Snap || Open
ooc; Some anon requested that I make the meme I reblogged last night into an open starter. I don't do open starters very often, but I was feeling cheery and would really like to bring out some more kind of character development with this sort of thing. So, without further ado --
The woods were her favorite place.
Maybe it was the trees, or the earth, or the scenery. Maybe it was how the light filtered in through the canopy and birds flitted about here and there, engaging in calls to one another to navigate the neverending maze. It was much different in contrast to the crumbling walls and sad look of the cities. Nature had no 'time', no history, no nothing. It was endless in of itself, and for that Ellie spent as much time as she could simply exploring.
Of course, there came dangers with each adventure into the deep and dark forest. Bears and wolves liked to claim territories for their own beneath the treetops, and thus she had to be careful where she stepped. Tracks and the claw marks on the trees would warn her when she started getting too close -- but what she didn't watch out for was the ground beneath her feet. Carelessly darting and dashing about, she only had time to just see the odd glint of the reflected light before her foot stepped down and a loud snap ricocheted throughout the trees. AK barked once, suddenly frozen in place as he stared at Ellie.
The girl hit the ground hard and already her senses were ablaze with pain. Her leg, her leg, her fucking leg -- hastily, curled inwards and bit down on her arm's sleeve as hard as she could to muffle a shout -- no, a scream -- of pain. Something had gone wrong. Something had gone terribly, terribly wrong. Eyes squeezed shut as her breath came quick and shallow, she raked a free hand through her hair as she tried to tune out the feeling of warm liquid soaking through her jeans. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck --" She muttered under her breath the moment she released her arm, muttering every swear word she had grown to know by heart that she could think of. Holy fuck it hurt, holy fucking shit it hurt--
Daring herself to look, she ducked her head under her arm and glanced with a pale face. Immediately, she wished she hadn't.
Her pant leg was torn, shredded from the sudden bite of the trap as the ridges embedded deep into her calf. Blood sluggishly seeped out, making a small maroon pool in the dark brown of the forest floor. Oh shit. Even when she didn't dare move her lower body, doing so much as shifting her weight sent a staggered shock of pain that coursed even to her fingertips and sent her into a pained groan. "Ah, shit..." She muttered, teeth gritted as a tear leaked out and dribbled to the tip of her nose. Come on, Ellie. You gotta do this. You'll bleed out, come on. You can do this.
AK had trotted over warily by now, tail between his legs as he tried to assess what exactly had happened to his owner. Soft little whines escaped the canine as he paced back and forth, not daring to touch the girl as she tried to carefully slip her backpack off of her shoulders. Once, twice, three times -- unintentionally her knee rotated and she convulsed, biting into her hand so hard that it drew blood as she sobbed. It hurts.. "AK, home," She murmured through her tears, patting the ground shakily twice to gain his attention. "Home. Go."
There was the smallest of whines, to which Ellie raised her voice and shouted a final "Go home!" at him. Reluctantly the animal obeyed, turning away with a long final glance before he started his big, loping gait towards what she thought was the direction of the plant. She couldn't tell anymore. It was enough to just stay awake; the pain was near unbearable, and every time she moved just a bit too roughly spots swam in her vision and she had to stop and rest. "F-Fuck.."
Her hands ventured into her bag, rummaging through it until they could locate the one thing she could use for a tourniquet. It was an old, musty rag; one she'd generally give to Joel to use for molotovs, and probably was the last thing anyone sane would use so close to a wound. It wasn't smart in the slightest, but it was the only thing she had. Infection she could worry about later; right now, it was either this or dying.
There was a brief countdown from five to one before she lurched upwards, a distressed cry escaping her mouth as her leg tried to turn sideways. Quick, quick, quick -- shivering hands got the old rag around just above the knee and pulled tight. Three. Fingers fiddled with criss-crossing the ends. Two. Ellie felt lightheaded as she bit down on her upper lip, tasting the iron in her mouth. One. With a final guttural groan and a yank she fell backwards, fingers curling into white-knuckled fists as her head hit the mud and she bit back another whine. Just wait it out, that's all. Just wait it out and help will come. Hopefully.