Broken World

Chapter 4

       "Yo, guys, why's the bus going so fast?" Zoe asks. That's when I realize that the bus is speeding, and my fear escalates into pure terror. All of the sudden the brakes begin squealing, the trailer smashes into the back of the bus, the bus starts sliding sideways, a car hits the bus in its side, and the bus flips and rolls six times. I scream in sheer terror, and my hands lock onto the seat. Max and Zoe do the same. When the bus stops rolling everyone is either crying, screaming, or both. I fall into the first category, Max falls into none of them, and Zoe just has a blank look on her face. The bus driver opens the door, and the ranger that was following us gets on. He looks over and upon seeing we are all terrified, crying, and some of us are bleeding, calls another bus. When the bus pulls up, he helps us all onto that bus, and makes sure we are all still alive and without life threatening injuries. When he sees me he pulls me aside and looks over my head. That's when I feel a bit of blood on the side of my head and realize my lip's also busted.

       "What's your name?" he asks.

       "Delilah," I answer without hesitation.

       "When were you born?" he asks.

       "March 9, 2015," I answer quickly.

       "What are your parents' names?" he asks.

       "James and Maria Owens," I answer without even thinking.

       "Well, I think you're good. After everyone's on I'll come and put a bandage on your head, okay?" he asks.

       "Can't one of my friends just do it?" I ask, and he looks up seeming to just realize Max and Zoe standing there.

       "Uh, sure," he says handing Max some gauze. I climb onto the new bus, and my friends stick close like I might fall over. When I sit in my seat I put my food and pillow on the floor by my feet and let them put gauze on my head. They do a pretty good job, and when they finish they look at me concerned.

       "What's wrong?" I ask.

       "Are you okay?" Max asks.

       "Yeah, why?" I ask holding back all the tears that want to escape.

       "You don't look like you are," Zoe says.

       "It's because I'm not!" I exclaim letting the tears run down my face like a waterfall.

       "Shh, it's okay," Max says pulling me close. I wrap my arms around him, and he whispers calming nothings into my ear as I bawl my eyes out into his shirt.

       "No it's not okay! We were just in a bus crash, the weather's acting weird, I almost got raped, and we all could have died!" I exclaim into his shirt. The spot where I placed my face on his shirt is now soaked. I move my face and continue to sob. I feel his head turn, and I can tell he and Zoe are looking at each other with concern because I never have a breakdown in public. Max gently runs his hand through my hair, and soon I'm growing tired. It's amazing how fast he calmed and how fast he made me want to sleep. I start shutting my eyes, but force them open again.

       "Are you getting sleepy?" He asks leaning backwards to look at my face.

       "Yeah, a little bit," I say yawning. That's when I realize it's already dark out. "What happened? Why's it so dark?"

       "Um, you kind of fell asleep, and I didn't want to wake you. We still aren't at camp though. The weather has forced us to pull over and sit on the side of the road for a few hours," he says.

       "Wait so I slept on your shoulder for a few hours, and you didn't wake me?" I ask completely annoyed at my own lack of being able to keep myself awake.

       "Yeah, but I don't mind. I was actually about to fall asleep myself. You know just lean back and let you sleep at the same time," he says. At this point I'm blushing so hard at how crazy I was letting myself fall asleep on his shoulder. I look over, and Zoe looks amused at my situation.

       "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let myself fall asleep like that. Oh," I say realizing I need to pee, "is there like a bathroom or bathroom break soon?"

       "Uh, I don't think so. I could ask," Max says, and Zoe laughs at me.

       "Please someone ask," I say.

       "Okay, I'll be back," he says getting up and heading past all the sleeping people. I see him talking to the bus driver, but I'm forced to look away as I feel a hand touch my shoulder. I turn, and as soon as I see Brandon I open my mouth to scream. He quickly puts a hand over my mouth and shakes his head.