Lauren Hammond - Famished

“Stop!” he exclaimed, before I could utter another word.

“Our lists are different!”

“What’s on yours?”

“Why does that matter? The point is we both have different items to look for. I suggest we both start digging!”

Nodding, I folded up my list and shoved it in my back pocket. I memorized the first three items, deciding that after I found those items, I would take the list back out and memorize the next three. Then, after hesitating for a few seconds, I picked up the first piece of rock and tossed it aside.

Thirty minutes later, after moving several rocks, and finding none of the items on the list, I moved to my right, focusing on a another area. Sheer beads of sweat formed on my forehead and I paused for a moment to rest and wipe it away. But, just when I lowered my arm, I saw a massive boulder tumbling down the pile, heading straight for me.

Trembling with fear, I tried to jump to the side to escape the collision. But my foot was stuck, pinned underneath another rock. No…

I bent down, tugging at my foot, trying desperately to free it. No…. It wasn’t budging. Even worse, the sound of the boulder cracking against the other rocks was getting closer.

Standing, I tried running in the opposite direction. I hoped that if I put more force into trying to unpin my foot, I could free myself, but it wasn’t working. Now, I was panicking, using up all of my energy. The boulder was so close I could feel the wind from it, making the hairs on my arms stand up. “Colin!” I shrieked at the top of my lungs. I hadn’t seen him since we got started. And now the boulder was blocking my view of top of the rock pile. “COLIN!HELP!”

The boulder was inches away. I tried again to yank my foot free. There was nothing I could do. Finally, I just closed my eyes and waited for the boulder to flatten me. Better that I die by being flattened by a boulder than a cannibal feasting on my organs.

Then again, when the boulder flattened me, it was a sure thing that the cannibals that were lurking around here would smell the scent of my blood in the air. They’d have their makeshift knives and forks ready—to cut into me. And even though I was thin I would be like a Thanksgiving dinner for them. Yeah, either way I looked at it, I was as good as dead.

A pair of muscular arms swept across both of my shoulders. I felt myself being lifted high in the air—almost like I was floating. Had the boulder already squashed me? If so, I didn’t feel it. I imagined that if I were crushed it wouldn’t be something that was painless. One time, when I was a kid, Frankie ran over my big toe with a toddler scooter. It hurt like hell. And that was only my big toe. The boulder would have flattened my whole body.

My eyes were squinted shut and I refused to look down. If I was floating up toward the great beyond, I didn’t want to remember what my mangled body looked like. Blood flowing out in mini rivers, bones protruding from my flesh, my skull caved in. I shuddered just thinking about it.

I went higher and higher into the air. The time sequence that passed by made everything feel like it was moving in slow motion. Like I was moving in slow motion. Shouldn’t this process move a little faster? Shouldn’t I be closer to heaven by now?

I snapped back to reality, when something slammed me into the ground. My eyes flew open as the wind was knocked out of my lungs and I watched astonished as the boulder rolled past me, scraping the side of my ankle. “What the?” I coughed out.As the white spots faded from my peripheral vision and my surroundings became more in focus, I turned to the side to see Colin, lying next to me, his arms still wrapped firmly around my shoulders. “Colin?” A hoarse, raspy sound escaped my throat as I spoke his name. I swallowed hard, continued to steady my breathing, and cleared my throat.

Colin didn’t open his eyes. He remained on the ground—his body was rigid, frozen—like he was trapped underneath ice. I gasped as I poked him with my finger. “Oh no. Colin. Wake up.”

He didn’t move. I pried his arms off of my shoulders and contorted my body to face his. “Colin! Please!” Still nothing. He was starting to scare me. Maybe he hit his head too hard and knocked himself out.

What if he had brain damage?

What if he was…?

No. I couldn’t even think of that. He had to be alive. He just had to be. I got down on all fours, gripped both of his shoulders, and shook him. “Get up, Colin! You hear me! Please get up!”

At first, I shook him softly, then when nothing happened I shook him so hard that his head started flinging back and forth. “GET UP!” After slowing down the shaking I sat back on my knees. A sharp sob left my throat as tears rained down my cheeks. “Get up,” I whimpered. “Get up.”

Those were the only two words I could get out. “Get up.”

At one point I was sobbing so hard that I couldn’t breathe. A dull ache formed in my rib cage and I had to press my hand against it to make it go away. Wailing, tears fell into my mouth and the salty taste from them tickled my taste buds. “Colin.” My voice was barely above a whisper. “Get up.”

As the waterworks kept flowing, I pulled my legs to my chest and curled up into a tight ball. I felt numb. And what made things worse was if he actually—I still couldn’t say it—this all happened because he saved my life. He pulled me away from that boulder. At that very moment, I would have rather been crushed by it. “You should have let me die,” I said with a detached tone.

Now I was alone. And now, more than ever, I was terrified. Colin knew his way around up here. He knew how to get back to the colony. I was completely co-dependent on him. How would I get back? What could I do? And I couldn’t just leave his body here. I could hear the council members in the back of my mind. “If he’s gone, leave him.” That’s exactly what Mr. Baker would say. His distasteful frown presented itself in my head when I came to the conclusion of what I had to do next.

Whether the council agreed with me or not, Colin was someone’s child. He was a person. Not just a scrap that you tossed along the side of the road and waited for someone to clean up. And he died—I finally said it—saving my life. He would not be a meal for a cannibal. I would not leave his body up here to rot. He was coming back to the colony with me. And I’d tell Mr. Baker, if he decided to put in his two cents, that he could shove his words right up his ass.

Sliding closer, I wrapped my arms around Colin and held him. I tightened my grip around his back and sobbed again. If this was the last day I was going to spend with Colin Martin, I was going to make it count. Removing my face mask, I planted my lips on his forehead, allowing them to linger there for a moment.

After I pulled away, I pushed his beautiful, midnight colored hair away from his face and just gazed at him. He was beautiful in life and even beautiful in death. I brushed my fingers against his creamy, smooth cheek, finally resting them in the crook of his neck. I stared, lost in a daze, at his long eyelashes. The way the brightness in the sky reflected off them made them shimmer. I took off his face mask and his profound, chiseled jawline was contorted at angle that made the muscles in chin flex.

Normally, I was a guarded person. I kept everything inside, too afraid that if I let out how I was really feeling, it might make me seem weak. In the world we lived in, the weak didn’t last. They were picked off one by one—either eaten before our colony was established—or cast out because they had nothing to contribute or because they couldn’t contribute.