“This!” Broussard stepped forward and tapped at the screen covered rectangle. “This duct.”
Carol shook her head. “I don’t know. A foot by a foot and a half?”
“Twelve by eighteen inches. Thirty by fifty centimeters…”
“What’s your point, doctor?” Carol took a step behind him, putting him between her and the vent cover.
“Plenty of room for somebody as small as she, non?”
Carol shook her head again. “Possibly. I don’t… I’m not sure. Why?”
Broussard stepped into the hallway and ran the same direction the men had gone. Carol followed him to the door and leaned out. “Where are you going?”
“To warn them!”
She stepped back into the lab and turned to stare at the vent. She no longer felt safe in the lab and she definitely didn’t feel safe in the hallway. “This is the first time I actually wish I was on land.”
Stinky and Shooter dragged Sinner through the living room and set him as gently as they could on the dining table. “I need light,” Stinky said calmly.
Shooter ran down the hallway and rifled through a closet. He came back with a battery powered lantern. “Not the best, but it’s LED. Should last a while.” He hung the lantern on the low hanging dining room fixture and flipped it on.
Stinky peeled the blood soaked leather from his shoulder then lifted his torso. “Pull it off.” He grunted.
Shooter tugged at the leather and dropped it to the floor. “What can I do?”
“Find me something…gauze, towels, old t-shirts, something. I need to stop this bleeding if I can.”
Stinky focused his attention on Sinner as Shooter ran back down the hallway. Simon swayed through the garage door, whisky in hand. “Lookie lookie what I found.”
Stinky reached for it. “That will work.”
“Like hell it will!” Simon pulled the bottle away from him. “If you want to waste good alcohol on the likes of him, use that clear shit.”
Stinky gave him an evil glare. “I need something to sanitize with.”
Simon nodded toward the garage. “Second box over on the right. There’s gin and I think vodka.”
Stinky stared at him. “Would you get it for me? Please.”
Simon huffed then turned and threw the garage door open. “The things I do for you ungrateful fucks…”
Stinky clenched his jaw tight and barely looked up when Shooter ran back down the hallway. “This is all I could find. Unless you want bed sheets.” He shrugged. “They don’t look very absorbent.”
“This’ll do for now.” He motioned Shooter over while he held a washrag to Sinner’s shoulder. “I need you to find something metal and pointy. Like a fireplace poker or…”
Shooter shook his head. “What for?”
“I have to cauterize this wound. He’s losing too much blood. I don’t have the equipment to go digging around in there so it’s our only hope of saving him.”
Shooter swallowed hard and shook his head. “I-I don’t know…”
“Just LOOK.” Stinky barked. “Maybe in the garage…anything!” Shooter turned and headed for the garage just as Simon pushed his way back in.
“Look out!” Simon held the Vodka bottle high as Shooter darted into the garage. “What the hell’s wrong with him?” He smiled at Stinky. “He afraid of a little blood?”
“Actually, this is a lot of blood.” He reached for the vodka bottle then unscrewed the cap with his teeth. “Too much blood. Blood that should be inside him right now.”
He took a small drink from the bottle to calm his nerves and cringed at the taste. “Oh my god. It’s like rubbing alcohol.” He turned the bottle upside down and flooded the wound. He tried to pull the skin back to pour it inside but it only cased Sinner to bleed more profusely.
“I found this!” Shooter slid to a stop beside the table and held up a piece of rebar. “It was sitting on the workbench and…” He shrugged. “It’s the only pointy metal thing I could find.”
Simon pulled his knife from his belt and held it up. “I got a pointy metal thing!”
Stinky pulled Shooter close and lowered his voice. “I need flame. Something that will burn long enough to get that metal red hot.”
Shooter’s eyes widened then he slowly smiled. “Propane torch out there. Like you use on metal pipes.”
“Get it! Now!” Stinky pushed him toward the door then pressed hard on Sinner’s wound.
Shooter bounced off the wall when he came back in. “Feels full.” He handed it to Stinky who hefted it then nodded. “Light it up, and get that metal hot.”
He watched as Shooter wrapped a towel around the base of the rod then pulled the trigger on the propane torch. The short flame shot out a brilliant blue.
“Wait a second.” Stinky held the vodka bottle over the end of the rebar and poured some over the end. He nodded to Shooter. “Now. Red hot.”
Shooter tried to hold the rebar up and only heat the end. He could feel the heat transferring throughout the length but he continued to apply the propane flame until the end glowed orange. “Is this good?”
“I wish it were hotter, but yeah.” He pulled the rag away from Sinner’s shoulder and poured more vodka over the wound then nodded to Shooter. Shooter shook his head and backed away, offering the hot rod to Stinky.
“Of for shit’s sake.” Stinky grabbed the metal and jammed the heated end into Sinner’s flesh. In an instant the man sat up, eyes wide and mouth open in the shape of a scream before his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed onto the table again.
Stinky was knocked to the floor. He stared wide eyed at Sinner. “I didn’t think he’d do that.” He collected himself and used the towel to pick up the metal rod again. The smell of burnt flesh permeated the air.
“Heat that up again. We have to do the exit wound as well.” Stinky held Sinner down and poured a small amount of vodka over the seared wound. Very little
