Last of Daylight

10.5 Warrior Beware-Here Be Monsters

Pablo closed a cabinet door as soft as possible to avoid detection.

Lynn slammed one.

They definitely had two separate minds at this.

Rayne and the rest had left maybe thirty minutes ago. He and Lynn had been at it ever since. They opened every cabinet, scoured every drawer, and even busted the lock on the good stuff. Between them, they found suture kits, wound packs, and cast plaster.

"I know we promised Rayne that we'd help, but I'm kinda hoping we don't have to use this stuff," Pablo confessed.

Lynn rolled her eyes before she said, "First you won't fight, and now you're telling me you won't help the wounded?"

Pablo held up his hands, warding her off. "No! No. It's not that. I just hope no one shows up in bad enough shape to use it."

"They're probably all dead, anyway."

He blew the air out of his cheeks before saying, "You know? I used to like you."

Lynn gave him the finger without looking away from her work. "Oh, fuck off."

"No, I mean it. Lynn, you're funny in class, but not like a bitch to the teacher or anything. You pretend to struggle with the material, and I'm not the only one who figured that out. You even lent me your pencil once, and that really meant something to me." He pointed at her with a pack of gauze.

Lynn busied herself with organizing the supplies on the exam tables in the back of the class as she said, "I've lent that pencil out to plenty of people."

"Yeah, but that day you didn't have another one." Pablo's smile spread, assuming his flirting was making some headway. He licked his lips and made his way over to her, saying, "You're kind, and I don't know why you hide it."

Lynn mused, "Boy, everyone knows you flirt with anything in a skirt."

Pablo approached her at the table. "But few know how observant I am." His smile softened as he leaned against her. "When you think no one's looking, you do the kindest things. You compliment and build up other girls. You help the teachers grade papers. And you'd do anything you can for anyone in choir. You're a modest saint."

Pablo brushed a braid away from Lynn's face. The softness in her brown eyes told him that he was finally getting through to her. While it's true, he didn't want to die a virgin, he also really liked Lynn and wished he'd made his move before the world ended.

"Pablo," Lynn spoke his name in a husky whisper.

"Yes?"

She said, "Lick your lips one more time."

Pablo, aware of how much the girls liked his full lips, gave Lynn what she wanted very, very slowly. She smashed his face down to hers and pressed their lips together. Going with it, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tighter.

Unexpectedly, Lynn jumped up and wrapped her legs around Pablo's hips. Because of his undue lack of preparedness, they both tipped over and fell to the ground. She landed on top of him and didn't miss a beat.

Lynn's nails raked along his skin as her warm hands snaked under his shirt and made their way up his abs. Thank god for his workout routine. The softness of her lips, and the sweet merciful give of them as he tested his tongue for permission to enter, forced his hips to undulate under hers.

Slow. Easy. Don't push.

Lynn moaned, and all systems were go. His tongue explored the inside of her mouth; she unbuckled his pants. It all seemed to move a lot faster than Pablo had expected for his first time. It was as if both of them clawed desperately at each other for this fleeting moment of normalcy.

Voices from the hall made them bolt upright. Lynn rolled over to let Pablo fix his shirt while she adjusted her hair. His heart pounded for so many reasons. She made to stand, but he stopped her.

Pablo whispered, "I'll go check."

He stood and tried hard not to take offense at the amused twinkle in Lynn's eyes. With caution, he approached the door. All the while, the voices grew louder. An entire crowd of people gathered outside the Med Lab door: five of them students and two teachers. The teachers braced one limping student between them.

Pablo rolled up the sleeves on his overshirt, saying, "Lynn, there's some people hurt out here." He opened the door and stepped outside. "Hey, hey, we're human." He put his hands up to show he was unarmed.

Lynn followed his lead and raised her hands. He smiled sadly when he saw her braids were still tousled from their make-out session. If he ever got the chance to muss them up again, he wanted to do it right and alone with her spread out beneath—

"Hi, we have supplies in here," Lynn assured. "Mr. Palmer, are you all right?"

"Yes, but not all of us." The history teacher nodded at the girl between him and the other teacher.

"Bring them in here. We can help," Pablo said as he waved them inside.

Pablo and Mr. Palmer lifted the girl with the limp as gently as they could and placed her on the exam table Lynn had set up. She and two other students helped another onto the second table.

Mr. Palmer searched around the classroom and at all the supplies they'd gathered. "Where's Dr. Jones?"

Pablo said, "She's out on the football field, where you'll be headed as soon as we finish here." He grabbed a pair of scissors.

The girl flinched and hissed. The panic stressed her injury and caused her to groan.

"I won't hurt you. I only need to cut your jeans to see better."

She bit her lip and looked over at Mr. Palmer for reassurance. He patted her hand. "He's going to do what he can to help."

Well, except maybe setting a bone without an X-Ray, which is exactly what this girl needed.

After Pablo pulled away the blood-soaked material of her jeans, he shook his head as if that might remove the image from his brain. Her tibia, the lower leg bone, had broken the skin of her shin. He tried hard to see it for all the blood and tissue, but he thought maybe her fibula was broken beneath it. Monsters like these didn't settle for flesh wounds. They went for the bone.

Pablo didn't know what was happening outside of the school, but if Rayne and Sagan thought it was on a global scale, they were screwed. He worried that if any hospitals were still standing, they'd be full and run out of supplies and doctors quickly.

Lynn inhaled sharply across the room. Even with her back to him, Pablo saw the fine tremor of her shoulders. Everyone around her patient stared at the girl as if they were wondering how she'd made it this far without dying.

Determined, Pablo prepared the splints, readied the wraps, and smiled reassuringly at his patient. He said, "I'll tell you the story about a girl named Rayne and how she and her friends will save the world."

Pablo set to work.