Page 51 of Ring Around the Rosie

“Who?” I asked.

Wolfe swallowed. “Sol. He’s out here, in the woods. They have him tied up to one of the redwoods.” He began to cry. “He had arrows in him, Aster!” Kaila hugged him. “And when he saw me, he told me to run! I shouldn’t have left him! I shouldn’t have left him!” Wolfe sobbed uncontrollably as Kaila held him.

I stood and dragged the axe to my side. Everyone watched me closely as I stared off into the woods ahead. “We can still save him.”

Rodney jumped to his feet. “Do you think that’s really a good idea? Wolfe really shouldn’t be walking. Maybe we should wait for Willie. Or Nurse B.”

I laughed. “Are you serious? Willie took off! He left Sol alone! And as for Nurse B, well, I wouldn’t trust her to save anyone.” I walked over to Kaila and Wolfe and helped them to their feet. Wolfe put his arm around me and stood. “We’re going to find Solomon. With or without you.” Wolfe and I hobbled in the direction he pointed. Kaila and Sandy looked back at Rodney and shadowed us.

Rodney groaned. “Fine.” He trailed behind. “But can we please try to avoid anyone else getting hurt? We’re almost out of supplies.”

Easier said than done.

Wolfe pointed the way out to us, and we all cautiously moved through the woods in the direction of the camp’s archery range. We stopped just outside the plot, and I carefully positioned Wolfe next to Kaila. She and Sandy were going to keep Wolfe safe while Rodney and I continued forward and searched for Solomon. Wolfe grabbed my hand and thanked me, but I just smiled.

Rodney and I left the lantern behind with the others and quietly crouched through the tall grass and trees. I clutched the axe close to my body as we moved. Rodney motioned up ahead at something. I noticed a faint light coming from the other side of one of the large redwood trees. He pointed towards the path behind it, and I nodded. Together, we silently moved closer. We both stuck together and peeked around the tree to find Sol’s lantern sitting on the ground. Rodney glanced around and slowly picked it up. I noticed blood all over the handle and gasped.

“Aster,” he whispered. “Look.” My eyes followed his fingers, and we noticed a second light maybe a few feet away. “Let’s go.” Rodney and I both continued to crouch through the woods and followed the light. Odd sounds came from the other side of the trees ahead of us. They broke through the storm, and I had afeeling I knew exactly who they belonged to. And if I was right, there was no time to waste. I shot to my feet and took off around the line of trees. Rodney tried to call after me, but I couldn’t stop. I knew Sol was close.

Rodney chased after me, eventually catching up.

“Oh my God.” Rodney and I both froze, and he dropped Sol’s lantern. “Is that?”

Directly in front of us was Solomon. His arms were spread out and tied to a redwood tree while his body remained standing, like a cross, bloodied and beaten. Numerous totems hung from the very same tree and danced in the wind. He had at least half a dozen arrows pierced into his flesh and even more stuck in the tree around him. His head was hung low, and if it wasn’t for the low faint noises he was making, I wouldn’t know he was alive.

Oh my God.

“Sol!” I shouted as I ran towards him.

Solomon groaned and slowly raised his head. He looked like shit and had blood dripping from his mouth and splattered along his beaten face. “Aster?” He struggled to focus on my face, and I knew he had to be in an insufferable amount of pain. “Is that you?”

Tears burned in my eyes as I helplessly stared at him, unsure of what the hell to do. “Sol,” I cried. My hands trembled, and I gently touched his face. “What happened to you?”

He was wheezing and struggling to breathe. “Wolfe,” he whispered. “Wolfe was here. He—” Sol groaned in pain.

“Wolfe is safe.” I smiled. He exhaled with relief. “Thank you, Aster.” Rodney rushed to my side and stood there in shock.

My fingers wiped his tears and the blood from Sol’s face. “Solomon, what happened? Who did this to you?”

His eyes rose to mine. “The plague doctor.” They moved past me to the woods behind. “You need to leave, Aster.”

I shook my head. “No. Not until we get you down.” Rodney and I searched the tree and noticed the ropes that were tied around his wrists and body. “Step back,” I warned. I picked up the axe, raised it high, and swung. The sharp blade hit the rope and released one of his arms. Rodney began to untie the bound arm and help Sol as I swung the axe and cut the rope around his waist. Solomon groaned and winced. He used his free arm to rip a few of the arrows from his shoulder and chest while crying out as he did so.

“Solomon, no!” Rodney tried to stop him. “You need to keep pressure on those!”

Sol grimaced and kicked free from the rope while he snapped the remaining arrows stuck in his legs like they were twigs. “I’ll live. But we need to get the fuck out of here before they return.”

I froze with the axe firmly in my grasp. “Wait. They?”

Just then, an arrow whizzed by and landed in the tree next to Sol’s face. The three of us looked in the direction it came from and spotted the plague doctor. Sol tugged at the last rope tied around his hand and tried to rip it free. “Aster!” he shouted. I swung the axe and missed as the blade stuck into the trunk of the redwood. I tried to yank it free, but it was too deep.

Fuck!

Rodney rushed to help me, and together, we tugged on the axe while Sol continued to try to rip his arm free. The plague doctor shot a second arrow, and it grazed Rodney’s ear. He shouted at the pain but refused to let go of the axe. “Pull!” he shouted, and I did. Together, we finally yanked the axe free. Rodney took it from me and swung. It cut straight through the rope, and Sol quickly slithered his wrist free. “Let’s go!” Rodney helped Sol, and the three of us moved quickly back in the direction we’d come. The plague doctor slowly followed, and we tried to lose them in the woods.

We spotted the others up ahead and sprinted towards them. Wolfe nearly sprung from Kaila’s and Sandy’s arms and fell against Sol’s chest. They hugged and cried tears of joy as we all just watched. Rodney and I tried to catch our breaths and Kaila pointed to his ear. “What happened?” she asked.

He touched it and winced. “I think an arrow got me.”

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