Chapter One: -Red-

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Howdy, I recon you folks ain't from around these parts, eh?

Well, my name is Red, I live with my brother and Pa down at here swamps.

Ya might think that with my age, I ought to be in school with all them other kids, studying for some brainy scholarship, or looking for a cool desk job that rains money on my head, without having to do the tiresome effort of earning it, or maybe even dating hot gals with steamy bodies at fancy someplace at some time, right? Well, yer wrong, cause I ain't.

Of course, you ain't a walking, talking, five foot turtle, so you ain't got no clue what I'm talking about, ya get that?

Well, I don't know how it all happened or where it began, my young memory from them days old events is all foggy. I really don't remember what my life was like before now, probably because I was just too much a little boy to even remember it right.

Anyway, I think I'll tell yous folks how my current mishap started.

Ya see, about late afternoon, yesterday, Pappy was home fixing an old broken toaster; he's good at fixing stuff, while I were about to go out hunting, or more like checking the traps I laid earlier for any catch.

We're something like hunters, just aint as mean or deadly. We're just peacefully living around here swamps and make a living here among the swamps and wild critters, as long as we don't dwell too far away from home, or too close to the surrounding tourist spots, we're safe.

We'd just be asking for trouble if we did wonder too far off, though.

Last time I did wonder close to them humans out of curiosity, they all started running around and screaming, figuring I was some sort of swamp monster out to take them in for lunch, assuming they were the said lunch. Pa was so mad when I got back home, telling him with my big yap how I went against his orders and trekked closer to the humans.

Man, me and my big, fat mouth. I couldn't sit on my tail for a week!

My dad's a crocodile, by the way, he lived here with us for a long time. Sometimes he's like a big brother or an uncle, but most of the time he's like a father, and we love him dearly, cause he's the only family we've got. He said he used to live at one of them city sewers alone, until he found us and took us along with him when he left, saying some human wanted to turn us into lunch!

We've been living up here in these here swamps for a very long time; for like- what? Twelve years now? I can't remember how long it was all that well, but we were really young when we first moved in to this here swamp.

As far as I remember, human tourists don't usually come around this area, because too many dangers are lurking about; ya know what I'm saying? Poisonous water snakes and savage, merciless crocodiles unlike my dad, and never forget the giant bugs.

Now none of them nasty critters are gonna leave you alone, especially if they get a sample or a taste of yer blood or a chomp of flesh offa ya; like an arm or a leg. Nope, nu uh, no seiree. You can bet your measly hide on it. You step into these wastelands and you're kissing your hide goodbye. No way can you walk out of it alive, not if they have anything to say about it.

Especially, and I repeat, if they manage to snag yer leg or an arm, your chopsue, permanently, ain't no way out of it.

Human flesh is a rare treat to the beasts lurking here, so you're out of her mind if ya think this is a place to wonder around uninvited.

Unless ya have a death wish, of course.

Now, seeing I'm a turtle and not some puny human, my family and I have rough skin, scales or shells to protect us. Aside the fact that Pa is a croc, he can talk to them crocs around the area and communicate, in something he called 'forgotten mother language' of sorts, ya know? He promised them a share of our food and finds, as long as they don't harm us, my little bro Dee and I, and they agreed.

It's been a truce for a very long time, we don't need to worry about them eating us.

Now, about my family; we're only three, so you don't have to worry about falling asleep during the introduction, ya understand?

Firstly, my father; pappy is a seven foot tall crocodile with a temper, you ain't gonna be sucking air when he's mad. Of course, Dee and I know how to tiptoe our way around his fits and tantrums, that's how we lived this long. Besides, ever since young, we knew better than to push our luck with pappy when he's mad, because when he's mad, he'd hand us our behinds, hot and sore.

One thing for sure, we don't get to sit around often when that happens.

I ought to know, I'm the one who gets the worse side of the punishment, usually cause I'm the cause of it.

Then, there is my younger twin brother, Dee. He's mighty fancy when it comes to them techy human stuff, ane just like Pa he likes tinkering with them human thingamagjis, things Pa got from the city.

Dee fixed up some pretty fancy stuff, toasters, television, radios, all from all the trash those humans toss out. Pa used to say that when he used to live in the city, humans had all sorts of contraptions like these, he used to salvage them and fix them, but now that we're living so far off, it ain't safe for us to go there, not without drawing some sort of attention.

Besides, it takes Pa about a whole day to get to the nearest city and back, just to fetch us marketed food.

When younger, we used to live in the city sewers with him, he said; but we don't remember it too well. He said that it's probably because we were younglings back then, our memories couldn't take in all the information and most of it slipped out while growing up.

He'd leave us at home with a warning and lecture to stay put, and go through dumpsters to get us anything worth eating. Unfortunately, with his size it's hard to walk around unnoticed, and that's not even by mentioning the tail, that's why he didn't want to take the risk of being found. He took us to these here swamps, when things started getting too risky in the sewers, and we've been living here ever since.

"Hey, Pa! Ah'm gonna go check them traps down the riverside, okay?" I called out as I made my way through the front door.

"Sure, just be careful round them snares, Dee said he was testin' somethin'." Pappy warned, and then stepped out of the kitchen with a screwdriver in hand. Bet he was fixing that damned, rickety ole toaster again, "And don't stay out too long, it's almost sunset and ah don't want one of them critters takin' a bite out of you." He gave a negative shake, "Ah ger-on-tee it ain't safe for anyone to be dwelling in thar swamp during this time of year, not even us."

"Ah will," I nodded once with a grin, paused just as I took a step out the front door, and then looked around the house before I glanced at father, "by the way, where is Dee?"

"Oh, he's probably up at the waterfall again. Call him home on yer way back, okay son?" pappy smiled.

"Will do, Pa. see ya." I waved a hand, and at his smile I turned to leave.

Now, trekking my way through the muddy floor, I smile at the feeling of cool mud between my two toes. Being a turtle has its cons and pros I guess, and winter ain't usually all too bad, not in our humble little shack.

Pa and Dee pretty much fixed everything with a heating system and a fire place, for a more comfortable living. And me? Well, I'm more the hunter who provides them the food, to be honest. Pa and I protect Dee with our muscles, because he aint that muscular. He's pretty bony, actually. I don't know why, but no matter what food he eats, he's still all frail and skinny.

I don't like killing animals for food, but it's not like we have a choice.

I mean, it's not like we can just go into town, march into a convenient store and simply buy whatever food we want or need.

I don't remember the city very well, Pa doesn't like the idea of us dwelling too close, says humans would call us monsters, freaks, then they'd call people who'd search this swamp inch by inch till they find us, and when they do, we're dead ducks.

Speaking of ducks, I spied one of my snares and spotted that one of my traps caught a duck. It was still alive, but snared by the neck. I guess the critter was smart enough not to strangle itself while trying to escape, eh.

With a grin I walked up closer to it, and then gave the wild bird a visual once over. It was female and a wild duck at that. Dark grey feathers with that pretty green collar around its neck, and its orange-yellow beak.

Strange thing, though; it didn't fight against my hold when I grabbed it to remove the snare's cord, it allowed me pin it down.

I brushed the confusion aside, I decided to take it home alive. We have a small chicken house out at the back of our cabin, we've got a few chickens and a few ducks, they lay eggs and sometimes, those eggs are all we need to stay alive in these here swamps. Keeping the mongoose and fox out are troublesome, but hey, with Dee's traps, those critters know better than to risk themselves by dwelling into our territory.

Pulling a strap from my pocket, seeing I'm wearing an overall, I pulled out the strap and used it to seal the duck's beak shut, before tying up it's feet and grabbed it by the neck. I carefully pulled it up and then held it in the crook of my arm, as to make sure it wont be harmed, and still not let it escape. It settled quietly in my grasp, almost as if it was used on this type of treatment.

Strange, I wonder if it really is a wild bird.

Well, anyway, if the ducks at the barn house didn't accept the new comer, we'll just have to eat her, I guess.

Heading over to the riverside, over the small brook and creak, the ever spreading and multiple shades of green vegetation coloring the landscape, I headed to where I knew I'd find my brother.

During that, I checked my other traps and annoyingly, saw one of them was out of place, some with blood and feathers splattered about, yet there was no prey. Damn, probably them darn foxes, one of them snatched my catch.

A little bit annoyed, I glanced at the duck in my arms and knew we'd be eating her after all. I muttered some more at the damn fox that won't leave my traps alone, reset the trap, and then made my way over to the riverside.

After I sunk my way through the trees, I made my way up and out of the forest swamp.

Over the hillside was a high and mighty Cliffside, but with a lovely pasture spread across it. Almost like a knoll where a shepherd would herd his sheep to eat, except that it looked like someone chopped the picture in two, ya know? A part of the land looks like it's missing, gone. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out how that could even be.

At any case, I dwelled out of the trees and smiled broadly when I laid eyes on my twin brother, Dee. He sat there in his jeans overall, laid back in the grass and sucking on a reed. I grinned a little wider, made my way over to him and when he sensed my approach, he lazily craned his neck a bit, acknowledged my arrival with a mellow smile, but didn't get up.

Instead, he looked up at the darkening sky, and continued star gazing.

With the sun slowly setting, the starts were popping in and adorning the sky. It's really pretty.

Across the many miles that separated us from the nearest city, I could see a few faint twinkling lights up in the horizon. After all, Pa says he used to live in the sewers of a city called New York, but he had to run and he took us along for our safety. Now, we're living in Orlando, Florida, in some Wildlife refuge, that's why not many humans besides the tourists come here.

"Red," Dee spoke in that soft, mellow voice of his, "ever wonder what it's like in the city?"

"Ah dunno, Dee." I shrugged a shoulder, still hugging the duck close, and oddly I found myself stroking her head, but she weren't putting up a fight, "Ah really don't like messin' with them humans, we've only met them few poachers who come here huntin', or out lookin' for the swamp monster, Ah already don't like them." I wrinkled my snout in discomfort.

He sighed, "We're party protecting these lands, true." He said at first, and then paused for a second before he continued, "But we're also feeding off the few surviving critters here, Red." He argued, shifted the reed to the corner of his mouth, before pushed off the floor to sit upright. He hugged his knees, stared at the duck for another moment, before his attention turned between the far city in the horizon and where it merged with the sky.

We stayed quiet for a while, and watched the sky slowly grow darker as the stars multiplied, "Ah wanna go to the city. Ah wanna see them humans in reality. Ah wanna know where they get their technology and how," he said wistfully, hugged his knees closer, and then gazed up at the sky above our heads, "Ah wanna see the world like the others see it."

"Yeah, and you probably want Pa to hand you your behind, eh?" I smirked, teasing.

He eyed me with a flat annoyed stare, but the corner of his mouth quirked in a bemused smile, "Look, ah just wanna see more of the world out there, ya know? Ah'm sick and tired of hidin' like this."

"Well ah ain't too peachy about hidin' either, Dee." I argued casually and tried to keep my temper in check, cause as sure as hell, Pa ain't the only hothead in the family.

"Ah wanna go out and see the world, too. But bein' who and what we are, they'll start screamin' at the sight of us, ya know?" I explained. I found myself hugging the duck a bit tighter than intended, and remembered my first experience with the tourists when I was younger. The screams and shouts and cries of fear and panic, it wasn't pretty.

"You know what Pa said," I said more gently and reminded him of the lectures our dad would repeat every now and then, "we're not accepted cause we're too special, humans don't like critters like us who're more special than them. If the humans get us, we'll get trapped in some lab-a-ma-bob and end up gettin' ourselves stuffed someplace small and nasty."

"Ah know." He sighed in defeat, and then hugged his knees a little tighter, before he set his chin on his knees, "Ah just- ah wish if there was more for us out there, ya know?" he eyed me sadly.

"Ah know." I nodded, and then put a comforting hand on his shoulder, then squeezed a bit, "Anyway, we'd better head home, Pa is probably gettin' worried now." I urged him with a smile.

"Yeah, yer right." He sighed again and then pushed off the grass, brushed the dirt off his clothes and tail, then smiled at me, "We'd better start movin', cause ah don't want one of us stuck in of mah traps." He added.

"Yeah, we wouldn't want that, now would we." I chuckled.

Dee gave the duck a glance after we started walking back home, but didn't say anything.

I could already tell he didn't like the idea of having duck for dinner. Unlike Pa, we're not all that interested in meat, we'd rather have fruits or veggies for food, cause meat just isn't one of our best meals. Of course knowing Pa, he insists on us having to consume some sort of protein in our body, that's why we have to have at least one egg a day, seeing we don't fancy meat like he does.

So we're vegetarians by nature, we can't help it.

Dee and I made our way from the hillside, past a brook and then the following small waterfall then back through the forest. We don't usually talk much, not while trekking through them woods, it just attracts attention when there are poachers around, or maybe even lost tourists and stuff. We've crossed paths with a whole bunch a loonies who come sneaking around them parts, looking for some swamp monster or another.

Pa suspects that they're probably looking for us, all because of my stunt a few years back, -it makes me feel bad every time they mention it, too;- but seeing our home is in the heart of the swamp, they can't find us unless they knew how to navigate through the maze of natural vegetation.

Or so we thought.

A short distance away from home, Dee and I froze as a sound echoed in the air, there were no words said.

In the darkening sunset-colored sky, you can hear some funny roaring sound as it drew closer and closer, and then a shadow swooped by. I couldn't recognize what the hell the thing was, I've not seen anything like it before.

'Damn! That must be one huge bird!' I mumbled out loud at first.

Dee argued, he piped out and said it sounded more like a chopper than a bird, and when I asked him what the heck a chopper was, he said it's one of them human gadgets, it flies around and stuff. We suspected it was the chief, the one who protects these lands from no-gooders, but seeing the black contraption with the funky red symbol did not calm our hearts, it didn't look anything like the chiefs rescue chopper.

With our hearts beating in our hides, we shared a frightened glance, before we both had a bad feeling about it and dashed home.

Our shack was demolished. Smoke and debris were scattered about the surroundings area, with trees torn down, burnt and emitting strands of foggy white wisps of smoke. The surrounding trees had cough some flames, but then they flickered and died a moment before our arrival. The barn house was torn down, feathers and dead chickens lay across the muddy floor, and there was blood everywhere.

We only spared each other another terrified glance, before we dashed off to what was left of our home.

After a quick search throughout the shambles of the cottage, peeking into every room and flipping every large slot of fallen roof, our hearts pummeled into or guts when we finally had to admit Pa was gone.

The furniture was burned. the television set that Dee and Pa spent days fixing was flattened to the floor, the inside was poking outside and the screen was shattered to millions of tiny crystal like pieces. Dee's humble and precious little bookcase was burned to ashes, almost all his books were gone with the flames. There were now additional holes in the bookcase, ceiling and floor, too.

But most importantly, Pa was gone, we couldn't see him anywhere.

The sound of the chopper came back, louder and closer than before, accompanied by a clearly felt gust of dust and wind, chocked with the hot air, and the smell of burned wood and blood.

We looked up, quickly ducked into the shadows of what was left of our home. The chopper lingered over the house for a heart-stopping while, and there was a bright light shining down through one of the holes, searching across the remains for a minute or two. Before the lights were turned off, I hoped to make a decoy of sorts to distract them, and placed the duck on the nearest piece of furniture.

I took off the straps and let it free, but the bird didn't fly off, it just stood there nesting on the floor, stupidly looking around as if it was waiting to be told to do something. I hissed and made some sounds, to scare it or urge it to move when the spot light fixed on it, but then the lights simply went off and the chopper thing flew away.

Only once sure the chopper was gone, the duck flew away.

Aggravated and a bit puzzled at the duck's odd behavior, I sighed heavily and ducked my head, and that's when I spied Pa's journal on the floor near my feet, staring back at me with it's black leather and hard covers.

I snatched it just for the hell of it, and stuffed it in my front overall pocket. I took my hunting rifle, thankful it survived whatever blast that blew up our home, and Dee picked up his grappling hook.

We dashed off and after the chopper and followed its noisy sound. We stuck to the shadows, not wanting to be seen by the lights that flicked and searched the swamps as it flew over a distance within sight, but only managed to follow it for a short distance, before we lost track of it. The sound of the propellers as Dee called it was still loud, but it echoed and it became harder for us to follow.

Later on, we kept searching in hope of finding where our father was taken, but there was no sign of him or the chopper anywhere. Exhausted and breathless, we stopped at a clearing to gather ourselves. Dee was close to tears when he finally sat down, he never did like it when things happen too fast, it scares him to think someone would get hurt if we weren't fast enough to prevent whatever harm from happening.

Ever since little, Dee and I have always gone to the same places together, I protect him with my muscles and he protects me with his brain. Only when things start getting worse for me or the situation turns ugly too fast, would he surrender to his fear and break into tears.

"Red, do you think Pappy's okay?" he sniffed as he hugged himself, and peered at me with those scared, wet eyes.

I smiled sadly and knelt before him, I hugged him closer and he latched on to me as if his life depended on it, "We'll find 'em, Dee. Don't worry; we'll find 'em." I assured and petted his shelled back.

I let him cry a little on my shoulder and held him tighter, half worried about Pa staying in one piece, long enough for us to get there and help him, half wondering if he was even alive, by the time those humans got him. For all I know, no human alive can stand against Pa. His fist alone can bash a man's skull wide open. There is no way they could've gotten him without a bloody fight.

Dee's sobs slowly died down and after composing himself, slightly pushed off me to stare down at my pocket with a puzzled yet wet frown, "Where'd you get that?" he looked at me, big brown eyes still glassy and wet, then picked the item from my pocket, "It's Pappy's journal."

"Ah know." I smiled a bit, happy for the much needed distraction, "Ah saw it and figured Ah'd take it along."

He looked at me strangely, "Think it would help?" he sounded doubtful, but a glimmer of hope shone in his eyes.

I shrugged a shoulder, "Maybe. Go ahead and read, who knows, Pa might have mentioned somethin' useful."

He extended it back with a nervous furrow, "You got it, so you read it." he reasoned timidly.

I rolled my eyes and gently pushed it back towards him, " Dee, you know I can't read." I argued and tried not to sound insulted, and then set my fists on my legs where I sat buckled in front of him, "After Pa, you're the second best in readin', I'm too slow." I felt the tingle on my cheeks spread warmth across my face, cause I always did have problems reading, "Besides, I stutter too much; I ain't that good at readin'." I added.

He looked a little doubtful, but complied. He pushed off the grassy ground and onto a more comfortable position, sat crossed legged Indian style, and then opened the cover to skin through the pages.

He stared and glared at the page for a moment, before he glanced at me with a sheepish smile, "Um, we need to move elsewhere, it's really gettin' dark and ah don't think ah'd be readin' anythin' like this." He told and looked around us, probably for any patch of light, "Lets head up to the clearin' around the waterfall, the moonlight ought to be enough."

"Right. So let's go, brother." I cheered good naturally and flashed him an assuring grin, in which he timidly returned.

After we move off from the shadowed area, I got thinking.

Dee and I are practically the only ones of our kind; as far as Pa knows.

He said he found us in the city sewers when we were babies, just little toddlers, I think. He didn't know where we came from or how we even got there, but didn't care, cause he was being chased off at the time, by humans I recon, but that's another long story. After he took us in, he would sometimes remind us how troublesome we were when we're being naughty, but also he would tell us how he loved us.

Pa isn't really our blood related father, ya know? He's a crocodile while Dee and I are turtles.

He says we're actually mutants, we weren't born this way.

He said he fully knew how he came out the way he did, but he had no clue as to where we came from.

He told us, when we were younger and asked him about who our real parents were, he told us that he didn't know. He searched the sewers for a long time, looking for our real parents, but seeing that the humans were closing in on him, he figured it'd be safer if we leave, and leave we did. He took us across the country and we live in a swamp in Florida now.

Now, Dee and I might be twins, we're practically the same age and height, but we're actually very different.

He's way smarter than I am and I envy him for it sometimes, but am also grateful for it, because his brains sure saved us a whole bunch of times. I'm more physically built, which gets us out of trouble, especially when we were younger and were out scouting or looking for food, I'd wrestle with them nasty critters and protect him, it's my job as the eldest.

Or seemingly the eldest, as far as Pa says.

Dee and I are both bald with rounded heads, though sometimes Dee likes to tease me and call me a blockhead. In fact, we're more turtle looking, but with human-like arms and legs and male equipment, too.

But be sure no dame will be swaying our way any time soon, if ya know what I mean.

We're in our middle teens, but Pa estimates me being more in my late teens character wise, somewhere around sixteen or seventeen, compared to Dee, who's more into his early teens, around fifteen or sixteen.

Being turtles and all, we've got shells on our backs and plate-like plastrons on our fronts. Three fingers on each hand, more square-ish and stub like, and they're thick and not too long or too short, but no claws or nails like them ordinary turtles, ya know? Two toes on each foot and thick skin. My skin is colored in a shade of dark forest green, while Dee's skin is more olive green, it works better in the marshes really, while I can hide better up the trees, and in them thick bushes.

Pa on the other hand fits in both environments, seeing his skin is a mix of both, so he can hide in either land or water.

Once we reached the waterfall, we stood in silence under the moon lit field.

We then walked towards a giant stone where the light seemed to beam the brightest. Dee sat down on top of a flat stone, where he allowed the moonlight to shine down on the white pages, as he flipped the black cover and began to read.

Since I can't read all that well or that fast, I sat besides him and switched between the scribbled words on the paper, and patiently trying to look for any sign on his face, any sign that would tell me he found something in father's journal.

Minutes passed, and I felt my patience thin out, I started growing fidgety and worried, I growled. "Well? Did you find anythin'?"

Dee slowly gazed up at me, his eyes shone with what looked like slight confusion and shock, it confused me even more.

"Well, accordin' to Pappy's journal, our best chance to find him is somewhere in New York City sewers." He said, his gaze shifted to the book once more, "Says here, he were with some you-trom critters who come from another world." He said in confusion, his finger trailed the words Pa wrote, "There is somethin' about some nasty you-trom who'd been huntin' them for a while and then he found them, that's why Pappy had to run away, because the bad one wanted to capture pappy as well."

"So you saying whoever took Pa, is somehow connected to that you-trom critter from his past?" I questioned, and I felt a vibration build up inside me. I knew I was getting angry, when I realized whoever was after pappy was looking for him for years, and now he finally found him and snagged him, "Does it say where we can find him?" I hissed, grit my teeth and tried to stay calm.

Dee shook his head, "No, brotha; all it says is those you-troms escaped and he got separated from them. On his escape, he found us and took us in. The rest are all thin's that had happened after that." He sighed with a worried frown.

I frowned, something didn't sound right, "Somethin' wrong, Dee?"

"Well," he began a bit uneasily, "it says here, when Pa found us we were cryin', telling him we were lost and that we wanted to go home." He told, fingering the pages, "Ah think one thin' dragged another and Pappy just never got around searchin' for our real parents, that's why he took us in, to protect us until he find the time to do that." He looked up at me with a strange look, "Do you know what that means, Red?"

I quirked a brow, "Aside that right now, Pa is bein' held somewhere in the city by some creature from outer space?"

He smiled a little humored, "It also means our real mom and dad are somewhere in New York. Maybe after we save Pappy, we'll go find out where and who they are." He smiled hopefully, a bright gleam shone in his deep brown eyes, "Who knows, they might still be there, right?"

"I recon that might work," I grinned at the thought, "Though I don't think Pa would like the idea of us goin' to the city after him." I then glanced at him for a minute, before I gave a mischievous smirk, "It's a risky job, but someone's gotta do it, and he ain't gonna be smackin' our behinds for this one, eh?"

Dee grinned a little wider, "Yeah, ah recon he'd probably be too happy to see us, anyway."

"Then let's stop yappin' and start gettin' a move on!" I cheered and popped up to my feet, hopeful to find our dad again. "Alright, first of all, we need to know where this city is at." I crossed my arms and shifted my weight to one side, "Any ideas?"

"I think Pappy had a few maps back home." he began and pushed off the stone he sat on, "We'll sleep in for tonight and move out in the mornin', hopefully by then, we'd be able to get to him in time." he told me the plan.

"Works for me." I nodded and mentally prepared myself for what felt like the biggest adventure of our life.

Getting up and off the grass, we made our way back towards what was left of our home.

We collected all the maps and books that were still in one piece, collected the surviving blankets and pillows, and then slipped through the dark night, towards a small tree hour a distance away from our home. It was a small shack atop an old, sturdy willow tree. Dee and I made the place when we were around ten, a place to call our own, our castle in the sky, a sanctuary where we could hide from the world and play, ya know?

We settled in and then started searching and looking through the maps and books.

Luckily there was an atlas among the surviving books and it was in a very good condition, it helped up pinpoint where we were and how we're gonna get to New York. Obviously it's gonna be a very long journey, so we agreed to sleep for now and form up a plan in the morning, cause we were both tired and in need of rest to survive the journey of tomorrow.

I don't know what's ahead of us, but I know Dee and I are in this alone.

We're gonna get back our father and we're gonna do it together.

'Don't worry, Pa! We're coming! Just hang in there!' were my thoughts as I drifted off to sleep.

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A/N: Chapter spelling/grammar checked, edited and reposted. Enjoy.