Orpheus Born (Novella) by DeWitt Dan

Author:DeWitt, Dan [DeWitt, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2012-07-14T07:00:00+00:00

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I heard the mumbling and I figured we were clear. He was alive, and we’d have another useful guy to bring back to the hospital.

But when he turned around…he was inhuman.

I’ll be honest; I froze. I had no chance of getting my weapon up in time. He screeched something incomprehensible and came at me. I kicked him in the gut hard enough to make any normal guy double-up and spit blood, but Ruddy charged through it. He crashed into me and I stumbled over another bag of gear. I went over backwards and landed on my back. I tried to put my forearm into his throat, but I had no leverage.

He chomped down on my shoulder, and I screamed more in horror than pain.

Mutt and the kid saved my life. Mutt grabbed Ruddy by his shoulder holster and tore him off of me, while Merrick picked up the weapon that I’d dropped and splattered Ruddy’s brains all over the side wall of his office. I kicked him off and jumped to my feet.

I unzipped my jumpsuit and took off my t-shirt in a panic. I looked at my shoulder, but couldn’t see anything. “Fuck! Light!”

“Boss, you ok-“

“Gimme some fucking light on this!”

A circle of pure white light framed the bite marks on my shoulder. I rubbed my hands over the wound and looked at them. No blood. I wanted to relax, but I remember a fall that Ethan took when he was about four. He was running around the dining room and slipped on a rug, smacking his forehead on the corner of a side table. I picked him up and looked at the spot while he wailed. For a few seconds, I didn’t see anything, then the blood started to pour. It looked a lot worse than it was; head wounds typically do. He was fine a few minutes later.

But this time, if I saw blood, it might have been one of the last things I ever saw.

I kept wiping and looking, wiping and looking.

“Jesus, can you hold still for a minute? I can’t see a thing!” Mutt yelled. I stopped and tried to bite down the panic. “Yup,” he said, matter-of-factly.

“Yup, what???” It was the end, I knew it.

“Yup, I sure am glad we decided to keep these jumpsuits. You’re fine.”

“Are you sure?” Merrick asked.

“Yeah. The marks are already fading, boss.” I must have had a doubtful look on my face, because he said, “If I wasn’t sure, do you really think I’d be standing within face-chomping distance? I’d pull out my piece and start telling you about the rabbits.”

“The what?”

Mutt and I both laughed. “Tell you later,” I said as I slid my shirt back on and zipped up my jumpsuit. From that point on, it was officially the only thing I’d wear on a mission. I was convinced.

My pulse eventually returned to normal. I thanked both of them for their quick action, covered up the rest of Ruddy with a camouflage tarp that I thought he’d just love to be buried in, and we searched the office.

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