The very first thing that Lexi remembered feeling when she woke up was that…hell, she shouldn't be waking up at all. Hadn't she been escaping through the forest? Running for her life? Was this…heaven? If there even was such a thing…Or even…hell? The sharp pain in her side and shoulder brought the small amount of her consciousness that hadn't fully awakened yet up to the forefront, and she grimaced at the sensation of pain. Shit, maybe this was hell. Given the circumstances and the things she'd past done, there was little surprise she'd end up there…
Her ears picked up a faint creak, before other things began to register as her senses began to function again. Slowly, she cycled through them all, the pain from her body ebbing and easing in a steady yet predictable current.
Scent: some dingy, moldy linen smell, coupled with the metallic tang of blood, so faint she almost could imagine it wasn't there. And something…strangely…familiar. Had she been here before? Ridiculous, the next familiar place was miles and miles away, in her small hometown of Virginia.
Taste: her jaw slowly worked back and forth as Lexi's tongue tried rehydrating her mouth with saliva, but it did little in terms of easing the dryness. It had been at least a day or so since her last drink of water, though she could vaguely remember stealing a mouthful or two from the streams while on the run.
Hearing: there were a few other creaks, as if her surroundings were unstable, not fixed in one place. It confused her, because the cages hadn't ever sounded like that. The metallic bangs and clinks of chains against metal bars had a different ring to them then the dull bumps and creaks of where she currently was. And, uh…where exactly was this? That was the most important question at the moment.
Touch: her fingers twitched, feeling the scratchy linen beneath her. It wasn't as comfortable as a conventional bed, but at least it wasn't the cold sting of concrete or metal, as she'd come to get used to over the past month. Her head lay against something firm yet comfy, like a pillow, however the warm metal of her collar was still present on her neck.
Sight: this one came last, as the exhaustion of her previous escape attempt had leeched most of her energy, coupled with the harsh elements of the storm, and her already low nutrition level. It was too much even to think about moving, let alone to actually do it. But, with great effort and a whole lot of encouraging herself, her eyes cracked open into thin slits.
For several moments, she couldn't even see through the tiny sliver of her opened lids, still disoriented and confused, until blinking a few slow times finally helped to clear the film. The darkness of the room left little to see as she finally was able to do so, other than a riveted, metal ceiling. Or, at least, she thought it was a ceiling. For all Lexi knew, her sense of direction and orientation could also be skewed.
"Nngh…" She groaned through chapped lips, somehow managing to tilt her head enough so it fell to rest facing to the right. The collar made that a bit difficult, adding weight. Her bleary vision was clear enough to make out some aspects of the room, but not enough to truly understand where she was. A counter, with various unidentifiable items atop the surface. Two windows above them, thin curtains covering the glass and blocking any light from entering. However, since no light poured in, she assumed it was night. A plush-looking chair or seat further down, darkly colored but too black to really tell. A door, set just before the chair, and just at the edge of her vision. From where she lay, it appeared to be the only entrance and exit to the room.
The room itself was strangely shaped; long and narrow, instead of cubical in nature, with a metal roof? What was this place?
Once her vision had returned to a relatively normal level, she began to panic, unable to come up with an answer to where in the hell she actually was. Was this the camp? Had they found her? In that case, why wasn't she already dead? They'd obviously been ready to resort to lethal means to capture her, as the gunshot wound in her side attested to, but-
Wait. It had been dark, and the rain of the storm had at first washed away most of the blood seeping from the wound, but that shot had gone straight into her side, and there had been a lot of blood for sure. How was she not dead? Surely without any way to staunch the flow she would have bled out by that point.
Her arm had enough strength to ghost up her side and feel in the general area of the wound, but a layer of cloth stopped her from touching it. It felt soft, with some kind of adhesive paper holding the piece in place. A bandage…someone had helped her?
The arm that she'd lifted flopped back to her side, too spent to remain strained for too long. She was still extremely weak, but the uncertainty of where she was and who this place belonged to was more than a bit encouraging to get the hell up. Despite the muscles in her limbs protesting for her to lay the hell back down, the need to ensure that she was indeed safe far outweighed the desire to succumb to that feeling of comfort simply laying there afforded her.
With immense willpower and a few escaped whimpers from her lips, Lexi was able to force her body into a sitting position, her legs dangling over the side of the cot she was on. Wherever this was, she must have been in the medical building, now able to make out a few cotton swabs and medical instruments laying on the table. Sitting on the edge of the cot for several minutes, simply to catch her breath after all that exertion, Lexi took the opportunity to inspect the room once again.
Now that her head had more mobility, she could see another entryway to the left, but a long, thick curtain covered the entrance. It was too dark to see anything else, but Lexi was eager to get a move on and figure a way out of here. She doubted these people would help a stranger for free, expecting nothing in return, and after surviving the way she had recently, Lexi wasn't thrilled at the thought of having yet another debt to repay. There were a few people she had yet to return the favor for already.
Deciding that she'd spent enough time looking around, she began to ease herself off the edge of the cot with a wince. Every inch down felt like another impossible stretch of her muscles, but it had to be done. She had to get out. Slowly, her feet lowered themselves to the floor below, until her toes touched the short-fiber rug beneath.
The heavy-set sound of footsteps directly above her head made her jump from fright, and she slipped the rest of the way to the ground before she had a chance to stabilize herself. With her full weight placed into her legs, which were sore and too weak to support herself properly, gave way underneath her. Lexi collapsed to the ground loudly, crying out in pain as her side hit the floor none too gently. The long chain attached to her metal collar clanked against the ground and coiled into a pile beside her. Too distracted from the sudden burst of pain, she did not notice that the footsteps above had stopped abruptly, then hurried away at a quicker pace.
Curling into a fetal position to try to dull the pain, some instinctual need to make herself smaller, Lexi whimpered as she felt the hot tears that leaked from the corners of her eyes.
Shit…shit shit shit…She thought, an unending mantra said over and over in her head as the pain rose and fell in awful patterns, always returning, yet going away just as quick, only to return tenfold again.
Minutes, or perhaps hours, passed, before she heard voices approaching from outside. Both male, if she heard them correctly. The panic gave her the strength and resolve to push up from her place on the floor and begin dragging herself over to the thick curtain further away. Her teeth were gritted tightly together, almost painfully, as her weak limbs pulled her pulled closer to a relatively better place to hide. She doubted she'd get far, considering she still had no idea where this was or who was here, but Lexi would be damned if she wouldn't at least try to preserve her own life. She'd come too far to give up now.
Lexi had only closed the span of a few feet or so before the sound of a door opening, squeaking a little towards the end, came to her ears. She whipped her head around and saw the tall silhouette of a man enter the room. He stopped just inside the doorway to see what was going on, and in that time, Lexi had already began crawling away again, intent on not being caught by anyone again.
The man sighed before walking over towards her quickly. "Stop moving! Let me see your wound." He demanded behind her. She felt his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to turn her on her back, and she weakly shrugged him off.
"Let me go…" She hoarsely pleaded, throat still dry and scratchy. Her feeble attempts at tossing him off of her were no match against his strength. The fact that she was severely weakened didn't help much either. He was easily able to subdue her and flip her onto her back, but she shut her eyes out of fear, terrified that she'd see the very man who caused her to run in the first place.
"You're extremely lucky your wound didn't open up. I doubt there's enough bandages to stop the bleeding again." The man said, his fingers gently probing the sides of the bandage at her side. She flinched at how warm his hands were, compared to her chilled skin.
"Don't touch me…" She whispered, still unwilling to open her eyes, despite her curiosity as to who this man was. He smelled…safe…and sounded…vaguely…
"This may hurt, but don't fight." At these words, he stooped beside her and lifted her up by the shoulders and knees, and she whimpered as the pain flashed again from her wounds and sore muscles. Her hand clutched at his chest out of a need to clench something in her fingers, finding a warm shirt to bunch up.
He placed her back on the table she'd originated from. Lexi sank into the thin fabric of the cot with resignation. He released her, stooping to pick up the dangling chain and placed it on the cot beside her. Damnit, she was still too weak to get anywhere, and now they knew she was awake. Her future escape attempts wouldn't be as easy from henceforth.
"You can go now, I've got this covered." The man said again, but it sounded like it was directed to someone else. Her theory was confirmed when she heard the door shut further away, even though the man was standing right beside her. Which left her utterly alone with whoever this guy was. Fantastic.
"Lexi, open your eyes." The man said, an out-of-place amusement underlying his words. "You're in a safe place now."
She paused, freaked out that they knew her name somehow. Letting go of the man's shirt, she reluctantly did as he said, looking towards her presumed savior and captor. The darkness obscured most of his features, and she didn't recognize him at first, but slowly her eyes began to adjust enough to distinguish…
The hand that rested on the cot beside her had familiar black markings, visible even in the darkness of the room. Gingerly, she traced the pattern of the tattoo with her finger, as if touching it would prove it to be real or fake. She didn't seem to notice the man was watching her with interest now.
"Oh my god…" She whispered, eyes widening as she realized who this was. "Law…"
"The very same." The ghost of a smirk touched the corner of his lips as he nodded in obvious amusement. He wondered why she felt the need to touch his hand so gently, but forgot all about the question as she hoisted herself up towards him and wrapped him in a stronger hug than he thought possible given her condition.
"Shit…you have no idea how fucking good it is to see you." Came her muffled reply, uttered breathlessly into the collar of his shirt. He didn't know what exactly to do other than just stand there, accepting her embrace. After a few more moments, plus her squeezing him tightly just for good measure, she pulled away with a few tears in her eyes. "But first, where in the hell am I? How did I get here, and what are you doing here?"
Law sighed, running a hand through his hair as he looked away tiredly. She frowned wondering why he looked so reluctant. "It's a long story."
"Hmm…" Lexi later nodded slowly, curling up tighter in the blanket Law had thought to give her. She was still wearing the skimpy bikini after all, and the trailer was rather cold, especially in the dark of the night. Even though he tried cutting it open with every medical tool he had available, nothing was strong or sharp enough to do any damage to the metal collar around her neck.
Lexi shivered, trying to let all that Law had said sink in. The pain medication he'd given her was dulling her senses a little, and confusion was still very much evident, but she tried her best to understand the situation as it was. "So, what? This Margaret lady is going to kick me out once I get better?" In response, the doctor nodded regretfully.
"That's right. According to her, we can't take in any one else if we're going to keep everyone we already have fed. While I agree with her, I know you're someone useful to have around."
"Maybe I can convince her I'm worth more to the camp by keeping me around?" She suggested hopefully, but deflated when he shook his head.
"Margaret is stubborn, and…doesn't like me very much right now." He admitted with a scratch of his head. "Having me vouch for you won't do much, and your skills alone won't change her mind."
"Well, ain't this a bitch." She laughed humorlessly with a small grin, rolling her shoulders to ease up some of the tension there. They still hurt to move, but she was slowly getting accustomed to her weakened state, and the medication dulled her nerve endings enough to mostly ignore the pain. "Either way, I'm thankful you guys found me. I definitely would've died if not for you."
Law shrugged. "Consider it a repayment of a debt." He watched as she tilted her head in confusion, then rolled her eyes with a scoff.
"Wait…you mean that time I shot that bandit?" When he nodded, she chuckled, then winced from the pain that shot through her chest. "Are you…seriously keeping count?"
Again, he shrugged nonchalantly.
"You don't have to, you know." With a deep sigh, she lolled her head to the side and grinned. "I suppose your debts have been 'repaid' though, yeah? Now I just have to return the favor…yet again. Heh, that must put it at…what, 3 times you've saved my life?"
"Something like that." Law chuckled, leaning on the cot Lexi sat on. "But don't feel the need to keep track. You've done enough for us that we would help you anyways."
"Oh really?" She quirked a brow, unconvinced.
"Ah…well…Shachi and Penguin would probably kick my ass if they knew I didn't help you out. And I'd rather not have them badgering me about it." Came his reply. She laughed at his words, for even if she didn't know his two companions that well, she knew they were as chivalrous as they came, or at least tried to be.
Law was thrilled to see her up and awake, and moving around as much as she could. He had been worried her state of health had been too severe to really recover, but it seemed Lexi's own will to survive was still strong as ever. And, something even more exciting, he now had someone to talk to that didn't test his patience with insufferable questions. Someone he could actually relate to and discuss things with in a pleasant manner. Something he hadn't had for weeks.
"So, how are things going to go from here?" She asked, turned to look at him in the dark trailer, as he'd explained it to be. "What's the plan?"
"I'm not entirely sure. We'll deal with that when the time comes you're recovered from your wounds. But for now," he said, pushing up from the cot and turning to regard her as well, "it would be best if you pretended not to know any of us."
"…that whole 'Margaret-doesn't-like-you-right-now' thing?" Lexi guessed with a smile, and Law nodded.
"Yes. I'd rather her not know that we're acquainted."
"What, you're ashamed of me?" Lexi teased, grinning at his raised brow with amusement.
"Hardly. Shachi, Penguin, and I haven't been here long either, you know. We don't have much of an influence anyways, and seeing as I'm not on good terms with Margaret…" He trailed off, the implications rather obvious. For as much as Lexi didn't believe anything truly dreadful would happen should this woman know that Lexi was friends with the rowdy bunch, the brunette still trusted Law enough to know that he had more knowledge of the situation than her, meaning he didn't feel it was safe.
To that, Lexi sighed again, closing her eyes as she stretched her neck slowly. "Alright, even though I don't get why, I'll feign ignorance for awhile. You'll have to tell Penguin and Shachi to cool it when they first see me. I know how rowdy they can get."
"They already know." Law assured.
"Great…" She yawned, covering her mouth with her hand. "At least that bastard Damien is dead though. That makes one less bastard prowling around out there…" She trailed off, seeing the confusion plainly written on Law's features.
"Who's Damien?" He questioned. She frowned, shrugging offhandedly as she gestured to the forest beyond the camp.
"The guy that was chasing me, him and his buddies. I assume you guys either killed him or something if you brought me back here…right?" That confidence and relaxed posture disappeared as Law slowly shook his head. She tensed up, and squinted into the darkness. "Oh god…you didn't find him, did you?"
"The scavenger team said you were alone when they found you. There was no one around."
"Fuck…he's still out there, then. And his group…They could still find me." She came to realize, fear etching her face as the realization that her problems really hadn't vanished like she thought began to rise. Before she could say anything more, her stomach rumbled loudly and most embarrassingly. Blushing, she moved her hands to cover her stomach in a futile attempt to mask the sound, but Law had still heard it.
"There's no use worrying about this Damien guy at the moment, since you're safe in the camp. Though, for right now, I'll see if I can find something for you to eat. It looks like you haven't eaten for awhile." He chuckled, moving to the door of the trailer with quiet steps. She watched him go, still feeling the fear and panic from finding out Damien hadn't, in fact, been killed, but her hunger and immense thirst came first. Small steps, one thing at a time, she'd figure it out eventually.
That following morning, Law informed Margaret that the 'patient' had awoken. She'd been in a hurry to speak to the brunette, and her furious feet brought her over to the infirmary trailer. The door opened with a creak, and Margaret found the young woman sitting on the cot, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, the chain of her collar dangling down to the floor from underneath the blanket. Eyes wide, hair a mess, skin pale, with a fearful gaze as she looked over at her.
It wasn't hard to imagine that this woman had been through some sort of hell. The only question was what, and whom had done all of this to her.
"Hi there…" Margaret greeted softly, smiling warmly to try not to scare the brunette. Behind her, Margaret heard Law enter the trailer and close the door behind her then sit on the nearest seat.
The woman stared at her with suspicion, never breaking eye contact except to blink. Law silently commended Lexi's ability to act as if she were terrified of her life, waking up in a strange place with no memory of how she got there. Though, he suspected half of it wasn't pretending.
Margaret only stared for a moment, struck silent by the brunette on the cot. Her expression was a bit unsettling, considering the woman's appearance. Margaret couldn't help but think she was staring death in the face.
"Uh…my name's Margaret, I'm the leader of this camp. We call it Woodsfield." She continued, but wasn't surprised when she still remained silent. "What's your name?"
"…" Her only response was a blank stare, but she flicked her eyes around the trailer, as if looking for a way out. Margaret wasn't surprised. She'd be doing the same thing if in her shoes. However, there was no danger here, and she needed the woman to know that.
"Hey." Margaret said, gaining the brunette's attention once more. "We're not going to hurt you here. Whoever had you before, they aren't here, probably miles away, or dead for all we know. You're safe here."
Still, nothing. But Margaret was determined to get her to talk to her, so she took a few steps closer, stopping when the brunette shrunk away a bit out of fear. "Honest to God, no one is going to lay a hand on you. And we'll see about getting that collar off of you, doesn't that sound good?"
Law watched on with admiration as Lexi nodded mutely, looking down at the ground as a scared and submissive victim would. She was certainly playing the part well. Unknown to the leader of the camp, Lexi had already had all the time she needed to adjust to the current situation.
Margaret nodded as well, reflective the brunette's actions to try bonding with her if she could. "Yeah, we'll take that collar off and get you into some proper clothes too. But first, I'd like to know your name. There's no harm in me knowing, is there?"
"…" The brunette paused, glancing back and forth between Margaret and Law, but she made sure there was no indication that she recognized him in the slightest. Good, just as he wanted. "…Lexi…" She whispered, as if even saying it aloud were putting her in danger.
"Lexi…that's a lovely name." Margaret complimented, placing her hands on her hips in a motherly fashion. "Well, Lexi, I'm going to go grab you some warmer clothes, and some food and water, since you look like you could use them."
Law watched her nod obediently, not having to fake the enthusiasm at the thought of food. Despite the few small items he'd been able to find for her just a few hours before, no one was ever truly satisfied hunger-wise.
"I'll be right back. Just hang tight with Law, here." She gestured to the man in question, and Lexi pretended to send a fearful glance in his direction, as if unsure with being left alone with him. "Don't you worry, none of us are going to lay a hand on you, like I said."
Reluctantly, Lexi nodded, showing her understanding. Margaret smiled again before leaving the trailer, going off to find the clothing and provisions as promised. As soon as the woman was gone, Lexi visibly relaxed in her place, slouching into the cot she sat on. Law couldn't help his chuckle, and Lexi joined in, amused that they'd duped the leader of the camp so easily.
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