Pain exploded throughout me, a scream of agony rose up in my throat but came out only as garbled nonsense. Bone or cartilage snapped and tore loudly as it was bent into a direction it was never meant to go. Shouts erupted around me, white lights exploded before my eyes as I was pushed back beneath the force of the creature. I expected to feel the hard impact of the road against my back, but it did not come as something clamped down on my shoulder, bit deep into my flesh as it pierced me, grasped me, clung to me with murderous intent as it lifted me above the ground.
A scream of agony was trapped within my throat; it burned in me, choking me. I tried to raise my hands to grasp hold of the thing clinging to me, torturing me. My arms were like lead weights as they hung limply at my sides. I didn’t have time to fear that I was going to die. I was too caught up in the pain enshrouding me, wrapping around me, and freezing me within its cold, hard grasp. A high pitched ringing exploded in my ears; it pounded against me, filling everything that I was with its intense noise. I thought for a moment that it might be my own screams I was hearing, but my voice was still trapped tightly within me, unable to break free.
This was it; this was the way it was all going to end. I didn’t find peace in that thought, my life did not flash before my eyes, and I did not feel terror. All I could see was the bright lights popping before me, and all I could feel was the excruciating pain. A pain so intense that I felt as if I were being ripped apart from the inside out; felt as if I were being flayed alive and stripped to the very bone. I wanted to scream, wanted to let all the pain out but I couldn’t. I felt as if I were being wrapped within a spider’s cocoon, and encased to the point that motion and sound were no longer possible as the spider exsanguinated me.
My release came so suddenly that I didn’t even recognize it for what it was, even as I tumbled back. Normal feeling and sound came rushing back to me as I bounced off the road, bruising my elbows and tailbone. The hard, unforgiving asphalt felt like a cushion of bliss after what I had just experienced. The hard pop of guns slammed into my ears, causing me to wince in pain as normal sound blazed back into my tortured ears. I gasped, rolled over, tried to get up but found that my weak, wobbly legs would not support my weight.
“Grab her!” I heard Lloyd shout over the raining clatter of gunfire.
Hands ensnared my good arm; the other one hung uselessly against my side. “I’m sorry about this.”
Before I could question what Bret was sorry for, he heaved me up and tossed me over his shoulder. I groaned as my wounded shoulder protested the movement, but even this small measure of pain was nothing compared to what I had just gone through. I bit my bottom lip hard enough to draw blood, but I did not wince at the sharp, fleeting sting. Bret broke into a brisk jog as he hurried down the street with me.
“The gunfire will draw them here. We need to get away. Now,” Lloyd commanded hurriedly.
I could not see him as I bounced against Bret’s back, but his boots came momentarily into view as he crossed the road behind Bret. I could feel pain, normal pain, stealing through my body. My shoulder ached; there was blood seeping down my arm. I knew that it was dripping off of me, but I couldn’t see it landing on the dark street. The shock was slowly wearing off and I was beginning to realize that I was now a huge liability to them.
Not only was I dead weight, but I was also easily tracked.
“Bret put me down,” I managed to mutter through the bouncing impact of every step he made as we plummeted into the woods. “Bret…”
“You can’t walk.”
“I’m bleeding all over the place, they’ll find us.”
Lloyd’s boots reappeared beneath my bouncing head. I could barely see through the jarring impact that every step caused. “Stop,” Lloyd commanded. I felt his hands upon me as he helped to lift me from Bret’s back. “We have to staunch the wound.”
I felt slightly dizzy, and a little woozy, as they lowered me to the ground. Jenna was staring in wide eyed horror as Lloyd pulled the sleeve of my shirt down, baring my collarbone. I strained to see the wound, and then wished that I hadn’t. It was a disgusting, gaping mess of mottled flesh, bone, and blood. Even in the dark I could see the bruising that marred my skin and was spreading across my chest and down my arm. My veins were clearly visible against my unnaturally pale skin.
“The shoulder’s dislocated,” Lloyd mumbled. “We have to get it back into place before we can cauterize the wound.”
“Before we what?” Bret demanded as my mouth dropped in horror.
I wanted to squirm away from them, wanted to pull out of their hold but my strength was waning, my head was spinning, and I wasn’t sure I had the strength to fight off a gnat right now. Lloyd gave Bret a fierce look before shaking his head slightly. “It’s the only way,” he muttered.
“Stitches…”
“Do you have a needle and thread?” Lloyd demanded fiercely. His jaw was clenched tight, it was obvious that he did not want to do this either, but he would be the one.
“What about infection, pain.”
“Penicillin…”
“Allergic,” I managed to grate out between my suddenly chattering teeth.
“Good to know.” Lloyd dug into his pack, rooting around as he searched for something. “We’ll find something for you, but we can’t wait to stitch it. They’ll track that blood…”
“I know.” I was trying to sound brave, but my weak tone and trembling body gave me away. “Fine.” I swallowed heavily trying to wet my parched throat. “I’ll be fine.”
“Are you cold?” Jenna demanded, kneeling by my side.
“She’s in shock.” Lloyd turned back to me, and though his face was hard there was kindness and worry in his sky colored eyes. “And if we don’t stop the flow…”
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Jenna gushed. “You told me, you all told me, but he just looked so real, so helpless. I really am sorry Bethy, if I had known…”
“It’s ok,” I chattered out unable to stand her guilt. “Not your fault.”
“But it is!” she gushed leaning closer to me.
“You have to move back.” Lloyd shouldered Jenna out of the way as he knelt before me. “Bite on this.” Before I could react he shoved a rag into my mouth. I choked in surprise and tried to spit it out but he held it firmly in place. “This is going to hurt and you cannot scream. The scent of your blood is already a big enough draw without adding to it. Bite Bethany.”
After what I had just experienced, with that thing, I was fairly certain that nothing could truly hurt again. But to be fair, if I had been able to scream when it had a hold of me, I would have shredded my vocal cords with my agony. I didn’t know if I could keep back a cry of pain now. I stopped fighting against the gag, closed my eyes and bit down hard as Lloyd seized hold of my wounded shoulder.
“What are you…?”
Bret’s question was cut off as Lloyd jerked sharply on my shoulder. A loud snap, much like a bat hitting a ball, split the air as my shoulder was wrenched painfully back into place. I cried out against the gag, unable to keep the sound suppressed. Thankfully, the gag did. A wave of blackness washed over me, nausea surged up my throat as I teetered on the edge of passing out.
“Some warning would have been nice,” Bret snarled.
“There is no time for niceties.” My eyes rolled slightly, I wanted the foul tasting gag out of my mouth, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen. Not yet anyway. Lloyd was kneeling before me. “The shirt has to come off.”
My eyes widened, the last thing I was going to be able to do was lift my arm at this moment. Bret started to protest as Lloyd brandished a knife and slit the front of my shirt deftly open. Bret’s face flamed red as he turned hastily away, but Lloyd remained analytical and distant as he tugged the tattered remains of clothing from my wounded and beaten body.
There was a time when I would have been just as red as Bret, but not anymore. Now I didn’t care that the only thing covering me was a bra, a bra that was white, tattered, and d
irty. Modesty was something I didn’t give much thought to anymore, and though I wasn’t about to go wandering around nude, this bit of skin wasn’t going to affect me even a little.
Lloyd’s hand rested on my good shoulder, his gaze was intent on me. I blinked as I tried to bring his face into focus. “This is going to hurt Bethany.” I nodded, had anything felt good in the past half an hour? I was certain that I could take this, certain that I could take anything after what that thing had inflicted upon me. “Scream if you need to.”
My eyes widened as Lloyd turned away and pulled a long lighter from his bag. “What are you doing?” Jenna asked tremulously.
Lloyd didn’t answer her as he tugged his belt off. I watched in wide eyed horror as he dug a small hole underneath a stone and built a quick fire beneath it. The stone blocked the flame from above and helped to keep the smoke from rising. When the flame was a decent enough size and glowing red with heat, Lloyd placed the large belt buckle into the fire. The buckle was square and flat, but I was fairly sure that I had once seen a horse engraved upon the front of it. I was about to be branded by a freaking belt buckle, and tattooed with a horse. Or at least I hoped it was a horse, it may have been a camel for all I knew I had only glimpsed it once.
“Your belt buckle?” Bret demanded incredulously.
“Do you have anything else that’s metal and big enough to get that wound all at once, or do you just want me to hold the lighter to her skin for awhile?”
All color vanished from Bret’s face; he looked like he was going to be sick as he looked back at me. For a brief moment I wanted to stand up and run. Wanted to spit out the gag and flee screaming into the woods. How had my life become this? All the technology and advancements I had grown up with were gone, and I was about to receive a medieval cauterization in the middle of the twenty first century. With a freaking belt buckle of all things! It all seemed so impossible, so surreal, and wrong. If it wasn’t for the three people sitting around me, and the trail of blood I was leaving behind, I would have run. There was only so much a human being could take after all, and I was rapidly nearing my snapping point. But to run now was certain death. This had to happen or I would be hunted down and captured before I could even make it a full mile.
A small trail of black smoke began to come off the belt buckle. It was taking on an ominous orange and glowing hue that caused bile to roll up my throat. Lloyd slipped his shirt off and wrapped it around his hand. It took me a moment to realize that he was going to grab hold of that buckle and press it to me. Dismay filled me as I realized this was going to burn him too, maybe not as bad, but he was going to be hurt. I closed my eyes, I couldn’t watch anymore.
“I’m going to need you to hold her.” There was no saliva left in my mouth as I tried to wet my parched throat. Bret’s hands were gentle as he grasped my good shoulder. “Not like a baby Bret, I’m going to need you to hold her still,” Lloyd said impatiently.
I didn’t open my eyes, I refused to, but I knew the minute that the metal pressed against my skin. A garbled scream boiled up my throat, and froze there. The smell, and sound of sizzling flesh, reached me moments before I passed out.
CHAPTER 8
It was nearing dawn when I awoke to a bouncing swaying motion that caused my stomach to heave violently. There were hands holding my calves, and another set grasping me gently under my armpits. “You can put me down,” I managed to croak out, surprised by how dry and wounded my voice sounded.
“You’re awake.” The relief in Bret’s voice was palpable as his hands tightened upon me. I felt him bend over me as they stopped; his breath blew against my cheek. My eyelids fluttered open. It was momentarily disconcerting, and dizzying, as Bret appeared upside down over top of me. “I was so worried.”
“Please put me down.”
They had stopped walking, but now Lloyd gently lowered my feet to the ground as Bret supported me for a long moment. I took stock of myself, acknowledging all of the aches and pains in my overused, overworked, and beaten body. I took in the throbbing pain of the burn high on my shoulder. An ugly, large blister had formed over it. I couldn’t quite tell if it would eventually become a horse, or some other four legged creature yet. My entire shoulder was an ugly mottled color of black and purple, but it was no longer bleeding. The blood had been scrubbed from my body; I hated the fact that they had probably used some of our precious supply of water to do this. Someone, probably Bret as it seemed extra large, had taken a shirt and wrapped it around my chest. It was tied under my arms and knotted in the back by the sleeves.
“I was so worried.”
Before I could react, before I even knew his intent, he bent and kissed me. I was so stunned, so startled by the familiar comfort of his lips against mine that for a moment I didn’t react. For a moment I was swept into a time when everything had been boring, safe, and secure. I was swept into a time when I had been with Bret and content to stay that way, even with the lack of feeling and desire I had felt for him. I had been willing to stay with Bret simply because I did love him and I cherished his friendship, even if he didn’t cause my heart to race, didn’t strengthen me, and love me unconditionally, and simply hadn’t made me feel the way that Cade had. His kiss swept me into a time before I had experienced the loss of everything I knew.
A time before Cade, and the hole his death had left upon my tattered soul.
I wanted to stay this way, wanted to forget and go back and never return to the stark reality of my loneliness and this cruel world. Never return to the pain that hounded me constantly, even before the brutal assault I had just endured. But I couldn’t. It wasn’t fair to any of us if I did.
I pulled away, barely able to meet Bret’s hopeful gaze as I shook my head at him. There was so much I wanted to say to him, but the words caught in my throat. What could I say? I turned away from him and took a staggering step back. I felt weak, unsteady, but I was alive and that was all that mattered.
“Where are we?” I asked quietly.
“Almost to the hospital.” I turned to Lloyd, my mouth parting in surprise. He looked exhausted. Dirt and blood streaked his pale face; his nearly orange hair was standing on end. It was apparent that they hadn’t stopped to rest.
“You need a break,” I said softly.
“We need to get to the hospital first. You need antibiotics, and we need to get this over and done with. There will be time to rest afterward.”
“If you drop…”
“We’ve made it this far.” It was the first time I noticed that Jenna was carrying my bag and gun. “It’s not much further.”
“I was out for a long time,” I mumbled.
“You lost a lot of blood.”
I nodded absently as I gazed around the forest. It was thicker through here; there were more maples and oaks dotting the landscape. Even with the denser protection, I somehow felt even more exposed. Maybe it was because I was wounded, maybe it was because I had a shirt tied around me for clothing, or maybe it was simply because I resented my weakness. Or maybe it was my selfish need for some kind of comfort in this hostile environment, even if it was from Bret.
“It’s only another mile.”
Lloyd was already walking again; I fell into step beside Jenna, staying close by her side as I avoided Bret. I cursed my cowardice, but I needed to avoid him right now. Jenna glanced at me, looking as if she wanted to say something, but she remained silent. Barney returned to my side, brushing against my legs as he danced around me.
We reached a small incline and climbed to the top of the hill. Beneath us the hospital spread out like some glittering mirage in the desert. The windows were alight in the gleam of the setting sun. It was oddly beautiful, and out of place, in the world surrounding us now. Jenna inhaled sharply; she grasped hold of my arm, her eyes gleaming with the light around us.
“I didn’t think we’d make it,” she breathed.
I squeezed her hand gently. I didn’t think any of us had thought we’d actually make it, but here we were, and
there it was. And I was terrified.
I was suddenly certain that something else was going to go wrong, something far worse than the brutal assault, recently dislocated shoulder, and ugly blister I had recently endured. The three people with me seemed to feel the same as no one moved. They simply stared at the assortment of beautifully shining medical buildings.
“Should we wait till dark?” I asked quietly.
“I don’t think it matters,” Lloyd answered.
“I just want to get this over with,” Jenna breathed. “We’ve come so far.”
I swallowed heavily and managed a small nod. “Yes, we have.”
Lloyd began to make his way slowly down the hill. Bret and Jenna followed him; I reluctantly took up the rear. My gun was strapped around me again, but the weight I had once found reassuring now seemed like a mere toy. I had seen what those things could do, I had felt the pain they were capable of inflicting. A pain that I could still feel tingling through the very marrow of my bones, a pain I knew I would never forget. It was not like having a sprained ankle or broken bone, or even a torn ligament, it was a memory that would not fade with time and would haunt me for the rest of my days.
No wonder that man Cade and I had seen on the street (the only we know to have been unfrozen), had been awakened by the brutal assault that the creature had inflicted upon it. Cade had attempted to awaken Peter, his old boss, by burning him, but it had failed. I understood why now. The brand I sported on my shoulder was nothing compared to the lingering pain from when that thing had forced its way into my body. The people were frozen, completely immobile to us, but that kind of pain was something that we could never manage to inflict no matter how hard we tried. Of that I was certain.
What I wasn’t certain of was whether The Frozen Ones were dead or not. The man that had reawakened was proof that they had originally been alive, trapped within their own bodies, but that had been over a month ago. They may still be frozen, immobile statues, but they had to be dead by now. Didn’t they? They hadn’t eaten, hadn’t gone to the bathroom; hadn’t even breathed in so long. But could they somehow still be alive? Possibly even aware of their surroundings?