After The Fall

Town of Suspicion Part Three

Felix sighs, helping Nate stand, who's still holding onto the little girl's arm. She glares at them, "Let go of me or I'll scream! Then Sissy will put you in the market with all the other strangers!"

Nate frowns, "What?"

Felix looks at Nate, "You should.. Get out of here. Get your wound taken care of. I'll take Addy home safe."

"I don't need your help!" Addy sticks her tongue out at Felix. Nate groans, pulling Addy towards Felix, "Find the others and then we're leaving. Tyler isn't worth us all dying."

Felix looks conflicted but nods slowly. He takes Addy by the wrist and Nate walks back past the house, pressing a hand to his wound. It hurt like hell, and he's worried about potential infection, not the virus, just infection in general. He knows his bag has emergency first aid supplies, so he just has to get back to the shop.

Felix walks with Addy, who's angrily leading him. Felix sighs, "We're not bad people, really. We're just worried about our friends. So if you could just help me find Tyler, we won't come back."

"I'm telling Sissy you took you my gun and yelled at me. Sissy's gonna be mad at you." Addy states.

Felix has a bad feeling, he caught the look Nate had when the child talked about strangers being put in the market. He just wants to find the others and leave. He has a bad feeling about being here, and it's just getting worse. Walking along the road, his eyes widen as he sees three figures ahead, and two of them he recognizes.

He calls out, "Jack! Ken!"

Jack, Ken, and Alisha stop and turn back at the sound of Felix's voice. Addy pulls away from Felix, yelling out as she runs towards Alisha, "Sissy!"

Alisha frowns, "Addy?"

Felix jogs over to Jack and Ken, "You guys were gone so long, Nate and I came looking for you."

Ken frowns, "You guys were supposed to stay together. Where is Nate now?"

"He went back, he, uh.. Got shot." Felix replies.

"He got shot?!" Jack gasps.

"The little girl had a gun, Nate tried to take it from her and she shot him." Felix sighs, speaking softly now, "Something isn't right about this town. We need to leave."

Jack looks worried, "What about Tyler? We can't just leave him.."

Ken crosses his arms, looking concerned and Felix looks conflicted. He bites his bottom lip, almost whispering to his friends now. "The little girl said they have a stranger at their house, so it might be him, but.. She also said that the other strangers were put in the market.. I don't think it's safe to stay here.."

Jack and Ken exchange glances and Ken groans softly, "Take Jack back with you, get ready to go. I'm going to get Tyler, and we're leaving tonight."

Jack shakes his head and Felix stares at Ken with wide eyes. He starts to say something, but Ken cuts him off, "Don't let anyone see you. If I'm not back in a few hours, you leave without me, got it?"

"Ken.." Felix frowns, looking away.

Jack glares, "She said there were seven of them, you'd be outnumbered."

"Just go. I'll meet up with you later." Ken orders.

Jack looks at Felix, who looks angry as he turns and starts jogging away. Jack follows after him. Ken sighs and turns back to Alisha, who's preoccupied with Addy. Alisha hushes the child, looking back at Ken with blank eyes, "Where did the other two go?"

Ken smiles lightly at her, "They're leaving. And I will, too, once I find Tyler. My other friend just said the little girl told him you guys had someone new at your house? Maybe it's my friend. So we can check that out and then I'll be on my way."

Alisha smiles, "Sure, our place is this way."

She grabs Addy's hand and continues the way they had been going. Ken follows, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. Back in the shop, Mark and Stephanie were working on patching Nate up. Nate's lying on the floor between them, his shirt has been rolled up around his chest as they work. His eyes shut tight and his teeth grit in pain. He's trembling and sweating.

The wound was near the right side and below the ribs. Nate's breathing fine, given the circumstances so they don't worry his lungs were hit. It seems Nate might have been lucky enough not to have been hit in any of his organs. Since there was no exit wound, Mark is forced to pull the bullet out of his friend's wound. He's trying to be as careful and gentle as he can be, but it's obvious Nate's still feeling a lot of pain.

Mark gasps in relief as he pulls the bullet out, dropping it to the floor. Stephanie quickly leans over, pressing her hands against the wound to try and stop the bleeding while Mark prepares the bandages. Nate groans at the pressure Stephanie applies, clenching his hands into fists. Stephanie glances at Mark as he goes through the first aid kit from Nate's bag.

He glances back at her, "Just keep pressure on it for now. We need to get the bleeding to stop, first and foremost."

She nods, looking back at Nate. Mark hands Stephanie a folded hand towel, "Use this. Keep it pressed firm against him, I'm about to lift him so I can wrap the gauze."

Stephanie nods, taking the towel and quickly pressing it to the wound. Nate gasps in pain, and his movements slow as he starts to lose consciousness. Stephanie gasps, "Mark!"

Mark looks up from the gauze he's unrolling and he sighs softly, "He's passing out. He'll be okay as long as you keep the pressure on the wound."

Stephanie nods, tears in her eyes. She's shaking but does as Mark says. Mary-Jane sits close by, watching with worry-filled eyes. Mark scoots closer, moving and gently lifting Nate up into a somewhat sitting position. Stephanie helps hold Nate up with one hand while keeping the pressure with the other. Nate is completely passed out at this point. Mark gets the gauze wrapped securely around Nate's torso, securing the pressure the wound needs.

He sighs, gently lying Nate back down, "That's all we can do without a hospital, but it should be enough. It's up to Nate to recover on his own now.."

Just then, three knocks sound on the door and Mark gets up slowly, limping over. He unlocks the door, opening it. He smiles at seeing Felix and Jack, then frowns lightly, "Where are Ken and Tyler?"

Jack and Felix come inside and Mark locks the door back, looking at his friends in confusion and worry. Jack sits down as Felix looks at Mark, "We need to be ready to go in a few hours, with or without Ken and Tyler."