Ogreness, Black Lake-book5

Chapter 44
~

A police line blocked a couple hundred epitaph-shoutin’ protestors from the sidewalk, within the near lane of the boulevard. A din rose as the three of us exited the front of the building.

What genius leaked it to the press an ogre would be taping an interview this morning? Within ten steps, a brick came flyin’ through the air. Ponwr and Frip jolted to catch it in the air. I hissed at them to leave it be.

We giants have pretty good reflexes.

The brick flew past my head crashin’ into the glass behind us, which splintered a thousand directions, before it fell in upon itself as tiny shards of a glass-waterfall.

Cops turned smirks our way. Frip and Ponwr stood frozen in a glare with one of the cops in particular. Did they have history? I encouraged them to get me out of there before another brick, or worse, came sailin’ at us.

As I turned to my left I caught a network cameraman filmin’ us seventy feet up the walk. He pulled his face away from his equipment, and smirked. It was really funny someone tried to dent my head in.

Frip murmured in trollish. Ponwr stuck to Standish. “How’d we stick around here so long?”

I think it was rhetorical, but either way I don’t think Frip had an answer for him. I pulled out my phone and flipped through my missed calls. Nuel had called two hours earlier but didn’t leave a message. I selected Redial.

“Hey,” she said, rather upbeat.

I sighed. She has a pretty voice. Nice and raspy. Deep.

“You already done with your interview?” she asked.

“Wasn’t meant to be,” I said.

She asked. I told her I’d tell her when we met for lunch.

“Where are you?” she asked.

“Walkin’ yar way.”

“Great.”

My eyes were takin’ in the thousands of people coursin’ by us, every face glarin’ at me and my buddies, hostility not overt, but palpable. “I think we should order in.”

“Oh, well—”

“Smartest thing I’ve ever heard you say,” Ponwr mumbled.

We came to an intersection and had to stop with all the pedestrians jammin’ up. The concept of waitin’ for permission to cross a street has never sunk into my ogre brain, but Frip and Ponwr stood casually on each side of me, so I guess I had to be patient.

An eon later a Walk sign flashed and the zombies trudged on, us flowin’ with the swell. I’d gotten feelin’ a little icky takin’ in the expressions that met us, so I concentrated on readin’ the addresses on the glass of the buildings we passed.

Why didn’t we take a taxi? It was only two blocks, that’s why. I pointed to the four double doors to our left, and Frip preceded us.

I felt the wasp stings before I heard the pop, pop, pop. I was askin’ myself, Again? as I spun to find where it came from. Ponwr, behind me, was lurchin’ into the crowd as another three pops spread the ocean, so to speak. The human flood parted. I acknowledged another ice pick to the solar plexus as Ponwr crushed a human male’s face, bone and gray matter splatterin’ outward in a cloud I believe I watched in slow motion.

Enormous hands clasped my shoulders liftin’ me from my knees—the hit to the gut had emptied my lungs and doubled me over good. I was inside the building before I realized Frip had handled me as easily as a youngling would a puppet.

“Ponwr! Ponwr! Ponwr!” The name ripped at my throat.

“Behind us. Behind us,” Frip hissed.

He continued to rush me to a corner and pressed me to the floor, knelt there coverin’ me. Ponwr was beside him a moment later. He knelt shakily. Blood dripped to the polished tile in front of him. I tried to stand to check on Ponwr, but Frip held his twenty-inch hand span against my chest.

The chaotic atrium was a lot like Pops was the other night, but uniformed security was pushin’ clueless civilians to clear the space. Someone knelt, lockin’ the exterior doors. I maybe kind of thought it might be nice if EMTs could get through the doors. Then I realized the wall of angry faces linin’ the glass, poundin’ it with their fists.

“Any evidence is gonna be history,” Frip was hissin’ to Ponwr.

“I got evidence right here,” the troll said, pointing to his chest. Also, be shocked if we weren't also being recorded. So there would be tape.

I got someone else shot, now. Wasn’t supposed to happen. I tilted my head in disgust. The blood soakin’ my lap twisted my thoughts in another direction. I hurt. I had at least three in the back. Best I could make out in front, only one blackened slit in my dress shirt, surrounded in blood.

I hadn’t even gotten the stitches out from the last bullet.

Shouts of, Follow us, irritated my senses. The other day Ponwr said not to budge. But he and Frip were liftin’ me to my feet now, which frankly hurt a lot. What was good the other night, wasn’t it applicable now?

“Ouch, ouch,” I whined.

“Such an ogre,” Ponwr murmured almost in my ear.

The walls and humans around us swirled, voices and shouts echoed. I blinked to clear the fog, but it didn’t help. I was walked this way then that way, carried a bit farther, leaned down onto a table, and a moment later light flashed in my eyes.

“I was shot in the back,” I said. “Not the eye.”

“Looks like you got one in the front, too,” a surprisingly friendly human voice answered.

“That one’s incidental,” I heard myself sayin’.

“You got some putty or something to stop ’em up?” a deeper voice asked. Think that was Frip. He’s a real joker.

I found Ponwr’s face. “What about ya?” I hissed.

“Hurts,” he said simply. “But I’m a troll.” As though that explained most things in the cosmos.

Hands rolled me over. “Ouch.”

“Wimp,” Frip said.

My shirt split across my shoulder blades. The cool air of the room spread across my back. Hands pressed into the sore spots. I complained, maybe. A new rippin’ sound. Not my shirt. I think lengths of a blanket were windin’ around my midsection.

“All we can do here,” the human male said.

“There’s a heliport on the building next door,” another voice rasped. “As soon as we get a police line formed, we’ll get him over there.” I realized a squawk that interrupted the various discussions was a number of police radios.

“I can walk,” I said.

“Think you should—”

“He’s an ogre,” Frip said. “He can walk.”

With that said, don’t let me embarrass myself.

A, “Let me in. Let me in,” swirled under the chaos.

A few moments later Nuel leaned over me, and took my hand. “You okay, ogre?” Her eyes were red rimmed.

“Dandy,” I said.

~ Nuel ~

I almost sobbed when I grabbed his hand. The goofy smile didn’t wrap around his tusks like it usually did. He didn’t look good. Blood oozed over the table they had him on.

As the din settled in my head, I realized the blood on Ponwr wasn’t all Ike’s. Someone was suggesting to someone they called Doc that maybe he should take a look, “at the troll.”

~