Disclaimer: Not mine, no copyright is intended
A/N: Forced to uproot from the place they had begun to call home, tempers begin to flare. I love comments and feedback - please!
Three nights and days without proper sleep or food were beginning to take their toll on both Abby and Danny. At least Danny's idea of following the stream meant they had water, which was a small comfort. The terrain was getting increasingly rocky and uneven, and Abby had slipped several times.
"This was a terrible idea!" she snapped. "We're far too exposed out here, if something comes after us, there aren't any trees for us to climb up."
"No-one forced you to follow me!" Danny snapped back. "If you'd rather be back in the forest with those T-Rex's, then go ahead, I won't stop you!"
"I'm just saying that we need to think about hiding places in case we..."
"I am fully aware of what we need to do, Abby!" Danny yelled back, throwing his spear to the ground. "I hate this as much as you do, but what choice do we have?"
They both stood and stared at each other, and Abby sighed.
"Let's rest for a while, I think we're both tired." Danny said.
They perched themselves on some rocks and both scanned their surroundings, Abby taking a long drink from her bottle, whilst Danny munched on some fruit. Abby noticed some greenery to the north of where they were. She reckoned it was probably another day's walk ahead, but it could be worth it. Green usually meant forest¸ and food. "We should be heading over there." Abby nodded towards it.
"It's a difficult walk." Danny said.
"What choice do we have? If we go your way, we're just heading higher up into the mountains."
"Fine. Whatever." Danny stood up, grabbed his rucksack and began walking in the direction Abby had indicated.
"Danny!" Abby called, trying to catch up with him. "What is wrong with you!" She demanded, grabbing his arm. He shrugged her away and increased his pace. "OK, if that's how you want it." She said, folding her arms and standing still. She waited for him to realise she wasn't following.
"Abby, don't be stupid! We have to keep together." he called.
"You started it!"
Danny mimicked her, putting on a childish, squeaky voice. "You sound about 10 years old!"
"Says the man that went stomping off in a sulk because he couldn't get his own way." Abby spat back. There was a silence, the tension like electricity between them. Eventually, Abby slumped to the ground and found herself crying.
Danny was as her side immediately, putting his arm around her. "This is crazy. The last thing we should be doing is fighting. I'm sorry."
Abby rested her head on his chest. "I'm sorry too. I'm tired, and hungry... but I shouldn't be taking it out on you." Danny stroked her hair and she closed her eyes. "Maybe we should think about finding some shelter for tonight and try to get some sleep. We'll both feel better for it tomorrow, and then we can head towards that green area I saw. If there's nothing there, we'll continue on along the stream."
"You're right. Sleep would do us both good." Danny looked around. "There's very few places to hide here though, nothing big enough for both of us."
"We can do it shifts like we used to do. One sleeps whilst the other keeps watch."
As night began to draw in around them, Danny found a small gap in the rocks that was just large enough for one person to lie down in. Danny had insisted Abby slept first, and she crawled inside. The rucksacks made a pillow of sorts, and it wasn't long before she was drifting off to sleep.
It was morning when she awoke. As she lay there, rubbing her eyes and yawning, she suddenly realised she had slept all night. Danny hadn't woken her to take her turn on guard. She stuck her head out and saw him slumped against the rock, eyes closed. She couldn't help but smile at him; he looked peaceful. He seemed very different to the man she had first met; his long, tangled hair and unkempt beard made him look considerably older than he was. The facial hair hid the scars of earlier battles, and the only other evidence of the many injuries he had sustained was the leather strapping around his left hand. The cut had been really deep and Abby had struggled to stop it from bleeding. He really needed stitches in it, but the best she could do was bind his hand with some strips of leather from her jacket to keep it from getting infected.
She crawled over to him and kissed his forehead. "Wakey wakey, sleepy head!" she whispered. He opened his eyes slowly and smiled. "Some guard you are!"
"I guess I was more tired than I thought. I was just going to let you sleep whilst I kept watch." He stretched himself, then returned Abby's kiss. "Come on. We need to refill our water, then start walking. If we keep a good steady pace, we should be in the safety of the trees by nightfall." They both gathered together their things and readied themselves for the long day ahead.
-o-
Neither had spoken for several hours, both anxious to conserve as much energy as possible. Their intended goal was tantalisingly close, and the thought of being in the relative safety of the trees spurred them onwards. Abby was beginning to tire though, and she was starting to lag behind Danny. He kept stopping to allow her to catch up, but at this rate they wouldn't make it by nightfall. She had protested when he suggested they called it a day, and she dragged herself onwards.
Going on slightly ahead, Danny realised the rocks beneath him were giving a little as he placed his feet on them. He turned to warn Abby to watch her footing, then slipped. Abby screamed as she saw him fall and slide down an almost vertical rock face. She ran and leaned over, almost scared at what she might see. He'd landed on a ledge about 10 metres down. "Danny?" she called. He didn't seem to be moving. "Danny!" she called again, a little louder. She felt tears welling up; what if this was it?
"Abby?" he called back up. Her heart pounded hard, thank god he was still alive! "I'm OK, but I think I've broken my leg or something."
Abby began to make her way down towards him. She was quite accomplished at climbing now, and it only took a few seconds to reach him. She hugged him, relieved he was OK, then concentrated on his injury.
"I can't move it." he said. "I'm not going anywhere for a while."
"You have to, Danny. You can't stay here. Maybe I can strap it up and make it more comfortable?"
"Then what? There's no way I can get back up there." He face was creased in frustration and pain.
"Then I stay too. I'm not leaving you." Abby said stubbornly.
Danny took both her hands and looked her straight in the eyes. "You have to. We need to eat and we need water. You're our only hope." Tears were falling silently down her cheeks. "Abby. We're so close to the forest. You have to leave me."
"I can't!" she sobbed.
Danny pulled her towards him, kissing her passionately. "You can." He whispered. "You're the strongest person I know, and if anyone can do this it's you."
Abby pulled away and wiped her cheeks. "OK." She said quietly. "But I'm coming back for you as soon as I can. That's a promise."
"Concentrate on keeping yourself safe, then when you can, bring some food and water. We'll take it a day at a time." He squeezed Abby's hand and she nodded. He watched her slowly climb back up to the top and disappear, before allowing himself to cry.
-o-
It was already dark by the time Abby reached the edge of the forest. It seemed inviting, homely almost. She was exhausted, and struggled to climb the nearest tree. As she tried to sleep, her head was spinning with so many thoughts. Danny's injury complicated things considerably; and the fact he was stuck down on that ledge made it worse. She had hated leaving him, but deep down knew he was right to make her go on. In the morning, she would try to find something they could eat and head straight back to him.
Her eyes felt heavy and she could feel them closing. Something made her open them though. In the distance, she could see a light. She blinked; thinking she could be seeing things, but it was definitely some kind of light. She had to know what it was, so she climbed down and headed in the direction of where she had seen it. Minutes later, she was stood with her mouth open. The light was an anomaly. Her heart raced and she began to sob – maybe they were finally going home!
Her first thought was to go through it, but she stopped herself. What if the other side was even more dangerous than here? What if it closed behind her, leaving Danny all alone? She took a deep breath and decided that she had to go though and at least assess the situation. As she stepped through to the other side, she heard the click of rifles and looked up to see five soldiers. She raised her hands above her head.
"Wait!" a voice said. It was a voice that made her heart skip a beat, a voice she knew so well and had longed to hear for so many months.
"Connor!" she sobbed. He ran to her, flinging his arms around her and hugging her so tight she could barely breathe.
"Abby. You have no idea how good it is to see you!" he whispered, struggling to speak through his tears.
"I have a vague idea!" she whispered back.
"I can't believe you finally got it right, Temple!" Becker said. Abby and Connor pulled apart, but linked hands, fingers entwined. "We've tried that gadget of yours so many times and failed."
"OK, you don't have to remind me." Connor replied. His face had dropped, a look Abby had seen too many times before. He hadn't changed, he still let people put him down.
"Danny." Abby said. "We have to go and get Danny! He fell and injured his leg, I had to leave him so that I could get food for us."
"We'll get him." Becker said. He was indicating to his men to follow him. "Tell me how to find him." Abby gave Becker directions, and watched him and his soldiers disappear through the anomaly. They had climbing gear and a stretcher, but she would not rest until she saw him again.
"Come on, I'll get you back to the ARC so the medic can take a look at you." Connor said.
"No. I'm not going anywhere until I know Danny is safe." she said.
"OK, we'll wait for them to come back." Connor said softly, stroking her hand.
Abby sat in silence listening to him chatter on. She had worked out from his ramblings that she and Danny had been missing for seven months as they had suspected; and that Connor had made it home three months previously. He had managed to repair the anomaly opening device he had by patching it together with his ipod that he had in his rucksack; and three anomalies later he was home. He had then devoted virtually every waking moment to trying to work out how to control the device and open the right anomaly to find her and Danny.
After what felt like an eternity, the soldiers returned carrying a stretcher with Danny sitting on it. Abby ran over to him and stroked his face. "We're home." She smiled.
"Yeah." Danny said, smiling back. He glanced over and saw Connor appear by Abby's side. "Hey, Connor. I hear it's you we have to thank for opening the anomaly."
"It's good to see you again, Danny." Connor smiled. He had slipped his arm around Abby's shoulders as he spoke. Abby caught Danny's eyes and noted a look of sadness in them. There were things she wanted to say to him, but there were too many people around. Suddenly, everything was a blur. She was being dragged towards Connor's car and Danny was being taken to one of the soldier's vehicles. Their nightmare was over, but why did Abby still feel scared?