Oh, hey, it's Saturday, isn't it?

Without further ado, even though no one squeaked at me for last week's snippet...

"I need you to uncuff me and get the wolfsbane off. I can't smell anything, and it hurts, and it's clogging up my brain. We need to think, not react." Ben lifted a weary and sardonic eyebrow. "It's a sad day when you're panicking more than I am."

"If you think I'm taking the cuffs off, you're crazy." But Perez unwrapped the wolfsbane, which made a squelching noise as it came reluctantly away. The roots had burrowed a full inch into him, and he clenched his jaw and reminded himself to breathe through the pain.

"I'm not going to be able to help you like this. You know about my issues, Perez, and the fact that I'm still conscious is a testament to how worried I am about Ange. Uncuff me, dammit." He closed his eyes. "You can leave the collar on if you're afraid I'll wolf and go for you. I let Rafe off the chain wearing that, it'll choke me down in about five seconds flat."

Gritting his teeth, Perez unfastened the cuffs but left them on his wrists. "Now. Use that vaunted nose and tell me what happened here."

Sitting up, Ben rolled the feeling back into his shoulders. "How long was the wolfsbane on? My smeller is still dead."

"Not long. What do you remember?"

No way was Ben going to tell him that. The flash he'd gotten, out of context, painted a wholly damning picture of himself that Ben wasn't willing to take at face value--not yet, anyway. He assessed the elevator car like he would a battlefield. Himself, unconscious but basically undamaged--he felt as if he'd been drugged. Ange's blood, sprayed liberally over everything, including him. No drag marks going out the open door, or a blood trail either. That meant--

He didn't know what that meant.

Comments? Questions? Rotten eggs?

Oh, hey, it's Saturday, isn't it?

Without further ado, even though no one squeaked at me for last week's snippet...

"I need you to uncuff me and get the wolfsbane off. I can't smell anything, and it hurts, and it's clogging up my brain. We need to think, not react." Ben lifted a weary and sardonic eyebrow. "It's a sad day when you're panicking more than I am."

"If you think I'm taking the cuffs off, you're crazy." But Perez unwrapped the wolfsbane, which made a squelching noise as it came reluctantly away. The roots had burrowed a full inch into him, and he clenched his jaw and reminded himself to breathe through the pain.

"I'm not going to be able to help you like this. You know about my issues, Perez, and the fact that I'm still conscious is a testament to how worried I am about Ange. Uncuff me, dammit." He closed his eyes. "You can leave the collar on if you're afraid I'll wolf and go for you. I let Rafe off the chain wearing that, it'll choke me down in about five seconds flat."

Gritting his teeth, Perez unfastened the cuffs but left them on his wrists. "Now. Use that vaunted nose and tell me what happened here."

Sitting up, Ben rolled the feeling back into his shoulders. "How long was the wolfsbane on? My smeller is still dead."

"Not long. What do you remember?"

No way was Ben going to tell him that. The flash he'd gotten, out of context, painted a wholly damning picture of himself that Ben wasn't willing to take at face value--not yet, anyway. He assessed the elevator car like he would a battlefield. Himself, unconscious but basically undamaged--he felt as if he'd been drugged. Ange's blood, sprayed liberally over everything, including him. No drag marks going out the open door, or a blood trail either. That meant--

He didn't know what that meant.

Comments? Questions? Rotten eggs?

And, thanks to my Writing Buddy...

I have an actual decent ending for the Zombies! story. Hallelujah and amen. And it dovetails nicely into the whole "there's more than one way to lose your humanity" line, so, win.

Is it a happy ending? Oh, hell no. But it makes way more actual sense than the other one I had.

Yay?

It's also going to be way longer than I thought. Dammit. Oh well. I'll worry about that once I've got an END at the bottom and know where it actually ended up instead of where I think it's going to end up.

And, thanks to my Writing Buddy...

I have an actual decent ending for the Zombies! story. Hallelujah and amen. And it dovetails nicely into the whole "there's more than one way to lose your humanity" line, so, win.

Is it a happy ending? Oh, hell no. But it makes way more actual sense than the other one I had.

Yay?

It's also going to be way longer than I thought. Dammit. Oh well. I'll worry about that once I've got an END at the bottom and know where it actually ended up instead of where I think it's going to end up.