Winged

Chapter 3: Trustworthy?

It was not long before I heard the moans. The twisted sounds of a man in pain. If it was a man, that was. At first, I did not notice it. I had been messing around with the scar on my face where the wolf had punched me. There was warm blood trickling down the side of my cheek, but the gash was nothing severe. While I ran, I had lost all sense of direction, only intent on escaping the supernatural. It was foolish of me really, to not bother to check the direction that I was travelling. These trees were not safe at night, nowhere was. Night is when the raptors come out and nobody wants to be caught in the middle of a raptor patrol.

I had left most of the food that I had collected in the past few weeks in my shambled house when the wolves attacked. All I had left was two knives, and a backpack, stocked with a handful of canned food, a water flask and a small first aid kit. It would not be too hard to find more abandoned houses with reliable resources, but it would be putting me in more danger. Danger was something that nobody seemed to be able to stay away from these days.

As I jogged blindly through the forest, I heard groans of pain materialising from only a few metres away. I slowed to a halt, unsure if I should go to see if I could help the pain bearer. My mothers words flittered in my head.
'Do not trust anyone.'
I turned away from the unbearable noises and began to trudge in the other direction, in an attempt to ignore it. For all I knew, I could be walking straight into a trap. The hurt person let out another cry and I stopped, sighing in annoyance. There was no way that I could leave someone to die out here. Especially not if I might actually be able to help them with the poor amount of bandages I have. Groaning, I spun on my heels and followed the moans to a small clearing of trees. I felt guilty at the thought that my mother would never approve of what I was doing, but I shook the thought from my head. Hopefully I would find a human, not one of the creatures lying in the grass.

Cautiously, I approached the injured figure, who was slumped up against a tree. In the darkness, I could make out the shape of a man. I sighed in relief and knelt down beside him.
"Are you alright?" I asked.
The man groaned in response. I touched my palm to his forehead only to find that he was intensely burning up.
"Yikes," I mumbled, "what did this to you?"
Straining my eyes, I struggled to find some sort of injury in the darkness. I saw a tinge of red from the corner of my eye and placed my hand on his chest. The man cried out. I felt a sticky substance on my hand and I lifted it up, finally seeing the long gashes covering his chest. Blood was soaking into his jacket and I could tell that he was not going to last much longer.

The man shivered and let out another groan. There was not much that I could do to save him.
"Shh," I murmured, "I know that you're in pain, but we don't want to attract attention to ourselves."
The man closed his eyes, breathing heavily. I bit my lip nervously. There was no way I would be able to carry him anywhere. I pondered my options.
"What's your name?" I asked finally.
"Tor..." He sputtered, "Torray."
Torray defeatedly let his arms buckle and he lay on the ground in agony.
"Torray huh? I'm Sydney."
I realised that now was probably a bad time to be asking each other's names. I was also very aware that we were standing in the middle of a forest at NIGHT. I shivered at every swaying branch and falling leaf.

Tugging my backpack off my shoulder, I opened it, searching for the tiny first aid kit. I pulled it out and grabbed the longest bandage that I could find. I also found a cloth and I poured water from my water flask over it. Before the water could leak through, I wiped the cloth along the wound, soaking up the oozing blood. Torray flinched.
"Hold still," I ordered.
Torray could tell that I was trying to help him, so he managed to sit like a statue as I wrapped the bandage multiple times around the long gashes. It was not much but it should help to stop the bleeding. I had never been very good with injuries.

Plonking down beside Torray, I decided that I would stay out here overnight and look after him. It was a risk that I was just going to have to take. I pulled a can of tomatoes out of my bag and held it out to him.
"Here," I offered. "Eat this, it will help you recover."
Torray stared at me for a moment before tentatively taking the can of tomatoes by the tips if his fingers. He shakily opened the can and took a sip. After a few gulps, he hungrily ate the rest of the tomatoes as though he had not eaten in days. I suppressed a smile. In this day and age, most of us struggle to find food, and some even die from starvation. It was a tough life.

Clearly, Torray was not going anywhere tonight. The tree branches swayed like arms, gesturing me further into the perilous forest. I stared at the ground, deciding to try and make it through a night out here, without being caught by Raptors. I gulped and glanced over at Torray, who was making it obvious that he did not want to talk to me. I cleared my throat nervously.
"Hey. Um, are you okay about staying out here overnight?"
I held my breath, waiting for Torray to start freaking out, but to my surprise he just shrugged, rolling onto his side. It was obvious that he was trying to ignore me. I glared at him. I had just helped save his life! He probably would have bled to death if I had not found him, whimpering in the middle of a forest. I huffed loudly, leaning back into a tree behind me.
"You had better get some sleep. Don't worry, I'll stay guard," I said, pulling my second knife from my boot, gripping it tightly.
Torray snorted.
"Excuse me?" I said.
This time when Torray spoke, I could hear his voice clearly. He had a gorgeous tropical accent that made my insides go numb.
"You're going to stay guard?" Torray smirked.
I shot him a look.
"Yes. What's wrong with that?" I asked in annoyance.
Torray raised his eyebrows.
"How are you supposed to defend us?" Torray chuckled, "You're just a human."
"So are you," I retorted.
Torray went silent and did not say anything more.

I crossed my arms in frustration. Who was he to think that I could not defend myself? I had just killed a wolf! Of course, he probably would not even believe me if I told him. I sighed and opened a can of tomatoes for myself. I quickly downed the food, jumping at every tiny noise and movement. It was going to be a long night.

----------------------------------------------------end of chapter 3---------------------------------------------------