Rogue

Chapter 5: A New Face

                               I came to with the sound of scuffling in the background. I turned over and my head swam from the simple movement. It was Dumbo and some crazy guy fighting on the ground. The man had a big hunting knife in one hand and was trying to stab him. I knew if I didn't intervene, Dumbo could be killed. 

                               I shakily crawled over to them and kicked the man in the face. He grunted and then jumped on top of me. He started throwing punches, and my head could barely take the blows. I looked to my left and Dumbo was crawling towards the knife which was lying on the ground. I saw him pick it up and start crawling towards the man.  I became for determined and starting pushing the mans face away from me. I dug my thumbs into his eyes and he screamed. He got back and rubbed at his eyes. I crawled free and stood back and Dumbo walked up to the man and slit his throat. The man made a horrible chocking noise and fell to the ground. Slowly, a puddle of blood began to form around him. 

                                 "Thank you," I managed to rasp out. My head was pounding. 

"No problem," he said, dropping the knife with a clatter. We both sat back and caught and caught our breath. After a while, I turned to the figure in the chair, but I couldn't see who it was. Who ever it was didn't move at all; they were probably dead. 

"Do you have a flashlight?" I asked.

"Yeah," Dumbo said, and tossed me one from his pack. I switched it on and pointed at the figure. Sitting in the chair was a girl, probably my age (early 20's). She didn't seem to be conscious, but I could see her chest rising and falling. I got to my feet and walked over to her. She was covered in bruises and her hair was matted with blood. 

"There's a girl here," I said, "she's alive."

"We should take her back," Dumbo said, "we can help her."

"Okay," I said, and took out my hatchet. I gently cut the zip cord around her skinny wrists, and then lifted her onto my shoulder. "Let's go before those soldiers come back," I said. Dumbo got up and we both left the room.  

             Fortunately, the walk back through the forest was pretty quiet. Dumbo didn't bother to strike up a conversation, so we walked in silence. I was left alone with my thoughts. I wondered who I was carrying, and why they had been locked up in some sort of a torture chamber. 

"We're getting close," Dumbo said, "pointing at the road through some trees, "Hang tight, I'm gonna take a leak." He set his rifle against a downed log and walked over to a tree. While he was doing his business, I sat the unconscious girl down and caught my breath. I wiped some sweat off my forehead, took a drink of water and looked back at Dumbo. I was going to call out, but I noticed something protruding from his chest. Looking closer, I saw that in was an axe. I ran over to him.

"Help..." he managed to say through the blood filing his mouth. 

"Sh*t!" I said, "What do I do?" I looked back at him, and he was very pale. Suddenly, he fell to his knees, and a second, later, he fell flat on his face. I stood back, shocked at his sudden death. I looked around and I couldn't hear a single sound, it was as if the forest was holding its breath. I quickly ran back to the fallen log and shouldered my weapon. I stayed put for at least ten minutes before I decided the attacker had left. I picked up the girl and started to walk towards the road. I never did find out who killed Dumbo.

                                                                                                      ****

               As soon as I returned to the Blood Clan base, Storm was waiting for me.

"Hey Sketch," he said, "who are you carrying?"

"Some girl they had captive," I said, "I couldn't leave her."

"I've would've done the same thing," he said, patting me on the back, "I assume Dumbo's dead?"

"Yup," I said quietly. I looked down at my shirt and noticed it was covered in blood and small chunks of flesh.

"He was a bit of a downer anyways." He was silent for a bit, and looked more closely at my face. "What happened to your eye?"

"Some dude slashed it with a knife," I said.

"It'll be pretty badass once it scars," he said. "Let's get you fixed up." 

             Storm led me to the hospital wing. I could never get over the feeling of cold air washing over you as soon as you walked through the door. The air had the ever present smell of rotting flesh and strong chemicals. 

"Hey, Storm!" An excited voice called. Polly practically ran up to us.

"What's up, Polly?" Storm replied.

"Same old crap," she said, "what can I do for you today?"

"Well," he said, "Sketch is pretty busted up, and he brought this girl, I'm pretty sure she's unconscious."

"Yeah," I confirmed. 

"Okay," she said, putting on some latex gloves, "follow me." Polly led me to an empty bed and told me set the girl down. Polly grabbed her arm and put an IV into her arm. After she was done tending to the girl she came over and fixed my wounds.

"You be careful," Polly said, "if you keep risking your life like that, you're going to die."

"He's aware of the risks," Storm said, looking me in the eye. I nodded my head.

"Thanks," I said, and got up. I looked over at the girl in the bed and looked over at Polly. "Can you let me know when she gets up?" I asked.

"Sure," she said, a small smile appearing on her face. 

"Okay," Sketch," Storm said, "we're late for a meeting, we gotta go." 

"Okay," I said and began to follow him to the door. I looked back at the girl in the bed and wondered when she'd wake.