Riding On ~~:~~ A Free Rein Fanfiction || Completed

Chapter 5

The bike skidded and slipped in the wet gravel road as she pushed and pumped her legs, urging herself forward, faster, towards the smokey scene before her. She slid her bike to a stop next to a tall oak tree, leaving her bike behind, barely hearing it fall loudly to the ground.

Her shoes pounded against the ground, rain streaming down her face and hair, stinging her eyes. The wind thrashed the low hanging branches, swinging them at her. She pushed through, a few scratches new on her face, one of which was red with blood.

She could smell the smoke on the breeze, and wandered aimlessly, fighting through the foliage. 

She stopped in a clearing, and looked around, desperate for a sign. The wind continued to thrash the branches, the storm looming over her head, showing its murky face. Ann felt like she couldn't breathe, and she collapsed to the wet ground. Her face in the dirt, grass blades tickling her as they whipped around, completely at mercy of the wind, and she continued to breathe in a mixture of dirt, smoke, and rain. 

Her hands clenched the flora tightly, ripping it from the ground some as she continued to try to breathe. 

She looked up, her cheeks pink, at a new sound.

Crackling, and popping, she looked to her right, from where she had just come from.

Fire.

The fire had spread and was right next to her.

The heat licked at her rosy cheeks, and she rolled onto her back and stumbled backward as the smoke piled on top of her. 

She coughed and crawled to her feet. She reached out, attempting to use a tree as guidance, but gasped at the heat that burned from the inside. 

She began to run, jumping over logs and meandering her way through the unknown territory, avoiding the orange bright lights that spread around her, motivated only by fear. 

All of a sudden, she heard some neighing, and her green eyes searched. Up ahead there was another clearing.

She tore through the plant life and looked to her right. At the farthest edge of the clearing to the right was a wall of fire, and in front of it, pacing back and forth, was the gelding. 

He neighed again, having looked at her the moment she appeared from out of the brush. He bolted to her, stopping in front of her.

The smoke was thick here, having taken its toll on both of them. She could hear him snorting and breathing heavily, while likewise, she couldn't help herself from coughing as her lungs rebelled at the foreign gas, in hopes for more oxygen. 

The gelding muzzled her shoulder, the feeling very unfamiliar, but he pulled away and reared up when the fire closed in on where she had just appeared from. The two of them backed to the center of the clearing, the fire had spread so far that it now circled them. 

Ann coughed and rested one hand on his wither, but her legs gave out and she collapsed to the ground, her hands over her mouth as she coughed profusely. 

The gelding neighed and let out a whiny, stomping his hooves, while fear reflected in his eyes. He trotted back and forth, flicking his tail rapidly, unsure of what to do.

His dark eyes landed on the green-eyed girl, struggling to breathe upon the ground. The lack of oxygen was finally getting to him and he stumbled to the side but regained his composure.

He sprinted towards the opposite clearing, bolting past the girl.

Ann watched him, and stood up, her body shaking intensely, she held out her hands, hoping the gesture might calm him, but he looped around and began racing back to her.