Sinth Salvation - Pearl Tate Page 0,43
too long unless he just phases over. The good thing is he’s drawing them away from me as they catch sight of him. They clearly think he’s an easy meal.
“Lilibeth! It’s not as easy … with bigger … beings.”
Ah. That makes sense. The man outweighs me by fifty to one hundred pounds. But if I could get a better hold on him …
“Jón!” I call, maintaining my grip on the man with a grimace. The skin slides under my hand, twisting like it’s detached from the bone.
Trying not to gag, I look at him seriously through the panes of plastic Plexiglas on the bus’ door. “I’ve got him! Open the door, and I’ll pull him out.”
Jón obeys immediately. Releasing his weight on the lever, the folding doors swing open, and I yell, “Hey!” as I yank, pulling the infected man back toward me as he lunges at the boy.
His mouth snaps at me, just like the Taxin, as his bloody arm crushes between us, and he loses his balance, falling on top of me. His snapping jaws are loud in my ear as I embrace him, wrapping my hand around his neck and tugging him back as I hope I don’t feel his teeth sink into my flesh.
All I hear as I try desperately to phase is Nikon’s distraught voice echoing my name . “Lilibeth!”
CHAPTER TWENTY
- Nikon
It only takes a moment to phase over to Lilibeth. A shiver slides down my back as I watch her pull them effortlessly—even two at a time—into our gateway where they disintegrate at a rapid pace before exploding into a puff of fine dust. Even completely covered in a layer of their dust, she doesn’t stop for a moment.
Disgusting! Personally, I’ve never killed anyone in this fashion. I’m actually not sure if I could.
Pulling beings, even just pulling large objects, into our dimension isn’t easy. The largest item I’ve ever managed to take into my dimension was the large foam mattress I needed to replace the one on my bed. Someone convinced me there wasn’t a better mattress in existence, and since my pod didn’t have the programming to replicate it, I spent the good part of an afternoon attempting—and finally accomplishing—the phase.
To see my mate—someone who’s just learned the technique—effortlessly and under pressure, phasing the Taxin adolescents who’re half her body weight through, is impressive. She’s impressive. And mine.
Calculating, strong, and with a resolve I’ve yet to see matched, she bops back and forth. Realizing she doesn’t need me yet, I phase back over to the fallen men and attempt to clear the transitioned Taxin from them—again! As I struggle to decapitate them quickly, I look up, realizing that there are still more Taxin leaving the water. How many can there be?
Wailing sirens begin to compete with the annoying cries of the Taxin as I glance over to make sure Lilibeth is doing alright in her efforts. As fiercely independent as she is, I know she won’t appreciate me hovering over her as she deals with the transitioned her way. It’s impressive, and I keep an eye on her even as the rescue vehicles begin pulling up.
In the back of my mind, I’m a little worried that we’re going to hear about it from our superiors due to the aggressive and decidedly final way we’ve been executing these Taxin children, but due to the extenuating circumstances, I believe we’ll be forgiven.
How else were we to ensure that the young Human species on the bus were not overrun by them? And where would it have stopped? If we think it’s hard to end the life of a young Taxin, imagine how much worse it’d be killing Human children.
Under normal circumstances, Sinth Guardians don’t make any moves to interact or make any kind of judgment calls on whether a being anywhere should live or die. It’s not our place. Especially on another planet. Like Payak and Desin have been doing in North America with the transitioned Humans, I’m sure there will be some kind of protocol put in place to try and “heal” the transitioned Taxin youth.
Really, that’s just a bad idea altogether. I’m sure with all the great minds and advanced technology focused on the problem, there’s a chance in the future a vaccine will be developed, but those things take time and a lot of testing. The idea that these transitioned can be cured is … highly unlikely.
I can hear more backup rolling in, the loud vehicles crunching across the pavement. Sure enough,