ALTERED STATES - EPISODE 1

As the thing reached out to Kitty, she was reaching for it as well when Leo intervened. While she knew why Leo did what he did, she was extremely frustrated. Leo didn’t know the thing would react like that and neither did she. Still, she gave a soft growl as her frustrations mounded. To make matters worse, she could see Gregory’s glare peering around the truck and she even heard him say something like ‘great…another freak’ but she didn’t have time to get into with him.

When Tom stepped in and took over, coaxing the creature towards the truck, Kitty was relieved….for a short time. When the creature started backing away from the truck after swatting at it, she sighed heavily once again. No doubt they were going o have their work cut out with this thing. And it was loosing blood with each move it made. How it remained upright thus far, Kitty would never know.

Once again, with Tom’s intervention, the thing was coaxed into the truck and with some more maneuvering, Kitty and Tom were able to get the thing settled. Kitty shrugged off her back pack then popped her head out from the canvas and looked at Leo. She held his gaze for a long moment before she mouthed and signed the words thank you. Then she gestured for him to hurry up and drive. Leo nodded and tried to get Kitty to calm down.

“Alright, alright….I’m going….give me a sec, will ya?”

With a few tries, Leo had the truck fired up and before long, they were rumbling along. Back inside the tarp covered truck, Kitty let her eyes adjust to the dimmer light then she slowly began probing the fur of the creature, looking for the wounds producing the blood. It didn’t take her long to find them as the creature moaned and howled when her gently probing fingers discovered the hole the bullet made. Thankfully, the things fur was so thick it prevented the bullets from going too deep and believe it or not, she was able to use her claws to extract the bullets. The creature was in obvious pain each time she dug the bullet out and Kitty was certain if not for Tom’s submissive and gentle touches and gestures, the thing would have swatted her away like she was a pesky fly.

Kitty found three bullet holes and three different times s distinctive “CLANG” of the bullet hitting the metal bed of the truck was heard, even over the noise of the engine and the bumping and rumbling they were experiencing. The most difficult part now was going to be stopping the bleeding. Kitty tilted her head left then right as she tried to figure out the best way to do that. Finally she decided to use what they had on hand and while she didn’t particularly like using pieces of the truck, she was left with little choice.

Reaching up behind Tom, Kitty tore off a long strip of the tarp then ripped it into smaller pieces. Carefully placing the smaller pieces over the holes, she pressed them down as best as she could then used the creatures fur to help hold them I place. At least until they could get someplace she could properly treat his wounds.

When Kitty was done, she sat back and wiped her hands off on an old rag she found in the back of the truck then wiped the sweat from her brow with her arm. The thing seemed to drift back and forth between fully awake to semi conscious. No doubt the loss of blood was a bit much, even for a lumbering beast like him. Looking over at Tom, she gave him a smile and signed ‘thank you’ to him. Satisfied Tom wasn’t in danger of being overtaken by the beast, she signed she was going to join Leo in the cab for a bit.

Moving to the rear of the truck, Kitty eased a corner of the flap up just enough for her to look behind them and to each side. Seeing nothing but barren waste land, she slowly eased her frame out of the truck then vary carefully moved up the side, moving on a thin metal rail, until she reached the cab. Opening the door, she jumped inside then closed the door. Leo nearly jumped out of his skin and reached for his gun before he realized it was Kitty.

“Jesus, Kitty! You damn near got yourself shot! Next time, warn me your doing that, will ya?”

Kitty blinked then grinned at Leo who shared the grin with her.

“Is tall, dark and hairy doing well now?”

Kitty’s gaze never left Leo and she nodded, signing slowly and mouthing the word at the same time, she waited for him to look her way after each check of the road so she could explain, as best she could, what was wrong with the thing.

removed bullets. thing lost blood. resting now with Tom. will check in little while.

This was the first time, since the very first time they met, they were alone and Kitty felt a little self conscious about it all. There was no doubt she was nervous at being in Leo’s company alone like this. Well, not so much nervous as she was anxious. Still, she seemed to fidget before she finally looked over at him again and signed the words thank you again. There was nothing she would love better than to scoot over to the center of the seat to sit close to Leo and feel his body heat so close to hers. Again she refrained from doing what she wanted to do more than anything and merely smiled at him when he looked her way. When he smiled back, she could swear she felt her heart flip flop in her chest. She’d come so close to losing him….again…only to narrowly escape with him and seek this new home that called to her…even now.

Finally she forced herself to look away and look out the window so she didn’t make Leo nervous or uncomfortable at her stares and forlorn looks. Besides…..the more she thought about it, the more she was certain he had a female waiting for him back where he came from and for her to even think of being anything other than a friend or survival acquaintance was nothing more than day dreaming on her part. This, unfortunately, is where the panther brothers were right. There was no place in a human’s world for the likes of her in any capacity other than servant or slave.

Plymuth didn't want to hang around the pool long enough to discover what Texan had planned for him. He had lied and told him to walk past the pool to find the water, so whatever was behind the doors on the other side of the room was obviously more dangerous than the slowing moving walking corpses. It occurred to him then, as he walked down the basement hallway, that one of the stationary things did not have the shape of a human, but some sort of big dog and he began to wonder if there were other undead animals lurking in the shadows. For what ever reason, for which he was thankful, the creatures if they did exist didn't attack and he wasn't about to go back in there to validate his theory.

Plymuth wound his way through the corridors of the windowless basement and just about every door he checked lead into one of three large rooms, which were more like halls. He felt a little vulnerable in the open space, but then in one of the halls he found a kitchen with two doors at either end that he could bar and use one or the other as an escape if required.

It seemed that people had stayed in the room before, and there was still a good supply of wooden boards stacked by a stove that was being used as a fire pit. Plymuth threw some wood into the stove and ignited the tinder with his solar lighter that produce a charge capable of setting fire to paper, card board and the like. In no time the wood began to burn and illuminate the kitchen with its flickering amber glow.

Plymuth made sure the doors were secure and since both of them opened inward he stacked a bunch of cans before each one so it would be impossible for anyone to quietly enter the room. Unless they were able to see through walls and the door an intruder would have no idea the simple alarms were in place so he would be able to rest easy. He then laid his blanket over the mattress that had been set up by the 'fire place' by some other visitor and sprawled out across the surprisingly comfortable bed. Plymuth eventually fell asleep after convincing himself that were the walking corpses in the pool area going to escape into the basement they would have done so long ago.

There was a moment of strained silence in the cab of the truck as Kitty looked out the window and Leo concentrated on driving. From time to time Leo would steal glances at the human feline silhouette next to him, but before she moved her head, he made sure he was looking ahead at Gregory rumble along with Skittles and Gavin both riding along with the strange, goggled man.

Finally, after another painful silence, Leo broke the silence and looked over at Kitty between glances at the road to make sure he was on track and not running over Gregory.

“You sure you’re OK, Kitty?”

Kitty looked over at Leo and held his gaze for a moment then nodded. Tilting her head, she gave him a puzzled look then signed as she mouthed the words, helping him learn her sign language again.

why? i not look ok?

Leo shook his head and quickly explained.

“No, no…that’s not what I meant. I just want to make sure you aren’t hurt and either not telling me or thinking it’s nothing. How’s the wound in your side?”

Kitty had all but forgotten the wound and when Leo mentioned it, she looked down at her stained shirt, lifted it high enough to expose her abdomen. Checking the now dirty bandage for fresh blood, she was both satisfied and relieved it was still on the mend and hadn’t suffered any additional damage. Lowering the shirt, she looked over at Leo and smiled.

no trouble…all good. your shoulder?

Kitty pointed to his shoulder then and raised her brows. Leo smiled and nodded as well as he worked the steering wheel of the truck to keep it going the direction he wanted it to go.

“Good. Good. It’s itchy from time to time, but I’m sure it’s just part of the healing stage.”

Leo grew quiet for a moment then quietly said what was really on his mind.

”I was afraid those guys were going to….well…it’s over with now.”

Kitty gave Leo another puzzling look trying to figure out what he meant. Leo was remembering what the panther brother had said to him about how the soldiers were going to treat Kitty and even now he could feel his anger growing.

Kitty saw the look o n Leo’s face and she’d never seen anything like that before from the young man. He was so caught up in what ever it was he was thinking he didn’t even look over at her again. Kitty was worried at this change in Leo and she wanted to make sure something hadn’t happened to him to cause him to react this way. Reaching over she tentatively touched his arm. Leo snapped his head over to look at her with that same angry look on his face but when he saw her looking at him, he blinked and relaxed his features, giving her a smile again.

“Sorry….didn’t meant to ignore you.”

Kitty wasn’t convinced he was alright and tried to get him to explain.

what happened back there? they hurt you?

Kitty’s brow furrowed as she thought of the soldiers hurting Leo. Leo shook his head and quickly laid Kitty’s concerns to rest.

“No, no….they didn’t have the chance.”

Leo looked over at Kitty and saw the look on her face knowing she wouldn’t be satisfied until she had the truth from him. And why shouldn’t she? Maybe it would help her defend herself against something like that if there ever came a time she were put in that sort of situation. Not if Leo could help it, though…but still.

“Alright…look…..the panther brother…he told me the soldiers…well….they wouldn’t care if you WERE hybrid. You were female with all the right parts and they would gladly see if they all worked. Rather you wanted them to or not.”

Kitty sat looking at Leo as though he’d just smacked her across the face. She never even considered something like that. In the past, the men have either been too sick to try anything like that with her or she had killed them before they had the chance to try. In the sort of situation she was just in, it would have been easy for the soldiers to do what ever it was they wanted to her with the drugs they used.

Leo saw the look on Kitty’s face and he reached out, taking her hand in his and squeezing it gently to try and comfort her.

“It’s OK, Kitty….they wouldn’t have gotten a chance. I wouldn’t have let them.”

Kitty slowly let her gaze slide down to look at Leo’s hand as it covered hers. Instinctively she slowly turned her hand over and laced her fingers with his. When he didn’t pull away right away, she let her gaze slide to his face and he was steady looking at her. Time slowed and for a moment in time, it was just the two of them. Leo caught in her gaze and she was caught in Leo’s. The only thing that broke that concentration between the two of them was the jerking of the steering wheel as the truck veered off the road and into thicker sand that caused Leo to quickly avert his attention back to the road and let go of her hand so he could have both of his on the steering wheel. Leo laughed nervously to try and break the tension.

“Whoa….almost got us stuck.”

Kitty blinked and felt the heat rush to her cheeks. Once again she’d put Leo in an uncomfortable situation. When would she ever learn she couldn’t do that? Finally she let her gaze turn to the landscape around them and she furrowed her brows even more. The sun would no doubt be causing the land to turn into an oven soon. Hopefully they would reach this…Oasis before it reached its zenith. And before Gregory had another delusional spell.

Thankfully, they were putting the ruined cityscape behind them and heading out into more open places making it difficult for them to be taken by surprise. As they rumbled on, she saw a faded road sign and she tried to read it but it was difficult with the missing letters. The picture appeared to be, at one time, a picture of a pool and people lounging around it but it was so faded and half ripped off she couldn’t really tell.

“Re x and Rej n e at the Oa s. Your va t n des a on”

So, they had reached Oasis. Leo’s reading skills weren’t yet polished enough to puzzle out the weather-worn sign as they drove by, but the sight of a giant palm tree, false and paralyzed, with paint chipping off, suggested this was the place. “Here we are,” he said to Kitty with a smile. Wouldn’t it be nice if they could always travel together like this? Almost like people used to do, once…

Leo was a bit disappointed for his time with Kitty in the cab to end—who knew when they’d get a moment alone again?—but it was a good thing they were here, judging by the way Gregory was weaving on the bike. It was a lucky thing the old Honda was equipped with a sidecar, or Leo doubted the bike would have remained upright. His heart lurched at the sight, and he breathed a sigh of relief when Gregory finally came to a stop.

“Look at this place!” Leo exclaimed as if it was truly the vacation destination of a lifetime. He hopped out of the truck and surveyed the boarded up building footed in shifting sands. “It’s perfect!”

The hybrids peered around cautiously, but Leo could tell by the way Gregory was beginning to shiver and mutter to himself that they had to get inside without further ado—to say nothing of the fact that, now that he was out from the shady shelter of the cab, the sun was starting to burn his scalp and nose. Leo was no fool, though, and he listened carefully at one solid hunk of metal that must have been the door before daring to touch it. He glanced at his companions and then raised a knuckle to rap lightly. “Hello?” He ventured. There was no sign of life.

With a significant nod at Kitty and Gavin—who were the only ones really free to act if there was trouble, given that Tom was occupied by keeping a handle on the moaning and sluggish monster and Skittles was acting as Gregory’s human crutch—Leo pried open a secret compartment he’d found on the large metal door. He was rather smug about it—as if there was a secret compartment anywhere on earth that could fool the master treasure hunter!—and inside was a handle, sure enough.

Seeing both Kitty and Gavin tensed and ready, he pulled the handle, preparing himself to pivot behind the door as it opened, in case there was a trap waiting beyond. The handle felt stuck, but with a pop, suddenly turned. As the sands gave way beneath his feet, Leo realized with a yelp of alarm that this was a different sort of trap entirely: nothing behind the door, but a trapdoor in front of it.

Leo careened down a chute with barely enough time to curse himself for his stupidity—well he was exhausted, wasn’t he? And he had been thinking about Kitty, and—before he found himself freefalling in queer, violet-tinted darkness for about half a heartbeat. Then, with a solid ‘squelch!’ he hit a giant vat of mud.

His butt sunk in up to his waist, and his arms up to his elbows, before he was able to scramble upright. The dark soil was heavy, glued itself him, and smelled foul and fetid. “Ah, crap...” He flung his arms to free them of chunks of the slimy matter. The air, warm and humid, clung to him like a veil. “I’m okay!” he called up to his doubtless worried companions, to let them know that he was still alive.

Then something moved and he was aware of soft sounds of rustling vegetation that he hadn’t heard since leaving home. As Leo’s eyes adjusted to the dark, clusters of faint and ruddy flowers emerged around him, quivering like the tongues of snakes. He turned in a slow circle and realized a forest was shambling nearer to him, surrounding him. His heart froze as he saw a human figure moving. “Who’s there?” he rasped thickly. And as the person came nearer he saw it was a corpse.

He stumbled back, drawing his glock and his machete. The ripe graveyard stench filled his nose. “Oh, sweet mother of mercy…” A tendril slithered through the darkness as brushed his earlobe, and Leo whirled, hacking with his machete. “Agh! I knew this place was too good to be true!” Leafy fingers and sickly sweet flowers closed in from every angle…He had to cut a path out, or he was done for! Mud sucked at his boots and he couldn’t move quickly enough.

When Kitty got out of the truck, she made sure she got two of the Ruger .9MM from the backpack she got from the soldiers. Checking the clip and pulling the barrel back to cock the gun as Tom did the same, she looked around carefully letting her nose twitch slightly as she sniffed the air as her eyes scanned the area. So far, everything seemed to be good to go. But Kitty knew better than anyone things weren’t always as they appeared.

Kitty thought this was something out of an nightmare. First Leo was standing there, smiling triumphantly and the next, he was being swallowed up by the ground. The first thing that slipped into Kitty’s mind was one of those disgusting, slimy worm monsters she’d encountered the last time she ventured from her bunker home. But when she didn’t hear any high pitched screech and only heard Leo’s voice calling back he was OK, she realized it wasn’t that. However, the fetid stench that assaulted her nose told her there was death and decay where Leo had gone and that most certainly couldn’t be a good thing.

Kitty looked over at Tom and signed quickly to him that she was going down the chute Leo had traveled down to join him and that Tom and the others needed to get inside and possibly meet them from that angle. Of course everything changed in a split second when she heard the alarm in Leo’s voice.

“Agh! I knew this place was too good to be true!”

Without a second glance at Tom, Kitty slithered into the chute, feet first, and holding a gun in each hand, she landed in the mud with a distinctive sploosh The rancid smell she caught a whiff of earlier was enough to make her gag but she quickly recovered when she saw the danger Leo was in.

As the strange looking corpses began closing around Leo, Kitty fired off a round at each one. Snarling and hissing like a cornered cat, she couldn’t understand why they didn’t really stop. What the hell were these things? And why were they determined to get a hold of Leo and now herself? Vine like appendages reached for the two of them like silent assassins. Even as Leo severed one of the vines, it seemed like two more came up to take their place.

Firing off more rounds until both of her guns were empty, she finally had to toss the guns aside and, with claws extended, began slashing at the things in an attempt to shred them before they could get themselves latched onto Leo or her.

One of the vines grabbed a hold of Leo’s ankle and jerked him off his feet and started dragging him away. Kitty dove towards him and was able to grab a hold of his forearm and pull. The vines had a bit more strength than she thought and it was all she could do to hold on. Leo held on for dear life with his free hand as he hacked dangerously close to his ankle with his machete to loosen the vines hold on him.

Unfortunately, while all of this was happening, this gave the other vines ample opportunity to move and close in and the next thing Kitty knew, she felt one of them wrap around her ankle and begin to pull. Leo, feeling the resistance coming from Kitty, looked over with complete horror and saw how the vines had closed in around them.

“Don’t…let….go! You hear me, Kitty! Don’t let go!”

Kitty shook her head even as she was struggling against the pull of the vine and the pull she felt from a new vine that grabbed a hold of Leo trying to let him know she wasn’t about to give up. Not as long as she drew breath. Dammit! This was a losing battle. There was no way they could get out of this. Not without help from Tom. Bowing her head, Leo thought she was giving up and he opened his mouth to say something when she lifted her head and let out one of her loud roars hoping Tom could hear her.

“RRRRRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!”

Perched at the edge of the trap door and looking down, Kitty's roar reached Gavin's ears, breaking through the stench that assailed his sensitive nose. Without hesitation, Gavin slipped into the opening and road the chute down until he landed in the sticky mud and quickly pushed himself to his feet. The smell was overwhelming and his eyes watered as he clapped hand over his nose and mouth. Scurrying against the wall, he surveyed the dank room and for a moment, simply stared at the crawling tendrils that wrapped themselves around his new friends. Without time to consider them, he flattened himself as best he could, feeling the first slithering caress against his ankles, and reached out to the tiny presences he knew immediately were lurking in the shadows.

The rotting appendages climbed like vines, twisting around his legs and reaching into his clothes as he remained as still as he could stand it. Still, as they grabbed hold of his torso and began pulling down on his arms, he let out a cry of primal rage and yanked his arms upwards. Meanwhile, the pulsing swarm of tiny bodies began to fill the cavern, following his command to gnaw away at the creeping limbs. While his companions skittered over him and began tearing away at his bounds, Gavin thrashed forward and sideways, tearing away at his bonds before he launched himself away from the comforts of the wall and out towards Kitty and Leo. Moving with seemingly impossible speed given the soft, viscous floor, the rat hybrid slashed at the vines that wrapped around them, tearing away what the rodents managed to chew through. As the corpses reached out and began to pull on him, Gavin raged back, snapping twig-thin bones and ripping away the putrid vines that slunk over him and tightened around his own limbs.

Tearing several away from Leo's waist and Kitty's shoulders, he held out his hands, his dark glasses like two empty sockets in the dank shadows.

"Come on!" he cried, pausing to snatch hold of a vine as it crept towards him and arduously rip it in two before holding his hands out again. As Leo and Kitty gripped his hands and forearms, Gavin centered his weight and took a step back, tearing them free from the remaining holds on them. When he pulled back, however, he ended up backing up into the apparent heart of the stinking, rotting source. As though taking revenge, so many vines and near intact arms clasped onto his shoulders and waist, creeping around his legs and tightening around his neck faster than his rodent comrades could chew through them. Coughing and choking on the scent, Gavin shouted in a strangled voice, "Go! Go! Go! I'll be right behind you!" Twisting against his bonds, he reached down and bit at the long fingered vines over his shoulder, ripping away a small chunk only to have it replaced by an even thincker grip. Corpses and rats alike descended upon him as he thrashed against holds that were tightening and closing on his joints and his throat.

Jack sat on the desert dune in full heat he had been watching these people since they had been captured from the city outskirts he had been in an office building. He knew the little group were hiding Kitty he sat sweating buckets his good eye not straying from the scope. He had kitted himself pretty well a camo net hung over him and the bike, a small dig in cut into the dune it would be nigh impossible to see it unless fell into. His sniper sat on its bi-pod, silencer attached he had set a small black box up in front of him a remote with a row of green blinking LED’s with a small keyhole under each blinking light a key had already been slotted into the first one a small row of red LED’s which weren’t on occupied the remote as well. He lifted his head from the scope the best time to kill kitty? He thought this over for the 100th time in a few seconds he looked back through his scope and he watched almost comically a human pull a trapdoor lever.

“Well that must have sucked.”

He was drawing his aim on Kitty’s head when he noticed at the corner of his scope a figure in a window inside the building. He had seen another one earlier but they must have been different people for one had gone by the pool this other one was heading to the basement as he guessed the blue prints in 3D spiralling in his bionic eye vision. He brought himself back to Kitty and she was……. GONE! Anger almost gripped Jack but he kept calm wondering how on earth but then he noticed another of party at the edge staring down and then he followed

“They are all mad or stupid?”


Rarmon had been waylaid for too long he had lost Leo and the group he had been following the troops when he was ‘apprehended’ by some vengeance seeking mutants. It was all very flashy body parts here and there but all ended in vain when he realised that he had lost the tracks and had to guess where the party would seek shelter next if they ever escaped. Oasis had been the spot he had guessed. He sat on the roof for day after day when he noticed some movement. Deciding on searching for this presence he went inside he had been doing this for quite a few days but as luck had it he had avoided Plymuth every time. He heard what he thought a rather animalistic growl & roar he walked to the basement his gun in hand he opened it slowly bringing his gun to sight as he began to descend.

His first thought was he was defiantly walking into something he shouldn’t have been as he saw what seemed husks of wood. He walked forward ever so slightly he cocked the rifle his eyes going to night vision as he stepped into the ‘main arena’. He took it all in within a few seconds Kitty, Rat man & Leo what a coincidence he started up the aiming program selecting targets and hell began. He shot over and over the heavy calibre rounds tearing chunks off the things ensuring he missed his ‘friends’.

Leo, Kitty and Gavin were surrounded by the spawn of the corpse head orchid, reconstituted human bodies that were now the vessels of blood lusting plants. They did not react to pain and the only way to defeat them was to hack them apart or burn them. One of their prey had just learned that shooting them in the chest and head or tearing their flesh did not slow them down much. As they fought for their lives, above them, Texan peeked through a hole in the iron door and observed that some of the group outside had tripped his trap. Unfortunate for them, but quite beneficial to himself.

Texan put the safety lock on the iron door, to ensure that no one from the outside could get in. He usually left it open, for he was never sure when his mates would stop by. They all knew about the second lever that disengaged the trap, and should someone else figure it out he was always prepared to be more than hospitable.

He made sure his slave was good and secured then he gathered his blades, revolver and rifle and headed down to the basement. If his pets weren't able to finish off the intruders, he'd assuredly finish the job.



Plymuth had just fallen asleep when he heard some muffled popping sounds echoing through the hall outside of the doors to the kitchen where he was sleeping. He thought little of it, then just as his eyes were beginning to close, there were more.

"What the flamin' hell is that?" He asked himself, then it became quite apparent that it was gunfire and it was coming from somewhere in the basement.

Plymuth sat up and strained his ears to pinpoint the location of the noise but the shots had stopped. Maybe it was that fat bastard, Texan he considered, being eaten by his own pets. He mused at the thought of it then fell back on his mattress. "Good riddance to bad rubbish.", he muttered as he made himself comfortable once more.

A haunting moan resonated through the hallway like the sound of some injured beast crying out of distress. The sound snapped open Plymuth's eyes and made him reach for his gun.

"Bullocks!" Growled Plymuth, who just wanted to get some sleep.

He quickly gathered up his possessions and stored them inside an old freezer, he hated to leave them out of his sight, but he might need to move fast and didn't need anything encumbering him. All he took with him was his spear gun, his knives and his clip on flash light he fastened to his jacket but didn't turn on. His own natural vision could see well enough in the basement now that they had adjusted.

Plymuth stalked down the corridor, back to the direction of the swimming pool with the creepy corpse trees and as he rounded the corner, hesitated and moved back. He caught a glimpse of Texan, spying through the glass doorway that lead to the pool area. Hanging at his side was a high powered rifle, so Plymuth thought it best to be cautious. Peeking around the corner he watched the man as he laughed sadistically with his face pressed up against the glass, watching something that obviously entertained him and it was probably something that wasn't any of his business, Plymuth figured. Still, he did consider that he'd been more than fair to the man, and being that he was somehow indirectly the reason why he wasn't sound asleep at the moment his fist ploughing into the side of the big man's head was justified.

Texan didn't even know what hit him. He was trying to get a good look at what was occurring in the mud filled pool when something hard struck him in the temple. His legs buckled and fell to a knee and through blurry eyes he could make out a shadowy form then all went black.

Plymuth put his boot into Texan's face and he fell back unconscious, his head bouncing off the concrete floor like a basket ball. He relieved the man of his hand gun, then slinging his spear gun over his shoulder picked up the rifle and checked to see if it was loaded, then rummaged though Texan's pocket and found his extra bullets.

Looking though the glass door, into the blue lit room, he could see something happening in there. A beam of light shone down into the pool from some chute that was directly over it, and he reckoned right where the front door to the place would be. 'Texan's trap!', he figured. Swearing under his breath, Plymuth opened the door and this time locked it's arm so that it would stay open. Cautiously he crept in, his rifle pointed ahead of him, ready to blast anything that resembled a shambling corpse. Then all hell seemed to break loose as high calibre rounds began to rain down from the shaft blasting the crap out of everything, or so it seemed, Plymuth wasn't sure as he dove into one of the changing rooms in the corridor between the pool area and glass door he had come through.

“No! Gavin! –We can’t let those things get him!” Leo cried as the struggling form of Gavin was swallowed into the central mass of the evil plants, now swarming over with rats, too. Leo hacked and slashed at the snaking plant fibers with his machete, trying not to hit the wriggling rats, but more concerned with freeing Gavin before the encroaching vines strangled him. Half of the rat man’s body was already covered. “Use your claws, Kitty! Better than bullets!”

As if to put an ironic exclamation point on Leo’s advice, rapid gunfire suddenly filled the dank and echoing plant chamber. The bullets whirred like saw blades, biting through the thickest limbs of the mutant forest. Only someone with deadly accuracy and way too much ammunition could manage something like that. Leo dropped into a defensive crouch, covering his head—though the gesture would do little to stop a stray bullet—and saw an eerie blue glow from a familiar visor on the other side of the crowd of plant creatures. “Hey! It’s Rarmon!”

Seeing Kitty up to her elbows in her effors to tear the snake-nest of vines and roots away from Gavin, he redoubled his efforts, trusting the robot’s aim. Between the two of them and the industrious chewing of Gavin’s pack of minions, they finally tore Gavin free, scraped and bloodied. The rat man’s sunglasses were askew and had suffered another crack, and he bent over to spit out a mouthful of chewed plant matter. “You okay, Buddy?” Leo dragged the stumbling Gavin away from the remnants of the rasping, rustling monsters.

They weren’t surrounded anymore, but the things were hardly finished off. “Anyone got some fire?” Leo suggested, loud enough—he hoped—for Rarmon to hear. “Plants don’t like fire!” He and Kitty and Gavin backed slowly away, taking defensive stances, side by side, their backs agains the wall.

* * *


Meanwhile, up on the surface, the ever-resourceful Tom pulled off a plank of plywood from the side of the Oasis and laid it over the trapdoor opening so that he, Skittles and Gregory could take a closer look at the door. After a few careful sniffs and taps, the wolf man was able to locate the secret lever. However, now that the trap had been activated the switch seemed to be stuck.

The monster’s very hair tingled every time the strange man in dark goggles trembled and twitched under the obliterating rays of the sun, giving off a scent of pain and danger. The monster moaned. He gave an anxious wail. The wolf man touched him gently and showed him ‘friends,’ but still the monster could not relax. His wounds ached. He didn’t like this place; it stank of death and decay. He wanted to run away but the wolf man needed to go in, because the others, the cat woman, they were inside.

With an impatient growl, the monster reached over the wolf man to grab the door and pulled at the edges. With a buckling pop and groan of spraining metal that the monster himself could not hear, the heavy door was torn from the mouth of the Oasis.

Holding the door like a shield to his body, the monster looked at Tom with a hopeful expression.

There were good ideas and then there were bad ideas. Plymuth, chalked his current predicament to the latter and decided that he was going to get hell out the pool area, grab his gear and lay low. Every time he had witnessed fire power of the caliber that was raging down the corridor from him, it was often in the possession of people who enjoyed killing his kind and though he could easily pass for human, he'd rather not risk that either.

Plymuth glanced around the corner at the pool and could slightly make out two or three people wrestling with the corpse trees while a hail of bullets from above cut them apart. As he back his way down the corridor, he caught something coming at him out of the corner of his eye and ducked just in time as a mossy skeletal arm lashed for his throat. Passing under the slow attack, he batted the arm aside with the rifle and ran out the door, sealing it behind him.

There were more of the undead horrors emerging from the changing rooms, but the didn't seem all that concerned with attempting to get through the door, instead they just shambled toward the pool. As they walked in their unsteady gate, they bumped into one another, some apparently able to see better than others, and some not at all. One of them was more robust than the others, a fresh body, Plymuth figured since it's flesh was yet a pinking grey and it's movements were smoother and quicker than the others.

Plymuth couldn't help but feel a little remorse for the strangers, but he didn't know them from Adam, and by the looks of the fire power they had they were most likely brigands. That reminded, him to check on old sleep beauty, but to Plymuth's surprise, Texan was gone and where he had fell was a trail of blood heading back they way he had come. "Shit!" He cursed and peeking one last time through the glass door made sure that hotel's newest guests were still occupied, "Time to make myself scarce." he said to himself and bolted back to where he had hidden his gear and find a safe hiding place until night fall since he sure as hell wasn't going to get very far if he got his ass shot off.

Meanwhile, Texan staggered up the stairs to the main floor, cussing under his breath and swearing to gut the man who kicked him in the face and broke his nose. When he reached the top of the stairs, instead of heading back to the lobby, the big man walked down a hallway while rummaging through his pockets until he found a ring of several keys. He then pounded his big fist into the wall a few times until he was able to grab the lip of a loose piece of drywall and pry it open to reveal a hidden door. It was metal and had several locks which he opened with the keys, then he stepped into the black room and lit a lantern, shedding light on a small arsenal he and his friends kept for emergencies.


After Texan was done gearing up, there wasn't much left, but he made sure he locked and sealed the room back up anyway. He paused in the hallway for a moment and calmly took the remains of a cigar from his pocket, lit it and tucked into the side of his mouth. Laden with grenades, knives, a machete and two double barreled shotguns, Texan was a force to be reckoned with, and that son of bitch was beg him to kill him before the day was through.

He strode down the corridor, sobered by vengeance but as he neared the stairway there was the sound of twisting metal screeching from the lobby then a loud bang.

"What the f*#k?" Growled Texan as he ran to the lobby to see what was going on, but as he rounded the corner he caught sight of the huge beast with one of the metal doors in it's hand like paws. Tom was out of his sight, and all that the big man was aware of was the beast that more than filled doorway, preventing anyone else from exiting or entering.

"JESUS!" he screamed as he raised both his shot guns and backed himself up near the counter. He didn't know what that thing was but Texan was betting it wasn't smart enough to know what a shield was, and as soon as it dropped the door he would give it four barrels and a grenade, and blast it straight back to hell.

"Here kitty, kitty." He taunted. "Old painless is waiting."

Kitty heard the gunshots all around her and for the life of her, she didn’t know why they weren’t striking her. But as each shell was fired and knocking away any vines that were hell bent on wrapping around her or Leo, she began to tear at the vines surrounding Gavin with her claws as viciously as she ever had. Finally, with the help of the rats and her own persistent clawing and shredding, she began to make headway and finally she was able to reach Gavin himself.

Grabbing a hold of Gavin’s shoulders, Kitty pulled with all her strength to free him from the vines that were already trying to bore into his flesh. She could see the look on Gavin’s face and knew he was frightened by death itself but more so of the death he would face. When she was finally able to lock forearms with Gavin, she pulled again. With Leo’s help they were able to get Gavin free form his vine prison.

If it hadn’t been for Rarmon’s sharp shooting and perfect aim, Kitty was certain Leo, Gavin and herself would be dead ten times over. Even as Leo hacked away at the remaining vines on Gavin’s lower legs,Kitty was pulling him to safety towards the ladder she could see a few feet up the wall of the pit they were in.

As the three made it to the ladder, Kitty and Leo helped hoist Gavin up and as soon as his hands grabbed a hold of the rungs, she quickly shimmied the rest of the way up. Leo tried to argue with Kitty but he lost that battle once more and she cupped her hands so he could easily use them to step up to the ladder with her help.

“Come on, Kitty! Get your ass up here now!”

Leo’s words were more than enough encouragement for her. Jumping as high as she could, Kitty tried to reach the ladder but the mud was holding her down too much. Finally, with Leo’s help, Gavin eased down, face first, on the ladder and held his hands out for Kitty to grab a hold of. When she jumped again, she was able to grab a hold of Gavin’s hands and between Gavin’s strength, Leo’s help and her own determination; she was pulled out of the pit and onto sturdy ground.

Of course they weren’t out of the woods yet as they saw m ore of these….walking corpse plants coming for them. Thankfully, they were slow movers and as all three helped each other move along, they were able to make it to a door. Leo turned at the last second and yelled to Rarmon.

“Hey! Rarmon! Let’s get the hell out of here and leave these things alone!”

Gavin, Leo and Kitty were covered in the foul smelling mud but they were alive. Barely. Now, as they stood at the door, Kitty did her best to sling the mud off her as did Gavin. When she was done, she helped Leo get as much of it as they could off him as well. It still didn’t help though. All three of them stunk to high heaven and that was NOT going to sit well with Kitty for too long.

Now, all she could think about was had they gone from the frying pan into the fire?

Tom stood beside the monster, with his calming hand on the creature's massive arm holding the metal door as a shield. When he heard the taunt he let out a low growl that seemed to echo through the lobby. Tom's grip tightened slightly on the creature's arm as if to signal to the creature to be cautiuos danger was close. Slowly they both moved forward. As Tom sniffed the stale air and his ears twitched for the slightest sound.

"Damn that things big!" Thought Texan as he slowly moved over to his slave girl keeping his guns trained on the beast.

The girl had managed to cloth herself again before the brute chained her up beside a stinking bathroom and she was curled up in a corner with her hood drawn tight. He kicked the girl in the hip hard enough to move her and growled lowly, "Get up!". The girl looked up angrily and stood and as her eyes followed the direction of Texan's shotguns she bit back a scream knowing that if she did make a sound the big man would most likely bash her teeth in.

Holding one his guns under his arm, Texan reached into his pocket and pulled out the keys to the girls hand cuffs, one of which was around her wrist and the other end to a chain bolted into the wall. "Unlock it, and ye better hurry." He ordered, "And if'n you try and run and give ya both barrels right in the back."

The girl complied then the big man gestured for her to come over to him. Fearfully she neared her capture and when she was in arms reach, he popped the pin on one of his grenades grabbed her arm and thrust it into her grasp with his big hand over hers. "If either us raise our finger off that there safety lever that your thumb in on right now we'll be blow into bags of shit." Texan explained, "Now I'm going to give you chance to earn your freedom girly. All you have to do is walk round to the front door and throw it at the hairy, mother."

Texan let loose his hold over her hand and let her hold the grenade. "Well go on.", he whispered nudging her forward with his gun, "And you try and toss that back at me, you're guts will be all over that wall!"

As the girl moved across the lobby near to the doorway where the beast was being coxed forward by Tom, the wolf-hybrid could hear her soft steps approaching. The beast seemed agitated but remained at bay as the small girl hardly seemed a threat.

Texan needed the girl to do his dirty work while he quickly ran round to the back of the hotel where there was another reinforced steel door designed just for one of these occasions. Squinting in the morning light as the heavy door swung open, he proceeded to make his way around to the front of the hotel, he couldn't be sure but he could have swore that there was someone else with the beast.

As Texan made his way round the back of the hotel the girl stood trembling, an easy toss away from the monster. She drew her arm back and prepared to throw, praying that the grenade did not go off as soon as she released it, as she was unaware that Texan's particular brand would go off in three seconds but he kept that part from her on purpose.

Tom patted the crature on the arm amd sihned for him to stay where he was. Tom then with uncanny agility and speed moved to stand before the girl with the grenade. he slowly reached out, placed his hand around the grenade, holding it tight and smiled at the girl. "You don't want to do that." he said softly. "We are not here to harm you and my furry friend there can be a sgentle as a new born kitten. Now why don't you give me that nasty thing and let me dispose of it? Your friend, who left you to face us alone is not much of a friend, it you want my opinion." he said again softly with a kind pleading expression on his face.

Slowly the girl released her grip on the grenade and Tom held it tight, motioning for the creatrure to move forward. As he did Tom stepped aside, guiding the creature to turn around. The creature still held the metal door in front of him as he turned facing out of the hotel. Tom motioned for the creatrue to squatt down behind the door and told the girl to squat behi9nf the door as well. After both the creatue and the girl were behind the metal door, Tom threw the grenade out into the desert, then ducked down behind the door. Four seconds latter there was a large explosion, a shower of metal and sand, and a shock wave, all that would have hit the creature, the girl and Tom had it not been for the large metal door. Looking at the door Tom could see shards of metal sticking through it.

"Stinkin' bastards." Texan cursed silently to himself as he peeked around the corner of the hotel and watched the humanoid freak and his aberration dispose of his grenade. He hated mutants and by the way that guy Plymuth had maneuvered around in the dark he figured him to be one as well.

Texan wasn't expecting his buddies until sun-down, so he figured he'd wait out the heat until they arrived, then they'd pay. The big man stayed out of their line of sight as he walked off in a easterly direction and into the ruins of a buildings foundation, all but square ridge half covered by sand. Looking around to make sure no one was watching him, Texan dug his big hands into the sand and caught hold of a handle. He pulled hard and a steel hatch camouflaged with debris stuck to it as it opened, revealing a ladder descending in blackness.

He climbed down, lit a lantern hanging from the ceiling just next to the ladder and closed the hatch. The steel door blended well with it's surroundings making it difficult to discern but even so, Texan still made sure he sealed it shut with three iron bars. He then, climbed down into the dark cool of a large basement and made his way to a table, some chairs and a cot in the corner and opened a locker to take out some dried meat and water.

Texan had enough supplies to survive for days, so it was just a matter of time before his gang showed up to help him skin some mutants. Until then, he made himself comfortable and took a chew of meat.

The girl Texan had satisfied himself with was stuck between a rock and a hard place. If anyone wanted to kill someone, she wanted to kill Texan. But as it was, she was being forced to carry a live grenade towards these….people. Or at least, one of them seemed to be a person. Trembling like a leaf in a wind storm, she made her way closer and closer towards the people invading Texan’s lair. When she felt the first touches of the man, she flinched and gave out a small cry of panic.

She wanted nothing more than to die right now, especially after having someone like Texan sweat all over her as he had his way with her, but she sure as hell didn’t want to get blown to bits. And she sure as hell didn’t want to take someone with her. But when the man spoke softly to her and took the grenade away from her she gladly gave up ownership of the thing.

Of course when she saw the large, lumbering creature coming forward, she let out a gurgle that should have been a scream but her throat was too dry to even get that out. If it hadn’t been for the man again she would have most certainly been blown to bits but thanks to him, she found herself being huddled behind the large steel door with the man and the strange creature.

As the grenade detonated, the girl screamed and held her hands over her ears, closing her eyes tight and huddling even more behind the steel door. No doubt Texan was going to retaliate for that and open fire on all of them so the best thing she COULD do right now was stay huddled behind the door with….the overgrown teddy bear….thing.

Kitty, Leo, Gavin and Rarmon bringing up the rear now, began to slowly make their way away from the pool. Unfortunately, the stench of the mud from the pool was staying with them and Kitty wanted nothing more than to rid herself of the clothes and get a much needed shower. Unfortunately, she wasn’t sure if that was possible right now. Using extreme caution, she found a room that had a door on it that read “Women’s Shower”. Signing to Leo and the others they should to check the place out, she slowly slipped into the once tiled room, leading the way. Leo gave Kitty a stern look just before they slipped into the room.

“Get the hell out of here pronto if you get just a bad feeling, you here?”

Sure enough, Kitty had discovered the place where they could all shower later, if the water worked. Leo, Gavin and Kitty tried several showers before Leo found one that actually had enough pressure to be of any use.

“Sweet Jesus! Ha ha! I found it!”

Again Leo’s bright smile seemed to light up the room and Kitty quickly walked over to where he stood letting the water run. Reaching her hand out she felt the water wash over her palm and couldn’t help but smile as well. Finally, she would be able to get a shower.

Sharing a smile with Leo, she nodded then looked at the others before they slipped back out of the shower room and began making their way down the long corridor. From time to time Kitty and Gavin could pick up on another scent but it was so faint they weren’t sure if it was recent or just an old one. Plus the fact their sense of smell was hindered pretty bad right now with all the stinky mud clinging to them.

They were just getting ready to take the steps that led up when they heard the explosion of the grenade. Jumping back and startled by the sound, they glanced at each other before the three cautiously made their way up the stairs. Kitty growled softly as she made it to the top of the landing and peeked around the corner. All she could see right now was the large steel door.

Tom’s head peered out from behind the door and she breathed a sigh of relief. With another small call, Tom snapped his head in her direction and answered with a similar call of his own. Giving the signal for Leo, Gavin and Rarmon to come out of hiding, they made their way towards Tom. It wasn’t until she got closer that Kitty realized the creature they had brought with them was holding the door in place and there was another person behind it. Blinking, she tilted her head left then right and saw the woman huddled behind the door with the creature. Furrowing her brow, she looked over at Tom.

who’s that? where come from?

Tom turned and smiled at Kitty, Leo, Gavin and Ramon. Then glanced down at the girl, then back up at Kitty. "I do not know who she is, but we are not alone. There is another, her friend maybe, at least one that she was with. He placed the grenade in her hand and shoved her towards us then, like a coward ran off. I think he means us great harm. We must be cautious. This female human, I suspect was his captive maybe." Tom looked harder at the others "You are all alright?"

He then caught the scent of them and wriked his nose.

The girl that was huddled behind the door with the hairy creature opened her eyes and looked up to see the man talking to others. Where did they come from? And why didn’t the strange looking woman talk? When Tom started explaining her presence, the girl stood up and quickly corrected him.

“That…..bastard ain’t my friend. I hope he ends up on the spit over a fire at a cannibal’s camp. They’d be able to eat off him for a few days. And you’re right, sport. He DOES wanna do great harm to you. All of you. Best thing we can do is get the hell out of here before he fonds a way of doing anything to all of you.”

About then she caught a good whiff of the smell clinging to Leo, Gavin and Kitty. Wrinkling her nose like Tom, she put her fingers under her nose and stepped back as she took a better look at the people the man was talking to.

“Ew. Gross. You guys smell like you’ve been wallowing around in a vat of dung. You all need a bath...and bad."
behind the door with….the overgrown teddy bear….thing.[/quote]

Kitty blinked when the young woman stood up from behind the steel door and started rattling off sentences. Of course it didn't sit well with her when it was pointed out the stench that clung to Leo, Gavin and herself. Furrowing her brows, she gave the woman a hard look then looked at Tom as she signed.

she talks too much. sorry for smell. not like smelling like sewer either. we're all ok, just shaken up. thanks to Rarmon. strange pit of living plants. look to use human victims as puppet.

Shrugging, she didn't how else to describe what they literally fell into. Looking at Leo and Gavin, she was just damn glad they made it out of that awful pit in one piece and unharmed.

found place to get shower. only one works. need to take turns but go in pairs. or in our case, gavin, leo and i go first. maybe find other shower that works. tell others for me?

Glancing at the girl, Kitty walked past her and back out the door to retrieve the backpacks she and Tom had taken from the soldiers. Squinting in the bright sunshine that now baked the land once more, she glanced over the horizon to see if anything was headed in their direction. As far as she could tell, she couldn't see anyone or anything. But that didn't shake off the sensation she had that someone was watching her.

Coming back inside, Kitty glanced at the hairy beast then at Tom once more, handing him one of the backpacks. Kneeling down, she retrieved another hand gun from the depths, checked the clip to make sure it was full then slammed it back into place, pulling the barrel back to load one in the chamber. Standing back up, she signed to Tom again.

see if any clothes here. can usually find some in places like this. not want to walk around naked. not in mixed company anyway.

Glancing at Leo, she saw the way he was looking at her and the way his brows furrowed. He saw her signing but didn't understand all of it. Glancing back at Tom, she gave him a small smile then signed the word thank you to him.

shower. now. before we make people sick. including selves.

Gesturing to Leo and Gavin, she walked slowly past them and waited for Tom to translate for her so they knew where she was headed and they should go with her. Before Leo took off again he helped himself to a gun from one of the backpacks as well. Like Kitty he made sure it was loaded and had one in the chamber ready to go...just in case.

Easing their way back down the stairs, all three of them were like a well oiled SWAT machine. Quiet as mice and as cautious as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs, they eventually made their way back down to where the showers were. Kitty listened intently as did Gavin to make sure there was nothing waiting for them. Their noses twitched as they sniffed the air but the stench from the mud that covered their bodies made it difficult to smell anything. Guns poised, they made their way to the shower room and tested the shower heads again. They did find another shower head that worked fairly decent, unfortunately, the shower heads were in the wide open so that meant Kitty would have to wait for the guys to get done.

Nodding towards the showers, Kitty let Gavin and Leo have the first go with the water. It wasn't warm and while it was a shock to the body, it did feel good to shed ones clothes and get rid of the dirt on their bodies. Kitty turned her back and moved closer to the door kept watch to make sure nothing got in the room with them to trap them. Hopefully Tom would find some clothes so he could take them into Leo and Gavin before they were done. Of course it was going to take a while to wash the dirt off their bodies. The mud had found places to get mud had no reason to be.

Plymuth had found himself a new hide-out. In the far corner of the hotel basement, part of the ceiling had collapsed but he was able to find a small tunnel through the debris. It lead to what he figured was an old laundry room by the old washing machines that aside from a thick layer of dust looked to be in working order. There was the remnants of a laundry chute, but something had sheered off and twisted the metal making the end result for anyone riding down it a very painful experience. There was an aluminum ladder leaning against the wall in the corner of the room leading up and through a hole in the high ceiling where someone had hacked through the rotted wood. He climbed up, and cautiously poked his head up and shone his flash light around a bathroom. Apparently the laundry room had an escape route to the main floor via one of the hotel-rooms. Even though there was little chance of someone going through every room to find the hole, Plymuth being the cautious person he was covered the hole in the bathroom with several sheets he found in a bin to obscure it. There was no way a person could squeeze down the hole without hitting the noisy ladder so he was pretty content that he would be awoken by an intruder.

Plymuth wrapped his arms around a standard sized washing machine and carried it over to block the other entrance to the room. There were plenty of old blankets, still in good condition and so he was able to fix himself a nice bed, although not as comfortable as the mattress he had to give up.

It was quiet now, and Plymuth hoped it would remain so. His spear gun at his side, the weary traveller laid his head back and fell asleep.

Jack had kept his finger on the trigger ever since he had seen Kitty enter the ‘building’ or dare he say purposely fell into the trapdoor. He was bored at this waiting finally releasing his finger from the trigger he sat back after being prone on the edge for a good few hours he had slight cramp. He looked at the black box remote all seemed clear. Suddenly a compact grenade blast was heard Jack checked the remotes lights all continued to blink green which was a good sign. He peered out seeing a small crater in the sand where it had detonated.

“That was random.”

He sat back again ‘I can wait’ he thought to himself he turned his head seeing a small dust cloud in the distance.

“Hmm a car, I think.”

Praying it wasn’t the army with their tin cans. He turned back to his rifle he glanced down the scope to find to his surprise a ‘Shock Trooper’ the main assault squad of the special forces the collared helmet had been deployed meaning it was impossible to identify him as an individual.

“He seems familiar?” his question drifting away from his lips.


Rarmon wiped the thick ‘mud’ whatever brown stinking substance. Walking out of the pool area he closed the door securely locking it with some makeshift bending of a pipe which he ripped from a handy standing lamp. Rarmon followed Leo and the others at some distance finding the showers they searched. They had found a working shower. Rarmon on the other hand had found a ‘semi’ working shower it simply had enough water flowing to clean his clothes he was halfway through it when they heard the heavy boom and vibration of a grenade. This situation causing them all to run out to investigate Rarmon being dripping wet saw to his grate relief Tom was still alive with a…….. huge teddy bear? No can’t be that stupid his scanners continued to analyse the bear in half disbelief but certain files from the military database showed such things existed.

Rarmon turned away listening to them talking of cleaning and the blond haired annoyance his HUD putting a small tag on the voice. “Avoid at all costs motivation for the action of the vocal compile system.” He smiled at his own comment he turned and began to walk to look for ‘something to wear.’ To put an honest point across his true objective ‘find something to shoot! .’ (smiley included) Rarmon had walked up a few corridors he looked into what had probally been clean rooms but 'formally' looted he reached a suite with a safe door some fool had tried shooting the lock with a shotgun. Giving a snort he gave a hard shoulder barge to the hinges the screws jumping from the skirtings of the wood and he was blessed. He walked forward to in his eyes was a dry cleaned overcoat he threw his ragged torn excuse for a coat to the floor taking the new one he slung it on. To his pleasure it fitted he found a blue vest but he wanted a white one but he finally found black he slung off his manky rag of 'white' slipping into the black.

"Might as well look good when fighting?"

He wandered around finding a whole draw full of cloths it seemed to have a mixed selection men and womens he gave a shrug and started to head for the showers again carrying the 'tray' with ease.

As Rarmon went about his way and searched the place for clothes, Kitty kept her vigil at the doorway to the showers. Thankfully, just as Leo and Gavin were finishing up, the cyborg came back carrying a large drawer with him. Quirking her brows, Kitty tilted her head slightly as she saw the way he was now ‘dressed’. To say the least, she was a bit surprised at his choice of ‘clothing’. As he approached then set the drawer down on the floor, Kitty gave a long, appraising whistle, smirking and nodding her head. Her hands moved as she signed to Rarmon.

looking sharp. never knew you had such fashion sense.

Hearing the water from the showers turn off, she glanced quickly over her shoulder then signed once more to Rarmon.

let leo and gavin know clothes here and I go around corner for privacy

Rarmon moved the cigar stub from one side of his mouth to the other and nodded.

“Sure thing.”

As Kitty moved away and turned the corner of the corridor then stopped, she heard Rarmon’s voice tell the guys the coast was clear.

“Got some clothes out here for you two. Coast is clear for you to come out and get ‘em.”

Leo and Gavin both peeked out the door to the showers and looked up and down the corridor. Seeing that Kitty was no where in sight, they quickly picked out some clothes that looked like they would fit and slipped them on as both of them gave Rarmon a rather quizzical look then glanced at each other. Gavin just shrugged. If the robot wanted to wear a dinner jacket, then who were they to say differently? Thankfully the clothes were a good fit. A little loose, but at least they didn’t have to worry about them pinching or being too short. Each one was able to get a pair of faded jeans. Leo chose a blue t-shirt and Gavin took a tan one. Leo was still shrugging into the t-shirt when he called to Kitty.

“Kitty? You there?”

Kitty peered around the corner of the wall and saw Leo tugging his short down and Gavin running his fingers through his wet hair to get it out of his eyes. Nodding, she walked around the corner and towards the men. Leo gave her a welcoming smile and Gavin nodded as Leo spoke up.

“Water’s a little cool, but it does feel good to get that mud and stench off ya. We found some soap and stuff in there. Seems that sort of stuff never goes bad. Damn good thing too. That mud was really stubborn. Go ahead. I’ll keep watch so you can get a shower now.”

Leo gave Rarmon a nod as Kitty handed Leo her gun then slipped into the shower room.

“Thanks, Rarmon. The clothes are good.”

Rarmon took a puff off his cigar stub and nodded.

“No problem.”

“I’ll stay here with Kitty.”

Rarmon nodded and shifted his gun to his other hand.

“Just yell if you need help.”

Leo nodded as the cyborg began to talk away.

“I will. Promise.”

Gavin looked over at Leo.

“You sure you’ll be OK here by yourselves?”

Leo smiled and nodded.

“Yeah. If anything happens we’ll let everyone know. Kinda hard to miss Kitty’s warning.”

Leo chuckled slightly and shook his head as Gavin appeared to roll his eyes.

“Tell me about it.”

Gavin turned and followed behind Rarmon as they headed back to the others.

Leo could hear the water flowing from the shower and heard the water as it hit the hard, tiled shower floor as Kitty washed the mud from her hair and body. He tried not to think of this as anything but him guarding the shower, but he couldn’t help but think of Kitty on the other side of the door. To break the tension he was creating for himself, he called into her.

“When you’re done and need the clothes, just let me know and I’ll slide the drawer into you. That way you don’t have to worry about stepping out into the hallway.”

Knowing Kitty wouldn’t give him an audible reply, he took it on faith she heard what he said. Her hearing was rather good, he convinced himself. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the water was turned off and he concentrated on listening to hear Kitty come up behind him. Being very careful NOT to turn around any at all, he was still taken by surprise when he felt the soft tap to his shoulder and startled slightly.

Dammit. How the hell did he NOT hear her? He bent down and carefully pushed the drawer behind him then quickly stood back up with his back to the door. He heard the drawer being slid over the floor a short ways then all went silent again. A few minutes later, Kitty walked out of the shower tugging the bottom of a thin strapped shirt down. She chose a pair of shorts that once more exposed her striped legs. Carrying her hiking boots in her hand, she handed Leo his boots as well. Both pairs were wet, but void of the mud that had nearly sucked them off their feet.

Like Leo, Kitty’s hair was wet and while it no longer dripped from the tips, it was slicked back by her fingers and fell haphazardly over her brow. Giving Leo a small smile, she signed her thanks then thumbed over her shoulder before she signed once more.

help carry drawer up to others?

It took Leo a few seconds to understand what she was asking but when he got it, he nodded.

“Sure…let’s go.”

Each one carried their boots in one hand and in their free hand they each carried an end of the drawer and made their way back to the others. Now that Kitty had the mud washed off her body, she kept picking up on that scent she caught a slight whiff of earlier. She knew it was warm blooded. And male. That was about all, right now, but she was going to find out exactly what it was as soon as she could. She wanted to know who was in the place with them.

When they came back up to the others, she and Leo set the drawer down and she signed to Tom.

water is nice. your turn. i go to keep guard. choose clothes to take with you.

Kitty glanced at Leo then looked back to Tom and signed again.

when done, we go search. can smell other. want to make sure not threat. need to find food and drinking water as well

Tom, signed back a thank you and to be careful. He then rested a hand gently on the creatures arm and motioned for him to sit and wait, that he would return shorty. Tom then selected another t-shirt and jeans from the drawer and moved off towards the showers. The creature stood and followed Tom, ducking to get under the door way of the shower room that housed the shower room and locker area. Tom disrobed and stepped into the shower, turned on one of the showers and began to clean himself. The creature watched curriously then stepped into the large shower room, Tom reached over and turned on two shower heads in a corner. The creature tentatively stepped into the multiple steams and sat on the floor as the cool water cascaded down over him.

Tom stepped back to his showerhead and continued to bath, when he had finished he turned off the shower, stepped over and turned off the two showers that had been cascading down over the creature, then stepped back. The creature stood and shook himself, sending a spray of water through out the shower.
Tim smiled and said "You fell better now my furry friend?" He then stepped out and dried himself and put the new clothes on. Tim then walked back out to where the others were with his hair still damp from his shower.

Plymuth couldn't sleep. For the past half of an hour or so the ancient pipes in the building had been squealing and it occurred to him that the building like most before the cataclysm probably used a coil system on the roof, much like they had in Avalon. Large black hoses were coiled on the roof tops and the sun would heat the water, then gravity and a series of smaller hoses generated the water pressure. It also meant that someone, somewhere was showering and they either left the water running or there was more than one person. Probably those brigands cleaning up after their mud bath he supposed, who else would it be?

He closed his eyes once more. With the other strangers in the building, Texan would probably be a little more concerned with them than seeking vengeance for his broken nose. Confident in his theory, Plymuth relaxed and began to believe that he may yet get some sleep after all.