Urban Dead: The Price of the Oath

[Caz]

"Hope this thing has a heater," Gil said. "Her hands are like ice..."

Gwen murmured something as they carefully laid her across the seat. Something clattered to the truck's floor: the syringe, partially emptied.

[Josh]

"Yeah, it's got a heater," he said. "Everyone, pile in. We'll be back in a jiffy. Beats the fuck out of walking."

He slammed it into gear and put his foot on the break, waiting for his people and the motherfucking talking zombie to climb into the back. He put one hand on Gwen's temple.

"Hang on, girl. You've lasted this long. Just a little further, and we'll make it all better."

[Cynical Cat]

Wendigo climbed into the back of the truck.

[Caz]

"Yeah..." she murmured, feverish and clammy beneath his hand. She coughed again, or tried to, but she didn't have the energy. "There were..." She took a deep breath. "Explosions."

In the back of the truck, Gil opened his flask and took a swig, offering it to whomever else wanted.

[Josh]

"Don't talk," he said as he cranked the heater to full blast, then took off. He drove a little less recklessly than before. "Save your strength. You've been damn brave, kid. Damn brave and strong."

As they closed in on the mall, he radioed ahead to have medical staff waiting for them. He evaded the barricades and pulled up under the shadow of the mall, where Guard personnel streamed out to collect her.

He leaned over to kiss her forehead.

"They're going to take you inside and get you fixed up. I'll be in there in a bit to see you, okay?"

[Caz]

"No!" she tried to scream, but instead only hideously rasped it. "Don't leave! Don't leave me--"

The pleas were cut short as she began coughing again, finally giving in and letting the medics collect her onto a stretcher.

Her swollen eyes never left his face.

[Josh]

"Fuck," he murmured softly, an anguished expression on his face as they took her away. He shook his head and composed himself, before looking back at Reaper. "Okay, let's talk. Simple shit, we keep you in food, weapons, and heat, and you help us defend this place. In return, you don't touch any of ours or hunt any humans."

Never thought he'd be dealing with a fucking zombie. And intelligent zombies were still something of a nightmare for him, after what had happened a couple of months ago.

[Cynical Cat]

"Easy," he replied, "as long as I'm not too hungry. What are you going to do when a child goes missing?"

[Josh]

"Hunt you down and kill you," he said simply. "If you can't keep your control, then stay the fuck off our turf. You took care of my people, so I'll let you go."

[Cynical Cat]

"That is why I will not stay. Because a child will go missing, because children get lost. And your first reaction will be to kill me." He turned around and started walking.

[Josh]

"Somebody will be by to see you soon," he said to Reaper's departing back. "Not to kill you."

But that would come later. Right now, he had roughly a million other things to do. He sprinted for the elevator.

Rattling to the top, he spotted Zimmerman and grabbed him for a status report. After a brief conversation, he gave a fateful order.

"All the patrols," he said.

"That'll leave us wide open," Zimmerman protested.

"This is our best opportunity. Get them out, get them on the ground, get as many bits and pieces and bring them back to the trenches as they can. Marley's still looking fairly fresh, it's his show."

He clapped the other man on the shoulder. "You've done a great job here, Frank. Everyone has. I'm proud of you."

And with that, he was sprinting down to the stairwell to get to the infirmary.

[Josh]

He reached the infirmary, finding out that the word was no word, for the most part. Everyone was either doped to the gills, or in the process of being carved on.

Finally, he was done.

[Cynical Cat]

The cold was bad. It made him slow, clumsy. But at least he knew enough to cover himself with warm clothing. The shamblers were stuck out in it, unable to retire to heated rooms and without warm clothes. Easy prey.

He found a pair scaveging another corpse. Mostly done with it. Only shreds of flesh left. He advanced. They drew themselves erect. Axe to to first one's head. It blocked with its arm. Wendigo heard bone break. He slammed the blade out and into its hip. It fell. The other closed.

Wendigo released the axe and leaped back. It kept coming. Basic self defence instinct. Long knives appeared in the Reaper's hands. He closed, slashing. It attempted to block with its arm. Fine with Wendigo. He sliced them to ribbons, cutting deep into the muscles, scoring the bone. He kicked its legs out from under it.

The other zombie had gotten up. The ghoul leaped and drove a blade through its eye. It spasmed and fell. He jerked the axe out of its pelvis and decapitated the other. Congealed gore oozed from its neck stump.

A few momments later and his weapons were reclaimed and he was dragging two new cadavers back to his roost.

[Cynical Cat]

Reaper hung them out with the rest, a macabre line of dangling meat. He retired to the fire room of his fortress, with the comforts he had scavenged from the apartments for Gwen. The fire had gone out. He relit it.

Slowly, he divested himself of his weapons. Blades, guns, and hooks went into a pile. He wrapped his body in the blankets and warmed himself. Tomorrow, when it was day and warmer, he would hunt again.

[Josh]

He trotted into the infirmary, looking somewhat disheveled. He'd gotten some sleep the night before, at least, and scrubbed the corpse guts and grime off of himself, and even looked halfway human. As he walked through the door, he realized he'd pulled his sweater on inside out and proceeded to pull it off, and was busy pulling it back on as he approached Gwen's bedside.

[Caz]

"Hey," Gwendolyn said a bit miserably as he approached her. She attempted to prop herself up on her elbows and pretty much failed, opting instead for a laugh that said she meant to do it. "Figured I'd have to catch you before," she coughed, "before the great general gets to work."

Although her voice was slightly better, she didn't appear to have improved overnight. Her spirits were higher after the talk with Melanie, but her body refused to cooperate.

[Josh]

He grabbed his chair and sat down next to her. "You're looking better," he lied, taking her hand.

[Caz]

She smirked.

"You sure know how to make a girl feel good," she teased. Even if, after their prior relations and considering their current status, it somewhat hurt to say.

[Josh]

He just smiled at her, squeezing her hand. "Later on today, we'll be talking about what team to put you on when you're up and around."

[Caz]

For a moment, there was a faraway look in her eye, like she was recalling something or gazing off at someone from a distance.

"It was really nice of her to say that," she said with a smile. "She didn't have to..."

[Josh]

He reached over to run his hand across her cheek. "Hey, she meant it."

[Caz]

"Nobody means shit like that," she said bitterly. "My father used to say things like that when I was in the hospital. I understand that he just wanted me to want to survive... But I did and... He never did any of it. Never stopped drinking, never went to my concerts..."

She laughed.

"Bet you didn't know I was a pianist."

God, the shit that was so trivial nowadays.

[Josh]

He took her chin between his fingers and turned her face toward him. "You know damn well that I mean what I say."

[Caz]

"Never said you didn't," she said. "I just don't think I'll be around long enough."

Gwen sighed and yawned a little.

"I'm half-starved to death and my body isn't letting 'em put anything in it."

[Josh]

"Mike's got some stuff he wants to try out on you here in a bit," he said. "And this is top of the line stuff, looted straight from a secret medical facility in downtown. The big mission, y'know. So don't get defeatist on me."