Martin instinctively covered his ears and ducked when he heard the first loud BANG echo across the Savannah. The loud sound hurt his ears, and made them ring for seconds afterward. The second BANG followed almost immediately after,only slightly muffled through his hands.

Poachers.

The two bachelor African elephants he and Chris were studying instantly got spooked from the loud gunshots, trumpeting and stomping the ground next to them. Martin stepped back several feet to give them space, looking around to make sure they weren't hurt and to find the source of the shots. Part of Martin was glad he didn't see any sign of the them, as he didn't have his creature power suit to deal with armed poachers. He was glad, as well, that the elephants appeared unharmed. They were endangered enough as it was.

His heart froze with fear when he heard a nearby sharp cry of pain shortly after the commotion started, followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the ground. Chris! He had been on the other side of the elephants, and Martin's first thought when he heard the shots was the elephants' safety; he had assumed his brother was safe. Oh no, they must've accidentally shot him!

"CHRIS!" Martin cried, scanning the ground through the elephants' legs for any sign of his brother. He didn't hear a response back, causing him to panic as his stomach twisted into a knot. "Chris, where are you?"

Martin breathed out a sigh of relief when he finally spotted Chris hunched over on his knees instead of laying dead, but his fear was quickly back when he saw his brother was clenching his shoulder, blood quickly seeping through his fingers and dripping onto the ground. It had barely been a minute since the first shot rang out, but already there was so much blood. His eyes were shut tight in pain as he breathed heavily through clenched teeth.

Dropping next to him, Martin placed his own hand against Chris' on his injured shoulder. Chris let out a hiss of air when he applied slight pressure to the wound. "You okay? What happened?"

"Y-Yeah, I think so," Chris said, looking up at Martin with wide eyes. "Was I shot?"

"A couple poachers in the area," Martin answered, giving a quick scan across the horizon for one last look for them, but didn't see anything. "I think they aimed for the elephants and missed."

At least that's what Martin assumed. Or hoped. He didn't want to think about why they would possibly want to shoot one of them instead of a pair of male elephants that were normally so heavily killed.

"A-Are the elephants okay?"

"They're fine, just spooked," Martin said, glancing back at the two elephants. They were still stomping around, and looked about ready to charge at any moment. "C'mon, we need to move back away from them. Think you can walk?"

"I-I think-" Chris shifted as he tried to stand up without the use of his arms, but fell back down with a gasp of pain when he shifted the wound accidentally.

Martin quickly weighed the options of potentially being trampled by two six ton elephants and any immediate dangers of dragging his injured brother, and decided he couldn't risk it with unpredictable scared creatures. "C'mon, we need to move." Wrapping his arms around Chris' waist, he hoisted him up and half dragged, half carried him behind a large rock several yards away. They had moved just in time; the two elephants let out one last distressed trumpet before taking off where they just were.

"Whew, that was close," Martin said, setting Chris back down so his back was propped up against the rock. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"N-No, it's fine," Chris said with a shaky smile, although the pained grimace on his face said otherwise. "You had to do it bro."

"Gotta keep you out of trouble, right?"

It was then Martin noticed what had happened to the other bullet, or what would have been. A thin line of blood ran down the side of Chris' head above his ear from a shallow graze where the bullet had traveled across, missing hitting him in the brain by mere inches. A chill ran down Martin's spine that made him feel weak as he realized just how close Chris had been to getting killed. The wound on his shoulder, however, was a more immediate threat.

Quickly reaching into his jacket pocket, Martin pulled out his creature pod and pushed the SOS button. Luckily the Tortuga wasn't far, only a few miles away, but they were in the middle of the African Savannah, and the nearest civilization that had a hospital was a good distance away.

"The crew should be here soon," Martin informed, leaving the creature pod nearby in case they needed to call. "How does your arm feel?"

"It burns," Chris panted. By now the blood had soaked down through most of the sleeve and the front of his jacket and had stained the front of his shorts. "A-And I can't really move my hand." Looking down, Martin watched as Chris attempted to close his hand into a fist, but could only curl his fingers in slightly.

Martin attempted to hide his frown of worry for his brother's sake, but knew he was probably doing a poor attempt at doing so. While he knew the basics of first aid, having had to use it frequently on their creature adventures, he didn't know too much about gunshot wounds. This was the first time they had had to deal with something like this. Martin tried to think back to his college biology classes and remember all of the arteries and nerves that were in the human shoulder, and what might have been damaged.

Martin just hoped Jimmy would show up quickly with the Tortuga. He had to get Chris to a hospital, and soon.

"We need to cover and put pressure on it," Martin said, gesturing to his brother's shoulder. He was bleeding faster than he would've liked, making him worry that the bullet had possibly hit an artery. "We can't let it keep bleeding out like this."

They didn't have the first aid kit with them (Now that he thought about it, they had completely forgot about bringing it, being too excited to see the elephants), so he would have to use what they had. Tugging off his jacket to use as a makeshift binding, Martin gently pulled his brother towards him so he could wrap it when he was taken aback by the blood covering the rock Chris had been propped up against. Looking down, he saw there was blood running down Chris' back and, after shifting the fabric of the green jacket to get a better look, he saw a second hole on the other side of the first one, this one a bit larger.

"What's wrong?" Chris asked, picking up on his brother's uneasiness.

"Looks like the bullet went straight through," Martin observed, trying to get a better look without jostling the wound too much.

"Is that a good thing?"

"I guess?" Martin said, unsure if it really was. Right now he wished he had Aviva here, she would know. "At least it's not stuck in you."

He had heard, years ago, that having a bullet still in the wound was better because it plugged the wound and helped with the bleeding. Or was that about a knife?

"Alright, let's get this covered. This might hurt," Martin warned. "I promise I'll be as quick as I can."

Letting out a slow breath as if to prepare himself, Chris nodded his head for Martin to go ahead.

Chris immediately let out a low moan of pain as Martin wrestled the sleeve of the blue jacket around his shoulder and started to tie it tightly against the two wounds. The entire time Martin talked him through it, barely even noticing when Chris' good hand latched onto his arm for an anchor and dug his fingernails into his skin. With a grace of speed and gentleness, Martin had it pulled tight and tied around his shoulder, even though it felt like it took forever.

"That should hold it until the crew gets here," Martin said, draping the rest of the jacket over Chris' frame and tugging it around him like a blanket. "Then Aviva can take a look at it."

Martin took in his condition. His skin was pale, with a sheen of sweat covering his body. He was shaking, and Martin noticed Chris was repeatedly trying to clench and unclench his affected arm. Placing the back of his hand on his forehead, he noted worryingly that his skin felt cold and when he checked his pulse, it felt quick against his fingers. Martin worried Chris was going into shock, either from the blood loss, pain, or a combination of both. Wanting to play it safe just in case, he carefully lowered Chris to the ground, propping his knees up. He placed his hand on top of the now bandaged wound, keeping pressure on it.

Martin wasn't feeling too good either himself, and he had a feeling it was only because of adrenaline and Chris needing him that he hadn't fallen flat on his face from the stress. There had been a good chance they all could've died when the poachers fired (Hell, for a few agonizingly long seconds he thought Chris was dead), and now that he had a couple seconds to process what happened, he realized just how lucky they were to be alive.

"Martin," Chris said quietly, and the older brother noted the slight tremor to his voice. "What..." He swallowed, taking a few breaths. "What if I can't use my hand again? What if I can't climb?"

"You're arm's gonna be fine," Martin reassured him. "And if not, there's plenty of room for two swimming brothers!"

Martin's smile fell from his face as he saw his attempt to cheer Chris up backfired as the younger looked distraught. "Hey," Martin said, placing his free hand on his shoulder in the crook of his neck. "We'll figure it out, alright? We always do. The Chris I know wouldn't let something like that stop him, if it even happens, and I won't let it. You hear me?"

"O-Okay..."

Glancing at the sky for a sign of the Tortuga, Martin wondered how much time had passed. It had to have been a while. Checking his creature pod, he saw the blinking paw print in the middle of the screen. Koki had responded to the SOS, but they should have been there by now. They sat quietly for several minutes, Martin occasionally scanning around for any sign of the Tortuga or the poachers.

"I don't feel good, bro," Chris mumbled after a period of silence.

Martin shifted a little closer, placing a hand on his forehead. Chris' eyes looked unfocused, his pupils wide despite facing the midday sun. "Is it your arm?"

"Shoulder feels like it want'sa fall off n' I feel sick," Chris said after a pause. Martin immediately picked up on the slight slur of his words, his brow furrowing in concern. "Can't feel my arm."

Chris hadn't mentioned that before. How long had his arm been feeling numb? Martin wondered if it had happened during the initial shot, or if it had been when he had bound his shoulder. The elder brother suddenly felt guilty he might've caused more damage in his attempt to help, even though he knew it needed to be done.

"It's gonna be okay, bro," Martin soothed, taking the other sleeve of the blue jacket and wiping away the sweat and blood that was on his face. "The crew'll be here soon, and we'll get you to a hospital. You're gonna be fine."

Of course he'd be fine, right? Chris had bounced back from a lot worse injuries, including almost falling on his head from trees more than once. But Chris knew how to fall without hurting himself; surviving a gunshot wound seemed to be based entirely on luck.

Chris, however, seemed to be more concerned about being able to use his arm for climbing than the fact that he was bleeding out way too fast; Martin would be rolling his eyes if he wasn't currently worried sick about his brother's life.

Shifting his hand slightly to check on the wound, Martin noted with display the blood had already soaked through the blue material, and didn't seem close to slowing down. How much blood had Chris lost already? Glancing back to where everything first happened, Martin's gaze followed the trail of red towards the rock to the pool underneath them.

"Let's do a creature quiz," Martin said suddenly, trying to distract the both of them. Chris looked about ready to nod off, and he needed to keep him awake. "What's the smallest wild cat in Africa?"

Chris blinked several times, taking longer than Martin liked to answer the question. Martin knew Chris knew the answer to the question, they had just spent time with them a couple weeks ago. "Uh... the Black-footed Cat?"

Martin was about to ask the next quiz question when he heard a familiar sound not far behind him. The Tortuga was here and not a minute too soon. Thank God! He watched as the ship hovered for a few seconds before touching down, thankfully landing not too far from where they were.

Aviva came running out shortly after they landed, first aid kit in hand. "Sorry it took us so long," she apologized. "We came across a couple poachers who were following some elephants that we had to deal with before they got them. What happened to you guys?"

So that's where the poachers went. He briefly wondered if the whole thing had been some kind of elaborate distraction, or failed attempt to pick the brothers off."We ran into them before you did," Martin answered, nodding towards his brother laying on the ground. "They shot Chris in the shoulder. Went straight through."

"Let's get him inside and get going," Aviva said, motioning towards the Tortuga. "I think Koki's already pinpointing a hospital." She glanced worryingly at the older brother, pointing out the blood on him. "Are you hurt too, Martin?"

"It's all his," Martin said, waiving off her concern. Chris needed it more than he did at the moment. Sliding his hands underneath his back and chest, Martin lifted Chris and followed the inventor back into their ship. The younger brother mumbled something quietly, upset about something, but his words too incoherent for Martin to make sense of.

"Nearest hospital looks like it's about 30 miles north of here," Koki said, pulling up coordinates on her computer screen as soon as she saw them enter. "If we redirect power towards the motor, we should be able to make it in just under 15 minutes. Jimmy?"

The redhead had been standing further away, looking almost afraid as he watched what was happening. "I'll plug them in now."

Placing Chris on couple blankets they had already laid on the floor to guard against the cold metal, Aviva tucked another on top of him and knelt beside his head with a scanner. "His pulse and breathing are really fast, and his blood pressure's too low. If we don't hurry..."

Martin debated asking what Aviva meant by that, but deep down he already knew. He had seen Chris' condition quickly deteriorate before his eyes.

"Was Chris shot in the head too?" Aviva asked in an alarmed voice, tilting his head to the side to get a better look. The small amount of blood had obscured the wound, making it look worse than it was.

"It's just a graze," Martin informed. "Chris got real lucky with that one."

Watching as Aviva checked him over, Martin sank to his knees on the other side of Chris, suddenly feeling weak. Checking himself over, he finally got a good look at himself for the first time since everything had happened. His hands had a slight tremor in them, which he guessed was from the stress and adrenaline running through his system. His clothes, he noticed, were covered in blood and most likely had to be thrown out, but at the moment he didn't care about them. Clothes were replaceable, brothers were not.

"You did good, MK."

Martin jumped at the sound of Koki's voice behind him, and looked up to see her drape a blanket on his shoulders.

"Thanks, Koki." Her smile was always infectious, and Martin found himself returning it. He pulled the blanket closer around himself. "I'm worried about him."

"Chris is in good hands, Martin," Koki reassured him, kneeling down next to him. "He's got you looking out for him."

With a nod, Martin sat back and watched Aviva continue to tend to Chris. Fifteen minutes. Now all he could do is wait, and hope his Chris could make it long enough to get to the hospital. Taking his brother's hand in his own, Martin gave it a squeeze and willed him to hang on.