Betty's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

Betty waited until Alice was on the phone in the kitchen. Then she slipped out the front door and off the farmhouse porch. The plan was simple. Walk to the tree line, keep going, reach the shed and her pack. Erica and Malia were still out there. She only had to move. But her stomach fought her from the first step. The cold air did nothing. Her belly cramped tight, then tighter. She pressed a hand under her sweater and kept walking anyway. Snow soaked through her shoes. She counted her steps to stay upright. Ten. Twenty. The pain climbed her throat. She made it past a lavender bush, its purple clusters bent under frost. Then her body folded. She dropped to her knees and threw up in the snow. Her arms shook. She spat and gagged and threw up again. When it stopped, she stayed down, hands sinking in the cold. She wasn't going to reach the shed. Not today. Maybe not for days. The truth of it broke her, and she started to cry. "Betty?" Veronica came around the bush fast. She was Betty's best friend, dark hair loose, purple jacket half-zipped. She'd walked over from her own house and found Betty on the ground. She dropped down beside her and reached for her shoulder. "Hey, I've got you," Veronica said. "Come here." But her hand landed on Betty's back, and the touch was too much. Every nerve was raw from the retching. Betty flinched hard and shoved her away. "Don't," Betty said. "Don't touch me. It hurts." Veronica pulled her hand back. She didn't look hurt. She'd seen Betty's stomach flares before. She knew how the pain made even a gentle hand feel like fire. "Okay," Veronica said softly. "Okay. I won't." She didn't leave. She settled into the snow an arm's length away, close but not touching. She pulled her knees up and waited. Betty cried into her sleeve. Veronica just stayed there, steady, so Betty wasn't alone with it. After a while the crying slowed. Betty wiped her face and looked at the tree line. So far away. She couldn't walk it sick like this. Her escape had failed, plain and complete. "You were trying to get to them," Veronica said. It wasn't a question. "Erica and the others." Betty froze. She had never told Veronica about the pack. But Veronica's face held no shock, only worry. "You can't do it alone," Veronica said. "Not like this. You'll pass out in the snow before you're halfway." Betty stared at her friend. Veronica already knew more than she'd guessed. And she was still here, still sitting in the cold beside her. "Then help me," Betty whispered. Veronica held her eyes a moment. Then she nodded. Betty couldn't reach her pack on her own. But she wasn't on her own anymore.