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Adrenaline fuelled the panicked footsteps of our group as we huddled together in our journey back toward camp. The injuries that Jones had experienced prevented us from reaching any substantial speeds, leaving him supported by Miller and McIntyre who allowed him to wrap his arms around their shoulders. At the back of the pack, Murphy guarded us whilst I observed Jones as he rapidly lost colour.
Throughout our frenzied walk, there was almost no conversation. Each of us was on edge, desperate to reach the relative safety of our camp. Occasionally, we would each respond when one of us made a check that everyone was still alive, but that was the extent of our interaction.
The silence in the forest was heavy and suffocating, feeling as if there were enemies lurking everywhere, out of sight. Only the sound of leaves crunching beneath our feet and our laboured breathing from exertion broke the tension.
My head spun from a mixture of exhaustion and delirium, a faint throbbing in my back from the mysterious injury that I hadn't dared to examine yet. It was too dangerous to stop whilst in the woods, and in all honesty, I was frightened to investigate. Instead, I maintained my focus on reaching the camp before any other misfortune could befall us.
A sigh of relief echoed through each of us as our surroundings grew familiar again, giving us an additional burst of energy to reach our destination. Crossing the threshold of our territory, we practically crashed into the relaxed atmosphere. Jones seemed as if he were barely managing to remain on his feet, his skin pallid and sweaty.
I paused for a moment, leaning over to place my hands on my knees as I battled to catch my breath.
"Take him to the dropship. Princess can help." Murphy instructed before I could recover enough to assist and Miller and McIntyre complied without question.
With a final long gasp of breath, I straightened up to insist that I should follow them, when a sharp pain shot across my shoulder blades. Murphy immediately noticed the grimace that crossed my face, followed by a hiss that escaped my lips. He thinned his eyes in suspicion and despite my efforts to silently brush him off, he turned to fully view me.
"Hey. Are you hurt?" He blurted, his brows knitting together in obvious concern.
"I think I'm okay. It doesn't hurt that bad." I muttered weakly as I attempted to move toward my tent, but he blocked my path. "I just need to find out what I'm dealing with." I justified as I thoughtlessly moved to cross my arms and instead flinched in pain, giving him an indication of where my injury was located.
"Well, unless you've got eyes in the back of your head, I don't think you can do that." He remarked with a smirk and I sighed in defeat.
"Let me take a look." He offered, wasting no time in repositioning himself at my side.
