Chapter 7.5

We scatter into the woods running in the general direction of Reagan.

They run faster than me, so they encountered them first. I'm a bit behind them, so I only hear the gun fire as they meet the enemy hidden in the woods. Enemies emerged from their camouflage hidden behind trees, but as soon as they appeared, Dark Moon Squad got to work cutting them down.

I try holding back away from the fight, but more soldiers appear from behind, trapping us in. Unable to go unnoticed, bullets fly in my direction and I scramble for a place to hide only to almost literally run into another enemy. He turns and a rifle is inches from my face. I hit it upwards and it fires into the trees while I ready the knife and slash it at his chest, he falls back, loosing the grip on the gun as I strike again at his throat.

I don't have time to see if he's dead before more bullets are fired in my direction and I skip one tree to the next to try and find suitable cover to wait it out. Ahead I see an old tree with a rotten trunk with a cavity large enough for me to crawl into. I dart for it, zig-zagging between trees before dashing for cover.

I almost made it.

A sudden force hit me in the stomach, knocking me back into the trunk of another tree. It was a force without sensation; in confusion I looked for its source, but I couldn't find anything. My eyes scanned the trees, but I couldn't find what'd hit me. There was smoke and gun fire, people shouting illegibly. My hand wondered up to my torso to something damp and tacky clinging to my clothes. My hand came away red. I don't remember getting so much blood on me. Where did this come from? I wondered, just as a burning sensation blossomed from my stomach. It grew until it was almost unbearable, and I fell down in the roots of the tree.

I'd been shot.

My mind was simultaneously reeling with panic, and perfectly frozen.

I see Rickon zip from one enemy to the next, dodging bullets like some sort of killing machine without fear. Quin and Jay are nearby too, killing enemies with almost the same brutality as Rickon. For a second, Jay's eyes meet mine from across the battlefield and he begins to change course.

He wordlessly stands over me for a second, looking at me curiously, as if there was no battlefield going on and I was a strange animal he'd never seen before. Then, slowly, he kneels, inspecting the wound and searching for a bullet exit.

"why are you helping me?" I whimpered through gritted teeth. He wiped his knife clean on his trousers, smearing the blood of those he'd killed across the fabric. The without a word of warning, plunged the knife into the wound, and I bit through my lip trying not to scream.

Jay face was stone cold, his expression unchanging as his iron grip held down my writhing body, "think of it as satisfying a whim." He answered finally, his voice perfectly even.

"Rickon's gonna be mad." I grunted, breathing heavily.

"Rickon won't care as long as you don't slow him down. But if you want to survive, learn to do this yourself." He jabbed his fingers in the wound, and slipping in the blood, and grasped the bullet. With the last gasp, the bullet came free. He ripped off part of my shirt and used it as a makeshift bandage.

I fought off unconsciousness, I knew that if I fell unconscious I would be left behind and eventually die. Jay helped me with the bullet, the least I could do is not pass out from it. It was hard under the dark canopy, even without the gaping hole in my side, exhaustion pulled at every cell in my body, and when the sound of the battle died down, the darkness was comfy and welcoming. I wanted more than anything to close my eyes, and let unconsciousness take the pain away. But my desire to live held true.

I struggled upright, stumbling on the roots at my feet, while trying to press down on the gunshot wound. The pain was nauseating, and a fought the urge to vomit, but I needed what little was left in my stomach, and I desperately swallowed the bile.

I noticed that the gunfire had ceased, and when I looked around there were dozens of dead soldiers littering the forest. The fight was over.

"where were you during the fight? You disappeared halfway through." Jay shrugged, and Rickons gaze flicked from his bloody hands to me, swaying behind him, clasping my side. He clicked his tongue, but moved on with telling us, "We should move before more come. They were waiting here for us, they must have been herding us here for a trap. There's no guarantee they haven't communicated with Reagen so expect resistance on their side as well. If you can keep up, we'll leave you behind." He added.

My breath came in short ragged gasps as I jogged after them. Blood soaked through the makeshift bandage and it was difficult to keep pressure on it while we ran, but even if we stopped, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get up again. I kept my eyes on Rickon and tried not to stumble on any roots or branches.

For a while I could hear soldiers pursuing us, but after a couple of miles it faded into the background. Even then, we didn't slow down until we reached the border and the forest started to thin. They gazed at the trees suspiciously, waiting for the enemy to jump out, but it never came.

Reluctantly, Rickon reported, "It looks like we may have got lucky or they just haven't arrived yet." Then he looked back at me, irritation blossoming on his expression "if you keep leaving a blood trail, I'll kill you myself." He threw a pack of bandages at me which landed at my feet.

I struggled to pick it up, then knelt at the base of a tree to rebind the wound. The material was soaked through with red, I wrestled to untie it, but my fingers slipped on the knot so I hacked at it with my knife, each time sending shivers of painful sensation through my stomach. Once free, I bound my waist as tight as I could, which wasn't very tight, but it stopped blood from soaking through again.

We continued along the border, following it East until we met the border between Reagen and Garlantia. I was thankful that the communication between Reagen and Paela was so poor (which maybe had something to do with finding Lois Grey dead on Paelen soil) as I'm not sure I could have survived another fight. We didn't meet any other resistance along the way; there wasn't another soul in sight until we entered the Northern gate into Garlantia.

Rickon explained the situation to the soldiers on guard; they seemed suspicious, but when they radioed ahead to the outpost, it was cleared up relatively quickly, and we were allowed back into Garlantia. We were given their truck to report back at the outpost as quickly as possible.