The Apocalypse of Plants

Laina

After Tally tells me everything, I stare at Morgan and everything else fades away. We're both crying and I step forward and kiss him. He pulls away and hugs me.

"I'm so sorry I didn't tell you," he whispers into my ear. "I wanted to make sure you were safe."

"You should have told me," I murmur.

"I know. I'll tell you everything from now on," he says. I nod.

"Promise?"

"I promise." And I believe him. "So, can we get out of here now?" A flicker of a smile appears on my face.

"Please," Tally groans. "I've had enough of mazes and phantoms to last a lifetime."

"Amen," I say, pulling away from Morgan. Almost immediately, I miss the warmth and the feeling of protection.

After what seems like forever, and thankfully we don't meet any other phantoms, we finally stumble out of the maze.

We collapse on the ground and I barely have enough time to wonder where Preston and Kenzie are before I fall asleep.

~~~

My eyes open and I find someone leaning over me. I'm about to scream when I notice that it's only Preston. I breathe a sigh of relief and smile at him.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

"I'm fine," I say. Honestly, I'm not sure how I am right now. It feels like all my emotions have been thrown into a blender and mixed together.

"Are you sure? You were in the maze for awhile. Did anything happen to you?" he frets.

"Preston, I said I'm fine," I snap. I'm touched that he cares about me, but if I say I'm fine, then either I am fine or I don't want to talk about it.

"Oh, okay," he says. He sounds sad and I feel kind of bad about hurting his feelings.

Morgan stirs next to me and sits up with a groan. He grins at me and frowns at Preston sitting next to me. I roll my eyes. Why can't they just get along?

"You okay?" Morgan asks me. I grit my teeth together and nod. Morgan smiles and flops back to the ground and puts his hands behind his head, watching Preston carefully.

We sit quietly until the silence is broken by a piercing scream from Tally. In an instant, Kenzie runs up to her from who knows where and shakes her awake.

We all crowd around Tally as she pants, her fearful eyes glazed over. Scout jumps out of Tally's arm and starts barking at us. I pick her up and pet her head and she eventually calms down.

"What happened? Are you hurt?" I ask. I scan her body for visible signs of injuries but I don't find anything.

She shakes her head and swallows roughly. "I just had a bad dream. That's all. I don't want to talk about it. I'm fine." She locks gazes and I see a haunted look deep within her green eyes. I bite my lip. Whatever her dream was, it shook her up pretty bad.

"Okay, well if everyone is okay and recovered, can we please get going?" Kenzie asks anxiously. I fight the urge to slap her. Tally is not okay nor recovered. Whoever she saw in the maze really affected her. A chilling thought runs through my head. What if she saw her brother?

"Tally? Are you sure you're fine? Do you want to get going towards Miami? Or do you want to rest for a little while longer?" Preston asks.

"I said I'm fine and going back to sleep is the last thing I want to do. Let's go," Tally replies crossly. I stifle a laugh at the look of confusion that appears on Preston's face.

"How about we don't split up this time?" I say, glancing pointedly at Morgan. He pouts and I raise my eyebrows.

"That sounds good," Preston says. "How far away do you think we are from Miami?"

"In order to tell you that, I'd have to know where we are first," Morgan retorts. He does have a point.

"Can you guys please get along until we get to the Bermuda Triangle? Actually, I don't care if you get along. Just act like you're seventeen and not five, okay?" Tally snaps. The boys look down at the ground and reluctantly nod. "Thank you," she sighs.

"Okay, ready?" Kenzie asks. Why is she in such a rush to get there? But I don't say anything and we all agree, Tally picks up Scout, and we start walking south.

No one says anything for a good thirty minutes and we're all walking in a single file line, with Kenzie in front, Preston behind her, then Morgan, Tally, and me last.

Morgan glances back and raises his eyebrows at me to make sure I'm okay. I offer him a smile and he grins back at me. Tally then looks back and snorts.

"Does he really think you're going to disappear without a sound when you're walking behind us?" she asks. I laugh.

"I think he's just being sweet, Tally," I say. She chuckles.

"If you want, I can walk behind you so he'll be able to keep an eye on you better," she suggests. As I pretend to consider it, Morgan turns around and rolls his eyes at Tally.

"You're just jealous," he jokes. Tally scoffs and Morgan and I laugh.

"Oh please," Tally says. "Of you and Laina? That'll be the day pigs fly. Besides, Scout is all I need." She hugs Scout tighter and the dog licks Tally's cheek. Morgan smiles and turns around and Tally stops me until Morgan gets farther ahead.

"Was it your brother?" I ask. She winces at my blunt question but nods slowly.

"Yeah. How'd you know?" I shrug.

"I figured. You had a bad dream and I'm guessing you saw your brother in the maze. I saw mine, too."

"Your brother didn't commit suicide. He sacrificed himself for you," Tally says bitterly and it feels like a slap. I thought we were alike in the fact that both our brothers had died, but while she knew that I could relate to the pain, she was still stuck with the pain of knowing that her brother had killed himself. Mine had died to save me.

"I'm sorry," I whisper. She shakes her head.

"Don't be. I have no right to be mad about that kind of stuff. It just kind of...I don't know. It's complicated."

I lay a hand on her shoulder. "I'm here, Tally. If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here."