The Last Red

Chapter 11: Rogues

I tear the lower part of my shirt to tie my wounded arm and stop the bleeding.

First things first.

I tear yet another part of it to do the same for my leg.

I wish I had a spare shirt. This suddenly became a freaking crop top.

There goes the disinfectant... The bottle shakes in my trembling arm as I pour the liquid over my calf.

"Oow," I squeal as the alcohol burns my open wound.

The real burning pain starts only two seconds after.

"s**t!" I yell as loud as I can, hitting the ground hard with my hand - as if it will ease the pain.

I grit my teeth, cold sweat dripping off my face. The burning is suffocating. 

I quickly pour some more liquid over the cut in my upper arm.

Just for balancing the pain out.

Did it work?

I can't even tell.

My head's pulsating and I feel that my face is very red and hot.

I keep my abdomen contracted and take breaths as deep and steady as I manage.

Ok, time to dress the wounds.

With a clenched jaw, I tie my shirt fabric around my calf wound, then use my teeth to help me wrap my arm.

"Ugh," I exhale with relief. "Done."

I need to get some water soon. The bleeding will make me dehydrate sooner than anticipated.

But I can't walk anymore.

Not today.

I turn to inspect the set of trees behind me - those that weren't there the last time.

Guess I got a lucky break at last?

I crawl on my hands and knees, keeping the wounded calf bent in the air.

As I creep towards the shade I pick up two small stones. I will need those to make fire.

Having trees at least means I can keep myself protected from the wind. On another plus side, fire repels phig... phi...

My vision becomes blurry and I feel my blood pressure drop.

Water...

I'll never make it without it...

Everything becomes black...

And then I'm out.

...

"Gina!" my mother ran towards me and my father excitedly, "Gina, look what I've found!"

I picked myself up from the sand, not even bothering to dust myself off. I was too used to being in the dirt all the time. Father didn't even nudge as he continued to skin a phigee.

"What is it?" my jaw dropped looking at a colorful plant between her hands.

"It's an orchiaella," she lifted a brow importantly. "They only grow here in the South."

"What in hell are you doing?!" My father got up immediately, throwing the thing out of her hands.

"Why did you do that?!" she protested, angry.

"It carries acid, Viv," he shook her. "It'll burn your skin and what will you do then? You know what they believe in the South."

"Well... I can always cover my wounds with a piece of cloth," she stood her ground. She could never admit when she was wrong.

"What happens if we get into a fight with rogues and they see the skin surrounding your wounds is white!? Just quit on the damn orchiaelle....."

Their silhouette becomes blurry and they slowly fade away until they're completely replaced with blackness.

I hear muffled sounds of unfamiliar voices. 

"Oh, you poor girl."

"Splash some water over her face again."

"Khaahh," I inhale sharply, coughing my heart out. What's happening? I rub my eyes, itchy from the water. Are my contacts still in place?

Squinting, I inspect my surroundings.

Who are these people?

"Enough, Zachary, enough. She's awake now," an old woman lays a ruffled palm over a water container in between a young man's hands. 

He looks familiar.

On second thought, doesn't everyone?

"Thank you," I clear my throat. My eyes immediately find my wound dressings as the pain calls for their attention.

"Don't mention it," the lady smiles at me. Her teeth are yellow and imperfect to the degree that tells me she has lived in the Wild much over a decade.

"Let me help you with those," her freckled hands run towards my wounds.

"No!" I almost jump away as she reaches for my leg.

They look at me in shock.

"I mean," I try to give them a polite smile, "I've done a good job."

"Doesn't look like that, honey."

Screw you, lady. You ain't touching me. "The liquid I poured onto it needs some time to react," I think of a lie as quickly as I can. "It speeds up the healing."

The dread-locked lady frowns in curiosity. "Some special liquid you've got there," she casts a glance at the young man. "Go start a fire, Zach. Soon it will get cold."

Zachary nods and leaves only a few feet away, starting to pick branches from nearby trees.

"Where did you get this liquid from?" she interrogates with her lustful dark eyes.

"The block I escaped from."

Her lips curl. "Is that why a robot was chasing you?"

"I don't really know why he was chasing me."

She nods in rough understanding. "We're all just pawns in this story."

"Maybe we were pawns in our blocks," I state bitterly. "But I ain't a pawn no more."

"No. Now you're a rogue," she taps my knee, observing my face. "We could use a girl like you in our tribe, you know."

We both turn towards a nearing noise. "You're free to join us," she says in assurance just as I inspect three slender men and a tall beautiful woman approach us with two phigees stabbed on each of their wooden sticks.

"Good catch," Zachary returns. 

"Not again, Tessa," the tall woman throws her hunting stake on the ground, her eyes glued onto me. "Where'd you find this one?"

"Relax," Tessa replies calmly. "She needed help."

"'ts what everyone needs," she hisses. "Look at 'er, she barely movin'. How she gonna hunt? I ain't gon' feed 'er."

"Silence!" one of the slender men speaks with an asserting voice. He's obviously their leader. He leans his stick on a tree and steps in front of the young woman to give me a look.

He's got a huge scar across his face starting at his brow and going all the way to his mouth, keeping his left mouth side slightly lifted. 

His right eye seems to be of no use, but regardless I doubt any man would like to stand against him.

"If Tessa say she good, she good. The girl stays."

I swallow hard. 

This felt like an ability screening of its own.

I feel sort of happy I got approved. Loneliness in the overcrowded Block is one thing, but loneliness in the Wild... it drives you insane.

"I'm Gina," I say, out of respect. "And when my wounds are healed, there'll be no better hunter." I keep my eyes glued to the beautiful lady with a nose slightly slimmer than usual and a wide mouth just perfectly full, not too big and not too small.

Her dark eyes are raging. 

"Gina?" she mockingly laughs. "You from GMI block?"

GMI block is for outcasts who didn't get approved into any other block. They do some kind of manual labor there, I guess. No one really knows.

I shake my head.

Shit. I hadn't thought this through.

"No?" she picks her teeth with a thin piece of wood and takes a seat opposite of me. "There's only two blocks around here, doll. And you seem as fresh as those phigees over there. So, tell me, what's your real name?"

"Kadjina," I state assertedly. "But my friends call me Gina. I'm from the KTL block."

She narrows her eyes, but the answer seems legit. She looks unpleased. 

"I ain't ever met no one from KTL," she turns towards the leader, lifting her head. "You ever met someone, Tay?"

"He didn't," I cut her off before he can reply. "No one has ever escaped it. Until me."

Suck it, b***h. Me and Kory, of course. But Kory will now become phigee food. Or worse - rogue food.

Tay looks at me with interest. 

"A good skill to have," the woman purses her lips, playing with a twig between her fingers, "if you in a block," she laughs snorting. "None of us escapin' any time soon."

"Shut up, Triss," Tessa's words cut through the air just as a fire starts cracking. 

Everyone looks at Tessa. "You were a wounded pup when I first found you, now, weren't you?"

Triss leans against a tree, her knees spread, her look murderous.

"I earned my spot here."

"I agree," Tessa nods. "So let Gina earn hers as well. The girl fought off robots, escaped the block no one has ever managed to escape, and cleaned her own wounds. That earns my respect. Why doesn't it earn yours?"

Triss chews on a twig in silence, then throws it away before standing up. She walks to Tay and places a hand over his abdomen, then gives him the kind of a kiss that screams 'I'm marking my territory'.

As if I was intending to trespass.

He gives her a half-smile that seems more pained than loving, then removes a strand of hair from her face.

Yeah, I'll pass, thanks.

"Time to eat," Zachary gets phigees and starts roasting them. Their alluring smell quickly spreads through the air. 

"How's KTL?" one of the silent men approaches me, spreading his knees as he sits on a tree stump.

My throat feels dry. I have to be careful with what I say. Kadjina. God damn it - I blame it on my dehydration and too much of a friendly spirit. 

"It was okay," I lift a shoulder. "Just a little too crowded for my taste."

He laughs and I notice he's missing a tooth. Those present aren't a charm, either.

"I know a wanter when I see one," he takes a phigee off a stick and rips a piece to offer it to me. "Take it, Gina. Guests go first."

With a corner of my eye, I notice the tribe is eyeing us. My stomach rolls. Are they expecting us to become a thing? I can't even... 

"Thanks," I take it from him kind of roughly, then look away. "What do you mean, a wanter?"

His lips tilt. "You want more. More than you had in your block."

I squint. "Doesn't everyone?"

"Tsk," he clicks his tongue as Tessa chuckles. "Most folks don't even think of what else there might be. We," he gestures his hand over all of us, "we look for opportunities to see what there is."

A deep thought. I don't know why it comes as a shock off his lips.

"Apart from Tessa," Triss mockingly adds. "Tessa misses opportunities."

My eyes run to the old lady. What's she referring to?

She shakes her head. "When are you gonna let that go?"

"Never!" she throws herself between us, a tad too enthusiastically. I find the gesture very annoying. "You know what Tessa here did?" Triss laughs, "she had a magic creature in her own goddamn hands and she..." she goes into her face, "she just let it go."

I want to hear this story, I conclude. Because I suspect what's going on here - these people are religious.

"W-what d'you mean?" I try not to sound too curious.

"When I first escaped TL," Tessa looks at me, ignoring Triss, "over twenty years ago," her eyes fill with water, "I ran into this...couple. They were the first rogues I had ever encountered. I was living by myself at the time," she keeps nodding slowly in the sweetest way. 

"And they had been living in the Wild for half a year," the most subtle smile escapes her lips. "They showed me the ropes. What to eat, how to catch it, roast it, where to find water and safety... We became a team. A family..."

Triss looks toward Tay in a longing way. 

Why?

"The woman turned out to be pregnant," Tessa continues. "And when she went into labor, I... I helped her deliver the baby," she shakes on purpose as if shaking away evil spirits. "At first they didn't want me there, but- but the woman needed me. I saved her life. Both hers and the baby's."

"That's a very nice thing you did," I smile at her with warmth.

Tessa shakes her head. 

"She let them go!" Triss interrupts. "You missed the most important part, Tessa. The baby wasn't just a regular baby. It was holy."

I frown. "What now?" Oh yeah, I was right - religious.

"That's right," Triss stands up as if being seated isn't enough to show off her excitement. "The baby was an albino. White as goddamn snow."

I swallow hard.

"Don't you know?" Zachary frowns. "You catch an albino, you can get anything you want."

"Yeah," the silent tribe member scoffs, "you get a one-way ticket to East. As if anyone would want to go to that crazy-a*s place. They've got air drones patrolling the territory. I've had a friend die out there, back in the day when I was young 'n' reckless..."

Oh my God.

I can't hear any of their words. My heart pounds in my ears.

Cold sweat sprinkles my face now.

I am that baby.

And I need to run.