24. The Cabin from Hell

I swing at the werewolf who tries to snap its fangs at me. Dean whistles for it and lures it away from me, while Sam is busy getting himself thrown into a table in this cabin we're holed up in.

We've found the victims, two, male and female, strung up and alive, but we also have found their werewolf kidnappers as well.

Each time I get close to the victims, one of the werewolves redirects me by swinging at me or trying to bite me. You don't want one of those things so much as touching you.

I decide to help aid Dean, who's trying to not get bit by the werewolf. As my brother misses with a swing, I take a shot, but the werewolf grabs my arm. I rip it away before it can figure out what to do with it. I duck, allowing the werewolf to hit Dean across the face, but I send a punch to the werewolf's gut while I glance up and see my brother's fist connect with its face.

Dean and I tag team this werewolf, taking turns throwing punches. It's almost kind of fun, you know, except we can easily be turned into a werewolf or, you know, die.

I shove the werewolf off Dean as it grabs him by the throat. In retaliation, it sends me flying into a wall and Dean into a glass cabinet. The glass shatters all around, keeping me temporarily out of the fight. But my brother seems to have a decent upper hand; he keeps striking the werewolf.

As the one werewolf is down, I turn to see Sam stab his werewolf he's been wrestling with. The body doesn't stir.

Bang. At first, I think I've been shot, but I don't feel anything. I don't see any red protruding from me.

Instead, my mouth hangs open in a silent scream as I see my little brother spurt blood from his stomach, crumpling to his knees. As this is going on, Dean kills the second werewolf.

"Shit!" I panic, rushing to my little brother's aid. "Jesus Christ. Dean!"

"Stay with him!" Dean runs out of the cabin.

"Hey, hey, Sammy," I say calmly. "Hey, just, hold on, okay? Dean's getting the first aid kit. Okay? Hey, hey." I tap his cheeks and hold his face. "Come on, Sammy."

"All right, all right." Dean's at my side, first aid kit.

"Dean, Jo, they, uh..."

I look back at the couple, who are well awake. "Okay, just hold tight, you two, okay?" I say, focusing back on Sam.

"All right, listen, we got to get that bullet out of there, okay?" says Dean. "This is gonna hurt like hell."

"Oh, yeah." Sam groans.

"Give me that," I say to Dean. "Might need this." I give Sam a bandage to bite down on. As extra measure, I hold his hand too. I focus on my little brother as I hear Dean fishing around for the bullet. "He's working on it. He's working on it." I look at Dean. "Can you work a little faster?"

"You go ahead and do it, Jo, by all means!" Dean snaps at me. "Okay, okay. All right. Almost got it. Almost got it." I almost have to hold Sam down as he writhes, groaning in pain. "Right there. Come on, come on! Okay, there we go. There we go. Look at that, huh? Hey!"

Sam spits out the bandage, nearly hitting me with it. I see the bloody bullet in Dean's red hand.

"Well, you know what?" Dean continues. "We got to keep that one. That one's gonna be a little memento. We'll laugh about it sometime later."

"Guys?" the male victim asks. "She ain't doing so good."

"I got him, go," I tell Dean as I steal a bandage from him. "Go, Dean. No, Sam, let me do it."

"Jo, I got it," Sam insists.

"Well, you're hurting, so stop moving and let me do it." I gently slap his hands away. "Don't mess me up."

"The one he killed, he's got the key," I hear the guy say to Dean.

"Phew," I say mildly. With Sam's shaking help, I keep pressure on his wound. My breaths are borderline hyperventilating. Panic doesn't help him. Stay strong for him. He stayed strong for you when you were dying.

Dying. That word strikes a chord in my heart. But he's gonna be okay. Sam isn't gonna die. He won't. Dean and I won't let him.

"W-what were they?" the woman squeaks.

"Werewolves," I spit.

"Told you they were monsters."

"That's right, baby," says the guy. "You called it."

"I thought werewolves needed night time, a full moon?"

"Let me do it," I scold Sam as he tries to rip tape off its roll with his teeth.

"You won't let me do anything w-will you, Jo?" he rasps.

"You took care of me, it's my turn now." I carefully get the tape to help the bandage stay in place. There's so much blood that the scent overpowers all other smells in this place.

"We've been here for days," says the woman. "These guys, they can change any time."

"Yeah, that's 'cause they were probably purebloods," Dean tells them. "And they can change at any time. Any time they want. Those wrists...those wrists are infected. We got to get something on them, okay?" Dean rushes back to Sam and me. "How we doing? How we doing, huh? You good, you good?"

"Yeah," Sam pants.

"All right, keep pressure on it. Keep pressure." Dean leaves to hand over wrappings to the guy with the infected wrists. "Here you go. Wrap those up. Is there a landline here?"

"You don't have a cellphone?" the guys asks.

"There's no service for miles," I say gravely. "I had a signal back at the car a couple miles back." I stroke the top of Sam's head. "Okay, listen to me. I'm gonna go for a signal, okay? We're gonna get you to a real doctor. You're gonna be just fine."

"Yeah, no, I know."

"Okay." I kiss Sam's forehead before stumbling to my feet.

"Hey, we're coming!" the guy insists.

I spin around, looking at him strangely. "No, ain't happening."

"We can't stay here, not with the others still out there."

"Others?"

"Okay, listen, our brother's been shot," Dean comes to my defense. "He can't stay here alone."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sam grunts, struggling to his feet.

"Damn it, Sam, hey," I say irritably, going to my little brother.

"I'm fine."

"Hey, hey, hey, let us help at least. Dean, move your ass."

Between Dean and myself, we get Sam supported and upright. At as fast of a pace as possible, we start moving out of the bloody, body-ridden cabin, with the newlyweds behind us. The couple finds themselves ahead of us, but they don't lose us. Meanwhile, as we lumber through the woods in the dark, Dean tries for a signal.

"Anything?" I huff, feeling my shoulders strain from supporting Sam's weight.

"No, nothing yet. The sun's gonna be up pretty soon."

"Whoa, okay, okay." Dean, Sam, and I stop as Sam clutches at his wound, doubling over in pain. "Come on, Sammy. Come on." With a gentle tug, the three of us begin our slow move again.

"I told you that roadhouse chili was a bad idea," Sam grunts. Oh if only it was that.

"Guys, over here," says the male newlywed.

Thanks to Dean's flashlight, through the woods, we see another cabin.

"Well, I'll be damned," I murmur.

Dean hands custody of Sam over to me temporarily as he's the first to peek in. Once it's clear, he resumes helping me lug our little brother inside.

"Okay," he says. "All right, see if you can find a...a radio or a phone."

"I got him," I tell Dean. I adjust quickly when Dean goes off in search of a way for us to get help. "Sad part is you're hunching over so much that I can do this." I massage Sam's scalp—not for his benefit, but for mine. "I'd say you need a haircut, but I know you'll tell me no."

"You always said my hair was too long," Sam whispers.

I chuckle. "Sometimes I thought it'd compete with mine." I notice Dean finding a landline. "Anything?"

"No, it's dead," he reports. He sighs, slamming the phone down.

"Whoa, okay, we're moving," I gasp as Sam uses the counter to half support himself, along with me. Dean continues to search through the cupboards.

"I got matches over here. I'm gonna light those up." He finds a few lanterns, shedding some light inside of here.

"Okay?" I ask Sam. All he does is nod. I keep a hand on his bandage. He winces. "I'm only trying to help."

"I know you are, Jo. I-I know."

"Hang in there. Thanks," I say as Dean hands me a lantern. He uses the other to search through the rest of the cabin.

"Hey," says the guy. "Hey, we got to keep moving." He looks at Sam. "Those of us who...who can."

"I'm sorry, what's your name again?" I ask him.

"Corbin."

"Well, Corbin, you're an asshole."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"I...look. Hey, Michelle's real sick, but she's got a chance. Him...he's slowing us down. And if they find us..."

"We saved you, okay?" Dean tells Corbin. "We saved both of you."

"It's four lives versus one." Dean gives Corbin a shove. "Whoa...hey!"

"Dean, stop!" I shout.

"Dean...he's right," Sam rasps. I look at him in muted horror. "You guys need to...to go. Go find help, come back for me."

"No, Sam! No! If you think we're gonna leave you here for one second on your own with other wolves sniffing around..."

"Jo's right," says Dean. "She and I will go outside, we'll find some wood, and we're gonna build you a litter, and," he looks at Corbin, "we are going to carry him the rest of the way."

Okay, I didn't realize I was volunteering for gathering wood. But we're not leaving Sam behind.

"Just take it easy, okay?" I whisper to Sam, kissing his cheek. "I love you, okay?"

"Go. Go help Dean," my little brother says.

Dean and I practically run out of the cabin, back into the woods, leaving Michelle, Corbin, and our dying little brother.

**There are moments where I love Josette freaking Winchester.

This chapter, and many, many more, are why I love her.**