Snippet #2553490

To say that Jennifer was over-stimulated was an understatement. There were loud noises and laughter and yelling, and she was slung over some man's back like a ragdoll. Like a soon-to-be-skinned rabbit. The second her boots were on the ground again, she wanted nothing more than to collapse. But with everything going on, that was the last thing to do. So she didn't. Instead, she took a deep breath, and gagged. The scent of blood and damp dirt was all around her, cloying to her hair and her clothes, worming its way deep into her throat. Clapping a hand over her nose and mouth, she shut her eyes tight, waiting for a quiet moment.

With eyes closed, she began to let her mind wander, away from what might be memories, people who might be helpers or murderers...it was all so much to think about. She pretended, for a moment, that she was back with the men, on her hard metal cot, hooked up to wires and boxes. She'd been safe. Warm. Had meals given to her, had privacy. She'd had to pay them back, of course but...that was easily ignored. She could lock those thoughts away as easily as anything. Back with the men, she was their precious little creation, their reconstructed child. They'd cared for her, and she did what she could to give back. And now she was out here, on her own.

Well. Not exactly. They were all there too. But who knew how long they'd keep her alive, or when the men would come to collect her. But for now, here she was. Standing beside a man who'd carried her, with another man who cried when he saw her, a woman who laughed after being attacked by a dog, and a reserved young girl. And the dog, of course. But death could come for her at any time, in the form of these people, or something else. And she had to be ready...had to be, had to be, had to. But she wasn't, right now. Slowly, she allowed her mind to come back to the present, opened her eyes, slipped her hand from her mouth, and wrapped her arms around herself. She simply watched everything happen. Stood and waited to be given an order, to be taken somewhere. To have someone tell her who to be so she could be it.