About to end it in a few more chapters.
=@$@=
CH4PTER TWELVE
After about five or six hours of nonstop jogging toward the middle of nowhere, I found myself lying on Nick's chest on a sandy beach.
It was actually drinkable water. I don't think there's such thing as saltwater here. The sand felt the same as on earth, but if you held it long enough it would turn into goo and crawl inbetween your fingers. I lost myself in a puzzle we had had for days in a pack. Not a jigsaw, but one of them where you twist around these block-like objects and try to make a picture.
Nick fell asleep on the blanket and after about three hours of solving the puzzle at least ten times, I woke him up so we could go find a shelter good enough to keep us warm and hidden.
Tapplens would be after us, I'm sure. Undoubtedly Dajhl and his crew. But we couldn't try to make peace, couldn't go back. Too dangerous.
Across the small sea I could see fog coming in. A gray steam with small red dots hidden inside. We ran, cluelessly hoping that a cave or tree would come up.
A boulder, about the size of a whale, showed up around the beach area. Underneath it was an opening. Beginning as a hole, then a little cave. Then a huge cavern. Inside was the most delightful thing. Crystals hung from the top, we stepped on emeralds and rubies. It was beautiful, the rocks and diamonds that glimmered around us. Nick turned his flashlight on.
Then I suddenly wondered who might live here. Or what.
We find a small cave and make camp. We lay out the blanket and use the packs as pillows. Nick and I share a bottle of water and a package of fruit snacks. We lay there, arms and legs entangled, hoping they wouldn't find us. Separation was not an option. I fell asleep right there, a knife in my hand. A wrench in the other. A smile on my face because of this boy that lie next to me.
I wake up with a scream. The dream was horrifying, a Tapplen had broken into our base. It took one of their long canes and beat me and Nick, before I woke up, I saw Nick lying in a pool of blood. When I did wake up, Nick's eyes were wide open, startled by my scream.
"It's just a dream." he says. I lay my head on his shoulder, burying my nose into his wavy hair. He hugs me close as I sit on his lap. He kisses my head and we pack up to explore the shaft deeper. The only threatening life form we see is a pack of snakes, snuggled up in a small hole. We creep past them and find the end of our house.
We put our stuff in the packs. We need to get moving, make sure they aren't following us.
After we make it out of the cave, we keep traveling the opposite way of the villages. Away from our temporary lives.
After we had made it about five more miles, the birds stopped their chirping. Like a warning call.
And that's when I saw Nick drop to the ground.
:O whaaaaaat? Keep on reading boys n girls!
