Dimension Travelers

Chapter 35

I'm speechless. It's not like we can read minds. But still...how'd she know that? I never told her. But she was right. I did fear that. Well, except for the whole Firefly-betrays-us-and-then-we-all-die part. Maybe Chloe knows me better than I do. That's just scary. Plain scary.

"Um...yeah. That's kind of it." I say, head still pounding with confusion.

"Kind of? What'd I miss?" Chloe asks, confused.

"I don't think we'll all die if she does." I lower my voice, "We could kill her any time now, if we wanted to. But we won't."

"I agree. And now I get why you were scared."

"I wasn't scared."

"Whatever you were, you thought that she was gonna betray us eventually, so you might as well keep an eye on her."

"Not exactly. I do need to keep an eye on her. But I'm not entirely sure she'll betray us. She's what you'd call a 'flight risk.' Something we can't ever leave unattended."

"Oh. Now I see."

"Are, like, psychic or something?"

"No."

Silence.

I don't normally indicate that I'm hurt, but this is just too much. Sharp pain shoots through me with every heartbeat. I grip the edge of the cot so hard I can't feel my hand. I close my eyes again. Why is this happening? Haven't I been through enough for one day? I can't take this anymore!

"Are you ok? What's going on?" Chloe's voice is distant.

"One...question at a time." I manage to say.

"What's going on?"

"With me?"

"Yes."

"The pain gets worse before it gets better."

"I wish there was something that I could do."

"Welcome to my world. I'd be happy to give you a tour." I open my eyes.

She smiles. "That's ok. I'll just do what I can."

"Which isn't much, if I'm not mistaken."

"But there is one thing I can tell."

"What...what's that?"

"You're tense. Too tense. Maybe stress is the cause of your headaches."

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"So, you are tense?"

"I don't know." The only thing I can feel right now is pain, not stress.

"Maybe you should rest. You know, as in sleep."

"How would sleep help?"

"I don't know."

I sigh. "Fine. I'll sleep. You've convinced me."

"Good."

I turn over on my side and close my eyes. My sleep is dreamless.

I wake up and see that everyone is studying the map and talking. I sit up. They're all bent over, looking for something. They don't notice me. I get up and hear them talking, discussing a plan:

"No, we need to go through the north entrance. It's faster." Rick says.

"But if we go there," Chloe says, "then we'll have to fight and kill all the guards. It's too risky."

"I keep telling you, take the southeast route." Jared says.

"But I keep telling you that if we go through the southeast entrance, it'll take way too long." Rick says.