"To Kill A Runner" Chapter 19 "Street Doctor" (Cyberpunk Fiction)

Mortal presentiment was creeping in the back of Jaromes consciousness. The thoughts of his friend becoming nothing more than a lifeless corpse in the flat bed of the el camino. Megana riding in the back cargo bed as well holding Britney pale and lifeless as the car sped through the narrow streets to the closest open medical clinic they could find. The plan to find a low profile street doc had gone out the window, The choice was either survival for Britney and incarceration for all three of them or the death of his friend. He also knew Britney never had a RFID chip implanted into her and this would raise red flags immediately. Having what seemed to be no other choice he peeled into the clinic parking lot loaded up another fifty round clip into his PS-90 machine gun and pulled the rest of the weapons in the duffle bag over one shoulder and hunched toward the back of the car.

“Pull her up and fallow me close, This was not the plan but we are not done fighting “ He said hurrying her but trying not to panic. Then he walked swiftly through the automatic doors with his full auto on. shooting holes into the waiting rooms plaster ceiling. “Attention ! Everyone stay calm and no one gets hurt! Put your phones on the floor and do not attempt to make any calls for help. You are now in a hostage situation!”

Megana was able to get Britney into a wheel chair while Jarome snatched the cell phones from people in the waiting room, then turning his attention to the desk operator.

“This woman will need your finest cybernetic arm, If she does not go into surgery now! , everyone in your waiting room will be dead.” Jarome made his threats calm and collectively makeing them seem more like negotiation than extortion.

The desk operator then unlocked the electronic lock on the door with a buzz and a click and Jarome and Magena pushed their way back behind the desk and into an operating room. At gunpoint, they got the switchboard operator to lock the outside sliding pneumatic doors making the hostages panic.

Nurses lifted and set Britney down on the operating table and the surgeon keeping her stable while he put together a light representation of a prosthetic limb for the 3-D printers to start producing on the holographic menus. Then the wiring of servos in the robotic arms injected long syringes into Britney's shoulders while the heart monitor beeped at a rapid over straining pace. The needles vibrated as they injected a yellowish gray solution into the black and bloody stump of a shoulder muscle she had left.

“Nano-mites will neutralize infections and clean away all dead tissue remaining from your friends injury” The doctor stated timidly “ Then we will attach the nerve endings to synthetic servo sensors in order to move the prosthesis the same way she would have moved her old arm.”

“Just get It done.” Jarome said.

“I have seen a few attacks like this in the past due to gang activity. It is a real problem in our community.” The doctor spoke as he took out a cybernetic arm made of fiberglass and fitted it to Britney's shoulder.

“Yeah, well that won't be an issue anymore. “ Megana said still wiping some blood from her neck from the dog she had killed while in wolf form.

“What do you mean you killed the gang that was responsible for these dismemberments ? “ Asked the doctor that tended to the electronic LCD screen built into the forearm of Britney's new prosthetic.

Jarome didn't say yes immediately staying quiet and looking at Megana not sure if the doctor could be trusted.

“Look If you did get rid of them I think the Police will give you a reduced sentence or a plea bargain” The Doctor said as he then got out a blood IV bag and attached it to feed into Britney through her other radial artery on her intact organic arm.

After a few minutes Britney with fresh blood and a dose of epinephrine running through her veins, fluttered her eyes open and looked around groggy to see her friend Jarome still holding a rifle to the doctor operating on her. The robotic prosthetic now moving a finger and twitching in response to her shoulder spasms and neural signals.

“We better wrap this up, Here come Lone Star” Megana said as she stood outside the operating room looking out the edge of the window blinds with her back to the wall and her head turned.

Again uncertainty flooded Jaromes thoughts knowing there was no turning back from another fire fight that he could definitely never win against the militarized police force, Then A loud voice called out through a megaphone.

“This Is Allegheny County Police, We have this clinic surrounded. Let The hostages go or we will be forced to use lethal force upon you!”

Catch up on previous chapters:

1. Chapter  I - Down & Out
2. Chapter II - Bore Snakes & Hammer Bites
3. Chapter III - The Plan
4. Chapter IV - Pixie Dust Attack -i wlan0mon
5. Chapter V - A Fixer & A Fence
6. Chapter VI - Prep Work
7. Chapter VII - Living The Dream
8. Chapter VIII - Seeking Asylum
9. Chapter IX - Breathmaker
10. Chapter X - Nanook
11. Chapter XI - Wolf Hunt
12. Chapter XII - Rising Paw
13. Chapter XIII - Lucky Number
14. Chapter XIV - Drawing Dead
15. Chapter XV - Explosive Division
16. Chapter XVI - Street Crime
17. Chapter XVII - Three River City
18. Chapter XVIII - Dog Food