"You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them." -Desmond Tutu
"Are you gonna eat me?" I whimper. The figure steps closer, and I see it's a lady with her black hair in pigtails.
"No, we're not gonna eat you!" She says. "Nick, let her go. She just a confused traveler." The guy, who must be Nick, takes the knife off my throat and steps in front of me. He has short red hair and sharp eyes that could burn through a popsicle.
"I'm Avery Clowers." The girl says. "Don't you remember us?" I shake my head. "When you were six, we found you huddled against a tree, covered in mud and..."
"And what?" I ask.
"...nothing." She shakes her head. "We took you to Howard." With a gasp, I remember them. She retells the story in more detail than I remember as we walk deeper in the woods towards their home.
"Nicholas and I were thirteen." Avery says. "We were slaves then, but when his parents were killed by Metalhead Guards while they were in the city doing chores for our master, we decided it was time to get the heck outta there. We waited until he was resting, and the overseer was dozing, and we ran. We kept running until early morning, and I couldn't go on. We climbed in a tree to sleep. Around four, Nick shook me awake and pointed down. You were stumbling towards the tree and just slid down against the bark. We climbed lower, and saw you were crying. A lot. We got down, and you were scared, but then just hugged Nick really tightly. You know what you said?"
"What?" I ask. Listening to her recall this story is slowly jogging my memory.
"You said," She says. "'My mommy and papa were hurt by people in black.'" Mommy? Papa? I never knew my parents. "Nick and I knew we had to get you somewhere safe, but we had nowhere to go. We heard there were some people still living in the suburbs, so we took you there, and a guy who said his name was Howard Newsman took you." I remember Howard. He was strange, but took care of me as best he could. I left when I was twelve because he started being gone for days at a time, and I needed to support myself. In fact, that's how I met Melvin. I was stealing peaches from the orchards, until one day he caught me. He was fifteen, and hated me for stealing. When he found out I was starving, he made me stop but gave me a few coins he had been saving for something important. I used it to buy food for the first time without Howard.
We finally reach their home: a crevice in between several giant rocks forming a small cave. They have some wooden bowls, a water-catcher, and a spool of twine.
"We stole it from a person in the city." Avery says. "Nick uses it to catch rabbits to eat." She kneels down and moves some large leaves to reveal some fresh meat. I smile at the thought of it. Nick starts a fire outside and while the meat cooks, Avery fans the smoke.
"Why are you fanning it?" I ask.
"Can't have anyone see it and know we're here." She then offers me a place to sleep, and I happily accept. When the meat is done cooking, Nick puts the fire out with some dirt, and we push past the hanging vines into the area. It's barely enough room for three people, but Avery claims that it's fine for two. We sit on the ground.
I bite into the warm food, which is something I haven't done in a long time. My mouth breaks into a wide grin, and Avery's into a small one. Which makes me realize: Nick hasn't said a word.
"Hey Nick, why don't you say anything?" I ask. He shrugs.
"Not very talkative," He says, barely audible and almost like a question. I blink a few times before beginning to wolf down my meat. Not very flavorful, but it is big and, best of all, warm. With the cheese I had earlier, and now this rabbit, I'm eating better than I have in years. I'm finished with my piece fairly soon, and after a few minutes Avery and Nick have caught up. They curl up next to each other to give me some room, and I lay down. The mossy floor is comforting, and for the first time since I left Howard's home, I feel safe.
A/N: I'm feeling all fuzzy. Please review!