Enslaved Heart (A "No one lives" fan-fiction)

An Unlikely Companion

When the sun finally rose again, it's warm amber light dripping through the shade of the trees and falling along the ground before the sleeping body of Donna was when something stirred in the distance. A stout creature with a long pointed snout complete with a black button nose and big floppy ears shuffled along the ground sniffing through the dirt and tracking a fox when it's keen scent caught the whiff of something else and it tossed it's head to the woods letting out a sharp bark and than bounding forward to where the girl was huddled pressing it's wet nose to her face and snuffling about for any food that could be stolen and instead receiving some groggy head pats.

She hadn't expected to wake to the sight of a beagle, it's big caramel eyes only inches from her face accompanied by a dripping tongue that dragged along her cheek and than it turned back and barked once more clearly calling for someone though Donna was preoccupied with the little buddy for the time being. Sitting up under the shelter of the high roots that crawled down like skeleton hands above her petite form and reached out a hand running it down the dog's tiny jumping body. Feeling coarse fur beneath her fingertips and the familiar calico colors of the dog which was a signature of the breed.

"Who do you belong to?"

Her attention turned to a leather black collar around its neck accompanied by a silver tag that occasionally would catch the light and send a small strobe of sun into her eyes. Upon calming the excitable pup who bounced and barked with untethered energy she read the name carved into it. 'Charlotte' A girl dog it seemed. For just a moment her groggy state had distracted Donna from everything but then the figure of a small boy in the distance snapped her out of her relaxed state and she straightened warily as the dog bounded from her lap to the boy who crouched down and gave Charlotte a loving pat.

"Sorry about my dog miss. She loves people is all.. Hey what are you doing sleeping in a fox den?" From the occasional cracks in his slightly deepened voice she guessed the stranger was no more than ten with curly ginger locks and a spray of freckles against his pale face. A crooked smile pulling at his lips as he stumbled forward on bowed legs cracking each twig noisily under heavy boots.

"What's it to you?" Donna heaved herself from the den and began to pack up what little she had gathered from the cabin into the bag again, folding up the blanket neatly after shaking it of any dirt or bugs and then stripping off the overcoat and pants placing them as well into the open drawstring. "Didn't your mother teach you not to approach strangers?"

"She did.." He paused for a moment uncertain, shifting side to the side causing the rough texture of his faded baby blue jeans to scrape against each other in a grating sound while the dog leapt between the two of them oblivious of what was being said but pleased all the same. "My name's Simon. What's yours?"

"...Donna."

"There! Now we aren't strangers!" He clapped his gloved hands together and jumped over the thick of a root landing just a few feet from her and the smile falling from his face seeing the bandage around her leg and the cane now supported under her armpit. He seemed perturbed by the sight and slightly tilted his head to the side causing his locks to fall in an uneven part. "What happened to your leg?"

"An accident. I tripped." She kept her answers short and firm pulling the strings over her shoulders and sparing one last glance at the boy puffing out her cheeks in exhaustion but knowing the journey ahead was a necessary one. "Listen kid. I'm in a mess right now and I'd rather you not get dragged into it so run along now. Back to your parents who I'm sure are worried."

Simon watched in silence for just a few minutes as she struggled with the cane pulling it forward against the ground and pushing hard as a way to compensate for the use of her leg the other doing many of the heavy lifting but already a bead of sweat had formulated on her brow and trickled down from the shear effort of staying upright for an extended amount of time. It seemed her condition had worsened in the night and the pain was almost unbearable now. Donna stopped taking a deep breath and leaned against the cool wood of the tree tilting her head back as the morning dew sprinkled over her face.