Wolf's Pack

Luna followed Shadow closely through another of the claustrophobic burrows; heading towards the infirmary, according to the arrogant man who had instructed her guide.
Thoughts kept passing through her head, worrying her, though she tried to ignore the growing unease – the greatest of her circling fears was not knowing if the person she had been sent to ‘tend to’ was badly injured, and if she would actually be able to help them.
After all, Luna may have started at the medical centre at the young age of fourteen – she had no choice, nowhere else to go – but she had only been under the instruction of the small emergency team for just over two years, when they weren’t away dealing with bigger problems, and hadn’t had the experience to be able to deal with dangerous injuries.
She had learnt to be tough and self-dependant when the rest of the team suddenly went missing, though, her train of thought continued, slightly off course, as she followed the quiet boy – much like these killjoys, dangerous as they could be.

They had almost reached a better-lit room when a thought suddenly struck, making Luna stop where she was – she had suddenly realised that, if she helped a killjoy and BLInd found out; even if she had just been seen with them – she wouldn’t be safe alone again.
She would be considered a traitor, even though she hadn’t been a BLInd supporter from the start, and as such hunted down and interrogated – and if she didn’t tell them what she wanted, she had no doubt that she would be killed.
The sudden realisation upset her less than it should have, she reflected, ignoring Shadows enquiring look as he turned and saw she had stopped – of course, she didn’t want to be an enemy of the corporation, but she knew without thinking that she couldn’t leave anyone who needed her help – she just couldn’t do it.

By the time Luna had made her decision, Shadow had grown impatient and was walking back along the narrow passage.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, a little impatiently, but not rudely.
“Look, I don’t mind helping you guys,” Luna began, deciding that she’d had enough of being led around and not knowing what she was in for, “but I need to know what I’m going to be looking at, so I can help. I know that Wolf guy didn’t want to talk to me, but would you please just explain things a little?”
“Okay,” Shadow nodded once, noting the sense her little outburst had made. “Long story short, the last time we met some dracs, there were more of them than us. In the midst of trying to get away, one of them managed to shoot Missy.” At the name, he gestured to the lit room before them. “It only got her leg, but it’s burnt worse than we can deal with.”

Luna sighed and started walking towards the room before she started speaking again, thankful that at least it sounded like something she could help with.
“I’ll do what I can, but you’ll need to get me some things, okay?” she started to rummage around in her bag, and Shadow nodded, seeming glad to have something useful to do. “I’ll need as much clean water as you can spare,” Luna continued, “some towels or cloths, some salt if you have any, and a clean sheet. Can you get all that?”
Shadow just nodded, already heading off to get the things, so she went on alone, determined that she would do her best to help the girl, and hoping it wasn’t too late.

For a second after she stepped into the other room, Luna couldn’t see anything; her eyes taking a moment to get used to the light in there, after the dark corridor.
Once she could see better, she scanned the room, noticing immediately that the only furniture in the room, apart from some stacks and shelves of supplies on the far wall, was a bed on the shaded side of the room.
“’Shad? That you?” a weak voice called nervously as the injured girl heard her footsteps.
“No, Shadow had to go get some stuff to help your leg,” Luna began, trying to explain as quickly as possible that she was meant to be here, and wasn’t anyone to be afraid of. “I’m Luna, Wolf sent me here to try and help you, as soon as he found out I’m a nurse,”

By the time she finished explaining, Luna was standing by the bed, looking down at another girl, a little younger than herself, who was examining her suspiciously.
“You’re not a killjoy, are you?” she observed immediately, having taken in Luna’s plain black jeans and dusty leather jacket – a far contrast to her own clothes, which as far as Luna could see above the blankets consisted of an electric blue singlet and a blue-and-purple striped beanie, pom-poms by the ears and all.
“No,” Luna smiled at the girl’s sharpness, “but I’m not with BLInd either, I was just trying to help everyone, that’s why I came out here to help the doctors.”
The small confidence broke the tension and Missy relaxed a little; as soon as she let her guard down, her eyes filled with pain – obviously, the wound in her leg was hurting badly.
Neither of the girls looked around as they heard more footsteps – Luna just motioned for Shadow to put the things he had gathered beside her, and he left her to work.

“I need to look at your leg, though,” Luna continued, now that she saw she had some of the other girl’s trust. “It is going to hurt, but I’ll probably need to wash it and wrap it, and I promise it’ll hurt less than it does now when I’m done.”
Missy just nodded bravely and lifted the thin blanket off her right leg, revealing a laser burn mark the size of a fist on her thigh.
Luna let out a breath, relieved as she saw the burn – the skin near the centre was blistered, and it was an unpleasant shade of purple, but it wasn’t an open wound, and at this stage it would heal before long, as long as it was kept clean and covered.
“Let’s get this over with, then,” she said, and with a reassuring look to Missy, got to work.