The two vehicles return to the dock. Sure enough, the walkers had been cleared out, and the rest of the crew lead by Max. He seems thrilled to see them, even if the SUV is on its last legs. "Glad to see you back." He says, noticing everyone looks like they have been through hell. "Juan and Jacques managed to get back here, also beat up. They said guys in trucks with rifles attacked Ryder and Sean. Is everybody ok?"

Matt is still in the SUV, not visible to the others.

Rebecca slings her rifle and hops down from the SUV. She doesn't say anything to Max, dashing over to Zoe's scooter. "Zoe, Zoe, talk to me! How bad are you hurt?" She could address the rest of the group and take care of Matt after this. For this moment, nothing mattered except her sister.

Once they finally reach the ship, Zoe exhales a shaky breath, her hands trembling as she brings her scooter to a stop. Rebecca's urgent voice breaks through her daze, and she blinks rapidly, trying to process what just happened.

"I-I think I'm okay, Becca," Zoe stammers, her voice quivering with a mix of fear and relief. "Just... banged up, I think. But not bitten." She touches the sore spot on her neck, wincing at the lingering discomfort. "Rusty saved me," she adds, her voice softening as she looks down at him, gratitude swelling in her chest.

As Rebecca rushes over, Zoe reaches out for her sister's reassuring presence. "I'm glad we made it out," she murmurs, her voice barely above a whisper. "I don't think I've ever been that scared in my life."

She leans into Rebecca's embrace, seeking comfort.

"See, back home already," Alex says to Matt, as cheerfully as she can while her voice is still shaking a little.  "Most of us," she calls out at Max's question.  She'd seen Zoe's near-miss, which could have been far worse... but naturally Rebecca still needs to see for herself that her sister is all right.  Alex is pretty glad to confirm that herself.  "But Matt's hurt.  Can you help?"  Now she looks anxiously at Sean, wondering if he even feels up to any kind of surgery.  Like most of them -- except Ryder, of course -- he's beyond stressed out, and performing a potentially very complicated surgical procedure on top of that seems like asking for trouble.  On the other hand, waiting seems like an equally bad idea.

17:56, Today: Alex Martin rolled 33 using 9d6 with rolls of 2,2,5,5,6,3,6,1,3.  Handle Your Fear.  +4 for both Anchors.  Two successes.

My knuckles are bone white the entire drive from Wal-Mart to the ship. My old habits would be an easy and simple solution to easing my anxiety, but I can't do that now- especially with Matt's health counting on my medical skills. A simple technique of regulating my breathing helps with the growing level of stress which has taken its toll on me. The sight of the boat brings some relief now that we've departed the superstore and arrived at our 'home'.

"Well done, Juliet," I give Ryder a shy, nervous grin as we pull up to the ship. Once parked, I unclick my safety belt and turn back to look at Alex, then Matt. "We'll get you to the infirmary right away. Alex, once he gets there, given him some antibiotics to help with any potential infection. Give him something to ease the pain. I want to shower and find sterile clothing prior to operating, alright? I'll be there very soon."

I wave over to Max, motioning for him to join us. "Come help us get him to medical, please."

Once Max has joined the group, I pass the firearm back to Ryder and give him a sympathetic, concerned look, as if I am about to break down and cry. "Thank you for today."

Andy and Devon appear along the deck of the ship, and both greet me once I walk up the gangway. Being in their arms helps ease my tension and without anyone noticing, I pull them along back to the cabins. The tears have already started to run down my face. "I need to shower and get cleaned up. Please find some clean clothes for me, Devon."

Rebecca hugs her sister, not tightly this time but gently as she's afraid to hurt Zoe. She lets out a sigh of relief. "We made it through. We're safe now. That's what matters. I won't let anything happen to you, not if there's anything I can do to stop it" Rebecca says, trying to comfort her sister and trying to calm herself at the same time. "It's all right, I was scared too" she whispers trying to keep anyone except Zoe from hearing it. "You did good back there, real good with your pistol and that idea with the cables" she encourages Zoe, smiling. "Even if you scared the daylights out of me driving on your own. If you hadn't come with the group I don't think we would have made it."

Rebecca breaks the hug and circles around behind Zoe, examine her neck for injuries and especially for bites. She stops to give Rusty some extremely grateful petting. "We'll get Rusty some treats for sure. He's earned them. World's best dog, girl's best friend."

"It doesn't look too serious, but you'll need to get your rest and take it easy these next couple of days" Rebecca says after completing the examination. "I mean it, Zoe" she adds seriously. She usually worried over her sister and after this last day was going to do so even more. She turns towards Sean as they start moving Matt. "Sean, are you ready to operate, do you need me to act as nurse?" she calls to him.

"Yes, please," I call back to Rebecca, turning away from Andy. I rub the tears away from my eyes while speaking to her, I nod over to Alex, who has similar instructions. "Please get the infirmary ready. Please give him some pain medication to prep him for surgery."

With any luck, this will provide some time for me to calm down while the room, and Matt, are prepped for surgery.

Edit (adding): 07:57, Today: Sean Anderton rolled 35 using 9d6 with rolls of 4,2,1,6,5,2,6,6,3.  Handle your fear, three successes.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:58, Wed 27 Mar.