IC-SWORD-The Lion's Den(Sally only)

[ryansommer]

Sally visibly relaxed at the mans demeanor. "Thank god, it's safe here. I knew it would be. That's why I ricked my ass to get here. It's be safe here and that I'd be in good company." Sally moved to the chair but did not sit. Instead, she leaned heavily on the chair. Motioning to her leg: "I'd sit, but she kinks up if I sit too long. Say, you got a cigarette?"

Sally waits for a response before continuing.

[Mr. Handy]

In the office-
"I sure do," said the skinhead. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He took one out of the box, walked around the desk, and handed it to Sally. She could see that he had an M-16 with an attached grenade launcher strapped to his back, as well as a Ruger P-85 and grenades hanging from his belt. "So, who are you and how did you get here? And how did your leg get broke?" He pulled out a lighter and ignited the flame, holding it out for her to light the cigarette.

[ryansommer]

Sally leaned forward, light the cigarette and took a long drag off it. She savored it for a moment that exhaled: "Why I quit these things, I will never know. God they're good." She put the cigarette between her lips and extended her hand towards the man: " Sally is my name. I escaped from those nigger lovers at the diner through the tunnels that connect these places. I was hoping to leave with you all when came to the diner initially, but that bomb went off and screwed things up. Anyway, I got injured trying to make my escape. Some fucking slime monster in the lab under the diner crushed my leg. I'm sorry about the men lost at the diner. I tried to save the one that the darkie clubbed, but there was nothing I could do for him. He seemed like a good man."

The thought of using such terrible words sickened Sally, but this was survival.

[Mr. Handy]

In the office-
The skinhead took Sally's hand, then kissed it lightly. "That was our leader, Horst," he said, a hint of sadness in his voice. "Man, I didn't think anything could kill him, and then some coon comes along and whacks him upside the head. It just ain't right. Then that chink at the motel took out Buzz, and that pig gave me a chest full of buckshot. It's a real pleasure to meet you, Sally. Everyone calls me Mutt, and I'm the leader now that we've lost our two top guys. I remember seeing you up on the roof of the diner this morning, and I'm real glad you got out of there. There's certainly room here for a white woman who's got her head on straight, especially one as beautiful as you. A slime monster, you say? We oughta have Doc check you out, make sure it didn't infect you or anything. You must have gone past his lab on your way up from the tunnels. Why didn't he or Spike come up with you? Hell, you should be resting up in the medical lab, not traipsing around all over the place."

[ryansommer]

Sally finished her cigarette and put it out on the bottom of her shoe. "Pleasure to meet you, Mutt. I appreciate you compliments, but I didn't come here to be anyones hussie. I'm good shot with a pistol, I'm a highly trained nurse and I've got more fight in me all of those fuckers back at the diner. I'm here to work and fight with fellow comradres. As for Doc and Spike; Doc was too busy with his work to notice me and I didn't dare talk to Spike as he was so soundly asleep I figured I'd startle him and he'd pump me full of buckshot on accident. "
"I'd love to have Doc take a look at my leg, but what I'd really like is some chow before I take a rest. How about you give me a tour of the place so I know my way around this place and show me where I can get some chow?"

[Mr. Handy]

In the upper lab hallway-
Mutt looked Sally up and down and nodded. "Yeah, you sure do have more fight in you," he said. "I saw you popping heads at the diner, and making it all the way on that leg proves you're as tough as any of the guys. And you're a nurse too! Wait til Doc gets a load of you, he's gonna love you. Too bad for him I saw you first. So Spike fell asleep while on guard duty, huh? Discipline sure got shot to hell fast with Horst gone, but I'll get him back into line. No more cushy guard duty down here for him, that's for sure. Well, let's start the grand tour, then. Lean on me for support and I'll walk you back downstairs." He put an arm around her waist and led her back out into the hall. "We'll start with the medical lab, since that's where you'll be spending a lot of time. I'll introduce you to Doc, and he can check out your leg while we show you around. While I'm down there I can also give Spike a good chewing out. We've got grub here, but it's mostly MREs. None of my guys can cook worth a damn, though. Don't suppose you can cook too?"

[ryansommer]

As they walk, Sally moves away from his touch. "Take it easy, Mutt. I just got here and I'm not that kind of girl," she said. "So, Mutt, what's the deal here and above ground? What when down here?"

[Mr. Handy]

In the lower lab hallway-
"Just trying to be helpful," said Mutt as he walked downstairs alongside Sally. "This morning we got attacked by a swarm of those damn mosquitos. Everyone they stung turned into one of those things, and so did everyone they bit. We had to hole up down here for now, but we're reducing their numbers with hit and run raids. At the current rate I expect the entire compound will be swept clean at some point tonight. So, what happened back at the diner after we left?" They reached the bottom of the stairs and entered the lower hallway. Spike still sat snoozing in his chair. Mutt raised his voice. "Spike! On your feet!"

The skinhead jolted awake and snapped to attention. "I wasn't sleeping, Mutt, I was just resting my eyes-" he started.

"Can the crap, Spike! If you'd been awake you'd have noticed this lady going right past you. Not only did you fall asleep doing what should be a very easy job, but you compounded it by lying to me."

"I'm sorry, it won't happen again-"

"Damn right it won't! You think you can rest down here where it's nice and safe while the rest of our boys are fighting topside? You're on ghoul hunting and corpse disposal duty until further notice. Now get up top and send Nitro down to take your place. Tell him to bring down some food for the lady too, she's hungry." Spike lowered his head and trudged down the hallway toward the stairs.

The skinhead in surgical scrubs poked his head outside his lab. "Hey, Mutt, what's going on?" he asked with a Southern accent.

"Doc, I'd like you to meet Sally. She's a nurse, and she came all the way through those tunnels from the T-Bone to join up with us. She'll be helping you out in the lab as needed, but she's going to need some medical treatment herself. I take it you've noticed her leg?"

"Legs like that I'm not likely to miss." Doc walked up to Sally. "Charmed to meet you, Sally. The name's Nathan Hill, but the guys all call me Doc. You can call me Nathan. Hell, you can call me whatever you like. Well, enough of standing out in the hall jawing. I'll show you my lab, and I can check you out and X-Ray your leg."

[ryansommer]

Turning to Mutt, "While I get my leg checked out, do you think you could grab me a change of clothes? Fatigues and a pair of boots, size 7, if you can? By the way, what is ole Spike guarding over there? You don't have any of the infected down here, do you?"
With an ice cold stare right into Doc's eyes Sally said: "Take a good look at my feet while you're at it too, Doc, cause I'll be stomping them up your ass if you talk about me like that again." She smiled, then said, "Got it?" " Now that we have that out of the way, let's take a look at the lab you have here and see how I can help you."

[Mr. Handy]

In the lower lab hallway-
"Got it," said Doc with a grin.

"That door?" said Mutt. "That's an armory, but Spike was there more to guard the entrance from the tunnels. Don't want anything nasty coming up to bite us in the ass. Of everything that could have come up from there, you have to be the best case scenario." He called over his shoulder to Spike as he started upstairs. "Spike, tell Nitro to bring the lady some clothes! Size 7 if we've got 'em!"

Spike nodded and went on his way.

"I don't think we've got any guys quite that small," said Mutt, "so they might be a bit big on you, but we'll see what we can come up with."

"I've got some extra scrubs in the lab you're welcome to use if you want," said Doc. "Those clothes should probably be burned. I'm serious. Who knows what got on them down in those tunnels? I'd say you should take a shower too, but you ought to get off your feet. A bath would be better. We can fill a laundry tub for you. Well, come on into the lab."

In the medical lab-
Doc led Sally into the medical lab. The skinhead corpse was still on the table, and now that Sally was closer she could see two bullet holes in his head. "Yeah, I was just doing an autopsy on poor Fritz there," he said. "Couldn't tell much from it, but a fresh pair of eyes will really help. There will be time for that later, though. He's dead and he ain't going anywhere - those holes in his head made damn sure of that. You're alive and you come first. Here's the X-Ray machine." He showed her the huge machine, which looked to be about fifty years old. "This used to be some government lab, but they closed up shop and abandoned it before it ever saw use. They left this here. Guess they figured it would be less trouble to buy a new one than to haul this one out. They left a bunch of stuff down here. This thing still works just fine. Nitro keeps it in good shape. Just lie down on the table here." He picked up a lead apron hanging on a hook on the wall nearby. "Cover your chest and belly with this, but leave your legs exposed."

[ryansommer]

Sally enters the medical lab and surveys the area. She walks up to the body on the autopsy table and examines the body.

[Mr. Handy]

In the medical lab-
Sally hobbled over to the autopsy table and examined the body. Doc put the apron on the X-Ray machine's table and joined her, while Mutt returned from the lab across the hall carrying a large, oval-shaped aluminum laundry tub. Mutt brought it over to one of the showers in the lab that were the sort used in case of accidental exposure to hazardous chemicals or biological materials. He placed it on the ground beneath the nozzle and turned on the water, and the tub began to fill.

"All right," said Doc. "If you insist, we'll look at Fritz first. He originally turned about four hours ago, maybe five. He was plugged an hour back, a bit too close to the entrance for comfort. We've been burning most of the bodies, but maybe we can learn something from them, so we saved this one. See anything interesting?"

Sally was able to tell a lot about the dead skinhead just from examining him for a minute. There were bite marks on his arms and legs, apparently made by human teeth. Based on the rate of decay and how stiff the corpse had become, she estimated that the time of death was around noon. Stomach contents were barely digested at all, suggesting he had just had lunch not long before he died. The bullets in his brain were 5.56mm NATO rounds, but they weren't what had killed him. He had died from extreme blood loss due to a ruptured femoral artery in his right leg.

[ryansommer]

"Not much to glean from this one," Sally says while looking over Fritz. " Looks like he was attacked, then bled out and died and then had to be put down again. Pretty much what you said. Perhaps a more indepth examination will give us more information about the infection and even how to prevent it."
Turning from the table and walking towards the x-ray machine, says: "So, how many casualties were suffered here? How many of you were able to survive and make it down here?"

[Mr. Handy]

In the medical lab-
"Between the mosquitos and the ghouls they made here and the losses we suffered at the T-Bone, we've lost more than half of our guys," said Mutt, adjusting the water temperature. "Don't you worry, Sally, we've got enough left to finish retaking the compound and then hold it. How many survivors are left at the T-Bone and the motel, and what happened there after we left? You never said." He walked back to the lab door and stood there.

"So the dead really are being reanimated," said Doc, leading Sally over to the X-Ray machine. "I didn't want to believe it, but if you're right about him bleeding out when the ghouls were munching on him there's no other explanation."

"I told you, Doc. None of them touched Buzz, or even came near him. He was gunned down and got right back up a minute later. Damnedest thing I ever saw. If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have believed it myself. What's causing it?"

Doc shrugged, loading a photographic plate into the X-Ray machine. "Here, Sally, let me help you up onto the table. What happened to your leg?"

"She said it was a slime monster in the tunnels."

Doc whistled. "Hope nothing like that comes up here. You'll have to describe it fully for us."

[ryansommer]

Sally hops up onto the table and lays the lead apron over her upper body. She leans back on her hands, but does not lay down.
"My recollection may be a little foggy, but a whole mess of the folks at the diner were injured or killed when the bomb when off. A big ol' wave of infected attacked and after hearing that the complex under the diner connected with the you guys, I knew I had to make a break for it. Being amongst friendlies was the only way I was going to make it though this. So I headed underground and some of the otehr folks started following me. The rest got to the roof of the diner. Not sure what happened to them. Anyways, me and several others were making our way though the complext under the diner when this big pile of goo attacked us. You know, like the blob. It started grabbing people and eating them up. It went after me and broke my leg, but I was able to slip free. It must have killed half our group. The rest of us, about 5 in all, made it to the decompression chamber and locked ourselves in before heading down into the tunnels below. We walked for what seemed like ages before getting lost and ending up on the surface. Just as we were getting our bearings, we were attacked again by a big worm creature. I was able to dodge out of the way while it feasted on my tag alongs. I slipped back into the cave unnoticed and made my way through the tunnels to the lift that lead here. That's pretty much how I got here."

[Mr. Handy]

In the medical lab-
"I'm just glad you survived all that," said Doc, placing a pillow on the table and positioning Sally's broken left leg carefully on it. "We're all lucky you made it here. Seems like there's a lot of nasty stuff out there, and that makes guarding our back door more important than ever. Now let's have a look at that leg." He inspected it as he swiveled the X-Ray machine's tube over her calf. "Yup, it's broken all right. Luckily it's below the knee. You're young and healthy, so it should mend quickly. You did a good job setting the bone and putting on a splint, but we'll put a proper cast on it after you've had your bath and cleaned the wound." He walked behind a tall lead screen nearby, with a glass window at head height. "We'll take two exposures. Okay, Sally, hold still." He pressed a button behind the screen, and there was a buzzing sound for a fraction of a second. Then he returned and adjusted the tube, this time pointing it at the area around her knee, before replacing the plate and going back behind the screen and repeating the process.

Mutt looked out into the hallway toward the airlock. "Yeah, we better make sure that entrance stays secure," he said. "I was more concerned about people coming up that way, but these monsters could be real dangerous. That door's still open a crack. I'll go lock it." He walked down the corridor.

[ryansommer]

"You know, Doc, one door cannot be opened if the other is open. So if the inside door is open, the outside door cannot be opened. At least that is how the outside door works. If that's the case, leaving the inside one open may be help to secure the inside one. We can test it out, if you want."

[Mr. Handy]

In the hallway-
"Yeah, maybe," said Doc, "but you'd better stay off your feet as much as possible. It looks like you've put some wear and tear on your leg with all the walking you did to get here."

Mutt paused outside the window. "I'll check it!" he called back. "Leaving the outer door open will help keep people out, but monsters would be more likely to open a door by smashing through it. Still, we should be able to seal the outer door if the inner one starts to give. If one won't hold forever, the second won't either anyway." He headed away down the hall toward the decontamination chamber.

In the medical lab-
Doc took the X-Ray plates into a dark alcove sealed off with a curtain. After about thirty seconds he returned. He took off his surgical gloves and threw them in a trash can for medical waste, washed his hands in a sink against one wall, and then put on a fresh pair. "I was using that pair to examine Fritz," he said. "Don't want to be unsanitary when I look at your leg. Your X-Rays will be developed in about twenty minutes. Let me take off that splint and have a look at the wound itself while the tub's filling. Try to keep your leg still as much as possible."

[ryansommer]

"Yeah. I guess two sealed doors are better than one." Sally said as she tried to relax amongst these men who she truely despised.
While doc examined her leg, Sally looked around and tried to see if the layout of this bunker was the same as the one under the diner.
"If one those slime things from the other lab makes it way here, we'll need all the time we can get."

[Mr. Handy]

In the medical lab-
"Yeah, that's a good point," said Doc as he carefully removed the splint from Sally's leg. "Having both doors closed will give me enough time to get you to safety if something comes through, and it'll give us enough time to prepare our defenses." He whistled when he saw the injury. The skin around the break was badly bruised, and there was a slim line of discoloration on the flesh where the tentacle had torn through the leg of her pants. It looked black and burned around the edges, but it wasn't as bad as it had been right after it had happened. In fact, it had almost completely faded. "It looks a little burned, almost like an acid or other chemical burn. That slime must be corrosive."

Looking around, Sally did see that the layout of this place was identical to that of Deep Mole One, at least as far as she had seen. Just the contents of the rooms were different.