Enslaved Heart (A "No one lives" fan-fiction)

Dull Goodbyes

When Donna finally reawakened, night had settled upon them and she was resting stomach up on the leather seat of their car. Grogginess and disorientation was immediate making it difficult to truly gather any surroundings besides that it was clearly night and the car's amber lights were on but other than that it was empty and she was alone. It took a few seconds to comprehend that, being alone and when that realization hit a stab of anxiety came with it. Someone was missing but confusion was running too rampant to put a name with the face of a sweet looking boy.. What was his name? She sat up and felt a sudden soreness rolling through her entire body along with a nauseous that would have made her vomit had her stomach not been empty. Instead keeling over head between her knees beneath the steering wheel gagging and gasping for oxygen. Everything hurt. From her swimming vision she could see obvious signs of bumps and bruises but nothing that would cause this much agony and the pain was centered in her torso, did she break a rib?

With one hand clamped around her mouth Donna rolled over in the seat opening up the door hearing a 'ding' as the car alerted her and then the thump of her shoes hitting the ground. Teetering on uneven legs a rush of nauseous almost knocking her back into the seat but managing to stay upright and glance around in the darkness. Trees and ferns surrounded her on all sides a blur of green and brown that seemed to stretch on into nothingness not a hint of civilization in sight but something lurched in her gut telling her to run. Why? A primal fear and rage accompanied the thought but these emotions felt foreign with her lack of understanding and it was then that she knew something was horribly wrong. Closing her eyes in that moment it all came back to her and she snapped them open calling out.

"SIMON!"

There was no response for several moments which seemed to crush her chest worse than the pain of her ribs and then from the right there was a flash of floppy ginger hair and a lanky leg stepping onto the path into the stream of lights and soon Simon stood into full view. Raising up one hand in a greeting and his lips splitting into a goofy lopsided smile striding over confident and unhurt.

"Were you worried?" He teased in far higher spirits than she had expected.

"Of course.. I woke up in the car alone.." Donna wheezed leaning against the car giving into the waves of fatigue and cradling her injured left side barely managing to raise her eyes up to his own. "What happened? How long was I out?"

"Only a few hours. I tried to treat your wounds to the best of my ability.." He sheepishly motioned to the crude bandages around her legs and arms not the best for keeping out infection and certainly not covering all the injuries. She stiffly crouched keeping her chest upright and began to adjust his work tying each in place and then straightening once more brushing off her dirt stained knees.

"We need to keep moving. If we stay here we'll be sitting ducks.." Offering no explanation she turned and climbed cautiously back into the car it seemed that any movement or bending would aggravate her chest and the pain that resulted was almost unbearable. Even driving as they pulled out from the parking lot and continued on their journey seemed nearly impossible.

Her eyelids drooped staring at the darkened gray road filled with potholes and fading white lines barely able to make out passing cars but trucking on either way. Opening up the windows and relaxing in the brush of a cool night's air on her reddened cheek its chill keeping her awake for right now. Sinking into the smell of passing ignitions and burning gas along with it the hinted scent of pine from the forest surrounding them. Her hands tightened around the wheel focusing on the grooves and dig of plastic against her palm than the soreness. Simon was already drooped down his head resting on the opposite window quietly besides the occasional huffing breath that would startle her each time he made it. In this moment of tranquil silence Donna gazed at him for just a moment and felt calmed almost instantly. She wasn't alone.