The Tainted Ones (discontinued)

[9]

Brooklyn

I woke up feeling cold and stiff. It took me a minute to realise that was because I was laying on the ground. I slowly tried to sit up, but winced when I moved my arm.

Trough gritted teeth I forced myself to sit up straight, trying to ignore the pain in my left arm. As soon as I was sitting up against the wall behind me I sighed, letting myself lean against the wall.

I held my arm close to me, as if that would stop the pain somehow. The dark fabric of the cardigan I had used to bandage my wounded arm was stained beyond repair. At least it has stopped bleeding now.

I looked over in front of me. Andy and the raven haired boy were busy doing their own things. The boy I didn't know was going over his supplies. Andy- he had told me his name on the way to this place- was tossing an orange from one hand to the other.

I wanted to talk to him, maybe even ask if they had something to treat my arm.

No. I couldn't do that.
They were already nice enough to let me come along. I knew I was extra weight, reducing their own chances of survival. Asking for even more of their supplies than necessary would be straight up selfish. I'd just stay quiet so I wouldn't bother them.

Just as I thought that Andy seemed to notice me looking.
"Oh, you're awake" he said, moving over to sit next to me.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

What was I supposed to say to that? Should I say I was good? That was the default answer. But I wasn't good. And he knew I'd be lying and I didn't want to come across as a liar. But I didn't want to be some whiny baby either if I told him how I really felt.

"You're feeling a bit messed up too aren't you" Andy said, giving me a weak smile.

I nodded, grateful that I didn't need to reply myself. I briefly considered telling him what I knew, what else I knew about the handymen. But then the voice in my head returned.
'Don't you dare! He couldn't keep his mouth shut! He said too much! Remember what happened!' 

"Your arm isn't looking too well"

Andy nodded towards my arm. I moved my arm a little further away. Would they leave me behind if I was injured?

Instead Andy turned around and signalled the ravel haired boy to come closer. "Hey Mikey, do we have something for his arm?" The other boy, who was apparently called Mikey, frowned at him.

"How the fuck am I supposed to know? I'm not a doctor" he said.
"Isn't there anything we can use on it?"
"Hold on. Let me see."

Mikey rolled his eyes. He came closer to me and took my arm in a not so gentle manner, causing me to whimper. He slowly untied whatever was left of the cardigan and lifted it off my arm carefully. The cold air hit my exposed wound. It gave a tingly feeling.

The wound itself looked horrible. It wasn't that deep, but it wasn't shallow enough to form a scab on it.

Mikey scrunched up his nose in disgust.
"See, this is why I took a first-aid kit from the store" he grumbled, grabbing his backpack.

First he poured some water over the wound mumbling something about wasting precious water. Then he took out a small jar of some kind of ointment.

"This should treat shallow wounds. Well, this better do the trick" he shrugged.

He dipped three fingers in the ointment and carefully spread it over the wounded flesh. I took in his face as he took care of my arm. His expression showed annoyance, and something else I couldn't quite place.