Love Unspoken

The sun was dipping low, and Abigail still hadn't seen a single soul; just endless wasteland and mountains.

After driving all day, she finally pulled over, her hands and feet screaming from the fatigue. Slumping against the seat, she turned to Landon and asked, "You hungry or what?" She didn't really expect an answer. She got out and started digging through the trunk, hoping to find something to munch on.

No luck, just those two cases of water, and she'd already downed three bottles.

There was a little creek nearby, so she went over to wash her face. That's when she spotted some crabs in the water.

Her eyes lit up, and she kicked off her shoes, jumped into the creek, and started flipping rocks to catch the crabs.

Landon leaned against the car window, watching her splash around.This content provided by N(o)velDrama].[Org.

As the sun set, the river sparkled, making Abigail's figure look all hazy and glowing.

"Aw, hell no!" Abigail yelled, shattering the peaceful scene. She limped out of the water, plopped down on the ground, and saw a crab latched onto her toe.

She tried to yank it off with two fingers, but the more she pulled, the tighter it clamped, making her yelp in pain.

Landon looked away, unable to watch her struggle.

Abigail wrestled with the crab for what felt like forever, her toe bleeding and tears welling up in her eyes.

She hobbled back to the car, grabbed a pair of scissors from the medical kit, and got ready to snip off the crab's claw.

Landon watched her for a moment. Just as she was about to cut, the crab clamped down even harder, digging into her flesh and making her eyes roll back in pain. The scissors fell to the ground, and she clutched the steering wheel, gritting her teeth.

Landon frowned. After a bit, when she was about to try again, he finally spoke up, "Hand me the scalpel."

Abigail looked at him, tears in her eyes, and asked, "What?"

Landon didn't repeat himself, just held out his hand.

She handed him the scalpel. He grabbed a lighter from the shelf and heated the scalpel until it was almost red-hot. "Foot," he said.

Abigail had no clue what he was up to but instinctively stuck out her foot.

Landon put down the lighter and placed the hot scalpel at the crab's claw, holding the crab's shell with his other hand.

After a moment, the claw loosened a bit. He quickly inserted the scalpel and twisted it.

Abigail yelped and pulled her foot back.

Just as she was about to say something, she saw the crab in Landon's hand. She stared at the struggling crab, blinked, and then looked at her foot. Overjoyed, she exclaimed, "You're a freaking genius!"

Landon's mouth twitched slightly, and he tossed the crab away.

Abigail jumped out of the car to chase it. "Why'd you throw it away? Stupid crab, I'm gonna tear you apart!"

Ignoring her injured foot, she ran after the crab and eventually grabbed it from the grass.

She went back to the riverbank, yanked off all the crab's claws, and tossed it into the pile of crabs with a satisfied grin.

She gathered some dry wood and placed the crabs on a thin stone slab to roast.

"Tonight's dinner is sorted," Abigail thought happily.