CHAPTER 8
JOSIE
It has been the best birthday I’ve ever had, and Skinny always does something amazing. But he’s blown today’s birthday out of the ballpark.
I’ve loved every single moment of it, from the dust and dirt that was kicked up, to the excitement of watching the animals being herded into the back of the trucks, then checking and tagging some of them so that we could ensure the health of the herd.
Never in a million years did I ever think I’d be part of a game capture, and I was beyond excited to have wildlife on our property to look after.
There had been wildlife many years before we’d taken over, but poachers had been an issue, and eventually, there was very little wildlife left on the property.
We hoped to change that. Conservation and preservation were always at the forefront of my mind, as it was for Falcon.
I’d lucked out having him as a mentor and helping me navigate this world.
Added to that, my new vet, Chase, knew a lot about conservation in this part of the world.
I felt comfortable with the fact that we’d be able to look after the animals on our property.
It had been an exhausting but exhilarating day, I mused, as we watched the last truck leave us carrying the last of the load we’d be taking today. There would be other captures, but I wouldn’t be able to join them, at least not until I had this baby.
I’m brought out of my thoughts by the men discussing what was going to happen to get us home.
Jaq had been going to fly us, but in the last run, her chopper started to play up, and she didn’t feel that it was safe to have anyone in the chopper with her, never mind flying us home and then having to fly home herself.
I was in agreement that it wasn’t safe. Shadrack, the man from Games and Wildlife who’d brought his new recruits for training, was offering to take us home, even if it was slightly out of his way.
I didn’t care how we got home, just that we got home because I wanted to check on all the animals we’d transported today and work with Chase to ensure the data was properly recorded.
Not that I doubted it would be, because Chase was just as anal as I was about that, but I wanted to be on hand to check it, anyway.
Skinny and I shared a look. I knew he’d be able to read me, and I was right because he immediately agreed to Shadrack’s offer. If we’d known what was going to happen, we’d have made a different choice, but then we might not have been on hand to help, and that could have ended up being disastrous.
It wasn’t until we were driving and I learned how long it would take us to get to the main road that I realised how deep in the bush we’d been.
Flying with Jaq had skewed my sense of distance.
Shadrack expertly pointed out different animals, and I enjoyed listening to him, but the long day exhausted me, and I soon nodded off.
I was vaguely aware of Skinny pulling me to his chest, then I was completely out, only to be woken to breaking glass, curses, and cries of pain as something ran right into us.
As I shake off sleep, my heart pounds with fright, adrenaline surging through me.
My first thought is for Skinny, who’d wrapped himself around me to protect me as much as he could.
Shadrack frantically asks us if we’re okay; when we reply that we are, he bails hurriedly out of the vehicle to check on his guys, who had been sitting on the benches in the back of an open vehicle.
Even though we hadn’t been going fast, I imagine that with him braking so suddenly, some of them might have been hurt.
Skinny opens his door that protested with a loud groan.
He stumbles slightly and sways. I know he’s hurt, but typically, he worries more about me.
When he puts his hand to his head and then pulls it away, I see the blood coating his fingers, and I reach for him, snagging the torch from the cubbyhole where I’d seen Shadrack put it earlier when he was looking for something.
Brushing his hand away from his head, I flick the torch on, and my stomach rolls at the amount of blood covering the side of his face.
Intellectually, I know head wounds bleed a lot, but seeing the deep gash on his head has me tensing with worry.
Not letting it show, I check him over and note all the common signs of a concussion.
There isn’t much we can do in the middle of nowhere; I know he’d packed a first aid kit, but to distract him, I ask anyway before turning back to the vehicle and looking for our backpack, and of course the man is worried about me hurting myself on glass when he has a bleeding head wound.
When I turn back around, I notice the cries from the back of the vehicle growing louder, and I sense someone is more seriously injured than Skinny. I feel torn between needing to care for Skinny and helping whoever else is hurt.
Skinny has a compress held tight against his head to stop the flow of blood. When he sways slightly, I stop worrying about stitching his head, wanting to get him to sit down before he falls down.
“Here,” I tell him as I help him lower to the ground. “Sit down and don’t move. You have a concussion. I’ll be back, but I need to check on the others first.”
He warns me to be careful, and I would be; there was no way I was putting myself or our baby at risk.
I’d checked our phones when I was looking for the first aid kit, but there was no signal all the way out here.
I’d taken our handguns from the pack, knowing Skinny would feel better knowing we were both armed.
Kissing him, I leave him leaning against the back tyre of the four-by-four we’d been travelling in. Hustling over to where Shadrack was kneeling on the ground, surrounded by his recruits, I see what I could do to help.
When I see the bone sticking out of the recruit’s leg, I know there’s nothing much we can do except make him comfortable and keep the leg as stable as we can and as clean as possible, considering we’re in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by bush.
There are no emergency services out here.
I’ll do what I can to keep him comfortable until we can get him the help he needs.
The recruit’s quietened down as I check him over. I look up to check on him but see immediately that he’s passed out, likely from the pain and blood loss.
Turning towards Shadrack, I tell him, “We need to stabilise his leg as much as possible and keep it clean. I’ll do what I can with what I’ve got, but he needs surgery as soon as possible.”
Shadrack runs a hand over his face, “I know, but I’ve got no signal on my phone and the radios won’t work at this distance.
It’s too dangerous to be walking around in the bush at night.
That’s just asking for trouble. We’ll have to do what we can until we can walk out in the morning, unless your people get here first.”
“I agree with you about walking out. Isn’t it the first rule of survival? Stay by your vehicle?”
Shadrack shrugs slightly. “Maybe in a world where you have rescue teams, but here we have to rescue ourselves most of the time. What do you need to help him?” he asks, nodding his head towards his young recruit, who is starting to stir.
“Something to stabilise his leg on either side as well as something to tie them to his legs. He’ll need to be held down because this is going to hurt.
We also need to move onto something cleaner than the ground, maybe a tarpaulin if you have one.
And can we get a fire started so that we’ve got some light?
” I say to Shadrack. My hands are clammy with nerves—working on humans has always freaked me out, and I just hope that I don’t do more harm than good, but I can’t in good faith leave him like this when we can make him more comfortable.
Shadrack nods his head and turns to bark orders at his recruits in their local language.
I have no idea what he’s saying, but they hustle to do what he’s asking, so I’m assuming they’re getting what I’ll need, and I’m right when one hands me a folded-up tarpaulin.
It’s not the cleanest, but it’s better than lying on the dirt.
Another one hands me a blanket, and I wonder where they had this.
Shadrack divided his recruits with different tasks: some removed the bench seats from the back of the vehicle, others gathered firewood, and some began butchering what I understood, from their conversations, to be a buffalo at the front of the vehicle.
Shadrack seemed to think it was a lone cow that was either too old or had been injured and couldn’t keep up with the herd.
One thing I’d learned since living here was that there was very little waste when it came to food.
I look over to the vehicle and note that Skinny hasn’t moved.
He’s still holding the compress to his head, and I can see his chest moving in the dim light from the headlights that are still on.
There’s not much I can do for him, as Shadrack’s recruit needs me more right now.
Opening the first aid kit, I thank God that the Crow MC was always prepared for an apocalypse because it contains everything I need except a saline drip, which would have been helpful right now for the recruit.
Unfortunately, the only painkillers are regular paracetamol, but they're better than nothing, I suppose.
There are also several packets of disposable gloves, and I take a couple out.
Shadrack comes back, and I see the pile of stuff next to me, and a fire is already being built a little way back from the truck and in the middle of the dirt road we were on.
“What do you need us to do, Josie?” he asks.