Shocked by Casey Harvell

qualified for both so it’s not completely surprising. My blood pressure and temperature appear to be to his satisfaction. After a few more procedures he looks at me.
    “You’re dehydrated. You need to take more fluids.” He moves to a mini fridge and pulls out a sports drink that he tosses me. “Start with that. It’s probably from all the loss of fluids and you need to be in top form out there.”
    “Thanks,” I open it and take a long swig.
    “Kat,” Dr. Ford rubs his hand on the back of his head. “I want you to know that if you ever need anything I’m here.”
    “I know doc, thanks.” My smile’s sincere.
    “Just know that you’ll always have someone in your corner. I promise.”
    A rap on the door indicates it’s time to move. Dr. Ford and Captain Jennings walk me to the area I suit up in. This time I only grab the jacket. It seems silly in this heat though it’ll surely come in handy later.
    Brie’s waiting when I step out. B’s with her and I crouch down to cuddle him. Brie freaks out and is talking a mile a minute. She bombards me with questions as to why Mason’s so upset and not here suiting up with us.
    “What the hell’s going on?” She finishes and cradles her belly while she tries to catch her breath. I help her towards a nearby bench and sit her down. I make sure she’s steady before I sit next to her.
    “Better?”
    “Yeah, thanks,” she says. “It’s hard to breath with a person sitting on your diaphragm twenty-four seven.”
    “I can’t even imagine.” I say and then jump when her belly moves.
    She laughs. “It’s okay, that’s nothing. This baby does flips at night that are insane.” Then her face grows serious again. “Now stop changing the subject. What’s going on?”
    Brie’s every bit as furious as me while I recount the tale. “If you want, I can totally have Jared kick his ass. Once this baby comes out I might just do it myself.”
    “No, it’s okay. If I wanted to hurt him, well…” I give her a knowing look.
    “I guess so,” she agrees. “He still deserves it though.”
    “Yeah, he probably does.”
    “You know, I should beat you up too for not coming to wake me up last night.” Brie scolds.
    “I thought about it, but your sleeping for two now.” I point to her belly to confirm my statement. “You need your rest.”
    “Then where’d you go?”
    I recount the rest of my night and she puts her hand in mine. “Lucas seems like a good friend.” She observes.
    “Yeah, he is. He’s reliable.” Before I can say anything else, Captain Jennings calls my name. I give B a big hug and move to Brie. “Time to go.”
    She hugs me hard. “Be careful, okay? Come back safe.”
    “Promise,” I release her and rub her belly. “Take care of B for me. Don’t let Mason take him if you can. I should be back soon.”
    “I’ll keep him close.”
    It’s hard to walk away from the two of them. If I don’t go do what I can to stop the spread of infection, everyone here will be in danger. Everyone everywhere will be in danger.
    To my relief Lucas waits among the rest of the team: a familiar face in a host of unfamiliar ones. There’s only one other girl. She has dark hair and a hard expression. She’s almost pretty if not so rough looking. The other seven team members are all men. Every last one of them (excluding me and Lucas) are rigidly strict. Their eyes hold tinges of anxiety and fear. We set out to accomplish what every other team has fails and the weight of it gets heavier as we go.
    This time will be different because they’ll have something they don’t have before. A weapon of unmatchable force: Me. What’s worse? A teensy part off me is looking forward to it. All of this anger and hurt that envelope me yearns for release… begs for it.
    Does that make me a horrible person? Sometimes I think that it does. It certainly won’t be the first time that I question my own humanity. I’ve taken human lives before—granted they weren’t exactly