TORN FLESH

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: TIRESOME TIMES

"VIOLET, don't you walk away from me when I'm talking to you." Margo watched as the girl proceeded to ignore her and plopped down on the couch her gaze lingering at the edges of the windows.

She was half tempted to yell at the girl, but, she knew that it wasn't her place.

She wasn't her mother or her family, and she knew that she had no control over the girl and her actions.

But for as long as she had to pretend to be her parent, she had the slightest bit of power to keep the child from acting out again.

It wasn't much, but it was something.

"Violet."

It was that single word, that one mention of the girl's name that caused her to slowly face the older girl, "what?" she questioned her blonde locks swaying with every movement of her head.

"You can't do that again, we need a place to stay. You're jeopardizing that entirely." Violet furrowed her brows a scowl brushing in upon her lips.

"I was curious, I think I'm allowed to be when we haven't been told the truth."

Margo frowned, they'd been told the entire truth, hadn't they?

They hadn't lied about anything.

"We have been told the truth, you need to stop insinuating that they're liars and stop being rude." she replied running a hand through her hair, what had she done to get herself stuck in this mess.

Maybe if she'd just never opened the door in the hospital.

Maybe then she'd still be there.

Or maybe she'd be dead.

But anything seemed better than what she was currently dealing with.

Violet didn't reply and instead made her way to the second of the two bedrooms, she didn't feel like further arguing over the topic, she knew it would be best if she simply went to sleep, she could face further scolding in the morning.

Till then, she needed to figure out how she was going to get Margo to believe what she'd seen, that was if she'd even listen to what she had to say.

She'd figure something out.

She hoped.

Meanwhile, Margo had settled herself back on the couch where she'd been before Violet's irresponsible adventure, she couldn't risk sleeping in her bedroom, not with the possibility that the girl would slip out again and do something worse, or get bit.

Within a few moments, she'd found herself in a comfortable position and proceeded to pull one of the small blankets over her shivering body before casting a final look in the direction of Violet's new room.

She prayed Violet stayed in there.

And when she awoke, she discovered that the girl had done just that.

Thank god.

As soon as the woman's eyes had opened she'd shot up from her spot on the couch to check the child's room, relief had flooded through her limbs at the sight of the girl lying in the bed they'd provided her with. Margo- careful not to wake the girl- left the room just as quietly as she'd entered before tip-toeing into the kitchen where she hoped to try and discover something for breakfast.

Too tired to try and find anything else, the woman was entirely pleased to find a box of cereal waiting on a shelf, and a stack of bowls placed in the cabinet beside the first. She wouldn't bother to wake Violet just yet, the longer she slept gave her fewer opportunities of getting them kicked out, which wasn't something they could afford.

They were exhausted, not to mention injured, and needed some time to recoup from their small period of travel on the road.

But she knew Violet wanted to keep going, she didn't want to stop, and in a way, Margo felt the same.

She wanted to find Mitch more than anything.

She was beginning to forget what he looked like.

Those long brown locks that she knew needed a good trim by now.

That small smirk always resting on the corners of his lips.

And as much as she didn't want to believe it, she missed him.

Realizing she was no longer hungry, she returned the items to their rightful places and settled herself back on the couch with a blanket pulled tightly around her shoulders.

She wondered if Mitch was looking at the same buildings as her, the same fence, the same sunrise.

Maybe he was.

But maybe he wasn't even alive.

That had been a possibility since the beginning, one she didn't want to process.

One she wouldn't accept.

And now it was staring her back in the face, maybe it was time for her to move on, to forget about Mitch and start worrying about the child that laid not even fifteen feet away.

That should've been her priority from the beginning.

Bringing her hand up to her mouth she began to chew on one of her nails, thinking was something that often sent her mind into chaos, all the different scenarios and possibilities, that was one thing she missed about Stan, he brought order and control into her life when she couldn't even fathom how to reach either.

She didn't want to think about Stan though, Mitch was what she needed to consider, she needed to consider that he was more than likely dead, that Stan was too, and if one was gone there was hardly any chance that the second had survived.

She knew that much.

Now she just had to learn to accept it.

A small thump came from a few feet behind her and the woman immediately swiveled her head to see what the cause of said thump was.

It was Violet.

She was leaned against the side of her doorframe and was staring at the woman with wide eyes, "why're you crying?" she questioned reaching a hand up to rub at her eyes.

Margo frowned and reached her hand to her cheeks, she wasn't wrong, a small stream of tears had begun to roll down her pale skin, not that she was surprised, but she was just confused as to why she hadn't noticed.

"My leg." she lied quickly wiping her tears away, "it's just bothering me."

Violet- too tired to argue- simply nodded her head and began to walk into the kitchen, "there's cereal and bowls in the cabinets closest to the sink." Margo stated quickly turning back to face the windows as she had before.

She didn't want to think about Mitch anymore, the longer she lingered on it the harder it would be to simply forget about him.

"We still have to talk about last night." she added turning to look at the girl from her spot on the couch, Violet simply shrugged in response and continued to pour herself a bowl of cereal, "Violet, I mean it."

Setting the box down on the counter, the girl turned to look at her with a frown placed upon her lips, "go on then." Margo fought back the urge to yell at her, the child was making the simplest of tasks far more difficult than necessary, and it was beginning to annoy her.

"I'm going to talk to Marcus, find something for you to do as punishment." Violet gave a slight shake of her head before she proceeded to put away the box of cereal and take her bowl of cereal to the couch, "okay." she mumbled quietly sitting down on the rug that had been laid out in the living room.

She wondered what exactly her "punishment" would be, knowing Margo, it more than likely wouldn't be anything too bad.

"When you're done eating I want you to go get dressed." the woman spoke shifting beneath the blanket she'd pulled over herself earlier.

At the sound of a knock at the front door, both females heads swung around to look in the general direction of the entrance, Margo was the first one up- quickly abandoning her blanket on the couch beside Violet- brushing a few stray hairs out of her face, she pulled the door open and smiled at the sight of one of the nurses from the small hospital.

"Hi." the woman chimed, smiling back at the woman, Margo was almost sure her name was Maureen, "Hi." Margo replied her eyes catching sight of the small brown bag the woman was clutching, "would you mind if I came inside?" she questioned slightly lifting the bag for Margo to glimpse.

"No! No, of course." she replied taking a step back to pull the door open for the woman to enter.

Violet stared at the woman as she entered a small frown ghosting over her lips, she didn't trust any of the people here, not even one of the few that had been nice to her, she knew that lies were surrounding all of them, one's she wouldn't be fooled by.

The same one's Margo had been fooled by.

"Morning Violet." the woman smiled casting a small wave in the girl's direction, instead of answering Violet turned to face the window again stuffing her mouth full of cereal. Margo rolled her eyes and let out a sigh, she seriously needed to find something for the girl to do, something that wouldn't allow her enough free time to be rude.

"I'm sorry about her, she's being punished and she's not exactly the happiest about it." Maureen softly shook her head, "Marcus told me about her little escapade last night, she's a wild one, lucky they got there when they did." she spoke opening up the brown bag.

As the woman opened up the bag Margo thought long and hard about what she was going to tell Violet, she needed to sound firm and authoritative, otherwise, the child wouldn't listen to her.

"These should last you just around three months or so." Maureen stated drawing Margo from her thoughts, taking the bottle from the woman she offered a smile, "you're supposed to take one at night and one in the morning." she added quickly closing the bag.

"Thank you." Margo replied her eyes lingering on the brown bag as Maureen pulled it from the counter and proceeded to exit through the door- which Margo had left open- "hopefully we see you later tonight? The communities having a meeting, we'd love to have you attend." the woman nodded her head, "definitely, should I bring Violet?" she questioned.

Maureen smiled and nodded her head, "we'd love to have her there."

With a final wave in the child's direction the woman left- closing the door behind her as she went- Margo let out a sigh and turned around- leaning into the door- "you could've at least been nice." she stated her eyes closed as she tilted her head towards the ceiling, Violet let out a chuckle, "why would I be nice to a bunch of liars?"

Margo opened her eyes at the sound of footsteps her eyes following Violet as she deposited her utensils into the sink and began to make her way to her room to do as she'd been told; for once.

"Don't go anywhere once you're ready." she mumbled doing the same as Violet had, she needed to find something to wear, something loose, not to mention something that would keep her warm as the temperatures were beginning to drop and the winds had begun to pick up with the transition into a new season.

Entering her room, the first thing she searched for was a dresser or closet of sorts, she found a small closet.

A few sweaters were hung on hangers and she browsed through them for a few moments before her eyes fell to a sweater that almost seemed Navy blue but in reality, was between that and black.

She liked it.

Still wearing the pants from yesterday- after her shower- she simply pulled the sweater over her shirt and pulled on her boots before heading back out to the living room to wait for Violet who was already sitting on the couch.

She hadn't changed much about her outfit, she'd simply put on a jacket like Margo and pulled her shoes on.

"You ready?" the woman questioned gently scratching the back of her neck as she waited for a response, "sure, if that means I don't have to work with the creep."

Margo rolled her eyes, "he is not a creep, you're just rude." she replied.

"Now come on, I have to find you a decent punishment."

TORN FLESH

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: TIRESOME TIMES