Hellboy: Unnatural Selection(64)

"The dragon's still burning," Liz said She was covered in blood, and a shiny, oily scale was stuck to her forehead. Hellboy plucked it away and held it up to the fires cast by the monster.

"Looks almost pretty," he said.

"You've got time to collect trophies later," Liz said. "One down, four to go."

"Yeah, and if they're all that easy to kill — "

"You call that easy?"

"Comparatively."

"Compared to what?"

He shrugged. "Give me a minute, I'll think of something."

Liz smiled, and a hail of bullets slammed into Hellboy.



* * *



Liz stumbled back, tripped over a discarded rucksack, and fell. Hellboy had pushed her. Maybe he'd seen the policemen out of the corner of his eye, or perhaps he'd sensed the danger. Bullets stitched his chest and threw him against the wall. He slid to the floor muttering something, but Liz could not make out the words.

"Stay still!" someone shouted. Liz, lying on her back, put her hands in the air. She was breathing hard. Blue flames licked her fingernails. She raised her head and looked at Hellboy, and he stared back with a look of almost comical surprise on his face.

"Keep your hands still!" the same voice shouted.

"They're up where you can see them, *!" Liz said.

"She's American, guv."

"Hey, that's no dragon. That's Hellboy."

"I swear," Hellboy whispered, "anyone calls me a dragon again ... " Then his eyes closed, and his chin dipped to his chest.

Liz stood. "If you're going to shoot me, do it, but make the first bullet count." She did not even look at the policemen. In two strides she was at Hellboy's side, kneeling down and gasping at the sight of the blood seeping from his wounds.

"Holy shit, I shot Hellboy ... " a voice said.

Another voice, this one whispering. "You better hope he stays down a while."

"HB?" Liz said. She leaned in close, angry, terrified, flames lighting the undersides of her fingernails. "HB, open your eyes at least?"

His mouth twitched. Only slightly but enough to make Liz hold her breath. He whispered something, but she had to lean in closer to get the sense of it. " ... spoil a good rest?"

Liz bit her lip, stood, and spun around. "He said he's going to insert his right hand into the one who shot him," she said. There were three policemen there, each of them nursing a machine gun, all of them looking as though they'd just fallen into hell and been dragged out the other side. One of them had burns on his right arm, and his eyebrows had been singed away. She suddenly felt sorry for them and tried to put herself in their position: one day minding the airport concourse, the next fighting dragons and shooting big red men. She almost smiled. Almost.

"He ... I didn't know who he was," the burned policeman said. "It's chaos out there. There's a plane down, didn't you know? And dragons! And I come in here, see you and him, and how was I supposed to know who the hell he was?"

"Stop gibbering," one of the other officers said. "Miss, the airport ambulances are busy as hell, and I'm not sure — "

"I'll live," said a voice, gruff and pained. Liz sensed him standing behind her. And from the looks of the policemen's faces, he was a sight to behold.

She turned around, smiled, and cried. Hellboy was touching the three holes across his torso, swaying on his feet, and rubbing the blood between his fingers.

"Been stabbed," he said. "Been slashed with an ancient sword. Been bitten and thrashed with giant tentacles. Never been shot." He reached into his belt, and the knife he brought out and flicked open was long and thin. It reflected fire from the burning dragon. He never even glanced up before slipping the blade into the first of the wounds.

Liz grimaced, but she could not look away.

Hellboy hissed as he eased out the first bullet. The second had gone deeper, and he really had to work at this one, the spent slug finally flicking out and shattering a glass on the shop counter. The third bullet had barely penetrated his hide. Hellboy pulled this one out with his fingernails.

"Holy shit," the burned policemen said. He turned and ran past the dead dragon, departing the departure lounge at speed.

The sergeant started to go after him but then turned back to Liz. "Miss, if possible, I'd like to ask you both to accompany me."