I'll Kill You Tomorrow

In Short

I'll Kill You Tomorrow is a chilling science fiction short story that blends clinical reality with supernatural dread. When a registered nurse finds thirty infants possessed by parasitic, non-dimensional beings, she and her intern boyfriend must decide whether to commit a desperate act of violence to prevent a future of inevitable murder. It has endured as a unsettling piece of mid-century speculative fiction because it masterfully juxtaposes the sterile, protective environment of a maternity ward with the terrifying, incomprehensible nature of an alien invasion taking root in the cradle.

The Story

The narrative centers on Lorry Kane, a dedicated registered nurse working the night shift at a hospital maternity ward. Her routine is shattered when she enters the "basket room" and finds an unnatural, heavy silence among the thirty newborns. Expecting the usual cries of infants, she is instead met with a cold, steady gaze from a week-old baby named Newcomb. When she picks him up to soothe him, she is horrified to find the child’s tiny fingers deliberately reaching for her windpipe with lethal intent.

As Lorry grapples with the realization that the baby is not acting like a child, a brittle, shrill voice speaks from the infant's throat. The voice reveals that it belongs to a bodyless entity from another dimension—a parasitic swarm that has successfully possessed the entire room of newborns. The entity explains that in their home dimension, they are accustomed to occupying highly intelligent beings, but here, they have settled for the only entities "weak enough" to take: defenseless infants. The entity boastfully declares that these thirty children will grow up to be "certain assassins" and that it intends to kill Lorry one day, as soon as it is strong enough to do so.

Terrified, Lorry flees to find her boyfriend, Pete, an intern at the hospital. Though initially skeptical, Pete senses the gravity of her trauma and eventually confronts the nursery himself. They hear the entity’s malicious, chirping laughter and confirm that the swarm has indeed taken hold. The two realize they are trapped in an impossible dilemma: if they speak out, they will be labeled as insane, yet if they do nothing, thirty dangerous beings will grow up to terrorize the world.

Pete decides that the only solution is a "drastic cure" for a "drastic case." While Lorry stands guard, Pete enters the nursery with a tray to perform a series of medical injections. The entities scream as they are destroyed by the induced illness, which is later covered up as a hospital-wide measles epidemic to avoid a scandal. While the immediate threat is neutralized, the story concludes on a somber, haunting note. Pete and Lorry are left to wonder about the "single entities" that occasionally slip through the cracks of reality—the source of inexplicable, violent crimes committed by youths that appear in the daily newspapers. They are left with the burden of knowing that while they saved these thirty, the war against these invaders is far from over.

How It Unfolds

The silent nursery Lorry Kane experiences a chilling realization when she enters a maternity ward and finds thirty newborns completely silent. Her professional instincts are upended when she discovers that the infants are not merely quiet, but are instead watching her with ancient, murderous intelligence.

The entity speaks A parasitic, non-dimensional being reveals its nature through the voice of a baby, explaining that the swarm has infiltrated the infants to secure their long-term survival. The entity mocks Lorry, promising that these babies will grow into lethal adults, and confesses that it desires to kill her personally.

The pact of silence Lorry and Pete confirm the reality of the possession, only to realize that their knowledge is a curse they cannot share. They recognize that any attempt to warn the world would result in their own institutionalization, leaving them to act in total secrecy.

The drastic cure Pete takes matters into his own hands, sneaking into the nursery to inject the infants with a substance that forces a physical reaction hostile to the entities. The plan succeeds, but the ordeal leaves both Lorry and Pete deeply shaken by the morality of their actions.

A lingering dread In the aftermath, the hospital manages to hush up the "epidemic," but the characters are left with a permanent, gnawing suspicion. They recognize that their victory was small and that similar, isolated possessions likely explain the senseless violence they read about in the news.

The People

Lorry Kane is a registered nurse whose primary concern is the sanctity of life and the order of her ward. She is grounded in medical science, which makes her encounter with the supernatural all the more disorienting. Though she is the one who discovers the horror, her empathy and professional training are what initially leave her paralyzed by the absurdity of the situation.

Peter "Pete" Larchmont is an intern who serves as Lorry’s anchor to reality. He is pragmatic, decisive, and willing to shoulder the moral burden of murder to ensure the safety of the future. While Lorry is the emotional center, Pete is the strategist; he calculates the risks and executes the "cure" that saves the babies, though he is left permanently scarred by the knowledge of what he had to do.

The Entity is a collective, parasitic consciousness that views human life as a mere vessel for its own "unfoldment." It lacks any sense of morality, viewing its existence as a purely functional struggle for survival. By inhabiting the infants, it seeks to grow in strength, possessing a cold, mocking arrogance that stands in direct opposition to Lorry’s protective instincts.

In Its Own Voice

"The entities were utterly, ambitiously evil; their line of defense, apparently, was absolutely impregnable."

This opening observation sets the stakes for the insurmountable threat Lorry and Pete face.

"Ancient murder-hatred glowing in new-born eyes."

Lorry experiences this visceral shock when she looks into the eyes of Baby Newcomb and realizes the infant is no longer a child.

"Thirty certain assassins."

The entity confirms its horrific plan for the future of the children, leaving no doubt about the lethality of the situation.

What It's Really About

At its core, the book explores the terrifying loss of innocence and the intrusion of the inexplicable into the sterile, controlled environment of modern science. It asks whether one is justified in committing a moral evil to prevent a greater, inevitable atrocity. The entities serve as a metaphor for the hidden, inexplicable darkness that sometimes manifests in human behavior. The story argues that the world is far more chaotic and hostile than our tidy, scientific understanding suggests, and that sometimes, the only thing standing between a civilized society and total catastrophe is the desperate, secret action of individuals who refuse to be silent in the face of horror.

Why Read It Today

I'll Kill You Tomorrow is perfect for readers who enjoy high-concept, mid-century sci-fi that prioritizes atmosphere and psychological tension over lengthy technical explanations. It captures the specific, mid-century noir sensibility of medical professionals caught in a high-stakes, "hush-hush" conspiracy. The prose is clean and rhythmic, moving with a fast-paced efficiency that mimics the frantic, sleepless nature of a hospital shift.

Readers today might notice the era-appropriate gender dynamics—where the nurse is the one to suffer the initial shock and the intern is the one to take the decisive, "masculine" action—but the core conceit remains genuinely unsettling. The story does not rely on complex world-building; instead, it uses the familiarity of a nursery to make its central horror feel invasive and immediate. What stays with you is not the science fiction premise, but the ending—the idea that the world is occasionally subject to unseen, parasitic horrors and that we, like Lorry and Pete, might be surrounded by signs of them that we are simply too afraid to acknowledge. It is a brisk, unsettling read that lingers long after the final page.