They Are Not Human

Chapter 18

The next morning I awoke, and noticed the man casually leaning against one of the trees with his arms crossed, staring off into space. The sun was barely peeking through some of the branches of the dense woods. This guy wasn't wasting any time now was he?

I quickly sit up, and make eye contact with him, looking deep into his strange golden eyes. "You're here early" I say trying to make casual conversation.

"I'm here on time". He replies combatively.

"Can I at least know what your name is?" I say changing the subject.

The man had shown little emotion up until this point, but he seemed to be caught off guard by the question; almost like he had to think about it. "It's Kane" he finally replies gruffly.

"Well Kane, it's nice to meet you." I say trying to sound sincere and welcoming. "I'm Zia, but I guess you already knew that."

The man gives me one stern nod, and continues to stare off into space, indicating he was done with the conversation. The encounter was strange, but I knew that was all I was going to get out of him.

After that the rest of the group begins to wake up, and we all begin to get ready for this journey ahead of us. Little was known on what was about to happen, and we all knew we could be lead into a trap, but it was a risk we were all willing to take at this point.

We were preparing to leave our home once again, and I could feel the sadness wash over me as the reality hit. Even though I knew this place wasn't going to be a forever home, there were still so many memories created here. These past couple of months had been the most fun, but also the most taxing time of my life. I could feel someone gently touch my shoulder pulling me out of my revere. I look up and noticed Arlo was faithfully by my side, ready to go. "Are you ready?" he asks, his voice husky.

"Not at all" I answer him honestly.

"Me neither" he says with chuckle in his voice. "Let's go".

***

We begin marching our way through the deep snow, everyone was painfully quiet. Kane lead the group with such precision. It amazed me that he didn't need to look at a map, or even need a second to calculate where we were going.

It was well into the night, when he decided that we could rest for the remainder of the evening. Everyone flops down, and snuggles into their sleeping bags, falling asleep instantly. I however, couldn't get my mind to shut off. Everything that happened so far in my life was racing through my head. I felt anxious to finally see Jakove again, but I didn't know if I was brave enough to hear the truth behind who he was.

I quickly glance over at Arlo, and I noticed he was still wide awake too. He was staring up at the sky with a vacant expression. "Hey" I say nudging him.

He peaks up over at me, his eyes soft and welcoming. "What's wrong?" I ask

"I'm just worried, I guess" he responds with a sigh in his voice.

"Worried about what?" I say, gently touching his arm.

"I don't know" he says annoyed, and rolls over to face the other direction.

Arlo never demonstrated this sort of behavior before. He was always so open with whatever was on his mind. I knew something really had to be bothering him for him to be acting like this.

"Hey" I say gently touching his arm again. "Don't do this, don't shut me out".

He lets out a long sigh, before he answers me. "I guess I'm just worried that things will change between us once we meet up with Jakove".