Chapter 45

  Kid Flash ran through the wrecked streets of Metropolis until he saw a soldier waving his arms on the sidewalk,

  “Flash, Flash, over here” He shouted, Kid Flash skidded to a stop and circled back, the soldier looked disappointed, I thought you were Flash” Kid Flash shrugged,

  “I might still be able to help” He offered, the man nodded and quickly lead him across the street,

  “We’ve got an injured officer, she’s not doing well” He said, leading the way through the busted door to a convenient store, another soldier stood guarding the front door with a 3rd positioned at the back, a 4th man was tending to the injuries of a woman with short black hair, wearing a blood soaked bullet proof police vest, he was using a tourniquet on the bloody nub that was the remains of her right arm.

  “Do you guys have a vehicle?” Wally asked, the man who Wally had first met shook his head,

  “No, and we were ambushed on the way here, lost a lot of equipment” he explained,

  “I can get her somewhere safe, but it’ll be a bit until I can come back for the rest of you” The man nodded,

  “We’ll be fine, we’ll be able to move faster without her” He said, Wally nodded,

  “Get her as stable as you can, I’ll take her to the Titans Towers, you can bring anyone else there as well, they’ve got a bunker” He suggested.

  Artemis had tended to Wondergirl’s hands and was washing her hands and arms in the infirmary when Beast Boy pushed the doors open and held them for Wally to walk in with the unconscious body of the police chief, he hurried to 1 of the beds and laid her down,

  “Is she okay? What happened to her?” Artemis asked, rushing over,

  “Not particularly clear on that, but I need you to help her” Wally said, Artemis stepped back raising her hands in front of herself defensively,

  “I have a little training from a combat medic, this is way out of my depth” She argued, a ting of panic raising in her voice,

  “You’re the most qualified person we have here, please try” Artemis swallowed hard, eventually she nodded reluctantly,

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Okay, I’ll try, let me get cleaned up, go find me a flat table and sterilize it, nothing on wheels, it can’t be more than 2 inches below my waist, and no more than a few inches above my navel, you don’t get a lot of room to work with” Wally smiled in relief,

  “Less with you than most, I’m on it” He joked, before running off, Artemis began washing her hands again, a second later she noticed Beast Boy standing behind her.

  “I think I can help” He volunteered, “My mom was a nurse in the village I grew up in, I helped her sometimes” Artemis nodded,

  “Ok, get cleaned up, quickly” She instructed.

  11 Years Earlier

  “Come on, do you want it to die?” Lawrence Crock stood over Artemis as she kneeled on the ground beside the dying kitten, she had been given it only 4 months earlier, her older sister Jade had seemed disappointed and upset and Artemis hadn’t understood why, until now, her face was soaked with tears as she stared at the large wound in the cat’s stomach,

  “Aren’t you gonna save her life?” Her father asked,

  “I can’t” She choked through sobs,

  “Well not if you just sit on your ass” He was angry, she could tell, she placed her small hands on either side of the injury and slowly pried it open, she felt sick, she spotted the metal razor blade lodged in the cat’s stomach, she reached in and yanked it free and immediately sliced her finger and dropped it, but she was too distracted by the blood spurting from the wound she had just opened by dislodging the blade, she rushed to stop it but blood kept spilling between her fingers, she soon realized it was useless and pulled the kitten’s small body against her chest and cried.

  7 Years Later

  Artemis hand shook as she pulled the needle through the damaged skin on Jade’s bicep,

  “Be careful, dumbass” Jade demanded, she was holding a small bag of ice to her head in 1 hand and a half empty bottle of cheap whiskey in the other,

  “Okay, of course” Artemis answered, her voice shaky, but she only made it through another 2 loops before slipping, the needle sliding deep into Jade’s flesh, Jade cried out in pain and instinctively backhanded her across the face, the stool Artemis was sitting on tipped and sent her crashing to the tile floor.

  2 Years Later

  Artemis spotted the lump in the clearing from the tree line, she drew her bow back and scanned the surroundings for Oliver, when she didn’t see him she made her quickly and carefully towards the immobile shape in the grass, when she was within a few feet she could make out that it was a deer laying on its side, she hurried over to find the creature breathing heavily, its leg bent below the knee, she she dropped to her knees to try and help but froze, tears streamed down her cheeks as she tried to will herself to do anything.

  Artemis heard a twig snap behind her and glanced over her shoulder to see Oliver approaching with his rubber tipped arrow drawn back, she quickly turned back to the deer and rubbed at her eyes,

  “What happened?” Oliver asked as he got close enough to notice the injured animal,

  “I don’t know, I didn’t do it, I found like this” Artemis stumbled through her answers, Oliver knelt down and checked the leg,

  “It’ll be okay” He assured her, she watched him take a wooden arrow from his quiver, he unscrewed the metal tip and broke the wooden stick in half, he realigned the break and wrapped it several times, he wrapped the 2 halves of the arrow before placing them on either side of the deer’s leg and wrapping them in place, once he was done he packed everything up and said,

  “Let’s call it quits for tonight, I’m starving” With that he led the way back to camp.