Chapter 2
Just so you know, this one starts directly after Abby is taken, but then catches up to the time of the previous chapter. Thanks for the review, ObsessedFanStar58!
Oh, and I forgot before. Disclaimer! I do not own these characters, or anything else for that matter.
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"Tom!"
Tom, having tried to run after the van in which Abby was held, lowered his rifle slightly, and ran back towards Anya. He placed his gun on the bonnet of the car, and bent down. Looking at the man lying on the floor, he didn't need Anya's medical training to realise that Greg was in very bad shape. Greg's eyes were wide, his breath came in short gasps, and his skin seemed to be going blue. Anya was whispering to him quietly that he was going to be fine, asking him to look at her, but her voice betrayed the underlying panic and residual shock of Greg's shooting and Abby's kidnap.
"They've taken Abby. Why have they taken Abby?" Sarah directed at Tom.
"Tom, could you get my medical bag, please? It's next to the blankets in the back," said Anya, distractedly.
As Tom ran to get the bag, Sarah stood awkwardly next to the car, arms crossed as if she were freezing. Having served her duty of pressing the car horn to get Tom back, there was little else she could do but stand there. The same thought seemed to have crossed Tom's mind, and as he hurried past her with the bag, he threw the car keys at her, which she caught in surprise.
"Go get Al. You're useless here," he said brusquely, not bothering to make eye contact.
Sarah's lips pouted slightly at this insult, but she did as he said, and within seconds, the car had disappeared from sight. Tom drew his full attention to Anya, who now had a purposeful aura about her. Greg was now shifting his head from side to side, and did not seem to be listening to their conversation.
"Is he going to be alright?" Tom asked her, with a much gentler tone than he had used with Sarah.
"I don't know yet," said Anya, who was rummaging in her bag, and quickly produced a stethoscope, and started listening to Greg's now bare chest. After several seconds, Anya sighed in a frustrated manner, and started to rummage in her bag again.
"What's wrong?" asked Tom.
"I think he has a tension pneumothorax. One of the bullets must have caused a tear in the lung tissue, and the air in his lungs is escaping," Anya swiftly replied, taking a needle out of the bag. "I have to put this needle into his lung to release the air."
As she slowly drove the needle into his chest, a loud hiss sounded out. Anya's face relaxed ever so slightly, and she nodded to herself as she heard the hiss.
"That's the air escaping," she told Tom with a small, nervous smile.
After a minute or so, Greg's breathing had become slightly easier, and his face had lost some of its pallor. His eyes wandered over the scene before him, and then focused on Anya. He gripped her arm.
"A-Abby?" he managed to speak.
"Don't talk," she soothed, with her hand resting softly on his forehead.
"What do we do now?" said Tom.
Anya shrugged slightly. "We wait for Sarah to get back with the car. Tom...Dexter?"
"He'll have run off by now. No point going after him, not on foot."
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Sarah drove carefully through the streets. She had seen no sign of the van that had taken Abby, and she could no longer hear the sound of the helicopter. She was glad about that; she had no animosity towards Abby, but she was certainly not one for suicide missions, and to go up against 10 or so men in order to get her back would certainly count as one.
However, it had not escaped Sarah's notice that the only one to speak up and say that she could come with them was Abby Grant, and that with Abby gone, Sarah herself was in a rather precarious situation. The others had been horrified when they realised what she had done, leaving Bob to die like that, (although she had noticed Tom was not overly concerned about it), and she had felt herself become more unpopular by the minute.
It was betraying Anya, though, that they seemed to consider the bigger sin. Al was fond of Anya, but he was also of a relatively mild and forgiving nature. Unfortunately, Al was more of a follower than a leader, and she doubted he cared enough about her to go against the others if they kicked her out of their little group. Najid, as the child, held little sway, even if he wasn't currently missing. Greg, of course, was incapacitated, but even so, Greg had never seemed as enamoured with her as she had once hoped. Anya had certainly been...displeased over Sarah's betrayal. Sarah wondered if, with Abby's calming presence no longer bridging the gap, Anya would want Sarah gone.
It was Tom that she feared most. In some ways, betraying Anya had been the ultimate test, to see if Tom could learn to love her without the distraction that Anya posed. It had become obvious the moment he walked into her room that it had been a mistake. The affection, or probably more accurately, the toleration, that Tom had for Sarah had dissipated the moment that she had told that man that Anya was a doctor. Abby's kidnapping had left a power vacuum within the group, and with Greg's incapacitation and Tom's strong and forceful character, Tom was a top contender to fill the breach. She could see quite clearly that Tom's violent nature could, at best, send her off packing, or at its worst, kill her.
Sarah pulled in to the kerb to check the map again. Letting out a breath, she opened up the map and trailed her fingers over the multicoloured lines. Pausing slightly, she ran her index finger over the towns and villages. It occurred to her that she could go off on her own. She had all their gear. Tom and Anya were stuck with Greg, Al was up in that tower block, and Najid was who knew where. None of them would realise what she had done until she was far away.
Sarah mused on thoughts of her old warehouse dream. Perhaps she could find another warehouse, get the workers and huge vegetable garden that she had imagined. She dwelled on this peacefully for a while until reality, unfortunately, began to sink in. She had already lost one warehouse to a band of thugs. She was incapable of defending such a place herself, and who knew whether she would find anyone willing to protect her? No, she thought. She couldn't survive on her own. She certainly couldn't go back to Willis', where Bob was. Her only option for the moment was to stay with this merry band of misfits and hope for the best.
She sighed quietly, reached for the clutch, and went to get Al.
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Three days later
Anya sat on the stone wall, her foot tapping rhythmically against the stone as she watched Greg, lying a few feet away from her, sleep fitfully. It had been difficult. First the pneumothorax, then trying to deal with the blood, having to remove the bullets, and all without the conveniences that modern medicine had provided her with before the plague. Greg had survived, though, which was the important thing. He was still in poor condition, however, and she was anxious that he get enough rest.
A low mumbling caught her attention as Najid moved slightly in his sleep. The field next to the graveyard in which they were camping for the night was not particularly comfortable, especially as they had decided against packing tents. Al, as if sensing the young boy's discomfort, moved Naj's blanket up slightly. Anya smiled slightly at seeing them. She had been very relieved to see Najid again, returning with Sarah and Al, but upon finding that Abby had disappeared and Greg had been shot, Najid had become quite agitated. They had been concerned that Najid was blaming himself, but attempts to talk to him about it were shut down fairly quickly.
Anya looked over to Tom, and was surprised to find he was awake, and staring at her. Seeing her notice him, he quietly got up and came to sit next to her.
"Have you been awake watching him all night?" he asked her in a low tone.
"I have to watch him. In case something happens," she said with a tired smile.
Tom shifted on his feet. "You're no good to him if you're so tired you can't think straight."
Noticing little reaction to this remark, Tom hesitated before his next one, "Look, go to sleep. I'll watch him. I promise to wake you if anything happens, ok?" As he said this, he held out his hand to help Anya get down.
"...Ok," she whispered as she took his hand.
Tom climbed up to the spot that Anya had just vacated, and watched the others sleep.
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So, REVIEWS! Most important thing in the world, obviously. Hopefully, the next chapter will have Abby and Sami.
