---=Chapter 40: Mr. Peterson---=

The waiting room door rattled in its frame, its handle jiggling ineffectually as something tried to get inside. I had to hope the door would hold against whatever fresh hell was trying to get in, because the fucking drone had woken up and grabbed Jessica by the wrist. She was trying to pry up Mr. Peterson's fingers; pain from his grip had her wincing even as fear had her watching the door.

I hurried across the cramped room as quickly as possible but was almost stymied by how I could help. Pod-person was gripping too hard to let me pry his fingers up, at least not without doing damage. If I tried, I'd risk digging into Jessica's arm with my clawed nails.

Next to me, Jessica's breath was coming in quick and ragged; she was on the edge of hyperventilating, clearly fighting a fair amount of pain and fear. Behind me, the door shook under repeatedly blows, and Jessica's face went white.

"Sam, Oh God, it's after me. I can feel its hatred. Oh Lord, Please. What about the others? Sam, please!" her voice was quietly panicked as she continued trying to pry at the fingers indenting her flesh.

I joined her efforts and carefully got a finger under Pod-person's pinky and began to lift; as I did, he tightened his grip, and Jessica nearly collapsed from the pain. Even then, the drone just sat looking straight ahead, not moving.

"Ow ow ow!" Jessica groaned between clenched teeth before closing her eyes and taking a deep, steadying breath against her panic.

Jessica opened her eyes with her breathing under control, if still shakey. She started probing around the patient's upper arm near his elbow. Then she applied pressure to a spot and used her leverage to twist her arm free of a suddenly loosened grip.

As soon as she freed her arm, Jessica let out a shuddering breath of relief as she backed away. There still wasn't much room, so she jumped up on the row of chairs we'd been sitting on against the wall and moved so I stood between her and her patient.

"Mr. Peterson?" Jessica asked. "Can you hear me? George?"

Standing on the chair, Jessica was almost the same height as me. The unceasing sound of a body slamming into the exit kept her close, and she put her hand on my shoulder to steady herself and maybe for reassurance as well.

Pod-person finally turned to look at us, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. His face was still blank, and his eyes trailed behind as his head swiveled to look at us.

His eyes were still unfocused as he pushed himself up from the gurney and stepped toward us, forcing us to back up to keep our distance.

I didn't want to swing at a guy who didn't seem in control of his actions. Plus, I doubted pain or fear would slow him, and I definitely didn't have it in me to break his legs or anything to stop him, even if Jessica didn't interfere.

The room was small, and there wasn't much space to retreat. Apart from the exit, which was currently under siege by some unknown thing with too much determination, the only other door led to a bathroom. Retreating into a tighter space with even less chance of escape seemed like a poor idea. At the same time, the drone was slow-moving, and the waiting room door seemed to be holding against its attacker.

"Mr. Peterson, you need to lay back down," Jessica said, putting the authority of a medical professional into her voice.

The drone didn't show any sign it noticed. I didn't want to hide in the bathroom, but maybe we could trap the drone in there instead. The bathroom door opened outward so a chair could hold it closed.

As we backed up, I swiveled the gurney I'd woken up on to block the path and keep the drone at bay. I braced the gurney, expecting Mr. Peterson to push against it. If I could, I'd use it as a bumper to guide him into the bathroom and have Jessica slam closed the door.

Podperson hit the gurney and shoved, sending me back several paces before I regained my footing.

I wasn't exactly weak, and bruising was already showing on Jessica's wrist. He was clearly stronger than he looked, and more than ever, I didn't want to grapple with him. Still, he wasn't wily. I didn't need to out-muscle him, just outthink him.

"Mr. Peterson. Please. We need you to wake up. Can you hear me?" Jessica said from behind me, fear still very present in her voice.

I didn't expect Jessica to wake him up, mostly because I wasn't sure he was still in there.

Then again, what do I know?

Mr. Pod-person reached the gurney and shoved against it again. More prepared this time, I'd braced myself and absorbed most of his efforts. I also angled the gurney to guide his forward progress toward the bathroom.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

I managed to catch Jessica's eye and looked at the bathroom door meaningfully.

Unfortunately, she didn't understand my plan. She opened the door and, holding her injured wrist, ducked inside.

"Hurry, get in!" she urged, looking between the drone and the rattling door holding off the unknown enemy.

I was distracted trying to figure out how to get her out of the way when the gurney suddenly lifted, and I found myself flying into the wall beside the bathroom door.

"Sam!" Jessica yelped in concern, leaving the bathroom to come to my aid.

I shook my head to clear my vision, sure the drone would be right on top of me.

I'd underestimated his intelligence. He didn't come for us; he went for the locked door.

He still wasn't moving quickly, but I couldn't stop him from opening the door. I could, however, make my move before either enemy was ready for me.

"Sam, Come on, get up. Get to the bathroom." Jessica hissed urgently. She expected help was going to come. And maybe it would. But I doubted it would be in time for us if we trapped ourselves in there.

I didn't believe for a second that the cheap bathroom door would hold up to the battering the other door was taking. The waiting room door was clearly installed with consideration given to security, probably due to the rising number of active shootings. The bathroom door, on the other hand, was just a meager privacy measure.

Even if someone was near enough to help, I doubted we could hold out long enough for it to matter.

Shaking my head again to focus, I stood up. Jessica trusted me—felt safe with me. I didn't want to lose that. I could at least make a path of escape. Whatever happened after that, at least I knew I wouldn't stay dead.

"Sam!" Jessica yelled as Mr. Peterson opened the door, and I rushed forward.

I ducked my head down and charged low. I hit the drone in the lower back, planning to knock it into the creature on the other side of the door. So far, monsters had all been smaller than people—if I excluded myself anyway, which I did. The Gremlins also had their giant mode; I'd just have to hope that was a unique ability.

My shoulder plowed the drone through the opening door and into a white and black feathered creature before we all slammed into the ground.

I scrambled to pin Podperson George down on top of the hissing creature. It had patchy white feathers that were outlined in black. Pale pebbly gooseflesh showed through in bald spots, and a grotesque face with features of both rat and bird snapped at me. Its face was pointed almost like a possum's, but its mouth was lined with a thin black beak that resembled lips. When it opened its mouth, I saw the beak was lined with sharp teeth meant to shred its prey. It's eyes were a blazing red and looked at me with hatred.

The drone was between it and me, and I could probably keep them down for a brief window. It was hard to tell from my position atop the pile, but the trauma monster was the biggest I'd seen yet—if only about half my size. It also had the strongest green aura I'd seen of any creature except for maybe Crowseph.

I looked over my shoulder to catch Jessica's eye. She was still standing in the bathroom door. I couldn't hold them both down forever; I could already feel the rat squirming. If Jessica was going to run, this was the best chance I could give her.

I didn't know what the crow rodent—Crowdent—was capable of. Despite being significantly smaller than me, I was sure anything that ended up in its mouth would be torn to ribbons. Mr. Peterson had also chucked me pretty hard against the wall. I wasn't in a position to stop either for long.

Crowdent was almost certainly the trauma monster that Crowseph spoke about. If not for Podperson's actions, this could easily have been a simple unlucky encounter. Jessica had said the creatures were trying to break in and had been chased off more than once. I wouldn't have been surprised if one found a way in. Considering the drone's actions, this had to be intentional—planned.

I had just been killed by a drone, and now here was another one causing me trouble. Someone was behind this, but even if I died, I wouldn't forget this. For me, pain and temporary death were the biggest costs. Jessica could end up losing her free will and joining Crowseph's hive mind—though I was foggy on the details.

Jessica held my eyes for a moment of indecision. As I looked away and pointedly down the empty hall, she took a sobbing breath and made a break for it. "I'm sorry," she sobbed as she rushed past.

I just breathed a sigh of relief and hoped the other trauma monster wasn't waiting nearby, ready to ambush her.

I wrestled against the drone and monster, trying to prevent either from getting enough leverage to push me off as Jessica ran.

The drone kept trying to get his arms and legs under him, but I was holding his arms down and spread out, and I used my feet and knees to keep him from getting his legs beneath him. I hadn't done wrestling since middle school, but I remembered a little, enough to keep the mindless drone down for a moment.

There wasn't much I could do about Crowdent except to keep Podperson pinned atop it as long as possible while Jessica slipped away.

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