Dimension Travelers

Chapter 39

After a two-hour nap, I can't sleep any more. I get up and watch everyone. Chloe, Firefly, and Jared are still asleep. I keep thinking about tomorrow. How on earth will we take out all those guards? There are only two of us on the ground. Chloe would be in the air, doing whatever she could. Jared would be inside, with his small army. Maybe he could come out to help us after a while...I thought. But, even with one more person, how would we ever get past the gate? Oh, Rick...You better have a good plan in mind. We need you. We had it all planned out. Now we were sure to be defeated. Well, it's more likely. We need a miracle here. We can't do this on our own. How did I not see this fatal flaw in our--my--plan?

I get up and take another look at the map for the tenth time. No matter how many times I look at it, there's no other way. I'm beginning to hate my own plan. I can't believe this is happening. I mean, only a few hours ago, everything was perfect. Now everything is in shambles. I could make a list:

1) Rick is gone

2) We don't have near enough manpower for the front gate

3) I still can't trust Firefly

4) Rick betrayed me--betrayed all of us

There. A list. Simple and deadly. Do things get worse before they get better? If so, I'm sick and tired of worse. We need some results here! But no, everything has to fall apart, right when it was starting to get better.

I have no idea what time it is. How will we know when noon would be tomorrow? For all I know, it could already be noon tomorrow! Calm down, you're overreacting, I tell myself, Rick will come through...he has to. Just because he has to, doesn't mean he will. I still trust him, despite everything that's happened. I don't know why, I just do.

As I'm hopelessly lost in my thoughts, Jared brings me back to reality:

"Still trying to find another way?" He asks.

My whole body tenses. I look up. "Oh...um, no, I'm not. I just...I thought that I missed something."

He laughs.

"How's that funny?" I ask.

"You sound like Rick. Always looking for another way when the only right path is right in front of him."

I turn away. "I guess we're more alike than I thought."

"In some ways."

Silence.

"You guys should leave if you're gonna attack from the outside." Jared says. "I'll give you the signal when it's all clear."

"Uh-huh. Got it." I say absentmindedly.

"Is something bothering you?"

"No. Nothing you would understand. No offense."

" 'Nothing you would understand'? What does that mean?"

"It means that, even if I did tell you, it wouldn't matter. I'll be fine."

He pauses. "If you say so."

"Would you mind waking Firefly and Chloe?"

"Sure."

I look at him. "We have a long ways to go."

He nods and wakes them up. We pack our stuff, sneak out of the castle, find a hiding place, and bunker down for the night--I should say day. We all know what to do. We all trust Jared. Even if no one else does, I still trust Rick. I mean, someone has to.

As we wait for the upcoming battle, something else happens. Storm clouds gather. I know they are storm clouds because they're much darker than the sky normally is. Within hours, thunder booms and lightning crackles above us. It's pouring outside. The wind is strong. We're still going to do this. I can fight, rain or shine; snow or sleet; hot or cold. No matter what. As we wait, I wonder how this will affect Chloe's ability to fight from the sky.