Life Inside the Dead Zone

Chapter 6: Surgery

Chapter 6

Surgery

The ride back is long and uneventful. I think. I spend most of the time slipping in and out of sleep. Being ripped in half is surprisingly taxing on the body. Thankfully, Ivy and Vincent let me sleep.

Ivy shakes me awake. "Wake up, X. We're home."

Really? It feels like we've been gone for a long time. Hard to believe that its been almost a day. "Did you tell them about Boomer? I don't want them shooting my dog."

"Vincent told them," she says. "Come on." She reaches in and picks me up. Part of me hates it, being just a head, a torso and an arm. I feel like a teddy bear as she carries me. Part of me doesn't mind because she's carrying me and is hugging me close to her chest.

Gah. Get your head out of the gutter, you pervert.

The front door opens and Prima storms out. "What happened?" she demands. "Where is the rest of him?"

"The Carnifex got him," Ivy says. "But..."

"What the hell is a Carnifex?" Prima asks.

"Mutated Tank," Ivy says. "Prima, we need to talk about..."

"Just be quiet," Prima snaps, clearly furious. Part of me doesn't want to tell her about the humans, but she's going to find out anyways.

"We brought friends," Ivy says. "Vincent, get out of the truck."

"Hello?" Vincent says. "Uh, hi. I'm Private First Class Vincent Harrison. Nice to meet you."

Prima narrows her eyes at him. Then, she glares at Ivy. "You brought humans here? How do you explain this?"

"I brought humans here," I say, feeling a little silly standing up for Ivy when I don't even have legs. "She didn't want to, but we couldn't just leave them there. Besides, Vincent is a unique case."

Prima sighs, rubbing her brow. "How many of you are there?"

"There's five of us," Vincent says.

"Prima," I say. "Vincent is the one who saved me from the Carnifex. He put himself in danger to get me. No one could have blamed him if he didn't."

"I could have," Ivy mutters.

Prima groans and then says, "Call your friends, human. I suppose I can't turn you away after what you did, no matter how much I want to. As for you, X, I have half a mind to kick your now nonexistent ass."

That's when VI walks out. "Prima, no matter what he did, he is my patient right now. You will not kick his ass, no matter how nonexistent it may be."

Prima scowls but concedes, for which I am infinitely grateful to VI. Prima doesn't normally get angry and threaten physical violence, but when she does, her retribution is swift and merciless. "Here," VI says. "Give him to me. You know what we need to fix him." Ivy hands me over. I'm starting to feel more and more like a teddy bear. Or like luggage.

"Is he really still a he?" Vincent asks, jokingly. Prima wrinkles her nose at him but VI chuckles.

"We can't just call him an it," he says. "Call your friends and come on in. You must be hungry."

"Starving," Vincent says, hopping down from the truck. "I hope you've got human food, though. I'm not much for human."

"You're in luck," I say. "We don't eat human. Ivy and I recently came back from a hunt and have plenty of venison. Ask Sev about it."

"Sev?" Vincent asks. "Do you mean Seven?"

"He figured it out?" VI asks, impressed. I nod. "Smart, for a human." He sniffs the air. "What's that smell?"