Neutral Territory (A Farcry 5 fanfic)

Chapter Vier: New Job Offer?

(Does anyone else wait for awhile for authors to continually update then read all their new chapters at once? Or is that just me?)

"Scar tissue is stronger than regular tissue.
Realize the strength, move on."

~ Henry Rollins

Shaking. Someone was trying to move her. And talk to her.

"Jellyfish. Get up, it's time for school honey."

Opening up her tired eyelids, the teenage version of EJ lazily blinked the sleep out of her eyes, seeing her scruffy father standing over her with a warm smile. He had the kindest blue and green eyes, which EJ inherited, with long messy black hair pulled into a bun. And of course, with lots of black and grey stubble covering his face giving EJ and her other siblings constant whisker burn.

"Come on sleepyhead," her father leaned over and gave EJ a quick peck on the forehead before getting up and standing in the doorway of her room. "those nasty teeth of yours aren't gonna clean themselves."

"Dad! You're so mean!" She heard herself protest. Her father chuckled and left the room, closing EJ's door softly behind him.

EJ sat up, then winced in pain. 'Why does my back hurt so much?' Her back pulsated in pain, making the teenager rise more slowly.

The teenager blinked, then reappeared someplace else. Shouting filled with rage filled her ears. Flares of pain raced through her back. Over, and over again. EJ wanted to move and scream out but her body felt like cement, her throat filled with sand. Everything was dark, nostrils filled with the scent of meth and alchohol.

A woman screeched from behind teenage EJ, she could tell from the voice.

'I remember her. I always called her Red. Never by her name, nor what my family called her.'

"You fucking slut! You think you can take my man away from me, my family! Nobody loves you. You're too weak!"

'She always drilled those words into my brain, and many other awful things. I couldn't stop her. I never had the heart to.'

"Stop...stop...STOP!"

------

EJ jolted up, gasping for air. 'Living room. I'm on the couch. It's okay. All okay.'

Putting a hand on her chest, EJ tried to calm down her breathing and checked her surroundings.

"Mom, are you alright? You look like you've just ran a marathon and never bothered to stop and shower."

EJ sat herself up, glancing over the couch to see Seven setting down a couple plates full of steaming hot breakfast. Eggs, toast, and hash browns could be seen on the plates. Ooh, the scent of it made EJ's belly rumble loudly.

Seven chuckled. "Sounds like someone is hungry."

"Yeah." Snapping out of a trance, EJ shook her head. "Sorry, I just had a nightmare."

"What was it about?"

EJ peeled the blanket from her sweaty body and stood up, walking towards the wooden table. "Your nasty room. Had a nest full of rats under your bed."

"Shut up! And Pigpen is a nice pet rat."

EJ shivered in disgust as she sat down and ate her hot breakfast. "He can stay, but if he brings a family in here you better hold a funeral for him."

(Sorry this chapter is so short.)