Writetober 2019

October 27-Coat

"So...when do we know if it worked?" Cal asked, rubbing the bandage over his vein.

"That's part of what we're finding out!" Selena chirped, discarding the used syringe. "Now, wear this to monitor your vitals," She said in her "business" voice, handing him a clunky wrist band.

Cal fitted it, and Selena adjusted it slightly. When his pulse, temperature, and blood pressure started registering on one of the computers she released him to rest in his room with the assurance that if anything flagged as dangerous, they'd be up to check on him.

He scratched absently at his injection site as he walked down the hall. His friend turned the corner ahead of him, heading for his own appointment with the lab. "Hey, Chief!" Cal greeted, smirking.

His friend scowled back at him, making the lines in his richly tanned face more pronounced. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?"

"Fine, Ben," He teased as he walked past. "Good luck with the labies."

His friend walked backwards to call after him, "It's Biyen! Bee-yen! You keep butchering it, Calvin, and I'll have the labies check you for Alzheimer's." He was smiling when he turned back around, his loose ponytail swinging behind him.

"It's Cal! Just Cal!" He yelled before turning the corner. He chuckled. He's not so bad for an American.

Things didn't get bad for another hour. Cal woke from his nap shaking and drenched in sweat. His vision wasn't right either. Everything was desaturated, and reds and greens looked more grey.

It was stifling in his room. He needed fresh air. He grabbed his coat and moved unsteadily to the elevator down the hall from his quarters and took it to the main floor.

Biyen was waiting there when the door opened on the ground floor. His eyebrows shot up when he saw Cal. "You look like crap."

"Shut up," Cal huffed as he limped past. "I need some air." When did all my bones start aching? Even my face hurts.

Cal stumbled over the doorframe, and Biyen caught his elbow and helped him up. Cal could feel the heat radiating off his friend's hand through his coat. "You got a fever too, huh?"

Biyen shrugged. "I feel fine, though my wrist band's stopped working. Was going to head down to the lab for them to check it, but it can wait a few minutes."

They moved outside and started walking the compound's perimeter out of habit. Not that there were any humans out here to cause trouble. The leopards could be a danger though. Biyen had his sidearm. So, neither of them was terribly worried.

"Cal?" Biyen asked after a quarter lap of the grounds. "Why are you here?"

It was rare for his friend to use his actual name. So, Cal thought through the fog circling his head for a genuine answer. He eventually shrugged. "Just another job. If you mean the powers...I mean, who wouldn't want those?" When Biyen gave him a supremely unimpressed look, he laughed. "Did I ever tell you that my ex had powers?"

Biyen choked out a cough. "What?!"

"Yeah! Real tough lady. Sweetheart too, until I made a mistake on a job." He laughed, this time with no mirth. "People like her? They can get away with mistakes, but me? I got canned. I dunno. I just want to play by the same rules."

Biyen hummed his acceptance of that answer.

"You?" Cal asked, scratching at his arm incessantly. It felt like something was crawling around under his skin.

"Carving my own path," Biyen said. "I can't see myself settling down on the reserve, and I can't go back to the military..."

Because of the PTSD you don't want to acknowledge, Cal added with a snort.

"So, I settled on private security. Their offer of powers is a chance to do more than settle."

Cal could understand that. He was about to say something else when he stopped. "Is something burning?" He asked, sniffing the air.

Biyen stopped and looked around. "I don't—" He jerked when his wrist band popped and hissed. He yanked the smoking thing off and dropped it on the road they were walking along. He rubbed at a pink spot on his wrist where he'd been singed.

They both stared at the offending piece of tech before Cal said, "Yeah, you should let the scientist known his gizmo blew up." He eyed the band on his own wrist with suspicion.

"In a little bit," Biyen waffled. "They'll want another set of baseline vitals when I tell them their toy malfunctioned.

"True. I'm honestly a surprised they haven't checked in on..." He trailed off as a small rustle across the road caught his attention. He stood stock still and stared at the spot, holding a hand up to halt Biyen. "Hear that?"

Biyen looked at Cal in confusion. "No? Are you sure you—wait! You might be getting enhanced senses. They did say that was a possibility," He muttered to himself behind Cal.

Cal tuned him and the increasing burning smell coming from him despite ditching the bracelet out. The wind changed, and he caught a faint whiff of something musky that reminded him of the deer he'd hunted back in Europe.

His stomach twisted somewhere between hunger and nausea, and he suddenly itched to move, run, give chase. When the small, recognizable shape of a dik-dik appeared through the grass, Cal bolted toward it without thinking. He stumbled partway across the road and lost a shoe, kicking the other one off a step later to even out his gait. He snarled in frustration. He was burning up again, and his clothes were unbearably hot and restrictive.

He threw his coat off before yanking his shirt over his head to join it, bones cracking and popping as he moved. The infuriating, skin crawling sensation returned, and he tumbled to all fours. He didn't stop moving except to shake free of pants and socks that were suddenly loose enough to allow it. He pounded into the grass after his fleeing quarry, relishing the feel of wind in his...hair. But he could feel it all over.

He slowed in confusion. What had he been doing? He tried to scratch his head and saw a paw and fur-covered leg where his arm should be. No way... He spun around looking at himself. I shapeshifted?! That's the coolest power ever! Just wait til Biyen—

A gunshot exploded in the direction of the road, followed by two more in quick succession. Biyen! Cal took off galloping back toward the road, passing his discarded pants and wrist band along the way.

He broke from the tall grass to see a firestorm where he'd left his friend. The sizzling carcass of a handgun lay on the pavement at the edge of the flames. Judging by the damage, two of those bullets went off in the magazine, not the chamber. Cal recalled the heat radiating off Biyen and the wrist monitor spontaneously combusting. Oh no... He scented the air and found the nauseating stench of burnt flesh and hair.

A lone howl sliced through the thin air.