Dimension Travelers

Chapter 42

Jared is surrounded. He's been fighting all day. He tried to look for Rick, but he disappeared. His small army was almost gone, but thanks to Rick's reinforcements, they were winning. He saw Firefly, or so she was called, a few minutes ago. She was an amazing fighter. But he snapped back into reality. He slashed the enemy soldier in front of him in the chest. The cut gushed blood and he fell to the ground. Note to self: avoid being cut in the chest, Jared thought. He ran onward, facing the enemy head on. He slashed, punched, kicked, dodged, and ran. He was on autopilot. He was about to assume that Rick was dead, when he saw him riding on his horse. But he wasn't in control of the reins. It was that redhead, Seth. They looked awful tired. He ran to them, while trying to find Firefly at the same time. It was no easy task. He searched, fought, and called her name:

"Firefly! Firefly, answer me!"

He called to her until his voice hurt. He was busy fighting a soldier when she appeared out of nowhere. She defeated the soldier for him and stared at him. She wasn't too badly injured, that he could tell. But, like all of them, she was soaked, muddy, and tired.

"You called?" She said with a smile.

He nodded. "Rick's back. Come on."

She nodded.

They made their way over dead or dying soldiers. They avoided getting into combat as much as they could. Rick's horse was still on the hill. So was Seth, the brunette girl, and Rick. Jared made a mental note to find out the girl's name. He and Firefly made their way to the hill. He saw relief in Rick's eyes when they saw each other. Where had they been?

* * * * * * * *

I saw Jared and Firefly race up the hill to meet us. He and Rick hugged. Firefly was ok, too. So it wasn't too late to tell her what Rosemary had told us to tell her. We were to meet with the commander now. We--all five of us--went into her tent. Firefly caught Seth and Rick up on what they missed. As we walked, Jared came up to me.

"Oh, hey, Jared." I say.

"Hi." He hesitates. "I know this may seem awkward, but, I never got your name."

"It's Chloe."

"Chloe..." He repeats. "So, where'd you guys go? Is something wrong?"

"Seth and I were hurt. We went to Firefly...uh, a friend's house. She's an herbalist." I answer.

"Really? Wow. You didn't get lost, right?"

"With Rick as our guide? No freaking way."

He laughed. "Now how'd I know you were gonna say that?"

I shrug. "Don't know."

We entered the tent. We all sat down. The Commander was reviewing something. She was talking with a few generals. Once she was done, which took a while, she looked up at us. She has short, brown hair. That's surprising, considering everyone here has natural black hair. Maybe she dyed it.

Anyways, she says, "I'm glad you five could make it. My name is Sandi. None of that 'Commander' shit, got it?"

She's certainly...authoritative.

We all nod.

"Now, we plan to take Eclipsa down in approximately two hours. All five of you are key players in this. We need you to be seen fighting because our soldiers need inspiration. You're to be an icon for the Rebel--"

"You're not telling us to fight because we started this whole thing?" Jared interrupts. "Now we're some sort of icon? Bullshit!"

"I'm all for encouraging people, but I don't wanna fight just to say, 'Hey, look at me! I'm so inspiring!' " I say angrily.