Re: [Road: Holly NW and Audrey C]
Holly was expecting an answer.
He could tell she was filthy, but he hadn't looked at the state of her clothing or anything. That wasn't his thing, but he expected an answer. At first, he kinda just thought she'd been running around the forest or something insane, because why not? He didn't have a very high opinion of Noah's friend, okay? So, yeah, he expected an answer, because Noah had been insanely worried, and Noah wasn't the only one. And blame the bright glare of the Jeep's lights, but everything was kinda blast-light washed out in the night.
And then his eyes became acclimated, and he got her clothes were torn. He couldn't see the bruises, not beneath the dirt, but, okay, torn clothes on some girl by the road at night? Not good. So, right. Options, because she wasn't responding to him: He could try to load her up, or he could just dial 911, or he could call someone to come get her. She wasn't exactly helpful when it came to a choice. And he didn't know what a semblance of Audrey was. He'd never actually talked to her in person.
Right, right, right. Why couldn't someone else find her? Someone who actually liked her or something. And all of this thinking? Took like five seconds. But it stressed him out, and the air around them was thick and charged with an angry energy that Holly didn't know how to control yet. And the buzzing? She wouldn't be able to hear it, but the buzzing was wild.
Finally, because what other fucking choice was there? "Come on. Get in the Jeep. We're going to the hospital or the police or something," he told her. But he didn't touch her, because he wasn't born yesterday or anything; no way was he getting his fingerprints on her. "I'll call them on the way. Come on."