Brian rolled to a stop and leapt to his feet. It seemed that there was not immediate danger anymore. The creature was smoldering peacefully. He looked to his companions. Kerry was already getting to her feet, and John was sitting up, rubbing his head dazedly. There was blood coming from some scrapes on his elbows and his red shirt was ripped just a little on the left side of his chest. How did he manage to get a rip there? Brian thought. Where was Sooty?
There, under the Harley. There was already a small pool of blood gathering under her.
"I knew it was a creation of Ock," he muttered as he ran toward her. She lay under the big machine, obviously in pain. A few rib splinters extruded where the handlebar went in, through, and into the gravel of the shoulder of the road. As he knelt down beside her, she lifted her head weakly. Sooty looked over the ruined bike, twisted and leaking gas around her. She petted the handlebar fondly and smiled.
"I always new we'd go out together," she told Brian.
"Nonsense. It is merely Cheom's way of teaching you the error of your ways."
Sooty lay her head back again and sighed.
"You guys have to get back to town and tell everyone. Don't waste time on me. I can't move my legs anyway."
"John!" Brian called. He motioned to the bike. "This will hurt," he told Sooty. He placed his boot against her armpit and then Brian and John heaved the bike off her. Sooty screamed, and kept on screaming. Blood was gushing and squirting from the hole in her sternum; they had caught her aorta. Brian let go the bike, leaving John to stagger with its weight. He reached in and pinched off the artery.
"Hold this," he told Kerry. "Hold the halves so that they are touching." Kerry took over and Brian pulled his hands out of Sooty's body. Again, he began to chant.
Kerry felt the movement begin slowly. She had first assumed that it was just Sooty's death throes (how can I say 'just'? she thought to herself), but then she realized that the artery itself was moving in her hands, linking up, joining together. This, she thought, is amazing. More than Tim's healing. This is healing that I can feel. The hole was starting to tighten around her hands, and she tentatively let go of the aorta. No extra blood. She pulled her hands out of Sooty and watched with amazement as the hole shrunk and the bones began retracting into her skin. This is how I remember feeling the first time I saw Fantasia. Sooty had stopped screaming and was watching her body heal as well. Finally, it was done. There was still a nice cut, but most of the damage was gone, without even a scar.
"Um, guys?" John's voice sounded embarrassed. He was lying under the motorcycle. Nobody had noticed when he lost control over it and it tipped over on him.
******
Later, after Brian had healed John's broken foot, applied another heal to Sooty, and healed his own feet ("I'm doing this because we will have to walk, and there is no time to indulge the whims of the deity"), they settled in to plan. There was too little left of the creature to determine what it was, but they knew that it was well armed. They also surmised that it was not from Earth, and that it wasn't alone (aliens don't come to earth just to set up roadblocks and shoot people, do they?).
"We need to tell the people what's going on," John said.
"That's true," Kerry agreed.
"But we don't know what's going on," Sooty countered.
"That's also true."
"And besides," Sooty continued, "what are they going to do? We've got eight people with guns, total." Brian looked at her suspiciously. "And some lead pipes, and kitchen utensils. They're going to mount an attack on aliens with this kinda firepower?"
"They have a right to know!" John had spent some time studying journalism.
"They'll get hysterical."
"They'll be properly informed so they can best defend themselves!"
"There is a more pressing concern," Brian interjected.
"What can be more pressing than the destruction of our town?" John asked angrily. "We need to head straight back and tell them."
"Peasants with pitchforks," Brian muttered.
"What?"
"The books never tell you how many really die."
"You know," Kerry said softly, "you've all made really good points. I think that it is important that we inform our people as soon as possible about what is going on. But I think that we still don't really know what's going on, and that information could be vital to our survival. Brian is right in saying that a partially informed public right now could be worse than an uninformed public. And I was just thinking that the next time we come out this way, it's gonna be a lot more heavily guarded."
"That's a good point," Sooty said. "We may never have another chance to do recon. Besides," she grinned at Brian, "I'm feeling lucky today."
"Luck is for gamblers and other sinners. I will not gamble with my life: that is for Cheom to do. I will continue this mission."
"Well, I won't be a party to that." John was furious. "I don't know how you can just abandon all your friends like that, for some self-aggrandizing 'mission', but I can't and I won't!" He got to his feet. "I've got a long walk, so I better get started."
"You are making a grave mistake," Brian punned unintentionally. "And the rest of you?"
"I say we go in."
"Yeah. I'm in too." Sooty turned to John. "You won't change your mind?"
"Hell no."
Sooty reached into her bag and pulled something out. "Take this, then," she said, handing him a revolver and some bullets, "and take care of yourself."
"Yeah. Thanks. You too." He began walking down the road.
Sooty and Kerry watched as he slowly shrank. Brian peered intently into the surrounding hills.
"This way," he said suddenly. "We should hurry." He pointed to one of the larger hills, more barren than the rest.
"That's a hot spot, babe," Sooty said. "Real hot. Used to be a big Wyeth plant there."
"Really?" Kerry looked at it with distaste. "I worked there one summer. What a shit job."