When I lean forward and get my torso up between the two front seats I see Jackson is holding his stomach and there is blood pooling, soaking his shirt. "Oh, my God! Jackson's been shot!"

Mitch grips my arm and gently pulls me out of the way, " Let me see, let me see."

"I'm fine..." Jackson protests.

"All right, here." Mitch takes off his flannel that he had been using as a little cover, pushing it onto Jackson's stomach as Abe pulls over. When we get stopped, Jackson lays his set back and Abe and I slowly move him into the back of the truck. Jamie and Mitch trade places with Abe and Jackson. As soon as everyone is back in the truck, Mitch takes off. "Keep that over the wound. Press down."

I try my best to compose myself, which is kind of hard, given that the man I love is bleeding out in my arms. Abe keeps presser on Jackson's wound as I place my hand behind his head, trying to keep him conscious.

"We gotta get him to a hospital." Jamie looks back at us, shocked and scared.

"Hold on, Rafiki. Hold on."

"It looks like we are about 10 miles from the hospital." Jamie comments, looking over the map.

"How's he doing?" Mitch calls out from the front of the truck.

"Not so good," I say, not taking my eyes off of Jackson.

"The blood is coming through the shirt."

I look over to Abe, who is holding the bloody shirt on Jackson's stomach, "Just keep the pressure on it, nice and even. We can't let him pass out."

"Maybe we should pull over?" Jamie asks as I cup Jackson's face with my left hand, my right being under his head.

Mitch sighs, "There are lots of things I'm sure Katherine and I could handle in a pinch. Kind of surgery he needs, not one of them."

The cub is getting restless and beings playfully growling as it plays with the blanket. "The cub is impatient, Rafiki. You need to give him a name."

I laugh softly, "Maybe a musical name, considering how much noise he makes. Maybe Bono or Bowie?"

"What's going on? Where are they going?" I hear Abe ask. As I look up to him confused, he glances down at me. "Everybody's leaving town."

"Could be a million reasons."

It doesn't take us long to get into the town and to the hospital. Once there, Abe helps Jackson out of the back of the truck and basically carries him inside. I grab the electroporator out of the back and Jamie comes around to grab the cub. When we try to open the doors they're locked.

"Oh, my God. That's why they're all leaving." Jamie points off into the distance, to alligators and leopards.

"We need to get inside now." I hand the electroporator to Mitch, "here." I pound on the door, "Hey! - Open the door! It's an emergency!"

One of the doctors reluctantly opens the door. "The hospital is closed." The five of us don't listen we barge in and find Jackson a gurney. "Did you hear what I said? We are abandoning the hospital. You have to go elsewhere."

Abe shakes his head and turns to the doctor, "We don't have time. This man's been shot."

"I can't help. I suggest you drive him to Nyanga."

"That's four hours at least."

"I have lost a dozen colleagues and more patients than I can count. I am sorry, but I cannot help you."

Abe shouts, in a tone I have never heard from him. His voice ringing with anger. "You will help him! You understand me? You will help!"

The doctor raises the gun he has in his hand in Abe's direction.

"NO!" I shout as the doctor fires, hitting the wall behind Abe, scaring away a leopard.

"Fine." The doctor shakes his head and begins pushing Jackson down the wall. Abe and I follow him. "What's his blood type?"

"O-negative."

The doctor turns to the nurse who had joined us in our rush down the hall. "Three units of O-negative and find some morphine. The last ambulance leaves in an hour. I will do the surgery, but beyond that, you are on your own."

"Thank you."

I sigh and glances around, "What happened here?"

"It started at the edge of town. The lions came first, then the leopards. Two days ago. They attacked the young and the elderly first, then hospitals where they were taken for treatment. People are terrified. They're abandoning the city. I've never seen anything like this." The doctor explains as we hurry down the hall when we get to the surgery doors he stops. "I'm sorry. You two can't come with us."

I nod, stepping beside the bed, fighting back tears. Jackson who is barely conscious takes my hand. "Hey, I'll be alright. It takes more than a bullet to stop me."

I chuckle softly and nod, leaning my forehead against his. When I step away, a few moments later, the doctor pushes him away. Abe pulls me in for a hug. "He'll be okay. Right now, we need to find Mitch and Jamie, and help them make a cure."

I pull away from him and nod, "right… Mitch said they needed to go to Hematology."

Abe nods and we run down the hall toward Hematology, when we find Mitch and Jamie they are in one of the areas a few away from Hematology. Jamie looks to be shocked, when I look down I realize Abe and I are covered in Jackson's blood. "Is he gonna be okay?"

"We have to trust the doctor right now."

Abe looks to the ground, handing me the gun the doctor had given Abe when he took Jackson off. "A single set of paw prints."

I look over to one of the bodies the leopard had gotten to, trying to keep my mind focused, "he teeth went straight through the bone. That means leopards."

We hear a leopard growl from down the hall. Jamie speaks quietly, and in a shaky voice, "Which way is Hematology?"

I look up to the sign above us. "that way."

Abe takes the gun back from me and steps in front of us, "Come on, stay behind me."

We make our way to one of the hematology labs, without seeing a leopard. When we are there Jamie lays the bag she is carrying the cub in, on a lab table. Mitch starts to look over the lab. "Okay, pal, I'm gonna need one of your teeth, so I can extract some stem cells. Hand me that rubber heart over there."

Jamie steps over and gets the rubber heart model for Mitch, "Why?"

"Because. No need to hurt him if we don't have to. So I'll just take this, rub a little flavor on it. Here you go."

I nod, "You're going to let the cub remove its own tooth."

"Exactly. So, uh, assuming I can formulate a cure, we're gonna need an animal we can test it on. Even if the cure works, wild animals still act wild. We're going to need a domesticated one. That way we have a clear behavioral baseline."

Abe nods and heads toward the door. "Guys, don't open this door until I return."

I step toward him and put my hand on your arm, "What? No, you Abe."

"I'm going to be okay."

I shake my head, "I'm going with you. You can't go by yourself."

Abe shakes his head and sighs. "Fine. But stay close."

"Be careful," Jamie calls to us as we leave.

"You too." As Abe and I head out we run into the doctor. "How is he?"

"He'll sleep for another hour or two. Check on him then. He's on the second floor, in post-op. As soon as he wakes, start the antibiotic. The other is for pain. We are gathering the last of the patients. Stay away from the animals. There will be no one left to help you." The doctor runs off finishing his statement.

"Thank you, doctor."

Abe and I rush out of the hospital and back into the truck. As we drive Abe begins to speak, "Go, forgive me. I have not been a religious man. But if you get us out of this, I promise that will change, just give us a sigh."

As Abe says this we hear a dog barking. "Looks like you're gonna have to make some life changes.

Abe shrugs his shoulders as we jump out of the truck and cautiously head into a backyard and see a dog chained up, bark and snarling.

"Hey. easy. easy, it's okay." Abe approaches the dog.

As he gets close to the dog a man comes up from behind us, shotgun in hand. "I'm so sorry. Bacco's very sick. It is enough no more."

"No, no, no." I protest.

"Stay back." The man states, pointing the gun at the dog.

Abe steps toward the man, "My brother, please, please. Let us take Bacco. I think there is a way we can sace him."

"I've tried. All of my neighbors have shot their animals. I'm the last."

"Then let us help him." I step toward the man as well, making sure to stay out of reach of the dog.

"It's a terrible world where a man has to shoot his own dog."

"Let us help him," Abe comment again, "If we can't I will do it myself."

The man nods and backs away. I run back to the truck and get the dog catcher thing, Abe had made from an IV stand. When I get back Abe tries to catch the dog.

"Come on, Bacco. You're coming with us."