Monster Mine by Meg Collett

everything
else.
    “ Halflings!”
    I recognized Thad’s voice, but I
couldn’t see him.
    “ Call out!” His shout
echoed down the alley.
    I pushed passed a halfling holding her
head, her ear hanging by a piece of cartilage in her hand. I needed
to help these people, but I could only see Hatter.
    Above me, someone shouted down,
“Lauren! No injury!”
    Then, “Rimmel. Injured, nonfatal! No
assist required.”
    I reached Luke and Hatter, who sagged
forward. One of his eyes was swollen shut, his bottom lip split
through. His shirt was torn down the front, and I saw the first
bite. The flesh along his neck and atop his shoulder had been torn
clean through. Inches over and the bite would have hit his main
artery. He brought his hand to my face, his thumb raking across my
cheek.
    “ Yvonne. No
injury!”
    “ Taylor. In-injured.” The
voice was no more than a rasp behind me. “Assist . . .
assist.”
    “ First assist!” Thad
boomed. “Now! Keep calling!”
    The darkness of the narrow space was
nearly absolute. The people around us were no more than shadows as
the moon slipped behind the cloud cover.
    “ You okay?” Hatter choked
out.
    I nodded, too busy running my hands
over him, searching for more bites. I found three more before Luke
sagged against the wall. The three of us crashed down together in a
pile. Luke coughed thickly and couldn’t stop. Hatter’s head rolled
forward onto my shoulder, his weight crumpling against me. I
wrapped my arms around him and held on.
    “ Someone help over here!
It’s Sunny!” I called out.
    “ Second assist!” Thad
echoed back instantly.
    Next to me, a halfling turned, took us
in on the ground, and grabbed Hatter. With one easy lift, the guy
had Hatter on his feet.
    “ Reece,” he called out.
His skin was tanned, like he’d somehow found a beach out here, and
his eyes shone brightly back at me. “No injury! Third assist
needed,” he added, seeing Luke.
    “ Third assist!”
    Another halfling came to us and
followed Reece’s order to collect Luke. The halfling slung him over
his shoulder and herded us down the alley to the other opening. All
around, more and more halflings called out, most injured. Some
didn’t fill the gap between calls, so Thad would shout for an
assist. They still hadn’t finished the roll by the time we stepped
into the opening, which had become a triage of sorts. Bodies were
lying spaced across the pavement, with halflings crouched over
them. Some worked to stop the bleeding and others fought to hold a
person down as another set their bones. Bandages were torn from
shirts and used to wrap up wounds.
    The fight had lasted seconds, but in
that tight space, it had decimated us.
    Reece and the other halfling helped me
lower Luke and Hatter to the ground. More people streamed out of
the alley, the shouting dying down. I glanced back and saw some
people were hauling out the ’swang bodies. With a hand to my
shoulder, Reece went back to help.
    “ You didn’t answer me,”
Hatter gasped, wincing.
    “ I’m fine,” I said, my
voice hoarse. “I’m okay. Where are you hurt?”
    “ Everywhere. You have a
lot of places to kiss and make better.” His mouth fluttered into a
sideways smile before he grimaced.
    Luke finished coughing and braced
himself against the ground, where he sat hunched over.
    “ Are you bitten?” I
asked.
    He shook his head. “Just banged around
a bit. Nothing ser—” Another round of hacking coughs cut him
off.
    “ We need to get back to
the warehouse,” I said as I peeled back Hatter’s shirt, my eyes
scanning his bloodied skin. I counted four major bite wounds and a
few more minor cuts.
    Halflings lay all around us, some
worse off than Hatter. Many had bites all over their bodies. I
needed to go to them, but I couldn’t make myself move.
    “ I’m fine,” he said,
reading my face. “Go. It’s okay.”
    “ I—”
    “ Sunny!” Thad jogged up
behind me. “We could use another hand.”
    I nodded as I stood.