9 Chapter Nine: Dawn

**WARNING, IF YOU CANNOT HANDLE GORE OR OTHER SIMILAR THINGS, STOP READING NOW***

When Camo regained consciousness, she thought she was on the ocean, a gentle rocking back and forth. It was soothing, but the calm was soon abandoned to the splitting pain. Her head felt as if it was breaking in two, and her shoulder felt very hot, as if on fire. Her eyes slowly opened. The sun assulted her eyes, the light making her head hurt worse. She groaned in pain, and the light dimmed.

"Welcome back to the living." Damien greeted her, his voice washing over her.

She forced her eyes open again, looking up into Damien's face.

"What.. What happened?" She asked him, her voice raw.

"Something attacked you last night. Damien rescued you." Her father said.

She wanted to see him, wanted to know how he was walking, but even slightly moving her head hurt.

"Just relax. You're safe." Damien said, holding her close to his chest.

"I get that, but what's going on?" Camo asked, slightly annoyed.

"We're traveling again. We couldn't find any food or water there, and that creature could've still been there, so we got out of there as soon as we could." Damien replied.

Camo nodded, ignoring the splitting headache. She closed her eyes in an attempt to lessen her pain, just focusing on the soothing scent of Damien, and the motion of his steady gait.

"Where are we going now?" She asked after a moment.

"Damien saw horse hoof prints on the ground a ways back, we're heading in the direction they are." Her father supplied.

"Tracks will mean a town." Camo said.

"Exactly." Damien agreed.

Camo's mind began to wander.

Something is out there, we're all injured in some way, and I'm fairly sure we're low on ammo. It's just our luck that these tracks will lead somewhere dangerous.

With that thought, Camo slowly drifted off, with dreams of crimson eyes and fire.

Multiple voices dragged Camo back to consciousness. Her headache was back with force, and her entire body was on fire. Groaning, she opened her eyes. She was silent as she stared at a white sky.

'Isn't the sky blue?'

She asked herself.

Then a familiar face came into view.

"Hey Camo. How are you feeling?" Her father asked her.

"I'm-" She stopped, taking in a sharp breath.

Talking seriously hurt her head. Everything hurt. Seriously, every breath made a new wash of fire hot pain through her body. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to summon her calm, store away her pain so she could function.

'Ignore the pain. I can't be weak now.'

"Just relax, Camo. We're getting you to a doctor." Her father said, brushing some of her hair behind her ear.

"I'm fine, Dad." Camo said, sitting up.

She wanted to scream, her shoulder burned and wouldn't support her weight. Leaning on the opposite arm, she felt the trickling of something warm on her injured arm.

"Camo. Lay back down." Her father said, staring at her shoulder.

Annoyance mixed with pain consumed Camo, making her temporarily Oblivious to the pain, as she nearly ripped her shirt off. She turned her head to look at her shoulder, and had to bite her lip to prevent a gasp.

It was a mess of blue and red skin, peeled back to reveal the muscle and bone beneath. It was severely infected, and pus mixed with blood steadily flowed from it, down her arm. Her stomach flipped, making her want to be sick, but she took a deep breath, and instantly regretted it. She smelled rotting flesh, even though the injury had only been inflicted less than twenty four hours ago.

"God Damn it. What the hell happened..."

"El Chupecabra." A man said from the front.

"What?" Camo asked, looking around.

She had just now realized they werent in a car or anything like that. The air was heavy with the scent of sweat and...

Horse.

They were riding in a horse drawn carriage through the desert.

It's a fucking western movie.

Another sharp throb shot through her arm, and the flow of blood increased.

I'm going to die in a fucking western movie.

"El Chupecabra. The desert devil. Nasty bite, but Doc will fix you up real nice, Lassie!" The man said, glancing back.

A motherfucking western movie. Just. My. Luck.