Broken Bones

You know what? At least Jim could say that this was genuinely not his fault. He did have a record of screwing things up, but the stampede of cattle-like animals on this planet had absolutely nothing to do with anything he did. It was one of those freaky natural events that left he and Bones running for their lives. Wow, they seemed to be doing that a lot. That was nine levels of unfair.

Jim had been doing pretty well, only a foot or so ahead of the doctor as they tried to escape. It was the cry of surprise that made him whip around. Watching as Bones gets his side gouged into by an exceptionally sharp horn and roll to the ground, Jim feels his heart stop. No— No! Fuck, fuck! Yanking out his gun, he begins to fire at the oncoming animals as he runs to his friend’s side.

Dropping to his knees next to Bones protectively, he lets out a frustrated yell as he keeps firing into the herd. After a few of them drop to the dusty ground, stunned, it is enough to turn the rest away. When he is sure they’ve changed direction, he holsters his phaser and grabs up his friend in his arms. “I’ve got you buddy. I’ve got you.”

With adrenaline coursing through his veins, the youthful captain manages to sprint towards the tree line. “Wow you’re heavier than I imagined, what have you been eating?” When they are tucked safely away in the forest, Kirk eases the doctor down onto the ground and shrugs off his pack to go over the wound in his side.

There’s a lot of blood…a lot of blood. Thankfully, none of the internal organs had been hit. Just a flesh wound. It’s just a flesh wound. So why is he shaking like a virgin on prom night? Licking his lips, he looks down into his best friend’s eyes and claps a hand on his shoulder. “You need to learn to run faster.”