Joseph joined Marcus in searching for incense, scanning the shelves and cabinets lining the walls for anything that looked promising, but was soon distracted by the sounds coming from outside. That the door was locked and they trapped inside may have actually been a blessing in disguise as what appeared to be a group of people, men judging by the voices, began to tear apart the room beyond the portal. Joseph stopped and stared at the door, as if standing still and holding his breath would somehow prevent them from trying to enter, until the men began banging on the door and demanding entry.

As if they didn’t already have enough reason to be suspicious of those on the other side, the man who spoke sounded strange, his voice affected in some way that made Joseph think the worst. He heard enough snippets from them to know they were searching for blood and he could understand why they would come to a doctors clinic of all places if that’s what they wanted; he knew what excessive blood could do to people, the addiction and the changes in personality it brought with it. He knew it all too intimately and he knew that opening the door was the last thing they should do.

That, of course, didn’t mean they wouldn’t get in eventually anyway. Marcus seemed to agree as he took up position near the door so as to better ambush the men as they inevitably broke through. Simple hand gestures conveyed what the other man wanted; he would kill the larger of the two and Joseph would kill the smaller. The plan only extended to the first two to come through, but preparing for more than that when they didn’t know what to expect was impractical. Killing though… would Joseph be able to kill another human being if need be? His hand gripped the axe handle tighter, reminding himself of what he held. He wasn’t sure that he could if he gave himself time to think about it, if he had to look a man in the eye as he swung his axe at them he would falter; better just to swing and hope for the best, put the idea of killing out of his mind for now and just attack. Needs must and all that; he could deal with his conscience when they were both alive at the end of this to do so.

Motion in his peripheral drew his attention and Joseph raised the axe and turned to the side, expecting one of the men outside to have somehow circled around behind them and found another entrance and found instead a man climbing out of a cot and moving in their direction. Another patient, waking up and finding himself in the same position as them. He walked towards them with hands up to show that he was not a threat and then gestured towards the barrel of weapons. Joseph considered what to do, weighing the risks of arming this stranger against the benefit of another sword arm to help with the group outside.

In the end trusting this man was no more foolish than trusting Marcus and an uncertain ally was better than the men outside overpowering them because this stranger wasn’t armed. Joseph reached towards the barrel and pulled out a weapon at random, finding himself with a short spear in one hand and the axe in the other. He measured them both for a moment before deciding to keep the spear for himself, throwing the axe towards the other man with a little more care than Marcus had shown him.

[color=f7976a][b]“We’ll handle the first two, you stay back.”[/b][/color]

[@Th3King0fChaos][@Habibi359]