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I sit up, an electric feeling zapping through my body; like the last time I was asleep but the flame visible in my eyes. the branches felt different, the air felt sticky, the stars are not visible and the hoot of my owl is not here to protect me. I feel a dull pain underlying the numbness in my body, and am enveloped by the stench of the rotting leaves of the ground floor. Even before I look around I know I'm not where I used to be. I try to rub away the sleep fogging my vision with the fingers of my left hand.
how am I alive? I flicker my eyes upon my surroundings of what seems a green tent and a towel and matt underneath me. reaching for my shirt I pull up the material expecting to see an infected, puss oozing wound but instead I feel the edges of a compression band around my stomach
where did this come from? my head vividly remembers a boy's eyes and collapsing in the middle of the road but where I lay was nothing to my memory,
where am I? my body fills with anxiety as I try to sit up into a position to find the zip of the tent, my lower chest flushing with burning as I stretch for the small zipper reflecting against my eyes. exiting I stretch up till I'm standing, my flames hit the night sky and a wave of calm falls on my shoulders as I think of good things, I'm not dead. my chest rises and drops as I turn my eyes to the original shade of blue with patience before swiveling to the setting.
5 tents are placed in a neat circle, all the same buckled into the ground to protect from the weather explosion. a smothering fire is in the middle surrounded by a heat restrictive. I can't be here.
whoever owned all these were rewarded, they were out for blood, they killed for the thrill of it and they weren't ones to be messed with. my stomach feels empty but still pain runs through, my hands flying to the left side of my body grasping in hisses. Trying to focus on something other, the setup of equipment intrigues me by the complexity of it. stepping closer to touch the fancy looking weapons, my heart races by the hot flames that I hadn't seen since the experiment as my face grimaces at my stomach stumbling in weakness.
"you need to rest." my eyes widen as I turn in fear flinging my fist at the person in means of protecting myself. the stranger swoops back away from my forceful hand as I begin to fall back with no strength.
"woah woah woah." he grabs onto my waist, his hand going gently to the area aching on my abdomen. my breath hitches as I finally catch his brown orbs and the closesness of this unknown person. he was only just a little taller than me with an abundance of light and dark curls. his face was made of soft features, a nose piercing and he was broad, his hands strong around me. he guides me to a small log beside the fire, lowering me until I was seated safely. my body was frozen in the gesture as he left slyly before returning with another small log, placing it across the burning sticks away from me. I watch with terror flying around my face as he slowly walks towards me, bending down till he was crouching beside me silently.
"show me." he whispers as if he was scared of the night looming around us, I look down seeing my shirt before looking back at him in alarm. who is this boy? gently he brushes away my protective hand lifting up my shirt to below my chest, the compression band tight against the swelling of my stomach. with gentle hands, he pulls up the band as well as a thin white woolly material exposing the wound that was surprisingly clean but seemingly becoming infected, a dark colour growing around it.
"I had to stitch it up," he whispered again as we both look at the black thread stitched over and around my injury with clean patterns and a whole lot of precaution. his fingers trail over the dried blood flesh, touching the string as well as the swollen yellow skin around it. his fingers were soft as he sighed removing them sharply, placing the cotton over the area and pulling down the compression band. I watch him with deep eye contact as he steps around the burning fire and sitting on the log, looking at me before looking around the campsite.
"what's your name?" he slightly presses
"Iris." he huffs with little emotion, looking over my face and open eyes.
"jack, we saved your ass"
"saved me?"
"you aren't dead yet, are you?" Nervously I shook my head, social interaction was unseemingly a dream to now. a simple conversation was never possible with what loomed in the trees and 'jack' was being nice enough not to slaughter my guts but stitch my wound.
"why didn't you kill me?" he chuckles poking the fire with a stick,
"daniel and zach wouldn't let me." he looks up sharply his eyes holding mine again as I freeze, he wouldn't kill me now surely. he studies my face and traces along my body noticing the tattered shorts of mine and the worn through converse shoes tied to my feet.
"have you ever received an award?"
"twice. a backpack with supplies and a sleeping bag" he tilts his head to the side a little before nodding looking back to the stick that would touch the fire, embers flying before disappearing. controlling myself I moved my gaze looking at the setup around me.
who was daniel and zach? why did they let me live? as I'd thought they had received reward upon reward but as cold as jack seemed, whoever else was here; didn't seem like the hostile blooded killers that lurked around me every day and night. I stared back at jack's weary eyes, himself now studying me again and I wondered what he thought. remembering only minutes before I thought of the neat stitches and the help he gifted me while I was unconscious and sighed,
"thank you... for fixing- um this" I said quietly indicating to my stomach
"it's nothing." he said standing up, he pulled his hoodie down slightly swooping his eyes around as I stared at his body. he was short but he seemed powerful with muscle running along his forearms and a chest that buffed out a little under his jumper. he moved like a fox around the tents opening the boot of the truck. I watched him hesitantly but felt as if I was prying on his actions so swiftly looked up at the stars, they were always beautiful.
"here. you can have these" returning to him, he passes a pair of tracksuit and a hoodie that looked big but cozy, something I hadn't had in years.
"thank you, again"
"don't worry" he said moving over
"put it on and go to sleep, I'll check your temperature and stitches in the morning" as nice as his message seemed, it was still chilly around the edges and his words seemed monotonic as he began circling the clearing watching the distance before watching myself heave up and back to the tent that had my bag kept to the side. slipping my shoes of I touched the material of the pants nearly passing out from how soft it felt under my fingertips and along my legs as I carefully pulled them onto my lower half. the hoodie felt the same and smelt of pure boy but wasn't a disgusting smell as I painfully pushed my arms through the sleeves and soaked up the smell stuck to the fabric. my sleeping bag was nestled to the side where I just woke up so smoothly getting into it I winced in pain before my head hit the mat, this had to be his tent and mat but I didn't question it or his silent roam around the camp. thinking of his strong and sharp brown eyes I slowly fell back into the sleep fleeing from the pain that was emerging my injuries that could have been fatal...
