Baird slowly peeled away the sticky crimson strips revealing the decent sized hole in Sam's chest, blood stilling oozing like a steady river of red down her side. "God damn it…," he muttered under his breath, trying to look as composed as he possibly could as he reached for his bag. "How….Bad...?" Sam asked, her voice a raspy whisper. Her skin was ashen, her eyes half lidded as she attempted to get a better look. She barely moved before exclaiming in pain. "Sam, don't. Just stay still". Baird told her, as he gently held her down. She tried to get up once more, fighting back the urge to scream from the pain. "Sam, please! We're ok now. Just stay still.
"My….I hurt…So M-much…..." Sam stuttered as Baird rolled the gauze into a bundle. "I know. Just hang on." He pressed the clean gauze against her as gently as he could while still applying pressure. Sam whimpered as he did so, shifting her body against the forest floor. "I know, I know. I'm sorry. I'm almost done." Baird touched her cheek, moist with icy sweat. "Driving….T-to…fast…" "Sam, come on, look at me! Just stay awake alright? Oh God…." Sam's eyes were shut now, and her head had gone limp against Baird's palm.
"Come on Baird! Hurry up, will you? I'm starved!" An impatient Sam shouted from her perch on the bumper of the packhorse. "I don't see you trying to help!" Baird replied from underneath the oversized vehicle. "Hey, would you mind getting off your ass and grab my other wrench in the back? You know, make yourself useful for a change?" Sam snorted as she slowly got up from her seat. She popped the trunk open and retrieved the large tool, scratched and rusty, before walking over to where Baird was, or rather, where his feet were, as the rest of his body was hidden under the truck. She tapped his foot with hers and he slid out, hand extended. His face was already covered with soot, his goggles shielding his eyes.
"Here ya go!" Sam said as she purposefully dropped the heavy wrench atop Baird's unarmored chest with a thud. "Ow," he said dryly, scowling at her. Sam smiled smugly and stuck her tongue out at him before turning away. The blonde just sighed with frustration as he placed his first two fingers against his ear. "Control, Baird here. This piece of crap broke down again, and from the looks of things," He coughed from the smoke coming from whatever he was working on. "We're probably gonna be late for dinner." He snickered to himself as he overheard Sam groan. "Copy that Delta 2, what's your position?" "We're still a good thirty miles from base. And to top it all off, in the middle of the forest!" he exclaimed with mock enthusiasm. "No chance of pick-up I guess, right?"
"Sorry corporal, all Ravens are out. Stalks showed up just east of Delta 1's location. "Oh, I'm sure Marcus and the rest of the gang are having fun with that…," Baird replied jokingly. He'd never admit it, but he was a little nervous for them. "Man, I wish I knew where Cole was. Whose idea was it to split us up anyway?" he thought to himself as the woman on the com-link laughed softly. "As if an army of Locust wasn't enough, right?" She sighed, sounding a little more then stressed at that statement. "The last of the Ravens shipped out after they called for reinforcements." Baird gritted his teeth. "Oh that's just friggin' terrific…Well alrighty then, I guess I'll just have to work my magic, won't I?" He could hear Sam scoff as the woman replied. "Rodger that. Don't lose hope though, Baird. If a Raven shows up, we'll come get you." "Sure. Baird out," he said, shutting off the signal. "Pfft. Yeah, right," he muttered going back to work.
"Well this is just peachy, isn't it?" Sam complained as she kicked at a pebble in the dirt road. "Someone's a little cranky today…," Baird muttered just loud enough for Sam to hear over the noise he was making. "Yeah, what a surprise it is to hear someone other then you bitching for once!" Sam snapped. Baird's sarcastic giggles only infuriated her more, but she was too tired to want to argue any further. After taking out a crap-load of grubs, then finding out a pack of wretches had basically ripped their only way back home apart, while nearly taking out her eye in the process, (Sam touched the fresh gash just below her eye and winced) All she wanted was a hot meal and some sleep. But instead, she was trapped in the middle of no where with this jackass and the thought of cold food. She started off with a huff.
"Where are ya going?" Baird called. "You know it's too far to walk." "What's wrong Blondie? Miss me already?" Sam replied via tac-com, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Baird scoffed casually. "Yeah, keep dreaming sweetheart. I just don't feel like hauling your ass all the back here when you faint. Besides, this is going to take a while. You might wanna get comfy." Sam let out a forceful "ha" "Yeah, sure, with you? Forget that." Baird just laughed softly. "Hey, no one said with me. Slow down, will ya?" Sam ignored the previous jab altogether. "I'm going to have a look around like Zayn and the others. They were smart enough to ditch you from the start." Baird pretended to sound confused. "So what made you hang around for so long?" Sam rolled her eyes, even though she knew he couldn't see. "Just tell me when you're done, smartass," she quipped before shutting off her earpiece.
Sam walked through the forest, the smell of pine needles thick on the cool evening air. It was quiet, aside from the crunching of leaves and twigs under her booted feet, and the occasional chirping of birds. Sam kept her lancer at the ready, though she didn't think she'd need it. Five minutes past, then ten. She was growing more and more impatient as she started working her way back to the road. "When is that bloody moron going to finish?" she thought to herself. Then she remembered she'd turned her tac-com off in order to shut out Baird's inevitable come-back. The second she pressed it back on, she heard screams and gunfire. "Oh, God! Get down! Holy sh-" Then she heard nothing but deafening static. Sam felt the color drain from her face as she bolted for the truck.