19 To the Clinic
We drag Zain out the bunker. Working fast, unwilling to wast time. Ivo took charge, creating a makeshift stretcher. We find sturdy branches and tie cloth together to stretch between them.
Monna cleans and wraps his arm again. As well as feed him some pain reducing plants growing nearby to help make him comfortable. We work around the littering of small creatures who died consuming the acid blood. We move him to the stretcher, trying to be careful of the injured arm, and lift. Making sure the cloth held, we took a few hesitant steps. Nothing went wrong, so we began moving in earnest. It was dark, and we were carrying extra weight, but between the four of us, we're faster than I thought we would be. Making the occasional misstep and stumble, but never dropping Zain. Neither did he take a turn for the worse. Reaching the southern edge of town, we pause.
"Are we going to bring him into the Clinic with us?" I ask the obvious question as we set him down and figure out what to do next.
Ivo sighs in a way that makes him sound old. No one thought this far ahead.
"I'll stay with him. The rest of you get the medicine," Monna says.
"While I'm all for leaving you here, what are you going to do if someone comes along? Fight them off?"
She cups a hand to her ear and leans toward me, "Oh, was that a better suggestion I heard," she asks sarcastically.
/Don't hit her. Don't hit her./
"Wouldn't it be better if I stayed instead? You guys know the town better than I do and have a better chance of getting away."
"That sounds –," Ivo started.
"Emma is the tallest," Monna interjects, "She can reach higher up, and that will keep you from having to move things around," she rushes.
"And that's, somehow, going to help more than you knowing the layout of the village?" I question.
I can practically see the steam coming out of her ears. She crosses her arms and announces, "I don't trust you to be alone with Zain. So both of us can stay here or just me but either way, I'm not going." Leave it to a child to ignore reasonable logic and do whatever they please.
I hold back a much-desired facepalm and say, "Fine. Fine! I'm going. But you're both going to go further into the forest and be quiet. Don't go anywhere until we get back."
"Don't tell me what to do. I already know, so you don't need to tell anyway."
I sigh, rolling my eyes but leave it be. Letting Ivo take over before my last nerve broke under strain. Instead, turning my thoughts to worse case scenarios because I won't be as nervous if I know how bad it can get. I'm thinking of all the possible ways I can be mutilated without dying before Daric and Ivo joined me. Good thing too, my thoughts are getting depressing.
There's no sign of Zain or Monna. Ivo leads the way. From what I gathered when I ran through before, the town is a large circle divided into four with two main roads bisecting in the center. People who have any money live in "nicer" homes in the center near the government buildings, tavern, and main market space. I can tell how far from the center of town we are by how maintained the buildings are.
I stare at the sky. The dim glow of the three moons lights the path. The warm night air carries the sent of chopped wood and grass. I listen to the shuffling of our feet against the dirt and pause uneasy. Picking up on it, the other two stop as well. Narrow-eyed I try to figure out what is disturbing me so much.
"Is something wrong?" Ivo finally asks. That's when I figure it out.
The silence.
We're not far from the forest, but there's no noise. There should be chirps and barks from the multitude of wildlife nearby, rustling, either from animals or the wind. But now, there isn't a sound other than my escalating breathing.
"It's too quiet," I speak low.
I can see the moment Ivo and Daric catch on. Their eyes widened and darted around. Heavy silence presses against us, making my skin crawl with bumps.
We must've been gravitating toward each other because I touch shoulders with Ivo and Daric. Daric's fingers are digging into my arm with the grip of the damned. Ivo is tense and vibrating with the desire to run. I hold onto the thought that Zain doesn't have much time and somehow drag my feet forward one step at a time taking Daric and Ivo with me. Deeper and deeper into the town we went. It becomes apparent there is a notable lack of people as well as noise. Gone are the homeless, hookers, and drunks that would line the streets. It's a long moment of anxious silence before someone found the nerve to speak up.
"Where did everybody go?" Ivo asks sounding nervous.
Before I think to answer, we round the corner to turn down another alley. That's when we saw it glistening in the moon's light. The pungent smell of wet pennies assaults me, strong enough to taste.
The familiar smell of blood.
It's splashed on the ground, the walls, and rooftops. Still fresh, dripping, and pooling together. However not a single body in sight. We freeze and spend a long time staring. No one speaks, let alone dares to breathe. One thought pushes through the clog of panic, undoubtedly shared by us all.
/Goddess help us./
Monna cleans and wraps his arm again. As well as feed him some pain reducing plants growing nearby to help make him comfortable. We work around the littering of small creatures who died consuming the acid blood. We move him to the stretcher, trying to be careful of the injured arm, and lift. Making sure the cloth held, we took a few hesitant steps. Nothing went wrong, so we began moving in earnest. It was dark, and we were carrying extra weight, but between the four of us, we're faster than I thought we would be. Making the occasional misstep and stumble, but never dropping Zain. Neither did he take a turn for the worse. Reaching the southern edge of town, we pause.
"Are we going to bring him into the Clinic with us?" I ask the obvious question as we set him down and figure out what to do next.
Ivo sighs in a way that makes him sound old. No one thought this far ahead.
"I'll stay with him. The rest of you get the medicine," Monna says.
"While I'm all for leaving you here, what are you going to do if someone comes along? Fight them off?"
She cups a hand to her ear and leans toward me, "Oh, was that a better suggestion I heard," she asks sarcastically.
/Don't hit her. Don't hit her./
"Wouldn't it be better if I stayed instead? You guys know the town better than I do and have a better chance of getting away."
"That sounds –," Ivo started.
"Emma is the tallest," Monna interjects, "She can reach higher up, and that will keep you from having to move things around," she rushes.
"And that's, somehow, going to help more than you knowing the layout of the village?" I question.
I can practically see the steam coming out of her ears. She crosses her arms and announces, "I don't trust you to be alone with Zain. So both of us can stay here or just me but either way, I'm not going." Leave it to a child to ignore reasonable logic and do whatever they please.
I hold back a much-desired facepalm and say, "Fine. Fine! I'm going. But you're both going to go further into the forest and be quiet. Don't go anywhere until we get back."
"Don't tell me what to do. I already know, so you don't need to tell anyway."
I sigh, rolling my eyes but leave it be. Letting Ivo take over before my last nerve broke under strain. Instead, turning my thoughts to worse case scenarios because I won't be as nervous if I know how bad it can get. I'm thinking of all the possible ways I can be mutilated without dying before Daric and Ivo joined me. Good thing too, my thoughts are getting depressing.
There's no sign of Zain or Monna. Ivo leads the way. From what I gathered when I ran through before, the town is a large circle divided into four with two main roads bisecting in the center. People who have any money live in "nicer" homes in the center near the government buildings, tavern, and main market space. I can tell how far from the center of town we are by how maintained the buildings are.
I stare at the sky. The dim glow of the three moons lights the path. The warm night air carries the sent of chopped wood and grass. I listen to the shuffling of our feet against the dirt and pause uneasy. Picking up on it, the other two stop as well. Narrow-eyed I try to figure out what is disturbing me so much.
"Is something wrong?" Ivo finally asks. That's when I figure it out.
The silence.
We're not far from the forest, but there's no noise. There should be chirps and barks from the multitude of wildlife nearby, rustling, either from animals or the wind. But now, there isn't a sound other than my escalating breathing.
"It's too quiet," I speak low.
I can see the moment Ivo and Daric catch on. Their eyes widened and darted around. Heavy silence presses against us, making my skin crawl with bumps.
We must've been gravitating toward each other because I touch shoulders with Ivo and Daric. Daric's fingers are digging into my arm with the grip of the damned. Ivo is tense and vibrating with the desire to run. I hold onto the thought that Zain doesn't have much time and somehow drag my feet forward one step at a time taking Daric and Ivo with me. Deeper and deeper into the town we went. It becomes apparent there is a notable lack of people as well as noise. Gone are the homeless, hookers, and drunks that would line the streets. It's a long moment of anxious silence before someone found the nerve to speak up.
"Where did everybody go?" Ivo asks sounding nervous.
Before I think to answer, we round the corner to turn down another alley. That's when we saw it glistening in the moon's light. The pungent smell of wet pennies assaults me, strong enough to taste.
The familiar smell of blood.
It's splashed on the ground, the walls, and rooftops. Still fresh, dripping, and pooling together. However not a single body in sight. We freeze and spend a long time staring. No one speaks, let alone dares to breathe. One thought pushes through the clog of panic, undoubtedly shared by us all.
/Goddess help us./
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