Ever stands over me, fussing on and on and on. Just like Mom did. The thought sends a prick of pain through my already aching head. Wincing, I scoot closer to the tree's trunk, needles jabbing my face and neck. Like I don't have enough pain to deal with already.
Rustling branches catch Ever's attention, and she finally swivels away from me. I crane my neck forwards, following her silhouette until she disappears through the pines. Suddenly, it dawns on me. I'm alone, defenseless and, telling from the aching in my legs, immobile, stuck with some creepy rustling branches in an equally creepy forest. Great.
Clearing my throat, as much as it hurts, I rasp, "Ever! Are you there? Anybody? Charles? Chad? Chuck?" More rustling, this time from behind the trunk I'm leaning on. Only then do I notice how stupid that was. Maybe I could jump at that thing at a 60 degree trajectory, at 5 inches per second, which would- A twig snaps. Footsteps crush pine needles. Heavy breathing.
"Actually, it's Chase."
The voice makes me jump, sending yet another wave of pain down my body. Chase, arm slung around Ever's shoulders, steps out from behind the tree. Well, more like limps. Ever sets him down beside me, before sitting down on my other side and leaning her head back, letting out a loud sigh.
She turns her head towards us, eyes lidded. "So, what do we do now?" Chase stretches his legs out, answering, "Isn't that easy? We run, we hide. For as long as we can. Alexa's already gone back to Everstorm; she's going to bring a hunting party after us." I look over to Ever, who looks indignant, mouth wide open and eyebrows lifted.
"Run? Run? I will not run and hide. We will not run and hide. Oh, if I even see her face again, I'll-"
"You know you can't fight them! They'll kill us before we even get the chance. Face it, Ever. Our best chance is to run and hide."
"Well what's the point of living if we're just going to spend our lives running and hiding? I say we take out the source."
Wow. I'm pretty sure Chase thinks that too, because he immediately falls silent. For a full five minutes, all that fills the morning air is the sound of our breathing.
Chase finally speaks up. "You know we can't fight them off." he repeats quietly, "What do we have? A crossbow and a few knives? There's too many. We won't make it out alive, if you're thinking the same thing I am."
What- oh. I shake my head vigorously. "No. No no no no no no. Nuh-uh. Nope. Unlike you two, I don't have a death wish. I am not going back to that facility of death, let alone breaking into it. If the other option is running, I'm perfectly fine with that." I throw my hands up. Ever and Chase both turn their heads towards me at the same time. I can see from my peripherals that they're just staring. And staring. And staring. "WHAT?" I finally shout. Ever quickly averts her eyes. "Oh, nothing. Feel free to stay here alone while Chase and I go. Maybe your sister will find you out here." That last sentence sends a shiver down my spine. What happened to her? I remember she wouldn't go fishing with me and Dad because the hooks hurt the fish. And now she's off trying to kill everyone.
Chase lets out a loud exhale beside me. "I don't like it," Chase says, "But I'll still go. If there's a chance of taking them down, however slim it is, I guess we should take it." Well, I know what choice that leaves me. "Fine. I'll go, too, no matter how crazy" I shoot Ever a pointed look, "it is."
"Great." Ever sits up and claps her hands together.
"Let's break into Everstorm."
..................................................................................
We finally get to the coast by noon, with me limping between Ever and Chase, of course. The beach looks a lot like the one I lived on, now that I see it, except it's more isolated with all the rocks ringing around. Ever and Chase set me down on a soft pile of sand, well more like I flop into it and they just sit me up. They leave to search around the cove. Scouting for any creepy villagers, I bet. I swear at least one of them followed us here.
"The sub's still here!"
My head swings towards Ever's voice, further down the beach. I follow her line of sight to a large rock jutting out of the ocean. And right beside that large rock is the submarine, in all its steel glory. A bit scratched up, but still glorious as a metal walrus. Ever backs up, then takes a running dive into the water. How she landed that perfectly, I'll never know. When she surfaces, her hair fans out behind her, the silver reflecting the light just perfe-Suddenly something grabs me from behind and the next thing I know, water's everywhere. Above, below, left, right, ahead, behind. Then, above isn't so watery anymore.
"Goodness, Chase, don't kill him!" I hear Ever yell from behind.
Floating around to face Ever, I (kind of) doggy paddle towards the bobbing sub, where Chase is already climbing on top. Ever dives into the water once I finally reach the sub, boosting me up from underwater. Because everyone knows I desperately need it. Once I wiggle to the top and flop into the port hole opening, Chase is there to strap me into one of the four chairs, the one right behind the driver's seat, to be exact. I don't think I really needed that (no normal person would). But sadly, I'm not normal and neither are the people strapping themselves into the seats in front of me.
"Everybody ready to possibly die?" Chase oh so helpfully asks as the submarine starts moving.
Yep. Definitely not normal.
