The Wanderers [Old Version]

Chapter 7: Fiends

Petra's POV

Clara was gone almost an hour already, and she still wasn't back yet. Rain was still unconscious and his breathing had slowed even more. Nico and Draco had taken the attackers bodies out into the backyard to get rid of them. I assumed they weren't going to bury the bodies either.

I sat upstairs with Rain still. He looked peaceful in his sleep. His chin-length, black hair looked greasy and was matted with dirt and blood. His strong jaw looked tight, but I knew it was back in place. Although I had known Rain for years before this, I just now realized how handsome he was.

Suddenly, he stirred. His eyes opened and he looked right at me, but didn't speak. I took his hand in mine, "Rain, are you ok?"

I could feel his grip tighten as he tried to pull himself up. He struggled for a while, before the veins in his neck started popping out. He opened his mouth to scream, but his jaw fell loose and again he lost consciousness.

I let go of his limp hand and felt his jaw. I pushed it hard back into place and heard the chilling pop. His body convulsed and his eyes fell open. I felt for his pulse, but couldn't get one.

I started to panic. Why didn't he have a pulse? I felt again, this time pushing down harder. Still nothing. I put my head to his chest, he wasn't breathing. Why wasn't he breathing? He was fine a few seconds ago.

I ran down the stairs, so fast that I lost my footing and fell, rolling down the stairs. I hit the ground running and sprinted out of the house. I got into the backyard and Nico was tossing one of the attackers bodies in a ditch. Draco noticed me, "Petra! What's wrong!?"
"Rain! He's not breathing!"

Before Draco could answer, Nico dropped the body and sprinted past me, into the house. We chased after him. And when we got upstairs, he was pushing on Rain's chest. "What happened!?"
"Nothing! He woke up and tried to get up, his jaw got dislocated again and now he's not breathing!"
"Shit!"

Nico was pushing hard on his chest now. "Rain! I know you're in there! You better start breathing right now! You understand!? Breathe!"

Rain's skin was turning blue. He was suffocating. I heard a thud behind me and Clara was standing next to a large bag of medicine. "What happened!?"
"He's not breathing!"
"I got a bunch of pills and crap, I think I got something for that!"
"What!?"

Clara pulled out a small bottle of pills, "Fire. Says it quickens breathing. Could help."
"Ahh. Whatever! Nico, pop this in his mouth!"

I tossed the bottle to Nico and he opened it, dropping one into Rain's mouth.

Rain's chest began to pump and Nico put his head on his chest. "He's breathing. Really fast. But he's breathing."

Rain started to regain the color in his face. We all sat in silence for what felt like forever, waiting for Rain to breathe on his own.

After about five minutes his chest was stilling pounding. He still wasn't breathing on his own. Draco stood and started to grab our sleeping bags. Nico turned and looked at him. "It's still afternoon Draco. You think we're goin' to bed already?"
"No stupid. I'm just settin' up. We're staying here 'til Rain wakes up. If we have to stay the night I'll stay up to make sure he's alright while you guys sleep."
"So we're just going to stay here all day?"
"You can go out and scavenge if you want, but we're not leaving until Rain is conscious."

Clara called us, holding the bat that hit Rain in the head, "Guys, look. The barbed wire on this bat has something on it."
"Blood?"
"I mean other than that. It's poison. Look. All the barbed wire is tinted green. It was soaked in poison before being wrapped around the bat."
"So Rain could be poisoned right now..."
"If it got in his wound, yeah."
"Shit."

Rain was still unconscious. But he was breathing closer to normal again, but still fast.

Nico was applying some antibiotics to his face, biting down on a rag to keep from screaming.

Clara sat at the foot of the bed, holding Rain's hand.

Draco was finished setting up the sleeping bags, and now sat on one. He was drinking water and massaging his calves.

This was probably the first time all day that we actually just sat down and rested.

Hours passed. Nothing happened.

Nico's POV

I sat bored beyond belief, spinning in a swivel chair. Clara had fallen asleep at Rain's side now. Petra was barely awake, leaning against the wall. Draco sat on a sleeping bag, still looking at Rain.

I heard a woman's voice downstairs, "Hey! Bonesaw, Petr, I'm home! I found us some Mega and some Crane."
She changed her tone and spoke in a different accent. "Alize is home, my lovelies!"

Draco shot up, by the time he stood, he had a knife in his hand. Petra looked towards the door lazily.

I grabbed a knife and crouched around the corner. "I got her."

I went silently down the stairs silently. A tall, skinny woman with black hair and an Old World military suit on stood in the center of the room. She held a Plasma Rifle and a brown paper bag.

She turned and had her back faced to me, "Where are you guys!? Get down here, or I'll take all the Mega on my own."

I snuck up behind her and grabbed her, slamming her on the ground. "Oh, Petr, how'd you know I like it rough?"

I punched her face and ended up on top of her. Her pupils were huge and she reeked of vomit.

"Oh, you're not Petr. Who are you? I like younger guys."
"Shut it. My friend is upstairs dying. Who are all you people? What do you call yourselves?"
"Oh man, you serious? You don't know us?"
"No."
"Fiends, kid. We're fiends. Best druggies in the wastes. Who are you?"
"Thieves. We're just thieves."
"Cool. Wanna steal some shit with us?"
"No. Your pal hit my friend with a bat. He's been unconscious for hours. I don't want anything to do with you addicts."
"Oh. Well we fiends tend to be pretty unpredictable. Whoops. Haha."
"Shut up."

I punch her hard. Her nose broke and she rolled over, holding her face. She failed to understand that Rain getting hit with a bat was actually important to me.

Draco walked down the stairs holding a knife, "You know we can't let her live. She'll go and tell the others."
"I know. But how do we...you know, kill her? I already feel like an ass for punching a woman."
"I'll kill her. Just go upstairs and make sure the girls don't come down here. I'll take her body to the backyard too, don't worry."

I walked upstairs and sat on a chair. Petra looked over at me, "Where's Draco?"
"Takin' care of a fiend."
"Fiend?"
"That's what the attackers call themselves."
"Ahh."

I heard the sickening pew pew of a plasma pistol. I heard the backdoor close and looked out the window to see Draco carrying the fiend on his shoulder.

Rain was still out cold. It had been hours now, and he wasn't awake yet. We couldn't sit here forever. We had to leave soon, before more fiends came looking for us. But I guess we would stay the night. I was getting tired of having to stay in a different place each night. I wanted something permanent.