Nobody's Boy

I chewed on another juicy leaf, relishing the bitter taste that ran down my throat. Beside me, Jackson gagged and spit it out. “How do you eat that stuff?” He asked, watching as Morgan placed one on her tongue and swallowed it.

“It’s better than starving.” Jasmine sat by Rikki’s side, her hand resting on his warm forehead. “He’s really sick. His body temperature has been rising rapidly.”

“He needs medical attention.” I stood up. “We may have to go back to the base.”

“Back!” Felicity squealed. “Seriously?” She spat out a wad of chewed leaves. “We just escaped.”

“Besides, the wild pig thing is still in there.” Jackson said. He stood up and brushed off stray pieces of grass.

“So is the medicine we need to cure Rikki.” I looked at the motionless body on the ground. “If we don’t get that he could die.”

“Then I guess that settles it.” Morgan stood up. “But I think we should split up. Only two of us go into the base while the other three stay out here with Rikki.”

“I’ll go.” Jasmine said. She looked at me. “If I have Erik with me.”

I grinned. “Sure.”

Jackson grimaced. “Need a chaperone?”

“Shut up.” Jasmine growled. She headed for the trees. “Give me a minute and I’ll be right back.”

I moved over to Rikki’s side and placed my hand near his forehead. I could feel the heat from a few inches off his skin. His uncovered skin was starting to turn red from the exposure to the sun. Both eyes were closed, but twitched every few seconds. They opened a tiny bit and I saw large bloodshot eyes that reflected pain.

“We need to get him out of the sun.” I motioned Jackson to his legs and picked up his arms. We lifted him and carried him from out of the small circle of sun that peeked through the thinner layer of foliage. He flopped back onto the ground when we gently let go, his arms lying at strange angles.

“This is weird.” Felicity commented, looking at his arms. “His arms are at awkward angles.”

“We need that medicine.” I said, watching Jasmine appear out of the clumps of ferns at the edge of the clearing. “Let’s go now.” I called.

“’Kay.” She looked at the others. “Stay around here and we’ll try to be back before night.”

We both left the others and walked towards the direction lab. Jasmine looked really tense as we got closer. I held out my arm towards her, offering my support, but she looked at me sadly and stepped a few feet away.

“Sorry, I just-” She broke off and remained silent.

“It’s fine.” I stopped and pointed to the large tree. “Hide against the back while I fly up and look around. The lab is on the other side.”

“’Kay.” She leaned against it and watched while I flew up and peeked through the leaves above. It looked deserted… almost normal. The windows were in place, the walls were still up, and the door…

I flew out from the trees and went closer. A large jagged hole was punched right through the door, the ends of twisted metal covered in blood and gore. There was a trail that disappeared into the woods. I followed it for a few feet and grimaced when I saw the mangled, half eaten body of one of the guards.

“Is it all okay?” Jasmine asked. I spun around and saw her head sticking through the trunk of the tree.

“Good news and bad news.” I pointed to the door. “No pig inside, but it’s outside.”

Her face paled. “What about the others?”

“They should be fine. The island is big and the pig is small.” I landed on the ground and walked up to the door. “The guards are probably all dead. I aw a half eaten one over there.”

“Ugh.” Jasmine opened the door and looked down the hall. It was deserted.

“Let’s go.” I pushed past her and began to trek towards the large lab room. If there was any medicine here, it would be there.

“How do we know what medicine to give him?” Jasmine asked.

I paused, feeling foolish for not asking myself the same thing. “We’ll have to try a few.”

“And if one kills him?” An edge had grown into her voice.

“If we don’t he’s gonna die anyways.”

“Fine.” She stepped up beside me. “What about Kiramis’ body?”

I ignored that question. We reached the corner and I got deja vu. The horrific night replayed rapidly in my mind.

There were no lights on, and I doubted that the electricity worked. “We should have brought Morgan.” I muttered.

“To late.” Jasmine walked to the other side of the hall and opened an invisible door. She pushed a latch and the lights flickered on.

“How did you find that?”

“Oh, you know.” She smirked. “Just strolling casually down the hall with my arm stuck in the wall. Those switches were in the way and I investigated.”

“Of course.” I walked around to the lab and looked through the broken door. Kirami was probably on the other side of the table, unless the pig had eaten him.

“Hand me that blanket.” Jasmine said.

I walked over to the shelf and pulled a large white sheet off it. She took it from my hands and dropped it over the side of the table. “With luck that covered him.”

“Thanks.” I flew over and began rummaging through the cabinets on the wall. “Any bags around here?”

“Yeah.” She walked over a counter and reached below it. Inside there were stacks of plastic bags. Her hands flew right through them and she looked over at me, a sheepish expression pasted on her face. “I can’t pick them up.”

“Seriously?”

“Nope.” She threw a pile at me. The sudden surprise pushed me back and I slammed into the cabinet, dropping several glass vials onto the floor. They smashed opened and colorful liquids flowed across in a rainbow puddle.

“Be careful.” She teased.

My face burned as I stuffed all the pills and liquids I could find into the bag. Once it was full I handed it to Jasmine and took another. By the time we were done we both were holding two bags that looked ready to split at the seams.

“Let’s get out of here.” I floated back to her and we exited the room. A loud noise startled both of us. It was quiet footsteps running across the hard floors.

“Stay here.” I hissed.

“HELLO?” She yelled.

“Shut up!”

A sudden squeal echoed through the building, coming from the corner right ahead of us. Jasmine shrieked and clutched my arm, dropping both her bags and breaking all the bottles inside.

“Come on!” I yelled, grabbing her arms as I rose, dropping the bags beside hers. The warthog sped around the corner and Jasmine jumped into my arms. We shot up to the ceiling and the pig went right under us.

“Oh my gosh… It comes here all the time.” Jasmine said.

“Probably eats the people.” I muttered, my stomach growing heavy. I flew forwards, the pig chasing us furiously. We went through the opened door and I kicked it with my foot. There was a pained squeal from inside and then silence.

“Did you kill it?” Jasmine asked.

“Maybe it-” i was interrupted as the door was smashed against the far walls. The hinges broke and it fell to the ground. The pig came out and glared at us before running into the woods, heading right for the gang.