Chapter 1

Eponine jerked awake, and for a moment she didn't remember where she was or what had happened. But it all came rushing back to her soon enough. But wait- wasn't she supposed to be dead? Didn't she die in Monsieur Marius' arms after being shot-?

She lifted her hand, which she was starting to notice was still throbbing with pain, and stared at the bullet hole that was in it. With her other hand, she groped the front of her blouse, which was still soaked with blood. Just as she thought. The bullet had missed her heart, and had passed through her shoulder instead. She was by no means all right, but she would live.

She suddenly sat up, only taking a second to grimace in pain. What had become of Monsieur Marius? She made herself stand, then wished she hadn't as she looked around. Bodies littered the barricades. Not one was moving. As she limped along, she had passed by the lifeless bodies of the entire ABC revolutionaries. Grantaire, Combeferre, Courfeyrac,and... she stifled a gasp of pain and despair. Her little brother, Gavroche... dead. Oh, how she wished she had done more for him, her brother. She bent down and kissed his forehead in farewell, before having to move on.

Her heart grew a tad lighter as time passed and she didn't see Monsieur Marius' body, though it depressed her that the cause her love had so valiantly fought for had failed, not to mention all the deaths that had occurred. As she was mulling this over, she spotted movement out of the corner of her eye. She whipped her head around and stared in the direction she thought she had seen it.

It was one of the bodies! She wasn't the only one to have survived after all! She rushed over to it, and found Enjolras stirring- feebly, but alive. She placed a hand on his shoulder and shook him gently. "Monsieur... Are you all right?"

Eponine immediately kicked herself for asking such a stupid question. Of course he wasn't all right! He leg was twisted in an unnatural position, and a gunshot wound was still bleeding from his arm. She looked down at the revolutionaries face as he blinked up at her.

"Miss Eponine? I-I saw you die in Marius' arms! How-"

"The bullet missed my heart. I must have just passed out from the pain."

"Is Marius all right? Did any others survive?" Enjolras inquired next. Eponine's heart contracted as she answered.

"None of the others survived, save for me and you. As for Monsieur Marius, I do not know. All I know is, I haven't run across his body in the time I have been conscious."

Enjolras sagged under the weight of the news of the ABC's demise. "I was so sure the people would rise with us- how could they abandon us to this fate, when we were fighting for them?"

Eponine looked at him in sympathy. "They found it too dangerous, Monsieur. You were up against the might of France. They knew that if they fought and lost, their families would be the ones who would pay. Don't think too badly of them, sir."

Enjolras nodded slowly at this new take on the situation. "Maybe you are right, Miss Eponine. But think of it- Marius must be alive! Otherwise, you would surely have run across his body by now!"

Eponine shuddered once at the thought, but then replied, "Yes, running across Monsieur Marius' body would- would make this so much worse. It would make it unbearable, in fact." She said the last part in a whisper. She sank into a sitting position next to Enjolras as the pain of her shoulder and hand wounds racked through her.

"Are you all right, Miss Eponine?"

"Yes." She panted. "Although neither of us will be if we don't get medical care soon. But we can't very well get up and look for some either." She shot him a look. "And don't call me 'Miss'."

Enjolras look at her strangely and opened his mouth to respond, but at that moment, a beacon of light passed over them.

'We're over here!" Enjolras yelled desperately, right before Eponine clapped a hand over his mouth."Shhhh!" she hissed.

Enjolras pushed her hand off his mouth, sputtering in protest. "What was that for? Whoever holds that light could save us from the infernal waiting around to die!"

"Maybe, but only if they're friendly!" Eponine retorted. "They could just as easily be here to loot dead bodies! And in that case, they'd just as soon as kill us as get us help!"

Enjolras had the good grace to look sheepish. "I hadn't thought of that."

"Well, you weren't raised to think like that. Not like I was." Eponine added darkly. Suddenly, she stiffened and used a word definitely not fit for a lady. "It doesn't matter! They've seen us!"

Both Eponine and Enjolras sat tensed, hoping against hope that whoever that held that light was friendly, and would help them get to a doctor before it was too late.

Okay, just now realized what a pain French words and names are to spell. And they say ENGLISH is weird? :D Anyway, R&R's are welcome and appreciated! :)