The dark days

Gas station

Lucy's pov:

  I watched Zack doze off almost instantly; he really had been exhausted. He really needed this rest, especially after all that he had done to protect me and to get my plush back.

  Not being able to sleep again, my thoughts wavered towards the two people Zack had let in. They seemed nice enough but I still didn't fully trust them. However I did trust Zack's judgment. Maybe this time things would be different?

  I sighed softly and lay my head against Zack, looking down and fidgeting a little, not knowing what to do without Zack to guide me. I found myself silently wishing for Zack to wake up soon.

  "Hey.." Emily began quietly, scooting slowly over to Lucy, "You're name's Lucy right? My name is Emily."

"Oh uh, h..hello" I answered nervously, fidgeting a little with my shirt.

  "You seem really attached to him" Emily noted, motioning towards Zack, "He must really be very caring huh?"

"Yes miss, he i..is" I replied, snuggling closer to him, "W..without him I wouldn't be here now."

  "You're quite lucky to have him as a friend then. Times can be hard without someone to have your back now" Emily said, looking down.

  "He..he's more than that. He's a brother t..to me and I love him" I corrected, my tone a mix of nervousness and a slight proportion of it shyness.

  "I see" she said, sounding a little distant as she said so, which gave me the feeling that she must be thinking of something. However I decided not to push her.

"Y..yeah" I said, hugging Zack's arm and burying my face in his shoulder.

  "Lucy, it's okay, don't be scared" Emily comforted, gently putting her hand on Lucy's shoulder. "I know we just met and all but I promise we're not going to hurt you. If something bad happened regarding trusting others before" she paused, before continuing, "Well I promise everything will be fine."

"A..alright" I said, the nervousness fading away already.

  "Good" she said, before giving a smile, "Perhaps we can even be friends once we get to know each other better, yeah?"

  "Yeah, perhaps" I murmured, looking away and staring out of the window. The storm still hadn't let up and if anything seemed like it was at the peak of it's intensity now. Rain was pouring down like a flood from above and the outside was as dark as an abyss, with the only light coming from the headlights of the car piercing a few feet in to the dark. This was going to be a long and dangerous drive.

  Emily had gone to looking out the window again, staring in to the darkness while her brother kept driving, humming quietly to himself.

  I glanced at her neck momentarily and noticed a thick, light pink scar running down it. Immediately my curiosity increased and I thought about asking her about it, but I decided it would be best if I didn't. Whatever had happened had to be personal, and I didn't want to go around asking those questions to people I had just met.

"Hey g..guys?" I asked a little hesitantly, "How long will we be on the road exactly?"

  "Well it depends, but if we want to get to Canada I'd say at least a two day drive without rest" Felix answered.

  "Is there enough fuel to get us there?" I replied, getting a little worried that we might run out in the middle of nowhere.

  "No, but there's bound to be functional gas stations along the way, so we'll be alright. There's no need to worry Lucy" he reassured, speeding up the windshield wipers.