Krystal couldn’t see what happened in the dark, especially with the downpour that just wouldn’t let up. She carried the two tanks of petrol, one in each hand and she could feel every strand of her biceps screaming in pain. At least she would have something to show off tomorrow.

Jessica was carrying Yuri on her back, with the latter already unconscious. It was dark and Krystal did not realise the true momentousness of the situation that was about to unfold. She was surprised that Jessica was still standing after all she had went through, and now carrying Yuri on her back like she was just a backpack. It was admirable. Krystal’s lingering thoughts did not last very long. As soon as she set down the canisters and opened the caravan door, letting the other two into shelter and bright light, she got the shock of her life.

Both had many cuts and bruises riddled across; Jessica had a nasty gash on her neck that was still bleeding. Her face was filled with filth and she was bleeding from a cut on her upper lip. However, the elephant in the room was Yuri. She had a gigantic metal pipe pierced right through her right thigh. She was bleeding profusely; blood was draining out of the pipe’s lumen and began pooling on the floor, staining the carpet a crimson red that would never come off, growing in size.

Krystal flinched.

There was so much blood.

“Quick, we have to remove the rod!”

“Don’t!” Tiffany rushed to the commotion, “You’ll only make the bleeding faster!”

“Wha—” Jessica jumped to her feet and pointed her pistol at Tiffany’s head, “How the hell are you untied!!?”

“Woah!” Krystal exclaimed and raised both her hands up at them, “Calm the down! Everyone calm the down!”

Thunders erupted outside amidst the relentless downpour only added tension to the situation. The thunders only felt like they were increasing in magnitude to a point that the caravan shook a little with every strike.

“HOW THE ARE YOU UP AND STANDING!?” Jessica bellowed at her face, “I WILL END YOU!”

Tiffany just stared at the barrel pointed at her nose, with both her hands up in surrender, hoping that her brains wouldn’t be splattered across this caravan tonight.

“Jessica!” Krystal tried to get her attention, “Jess-”

“I am not in the mood for all your trickery, Tiffany! Are you listening to me!? I will-”

“JESSICA!!!”

That got her attention.

“Put the goddamn gun down, Jessica!” Krystal exploded at her sister, “I let her loose!”

“What?” she lowered her gun and stared at her younger sister with a look dripping with disbelief, “Who the hell gave you permission to do that!?”

“Permission!? Hey, I don’t need your permission, Jessica!”

“This is my caravan, Krystal! This is my home! You follow my rules!”

“This is our ing caravan!”

“The hell’s gotten into you today!?”

“GUYS!” Tiffany exclaimed, “Do you want her to bleed to death while you cut each other to death with your sharp tongues!? Or do you want me to help to patch her up before it’s too late!? Decide!”

“How would you know how to patch a person up!?”

“I’m grateful for your everlasting scepticism, Jessica, but I was a bloody doctor before the bloody world went to . So, you can argue whether my limbs belong knotted with a rope later but right now we have to stop the bleeding. Get me a cloth!”

Krystal ransacked her drawer and gave her a used shirt.

She shoved it into the opening of the metal pipe, clogging the lumen. The shirt turned red almost immediately. She took another shirt and tied it round the thigh as a tourniquet.

“This won’t do... The bleeding won’t stop as long as the pipe is still penetrating her thigh’s blood vessels. We can’t remove the pipe here either, not without proper surgical instruments. She’d bleed to death in minutes. She needs immediate medical attention. Do you both hear me!?” Tiffany shifted glances between the two sisters, “The pipe is rusted to hell. She will get tetanus if we don’t give her the proper medication. Understand!?”

“Wh-what do we need?” Krystal queried.

“Uh… give me some Paracetamol. She’s burning up… and give me more cloth!”

Jessica took out her first aid kit and ransacked it to give the newly-approved doctor her medication. Tiffany popped the two tablets into Yuri’s mouth and gracefully manipulated her jaw, effectively swallowing the two pills with ease. Krystal passed to her a couple of shirts and she shoved both of them into the lumen.

“Look, I can’t treat her here, I need an operating table to remove the pipe. We have minutes at most before the plug gives way and she continues bleeding. The longer it stays in her body, the poorer the prognosis. You have to get me back to Novak.”

“Wait, what the hell is Novak?”

“Her town, Jessica. Look, Tiffany, can you drive this caravan? You think you can drive us there?”

“Alright. Where are the keys?”

“Hang on a damn minute…!”

“It’s in the ignition,” Krystal ignored her, “Jessica and I will fill up the gas tank now. Come on.”

“Hey!”

She grabbed her elder sister’s hand and yanked her out of the caravan and back into the rain. The chill struck their body like a truck, making them shiver once again. Krystal could already feel herself falling sick. Their silent cusses were masked by the heavy relentless raindrops. Without further ado, Krystal carried a canister and begun her refuelling.

“Come on… come on… come on…”

“Krystal, you have a lot of explanation to do!” Jessica looked sternly at her sister, “Where the hell are we going!?”

“I’ll tell you when we are not busy having a goddamn shower out here, okay!? Pour the damn fuel in and get a move on!” she poured the last drop from her canister, “I swear I have had it with this ing night and this non-stop ing rain!”

She capped the gas can and made way for Jessica to empty hers. The elder sibling glared at the younger with rising anger but gave in and began refuelling as well.

“Three weeks of bloody drought and it all comes down in a single damn night!”

“Shut up, Krystal! Your complaints are not making things any better! Get inside the caravan and wait for me there!”

“Fine!”

Jessica impatiently emptied the gas can while cursing under her breath once more. After a few seconds, the gas can had emptied its last drop and she capped it up. She brought the gas can into the caravan. She shut the door behind her, all soaking wet and set the canister on the floor. She walked up to Tiffany who sat at the driver’s seat and put her pistol at the back of the driver’s head.

“Not this again… Jessica! What the are you doing!?” Krystal bombarded.

“Get off the wheel.”

“Jessica!” Krystal came forth and shoved her elder sister aside, making her crash against the dining table, “Wake the hell up! Yuri is dying! We have to go!”

“Go where!? Novak!? For all we know, this place doesn’t even exist! She could be driving us all to a trap!” she snapped back, “Why would she even help us after all we’ve done!? It makes no sense!”

“After all you have done!” Krystal shot her down, “I saved her life! You are the one who strapped her the hell up like a hostage! Now, you’re being so damn aggressive to her and pointing a gun to her head!? Are you stupid!?”

“We do not know who she is! Do you!? Huh!? Can you vouch for her!?”

Krystal couldn’t muster a reply.

“I thought so,” Jessica shook her head at her, “You’re so damn naïve.”

“Your scepticism is going to send Yuri to her death!”

“No, Krystal, you’d rather send all of us to our deaths.”

Enraged, Krystal stepped up to Jessica and pointed her index finger at her sister’s face.

“If Yuri dies, Jessica, it’s on you. I’ll never forgive you.”

That was it. Krystal walked away and tended to Yuri. The cloths were soaked red and the blood would continue to flow out anytime now. The longer they waited, the fainter Yuri’s pulse became. This was the fork in the road. Jessica knew she had to make a decision and either pathway was a gamble.

Which was the right one?

“Drive, Tiffany. If you try anything, I will put a bullet between your eyes.”

Jessica lowered her gun and holstered it in its pouch. She went to the back of the caravan and joined Krystal at tending to the unconscious Yuri. There wasn’t much they could do. Somehow, just staring, praying and holding her hands seemed to provide a certain degree of comfort. Blood was already starting to trickle down the pipe.

“What happened to her, Jessica?”

“ hit the fan really fast…” she replied, still trying to catch her breath and shivering from the drenched clothes, “It all happened in just a second.”

Krystal tossed a towel to Jessica and motioned her to dry her soaked hair.

“Tell me.”

“The downpour was not anticipated. Our path back was flooded within minutes, turned to a river with a current strong enough to topple a cow. It was unpassable. We had to circumvent it somehow,” Jessica wiped her face and tossed the wet towel aside, “So, I made a decision to walk through the forest. It was the only way around it.”

“And then?”

“There was a landslide. It came right at us, and it was big…” Jessica croaked, “It… it threw me into the shrubs and I was perfectly fine but a few scratches and gashes, but Yuri… the landslide took her further to the edge of the forest where there had been works for land reclamation. The tools for construction were still left behind from before. Yuri was slammed into them, and…”

Jessica’s voice trailed off as she stared at her friend, dying with every passing minute.

***

“We’re here!”

That got Jessica and Krystal’s heads propped up.

“Hurry!” Tiffany rushed and checked Yuri’s eyes, “She’s lost a lot of blood. Her conjunctiva is pale.”

“Tiffany!” Jessica instructed her, “You’re gonna help me with Yuri. I can’t carry her on my own.”

“It’s okay, sister, I can help you.”

“No,” Jessica gave Krystal a stern face, “Can I have a word with you outside? Now.”

“What are you doing? Yuri’s lost a lot of blood!”

“It’ll take only a minute.”

She grabbed Krystal’s hand and pulled her forwards and through the door.

Once they were outside, they glanced around but nothing rang a bell. They had never been here before. They were parked by a giant oak tree, just at a ramp of an exit from the freeway. The rain had subsided, leaving the night cold, moist and chilly. The grassland beside them was glistening wet and emitted a stench of floral dampness that made Jessica nauseous a little. The sky was still depressing though; thick clouds were still levitating in the atmosphere but had the mercy to stop their downpour, even if just for a moment. Jessica had seen this turning a few times before but never actually cared to take note where it led. Still, at least they were near a freeway.

Escape was still an open option.

“What?” Krystal queried impatiently, “What is it?”

“You’re gonna stay right here in this caravan and keep a lookout. If I don’t come and find you within the hour, go.”

“What do you mean ‘go’?”

“I mean you put your foot to the pedal and drive off. Don’t come back.”

“I- I don’t understand!”

“If I don’t find you within the hour,” Jessica held her sister’s shoulders, “It means I’m already dead.”

Krystal looked at her sister speechlessly.

“That means you drive off. Do you understand me? Krystal!” she shook her, “Do you understand!?”

“I can’t do that- how can-”

“Just because Yuri and I didn’t make it doesn’t mean you have to die too! There’s nothing you can do to save us. There’s only one of you versus all of them. Do you understand, Krystal!? Promise me!”

Krystal’s reluctance was seeping through her every facial expression.

“KRYSTAL!”

“…I- I p