Aberrant: Dead Rising - Chapter 5a: Zealotry

[SalmonMax]

"Best if we limit their exposure to infected tissue," Myfwany says to Bond, though she's staring off blankly into the distance, and her voice is quiet and distracted.

"We will need help though."

She broke away from Fox, Priest and Bond and walked a few steps towards the mass surface zombie grave. Nothing seemed to happen beyond a cool breeze making a mess of her hair and ruffling her clothes...but there was something else too. It was hard to pin down, like a sound just outside the audible range, or a flicker of a recognized face in one's peripheral vision that's gone when one looks directly. Up from under the smell of decay welled up another scent, heavy and acrid but somehow clean, like the smell of fresh rain.

Then came the sound. Like rainfall almost...a constant rustle in the grass. Then those present outside realized it wasn't rain or wind moving the grass.

It was rats.

Hundreds. No, thousands. They poured in thick rushing rivulets from buildings, including the hospital itself, all over the area. Black furred and hoary, some of them as big as small cats, they tumbled over one another in their haste and ignored the humans entirely on their way to the real prize. The zombie remains.

Another gust of wind brought with it even more noise. Cawing. Loud cawing. When the people there looked up, they saw a black cloud moving in. Where it passed over trees and houses, more tiny black forms streamed up to join it like an army recruiting as it marched. A vast flock of crows and ravens, with a vanguard of vultures flying higher in lazy circles flew overhead, darkening the sun briefly as they spiraled down and started jockeying and brawling with the rats for their share of the gorgeous gore spread out over the grass for their eating pleasure.

In seconds, the courtyard of the hospital is literally alive with a frothing layer of rats, crows, and the dinosaur-like saurian heads of vultures occasionally rearing up and screeching as they tore and gobbled.

Standing in the midst of the horde was Myfwany. There was a clear area around her feet, and as she walked back to rejoin the others, the animals parted in front of her and closed ranks behind her. They paused as she passed, forgetting to fight and eat, and stared up at her until she had gone by...then resumed as if nothing had happened at all.

"Whatever's left, we'll burn," she said tiredly, looking at Bond, then Fox, for approval. "It shouldn't be much."

(OOC - Nature Mastery. 5 dice, 3 succ. http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1979262/ Summoning rats and carrion birds, and commanding them to eat up the zomboguts.)

[Venus]

Violet watched in total awe what Myfwany was doing. She had seen the supermen fly and got used to it. She witnessed their superhuman strength and resistance to injury or any other form of physical attack and it was breathtaking. But what Myfwany just did was awe inspiring. She saved James with a mere touch, made the rain stop and now she commanded animals to her bidding.

"She's..." god?

Whatever Myfwany was capable of it went beyond what Violet ever thought to be possible. Her own powers sometimes scared her because she was so different to the rest of the supers but here she saw Myf and she felt something. A presence - a higher being. Someone truly touched by or maybe god herself?

Violet drew James closer to her half protecting him and half seeking comfort. This was unreal... so much had happened in the last 6 months and this crazy life slowly started to make sense again, till now.

When Myfwany was finished Violet didn't dare look her in the face she felt unworthy of her presence.

[Primal]

"I suppose now would be a bad time to let em know it can infect animals too I guess." Primal shrugged as he toweled himself off. "But I'm curious, what was wrong with just burning them? It's like these people are high on their gifts, Bond, they can't go ten seconds without using them."

[Priest]

At first Priest is horrified. He was about to get eaten by rats and vultures! Some foreced turned them away from the living thins and the vermin began feasting on the dead flesh. The Scavanger looked around to see what, or who could be doing this. He saw Myf standing there doing her Messiah impression and got the message.

Primals spoke and that gave Priest something to think on.

"I've never seen an infected animal in my travels, Primal - not one and I've covered some ground. My own dogs have bitten some zombies multiple times and they are just fine. Best if the brains look into it though - see what's what."

He doesn nod though,

"Burning would have been better. We know that works, and it would have shown these locals we don't mean them no harm. That would make it more difficult for the hardcases to turn them against folks next time."

Looking to Bond,

"We still need to burn all those tainted supplies. What a fucking waste. Probably means I need to raid another hospital before too long. People all around want medicine."

Scanning once more back to Fox,

"Captain, did anyone ask them what other infection missions they have sent out, and who they have given supplies to? We could at least use the radio to send out word."

[Mr Fox]

Fox looked at Priest. That was a damn good question. "No, no one asked. I"ll do that now while you and Dan get everyone settled and ready to go." He strode off into the building and up to the second floor again.

Seeing the woman who had taken charge he walked up to her despite the glares from some of the people. "Before we leave I need to ask you a question. Were any other trojan horses sent out, or did anyone else received the tainted medical supplies? Other lives could be at stake."

[SkyLion]

Jon watched in awe as the sy blackend with carrion birds, and the ground came alive with a moving carpet of vermin.

Strength, speed, even flight were things that could be grasped. Manipulation of unseen quantum forces like gravity was certainly within the realms of scientific explanation.

Myfwany Shattuck however was somethng else entirely, and so far it was she who challenged his faith in the rational most severely. Now was no exception. A part of him analyzed her posture, noting that it was perhaps mere showmanship, but even that could not take from the magnitude of what he was witnessing, far more real than any stage illusion.

Who was this woman??? Was she a doctor or a priestess?

[Fox]

Originally Posted By: Primal

"I suppose now would be a bad time to let em know it can infect animals too I guess." Primal shrugged as he toweled himself off. "But I'm curious, what was wrong with just burning them? It's like these people are high on their gifts, Bond, they can't go ten seconds without using them."

"In the interests of fairness, I'd say that's the first miracle I've seen from Ms Shattuck. Though when you have a cluster of people together all with strange and wonderful gifts, I suppose it can be a little overpowering." Bond's tone was distant and bemused as he watched the scavenging creatures around the redhead. He nudged Primal with his elbow. "Our gifts are more subtle, but can we honestly say we use them less?" He gave Myfwany a little smile, though whether of approval or support, none could tell, before turning to Priest. "You're right that some animals don't seem to have a problem. We'll have to tell you all about the Bear later. There might be some immediate research needed: too bad I'm no scientist. And as for those tainted supplies... Let's pile them up right now."

He turned and headed for the back of the hummvee, sliding out the med supplies crate and setting it down. Elijah's tainted goods were on the top of the stock, and Bond had little trouble separating them out from the rest, piling them neatly off to one side in an old oil drum. Judging the wind, he shifted the container around to another side of the hospital with a little effort, happy to have something to do that took his mind off the other questions the day had raised. A few splashes of gasoline and a match later, and there was a small plume of smoke being carried away from the hospital to the west, on the wind.

"There." he said to Priest and Primal as he came back. "That should do the job."

[Dawn OOC]

"Gabrielle was the last," the woman said. "I believe another is in the works, but it will not be done, of course." Her blue eyes were bright but tired as she added, "If you're done, perhaps you should leave, sir."

[Mr Fox]

Fox frowned, "You said Last. Were there others before Gabrielle? If there might be tainted supplies still out there waiting like time bombs to destroy lives, then I need to know before I go."

[Dawn OOC]

Emma frowned. "When people left, they went with two syringes of infected blood," she said. "They were to use one before entering the enclave on the chosen one, then if that failed, then they were to use the other on another person. If that failed, those left were to return to us. As we haven't had any of the previous four groups return, I think that one way or another, their... attempts were successful. Or they were killed before entering an enclave." Her voice was shaking as she spoke, but she met his eyes.

[Mr Fox]

Fox's face darkened at the revelation, "What enclaves were they sent to infect?" It took an effort to keep his face as impassive as possible, but the news that they had sent out four groups made him almost reconsider letting these people live. They just better hope none of their people ever made it to Fox's refuge. If they were to hurt the people he protected he would kill them.

[Dawn OOC]

The woman drew herself up taller, aware of the import of the crimes against her fellow humans. She made no attempt to dissolve the blame, however. "We heard of an enclave outside of Laramie, Wyoming, and we sent three men there, in March, after the last freeze here. We sent four to Des Moines, Iowa in February. And there were four sent to Columbia, Missouri. Word had come back that some students at the University of Missouri had founded a campus-based enclave."

[Dan Hawkins]

Dan looks at Fox.

It's a cold dead look on his face, emotionless, the same he wears while killing zombies. "Say the word, otherwise we need to go, Morgan. It would seem I have other nests I will have to handle at least."

[Mr Fox]

Fox looked at the woman, "A group of scavengers in Wyoming are dead. Most likely a bit of Elijah's handiwork." His next words were spoken quietly for the woman's ears alone, "Life is too precious for justice to be done, but from what I over heard earlier some of Elijah's 'believers' are still among you. Clean your house, of those, guilty of the murder. Better if you do it with a scalpel so that only the guilty pay than someone else doing swinging a swords indiscriminately. That's not a treat and I don't rule here or make law, but if necessary I will be the hand wielding that sword."

Without another word or waiting for a reply he turned and stalked out and down to the hummer where Bond and Primal were preparing to depart.

Walking up to them they could tell he was angry, but he took a calming breath before speaking, "Look, I know we didn't get off to the best start, but I need some information and there won't be any bargaining. I need to know if you know of 3 enclaves. One in Laramie, Wyoming, one in Des Moines, Iowa, and one in Columbia, Missouri? Seems those freakin nutjobs in there sent out three other trojan horse teams. I heard a scavenger group in Wyoming died mysteriously, that probably accounts for one of the groups, but what about the other two? Either of you ever hear about them?" He made himself relax and add, "I would appreciate it if you would tell me."

[Dawn OOC]

Emma watched Fox go, her expression troubled and sad. Sighing, she then walked to Gabrielle and her family, putting a wrinkled hand on the blond teen's back. "Gabrielle, I'm so sorry," she said, and when Gabrielle turned to look at her, there were tears in Emma's old eyes. "We did you wrong, child, and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive us - all of us, even Elijah. May God keep you safe in your travels."

Gabrielle had never seen the woman look so sad or lost; Emma had been the strong one, after Elijah. And while she had maintained her composure around the outsiders, it was clear that she was adrift, without a compass point.

[Primal]

Quote:

"I've never seen an infected animal in my travels, Primal - not one and I've covered some ground. My own dogs have bitten some zombies multiple times and they are just fine. Best if the brains look into it though - see what's what."

"Then I'm probably lying." Primal said calmly, eerily so. "Maybe they're out there maybe they're not. I hear opinions vary day by day out here. Either way, can't say I really care what you've seen or what you and your dogs have been through. If there's a mutant zombie rat out there, pray you never meet it, s'all I'll say."

He was done arguing with these people. Half were idiots and the other half were the Flock. Hell it seemed the only one among them worth a damn was the chick who had no qualms about hopping down and getting dirty with the horde with him a second ago. Women like that had value, especially in times like these.

He got dressed in something cleaner, just a large pair of khaki cargo shorts and huge sandals, he remained sans shirt. An expensive pair of Oakley's slid smoothly over his ears and he grinned a fang filled grin. "Can we get the fuck out of here please? If he wants to shoot the shit all day with these ghosts, let him. I don't recall being on their dollar."

[z016]

Gabrielle took the older woman's hand in hers and stood up, glancing between Emma and her mother. "Elijah is dead. What good is anger for the dead? God will judge his soul, and He is the only One with the right to do so. We are still the living, and I fear that as word of what has happened here spreads, we will be hated. Hunted. Both by those we have or might have wronged, and by those left amongst us who are still lost in that dark place Elijah created here."

She looked to her mother, who was still pleading with her eyes for her daughter to take her son and leave this forsaken place. "There is safety in running away, Mother; but there is righteousness in facing our fears and our failings. I cannot leave, not when my own father still harbors this darkness in his soul. Not when there are so many here in need. Fox's Refuge is nearly a paradise in this world, but is one we will not be welcomed in. One we have not earned."

She could feel them watching her. She could feel their loss and their confusion and fear. Above all their fear. They needed direction; something, anything, to focus them after the void Elijah had left. She spoke, still quietly, but with a rising resolve, "We brought death into a world overflowing with it; now we must bring life for as long as we are able. We traded in disease and dishonesty. We must build our own paradise, and then we must give it to others. In the foods that will be needed to see many through this winter and those to come after all the stores and stockpiles have been drained to their last can and jar. In goods that in our decadence we set machines to labor in the creation of; we do not have such luxuries any more, and yet we have more than many. In the preservation of knowledge, even that which we disagree with; we must learn and teach so that the secrets of science and civilization are not lost in a mere handful of generations. And most of all, we must serve. No strangers will be turned from our doors; they will leave us with more than they came to us with. When others ask in need of what we have, no matter how meager our reserves or how hard the labor was, we will share with them. Our greatest triumph will not be in the monuments we build or the purity of our faith, but the acts of love and compassion we commit in the service of the Almighty Lord and His Son."

She could see it, this penitent city on the hill. Her mind was chasing down a thousand different possibilities, laying out the needs and desires of such a place. It wouldn't be easy, and their worst enemies right now were those among them still held enthralled by Elijah, but that was the point. This wasn't meant to Paradise; it was Purgatory.

[Priest]

With the vermintide still running high, Priest leans against the Hummer.

"Not calling you a liar at all, Primal. Don't doubt what you fought for a second. Hell, there is this mutant zombie - s - up in Lawton we couldn't kill. It had an acidic touch that went through hardened flesh like a hot curling iron through butter. It was freaking horrific. It lived in a swampy stew of ... well, it's own juices."

"Best we could do was seal it off and put up warning signs."

Priest shakes his head and a mouse falls out.

"What the hell!"

He looks up at Myf, trying to find it in himself to blame her. Then he realizes that the mouse is probably a refugee and native to the area, driven to seek higher ground by the plague of rats.

Catching the mouse, he holds it in his hand. The thing seems frightened to death. Maybe we all should be.

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine had taken the clothes from Bond, looking a bit amused. She was actually a size six - at least, that's what she had grabbed from Violet - but she took the bag of clothes anyway, and grabbed the power-washer type machine. She didn't feel like facing the people inside for anything as fickle as a shower, after all. She jogged over to the building, and rounded a corner for some privacy. She undid the boots she was wearing and stripped off her clothes quickly, and hosed herself off with the machine. Fortunately, her hair hadn't really gotten too gross, and she was able to give it a quick blast without assistance.

She pulled the clothes out of the bag, and slid the jeans on over her hips. They fit more comfortably than the ones from Violet had, allowing her a bit more movement. And the t-shirt didn't cling quite so tightly, though it was a bit long. She tied it securely at her waist, then pulled her boots back on and laced them back up, letting the pants hang down over the boots this time - they weren't skinny jeans like the ones she had been wearing before.

"Well son of a bitch.. he was right. I am a size eight."

She laughed slightly. She had been a size six, and just a little too skinny, because of all her treatments, for a long time. All the exercise she had been getting for the last few months must have filled her out a little. She ran her fingers through damp hair as she walked back to the vehicle, getting the tangles from the fight out of it, and stepped up to Bond, holding the sweatshirt out to him.

"Thanks for the clothes. You can keep this though, in case some other girl needs it. The cold never bothers me anymore, really. And.. I appreciate your offer to come with you, but.. I'd better pass this time."

She glanced at Fox, then back at Bond.

"Just in case something happens.. they're supposed to be heading to Dallas, and my family was there. I.. want to make sure I'm with them.. just to check, you know? Besides, Priest would make a better guide than me, I'm sure. Thank you for the offer though.. and thanks to you and your friend for your help here. If it hadn't been for you disarming that bomb.. it could have been a lot worse."

She leaned up, and kissed him lightly on the cheek. She didn't know why, but.. he seemed to have earned it. Then she pulled back, with a slight blush.

"Maybe we'll get to do that talk once you make it to Fox's."

[Fox]

"I'll be counting on it." Bond smiled down at the girl, making her blush a little harder as she stepped away, then he turned back to Fox, pursing his lips as he considered what he knew... and how much to tell.

"Columbia's people are callng themsevles 'Mizzou Haven', but won't meet on campus. They have a sign on 1-70 and I-63 instructing traders to go to the Wal-Mart on Conley, where they have a trading post. Apparently, anyone trying to intrude on the campus gets violently repelled. Des Moines is a little bit special: it's a successful enclave in a larger city. The good people there have been able to hold off zombie encroachment and keep a few hundred people safe. They're like Columbia - have a trade post well away from their refuge, but only because getting into their city past all the defenses can be a chore. Traders generally don't bother, I know we didn't, so I've no idea how true that is." Bond shrugged, unconcernedly. "As for Laramie, I'd heard there was an enclave somewhere up there, but that's all."

He looked over at Priest. "Get yourself comfortable in the back, old chap. We can negotiate a new shotgun and armor for you once you feel the need. It's probably a couple days journey, after all, and a little barter helps the miles fly." Bond grinned like a cat, and Priest rolled his eyes before painfully climbing into the hummvee. Bond glanced back at Fox as Primal, muttering something like "about fuckin' time", clambered into the passenger seat. "We'll rendezvous at your enclave in a couple of days, then?"

[Priest]

Priest lies down in the back area, pushing some jackets around to make himself comfortable.

"Don't worry about the gear. James owes me for all the shit I lost up there. I'm going to make him pay. If he's feeling his oats, I'll go to his woman."

It is clear he thinks more of the woman than the man. He knows about deal-making as well and you can bet he knows who wears the pants in the relationship.

"Now, can we get out of here? This place has a bad smell to it."

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine headed away from the Hummer, trying to will away the blush she knew had crept across her cheeks. Why had she done that - she didn't even know the man! A thank you was one thing.. but a kiss on the cheek? Plus, he was probably closer to her father's age than her own! She made her way back over to where the sled was, and as she approached, she let out a little gasp.

"My god, James.. you look worse than Priest! Just.. what the hell happened, anyway? Violet - are you okay? I think we're getting out of here soon.. this has all gone to hell in a hand basket."

Violet could feel concern, exhaustion, guilt.. and just a little bit of embarrassment flowing from the young woman.

[Dan Hawkins]

Dan was tired, and disgusted with the entire mission. He really, really looked forward to getting back home and sleeping in a comfortable bed, or if Lorraine was still there, at least on a comfortable cot.

"This was such a waste of time."

He looks over the side at what Myf had done and smiles. "Law of Nature in action."

He turns back to the sled and Walks over to Violet and James. "Sorry that you got hurt man." He looks to Violet. "Sorry that you went through all of this for nothing. This was not supposed to be this way."

[Fox]

Driving carefully so as not to run over the scavengers at their feast, the hummvee with the license plate 1KFALCON pulled out of the hospital parking lot, the stereo playing hip-hop as Bond waved farewell out of the window.

"Well, southward bound I assume?" Bond looked over at Priest and smiled. "Let's get you back to relative civilisation, and you can tell your daughter all about how I pulled your fat from the fire."

Priest's answer was unprintable, and Bond laughed as he drove the hummvee away from the zealot's enclave, and towards Fox's Refuge.

[Courier]

James responded more or less to where Jasmine was, "I tried to disarm a bomb... not very successfully. Haste makes waste."

James wiggled the 5 half fingers on his right and added, "On the other hand I heal quick." *I think.*

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine's lips twitched slightly.. half grimace, half laugh. All sardonic. Then she settled down on the sled, next to James and Violet, so she could prepare for takeoff.

"You should really leave that to the experts next time."

[Mr Fox]

Fox nodded at Bond and reached out to shake the man's hand. He was pissed still but it wasn't at Bond or his friend. "Thanks. I'll see about putting out the word to those guys that they are in danger and to watch out for tainted supplies. For Gabrielle's sake I'll even try and take the heat off these loonies by saying that the man responsible is dead, but still. I do appreciate your help. We'll see you at the refuge in a day or so."

Joining Dan at the sled he prepared to get back into the harness until he saw that Gabrielle and her brother weren't there. "Dangit. What is taking that girl so long. Her mother told her to go back to the refuge with us." Looking to the others. "I'm going to go see what is taking Gabrielle so long."

[Dawn OOC]

Gabrielle believed in miracles. She'd known about them all her life and had seen minor ones in her own life, including the miracles of life and the universe. But now, she saw another, the first of many. Around the room, the men and women who had traded in lies and disease for so long that they had forgotten how to be ashamed, slowly felt that emotion wash over them. But it wasn't the shame that stole their strength; it was the shame that begged them to take action.

Slowly, around the room, heads bowed in prayer. Voices rose in a ragged, "Amen."

"I'm staying, too." Caleb's voice rang out after the prayer; he'd moved to stand behind Gabrielle. Strange, that he'd been ordered to guard her unto her death only to become the guardian of her new life. "I'll be following Gabrielle wherever she goes."

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine nodded, then after a moment, she stood with a sigh, glancing at Violet and James.

"I'll be right back.. I want to make sure her brother's going to be okay. And.. to apologize. Come on, Captain."

[SalmonMax]

"I'd like to go talk to her too," Myfwany says. "This is all sort of...well, not exactly -because- of me, but I was there when she was dying."

She pauses, trying to sort out her complicated feelings, then shakes her head.

"I'm going too."

[Mr Fox]

Fox nodded to the rest, "Fine, lets get her and get going." He headed into the building with the others following. When they got back to the main room he was pretty shocked at what he saw. The crazies were praying. That wasn't the shocking thing. The shocking thing was that they were looking to Gabrielle as they did it like drowning sailors being thrown a lifeline. Well, maybe Gabrielle had some serious gifts after all. He smiled and his anger melted a little. If she could get them this wrapped around her little finger in only a few minutes maybe there was hope of pulling this mission off after all.

"Sorry to interrupt Gabrielle, but we were ready to leave. Do you need more time with the flock?" He kept is unvoiced 'of sheep' to himself.

[z016]

She shook her head. "I'm not leaving, Captain Morgan. Thank you for your help, but there is still much to be done and still dangers to be....diffused. My family is here, and whatever evil was done at Elijah's bidding, these were still the people that took us in when we were alone."

He could see a resolve in her that had been lack when they had first met a day before. "You have my promise that I will do everything in my power to not only prevent any repetition of Elijah's madness, but to make this place into a haven such as you have done with your refuge. Perhaps in time we may even begin the steps to friendship and trade. I know earning that trust will not be easy and will take time, but I hope it will come nonetheless."

She nodded to others, her eyes settling on Myf, "Anyone who wishes to may stay here with us, or come visit later. We will leave the hospital and find a cleaner place to begin again, but I will make sure that roads have signs to find us." She turned back to Fox and bowed her head to him respectfully, "Thank you again, for everything."

[Mr Fox]

Fox nodded to Gabrielle, "I respect your decision and if anyone can make things right it's you. I wish you all the best of luck." He leaned in close for Gabrielle to hear, "We will have to send word to the other compounds that were targeted. I will tell them the man responsible is dead and vengeance has been served, but you all might face some reprisals. You might want to consider moving a bit further than this little town, quite a bit further that way maybe the survivors of Elijah's attacks won't find you."

He stood back again and let that sink in but continued quietly, "I'll let our shortwave radio with you so that you can contact us if you are in need."

[z016]

She nodded in appreciation of his honesty and his kindness. She spoke quietly in return, "Again, than you. And I know that others may hunt us because of what was done, but we cannot undo our choices nor expiate our sins by running from them. We will...find a way. God provides." She smiled at him, sincere and seemingly more grounded with her responsibilities now.

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine watched at Fox spoke with Gabrielle, and then watched him nod to them both and walk off. She stepped up to approach Gabrielle, but for a moment, her eyes flickered over to the brother still standing just behind her, and it was to him that she spoke first.

"I'm so sorry.. I had no intention of hurting you. I had promised Gabrielle.." She glanced at Gabrielle for a moment, then back to him. "I promised I'd try to find her family, and keep them safe."

[Dawn OOC]

Christopher frowned. He opened his mouth, then looked at Gabrielle and swallowed whatever he was going to say. "It's ok," he said in a soft, pain-tight voice. "I forgive you." His smile was so much like hers that it was uncanny.

[z016]

Gabrielle smiled at her, and grinned at her brother, "He'll survive." For a moment she was nothing more than a teenage older sister. It passed and she was back to....whatever she was becoming.

"Thank you. You did your best, and you did it with love in your heart. That is as much as any can ask of themselves." She stepped forward and kissed Jasmine on the cheek, and odd parody of Jasmine's last kiss.

[SalmonMax]

Myfwany awkwardly steps forward when the others have had their say. For a second she doesn't say anything...instead just looking at Gabrielle.

Finally she says, "Funny how things work, isn't it? You got sent to Beaver Lake by Elijah. Then...something happened and you came back here to take his place." She smiles sadly, wistfully. "I guess it's for the best, but I'll still miss you."

"I'll come help though, if you need any medical...anything. Just call. Okay?"

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine nodded, and smiled a bit at Gabrielle.. the girl seemed to ease her guilt with her very presence. She stepped back, and ran a hand self-consciously through her hair.

"We took care of the zombies outside.. you shouldn't have too many problems from that, though there might be a little cleanup left. I'm going back to the refuge for now.. I need to go to Dallas, and see what's happened to my family. But.. perhaps I'll come find you sometime, and make sure everything is okay. If you need any help.. don't hesitate to call. And.."

Her face softened, and for a moment Jasmine thought of the Sunday sermons of her youth.. before she had gotten sick, and Sundays spent not at the hospital were Sundays spent at home with family, there were so few and far between. If she had ever known anyone who was at one with her faith, it was this girl, and it was inspiring.

"...God be with you."

She turned, and followed after Fox towards the sled, and Oklahoma.

[z016]

She smiled at Myf and impulsively pulled the other woman into a hug. "Thank you." She squeezed her hug tighter, whispering to the doctor, "Whatever you believe, Myfwany Shattuck, you are truly a blessed person. God, whatever name you give Him, however you honor Him, He loves you. Never forget that. You are never truly alone in the world."

She pulled back, catching Myf's hands and squeezing them, "That would be wonderful. I do not know if we have any trained doctors, so when you have the time or feel a calling to come here, you will always be welcome. You will be welcome anyways, but we will need all the help we can get." She gave the woman's hands one last squeeze before releasing them; every inch of her showed the sincerity of her words.

She nodded to Jasmine, "And with you. Please do not hesitate to seek us out, even if only to have shelter and good meal for a night. We are in your debt for what you have done today to keep us safe. We will not forget that."