something. She leapt to her feet, throwing the cloth into the stream where it sat in a heap while the water rushed around it. She strode blindly toward the mouth of the tunnel, her heart pounding in her ears. There had to be a way. There was always a way. Just because everyone else had died didn't mean Katie had to―right? Maybe it wasn't wolf fever after all. Maybe it was just exhaustion, or something to do with pregnancy. The wolf bite might just be a coincidence.
But no matter how hard she tried, Katie's pale face and labored breathing showed the lie in Lila's thoughts. Lila walked back to the stream and picked up the rag, using it to clean the vomit from the concrete.
“Promise me something,” Katie whispered. She took Lila's hand and guided it to her belly, where the baby was kicking away furiously. “Promise me.”
Lila looked down at Katie's hand over hers. “Promise you?”
Katie swallowed, wincing. “Promise me that when I die, you will save my baby. Two months early―he probably won't survive, but he has a greater chance with you than with me. You have to promise me that when the fever takes me, you will get him out in any way possible.”
Now Lila felt like retching. “I'm not going to cut him out of you! I have no way to feed a baby, to clothe it, to care for it. A baby would never survive...”
“Promise me!” There was desperation in Katie's eyes, and her hand clenched on top of Lila's. “Please.”
Lila wanted to protest that Katie was going to be fine, that there would be no cutting or forcibly removing an infant from its mother. There would be no need. I can't... she thought, tears burning in her eyes at the thought of using her knife, so oft employed in skinning and gutting animals, to slice through the sinew and muscle of another human. A girl, just like her. Her stomach lurched and her heart pounded in her ears so loudly that she felt she couldn't breathe. But then she looked down at the pale face on the floor, the pleading in the dark eyes, and she knew she couldn't refuse. “I promise,” she whispered, one hot tear escaping to splash onto the fabric of Katie's shirt.
Katie smiled wanly, closing her eyes and laying her head back on the bed.
“But I'm going to try to keep you alive first,” Lila insisted.
“Good.” Katie nodded almost imperceptibly, her hand going limp on Lila's. Her breathing was fast and shallow.
Lila's own hands were shaking as she took the cloth back to the stream. The tremblign was so bad that she could barely rinse it. Her eyes blurred, and she thought she was about to pass out until more tears splashed onto the back of her hands.
No, no, no! I can't. I just can't. She can't ask this of me! Lila was angry, at Katie for asking this of her, at the wolves for biting Katie's ankle, she raged against whoever had created the wolves and put them both in this situation. She left the cloth in the stream and stumbled into the sunlight at the end of the tunnel, collapsing to her knees near the edge. Her breath was sharp and short in her chest, her mind whirling with pictures that she desperately thrust away.
There has to be a way. Lila wracked her brain for any solution, anything that she could use to keep Katie and the baby alive. She had nothing. The woods held nothing powerful enough to conquer this “Wolf Fever”, whatever it was. Protector said that necessity was the mother of invention, that a will made a way. There had to be something...
The mansion. Lila recalled the sight of the storeroom in the mansion. The day they had walked out for the last time, deserting their safe home in search of food, she had looked back into the basement at the rows of empty shelves, bare of every can and package and jar of food they had once held.
But there were shelves that had barely been touched. The aisle that held medical supplies―each metal shelf was still piled high with bandages, splints, and bottle upon
But no matter how hard she tried, Katie's pale face and labored breathing showed the lie in Lila's thoughts. Lila walked back to the stream and picked up the rag, using it to clean the vomit from the concrete.
“Promise me something,” Katie whispered. She took Lila's hand and guided it to her belly, where the baby was kicking away furiously. “Promise me.”
Lila looked down at Katie's hand over hers. “Promise you?”
Katie swallowed, wincing. “Promise me that when I die, you will save my baby. Two months early―he probably won't survive, but he has a greater chance with you than with me. You have to promise me that when the fever takes me, you will get him out in any way possible.”
Now Lila felt like retching. “I'm not going to cut him out of you! I have no way to feed a baby, to clothe it, to care for it. A baby would never survive...”
“Promise me!” There was desperation in Katie's eyes, and her hand clenched on top of Lila's. “Please.”
Lila wanted to protest that Katie was going to be fine, that there would be no cutting or forcibly removing an infant from its mother. There would be no need. I can't... she thought, tears burning in her eyes at the thought of using her knife, so oft employed in skinning and gutting animals, to slice through the sinew and muscle of another human. A girl, just like her. Her stomach lurched and her heart pounded in her ears so loudly that she felt she couldn't breathe. But then she looked down at the pale face on the floor, the pleading in the dark eyes, and she knew she couldn't refuse. “I promise,” she whispered, one hot tear escaping to splash onto the fabric of Katie's shirt.
Katie smiled wanly, closing her eyes and laying her head back on the bed.
“But I'm going to try to keep you alive first,” Lila insisted.
“Good.” Katie nodded almost imperceptibly, her hand going limp on Lila's. Her breathing was fast and shallow.
Lila's own hands were shaking as she took the cloth back to the stream. The tremblign was so bad that she could barely rinse it. Her eyes blurred, and she thought she was about to pass out until more tears splashed onto the back of her hands.
No, no, no! I can't. I just can't. She can't ask this of me! Lila was angry, at Katie for asking this of her, at the wolves for biting Katie's ankle, she raged against whoever had created the wolves and put them both in this situation. She left the cloth in the stream and stumbled into the sunlight at the end of the tunnel, collapsing to her knees near the edge. Her breath was sharp and short in her chest, her mind whirling with pictures that she desperately thrust away.
There has to be a way. Lila wracked her brain for any solution, anything that she could use to keep Katie and the baby alive. She had nothing. The woods held nothing powerful enough to conquer this “Wolf Fever”, whatever it was. Protector said that necessity was the mother of invention, that a will made a way. There had to be something...
The mansion. Lila recalled the sight of the storeroom in the mansion. The day they had walked out for the last time, deserting their safe home in search of food, she had looked back into the basement at the rows of empty shelves, bare of every can and package and jar of food they had once held.
But there were shelves that had barely been touched. The aisle that held medical supplies―each metal shelf was still piled high with bandages, splints, and bottle upon
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