Jeff's torso was a spiderwebbed pattern of putrescence. Green veins pulsed all over his chest, and pus leaked from each of the bulging, disgusting marks. The pattern of rot originated from a black and necrotizing injury in his armpit, a little bigger than TJ's thumb. There, the weeping wound leaked continuously, but the pus or whatever liquid it was that dribbled continuously was a stomach-turning brown. Worse, the abscess's discharge was so thick that as they pulled the cut shirt away, strings of the fluid hung between Jeff's thrashing body and the cloth.
As soon as he was exposed, Jeff's gentle resistance shifted to a wild, animalistic frenzy to escape. He snarled and snapped his teeth and body in every direction, wresting his every limb without consideration for his health or injury. Even through the improvised gag, the afflicted man released an ear-ripping scream, his throat audibly going hoarse immediately with the force of his cry. As he thrashed, several of the people holding Jeff down were dislodged as they turned to vomit or breathe less rancid air.
With this barest hint of the possibility of escape, Jeff pulled the gag free and shouted as he tried to crawl away, "They're all crazy! They're trying to kill me! Help! Help! Help! They're under mind control! Save me! Please!"
Farid shouted and leapt fully onto Jeff and drove him to the ground. Though Jeff had gained some levels and a fair amount of Strength with them, he was far from superhuman. With a dozen people redoubling their efforts, Jeff was held down on the ground, his arms hoisted above his head. Though he fought to spit out the gag, there was no time for him to. Too many people held him down, and though Jeff thrashed and screamed and wept, he was held secure.
"What the hell happened to him?" Laura demanded to nobody in particular. There was no answer, but every Disciple there stepped forward to the point where they could lay a hand on the suffering man.
"Wait a second." TJ said before anyone else healed Jeff.
"We're not going to leave him in suffering because of your previous arguments, so there should be a reason why you're requesting that we wait." Laura said, her hand a mere inch away from touching Jeff's chest. Before TJ answered, though, Angelo spoke.
"No, I agree. We shouldn't recklessly throw all of our MP at the problem before we take a look at the wound. This obviously isn't a normal injury, and there may be something that we should learn first."
"If that is the case, I'll step back for now." Laura said, her face looking nearly as green as the pulsating, poisonous looking veins covering Jeff's chest.
"Make sure he can't pull his arms down. I'm going to investigate the wound, see if there's anything in there that shouldn't be. If it's just a poison or something, then I can take a look for that, but his Status isn't showing Poisoned."
At Angelo's command, TJ stepped closer, taking Jeff's arm into a slightly gentler version of an arm bar. Instead of hyperextending the trapped man's elbow, TJ kept it fully extended and trapped against the ground. With his Strength being so much higher than Jeff's, it wasn't too much of a struggle. Then, each of the highest leveled Zealots took another limb as Angelo looked to ensure that the supporters were all ready. While Jeff thrashed with all his strength, he could only move an inch or so in any direction.
"Ok, Jeff. I don't know how much of you is left in there right now, but I'm sure this is going to hurt. Probably a lot. I'm sorry about that, but there's really just not that much I can do about it. If you can hear me, I want you to hold still as best as possible. The less you move, the faster this will be. Ok?"
Jeff didn't respond, but his eyes did go glassy for a second. TJ had no idea what exactly that meant while Angelo pulled a disposable glove out of his backpack, one intended for fast food preparation, not surgery, but the attempt at sanitary practice couldn't hurt. Then, a squirt-topped water bottle was pulled from the backpack as well and placed within arms' reach. Then, as prepared as he could be, Angelo began the surgery.
When he touched the wound, Jeff bucked in agony, the rage that filled his face immediately changing to misery. Tears streaked down his dirty cheeks as Angelo prodded around the site of the injury. Weeping sickly pus flowed freely from the swollen puncture, the wound pulsating with Jeff's heartbeat. The sounds of his suffering were loud and insistent, but Angelo didn't stop checking out the necrotized flesh. The natural hair that should have been growing in the underarm had instead grown stiff and almost bony, though TJ couldn't say if it was because of the body's seeping fluids or because of something else.
TJ didn't have the stomach to keep looking at the wound so continuously and instead focused on ensuring Jeff couldn't move. The smells and groans of pain were inescapable, and TJ noticed a few other people going green at the gills as they listened to and smelled the suffering of the man they were holding down. At least a minute passed by while Angelo investigated Jeff's wound. Then, after a fair few muttered curses, he spoke to everyone else.
"I think I found what the main problem is now. It's deep, about an inch under the ribs, but I can feel some hard foreign body there. If we don't take it out, I don't think we'll be able to heal him. I'm going to get my pliers out and see if I can pull it out without cutting the wound bigger."
Angelo explained what he was doing, but it didn't seem that anyone there cared to have a full explanation from him on every little thing he was doing. Thus, after he pulled a pair of needle-nose pliers out of his surprisingly well-prepared backpack, the Medic Disciple plunged them into the wound. TJ felt his stomach tumble as the wound leaked more and more pus onto the ground, a greenish tint mixing with the brown rot. The smell grew ever more overpowering, and a couple people retched again as the unnaturally horrendous scent filled the air. TJ had gone dumpster diving and he'd smelled the aftermath of a body left to bloat and explode, and Jeff's wound smelled like a mixture of the two scents dialed up to 43.
Even while the smell overpowered them and Jeff thrashed, the people holding him down were able to keep him from bucking free, though he seemed to get stronger the longer it went on. Or, perhaps, he was simply more desperate. Whatever the reason, TJ was tiring as they continued to hold the raving invalid down. Checking, he saw his Stamina was at 486/980, almost perfectly halfway spent. Much of that was still holdover from the nearly disastrous hunt, but the humber appreciably fell as Angelo continued his attempted extraction.
There was a wet squelching noise, and a fountain of brown liquid shot out of the wound in Jeff's ribcage. Angelo shouted and dry heaved as he picked up the water bottle and sprayed it into his mouth. The thought of that disgusting fluid all over TJ's face nearly had him retching but he was grateful that Angelo, though disgusted, was not cowed. He sprayed the water all over his face and leaned back down to continue treating Jeff.
The poor man had long gone hoarse from his muffled screaming, his breaths rasping in agony as Angelo pulled a utility knife out and, muttering apologies again, cut the rotting flesh away from the wound. It wasn't long before the Medic pulled out his pliers once again and pushed them into the larger access point. TJ couldn't help but watch as Angelo grabbed something hard inside the wound and then, with both hands on the plier, jerked back.
Angelo grunted as he fell back onto the ground, his pliers decidedly unsuccessful at removing the foreign object. Whatever it was that had been lodged inside of Jeff wasn't willing to come out, but Angelo's will was stronger as he reset his grip and pulled back again, slower this time. Jeff's screams of agony redoubled in fury, but Angelo was implacable, and the long thing was pulled free inch by inch. Even after it was loosened and pulled back a little, the source of Jeff's afflictions didn't relinquish its hold. When Angelo relaxed his grip to adjust, TJ saw it sink back into the flesh.
"Fuck off!" Angelo grunted as he set the pliers against the hard core of the devilish item. Steadily, he pulled it free, and as TJ saw the furthest point of the item, he realized that he recognized it.
The wendigo's claw, once fully out of Jeff's body, glowed with a sickly green radiance. A whorling pattern of… something covered the surface of the digit, and the glow somehow originated from the cracks of the pattern. As soon as the claw was removed, the green tint to Jeff's veins faded, and Angelo called out to the rest of the Disciples.
"Alright, we should be good to heal, let's do it all at once. Ready? 3, 2, 1, go!"
Angelo didn't wait to give commands, and every one of the other people nearby capable of healing, including Stanton, did so on his command. With the glow of five healers' Skills working in tandem, Jeff convulsed as if he'd been defibrillated. The nasty goo that'd filled his wound exploded out again, the smell of rot intensifying and filling the air. However, with the residue created by the wendigo's claw discharged, Jeff's complexion improved immensely. Though the veins that patterned his chest still were darker and more distended than they should have, the sheer panic in Jeff's eyes faded to a more reasonable fear.
"We're basically done with the healing." Angelo said as he stepped back and pulled his gloves from his hands. "I just hit level 15, and should get some Skills that'll help us with these stupid fuckin' afflictions. Jeff's still got at least a dozen, so keep holding him for now."
TJ and the Zealots followed instructions as Jeff rolled his head back and forth, his eyes flitting from one face to the next. When TJ's and Jeff's met, TJ smiled as best as he could. Jeff resumed screaming, his throat apparently healed by the Disciples' ministrations.
"Maybe I should be replaced?" TJ suggested, his ears ringing from the poorly muffled screams of terror. "I think someone else can take my spot at this point."
Someone did just that, and as soon as TJ stepped away, Jeff did calm down quite a bit. He still was unhappy with being held down and nearly a prisoner, but he was merely unhappy instead of apoplectic. Angelo continued checking through his Skill choices before he smiled.
"I've got just the thing, guys."
As soon as Angelo lay his hands on Jeff's head, the struggling and unhappy Zealot went still. A full minute passed, then, with Jeff still unmoving, Angelo whispered, "Let him go, everyone."
While they stepped back, Angelo kept his hands on Jeff's head for another minute or more. Then, as if a dam had broken, Jeff collapsed into sobs. He clutched desperately at Angelo, his fingers tangled in the fabric of Angelo's jacket. As the healed man continued his wracking cries, Angelo ran his fingers through Jeff's hair and quietly hummed a comforting song. They remained like that for a time, Jeff's body trembling with the release of too many emotions and Angelo caring for Jeff as he came back to himself.
After a couple of uncomfortable minutes of bitter weeping, Jeff stood up while pulling Angelo up with him. His eyes were puffy from his tears, and Jeff wiped at his face with dirty hands. His streaked cheeks were filthy, but he stood taller than TJ had seen him do since maybe the first time they'd met.
"Everyone, and especially you, TJ," Jeff said, "I owe you an apology. I hope that the information I can give you now will help you, but even so, I don't deserve your mercy or forgiveness, but I believe this information will be useful for the end of this Tutorial."