We're All a Little Mad

Chapter Three

"I've been bitten. Please, you've gotta help me."

The red liquid is seeping through the the sleeve of her shirt. Dinah, being the selfless and caring person she is, rushes over to the girl's side. Kneeling down next to her, she fishes around her blue bag, searching around for anything she can use to help stop the bleeding. She pulls out a thick roll of gauze, quickly unwinding it and looping it multiple times around the girl's upper left arm to serve as a tourniquet. 

Lauren just stands in place, quietly watching as her best friend cares for the almost unconscious girl lying in the middle of the floor. She wonders if three girls will be returning to the bookstore instead of only two. Dinah looks up at her, motioning for Lauren to help. With a sigh, she strolls over to behind the counter and squats down by the two girls. Lauren's eyes travel down her arm, the blood already beginning to soak the entire front of the gauze. 

"It looks pretty bad Laur." Dinah's voice causes Lauren to turn her head in confusion. "Like, fatal."

She blinks rapidly. "Oh," is all she manages to say.

"I think we should help her."

Lauren frowns. "We don't even know her Dinah. How can we trust her for sure?" she asks warily.

"Lauren. She's dying," Dinah grits through her teeth. "And she isn't the type to turn against  us, I can tell." The blonde turns her gaze back down. "Besides, it's not like she can do anything to harm us."

Lauren lets out an exasperated sigh. She hates to admit that her friend does have a point. But the girl's dying. She'll just drag them down even more. At least Camila could shoot a gun, even if it was an idiotic move sometimes. The green-eyed girl opens her mouth to protest, but Dinah's squints, shooting her a warning glare.

She just rolls her eyes as she unwillingly helps her friend hoist the girl up, wrapping one of her arms around each of their shoulders. The two girls hobble out of the store, dragging the frail young woman along with them. 

"What should we do?" Lauren asks as she struggles to carry the girl. Her weight is putting an enormous strain on the back of Lauren's neck.

"I-I don't know," Dinah bites her lip, her mind swarming with thoughts.

"J-Just take me to the sanctuary. They'll know what to do." The two girls' heads shoot down to look at the fragile girl between them.

"Wait, did you just say sanctuary?" Lauren asks the girl in complete shock.

She weakly nods. "It's just past that building over there," she strains out, slowly raising a finger and pointing towards a building that's just barely visible in the far distance.

Lauren turns to Dinah. "How the hell have we never heard of this so called sanctuary? This would have made things so much easier." Dinah sheepishly shrugs and begins to trudge her feet towards the building.

"Wait!" Dinah stops in her tracks once again, her eyes wide.

Lauren groans in exhaustion and pain. "What now?"

"What about Camila? We can't just leave her there?" Shit. Lauren rolls her eyes. She totally slipped from her mind. "You go back and get Camila. I'll stay with..." Lauren drags out, not quite sure what to refer to the wounded girl as.

"Normani," the dark-skinned girl barely manages to squeak out.

"Normani." Lauren repeats, carefully releasing her from Dinah's grip and making her way towards the sanctuary. She's slightly struggling to carry the girl's weight on her.

The blonde quickly catches up with Lauren, grabbing her forearm. "Lauren. We both know that you have the strength of an eight year old. Let me handle this. Besides, you need to fix up your attitude around Camila. Go back to the store and bring her to the sanctuary as fast as you can, go!" Dinah waves her hand in the direction behind her, taking Normani's arm from around Lauren's shoulders and wrapping them around her own.