Page 16 of The General’s Captive (The Rift #1)

How to pack a wound and stop the bleed.

Ensure your own safety and wear gloves if available. Locate the source of the bleeding.

If available, use sterile gauze or clean cloth.

Open the wound and fill the wound cavity completely, making sure to apply pressure.

4- Apply direct pressure:

Place your hand directly over the packed wound and Maintain firm pressure for at least three minutes. If the bleeding doesn't stop, apply more gauze and continue holding pressure.

5- Secure the dressing:

Once the bleeding is controlled, apply a pressure dressing to hold the packing material in place.

6- Immobilize the injury:

Keep the injured area as still as possible to prevent re-bleeding. Unless you have to drag Riley’s ass back in a car.

7- Seek further medical help:

If you need a hospital, you’re fucked.

A s soon as I mentioned the cart, his face was a picture and he instantly tried to get up, making me put my hands on his shoulders to hold him back.

“Don’t be an idiot!” I snapped, looking straight to his wound, expecting it to start gushing with blood.

“No fucking way I am getting in a cart. I will fucking hop out of here.”

Wow, someone came back to life.

“Well, that would be stupid, because all that work I just did trying to save your ass from bleeding out is going to mean shit.”

He scowled back at me.

“Yeah, and what do you think it is going to do when you try and hoist my two-hundred-and-forty-pound ass into that cart, huh? Like that shit won’t… ahhh!” This ended in a cry of pain and I was quick to give him an unhelpful, ‘I told you so’ look.

“Well, I can’t exactly go down the disabled aisle and pick you up a wheelchair, this is Costco, not hospital supplies,” I stated lamely.

“Is that even a thing?” he countered, making me roll my eyes.

“I don’t know where the hell they sell wheelchairs! Look, the point is, I need to get you to your car, and those great big metal bollards at the front kind of prevent me from being a taxi service. So, it’s getting your ass in a cart or…”

“What about that?” He pointed to something sticking out at the end of an aisle near the TV’s. It appeared to be a flatbed cart for bigger items.

I shrugged my shoulders and said, “Yeah, that should work.” Which swiftly put an end to our first fight.

I rushed over to grab it, steering it over to him and knocking a few empty displays over in my haste, making him grip the bridge of his nose.

“Seriously, and I am going to let you drive my car.”

“Seriously, and I am going to steal your car and leave you here,” I mocked, making him roll his eyes again, which seemed to be his favorite habit around me.

Our natural banter continued, with a lot of groaning from him, as I helped him lie on his side. Then I had to try and suppress a giggle when using a big Squishmallow stuffed unicorn to prop his injured foot on.

“Really? You couldn’t find anything else?” he grumbled.

“Sorry, they were all out of Camo shit,” I drawled, making him sneer at me. I smirked to myself as I grabbed his shotgun and handed it to him. But then as I was wheeling him out, I stopped and looked back at all the stuff still left in the store. Then I asked him,

“How big is your trunk?” To which he too looked back at the store, then with a smirk said,

“Pretty fucking big.”

“Excellent.”

************************

Shortly after stocking up the truck, we found ourselves driving down Interstate 84, heading toward the town of Jerome.

The same one I had been heading to after the couple I met had told me about it.

Although, what they hoped to find there I didn’t know, because Riley had made it clear that they weren’t yet taking just anyone in.

However, he did also make it sound like this was something they were hoping to change in the future.

And honestly, part of me understood it. I didn’t like it, but I understood it.

More mouths to feed, more people to protect, more resources taken up, it was a lot.

But that didn’t stop me from wanting to be a part of it.

It also made me wonder what to expect when we got there.

I was really hoping that after what we had been through, Riley was going to vouch for me.

That I wouldn’t just get turned away at the gates, with a pat on my back and a good job, now piss off, kind of deal.

When we did our bit of shopping before we left, I had wheeled him around the different aisles, listening to all the things he wanted me to pile into another cart.

One quickly filled with bottles of water, food, (mostly cans), a few items of clothes Riley told me were needed at base.

Oh, and the raised brow I gave him when this included a few packets of underpants, was hilarious.

Especially when what came after was a stern warning.

“Not a word, chuckles.”

I shrugged my shoulders and muttered, “I think I prefer Cute Girl, but whatever.”

However, I didn’t miss the grin he was trying to hide at this when I went back to my shopping. Suppressing the urge to hold up a small and an X-L and asking him which ones, had been the hardest battle.

After that we grabbed some more of the essentials, like toiletries.

Which I made sure to include for my own sake, because let’s just say that periods in an apocalypse were a bitch to say the least. I also managed to find a few extra things for myself, one in particular that made me smile, knowing they would be the first thing I was opening in the car.

And I couldn’t wait to see his face when I did.

I kept nervously looking out to the front, keeping an eye on the daylight, knowing we would be running the gauntlet if we left it too long before getting on the road.

The last thing we wanted was to be travelling at night and with Riley injured, I knew that I would have no hope in keeping us both safe.

Hell, I had been nervous when he handed me the keys, told me where to look, and had me drive the car around to the front of the building.

I also thought it was smart the way he had made the car look like all the rest, because an unvandalized car would easily stand out.

Not that I would tell him this… he seemed like he already had that overinflated macho man ego that didn’t need adding to.

Although I had questioned why it was a cop car, making him smirk and tell me, a cryptic, “You will see.”

As for the scratched up, spray painted car, with its busted taillights, I had quickly filled the trunk with all our goods, as well as the car batteries he had already put by the front door.

Then came the mammoth task of trying to get him in without injuring him further.

Just getting him to sit up was a challenge, let alone getting him to his one good foot.

He looked at me with a sweaty eyebrow raised, and a glazed look, telling me the pain meds were somewhat doing their job.

“Come on. Let’s get you in,” I said, putting my shoulders under his arm and taking some of his weight.

“Jeez, what have you been eating during the apocalypse? Dumbbells?” I teased, making him smirk down at me and wink.

I rolled my eyes to hide the fluttering in my belly and how attracted I was to him.

But then again, I would have to be blind not to be.

Thankfully, we didn’t have far to go, because I had wheeled him right next to the car door. Although, he didn’t look impressed when I nodded to the back seat.

“You have to lie down, or it will aggravate your wound,” I had argued, and he gave in with a grumble.

As soon as his ass was inside, he heaved himself along the seat, and I stuffed the unicorn stuffy under his ankle.

He was too big for the space to fully lie down, but it was the best we were going to get.

Then after I had dumped my own stuff on the passenger seat, along with my walking pharmacy, I slid behind the wheel.

“Right, Mr. Google Maps, where to?”

He scoffed a laugh, instantly regretting it because he hugged a hand to his side, telling me, “Do me a favor, stop making me laugh.”

I grinned at him in the mirror and said, “I make no promises.” Then with a wink I put the car into drive, feeling a sense of freedom I hadn’t experienced in what felt like forever. My optimism finally popped its head up and made an appearance for the first time in ages.

I didn’t know how long it was until I broke the silence first.

“You okay back there?”

I saw him raise a hand that had been resting against his belly, telling me with a groan.

“Just peachy,” he said. Something that seemed to be a thing of his, along with me telling him that I would make no promises.

Oh, and with him calling me Cute Girl and me calling him Action Man.

See, we already had our own thing going on, so surely, he couldn’t get rid of me now.

I nearly said this but thought it wise not to push the subject yet.

“Those drugs kicked in, I take it?”

“Yeah, in my fucking balls.”

I had to laugh.

“You could do with eating something or you might start to feel sick,” I advised.

“Too late,” he grumbled.

I fished around in my backpack and grinned when I saw them, before tossing them over my shoulder.

“Ha ha… funny, Cute Girl,” he said, making me really grin and yes, there might have been another flutter or two. Especially when he tossed the flamin’ hot Cheetos back in the front, causing them to slide along the dash until they landed in my lap.

“I knew it! Too hot for you.”

He scoffed, but his smile told me he was enjoying our banter just as much as I was.

“Fine, try these,” I said, grabbing the trail mix and instead of throwing them at him, I twisted my arm around the back of my seat.

I didn’t miss the way his hand brushed against mine as he took them. As if he had done this on purpose as a silent way of saying thank you. Or was that just wishful thinking?

“And here I was being an ass and thinking you were useless.” He let out a short laugh and shook his head.

“Is that an apology I hear?” I asked, making him shrug slightly.

“It’s more like a lesson learned.”

“How so?” I pushed.

“To not judge a book by its cover… or its bad singing,” he added, making me whip my head around and protest,

“Hey! I am not that bad.”

“Babe, you were terrible,” he said smirking, and oh my god him calling me babe was something I could get used to. “But I guess you have skills in other places.”

I rolled my eyes and said dryly, “Jeez, thanks, you will be asking me to marry you next.”

He laughed.

“How did you learn how to do all that stuff anyway?” he asked, and I could tell he really wanted to know, and this wasn’t just a way to make conversation.

“I wanted to be a vet.”

He scoffed a laugh, shocking me enough to ask, “What?”

“Jesus, please tell me I wasn’t some wounded dog in your mind.”

I burst out giggling, something he grinned at, as if he liked seeing me laugh and liked being the one to achieve it even more.

“I am saying nothing,” I said, lifting my fingers from the wheel in a hands up gesture.

“So, a vet, eh?” he asked after another moment of silence.

“Yeah, before this part of the world went to shit and I got stuck in it,” I replied, trying to keep the bitterness from my voice.

“So, you’re from New York, how did you end up here?”

I released a sigh.

“My uncle lives… lived in Yellowstone National Park,” I said, and he winced when he saw the pain in my eyes when I corrected myself, no explanation needed.

“I am sorry you lost him.”

“Yeah, but then who hasn’t lost people thanks to the Rift?”

He looked pained before nodding, offering me nothing in return. So, I continued on, feeling better that I actually had someone to talk to about it.

“I was going to college in the fall, thought I would spend the summer with my uncle.”

“So, you’ve been on your own this whole time?” he asked, seemingly surprised.

“Like I said, I have handled stuff on my own.”

“And managing to kill a class three,” he said, and thankfully this wasn't said in a skeptical tone. Like he actually believed me now. But seeing as I hadn’t yet heard them being referred to as this, I asked,

“Class three?”

“It’s what we call the Myths, based on their kill rate,” he replied, making me frown.

“Kill rate?”

“How difficult they are to kill. A Chimera is a class three,” he offered.

“I guess I don’t want to know what a class one is,” I said, shivering just thinking about it.

“That fucking General for one,” Riley seethed, hatred now pouring off him as that hard jaw line of his tensed.

However, for me, I couldn’t help but shiver for a different reason. Because there was no way I was going to admit to dreaming about the one who had let me go yet was hated by all.

“What do you know about him?” I asked, not denying that I had heard of him.

“Nothing really, especially not any weaknesses, that’s for damn sure,” he gritted out.

“But there have been those that have tried… to kill him, I mean?” I asked, making him scoff but there was no humor in it.

“Yeah, there have been many, and not a single one returns from trying. It’s like they just disappear, leaving nothing behind. Not a living soul left to tell the tale.”

“That’s terrible,” I said, not knowing what else to say. But then after a long, uncomfortable silence, I decided to offer him something more.

“He was there that day.”

“Who? What day?”

I sighed before answering.

“The General, he was there that day I killed the Chimera. He and some of his men showed up at the store after it happened. Like they had been looking for it or something,” I told him, making his eyes widen in shock.

“And you survived how?”

“I hid in a cupboard. So, he didn’t see me.”

He shook his head, making me frown and ask, “What?”

Which was when he dropped a bombshell on me.

“I am not sure how you survived that, because no one has ever been that close to him for a reason.”

I started to shake my head and say, “But I just told you, I hid from him.”

“No one hides from him, Alex, people have tried but he always knows,” he replied, saying my name for the first time, increasing the intensity of what he just told me.

“But I don’t understand, why, if he knew… why did I…”

“Survive?”

I nodded before he rocked me to my core and said, “Because for some reason…”

“He let you live.”