload. Like the other. Like the man. The mall.

[Josh]

Carter staggered away from the gory scene. He'd seen some weird shit, like Silver and Punt's craziness, but that was beyond that. Tossing away the depleted weapon, he shucked his pack.

"Hail Mary, full of grace," he muttered mechanically as he staggered through the rubble, looking for a place to get away. He repeated the words over and over. South, toward the mall. They weren't that far. He was going to live.

A hand tore out of the rubble, seizing his lower leg. He screamed as he fell forward, slamming face-first into the concrete. Another hand grabbed his ankle, locking it into a deathgrip.

Literally.

[Caz]

In the aftermath of the explosion, Melanie stood upon the roof, watching the plumes of smoke as they rose toward the ruins of downtown.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath.

Beside her were Dorian and Freddy, undoubtedly thinking similar thoughts as a calm settled after the blasts, at least from where the mall could see.

"So it starts," she said.

[Josh]

"Brave men," Freddy said. "Damned brave men. Alright," he said to his Guard people. "Let's make this worth it. There are still pikes to put into place, work to be done here! C'mon, move it!"

He started down the side. When the time came, the trenches would be deathtraps for the horde.

[Cynical Cat]

Wendigo staggered to his feet. South. Away from shamblers. The mall. He walked with increasing speed. He had a belly full of food. He would heal fast, for a while. His legs had healed better this time. Walking easier. He axed a staggering shambler out of the way and continued forward. Come back later. Lots of meat around.

There. Him. Shambler had him. One swing and then the shambler had nothing. Carter was sent sprawling on the ground. Man was his. Reaper reached down and lifted him above his head by his flak vest. "YOU CAUSED ME PAIN!"

[Dark Silver]

He continued his slow crawl, the metal spikes on the gauntlet buried into the stone, slowly dragging him forward as he imbedded it in and pulled.

He was underarmed, crippled, and in danger our bleeding to death, his only hope was the fact that the Mall wasn't extremel far away. If he held out long enough, maybe...just maybe he could make it.

The axe on his back was heavy, but he shouldered the burden, pulling himself on.

Just a few more feet..

A few more feet...