Skinners: Blood Blade

by Marcus Pelegrimas

  Henry skidded backward and crashed against the counter. His head lolled crazily as he stood up and swelled to something even bigger than when Paige had been on his back. He howled something that could have been words but were wrapped up in too much snarling to make any sense. Gripping the back of the Nymar’s head, Henry slammed the guy’s face against the floor, his other hand sinking wrist-deep into the middle of the Nymar’s back. He pressed down even harder against the Nymar’s head and pulled his other hand up to send several chunks of vertebrae through the air amid a spray of oily, blackened blood.

  “You seen anything like that before?” Cole gasped.

  For once Paige was speechless. She shook her head as Henry stuffed his face into the breach he’d created and started gnawing.

  Come.

  The word rolled through the air, causing Cole and Henry to snap their heads up and look toward the kitchen. Henry’s mouth was covered in Nymar blood, and rubbery chunks of the spore dangled from his teeth. Without a moment’s hesitation Henry stood up and leapt for the order window. His second jump took him out of sight completely.

  “Come on!” Paige shouted as she hurdled the overturned table.

  Cole was moving before she’d given the order.

  The kitchen was a smaller area than the dining room, but was in an equally messy state. Pots and pans were scattered everywhere. Blackened hockey pucks that had once been burger patties sizzled on the grill, and a man in a white apron and T-shirt lay on the floor with his neck torn open. Cole led the way through a hole in the wall that might have been a doorway before Henry had shoved through it.

  The back of the diner was a gravel-covered lot with several cars parked in a row. There were a few more parked off to one side, but they weren’t arranged as neatly as the first bunch. Pushing past Cole to emerge from the diner, Paige held her arms up with her weapons flipped over her forearms to protect her face. But there was no attack coming and nobody was there to ambush them. Cole’s attention was drawn to a dark, late model four-door speeding away from the diner. Henry bounded alongside that car like an obedient dog, then got in front of it with his next leap. The car left the diner behind amid a spray of loose gravel that wasn’t quite loud enough to drown out Paige’s fierce swearing.

  “We can still catch it!” Cole said. “Let’s go!”

  “This place is right off the interstate. They’ll be in the fast lane before we get the car started.”

  Cole wanted to argue and drag Paige to the car, but after running around the side of the building, he saw she was right. The highway was less than a hundred yards away, and Misonyk’s car was already pulling onto it. “So we just let them go?” he asked.

  Paige let out the breath she’d been holding and nodded. “There’s a survivor inside. I saw her at one of the tables.”

  “And what if the survivor isn’t human?” he asked.

  Holding up the weapon in her right hand to show Cole that it was the straight, sharpened stake, she replied, “One more body in there won’t make much difference.”

  Chapter 15

  The survivor was a woman with rounded features and wire-framed glasses. Her reddened face was streaked with tears, and her black, curly hair hung like a curtain over her eyes. Her arms were tightly folded on top of the table and her head lay sideways upon them as if she was either playing dead or being punished for talking during story time.

  “There’s a medical kit under the passenger’s seat in my car,” Paige said as she crouched down beside the woman’s table. “Go get it.”

  As Cole headed for the front door, he watched Paige gently examine the woman’s neck and wrists. He ran for the car, waiting for police to skid to a stop in front of the place or news helicopters to gather overhead. But there was none of that. It seemed everyone was perfectly content to drive by and listen to their radios. Finding what he was after, he rushed back while trying to decide if he was grateful for or disgusted by the absence of his fellow man.

  Paige’s medical kit was something that might have confused an army field medic. Opening like a tackle box, the kit contained everything from mundane bandages to syringes filled with stuff that he didn’t even want to think about. After cleaning off the short-haired woman’s minor scrapes, Paige bandaged them up.

  “What’s your name?” she asked.

  The woman had yet to speak after she’d sat up and allowed herself to be cleaned off. In fact, it seemed that she had yet to blink. After hearing Paige’s question, she twitched and replied, “Jennifer.”

  “What happened, Jennifer? Or should I call you Jen?”

  Without meeting Paige’s eyes, Jen nodded and said, “There was only four or five of us in here. We were eating lunch when they came.”

  “Who came?”

  “The ones with the…the ones with the black…” Unable to finish her sentence, Jen reached up to brush her fingertips along her neck.

  “With the markings on their skin?”

  She nodded again. “I guess they were tattoos. They came in and they spread out and started looking us over. That’s when I thought they were going to hurt us.”

  As Jen spoke, Paige removed one of the syringes containing the Nymar antidote from her kit and discreetly cleaned the needle with an alcohol wipe. “Then what did they do?”

  “They had…they all had…they had long teeth. Fangs.” Letting her head fall forward, Jen gave in to a sobbing fit that shook her shoulders and drained the color from her face. Fortunately, Paige had already stuck her with the needle and removed it.

  “Some tried to fight them,” Jen went on. “I think they even fought each other. One of them bit my arm,” she added as she held out the arm that Paige had already cleaned and bandaged. “He was…I think he drank…”

  “All right,” Paige said. “What about the big one?”

  Suddenly, Jen’s eyes widened and she turned to look directly at Paige for the first time. “He came after most of us were dead! The ones with the tattoos were all talking after they were through with us. One of them said he was here, but I didn’t know who they were talking about and I heard fighting in the kitchen.” The more Jen talked, the more tears streamed down her face. Her voice streamed out of her in much the same way. “The ones with the tattoos started fighting each other. There were a few with guns and some more ran outside. There was screaming and…and ripping sounds. It was worse than what I heard in here. It was…” Her words devolved into an indecipherable series of gasps and sobs.

  Rather than ask her to go on, Paige patted Jen on the shoulder and asked, “Can you stand up?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Try for me, okay?”

  With Paige’s help, she was able to get up.

  “Don’t look around, Jen,” Paige said. “We’re going to get you outside. There’s a fire in the kitchen, so you need to get moving. Just look at the front door and nothing else.”

  Although Jen was weak, she got moving once the F-word had been used. Fires had a good track record of motivating any animal, whether they were hurt or not, and Jen was no exception.

  Cole watched through the window as Paige led her outside. Jen was about Paige’s height, but outweighed her by at least thirty pounds. Even so, Paige carried her with ease and gently lowered her to one of the cement blocks marking the nearest parking space. When Paige walked back inside, Cole asked, “How is she?”

  “She’ll be all right. Are there any more breathing?”

  Cole shook his head. “I can only see a few bodies that look human. The rest…” What he didn’t need to say was that the rest were either leaking oily black liquid instead of blood or clawing at the ground with stiffening hands. Now that the diner was quiet, he could hear the sounds of dry snapping. The Nymar bodies had already become dry enough to crack and send flakes of skin into the air. Taking in the sight of it all, he wondered if it was good or bad that he could remain in that spot without puking his guts out.

  “I’ve got some good news,” Paige said after taking a quick s
urvey of the bodies. “All these Nymar are real dead and Jen’s still real human. She was bitten, but there would have been some of that black stuff in the wound already if a spore had been passed into her. I gave her a bit of the antidote anyway, but it’s not like Nymar can just reproduce accidentally.”

  “That puts them one up on humans, then,” Cole grunted.

  Paige chuckled and took a closer look at the Nymar whose spine had been ripped out. “Come over here. You should see this.”

  He stepped beside her and looked down.

  Pointing at the black marks on the back of the dead Nymar’s neck, she said, “Just so you know, you can always get an idea of what you’re dealing with by looking at these marks. The older or stronger the Nymar is, the blacker the marks are.”

  “Wow. All this carnage and a lesson too. Lucky me.”

  “This is the job, Cole. I didn’t plan on this, but here we are. You might as well learn something before we burn this place down.”

  Rather than air out the questions that reflexively popped into his mind, Cole set them aside and reminded himself he’d rather set fire to the place than allow anyone else to eat there. “All right. What next?” he asked.

  “You got a camera on that phone of yours?”

  “Not just a camera, but a four megapix—”

  “That’s a yes,” Paige cut in. “Take pictures of everything you can and follow me.” Without waiting for an okay from him, she walked over to another one of the human bodies. “This,” she said as she pointed down to the corpse’s decimated throat, “came from a Nymar feeding. And not one of those sexy, moaning ones you see in the movies. This was quick, violent, messy, and not at all voluntary. If the throat’s torn up like this, that means the Nymar clamped down with those thick bottom fangs. When Nymar use those fangs, they’re out for a lot of blood in a short amount of time. Whoever’s on the receiving end of that won’t be able to get away, and it’s a miracle if they survive.”

  While snapping a few pictures, Cole asked, “So the Nymar came here and started feeding before these people could get away?”

  “If that was the case, they wouldn’t have missed Jen. This is more of a panic feeding. When Nymar are caught by surprise, feel threatened, or just in a hurry, they feed on whoever is nearby to make sure they’ve got all the strength they can to fight or do what they need to do. This is why we avoid fights in public. If you charge in without picking your spot and setting things up, innocents get slaughtered. Remember that, Cole.”

  He shook his head solemnly. “There’s no way I’m forgetting this.”

  Paige reached into the gaping hole in the Nymar’s back. After feeling around a bit, she withdrew her hand and wiped it clean on the Nymar’s sleeve. “Henry went straight for the spore, just like everyone’s been saying.”

  “I know it’s on their heart, but…what is it?”

  “Once it attaches, it spreads itself throughout their whole body. See this?” She rolled the corpse so Cole could get a good look into the hole.

  He almost spilled his breakfast onto the floor, but he did notice something. “I’m no doctor, but it all just looks like mush in there. I don’t even see any organs.”

  “That’s right,” Paige replied. “Once the Nymar attaches, it converts everything inside the person into one big organ. It’s like a bug that’s filled with one kind of juice. That’s why, if someone might be infected, you treat them quickly. Once they turn, there’s no way to turn them back. Not unless you can hollow them out and replace everything.”

  “Gotchya. Are we done? Jen’s still out there.”

  After taking a look through the front window, Paige said, “She’s still crying. She could use a little more time on her own.” Squinting at the window, she reached out to swipe something that looked like yellow milk that had been spilled upon the glass. She rubbed it between her fingers, sniffed it, then said, “See this stuff here? This is the venom I was telling you about. It can paralyze anyone within a normal person’s size. Even if it just gets on you, it can make you dizzy. If it gets in your eyes, that’s really bad news. Smell it.”

  Cole sniffed at it and his stomach turned at the bitter smell. “What happens if I get that in my eye?” he asked.

  “Did you?”

  “Yes.”

  “When?” Paige snapped. “How much?”

  “During the fight. It was—”

  But Paige had already rushed to her medical kit and retrieved another syringe. She removed the cover, slammed it into Cole’s neck and pressed the plunger. She then used the same syringe to roughly extract some of his blood.

  “Is that sterile?” he snapped.

  Paige held the syringe up to the light and examined it. She let out a breath and asked, “Did Misonyk spit this stuff on you?”

  Even though he feared another needle in the neck, Cole replied, “Yeah.”

  “Hopefully I got to you quick enough, but you should steer clear of him for a while.”

  “You think?”

  Paige nodded and stomped toward the kitchen. “Just go out front and check on Jen. Get her to the car and ready to go. I’ll be out soon. With all the grease that’s in this kitchen, torching it shouldn’t be much of a problem.”

  “You said getting that stuff in my eye was bad,” Cole said. “What’s that mean?”

  “Well, some Nymar can control someone for a few hours after they do that. It’s only simple stuff like making them obey easy commands, but the Nymar’s got to be close.”

  “You’ve researched this?”

  “No,” Paige replied, “but another Skinner has. There are nerves that run from the eye straight into the brain. I guess the venom works along those lines.”

  “Did this other Skinner figure out a way to counteract it?” he asked hopefully.

  “He’s still working on it, but it’s been rough since he blinded himself.”

  “That’s just…that’s…that’s really great.”

  “Go help Jen,” Paige said. “She’s about to wander away.”

  With his stomach still on spin cycle, Cole jogged out of the building and to the woman with the bandaged hand. Jen was leaning against the car and facing the highway. He approached her slowly and announced his presence by clearing his throat.

  She jumped, but relaxed when she saw him. “Are you all right?” she asked.

  Cole nodded and told her, “More or less. I was more concerned about how you’d answer that same question.”

  “I’m…well…I guess I’ll be fine. Sooner or later.”

  Cole leaned against the car next to her and crossed his arms. “I know just how you feel.”

  “I saw how you fought those things. I was too frightened to move and you two came in to chase them off. I doubt you’re afraid of much of anything.”

  “You wouldn’t be so impressed if you saw the mess I left in there.”

  For a second Jen just stared blankly at him. Once she allowed herself to laugh, the tired woman quickly dissolved into a mix of trembling giggles and choking sobs. Cole eased his arm around her but didn’t know what else to do. Judging by the way Jen turned and pressed against him, he was doing more than enough.

  “Don’t worry about any of it now,” he said. “Just try to breathe.”

  Jen nodded and pulled in a few measured breaths. She held the air in her lungs and let it out as she forced herself to look back toward the diner. “Thank you so much. I wish I could find a way to thank both of you.”

  “And I wish we could have gotten here a little earlier.”

  Jen wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him so tightly that he began to see stars. The anaconda grip didn’t let up until the crunch of boots against gravel approached the car.

  “We need to get going,” Paige said. Before she could say another word, she was nearly knocked off her feet by a hug from Jen that was equally as enthusiastic as the one she’d given to him. Paige smiled and rubbed Jen’s back as the scent of burning grease drifted through the air.

  “G
ood Lord,” Cole said, catching sight of flames through the diner’s front window. “We really do need to get going.”

  All three of them piled into the car and sped back to the highway.

  “Why don’t you call 911 before that fire gets too big?” Paige asked.

  Cole took out his personal phone, flipped it open and then swore loudly. “No coverage. Freakin’ Wisconsin!”

  “Freakin’ bad phone is more like it.” Leaning to look at Jen in the backseat, Paige added, “So far, that phone of his makes a better camera than anything else.”

  “Ha ha,” Cole grumbled. “It’s also got some pretty decent games on it.” Before he could expound upon the virtues of playing Tetris during gridlock, he was connected to the authorities via Gerald’s satellite phone. He called in the fire, pointed them in the right direction, then hung up.

  “Now call MEG,” Paige said. “She can make sure you don’t get any calls from the Fraternity of Firefighters bugging you about tickets for their charity banquets.”

  “Huh?”

  “MEG. Call MEG and tell her your number’s now in the 911 system.”

  Finally, Cole nodded and said, “Oh, you mean MEG! Right.”

  Paige looked in the back and started to say something but was cut short by Jen’s quickly upraised hands.

  “Don’t want to know,” she said.

  “Perfect,” Paige replied, nodding, and shifted her eyes back to the road. “There’s another gas station at the next exit. You can wait there for a while and then come for your car later.”

  Jen shook her head forcefully. “I don’t want to go back there. If that means abandoning my car, then so be it. I left my purse back there as well, so I might as well complete the set.”

  Digging into the pocket of her jeans jacket, Paige took out a wad of money and handed it back to her. “Take this and get a bus ticket or a ride or a room or whatever you can. You need to call anyone?”