Backslide

Max walked, limped more or less actually, through the thick forests. She didn't know where she was going or even where she was, for that matter. All she knew was that she had to get away from Manticore as fast as she could.

The hot noon sun trickled through the quilted leaves above her head. Already burned, Max's skin screamed from the blistering sunlight beating down on it. She smelled like smoke and would cough every now and then to clear her lungs of the retched air. The skin on her hands where she had lifted up the beam to free Lydecker was the most damaged, being blistered and red. Max vainly hoped it would recover.

Finally, after walking for awhile, Max slumped against a tree, grabbing a branch merely to support her. She tried to focus her stinging eyes on something, anything that would give her rest. Her head was dizzy and disoriented from the smoke inhalation. Thinking seemed nearly impossible. Coughing again, she felt herself slip out of the real world and into blackness and tumble forward into space.

Max awoke sometime later to find herself lying in a cold creek, the water gently reviving her. Slowly, she sat up and pushed herself up on the grassy bank. She took a cupful of the icy water and splashed it on her eyes. Almost immediately, her eyes felt better, being rid of the dirty smoke that had invaded them. The water was so inviting to Max's burns that she put her scalded hands into the water and let them be soothed. Eventually, she pulled her hands out, when they were starting to become numb from the frigid water.

Sighing, she pushed herself further up on the bank and leaned against a tree. Gazing up at the sun above, Max assumed that it had to be close to dinnertime. Her stomach growled, and she grimaced. Food was going to be trouble to find in the wilderness. Better start looking anyhow, she thought and weakly stood up.

No sooner had she walked a couple feet, than there was a rustling noise from behind her. She froze, poised and ready to attack her next possible meal. Although, she hoped she wouldn't have to go that far. There had to be some plants or something that she could eat before tearing apart some animal.

Turning around to face the oncoming creature, Max weakly brushed her fried hair out of her face and licked her parched and bleeding lips. She was hardly able to fight, but if she truly had to, perhaps she could. Only to save her life, of course, no other real reason.

The creature stepped out from the thick foliage and looked around, examining the area. Max squinted, feeling the stinging feeling returning to her eyes. She could hardly see the creature that walked towards her. Then, with a shake of her head, she was able to see what was approaching her more clearly.

Instinctively, Max tensed. She probably would have to kill this time. Kill or be killed-wasn't that it? For, the creature that was coming towards her was no one else besides Zack.