The Monster fell for the Rebel

chapter 11

Pyramidhead cradled Nea's body close to his chest, carrying her to the wall that separated the two camps once more. He hoped that she would be strong enough to make her way through the crack without hurting herself.

Nea grumbled against his skin, tightening her already weak grip on the thin fabric of his shirt. She felt the tired pull of her muscles restricting her movement with a creak in her body, and groaned at the pain. As Pyramidhead approached the wall to put her back in her rightful place, he gently set her down to her feet. Nea winced as her feet touched the ground, and she held onto Pyramidhead's arm and shoulder for support. He gently held her hand as she shimmied through the crack slowly, grunting and straining the whole way. It felt like an eternity till she made it to the other side.

"Thanks, PH." She said, panting slightly and leaning her body against the wall.

"Go." He grumbled, upset she had to leave. Nea nodded and turned away, limping slowly towards the campfire surrounded by survivors. The man in a beanie stood when he saw Nea, and rushed over to help, tailed by several others. Nea fell into the arms of her companions and the group ushered her towards a tent, disappearing inside.

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"Nea!" Quentin cried, jumping to his feet. Everyone else turned toward the direction Nea was limping helplessly from, Feng Min, Jane, Dwight, Quentin and Yui rushed to her aid, and caught her just as she stumbled over her own feet. Quentin looked in horror over her pallid face and bloody clothes, neatly torn holes littering her favorite red jacket. Dried blood crusted over the fabric flaked off into his hands as he held her hands and kept her upright.

"Oh my god! Who did this to you?" Feng Min asked, supporting Nea by her arm.

"Gho-Ghostface, and Amanda." Nea winced, her entire body tensing with pain and suffering. She looked ready to collapse any second.

The entire group shared a worried look amongst themselves as Feng Min and Quentin scooped Nea up under her arms and helped drag her to her tent while Feng Min squeezed her hand and propped her free side up against hers.

"Claude, we're gonna need every bandage you got." Quentin said, carefully leading the way to Nea's tent. Claudette rushed to her collection of medical supplies and grabbed several med kits and bandages, her heart hammering with anxiety and newfound fear of the unknown. She worried that the killers were going to ambush the camp and slaughter them all, the Entity wouldn't allow that...would it? Claudette shook the thought out of her head and went to Nea's tent where everyone was crowded around the entrance, trying to get a look at Nea. Felix, Ace and David shared a stoic but worried expression as Claudette pushed her way through. Haddie and Thalita were huddled by the fire whispering among themselves, glancing at the tent every few words. Quentin tried patting Nea's hand to soothe her but she was too dazed to notice, all of the blood loss was becoming more apparent by the second.  Claudette kneeled down next to Nea on the ground and tried to peel the clothing off her shoulders, the tattered remains of her jacket sticking to her wounds and unsticking with a soft squelch. Nea cried out softly and sobbed as Claudette undressed her jacket

"There's no way i can get your shirt off without cutting it, Nea. I have to look at these wounds. Is there any way i can get you to sit up for just a second so i can get your clothes off?" Claudette's eyebrows scrunched together as Nea shook her head, a tiny but strong disagreement.

"Can i cut your shirt off then? i don't want you to have fabric stuck in your wounds. I have to bandage you up." Claudette looked at Quentin, she didn't want Nea to be indecent in front of her friend. Nea just winced as she tried to sit up. 

"Just get this damn shit off me." She panted, clearly exhausted. Claudette grabbed Nea's arm, helping to sit her up.

"Do you want me to get Jane? or Kate? Anyone female?" She asked, looking at Quentin. She just felt so awkward and confused in this situation. How did the Entity allow this to happen? She thought as Quentin spoke up,

"I'm staying. You need my medical experience. I stitched Jane and David up on plenty of occasions, this isn't the time to be worried about decency, we need to save our friend." He said firmly. She shivered with a whine of dread and pain escaped her throat as she trembled, which shot pain through her body entirely anew. 

"Jesus fucking Christ." Quentin stared wide-eyed at Nea's back. He gagged at the sight of the cuts, on her back was a skillfully carved Scream mask. Ghostface's mask. Claudette took her med kits and opened them, rifling through for a pair of scissors and stitches with a blinding motion of her hand she produced a needle and thread, the needle was slightly bent from having used it before but Claudette had a lighter and sterilized it quickly as she peered at Nea's back and gave the scissors to Quentin to start cutting up the back of Nea's black tank top. Nea shivered even harder when the thin excuse of a shirt was off, leaving her exposed to the open air. Claudette went right to work on examining and sterilizing Nea's wounds with alcohol and styptics. The crowd in front of the tent slowly dispersed as Claudette worked, but their murmurs of worry, confusion and fear hung in the air and in Claudette's head. She looked to the wounds that were still bleeding and noted that they had been expertly stitched already but were refusing to heal.

"Nea, who patched you up here?" Claudette asked, pointing to the stitch across her spine, pulling on it so slightly to get a better look at the black stiches, clearly caked in blood and infection.

"N-nurse." She wheezed as her skin stretched uncomfortably with Claudette's prodding.

"The Nurse??" Claudette asked, her gaze snapping up to look Nea in the face. Her eyes were squeezed shut and sweat beaded her forehead.

"Yea." She huffed. "Sally." She said as Quentin circled around to look at the stitching.

"These are getting infected, Nea. You need to let us reopen these wounds for fresh stiches." Claudette said, sighing. Sally had done a good job stitching them so Nea wouldn't die, but her tools were definitely not the cleanest, and the infection was going to get worse. 

"Fine, just get it done." Nea whined as Quentin took her shoulder and helped lay her back down. Blood leaked from the wounds in her back with every movement. Quentin and Claudette exchanged a horrified look and swallowed their fear as Quentin took a scalpel in hand and began cutting the stitches one by one, Claudette sewed the skin back with fresh thread behind the scalpel, trying to minimize blood loss. Nea clutched the skin of her arms and curled around her knees. Blood dripped on the ground beneath her and soaked into her bedroll and the back of her pants as the stitches were removed and quickly replaced. Quentin and Claudette worked tirelessly and swiftly well into the night.

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"Do you think she'll be alright?" Kate asked David at the campfire, the cries of Nea behind the thin fabric of the tent echoed around the atmosphere of the campfire. David mulled over his answer in his head as she stared at the direction of Nea's tent.

"I don't know. But honestly it's what she gets for going over to the killer side so often." David bit his tongue immediately.

"David! She wasn't trying to get hurt, and you know it. Don't be an asshole. We need Nea! She's the only one who's managed to keep killers busy while we work on the stupid fucking generators. Show some goddamn concern for once you insufferable prick!" Kate shouted at him and stood up, leaving the fire in a huff. David sighed and dropped his head in his hands. He knew she was right but his bitterness got in the way. He felt terrible for saying what he said but the uncontrollable emotions swirling through his chest made it hard to think clearly. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was terrified. He was afraid Nea was going to die, he was afraid the killers would realize they had the power to kill them for good, he was afraid of the crack in the wall, he was afraid of his own stubbornness getting everyone killed. He didn't know what to do. He knew he no longer had the strength to carry everyone. How would they fight back if the killers decided to attack? Michael, The Dredge, The Demogorgon was a death sentence, hands down. Deathslinger, Ghostface, Amanda and Trickster were all psychopaths who would toy with them before killing them. He didn't even want to think about the Clown and what he would do to the women in camp. He shuddered with disgust and fear. He felt his usually calm demeanor slipping as tears welled in his eyes. 

"David? David!" He heard Dwight's voice call out, as he lifted his head he felt the icy black smoke creep up his legs and wrap around him. 

"Fuck." he hissed as he was snatched into a trial.