Standstill (Erityian Tribes Novella, #3)

05 : The Wretched

"How is she?" tanong ko nang makarating kami sa ospital kung nasaan si Kana.

We were lucky that the nearest one has an Erityian specialist or else, we would be forced to bring her in our own medical facility inside the campus.

"Her vitals are starting to stabilize," Dr. Gardan said and my knees collapsed upon hearing his words. "But we still need to observe her for the next few hours."

Napaupo ako sa tabi nina Hiroshi at Hayate na kasalukuyang nagbabantay sa kanya. We got our first criminal but the cost was high.

"Good job for bringing her as quick as possible. If you were late for even a few seconds, I don't know if I could still save her," sabi niya at lalo lang nanghina ang buong katawan ko.

Hayate and Hiroshi explained everything to me. Apparently, the syringe contained a cholinergic poison which works like a nerve agent. They discovered that Antonio Salazar must have some kind of antidote in case something happened and I was thankful they were both quick thinkers and could keep calm even in that kind of situation.

Humdrums do not have a guaranteed treatment for this kind of incident but Dr. Gardan assured us that she'd survive given how advanced our own medical researches and approaches are.

"You two," biglang tawag ni Hiroshi kaya napatingin kami sa kanya. "I told you that weapon transportation has yet to be completed."

Napalunok ako nang makita ko kung gaano katalim ang tingin niya sa amin. When he removed his eyeglasses, I knew we'd get an earful. He turns into a nagger when his creations are put into jeopardy, especially when we are one of the reasons.

"Apologies," Hayate immediately said. "We didn't expect Shinigamis to intervene, so we had to," he explained.

"H-he's right," dagdag ko naman. "But we promise, it won't happen again."

My statement was followed by an uncomfortable silence. Hiroshi was still glaring at us and I wasn't sure if this growing tension would affect Kana's condition since the doctor said we should let her rest without getting any disturbance.

I was already imagining the worst-case scenario but it immediately got pushed at the back of my mind when Hiroshi heaved a sigh. That was close. I thought he'd go berserk.

"A-Anyway . . ." I said, breaking the silence. "What happened to the weapons? Where are they?"

Hiroshi heaved another sigh of frustration. "In the lodge. You know that I'm still trying to figure out how reverse teleportation works."

"We're really sorry," dagdag ko ulit.

Hindi naman na siya nagsalita matapos no'n. We were all exhausted after what happened today. Hindi ko alam na ganito pala kahirap ang last requirement para maka-graduate. We got trained for this kind of work when we took our Fielding subject but the difficulty of apprehending criminals with A and S ranks exceeded our expectations.

"It's been a long day. We have to rest," sabi ni Hayate.

"Shall we go back to our apartment?" tanong ko.

"How about her?" sabay tingin ni Hiroshi kay Kana.

"Dr. Gardan said she's out of danger," Hayate replied. "We'll be back tomorrow."

"Okay."

***

Napahiga na lang ako sa sahig nang makapasok kami sa lodge namin dahil sa mga nangyari ngayong araw. Dumiretso naman sina Hayate at Hiroshi sa Japanese table na nasa gitna ng sala. Hayate set up his laptop and communication devices while Hiroshi pulled some wires along with the weapons we summoned while fighting the Shinigamis.