TORN FLESH

CHAPTER NINETEEN: ICY PATHS

WHEN Margo woke again, Rogue informed her that they had an hour left until they met the halfway mark, her eyes had gone wide for a few moments as she processed the fact she'd been asleep for just about ten or eleven hours altogether.

"How's the weather looking?" she mumbled letting her head fall back into the seat, she could hardly keep her eyes open and the warm blanket that had been spread over her wasn't helping keep her awake.

Violet shrugged her shoulders, if she was being honest, she hated the snow.

What they really needed was sunshine, but she did have to admit the river being frozen over was a major help that had unexpectedly made things easier for them.

Violet herself was far more tired than she was going to let on, she wanted nothing more than to sleep, but she had to watch Margo, make sure she wasn't on the brink of death.

Then again, she couldn't do that if she was dead on her feet.

Letting out a soft sigh, Violet leaned her head against the car door and let her eyes close.

Silence followed as she drifted off and she found herself drifting through mostly meaningless dreams, all of which consisted of her father or her cousins, she missed them all, but they were dead, and that was all there was to it.

Meanwhile, a few miles away, Mitch and Eric drove in cold silence. There wasn't anything to talk about, and the person in the backseat wasn't helping ease the awkwardness.

Not much had been said since the conversation between the two men in the front seats had occurred, mostly because Mitch knew if he continued to ask about it he'd hear things he knew he wouldn't like.

Not that he had liked anything he'd already heard, it was extremely disturbing altogether, it bothered him to even think about it.

And then he thought about how Margo had been robbed of so much. Her memory, her remaining family, her name, even her existence.

Her innocence too.

God, that was the most disturbing of it all.

That she was a murderer.

But at the same time, she wasn't.

It hadn't been her fault, and that was the only thing that helped put him at ease as he thought about it.

Shaking his head, he gestured to the map currently settled in Eric's lap, "how far?" he questioned his eyes just barely flicking away from the road to glance at the sheet of paper.

"About an hour left if we keep up at this speed." giving a slight nod as his response, Mitch let his thoughts fade out to the snow building up along the sides of the road, hopefully, it slowed down a bit, or else they'd get stuck stopped on the side of the road to try and wait the weather out.

"So who even are these chicks?" casting a glance in the direction of the backseat, Eric found he couldn't even be bothered to try and strike a conversation with Grayson, they'd found him a month prior and so far he'd managed to bring about many contributions to the development of their camp.

His blonde hairs hung on the edges of his cheeks as he stared at the back of the two front seats, he had thought the meet up would bring more excitement, that the car would be lively and happy, instead, it seemed they were all stuck in a miserable silence of sorts.

One that even he couldn't fix.

Usually, he was the one telling jokes, at least, before the world had gone to absolute shit.

He'd lost his little sister at the beginning, as well as his father whom he'd assumed hauled ass out of the city with the girl. And he couldn't blame him, if it was his child he would've done the same, save one instead of losing both.

It was kind of ironic to him.

His little sister and Dad were both more than likely dead, yet, he had been the one they'd left behind, and he was still here.

He held back a chuckle.

It wasn't funny, but the way the universe worked sure was.

Letting his head turn to face the window, Grayson found himself drifting off to the thought of his little sister's blonde halo of hair hanging around her face like a small angel.

When Violet awoke, the sun shone through the windows in dim beams. Rogue had her car door propped open and the map settled in her lap while Margo leaned in towards the window to gaze out ahead of them, she was searching for a car.

The car.

Mitch.

She was waiting as patiently as she could.

"We should probably get out, so they can see where we are." Rogue stated quickly sliding out of her seat.

Testing to make sure the door was indeed closed, the woman walked around the front of the car to retrieve Margo while Violet cracked her own door open.

"They should be here soon, the halfway mark was about the same amount of time for us as it was them." the blonde of the two women nodded her head as Rogue held out her arm for her to grab onto.

Margo hated feeling so helpless, having to receive help.

She was better than that.

Stan had taught her to be better than that.

To trust herself, and no one else.

That was what she'd been raised to do.

Unable to do anything else, she took the woman's arm as offered and leaned into her side as she stood from the backseat. Meanwhile, Violet had walked around the back of the car and was currently watching the two with her hands drawn into her pockets to try and maintain some warmth in them.

Rogue closed the door once she'd secured Margo at her side watching as Violet quietly began to walk across the frozen River in the opposing direction of which they'd come from. All they could do was wait now.

"I'm gonna go check the radio, d'you think you can manage?" she questioned her eyes lingering on Margo's fragile frame, the blonde gave a soft nod of her head her gaze already moving to watch as Violet kicked up a small bit of snow near her left foot.

Following her gaze, Rogue waited a few moments before she slipped out of Margo's grasp and returned to the driver's seat of the car to see if there were any updates on the whereabouts of the others.

Violet continued to kick up small bits of snow before she turned and started back towards her companion. Leaning against the side of the car, Margo reached her hands up to her eyes and slowly rubbed at them, she was tired, to say the least, and the sun was beginning to bother her.

When she opened her eyes they immediately landed on Violets form as she threw a rock down a few feet in front of her, it seemed everything happened in minutes rather than seconds as Margo's eyes widened and she found herself limping as quickly as she could away from the car and in the girl's direction.

"Violet, don't move." she called watching as the girl froze in her steps.

The small blonde looked down with weary eyes her gaze following the cracks in the ice surrounding her, "Rav..." Margo softly nodded holding her hand out to try and keep Violet from moving, "I know, I know... take slow steps towards me, don't look at the ice." she continued to hold her hand out hoping that once Violet got close enough she could yank her up and get them away from the cracking ice.

All while Rogue sat in the car- on the radio- oblivious to what was taking place just a few dozen feet away.

Taking a small step forward, Violet braced herself to plunge into the ice-cold water beneath her, when nothing happened she let her gaze rise to meet Margo's with bright eyes.

Both of them smiled.

And then she went under.

Margo let out a sound between a scream and a cry as she snapped her hand out to try and grab the girl, but it was too late. She'd fallen to the depths of the water her arms flailing about her head as she tried to swim to the surface.

But she only sunk further.

Ridding herself of her jacket, the woman found herself jumping after Violet into the freezing water.

It seemed as if she'd been given anesthesia the second her head hit the water, everything was blurred and she watched as a few air bubbles escaped her chilled lips.

A few feet below her, she could make out the dim outline of Violet as she continued to sink, her arms had stopped flailing above her head and Margo watched as a few bubbles rose from her mouth.

Ignoring the stabbing pain that followed, she propelled herself forward with a few strokes of her arms in the girl's direction. She would have been lying if she said it was like regular swimming, her head felt like it was going to explode from the cold pressure building up against it. Not to mention the numbness that was developing in her limbs.

Continuing forward, Margo eventually found herself able to reach out to Violet. It was at this point that the burning in her lungs had decided to make itself apparent, she needed air.

But she was so close.

She wouldn't get that close again.

It was either air or Violet.

And she knew what she was going to chose.

Grabbing the child under her arms she pulled her in towards her chest using her one good leg to try and push them to the surface. When that didn't work Margo let a few more air bubbles force their way out of her mouth.

She was slowly suffocating under the water, no doubt Violet was already undergoing the process.

After thinking about it for a few seconds, Margo thought she might have a solution.

Looping the girl's arm within her own, she used both her legs- despite the striking pain in the one- and her free arm to try and get them to the surface, and slowly, she realized they were getting closer.

Back on the surface, Rogue worriedly watched the ice hoping to see a sign of either of the girls, were they already dead?

She could see a car approaching, maybe four minutes out at most, she couldn't wait for them to help, she had to do something now.

Quickly retreating to the car, she returned to the large hole in the ice with a rope in her hands. Unsure of whether or not it would actually help, Rogue lowered the one end of the rope down into the icy water inch by inch watching as it disappeared into a thin blurred line.

Moments passed and the woman found herself letting out a sigh, she should have gone in after them as soon as she heard Margo scream, and now she was going to have to explain to the others how the two girls were gone.

Holding the second end of the rope in her hand, Rogue waited a moment before she began to pull it up, or try to.

The rope was pulled taut as she tried to bring it up, with wide eyes she grabbed the rope with both hands and began to pull back on it with as much force as possible.

When she saw the outline of the two people pushed together she didn't hesitate to reach her arms into the water and grab the bigger of the two- who just so happened to be carrying the other through the water- before hauling her out onto the ice with all the strength she had.

The air on Margo's face felt painful and unfamiliar as she broke through the surface of the water, unable to move for the most part she collapsed back on the ice with Violet in her arms.

"T- the kid." she mumbled painfully reaching her arm out to wipe Violet's hair out from over her eyes and nose, "she's not breathing."

Rogue was up in an instant pulling the girl away from Margo to begin chest compressions.

The woman felt so helpless at that moment, just like before.

And staring up at the blue sky overhead, she was finally able to accept that.

Slowly, the white clouds started to blend with the blue, almost like they were watercolors merging together.

Turning her head for what she was sure would be the final time, she watched as a blonde man picked Violet up before retreating to a car with her. She let out a soft groan as she tried to move her arm in their direction, hopelessly trying to stop the man from taking the little girl away.

Margo let her head roll back to its former position her eyes already taking in the blended colors in the sky as a brunette male made himself visible to her.

Leaning over the woman, he stared down at her for a few moments before reaching down to pick her up, Margo- unable to argue- simply continued to stare up at the sky as the man readjusted his arms before he returned to the same car the blonde man had with Violet.

TORN FLESH

CHAPTER NINETEEN: ICY PATHS