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The Great Love
Part One (Continued)
V.
forget, forgotten I am moving past this
They left the next day. Madison gave Spencer two full packs, a heavy load that Spencer tired quickly under, but she didn't complain. The Latina girl walked ahead with a smug grin.
Ashley walked behind the blonde girl and, noticing her struggling with the weight, took a bag from her, slinging it over her shoulder along with her already hefty pack. She didn't show any sign of trouble or effort and she didn't seem to look for thanks, only carrying the weight resolutely. Spencer shot her a grateful smile and Ashley winked. Madison looked at the exchange with a frown.
They travel along a dirt road for miles, leaving Spencer tired and weary, not so used to the long distances that Madison and Ashley had bore. While she had traveled far, she never pushed herself and she hadn't gained the endurance she needed to keep up.
By the time they set up camp, it was late in the evening, the sun about to set. Ashley and Madison worked quickly and efficiently to set up camp and build a fire before dark set in with them unprotected. The blonde stood to the side, unsure what to do. The other girls largely ignored her, focused on their tasks, but the quick, reassuring smile Ashley gave her while she was gathering logs eased her nervousness.
When they're finally settled, minutes before the sun set completely, Ashley pulls out her guitar again. Despite all Madison's grumbling, a small smile flickered across her face when the girl began playing. Ashley grinned in return.
Once again, Madison was asleep and snoring quickly, leaving the other girls to talk.
"So, what was your family like?" Ashley still played, but her eyes were fixed upon Spencer, waiting for an answer to her question. The other girl looked up briefly before moving her eyes back to the fire.
She didn't speak or move for several moments, but Ashley didn't waver, gaze locked on the other girl. Finally, she shifted and her mouth opened, "They were…happy. Mom was a little strict, but they…we were happy. Two parents and a brother, that was it."
When she stopped again, Ashley prodded gently, "What was his name?"
"…my brother was Glen." Something lit in the back of Ashley's brain, a sense that she knew that name, but it passed quickly.
"What happened to them?"
"…it happened," she spit the words out, "the War." Ashley nodded, familiar with the affect the War had had on everyone.
"I understand."
--
There is no Ashley. There is no house, bullets flying everywhere. There is no war torn country. There is no world.
Because Kyla is dead in her arms, and Ashley thinks there is something essential, something needed in her heart, not there. It doesn't work anymore.
Only, it does, because she's still here, she's still moving, she's still breathing, she's still beating, she's still wishing it were over, she's still dying inside, she's still…
"Ashley!" Through watery eyes, she sees Jess in the doorway, a nasty gash across her forehead.
"Jess." Her voice is hoarse and strained and a broken sob forms in the middle of the word.
"We gotta get out of here, we have to go. You can't stay here…" she steps into the room, stumbling slightly and clutching her head. A little blood leaks through her hand. "Is that Kyla?" It's obvious who it is, Ashley thinks, why would she ask?
She answers anyway, "Yes."
"Oh God," she drops to her knees next to the girl. "Kyla…" Jess' hand hovers over Kyla's body for a second before dropping toward her hair, to brush it back.
"Don't touch her!"
"Ashley…" Her hand changes course to touch Ashley's shoulder, but she flinches away, rocking Kyla's body in her arms like a rag doll.
"No! Don't touch anything," she shouts, eyes wild.
"Ash', we…," a deep breath, "we have to go."
Ashley ignores her. "I was supposed to protect her…her knight in…shining…shining…arm…" The words can't make it past the sobs that break through her mouth. She tries again, but is only able to whimper. In frustration, she stands, unconsciously letting her dead sister drop to the ground. Jess closes her eyes when the body flops down. They snap open when Ashley yells from across the room, throwing a picture into the opposite wall, shattering the glass. "Fuck!"
Ashley stares, her arms now limp, at the broken glass on the ground, obscuring an image of herself and Kyla, the little girl on her shoulders. She falls to the ground on her knees; gaze never leaving Kyla's smiling eyes. "I couldn't…"
"It's okay." Jess crawls over the ground cautiously. "It's okay, baby." She gathers the wailing girl into her arms, rocking her gently back and forth. "It'll all be okay…"
A bang sounds from outside the doorway and their heads snap up, looking at the masked men outside the room. They are dressed in dark uniforms, shadows playing over their bodies. The guns in their hands catch the light.
One man steps forward, ripping the mask from his face. His skin is sweaty and glistens in the low light as he moves up. With hair wild and eyes more so, he grins at the two girls on the floor. "What do we have here?" His voice betrays his age, making him suddenly look much younger and much less scary. The men chuckle behind him.
Ashley's eyes narrow and she stiffens in Jess' embrace. "Get the fuck out of here." Her voice is low, deadly. The men don't seem fazed.
"I don't think we will. This is just getting fun."
Jess can feel Ashley's muscles tensing, preparing to pounce. She grips the girl's arms, whispering in her ear. "Don't, Ashley, just stay put."
Ashley replies through gritted teeth. "No." Then, before Jess can even react, she's off like a shot, diving at the man in front of them.
He doesn't move fast enough, catching the brunt of Ashley's attack with a loud 'oomph'. He falls into the wall with the girl wailing at him wildly. He shouts for help and for the 'crazy bitch' to get off him. His arms come up to defend himself, bringing his gun up also. With the girl attacking him, he doesn't have control over his finger, set over the trigger.
When it goes off, everyone stops. The men pause just inside the doorway, guns raised. Ashley stops her attack, breathing wildly. The man whimpers in pain in front of her.
Jess collapses to the ground, a pool of blood forming. Ashley hears the thud and turns just in time to see her head hit the ground. She doesn't make a sound, moves only a step toward the wheezing girl on the floor. Her back is turned to the man she had attacked, and he moves to take advantage, but his buddies call him before he can do anything.
"Aiden, we gotta get out of here! They're bombin' the place!" He looks at the girl one more time before exiting the room swiftly, running after his friends.
Ashley hears the shout, knows what's going to happen to her home, her family. But she doesn't care. They're all dead – Kyla, Jess, her father – and Ashley doesn't know quite what to do. Maybe…she looks to the dresser drawer where she keeps a gun for emergencies. She crosses the room and opens the door, rifling through it desperately before pulling the cold gun out.
Just as she lifts it to her head, finger over the trigger, an explosion rocks to the house and she falls, losing her grip on the gun and throwing it into a corner of the room. Another explosion sends the house quaking once again, nearer this time and Ashley looks around wildly, searching for an exit. She dashes to the doorway, running out into the hall and down the stairs as fast as she can with the house shaking from multiple explosions. She wrenches the front door open and sprints to the woods, taking cover under the dense brush.
She watches from the forest as her home, and her family, goes up in flames.
--
"My family died in the War," Ashley whispers, just loud enough for Spencer to hear. Her guitar is forgotten on the ground. Spencer remains silent, unsure what to say. Ashley looks away, blinking her eyes rapidly with a deep frown. She roughly wipes her eyes and hits her thigh with her fist abruptly, making the other girl flinch. "Fuck, I'm sorry."
"It's okay."
A minute passes without a word. When Ashley looks back at Spencer, her brown boring into blue with a startling intensity, her eyes are dry and her expression is hard. She grins, but even Ashley knows it's fake.
"Love you Ash'!"