Birds of a Feather (Apocalypse AU)

Chapter 15 - Pots and Pans (Ace)

TW: gore, violence, blood, cursing

Kieran rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand, taking a deep breath and holding his hands in front of him carefully. Looking down at the old blood dried in the wrinkles in his palms, cracking over his calluses and flaking red snow onto the ground. Though he had learned basic first aid over the course of both school and personal experience, nothing he had ever encountered had been this severe. Kieran straightened their back, cracking their neck carefully and rolling their shoulders, relieving some tension. Though it had only been 20 minutes at the most, he was already feeling the strain of bending over for an extended period of time. They sighed and moved back to put more wrappings around some of the cloth that had already been soaked through, staining it with a slowly growing crimson splotch.

Ace and Kieran worked without speaking, their fingers growing sore as they continued to knot slips of cloth and tarp around wounds and scratches. Without proper supplies or the aid of medical professionals, there was only so much they could do. Plus, their hands would only make infections worse if they kept touching the open wounds. Water would have been helpful to keep their hands clean, but supply was limited and they had no choice but to conserve it.

Ace jumped as Kole tapped them lightly on their shoulder. "Dude, not now-"

"Yeah yeah," Kole interrupted, clearly distracted. Ace looked up, confused at why their work had been so easily cast aside, only to find Kole looking back towards the plane.

Ace leaned away from Kieran and the person, squinting his eyes and taking a closer look at their plane. They had been so focused that they hadn't heard or seen anything since helping Kieran earlier. As if the cotton had been pulled out of their ears, Ace's stomach clenched at the shrill screams of students and frantic yells of adults trying to coordinate carrying luggage and running. Stunned, Ace sat still as a group of students ran by, some that she recognized from classes and other events around the school. Though it was hard to identify over the rank odors of the burning plastic and skin, Ace faintly smelled something similar to rotten meat, putrid and definitely disgusting.

Shaking their head, Ace blinked their eyes, taking a deep breath of the gases swirling noxiously through the air.

Kole stood next to Ace, tapping one foot anxiously. "We need to go," they said, beads of sweat starting to form on her temple as they pointed at the mobs forming at the foot of the plane, "That crowd-- they're not good news."

Ace nodded wordlessly, eyes still stuck on the slowly approaching group that was tailing the running students and adults. There was something mesmerizing about their gait, how they walked so awkwardly and slowly, almost as if they were in sync with each other.

Kole tugged Ace by her hoodie's sleeves, this time more urgently. "Ace please, we need to leave."

Ace turned, kneeling down next to Kieran, who was still trying their best to knot bandages together. "Kie, come on, we have to get moving." he nodded his chin at the crowd coming towards them.

Kieran looked up, understandably confused, but a quick glance behind him told him everything he needed to know. He stood up, still holding his hands by his sides, not touching anything. "Well, we can't just leave them here," Kieran argued, looking around for a cart or car to move them from the area. Ace looked down at the victim before him and figured that they were tall, over 6 feet (180 cm) and it wouldn't be easy to drag around on the ground or carry.

Rae and Kole looked on doubtfully as Ace and Kieran combed the area looking for anything with wheels that they could help move the figure on. Anxious, Rae and Kole began to move closer to the individual as the crowd approached. Luckily they were moving so slowly that it gave them a little more time, but it still didn't seem long enough to figure out a way to move the person.