Flashpoints [Double Homicide Day 2]

After the fight ended I just wanted to get far away from the mutts corpses.

Maybe part of it was the guilt of killing them, but most of it was fear. There was two in that area, what if there were more close by? What if the calls of the beasts before they died attracted more and more? I didn't care about the pain in my leg as I moved, I was still beating Arthur. I'd deal with my leg once we were somewhat secure.

Of course, I didn't hesitate in taking trophies from the beast. Why waste perfectly good mutts after all? I grabbed some meat from them, remembering what Avriel told me. Make sure I keep my stomach full and stay warm. Warmth definitely was not an issue for me in this arena. It had only been a couple days, I had gone much longer without food. But that was different. I wasn't fighting for my life. I had food with me so I didn't see an issue in eating once we made camp.

This time Arthur was the reasonable one, pointing out the setting sun. Honestly, it was beautiful out here whenever the sun set. It was reassuring to me. God was showing me he was there in each setting sun I had seen so far. But part of me feared the sunset. What faces would I see in the sky tonight? Sinead? Nylon? Arthur's some day? Not that I cared about whether or not Arthur died, he was just a meatshield. Nothing else.

He could have stopped there at we should set up camp. We could have gotten along. I stopped when he mentioned that and was ready to tend to my wounds. But, he made me pause. Because he just had to keep fucking talk. Honestly, does that guy ever shut up? Like is he physically capable of not talking? He even talks when he eats which is just gross. It's basic manners not to do that. What that boy needs is a good whoopin', Pa would straighten him right out.

Even if he got a few good hits, I would have been fine by myself... right? He was probably the reason they found us. His body order smells terribly and anyone within a five mile radius knows when he's nearby. And that's coming from a district where water for bathing isn't always readily available... okay maybe it's not that bad. But, I'd still like to blame him for the fight.

"I'm not thanking you for shit. I would have been fine without you... but you still had some good hits."

After that, I continued where I left off, starting with my leg. I first needed to make sure it didn't get infected and applied the antibiotic cream. It stung, far more than I thought it would. In fact, my eyes started watering. This was more painful than I thought it would be. Luckily, I found two types of plants. One were traditional medicinal plants that could be applied topically. The others were strange glowing plants that looked edible.

I applied one bundle of the normal plants topically then ate the strange glowing plants, part of me regretting it. I may have taken a plants station, but they didn't say anything about glowing plants. Either way, they showed no signs of being toxic to humans. So that was good enough for me. And then finally I stitched up the wound, slowly, carefully. When the needle first penetrated my skin a small whimper escaped my lips. I prayed Arthur didn't hear it.

When I was searching for a good spot to camp out for the night, I noticed a single iodine tablet and put it with my other two. The ground here was soft, that was a good thing after dealing with the volcanic dunes. Arthur and I were exposed. It was good because we could easily see anyone coming without much of a struggle. But also bad for obvious reasons. We wanted to keep our campsite as small as possible so it would be easier to miss.

"As much as I hate it, we need to be close to each other today. The more spread out we are, the better chance one or both of us has of being seen with how open it is out here."

As I instructed him, I sat down, resting my leg, and ate the processed meat and cheese I had found earlier. I didn't want to eat mutt meat if it wasn't needed.