Keep Me Safe

Chapter Twenty

As expected, the going was slow. The only things Floyd could do was moan loudly that he was dying and drag his injured leg behind him. Underneath his lean exterior was what felt like a hundred pounds of pure muscle. Had he been the one dragging an injured person, it would have been perfect; unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

"I can't do this," Agnes gasped, stumbling forward. She let go of Floyd and allowed herself to collapse onto the damp forest floor. Twigs crunched under her weight. The pungent smell of moss was almost as powerful and overwhelming as the gunfire that was still ringing in her ears. The few tears leaking out of her eyes quickly became a torrent of salty, bitter drops. The reality of the situation was catching up to her at a speed that made it impossible to deal with.

With Agnes gone, Lottie was too weak to support Floyd's weight on her own; she too fell to the ground, the much heavier Floyd on top of her. The multiple deep scratches on her face resulted in streaks of blood, mimicking the heavy flow of tears that poured down her face.

"What are you doing?" she cried out to Agnes. She attempted to shove Floyd off of herself, but in his weakened state, he was more of a limp, incredibly heavy rag-doll. 

"I can't do this!" Agnes kept her face buried in her arms. She knew that if she looked up and made eye contact with Lottie, she would break down even more. Her rapid, frantic breathing had her on the verge of a panic attack, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Lottie continued her futile efforts to wriggle out from underneath Floyd, the whole time sobbing. It didn't take long for her to give up and go limp. Her breaths were ragged and short, but she still reached out to Agnes. "Take my hand," she whimpered.

Agnes crawled closer to her and latched onto the outstretched hand, a warm lifeline in the sea of chaos. Lottie's touch kept her anchored to reality and helped clear up some of the cloudiness in her mind. Her tears temporarily lessened, allowing her vision to clear up. What she saw was an equally-pained Lottie, who was struggling to hold it together for her sake.

Taking her hand and squeezing it tightly, she looked deep into Agnes' eyes and let out a long, pained sigh. She furrowed her brow before saying, "You need to pull your ass together and help me get your brother- who's been shot- to safety."

It took every ounce of her being, but somehow, much to her own surprise, Agnes managed to stagger to her feet. She stumbled, but grabbed onto a tree branch and steadied herself. She grabbed Floyd's arm, and began the struggle of pulling him off of Lottie.

He was unconscious, and the profuse bleeding had left his entire pants leg soaked in the deep crimson liquid. What had at first appeared to only be a minor graze now starting to look like a really big problem. And, of course, they were lost in the woods, in the pitch black, with the only doctor in town engaged in the very shootout they were fleeing.

As soon as Lottie was freed, she jumped up and slung Floyd's arm over her shoulder once again. She and Agnes resumed dragging him, though at a much slower and more labored pace. Their only direction was away from the guns.

It was just when Agnes, exhausted and nauseous from fear, was about to collapse again, that she saw a light in the distance. At first, she mistook it for a firefly. As she got closer, though, she realized it was a lantern.

"Look!" She pointed excitedly in the direction of the bobbing light. "We're saved!" She dropped Floyd and began to run forward, her strength suddenly renewed.

Lottie followed her gaze and gasped. She also let go of Floyd, and barely managed to grab Agnes' arm before she sprinted out of her reach. Throwing her down on the ground, she shushed her loudly. "You don't know who's carrying that light."