Casualty - Water Rings
Chapter 2
It wasn't exactly the romantic holiday he'd hoped for. His long hair dripping in water, sweat and blood, Greg pulled himself clear of the rapids and onto the muddy banks. What had just happened was… unbelievable! His eyes searched the scene before him; it was too unreal, almost like a movie set. A new, cold wind whistled between the trees over a gloomy, muddy bank. The ground was punctured with debris: a splinter of wood here and there; a torn, empty rucksack; a shred of blue cloth which he now realised was stripped from his own chest, leaving a deep gash in its place.
"CYD!!!" he bellowed above the wind. He was shaking. "CYD!!!" He called again. He was alone…
Suddenly, the seriousness of the situation hit Greg. It was a miracle he'd survived and he knew that, but had he only survived one death to face another, more gruesome death? He was stranded in the middle of the Amazon jungle, home to anacondas, pythons, crocodiles and numerous other deadly creatures who wouldn't give a second thought about making him the evening meal. His tour guide was dead; his partner was missing in this jungle of horrors. He had no food, no shelter, he was miles away from the nearest hospital, he had no way to contact anyone, he was already injured and he was alone…
Greg swore loudly! Clutching his chest, he knelt to the ground, the pool of blood around his feet told him he'd have to fashion some form of bandage before he could search for Cyd. He searched his pockets for anything that could be useful, but they were empty.
"The ring" Greg exclaimed! Of all the cuts and bruises he'd sustained so far, this revelation hurt more than all of them put together. Franticly, he searched his pockets again, ran his hands through the dirt, squinting for any flash of gold among the brown. Eventually, after what could have been endless hours of searching, Greg forced himself to accept that the ring was gone.
Despondently, he snatched at some leaves from dark looking tree; he stripped off what was left of his shirt and used this to hold the leaves in place around the cut. Once satisfied it would staunch the bleeding, he set of downstream, clutching the wound just below his heart, which had never hurt so much.
"CYD!"