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Aberrant: Dead Rising - Chapter 13: All Soul's Night - Fox's Refuge


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Sarah studied the newcomers, actual newcomers possibly since she didn't recall a 'Cherry' mentioned as she settled into the Refuge and got to know people, although she also failed to look more than momentarily amused by the shorter woman's barb. "That's not a failing unique to men, Metahuman or otherwise, Cherry. I was messed up enough myself after Z-Day before I found someone to help me find myself again."

"I'm Sarah, this is Dan, and the gentleman to our left is Doctor Varrox. A pleasure to meet you both," She continued more warmly, gesturing at each of the 'local' supers in turn, "Happy Halloween. We have snacks and punch and more processed sugar than we probably need on those tables over their if you're hungry."

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"Hello Cherry, George. Happy Halloween. Great party here tonight!" Varro said adding "Oh and just Varro will do. You'll get doctoring from me title or no if you need it." he said, with a smile that didn't quite conceal his gunmetal looking fangs.

Varro then checked his pocket watch, carefully taking it out and opening the thick case. "Hmm. Seems I'm running late. It was sort of last minute, but I had planned to bring some more refreshments to the party. Oh well, nothing to do but wait." he said, carefully putting back his watch.

"Meanwhile, its so nice to be around so many people."

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With a bashful grin, George leaned forward to shake the hands of Sarah, Dan, and Varro. He did so with the grip of someone who was conscientiously trying to avoid bruising hands.

"We brought some contributions of our own," George offered, pointing to a few cakes that some of the women in his group had brought, along with a few cases of carbonated beverages. "Apparently, we did pretty well on Zed day. At least by comparison." George's face became momentarily sorrowful, but then brightened. "This is all wonderful, though. It's good to know there are other groups of people that made it through, without losing civilization in the process."

Turning to Dan, he added "Yes, we met up with Gabrielle's people. It's a long story, but the gist of it goes something like this: We weren't doing very well where we were, and decided to try moving south in the hopes of things getting better. Those of us that survived the trip managed meet her people, and that's how we ended up coming along." Seeing the puzzling look on Dan's face, George added: "Most of us are from Aylmer, Ontario. We had a provincial police college there, and Sergeant Neiermeier over there--" at this point, he nodded towards the tall, lean man dressed in the uniform, standing next to Caleb "--used to be a Marine sergeant. Between him and his troops, and me and some of the farm folk, we managed to keep things relatively organized. We still lost a lot of people.... But I hear we did fairly well." George shrugged, and looked down morosely for a moment.

Cherry elbowed him hard in the kidney. "Cheer up, Buttercup! There's some real Mountain Dew at the table! None of your Canadian uncaffeinated 'Mountain Dew', either!" She flashed the others a quick grin, as she pulled the large man towards the treat table. "We'll be back in a few minutes!" she squeaked to the trio, then grunted with effort to speed him up. "Move, you big lug!"

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Kristin was just about done distributing her contribution to the party when the arrivals from the Hayes Enclave showed up. The girl, brawny and pregnant, tensed uncomfortably as the women dropping off the Hayes contribution at the cafeteria began fussing over her, saying how good she looked, asking how far along she was, and sharing stories of the miracle that was childbirth and children.

Enduring it with poor grace, Kristin didn't think it felt like a miracle to her - more like a curse that everyone called a blessing. But she knew they'd feel the same as her if it had happened to them. As soon as she could, Kristin politely excused herself to see more of the festivities, munching on chocolate-covered raisins and salted apple slices.

Kristin paused to watch the fire-wielding, intrigued and amused by his tricks. But he smiled too easily and when he grinned at the girl in the red cloak, Kristin felt uneasy, not able to help but think of the way Doug had smiled at her, and she quickly left, eyes bright with tears of frustration. She had been getting better, but the encounter with the super-zomb that had once been her cousin's friend had heightened her distrust of men once more.

It was fair! She wasn't even sixteen yet - though that was only two weeks away, she thought - and already, she felt old. Once, she had loved Halloween, but now she didn't feel a part of it, despite wearing a costume. She watched the kids and teenagers enjoying themselves with bitter envy. Zombageddon and Paradise had stolen her youth, the sense of it and knowing the other children and teenagers had had their own suffering only made her feel more jealous - they were managing to have fun and she couldn't.

This was a mistake - I don't belong here, Kristin thought, looking around for someplace she could rest out of the way and out of sight until it was time to head back to the Old Refuge. Maybe if I ask nice, Mr. Fox will send me home... Just then, Ashley came up to her, placing a restrained hand on Kristin's densely muscled forearm.

"Oh, no you don't!" Ashley ordered, looking down at her cousin, if not nearly as much as she used too. "You've been hiding on that farm of yours too much, Kristy. I know people suck, but not all of them do. And that includes men. Myfwany and Gabrielle are here, at least say hi to them. And maybe go out and dance or something. Meet someone new, before you become an old, crazy cat lady before you're even legally an adult woman."

"Dance?!" Kristin scoffed, glaring down at herself. "I'm as big as a barn."

"And you still move as gracefully as a ballerina and make Scarlett Johansson look like your ugly sister," Ashley countered. "Look, if nothing else, Fox is on the dance floor with Gabrielle - if you want him to send you back, you'll have to go there anyway to ask him."

Kristin shuddered, remembering the horrifying beauty Doug had afflicted her with. "All guys want to do is fuck me, rape me," she muttered in a low whine.

Ashley refrained from rolling her eyes, knowing her cousin had her issues. And something with looking for Doug had affected her negatively too - Kristin had only said he was dead, but Ashley knew there was more to it. Ashley sighed and tugged on Kristin's strong wrist, urging her towards the dance area and hoping she would let herself come along - there was no way Ashley could force her supernaturally buff cousin anywhere - in fact, very few could.

"Kristin, yeah, most guys might think about making out with you, but they'll only think about it, they won't actually force you do anything. Most of them relatively decent and just want a chance to get to know you first. Was Dan or Fox ever anything but nice to you?" Ashley shifted her weight, planting a fist on a cocked hip and arching a brow at Kristin. "And really, Kristy! What guy can make you do anything you don't want to do? You're seven months preggers and more and can still wrestle a train off the tracks with your bare hands. Even guys like James the Barbarian have watch it around you. You're not scared are you?"

Kristin gave her cousin a hard scowl - she wasn't scared, just... Grrr! "I'm not scared, Ash. It's just - Fine! I'll go and say hi. But I'm not dancing."

Ashley relented, knowing pushing her anymore would just make Kristin plant her feet stubbornly. "Good enough. Let's go, Kristy."

Ashley deftly wove through the grounds, leading Kristin to the towering form of Sarah, who was standing with Dan and several new arrivals. "Hello, Dan, Sarah, how are things at the New Refuge?" It had been obvious they had become a couple. Ashley turned towards George and Varro, a tallish, slender young woman of sixteen or seventeen, with chestnut hair and mature, golden-brown eyes, pretty, if not a stunning beauty, offering them a welcoming smile. "Hi, I'm Ashley Teasedale."

She reached behind and dragged Kristin forward, who acceded with reluctant steps. Kristin tossed back her hood with a sharp shake of her head, a girl of staggering, wholesome attractiveness, despite her guarded expression, who might have been sixteen, at most, and that was being generous. Still, her heavy cloak couldn't conceal the breadth of her shoulders, nor the thrust of her heavy, swollen breasts and belly, nor the powerful thickness of her arm when she gave them a small wave.

"Hey." Ashley shot her cousin a look for the terse word, and Kristin added, "Hello, I'm Kristin Mackenzie."

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"Hello Ashley, Kristin. Nice to meet you, I'm Doctor Varroxxian, but call me Varro."

Now this might be the Kristin I was warned about, he thought, best be on good behaviour.

Not being too forward, he stayed outside their personal spaces and tipped his hat to the ladies instead of going for a handshake.

"I take it you both are among those keeping the original refuge site in shape?"

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"Go and find out, Dan. The new Doctor will keep us company while you catch up with your fellow Marine. Possibly even take me dancing when the next song with a beat rolls around," teased the blonde megamorph with a wave before focusing on Kristen, "We're going to have to catch up in private some time, Kristen, if you don't mind, kind of lost track of time during the relocation."

Sarah smiled in honest relief, looking for a yes to her hope. Doctor's orders were one thing, but the advise someone going through what she had started to go through? Priceless in every sense of the word. At least it could take away some of the uncertainty, right?

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Kristin gave Varro a tentative nod, a little uncertain of his metallic teeth, but it was still less creepy than Walker. "I guess you can say that. We did all that work there and got some farms up and running - I even started one of my own. It would be kinda sad just abandoning them. Oh, and we also run Violet's - uh, the boarding house - for a fri- for someone who decided to try her... luck somewhere else."

Ashley gave her cousin a teasing sniff before focusing on Varro. Despite her youth and apparently un-supered nature, Ashley held herself with a remarkable self-possession. "I do most of the work with the boarding house - she spends all her time on the farm. Varroxian, is that, like, Albanian or something? And are you a doctor doctor, or a science-type doctor? Just curious, since with Dr. Shattuck focusing on her research at the lab, the Refuge could use another doctor."

While Ashley talked with Varro, Kristin craned her neck up to look at the much taller blonde, fair brows crinkling in question. Even after adding about three inches of height after the confrontation with the Leechman, Sarah still stood a foot and a half taller than her. Other than that time and their time together when Jill tried to kill herself, and then later when Kristin got Jill to make her an awesome sword, they hadn't socialized much, and they respective duties during the move hadn't help any. She didn't know what they had to share in private, but whatever.

"Er, sure, Sarah, if you want," Kristin agreed.

Just then, her face tightened, nose scrunching up in annoyance as her hand instinctively went to her stomach, feeling the baby kick. Kristin noticed everyone following her hand, realizing what had happened, what she had felt. Kristin pulled her hand back as if burned and not wanting to talk about it, turned to Dan.

"The Refuge is looking good, tidy. We have it cleaned up after the move, but now it looks kinda empty, especially with Tent City taken down, now that there is room for everyone inside. We've started putting up some new barns with the extra space, some place to store crops safely and securely and I've started my own farm too - someplace I can call my own. How is everything this side?" Kristin looked around at all the people, taken a deep breath of the tropical climate and all the new people. "It looks nice enough."

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Cherry and George came back--Cherry actually dragging the shy man behind her. "Hi! I'm Cherry" The energetic redhead introduced herself to Kristin and Ashley, shaking each of their hands vigorously. "And this big bashful lug I'm towing along is George. Say 'hi!' George!"

"'Hi, George!'" George delivered with a perfectly straight face, and gamely put out his own hand to shake those of the two ladies who had joined the group. "We're new here. Pleasedtomeetcha!"

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In reply to Kristen "Farming is the way to go. I figure botanicals are going to be the best readily available medicine for decades too - and actually they were very effective before big pharma supplanted them ..."

uhhh, I think they notice the teeth. How to explain the teeth? Varro, how to explain ... think ... think quick ...

... adding after Ashley asked about him "Its a nickname from college, I took it because it fit how I changed. My body turned to a sort of metal when I got cornered by some of the walking dead. Some things never shifted back." He pointed at the teeth. "The Doctor part, though it seems sort of strange using titles these days, is medical. But I was training for subsequent degrees too - specialities in research at Harvard - when it all fell apart."

No need to tell them it fell apart for you before it fell apart for the world ... he thought, and added "Plus my old name. Well I lost everything, everyone I knew - so starting fresh made sense ... so its Doc Varro."

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"It's not home yet Kristen, but it'll get there. If you want, I'm sure Sarah and I could come back across and help with the construction."

He looked to Varro, sensing there was alot more to the man's story, and that The good doctor was much more than he let on. he looked over to Sarah. "If you're sure you don't need me, I'll go see Sergeant Neiermeier." With a nod, she gave him her assent, and Dan made his way over to the Marine NCO.

He snapped off a formal salute, though he wasn't wearing anything more than his dogtags to Identify himself as a fellow Marine. The mask he'd had on he'd removed, and introduced himself. "Good evening Sergeant. I have to say your presence has made my day even better." The other man looked at him. "Captain Daniel Hawkins, United States Marine Corps, I Marine Expeditionary Unit."

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That was one worry down with Kristen.

"We'll have to pry that name out of you one of these days, Doctor, when we've earned it. The world hasn't ended after all, not as long as we're still here to make the best of it we can," Sarah volunteered with a grin as she watched Dan leave before offered with a chuckle at the newcomers only slightly spoiled by another surge of nausea, "I don't see snacks or plates in those hands. If I can't enjoy them, the rest of you *are* going to."

She finished her glass of punch, fair features perking as Creedence's 'Bad Moon Rising' took it's turn of dominance over the battlefield that was the dance floor.

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Varro also finished his punch, nodded to Ashely and Kristen in a gesture suggesting 'if you will excuse us' and then turned to Sarah while putting the little folio in his pocket ...

"This is a good song ... Ms. Daunt - if I might have this dance?" said Varro, just smiling at mention of his real name. He offered his right arm to her and put his left behind his back in a very old fashioned style, like something mimed from a Victorian ... or better a wild west movie.

If there was one thing that Varro had picked up in his time ... lets face it - as a gigolo - it was dancing. This time, he would be the perfect gentleman. Also had to be mindful of his partner's potential vertigo - and the difference in height!

On the way to a clear spot on the dance floor he says to Sarah "You know, I think we'll be able to make a good go of it here. Tonight reminds me of church socials and country fairs when I was a kid."

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Neiermeier had watched Dan approach, and at Dan's salute and announcement of rank, Sergeant Neiermeier--miraculously to non-military personal--straightened up even more, and instantly pulled an incredibly sharp and polished salute. "Gunnery Sergeant George Neiermeier, retired, United States Marine Corps, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, Bravo company, sir," the sergeant barked out, causing many around them to stop and look over at them. Gunnery Sergeant Neiermeier held his salute, motionless, until after Dan dropped his.

"What can I do for the Captain today, sir?" Neiermeier asked, his face completely serious, but a slight twinkle in his eyes.

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Dan released his Salute and smiled. "I'm just glad to meet another marine. It's been a very, very long time since I have done so."

"Tell me Sergeant, are you and your men well?" he looked around at the others, nodding, and looked back to the sergeant. "Your men can relax here tonight, that's what this party's about." he shrugged. "As much as people like us can relax."

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Neiermeier relaxed--well, his version of relaxed.

"It's been a few months, sir. We've got some good men," he paused, then added, "and a few good women, too. But.... They're not soldiers, sir. Police officers, so they understand--somewhat--but.... They're not soldier."

Neiermeier sighed, then reached into his jacket and pulled out a pair of stogies, offering one to Dan. With his other hand, he pulled a Zippo out of his right pant pocket, offered to light Dan's cigar, and bit the end off before lighting his own.

"The civilians as survived, well, they weren't city folk to begin with, so most of them could already hold a gun, and we formed them up into a good militia. The short version is we took substantial losses, both the civilians and the provincial police detachment."

He shrugged, puffing on the cigar, then pointed to Fox before exhaling. "I hear his name is 'Fox'. Is he related to Colonel Fox?"

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"keep it Sergeant, none of that holds any joy for me since Z-day." he waved off the cigar politely, he'd never been a smoker. "I see. We're all largely in the same boat. We have police, a handful of military, and the rest as civilian. THose who didn't know how to handle firearms largely do now."

"Fox is an Air force captain, or he was before Z-day. He doesn't insist on rank often, and is as good a man and leader as one could hope for. His past relationships with any other military personnel are largely gone now. Jules and Ger are about the only ones who knew him before, and they're civilian. Ger was in charge of security at the refuge, here, I help there, in addition to being wrench boss."

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With a nod, Neiermeier put the unused stogie back.

"Mainly, we've got farmers, but that just means they're pretty good with everything. We've also got an HVAC man, and a tool and die maker, so if we can get the equipment, we've got the skills to support an industrial society for now. George over there's a wiz with computers, but he's also good with mechanical engineering. He made some pretty impressive bikes as a kid."

Neiermeier cocked his and in thought for a moment, then switched tracks.

"I don't know what he's got in mind, exactly, but I know George is looking for a place to settle our people. From what I've been reading between the lines, there are a few factors to consider here on that. I reckon he'd appreciate hearing your outlook on some of those factors, if you have a few minutes for him. Cherry's feisty, but she understands what's at stake, and won't begrudge him that."

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Sarah chuckled, managing to follow along with more enthusiam than skill and apreciating Varro's patience and restriction to the more basic dance moves they had taught her back in high school PE and promptly forgotten again. At least she had managed to avoid stomping on his toes.

"Of course we will," replied the blonde megamorph with the certainty of a true believer, "With so much human good will and talent in one place, how can we not?"

She let herself trail off as Varro spun them off in response to the beat, far more than willing to let him take the lead in this dance and focus on following him and supressing her rebellous discomfort. That was going to get very old, very fast after months and months being able to shrug off and heal without pain everything up to a rifle wound or three.

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"I noticed you are having discomfort with your pregnancy. Have been thinking on what can be done." Varro said to Sarah as he took her through the moves ... not treating her 'gingerly', but certainly with a smooth pace that her body could easily accommodate.

Sarah looked interested, and the 'Doc' continued "Standard prescription for a normal pregnant woman is moderate exercise. Try to get the heart rate high, so usually some form of cardio that doesn't stress the core - doesn't mechanically influence the abdominal regions."

... and together step forward, and back, then round ...

"Now, cardio burns energy by fighting gravity somehow. Not going to be enough to get you sweating, but still you should do it. To match the exercise to your physiology you should use leg weights and wrist weights for a callisthenics routine... probably very heavy ones. Not so much pilates though, too much core work in the wrong directions."

... and round, forward, pause - step - avoid that other couple with no sense of direction ...

"The reason you would do this is to keep muscle tone, and all the metabolic effects of exercise as normal ... good stuff... but for pregnant women the extra endorphins are a big plus. Your whole body will feel better. This is really important for you, because we probably have shortages of drugs ... and without knowing more, I wouldn't risk regular medication at levels that will affect your para-human body. I've noticed on myself, that the chemistry of drugs is different for us types."

... and shimmy just a bit, step, round ...

"You can also work your limbs like crazy. Heavy resistance wieghts, weight lifting would even be good. You can really burn your limbs, really get the micro-tearing of muscle fibre going and it will generate lots and lots of natural pain killers without any ill effects on the little one inside. Plus Dan can really help you out if he knows ... or wants to learn ... proper massage. Massage releases tons of endorphins - why people paid for it - and trust me, I was a wrestling champ in college. It really helps with the soreness from training. Training and massage complement each other ... and thats my prescription for easing your pregnancy woes."

... and step and ... oh, songs over ...

Varro added quietly, "Once you get it down, you can show Kristen over there too. Given how she feels about men, it would be better coming from you or the lady Doctor."

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"Another Engineer is always welcome, especially in these dark times. When we hit the Library, nearly all the books I brought out, The entire back end of a humvee, were books on engineering, science, and agriculture, with a couple crates for children's books, since that's important too."

He nodded, "With Fox's gifts, getting the equipment shouldn't be difficult." He looked to where Sarah and the doctor danced. "I know a thing or two about feisty women, believe me."

He offered his hand and nodded. "It's good to meet you Sergeant, and Fate willing, we'll be seeing more of each other. I'll go see if I can at least set up a meeting with George to discuss things. It wouldn't do to talk too much shop at a party like this for everyone, that's what the politicians did."

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"As you say, sir," Neiermeier responded to Captain Hawkins, happy with his parting comments about Neiermeier's ward. "Off the record, and implying no criticism, he could use some role models that are more in keeping with his... newfound position in life, sir. I've... informed the outlook of numerous lieutenants in my time, sir, but this has been..." Neiermeier's leathery face scrunched up, as he searched for a phrase that would be acceptable, "A formidable challenge," he choked out.

He shook hands with Captain Hawkins, then finished by parting with a "Good day, sir," and saluting.

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"I think I've got massages covered," Sarah answered with a reflective grin down at the metahuman doctor that spoke of good memories that only turned better as she spotted Dan out of the corner of one eye and invited him over with a tilt of her head as the next song started to life, "But sword drills would be okay, right? At least for the first few months? I don't want to threaten the child, but I don't want to get too rusty. I have people to protect."

Her questions were honest and personally urgent. Her powers didn't help her here at all, none of her experience did, and it was scary as hell, even knowing Dan was happy about it.

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"You will want him to learn specific techniques for massage, but yes - it's good for couples to do. There are lots of things about specific massages I can show both of you, though the 'internal' of self-massage routines for women I don't have personal knowledge of - I just heard about them in sports medicine seminars or learned from girl friends. Male anatomy lacks the muscles for them. Some of those will also help make labor and delivery easier, if you start them soon."

"Sword drills are probably fine, but depending on your level of strength you may need lots of weights on your limbs, and a heavy sword for practice. Martial drills are best done very very slow anyway, so you should be fine - if it hurts, don't do it that way again. A good exercise I did when I was training ... holding a rock in each hand either in front or to the sides at ninety degrees should be impossible for longer than three minutes. If you can go more than three minutes without deflection you need something heavier - get bigger rocks. We used rocks because the hapkido and taekwondo guys we had on the wrestling team trained that way. It was cool, you know, kind of 'mystical' ... but really just resistance exercise."

... as Dan approached and cut in Varro replied "Sure thing." he tipped his hat "Thank you Mame" he said in his best wild-westy country doctor accent.

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Sarah gave the Doctor a grateful smile and a nod as he retreated, feeling good about having him join the comunity, slipping her mask back on and becoming the great cat again as she allowed the marine to lead her through the opening steps of a song she knew, showing marginally greater daring after her warm up with the Doctor. She loved this, letting the music carry away her concerns for a spell, focus on the man holding her in his arms and the feel of her arms around him in turn. A smile in her eyes gladly betrayed how simple her deep and abiding affection for Dan made *everything*, how bright even the darkest night could be at his side.

They could handle this. All of this. The zeds. The black. The child.

"Find out anything good from your old comrade, Dan?" she purred in a pause between melodies, "Our new Doctor is full of good ideas and good manners."

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Matt was enjoying himself, the adoration of the children over his theatrics put a big goofy grin on his face. It was then, he spotted something, then there was something important he had to do, nothing would stand in his way. He nearly teleported next to Dr. Myfwany waggling his eyebrows, "Heeellllllllllllllllooooooooooooooooooooooo Nurse!"

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Varro excused himself from Sarah and Dan, it was couple time and he was the third wheel. "See you two later. Thanks for the dance." she said with a smile, and another tip of his hat.

He slowly walked around the party, noticing the Nurse and the sudden arrival of the fellow who had been doing to fire show. Children were probably getting antsy, kids do that I guess. Who would have thought that he'd have to refresh his pediatrics? Though it was odd - it seemed like he knew most if not all of what he had learned. It was something he rarely noticed anymore, but in an area where he had breezed through class he should not recall this much. How could a virus, or other infection, have this much effect on human beings? So subtle an effect too? Burning questions, for sure.

He began to walk toward the Nurse and performer, no rush and few cares in the world at that rare moment.

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"A few exercise tips to help me get though this with less aches and pains. Aparently there are special massages we can do to make me feel better since we won't be able to use the drugs they had before Z-day even if we had enough to go around," Sarah answered as they moved to the new beat, following Dan's lead and minding her quietly protesting aches, "And my sword drills won't hurt the baby eiether, so I can keep those skills up. Which makes me feel a little better about my ability to do this. Our ability to do this, I mean."

She blushed behind her mask and laughed, nervously happy.

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"Any way i can help you Sarah, I will." He lead her through the music, thankful for the rudimentary knowledge he had.

He nodded as the song ended. "It's gonna take some getting used to, isn't it, Saying "Our."

He smiled beneath the mask. "That said, it's something that I hope makes you as happy as it does me." He worried inwardly whether the child would be okay, but there was nothing he could do on that front.

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The nurse, a cute redheaded thing in her mid to late 20's turned around at the sound of someone saying hello and turned to return the greeting. But as she stood there watching him, the 'hello nurse' was being drawn out and out and on for what she considered to be an unusually long time. She suspected either the guy was very drunk, or was making some kind of pop culture reference that was flying completely over her head. Either way, it was very awkward to watch.

"Uh...hi?" she offered, diffidently extending a hand to shake. "I'm Myfwany Shattuck...part time doctor around here right now. Nice to meet you..."

She paused then, her eyes catching on a tallish, somewhat lanky man in an instantly recognizable fedora as he joined them. She smiled at him. "That's good," she said, nodding. "I loved those movies. Do you have the whip and everything? I could ask about the idol in your pocket, but that would be the costume talking...I'm actually a very boring person."

She held out a hand that could possibly be considered 'dainty' by those inclined to throw such words around. "I'm Myfwany Shattuck. The once and future doctor of this festive gang, back when it was just a small town missile silo and this is..." She trailed off, embarrassed by her rudeness in not letting the 'hello nurse' guy tell her his name before getting distracted. "I'm sorry, I interrupted your introduction. You're new here though, aren't you? Both of you."

The man who'd startled Myf with his greeting spoke up first. "Matthew Thomas Case, pleasure to meet you, guess neither of you watched Animaniacs when you were younger, or had younger siblings of the like, ah well." He was a graceful and captivating thing. "Glad someone other than the children appreciates a good Disney movie, it's hard to do the voices sometimes." He noted what was said by the Baron Von Doctor, "road trip from college here, blew up a hotel, here I was hoping for more Shawn of the Dead than Marvel Zombies." Matt seemed somewhat detached, perhaps suppressing things.

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Waving to the both of them, he made his way over ... nodding to the fire performer who's also been doing a show for the kids earlier and smiling at the cute young 'nurse'.

Varro didn't clue in for just a sec "Oh, yeah, heh thanks ... Hollywood types would probably pan me for not getting it right, but close enough I guess." He smiled, and took her hand gallantly, worthy of Dr. Jones himself. "Nice to meet you Ms. Shattuck, your reputation proceeds you. Have heard only good things by the way ..."

"... and, sorry. I didn't get your name earlier, when you were doing the show - but the fire was really great. Very nice to meet you Mr. Case. ... Animaniacs ... not ringing a bell, but I was more of an X-men cartoon kind of kid." he says to Matt.

Addressing them both, but directing the medical stuff at the Doctor Varro adds ... "It looks like I'll be helping out, if you don't mind Doctor. I was told it would free you for research - which I hope is going well. The name is Varro, and I've been a travelling Doctor since my last vacation went a little haywire ... Things went crazy on the big day and I was on a cruise over by the Jamaicas. Nothing to go back to in New York or Boston, so I've been helping communities here and looking for a home."

"Must say, it is a pretty impressive place you've all built here. Haven't seen the original facility, but I only flew in a few days back."

Being the trained observer she is, Doc Shattuck notices Varro's metallic teeth and nails almost straight off.

"

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Myfwany nods, sobering a little on noting the deformities. She was still smiling though when she said, "I'm glad you've decided to stay a little while then. Or even longer, you'd definitely be welcome. I make the trip back when I can, but not as often as I'd like. A growing society has growing health issues, especially these days. It's a huge load off my mind knowing you'll be here."

With a glance around she added, "It'll be better here, I think. More like a fresh start. People always felt under Fox's thumb at the base...it was sort of still HIS, you know? Like we were all just camping out in his yard. This is neutral ground. New to everyone. Moving was a good idea."

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Noticing she noticed the metal, he adjusted his smile to 'bring the fangs in' ... sometimes he forgets. "I am planning to stay. I think you are right, everyone can make a good go of it here. Given the lack of facilities, and the real need for basic care in most of the places I've been I haven't been able to do much in the way of addressing the core situation. That said, its really brought me back to basics. I had been on a track to doing bio-nano for big pharma before things crashed. Now, its funny but I really look forward to paediatrics. Its a privilege I would never have thought to appreciate." He makes nod back to the pregnant Sarah.

...

Oh, If you don't mind Mr. Case ... I have been looking for the Doctor for a bit. Maybe I could get just this next dance? Varro said, asking Myf to Dance and temporarily excusing them both from Mr. Case.

Edging his way to the Dancewith Myf, Varro added "But maybe we can grab a drink later? I'd certainly like to chat ... can I call you Matthew, or Matt? My names Varro, or even Doc if you prefer."

...

Continuing with the Doctor "Not to talk too much shop at a party, especially because I would be honoured to have the next dance ... but ever since hearing I've hoped ... People say you're developing a cure?"

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"People say that, do they?" Myfwany asked rhetorically. Her inward sigh was quite visible on her face. "Well, sort of. The reality is more useful, but less glamorous. I'm working on understanding what it actually is. There might be a virus involved with the Z-plague, but that's not all it is. The human nervous system is too complex for a virus to reanimate, even at the reduced level of a zombie. More than that, zombies have abilities that nothing can explain...they can sense life through obstacles, even if there's no sounds, no smells. They don't appear to have lifespans, even after extended periods of starvation."

Abruptly she reached out and took his hand. "Lets dance if we're going to," Myf said wryly. "If you get me started on this, we'll be here next week."

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Varro replied "Dance it is. A rare luxury ..." He led her onto the dance floor, but only enough to lead in the traditional sense. Switching to related by lighter topics while they danced ...

"I've been planning to build a greenhouse. My grandpa used to grow all sorts of things, from orchids to herbs. I have been thinking for a while now ... find a stable community, one that doesn't mind the teeth and claws, and grow some botanicals. Not alternative medicine or anything like that, I'm talking turn of last century stuff ... things that worked pretty well before pharma became industrial. Help with agriculture too, thought people should try to move away from annuals as primary crops."

... and turn, step, step ...

"Oh, this is an old one! Love the seventies stuff ... where'd they get this ... oh wait, it's a military base up north right?"

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