Gone Forever by Brielle Kin (all ebook reader TXT) 📖

Austin said smiling at me. This is the first time I noticed how blue his eyes where. Then Austin shouted, “Jake!” That brought me back into reality.
“Jake!” I exclaimed running towards where he was sitting. “Jake, I’m so sorry! Can you ever forgive me?”
“Kate, Austin told me what you told him about never having anyone to look out for you before. It’s okay. I forgive you!” Jake said standing up from his sitting position. “We’re cool!”
“Thanks Jake. You’re the best!” I said giving him a hug. I didn’t think Jake was expecting a hug because he kind of backed away. “What, you’ve never had a hug before?”
“I have just not in a long time.” Jake said rapping his arms around me too. I’ve been so busy trying to get Jake’s friendship back that I didn’t even notice that the camp was completely wrecked.
“What happened here?!” I asked after I broke away from Jake’s hug.
“I woke up this morning to a rustle in the bushes.” Austin said picking up another log so that I could sit down. “I grabbed my sword and was ready to fight. Then the next thing I know is this dog/wolf was charging at me. I could tell it was a mutation because of its size and shape. Before I attacked it, I glanced over at where you where you were supposed to be sleeping but didn’t see you. I became very worried that someone kidnapped you and that I’d failed the President. I used my anger from not saving you into killing the beast. The beast is dead now.” I just look at him with a shocked expression.
“Take a seat. I’ve got breakfast. By the way Kate, where were you this morning?” Austin asked pulling some food out of his backpack.
“I thought I could help you out by getting some breakfast. You’ve done so much for me that I wanted to return the favor. That’s when I met Jake.” I said taking the food that Austin handed me.
“Correction, she met me when she was being attacked by a mutation. I was strolling along in the woods when I saw that this mutation was on top of her.” Jake said with a smirk on his face.
“Oh, I see,” Austin said starting the fire again. “Kate, Jake is my partner. Back in Sten they have two people be partners. They go with each other on every mission they are sent on. Jake was chosen to be my partner and his sister will be yours. When I first met him, Jake didn’t know how to use any of the weapons! The President couldn’t afford to wait any longer so he sent me by myself until Jake completed his training. So, Jake, does that mean you’ve finished your training?”
“I guess it does pal,” Jake said taking his breakfast from Austin. “Thanks.”
“I’m going to get more logs for the fire.” Austin said getting up from where he was sitting. I just watched him make his way to the firewood. I noticed he was limping. Why haven’t I noticed it before? The next thing I know Austin was on his knees grabbing his leg. Then he cried out.
“Austin! Austin! Are you okay?” I asked getting on my feet. “Are you hurt?” I tried to make my way over to where Austin was lying on the ground but Jake’s arms stopped me.
“Stop Kate!” Jake said pushing his body in front of mine. “Don’t go near him!” Austin was now crying out even louder.
“Jake! What are you doing? Why can’t I help him?” I asked angrily. Then I saw Austin’s left pant leg soaking in a puddle of red blood. “He’ll bleed to death!”
“Ah!” Austin cried out again. By this time, he was lying on the ground holding his leg.
“Trust me!” Jake said pushing me back farther away from Austin.
“No! I’m going to help him!” I said trying to push myself free from Jake’s arms.
“Kate! Stop!” Jake said grabbing my shoulders and shaking me.
“Why? Tell me why I can’t help him? I can’t have him die!” I said with tears streaming down my face.
“Look, Austin is under a mutation attack. He must have gotten scratched when he fought the mutt. If you go near him he might kill you. Being scratch by a mutt puts you in a nightmare. You don’t know where you are and your friends become your enemies.” Jake said looking at me straight in the eyes.
“Can’t you do something?” I asked to upset to shout. I couldn’t bear to look at Austin so I just looked at my feet. “He’s going to die!”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t trained on this situation.” Jake said pushing my head up so that I could look at him in the eyes. I turned my head quickly away. My eyes caught glimpse of Austin. His face started turning purple.
“Jake?” I asked still looking at Austin. “Why is he turning purple?”
“It’s just the venom. Every person has their own side effect.” Jake said turning to where Austin was lying.
“Jake, turning purple means that you’re suffocating. If you suffocate, you could eventually die!” I said. The tears where building their way back into my eyes. “Jake! You have to do something! He can’t die!”
“Okay calm down Kate. I’m not sure what to do for him.” Jake started to say. “Wait! Quick, get my backpack.”
“But…” I started to say.
“Don’t ask questions.” Jake said cutting me off. “Just do it quick!” I ran over to the log where he used to sit. I picked up his backpack and ran back to Jake. The tears where gone but my nose was still running.
“Got it.” I said giving the backpack to Jake.
“Thanks!” Jake said searching for something in his backpack.
“What are you looking for?” I asked looking over his shoulder.
“The morphine.” Jake said pulling out a small needle. “When I stab this into Austin’s arm, it will release medication causing the venom to slow down. If it slows down, we might be able to get the venom out and save him. It will also make him fall into a deep sleep so we can operate on him.”
“Okay. Do it quick! I don’t want him to die!” I said looking over at Austin. It’s only been a day and I starting growing feelings for Austin. Not like the love feelings but something I couldn’t explain. I couldn’t figure out why I cared for Austin so much. Maybe it was because he was the first person who made me feel special and wanting to exist. Whatever the reason was, I wanted him to stay alive. Austin’s body began to shake uncontrollably. His eyes where bloodshot and was turning into a purplish blue color. He looked like an almost dead mad person. “Hang on Austin. Help’s on the way.” I said so quietly so that no one could hear me. I turned around so that my back was facing Austin. I couldn’t bear to see him like that. I shut my eyes and just listened. All I could hear was Austin’s constant screaming. It reminded me of my mother screaming after me when I left yesterday. Then, Austin’s screaming stopped so suddenly that I was for sure he was dead. It was so quiet that you could hear the bee’s buzzing around. I turned around prepared to see Austin’s dead body just lying there. Tears where building in my eyes again. I looked at Austin and noticed Jake standing by him. I wondered if Jake just killed him but then I saw the needle that Jake showed me in Austin’s leg. Surprisingly the sight of the needle gave me relief.
“We’re going to have to do this fast. The morphine wasn’t supposed to destroy the venom, it was just supposed to slow it down.” Jake said getting up from where he stabbed Austin’s leg. “Do you want to do this or do you want me?”
“I can do it. I’ve had a lot of medical experience. But just in case I do something wrong, could you help me?” I asked making my way over to where Austin was lying unconscious. Austin looked so peaceful. His face was still purple but relaxation was all over his facial expression. I helped Jake rip some of Austin’s left pant leg so that we could operate. It was easy to do because Austin was wearing some sort of sweat suit material like Jake’s. “So what do we have to do?”
“I thought you said you knew what to do,” Jake said looking worried.
“I kind of do. I’ve treated snake wounds before but never mutation wounds.” I said getting a little worried too.
“Don’t worry. If you know how to dress snake wounds then you know how to dress mutation wounds. They told me in training that dressing a mutation wound was the same as a snake wound. The only difference is that the mutation can kill someone faster if not treated properly.” Jake said looking down at the big gap in Austin’s leg. “It can also kill someone fast if you don’t treat it quickly.” I think that was one of Jake’s signs that he wanted me to get started if I were to save Austin.
“We need to cut the wound deeper then.” I said looking around for something to cut Austin’s leg with. “Where’s my knife?”
“Did you leave it when you got attacked by the mutation?” he asked looking around too.
“Ah! I did. After if flew out of my hand, I never picked it up.” I said nervously. What could I use that was sharp enough? “What are we going to do now?” I could feel myself getting upset again.
“Don’t cry. I think I might have another knife in my backpack. Could you hand me it?” he asked pointing at his backpack. I toss him the backpack and in a few short seconds he pulls out a knife. “Will this work?”
“Yeah, I think so.” I said taking the knife from Jake’s hands. To be honest, I’m a little scared to cut Austin’ leg. I’m so scared that I’m going to hurt him but it’s for his own good. I gently pushed the knife into Austin’s leg. Blood begins to gush out again. I pull the knife out because I saw Austin stir.
“Ah, I can’t do this.” I said looking at Jake.
“Yes you can. I believe in you.” He said looking at me straight in the eyes. I took in the words he just said. ‘Yes you can. I believe in you.’ No one has ever believed in me before. I just looked at him and smiled. I can do it. If Jake believes that I can do it, then I can do it. I push the knife back into Austin’s leg and begin to twist it back and forth. Blood continues to gush out. I stop for a minute and then continue the drilling. After twisting the knife around and around in the wound, I saw white bubbles start forming at the surface. That indicated that the poison was at the surface. I pulled the knife gently out and looked at Jake who was just sitting there watching me. “All done.” I said putting the knife down on the ground.