Rise Above

Chapter Six

When Amira woke it was long past dawn and Sam was slumped over in the spot he'd been in when she first lay down. Savanna was still asleep. "Damn it." Amira was by his side in seconds, but she couldn't be certain it was soon enough. His skin was white and he felt hot. "Sav, wake up."
"Oh no." Savanna was on her feet in seconds. "What do you need?"
"Hot water. Get some of that mushroom Rex told us about. It might be enough to save Sam, but I don't know."
"Do you really think it's a good idea?"
"No, but it's the only one I have right now." Amira stared at her older brother. "I have to try something. I can't leave him to die without trying something."
"I know. I'm sorry. I just..."
"Don't apologise. Asking is the right thing to do. If you can think of anything, please tell me. I don't want to try this. I think it's going to kill him. I just don't have any other choice. We can't lose him."
"While I'm getting the hot water going I'll see what I cam come up with, but there is a chance I won't be able to. The mushroom might be our only option."
"That's what I thought." A tear trickled down Amira's cheek. "Lady Kahina and Eugene are going to pay dearly for this. Taking my brother away..." She scrubbed the tear away. "It's not on. I will find the way out of here and I will show them what an angry survivor can do."
"Good." Their eyes met for a moment. "Do you have any idea where you might find the way out?"
"Not a clue, but I'm going to find it."
Savanna walked off and Amira moved Samuel as gently as she could into a laying down position. "Why didn't you come to me?"
"Happened... too... quickly... and... you're... wasting...time... trying... to... save... me. ...It's... not... gonna... work."
"You don't know that, Sammy." Carefully she tugged his t-shirt over his head and tried not to shudder at what she saw. His whole side had gone black, which meant he was probably right, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to try. He was her only brother. "I'm going to take the poultice off. It might hurt."
As there was no reply it seemed likely he'd passed out again. Doing her best to make it as painless as possible she pulled the poultice away and saw that had gone black as well. Shaking her head, Amira tossed it into the fire. The mushroom really was his only option. The poison, if that was what she was dealing with, had done a lot of damage, so the only way she might be able to get him to survive was by purging it out of him. When she ran her hand over him she couldn't help thinking the mushroom wasn't going to do any good. He was half dead already. Giving him the mushroom would take him all the way into the land of death.