Roadtrip RP (after highschool)

[behindTHEmask]

The door wasn't budging.
It wasn't coming opening to save them.
He had to think of an alternate plan.
Staring at the car, he looked at the window. It couldn't have been that thick.
Anything was worth a try.
"Watch out." Matt stood, staring at his feet. Converse weren't made out of the strongerst material, but this situation called for this.
"I've got to kick out the window."
It wasn't a direct kick--toes pointed out. He wasn't that dumb. He wasn't commiting his own suicide.
He lifted his leg back, using the sole of his shoe. It crashed through the middle of the window, leaving jagged pieces around the edges.
Take the shattered pieces and make your own abstract art.
He started to pull away at the fragments left.
Determination drove him.
Or maybe it was the self gratitude he'd achieve by saving lives.
Sometimes you have to make yourself feel good.

[Sparks]

The glass split apart in slow motion.
She and John had ducked as the shards rained down on them.
They raised their backs and shook the glass off.
They were doing okay.
Carolyn needed to get out.
The stranger took out all the sharp spikes of glass still hanging in the window, and Carolyn crawled over John.
"Don't cut yourself," he warned her.
She made it half way through the window and slid the rest of her body out, falling, and scraping her arm deeply in the process.
"Shit," she said quietly, picking herself up.
It a was strange sensation, to stand. The station wagon must have lost about a foot of height in the crash.
John followed suit and squeeze his upper body through the window.
He was having a more difficult time of it, but eventually, he got a leg through, and then fell out, awkwardly, but landed on his feet.

[behindTHEmask]

Matt watched them, wincing as the girl cut herself. "You okay?" He asked, reaching in his pocket. He had to have some kind of cloth in it. He carried everything in his pockets.
"How'd this happen?" He pulled out a navy bandana.
It'd due just fine.
"Here." He handed it to her, then looked at the boy who'd crawled out.
"You all right?"

[taliesin]

A slight haze began to obscure his vision at the edges, until there was a consistent ring.
What happened?
Shit.
Me, running through a field of daisies.
Her, jumping off a swing when she was 6.
Me, jumping off the cherry tree and breaking my leg when I was 8.
Her, breaking her arm trying to jump Gordon's Slope when she was 13.
Incoherent, broken, unformulated thoughts and memories flew through his mind. As if he were suspended in a liquid, Craig slowly fell sideways and hit the ground with a slight thud. He had entered a dreamworld of his own-in reality, it was a coma.

[Sparks]

Caught up in the moment.
Carolyn shook her head and took in the mangled metal beside her.
How did it happen to them?
The guy next to her was holding out a Navy bandanna.
She accepted it with a quiet "Thanks," and looked over at John, who the question had evidently been directed at.
"I'm not hurt," he said, almost like he didn't really want to tell the truth. He certainly didn't look hurt. Just in shock, and experiencing everything that comes with it.
"We need to ge help," he said. He had said it before.
"There's another guy, named Craig," Carolyn said, looking the stranger in the eye. God, he looked like a carbon copy... "He was in the seat beside me; I think he got tossed out by the impact. I think he might be alive."

[behindTHEmask]

Matt looked at her and nodded. "I'll see if I can get him out." He took in a deep breath, falling to his feet again.
It almost reminded him of back in freshman year, where the ground was his best friend.
He inched his way closer to the car, crawling through the window. He looked down occasionally, making sure glass wasn't digging into him.
Not like it mattered.
Just another cut on his damned wrist.
No big deal.
He eyed the boy. The boy loooked like he was out cold.
"Shit." He murmered, setting his knees in the liquid surrounding Craig.
Taking his arms, he draped them over his shoulders, turning himself around.
Tragedy struck hard.
"This him?" Matt asked the girl as he exited through the window, lying the boy gently on the ground.

[taliesin]

Craig found himself standing in the darkest, blackest place no one could imagine. But the oddest thing was that he could see his body perfectly clearly. He could see his hands, his stupid shoes.
Then he realized that there was a faint light illuminating from behind him. He turned, and found a shock of colour brightening the darkness. It was a carnival.
(Yes, I'm basing this off Monkeybone.)
The carnival's sign read "Your Life." He passed through the arch, and found himself in a small room with 19 doorways. One was behind him, and the other 18 were beyond him, all lined up in a tight circle. Above the frames were numbers, starting from 0 to 18 (which was blocked-it read "Under Progress.")
"What the hell is this...?!"

[Sparks]

"That's him."
John had answered.
Craig's eyes were shut.
Carolyn felt ill.
She wanted to pass out and forget any of this ever happened.
The twlight world in blue and white, the needle and the damage done
(I Don't Want To Feel This Way Forever)...
Wet streaks of salty water slid down her cheekbones as she watched him.
"Fuck, I can't watch this." Her voice broke, and she looked the other way. Shaking.
The stranger was leaning over him, feeling for a pulse.
Anything.
Time stood still.

[behindTHEmask]

"We better call for some help."
Matt looked down at Craig, then back at the girl and boy.
"This kid needs to be hospitalized."
Digging through his pocket, he sighed. Welcome to my life.
Pulling out a cell phone, dialed 911.
On television, you see these twenty year olds playing teenagers. Their friends die and they sit on the ground in tears, blaming one and other.
But no ones to blame.
You can't control what happens. You can only be there to pick up the pieces you lost.
He looked around as the dial tone rung in his ear.
"Hello, 911. Please state your emergency."
Swallowing hard, Matt spoke into the phone.
"I'd like to report an accident..."

[taliesin]

Craig tentatively willed himself towards '0.' He touched the doorknob, and he was instantly deluged with a flood of pictures and sounds.
STOP! he screamed internally. It instantly stopped. The pictures all organized themselves into a wall opposite Craig, and he realized he was floating in midair. The wall was humonguous. He couldn't see the ends of it. He once again studied the pictures.
It was at this point that he realized that the pictures weren't in order. It was also at this point that he realized that thse were his memories.
He thought, "How did this happen?"
"I'm in a coma."
"This is my mind-my memories."
"How come I remember everything?"

[Sparks]

A dead letter marked "Return To Sender"...
It took a while for the paramedics and police to arive on scene.
The minutes were hours, and passed like the harmonies in a memorable piano ballad.
The hospital was nearly an hour away.
Craig would be stabilized, the paramedics repeated. He wouldn't die in the ambulance.
But what then? She wanted to shout. What then.
What would happen in the coming months?
John took care of all the talking.
They asked for names and everything, and he stayed as calm as ever. In his eyes the burning was gone, an now it was hollow. Dark. Grey. Like he was still in disbelief.
They were told not to come in the ambulance, but to hurry to the Memorial Hospital in the nearest city.
They looked to the stranger, whose name was apparently Matt, for help.

[behindTHEmask]

"I'll drive you guys there. I mean, it's on my way anyways..." Way? Way to where you idiot. You have nowhere. This is just an excuse for you to leave.
"There's plenty of room in the car, too. There's even some food if you'd like."
He gave them a half smile, trying to comfort them from their tragedy.
The paramedics weren't very much help aside from taking care of Craig. No comforting words, really.
They always tell you that the person will be okay.
Even if they're not.
It's all just a bunch of fabrications.

[Sparks]

The two ambulances at the scene carried the three bodies of their friends away.
And Craig, who was comatose.
There was a sick, tight noose pulling Carolyn's insides into one big knot.
She couldn't believe it was happening.
The police at the scene offered she and John a ride, but Matt had already said he would take them.
One of the two police cars faded into the distance.
Carolyn looked over at John after a minute of staring at the dirt. There was a set of police, and a crime scene evaluation vehicle on its way.
She didn't want to see it.
She didn't want anything to do with it anymore.
"Thank you," she said softly, looking at Matt.
He answered, and they started their way to his vehicle, still running, pulled over to the side of the road.
Carolyn stole one more thick look at John, and noticed his stricken face.
He was younger than her. She thought dully, We're the only ones left, for sure.
Every memory would come back.
She couldn't bring herself to look that far, ahead, though.
The quietly mumbling vehicle in front of them was all she could imagine.
Broken watch you gave me
Turns into a compass.
It's two hands still point
To the same time
!2:03...
Our last goodbye...

[behindTHEmask]

"No problem. It's the least I can do."
They'd been through a lot.
He wanted to help.
He wanted, for once, to be a savior.
The soles of his shoes carried him to his Tahoe. He opened both the back seat and the front seat's door. It didn't matter where they sat. He just wanted them to feel safe.
"You can sleep if you want. I won't play any music."
He shrugged softly.
I bet the last thing they want to do is sleep.
Too many nightmares.

[Sparks]

Carolyn looked into the back seat. It was a regular back seat, but suddenly she felt wildly afraid of it.
The idea of riding shotgun scared her more, though. She knew what happened, when you rode in the passenger's seat.
You got murdered by the shattered glass and the dashboard.
She crawled in.
John stood just outside the car. His face held no expression anymore.
It was strange to just see nothing in a person's eyes, when you expect at the very least, indescribable devastation.
He raised his head and looked over at Matt. "Thanks a lot for doing this."
Caroyln felt the same way, but she didn't trust herself to talk.
"Are you sure you want to sit back there?" John asked her.
She found the words somewhere, clinging to the back of her throat. "I'm fine."
He stared at her face for a moment, and then dropped into the passenger's seat.