Episode 20

There was no way of telling how long Scarlet and Helfeirch hid right below those who would have butchered them like cattle. They did not risk leaving the safety of their hiding place for some time even after the party had gone on their way. Scarlet's muscles ached and trembled a bit beneath her as she attempted to work her way through the hot pipes in the darkness.

Once she was back out on the walkway, she gave a good long stretch. She tried her best to ignore the fact that her shoes seemed to be sticking to the floor. It wasn't a moment later and the two were off, quietly making their way through the dark walkways.

She felt they'd been walking forever. She was now following Helfeirch down a ladder. Once she hit the bottom, she felt him unlatch her harness and scurry back up the ladder. After which, she heard the sound of a hatch being locked shut. She hoped this meant they were stopping for a bit as exhaustion had settled into her bones.

Suddenly, a small light pierced through the blackness, causing her to wince. The light itself was a dull reddish color and wouldn't normally be considered one that created a lot of light. But for Scarlet's eyes, it was like a beacon in the blackened world she'd been wandering in. She managed to sit on the floor and simply stared at the red light.

'What I wouldn't give to see some daylight.' She could already feel the lack of sunlight beginning to wear on her.

Just then, Helfeirch kneeled down in front of her. "Let's give that leg of yours a look," he said as he gently took her leg into his hands. The fabric of her pants had burned to her skin. "You're going to have to take your pants off… we need to clean this so it doesn't get infected," he said plainly.

Scarlet gave a heavy exhale. She knew he was probably right, but she was so tired she almost didn't care. Additionally, she wasn't a fan of undressing for anyone, even if they were trying to help her. Helfeirch had gone to his pack to pour some water for the two of them. While he did that, Scarlet managed to stand, unbuttoning her pants and gingerly slipping them over her burnt leg. It was still quite raw and it let her know when anything had touched it.

'If it was that painful just to undress, I dread to think how painful it's going to be cleaning the damn thing.'

She sat back down and drank the water Helfeirch had given her. He then handed her a different drink from a flask.

"Take a good long shot of that."

She smelled it and guessed automatically it was some sort of alcohol. She wasn't much of a drinker but she choked a good couple of swallows down. It burned her throat all the way down, leaving her rather hoarse and raspy. She coughed and hacked despite her best efforts not to.

He took the flask from her and then handed her some leather.

"Stick this in your mouth," he added.

Scarlet felt the sudden urge to puke. There was no doubt in her mind, he'd just handed her leather made from human flesh for her to bite on. She knew how important it was for her not to give out a blood-curdling scream while he cleaned the wound, but she also wasn't sure she could stomach putting a piece of human flesh in her mouth to prevent such.

'Just put it out of your mind. You have to do what you have to do to get out of here, and you can't afford to scream out, or you'll be the flesh in someone's mouth,' she told herself.

Closing her eyes, she mustered to put the leather in her mouth without instantly gagging. She then got into the best position for Helfeirch to work on her leg. She could hear him laying some things down to use on her leg, but she dared not look back. She figured it would only add to her apprehension.

Taking a firm grip on her leg, he poured some of the contents of the flask over the wound, causing her to quiver a bit. It burned and stung intensely. She found her eyes pressed tightly shut and her nostrils flaring as she began to breathe more heavily through them. In the next moment, he began to scrape away the fabric and spoiled skin from her leg.

Scarlet's teeth dug into the leather piece. She could no longer think about how it was made from human flesh. She could only think of the pain and how thankful she was that she had something to bite into to keep her from wailing out. Tears began to make runners down her cheeks from the pain, and though it only took a few minutes to clean the wound, it seemed to last forever. By the time he got done scraping off all that needed to be scraped, Scarlet was seeing spots. He then poured the alcohol on her wound one more time, causing her to squeal a little in spite of herself. Being satisfied that he'd cleaned the wound well, he began to wrap it in some cloth he'd put some sort of ointment on.

All Scarlet could do in the moment that followed was lay there trying to calm her breathing while tears still escaped her eyes. Having wrapped Scarlet's leg, Helfeirch chanced lifting her shirt to examine her knife wound. She instinctively stiffened at the gesture.

"Just checking to see how you're healing." She then heard him say. "How does it feel?"

"Sore," she managed to say. She'd finally managed to stop crying. "But not as bad as it should feel." She paused. "How does it look."

She heard a loud sigh from behind her. "Hard to say," he finally said as he pulled her shirt back down.

Once he was done, Scarlet rolled over to sit up and look at him. She was still dizzy from the pain. He helped her stand and put her pants back on, but after that, she quickly found her way back to the floor. Her body seemed to throb and she was left feeling nauseated and even more exhausted than before. Unable to resist any longer, her eyes slide shut.

"It's alright, Scarlet, get some rest." She heard Helfeirch lightly say before she drifted off to sleep.