She dreamed of successful vacations, of bedtime stories and pillow fights. She dreamed of making forts out of couches and blankets, and teaching her children how to cook pancakes.

Helena Peabody slept, and in her dreams was content.

Jodi Lerner

She was trying so very hard to comply with Jenny’s wishes, but the temptation to just slipped into darkness was overwhelming.

Jodi had read that in cases where a person experienced extreme pain, endorphins would kick in and would work as a natural anesthetic. Her endorphins must have gone on-strike, she thought. She could feel the needle each time it pierced her tender flesh, and what was worst, the pulling of the thread.

Sometimes the cure felt worst than the disease.

Her eyes closed on their own accord. She thought about Tom, and experienced a sudden heartache stronger than the pain on her back. She knew she had spent many hours lying on the sand. The fact that Tom hadn’t found her made her fear the worst for her friend.

Jodi tried her best to ignore the sudden rush of guilt, and opened her eyes in order to concentrate on the young woman in front of her, a dark-haired beauty that had been on the beach next to Papi. Her eyes were kind, and she seemed to be suffering Jodi’s pain right along with her.

The artist remembered she had not answered Jenny’s previous question. “I’m from New … urgh… York… was traveling to… fuck… New Zealand on… shit… business…”

She gritted her teeth so hard she thought she might chip them. When the pain subsided, Jodi asked, “How about you?”

Shane McCutcheon & Tasha Williams

"What do you mean?" Shane said, hoping she wasn’t asking something too personal.

"I…" Shit, Tasha thought. Her pain was making her loopy. She looked at Shane.

"Nothing, just that I may be getting out soon. So, that’s your son, huh? Seems like a good kid."

She turned back to the fire, face flaming, and made a mental note to keep her damn mouth shut whenever she was distracted by pain.

Yeah, definitely seemed like something Tasha didn’t want to talk about. Shane let the subject drop and picked up on the other one that she much preferred anyway.

“Yeah, he is,” she replied, smiling a little. “I wish I hadn’t taken him with me though. That he wouldn’t have to go through all of this.”

"He’s handling it really well," Tasha said. "My neice and nephew are about that age and I think they’d be a mess right about now."

Tasha met Shane’s eyes. Shane was really beautiful when she smiled. Why the hell am I checking this girl out?

Shane moved a little, trying to find a more comfortable way to sit. A way that didn’t make her ribs hurt so much. She silently wished she had some painkillers, but she figured if anyone had some, there were probably others who needed them more than she did.

"I think that… I think in situations like this, you realize that you can handle a lot worse things than you ever thought you could."

Maybe it was the pain, but Tasha’s first reaction was to laugh. She laughed and laughed, a braying sort of ‘ha ha haa’ sound. Her friends had always made fun of it.

She saw Shane looking at her.

"I’m sorry, you’re right, I guess. I guess… I’m just not feeling like I’m handling shit."

Suddenly, a loud roar sounding like huge piece of metal being broken in half came from inside the forest. Another roar, much louder this time, reverberated through the valley and all of a sudden, even the trees were moving. Closer and closer and closer to the beach, it seemed like whatever was out there, was coming towards them.

Shane and Tasha were a few of the first people to react and Shane instantly rose to her feet asking with a shaky voice, “What the fuck is that?”

Trees were breaking, another roar was heard, it seemed to be coming from different sides of the beach all at once.