172

I had no idea how long I'd been driving, but my vision was getting blurry, my shoulder felt numb, my head was spinning, and I felt nauseated. I quickly pulled over, putting it in park. Optimus still hadn't regained consciousness, which worried me deeply. I knew he wasn't dead, I could still feel the Bond.

Resting my head on the steering wheel, I closed my eyes. I had pulled over once before to try and make something to stop the bleeding, but it only slowed it down a little. The entire shoulder area of my shirt was bloodied, blood had dripped down my arm and dried.

"Mama?" I looked at Saoirse and Eden. They both looked terrified. Saoirse crawled over and gently touched my shoulder, I flinched. "You need to rest, Mama," Saoirse said.

"I-I can't," I murmured softly. I knew I lost a significant amount of blood. I was probably going into shock, if I hadn't already. "I'm gonna keep going..." I said that more to myself, I needed to keep motivating myself to keep going.

If I could do that, I'd be able to find someone to help me and Optimus.

After taking a moment to collect myself, I took to the road again. I blinked back the blurriness that invaded my vision, the fuzziness that filled my brain. My heart pounded painfully in my chest, my breathing becoming labored.

"You can do this, Desirée," I whispered to myself. "You can do this. Just keep going. Do it for Optimus and the girls."

With a shaky hand, I rolled down the driver's side window, just a little, to get fresh air. It was already midday (I think) and I prayed I was getting closer to the border. I knew we wouldn't make it past Texas, so I'd have to settle for the first Texan town (or city) I ended up in.

Hearing a short honk behind me, I pulled over. I looked through the rear view mirror. Ratchet was behind us. I gave a short, shaky laugh.

When he parked beside us, I climbed out. Rosalyn and her kids climbed out, as well. When she saw my shoulder, she paled.

Instantly, Ratchet's Holoform activated. He rushed over to me and looked at my shoulder.

"What in the name of Primus happened?" he exclaimed.

"Cemetery Wind found us," I murmured. I closed my eyes for a second to catch my breath. "Optimus took care of some of them."

"What happened to Prime?" Ratchet looked at the unconscious Autobot leader worriedly.

"Lockdown." I frowned. "Optimus got injured. He's unconscious."

Ratchet cursed. "I don't know if I have enough time to work on him, but I can try and work on you."

I shook my head. "Optimus..."

"You're bleeding to death," Ratchet exclaimed. "I have to work on you now."

I had to take my shirt off for Ratchet to begin helping me. He said the bullets went straight through, so I didn't have to worry about them being stuck inside me.

Rosalyn was smart enough to bring a few first-aid things, and Ratchet was able to use those for my injuries. He used my bloodied sweat jacket as a sling, saying I couldn't use that shoulder until it fully healed. Which would be a while.

"Couldn't I just heal it with the All Spark?" I asked tiredly.

"No." Ratchet finished up, looked exhausted. "Last time you did that, it damaged the nerves in that area and left the skin scarred."

"I can handle scarring," I said.

Ratchet shook his head. "You lost a good amount of blood," he said, "but I don't have the proper equipment to give you any. You'll just have to rest. A lot."

I nodded, slowly standing up.

"How did that happen?" Rosalyn asked.

"Someone tried shooting at me." I winced. "Maybe at the girls, I don't know, I wasn't paying attention. But I got shot."

"I hope you get better," Rosalyn said.

"Thanks." I looked at Ratchet, the Holoform's hands covered in my blood. "Thank you, Ratchet," I said sincerely. "I owe you a lot."

The Holoform shook his head. "You don't owe me anything," he said, his voice not sounding like its usual gruff, angry tone. "You're my friend. You and Optimus both. I'd do anything to keep you safe."

Once Ratchet dismissed the Holoform, and Rosalyn and her kids climbed back in, I waved them goodbye. Rosalyn said, before she left, that Ratchet wanted to make sure we got out of there safely. I smiled at that. Once they were out of sight, I carefully made my way back into the smaller cabin of the truck.

Optimus wasn't going to wake up anytime soon. I only guessed as much. Unless he was fixed, he was going to remain unconscious. Ratchet didn't have the proper materials to work on Optimus's injuries, which was why he only worked on me. Not to mention time wasn't on our side.

The girls had taken a nap on the passenger's seat. I was happy about that.

Turning the truck on, I began driving, determined to make it to my destination.

It took all day and well into the night, but I managed to make it to the border. I parked about a mile away. It looked like security had gone up since we made it over. With Optimus out cold, I'd have to figure out a different t way to make it over.

A thought came up, making me frown. It was reckless, stupid, the only one I could think of.

I swallowed thickly, if Optimus were conscious, he'd be beyond pissed. The idea I was going to act out wasn't even stupid. Saying it was stupid was an understatement.

I looked at the girls, they were still sound asleep. I sighed. I put the truck out of park and sped to the border, my good hand glowing faintly with energy. I didn't want to have it hurt Optimus.

Once I was close enough, I used my other hand to grab the steering wheel and used my good hand to shoot out a beam of energy. The energy ate away at everything it touched. I quickly put my hand back on the wheel, my shoulder throbbing, burning with pain.

I sped up, crashing through the area I'd hit with the All Spark energy and went on my way. I could hear the cries of the people back there, and I prayed that they wouldn't shoot. I had a feeling they'd already called Cemetery Wind, but that wouldn't mean I'd stop.

I needed to keep going, to get us to safety.

Early the next morning, I stopped near the entrance of some town. I was exhausted. Ratchet told me I needed a lot of rest, and I did the exact opposite. The girls had woken up, a little disoriented. I told them to get more rest.

"Paris, Texas," I murmured. I sighed. It'd have to do.

QUICKY A/N:

HERE'S YOUR NEW UPDATE! I'M SORRY IF THERE IS ANYTHING THAT'S INACCURATE IN THIS UPDATE, I ONLY WROTE WHAT I THOUGHT WAS ACCURATE.

ANYWHO, I HOPE YOU LIKE IT NONETHELESS. AND YOU GUYS KNOW I DON'T OWN THE TRANSFORMERS MOVIES OR THE FOUR OC'S.

MY FILLERS AND MY CHARACTERS ARE THE ONLY THINGS I'LL EVER OWN.

HAVE A GREAT NEW YEAR! 2015, WOOHOO!

THANK YOU, ONE AND ALL.

READ, REVIEW, ENJOY!

YOURS TRULY,

~SMITHY