A/N: I finished my exams! Ugh, they were hell. Yeah also I'm super super sorry for not updating sooner but I really wanted to enjoy my break with my family. Then I kinda devoured a series called The Lunar Chronicles in less than 3 days and the final book isn't coming out for about 11 months and I have so many emotions running through my I just need to get them out. Anyway, I hope you guys like the story so far. Here's the chapter's song:
"I kissed the scars on her skin.I still think you're beautiful. And I don't ever wanna lose my best friend. I screamed out, 'God, you vulture, bring her back or take me with her.'" -A Match Into Water by Pierce the Veil.
You guys should really check out Pierce the Veil, they're seriously awesome. And I have a quick thing to mention before we begin. I'm gonna do a weird time-jump thing in here because I don't want to write a lot of stuff about the thing that I can't mention right now. That's all, here's the chapter.
Standard disclaimers apply.
November 23
It was 10:05 am when Jack, Flynn, Hiccup, and a bandaged Kristoff meandered into the frosty November morning.
"You're late." Elsa stated flatly.
"By five minutes." Jack scoffed.
"I said to be out here by 10am." Jack rolled his eyes in response and Elsa scowled at him.
"So, why are we going into the city anyway? Didn't you guys go yesterday?" Flynn asked to break the silence. Elsa waited a while before responding.
"We weren't exactly expecting houseguests. Our food will run out twice as fast now, so we need more. Also I'm going to be assessing each of you for your athletic capability so you can began training in areas that are necessary." Elsa stated with a monotone voice, as is reciting lines.
"Okay, then let's hop to it before you get too impatient, Queen Elsa." Jack said, nearly snarling the last two words. Elsa glowered at him before responding.
"Let's go. Try to keep up." Elsa replied dryly before breaking into a sprint along with the other girls, though it wasn't as fast as it had been the previous night. The boys stood there for a second before reluctantly joining. After reaching the halfway mark, it became blatantly obvious that 3 of the boys were not used to that kind of exercise. Elsa sighed heavily and stopped, placing her hands on her hips as she turned around to face the male group. Merida, Anna, and Astrid followed in suit while the boys supported themselves with hands on their knees, chests heaving. All but Jack, who stood with his arms crossed, barely breaking a sweat.
"You can't be serious. Is this a fucking joke? We are halfway to goddamn city and you're already tired. All of you but Jack, as much as it pains me to say that, are, well, fucking pathetic." Elsa ranted.
"Oh, come on Els. Go easy on the lads, they can't help they're hopelessly out of shape." Merida consoled as she struggled to keep a straight face.
"Yeah, don't be a bitch about it." Jack muttered. Elsa whipped her head in his direction.
"What did you just say?" Her voice was calm, soft, and extremely deadly. "No, really. Please, repeat yourself." Astrid moved her hand to Elsa's shoulder, and she didn't jerk out of its touch.
"I said, 'Don't be a bitch about it.'" Jack said, confidence evident in his tone.
"Let me make something clear to you. You're in my group. I am your leader. If I wanted to, I could kick you out of my group and leave you to fend for yourself. Or I could shoot you, and I must say, I'm leaning towards the latter."
"You wouldn't."
"Oh yeah? You think you'd be the first person I've killed. Nah, and you wouldn't be the last." Jack rolled his eyes.
"Are you done?"
"I am. And I've come to a decision. We're heading back and jumping into your training with a vengeance. Astrid, work with Hiccup. Anna with Kristoff, Merida with Flynn-" Merida let out a loud groan. "-and I'll take Jack here."
"Aw, I can feel the love." Jack sneered. Elsa tightened her jaw and rolled her eyes.
"Actually, training starts now. Let's see who can get back to the house first. Ready? Go."
December 5
Elsa and Jack were off on own of their early morning runs, (well, more like races) the others still asleep in the safehouse when they departed. Elsa's head was ducked, concentrating on the task at hand. She didn't even notice the peeling arm that stuck out of the tall bushes until its owner had collided with her, forcing her to the ground as rotting teeth scraped against her ear. Elsa roared out a stream of obscenities as her body met the ground, knocking the breath out of her. Her attacker was a male, probably in his late twenties. He was probably in good shape once, as he was so heavy and she could still see muscle tone under the layer of grime stuck to his skim. He was far past Gone, flesh peeling off of his face and body in such big hunks that bone was visible in some areas. He screeched into her ear as she tried to roll up in an attempt to push him off her with her feet. His mouth was close to her neck, she could feel his sticky breath as she waited to feel his teeth sink past her sink. But it didn't come. Instead, the body suddenly went limp and fell on top of her. It was too heaving to move, but Elsa squirmed until her upper half was out from underneath him. The suddenly Jack was there, grabbing her around her waist and pulling her up. Elsa forced down a blush as she took shaky breaths.
"Are you okay?" He asked, and Elsa thought for a moment that he was actually concerned. She nodded.
"Other than a few cuts and scrapes, I think I'm good." Then were face went pale. "Wait. He might have bitten me. On my neck. Check, is there a bite?" Elsa was suddenly frantic, her hands clawing at her neck.
"No. No, I don't see one." Jack responded after lifting up her chin and turning her head. Elsa nearly fainted with relief.
"Thank you. For saving me." She lowered her voice as she said it, not wanting to admit that he saved her life. Jack brushed it off as though it was nothing. Elsa rolled her eyes and just hugged him. He froze for a moment before hugging her back. He felt warmth as she felt blinding pain. Elsa doubled over with an awful scream of agony and Jack got a good look at what caused the damage. When the Infected attacked her, Elsa had fallen onto a shard of glass. The wound was big, and blood soaked through it at a rather steady pace, staining her grey tank top.
"What is it? Is it bad?" She panted.
"You fell on glass. It's stuck in your back."
"I guess I didn't feel it because of the adrenaline. I definitely feel it now. Fuck. It hurts." Elsa whimpered the last part.
"Shit." Jack said, shoving his hands into his hair as he began to pace. "Shit." He repeated. They were a good ten minutes away from the safehouse, and that was with the pace they were making. They had no way of contacting anyone back at the house and Elsa was in no condition to run.
"Okay, try to hang in there because this is gonna hurt." Jack said, not giving Elsa time to respond before picking her up in his arms and beginning to run back to the safehouse. Elsa screamed out another round of obscenities, this right directly into Jack's ear.
"Fuck, I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die and then no one will take care of Anna and-"
"Stop that." Jack interrupted. "You're not going to die. As long as you don't bleed out before we get back, I can stitch you up. My dad was a surgeon."
"What good does stitching my up do in a die from infection?"
"We'll get medicine. Send a team to the city. You're going to be fine." They then fell into silence for a while, until Elsa began to lose consciousness. Jack felt her going limp in his arms. He stopped.
"Elsa, don't fall asleep." He yelled. She opened one eye.
"Shut the hell up. I'm so tired." She went limp. Jack shook her. Picked her back up and ran with renewed energy, yelling at her about how she couldn't die the entire way back. When he ran into the house, he disrupted Anna and Kristoff in the middle of what seemed to be a heavy makeout session. Astrid, Hiccup, Flynn and Merida were nowhere to be seen. Anna screamed, seeing the front of Jack's shirt soaked in blood. Kristoff passed out. Jack moved quickly, carrying Elsa to the dining room table and gently laying her down on her stomach.
"We were attacked. She's hurt. Get the others." He managed to get out. Anna nodded and ran off in search of the rest of the group while Jack dug through their bag of medical supplies and pulled out scissors, hydrogen peroxide, thread, a needle, tweezers and a small tube of neosporin. He used the scissors to cut a slice along Elsa's tank top, over her spine. He reddened as cut over her bra but reminded himself that she was dying. He opened the bottle of peroxide just as the others rushed into the room.
"Elsa!" Merida cried, rushing to her side.
"Astrid and Flynn, hold her down. Anna, check on Kristoff." Jack commanded. They did as he ordered and he sucked in a short breath before dumping some of the liquid into her wound. As expected, she came to life. Her back arched as a bone-piercing scream ripped through her body. Merida grabbed her waist and held her down as she struggled.
"This is seriously gonna hurt, and I'm sorry." Jack said before grabbing the tweezers. He began plucking every glass shard he could find out of the bloody rip in her flesh, evoking another ear-shattering cry each time the object entered her body. Kristoff came to, then was ushered out by Anna before her could faint again.
"Hiccup, go tell them to run a perimeter search. We left a trail of blood behind, and she's making a hell of a lot of noise." Jack ordered. Hiccup fled with a firm nod. Elsa's body was covered in sweat from the effort it was taking her not to pass out. Jack handed Astrid a rag.
"Make her bite down of that." He said before pulling the last few pieces of glass he could find from her body. Again, he cleansed the wound with peroxide and again they stood by as she howled in agony and writhed in an attempt to escape the hands holding her down.
"Hard part's over… I hope." Jack muttered. He cut a length of thread and knotted it on one side, then carefully strung it through the needle. He cautiously began to stitch up the wound, Elsa having taken to screaming swear words instead of just screaming. When he finished the last stitch, he cut the thread and knotted it five time for good measure. He set down the needle and picked up the tube of neosporin. He squeezed out a larger amount an smeared it over her laceration. Her attempts to escape grew feeble, her screams morphed into moans that melted into sobs.
"Grab me the gauze and tape, would you?" Jack asked Merida, who immediately dug through the small duffel before handing over the little gauze they had left along with a big roll of duct tape. Merida lifted up Elsa's torso when needed and soon Jack had secured the material around her. Everyone stepped back with sighs.
"What the fuck happened again?" Astrid asked. Jack explained the whole situation, leaving out the part about the hug as he'd surely be teased, and waited for someone to say something.
"We need to set up shifts for who's going to watch her." Jack stated.
"Watch her?" Flynn asked, confused.
"She's hurt. We can't leave her here alone, she isn't going to be waking up anytime soon. Someone needs to watch her at all times to make sure she doesn't fucking keel over and die."
"I'll go first." Astrid volunteered. Then the missing three in their group sauntered back in.
"Huh?" Kristoff asked.
Soon the shifts were set up: Astrid 11am-2pm, Anna 2pm-5pm, Merida 5pm-8pm, Hiccup 8pm-11pm, Jack 11pm-5am, Flynn 5am-8am, and Kristoff 8am-11am. Jack got the longest shift because, according to the girls, Elsa being injured was partially his fault, though he didn't see how losing so much sleep was a fair punishment. Plus, he hadn't done anything to her. Sure, his reaction time was a bit slow on getting the guy off her, but she would have fallen to the ground no matter what he did. He just prayed that she didn't come to on his watch.
"Okay then, I'm gonna put together a group to go to the city." Jack announced to the guys.
"Why do people need to go back out there?" Hiccup asked.
"Elsa needs medicine to prevent infection, and our food supply is dwindling. Okay: Hiccup, Flynn, and Kristoff can go. Be quick."
"What the fuck? Who asked us if we wanted to?" Flynn demanded.
"I'm not fucking asking for your permission." Jack replied.
"Just because your little girlfriend is hurt doesn't mean you turn into a douchebag."
"She's not my girlfriend and I'm just doing what I have to do."
"Oh yeah? Then why don't you fucking come along?"
"In case you've forgotten, I'm stuck with the graveyard shift. I need rest."
"Jack's right. Anna said, standing in the doorway. "And stop fucking arguing, it's giving me a headache." Though she hid it well, sadness laced her words. Her eyes were red and swollen.
"Sorry." Flynn said sarcastically before storming out of the house. Hiccup and Kristoff followed him and a few minutes later Jack saw them running off to the city.
"Anna, I really am sorry about Elsa-"
"Stop. It isn't your fault." Anna interrupted. She sighed, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples. Jack didn't know what to do so he patted her shoulder awkwardly.
"That's your attempt at comforting me? Jesus, you're just like Elsa." Anna broke into laughter, making Jack retract his hand and back up slightly, wanting to flee the situation before it got worse. Anna recovered and stretched, joints popping in the process.
"You should go rest or something." Anna suggested.
"Yeah, I'll go do a quick perimeter check-which reminds me, we should be doing those every half hour-then I'll go sleep. Oh, and tell them to clean Elsa's wound with peroxide and put more neosporin on in every 3 hours."
"Yeah, yeah. Got it. Go." Anna babbled before shoving him towards the door. He exited and did his quick perimeter check in a 100 meter radius around the property with no trouble. When he reentered the house the girls were attempting to move Elsa to the old, beat-up couch.
"No, don't." Jack said. "Her stitches could rip out. Leave her on the table like she was." Sighing, the girls followed his directions.
"Also, where can I sleep? You guys are kinda taking up the space we usually sleep in."
"You can use Elsa's room I suppose." Anna replied. "I'll show you where it is." She led him up the stairs and down the hall to a down that contained a ratty old mattress, a dirty blanket, and a duffel bag, which he assumed contained her little belongings. Anna left the room and Jack took off his muddy boots before sliding under the blanket, overwhelmed by the scent of Elsa that hung in the fabric. He fell asleep reminding himself that he'd have to wake up at 11pm to watch over the girl that he despised over a week ago.
A/N: Hey guys. Yeah it's late and I'm tired so I'm out but I will be back tomorrow hopefully with a new chapter. Here's the ending lyrics:
"She's mine. You stay away from her, it's not her time.'Cause, baby, I'm the one who haunts her dreams at night until she's satisfied." -A Match Into Water by Pierce the Veil.
Until the next chapter,
Midna~