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18

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Sunday 24th November ~ 6:19am

Mark's POV:

"Hello?! Anybody?!"

I called out again, yet my words bounced around the entirety of the empty house. My stomach dropped.

We were still alone.

I set a bloodied Jack down on the nearest couch, eyes darting around the room as I panicked. There was no time for me to curse our isolation - Sean would've wanted me to be optimistic. The universe had given us a house.

And that was a start.

I began with drawers, yanking them out and rooting through all the random junk in hopes of finding something useful. My hand movements were spastic, and I only grew more frustrated as I came up with nothing.

"God fricking dammit!"

I slammed a drawer shut.

"There has to be something-!"

I rushed into the retro style kitchen, throwing open cupboards with nightmarish thoughts of Jack's heartbeat fading to silence. I couldn't let him die. I wouldn't.

Under the sink was a gold mine.

"Oh god, thank you-" I praised to nobody, scooping up the first aid kits and dusty towels while leaving the cupboards hanging open. There was no time.

I raced back into the other room.

Jack was lain on the couch where I'd left him, and as I approached the air was caught in my throat.

The Irishman was still.

"Sean, buddy?" I called with a soft tone, now knelt down next to the couch with my hand shaking his shoulder. I couldn't comprehend it.

I refused to believe he wasn't breathing.

"Jack?"

"Mmm..."

I swear my lungs let out the biggest sigh of my entire life.

"Fricking hell dude, my heart can't take this..." I chuckled through my nerves, wasting no time and lifting what remained of Jack's shirt. I flinched.

Blood had soaked the fabric through and through.

I hoisted his body up with slow movements, raising the tattered shirt over his head and tossing it to one side. It landed with a wet thud.

"Th-That's a start, I guess..." I muttered, about to wipe my brow when I stopped myself. Jack's blood was all over my hands. I flinched, taking a breath.

All I had to do now was take off the makeshift bandage and apply actual gauze.

When I untied the gag cloth from Jack's chest his facial features twitched, yet when I lifted the jacket he cried out.

I had a similar reaction.

"Oh fuck...!"

The wounds covered the entirety of his chest, jagged red stripes overlapping one another and stained a deep crimson. Blood coated any skin that might've been left untouched by Anti's blade.

I gritted my teeth, my eyes stinging with tears.

This sweet, selfless man had been subjected to such brutal torment. Abused to the point that he couldn't even keep himself conscious.

And now I had to clean his wounds, for fear of them getting infected.

I took a bottle of rubbing alcohol from one of the first aid kits, a cloth in hand as I did so and drenching the fabric. I wasn't confident in my plan, I'd never had to fix anyone's wounds like that, and all I had to go on was video game knowledge and my faded memory of a documentary I'd once fallen asleep to.

It was safe to say I was the last person to trust with Jack's life.

My hand hovered the cloth over him, hesitation in my movements.

"This... will fricking suck." I warned, even if he couldn't hear me.

I braced myself, touching the rag to his torso.

"ARGH-! Argh, f-fock...!"

"Sorry!"

Jack's eyes didn't open, despite his mumbled curses and cries. I continued, cringing every time he twisted and writhed around in the pain, mopping up the blood and cleaning his injuries as fast as I could.

In the end several pieces of cloth and a whole bottle of rubbing alcohol were used in the process.

"Ugh..."

"It's done, It's done." I assured him, the final rag discarded over my shoulder. I wiped my hands on a towel I'd brought from the kitchen, assessing what was left.

The blood had made the wounds appear more severe than they were, yet the lacerations were in no way minor. I could only imagine what the scars would look like.

Each one would be permanent reminder for Jack.

I sat down on the edge of the couch, taking a moment before I had to finish what I'd started. Jack had fallen quiet now, his face remaining still in a blank expression.

The man likely needed rest. I could relate.

Yet I couldn't leave his chest exposed in such a way.

I propped the Irishman up against me, careful not to irritate his wounds any further, and using strips of white gauze and padding I bandaged Jack's injuries best I could. The repeated arm action of looping the bandages over Jack's chest soon became automatic, and so my mind drifted.

We had actually escaped. I half expected Dark or Anti to burst through the door at any moment, yet with more time passing I began to drop my guard.

We had lost them.

The possibility of seeing my family, of Jack seeing his, and the two of us making YouTube videos again - were realities that weren't as far off in the distance as before.

Those things could actually happen.

"N...N-No..."

Jack shifted in my grip, shaking his head before it lolled to the side. I manoeuvred him around so that his head rested back against my chest instead.

I wondered if he was having a nightmare.

It took a great deal of time before the task was done - two first aid kits worth of gauze had covered Jack's chest.

I was mindful as I lowered him down on the couch, allowing myself to flop back onto the carpet. I took a moment to judge my work.

The gauze could've been neater, even if I'd been frantic and afraid for Jack's life. Other than this gripe I was pleased.

It was the best I could do, so with hope it would be enough.

A yawn escaped me.

Only then did I notice how heavy my head felt. My entire body cried out for rest.

There were things I should've been doing that could help both of us - searching for blankets, checking if the phones worked - something productive.

However having a minute to stop and regain strength wouldn't kill me either. I didn't have to fall asleep.

My head was lowered down beside Jack's body, me still being sat on the floor, yet once my eyes slipped closed I couldn't open then again.

Before I could even think to stop myself my mind gave up, sleep overtaking me in an instant.

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