There couldn’t be any other outcome.Therewouldn’tbe.
I put him over my shoulder, about to start climbing when snarls from above made me still.
I quickly slid him off my shoulder and curled my body around his as four more infected fell over the edge into the pit. One of them missed every spike and landed on top of the others, then rose and started toward us. One of its ankles was bent the wrong way, which slowed it down, but it was still moving faster than I liked.
At least they couldn’t climb ropes.
When I didn’t hear any more infected, I put him over my shoulder again and hoisted us up and out.
He was so damn light; I thought Luna might be heavier than him.
I glanced down when something tugged on the rope.
“No fucking way,” I whispered. One of the infected was grabbing the rope like it was about to climb up after me. “You gotta be kidding me.”
It held the rope in one hand and swiped at us with the other, its rotting skin flapping with every movement. Almost all of its skull was exposed, a few strands of hair hanging in its eyes.
It didn’t do anything more than hold the rope and claw at the air, so I ignored it and laid the boy down as delicately as I could.
Of course they couldn’t climb fucking ropes.
The boy was still unconscious—I refused to think he was dead—when I grabbed the rope and pulled it out quickly. I needed to get him back to the bunker before he bled out.
When the entire length of rope was back up, I threw it toward the tree to come back for later, then pulled on my pack, slung mybow across my body, and carefully gathered him in my arms. He groaned softly but didn’t open his eyes.
I ran through the trees back to the bunker.
When we arrived at the entrance—a solid steel door hidden in a rock face beneath a thick layer of vines—I cradled him in one arm so I could turn the wheel.
I took the steep steps down to the bunker in the dark. There was no time for light and I didn’t need it anyway.
Luna greeted me at the bottom of the stairs, immediately trying to stick her nose in the boy’s hair to sniff.
“Back,” I said. She wouldn’t hurt him, not on purpose, but I needed to get him aid as quickly as possible and hurried to the bathroom, where I kept all the medical supplies.
Luna trailed behind me with a whine, watching from the doorway as I laid him on the concrete floor, took off my bow and pack, then ripped his shirt down the middle. It was so worn that it came apart easily, and when I saw the wound, dread pounded through me.
No, it just looked worse than it actually was because of all the blood.
He would be fine.
He’d befine.
I yanked open the cupboard under the sink and pulled out the med kits stashed there and a few towels, then raced to the kitchen for some water.
“Alright, let’s look at you.” I set the water near his head and kneeled by his hip.
I pulled the thin remains of his shirt the rest of the way off. There was old blood and new blood just below his right shoulder. I took a cloth, dipped it in the water, then slowly wiped away the blood to get a better look at the wound.
It was a ragged hole, too small to be from one of the spikes in the pit. I turned him gently on his side and was greeted with a smaller, more even wound on his back.
Like…
He’d been shot.
After cleaning the blood away, it looked as if the bullet had gone clear through him, which was good. I knew enough about human anatomy to know that the location of the wound wasn’t near anything vital, either, and it gave me hope.
The hole in the back of his shoulder looked like an entry wound. Had someone shot him while he was running away?
