Chapter 20: Marauders

January 27, 2024 6:26 AM

Derek's bellowing voice began to echo in the shed, heralding a much too early wake up call for Sanders. He grumbled to himself as he rolled over and tried to rub the tiredness away. It was still rather dark out, but the slight yellow of sunrise was moving up the horizon. Thankfully, Pyrrha proved far easier to awaken than the day before, though she still looked annoyed by it. Gabby, on the other hand, jumped right up as if it was noon and didn't seem bothered in the least, much to Sanders' annoyance.

It took about half an hour for the camp to be broken down and the supplies put away. Another ten or so minutes saw everyone on board the platform and Samantha relayed the all clear. Sanders' got Pyrrha up after a bit of prodding and she let out a long drawn out yawn as she stretched out. Finally, she moved out of the shed and the expedition got back to moving toward Lindale.

The morning air was bitingly cold and, quickly, blasted away any lingering tiredness from Sanders. He was tempted to snuggle up to Pyrrha's warm ear, but he was worried its warmth would quickly put him to sleep. Instead, he tried to puff out his fur coat as much as he could and cursed himself for losing the pants of his armor. Those would have been so much warmer than these makeshift clothing. At least Pyrrha's body heat keep his feet from freezing.

"Fuck it's cold. Sanders, do something to distract me from the cold," Gabby ordered. She squatted down to be closer to Pyrrha's heat, but keep a tight grip on her hair to keep from falling from her jarring steps.

"I could push you off, would that be distracting enough?" Sanders said in a mocking voice. He let go of Pyrrha's hair long enough to rub his arms along himself. With them warmed a bit from his heat and the friction, he grabbed Pyrrha's hair just into time for another step.

"Hehehe, very funny, asshole. We both know that if it came down to that your ass is the one who is taking a plunge," Gabby shot back with a slight grin. She tried Sanders' trick from before, but nearly fell over when she didn't grab on fast enough.

"If it was just me and you fighting, but I have a rather big advantage here," Sanders said with a confident smile. As if in response, Pyrrha's ears twitched and she gave a soft meow. Gabby rolled her eyes at that.

"Pfft, whatever. Could beat you and your pussy," she said with a confident look. Sanders almost thought she actually believed that with the way she looked, but she was probably just faking it. No way she believed she could take a catgirl on.

The two were silent for a few seconds as the sun, finally, began to crest the horizon. The sunlight was a very welcome sight, doubly so its warmth, and Sanders felt the cold chill of morning start to fade. As it did, Sanders remembered something he had been meaning to ask Gabby.

"By the way, Gabby, I told you how I wound up where we meet, but I think Pyrrha interrupted us before you said how you wound up there. Mind telling me now that we have some time?" he asked. Gabby's face seemed to darken a bit before she got a forced smile.

"Ye...yeah sure. I almost forgot about that," Gabby said with a look that seemed disappointed. Sanders was a bit confused by that till a thought hit him. Maybe she hadn't told him because she didn't want to.

"If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to. Trust me, I fully understand not wanting to relive painful memories," Sanders said, putting on his best sympathetic look. Gabby shook her head as she looked a bit confused.

"Huh? Oh no, its not painful just it's...early and I'm still a bit asleep," Gabby said as she rubbed her head a bit. Sanders raised his eyebrow in suspicion at that. Gabby hadn't looked a bit asleep since the moment they woke up, she sure as hell didn't look it now. She was, obviously, lying but Sanders couldn't figure out why. What was she trying to hide?

Suddenly, it hit Sanders as he thought back to how she had always acted. Of course, it WAS a painful memory but Gabby's pride would never let her admit that. He lowered his eyebrow and tried his best to hide his realization so he wouldn't make the memory worse for Gabby. Thankfully, she didn't seem to catch on that he had figured out what she was doing and pressed on.

"Well, I spent a few days just trying to hunt down animals for food and clothing. Once I got enough fur to keep from nearly freezing to death and made me a few weapons, spears and that sort of crap, I started heading south. Figured my best chance was to get back to I-75 and run into a Ranger patrol or...hell something. Probably not the best plan, but what else was I supposed to do?" Gabby said with a shrug. She looked out past Pyrrha's head as she seemed lost in thought for a second.

"Keep traveling for two weeks or so till I ran into a trader caravan. They weren't too friendly at first, but once I offered to trade some meat and furs for stuff, they changed their tune. Had to trade away a nice bear skin for that piece of shit gun I was using and about half my food for the ammo, but thing made it a hell of a lot easier to catch stuff. They, also, told me about the attack on the New Atlanta base and that their was a rumor that someone had escaped from the base while riding a catmonster. I...just assumed that had been Isabella's doing. Figured only she would be crazy enough to try something like that and, since they shrunk me, they might have shrunk her. Never really...really crossed my mind she might be..." Gabby trailed off as she lowered her head. She took a deep breath as her hands tightened into fists. Sanders sighed to himself and wished he hadn't brought this up.

"So...so I asked them where the Resistance met up when they planned to attack the Society, figuring Isabella would head there if she was on the run. They, of course, laughed in my face and told me there was no such thing. But, they did tell me about the Phoenixes and how they were still fighting the Society pretty regularly. Guessed they were my best chance of finding Isabella, or at least getting revenge, so I headed toward them. Took me a few more weeks of travel to get to their territory, and a bit of sneaking to get past their people, but I managed to slip through and...well you know the rest," Gabby said as she glanced toward, but not at, Sanders.

Sanders was a bit...confused by that story. It seemed too...convenient and just didn't seem plausible. He had been on the run for a good long while himself and had never seen any traders. Granted, he WAS riding on a catgirl the entire time so they might not have wanted to be seen, but still. In fact, it sounded a lot like a lie, but...but why would Gabby lie about this? Not wanting to tell a painful memory was one thing, but to outright lie to him... Why wo-

A sudden thought hit him as he realized Gabby had said nothing about someone else. Someone he had almost completely forgotten about.

"I see...so you don't know if Alice is alive?" Sanders asked as he did his best to hide his emotions.

"N-No, why would I? She went south to Savannah, remember? No way I could find her," Gabby said a little too quickly and with a deer in headlights look. Didn't take a genius to guess that was a lie. She did know, but why was she trying to hide that? Unless...

"She's dead isn't she?" Sanders said as his stomach fell out under him. Fuck...that had to be it. Gabby hadn't asked about Alice at all when she had come on and had been dancing around telling what had happened to herself. The two of them must have, somehow, meet up only for Alice to wind up dead. That would explain why it had been painful and why Gabby didn't want to talk about it. She was the type to try and keep that information to herself in order to protect Sanders.

Gabby looked a bit dumbstruck by that statement and bumbled out a few wha noises. He starred at her as she tried to form words before she sighed and shook her head.

"Yeah...yeah she's dead. It-" she started to say before Sanders interrupted her.

"I don't want to know, or want you to have to relive it. I'm...sorry for pushing you to have to say it," Sanders said as he turned back forward as the empty filling became worse. Yet another person dead because of all this...yet another person he owed it to to find Manchent's cache. How many more would be added to that number before this was over?

Gabby closed her mouth and looked away as Sanders went back to focusing on where they were going. At least...at least he could lose himself in making sure they got to Lindale as fast as possible.

They traveled in silence for a number of hours after that. Gabby seemed content to just stare off the side into nothing while Sanders tried to think of anything but the lose of yet another friend. The pain was only made worse but the fact that Alice had been the last giantess who would have taken their side without issue. With Gabby shrunk, and both Isabella and Alice dead, there was no other giantesses he could guarantee would side with them. The only other giantess he could think to maybe, and it was a big maybe, trust was Morgan. But he had no idea where she was or what she had been told about Sanders. Considering what Trent and the rest had been told, though...

Sanders shock his thoughts away as Pyrrha crested a small hill. Ahead of them was a large open field that had once been farm land back before the shrink. The forest was starting to spread into the farmlands, but hadn't taken it over completely. Dead stalks of wheat were lying in the parts of the field where the other plants hadn't spread yet and made little pockets of dull grey in a sea of brown. Pity it was not spring as Sanders could imagine this place was gorgeous when everything was blooming. Then again, this scene seemed to fit his mood far better.

Pyrrha sniffed the air for a second before heading down the hill toward the old farmland. She did her best to avoid the young, barren trees in the area, but they were too close together for her to avoid stepping on a few. They splintered and broke apart without much resistance, but did so with a good deal of noise. Sanders hoped no other ferals or Society members were nearby. The latter was unlikely this far north, but Wilderness Rangers were known for going rather far in their ranging.

They had gotten about a quarter of the way through the area when Pyrrha came to a stop. Her ears perked up a bit and shifted a little. Sanders watched them with a practiced eye, hoping that they would shoot up in excitement, meaning food, rather than flatten out, for danger. They did neither, however, as they keep twitching and shifting as if confused by what she was hearing.

"What is it, Pyrrha?" he asked as he rubbed her ears. Pyrrha gave a low meow as she tilted her head in confusion. Sanders strained to hear what she was hearing, but couldn't seem to make it out. He was about to tell her to just get moving, and hope whatever it was went away, when he managed to hear the odd noise. It sounded like...a whining noise? Yes...it was a high pitched whine-like noise that sounded like it was getting closer...it sounded oddly familiar, but Sanders couldn't place why.

"Do you hear that?" he asked Gabby as she nodded.

"Yeah...sounds kinda like...an RC car?" Gabby said. Sanders snapped his fingers and nodded in agreement. YES, that was it, it sounded like an RC car! But...what the he-

"SANDERS! GET US MOVING, NOW!!" Samantha yelled from behind Pyrrha's head. Sanders glanced back in her direction, in confusion, and was about to ask why when he got his answer.

Movement got both he and Gabby to turn to see five...vehicles, at least that is what they looked like, tearing their way through the small trees. Each looked to be an RC car that had been heavily modified and rigged into something more in line with a Mad Maxx movie. Sanders eyes widened as he noticed they were all armed with large weapons on their tops or sides. And they were coming straight for them.

"Ohhhh shit..." Gabby said as Sanders swore to himself. He turned back to Pyrrha and tightened his grip.

"Pyrrha, run. RUN!"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"DEFENSIVE POSITIONS! Judith, Marcus, Colton, start pulling rockets out of storage! MAKE SURE YOU KEEP A HOLD ON SOMEONE! We can lose rockets, but we are not losing you!" Derek yelled over Pyrrha's booming steps and the general roar of activity. The three people he had called out nodded and unhooked from the platform. They started to move toward the storage shed with the ammo by grabbing onto one person with one hand and waiting till they grabbed someone else before moving up. They traded grips like that as they headed along, never not having a grip on someone.

"Susan, get to the rear and take command! If the Marauders try to hit the back, drop the spare fuel on them!" Derek yelled to Susan as he moved away from the command area. He keep his stance as wide as possible as he moved along the platform to Pyrrha's right side, the side the Marauders were racing toward them on. He grabbed a secured person when he could, but didn't always have that luxury. He needed to hurry and reach the Oval before Pyrrha got up to a full run or he would never get to it.

"If you have rockets, pass them forward till they reach the Oval! I want every armed rocket we have sitting by the Oval and ready to be used! Those behind the Oval, keep the spare rockets and load them as empty ones come back!" Derek yelled out as he, finally, reached the Oval. He found a spare hook and connected himself down before unslinging his laser cannon from his back. It was a good thing he had keep it in the command area as he would not have had time to dig it out, otherwise.

Derek looked down the line of the Oval and saw the soldiers on it grabbing rockets from the people behind them, checking over their weapons, or crouched down behind their metal cover in anticipation. Everyone had a launcher now, thankfully, and more were streaming in from the rest of the expedition, along with ammo from the shed. Down at the other end of the Oval, Derek could just barely make out Gerard yelling orders of his own. Derek would have preferred Susan to be in charge down there, but Darius had overridden him. At least Susan would be close in case of the worst.

"Listen up! Keep low and close to your cover! Wait for my order to fire, then keeping firing till I tell you to stop! Make sure you lead your target and, most of all, keep yourselves alive!" Derek yelled out as the vehicles began to close in on them. Derek could count five Marauder vehicles all with various weapons strapped to them. Thankfully, none of them looked to be full-sized guns or weapons, just jury-rigged mounted weapons. More dangerous than their own guns, to be sure, but not something that could put Pyrrha down with one shot like a full-sized gun.

"Henderson, I need that cannon now!" Darius yelled out, his voice amplified by the jury-rigged megaphone Ollie had made from the radio. Derek risked a glance back and saw Henderson shake his head before making a slowly rising needle with his hand, the hand sign for still pressurizing. Damn, the air cannon could have deterred this attack before it even started, but it could take a minute or two to fully pressurize. They were going to have to fight the Marauders off till then.

"Make it go faster, I don't care what it takes!" Darius yelled back in response before taking cover himself. Some people might consider that cowardice to hide while Derek and the rest fought, but Derek didn't see it that way. Darius was their leader and getting himself killed would only throw them into chaos. In that sense, it was braver to swallow his pride and keep safe than put himself, and by extension everyone else, in danger.

Derek turned back forward and swore as the Marauders began to gain on them. They were coming up on their right side and were getting closer and closer, despite Pyrrha running at full speed. Even with the platform's shock absorbers, Derek had to hold on to keep from being shaken about by Pyrrha's run. He was just glad Sanders was keeping her on all fours as they would never have been unable to fight back if they were all sideways.

Derek watched the Marauder vehicles and made sure his laser cannon was charged as they slowly moved to be parallel with Pyrrha. The five of them stayed together and lurked just outside their range, as if debating what to do. Not surprising considering they had rolled up on a catmonster that had people riding it. If he was in their shoes, he would be hanging back and wondering what to do as well.

Derek hoped that they would decide this was too much for them and pull off. Or, failing that, they would wait long enough for the air cannon to be ready. Neither came to pass, however, as the jury-rigged vehicles split off and began to move in to attack. Four came toward them while one hung back. Derek cursed as the first one came racing toward his section of the Oval. The vehicle had two large guns on its side and was falling back to get behind Pyrrha's arms.

"Open fire!" Derek yelled as a barrage of rockets went sailing toward the vehicle. The vehicle weaved and dodged most of the rockets, but two smashed into its hull and sent bits of scrap metal flying. However, the armored vehicle was still running, having only lost a bit of its armor. Derek swore as he powered up his laser to try it.

Derek risked standing as he brought the cannon to his waist. He charged it to full before sending a lance of energy into the side of the vehicle. The laser punched a smoking hole into the vehicle before a small explosion erupted out of the vehicle. His laser must have hit something important because the vehicle swerved away from them and began to slowly coast to a stop.

A cheer went up from the soldiers near him and Derek smiled as he made a mental note to add a vehicle to his weapon now. The cheer died down, however, as someone yelled out in alarm.

"TAKE COVER!" one of the people on the Oval yelled and Derek dived down just in time as a mass of bullets came flying toward them. Derek cursed as he heard people cry out in pain as some of the bullets found their target, but he only saw one or two go down. He risked a quick glance up and saw another vehicle moving toward them, this one with a large, armored turret on top. The turret had a number of guns on it that spun around to create a low-tech gatling gun and was sending a hail of lead at them to keep them pinned.

Derek swore as he looked back toward Darius. He hand signaled him for help and Darius nodded in understanding. He grabbed the megaphone before risking a quick glance out of cover.

"Gerard, Derek's side is pinned! Provide support!" he yelled before getting back into cover. Derek tried to see what Gerard was doing, but the mass of people in his way made it impossible to see. Derek peeked back out, barely avoiding a bullet that struck right near him, and saw the vehicle moving toward Pyrrha's hand. Dammit, any minute it would turn its gun from them to her. While those bullets wouldn't put her down, it would slow her and that could be just as deadly with four Marauders vehicles after them.

Derek was about to just risk a shot from his laser when a single rocket slammed into the top of the vehicle. Derek was about to cuss out Gerard for thinking one rocket would do anything when he noticed the fireball didn't go away. In fact, it seemed to spread as the vehicle began to catch fire. The turret stopped firing as the vehicle, suddenly, swerved away. The flames on it only spread as it swerved back and forth before careening straight into a large, rusted, tractor left out in the field. Derek glanced over and saw Gerard laughing like crazy as he put another of his canisters into his launcher. Derek never thought he would be glad for Gerard's pyromania, but he was now.

Derek got up and looked over the situation. Three vehicles were still in the fight, though one was hanging back away from the battle. The other two looked a good bit bigger than the first two and seemed to be old RC trucks the Marauders had turned into vehicles. Both had large turrets on top along with a number of smaller ones on their sides. They were armored to the point of looking more like virtual tanks than trucks and were, slowly, rolling up into range. Derek swore as he tried to guess where the driver was. If he could hit the vehicle just right, his cannon should kill the driver. Sadly, the thing looked like it had been designed to purposely hide the driver.

"Pour it on, Phoenixes!" Derek ordered as his soldiers got back up and fired at the approaching vehicle. Derek added his own fire and aimed for the turrets to take them out of action first. Their rockets smashed into the lead vehicle and sent bits of armor flying off, but the large vehicle seemed to be barely dented by the rockets. Derek's laser had better luck, slicing through the front vehicle's turret and causing it to stop moving completely. The second vehicle was greeted with a similar attack from Gerard's men, but, like the first, seemed barely damage. Even worse, Gerard's fire rocket didn't spread as well on the large vehicle as it did the smaller one. Rather than engulf it in flame, it only set part of it on fire.

Derek cursed to himself as he recharged his laser. Their rockets weren't doing anything to these behemoths which meant his laser was the only weapon they had. He had to find their drivers and fast. He fired another shot, but the large vehicle keep on moving closer to them and into range of Pyrrha's limbs. He swore as he fired a second and a third shot, but still it keep coming. Fuck, where was the damn driver?! He had to find him!

Suddenly, Pyrrha screamed in pain as Derek heard a loud boom come from behind them. Derek snapped around and saw the second vehicle's turret smoking from where it had fired its gun. Fuck, he had completely forgotten about it. The cannon had blasted into Pyrrha's leg and Derek could see bits of red being left behind them. He swore as he felt them slow a bit as Pyrrha tried to keep running, but her gasping and groaning made it obvious she couldn't keep this up. Derek growled as he raised his laser, ready to get revenge on the Ma-

He never finished the thought as a loud WHOOSH drowned out all other noise. Derek winced at the noise before watching in joy as the rear vehicle crumpled in on itself. The front part of the vehicle went flying up and forward while the back smashed itself into a large round ball that had suddenly appeared in its middle. The vehicle came apart in less than a second with sparks, bits of metal, flesh, and flames flying everywhere.

Derek glanced back and saw Henderson laughing as he pumped his arm in triumphant. Taylor had moved to the Oval and was already sending targeting information for the second vehicle through hand signs. The air cannon was working and still had two shots left before it needed to recharge. Just enough to finish off these Marauders.

The last two Marauders vehicles wasted no time as they broke off and began to race away from them. The larger vehicle slowly turned to move away as Taylor was getting the cannon lined up for a second shot.

"Everyone stand down! Let them go, we need to conserve the ammo!" Darius yelled through the megaphone as Taylor gave the cut off sign. Henderson throw up his hands in disgust as he shock his head in anger. Derek could understand his frustration. It wasn't everyday they had a chance to put the hurt on the Marauders like this. Still, taking out three of their vehicles, one of which was one of their larger ones, was a bloody nose. But the cost...

Derek turned and looked to see six people all laying on the platform, blood pooled around them. Thankfully, all six were still alive and looked to have either been patched up or patched themselves up during the fight. However, they were not the only ones injured. As the vehicles took off away from them and retreated back the way they came, Pyrrha began to slow to a crawl. She groaned and moaned in pain before she collapsed to the ground, sending a few people banging into the, thankfully, padded platform. She let out a low whine as she tried to rise, but stopped before giving out another painful whine.

"I want Doctor Kimberly out here ASAP and down to look at Pyrrha's wound! The nurses can treat the wounded while she is with me! Derek, you are with me, Gerard, make sure the Oval is resupplied, restocked, and re maned! William, take as many people you think you need and set up a perimeter in case the Marauders come back! Jimmy, make sure the platform wasn't damaged! Everyone else, get rearmed and ready to repeal an attack!" Darius yelled out as he came out of cover, pointing toward people for added effect. As the platform exploded into activity, Darius moved toward the ladders leading down to Pyrrha's right side. Derek unhooked himself from the platform and moved to meet Darius, weaving through people as he went. They meet at one of the ladders and Derek unlatched it and sent it down. It clanged to the ground just as a figure caught their eyes. Sanders went running past heading straight for Pyrrha's leg and looked paler than a ghost. They both looked down toward Pyrrha's leg and could see the blood already pooling out. This was bad...very, very bad.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sanders paced back and forth as he watched Kimberly look over Pyrrha's wound. The cannon had blasted a huge chunk of her skin off and left a massive wound on the side of her calf. The hole was, almost, as big as Sanders and was so deep he could see muscle. Pyrrha's groans of pain were getting worse as Kimberly looked over it with a worried look.

Finally, she came back over to him, Darius, and Derek. Her face was a bit pale as she took a deep breath and whipped some of the blood off.

"Its bad...really bad. I doubt she will be able to walk at all for a few days, and that is if she is treated which is, itself, a problem. There are still bits of shrapnel in her, but I could dig them out once my nurses come down. The real problem is closing and sterilizing the wound. Even if I used every bit of our medical supplies, I wouldn't be able to treat a wound this big. But if I don't treat it, it's only a matter of time till it gets infected. Once that happens..." Kimberly trailed off before shaking her head. She glanced over at Sanders and gave him a sympathetic look as she turned away. Sanders felt lightheaded as he heard the news and it took actual effort for him not to fall over. No...not Pyrrha...he couldn't lose her too.

Darius let out a long sigh as he looked down at the ground while Derek swore under his breath and looked like he wanted to kick something.

"We can't lose Pyrrha at this junction, Darius. The Marauders know we are here and those two cars that go-" Derek started to say before Darius interrupted him.

"I know, Derek...I know all to well..." Darius said as he started to pace around in thought. Sanders heard them and saw them, but didn't feel like he was even there. All he could think about was that he was about to lose yet another friend. Another person was going to die in front of him and he was going to be powerless to stop it, yet again. There had to be something he could, something to he-

Sanders nearly slapped his own forehead as his brain, finally, worked through the despair to remind him that Pyrrha was a catgirl. And catgirls could heal their wounds from eating! Dammit, he had been so busy being terrified of losing her he had completely forgotten that for a moment.

"We are not going to lose her. We just need to get her some food so she can heal the wound," Sanders said as Darius and Derek looked over to him. The coined dropped for Derek as he got a similar "oh duh" look, but Darius' look didn't change.

"Yes, but where do we get the food? That battle we had is sure to have scared off any game in this area and I doubt Pyrrha would find wheat appetizing," Darius said without stopping his pacing. Sanders cursed as he realized Darius was right. Any deer or anything like that would be long gone after all the noise that fight made. As for the wheat, he wasn't sure Pyrrha could even eat plants as all she had ever eaten was meat. Not to mention all of it was dead thanks to the biting cold of winter.

"There...there might be another source of meat we could use," Derek, hesitantly, said. He had a look on his face that made it obvious he didn't like this option, but was giving it anyway. Sanders was curious about this idea, but Darius barely glanced over at him.

"To use our own food supplies? Yes, I have been considering it from the very beginning. I have just been...loathe to do it," Darius admitted as he stopped his pacing and looked right at Pyrrha's wound. Derek didn't seem surprised by that and nodded in understanding. Use their own food supplies? That...would work, but then what the hell were they supposed to eat?

"Use our food? Are you trying to starve us all?" Kimberly said, having overheard the conversation. Darius gave her an annoyed glare, but Derek was the one to speak up.

"Its either that or wait till the Marauders come in force to kill us all. Those two vehicles that escaped will go and get a larger force before coming back. And without Pyrrha, we will be sitting ducks for them. It'll be a slaughter, not a battle," Derek said looking just as frustrated with the situation as Kimberly was. Kimberly, however, didn't back down as she turned and moved toward them, her clothing now stained with Pyrrha's blood.

"And who's fault was it that two of them escaped? We could have taken them out and not had that problem if someone hadn't called Henderson off," Kimberly said as she stopped a few inches from Darius. Darius' eyes narrowed at her as they locked stares. Great, Pyrrha was hurt and these two were having an ego fight.

"The smaller one was too far away for even Henderson to hit so there was no way to stop it. By leaving the larger one intact as well, the smaller one will slow to match speed with it. Meaning, rather than racing off at full speed back to where the Marauders are, it will move at the top speed of the larger, slower, vehicle, thus delaying their counter-attack. Now, do you wish to take command, Doctor, or do you want to help your patient?" Darius said with an annoyed tone. Sanders was a bit surprised now that he heard Darius' reasons for letting the Marauders go. He had figured it was just to save ammo, but that explanation made it sound more like a measured tactical decision.

Despite Darius' explanation, Kimberly's stare only hardened. Sanders wished Jimmy was here to break this up and was debating doing it himself when Kimberly, finally, backed down. She gave no apology or anything, just simply turned away and went back to doing what little she could for Pyrrha's wound. Both Sanders and Derek let out a sigh of relief as the stand off ended. Darius turned back to them and went back to his usual emotionless mask.

"We are in agreement then that our own food supplies are our only choice?" Darius asked with just a hint of anger still in his voice. Sanders nodded along with Derek as Kimberly shook her head in disgust. Sanders understood why Kimberly was angry, they were giving away most, if not all, their food for this. However, he agreed with Derek that there really was no choice. Without Pyrrha they wouldn't reach Lindale and they sure as hell couldn't outrun these Marauders on foot. They either got Pyrrha back on her feet, or died. As horrid as it was, the risk of some dying from starvation was better than them all being slaughtered. You couldn't save everyone... but he could save some of them.

"Once we get Pyrrha healed, I'll make sure she hunts down any packs of boars, deers, or anything like that she finds. Hopefully, we will run across enough of them to keep us all fed. Cooking them might be a problem, though," Sanders said, realizing the problem with that plan just as he said it. Pyrrha had no problem eating meat raw, but them...And cook fires were sure to draw unwanted attention to them.

"We can deal with that when we come to that bridge. For now, we need to get Pyrrha back on her feet and leave this area as quickly as possible. We have no way of knowing how close the main Marauder force might be so the sooner we leave, the better. Derek, head up and get a food line organized to bring food to Pyrrha. Sanders, make sure Pyrrha is safe to feed and, when you get a chance, come up and speak to me. We need to come up with a new route now that the Marauders know we are here. Kimberly, get the shrapnel out as quickly as you can and have your nurses report how healed the wound is. Once its he-" he was interrupted as Kimberly finished for herself.

"Tell them to stop feeding the cat, yeah I know. Now would you all leave me the hell alone so I can do my job?" she said with an angry glare back at them. Darius let out an annoyed sigh and shook his head, but didn't look back at Kimberly.

"Very well, Doctor Hambly," Darius said before heading off toward the ladder. Derek made sure to fall in close behind as Kimberly whirled around in fury. She looked about to say something, but stopped as she saw them both retreating. She turned back around and let out an angry growl.

Sanders was about to follow them, but stopped as he thought of something. He turned and opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't seem to find the words. Finally, he managed to spit it out.

"Thanks for helping Pyrrha. I know you don't like her or-" he started to say before Kimberly stopped and turned on him. She gave him a stern stare before turning back to her work.

"Or you? No, I don't. I think you are an idiot playing at being a hero while having no idea what a hero is even supposed to do. Hope needs a real hero and all you are is a fake one to fool the desperate. Worse of all, the only reason you are even remotely important is because of this giant cat you happen to have tamed. A giant cat that is a threat, hell the biggest threat, to everyone on this trip. However, that is all personal stuff that has no bearing on my professional obligations. Like or don't like, I am still a doctor and a doctor helps the injured and cures the sick. Now beat it before I decide to stop being a Doctor Kimberly and go back to being just Kimberly," Kimberly said without even glancing back at Sanders.

Sanders felt anger forming as she said he was playing hero. He never wanted to be a hero, it was all Darius' damn idea. Yet here she was judging him on that fact. However, it was her saying Pyrrha was still a threat that set his blood to boiling.  After all she had done for them; taking down a giantess, getting the food and wood they needed to house and feed their people, transporting them to Lindale, AND taking a fucking cannon shot, she still thought Pyrrha was a threat?! He could deal with her slamming him, but slamming Pyrrha after she had just gotten wounded defending them? In that moment, Kimberly couldn't have looked more unlike Isabella if she had tried. She might be physically similar, but the two of them were night and day in how they acted. And he had thought he wanted to get to know her...

"You are right that I am no hero, I know that better than anyone, but for you to say Pyrrha is a threat... She just took a fucking cannon shot for you and the rest of the Phoenixes and you STILL think she is dangerous?! What the hell does she have to do for you to trust her, huh? Want her to bring you back the head of the Matriarchs or deliver a shrink gun to you? Would that prove that she is on our side or would she still be a threat?! And where do you get off judging me and Pyrrha?  Neither of us seem to want to be an utter bitch about everything and pick ego fights with Darius every chance we get. Even when we are all sitting here in clear danger and in need of a plan sooner rather than later! No, let's keep arguing and fighting ourselves till the Marauders roll back up to shut us up! Some fucking Doctor you are, putting everyone here in danger just to satisfy some stupid hatred you have for Darius. Why don't you just STAY acting like Doctor Kimberly and tell normal Kimberly that we got enough problems without her adding to them?!" Sanders yelled before storming away from Kimberly.

He didn't even turn to see what kind of face she had on as he stomped his way back to Pyrrha's head. Fucking cunt, why the hell was she even here? Couldn't heal Pyrrha, constantly talking down to him and Pyrrha, and picking fights with Darius over the stupidest shit.

His anger slowly simmered down as he came around Pyrrha's head to her face. Samantha was slowly rubbing her cheek and trying to soothe her before she glanced over to Sanders. Pyrrha was starting to turn a bit paler and she gave a soft whine as she looked over toward him. Sanders' anger was snuffed out with concern as he moved over to her. He hugged her cheek as she gave a weak purr in response.

"It's going to be OK, Pyrrha. Derek is getting you some food to eat so we can heal your leg. You'll be back up and ready to move soon, just bare it a bit longer," he told her in his best soothing voice. She nuzzled a bit closer into him and purred louder in response.

"How...how was it?" Samantha asked from behind Sanders. Sanders nearly jumped in surprise from her sudden question, having nearly forgotten she was there. He got his heart rate back down before he answered.

"It...it wasn't good. That bi-" Sanders caught himself, "Kimberly, said she needs treatment if she is going to be able to walk again. But the wound is too big for her to treat." Sanders felt a bit of his anger coming back as he thought back to Kimberly. Before it could boil over, though, Samantha spoke up again.

"What...what are we going to do then?" she asked looking a bit worried about the answer. Sanders shoved his anger aside as he gave her a soothing smile to try and calm her.

"Nothing like what you are thinking. Since catgirls can heal their wounds if they eat something, we are going to give her the storied food we have. Hopefully, there is enough to heal the wound. As for us...well we will just have to hope we can hunt enough food along the way. But, its either that or we stay and wait till those Marauders come back," Sanders said as Samantha's worried look faded away.

"Oh good. In that case, they need to hurry up with that food. The Marauders could come back any minute and we are in no shape to fend them off again," Samantha said, going back to her usual demeanor. Sanders nodded in agreement, happy to see Samantha back to her usual self.

Suddenly, a loud crash caused all of them to jump in surprise, even Pyrrha. Samantha went dashing to Pyrrha's side to see what the noise was as Pyrrha started to try and get up. Sanders managed to stop her, thankfully, and rubbed her cheek to try and calm her back down. Pyrrha's breathing slowed back to normal as Samantha came back around her shoulder.

"What was that?" Sanders asked as another loud crash came from the same area. Pyrrha snapped to attention again and Sanders had to calm her back down before Samantha answered.

"It's just Derek and a few others tossing boxes down to the ground. He decided lowering the crates one-by-one with the crane would take too long so their just tossing the boxes with meat d-" he sentence was interrupted by another crash. Sanders turned back to Pyrrha to soothe her, but she seemed unconcerned with the noise now. Instead, she was sniffing the air and a bit of drool began to form on her mouth. Her stomach rumbled a bit as she looked at Sanders and gave a soft whine.

"H-Hu...Hungry," Pyrrha managed to stammer out as she gave Sanders a pleading look. Sanders patted her nose and smiled at her.

"I know. Don't worry their bringing you some food," Sanders said with a soothing tone. Samantha dashed off to Pyrrha's side again while Sanders tried to keep Pyrrha from getting antsy. It was a losing battle, though, as she keep glancing to her side where the food was.

"Pyrrha, no! Stay here and they will bring the food. You need to stay still so Kimberly can fix your leg and the people on you don't get thrown off. Pyrrha? PYRRHA!" Sanders yelled in anger. She glanced back at him for a second or two before turning to face the side where the food was. He swore as he saw the arm on her opposite side start to move and realized she was about to move, despite his protests.

"PYRRHA DON'T YOU MOVE!" he yelled as loud as he could, getting Pyrrha to stop for a second. She turned away and looked about to ignore him when Samantha came around her shoulder. Sanders let out a sigh of relief as Samantha moved toward Pyrrha with her arms full of strips of jerky.

"Are you getting impatient, Pyrrha? You should know better than that. Now be a good girl and stay or you won't be getting anything," Samantha said with a bright smile. Pyrrha's arm went back to resting as she noticed the food in Samantha's arms. She eyed in hungrily and her mouth began to open.

Suddenly, Sanders had the horrifying mental image of Pyrrha rocketing forward and swallowing both Samantha and the jerky whole. He had seen the feral from so long ago do the same damn thing.... Doc had thought he was save past those boxes... His blood ran cold as he started to move between them, but it was too late. Pyrrha's mouth opened and came forward, her tongue rolling out a bit. Sanders heart froze in terror as Pyrrha's tongue reached Samantha's legs and... stopped. Samantha wrinkled her nose a bit as she dropped the jerky onto Pyrrha's tongue before turning away in disgust.

"Ugh, we need to get you some mouth wash or something, your breath is terrible, Pyrrha," Samantha said as Pyrrha pulled her tongue back into her mouth and closed it around the little, to her, pile of jerky. She swallowed the pile without any chewing and got a slight smile on her face.

Sanders nearly collapsed in relief as Pyrrha closed her mouth. Sweet Jesus that was...if she had...if that had...fuck there...there were no words... Instead, he just flopped onto Pyrrha's cheek and tried to recover from that near panic attack. Pyrrha gave a confused meow at his sudden "hug" while Samantha gave him a worried look.

"Are you alright, Sanders?" she said. Sanders nodded and waved her off.

"Yeah...yeah I'm...I'm fine just...just the stress of this thing finally hit me," Sanders lied as he stayed pressed up against Pyrrha's cheek. Holy shit he didn't think anything had scared him as bad as that had. Samantha gave him an unconvinced look, but headed back to Pyrrha's side just the same. Sanders waited till she was gone to turn back and press his head into Pyrrha's cheek.

"Fuck...that was scary. I, honestly, thought you might try to eat Samantha...I...I actually thought that," Sanders said as he stayed pressed into Pyrrha's warm flesh.
"I'm sorry, Pyrrha. I should known better than to think you would ever do something like that. You wouldn't eat us even if your life depended on it, would you? And just after I gave a similar speech to Kimberly too... A fake hero and a hypocrite now..." Sanders said with a sigh as he glanced up to see Pyrrha's eye staring down at him.

Her head turned to the side, forcing Sanders to step back a step. Her face turned to face him directly and Sanders felt a little uncomfortable having her large gaze leveled on him like that. Before he could do anything, her tongue slipped out of her mouth and rain up his entire body, covering him in a bit of cat slobber. He whipped it off his face and had to fight back an ugh as he glanced up at Pyrrha.

"Guess I'll take that as an apology accepted," he said as Pyrrha gave him a playful smile. It looked like that jerky had helped her a little, though she still looked pale to him. Another soldier brought a large slab of salted meat over. Rather than giving it to Pyrrha, though, he handed it off to Sanders and scampered away rather quickly when he noticed Pyrrha eying the food. Just like with Samantha, Pyrrha opened her mouth and rolled out her tongue for Sanders to place the food. And, also like Samantha, Sanders thought Pyrrha needed some mouth wash, strong mouth wash...good God...

Sanders was still trying to wave away the stink of Pyrrha's mouth when the next soldier brought another slab of meat. Rather than take another blast of Pyrrha's bio-hazard of a mouth, he had the soldier just set it on the ground for Pyrrha to get. She, easily, plucked the meat off the ground and tossed it into her mouth. She swallowed it down without any fuss and gave a content smile as a bit of her color came back. Sanders smiled himself as he saw that the plan was working. He just hoped the wound was closing. Well, considering the sounds of breaking boxes, they still had a good bit of food left to try.

Samantha came next with a large amount of jerky, again. She fed Pyrrha directly and started to head off when Sanders stopped her. He had almost forgotten about Darius asking to see him.

"Samantha, do you mind staying here to watch Pyrrha? I need to go up to the platform to talk to Darius and I want to check on Pyrrha's wound," he explained to her.

"Sure, I'll stay with her," Samantha said before heading back over to Pyrrha. She started to pet Pyrrha's cheek and talk to her as Sanders headed to Pyrrha's side. There were a number of soldiers moving about the area picking up the food that was being tossed down and piling it into carts or putting it into piles.. It was making a real mess down here, but it was quicker and Pyrrha didn't care if her food was a bit dirty. Still, no one looked happy about doing this and Sanders didn't blame them, he was already dreading what little they would have tonight. However, no one looked brave, or stupid, enough to slack off as Derek's watchful eye moved between them as he helped move the larger stuff himself.

Sanders moved past the area, leaving Derek to handle the food, and moved to get a quick glance at Pyrrha's wound. Kimberly and her nurses were still working at it and they all looked covered in blood. Thankfully, though, the wound did look a bit smaller than Sanders remembered it and he could almost swear it was shrinking as he looked at it. It wasn't healing as fast as Sanders would have liked, but at least it was healing.

Having no wish to talk to Kimberly again, he left them to their work and heading for one of the ladders that had been lowered to the ground. He climbed up to the top of the platform, accepting a helping hand from one of the soldiers by the ladder, and took a second to catch his breath. The platform was humming with activity, but wasn't completely taken over with it. Near the edge of the platform, people were reloading, checking over, and piling up stacks of rockets. They would stack a large number of them up before strapping them down to make sure they didn't roll loose. Near them were a few people using bits of fabric to mop up some blood that a wounded, ...or killed, person had lost. He hoped for the former but... Jimmy and his helpers were moving along the edge of the platform as well, checking over things and, probably, making sure nothing was damaged.

While the edge of the platform was rather busy, the middle was pretty calm. Most people there were either sitting or laying down, enjoying the break time. Behind the barracks, Sanders saw Henderson and Taylor combing over the large cannon they used while some soldiers rolled a large slab of metal toward them. Sanders made sure NOT to make eye contact with them as he looked for something else to look at. A line of soldiers was going from one of the sheds to the edge of the platform and were moving boxes to the edge. They had stopped sending any over, for the time being, as Gerard and Derek got into a shouting match of whether they needed more or less.

"We don't need anymore for right now, Gerard! Keep that stuff up there till we see if she needs more!" Derek yelled up.

"Bullshit! That much food would barely fill me up and I'm not even half her size! Let's just get it all down there so we know she will be good and full!" Gerard yelled back. Sanders shook his head and let the two of them work that out as he turned to head to the command area. Darius was there and was already pouring over a map. Behind him, the skinny guy Darius had come aboard with, who STILL looked really familiar for some reason, was messing around with a strange machine-box thing he had set up on a table. He was turning a few dials and messing with a few wires as he keep a strange object hooked to the device up to his ear. It reminded Sanders of the Morse code machines he had seen the Phoenixes using in their HQ, only a lot more chaotic and jury-rigged looking, which was saying something since they had looked jury-rigged.

"What is that supposed to be?" Sanders asked, thinking it might be a radio but wanting to make sure. After all, with the way it looked, it could be damn near anything. Darius glanced up for a second but didn't answer. Instead the skinny guy behind him spoke up.

"Huh? Oh, umm... well it's supposed to be a radio, though...ummm," the skinny said before trailing off when he turned toward Sanders. Now that Sanders could see him better, he realized the guy was a lot younger than he thought he was, probably barely out of his teens. The young man got a worried look on his face as he glanced at Darius. Darius, however, didn't seem to have any interest in the conversation and keep studying the map.
"Though it's broken right now. The...ummm...fight knocked some stuff loose and...yeah," the young man said before getting back to work. The young man was really nervous about something, though whether it was Sanders, Darius, or something else Sanders didn't know. He might have tried to figure out what was bothering the young man if Darius hadn't spoken up.

"Sanders, please leave Ollie to his work. We need that radio operational if we want this mission to continue and we have more pressing concerns," Darius said as he waved Sanders over to the map. Sanders gave Ollie one last look, the familiar feeling still nagging at him, before moving over to join Darius at the table. Darius had either drawn, or had someone else draw, a rough outline of their original route to Lindale along with the general lay of the land around that path. Looking at it, they were about to head through some flat areas that had been marked as old farming land. Darius had already crossed those areas out.

"First and foremost, we need to avoid any large open areas. The Marauders relay on their vehicles for just about everything, including fighting. That means they can't go into rough terrain, such as dense woods and large hills. Therefore, we need to stick to those areas, even if it means delaying our arrival at Lindale," Darius said as he pointed out the areas he had crossed out. Sanders nodded his understanding and began to look for new routes to take as well.

It took about fifteen minutes of debating, discussing, and, at times, arguing, for them to agree to a new route. It would take them longer, probably three to four hours longer, but they would be in rough terrain for nearly the rest of the trip. Sanders would have preferred them to stay on rough terrain the entire time, but the delay was too long for Darius. So they had compromised with this plan.

"Yeah, I can live with that..." Sanders said with a sigh. He still didn't like it, but this needed to get done. Better just to agree rather than keep arguing till the Marauders came back. Hmm...he still had some questions about them too, now that he thought about it.

"Good, here," Darius said as he handed Sanders the new map. Sanders took it as he thought of those vehicles the Marauders had been using. Pity they didn't have any of those of their own. Those could be a huge boon if they were on their side.

"By the way, why did those Marauders attack us? Shouldn't they have backed off once they saw us on Pyrrha?" Sanders asked. Darius sighed to himself at that question and seemed to slump a bit.

"Because that is how they have chosen to survive. They are raiders and scavengers stealing anything and everything they can before moving on. This platform, with all its metal and other such things, is a practical treasure trove for them along with all the meat Pyrrha has. Yes, they would eat her and no they would not care how human she looks," Darius said with an actual look of disgust. Sanders didn't bother hiding his own at that last part and looked away.

"If their just raiders, how did they manage to make those vehicles?" Sanders asked, trying to get his mind off the idea of eating Pyrrha...ugh.

"Because those vehicles are all they have. Unlike the other groups in the area, they have no base or non-combatants to take care of. They all fight and they use all their resources in building and maintaining those vehicles. And having torn apart every village and town that was in the Northwest, save Rome, they have plenty of them. Which is why we had best hope we do not meet them again," Darius said as he moved to look over the activity going on the platform. Sanders got the hint and was about to head back to check on Pyrrha when a sudden increase in yelling got his attention.

Both he and Darius turned to the noise, but couldn't see what was happening thanks to the barracks being in the way. Sanders lead the way as they both headed around the building and to the area near the sheds. A crowd had formed around two figures who were yelling at each other and on the verge of blows. The sea of bodies made it impossible to tell who the two figures were.

"What is going on here?!" Darius yelled out. The shouting and yelling died out almost immediately after his voice. The crowd turned toward Sanders and Darius before splitting apart to let them pass. The people moved aside to reveal Luke and, of all people, Jacob mid grapple with each other. Both had the same deer-in-headlights look as Sanders and Darius stared back at them.

"J-...JACOB?!" Sanders blurted out in shock. Sanders turned to Darius to make sure he wasn't seeing things and saw him rubbing his temples in annoyance. The two of them pulled apart and came to attention as Darius looked back up at them.

"Sir! I was just disc-" Luke started to say.

"Shut up, Luke," Darius snapped at him as he began to advance toward the two of them. Sanders saw a bit of color start to fade from Jacob, though he keep his face a mask. What was he thinking stowing away on board? When Derek found out about this....

Darius waved Luke away and he, quickly, went to join the crowd. Darius moved up to Jacob and said something to him, though it was too soft for Sanders to hear. Whatever he had said made the mask Jacob was wearing crack a bit, but he recovered after a second.

"Someone get Jacob a weapon and some equipment. We can't do anything about you stowing away at the moment, so we will just put you to work. Gerard, make sure you find a...good job for Jacob," Darius said as he turned back to head toward Sanders.

"Yes, sir, I got the perfect job for him," Gerard said as he moved out of the crowd and put his arm around Jacob. He gave the younger man a smile that made Lutice's smiles seem welcoming. Sanders gave Jacob a sympathetic look before turning to follow Darius. He didn't like Jacob much, but he could understand not wanting to be left behind. But he was going to pay a high price for disobeying orders, and that was before his dad got a hold of him...

"Derek is going to be...mad about this," Sanders said as he and Darius headed back to the front part of the platform.

"Mad does not even begin to describe it. In fact, there is no word that would do justice to just how angry he is going to be. When you get back down to the ground, tell him to come talk to me..." Darius said with a heavy sigh. He started to rub his temples again and, for once, actually showed some emotion as he looked to want to do anything else BUT talk to Derek. Sanders nodded and thanked whoever he wasn't going to have to give that news to Derek.

Sanders climbed back down the ladders as a few people were climbing back up the others. He looked down and saw the food was all gone and Derek was directing people back toward the ladders. Sanders slid down most of the way as he hoped that meant what he thought it did. He hit the ground a bit harder than he intended, but walked it off as he headed for Derek.

"Derek, is Pyrrha's wound healed?" Sanders asked, eager for the answer.

"Yes. Kimberly and the nurses are doing a few checks to make sure it's fully healed, but the wound is closed and looks to be fine," Derek said before looking up and smiling. Sanders turned back and saw Kimberly leading her nurses toward the ladders. Sanders happiness faded as Kimberly looked at him. He was prepared for an angry glare, but Kimberly just shifted her gaze elsewhere.

"The wound is fully healed, we can move out as soon as we are all back on. Come on," Kimberly said in a monotone voice before leading the way to the ladders. Sanders gave her a confused look, but let it go as he had really no wish to speak to her anymore than he had to. Derek seemed a bit confused too, but didn't say anything. He was about to head up the ladder when Sanders remembered what Darius had told him.

"Oh right, Darius wanted to talk to you, Derek. Make sure you go see him ASAP," Sanders said. Derek nodded before starting his climb up. Sanders sighed as he wondered how well that conversation was going to go. Leaving that task to Darius, he headed to Pyrrha's head and began to try and memorize the new route Darius had given him. He was just passing Pyrrha's shoulders when a loud, "WHAT?!?!" came from the platform. He had never been so glad to not be involved in something.

Sanders came around Pyrrha's shoulder and found her licking up the last bit of food while Samantha was watching. Her ears twitched before she looked over toward Sanders. She gave a happy meow before moving over to rub against him. Sanders stumbled back a step as he was nearly bowled over by Pyrrha's cheek, but managed to keep his feet. He rubbed her cheek back as she gave a loud and happy purr.

"Well I guess I don't need to ask if you are feeling better, do I? Okay, enough Pyrrha," Sanders said as he tried to push Pyrrha's wall of cheek back. Pyrrha, however, wasn't done and keep rubbing all over him. Sanders keep trying to push her away, but he might as well be trying to push a building away. Finally, Pyrrha moved back and let Sanders get some personal space. Samantha laughed a bit as Sanders took a second to recover from the rather excessive loving on.

"She is feeling a lot better and has been eager for you to come back. What was that yelling about, though?" Samantha asked as her smiled faded a bit. Sanders sighed a bit as he wondered how best to say this.

"It...was Jacob. He stowed away and got found out. Derek just found out and, well..." Sanders said, going with the straight forward answer. Samantha, oddly, didn't seem surprised by that, but did look worried.

"Oh...I better get back there then. Do you know where Gabby is so she can take my place while I deal with this?" Samantha asked, already starting to move toward the ladders.

"Right here, been up here the whole time, Sammy. By the way, you're not bad at taking charge and making sure stuff gets done. Fun to watch you boss around that meathead and the other guys, doubly so with none of them brave enough to feed Pyrrha," Gabby said as she peeked over Pyrrha's forehead and patted it. Pyrrha tried to look up at her, but couldn't look up that high. Samantha, meanwhile, froze and seemed to be rooted to the spot she was on. She tried to say something, but only managed a stammer as her face turned beet red.

"Th-thanks," she managed before taking off toward the ladders at near to a run. Sanders, Pyrrha, and Gabby all turned to watch her go with a confused look. Sanders glanced back at Gabby who shrugged in response. Sanders shook his head as he motioned for Pyrrha to lift him up to her head. Pyrrha was more than happy to oblige and seemed eager to get moving herself. Gabby plowed her way through her hair to the back of her head to take Samantha's old position. Sanders didn't blame Samantha for wanting to stay with Jacob now. He couldn't imagine what his dad was going to do to him...

A few minutes passed before Gabby yelled the all clear from the back of Pyrrha's head. Sanders didn't even need to tell Pyrrha to get up as she did it herself. She stretched a bit before taking off a near to a run away from the area. Hopefully, that would be the last they saw of those Marauders.