Like the Darkness, but not the Darkness (A Gone series fan fiction)

What Could Go Wrong (Chapter Six)

How many days had it been since everyone disappeared, since the barrier went up?

Two or three.

Already Ivy couldn't remember exactly, but her mind was trying to focus on the task at hand.

Literally, at hand.

She'd been too lazy to actually change the day before, after she'd went into town. Now, she was wincing as she tried to pry her shoes off.

It took her half an hour, and by the end she knew she wouldn't be able to walk without silently wincing for days- both from her actual feet and the general aching in her legs. Her heels had bad burns, cuts and bruises on them- from the hot fire melting the leather, falling debris and a fifty foot jump.

Her feet looked absolutely mutilated.

Like slices of badly burnt meat that was then put in and yanked out of a leaf shredder.

Laying back on her bed with her feet put up by pillows and her back settled against the wall, Ivy started inspecting her hands.

The leather on the outside was burnt, looking almost smudged. There was cuts, parts where Ivy could see skin, and just by flexing her fingers Ivy could tell the damage went past her gloves.

Very carefully she stared peeling her gloves off, not getting an inch past her wrist before she met resistance.

Tears clouded her vision as she pushed through the pain, tugging and tugging on the glove until it came off.

She swore she could hear a tearing sound when she finally wrenched it off.

Wiping at her eyes with her gloved hand, she took in the hand she'd just freed. It looked exactly like her foot, but worse- if that was possible.

The skin was burnt, bruised, scraped, raw and bloody. It varied in pink, red, blue, purple and yellow colours, and it the skin was completely torn open and filled with disgusting bodily fluids in some parts and seemingly sagging off her hand in others. When she moved the hand, she could feel the bones shifting and clacking against each other painfully.

And that was only a brief description of the monstrosity that was her hand. It almost hurt to look at it.

With the gloves on it didn't hurt so much, but now that she had it off the pain was overwhelming. She bit on her lip to keep in her sobs as her gloved hand reached beside her, pushing open the drawer that sat next to the chair.

With shaking hands she took out the pill bottle, swallowing three Advil before she put the bottle away again.

As much as Ivy would like to deny it, she was sensitive. She couldn't handle pain at all.

Laying down on her bed, she closed her eyes- knowing it would hurt twice as much once she started to take off the other glove.

"Ivy, I've decided that I'm- Ivy, what did you do?"

Ivy's eyes snapped open, her head jerking up once Hunter burst into the room. He took one look at her feet, another at her one hand- and exploded in panic and concern. The look of disgust and horror was evident on his face, and that almost hurt more than the sudden shift of Ivy sitting up.

"Why didn't you tell me you were this hurt?!" He asked, almost angrily. Ivy opened her mouth to respond before he shot out of the room. Sighing, Ivy shifted into sitting position and prepared herself to go after him- absolutely dreading the walk.

But then he came back into the room, his hands clutching the first aid kit so hard his knuckles were white.

"Wait-" He said sternly, hesitating a moment before going into the bathroom. He came back out without the case, and came over to Ivy.