Thursday, June 1, 2006

Zayn - Part 5
He had no more adrenaline left to compensate for the loss of blood.

“He collapsed!” the figure yelled. The other tribesmen came running towards him. Everyone stopped a few feet away from Zayn’s fallen body and stared in awe. He had come out of the forest, he had fainted, but he was alive.
“Grab him!” the commander yelled. “We’re taking him back, the Leader will undoubtedly be interested in this.”

Zayn opened his eyes and realized without surprise that he was back in the enemy’s camp. But unlike the last couple of days, his hands were tied behind him and his body was tied to a tree. He turned his head to the right and saw the leader’s hammock. He was tied to one of the trees the hammock was tied onto. He was happy to see that the hammock was unoccupied.
Zayn’s shirt was off and he found that all of the wounds the creatures had inflicted had been bandaged. In an effort to stop the bleeding, they had been bound so tight that Zayn had some difficulty taking in a breath. Despite all this, his blood had seeped through anyway; staining the originally white bandages a dark red. Zayn leaned his head back against the trunk of the tree and moaned softly. He wished he could go back to the pain he had the day before rather than enduring this and still being sore.
“You’re finally awake?” said a coarse voice. Zayn turned his head to his left. He saw a male’s head and shoulders coming out of the opening of a tent. He was lying down with his dead propped up with his hand. “I was hoping you would die, that way I wouldn’t have to worry about you.”
‘I have a guard this time, even when I’m bound. They must really not want me to escape again,’ Zayn thought.
“Oh well, I knew it wouldn’t really happen,” his guard said, getting up. He left and came back shortly with a cup of water and held it to Zayn’s lips as he drank thirstily. When he was done, the guard walked away again.
Ten minutes later Zayn spotted someone walking toward him that wasn’t his guard. Zayn knew who it was; the leader was coming. He came and sat comfortably in his hammock. Zayn didn’t feel the need to turn his head to see him.
“Are you feeling better?” the leader asked. Zayn didn’t move. “I see you’re still bleeding,” he commented, observing his bandages. “You really shouldn’t have tried to get away, you took advantage of our hospitality. And now because of your little expedition, you’ve given yourself away…Zayn.”
Zayn flinched. He knew who he was. Now he understood why he was suddenly bound and guarded.
“We only knew you by name. You are the person who could get through our forest. Only a few of us can get through it alive. Someone by the name of Zayn is the only outsider who knows how. You will never understand how happy I am that you have wandered to us,” the leader began to swing slightly. “But now that the rescuer has been captured, who’s left to save you?” the leader said with a wide grin. “Looks like you’re going to be here for a while.”
Zayn kept silent; there was nothing to say.
The leader got up. “You will be very useful to us, but first you must regain your health.” He then disappeared behind the tree Zayn was tied on to.
Later that day, towards sunset, three people Zayn had never seen before came to him. He saw that one of them was carrying a roll of bandages. Another held a sword. One of them began untying the rope that held Zayn to the tree. Zayn started to get up, but he was roughly pushed to the ground again and pointed at threateningly with the sword. He was pushed farther from the tree and the rope on his wrists was loosened as well. His hands were untied only to be held above his head. Still being threatened with the sword, the remaining man began taking all of the bloodied bandages off his body and replacing them with new ones.
“Would you mind not wrapping them so tight?” Zayn growled.
Instead of listening, the man pulled even harder. Zayn grunted; this tribe and his were not on very good terms.
When Zayn was done being taken care of, his wrists were again bound behind him and then tied back to the tree. Then Zayn was left alone to deal with the pain that had been added with the new bandages.
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