CH5: The Fortress

                                    

                                          
Erik
                          
"Where the hell are we going?" I shouted, keeping the bundle of white cloth which had now turned to grisly red pressed against the fatal wound. The trailer was speeding madly down the night desert road with Josiah at the wheel. Wooden horse carvings rattled inside the glass cupboard. Soeun was crying silently by my side, though he did not stop providing me with new cloths they had inside one of the cabinets for medical use.
                          
"To a doctor," Josiah bluntly replied. He was way too occupied to elaborate. If the laws were still in effect in this region, I was sure we were exceeding the speed limit by at least 80 miles per hour. 
                          
I figured I should just keep my mouth shut and concentrate on keeping Jessica alive. She was in a dreadful state; beads of cold sweat were forming on her forehead and a pained grimace was permanently fixed on her pale complexion. She was losing blood fast. Slowly dying. 
                          
My mind was clouded by internal distress, but at the same time, wary of every single movement she was making. I was so used to seeing only a grin or a smirk on her carmine lips. This vulnerable girl devoid of life and color was foreign to me, making my heart ache with worry.
                          
Why, though?
                          
What had she done for me?
                          
What significance did this woman have for me? I clenched my teeth to dispel the doubts. After all, a person's life was in danger. Imminent death was just around the corner. Only those with no hearts would feel nothing at the sight of this much blood and gore.
                          
I put more pressure in my hands against the bullet wound that gushed out pints of claret fluid. My hands were painted red and the cot supporting Jessica's unconscious body was voraciously sucking up the liquid. It was a revolting scene. I had not seen gunshot wounds in over a decade. I briefly closed my eyes to even my breaths and refrain from puking up the apple. 
                          
"Soe, warm water," Josiah hollered. 
                          
Soeun stopped his sobbing and perked up, nodding even though his lover couldn't see it. I didn't understand what it meant but Soeun must have, somehow, as he scurried to the sink with a clear bowl. He came back with lukewarm water filled to the brink and found himself a smaller cloth to soak. Then, he laid it on top of Jessica's forehead and began to massage her arm. Her skin was cold as ice.
                          
"How long do we have left?" I could not help asking. If there really was a doctor in this place, Jessica needed one fast.
                          
"Ten more miles," Josiah answered. "Keep. Her. Breathing," he stressed. I didn't need to be told that.
                          
The next few minutes flew by. Jessica went into shock once, and with impromptu medical guidance of Josiah and Soeun exchanging his place with his boyfriend, we managed to still her vitals and prevent her condition from being aggravated. I was mentally and physically spent by the time the camping van reached the peripheral area of the desert where an ominous forest started out of the blue. 
                          
"Out of the way," Josiah softly ordered, and I did. He lifted Jessica's limp body up, making sure her injury was well bandaged and stanched. Then he quickly got out of the van and ran toward the line of young sequoia trees. I followed him along with Soeun.
                          
Somebody lives here? I wondered to myself. Usually, doctors would live somewhere populous and bustling with people, wouldn't they? That way they could actually treat patients and earn enough money to make a living. At least the monetary system was still intact albeit fragile in the Wasteworld.
                          
"How far in?" I questioned, gaining no response. I wasn't really expecting one either. 
                          
Soeun was leading the way with a flashlight in his hand. Had the flashlight not been there, I might as well have considered myself as blind as an abyssal fish. The canopy of leaves disrupted the channel of moonlight glistening down from above. What sort of freak lives in this kind of macabre environment?