Miles To Go

Chapter Twelve

"I'm afraid I don't Lizzy, I'm sorry," Miles shook his head, "With everything that was going on... but still, I think I would've remembered a girl with cotton-candy hair," said Miles. He grinned at her.

"Well actually, my head was wrapped in bandages at first. I think they fell off sometime after you...um...," Lizzy said, faltering.

"Died?" he said.

The pair chuckled. They held hands as they began walking back from one of the many hiking trails that tourists used before the Takeover. The sun was setting, painting the sky lovely streaks of purple and orange. As day turned to night, the dessert began to cool.

My hand is sweating, Lizzy thought. I wonder if I should let go. He started it so maybe I should let him stop it? I like the feel of his hand in mine, but its one of those awkward things like hugging or talking on the phone. How do you know when it's the right time to stop or hang up?

"Will you tell me what your hair was like before? What color was it? Maybe you're not ready to talk about it. I'm sure it was...upsetting, to say the least."

He's absolutely right, she thought. But I don't want to make a big deal out of it. Some people lost a lot more.

"Brown. Light brown."

"Curly or straight?"

"Straight. Brown and straight, like my mother's," she shrugged, "Not very remarkable I guess,"  but I still miss it, she thought.

"I doubt that. I don't think anything about you could be unremarkable."

She looked at him, smiled and shook her head. What is it about me that he likes so much? We're just getting to know each other some. We go for these little walks every day. It this what dating looks like, post -apocalypse? How am I going to tell Calvin? I suppose he already suspects...

"Halp! Halp!"

Lizzy and Miles froze in their tracks and turned to the direction of the cry, to the west, towards the desert and mountains.

"Halp!" A small group of kids were making their way towards them. The two let go of each other's hands and rushed over to the kids. Lizzy was relieved to find that Calvin was not among them. She recognized her students, Raloe, Bartholomew, Weeble and Patrick.

"Oh my God, what happened?!" she asked, and where's Jaymz? she thought, knowing that he was sort of their leader. A mostly unscathed Raloe was supporting Bartholomew, who looked like he was about to pass out, his left leg seemed to be broken and he was losing a lot of blood. Weeble, also in fairly good condition, was supporting Patrick, who looked to be in about the same state as Bartholomew.

A panic-stricken Weeble answered her question. "The cave collapsed on us! Jaymz and Calvin are still in there! You gotta help them!"

"Calvin? I thought he was playing with Grace or something?!" Lizzy cried out in shock. Calvin? My baby? Trapped in a cave-in? NO! This isn't happening!

Miles took action immediately. He took Bartholomew Jenkins III in his arms.

"I'm taking him to Wesley, I'll be back as fast as I can!" he said, rushing back to the community. Lizzy examined Patrick carefully.

"Are your ribs broken?" she asked him.

"I dun't know...everythin' hurts..." he replied. She pulled up his shirt to reveal cuts and already forming bruises.

"This looks bad, you might have a broken rib, and your leg..." she looked at his leg. He had a nasty gash in his right calf, about four inches long. "Can you put any weight on it?" she asked.

"A little, but it hurts real bad..." he said.

"It might be sprained," she said, producing a kerchief and tying it tightly around his leg to stop the bleeding.

Earl Red came running to join her.

"Miles said you boys needed some help," he said. He scooped Patrick up in his arms and said to Raloe and Weeble, "Can you two walk?"

"Yes sir," they replied. Red headed off. Lizzy hesitated. She could run the quarter mile back and get supplies, form a search party and then leave, or she could just go there now...there was no time to waste.

Raloe handed her his flashlight, giving her a knowing look.

"Thank you..." she said.

Without saying anything he and Weeble turned and followed Red.

Lizzy dashed off in the opposite direction.