Urban Dead: The Price of the Oath

[Pcm979]

"Ladies first." Commented Mike, and slid into the elevator quickly.

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Punt glanced at the Zombie. Fuckin' huge. He noted. His gaze shifted to Ellen. She was still alive, if wounded badly. Fuck. No 'nading the bastard, then.

He struck first, yelling and swinging his axe at the monster's knees.

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The Leader took the blow, the once-sharpened axe sinking into cords of muscle and then stopping. He backhanded the man with contempt, sending him flying.

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"'Kay." Punt managed, sliding into the dirt a good few metres away. "This way, fucker!" He yelled, whipping his pistol from his belt and firing. Like he'd expected, it was only an irritation.

That was all right. Irritation was just dandy.

[Josh]

He punched the button for the eighth floor. "In in, everyone in."

The elevator really wasn't intended for occupancy by ten people. It ended up being a rather tight fit.

"Suddenly, I'm reminded of this time in college," Petro said in Sherry's ear. "Could you please get your elbow out of my ribs?"

[Caz]

Sherry didn't do much in the way of response other than shift out of everyone's way, into a corner of the small space. Upon further examination, she didn't really seem upset. Just distracted.

[Pcm979]

"No fair!" Mike said from the back of the lift. "Your elbow's supposed to be in my ribs, Sher!"

Something was definately up with the girl. He felt, once again, fucking useless.

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The Leader swatted at the bullets aimlessly. Annoying man. He lumbered over to Punt, pulling the axe from his leg and snapping it easily. He reached down and snapped Punt’s arm with equal ease, lifting him by the neck.

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SHITTHATHURT. But pain, as Punt was continually reminding himself, let you know you were alive. And, while they didn’t feel pain, they could still be hurt.

“Eye to eye, eh?” He asked, gasping. “Stupid fucker.” He commented, reaching up with his other hand and gouging the Zombie’s eyes out.

[Josh]

The elevator stopped at the eighth floor.

Suddenly...

The elevator doors slowly slid open to reveal an empty hallway.

"Alright, clear me a path to the east," he said. "Everyone move ahead, we'll catch up in a second."

He snagged Sherry's collar before she could move.

[Caz]

She glanced over to him, moving slowly, as though she'd freshly woken up. Her eyes asked the question; no need to voice it.

[Pcm979]

Mike filed out, glancing behind himself quickly. Well shit, Petro might have more luck.

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The Zombie howled, letting go and kicking Punt in the chest viciously, breaking ribs and sending him plummeting over the edge of the rubble. He landed with a crack that didn't herald any good news.

He coughed blood. "Folla' m' voice, you fuck." He reached over, grabbed his broken arm, and snapped it back into place. "Got all f'n day." He wheezed.

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RAGE! He could not see, but he could hear and smell, and what he could smell was BLOOD. He would eat this one SLOWLY, and kill him AGAIN and AGAIN after he rose once more. He leapt down to Punt's level-

Punt kicked hard, pulling both legs back and slamming them forward. And again. Two precise hits, shattering the monster's legs. He rolled out from under it as it collapsed.

"Stupid fuck." He coughed again, pulling a grenade from his belt.

[Josh]

As soon as everyone had gotten out of sight and a little out of earshot, he suddenly grabbed Sherry's equipment harness, all pretense of amicable cheer disappearing from his face as he slammed her back toward the wall, standing on his toes so he could glare at her eye to eye, nose to nose.

"Get. Your. Shit. Together," he snarled. "Focus."

[Caz]

She stared at him, looking a bit green.

"I told Mike I'm okay," she said, "I just feel a little sick is all."

[Josh]

"Worry about that when we're somewhere not surrounded by all the fucking zombies in town," he snarled, letting go, sinking back onto his heels and walking away, putting the happy face back on for the team.

[Caz]

"In case you didn't notice, I'm doing just fine," she said under her breath, brushing past him in a gesture of defiance and rejoining the group, automatically finding Mike's side.

[Pcm979]

He instinctively put an arm around her shoulders as they walked. He was there. Always.

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The Leader roared, long and hard, pushing itself up onto it's hands and turning its head wildly.

Punt staggered to his feet, waving the grenade under its nose.

"Heeeere, boy." He said, coughing up blood once more. That reminded him.

"Hey, L!" He yelled over the ridge. "Tell t' boy t' look inna b'sement." He wheezed, nearly collapsing again. The Zombie lunged at the grenade, biting down hard. Punt only just avoided losing his fingers.

"Good boy." He whispered, then stepped on its arm, shattering it. He tossed the pin away, and ran as fast as he could.

White-out.

[Josh]

He heard her as he went and smiled to himself. Good, she needed to be a little pissed off.

Frankly, she worked best that way. The chip on her shoulder could be a real asset for what was coming.

Because this was some crazy shit he was thinking.

[Caz]

Back at the mall, Jared sat up suddenly, wiping at his eyes and glancing around the room as though looking for something he could actually see.

Melanie looked down to him.

"It's okay, honey," she said, "we're just here in our room."

The boy blinked a few times, then said:

"It just got really white in my head."

She sighed, pulled him against her. "There's some strange shit going on, I know," was really all she had to say on that subject. She gently ran a hand up and down his back, soothing him back to sleep.

[Pcm979]

Mike sighed. She'd told him there would be times when he couldn't do anything. It looked like this was one of them. He simply squeezed her a little, choking down his natural desire to Fix The Problem.

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Losonti and Graham staggered over the ridge a few minutes later. What they saw was the Zombie, painted over a ten-metre area, Ellen, bleeding from her throat, and Punt, blown some metres away by the blast, shirt ripped off by the force of the explosion.

"Well, fuck." Managed Graham. Los just flipped his switchblade in and out. He was obviously out of it.

"Go back to the Mall, get help." Graham said, taking charge. "I'll watch them. GO!"

Los set off, jerkily, finding his stride slowly.

[Josh]

They made their way to the east side of the floor. Petro stepped up to the window, pointing at a nearby flat complex a story below. "It's a bit of a swing, but we run lines over to there. From there, we have our choice of escape routes. But the most important thing is that we get back down to Shower boulevard."

[Caz]

"Thanks," Sherry said quietly, not offering any more input on the subject. Really, it was the sudden transition from the relative calm time she'd had ever since she and Mike's vacation into sudden bloody combat that was all the trouble. It was just... hard to get used to.

Like dealing with the outbreak all over again.

But she was focused, she'd handle it just like always.

[Pcm979]

"Any time." He said, patting her on the shoulder. Then, to Petro:

"What's important about the 'vard?" As he pulled a cord from his pack.

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Melanie would hear a bustle outside her door, then a knock.

"Ms. Booth?"

[Caz]

Melanie glanced up, shouted for them to come in. She told Jared it'd be just a moment, and he nodded sleepily.

[Pcm979]

A militaman hurried in, glancing at the boy and drawing her aside.

"Sorry to disturb you, Ms. Booth, but everyone's tied up, and there's two more injuries." He said without coordination. Not a born information runner.

[Caz]

"That's good to know," she said, "but why inform me? If there are wounded they should be taken to the infirmary."

As in: any more to this?.

[Josh]

They began smashing out the windows. "We get into the vicinity, and I see if that old barge unit 682 still turns over," he said with a smile. "If so, we aren't walking out of here."

A firetruck he'd spotted on the way in. Hopefully it still had enough juice left to crank up.

Please god, do us a favor. Just once.

[Caz]

At the mention of that, Sherry said:

"Mike and I saw extra fuel drums in the basement. We could probably slip in and grab one more."

[Josh]

"No way to get them across," he said. "And I'm not really worried about the fuel. We kept those things topped off. My worry is if the batteries have any juice left, especially in this weather."

He stepped aside as Steve began whirling up a grappel line. With a grunt, he heaved it out to the flat, only to have it fall just short.

"You throw like a fucking girl, Zed," he chided him cheerfully.

"You look like a girl, Honker," Zed shot back. Petro suddenly went very, very pale.

[Caz]

"Honker?" Sherry asked, raising an eyebrow as she crossed her arms over her chest.