Solacium

Ch 8: Blake

"When I told you to bring me something back from the city, I wasn't talking about a half-dead man," Jada called from the front door as she watched me approach.

Hoisting the creature toward the house, I glanced up to shoot her an unamused look.

If you could even call this creature that, I mumbled to myself.

With my last bit of strength, I dragged the creature up the porch steps and into the house. Jada swung the door shut behind us, repairing the oxygen seal of the house. Once inside, I finally released my grip on the creature's shoulders, unceremoniously dropping him into the middle of the floor. Sighing, I leaned against the wall, my arms limp at my side.

"Damn he was heavy," I breathed, closing my eyes and leaning my head against the wall. A mix of sweat and rain dropped down the side of my face from my trek. I would have wiped it away if my arms didn't feel like they were going to fall off.

I heard Jada tut from beside me. "Don't pass out on me, it looks like your friend here needs some help," Jada said, looking unimpressed by my dramatics as she locked the front door and walked over to assess the motionless body I dropped so gracefully on the floor.

Opening my eyes, I glanced down to see that Jada's expression grew serious as she kneeled down beside the creature, examining his unique features.

He was laying on his back where I had dropped him in the wooden hallway of Jada's entryway, and his chest carefully rose and fell with his labored breath. From her position beside him, Jada shifted his head to the side, taking a look at his face. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she examined his dull grey skin and the numerous cuts that painted his sharp features with black smudges of what I hoped were just dried blood.

Jada knitted her eyebrows together as she looked over him, moving her gaze down from his face to examine his shoulder and back. Running her fingers over the hole in his shoulder, Jada hummed in thought.

"Bullet wounds," Jada murmured, looking over his body before glancing up at me. "Wonder who shot him..." She cast me a disapproving look. I rolled my eyes.

Jada was always very anti-violence. She hated the fact that I had a gun, but since I promised not to use it unless necessary, she allowed me to keep it. Not to mention the fact that the Deviants were getting bolder, wandering further into the forest each day. Jada never showed it, but I could tell that it worried her too. So, in the end, she let me keep my gun just in case.

Though I wouldn't be surprised if she changed her mind about it after today. I would hardly be impressed if someone brought home a bloodied creature that they had shot multiple times and dropped him at my front door. So, it would be a fair judgment on her part. But, in my defense, I didn't have any other options. Especially not after my morality kicked in and guilt-tripped me into saving the dude.

Just then, I heard a grunt and I looked over to see Jada slowly standing up.

"I'm not young enough to kneel for so long. Get him up on the table, I need to get a better look at him," She said, straightening her back and gesturing to the dining room table.

I sighed, pushing off the wall and stretching my arms before kneeling down beside the creature. With all my strength, I hoisted him over my shoulder and lugged him over to the table where Jada helped me to lay him down.

Laying him across the table, I stepped back to brush away the hair that had fallen in front of my face from the effort. He looked awkward strewn across it, with his inhumanly long limbs dangling off the sides of the table. But it would have to do.

Once settled, Jada briefly vanished into the kitchen before returning with scissors in her hand. The metal blades reflected under the dim ceiling light of the dining room as she immediately got to work cutting open his suit.