Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.
Previously: Edward arrived at the institution and found that Bella was still alive. Edward removed Bella from her cell and they were reunited. Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper searched Forks for survivors and told the wolves that Bella was dead. Bella received the awful news of the pandemic.
Chapter 5
(Bella's point of view)
I hardly remember leaving the cell. I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts that important events such as the Cullens literally carrying me out of Forks went practically unnoticed. It is only now, as I begin to recover from my grief, that I begin to pay attention to what is currently happening. We—or the Cullens, rather—are running through a pine forest at vampire speed. Strangely, I am as accustomed to their speed as I was before they left, and I'm glad that I won't have to readjust. Edward has not let go of me since he told me what had become of the human populace, and I suddenly feel very grimy in the tank top and hospital-issued sweats I've been wearing for the past several days. I shift in his arms, shamefully aware of my oily skin and the stringy brown hair that hangs limply at my shoulders. I bring my elbow to my face to wipe the tears off of my cheeks.
"Where are we going?" I ask hoarsely, feeling awkward breaking the silence.
"Denali," Carlisle responds, "To meet up with our cousins there. I assume Edward has told you about them?"
The claws of my mind drag through long-buried memories of the previous year. Among my findings, I am able to recall mention of another group of vegetarian vampires who lived in Denali. I nod tiredly. "Tanya, right?"
"Yes, Tanya and her sisters Kate and Irina along with Carmen and Eleazer," Carlisle confirms quietly, "We figured they might be able to help us figure out what to do next. We're sort of at a loss on how to proceed, you see."
"Yeah," I agree, clearing my throat to no avail. The speed of the wind against my face hinders my speech, but not as much as the emotion that wells up dryly in my throat. I turn my face back into Edward's chest and contemplate what I think we should do next. If it were up to me, we would probably stay in Forks. I want waveringly to look for Charlie and Jacob. I would have insisted that I see the destruction for myself had I not been emotionally compromised when we left. In addition to that, my dread of what we might find is as restricting as metal chains. The very idea of them being dead is enough to send me into a flurry of grief; I can't imagine what the sight of it, the feasible proof, would do to me. Part of me says this is selfish, that I should do everything within my power to seek them out. The other part of me, however, is dauntingly dominant: self-preservation.
With the idea of lingering in Forks stuffed in the desk drawer of my mind, I go on to consider other options. What would there be to do with no other human in the world? Well, the vampires should be happy, I think bitterly, They're finally the dominant species. That which was once only a wry thought produces a full-blown panic within me. Vampires being the dominant species on Earth is probably one of the worst things that could happen to me at this point. As the black in Edward's eyes shows, vampires get thirsty, and, when vampires are thirsty, human blood is their first choice. If word gets out that I, now a rare delicacy, am hanging out in Alaska, the poor Denali coven's doors are going to be knocked down by the army of bloodthirsty monsters who would, after weeks and weeks of starvation, kill for even a sip of my blood.
Edward, having noticed the change in my mood, hugs me to his chest even more tightly, stroking my still greasy hair tenderly. My cheeks burn with self-consciousness. "What's wrong?" he whispers anxiously. I only shake my head in response.
"Don't you think we should make camp for the night?" Esme suggests, gazing at me with motherly concern, "Bella looks like she could use some food and a bit of sleep."
As the Cullens slow, they look to me for confirmation. "Yes," I admit bashfully, "That does sound pretty nice."
The Cullens slow to a stop in a small clearing among the trees. Before Edward can even set me on my feet, Emmett and Rosalie are working on setting up a lonely tent and Jasper and Alice have set to work on a fire. Esme and Carlisle both pull out food from packs I hadn't known they'd had. I stare in wonder as they produce pots and pans that no average being would have been able to hold for five seconds, let alone carry as they run across continents. My distraction causes me to stumble a little when Edward puts me on my feet, but he steadies me easily. I cast him a grateful smile before turning to survey the campsite again. My eyes widen at the sight of a two-room, green canvas tent already completed within the few seconds I spent watching Carlisle and Esme. Rosalie and Emmett have gone on to pull even more food out of their backpacks. I shake my head as I turn to watch Alice and Jasper make a fire. This, at least, they have to do at a semi-human pace. Alice disappears for a few seconds before arriving with a stack of firewood.
"Whoa," I breathe, looking wistfully around the small clearing at my new family.
"I know it's not much," Edward apologizes regretfully, "But it will have to do for tonight. Carlisle estimates that we'll arrive in Denali tomorrow, so you'll be able to sleep in a real bed tomorrow night."
"No, it's great," I insist, locking my hand around his.
He smiles down at me and reaches out to touch my hair again, but, remembering my lack of cleanliness, I inquire with chagrin, "Er, do you know when I might be able to, um, shower, or something like that?"
Before answering, Edward looks to Alice, whose eyes glaze over for a fraction of a second. Then he turns to me and replies, "It would be best if you waited until we got to Denali to shower. They have a well, and we think we can get it to run without electricity. Tanya and her sisters, of course, will be able to provide you with shampoo."
"Thanks," I mumble, looking down.
The ground is the same, I observe thoughtfully, The dirt and the rocks remain untouched, though the entire world above it has been so radically altered. Irrational envy surprises me. How dare you just sit there? Why is it that I seemed destined to suffer, you remain in your perfect world of contentment?
Chastising myself for mentally yelling at dirt, I turn back to Edward. "Come on," he says, pulling me over to the makeshift fire pit. Someone has brought out some logs from the forest for us to sit on, though the fire has yet to be started.
A very confused Civil War veteran sits around the pile of logs in bewilderment. He lights what, judging from the pile of burnt out sticks on the ground, is the fifteenth match he has attempted to wrangle into doing its work. He holds the tiny flame to the bark of a log until it burns out. "Why isn't it burning?" he wonders, frustrated.
"You're just not doing it right," Emmett scolds him, kneeling down beside the fire pit, "Here, watch me do it." The muscular vampire takes a red-tipped stick between his large fingers, swipes it against the side of the box, and throws it into the fire. He smiles smugly as if expecting it to burst into flames the moment he did so. When the match burns out, he scowls. "It should be burning! I think we've got some defective matches or something."
The other Cullens appear to be just as confused as he is. They all look to Carlisle, three-hundred-plus-year-old vampire, holder of a myriad of college degrees, for help. He looks around just as helplessly as the others.
A small smirk spreads itself onto my face at their incompetence; even I know the basics of how to start a fire. When I was about nine, my mother decided to enroll me in Girl Scouts, and it looks like the information I learned on my first, ill-fated camping trip was actually valuable. "You need to start with smaller sticks, or paper if you have it," I explain, "Light them, and, if we're lucky, they'll light the medium pieces on fire, and they'll light the larger pieces on fire." Seeing that my family is still pretty confused, I walk over to the edge of the woods and offer, "Here, let me show you."
After about a half an hour under my tutoring, we've got a modest fire going. As we stand admiring our work, Esme suggests brightly, "Would you like some food, Bella? You must be starving by know, and we have some food that doesn't need to be cooked."
"Oh, yes, Esme, thank you," I reply, smiling serenely at my mother-in-law.
Esme pulls out a bag of cool ranch Doritos and a banana and presents them to me, looking pleased with herself. Unable to destroy Esme's pride by telling her that Doritos and bananas are not the best combination, I accept her offering gratefully.
The others, apparently satisfied that I had been fed, all sit down around the small flame with me except for Carlisle. Edward sits close by me, our shoulders touching and our hands intertwined. I peal my banana quickly and begin to nibble, trying to look sophisticated as I eat while not being able to completely hold back my hunger.
"Edward," Carlisle from the edge of the woods, "Would you like to go hunting with me? It has been a very long time since you last fed, and I don't think it would be prudent to go much longer without hunting."
Edward casts a conflicted look at me. I, seeing the black that has taken over his once golden eyes, nod encouragingly. Upon seeing my approval, he releases my hand and rises reluctantly. "Of course, Carlisle. It would be lovely to accompany you."
Carlisle disappears in a blur, the fragile branches of the trees shaking in his wake. My heart aches as Edward follows him. What if he doesn't come back? the pessimistic side of me frets, This was probably their plan all along; they'll be gone by the time I wake up in the morning…
No! the rest of me argues ferociously, They would never do that, though…
They have before.
"Is the banana okay?" Esme asks worriedly, "It was a little brown, but it was the best I could find at the store."
"Oh, it's fine," I assure her shakily, my cheeks flooding with color as I continue to nibble on the fruit. I wonder how much longer it will be before there is no more fruit like bananas available. With no one to bring them in from where they're grown, I have a feeling my time enjoying such delicacies as bananas is limited. The source of my food from now on is another portion of the unknown future that lies ahead of us.
"Glad Mr. Self-pity is finally gone," Emmett comments, throwing a few sticks into the fire, "Maybe some blood will get the self-pity out of his system."
"Don't talk about your brother that way, Emmett," Esme scolds him maternally, "He's been through a lot lately."
"As if it wasn't all his fault," Emmett scoffs, his boyish dimples showing even as he berates his brother, "He made a mistake, and now he can't pull himself out of retrospection long enough to see the obvious course of action now: Change Bella."
"You know why…" Jasper begins quietly.
"Why he's clinging to an idea that was illogical from the beginning? Yeah, I know that. It's because he's a stupid ja…"
"Emmett," Esme chastises him, "Watch your language."
Emmett grins and, not the least bit reproachful, apologizes, "Sorry, Mom. You have to admit, though. He's not making any sense."
Esme sighs and reluctantly agrees with the unruliest of her three sons, "Yes, he is being a little stubborn, but he always has been. He'll come around, eventually."
"I can't see it," Alice informs them worriedly, "Not right now. Edward must be very adamant about this."
"Then we'll just have to change his mind," Emmett exclaims, standing abruptly, "There's nothing left of the human world. I say we go out and make him see sense. Are you with me, Jasper?"
Jasper opens his mouth to answer, but Alice beats him to the punch. "That's a terrible idea, Emmett. Seriously, one of your worst moments. If you go out there and try to 'make' him see sense, he'd only be more bent on his decision. I don't think that's it, though. There's some sort of external factor, something that just won't allow the change to occur."
Suddenly, they all turn to me. I had been sitting quietly, listening to their conversation with a kind of hopeless yearning.
"Yeah, maybe we should ask Bella what she wants," Rosalie suggests arrogantly, brushing her still perfect blond hair with her fingers as she leans up against along, "This is her life, after all."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Bella," Esme says apologetically, a crease forming between her motherly golden eyes, "We just assumed, after last year, that you'd still want…Well, I guess it was wrong of us to assume."
"It's not me," I tell them quietly, "I've always wanted that."
"Well then, what…" Esme starts to ask before stopping. All of them jump to their feet so quickly that their movement appears to me like switching scenes in a movie. I gasp in surprise, glancing around wildly for any signs of danger.
Then I am in someone's cold arms, and we're suddenly flying. I look around wildly, noticing that little Alice was the one to have swept me off my feet with such ease. The green of the trees seems to form walls around us, Alice moving so quickly that I'm still trying to wrap my head around what has happened when our little campsite is only a distant memory. The light of the moon does nothing to penetrate the canopy of the trees around us. The scent of the pines fills my nose as I breathe in the cold night air. The wind on my face makes it difficult to breath and see at first, but an adrenaline rush helps me accommodate to the change in my atmosphere.
As quickly as she began our journey, we are stopped roughly. The stop is jarring, and I know that there will be many bruises to be accounted for later. A powerful force shoves us into an unfortunately nearby pine tree, sending it toppling down along with us. Alice's arms disappear from around me, and I am left with my nose in a blanket of pine needles. My arms, weak from months of underuse, shake as I lift myself up into sitting position. I scramble backward, wiping sap and leaves away from my eyes. In the suddenly acutely defined forest, two pale figures lash out at each other spasmodically, as if they were actors in a badly choreographed movie. The smaller of the two figures whom I assume to be Alice is the farthest thing from a Hollywood star I could imagine. Her feral snarl tears through my chest like a lion's claws. Fear clogs my throat as I take in the intimidating silhouette of her opponent. Though she has proven to be a formidable foe in any fight, the tiny vampire looks very outmatched in the scuffle.
The rough bark of the fallen pine digs into the bare flesh of my arm as I use it to hoist myself up. The pine needles are not at all soft against the soles of my feet. I hesitate only a few moments before deciding that Alice needs more help than I can get her. I turn clumsily, my feet sliding as I go, and speed off into the trees. My breath becomes sporadic as I pelt off into the unknown trees.
"Edward!" I shout desperately, "Carlisle? Emmett, Jasper, Rosalie, someone…" My cries turn to hoarse sobs, my voice unable to hold up for long. "Please, please, p-p-please…Somebody!"
A sharp force sends interrupts my sprinting, slamming me savagely into a tree. The bark once again threatens to break skin through my clothes. I involuntarily cry out in pain, thrashing out wildly as my back is scraped against the tree until I am a foot off the ground. I stone hand holds my shoulder in place with enough force to at least crack a few of my bones. Dark, crimson glare into mine ferociously. The vampire's angular jaws and perfect features are highlighted in the moonlight, glowing softly. His face is only inches away from me. He leans his head forward, breathing in deeply. The frigid breath he releases as he exhales makes my hair stand up. I can feel his ragged jacket against my body as he leans closer, obviously enticed by the aroma of my unfortunately delectable blood. I shake with fear for my life, for there are no means of escape available. Even if I weren't being held against the equivalent of a wall, there is no way I'd be able to outrun this monster.
The obviously thirst vampire growls frenziedly. "Delicious…" he whispers lowly, inhaling again, "So long I have gone without hunting, and so easily we have found you…" Images of James in the ballet studio all of those months ago flash through my mind as his lips near my throat. "I can only imagine the taste…"