Chapter Text
It was difficult to see where we were going in the rain.
Neo was hurt so badly that I had to tie his bandana around his mouth to keep his screams muffled. I hadn’t dared to remove the arrow, so I used my bandana and a stick to make a tourniquet. Luckily I was trained in making these, so we didn’t have to worry about him losing his leg.
“Will he be okay?” Alexis asked, and I nodded. “He should be, I know there’s a clearing up here, we can camp there for the night and treat his wound.”
We made it to the clearing and I set Neo down on the grass, ripping the area of his pants where the arrow penetrated. “Shit,” I mumbled, it was worse than I thought.
It was swelling, which didn’t surprise me, but I also saw scabbing around the arrow, which made me worry that it was infected already.
I took out a small bottle of rubbing alcohol, and Alexis let me borrow her bandana.
“You’re going to be okay,” Alexis mumbled, running her hands through her brother’s hair.
I started cleaning around the arrow, and he gripped at the dirt from the pain.
“I know kid, I know, but you’re going to be okay, it’s going to be okay,” I said, not sure if I was reassuring him or myself.
I couldn’t lose any more family.
“We’re going to have to take the arrow out, Alexis, can you get Aria?” I asked, and she nodded.
“Am I gonna die?” Neo asked, even though it was muffled. I shook my head. “No, I’m not gonna let that happen.”
When Alexis came back with Aria, Jay was with her.
“I brought him for emotional support, he’s going to need it,” Aria explained, and I nodded.
Aria handed me her medical stash, which was a lot better than mine.
“Keep him steady, and I advise one of you to grab his hand,” I said, getting the gauze ready to pack it into the wound.
Jay was the one that went for it. “You’re gonna be okay, dude.”
I sighed, making another tourniquet using Aria’s bandana and I secured it around his upper thigh to hopefully make this less gorey.
“On three?” I asked Neo, and he nodded. “On three.”
“One.”
“Two.”
Once the tourniquet was secured I gripped the arrow right below the feathers, and pulled.
“Three.”
Alexis had to cover her brother’s mouth to stop the screaming, because even with the bandana tied around his mouth it was still loud.
I packed in the gauze, and luckily the tourniquets stopped any life-threatening bleeding from occurring, but there was still blood.
I put pressure on it as I wrapped it up, trying to keep my emotions steady. He was still alive. My little brother was still alive.
Once I secured the bandage with tape I took a deep breath, and Alexis undid the bandana around his mouth.
“I’m going to take off the tourniquets, and I need you guys to get him somewhere safe,” I said, undoing the makeshift tourniquets, hoping he’ll still be alive in the morning.
I saw that other banditos were tying tarps to thick tree branches to shield from the rain. That would have to do.
~~
I couldn’t sleep that night as I stared up at the stars.
“That’s an archer,” Clancy said, tracing out a shape with his finger pointed towards the sky. “Easiest constellation to see due to the three stars in a line.”
“You sure know a lot of constellations, Clance,” I giggled, moving closer to him on the grass.
“And none are prettier than you,” he said, and I laid my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.
“You have to let me go, Josh.”
“What?”
“You have to let me go.”
I woke up gasping for air.
“You have to let me go.”