Surviving The Borderlands

Chapter Five

She faded in and out of consciousness as they searched for her. It was over an hour before they finally gave up and accepted she was gone. Niragi was the most disappointed but made sure to shout that if she survived, they would meet in another game and she wouldn't made it away next time.

Rose waited a while after they left, until she was sure she was alone. Slipping back into the main hall she spotted her boots and shirt, thankfully they had brought them down for her. The map she'd found earlier was still in her boot so she checked for the closest med bay.

After a short but excoriating walk she arrived, leaning heavily against the bench as she tried to calm her breathing. Back in the other world she had done some first aid courses and learnt some tips from her med student roommates while helping them study. Using the knife handle again to stop her screams she opened the antiseptic and poured it over the large gashes in her leg. Muffled screams echoed around empty aquarium and tears flooded her face as the antiseptic set her on fire, it soon proved too much as she fell into darkness.

Rose woke up again in complete darkness, the pain in her leg rushed through her as soon as she regained consciousness. Carefully she touched the skin on her leg, it was sticky but not wet, hopefully that meant the bleeding had stopped. She couldn't stitch it in the dark, so carefully she wrapped bandages around her upper thigh. She had never been in as much pain as she felt now, it radiated through her with every heartbeat or the slightest movement.

Wincing and crying she closely pulled herself up from the floor, testing how much her leg could handle. It instantly gave way causing her to fall back to the ground with a scream of pain ripping through her.

A laugh bubbled from somewhere deep inside her. The last 2 games she attended had left her injured, first a bullet wound then a shark bite. Seems whenever someone from the beach was around, she was destined to get hurt.

Looking around the room with the moon light she noticed a pair of crutches by the door, another laugh at her luck.

Come on, we need to get out of here, we need to fix your leg. She growled at her own thoughts, easier said than done. Every step sent shockwaves blasting through her system but if she didn't move she'd die – either from infection or starvation. Her tears never stopped as she hobbled out of the building.

One step at a time, we've got this, just get to a pharmacy, she repeated in her head. She carefully retrieved her bag from it's hiding place in the garden and started down the street gritting her teeth. Every step made her dizzy, she was hot and sweating and the rising sun stung her skin.

Unable to see clearly she stumbled down the street heading in the direction of the nearest chemist. Her mind pushed her to keep moving, don't give up yet, we're not done yet.

Her feet caught on something making her fall, she screamed at the sudden pain ripping through her body. She gripped her leg shouting and screaming every swear word in her vocabulary to try and push through the wall of pain that was trying to shove her back into the darkness.

Don't pass out, can't pass out she gritted her teeth, trying to breathe deeply. Trying to focus she looked to what had tripped her, it was messy hair lying on the street curled into a ball.

"It's you" she grunted barely containing her rage at the boy. He didn't answer her and she laid back on the ground struggling to force herself to do anything but feel the pain.

They laid there in silence for hours, not speaking a word. His friend wasn't here so she could guess happened there, it made sense why he was in the street – he'd given up. Or maybe he was dead.

She tried a few times but couldn't get back to her feet on her own, not for a while at least.

Approaching footsteps pulled her from her thoughts, her conversations with herself. Forcing her to focus, she realised the newcomer was gym shorts.