Scattered Pieces
Part 3
Lizz
struggled against the men as they tore her away from Brian and literally
dragged her out of the hut. Seeing Brian’s face drenched in sweat from the
fever and the sounds his lungs made when he coughed sent alarms ringing off in
her head. He was slowly drowning in his body’s fluids and if Brian didn’t get
his meds soon he would get pneumonia - if he already didn’t get it.
One of the men, Triaz, released his grip on Lizz’s arm and hurried ahead of her towards the hut where
she, Howie and AJ were being held. He roughly insisted that the tattooed one
come out from the hut. Moments later, AJ emerged, his face red with anger.
“I don’t know what kind of fucking games you people are playing---”
“SILENCE!”
Lizz took a chance and spoke out of place. “AJ! Brian needs our help, he’s
getting worse!”
Triaz spoke after casting a sharp gaze at Lizz. “You
will accompany us to the beach and grab some sort of green bag that has
medicines. You won’t do anything stupid because if you do, she will pay for
your insolence!”
Lizz struggled against the other man’s grip. “Just let me go with you instead,
leave AJ back here!”
Palo shoved Lizz towards the cave and pushed her inside. “Women are weak and we
need a man to do a man’s job.”
As much as she disagreed with the statement, she had to bite her tongue from
saying anything to piss the men off. She could tell that they had stroked AJ’s
ego and she was going to leave it alone for the time being. She watched with
Howie as the three of them walked off, Triaz reminding
AJ that he must not try to escape or serious harm would come to the others.
~*~*~*~*~*~
I strained to peer around the huge boulder that had been placed in front of the
entrance of the cave but was unable to see anything outside because of the darkness.
As I started to investigate every nook and cranny in the, I could feel the
staring of Kevin’s green eyes trained on me.
“Nick, there’s no way out but the front,” he reasoned.
“There has to be another way out, I heard water dripping noises coming from
that one spot and it’s too fricken dark in here to
find it,” I shot back. “You’re content just to sit on the floor and let it all
happen, aren’t you?”
“No, I’m trying to come up with some type of plan,” Kevin calmly replied.
The calmness in Kevin’s voice only made my panic rise. How could he just sit
there doing nothing when his friends were not only separated from him but
probably having some type of punishment being dished out at them.
“Deep, slow breaths Nick.”
My shoulders sagged. He knew me like a book. “I am calm!”
“Deep, slow breaths,” Kevin replied.
Before I could protest again, the boulder suddenly started rolling back. I
quickly stepped away from the entrance, ready to spring on whoever it was that
was waiting on the other side.
“Nick,” Kevin quietly growled.
There’s that damn “read me like a book” syndrome coming out again. How the hell
did he know what I was thinking 24/7?
Three men entered the cave and grabbed Kevin. I was surprised when he didn’t
struggle against their grip, but calmly walked out of the cave entrance.
“Where are you taking him?” I waited for an answer but no one replied. They
kept busy with their charge and started rolling the boulder back across the
entrance. “Dammit! Where are you taking him! Answer
me!”
My shouts at the men went unanswered. I was left in the darkness to wait for
Kevin’s return.
~*~*~*~*~
Lelani looked at Brian apprehensively as he continued
on another one of his coughing fits. The poison was out of his system but now
this other problem that she couldn’t handle was being just as effective in
extinguishing his life as surely as the poison would have. His hands and face
looked like they were starting to look a little fuller from the edema and Lelani was concerned that his throat could possibly swell
shut. She dipped the cloth in fresh cool water and replaced the one that was
laying across his forehead.
Brian’s eyes slowly opened. “Momma?”
“Shh, it’s okay,” Lelani soothed. The fever wasn’t
coming down quickly for her satisfaction and he was growing more disoriented
from it.
Brian’s unfocused eyes shot wildly around the room. “Wha... where’s...” He
started coughing again and his eyes fluttered shut as he drifted off into
unconsciousness.
*~*~*~*~*~
AJ stumbled along the moonlit path, holding his hurt arm. Every jolt from a
miscalculated step caused pain to shoot through his arm and radiate through his
body. After what seemed to take forever, they emerged from the forest onto a
wide open beach area.
“Find the green bag,” Triaz ordered.
Trying to remember what they did with the bag when they landed the raft on
shore, AJ’s eyes scanned the area. He went over the events recalling Brian
taking a waterpill and then making one of his dumb
jokes about water. “Shit! I’m not sure where to start looking,” AJ moaned,
panic starting to set in. He glanced over his shoulder at the two men that
accompanied him to the beach.
“I could use a little help in finding it guys.”
“We don’t know what it looks like.” Came the reply.
AJ stopped where he was and narrowed his eyes at the men. “Well, ah, let’s
see.....it’s a bag..... and it’s FUCKIN GREEN!”
The angry glare that he threw at the men did it’s job. They immediately started
to walk the beach looking for the bag. After a few minutes, one of them started
yelling triumphantly.
“I FOUND IT!”
Looking over in the direction of the shouting, AJ was relieved to see the green
backpack being hoisted into the air.
~*~*~*~*~
I looked around the dark
cave. “This is nice. We’ve been demoted to a cave.” I said with a wry smile.
Howie laughed. “I’m
blaming it on you. You’re the woman and you are the one that got them all mad
at you.”
I swear, if I were a cat,
my hair would have stood up. “Yeah, what’s that shit all about? ‘Women are
weak, blah blah blah...’ He
can kiss my weak ass.” I wandered restlessly around the entrance of the cave.
The native that was guarding the entrance of the cave turned around and glared
at me. Instinctively I backed away.
Howie gave me a stern
look. “Why don’t you come back here? I think you have about pushed them to
their limit.”
I didn’t argue as I moved
back further into the cave where he was sitting against the wall. “Howie, I
think I am in for some serious shit when they come back. The medicine girl, she
was looking at me like she wanted to kill me. And when I mentioned Nick’s name,
she really looked like she could have. I said something to her that she didn’t
like and she told me I was going to learn my place. That I was going to learn
how to talk and what my place was. Then she said afterwards that that one big
guy is supposed to take me to wherever they took Nick and Kevin so they can
learn too. What does that mean?” I looked at Howie with uneasiness.
Howie’s face twisted into
concern. “When did this happen? When you were in with Brian?”
I nodded
. “How is he?” Howie
asked softly.
I took a deep breath.
“He’s not doing so good. When I went in there he...he...” I stopped, choking
up.
Howie didn’t say
anything, just put his arm around me. I took another deep breath. “If he
doesn’t get his meds soon, he...” Dammit! I felt like
I had a golf ball in my throat and I couldn’t keep talking. A few tears slipped
out. “Pray they find the backpack.” I whispered.
~*~*~*~*~
AJ immediately started
running towards the native holding the backpack. Almost immediately he
regretted it as it jarred his arm. “Nick and Lizz also have meds they need to
take that are in that bag.” He said to Triaz.
Triaz shrugged. “What is your point?”
AJ threw his head back in
disgust. “What are you people?! STUPID?! All three of them need the meds that
are in there or they could die. Shit, first you pick Kevin over me. Kevin! Then
you don’t get my point when I tell you that they need those meds!”
Triaz stopped in his tracks, causing AJ
to stop behind him. The other native glanced at Triaz,
waiting his approval to discipline the marked one. Triaz
raised his hand to hit AJ, but stopped before he made contact. AJ stood frozen.
“You were told not to do
anything stupid. Your insolence will not be tolerated. We warned you and now
there will be consequences.” With that, Triaz turned
on his heel and strode down the beach, towards the forest. AJ was relieved at
first that Triaz didn’t attack him, but instantly
realized that Triaz never said that any harm would
come to him if he messed up.
“Oh shit.” He groaned,
running after the native. “Wait, please, I’m the one that fucked up. Don’t
hurt-” AJ pleaded, only to be cut off by Triaz.
“You were warned.” He
said simply before turning back around.
The other native stepped
up beside AJ, narrowing his eyes in a warning to AJ to not do anything else.
AJ’s heart thudded in his chest when he realized that his smart mouth just
caused harm to his friends. And now there was nothing he could do to stop it.
~*~*~*~*~
Nick’s heart was racing
as he watched Kevin’s form disappear along with the three natives. He had been
ready to attack them, but Kevin squashed his plan before he could act. He paced
back and forth, worried sick about his friends.
He pictured the look in
Brian’s eyes when he had been allowed to see him. He was scared and there
wasn’t a damn thing that Nick could do about it. He had managed to sacrifice
himself for Brian, but what the hell good would it do if he didn’t get better.
He wanted more than anything to know if Brian was okay. What was going on. It
was tearing him up that his brother needed him and he was locked away in a
damned cave
. Next he thought of
Lizz. He wasn’t sure what Kevin meant by the chief owning her, but it didn’t
sound good. He could almost picture Lizz losing it when she must have thought
the worst about what was going on with him. When she got upset enough, she sort
of lost all rational thought. He wanted to know where she was and what was
happening. He set his jaw when he thought that they might try to hurt her.
Nick finally sank down to
the floor, putting his head in his hands. How did everything go so wrong? He
tried to save his friends, but it didn’t do any good. He was still a slave and
evidently so was Kevin and Lizz too. If that was what was meant by the chief
owning her. Nick sat very still, wishing he were anywhere but where he was at
that moment.
The distant dripping of
water caught his attention again. It nagged at him like it did before. “There
has got to be another way outta this cave. Why else would there be water
running in here?” He mumbled. It was dark outside so he started to slowly make
his way deeper into the cave, feeling his way along the damp cave walls. After
rounding a corner, the light from the torches outside and the moon faded and
Nick started to wonder if it was such a good idea to have gotten himself into
this. The pitch-blackness wasn’t helping either.
~*~*~*~*~
“How deep do you think
this cave goes?” I asked Howie. We were sitting up against the damp wall. I
found myself looking deeper into the cave several times. Something almost
compelled me to go deeper into it.
He shrugged, then looked
at me warily. “Lizz, what are you thinking?”
“I don’t know, I can’t
just sit here! Brian is in trouble and we don’t even know what is going on with
Nick and Kevin. Maybe we should just check it out.” I pressed.
Howie sighed. “Will you
eventually give up if I say no?”
I grinned. “Nope.”
He laughed . “I think it
would be better if we just stayed here.”
I shook my head. “Come
on, they have to know that if they are just going to leave us in a cave we will
want to explore it.” I rationalized.
“Alright let’s go.” Howie
relented.
Ten minutes later we were
deeper into the cave and in pitch-blackness. My freakish fear of walking where
I can’t see had taken a firm hold of me and I had a death grip on Howie. The
cave sort of went uphill in some places and then back down. That didn’t help me
to be any more comfortable in the darkness.
“Lizz, I can’t really
feel my arm anymore...” Howie whispered.
I smiled in the darkness.
“Sorry.” I said sheepishly, easing up. We rounded yet another corner and I saw
light ahead. It was really dim, but light nonetheless. I broke away from Howie
and moved as fast as I dared towards the light. When I got closer I saw that up
really high was sort of an opening. The moon and the stars were right above.
The beauty of it took my breath away. The stars were so bright and the moon was
a sharp crescent. “Howie.” I breathed.
He followed my gaze up
too. “Wow.” He looked over to the left and I followed his gaze. When I looked
closer to the wall of the cave I saw that it wasn’t really a wall, but a bunch
of huge rocks that had fallen to make sort of a barrier. I stopped cold
suddenly, grabbing Howie.
“Did you hear that?!” I
hissed.
“Yeah, shhh.” He
whispered back, gripping my arm.
On the other side of the
barrier there was noise. Someone moving. I held my breath. Then I heard the
sound of crumbling rock and a curse of “dammit!”
“Nick?!?!?” I cried.
“Lizz?! Oh god, Lizz! Are
you okay?” Nick called back.
“Yeah, are you?!” I
couldn’t keep the emotion out of my voice. I turned to Howie. “We gotta get
over there!”
“Who’s with you?” Nick
asked.
“It’s me. They sent AJ
out to look for the backpack. What‘s going on with you?” Howie replied.
“They took off with
Kevin. What about Brian?” I heard the anxiousness in Nick’s voice clear as the
ocean water out here and I didn’t know how to tell him that things didn’t look
very good.
“He’s hangin in there
hun.” My voice wasn’t as convincing as I would have liked. In fact it was sort
on the shaky side. I turned to Howie. “I can see a break in these boulders. I
want to try to get to him.”
“I don’t know how safe
that would be.” Howie looked a little worried.
“Lizz, you don’t need to
be climbing these boulders. They might slip. Hell you might slip.” Nick
warned.
“I need to get to you.” I
said almost inaudibly. I needed to see for myself that he was okay and then
make sure it would stay that way.
“Lizz...” Nick said with
a worried sigh, knowing it was a losing battle. “Be careful okay?”
“Always.” I got the best
grip I could, Howie helping me up. The top of the pile was about 15 to 20 feet
high. When I got to the top I could see Nick. He looked fine, just worried as
hell. I turned back around and looked down at Howie. “How are you going to get
up now?”
“Shit.” Came the soft
reply.
I chuckled. “I’ll come
back in a few minutes. If they find us different than how they left us, we
might get in trouble.”
“Okay.”
I started to carefully
climb down Nick’s side. I decided to jump the last ten feet, Nick half catching
me so I didn’t land as hard. As soon as my feet were on the ground, I threw my
arms around him, hugging him fiercely.
“Ooof.”
He said softly.
I had to laugh. Another
online joke from way back when. We were talking about meeting for the first
time and I said I would give him the hugest hug. To tease me he replied with “ooof” and it cracked me up. I really appreciated how he did
that. Made me laugh no matter how bad I felt.
I had my eyes shut, but
when I opened them I nearly panicked. Torchlights, I
could see the shadows of them flicker against the walls around the corner. I
didn’t let go of Nick, but nodded my head towards the moving lights. He stiffened
and looked back at me, eyes wide.
“Oh shit.” He murmured.
Not but two seconds later
six natives were staring at us. Six very angry natives.
updated:
~*~*~*~*~
Kevin stumbled along the path that the three men led him down. He wasn’t too
sure what they had in store for him and his mind was running in fifty different
places trying to come up with a plan to save all of them from their fates.
They finally came to a stop at an area that contained a huge pit. Inside the
pit were rocks of different sizes. Kevin narrowed his eyes as he looked into
the torchlit pit, the flickering made the pit look
more eerie and deeper.
“Into the hole,” one of the men growled at Kevin as he gestured with his torch.
A million thoughts popped into Kevin’s head as he looked at the natives and
then at the pit. Was this place intended for him to be killed at? One of the
men grew impatient at his unwillingness to immediately cooperate with the order
he had been given.
“Get into the hole now!” He jabbed Kevin in the side causing him to half-slide
down the side of the pit towards the bottom.
Holding protectively to his left side, Kevin stared back up at the natives once
he reached the bottom.
“You are to take the rocks out of the pit and pile them here,” the native
stated with authority as he gestured towards a new pile approximately 40 feet
from the hole.
Kevin looked warily at the rock pile and then at the crude wooden steps that
led out of the hole - steps that looked like they were about ready to collapse
or fold up at any given time.
“But why? And why during the night?” Kevin demanded.
“We need a ceremonial temple for the Princess and night is much better on
workers because day is very hot,” the man explained. “If you decide to make
this difficult, you will be punished by going into the pit during the daylight
hours.”
With that answer, Kevin shrugged his shoulders and looked for the smallest
boulder he could find - one that would be at least under one hundred pounds.
~*~*~*~*~
Triaz entered the hut after Lelani
gave him permission. He dragged an unwilling AJ in with him.
“I have the medicine bag,” Triaz announced happily.
Lelani gave Triaz a look of
approval and cast a glare over at AJ.
Almost on cue, Brian started to moan and toss and turn his head back and forth.
His eyes locked onto AJ’s. AJ’s mouth dropped open when he looked at his
bandmate laying on the blanket. He looked like anyone but Brian. AJ could tell
that Brian’s lungs were filling up with fluid, he could hear the wheezing with
every breath he took.
“You stupid sonofabitch!” AJ turned and lunged at Triaz, successfully putting his hands around the man’s
neck. “He’s dying, he needs those meds! Give me that backpack!”
An angry Triaz managed to pull AJ off his throat and
threw him like a rag doll against the wall of the hut.
“Triaz,” Lelani said with a
warning glare in her eye, “get the medicine that this man needs to save his
life.”
Triaz nodded in reply and dumped the contents of the
backpack onto the floor. Brown prescription bottles spilled out and rolled in
every direction. Triaz grabbed the bottle that was
nearest to his feet.
He thrust the bottle towards Lelani. “Here.”
“You jerk, you don’t even know what you have there!” AJ spat.
Triaz gave him a look that pretty much said “why
would I care?”
“No, it could kill him or just plain no do anything at all,” AJ urged. “Please,
I beg you, let me get out what Brian needs.”
Brian started mumbling words, it was difficult for anyone to make them out.
Lelani knelt next to Brian. “What did you want?”
This time his words came out more clearly: “Let me die.”
“He asks to die,” Lelani stated as she stood up,
looking down at Brian.
AJ rushed towards Brian’s side. “NOOOOOO!”
~*~*~*~*~*~
“Hey what are you guys doing in there? Did you drop her Nick?” Howie teased
from the other side of the pile of boulders. “Guys? You know that’s not polite
to ignore me.”
Lizz and I stood staring at the six natives, frozen in our tracks, afraid to
move or even breathe for that matter. We were busted, screwed, S.O.L., you name
it, that was us. It didn’t help matters any with Howie calling out from the
other side of the rocks. I winced when he started calling our names again.
“Yo Nickay and Lizzard!”
“Come with us now,” the leader of the group growled at Lizz and I. We had no
other choice but to follow them out of the cave. Howie definately
heard the command because I heard him say ‘oh shit’ after we got our orders.
“Where are you taking us?”
“You will find that out when you get there,” a short, stocky man grunted as he
stabbed me in the back with a dull stick, trying to encourge
me to press on.
We were led to a big campfire, it looked like their whole group was assembled
around it. My eyes swept the crowd looking for AJ, Kevin or even possibly Brian
at this point. The Chief was sitting at a ornate throne, palm branches at his
feet, two people at either side of him fanning him with palm branches. He
clapped his hands and immediately two of the natives tightened their grips around
my arms. My first instinct was to fight them, but I decided it would be best to
just let them lead me to where they wanted me to go.
As I stood in front of the chief, someone pushed my head so that I was looking
down at the sandy ground. These people were very weird about eye contact, I was
learning that pretty fast.
“You have traded your life for your blonde friend’s life so that he may live.
You have told us you are our slave. You shall be treated as one, marked as
one.”
I decided that I really didn’t like this man or his voice or where this
conversation was heading. I tried to lift my head to look him in the eye, but
pressure on the back of my head kept me from looking up. When I heard Lizz
scream out, I managed to break free of whoever was holding me down. First I
looked over at Lizz, to see what was wrong. Then I saw what she had been
screaming about and my heart took a deep drop.
“Oh shit,” I gasped.
There were now at least four men that physically picked me up and dragged me
closer to the fire, closer to the long stick with the glowing ring at the end
of it. They quickly turned me around and it was then that I heard Lizz’s screams, my own, felt the hot scalding fire on my
shoulder blade and smelled my own flesh burning.
When they finished with branding me, I could feel every pore open up and sweat
ran out of my body. They let me go and I could have been free to run, but I had
no energy. It took all I had within me to keep from crying out from the pain.
It made me fill with anger and hatred more than anything. Anger from being
branded and hatred for what they were doing to my friends.
After letting me be for a few moments, they took Lizz off to god knows where
and they led me down another path towards a large pit. I looked down and saw
Kevin moving huge rocks up a path towards a pile nearby the pit.
“You are to move the stones across the cavern over to the other side and start
building the wall to the fort,” one of the men stated in a monotoned
voice as he clamped shackles onto my ankles.
As they led me towards the pile, the chains clanked noisily with each step I
took. I noticed that they didn’t have Kevin bound. “Hey how come I have to have
these on?”
“We own you, to us you’re like an animal,” came the reply.
They made me pick up a rock and then they walked me down a path towards what
looked like one of those rope bridges you see on Trazan
movies. The ones with the vines that looked like they could barely support any
weight. The dizziness from the heights that the bridge was suspended over made
me want to throw up.
“Walk,” a man grunted, poking a stick into my back.
“Oh shit,” I whispered as I slowly inched my way towards the bridge.
~*~*~*~*~
I know I blacked out. The
pain that was radiating from my shoulder was so intense that my vision went
black. I don’t know how long I was out for, but when I came to, I was being
carried. The first thing I noticed when I woke up was the agony. The next thing
was a horrible smell. I had never smelled burning flesh, but I immediately
recognized the acrid odor. There was nothing else it could be. My forehead had
broken out in a sweat and I moaned softly.
The native that was
carrying me stared down at me, a hard look on his face. I bit my lip, not
wanting to make anymore noise that would anger him. My mind drifted back to
when I was getting my second tattoo. It was on my left shoulder blade and
whatever they just put on my was on my right. The tattoo barely hurt. In fact
when they were filling it in, I nearly fell asleep. And like the first time,
the tattoo artist was greatly amused and proceeded to tell dirty jokes to keep
me awake. I remembered he called me Red. I’m not sure if it was because of my
personality, my formerly reddish hair, or what.
God this hurt though. I
was barely aware of the tears that were streaming down my face. It didn’t seem
to matter how I struggled, the natives had pinned me down and I was totally
helpless. Right before they pinned me I stole a glance towards Nick and saw
that they were dragging him to the fire as well. I think that might have been
when I started screaming. I was scared now, I didn’t know where Nick was or if
he was okay.
“You awake. You walk.”
The native snapped and dumped me out of his arms.
I hit the ground hard and
my tears became sobs. I felt so weak and the pain of the branding was coursing
through my whole body. I heard the native curse and I knew there were others
that were walking with us. They all stopped now and I tried to curl up.
“You are needed in here!”
A native called from a short distance and I looked up. The tears had blurred my
vision, but I made out a large form and a smaller one. I thought I recognized
the smaller one.
“Lizz?!”
“AJ.” I choked out, my
voice barely above a whisper. He ran to me and dropped down beside me. “What the
hell’s going on?”
I felt his hand move
across my charred skin and I screamed. He jerked back, his eyes wide.
“Shut up!” The native
that still stood above me shouted, giving me a kick.
AJ glared up at him and
gently turned me so he could see what was causing me such pain. I heard him
gasp and I ducked my head, shamefully. If the pain wasn’t bad enough, the
humiliation of being marked like an animal and treated like a nothing was. More
tears fell.
“Fuck.” He breathed. I
immediately recognized the look in his eyes as he glared up at the native that
towered over me.
“NO, AJ! Don’t make him
more angry!” I gasped.
He carefully pulled me to
my feet, steadying me. I was grateful because I probably would have collapsed
otherwise. “Brian’s really bad, Lizz.” AJ whispered, leading me back to the
hut. I finally recognized it as Brian’s.
“What do you mean ‘really
bad‘?” I whispered back to AJ.
“He wants to die.”
I stopped cold, my heart
skipping a beat. “No.” I choked out. He couldn’t die. He couldn’t. Who was
going to keep Nick and I in line? My heart fluttered again when I thought of if
Nick knew and how to even tell him. This would kill him.
I pulled away from AJ’s
support and pushed through the flap of the hut. The other natives that were
accompanying me and that were already here glared at me, but I ignored them.
Lelani turned around sharply when she
heard me come in. Her look of concern changed to a look of gloating and her
eyes turned to ice. “I said that you would learn, did I not? How does it feel
to be nothing? To have the mark of a slave?” She said, a cutting tone in her
voice.
I glared at her. “Bitch.”
Lelani evidently knew what that meant
and her eyes flashed. She stepped closer. “This is only the beginning of how
you will suffer.” She laughed unexpectedly. “I am actually surprised that you
continue with such insolence, but Fighter, it will only cause you more pain.”
I shut my eyes. The
sounds of the pain in Nick’s voice kept haunting me, not to mention my own
shoulder still burned. “Why did you bring me here?” I said, trying to stay
calm.
“Brian is going to die.”
I looked up sharply when she said that. “I do not know what else to do for him.
I can tell that you care something for him, so you must suffer as he does. You
will stay with him, watch him die. I cannot.”
My jaw dropped at her
words. Something strange caught my eye though; the look in hers. As much as I
didn’t doubt that she wanted me to suffer, it seemed like she was distraught
for Brian. “Let me see him.” I said, my voice choked.
Lelani glared at me, but stepped back.
She turned towards AJ and the other two natives that occupied the small hut.
“Out. Now.” I watched, mildly surprised as everyone filed out of the hut.
Slowly, I walked over and knelt down by the edge of the bed. A lump formed in
my throat as I gazed at my friend. He didn’t even look this bad back when Agnes
poisoned him with that medicine. I rewet the cloth on his forehead and
straightened his blankets. He moaned and stirred restlessly. I wondered if he
even knew I was here.
“Brian?” I said hoarsely.
He moaned again and
opened his eyes. He looked at me a moment, seemingly confused. Maybe even a
little scared too. My heart ached something fierce and the tears I hadn’t
realized stopped, started all over again.
“Let...me...die.”
I laced a hand through
one of his. “Brian, I know, this hurts. I can’t even imagine what you must be
going through, but please fight this. You can’t give up. I need you. God, think
of Nick. You know it would tear him apart to lose you. It would kill him. Lelani is letting me stay with you and I am not going to
let you give up okay? I know you are strong. You are one of the strongest guys
I know and you have been though so much. Don’t let this win. You have helped me
so many times and encouraged me not to give up when I thought I was at the end
of my limit. And Nick, he wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you. We need you.
And Kevin and Howie and AJ, they are all waiting for you to get better. Have
faith, you always tell me that and it always helps. You can get through this.
Please, please don’t give up Brian.” My words came out rushed and desperate. I
leaned my head forward on the edge of the bed. After a minute or two, I felt a
weak squeeze on my hand.
My head shot up and I
locked eyes with Brian. He squeezed my hand again and my eyes teared up yet again. I knew that look. It was a look of
determination.
“M--, meds...”
I nodded and scanned the
small hut. On the floor towards the side of the hut, it looked like someone had
kicked all of our pill bottles. I let go of Brian’s hand a minute and crawled
over to them. I clenched my jaw fiercely as the sudden movement sent pain
through my back and right arm. I breathed a quick prayer of thanks that Brian
was too out of it to notice what they had done to me. It would only upset him.
It took me a minute to
sort through them all. I gathered all of Brian’s bottles and crawled back to
Brian. I picked up a cup of water and proceeded to give him the pills, one by
one, holding the cup to his mouth. Just that little bit of effort exhausted him
and he slipped back into unconsciousness within minutes. I kept one of my hands
wrapped in his and leaned forward against the bed again. My thoughts
immediately went to Nick. I tried not to picture him being branded, but the
image of them dragging him to the fire wouldn’t go away. That was all I really
saw because I felt the hot metal in my skin and that was all I was aware of
until I passed out. I turned my ahead against the edge of the bed until I was
gazing at all the pill bottles. My heart lurched when I realized that it had
been too long since Nick had taken any. I hadn’t either for that matter, but I
was more concerned about Nick. He needed to get them. I started thinking
furiously for a way to get them to him.
Then it hit. If this
worked, it would serve several purposes. I stood up, wincing again, and eased
my hand out of Brian’s. He was sleeping restlessly and I was afraid to leave
him. I had to though. I leaned down and kissed his cheek. “I’ll be back as soon
as I can. Stay strong for me okay?”
With that I slipped out
the flap and looked around. A native immediately noticed me and strode over in
front of me. “What are you doing out of the hut?” He demanded.
I took a quick glance
around. “I need Nick. I think it would make a difference in whether Brian will
be able to pull through this. They are very close and I think that seeing Nick
will really help Brian.”
The native looked
skeptical. “I don’t know...”
“You know that Lelani...” I stopped when I felt his hand connect with the
side of my face. I nearly tumbled to the ground, but I managed to regain my
balance, hand on my cheek.
“You are not to refer to
her by name Slave.” He said coldly.
I nodded, slightly
shaking. I was going to get myself killed if I kept it up. “I’m sorry.” I said,
ducking my head. What the hell was I supposed to call her?
“Continue.”
“It would displease her
greatly if Brian died.” I whispered.
The native sighed. “Find
him, and bring him back. Do not try to escape.”
Escape? Right, sure.
Dumbass. “I won’t. Thank you.” Before he could change his mind I started
running. Running probably wasn’t my smartest move, but I didn’t have much time.
I wasn’t sure where to go, but I had a good idea. It was late at night so I
didn’t see any other natives, thankfully. Finally I saw some lights ahead that
looked like it might have been where the campfire thing was. I stopped to catch
my breath. The torches kept it bright enough that I could see some movement a
little ways down a worn path. When I got further down it I saw a large pit. The
closer I got the more all the lumps became clear. The lumps were rocks.
“Lizz?!”
I jumped a mile, but let
my breath out when I saw that it was Kevin. I threw my arms around him tightly.
“Are you okay?”
When he returned the hug
I couldn’t help but cry out when he hit it. He drew back instantly, his eyes
wide. “Shit, they got you too?” His voice was full of dismay.
I nodded, gasping.
“Are you okay?” He
returned my question.
I shook my head, to shake
off the dizziness that had been with me on and off since it happened. “Not
really, but I don’t care about that now. Brian is in trouble.”
Kevin frowned. “I thought
they were healing him.”
“The little healer girl
said that she couldn’t help him anymore. They only just found all the meds and
I just gave him some, but I don’t know if it’s too late. He said he wants to
die.” I choked up.
Kevin’s voice visibly
paled.
“I thought if he could
see Nick, it might help. If he doesn’t start turning around, he won’t make it.
I’m so scared for him. Not to mention Nick needs his meds. I thought it was
also a good way to get him some.” I rushed on.
Kevin nodded quickly.
“Last I knew he was on the other side of the bridge. How are you here without
getting in trouble??”
“One of the natives let
me go. I don’t have any clue where Howie and AJ are. AJ was with Brian, but
they made him leave. That was about an hour ago, I dunno maybe more.” I looked
nervously at the native that was watching us.
Kevin eyed him too. “I
can’t go with you. Just follow this path to the bridge. You should run into
him. Be careful!”
I nodded, before turning
and jogging down the path. I thought of Kevin’s words and looked for a bridge.
I needn’t have looked. Straight ahead of me was the beginning of a rope bridge.
My mind immediately flashed back to Indiana Jones and the
I had no problem with
heights, none at all. Skydiving, any day. Parasailing in
“Nick?” I called out,
hopefully.
“Lizz?!” The surprised
voice returned.
I let my breath out in a
whoosh and started to move towards him.
“Lizz? I don’t feel
right.” Nick called, a new tone to his voice.
“Oh god.” I whispered.
“Hold on hun, I’m coming.” I picked up the pace, but I didn’t reach him in
time. I saw his body start to tremble and he started to fall towards the rope
edge.
“NO!” I screamed,
launching myself at him. I grabbed him before he pitched over the edge, yanking
with all my might. My shoulder cried out at me from the strain. We both fell
against the crude wooden bridge floor. The seizure was already over, but he was
barely conscious.
Before I could even move
I heard a sickening crack. Sort of a splintering sound that made me freeze. The
sound was followed by several more and I saw immediately knew what was
happening.
I strengthened my hold on
Nick, my panic building. “Nick! Nick, please wake up! Oh God! KEVIN!!” I
screamed.
updated:
~*~*~*~*~
Lizz squeezed her eyes shut as she heard the distinctive sounds of splintering wod. Almost as quickly as the noise had started, it stopped
leaving only the sounds of the wind whistling and an occasional crackling of
the ropes that held the bridge together.
“Nick! Come on! You have to wake up!” Lizz urged in a half-whisper, afraid to
make any loud noises as if it would cause the bridge to start to unravel.
Feeling weight added at the opposite end of the bridge, she turned to see Kevin
trying to inch his way towards them, his face showing the nervousness he was
feeling.
“Sit tight, I’m coming,” Kevin stated, the uncertainty in his voice crept in.
As he inched his way closer to them, the bridge groaned in protest.
“God, Kevin, I don’t think you should come any closer. I just need Nick to wake
up, then we can get over to the edge where it’s safe.”
“I don’t think that bridge can hold for much longer,” Kevin decided out loud as
he watched a board break loose and flutter down towards the bottom of the
cavern.
Trying to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat, Lizz felt a surge of
adrenaline and grabbed Nick’s arms and started dragging him, inch by inch
towards the other side, away from Kevin. As she was pulling Nick, Kevin was
inching his way back towards his side of the bridge. Suddenly Nick’s body
stiffened as another series of seizures struck.
“Oh shit, not this, not now,” Lizz cried out.
~*~*~*~*~
“AJ, tell me again, just slow down before you speak,” Howie stated as he
watched his band mate pace the dirt floor of the cave.
“It just doesn’t make any sense at all. They bring Lizz into the tent to see
Brian, make the rest of us leave. I should be in there too!”
Howie
looked out the doorway in the direction that AJ was staring off into.
“Well, maybe it was a little too crowded,” Howie offered.
“Crowded my ass,” AJ sputtered. “I just don’t trust them at all.”
Howie clamped a hand on AJ’s shoulder. “Well, I’m sure with Lizz in there now,
Brian will be getting better and they’ll probably be bringing him down here in
a little while.”
AJ spun around and faced Howie. “You just don’t get it, do you?” Brian is
dying, he wants to die!”
Howie rolled his eyes. “Oh come on---”
Aj grabbed Howie’s shoulders, looking him squarely in
the face. “No, he said it D, he said he wanted to die.”
Howie’s face took on a shocked expression as AJ’s words finally registered. He
slumped against the wall and slowly slid down to the floor.
~*~*~*~*~
Lelani stared at Brian. She felt helpless in this
situation, none of her charges had ever died before and now this man was
slipping away before her eyes. His body was soaked in sweat, his face was pale
and his labored breaths were interrupted only by the coughing fits he would
have every so often. He had taken the medicines that the girl companion had
offered so Lelani wondered why he hadn’t gotten any
better.
She knelt down beside Brian and placed the cloth she had rewetted with cool
water back onto his forehead. Brian stirred, his eyes fluttered open. Lelani took a quick breath when she looked into his crystal
clear blue eyes.
Brian looked at the young girl for a moment, trying to decide if he knew her or
not. “Where’s Nick?” he asked in a hoarse voice.
“He’s out working,” Lelani replied, not offering any
more details. Brian’s eyes shifted back and forth as he was letting the
information register. He certainly was attached to the man named Nick.
“What day is this?”
“S-h-h-h,” Lelani softly admonished. “You ask too
many questions.”
“How long have I been here?”
Before Lelani could answer Brian’s question, he broke
out into another one of his coughing spells. She could hear the fluid moving in
his lungs as he coughed. She was certain that pneumonia had settled in.
Quickly jumping to her feet, Lelani rushed over to
the cabinet that held all of her medicinal herbs and tree roots. Doing a mental
recipie in her head, she grabbed the items she would
need to blend a formula to take the cough and hopefully the fever and pneumonia
away.
Brian drifted in and out of consciousness while she mixed the potion, sometimes
he would call out for the man called Nick and there were calls for someone
named Tyke which puzzled Lelani.
Lelani knelt next to Brian again once the formula was
blended. Holding a wooden mug, she placed it next to his lips. “Brian, you have
to drink this for me please.”
Brian did as she asked, but when the dark liquid entered his mouth, he started
coughing and then clamped his mouth shut.
“Please, Brian you must drink the medicine to get better.”
Brian kept his mouth drawn shut.
Out of despiration, Lelani
came up with an idea. “Brian, if you drink all of this for me, I will have Nick
come and see you.”
With that comment, Brian readily accepted the mixture and drank the entire mug.
***
