Safe and Sound

Safe and Sound - Chapter 2

Chapter TWO

"Oh my god."

I heard a voice. My eyes were still closed. My head was pounding.

"Hey... hi... are you okay? Are you alive?"

My eyes fluttered open, slowly. It was still dark, but I could see his face. Everything hurt, suddenly. Tears formed behind my eyes.

"Oh my... hey..." the guy said, calmly.

I just blinked at him, unsure if he was real. "What..."

"You were on the train?" he asked. I nodded. "It crashed. Er, derailed? I think we hit something."

"What?" I said again, confused.

"Oh shit, you're not in good shape," he told me, looking at my leg. "I was in the third car. It flipped, but I was just tossed around. There was only one other person in the car I was in... I didn't see him after..."

"I was in the first car," I suddenly remembered.

"Oh, god. I saw the first car. Detached, and... down that hill," the guy said, looking out past me a bit.

I had to close my eyes again because my head hurt so bad. "Shit," I mumbled.

"I think I just walked at least an hour... I didn't see anyone... until you," he said, keeping his eyes on mine now.

"My leg is..." I began, but didn't finished.

He was already removing his sweat shirt and wrapped it around me.

It felt like a nightmare. I so wanted it to be one.

"I'm Rowan," he told me, as if we were meeting in a normal situation. "I was headed to St. Louis. I'm pretty sure we're in Arkansas."

"I'm... I'm Cassidy," was all I could say.

"Cassidy," he repeated. "Do you have a phone? Mine was working, but it died."

"Mine's... gone."

Rowan sat beside me in the dirt, close. "It's okay."

"How is it okay?" I asked him, angry and scared.

Somehow he managed to give me a half smile. "Well, at least we're not alone."

I wanted to curl up and sleep, wishing I would wake up in Chicago, but Rowan told me that staying awake was safer.

"Someone has to be looking for us," he told me, sounding hopeful.

"What if everyone else is dead? No one even knows about the crash-"

He leaned in and put an arm around my shoulder. "You're right. We have to get to town. Find help."

I glanced at my leg. "I can't walk." My foot, I realized now, was numb. My body was in shock.

"You need help," he said again. "A hospital."

"We don't even know where we are!" I yelled, tears falling from my eyes. "We don't have a phone."

"Cassidy, I will get us help. I promise." He looked serious, all of a sudden.

For a few minutes, I just sat there, highly doubting we would make it anywhere for help. But he looked determined and I didn't want to die in a forest in the middle of no where.

"I was going to Chicago," I said suddenly. "To see my Dad."

Rowan looked at me, his eyes focused. "My brother lives in St. Louis. I haven't seen him since the summer. He bought me this train ticket to spend the weekend with him..."

As I listened to him, I noticed his head was bleeding - a small cut above his eye brow. A line of dark blood was inching down towards his eye. Without thinking, I reached up and wiped it.

He winced. "Shit."

"Sorry, you're bleeding," I whispered.

He touched the spot. "It's fine."

I nodded, feeling embarrassed. "Okay."

Now, for the first time, I really looked at him. He was thin, but fit, now wearing only a gray t-shirt and jeans. His eyes were sort of like ice, so bright blue, and his hair was dark, cut short on the sides with some longer pieces falling onto his forehead. He was at least my age, maybe older.

I noticed he was looking at me, too. I felt my cheeks heat up, looking away.

"I'll carry you," he finally said. "You're pretty tiny."

Oh. He was only looking at me to determine if he could carry me. Great.

"How do we know which way to go?" I asked, blinking hard.

"I came down from up there," he pointed up the hill to our left. "I know which direction the train was going."

"Okay," I nodded. That hill looked really steep. "You'll have to pull me up the hill."

He bobbed his head, but scooped me up under my legs and had me off the ground a moment later.

"Tell me if your leg hurts," he said, already starting to walk.

I didn't bother telling him I couldn't really feel my leg at all. My head still hurt, and my arm was definitely throbbing. But I took in a breath and closed my eyes. We were going for help.

The sun was starting to come up by the time we made it out to anything besides that track. He was strong and didn't let it show that he was tired, too. I tried to get him to stop a few times, to rest, but he kept going. I was trying so hard to ignore the pain, and my stomach which was growling from hunger. Rowan just kept walking, and talking to me, to keep me awake.

"There," he said, pointing. "There's a road."

He had been walking along the tracks for hours, for sure, carrying me.

I looked up. It was a road, but there were no cars in sight. It was likely four or five a.m. by now. I closed my eyes again, hoping the road was real.

"There will be a car. There has to be," Rowan said quietly, sounding out of breath. "How're you doing?"

"I... I'm okay."

"Cassidy... I'm getting you help, I swear."

"I know."

But he walked that road for at least another hour, and there was no sign of anyone. Now I could tell how tired he was. His steps were slowing.

"Rowan... let's stop. You need to rest," I whispered to him.

"No," he said quickly. "We aren't far."

"We can stop for a bit. Put me down," I told him.

"Cass-"

I started squirming, so he stopped and lowered me to the ground, into some tall grass on the side of the road.

"I almost dropped you," he said, annoyed.

"I'm already sort of broken," I forced a smile.

"You'll be okay."

"You don't know that."

He sat beside me, and pulled out his phone. It was still dead, obviously. He moved himself closer to me, and pulled my body towards him. Without a word, he wrapped both arms around my body. I laid my head back onto his chest, closing my eyes.

"I'm sorry I don't have a blanket. You're cold," he whispered.

"I'm fine," I said, as he adjusted his arms. "I'm mean... I'm glad you're here."

He was warm, somehow, and strong. And I really wanted to sleep.