Sorry it's been a while everyone... had other stories on the go; my friend has come up with the plot etc but somehow she managed to convince me to write it. Yeah, I have no idea how that happened either
Please review and tell me any criticisms... x
Zoe's POV
Chapter 15 – Day Two
The sky had been brightening for the last hour, slowly turning an eerie red whilst the land was still a black shadow, interrupted here and there by cars and buildings. The colour lit the edges of Zoe's face and was reflected off her open eyes, giving her a strangeness that seemed to match what she was thinking. The sun was slinking like a criminal from behind the horizon, peering cautiously through the grey clouds. Zoe forced herself to sit up and lent on the windowsill, her breath misting up the glass. She drew a small face on the fogged windowpane.
It was raining. A soft silvery drizzle sifted down from the sky and wreathed around the road changing all the colours to a dull darker shade. Sniffing with distain, Zoe rubbed a hand through her hair and slumped back onto the pillows, rubbing her forehead as though she had a headache. Well, Zoe considered, I'm allowed one considering my truck is a dam alien.
She gave a soft groan and rolled out of bed and onto the floor. The teen landed with a heavy thump but the impact had woken her up considerably. Massaging her sore nose, Zoe stumbled into the bathroom and stepped into the shower.
Hair up in ponytail, waterproof mascara on, casually formal clothes sitting on her frame and a matching umbrella above her head Zoe snuck out of the house and began walking the five miles to town. She had avoided the garage as much as possible and had shut the front door with unusual care. Zoe didn't know if Ironhide could hear her or not but no sounds came from the garage so she assumed she was in the clear.
The soft pitter-patter of raindrops echoed on her umbrella and Zoe grimaced with annoyance. Yawning, Zoe blinked blearily and... jumped when her phone vibrated loudly. Pulling it from her pocket, Zoe opened the message and gasped in surprise.
"You need a lift anywhere kid?" It read.
"You can text me?" Zoe squeaked in horror but composed herself and began texting a reply.
"No I'm good thanks."
A part of her wanted to use slang and wondered what the response would be, but the less brave – more sensible - part decided against it.
"You are never usually up at 7 o'clock in the morning Zoe."
Chuckling nervously to herself, Zoe glanced up at the sky; the clouds were getting blacker.
"Touché, although having an alien as a mode of transport is kind of weird and a lot to take in so I think I'm entitled to have a bit of thinking time."
She was joking, but when he didn't reply made her heart clenched guiltily.
"Sorry Ironhide, I didn't mean it like that."
"Understood. Do you wish to be picked up later?"
"Yeah, that'd be ok. See you later; I'll text you I guess."
"Be careful Zoe."
The teen smiled genially, touched by the three words on her mobile. Clicking it so it locked the screen, she pushed it into her pocket and continued down the road, sloshing through puddles in her blue wellington boots happily.
Ironhide's POV
Three hours later...
"Hey Ironhide. Can you please meet me at the place we were yesterday?"
Awaking from recharge to a constant beeping of a message annoyed Ironhide no end but he started his engine diligently when he recognised the number.
Grumbling to himself, the Weapon Specialist opened the garage door and rolled out onto the road, tinting his windows considerably so that passersby's wouldn't 'freak out' by his lack of driver. He drove quickly, noting the heavy rain on his hood and the cold wind on his metal sides.
Ironhide hadn't been hurt by the fact Zoe wanted time by herself to think. She had done it before; walking to town, to the woods and to a friend's when she didn't want to drive and he had been fine with that. Recharging was often a good way to past the time, especially with his many war wounds that still needed to be healed completely. Most could not be seen and were within the metal or had already healed to point of being invisible. He was grateful for that, it would have much more difficult to be bought had he many gashes on his paintwork.
Ironhide remembered when Zoe had accidently come across a deep scratch he had sustained a few vorns ago. She had manoeuvred him so he was on the driveway and had been coaxing dirt off one of his doors, hosing off most of the mud on his wheels and windscreen. He had tensed when he heard emit a low hiss, a sound human made whilst in pain. Focusing his scanners, he realized she was not injured, but had found the injury Barricade had given him in the Battle of Cer'torl, the only space bridge in the Reklox galaxy.
"Ow... When did I do that?" Zoe sounded so forlorn and shocked it made his spark ache un-expectantly. Ironhide felt Zoe gently brush her fingers over the gash and watched as her brows furrowed as she tried to remember how she done it.
Zoe traced the charred edges with her hand and sighed heavily.
"Sorry 'Hide, I have no idea how that happened!" He heard her say in confusion. He had done nothing but concentrated all his healing mechanisms onto that one injury, insuring his charge need never worry for him again.
Ironhide transformed once he was in the forest and positive of the absent of human presence. He walked slowly between the trees, ignoring the branches that brushed against his metal and the rain that continued to pour out of the sky. His metallic feet wanted to slide on the muddy ground but his unearthly balance kept them from doing so. As his mind drifted back to his charge Ironhide thought something that made his the circuits around his spark clench painfully.
Zoe didn't know how to get to the clearing. She had never been there before. She had been asleep on the way and had no idea how to reach it.
He cursed his foolishness. How could he have been so stupid? Frantic, he dialled Zoe's mobile number, his spark faltering at every unanswered ring. After what seemed like decades someone picked up.
"We had hoped you would walk straight into the trap Ironhide." Starscream's mocking slippery voice echoed in Ironhide's head like a virus.
"Where is she?" He snarled, loathing etched into each letter he uttered. He had stopped walking, his right fist mangling a nearby tree into splinters.
"In the clearing you Autobot scum. But hurry, I had no idea how quickly humans bled so you may find less of your human then you were expecting."
Zoe's POV
Zoe had never been in so much pain in her life. Her entire body hurt so much she had no idea where the harshest injury was. Concentrating, Zoe tried to pin point it and screamed in agony when searing white hot pain pulsed in her mind. It was her shoulders, definitely her shoulder. Her collarbone felt like it had been shattered twice over. Her lungs were burning as well, as though thousands of glass shards were forcing their way into every tiny crevice. Breathing was so painful Zoe had tried to stop four times, her heartbeat faltering constantly as she refused to suck in oxygen. Zoe felt rain drops against her skin like a constant rhythm, cooling her burning muscles.
The teen could remember nothing; no matter how much she wracked her brain and tore through memories.
A loud scream of low airplane engines.
A terrifying cackle.
Strong fingers around her body, roughly and too tightly.
One calculated squeeze.
Her ribs shattering, unable to withstand the pressure.
Another wave of pain ripped across her limbs and over spine, causing it to arch and Zoe to force her eyes open. A strangled gasp escaped her lips and she turned to the ground and coughed wetly, ignoring the blood that splattered onto her hands from both her lungs.
Groaning, Zoe blinked and tried to take in her surroundings. Her vision was blurry and her eyelids kept closing unbidden. Zoe sat up; the torment of injuries shrieking their protest at her so constant it was now a dull ache. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the amount of blood surrounding her. It pooled and was dying the green and rusty red. The metallic tinge wafted into Zoe's nostrils making her stomach gurgle and lurch uncomfortably.
"Zoe!"
The urgency and panic filled voice was drowned out by another tsunami of agony that seared its way through her veins. Had she heard it, Zoe would have felt relief along with an undercurrent of happiness. But she had not and the teen was now writhing on the ground, a low scream echoing around her. Zoe couldn't begin to realize the screams were from her, nor the fact help was on its way and pure evil was less than five metres away.
"Zoe..."
The horrified whisper made said teen's eyes open.
"Ironhide?" She whimpered softly. Speaking may cause her great pain but she had to be sure.
A harsh hysteric laugh drew her gaze to the left and before she could she could register anything other than the red eyes Zoe was catapulted into midair.