Chapter Text
Isabel woke to sand in her mouth and an ache in her right hip. This struck her as unusual, seeing as she had gone to sleep in her smallish unit to the dulcet tones of David Attenborough, and not somewhere within spitting distance of sand, although the hip pain was less surprising.
Her head ached as well, which was unpleasant, and she was on the floor, which seemed to be the source of the sand. She blinked her eyes open and hauled her protesting body up.
She was not where she had fallen asleep. She was on a beach, with a smattering of boulders and some little overhangs, and tallish grasses breaking up the scenery. The occasional tree stooped on their road to the horizon, and some hills seemed to rise in the distance. The sea peacefully washed up and down the sandy beach. It was really quite lovely. Nonetheless it did seem odd that she was there when she definitely was not there before falling asleep.
And, she thought with a tired sort of concern, it doesn’t look much like Perth anyway; too green, and the trees aren’t the shape they should be. Might be further south, she allowed, maybe further down Busselton way, or Margaret River. Much greener down there, even in summer, and they have more of those bigger trees.
Not that that’s not just as concerning, she thought, grimacing. What with the fact that she had not been down south when she went to sleep. She tried to ignore the twist of anxiety in her stomach.
She began brushing the sand off herself, and stood up. Her ankles protested in harmony with her back and wrists, all cracking and groaning out a symphony. She took a deep breath and nodded to herself. It isn’t scary unless you decide it it, she told herself firmly. Just get moving and let momentum do its job.
“Well,” she muttered, just for the sake of saying something, “let’s go climb a rock and see whatever there is to see.”
The largest rock face looked quite intimidating so she went around behind it and climbed the the second tallest, carefully placing her feet on the most solid looking parts. She felt a moment of relief that she was still wearing her work clothes and not the pyjamas she’d forgotten to change into, and her shoes were still on and doing their utmost to protect her feet from the sharp rocks. The familiar weight of her mother’s rings remained on her right hand, and she twisted them absently.
The view from the top was stunning, like something from a painting. There should have been some lady in a long dress pining for her sailer to come home, she thought. But the plains opposite the shore didn’t look promising as far as civilisation went. It looked like the bay she was in was actually an estuary, and a fairly decent sized river ran towards the sea.
The river itself was wide and seemed to flow fairly swiftly, with a smaller stream winding out through the trees. The grasses and trees along the shores were green and lush, and it seemed like it must be a good source of fresh water. Most civilisations are founded on rivers, she thought, and they do say to follow a river when you’re lost in the middle of nowhere. Or was it to stay put? Never mind she thought, might as well go for a wonder, see what’s there. Follow the river and hope for the best.
~
The sun had begun to go down, and the breeze had begun to pick up. After the hour or two of walking she had done, there didn’t seem to be any sign of human life. No jetties, no boats, no worn down paths, not even litter. Nothing. The longer she walked, the more worried she became. Where was she? And more concerningly, how did she get here?
As her search for human life seemed to become more and more bleak, Isabel’s mind started to turn to the more uncomfortable questions. What had happened while she slept? Had she been kidnapped? Why would anyone do that, she had no money, wasn’t anyone of great importance except to her family, who also weren’t particularly important to the world at large, and she didn’t work in any kind of secretive or otherwise concerning job. She was a pre-primary teacher for heavens sake! Her job was to teach children to read and then do fun paintings with them. Why would anyone take her anywhere? Why did it feel like she was being disposed of? She didn’t even have any weird or creepy exes that might have a chip on their shoulder.
And on that note, where even was she? She had yet to see a single gum tree, and no Geraldton wax or wattle, which meant she wasn’t anywhere local because they’re everywhere in Perth. In fact, none of the flora she’d come across was the familiar shrubbery she had grown up with. She’d seen some pines, and other trees which looked like those huge trunked leafy trees you see in fantasy movies, but not much in Western Australia, and what she guessed were maybe birch trees, the ones with the skinny white trunks. There weren’t any magpies warbling happily, no willy-wagtails, no kookaburras, even the crows looked different. It really wasn’t looking much like home, and even less so the further she went from the coast. And now it had begun to get dark.
Isabel pulled her knit cardigan around her tightly and settled herself as well as she could at the base of one of the great big tree trunks. She’d never been a fan of camping, it was just too painful to sleep rough, and she wasn’t particularly knowledgeable in survivalism, except from watching Bear Grills shows with her family nearly ten years ago. She remembers something about eating bugs and drinking piss. Thankfully the river seemed more or less safe to drink.
The breeze came in a little stronger. She breathed it in deeply trying to ease the pit in her stomach. Her ankles had started to throb, along with her knees and back. She gave them a firm rub, trying to ease the ache.
Another gust of wind gently buffeted her, but this time she heard a sound carried on it. It was some kind of growling and grumbling sound, like a group of people, she thought. Hopefully it was and they could help.
She gingerly pulled herself up using the tree trunk, and hobbled back towards the slightly clearer section, hoping to get a look at who was coming. The closer the sound got the more clearly she heard voices, though she couldn’t pick out English.
She heard snarls and yelling. Maybe this wasn’t a kind group of people, she thought, and stepped back behind a tree.
They came closer, and closer, until there they were. Strange grey looking creatures, with stringy, matted hair, and clothed in metal and leather hides, with sharp looking weapons. They also appeared to be covered in injuries, and a dried black substance, and what looked like some kind of blood. They smelled terrible.
These were not people who’s attention she wanted. She pressed herself close to the tree and tried to be invisible.
The group of creatures stopped in unison, snarling and grunting in the strange sounding language.
“Hullo-ullo,” one growled. “I smell a tasty morsel fellas, where do you think it might be hiding?” Isabel shrunk even further down the the base of the tree. A morsel? She thought hysterically. Do they mean me? Are they English people in costumes? What’s with the My Fair Lady accent? The fatigue that had been settling onto her was being drowned out by the pumping blood in her ears as adrenaline kicked in.
The creatures had begun to spread out, hunched low and searching behind trees and under bushes.
All at once one grabbed her shoulder, yanking her around. It crouched in front of her with jagged yellow and black teeth twisted into an imitation of a grin. If these were prosthetics, whoever did them should receive an award.
“Found her.” The horrible thing snarled to its also horrible friends, it’s foul breath washing over her. It lifted a chipped knife.
Isabel screamed and dropped all her weight down, pulling away from the creature. She yanked her shoulder away and slipped out of her cardigan, stumbling as fast as she could manage through the undergrowth, adrenaline spurring her on.
They chased her. She heard the growling and snarling and the creatures yelling orders, still so close. Rough hands grabbed at her dress, and sharp nails scratched at her skin. They hefted sword-like weapons around, sound like a scene from a vikings movie.
Then suddenly, a burning pain seared through her left arm. She saw an arrow on the ground near her. She kept running as best she could.
The grunting and snarling noise of the creatures seemed to fade as if underwater, and breathing got more difficult. She was going to pass out it seemed. Her vision darkened and her ears felt hot. She heaved in deep breaths through her nose and she tried to make her legs keep running, but dizziness was starting to overcome her. She stumbled and fell. Her hands felt like rubber and as she tried to use them to push herself up the fumbled finding purchase. A rough hand on her ankle started dragging her across the ground, and she heard the snarling laughter of the creatures as if in a dream. Her throat tightened in her panic.
She felt her leg being released and thought perhaps she heard screaming from the creatures before she passed out.