“C’mon, Creed. You can sit by me, and we’ll get the girls to sit in the back.”
Creed nodded absently and walked looking down at his feet toward the SUV that was quickly loading. He didn’t have to worry about Meg sitting near him anyway. She took up her vigil over the coydog in the trunk by curling up around him again—essentially separating herself from the rest of the passengers. He hadn’t seen her eat or drink anything other than that sip at the fountain and damn it if it didn’t worry him that she wasn’t taking care of herself.
Not your problem anymore, soldier. Her brothers can take care of her now. She just kicked you to the curb. Deal with it.
Chapter 11 Father Knows Best
Williams grimaced at the new pain wracking his body and tried to put it somewhere away from himself. After Meg had bolted from the wreckage by actually climbing over what she believed was a dead body, Williams sat in dejected anger for a few minutes trying to decide what to do.
Should I let myself die?
He definitely felt internal injuries. Not too much longer and his abdomen would fill with blood and his organs would begin shutting down.
Maybe now is the perfect time to let it go. He hung, oozing blood from his mouth in long strands as he experienced a monster’s version of an existential moment.
What is the point, he thought, of my continued existence? His bloody eyes watched his torn hands.
What was the point of my existence, ever? he contemplated even as he felt his heart pumping blood into useless internal cavities.
My daughter, whom I just saved from a life of brain-washed slavery, just stepped on me to manage her own escape, leaving me to die alone with my thoughts, my demons.
Dr. Williams coughed once then couldn’t stop for a while, pain wracking his body with each violent movement. He felt his face swelling even more painfully than usual.
What to do? He thought deeply.
If I take the phone from my pocket, I can summon a dozen soldiers to rescue me, but then what?
He dangled in thought for a full minute before coming to the only conclusion a man like him could come to.
I have her blood now. I can unlock the code to create the evolution in myself—to cure me of my condition. he thought. A smile squirmed across his face as he reached into his pocket and pressed the emergency button on the back, giving his waiting metahumans his exact location.
What is the reason for my existence? What’s the point of any father’s existence? To raise his daughter to be a productive member of society…and to one day raise a family of her own with all the knowledge passed to her by her father. Williams’ face creased and cracked as he pursed his lips in a tight smile. Fissures filled with watery-blood and moved to drip off the rancid, torn flesh as though anxious to travel anywhere but to the sick heart of the monster clinging to the side of a black mountain.
Chapter 12 Bound to Her Side
The ambulance couldn’t arrive fast enough for Theo as he kept vigil over Margo’s broken body. Danny had refused to leave her side, too. He kept one hand gently on her back even after his wails had turned in to stuttering sniffles.
Every time Theo would try to move the little boy, he would scream and thrash so violently, the doctor was sure he would break something, so he left the toddler next to the woman he loved, understanding Danny’s need to be near her was as acute as his own. They both loved Margo and neither one was willing to leave her side.
The paramedics, however, took some convincing. They tried to insist Danny ride with Theo in a car and follow the ambulance to the hospital. Greg Burns stepped in and threw his ample weight around. The two men and one woman finally yielded when Burns offered a personal police escort.
With lights and sirens blaring, the small caravan hurried to the hospital for x-rays and evaluation. Margo still hadn’t regained consciousness, and there was a lot of unspoken fear that something serious had been injured, maybe further up on her spine.
Three hours, a battery of tests and one sobbing little boy later, they were finally alone in hospital room 301. Margo’s injuries were still under evaluation, but the doctors were trying to prepare Theo for the worst-case scenario.