Aberrant: Dead Rising - Chapter 3b: Of Beavers and Bovines

[Wesson]

This was not living.This place was a grave.These people were dead. Maybe he could help them. Maybe he could save them. He was angry at this fucked up world. He wanted to go out there and kill all the zombies. He knew he couldn't but he wanted to.

"It not a question of can you go on without sun light, but if what you are doing with it is living? Building walls that would keep zombies out is not hard."

He did not speak to anyone, but rather the room.

[SalmonMax]

Jon's words had a peculiar effect on Myf. Her eyes lit up with sudden hope...but then she seemed to falter.

"How many people?" she asked Jon. "How many researchers?"

If they've been working on it, with facilities like that, what chance do I have with scavenged equipment?

[SkyLion]

Jon seems very sad at her question.

"Just myself, and one other..."

[SalmonMax]

Myfwany is quiet for a moment, hoping Jon will continue. When he doesn't, she nods encouragingly and tries to prod him.

"Who's the other? Are they still there?"

[Dawn OOC]

Originally Posted By: Wesson

"It not a question of can you go on without sun light, but if what you are doing with it is living? Building walls that would keep zombies out is not hard."

"We can't build walls more secure than these caves," Murray said simply. "Where most people have to have a large security force working twenty-four-seven to keep guard, we have a smaller force. It means that others have more time to do other things, like school our children or preserve food."

"You sound awfully judgmental, Wesson," the Hispanic man said suddenly, his tone hard and angry. "Are you judging us?"

[SkyLion]

"Yes. She is still there working on our project. We heard the broadcast and so I came here, hoping for the best, and to get more samples that are crucial to our research."

[Wesson]

Speaking Murray.

"What happens when the food runs out? Preserving is not enough in the long run, but it is the best you can do,I am sure."

Turning to the unnamed man.

"Yes, I am judging, but not you so much as the times we live in"

[Dawn OOC]

The Hispanic man laughed, a soft, bitter sound that wasn't promising. "Dick is going to have some fun with you," he said, looking unpleasantly at Wesson.

"Hey, leave him alone," Min said, stepping between them. "He's just trying to help."

"If he wants to help, to truly help, Dick will sort him out," the man said, his dark eyes snapping as he looked at her. "Otherwise, he can get the hell out of here."

"'Cardo, that's for Dick to decide," Murray said softly, earning him a dark look from Ricardo.

"And I'm sure he will," Ricardo said and led them into the main room of the cave.

Massive square pillars held up the roof, too well-shaped to be natural. Much of the room was obscured by the fabric hanging from lines secured to the walls, giving families privacy. It was lit with oil lanterns, their flickering light adding to the surreal scene. People stared at them with eyes that had seen too much in too short of a time. The room stank of fear and humanity in close confinement - nothing that anyone could put a finger on, but that general, unpleasant odor of survival.

The men escorting them don't pause, and they don't let anyone else pause either. They keep walking back, heading for an unknown spot in the maze.

[SalmonMax]

Myfwany nodded absently to Jon as they walked along. "What kind of samples do you need?"

[SkyLion]

"Well as you might expect we have plenty of infected to choose from. However, me and Maddy do not a control group make. I was hoping to get blood and tissue samples from healthy humans as well as animals."

He looks like he is about to say more, hesitates, then changes tack.

"Really though, it's just good to be around people again."

[SalmonMax]

Myfwany gives Jon an appraising look. Though nothing in her face specifically betrayed it, it wasn't hard to guess what she was thinking at that moment.

Why wouldn't you and 'Maddy' be eligible for being a control? If you need tissue from healthy humans, what does that make you?

Her eyes flick to the nearby guards though, and she says nothing for a moment.

Then she says, "Once you get the samples, are you going back? Any chance I could join you?"

[SkyLion]

Jon's awkwardness is still there but he seems more at ease with Myfwany.

"That's the plan. And of course you are welcome to visit. Maddison would be ecstatic to have another girl to talk to I am sure. It...hasn't been easy being just the two of us..."

He juts his thumb back towards where they came from.

"I noticed that fine specimen of a truck back there. I'm guessing you would drive us there?"

When they enter the main cavern, Jon seems subdued, taking in the stark reality of their living condition. He can almost feel the oppressive weight of the stone and earth above them. He silently prayed that the walking dead never learned how to dig for food...

[Dawn OOC]

Ricardo led them to the far wall of the cavern, where a curtain hung. It was flanked by two men. Ricardo motioned for them to remain there before ducking behind the curtain, presumably into another chamber. After a moment, he came back out and held the curtain open. "Dick will see you now."

Ricardo waved them forward, though he stepped to the side once they were in the room. All of the guards did, leaving the visitors to stand alone before the single piece of furniture in the room.

A massive desk took up the middle of the room. The man sitting in the chair was older, with a receding hairline. The hair that was left was white, and his eyes were brownish-gray, with an intense stare. "Welcome," he said in a rich, booming voice that belonged onstage monologuing Hamlet, "to Lost Bridge Village. I'm Dick, the leader of this community. What brings you here?"

[Wesson]

His answer was spoken in a respectful and firm tone.

"I am here to rebuild this broken world. I know that is no small task, and I can't do it alone, no mater how hard I try. So, wile these two can fix the human body, I can only build and fix the tools we use."

Motioning to Jon and Myn. Moving to his grand daughter's side.

"I have already seen to much suffering in this world to sit by and only build what I need. So, you may not like me, you may even hate me, but I swear by heaven and earth, I will make sure you are better off when I leave you than when I found you."

[SalmonMax]

As the group walked towards its rendezvous with Dick, Myf said to Jon with an ironic smile, "No, I'd leave you to walk while I drive to your place and wait for you there. Of course you can ride with me."

After the meeting...

Myfwany gave Wesson a sort of raised-eyebrow look, then said to Dick, "Myfwany Shattuck. I'm just here to offer trade and services. I'm a trained physician, and I have a truck full of goods and supplies for trade in the garage."

[SkyLion]

The tall awkward man looks to the diginified leader and seems to set his resolve.

"My name is Jonathan Albright. I was...am..a medical researcher. I have a lab in Austin and I heard your broadcast. I came here hoping to get blood and tissue samples for my research into the cause of all...this..." he motions to their surroundings.

"Thank you for your hospitality and protection. I'm not an MD per se but I do have skills similar to Myfwany and would be hapy to atend to your ill or injured in return for some samples..."

[Dawn OOC]

Dick nodded when Wesson spoke, but it wasn't necessarily affirmation of anything. It was oddly measuring, as if Dick had decided something based on those first words. But he said nothing until all three of them had spoken. "You can work on my filter," he said. His odd eyes flicked past them to the men standing there. "Murray, take your team and take him down to the flotilla. See if he can filter the virus out of the water." Murray nodded and waited for Wesson and Mina to follow him.

"Ms. Shattuck, your services will be most useful, and yours, Mr. Albright," he continued. "I don't suppose any of you are psychologists? No? Well, anyway, Mr. Albright, you are free to take any samples you wish. Ricardo, please accompany them and verify that everyone complies."

"Yes, sir!" the young man said, as sharply as if speaking to a drill sergeant. It was clear that Ricardo had a great deal of respect for him.

[SalmonMax]

"Is there a place we can stay?" Myfwany asks, glancing at Ricardo. "Oh, and I have some skill with plants and animals. If you have gardens or livestock, I could look at them too."

[Dawn OOC]

Ricardo nodded. "We'll find a place to put you," the Hispanic man said. "In fact, we have a back cavern to put you in. It would be away from the others, but you'd have more privacy. Which would you guys like to see first? The healthy, for the samples, or the sick and injured?"

[SkyLion]

"I'll need samples from as many people as I can so lets just start with the convalescing," Jon says. Although capable, his duties never included much in the way of bedside manners. He seems to get this however so he ads a moment later, "That is, if Myfwany is ready to get started..." He looks at her questioningly...

[SalmonMax]

Myf spread her hands and inclined her head. Not that a rest wouldn't be nice...but she'd made do with less sleep doing more work before, and would again.

"Lead the way," she says.

[Dawn OOC]

Wesson

Murray walked Wesson and Min through twisting caverns, never losing his way. Charlie and Delia, both short compared to the lanky Murray, followed quietly. Murray kept up a chatter as they walked, talking about the caves and their life here. He continued to ask for outside news as well.

But when they reached another armory, he sobered up. "Here," he said, handing Min and Wesson a safety vest, heavy gloves that went up the arm and tied to rings on the vest and a padded collar that meant to cover the neck. "Put these one. If one of them bites you, he might bit stuffing instead of you. Just precautions; zombs don't swim real well so once we're out of the shallows, we'll be safe."

Murray, Charles and Delia began to suit up immediately, leaving Min and Wesson to make their choice. Min looked to her grandfather questioningly.

Myf & Jon

The sick and injured were to be expected. They'd been cared for by a retired nurse and whomever she could convince to do the grueling work. When Ricardo introduced them to the nurse, Linda, she visibly relaxed. "Honest to god doctors?" she said, smiling widely. "Sorry, but Dr. Holman was one of the first to get sick here, and he took out most of the local clinic before he was killed again. We've been getting by on just me ever since. It'll be nice to have some extra hands. Don't suppose you folks plan on staying for a while, or maybe forever?"

[Wesson]

Wesson looked at the protective gear and shook his head. He pulled out a pin and a note pad from his satchel. Starting to draw out some numbers, based on the number of people he assumed were here, and the amount of water any city would need to live.

"Murray, I highly doubt that I can learn anything from going out into that lake. Not to say there is nothing to learn from it, but rather what I can do help you now, is not there. I know I can filter the water, just not with the tools we are likely to have on hand."

Pausing a bit, he went back to his notes.

"But I have to ask you a few things. Does that damn have working generator?How long does the virus live outside animal host?And as I said I could use some topographical maps. Still, if you think this is the only way,lead the way, just I don't see why Min needs to come with us."

[Dawn OOC]

Murray looked surprised. "Well, if you don't wanna go outside, I ain't gonna make you." The team started to remove their gear. "We can get you the maps. The dam does have a generator but the gates in got blocked by stuff because no one can take care of them for long. That's in shallow water, and that's a bad place to be around here."

He nodded his head and finished with, "And I though Min was your assistant. I know not to offer to bring her along."

"You'd better if I ask!" Min said, laughing a bit.

"Fine, yeah, you're an adult." Murray winked at her, then did a double-take as she winked back.

"So, Granddad... what's the plan?"

[SalmonMax]

Myfwany gives Linda a sad smile. "Sorry...I can't. There's a lot of other people I visit, and I'm already off-schedule coming down here. But now that I know where you are, I can add you to my route. I do usually trade for my skills, you understand...but I'd be willing to call this an 'almost free' sample. Instead of goods, all I want to know is if you know anything about medical equipment. I mean, real equipment, like you might find in a lab. Anything like that?"

[Wesson]

Looking to Min, smiling.

"I would really like it if you stayed here. I am going out there and taking things into my hands.I will be back."

Looking to Murray. His face grim, and determined. He knew what he had to do. He knew what it would take. He knew that sending more people out there would not be worth it, at least not now. He would go out there to look.

"Murray, you are good person, and I do trust you all. Just trust me when I say I have what it takes to do what it needed for this job.That Min is my grand daughter, she works with me from time to time, but I don't tell her what to do,rather I may tell her what to do, she just may not listen."

With the he pushed the metal plate blocking the entrance out, without showing the slightest bit of strain.

"I hope you understand that I am going alone for your safety as much as my own, Min. I will be back."

[Dawn OOC]

Myf & Jon

Linda sighed, looking a little bummed. "We had a small, local hospital. I'm not sure what shape it's in, but it might have something. They did some of their own testing, so you might find some of the equipment you need there. I wanted to make a run for it, but as Dick said, we didn't have room or power to use them, really. So I've been doctoring the old fashioned way." She pointed to a book shelf with several herbal and alternative medicine books, as well as more traditional medical texts. "Those are what I use."

A low moan cut through their conversation and Linda sighed. "This is my worst case," she said, leading them to a feverish young woman, little more than eighteen or nineteen in appearance. Her blond hair was arced around her head, a man sitting next to her cot combing it. He looked warily at them but didn't stop Linda from leaning over her and checking her temperature.

"Hello, Gabrielle," Linda said to the woman. "How are you?" The girl just shivered; she didn't seem to be aware of the anything else. "I'd say she's infected - high fever, steady deteriration, hints at wide-spread tissue death - but she's got no bites, or even any injuries, so I don't know. She was also complaining of a headache earlier." She looked at the two "supers." "Do you folks have a thought or possible diagnosis?"

Wesson

He wasn't in the airport. Instead, a dock was before him, fenced in completely. Boats were in their slips, mostly at the farther end where the water would be deeper. Even the boats were protected behind hastily assembled fencing; their gates would have to be opened before a boat could be taken out. It appeared that the only way out was to go into the water and open one of the gates.

[SalmonMax]

Myf kneels down and snatches a pair of disposable rubber gloves from a nearby box, then puts a hand to the woman's head. She waits for a second, then tucks her fingers under her neck to feel her pulse. The cool clamminess of Gabrielle's skin brings a grimace to her face.

"What about the water or wildlife?" the young doctor asks grimly. "Could she have ingested it that way?"

Linda glances at the man quickly, and he shakes his head. She replies to Myfwany saying, "No. We found them outside the contaminated area, and they're not from around here. So barring that, and with no wounds, we really have no idea what's..."

"Who's 'them?'" Myf asks, prying Gabrielle's eye open and peering into it. She grabs the reading light clipped to the bed's headboard and shines it into that eye for a second. "She came with others?"

Linda nods, feeling a little steamrollered by Myfwany's abruptness and divided attention. It'd been awhile since she'd worked with a doctor. "Four, on those little off road four wheel things. We found them and escorted them in after doing the regular checks."

"When."

"Two days ago. Gabrielle collapsed yesterday afternoon."

Myfwany frowns. Just one day. The usual incubation was two. The headache was irregular, but in light of all the other symptoms it was hard to avoid the diagnosis.

She looked up into Linda's hopeful, hurt eyes.

"We need to keep her hydrated. Do you have anything like an IV needle? What kind of drugs and medicine do you have? Oh, and where are her friends right now?"

[SkyLion]

Quote:

Myf & Jon
The sick and injured were to be expected. They'd been cared for by a retired nurse and whomever she could convince to do the grueling work. When Ricardo introduced them to the nurse, Linda, she visibly relaxed. "Honest to god doctors?" she said, smiling widely. "Sorry, but Dr. Holman was one of the first to get sick here, and he took out most of the local clinic before he was killed again. We've been getting by on just me ever since. It'll be nice to have some extra hands. Don't suppose you folks plan on staying for a while, or maybe forever?"

Jonathan frowns. "I'm afraid not, although don't think that means you aren't doing an amazing job here. Truth be told I am more of a scientist really than a physician. I will do what I can though...I am hoping to isolate the infection and find a means to cure it. I came here to get the samples I need for my work."

Quote:

"Hello, Gabrielle," Linda said to the woman. "How are you?" The girl just shivered; she didn't seem to be aware of the anything else. "I'd say she's infected - high fever, steady deteriration, hints at wide-spread tissue death - but she's got no bites, or even any injuries, so I don't know. She was also complaining of a headache earlier." She looked at the two "supers." "Do you folks have a thought or possible diagnosis?"

Jon gets a glint in his eye as she describes the symptoms of the patient. He open his bag and pulls out a very shiny attache case. Opening it reveals a cold storage case and blood drawing materials. He effficiently takes a sample, writes on the label and puts it back in the case.

As he does this an odd murmuring grumble comes from his stomach. He looks a bit nervous and embarrased saying sheepishly "I'm getting kinda hungry...fast metabolism..."

I'm almost out of rations...damn...I'll need to hunt soon or go back to the lab. Either would reveal more than these people need to know.

He lets Myf take her vitals, blood pressure, heart rate and pupil response, then hands her a sterile IV needle and a few anti-fever/inflamation pills he kept in a seperate case.

[Dawn OOC]

Linda nodded as Jon's remark, looked as though she expected that or something like that, and said, "Well, your help, whatever you can provide, is appreciated. This is the time that people need to pull themselves together and be there for one another." That last sentence sounded like a rote or a mantra.

When Jon drew the blood, the man brushing her hair started to say something, but Ricardo cleared his throat and glared at him. He kept his mouth shut, but he was frowning as Jon finished.

"This is actually one of her friends," Linda said, pointing at the man. "Caleb, meet Drs. Jon Albright and Myfwany Shattuck. I hope they can heal Gabriele, so let's cooperate with them, ok?" Her tone suggested that Caleb had been less than cooperative in the past.

[SalmonMax]

Myf looks up at Caleb and nods at him.

"Caleb, hi. I'd offer you my hand, but let me wash up and get these gloves off first. Now I'm going to need to know a few things about Gabrielle, and what happened around the time she got sick, and the time before she got sick. Anything you can remember could be really important in figuring out what's wrong. And once we know what's wrong, hopefully we'll be able to help her. But we have to know what's wrong first."

It's like House. Ever watch House? Eh, okay, maybe not the best angle of approach.

"Before I start asking lots of questions though, is there anything you want to know about me?"

She liked letting people ask her things. It helped establish rapport, and it created a sense of equality, and sharing. Probably false, because she'd need to ask a lot of questions most likely...but the feeling was what was important.

[SkyLion]

Jon watched Myfwany with interest. She certainly had a way with people. He felt awkward, out of place in this insular community. As good as it felt to see people again, he could not shake the feeling that he simply was not one of them anymore. Surely they would not accept them if they knew what he carried inside him.

[Dawn OOC]

"Um, no, ma'am," Caleb said, swallowing hard and looking nervous. He didn't seem to like being the center of attention, and his eyes kept darting around. "I don't have any questions."

Linda gave Myf an exasperated expression before shifting her eyes back to Caleb. She'd clearly run out of patience with the young man, but she remained, probably to continue Gabrielle's care.

"Then I have a couple for you," Myf said. "What had Gabrielle done the day before she came down sick?"

"She was travelling with us," Caleb said. "Me and Anna and Jacob."

"I'm going to need more detail than that," Myf told him.

"She's going to need more than you told me," Linda added, crossing her arms and looking irritated.

"We didn't do anything weird," Caleb said, his ears flushing brightly. "Nothing! We just rode on the four-wheelers and tried to stay away from zombies."

"What did you eat?" Linda pressed. "Where did you get your water?"

"We found rations and canteens," Caleb said. "We found them at an old farmhouse. They had the rations in the kitchen and an old pumpwell we used. I remember because it was the one of those old-fashioned pumps, with the handle."

The conversation halted when Gabrielle gasped twice and fell silent - completely silent. Her chest fell, her lungs emptied of air, and she didn't refill them. She was as still as a corpse - which was what she had become.

[SalmonMax]

Damnit, I need to get her away from him or he'll never open up...

"Linda, would you..."

Before Myfwany could invent something inconsequential for Linda to do, her patient sucked in an uneven, irregular gasp of air. Then another. Then she breathed out and didn't breathe back in.

Myfwany reacted out of instinct, tilting the woman's head back to open her airway and then leaning over to start mouth to mouth...followed by CPR.

Fortunately she remembered in time, and stopped where she was. She couldn't do it. Saliva was a vector. In a hospital there'd be ventilators and oxygen...but here?

Let me.

She shook her head. That was the voice of unreason.

Let me or she'll die, if it's not already too late!

"All right," Myf muttered angrily. She stripped the rubber gloves off and pressed her hands against Gabrielle's cheeks. "All right already!"

The feeling was one of relaxation; that of a muscle finally loosening up. It wasn't entirely comfortable...sort of like going to the bathroom after a long time, but doing so into one's pants. It was a relief, but kind of disturbing too. There was a sense that she was doing something she shouldn't be...touching something that wasn't hers.

The something was a clear note sounded on glass...a golden-green light...the smell of fresh grass and rain. It was something that she had no sense for, and so kept trying to express itself in the senses she had...and could only do so imperfectly. It was inside her, stretched like a web across her body, her mind. Yet it was also vast on a planetary scale, intricate and delicate, but overpoweringly huge and powerful.

And yet she could gently guide it...not control it, exactly, but influence it like the moon influenced the ocean. Like most large things it was slow at first...but inexorable as it flowed more and more freely.

Those around the hospital bed saw none of this, of course. They saw only Myfwany holding Gabrielle's face between her hands. There was a sudden thick smell like ozone, but not quite the same. The air stirred as if something huge were passing through it not far away. It eddied and whorled, then calmed.

Myf slowly took her hands away from the dead woman's face.

[z016]

The girl lay quietly on the bed for several tense moments, then drew in a long, deep breath. As color and life returned to her face she seemed to go past the point of mere resurrection of the human form: her yellow hair, bedraggled from sweat and sickness, took on the luster of golden sunlight and fell in gentle waves around her face; her face, pretty before, flushed with the health and promise of perfect youth. She had lived and died and lived again, not in the blasphemous parody of humanity that had crumbled the nations of the world, but with with a purity and sanctity that radiated from from her form.

Her eyes opened wide, bits of a pure blue Heaven staring at the ceiling of the make-shift hospital, tears streaming down her cheeks. She whispered only loud enough for those near her to her, "Ascultare, O Adonai, consolator. Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam. Benedictus Deus. Benedictus Tu liberi, hominis est angeli. Amen."

[Wesson]

Originally Posted By: Dawn, OOC

He wasn't in the airport. Instead, a dock was before him, fenced in completely. Boats were in their slips, mostly at the farther end where the water would be deeper. Even the boats were protected behind hastily assembled fencing; their gates would have to be opened before a boat could be taken out. It appeared that the only way out was to go into the water and open one of the gates.

What did Wesson know about boats.Well rather a lot in the ideal form, and how to build and repair but to use them.Jack and shit, summed his skills. He knew what he had to do now, maybe not fix the damn right way but to see what was needed. He went to one the boats, but only long enough to get a pair of ropes. Wesson could write papers on how rope changed the world, but right now was not the time. He had to move. Running was one of his favorite pass time in his youth, he would try to out run himself. These day, he was a far stronger runner, and rarely had the chance to run for pleasure.

To bad this wasn't one of those time.He had to make his way to the turbines. With the ropes over his shoulders, he easily cleared the fence. He knew that by himself he would not have make sure noone else got hurt, or fell behind. His biggest edge was he was faster than zombies.Sure it didn't hurt that it would take a lot zombies to really hurt him.

[Dawn OOC]

Wesson

Beaver Lake was un unnatural lake, forced to gather in a way that nature had never intended. It was a long hike around all the bends in the lake to get to the turbines - over eleven miles, actually. And there were a lot of zombies.

Wesson was able to avoid many of them. But there was one group at about mile eight that he came upon suddenly. There was little warning as he finished coming over a rise in the terrain and found himself facing six zombies. They were close, too close to swing wide around. The first one sensed him, turning empty eyes on him. Her once pretty face was half-burnt and her cheeks had been torn away, leaving her jawbone bare. She looked as though she had a manical grin as she lumbered toward him.

Click to reveal..

Please roll initative and put it in your next post. There are six zombies; I'll number them for ease of tracking. The zombie attacking you is #1.

[SalmonMax]

Myfwany stumbled backwards and almost fell over, her shock was so great.

"What?!" she demanded, almost as horrified and stunned by the girl's speech as by her life. "What did you say?"

She didn't really know Latin beyond some naming conventions, but she recognized some of the words from various church services she'd been hauled to when she was a kid by her Catholic mother.

Blessed be God. Blessed be (something something) men and angels.

"Gabrielle," Myfwany heard herself say sharply. "Gabrielle do you hear me? Do you understand me?" They were doctor's words, as ordinary in her world as a simple 'hello.' Life preservers, distractions against the enormity of what she'd just seen happen.

And somewhere in the back of her head, a voice like hers laughed at herself for ever thinking nothing would happen.

[SkyLion]

Jonathan blanched, his tanned features turning almost ashen as his mouth hung open. He struggled for comprehension and then purposefully played the tapes back in his head. An obvious infected, Myf layed her hands on the woman...and brought her back to life? Only there was more. Something in this reborn Gabrielle that seemed an antitheiss to the horror that he carried within him. Her purity and light only deepened his shadow.

But what had hapened? Myfwany placed her hands on the patinet...and then..

Jonathan gaped at Myfwany his voice conveying both amazement and fear...for awe was a frightneing thing, and to walk among angels a terrible burden. Even they hid their eyes from the glory of the Almighty.

"What...what did you just do???"

[z016]

The girl sat up, looking both dazed and beatific. She looked around the room and then seemed to remember that someone had been speaking to her. She smiled at the woman standing over, seemingly oblivious to the tear tracts that still chased down her cheeks. "Yes, I hear you and I understand you."

She turned to Caleb then, her smile still there but tinged with sadness beyond her youth. She placed her hand on his cheek, "We were wrong, Caleb. God is not finished with the world, nor with man. He is wrong, and I am the living proof of that. We owe this place and these people a great debt. We must begin the Lord's work here, not end it."