Chapter 1- Blind
Septemer 1st/1997
Blinding white light and screaming. That's all she could remember. And someone grabbing her roughly and shoving. And then falling. And then pain. And then...no that's it. That's as far as she could make her stubborn brain remember. So instead she tried to figure out who she was.
After about ten minutes of stressing her brain into near exhaustion, she learned that she was a girl. Her name was Hermione Granger and she was witch. Not that the being a witch part really mattered because her wand was snapped in half underneath her arm and she couldn't think of any spells. So that just made her a plain old human girl with a battered body, a coppery taste in her mouth, and a strange disgusting smell in her nose. Suddenly, she felt sick and within seconds she threw up the unknown contents of her stomach. Gagging she wiped her mouth and let her gaze wonder.
All around her there was death. Gruesome bodies were strewn across the bloodied grass like lifeless puppets. Some people were burning, some were missing limbs, and some were covered in blood. Nearby in front of her a train cart was uncontrollably on fire and inside it she could her the faint cries for help of dying burning people. She looked at the train tracks to her left and saw that only half of the train had been wrecked, and the other half was safely sitting on the tracks. Off to her right crows were feeding on a group of dead bodies. Horror stricken Hermione felt her stomach twist into knots and tears instantly flooded her eyes. She let herelf cry uncontrollably while staring at the bodies mournfully. Suddenly she felt angry at the crows and in a fit of anger tried to stand up, but was stopped by the flash of pain that started at her right leg and coursed through her veins in less than a second. Gasping she collapsed and clutched at her leg. She looked down at the cause of the pain and gasped again.
Her leg had a huge gash that ran from the outside of her thigh down to her ankle. It wasn't bleeding a lot but it was loosly scarred. That must have caused the pain. In the attempt to stand up she had torn the scar, and had lengthened the healing process. Letting relief wash through her she turned to examine the rest of body.
Her stomach and arms were covered with purpling bruises and bloody scratches. Her forhead was faintly bleeding and so was her bottom lip. That explained the copper taste in her mouth. She reached up and felt her hair. It was matted with blood, but Hermione couldn't find a cut on her head that had caused her hair to be bloodied. It was then she turned around to check the ground beneath and found what she had been lying on. Instantly she was off of it and crouching a few feet away. Breathing hard from the adrenaline coursing through her veins she stared at the body that she unknowingly been laying on.
It was a girl. She was about the same size as Hermione, if not taller and looked about the same age. She had dark skin, as if she were of East Indian descent and her dark brown eyes were open and glazed over. Her long black hair was braided to the side and was crusted with blood. Her left leg was twisted in an awkward and unnatural position from the hip down and she had a giant gash in her stomach, almost like a hole. The blood from a cheek wound she had had covered the whole left side of her face and she had...no left arm. It was simply gone, and in it's place, was a bloodied gruesome stump.
Gasping in horror, Hermione closed my eyes, and turned her face away. She felt the tears come streaming down her cheeks again and let the familiar feel of nausea fill her senses. Unable to stop herself she open her eyes and threw up again.
Once she had finished she look up and saw another girl. This one looked exactly like the distorted dead one, except her hair was tied back in a loose bun, and she was alive...but barely. Slowly Hermione stood up and started to limp towards her desperately. The girl was crying and trying to crawl her way towards the dead girl, presumably her twin. She was missing a few fingers on her right hand and her right ankle was facing the wrong way. She had burns all over the left side of her body and a cut on her shoulder was gushing blood. She was alive, but she wasn't going to last long. Suddenly she noticed Hermione and cried out.
"Hermione! Help me! My sister she needs help! Help me get to her, I can heal her! Please help me get to Parvati!"
Nodding with tears in her eyes Hermione used all the strength she could muster and dragged the girl over to her sister. Once close enough, the girl burst into a fresh batch of tears and collapsed onto her sister. For what seemed like hours the girl screamed and cursed at the sky while clutching her dead sister to her frail body. Hermione sat near her, unable to control the tears that seemed to cascade down her ckeeks like a waterfall.
Suddenly the girl gave one last cry out and the stopped moving. Startled, Hermione reached out and shook the girl. She checked for a heart beat, pulse, or breathing. Nothing. The girl had died. Hermione was now alone in a field full of dead people.
She didn't cry the time. She pushed the sadness away and stood up. She knew she had to deal with herself. If she didn't stop her bleeding she was going to bleed to death. She had to clean out the wounds and wrap them. Was there a stream nearby? Looking around for water and some supplies she saw that only half of the train had been wrecked, and the other half was safely sitting on the tracks. So that meant that half of the people on the train must have survived. Attaining this new knowledge, Hermione suddenly felt the drive to survive. Hastily she searched for a creek.
A few times she passed trails of blood and footprints, random bits of luggage, and once she passed by a large of footprints, this was probably from the people who had survived. Once she had found a creek,she decided she would come back for some clothes/supplies and would follow this trail.
After what seemed to be an hour, Hermione came across a small creek. Finally content, she quickly stepped in fully clothed and let the water cleanse her body. She scrubbed the blood off of her fair skin and combed the blood out of her chocolate brown curls. Once satisfied that she was clean, she stayed in the water and let her mind wonder and take in her surroundings.
The creek was on the edge of a pine forest with many little green shrubs lining the side and a fallen tree acting as a make shift bridge. The water was clear and smelt of the first blooms of spring after a cold winter. Abover, the sun had cleared the skies and showered Hermione's body with warmth and comfort. Letting the calm of the atmosphere embrace her, Hermione started to let the joy of life fill her. She had survived the crash. Against all odds, she had somehow lived. It had to mean something. With a new found purpose, Hermione climbed out of the creek and headed back to get supplies and to follow the trail of footprints.
When she arrived back and the sights of the area clouded her eyes, she instantly felt the depressing feeling of death. Pushing past it though she set forward. Carefully she searched the area for food, clothes, and something she could use as shelter. After scouring the whole area, she came up with two skirts, one pair of pants, a jumper, two t-shirts, one turtle neck, a pair of boots, a jacket, three pairs socks, two pairs of clean knickers, two bras, a backpack, 30 chocolate bars, a water bottle, rope, a brush, hairties, mittens, several types of fruit, beef jerky, a toothbrush, a small blanket, someone's wand, and a knife. Hermione felt guilt sweep over her from taking the items, but she needed to survive and this was the only way. Hastily she stripped out of her wet clothes and changed into new ones. Then she stuffed all the other supplies into the backpack and then began following the trail of footprints.
She followed the trail for two hours and then stopped when gloomy clouds formed and it started to rain. She took shelter under a pine tree and hid herself from potential passing animals by hiding under its low hanging branches and scrunching herself right near the trunk. To a passing stranger or animal, she would not be seen. The low branches acted as protection so she stayed dry and semi-warm all night. She took the blanket out of her backpack and covered herself. then she tucked backpack to her chest and curled up under the tree. Instantly her tired body relaxed and she fell into un-consciousness just as the rain stopped and the sky cleared. The last thing she remember seeing was the soft glow of the moonlight seeming through through the branches.