Venom

Chapter 2

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My whole word flashes before my eyes, Im gonna be such a set back, I can't run, well I can barely walk to be honest. If the Americans found us I would probably just give up, there's no point in running anymore. No, there is a point, I can't let Lee die because of me. I have to protect him, even though he is my older brother who's supposed to be protecting me. I look down at my stump of a leg and see a bloody mess. Lee has stopped the bleeding with an old rag which is now soaked in cherry red blood. But amazingly I feel fine, I feel no pain, you'd think that I'd be freaking out after just realising I'm missing a leg but no, I am calm.
'Um, why am I not in pain' I ask Lee casually.
'You do know that I am kind of a doctor, mum taught me everything she knew' he replied.
'I've cleaned the wound and bandaged it, you should be okay as long as we take things slow'.
'Slow?'
I struggle to my feet, holding onto the branch of a tree to assist me up.
'We don't have time to be slow, the soldiers could be hear any minute and we'd be dead!' I shout at him.
'Riley, I am not leaving you here we will figure something out' he assures me.
I look down at my feet trying not to look Lee in the eye. Why do I feel like all I'm doing is slowing us down, I know it's not my fault but I still feel responsible. Lee walks over to me and puts his hand on my back.
'We're gonna get through this, okay' he looks at me like I'm supposed to respond, but how can I ? We're not gonna get through this. We're not gonna be on the run forever. Eventually we will be caught and who knows what will happen to us. They will kill us, no that would be too easy, I've heard rumours about the American leader, I think his name was Clyde, apparently he tortures his victims in the most painful way possible. Would it be easier just to die now. We'd never have to go through that pain. No, I can't do that I think to my self, we can't give up now, after losing almost our whole family, for what? Nothing? No, I want revenge.

Lee says we need to start moving, I nod in agreement. He starts searching the damp ground.
'What are you looking for?' I ask him. No answer. He continues to shuffle through the leaves and twigs.
'Ah hah, found it' he says in excitement. He hands me two long sticks.
'Great, now all we need is a fire and we can make some s'mores' I say sarcastically.
'No no no, you can use these sticks as crutches to help you walk' he says while demonstrating how to use them.
'Oh, well, thanks, I guess' I stutter.
It actually is a smart idea. Come to think of it Lee is full of smart ideas.

When we were younger we got lost in the shopping centre and I totally freaked out. I said to Lee that we had to find Mum, but he said no. He said to stay in the exact same spot where we were now. That way Mum would know where to find us. I did not like this idea one bit, I broke down in tears but Lee remained confident that Mum would find us and sure enough, she did. Lee's always been there for me and I've always pushed him away when really I should be thanking him.

'Hey, Lee!' I shout trying to catch up to him.
'You okay?' He asks me.
'Yeah I'm fine, I just wanted to say thank you'.
'For what?' He asks.
'Everything' I reply.
'Um okay, are you on drugs or something' he jokes. I laugh and for the first time since the war started, I feel happy.