Chapter 26
Hannah's POV
My eyes widened in surprise. There was a long silence before someone spoke up.
"You... did... what?" Skipper yelled.
Kowalski stiffened next to me. "I... only made one antidote." He glared at Wren. "Why would you-" He began.
"Because I didn't want you guys to leave, okay?" Wren yelled, her hazel eyes welling up with tears. "I... I'm just having a hard time letting go-"
"No," Skipper growled, "you're being selfish. Just because you're having a hard time doesn't mean that we need to stay human for you to be happy, Wren!" His ice blue eyes were sparking with anger.
Wren glared at him. "You're right. I shouldn't have thrown it, because you obviously don't care. I should've given it to you so you could get the hell out of my life!" She turned around and unzipped the tent. "I hate you!" Wren yelled, and ran out of the tent.
"Wren! Come back!" I yelled, starting to stand.
I felt a hand on my shoulder holding me back. "Hannah, wait. It's getting dark out-"
"And my friend is out there." I turned to face Kowalski. "I'll be fine. I need to talk to Brennan."
Kowalski hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, go-"
"Yes, go ahead. I hope you get lost out there," Skipper hissed.
I turned to face him. He looked majorly pissed off. "Skipper-" I began.
"I don't want to hear from you or Wren. Ever." He snarled. "Get out of here."
"Hannah, he doesn't mean that-" Kowalski began.
"GO," Skipper yelled.
I flinched at his harsh words. "Skipper, please! Wren was just upset-"
"I said get out of here, soldier!"
I jumped backwards in fear and quickly exited the tent, feeling someone's eyes on me as I left. The sun was setting; it was already becoming difficult to see where I was going. I looked for Wren's footprints, but none were noticeable on the forest floor. I cursed under my breath, still shocked at what Skipper had said to me and to Wren, and still shocked at what Wren had done.
I soon found myself sprinting through the forest, yelling for Wren. "Wren! Wren!" I felt my foot make contact with something on the ground and I tripped, falling hard on my shoulder. "Ow." I stood slowly, and continued running. "Brennan!"
The sun had set completely now. I sighed. There was no way I was going to find her now. But I couldn't give up; I didn't exactly expect a warm welcome from Skipper when I returned to the tent.
I continued through the forest, my eyes straining to see into the darkness. Geez, how far can this girl run? I thought to myself, starting to run again.
I let out a gasp of surprise as I felt a searing pain in my hip. I was knocked to the ground and pinned. I struggled, trying to make out the appearance of my attacker in the shadowed forest. "Let go of me! Let me go!" I yelled.
Suddenly, defense instinct kicked in. I kicked away my attacker, only to be pinned by two others. I cursed under my breath, and punched another in the face, which hurt my knuckles. That felt almost like… a shell of some sort, I thought, continuing to defend myself against the multiple attackers.
My attackers finally managed to pin me against a tree, and I continued to struggle. "I said let go of me!" I yelled.
Finally, my eyes adjusted to the dark. I blinked slowly. Were those… lobsters? Giant lobsters? I blinked again, but the same image came up. I was being pinned to a tree by four large lobsters.
"Okay… my life has officially taken a turn for the weird," I muttered to no one in particular. I struggled to raise a fist and punch another lobster, but their claws had me in a tight, and very uncomfortable, grip. "If someone doesn't let me go in five seconds, I'm going to kick some serious crustacean ass." The grip on my arms only tightened. "Oh, fantastic. Okay, strange lobster things. Who are you, and why did you choose today to make my life miserable?"
There was no reply from any of my attackers. "Ugh. Come on, no one wants to strike up a conversation? Seriously, someone say something-"
"LET HER GO!" A familiar voice yelled.
"Brennan?" I asked, peering into the dark.
I felt the grip on my arms being released as Wren started kicking some serious lobster butt. I immediately joined in, kicking the lobsters aside. "Take that, crustacean creeps!" I yelled.
Suddenly, I felt Wren fly into me, and we both lay in a heap on the ground.
"Not again," I groaned. "Dude, get off of me!"
"Uhh…" Wren replied.
I looked up. We were surrounded by a large group of the lobsters.
"Oh, great. Now there's an army of them," I complained.
"Shut up! Someone's coming!" Wren hissed.
I looked into the forest, and heard a small whirring noise, as if two wheels were rolling towards us. Then I heard a voice that I've only heard in the TV…
"Well, well. Looks like I've got the perfect bait for those penguins. Good work, minions."