A great deal of effort, and a long while of maneuvering later, they manged to get the stricken man from the sitting room to the room that would be his. Four girls were needed just to carry the stretcher laden with the large and heavy man, one girl holding each of the ends of the supports. Lila hurried ahead of them, pulling back the quilt and sheet on the bed so that they could ease him onto the bed.<br/><br/>He began to stir as they carried him in, mumbling and moaning. He woke when they rolled him off the sheet that had formed the stretcher, but the glazed look in his eyes told Lila that he was far from conscious. He struggled mindlessly, pushing away the hands that tried to soothe him, murmuring something about guns. The room was cool enough. With the heat from the baking desert sun, there was little that could be done. They placed moist cloths over his forehead and the worst of his burns, drizzling water over his body  in an attempt to cool the burns.<br/><br/>Too late, Lila remembered that victims of serious burns tend to catch a chill. Before long, he was shivering. Laying the blankets over him would only increase the pain of his burns. She sent the girls after hot coffee instead. Slowly, she began to drizzle spoonfuls of the heated coffee into his gullet, hoping to warm him from the inside. The coffee should help wake him also. Only time would tell.<br/><br/>The sound of shouting broke her reverie. She stood straight, gaze turning toward the sound. All of the girls froze, all of them looking to Lila with wide eyes. A visit from the Damned never went well. There would be bloodshed.<br/><br/>"Roll him back onto the stretcher and get him under the bed. Push him all the way to the middle and slide boxes under the bed to hide him. Quickly!"<br/><br/>She hurried out of the room, dashing across the hall into her own room. When she emerged half a minute later, she carried a rifle. As she returned to the room to find the girls struggling to gently push the limp man under the bed, she nodded and began loading the gun.<br/><br/>"Good. hide him well, make sure the bed is made and tidy, then get back to your rooms. I want things quiet in here."<br/><br/>She left them to their tasks and ran down the hall to peek through the window. The crowd of men gathered at her door, warped and misshapen through the rippled glass, caused her spine to harden. She wouldn't take abuse from scoundrels and dogs. Glancing down the hall once more, she gulped nervously and gripped the knob on the door.<br/><br/>When the door opened, just a few inches, the only thing that came out of it was the end of her gun. The toe of her boot wedged against the door to prevent them from pushing inside.<br/><br/>"He woke up and scampered. Can't blame him, honestly, after the greeting he recieved." her voice was calm and level, quiet enough that they would be forced to shut up and listen in order to hear.