Surviving Patorum

Chapter 25

The crackle of fire wakes me. The scent I haven't smelled in a long time ignites my nose-burnt wood.

I'm immediately taken back to the one year I spent at summer camp. We watched the stars in the New Mexican desert the whole night while a bonfire crackled behind us. The smell was the same. But this time, it doesn't relax me; it makes my body shake because it registers how much pain I'm in.

After Jacobs and Wellings brought the snake down with almost all their ammo, we set up camp for the night. Yes, right next to the dead snake. This spot isn't the best because, you know, a corpse is rotting next to us, but Wellings and Jacobs apparently couldn't move me. After they shot the snake down, I seized a few more moments before finally blacking out from the pain. My slumped body was too much for anyone to carry-or want to try and move. So, the area (and the chance of a snake dinner) seemed the best place for the group to stay. I was in and out of consciousness for the next few hours, so naturally, I had no say in the final answer.

But when I woke up out of a dead sweat, I was able to mouth down some of the cooked snake, which made me feel like the location was paying for itself-until I threw up moments later from the stench of the corpse wafting through the cold night air.

My brain feels fuzzy. The last few hours feel like a dream. All my mind remembers is the unbearable, bubbling pain I was in as the venom ate away at the flesh inside my body. I spent hours puking up green toxins and stomach acid that made my organs feel like they were turning inside out. Near the fang bite, my skin turned a deep purple and started to die, which made me freak out, and Dally had to calm me down by reminding me that the reanimating serum would generate new skin. I also had a raging fever, and I was shivering at the same time. I constantly switched from hoarding all the shirts and jackets to throwing them off when I was sweaty.

Although, all that misery couldn't prepare me for the pain the puncture wound gave me. The snake's fang went through my entire torso, causing blood and green venom to ooze out of both sides. Every time I moved, it felt like my body was tearing in half. When the pain was at its peak, I remember gripping Dally's hand so hard that his flesh and bones felt like putty. My nails dug straight into the palms of his hands, and I left them sore and bloody after I finally passed out from exhaustion.

It was the most horrible experience I have ever had in my entire life.

Wellings suggested cooking the snake over the fire the one time I was coherent and able to retain information. At first, I was worried that eating an animal mutated by radiation wasn't the best idea, but after Red and Jacobs ate a considerable portion and didn't kill over, I figured that the meat was safe. The first bite into the snake meat made my mouth water, and I had to stop letting the drool fall out of my mouth. It was the best thing I've tasted since I entered the compound. The gamey meat was cooked black, and the charred skin was crispy and chewy in my mouth. Eating something so good when we're all in such a lousy shape almost felt like a sin. But then I threw it all up. The snake tasted better the first time.

I can tell that Paige was terrified by the snake encounter. When I woke up, she tended to my wounds even though the dressings didn't need to change. She had every excuse to touch me. "You're burning up," she would say, touching my forehead. She even asked me if I needed help going to the bathroom. I think something snapped in her when I almost got eaten. But now, I don't know if I want to reciprocate.

While Paige was tending to me, the rest of the group huddled around the fire they made from nearby twigs and a piece of flint that Red had in his bag. The bag he grabbed back at the compound was a survival kit he had ready for leaving the compound and entering the nearby wilderness. He had stuffed a pocket knife, an empty bottle to fill with rainwater, a flare gun, a whistle, some medical gauze, and the flint into a backpack before entering the compound. It worked out in his favor.