Snow flew up from the horses' hooves as they sped across the field in full gallop. Their necks stretched out, ears pulled back flat. Sweat was building around the saddles and bridles, despite the icy temperatures.
Feeling her horse beginning to ever so slightly slow down, Jesse dug her heels into his sides, urging him on. The horse obeyed, immediately speeding back up.
"Just hold on." Jesse breathed to the person in front of her, her one arm wrapped around her friend protectively, the other holding the reins.
"We've almost lost them!" Lukas called over from his horse, leaning low over the mare's neck as he urged her on.
Biting her lip, Jesse risked a glance back as well. Sure enough, the mob of angry people were growing more and more distant, as they covered more and more ground.
"We'll cut through the forest." She decided, glancing back over at Lukas. "You take the lead, I don't have both my hands for steering."
Lukas only responded with a quick nod, urging his mare past Jesse's. The horse responded quickly, picking up the pace. Jesse glanced back one more time, before focusing her attention back on the road in front of them.
"You still doing okay?" She asked as they broke through the trees, into the forest.
"F-fine." Petra responded in a raspy voice. Despite her answer, Jesse could tell that her friend was in a lot of pain.
"Here!" Lukas called, pulling on his mare's right rein and riding her into the dense trees.
Jesse followed, sparing one last glance behind her. Fortunately, Lukas knew the forest like the back of his hand by then, effortlessly guiding his horse through the woods.
"We made it!" Jesse gasped in relief, seeing the familiar cave up ahead.
They rode the horses up to the cave's gaping entrance, pulling them up beside it. Lukas was the first to swing his leg over the saddle, simply hooking the horse's reins over a branch to keep her put, before coming over to help Jesse and Petra.
The warrior gritted her teeth in pain as Lukas helped her down from the horse, immediately allowing her to put all her weight on him. Jesse glanced down, gulping thickly at the sight of Petra's blood, staining her clothes and the saddle.
Throwing her leg over the saddle, Jesse leaped down as well. For once not caring to look after her tired steed first, she simply hooked the horse's reins over the same branch as Lukas's horse, following him inside.
Petra hissed in pain as Lukas lay her down on the hard floor of the cave, her hands immediately going to grasp her bleeding side. Sweat was trailing down her pale face.
"I know this hurts, but you're going to have to let us take your chest plate off, okay?" Lukas said to her seriously.
Petra only nodded, shutting her eyes tightly as she removed her hands from the wounded area. Lukas acted quickly, detaching the straps on her chest plate, and carefully removing it.
Both him and Jesse inhaled sharply at the devastating amount of blood soaking their friend's clothes.
"How bad is it?" Jesse asked anxiously as Lukas pressed his hands down on Petra's wound to stop the bleeding, earning a cry of pain from her.
"She's lost too much blood." Lukas said through gritted teeth. "This injury needed immediate care, not a wild ride on horseback."
Jesse raked her hands through her hair, feeling tears burn her eyes. She couldn't loose Petra too, not her best friend. "What can I do?"
Lukas bit his lip, his blue eyes looking around like he was searching for something. "Could you take over here for a second?"
Jesse nodded, kneeling down beside Lukas. The moment he removed his blood stained hands, Jesse put hers in their place. She glanced over at Petra, hearing her friend's breathing heave in pain. Her face was starting to become worryingly pale.
The moment he had his hands free, Lukas removed his own chest plate, and tugged off the jacket he was wearing underneath. The moment he pressed it down on the wound, Petra's blood seeped into orange fabric, staining it red. But it did the job.
"We need something to keep it in place with." Lukas said, glancing around. "Your scarf, Jesse, it's the best thing we've got."
Jesse reacted quickly, taking off her scarf. Wrapping it around their friend like a bandage, holding Lukas's jacket in place.
"Is she going to be okay?" Jesse asked, her heart still beating rapidly.
"I don't know." Lukas admitted. "She needs the one thing we can't give her, medical care."
He turned to Petra, who had her eyes closed. Putting a hand on her shoulder, she weakly looked up at him.
"How are you feeling?" He asked her.
"A-a lot of pain." Petra managed to croak weakly, another droplet if sweat rolling down her face. "And I'm really... d-dizzy..."
"Just hold on, okay?" Jesse said to her. "We'll think of something."
Petra looked like she wanted to say something else, but then just nodded, breathing out slowly.
"This is all my fault." Jesse choked up, turning away and raking her hands through her hair.
"This isn't on you, Jesse." Lukas said to her. "We knew the risks when we approached that town. With the state the world is in, even the most peaceful communities can become hostile."
"Did you miss the memo of who Petra was protecting when she got stabbed?" Jesse half snapped at Lukas, jabbing a finger at her own chest. "Me!"
"Jesse..."
"I'm dragging this whole group down with me!" Tears were beginning to pool in Jesse's eyes , her voice cracking. "I just cost us our only chance at seeing Axel and Olivia again!"
Not even giving Lukas a chance to respond, Jesse turned around and strode out of the cave again. She leaned with her back against the cold rock side of it, looking up at the cloudy sky above her, crisscrossed with branches.
She reached up, placing her hand on her neck where her scarf used to. Feeling the scar beneath fingers, the scar that she had tried so hand to hide.
It was old and long since healed. But a permanent reminder that she too was once a victim if the plague, that had been eating away at the world's population. But by some unexplained miracle, it didn't take her life. By some unexplained miracle, she was still alive.
Jesse didn't know what to think of it any more. She felt like she was trapped in some cliché apocalypse movie, that one character who got bitten and never turned.
But it was just so much more real, so much more... Terrifying.
Sinking down against the cave wall, Jesse buried her face into her hands. If only her infection grew from a much less obvious spot on her body, a place she could cover up more easily than her neck.
Jesse lifted her head, glancing back at the cave. She should have left ages ago. She should have just disappeared one day, leaving Petra and Lukas to continue the journey without her. What if staying had just cost Petra her life?
Jesse bit her lip, glancing over to the endless void of trees. She could get up right there, and disappear into the forest, and by the time her friends notice her absence, she'd be long gone. Without her, the'd have so many less obstacles in their way.
But they were all she had left... And if Petra really wasn't going to make it, Jesse wanted to be there for her friend's last moments.
Jesse felt a tear roll down her face, feeling like her heart was being torn in half. Faced with one of the most difficult choices of her life.
Stay or leave.
___
So this is something very different, but I actually like it? I love on-the-run plots for some reason (if that makes any sense) and knew I wanted to work something like it into the challenge. At first I was going to make this kind of like Exile, with Jesse being framed and thus wanted.
But then as I neared the end, I was just like, what if this is like an apocalypse-type scenario? But instead of going with like zombies, it's more like sickness or plague taking people out.
I'm on the fence about whether I like the idea or not, but it was really fun to write! I'm thinking I definitely want to revisit this idea in the future!
Also, ehm... Does it sound like I completely forgot about the prompt, and then hastily worked it into the ending? Because... *awkward chuckle* That's what happened xD
I had a whole different idea for how this would flow in my head, but then I got way too carried away while writing and completely strayed from my original idea. When I was starting to round things off, my mind was like Crap, there's literally not a choice to make in this.
So, uh, whoops.
But tell me what you guys thought of this concept!
I'm off now, so I hope you all enjoyed the one shot, and I'll see you tomorrow with whichever prompt I draw next!