Chapter 17: The Wounded Scream

Dean groaned and tried to stretch only to find that he was tied to a post with a rope around his neck. He looked around the room and saw Sam still passed out in one corner and Bud and Max in another.

"Sam?" Dean whispered as he struggled against the ropes. Sam groaned and lifted his head slightly. Dean laughed slightly, "Oh thank god. I'm so glad you're alright."

Sam groaned again and lifted his head so he was looking at Dean. He cringed, "I wish I could say the about our situation." He said as he struggled to remain conscious. His jacket was soaked in blood and he had lost a lot of blood.

"Hey," Dean said as he fumbled in his sleeve for his hidden pocket knife. "You tried to warn me of the attack and I was too slow." He started cutting at his ropes with the knife while trying to talk to Sam in an effort to keep him from passing out again.

"No man, I passed out and it distracted you from the person behind you." Sam's voice cracked and his head started to droop just as Dean cut through the ropes that bound his hands.

"Sam?" Dean said as he started on the ropes around his waist and arms. "Stay with me man; don't pass out on me now."

Sam groaned again and lifted his head up. He gave Dean a weak smile. "I'll try man, but I think I've lost too much blood from when they hit me to knock me out."

"You'll be fine, Sam." Dean said as he cut through the ropes he was working on and continued to work on the one around his neck. "Can you see Bud and Max?" Sam craned his neck to try and see.

"Yeah," he said as he cringed from the pain of movement. "I think they're still unconscious. They're not moving or anything." Dean cut through the rope around his neck and stretched his sore limbs. He got up and went over to Sam and proceeded to cut through his ropes.

"We better hurry before Father Wacko comes back." Dean said as he cut through the last of Sam's ropes and proceeded to help him up. Sam looked over at Bud and Max.

"What about them?" Sam whispered nodding towards Bud and Max. Dean led Sam over to them and propped him up against the wall while he cut through their ropes. Dean started with Max and was just cutting through the last rope when he groaned and started to regain consciousness.

Max looked around him and stretched his sore limbs as Dean started working on Bud's ropes. Bud didn't stir as Dean cut the last rope. Max went over and held him up while Dean checked to see if he still had a pulse.

"He's alive, but barely." he said as he stood up again. He went over to Sam and helped him up. "Max, you better carry Bud out of here." Max nodded in assent and threw Bud over his shoulder.

Dean motioned for them all to be quiet as he crept towards the door. He gently eased the door open, the hinges creaking as it moved. He peeked out into the hall and gently helped Sam out into the corridor. They walked down the hall, keeping tight against the wall so no one could see them coming around a corner.

After 10 minutes of painstaking quietness, in which Sam had managed to pass out for a couple of seconds, they reached the hole that Max had punched in the wall. Dean looked through it to see if there was anyone on the other side before helping Sam through the opening. Dean set him against a wall and helped Max get the unconscious Bud through the opening before getting Sam up and continuing down the corridor.

They rounded another corner and stopped dead in their tracks. Ahead of them was a barricade of banshees with Bennit right in the middle of them. He gave them an evil smile before turning to one of the banshees and giving it instructions. He looked at them again and gave them a salute before vanishing into thin air.

Dean and Max backed away slowly, realizing they were screwed without the guns. The banshees slowly advanced, circling them as they went until Dean, Max, Sam, and Bud were completely surrounded. Dean's eyes desperately scanned the circle for anyway out, but there were none and the banshees were getting closer.

Suddenly one of the ones behind them screamed, a long, cold scream that made them cover their ears in pain and brought them to their knees. Dean looked over at Sam as his vision started to go black and saw that Sam was already unconscious and Max was soon to go. Dean slowly drew his pocket knife and flung it as hard as he could towards the scream and it stopped in mid breath. Dean uncovered his ears and looked towards where he had thrown the knife and saw a banshees writhing in pain, the knife embedded in its throat.

The other banshees screamed before fleeing down the corridor with their wounded comrade. Dean looked towards Max who nodded and grabbed Sam before following Dean towards the door at the far end of the hallway that would take them back up into the church.

When they finally made it to the door Dean motioned for them to stop and Max set down Sam and Bud. Dean looked Bud over as Bud groaned aloud and hoped he would regain full consciousness soon. He then went over to Sam and checked him out to see how much blood he had lost, and it wasn't looking good. Dean could barely find his pulse and his jacket was no longer tan but a deep red.

"Max," Dean called motioning for Max to come over. "Can you carry him out? We have to get him and Bud to a hospital soon." Max nodded yes and picked up Sam before grabbing Bud and following Dean into the church.