Out With The Old, In With The New

Chapter 28

After falling from a deathly height that'd kill anyone at the first impact, Jade forces herself up and leans on the side of the canyon.

Jade: Shit...

She looks down at her leg that's so shattered you can see the shards of bone sticking out from all directions. Jade takes off her jersey, rips it into pieces, and ties her leg with it. She finds the mini bag that has her now broken phone, a few granola bars, spilled coffee, and a flashlight.

Jade: Dammit! Ok, I have 4 granola bars. If I only take two small bites for breakfast, one for lunch, and one for dinner, I should be able to make these last a while. But first, I need to find some help.

Jade tries to climb up the canyon but falls back down. Since she's figured out she can't go back the way she came, Jade limps very slowly down the gorge and forces herself to keep going even though she's in pain.

Every time she says she's gonna give up, she remembers why she's struggling in the first place. To get back to her sisters again. During the day she makes herself fight to get out of the canyon. Jade keeps limping and limping no matter how much the pain affects her. No matter how hungry she is. No matter how cold she knows it's gonna be. She keeps going.

Night falls quickly and the cold quickly begins to get to her. Goosebumps, the feeling of knowing there's no cover, no warmth somehow makes it worse. Jade takes a bite of a granola bar and puts the rest back in the bag.

She falls asleep uncomfortably against a rock and curls herself into a ball to try and stay warm. The freezing cool air would be something anyone would long for in the Summer. But if she doesn't get out of here soon, she won't ever get to experience Summer ever again.

Jade decides to not sleep, but instead, keeps persevering and goes on in the dead of night. The aching pain in her leg was too much to bear. The throbbing pain in her head finally caught up to her.

She touches the back of her head, and even though she can't see, she knows its blood. Jade continues with blurred vision and a thirst to prove all her haters wrong. At any minute it feels like she's going to pass out. Die from starvation. Pass out from the lack of water. The willpower she has to go on is very strong.

No matter what, she's determined to find her way back home. When daylight breaks, Jade is relieved to see the sunlight because that means warmth is coming soon. When the sun comes up, Jade takes two bites of the granola bar and places it back in her bag.

Jade: Keep going, Jade. You got it.

She keeps encouraging herself to keep going and eventually makes it so far that she can see a town by climbing on top of a rock and staring in the distance. It's now been three weeks since she first fell into the canyon. She knows everyone thinks she's dead. She also knows that they're going to hold a "death" ceremony, but that just makes her even more determined to make it back alive.

Instead of finding the town though, she comes to a road. Three fucking weeks of pain, struggling, and hunger for a single fucking road that probably won't lead anywhere.

Jade stares down the road and the last thing she sees is a truck pulling to a stop before everything goes black and she feels herself fall to the ground. Two guys get out of the truck and start trying to wake her up.

Oliver: What do you think happened?

Henry: I don't know, but it doesn't look like anyone else is around. Check that bag she's got.

Oliver grabs her bag and checks what's inside.

Oliver: Her phone's busted. How'd a kid even get out here?