Warlock of Omaha

Warlock of Omaha By Hemaccabe Chapter 7 Denoun ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

I left the bunkhouse, kept my rifle up and scanned the interior of the warehouse. I was wary of another ambush. But my wariness was the stuff of closing barn doors after the horse has already run off. I dropped the rifle to hang on my stomach by her strap and grabbed Jake by the shoulders of his hoodie. He was two hundred plus pounds of solid muscle weight and giving me no help as he moaned and bubbled quietly. I didn't think I could clean and jerk him over a shoulder, so I dragged him.

I got a look at a couple of the MiBs I had shot earlier on the way to the front door. They were people, but had apparently been completely encased in pale mud plaster mixed with leaves and twigs. The exterior appearance the guards had before they were shot bore no resemblance to the people who had been inside the plaster. No doubt they had a big bucket of leafy twiggy pale mud plaster back at Evil Monster HQ just waiting for me. "Lovely," I thought, as I grunted and heaved, dragging Jake's huge body out.

The front door of the warehouse opened easily from the inside. I dragged Jake out, then looked both ways. It was all completely deserted except for the crickets, still being Oh dark thirty in the middle of nowhere Carter Lake on a school night. I got Jake across the road to the minivan and opened the side door. It was a real pain heaving him up to the floor of the minivan.

"Why couldn't I have kept one more gummy for this!" I thought to myself as I strained to heave Jake smoothly into the minivan's nice empty cargo compartment. Jake's groans showed I was clearly only partially succeeding. Then it was an even more awkward pain shoving him in. Once I had the torso in, it wasn't too bad. I got in the driver's seat and called Miranda.

Miranda answered, "Oh hi." Her voice so cute and muzzy with sleep.

I felt bad to worry her, but I needed what I was about to ask for.

"Miranda, I need you to check with the other girls, see if anyone knows anyone with emergency medical experience."

"Oh! Are you all right?" She asked worried.

"Yes, I'm fine. Jake's been hurt and he can't go to an ER. Talk to the other girls and call me right back." I answered.

"Okay will do." She answered and got off the phone.

Less than ten minutes later Miranda called me back.

"The best we can come up with is my friend Kelly in the culinary program. She was an ER nurse for a few years before she decided to go back to school."

"That sounds great." I answered as she gave me Kelly's phone number.

I dialed Kelly's number a few times before she answered, obviously tired and a bit frustrated, "Who is this?"

"Hi, I'm a friend of Miranda's, she recommended I call you." I answered.

"What is this about?" She asked still a bit muzzy and confused.

I continued, "I have a special scholarship offer for you that can't wait. I suspect that you have substantial student loans from your current program, and perhaps from your previous education. I suspect that you also have substantial tuition and fees still to absorb before you complete your current program."

"Well, yeah." She answered.

"I would be happy to clear all of those loans and see all future charges paid."

"What? Really?" She answered no longer muzzy. Clearly, I now had her attention.

"There is a special application process for this scholarship that might be somewhat ethically challenging. I will be at," I gave her the hotel and room number, "in a few minutes with a man badly wounded from a number of gunshots. He can't go to a hospital. I have a substantial first-aid kit. However, any other gear necessary you will have to bring. Any that can be purchased, I will be happy to reimburse you for. However, considering the urgency and time of night, you may have to use some ingenuity. The scholarship offer is contingent on my friend getting good care quickly, not on his survival, though if he survives there could be a substantial bonus. Is this offer acceptable to you?"