War For The World

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The day had given way to night in the cruellest way. She was cold, disorientated in the dark and running on fumes.

The argument with Alex played once more in her mind. It made her furious, the way he'd acted. Had he not known that Louis would always be her one and only focus? How blind did the soldier man have to be to not see that. Sure, she may have gone a tad far in a few places but overall Joan was steadfast on the fact that she had held her ground and done what was right for her and her boy.

And yet here she was, ankle deep in mud with no obvious way forwards. She scalded herself. It must've been the left turn a few miles back... or maybe the decision to rest for a few hours as opposed to carrying on during the last of the sun time.

Regardless of where she had gone wrong, one thing was certain. She was lost.

A rustle in a nearby bush got her immediate attention. Some sort of animal was making a ruckus nearby.

She envied the animal, whatever it was. Able to roam free. Able to survive on its own without many cares.

Immediately after leaving the house, she'd made her way back to the road. The last time Joan had seen the odd-looking tripod it'd been bounding off down towards the road.

Anything further than that though was a mystery. And Joan had quickly begun to realise the mammoth task she'd set foot in.

Giant craters were pressed into the road, marking the path that the tripod had taken. Trees were crushed and large mounds of dirt upheaved as the breadcrumb trail or craters led Joan off the beaten track and down into the deep underbrush of the forest to the side of the road. After a long while however the trail had run dry, and Joan was left wandering aimlessly by herself in the middle of what seemed to be a dense marsh.

In one hand she held her pack, on the other gripped tight was the cage for Cog. The rabbit mirroring her own on edge attitude.

And that was how she had wound up talking to a rustling bush.

"Surely you can help me out" she called out in jest to the animal.

In the dark, she could see nothing to suggest an outline of such an animal, only the pinprick blinking red eyes of something watching her. Staring at her. The sounds of owls hooting from the trees up above a welcome remiss from the almost fearsome silence that would have almost certainly made her situation feel even worse.

It didn't phase her, not a lot did at the moment. As she trudged further and further into the marshlands all she was worried with was where she was going.

Her boots were sticking to the muddied ground now, and as she trekked further and further she found herself having to aggressively pull with each step. She could feel her energy draining with each movement.

With a rather satisfying schlop she pulled her last foot out of the mud and onto what felt like dry land. Her second foot however found less success, with great surprise the weight against her right foot suddenly lessened and she went flying forwards. She hit the ground hard as her right boot began to sink itself into the mud.

She turned around, grabbing wildly at the dark in an attempt to save her boot. Dirt and grass swept through her fingers as she tried desperately to feel the comforting touch of leather against her. The boot only sinking further into the dark.

She pulled her hand away and let out an anguished gasp. Today was definitely not going her way.

Lying there in the damp dark and cold, with nothing but the sound of rustling bushes to keep her company.

Crickets chirped loudly in the bushes beside her. The sound loud and aggressive, almost as if they were laughing at her. She was a failure. She could not do this.