The Essence of Water

OLD VERSION Chapter 8

I risk stopping after a mile. I'm not even sure what direction we've run, it doesn't really matter. I let go of the strangers arm and drop my bag to the ground, as I stuff my hand into it I look up at the guy. His face is red from running and his eyes are still panicked. "You alright?"

He nods. "I think so."

I find the pocket knife I acquired a few months ago and flip it open. I cut the plastic tie around his wrists and he lets out a breath of relief and rubs them where they've chaffed. "Thanks..."

"Sure." I put the knife back and watch him look around the forest like he's never seen it before. He's cute, light brown hair over hazel eyes. His nose is a little big, but it doesn't distract from his eyes. "So why'd they tie you up? I've never seen them do that to anyone before."

He shrugs and I pull out a bottle of water and hand it to him. Finding drinkable water is never a concern of mine. He drinks half of the bottle and hands it back. "I knew they'd be coming for me, so I hid...didn't help though, they still found me."

"So you knew you were a Misfit?"

He glares at me, "I'm not a Misfit."

"So why'd you run? What were you scared of?"

He shrugs and doesn't look at me. He stuffs his hands into the front pouch of his hoodie. "Well-" I take a quick drink and put the backpack onto my shoulders, "You're welcome to come with me if you have nowhere else to go. Surviving out here by yourself can be hard, especially the first couple of weeks."

He looks me up and down, "How love have you been out here for?"

I shrug, "I don't just live in these woods. I live in all the woods. I keep moving...I have to if I expect to survive. But it's been about eight months since I ran."

"Why did you run?" He looks me in the eyes.

"I'm a Misfit." The word no longer scares me, whatever I am, whatever they want to call it. It's just the way it is. I control water, whether I have a virus or not, that's the simple truth.

He looks away from me and in the distance I hear the barking and howling of dogs. I spin on my heel and look into the forest, listening hard, the howling picks up. "We've been here to long, we need to get moving. You can come with me or not, but either way you-" The stranger holds an empty syringe in his hand and I look down at the small bead of blood on the upper arm. "-what...?" My arm burns and the muscles lock and cramp. I let out a cry of pain and drop to my knees. I grip my right forearm with my left hand as the fire slowly begins to spread up my arm. "Who are you!" I demand through my teeth. My vision swims and I take a deep breath.

"I told you." He says putting the syringe back into a little box he pulls from his hoodie. "I'm not a Misfit." He curse loudly and double over. Help me. My vision swims and turns black and white. I close my eyes and search inside of me. The water in my own blood reacts to my presence and I focus to my arm, but there's a block, whatever drug he gave me, there is no water content, none, the only upside is that its slow to spread. I can't stop it. I can't control a drug that has zero water. I can't get it out of me.I curse again and the man takes a step back and leans against a tree. He produces a cigarette and lights it.
I curse loudly again and the man smirks. "See, we figured out a new formula for the drug. Lovely isn't it? It's a bit more like a slushy than liquid, but it gets the job done. We were getting sick and tired of you pulling out the tranquilizers." The burning is halfway to my shoulder, I can't let it spread. I can't fight if I'm passed out. I can't fight even if I'm double over like this. The barking and howling continues to grow louder. It can't end like this.

The man whistles loudly using two of his fingers, "We're over here!" He shouts.

"Shut up."

He chuckles, "Or what freak? You'll move some water around and shove it down my throat? No, I don't think so." The howling is close, I have to move. My shoulder is starting to burn. I'm running out of time. Once the drug out of my arm it there will be no chance of containing it. I'll be defeating. I can't accept that.