Aberrant: Dead Rising - Chapter 9c: Red Hands

[Dan Hawkins]

Dan smiled and when they were outside the building he bent down and picked Pumpkin up. He set her on his shoulders and smiled. "You'll have the best view from up there. Now Remember to hold on tight. To emphasize this he grabbed her legs gently yet with a firm grip that wouldn't let her fall. "Ready?"

"Uh-huh" was the only muffled reply. As opposed to his normal streaking off into the sky Dan began to slowly rise upwards turning slowly once they were clear of the buildings to give Pumkin a panoramic view of everything around them. He started heading North, remaining upright, which was a bit more difficult than how he normally flew, but he didn't let her know that.

"Up here in the sky, we're safe. No Zombie can touch us, and I know of only one other person who can fly. It's so peaceful."

He smiles, an actual one this time. "So Pumpkin, what sort of foods do you like? If you could have one dish, what would it be?"

[Venus]

Violet hugged Jasmine visibly relieved that the young woman had changed her mind - at least for now. She knew things weren't perfect at the refuge but it was a start, a good start.

Still holding Jas in her embrace Violet calmy answered, "I thank you so much, Jas. I didn't ask you to leave just now, if you want to stay here a few days then so be it. I doubt I'll be welcomed to stay any longer, though. Anyway, having someone you love changes everything, you'll learn that eventually and I tell you Jules will have a good influence on Morgan and if we voice our concern together I'm sure he'll listen. I promise to help you.", she winked at her and smiled. "I can be quiet convincing as you know.", she looked down her impressive cleavage giving Jas and impression what she meant.

"Now lets get back inside and be good guests and you tell Pumpkin that no matter what, you'll be there with her - I think that's the most important thing for her right now.", Violet gave Jas a sisterly kiss on her forehead and straightened the young girl's posture.

"Gotta be strong for Pumpkin - all of us."

[z016]

Gabrielle watched their guests depart into different directions save for Priest and took a moment to assess her follows. She leaned back on the table while looking out over the crowd. "Okay, I know most of the time we work here on an as-needed basis, and I'm usually in charge, but I want to hear what you all here think about taking this little girl in. She's obviously different and also obviously in need of a home, but taking her in is going to mean adjusting to her....abilities. Are we, and I mean all of us here, since the others are out on patrol, ready to take that responsibility?"

Her eyes flicked over to Emma, then back to the crowd in general, "This is both anyone or any family willing to take her in." Her lips twitched in a small smile, "And it looks like take Jasmine with her at least on visits. It also means I want to hear people's objections and worries."

"So, who's going first?"

[Dawn OOC]

Gabriele's mother, Christine, was smiling as she said, "I miss having a daughter, and you were such a handful that I should have no trouble with another child, even a special one. And if I do, God will perserve me and be my rock."

Gabriele's brother nodded. "If she needs a place, we'll offer one. She might have... issues, but she's still a kid and still needs a home, right? And that's what we do. We give shelter and sanctuary."

Slowly, the other members began to nod. They had agreed to offer solace to the world, not just those members of the world who would be easy to care for. God sent them trials to strengthen them; if she was a trial, she was God-sent. It wasn't quite unanimous, but it was close enough.

[Jasmine Gentian]

The serious, unconvinced look on Jasmine's face didn't go away, and the truthful part of Violet's mind whispered that the only change in the girl's mind had been the one Violet had guilted her into. But she nodded faintly and turned around, heading back inside before Violet had the opportunity to say anything further.

As she stepped in, she caught the tail end of what Gabrielle's brother had to say, and watched quietly as she saw people begin to nod in agreement. Her heart broke a little as she realized that she would have to turn down their generous offer in order to go back and help Violet. She sighed a little to herself, and moved through the room towards Gabrielle.

Violet's wrong about these people. Just because they have faith doesn't make them cultists, or weird. It just makes them.. giving.

"Well.. while we're here, what is there that we could help you with? Or.. me, anyway. I can't speak for everyone. I'm happy to help, in any way I can."

Her voice sounded quieter, and a bit less confident than it had before, though that could certainly be chalked up to her being upset about the incident with Pumpkin. But her offer to help sounded genuine. If they were kind enough to be willing to take them in, it was the least she could do to help in any way she could, even if she wouldn't be able to take their offer.

[Venus]

Violet followed Jasmine back inside and stopped at the entrance looking for Dan who was obviously outside giving Pumpkin a ride using his amazing flying powers. Violet could tell that Jasmine was still reluctant and her heart told her the young woman had preferred having things her way instead of what Violet suggested.

The problem she voiced was of greater magnitude though and nothing that should be easily dismissed. Still Violet thought that Jasmine was missing out on some of the more important details but her concern was not arbitrary. The buxom succubus turned around not wanting to be in one room with Gabrielle without having Dan nearby. She stepped outside again and looked up searching the sky for him. He was floating there with Pumpkin in his arms and showed her the compound. It made her smile and forget a bit about the conflict that would surely ensnare soon enough between her Jas and maybe even Morgan. At least the wolves were not here and she could walk around a bit more freely here without being constantly 'on the watch'.

[Dawn OOC]

Pumpkin squealed with delight as Dan zipped her around in the air; disturbingly, the snake kept up easily, its comparatively large wings keeping up easily with Dan. She kept leaning way ahead of his body and holding her arms wide.

"I like ice cream!" she said, giggling. "Haven't had any in a while. Strawberry is my favorite."

Dan started to answer when he caught sight of something of interest. A line of people were on the highway, riding a motley collection of cars, trucks and motorcycles. As he watched, they took the first exit into Hays. They seemed to be heading for Gabrielle's.

[Dan Hawkins]

"Pumpkin we need to head down for a bit, alot of people are heading for Gabrielle's home and I think she'd like to know. I promise we'll do this some more later."

With that he plummets towards the ground and adjusts so that he lands on his legs with catlike grace. He keeps Pumpkin on his shoulders, the better to carry her than to lead her back to the others. Once He finds Gabrielle and the others again he Hosts her from his shoulders and sets her back on the ground.

He looks to Gabrielle, his face impassive, but his eyes worried. "There are about ten mixed Vehicles incoming to this refuge. Motorcycles, trucks, and cars. Were you expecting any other visitors?"

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine scowled a little at than, but turned her attention temporarily back to Pumpkin. She held her arms out for the little girl, and picked her up for now, balancing on her hip again. She paid attention with the conversation between Dan and Gabrielle peripherally but her eyes rested on Pumpkin's cheerful-looking face and she smiled at her, murmuring quietly.

"Did you have fun?"

She waited quietly for Pumpkin's answer, and for Gabrielle's too.

[z016]

The angel shook her head. "No, but then the only people we really have any contact with are your refuge, and Han. Emma? Will you get some cold food ready in case they're hungry? And Trish, will you make sure the guest rooms are fresh and stocked as much as we can?" She smiled at the assembly, making little shooing motions, "C'mon people, you heard the man. We've got a caravan load of guests coming."

She gave Caleb a quieter and more serious look; the man nodded and stepped off with several of the guard detail from before. They had duties to attend to as well.

Gabrielle looked Jasmine over, "Well, if you want to help out, do you mind playing host with me to whoever that is that's headed towards us?"

[Dan Hawkins]

Dan nodded. "I'll get my gear." Dan immediately went and retrieved his battle rifle and stopped by Violet. "Be ready for anything. I'd offer you a gun but I know you don't like them. Stay safe, and hopefully I'm just being very paranoid, but with me not knowing anyone but us here, I'd rather err on the side of caution."

He took a moment and all the worry and apprehension going through his mind seemed to melt away as he willed himself calm, and His face became an impassive mask. He joined Caleb and several of the guards and nodded, adding his considerable firepower to theirs. "It's better to be safe than sorry." His whispered mantra was barely a sound on the wind as he waited for the vehicles to arrive.

[Venus]

"I suppose it's better I stayed inside?", she asked Dan not really expecting him to ask her to stay with him. She'd be helpful to determine the newcomers motives but she would also cause a lot of... 'distraction' which could go both ways. The risk was just too high and this wasn't the refuge.

"Once you think the situation is safe I come out and join you, ok?", I really hope those are friendlies, please let them be friendlies

The thought about a scavanger group terrified her - fighting zombies was a bad thing but fighting humans over some petty possessions or food was worse. It brought the darkest side of humanity to surface. Violet waited at the entrance of the communal building and watched Dan join Caleb and the other guards.

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine nodded at Gabrielle, and gave Pumpkin a brief hug before setting her down.

"Why don't you go ahead and go play with the other kids, it looks like they've got some crackers over there they might share too if you're still hungry. I'm gonna go say hello to the new people with Gabrielle, okay?"

With that, the younger woman turned back to Gabrielle and watched Dan and Caleb head outside.

[Dawn OOC]

The vehicles arrived not long after the group was ready to meet them. Several people were disgorged from each machine, all of them armed in some way. It wasn't looking good, and it only looked worse when one man asked, "Is this that son of a bitch Elijah's compound?"

[z016]

Caleb stepped forward without hesitation. This was what he'd been expecting, and what Gabrielle and he had planned for. "We were, but Elijah's dead now and we moved away from that tainted place we'd lived in. This is the St. Magdalen Community and if you'd like, I'll take one of you in to meet our new leader, or I can send someone for her and we can all talk out here in the open."

His words were careful and measured and his tone firm that those were the two options for the immediate future. Although he and his men still had their weapons ready they we're all careful to keep the pointed away from the newcomers.

[Dawn OOC]

"Go inside, so that you can poison one of us? Infect us?" the man spat. Clearly, he knew of Elijah's modus operandi. "No, I don't think so. Whoever is running the joint now can come out and talk to us here."

The men and women looked angry, about twenty in all of them. Clearly, they had a personal stake in this situation and it wasn't hard to guess what.

"Fine," Caleb said, looking at one of his men and jerking his head to the side. The man went inside to Gabrielle's side. In a hushed voice, he explained what had been said. "I don't know that you should go out there."

[z016]

"We cannot run from our past, simply because the present is frightening; if we do that, then any future we build will have a foundation of shame." She laid on hand on the man's shoulder, serious but still smiling as she spoke. "God provides."

She motioned for Jasmine to join her if she wished, while the others of the congregation still continued preparing the guest rooms and making sure there was food available if their 'guests' decided on a less violent interaction. Outside, Gabrielle resisted the urge to take to the sky to get a better view of what was going on. It was difficult at best to launch herself from the ground, and she was pretty sure she'd lose any credibly she might have with the hostile newcomers if their first impression of her was her falling uncermoniously on her ass. So instead they all approached by foot; after catching sight of the angry faces the young angel was greatful for Caleb's strong presence and for a brief moment longed for Han to be there as well.

She shook off the odd thought and nodded to the man Caleb indicated as the leader (or at least speaker) for the group. "My name is Gabrielle, I've been leading St. Magadelene's since it's inception after Elijah's death." Her expression and tone took on a more somber and penitent note, "Please, tell me what has happened to you. I cannot change the past, but I will do what I can to help you now and in the time to come."

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine walked out with Gabrielle, standing just behind and to the side of the young woman. She tried to stay as docile-looking as possible, but her senses were on high alert, and she was prepared for anything. She understood why these people would be angry - she certainly had been, and it didn't even happen to her. But Elijah wasn't here anymore, and her heart told her that these people deserved a chance to do right. After all, they had been weak, and probably half-brainwashed. They had a chance to do good now, and Gabrielle was leading that effort.

Click to reveal..

Activating Hyper-Enhanced Hearing, spending 1QP = 22/23 QP, 4 turns remain.

[Dan Hawkins]

Dan remained calm, even as his hands gripped his battlerifle tightly. He was scanning those who'd emerged, trying to peg who was the most dangerous. They would be his targets if things went bad.

[Venus]

Violet watched the men and women talk at the gate and remained as watchful as she could. She wished she was within earshot to understand what they were actually talking about but from her position it didn't look good. Should she join Dan or not? Would it make things worse or would she be there just in time to prevent things going from bad to worse.

Violet sighed and forced herself to wait, if she could only do more from where she stood.

[Dawn OOC]

The man was momentarily put off by Gabriele's appearance, but he recovered a bit at her request for an explanation. "What happened? What the fuck do you think happened? We took in some kids who needed shelter, only to have one turn and go on a rampage! We lost twelve people, and then six more when they got sick. We had to shoot our people in the head. But you knew that would be our story, didn't you? I didn't have to tell you what you did!"

[z016]

Gabrielle lowered her head, "No, you didn't. I asked because there were several different crimes we committed under Elijah's leadership; some of them we weren't even aware of until after his death."

After a moment of silence she looked back up again, "What would you have us do for you?" The question was asked with earnest honesty. "We cannot bring back those who are gone, but we would make restitution if you will let us. We have some stores of food and goods, if you are in need, and a safe place to be for the coming winter." She held out her hands out to her side, trying to show the truth in her words. "I know you have every reason to distrust us, and I and the rest of us will do what we can to show you that we have no ill intentions, if you will let us."

Silently she was praying that these men and women were as sick as she was of the killing and chaos that had enveloped every corner of the world in less than a year. She prayed and she hoped and Caleb next to her tried not to fidget with his shotgun.

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine hesitated for a moment, unsure of whether or not she should speak up. After all, this wasn't her place, and she hadn't been a part of this whole situation. Except, in a way, she had. So after a brief moment, she went ahead, though she wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do.

"We heard about the situation here. That is, myself, and Dan here, and some others. We're not from here, we're from another refuge. Gabrielle came to us because she realized that what Elijah was doing was messed up. He was like that Waco guy - he had them all brainwashed or something, most of them didn't even know what he was really doing. He had their whole building rigged with explosives, so it's a good thing you didn't come here before - you would've been blown to bits, along with all the people there, and their kids and everything. A couple of our people almost were. We came to deal with it, and he ended up getting shot in the process.. Elijah, that is. We took care of all the bombs, and then left Gabrielle here in charge, since she seemed to want to help start over and make this a better place. I'm.. I'm not saying it's any consolation. I've had to.. do that too. There were some kids who turned, and.. it's really horrible."

Jasmine shuddered slightly, but bit her lower lip nervously and continued.

"I just thought you should know.. you know, from an outsider's perspective.. what happened here. We're just here visiting, now. We wanted to see how the place was getting along."

[Dan Hawkins]

Dan swears inwardly as Jasmine calls attention to herself and him specificlly and waits to hear their answer, having already selected his targets.

At least she didn't show or tell them that we have special abilities. That's an ace I'd rather save.

[Dawn OOC]

"You think that food and goods are enough?" the man barked. "People died - our electrician, who was figuring out how to power a fence to keep zombies out. Our nutritionists who was working on healthy meals with the food we had. These are not replaceable.

"And no offense to you other folks, but I don't know you, don't know who you are or what you actually did," the man said. "All I know is that you're here, and you're telling me it's ok to let these murders go. I think you can understand why I'm not jumping to embrace you without question."

[Venus]

The urge to join Dan and Jasmine was almost unbearable. Things were looking bad from her position and maybe she could prevent an escalation of some sorts. On the other hand she could also be cause for trouble. Cursing herself she bit her lips nervously and watched her friends. Please, don’t let them start a fight, please…

[z016]

Gabrielle raised her head, her stance still conciliatory but her gaze steady on the newcomers. "It is what we have. It is all that we can offer because it is all that we have."

Her eyes sought out the other people in the convoy beyond their current speaker, trying to get a feel for their intentions as well. This situation still had a high chance of exploding into pointless and costly violence, and other than repeat her offers of goods and security, the young leader was at a loss for how to overcome their anger and pain.

She sighed, "Either way, we'll soon need to take this conversation somewhere safer. The city is partially cleared out, but so many people out in the open like this will attract their attention fairly quickly. There are buildings that we could speak on the roofs of, or you could come far enough inside to close the gate. It's made for zombies, so if you decided to leave and it wasn't opened for you it would prove little enough of an obstacle to your trucks." The last was said with a tired sadness, but as always with Gabrielle now, she spoke the truth as she knew it without embellishment or obfuscation.

[Dan Hawkins]

Dan almost said something, but refrained, announcing his abilities would do nothing but give them an advantage. if they could do it in a more private place then he'd see how mercenary these travelers were.

"Come inside the compound so we can secure it from Zombie attack. We can all talk more about what can be offered once it's secure."

He kept his voice even without much chill. He bit off the rest of his remarks knowing they wouldn't help the situation.

[Dawn OOC]

"I don't trust you enough to come inside," the man said. "It'd be a lot easier to infect us. And you know what? You all deserve a bit of zombie infection. Get to see what it's like when one runs wild through your enclave!"

[Dan Hawkins]

"Then I guess you are not interested in the sevices of one who can make your electric fence a reality, with the proper power supply of course."

"Beyond that your vehicles look like they need some work. I can help there too, but if you aren't interested so be it."

[z016]

Gabrielle returned her steady gaze to the man speaking and said loud enough for all of the newcomers to hear, "I was infected. I died from it; and I was ressurected. I will do what I can to help you, as will every member of the St. Magdalen community, in penitence for what we did or allowed to be done around us. I have no more than that I can offer. Please, either take yourselves somewhere safe and we can arrange to meet and speak in a nuetral place after that, or come inside. I cannot have the gates open much longer or it will endanger everyone here."

[Dawn OOC]

"Well, I'm glad that being infected worked out so well for you," the still-unnamed man growled. "You can offer more, you just won't, which is pretty much what we thought. Come on, guys, let's go."

Turning, they went back to their vehicles. As the others watched, the convoy eased away from the building, driving off again.

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine watched them as they drove off, chewing nervously on her lower lip. Quietly, she murmured to Gabrielle, Dan, and Caleb.

"So they show up, confront you, refuse any kind of help, and then drive off, just like that? I don't trust it, they're up to something. They didn't drive all this way just for that."

[z016]

"They're probably planning some sort of retaliation," she sighed tiredly and motioned for the gates to be closed. "Either to attack us when they think we're weak, to drive zombies to us, or something else I simply don't have the imagination for right now."

She gave Caleb a look that was a conversation; he nodded and started making rounds of his men, speaking softly and getting grim nods in return. The entire feel of the community was shift to a sad warriness. As they made their way back inside, those close to Gabrielle could hear pieces of her quiet argumentwith her shadow, ".....the only one who can do it safely.......I cover far greater distances in much shorter time......I'm going, Caleb. I'll take the shotgun and the machete."

The last was said just a touch more loudly but with far more authority, and the shadow nodded in tense and unhappy acquiesence. Gabrielle was quiet the rest of the way inside and the busy atmosphere of preparation that had permeated the apartment building before was already subsiding into a somber quiet. The angel smiled wanly at Jasmine, "My apologies for the unpleasant turn of the day. We've been expecting some sort of contact or retaliation because of what occured when we followed Elijah. You're more than welcome to stay, still, but until we understand what their intentions are, you all," she nodded to the other visitors as well, "might want to consider heading back to your Refuge. I would not want to place you in undo danger."

She pulled Jasmine aside for a brief moment while the others thought on that. Speaking quietly she explained, "We're more than willing to take Pumpkin in, if that's what you think is best for her. My mother and brother in particular would be glad to invite her into our family." She sighed again, a soul-weary sound, "In light of what just happened, though, it might be better if she were to stay with you or at Fox's Refuge at least until this has passed. I would not want any harm to come to her from mistakes the rest of us made well before she was brought here."

Her eyes flicked up to meet Jasmine's, "It's up to you."

[Jasmine Gentian]

As Gabrielle explained the situation, Jasmine turned her options around in her head. She remained silent for a moment after the other girl had spoken, and then finally her eyes met Gabrielle's.

"If you could give me a moment to speak with my friends. We need to figure a few things out."

The other girl nodded to her, and went about her business speaking with other members of her tight-knit community. Jasmine made her way over to Priest, pulling him aside for a few moments and speaking quietly to him. They appeared to be in a heated discussion for a few moments, but they kept their voices quiet, and after a little bit, he nodded. She squeezed her arm and smiled at him gratefully, and then made her way over to Violet and Dan.

"Hey. Here's the deal. I don't know what they're facing here, or exactly what that group is going to do. But.. I really feel like these people need another chance. Whether you guys agree with me or not, I don't know. But I want to stay to help them. Pumpkin's been through a lot right now - Priest and I have decided that what's best for her is not to be here when this happens. But she's gone through so much, we don't want to cause too much upheaval with her yet. We're going to let her have a little bit of time to adjust, so Priest is taking her back to the refuge with him."

Her voice brooked little argument about that, and she was very clear that for now, she and Priest intended that Pumpkin should stay with one of the two of them, and for now that had to be Priest. She turned to Violet, and took the other woman's hand, squeezing it slightly.

"Violet.. I think you should go too.. if there's combat here, I don't think you'll want to be involved. And if anything happened to you while you were on this trip, James would probably hunt me down and try to rip me in two. Besides, I don't think you feel very comfortable here anyway. Of course, it's up to you.. but that's just the impression I got."

Finally, she turned to Dan after legging go of Violet's hand, and ran a hand through her own hair.

"Dan, what you do is up to you. I won't say that they couldn't use you here, along with me. You have skills I don't have, and they're probably gonna need all the help they can get. If you feel the need to go ahead and go back.. I can make it back myself, I don't need a vehicle. I made it without one the first time, and now that I know how to drive - at least a little, thanks to you - I could probably find something and rig it to get me as far as Fox's. So.. whether you stay or not is up to you."

She smiled at him softly then, and waited for both of their responses.

[Venus]

Originally Posted By: Jasmine Gentian

She turned to Violet, and took the other woman's hand, squeezing it slightly.

"Violet.. I think you should go too.. if there's combat here, I don't think you'll want to be involved. And if anything happened to you while you were on this trip, James would probably hunt me down and try to rip me in two. Besides, I don't think you feel very comfortable here anyway. Of course, it's up to you.. but that's just the impression I got."

Violet quietly nodded and gave Jas a brief smile. Someone who knew her would say it was a halfhearted smile but to outsiders it still was one of the most beautiful smiles they saw. The unearthly beautiful woman kept most of her thoughts to herself about this. It wasn't the right time nor the right situation to talk about this in detail and Jas was right about one thing at least - she didn't want to be around if there was combat. But she also thought the others shouldn't either.

"If you want to fight for these people, I can't hold you back, can I?", there was much disapproval in Violet's eyes. She looked around the room and slowly shook her head. This was just a different kind of madhouse and she preferred Fox's refuge any day of the week over these religious zealots.

"Don't do anything stupid, hear me? Take good care of yourself, I want to see you back in one piece.", Violet reluctantly let go of Jasmine's hands and gently squeezed them a second before release.

We shouldn't have let them go back and start this. They'll be in more trouble once the other communities decide to retaliate. They'll probably have nothing left but vengeance to live for. At the refuge these people would've at least a chance to survive.

Violet looked out of the window and waited for Dan to pick her up once he spoke to Jas.

[Dan Hawkins]

"They'll be back, It won't be pretty." He looked around. "All they'd have to do is breach the perimiter in such a way as it couldn't be repaired, the zombies would do the rest."

He looked to Violet and nodded. "I agree with Jasmine, this place will be a combat zone soon enough. I don't want you anywhere near it. Go back to Fox's Refuge and explain things to him." There was an unsaid implication, that he wouldn't be going.

He looked at Jasmine. "This is an important question Jasmine, one I'd have preferred to never ask another soul. "Can you turn a weapon on a living person, Can you take a life?"

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine looked at Dan for a long moment, her dark eyes studying his. Her eyes were wide and scared and sad all at the same time, like so many new of the new Marines he'd worked with, once upon a time, before they'd ever seen real combat. Of course, Jasmine had and he knew it. But destroying the undead was different than taking a real life, and so her fears were the ones every new soldier felt when they found themselves in that position. Finally, she moistened her lips slightly and swallowed before responding.

"I don't know. I hope we don't have to find out. But if we do.. then we'll find out then, won't we? Whether I can kill someone or not doesn't mean I'm not going to try and protect these people anyway. Most of them didn't even realize what Elijah was doing, Dan. They don't deserve this.. I have to try."

[Dan Hawkins]

"I just want you to know and accept what that may yet entail. They will protect their home this much is sure, but if we are to help them then we must not go in with half-measures. They are here for Blood, Blood and Vengeance."

"If we stay we could bring their Ire on our home community. Not that we couldn't handle them, but I want you to be sure this is the path you want to walk." It was weird, Dan's voice held little emotion, his face a veritable mask. Yet his tone almost suggested an elder brother addressing a younger sibling.

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine listened silently, and when he finished speaking she gave him a serious nod.

"I.. I understand, Dan. And I don't think we should tell them where we came from.. I don't want to bring anything down on Fox's, because of what we're doing. But.. I intend to do everything I can to avoid anyone dying. It may seem naive, or stupid.. but even if they're injured during the fight.. if they survive, maybe Gabrielle can heal them. And if so.. well, maybe they're realize what she's really about, and leave them alone. Maybe they can even find a home here, if they can let go of their anger and their mistrust, well-deserved though it may be. I'm not saying I don't believe it might not come to worse.. I know it can, and may. But.. I want it to be our last resort. These are people.. and there's precious few of us left, you know? Can we try? They have a right to their anger.. and I don't think Gabrielle or her people here would want it to come to that either, if it can be helped."