Ward 2
Green speckled eyes opened in a flash, darting about this way and that until the scene became clear. The terrified creature huddled herself into a tight ball, breathing raggedly. Through the underbrush, savage figures in tattered shorts, wielding spears, emerged. They encircled a pig and trapped it. Sunburnt backs blurred together obstructing the girl's vision. Shrieks like that of tormented spirits rose from the animal; the screams seemed to mirror the feelings of the small girl hiding in the bushes. She saw the bony pale arm arise from the mass, and descend swiftly. She kept motionless while the blood slopped out endlessly, oozed over the leaves, just pooling over her toes. She drew them back. The huddle of boys so near to her dispersed throughout the surrounding area and began to chatter illegibly. One was left to clean the remains of the animal. The older boy, a practiced hunter, knelt and set his hands to work.
The girl watched him slicing elegantly through the succulent flesh. Was he wrong to have killed it? Her stomach growled in response, loud and undeniable. She studied him closer; deep crimson mop, his face masked by paint, the blood thirst in his eyes had been abundantly quenched. Appalled at his barbarity, heart stirring and severing in two, she felt herself become like dualistic people. One said the red haired boy was a forbidding painted savage. The other supposed he was hungry and did what was appropriate. She should dread him; she should use him to acquire meat. Her two embodiments raged war. Decidedly she stood, clothed in a shabby skirt and blouse. Her olive skin smudged with streaks of filth; she stepped out of the brush courageously.
"Who are you?" His attention was drawn to her. "You weren't at the assemblies, or building the huts! Also… you're a girl!" The boy stood, intimidatingly tall. Petite in comparison, dark as the shadows under her eyes, the girl thrust her finger at the ripped carcass. "You're hungry. Won't you tell me your name and age first?"
"Anna. I'm eleven."
"Merridew, Jack Merridew." His voice demanded authority.