Episode 70

Night had come and passed, and night fell once again.

Miah lay unmoving, staring up at the sky.  The stars shifted, she noticed, with time; the globe of constellations spun slowly above her head, twinkling with a serene calm that made the night seem shorter and less unkind.

She knew that somewhere in the starlit darkness Ben stood; ever alert, ever watching.  She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath and slowly breathing out.  Her hands clasped, she could feel her pulse, and its rhythm filled her ears.

Far off, a wolf howled.  Miah shivered and scooted closer to the wall of the truck bed, clenching her eyes tight.

Hope is a cruel thing, she thought bitterly.  Hope would send me where common sense would steer clear.  She sighed.  Who am I kidding? Ben will never be the same again.

Clunk. Miah's eyes shot open. She felt her heartbeat quicken as clunk and then another clunk sounded in her ears.

“Ben??” she whispered.  Clunk.

There was no response.

“Ben!” she risked raising her voice.

Clunk.  Miah sat up and looked about wildly.  It was coming for her, she knew.

She yanked on the chain, biting her lip to keep from crying out in pain.  Caclunk.  “Ben—” she yanked again, gasping for breath, tears brimming in her eyes.  Clunclunk.  “BEN!” Pulling with all her strength on her arm, Miah screamed, the clunk clunk growing faster and closer.



With a start, Miah jerked awake, and immediately jumped up, tripping over the chain and almost falling on her face.  Clunk.  

When will these lifelike nightmares end?

“Ben?” she moaned.

The sound stopped.  “What?” his irritated voice huffed.

“Stop it.”

Kuncalunk.  Ben stood and walked into view, arms crossed.  “What?”

“You're creeping me out,” Miah huffed.

He leaned his elbow on the truck, trying to look at ease, but he seemed distracted and kept blinking, as if there was a buzzing in his ear.  “That's your problem, not mine.  I'll do what I want.”  He stooped to pick up another stone and threw it at the nearby tree.  Clunk.  Dead center. Miah could barely tell there was even a tree there.

“Fine then,” she said quietly.  She sat, watching his face.

Ben looked away, his gaze shifting uneasily.  “Hmm...”  Walking to the far side, he stooped again, slowly, and took a good-sized rock in his hand.

“What is it?” she asked.  “Is it—”

“Shh!”  He turned and walked off, looking out into the darkness.

Miah would have crossed her arms if there hadn’t been a big clunking chain around one of them.  “Fine.”

Episode 68

Miah winced as she stomped down hard on the chain once again.  Just one more hit, she thought, and it’ll break.

Maybe they’ve just left me here to die, a failed experiment they no longer care about and don’t want wandering the hills looking for revenge.  Or maybe I'm just hallucinating.
But whatever the reason, she was determined to get free.  She jerked on the chain, biting her lip to keep from crying out as it chafed her wrist again.  It wasn’t enough.  Her whole arm throbbed, and her knee ached.  Miah sagged against the wall of the truck, and lifted her hand.  A dark line of blood ran down to her elbow, and she grimaced.

“Free yet?”

Still not used to him sneaking up on her like that, she jumped.  “Almost...”

“You’re giving up.”

“No I’m not.  I’m just—resting.”

“You’ll never break those.  Trust me.” He held up hand, and she saw scabs and scars she hadn’t noticed before.  She grimaced.

“Why are they doing this?” she demanded, feeling sick.

“To see if you’re stronger than me.”  Ben gripped the edge of the truck bed, holding it so hard his knuckles turned white.

“But why out in the middle of nowhere?  I’m sick of being out in the open.”

“Don’t ask me, I wasn’t the one who put you here.  Don’t you remember?” He pulled himself up to the truck bed and his legs dangled.

“No, I must have passed out by that time.  Or I just don't remember.”  She looked at her feet.  “What did they do to you?” she asked softly.

He turned quickly, almost defensively, and she caught a glint in his eye that reminded her of the first time she’d asked if he was okay.  “You wouldn't understand.  You couldn’t.  But...I’m better than I ever could have been.  You’ll see.”

“But are you better?”

He didn’t answer.

Miah sighed and leaned her head on her arms rested on her knees.  “Can’t you let me go?  Can't you help me?”

“No, that would defeat the purpose.”

“Please!”

“No!”

“Fine then!  Why don’t you just leave?  You trying to protect me from wild animals or something?”

He shook his head.  “They don’t want anyone else helping you, either.”

Miah shivered.

Episode 69

“Connor, wake up.  Wake up.”

Connor groaned.  He didn't want to move.

There was a bright light in his eyes, defying his plea to be left alone to sleep.  It wasn't working.  As he opened his eyes, he vaguely remembered being brought into a room and waking several times, though he did not remember falling asleep. 

“Can you sit up?”  He looked to see Gail standing with a concerned face beside his bed.

“I think so…”  With a grunt, he pushed himself into a sitting position and leaned against the headboard of the bed.  He blinked in the light.

Gail looked around at the room.  “I don’t know where we are, but there are people helping us, somehow.”

“Mm.”  His mouth felt like sandpaper.  “Can I have some water?”

“Right here.”  She handed him a glass of water.

It tasted like it had been sitting for a long time, but it was good for him, so he forced it down.  After a few gulps, he felt his side.  It was then he saw his shirt hanging over the back of a chair on the other side of the room, bloodstained and tattered.  “Did someone bandage this?”

With a nod, she took his glass.  “I fell asleep for a while, but when I woke you’d been bandaged up and stuff.”

“Hm.”

“They gave me my own room, next to here,” Gail added.  “How is it feeling?”

“I feel great, really.”  Connor scratched his head.

“You think you can stand?”

“Well……maybe not that great.”  Connor yawned, rolled his shoulders and bent his knees.  “I’ll try, though.”   Swinging his legs over the side of the bed slowly, he grimaced at the pain of supporting himself.  Nevertheless, he stood slowly, swaying slightly.

“Let me help you,” Gail murmured, taking his arm.

He nodded, straightening.  He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

“I don’t think you’re ready to walk yet…”

“No, I’m good.”

“Well…”

Taking a few steps, Connor reached for his shirt and walked to the door, gripping the handle to steady himself before opening it.  Stepping into the hallway beyond, he turned to Gail. “Time to leave.”

Episode 67

The mysterious driver had stopped the car in the middle of nowhere, or so it seemed.  Gail didn’t ask who it was, and didn’t try to find out.  If it was a trap, she figured, what worse could happen, really?  What could really be worse than her previous imprisonment?

“Thank you,” she whispered as she stepped out into the early morning.  It had recently rained, and the road was slippery.  She could smell the scent of fresh rain and wet moss and soggy ground on the air.  Mist swirled around the forest, and the clouds overhead cast the land in shadow.  As the car drove slowly away, she looked around at the silence she could almost feel.  It smothered her footsteps as she walked further up the hill.  She looked down at her feet and saw a drop of blood.  There was another drop a few feet from it, and her eyes followed the trail up to the side of the road.  She gulped and stared, not sure if she wanted to know what she would find.  Thunder rumbled in the distance.

What happened here?

Braving herself, she looked around, and then walked toward the roadside.   There was a ditch…a body…

Gail gasped and skidded down the slope and cried, “Connor!”

A bolt lighting up the sky, she tried to turn him over.   With a heave, she managed to get him on his side.  There were scrapes and bruises all over his body, and one eye was turning black.

“Connor?”

He opened his one good eye.  “…Gail?”

“I’ve got to get you out of here…” She looked around.

“Gail, where is—”  Connor coughed.

“Come on, let me help you up—we’ve got to get out of here as fast as we can.”

“Where is Miah?”  His cracked voice was barely audible, and Gail bit her lip.

“I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure they brought her back.”

“Where? I have to—” He tried to sit up— “I have to bring her home—”

“Connor—”

“Promise me.”

“I can’t…”

“Gail, you don’t realize what’s happening.”

“Wait until we get to the car. Tell me there.”

With a sigh, he barely nodded his head.

Gail dragged him as carefully as she could to the top of the slope where the car stood waiting.  The driver, dressed all in black, lifted Connor into the back seat, and in her exhaustion Gail didn’t catch the driver’s face, but slipped silently into the seat beside Connor.

The rest of the drive was a blur; Gail didn’t remember any of it, except Connor mumbling Miah’s name in his sleep.

Episode 66

She found herself in her bedroom, standing on the soft carpet.  Warm sunlight streamed through the window, and she felt as if she were inside a picture; everything was so still.  She was wearing her favorite summer dress, and—she looked down—she had real legs!  She wiggled her toes and grinned.  She ran to look out the window, and watched as a group of birds flew from the tree next to her house off into the sky.

Then she felt a change.  The air at her back was cold, and she was afraid to turn around.  She shivered and closed her eyes, gripping the windowsill.  When she heard a sound, she turned to see…Connor.

He was propped up against the cave wall, and she found herself running to his side.

“Miah,” he whispered, and she felt the fierce wind at her back, as if it was trying to tear her away.  She knelt beside him and watched his face.

“Connor?”

“Miah.  What are you doing here?” he rasped, and reached his bloodied hand out to her arm.  

A tear slipped down her cheek as she brushed the hair from his face.  “I came to save you.”

“No—Miah—I’m supposed to save you!” He rasped, “You were supposed to—I thought—” Connor coughed hard, and Miah held his hand tight.

“Connor…” She didn’t want to let go.

Connor blinked and lifted his arm to rub at his eyes.  “You have to get away from here…they’re looking for you…”

“Connor, I can’t leave you.”

“Miah, I’m dying!” He closed his eyes, leaning against the wall, and took a hoarse breath. “Don’t waste your time on me.  You’ll be alright.” He swallowed and forced a smile.

Miah shook her head, choking back a sob, “I only want to save you!”

“Miah…” He lifted his hand to her cheek, looking into her eyes.  She held his hand there, emotions surging up in her chest.   Tears ran silently down her cheeks, and she swallowed, looking him in the eye. “You can’t save me, Miah…”

“I don’t want to live without you,” she whispered.

Gently, he leaned forward, kissing her forehead.  Slowly, he lowered his head and kissed her lips.  Miah closed her eyes, trembling, and as he pulled away, she blinked.

“I love you, Miah.”  He looked into her eyes so intensely, she couldn’t breathe.  “…now…go.”

His hand was heavy in hers and fell limp to the ground; she didn't notice.  His eyes froze in a stare, and she shook her head, refusing to believe it.  She couldn't move, and her body shook with sobs.  

All the world swirled about her in a confusing mass of dreams, and she felt a scream lodge in her throat, blocking her breath and suddenly waking her from her sleep.


It ripped from her mouth as she jerked awake, finding herself lying in the back of a truck.  The scream echoed and re-echoed around the mountains, finally fading into the wind.  Miah gasped for breath, trembling, and reached down to her legs—they were still metal.  Her hand stopped, however: she was handcuffed to the truck floor.

She froze.  “No...”  She tugged on her arm, pulling on it with her other, and succeeded in doing nothing but hurting the bruises on her arm.  There were a lot of them, and with a lightning flash, she remembered who had put them there.  But then it was gone, and the thought was torn from her mind.  Tears stung her eyes and a biting wind nipped at her face.  She looked around at the mountains in desperation and raw fear.

She was alone in the world.

I can't get away.  I can't run.  “No!” she cried, yanking with all her strength.  She fell to the floor of the truck and burst into sobs, cradling her arm and hoping with all her might that this was only a dream.

But it was real.

Episode 65

Connor knew his time was running out.

The rain fell on his face as he dragged himself out of the ditch.  The pain in his side stabbed at him again, and he stopped, gasping for breath until it subsided.

This is the last straw.  I’m going to have to take things into my own hands.  

As soon as he reached the road and saw the two of them disappear around the bend, he tried to push himself to his feet.

I can't move.

Episode 64

The key rattled in the door.  Gail blinked her eyes open, standing quickly; the room tilted as blood rushed to her head, and she put a hand against the wall to steady herself.  Moonlight was streaming in bars across the floor, and the door slowly inched open, as if someone was trying to open it as quietly as possible.

The door suddenly swung open the rest of the way.  Gail stepped forward cautiously, trying to see who had opened it.  “H–hello?”

She heard feet quickly shuffling away, and she ran to the door.  “Hello?” she whispered loudly, afraid to alert anyone unwanted to her presence.

There was nobody there.

Gail looked up and down the hallway, and then slowly walked out the door.  It closed behind her with a click. She froze.

“Get away as quickly as you can,” a quiet voice whispered.

She peered into the shadow of the corner and whispered, “Who are you?”

“Someone who wants to help,” the voice whispered back.  “Now go.”

She looked around.  “Thank you,” she smiled.

Now for getting out of the building without being seen. Or followed.

Wherever she walked, it seemed that the doors had been unlocked...no guards were on the watch, and all the hallways were silent as a graveyard.  An open window blew papers across the floor of an office, and Gail peered in the doorway.  The desk chair was still swiveling, as if someone had just gotten up quickly.  She shuddered and moved on.

Somehow, Gail made her way to the main entrance to the building without being seen.  She tried the door, but it was shut fast.  She pulled and pushed on the handle, but it wouldn’t budge.  She huffed and leaned against it, looking down the hallway in desperation.

Suddenly she heard footsteps outside the door.  She gasped and hid beside it, closing her eyes and hoping the darkness would conceal her.  A key was inserted into the lock, and it turned.  The door creaked open, letting a sharp finger of light stream into the hallway.  The door stayed open a crack, and then the footsteps walked away.

She was almost sure by now it was all a trap, but what else could she do?  And what if someone really was trying to help her out?  She could be getting into even worse trouble by trying to escape.  Still, she couldn’t help but wince as she slid through the door and walked into the open air outside; unprotected, exposed, and in full view of anyone within a quarter mile.

Episode 63

A rough grip took her by the arm.  “Miah.”

In terror, she turned to see Ben’s fiery eyes under his dripping hair.  “B-Ben!” she stuttered, struggling against his hold.

“Come with me.”  He walked down the road, and Miah was forced to follow.  His hold on her arm was surprisingly strong, and it was as cold as ice.

“Where?”  Her teeth chattered.

He turned to her sharply and she jumped.  “Why did you leave, Miah?  Hm?  Did you think you could get away?  Where were you going, anyway?”

“I—he told me—I didn’t—”

“Ahh, so it was Connor’s fault.  Sure.  I thought we left him for dead.  You can’t blame dead people, dearest.”

She shuddered at his sharp tone, and he huffed and continued to pull her along.

“Please let me go,” she pleaded.

“I can’t do that.  They want us back.”

“Wh-who?”

He was silent.  “Tell me!”  She tried to break away from his grip, but he twisted her arm, and she cried out in pain.

“Just be quiet and come with me, okay?”

Miah bit back a sob and followed, bitter regret almost choking her. This was not how it was supposed to go. I was supposed to go home. Connor was supposed to fix everything.

The road was slippery, and she almost fell. Ben jerked her up, and she knew her arm would be bruised later. What on earth happened to him?  He was…he used to be…

And then it hit her.

Their ‘experiment.’  He was comatose for days and I had forgotten?  Of course.  This was the disastrous result.  My best friend's turned into a monster.

But what if he could be turned back? What if she could change him?

Of course not.

Episode 62

Nightmares raked through Miah’s sleep, the flashing memories and lingering anxieties bringing her to tears.  She was flying, she was diving, she was struggling, she was dying.  Imaginations of her half-crazed mind drove her to the edge and back again, a tug of war between sanity and what she dared not admit to herself.

Suddenly she woke with a shock; a stream of freezing cold rainwater had blown in from the outside and onto her feet.  She sat up quickly with a shudder and pulled herself further from the opening, forcing herself to breathe.  Her dreams came back to memory, and she shivered and held her head, huddling in the dark corner.

Did I do the right thing in leaving?  What if Ben really isn’t as bad as Connor said he was?  What if Connor was lying?  What am I going to do?

She tried not to think about it.  I can’t do much right now with the rain anyway.  Miah looked around her.  Rain still fell in sheets outside, the wind blowing it across her view and threatening to blow it her way.  She looked around the cave, something disturbing her thoughts, but she couldn’t figure out what was wrong.

Suddenly she realized that Connor was nowhere to be seen.

“Connor?” she called out, pushing herself to her feet.  He’s not here!! Where did he go??  She stumbled out to the roadside, screaming into the rain, “CONNOR?!?”

Episode 61

Connor lay propped up against the cliff wall staring out at the steady rain.  The overhang of the cliff kept the droplets from coming in, but it couldn't keep out the cold.  Miah had fallen asleep almost instantly, and he had decided to keep watch in case either Ben or any of their enemy’s men should come upon them in the dark.

The rain was soothing, its lulling rhythm tempting him to doze.  Connor blinked when he found his eyelids closing.  He yawned and repositioned himself, wincing at the pain in his side, and then settled back down, scratching his head.

He looked over at Miah.  It was dark, but he could make out her form lying against the wall a few feet away from him.  Connor sighed, resting his elbows on his knees and leaning his head back against the cliff wall, looking up.

She wanted to go home; he could understand that.   But could things ever be the way they were before?  Surely she knew they could not.  She could try to reacclimate to her previous life, but there were so many things that had changed, not only emotionally, but physically.  She had metal legs, for crying out loud.  How much more non-human could she get, besides adding a few more metal parts?  If I were her, I'd run away and join a group of people like me somewhere.  But she obviously can't cope on her own, she needs to have someone to hold onto.

How am I going to do this?

Episode 60

Gail sat in the cold, dark room, curled into a ball.  The only light came from a tall window and let in cold streams of moonlight, slithering across the cement floor as the night wore on.  The hard words echoed in her head, and painful tears sprung into her eyes as she remembered——no, she must not think of that. It had never been like this before.  It had always been bearable; she had only wanted to escape because she believed it to be wrong.

But now, she had fear.  That was different.

At any moment, she might hear footsteps at her door; she shuddered at the thought of what more they might do.  She buried her head in her arms, her heartbeat a faint flutter inside her.

It was all wrong.  So very, very wrong.

They wanted their experiment back, though.  And they wanted her to do it for them.  She had to stop herself from wondering if it would be worth it to just hand him over.  She sat up straight and stared at the wall.

Has it come to this?  Doubting whether I should be faithful to my friends?  

I have got to get away from here.

But she was completely helpless, her situation utterly hopeless, her jailers heartless, and her time was running out.  

Episode 59

The two of them slowly walked down the road.  Connor didn’t know exactly where he would go, only that right now, putting more distance between them and Ben was a higher priority than pure direction.

The moon rose over them, and a calm breeze blew through the trees as they walked down the shoulder of the highway. Slowly, it strengthened into a steady wind, causing Miah to pull her hair back from her face.  “Do you think it’s going to rain?” she asked.

“I hope not…” Connor looked around at the gathering clouds.  It was slippery enough on the steep parts of the road without rain to make it all worse.  “If it does start to rain, we’ll have to get under cover of some kind…”

“Yeah…” Miah shivered.

“You know,” Connor thought aloud, “you’d think we’d have passed a gas station by now or something.”

“We’re going the opposite direction. We’ve already passed this—”

“Yeah, I know, but in going the other direction, shouldn’t we have found one?  It seems like we’ve gone so far…”  In looking down, Connor's bangs blew into his face, so he looked up.

Miah sighed.  “We walked about four or five hours before…there just aren’t as many gas stations around here.”

Connor let out an exasperated breath, and looked over at the side of the road close to the mountain.  “Well, over there, part of the cliff hangs over.  That’ll be the best cover we're going to find out here.”

“Okay.”

Episode 58

It was dark when Miah opened her eyes.   Her eyes widened, and she was afraid to move at first—where was she?  She felt grass at her fingertips, and she grit her teeth.

She sat up quickly, suddenly realizing how long she had slept.  Looking around at the road at the edge of the woods and beside a cliff of a mountain, her quick breaths slowed.  The panic dissolved as she looked around at the quiet landscape and sighed.

Ben lay a few feet from her, the moonlight casting dark shadows on his face.  She hugged her knees and looked up at the sky, feeling cold and alone.  It wasn't cold enough to shiver, but cold enough to want to.  She could see her breath on the air, and she stood slowly and quietly, making sure not to wake Ben.   Maybe if she took a walk it would help warm her up.  She wasn't going anywhere, and she wasn't leaving, she was just walking.

There were no clouds, and the chilly air was crystal clear.  Without city lights to block them out, she could see billions of stars in the sky.  It was as if she could feel the world spinning, and the starry sky whirling above her head.  As she walked along the road, she looked up in awe.  The quarter moon shone over the treetops, and she thought she saw a shooting star.

It was then she heard footsteps.  For a second she thought it was Ben, coming to look for her.  A small sliver of fear stabbed at her mind, and the pain in her head made her twitch.  But the footsteps were coming from the other direction.  She turned to see who it was and took a step backward.  

“Miah?” his hoarse voice cracked.

He looked like he was about to fall over, and Miah rushed over to him and took his arm.  “Connor, how did you…”  She was speechless.

“I couldn’t just leave you.”

“I…” I left him, she thought.

“Miah…” He sighed and looked up the road.  “Why did you follow Ben?”

Her eyes glistened and she looked down, slowly releasing his arm.  “I couldn’t just leave him.”

Connor put his hand on her shoulder and she looked up, fighting tears.  “But—surely you can see that his plans can only end in disaster—surely you don’t think he’s right?  Even if you do love him.”

A sob slipped out and she covered her mouth, turning away.

“So you do love him?”  Connor didn't seem to feel betrayed, or shocked, or angry.  It was something deeper: disappointment, or realization.  She could feel the bitter taste of resentment in her mouth.

“Connor, I—” she halted.  “I did……and I feel like…I think……I don’t know…”  A tear ran down her cheek, and Connor reached to wipe it away.  She froze as his finger brushed her cheek and blinked as his hand lingered.  She didn't know why, but it hurt.  

She looked up at his face, lit up in the moonlight, and realized she wasn’t breathing.  She took air in and tried to remember what he had asked.  If she’d answered.  He stepped forward and a strand of hair fell into his eyes, a black shadow on his forehead.  She whispered, for no other sound would come, “I was afraid.”

“Afraid?”  

She could see his breath in the cold air, and as she let hers out, her breath met his between them.  She nodded, and looked down.  “He’s……I couldn’t just leave him…”  The tears welled up in her eyes and she let them fall.  The time for holding back was gone.  There was room only for her guilt.

He dropped his hand to her shoulder and tried to look into her eyes.  “Miah…” he sighed, “why do you do this to yourself?  Why don’t you just walk away?”  She shook her head, trying to speak past the lump in her throat.  He sighed and brushed the hair from his face, dropping his hand to his side and biting his lip.  “You could walk away right now.”

“I wouldn’t get far.  He’d probably see I was gone and go looking for me.”

“You’d get further than I could get, like this.”

“Like…” Miah looked at his other arm still holding his side.  He’d walked this whole way like that, for her.  She bit her lip, hard.

“Miah, come with me. You could be free—”

“Connor, I—”

“…You wouldn't go back to him, would you?” He tried to see her face, his hand on her shoulder again.

“I’m tired of running…  I just want to go home.”  Tears filled her eyes again.  Home, where everything was perfect…I just want to go back and forget all of this.

Connor sighed, putting his arms around her.  “I’ll bring you home.”

Episode 57

It was growing dark as they walked, and it felt like someone was trying to saw Miah’s head in two.  She was so tired; she held onto Ben’s arm as he plodded on, his eyes on the road ahead.  She hoped with all her heart that this would be worth it.  Nothing seemed to make sense, and with her head split in two, she couldn't afford a heart that way, too.  So she stuck with him.

“We should reach a city soon,” he panted, and Miah sighed.

“I hope so…” She tripped on a rock and grabbed at Ben’s arm to stop herself from falling, and he stopped.

“Let’s take a break for a minute,” he muttered, and they sat down.

Miah fell wordless onto the grass and laid back, holding her head and breathing slowly.  She closed her eyes, trying to escape the pain in her head.

“Just a quick rest,” Ben sighed, leaning back.

Episode 56

They walked around the bend in the road and out of sight.  Connor looked at the ground and took a step forward.  The pain in his gut stabbed him again and he tensed, falling to his knees.  He took his hand from his side and stared at the blood dripping from his fingers.  His stomach churned and he held his side again, getting back on his feet.  The world was fuzzy for a moment, and he almost fell over again, but he stood and looked ahead.  His vision seemed cloudy; he blinked and stared at the place where she had disappeared.

Why is she doing this?  Why doesn’t she just be rid of him?  How could she love him after what he’s done?  He doesn’t even seem sorry.  All he cares about is himself.  She must be going crazy.

But should I go on?  Is it worth it?  Could I convince her?  I could go back.

He stood undecided as he stared at the bend in the road.  “No,” he said aloud, “I’ve got to go after her.”

Connor took another painful step forward, biting his tongue, and then another step, and another; he kept his eyes on the road ahead and didn’t look back.

I’m coming for you, Miah.

Episode 55

“Okay,” Miah sighed, “Let’s just stop—please.”

Connor looked at Ben, expecting him to give in.  Ben looked at Miah with a decided expression. “So you’ll come with me?”

She nodded, and looked down.  Connor gaped at her, and as Ben helped her to her feet, he stammered, “But—but this is crazy! Miah, can’t you see? Don’t you—”

She looked away, and the two of them started walking down the road.

“Come on! Someone, listen to me! You’re—” He sighed, exasperated.  He stood slowly and clutched his side, and bit his tongue to keep from screaming in pain. “Get back here,” he growled, and Miah almost stopped.  Ben pulled her along, though, taking hold of her arm.  She turned to look back, and held Connor’s gaze for one moment: in her eyes he saw her desperation, in her tears he saw her defeat, and he watched in shock as the two of them left him there alone.

Episode 54

Connor was in a swirling mist; the shadows and shapes were blurry and he couldn’t figure out which way was up.  He felt like he was falling, but he could feel the ground at his back—or was it a wall?  He couldn’t close his eyes.  It was so dark.

Something grabbed at him from out of the darkness, and he struck out with a punch, pushing it back.  His fist connected and it shrank back.

Light was coming.

A burning light was beyond his eyelids; he shielded his eyes with his arm and opened them.

Connor was lying on the ground, with someone coughing next to him.  He started to sit up, but pain shot through his side and he fell back with a groan and closed his eyes again, wincing.

His eyes wouldn’t obey him.  He couldn’t focus, and all he wanted to do was close them and sleep again to escape the pain.

“Ow…” came Miah’s voice, and he thought she was crying.  Had he hit her?

He opened his eyes and looked at her, and saw that she was rubbing her shoulder.  She coughed, “You sure pack quite a punch, Connor…”

He opened his mouth to apologize but his lips cracked and his voice wouldn’t cooperate.  Connor blinked to clear his vision and saw Ben with a hand on Miah’s shoulder.  Something sank inside him, seeing him, but he closed his eyes.  Does she deserve him? the voice echoed in his head.  He pushed it away.  I don't need to think about that right now.

“Hi.”  His was mouth dry.  He licked his lips, and looked around.  “Is there any water?”

Miah shook her head, and looked up and down the road.  “We haven’t seen a car come by in hours, and there’s no water or food.”

“But we have a plan,” Ben quipped.

“You have a plan,” he parried.

Ben glared at Connor, and he glared back.  “The plan is all in our best interests,” Ben explained, “and it’ll get us back to where we need to be.”

Connor looked at Miah’s worried face and wondered if it was in here best interest.  Or if she was interested at all.  “And where is that?”

He circled Connor, hands clasped behind his back as he spoke. “They obviously took Gail.  We need to find where they are in order to attack and destroy their research and cripple their progress, and we can rescue her at the same time.”

“But what about me?” Miah cried. “What could I possibly do in a fight?”

“I don’t know,” Ben admitted.

“She couldn’t do anything, Ben.”

“But we would need someone to find Gail,” Ben added.

“Just take her out of the equation, Ben—she doesn’t want to be in this anymore.”

“But…” Miah stalled.

“But what?”  Ben watched her face.  Connor found the look threatening.

Miah looked down.  “Can’t we just all go home?  Let the police deal with this.”  She looked at Connor, and he felt it was because she couldn’t stand to look at the one she was really speaking to.  “I mean, come on.  That’s what you all should have done in the first place.  I don’t want myself or either of you to almost get killed again.  Let’s just all go home; please.”

Connor sighed.  He pushed himself up slowly and sat facing Miah.  He was about to agree when Ben stomped his foot.

“No!  We can’t.  Miah, you don’t understand…  You see sometimes, you have to fight to fix what you know is wrong—this is our battle.  We started this.”

“Ben, I think she’s right,” he said warily.

He spun around and shouted to the nowhere surrounding them, “Is anyone here listening to me?”

Miah bit her lip and looked down, swallowing.  Connor knew she was going to fall apart.  “Ben, this isn’t about you.”

“Well it sure well isn’t about you, Connor,” he spat, turning to him.

He bit back the urge to hit him.  “It's about those freaks out there who thought they could trap us and use us for their experiments—they treated us no better than lab rats!  We tried to go up against them and only narrowly escaped.  And then they came after us while we were helplessly lost.  Ben, you’re a fool for thinking we could stand up to them.  The last time you tried that you were captured.   Don’t do it again. Miah’s right.  We should just leave this to the cops.”

Ben turned his back and stared out at the mountains and the valley.  “That won’t work, Connor.”  Turning to face them he stared at him.  “Are you for me or against me?”

Episode 53

They sat by the roadside until midday, and still Connor had not woken.  Smoke still covered the sky, black from the wet foliage that had burned.

“What do we do if no cars come by?” Miah asked Ben, watching Connor sadly.

Ben sat up from where he had been lying down out of boredom.  “Start walking, I guess…follow the road…hope we find a town or a phone or something…”

“Hmm…”  Miah's thoughts were a world away, and Ben's voice continued in the back of her consciousness.

He was still breathing; he was alive, but they needed to get him to a hospital, fast.  A gun wound wouldn't heal on its own, that she knew.  It would only get worse out in the open like this, too.  It would only be a matter of time before infection grew on the wound and spread to the rest of the body, taking its toll within days if the wound was bad enough.

They sat there by the edge of the road for ten more minutes, watching both directions.  When no cars came, Miah sighed and lay back in the grass, looking up at the sky.  She blinked as ash fluttered down, and Ben watched her.

She opened her eyes and looked at him. “What?”

He looked down, and then looked back at the road.  Miah crossed her arms and sighed.  

Episode 52

Ben was very quiet.

As they sat, Miah watched as he stared into the forest.  Usually, in such an awkward silence, he would be trying to fill it with whatever he could.  Miah was almost never driven to the point of having to find a subject.

Miah jumped, startled, when Ben suddenly turned at the sound of a bird screeching and flapping up out of the trees.  He settled back down and cracked his neck, letting out his breath.

“You okay?” she asked, and he shook his head as if to shake away his thoughts.

“Mm.”

She had been wondering for a while, so she offered a question, “What happened after I went back for Connor?”

He looked at her, as if seeing her for the first time, and then sighed, “Well…”  He looked down at his jeans, dusty and torn.  He took a breath and shifted his position.  “They came after me.  Two or three men that I’d seen before at their headquarters…I turned around and they were there. We fought, and I managed to take one of their guns…”

Ben paused, looking away, and Miah questioned, “And…”

“I got away,” he muttered.

The way he wouldn’t look her in the eye or say it very loud made her doubt he was telling the truth.

She started to ask, “You g—”

He shot her a warning glance, and she stopped and looked down.  What really happened?

Episode 51

“Miah—Miah, wake up! Miah!”

She didn’t want to open her eyes, and she groaned as someone shook her by the shoulders.  “Leave me alone,” she murmured, and the person patted her face.

“Wake up!”

Miah opened her eyes, glaring at Ben.  “Sorry, you just needed to wake up.”  Miah rolled her eyes sleepily and pushed herself into a sitting position to look around.

Connor lay where she had seen him last, pale and still.  She remembered the darkness the night before, and the smoke in her eyes...

“Is he okay?” she asked, crawling over to his side.

Ben shrugged, “He looks dead.”

She shot him an angry look, and he put his hands up.  “Just saying.”

“Don’t say that,” she snapped as she tried to feel for his pulse.  After a few tries, she found she could feel a steady beat, if slow.  “He’s alive,” she sighed.

Ben looked around at the road. “Have you seen any cars go by?” he asked.

“No,” Miah shook her head.  Looking over at him, she asked, “Do you think we should try walking further up the road?”

“With Connor?”

She looked down at him.  “Well, it’s not like we could leave him here…we’ll just have to wait for a car to come by, I suppose.”

Ben sighed. “Okay.”

So they waited.

Episode 50

Somehow, flames lit up the forest and smoke stung Miah’s eyes.  She coughed, screaming Connor’s name as she ran, stumbling but not falling.

 

“Miah!!!” she heard a voice scream.  

“Connor?” she yelled back, wiping her eyes.

“Miah!”

She ran toward the voice, and found Connor lying slumped against a tree.  Her heart skipped a beat.  Her eyes widened and she stumbled to his side.

“Connor?” she choked, and stared at his shirt.  It was soaked with blood.  His chest heaved with each breath, as if from either great effort or great pain.  He clutched his side, and his other arm hung motionless along the dusty ground.

He lifted his head, and the flames behind her burned in his eyes.  “Miah.  What are you doing here?” he rasped, and reached his bloodied hand out to her arm.

She flinched at the touch, and he drew back with a pained expression, closing his eyes and breathing with effort.

“Connor…” She blinked away tears, angry at herself for them.  Ben's words played in her head: 'He’s not who you think he is.'  Bitterly she looked at Connor, who was struggling to push himself into a better position.  Who is he, anyway?

Connor blinked and lifted his arm to rub at his eyes.  “You have to get away from here…they’re looking for you…”

Miah swallowed.  “I can’t leave you.  You can't get out of here alone, and the forest is burning.”

“Miah—” he choked, and caught his breath— “I’m gone!  Don’t waste your time on me!  I'm not worth saving.  Get yourself out of here at least.”  He shut his eyes, swallowing hard.

She sniffed through unbidden tears and took his arm, pulling him up as gently as she could.  “Come on, I’ve gotta get you out of here.  Come on.”

Connor, the shock of his wound worse than the wound itself, fought her at first; but, finding he had the strength to walk, let her lift him from his position.

Miah put his arm around her shoulder and pulled him up, and he could at least support himself with his legs.  She caught her breath and stood for a moment; spots flickered before her eyes and she twitched.

“You got me?”

Miah waited for a moment, and then the black spots faded.  She nodded, and whispered, “I’ve got you.”

Through the burning forest, they made their way toward the crevice and followed it from a safe distance.  Connor coughed once, but his eyes remained open, and Miah had hope that they would make it out alive.

After a few minutes, she paused to take a breath, lowering Connor to his knees, and sitting there beside him.  She watched him, should he need more support.  “I hope Ben waited for me…He’s probably around here somewhere…”

Connor nodded, and then asked, “Why didn’t he come with you?”

She sighed, “I don’t know…I don’t know.”

With a cough, Connor looked ahead at the darkness.

“Yeah, we should keep going,” Miah nodded, and turned to him.  “You doing okay?”

He breathed deeply and shrugged a bit.  “I’m...well, I’m trying to ignore the pain…”

She sighed, looking around at the smoke rising to the sky.  “Why'd they have to set the forest on fire?” she asked.

Connor's eyes were closing and his head nodded.

“Come on, we've got to go.”  She started to help him stand again.

Connor shook his head at her attempt and spoke.  “You don’t have to, you know.  You could just leave me here.”

He looked serious, which frightened her.

Miah stared at him. “Of course not!  I won’t leave you.  What kind of person would I be then?”

“Really…I want you to be able to get out of here alive…I might not even survive this bullet anyway…”  Connor looked down to where he held his skin and bones together and at the large amount of blood he had already lost.

Miah shivered.  “Don’t say things like that.  I can do it; of course I'm going to get you out of here.” Straining with effort, she continued on, with Connor trying to lift himself up as much as he could.

When they reached the edge of the forest, Miah suddenly stumbled through a clump of bushes and into a wide open space.  It was a road!  Miah tripped in her surprise and fell to her knees, and Connor groaned as he fell.  “No!” Miah gasped, panting and trying to help him up.

“It’s okay, Miah…”  He sighed and lay on his back, closing his eyes.

“We made it to a road.”  Breathing heavily, she collapsed beside him and he looked over.

“You did good…Thanks for getting me out of there.”  He smiled the best he could, and Miah looked at his shirt.

“You gonna be okay?” she asked, worried.

He smiled, and the dying embers of the fire cast shadows on their faces.  As he closed his eyes, Miah looked up at the sky.  The stars were disappearing, and morning was coming.

Ashes drifted down from the sky, and she closed her eyes and listened to the wind.

Episode 49

Connor heard a twig snap and his eyes snapped open.  Sitting up slowly, he saw that Gail was not where she had been; he stood and looked toward the tree where Ben and Miah had been.



Miah felt Ben shaking her awake.  “Miah, we have to go, now!!”

“What—what is it?”  He was pulling her, and she got to her feet.  “Ben, wait—”

“Just run!!”

She clung to his arm, and he pulled her along, running a bit closer to the gaping crevice than she would have liked.  She heard gunshots in the distance, coming closer.

And then it hit her.

“How did they find us?” she gasped.

“I have no idea.  But Connor’s gone after them—we have to get away, now while we have the chance!”

“Connor’s back there?!?”  She stopped, and Ben stumbled to a halt.  “We have to help him!!”  She ran back as best as she could, driven more through fear than courage.

“Miah!!  You can’t go back, you’ll get killed!” Ben shouted back at her.

“Do you want Connor to be?”  She looked back, and in the approaching dawn she could make out Ben’s frustrated face.

“He can handle them.  You can’t. Please, he’s holding them back for you!  Don’t go back, Miah!”  He ran to her, his eyes pleading.  “Please.”

Staring at him, she shook her head.  “No.”

She turned to go, but Ben grabbed her wrist.  “Miah.  Forget him.  He’s not who you think he is—”

Miah twisted away, crying, “He’s more than you think!”

“Miah!” he screamed, clutching his head in his hands.

Episode 48

Connor mumbled in his sleep, his words incoherent, his occasional wild movement speaking of some terrible nightmare.  Gail shuddered and scooted even further away from him.  Ever since she had been lured from her little life as a sophomore in college, she had been forced into close proximity of people she barely knew.

She sat with her elbows on her knees against the tree, and then finally stood, walking into the moonlight where the stars were visible.  The air was clearer here than in the city, and she took a deep breath.

It was cold in the open, so she walked by a thick growth of trees further away from the crevice where Miah had fallen.  She needed to think and to clear her mind.

Something didn’t seem right.

She paused for a moment, listening, but could hear no unfamiliar sounds.  She inhaled, and then thought she smelled cigarette smoke.  Gail froze.  She backed into the shadow of a nearby tree, stricken with fear.

Someone was following them.

She turned to hurry back to the others, to warn Connor and Ben, but then she stopped.  They weren’t after her; they were after Ben and Connor, and maybe Miah.  She decided to wait and watch.

Episode 47

Something woke him in the night, a noise or sense of movement, and Ben felt for Miah's hand.  It was cold.

He froze.  He heard whispers, voices in the darkness, and as he tried to find her pulse, frantically searching her wrist for a beat, something brushed past his face.  He gasped and shrunk back.  Hideous laughter echoed through the trees, and the moon was shrouded in cloud.  

She wasn’t moving.  He tried to wake her, but she didn't move.  He put his hand before her lips, but could feel no trace of a breath.

“Miah, don’t do this to me—Miah—”

He couldn’t feel her breathing.  She had no pulse.  She was cold, and she wasn’t moving.  Ben screamed, “NO!!”



Ben woke from his sleep in a cold sweat, heart beating fast, eyes wide open.  Was it a dream?  Please let it be a dream…  He reached for her hand, and felt her faintly squeeze it back.  With a sigh of relief, he strained to see her face in the darkness.

“Ben, are you okay?” she murmured, rubbing her eyes.

“I’m fine....How are you feeling?”

“Well…” She tried to sit up, but then sank back, sucking in a quick breath, “my head hurts…”

“Yeah…just lie down for awhile, you’ll be okay.” He smiled.

“What time is it?” she asked, trying to find her watch.

“It's early.  I’ve been awake for hours, just drifted off there for a few minutes.  But I’m never falling asleep again,” he laughed bitterly.

She sighed. “It happened so fast…I couldn’t keep my balance anymore and I just…”

He shook his head, “It’s alright, I understand.  I’m so sorry…”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

“But I was arguing with Connor—”

“That didn’t make me fall.”

“We all should have been more careful around the edge; if we had, we’d have noticed you about to fall and helped you…Gail was distracted…”

“Don’t blame yourself, Ben.”  Miah closed her eyes, drifting off again.

Ben sighed.  He looked out at the threatening crack in the skin of the earth and rubbed at his eyes.  He looked back at Miah's sleeping form and whispered, “I just want you to be safe.”

What a horrible job he’d done so far.

Episode 46

Miah bit her lip and closed her eyes, and blinked when she found Ben beside her.

“Can you stand?” he asked, clinging to a nearby rotten log and looking down the crevice.

“I don’t want to fall—but...I think I can...” She reached out for his hand and he took hers, steadying himself as she found her balance.

He looked up at the edge where Gail and Connor leaned over, and then backward at the crack.  “Okay…Can you climb up to that log there?” he pointed.

Miah looked, and then nodded hesitantly.  He helped push her feet up further so that she could grab a hold of it and pull herself up higher. “That’s it.”  He pointed to another foothold, and she climbed up further. He climbed after her, and she soon found another handhold, slowly pulling herself up toward the edge.

But when she was eight feet from the top, she couldn’t figure out how to get up. “What do I do now?”

“Here, can you reach my hand?” Connor reached down.

Gail bit her lip. “Careful—”

Miah reached up, almost fell back, and clung to the cliff side in terror. “I can’t reach—”

“Gail, hold onto my feet.” Connor lowered himself over the edge even further, and Gail gasped and grabbed his legs.

“Connor!” Miah cried, reaching as far as she could.

He grabbed hold of Miah’s arms.  “I’ve got her! Pull me up!”

Gail pulled as hard as she could, and Connor struggled to keep hold of Miah.

“Don’t drop me!” she cried, holding on as tight as she could.

Pulling her over the edge, Connor gasped, “Alright, let go.”

They stood, and helped Miah to her feet. There were black specks before her eyes, and she blinked.  They wouldn’t go away, and she swayed, unbalanced; Gail took her arm and steadied her. Ben clambered over the edge, and put a hand on her shoulder.  “You okay?”

She touched the back of her head gingerly and brought her hand back, covered in blood. “Ben…” She gaped at her trembling hand.

He grit his teeth and said, “Lay down.  Lay down on the grass.”

Gail covered her mouth as she saw the trickle of blood running down Miah’s neck.  Ben pulled his shirt off, putting it under her head and holding it there.  “I’m so sorry…”

Miah found tears in her eyes, and it only clouded her vision further.  His eyes spoke sorrow, and she blinked to keep hers open.  He kept his gaze locked on hers to keep her eyes open and held the cloth to her head to stop the bleeding.

She couldn’t feel the ground beneath her; she put a hand out to feel the grass.  “I feel like I’m still falling,” she whispered.  “I’m falling.”

“No,” Ben pulled her close, gently, “you’re not falling, see.”  He smoothed her hair from her face. “You’re here, you’re safe. I won’t let you go.”  He held her tight, and she closed her eyes, but the black specks remained.  She shivered, taking a shuddering breath.

“Just keep breathing…keep breathing...” He closed his eyes tightly and whispered, “Please don’t have anything wrong with you, please don’t…”

She gulped in air, and he held her tighter.  “Don’t die, Miah.”

Miah sobbed and felt the darkness overcoming her vision. “I can’t see—”

Barely able to see himself through the tears blurring his vision, Ben lifted her from the ground and walked to the shelter of a tree where the pine needles made a soft bed.  He lay her down and tied the cloth around her head.  “Please be okay…please be okay…”

Miah sighed and closed her eyes, slowly falling asleep.  Ben sobbed into his hands, cursing himself for his lack of attention, his selfishness, his pride; as the day grew dark, he sat by her side, waiting for her to open her eyes.

Gail and Connor sat a distance away, knowing neither of them could truly do anything.  Connor blamed Ben in his heart for the whole misadventure, and for a second wished Miah would die, if only to punish him. But at the horrible thought of Miah’s death, he took it back, clenching his fists.  It wasn’t fair.  It wasn’t fair.

“Don’t die,” he whispered, and Gail looked up from where she sat staring at the ground.

“There’s nothing we can do now but wait,” she said to Connor, wiping her eyes. “And pray.”

The night closed in on them all, and Connor promised God he would do anything if only Miah could live.

And then all was dark.

Episode 45

“Miah!!!” Ben screamed, scrambling to climb down into the crevice, but Connor pulled him back, gripping his arm.

“Ben! Stop!”

“Let me go!” He struggled, and almost pulled Connor over the edge.  Gail screamed and pulled them back, and they all collapsed in a pile.

“Wait—” Connor panted, pushing himself into a sitting position— “we need to think this through.”

“Miah, are you okay?” Gail cried out, looking over the edge, biting her lip in fear.

She didn’t respond.

She looked to be about twenty feet down, and Gail saw that her head was bleeding.  “Oh dear God…please let her be okay…” Gail choked down a sob and put her hand over her mouth.

Ben leaned over the edge and clenched his fists.  “If only we had a rope…you could lower me down, I could get her and you could pull me back up…”

“Well, could we find a vine or something?” Gail asked.

Connor looked around and sighed, “There aren’t any vines in a pine forest, though.”

“But what if we could climb down and back out?”

“Carrying her? I think not.”

“But we have to try—unless you can think of something else.”

“Miah!!” Gail cried, and the three watched breathless.  Miah moved her hand, and her eyelids fluttered.

“Miah!  Don’t move—” Connor called, putting a hand out as if to stop her.  “You’re on the edge.”

She opened her eyes and turned her head to them, and then gasped, putting her arms out to feel her position. When a hand touched only empty space, her eyes widened and she almost lost her balance.  “Guys...”

“Don’t move! We’ll get you out!” Ben called, and slowly lowered himself over the edge to the gravel and dirt below.  He started to slide, but Connor grabbed his hand.

“Be careful,” he cautioned, and Ben nodded with a gulp.

Episode 44

Connor groaned.  “We can’t.  There’s no way.”

“Surely there must be some way—”  Gail protested.

“We’re trapped on this side!  It’s impossible.”

“We could try to find a log that spans the gap,” Ben spoke out.  “We could drag it over and push it onto the other side, or find a dead tree close to the edge that we could push over.  It'd be easy; even a kid could do it.”

“It wouldn't be easy, there's no trees around here.  They thin out in the valley.  We'd have to drag it from way up there,” Connor pointed back to the mountain, thick with pines.

“No,” Ben continued, shifting his feet, “but if we went along the fault here we could find a tree closer to it, see?”  Ben raised an eyebrow at Connor, sure that he wasn't understanding.

Connor huffed, “We can’t.  It's not possible.  We need to figure something else out, Ben.”

Ben illustrated his statements with big arm movements, overexaggerating his facial expressions.  “There are trees near the fault, though, because how would ones have fallen in?  Just find a tree next to it!  Gosh!”

“Where would we find one of those?”  Connor demanded, hands on his hips and temper officially lost.  “I’ve had enough of your smart comments.  Stop talking to me like I was stupid enough to be responsible for this whole mess.”

Ben clenched his teeth and turned to the fault, staring down into its depths. “This is not my fault.”

“Yes, it is, Ben!  If you hadn’t insisted on seeing Miah, she never would have gotten sucked into this, and our cover wouldn’t have been blown.  It’s your own selfish fault for not thinking that they would target her, too!  You never think about anyone but yourself!” he shouted, pulling Ben to face him.

“That’s a lie!” he yelled into Connor's face.

Gail’s hesitant voice sliced into the tension. “Guys—”

“You had to drag her along with you, bringing her even deeper into trouble everywhere you went!”

“You let yourself get caught, and wrecked the car, twice!  You never think before you do things!”

“Guys!!” Gail shouted, “Where’s Miah?” Suddenly everyone panicked.

Ben froze.  Connor gasped, looking around.  “She’s not here!”

Ben grabbed Gail’s arm.  “Did you see her? Where is she?”

“I—I helped her over to the edge where we all were, and I don’t know what happened—we have to find her!!”

Connor ran to where she had been standing, looking down into the ravine.  Ben ran to his side and looked over.  “This is all your fault!!” Connor hissed, clenching his fist.

Ben bit his tongue and looked over the edge.

“Oh my gosh—oh—oh, I can see her!” Gail cried, pointing down at something in the clods of dirt below where they stood.  They could barely make it out, but it was Miah: unmoving, white as a ghost.

Episode 43

At about noon, Miah thought her head was going to split.  The pounding, pounding, pounding of her legs against the ground was like a hammer in her head, crunching her brain stem and traveling up and down her spine to torture the nerves at her every move.

She stumbled to a tree and leaned against it, trying to catch her breath.  They’d been going at a relatively slow pace, but she was still out of breath and could not go on.  Her legs didn't ache at all: and she would rather that be the case than for this painful outcome.

“Are you okay?” Gail asked, walking up to her.

Miah nodded, took a deep breath, and looked around. As Ben walked over, she asked, her voice low, “How much longer do we have to go?”

Ben gestured toward the gap they were heading for and sighed, “We can't stop now.  You can make it, anyone could walk this distance in a day.  But we can't keep stopping like this.”

Miah was too overcome to protest, and held her head as she leaned against the tree.  Gail glared at Ben. “Do you have any idea what she—”

“You think I don't understand?  You don't even know what your experiments did to me.  What they're still doing to me.”

Taking his arm and pulling him down to her height, she enunciated every word, “She went for two whole days with torn tendons, basically useless knees and ankles, and then she woke up with metal—”

Connor, who was ahead, turned and shouted back, “Hey, guys!  Come see this!”

Gail shot Ben an angry look and gently took Miah’s arm, guiding her over to where Connor stood.  

Ben rolled his eyes and walked up to them. “What is it? I…Oh.” 

They stared, eyes wide.

Before their feet was a seemingly bottomless fissure in the earth; a crack that ran as far as they could see, running into the mountains on either side of the valley.  It was far too wide to jump across and to attempt climbing down and out on the other side was unthinkable; sharp rocks and crumbling dirt were mixed with slippery, rotting tree trunks and splintered branches.

Gail looked at Connor.  “How are we going to get there now?”

Episode 42

When the ground began to level out, Ben had slowed down.  Surveying the mountains around, a bit of a plan was forming in his head.  He looked around at the thinning forest before them, and then looked back at the others.  He saw Miah standing directly behind him, looking around.  He blinked; she had walked up so quietly.

“Do you think we’re close?” she asked, scratching her arm.

Ben took a deep breath of the pine forest air and looked out at the mountains around the valley.  “Maybe.  But if a road cut through here, it would pass through that gap over there—” he pointed to a point where the mountains separated to reveal the clouded sky— “so we should head in more or less that direction.”

She nodded, looking around.  “And then what?”  He turned to her, and she looked down.  “Like…after we find the road, do we just…wait for someone to drive by?”

He looked back at the gap.  “We have to find a road first.”

Miah sighed. “Yes.”

Connor caught up with them, looking around at the mountains from their position.  “So, do we have our trajectory?”

Ben rolled his eyes at his vocabulary boasting long hours watching action movies and nodded toward the gap.  “Toward there—most likely place they’d build a road around here.  And if there isn’t a road, we’ll be able to get out of this valley through the gap.”

Connor nodded slowly, summing up the distance.  “We might run out of food by the time we’ve walked all that way.”

“Then let’s pray there’s a road,” Ben murmured.

Gail soon caught up with them, and they continued along the sloping valley floor, hoping they would find a road in time.

Episode 41

The next day, the four of them set off down the mountainside and into the valley.  Miah had woken up to find him sitting with his back to her on the other side of the fire, and when she'd stood and walked over beside him, he hadn't responded.  She'd looked around and had seen Gail opening the backpack and eating another granola bar, so she joined her.

The walk downhill wore on her after a time.  The pain wasn't in her legs, as it would have been if she had walked for hours downhill a week ago, but now, the pain was in the back of her head.  The walking was easy, but she felt like she was getting a migraine, and it could only go away if she stopped moving.  

Ben seemed changed somehow; Miah couldn’t tell how, but something was different.  When Connor fell into step beside her and said hi, she tried to smile.

“You doing okay?” he asked in a friendly, if slightly gruff, manner.

She shrugged and nodded.  “Besides…you know.”

He looked at her feet and gave a nod of understanding. “Yeah.”

They walked on in silence, picking their way down the slight slope.  He didn’t make any conversation, and Miah wanted to glare at him.  She felt positively hopeless, and the fact that no one had gotten much sleep the night before made finding someone to comfort her a useless attempt.

Gail kept to herself, staring down at her feet and stumbling occasionally.  Ben struck out ahead as if to get there first, wherever “there” was, or to show them which way to go; Miah could sense only spite in everything he did.

About eleven, the sun went behind some clouds, and Miah couldn’t help shivering.  Gail's sweater wasn't made for keeping the wind out, and it seemed as if every empty space in the knit fabric let in a cold blast of air.  She was hungry, she was tired, no one would talk to her, and she wished that none of this had ever happened.  She wanted to sit right down and refuse to move. She wanted to kick something.

But they had to keep walking if they were ever going to get help, upon which their survival depended.

Episode 40

Miah sat back against the tree, and Ben stood at the firelight’s edge, looking into the flames.  “What is it?” she asked, hugging her knees to her chest.

He looked at her, taking a breath, and then shook his head. “Nothing.  Just…tired, I guess.”

“That's the worst excuse in the world.  Tired could mean anything,” Miah smiled.

He sat down beside her, leaning his elbows on his knees and looking down.  “Well, I do feel a bit weird...just one of those things that passes.  Like an itch or something.”

“Ah.”  Miah bit her lip and looked out at the moon.

Ben sighed, “I’m fine...I'll be okay.” She nodded and looked up at him, and he looked down at her, his eyes changing from a troubled look to a small smile.  “I’m just worried, I guess,” he sighed, looking into the fire once more. “What if we never get out of here?  What will we do even if we do get out of here?”  He let out his breath and scratched his head.

Miah looked down. It seemed hopeless.  “I guess I thought...I thought that when you came back, everything would be better, that I would know what was going on, and that I wouldn't have to worry.”

Ben gave her a wry smile and shook his head.  “Sorry to disappoint you.”

She shrugged and looked out into the darkness.  “I’m scared, Ben.”

He took her hand and gave her fingers a squeeze.  “I know.  We'll get everything sorted out soon, though, okay?  I won’t leave you; don’t be afraid.”

He kissed her forehead, and she closed her eyes.  “I just want to be safe again.”

“I’ve got you, Miah.”  He looked up at the night sky.  “I’ve got you.”