Hell's Bane (COMPLETED)

Chapter Eight: The Scavenger Draws Near

            Nobody said anything for the next few minutes as the harbor faded out of view and the gunfire the once surrounded them was only a memory. Davis, Hugo, Susan, and Drea surrounded their dying newfound friend, and at last, Davis said: "Drea... your eternian."

Drea looked at the sash fashioned from her shoulder to her waist. "You mean... I need to give this to Joss?"

Davis nodded. "It might do the trick."

Drea's hesitance to comply was clearly shown across her face. "But... I took a lot of bullets when I was shielding all of you. If I let go of it, I might also die."

Davis sighed, realizing what situation they were stuck in. "Do you think we can cut the eternian into two pieces?"

"I wouldn't try to. Maybe it'll spell death for both of us."

At last, with some careful thinking, Davis said again: "Give me the eternian. At least you're not dying."

"Yet," Drea countered, but still gave it over with one last sigh. "I can't believe any of this happened at all."

"The Scavenger's getting closer," Davis said as he fashioned the sash around Joss. "Drea? How are you doing?"

In answer, Drea suddenly winced, and then fell over, gasping for breath. "I took fewer bullets than I thought... none fatal... but- ARGH, it hurts. It stings like hell."

"None fatal?" Davis asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm... not really sure... one bullet to the leg... two to the arm... one at the chest but I don't think it hit the mark..."

Behind them, Joss stirred and stood up as if nothing wrong had happened to him. "Am I dead? Hm, clearly I'm not if all of you made it onto the Trident. Oh, I see Drea's artifact is now bound to me."

"Good for you," Drea said, and then tried to fruitlessly clutch all the spots where she was bleeding.

"We need someone to tend her wounds," Davis said, and then also stood up from where he was crouched before. "I'll go see if they have any on the ship. They better."

"Well, hopefully you'll live," Joss said. "I mean... thanks for the eternian. I would've been dead without it."

"Don't... thank... me," Drea said through winces. "But mine wasn't... fatal..."

"Fatal, no," Hugo said. "But you're losing blood by the buckets."

None of the explorers noticed that Susan was gradually inching away until she was finally out of their sight. There's something wrong about this entire thing, the spy thought, sitting down at one of the deck table seats. That's twice I could've sabotaged Davis, and that's twice when I didn't. What's coming over me?

And then there was the leader's nagging voice in her head, saying: Trust and respect are two different things, Susan! But we must trust each other. Sometimes, what you learn at birth isn't always the truth...

Is it? Susan thought. It has to be.

The spy sat there on the wooden seat for the rest of the afternoon, contemplating the question over and over again.

With Drea unconscious and Susan subdued, Hugo simply wandered around, memorizing the structure of the entire sailboat.

He stopped at the library for a while, but Joss was already there at the only table, and clearly, the hermit wanted to be alone.