OMG, I am so sorry about the lack of updating-ness. I really am. It's just that I'm insanely busy during the week, so I can't type, and I only get a chance to type stuff in the mornings on the weekends, but since my sister has soccer games every weekend, I haven't gotten to do it then, either. To top it all off, I've been sick the past few days, and haven't even been on the computer until now. Happily, I am much better, and can get this posted.
Moving along then…This is another chapter that I don't favor greatly, but tis REALLY important. Like, so uber important that it's really…important. Yeah.
I'm going to go ahead and get off track now. I am really happy, because I just read that Amber Tamblyn is going to be in the movie version of 'The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants', one of my favorite books of all time. I'm really looking forward to it, since I think that Amber will do a really good job. I just wonder who she's going to play. If anyone knows any details, please tell me.
Oh, I thought of something else to say about this chapter in particular. In the very first part of it, we go back up to the semi on the road. I don't actually know what happens with the official people at a crash site like that, so I had to wing it. I did the best I could with it.
As for the disclaimer, I don't own anyone except for officer Leo Parks and EMT Laurie Roberts. I named Laurie off of some aunt of mine that's an EMT. Also, there is one kind of swear word in the chapter. It's not really even that bad, but if the idea bothers you for some reason, then skips the very last sentence of the chapter. But this story is PG-13, so I think I'm covered as far as rating goes. I just want to be careful, because I know people that are really offended by any type of cursing.
One last thing before I respond to the reviews: I am in need of reader participation. I'm sure you all remember the road that the fantastic foursome was driving on in the first chapter, right before their little mishap. And since every road I know of has a name, I figured that this road needs one, too. The only problem is, all the names I think of suck. So I need you wonderful reviewers to suggest names for the road. Sure, it's not the most fun thing in the world, but hey, at least you get to name something, and I can quit worrying about what to call it. So, if you're kind enough to review, please leave a suggestion, and the name will be revealed within the span of a few chapters.
Now for review responses:
Wiccan-One14: Yay! Thanks for the review. I'm sorry that I didn't get this up sooner.
hgill: Like I said before, mentioning reviewers is my pleasure. I'm really glad you like this!
Innogen: Well, my mom doesn't seem to think that she's old, and she's watched X-Files from the beginning. Uhm…about having God come and talk to Joan…I'm not going to have that happen at all in here, like, at all. At least not that I'm planning on, anyway. And the reason for that is I don't think that Joan is *actually* talking to God. Personally, I think she's crazy. But that's okay with me, since the show's still really good. I know the reason I think that is because of my own personal beliefs, but…I don't know. I did make the characters unusually lucky in certain situations, and I suppose that could be interpreted in other ways, if the reader wanted to think that way. Anyway, that's just how things are gonna work with this story. If you don't like it, or disagree, that's perfectly fine. Moving on, thanks for reviewing.
AL: Yay, you can have cookies, too! *Gives you cookies* Hooray for getting things right! Oh, and about the other shows that it's been mentioned on, I just haven't seen them. I don't watch a lot of TV, so that could be the reason.
Jessica 14: Man, that puppy dog face can be rather convincing, but my mind is made up. You'll just have to wait and see what happens. Thanks for your review, and for mentioning the "half of a new car" thing. I was so very proud of that line.
writer-always-n-forever: Yum! Cookies! And compliments! Your review made me so happy when I read it. Yay for verbal irony and having people in character! I'm really glad I pulled that off, since I have more trouble with it than anything else. Well, maybe I have more trouble with spelling, but there's spell check for that. They need a 'keeping borrowed fictional characters in character' checker. That would make life easier.
Allie: I'm always very proud when what I say makes sense. I confuse people a lot, especially myself. And I get what you said about the content, not the writing, being boring. I found it boring as well, but I needed it to happen. I know chapter seven is a lot better than five and six are.
FutureBestActressWinner: Sorry about the wait. I hope you like this chapter.
Okay then, I'll finally done with that. I suppose you can read the chapter now. Of course, you probably just skimmed this all and just went ahead to the chapter. I bet no one is even reading this. Maybe I should stop typing it then, since it's just a waste of time and space. Yeah, I'll do just that. Right now. Really. I mean it. I'm stop right –
* * * *
Soundtrack of Sorrow
Chapter Six: Song of Rainfall
In the early morning hours, just after the crash, blue and red lights flashed along the cliff-side road. A police officer, who had just so happened to be driving along, had found a semi truck. The driver had seemingly lost control, and had barely stopped in time to avoid violently careening down the wooded slope. The driver had bashed his head rather forcefully against the dashboard, and was now far from conscious.
Leo Parks, the officer who had found the vehicle, stood beside EMT Laurie Roberts. The sun was just rising, casting a pale light over everything in view.
"The head injury is massive," Laurie explained quickly, "and it's surprising that it wasn't fatal. Still, he won't be waking up for a while."
"What was the cause of the accident?" Leo asked, scanning the scene for any possible indicators.
"We don't know," Laurie responded, "we'll see if he's got anything running through his system that shouldn't be there. Other than that, the choices are narrowed down a bit. He might have seen an animal for all we know."
"We can't be sure unless he wakes up and can tell us," Leo said, sighing impatiently. He knew that his wife would be upset, since he'd been coming home later and later every day, which she hated. All he could know was to fill out the report as quickly as possible so that he could get home.
* * *
The first day out in the wilderness passed in a tortuously slow manner. Joan and Luke both slept on and off, Adam showed no signs of waking whatsoever, and Grace sat watching the unending torrent of rain. The day grew steadily darker, with only the red-orange flames of the fire providing light. A little after the sun would have set, had it even been out, the lightning started, and rolling thunder came with it.
At the first violent rumbling, anyone who had been sleeping was woken, excluding Adam.
"What was that?" Joan asked groggily.
"A storm," Grace replied, "and it's a bad one, too. With the lightning we might get your signal fire after all."
Even as she spoke, another brilliant flash lit up the sky, creating a brief but eerie glow. For that moment the Trailblazer could be seen, rocking slightly, seemingly in an attempt to break away.
"How long will this keep up?" Luke asked, peering outside, trying to see past the veil of rain.
"It doesn't seem to be dying down at all," Grace commented with a sigh.
"Well, at least we won't get wet in here," Joan stated, trying to look on the bright side of things. Still, it didn't do much to ease the general mood of despair.
* * *
The rain had let up by the time that the second morning rolled around. Water had soaked into the ground, making the area around their cave overly muddy. The front half of the Trailblazer remained in the river, an ugly reminder of just why they were in their current predicament.
What they weren't expecting was the duffle bag hanging from the highest branches of an ash tree that towered above their heads.
Since Grace and Luke were the only two capable of making the climb, but neither one actually wanted to, Joan supervised a quick matched of rock, paper, scissors. Grace's scissors triumphed over Luke's paper, so he was forced to attempt to scramble up the tree.
Joan found the situation rather humorous. Grace was on the ground, shouting at Luke, who was desperately trying to keep his balance, but not being very successful.
"Now grab the branch to your left," Grace called. She watched for a moment, and then sighed. "No, Luke, your other left."
After ten minutes, Luke as finally able to knock the bag to the ground, and make his way down as well. Grace brought the bag into the cave and set it down.
"Who packed this one?" Luke asked as he entered.
"Me," Joan responded. "I shoved a couple of blankets in here. Maybe a pillow, too."
She unzipped it, and, just as she had thought, there was one pillow and four blankets crammed inside. Miraculously, they were barely even damp. They decided to let Adam have the pillow, and tried to discern the best method for getting and behind him, and cause the least amount of pain possible.
In the end, they decided to lay him down a bit more, but still keep him propped up enough to let him breathe easily. Joan leaned him slightly forward, Grace put the pillow in place, and both girls eased him gently downwards.
Adam stirred for the first time in a day when his head touched the pillow. For a few moments that seemed to last an eternity, no one dared to move, or even make a sound, waiting to see it he was waking up at last. However, he made no other indications of consciousness.
"Will it be better when he's awake?" Joan asked quietly. Grace shook her head.
"Not really," she stated. "I mean, we won't have to worry about him as much if he's awake, but there's a definite downside. Right now he's not aware enough to realize much pain, but he'll feel it for sure once he comes to. But we can't do much to help him either way."
"I don't think he's bleeding as much now," Joan stated, placing a hand on Adam's forehead, "and his fever hasn't gotten much worse."
"Still, Joan," Luke said gently, "it's not looking too good for him right now." Grace nodded sadly, understanding the awful truth that the odds were in favor of Adam never waking up again.
Joan looked up at her brother with tears in her eyes. "But…he might make it, right? Maybe?"
"He won't if we don't get out of here soon," Luke told her. Joan sniffed and turned her gaze back to Adam's pale face, and covered him with one of the blankets.
Grace pulled the blankets apart, and was surprised when a small, grey object tumbled to the ground. She abandoned the blankets and snatched it up.
"What'd you find?" Luke asked as Grace set the object down on a rock.
"A radio," Grace explained, "and if it works, we can at least find out if anyone's looking for us." She switched it one, and tried to reach a station that wasn't pure static.
"How's that going to tell us if we're being searched for?" Luke questioned.
Grace sighed impatiently. "Don't you think that a car flipping off of a road might make the hourly news bulletin? We can at least get a feel for what's going on."
"I see," Luke said, nodding. Finally, after a few moments of struggling with the knobs, Grace got the radio tuned in to the only available station.
"Country?" Joan asked, looking over to where Grace was proudly admiring the small radio.
"It's that or another night of being serenaded by the crickets," Grace stated coolly.
They passed a few hours listening to the music, but none of the newscasts mentioned a car that had flipped off the road, or its four missing occupants.
Everyone jumped with a state when Adam groaned and shifted slightly. Suddenly, his eyes fluttered open. He looked around, dazed and confused, and tried to sit up, but hissed in pain at the attempt. Joan forced him back down quickly, while still being as gentle as she could.
"Jane?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "Wh-what happened? Where are we?"
Joan didn't answer, but Grace smiled at him grimly. "Welcome to the camping trip from Hell."
* * * *
Ta-da! I woke him up! He may not be fixed, but at least he's awake.
I suppose that means I should update soon. I'll get to it ASAP, but in the meantime, go and check out my completely re-done bio. Until the next chapter!
~Cop~