Apocalypsis 03 - Exodus

looking at it. It was still bleeding, and the skin around it was an angry red.
    “You really did a number on this thing,” said Winky, frowning. “The scar was going to be so nice, too.” She sighed in defeat. “Not anymore.”
    “Sorry.”
    “It just gives me more practice,” she said, nearly smiling. “Not that you’re going to be happy about that. We can’t waste pain killers on people who ask for their injuries.”
    I rolled my eyes. “Great. Now I have another reason to hate Coli.”
    “She’s not that bad, you know,” said Winky, threading a needle with what looked like regular button thread. She ran a piece of wet cotton over it before poising the needle over my arm.
    “What is that? Shirt thread?”
    “Yeah. It’s all we have. I just sterilized it. It’ll work.”
    “It’s gonna hurt like hell when you take the stitches out,” I said.
    “Yep.”
    “What about Kowi? I hope you didn’t use this crap on him.”
    “We didn’t.” She smiled. “He got the good stuff.”
    “Thanks,” I said, rolling my eyes. I was feeling totally expendable.
    “No offense. But a cut to the gut is more serious than one to the arm. At least this one is. So we have to save our surgical supplies for the most serious stuff.”
    I waved her off. “No, no, I understand. I’m just giving you a hard time. Go ahead. Do your worst.” I leaned back and looked up at the roof of the hut, gritting my teeth as I waited for the pain.
    “Here,” she said, holding a thick piece of leather up to my mouth. “Bite on this.”
    I frowned at her. “Are you serious? You might as well give me a bullet.”
    “Can’t waste the ammo. Just bite the leather instead.” I swear she almost laughed. I was glad someone was enjoying herself.
    I took the leather in my teeth and tried to talk around it; but I soon gave up since Winky was so focused on stitching me up that she ignored me anyway. The pain began immediately, and was much stronger than I had anticipated. The idea of conversing went out the window as I concentrated all my energy on not screaming in pain. I wasn’t able to keep all the shouts down inside, but at least they were muffled by the leather.
    Twenty or so minutes later she was done, and I lay on my pallet, overwhelmed by the throbbing pain coming from my flaming arm. I’d started sweating about two minutes into the process, and I was soaked now. The smoke from the mosquito sticks was making me dizzy and sick, so I turned my head, trying to find some fresh air. My eyes locked on the strong leg that stood by my bedside. I felt Winky stand up, and heard her feet walking away, so I looked up.
    Paci was standing by my bed, a bottle of water in his hand. “Hey,” he said, looking intently at my face. “Feel better?”
    “No. I feel worse, actually,” I said weakly. I couldn’t for the life of me sound as strong as I felt now, knowing I had a plan. My body was still too wasted to perform, but my mind was getting stronger by the second. I struggled to sit up, but Paci sat down on the edge of my pallet and pushed me back.
    “Stay. I just came to see how you were and to bring you some water. Here … drink.” He pushed the bottle into my good hand, pausing to unscrew the cap for me.
    I took a long sip and then dropped my head back, balancing the bottle on my stomach.
    “So, how’s your leg?” I asked.
    He glanced down at it. “It’s okay. The bullet went through the meat. I’m going to be fine.”
    “What about Kowi?”
    “He’s going to be okay, I think. He’s too stubborn to get sick over it.”
    We both smiled.
    “So …” started Paci, clearly a little uncomfortable. “You … uh … had some issues with Coli. What’s that all about?”
    “Do you really have to ask?” I said, rolling my eyes.
    “She is a pain in the butt, but I got the impression it was more than that.”
    It was more than that, but I wasn’t sure he was the one to be my confessor. Something in his eyes, in his body language, made me nervous. He reminded me of Bodo in some ways, and that made me feel both guilty and sad.
    “It’s nothing. Boring girl stuff.”
    Paci stared at me for a few seconds, before reaching over to squeeze my shoulder. “Okay. Well, I’m here for ya if you need to talk. I won’t tell anyone anything you say, just so you know.”
    “Thanks, Paci. I appreciate that.”
    “Everyone needs someone to confide in,” he said mysteriously.
    I should have said nothing, but I couldn’t just let it