Sooner Dead (Gamma World) - Mel Odom [96]
Hella put her good arm across her eyes and sank back to sleep.
Minutes or hours later, a shadow hesitated at the front of the tent. The flickering shift of the person’s presence outside the flaps woke Hella. From the short, slender build, she knew her visitor was neither Stampede nor Riley.
A moment later Colleen cleared her throat outside the tent. “Hella? It’s Colleen Trammell. May I come in?”
“All right.” Hella sat up effortlessly on her bedroll. She cradled her injured arm in her lap.
Colleen entered with a medical case in one hand. She gazed around the tent briefly.
“Stampede’s not here.”
“I know.” Colleen sat beside Hella. “I thought maybe one of the fractoids might be in here.”
“I thought Scatter was being held in a cage and the female fractoid was hovering on the edge.”
“He is and she is.” Colleen rummaged in the medical case and came out with a fistful of hypodermics. “Still, they’ve surprised us so far. Scatter’s not like anything we expected, and the female has managed to survive in spite of everything she’s suffered.”
Hella nodded at the needles. “What’s that?”
“Antibiotics. Steroids. Medicine that will help you get better.”
“Nobody thought to give me these yesterday?”
Colleen eyed her levelly. “Yesterday no one thought you were going to survive your wounds. I think even Stampede believed you were going to die.”
“I didn’t.”
Colleen smiled. “I know. Now we’re going to see if we can keep you alive. Roll up your sleeve, please.”
Hella didn’t move.
“You don’t trust me.” Colleen didn’t look surprised or offended.
“With all due respect, no.”
“Why?”
“Stampede would say that we have different agendas. He’s more polite than I am.”
“I see.” Colleen took another breath and let it out. “Is there anything I can do to change your mind?”
“Let me talk to Scatter.”
Colleen shook her head sadly. “That’s not going to happen. Dr. Pardot doesn’t like the influence the two of you have over Scatter.” She frowned. “Or the influence Scatter has over you two. Dr. Pardot isn’t sure which way that works. And, frankly, neither am I.”
“Then it looks like we don’t have a lot to talk about.”
Colleen sat for a moment longer. “I wish I could change that.”
Hella wanted to tell her that she did too, but she couldn’t lie to the woman like that because she kept remembering that Colleen was involved mostly because of her sick daughter.
Colleen stood and headed for the tent flaps. “I hope you get better. I do like you, Hella.”
Without a word, Hella watched her leave. She felt tired and sad and empty. Focusing, Hella unwrapped her wounded arm and looked at her burns. For a short time, she drew on the strength she’d built up, triggered the rhythm again, and watched as unblemished skin gradually replaced the burned, oozing flesh. When her head thrummed with pain and she couldn’t focus enough to maintain the healing effect, she rewrapped her arm and lay back down. After a few minutes, she slept.
Stampede returned after dark. He brought three rabbits on spits that were brazed almost to golden brown perfection and stuffed with vegetables and spices. The succulent smell filled Hella’s mouth with saliva, and her stomach grumbled. She couldn’t believe how hungry she was because she’d been eating jerky all day and had felt full until the rabbits appeared.
After handing her one of the rabbits, Stampede sat down with two of them. Dust covered him and dried mud clung to his hooves and lower legs.
“You’ve been exploring.” Hella pinched meat from the rabbit and popped it into her mouth. The grease was filled with flavor. She had been in only occasional contact with him over the comm link in between long naps that had taken up most of her day.
“Scouting the Sheldons.”
“They’re still in the area?”
Stampede nodded and rubbed a hand across one of his horns. “Yeah, but there’s something going on.”
Hella waited.
“They’ve started running patrols through