Crown Of Thorns (Black Veil Brides Fanfiction)

Chapter 13 - Revised

Everest was tired. Exhausted even. She'd been walking for so, so long. Her legs ached and her throat was dry, but she knew she was almost there. The trip was a lot harsher in the open sunlight, and colder without the proper clothing. Everest wanted to see for herself what F.E.A.R. did to that peaceful little town they'd stolen necessities from. She'd gained back a little feeling, sadness coming and going in waves that would drown her. She'd have to pause in her trek, take a moment to will away the purple hyacinths blooming just out of the corner of her eye, and take a deep breath to calm down.

First, it was Andy suddenly doing a complete one-eighty, not wanting her near him at all after weeks of him being close, small touches of physical affection she relished in. It was jarring from merely a day before where he was so concerned for her safety and angry on her behalf. Something changed in him when she came back with CC injured like he was. Maybe he was angry, thought she could have done more to protect CC. She was mad at herself for the same thing, so it was understandable. Then, it was the onslaught of guilt at the situation. Everest knew she could have done more to protect CC, there had to have been something she could have done better. It was her fault he got so injured. Her fault Andy doesn't want to speak with her. Her fault her family was torn apart.

Upon the horizon was a black splotch of ink against the pale parchment of the desert, the heat bearing down on the girl making her way purposefully through the barren terrain. As she grew closer, the town they stole from before came into view. Or rather, what was left of it. Everest couldn't see much of the town since they arrived at dark, but you could still tell people lived there.

Now, nearly every building and home was burned to the ground. Stores and parks and homes all turned to ash. What used to be a town where people lived and breathed was reduced to charcoal and ashes. A skeleton of what it used to be.

What made it worse was that clearly the bodies, people who might have still been alive as their world was destroyed before their eyes, were left to rot or burn to nothing. Tears gather in Everests' remaining eye as she comes upon what she thinks is that one house with the little girl she gave flowers to. Did she end up telling her parents on them after all? Or did F.E.A.R. find out on their own and punish the whole town?

As Everest approaches the doorway, all that's left is the still locked doorknob that had fallen to the ground. Entering, there's about three steps left of the staircase and a fallen beam had crushed the rest under its weight, three bodies trapped underneath. Minor burns litter their putrid corpses, the heat quickening the decay process. They seemed to have died from inhaling too much carbon monoxide, unable to escape their homes after making the mistake of hiding instead of fleeing. Not that Everest thinks anything could have saved them from F.E.A.R.s devastating grip. The little girl Everest had seen before, had given flowers to, lays nestled tightly in her parents arms. Clutched tightly to her still chest is the red elephant plush she'd had before.

Kneeling before the bodies, Everest moves to take the plush. Apologizing, even as she pries it from the little girls cold, vice grip, she brushes off the ash clinging to its soft fur. One of its floppy ears has been burned completely off, revealing the stuffing inside. They deserve to have a proper send off, and though she doesn't know how they would have preferred it, she'll try her best to bury them.

Shoving the little elephant through the loose gap between her belt and her jean shorts for safekeeping, Everest attempts to move the giant beam that had fallen over the bodies. Its a massive struggle trying to move the weight of the heavy wood, the afternoon sun bearing down on her without a roof to cover the remains of the house. She pulls and pulls, even attempting to push, barely getting the beam to move an inch before she has to take a break. Everest was already so tired from the trek, from the emotional damage of the day before. For a while, she just sat there, crying in frustration, knees coated in ash and sand. At the sound of a car rumbling over the landscape, Everest looks up. She wipes her tears with bleeding hands marred with splinters and charcoal, and gets up, making her way into the remains of the house to find somewhere to hide.