Her Perception

Chapter 3

Sabrina ran as fast as she ever thought a human could and embraced the cold smacks of wind that brushed across her face. As soon as she left the defenseless man the guilt pounded at her and she kept moving forward trying to block him out of her mind. "I'll go back, I'll go back and get him" she thought not sure if she would have the courage to do so. The sound of approaching sounds washed the thoughts out of her mind.

The dome shaped building came into view and she sprung forward with a since of hope. She thought there would be someone there who could help her and answer her questions. For a strange reason she stopped. Her legs refused to go further and she spoke aloud begging them to move. She was screaming by now and she prayed that her lack of exercise in the past wouldn't kill her now. Her leg started twitching and a glowing number 20 in a hologram raised from her leg and slowly dissapeared. Her legs...they worked and not even she understood. She treated the numbers as a blessing and kept running until she reached the dome.

All if the sudden noises stopped and relief and joy feeled Sabrina. She opened her eyes and stared up. "What" she said as she stared face to face with her childhood home. "I couldn't have run all the way to Georgia..." she said surprised and frightened at the sight of the house. With long hesitation she rung the doorbell and within seconds it was opened. "Sabrina! Oh what a nice surprise to see you here, you know, we haven't seen you since you moved out and were very excited... oh dear. What happened to you? Are you all right your clothes... oo not very stylish at all, why there are too many rips in those jeans!" the woman seemed to babble on and never stop and Sabrina grew anxious with her words.

"Mom?" Sabrina said confused yet again. "I thought...I thought you died, how are you...here?" she said baffled by the appearance of her once dead mother. The woman laughed and a displeasant look filled her face and she spoke through her teeth. "What are you speaking of... sweetie. Haha! of course I'm here!" a fake smile believing enough replaced the previous one. As soon  as the woman finished speaking Sabrina felt uncomfortable and threatened. She began to analyze her so called mother and didn't like what she was conjuring up.

Her face, her body, her voice all sounded like her mother, but, there was something off. "Mom?" Sabrina said. "Yes dear?" the woman said trying to sound enthusiastic instead of concerned of what Sabrina was thinking. "Where's dad. After all he hasn't died yet." Sabrina said finding her approach intelligent. The woman began stuttering and within seconds excused herself to go to the bathroom.

Sabrina followed the woman and somehow lost her in the unfamiliar tangles of the house. "Hello?" she said panicking and suddenly wanting to leave the nightmare that was becoming her reality. Sabrina ran back the way she came and was stunned to see the living room they had been standing in before become a bare field right before her eyes. "Oh god. The man!" she screamed as she remembered her desperate decision in leaving the poor boy injured in the shrubs.

Sabrina desperately searched around for the road with the terrifying poles and ran to it's end. She began tracing the path and seemed to run on forever until she passed out dehydrated. Her eyes slowly began to flutter open and a dense light burst through a thin cloth structure and to her face. The image was calming and she took her time to get up not considering where she was or how she got there. When she finally arose from the padded mat she was sleeping on, she looked through the makeshift tents opening.

"Hey!" the figure sitting at a table said quite happy to see her up and well. "Hey...? Wait how are YOU over here? Where did you come from?" Sabrina said recognizing the man as the one she thought was injured and defenseless. "Relax, I'll explain later... by the way I'm Mark" he said surprisingly cheerful as he stuck out his hand. "How are you so clam right now!? Were lost in the middle of some dystopian freak show and YOU WANT TO KNOW MY NAME!?" her voice began to raise as the anger flowing through her burst out her mouth like a volcano. Mark laughed off her rage and smiled. "What's your name?" he said as he grabbed her hand into his. Sabrina blushed from the warmth she felt when he touched her. "My name? Oh um Sabrina" she said as she offered him a weak smile that tried to hide her embarrassment. "Hello Sabrina" Mark said as he placed her hand back next to her side and turned his attention back to the table.

"Um what are you doing" Sabrina said still thinking about Marks hand holding hers. "Working" he said dryly. "On...." she said urging him to engage in conversation. His head popped up from the table and he looked straight forward in the distance.  "Health. Escape. Life. Prediction." he said as if he were reciting a chant he had learned in elementary school. After he finished speaking his head looked back to the table and his hands began to fiddle with loose scraps of metal and wire. "Oh" Sabrina said clueless and threatened by how the man responded. Even though she suspected something was wrong their previous encounter made her forget what he had done and she went back to the tent to sit down.

"Hey, you hungry?" Mark said as he popped his head into the tent. Sabrina's face lit up and she jumped up almost hitting Mark in the face with her head. "I'll take that as a yes." he said laughing lightheartedly. He moved out the tent completely and walked behind it. "Here you go." he said holding his hand out to a large trap door on the floor beside the tent. "Um...what's that?" she said not sure if she would dare go into something that looked as hidious as that moss covered door. "Just look." he said still smiling his bright Mark smile. Sabrina slowly approached the large door and with disgust pulled open its latches. She jumped back and screamed as she wiped of the filthy goop that accumulated on her hands. Mark bursted out laughing and opened the door the rest of the way for her.

"Oh my gosh!" Sabrina said happier than ever. As she looked through the hole a giant room stalked with food of all kinds in rows tempted her to dig in. "Whoa." she said smiling brightly as she walked down the aisles picking up anything appetizing. "Well this us our food supply." he said smiling as though his new pet puppy chased its tail for the first time. At the sound of "our" Sabrina turned away from him and blushed. Mark suddenly became quiet and his light laughter stopped. "Hey, I got to go into the woods for a while, stay underground and don't open this door." he said barely giving her time to argue. He left without a sound and Sabrina instantly missed him. "I wonder what he's doing" she said as the thought of following him passed through her mind. She shrugged off the urge and began to devour the supply of food she had picked out.