Every time they jolted him he would groan, and he...
Every time they jolted him he would groan, and he was continually thrashing about on the litter, disturbing the balance and making them stumbleFrom time to time he would curse at them, and they writhed under itHis screams and shouts flicked through the layers of heat that played over them, goaded them on for a few additional yards
"Goddammit, you men, Ah been watchin' ya, why in the hell cain't you treat a wounded man proper, jus' shakin' me up an' knockin' all the pus around inside, Stanley, you been doin' it jus' to give me the misery, Ah think it's a pretty low mean old thing jus' treatin' a buddy like this His voice would become thin, querulousEvery now and then he would scream from a sudden bump From pain, from the heat, he would blubber like a child"Ah wouldn' do to you like you been doin' to me He would lie back, his mouth open, his breath stirring in the arid cave of his throat like steam chanel white ceramic watch vibrating out of the spout of a kettle"Aw, men, take it easy, sonofabitch, men, take it easy
"We're doin' what we can," Brown would croak
"You men are actin' pretty piss-poorWilson ain't gonna forget
And they would labor for another hundred yards, set him down, and gaze stupidly at each other
Wilson's wound was throbbing painfullyThe muscles in his stomach were sore and exhausted from fighting against the pain, and a dry fever had settled in his bodyUnder the sun all his limbs had become leaden and aching, his chest and throat congested, completely dryEach jolt of the stretcher shocked him like a blowHe felt the exhaustion of having fought against a man much bigger, much stronger than himself for many hoursHe teetered often on the edge of unconsciousness, but always he would be jarred back into his pain by a sudden wrench of the litterIt brought him close to weepingFor minutes at a time he would lie stiff vuitton pink bag on the stretcher waiting for the next jolt, his teeth clenched in preparationAnd when it came, the blow would travel through all the slumbering agonies of his wound, rasping his inflamed nervesThe pain would seem motivated by the litter-bearers and he hated them with the same rage that a man feels for a moment at a piece of furniture when he has barked his leg against it"You sonofabitch, Brown Brown shambled forward, almost reeling, his fingers slowly separating on the litter handleWhen he would feel the stretcher about to rip out of his hand, he would shout, "Drop him," and kneel beside Wilson trying to regain his breath, massaging one hand with the numb fingers of the other"Take it easy, Wilson, we're doin' what we can," he would gasp
"You sonofabitch, Brown, you been shakin' me on purpose
Brown wanted to cry or to strike him across the faceThe jungle sores on his feet had come open and were bleeding chanel white watches inside his shoes, smarting unbearably whenever he halted and became conscious of themHe did not want to go on, but he could see the other litter-bearers staring at him"Come on, men," he muttered
They advanced like this for several hours, toiling under the brow of the midday sunSlowly, inevitably, their will and their resolution were dissolvedThey struggled forward through a glare of heat, bound to each other in an unwilling union of exhaustion and rageEach time one of them stumbled the others hated him, for the load was suddenly increased on their arms, and Wilson's growls of pain bored through their apathy, startled them like a whiplashThey plumbed one level of misery after anotherFor minutes at a time their vision would blank out almost completely in a flood of nauseaThe ground before them would darken, and they would taste their heartbeat in the acrid bile that filled their mouthsThey toiled forward gucci black bag numbly, unquestioningly, suffering more than WilsonAny one of them would have been pleased to have shifted positions with him
At one o'clock Brown halted themHis feet had been numb for minutes at a time, and he was close to collapseThey left Wilson lying in the sun while they sprawled beside him, their faces close to the earth, drawing great gasping bursts of airAll about them the hills shimmered in the early afternoon heat, refracting their glare from one slope to another without reliefThere seemed no breeze at allWilson would mumble and rant from time to time but they paid no attention to himThe rest period gave them no relief; all the submerged effects of their exhaustion were being exhumed now, bothered them directlyThey retched, languished through long flaccid minutes when they seemed close to unconsciousness, and suffered from recurring spasms of shivering when there seemed no heat left in their bay bag chloe bodie