Put back together

68. Many, many ways just find the one that's right

Patton woke up to a dull headache and a throat so dry it felt like sandpaper.

The wooden floor under him moved at a steady speed and someone was holding him tightly. He recognised the feeling of the marks on his skin and Logan's smell.

Slowly blinking he opened his eyes.

They were inside what looked like a carriage. Or maybe a sleigh.

He shot up.

The revolutionaries! Had they been kidnapped?

A hand reached up and pulled him back down.

"Stay calm," Logan whispered. "We're fine."

"But what's going on?" Patton asked.

"I don't know. But if we're in captivity, why are our bags and weapons still with us?"

Patton turned and noticed their luggage, including Roman's sword, his bow and Virgil's lantern, piled up behind him, next to a hole in the sleigh, that looked as if it had been hit hard and shattered.

Emile was there too and held up a hand in a silent greeting, fresh looking bandages wrapped around his head messily.

"Where's Roman?" Patton asked on.

"Maybe outside," Logan shrugged. "I don't really know."

Through the hole Patton could see snow with a few weak plants poking through to get even just a little sunlight. They had to be way further down the mountain by now.

The movement stopped and they heard muffled voices coming from outside. Someone distanced themselves and for a few moments all was quiet.

Then footsteps came closer to the door and Patton felt Logan tense.

The door was forced open roughly, a brittle piece of it falling off.

"Ach, verdammter Mist" Virgil muttered and kicked it away. "Ah, you're alive," he noticed. "That's good. How's it going? Did ya have a nice nap?"

"Nap?" Logan asked confused.

"Yeah, okay, fair. Nap probably isn't the right word," he shrugged and pulled one of the bags out. "Anyway, we're gonna eat soon. You can join if you want."

"Wait, how long were we out?" Logan asked getting up and pulling Patton with him.

"Not sure, I was out for a while too but maybe two days?" Virgil shrugged heading back towards the front of the sleigh.
From the outside it looked way worse than it had looked from the inside.

Patton wondered what the hell had happened to it.

Virgil plopped down next to a small stack of twigs and began digging through the bag.

"Roman and Elliott are getting some more firewood. They should be back soon," he told them.

Patton sat down across from him. He wasn't sure how trustworthy Virgil was.

Logan stayed by his side and Patton leaned against him tiredly.
Odd how he was tired after being unconscious for multiple days.

After a while he heard footsteps come closer through the woods.
Patton sat up and spotted Roman carrying dead sticks and dry leaves. Elliott was jumping around him, keeping up without a problem. They jumped into the snow, crawled out again, only to shake it off and do it again, looking absolutely thrilled the entire time.

"Dad!" they shouted and barreled at him.

"You're awake!" Roman lit up.

Elliott knocked the air out of Patton as they collided with him.