Sentinel 555: AIR ✔

Rules 4

Daniel spent most of the morning washing off the lovebirds. He was half tempted to leave them like that, especially after he realized they were breathing fine.

Still, it was best to finish scrubbing them down and separating them. Easier said than done. For one thing, the woman's legs stayed firmly wrapped around her lover's waist.

They'd certainly taken a tumble. Getting her to relax took more time than he cared to admit.

Samson took to licking the man's foot again. Daniel put his hand against his face and pushed him back.

"Stop. That's disgusting for a lot of reasons. You know where they've been."

The large cat obeyed the chide and kept his distance.

It was well past noon before Daniel gave up and stood.

"She's got a vice grip on him." Short of breaking those legs, he wasn't sure how to get them apart. At least the black stuff all over them had nearly washed off.

Daniel scraped it off in clumps using a coconut shell. It was rancid.

Samson tried to smell it but Daniel nudged him back again. "Away, already. You'll make yourself sick."

The girl was stark naked under that gunk but her boyfriend—husband wasn't as much of a gentleman.

"He didn't even take off his clothes. Wow." They both wore something strange on their heads. Hers was round while the man's was somewhat cruder. Daniel hesitated to fiddle with something that unfamiliar so he focused on their bodies. Short of cutting the rags off, Daniel wasn't sure how to get them both bare so he could examine them better. "And how exactly do you reckon we break them up, Sam?"

The beast's large tongue flicked its nose.

Daniel sighed. "You're no help."

Another day passed before the woman finally let go; and it took great effort to accomplish that much. When she lay bare, Daniel frowned at the bruises all over her. Little by little he started to doubt whether or not this was really what it seemed.

She'd been beaten. A lot.

There wasn't much he could offer her in the way of clothes, but he found something.

Later that evening, the man came around. Daniel smiled in spite of himself, especially when the lover regarded the woman at his side and sighed with relief at the sight of her.

With that, Daniel considered himself mistaken. They were lovers.

They were of age, though. And short.

Besides that, they weren't very perceptive.

Sitting at a distance, Daniel watched as the man reached out and held his woman by the neck. He then tore off the strange head covering he wore and pressed his face to her chest.

The gasp that time provoked Daniel to stand; he'd noticed them, too—the lumps in her throat. To his shock, the man held her neck tighter.

One cough came from the woman, then a gag. That's when Daniel understood; they were trying to travel to the afterlife together.

"There's no need for that now," Daniel said.

He startled the man but didn't hesitate to bring a cloth to the stranger's face. The body went limp—it wouldn't stay that way for long.

The woman was more troubling. Daniel gave of his own meager clothing to keep her warm. It took all of the day to work that thing off her face. Most of the top layer wasn't hard to pull off but a second layer below took more effort.