Fantasy Land

Chapter 6

Nowhere

Jayna

A groan leaves my lips as my eyes flutter. How long was I asleep for? I lift my head, my neck stiff. I feel hot lines going down the side of my face. Reaching a hand up gingerly I realize it's blood. I get out of my seat, climbing through the shattered window as the door is completely dented in.

I look around seeing the main road is several feet away from us. I can see the base of the mountains from where I stand on my shaky legs.

I turn when I hear the sound of someone kicking metal.

Lest helps Gabie out of the car after having kicked in the back door. I finally get a good look at his face. There are three long claw marks down his left cheek, his eye closed tightly. There is dried blood that clings to his shirt and jacket, dripping from the wounds on his face.

"Lest your face." I gasp, eyes locked on the cuts. He touches the inflamed skin around the cuts, wincing slightly.

"I'll be okay." He says turning his attention to the car.

"What hit us?" Gabie asks, following his gaze. The car that is now wrapped around a tree looks like it was hit by something rather strong. The two doors are completely dented in. The tire on the driver side is bent in the wrong direction.

"We should get our stuff out of the trunk and find a place to stay." Lest says. He walks to the trunk, pulling it open. The three of us quickly fill three large backpacks with everything we can get into them.

"I say we head into the woods." Gabie says, looking into the thick trees. "We'd be more likely to find shelter and help there than walking along the road for miles." She looks slightly banged up, light bruises along her arms and small cuts. Lest looks the worst of us all as he struggles to get his pack on his back. The large gashes on his face clearly look terrible. Gabie and I walk over to help him get the pack on. We head into the forest past the demolished car. I lead us, Gabie helping Lest along as he lightly limps.

We walk until we find a small stream. I lead us upstream, figuring there would be someone along the stream. After walking upstream a while, the trees block the sun and my watch is dead, we find nothing. We head back the other way, going downstream instead. The sun is starting to set as we find a small hut. It's not much, but it's enough to get us through the night. The sun has started to set as we rush over, the forest growing dark very quickly. Lest rests as he unpacks our bags to set up our beds. Gabie and I quickly set a fire in the fireplace of the small shack using the supplies already there. We put the beds close to the fire as the temperature becomes frigid. Lest lays across his bed with an arm over his eyes, other hand cradling his side.

"Are you sure you're, okay?" I ask him, worry flooding my face.

"Yeah." He says heavily. His chest rises and falls methodically as he breaths. Gabie grabs a first aid kit from her bag, moving to sit on his bed with him. She starts to tend his cheek as I change into warmer bed clothes and roll out my sleeping bag. My toes would be closest to the fire in this set up. The wind was whistling outside as I tossed some more logs on the fire, the old shack groaning as the wind pushed against it.

I glance back at Gabie and Lest as I crawl into my sleeping bag. She has placed bandaged across the entirety of his cheek and above his eyes. He still holds his eye shut as exhaustion is clear in his body. I get up to help Gabie in the challenge that is helping him change. Once changed, we set him in his sleeping bag. He is only partly lucid as we do and passes out the moment his head hits his pillow.

Gabie picks up his jacket, starting to fold his jeans when a box falls from the pocket. We both stare at it in confusion, sharing a look. Gabie hands me the folded clothes as she lifts the box into her hands. The box is slim and long, perfectly hidden in Lest's stupid man pockets. It looked to be a velvet black. Gabie opens it and gasps, one hand flying to cover her mouth that hangs open as she stares into the box. I look over and see what she's so shocked by.