WHY DOES HE CARE? she’s practically his hostage, forced to cooperate with whatever half-cocked plan he was devising within that dirty skull of his. he didn’t seem like much of a planner – and she sure as hell didn’t think he’d counted on there being a robbery at the same pit stop they’d picked to gas up his truck. much to her surprise, Spaulding had stepped in, tried to reason with the man ( which, she assumed, was so there wouldn’t be an incident that involved the presence of cops ) but his lunge to disarm the culprit was just a tad too slow. the sound of the gunshot alone makes her freeze, instantly brings her back to seeing Jimmy’s brains splattered across Gloria’s face, her own chest… but it isn’t until the ringing stops that she realizes the blood on her chest is her own. large blue-green eyes slowly focus on the rounded hole just above her left breast, blood oozing from the wound in thick, steady pulses. her lips part slightly in shock, but there’s no sound aside from her shoes scraping the floor as she staggers and ultimately falls, dragging down a display stand in her attempt to stay upright. her world spins as he rushes to her side. WHY DOES HE CARE? his kin had murdered hers – perhaps not by blood, but they were the closest thing she had to a family back then, back before she’d watched as her husband’s face, devoid of the muscles and tendons holding it to his head, mockingly danced before her eyes while Otis and Baby laughed with glee at her misery and horror. the only reason she survived was because she’d been spared —– and for what? so she could live out her days, utterly alone, haunted by the memories of her friends’ corpses littering the motel room floor? it isn’t that she wants to die – it’s simply that, aside from her infant son waiting back at home for a mother who’s long overdue to walk through the front door, she has quite literally nothing to live for – but now that she’s staring death in the face, her vision blurring and her trembling body growing colder by the second, breath coming in short, panicked intervals… she’s scared. the only peace she finds in this moment is the knowledge that, somewhere, her friends are waiting to welcome her home. ❛ i– i’m s-sorry, ❜ she gasps, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. ❛ i can’t —– ❜ WHY DOES HE CARE? HE ALREADY DESTROYED HER FAMILY. NOW, FINALLY, THEY CAN BE A FAMILY AGAIN.