“How’s that feel?” Ryder asked, his eyes glued to mine.
“Actually, it’s helping.” I couldn’t help but sound surprised. I leaned back so I could rest my head on my backpack. It couldn’t have taken longer than a minute for me to fall asleep.
When I opened my eyes again, it was morning. Ryder was still asleep next to me with his hand on my calf.
Logan was awake. He was busy kicking snow onto the fire that was already almost out. He glanced over at me and then out toward the southern horizon. “We should get moving.”
I stretched my arms over my head and looked up at the clear sky. It was already much later than I would have liked.
“Yes, we should,” I said, pushing myself up. My movements caused Ryder to wake, and seconds later Eli and Charlie stirred too.
“Ugh,” Charlie groaned. “Sleeping outside is the absolute worst.”
I pretended I hadn’t heard her complaining as I picked up my backpack. My legs felt as good as new, thanks to Ryder. The others picked up their things, and we walked away.
I chewed on a bar of some kind that was probably long past its expiration date. It looked and tasted fine, so I couldn’t really complain. The others gnawed on beef jerky and dried fruit from Jacob’s storage. Their food looked absolutely mouthwatering compared to mine.
We’d only been walking for roughly an hour when I saw the drops of blood in the snow. At first, there were just one or two drops, but then there were more. Bigger drops. Each one becoming closer and closer together.
I pointed at the ground, and Ryder nodded. His voice was just below a whisper. “Animal maybe?”
When the drops stopped abruptly so did we. My eyes scanned the ground, and I held out my arm to stop the others from continuing forward.
I spotted where the drops of blood continued, and I saw right where they came to an end.
Not far from us, someone was curled up into the fetal position. The man appeared to be breathing, but just barely. He was trying to hide behind a tree stump but failing. More than just the trail of blood gave him away.
Ryder stepped in front of me and stared at the lump. He spun around in a slow circle and scanned the area.
“I hope this isn’t some kind of trap,” he murmured.
“There isn’t a single soul in sight,” Eli said.
“You know as well as I do that doesn’t mean anything,” Ryder said, glancing at me as if he was hoping I’d share my opinion on how to proceed.
I bit my lip as I stared at the man on the ground. “There was a trail of blood, with only the one set of footprints as far as I could tell. He’s definitely hurt.”
“We could just keep going,” Charlie said, and the man across the way help up his hand.
“Please,” he shouted. I could tell he was summoning his last bits of strength to call out to us. “I’m injured. Can you help?”
He was hiding, but apparently not from us. My heartbeat slowed. Each beat stung my chest.
9
I nodded when Ryder glanced at me. He swallowed hard. Ryder had already guessed what I was going to do.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Do we have a choice?” I responded, my eyebrows squeezed together.
“We do,” Logan grunted. “We can just keep going. Leave him.”
If we left him, he’d probably die or be killed. I sucked in a deep breath and pulled out my gun. “Stay here if you want… or keep going.”
Charlie groaned, and Logan threw his hands into the air as he turned away. I ignored them.
Each step I took towards the man lying on the bloodied snow was slow and careful. I wasn’t exactly sure what the injured man would do to me, but it didn’t matter.
I stayed back about ten feet and started walking in a semi-circle around the area, looking at him from every angle. He lifted up his bloody hand when he saw me looking at him.
“Please, not yet. I’m not ready to go,” he said, his fingers trembling.
It didn’t take more than a minute to realize it wasn’t some kind of trick. The guy lying on the ground was quite hurt.
I tucked my gun back into my waistband and made my way over to him. The others were creeping closer, but far more apprehensively than I had. Charlie had her club up just above her shoulder ready to use it if need be.
I knelt down next to him and moved his scarf away from his mouth. “What happened to you?”
He twisted his head slightly, and I saw the tattoos on his neck. Shit. If the others saw them, they’d surely react. I held up my hand to stop them.
“I was attacked,” he said between moans.
“I could have guessed that much. Where are you bleeding?”
He lifted his hand out of the snow. “There’s a cut on my wrist. It won’t stop bleeding.”
I grabbed his arm and pulled back his sleeve. He cried out in pain.
“I think my arm is broken,” he said through his clenched teeth.
“So, your arm, and the cut on your wrist… anything else?” I asked staring at the blood crusted under his nose. He also had a cut just above his eyebrow, but I wasn’t sure he’d even known it was there.
He hadn’t shaved in days if not weeks. There was something in his sky-blue eyes that held me in my spot.
He shook his head. “I don’t think you can help me. I’m going to die out here, aren’t I?”
I leaned in close. “My friends over there… if they see your markings, you might have even less time than you think.”
He stared at me for a moment. His eyebrows raised up slightly.
“Why don’t you have any? The markings,” he asked.
“Maybe you just don’t see them,” I said pushing myself to my feet. “Wait here.”
He let out a gurgled chuckle. “Where else would I go?”
I jogged over to the others tucking my gloves into my jacket pockets. They all stared at me waiting for my report.
“He’s hurt.”
“No kidding?” Charlie said before I could finish.
I ignored her. “He seems to have a broken arm, a pretty significant laceration on his wrist, and various minor cuts and bruises.”
“We’re not set up to take care of anything like that,” Logan said in his gruff voice.
“Let’s just keep going,” Charlie said.
I opened my backpack and took out the first aid kit I’d packed. “The cuts can be bandaged, it’s the arm I’m not sure what to do about.”
“Stabilize it,” Eli said rubbing his chin.
“How are we going to do that?” Charlie asked, looking at the guy on the ground out of the corner of her eye.
“I can help,” Eli said grabbing my arm as I started walking back toward the guy.
Dammit.
He’d see the markings, but what choice did I have? I wasn’t sure what to do about his arm, but Eli seemed confident.
“OK,” I said, shifting my gaze toward Ryder. “You guys stay back. Guard the area.”
Ryder cocked his head to the side. He pressed his lips together so hard the color vanished. He seemed suspicious.
The second Eli and I were out of earshot of the others, I took a deep breath. “He has markings on his neck.”
Eli kept walking, but I could feel his eyes on me. Luckily, he hadn’t changed anything about how he moved his arms or feet. “Then why exactly are we doing this?”
“I’m not really sure. He needs help. He said he was attacked. I can’t just leave him lying in the snow. It’s not like he can do anything to us in his condition.”
Eli swallowed. “OK. As long as the others don’t find out. Charlie will use her club. And if she needs to, I won’t stop her.”
I nodded.
“We’ll have to tell them eventually, right?” Eli asked.
“I think so… I just need more time to think.”
The guy looked up at us, his eyes shifting back and forth between Eli and me. “Are you renegades?”
“I am,” Eli answered quickly. “Is that g
oing to be a problem?”
The guy on the ground shook his head.
“I’m not,” I said, stiffening my jaw.
His eyes stayed focused on Eli. “I know what you think you see, but you have it all wrong.”
“Do I? This is not the first time I’ve heard one of you say something along those lines,” Eli said.
“Really, I promise you. I barely escaped them with my life. Look at me.” The guy tried to move his arm, but it only jerked up slightly before he winced. “Please, please, please don’t kill me. At least give me a chance to explain.”
I knelt back down in the same spot I’d been in moments before. There was more blood pooled in the snow than when I had left.
“None of us are going to kill you,” I said taking his hand gently so I could bandage the deep cut on his wrist first.
“Thank you, thank you,” he said his voice almost fading away. “By any chance do you have any water to spare? The snow is just too cold.”
I nodded. “Let me stop the bleeding first.”
He focused his brilliant blue eyes on me and stared at me for a few moments before he spoke. “What’s your name?”
My lips curled up on one side. “What’s your name?”
“Shawn,” he said without hesitation. “Now, you have to tell me yours.”
“I have to, huh?” I asked.
He nodded weakly.
I drew in a long breath. “My name is Emery.”
“And him?”
Eli groaned, watching me as I bandaged up his wrist. He crossed his arms, but then sighed before dropping down to his knees beside me.
“I’m Eli. Let me take a look at your arm.”
Shawn tried to move his arm closer, but he was too weak. “I think it’s broken.”
“Do you think we can get it out of your jacket?” Eli asked.
“I’m not sure,” Shawn said looking at his arm as if seeing it for the first time in a long time.
Eli pressed down on his arm through the jacket. “Let’s try. The padding in your jacket is too thick.”
I stepped around Shawn and held the arm of his jacket while they worked to wiggle his arm free. Shawn clenched his teeth, refusing to shout out his pain. He shivered the second his arm was out and the cool air brushed against his lightly clothed body.
Eli moved his hands up and down Shawn’s arm. “I don’t think it’s broken.”
“It fucking feels broken,” Shawn said between his teeth. His anger was directed at the pain… at least I assumed it was.
“I believe you, but I think it’s just a really nasty sprain. We should wrap it, and you’ll need to keep it as still as you can. You’ll be good as new in no time,” Eli said, turning to me. “Do we have anything we can use?”
I chewed on my lip. “Oh, I have a spare shirt. Maybe we could rip that up and tie the strips together?”
“I’m not going to be good as new. I can barely move. I’ve lost so much blood.” Shawn groaned as he shifted his weight slightly. “How did I even make it this far?”
I opened my backpack and took out my extra shirt, handing it to Eli. He glanced over his shoulder as he started tearing it into pieces.
“What are we going to tell them about Shawn and his tattoos?” Eli asked so quickly the words bumped into one another.
“Why?” My eyes followed his gaze.
“Because they’re coming this way.”
I pushed Shawn’s scarf up, so it covered the markings on his neck.
“Just tell them the truth,” Shawn said his eyes glassy. It almost looked as though he might lose consciousness.
“We don’t know the truth,” I said pasting a smile on my face.
“You do!” Shawn said with a grimace. “I’m Shawn, and I escaped from the hell I was living in. Isn’t that enough?”
I shook my head. “I doubt it.”
“Well, you better think of something fast,” Eli said, tightening the strips together. “Hold him up.”
I grabbed Shawn’s shoulders and hoisted his heavy body up as best as I could. He might have been weak, but his actual body weight showed no signs of it.
Eli started wrapping his arm in a slightly bent position against his chest. The second he was finished, I pulled his jacket down and zipped it up.
“Thank you,” Shawn said. “Are they going to kill me?”
“I hope not,” I said refusing to let my smile waver. “We’ll find out soon enough.”
10
Ryder and the others stood behind me. I didn’t have to turn around to know their eyes were on Shawn.
His markings weren’t visible, but I could feel the tension in the air. They were suspicious.
“This is Shawn,” I said, as I finished bandaging the cut on his forehead. “He’s in pretty rough shape.”
No one said anything. The silence made my fingers shake.
Shawn looked into my eyes and then over my shoulder. His eyes moved from one person to the next.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Eli take a step back. He cleared his throat. “He’s lost a lot of blood. There is a significant laceration on his wrist and a bad cut above his eye. I don’t think his arm is broken, but it’s a serious sprain.”
“It’s broken,” Shawn muttered, but I don’t think it had been loud enough for anyone to hear.
“I don’t doubt for a second that it feels like it’s broken,” Eli said.
Apparently, it had been loud enough.
“OK,” Ryder said. I could hear the snow crunching beneath his boots as he moved closer. “But how did he get the injuries?”
Just as I was about to blurt out that it was some kind of freak animal attack, Shawn held up a hand to stop me. He sucked in a deep breath.
“The Evolved attacked me when I tried to leave. They nearly killed me,” Shawn said, placing his good hand over his scarf.
“That’s an interesting choice of words,” Logan said.
Shawn shook his head.
“You said ‘leave’ instead of something like, oh say, escape.” Logan’s eyes were glued to Shawn.
Shawn grinned slightly. “That's because I meant the word leave.”
Logan bent his knees, crouching down like a wild beast ready to attack. Anger filled his eyes.
Charlie started swinging her club. She looked as though she was eager for someone to give her the go ahead.
Ryder held up his hands. “Let’s all just stay calm. He can’t even defend himself. We’re not in any danger here.”
“You sure about that?” Logan asked.
Ryder stood in front of Shawn and tapped the side of his torso with the tip of his boot. Shawn moaned as his eyes rolled back.
“Positive,” Ryder said crouching down to look into Shawn’s eyes. He studied him for a moment. “I think you have some explaining to do, huh?”
They stared at each other. It was almost like a contest to see who would look away first.
I was almost surprised when Shawn’s eyes shifted downward. “Ask me whatever you want, but something tells me you aren’t going to believe anything I have to say anyway.”
“Why? Do you tell a lot of lies?” Ryder asked with a smirk.
“No. I have no reason to lie to you, but why would you believe someone you consider to be an enemy?” Shawn raised an eyebrow weakly.
“You’re right. I probably won’t.”
Shawn sniffed. “Then I’m not sure why we should waste each other’s time. After all it doesn’t seem as though I have much left.”
Ryder stood up and straightened the pack on his back. “We probably shouldn’t.” He took a step back. “We should really be on our way.”
I narrowed my eyes at Ryder. If he noticed, he ignored me.
“About time,” Charlie muttered.
Everyone stepped back behind Ryder. Everyone except for me.
“Will you be OK?” I asked.
Shawn released a breath he seemed to have been holding. “Yeah, sure. Don’t worry about me. Thanks for the bandaging
.”
“No problem,” I said, and walked over to the others. Shawn put his head down in the snow and closed his eyes.
It seemed like he was giving up.
There was no doubt in my mind that if we left, he would die. He wouldn’t make it through the night.
Ryder sensed my hesitation. “Ready?”
“I don’t think so,” I said after a long pause.
“Oh, for Christ’s sake,” Charlie said hitting the snow with her club. Small white chunks flew up and heavily sprinkled back down making little holes in the undisturbed snow.
I turned my back to them. “Go ahead without me.”
Ryder grabbed my arm before I’d made it more than two steps away. “You can’t be serious?”
“Totally serious,” I said jerking my arm away.
I walked toward Shawn. By the lack of sounds behind me, I knew they weren’t following.
Shawn opened his eyes as I crouched down in front of him. He closed his eyes again without saying anything.
“First thing we’re going to need to do is to get you on your feet,” I said setting down my backpack.
“Leave me. Go on with your friends.”
I didn’t turn to see how far they’d gone. They’d be fine without me. It wasn’t like I had even wanted them with me in the first place.
“Don’t be so dramatic,” I said stepping over him and slipping my arms under his. “If I leave you here, the wolves will get you.”
“Let them.”
“And waste the bandages? No way. I’ll do whatever I must to keep those bandages safe.”
Shawn shook his head. “Now who’s being dramatic? I saw your handy box of bandages. You’ll be fine without the ones you’ve given me.”
“Did you see your wrist? I used nearly half my gauze. Come on, use your legs, I didn’t see anything wrong with those,” I said pulling upward carefully using as much of my strength as I could muster.
“You didn’t see them because my pants are on,” Shawn mumbled. He grunted and pushed upward with his good arm.
He got to his feet and tried to stand up straight, but the pain wouldn’t allow it. I walked around to the front of him and picked up my pack. His eyelids were heavy.
Ravaged Land: Divided Series - A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller Books 1-3 Page 6