Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Stones of Summer: Instinct ❯ Summer/18 ( Chapter 3 )

"Yer' gonna' have to kill it, as fast as ya' can. Think ya' can do it?" Honestly? I didn't think I could.
"Jan, if you can't don't. One of us is already disabled, we won't survive if the two of us are hurt. Can you do this?" Haltingly I nodded, clutching the makeshift blade in my hands.
I hunched low in the bushes, my eyes fixed on the deer.
"Stay quiet, breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth. Don't make any noise, prepare your muscles to spring. Stay hidden until then." Waylen whispered close to me.
"Be a predator. " The only predator that came to mind was Myali. 150 kg of muscle, all grace and stealth.
I hunched further thinking of how Myali would have hunted this deer. Without warning I burst through the foliage breathing out with each landing of my foot. I was on the creature in seconds. It squealed and charged at me. I could hear Waylen yelling at me to turn, to run away, but instinct kept me straight. The deer's horns grazed my shin as I jumped over the side of it, landing on all fours behind him. Without actually thinking, I spun and pounced on the thing's back. It tried to rear, but I shoved its head into the ground. Just as suddenly as the instinct to take down this animal and kill it came, it was gone. I lost the inhuman hold I'd had on it. It bucked around with me on top of it. I gave a cry of shock and was startled at how weak I felt compared to this animal.
"Kill it! Kill it! Kill it or it will kill you!" A haze came over my eyes and my heart thudded evenly, a fierce fast beat in my chest.
The blade in my hand slammed into the base of the back of it's neck. The unintelligent look in the thing's eyes fade as they rolled back and it collapsed, its struggles ceased.
Sweat ran down my face as I came back from the trance.
I stayed where I was as Waylen approached at a slowed pace. I was straddling the dead beast, shaking uncontrollably, gripping my arms around me.
Waylen held his hand out to me and I just stared at it, studying the patterns in the callouses. A deeper part of me wanted to fight him off, to protect what I had earned.
Those thoughts forced me to my feet, taking Waylen's hand for support.
He placed an arm around me and a hand on the back of my head as a shook uncontrollably. We stood there for a minute or so as I fought to regain my breath.
"You had me scared for a minute there." He whispered and I moved forward, moving out of sight of the dead animal. Its blood was on my hands.
The fire crackled merrily and I inched closer to it, yearning for its warmth. Waylen was busy with the pelt of the animal I had killed earlier this morning. I gazed into the fire, trying to find myself reflection within it. It gave no clues as to what I was looking for.
I lay down with my head on my arms and closed my eyes.
"Move back a bit if you are going to sleep." I ignored him and thought of home. I thought of the simple comforts that I wished i had right now. A hot shower, seasoned food, food I didn't need to hunt down and maybe a softer surface than the rocky ground to sleep on.
Tears escaped my closed lids and I pressed my mouth to my hand to keep myself from sobbing.
It wouldn't do any good to cry! There was nothing i could do to change any of this so what use was there in being upset by it?! But I knew why I was upset. I missed my family, and I missed home. My heart throbbed painfully every time I was reminded of it and I constantly thought of the worry my being missing must be causing my parents and everyone else.
All because I was selfish and wanted to do things my way right away. Maybe if I had just listened, and not runaway, I wouldn't be here.
"Penny fer' yer' thoughts?" I shook my head no, and ordered myself into sleep. It came grudgingly and i was spared any dreams that might rise up and plague me.
I don't know how long we were out here. It had been a while since we'd seen the rest of our group. The days seemed to meddle together. They all started the same, and they all followed the same pattern, an then, predictably, they all ended the same.
The homesickness eased up for a while as I denied myself the ability to think of home.
It was probably the most painful thing I had ever done.
The next time Waylen had me hunt, it was a larger deer than the one I had taken down before. I was petrified. As I stalked it, I knew, in my gut that this one was not going to go down as easy, this one would up more of a fight. Without thinking my plan through I charged intending to follow my gut and do the same thing I had the last time. My gait was uneven and the beast knew I was coming becoming before I got five feet to it. It stood alert, trying to determine if i was a predator and seemingly decide I was. It lowered its head and ran straight at me. I panicked and jumped to the side. Its body slammed into my legs, spinning me around before I hit the ground. I landed heavily on my stomach with the wind knocked out of me.
I didn't have time to think when I heard it's hooves return and pain burst on the side of my head, shoulders and legs. I curled into a ball and took the vicious beating.
It was over as soon as it started.
Fearfully, I looked up. Waylen was waving a torch at him. I had to laugh at the picture. He could barely walk and here he was trying to chase a deer away. The sight was increasingly comical. I sat up slowly, making tabs on what hurt and what didn't. I had to say, there wasn't much that didn't hurt. I gently felt the back of my head and touched a knot. I grimaced, that would account for the nausea feeling. My shoulder ached terribly and I dreaded moving it. Besides that, I could tune most of the other injuries out. They were merely bruises or scrapes. They would heal fine.
The deer ran off and I attempted to get shakily to my feet.
"Stay down. Don't move." I gave him a flat look.
"Are you gonna' be able to carry me back to camp gimpy?" He frowned and I briefly wondered if i had really insulted him. And then I remembered I didn't care too much, I was the only company he had until we found civilization.
"How badly do you hurt?" He knelt and pressed his fingers to a bruise on my face.
"Ow! Don't touch that!" I complained, jerking away. He grinned sarcastically.
"Don't be such a baby." I glared at him but decided it wasn't worth being angry at. I told him that my shoulder was hurting terribly and he pulled the back of my shirt up to examine it.
"What the hell was that anyway? Play chickin' with wild animals?" He chastised while he massaged the pained area. It definitely hurt more when he touched it. I grunted in response. There hadn't really been a plan, and my gut decided that at that moment it would bale on me and go quiet. I felt him briefly touch my side and figured the bruising went all the way to my ribs. They didn't really hurt badly, but who knows the damage done.
"Well, I don't think it's broken, but I'm not a doctor. We'll keep an eye on it and tell me if it causes you any severe pain. Let's go. We'll still have enough food if i cook it really well. I hope you like your venison well-done." He stood, wobbled a bit and then helped me up. I rolled my eyes. We both waddled to where our fire had been last night.
It took us nearly an hour, or what felt like an hour, to move through the fields back to our campsite.
Once we got there, I was sweating bullets, sore, and tired as hell.
"Jance, did you move the carcass?" I wiped sweat from my eyes and sprawled out across the ground, folding my shirt off my stomach.
"No, why would I move it? The last I saw of it, you were doin' somethin' with it last night." The shade of the trees made the difference of a life-time in this heat, I mean, it was a matter of 15 to 20 degrees difference.
"Jancy, get up. Now." I groaned and waved my hand at him.
"I don't want to, it's too hot." I peeked an eye open at him when he cursed at me. The was a frantic nature in his eyes.
"Get your god-damned ass up and over here. Now." I was up and moving faster than I thought possible, spinning around to face the opposite direction.
"What?" I whispered, fearful of happening upon natives again. We both stared into the darkness that was the forest and I entertained the idea that I could see something moving.
"I don't know, but whatever it was, it was big enough to drag the carcass away. Get your things, quickly, we're leaving." I lurched for the makeshift blade i had been carrying minutes before. I was too scared to even find humor in the fact that he had just told me to 'collect my things' when all I had was the knife and a zip-up hoodie. Despite the need to rest and cool down, I asked my body for more than I truly think it had to give.
It did not fail me.
By the time we were settled at a new site with a small fire burning, I nearly fell asleep standing.
"Go to sleep Jance." I blinked and tried to wake myself. shaking my head I said it was my turn to keep watch.
Some how I found myself sitting slouched on the ground. I watched Waylen from across the fire, staring through the flames to see him.
"Go to sleep Jancy." And I did. When I stopped fighting, my body just gave in. Darkness was quick to do away with me.
I woke in darkness soaked in sweat and heaving for air. Panic swept through me and I thought for a minute I was having a heart attack. My limbs felt too heavy for me to lift and my head buzzed. I made an effort to move but stopped when my shoulder muscles screamed in pain. I gave a cry and curled up in a ball. Hand hand was placed on my head.
"Hush lass, it's just the head injury." I whimpered and pushed myself before my stomach revolted. Nothing came out but a bit of spittle but it still felt like I had to vomit.
My vision swayed and my arms shook with the effort of holding my weight.
"Why! Why am I so weak!?" It didn't make any sense! My throat and mouth burned with stomach acid.
"Ya' have a concussion, you will be like this for some days. Relax, lay back down." I wiped my spit on my shirt and sat up, trying to center myself. The world swayed. Way's hand was on my back, gripping my shirt.
"Why? What happened?" He hummed and I fought to keep my eyes open. I leaned over to lay down and my head revolted. It threatened to explode into tiny bits and pieces. I gripped my temples softly and cried. The tears created cool tracks down my face.
"Oh God! My head, I think I'm dying. I've got to be-" I felt my head pulled and I followed them.
"Lass, don't be so dramatic, you aren't going to die." He cradled me like my mother had done when I had been sick when I was younger. That just made me cry harder. I missed home horribly and at the moment I wanted Mom's soft hands, Dad's kind words (not Waylen's harsh ones), and the presents Chris or Ferguson would give me.
I rested my chin on his shoulder.
"I want to go home." He said nothing. The entire night. It passed quickly. My eyes fought to stay closed but I was filled with a restless energy.
When morning came, it brought with it an entirely new pain. My sight was blinded by such severe pain that I had never before experienced. The nausea passed, and with it the aches, yet the headache and blindness left me immobile. I lay in a crumpled heap with my sweater over my head. I spent the entire day like that, unmoving, unthinking, in pained silence. Every now and again Waylen would bring me water in a bowl made out of a fallen tree trunk. It never stayed down. The heat was getting to me, I wouldn't survive this much longer.
I woke in the night, little warning bells going off inside me. Something wasn't right! I yanked the sweater off my head and sat up. The world did little spinning and I took that as a good sign. I eased onto my feet and was relieved that I seemed steady enough. There was a dull throb of pain where the knot on my head was and in my shoulder, but the intensity had greatly decreased since yesterday. I looked about to find myself alone. Waylen was no where I could see him. I grasped the slate blade he had made me and set to walking, listening for anything. What i found difficult was the actual walking. I had no balance what-so-ever. I was horribly off kilter.
My attention was grabbed when my ears picked up the sounds of grunting. It almost sounded like the noise a wild boar would make, or two men...fighting...
I moved as quickly as my legs would allow, pushing myself despite the stumbles and falls I took. I could deal with a twisted ankle later, but If Waylen was hurt or killed, I might as well be dead, I could not survive out here without him!
I came upon the scene. Waylen and an oriental man with only a loincloth on were rolling in the dirt, grappling for the upper hand.
In the darkness, by light of the moon, all I could see was the glint of sweat off the man's back and Way's red face. Something swelled within me. Self preservation most likely, and instinct to protect myself. It told me that if this man killed Waylen, he would come after me next, and even if he didn't, Waylen was the only reason I was still alive. If he was killed, I wouldn't know how to survive. My mind shut down to any reasoning skills. I gripped my blade in my hand and stalked forward keeping my head low. I pounced onto the man's back and he didn't even have time to know I was there. The blade went through the skin of neck like soft butter. Blood spurted as I forced it down until the bone in the spine were severed. My arms shook brutally yet I forced my weight down on the blade, just to make sure he wasn't going to move. And he didn't. His head lay at an odd, inhuman angle. I stood, feeling more balanced than I had. It didn't make sense. I pulled the man from on top of Way and flipped him over. His eyes still held life. With out thinking, I placed my sneaker on his throat and jumped. He crunched under me. I didn't look back.
Instead I turned to Waylen, to see if he was still alive. He was, and was staring up at me with a look I didn't quite understand.
My mind rebooted and I crumpled to the ground in exhaustion. My head slammed against my knees, but I was too tired to care. I gazed, frightened, at Way.
"What's happening to me?"