Gods of War: Near-future Science Fiction Novella by Steve Pantazis

Author:Steve Pantazis [Pantazis, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SP Books
Published: 2021-04-05T22:00:00+00:00

“I’VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING like it,” Dr. Angela Roberts says.

Blake is on a bed in the small building we’ve set up as a clinic, still unconscious, and hooked up to an IV. It’s the closest thing we have to a hospital, four beds total. Dr. Roberts is the only MD in town. Luckily, we have a nurse as well, Mark Stevens, who’s busy attending to Liz and the other kids.

“Can you get him out of his . . . ?” I can’t find the strength to say coma.

Carl and Janet are with us, talking off to the side with Sheila and Luke. I wish Sharon were here to see Blake, but she’ll just have to wait.

“Honestly, I can’t tell what state he’s in,” Dr. Roberts says. “I can’t do a PET scan to see if there’s any brain damage. I don’t know how we’re going to get this apparatus off of him without understanding the mechanics. It might be keeping him alive.”

Doc Anderson had said the same thing, but I didn’t want to believe him. “Can’t we find a way to just wake him up?”

Dr. Roberts retrieves a vial and syringe from a medical cabinet. “If anything will wake him, it’s this. Mark, I need you over here.”

Dr. Roberts plunges the needle into the vial and extracts whatever serum is in there. She rubs the crook of Blake’s arm with gauze soaked in rubbing alcohol and sticks him. Barely a second later, he inhales loudly, and his whole body shudders awake.

Everyone stops what they’re doing.

“Blake!” I grab his hand. “Hey, bub, can you hear me?”

He’s slow to respond. “Uncle Jed?”

“That’s right, buddy. It’s me. Liz is here, Aaron and Kelsey, too.”

Liz squeezes his arm. “Hey, Blake.”

“What’s happened? Where am I? I feel . . .” He reaches up and touches the black beetle thing clamped over his head. “Oh, my God, what is this? Get it off. Get it off!” He thrashes his legs in a panic.

“Whoa there, buddy,” I say, trying to calm him down with a steady hand. “Easy now. You’re safe.”

“What is this thing, Uncle Jed?”

“I don’t know. We’re trying to figure it out. You remember anything, like Doc Anderson putting it on you?”

“Is he here?”

I wish he were so I could punch his lights out. “Sorry, son, he’s dead.” I give Blake a moment to process the information before asking, “You remember anything?”

If Blake’s rattled by the news of Doc Anderson’s death, he’s hiding it. “I was with Liz, we got out of the truck, and then, and then . . . I don’t know, Uncle Jed. What happened to me?”

“A lot, but don’t you go thinking too much about it right now.” I give his hand a pat like I did when he was a kid. “Dr. Roberts here is going to figure out what we need to do to get this, um, helmet off. Ain’t that right, Doc?”

“We’re going to do our best,” she says.

“See, Blake? You’ve got a lot of support.” I look over to Liz, who’s wiping tears away.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.