Survivors

Chapter 38: Jada

Chapter 38: Jada

          Kandi is screaming and crying as Honey lies on the ground unmoving. All of us are in shock until Xain hands his shield to me and tells me and Tanzi to guard him. He kneels down and checks her pulse, giving us the heads up that she’s still alive. There’s no blood, so the arrow is keeping her from bleeding out, which is good I think.

          “We have to get her to the ship,” he says as he gently picks her up and begins to half-carry-half-drag her. “The medics may be able to save her.”

          The ship is just past the clearing of trees, so it takes barely two minutes to get there. Melissa greets us immediately along with Alestra. Both are shocked when they see two hostages instead of one. When they see that Honey is nearly unconscious, they run out to help.

          “Careful,” Xain tells them, “she got hit with an arrow in the back.”

          Once Melissa sees the arrow, she immediately rushes Honey to the intensive care unit. She completely forgets about Dr. Ken. Once we’re on board. The ship turns on its stealth reflectors and lifts off. We all shed our masks and weapons as the ship lift, not even caring about the mess. Kandi and Sugar run immediately towards the ICU to accompany Honey. Everyone else takes Dr. Ken to a medical room. It’s just me and Tanzi for a little bit.

          “Not what you would have expected, huh,” Tanzi bumps me.

          “Not at all,” I say as I shake my head, “but I’ve learned to expect the un expected.”

          “That’s a good thing,” Tanzi smiles. I can tell that she’s a little shaken up, too, but I still give her a comforting smile. “I’m going to grab a water, you want one?”

          “I’m good,” I say, “I’m just going to relax for a bit.”

          Tanzi gives me a soft hug as she walks out, leaving me standing in the middle of the entryway. Tanzi was right. I knew that this was a dangerous mission from the start, and I knew the likelihood of Honey already being dead. Honestly, I could have stomached her being already dead than shot less than a hundred yards from rescue. I don’t know how long I’ve been standing there, but when I turn around, Clay is standing there. I rush and hug him around the neck. I don’t know why, I just do.

          We stand there in silence for a moment just hugging until I start to whimper.

          “Are you alright?” Clay asks me.

          “I don’t know,” I respond into his shoulder, “Will Honey be alright?”

          “Well, they got the arrow out of her back,” Clay answers, “but they’re still doing work on her.”

          “Good,” I say as I continue to cling to him.

          “Jada?” Clay says softly. I loosen up my hold on his neck and look at him eye to eye. He looks away for a moment as if he’s nervous about something. “Never mind, are you sure you’re going to be alright?”

          “I think I’ll be fine,” I say, “we should worry about Kandi and Sugar, though.”

          “Right,” Clay chuckles nervously, “I guess we should.”

          I gently let go of Clay’s neck and slide down. He lets go of me and takes me to the ICU where Izzy, Abi, Kandi, and Sugar are all sitting down. Kandi and Sugar both look scared.