Love Is Moons Away

Chapter 9- Bullets of Death

SHANE
"GO!" She screamed. And I stupidly complied. When I jumped, there was a slight rush of air that filled my ears, along with Aspen's yelp of surprise. Then the water hit me. Cold as crap. And it is consuming my entire body.
You know that feeling of drowning you get?
Well this is exactly like...wait no. This is it.
I kick up as hard as I can, and break through the surface. I have to fight extra hard because of Aspen weighing me down. I immediately look around for Anthia.
And then I hear the same noise that took my Eddie.
The gun shot.
And I see her tumble into the water, head first. My heart seizes in my chest. She doesn't come up. I don't see her piercing petroleum blue eyes connecting with my own.
And then I saw her. Her head bobbed just above. I saw the blood gushing down her face. I tried to swim towards her, but Aspen is weighing me down. I slide out the knife that is luckily in my pocket still. I cut the ropes free.
"Aspen," I gasp. "Swim towards the shore." He understands and obliges.
Then I kick towards Anthia. She keeps just getting out of my reach.
After struggling for what seems like an hour, I eventually grab onto her. She is unconscious. I hold her close to my body, and breaststroke sideways. When we reach the shore, I gasp for air, and cough up water. Aspen comes and licks my face.
Then I roll over, and check on my viper. She is breathing slowly and shallow.
Her arm is bleeding, around her shoulder. It's a gunshot wound. But that doesn't explain the gushing blood on her face. Then I see it's coming from her scalp.
It is absolutely disgusting.
Skin in cut so deep, I can practically see her skull. I'm exaggerating, but so much blood is gushing out, I assume it has gone that deep. 
And she is freaking shivering. I panic. I drag her into the woods.
"Damn. Why does water weigh down people so much," I gasp.
To our advantage, the bags are waterproof. I tell Aspen to guard Anthia while I change.
I pull my bag out of her own, and then think of taking off the synthetic faces. I peel mine off, along with hers.
I go behind a large pine tree, and strip down. The cold air stings like a knife. I quickly dry off with a towel from my bag, and slip on thermal leggings, a pair of joggers, and another pair of sweatpants. Then I pull on a long sleeve t-shirt, three short-sleeved ones, a zip up jacket, a hoodie, and my winter coat.
I come back, and see that Anthia's skin has turned translucent blue. I need to get her out of these wet clothes. But that is going to be extremely awkward. But I push through.
I take off her backpack, and throw it to the side.
I strip off her sweatshirt and under shirt, until she is left with only her under garment. And I am not removing that.
I put on two more of those with the most fumbling fingers possible. Aspen even looks away. She is still shivering though. Even more so now. Temperatures can get below -20 degrees. Right now it's -23. And it doesn't help that we just took a swim in freezing waters.
"You're gonna be okay, viper," I whisper. I consider to keep dressing her, but then I remember.
I need to take care of her gunshot wound. I rush over to my bag, and pull out the medical kit and unzip it. I clutch the bottle of rubbing alcohol. I douse alcohol onto the wound, and her eyelids flutter, but she doesn't wake up. I don't want to pull out the bullet, but it might have a tracker in it. I pull tweezers from the first-aid kit out.
"I'm sorry, Annie, this is gonna hurt," I whisper.
I jam the tweezers in, and gag at the sickening sound they make. I finally feel them clamp down on the shriveled piece of metal. But it's lodged in there. I yank, and with a ripping noise, the tweezer and the bullet come out. It's covered in strings of muscle, blood, and the tiniest bit of skin.
I consider burying it in the solid ground to lead them there while we move on. But I don't think we're going to be making much headway in the next few days due to viper's injuries. The Creator's minions will be on us in no time.
I glance over at Aspen, and see him lickinng river mud off of his wet coat.
That's it! The river!
I run to the bank, and throw it a far down the bank as possible. Not only will the river clean the bullet of Anthia's DNA, but it will carry far away from us.
I jog back to Anthia's side. I feel her skin. Frozen. She keeps getting colder and colder. I curse myself. I should have put a blanket on her.
I search inside of her bag, and pull out the maroon blanket lined with fleece.
I drape it over her chest down, leaving her shoulder exposed.
The wound in still bleeding like crazy, giving me no option but to stuff it full.
I shove gauze in the wound to stop the flow of blood. It takes three wads of it.
I wrap it up real good, making sure it's nice and tight. I'm worried I'll cut off circulation. I undo the gauze wrapping, and rewrap, but a little looser. Don't want her arm falling off.
I can tell that even in her sleep, she is in pain. 
I shove a needle full of morphine into her arm, and squeeze. Her body relaxes, putting me slightly at ease.
Now for her head injury. Since I'm out on the streets a lot, President Lockhart made me practice medical procedures. And during those classes I learned how to do stitches.
I clean the wound first with the alcohol. That clears the nasty dirt. I pull out bits of rock that got stuck in it with the bloody tweezers.
Do I check for concussion or brain bleeds?
I shake my head no. I only have trauma medical experience. Hopefully there's a society member here in Germany that can help me.
I numb the area with numbing cream. I stumble for more of the medical supplies I need. The needle I'm grabbing for pokes my finger, making a little bead of blood form on the tip. I also grab the stitching material I need. I string the plastic stitching material, and tie it off.
Clean as possible, I think over and over again.
I thread each stitch with as much care as possible.
Once I'm finished, my head hurts from concentration. It looks fantastic.
"Thank Edward and Lockhart for that," I smirk at Aspen. But of course he can't see it.
Although Lockhart made me take the class, Eddie made me practice on clothes, perfecting my strategy.
I sigh, relieved that the medical part is over. Now that I'm done playing doctor, I continue with my process of changing her.
I pull on three camisoles over her undergarments. Then I throw on a long sleeve thermal shirt. Then three short sleeved shirts. A zip up sweatshirt, and then a hoodie. Then I pull on her winter coat as well.
I feel very repetitive with the dressing. But it is very necessary. I pull the blanket off her legs.
Time for the bottom half.
I peel off of her boots, and her leg warmers that are made of wool. I reach up, and pull on the waistband of her leggings. I pull the sticky fabric off her now purple skin. I leave the under garment again, and put on three compression shorts, then thermal leggings. Plus another pair of leggings, joggers, and sweatpants.
I then put on three pair of socks on both of us, and put both our winter boots on.
"Aspen, come here, let me dry you off," and he complies. I wrap a blanket around my shivering puppy. I need to get even more into the woods. I sling both our backpacks onto my now very puffy back due to clothes, and tromp over to her side.
I prop her upright against a tree, bend down, and lean her against me so she's slightly over my shoulder. Then, I lift up, and jump a few times to have her bend over my shoulder comfortable as possible.
I then set off. 
I trek through the woods for an hour. With a human being on you that is already one hundred and sixty pounds plus about three thousand pounds of clothes, it's really hard to move at a quick pace. Plus I can't see anything, so I keep tripping, sending both of us to the ground.
I can tell Aspen is distressed because because he can't see any branches, or slopes, so he keeps tripping. I try to lead him along with noise. But he's not having it. Partially due to the fact he's panting so hard he can't actually hear anything.
But whenever I look back, he's right on my heel.
After awhile, I stop. Sweat is dripping down my back. It has seeped into my clothes. Not to mention the sweat smells. The stench of the river is sticking to me, mixing with the sweat.
I turn to see Aspen sniffing the air, and then stumble up to my waiting hand.
Smell. That's how he's following me.
"Aspen, let's call it a night," I call. He huffs in appreciation. I lower myself, along with Anthia on the ground.
Aspen saddles up to my side, shivering.
"How 'bout a fire boy? Does that sound nice and warm?" He licks my hand in response.
I reach for some matches and flint in my bag. I search around for kindling to make it really nice.
I arrange them neatly in a pile, putting the flint in the middle.
I strike the match, and light the pile. It goes up in a satisfying whoosh.
In thirty minutes, a nice warm fire is burning.
My hands unthaw from the licks of heat. I pull Anthia as close as I can to the fire without her being burnt.  I see her blue skin begin to turn the normal peach that her complexion usually takes on.
I smile as her face relaxes. I brush the icicles out of her hair.
By the warm fire, I start to drift off. 
"Aspen, keep watch," I whisper, as my eyes shut out the fire light.
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Labored breathing. Choking. Those are the noises I wake up to. I shoot up, and look around for the noises that haunt my easy sleep. I look at Aspen, whose vision is aimed at my viper.
The labored and choked breathing is coming from her lips.
I stumble over to check her temperature. She is burning up.
How the hell is she burning up?! I cleaned her wounds thoroughly!
Somehow, she got a infection. And I have nothing in my medical kit to help with this kind of shit.
How do I cool her down?
The only thing I can possibly think of is stripping down some of her layers. But I don't want her to get to cold. So I only remove a few.
I drag her away from the fire, in hope to take away to bite of fever.
"We need help, Aspen. And quick." I whisper.
I think of who has the most connections in all of the societies.
I whip out my phone, and dial in a number with fumbling fingers.
My shaky hands bring the phone to my ear.
"Jesucristo, Shane. It's three in morning. Some of us are trying to sleep." Marcello's choppy English greets me over the crackling speaker of my mobile device.
"Marcello. I need your help. We were trying to get over the border, but there were patrols-"
"Shane, slow. I can't understand what you saying."
"We were trying to get over the border. And there were patrols. We snuck around them, but they caught us. We were making a run for it, and I jumped into the river. I thought Anthia was right after me. But she wasn't. She got shot, and got a huge gash on her head. I cleaned the wounds and everything, but she is burning up. Somehow she got a infection. And I don't know what to do. Marcello," I choke, tears blocking my throat. "Marcello, I don't know what to do."
I hear him breath for a few seconds, and then the ruffling of sheets, the click of a lamp.
"Shane. There are society members in Germany. They can help you. But you have to find them. I can send you locations. And directions. But you need to be swift."
"Why? This isn't that fast of a moving infection is it?"
"Shane, hear me. I think I know what is happening. The Creator's government has created a new type of bullet. They only use it on certain people. It is not only a tracker, but it also contains high concentrations of poison. It makes the victim seems to have infection. By the time they realize it is not, it is usually to late. You need to move quickly. For her sake. I'll forward you the directions to the nearest member."
My heart is being torn apart at the thought of her dying. She can't die now. She has to find him.
"Shane," Marcello's voice sounds in my ear. But it sounds distant.
"Shane, you can do this. I believe in you."
"Thanks, Marcello. I call you when we get there."
I flip my phone shut.
"No way in hell am I letting you die out here."
I pick Anthia up again, and wait for the buzz of my phone of directions.
When the text sends through, I laugh at the cheeky bastard Marcello is.
It even has directions on how to get out of the woods!
I turn the GPS on, and start my trek to find help.
As I labor through the brush, I start to get angry.
This guy, who is suppose to be her soulmate, has left her stranded. He is suppose to love her, for all time, not leave her to wonder if she's worth it.
For seventeen years, she has pinned over this guy, imagined what he's like, that he was her perfect prince charming. 
She even told me this shit, that no matter how down she felt, that it was comforting knowing he was out there. That he was trying to build up the tension, so when they met it was ten times better than what she had ever imagined.
But now she was demanding answers. The pathetic little fantasy is gone.
And I am not letting her die, because she deserves those answers.
And if she doesn't, I will.
................................................................................................................................
I knock on the door. I hope this woman answers soon. I left Anthia hidden in the alleyway, with Aspen keeping guard.
"Yes?" A woman says as she quietly opens the door.
I remember the code Marcello told me to use.
"Did you see the rainbow today?" Her face turns into a mix between a smile and a smirk.
"I did. But it was missing a few colors."
"Oh, thank god. I need your help. My friend-" Suddenly I hear Aspen bark. I panic, and run to the end of the hall, fly down the stairs, and burst into the alleyway.
Aspen runs into me, sending me sprawling on the ground. But being Aspen, he just flips right off me, and dashes back to Anthia.
I leap up, and stumble over to viper. She is having seizures, and her mouth is foaming slightly.
"Viper, snap out of it!" I shout.
I'm being pulled back, so I'm sprawled on the ground.  I look up and see the woman shoving a needle into my viper's neck.
I want to scream at her, but the seizures stop. I crawl to her side, and stroke her hair, so that she know's I'm there. I feel this woman's hand on my shoulder, making me acknowledge her existence.
"I'm Isla Dexter. But everyone calls me Dex. You must be Shane, right?"
"Yeah, I'm Shane. And this is Anthia. Did Marcello tell you about her-"
"The poison bullet, yeah. But we need to get her upstairs now. I need to treat it right away."
I nod my head. But I feel like I'm out of my own body, watching everything happen. I watch myself pick her up in a bride's cradle, carry up the stairs, and into Dex's apartment.
I lay her down, and let Dex get to work.
My heart seizes, watching all my hard work being undone. Clothes being torn off, needles being stuck, stitches being ripped, wounds being recleaned.
I try to stay alert and pay attention to what is happening to my viper, but my eyes droop off. And Aspen's warm, fluffy fur pressed against me is not helping one bit.
"Shane, go to sleep. I'll wake you if anything happens," Dex whispers.
I try to nod, but my head stays down the entire time. The world crashes in, closing my vision.
................................................................................................................................
"Shane, wake up."
I shoot up within five seconds, assuming something is wrong with Anthia.
"What, is she alright? What's going on? Is she-" Dex holds up her hands to stop me.
"She's fine, but I want to give you a check up."
I take a deep breath, and nod my head. She sits down by side.
"Well, dumbass, you actually need to take off your one thousand pounds of clothes." She chuckles, motioning at everything I'm wearing. 
I smile, and start peeling off my layers. The apartment I had passed out in was much warmer than the cold outdoors, leaving me to stew in my own filthy sweat. And since I haven't changed out of them right away, the clothes I have have dried to my skin.
They crack in the most disgusting way, making me gag. Lucky for me, I haven't eaten anything since yesterday morning.
I'm finally down to my thermal leggings, and my long sleeve t-shirt.
"Alright, it doesn't appear anything is wrong with you, but I want to check and make sure," Dex explains, while putting a stethoscope to my chest.
I automatically take a deep breath.
"So, is Anthia alright?" I whisper, trying to clear my dry throat.
"I've got her stabilized. I gave her an injection to flush her body of the poison. Hopefully I gave it to her in time though. But for now, I'm just monitoring her to make sure she's alright."
I lift my wrist for her to take my pulse. She times it, and make a pleased mm-hmph.
I became blank as a slate, staring ahead, vision unfocused.
I can't even think straight.
"Do ever feel so blank, that it's like your entire world has stopped?" I whisper, finally meeting my eyes to her own.
She stops checking my ears, puts down the light thingy, and leans back, facing the wall like I am. For the first time this night, she's avoiding my eyes.
"Once," she admitted. "I was one of the kids they experimented on. I was until I was about nine. My dad, he came to save me. And for a few months, I was really happy. We had a hideout, and he was always there for me. One day though, he heard a noise, and went to check it out. Never came back."
I huff out a deep breath. Dex turns and looks at me.
"She's not going away. Not like he did, or my dad did. She has a fighting chance."
"Yeah, I suppose. She's got a real bite," I chuckle to myself. "Do you know, the first time we met, she thought I was going to turn her in? And instead of trying to pay me off, or run, she responded with sarcasm? It gave me the idea for her nickname, viper."
"When in doubt, use sarcasm as your first defense." A small voice sounds, hoarse with sleep, underneath the piles of blankets.
I fall off the bed, and crawl to her side.
Anthia rolls over, and looks me straight in the eye. Tears roll down my cheeks, falling in her hair.
I kiss her cheek, and hug her close to me. I pull away, and lightly hit her stomach.
"You scared me!"
"I didn't mean to. Just happens when you happen to be my friend."
I laugh, and kiss her cheek again.
Anthia's piercing blue eyes stare into my own, reflecting the same thought that has run through her head for the past four months.
"We're not losing valuable time. It's going to be fine." 
She nods her head, and adjusts her head on the sweat soaked pillow.
Dex comes over, and pushes me aside.
"Alright, buddy. Let me examine my patient," she chided, putting the freezing metal to Anthia's chest, testing her beating heart.
"And who is this?" she remarked.
I realize that Anthia was unconscious when introductions were made. I let Dex take care of herself, while I head to the bathroom to shower.
When I exit, I pull on a fresh pair of clothes. I pull on my gray joggers, that used to be Edward's, that are so soft they sooth my nerves. I then wrestle on a tank top-I call it a bro tank- and then button on a heavy flannel.
I waltz out of the bathroom, and see Anthia and Dex trying to cover their giggles.
"What?" I inquire, dropping down to Anthia's side.
"Shane, did I ever tell you that you don't sing very quietly?" she giggles.
"Or very well," Dex whispers. The girls go into a fit of hystericals. I roll my eyes, and ruffle my viper's hair.
I see wisps of sunlight pouring in from the window. I look down at Anthia while she makes small talk with Dex, who is cleaning her head wound again.
I notice Anthia's hair. I used to think it was brown, with a few blonde highlights here and there, but I notice something else. Her hair is more dirty blonde than I thought. I don't know what it is that made her hair gain this transition, but I quite like it on her.
I smile at the girls, and then lay my head down on the side of her bed, and close my eyes.
................................................................................................................................
"I think she's ready to go," Dex tells me. "You just have to be a little more cautious. That means move a little slower, take more rest, be more cautious. That kind of stuff."
To tease her list of things to do, I pretend to have a little notepad and take my notes. I lick my finger, and pretend to flip the page.
"What was that last thing, Miss Dexter? I want to do well on the test," I say in a squeaky voice.
When I look at Dex, she's glaring.
"Do you understand my orders?" She lectured.
"Yes, I understand all of your orders."
She pats me on the back, and I nod my head.
A month has passed, and Anthia's nerves are so high, I thought she might snap at my next sarcastic comment. Let's just say Dex and I were treading lightly.
We wanted to head out earlier, but Dex forced us to stay. The poison was a neurological chemical that attacks every nerve in the body, but it doesn't kill you until it gets to otic gland, which controls every major organ.
According to Dex's calculations, it got about six inches away from the gland, so Anthia's body was pretty fried. Which caused her to be very weak, and have troubles responding with her left arm.
I remember the first few days after she woke up, and Dex was testing reflexes.
"Move your fingers, good, good. Alright, now the same thing with your left arm," She murmured.
Anthia went to go flex her fingers, but nothing happened. She furrowed her brow, and tried again.
Nada.
She started to panic, and looked at Dex for answers. Dex tried calming her down, but Anthia went into hysterics. After she calmed down, Dex explained the situation. I could see her soul hardening a little. And we only had one option to fix the temporary paralysis. 
The only thing that would get her to move her arm again, was to take a large capsule, called Benfotiamine,  that basically repairs the nerves the nerves, and makes them more healthy. But with the damage to her nerves were so strong, she might have to take the vitamin for a very long time. 
I could see this journey was hardening her skin into a thick hide. I think the injuries and panic finally pushed her over. If I looked into the future, I could see very little affecting her emotions. Only big events would cause her to break down.
I hated that. No one should be hardened like that. But there was nothing I could do now. The transition had already been made. I only knew that, because she reflected exactly what I had gone through. And I knew there was no going back. 
I shake my head of the memory, and walk into the living room where Anthia is snuggling with Aspen. He perks his head up at my entrance. Anthia waves a hand, but just keeps staring ahead.
She forgot to take her vitamin last night, so she's having struggles moving her arm, making her very grumpy.
"Viper. I have good news," I brag, plopping down by her side.
"If it's good news like-'DEX FOUND THE SOAP YOU WANTED!'- I'll kill you." I flick her arm, and she growls at me.
"No, it's better than that. Dex says we can leave tomorrow."
She shoots up, startling Aspen, sending him sprawling on the floor.
Anthia throws her arms around me, even the somewhat limp one. I smile, and squeeze her back.
I suddenly have a little fantasy play through my head.
I had Zoe for a real sister, but it always felt distant. I had made peace, and maybe even friends with her, but I'll never be able to do anymore than that.
But holding Anthia here, I felt like I finally had a little sister. I could see us in the future, almost like a dream. Me, knocking on a door painted white with pink cherry blossoms decorated all over it. One of her little children-for some reason I imagine a tiny little boy, followed by two older girls- opening the door, and running into my arms.
Me trudging in, carrying all of them on my legs and arms. Anthia smiling and scolding them to get off me. Her future man-whom I did not yet know, or what he looked like- would laugh and tell her they're fine. All of us having fun.
Happy.
When we ended our embrace, her jumping up and starting to prepare her bag already, I couldn't imagine anything in this world that would make me happier.
I don't think that she realizes how much her life is going to change when they meet.
Her life has already begun since she has entered this journey, but once she saw him, her world, along with his, was going to explode into colors they had never seen before.
And I am going to see that.
Even though it's her life that is taking the best one-eighty possible, I was along for the ride.
And I couldn't be more happy to see it.