Urban Dead: The Price of the Oath

[Dark Silver]

"They should at least have had backup.."

Silver pulled two cigars from his hip-pouch, holding one out to Petro, with a box of matches. They were large cigars, the kind called Churchhills.

"You can't send them out again without clearing those shamblers," he said as a matter of statement.

[Josh]

"Clearing them with what?" he said. "I had to double over on our perimeter just to clear the gaps. Keeping our beaten zone around this place is enough of a stretch. Besides, we made runs like this with the Irregulars. We're going to work the Militia up into similar form, and they have to make runs like this to do it."

[Dark Silver]

"Let me know when your sending the next group out. I'll set up a distraction to draw off the pussbags."

Silver put the cigar in Petro's shirt pocket, as he bite the tip of his cigar, and lit it. He inhaled the smoke, and puffed the smoke out in a slow stream.

[Josh]

"If you're ready to come back on duty, you'll be sending the next group out," he said. "You handle military operations, Frank handles the civvy side, supply and administration, and I oversee."

He lit the cigar. "How's your head?"

[Dark Silver]

"I can do what I need to, it ain't been right since our lives got turned upside down."

He knocked off a clump of ash from the end of the cigar, taking another drag, the cherry glowing.

"How's your ribs?"

[Josh]

"Shit, you hit like a girl," he snorted, exhaling a large puff of smoke. "I'm fine. If you're ready to take over the business end, I'll let Frank know. We're going to be processing in a goodly number of Emerald Guard soon, and I'll be rolling out with the 1st to go downtown in a few days."

[Dark Silver]

"I told you I was pulling my punches," he said evenly.

"As for downtown, why the hell are you planning on going there? It's a death trap. Have you even listened to the tranmissions coming in?"

Silver placed both hands on his hips, looking past Petro for a moment, at the people unloading the oil barrels.

"What happened to us, we had life sorted out....."

[Josh]

"Life happened," he shrugged. "Mike can get us into a Necrotech transmitter downtown, he's got the codes and the biometrics to activate it. Necrotech is the only outside group around that's still having anything to do with this town, they're still making supply drops on their facilities, at least stocking up the syringes. I'm going to see if we can get other supplies, and get them direct-dropped here. We're not going to go in swinging, we're going to slide through, hit the transmitter, make the call, and then run like pussies."

[Dark Silver]

He hurmphed, a cloud of smoke rolling out which obscured his face for a moment. "And how you expect to hide the smell of fresh meat from all those walking ravenous pussbags? They have zombies out there who are fucking smarter than we have faced already, older, more cunning,and ravenous."

"Send out someone else to lead the group, FM or that survival nut Zimmerman."

[Josh]

He thumped the ash off of his cigar. "I'm the guy who speaks for this place. I have to be the one who talks to them. Besides, just because you assholes run around calling me general doesn't mean I've gone and developed a fucking cunt and hide from the dangerous shit. Fuck off."

[Dark Silver]

Silver shook his head, at times he felt like laying a punch across Petro's jaw, but now wasn't the time for that.

"Your a son of a bitch Pet...." he sighed, thumping him lightly on the chest.

"Just don't wind up in a hutter somewhere this time.....I won't be able to pull you out again..."

[Josh]

"If something happens, you and Frank'll take care of the people here. That's what matters." He chewed on the cigar. "'Be fucking damned if I'm going to spell your last name on thirty fucking pages of god damned paperwork.'" he quoted with a grin. "Never really did thank you for that, bro. Just kinda went back to my asshole debauchery bullshit."

[Dark Silver]

"That fucking last name..." Silver shook his head.

"I'm not a leader, never was, never will be. You better come back in one peice. You didn't have a wife that time, I'll be damned if i'm going to tell that woman of yours your zombie chow. Besides, it'll be a hell trip to find your corpse, and bury you next to Chad and Jamie. Don't make me make that trip again."

[Josh]

He flashed a grin. "I plan on living forever. Didn't you know that?" He lifted the cigar. "You seen Mel. Not all the fucking zombies in hell could keep me from coming back, man."

[Dark Silver]

Silver's memory flashed back to when he had "seen" Mel, in all her glory as it was...and again, the words slipped out, "...nice fucking rack..."

Silver shook his head, dismissing it from his mind for the moment.

"Yeah, but you always had a hard head."

[Josh]

He snorted again. "Yeah, I could just see them hammering away trying to get the three fucking surviving brain cells I have floating around."

[Dark Silver]

He shook his head, chuckling softly, throughout the conversation, he had let a bit more of the old him show through, as he clamped Petro on the arm.

"We both know how hard that would be...remember all the times you fell on your head back in college? Our 'Guys nights out'" he grinned at the reference, remembering himself.

[Josh]

"Yeah, the theory was that between the four of us, we had enough balance for one person. But what I remember was that if some asshole end up on his face, it was always me. Come clean, that was something you assholes worked out in advance," he joked with an accusing tone.

[Dark Silver]

"I'll admit it, we did it just to fuck with you. Not my fault you were the clumsy one....can't see why they gave you a fire axe either..."

He shook his head, a bemused expression on his face.

"Come over to my place for dinner tonight...I'll see what I can rustle up....we can reminisce and shit before you go out...."

[Josh]

He tossed the stub of a cigar off the roof, then looked down. "Gotta stop doing shit like that," he commented. "This place is gonna turn into a trash heap. Anyway, will do." He clapped Silver on the shoulder and turned to head back for his office.

[Dark Silver]

Silver nodded, moving to the edge, then dropping to the ground, disappearing back to his hideaway.

[Hedgecore]

Meanwhile...

"Oi! 'ow's the li'l Yank doin?" Gator called as he came bounding into the infirmary, or whatever a 6'8", 100kilo man does in place of 'bounding.' He seemed in high spirits. "Is 'e following orders, doc?"

[Caz]

Melanie glanced up to him--pretty damn far up, as he seemed to be a fucking metre taller than her--and grinned, tossing him the second thermos.

"He isn't well enough to misbehave yet," she said with a chuckle. "I was more worried about you galavanting all over the bloody place and causin' a riot or two."

[Hedgecore]

"Ach, well, ah 'aven't heard one way or another 'ow the team's doing. Dinnae if it'd be 'propriate to be riotin' er not, eh? A workin' telly, that's all this place is missing...and mebbe a pub er two."

Gator caught the thermos, popped it open and took a quick swig. He sputtered and coughed, making a face like he'd been poisoned "That is NOT coffee!"

After settling down some, he took another sip. "Tha was a bit of a shock. Sorry, ma'am." he said sheepishly

[Caz]

Melanie grinned at him. "Chive and tomato soup," she said. "Lunch, not breakfast."

She thumped Gator on the shoulder.

"Trust me, you haven't done anything horrible enough to deserve the coffee in this place. It's reserved for treason and murder, things like that."

She shrugged.

"Then again, I always preferred honey and tea, myself," she commented offhandedly.