CHAPTER 487: IT MUST BE DONE (TW-GORE)

Gwen’s screaming worried Kellen, not because he was worried she was in pain, that was obvious, but that she would attract the Boss monster.

"Bree! Shove something into her mouth!" Kellen shouted. He had to detach the limb that was affected. Had to cut it off before Gwen disappeared before his very eyes. He had a feeling it was something like that, and honestly, he would rather harm her this way then lose her completely.

Bree was panicking. It was completely rational for her to panic, but Kellen couldn’t have it right now.

"Bree! Fingers! In mouth! Now!" Kellen shouted. "Pull her mask up and shut her up!" Kellen knew he sounded harsh. He was harsh. Panic was filling him, causing him to drop his calm teacher persona in favour of a scared fucking child. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Was this one of the main reasons that his gut had warned him that this was dangerous?

Oh god, what if he had brought Rhys here?

Kellen pushed that thought deep, deep to the bottom of his mind as he moved quickly. The bone saw was in hand, and he wouldn’t have a chance to staunch the blood flow since whatever the fuck this was was moving too quickly.

Kellen had to control his gag reflex as he saw the bare bone of his sister’s foot. It wasn’t even white. It was a sickly purple colour, toxic, painful. They were eating the fabric as well, so Kellen had a good idea of where they were on her leg. Kellen’s mouth was filled with bile, but that didn’t mean he was going to stop his actions.

He needed to get rid of it. He needed to do this to save her. He would do anything to save her. It was tragic that Gwen’s words before had been a damn prediction.

Kellen grabbed her upper thigh, forcing her down onto the ground with a strength that he was sure surprised her. It surprised him as Bree forced her fingers into Gwen’s mouth. She was thrashing around, slapping her hands out, clearly in such visceral pain that she couldn’t fight it.

Kellen clenched his teeth, his eyes watering for a split second before he lined up the saw a few inches above where the things were eating away. He gave no warning, he let no one brace for impact since they didn’t have fucking time.

They didn’t have time!

Kellen started sawing, and the sound that came out of Gwen shattered his heart. There was no way that Kellen was going to come out of this whole after this, but he pushed all thoughts from his head. All guilt, all fear and just focused on the task at hand.

He was a little disgusted with how easily his saw went though the flesh and bone. It wasn’t supposed to be this easy, but Kellen guessed that he hadn’t tested his new strength in this way. It was horrifying in its efficiency, and Kellen was able to toss away the lower portion of Gwen’s leg, just above the knee, before the microbes got to it.

Then, Kellen was working on stopping the blood flow. There were only cruel ways to do it, since he didn’t have a healing type Esper with them. They were going old fashioned ways, and he just prayed that Gwen passed out.

He didn’t want to hurt her more, but he had no option. Not if he wanted to keep her alive.

She was pouring blood at this point, and Kellen was pumping his guiding power into her. It was a way to keep her alive, and thankfully Kellen had most of his stash inside of him still. Kellen tore his clothes, tightening a band just above the amputated limb, above her stump, and felt his eyes water again as he pulled out his flint and steel.

Bree made a soft noise, it sounded like a sob, but Kellen didn’t listen to her. He didn’t listen to anyone. Beyond listening to the forest to make sure they were okay, and focusing on the painful, cruel task at hand? That was all Kellen had the strength to do.

He ignored the screams, ignored the smell, and ignored the way his shoulders were shaking.

~

Gwen eventually passed out and Kellen was grateful for that.

He needed a second, needed some time to gather himself, but he didn’t have that. They needed to get moving, needed to get back to their companions. Needed to make sure that everyone that they could get out, got out.

Now that the gate was open, Kellen could only beg and pray that the man he’d found near the gate hadn’t succumbed to his injuries and had actually crawled towards the gate. As soon as that happened, that meant that others would know that they could come in and out of the gate.

They were closer to getting out, but now...

"Bree? Do you have her for a moment?" Kellen asked, his voice rough. Harsh. Raspy.

"Y-Yeah." Bree whispered back, her voice the same. It was like they had been the one screaming, not Gwen. Kellen shuddered. Kellen reached up, brushing a piece of damn hair away from Gwen’s forehead, before he flinched away, staring at the hands that had hurt her.

With a methodical, practised motion, Kellen grabbed his bag and wiped off the blade. Then, against everything in his body, he grabbed a bag and put the bones into the bag. There might be a chance that it could be salvaged by a good enough Healer.

Who would that be? Kellen had no idea. He knew it wasn’t Taylor. It would probably have to be by an S Class, and Kellen didn’t know any S Class Healers.

He shoved it into his bag, burying it deep. He didn’t want to see it. Didn’t want to think he could find it. Didn’t even want to remember it was there. It made his stomach lurch, and eventually, Kellen wasn’t able to keep it together.

He excused himself a few feet away to throw up violently. It wasn’t like him to do so, but he couldn’t help himself. Wasting calories? In such a serious situation? But he couldn’t help himself. He felt like a damn monster. Had heard how much pain he’d caused Gwen.

He shouldn’t have let her touch it. He should have-

Kellen wanted to throw up again at his follow up thought.

He should have gotten one of the bodies of a person who passed.

Kellen hated himself more as he had that thought, but logically, it was perfectly normal. He was just so twisted by this life that it made perfect sense.

When he came back to where the girls were, Bree looked like she had seen things that she would never unsee. Things she would never unhear.

"Are you okay?" It was Bree who asked, and Kellen was almost surprised that she had it in her to ask him. Kellen grabbed his bag, pulling it into his back before he stared at the two girls.

"No." Kellen told her honestly, and Bree nodded. She seemed to appreciate the answer.

"That pull...when everything happened...was that from the core?" She asked and Kellen nodded. She looked off in the distance, vaguely to the west. "I think I can tell where the exit is." She said softly and Kellen nodded again.

"It fades within 12 hours, so just keep that feeling in the back of your mind. It’s why I have you kids mark items to make sure you know your path." Kellen told her. "And bring compasses, even if they don’t always work." Kellen followed it up before he bent, and scooped his sister up in his arms. She weighed next to nothing, and Kellen tried not to think about the reason for that.

"Oh. Makes sense." Bree said carefully, getting to her feet. She stumbled, and Kellen watched in horror as another fucking pitcher plant was right where she was going to fall. Kellen dropped Gwen safely at his feet, grabbing Bree, yanking her towards him.

How he hadn’t seen the pitcher plant until now? He knew he was distracted, but it had already caused one death. He was usually quite good at keeping his wits about him!

Kellen stumbled under her weight, Bree nearly tumbling headfirst into the fucking monstrosity, and Kellen’s hand slipped. She let out a piercing scream, a look of horror and fear on her face as Kellen fumbled, his glove burning away under the extreme acidity and poison on this pitcher plant and he hissed as he felt his skin begin to pop and blister.

It didn’t matter. Not as he was able to toss Bree to safety, also protecting himself and Gwen. In a fit of fury and rage, Kellen grabbed his knife and began slashing at the thing. Decimating it, taking his anger out of the fucking thing as Bree lay panting nearby, Gwen unconscious even through the disturbance.

Bree watched him in silence as Kellen took the knife and stabbed it over and over, even taking out his gun with his good hand and shooting the fucking pitcher plant. It was a fit of violence. Completely uncontrolled, brought on by stress, the environment, and the fact that he’d almost lost another fucking Field Guide to the fucking pitcher plants.

When Kellen was done, he tucked his gun away, before looking at his hand. His bone was showing through, and it was his left hand too. He flexed the muscles, able to see the movement in real time without a layer of protective skin over it. It was grim reality, and it felt like some kind of penance for what he’d put his sister through.

Kellen said nothing, slipping his remaining glove off of his good hand and sliding it over the injured one. The he turned and picked up his sister again, glancing at Bree.

"We have to get moving so that we can pick up the others." Kellen told her, his voice hollow. Bree stared at him from where she was still on the ground, before she nodded, scrambling to her feet.

"I’ll watch my step." She promised, and Kellen gave a grim nod before he began to move. Bree was still attached to him by a rope, and Kellen realised he could have just grabbed that and protected her.

The situation with Gwen was clouding his mind, disrupting his logic. His mouth was set in a grim line as he realised that, but didn’t say anything to himself, or to Bree. There were more important things to do.