Jake, his best friend came running toward him in an instant, followed by the others.
"Hey, you alright?" he asked, grabbing Ender's arms and giving him a once over to check for any injuries.
"There's an unconscious man up there," Ender pointed to the trees, kneeling down to catch his breath. "He's alive Jake! We need to save him"
The next moment, their group and a few other hikers were jogging behind Ender. They gasped when they saw the carcass of the bear.
"How do we carry him though? He looks heavy" One of the men who was bent over to get a look at the unconscious man, asked.
"We have a few towels, we can tie them up to make a stretcher of sorts" another one suggested and everyone agreed it was a better idea. A few of them began tying up the towels while the others moved to lift the strange guy up.
"Um, why the hell is he naked?" someone asked, making them chuckle
"Maybe his clothes were torn off?" Jake guessed, looking back at the carcass of the bear
"Are you nuts? How can a human survive against a bear? That animal was probably killed by some other bear, look at those injuries."
"What happened to him though?"
"Who knows. And there's blood on him, he might be injured. Let's take him back to the falls and clean him up." Ender suggested and then grabbed the man's arm while the others grabbed his legs to lift him up. They grunted with the weight, he was a hulk of a man. Somehow they managed to get him on the makeshift stretcher and grabbed the ends to lift it up. It took them only a few minutes to reach the falls.
The rest of their group that was playing in the shallow waters rushed toward them in a panic the moment they saw the man being carried.
"What happened? Anyone injured?" Mia asked and screamed the moment her eyes fell on the unconscious person.
"Ender found him off the trail. Help us clean him up, there was a huge dead bear next to him. God knows what happened but there's dried blood on him so I'm guessing he might be injured."
Within a few minutes, all of them managed to clean the guy up as much as possible, and to their surprise, he appeared to be completely fine. There were a few scratches here and there but apart from that, there wasn't any injury.
"Damm! I'd let him use me" A girl from their group whistled
"He's so fine he can replace Hemsworth in Thor," another one said
"Wipe your drool" Ender taunted making everyone chuckle. They were right though, the man was insanely attractive. He had sharp facial features along with a well-toned body that could turn heads. To top it all, his long, silvery hair made him look like some character from a fantasy story.
"Come on, pick him up. We should take him to a hospital" someone suggested
"Make him a little decent first. Anyone got extra pair of pants?"
It was a struggle to get him dressed, he was unconscious and heavy as well which made it harder to move him around. Once he was covered up with a loose shirt and pants, the boys put him back on the makeshift stretcher to take him back to their cars. They took turns in carrying him, the two-hour trek seemed like an ultimate test of their endurance, they had to stop multiple times to stretch and take a breather. The sun had set by the time they reached the parking area, their muscles aching with exhaustion.
Jake drove ahead of everyone while Ender held the stranger carefully in his lap. The man stirred a little in his unconscious state giving them hope that he at least woke up soon. It was a long drive back to the city, by the time they reached, a few clinics they had seen on their way had already closed up.
"check on the map" Jake told Ender when they came across yet another closed clinic.
Whilst Ender was searching for a nearby hospital, the man groaned making them both jump up. He squirmed a little before slowly opening his eyes. He was still in a haze as he took in his surroundings, eyes going wide as saucers and confusion spread on his features. His nose twitched as if he was trying to sniff some smell, face twisting in irritation as if he caught a whiff of some bad odor and then he gasped when Ender came into view.
"Hey, we're here to help you, we'll take you to the hospital. You're gonna be okay, buddy" Ender spoke in a soft voice so as to not startle the stranger. He switched on his flashlight to get a glimpse at the man, making the latter cover his eyes with his arms at the sudden light.
The guy blinked at them and then a look of shock overtook his features. He shook his head vigorously and turned on his side in an attempt to get up, failing miserably when his arms gave out. Ender and Jake caught him in time before he slipped to the floor of the car but the man jerked from the contact, looking at them in pure distaste.
"Hey, we-"
"No" the man huffed out, struggling to get himself in a sitting position. "Leave me here, I'd rather die than go anywhere near the city" taking deep breaths he leaned back in his seat.
Jake looked at Ender in bewilderment, raising his eyebrows in question.
"Listen, you don't look well, we have to get you to a doctor" Ender spoke again but that agitated the man even more.
"No" there was a faint growl in his tone that made Ender scoot back in his seat. "I said leave me here and go away" He looked around for a way to get out, but before he could even reach the door, his hands went limp and he fainted. Ender grabbed him from the back before he could fall down.
"What a strange man" he muttered
"What do we do now?" Jake asked
"He looks fine to me, maybe he needs some rest. Let's take him back home right now. Once he wakes up tomorrow, we can talk it out." Ender suggested while slowly pulling him back on his lap
They drove back to the house they had rented out and carefully carried him inside. Ender insisted on putting him in his own room, not wanting to bother anyone else. He covered the man with a blanket and checked his forehead once. His skin was warm so Ender swiftly got a wet cloth to place it on his head. As he changed the cloth again, Ender couldn't help but wonder what might have happened to him. Their group had searched all around the area for any item that might have belonged to him, a phone at least, but to no avail. Was he some camper? He definitely looked the part with his muscled physique.
Maybe he had been chased by the bear? He couldn't even imagine what might have happened there, they'll get to know tomorrow when the guy woke up. The others came up to check on him from time to time. Ender could feel they were a little uncomfortable with having a stranger in their house but it was inevitable. The strange behavior of the guy was enough to let him know he didn't want to be with them, moreover the whole talk of how he'd rather die than be in the city was peculiar.
"What happened to you?" he whispered as he sat down in a chair beside the bed.
His eyes started getting heavy the moment he got comfortable in the chair. His back will ache tomorrow but he was too tired to get another mattress. The day's exhaustion caught up with him as fell into a deep slumber.
The next day, Ender was woken up by the sound of something crashing on the floor and his eyes locked up with the red irises of the stranger.
Ender screamed.