To Be A Killer

Chapter 12: The Negative

I'm soaking wet and bleeding when I get back to Abel. I drop the fuel cans I was sent out for, not waiting for whoever was sent out to collect it. The rain still hasn't let up, and I don't have time to risk getting pneumonia along with infection.

I limp over to the tent, where Dr. Lobatse is waiting. Her face holds a warm smile, but it fades when she sees the blood streaming down the back of my right leg.

"What happened?" She asks, helping me inside, ushering me over to the examination table and handing me a towel so I can dry myself off.

"'It's an easy mission,' Sam said. 'No trouble at all,' Sam said." I roll my eyes. "No trouble my ass. There were a pack of dogs wandering around that old car lot where I was sent to to pick up the fuel cans. I can run, but I can't outrun dogs that weigh more than I do. One of the stupid mutts bit me. Hurts like hell, but I'll live."

"Were there any zombies about?"

"Not that I saw."

She sighs. "I'm going to give you some penicillin to make sure the wound doesn't get infected, and I'll clean it with sterile water and bandage it, but..."

I hear a sudden clicking noise, and feel cold metal against my wrist. My brows scrunch together as I look down and see myself cuffed to the examination table.

"Wha... Kefilwe, what are you doing?"

"Just because you saw no zombies doesn't mean there weren't any there. If the dog that bit you had bitten a zombie earlier, then fluids or blood may still have been in the dog's mouth, and it could have transferred the disease to you."

"But I'm fine. I feel fine," I insist, my heartbeat picking up as I tug on the cuffs. "Please let me out of these."

"I can't do that. After I finish with this, you'll be put in isolation for twenty-four hours. We can't risk it, Runner Five." She picks up a needle, and I flinch, remembering the last time handcuffs and needles and me were added together. I can actually feel the burn of my blood and the roaring pain in my bones.

With all the torture I've been put through, I can honestly say that was the most painful.

She applies that disinfectant to my skin before putting the needle into my arm. I wince, but Kefilwe doesn't seem to notice.

After she gives me the penicillin, she sets the needle down and places a cotton ball against the tiny wound, and then a bandage over it. Then she gets some water and manages to clean out the still bleeding wound.

I know what she's saying is a possibility. I do have a small chance of being infected, but I feel fine. I mean, the bite hurts, but it's a dog bite. I have no cough, no fever... but then again, even if it wasn't just the doctor being cautious, it is protocol to put a runner that has bitten by any animal or human into isolation. And Amelia likes sticking to protocol.

Jaime's gonna kill me for not wishing him goodbye.

It's been two days since Isabel told Jaime about him being the new king, and let's just say he's not happy with the news. I guess I can understand that, seeing as being ruler over a country-even a country that's full of flesh eating undead-is a big responsibility. He's asked countless times if there was any other person who could do this, but Isabel kept on with the same reply.

"There are no other relatives. You are the only one with royal blood we could find."

He's not exactly pleased with that answer.

The Ministry wanted to ship him off to meet the Minister at their main base right away. They said they could eventually let him live at Buckingham Palace, since it's surprisingly still intact and mostly zom free, but Jaime didn't want to leave that day. He flat out refused to. He said, "If I am gonna have to leave, I ain't leavin' right away. I have to say goodbye to my kids."