Remmy tumbled through the multicolored vortex to a stop upon moist ground. He coughed violently in a mixture of slight pain, as well as breathing in the thick and sour white fog that made it difficult to see more than a few feet in front of him. The sounds of the gunfire and shouts still echoed in his mind. He stood to wipe sticky earth off of his tan jacket, black pants, and black sneakers, but his long-sleeved blue undershirt was untouched.
He heard the whooshing sound of two more arrivals into this new world, but with the disorientation of the heavy fog, as well as his own rolling entry, it was difficult to tell exactly where the others were. "Maggie!" he called out. In an instant, he got a groan, and an answer. "Over here," a voice somewhat nearby came, followed by a heavy cough. The portal closed, leaving only the fog.
Remmy moved forward, hands out and coughing while he checked the timer. "Ten minutes!" he warned, then continued. "What happened back there?" He turned his body a bit to better zone in on Maggie's voice as she responded. "'Maggs attacked right as we were leaving," she answered in worry. Remmy drew closer until he was finally able to catch sight of her in the fog: tan mini-jacket, long-sleeved red shirt, thick blue jeans, and black boots, all covered in grime from her entry.
"Can we get back there?" Remmy asked, coming to her side with a cough. Maggie shook her head and let out her own. "I don't think so, but maybe Bennish's got an idea," she answered, then looked around in the fog. "Hey Connie!" she called out, coughing with the effort. There was no response. The two exchanged odd looks, then spread out to find him.
"Did he get left behind?" Remmy called into the mist in worry, followed up with a cough. Maggie's voice came from somewhere behind him. "I don't think so," she called back. "He pushed me in when the 'Maggs started pouring in. He should've..."
Her voice cut short, and the terror in her voice chilled Remmy to the bone. "Remmy!" she screamed, coughing violently from the effort. "Get over here, quick!" Turning directly to the sound of her voice, he jogged forward as fast and safely as he could before the sight of Maggie kneeling over a fallen body came into full view: it was Bennish, and he wasn't moving. His flip-flops had fallen off and were nowhere to be seen, his blue jorts were covered in sticky grime... and his aloha overshirt and white t-shirt were stained red with fresh blood, pooling out under him in the moist earth. A line of blood pooled in small circles from where he had arrived, then tumbled over the ground.
With violent coughs erupting from the both of them, the two carefully examined their fallen friend. Maggie checked his pulse, and satisfied, gave Remmy a nod. Following the heaviest stain of blood on his shirt, Remmy quickly found the source: a large caliber bullet that went cleanly through his shoulder, but was still pumping blood out at an alarming rate. Maggie immediately pulled off her tan mini-jacket, and using the sleeves as ties, tightly wrapped the wound.
She looked up to Remmy. "How much..." she started, coughing hard, "...time?" Without looking, Remmy knew well enough. "Five minutes," he answered, rising to look around. Maggie held the coat over Bennish's wound. "He needs help right now," she said worriedly. Remmy nodded, then moved into the mist. "If I find anyone, we're not going anywhere," he promised. Maggie nodded, then turned back to see to Bennish.
"Hey, is anyone there?!" Remmy shouted, coughing on the strain of the shout. There was no answer. He stumbled forward, barely able to see through the fog, for about a minute, before blobs in the distance started to get easier to see: some type of dark green pitcher plant, and a few tall green stems that ended in droopy brownish-white flowers.
Suddenly feeling the ground get significantly wetter beneath him, he put the brakes on his advance to see that the ground led down to the soupy liquid of a dark marsh. He backed up, quieting a cough, then turned back towards where he remembered Maggie and Bennish being. On his spin, though, he saw a nearby pile of fallen dead plant matter, piled a few inches high. Though he didn't hear anything from the pile, his mind raced with the potential poisonous creatures that could be lying in wait within, and backed up slowly to get away.
In little time, following the sound of Maggie's coughing, Remmy was back and kneeling at the two's side. He coughed, then looking to Maggie, shook his head. "Some kind of swamp," he explained simply. "We don't have the time to look around, and neither one of you is getting in that water." He pulled out the timer, then checking the readout, saw they had less than a minute.
He reached down to gently put his hands under Bennish, but Maggie shook her head. She stifled a cough, then spoke. "I'm lighter than you," she said. "You have to catch us when we make landfall on the next world." Remmy nodded, then stood to open, unlock, and activate the vortex a few feet away from them. The rainbow swirl was covered by the thick fog, but threw a wavering light upon the filthy ground.
Stepping in front of the vortex and seeing Maggie rising with Bennish in her arms, he was satisfied in taking point. "Give me a 10 second lead," he said simply. On Maggie's nod, he stowed the timer in his pocket, jumped into the vortex, and was soon sliding to the next world.
Fear gripped his heart, and flashing images of the bleeding wound and the pools of blood on the ground filled his mind, as Remmy moved through the tunnel. He prayed his journey would be faster than normal, and as if in response, he was suddenly out and into the new world before he knew it. The sunlight greeted him as he hit the ground rolling. The earth was brownish-yellow, and a light grey mist filled the air, smelling acrid and unhealthy.
He tried to put the brakes on his tumbling, and luckily, was able to do so before he hit a slope that led straight down to a pool of sickly grey-yellow liquid with thicker plumes of the same mist rising up into the atmosphere. The acrid smell was worse here, but the only thing on Remmy's mind were the others who would shortly be arriving.
Jumping up with an agility spurred by sheer adrenaline, he scrambled, then dashed, back to the vortex that ushered in his arrival into this world, and within seconds, saw a distant shape in the tunnel getting bigger by the second. Maggie held Bennish in her arms, and had angled herself back first, twisting her body every time the forces of the tunnel tried to flip her over. With complete trust, she exited the vortex, and landed straight in Remmy's arms.
They both grunted in the effort as they fell and smacked into the ground, lifting their heads to avoid cracking them on the brownish-yellow earth or against one another. Remmy waited while Maggie sat up and away from him, then let Bennish down to check his wound and makeshift jacket bandage. She looked back to him. "We need to find someone fast," she said worriedly. Remmy nodded as he quickly searched the timer to find what he was looking for. "A little under two days," he spoke out. The portal closed.
After he reached down and picked up Bennish, he looked to Maggie. "You gotta take point and get us out of here," he said, suppressing a small cough. He pulled Bennish's shirt up to provide a makeshift filter for him. Maggie nodded, then turned to lead them forward.
They had come out next to a large pool, almost a lake, of grey-yellow liquid that was filling the air with a light acidic mist. Maggie led them directly away from it, carefully stepping across the sickly earth. "Did we even go anywhere?" she asked off-handedly, then coughed slightly.
The mist around them was far less thick, allowing a look of about fifty feet ahead, and as they left the little lake behind, the air seemed to clear better. The ground sloped upwards slightly, and as they trudged forward, they could start to make out a distant line of dead and dying brown and black trees atop a small embankment.
A minute later, the mist seemed to thicken once more, shrouding the trees and making it more difficult to see. Maggie threw a look back to Remmy and Bennish before heading on without them, but had only taken a few short steps before she suddenly stopped, then backed up two more. There was another pool of sickly grey-yellow liquid in front of them, not as big as the one they had first encountered, but definitely large enough to at least take in three people. With a pair of coughs, Maggie turned to the right and around the pool, and Remmy followed.
They traveled in silence for a short while before they came across the bodies of two people, both dressed in heavy brown coats and pants with thick boots. One was wearing a gas mask. The unmasked man's face was marred with filth, and difficult to make out. Maggie quickly ran to their sides, and confirming that the two were already gone, rifled through their pockets to find anything of use.
"If there's people here, there has to be some kind of civilization," Remmy reasoned, then put Bennish gently down so he could remove one of the men's masks, revealing a tan-skinned man with dark hair, and wrapped it around Bennish's head. Maggie nodded in response but said no more, and simply made a pile of what she could find: a large leather skin filled with some kind of liquid, another that was empty, two knives, two lighters, a roll of tape, two sealed metal cups of trail mix, two extra pairs of boots, and two compasses.
As she pocketed all but the boots in her jeans, Remmy untied the filled skin to sniff. Getting nothing more than the acrid smell of the mist around them, he took the smallest of sips, confirming it was water. He nodded, then resealed the skin to help Maggie secure the rest of the items. In no time, the two were up, Bennish in Remmy's arms, and moving forward once more.
Maggie kept her eyes on the ground, looking for any kind of disturbance to guide their way, and following the most trodden ground, eventually got them away from the pools. In a short amount of time, they had gotten to the embankment of the dead trees, and climbing up the gentle slope, eventually found a circle of old green tents beside the sickly forest. She beckoned Remmy forward in earnest, then trotted down the slope to help push the other two up.
The tents were old, very old. There might have been about a dozen at some point, but at the moment, there were only eight, with the other four either blown away, rotted to nothing, or taken. Maggie quickly looked among them, and running past two with ripped open tops, another four that were more holes than fabric, and another that was nothing more than a piece of green fabric hanging on by a single metal pole, flapping like a decaying flag, she ushered the others towards one that, despite the holes, was at least serviceable.
She unzipped the flap and held it open for Remmy to come in and set Bennish on the canvas ground. The coat was stained worse than when she had first tied it. The bleeding wasn't stopping.
Maggie closed the tent, bringing a small amount of darkness to the interior, but the holes in the fabric still allowed enough light in to see. She and Remmy laid hands on Bennish, taking stock of his condition.
"He's cold," Remmy said, his hand on the unconscious man's forehead. He was paler than usual, and despite the feel of his skin, was still sweating. Without a word, Remmy took off his tan jacket and blue undershirt, and Maggie her long-sleeved red shirt, to place them over Bennish. Nothing now covered Remmy's strong and bare chest, while Maggie was down only to a bra and the tight muscle of her arms and upper body.
"We need more than this," Maggie said, to which Remmy nodded. "I'll go look for something," he promised, then taking a compass, a knife, and the gas mask from Bennish, stood to unzip and leave the tent. Maggie briefly considered pulling down some of the tent fabric from one of the other tents, or returning to the dead men to strip them of their clothes, but reasoned that whatever was in the air probably coated all of it, and so nixed the idea. She lay close to Bennish's unmoving body, sharing her heat with him.
"You took that bullet for me, Connie," she said softly, laying one arm across his chest to hold her jacket in place over his wound. He didn't respond.
Remmy set off towards the treeline. Whether they were still absorbing the worst of the filthy air, or because of the slightly higher elevation, or as a result of the distance from the pools, it was clearer to see here. The trees were sparse, and as Remmy ran through them, he could see little peeks into the area beyond them, towards what looked like a broken asphalt road next to a field of dead grass. Low-hanging tree branches and tall, dead shrubs scratched at his bare skin as he ran forward.
The air was only slightly cleaner and clearer within, but it did allow him to take deeper breaths without feeling like he was inhaling poison gas. When he reached the end of the treeline, he followed the broken road in a direction away from the tent circle, hearing nothing more than the sound of wind blowing past him and towards the same area he was running towards.
He passed only a single broken down car on the way over, a blue sedan with paint that seemed to be darker and duller than normal, and aside from some old napkins in the glovebox, there was nothing inside. Hope filled his heart, though, knowing that this might be the first sign of someone to help. Eventually he drew far enough away from the pools to finally get a better look at the sky, but seeing the grey and darkening clouds above, he only quickened his pace down the road.
A few minutes later, he reached an abandoned gas station. There were no vehicles parked outside, and the pumps were all dark and dead. The interior was utterly and completely ransacked, aside from a few empty gas cans, an empty hot dog cooker, empty cardboard candy boxes, and a freezer that was as warm and uncomfortable as the rest of the interior.
Remmy's heart fell as he heard the sound of water beginning to splatter against the window and ground outside, and looked out to see the beginnings of an acrid storm. He took a deep breath in his mask, then stowing his knife, took two of the empty plastic gas cans to serve as a makeshift umbrella, then ran back outside.
Even angling the cans to catch the bulk of the raindrops, a few made their way to his bare chest. There was no pain, no burning, nothing to indicate anything wrong with the drops, but the itching on his skin and the sour, chemical smell in the air told enough of the tale. Wiping off the drops from his skin with the back of his arm, and using the cans to block the rest, Remmy darted forward, thoughts of Bennish bleeding out running through his mind unbidden.
Thankfully, he finally reached what seemed to be an abandoned town. There were several suburban houses, two floors each, lining a road that split in a T-intersection just in front of him. Without pause, Remmy dashed towards the first house on his right, and came to a stop outside and under an awning. He pounded on the door, crying for help, but when nobody answered, he simply opened the unlocked door and entered.
The entrance hall was bare of everything, including furniture, rugs, and carpets. A hallway in front of him led to an empty kitchen, while the dining room and reading room to his left and right were also bare of everything but a covered table, a large bookshelf with no books, and an empty cabinet for fine china that was long gone. Remmy used the tablecover to wipe himself dry, then shook it out and left it near the front door. A quick search of the upstairs turned up nothing but an old CRT TV and sheetless beds, so he discarded the gas cans, held the tablecloth above him, and darted across the street to the next house.
The next house was locked. Shouting for help and getting no response, Remmy noticed that the door had seen enough time pass, and rot come over it, for him to blow it in with a single kick. He lay aside the cloth, then continued through the house in a second search. Though the house had the same architecture as the first, and was as seemingly empty, he soon found the entrance to a basement. Going carefully down into the dark, his face bumped into a metal chain, and pulling it, the room saw its old and flickering light shine enough to see the body of a man at the bottom of the stairs.
It was clear what killed him: his head was bludgeoned from behind, and the ground was brown with the stains of his blood. His waterskin was empty, empty bags sat on the floor around him, and he had nothing else but his empty backpack upon him. Nevertheless, Remmy stripped him of it and put it on, then continued to search the area. It was almost completely empty, except for a dresser filled with several solid color shirts, and a few pairs of brown slacks. Stuffing as many as he could into the backpack, and wearing the rest in layers directly, a now much larger Remmy barreled up the stairs, recovered the tablecloth, then continued out once more.
Turning left outside and in the increasing storm, he followed the T-intersection until he saw something that filled him with hope: a local market. Praying that it wasn't as empty as the gas station, he entered to find almost everything gone. Undeterred, he began his search.
There was an empty cash register on a counter to his left when he entered, and rows of shelves to his right, all bare from his current vantage point. After he hurried from aisle to aisle, he only saw empty shelf after empty shelf, with only one filled with yellowed magazines and another filled with old toothbrushes and disposable razors near the back.
Doubling back to the aisle bearing medicinal items and spices, he still saw nothing, but knelt to look under the shelf anyway. His heart leaped to find a few discarded bottles underneath, but one by one as he checked them, his heart sank more and more: paprika, saffron, cumin, all of which he threw to the side, until there were no more to check. With a sigh, he made a final search of the storage area.
After a few minutes of searching through ransacked cardboard boxes and an empty desk, then almost giving up, he spotted something odd about the back wall: most of the walls were a sickly yellow in their color, but whether due to the original wallpaper or decay, he didn't know. However, one spot seemed to be just a little bit more pale than the others.
He approached the spot with a curious look on his face, kicking it lightly. A hollow sound came back to him. He immediately stepped back, then brought the spot open with a massive kick. After he waved the light smoke of the drywall away, he knelt down to find a cubbyhole filled with some money, expired medicine bottles, expired cans of food... and a two liter water bottle. He carefully pulled out the plastic container, examining it. At first it seemed to be ready to drink: sealed, clear, and clean. But when he brought it out of the storeroom and to the light outside, he sighed on noticing the sickly yellow color that comprised it. Stowing it nonetheless, he returned to the entrance, donned the cloth once more, then headed to another house.
Jackpot. There were a pair of blankets upstairs atop long abandoned beds, and throwing out a pair of slacks and a shirt from his backpack, he folded the two covers and made enough room to zip up the backpack, which almost seemed like it was ready to explode from the amount of items it was holding. He tore down the stairs and grabbed the tablecloth, hand on the door, when something caught his eye from the right.
He quickly ran to a small living room in the corner of the house, complete with couch and TV, and a large and nearly empty shelf against the far wall. On it were a few small bottles, including nail polish, a small plastic container for contacts, and mascara. But in the corner, there he saw it: a middle-sized container of nail polish remover. He reached out to take it, then looked at it in silence for a few seconds. He sighed deeply.
Maggie heard the thudding sounds of footsteps approaching, and just in case, took a crouching and prepared position with her knife held sideways. She had moved Bennish to a part of the tent that seemed to be getting the least amount of dripping rain from the holes in the fabric. He was shivering, breathing hard, and awake. His sunglasses were in the corner of the tent.
When Remmy entered with a backpack full of stuff, Maggie relaxed, then beckoned for him to give her the pack so she could begin to dig through it. He did so, then took a hard breathing sit next to Bennish, removing his mask to give him a smile that he hoped would make the prone man feel better. Bennish simply blinked back in pain.
"How is he?" Remmy asked. In a flash, Maggie pulled out the blankets and covered Bennish, tightening them around him and wrapping him up like a cocoon. "He's still bleeding, Rem," Maggie said in a voice she couldn't keep from quivering. She pulled out two of the solid color shirts: an orange one for him and a green one for herself, and they both put them on. Remmy looked down to see that the tent floor, while not exactly appearing the crime scene of the previous world, was too red and brown for comfort. She looked to him in fear. "I don't know how much longer we can do this," she said.
With a nod, Remmy reached into the backpack and retrieved the container of nail polish remover in one hand, and his knife in the other. "I couldn't find any alcohol," he said softly, then pointed the label towards Maggie, keeping his eyes on the floor of the tent. With a deep breath, he finally looked up to meet her eyes. In seconds, her eyes began to water, and a single tear ran down her left cheek. She nodded in understanding, knowing that the liquid would be more poison than sterilizer by now, then Remmy took the lighter and went outside without another word.
"Where's... he going?" Bennish asked weakly, trying to lift his head to see, but unable to do so. There was the sound of liquid pouring, and within seconds, there was a flash of light. The tent flap allowed only enough room to see that the tablecloth was on fire. "What's he doing?" he asked, eyes stuck on the sight of the flame outside.
"I promise you Connie, we're going to get you through this," Maggie said from a sitting position above him. He looked up weakly to see another tear coming from her other eye, and a forced smile that chilled him to the bone. She reached over to take one of the extra green shirts, rolled it into a long shape, then set it down on his right shoulder. "Bite this," she said gently, putting the rolled shirt into his mouth. Bennish did as he was told, fear gripping his heart.
In what seemed like hours of terrified waiting, Remmy finally returned to the tent. He was holding the knife, and it was glowing slightly red. He nodded to Maggie, who pulled down the tightened blankets from Bennish's upper body, took position behind him, then laid his head on her open lap. His breaths became ragged and fearful as Maggie brought her left leg over his left arm, pinning it to the ground at the elbow. After untying the jacket from his left shoulder to see a fresh stream of blood stain his aloha shirt, she tore open the fabric over his wound to reveal the purple, black, brown, and angry red mess. She leaned over, and once she had laid her left arm over his neck and right shoulder in a strong but comforting squeeze, then laced the fingers of her right hand in his, pinning it to the ground, she nodded to Remmy.
"Hang in there, Radman," he said in a voice strong but sorrowful, kneeling to his side, while a single tear fell from his right eye. "This'll be over soon."
Remmy brought the glowing knife down sideways across his shoulder. Immediately, his horrified, muffled scream of agony filled the air of the tent. Tears flowed from Maggie's eyes as she held him firm, but his lack of strength made it all the easier for her to suppress his struggling. Remmy pulled the knife away a second later.
Releasing Bennish from her leg and arm grips, Maggie carefully turned him over, then stood up and turned to take a position above him. Kneeling down and placing her knees on either side of him, she held down both of his arms, lacing her fingers in his right hand and tightly pressing down on his left bicep, then nodded to Remmy. As her tears fell on Bennish's back, Remmy brought the knife down once more, prompting another muffled scream of pain to burst forth from Bennish.
His breaths came in short and ragged bursts as he bit down on the shirt. Maggie looked to Remmy pleadingly before the two checked the wound once more... but there was still the slightest trickle of blood still pouring forth. Maggie squeezed Bennish's hand hard once more, and knowing what it meant, his body racked with sobs as Remmy turned the knife over, revealing the other heated side.
"Last one, Radman, I promise," he said in a wavering voice. Bennish nodded as best he could, then turned his head away, closing his eyes.
The scorching pain came once more, a single second of horrendous agony. And with a final yell of pain, the knife was gone, and Bennish's body shuddered into a coughing, then spent stillness. Maggie took her left hand from Bennish's to wipe her eyes, then looked down at the wound. The trickle had stopped.
She leaned back over Bennish. "It's over," she whispered, unable to keep a tear from dropping on his forehead. Slowly turning him over and laying his head down upon the ground, she took the green shirt from his mouth and gently tied it around his now cauterized wounds. He winced, but when everything was in place, she rewrapped him in the blankets.
"You ok, man?" Remmy asked, setting the knife aside. Bennish simply shook his head, breathing hard. Taking the water skin they recovered from the fallen men, Remmy placed the spout to Bennish's mouth, and let him drink, sip by sip. "We've only got 36 hours here, give or take," Remmy spoke as Bennish swallowed. "Then we'll get you somewhere we can fix this."
In no time, he could swallow no more. Remmy put the skin in the backpack, then took out the sealed container with the yellow water. Disassembling the gas mask and removing the charcoal from the filter, then pouring out the trail mix from the two metal cups, he began the arduous task of filtering and treating the yellow liquid as best he could.
"You did great," Maggie whispered to Bennish, stroking his hair. Whether unable to answer, or having passed out, the young man gave no answer.
A short time passed as the three settled into the tent. Night was approaching, but it wasn't cold enough to cause any discomfort to Remmy and Maggie, who were only in their light clothes. The two were aside Bennish: her hands were on his right shoulder and side and she slept quietly, while Remmy sat to his left, a comforting hand on his left elbow, and knife in his left hand.
Something jerked Maggie awake from her half hour nap. Remmy was already in a crouched and ready position, head turning to better perceive the distant disturbance. The rain had stopped, and the outside was completely silent. And then, it came again: a distant, long animal screech, like a cross between the howl of a wolf and the screeching hiss of a barn owl. Adrenaline flooded their systems and brought them to full alert.
"We gotta get out of here," Remmy stated, looking around. Maggie nodded, and taking her knife, ran to the tent flap. "Get him ready," she stated in deadly seriousness, then left. Remmy quickly gathered up everything they needed into the backpack, including the container of previously yellowed water that now looked a little more palatable. He heard the sounds of tearing fabric and clinking metal outside, and in no time, Maggie returned to the tent, leaving it open.
Bennish stirred, and his eyes opened slightly. His teeth began chattering. Remmy put a comforting hand on his cold and clammy forehead as he watched Maggie rolling tent canvas over two metal poles. "You lost a lot of blood," he said to Bennish, then looked down to lock eyes with him. "We're still working on getting you out of here."
Coughing very quietly, and eyes squeezing with a sharp, but quick, pain, Bennish spoke. "How... long?" he managed to get out. Remmy looked to the sky through one of the holes in the tent. "34, 35 hours," he answered back. Bennish leaned his head back as if in surrender. Remmy shook his head, putting his hand on his friend's cheek. "We ain't giving up on you, man," he promised. Bennish took a ragged, deep breath as he continued. "Don't give up on us, ok? Just rest."
"Ready," Maggie said. The canvas of a ratty tent was wrapped around two of the tent poles, but even secured with tape, it looked only just barely strong enough to hold someone. Remmy donned the backpack, then carefully brought Bennish's blanket-wrapped body to the center of the canvas. Maggie took point, then turning towards the entrance to the tent, squatted down to securely grab the tent canvas around the poles. Remmy did the same, and on three, they picked up the makeshift stretcher, then exited the tent.
The howl-screech came again, closer, but still far enough away to leave the source a mystery. And with a careful rhythm, the three began their trek towards town.
The weather held as they made their way through the dead forest, then down the crumbled road and past the abandoned blue sedan. Neither of the two dared throw a look behind them at the risk of dropping Bennish, though their ears explained everything they needed to know: the howl-screeches, though still somewhat distant, were approaching. And the longer they stayed on the open road, as ruined as it was, the easier it would be for them to be spotted.
"Should we go into the gas station?" Maggie asked through heavy breaths, but Remmy shook his head. "There's a better place up ahead," he answered with a nod of his head forward and his own heavy breathing. "Got a second floor. It's close enough to double time."
"Ok," she answered simply, then feeling the thump of her heart beating faster, the two slowly and carefully picked up the pace until the movement was just shy of jostling Bennish. In a few minutes, with the sounds of the howl-screeching drawing ever closer and louder, the three finally reached the first of the houses in the small and abandoned town.
Once they had gently set him on the floor just beyond the entrance, Remmy reached down to pick up the blanketed Bennish and take him upstairs, while Maggie shut the door, locked it, then moved the heavy bookshelf to block the front door, then the cabinet to the dining room window which had no blinds. When she was done, she went upstairs to find Remmy over Bennish, who was still wrapped up and barely awake atop an old mattress on a double bed.
Remmy put his hand over Bennish's forehead. "He's getting hot," he said. Maggie controlled herself and held back a worried sigh, coming forward to sit on the mattress and put a hand on his right leg. Bennish looked up to her. "We're getting out of here tomorrow, right?" he struggled to whisper out. She smiled reassuringly. "Yeah," she answered. "You're doing great." With that, he turned his head to the side, closed his eyes, and was soon asleep.
Maggie's exchanged a serious look with Remmy, whose eyes went to their fallen friend, then back to her. With a deep breath, he drew his knife from his pocket. "I'll take first watch," he said quietly, then went through the doorway to sit in the upstairs hall, eyes on the stairs below. She stood, then came to sit next to him, leaning up against the doorframe with her own knife brandished.
The howl-screeches seemed to be all around them now, running around and past the house. None of the shrieks seemed to be coming from above. They listened in deathly quiet silence as they passed by and into the distance, neither daring to stand nor look outside to see what they could be.
Their hearts raced as they heard the sound of some kind of scratching downstairs, the muffled noise indicating something outside trying to get in. A howl-screech, so close that it made the hairs on the backs of their necks rise, cut through the house like a wailing ghost. They sat in silence, grips strong on their knives, as it was joined by a second. The seconds slipped by, and the scratching at the door continued.
Eventually, the scratching stopped, and the things tore away, their howl-screeching getting dimmer as they continued down the abandoned road. The cries never disappeared, but as they lowered in volume, the two began to relax.
Each of them let out a relieved breath. Remmy looked to Maggie. "Gotta keep our strength up," he suggested quietly. Maggie nodded, then after fishing the plastic container out from the backpack, the two uncapped it and sipped.
It was some of the most vile liquid they had ever drunk. Despite being charcoal treated, soaked through one of the extra shirts, and boiled on the last of the nail polish remover, it tasted of salt and decay, like seawater left in a tomb to pickle. The two clamped their free hands over their mouths, forcing the rancid liquid down their throats and into their bellies where it just seemed to sit.
Remmy coughed quietly, then shook his head. "We can't give this to Bennish," he finally managed to get out through a gag. Maggie simply nodded in response, breathing heavily as she tried with all her might to suppress her gags. Several seconds of silence passed as she tried to bring herself under control.
When the foul water had seemed to run its vomitous course, she finally spoke. "I don't think it's a good idea to look for more with whatever those things were running around outside," she offered quietly. Remmy nodded in agreement. "How about the rainwater?" he whispered. "We'd need to treat it, but if we could just get a bottle or two..."
Maggie looked to the side, then up towards the ceiling, still hearing the howl-screeching in the distance. "I don't think you'll find any calcite in a small town like this," she whispered back. "And even if you did, those things are out there." She shook her head. "They could have left sentries in this town, maybe even outside."
With a nod, Remmy gripped his knife tighter. "Like a snake or coyote," he surmised.
Maggie took a breath, then closed her eyes, letting her ears take in the surroundings. She thought she heard paws outside, perhaps some scratching or heavy animal breathing, but couldn't tell if it was her imagination or not. Remmy patted her shoulder comfortingly. "Just rest," he whispered.
A moment of silence passed. Maggie's soft voice then came out, quietly pushing through the darkness. "I'm scared, Rem," she whispered. Remmy turned to the side, only seeing half of her face. Quietly sliding forward towards the stairs, he saw her head was turned, and was quietly watching the sleeping Bennish.
Hours of watch later, when the deep night had finally passed and the morning sun was rising higher in the sky, the two finished their guard rounds and were fully awake. Gently so as not to disturb Bennish, Maggie pulled his blanket down and took the shirt from his wound, and couldn't suppress a gasp as she revealed it fully: it was still an angry red and was burned somewhat brown from the knife, but there was a large amount of yellow and green in the wound, and it was spreading outward. She felt his forehead, which was entirely too hot for someone who had lost so much blood, and his skin was extremely pale.
"Something in that fog, or in the ground on that first world," Remmy surmised. Using his knife to cut the bloody part of the shirt away, he returned the rest of the clothing to the wound, then tied it gently on. Pulling out the timer, he saw that there was still a day left, and nowhere to go.
That night, there was scratching at the front door again. There were no howl-screeches to indicate arriving creatures, just the sound of something attempting to make its way in. Neither Remmy nor Maggie had the feeling to sleep, so after they had given the last of the clean water to Bennish, and choked down the last of the bilge water themselves, they sat atop the stairs, knives at the ready.
Bennish groaned quietly from behind them, prompting Maggie to quickly and quietly run to his side to gently hush him. "It... hurts..." he whispered out. She nodded, then carefully rolled him to his right side, repacking the blankets behind him. His face seemed to calm somewhat, but his teeth still chattered in the cold, and he winced every few seconds as his body was wracked with sharp pain that continuously enveloped him.
"Eight more hours," she promised, running her hand through his hair. "We're almost out of here." Bennish nodded, doing his best to stifle his reactions to the pain. Remmy sat at the top of the stairs, listening as the scratching continued. The night dragged on in silence.
The morning sun rose once more, and the window of opportunity was fast approaching. The scratching downstairs was getting more insistent, and then was soon joined by a howl-screech from the far, far distance. Something outside returned the sound, then the scratching continued, even louder. The distant howl-screech was soon joined by a faraway chorus of more, drawing ever closer.
Remmy quietly closed the door to the bedroom, but left it slightly ajar, not risking a single sound to alert whatever was downstairs. His backpack contained Bennish's blankets, the compasses, the two small metal cups, the lighters, the tape, two pairs of slacks, and the empty waterskin, and he held the now rolled up makeshift stretcher while Maggie stood at the side of the bed, ready to take up a shivering Bennish into her arms.
The final countdown was upon them. Something began bashing into the door downstairs. There was the sound of splintering wood, then something heavy falling to the floor, then the sound of something hard clacking into the stairs outside the room. Whatever it was, it was coming up fast. Remmy slammed the door closed and locked it, just in time to hear the sound of something howl-screeching outside. With a smooth motion, he activated the timer and opened the rainbow-lined portal before them.
While Maggie picked up Bennish in her arms, Remmy pulled the bed in front of the door, just in time to catch the bash of something against the wooden portal, causing the wood to shudder in response. With the vortex now fully formed, Remmy jumped through first with the backpack. There was another bash, causing the wood to warp. The screech-howl filled the air, now joined by many more approaching from the distance. Maggie counted ten painful seconds, watching as the wood began to buckle, then when she could wait no more, turned and ran towards the vortex. The door exploded into wood fragments behind her, and she heard a howl-screech as clear as day mere feet behind her as she leaped into the swirling tunnel.
Dropping the stretcher at the sudden impact of landing in the new world, Remmy was immediately on his feet. Several seconds passed until he saw the familiar shapes of Maggie and Bennish approaching. Her back was to him again, but this time, she was splayed sideways. Bracing his legs into the dirt ground, Remmy caught the two in his large arms, then after absorbing the shock of the impact with bent knees and sliding backwards, let Maggie quickly down to draw his knife. The vortex continued to swirl, and even after several seconds passing, there was still nothing else. In seconds, the vortex closed, and they were once again alone.
"You guys ok?" Remmy asked. Maggie looked to Bennish, whose face winced with pain, but who was still alive. She nodded, still impressively carrying him after their ordeal.
Looking around, they found themselves next to several large trees, so high they could barely make out the tops. There were large plants about the height of cornstalks next to them, some with large fronds, and others with prickly leaves waving in the breeze. They were in a clearing of a great forest, and though the sun was rising high above them, it was mostly blocked by the canopy. The temperature was gentle, and the air was clear. Remmy breathed out in relief, then turned to recover the makeshift stretcher to continue their journey.
With a start, he drew his hand back, seeing something crawling all over one of the poles, as well as part of the canvas: some kind of small grey bugs were all over its side. Their bodies were jagged and metallic, and they seemed to moved as one.
Pulling away the other tent pole that they hadn't yet swarmed, Remmy leaped back and watched as the things seemed to devour the other pole, leaving small holes behind, but despite covering the green tent fabric, the things simply walked over it and let it be; the only holes were the ones left by the mist and rain of the previous world.
Looking over, Remmy could see that, despite her bravery, exhaustion, too, showed in Maggie's face. He gestured to her without a word, and exchanging Bennish for the metal pole, she turned and led them through the forest.
Looking more carefully, and with the sun peeking through the canopy here and there, they started to make out the veritable blanket of the grey things covering the ground of the forest. Slowly, methodically, as the three passed through the forest, they seemed to be grouping up and following them. Wasting no time, Maggie and Remmy picked up the pace and ran as fast as they could.
In minutes, they had exited the forest to come to flatlands covered in dirt, spreading in three directions towards two empty fields to the sides, but there was a small mountain range ahead of them covered in more green plants. The ground seemed to be thankfully devoid of the grey things, and so they were able to slow down and catch their breaths as they moved towards the hills.
"What the hell were those things?" Maggie asked, slowing to come to Remmy's side. He shook his head. "Some kinda bugs?" he wondered aloud. Maggie threw a look back. "Why were they grey and shining like that?" she asked. "And why did they look like some kind of crystal?"
Remmy threw a look at Bennish, whose eyes fluttered and face contorted in pain. "I dunno, but they ate one of the stretcher poles like it was nothing," he answered. He made a face. "They didn't touch the canvas, but..."
Getting an idea, Maggie nodded, then slowed up to get behind the boys. She unzipped the backpack, then taking out the slacks and tape, she wrapped them around the metal pole in her hand and taped them tightly to the bottom, making a kind of giant torch or broom. Stowing the tape, she zipped the pack up, then took point once more with the pole in one hand and her knife in the other.
In a few short moments, they had crossed the flatlands to come to the distant hills, where the opening of a cave appeared, covered in foliage. Neither seeing nor hearing anything dangerous approaching, they began to scale the gentle slope between the shrubs and bushes, and soon arrived at the mouth of the cavern.
"What if... they're in there...?" Bennish whispered from Remmy's arms. Remmy tightened his grip, then followed Maggie inside. "No choice now," he answered. "We'll look around for help as soon as we get you somewhere safe." Maggie looked back, brandishing her weapons. "Whatever they are, they aren't getting in here Connie," she promised, then turned back to venture inside.
The rough walls of the cave got darker as they went inside, but every few dozen feet, there were small pinpoints of light that shined in from small holes in the roof, allowing the barest amount of sunlight in. The path forked only once, but when one corridor led to a tight squeeze that only a child could get through, they had no choice but to go the other way. In minutes, they reached a large dead end, easily dozens of feet across and wide, with a ceiling that rose fifteen feet above them. A small light hit the center of the area, and thankfully, lit up no red eyes of bats on the ceiling, only rough stone.
Remmy lay Bennish next to the light, then pulled the blankets out to wrap him up again. He was still too hot and his skin too pale, but he thankfully didn't look much different than the previous day. Remmy sat next to him, breathing heavily, and Maggie approached to hand over her weapons. She stood up to leave the cave through the small entrance, but Remmy stopped her with a gesture. Taking out the timer, he unlocked and opened it, then mouthed "Three days" to her. With a nod, she turned and left.
Bennish lay back, breathing heavily and raggedly. The throbbing pain in his left shoulder continued, and though he was burning up, the blankets offered a comforting warmth. He looked up to Remmy. "What... do we do now?" he asked. He looked at the light above as Remmy scooted closer to him. "Wait for Maggie to bring back help," he answered.
Looking around the cave, Bennish let his head lean back, closed his eyes, then spoke. "How... much time?" he asked. Remmy, dreading giving the answer, paused slightly. Knowing he couldn't keep the information back forever, he finally put a hand on Bennish's right shoulder, then told him. To his credit, Bennish seemed to take it well. "She's... coming back with help, right?" he asked quietly. Remmy nodded emphatically in return. "You bet, Radman," he answered. Ruffling his hair slightly, he smiled. "Save your strength and rest, man," he said comfortingly.
As Bennish settled in and his breathing became more regular, Remmy began to talk, softly, gently, and slowly. "Man, if it wasn't for you and the rest of the eggheads? Where would we all be?" he asked softly, keeping a hand on Bennish's shoulder. "I mean, yeah, I got the Seer's juice in me, but you guys got me out of the warzone, drove us both up to the observatory. I couldn't believe you guys took one of the 'Magg cars and ghosted it like you did."
Quietly letting out one of his trademark laughs, he continued. "It wasn't exactly a welcoming party to get tackled and checked for 'Magg blood," he said quietly, "but I won't forget the look on all your faces when it came up. You ever seen the blue stuff turn purple before?" He nodded in satisfaction. "Yeah, I told ya I was bringing a present, but you didn't believe me until that infected 'Magg tissue nearly ate through the microscope slide, huh?" he added.
He paused, thinking back for a few seconds, before he finally continued. "I didn't tell you how the sound of that needle hitting the Manta was the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard," he said softly. "And without you guys, I never would have heard it. The 'Maggs would still be all over our Earth. And we wouldn't have a chance of bringing them down for good."
He looked down, seeing Bennish breathing gently and rhythmically. "Those kids probably miss you, especially the wolf kid, remember?" he asked quietly. "And then there was that nightgirl! What was her name, Dinau? I bet she's waiting somewhere for you, man."
As his slightly echoing voice faded in the dark of the cavern, and Bennish continued to rest, he turned to look at him a final time. "We ain't letting you die, man," he spoke quietly. "That's a promise."
Many hours later, the light no longer reached through the ceiling. Maggie returned, her face flushed red with effort. She bore only a face filled with worry.
"Big trouble," she said simply and quietly, trying to let Bennish sleep. Thankfully, he didn't stir. She sat next to Remmy, then pointed towards the entrance to the cave. "Those grey bug things," she continued. "They're everywhere, all over the ground. The ones in the forest weren't the only ones. The others were right under the surface. I think they're hibernating, because when I was coming back, I could see them starting to come out of the ground."
Remmy winced and sighed. "Are they coming closer?" he asked. Maggie nodded. "They're slow, but they'll be here within a day or so."
Bennish suddenly made a sound, something like a cross between a laugh and a sob. His eyes were closed, but a tear ran down from his left eye to meet the cavern ground. His mouth was screwed up in a twisted smile. He said nothing as Remmy nodded to Maggie, who returned the gesture, then went to the mouth of the cave with the pole and knife. Remmy squeezed his shoulder supportively, but said no more.
The night was uneventful, and both Remmy and Maggie had ample time to sleep as they took turns at watch. Remmy moved Bennish away from the center of the cave, eyeing the hole in the ceiling warily, and both he and Maggie took turns patrolling back and forth between the entrance and the ceiling to catch anything trying to enter, sleeping in shifts. But nothing did, and when the morning sun rose, the two were finally able to relax.
Remmy took a shot at scouting the area, but aside from a few mountains, inedible plants, and long flatlands of nothing, there was nothing nearby, at least within a close enough distance to be there and back before dark. Maggie stayed silently with Bennish, who spent most of the time sleeping. His head was on her lap, and she only moved to switch legs when they fell asleep. In the brief moments he was away, he spoke of dry mouth and weakness as dehydration began to overtake him.
That night carried a horrible silence, and mental images of the grey bugs were soon followed by the sight of them approaching and climbing the hill, until they were at the mouth of the cave. The moonlight shined on their bodies, sending deadly beautiful sparkles of light out like skittering diamonds on the ground. Remmy spent an exhaustive several hours brooming the bugs away from the entrance to the cave, careful not to get any of them on the rod. Though they flew back with ease, over time, he was only successful in making slowly larger piles of the vile things as they crawled inexorably closer to the mouth of the cave. Maggie took over shortly after, but Remmy couldn't sleep as he watched the hole at the ceiling of the cave with a beating heart and tense muscles.
On the final day, Bennish was looking worse than ever. The morning light shined through the cave, showing the ever increasing spread of the infection in his shoulder as they changed his makeshift bandages. Bennish was coughing and in horrible pain, with a headache, dizziness, and cramps in different muscles signifying the worsening of his lack of water. The others had headaches and their movements slowed because of the same.
"Almost there, man," Remmy said, hand on his shoulder. Maggie looked to the timer display, then pointed it to him, proving no exaggeration: 16 hours. Bennish felt the sting in his eyes of tears wanting to well, but nothing came out. He settled for leaning back and trying to sleep, but the pain kept him from doing so.
Remmy went outside to broom the piles of bugs farther away from the entrance to prepare a quick evacuation for them that night. The piles tipped over and began rolling down the hill, and it seemed like there was a decent path down the slope for them to soon escape.
To his horror, he noticed some of the bugs at his right sneaker slowly, ever slowly, beginning to climb up. He instinctively kicked away and watched as the bulk of them flew down the hill, then slipped his foot out of the sneaker, picked it up by the inside heel, then slapped it against the cave wall until the others were off. Putting it back on, he broomed away a few more of the bug piles, then retreated into the cave.
"We can't leave," he mouthed to Maggie with a shake of his head. Her eyes went wide and her mouth opened slightly. "Why?" she mouthed back. "Some woke up," he mouthed, opening his fingers next to his eyes to further seal the message, "when I got close," he finished, explaining further with two silent hands coming together. Maggie looked down at Bennish, who was moaning softly in pain, then back to Remmy. She closed her mouth, then nodded, hunkering down and putting her arms around him, staring at the entrance. Remmy sat next to her, eyes flitting from the ceiling to Bennish.
The hours dragged on as the sun moved through the sky, and after forcing himself to sleep for several hours, Bennish woke again to a splitting headache, dizziness, and utter fatigue. The cavern was darkening. He opened his mouth, and after a slight wheeze brought the attention of the other two to him, his face screwed up in pain as he closed his eyes.
"I don't wanna die," he whispered in a shaking voice. The words tumbled out one by one, full of fear.
Remmy knelt at his side, and throwing a look at the hole in the ceiling, looked down at him once more. "You're not going to die, man!" he insisted. Maggie turned from the entrance to kneel at his other side. Bennish's body wracked with a sob, then his voice came out, barely audible. "The window's... getting longer..." he finally managed to get out, a single tiny tear running down his left cheek. "I don't wanna die..."
Maggie reached under his blanket to take his hand in hers. His grip was ice cold. "Hang in there, it's almost time!" she promised, squeezing hard. "You stay with us! We're not going to let you die!" On his slight head shake and a sob, she put the pole down and ran the backs of her fingers alongside his cheek. Remmy took the pole, then stood guard at the split in the wall that led outside.
A few minutes passed in silence before Remmy cried out in surprise. Maggie looked up to see the bugs coming through the split, slowly and dreadfully forward, as he tried to broom them backwards. She grit her teeth, exhaled sharply, then pulled away one of Bennish's blankets to wrap it around her right hand. She turned back down to Bennish, gently turning his face to see hers with her left hand. "If you see any skeleton jackasses in black robes, you tell me," she said with a determined look and a smile mixed with both strength and sadness. "I'll sock him in his boney jaw. Nobody's taking you anywhere but us."
She turned to join Remmy at the far wall, sweeping the bugs away with her covered arm. Just before Bennish's world went dark, he thought he could see the sight of flashing lights begin to drop down from the hole in the ceiling.
"He's burning up, and we're almost out of bandages."
"I know. I pray to God we find something on the next world, Maggie. Hospital, more water, maybe just some alcohol for the wound."
"It would barely stop the infection. It's already in his system."
"I know."
...
"We just need to hold on a little longer."
"...How much longer?"
"God knows, Maggie. But we're not giving up."
Bennish opened his eyes slightly. Two shapes were on the other side of a campfire, standing under a tree. There was some kind of lizard cooking on the fire, and two waterskins were on the leafy ground a few feet away. As his vision focused, he watched as Maggie, still in the same green shirt, blue jeans, and black boots, took a step towards Remmy in his orange shirt, and black pants and sneakers. She embraced him, burying her face in his chest, while he brought his face down and upon her brown hair, wetting it with his tears.
She turned her head slowly to the side, then seeing Bennish's slightly open eyes, pushed away from Remmy and pointed to their fallen friend. She said something unclear, words that seemed to fade away into the distance as she ran towards him. Her mouth moved, but by the time she knelt at his side, Bennish could hear nothing. Remmy picked up a small bowl near the fire then rushed it over, holding strips of cooked meat to his mouth. Maggie put her hands together in a pleading gesture, mouth moving and inaudible. With all his strength, Bennish opened and accepted the meat to the relief of the two, then Maggie darted backwards to get one of the waterskins, uncap it, and hold it to him. Taking a small swig, Bennish's world went dark.
He could barely move his body. His breath was hot and ragged, and his muscles were excruciatingly sore. He was hot, and could barely feel anything besides the pain.
He was in a warehouse of some kind. The ceiling was high, maybe thirty feet up. Empty shelves were all around, and an abandoned forklift covered with dust rested beside one set of them. His head fell back, then rolled to the side, giving him a look to his left. The sun was setting and sending light through the upper windows of the warehouse, just over a large green metal door.
Remmy was in front of the door, holding it down with all of his might and weight. Every few seconds, the door seemed to move up ever so slightly, but his body weight sent it crashing back down. He was holding the timer in his left hand, throwing looks between its display and the door behind him. To his left, at an angle from the door, Maggie crouched on one knee with an assault rifle pressed into her right shoulder, aiming directly at the door.
A clawed, metallic arm ripped through the far left side of the door, and instantly, Maggie peeled off a shot straight into it. There was a horrendous and dull roar from the outside, then the clawed arm instantly retreated to the outside, leaving a wide hole in the door with darting shadows of movement behind it.
Maggie threw a look behind her, then screamed something muffled and almost inaudible to Remmy. His eyes met Bennish's from the far distance, then he shouted something back, waving the timer. Maggie nodded, shouted something to Bennish that he couldn't make out, then aimed back towards the entrance to the warehouse. Everything went dark.
He was almost completely paralyzed. His headache thudded with every heartbeat, and he could barely breathe. He tried to move his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
He could barely make out the sight of bricks around him. They were in an alley, and he was lying next to a discarded garbage can. Two shapes, one larger and the other smaller, stood poised in front of him.
As if in slow motion, a shadow darted forwards and leaped at the larger one... Remmy. It was some kind of massive mammal, with the head and teeth of a rat but the body of a wolverine, and its claws were extended and reaching for his throat. In response, Remmy bashed the animal across the face with a garbage can lid in his left hand, sending it into the far wall. When it had just barely bounced off of the bricks, Remmy dropped the lid, placed his now free hand on the lead pipe in his right, then with both hands, brought the metal bar directly down on the beast's skull with a muffled crack. Maggie flew in from the left, bringing a large rock down upon its head, ending its life.
Pulling out the knife from the previous world, she started to carve into the beast. The world slowly darkened and dropped away.
He couldn't move. His head felt like it was coming apart from the horrendous headache. His breaths were short, and his heartbeat was deathly slow.
He was on the floor of some kind of storage room, filled with the blurry shapes of crates. There were windows blocked with more crates along the far wall. Shadows moved along them as they made slight bumping and scraping sounds, and he slowly started to make out the sight of buildings across the way. Remmy was kneeling behind some sand bags with a shotgun pointed towards one of the windows. The gun in his hands was shaking.
With his final ounce of strength, Bennish opened his eyelids as far as they could go, until he saw Maggie above him. She was leaned up against the wall next to him, her left hand gripping his right, and her right arm was propped up on a knee, holding a shaking handgun. He followed the barrel of the gun to the window, but this time, the shadows and sounds came in clearly: there were winged black creatures outside with long legs, no eyes, and mouths that were lined with teeth in sick rings like massive leeches. Small talons on the ends of their wings scratched against the windows as they flew by and shrieked horribly, bumping into the glass and trying to find their way inside.
His eyes rolled back to see Maggie. She sat still, handgun shaking, pointing the gun directly at the far window. Her face was a mask of anger and intense determination. She breathed heavily, never breaking her focused, piercing sight at the creatures outside. And then, slowly, he closed his eyes as darkness overwhelmed him once more.
He stirred, feeling sunlight on his face. He was still weak, but for some reason, he could finally breathe. The headache was still there, but far more muted, and his back was sore like he'd been lying down for too long. His throat hurt, and it took a few seconds for the room to stop spinning, but eventually, he was able to open his eyes the slightest bit. Down and to the left, there were massive, tight and clean medical bandages covering his left shoulder. To his relief, he could make the weakest of movements with it.
Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, and let out a small groan despite himself.
"Hey, you're awake," a woman's voice spoke out. Bennish turned his head slowly to the side to see Maggie, brown hair unkempt but face smiling, wearing a white medical gown. She rolled over to him in a wheelchair in front of several large windows along the far side of the wall. "The nurses said you'd be back with us sometime tomorrow, but I guess you couldn't wait," she joked, smiling wider. He breathed with effort, then after a failed attempt to sit up, sank back into the bed. "What happened?" he asked.
Maggie chuckled, shook her head, then looked him in the eyes. "You made it, that's what," she answered.
She took something off her left thigh, then placed it on the bed next to his: a bowl. Taking something from it, she opened her mouth. "Ah," she said. Bennish did as he was asked, then felt the food enter his mouth. Chewing, he smiled and chuckled weakly. It was a french fry.
Getting one more and making a fake serious face, she waved the fry at him accusingly. "Now don't tell the nurses I'm doing this," she warned. "They said no solid foods, but I think these things are soggy enough to qualify as liquid." She opened her mouth again, he did the same, and another fry was soon inside.
She shrugged and smiled as he winced. "Sorry, I didn't know you were going to be up, and the microwave's downstairs," she said.
Bennish shook his head and smiled. "No, it's not that," he answered softly. "It's the best thing I've ever tasted." Maggie laughed. "Because of the extra salt?" she offered. He laughed back, coughing softly before composing himself. "Yeah, totally," he answered, copying her open mouth to get a third.
After chewing and swallowing, he looked around slowly, realization dawning. "Where's Remmy?" he asked in worry, trying to sit up, but Maggie pressed him down with a reassuring smile. "Downstairs," she said. "He said he had something to get."
On cue, there was a knock at the open door to the room, and looking past an empty bed to his right, Bennish's face broke out in a smile as Remmy hobbled in on a single crutch, wearing another white medical gown, with his right arm hidden behind his left side. "Hey hey, look who's up," he said with a wide smile.
Drawing near Bennish's bed, he spoke again. "And look what I got," he said, revealing the large bottle of ketchup in his right arm. He set it down on Bennish's right side, causing a small drop of ketchup to fall out of the pump and hit the white sheets next to his leg. Remmy reached down, swiped up the drop with his finger, then sucked it clean. "Kitchen raid," he said with his trademark laugh.
Maggie reached over to grab the big bottle, then splattered the side of the fry bowl with its sweetness. Dipping another, she held it up with an open mouth, then placed it in Bennish's.
Swallowing, he spoke. "Thank you guys," he said softly.
Maggie waved her hand at him in a dismissive motion. "You took that bullet for me, it's the least we could do," she answered. Remmy pulled the bed to the right closer and sat on it sideways. "You freed our world too, man," he added, holding out his hand. "I still haven't paid you back." Bennish reached up to clap his hand three times, then they pointed at each other with a smile.
He turned to Maggie. "So if I didn't take the bullet for you, you wouldn't have gotten me all the way here, Maggs?" he asked. She exhaled through her nose slightly in amusement, dipped another, then opened her mouth with another "Ah." It soon disappeared in his mouth.
"Sure I would've," she answered, taking another. She turned to him, then slapped him in the forehead with it. "You just wouldn't get any fries," she added with a smile, then turned to dip it and feed him again.
Bennish exhaled, leaning his head back into the pillow. "I must've looked pretty pathetic in that cave, crying like that," he said softly, opening up to get another fry. Remmy slapped his good shoulder playfully. "In the thick of it, man? Are you kidding?" he asked with a smile, as Bennish turned to him, chewing.
"When I first joined the navy, I was crying like a girl when we were lining up for swimming practice," Remmy remembered, and on a less than impressed look from Maggie at the comment, he raised his hands in surrender. "Sorry," he said simply. She nodded, smiled, then gave Bennish another "Ah" and a dipped fry. She drew her eyes back to Remmy as he continued.
"When they got me in the pool, I was screaming so loud, they had soldiers coming in from runs to see what was going on," he recounted. "Half of that pool was probably filled with tears by the time we got done. Probably explains why I blocked out the memory and all I learned." He backhanded slapped Bennish on his good shoulder. "Think that's where the Crying Man was born?" he asked with a wide smile.
Bennish returned it, then turned his head over to see Maggie, getting another fry for his trouble. "So on a scale of 1-10, how ashamed of the boys are you right now?" he asked.
Maggie simply shook her head with a sour smile. Bennish balked. "No way, you too?" he asked in genuine shock. She nodded in shame with eyebrows slightly raised. "Where?" Bennish followed up.
"Boot camp," she stated flatly, opening her mouth to give Bennish another fry. "'I wanna go home! I want my daddy!'" she said in a mocking, high-pitched tone, remembering the moment. Bennish shook his head in disbelief, chewing.
"All curled up in the corner, screaming and shaking," she continued. Bennish swallowed, then spoke. "So what changed your mind, Maggs?" he asked. Her eyes looked upwards in remembrance. "Dad's face flashing through my mind," she remembered. "And what he'd say or do if I didn't come back a winner."
Bennish and Remmy nodded to one another in understanding, then Maggie yawned. Checking the timer, Remmy held the display up to the other two. "Still got a few days here," he spoke out. "Not enough to fully recover, but at least we'll be close enough to limp our way out of here."
Maggie nodded, then getting head shakes from the boys at the last of the fries, took them back. She leaned over to kiss Bennish on the forehead, smiled, then put the fries on the other bed. Leaning back into the wheelchair, she closed her eyes and settled in. Patting his shoulder from the right, Remmy sat up, put the stolen ketchup dispenser under Bennish's raised hospital bed, then crawled under the blanket of the one next to him.
"See you tomorrow, man," he said with a small smile, then closed his eyes.