Last of Daylight

11.4 There's Only One Way To Check For Rabies

Footsteps approached the door. Shadows appeared through the glass window. The door knob turned slowly.

Come on, just try it. Lynn stood flush against the wall. She swung a metal pole before she recognized the two intruders as frightened students.

"Shit! Sorry!"

Lynn dropped the scrap and urged them inside, asking, "Are you all right? You're not hurt, are you?"

Pablo sat the girl down in a chair.

Lynn didn't recognize her or the boy. She looked over at Pablo and said, "Maybe they made it to the cafeteria." Maybe this would all end soon.

Ever since the fight team left, people escaped hiding places in droves and made their way here. The injuries were all fearsome and almost every single one required hospital treatment. Historically, field medicine didn't provide a suitable answer for broken limbs on the battlefield, and that's exactly what this was. A battlefield.

The boy nodded. His eyes were full of shock.

The girl kept to herself, too frightened to speak.

Pablo wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. He looked up at Lynn, saying, "I think she's in shock."

Lynn turned her back on them, rummaging through the bag of supplies.

The boy stepped closer, talking loud and clear. "It was horrible. Blood everywhere." He continued speaking, but Lynn concentrated on her search for the materials. With her back to him, she didn't see the pole hit her at the base of the neck.

Damn. Darkness swirled in her vision.

The girl sprung for Pablo, screaming. Now they knew why she was so quiet. She didn't have a tongue. Choking him, she forced him back against the lab table.

Pablo gripped her hands and croaked, "Hey, wait a minute!" He pushed her hard enough that she stumbled back.

She screamed and lunged for him once more. When she fell on him, he used her momentum to throw her over his head. She landed on one of the upturned plastic chairs with the metal leg impaling her.

The alien girl shrieked her last.

Pablo grabbed the bastard attacking Lynn by the back of the neck, pulled him off her, and slammed him into the incinerator. He pounded the red button and watched as the monster's head exploded inside the purifier.

From the floor, Lynn sighed in relief. "Thanks, Pablo!"

He checked the scratch on her neck. "It's minor." He grinned. "Next two are yours."

Lynn laughed. Their eyes locked. She stared into his gaze, longing to finish what they'd started, but this sneak assassin thing meant that the time for distractions was over. They couldn't afford even ten minutes together.

Lynn stood, and sadness softened her voice as she said, "I don't know if there's anyone else to save."

Pablo frowned. "I think there should be more people to help. We've only seen maybe three dozen."

"I know."

He frowned harder in confusion, asking, "So what do you mean?"

Lynn's tone was gentle. "Either they're at the football field or they're all gone."

Pablo lowered his head and sniffled.