Haven

Chapter 3

           Max stopped in front of a door, and I noticed that this one was heavily scarred and charred. It looked like a bomb had gone off right by it. "Welcome to the food hole, also known as the bomb shelter." Max stepped back, gesturing towards the door. I walked up to it, and pushed on it this time, not wanting to summon another little girl. Nothing happened, so I pushed harder, then I heard Terra from a distance scream "Duck!" 

        I dropped to the floor, but I was still grazed on the top of the head with Max's knife. I knew the cut wasn't deep, but it sure was bleeding a lot. I kicked out with my legs and hit Max in the shins, and she fell. She still had the knife though, and in her fall had cut deeply into my right thigh. My leg was on fire, and I was starting to get woozy from blood loss, but I knew that if I submitted to the pain, Max would easily overcome me. Instead, I reached up and grabbed her wrist, squeezing it as hard as I could.

        She wrenched her arm away, and I knew that I couldn't hold on much longer. I was struggling with all my might, when she threw her knife in the air and caught it with her other hand. Before I could release her arm, she had grabbed mine and was holding me steady with the knife to my throat. I was scared, but I knew that struggling was useless, so I subdued myself to more of a relaxed position, hoping she would kill me quickly and painlessly.

        Instead, Terra ran up and tackled her. Max didn't end up cutting my throat, but she hit my shoulder pretty bad. Frodo ran up too, and started dragging me away. It felt as if my entire body was on fire, and I drifted into unconsciousness. 

                                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        "Wake up! Wake up dang it!" The voice that I heard was distant, and it sounded near hysteria. I mumbled, because it was probably my mom, waking me up for training. Then it all came back to me. I was in the Haven, and Max had tried to kill me. Terra had risked her own life for me and what was I doing? Lying in bed like I was some princess. "Where's Terra?" My voice was shaky, and it sounded weak, even to me. "I'm right here. Oh thank God you woke up. I was so worried." It was Terra, and her voice brought a smile to my lips.

        I opened my eyes and saw that Terra, Frodo, and a few others were huddled around the bed that I was in. Terra was crying but smiling, and Frodo looked worried. "I'm fine, I swear." I tried to sit up to prove it, and then all at once, the pain in my head, shoulder and leg all came back to me. I gave up trying to sit and almost blacked out again, but instead I just closed my eyes and tried to rest. Terra stayed by my side, not saying anything, just sitting there.

        I don't know how many days passed, it seemed like quite a few, when I finally realized that I hadn't eaten, but I wasn't hungry. "Terra?" she was still sitting next to me, "why aren't I hungry?" "Because you've been eating." when I looked at her with confusion plain on my face, she said, "Don't you remember? Every night you wake up and I feed you. You sit up and scream 'Terra! I need food Terra! I need to feed my family Terra! Give me food!' Then I give you some and you drop it on the other side of the bed, mumbling about how you are saving it for your family. Then I need to assure you multiple times that your family has enough, and then you eat. Don’t you remember?" 

        I didn't remember any of this. Am I really that much of a psycho? I thought to myself. I mean, before they died, I loved my family. I had been in more than one occasion when I had had to feed them, and I always tried to do it before I fed myself. I guess I never let go of the need to feed them. I sit up and look over at Terra, and ask the question that had been burning inside of me ever since I once again became capable of conscious thought.