The sun blinds my eyes as I rush out of the cabin. The high-pitched screams and yells pause momentarily. I quickly scan the surrounding area looking for Jonas. He's nowhere to be seen among the lush and bulky forest. I cup my hands around my mouth and yell out into the woods, "Jonas!" I impatiently wait for five seconds. No answer. "Jonas! Where are you?" I repeat. No answer. I begin to circle around the cabin towards the back in hopes of finding him. Suddenly I hear a loud voice coming from the hunting grounds, "Amber, come over here!" I scramble towards the sound and sprint as fast as I can. I rush through the woods hopping over mossy logs and avoiding bushes.
As I approach the creek, I can make out two figures. One is lying down by the creek, while the other, with a smaller frame is crouched over him. One of the figures notices me and runs towards me. It's Jonas and I run towards him. I embrace him and frantically ask "What happened? Are you hurt?" Tears are streaming down his eyes and he shakes his head from side to side. His eyes are wide and he stays frozen in a state of shock. Finally, he turns and points to the man that rests next to the creek behind him. I let go of Jonas and carefully approach the man. He's lying with half his body in the creek. He lays motionless, clutching his lower stomach and forehead.
"Who are you?" I call out to him from afar. He lifts his neck and mumbles a few words, but falls back down quickly. His head makes a loud thud as it makes impact with a rock and he groans loudly. "Jonas, let's help him up," I command. Jonas quickly comes to my aid and lifts him up on one shoulder while I lift him up on the other. It's no use, Jonas isn't able to carry half the man's weight and his grip slips. The man begins to slump back down to the ground and I lay him down softly. "Jonas, run to the house, go get a quilt and duct tape." Jonas listens to my command and hurried back up to the house. I reach down to the man's neck and place three fingers gently upon his skin. I wait there for a minute and think to myself, "It may not be strong, but there's still a pulse." I closely examine his body and notice a deep gash in the lower portion of his stomach. I don't know much about wounds, but I do know that only a knife would be capable of an injury like that. There's also multiple lines of blood dripping down from his light brown hair.
Blood stains his dirty white shirt and navy blue jeans. How would this even happen? Who would do this? I ask myself. He seems no older then 25 and looks young. We need to get him inside quickly. I quickly spring up and gather 4 medium-sized branches of equal length from the surrounding trees. I hear the leaves crunch under boots, and see Jonas running with a quilt in one hand and a half-used roll of silver duct tape. He tosses the quilt to me from five yards away and begins to pant for air. I grab the purple and black quilt and fold it over twice to create a rectangle. I grab the four sticks on the ground and place them around the perimeter of the rectangular quilt. Jonas hands me the duct tape and I cut 4 long pieces with my teeth. I quickly wrap each piece around all 4 corners of the quilt and sticks. "Jonas, help me lift him on here," I mutter. Jonas rushes to the man's side and grabs his left hand, while I grab his right.
We drag him through the dirt for about 20 yards and then onto the makeshift bed. Jonas grabs two long pieces of duct tape and places it across his body so he doesn't fall out. I grab the 2 front sticks, while Jonas grabs the back. "Ready? 3,2,1, lift!" It was surprisingly easier and we began to carry him up towards the cabin with ease.
In 3 minutes we manage to enter through the back door, and begin to walk towards the counter. I let one hand go of the stick and used it to quickly clear the counter of any items. They fell on the hard floor and made loud sounds. We struggle to lift him up onto the counter, but we finally make it. He lays there, motionless and not making a sound. Jonas opens the cabinet and hands me one of the many emergency first-aid kits. I crack open the white lid and examine the various tools I have to work with. I take out the silver scissors, bandages, cotton balls, disinfectant wipes, and the stitches. I stare at the stitches quietly for a second and remember the time when I had to stitch my father's leg, because a snake had bit it open. He patiently instructed me on how to use them, even though he was in great pain. We didn't have any anti-pain medicines at that time and we still don't.
I lift his bloody shirt off his stomach and examine the wound. I wince when I see how deep and wide it is and Jonas runs into his room. I sprinkle water into my hands and into the wound. I carefully touch the area with disinfectant wipes and place the stitches onto the scissors. I slowly drag each little train track into his skin from one side of the wound to the other; slowly closing it. Jonas comes back with a pack of melted ice and gently places it onto his forehead. He looks in the other direction trying not to see the blood. After placing 5 stitches I step outside and clean my hands once more with water, and stare at the setting sun.
The sky is painted with various shades of pink and blue today. I look out, across the miles of forests and lakes and whisper "Where are you dad?"
YOU ARE READING
A World Reborn
Научная фантастика(Rank #149 in Sci-Fi) In the year 2041, the first bombs were dropped. Countless nations engaged in total warfare and the end result was the destruction of everyday life. Riots and looting became common as people began to loose trust in one another...
