I'm sooo sorry about the lack of updates. I don't really have much of an excuse this time... writer's block I guess. I feel bad because I know that with things spaced this far apart everyone has to be losing interest in this story, and I've broken my promise about not being one of those long-space-in-between-updates writers. But now I have some ideas of where to go next. Hopefully I'll be able to update more often. Anyway, here's the next chapter!

Disclaimer: Still not Scott. :(

Tally couldn't move. Again. This was exactly like what had happened back in the Smoke. She could think. She could hear what was going on around her. But she couldn't feel, talk, or see anything. She could hear Shay talking to David in the distance. David sounded worried and Shay sounded just plain angry. Tally wanted to get up and tell them to stop arguing. They'd lost enough time already because of her. She tried again to move. Nothing.

After another hour or so of being sort-of conscious, Tally focused on listening to what was going on around her. She could vaguely make out David's voice in the distance. It sounded like they weren't standing very close to her, but then again, all her senses were pretty bogus at the time.

"Shay-"

"No David. You're going to tell her. If you don't, I will. And believe me David; it's going to sound a lot better than if I do it."

"But if Dr. Cable is-"

"I don't care David! Tally has a right to know!"

It took Tally a minute to realize that they were talking about her. Maybe this would give her some insight as to what David was hiding.

"David, do you remember how torn up she was before? How awful this has been for her?" There was a silence. "You can make that go away. Do what's best for Tally." David sighed.

"Fine." He said sternly. "I'll just march right up to her, and tell her everything! I'll lose her again, but that doesn't matter. No, that doesn't matter at all! As long as Tally can get her happy ending and be bubbly and icy and all those other stupid terms you use, and skip off into the sunset all Special, with her Special friends, leaving me wondering what I did wrong! No, Shay! Not this time!" Tally could hear his breath slow some in an attempt to calm himself. "Shay, you need to go." He said with a heavy voice. There was silence.

"I'll leave then." Shay said. "But don't expect that I won't be back, because I will. I won't be alone either. You just wait and see David. It's not going to help anything when she sees Zane just walking up to her like nothing even happened, and you simply "forgot" to mention he was coming." Tally tried again to move, struggling her whole body. She had to know what was going on! She wasn't going to just let David keep lying to her. What was happening, and what did it have to do with Zane? Tally felt a stab of pain. She had promised herself long ago that that part of her life was over, and didn't need to be thought about again. But the way they were talking, it sounded as if…

"She won't be able to recognize him." David said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, do you think that'll stop him? Or me for that matter? It's only a matter of time David. I suggest you tell her, or you'll be paying the price in the end." And with that came the sound of footsteps, and the noise of a rising hoverboard. Just like that, Shay was gone. And Tally knew that Zane, somehow, was still alive.

Hours had passed, and Tally still hadn't moved. David had made a deal with himself that if she didn't wake up in another hour, he would try and hoverboard her to a hospital. He would've done so earlier, but he was sure that no one would help her, even if she was Tally Youngblood, because she was still special. So the authorities would do the only thing that made since to them. They would de-specialize her. Though that sounded somewhat appealing to David, he knew it would be the exact opposite for Tally. She would hate him for letting them do that to her. That was, of course, assuming she ever woke up.

David looked over at Tally and brushed the hair out of her face. Her tanned skin looked pale in the moonlight. He found himself thinking about how things had been before he met Tally. How much simpler his life was. He would wake up every morning surrounded by his friends. The sunshine had always been so bright in the valley, and there was hardly ever a day when he couldn't see its beauty. Every evening he would go and see his parents, and to tell them what good, what was bad, and everything in between. It was wonderful… but he wouldn't go back. David knew that he wouldn't have traded the time he had with Tally for anything.

David wondered for the millionth time that day when she would wake up. Then a horrible thought struck him. He recollected Tally telling him what had happened when she couldn't move because of the arrow. She had said she was able to hear him. David realized with horror that he might not have to tell Tally anything after all.

Ooooh. Does Tally know about Zane? What's going to happen? Hmmm...

Anyway, I think I'm going to jump ahead a little into the next chapter. I feel like I've done way to much in the forest going down memory lane. Time for some of the cities!