@Al: The cold rain is falling a bit sideways by the time you step to the door of the Heave Ho. There is a tug at your sleeve and the waitress is looking at you. “Mister, you left way to much money. Are you sure you want to tip this much?”

Outside, the rain is falling at an angle, not sideways yet, but the cooling breeze is certainly pushing it. The light drizzle has picked up and is now a good rain and it looks to be getting worse. Stepping out the door, you are pelted by drops blowing in under the awning when you hear the waitress calling to you again. “Wait, mister.” The waitress steps outside and hands you an umbrella. “Take this. It is pretty cheap, but it works. Bring it back some day or keep it. I can get another with the tip you just gave me. Thanks.” There is water on her face, but it is probably just rain, right?

@John: The reapplication of the medkit means that you have to place her down somewhere and it takes a few minutes to find a spot where some rubble from part of a collapsed wall forms a small shelf that is large enough for you to put her down on and attach the leads so the kit can do its work. The biomonitor lets you know that her condition has improved a bit and you resume your progress.

As time passes, you are convinced the someone is following you just out of the range of your ultrasound and radar scanners. How they know exactly when to move forward and stop is eerie, but you know they are there, just waiting for you to drop your guard. Twice, you hear the scurrying of feet splashing in the muck ahead of you accompanied by whispered voices that you are just a bit too soft for you to understand what is being said.

Twenty minutes into your trek, you round a corner and your sensors tell you that you are approaching a small human crouched over a large rat that it is gnawing on……………..at least you hope it is a rat. The creature looks up at you, snarls something guttural, and flees off ahead of you.

115