( A fanfiction based in the host novel by Stephanie Meyer. Note, I am not her, but I love her work. This is my first published fanfiction, so please run your word processors through it.)
Karen…
I woke up on my mat, covered in cold sweat and dazed. A coyote howled in the distance and crickets chirped but otherwise I was alone. Alone… still after I she had been taken. After I couldn't save her. No, I couldn't blame myself. It was four years ago. She wouldn't have wanted me to dwell on it.
I packed up my things. My day was going to start early. It felt like forever since I had slept under a roof, but that was the price of freedom. When the days melted together and I wondered what I kept fighting for I only needed to remember her gaze, the gaze of terror as they dragged her away. It was painful, but it was necessary, like iodine on a wound.
Judging by the position of the sun, it was around six o'clock in the morning. That one of the few things I had learned from boy scouts before I dropped out to focus on my sedentary potential. It was the only way I could tell how long I traveled, and once upon a time it was the only joy I had when I watched it with Karen. There I go again, I still can't banish her from the crevices of my mind. Not after two weeks, nor after four years. I wondered if they made her into a brain bug, or just did away with her. Those things always preached love and hope, but under the bright eyes they got rid of any human stupid enough not to hide. Karen bore into my mind like a brain bug more days than not...
My upper body was still quite weak but years of running and hiking had given me some dexterity. Unfortunately years of hiding have left me with a bad back, and my asthma had limited my mobility. If I hadn't stocked up on one of those long lasting inhalers before the invasion I would never have made it. My hair was unpleasantly long and bothered my eyes more days that not. I could cut the amber bunch of knots off, but then what would protect me from the sun?
I stepped over another hill, wondering how many more hills like it I would wander over before I finally dropped, when something caught my eye. It took a few minutes to focus, but there was no mistaking it. About a mile away, like a gift from god, was a gas station. It looked old, like one of those classic ma and pa pit stops, but I would bet the last ounce of water I had that it was inhabited. A good thing too; I actually was down to an ounce of water. I reached for my pack to fumble out some sunglasses before I headed towards the station. My only hope was this was a heavily hiked piece of Arizona, or I would be running today.
I always wondered why I never left the desert after she was taken. I always hated the sand, the heat and the absolute lack of water of the area. I wanted to hide away in the Cascades of Washington where forests were full and rain was plenty, but Karen always loved the sand, and I always loved Karen so I tolerated potential heatstroke for her. Perhaps a part of me is perpetuating the insane idea that she's still alive somewhere, and that sooner or later she'll come looking for me. Her body would, but not her. The brainbugs always won out as far as I knew.