O Brother, Where Art Thou? 5/?
Chapter 5
Animals, like a pack of wolves, would have gone straight for the weak one, the injured one, the nearly dead one. Not these critters. Like all of us in Purgatory they used to prey on humans. And humans tend to protect their weak ones. Humans want revenge.
They had been watching us for a while now and they must have figured out that I was protecting Dean. They could kill Dean easily but I could take down half of their pack before one of them even had the chance to gorge one bite.
They were smarter than that.
Pain. I woke flailing with a scream on my lips but I was buried under furry bodies. Teeth like needles on my throat, claws tearing through my clothes seeking for flesh. Just slightly bigger than rats, however, the sheer mass of them pinned me down. I ripped one off my throat but had two others taking its place instantly. Bones crushed under my fingers and with one last shriek one of them died.
I couldn't sit up but I could roll. With both hands I fought against the critters trying to rip my throat out while I rolled from one side to the other dislodging the quicker ones from me and crushing the slower ones under me.
It didn't matter how many I killed, there were more. The ground must have been crawling with furry bodies with me as the center. Their teeth and claws were everywhere. I kept fighting but I knew I was done for. There were just too many. They'd rip me apart, eat me alive.
"Son of a bitch!" The voice was rusty and nearly lost in the high voices of my attackers. Then the critters were scythed off me in a mess of blood and fur. Enough for me to get to my feet. And with that the critters had lost. Stomping them in the ground and with Dean swinging his blade like a scythe they lost their advantage and fled into the night.
I caught one, sank my teeth into the squirming thing and drained it. Foul blood filled my mouth and I tried to ignore the fresh human blood right next to me. Dean's heartbeat drummed in my ears and all I wanted to do was to tear his throat out and drink right from the vein. I needed blood to help my body to repair the damage the critters had done but this poor little furry thing had to be enough.
"Don't look at me like I'm a juicy burger." Dean breathed harshly and sank down with his back at a tree trunk. I threw away the drained creature and swallowed against the bitter taste in my mouth. After a minute I had myself under control again and I crouched in front of Dean to look him over. His eyes were closed but the grip around the weapon stayed tight. The smell of fresh blood was in the air around him but it wasn't much and I had to wait till dusk to examine his wounds.
"We can't stay here." I said but he didn't answer. I took the time to wash off my blood, I didn't want to accidentally turn Dean, before I scooped him up bride-style and started walking. Behind us I heard the first critters returning but there were enough corpses of their own kind to feast on so they wouldn't bother following us. For now.
I am stronger than the ordinary human but Dean was a big guy and after the attack I wasn't up to full game yet. So after a short while I felt the strain in my arms and the slight stagger in my usually smooth steps. It would have been easier to throw Dean over my shoulder but that would put stress on his wound and that was the last thing I wanted to do. It was a miracle that he was still at life, no way I'd risk that. How he'd even managed to get up and fight was beyond me. He'd risk his own life to save mine. Granted, with me dead he wouldn't stand a chance on his own, not in his current condition, but I doubted that he'd been coherent enough to think that far.
He'd seen me in danger and he'd reacted. And his reaction hadn't been to run and save himself, no, injured and half-conscious he had come to rescue me. And I had no idea why.
Dawn had broken and I readjusted my grip on the still unconscious human in my arms. His fingers were still curled around the handle of his weapon resting on his chest, though. I kept walking for maybe an hour longer but when I found a small clearing protected by thick bushes and some big rocks I carefully set Dean down with his back against one of the larger rocks.
I needed a break and it wasn't doing Dean any favors to be carried around. In the twilight of the day I examined Dean's wound and it looked better. For the first time since he'd been injured I dared to believe that he'd make it.
"Stop groping me." Dean mumbled and batted my hands away.
"Just let me bandage this."
He considered that for a moment before he nodded. For the first time he looked at his wounded side and sucked in a breath.
"You burned it out." He said and I couldn't make out if he was more surprised about the fact that I did it or about the burning itself. "It wasn't just a memory." The last part was whispered and most likely not meant for my ears.
I hadn't seen any burn scars on him but I hadn't examined him farther than it had been necessary. I wondered if somebody named Alistair had something to do with that.
"You were dying." When I'd finished the task of bandaging the wound I set down next to him. "I had to do something."
"To push it along?" He even managed a smirk and shifted to a more comfortable position.
"I'm a vampire, not a doctor." I muttered and for a second Dean stared at me. Then he burst out laughing.
"Dude, Star Trek? Really?" He held his side with both hands, wincing in pain but couldn't stop laughing. For a second I had no idea what he was talking about but then I remembered that TV show. It had been fairly new back then and I'd watched it from time to time. And then I'd bit the dust. God, that was a lifetime ago.
"How long have I been out?" Dean caught his breath and leaned his head back against the rock.
"Three days. You've been in and out. Been delirious for some of it." He made a face at that. I shifted uncomfortable. "The critters had been around for a while, waiting for me to fall asleep. Guess now I've to thank you for saving my hide." It had been a close call, too close.
"You should get some rest." Dean said ignoring my thanks for saving my life. "I keep watch."
I wanted to argue, wanted to tell him that I was good and he should rest for a bit but I was too tired. I drifted off to sleep within seconds. When I woke up again, it was dark. I'd slept the whole day but I felt better.
I fully expected to find Dean asleep but his eyes were open and he greeted me with a "Morning, sunshine". He didn't radiated that feverish heat anymore and the smell of infection was barely noticeable.
During the night we took turns sleeping and in the morning Dean meant it was time to shake some ass.
continue to chapter 6
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