But The World Keeps Turning

Chapter 5: Up In Flames

"Guys, check that out!"

The Bellas now also looked at the light, Chloe and Aubrey still holding each other's hands. The light became bigger and bigger, and they realized it had to be a fire.

As fast as their feet could carry them, they ran towards the light, happy to see other people, Beca slightly slower than the others, because she was still feeling dizzy. Stacie matched her pace to Beca's, making sure she was okay and because she couldn't run fast as well. She grabbed one of Beca's hands when she faltered a couple times. She was not letting her fall in the sand once again. That damn sand.

Approaching the fire, they saw several people sitting or standing around it. The fire had reached the height of a grown man and was spreading a warm, orange glow across the beach. There were 10 persons around the fire, as far as they could see. When these people heard them approaching, some of them ran towards them, others only looked up, motionlessly. First one they met, was Unicycle. He greeted them with a tight hug.

"I'm glad that you guys are ok."

Beca, awkwardly, hugged him back. Then she saw Amy and Lilly standing behind the tall boy. They gave her a bear hug, Amy squeezing all the air out of Beca's lungs.

She was pulled towards the fire, where they saw Jesse standing, waiting for them to join them. He and also Donald greeted them with a hug. Sitting on the ground was Bumper and Greg, just giving them a nod and Kolio, who smiled weakly when he saw the familiar faces, before turning his head towards the fire again, biting on this fingernails. Brian was lying on his stomach on the ground, with Michael, an unknown background singer of the Trebles, kneeling besides him. Chloe decided to help him, because she had a medical background. She was studying medicine at Barden, together with Michael.

"What's happened?"

"I diagnosed Brian with some broken ribs. He's coughing up blood constantly, maybe one of them pierced his lungs, and he's having serious difficulties breathing. The thing I'm worried about most is the open spine fracture."

He lifted the shirt that was laid on Brian, covering his bare back. There was a nasty cut in the lower part of his back, a white piece of bone had pierced right through the skin, pointing upwards to the night sky. Strands of blood had formed from the wound, seeping to the sand below them. The skin surrounding the wound was swollen and strained. Brian had regained consciousness from the sudden talking and turned his head towards the talking.

"Don't you dare to move Brian." Chloe put her hand on Brian's head so he would stop moving.

"I-I can't feel my legs" his speaking was hoarse.

"I know, sweetie, I know."

//

Beca dropped herself on the sand, next to Unicycle and Donald. Unicycle had his head in his hands, his whole body trembling and shaking, sobbing. Donald had put a hand on his shoulder, supporting him. Beca didn't really know what to do. She'd never seen a grown man cry before. She just rubbed Unicycle's back awkwardly, before turning to Donald.

"Are any of you guys injured?"

Donald glanced to Brian, looking concerned before answering.

"Except for Brian, we are mostly okay. Nothing but a few scratches and slight burns. We have been lucky, as we sat in the rear part. The fire was located near the wings, so it could have been a lot worse."

He looked towards Stacie. Her improvised bandage had shifted during the running. Aubrey had gotten it off from her, so she could relocate it properly again. Beca felt her stomach turn at the sight of the blisters and raw flesh on her bare back. They were silent for a moment.

"At least, for everyone who is alive."

Donald stared at his feet while speaking. Unicycle next to him sobbed louder.

"What about you, I see you got a pretty nasty cut there." Donald pointed to the cut on her forehead.

"Yeah, it needs to be cleaned, but I'll be fine." But her head pounded as if protesting. "I'm going to check on Lilly and Amy, I'll be right back." She said as she stood up.

//

"How is this, is this too tight?"

Aubrey tied the knot so the vest wouldn't move again. Stacie hissed in pain when the fabric hit a certain spot where raw flesh was showing. Aubrey's hands flew back to the knot again to untie it, but Stacie's hands on hers stopped her.

"I'll be fine."

Stacie and Aubrey just sat there for a moment, hands intertwined. Then, Stacie turned herself to the fire again, looking at her feet.

"I can't believe I almost let you die."

"Stacie that wasn't your fault and you know that."

Stacie didn't respond.

"The most important thing is, is that I'm here again, right now. Just like I was before."

She gave a faint smile.

"And you have to do better than that to get rid of your cardio."

Stacie let a small giggle, glancing over to Aubrey.

"And I can't believe that I had to hurt you like that, in the sea." Aubrey continued.

"That makes us even then."

Stacie shoved closer to Aubrey, resting her head on her shoulder, both still facing the flames. They were thinking about the same thing. About the same people. They still hadn't found a lot of Bella's. They were yet to find Cynthia Rose, Denise, Jessica and Ashley. The worst thing of it all, they weren't even sure whether they were going to find them or not. And if they did, whether they were alive.

And if to answer their thoughts, they noticed a figure approaching them, yelling words they could not identify, waving its arms anxiously in the sky.

"What...?"

The figure had reached the fire, as they still sat there dumbfounded. The woman dropped to her knees before breaking down and bursting out into tears. While the woman tried to dry her eyes she muttered an intelligible story.

"Ashley?"

Aubrey dropped to her knees next to Ashley before taking her face in her hands.

"Ashley, are you injured?"

The brunette just looked confused and disorientated. Her hair was a mess and her face had stains of her worn off makeup, which made her almost unrecognizable.

"Cynthia, she... She is..."

"Cynthia Rose?" Stacie said, jumping up. "Where is she?"

Ashley pointed to the direction where she had come from. Stacie ran to the pointed direction, away from the fire, leaving the survivors behind her.

"Stacie, wait!"

Ashley ran after her. Aubrey and Beca quickly followed her, with Unicycle, Donald, Jesse, Bumper and Greg behind them.*

"You should go, I'll stay here with him" Michael said to Chloe.

Chloe thanked Michael with a nod as she hurried into the darkness.