*Jeanie and Maria in the media, but you can imagine Jeanie however you wish*
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PREVIOUSLY ON SACRIFICE ═══════════════
The screams- her screams- wouldn't leave her head. The agony, the pain that each deafening yell was laced with, it made chills run down her spine. With every flutter of her eyes, like a projection on ebony walls, the sickening past played on repeat- the same images, over, and over, and over.
To an onlooker, the blonde woman was no more than a dark object, no bigger than a small rock. If not for the chills and tremors quaking her body, you couldn't tell she was even alive.
Her ribs were visible through her pale skin, and her short, blonde hair was matted, she'd long since given up on brushing it out with her fingers. Her collar bone poked out, giving the shadow of a sunken in dune. Her cheekbones, hollow as they could be. And her eyes, her gray eyes had lost every shine they'd ever had, leaving behind a dull charcoal hue. Bags hung under them and carried the baggage that was restless sleep.
She didn't know how long it had been- how long she was kept in the Fireflies' basement. She stopped counting after six months, but the snow told her it had to be about two years. She'd only been let out a week ago after she heard word that the Fireflies were under new leadership. That same day, all captives were released with nothing more than the clothes on their backs.
Quincey Browne was not a man to be smart with, Maria found that out early into her time being in his quarters. A sharp tongue earned a fist to the mouth, resisting resulted in being forced to the ground and beaten, and lack of manners- yes sir, no sir, thank you, sir- left her with no food for three days.
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Maria picked her head up when the back door creaked open.
Jeanie shrugged her rain coat from her shoulders, hanging it up to dry. Over her shoulder were four rabbits, strung up by their feet.
"Got some lunch... and I saw a sign. Said we're in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It had some kinda brochure thingy with a map on the back. I picked one up,"
Maria walked over.
"We could take this road here on out and into New Hampshire and then Pennsylvania, and just take the roads headed west. We could find 'em, Ma." Jeanie glanced up at Maria with excited eyes.
She softly grabbed Jeanie's hand, halting the girl's words. "Jeanie... Jeanie, I," she sighed. "I've gotta get some meat on my bones. We're alright here for right now, but when I get to a state where I can take care of us... I promise. I promise that we will find them. Okay?" Her eyes pleaded with the pre-teen to understand.
