Crash

June Freeman grinned and bounced in her seat. After years of waiting and working, the aspiring actress was finally moving up in the ranks. Another young lady sat beside her. It was her best friend, Cora Stein. Cora was an aspiring screenwriter and together, the two made quite a pair. They were incredibly close, incredibly talented, and incredibly determined to make it big in Hollywood. After years of just performing in NYC, the actress and screenwriter were finally about to hit it big and their move to Hollywood was going pretty well so far. They were actually on their way to meet an agent who would help them fund the big move, among other things, and June could hardly control herself. Cora, being the more reserved of the pair, just smiled serenely and gazed out the window. Behind her relaxed expression, however, Cora was just as excited.

10 minutes later the bus picked up its last passenger which, according to Cora's watch, meant that they had about another 10 minutes until they reached their final destination.

"You excited, Cora?" June asked, voice hushed yet gleeful.

"Of course!" Cora replied, grinning all the wider.

"I can't believe this! This is gonna be so awesome!" June squealed slightly and shook Cora's arm.

"Easy there. I need that arm to write your movies," Cora teased as June loosened her grip and apologized sheepishly. Eager silence settled in again. In just 10 minutes, they were going to get the chance of a lifetime and both of them were dead set upon making the best impression upon their future agent. The better the impression they left, the sooner they could make their next move and continue onto stardom!

SCREEEEEECH! Cora and June had hardly registered the noise when they felt themselves being pulled right out of their seats. June turned her head, locking horrified eyes with Cora as both of them were lifted up. Time seemed to stop. In the last moments before everything vanished, Cora only remembered having the terrified thought that they were going to die. They were going to crash. For a moment, though, they were suspended in the air and suspended in time, just staring at each other as the screeching sound in the background got steadily louder. Then everything went dark and muddled.

When the clock began ticking again and the sun began shining again, Cora let out an agonized groan. Her whole body felt like burning lead. It hurt all over and a dull ache seemed to settle everywhere. She turned her head and felt a bolt of pain shoot up her neck. Tears welled in her eyes at the intense pain and she returned her head to its original resting spot. Her breathing was ragged and feeble. It felt like no matter what she did, she just couldn't get enough air into her body. Slowly, slowly she moved her head at a level where she could see what had happened.

Cora let out a silent sob at the sight that met her eyes. June, once proud and lively, lay with half her torso out a shattered window. Cora tried to move again and the pain seemed to double. She carried on though, crawling slowly over to June. Using her left arm, she pulled June down to her level. Her right arm had shattered and the pain of twisting around to get a grip on June's limp arm was so immense that Cora had to clench her teeth and eyes shut to keep from fainting. Cora briefly wondered if she was paralyzed. Her legs were totally crushed.

June flopped down onto Cora's chest face-down and Cora winced as she felt something warm and wet coat her body. Carefully, carefully she opened her eyes and took June's shoulder and turned June's face toward hers. She nearly fainted at the sight. June must've been thrown from her seat through a window on the other side of the bus because the whole right half of her face was bloody and lacerated. June had no pulse.

Cora began to weep for all that had managed to occur in a few short seconds, clutching at June's bloody body and sobbing. How quickly life could change! In one simple turn, she had lost so much. In one simple turn, Cora's life had gone completely unpredictable and that simplicity and serenity she knew just mere seconds ago was about as realistic as a dream now. Then, as Cora raised her head up one more time, a terrifying thought occurred to her. She was the only one on that bus who was still alive. Every other body she could see was totally still and each of them were bloody, every body bent at horrific angles as limbs and heads and other body parts stuck out from every place imaginable. It was like a nightmare except it was real and Cora was the only one awake.

She knew, however, that this state wouldn't continue on for much longer. Every shuddering sob brought a fresh wave agony through Cora's mutilated and maimed figure and she could feel her death approaching. The best thing for her to do at the moment, if she wanted to live, was to try and be as still as possible, but the sobs wouldn't stop. Nothing was responding to her and though a part of her wanted to stop screaming and crying, that part of her had no control over what she was actually doing, so she continued to convulse violently, lost in a pool of her own blood and tears. At last, her throat began to close up and she felt something hot rise up in her throat. It was blood. She must've suffered an internal injury and her sobs had caused the blood to leak up into her throat. True horror and disgust filled Cora as she realized she was choking to death on her own blood and there was nobody to save her. She could hear people outside screaming but nobody had made it onto the bus yet.

Several seconds later, Cora was writhing on the ground, gasping for air. Her eyes bugged wide and the tears finally stopped as her body went into shock from the lack of oxygen. Her throat burned like fire. Her lungs were freaking out. What little she could see through the black spots that speckled her vision was slowly fading away. The lights flickered in and out and Cora's whole mouth was full of blood but none of it seemed to be going anywhere, out onto the bus or back into her throat. But finally, it ended.

AN: Just a violent and depressing look at June and Cora's last moments on Earth because, according to the commentary, they died in a bus crash. So here you go. I regret nothing.