The winds were screaming, indicating the storm was only to strengthen more. Mari's eyes struggled to open, blood already dry on the eyelids. Her head felt heavy, the rest of her body weightless. There was no one in sight. She imagined it would have been almost about three hours considering the sky was orange and what she last remembered was the glaring sun.
Her hands uncoiled from the steering wheel, thumbing at her seatbelt. It was restricting her chest, which had a dark bruise running along from her shoulders to her waist, diagonally. After struggling to open the door, she clicked the seat belt off, keeping her hands pressed against the top of the car to support her weight. After almost hitting her head, she crawled out of the toppled car, breathing the fresh air. Deep breaths, she reminded herself.
Crawling to the other side of the car, she opened the car and a sob broke out. Her face was covered in blood, hands splayed across the top of the car. Mari unbuckled the seatbelt, and she almost fell onto the roof before Mari held her shoulders and gently tried to get her out of the car. There was an angry red line running across her body where the seatbelt had restricted her head from bashing onto the dashboard. There was a distant wailing sound as Mari laid her head on her lap and she realized that it was her own sobs. Her shoulders were shaking violently as she tried to shake the body into life. The words fell across her lips Niki, Niki, Niki as if chanting her name would somehow get a response from her.
Mari grabbed her face, moving the hair stuck to her forehead before shaking her head gently. Her sobs were quieter now but the realization that Niki will not be with her was more painful than anything. There was no response, her face was unmoving, eyes shut. There was a slight rising and fall of her chest that indicated that she was breathing. Faltering at getting any verbal or even physical response, she found a phone in Niki's pocket. She grabbed it hoping that there was network around here and she was lucky.
