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Church and State

     In the Ziggurat, the Pope and Tom readied themselves for departure. Tom had his old gun and a few of his men shared an assortment of small firearms, though none of them had anything that could match the automatic riffles and RPG’s of the military. Despite that, they did have a good plan. It consisted mostly of moving underground and trying to cut a hole into the floor of the satellite facility. This would save them the trouble of having to cross the broad, ghoul-infested street between the Ziggurat and the launch facility. But Tom knew that if the Pope were right, if someone was already staking claim to the launch facility, they would have serious trouble. Worst, if the people that are occupying the satellite building turned to out be rogue military agents, they’d almost certainly fail. Tom hoped that the rescue party they were expecting had people that could change their odds.

     As if on cue, Lee Li ran downstairs from the Ziggurat’s rooftop. She had been on top with Carla, one of the only female Red Cross Scabs of the bunch. Excited and breathing hard from her dash, Lee Li could hardly contain herself.

     "...What’s wrong?" Asked Tom, suddenly concerned about the Ziggurat’s back door.

     "Nothing, nothing’s wrong. Its the rescue party, they’re here, I see three of those old style air bikes coming toward us. They’re signaling us with a light.

     Tom rushed up to the roof as fast as his little legs could take him. Once there, he saw three strange vehicles. They looked like old bicycles ridiculously strapped to some space-age style blimps. The Helio-bikes were small and didn’t seem to be carrying more than eight people. This was disappointing, but Tom was still glad to see outsiders from the Civic-Belt finally arriving to help.

     Tom signaled the Helio-Bikes as where to land. They responded by flashing their signal lights in that direction and soon parked the weird vehicles on the wide roof of the diamond shaped Ziggurat building. Jumping off the bike, Vanguard sped toward Tom with Whisper lying limp in his arms. Behind him, five members from the Audubon society were following him. They were all men and had finally caught up Carl and Vanguard. The other two Helio-bikes that had accompanied them earlier went back with the boy they rescued at the abandoned carnival. There, they were ordered to fly back to the Ziggurat, driving the blimp-like air barge with them.

     Facing Tom, while kneeling and placing Whisper on the roof’s floor, Vanguard addressed the dwarf with dire concern in his voice.

     "I need your help. I must get to some medical equipment fast. She is in serious need of a partial blood transfusion.

     "What? I thought you were here to rescue us! If she’s bitten, a blood transfusion won’t work." Said Tom plainly.

     "She’s not bit, none of us are - and we are here to rescue you. An air barge is coming this way and I have the Viverine vaccine on me as I speak. But first we must tend to her."

     "OK, let’s get her downstairs, we have a small med-unit down there. We should be able to deal with her transfusion, but we’ll need a blood donor.

     "I’ll do it," said Vanguard."

     "How do you know if you’re even the right blood type?

     "It doesn’t matter. I checked her medical scanner, she’s "hyper-anemic’. In her case, any blood will do."

     "Good Lord, Hyper-anemic? …That’s a very rare disorder, but it’s easier to treat.

     "Good, let’s get on with it then!" Said Vanguard, anxious to get Whisper back to health.

     "Are you sure? It could be dangerous and it would leave you weakened." Said Tom.

     "I’ll do it, let’s get her down there ASAP!"

     Rushing down to the med unit, Vanguard passed up the Pope, but Carl and the other Audubon members addressed the holy man with respect and a personal greeting.

     "I’m Carl and these are people from my outreach team and … Jesus Christ, I can’t believe you’re here - you’re actually here! Wait, I -- I‘m sorry. It’s just that I didn’t know that the rumor was true, I mean I had heard rumors about you still being alive, but I never thought you’d be down here!" Replied Carl.

     "Is the woman alright? Is Marinade badly hurt?" Asked the Pope concerned over Whisper’s health.

     "She should be fine after the transfusion, she only needs a small amount to hold off another collapse. We did a thorough check on her health conditions and found that she has a very rare blood disorder. She needs to replenish her blood count level every so often to stay alive. It’s a vampire disease, you know -- medically speaking."

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