Arachne's Web by Elizabeth Corrigan

Author:Elizabeth Corrigan [Corrigan, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-06-04T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

Present Day

Gavin waited while Archon slept, certain the guards would appear any moment. Nothing to be done about that, though. He skinned the trimper and cooked some of its meat over the fire he’d set up to sterilize his knife—no sense in wasting the meat or the fire.

Maybe it’s better if we do get caught. Then Archon can get some real medical attention. Gavin had managed to staunch the bleeding and stitch up the wound pretty well, but the risk of infection was real. If he’d counted the days right, the contest was almost over. If Archon could make it to the end, he would probably be all right, but Gavin would rather not risk it.

Archon stirred and groaned. “Something smells good, which I guess means I’m not dead. Also, I hurt too much to be dead.”

“You’re not dead.” Thank God.

Where did that come from? God is an Old Earth superstition.

Archon tried to sit up, grunted, and lay back down. “The last thing I remember, the trimper was coming right for me. How am I not dead?”

Gavin hated to lie with a passion he could never quite explain to himself, but he couldn’t explain the rush of memories that had flooded him when his friend nearly died. “The attack wasn’t that bad. Trimper only got you in the side. Field medicine training kicked in, and I was able to stop the bleeding.”

“How did you get rid of the beast?” Archon managed to prop himself up on his elbows. “We don’t have the kind of equipment we would need to go big-game hunting. Cronos, I can’t believe they sent us on a survival mission somewhere with trimpers!”

“They probably didn’t know it was here. It must have gotten into the area when they weren’t paying attention. Trimpers can be surprisingly stealthy for such large animals.” Despite his words, Gavin agreed with his friend. He would’ve thought the people running the games would be more careful. He hoped they hadn’t let the trimper in intentionally in hopes of raising the vid ratings and, consequently, the money made. Don’t be cynical, Gavin. “As for killing it, that was a lucky shot with a knife. I figured it had a big fleshy part with an artery in its neck like most mammals do.” He shrugged, trying to appear more casual than he felt.

“You threw a knife at a trimper and killed it?” Archon leaned his head back, awestruck by the act. “You are totally going to win this contest.”

Gavin snorted. “Only if we don’t get caught, which I’m thinking we should. Field medicine can only do so much for your wound.”

“No way, man. You are going to win this thing, and I am not going to stop you.” Archon cringed. “Don’t get me wrong. If I could get caught and still have you win this thing, I would be all about it. But I can’t, and I’m not blowing your chance. Help me up.”

“It’s just a game. It says so in the title. And as I told you when you were spewing blood everywhere, I would rather lose and have you live.

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