Once again I want to apologize for how late this is but I have been really busy at the new school I am at and I have been trying to adjust. I also just couldn't figure out what I wanted to write and how I wanted the story to go but while not paying attention in Philosophy I figured out what I wanted to do. So here it goes and I hope you like it!
The three of them had been in the truck driving for what felt like ages to them. All of them were tense and nervous as they scanned the area around the truck for any sign of where Jake, Stanley, and Mimi had gone. Then Layla leaned forward and squinted into the dim light the headlights gave off in front of them.
"What is that up there?" she asked pointing at a figure ahead of them that ran off to hide along the side of the road.
"I think that was Mimi," Gail answered. "Pull over, Johnston."
The truck was quickly pulled over and all three of them got out to hurry over to Mimi. When they called her name she stood up relieved. Gail quickly pulled her into a tight hug.
"Let's get you in the truck and wrapped up in a blanket," Gail said bringing her towards the truck.
"Mimi, where are the boys?" Johnston asked as they all made their way back to the truck after looking around the surrounding area.
She gave them directions of the way that she had walked before burrowing herself beneath the blanket. Layla got in beside Mimi in the back. Mimi shied away from her a bit and Layla looked at her with concern.
"Are you okay?" Layla asked.
"You're from Ravenwood," Mimi replied.
Layla relaxed slightly when she realized this was the only problem. She smiled slightly at Mimi. "Actually, I was from Ravenwood but I left. Now I guess I'm just another citizen of Jericho like you."
"But you did do those horrible things?"
"I did but it was because of those things that I left Ravenwood and stumbled into Jericho. I am hoping to start anew here."
"Then we're in the same boat. I have to start anew here." She came out from underneath the blanket a bit and smiled slightly at Layla. "Perhaps we should be friends since we're in the same position."
"I'd like that. What did you do before?"
"I worked for the IRS."
"Then we definitely are in the same boat," Layla joked.
Mimi rolled her eyes and burrowed beneath the blanket again.
"There's the truck!" Gail cried out when it came into view.
The truck skidded to a halt before the overturned one and everyone but Mimi quickly jumped out. Gail and Johnston knelt beside Jake and began to help him out however they could. Layla wanted to help Jake but seeing Gail and Johnston crowded around him she felt she would only be getting in the way. Glancing to the side she saw Stanley struggling to get on his feet.
"Need a hand?" she offered going over to him.
"Yeah," he replied with a grateful smile.
He took her extended hand and she helped pull him to his feet. As soon as he was up she took in his unbalanced weight and quickly wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She allowed him to get his balance and lean on her.
"Why don't we get you into the truck?" she suggested.
"Where's Mimi?" he asked concerned and worried.
"She's already in the truck."
With a nod he started walking towards the truck with her. He looked down at her.
"You're the girl from Ravenwood," he said as more of a statement rather than a question.
"Yeah but most people call me Layla," she replied smirking up at him.
They got to the truck and opened the back door and helped him in. Mimi was instantly fretting over him and making sure he was wrapped tightly in a blanket. Layla left them alone and returned to the Green family.
"Do you need any help?" she asked, ready to lend a hand and wanting to help Jake.
Johnston looked up at her. "I need you to drive the truck back into town with Gail and bring back help."
"But I don't know the roads. Wouldn't it be faster for you to just drive back?"
"You're a trained soldier. You can get back and if you need help Gail can tell you where to go."
Gail got up and wrapped her arm around Layla's waist. "Come on, dear. We had better get on our way if we our going to be any good to Jake."
Layla was about to protest again but then she saw the worry and fear in Gail's eyes and she couldn't deny the woman who had helped her so much. She just nodded her head and went back to the truck with her. Getting behind the wheel she started the truck and turned it around to head back into town. She looked at Gail as the older woman watched the road to make sure that they were headed in the right direction while occasionally looking into the back seat to see how Stanley and Mimi were doing.
"How bad is he?" Layla asked softly but with concern.
Gail's eyes flashed to Layla's and she could tell that she wouldn't be able to lie to the younger woman before her. "I can't really tell until he has been brought out from under the truck. He is freezing though and I don't think his body temperature can drop much lower but the ground is sucking the warmth from his body."
Layla merely nodded as she her head back to the road and pressed a little more on the gas peddle. She wanted to get back into Jericho as fast as they could while still using the least amount of gas possible.
Once back in Jericho Gail and Layla quickly handed Stanley and Mimi over to someone else to be taken to the med center. As Gail gathered up a group of people to help with Jake, Layla put some more gas into the truck and waited. When they were on the road again Layla went as fast as she possibly could. She had to go at a moderate pace so she wouldn't use too much gas and so that she wouldn't lose the rest of the group. The truck skidded to a halt before the over turned truck and both she and Gail quickly jumped out to rush to Jake and Johnston.
Everyone else came around and they quickly figured out what to do so they got into place. The truck was lifted off of Jake and Layla helped to quickly pull him out from under. A back board was brought over and she helped to strap him to it. She followed behind with Gail as Johnston and another man carried him to the bed of the truck. They placed him on top of a few blankets so that his body was kept from the cold metal of the truck bed. Layla made to get in the bed with him but Johnston stopped her.
"And just what do you think you're doing, young lady?" he sternly asked.
"Someone needs to keep him warm," Layla replied matter of factly.
"I think I can do that."
"You've already been out in the cold long enough. You should be in the warm truck to get your own body temp. up."
"She's right, Johnston," Gail agreed. "Get in the truck and let's get Jake back to the house."
With a nod Johnston helped Layla up into the truck bed and then got into the truck with Gail.
As they headed down the road Layla got under the many blankets and snuggled up against Jake's side. She rubbed her hands along his chest and arms to try and get his blood flowing to warm him up. Jake stirred and turned his head to look her in the eye. He gave a weak laugh.
"What does this remind you of?" he asked softly.
She grinned at him and her eyes softened. "That night in the Afghan desert."
"That was one memorable night," he laughed.
She just smiled and got even closer to him.
"There is one difference between that night and now."
She looked up at him confused. "And what's that?"
"We had a lot less clothing between us," he replied with a devilish grin.
"Also your parents weren't right nearby," she countered with a teasing smile.
He groaned. "I was starting to warm up and you just have to go and ruin the mood."
She laughed and rested her head against his shoulder. They lay there in silence for a few minutes before Layla leaned up to say something. She found him sleeping and started to worry. Laying her hand against his chest she couldn't feel if he was still breathing. She pressed her fingers to the side of his throat and was happy to feel a pulse even though it was rather weak. She needed to keep him awake so she gently shook him until he opened his eyes and groaned.
"I am hardly in the right shape to reenact that night," he said with a dry chuckle.
She lightly smacked him on the chest. "I hardly had plans to reenact that night in the bed of a truck with your parents up front and you near death."
"Then why on earth do you have to wake me up? I am so tired."
"You have to stay awake and try to keep yourself warm. You use to be a soldier so you know that," she replied looking down at him.
As she looked into his eyes she watched as they turned from weary and drained to worried and nervous. She looked compassionately at him as she continued to rub his arms and chest to try to warm him up.
"What's wrong?" she asked softly.
"When everything gets back to normal what are people like you and I going to do?"
"What do you mean?"
"If the government is able to get itself back together and get things working again what is going to happen to you and I? We have been fighting battles and wars for so long and that it is almost all that we know. Once things are peaceful again what use are we going to be good for?"
She paused for a moment and looked down at the blanket than rather in his eyes as she gave serious thought to his question. "I guess people like us are going to have to make a choice. We can either continue to fight to keep the peace and protect those who need to be protected…or we can try and do something else with our lives." She looked back at him. "What do you want to do with your life?"
"I have absolutely no idea. Once I left Jericho I spent the majority of my time as a mercenary in Afghanistan so I don't really know what it means to be a normal adult citizen. What do you want to do?"
"I am in exactly the same boat as you. I've never lived a normal life. I went from a bad home life to a bad life and then I became a mercenary. I've never even allowed myself to dream of what a normal life would be like for me." She smiled down at him. "Maybe we can help each other out."
"Maybe," he murmured somewhat unsure that either one of them could be helped at this point.
Layla kept him talking about different things to keep him awake as they made the rest of the drive to Jericho. It wasn't very long before they pulled up in front of the Green house and everyone gathered around to help Jake. Johnston helped Layla down from the truck bed then turned back and with the help of several other men pulled Jake out and carried him into the house.
April was already there waiting for them to get back. Eric had started a roaring fire in the fire place to chase away the chill in the living room and had placed a comfortable chair in front of it for Jake. With the help of his father and brother Jake was able to stand up on wobbly legs and sit in the chair amongst a plethora of blankets. April instantly went to work checking up on him to see what kind of shape he was in.
"Should you take him to the med center?" Gail asked.
"He is better off here," April answered. "Sitting in front of the fire he is warmer than he would be at the center." She turned to the family and Layla would stood around watching with concern. "Just keep him warm and he should be fine in a couple of days."
It was about an hour later that everyone finally left Jake alone and decided to go to bed. Layla was lying in her own bed trying to fall asleep when she finally gave up and quietly got out of bed. She slipped on a pair of slippers and threw on a big sweatshirt before deciding to go and see how Jake was doing. She stopped at the top of the stairs and listened to Jake and Johnston talking below. Jake was trying to tell his father about an experience that they had both gone through in Afghanistan. Hearing him cry and remembering what they had gone through she felt tears come to her own eyes.
After calming Jake down Johnston headed up the stairs and Layla heard him too late. She tried to slip quietly back into her room but he caught her.
"Layla?" he questioned softly.
She tried to quickly wipe away the tears before turning to him. "Sorry. I didn't mean to eavesdrop."
He saw the tears still in her eyes and on her cheeks. "You were there with him, weren't you?"
She simply nodded her head as she felt the tears come again. Rather than turn her away Johnston walked up to her and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. He rubbed her back and tried to help her calm down just as he had done with Jake moments ago.
"Both of you did what you had to do to survive and come back home," he softly told her as he tried to reassure her. "You need to move on and remember the good things that you did and try and create new, better memories."
He went with her to her room and after making sure she was okay he left her alone to fall asleep.
Okay…there it is. I hope you liked it and once again I apologize for it being so late. As long as my classes cooperate it shouldn't be as long before I put up the next chapter…and as long as I can get away with not paying attention in Philosophy some more. Read and review but be kind! VintageGrl