Approaching Shatter by Kent Wayne

Author:Kent Wayne [Wayne, Kent]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Science Fiction, Hard Science Fiction, Military, Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic
Amazon: B013NYPV94
Published: 2015-08-07T23:00:00+00:00

7

Atriya lifted his shirt, revealing Verus’s neat dressing. A dark red blot was prominently noticeable, leaking crimson into the layers of bandage. The blood seemed eager to leave his body.

“Unwrap it.” Verus was still, eyes fixed on the cut.

Slowly, and not without trepidation, Atriya undid the gauze. It fell away into a disregarded heap on the floor.

The slice was ugly looking, flesh gaping and puckered. Glistening blood welled outwards from the separation welled. Pinkish white meat was visible as the liquid redness moved and shifted in time with Atriya’s breathing, giving depth to the cut. It wasn’t shallow by any means.

Atriya sucked air through his teeth as he examined it. “Can’t believe he tagged me this good with that cheap fucking knife.” He gave voice to what he had reiterated to himself hundreds of times over in the past half hour.

Verus’s glance darted to his face then back to the wound. “It was sharp enough. Stay still.”

She positioned her hands over the gash, closing her eyes. Her breathing was deep and regulated, underscored by a subtle strain. Her forehead wrinkle, and Atriya was taken aback to see beads of sweat form on its surface. His eyes went to her hands and widened in disbelief.

A soft blue glow was coming from them. The light was extending outwards from her palms and swirling into the riven piece of flesh. As it spread from Verus’s fingers the edges of luminescence became tendrils and lobes, conforming to the jaggedness of the laceration. The radiance seemed to have a core to it too; the glow that was closest to her hands appeared almost white while the edges were a darker, richer blue.

He felt gentle warmth where the light touched his skin. At the same time, he experienced a sensation of coolness that was not in opposition to the apparent heat. It was a bit like the feel of peppermint or camphor.

The borders of the cut began to move. Their twitching was reminiscent of someone who was waking from a deep sleep. Disbelievingly, he watched as they started coming together, concealing the ugly gleam from the pink and white tissue that shone in the deepest part of the gap.

He felt a new sensation running from the site of the wound throughout his whole body. The closest he could have come to describing it would have been “champagne bubbles.” It felt like there were champagne bubbles fizzing under his skin where the laceration was healing; they were effervescing from the location of the slash to the rest of him, diffusing in concentration as they went.

Atriya watched the entire process with complete absorption. The intense mix of disbelief, awe, and confusion at what was happening was so consuming that it pushed all thought from his mind. It was the same degree of enthrallment that a child experienced while watching a magic trick. Or when a vehicle wreck occurred out of the blue and people were helpless to do anything but gape. The power of it was so engrossing that it rendered his consciousness into a blank slate.

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