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  “I don’t know how you do it, but everything you say just makes me dislike you even more.”

  Troop looked like he was about to argue back, but chose not to do so at the last second. The sound of laughter reached Kristi’s ears. Two figures emerged from the shadows. It was Jaiden and Chelsa.

  “Sorry it took so long,” Chelsa said, “but here’s the water.”

  The sun had set completely now and the moon and stars hung in the night sky. It was a cloudless night and after dinner, Kristi chose to admire the stars awhile instead going to sleep. Nightmares seemed to be constantly plaguing her the past few nights. She almost always woke up with her heart rate sky-high and covered in a thin sheen of sweat.

  Kristi rested on her back and observed the stars. The doused fire only had a few embers pulsing from beneath the ash; they would soon be extinguished when they ran out of fuel and oxygen.

  She located the Big Dipper and the North Star, then traced out Orion and Pegasus with her eyes. Next, she located Cygnus, the swan. Cygnus was her favorite constellation, probably because she loved the myth of Cygnus.

  A long time ago, two heavenly friends, Cygnus and Phaeton, challenged each other to a race around the world. The two friends ran too close to the sun, burned, and fell to the Earth. Phaeton was trapped underneath the roots of a tree at the bottom of a deep river. Knowing Phaeton would drown if he weren’t rescued soon, Cygnus pleaded with Zeus to help him save Phaeton. Zeus offered to transform Cygnus into a swan so that he could save Phaeton; however, if Cygnus was turned into a swan, he would lose his immortality. Cygnus agreed to this bargain and Zeus placed Cygnus the swan in the night sky as a reward for his selfless act.

  Ever so slowly, Kristi’s eyelids began to droop from exhaustion and she pushed herself up to go inside the tent when something moved out of the corner of her eye.

  She froze, unsure whether an animal or a person caused the movement. Then she heard something rustle among the tall prairie grass and scanned the surrounding area with the eyes of a hawk. She saw nothing. After waiting for another ten minutes with no threat presenting itself, Kristi finally allowed herself to believe that she had imagined the sound and movement.

  She quietly slipped into her sleeping bag and prepared for another bout of nightmares.

  Teeth ripped into her arm. An animal was attacking Kristi. She was in a jungle and had been ambushed by a lion, which didn’t make sense since lions don’t live in jungles.

  “This is just a dream,” she said.

  The pain in her arm convinced her otherwise.

  Huge moths swarmed around her, attracted to the blood spurting from her wound. They landed on Kristi’s arm and started licking her blood with fuzzy feelers. She squirmed, but the paw of the lion pinned her in place. Then, before her eyes, the moths started morphing into bats with golden eyes. They chittered and clicked.

  “Wake up, Kristi!” she commanded herself.

  She closed her eyes, counted to ten and reopened them. She was still in a jungle surrounded by a swarm of bloodthirsty bats and a lion.

  A nearby plant reached out its tendrils towards her. The tendrils caressed her so lightly she didn’t even feel them until they suddenly tightened around her body. Kristi felt woozy from blood loss and her pathetic attempts to free herself from the vines were next to useless.

  Other plants extended their roots and vines from overhead dropped and started to cocoon her. Soon, she became enveloped in a layer of plants. Each breath she took was a struggle and she had to fight for the shallowest gasp. She was suffocating.

  Spots danced in her vision.

  She was falling,

  falling,

  falling.

  “Ah!” Kristi jolted awake.

  She trembled all over and couldn’t stop the shivers that racked her body. That was one of the worst nightmares she’d had so far. She could usually wake herself up from a nightmare if she was aware of it, but for some reason, she hadn’t been able to do so this time.

  “Are you alright?” Troop poked his head inside the tent. “I thought I heard you yell.”

  “Yeah,” she said. “Just a nightmare.”

  Kristi let out an involuntary shudder and massaged her right arm, which was feeling sore. “Where are Jaiden and Chelsa?”

  “They went to get more water. Hopefully it won’t take them as long as last time.”

  Kristi yanked a brush through her tangled hair and tied it back into a ponytail. Then she swirled some liquid toothpaste around in her mouth, cringing at the artificially minty flavor and spat it out behind a shrub. Morning rituals taken care of, Kristi disassembled the tent, which was something she could do.

  Taking the tent apart is a heck of a lot easier than putting it together, she thought.

  They ate a hasty breakfast and were back in the saddle again. Jaiden instinctively steered his mount beside Chelsa and the two intertwined their hands between them; Kristi swallowed down a small lump in her throat. She couldn’t help but feel a bit cast aside from the original trio.

  Ghost, as if sensing her distress, turned around from his perch behind Chelsa and gave Kristi a look that read, “What did you expect? Hot guy meets badass girl. It’s a recipe for romance.”

  “Your hair is dark brown,” Troop said, breaking Kristi out of her thoughts.

  “What did you just say?” She wasn’t sure if she heard Troop right.

  Troop motioned towards her hair. “Your hair is dark brown, not chestnut.”

  My hair must’ve started to grow out if my natural hair color is showing at the roots. “Yeah. I might have to re-dye it soon.”

  “I like your hair dark brown. It matches your personality more.”

  “You haven’t even known me for a week and you’re already judging my personality. And it’s up to me to decide whether I re-dye my hair or not.”

  There must’ve been a bite to her tone because Troop pretended to shield himself from her verbal attack. “Whoa, no need to get all fired up.”

  Kristi made an exasperated sound and moved Flurry into a slightly faster speed to get ahead of Troop. To her aggravation, Troop didn’t seem to get the message she wanted to get away from him because he followed close behind.

  “Have you ever heard of personal space?” she said out of the corner of her mouth.

  “Have you heard of being friendly?”

  “Just leave me alone, will you?”

  “You’re upset that Chelsa and Jaiden aren’t including you now that they’ve both been hit by Cupid’s arrows, aren’t you?”

  “I’m upset because a certain twerp won’t leave me alone!” Kristi exclaimed a little too loudly.

  Jaiden turned around and looked back at them. “Is everything alright? Kristi, I hope you’re not arguing with Troop again.”

  “He’s the one that started the argument,” Kristi said under her breath, but Jaiden heard it anyways.

  “Be nice,” he reprimanded her, then turned around once more to talk to Chelsa.

  Don’t tell me what to do, Kristi bitterly thought to herself.

  chapter twenty-seven

  [ Kristi ]

  “To be honest, I’m surprised the government hasn’t tracked you down yet,” Troop said.

  “Why? Do you want us to get caught?” Kristi asked.

  “No. I’m just surprised that there has been no sign of the government searching for you if you guys are wanted.”

  “What about the posters? Or the news-screens?” She challenged. “And we also almost got caught by the Homeland Security Helicopters before you joined us.”

  “Fair enough,” Troop said. “But I’ve seen what the government is capable of when they’re hunting someone down. It’s almost as if the government is allowing you to escape from them.”

  Kristi shook her head in disbelief. “Why would they do that?”

  “You’re right. My theory doesn’t make sense. I guess I’m over thinking matters.”

  Kristi squinted off into the distance about a hundred ahead.
There seemed to be something big lying on the side of the road. “Chelsa, what’s that object up ahead?”

  “Seems like some sort of vehicle that’s been turned over.”

  As they neared the vehicle, Kristi could make out that it was an overturned merchant’s truck. The truck’s windows were shattered and the inside looked like it had been ransacked. There was no doubt this was bandit work. She didn’t want to think about what happened to the poor driver.

  “Is anyone in the truck?” Kristi asked.

  She wasn’t too eager to see a dead body.

  Jaiden dismounted from his horse, approached the truck and peered inside the front cabin. “It’s empty.”

  “Let’s go,” Troop and Kristi said in unison.

  “Creepy,” Kristi said.

  “What’s creepy?” Troop asked.

  “The truck. It’s giving me the chills.”

  The broken headlights of the truck seemed to implore her not to abandon it. One of the wheels spun crazily when a stiff breeze blew through. A loud bang startled her. The wind had slammed closed the passenger door of the truck.

  Kristi reined Flurry to the fractured windshield. A rust colored substance stained the edge of the cracks. Deeply unsettled, Kristi backed her mount away from the vehicle. A soft, guttural growl grinded out from beneath the truck.

  “Ride!” Kristi gasped, wheeling Flurry around.

  A creature erupted from beneath the truck. It looked like a hyena, but had a scaly tail and two terrible looking horns protruding from the top of its head. Its back had a spiny ridge running down it.

  “What is it?” Jaiden said.

  “Some sort of messed up hyena?” Kristi guessed.

  More of the demonic hyena hybrids emerged from beneath the truck. Everyone launched into a frantic gallop away from the creatures.

  Chelsa spared a glance backwards and cursed. “They’re devil-dogs—government created creatures that shouldn’t be out of the lab. They’re afraid of water. So keep your eyes out for any streams or lakes”

  The devil-dogs were fast for their size and matched the droid-horses’ speed easily, waiting for the droid-horses to start faltering before coming in for the kill. Spittle trailed from their curled lips

  Kristi did not want to die this way.

  “Can the horses outrun the devil-dogs?” She tapped her heels against Flurry’s side, requesting more speed.

  “Probably, but the devil-dogs will follow our scent. They’re built for endurance,” Chelsa replied.

  “Storm clouds.” Troop pointed to the right. “I think there’s a storm coming from that direction.”

  “How convenient. Ride towards the clouds. The rain should deter the devil-dogs.”

  Kristi crouched even lower on Flurry and asked her to run even faster. Flurry responded and her hooves caused so much friction against the ground that sparks sprayed where she landed.

  “Flurry’s going to overheat,” warned Troop.

  “I know,” said Kristi. “There’s not much I can do about it.”

  A devil-dog howled and the pack began to chase after them in earnest. The dogs were no longer simply stalking then; they were attacking. A devil-dog came dangerously near Flurry and snapped at her legs.

  “Scram!” Kristi yelled. “Get away!”

  She kicked the devil-dog away with her foot.

  The storm clouds were about a quarter mile away. A quarter mile had never felt so far away in her life. Flurry let out a scream when a devil-dog pounced onto her back. The devil-dog bared his fangs at Kristi. Saliva dripped down his teeth like acid.

  Wait…the devil-dog’s saliva was acid. Where the saliva touched Flurry’s fur, the area hissed and the fur dissolved before Kristi’s eyes, leaving behind a smooth spot of metal. This was a nightmare come true.

  Kristi clubbed the devil-dog off Flurry’s back with the help of her backpack. The creature landed in a mangled heap.

  I think it’s dead.

  The devil-dog raised its head and pulled back its lips at Kristi.

  Never mind.

  Her skin burned and she looked down to her arm. A single drop of acidic saliva from a devil-dog had eaten through her clothing and burned her skin. A little circle of darkened skin was branded onto her forearm.

  Kristi risked a quick look over her shoulder, trusting Flurry not to run them into a tree or whatever. Roughly ten devil-dogs remained, and none of them seemed to be tiring.

  The sky flashed and a jagged line of lighting discharged from the clouds. The atmosphere hummed with static electricity. A drumroll of thunder followed the lightning and a raindrop hit Kristi’s cheeks. She almost groaned with relief.

  “Thank goodness,” she said and the rain came down harder.

  The droplets hit the devil-dogs’ fur, causing them to yip in pain and terror. Whilst the devil-dog’s saliva burned through Flurry’s fur, the water burned through the devil-dogs’ pelt. As a pack of one, the devil-dogs retreated, looking for a place to shelter from the rain.

  “Do you guys want to ride on or stop for the night?” Chelsa asked.

  “I say we ride on,” Troop said. “We’re already wet enough, so we might as well continue on through the rain.” The rain came down in sheets, as if agreeing to his words.

  Troop consulted UnivMaps and led them back to South Lane.

  “How did you know that devil-dogs hated water? I’ve never seen a devil-dog before in my life until today,” said Jaiden.

  “Secret source,” Chelsa said.

  “Fine, be like that,” Jaiden teased back.

  Kristi shivered beneath her layers of soaked clothes. She wished she had put on her waterproof jacket. She considered rummaging through her backpack for her jacket, but decided against it since it would be difficult to do so while riding in rainy weather at the same time.

  “Do you want my jacket?” Troop offered as if reading her mind.

  “No thanks.”

  Her chattering teeth sent the opposite message, but there was no way she was going to accept help from Troop; it was just going to indulge his ego which did not need to be inflated any more than it already was.

  Troop took off his jacket anyways and held it out to her. Kristi ignored the offering and tried her best to calm her shivers.

  “You’re going to catch a cold,” Troop said.

  “You can’t catch a cold from being wet,” said Kristi

  “You can catch a cold from being cold.”

  “Wrong. You can catch a cold from contracting the virus.”

  Troop didn’t say anymore but the expression he gave Kristi plainly said he thought she was being overly stubborn. And maybe she was, but Kristi wanted to keep her distance from Troop. He reminded her too much of Glenn: smooth and nice on the outside but full of barbs and thorns on the inside.

  “I think we should stop,” Chelsa said half an hour later. “It’s getting pretty dark and we don’t want the horses to trip over something in the darkness.”

  The rain tapered off and came down more gently. Jaiden and Troop set up the tent while Chelsa and Kristi unloaded the saddlebags from the horses.

  “I think I’m going to sleep. I’m too exhausted to have dinner,” Kristi said.

  All of her muscles cramped. Even though Kristi knew she was probably going to have yet another fitful night of rest, her body physically needed to sleep even though her mind protested against the thought of enduring another night of horrors.

  She was flying. She had morphed into a dove and was soaring far above the world. The land spread out before her like a quilt. However, Kristi felt like she was being pursued by something, something evil. She shot down towards the ground, trying to escape the feeling of being chased.

  The sound of birdcalls filled the air. Bright, flashy tropical birds surrounded Kristi the dove. The flamboyant birds—toucans, macaws, and parakeets—screamed out harsh cries. Kristi landed on the ground and hopped towards the cover of a bush, but a large peacock poked its head into her hiding place and she half flappe
d, half hopped back out into the open. Acting as one flock, the other birds surrounded and attacked her.

  The wings, talons and beaks of the showy birds battered her fragile dove body. A fiery pain shot up her right wing when a swan slammed its powerful wings into her. She lay on the cold, hard ground, right wing throbbing excruciatingly. A bird with a broken wing was a dead bird. She was a bird with a broken wing. She was a dead bird.

  Kristi awoke. Strangely, she wasn’t sweating nor was her heart beating at overtime. I must be getting used to these nightmares, she thought, stepping outside of the tent.

  It was only six-thirty in the morning. Streaks of purple could be discerned among the horizon in the dark sky if she looked close enough. Kristi searched around the camp and found Troop to be the only person around.

  “Jaiden and Chelsa went to gather some kindling that hasn’t been dampened by last night’s rain,” Troop said when he saw her hunting for them.

  “What else is new,” Kristi mumbled. “We don’t even usually make a fire in the morning.”

  Troop didn’t grace her with an answer, which Kristi was completely fine by.

  “I need to go refill my water bottle,” she said. “Do you need yours refilled?” she added in a moment of generosity.

  “Thanks, but no thanks.”

  “Be back in ten.”

  She searched for a water source, making sure to always keep the tent in sight. Her boots made sucking noises in the oozy mud. Kristi crinkled her nose. An almost-but-not-quite-familiar scent reached her nose. The smell wasn’t unpleasant—in fact, it reminded Kristi of home. Squatting down, she combed the ground until she found the source of the fragrance. Rainflowers. Well, not quite. The flowers looked identical to rainflowers except they were orange instead of purple.

  Kristi caught sight of a small creek cutting a course through the land and filled up her bottle to the brim. She had a few minutes before she needed to return back to the tent, so she chose to spend her extra time admiring the sunrise by the creek.

  Kristi tilted her head. She thought she heard people talking.

  “You’re too funny!” a voice in the distance said.