❝ we’re safe, for now. you alright? ❞
the escape isn’t clean; it never is in situations like this. there is shouting from villagers, a chase through narrow paths, & before they could get away, someone manages to grab her arm hard enough to bruise. she doesn’t fully register how she gets free; all she can assume is that leon didn’t hesitate to react & kept her moving forward, which, in return, keeps her from stopping long enough to think about turning back or think about the shadows that linger all around them.
she doesn’t even know if they make it out of the village or if they only manage to make it somewhere away from the chaos. wherever they were, it was quiet there, eerily so, & around them were half-collapsed houses with no roofs & walls that were barely together. most of all, for the first time since everything began, she feels like no one is watching.
ashley stood, breathing hard, eyes closed, heart hammering against her chest, while her hands were shaking now that there was space for it.
she could feel her breath as it hitches halfway through something between a laugh & a sob. as she opens her eyes, she drags a trembling hand over her face, trying to steady herself, but it doesn’t quite work. “ no, ” she said honestly. her voice shaking as she blinks back tears that filled her eyes. “ no, i’m not. ”