As soon as Blue's tail disappeared among the trees, a heavy silence fell on the whole group. Owen could almost cut the tension and exhaustion with the knife he always brought with him. He looked at every person around him, one by one, feeling Claire's hand on his and Maisie's breathing through his wet shirt.
No one said anything or moved for what felt like hours until Maisie half-whimpered half-yawned. Owen then turned to Zia. "How about we look for some food and a place to crash? We'll look for a car or some kind of transportation later, I think we all deserve some rest."
Maisie nodded at that and Owen felt Claire slump a little in her upright position. It seemed as if all the adrenaline that accumulated in their veins for the last hours was suddenly gone, leaving them exhausted beyond measure and that's saying something knowing that Claire and himself had already gone through a similar traumatic experience three years back.
Zia approached them. "Maisie, would you mind being our guide?" Owen couldn't help but beam at Zia's quick thinking. The girl had already been through so much that day, she lost her grandpa, was chased around by a dinosaur that threatened to eat her, then learned that she was some kind of genetic experiment and now was all alone with no legal guardian or relative and wasn't even aware of the burden that would sooner than later fall on her shoulders after she freed the creatures that would cause so much damage Owen didn't really want to think about. So giving Maisie something to do, giving her a sense of importance, of belonging was an excellent idea. It would at least postpone her PTSD and maybe prevent shock.
Franklin seemed rather enthusiastic and grabbed the girl's other hand. "Yeah, you know this place the best! We're counting on you!" For the first time since that nightmare began, Maisie actually smiled.
When Claire let go of him to start climb the stairs, Owen took one last look at the forest, then followed the rest of the group. But after three steps up the stairs, he realized Claire was not following him. It was crazy how aware he was of her presence now, as if some unconscious force at the back of his mind wanted to make sure she was alright.
He saw her leaning heavily on the polished stone of the stairs, her left arm flat on it but her right hand clutching her thigh. She saw him stop and turn to her and a forced smile appeared on her ashen face. "Go on, I'm right behind you."
"No you're not," Owen softly said and walked down the three steps he had just climbed, concern etched on his face. Claire opened her mouth to protest and certainly repeat herself, already trying to stand straighter to hide her pain, but she looked at something behind Owen's shoulder. Maisie was waiting for them.
"We'll be there in a few minutes! Claire and I need to talk!" Owen said. Which was kind of true, in a way. Maisie nodded and Zia told them they'd be in the kitchens.
"Are you alright?" Owen asked Claire once the other three were gone and their footsteps could no longer be heard.
"Yes." She gritted her teeth but didn't move an inch. "Just give me a minute and I'll join you guys…"
Owen couldn't help but notice the way her voice wavered at the end of her sentence and the way her left hand was clenched on the stone, as if trying to squeeze it. Or not lose her balance, which Claire failed to do after a couple of seconds. Her legs buckled, she groaned and was about to roughly catch herself on the steps of the stairs, bruising her knees in the process. But Owen was faster and caught her by the waist.
She seemed so weak now that he could feel her in his arms, her whole body lacking her usual vibrant energy. She was trembling and her skin felt cold to the touch, but Owen couldn't say if it was due to the previous rain, to her exhaustion or something else.
"No you're not. You're definitely not." He started to lower her gently to the ground so she could sit, but Claire grabbed at his hand as if to pull him away and moved her injured leg. The moment her muscles began to move, she gasped in pain and closed her eyes. Owen decided to make her sit despite her protests and gently eased her down. He'd suffer her anger later, but for now, he had to check on that wound.
"We've been through a lot of shit since you got that," he motioned to her injury. "Might be infected." He could already see that it had bled through the bandage she had made herself. It was a good bandage, but it hadn't survived the climb of a latter and too many staircases to count when they had to make their way down the roof. Claire was only now showing signs of pain because the adrenaline wore off.
"I need to take a look at it, Claire," Owen tried to make his voice sound impartial, but he also didn't want to spook or scare her. He also knew that most of the time, Claire didn't react well to him ordering her around, so he added "Can I?"
She nodded and kept her eyes closed, her head leaning back on the stone and her breathing much faster than before. "Hey, easy. I'll try not to hurt you. It's gonna be fine. You're gonna be fine."
He tried to work as fast as he could and took off her bandage. Her wound was deep and bleeding again. From what Owen could tell, it would require stitches but he was glad she had been injured below the knee and not above. One inch to the wrong side of her thigh and she would have been dead in seconds. "It's best if we clean that up before putting another bandage." So he put her old one in place for the time being since he didn't exactly have any clean fabric to use as a makeshift bandage.
He was about to scoop her up when she grabbed his hand. "No," she croaked. "I can do it." When he opened his mouth to protest, she added "Please, let me do this. I'm not… I'm not helpless."
Owen smiled and extended his hand so he could help her up. He didn't like the way she winced and leaned heavily on her good leg, but he didn't prevent her from walking, offering her his body for support. "You've never been helpless, Claire. Never." If he wasn't so busy putting her arm on his shoulders and making sure they didn't fall on their faces, he would have noticed her small smile.
"So… what do we do now?" She asked and it felt too much like a repeat of a bittersweet story.
But he couldn't help but answer "Probably stay together. For survival. Among other things." The rest of the stairs was climbed in silence and excruciatingly slowly, but Owen didn't want to pressure Claire, so he walked at her pace. "Listen, Claire… I'd like to give us another shot. We work well together."
"Yeah," she whispered. "I'd like that too."
"So, what about Maisie?" he asked once they reached a bathroom and Owen started to look for a first aid kit.
"We can't leave her alone." Claire was sitting on the toilet seat, dangerously swaying and threatening to keel over any second. The soft look Owen gave her told her he was also thinking about bringing the girl along.
"After all, we're the parents of the new world, right?" he said, and Claire smiled.