Metamorphosis part 2

While Max was out, Mila ripped part of her shirt and tied it around her forearm. She needed to stop the bleeding before she could help Max. It hurt like no pain that she had ever felt before, but she yanked as hard on the cloth as she could.

“Ok. The bleeding is under control. Now I can work on Max’s hands,” Mila muttered to herself.

She looked at Max’s hands for the first time. Flesh ripped with black on the outer edges. These were really bad burns. She would have to find Misa and have them treated. But right now the first priority was to clean the wounds and cover them to prevent infection. She walked over to the bag of spray cans and looked inside. Jackpot! There were also two bottles of water in there.

She took one and emptied the contents of the bottle onto strips of her shirt. She placed them on Max’s hands and then wrapped them in dry strips. When Mila tied the last covering tightly Max woke with a scream.

“You're awake. Finally!” Mila gave Max a hard one armed hug.

Max groaned, then tried to lean back on her hands but immediately withdraw her hands. “God it hurts so bad. How bad were the burns?”

“Really bad. Thanks for saving me, but… you idiot! Why would you hurt yourself like that?”

Mila stroked Max's cheek gently. Max looked up into those beautiful brown eyes, and was shocked by the look they were giving. Those were no longer the eyes of her best friend, but the eyes of someone who was unmistakably in love.

Max let out a gentle breath. “I love you, Misa. I would literally do anything to keep you safe. If I had to do it again, I would.” Max was feeling bold now. “About that question I asked earlier…. do you have a reply?”

Rather than saying anything, Misa grabbed the front of Max's shirt and pressed her lips against her bestfriend's. Max unintentionally left out a gentle moan. Misa took that as a sign to deepen the kiss and let go of Max's shirt and instead wrapped her arms tightly around Max's back. She moved her mouth close to Max's that their teeth touched and their tongues slid next to each other. After about 30 seconds the pair forcefully separated themselves.

Max and Mila were both breathing hard. Max put her fingers near her mouth in an uncharacteristically feminine way. In the distance there was howling and barking. Both were snapped back to reality. The situation was dangerous and serious since they were both injured in ways that would make it nearly impossible for them to defend themselves.

Mila helped Max to her feet. “Does that settle that then? You understood my reply?”

Max nodded.

“Ok then we need to hurry up and get down from here and get back to my place. I better call Simon too before we get home so he can get the go bag ready. With our injuries we are going to need to get to my sister as soon as possible. Any questions?”

“Um yeah. How are we supposed to get down? I can’t use my hands and you can’t use one arm.”

Mila tied up her hair and pointed to the nearby flag pole. “We go down that.”

Max let out a small laugh. “You know you’re crazy right?”

“Isn’t that why you like me?”

Max scoffed, “I guess it is.”

“I’ll go first, you follow, ok?” Mila backed up to the opposite end of the roof, and ran as fast as she could before jumping off the side without hesitation. It was in bold moments like this that Mila looked the most beautiful to Max. When her hair flowed behind her it was like a blue trail that led to the face of a brave goddess heading fearlessly into battle. Mila slid down the pole and waited for Max.

“I’m so fucked,” Max thought to herself. She backed up just like Mila. Started to run then stopped right before she made it to the edge.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” She tried it again and would have stopped if not for Mila’s voice cheering her on. She banged onto pole so hard that it nearly knocked the wind out of her. Somehow, she made it safely down the pole and the two began to run at full speed towards the house. The streets that were once full of patrolling soldiers were bare, and the sound of distant gunfire was all that could be heard.

“This is bad. I’m calling my brother now. Don’t slow down. We aren’t safe yet,” Mila hit the icon on her phone with a picture of her goofy brother on it. In two rings he answered.

“What’s up sis? In a bit of trouble and need me to distract someone for you?”

“Simon. This is serious. We were attacked by something and all the patrolling soldiers are currently engaging an enemy. Get the to go bag ready and take the keys from the soldier or force her to start the car. We need to get to Misa as quickly as possible. We need medical treatment.”

“You aren’t yanking my chain, Mila?”

“No, I’m serious. ETA is in less than ten minutes. Do whatever you have to do to be ready.” She hung up and started running faster. Max followed.

Meanwhile, Simon grabbed their bag and set it down by the back door to the garage. He was trying to figure out a way to convince the soldier to help him when the sound of breaking glass erupted in the living room followed by three gun shots then a muffled cry.

“Shit, I gotta grab a weapon,” Simon thought to himself. He unzipped the bag and pulled out a load 9mm beretta handgun. He knew how to use this after training with Misa. Simon peered carefully around the corner when he saw it. The creature was standing over the body of the soldier. It’s mouth was filled with flesh and dripping blood. It let out a low growl then headed for the stairs. As it retreated Simon approached, gun drawn and began to fiddle with the soldier’s clothes searching for keys. After what seemed like an eternity he heard the familiar jiggle. After grabbing the keys and the fallen soldier’s gun he headed to the car and loaded the bags.

Simon texted his sister. “Don’t come through the front. One of them is in the house. Knock on the garage door and I will open it when you get here.”

“Roger.” Was all Mila replied back.

Simon thought he should have been more rattled, but his hands and breathing were steady. Misa’s training was really paying off. Now all he had to do was keep it up till they were someplace safe. He heard the knocking and hit the switch for the garage door. He was stunned by the amount of blood he saw soaking through his sister’s shirt. The two girls jumped into the back of the SUV.

Simon was truly concerned, “Mila, what happened? How did you get so badly injured, and what happened to Max’s hands?”

“It was one of those dog creatures. It got me good. If it wasn’t for Max I’m sure it would have at least ripped off my arm. As for Max’s hands, she is an idiot!”

Max smiled goofily and rubbed her head with the back of her hand.

“Ok so who’s going to drive?” Simon turned and asked.

Both girls looked at each other then at Simon. Their wounds were too serious for them to drive.

Mila patted her brother on the shoulder, “Looks like you will be getting some driving lessons today, little bro.”