Survival

XII: Poison

(Pic is kind of what Walker looks like but with longer hair, but you guys can just imagine him however you want)

Liam's POV.

A week.
A week of taking care of him. A week of dealing with all of his persistent words. A week... To be able to catch that there was something wrong with him. It had been a week since Bach had taken Jason out on a hunting trip, but that was the only one he went on, for a week he did little tasks around the base. That guy was really a pain in the ass, he'd gotten himself into two fights with Mikah, one actually ended up turning into a fistfight... And then another one with Viper but luckily Walker had been near and knocked Jason clear out before he could even lift a finger at her; personally though? I thought he had done Jason a favor, I knew what Viper was capable of and it wouldn't have ended pretty. The girl in the cells with Jason still hadn't talked or done anything significant. I really thought it was time for us to do something with her, and by that, I meant taking her outside of the city and ending her misery. I truly didn't understand how someone could just choose not to talk for five fucking years; that just wasn't normal. I sighed brushing a hand through my hair, I had spoken my opinion before to Nicole but he just said we couldn't unless we wanted to lose Walker and we all knew how valuable he was to the group. I paced back and forth along a wall in an empty room letting out an agitated sigh and looking up at the ceiling,
"Why world? Why did you have to make my life more complicated?" Every chance he got Jason would ramble on about how Sylvia was still alive, or at least until Walker killed her. I rolled my eyes, there was no way in hell Sylvia was still alive, the Taipans would've taken her with us to get an extra person, and if they didn't then they would have killed her; which is exactly what happened. They had said she tried running away and one of the Taipans got her in the back but it was too severe a wound to be able to take her back so they just ended her. I shook my head as if the simple gesture could make my past just evaporate, it just made everything more complicated. On one hand, every logical bone in my body said that my sister was dead, on the other hand deep down... I knew that this Jason guy would have had to of known my sister in real life to know her name, to know I was her brother, to know what she looked like and what she liked and was good at... Yes, he'd constantly describe her but I'd always just shake my head dismissing the idea, even if it was true, it didn't matter because Jason had said where Walker had hit her with the ax and it would have been a one in hundred chance of her surviving a wound like that on her own. And you want the truth? I'm pretty sure I just didn't want to accept the idea that she had been alive this whole time living and surviving out there on her own... And that I'd once again feel the pain of losing my sister all over again all those years ago, I didn't want to have to feel the ache in my chest of knowing I'd never see her again, or know how much she'd learned- I cursed at myself, all of this was just clouding my mind further and making me want to believe the inevitable truth, but I wouldn't, I couldn't. I had a life, I had a way of surviving in this cruel world. And wasn't that the point? To survive? Wasn't everyone's goal in life, to just survive to live another day? I took a deep breath clearing the image of my sister's beautiful hazel eyes and stalked out of the room. It was just like an office room or something with shelves and I always went there when I wanted time to myself. Continuing down the grey and tan walls with paint and holes in them I took feeling the stiff and old carpet underneath. I pushed open a door that set on its hinges heavily making a creaking sound before I descended down the stairs keeping my hands in my pant pockets with a cold blank face. But when I hit even floor and reached the end of the hall I was completely shocked at what I found. Jason was keeled over clutching his gut while blood trickled out of his mouth, I could hear his groans as he tried to ignore the pain that seemed to send tremors down his whole body. I saw a pile of vomit a couple of meters away and glanced over at the other side to see the girl in her cell clutching the bars and watching Jason with concern, though she instantly crawled back into a corner when she noticed I'd spotted her. I blinked a couple of times before everything finally click into place about what was actually happening and I quickly rushed forward unlocking his cell and pulling him towards the wall where I laid him on his back. He didn't fight it at all but instead focused on clenching his teeth and breathing heavily.
"What happened?" I asked sternly looking over him but I didn't see anything out of place or unusual,
"M... My.... My..." He shuddered his head lolling to the side as sweat dripped down his face,
"Your what!" I almost yell shaking him, afraid he was going to pass out or even die right here,
"...Shoulder..." He said so faintly I almost didn't pick up the syllables and with one more shaky breath, his head hit the back wall as he passed out. I carefully rolled him onto his stomach, his body temperature was so high that I could feel the heat even through his clothes. I pulled his shirt away from his neck but when I found nothing I pulled the shirt quickly off of him, it was completely soaked and I couldn't help but wonder how long he had been here convulsed in his pain. I once again laid him down and instantly my eyes met a ghastly sight; I almost threw up my breakfast and dinner as my nose finally caught a rotting fuel smell. On his right shoulder, there was a small cut, though all around it the skin was purple and black and it looked raw and quite painful, I cringed just looking at it, imagining if I'd have gotten that cut on my shoulder. I scrunched up my nose as I looked closer, it wasn't an infection, I've seen many infections before and none of them looked like this... Which made me realize the truth of this situation, somehow, at one point or another, Jason had been poisoned. I grabbed his shirt and wrapped it around his wound, mainly because I didn't want to come even close to touching it, and picked Jason up holding him on my shoulder. Even though I hated this man to his very bone for the torrent he'd caused in my head, a small part of me felt responsible for this man... And the small part of me that thought he had been telling the truth about Sylvia would mean that he told the truth of trying and stopping the Taipans from killing her... Which meant, even though he didn't succeed, that if he was telling the truth I felt I owed him. I spared a glance at the girl and felt her gaze burning into my back as I hauled Jason up the stairs. Once I reached the top of the stairs pushing open the door and stumbling out I braced myself on the wall of the hall, Jason was surprisingly heavy and it made me uneasy feeling his sweat threatening to soak into my clothes. Luckily for me when I rounded the first corner I ran into Walker who stepped back in shock before quickly taking Jason and we walked through the halls with Jason between us,
"What happened?" I hear Walker's emotionless voice echo across the walls,
"I'm not entirely sure... He passed out soon after I got there. He has a small cut on his shoulder though and I think it was poisoned," I add glancing down to see drops of blood falling to the ground from Jason's mouth as he hung limply between us. Walker just huffed pulling Jason's arm up higher over his shoulder. As soon as we found an empty room I swiped all the things that were covering it off and Walker laid Jason on his stomach taking off the shirt and revealing the cut. I saw his face contort into one of disgust as I ran out the hall spotting Adam, a sixteen-year-old who had joined us about seven months ago and stopped him quickly,
"Go get Jasmine!" I ordered and without a second thought he turned around running down the hall,
"And bring water and cloth!" I called after him, the only sign that he's heard me was his hand flying up in the air behind him in a thumps-up. I ran back into the room,
"Where did he get that cut?" I questioned turning my gaze onto Walker who looked deep in thought before a scowl covered his face and he hit the wall out of frustration before turning his attention back to me,
"When Bach had him come with us to go find supplies... It had to be then, someone with poison must have cut him and nobody noticed..." He growled again glaring at the small cut under Jason's shoulder as if he could will the poison out of his system. I sighed ringing my fingers through my air as I paced back and forth across the room. I whirled around when I heard hurried steps to see Jasmine appear with a bag and Adam behind her with a bowl in hand and a rag soaking in the water. Jasmine didn't know a tun about healing, but she knew more than most people around here. She quickly ran forward turning Jason over and feeling his forehead, she ringed the water out of the rag brushing the sweat off of his face back, being careful not to touch the wound,
"Liam, you need to inform Nicole, see what he wants me to do," Jasmine stated not taking her eyes off of the wound that was now oozing some sort of white liquid, I scrunched up my nose at the sight before reluctantly leaving the room and heading to all the places I'd probably find Nicole. I wiped my brow trying to remain calm, but poison was a serious thing... I couldn't help the thought of what would have happened if Jason had died instead of Adalius, would someone else have gotten poisoned? Would someone have died on a raiding trip? Or would there be no serious wounds? I shook my head not really caring, what happened happened and nothing could change that, besides, deep down he knew that truly there were only a few people in the Taipans that he liked. And no matter how annoying or irritating he was, he truly didn't want Jason to die, or at least not yet.