Page 132 of Monsters within Men
“A lot of trouble for something so tiny,” said Aoife, taking it from Meredith.
“Crush it.” Noah looked between the others. “Who’s next?”
Habib went next, sparking a factory line of arms being cleaned, incisions being cut, and chips being crushed. Vitt screamed the loudest of anyone, earning her a thump from Habib. Meredith seemed unsure about her choice of surgeon when her turn arrived, but Vitt turned out to be equally adept at the task.
Once everyone was done, eyes darted between Zeke and Noah. Zeke hovered at the cage door. “Hand over the sterilised knife, I’ll do mine myself.”
“Not a chance.” Noah squeezed by Vitt and Frankie, the key in one hand and the knife in the other.
“Noah,” Habib warned. “It’s not safe. Unless you want to go for my plan with the muzz—”
Noah’s face turned to Habib and whatever look he gave him was enough to silence him.
“Go sort Savannah out,” Noah said to Meredith.
Meredith bit her lip. “I don’t know if any more blood loss is a good idea.”
Noah looked pained as he said, “We don’t have a choice, Mere.”
She nodded and left the van.
The tenderness that Noah displayed in cleaning his arm clued Zeke in to the fact that by now, everyone must know about them. The others averted their eyes, busying themselves by inspecting their guns.
“Hold still for me,” Noah said, a low rumble directly into his ear. Noah brushed Zeke’s hair out of his eyes, and Zeke wanted nothing more than to grab his hand and keep it there.
The procedure was swift. After being bitten by a type then having his body dragged through the woods, Zeke’s pain tolerance had improved remarkably.
“Don’t look yet,” said Noah, as he cleaned up every drop of blood. He stuck a plaster over the incision—then some blue blocker tape for good measure—before pulling down his sleeve. “Done.”
Zeke opened his eyes to find Noah’s face taking up his entire vision. Noah pecked him on the lips. Frankie wolf-whistled.
Groaning, Zeke said, “Please.”
Frankie looked gleeful, the traitorous bitch. “Can I just say that I’m now owed a fuck tonne of mug duties, thanks to Savannah and Luo’s naivety. Well, I would be if we were actually going home. And Luo was still alive.”
The van fell quiet.
“We’ll have a send off for Luo as soon as we can,” said Noah.
Vitt nodded. “Meredith has his dog tags. And Brodie’s.”
As if summoned, Meredith slid back into the van. “It’s done. She’s passed out for now. Krish managed to get the bullet out for us. Neither of us think it’s ruptured the intestine. We got lucky. I think she’ll be okay. We’ve irrigated with saline and antiseptic and forced an antibiotic down her throat. I don’t think we have enough pills for a full course, though.”
“We’ll just have to pray.” Aoife rubbed her cross necklace through the layers of her clothing.
Habib nodded. “Absolutely.”
“I’ve shown K how to get the chips out. They’re doing each other now. They’re still set on going to Birmingham,” continued Meredith.
“And us?” Vitt looked to Noah, and the others followed suit.
“Again, I’m not in charge anymore,” started Noah. “But if you’re up for it, I’ve got a plan.”
Vitt stood, looking at each of the squad in turn. “Before you tell us, Noah, let me say this. I know I speak for everyone when I say you will always,alwaysbe our leader.”
The others nodded. One by one, they took each other’s hands.
Frankie gripped the cage, but Zeke remained in his corner. He stretched his arm out, as if he were about to take her hand. That would have to be enough.
