Urban Dead: The Price of the Oath

[Pcm979]

Punt shifted, so her hand was covering his bleeding eye. He seemed to calm down.

[Josh]

And that was when one tackled Steve off his spot on the back, the pair slamming into the ground and bouncing bonelessly.

Petro, oblivious to that, veered around another corner and got them back on course as the rest continued to fight off the zombies.

[Pcm979]

"Petro!" Mike yelled. "Steve's gone!" He kicked a Zombie in the head, sending it under the wheel with a series of horrible squelches and pops.

[Caz]

Sherry, however, saw.

"Petro!" she shouted, "We lost Steve off the back!"

But they were getting farther and farther off...

She glared up at the truck's roof, grabbing the ankle of one zombie and yanking down hard.

If she was going to have to go back, she'd at least take one or two off and catch 'em on the way to get Steve, who might be bone-crushed-and-god-knew-what by the time she got there. Using her axe, she tried to trip another zombie, then timed it as best she could and jumped off.

[Pcm979]

Mike rolled off after her, bouncing to his feet and swinging his axe into a Zombie's neck.

"He'll need a doctor." He said calmly.

[Josh]

He heard the words.

Didn't change anything. If Steve was off, he was probably dead. In the meantime, every second they lingered in horde territory threatened to kill them too.

Then he saw Sherry jump off.

FUCK.

He slewed the ungainly vehicle around in a massive u-turn, slamming a car out of the way. Another tire blew out and he couldn't get any decent motive power out of it.

"Bail out!" he ordered, clambering off.

He took one glance back toward where they were supposed to be going, then drew his pistol and headed back down the street toward Steve and Sherry.

[Caz]

She had axed one zombie, then the other in quick succession. She didn't even check to see if they were down as she ran toward the corner where they'd turned. It was easy enough to spy their route: tyre marks in Malton weren't common.

However, due to her speed and her head start, she didn't even realise that Petro and Mike had bailed, had rounded the corner by that point.

[Pcm979]

Mike glanced over his shoulder.

"Ah, fuck." He said, kicking a Zombie off his blade. "Being balls-and-glory is our job."

He waved jauntily, and hared off after Sherry.

[Josh]

The rest of the Irregulars started racing after them.

Rounding the corner, they could see the zombie crawling along the ground toward Steve, who lay in a huddled heap against a waste bin.

[Caz]

"Keep the fuck off!" she screamed nonsensically.

Sherry drew her pistol and snarled at the zombie as she tackled it like a lineman, jamming the barrel against its head and firing. Incidentally, she splattered Steve with its goo, but hey, what was a little of that between friends?

Kicking the corpse away, she knelt beside him.

[Caz]

At that point, Melanie seemed to get it. She took a washcloth, poured some cool water over it, and folded it against Punt's bad eye so she could free her hands.

His arm... appeared to just need a splint. Either it was a miraculously innocent fracture or he'd set it himself. Most likely the latter.

[Pcm979]

Mike axed both Zombies standing between him and Sherry quickly and rushed over. "Let me see." A pause.

"Fuck."

----------

Punt relaxed, still not regaining conciousness.

[Caz]

"Fuckfuckfuck," Sherry said as she looked him over. The only thing that looked good about the situation was the fact that he was curled on his side, which meant his back was good. No spinal damage meant that they could probably fix it.

Whatever it was.

She wasn't a fucking doctor, but by the way his leg was twisted beneath him, it was obvious that one or more crucial joints was dislocated and probably blown to fucking pieces. Scrapes covered pretty much every inch of skin she could see, and it looked as though he'd knocked a few teeth loose as well.

So of course he wasn't awake.

Not aware that the engine had toppled, Sherry panicked, thinking she'd have to run with Steve over her shoulders in order to catch them back up.

With as much care and precision as her frozen hands could muster, she lifted him, keeping his hurt leg elevated. The fireman's carry proved to be ineffient, so instead she transferred him into a loose cradle, like a mother holding a kid.

"... Fuck."

She glanced up and saw Mike.

"No time," she said, "gotta get back!"

[Pcm979]

"Truck toppled." He said concisely. "Others coming."

[Josh]

Petro arrived moments later, looking at Steve, then at Mike.

"Fuck," he echoed unconsciously. He looked past them to the slow-shuffling horde that was gathering down the street and moving their way. "Move it!"

Thank fucking god for the cold. They might be able to get some clearance here.

They weren't so far out now. Hell of a lot faster to drive than walk.

[Caz]

Melanie taped Punt's arm much in the manner she'd taped Reaper's leg, only with a smaller splint. She also rigged a rather weak sling out of a pillowcase, sighing with relief as the ordeal appeared to be over.

Glancing toward the bucket, she noted with a frown that the blood was still flowing.

Dorian surprised her, and she yelped a bit when he spoke:

"Might want to give him some Cumodin or something."

[Caz]

Sherry was both relieved and rather disturbed that Petro had crashed the damn thing, but whatever. She quickly rejoined the group, jogging up to the front as per usual position. Due to her knowledge of the town, she'd be able to lead them back if visibility dropped to just a few blocks.

[Josh]

They passed by the crashed fire unit, getting distance. Steve shuddered and started shivering spasmically in Sherry's arms.

[Pcm979]

"Gimme." Mike said, taking Steve from her carefully. He dropped back to assess and, if possible, treat his condition with Ace's help.

----------

Punt's eye shot open when Melanie yelped. He gazed around the room carefully, then sighed.

"Argh." He said, ecompassing the situation rather well.

[Caz]

"Fuck," Ace said as he assessed the man's shivering. "He might be seizing up. Brain damage." He looked to Mike. "We have to get him back."

Sherry continued to lead the pack through the slowly-whitening streets.

[Pcm979]

"No shit, but we're yonks away." Mike said nervously. He thought.

"Gimme that crap you took from the fridges. Vial D. Yellow liquid." Mike took it and plunged the needle into the base of Steve's skull.

"Should hold it off for a while." He concluded.

[Josh]

He pulled out his radio.

Worth a shot.

"Caiger, this is Head Hunter. Anybody reading me?"

There was a faint, staticky voice. "Head Hunter? Post 4! Good to hear you."

"Shut up," he said. "Get Zimmerman, tell him I need Marley and his team and some of our remaining wheels, Larley avenue heading north. Repeat, we need a cars and an extraction soonest. Repeat, send cars, send them fast. We'll meet you on the way."

[Caz]

Melanie looked down at Punt.

"Argh indeed," she said. "Sorry if you're cold: you're breathing through your side now; affects your temperature."

Dorian handed her a vial, clearing his throat to remind her of the Cumodin. She couldn't help but grumble a bit, feeling just a bit too wanted at the moment, and the frustration transferred into how very un-gentle her injection into Punt's upper arm was.

"Sorry," she said a moment later.

[Josh]

"What do you mean you can't find him?" Zimmerman yelled. "Then... come on!"

In a total breakdown of command and control at the mall, Frank Zimmerman was taking a patrol out to bring in his people.

Before he left, he grabbed one of the rooftop scouts. "Tell Booth where I'm going, tell her that the General's alive, and... that's she's in charge until we get back."

The convoy raced into the darkness.

[Pcm979]

Punt laughed weakly. "Had worse." He said, indicating various war wounds including but not limited to his severed and reattached arm, his scar above his bad eye, a patch of discoloured skin on his skull from his death, and other sundry injuries.

----------

Mike sighed with relief as the cars pulled up.

"We've got a casualty here." He said, putting Steve into the back of a truck and hopping in alongside.