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into the chamber.
    Using my foot to keep it steady, I shot the thing in the back of a knee. Bits of tile, purple blood, and flesh flew up but it hadn’t done the trick. It took two more shells and some kicking to sever the lower leg.
    There had to be a better way to put these things down. It still squirmed after Madelyn, almost oblivious to the harm that I had inflicted upon it. It had barely reacted to any of the last shots.
    Pete held the creature that had once been Veronica and was slamming one arm down on the sink. It looked like he’d already broken her other arm as it was hanging at an awkward angle. Or had I been the one to do that? I couldn’t remember. 
    The one that had been Jen was crawling toward Pete, her one leg dragging behind her. When she got close, Pete stepped forward and kicked her back. 
    The one I’d been shooting spun around and sat up, swinging up what was left of its head, almost as if it had been trying to bite me.
    The neck collided with my thigh and I used the butt of my shotgun to send it back to the floor. I kicked it and stood on the creature’s chest with one leg. Had it just barely realized that I was there? Had it been oblivious when I’d shot off its lower leg?
    Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Madelyn run into one of the shower stalls with a bag in tow.
    “There isn’t time to dress, just leave!”
    “You’d like it if I were to run out of here wearing only a robe, wouldn’t you?”
    I didn’t answer as I took in the scene, trying to decide what to do next. The monster under my foot was squirming, but because it was missing a leg and an arm, it was unable to get enough leverage to get out from underneath me. 
    By my count, I only had a shell left in my shotgun and I was torn about what to do. I could try to remove the other knee of the creature beneath me but that wouldn’t stop it from coming. Both the leg and the arm that I severed were making their way towards me, flopping around on the floor. The wounds on those appendages looked as though they had already healed as well. A new layer of purple skin had formed on the arm, red mucus was already covering part of it.
    The arm flopped forward and for the barest of moments was able to balance on the fingers before toppling over. The movement reminded me of a time I’d once seen a chicken with its head cut off doing almost the same thing. That had been at my Uncle Billy’s farm when I was a kid. My mom had been freaked out that he’d let me help with the slaughter. When my dad had learned about it, he had defended the action, saying it was time for me to learn where meat came from.
    Taking a deep breath, I let it out and tried to calm my nerves. Pete had succeeded in breaking the Veronica monster’s other arm and was now switching back and forth between kicking the two of them off balance.
    A movement caught me off guard as the monster below me threw his severed arm and I stepped back involuntarily to keep it from hitting me in the head.
    It was unbelievable, both the body and the severed arm had become two distinct beings with the ability to not only plan but also maybe even communicate. While I’d been trying to take my bearing of the situation, the severed arm had rolled over into position for the non-severed arm to pick up and once again toss my way.
    Yep. They were communicating.
    I almost opened my mouth to ask Pete if my conclusion was accurate but didn’t voice the question. It wouldn’t have done any good. He wouldn’t have heard me in the middle of his fighting and if he had, he would have probably just told me another lie or invoked his oath of secrecy.
    The monster sat up again, so I kicked it over, careful to steer clear of the loose arm and leg. I almost preferred it when they hadn’t been severed.
    Almost.
    It tried grabbing at me with its good hand but I blasted it if off with my last shell, careful of the angle to make sure that none of the shrapnel from buckshot hitting the tile would head towards