Everything Starts

CH: 20, HAZE

We traveled in silence, all afraid something would hear us. Adrian rode in the front, then Willa and George, then Zena and Fay, and finally me in the back. We didn't dare go faster than a trot. We tried to stay as soundless as possible but I was trying to avoid the inevitable and somehow thought the slower I went the farther the danger was.

I could tell when we reached the outer edges of Amberbell because the further we went the harder the ground became and the wind became cooler. I could hear Fay's teeth chattering. This is what the Collective told us was happening but it's always different when you see it with your own eyes.

I hadn't noticed the grass started changing colors until I realized I'd been looking down for a while, and when I looked back up most of the grass was a weird green-teal color and was spikey. The further we rode the righter the grass got and the fewer leaves the trees bore. Eventually, we were lucky to see a patch of grass that wasn't dead and a tree with even one leaf on it. There were no animals in sight. Not even birds. It was like they could sense the danger and escaped while they still could. I considered telling my friends to do the same but I couldn't leave them out here alone. We rode through an old deserted village when we stumbled upon a horrifying site. The buildings were frozen. Windows shattered. Trash everywhere. But the worst came when we were almost out of the village. There were people. They were frozen and completely blue but they were definitely people. Some even seemed to have their last breath frozen along with them. The atmosphere was a constant state of stillness. Coldness. Eeriness.

Adrian was the first who dared to speak and even then it was a low whisper that I could barely make out.

"I knew the frost was getting closer but I didn't know it was this close."

"How long do you think 'till it reaches Moonmore?" Zena asked, her grip still strong around Fay's torso.

"Two, three days at most. Good thing we left early. Who knows what could've happened if we'd waited any longer."

"Agreed," Wesley replied.

Wesley told me he still wanted to be friends and I guess that includes being buddy-buddy with Adrian but it's still weird to hear them agree on something.

"We should probably speed up. If there was something in the immediate area our talking would've alerted it so the sound from the horse's hooves shouldn't be a problem."

Adrian's response to my suggestion wasn't words but instead, he flicked the reins causing Butternut, the ginger-colored horse, to go faster. We followed suit. We fell silent again. I watched my surroundings and every time I heard even the faintest of noises my head snapped up. Somehow, George fell asleep and was leaning his head against Willa's shoulder while she took over the reins. We must've been traveling for a couple of hours by the time we saw the edge of land in the distance. The Collective forgot to mention how long the bridge would be.

"That's at least a mile, are you sure we can't take the horses?"

"Dude you were on the track team for five years, it's only a mile," George replied, giving Ethan a slap on the shoulder.

I think they kept talking about cross-country but I wasn't paying much attention.

"Do you think the horses will be okay?" I asked Adrian, running my fingers through Cupcake's maine.

"In all of our research the Kek hasn't seemed to have harmed animals, at least not intentionally so they should be okay here for a bit."

"Oh, ok."

"So where's this rock?" Fay asked.

"I think it's over here," Adrian pointed to the smallest patch of green grass with one stone atop it.