just pull up, spray some gas on a plastic box and then light it on fire?”
“The only people we’ve seen are blutom monsters,” I said, “odds are good they won’t be thinking at all.”
“The town is still here,” Pete said. “We’ll get past this, you fools. We shouldn’t call attention to ourselves.”
I was getting tired of his insults but I bit my tongue because Madelyn was glaring at me, apparently thinking that I was antagonizing Pete. Perhaps they were both still a little shaken up from the close call we had with the mob. I would have thought that given the horde of shifted people, they would have been amenable to taking a few more risks. It was time to talk about something else while I gave them both time to gather their wits.
“It’s safe to assume that the lab has been overrun as well,” I said. “At the very least, we need to be prepared to fight off more of these. Unless you know something different,” I refrained from accusing Pete of withholding on us again, “the only success we’ve had at putting down these monsters has been to apply flames in a very liberal fashion. I’m fresh out of stuff to burn. We could also pick up some containers of gas if we stopped.”
Pete rubbed his forehead. “I’m not sure that’s the wisest plan. Every minute we waste is another that makes it that much more difficult for us to get ahead of this thing. We should go directly to the lab so I can make a few calls.”
“We don’t know enough about what’s going on at the lab to not have some sort of backup plan,” I said. “My vote would be to get gas and then go. Mad?”
“Morty’s right, Pete. There’s only so much damage that we’re going to be able to do with a shotgun and a pistol. Given what we’ve seen on the streets tonight it makes the most sense to load up on gas.”
Pete growled. “Let’s be quick about it. But don’t try to light the blutom on fire. We don’t have time for that.”
Chapter 11
THE AIR SMELLED of gasoline as I got out of the car. The night was silent, or at least it seemed to be at first. The longer I stood listening, the more convinced I became that I could hear screams somewhere out in the darkness. I wondered if it wasn’t just my mind playing tricks on me.
“We’ll be okay until the lab.” Pete handed me the plastic box with the blutom. “Here, see for yourself.”
The blutom quivered as the box changed hands. The top of it vibrated, reminding me of a dog sniffing the air. It was still solid black. I studied it, letting several seconds pass, wondering if it would start to glow as I did.
“What level is it?”
Pete bit his lip and looked as though he didn’t want to respond. “Eight, but that’s not as bad as it sounds. There will be a lot of time between nine and ten. It’s at level seven when it’s purple.” When he saw my surprised look that it was already so advanced, he elaborated further. “Most of the levels describe different states while it is in a host. The moment it leaves, it’s usually a level seven.”
I fixed him with a dubious frown and took a deep breath. He had made it sound earlier as if the blutom was at a low level and that we had plenty of time before it became the great glowing ball of goo that we’d fought back in the women’s bathroom of my dorm.
“Ok,” I said. “We’ll wait until the lab. In the meantime, if it starts to glow—”
“I’ll pour the gas and light it myself.” Pete took the box back and shut it up in the back of the car.
“You two going to just stand and gossip all night or are we going to get moving?” The wind tussled her hair, blowing it back from her shoulders. Her skin glowed under the lights of the gas station from the sheen of sweat and she favored me with her half smile that showed a few teeth. As I took her in I couldn’t help but feel hope that maybe we’d be able to repair our broken relationship. She must have picked up on the fact that her tactics were
“The only people we’ve seen are blutom monsters,” I said, “odds are good they won’t be thinking at all.”
“The town is still here,” Pete said. “We’ll get past this, you fools. We shouldn’t call attention to ourselves.”
I was getting tired of his insults but I bit my tongue because Madelyn was glaring at me, apparently thinking that I was antagonizing Pete. Perhaps they were both still a little shaken up from the close call we had with the mob. I would have thought that given the horde of shifted people, they would have been amenable to taking a few more risks. It was time to talk about something else while I gave them both time to gather their wits.
“It’s safe to assume that the lab has been overrun as well,” I said. “At the very least, we need to be prepared to fight off more of these. Unless you know something different,” I refrained from accusing Pete of withholding on us again, “the only success we’ve had at putting down these monsters has been to apply flames in a very liberal fashion. I’m fresh out of stuff to burn. We could also pick up some containers of gas if we stopped.”
Pete rubbed his forehead. “I’m not sure that’s the wisest plan. Every minute we waste is another that makes it that much more difficult for us to get ahead of this thing. We should go directly to the lab so I can make a few calls.”
“We don’t know enough about what’s going on at the lab to not have some sort of backup plan,” I said. “My vote would be to get gas and then go. Mad?”
“Morty’s right, Pete. There’s only so much damage that we’re going to be able to do with a shotgun and a pistol. Given what we’ve seen on the streets tonight it makes the most sense to load up on gas.”
Pete growled. “Let’s be quick about it. But don’t try to light the blutom on fire. We don’t have time for that.”
Chapter 11
THE AIR SMELLED of gasoline as I got out of the car. The night was silent, or at least it seemed to be at first. The longer I stood listening, the more convinced I became that I could hear screams somewhere out in the darkness. I wondered if it wasn’t just my mind playing tricks on me.
“We’ll be okay until the lab.” Pete handed me the plastic box with the blutom. “Here, see for yourself.”
The blutom quivered as the box changed hands. The top of it vibrated, reminding me of a dog sniffing the air. It was still solid black. I studied it, letting several seconds pass, wondering if it would start to glow as I did.
“What level is it?”
Pete bit his lip and looked as though he didn’t want to respond. “Eight, but that’s not as bad as it sounds. There will be a lot of time between nine and ten. It’s at level seven when it’s purple.” When he saw my surprised look that it was already so advanced, he elaborated further. “Most of the levels describe different states while it is in a host. The moment it leaves, it’s usually a level seven.”
I fixed him with a dubious frown and took a deep breath. He had made it sound earlier as if the blutom was at a low level and that we had plenty of time before it became the great glowing ball of goo that we’d fought back in the women’s bathroom of my dorm.
“Ok,” I said. “We’ll wait until the lab. In the meantime, if it starts to glow—”
“I’ll pour the gas and light it myself.” Pete took the box back and shut it up in the back of the car.
“You two going to just stand and gossip all night or are we going to get moving?” The wind tussled her hair, blowing it back from her shoulders. Her skin glowed under the lights of the gas station from the sheen of sweat and she favored me with her half smile that showed a few teeth. As I took her in I couldn’t help but feel hope that maybe we’d be able to repair our broken relationship. She must have picked up on the fact that her tactics were
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