Chapter Thirteen

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

JONATHAN STAGGERED BACK into the mess hall. He'd just come from Nancy's cabin.

Luther Thompson was sitting on top of one of the tables. His shirt was off and Angela Ramirez was bandaging some wounds there. The overhead lights glinted against the place where Luther's neck met his shoulder.

Jonathan put a hand there on his own body. Yeah, he was starting with scales too. His stomach turned over.

"It must have been your injection," said Riley, who was standing next to the other two. "You and Luther both had it, and you didn't go crazy."

"Or turn all the way," said Luther. "But we're going to, aren't we, doc? It's going to be so much worse than eating flies. We're going to rape the women to death, and then what? You figure we turn on each other? Do you think we'll be aware while it's happening, or do you think we get the relief of our brains turning off?"

Jonathan let out a noisy breath. He hadn't wanted it all said out loud like that.

"More of the injection," said Riley. "Go and get it, Jonathan."

"I think," said Jonathan, "we should relocate to the lab. All of us."

"Not a bad idea," said Riley. "They don't have access, after all, the guards. And we can run more tests there, see what's happening. I can observe the changes happening with you and Luther, and we can try to… well, it's not a bad idea."

"All right," said Angela. "I'll get guns for the two of you—"

"I don't want one," said Riley.

"Yeah, I'm a little worthless with firearms myself," muttered Jonathan. "Just the two of you can be armed. Make sure you have ammunition. Let's all pack up and meet at the lab as soon as possible."

"We shouldn't be alone," said Riley. "They're roaming around out there, after all."

"We'll split up, then," said Luther. "Me and Dr. Greyson—"

"Call me Jonathan," he said. "I think we're at the point where we call each other by our first names, don't you?"

"All right, sure, Jonathan," said Luther. "Boys with boys and girls with girls, then, and a gun with each twosome. Safest that way?"

Everyone nodded.

"HEY," CAME THE grate of a voice in the darkness, and Riley recognized it as Harris. He could talk? He could talk and he'd done that? To Nancy?

"Angela," she called over her shoulder, backing into Angela's cabin. "Angela, we need—"

"I'm not going to hurt you, lady," said Harris. "It's, uh, it's done now. The… whatever-it-was. Frenzy, I guess. It came over us, and we… I mean, I can smell you, don't get me wrong. I can smell your cunt."

"Angela!"

"Here," said Angela, moving in front of her, aiming her gun into the darkness.

"Ramirez," said Harris. "Don't shoot."

"Harris," said Angela, licking her lips. "You stay right where you are, all right. No sudden moves."

"We want to know if it can be reversed." Harris's voice cracked.

"It's bad, lieutenant," said Angela. "No question, it's bad."

"We need to get to the lab and do more tests," said Riley. "But if you want the injection that Dr. Greyson made, I think he'll give it to you. We just need assurances that you won't attack."

Harris let out a long, low, bitter laugh. "We're at war somehow, aren't we?"

"Best thing to do is let us go without interfering," said Angela. "You want us to trust you, show us you're not going to hurt us."

"We didn't mean it with Nancy," said Harris. "We didn't even know what was happening. I woke up and my whole body was scaled over and I scented her and I didn't—there was no decision, it was just happening ."

"You know, that's not reassuring," said Riley.

"Fuck," said Harris. "Fuckity fuck."

Silence.

"Back off and let us pass," said Angela.

"I'm not in your way, am I?" said Harris.

Angela sighed. She glanced at Riley. "Stay close to me?"

"Absolutely," said Riley, pressing into Angela's back.

They eased out of the cabin and away.

In the darkness, Harris's eyes glittered. Was he alone?

"Hey, uh, are those… were those eggs?" he whispered.

Riley didn't say anything. She'd looked at the body, and she was trying not to think about that, what that must have been like, what a way to die, having those things forced into you when there was no more room. She hadn't heard the screams, but she'd been sleeping the passed-out sleep of the drunk after taking those shots of liquor. She was glad she hadn't heard the screams. Seeing the body had been bad enough.

"If we're laying eggs out of our new second fucking cocks, does that mean we're not men anymore?"

"Oh, seriously?" said Riley. "That's what you're the most worried about?"

"Well," said Harris in a darker, richer voice, "Nancy was a fucking bitch, wasn't she? Deserved it, maybe."

"Shoot him," Riley said to Angela.

And Angela did shoot.

But she didn't hit anything.

Harris darted off into the darkness, and they went the other way, heading for the lab.