Green Desert - Chapter 2.3.3 - Bhanar

Zhíno laughed and lowered both his guns. I could get him easy now, even without Pí‘oro’s help, but I didn’t think I had to, anymore. Vata gently took his left arm and removed the gun. I held out my hand, but Vata absentmindedly handed the gun to Fírí. The blonde held it like a dead skunk.

Zhíno still smiled as the old woman guided him to the table. A dog barked out back, but the other animals didn’t join in. I pulled Fírí’s placemat with its plate and glasses to the center of the table. Vata obviously knew what she was doing as she unwrapped the sodden improvised bandage and held Zhíno’s forearm to the table. She didn’t poke or prod, but merely studied my handiwork from different angles. Red, shiny globs of flesh.

Fírí and Pí‘oro crowed close, but didn’t block the light from the screen door or the window above the sink. Zhíno’s grin gradually faded back to his usual snarl. Blood pooled on the wood tabletop.

“Your radius is broken in several pieces. Fragments are missing. No major arteries severed.” Vata clucked her tongue.

The blood crept to the edge of the table, held there a moment, then poured onto the linoleum, splattering.

“Aren’t you going to do something?” Zhíno sounded desperate.

I used paper napkins to prevent the blood from staining the placemats. Vata blocked me from reaching the other side of the pool.

Vata looked up at Pí‘oro, one eyebrow lowered and lips pressed firm. “I think this will take a cat. Perhaps a dog.”