Hatter's Point of View Part13

Man that thing's ugly. Hatter thought. Neither he nor Alice moved for a few moments. Why are we still standing here? "Run." He suggested to Alice, forcing himself to be calm. He started off to his left, and heard Alice's running footsteps behind him.

The Jabberwocky roared again, and Hatter smiled to himself. My plan is working! He congratulated himself. he ran for a few more yards before he realized that he couldn't hear Alice or the Jabberwocky behind him. What the- He looked back over his shoulder, and saw Alice weaving between the trees, running in the opposite direction, the Jabberwocky hot on her tail.

"Not that way!" He said exasperated. "Alice!" Before he could think about what he was doing, he ran after them. Every now and then the Jabberwocky would roar.

They went on like this for at least a mile. Hatter's mind blank with panic and fear for Alice's life. He didn't seem to be gaining on them, but he wasn't really falling behind either.

The Jabberwocky tripped once, and Alice let out a brief moan of fear. Hatter put on a burst of speed that carried him closer.

Then, the unthinkable happened. After running between two trees, Alice tripped over a root, and tumbled to the ground. Hatter couldn't see what had happened. The Jabberwocky had stopped in front of him, and was roaring, and jerking his head around.

"No!" He cried out softly. He went to run around the Jabberwocky, preparing himself for the worst. It wasn't as bad as he had thought. Alice was sprawled on the ground, just out of the Jabberwocky's reach. She had gotten her head caught between the two trees and was straining to reach her prey. Hatter ran up beside Alice, and slid to a stop. He was slightly thrown off balance by the Jabberwocky's roar, a gust of her rotten, foul smelling breath buffeting him about.

What do I do? What do I do? His numb mind wondered frantically. He stood and, when the Jabberwocky lunged forward again, he did the first thing he could think of. He socked it in the eye. The beast let out a scream of pain and recoiled from her assailant. Brilliant! Hatter reached down, and pulled Alice to her feet. "Come on!" He urged her. "You okay?" He asked her when she was on her feet.

"Yeah!" She assured him.

"Good!" he pulled her after him, running away from the wounded creature. He glanced over his shoulder. still pulling Alice after him. The Jabberwocky had just pulled her head out of the two trees and was giving chase.

"Come on!" Hatter urged her again. The ran and ran, as hard as they could.

Then they were falling. The ground had given way, and they were falling into some sort of pit. He flipped over onto his back and lost his grip on Alice's arm. He made contact with the ground. Hard. It knocked the wind out of him, and left him gasping for air.

"Ow." He managed to say. He got his breath back fairly quickly, and raised his head to look around him. There were several tall spikes sticking out of the ground. It's a miracle neither of us were skewered through. He thought. Oh no, Alice! He looked over, to his left, and saw Alice looking up at him. "You ok?" He asked her.

She nodded her head, breathing deeply. "Just about." Hatter tried to sit up, and his head swam. He gasped and fell back. Looking up, his eyes met those of the hideously disgusting Jabberwocky.

He heard Alice getting nervous beside him. "Stay still!" He whispered. The Jabberwocky dipped it's head into the pit, and looked around. It considered them from a few different angles before letting out a putrid roar. It lunged towards Alice, catching itself on one of the spears before it could reach her. It finally extracted itself, and roared one more time in exasperation before withdrawing and lumbering away.

Hatter lifted his head and coughed a few times. Thank the knights that's over! He thought. He sat up and groaned. He leaned towards Alice. I need to get her out of here before that thing comes back. He thought.

There was a rustling above them. Uneven footsteps. Oh no. It's back already.

"Vermin!" Came an old, irate voice.