4:34 am -- Shortly after her and Jackson's departure of the bunker
---------------------
Sandra stood at the beginning of the back road forever. Staring down the endless street, she took a look at her miniature compass. Without a map or a
smart phone, the compass was the only thing she had to direct herself... and, despite her recent luck, the compass was actually exactly what she
needed...
northwest...
BANG.
The noise rang for miles.
Sandra jumped, taking a look back.
The horrible noise was followed by a scream... a shrill, terrible scream...
Seconds later, another noise occurred--
"I AM JACKSON!"
Sandra recognized the voice... it was, indeed, Jackson, somewhere in the town... somewhere close by... and, as she peered down the opposite end of the
road, towards the town, a sinking, unpleasant sensation began to settle in the pit of her stomach...
something's wrong...
After a small moment of hesitation, Sandra marched towards the inner street of Las Nueva Era.
"No..." Carol choked, grasping her son's body with a suffocating embrace, cradling Jackson back and forth. "No, no no no no no...."
Whoever had attacked Jackson seemed to have backed off, and Carol sat in silence, smothering her dearest Jackson, everything inside her beginning to
panic... no...
no... he's gone... my sweety... my only baby... my family... my baby... he's gone... he's...
"Carol...?" A familiar voice broke through her thoughts.
Carol glanced up, seeing a figure standing yards away.
"What happened?!" Sandra exclaimed, staring over Jackson, looking completely shocked.
"I d-don't know... s-someone just... they j-just..." Carol sobbed, her cries overcoming her as she squeezed her son, entirely blind to the rigamortis
beginning to set in. Unable to create any more words, Carol exploded into tears, pressing Jackson's face against hers, hugging him.
Sandra looked in every direction, hoping there were no attackers nearby. Then, she sat beside Carol, grasping her arms gently, attempting to comfort
her.
Several minutes passed them by before her cries finally began to die down.
Then, Sandra caught a glimpse of Carol's hand, a single, swift movement... she pulled a tiny gun from within her jacket, her hand trembling, her
breath still shaky, and her face pink and tear-stained...
"What're you doing..." Sandra began, staring at the gun.
Carol didn't answer, but continued staring into nothingness, her eyes seeming completely void of hope... she forced her breath to slow, her hands
still shaking... she lifted the gun, staring infinitely into the barrel...
"Don't you f***ing
dare." Sandra clamped her hand around the gun, then yanked it from her hands. "You think Jackson would've wanted that for
you?"
Carol turned to her, her lip quivering, still unable to speak as tears kept streaming down either side of her face.
Sandra's eyes were positively flaring.. they pierced right through her...
"Don't you
dare even
consider doing something that stupid." Sandra ordered her, not realizing her tone had raised. "How would Jackson
feel if he knew you killed yourself? Huh? Do you know what its like to lose a loved one to something as
selfish as suicide? Do you have any
clue? WELL ITS NOT--"
Sandra stopped, swallowing her sudden, random fury.
"Just... please." She said a moment later, softly stroking Carol's shoulder. "Don't do it. Please."
Carol was quiet for a few seconds.
Then, after a moment of thought, she nodded, wiping some of the wetness from her cheek.
"Okay..." She gasped weakly. "O-okay, sweety... I'm sorry...
I'm..."
Carol looked at Jackson's body again, but Sandra grabbed her jaw, forcing her to look away from it.
"I d-don't have any r-reason to live any m-more..." Carol sputtered.
"Like hell." Sandra retorted. "Jackson would've wanted you to live. He still does... he hasn't gone anywhere. And his best friend is back in that
bunker. Marcus..."
Carol gave her a tiny smile.
"I l-love Marcus... was always so s-sweet to Jackson... they were like brothers..."
"Exactly. Now, Marcus is sitting alone in that bunker, and he just lost his best friend... you and him have something in common. You need..."
Sandra trailed off for a moment.
"You need your family." She finished. "And... and Marcus doesn't have his parents now. He needs a mother. He needs
you. And you know something?
Everyone else in the bunker needs you too. You're a mother... you're more important than
anybody.."
Sandra attempted to form a grin, hoping to lighten her spirits, even just the slightest bit.
"If I f-find the person who d-did this..." Carol began.
"Then kill 'em." Sandra replied simply. "Kill 'em stone dead. But that's
if you find them. Don't go out of your way looking for them. You're
still a mother... you've got children to look after."
Carol nodded, still trying to dry her face.
"Go back to the bunker. Look after everyone." Sandra told her.
"Aren't y-you coming...?" Carol asked.
Sandra gazed at her.
"Yeah." She lied. "I just have something to take care of. I'll meet you there later."
When Carol slowly reached her feet, she stared at her dead son again.
Sandra ushered her away from the body, trying to block her sight of it.
When they reached Sandra's driveway, Carol began down the hill by herself.
Sandra gave her a last wave, and when Carol made three, metallic
knock knock knocks on the bunker door, Sandra headed away from the place
before anyone would have the chance to spot her.
edit on Xx74440430AM64 by XxNightAngelusxX because: (no reason given)