The Mate I Never Chose
Burn it closed or you bleed out in five minutes!
With a desperate, animalistic grunt, Arung slammed his thigh directly against the glowing, super-heated lip of the iron-rich vent pipe protruding from the rock face. The sickening smell of scorched skin, burning denim, and melting flesh instantly filled the cramped alcove, thick and cloying. He bit down so hard on his own lower lip that the metallic taste of fresh blood flooded his mouth, anchoring him to reality as the searing heat cauterized the arterial tear in his thigh, sealing the catastrophic wound shut with a agonizing layer of charred, blistering scab-tissue.