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“He’s the closest thing we have to you.” JD’s fat fingers tug me over to an empty bed.
“You’re kidding me. You’re leeching off of a toddler? There’s really nothing worth salvaging in this cesspool, is there?” It’s oddly nostalgic when he straps my ankles into the leather restraints.
Just like old times.
I need to finish the story with my arm bones in his wobbly neck.
“He’s the only thing keeping some people alive. And his healing ability isn’t very good.” The monster disguised as a nurse pulls the syringe from the thin little arm.
That has to be like half the blood in his body. A trickle leaks down his limp fingers as she turns away.
“He’s still bleeding. If he could heal at all he’d have stopped. What is wrong with you all?” If my hair was longer, I’d be pulling it out.
“We’re all sick.” JD spits into a metal cup. The dried tobacco around the rim looks like it’s been there for a decade.
“I’d say.” There’s a cure in every caliber for what ails them.
“Last year there was a wildfire that pushed us to an old mercury mine up the hill. We didn’t know how much it would get into everyone. The town just needs a bump of your blood to pull out of the effects. He’s—” JD nods to the miniscule form. “—the only reason a lot of people are alive.”
“Maybe you’re all better off dead.” Assholes. Fire would be an excellent way to purge this new hell.
“Oh, now. Not a nice thing for a pretty girl to say. Don’t worry, we’ll all be right as rain now that you’re here.” His cup clatters on the table he’s planted himself next to.
A white haired man steps breathlessly through the door. He freezes when he sees me. “I need to test her.” His pale blue eyes look almost feverish with excitement.
Great. Another vulture. How long before he becomes my number one fan? If he’s the doc, I bet he already knows about all the perks.
Like slower aging.
His gnarled hands shake when he pulls a scalpel from a drawer and shuffles closer. Picking up my cuffed forearm in his frigid fingers, he makes a long shallow cut.
“Ow. You know that shit stings, right?” Why do I always turn into just a thing?
The gasp he makes fills the room when the wound closes as he withdraws the blade. “It’s perfect!” He doesn’t even look at me before turning to his nurse. “Get the nutrient solution going immediately. We need to start pulling doses right away.”
“Yes, doctor.” Her flat brown eyes flick over me without expression.
Like a snake’s.
“I hate you all so much.” My head flops backwards against the thin pillow.
Trapped again.
“Well, you’re the hero of the hour, girly.” JD pinches his lower lip with his finger and scoops out the chunks of chew he has stashed against his yellowed teeth. “Didn’t even catch your name. What should I call you?”
“You can call me, Death.”
Chapter 19
Michael
Everything hurts. And, my whiskers are frozen on my face. When I manage to open my eyes, the stars in the sky seem to peer down on me like the useless fool I am. I should have taken her as soon as I heard the noise. There should never have been a question. I’ll forever regret that decision.
She’s gone.
With a groan I manage to sit up. Something small and hard rolls between my chest and shirt.
It takes a second to track it down and pinch it through the fabric. The bullet.