Urban Dead: The Price of the Oath

[Cynical Cat]

He shrugged. "Body needs fuel." He put the can down beside her.

[Caz]

Well she couldn't argue with that. With a bit of an off-put look toward him, she forced herself to sit up. It was easier to do now that she was out of the cold, at least.

Although she could hardly focus her eyes, she jabbed the can opener down and attempted to open it. And the opener sank right in.

"Oh," she said dumbly.

Obviously, Gwen wasn't much with it.

She began to eat slowly, trying to keep her hands coordinated while keeping her head up. A difficult task for someone in her state.

[Cynical Cat]

"They are coming for you. Must keep up your strength." He adjusted her position and added a few pillows to the pile behind her.

[Pcm979]

"Just coming, Petro. That was some fight, hey?" Mike chuckled as they moved out of earshot.

[Josh]

Petro grinned back at Mike. "Just like the good old days, when they were slow and stupid."

[Caz]

"Makes sense," Gwen said drowsily. She was able to get down only a few bites of the canned food before her stomach churned and heaved. She clutched her torso with a groan, managed to keep it down.

She looked to the strange man.

"I'm sorry... Don't think I'm not grateful," she stammered.

[Cynical Cat]

"I'm a monster, not a moron," he replied. "Nor am I a doctor. Brain damaged. This is the best I can do. I know it is inadequate." His expression froze for a moment. He shook his head. "I was a man. No longer."

[Pcm979]

"Fuck yes. It's been months since we could win at three-to-one odds. Now," he continued as they pushed through the doors to the computer wing, "How do you wanna play this? I've got to brief them about the new strain and you want to sell them on keeping us afloat."

[Caz]

She shook her head, wild hair clinging to her cheeks.

"Monsters don't do this," she said. "I can't... See you. I don't know who you are. But I've seen monsters... And they're not like you."

[Josh]

"You talk first, tell them our situation. Tell them we can provide data, from former NT personnel and medical professionals, but in exchange we need support. That doesn't work, I get on the stick and yell at them. Sound good?" Petro asked.

[Caz]

Sherry watched the two as they worked out how to contact Necrotech, not bothering to move from where she'd slumped on the floor. The adrenaline was wearing off and she was feeling that full-on.

[Pcm979]

"Sounds nuts, but that's what runs for good nowadays, hey?" Mike chuckled as he ran his hand over another touchpad. The door clicked open, revealing a reassuring lack of Zombies inside. He sank into a chair in front of the computer banks and tapped something in.

"Dish is aligning." He commented.

[Josh]

"Hey, can we get the telly in here?" Petro asked. "What happens if I press that ominous red button?"

[Cynical Cat]

"If I am hungry enough, I will eat children. The only mercy they will receive is that they will be dead when I start to feed. If you die before your friends arrive, I will hang your corpse by a hook. That I am a ghoul with a conscience does not make me decent."

[Pcm979]

"Hands off." Mike chuckled. A beep. "Here we go." He cleared his throat and leaned over to a microphone.

"This is hub #4, is anyone recieving me?"

[Josh]

"We are receiving, Dr. Freeman," a pleasant female voice answered. Petro stiffened suddenly, turning toward the speaker.

Nearing six months now, this was the first voice they'd heard from outside the quarantine zone.

They had made contact.

[Caz]

"Then do it," she sputtered out a cough. "Like I give a shit what happens to my body when I'm dead. Hell, even now. I can't feel most of my body, my brain's freezing up..."

She chuckled, then patted him on the arm with a delirious smile.

"If I don't make it, I'd rather have you eating me than those other bastards."

[Cynical Cat]

"Smart," he said. "An enemy of my enemy . . ." his voice trailed off. "I wonder if I've been getting smarter of late because of human contact, excellent diet, or a combination of the two." He shrugged. "Either way, not a good thing for your people."

[Pcm979]

"Good." Mike said smoothly. He'd been rehearsing this for nearly a week. "I have a report to deliver to BioChem, code ten. Immediate attention."

[Josh]

"Code Ten authorization code please," the woman replied formally.

[Pcm979]

"My codes are three months out of date, Control." He replied testily. "And I'm not commandeering a satellite dish to make crank calls. Just patch me through."

Bureaucracy.

[Josh]

"One moment, please." she said.

Petro leaned over to whisper to Mike. "Good god a'mighty, if I wasn't already hitched, I'd so be hitting on that sexy voice right now."

A minute passed. Two. A new voice came on the line, a man's voice.

"Dr. Freeman? Begin report."

[Pcm979]

"Sir, the pathogen has begun a class-five mutation in the western and downtown areas. Said mutation accellerates the pathogen so it does not require the host to be in a form of stasis before it begins alterations." Mike said formally, pushing Petro's head away with a grin invisible to those on the other side of the transmission.

"I have developed a successful countermeasure, but lack the facilities to distribute it across the target area." He continued.

[Josh]

"Continue," the voice said without an evident trace of emotion.

[Pcm979]

"The countermeasure is relatively simple, requiring the addition of" he rattled off a list of long, latin names, most certainly not 'relatively simple' to anyone not in the know. "In these quantities:" He followed with a list of dosages, once again impenetrable to the untrained ear. "To the existing serum you are currently distributing across the city."