Royal was pecking at Sophia again, which was really annoying at the very early hours of the morning. Outside, the sun hadn't even risen. Wanting desperately to go back to sleep, Sophia turned away from the owl, hiding her face in her arms. A few hoots from the owl was followed by a soft sound. Her hears picked that up... what was it. Opening her eyes, she found the big eyes of Royal, and he hooted at her once more.
Just as she was about to bat the bird away, she heard it again, it was a soft gasp. Confused she tried finding the flashlight that Ren liked to use to read. Blindly fumbling for it, her hands found the cold plastic, and she switched it on. Pointing it towards the corner of the room that wasn't lit by the moon, she gasped. There, sitting above Bella, with his hands wrapped around her neck, was Weasel. His oily hair hung in his face, grinning madly down at Bella, who's face was turning red, trying everything to throw the man off of her.
Sophia ran at him before she even realized what she was doing.
He had been kneeling on Bella's arms, he was much stronger than the older girl. Ren's head was bleeding, he was crumpled in the corner, not moving, and Sophia forced her eyes away from the gruesome sight. Instead, she tried pushing off Weasel. He was strong, much bigger than her, and he remained steady, just sneering at her, until she yanked on his ugly hair.
"Why you little shit!" He sneered, and Sophia did the one thing that came to mind, sticking her fingers in the creepy guy's eyes. He yelped in pain, falling off of Bella, and Sophia rushed to help her to her feet, only to be roughly pulled back by her foot. Loosing her balance, she fell, and almost on her face it her hands didn't block it, instead fell on her knuckles. Crying out in pain, she was roughly pulled towards the stranger who punched her across the face. It was an awful pain, shooting everywhere, radiating from her cheek.
Gasping in pain, Sophia felt paralyzed, this man was so much bigger than her, what could she do? Flailing, she tried to keep him from hitting her again, and as his knuckles found her stomach, she kicked up, hitting right between his legs. She got in trouble for that one time back in kindergarten, and it seemed to hurt Weasel even more than it did to that first grader. He doubled over in pain, swearing and using words that Sophia had only heard her father use to her mother.
Stumbling up, she tried to wipe away the tears. She had to get away, and then she saw the window. It was stupid, and dangerous, and Bella had yelled at them when they first tried it. But Sophia needed to get away. Running to the window, her hands found the small cloth holding the knives. She had been practicing.
"Get back here!" He yelled behind her, and she didn't even have a chance to hesitate, she just jumped. Reaching forward, she yelped in pain as he arms caught the branch, yanking her arms nearly out of their socket.
Then the barking and howling started. The dogs were right under her, jumping and trying to tug on her leg. Heart racing, breath fast, she had to live. "This is how we both survive." She lived that day in the woods, there had to be a reason. Somehow, her left foot found traction, and she was able to push and pull herself onto a branch, to safety.
When she managed to look up to the window, she was surprised to find Bella punching Weasel, they were fighting, yelling. So, Sophia wasn't too late. Turning her attention to the ground, the dogs were still there. Nervously, she looked at the dogs. They were rabid, they were scary, and, they were scared of Weasel. Foaming at the mouth, they were sick, she shivered.
"Fuck!" Safe for the moment, she looked up just in time to see Weasel fall from the window. Horror in her eyes, Sophia watched as Bella tried to grab his arm, his hand, anything, but he fell. A sickening crunch followed, and the howls stopped. Nearly gagging, Sophia couldn't turn away as the dogs surrounded their former master and tore him apart.
"Sophia, honey. Look away." Bella's voice was hoarse, like she had strep throat. Obediently, Sophia turned her head upwards, looking to the moon, trying to not hear the awful sounds coming from below.
"Is Ren okay?" Her voice didn't sound familiar to her own ears, hugging the tree. She needed the boy to be safe, to be fine. Why hadn't Weasel come after her when she was asleep? Where was Royal?
"I think so, he just got knocked out." Sophia exhaled, relieved, before she looked down once more. The bloodied form of what once was a man was being dragged off by the wild dogs. It was a sight she would never forget, and as the pack left through the open gate, one dog stopped and looked back, meeting Sophia's gaze, before uttering a deep howl that seemed to shake the tree. And then... they were gone.
**Sophia**
Sophia refused to leave the tree until the sun rose. Bella had long since closed the gates, triple locking it, then barricading them. Slowly leaving the tree, she dropped to the ground, looking at the spot where the man had fallen. There wasn't even any blood, which she found hard to believe, but there wasn't even any sign of the man, besides bruises around Bella's neck, on Sophia's face, the wound on Ren's head, and a black whip that laid on the ground, forgotten.
Royal showed up later that day, presenting his latest catch, a squirrel before eating it, much to the girls' disgust. Ren was still unconscious, so, Bella and Sophia took turns preparing food and watching over the black haired boy.
"How did you wake up? He silenced me, and must have gone after Ren before me. I didn't make enough noise to wake you up." Bella asked after a while, sharing a can of peaches as a treat with Sophia.
"Royal. He woke me up." Said owl was cleaning his feathers, hooting softly when his name was called. Petting the soft feathers, Sophia liked the owl, and he was even growing on Bella. Her gaze softened, and she reached out to pet Royal as well. "I thought he was just being annoying per usual."
"Uggg, when isn't he being annoying?" Ren groaned, and the girls quickly went to check over him. "What happened?"
They spent the rest of the day explaining to Ren what happened as they treated his wounds. He was angry, but looked just as repulsed as Sophia when he heard what became of Weasel.
**Sophia**
They never heard howls again, and summer bled into fall, before fall bled into winter. Walkers seemed to be less, and each of the three silently wondered if the dogs were still hunting down walkers. But, it gave them a good reprieve, time to get better, to train, to gather supplies, and to grow closer.