July 29th, 2015
I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK.
That is all.
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Chapter Fourteen
When we reached the shore, I was almost surprised at the lack of happiness I felt. I truly couldn't believe that we had made it. I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe that I had made it when three others didn't. One of whom had saved my life.
Jaha climbed out of the boat, panting heavily as he dragged it onto the shore and rested for a few moments.
I looked over at Murphy's arm. He was holding the cloth over it tightly, and I shook my head before sighing. I reached over and unwrapped the gauze. He flinched when I did, and I knew that the cold air that was likely licking at the wound was probably making his skin sting.
The wound was going to get infected if we didn't clean it. But, we needed to stop the bleeding first. And it was still pretty bad.
I pulled off my jacket, and took my knife from my belt. I tore at the seams of both of the arms of the jacket, ripping them off so that they looked like fabric cylinders. The fabric of the jacket would absorb more of the blood. I folded one of the sleeves over itself so that the sleeve was layered, then slipped it onto his forearm. He hissed slightly from the pain, but didn't flinch away from me. He knew what I was doing.
The sleeve was somewhat similar to a cast. The other sleeve would serve the same purpose if need be.
"John," Jaha said, walking back over to us. "Let me help you."
"I don't want anything from you," Murphy said coldly.
"He doesn't need your help, Jaha," I growled out.
"You don't know enough about how to stop the bleeding," Jaha argued.
I could tell that he didn't like me very much.
"Come on, you're a survivor. We all are."
Murphy scoffed. "Whatever you have to tell yourself to feel better, Chancellor."
"Our destiny is out there, John," he said, pointing out to the forest that was close to the shoreline.
"And what about Craig's destiny? Or Jakob's? And Richards'?" I asked. I knew that the last two weren't his fault, but what can I say? He pissed me off. He deserved to feel guilty.
"We sacrifice the few to save the many," Jaha stated, then walked away from the boat.
"You know, you're right. I am a survivor," he said, then began to stand up and get out of the boat with my help while I held his uninjured arm. I followed after him as he continued to speak to Jaha, his tone turning stone cold. "Which is exactly why, I am done following you. We'll go our own way, you can go whichever the hell way you want."
"John," Jaha said as we both followed after him. "John!" He shouted as Murphy fell to the ground.
"Get the hell away from me!" Murphy yelled at him when Jaha went to help him up.
I held my knife a little tighter at that point.
"You've lost too much blood, be still!" Jaha said, before looking up into the sky as an odd humming sound began to get louder and louder. "Did you hear that?" He stood up, watching as a drone began to fly over us all. He continued to yell at the damn thing while I kept on looking at Murphy's arm.
I helped him sit up, while he started to struggle with breathing.
I had to admit it... I was scared. I was scared that I might lose him. But in my heart, I knew that he wasn't going to die.
Because I wouldn't let him.
"I can't make it," Murphy said. "Just go! We all know you want to!"
He seemed so unsure. He didn't want to leave Murphy and I alone, but he wanted to follow it. So, I helped him make a decision. I let my built up anger out.
I took my knife, walking towards him. "Leave. Just go. I know enough about wounds and injuries to help him out. You know why? Because even as a seven year old kid, I knew EXACTLY where the Right Subclavian Artery was, the very artery that caused my father to nearly bleed out on his bedroom floor. And if you don't leave us be and follow your own selfish needs right now, I will stab you right in that artery, and leave you here to die by yourself like the sad, lonely, and pathetic man that you are."
His eyes widened at my outburst, and he glanced down at my hand, where I was rolling the blade between my fingers.
With that, he turned to look at Murphy. "I'll come back for you, John," he said. Then he ran.
I walked back over to Murphy, putting on the torn up coat that I could now call a vest. "Murphy, you need to sleep. You haven't slept in almost a day."
"I'm fine," he said.
"No, you're not fine. You can convince anyone else, but not me," I replied. I sat down, leaning my back against the boat and sitting down right beside him. "Now please, just come here," I said, taking his uninjured arm and tugging it slightly.
He sighed and gave in, laying down with his head on my thigh. He sighed again, but in relief.
"Do I make a nice pillow?" I asked, smiling softly. I rubbed his shoulder softly, and I could tell that simple action was both comforting him and also making him drowsy.
"Yes," he moaned, shutting his eyes and cuddling right up to me.
I smiled down at him, and he fell asleep less than a minute afterwards.
He slept for nearly nine hours. The sun was high in the sky before I finally woke him up. Everything from my waist down was numb and tingly, but I didn't care. I cared about his wellbeing, just as he cared about mine. If he got enough rest and all I got was a leg with no feeling, I was perfectly fine with that.
"Murphy," I said, shaking his shoulder a little. "We should see if we can get into that lighthouse. We might be here awhile."
He groaned softly, wiping at his eyes slightly. He put his arm in full view, and I was happy that he was no longer bleeding as heavily. The makeshift cast I had made was working, the blood hadn't soaked through.
I helped him stand up, and we started to walk. The first thing that he did was bend down and pick up some strange old-looking board. It looked like something you might find in one of those old computers that everybody used to use on Earth. He scoffed and threw it down.
I sighed softly. "It's sad to know that some of this junk... It's the only thing remaining of what the world used to be."
He frowned and nodded slowly, agreeing with me.
Well that was depressing.
We kept on walking until Murphy's foot hit something hard. It seemed like there was something under the sand. It sounded kind of like a combination of plastic and metal.
I leaned down and swept all of the twigs and sand away to expose another large board. It looked a lot like the panels we saw when we reached the water back where the mines were laid.
"Is that a solar panel?" I asked, curious.
The humans of Earth used to use solar panels to create their own electricity. It would take the rays from the sun and somehow convert it into energy.
As soon as I said what I thought it was, my suspicions were confirmed. A loud whirring sound was coming from the lighthouse, as well as quite loud music.
Murphy and I glanced at each other before we both ran towards the lighthouse. We searched around the bottom of it until we found a crack in the wall. I followed it to see that it was a door, but looked more like a hatch. I stuck my fingers in between the cracks, and managed to open it.
The music got louder when we opened the door.
When we got inside, I realized that it wasn't a lighthouse at all. It was practically an underground mansion!
Maybe this really was the promised land.