Chương 38: The Door

They rode between the checkpoint barricades without slowing. One of the watch members raised a hand in greeting, then did a double-take when he saw Signe.

"Hey! Signe's back in town." Heads turned. A woman carrying a bundle of firewood stopped and waved. An older man on the porch of a nearby house cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Glad you made it home, sweetheart!" Enzo smiled at Signe's welcome. She'd always been one of Mill Valley's favorites. Where he was remembered as a bit of a troublemaker, and Kenzo the football hero, Signe would always be the girl who performed at every school concert and community event. Signe waved back, but her smile was strained. She slowed her bike as they passed her parents' street, eyes drifting toward the houses at the end of the block. She opened her mouth. Hesitated.

"Go on," Enzo said.

"Your parents need to know you're safe. I'll check on Sumi and you can join us later." She held his gaze for a moment. Then she nodded, turned off the road, and headed toward home. Enzo continued alone. The settlement had changed in the hours since they'd left. The watch had been doubled along the perimeter, and several of the members now carried bows or crossbows that belonged to the hunting teams. People moved with a purpose that hadn't been there yesterday. Less casual conversation. More intensity.

Val had taken the biker threat seriously. Down the hill, past the turn onto his family's street, he caught movement between the redwoods. Two members of the watch were stationed in the trees, partially concealed by the trunks. They spotted him and one raised a hand. He returned it. He pulled into the garage and slotted his bike alongside the others his family and friends had claimed. The community had pulled together quite the collection, kept together further down the street, but they were shared among everyone.

Mage privilege strikes again. He grabbed his cane and made his way inside. Kenzo was on the couch, head in his hands. Enzo's mother sat beside him, one hand moving in slow circles across his back. She looked up when Enzo stepped through the door. Her face broke into relief.

"Look, Enzo's back. I told you everything would be fine." Kenzo's head came up. He turned, took Enzo in from head to toe, and then he was on his feet and across the room in three strides. Arms locked around Enzo and lifted him clean off the floor. Enzo grunted.

"Put me down, you idiot," he said.

"I'm fine." Kenzo held on for another few seconds. Then he set him down carefully, hands still on his shoulders, studying his face.

"Signe?"

"Went to see her parents. She's okay." Kenzo exhaled. His grip loosened.

"Good." He stepped back, rubbing his face with both hands.

"That's good. I wanted to go back after I dropped Sumi off, but I knew it would be way too late…" Enzo nodded.

"We ran the snake off, which means it's a problem for another day." He paused.

"Where's Sumi?"

"Upstairs guest room." Kenzo's voice was rough.

"Val grabbed Doc Hadley after I carried her in." Enzo remembered Margaret Hadley. She'd been the family doctor when he and Val were kids, but she'd retired a decade ago. It wouldn't surprise him to find out she kept a medical bag packed, regardless. Kenzo looked down at the floor.

"I've just been sitting here since. Don't know what else to do." Enzo placed a hand on his shoulder as he passed.

"You already did everything. You got her home. Go get cleaned up and grab something to eat." Kenzo didn't move right away. Then he nodded and headed for the kitchen. It was the wrong order, but at least the big guy would stop overthinking for a bit. Enzo made his way upstairs, the cane tapping against each step. His father stood in the doorway of the guest room, arms crossed. When he saw Enzo, he stepped into the hallway and met him halfway. His eyes swept over Enzo with the same careful assessment he always gave.

"Son." Pops kept his voice low.

"Is Signe alright?"

"Yeah. I sent her home." His father nodded.

"Good. She's been through a lot." He paused.

"I killed a guard when we were getting her out. She saw the entire thing." Enzo blinked. Signe hadn't said anything about it.

"That's going to be a problem." Pops shook his head.

"Not unless they go digging. They're using the walk-in freezers to store refuse. We hid the body there. That's why we were late." Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. That was one way to solve it.

"How's Sumi?" Pops grabbed his shoulder and guided him toward the guest room.

"I don't know. Doc will tell us when she's done." Enzo looked into the room. Val sat in an armchair in the corner, legs pulled up beneath her, arms wrapped around her knees. She looked up when he appeared but said nothing. Sumi was unconscious. Her face was pale, her breathing shallow but steady. An IV line ran from a bag hung on a coat hook to the crook of her other arm. Doc Hadley was bent over Sumi's outstretched arm, which rested on a bedside table that had been dragged close and covered in a sheet of plastic.

White hair pulled into a loose bun, sleeves rolled past her elbows, a pair of glasses perched low on her nose. Her hands moved steadily, drawing a curved needle through skin. The plastic was smeared with blood. A wooden chopping board sat on the bed beside Sumi's shoulder, laid out with suture kits, clamps, a pair of scissors, and a bottle of antiseptic. A basin on the floor held gauze soaked in blood. The tourniquet was still in place on the forearm, loosened but ready to be reapplied in a hurry.

The arm ended just above the wrist. The arteries had already been tied off, and the doc was folding a flap of skin over the exposed tissue, stitching it closed one careful pass at a time. Enzo stood in the doorway and watched in silence. His father remained beside him, saying nothing. Doc Hadley worked without rushing. Each stitch was placed with care, the needle catching the light as it passed through skin.

She tied the last suture, snipped the thread, then inspected the closure with her fingers, pressing gently along the edges. Satisfied, she reached for the antiseptic, dabbed it across the wound, then began wrapping clean bandages around the stump. Once. Twice. A third pass, firm but not too tight. She tucked the end and secured it with a small metal clip. Then she took a pillow from the other side of the bed and slid it beneath Sumi's arm, positioning it so the stump rested slightly elevated.

The doc straightened, peeled off a pair of gloves, and dropped them into a mixing bowl from the kitchen. She swept the remaining instruments off the chopping board and into the bowl after them. Enzo recognized the bowl. His mother used it specially to mix cookie dough. He stepped aside. His father did the same. Doc Hadley carried the bowl into the hallway, and Val followed, pulling the door mostly closed behind her.

The doc set the bowl on the hall table and turned to face them, pushing her glasses up onto her forehead.

"She's stable. The surgery went as well as I could hope for, given the circumstances." She looked between Enzo and his father.

"Mr. Yamamoto told me something about a snake, but he wasn't making much sense. What happened to her hand?" Val cut in before Enzo could answer.

"Is she going to be okay?" Doc Hadley regarded her calmly.

"The cut was remarkably clean, and whoever applied the tourniquet saved her life. She's lost blood, but the IV will help with that. The biggest risk now is infection, so I've started her on antibiotics, but our supply is limited. Not complaining, mind you. Just letting you know that we could use some medical supplies." She paused.

"Barring complications, I expect her to recover." Val's shoulders dropped. She leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes.

"The snake," Enzo said, "was a mana-enhanced rattlesnake. Massive. Bit right through her hand, and the venom started killing the tissue immediately. It was spreading so fast." He looked away.

"I had to cut off the hand before it reached her arm." The hallway was quiet for a moment. Doc Hadley studied him over the rim of her glasses, which had slipped down her nose.

"You made the right call. If the necrosis was spreading as fast as you're describing, she would have lost the arm. Or worse." Enzo nodded. The words didn't make it feel any better. Pops placed a hand on his shoulder. Brief. Then it was gone, as he turned to the doctor and began asking about aftercare. How often the bandages needed changing. What to watch for. Whether the antibiotics needed to be taken with food. Enzo heard the words without processing them.

His mind was already somewhere else, cycling back through the rift. The clearing. The snake lunging at Sumi. His missed shot. The fang punching through her palm. Could they have been positioned differently? Should he have insisted Sumi stay behind him? He'd spread them out to avoid the snake being able to charge into all of them. But he'd also underestimated just how fast it could move. Its range. If he'd kept her in the rear, the snake would never have reached her. Maybe it would have targeted Signe instead.

Same outcome. Or worse, because she didn't have Shield. There was no configuration that didn't put someone at risk. He knew that. But it didn't stop him from feeling responsible. His father and the doctor moved down the hallway, their conversation fading as they descended the stairs. Enzo looked up. Val was glaring at him. He opened his mouth.

"Val, I'm s—" She crossed the distance between them, grabbed the front of his shirt with one fist, and shoved him backward. His shoulders hit the wall.

"You were supposed to take care of her." Her voice was low and tight. It was somehow worse than shouting.

"I trusted you to keep her safe."

"I know. I—""You're always like this. Always doing dangerous things without caring about the risks." Her grip tightened on his shirt.

"Except it's always been you who pays for it. Your body. Your knee. Your problem." Her eyes were wet.

"This time it was Sumi." She shoved him back against the wall once more. Then she let go, turned, walked into the guest room, and closed the door behind her. Enzo stood in the hallway alone. The click of the latch was loud in the silence. He didn't follow her. Val would keep an eye on Sumi until she woke up. Then Sumi would Heal herself as best as she could. Pops would check in regularly. And she wasn't angry with him. Not really. She'd never been good at expressing certain emotions, but the words still cut.

Enzo took a breath and headed for the stairs, taking them with slow, heavy steps. He wasn't good at expressing certain emotions either. Maybe it ran in the family. Murph was waiting for him at the third-floor landing, his bedroom-slash-workshop door open, framing the oversized border collie.

"Hey, girl. Did the others banish you up here?" Murph cocked her head and grumbled. He patted her head as he squeezed past her.

"Sorry about that. Sumi got hurt, and I'm sure they just wanted you out of the way until they were done." Murph whined as she followed him back into the room. Then closed the door. Enzo blinked.

"Maybe that's my mistake. I didn't bring you with me when we went to face the bikers, because I was worried about how you would behave." He placed the cane against the wall, then headed for the workbench.

"If I had, maybe you could have come to the rift and helped with the snake." Murph climbed onto his bed and huffed, turning her back to him and looking out the window at the blue sky. He chuckled.

"You're right. I should trust you more than that. You've been looking after Pops while he's hunting." He sat down.

"I'll bring you from now on when you're not busy with other things, okay?" Murph turned to look at him. The intelligence behind the pup's eyes was unmistakable. She let out a single, sharp bark, then went back to looking out the window. Enzo watched Murph for a moment longer, then pulled up the Guide. He needed something to keep his mind distracted. It was time to test Signe's theory.