Cynophobia

☠₁₃☠

       Claude nodded. "He is talking to James and Ash right now. Ash is working on electric bullets. He said I can't leave the cabin today, its going to be really boring. Can you and Loki play with me?"

"I need to go check on my friend Ray quick, I'll try to come back as soon as I can," I promised ruffling his nearly white hair.

"Vincent seemed less grumpy this morning, thanks for cheering him up," he said.

I thought about him smiling last night before he left. "I honestly didn't do that much, we just talked for a while. See you later, Claude."

I reached for the doorknob, but it wouldn't turn. Luckily I could unlock it from the inside. I turned back to Claude before I left. "Can you lock the door?"

"Yeah," he said hopping up from his chair.

I closed the door when Loki was out. I didn't walk away until I heard the click of the lock. I started looking around the cave, I didn't know where Ray and Cairo were staying. I shuddered as I walked past the hospital. The kid Ray was carrying looked about thirteen, he seemed way to young to be sent out as a Crasher.

The hospital door opened, I expected to see Dr. Williams but it was Rose. My blue eyes lit up. "Hey," I greeted.

"Morning," she yawned. "Last night Vincent, James, and Ash were in the garage so I just came here. I thought I would help out Dr. Williams since I am his apprentice now."

"That's great, I know you'll be great at your job," I said smiling.

She shrugged. "Not as good as you, I couldn't watch him amputate and sew up the rest of Liam's arm. You had to sew me with with a first aid kit and some alcohol. At least with Dr. Williams modern medicine my leg is already healed."

I looked around the cave. People were busily going to their posts. "Have you seen Ray yet? I want to make sure he's alright."

"I can show you their cabin," Rose offered. "They share it with four other guys, but they should be at work already."

Rose grabbed my hand and led me to a cabin near the elevator. There was no lock on this door, you could just walk right in. Inside Cairo and Ray were sitting across from each other on beds. They had to bend over slightly because of the beds above them.

"How are you doing?" I asked closing the door behind me.

Ray rubbed his eyes with his palms. "I'm managing."

"What happened to that kid? How did he get bit with so many Crashers around?"

His brown eyes looked droopy from lack of sleep. "We needed molds for the electric bullets, so James had us search a hunting store. There was a 'Robark' on the ground, it didn't move when we approached so we all thought it was dead. Liam, the kid who got bit, pointed a flashlight at it. It lunged for his throat, I barely managed to punch it in time. All I did was redirect it towards his hand, came right off."

Rose put her hand over her mouth.

"You saved his life," murmured.

"Some life he gets to live now. He can't be a Crasher anymore, of course. He's probably going to be stuck in here, doing laundry," Ray sighed.

Cairo folded his arms. "You sound like that's a bad thing. We saw what they did to Rose, none of us want to see that thing again."

"Exactly, they're monsters. The second Vincent said I could be a Crasher I jumped at the opportunity. I want to kill every last one of those things," he grumbled.