EVERYTHING WAS GOING to shit. Lights were literally exploding

"Stay away from the lights!" Donna yelled as she pulled Clara away who's eye was bleeding

"Julie take RJ!" Caroline said. Julie nodded and took the baby. Caroline then rushed over to Clara to get a good look at the wound. She had glass all around her eye. "It's gonna be okay. We've gotta remove the glass. I need you to stay still"

Caroline began taking the glass out of Clara's skin. Blood coating her hands. Clara cried with each movement. Eventually she had gotten them all out. So, now her objective was to clean the wound

"I need alcohol!" Caroline yelled but everyone was freaking out so she had no choice but to move on and stop the bleeding. She ripped the scarf off of Clara's head and used it as something to absorb the blood as she applied pressure. The next thing they knew a beam had crashed through the window causing people to scream. Caroline turned to see it. She then looked at Julie who was no longer holding RJ and who had run off outside Colony House. Fatima was holding RJ and Caroline let out a breath of relief

"Donna!" Jade yelled

"What?!" Donna yelled back

"There is a bus parked outside the diner!" Jade yelled causing everyone to freeze. There was bus in town? Caroline snapped out of it as she helped Clara up. She brought her into the kitchen and grabbed a rag. She put soap and water on it and used it to clean the wounds around Clara's eye. Clara cried as the soap entered her cuts

"You're doing good.. almost done" Caroline said as she then used a clean rag to get all the soap to go away. "Good news is, you don't need stitches"

Caroline then grabbed some gauze and put it on Clara's eye before using some tape to keep it in place

"Tell everyone unless they're bleeding, they better be securing the goddamn windows. Mattias, grab the shotguns" Donna said

"Got it" Mattias said

"We don't need to do that" Kenny said

"No? There's a fucking bus down there. God knows how many people with zero idea of the shit storm they just rolled into. How do you think they're gonna react when we tell them they can't leave?" Donna asked as Caroline got up and began washing the blood off of her hands

☆♡☆

"GIVE ME A HIT of that" Caroline told Jade who was sitting outside smoking weed. Jade gave her a look before he passed the blunt. She took it and took a hit before passing it back. "Everything is so fucked"

"No fucking kidding" Jade replied as Caroline sat on the banister

"What are you two doing out here?" Ethan asked

Oh, for fuck's sake" Jade said

"Getting high" Caroline replied

"Go back inside, kid" Jade said

"Why?" Ethan asked

"Because.. You know, I don't know, kid. Do whatever you want" Jade said. Caroline grabbed the blunt and took another hit before giving it back to Jade

"You guys know cigarettes are bad for you, right?" Ethan asked making Caroline laugh

"It's not that kind of cigarette" Jade said

"What's wrong with you?" Ethan asked

"What's wrong with all of us?" Caroline asked

"That is the golden fucking question" Jade laughed

"We can always try again. Whenever the Cromenockle failed, he always found-" Ethan was cut off

"What the fuck is a Cromenockle?" Jade asked

"Oh. Um-" Ethan was cut off again

"No. I don't care. You're friends with Victor, right?" Jade asked Ethan. Caroline took his blunt as the two boys suddenly went back inside. Caroline took another hit as she got off the balcony and sat in the chair Jade had just been sitting in

"We are fucked. The people on the bus are fucked. The world is fucked. Fuck, fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck" Caroline mumbled to herself. She then began crying. "I can't keep doing this shit.. I want to go home.. I.. fuck.."

Caroline sat there getting stoned while she cried. Wondering why the fuck she was here? What had she done to deserve this? What had her son done to deserve this? To grow up without his father? To be forced to grow up in this nightmare? Was she being punished for something? She just wanted it all to stop. She wanted to go home and be with her husband. She missed her parents. Fuck, she even missed her annoying ass neighbors. When she finished the blunt she went back inside and grabbed RJ. She went upstairs and laid down with her son on a bed. She just stared at him as she ran her fingers through his hair

"I'm sorry you have to grow up here" She whispered as she began softly crying once more. RJ began cooing at her. He had no idea what hell he was living in. She was envious of his innocence. All he cared about was when he'd be fed next. Life was simple for him

☆♡☆

RANDALL WAS CURRENTLY being checked out by Kristi. There was this bright ass light in his eyes

"Look up. Good. Any blurriness?" Kristi asked and Randall shook his head. "Trouble seeing at all? No? You're good? Okay. Squeeze my hand. Squeeze. Good"

Kristi got up and turned around. Randall no longer seemed to care as he looked down at his hand seeing his wedding band before scoffing. He never took the damn thing off after Caroline vanished. He couldn't. He loved her so much and all he wanted to know was where she was. Where their son was

"You married?" Fatima asked catching Randall's attention

"Uh.. yeah.." Randall said as he began playing with his ring. Fatima smiled sadly at him, knowing he'd probably never see his wife again, but he didn't know that. None of them knew yet. Randall just wanted to get the hell out of this shitty dump of a town. Fatima began looking intently at his wrist which weirded him the fuck out. "Something you want to say?"

"Sorry, I was.. um looking at your tattoo" Fatima said as she noticed the familiar names

"Yeah, it's the names of my wife and son" Randall replied before he got up and walked off. He no longer wanted to talk to the woman

(1056 words)
11/06/24

I SWEAR THEY'LL REUNITE NEXT CHAPTER