“Dog!” I yell as Charlotte screams. “Get back!”
Dog growls and barks a few more times until the bear turns its head and growls back. Then the big mutt whimpers and moves out of the way.
The first claw swipe is the only damage the bear’s done so far, but I know it’s only a matter of time before it uses its powerful jaws to do more. I raise my crossbow, but I’m worried shooting it will only piss it off.
“Hey!” I yell as I run closer. The bear looks at me, and I shoot an arrow straight into one of its beady eyes. That does the trick. The bear lets out a roar of pain and confusion and then runs in the other direction.
Once it’s at a safe distance, I rush over to David. Charlotte’s still screaming and stares down at him.
“I’m gonna need your help,” I yell up at her.
Her mouth closes, and she nods frantically, before stumbling over.
“He’s hurt badly,” I say as I look over his wounds. It’s been a while since I’d seen anything like this, and I try to push those memories out of my mind.
The bear’s claw ripped through David’s clothes and his chest. It could be worse, but he’s still losing a lot of blood and already starting to go into shock. I pack the wound with some snow and zip up what’s left of his coat to hold it in.
“We’ve got to get him back to my cabin,” I say. “Help me get him up.”
As we pull David to his feet and start dragging his unconscious body back the way we’d come, Dog suddenly reappears. I roll my eyes, wondering why I even bother to feed him.
We’d walked a couple of miles into the woods, which normally wouldn’t seem like much if I’d been out for a stroll, but it’s a whole other story now that we’re dragging a hundred and eighty pounds with us. Every step we take gets harder than the last, and I can hear Charlotte grunting and wheezing on the other side of her husband.
“We’re almost there,” I reassure her, though it feels like we’ve barely made any progress. David’s snow pack has already melted, and his face is growing pale.
Finally, my cabin comes into view, and we push a little harder. When we get to the front door, I fumble with the latch. As I get it open, thankfully, David comes to enough to help us get him up the steps. We manage to get him to the sofa and lay him down.
“What do we need?” Charlotte quickly asks.
“Towels,” I answer. “They’re in the closet down the hall. And we’ll need to heat some water.” It’s easier said than done these days. Propane became scarce years ago, so I had to convert all of the appliances to wood.
“There’s wood in the storage bin, under the bed,” I inform her. Then I kneel next to David to get a better look at his wounds.
The snow pack did the job. The bleeding’s slowed but not stopped completely. I gently remove his coat and what’s left of his shirt, and then head to the bathroom to gather up the meager medical supplies I have.
“I’ll get the fire going,” I say to Charlotte. “You need to use those towels and apply pressure to his wounds.”
Charlotte stays by her husband while I boil some water and prepare what I have. It’s not much, but we manage to clean the wound, disinfect it, and bandage it. By the time we’re through, the house is a mess, and my medical supplies are gone.
“Is he going to be okay?” Charlotte asks me, and I can’t think of a polite way to tell her I have no idea.
Instead, I say, “He is for now, but we’re gonna need more supplies and medicine. Not to mention, someone who knows what they’re doing.”
“A doctor?”
I cock my head and shrug in bewilderment. “I don’t know if we can find one of those or not. It’s been a few years since I’ve seen a real doctor. I might be able to find someone better at it than me, though.”
Charlotte nods and kisses David’s hand. He’s unconscious again, but there’s a little more color in his face. I know he’s not out of the woods, though, so I dump the hunting gear out of my pack and fill it with trade goods instead. We would have been all set if the hunt had been successful, but as it is, my trading stash is as meager as my food supply. I can only hope to run into a sympathetic soul.
The walk into town is even longer than our hike into the woods had been, and it’s starting to get dark by the time I get there. Town might be a little more civilized, but people are smart enough to close up after dark.
I quickly start hitting up all the places that have medical supplies, telling the owners the situation, but my pitiful pack of goods just isn’t worth it to them.
Finally, as darkness descends, I go to the last shop I know of, but the shopkeeper is already locking up.
“Please,” I say before he can leave. “A man’s been attacked by a bear. I need medicines.”
The man looks at me like I’m crazy and walks away. As I contemplate whether I could get away with breaking in and stealing what I need, a voice drifts through the dark.
“Maybe I can help you,” it whispers.