CHAPTER 5: Battles

I woke up with my head hurting like hell, and I felt as hungry as a wolf. But instead of crying out in pain, I bit my lip and said the alphabet backwards in my mind.

"Good morning, Elyssia." Peater yawned as he climbed down the ladder.

"Need any food?" he asked.

"Thanks for your concern, Peater." I giggled. "And I'll be honest. I could eat an elephant!"

Peater put a leaf on my head with a warm smile. "I'd gladly take you to the cafeteria at this base. The food might not be fancy, but it's good!" he whispered.

I smiled back in response.

"So, how do we get to the battlefield?" I asked as my roommate led me down the stairs. "Nothing impressive. Just a long trek, because the leader of this base seems to be to last to put inter-dimensional portals into place. Subspace portals, in other words. And don't worry about the zombies. I'll be right by your side, protecting you." he answered.

"Not that I need that much protection ―" I swept my right leaf in a circle and created a storm of ice crystals to prove it. "― but I could use somebody who's looking out for me."

Peater shivered as my squall of crystals hit the wall and faded. "How'd you do that?" he asked. "Some supernatural thing that I was born with. I can do much more, but I'm not about to cause trouble on my first morning!" I answered.

"You really are her . . . you're ―" Peater started to mumble to himself, before I cut him off with a question.

"I'm what?" I asked.

"N-nothing!" Peater answered with a tight smile. I could tell that he was being less than entirely truthful, but I didn't bother to ask any questions.
After going down a flight of stairs, we arrived at a doorway that led into what used to be the food court, where I could see many plants congregated, and chatting excitedly. Just then, a fifteen year old Flaming Pea arrived. He had a crown of burning flames on the back of his head, and he looked fierce, although I could sense a tenderness to him.

"Good day, Peater. Who is this lovely girl-plant you have here?" he asked.

"Good morning, Ash. This is Elyssia. I saw her near death on the side of Yonge Street, so I took her here. It is okay if she stays . . . right?" Peater implied.

When he heard the name "Elyssia," his eyes widened. He looked as if he had just met some celebrity. Meanwhile, I sucked in a deep breath, hoping Ash would allow me to stay, for I had no other place that I could call home.

"Ah, Peater. What a gentleplant! You put yourself aside just to save a stranger's life? That deserves something! What would you like as a reward?" Ash asked.

"I would just like to have Elyssia stay, because she needs to remain here if she is to live." Peater answered simply.

I was shocked out of my wits. How could this new friend of mine put so much aside just to save my life? I wanted to ask this question, but Ash spoke before I could.

"Peater, consider it done!" he exclaimed before he headed out the door of the canteen.

"Peater . . . why would you put so much energy into saving my life?" I asked.

"Because you're . . . uh . . . I just think it's the right thing to do." Peater answered as he helped himself to his breakfast of waffles and eggs.

As we sat down, he said, "You know, I would have a good mind to call you a complete fool for thinking that you could take on a whole crowd of zombies by yourself." I blushed profusely.

"Sorry. It's just that . . . I didn't have a soul to help me, and attempting to outrun the zombies would have probably only made things worse." I mumbled. "It's just . . . it feels like I was born to fight and kill zombies, y'know? I gotta get them!"

"It's fine, and I want you to promise me something, Elyssia." Peater whispered.

"Anything to make up for all those good things you did for me." I replied.

"Never, ever, ever get hurt, kidnapped, or killed." Peater said.

"I cross my heart and hope to die; stick a needle through my eye!" I vowed as I looked into his eyes.

"Thank you, Elyssia. Thank you so much." he whispered.

"Thank you, Peater. Yousaved my life. Without you, I'd be . . ." I trailed off as I finished my breakfast.

". . . dead. I never would've met you, and I would've missed out on a great friend." Peater finished.

"You think of me as a friend, even though you knew me for less than 24 hours?" I sputtered.

"Yeah. I guess when I saved your life, we kinda bonded." Peater responded with a smile.

"Thanks. I can feel that you're gonna be a great friend, after all you've done for me." I said softly with a grin. I felt like there was much more to his answer, but like before, I didn't press him.

Right in front of me, in the middle of Queen's Park, I could see zombies slowly shuffling towards us plants. I could feel my roots tensing up inside the ground as I saw coneheads and bucketheads walking in our direction.

"Be strong, Elyssia. Don't be scared." Peater murmured.

"I can do this!" I told myself as I began to shoot death ― in the form of frozen peas.
Soon, the initial stress of being on the battlefield slipped away as I focused all of my attention into fighting the zombie wave. Then, all of a sudden, I could see no zombies approaching. Not a single walking corpse could be seen . . . or so I thought. Next thing I knew, a bombardment of zombies were walking towards me. I was scared, because this time, they weren't walking at their usual slow pace. This time, they were literally running towards me. I felt a bolt of adrenaline surge through my body as I swept my right leaf in a circle and created my squall of crystals. But this time, it was as powerful as it would ever get. In a blinding flash, the zombies were vanquished. Everyone looked at me in shock, for they never knew that a Snow Pea not even in her teens could do a thing like this. I could've sworn that a look of envy and longing entered Ash's face, and he turned into a look of happiness as soon as he realized that I was eyeing him intently.

"Wow, Elyssia. You're incredible!" Peater murmured in amazement.

"Thanks. I guess being scared can have its advantages!" I replied modestly.

"Hey ― has anyone told you that you're hot?" Peater asked.

I blushed and laughed. "Oh, of course! Did you know that it's going on thirty degrees? It's, like, burning! Canada was never supposed to get this hot, you know!" I joked.
Peater laughed and shook his head. "No, not that kind of hot! I mean . . . you're pretty, you know?"

I giggled as my face turned an even darker shade of blue, before a troubling memory entered my head, causing me to start crying uncontrollably.

"What happened? Another sad memory?" the boy-plant asked.

I nodded and wiped away my tears.

"I guess I gotta keep my head held high. It's the only way to survive such hostile conditions." I mumbled.

Meanwhile, I could see Ash trotting off in the direction of the zombie base, which I could see quite clearly, what with its spiralling spires of metal. I can't help but wonder what that Flaming Pea is up to now. My mother sometimes said that I had inherited her sixth sense; other times, she says "no". But I had an odd feeling that trouble was dead ahead. Okay, maybe not in front of my bruised face, but I could see it.

Hehe, looks like somebody's suspicious!