Chapter 52: Trauma

After Eni almost scarred them to death, with her sweaty, exhausted state of being, the team progressed quickly afterwards. They made it to the High Grasslands in ten minutes, and found some survivors five minutes after that.

However, the High Grasslands had that name for a reason. The grass within this stretch of land was tall, a solid two meters, or above six feet. The land stretched seemingly endlessly.

Stepping into the tall grass was like stepping into an extra large wheat field. It would intimidate most people, because it was impossible to know what creatures hid within the grass, and the large ferns that engulfed the area made the land seem even more intimidating, but the team didn’t care. They were on top of Gutaxun, a large Allosaurus Fragilis, and the grass barely made it past his knee joints. They were fine, so they could explore the High Grasslands in peace.

“This damned grass isn’t supposed to exist either. Herbivores would have eaten through it ages ago.” Anna grunted, before they made it to the hunters. “What kind of freakish mashup world is this?”

“Relax,” Jimmy honked her breast, “Some puzzles aren’t worth solving. We get hit by a new puzzle every freaking day.”

“You’re right,” She snapped out of it. “Let’s get the hunters home. Maybe we can come back here tomorrow, and rip some roots off. Maybe we can develop some kind of edible grass? I dunno, I’ve read that farmers helped agriculture evolve by using the best grains of their yield.”

“Maybe,” He rested his head on her shoulder. “We have a dinosaur, so we can come here whenever we want.”

Anna found comfort in the fact that Jimmy supported her ideas. She felt that she made the right choice by ’dating’ him. The sex was great, sure, but emotional support felt nice as well.

Anyway, they eventually made it to the hunters, and were a bit heartbroken when they found them. There were only four of them, just four people out of the nearly ninety tribesmen and women that left home to hunt yesterday. They haven’t found anyone else yet.

It was a miracle that these four survived. Neither of them was a Field Runner, so the fact that they made it twenty kilometers past the Giant’s Ditch, while injured and disoriented, was beyond impressive. It was a miracle. Twelve miles of walking on foot was not for the weak-willed.

Anna dropped down, crashed through the tall grass, and helped each of them climb on top of Gutaxun’s back. It was a tricky task, since she didn’t want to hurt them, but she eventually got all four of them up there.

Initially these survivors were scared to death when they saw a giant predator looking at them, but when they saw Eni on top of Gutaxun, they calmed down. In their eyes, Eni was the only person who gave them an ounce of hope, and if she asked them to climb on top of a predator, they trusted her enough to do so.

The survivors had been back-to-back when the team found them, with their spears on their hands, protecting themselves from whatever lurked in the High Grasslands.

Before Eni found them, they had given up on life entirely, and were making a last stand. They wanted to die with some sense of honor, and so their story deepened the heartbreak. They were in poor shape, but at least they were finally able to calm down a little bit, and stop fighting for their life.

Riding a dinosaur was a shocking experience to them. It pumped them up with so much excitement and adrenaline, that it actually boosted their health for a short while. This gave Jimmy more time to heal them all.

Gutaxun was walking his way out of the High Grasslands, because they had no business being here anymore, and in the meantime, Jimmy tried to help the survivors.

One of the survivors was a middle-aged man, forty-three years old, give or take, and the three others were women, of various ages. One of the women was nearly middle-aged, perhaps thirty-seven years old, and the two other women were twenty-one, and twenty-six years old.

’Okay…’ Jimmy tried to calm his nerves. ’Only one guy. I can make this work.’

To be more efficient, he then asked them, “Which one of you is the most hurt?”

The survivors did not answer. They were hesitant, because in most cases, hunters who were too injured to help were often left behind. They were scared, and they didn’t want to toss either one of their friends back into the tall grass either.

Trauma was the strongest, and yet saddest way to help people bond. They tossed the little sense of tradition they had, and protected the people they bonded with.

Jimmy did not understand why they were quiet, but Nechi picked up on it instantly. Unfortunately, she had been present in a couple of hunts, where hunters who were too injured were either left behind, or killed out of mercy. She knew what these survivors were thinking about.

“Oh, don’t worry!” She hurriedly exclaimed. “We’re not leaving any of you behind! Jimmy is a healer, he’ll get you into top shape far before we get back home.”

“We’ve barely eaten in two days,” The middle-aged man said.

His name was Zik, and he also added, “Do you have any food? Food will help us heal. We killed some small clawers, but they tasted horrible.”

“We don’t have any food with us, but food is not a problem. We can get you fed as soon as we make it to the grasslands. We’ll even fry some meat for you.” Anna said.

Everyone was trying to make the survivors comfortable. It was obvious that they were refusing treatment, because they thought that it was impossible for a young man to heal them in any way. They haven’t even thought about the possibility that his healing abilities were magic based.

Jimmy had to be more insistent on the matter, so he assured them, “I don’t want you guys to worry about anything at all, we will get you home in one piece.”

Afterwards, he slapped Gutaxun’s scales, and said, “Gutty here will protect us, we will feed you, and most importantly, I will heal you. Now please, tell me, which one of you is the most hurt? We can’t waste any time.”

Although hesitant, one of the women, the twenty-six year old one whose name was Icha, raised her hand. She pointed at her underbelly, and groaned every time she moved. By now it was obvious that she was struggling to stay awake, so every time she moved, every time she spoke, shortened her chances of survival.

“I think my belly bones are broken,” She said. “Can you help me?”

Jimmy got close to her, inspected her belly without touching her, and he heaved out a sigh of relief. He was no doctor, but he had watched enough medical dramas to recognize some medical issues, or conditions. He knew what Icha was struggling with.

“Your belly doesn’t really have bones, other than your spine, but that’s not what’s wrong with you. I don’t think you have any broken bones.” He tried to comfort her as best as he could. “You have internal bleeding, likely in one of your organs. Don’t worry, I can fix you up in no time, but, I gotta ask, are you comfortable with me touching you?”

“Touch my belly? Sure.” She nodded.

“No,” He held his head down, embarrassed. “My magic works in a very specific way. If I’m to heal you, I need to feel your intimate body parts, if you know what I mean?”

Afterwards, he looked at her, and added, “I’m sorry, Icha, but I have to grab your breasts to heal you. Are you okay with that?”

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