Sand Red

4

Yul stumbled back and threw his arm up in defense. There was a split second when time seemed to slow down and then there was a bone chilling crunch and he screamed a long, drawn out cry as the blade buried itself in his palm. Aida wrenched it out of him and he howled harder, falling to the floor.

'NO!' Od shrieked. He rushed to his brother. Aida stepped to him and made to stab him in the back.

'STOP!' I screeched. She stood over him, blade poised and both the man and her looked at me expectantly. 'We'll return it! We'll return it, okay? We'll return it, just leave him goddamn alone.' I moved towards Yul, my hands raised, hardly aware of what I was doing. Blood rushed in my ears and I couldn't think for fear for my friend. The man nodded at Aida and she stepped back and wiped Yul's blood from her blade casually before returning it to its sheath.

Yul lay propped in his brother's lap, his good hand wrapped around the injured palm. Od was speaking to him softly, stroking his hair.

I knelt down beside them. 'How deep is it?'

'Clean through,' Od said in a despairing tone. He gently coaxed Yul's hand open to show it to me. Yul whimpered as the palm was unclenched. The wound was bloodier than I could have imagined. Droplets of light shone through it from the window in the first room. Yellow bone stuck through the top of his hand. It was horrific. Blood spluttered out of a vein and bile rose to my mouth. Od stared at it in transfixed horror. 'What are we going to do? What if it gets infected?' he asked.

'I- I don't know,' I said, falling back. 'Will it heal?' Yul opened his eyes and looked to his brother for an answer.

It was the man who answered. 'Don't be silly,' he scoffed. 'Of course it will heal.' He walked over to where we were huddled and took Yul's hand. I bristled in anger, willing him to leave Yul alone, but I wanted desperately to know whether it would really heal, and Od had not moved to defy him, so I made no protest. Yul groaned as he turned his fingers outward so his wound could be inspected. The leader hummed as he looked it over as though it were something he did every day. 'It's clean through, but it will heal. We have a surgeon and the supplies are well stocked. You'll not be in danger of infection so long as you're with us. Aida will take you to the surgeon's rooms.' He smiled and his eyes crinkled at the corners. 'A tetanus shot is in order.' I had no idea what that meant.

***

My eyes opened to bright daylight the next morning. I quickly sat up as my surroundings came into view. The sky glared down at me from above and around me the campers were milling about, getting our remaining goods ready for the trading. I lifted my jacket from the dust and shook the night's grime from it. The yellow slid off easily and it was a rich brown again and I put it on before standing up. You might ask why on earth we need jackets in the desert. It's to protect yourself from sunburn and sand stinging your skin and to protect your body's water. And skin cancer is our most common disease after K1 Georgia.

I found Yul in the mess, building dedicated to food in this camp. He was sitting up, a ration of a handful of wild tomatoes in his right hand. Od looked up as I approached.

I smiled in greeting. 'How is it?' I asked Yul.

He inspected his bandaged palm. 'It's seen better days,' he said matter-of-factly. I laughed.

'He said it doesn't hurt as much,' Od said. 'The surgeon cleaned it painfully well. I doubt It'll get infected, if that surgeon keeps that up.'

Yul blanched. 'I have to do it again?'

'Yep,' Od replied.

'We'll cross that bridge when we come to it,' I said hastily, seeing Yul's face fall.