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The sun filtering through the tree leaves above convinces me that it’s been past an hour or so since I left. Birds chirp their morning song, but it does nothing to ease my racing mind. I hate to admit it, but I miss them. I used to find the silence comforting, but now walking the woods I find it annoying. I oddly wish Scotty were here asking his unnecessary questions and babbling about nothing. I even miss Bunny and trying to decode her subtle looks during Scotty’s rambling. How can having one day of interaction with these two kids change how I feel about my everyday routines?

Come on NoName, get yourself together.

I am together, I argue with myself

Are you really?

Yes.

You’re breaking your own rules for those kids.

I am not going to argue with myself.

You already are.

Am no-

The distant sound of tires on gravel silence my inner argument. The dirt path suddenly blurs as my feet take off toward the sound. Snaps of broken branches under my feet aren’t exactly the anthem of stealth. As I run toward the sound I realize that its coming from my original destination. A camp site with worn down RV’s and tents comes into focus. Everything looks the same from my last visit except for the running truck, its the definition of stealth, with its black paint and tinted windows. Not wanting to risk my exposure yet I back track a couple steps and duck behind a fairly large bush.

“- swore he had saw her out here one day.” Says a rough voice in the distance. A man in a black suit exits a rusted RV closest to the truck. The man is tall, slim, and in a black suit? Doesn’t this dude know it’s the end of the world? He takes the two steps of the RV to reach the gravel ground.

“Are you sure he saw her?” a voice in the RV sounds after him, “is he sure it wasn’t just a Rotter who looked like her?”

Rotter?

“He’s positive,” the man on the gravel says pulling something out of the black suits front chest pocket. Looks to be a pack of cigarettes.

I thought the goal of the life was to survive not kill yourself faster. The man on the gravel pulls out a death stick after running a hand through his jet-black hair. With the casual flick of a lighter, much like the one Scotty threatened my journal with, he lights the cigarette. He leans back against the side of the RV taking in a draw of the death stick.

“She’s not here Smoke,” the voice from inside the RV calls.

Smoke? Isn’t that such an appropriate name.

The voice from inside the RV suddenly becomes a person, a short one at that. Compared to the man leaning against the RV he’s practically a dwarf in size. He quickly exits the RV and stands in front of Smoke.

“You’d think it’d be easy to find her.”

“Never underestimate her,” Smoke says puffing out a cloud of white. “Even before the infusions she was extremely resourceful and cunning.”

The word infusion triggers something in my chest near my heart. My hands clench by themselves. It’s the same reaction I get when I try to read my journal. Why? Why does my body react this way?

“She was?” asks the dwarf in a curious manner.

“Very much so,” Smoke says, drawing in another puff of his death stick.

“How so?” Dwarf asks. He lazily takes a seat on the RV’s step ready to listen to what Smoke has to say.

I can’t blame him. I’m on the edge of my invisible seat too.

“You ever head the story of how she escaped the lab?”

“I’ve heard bits and pieces.”

“Like what?”

“How she took out ten guards and set fire to the lab.”

“All true, but do you know how she took out the guards?”

Dwarf shakes his head in the universal sign for no.

“She was in her cell and everyone thought she was sleeping. One of the guards went in to check on her and found she wasn’t breathing.”

Smoke lets out a puff and takes in another draw.

“The guard ran to get help and left the door open in his panic. Turns out she was just holding her breath. Her pulse moved so slow that she almost was dead. She snuck out of the room and made her escape.” Smoke lets out a final puff of white cloud and throws the bud of the cigarette on the ground stepping on it. “The infusions made her strong and fast. No one stood a chance against her. Anyone that got in her way regretted it. She took out every guard who tried to stop her, they never really stood a chance.”

Dwarf looks thoughtfully at the gravel.

“And they only sent two of us to detain her?”

“They believe because she has no past memories it’ll be easy to detain her.”

It’s crazy to think, almost impossible, but something deep inside of me screams that it’s me they are talking about.

“Is that a smart id- “

Dwarf is cut off by the cracking sound of a radio in the truck. Smoke swiftly pushes off the RV and silently strides over to the truck. With a quiet grace he climbs into the truck.

“Smoke…. Mouse…. Come in,” a voice says. It’s almost hard to tell if it’s a boy or girl. My guess a boy due to the low almost growl in the voice.

Smoke replies with an answer and the voice cracks back over the radio.

“Nothing at location two…. Heading to location three.”

“We’ll meet you there… don’t engage till we arrive,” Smoke orders.

“Roger that,” the voice cracks over the radio again.

Dwarf slowly stands from his sitting position.

“Where are we going Smoke?” Dwarf asks moving to the passenger’s side door.

“Location Three.”

“Location Three?” Dwarf asks opening the truck’s door.

“The cabin,” Smoke says while my heart stops dead in my chest, “they think she lives there.”

“Does she?”

I’d never get to hear Smoke’s opinion. I’d already high-tailed it out of there.

The kids were in danger, and I was in danger of breaking my promise to Scotty. My feet have never moved so fast.

I’ve always been happy to see my cabin, but I’ve never been as happy as I am now. There’s no black truck. I’ve beaten them back. I waste no time entering the cabin. I rush up the steps and throw open the door. My heart jumps into my throat when I see Scotty and Bunny wrestling by the lit fire. I’ve never been so glad to see people in my life.

“Say sorry,” Bunny yells holding Scotty in a head lock. I slowly close the door in an attempt not to make them aware of my presence.

“Never,” Scotty chokes out on a laugh,” you wish I would admit defeat.”

Seeing them alive and carefree makes me smile. The un-easiness with in me vanishes as Bunny grins and rolls him away from her. Scotty beams at her as he sits up.

“I won,” Scotty says. Bunny’s eyes narrow dangerously in on Scotty. I can tell she’s about to launch herself at him again and put him in a choke hold. I cough making my presence known. Their heads whip in my direction in surprise.

“NoName,” Scotty says getting to his feet. He scans me from head to toe and his eye brows draw down in confusion.

‘I thought you were going to bring us something back?”

“Long story short, we got to go,” I say walking toward them.

“Why?” Bunny asks following her brother to her feet.

“There’s bad peop-” the sound of a truck pulling up makes me stop talking. The kids look from me to the door.

I beat them here, but now we’re trapped.

“Crap.”

I’m moving into action. I’m a blur moving around the cabin. I go to the back room first and grab two plastic bottles I had stashed away in the closet behind the fire wood. The sound of plastic wrappers rattle as I shove a ton of granola bars into my arrow bag along with the waters.

“What’s happening?” Scotty’s voice questions from the door way.

“Bad people are here,” I grunt out as I stand to my feet and turn toward him. “We’ve got to go, now.”

I scoot past Scotty and enter the living room again.

“There’s a truck out there,” Bunny says. She looks at me in a guarded suspicious way.

“I thought you said you were alone,” Says the cold voice of Scotty behind me.

“I am alone,” I say walking to the door. “Those people out there are not my friends.”

I quickly flip the lock on the door to make sure it isn’t open and easy to open with the turn of the knob. I slide over to the boarded-up window on the door’s left. There’s a small crack between the boards which makes a perfect peep hole.

“Then who are those people?” he questions sarcastically. “How did they find this place?”

“Your guess is as good as mine kid.”

Outside Smoke is climbing down from the truck.

“How did we beat them here?” Dwarf asks climbing out after Smoke.

“I don’t know Mouse.” He says, “but then again it is Zack and Shane we’re talking about.”

Smoke looks up at the cabin. His eyes scan from boarded window to boarded window. I slowly cringe back hoping he won’t see me.

“Do we really have to wait for them to get here?” Dwarf asks standing still beside Smoke.

“Yes.”

Smoke narrows his eyes in on the boarded-up windows, almost as if he can see something.

“Smoke, what’s up.”

He squints at the window on the right side of the door. My eyes follow his line of sight and I can see the issue. I whip out one of the water bottles and throw it at Scotty behind me.

“Put the fire out,” I hiss in a hushed manner.

In no time the quiet sound of the dying fire echoes through the small cabin,

“Nothing,” Smoke says after the moment the fire dies, “thought I saw something.”

“Can we just engage? It doesn’t even look anyone is here.”

“We wait, Mouse,” Smoke snaps in a low growl, “those are my orders.”

I’ve only got little time to get us out of here safely.

The sight of a black jeep pulling up behind the truck seconds later throws my stomach into a loop.

Make that no time at all.