Drabble~'The bowels of hell never seemed so appealing as they do now'
Category: Drabbles

 ‘The bowels of Hell never seemed so appealing as they do now!’

The morose smell of congealed blood, sweat and death permeated her nostrils, Bile wretched in her throat and pooled in her mouth daring to be released. But she couldn’t, she daren’t. Now was not the time. With her vision impaired from her own sweat and blood Skye stumbled backwards a step or two. The brunette female was by no means a match for her opponent, however she had grown skilled in the art of reading people; taking note of every nuance in their body, and stance, she could see every flicker of movement about to happen even before the other party had fully committed to it. She had learnt this and many other skills from the time she had spent on the streets, through people watching. It kept her safe, well as safe as was possible and certainly stood the test of time into her adult years. Although Skye was certainly not built for one to one combat, she had managed to best a few of the more bulkier of adversaries, because they all had one thing in common. They under-estimated the five foot five brunette. Her ferocity and will were monumental. 

The yells, whoops and screams from the crowd blurred from her auditory senses. It was her heart beating at the rate of a freight train that throbbed in her head. Adrenaline coursed through her veins. Everything felt as if it were going in slow motion, yet reality was passing by in mere seconds. Reacting from the nuance she had noted in the changing stance of the opposing male she instinctively ducked to avoid the blade swinging at her face and neck. Her own weapon loosening in her right hand, she switched it to her left and grasping it tightly she drove it deep into the right hand side of the male's abdomen. At first it encountered resistance through the material of his clothing, but as the blade reached his bare flesh it delved deeper. His body twisted in pain, and his features aghast with shock, and now it was now his turn to take a step back. Quickly Skye relinquished a smaller blade hidden within the side of her boot, and rammed it upward before he could recoil too far back or regain any foothold. With a better angle on the blade it pierced almost effortlessly through his chest, slipping between his ribcage and plunging into his heart. With this final strike, he fell to the ground. They shared a look; both knowing that neither of them had a choice, and that he would soon become zombie bait, and in turn one of the walking desiccating corpses himself. It was in that moment a well of empathy washed over her and as he teetered on the precipice of ‘death’ his rage and sadness transformed into acceptance. 

Suddenly every sound from around the arena assailed her ears, threatening to burst her ear drums. It was only now that she gave herself permission to release what little sustenance she had eaten that day. The contents of her stomach spewed onto the dirt ground. Then exhausted and body aching she fell to the ground, herself. The landscape around her faded to black.

The self-proclaimed overlord and her captor rose from his seated position. Skye was oblivious as to what occurred next, instead she was dipping in and out of a glorious dream of life before the outbreak; and although it was far from perfect, it was a million times better than the current reality. Waking up in the infirmary. Which was by all accounts a few pallets thrown together topped with a plank and covered with a sleeping roll, and if you were lucky a blanket or two. 

The overlord and a scattering of his minions were standing over her.
“Welcome back Hellcat!” His not so welcome nickname for Skye.
“I really thought your goose was cooked this time. Mehh, maybe next time..It’s like you have nine lives, but they're sure to be running out soon enough.” 

He looked over to the sad excuse of a medic. 
“She’s done resting, get her out of her!”
Of course the doctor, or rather once a doctor in training wouldn’t argue back, that the patient still required time to heal properly and should irrefutably not be released just yet. Instead he solemnly obeyed orders, for fear of repercussions.

Skye sat herself up and slid her feet over the side of the pallett coming to rest on the floor.
She remained silent, instead staring at the overlord indignantly. Completely aware of her hatred for him, he cupped his hand over her cheek, a vile smirk formed on his lips and he let out a deep sigh and without a word, removed his hand and turned and walked away.