Beyond The Barrier [COMPLETED]

Chapter 20 - "For the sake of propriety I'll leave my pants on."

Louie woke to the sound of voices talking low and bright morning light streaming in through the hole in the wall. Rolling over to her back, she instantly regretted it as a shock of pain tore through her body, her lips betraying her. She rolled back to her side. There was a scuffling of feet and a shadow fell over her closed eyelids.

"Louie are you alright?" Peyton asked, kneeling beside her.

Louie worked to control her body, to keep it from shaking from the pain.

"Yeah. Just great," Louie said, through clenched teeth.

Louie started to push herself up and Peyton's hands wrapped around her, helping her. With one hand Louie pushed Peyton back, looking at him with a defiant glint in her eye that made him take a step back. All eyes were on Louie as she stood. She forced her expression into an indifferent look, that cracked slightly as she took her first tentative steps.

Her back seemed to be on fire. Every action threatened to bring her to her knees. But she moved about as if she felt nothing, using every bit of strength to keep her pain from showing on her face. The voices started up again as she picked up her sleeping bag and stuffed it into her pack. She joined the group around the charred remains of the fire. Settling gingerly beside Jonas, she ignored Peyton's stare as he tried to read in her face the state of her wounds. Peyton forced his attention away from Louie and to Trevor.

"Did you find any remaining ammunition?" Peyton asked.

"Yeah, a few rifle rounds and two extra clips," Trevor said.

Peyton nodded.

"Good," he said. "We'll keep all the rifles. No need to leave behind something that could be useful."

"How far away from the Crawler's last location are we?" Luther asked.

Peyton took out the maps from his pack and spread them over the ground. As he talked about the distance, Louie ate, food giving her the energy her body was desperately craving.

"We'll rest here for a bit," Peyton said. "It's not too far. If we leave later we should still make it there before night. Along the way there is a river I've used. We can clean up there."

At the mention of getting clean, Louie's gaze traveled around the group, seeing the signs of dirt, blood and grime that she was sure she wore as well.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I think we look great," Jonas said, his clean smile looking lost among his dirty face.

This brought a round of laughs.

"Speak for yourself," Luther said. "I originally had blonde hair."

The corners of Louie's mouth curved up slightly as she looked at Luther's hair that now held a light brown color.

"So its settled," Peyton said. "We'll head for the river and end at the last location, once Louie's ready to go."

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The sun had shifted in the sky by the time everyone started preparing to leave. Louie pushed herself off the floor, biting back the sound of pain that rose to her lips.

"How are you doing?" Peyton asked, seeming to see the pain she was in, though nothing in her features betrayed her.

"Fine," Louie said, lifting her pack and placing it onto her shoulders.

The pack rested against her wounds and Louie closed her eyes briefly trying to combat the shock that was coursing through her. Everyone stood, collecting their own belongings. Dax stepped over to Louie and snatched the pack off her back, adding it too his own. Her eyes shot open and met Dax's steady gaze. His expression seemed to dare her to argue.