Forging Day (Crucible of Change Book 1) (11 page)

Berto, with Mikah’s help, did his best to patch people up, but there was only so much to be done with a first aid kit, even one as well stocked as his normally was. He was shaking his head and talking to Mikah, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying. Whatever it was, they both looked grim.

“Okay folks, I know this sucks, and I know we’ve been hurt, but it’s not safe to stay here.” Mikah cleared his throat and continued. “Berto is doing his best, but we need more. We planned for camping injuries, not gunshot wounds. There’s a medical facility in Longmont that’s probably our best bet. After this little welcome party, I don’t think it’s safe to try somewhere closer to here. I’m afraid we’re going to have to abandon two of the motorcycles. We don’t have enough healthy people to ride them. You guys pick the two either in worst repair or lowest on gas, and move them off to the side of the road. Let’s siphon gas from their cars and get our vehicles topped off, and get us out of here as quickly as possible.”

Tessa turned and walked to the pickup truck blocking the road. She started it, presumably with Mel’s keys, and moved it out of the way onto the shoulder of the road. She was in the car a few minutes, and came back with bulging convenience store sack.

“I can drive Oaken’s car,” said the red-haired woman who had been riding with him. “I’m Morgan, by the way.”

“I’ll drive Aspen’s car,” said Briar. “She’s in no shape to drive and Lilith is injured.”

Aspen was still sobbing over one of the sleeping bag-shrouded bodies. That had to be Matt.

“Aspen, it’s not your fault. Matt made his choice. He loved you and wanted to protect you. The only ones to blame are these thugs.” Briar hugged her again, radiating sorrow and calm.

“We can’t leave our people here,” says Korembi. “They not be food for the buzzards. Put them in the back of our car.” Frank and Henry worked together to carry out the somber task.

“I can drive for Korembi,” Tessa said. No one would really meet her eyes. “I can drive. Korembi and Razaini aren’t able to drive themselves.” She looked defiant, like a chastened teenage girl, which she still was, sort of. Her eyes were red-rimmed when she glared at Mikah, and I could tell his condemnation still hurt her. “I did what I had to do,” she said quietly, to no one in particular.

“We’d be happy to have your help,” said Razaini, almost daring anyone else to object.

I was surprised when Berto showed up next to me. He briefly felt my forehead before gently patting my good shoulder. “As long as we’re doing triage, I want another look at that arm.”

I looked away, not really wanting to see it, but more than happy to get clean bandages. Leaning into Kat, I thought about warm, sun-scented fur while Berto carefully removed the gore-spattered bandage. Kat gasped, and I looked in spite of myself. That was a mistake. The skin was pulling at the stitches and the smell was vile. I went hot and cold at once, and couldn’t seem to stop shaking.

“Crap,” said Berto. “That’s what I was afraid of. Who knows what kind of nastiness those little wolf things carried. I’m going to need to clean this out and see if we can’t slow down whatever’s happening.”

This was the first time Mikah had ever urged me to drink—and then drink some more. “Come on, Olivia, this is some quality rum. You really don’t want to feel this, and this is the best we can do.”

The rum left me dizzy and my stomach burned, but that was nothing compared to the hot agony of Berto snipping through the stitches and pulling them loose. Mikah and Kat both held me down, and someone else shoved a rolled-up piece of towel between my teeth. I screamed when the alcohol hit the open wound. My ears rang, and Berto said, from very far away, “This is going to hurt.”

I slowly opened my eyes, fairly certain I was still asleep. A tiny tree with pink and purple blossoming flowers was staring at me, stroking my forehead with one of its little branches. I felt a vague tugging at my arm, but it didn’t hurt. A tear-streaked face came into view, and I recognized Aspen. “This is Hyacinth. I know Oaken said we couldn’t do the sheep-stealing thing, but I still wanted to make my own little sheep. Hyacinth hopped out of the car when you screamed, and ran over here. As soon as she touched you, your whole body went limp.”

I’d never loved a tree more than I did this minute. “Thank you, Hyacinth, and Aspen. Whatever you’re doing, please don’t stop.”

“Your arm still needs some serious medical attention, Olivia, but I think this will hold you until we get into town. We’re loading up the cars. We need to get out of here. No doubt these fools had friends and family that are bound to coming looking for them, sooner or later.” Berto sounded worried, and I didn’t blame him. We really didn’t want to explain a bunch of dead bodies to more angry men with guns.

Kat helped me up, and Hyacinth hopped effortlessly up onto Aspen’s shoulder. She visibly relaxed at the touch of the little tree creature. I braced for the pain to come back, but it wasn’t as bad as I’d feared. Distant, but still there. I hoped I would have some serious pain meds before whatever magic this was wore off.

Medic!!!

We stayed on the highway heading east through Lyons. There wasn’t a lot of other traffic out and no one else pointed any guns at us. I still breathed a sigh of relief when the town disappeared in the rear view mirror.

I jumped a little when my phone started playing “O Fortuna”. Cordie was finally breaking radio silence.

I tried to sound normal. “Hey sis, how’s that zombie outbreak treating you?”

“Olivia,” she sighed, “please, no more selfies right now. Things are pretty tense around here. Do you have your kit?”

“No, Cordie. We were out camping, remember? We’re trying to get home but we need to make a little stop in Longmont.”

“Don’t stop. Just get home.”

“Kind of not an option. We got into an altercation and we have wounded. Oh, that, and this little plush wolf thing came to life and attacked me, and now my arm is kind of messed up.”

“Oh no! The best thing you can do now is get it cleaned out and apply a lot of antiseptic. You aren’t the first person who’s had a close encounter with something that shouldn’t exist. The wounds are going septic and fast. Ask Berto what he knows about Komodo dragons. He’ll understand. Call me as soon as you get to the house.” She was quiet for a minute, and I started to think she’d hung up without saying goodbye. “I do love you, Olivia. Please take care of yourself. You’re a pain in the ass, but I need you in my world, sis.”

“I love you too, Cordie. Please come home soon.”

I was sniffling when I ended the call. Every time I thought she delighted in ruining my life, she said something like this.

I had another call to make before I forgot. “Berto? Cordie called. I told her a little bit about my arm. She said to ask you what you know about Komodo dragons.”

He didn’t say anything, which was not Berto at all. He cleared his throat and sounded a little choked up. “Well, then, it’s a good thing we were already headed to the hospital. You hang in there.”

That response wasn’t exactly reassuring. I checked my phone and it showed an internet signal, so I went ahead and did a search on Komodo dragons. In retrospect, that was probably not my best plan of the day. Apparently, they are giant lizards with a virulent, fast acting, septic saliva. I’m very fond of my left arm. I’d like to keep it. We’re quite attached.

We were driving through open range, and there was much more movement than usual in the distance. It looked like something large and fast chasing after some other unlucky creature. Happily, they were headed away from the road. We didn’t need more trouble.

We passed a sign for the Greenwood Wildlife Rehab area. There were a handful of bluebirds perched on the sign, and a bunch more sitting along a power line. I would have sworn they were staring at us, and they didn’t look friendly. It was probably just me. Nothing looked friendly at this point.

We went by a couple of large lakes to our south. It seemed weird to see bright blue sky reflected in the water. It would have been a lovely day, if not for all the screaming and running and dying.

We finally reached the outskirts of Longmont. I was almost surprised that nothing else bad had happened to us on the way. There was more traffic here, and a lot of sirens, but things otherwise looked normal. We got a few stares, but most people were too caught up in their own drama to spare anyone else much attention.

My heart fell as we pulled into the hospital parking lot. It didn’t look good. The place was jam-packed. Our little caravan was trying to at least get close enough to the ER entrance to drop off the injured when we saw the very large sign posted on the door.
Humans Only−By Order of the Management
. Crap.

Mikah kept right on driving, and we all followed him around the curve to the far edge of the parking lot. He and Berto got out of the van and came over to the group. I rolled down the window so I could hear from inside the car. If I had to get out, I’d fall down.

“I’m sorry,” said Mikah. “I really believed hospitals would stay neutral. I didn’t think this would happen. Here’s what we’re going to do. Berto has his ID with him. He and I are going to go in and see if we can talk to someone and get some help. We need everyone else to stay out here. Those that are able will keep an eye out for trouble. If you see us come out running, get the cars started and get moving. Head east to the highway and then take I-25 south. We’ll meet up at the Hunting World parking lot if we get separated.”

The car was hot, even with the windows down, and I felt worse by the minute while we waited. I was beginning to wonder if they would even get to come back. “What if something happens to them, Kat? What are we going to do?”

She stroked my forehead and made me drink some water. “Just try to rest. They’ll be back.”

It felt like forever, and I kept expecting someone else to try and kill us. It had been that kind of day. I finally saw them walking across the parking lot—hurrying, but not running. Each of them carried a large bag, like the kind hospitals give patients to carry their personal belongings when they check in.

Berto looked as mad as I’ve ever seen him. “They won’t help. Hospital management has ordered hospital security to turn away all people showing any non-Human features. No exceptions. Some of the staff weren’t happy about it, but they were swamped with other cases and weren’t willing to fight the system, in any case.”

He gestured at the bags. “Luckily, I knew one of the nurses. I would have recognized Mary Rose’s tie-dyed scrubs anywhere—we were in nursing school together. She’s pretty upset about the hospital turning anyone away. She put together what she could, forged a doctor’s signature to get us some prescription meds, and snuck it out to us. That’s what took so long—we had to wait for her to get a chance to get away long enough to bring us these supplies.”

Kat got out a few of the camp chairs and helped me into one of them. It was just too hot to keep sitting in the car. Henry and May broke out one of the screen tents, blocking the view from the hospital with a couple of tarps. “At least this will give me a little privacy to work,” said Berto. I sent a little mental blessing toward Berto’s nurse friend, because the bags were packed with dressings, antiseptic, an air cast, an assortment of medications, and a surgical kit. She had to have risked her job by doing this.

Berto scrubbed up as best he could, and had Mikah scrub his own hands too so he could assist. I wondered why Aspen’s little friend, Hyacinth, wasn’t helping. Berto must have wondered too, because I heard Aspen telling him, “I’m sorry, but Hyacinth is wiped out from earlier. She says she can’t do any more today. I’m sorry.”

Berto looked grim. “You saw the wound, Olivia. Whatever that creature was, it’s given you a particularly nasty fast-acting infection. I want you to be prepared.” He carefully removed the soiled dressings and exposed the festering wound. At this point, I wasn’t surprised that it looked worse.

“I read about Komodo dragons online. If you don’t fix this, I’m going to lose my arm, or worse. Tell me I’m wrong.”

He looked sad and stricken, but he didn’t contradict me either.

“You have to do that magic touch thing like you did with Mikah last night. You’re my only hope, oh wise one.”

He tried to smile, but failed. “You know I tried last night. It didn’t work. I don’t know why!”

I hadn’t heard Tessa come over, but I heard her sultry tones from behind me. “You said something when you healed your husband last night. What was it?”

“I said, ‘please God, let him be okay’.”

“And was that God with the small g or the big G? And did you mean it with all your heart?”

“The big G, and yes, yes I did.”

“What did you say when you tried to heal your friend’s husband and then Olivia later that night?”

He looked embarrassed. “I said,
Be healed.
”

“Then your problem is faith. You said a prayer when you healed Mikah. You invoked a divine blessing. When you tried again later, you had will, but no faith. Just as God has made me into this for how I’ve lived my life, He’s blessed you with the gift of healing. But you have to have faith. I’m a demon. I should know.”

He looked at me with new determination. To my surprise, he crossed himself first and then kissed my forehead. He held one hand over my heart and the other over my wounded arm. “Dear God in Heaven, grant me healing for this woman. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”

His face was radiant as golden light flowed from his hands, washing over me. The pain fled before his healing touch, and the wound knit itself together, leaving only a healed scar.

Tears rolled down his cheeks. “I thought God turned His back on me for loving Mikah. I was the one that turned my back on Him. I will never turn away again.”

Mikah hugged him tight, and then they were both smiling and crying at the same time.

Berto finally turned back to the other wounded with new confidence. As he got to each person, he crossed himself and kissed them on the forehead. His prayers were quiet but strong, and the golden healing light chased away the damage. Even Stella benefitted from his newfound skill—though I notice she didn’t get a kiss.