Title: S.O.S. Save Earth
Short Summary:
A what if story that Autobots never reached Earth on time before the Decepticons got to the All Spark. What would have happened if they had not come at all? Answer; The Earth becomes a dark, enslaved world ruled by the Cons. Rated M.
Pairings:
Annabelle L./Ironhide (not romantically), Sam/Mikaela/Bumblebee, Optimus Prime/Elita One.
Warning: Story contains implied and/ or scenes of: strong language, strong torture, attempted rape, angst, adult scenes, strong violence and probably more…
Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any characters.
::Chapter Ten::
Just by looking at Jesse, Anna knew that her friend was in the danger of losing her life. She could see that. She felt horrified to see how bloody Jesse was. She couldn't help but push past people and rush into the trailer, only to get grabbed by the arm as she tried to approach Jesse on the make shift bed made out of crates and blankets. She turned to glare at the person who had grabbed her and found that it was Will.
"You can't come in here right now! Get out…!" Will was scolding her.
But Anna yanked her arm free from his grip and jabbed a finger nearly into his face. "Don't, Will! I know her! She's my best friend!" She snapped at him before she swung around and dropped to her knees right beside Jesse. "Jesse!"
Examining her very state, Anna could see that Jesse was a complete mess. Not only she was covered in blood, but she was also covered in gashes, cuts and even bite marks. It was obvious that she had been caught by Reavers and they had tried to eat her raw. There were even some chunks missing out of her and it broke Anna's heart to see her like this. But what really had her attention was all of the lash marks covering her bloodied skin. She looked like she had been whipped badly. She was almost completely naked other than shredded clothes and the blanket covering her.
"Oh, my god." Anna cried softly as tears streamed down her cheeks. She looked at Jesse's face and felt worst.
Jesse's face was almost swollen from being beaten. One eye was so swollen in her eye socket that it didn't even look like an eye anymore. The other was barely open, looking weakly up at Anna. Blood stained the smile that was starting to curl on her face. "Chi…..Chica…..I knew I'd….fi-find you….." Jesse then choked on some blood, causing her to cough violently. She tried to swallow but ended up gagging instead.
Painfully, Anna carefully set a hand near Jesse's head and curled her fingers as if wanting to run them through her ratted and bloody hair. "Jess, wha-what happened to you? Who….who did this to you?" She asked weakly.
Bloodied tears blinded Jesse's one good eye as she looked up at Anna with a lot of pain. She seemed to have a very hard time trying to put it into words. "Mast…Master Star…found out about the SOS, An-Anna. They…..the Dec-Decept…icons know what you did." She choked out over a mouthful of blood. She coughed again, gagging on the foul taste in her mouth.
"What?" Anna asked weakly and horrified.
Jesse nodded looking up at her as she began trembling from pain. She was having a hard time seeing her friend through the blood and tears but tried to blink rapidly to rid her of them. "Mast….Master…..Starsc-Starscream…he…..he's going to kill…kill you…Chica…." She tried to say. "He…..is…..so mad at you ri-right now…He….did…..this….t-to me. He found out that…..that I helped you…so….he beat me…..and threw me to the Reavers…liter….literately." She gave Anna an even more pained look as she stared up at her. "They…Mega-Mega…..tron…..wants you found and taken…..to him. He said…..he said that he was going…going to kill you…..him…..self."
Swallowing hard and through blinding tears, Anna felt as if her lungs were being squeezed. She could only wonder that if Starscream did this to Jesse, what happened to Judy? "Judy?" She asked weakly.
Jesse did her best to shake her head only to grimace painfully. "…safe….For….now. Frea-freaked out ab-about you…Star-Starscream…won't hurt her…..unless…..if you're not….found. Judy said…..to tell you….not to give….yourself….up. She don't…..care if…kills her. You….need to be….safe, Chica. That's all…..cares ab-about…." She stammered over her weak words.
Tears running down her cheeks, Anna gently set her other hand on Jesse's arm, flinching when her friend whimpered in pain. She knew that it was killing her to speak. "Jesse….." She cried softly. "I am so sorry! This…..this is all my fault! This is all me! I should have never asked you to help me! If you hadn't helped me, then this would have never happened to you!" She sobbed.
"N-no….." Jesse whimpered and smiled weakly. "I…wa-wanted to help you, Chi-Chica…..you're….you're my Chica. My…..sis-sister." She then shrugged very weakly only to gasp in pain. She laid there for a moment, waiting till it passed over again. The smile was back on her face as she looked almost a little smug. "Plus…..told Sta…..Starscream…..to fu-fuck off."
Anna felt a burst of weak giggles explode from deep within. She knew she wasn't the only one to laugh. She heard Epps snort very loudly and try to cover it up with his hand. Even a few snickers echoed into the trailer from outside. She just ignored them as she shook her head and kept sobbing. "Je-Jesse…..you, loco chica." She said through laughing sobs.
Jesse giggled once before crying out in weak pain. She closed her eye tightly to wait till the pain passed over again before she looked sorrowfully up at Anna. "Chic-chica…..they…are…coming. They know…..Starscream…..knows…..he is using…a trace…..bug….I heard him say…..that he placed it….in your….tattoo…..He only just…..remembered it...be here….by…..morning…" She tried to tell her.
Anna stiffened and could feel almost everyone join her. She sensed Will moving closer until he bent right next to her, staring at Jesse with alarm. "What do you mean?" He asked stiffly.
"…Tat…..tattoo…tracing bug…" Jesse tried to explain as she raised a trembling, almost eaten away hand and pointed at Anna's shoulder. "….Starscream…..was the only Dece…..Decepticon to think about it…" She placed her dried yet bloody finger against Anna's shoulder, near the tattoo that rest on her shoulder blade. "…..heard…bragging….to Thun-Thundercracker…..and Sky…..warp. He…..for…..got about it…till….now. He didn't…..want to lose…Anna…so he traced her…." She shook her trembling head. "He remembered it….after beating…..me. He acti….activated it…and he's…tracing her…" She said weakly.
Anna felt horrified as she listened to Jesse. She slowly reached up with a hand and placed it against the symbol of Starscream's name that etched in her skin. She hadn't known that there was a tracer bug on her. She felt herself panic as she thought about it. "A nanobot…He left a nanobot in me?" She asked her voice squeaking a little.
Jesse nodded weakly as she looked up at her through her pain. "Yes…totally…..an…..ass...ole…." She grimaced painfully again. "…like…..said…..Starscream…..just….rem-remembered it…..wise he would have….been here….a long time….go….." She hissed painfully again and closed her eye tightly.
"Jesse." Anna whimpered leaning over her best friend. "I….."
"Say….sorry…..again…and I will…..be pissed…" Jesse warned her painfully as she looked up at her. "….not…..your…fault…you…..tried…..to help people, chica. You…..believed in….those Auto-alien…things…..I ju-just…..won't be…..here to see….them….come."
Again, Anna sobbed and shook her head as she let her tears trail down from her cheeks to her neck. She was starting to shake as she realized what Jesse was talking about. "Do-don't say that, Jesse! You're going to be fine! You're going to live to see the Autobots come! They'll come and save us! We both can help them and DA…..DATAR fight the damn Decepticons!" She sobbed hard.
Jesse smiled weakly up at her and slowly shook her head. "Anna…I'm already…seeing…..I'm already seeing…light…..." Her eye suddenly grew brighter as if she was seeing something amazing as she lift her eye towards the trailer ceiling. "Chi-Chica…..! I see…I see Pete…! He's…smiling…..at you….He says….he loves…you…..live…Anna…." She smiled, staring upward. "Live…love…..fight…..with…I….love…..you…..too….sis-sister…." She broke off with a gasp as her head pressed hard against the crate underneath her.
And then Jesse's chest did not raise again. She stopped breathing and her eye went blank.
She was dead.
Anna burst into heart wrenching sobs as she clapped her hands over her face and laid her forehead against Jesse's lifeless arm. She felt her heart breaking over again. She felt her heart just shatter like glass that someone had dropped against a hard wood floor. First her mother. Then she lost Pete. And now….she lost Jesse. It was all just too much. She was losing everyone she ever loved and held dear to her heart. She felt too much pain and suffering within her, dropped right onto her shoulders. She felt like she was going to break next. She couldn't do this any more! She couldn't lose any more people she cared about.
A burning hate swelled up in her heart as Anna sharply cut herself off from crying. She lift her head and glared at the metal wall on the other side of her dead friend. She felt hate and anger swelling up within her. She knew very well that Starscream had done this! She had once respected him, even if it was forced respect from fear. But now…all she could think of was ripping the Spark out of his metal chest. She was going to kill him!
"Epps." Will spoke grimly as he remained right beside Anna, probably watching her carefully. He reached up and gently patted her on the shoulder. He finally pushed himself to his feet and turned away from her, facing his own best friend. "Get everyone up. We need to get moving. If what this girl…Jesse just said is true, Starscream is tracking Anna and he knows where we are. We need to leave the Nest. Also, get a volunteer or two to take the body…Jesse out and dig a grave for her. Later we'll let Anna pay her respects to her after she calms down a little."
Epps nodded as he already started to move out of the trailer. He couldn't find any words to say, no matter how much he wanted to say something to Anna. He tried to form the words but he just couldn't. He knew that there was nothing that he could say to her to make her feel better.
However, some of the others just outside of the medical trailer looked uneasy as they allowed Epps to pass by them. Some started muttering to one another, trying to find something to say. Some of them were even muttering how they should get rid of Anna.
"Will, what about her? She's what the damn robots want. We should give her to them." One man said.
Anna's head jerked around as she looked at him with shock and outrage. She could see some of the people in the door way nodding as if they were considering what that man said. She couldn't believe them! She couldn't believe how heartless they were being if they were considering giving her back to Starscream to kill! Would they seriously do that to her? Would they give her to that murdering bastard just so they could live for them selves? Would Will?
Will glanced down at her almost hurriedly before he shook his head and gave that man a very serious, dark look. "No, Stevens. We are not going to give Anna to the Decepticons. She's coming with us. She's a human being. She's one of us." He said stonily.
"But the robots…! That dead girl just said that she's got a tracing bug in her! They'll keep tracking her, following us because of her! We should kill her or just leave her here for them to find!" The man, Stevens tried to argue.
"You leave her behind, you'll leave me behind too! I will not abandon Anna to Starscream or Megatron or any of the Decepticons!" Sam said angrily from behind everyone. He sounded shocked and outraged just by what Stevens was saying. He shoved himself off of Bumblebee, who was quick to transforming and glaring down at the man who was making such accusations.
"We are not leaving anyone behind!" Will said sharply as he turned a glare on Stevens. He couldn't believe the suggestion any more than Sam or Anna could. "We will figure this out! But we are not killing another human being just to make you feel safe, Stevens!"
"Kill her, Will! She's too dangerous!" Another person said, though it sounded awfully like Alice. Which, it was proven that it was a second later.
"Shut the hell up, Alice!" Maggie shouted angrily from somewhere in the back. "If we have to kill anyone, it should be you, you bitch!"
"All right, that's enough!" Will shouted, raising his voice very loud and sounding more like a drill officer. He glared around at Stevens, then to Alice, wherever she was standing and then shoved his fists onto his waist as he stepped out of the trailer in the middle of everyone. Only Anna stayed in the medical trailer, not believing what everyone was saying. "We are NOT leaving anyone behind, killing anyone and we are not having this argument! Got that, Stevens? So put it out of your damn head, now!"
"I am NOT dying for that little Decepticon tramp, Will!" The man, Stevens snapped right back at him.
Gritting her teeth as she listened to the argument, Anna shoved herself to her feet. She just could not believe some people. She couldn't blame them for being scared and wanting to take any measures to make sure they survived. But they were so ready to sacrifice her to the Decepticons just so they could escape. That was just so sick! It was wrong!
And for what?
Because there was a fucking tracing bug in her shoulder?
Oh, she could seriously fix that.
Angrily, Anna stomped out of the medical trailer, shoving right past Will and the man named Stevens. She felt someone grab her arm, trying to stop her. But she ripped her arm away from that hand and found that it was the man, Stevens who tried to grab her. She gave him the most deadliest look she could muster up. "Don't! Fucking! Touch me!" She snarled at him before she marched towards the corner that served as a kitchen.
"Anna! What are you doing?" Will called after her as he started to follow her.
Anna shook her head as eyed the many crates with food before she yanked one open and began looking through it. "I saw some guys drinking out of a bottle the other day! Where is the beer or alcohol?" She asked, nearly tossing bags of food out onto the ground.
Everyone started at her with shock and alarm as they watched her digging through the crate before she growled in aggravation and began digging through another crate. Will even frowned in alarm as he stopped in his tracks as he watched her. "What? What are you talking…..?" He demanded.
"Ah-ha! Found them!" Anna suddenly cheered, though there was edge to her tone. She stood up, pulling out a bottle of alcohol and looking fondly at it as if it were some kind of treasure. "You are going to solve this problem." She remarked to it as if it could hear her. She grabbed the lid and quickly unscrewed it. Once it was off, she took a swig out of it, only to rip her mouth away from the opening and gasp and choke. It was some really strong alcohol, though technically, she had never had a drink before.
Suddenly, the bottle was yanked right out of Anna's hand and she turned to glare at Will, whom had taken it.
"What the hell are you doing?" Will snapped at her as he tried to grab the lid out of Anna's other hand.
Anna lashed out and grabbed the bottle, trying to yank it back from him. She ended up have a little bit of a tug-o-war with Will trying to get the bottle back. "I'm killing my senses! I'm just trying to numb my whole body so I won't feel anything!" She snapped at him.
"What the hell is that going to help….?" Will demanded again.
But Anna yanked the bottle right out of his hand and danced again from him when he tried to go for it again. She quickly put the bottle's opening to her mouth and drank deeply. She kept having to move because he was chasing after her, trying to get the bottle away from her. But ignoring the burning sensation through her throat, Anna downed the entire bottle before he managed to yank it out of her hands.
"God damn it, Anna! You are too young to be drinking!" Will snarled at her.
But Anna gave him a dry look as she gave him a wobbly shrug. She didn't want to argue with him right now. She turned to look at a rather uneasy Bumblebee as he was watching the entire display. "Bumblebee…hic! Oppsie." She giggled. "Dr-drunk already…" She then shook her head, trying to stay focused. She nearly staggered over to the Autobot, stopping by a crate as she began tugging at the end of her shirt, as if trying to pull it up. "Bumblebee…..I need you to do me a favor."
With a swift tug, Anna had her shirt up and over her head, letting her stand right against the crate with only her pants and bra on. She ignored all of the gasps and uneasy looks she was getting as everyone stared at her with alarm. She didn't even look at anyone else when she heard Will suddenly stop right behind her and stared directly at her back with a horrified look on his face.
It was because of the criss-crossed scars and scabs all over her back. The memory of being beaten by Starscream and his metal whip.
Nonetheless, it wasn't just how scarred Anna was. It was her just standing half naked in front of all of them, not looking like she cared how exposed she was to all of the men all around her. She just dropped her shirt onto the ground and turned over on the crate, bending over it.
"Bumblebee….hic…Burn off Starscream's tat-tattoo off my back." Anna said drunkenly.
With a sharp whirl, Bumblebee quickly backed away, holding up his hands and shaking his head. He was looking extremely uneasy by what she was requesting.
"What the hell? Burn off the tattoo? Are you crazy?" Will snapped as he marched over to stand beside Anna. He grabbed her arm, trying to pull her back to her feet after he swooped up her shirt from the ground. "What is burning you going to do to help, Anna?"
Sighing impatiently, Anna pushed herself off the crate and gave him a look. "No tattoo, no tracing bug, no problem." She looked up at Bumblebee. "Burn it off, Bumblebee. It needs to go." She told him, stumbling a little, even if she was leaning against the crate.
"Hell yes there is a problem! You! Being drunk! And telling the god damned robot to burn you!" Will argued loudly as he grabbed Anna's arm again and tried to make her stand. He bundled up her shirt and attempted to shove it back over her head and force her to get it back on.
"Will you stop it?" Anna snapped at him as she yanked away, almost staggering over her feet. She almost fell to the ground but stopped when Sam caught her and kept her standing. "I'm solving a problem! Bee, burn off the tattoo!" She said as she pulled away from him and laid back down on the crate.
But Bumblebee shook his head, whirling and clicking at her, rapidly. He was moving back, further away as he spoke to her.
Scoffing, Anna lift herself off the crate again, onto her elbow and looked up at him with a dry look. "Bum-Bumblebee, I don't care if you're not allowed to hurt humans. That's….great that you can't. But I am giving you my permission to burn off this damn tattoo off my back so we can get this fucking tracing bug out of my shoulder. Now please get over here, heat up your cannon really hot and burn off Starscream's damn brand off of me."
Again, Bumblebee shook his head and whirled at her.
"Why the hell are you…?" Will was demanding once again.
Anna turned her drunken look onto him again, looking very impatiently. "Due to the face...heh...I said face." She then made a face and shook her head. "Due to the fa-fact that I've spent my whole life around these damn Decepticons and you lived free and all, I'll enlighten you on one little thing. Nanobots are used to brand slaves. If Starscream left a nanobot on me, then we have to burn it out. Nanobots are highly sensitive to extreme heat. Burning my tattoo will kill the tracing bug in my shoulder. Either that or make it come out. We kill the fucking nanobot, we don't have a fucking problem." She looked up at Bumblebee again. "Bumblebee, will you please….." She was cut off by a loud hiccup and Bumblebee whirling at her loudly.
The Autobot was shaking his head, whirling and clicking at her as he spoke rapidly in Cybertronian. He was refusing to burn her.
"Bumblebee," Anna said impatiently, pushing herself to her feet and folding her arms over her nearly bare chest. "If you don't do it, I'm going to do it my way and that way deals with the griller, over there. What will do the worst damage to me? You or the griller? Now, I'm trying to come up with a solution and so far, burning the nanobot is the only idea I have."
Again, Bumblebee shook his head and clicked at her. He was not going to do this, no matter how much she asked him to do it.
"Okay! Fine! That's it! I'm using the grill!" Anna said with annoyance as she shoved herself away from the box and staggered towards the grill.
But again, Will grabbed her arm and yanked her to a stop. "No! If you don't stop this, Anna, I swear I'm going to…." He was saying.
Yanking her arm back, Anna gave him a dark, drunken look. "You're going to what, Will? Why do you even fucking care? So far since I've even arrived, you've been ignoring me! I just wanted to get to know you and everyone and all you've done is look right past me! And you are suppose to be my hero? Fuck that! If you won't help me get rid of this fucking nanobot, I'm doing it my way! It has got to go! If it doesn't, that guy, Stevens is right! Starscream will keep chasing us until he gets me back! And if I'm with you guys when he finds me, he will KILL ALL OF YOU!" She nearly shouted at him. "Now, I've got to get this damn bug out of me or I will make you leave me here and let Starscream find me and kill me! But I AM NOT going to be the cause of your god damned death! Got that?"
Anna turned sharply away from him and started to march towards the grill but Will grabbed her arm and yanked her to a stop once more. He looked highly aggravated and frustrated as he glared upward at the cavern ceiling. He couldn't believe he was doing this. "Okay! Okay! I will do it! You are not doing this by yourself! But don't think for one second that I like this!" He ground viciously at her.
About a half an hour later, while people were still packing everyone up and getting ready to leave the cavern, Will had a fire going on the grill and he was watching as a knife sat on the grate, slowly turning red from the intensive heat. Anna was sitting on a crate, downing another bottle of alcohol while Epps, Sam, Maggie and Glenn stood over her, shaking their head. They obviously did not approve of this idea at all.
Once the knife was red hot, Will looked at Anna, shaking his head with displeasure. "You are so going to regret doing this, Anna. And you're going to regret drinking that second bottle. If it's not alcohol poisoning that's going to kill you, it's going to be that killer hangover you're going to get by morning." He told her dryly. "Are you sure…?"
"Oh, for the love of God, Will! Yes!" Anna said as she looked up at him, definitely drunker than before. She swayed on the crate, having to be caught by both Epps and Sam to keep her sitting on it. "Yes! Yes! Yes! For the thirtieth time since you've asked the first time! Yes! You have to BURN the nanobot out!"
Will glared dryly at her before he grabbed a thick rag next to him and wrapped it around the knife's handle so he couldn't burn himself. He could already feel the intensive heat through the fabric, making him grimace. He sighed heavily as he glanced at Epps and Sam, who both looked very grim about this. "Okay. Let's do this before I change my mind. Epps, Sam, hold her down." He told them.
Epps nodded as he helped Anna turn over onto the crate and drapped an arm over her lower back and used his other hand to take the almost empty bottle away from her. He set it down on the ground before grabbing one of her wrists and holding her down against the crate. "Man, I can't believe we're even doing this. This is Bull. Shit." He growled between his teeth.
"Oh, just shut up and hold me down or else I'm going to thrash around and accidently hit you in the face." Anna said dryly.
Making a face at her, Epps applied some weight on her, holding her wrist tight in his hand. Sam groaned as he joined him, pressing his arm against her back and holding her other wrist, keeping her flat against the crate. He had tried to make his protests but it was clear by Anna that she was going to do this. With or without their help. So he traced his hand a little lower until he linked his fingers with her. "Squeeze as hard as you need to when it hurts, okay?" He told her.
Anna just nodded at him as she rest her chin against the wood of the crate. She swore she was going to end up with slivers in her front.
From behind her, Maggie and Glenn were moving just a little closer with bottles of antiseptic and Aloe Vera ready to use when it was all over. They were looking just as grim about this as everyone else did. Bumblebee was the farthest away, watching as if in pain. He'd been the most vocal other than Will and Sam about what they were going to do to Anna. Of course, no one understood what he was saying but they didn't need Anna to translate to figure it out. He had tried talking Anna out of it but even he knew that the only way to get a nanobot out of anyone was to burn it.
Taking a deep breath, Will moved the burning red and smoking blade close to Anna's back, pausing only for a moment when she breathed sharply from the heat already moving in to her skin. He exhaled a deep breath before pressing his other hand against the valley of her shoulders and pressed down so he could help hold her. "God. This is seriously crazy." He muttered to himself before he drummed his fingers against her back to get her to listen to him. "Brace yourself, Anna. Because this is going to hurt whether you're drunk or not. As for those whip marks on your back, you're going to have to explain them later."
"Bull shit." Anna muttered dryly. She had no intention telling anyone about what Starscream did to her. And she certainly was not going to explain the scars. She wanted to forget it all, not remember it.
With that said, Will moved the hot blade to her skin, hearing her gasp sharply as she tried to hold in the scream.
But it was no use.
As soon as the hot blade began to burn her skin, sizzling against her, Anna could not stop the cry of pain from escaping her before she began to scream. She was trying hard to keep it down but it hurt so bad. She turned her face into her arm and tried to muffle her cries as her skin sizzled by the burning hot blade. The smell of burnt skin immediately rose into the air, making all those around her grimace. But no one spoke as they watched Will press the hot blade harder against the tattoo.
Anna finally started to jerk and thrash, her back arching to get away from the hot blade. But Epps and Sam held her firmly against the crate. They nearly had to lay on top of her to keep her from moving too much.
Will grimaced at Anna's screams as he slid the blade a little against Anna's skin to get another part of the tattoo. Her skin was starting to turn red and blisters were starting to bubble upward as he burned it. Eventually, he had to turn the knife off as one side of the blade cooled and burned Anna's shoulder again. Anna only screamed into her arm, trying to fight herself from thrashing too much. Her hand in Sam's began to squeeze tightly, making him wince as it became iron grip.
Just then, Anna's eyes snapped wide open and she screamed a lot louder. Curse words so vile made their way out of her mouth, making a lot of people grimace or wince. She sounded like an animal that was dying.
A second later, Will saw why.
As the knife burned Anna's tattoo, Will began to notice one of the blisters the hot knife created starting to throb. It looked very small, though, and it pulsed as if something was trying to push its way out. He just frowned as he did his best to burn off Anna's tattoo, watching the blister as it continued to throb. That is until the blister burst and blood began to spill right out of her skin. With the blood, very tiny spindles began to claw their way out until a small bead sized robot began to crawl its way out of her shoulder.
Quickly, Will tossed the knife aside and grabbed at the tiny robot. He could barely get it by how small it was, though. He hissed softly as he felt a sharp pinch in his finger and thumb as the bug tried biting at him or clawing his fingers with its sharp legs. He ignored it as he kept a hold of it and held it up to look at it closely. It was very small, yet not microscopic like he thought it would be. With a shake of his head, Will squeezed his thumb and finger together and crushed the tiny robot between his fingers. It felt like squeezing a shard of glass to pieces though, making him grimace as he felt the metal bite into his skin. It was like stabbing his fingers with a sticker weed seed. It still hurt.
Anna was crying and whimpering from the burn on her back. She was almost slipping off the box now but both Epps and Sam kept her up, keeping their arms around her to soothe her.
"Maggie." Will said as he glanced over his shoulder at the blonde. "Hurry and get this burn cleaned up before it gets infected."
Maggie nodded and hurried forward to work on Anna's burn. She glanced at Sam and Epps as they handed Anna off to her. "Sam, will you just hold onto her a little longer. She's still going to thrash while I clean the burn." She said before looking at Anna, who was leaning her head against Sam's shoulder. "Anna, this is going to sting, all right?"
Anna just nodded as she gripped Sam's arms and braced herself for the inevitable sting she was about to feel. It cam only a second later as Maggie placed the cool, anticeptic soaked rag against the burn, making her whimper in pain. She did her best not to cry out or writhe. She felt only a little better once Maggie finished with the rag and began gently rubbing Aloe Vera against her shoulder.
"So," Maggie began carefully as she continued with the gel. "What happened? Why are there whip scars on your back?"
For a long time, Anna was silent. She had been taken by surprise by the question but it still brought pain to her. It was just making her remember Pete's death. And it hurt a lot worst than the burns on her back. Tears stinging her eyes, Anna waited until Maggie began wrapping gauze around her shoulder and back. She waited till she was finished before standing up with Sam's help. "Nothing. Nothing happened." She said gravely.
"Girl, that ain't nothing." Glenn spoke up, tilting his head to the side. "That's bad."
Anna shook her head as she turned away from them and carefully began putting her shirt back on. She whimpered in pain as the burns protested against movement. So Maggie began to help her. "Anna, just tell us." She said gently.
But the teen girl shook her head again, tears shimmering in her eyes. "Please, don't. I'm trying not to think about it right now." She said quietly. And then her eyes snapped wide open and she slapped a hand over her mouth. She quickly stumbled away from everyone as she threw up all over the ground near the wall.
Sam, Maggie, and Glenn watched her with raised eyebrows and shook their heads. "Two bottles of vodka and now she decides throw up. She actually handled it pretty well. She must have a strong stomach to handle her very first drink." The blonde remarked as she grabbed a canteen full of water hanging on her belt.
"How do you know that was her first drink?" Glenn asked, frowning at her.
Maggie gave him a look and shook her head as she moved towards Anna to give her the water. "I know because she didn't even look at the bottles she just drank. She just grabbed them and started to down them. Even seasoned experienced drinkers watch what they drink. And not very many would drink two bottles of forty year old vodka. Anna'll be lucky if she doesn't get alcohol poisoning after this. But she is so going to wish that she was dead when she wakes up in the morning. This is going to be one nasty hangover." She said dryly as she went over to Anna and help her with the water.