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Martin gasped out in pain, feeling something sharp enter his left calf. Chris and him had decided to do two solo parts of the outing to gather even more information, so he was currently alone. He looked down at his injured leg and sat a black mamba slithering away.
His calf was bleeding a little, swelling just a little. He was lucky it had only bit Martin once. Martin gritted his teeth and stood up. He was going to radio in, but found that his communicator was missing, likely in Chris' bag again. Martin didn't mean to keep it in there so often, but he found it so much easier than to carry it in his own bag, and Chris didn't seem to mind.
He stood up and walked, well, limped away. He carried his bag and removed his shoe and sock to help with blood flow. He found a small clearing and sat down. He used the first aid kit in his bag to clean and cover the bite.
I must've been in its territory, Martin thought as he dug through the bag to see if he had any flares or a button he could press that would alert them that he needed help.
This wasn't the first time he had been bitten by a snake, but it felt more painful this time for some reason. Maybe it was because it was the first time he was bitten when he was completely alone. Not even Chris was there to help monitor him or call the others.
Martin groaned when he couldn't see any flares or a button to press. He did see his phone, but found it dead. Great, another time of him forgetting to charge his phone. Only, this time, he was hurt and had no way to contact anyone.
Everything around him started to blur, causing him to take a sharp breath in. He thought then started to gather some sticks nearby. Luckily, it was a dry day so he could make a fire and use it to make a fire.
Once the fire was going, he added some grass and green sticks to turn the smoke white. The clearing was by some water, so he took off his jacket and dampened it. He wrung out all the excess water and covered the fire with the jacket. He made three smoke puffs then waited a bit before doing it.
Martin repeated this cycle until it was hard to keep his eyes open. His lips and tongue felt like someone was stabbing needles into it, causing him to curl in his bottom lip.
Chris was crouched, taking notes of a sleeping mink. He looked around to make sure no creatures would come and hurt him if possible. He noticed a small line of smoke that turned into three puffs. Chris' heart jumped to his throat, and he jumped up. He carefully avoided the mink and ran towards the smoke puffs.
He selfishly wanted it to be someone he didn't know, wanted it to be some stranger he could help rather than Martin being hurt and needing help. Chris ran faster, following the smoke puffs. It took him what felt like too long. During that time, he noticed the puffs had stopped and it was now one long trail of smoke.
That caused him to slow to a stop and stare at it. Did that mean that the person got help or was something that hurt them so bad, they couldn't continue to make the puffs.
Yet, when Chris tried to move, he found himself frozen. Why hadn't he heard from Martin in some time? He tried to think then face palmed. Martin probably put his communicator in Chris' bag again, and Martin never charged his phone.
"Come on, move," he snapped at himself. "Someone needs help."
That got him running towards the smoke again.
Martin was laying on his stomach. The fire was a foot away, his wet jacket next to him. Everything hurt, it felt like he was being stabbed repeatedly with pins and needles. He felt like he was going to cry, he was in so much pain.
Someone grabbed him and rolled him over. Martin tried to open his eyes, but he couldn't. He groaned and mumbled some nonsense.
Chris carefully tried to pick him up, but struggled. Martin had thrown up, so he had lost a few pounds. But that didn't make it easier. He carried Martin then got a few feet away before falling down. He groaned and grabbed his communicator.
"Aviva, Koki, Martin's hurt. I don't know what hurt him, but he's not looking good."
"What's your location?"
Chris told them and set Martin down. He checked Martin's temperature, gently stroking Martin's sweaty hair out of his face. He then checked over the other symptoms and tried not to react. "Hurry, I think he was bitten by a black mamba."
"Do you know how long ago that was?"
"No, but it must've been at least two hours ago."
Martin groaned and rolled over, throwing up. Chris winced and gently stroked his head, gently pulling him away from the puddle of the vomit. Chris vaguely acknowledged them telling him to stay put.
The younger Kratt brother was getting more and more worried as time went on. Martin wasn't looking any better as time went on. Chris occasionally checked his pulse and his heart jumped every time because it just got slower and slower.
He couldn't lose Martin. It was so scary to think of that. Martin had always been the one to protect him.
Aviva and Koki helped Chris put Martin onto the stretcher. They had Chris wait outside of the small med bay with Jimmy while they took care of Martin.
The next hour was the worst hour of Chris' life. Jimmy stayed by his side the whole time, carefully rubbing his back. When the door opened, the two girls stepped out. They both wore the same tired frown. Chris' heart stopped, he immediately knew what that face looked.
"He's gone...?"
Aviva nodded and shut her eyes. "He is. I'm sorry, Chris. We really did try."
He didn't say anything, sinking down to his knees. Jimmy sat next to him after looking at the two girls. Chris' body shook as he sobbed, hiding his face in his hands. Nothing was said for a while, the only sound being Chris' cries.