My head felt like it was bashed in with a metal baseball bat. I couldn't even open my eyes when I first came to because it hurt too much to even move. When I finally did, it took a while for my eyes to adjust to the sunlight. However, I could already see a shadowy figure hovering above me. A small, scared voice escaped the silhouette's mouth, but it sounded more like a distant echo. Like it was facing me in the opposite end of a long tunnel. I finally got enough of my bearings to realize it was Jenny who was above me. Seconds later, mom came to her side and put a wet washcloth on my forehead. It felt cold against my burning skin. Getting tired of laying down, I made the very bad decision to sit up. Why was it a bad idea? The second my back left the hard ground; a piercing, knife like pain shot through my head like a bullet.

Letting out a pained groan, I slowly lowered myself back down.

"Try not to move" Jenny said.

I rolled my eyes, "Thanks for the tip" making the sarcasm obvious in my voice.

"Hey, don't get mad at me!"

"Oh, you're right, why don't I throttle the old man until his head falls off! I knew I should have been the one to drive us today. Where is he?!" I demanded

Jenny started crying uncontrollably, but shakily pointed to the left. Looking over to were she pointed, I saw my father laying down, eye's closed with a large gash on the right side of his head. Mom was currently wrapping the wound with bandages that were already soaked with blood. Afterword, she came over to me with a sorrowful look in her eye, like that one task was the most tiring thing she had ever done. She managed a brave smile as she kissed my cheek, then she instructed my sister to get me a drink.

The day dragged on like everything was in slow motion. I finally got over the pain in my head to walk again. Fighting the urge to throw my father off a cliff, I went to gather fruit for us to eat. After almost going three hours with no success, I just about threw in the towel when I finally struck gold. A tree filled with bananas had been right next to the tree we crashed into. It wasn't the best find because Jenny hated them more than anything, but it was better than starving to death. She must have thought so too, because she had devoured five before going into a food coma.

Mom and I ate in awkward silence. I could see she partially blamed herself for the events that happened today. Although it was her who agreed to let him drive, I told her not to blame herself. She already had a hard enough time keeping dad alive without having a guilt cloud hanging over her 24/7. Even after I gave my reassuring words, she still spent 20 minutes crying on my shoulder. When she finally cried enough tears to file up the Nile river, she told me something I had to ask her to repeat because I was sure I heard her wrong.

"You need to go find help."

I actually laughed, "How hard did you hit your head?"

"This is NOT a joke Lee!"

She had never yelled at me before. Mom usually spoke with a calm nature, she knew the old man did enough yelling for the both of them. I would be lying if I said I wasn't partially surprised by her sudden outburst. The shock must have been apparent on my face because seconds later she had me in a death grip hug.

"Mom, its okay, but I'm still not leaving."

"Lee, you're the only one who's well enough to travel. And the only one prepped well enough to survive out there. Jenny and I can't leave your father unprotected; and I can't walk regardless because of my leg. Son, you're our only hope."

"What if you guys get into trouble? There have got to be numerous predators around here, not to mention poachers. Theirs nowhere for you guys to seek shelter and to top it all off, you've never fired a gun in your life."

"That's why you are the one who needs to go and get help."

"What about Jenny?"

"She'll understand."

I pondered what I was going to do. On one hand, if I did stay to protect them, there would be less of a chance that we would ever be found. The food we have wouldn't last forever, and neither will the fruits on the trees around us. While on the other hand, if I did leave, they wouldn't be as safe if I was here. However, firing a gun wasn't rocket science, and if I left enough food behind they could last a few days at most. She was right; I was the only one who could survive out there on my own. I knew what I had to do.

The sun wasn't even out as I made my way across the endless stretch of grassland. I knew I had to get up before Jenny did, because if she knew I was leaving she would lose it. Mom prepared a travel pack the night before filled with a decent amount of energy bars, bottles of water, fruit, and some beef jerky. She almost gave me what was left of the first aid kit, but I said she needed it to keep dad and Jenny alive.

I was armed to the teeth with a good portion of weapons. That's one advantage of coming from a military family, plenty of guns. With my father's Colt Python at my hip, a sawed off shotgun slung over my shoulder, my knife, and a military grade tomahawk with a camouflage handle, I felt like a walking artillery unit. Deciding to make good use out of the numerous tree branches that were scattered around the grasslands, I took a decent sized one and started sharpening one end. By the time I had finished, it had become a well crafted spear. It almost felt silly and childish to carry a spear when I had so many more powerful weapons; but hey everything counts.

One trade off for having a well stocked bag is that you have to carry it everywhere you go. I had been walking for an hour now and it honestly felt like four. It's a good thing I was in such good shape, because I was really pushing my limits. When I finally decided to take a lunch break, it was well into the middle of the day. I had just finished eating a stick of jerky and an energy bar and was about to head out again when I heard the voices.

There were a few of them coming over from a nearby ridge. I could tell at least two of them were female; the rest of them could have easily been males. Every once in a while there would be an animal, maybe hyena type cackle in between the talking. Going against my better judgment, I decided to investigate. As I made my way towards the ledge, the voices got louder, and then I heard the roar. What I saw almost made me fall over.

Down below me, surrounded by three hyena's, was the same lioness I rescued yesterday. If the size and color of her didn't give her away, the gaping, bloody gunshot wound on her left front leg sure did. The only reason they weren't devouring her was because they were too busy enjoying her helplessness. Tremendous guilt pegged at my insides. No, it wasn't remotely my fault she got shot, but maybe I could have been faster.

What was even more unbelievable, I could understand what they were saying. Because they were speaking in perfect English! I wasn't usually the one to eavessdrop, but I dare you not to listen in on a conversation between talking animals.

"Shenzie, let's just eat this cat already!" one of the male hyenas said with a growl.

"You do know who this is, right Banzai? This is Nala, Simba's mate, AKA, the queen of the pride lands. If we eat her, there's going to be trouble." The girl hyena, Shenzie, said.

Banzai turned to the other male, "What do you think, Ed?"

The other male, Ed, just laughed in an almost insane manner. I was seriously wondering if that guy had a few screws loose.

The lioness, Nala, finally spoke, "If you touch me, Simba will come after you. And what the great late king Mufasa did to you all those years ago will feel like nothing when he gets through with you."

Shenzie spoke again, "He won't know who killed you if there's nothing left of you to find. By the time we're done with you, no one will know what happened. They will all just think you left with your cub without a care for him. Oh, poor Simba will be so shattered."

All three of them started walking towards Nala, while hungrily licking their chops. She tried to get up, but she quickly fell forward after putting the slightest pressure on her wounded leg. The anger that I felt towards the workers the other day had come back with a vengeance. I wasn't about to let this happen to her on account of me. Pulling out my colt, I fired directly in front of the trio. The bullet landed only inches from Shenzie's paw. All four of them looked up at me.

"Back off" I demanded.

Jumping down from the ridge, I landed between Nala and her attackers. All three of them had their ears flat, but there menacing fangs were still bared. The crazy one, Ed, must have been even crazier then I thought, because he took another step towards me. Pulling the hammer back, I aimed it at his foot. The bullet hit it, and Ed yipped in pain before backing away with his tail between his legs. Shenzie and Banzia growled with a mixture of anger and fear. Pointing it at the two of them, I raised my eyebrows in an almost amused fashion.

"You guys want to try?"

Banzai was about to speak, but Shenzie cut him off, "Come on boys, now's not the time. We are too close to Simba's den to risk a fight. But all in good time, you'll get yours you hairless monkey or whatever you are."

With that, all three of them disappeared. I waited until they were out of sight to look back at Nala. Rage shot through me like a bolt of lightning when I saw the Hyena's handiwork. She had multiple claw wounds on her legs, and one huge gash on her stomach. I mentally swore every bad word I could think of while hoping the baby was okay. Nala broke the silence

"It's you; you were the one who saved me the other day from those other humans."

I nodded, "Yeah that was me. And may I just say you have a very nasty habit of getting into trouble."

She actually smiled, "And you have a habit of saving my life."

"Let's just say I'm good at recognizing a damsel in distress."

"What did you call me?"

It was only after she asked me that question did I realized I wasn't talking to just any old lioness. This was a queen, who had a husband who was a king. Who could probably have me executed for talking bad about his lady. After mentally slapping myself in the face, I quickly dropped to my knees in a bowing manner.

"I am so sorry, your highness. Believe it or not, this is my first time ever talking to royalty. I am truly honored to be in your presence and meant no disrespect."

I was babbling on so much, I almost didn't hear her giggling. By the time I looked up, she had stopped but still wore an amused grin.

"You don't have to apologize, and please, call me Nala. You saved my life twice; it wouldn't be fair of me to make you use my title every time you talk to me. Now may I please know your name?"

"You can call me Lee."

"I like that name, it sounds strong."

"Thank you, but I need to look over your wounds. I'm no doctor, but I think I can at least clean them."

Since we didn't have any peroxide to clean any of the numerous opens wounds on her body, we had to resort to alcohol from the old man's stash. The last thing I took before leaving that day. If by some miracle my dad came too, I wasn't going to risk him screwing us even further. Then again, being unconscious beat the hell out of having to sit right next to a lion that was roaring in pain. I would honestly be surprised if I didn't come out of this being partially deaf.

"Okay, now for the one I have been the least exited about."

She scoffed, "Oh is this getting to hard for you? I apologize if I can't silence my roars of agony. Whatever that stuff is it's not helping!"

"I told you it would hurt, the burning means it's cleaning it"

She sighed, "Okay, okay. Now what"

"I have to take a look at your leg."

"Oh no."

After a quick inspection, I seriously started to think this whole event couldn't get any worse.

Sighing, I looked her in the eye, "You're not going to like this"

"What is it?"

"The bullet, the metal thing that comes out of a gun,"

She nodded in understanding.

"I think it's still lodged inside your leg."

Her eyes widened in pure shock and horror "Am I going to die, is it poisonous"?

"No, No, it's just not going to be fun getting it out. I'm going to have to dig it out, with this."

I then brought out my knife. Her head tilted to the side, as if she were trying to remember where she had seen it before.

"You see, humans don't have claws like lions do. So we use these things called knives to cut thing with. It's very sharp and it will hurt like a son of a bitch, but it's all I have to work with."

"I trust you."

Giving her a large piece of bark to bite down on, I made her promise not to claw my eyes out for doing this. She almost smiled, but it was quickly replaced by a menacing sneer. It took what felt like an hour before I finally got it out. Nala didn't even acknowledge the alcohol cleansing of the wound this time. The pain of her face only made me feel even worse. Nala must have noticed.

"Lee, what's the matter?"

"I-I'm sorry"

"Sorry for what?"

"That you got shot"

"You don't have to be sorry Lee, you didn't shoot me. That other idiot with the gun shot me. You even tried to stop him"

"That, uh, idiot was my dad."

"Oh, sorry"

I chuckled. "Trust me, you're not wrong."

The sudden sound of a rumbling stomach stopped our conversation. I chuckled as I raised my eyebrows at Nala. If lions could blush, I'm sure that's what she would be doing. Although, I guess she couldn't get much hunting done on her own at the moment. Looking over the horizon, I predicted I had at least two hours of sunlight left.

"Look, I'm going to see if I can get you something to eat. Stay here and don't move so much; I don't want you to open any of your wounds back up, okay?"

She nodded, "Loud and clear"

"Be back before you know it."

She nuzzled me affectionately, "Be careful"

I nodded before taking off.

Returning ten minutes later with a decent sized antelope riding on my back filled me up with pride beyond words. All those years hunting big game with the old man really paid off tonight. I tracked it to a big watering hole, and made a clear shot to the head. Hopefully, Nala wasn't too picky about what she eats. I could only imagine what a pregnant lioness could be craving. The smile on her face when I presented it to her was beyond grateful.

She pushed the kill towards me," Take a piece, you killed it."

"It's for you and your baby. I'm fine, I got my own stuff"

"If you insist, and thank you; from both of us."

I chuckled as I started gathering up dead branches and leaves. By the time I had gotten my fire up and running, Nala had already torn a good chuck out of the corpse's insides. She growled in pleasure as she made quick work of the kill. She finally lay down with a satisfied sigh.

"Let's see," she began, "You saved me from a group of angry humans. Saved me from hyenas, healed my wounds, and went out of your way to get me dinner. I am truly in your debt, Lee."

"You don't own me anything, Nala. I'm sure almost anyone would have done the same thing."

Her head shot up in alarm,"Be careful, you could start the whole Savanna on fire."

I looked at her guiltily, "I'm sorry, I don't have a lot to keep me warm."

Putting out the fire, I simply pulled out my blanket and prayed it wouldn't be to cold tonight. Nala didn't make me; I just felt that it would put her at ease if there wasn't a fire burning a few inches from where we slept. It wasn't terrible, but I would shiver every now and again, causing Nala to look up in concern. After about the sixth time she sighed and looked at me with both sternness and compassion.

"Lee, come here."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Come lay next to me. I'm not about to let you freeze to death. I can keep you warm."

"I'm okay, Nala, really."

"That wasn't a request, young one, come here, now."

Why did I currently feel like I was getting scolded by my mother? My mom had a way of using her calm, soothing voice to put me in my place without raising an octave. You just couldn't find it in yourself to say no. Because while she was showing her serious side, she was also showing she cared. Nala had that same tone of voice when she spoke to me now. Even going out of the way to call me 'young one' just too really shows me whose boss.

Sighing in defeat, I picked up my blanket and backpack and walked to wear she lay. She told me to lay my head on her stomach. At first, I wondered if it would hurt the baby, but the stern look from her ocean blue eyes left no room for arguments. After asking if I was comfortable, she curled up so her bottom half covered almost all of my chest and stomach. Nuzzling me, she proceeded to purr softly, almost in a lullaby type noise. I felt myself starting to drift off, but something poked me in the back of the head.

"What the..."

"What is it?"

"Call me crazy, but I think your stomach just kicked me."

Nala laughed, "Oh, I think my cub is talking to you."

"Really?"

She nodded, "Go ahead, and say something back."

I moved my face a bit closer to her stomach. Where I guessed her womb was. Playfully poking her stomach, I started talking in a voice like one would use on a little kid.

"Hey, little guy, my names Lee. You don't know me yet, but I can already promise you one thing, you're going to be one lucky cub. You have got a great mom here. I have only known her for a while, but I already like her."

Nala licked my face. I patted her head and kissed her muzzle like I did the other day. She continued to purr to me until I fell asleep in her embrace.

My body shot up in an instant when I heard an all too familiar noise. Cackling was coming from a few feet in front of us. Nala growled in a defensive manner. Grabbing my spear from its place in the dirt; I light a match and held it up to the end I had dressed in a cloth.

"Nala, don't move, I'm going to check this out."

Ignoring her words of protest, I made my way toward the cackling in the distance. I quickly came face to face with Shenzie, Banzai, and Ed. Accompanying them were five other hyenas with the same evil grin. I knew I had to approach this with caution; three were no problem in broad daylight with a gun. This time there were eight in the middle of the night and I couldn't see well enough to shoot them. If it came down to it though, I would beat my way through fifty of them if it meant protecting Nala and her unborn cub.

I breathed steadily, pondering what to say. "I don't want any trouble, just go away."

Shenzie stepped up, "Is this fear I hear in your voice?"

"No, what you hear in my voice is annoyance and mercy. I am in no mood to knock you and your boys around tonight, so I'm giving you a chance to go home. If I were you, I would say 'thank you' and be on my way."

Banzie moved forward wearing a cocky grin, "And what if we say no and go on to eat both you and that over grown fur ball over there." Using his paw to point to Nala.

Narrowing my eyes at them, I spoke quiet and calm.

"Let me be clear on something. If you try to eat me, I'll hurt you. Badly so that you won't be able to walk right for a good, long while. But if you try and hurt Nala, take a step towards her, or even mention it again, you will be wishing I had put a bullet in your head earlier today. That is something I can promise."

At first, no one said anything. I had learned from my time in basic training to always be on alert. Tightening the grip on my spear, I got ready to strike at the first moment one of them stepped forward. Most of them looked like they were either too stupid or too crazy to take my advice and leave. Just when I thought Shenzie had grown a brain and started stepping back, Nala's voice shrieked with terror in my direction.

"Lee, behind you!"

A ninth hyena jumped on my back and dug it's razor like fangs in my left shoulder. Pain shot into me with an incredible force. One of the eight in front of me took advantage and charged me, biting into my right leg. Thinking they had me under control, the other seven scavengers ran in Nala's direction. My head turned to see them make their way towards her. She roared with anger as she swiped her good front paw at them. When she looked back at me, the concern in her eyes was something that broke my heart.

"Don't. Touch. Her." I said each word loud and in an almost satanic like voice. They just laughed it off and continued to advance. Jumping around her in a playful manner, they actually enjoyed this. That made me all the more furious. Banzie finally pushed me over the edge in the worst way; he walked over to Nala and smacked her hard across the face with his paw. That did it.

With one last roar like cry, I raised my spear high in the air and brought in down to the hyena bighting my leg. It stuck in his back, he yelped in pain and instantly let go. Then using the lit end, I hit the other one three times with all the force I had. She finally fell off and ran like a bat out of Hell. Two of the others ran up to me, I was ready this time. One tried to jump on top of me, I struck with the lit end. The other managed to take me down, and my spear got knocked out of my hand.

The hyena on top of me snapped his jaws in anger as I held him at bay with my left hand on his throat. Two others tried to bite my legs; I kicked with everything I had. Seizing my buck knife, I brought it down at the base of his skull. I threw the now dead hyena on the two others and in no time got back to my feet. Now with large knife and tomahawk in hand, I was more ready than ever.

Making quick work of the two that were currently under their dead comrade, a single stab to the jugular got the job done. Now facing the five left that were still close to Nala, I narrowed my eyes and raised my weapons in front of me.

"Come on," I demanded, "I'll take you all on!"

They must have all taken that to heart, because they all rushed me at once. Hoping my aim wouldn't suck too much, I threw my tomahawk at the one on the far right. It hit him in the middle of the chest. The one right next to him tried to bite my one good leg; I kicked him hard before stabbing him in the back of the neck. Only Ed, Shenzie and Banzie remained, all three of them no longer wore looks of vicious killers. All three of them now looked wide eyed, like an antelope about to be taken out by a lioness. Even in the dark, you could practically see them shacking like leaves. Deciding that now would be a good time to leave; all three sprinted out into the distance. I wasn't finished with one of them.

Before Banzai could get far, I threw my knife towards him with full force. It hit him directly in the back right leg. Now limping, he still made a desperate attempt to escape. I jumped on him and brought him to the ground; immediately flipping him over to face me. Staring him down was like looking at a terrified toddler compared to how he was earlier today. Inching my face towards him, I could feel his whiskers ticking my face.

"I must take a real big, bad predator to hit a defenseless soon to be mother."

"I.. I didn't mean.."

Smacking him hard across the face in the way he did to Nala, I told him to shut up. Killing the other hyenas was just out of pure, protective instinct. But Banzai had put his paws on her. He hurt her, and I wasn't letting him off as easy as his buddies.

"I'll teach you what happens when you hit a female in front of me."

I proceeded to hit his face with my bare knuckles. By the fifth hit, his nose was already bleeding and his eye had stared swelling. All Ed and Shenzie could do was watch in terror. Good thing too, because I would have done the same to them for their handiwork on Nala earlier if they tried to help him. Continuing my assault until my fist got sore; I decided I had done a decent job. His face was all bloody and swollen, and several of his teeth were now out of his mouth and lying in the dirt next to him. I pulled out my gun to finish the job.

I pulled the hammer back, "Any last words?"

"Lee" Nala said calmly, "Let him go"

I didn't take my eyes off him as I answered, "He hurt you, and all three of them are too dangerous to be kept alive."

"Lee, honey, you're better than them. Don't kill out of revenge or hatred. The others attacked you, so of course you had to defend yourself. But these three are running scared, it wouldn't be right. So please let them go, for me."

After serious pondering for a few seconds, I finally put my colt away and let Banzie up. But not before tearing my knife out of his leg. As soon as I did, all three took off at a speed that could rival a cheetah's.

After collecting my spear, which surprisingly staid lit and didn't start a huge fire, I rejoined Nala in my original sleeping place. I immediately winced and grunted in pain as the friction of her fur rubbed against my gapping, bloody shoulder wound. She looked at me again with those loving, motherly eyes as she calmly told me to lie on my stomach. As my face came into contact with her warm, almost silk like fur, I felt something wet and rather rough rub against my wound. It took me a second to realize it was Nala trying to clean it. Don't get me wrong, I loved the gesture, but it still hurt a lot.

"Lee, I know it hurts, but you need to try and stop squirming."

"Yeah, sorry it actually feels good, thank you."

"No Lee, thank you."