Vol 1 Chapter 1.2 (1/2)
[Novel] NO. 6 - Vol 1 Ch 1 (b)
This is a continuation of PART A.
Notes on certain words can be viewed on mouse-over.
”Don't move,” he said.
He was shorter than me. Choked from below, I strained to get a look at his eyes. They were a dark, yet at the same time, light, grey. I'd never seen a colour like that before. His fingers clenched. He didn't look strong at all, yet I was completely unable to move. It wasn't something a normal person could do.
”I see,” I managed to gasp. ”You're used to doing this.”
The pair of grey eyes were unblinking. Their gaze still fixed, they grew calm like the gentle surface of the ocean, and I could read no colour of menace, fear or murderous intent from them. They were very quiet eyes. I could feel my own panic subsiding.
”I'll treat your wound,” I said, licking my lips. ”You're hurt, aren't you? I'll treat it.”
I could see myself reflected in the intruder's eyes. For a moment, I felt like I would get sucked into them. I averted my gaze and looked down, and repeated myself.
”I'll treat the wound. We have to stop the bleeding. Treat. You understand what I'm saying, right?”
The grip around my neck loosened slightly.
”s.h.i.+on.”
My mother's voice carried over from the intercom. ”You have the window open, don't you.”
I sucked in a breath. I felt alright. It was alright, I rea.s.sured myself. I could talk with a normal voice.
”The window? ... Oh, yeah, it's open.”
”You'll catch a cold if you don't close it.”
”I know.”
I could hear my mother laughing on the other end.
”You're turning twelve today and you're still acting like a little boy.”
”Okay, I get it ... Oh, mom?”
”What?”
”I have a report to write. Can you leave me alone for a bit?”
”A report? Haven't you just been accepted into the Gifted Curriculum?”
”Huh? Oh... well, I have a lot of a.s.signments to do.”
”I see... don't overwork yourself. Come downstairs at dinnertime.”
Cold fingers drew away from my throat. My body was free. I stretched my hand out to restart the air control system. I made sure to leave the security system off. If I didn't, it would detect the intruder as a foreign presence, and would set off a piercing alarm. If the person was recognized as a legitimate resident of No. 6 that wouldn't happen, but I couldn't imagine that this soaking intruder would have a citizens.h.i.+p.
The window closed, and warm air began to circulate in the room. The grey-eyed intruder half-collapsed into a kneel, and leaned against the bed. He let out a long, deep breath. He was weakened considerably. I took out the emergency kit. First I took his pulse, then tore his s.h.i.+rt open, and started cleaning the wound.
”This...”
I couldn't help but stare. I wasn't familiar with this type of injury. It had carved out a shallow ridge in the flesh of his shoulder joint.
”A bullet wound?”
”Yeah.” It was a casual answer. ”It just missed. What's your term for this? A graze wound?”
”I'm no specialist. I'm still a student.”
”Of the Gifted Curriculum?”
”Starting next month.”
”Wow. High IQ, huh?”
There was a tinge of sarcasm in his voice. I lifted my gaze from his wound, and looked him in the eye.
”Are you making fun of me?”
”Making fun of? When I'm being treated by you? Never. So what's your specialization?”
I told him I specialized in ecology. I had just been accepted into the Gifted Curriculum. Ecology. It had the least to do with how to treat a bullet wound. My first experience. It was a little exciting. Let's see, what do I have to do first? Disinfect, dress ... oh yes, I had to stop the bleeding.
”What are you doing?”
He stared as I took a syringe out of the disinfecting kit, and swallowed.
”Local anaesthesia. Alright, here goes.”
”Wait, wait a minute. You're gonna freeze it, and then what?”
”Sew it.”
Supposedly I had said this with such a grin that I looked like I couldn't have been enjoying myself more. It was something I found out much later on.
”Sew it! Can you get any more primitive than that?”
”This isn't a hospital. I don't have state-of-the-art facilities, and besides, I think a bullet wound is pretty primitive itself.”
The crime rate in the city was infinitely close to zero. The city was safe, and there was no need for the average citizen to carry a gun. If they did, it would only be for hunting. Twice a year, rules were lifted for hunting season. Olden-day firearms slung over their shoulders, hobbyists would venture into the northern mountains. Mother didn't like them. She said she didn't understand how people could kill animals for enjoyment, and she wasn't the only one. In periodic censuses, 70% of citizens expressed discomfort at hunting as a form of sport. Killing poor innocent animals―how violent, how cruel....
But the bleeding figure in front of me was no fox or deer. It was a human.
”I can't believe it,” I muttered to myself.
”Believe what?”
”That there are people who'll shoot at other people... unless... don't tell me that someone from the hunting club shot you by mistake?”
His lip curled. He was smiling.
”Hunting club, huh. Well, I guess you can call them that. But they didn't shoot by mistake.”
”They knew they were shooting at a human? That's against the law.”
”Is it? Instead of a fox, they just happened to be hunting a human. A manhunt. I don't think it's against the law.”
”What do you mean?”
”That there are hunters, and the hunted.”
”I don't get what you're talking about.”