Ellie and I had spent the early morning getting something for us to eat while Joel was on bed rest. The weather seemed to drop temperature overnight and the wind frosted my pale cheeks. Lucky for us, there was no infected which is always a plus while hunting. The two of us had ridden on callus to get to where we needed to go faster.
I kept my pistol loaded in my pocket and my bow and arrow ready to go. So far, we haven't caught anything. The only sounds that entered my frost bitten ear was our breathing, the soft breeze blowing by us and our footsteps walking and crunching on the fresh snow.
While Ellie tied Callus to a tree so he couldn't run off, I looked around and thought of something. "Hey Ellie?" I say, getting her attention. "Yeah?" She replied, still tying callus up. "I don't see anything around here. Look, I know this may sound fucking dumb but, what if we split up? I mean, we'd have a better chance of finding something." I suggested. She stopped tying and looked at me with a look of slight disbelief.
"Enid, I don't want to take a chance of..." She started hesitantly. I only hugged her to get her to stop talking. My slightly warm hands touched her frost covered jacket. She doesn't hesitate to hug me back, digging her frigid fingers in my back worn out hoodie. From the way she hugged me, she didn't want me to leave her side.
"Don't worry, Ellie. Look, as I said before, it seems idiotic but we might do better splitting up." I said, still hugging her. I feel her sigh under my arms in defeat. "Okay. But if anything happens, just shout for me. The last thing I want is to lose you. But, I'll take your word for it, Enid. Please be careful." She tells me, breaking the hug.
We just looked at each other and I smiled. "I will. Besides, when am I not?" I say, giving a joke. She cracked a grin and socked me playfully. "This is why you're my friend. Always a wiseass." She chuckled, giving me a two finger salute as she walked back to callus. I smirk and pull out my bow and arrow and begin to walk the opposite direction. Not long after, I regret not staying with Ellie.
I hear the sound of fresh snow being crunched under my feet as I jog through the woods. I made it at least 20 or so feet away from where Ellie was. There wasn't anything worth eating. "Come on Enid... Put your hunting skills to the test. We can't afford to go back empty handed." I whisper to myself, seeing my breath as I exhaled.
I knew I had to bring back something worth eating; maybe a couple of rabbits if I'm lucky. Sighing, I climbed on a snowy rock that had a good height for me to have a vantage point.
I listened as hard as I could for any movement; my bow and arrow was lowered. For a moment, all I heard was the sound of the cold wind. I then spot something no less than a few feet from me.
I was happy when I saw what it was. It was a grey rabbit. "Perfect." I whisper, crouching down so it wouldn't see me. I aim my bow and arrow and close one eye. I then fired the arrow and it went straight through the rabbits neck, killing it instantly. "Fuck yes." I say, jumping down from the rock.
Judging by its size, it would be enough to hold us over for a couple of days. I picked it up by its neck hide and pulled out my arrow. It was a clean shot. "Oh, Ellie will be happy when she sees this." I say to myself with satisfaction.
I tied the rabbit to my backpack so I could continue to hunt. Not five minutes later, there was more movement. Instantly, I get down to the ground and take cover behind a rock. I carefully peaked around the rock and was ready to kill whatever made the sound.
To my surprise, I see it wasn't a rabbit, or any wild animal that I know of. It was a dog. A big dog that had a faded blue collar. He looked thin as if he hadn't eaten in a few weeks. His fur was the color of tan with a dark mask.
Slowly, I walked from behind the rock and lowered my weapon. "Oh… hello there boy." I say calmly. The dog's ears rose at my voice and he glanced at me. "It's okay, boy. I won't hurt you." I say, kneeling down to my knees and held out my hand to see if he was friendly.
He sniffed my hand hesitantly and whined. I wasn't sure if he liked to be petted so I didn't even try it. "Are you hungry? You look like you haven't eaten in a while." I say, getting him to tilt his head as if he was trying to understand.
But he only gave a couple of barks to answer me. "I thought so. How about you help me and my friend find some food?" I ask, getting him to wag his long tail. I chuckle and stand back up.
I walk about 20 more steps with the dog walking beside me. Making it to a hill, I crouched down and looked around. The dog stopped beside me and sniffed the air. "Do you see anything, boy?" I wonder, still looking around. As if on cue, the dog started growling at something. He then takes off running while barking.
"Hey, wait up!" I shout, running after him. I see that he had found another rabbit and had already killed it. "Wow, good boy. Good boy. I owe you one." I chuckle, walking over to get the rabbit from him.
However, he only backed away from me. "C'mon boy. I have to have that. I'll split it with you." I say, reaching out my hand. He started to growl at me. "C'mon, drop it." I tell him. He didn't listen to me. "Don't eat it all!" I yell, snatching the rabbit out of his mouth.
At that moment, I didn't realize the huge mistake that I had just made. The dog suddenly started snarling at me with his teeth showing. My stomach instantly twisted with dread and fear when I saw his demeanor change from friendly to aggressive.
He then leaps at me with his mouth wide open and his sharp teeth showing. I then feel him sink his teeth into my forearm with tremendous force. I cry out from both shock and searing pain as he pulls me to the ground. He gets on top of me and bites down on my exposed arm yet again.
My heart was racing from sheer terror and I yelled out in panic as I fought the vicious animal off. The animal's tense muscles rippled powerfully and the frothing slobber was flung around in the air like slime as the dog moved its head around with a furious speed, growling like a mad animal.
I used all of my strength to punch the dog in his eyes but that didn't do anything. I couldn't kick him because he was out of my feets reach. The only thing I could do was to kill him.
My knife was still in my pocket therefore I knew I had to grab it. I didn't want to kill this dog that I believed to be so friendly but I had no choice.
The second I got a good hold on the handle of my knife, I swung the knife and stabbed the dog directly in the head, killing it instantly. The attack had finally killed him, leaving me in a state of panic. With my good arm, I push the now dead dog off of me. I yank my blood soaked knife from its head.
I quickly back up with my good arm tightly gripping my knife.
I was out of breath and I tried catching it. What the fuck just happened? He was only hungry. If I hadn't taken that rabbit from him, I wouldn't have gotten bit by him.
I feel my whole arm burning like fucking fire. I can't describe just how much it was hurting at this moment in time. Even moving it an inch was agony. My blood dropped from my torn arm. I had to cover it with my sleeve. Once I did, I whimpered from the horrendous pain and held my arm gently.
"Oh shit... Shit... I gotta get to Ellie." I pant, feeling sick from the intense pain. I can't sit here any longer. Ellie had to know what happened. Therefore, I struggle to push myself up to my feet. Groaning, I clenched my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut to keep myself from screaming. "Fuck... fuck, fuck, fuck..." I growl through my clenched teeth.
Once I did get myself up to my feet, I was instantly met with double vision. It made it hard to see where I was fucking going. I keep my hurt arm close to my chest as I trudge along the snow. I didn't pick up my feet as I walked. I had left a blood trail behind me.
My breaths became heavier and my heart started to slow. It felt like I was going to pass out. But I couldn't; I had to find Ellie. She was the only one who could help me.
Just about 10 minutes later, I could barely make out the form of Ellie just up ahead. "E-Ellie..." I pant, stumbling towards her. I felt so sick that I couldn't think or see straight. I closed my eyes and tried my damnedest to not throw up. My legs felt like noodles and I couldn't walk anymore. I fall to my knees and groan sickly.
"Oh my god, Enid! What the fuck happened?" Ellie asked in panic, noticing that my entire hand and arm was covered in blood. I open my eyes and see her in front of me. She saw the sickly look on my face. "Fucking... Dog... Attacked me. God, I feel like I'm going to pass out." I say in between pants.
I then feel her pull back my sleeve, causing me to wince loudly. She saw the torn flesh and bite marks on my arm. Through my blurred vision, I could see that my whole arm was covered in blood, some of which was dripping onto the snow.
"Fuck, we gotta get you back to camp. C'mon." She said immediately as she used my good arm to hold me up. We begin to move to where Callus was. I closed my eyes and breathed heavily. It was starting to get profusely worse by the second.
"C'mon, listen to my voice. Can you hear me?" Ellie says to me, making sure I was still conscious. "Y-yeah..." I replied weakly. "Please don't pass out on me. We're going to get you fixed up. It's gonna be okay." She assured me calmly.
Even though I was disoriented, I knew she was faking it. She was scared. "Ellie... you're... agh… fucking scared. Don't lie to me." I say, trying to joke my way out of this. But it was obvious that it wasn't working.
"No shit I am. Splitting up was a bad idea." she replied, feeling terrified. We make it back to the horse. "Can you get on?" she asks me. It took me a minute to answer her because the dizziness in my head was making it hard to do so.
"I think so..." I reply, trying to breathe. I tried to mount Callus but I failed instantly. "Agh-ow! Fuck!" I yell, falling off into the snow. "Here, I'll help you." Ellie said, helping me to my feet. She locked her fingers together and I set my foot in it to help me up. It worked this time and I groaned sickly.
Ellie then mounts on Callus so that she is sitting in front of me. "Are you okay?" she asks, turning her head to look at me. I let my body lean against her back, feeling weaker by the second. "Yeah... just tired. That's all." I moan, trying to stay awake. I was starting to feel lightheaded and very dizzy. "Are you sure?" she says. "Yeah... don't worry about..." I started but I felt my whole body become heavy and my heart slowed. That's when darkness took me.
(Ellie's POV)
"Oh, shit!" I say, jumping off of Callus to help Enid. She had passed out from the bite on her arm. She was heavy when I picked her up off of the snow; meaning she was out cold. I knew splitting up was a bad idea.
Enid had turned super pale from the loss of blood so I had to act quickly. I couldn't lose her. I refuse to lose her. I managed to get her to the house that we were keeping Joel in while he was healing from his wound.
There were still supplies that I could use to stitch up her arm and by looking at the bite, it looked to be just enough to fix it. "Don't worry, Enid. I'm gonna get this fixed up. Gonna get it fixed up…" I say, feeling panicked a bit.
Making it back to the house, I helped Enid down into the basement to where Joel is. He was sleeping so I didn't have to worry about him right now. I set Enid's unconscious body against the wall and she slumped over some. Her injured arm was still bleeding profusely so I had to act fast.
"Don't worry. You're gonna be okay. I promise." I assure as I dug through my backpack for stitches and a needle. I did end up finding those stitches and a needle as well as peroxide and bandages. I could fix Enid up while she's unconscious.
"Fuck. I hope you don't wake up while I do this." I say, having her arm over my lap. I poured some peroxide over the bite and it instantly started to sizzle as well as bubble up meaning it was cleaning it. I'm glad she's not awake because she would've screamed if she was.
Satisfied, I set the peroxide aside so I could clean the blood off with a rag. Once cleaned up, I saw the extent of the damage. My initial thought was, 'Holy shit. How the fuck did this happen?' But I knew I had to remain calm while stitching her arm up.
I take the needle and stitch and begin working on her arm. It was easier than I thought it was going to be. The wound was closed up but it would leave a huge scar from her wrist to her elbow. It was a nasty looking bite.
"Okay, now I gotta bandage you up." I say, swallowing hard. I wrapped the bandages around her arm so it covered it all the way.
Once finished, I use some tape to hold it together. I then pulled back her sleeve so it was covered up and gently set it down on her lap. My job had been done.
I scooted so I could sit beside her. She was still pale from the blood loss but I knew she'd be okay. All she needed was some rest.
(Enid's POV)
When I finally woke up, my entire body felt so sore; mostly my arm. I opened my eyes and saw that my vision was blurry a little bit. "Huh…? What…?" I groaned and looked around. I blinked a few times to see that I was back in the basement.
"Joel…? Ellie…?" I say, still feeling slightly dizzy. Joel was still asleep, resting himself. I moved my black hair out of my face and sat up a bit. "Ow… shit." I grunt, feeling a sharp pain in my arm.
"Oh, you're awake." Ellie said from beside me. I glance at her to see her stretching. She was probably asleep too. "Yeah… What happened?" I ask, leaning forward. "You passed out there. So I doctored you up. Let's just say that the stitching part was a success." she says, scooting to sit in front of me.
It relieved me that she had helped me when I knew she would. I pulled back my blood stained sleeve and saw that my whole forearm was stitched and bandaged from my wrist to an inch from my elbow.
"Oh… thanks Ellie. I would've been dead if you hadn't helped me." I say gratefully. "Hell yeah you would've but I wasn't gonna let an infection kill you." she replied to me. I gave a chuckle and covered my arm back up. "Yeah, it's gonna take more than this to kill me." I laugh, leaning back against the chipping wall.
"So, how do you feel?" she asks me out of real concern. "A bit better than before. Still a little sore though." I tell her, feeling the heaviness of my arm get to me. "Oh, okay. How about we take a break until tomorrow before going out again? I'm gonna need my partner in crime back on her feet." Ellie said, taking the rabbit off of my messenger bag so she could cook it.
"Sure. Yeah. I'm gonna need all the strength I could. And maybe we can find medicine for Joel." I say, adjusting myself up against the wall. "Yeah, true." she said, starting to light a fire so we could cook up that rabbit. "Hopefully Joel will eat something this time." I say, looking over at Joel.
Looking at my skin, I could see in the slight darkness that I was still pale. So there's no way we would go back out there tonight. "Yeah, true. He didn't really eat well last time." Ellie said, cooking the rabbit, "So, you just rest and regain that strength of yours. I'll cook for us tonight."
"Don't mind if I do." I say, shivering a bit. It was still freezing in here and I hugged my arms. "You okay?" Ellie asks me, looking back. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit cold." I replied, still shivering. "Yeah it is cold in here but this fire will warm us up soon enough." Ellie replied, working on the fire as well as cooking two rabbits.
After a while, the rabbits were done and we both ate, making sure to leave some for Joel. We did manage to make him eat some without any issue. I had told Ellie how I ended up bitten by a dog and she was shocked to hear this. I was being stupid and shouldn't have taken it from him.
The fire went out and darkness filled the basement. I figured it was the best time to get some sleep while we still could. Ellie had her body pressed up against my back so she shared her body heat with me. Her left arm wrapped around my stomach; I took her hand and our fingers intertwined together.
I felt comforted by this and instantly fell asleep. This time, I didn't have any nightmares. When morning came, I felt better than I did yesterday. It gave us the opportunity to back out hunting again.
As before, she took the front seat of Callus and I sat behind her with my arms wrapped around her waist. We would get something big this time. My dog bite wasn't going to stop us from finding more food.
"Are you okay to move?" She asked. I didn't hesitate to nod and she helped me stand up to my feet. My legs did feel like jello and heavy to start with but I felt stable to walk now. "Should we tell Joel we're leaving to get food?" I ask, hearing his shallow breathing.
He had to know that we were going to get him food for us. Anything will help him heal faster. And finding medicine for him will help too. Hopefully we can find antibiotics or something to help. He could die without our help now.