@@@@@Another sound, a soft, rhythmic thudding,
@@@@@Another sound, a soft, rhythmic thudding, kept time with it It was Jeb's voice, thick with some emotionDon't take
it so hard
Hushed footsteps, more than one set, were moving around the roomIt reminded me of the sounds of cleaning
There was a smell that didn't belong hereStrange… not quite metallic, but not quite anything
else, eitherThe smell was not familiar–I was sure I had never smelled it before–and yet I had an
odd feeling that itshould be familiar to me
I was afraid to move around the corner
What's the worst they will do to us?Mel pointed outake us leave?
You're right
Things had definitely changed if that was the worst I could fear from the humans now
I took a deep breath–noticing again that strange,wrong smell–and eased around the rocky edge
into the hospital
Doc was kneeling on the floor, his face buried in his hands, his shoulders heavingJeb leaned
over him, patting his back
Jared and Kyle were laying a crude stretcher beside one of the cots in the middle of the room
Jared's face was hard–the mask had come back while he was away
The cots were not empty, as they usually wereSomething, hidden under dark green blankets,
filled the length of both of themLong and irregular, with familiar curves and angles…
Doc's homemade table was arranged at the head of these cots, in the brightest spot of sunlight
The table glittered with silver–shiny scalpels and an assortment of antiquated medical tools that
I couldn't put a name to
Brighter than these were other silver thingsShimmering segments of silver stretched in
twisted, tortured pieces across the table… tiny silver strands plucked and naked and scattered…
splatters of silver liquid smeared on the table, the blankets, the walls…
The quiet in the room was shattered by my screamThe wholeroom was shatteredIt spun and
shook to the sound, whirled around me so that I couldn't find the way