Revolting
Chapter 52 -

Chapter 14 Recovery Heath

I had been trapped in this nightmare for what seemed like days. Its dark, and Hannah and I are just kids again. We are being chased, being hunted through the woods. I can't see the hunters, but I can hear them, crashing through the trees behind us. Running is hard, it feels like the ground is sucking my feet down. Hannah is crying, calling to me. When she turns to look at me, I see her face is freshly burned again. The flesh angry and blistered and sloughing off in chunks just like it did when the luna's daughter threw boiling water in her face.

I'm trying to reach her, my lungs are burning, my feet are dragging, and then the arrow comes from nowhere, burying itself just below my collar bone. It burns like fire, the silver scorching my flesh, the wolfsbane poisoning me, preventing my shift... and something else... there's something else on that arrow, some poison I've never smelled before. I sink to my knees. I look ahead through blurry eyes and Hannah is crying, screaming, reaching for me. But I can't move. The burning pain in my shoulder has paralyzed me. I see hands come out of the darkness and take hold of her small, fragile body, but I can't stop it. I can't save her.

And then I woke up... I woke up to a strange woman pouring liquid fire on my shoulder. It burned through my whole body, just as it did when the poisoned arrow first penetrated. I glared up at her. She had golden-brown eyes, and radiated that aura of power. I knew she must be a Luna. Behind her there was a smaller, blond woman, watching everything anxiously. And finally I found my sister, her face flooded with relief as she climbed over me and took my hand.

I looked at Hannah hungrily, thanking whatever powers are in the universe that my sister was alive and safe. As I craned my neck around, I saw with alarm that she had turned our emergency camp into a homey little retreat. She had gathered dishes and utensils, and had even covered me with a quilt that I'm positive I've never seen before. She had to know we would have to move again, and all these things she'd collected, this pretend home she had made, would have to be abandoned and left behind.

While I was sleeping, Hannah had apparently been busy, and it caused me to boil over with fear and anger. She had been inside a pack! She had exposed herself, while I was not able to protect her. The what-if's of what could have happened to her nearly made me mad. So crazy, that I missed the most important facts... she had courageously put herself in danger to save me. And that she was safe, and the pack she had found seemed to be... well, they seemed to be okay. I still didn't trust them, but at least my sister was unharmed, and I was better.

Strangely better. My shoulder was still painful, but the fevers had left me, and a healthy hunger was gnawing at my gut. I was as weak and wobbly as a new born lamb, but I was able to pull myself to my feet for the first time in weeks. But not for long. After I embraced my sister I felt my legs begin to tremble and I had to slide down and sit at the base of the nearest tree.

Hannah made noises like a mother hen and bustled around me, bringing me the canteen to drink from, and then presenting me with the strangest and most wonderful offering: A peanut butter and jelly sandwich. A porterhouse steak at a five star restaurant could not have held a candle to the simple sandwich she put in my lap on a chipped porcelain plate. I opened my mouth to question her about where she had gotten such things... slightly stale white bread and the condiments... but I snapped it shut again. Of course it had to have come from the pack. And if I protested about the foolishness of accepting food from a pack, we would only fight... and I didn't have the energy to fight.

So I slumped back against the tree and enjoyed the sandwich, until my poor shrunken stomach protested from the unaccustomed feeling of fullness. I set aside the last quarter that I couldn't finish, and Hannah snatched it up, stuffing it happily in her mouth.

She went over to the lean-to that she must have built herself from pine boughs, and began gathering up my bedding.. I had a moment to realize that Hannah was not a girl any more. She was not the child from my nightmares. She was a grown woman, albeit a tiny one. I tried to remember her age. Such details like birthdays and holidays had long since slipped our minds, as we had been so focused on merely surviving from day to day. I was a little shocked to realize she must be nineteen or twenty by now. She was so petite she didn't look much more than twelve or thirteen. She made a gagging noise in her throat as she stepped out with the blankets. "These smell terrible," she gasped. "I'm going to wash them in the stream. Hopefully they will have time to dry before nightfall."

I grimaced. I guess I smell pretty bad too, although you can never really smell yourself the way other people smell you. I haven't even bathed since I removed the bloody arrow. I would bathe... just as soon as I had a bit of a rest. I took another gulp off the canteen and slid down to the ground, resting my head on a tree root that jutted from the ground. Just a little nap... then I would have to see about bathing... and moving our camp to a new location... someplace this damn pack couldn't replace us.