The arrow was silver, with dark red tail feathers. The trademark colors of the Banishers. A group formed by several packs, whose sole purpose is to bring me down. The best warriors from each pack work together and attempt to kill me. They have tried and failed for years.
"Can you see it?" I asked Max, showing him my back.
"Not from this side. What do we do? And shouldn't you be dead by now?" He asked panicking. I laughed despite the situation.
"No, I have survived much worse anyway. But it makes thing a little more difficult as far as getting it out." I replied with a sigh.
"Oh really, what could have been worse than getting shot in the stomach with an arrow?" He snorted.
"How about almost getting beaten to death? Or being drowned then revived dozens of times? Or stabbed fifty times all the while being forced to stay conscious?" I yelled angrily. Max's eyes got very big, and Lisa looked like she wanted to cry.
"I'm sorry. I just-its-I didn't have a very happy childhood." I sighed.
"How did you survive with all of that?" Max asked quietly.
"I learned to deal with pain. I have an extremely high tolerance for pain. I can even prove it. Watch." I instructed them.
I latched my hands onto the tail of the arrow, and shoved it towards my body. Suddenly, I felt the arrow move, and the tip broke through to the skin on my back. The arrow was now completely through my side.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Why would you do something like that?!" I heard Max scream behind me. I shrugged, gritting my teeth against the slight pain.
"These arrows have barbed tips, meaning the only way to get it out is to push it forward. If you try to pull it back, the barbs will rip your insides, causing even more damage."
"More damage than pushing an arrow through your side!" He shouted indignantly. I snorted.
"Much more damage." I replied before grabbing the front of the arrow protruding from my back, and pulling it through my side. I held up the arrow to examine it.
"I can't believe they put poison in the arrow! They must be getting smarter." I voiced my thoughts.
"You do know that you are bleeding out right? And that you just got shot with a poisonous arrow?" Max said sarcastically. He must think it was funny that I was completely calm.
"Yes, but I am immune to this poison. I was given small amounts of it as a child, and eventually I built up an immunity to most poisons actually." I said examining my wound.
"Why didn't I think of that?" He replied sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and started head back to the river. But I remembered the man, and walked to his body. I took his bow, and the arrows slung across his back. I also took the backpack he was wearing, before returning to the river with Lisa and Max.
"Why did you take his backpack?" Lisa asked me in a small voice.
"There might be some supplies in it." I told her before dropping on the ground. Lisa and Max dropped a large pile of sticks next to the burnt circle, my fire pit.
"Thanks for grabbing the sticks. I need to check the supplies in this bag, and then I'll build a fire, okay?" They both nodded and I unzipped the pack.
Inside the main compartment of the bag, there was rope, blankets, medical supplies, a water canteen, and food. I took some of the food, which was mostly dried fruit, and gave a handful to Max and Lisa.
"Yummy!" Lisa squealed after putting a dried pineapple in her mouth. Max and I laughed.
I opened the medical kit and found a needle with thread, bandages, disinfectant, anesthetics, and gauze. Looking down at my wound, I noticed the gash was bleeding profusely, and was four inches across.
"Woah, that is worse than I thought. Thank goodness it doesn't hurt too much." I whispered to myself, my eyes growing large. Lisa must have heard me because she spoke to me.
"Your back looks pretty bad too." She said, her forehead scrunched up in thought.
"Do you need any help?" Max asked.
"I might, so standby." I shrugged, and he smiled. Apparently kids like to help out. I pulled off the top to my uniform, a fitted tank top, and pulled on my sports bra. It left my lower stomach and back exposed so I could attend to the damage.
Grabbing the anesthetics, needle and thread, disinfectant, and bandages, I began to stitch my gash. I decided to skip the anesthetic, and just disinfect the area. Luckily, I had stitched some wounds before, so it was not too difficult.
In a few minutes of stabbing my skin and pulling thread through it, I had neatly stitched my stomach injury, and was disinfecting my back.
"Max, I'm going to need your help with my back. It is difficult to reach." I asked after realizing that I could further injure my back by trying to stitch it up. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him nod.
"Okay, so have you ever used a needle to sew something?" I hoped he had, because that would make this much easier for the both of us.
"Yes, my mother taught me to sew. She was tired of stitching my pants from holes, so she made me do it." We both laughed, and Lisa joined in from the memory.
"Well, this is kind of like sewing, except you are doing it to my skin, not your pants. It might freak you out but just know, that it isn't hurting me okay?" He nodded warily. I threaded the needle and handed it to him.
"Take your time okay?" I could feel him pulling the thread and slowing closing the wound. Max worked quickly, and stitched up my injury cleanly, almost better than I did.
"All finished." He exclaimed happily.
"Thanks, your mom taught you well. Now can you help me with the bandages?" I asked Lisa. She nodded quickly and jumped up, excited to help.
Lisa helped me wrap bandages around my waist, and secure it. I packed up the backpack, and grabbed a matchbox I found in a pocket.
It didn't take me long to start a roaring fire, I manage to get it going before the sun went down. I cleaned the deer I caught earlier, and was cutting it by the time the sun set.
Since there were only three of us, I only cut a small portion of the veal. I roasted it over the fire before handing some to Max and Lisa.
Using some large plant leaves, I cut up the rest of the deer and wrapped up the pieces. I put them in the backpack to keep it away from animals.
"Thank you," I heard Lisa and Max blurt out beside me. I turned to look at them.
"What?"
"Thank you." Max repeated. I smiled at his appreciation.
"You're welcome. Now get some rest." I said waiting for them to finish eating, before laying down blankets by the fire to keep them warm. They snuggled into the blankets, and I sat and watched the fire, making sure it would keep going all night. It seemed like a while before I finally drifted off to sleep.
**********
Light. The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes. I wanted to resume the memory that I missed, but something woke me.
I needed to find the source of the noise that woke me. Kicking off the blanket, I jumped out of the bed before hearing it again.
A scream.