Black blood slowly oozed down John chest. It was in the early stages of coagulation and the sight of it made John pass out. His body lay still on the ground while tainted blood continued to leak from his wound.
Charrack struggled to help John sit upright and examine his wound, "I thought we already took care of this snake venom, that was days ago."
Charrack lay the unconscious body against a wall and began examining the fallen hunters for any medicine, fortunately he found some antivenom in one of their packs. Not knowing where to inject the substance, Charrack plunged the needle into the first vein he could see next to the wound.
The next several minutes were dominated by a deafening silence. No movement was made aside from John's ragged breathing. He grunted in annoyance when he woke up to see Charrack holding him like a child.
"What happened, did we win?" He asked.
"Yeah, barely." Charrack set John back up against the wall gently, "I found you some antivenom, it should help you recover."
John clutched his shoulder that still had the crossbow bolt in it, "Thanks, do you think we can get this out and bandaged up?"
"The last thing we need, is for you to lose more blood." Charrack explained.
John leaned back in such a way that his injured shoulder wasn't up against the wall, "You seemed pretty okay with me killing those Valk, any particular reason why?"
A grim look passed over Charrack, "They were traitors to their oath, and I only regret it wasn't my hand that dealt justice."
John was running out of gum, but he put a fresh piece in his mouth anyway, "How can you be so sure they betrayed Makal?"
"I have no doubts they did; they lost respect for him when he chose to let you live." Charrack grabbed two rifles and stood to his feet. "I'm going to at least try burying the bodies, they deserve that much."
Charrack proceeded to cover the bodies of his former comrades as best he could with piles of rubble. It took half the night to complete his task. Exhaustion eventually took hold and Charrack fell asleep.
John and Charrack woke up dejected and sore. Their injuries were severe, their situation dire and without hope of escape.
"What now?" John stared at the wall.
"We find the portal they came through to get here." Charrack held his rifle up in the light and examined it.
As much as John wanted to survive, he wasn't optimistic about their chances. "Easier said than done, now what's our next step." He asked.
"Probably the wrong one."
Despite the pain their injuries caused and the dangers of the forest, they started their trek. The hours blended together, making each moment akin to a hazy nightmare for John.
At long last, Charrack agreed to set up camp and get some rest. John gathered wood and set up a campfire while Charrack refilled their water supply.
They searched through the hunters' equipment for any other medical supplies, stumbling upon a med pack that had been buried with protein supplements. The matter of who needed it the most was not a decision they did not take lightly.
"I'm almost useless in my condition, and I'm about to die." John set the injection syringe in between them.
"But if I get my ribs fixed, I'll almost be in prime condition, I can carry you and take care of predators." Charrack was struggling to refrain from grabbing the injector and administering it to himself on the spot.
"Don't you have to set your ribs in place first? It would be a waste." John wasn't sure he was right but it made sense.
Charrack shook his head, "As far as I know that isn't necessary."
"Well we could toss a coin to see who gets it." John suggested.
Charrack scratched his head in confusion, "I've never heard of that before?"
"Really? You've never heard of 'heads, I win, tails, you lose'?" John teased.
"That doesn't make any sense." Charrack mused.
John rummaged through his pockets in search of a coin, "Here, I'll show you."
Unable to find a coin he pulled out his pack of gum. "This side is heads," John showed Charrack the front with the logo on it and flipped it around, "this one is tails."
John set the pack on top of his right thumb, "I toss it up and you call out heads or tails."
John executed the maneuver and it flipped off his hand and landed in the grass without completing a full rotation, landing face up.
Charrack leaned forward and stared at the pack of gum, "Heads."
John shook his head, "That's not how it works."
Charrack ignored him and grabbed the injector, applying it to himself.
John threw his hands up in exasperation, "Seriously? That's just wrong man."
Charrack grinned as his bones began to click back in place and fuse back together.
John put his head back down on the grass, "Fine, at least go shoot a giant squirrel or something."
"It's a Valk med pack anyway, it might not work for you." Charrack consoled him.
Charrack slept with one eye open that night, listening to the local crickets. Everything about this planet wrought death and pain. He looked at John, sleeping in a manner that was almost peaceful. If this human hadn't seen fit to spare his life, he would be long dead. "I promise I won't let you down," he vowed. And with that, he fell asleep.
The next day was much like the previous, they trudged through the trees for hours on end, stopping only to let John rest while Charrack dealt with predators. The new weapons made a huge impact on their survival chances, but they wouldn't last forever. If the map they found was accurate it would take two more days to arrive at the portal, and they were spending more ammo than they could spare.
Each hour became more and more unbearable for John. His body temperature spiked, and he began sweating profusely. Without more medicine, it didn't seem like he would make it out alive.