Unfit For Survival (Ark Fanfic.)

Chapter 4: Unexpected Tribe

Miserable. If I had to describe exactly how I was feeling, it would be that but with a few more profanities thrown in. The sky was a deep gray and the rain was slightly trickling down. It felt like ice hitting my skin and the breeze didn't help. My thighs and feet were numb which helped me to ignore the injuries that I had sustained in the past few days. My wrist still hurt bad but I was too focused on my shivering. 

Benedetto didn't seem much better either. I hadn't noticed the previous day but now that he wasn't wearing a shirt since he wrapped it around my wrist, I could see how red his tanned shoulders were. Both of us had sunburns but he hadn't even complained about his as I did mine. 

Fish was snoozing in my lap. He didn't seem too fond of the rain and had been attached to my hip ever since we left the hill. At least Mikey seemed to be in good spirits. He continued to make happy grunts every so often. Benedetto got angry at him once when he jolted his body hard enough to knock me off his shell. He gave the turtle a hard smack on his equally hard head only to get pushed to the ground. Benedetto didn't give me a chance to try getting to my own feet even after he landed on his back. Instead he just brushed himself off and lifted me back on the shell as if it was some big burden. I still didn't know why he didn't just let me lead the group. He kept saying he was only going to take me somewhere safe then leave me and talked as if he had some place in mind but looking at the directions we walked in, how much it changed, I didn't think he had a clue. It was as if he was dragging me along with him for some other reason. At least my ankle wasn't tied up anymore. I guess he assumed that my wrist would be enough to keep me from running off. He would be right about that too. I hated admitting it but I was in fact helpless and pretty useless at this moment. 

"Can I at least call you Benny? Or Ben?" Again I tried to plead with the guy. I liked his name enough but nicknames were just as good.

"No." And again I got shut down. The guy was no fun. He hadn't said my name at all so I was pretty sure he didn't hear me say it the night before. I knew there was no point in telling him again so I didn't bother.

Traveling in silence was no fun. We were stuck on an island with dinosaurs and I was having no fun. Sure being quiet would help to keep us alive, but that didn't mean much right now. I was bored and cold. One of those things needed to be remedied. 

While I tried thinking of an activity I could do without pissing off the guy, Fish woke up and dashed off my lap. It was so sudden that I didn't notice the gash his sharp claws left on my thigh until I saw the bright red blood in my peripheral vision.

"Damn it." The moment I noticed it was the moment I felt the stinging pain. After four days of injuries, I was already unfazed by seeing my own blood. It wasn't too deep but it produced enough blood that it soaked most of the hem of my shirt. 

At my muttered exclamation, Benedetto stopped leading Mickey and turned to me.

"What happened?" Without waiting for me to tell him what happened he approached me and could easily see the warm crimson liquid spreading up the fabric of my shirt and dripping down my thighs onto the leafs we used to cushion my butt on Mickey's spiky shell. He seemed to know it was due to Fish because he immediately began whipping his head around. "Where did the vicious little beast go?"

"First of all, he has a name and you know it. Secon-"

"It's a stupid name."

"Second of all," I gave him a pointed look at his irritated mumble, "It was an accident. I happened when he ran off my lap. Don't get all pissy about it."

He just gave a grunt and brought Mikey to the water's edge. When we were close enough to the water, he lifted me up and gently sat me down on the damp sand.