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The Sacrifice (WillowVX & littlerooster)

Something inside of Annie stirred a little bit. She got a small rush of excitement and smiled.

"Too bad we don't have harmonicas." She teased and nudged Robbie with her elbow. She enjoyed how easy it was being around him. Something she couldn't admit to him, was that he wouldn't be part of the plan. What ever she decided was the way to stop the townspeople, Robbie couldn't be involved. He was already wounded. Clarke almost killed him once. Annie wouldn't let that happen again. Her lit up face slowly darkened. She bit her lip and looked down sullenly.
 
Robbie laughed at her harmonica gag, he felt some excitement as well, his life had become a Mark Twain novel. He was talking about escaping via freight train, then he noticed her face go dark.

"What's wrong honey?" he asked her.
 
Annie shifted on her feet, a common thing she did when she was hiding something. She didn't want to tell Robbie. She knew that he wouldn't understand. But she couldn't let him get killed because of her. It was Annie they were after. Robbie would just get caught in the cross fire. When they got to the next town, she would get the supplies, and then go back herself. She thought of her previous comment, about burning down the village.

"I'm just nervous, I guess." She shrugged. Which wasn't a lie. She was nervous. She felt bad keeping things from Robbie. But she wouldn't let him take the bullet for her.
 
"We should go then" Robbie said gathering the few clothes he still had. They left the cave and started once again on their way out of the town, the weather had improved a little, the sun was still out even though the wind was cold. They worked their way downhill away from the waterfall and into the woods. They found a dirt track and followed it from the bushes not wanting to be caught in the open. Soon they came across a hunters log cabin, it appeared empty but as though someone had used it recently.

Entering it they found a suitcase with some clothing in it, warm flannel shirts which Robbie handed Annie and some blankets and sleeping bags.

"Lets grab what we can and then keep going as fast as we can" he said as they went through the belongings.
 
Annie felt awkward, going into somebody's cabin and taking their things. It seemed like such a natural thing to do for Robbie. It was almost a little shocking. Then, she thought, of course he's done things like this before. Robbie was rough, jagged even, around the edges. But she trusted him.

"Should we look for food and water before we leave?" She asked Robbie.
 
"Yes, yes we should, look I don't want to steal either but unless you have a credit card or cash on you, I don't see any other option, do you?" he said to her seeing the look of shock on her face.

The continued searching the stuff in the cabin.
 
Annie sighed. He was right. She nodded reluctantly at him and started searching drawers and cabinets.

"What about Jenny?" Annie asked abruptly. She saw Robbie stiffen as he was bent down, looking in a lower cabinet. The muscles in his back went rigid and he straighten himself up. This situation seriously sucked, Annie thought to herself.
 
Robbie had been thinking about Jenny for a while, it was a catch 22 situation, go for help and risk her getting hurt or go back to rescue her and risk getting caught and she still gets hurt.

"I think we have to be cold and tough about this, if we get caught it helps nobody, I think we need to get out and then start to save people when we are ready" he said to her.
 
Annie knew that Robbie was hurting. Leaving Jenny behind had been difficult for him. It hurt Annie to know that Robbie was in pain. She wished there was more that she could do.

Annie walked up to Robbie and hugged him tightly. She wanted to ease his pain. But she didn't know how.

"I'm sorry that I ruined your life." She whispered to him, barely audible.
 
Robbie held Annie, "You haven't ruined anything, they have ruined it, this horror story town and their fucking sacrifices, that has ruined it. I have no idea how, but we will stop it. Fire probably is the answer." he told her.

There were voices and footsteps in the distance, Robbie grabbed Annie and they left out the rear door of the log cabin into the thick bushes and trees, they could hear the men coming back to the cabin as they kept running. By the time they heard the men yelling about their stuff being stolen they were a safe distance away.

They kept going towards the town of Westborough, finally finding some railway tracks. Robbie placed his hand to the tracks and could feel the vibrations. "A train is coming, we wait and jump on if it is hopefully a freight train" he said to her.
 
Annie was taken aback. Fire. He had meant her idea, to burn down the town. There had been something in his eyes when she joked about it before. Something lit up. Excitement. Her thoughts were disrupted by the voices. She was about to speak and protest when Robbie put his hand over her mouth, grabbed the bag of things they had stolen, and creeped out of the back door. They ran into the back woods and kept running until they came to some railroad tracks.

Annie was winded from running. She bent down and clutched her side, catching her breath. She nodded her head as they waited for the train. Just as Annie went to sit down, somebody jumped out of the trees and grabbed her from behind. She felt the cool pressure of metal against her temple and she froze. The look on Robbie's face was stricken and full of rage.

Annie was still as Clarke held her from behind. He held her with a hand to her throat and a gun to her head.

"Robbie, you are going to get on the train." Clarke ordered in a very matter of fact voice. "Annie is coming with me. You are more trouble than you are worth. So you have two choices. I will let you go, if you jump on that train and never come back. Or I will shoot you where you stand, right now." Clarke was wild. His hair was a mess, his eyes were tired. He had snapped.
 
Clarke had been tailing them, it was probably him and the posse that they robbed in the cabin, he jumped out of the bushes and grabbed Annie, holding a gun to her head.

Robbie looked at Annie, he couldn't leave her, he couldn't jump on the train, even if he died, she would know he truly loved her and was willing to fight for her until the very bitter end. He looked at her and Clarke, something inside Clarke snapped as well, pure rage filled his eyes, but not before he looked at Annie and mouthed the words "I love you Annie".

He roared and charged Clarke, Clarke squeezed the trigger hitting Robbie in the chest, he was only a metre away though and still had enough energy to bowl Clarke and Annie over, he squeezed Clarke's throat with the last remnants of life he had left in him, his last words were to Annie.

"Run, Annie, go, please" he only had enough to keep Clarke down until the train's whistle was heard in the distance.
 
Annie screamed as Robbie rushed Clarke.

"No!" Robbie was shot in the chest. Annie was hyperventilating. He had enough strength in him to choke Clarke. Clarke passed out from the lack of oxygen. The train was coming closer. Annie ran to Robbie and tried to put pressure on the wound.

"What did I tell you?" She yelled at him, tears in her eyes. "I told you. Don't ever tell me to leave you, ever again." Robbie was fading. His eyes were unfocused, but he managed a small chuckle. "Oh... Please don't leave me." She took her hands in his, both were blood stained. She rested her forehead on his and kissed him with so much urgency. He became unresponsive. Annie went cold. She panicked.

"Robbie!" She shouted at him. She shook him furiously. She checked his pulse. It was there. But it was so faint. He was going to bleed to death. All because of her. She couldn't let that happen. She had no time to think. She reached in the the unconscious Clarke's pocket and retrieved his cell phone. She called her uncle Ben.

"I'm not going to let you die." Annie whispered to Robbie, brushing the messy hair that stuck to his forehead. He was so pale. She used one of the shirts from the bag to try and put pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding. Her uncle would be there soon. They may be evil, but she didn't think they would let Robbie die. Annie, on the other hand, she had no idea what would happen to her. She laid there next to Robbie and waited for them to come. "I told you, I was never going to leave you." She held him, cradled him in her arms.
 
The men in the posse chasing Annie and Robbie heard the shot and started running in it's direction. Annie's own Uncle Ben was leading it, he was worried that niece may have been the one shot, what would happen if his sacrifice was killed trying to destroy the ritual. He would lose his status, he would never recover from being related to a martyr for the resistance movement.

They made their way through the scrub and bushes and could see Annie kneeling over Robbie, her hands placing pressure on the wound, Clarke out cold lying on the ground beside them. Rushing up, Henry one of the men in the posse and also the town Doctor removed Annie's hands from Robbie's wound and pulled out his combat first aid kit, Henry also being a medic in the National Guard, he applied the chemical and assured Annie that he would live, thanks to her quick thinking.

He then checked on Clarke and also assured everyone that he too would be OK. Clarke's father the Sheriff stroked his hair as he looked up furiously at Annie.

Ben looked at his niece "You have no idea how much damage and trouble you have caused Annie" he said to her.
 
Annie couldn't speak. She didn't pay anybody mind, except for the town doctor. Robbie would live. That's all that mattered. An enormous weight was lifted from her chest. As long as Robbie would be okay, nothing else mattered. The men grabbed Annie and took her back to the town. She didn't want to think about how Robbie would feel when he woke up. He wouldn't be happy. But she would rather give herself up than let him die. Annie was terrified of what awaited her back at the town.
 
Her Uncle Ben just looked at her. "The lottery will go ahead, and you will be the sacrifice" he told her, all the men present knew the lottery was a sham, it had been for decades now, used to keep females virginity intact and to control behavior, the woman drawn was always the worst case in town, always the one who would cause the biggest problems.

Being gang raped in front of the whole town was punishment, nothing more, nothing less.
 
Annie didn't respond as her uncle Ben told her that she would be sacrificed. She just looked down and silently let the tears fall. I'm sorry Robbie. She thought to herself. I am so sorry. Annie knew that he would never forgive her. Nobody would save her now. A thought occurred to her. Would it matter? She wasn't sure. She had to try.

"I'm not a virgin." She replied quietly, not looking up from the floor.
 
The men all laughed at Annie, "oh we haven't sacrificed an actual virgin for decades now, all you filthy girls give it away so easy now days, still it makes a nice punishment for bitches like you" Uncle Ben told her.
 
Annie was shocked. Did he just admit it? He just admitted to the sacrifice being a fake. She wondered what they would do with her when the sacrifice was over. She wondered if it would hurt, being used, man after man taking his turn ravishing her body. She thought of Clarke. He would make it hurt. And his father who she had shot. Even her own uncle wanted a chance to fuck her. Shivers ran through her spine at the thought. She really did piss a lot of people off. Annie was afraid.

"Why are you doing this to me, uncle Ben?" She asked in almost a whisper. She didn't know if she could cry anymore. In the last week, she was all cried out. She just wanted to see Robbie. Just to know he was okay. She wanted to tell him that she was sorry.
 
Ben looked at Annie as she asked in a whisper, "This is our tradition Annie, of course sometimes traditions change in some ways but they keep going, it doesn't matter if you aren't a virgin, we will have a doctor examine you anyway, as I think you are lying. I as a member of council have not sacrificed a family member, I thought perhaps that I never would, until you arrived in town. You will be my gift to the town and the fact that you have caused such a ruckus just means that there is all the more reason for you to the one." he said to her.

He grabbed her and they all started walking back to the cabin, Robbie being carried in a stretcher they had brought along in case of causalities.
 
The men held onto Annie's arms and carried her back to the cabin. She never took her eyes off of Robbie in the stretcher. There was a lump in her throat and she found it hard to swallow. They would never let her see Robbie again. She already knew it. And if they did, they would force him to take part in the ceremony.

"What's going to happen to Robbie?" She asked her uncle. "It wasn't his fault. It was all my idea. I talked him into helping me."
 
"Oh he will be ok, we understand what men are capable of when females pollute their hearts and minds, he obviously loves you and was acting honorably towards you, we respect that even if he did go against us, he will know better for next time, but we won't punish him. We all know it's your fault" Ben smiled at her.

They returned to the cabin and some of the men got the trucks, Robbie was laid in the back of one, the still unconscious Clarke laid in the other, he was just starting to come to.
 
Annie let out a ragged sigh of relief. Robbie would live. And he would be safe. Uncle Ben said he wouldn't be punished. She smiled despite herself. Good, she thought. She just hoped they wouldn't make him watch. Annie had a feeling, that even if they tried to force him, Robbie wouldn't participate. Which worried her, as well. What do they do to men who refuse?

Annie looked at Clarke as he was regaining consciousness. There was ice and betrayal in her eyes. She hated him. She had never hated anybody so much in her entire life. She rode in the truck with Ben and Clarke. Robbie was taken in the truck by his father and the sheriff. Clarke's eyes were all the way open and he looked at Annie.
 
Clarke looked at Annie.

"It didn't have to be like this, I never wanted you to be sacrificed, I loved you, but you just had to keep fighting, I was trying to save you, you just didn't know how to play along" he said to her.

"Well Annie, it looks like you had two young boys so cunt struck they were willing to kill each other over you" Uncle Ben told her.
 
Annie didn't know whether or not to believe Clarke. And she didn't want to talk about it in front of her uncle. This was a conversation for later. If Clarke really loved her, he would have wanted to save her. He wouldn't have hunted her down. He wouldn't have shot Robbie. Ben drove her back to Clarke's house. She would be staying with him and the sheriff, her uncle informed her.

Ben left them alone. Clarke was lying on the couch, regaining his strength. Annie was tied to a chair, to ensure she wouldn't escape. She refused to look at Clarke. Every time she looked at him it broke her heart. She really cared about him. Maybe not the way that she cared about Robbie, but she loved him too. It wasn't as intense and as passionate, but his betrayal hurt her.

"I hate you." Annie whispered, looking at the ground.
 
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