The bag was pretty light. Trisha nudged it with her toe and heard something within making a sound. She bent down and slowly unzipped it to reveal a carefully bundled package. Withdrawing it from the bag, she immediately recognized it for what it was: a baby.
Sal let out a low whistle. Trisha unwrapped the blankets to reveal what appeared to be a perfectly healthy four or five-month-old little girl. Sal looked in the bag and found a necklace with an H on it, a women's wallet, a formula with a small hole in the side that appeared to be pierced by the wolf's claw that packed the bag, a few bottles, and some personal effects. The two looked at each other, unable to bring themselves to express what they were thinking, picked up the bag, and returned to the vehicle. Sal pulled out of the lot and navigated to the front of the building. Trisha held the baby in her arms, rocking her gently.
A wolf was approaching the vehicle as they rolled to a stop. Another hair-raising screech pierced the quiet of the night, and the wolf stood on its hind legs and walked off in the opposite direction. It appeared that the baby would now provide them with a certain level of protection.
#
Byron’s cell rang.
“Yeah?”
“We’re downstairs. Do you guys want to bring Glenn down? Mikel and Jesse should be here with the other car in a minute or two. Be sure to get all the gear, too.”
“Glenn’s dead, man. He bled out.”
"Damn." Sal sounded pissed but not enraged as Byron expected.
“Well, he’s probably better off. The dude was pretty torn up, plus we have a crazy surprise down here. Get down here quickly. Be sure to bring water to drink. Bottled. Not that disease-ridden tap stuff. We go top-notch for her.”
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“Who’s ‘her?’” Byron asked, puzzled.
“You’ll see. Get down here.” The line went silent as Sal disconnected.
“Sal’s downstairs, ready to go. Let’s get packed up. Do you have any bottled water, Julie?”
“Yep, I have fizzy or regular. What would you like?”
“Both?”
“K.”
Polly met up with them a moment later with Stevie, who had been crying and obviously didn’t want to go anywhere. Becka was hauling two overstuffed travel bags and pulling a giant suitcase.
“I loaded up all your dry food and water bottles, Julie. Hope you don’t mind. I noticed Polly raided the bathroom and picked up all the pads and toilet paper. I’m hoping we’re covered. Blankets?”
"Aww, thanks, girls. I'll grab pillows, blankets, and extra sweaters for everyone. Let's go then." She sounded like they were getting ready for a camping trip. It's weird how some people can distance themselves from the trauma and tragic events taking place all around them and only see the light glowing bright and clear at the end. Julie was one such person.
They were out of the apartment a few minutes later and headed down the elevator. On the way down, Byron played through the entire attempted surgery in his mind and couldn't remember anything caustic. His gloves never melted, nor did any of his skin. His thoughts about acidic reaction to the claws might have been misplaced.
As they exited the elevator and met up with Sal, baggage was quickly loaded into the car. Jesse pulled up behind the SUV in her Volvo and popped the hatch to pack more in there. Soon, everyone was busy. Then Trisha got out of the SUV, and progress came to a complete halt.
“I’m not sure of her name yet, but this little girl was just delivered to us by the biggest wolf mommy we’ve seen yet. It apparently didn’t want its little girl getting hurt, so it gave her to us to take care of. Holy shit, I know.” Julie dropped her bags and charged for the child. She almost wrenched it away from Trisha and held it out for a moment before absolutely breaking down and holding the baby girl to her chest as if it were the last baby on Earth. At that point, it might have been.