Operation Termite Hill

The Mission Is Plotted

I bit down on the cloth as Bruce took out one of the little rocks, I swore I bit right through the cloth too.  Bruce took out another, and that was a bloodbath. Blood erupted from my hand, getting all over my pants and Bruce's gloved hands. I clenched my other fist and bit down even harder on the cloth. The blood dripped from my hand, running down my fingers like a river. A sharp, sharp pain electrocuted my hand, a muffled yelp escaped my mouth.

"Crap..." Bruce said, which sent chills down my spine.

"Crap...? What's crap...?" Jones asked in fear, and Bruce gave him a fearful look.

"His vein... give me a cloth, hurry!" Bruce demanded, his voice booming. Jones gave him a cloth, and Bruce put it in my wound. "Dang it, Malachi. Why didn't you tell me earlier? I could've got the rock out before all the little ones got buried in your hand. Need a break?" He offered, taking the cloth out of my mouth.

"No, the quicker we finish this, the quicker the pain is over, right?"

"Somewhat, I need you to answer me honestly. Does your hand feel limp?" Bruce moved around my hand, and I moved it slightly.

"No, not at all, really." I shrugged.

"Ok," He put the rag back in my mouth, "this is gonna hurt." Bruce took out the rag, accidentally dropping it on the floor. He took out more rocks, each looking bloodier than the last. Bruce was right, it felt like little knives stabbing me over and over, but whatever happened to my vein felt more like a little pistol shooting my vein. The pain increased as more blood spilled from my hand. "Venous bleeding, I need a piece of that white bandage, Jones."

"Venomness what...?" Jones grabbed the bandage, and held it up to Bruce.

"His vein is bleeding, cut the bandage into a small patch so I can put it in the wound. I took out all the rocks, but the vein is bleeding a lot. God, Malachi, I'm going to be honest here, why were you such an idiot?" I yelled at him, but it was muffled by the rag. Thank god it was, I said some words that Bruce would not approve of.

Jones gave him the small bandage, and Bruce literally put it in my hand. I bit down as hard as I possibly could on the rag, clenching my other fist until it was beat red. Bruce took the rag out of my mouth, but I still clenched my jaw shut.

"We need to keep it like that for a little bit, Malachi, I'm sorry." Bruce said, looking away.

"I can take it." I said through gritted teeth. I flexed my right arm, which caused my hand to move, which made me clench my jaw even more. "One little rock can't take me down!" I laughed through the pain.

"But a bleeding vein can, it can take down anyone." Bruce looked at me, raising one of his bushy eyebrows.

We sat in silence for a while, I fought back the pain and tried my best not to show it.

"That should be enough," Bruce said, taking the cloth out of my hand. The blood had dried, and a scab was forming around the hole in my hand, not yet filling it in completely. "Just, whatever you do, don't fall again." Me, being the idiot I was, poked the wound, and it didn't hurt.

"Thanks, Bruce. You too, Jones." I looked to the floor, dreading the fact that I looked weak in front of Bruce. A stab wound was cool, also wounds from getting beat by a metal rod, not falling like an idiot. Bruce wrapped my right hand, but not my left. My left hand was already healed, just a few scabs remained. Bruce took off his mask and gloves, throwing them into a trashcan.  We walked back to the cabin in silence, as Bruce and Jones layed down, I cleaned up the puddle of blood. There was that stupid centipede, crawling around on the floor. I put my left hand down, letting it crawl up and down my arm. It walked up and down my forearm, eventually climbing up my bicep, and almost into my shirt.