Ivory Hill had spent the majority of her adult life running. Throughout her twenties and the first part of her thirties it was from bombs and bullets. Now, at thirty six years old Ivory was running from something that she could never truly escape fr...
Grace pushed through the forest, the beam from her flashlight struggling to cut through the darkness. She swore under her breath, cursing her human body. Even though she was over six feet her legs felt useless compared to those of her Avatar. Ivory hadn't come back to the base and Grace was stupid with fear. Her mind was full of images of Ivory lying in the forest alone, slowly choking to death on the thick smoke, Ivory screaming as flames from one of the explosions swallowed her up, Ivory with a shattered leg, struggling to get away from an angry thanator. She shook her head as if that would get rid of the images then reached for her handset and pressed the button. "Norm, come in Norm."
"I haven't found her." Norm's response was immediate.
"Has Max-?"
"No. We're still looking but I think you need to prepare-"
"No!" Grace said sharply. "I'm finding her." She turned her handset off and forced it back into her pocket. She tried to force Norm's words out of her mind but she couldn't help sweeping her torch around the forest, glancing at what remained of the undergrowth in case she had missed the dog tags that Ivory wore. The rainforest in front of her seemed to stretch on for miles as she staggered across the uneven ground.
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Grace flicked her torch off as the sunlight began to pour through the remaining canopy of leaves. She took her rucksack off of her back and dropped the torch into it, wishing that she could rub the sleep from her eyes.
"Grace, come in Grace." Norm's voice echoed from the back of the woman's jeans.
Grace's hand flashed to her pocket. She practically tore her handset out, unable to stop her heart leaping. "Have you-?"
"No. I just wanted to let you know that Max went back to Hell's Gate to feed Tigger. He'll be back out here in half an hour."
"Right." Grace's voice was flat. "Anything else?"
"No. I'm sorry Grace."
"I'm going to keep looking."
Norm struggled to muffle a yawn. "Me too. I'll see you later."
"See you later." Grace put her handset back into her pocket and pushed on, wincing slightly as blood seeped from her aching feet. She let out a shaky breath, swallowing hard as she felt a lump rising in her throat. "It's fine. It's all fine." Grace muttered to herself. It felt like she was living through the school massacre all over again.
A forest banshee screamed overhead, sending leaves flying. Grace reached up and pulled a leaf out of her curls, tossing it onto the floor. Her brow creased as the leaf tumbled into the dirt. She bent down, barely noticing as the mud began to soak through the knees of her jeans. She pushed the leaves out of the way then froze. She blinked hard but the boot print in the mud didn't disappear. Grace got up and began to run, keeping her gaze fixed firmly on the ground.
The skin stretched over her ribcage felt like it was going to tear when Grace finally caught sight of a small huddle lying in the ruined undergrowth, dressed in a grey tank top and combat trousers. She shed her bag and tossed it out of the way, dropping to her knees beside Ivory. A thin trail of blood was trickling from the younger woman's hairline and a dark red stain was blooming on her abdomen. "Ivy?" Grace placed a hand on her shoulder and shook it gently. "Ivy? Come on, please don't do this to me. Ivy? Doll? Come on, open your eyes."
The woman didn't move.
Grace bit her lip. "Ivy? Come on." She raked a hand through her hair. "Tigger needs feeding." Grace placed a hand on Ivory's stomach, her heart in her mouth. She wasn't even sure if she could see that the woman was still breathing. "Ivy? Please don't do this to me!" Grace's eyes began to prickle with the threat of tears.
Ivory's body jerked and rolled over, coughing as she forced herself up from the dusty ground "Ouch." She reached up, her hand meeting the cool glass of her exopack. "Ohhh fuck, my head." She groaned.
Grace didn't know wether to laugh or cry with relief so she did both. "I thought you were dead you bastard!"
Ivory looked at her girlfriend blearily. "Clearly not." She slurred, giving Grace a lopsided grin despite her bloody face.
"You bastard." Grace's voice broke and tears spilled down her cheeks. "Come on, I'm carrying you back to base."
"I c- can walk."
"No you can't." Grace snatched up her bag quickly, digging through it for the basic first aid kit. "Oh thank god you're safe." She murmured, leaning right over her rucksack in a futile attempt to hide her tears.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing." Grace said quickly, moving to pick Ivory up.
A/N: Sorry updates are so slow at the moment, it turns out if you go to university you've actually got to do work? It's late and I'm tired so if I've made any mistakes please feel free to point them out
