Aberrant: Dead Rising - Chapter 5a: Zealotry

[Dawn OOC]

"You can all leave." The voice had come from a woman near the back. Now she was standing, and stepping forward. She was old and half-bent, but she was calm and dignifed despite the tear tracks still scoring her face.

"You," she said, pointing at Fox, "were right to come here and stop Elijah. He was deluded. But you're a tyrant, demanding that we do exactly as you demand or you'll kill us.

"And you," she said, looking at Primal and Bond. "You claim to care and help, but now you're going to steal from us?

"We don't need saviors like you - any of you." She drew herself up. "I will ask you once, as a civilized person, to please leave us alone."

[Primal]

"Whelp. You heard the lady. Let's bail." Primal slapped Jim's arm. "C'mon, let's get the good he falsely traded to us and get the hell out of this freak show. I need a beer."

[Fox]

"Steal? No." Bond returned her gaze coolly, a smile still on his lips. "I traded goods in good faith and got contaminated filth in return. I am taking what I am owed and nothing more, madam."

He stepped away from the crowd and headed towards the door, clearly having had enough of the whole situation. Primal striding along with him. "My friend here is the altruist. I am not." He said without looking back. "Make sure you stay 'a civilised person', good lady. As I said before, I would be profoundly irritated to have to come back here."

He stopped at the doorway and looked over his shoulder at the room of people, zealots and supers alike, smiling slightly despite the faintly visible anger in his gaze. "I don't take to being irritated very well. So try to get along, hmm?"

With that he was gone.

[Dan Hawkins]

Dan smiles as he continues laying into the zombies. This wasn't a challenge, shooting from above and beyond reach. There was a part of him that reveled in this. Part saw this as Mercy, returning the dead to the ground's embrace. Another part, knew that this didn't do much, there would always be more zombies. He'd never be able to kill them all.

This only provoked him to continue shooting, to keep killing. It reminded him of his own goal, to find the ones responsible for this blight on humanity, and End them in a way that suited the crime they'd perpetrated.

[Venus]

Originally Posted By: Dawn, OOC

"You can all leave." The voice had come from a woman near the back. Now she was standing, and stepping forward. She was old and half-bent, but she was calm and dignifed despite the tear tracks still scoring her face.

"You," she said, pointing at Fox, "were right to come here and stop Elijah. He was deluded. But you're a tyrant, demanding that we do exactly as you demand or you'll kill us.

"And you," she said, looking at Primal and Bond. "You claim to care and help, but now you're going to steal from us?

"We don't need saviors like you - any of you." She drew herself up. "I will ask you once, as a civilized person, to please leave us alone."

Violet concentrated briefly on the woman extending her own awareness to the emotional level. Swirls of red anger engulfed her bolstered by determination. The woman was dedicated to her cause and absolutely honest about her intentions. Violet could tell that her motivation was sincere - and that she wanted for the intruders to leave.

Click to reveal..

Using Emp. Manip. to scan/sense emotions on the elderly woman Scanning for the emotions of the woman t...4d10.hits(7)=1) = 2 Suxx

Only then Violet realized that they really did intrude their sanctuary. Maybe the motives for taking action were right but something about how this all happened was severely wrong.

The two mercs were right about one thing - they should have done better. We could have done better than this.

Addressing the Captain and keeping a wary eye on the mercs Violet shared her knowledge, "The woman is telling the truth. I can sense it, Captain. I think we should leave and establish a diplomatic status quo from which we all can profit once this community has recovered from the atrocities done to them."

Knowing that her appearance was a two edged blade in this setting Violet put on the hood again trying to cover most of her face and wrapped the robe around her body to conceal what was underneath.

[Mr Fox]

Fox looked to the woman, "So you take responsibility for this community? You will guarantee that your community will no longer attack or threaten any other survivors? If so I will accept your word, but be warned. I don't care about your convictions or your religion. We came here to rescue you people from Elijah not to harm you or rule you or turn you into slaves. We came to ensure that other communities and survivors can live in peace, but if I hear of anyone attacked and the trail leads back here we will be back." He left the threat that the second visit would not be so merciful unsaid.

Fox was disgusted by the entire situation. It was like Iraq all over again. Great intentions but all fucked up in the delivery. "We have a doctor, on her way, she'll look you over before we go if you want. Also, Elijah rigged this building to blow up, if you intend to stay, I'd suggest disarming his handy work. Oh, and if you have any trade supplies that were mean 'only for trade', burn them. I don't want to hear about honest traders being infected by supplies they got from you."

He looked to the group, "I'll be outside helping Dan get the sled ready to go if anyone needs me."

[Dawn OOC]

As Bond and Primal left, the woman standing forward as the leader turned and murmured to one of the men. He looked surprised and scared, but did as she asked. He followed Primal and Bond to the store room and watched them switch bad supplies for good.

Meanwhile, the old woman followed Fox and murmured, "A word with you, first." Before he could say no, she said, "I know we've hurt many people. I'll try to fix this place, so that we aren't ruled by ignorance and fear. If I fail, I'll try to get word to you, if you'll promise me you'll at least spare the women and children here. Many of them have no choice. Is that a reasonable deal?"

[Mr Fox]

Fox paused reluctantly and listened. He was not smiling but hard faced, "You've got a deal. If we have to come back though, anyone that is allowed to live will have to swear to abide by whatever laws we set." He frowned, "I do also apologize. This whole mess didn't exactly happen as we planned. You folks had the bad luck to trade with those two," he pointed indicating the direction Primal and Bond had gone, "just before we arrived and they wanted to take part which made things pretty messy. Call us angels or supermen or whatever you want, but there are more like us out there. I suggest you try your best not to cross traders who come through, you never know what you might be dealing with."

[Fox]

Under the watchful if slightly scared eye of the commune member, Bond picked out clean medical supplies to replace the contaminated ones Elijah had foisted on them. The British mercenary looked over each item, checking it against the contaminated stock he had in the hummvee.

"I'll be taking the dirty goods with us." he told the man matter-of-factly. "We'll burn them once we get to a safe spot." The man nodded, a little worried as he considered the two mercenaries, and Bond smiled slightly, his hard expression softening. "Tell your spokesperson that, if she wishes, I can remove the explosives on the roof safely. No charge, and you can keep them if you wish or I can take them with us."

[Priest]

Meanwhile, up on said roof full of explosives ...

Priest turns to James.

"You owe me a shotgun. Now that I think about it, you owe me boots, pants, a shirt, a bullet proof vest, and a pair of sunglasses. Not that I'm keeping count or anything."

Looking toward the stairs,

"No gunfire and no screams. Things must be going well."

How wrong he was.

[Venus]

Violet waited unsure if she should stay or go. Spotting Jasmine she decided to join her and see if she could do something to help.

"Can I do anything to help? I'm not sure if I'm needed here or if we should just go?"

Realizing that Jas was slowly retreating and emotionally troubled she placed carefully a hand on her shoulder and just looked in her eyes. "Hey, you ok, hon?"

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine glanced at Violet, then back at the boy. She nodded slightly, her arms wrapped around herself.

"Yeah.. I should probably just.. go."

She glanced at the man she had bowled over, along with his son, to see what his reaction had been to this whole situation. He had seemed pretty committed, and she hadn't seen any reaction thus far from him in regards to the revelation - no pun intended - about Elijah's deceit. She took a couple steps away, towards the exit, but then glanced back at Gabrielle and her brother, and at the man standing near them.

"I'm.. really sorry. I was just trying to help.."

[SalmonMax]

Myfwany comes into view at that point, mussed red hair in the remains of a bun at the nape of her neck, and fair freckled skin smudged with sweat-soaked dirt. She peered cautiously around the corner, sensing the tension, then came out showing both hands.

"I'm a doctor," she said. "I'm just here to help anyone who's hurt."

She paused for a moment when she saw Elijah lying dead on the ground, but only for a moment. Then she was stepping carefully around and over debris towards the people, hands still open in front of her.

[SkyLion]

Jon frowned, unsure of what was going on and what he should do, so he just listened.

As things wound down he approached Gabrielle, almost shyly.

"What will you do? Will you stay here, with your flock and family, now that Elijah's control has been broken?"

There is another question under the obvious ones, but his awkward demeanor makes it difficult to put it into specific words.

[Fox]

As Primal took the goods down to the Falcon, the spokeswoman for the Flock, as Bond thought of them, sent word that she would be all too happy to get rid of the dangerous explosives on the roof of the hospital. Bond left the messenger to lock up the storeroom and headed upstairs, his thoughts somewhat bleak.

Emerging onto the roof, he whistled at the devastation he saw there, then noticed Priest and another man, both of whom appeared to have been through, well, an explosion.

"Priest!" Bond called, picking his way across the roof past the wreckage. "What the hell happened up here? Are you alright? You look bloody terrible."

[Dawn OOC]

Gabby's mother came back to her side, putting her arms back around her. "I... can't believe it's you," she whispered. "What happened?"

The best answer seemed, "God saved me" and so it was what she said, smiling with the serenity of faith.

"He did," Caleb breathed, standing just behind her. The rest of her "flock" was hugging their family, but he had no other family, and so he stood quietly behind her. Her brother reached for her with a smile, and Gabrielle knelt to take his hand. "I'm glad you're back," he whispered. "I missed you."

Across the room, Gabrielle's father slipped out of the room, his face set in hard lines.

Meanwhile, Mary was hugging her mother, sobbing about the worms in the demon's belly.

[z016]

She hugged her brother lightly, knowing that he was still injured, and whispered back, "I missed you too."

Gabrielle frowned up at Jon, though not at him so much as at the question. "I-I'm not sure. Fox's Refuge is a very nice place, but...."

She looked around at the rest of the congregation and the members of Fox's team still there. "I don't know that we would really be welcome there." It was said with a quiet regret.

[Priest]

"Yay! It's Captain Awesome," Priest chirped from his seared throat, recalling one of his favorite shows from ... last year, Chuck.

"Oh this," he pointed to his charred chest. "Blind boy decided to disarm a bomb by picking it up. I tried to stop him. Lost my shotgun ... and a few other things, but mostly my flesh. Then the sexy Blonde/non-Angel version tried to bury me in her cleavage, but I have a hell of a lung capacity."

Priest chuckles then winces from the pain.

"What are you doing up here and how is everything going down stairs? Wait, my Spidey sense is tingling. What are you up to?"

[Dawn OOC]

Gabrielle's mother grabbed her suddenly, holding her tight. "Go with them, honey," she whispered, her voice shaking, "and take your brother. I have missed you, but... it may not be safe here. Your father... he's... he believed." There was no need for her mother to say more; her father had bought Elijah's words completely. "Emma might be able to control things, but if not... I don't want you here. Please."

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine watched the man disappear without saying a word.. she glanced back at Gabrielle, who was smiling and radiant with her family.

I'll never have that again. My parents are probably dead, I should just admit it. I'll take the Captain back to the house.. maybe get a few of my things. Hopefully the generator's still there. And all of Mom's medical library, and Dad's books on building and wiring and stuff will probably come in handy too. But I shouldn't expect anything there. Only people touched by God get that lucky.

Then she turned, and hurried out of the room, without even another word to Violet. She walked briskly out of the building, into the desert air. She just wanted to get away from all the people. She paused for a minute, glancing out over the sunset, and out of habit, she closed her eyes and let her instincts take over. She expanded her sense of hearing to include everything near.. the cawing of birds, or the sound of an animal running a little ways away. And, closer than she expected.. the sounds of zombies, moaning death to all that approached.

Damn.

Jasmine turned, and ran along the side of the building till she found a nearby fire escape leading up the side of the building. She took it all the way up to the roof, and headed over towards the north side, where she could hear the moaning from. With a grimace, she looked out over the barren landscape to see just what was there.

Click to reveal..

Activating Hyper-Enhanced Hearing, -1QP = 16QP

[SkyLion]

Jon smiles painfully.

"If he would welcome one such as I surely one such as you would be as well. I mean I am, and you are so..." he trails off, not knowing quite how to say it.

[Fox]

"Oh, nothing you should worry about." Bond grinned as he knelt by one of the blocks of explosives. He tutted as he gently snipped the wires before lifting the cover off the plastique, Priest watching him in wide-eyed consternation. Bond looked over at the scavenger captain and winked. "You can relax now, old boy. The professionals are here." He deftly broke down the blocks of C4 and wrapped them before moving on to the next box.

"They really wanted to make sure. Two pounds of explosives on each block." He called from further down the roof over the occasional *crack* of Hawkin's rifle as the ex-Marine shot zombies. "I'm curious where they got the goods, though. This isn't civilian grade equipment." He held up one detonator switch, examining it carefully before glancing over at Priest. "These detonators are sync'd to go off at the same time despite being on a chain. That's no civilian rig-up. That's military, like the remote Elijah had."

As Priest chewed that piece of information over, Bond worked with precise speed, packing up all the remaining explosives and pocketing the detonators.

Click to reveal..

Int & Engineering to disarm and safely retrieve the explosives.

(21:50:11) ChatBot: (Bond) rolls 6d10 and gets 1,7,6,7,7,2.

3 succs

Priest's ruminations were interrupted as Bond let out an "Ah-HAH" noise.

"What?" He called over. Bond shot him a triumphant grin that Priest had last seen right before the merc had cleaned out some small-town trader at a poker game, and finished what he was doing before coming over with a flapping scrap of some wrapping in one hand.

"This. It's a scavenger's mark. Man named... Chuck, I think. Works up in the Dakotas." He passed the wrapping over to Priest to let the man get a better look. As Priest squinted at the paper, Bond glanced over as Jasmine appeared, seeming intent on something off the north end of the building.

"What is it?" he called over to her. "Problem?"

[Dawn OOC]

Bond and Priest see the pretty girl peer over the edge of the building, frowning. The fence gets fairly close to the building back here, and the dead have amassed here.

A sudden rifle explosion not far above her made Jasmine jerk. She looked up to see Dan chambering another round. He took careful aim, then fired, and another zombie went down. She watched him, slowly becoming unnerved by the empty look on his face as he chambered rounds, aimed and fired - there was no passion, no feeling. He was a machine focused on the task of killing the dead.

[Priest]

Priest thinks for a moment.

"Have you looked for any kind of communication equipment? Was Elijah in touch with anyone else?"

A pause as Hawkins shoots away.

"Trading that kind of hardware with this cult - that's bad news. I wonder what he got in trade, and were that ended up. If the Crazy Prophet of the End Times was up to his old tricks ... well, someone has to deal with those problems or we won't have any settlements left in this region to trade with."

"Crazy bastard," he mutters.

Finally, Priest's gaze follows Bond's to the new girl. Some things never seemed to change.

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: Priest

Priest turns to James. "You owe me a shotgun.... Not that I'm keeping count or anything."

James thought, *He's pissed, but otherwise expects to be fine. Bully for him.* James wasn't sure he was glad or annoyed that Priest seemed alright.

Originally Posted By: Priest

..."Blind boy decided to disarm a bomb by picking it up...

*True enough.*

Originally Posted By: Priest

"...I tried to stop him...

*Now that part I don't remember.*

James listened intently and tried not to feel sorry for himself. This wasn't going to be a lasting situation.

*Someone is shooting, rifle, the dead are far enough away that I don't need to worry. Violet is inside. What's his name... Bond? says this was a pro set up. That's what I was counting on that it wasn't. 'Chuck' traded them for it... he's probably dead.*

*I could stand up and stretch my legs... and walk off the roof or into a bomb. Maybe not. Perm or not, I feel ****ing helpless.*

James snorted seeing something bitterly ironic in the situation. "Two guys named James, and the one named bond is better with bombs. Who would have thought?"

[Jasmine Gentian]

"Nothing unusual."

She scowled, biting her lip slightly, trying to get an estimate of the amount of undead on the other side of the fence. It looked like far too many for her to handle in one go, and she regretted it - she wouldn't mind feeling like she'd done something productive today. She jerked again at the sound of Dan firing another round, though her hearing automatically compensated for the loud noise. She looked up at his expression, then back out at the zombies.

I wonder if that's what I look like, when I'm killing them. Probably not.. I don't exactly stand around and shoot at them from twenty paces, now do I? I might kill them like that.. like some sort of machine. But at least I'm angry while I'm doing it.

She laughed slightly, and it had a bit of a mocking tone to it.

[Fox]

"It's all in the wrist." Bond told the badly injured man with a chuckle as he moved over to the north side of the rooftop. He paused next to Jasmine and looked at the zombies out there.

"Now that's a lot of zombies." he said mildly, looking up at the flying man as he methodically dealt out the final rest to the shambling monsters down below. Bond pondered that for a moment, then looked down at the crowd of walking dead. Then he looked behind him at the sky-sled and the blocks of plastic explosive he had piled together. "Hmmmm."

Even though Jasmine wasn't terribly familiar with the mercenary, something about that calmly contemplative sound was vaguely disturbing to her as she stood beside him. He winked at her, then turned and started to head for the rooftop entrance. "Priest, I'll be right back. Keep an eye on my plastique, will you? Ta."

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine watched the man go, hesitating a moment. Then, she hurried after him, jogging the couple steps over to catch up with him before he reached the instance.

"Jim, right? While I admit to jumping to conclusions before - and believe me, I'm not planning on making that mistake again - I still have the funny feeling you're up to something.."

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and smiled just a little wryly.

"Should I be concerned?"

[Primal]

The goods slammed to the ground.

"Well ain't this jes' perfect." The feral giant grinned as he looked at the hordes of the undead advancing on the hospital.

He let out a roar, a lions roar that announced there was a threat close by. Bond was familiar with this battle cry, it was declaration of war, the one thing he hated worse than... well pretty much everyone it seemed, was the undead.

Without fear or hesitation he charged forth. With no gate protecting the compound any longer there was nothing but him and those with the guns to protect the people inside from falling prey to the virus infected zombies.

Click to reveal..

Primal's warning is easily heard by all, but will probably take Bond to translate it, he's been with Primal enough to know the difference between a roar for intimidation and a roar the means 'tonight we dine in hell'.

Jasmine with her super hearing, probably got an earful.

[Fox]

Bond smiled at her, a merry twinkle in his eye. "You can come along and keep an eye on me if you like." Then Primal's roar echoed across the skyline and Bond grinned. "Ahh, he's spotted the dead fellows. That should buy us some time. Let's go." Without pausing further he trotted down the stairs, taking them three at a time. Shaking her head slightly and torn between laughing and looking nervously in the direction of the bestial roar, Jasmine followed.

They emerged into the cafeteria where the Flock and some of their erstwhile rescuers were still discussing matters. Without hesitation Bond moved over to the woman who had spoken up. "I have good news, bad news, and good news." He told her amiably. "I've collected up all the nasty explosives up there. There's a mass of zombies outside. Primal is doing what Primal does best, but could probably use some help. There's rather a lot out there. And the best news is, I have a plan." He looked around him at the assembled people, then back at the elderly woman. "I need about 28 containers. Paint cans, coffee cans, whatever you can get me, please. And scrap metal, hard wood, debris. We're going to use those explosives and a little ingenuity to stop the horde before they get to your building." He grinned with wry charm at her, his tone courteous. "We don't have much time. Can you help me to help you?"

Click to reveal..

Cha & Etiquette w/ Natural Leader bonus

(03:48:10) ChatBot: (Bond) rolls 8d10 and gets 4,3,8,3,1,1,2,4.

1 success. Bleh

[Dawn OOC]

"Yes," she said softly, looking tired. "We've seen increasing waves of zombies recently. We'll be happy to help." She turned to those still left milling about, mostly watching as some of the women take care of Elijah's bullet-riddled body. "Brother and sisters, your attention." She quickly explained what Bond needed then added, "Everyone scatter and find those supplies. Hurry."

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine glanced up at Bond as the people started to do what was needed. But outside, she could hear the zombies still, and they sounded closer, nearer to the front gates than they were before. She turned to Bond, looking thoughtful.

"As intrigued as I am but what you're planning, Jim.. I'm going to feel better if I get something useful done today. So I think I'm going to go help your friend. I'll do the most good out there.. as tough as he looks, there's still a lot of zombies."

She smiled a bit hesitantly at him.

"Perhaps we'll talk later."

And with that, she headed back out towards the front door, and zombies.

(Edited to accommodate future posts.)

[z016]

She frowned up at her mother now, holding her and her brother tightly. "Then you come too. Maybe....maybe after a little bit, he'll see it isn't lost. That there's still hope." She was on the verge of tears. Right now she wasn't an angel or a superman, she was a 17 year old girl that just wanted her family back together again.

[Primal]

All seven feet of Primal stood blocking the gateway leading to the hospital's front doors. With his arms out stretched he urged the dead one to come forward, daring them to face him. Sure they were brain dead so it was like trying to intimidate a two year old, but the blonde behemoth could not shake the primal rage swelling up within him.

God how he enjoyed slaughtering these things.

With a roar he waded into the fray with his claws flailing in what an untrained eye might call wildly, yet it would have seen that Primal's fighting style, brutal as it was, was terrifyingly accurate.

His attacks tore through them, but did little to stop them. He'd enough experience battling them to realize though that severing the head is usually not an easy task. One by one his talons swept low ripping zombies off their feet causing more to fall or stumble, slowing them down.

As his claws continued to tear into the enemy his large boots smashed into the ground crushing head after head of the undead. They clawed and tore at his flesh, teeth dug into his bare skin as they tore away bits of flesh with every assault. Although he healed quickly, the pain was very real and with every bit of blood he dripped to the ground he roared out in agony yet refused to yield.

As the tissue of his injuries mended itself he continued to dispatch the lumbering horde. He was overwhelmed and provided an infinite feast for them, but he and Bond had been in worse spots, he just hoped the thinker had a plan. He'd hold out until he had nothing left.

With another great roar that nearly rattled the plaster from the walls within the hospital the undead were cast off him and quickly introduced to eternal rest in a gleaming black swipe of his talons.

[SkyLion]

Jon was feeling more out of place and third wheel by the moment. The angel before him was fragile and oh so human and she and her mother were having a moment. Finally he just turns around and wanders off.

He comes to a window through which he sees the angry young Dan coldly picking off the undead, seeming to stand in the air as if it were a solid surface. The lion-man reveled in his fury, going toe to toe with the shambling horde. He was quickly mobbed and surrounded by corpses piling on corpses but it was clear he would not be able to keep it up indefinitely. Better to use hit and run tactics though perhaps the man-beast was not blessed with speed as he had been.

Maybe we should help them?

No more fence anymore. They will just keep coming now. All that are here now must be dispatched before a new gate can be built. Not our problem. If we help them now we will earn the trust of Dan and the others. Will we? Or will they be frightened and damn us...

Jon's thoughts fed upon themselves, the proverbial ouroboros. In spite of his speed he was paralyzed with inaction, watching numbly the slaughter and wondering what in Hell had happened to the world. It was almost enough to make one find religion...

[Dawn OOC]

Gabrielle's mother shook her head. "I'll stay with your father, and I'll work on him. But I need you and your brother to be somewhere safe, so I can focus on him." She ran her hands over her daughter's hair. Her voice dropped to a whisper intended just for Gabrielle. "Besides, I didn't take very good care of you - you should do better for your brother than I. You have a good heart, Gabrielle. Your survival proves that you're a Godly woman, destinied to do great things for Him."

[Fox]

While the people of the commune gathered together the junk, Bond left instructions for them to bring it all up to the roof and trotted back topside, wishing Jasmine good luck and cautioning her to announce herself loud and clear before getting near to Primal while the big man was fighting. His parting words, naturally, were a little less serious.

"I'll be looking forward to talking later. So don't get careless." he smiled. "If you get the chance, tell Primal to be ready to grab you and get out of there on my signal. He'll understand." With that, he turned away.

Up on the roof, he knelt by the stack of C4 and started splitting each one pound block in two. Priest limped over, curious, and smiled genuinely if somewhat stiffly as Bond quickly explained the scheme to him, before passing him a handful of detonators. The two men prepped the half-pound charges with relative swiftness, the 27th and 28th detonators being pushed home as the Flock started arriving with paint-tins, coffee-tins, lidded fire-buckets, and other similar containers, all rattling with junk metal, fragments of wood and masonry, and other odds and ends.

"Perfect." Bond smiled up at one young woman as he took her burden and placed a prepared charge in the middle of the accumulated junk before. She smiled back a trifle nervously and fled the rooftop, to be replaced with three of her fellow faithful. Bond worked swiftly, hearing the sounds of grisly combat by the main entrance yet mindful of the need for precision. It was fully five more minutes until he was ready.

"Get these things onto the sled." He told the few cultists still hanging around somewhat curiously. "Don't worry, they won't go off." Another thirty seconds, and the super's flying conveyance was loaded with twenty-eight makeshift fragmentation bombs. Bond grinned at the mismatched arsenal and patted Priest gently on the shoulder. "This" he said "Will be fun."

"Hawkins!" He yelled above the din of the battle below as he stepped onto the sled. "I need a strong flying type. You up for a bombing run, Marine?"

While waiting for Hawkins to respond, he pulled out the remote detonator in his pocket and handed it to Priest. "Green switch turns it on, red button blows the charges. Do me a favor and wait till we're all safe before even turning it on." he grinned.

Turning back as Hawkins swooped over, Bond quickly laid out the plan. "Fly me around the perimeter, about 20 metres or so from the building. We're going to plant some charges to thin out the horde. They're so tightly packed these lovelies will make mincemeat out of them. Make sure we start and finish at the front of the building: we need to give Primal and Jasmine the nod to get clear." With that, the merc hopped onto the sled.

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine hurried towards the front, and her eyes flickered around the front hall. It looked like a disaster had struck this place - parts of the ceiling must have come down with the explosion. But off to the side, a closet caught her eye, and she opened it. What she found made her smile, and she pulled out what seemed to be the default weapon against the undead - a machete. She weighted it in her hand, but then she heard Primal roar, and her head jerked up. She gripped the blade, and ran out the doors, and towards the sounds of combat.

Her eyes flickered to the bestial man, and she drew in a breath of surprise at his ferocity. It was.. impressive, to say the least. But impressive as it might be, he was still vastly outnumbered.. it was the least she could do, to try and help. And at least it meant she got to do something useful today.

So she dived in.

The first thing Primal noticed was the sound of a wet thunk, as the accompanying zombie head landed not far from where he was fighting. When he glanced over, he saw the girl Jim had been helping before, except she didn't seem to need much help at the moment. For every brutal, powerful swipe of his claws, she delivered at least three strong, swift attacks of her own. They certainly didn't have the deadly effect or force of his own, but they were impressively in their own might. And the girl could MOVE.

Jasmine, however, was unaware of whatever appearance she might be putting forward. She only knew that she was doing what she did best, for the first time in a while. Without having to hide it, or disguise it either, the way she had when she was helping that group. The machete was dull, and not the most effective weapon, though it still took off a downed zombie's head. So she proceeded to kick, punch, and spin her way through the mass of creatures. At one point she called out something to Primal about being ready to run at Jim's call, though she wasn't sure if he could hear her over the mayhem. She could feel them grab, and bite, and claw at her. She dodged most of the hits, but certainly not all of them - not while she was surrounded like this, swarmed on all sides. Her face was frozen in a mask of anger and intensity as she fought, and she only cried out once, when one of the walking undead managed to sink it's teeth into the arm that was holding the machete. She lost her grip, and it fell to the ground, lost beneath the shuffling feet of the undead.

She grit her teeth, and grabbed the zombie by the head. The skin underneath her hand smoldered.. Primal could smell the combination of smoke, and decay. And then the dried, scraggly hair caught the embers, and the head of the zombie lit up like a torch in the twilight of the desert sky as she shoved it away.

[SalmonMax]

Zombies, Myf thought bleakly. The explosion. I wasn't even thinking.

She watched Primal leave, on what would be a suicide mission for anyone else. Even assuming his powers would let him live, she wasn't sure what he'd be accomplishing besides maybe buying some time. But it wouldn't be enough time to repair the fencing.

The guy that called himself Bond seemed to have a plan though. She hoped he did. The last time she'd faced an actual horde of zombies had been at the hospital...and she doubted she could pull off now what she had then. Further, she doubted she wanted to. Everyone dying from a massive storm would make them just as dead as them dying from a zombie attack.

On impulse she made a decision and hurried after Bond.

"Wait! Excuse me," Myf said awkwardly on catching up. "What are you going to do...and is there anything I can do to help?"

[Fox]

Bond glanced over from checking his 'payload' on the sled as he heard a woman calling, to see the quiet (yet admittedly interesting) redhead from Fox's crew approaching him. He recalled that she'd stayed close to Gabrielle, but really didn't have any further idea who she was.

"Of course you can help." the tall Brit smiled at her, his blue eyes studying hers with a laid-back rogueish intensity that left Myf with the strangely pleasant feeling that he was reading her like a book, but slowly, savoring one page at a time. "The plan's rather simple. We're going to fly around the hospital and drop these beauties-" he indicated the mish-mash of containers on the sled "-into the greatest concentrations of the zombies. Most of them out the front, I would imagine. We'll try to place them about twenty feet apart and no closer than twenty meters to the hospital." He finished his checks on the makeshift bombs as he spoke, aware that Dan Hawkins was already taking up the slack from the carry-lines.

"Once all are placed, we tell our friends down there holding the fort to get the hell out of the brawl and let Priest there do the honors with that lovely little detonator he's holding so eagerly." Bond's smile was pure infectious charm, the sparkle in his eyes equal parts mischief and anticipation. "If all goes according to plan, we have ourselves a lot of zombie parts and relatively little mopping up."

He offered Myfwany a strong gloved hand both in introduction and to help her onto the sled. "James Bond. I don't think I caught your name, Ms...?"