I dropped the wire shelf and the nails, ignoring the clatter as the other end ripped itself from the wall and the whole thing crashed to the floor. Cassie’s scream wasn’t angry, but a piercing terrified wail. Something was very wrong.

I turned around to see Gavin sitting up from the beanbag. Cassie was laying on the floor near him.

Her left arm sported a massive sore, sickly and white. I froze in shock for just a second, and that second was enough to make everything worse.

Gavin had gotten off the bean bag and was reaching toward the wound.

“Gavin, no!” I shouted, but I was too late. Cassie’s screams increased as Gavin hit the infection with a Healing Touch. It grew in size as I watched, and now covered her entire upper arm, even disappearing inside the sleeve of her ruffled T-shirt.

“STOP!” I screamed. “Don’t do that again, you’re making it worse!”

I could feel myself starting to hyperventilate. I couldn’t fix this. I couldn’t fix this. Shit. What did I do? I couldn’t fix this. Who could fix this?

“Pointy!” I snapped. “Cure Disease or Cleanse?”

“Uncertain. Cleanse is our best bet if we hurry. If the infection gets into her body, I don’t know if it will still work. Closest Cleanse address is 125 Viridian!”

Okay. Okay. Plan, plan, plan.

“Micah, go upstairs! Shut yourself in the playroom and don’t you dare come out until we get back. There’s plenty of water to drink in there. I’m sorry if you get hungry.”

“What if I need to go to the bathroom?”

“Then you can damn well poop in the trash can, I don’t care! Gavin, in the Tagon, NOW!”

I scooped Cassie up and dropped her in, ignoring her wails of pain and Gavin’s sobbing apologies. As soon as Gavin got in, I slammed the roof on and stuffed Pointy in the dishrack. “Watch our damn backs! Let me know if shit’s behind us.”

I struggled into my armor, hating every second of time it wasted, but knowing an injury would slow us down even more. Gavin and Cassie had no armor. Just the Tagon.

I grabbed my sword and headed for the front door.

The idiocy of what I was about to do made me pause for a moment. I’d been trying to pay attention to my Life Sense as I worked, and I thought I was getting better at understanding the messages I received, but it was still really confusing to me. This was a huge risk, not just to me. To Cassie and Gavin as well. Was there another way to get the help we needed?

I couldn’t think of any.

No time to waste, then.

I said a silent prayer as I opened the door. I immediately had to activate Assisted Strike as a leafenrat leapt at me. I missed the instant kill spot, but I’d gotten much stronger. I knocked it away, leaving a deep gash across its torso. Even if that cut wasn’t fatal, I didn’t think it would be catching up with us, so I charged on.

Every time I thought I sensed something unseen, I’d run to the side twenty feet before continuing forward, trying to dodge the badblankets. Leafenrats charged at me, one after another, and I used Assisted Strike with abandon. I couldn’t afford to stop and fight, so each rat got one strike. If it didn’t die, oh well. As long as it was injured enough that it couldn’t keep up, I didn’t care.

My zigzag strategy wasn’t perfect, and I did step on one badblanket, its springy texture alerting me even as my foot came down. I dropped the handle of the wagon and swung my sword as the badblanket struck. It was like cutting through fabric; I sliced a three-foot gash in the creature’s tissue.

It tried to grab me, but the flap of skin above the cut wasn’t behaving, and what should have been pressure all around me ended up pushing me out through the badblanket’s injury. I’d been bracing myself to resist the badblanket’s crushing pressure and wasn’t ready to catch myself. I stumbled and sprawled headlong, just barely getting an arm in front of my face before it mashed into the pavement.

I scrabbled at the ground, trying to get up, but a patch of the weird goo from the badblanket’s wound had made the area slippery, and I didn’t manage. The monster was flopping around, searching for me. I was able to manage another awkward slice as I pushed myself to my knees. The injury made it pull back and start searching elsewhere.

That’s when it found the handle of the Tagon.

The Tagon, with its top made of cardboard, and my two youngest children inside.

I activated Assisted Strike one more time and moved with all the speed I had.

“YOU LEAVE MY KIDS ALONE!”

I lunged forward, a stab that stopped just short of the Tagon, then swung the strike into a slice that nearly fully bisected the monster.

Just die, I mentally begged.

I readied my sword for another swing, but before I could strike the badblanket begin to disintegrate.

I felt a moment’s relief, then immediately focused on the Tagon.

The front end of the cover was ripped most of the way off and crushed. The basket had come loose and was lying in the street, Pointy trapped underneath. Inside the Tagon, Gavin was closest to me. He looked terrified... but uninjured.

Okay. Fine.

We were good.

We were just fine. Everything was just fine.

No more screwups.

I grabbed Pointy and threw her into the wagon, then finished off an injured leafenrat that had nearly caught back up.

I picked up the handle and took off again. My sprint had slowed to more of a jog. I wanted to go faster, but the repeated ability uses and pell-mell run were taking an undeniable toll.

“You’re almost there, Meghan! It’s that house right there, with the blue door!”

I nodded, not wasting breath to acknowledge the turtle. I ran up the lawn to the front door and pounded on it, hard.

“Behind you!” Pointy called, and I spun to face two leafenrats.

They were coming from both sides. I couldn’t hit both at once so I had to pick. I spun to face one and Drew Attention on the other to keep it off my unprotected kids. I managed the one-hit kill on the first, but in the precious seconds it took me to strike and free my sword from the leafenrat’s body, the other hit me from behind. Its claws were mostly blocked by my armor, but one paw caught my upper right arm. I couldn’t reach the monster with my sword, so I spun, slamming my back against the brick facade of the house and crushing the monster. It took multiple slams - I’m not sure how many - but the leafenrat eventually died. I stumbled as the weight on my back faded away.

I turned to the front door, still closed.

I raised my voice. “IF YOU DON’T OPEN THIS DOOR, I SWEAR I WILL BREAK YOUR WINDOWS.”

Shit. Shit. What if this person wasn’t home? I hadn’t seen anyone on the street, but what if they weren’t home? How far was the next house with Cleanse? I’d give all I had, but I’d been using my abilities a lot. I didn’t have that much left in the tank.

I almost cried when the door cracked open to reveal Mason’s face. I didn’t wait a second longer, shoving past him and dragging the Tagon inside.

“What…?” he asked, clearly confused.

I took Cassie out of the wagon and set her on the floor. She was still screaming.

“Cleanse her! Cleanse her RIGHT NOW?”

“Did you bring the food?”

I stared at him blankly.

“The food. For the payment,” Mason said. He was staring at Cassie. He looked uncomfortable, but he still asked.

I grabbed the front of his shirt and practically threw him toward her. “CLEANSE HER. NOW. I will pay you back, you damn selfish asshole, just help my daughter, NOW.”

He rubbed at his chest. “Geez. Fine. I was just asking. Crazy bitch.”

He sat down to help Cassie, and I held my breath.