Jake was woken from a fitful sleep by Max. She didn’t touch him or jerk him awake, and to his relief she wasn’t even trying to eat him. It was simply the uneasy feeling that he was no longer alone.
She was sitting across the cell from the uncomfortable cot he’d been given. She was against the wall left of the door, sitting on the floor, her knees pulled up to her chest. She looked very vulnerable, her eyes alive, but the weak smile she gave him was with lips stained in blood.
“Hey Jake,” she said.
Jake rubbed some sleep out of his eyes and sat up. Max seemed calm and even sad, but he still eyed her warily.
The room Jake had been given was Spartan and cold and he only had a single blanket, though it was fluffy and comfortable, and a pillow, which was neither fluffy nor comfortable.
“Hey Max,” he replied blearily. He gestured vaguely at her. “Have you been… um…”
“Snacking?” she finished for him.
He winced. “Definitely not the word I was going for and that’s an aisle at the grocery store I’ll never be able to go down again.”
Max shrugged. “Sorry. I… I guess this is kind of my life now.”
vJake shook his head. “I don’t believe that, Max.”
“Do I have schmutz on my face?” she asked. He looked away from her. “Jake? Do I?” His mouth twitched and he nodded, gulping. She brushed at her cheek. “Oh, look at that. I had tibia on my face. How embarrassing.” She gave him a predatory grin.
Jake cleared his throat. “I see your point. But… it doesn’t change anything.”
Max ducked her head and when she lifted it again she was shaking with maudlin laughter. “What do you mean it doesn’t change anything? I look at you and I think ‘Jakeburger.’”
“But you haven’t done it, have you?” he asked. Jake was surprised to realize that he was no longer feeling nervous. He hadn’t really thought about it until now but she could have attacked him while he was sleeping.
“Did they put you in here?”
Max shook her head. “No, I came here on my own after… after I…”
Jake waved off the rest of her sentence. “And why is that?”
It was Max’s turn to look away, and she lifted one shoulder noncommittally. “I don’t know,” she replied. “It just seemed the best place to go. Safe.”
Jake smiled at her, then frowned. “Max, the door was locked. How did you get in?”
She grimaced, then reached over her shoulder and tapped the door knob; the whole fixture fell out of the door, leaving a gaping hole. “There are perks to my… new life. Wanna get out of here?”