Outcasts society

Three

[Chapter three]"Running"
*

The converstation that was taking place above max was quite stressful. The tone of everyone's voice was edgy and a few of them got pretty loud at times. Max lay there on the ground of the forest for a long time listening to the masculine mumbles of the men standing above her. She felt paralyzed, unable to open her eyes she was so tired. A hand touched her cheek and she heard someone mumble something. She opened her eyes a little bit, the light coming through the trees temporarily blinding her.
"M.H.?"
"Hey there Maxie." he tried to hide the tears that threatened to spill over but was unsuccessful.
"What's wrong?"
"Our world is dying Maxie, their trying to kill us."
Max was wide awake now, sitting up ignoring the way the world swayed around her.
"What? Who is? What the hell is going on M.H.?"
"We don't have time to explain, we have to get going now max or we won't get there in time."
M.H. pulled her up by her arms, grabbed her hand in his and started making his way to a path that seemed to lead them further into the forest.
"Where are we going M.H.? What's going on?!"
Max stopped dead in her tracks, try to get answers to the same questions she'd been asking for the past 20 minutes.
"Max I really must insist you come with me this very moment."
M.H. had that look on his face that told max something serious was going on and she just needed to trust him.
She looked at him, worry and fear filling her eyes, and grabbed M.H.'s hand letting him lead her deep into the forest and even deeper into the madness that was slowly taking over.

They arrived at a large twisting tree in the very middle of the forest. It was covered in moss and it's limbs hanging down like a weeping willow. There was a giant door shaped hole in the tree and M.H. started walking towards it. Max on the other hand questioned his sanity, not wanting to walk into a giant dark whole knowing nothing about it and it's being there.
"Maxie please! We don't have the time for you to question and assess everything! We need to hurry."
Max gave M.H. one last look of doubt before she in twined her hand in his and made their descent into the tree. Surprisingly (although it really shouldn't have been) the descent into the tree reminded her alot of the rabbit hole, only this time there were stairs.
They winded deep down into the earth, taking nearly twenty minutes to reach the bottom but when they got there Max was stunned at how beautiful it was. The walls were ingraved with tales and stories of past triumphants and defeats. The floor covered in soft plush moss, furniture in the room seemed to take forever to make because of the tiniest little details in them. The dining table was made out of an old (but very big) tree stump with a round glass topping, moss still growing up the sides of the stump. The chairs also made from stumps but smaller and they depicted small birds and wildlife and beautiful forests. There was a fridge and cooking area, nothing really special about it. Off to the side was a living room area with a modern couch and Lazy-boy chair and a coffee table adorning pictures of a very happy looking (but oddly trollish looking) family. A hallway led off of the living room and Max imagine it was probably the bedrooms and whatnot.
"Why are we here?" Max didn't understand why they were in a cozy troll home if M.H.'s world was ending.
As if on cue a man, looking to be in his late forties walked in from the hallway smiling from ear to ear.
"Hatter! Its so nice to see yeh! To what do I oue this occasion? Oh! And who is this pretty lass yuve got wit ye there?" The man stood about 4'2 and spoke with a thick Irish accent. He had a long curly red hair on top of his head and a thick red beard to go along with it. His nose was the size of strawberry but his eyes drew your attention. They were such a vibrant blue with flecks of green and gold that you couldn't help but stare.
"I'm afraid this isn't a happy reunion Angus, our world isn't in its best shape right now, but this little lady right here (he placed both of his hands on Max's shoulders, snapping her out of a daze) is going to save us all!"
Angus looked at Max with reasonable sceptisim covering his face.
"nd' who is she?"
"My name is Max." she spoke up finding the courage to say something.
"She seems tah have it all tahgether then." Angus said looking at M.H.
"I feel like that's not really a good thing here."
M.H. gave her an apologetic look then turned to speak to Angus.
"Look Ange, that's why we came here. You've got the stuff to keep her and progress her madness! Without it well all die! We need your help before we can do anything to save anyone."
Angus let out a frustrated sigh and looked between the pair. They probably looked ridiculous, between M.Hs crazy curly red hair, his purple suit coat and green shirt and pants, and Max's flat black with dyed purple hair and AC DC shirt and torn Blue Jeans they were definitely not something you saw together everyday.
"Follow meh." Angus finally said.
But before they could even take a step Max grabbed M.H. to steady herself. The room started to get dark and the voices she heard calling to her were distant and echoing. She fell to her knees and M.H. was on the ground right next to her, laying her head in his lap.
"It's okay Maxie, well get through this. I promise."
The darkness consumed her, and the emptiness hollowed her, bringing her back to the side of herself she was trying to run from.