4 Chapter Four: Damian Freeman

I saluted Lieutenant Lorries, leaving to go find the other two missing crew members. I hiked for a short while, heading east, before switching course and following a small creek to the south. After a while, I noticed that the stream was getting more and more shallow, and the undergrowth seemed to be increasingly dead in this area, I also observed bootprints, which meant one of the missing crew members had come this way, but why had they left the ship?

I readjusted my grip on the macete Lorries had given me and began cutting my way through the dead brambles. Faintly ahead, I heard a woman's voice. 'Sounds like Dr. Miles.' I thought, picking up the pace as I neared the source of her voice.

Then, suddenly, a high pitched scream pierced the air from directly ahead of me. I began sprinting in the direction of the scream, sweat dripping down my face and neck as I ran, I barely managed to stop to avoid falling off a small cliff, around twenty feet deep, with Dr. Miles at the bottom, the broken dirt around her showing her fall to have been a consequence of a misstep.

She was stretched out at the bottom of the small cliff, clutching at her hauntingly contorted leg. She whimpered in pain, blowing a strand of her golden hair away from her strained face as she saw me standing at the edge of the cliff

"W-what the hell are you waiting for, sergeant?! Get down here and help me!" She berated me rather angrily.

I was extremely tempted in that moment to just leave her where she lay and simply report to Lorries that I hadn't found her at all. She was certainly not a delight to be around, injured or not.

I climbed down, careful not to cause any dirt to shift. I bent down beside her cutting through the fabric of her pant leg with my machete, before inspecting the grotesque sight of her mangled limb. Her right leg curved in a way it definitely wasn't supposed to, I could tell even though I was no medical expert. Trying not to gag, I decided I would have to pop it back into place, and then carry her back to the poor excuse for a camp, preferably before nightfall. Hopefully, the medical supplies (specifically the painkillers) hadn't been damaged. I don't think I could stand all of her whining and complaining any longer than I had to.

"Dr. Miles, we're going to have to set your leg and then bandage and splint it back at camp. I don't think we could make it back the way you are now without damaging it fur-" I hadn't even finished my sentence before she interrupted snappily.

"You think I don't know that?! Just hurry up and get done with-" Her sentence cut off into a scream of pain as I shoved her leg back into place. It seemed she had dislocated it and fractured it all in one go, I fought back a smirk as she whimpered in pain.

I had set her leg back into place as she was snapping at me, and her scream of agony certainly didn't make her seem cool or collected whatsoever. Cutting several strips of fabric from her pant leg, I used a stick from beside her to fashion a tourniquet. She huffed, trying her best to remain silent. She always worked so hard to retain her image as a cold genius, but I knew that deep down, she was really just a vain, cowardly woman with a fancy degree.

Lifting her up in a bridal carry, careful not to disturb her injured leg, I headed back, taking a detour to find somewhere I didn't have to use my arms to climb. I figured our other scientist, Victor, would turn up sooner or later if he was still alive. While he may be a loner, he was clearly extremely resourceful and smart, and wouldn't have too much trouble finding his way to the rest of the crew. I followed the creek until I could see the massive silhouette of the crashed ship. Then began my short journey back that way.