Young Writers Society

I'll post Matt's tonight.

Wren

"I guess there is nothing we can do," I said with a sigh. "It's not in my nature to do nothing at all for my friends but... what else am I supposed to do?"

Logan nodded at the same time as Matt did. I turned to them. "So... whats your stories?" I asked. "Anything we need to know about?"

~Annie May~

There was resistance in Tarrion's eyes, but I had to do this, and he knew it. I would have to stay back, and he would jump. And he was jumping when I told him to, or I would push him.

About now, we were still over the trees. I could see out the helicopter door. At the sight of water, if he hadn't jumped already, I'd drag him to that door, lift him up, and drop him out the door yelling "Hold your breath" after him.

Of course I could follow him, not messing with the woman, but that would mean I gave her a chance to come back, but I didn't want her anywhere near us again, so I would kill her. And nothing was going to mess with my family. I had just got them, I wasn't loosing them.

I could tell we were almost over the water. "Goodbye," I whispered to him, knowing this would be the last time I would see him. He looked down, about to object. "When I say go, you run and jump. Hold your breath, and keep your legs together when you hit the water," I said before he could say anything that would talk me out of going. He simply nodded, not needing to say anything.

I could see the water, and so could he. "Goodbye," he said quietly. "Try to come back." We both knew the chances of that were very slim. But I nodded. I took a breath, closing my eyes for a moment.

"Go," I said in a normal voice. The woman turned as Tar bolted out the helicopter door, looking back at me one last time. I stood, knowing it was time to fight.

TARRION

I am going to die. I am really, seriously going to die. I'm going to hit a sharp rock and die. Those were the first things I tought upon jumping. The next were along these lines. Tarrion you're an idiot. A cold-hearted selfish jerk! You just left Annie-May behind to die!

We weren't as high as I had first thought, which I supposed was a good thing. I hit the water and pain spiked up my body. But I was alive. Not dead. I didn't die. I broke the surface, breathing heavily and making my way to the shore. I fell on my back, staring at the helicopter and assuring myself that Domi would be falling through the sky anytime now. Nothing happened. "Oh God please!" I shouted. Still nothing.

I pushed myself up and stumbled through the trees on shaky legs. I could hardly tell if I was going in the right direction. That and the fact that my gun had no ammo in it. What happens if I run into one of the beasts? Or a wolf? No, just focus on getting back. I told myself.

I followed the stream, unsure if I was going the right way or the wrong one. Now, if the others had a fire going, I could follow that...but from what I could tell there wasn't one. Well, if I didn't find the cabin one way, I would turn and go the other way. It wasn't much of a plan, but it worked for a dead man.

~Annie May~

I kneed the woman in the stomach as she came after me with a cloth. "Unlike the others, I stayed in that forest for a month. I'm not gonna stand here and let you shove a rag in my mouth like a pig on Thanksgiving." She smiled, leaning over slightly, holding her stomach. Now was my chance. I lifted my foot, kicking the crazy bitch in the mouth. I noticed a huge buff man stand up, but he didn't bother my too much. I held my dagger, point out to him. I wasn't going to die 'till she did.

She was through with playing. She lifted a gun to me, standing sideways. I saw that her lip was bleeding, and I smiled wryly. I motioned with my fingers to bring it on. The man came at me, and I stuck the blade into the back of his neck. He fell over. The woman had a frown in her face, her eyes narrowed, glaring at me. I could only hope Tar was OK.

She shot at me, but I jumped out of the way, using the corner of the door to push myself at her. She hit me in the face with the gun, and I grabbed it from her, tossing it out the door. If I wasn't using it, she wasn't. And I had a dagger. My head spun from the hit, and I wiped the mouth, looking at the blood on my hand. I smiled and shook my head, looking at her.

"No," I said. The pilot seemed a little scared, but he continued to fly. I walked over to him while the woman was on the floor, rubbing her head. I sliced the pilot's throat. We began going down, and I knew I only had this one chance. I jumped at the woman, jabbing my knife into her chest. The helicopter jolted as we hit the water.

A pain hit the side of my stomach, and I looked down. The woman had stabbed me with her own blade. I groaned, pulling it out of my side, and holding my hand over it as the blood gushed out. I saw smoke. Fire, I thought. I headed for the exit, wading through the water to get to it. I swam out into the deeper water.

I swam without looking back until I reached the shore. Then, as I rolled over onto my back, still holding my stomach. I saw as the remaining helicopter catch fire, then sink into the water, dark black smoke rising from it.

I moaned, looking down at my wound. I had to get back to camp before I bled to death. I got up, ignoring the pain, and heading in the direction I knew too well. I could only imagine how lost Tarrion must have been. I trudged on, ignoring all of my pain.

TARRION

I had to restrain myself from letting out a victory cry as I stumbled across my bag. The contents were scattered everywhere, but at least I knew I was going in the right direction. I fumbled around, shoving everything back into its place.

I glanced behind me. She could be out there still... If she was I couldn't just leave her behind. She had saved my life and I was in her debt. But who was to say she had escaped? I leaned against a tree, weighing my options. I wanted desperately to get back to Domi, but if she had escaped and was hurt...

I bit the inside of cheek nervously, remembering the words my grandmother had often scolded me with. Well, if you have two descisions to make and you're not sure which is better, go with the one that is less selfish. Going after Annie was definately less selfish. "Thank you grandma," I murmered.

I stumbled through the bushes, keeping my eyes open for any sign of my saviour. Finally I heard a groan and leaves rustling. "Annie?" I called into the bushes, praying it was her and not some blood-thirsty beast.

"Tar?" She sounded like she was in pain. Where the heck was she? Movement on my left caught my attention.

Sure enough, there she was. My eyes widened in horror at the blood seeping from her side. There was a trail of it dotting the moss and leaves. "Sit," I commanded. She hesitated, but lowered herself to the ground.

I pulled off my shirt and ripped it into two pieces. I sighed, remembering that I only had two more left. I really needed to stop sacraficing my clothes for bandages. I wrapped it around her waist as well as I could, but it still looked like a big fat mess. Well it's not like I was a docter or anything. It would have to do for now. "Here, let me carry you back."

"I'm fine to walk," she protested.

I shook my head. "No, you're not." I picked her up with slight effort. She wasn't exactly heavy, but carrying her that far would be exhausting nonetheless. Suck it up. She saved your life. "The cabin's that way right?" I asked, stumbling forwards.

She nodded, wincing. I needed to get her back.

~Annie May~

"Put me down," i mumbled after about a mile of him stumbling through the forest. "I can walk." I felt as he sat me down. I saw him curl up, and go to sleep. What a great idea. I closed mine, puling my legs to my chest. I was more than exhausted.

TARRION

"Put me down," she muttered.

We had been walking for a while, and I was dead tired. I set her down carefully and flopped onto my side, exhausted. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep. Nevermind the fact that there were blood-thirsty beasts and rabid wolves in the woods. Oh, that and there was the fact that the smell of Annie's side leaking blood might attract them...

I sighed and pulled some ammo out of my bag, loading my gun and keeping it close. Just incase. I rested my head again and managed to sleep. Tomorrow I would get back to Domi and all would be well again.

~Annie May~

When I was finally rested enough to open my eyes, I sat up. Pain shot through my side and I moaned a little, pressing my hand on it. I stood up, looking around. If I could climb that tree, I could find exactly where we were. I put my hands on it, then my foot, and pulled myself up. It wasn't as easy as before. I slowly made my way to the top.

Looking out the top of the tree, I saw the top of every other tree. We were about a mile and a half from the water we just came from, and maybe three miles away from the camp. I didn't want to waist time, I wanted to get a move on.

"Annie?" I heard Tar call below me. I made my way back down, jumping from the tree. At least I landed on my feet. "That way," I said, pointing in the direction of camp. He nodded, turning. I was OK enough to walk, at least, and that was all I needed.

We walked about a mile before we got into more familiar territory. I could spot the trees I had slept in before, and my hopes were high. I began to walk faster, wanting to get back faster. My side hurt so much, though, so we had to stop every thirty minutes so I could take breaths. My whole shirt was bloodstained.

I finally decided to take it a little at a time, and slow down. We got so close, maybe a half mile away, I could hear their voices talking.

Tar entered the clearing before I did, and I could hear them all, happy. I took another break before I went in though, sitting down. I had already lost too much blood. I was going to pass out if I didn't get it stitched up so it would stop bleeding. I sighed, laying my head back on the dew covered tree trunk. I heard them coming for me, but it all sounded distant now.

"Annie?" someone said, but it sounded like a whisper. "Oh my gosh! What happened to her? Are you..."It all faded, and I slipped into the cold darkness, not really wanting to come back at all.

DOMINIQUE

We had been working around the camp. I just couldn't stay in a good mood. Tarrion was gone and Annie as well. I just happened to look up at a random movement that caught my eye, and my heart began to speed up. Tarrion and Annie. I ran over to them, but froze when i saw annie's weak posture and her bleeding side.
"Annie?" gemma prompted. I sputtered before finally blurting out.
"Oh my gosh! What happened to her? Are you Okay!" Annie fainted from bloodloss. I looked up at tarrion, he looked tired, but no fatal injury. I Leaned down to help annie, at the same time he did.

He just scoped her up, despite how tired he was. We brought her back to the cabin, setting her down on a bed area. We were going to have to make some beds. I shook my head before mentally screaming at myself.
"FOCUS!"
I ran to my bag, i had to have something that could help, anything! I froze, my old sewing tin! I don't remember packing it. That didn't matter, we could stitch her up with it. I pulled out a needle and handed it to tarrion. He looked confused.
"You'll have to do it, i can't stand the sight of needles going into someones skin." I gagged, ew no. It made my skin crawl. I looked away quickly.

TARRION

I stared at the objects in my hand. No way could I do this. "I can't even wrap a bandage properly! No way on earth I'll make it any better! I'll probably give her an infection and make it worse! All I know is that we should boil the needle first to get rid of all the bacteria. The thread, too if I'm not mistaken. Other than that I've got nothing." I shoved the needle into Gemma's hands, not sure if she knew what to do with it either.

I sighed. That familiar nasea was back, along with dizziness. When was the last time I had eaten? I took a few deep breaths and sank to the floor. My hands were beginning to tremble slightly already. Not a good sign.

"Tar?" Domi asked, concerned.

"I just need some food and I'll be fine," I whispered, closing my eyes tightly.

"Food? That's a pretty stupid need right now. You ate the same time they did." It was one of the new guys, Matt or Logan or whatever. He didn't sound impressed.

"Hyoglycemia," I muttered. One more thing I had failed to tell them all. "Low blood sugar. I need to eat once every two hours or so or I end up like this. It's supposed to get better with time, but mine won't fade."

"You've been fine the whole time you were here," Wren pointed out.

I grinned. "Yeah, I've sorta been snatching berries."

I felt a hand on my shoulder and opened my eyes. Domi had a handful of berries. "Thanks. Now back to Annie. We need water first."

~Annie May~

I could hear them around me, discussing something. I didn't know where I was anymore, then I saw the brightest light and my heart caught, stopping for a moment. I just knew I was going to die, right then. But I had faith in them that they would make it better. Soon. As soon as they knew what to do.

But how long did it take them? I could only count my heartbeats, because that was all I heard. And even then, the seconds were off because my heart beats were in no pattern at all. It would speed up a moment, then slow down enough to stop, then it would begin again.

The only thing that alerted me to them doing something was a pain in my side where the wound was. It was insignificant compared to the real pain, but it still made me gasp. "Sorry," I heard someone whisper. I would have answered, but I couldn't summon the strength to. I didn't even know who was stitching me up, or who was wiping the blood off the wound, but I could feel the faint touch as a hot wet cloth skimmed over the area. It felt good if you asked me. Well, the hot water anyway.

If I hadn't gone after that helicopter, if I hadn't been brave and stayed behind, if I hadn't just sat there as we fell instead of leaving the burning helicopter, if I would have just let myself drown in the water, or die on the beach, I wouldn't be here in this condition right now. But I really couldn't say I regretted going after the helicopter. If I hadn't, Tarrion would be dead, and I would hate myself for what I didn't do. No, I was glad I did what I did. I just wished they wouldn't have to see me like this.

DOMINIQUE

As gemma finished stitching her up i looked away. I couldn't watch stuff like this, i would get sick.I sat down beside tarrion. Leaning towards him. I didn't like that fact there were two more guys here. But gemma and wren were happy, so I'd keep quiet. As long as they were happy, right? looked up at tarrion.
"Are you okay, that witch didn't hurt you did she?" He looked down at me.
"No, I'm fine. Are you okay? I was worried sick about you." I smiled, my head was still pounding though.
"My head hurts a little, but I'm alright." I looked over at Annie. "i hope she'll be alright." He rubbed my shoulder.
"She has to be. It's Annie, she's a fighter."

TARRION

There was a nice scab on the top of Domi's head that I hadn't noticed a couple of minutes ago. "I'm guessing our Lady in White did that to you?" I asked bitterly.

Domi nodded. "She shoved me over."

"Well she's dead now as far as I'm concerned." I kissed Domi's forehead. "The Lady in White that is." I glanced back at Annie and looked away quickly. She was going to be okay. There was no way she wouldn't be.

GEMMA So uh, I haven't posted in a while and this is really long, but oh well

"Food? That's a pretty stupid need right now. You ate the same time they did." said Matt, clearly irritated.

"Hypoglycemia low blood sugar. I need to eat once every two hours or so or I end up like this. It's supposed to get better with time, but mine won't fade." muttered Tarrion. I guess his low blood sugar made him a bit edgy too.

"You've been fine the whole time you were here." said Wren.

Tar grinned sheepishly, "Yeah, I've sorta been snatching berries." Domi handed him a handfull of berries and he quickly ate them. He licked his lip and said, "Now back to Annie. We need water first."

I turned to grab the water pail when Tarrion grabbed my arm. "Gemma, you can so right? Annie needs help, badly." he said, it was just like him to care so much.

He was right, I could so. Back home I did most of the household chores, including the sewing. I could replace a button on one Duncan's shirts or sew up a seam Stephan ripped well enough, but stitch some one up? That was something completely different. "I-I.. I d-don't know." I stammered.

Matt was at my side, "You can do it, it's okay. Pretend it's a ripped seam." he coaxed.

I looked over to where Annie was lying, she really did need help. But was I really the only one who could sew and stomach the sight of blood? As if Wren could read my mind she said, "I think you are the only one who can do it. I can't sew worth anything and Domi can't stomach blood. And I'm pretty sure none of the boys can sew either..." she trailed off looking at the guys. They all shook their heads.

Tarrion looked and me, his eyes pleading, "Gemma, you need to do it and fast! She has already lost alot of blood and she is losing more as we speak."

"Okay," I said finally, "I will do it! Someone sterilize the needle."

Wren ran and boiled water, Logan was sitting on a log tearing up fresh strips of bandages from a shirt, his shirt. He had barely been here a day and he already cared so much. Him and Matt both.

The had Annie laying out flat on a sheet her wound exposed, waiting for me. I mustered up all the courage I could. It would take alot of it to keep my hand from shaking and messing this up. Domi and Tar had gone somewhere else, I didn't blame them. I knew blood bothered them. Wren, Matt, and Logan all stayed. They were cheering word of encouragement, but that wasn't what I was focused on. Annie was my only concern.

When I finished stitching her up Wren took the needles, probably to go boil them again, Logan and Matt carried Annie inside to lay her on something more comfotable, Domi and Tar were still off somewhere. Everyone had left me alone but honestly I didn't mind. I felt dirty, I need to bathe, I headed for the stream. When I got there I removed my soiled clothing and dove in, letting the cool water wash over me.

Wren

Annie would be alright, she would be alright, of COURSE she would be...

And yet I of course had the nagging worry that wouldn't go away... just my luck.