Prompts used: Blood Trail, Abandoned Cabin, One Way Out
He spotted the cabin through the trees. It was a small wooden structure, and the thick foliage around it almost hid it from view. As he stumbled closer to it, he had a moment of panic that it could be in use. This could be where that person who attacked him lived, or it could be where they were expecting him to go and he could be going straight towards a trap.
His leg throbbed in pain, and Gordon clenched his teeth as he tried to swallow it down. He couldn't go on much longer, and he needed cover. He looked down at his thigh, and saw that the bandage was already soaked through with blood. He would just have to risk it.
He hesitantly approached the building, his leg dragging behind him. Upon closer inspection, he could see the windows were smashed. Surely, no one would live there if it was in this state.
That didn't mean that person still wasn't hiding there, but he was sure he had run in the opposite direction to where the gunshot had come from.
He hesitantly stumbled up the steps and slowly opened the front door. The inside smelt musty and he coughed and choked on the dust that his presence immediately kicked into the air. He waited a long moment to hear any movement, but there was nothing.
Deeming that this cabin was abandoned for now, he quickly shut the door behind himself and limped over to a corner of the empty room. He fell down, his legs finally giving out, and he placed his back against the wall so if someone were to appear, they wouldn't get the jump on him.
He turned his attention to his leg, and grimaced at the red bandage that was once white. He held back the cries of pain as he unravelled the bandages, wanting to stay as quiet as possible. There wasn't time to inspect the wound properly as he started to bleed quicker with no pressure on it, so he had to be fast as he pulled another bandage out of his sash and wrapped it back around his leg. It wouldn't be long before it was soaked through too, but it would last for now.
He then grasped onto a piece of broken glass that sat scattered across the floor, and clutched it tightly in his hand. If that person came for him, then he would put up a fight.
"Gordon!" He cupped his hands over his mouth as he called out for his wayward brother.
"Gordon!" His one brother who was still with him called too.
"Where could he have gone?" Virgil asked, not for the first time since they'd lost their brother on the rescue. Gordon hadn't strayed far as they searched for their victim in the forest, but now he was just as lost as the person who had called them out here.
"He knew not to go far. What if something happened to him?" Scott looked at him, the worry clear on his face.
"We'll find him," Virgil said with determination, but he was lacking certainty. He was just as worried as his brother that Gordon could be hurt, or worse.
"Virgil." Scott's voice was sharp as he suddenly called his name, and Virgil darted his gaze over.
His older brother was staring down at the ground. Virgil came over to see what he was looking at.
"What is it?"
Scott pointed down at the brown leaves at their feet. At first, Virgil didn't see what he was gesturing to, but then he sucked in a sharp breath.
There were droplets of blood.
He looked back up at his brother, and no words were said between them as they began to follow the trail. The thoughts went unsaid, but Virgil knew his brother would be thinking the same thing. If this would lead them to Gordon, it would mean they found their brother, but also that he was hurt. If it would lead them to their rescuee, then at least that meant Gordon might be okay, but also was still missing. Virgil didn't know which he wanted to happen more.
The bloodtrail led them through the forest. It grew thicker the further they went, soon going from just droplets to a bloody smear with footprints, like someone was dragging their feet as they bled out. Virgil grimaced that that could be his brother.
Soon, they came across a cabin, and the trail went up the front steps and disappeared behind the door. He sent his brother a hesitant glance, but they both knew they had to follow it. Whoever was in there was hurt, and this blood was fresh, so they still had to be inside.
Virgil went in first, and slowly opened the creaky door as he stepped through the threshold.
Something very narrowly missed his eye as it flew past his face.
"Woah!" Virgil couldn't help the yell of surprise as he stumbled back into Scott, who held him up so he didn't fall backwards out of the door.
He abruptly looked over in the direction of where the object had come from.
"Stay back!" He heard the cry, before he had to hold a hand up to block his face from the next sharp looking thing that came heading towards him.
Virgil peeked over his hand after he for the second time avoided losing an eye. It only took him a moment and a few rapid blinks to recognise the small figure tucked into the corner.
"Gordon!" Scott beat him to the yell, and he began to hurry to their brother's side. "It's just us! It's me and Virgil!"
Gordon looked like he was ready to throw something else as he pulled his arm back, but he froze as he blinked up at the pair of them.
"Scott?" Gordon's eyes moved between them. "Virgil?"
"Yeah, it's us," Virgil said gently as he softly grasped onto his brother's wrist to take away whatever he had been about to throw at them.
It was a piece of glass. Gordon must have been holding it tightly as after Virgil coaxed it out of his grip, he could see the bleeding cuts in the palm of his hand through the glove. However, these cuts wouldn't cause as much blood as they had seen outside.
Virgil cast his eyes over his brother, and saw the blood-soaked bandage wrapped around his leg.
Scott was already pulling the emergency medical supplies from his own sash, and Virgil did the same.
"What happened?" Virgil turned to his injured brother as he handed what supplies he had to Scott who was starting to peel the soggy bandages back.
"Someone shot me."
Virgil blinked at his brother, wondering if what he heard was true.
"You got shot? By who?" Virgil sent a glance to Scott, who had looked up from his work long enough to look just as shocked and confused as him.
"I don't know! It was a rifle, they were far away. I didn't see them, I just ran!" Gordon then latched onto his arm. "We have to get out of here! They probably know where we are. If you managed to find me, then they could too. We need to leave!"
"Okay, just breathe." His brother was growing hysterical in his panic, and Virgil began to breathe slowly so his brother could follow.
Gordon took deep, shaky breaths. He calmed down a little, but Virgil could still see the panic on his face.
"Virgil?" Scott got his attention, and Virgil looked over. "Take a look at this."
He was talking about the wound on Gordon's leg, and Virgil cast his gaze down at it.
He sucked in a breath.
It was definitely a gunshot wound.
"That's…" Virgil glanced back up at his brother, and then over at the door the pair of them hadn't even closed when they'd entered the cabin.
He quickly got up and slammed the door shut.
"So you believe me?" Gordon asked as Virgil came back down to sit next to him again.
"Definitely."
"What are we going to do? They could be anywhere out there, and we need to get Gordon out of here," Scott voiced what they were all thinking as he tied a tourniquet around Gordon's leg and wrapped as much gauze as they had around the wound.
"What about the victim we came here for?" Virgil asked as he suddenly remembered the reason they were here in the first place.
Scott sent him a look. "Face it, Virg. We came to the exact location they told us and we've been searching for over an hour with no sign of them."
Virgil wondered what his brother was getting at, but then it soon dawned on him. The person who was hunting them had lured them out here.
"Okay, but we still need to get out of here. We can't call for help, not if that person finds us before anyone gets here."
"Who said that help has to come here?" Scott said as he tied off the end of the bandage as tightly as he could, and then lifted his watch as he tapped on it with a gloved finger. "John? We need your help."
"Remember that the lack of signal out there means my readings are not going to be completely accurate."
"It's still better than nothing," Scott said grimly as he looked out one of the window frames.
He then turned to his other brothers. Virgil was adjusting his grip on Gordon as he came to stand by the door, and Scott approached his side.
"You doing okay?" He asked the brother draped over his back.
Gordon hummed in response. He was already seeming dazed as the bloodloss got to him. It just made this even more dire. They needed to get him to help.
Scott placed a comforting hand on his arm, before he made his way back over to the door.
"It seems clear out there. It's now or never."
Virgil sent him a nod. "Do it."
Scott nodded, and then reached for the handle.
Don't worry, they'll be fine... we hope