Simon's Point of View
"I may not get another chance." Jeanette was right; it was true that what we were doing wasn't exactly what you'd call safe, but I promised myself that I would let no harm come to Jeanette. Although I could only do so much, she had every reason to think there wouldn't be another chance for us to be together.
It took me a while to realize what she had done; even as we jumped onto the mould blade of the bulldozer I was having trouble processing that Jeanette kissed me. This time it wasn't just a peck on the lips either, it wasn't a friendly kiss, it was a full kiss that had me melting and wanting more even as a seventeen ton bulldozer was hurtling itself towards us. Based off the kiss, I think it was established that if we lived through this, we would start a relationship; I hoped it was established anyway. She proved to me that she wanted something more than a friendship, she knew I did too. I quickly glanced at her before we jumped and wished I could hold her, talk to her, there was never much time for talking.
The bulldozer itself wasn't exactly fast, but the blade constantly moved and drove dirt and dead flowers at us like an obstacle course, it didn't matter how fast the dozer moved. On the blade's slant, it was nearly impossible to move. Jeanette and I tumbled across the blade and within the first few seconds of being on it, I was exhausted. Our hands remained linked and no matter how hard we tried to regain our balance, we just fell through the dirt. At first, the dirt just buried our feet, but it was quickly rising, climbing higher against our bodies. We had to get to the top!
"Jeanette!" I yelled, hoping that she could hear me (I could barely hear myself think!). The chipette looked at me, indicating I had her attention. Dirt streaked across her face and clothes. "Climb up the dirt and see if you can make it to the top; I'll swat away anything that might hit you!"She nodded and reluctantly let go of my hand and began to climb. I turned around to begin my defense and was instantly swarmed by pebbles and dirt and dead flowers. It didn't take long for me to be overcome and beaten by the debris.
Through all the blinking I had to, the dirt and all of the debris, I noticed something out of place; a dark chocolate brown swung across my face, offering me an escape. I instinctively reached for it with whatever strength I had left and was pulled upwards to freedom. I felt the weight of the debris trail off me and felt relieved. Jeanette clung to the opposite end of the mould blade with her free hand for dear life as she tried to pull me up.
"Are you okay?" She panted as I made my way up. Like Dave would before a concert, she brushed off my sweater, rattled with dirt (I lost my jacket somewhere along the way.) and then she hugged me tight. Truthfully, I was sore and pained by being battered with rocks and dry soil. I had a migraine that would probably turn out to be a concussion if I lived. I felt like I could pass out any moment, but I couldn't tell her any of this. I had to keep strong and keep her confident.
"I am if you are." I stated, concerned she may have gotten hurt herself. If I was the cause of her injury, all due to my stubbornness, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. She smiled and took my hand again. Any worry I had melted for just that instant, but was brought back by what Jeanette worried about next.
"That's a big jump…" She shivered.
"I think we can make it." I said, trying to calm her down. The jump was at least three feet long and four feet high, it led to the engine hood, our destination; if we could get to the engine, we could stop the bulldozer. Tear the engine apart and the dozer wouldn't stand a chance. "Ready?" I asked. She nodded but had a look on her face that told me she would never be ready to make a jump like that. "One…" I began and felt Jeanette tense up and tighten her grip on my hand, "Two…" She started breathing faster and faster as the time approached, "Three!" We jumped together as powerful as our little legs could handle and still that was barely enough to make it. Our legs hung and it was all we could do to not slip and plummet to our deaths. I let her use my back and hood as a base to climb up and was gladly pulled up. She was amazingly strong for an exhausted chipette. It was strangely alluring.
"Let's talk to the driver," Jeanette suggested, "see if we can get him to stop." I agreed, it would be safer and certainly easier than taking apart an engine; I nodded to Jeanette and we ran. The smoke was the worst part about being on the hood and I knew there was no chance of getting any clean breaths of fresh air. We were right next to the exhaust pipe and the metal around it burned my feet.
"That must be where the engine is." I made a mental note of that and continued on, "This better work." We hopped on the front window to alert the driver.
"Ah!" He screamed, "What the? Get off you stupid animals!"
"Please sir, you need to stop the vehicle!" Jeanette begged and poked her head through the side opening.
"It talks?" The driver said with a questioning look, "I've been out here far too long."
"So stop and take a break." Jeanette chimed. I saw what she was trying to do; such a clever girl. I prayed we would live so I could at least get the chance to be with her.
"Sorry, uh, Missy, I gotta finish my job."
"It's no use," I whispered into Jeanette's ear knowing that the driver could not be hoaxed, "Let's just go to-" THUMP! The bulldozer hit something, something hard. Something able to make the dozer jerk. The next thing I knew, we were mid-air and headed straight for the plastic cap opening of what I suspected to be the fuel tank. I was right. I closed my eyes the second I hit the cap. A burning pain coursed throughout every inch of my body. I was under gas, liquid gas, fuel. I reacted as fast as possible and pushed Jeanette up, hoping she hadn't been soaked at all. I panicked and jumped up further than meaning to, landing on the roof of the bulldozer.
The roof was surprisingly very cooling, but maybe that was just in comparison to the burning fuel. I rolled around as best I could to stop the stinging. Was this what it was like to be lit on fire? The terrible smell of gas was everywhere and the fuel soaked my fur from head to toe, making it harder to move.
"Jeanette, did any get on you?" I cried. The fuel stung and there was nothing I could do to make it stop. Thankfully the sun wasn't around to add to the heat and make it worse, if it were, I'd have probably given up and passed out from heat or caught on fire. My own tears cooled my face.
"Just my feet," She replied, "It really stings."
"Heh, I know. At least that's all that got on you." I optimistically said. Until now, she didn't seem to realize how soaked I was.
"Are you okay?!" She cried and her eyes went wide; she gently touched my shoulder which sent a terrible pain through my shoulder, like an electric shock. I didn't let any pain show in my facial expression, I only nodded. "Did you swallow any…?" The worry in her voice burned more than the fuel that dripped off my fur. I hesitated; I wasn't sure if I swallowed any, my throat didn't burn and there was no strange taste in my mouth, but I had gone under and it could have crawled in through my nose or even through my closed lips.
"N-No." I said half-hardheartedly, not wanting to lie, but also not wanting to tell the truth and worry her more, "Come on, we have to get to the engine." She didn't argue; we locked hands and painfully hopped down to the hood of the dozer. It took all of my strength just to look for the opening of the hood and it was even worse in the attempt to lift it open. "Pull!" I screamed to myself, "We can't give up!" Adrenaline kicked in and almost completely by myself, I ripped the hood open and help it up so Jeanette could fit in. "You first." I told her and she slowly but assuredly climbed in.
"Now you." She said and was about to get in position to hold the hood. THUMP! Just as I was about to jump in, I flew back and the hood dropped. "Ahh!" Jeanette's scream faded as the hood separated us and she was lost somewhere in the hood with the engine. The sharp jerk from the bulldozer sent me back down to the mould blade and back into the painful tossing and turning of dirt and rock. The only up side to the pain was the cooling effect the debris had on the burning gas. The blast burried me deep and as the debris fell on me, pounding me with the cold pebbles and dirt, I could feel some push it's way down my throat. I couldn't close my mouth, and the taste of the rubble was awful and kind of reminded me of Dave's cooking. I wondered if I'd ever see Dave again; surely, if I made it out of this alive he would kill me. It would be worth getting to see him. It would be worth getting to see everyone. Alvin would forever hold me against my crazy disobedience against Dave, Theodore would worry and care for me, and tell me how to get better. Brittany and Eleanor would kill me if anything happened to Jeanette, but I would gladly go back to them no matter the consequence.
I pushed my way to the bottom of the blade and out of the dirt that tried to drown me. I was able to get a quick look at The Gardens; or should I say The Graveyard, because that's what it looked like. The sky was dark and only a small patch -maybe an acre that stood right in front of the dozer- had vegetation. I stared straight ahead and noticed that only an arms-length away, standing tall, was Jeanette's violet, the next victim of the bulldozer that swallowed Jeanette herself.
"Jeanette, you better be safe," I thought,"You're smart enough to stop this yourself." I didn't think the flower was real at first, but when the edge of the blade neared it even closer and I could feel the soft petals, I knew it had to be real.
"That flower's a goner." I thought, "And so am I."