Defense

Within a moment you understand what needs to be done. Heading back down the stairs you consider the layout of the clinic. Situated on top of a hill with a long drive up to the top... it's actually an ideal place to mount a defense, if you can find the manpower and weapons.

You enter back into the dining area, encountering the guard on the way in. You order him to gather all the able bodied persons into the dining hall immediately, telling him that there is little time. He salutes and dashes into the clinic.

You tell the few others gathered in the dining area to gather weapons quickly and prepare to fight. You then head into the kitchen and warn the women there. Several of them look scared, but others grab sharp knives from the rack.

The head nurse as she enters the kitchen. "What is this commotion?" She demands.

"How can we communicate with our forces?" You ask.

"We can only communicate by courier." She replies. "With the battle so far away we have little need for other means."

"Most definitely," you reply, "we need reinforcements now."

"We have a bicycle, and a fast rider, but the battle was far off...", she is interuptted by a couple nurses who run in from outside.

"Sister!", one says. "We were gathering fruit and saw a pillar descend! It's only about 20 kilometers from here!" She exclaims.

"Can we evacuate the wounded?" You ask.

"Impossible... ", her eyes seem to glaze over. "There are too many."

"Then you must get every able bodied person into the dining hall immediately. We also need weapons..."

{Consider what might be usable as a weapon in a hospital/clinic at the turn of the last century, apart from any guns they might have.}