As Heretic made his way down to them, Halvorson considered what he'd said.  The fox definitely owed him an explanation.  But not now.<br/><br/>After the door opened and the woman called Sara spoke, Halvorson smiled at her.  "Thanks very much, ma'am," he said.  "We've got several wounded.  One of ours is real bad off; had his throat tore open."  He pointed to Fenson as he was taken inside by Bane and O'Toole.  "That one's him.  The scalie's with us.  The fox... well, we ain't sure about him yet, but he seems harmless enough."<br/><br/>Collins caught the syringe Bane tossed at him.  He looked at it, then over at the unconscious lieutenant, who was being dragged down off the truck by a pair of soldiers.  Halvorson, Janus, and many of the other soldiers gave Bane a set of looks that comprised everything from disgust to surprise.  But when Bane made his other comment and chuckled, Collins almost seemed to consider it.  Halvorson caught his glance and shook his head, ordering him not to without words.  He then looked at Bane, who took him aside and made his case.<br/><br/>When Bane finished, Halvorson looked him over a moment.  He turned to a soldier helping to carry the lieutenant.  "Private.  Give me his gun."  The man complied, tossing Halvorson the 45.  Halvorson caught it, hefted it, then put its safety on and stuffed it into his belt.  He looked at Bane.  "It's fur-eat-human out there, I get where you're coming from," he said.  "People do what they need to stay alive.  Problem is, the whole point of ranks is to make sure we don't fall apart, that we don't turn on each other.  I've disarmed him.  He might be a stupid yellow son-of-a-whore, but he's still one of ours.  We don't kill our own."  He thought a moment.  "You want a plan from me as to what we're gonna do with him, you're outta luck.  I have no idea what we're gonna do when he wakes up.  Right now, we'll just play it as it comes."  When Bane suggested what to do with the truck, he nodded. "You go do that.  Hide it somewhere nearby, and figure out how it works some, if you can.  Problem with being slaves and bums is we don't know how anything works that we could use."<br/><br/>The medic looked over at Bane from where he was standing, working on Chiro's sister.  "If I need you, I'll say something," was all he said.<br/><br/>Halvorson got an idea.  "Hey, uh... Heretic?  You know how to work a truck?  If you do, help out Bane and the driver.  Janus, Collins, go out and keep watch for them."  Janus and Collins nodded and complied.<br/><br/>O'Toole was finding a place near a wall and sitting on the floor, laying her quarterstaff across her lap.  She watched the serpent named Chiro approach her and listened to his whisper.  When he was finished, she pulled back slightly and looked at him in puzzlement.  Was she giving off some sort of weird smell?  She watched Chiro walk away and smelled herself, detecting only sweat and blood.  She thought for a moment about what he'd said, then let it drop and leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes.<br/><br/>Chiro approached Halvorson and spoke his piece.  The sergeant looked at the serpent and nodded.  "You're right about that.  Tell O'Toole she's--" he saw O'Toole half-asleep against a wall and stopped, then said "--well, tell Janus to raise hell if something's up." He shook Chiro's hand.  "I can only hope I see this through."  He looked to Baz.  "I'm taking some time out, friend.  Raise hell if you need me."  With that, he walked over to the wall O'Toole was leaning against and slid down against it as well, leaning his head back and shutting his eyes.  Sleep did not take him, but it sure felt good to just relax.<br/><br/>The driver was back in the truck's cab, looking over the controls and trying to figure out what each one did.  He'd picked up steering, stopping, and accelerating easy enough, but he didn't know much beyond that.  He tried fiddling with the lever on the steering column, but was rewarded with a loud grinding noise and let go in a hurry.  When Bane walked over, he shook his head and said, "Beats me how this thing works."