Fuel (Time part 5)

Daddy's car spluttered to a stop, the fuel light had been blinking for a while now. I had no idea where we were but I knew we were not where we supposed to be. To my surprise and given the circumstances Daddy remained so calm, cool as a cucumber I had once heard him described. He turned to me.

"We going to have to walk for a bit sweetie." He spoke in a calm voice as always removing any worry that I may have had. "We will try to find another car,and get back on our way. Does that sound ok sweetie?"

I gathered up my things. Which consisted of my Powerpuff girls rucksack loaded with changes of clothes, and my soft toy rabbit which I had since I was born. Daddy did not mind that I brought him with me, I knew I could not take everything but I could not leave it behind.

I stepped out onto the tarmacked road. We had pulled up alongside a river bed, I looked down at the steep drop down into the freezing cold water that was traveling fast downstream.

"Watch yourself Maisie!" Daddy warned me. "If you fall in you could easily get swept away!"

I was not much of swimmer, I had only been a handful of times when on holiday with Mummy and Auntie Allison. So I did not fancy my chances if I fell in. A shiver went down my spine partly from thinking of drowning and partly because of the bitter cold that was in the air. Daddy took off his jacket and placed it over my shoulders.

"We better get going." He said as he led me by the hand down the road, now with the gun from the man who I had killed over his shoulder.

If it was not so cold and so terrifying the scenery was quite beautiful. I had spent most of my life in a city and had never seen so much nature, there were seamlessly endless fields and hedgerows.

We had been walking for hours although it had not seemed so long, me and Daddy had been playing eye-spy, there was so much to see that time had melted away. We were still following the river as it meandered along. Up ahead I saw something.

"Eye spy with my little eye something beginning with C!" I exclaimed.

"Crow? Cow? Carrot?" Daddy guessed. I giggled to myself with childish glee. Daddy joining along too.

"No, silly!" I laughed, pointing up the road. "Car!"

I'm sure Daddy had seen it too but was just playing along, keeping the game going.

We had picked up our pace and arrived at the car. It was a horrible red colour, the sun had faded it making it lighter and taking the shine from the paintwork. Daddy looked inside the car, it was empty and abandoned. I was delighted, as much as I had enjoyed the walk my feet were aching now and it would be nice to have some heating to warm me up.

Daddy tried the door. It opened! wow it must be our lucky day I thought, the keys were in the ignition too! double lucky!. I opened the passenger door and sat in and put my feet up on the dash, maybe I could relax again. I placed rabbit alongside me and pulled the belt across us both preparing to go, whilst Daddy checked around the new car.

I pulled down the sun visor and looked at myself in the mirror, my face had gotten so dirty and my nose was running, I looked into my own eyes and felt that somehow in this one day I had grown up a lot, I was no longer the little eight year old I woke up as. I had seen the world as it is now, I had seen my mother and her girlfriend dead. I had accepted that they were never coming back. I had killed a man, to protect my father. This man was probably just as scared as we were, doing what he had to to survive. Just as we were. I had accepted that that I had killed him, and that I would do it again if I had to. It was just me and my father that mattered in this world now.

My father sat in the car alongside me, and turned the key, the needle on the fuel meter shot right to the top. It really was our lucky day!.

"You all set to go sweetie?" He asked me.

I took another look at myself in the mirror, I was ready to be a grown up, to do anything to survive. I looked down at my side making sure I was secured safely. I saw Rabbit safely tucked in beside me.

"Yes Daddy." I smiled giving Rabbit a squeeze.

Maybe I was not quite ready to be a grown up after all!