"Doesn't really sound like you mind that much...However, if you'd like to move on... there are options..." Lilith spoke to the soul resting on her palm, without opening her mouth or making any actual sound, as she walked along the group...

***

The woman listened to the scarred man, watching her hand, focusing on nails. "Oh hey, genocide and murder...Something our little group seems to excel at... no?" She raised her eyes to look at the party, smiling, and hid her hand back in her pocket. Maybe she was the only one who found it somewhat amusing. Even if she was wrong, they sure left a lot of bodies behind them so far... Still, not taking one's personal story into consideration. Not that it bothered her. No, not at all, her race had murder in its blood after all, and most of the fallen enemies died in their designated realms- Their souls went where they should, hence Lilith had nothing on her conscience to worry about.

***

"How cozy..." Lilith commented sarcastically when they were shown their accommodation for the night. Using her powers, the necromancer conjured a thick sheet of fur, something like a sleeping bag but without a zipper. "Anyone wants one?" She proposed, before she placed it on the ground and sat on it, leaning against a wall.

***

Lilith slowly raised her head and opened her eyes, still in the same position after she settled down, except that now the fur covered her lap. The woman wasn't sleeping, but she wasn't completely conscious either. Frowning and blinking couple of times, she tried to recognize the sound that pulled her out of her lethargy, other than Dino's voice. "Walter...Everything's alright?"

Walter that had no physical needs or limitations, kept the guard outside the building, without actually manifesting himself. It wasn't Lilith's idea, but simply his whim and distrust to everything new. He was obviously focused on the sound already as well, trying to see what's happening. If whatever was approaching possessed a soul, for some other 'condemned' soul's eyes it'd be bright glowing white silhouette, much easier to spot in the night.

Matthew sat up at Dino's voice, instantly awake and put a hand on his ACST. He hesitated to turn it on though. If the enemy was out there like Dino said, his weapon made a lot of noise when he activated it.

Only when I really need to, he told himself, rushing over to join Dino.

"How many do you think there are?" the cyborg whispered.

Be mindful of the contract as well, Outsider: you are to assist me in killing Abra . And since the terms are vague and concerns me and later, you, I can decide whether your action is an assistance or not, Nocturn told his occupant. Our relationship is of partners, no one is above the other. We do things we both agree on or the contract is forfeit.

The zombie had his fair share of contracts in his life, some were cheap scams and others legitimate offers. He didn't handle them all but he had an eye when it came to being told to watch for clauses when the captain told him to. It was a few times in his life, there are bound to be mistakes but since he was the one who made the contract this time, Nocturn kept his cool.

As if to interrupt the conversation, the virus alerted its host to possible food. Nocturn whipped towards the location and began to discern his targets. "I sense something is coming," he muttered in agreement to Dino. "I say we best be ready to counter."

The undead machine grabbed his metal rods and steadied himself. He's a provider for two parasites, how excellent.

Dino was at ease. He had been thrown in more difficult situations; a couple of beasts shouldn't be much of a challenge. But it was better to not underestimate the enemy. The Irish man felt the alien step right next to him, but he never shifted his focus from the approaching threat.

"I don't know. A dozen maybe."

As everybody slowly awoke, Dino finally stepped away from the window, moving towards a more centric position in the room.

"They know we are in here, but they don't know where. Use that to your advantage. Scatter across the building, teams of two. Stay together but far enough to not attract too much attention." his voice was rock steady, giving an inspiring feel to that short speech. He knew exactly what he was doing, and he was showing it.

The intruder didn't even attempt to be stealthy in his approach. The raucous movement one could compare to a squad of men was that of a drunkard. Stumbling in front of the dark house, Noah whispered loudly. "Hey are you guys in there? If not just ignore me."

Walter calmed down and reported to Lilith, This guy is an idiot.

Noah stumbled into the house and whistled softly. "Hello, anyone there? I brought whiskey... or was it brandy... one moment." They heard the swig of a bottle and he coughed. "Whiskey, definitely whiskey." He sat down on the floor. "You know what I'm going to sit right here until you guys come to me. Unless you're not the people I'm looking for, then just ignore me."

Dino sighed as Noah entered the building. Everybody was ready to spread out and be ready to fight, but when the drunkard showed up, the dynamic of the situation changed completely. He pulled the Anaconda out of its holster and stepped to the door.

"Circle him out. He's gonna attract all the attention to himself. Let's try to not let him die." He said frowning. Immediately after that he stepped out of the room and went down the stairs, meeting with Noah.

"Very subtle, Noah. I suggest you get ready for battle, because things are about to go down."

"Battle? Psh please, the perimeter guards make sure we're safe at night." Noah looked out and blinked. "See look. The lights are on, everything's fine." He paused and squinted. "The lights shouldn't be moving like that though. Perhaps I had too much..." Noah groaned and capped the bottle, hugging it as he laid on the floor. "I think I'm going to take a quick nap. Wake me up when we're going."

Dino looked out at the swaying lights Noah was talking about, and like fireflies, there were dots of light that were detaching from the perimeter gate and into the city, closer to them. They could hear the panting of hounds as the lights got closer. Then voices, "Why did the dog stop?"

"I don't know, must have caught something's scent, it wants to go to that house over there." Walter froze as the outlines pointed over at the house the group was staying at.

"Must have caught wind of some type of rodent or something. Let it get it so it'll focus, we're wasting time." The hound was let off its leash and ran over to the house but froze at the entrance, snarling at Walter. Then it began to bark.

Matthew's grip tightened on his ACST. His eyes narrowed, dimming their glow to near darkness. What an annoying dog. Was Nocturn's mask making it go crazy or something? He retained his battle stance, eyes darting about. If there was an enemy somewhere, he wasn't going to let himself be caught off guard.

He imagined himself going out there and kicking the dog into the sun. The thought caused him to suppress a giggle. Alright, stop goofing off, a part of him said. Fighting is serious. The savages are serious. What if something dangerous is out there?

[OOC: removing imaginary door]

"If we do get jumped, then the agreement we made earlier won't be valid anymore..." Lilith sluggishly got up with a sigh and a grunt. "Safety in exchange for our extermination services, wasn't it?" The woman stretched, and bent over to pick up a wooden bowl next to her 'sleeping bag'. In the bowl, there were bullets. "Might as well return you guys to your rightful owner, since he's here..." She murmured and walked down the stairs after Dino. Seeing that Noah felt asleep already, Lilith let out yet another sigh of minor annoyance, and placed the bowl in front of him.

"Lilith...There are people coming from the perimeter, not sure if from inside or outside...and there's that thing that..." Walter stared at the barking dog, not being sure what to do with it.

"Guards perhaps? Also, just ignore the dog and it'll get bored eventually..."

"Hell if I know..." Walter's soul once more looked towards the white silhouettes, then back at the animal. "Ok, this is getting aggravating, can I just silence this mongrel?"

"Do. Not. Harm. The dog, Walter... It'll get their attention...Just move out of the way, dammit...

Letting out a silent growl, Walter raised high into the air, and moved through the wall, hiding inside the building on the second floor. "Thirty seconds before I snap its neck..."

"Tch...Fine..." That part Lilith actually said out loud. "As for you Mr.Noah." She not-so-gently kicked his side, although still not strong enough to case significant pain. "Is there an option that someone's looking for you at the moment?"

"Better question is why he's here on the first place..." The masked figure walked down the stairs and leaned against a wall. Apparently, after his soul moved back into the building, Walter decided to take his physical form. "...It's like a middle of the night right now...

Keep your senses sharp Matthew, the cyborg told himself. He unhooked his ACST from his belt, but didn't turn it on. Upon seeing Lilith kick Noah, he made an eye-roll motion with his head.

"Lil...I doubt that'd work." he whispered. "But...you do have a point. Maybe the dog belongs to the perimeter guards. If they're anything like the cops on Earth, I think they'd frown on drunkenness."

Trying to free the tension in his mind, Matthew shuffled a little closer to Walter. "You look kind of cool." he said.

The dog stopped barking and turned its attention to the inhabitants within the house. It sniffed the air then tilting its head back, it released a sharp howl. "The dog found some people!" They heard someone say and the dog bolted into the room, rushing at the easiest target, the sleepy Noah. It lunged at the prone form then got smacked out of the air. Noah rolled, using the glass whiskey bottle as a bat and had smashed the dog in the face. Noah got up groggily, pushing Lilith out of the way and reaching the dog, and began beating it before it could get back up. He held the bottle in two hands, one wrapped around its neck and the other around the body of the bottle and was stabbing down with the butt of the glass container. The dog went from whimpering to silence and blood pooled on the floor. Noah looked around and yawned. "Goddamn that dog was noisy." He looked at the bottle and grinned. "Least the bottle's fine." He popped off the top and took another drought.

Suddenly the sound of stomping feet became obvious and two men peeked in through the doorway. One leaned in with his torch and waved it around to see what happened to the dog. "Hey what're?"

Noah smashed the bottle against the wall in interruption, glass and whiskey splashing onto the ground. He grabbed the man's arm and pulled him in, using the makeshift weapon to stab the man in the throat. Pulling out the glass knife, blood sprayed into the air and the man collapsed onto the ground with a gurgle. He then chucked the broken bottle into the face of the other man and sighed. "Well it was fine." He stumbled to a clean spot and collapsed back down to go to sleep.

With the help of the dropped torch, the group looked at the corpses of two savages and a German Shepherd. Then they began hearing the howls of other dogs.

Dino stood there, impassive. Overshadowing the dead corpses, he was left to take a decision: either hide in the house and let the assaliants capture and torture Noah, or stand and fight them back, not knowing how many were truly coming towards the building. Matthew was visibly scared and shocked. He had to take a decision for the team. He quickly turned around and ran up the stairs, into the room and at his cross. He picked it up and ran down, stopping a couple of meters in front if the ramp of stairs. With a quick move he opened the cross, revealing his arsenal. As he holstered his Anaconda and grabbed a pair of Berretta's, he faced Tim.

"Take Noah upstairs and protect him. Matthew go with him. The rest better buckle up, 'cause its about to be a bumpy ride."

After being ready he turned around and squared up, facing the door, his eyes tracking the light movements in the darkness.

Walter, still leaning against a wall with his arms crossed, looked down at Matthew. "Thank you...nice...cloak..." He then turned his head back to look straight forward again. Compliments were simply not his thing, both when it came to giving and receiving...The ghost simply thought that he should respond with something 'nice' as well.

When Noah was slaughtering the dog, Lilith just watched with disgust, kind of giving up, while Walter's emotions were hidden behind the mask. When the whole scene was over, and the howling alarm was raised, the skeleton just pointed his finger at the woman; "I totally blame you for that one..." and then walked out the doors, cracking his knuckles, planning to greet first visitors. "...Doesn't mean I mind though..." Their location was already known, so hiding was pointless, and in the dark, the apparition would be able to spot the invaders before being spotted itself, their vision most likely limited to a circle of light coming from their torches.

Lilith looked at the mess around, sleeping Noah, Walter leaving, terrified Matthew, Dino arming up, and just extended her arms to the sides slightly, shrugging and clapping her thighs as a gesture of giving up. "I don't even care anymore...Great security, top notch bastion of hope... Either the savages knew what comes tomorrow, or both parties got exactly the same idea at the same time...Wonderful... How did they even get in?"

"I'll take the front then, Dino," Nocturn volunteered, stepping up nearest to the door. He eyed the darkness, spotting the electrical fields of the canines and savages. "We're in for a treat, fellows."

The metal rods in his hands sparked, and the gears of his internal machinery began to whirr with excitement. The undead machine's jaw clicked once then twice. He was to feed two sources of power, two sources of his curse for the end would be death: death of Abra and his own sweet embrace with the Bearer.