by Mark Tufo
Dennis crossed the room and gave me a gentle hug, a small barely noticeable tear tried to escape his eye. He quickly wiped it away.
“How ‘bout those Bears?” I said to try and alleviate the seriousness of the scene.
“Thank you, Mike,” Dennis said and turned and walked out the door.
I stared after him, wondering what that was all about.
“What the hell was that all about?” If the voice had been deeper I would have thought I had unintentionally said out loud what I was thinking. Tracy was looking out over the top of the blanket she had pulled up almost to the bridge of her nose.
“Uh, hell if I know,” I answered. “But I think it probably had something to do with Frank’s death. From what I understand, they were pretty good friends.”
“You never get used to it.”
I looked at her wonderingly.
“Loss… death, no matter how much of it goes on around you, every time it happens, it hits as hard as it did the first time.”
I didn’t have a rebuttal or anything to add to her statement for that matter. She had nailed it on the head. Although, what she hadn’t added, I wasn’t going to voice. Sure death hadn’t gotten any easier, but killing had. I shivered even as I thought it.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
Beth woke screaming, mostly from the pain in her side, but definitely a good portion could be attributed to the huge green arm wrapped around her, carrying her as if she was no more than a Raggedy Ann doll. She passed out.
Sampson had more than once let his bladder go, partly from the pain, but mostly from the huge thing carrying him. He couldn’t sense anything evil permeating from the animal holding him, but he couldn’t sense anything good, either. The bullet hurt his hind quarters, but he would have been much happier on the ground with the searing pain than a mere two feet away from that teeth-lined snout. He wasn’t happy about it and it made him piddle again.
***
My injuries must have been worse than they had told me and that was why Dennis had come in and had that conversation with me. He knew I was dying. I now knew I had died, but what the hell was Drababan doing in Heaven? Not that I regretted seeing my friend, but didn’t he have his own version of Nirvana to go to?
“Hello, Drababan,” I said using my vocal cords. “Funny,” I said. “I thought in Heaven we’d just project our thoughts, wouldn’t be any reason for speech.”
“Ah, Mike, you are a funny hu-man,” Drababan roared.
“Holy shit, this is real!?” I said, sitting up much too quickly. Pain sluiced through me. Drababan rushed forward, the other people in the room tensed, especially me, but for a different reason.
“Whoa, hold on Dee,” I said holding my hands out. “You’ll break me in half if you hug me.”
“I am just so happy to see you, hu-man. Tracy has told me how foolish you were in battle.”
I looked over at Tracy. She merely smiled, shrugged and looked back up at Drababan.
Then a light came on. My pulse accelerated, the monitoring machines next to the bed letting everyone know.
“Dee, what about the bug?” I asked, impending doom hanging in the shadows.
“Neutralized,” Dee said smugly.
I didn’t even question him. “Well, then you might as well come over here and get this done with.”
Drababan approached, a teeth-showing grin spread across his face. Some of the more nervous in attendance let their fingers get ever so closer to their triggers.
“Paul,” I said as I grimaced from the ministrations I was receiving from Drababan. “Could you please have your men stand down? They’re making me nervous. They’re just as likely to take me out as anything else. You can see Drababan isn’t planning on eating me.”
Drababan stood up. “Besides, he would probably taste bad.
“You’re not helping,” I said to Drababan. He shrugged, looking a little too much like Tracy’s gesture earlier for comfort.
“Alright, alright,” Paul said. “I want the clinic area cleared out, but post two guards outside the door,” Paul said. Acquiescing to my request, but not completely. “It’s more to keep the gawkers away,” Paul added, trying to appease me.
“He looks pretty tasty,” Drababan said pointing to one of the plumper guards to usher the men out just a little quicker. It worked superbly. Paul, however, was not amused.
“We’ll talk later, Mike,” Paul said as he left, making sure Drababan was not included in the statement.
“Mike, I’ve got guard duty in a half hour—you’ll be alright?” Tracy asked.
“I’ll be fine, thank you,” I told her.
“I’ll be back after.” She leaned in for a small kiss. “I never thought I’d say this but it’s nice to see you, Drababan.”
“Likewise,” he said as she walked out of the room.
“How the hell did you find this place?” I asked, turning back to Drababan, who had pulled up a large couch which when he occupied it, nearly became invisible.
“I knew generally in what location this place was and I knew it would be guarded, so I more or less let myself be found.”
“How could you be sure they wouldn’t just shoot you on the spot?” I asked. “I mean, they could have thought you were some sort of scout or something.”
“There were a couple of things making my entrance fortuitous. First, you’re unfriendly friend had passed information to the sentries that they wanted a live captive, if possible, and second, I snuck around a little until I recognized one of the men in the platoon that escorted you here.”
I laughed. “How the hell did you manage that? I thought we all looked alike to you.”
“That may be true, but the platoon we traveled with had a red insignia patch over their left shoulder.”
I laughed again.
“One more thing, Mike,” Drababan said gravely. It snuffed out the rest of my merriment. “I brought in two guests, both were injured, and that probably more than anything got me in here unharmed. I’ll admit when I stumbled across them, that was sort of my plan. I had no way of knowing you would want a live Genogerian or that I would run into someone I knew. One or two of your world seemed a much better bet. If they hadn’t been injured, I most likely would have just taken them.”
“You mean kidnap?” I asked solemnly.
“Kidnap? I do not think I know that word, but take them against their will and use them to gain entrance here, yes. I could not think of any better way. But that is not the point. Mike, one of them was what you hu-mans call a dog, a very large one from what I was told when I brought him in. The other was your Beth.”
I almost choked. “What?” I sputtered.
“I did not know who she was when I first approached. She and the dog were involved in some sort of fight with a man who was chasing them, the majority of the fight was over by the time I arrived. Beth and the dog had been shot.”
“What! Beth was shot? Where is she?!” I asked as I started to rise.
Drababan put a big arm out across my chest to stop me. “She should be okay, your doctors told me it was a shoulder wound, the dog’s was a little more serious but they were confident he would pull out alright also.”
My heart raced. Beth here!
“I broke the man’s neck before he could do any more damage.”
“How did you know he was the one in the wrong? You yourself said you arrived late.”
“You were right when you said that you hu-mans all look alike, but not this one. He was far over the edge—what we on our planet would have called ‘frakenstug’. He was crazy, the fever burning through his eyes was something I will not soon forget.”
I shivered, thinking about what Beth had been through.
“They will be bringing her here once they are done working on her. I thought you should know.”
“Does Paul know Beth is here?” I asked
“I do not think so, there was much confusion when I first entered your ‘Hill’. Most of the people wanted to shoot me on the s
pot, your Tracy saved me from an early demise.” Drababan smiled. “She finally convinced everyone I was not trying to eat the dog and the hu-man I was carrying, but rather trying to get them help. After your doctors had taken them, your commander, Paul met Tracy and me in the hallway as we were coming here to see you.”
I could still not believe the words I was hearing. Beth was here! What was she doing here? What about Tracy? I had moved on, hadn’t I? Then why was I feeling so conflicted?
“This sucks, Dee.”
Drababan looked confused.
“I can't even remember the last time I even thought about Beth, I guess I figured she'd been killed in the initial invasion maybe I grieved her loss, and I'd moved on. Now I’m in… well, I’ve found this girl I truly care for. Beth can’t be here.”
“Oh I can assure you Mike, she is here. I brought her myself.”
“No, Dee I wasn’t questioning her presence just the reality of the situation.”
Drababan still looked confused. “Did I do something wrong by bringing her here?” Drababan asked in all seriousness.
“No, Dee, as crazy as this sounds. You did the right thing—the human thing. Hell a little plastic surgery and you might even pass for one of us.” I laughed.
Drababan snorted. “I do not know what this plas-tic surgery is but I do not want to look like any of you hu-mans,” Drababan said indignantly.
“Relax, Dee, I just playing with you. Besides, I don’t know if they’d have a scalpel sharp enough to cut through that thick hide of yours.”
Drababan rubbed his arm. “Let them try,” he said looking over his shoulder. “I will make them eat their plas-tic.”
“I bet you would.”
“Mike, I have made it here and I have told you what I feel you must know now. But I am tired and I have had very little food or water in the last seventy-two hours.”
“Guards!” I yelled. They ran in rifles at the ready, expecting trouble. I was both approving and annoyed at the same time. On one hand they were ready for anything, on the other they had their weapons pointed at my friend. “Could one of you please get my large green friend here four cots, a couple of gallons of water and the biggest hunk of meat you can find?”
I had to give the man some kudos, he never even hesitated with his response.
“Cooked?” he asked.
“Rare would be splendid,” Drababan noted.
“Right away.” He turned and left.
Within a few minutes, Drababan had eased onto his new over-sized cot/bed, downing the first gallon of water in under two minutes. The second gallon he savored with his food. The ten pound roast looked like a sausage link in Drababan’s huge hands. He bit off half of it in one smooth tear. I involuntarily shivered as I watched the damage his teeth could inflict on an enemy.
“Is that going to be enough?” I asked. “I don’t want you coming over here sleepwalking and take a chunk out of me.”
“I have told you before, Mike, you hu-mans are not nearly as tasty as you would believe.”
I didn’t know if he was kidding or not and for the most part I really didn’t want to push the issue.
Drababan looked over at me, bits of roast hung from his teeth. A smile pulled back to reveal even larger and sharper teeth in the back.
“Relax, Mike, I am only playing with you.”
I visibly untensed myself.
“I decided long ago I would not eat anything that approached our state of intelligence. If you were a little dumber I would eat you in a heartbeat.”
“Thank God for algebra,” I said seriously. “That’s the first time I ever said that.”
“Your cows, however, they are fantastic. I could eat them anytime. The roast has taken the edge off of my hunger and it was the water I wanted more than anything. I would much like to sleep now and we will talk later.”
“As you wish my big green eating machine.”
Drababan laid his head down and within seconds had found a state of relaxation much to his liking.
I eased off my bed, not feeling quite as bad, but still moving more like a man triple my age. Slowly and deliberately, I dressed myself, much to the chagrin of the nursing staff.
“You haven’t been cleared to leave, mister,” shouted one of the more heavyset nurses. If she forced the issue, I would have no choice but to comply. I frantically searched for an approach that would work against my formidable opponent. Brute force wasn’t going to work and I didn’t feel good enough to lay on any charm.
“Get Paul, I’m sure he’ll see to it that I can check myself out,” I said, hoping the name dropping approach would be my ticket to freedom. I had suddenly found my hospital bed much too confining, restlessness had taken over. My nurse looked as if she might protest the new development, but she thought better of it.
“Boys who think they are men,” she said much too loudly.
Wrong button… and she pushed it.
“What did you say?” I asked harshly. As I turned back around.
Nurse Grogan must have suspected she might have crossed the line, but she didn't appear to be the type of person who ever backed down from a confrontation and she wasn't going to with some still wet behind the ears kid like me.
“I said,” she annunciated, “that you boys who think you are men don’t know half of what you think you do.”
“Are you done?” My eyes blazed.
Nurse Grogan actually backed up a step, something I'm sure none of her staff up to that point had ever seen. It would be great fodder for conversation for the next week.
“Um, why yes I am,” she answered meekly.
“Good, then get the fuck out of my way,” I said softly enough so only she would hear even though a half dozen people had stopped what they were doing to watch the small drama unfold. Nurse Grogan moved as fast as anyone with that kind of bulk could. I made it to the corner with perfect form. It was when I finally made it out of sight that I had to brace myself up against the wall, lest I pass out. I had to admit the battleaxe was probably right to try to keep me in the bed.
Oh well, too late now, I go back and she’ll probably piss in my jell-o. I knew where I was going and I was determined to get there, it was just going to take a little longer than originally planned.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
Beth awoke from surgery, disoriented and confused. For a fleeting moment she thought she was back on the alien mothership, but then her eyes began to focus on the walls.
Bricks? There’s no bricks on the alien ship. She was trying hard to remember where she was and how she had got here. Something disconcerting stirred in the back of her mind, but she could not pull it to the forefront. Her consternation must have shown.
“Relax, relax, Beth. I’m Dr. Corren. Your surgery went quite well, no major damage and you’re not even going to end up with much of scar. Now if some other hack doctor had been work—”
“Please,” she interrupted. Her throat was raw from the intubation.
“Oh, I bet you would like to know where you are?” Dr, Corren finished.
Beth nodded, unwilling to strain her throat at the moment.
“Let me get you some water first.”
She shot her arm out and grabbed his surgical gown. “Now. Where?” She croaked.
“Alright, alright. You’re inside of the Indian Hill Nuclear Launch Silo number 17.”
Beth let out a sigh of relief, she had finally made it. The miles of pain and anguish melted behind her like snow in mid-March.
“Dog?” she managed.
“Please, let me get you some water.” Beth had a look of anguish on her face. “Fine-fine, the dog is fine. He came out of surgery an hour before you. Look,” he said pointing to what appeared to be a small bear covered in several spare blankets. “He’s sleeping, I gave him a sedative. He wouldn’t stop howling when he couldn’t find you and I didn’t want him to rip out his stitches. Scared the hell out of me, I might add. Luckily, I had a tranquilizer gun; he wouldn’t let anybody near him he was
so determined to track you down.”
Beth smiled and put her head back down. But all her questions weren’t answered yet.
“How?”
“Enough. Let me get something for your throat. I know how painful it can be upon awakening.”
She eased her death grip. “Thank you,” She added.
In a few moments, Dr. Corren returned with some aspirin, water, and throat lozenges. Beth eyed the pills suspiciously.
“Aspirin, I assure you,” Dr. Corren said, exasperated. “I will be back shortly I have some other patients I must attend to. Let the aspirin and the lozenges work and I will answer your questions. You should also try to get some more sleep, it speeds the healing process. Your dog, if that’s what he really is, won’t be awake for another couple of hours. You should use that time to rest.” Dr. Corren walked out the door.
Beth knew he meant well, but she had finally arrived. She was so happy, she wanted to hug herself. She was safe, Sampson was safe. Was Mike safe? He had to be. What good would her whole trek have been if he wasn’t? Deborah would have died in vain, that thought both saddened and scared her. Maybe they could have just hidden out back in Denver, together and alive. They might never have known Mike’s fate but that could have been for the better. If he was dead, would she stay? She would be alone—no family, no friends, no Mike. Beth shivered uncontrollably, her earlier euphoria quickly becoming replaced with dread.
**
I looked through the window and began to shiver. Cold sweat broke out on my brow. Beth, even after surgery, looked like an angel lying on her gurney. I ached with indecision. Just rush in and hug her, or go in and tell her off. I left.
***
Beth turned to look over her shoulder, certain that someone had been watching. Moments later, the impossible happened. She fell asleep, more deeply than at any time in the last few weeks. In her dream, she was a little girl unwrapping presents. She didn’t understand the relevancy of the dream but it made her feel safe and loved and maybe that’s all it was supposed to do. The first box she unwrapped was a puppy, but it wasn’t really a puppy it was a mini Sampson, but when she pulled him out of the small box he began to grow to his near mythical proportions. Beth hugged him until she thought either he or she might burst from the pressure.