The Remains of Tomorrow #wattys2019

Chapter 3

The next morning found me sat outside the garage as I learned the basics of riding a motorbike. Bandit was in the house keeping Eric company. Last night at the gathering Daryl had come up to me and asked if I wanted to learn how to ride the bike since it was sitting there doing nothing. Eagerly I accepted as that was one thing I really wanted to do; so this morning we were sat outside while Daryl told me all about riding a bike and how to do it. When he thought I was ready we wheeled the bike out onto the drive and got settled on the seats of both mine and his bike,

"Now take it easy and put the motorcycle into neutral. Pull the clutch in toward the handlebar and press and hold in the start button." I followed his instructions and felt the bike start up with a soft purr, "now ease into first gear and turn the throttle; you don't want to be going too fast the first time you try and ride." He said as with a lurch the bike moved a few feet before cutting out.

"Oops." Laughing to myself I slapped my forehead lightly, "Fucked that up huh?" I said as I looked at him. He laughed but suddenly zoomed off in front of me,

"Try and keep up sweetheart." He yelled back to me in a challenge; fine two can play at that game. 
I restarted the engine and raced after him.
Finally after a couple of hours I was getting the hang of the bike and we were both racing down the street; suddenly, one of the tires blows out in the front of the bike. 
Cursing I found myself skidding across the road with the bike on top of me; I could see a wall rushing towards me and braced myself for impact. As my head and back hit the wall I passed out in pain but not before I heard the yell of Aaron and the crash as Daryl dropped his motorbike.

"Kenzie; are you ok? Daryl is she ok?" I heard my brothers' voice but I couldn't quite swim towards his voice,

"I don't know Aaron; but I don't want to move her until she wakes up." Slowly I came to myself and realised I'm still lying on the floor but the bike has been moved off of me.

"Ow." I said as I felt road rash up and down my entire body.  Strong hands were running themselves along my body causing me to cry out in pain when they found an extremely tender spot on my right leg.

"It's ok sweetheart, just stay very still; I think you have broken your leg." Daryl's voice sounded above me and I looked at him as he felt along my leg; concentration on his face as he felt around the limb before nodding.  Suddenly Rick and Abraham were there with what looked like a stretcher made of sturdy wooden poles and a canvas sheet. Daryl looked at me with sympathy in his eyes, "this is going to hurt darlin'" he said, his southern accent getting stronger as he took two straight pieces of wood and laid them next to me with a bandage that Abraham had given him.  Lastly he took off his leather belt and indicated for me to bite down but before I placed the belt between my teeth Olivia came up with a flask which smells suspiciously like whiskey.

"For the pain" she said. With her help i raise my head and she started pouring the whiskey down my throat until the flask is empty; leaving me feeling like I was floating in the air.  She put the belt in my mouth and held my hand.

"On the count of three...1...2..." Suddenly Daryl pulled at my leg causing me to scream around the belt as I clenched my teeth, "good girl." Fighting unconsciousness I watched as he placed the poles alongside my leg and gently he wrapped up the leg and poles within it. I let myself drift off into the dark abyss not wanting to deal with the pain again.

"What happened out there Daryl?" Rick asked as they lift the now unconscious Kenzie onto the stretcher; while Olivia made sure her leg stayed in one place. "I was watching you both and the tyre just blew...there was nothing wrong with that tyre as I saw you check it."  Daryl shrugged and took one end of the stretcher while Abraham took the other.