They slam into the snowy desert sands.
A migraine wrecks Vash’s head. As he opens his eyes, he half expects everything that’s happened to be a dream. He moves his arms, not to unbuckle himself and get to safety, but to hold Rae.
But as time has shown him repeatedly, there is no reward for effort. There is only an abrupt and aching pain.
He opens his eyes and sees the wreckage. Broken glass spills over them. He thrusts his body to see if he’s injured.
He’s lucky. Spare for a few cuts and some stiffening whiplash, he’s okay. It could have been much worse.
Unbuckling himself, he tries to turn his body, but his neck won’t let him. “Everyone okay?”
He can see Ruby in his peripheral. She isn’t moving, but she’s breathing.
The children’s cries carry through the plane. “The kids,” Vash calls out. “Are they okay?”
“Fuck,” Holger grunts and vomits across the back. The stench is overwhelming.
“Answer me,” Vash growls.
“I’ve got the kids. They’re safe,” he says.
“Thank Alpha. We’re lucky,” Vash mutters, breathless but finding his energy.
With the last of his strength, Vash pries the door open. He falls out, tumbling onto the snow-covered sand.
He goes to Ruby, opens the door and tries to pull her out. But she’s stuck.
With little energy, she opens her eyes. She gives a brief smile before closing them again. “Oops,” she says.
“Ruby, we have to get out o
f here,” Vash says, neck starting to really fuck up his day.
Ruby glances at her chest.
Vash takes a step back and pauses for a breath. She’s hurt. A thin beam from the plane has punctured above her right breast.
“I need to find her,” she says. “I need to be the one to fix this.”
Vash looks at her injury. He feels Killian’s presence come up from behind them.
“Don’t leave me,” she says.
Killian holds up a set of bolt cutters. “We’ll get you out of here,” he says.
It takes some finesse, but Killian cuts both ends to get her free. Once outside, they position Ruby against the side of the plane.
Vash bites the inside of his lip as he examines her wounds. “We need to get this out of you,” he says.
She tenses up but can’t move to her defense. “How?”
“We’ll pull it out,” Killian says.
Ruby’s eyes widen. “You pull this out of me without pain killers, and I’ll make sure they hang you,” she says.
Vash sighs and sucks in his lip. “After, we’ll stitch the wound. If we don’t, you’ll die long before you get to see Rae.”
Ruby gasps in pain. “You bastard. I’ll be dead either way.”