Left Alone

the People of the Trees

Chapter Nine

"Grass," I said. Beside me, Kane cursed.

"Okay okay," he repeated. This was pointless, but it was nice to see his enthusiasm. "Umm.... What is long and thin... pointy and short-"

"Grass," I answered.

"Hey!" he protested. "You didn't let me finish!"

"Was I wrong?" I questioned, already knowing the answer. His shoulders dropped.

"No," he admitted. "How did you know it was still grass?"

"Because that's the only thing surrounding us right now," I informed him. Honestly, he was too easy.

"Hey," he said softly. I turned around to face him. His hair hung in his eyes a great deal, but I could still see the emotion in them. They scrunched up together in confusion, them widened with disbelief. "Let's go!"

"What?" I asked, turning around to see what he was staring at. My trained eyes raked over the scene before me and came up with no sign of a possible threat. "Kane, what are you-"

He took off.

Cursing, I began to follow him. He was running like a madman, which was quite a feat considering how often we ran from agents. I easily caught up to him and then tackled him. He let out a fierce shriek and started to fight me off.

"Hey!" I exclaimed when his hand smacked my jaw, causing my teeth to snap together. "What is going on? There's no one else here but us!"

Again, Kane's eyes darted around wildly before he groaned. I rolled off him, worried that he was going to get sick.

"It's too late," he mumbled. "They found us."

I looked around again, but there was still no sign of someone else. I shook my head. "Kane, I think the heat has gotten to you. You should lie down while I gather the supplies to make a fire, okay?" He nodded miserably and curled up into a ball.

Standing up, I brushed off my hands and rubbed my now sore jaw. He would pay for that. Setting out to gather firewood, I left Kane alone. The fact was, I was freaked. I mean, if anyone would go crazy it should be me. Why was he acting like this?

"Sky!" he hollered. The fear in his voice made my heart jump as my eyes wildly searched for his crumpled form. He was sitting up now, his face panic-stricken. I ran up to him and gently placed my hand on his shoulder. His breathing quickened and his eyes grew wide.

"Kane?" I said tentatively. He was scaring me. "What is it?"

"Them."

I followed his finger. It was then that I noticed it. Standing before us was an open field, filled with random trees. As I squinted I could see that these weren't trees at all. Every time I blinked, it was as if they were in a new spot, getting closer. Peeking over my shoulder, I saw that the closest tree was about ten feet away.

Blink.

Now nine feet.

"Kane," I said slowly. "Get up."

He groaned. "It's too late, Sky. They found us."

"Get your ass up now."

He slowly made it to his feet. The tree now stood five feet from us. Kane gripped my hand. It was trembling. I squeezed it.

"Run!" I screamed, just as the tree began to shake. "Now! Let's get out of here!" We both turned, hearts pounding, away from these anomalies. Kane staggered, so I gripped his hand tighter and leaned in the other direction to steady him. After he was righted, I looked up. Five trees surrounded us from each side.