Chapter Twenty-Five: Out of Time

They weren't able to cover much ground before sunset began. With every step, Jenny's pain was as great as her fear of what was about to happen. Luke was clutching her hand, and she squeezed back, giving as well as receiving comfort from it. Whatever happened, they were together. That was the biggest blessing they had.

Luke wasn't looking too good, either. Every now and again he stumbled. Jenny knew they both desperately needed sleep, food and water, not to mention proper medical facilities—but they couldn't stop, and the latter was in short supply. At least, it wouldn't be long now, right? Once whatever was going to happen, happened, whether or not they had found the teleport—it would be over.

Right?

Lexine stopped suddenly, and Luke and Jenny almost walked into her. Her ears were back and she was growling, very softly.

"Lexine?" Luke whispered. "What is it, girl?"

She began creeping stealthily forward, and they followed. They arrived on the edge of the woods, looking across the rocky plain. It wasn't the same area they had arrived at; they were probably further west. Lexine ducked behind a large rock and they followed suit.

In the distance were a couple of figures, running in their direction. No, three figures. Jenny squinted. It looked like one was being chased by the other two.

"What do we do?" Luke whispered.

"I—I don't know." Jenny's breath caught as the pursued figure came into view. Luke gasped beside her. It was Denora.

"We've got to help—" He began to stand up, but Denora's pursuers reached her. They were too far away. Jenny made the calculation in an instant, and it killed her to say it, but she had to. "Luke, get down!" Jenny grabbed the back of his shirt and tugged. "There's nothing we can—"

One of the pursuers, a mad-looking woman with a face streaked with blood, seized Denora by the shoulders and clamped her arms to her sides. Her companion, a well-built young man, grabbed her head and twisted effortlessly.

Denora's body fell to the ground a moment later.

Jenny, though she had seen it coming, was still in shock. Luke was shaking beside her, but stayed out of sight.

"That's Team One taken care of," the man said, brushing off his hands. "Didn't put up much of a fight, this one, did she?"

"Never mind that, we've still got a teleport to find and Team Three's out there somewhere," the woman snapped. "Tick tock, Hunt. Give me the map."

He held it out and she snatched it from his hands. "We've got far too much ground to cover. This is bad. They could be anywhere. For all we know they've already found it."

"I still say we should go back and get our weapons. Those pesky rodents must have gone by now, Lei."

"We can't; there's no time. Look!" Lei gestured to the sky.

"Big deal," Hunt said with a shrug. "The map's useless anyway if the teleport's not marked on it."

"It is not useless. Honestly," she huffed. "You're all brawn and no brains, aren't you?"

"Well, you're all stab and blood, and no poetry."

There was a pause, and the two unexpectedly smiled flirtatiously at each other. It was nauseating.

"I'm the brains of Team Two," Lei said after a moment, "and I say we're running out of time." She carelessly kicked Denora's body aside.

"Can we go?" Luke whispered.

They backtracked as silently as possible. "That's horrible," Jenny said with a shudder once she was sure they were out of earshot. "Poor Denora. And Ivon, too—you think they've killed him as well?"

"Must have," Luke said in a low voice. "And all the others, by the sound of it. We're their only competition left."

Lexine whined. Jenny patted her. "Thanks for warning us, girl. We might have gone crashing right into them—we wouldn't have stood a chance."

"At least we know no-one else got to the teleport," Luke said bracingly, obviously trying to be optimistic. "Although …"

They all looked over at the horizon. The second sun had set. The third was almost down.

"I hate this," Jenny burst out. She would have stamped her foot in frustration had she not been strapped to a splint. "We've got almost no time left and we don't even know if the teleport is within miles of us. It could be in the mountains for all we know. Or in the marshes, or in the city …"

"Jenny." Luke pulled her into a hug. "Come on, keep it together, okay? There's still time. I suggest we just head in the opposite direction from the other team, and hope for the best."

Jenny sniffed. "We've been doing a lot of that."

"Well, we've made it this long, haven't we?"

She smiled weakly. "True."

"Well, then. Let's go. Lexine, lead on."

With the rapidly dimming light, Jenny's despair grew. They weren't going to get out of there; she could tell. There was no hope left. If they didn't starve, or get eaten, or murdered by their competition, they were still going to be stuck on that planet forever.

Oh, Dad, she thought, screwing her face up against the tears. Please find me. Please find me.

They stumbled to a stop as a rumbling noise started. "What's that?" Jenny asked, clutching Luke's hand tighter.

"Dunno. Another earthquake?" He paused. "Actually, it doesn't sound like that."

He had no sooner said that than the ground began vibrating. Lexine jumped up and pushed them both to the ground, and took a stance above them, as if to guard them.

Jenny closed her eyes and pressed her face into Luke's shoulder. It was the end. It had to be. They had failed, and now they were never going to get home. They clung to each other as it felt like the whole planet shifted beneath them. Jenny could hear all sorts of noises—grinding, shlurping, crashing, gurgling, screeching—the list went on, and she had no idea what most of them were, and she didn't want to know. She felt Luke kiss her forehead and clung onto him tighter.

"Jenny," Luke whispered in her ear, though it was a loud whisper to be heard above the noise around them.

"Yeah?"

"I'm really glad I met you," he said simply.

"So am I," she responded, and still keeping her eyes closed, pressed a kiss to his shoulder. They remained still, in each other's arms, as the world rocked beneath them, just waiting for it to end.

And end it did. Though not quite as they expected.

The noises died down. The ground stopped shaking. Lexine moved from her position guarding them.

For a long time, neither Luke nor Jenny moved, or even opened their eyes. In the end, Lexine took charge.

"Ahh!" Jenny spluttered as a large, warm, wet tongue ran up her face, and without meaning to she opened her eyes. "Lexine!—Whoa."

"What?" Luke sat up. "Are we alive?"

They were both stunned into silence. The forest had gone. They were at the foot of a mountain, on a stretch of rocky ground, with trees in the distance. In the last of the sliver of daylight, this was all they glimpsed before the world plunged into darkness.

TBC …