survivors ↠ e.d.

THREE

"NOOO!!! NO GOD PLEASE NO! ETHAAAAN!!!!" he screams.

I take a break. I'm too weak to keep going. I see him, on his knees, behind a broken seat, holding his brother's body. I can't even recognize Ethan's face. It's covered in blood. Please tell me he's not dead...

I keep crawling, still crying. Grayson hears me coming closer and turns around to look at me. He has a deep cut on his forehead and his arm is all bruised up. "Nessa..." he whispers as he sees me crawling towards him. He slowly places Ethan's head on the ground and runs towards me. I'm crying harder than ever, choking on my saliva. He lets himself fall on his knees beside me and scoops me up in his arms. He hugs me as tight as possible, afraid to loose me if he releases pressure. Neither of us are moving. We sob against each other's shouler, trying to conceal our screams.

I feel his hand gently rubing my back in circular motions. His sobs suddenly stops. He takes a deep breath and keeps stroking my back. He's trying to stay strong. But I know that deep down, he's as weak as I am.

I just keep crying. I don't seem to know how to stop. He pulls back to cup my face in his hands and stare at my face filled with cuts. "We need to find a medical kit. We need to treat our wounds as soon as possible." he says, trying so hard to stay calm. He embraces me again, snuggling his face in the depth of my neck. He starts to cry again. He can't control it.

His sobs are getting louder and louder against my skin. My gaze move to Ethan's body, laying cold on the ground, motionless.
"Ethan..." my voice cracks.
I begin to cry harder, drooling in Grayson's back. I can't swallow anymore. I'm choking on myself. Grayson is crying with me too. I guess Ethan died, because if he was still alive, Grayson would've probably stayed with him instead of running towards me.

Grayson holds my head carefully and gingerly massages my scalp in circular motions to ease the pain of the bruises. His fingers slowly trail down to my neck. He touches the metal pole. He removes his hand from my neck right away and stares at me with wide eyes. He gently turns my head around to take a better look at the injury.

"Nessa... oh my god..." his eyes meet mine again. The tears are gone; his eyes are now filled with worry. "We need to remove it Nessa..." he whispers. I simply nod and turn around. I don't think I can be in a worse state than I am now. He needs to do it now before it's too late.

I feel the pole slightly moving inside my flesh, as Grayson was wrapping his grip around it.
It hurts like hell.
"I'm gonna count to three, okay Nessa?" he says with a shaky voice. I think he is as scared as I am.

"One..." I take a deep breath. I'm probably going to faint. It doesn't matter anyways. If we ever survive from our injuries, how would we survive alone in the jungle?

"Two..."
This is it. If I see a bright light after he removes the pole, that means I'm dead. No big deal.

"Three!"

He pulls with all his strength on the pole and I feel it moving out of my skin, snatching every single cell of my neck. I think I can feel the blood squirting from the whole it made. Everything becomes blurry. I hear Grayson's voice miles away from me.

"NESSA!"

"Stay with me Nessa! It's going to be okay!"

I feel his hand pressing on my open wound, trying to retain the blood.
I think I can see his eyes through the blurriness. Then a bright light appears...