STATIC → newt , tmr [EDITING ; VERY SLOW UPDATES]

chapter iv

― ➶ ―

It was still dark when Tiago woke up. That was a good thing. A not-so-good thing was the pain he could feel throbbing in his leg. He lifted his head from the sandy ground beneath him and glanced down. He saw blood; very bad. Worse than he thought it might be.

He pushed his torso off the ground. He winced when he accidentally moved his leg. He couldn't tell if the blood was still flowing. He didn't even know where the wound actually was, he just knew it was somewhere in the calf of his right leg. Tiago searched the ground for his bow and found it lying a few feet away. His backpack was still on. He tugged it off to get the med-kit from inside.

Tiago had to rip the bottom half of his pants off to successfully bandage the wound, which he found was a nasty deep gash down the side of his calf, about four inches long. He guessed it was from the support beam that had followed him out the window. He managed to push himself up to stand, despite being wobbly. He figured he'd lost a bit of blood while he was out, which would explain the slight dizziness. He shook his head, trying to focus his thoughts.

He had to find Jorge, or Brenda, though he knew Brenda was taking Thomas to the tunnels and it was likely that they had been buried inside. The tunnels, Tiago thought suddenly, his mind foggy. Why was she taking them to the tunnels? Jorge had failed to mention to Tiago where they were going to get to the Right Arm. People in the mountains ... It was an incredibly long journey on foot, so they'd have to rest somewhere. Hopefully Jorge and Kim had managed to get the other teenagers out alive. Tiago could only imagine what had happened to Thomas and Brenda.

Jorge, Tiago's mind yelled, find Jorge, forget about Brenda for now. The tunnels led to the city, Tiago knew that. It was where he went to get new arrowheads. Why the hell would Brenda be taking Thomas to the city?

After racking his brain some more, the pieces finally clicked in Tiago's mind. Marcus. Jorge's old friend who smuggled kids into the Right Arm. They were going to find Marcus.

Tiago knew he had to follow Jorge's tracks; it was unlikely Brenda and Thomas had gotten out alive, much to Tiago's horrid realisation. Shaking his head to rid his mind of the thought, Tiago grabbed his bow and started to hobble towards the zipline, or where it would be if the compound was still standing. The entire place was rubble now, courtesy of Jorge's little pyrotechnic invention. Tiago glanced up at the building the zipline connected to; it was still standing. He saw the line of wire that had connected the two buildings, laying slack across a pile of rubble. There was no sign of anyone anywhere.

Tiago sighed. This was going to be a long journey.

― ➶ ―

Tiago was sure he'd been walking for weeks. The sun had risen, and it was starting to get to him. He didn't pack any water; he didn't think he'd need it, because he didn't think Jorge was going to blow up the compound. He never thought he'd be alone in the Scorch. He had his bow in his left hand; the string had snapped. He knew he could find something to replace it in the city, but he had to get there first.