Searching for That Someone
Even with a dog, searching for the victim wasn't easy. However, the pungent smell of human BBQ was getting stronger and stronger as Wolfie led them closer and closer to the victim of the execution.
"Wolfie, are you sure that we are heading in the right direction? We are in the forest, again!" Del said.
"Don't be angry, master, but the person is really coming through here," Wolfie said.
"Are you sure that even a person that is burned alive can walk this far? I meant, the person should have died some times ago," Del said.
"Well, the person surely came here," Cassandra touched one of the burned leaves on the tree.
"We must be rescuing one of the strongest people in heroes party then because there is no way that an ordinary person would survive this. Wait, don't tell me," Del gulped, "Eric is executed."
"No way. There is no way that the leader of the hero's party is executed. That doesn't make any sense at all. It differs too much from basic guidelines of Elbanian Kingdom," Cole commented.
"I swear, if I come this far just to rescue that snake Eric, I would kill him on the spot," Del said.
"Damn, I'll say that we interrogate him first, but with this kind of burn, I really doubt that he can survive," Cassandra commented on the burning duration.
"Well, let's see what we can do to him or her," Del said.
Although Del felt a little bit glad that he was out of the heroes party, he was surprised that the Elbanian dared to execute one of their mascots in the most painful way to die ever known to mankind. Even chopping would be way humane than burning a person alive. What were they thinking?
"Don't worry though, if I say that I'm able to save the victim, I'd do my best," Cassandra said.
"Thanks, that means a lot coming from you, I'm not going to lie about it," Del said.
"Well, I just hope that the tar doesn't stick that much, it's hard to be cleaned and it needs to be removed," Cassandra said.
Eventually, they got out of the forest and arrived at the road where they parked the road. Their car was located close to their exit point. It can be concluded that whoever the victim was, he or she managed to run through the forest amid the chaos. That was quite smart.
"Look, a smoke!" Cole pointed his hand at something steaming on the side of the river.
"Yeah, and it does smell like a human barbeque," Del commented.
"What's barbeque?" Cole asked.
"Anyway, let's get to her. I will bring the trauma kit from the car, Cassandra, I think you and Cole can give him/her proper care while waiting for me," Del said.
"Sure thing," Cassandra nodded as she ran in the direction of that smoke.
Del ran in the direction of his car. He opened the backdoor and grabbed Cassandra's bag that contained the heavy trauma kit. He always brought the bag to the car in case something suddenly needed surgical intervention. However, it was quite rare to be entirely honest.
"COLE! BE FUCKING CAREFUL! SHE'S BRITTLE AS FUCK!" Cassandra shouted.
"Sorry, sorry," Cole lifted the body from the water. The river was shallow, nothing would get submerged in that.
She? The victim was a woman? Well, that was interesting. Del ran towards the burn victim. Del put the trauma kit on the ground and he opened the stretcher to make it easier to transport the victim.
Cole and Cassandra put the body on the stretcher. Del was speechless, the whole body was simply burnt, including the clothing and everything surrounding it. "Damn, how the hell did the person manage to survive this?" Del asked himself.
"Give me the bag! Quickly!" Cassandra shouted.
Del gave the bag to Cassandra and she rapidly opened it. "God damn it, where's the bloody fucking IV?" Cassandra gritted her teeth. "Ah, there you are, damn! Phew, this quite one of the miraculous cases." Cassandra put the IV bag on the patient's arm.
"Lucky case? What do you mean?" Del asked.
"Somehow, yes, somehow, the patient passed ABCDE, although not flawlessly, well, still, the river water is a source of bacteria. Hey, you there, hold the pain, ok?" Cassandra shouted.
Suddenly, two black triangular horns appeared on Cassandra's head. She then begun casting several magical programs at the body. Del couldn't find out what the program was, but the girl groaned in pain. Damn, who burned her so bad? Her face was barely recognizable.
"Alright, that should be it, Cole, give me the bandages, let's start wrapping her up," Cassandra said.
"Del… is that you?" A soft voice came out the mouth of that girl whose face was unrecognizable.
Suddenly, everything went silent. Del recognized that voice, anywhere. The voice of someone that he held dearly. He hesitated just to look at his sister's face who was barely recognizable from both the burn injury and the pitch that covered her face.
Del felt pain in his chest, he tried holding back his tear, "Don't tell me… Anna…" He couldn't hold back his tear. He started crying once he held the face of her own sister. The face that used to be so smooth now felt oily and brittle from the burns. Now, he couldn't even look at his own sister.
"Del, I'm glad to see you," Anna said, softly.
"WAIT, THIS IS YOUR SISTER???" Cole opened his eyes widely from the surprise.
Del couldn't get himself to open his mouth, let alone saying a few words. His chest felt heavy. He should have gone there way earlier. He shouldn't even sleep during the way. He shouldn't even neglect the rescue request. He shouldn't even have any thought that the rescue was meaningless.
Del dropped a tear from his eyes, "If… I were not late…" He sighed. He then sobbed very loudly. He couldn't control his own breathing. He sobbed as he grabbed the sterile bandage from the trauma kit and wrapped the bandage around her entire body. "I'm sorry, I am really sorry." Del sobbed.
"It's not your fault," Anna tried to lift her own hand, but Del stopped it.
"No…" Del put Anna's hand back on the stretcher.
"It truly isn't, I'm glad you're alive," Anna whispered as tears dropped from her eyes. "It's been so long, you know."
"I know," Del held Anna's arm firmly as he bandaged it with tears still falling from his eyes.
"C'mon, Del, stop crying," Anna said.
"I can't" Del said, sofly.
"Del, do you think you need some time alone? Cole and I can handle this," Cassandra said as he continued wrapping the bandages.
"Nah," Del wiped his tear, "I'm fine. It just feels… complicated."
"I understand, take your time," Cassandra said as she continuously applying magical spell on Anna's body.
"Yeah," Del wiped his eyes, "Let's focus. Sorry, if I'm not as focused as usual."
"Mate, if someone burned my sister like this I would definitely kill anyone who has done this, but I don't even think it would be enough," Cole said.
"Yeah, I know," Del couldn't give a proper response to that statement. It was too heartbreaking for him to see Anna at this state. "I… can't think."
Suddenly, everything felt wobbly. The world felt like spinning around him. His vision suddenly darkened. "Del, are you ok?" Cassandra asked. Del couldn't keep his balance and he fell to the ground. Del had passed out from the shock.
========
"DEL! DEL! DEL!" Someone was slapping his face continuously. The hand that was slapping him moved back and forth from the right to the left.
Del opened his eyes. Cole was the person that was slapping him to make him wake up from the shock. He opened his eyes and the sunny sky had gone dark. How long he had been passing out. Never mind about that, but why there was an IV bag attached to his arm? Moreover, who moved him so he slept right under a tree?
"Wait, how long have I passed out?" Del asked himself.
"Long enough that Cassandra has to attach an IV on your arm," Cole pointed at the IV bag that was hanging on a tree branch.
"How's my sister?" Del hastily stood up, but Cole pushed him back so he returned to his sitting down position.
"Relax, your sister is stable, but Cassandra said that we need to bring her back home," Cole said.
"I see, what did she say?" Del asked.
"His burn is quite severe, but most of her internal organ isn't suffering from any damage. Even her lung was normal for the most part. Her skin, on the other hand, was beyond repair," Cole said.
"What did she suggest?" Del asked.
"We should return home. This area isn't safe for treating a wounded person like that. I agree with her, I think transporting her shouldn't be an issue considering that we have cleared the road, right?" Cole asked.
"Yeah," Del sighed.
Del couldn't get his mind straight. His sister safety was all that was on his mind. He would need to drive them back to his house immediately. It was not safe to stay there after all. They might encounter more SSU personnel there.