Kennedy Hoss of Musket

Chapter 19: Tracked and Stocked

Song: Black Fog

It feels like an eternity before my eyelids finally close, and I am staring at the back of Crow's head some feet away from me. On the roof of Ana's wooden house, a steady rain drums soothingly. I pull the covers tighter around me, curling up in a ball. If only Cat was here.

A knot grows in my stomach at the sudden remembrance of his name. Wherever he is, I hope he's alive. Safe, dry, and warm. I hope he's not alone. Somehow, I pray that he's not alone.

In the morning I unravel myself from the bundle of blankets and climb down the stairs of Ana's wooden house. Everything around me seems to be giving me the silent treatment, except for the distant rush of the river.

According to my shadow, it's ten in the morning. I stand there, in the dirt of Ana's Lot, breathing in the crisp morning air. My battery will probably need charging soon.

I walk through the forest to where the dirt turns into sand. The first thing that catches my eye is Rolfe and Buffy's canoe, leaning on its side forgotten in the sand. The glistening wood looks softer in the midmorning light, resembling the crown in a treasure chest of small golden coins.

I take a step towards the boat and am frightened to near death by the sound of a a quick, high-pitched beeping. I fly back, shocked fully awake by the sudden noise. Alarmed, I crash back through the bushes to where I find Ana removing the charred logs from the pit.

"Ana!" I run over to Ana's little house, "Crow! Come here!"

Crow's head rises in the window, and turns to look at me. He climbs down and I run back to where I heard the beeping.

"Here, I was about to walk over to the canoe and there was all this crazy beeping. It stopped when I ran to get you."

Ana walks over next to me, staring at the canoe. She walks right over to it, without setting off any beeping. She shrugs.

"Are you sure you heard beeping?" Ana asks, eyebrows raised.

I nod, and walk over to her. But before I can, I set off the beeping in the same place as before. I jump back, staring at Ana.

Ana walks back through the invisible trigger and shrugs.

"Hunter, come try this," she commands.

Crow groggily stumbles over and walks straight through the barrier without triggering any beeping.

I do a sort of hokey-pokey dance, trying to figure out why it was only me who set of the alarm. When I stick my left arm in, the beeping starts again.

"Are you wearing any jewelry?" Asks Ana. I shake my head no.

"It's my battery..."

Crow jumps forward, with wide eyes.

"Kennedy, I think you're being tracked."

As if on cue, my battery flashes red. The invisible barrier has drained it.

"What's going on, what's wrong with her wrist?" Ana is panicking, racing over to me.

"It's from this disease that we got that made it excruciating to move. Most people were cured but some people couldn't regain all their strength, so they had these little batteries put in their wrists to keep them strong. I'm one of the few people that were healed completely," Crow explains. Ana's eyes widen.

"What happens if the battery dies?"

"Pain," Crow replies quietly, "lots of pain."

An intense stinging feeling grows in my wrist, and I grab my forearm.