"Argus," I panted. "What about—"

"He'll be fine," Hayden said. "It's us she wants."

We barreled down the sidewalk, pushing past tourist and peddlers who swore at us or shrugged and rolled their eyes. I followed Hayden, hoping that she had a plan.

Behind us, Ethel was catching up. She clawed after us on all fours, mowing down pedestrians and yelling, "You will respect my knowledge and DIE!"

"I don't like the sound of that," I said.

Hayden pulled her Ono out of her bag. "If it's any consolation, I liked your answer better than hers."

We made a hard left into traffic, shoving past pedestrians and climbing over taxis that nearly hit us.

Once we were on the other side of the street, I gathered the nerve to look back. Behind us, a FedEx truck slammed into Ethel, dragging her down the street. I would've cheered, but I knew that when she recovered she'd be royally peeved.

Hayden and I kept running for a few more blocks before ducking behind an alley. We crouched behind a dumpster that rank so bad that it had to cover our scents.

"I think we lost her," I said as we both caught our breath.

Hayden peeked past the dumpster. "Maybe. We should get a taxi to the Empire State Building. Staying out longer than we need to is risky. When we're there we can send Argus an Iris Message so he won't worry."

At that point, going to Olympus was a better option than anything else. I was about to agree when a voice above us said, "Good idea, girly. Too bad you won't see it to fruition."

We stood, our weapons ready. I looked up, expecting to see Ethel, but instead saw a different Sphinx. This one was just as old and as withered as Ethel, but had ugly thick framed glasses straight out of the eighties, and dull pink hair (in a beehive hairdo, I might add) instead of blue. Her name tag read "Edna."

Edna slinked down the brick wall before landing on the concrete right in front of us. "You two must be the disrespectful girlies we heard about," she said. "Let me show you what disrespect earns you around here!"

She lunged at us, talons flashing, fangs bared.

I slashed my sword. The moment it connected with her, Edna exploded in a shower of sand.

"Let's grab that cab now," I decided.

Hayden nodded, but didn't move. Her brow furrowed, and I could tell she was thinking. "I don't like what she said."

"What do you mean?"

"She said we when she told us that she knew about us. There are more of them out there."

I wasn't thrilled by the sound of that.

As we left the alley, a lion's roar froze me in my tracks.

From our right, I heard the scratching of several claws against the sidewalk. A half a dozen Sphinxes exploded from the corner and charged at us.

Like I even need to say that we ran like Hades.

One or two Sphinxes was manageable between the two of us. But a pack of them (a murder of Sphinxes? Yeah, that sounds about right) was more than I was willing to take on. Call me crazy, but I wasn't about to push my luck with six or seven homicidal lion/grandma hybrids drunk with murder lust.

Even I had my limits.

I was about sick of running, but I didn't dare stop. We weaved in and out of alleys and backtracked to shake them off, but it never worked for long.

A few managed to catch up with us. One—Edith— caught up to us, slashing at Hayden's leg. Hayden swung her axe and decapitated the lioness. Another Sphinx—Elsa— clawed at my arm. I ran her through with my sword and sent her to straight to Tartarus.

We did that for a while—kill, run like Hades, kill again, run some more, but more monsters joined the chase faster than we could kill them. We were slowing down. Sooner or later, they would catch us and have us for lunch.

The two of us managed to lose them again. We dove into another alley and was about to bolt again, but—

Dead end.

I swore in Ancient Greek.

Hayden turned. "We have to—"

Too late.

A dozen Sphinxes appeared in front of us in the alley, blocking our exit.

We needed an escape. I looked around desperately. The ladder? No, it led to the roof, and it wouldn't do us any good. The Sphinxes would just follow us and we wouldn't be able to escape. A window? Only one and it was covered with bars. I could cut through them easily, but it would take too long. Sooner or later, we'd be surrounded by Sphinxes and torn apart by the league of crusty old ladies with claws and fangs and sewing needles.

Y'know… not the way I'd picture I go out.

"We're trapped," I said, stating the obvious. "We have to fight them."

Hayden shook her head. "There are too many."

She was right, but we had no choice.

At the end of the alley the two granny lions took the lead of the group. They slinked forward slowly, mockingly, because we were as good as dead.

"We have run," Hayden said matter-of-factly.

I gave her a look. "Where?"

"Anywhere that's not here."

She grabbed my hand and raced towards the brick wall. Before I could protest, we shot straight into the shadows and was engulfed in the Stygian cold.

Shadow travel—is—not—fun. Period. Hands down. No argument.

First of all, it was dark. Can't-see-my-frea king-hand-in-front-of-my-face dark. The whispers of a million ghosts came from all directions across the void, prickling my skin and tugging at me. An icy blast shot straight through me as we tumbled through the darkness.

We rematerialized… somewhere. I was too disoriented after that quite pleasant ordeal. The first thing I registered was the warm blanket of sunshine thawing my bones and the smell of the ocean.

Hayden slumped on the side of a peach colored wall of somebody's house. She looked about ready to faint.

"You okay?" I asked.

"I'm fine," she said, barely above a whisper. "I think I can—" she tried to stand, but then stumbled. I caught her before she fell.

"Just relax," I said, easing her into a sitting position.

"It'd be easier to relax if I know where we are."

"You don't know where you sent us?"

"No. But I sense a beach nearby. Let's find out where we are, preferably before the owners of the house come out and shoot us."

I made her relax for a few minutes before taking her arm over my shoulder and helping her stand.

"So that was travel shadow, huh?" I asked as we left the property. "I… I don't like it."

Hayden looked surprised that I knew what it was. I explained that I saw Nico do it once before he left camp.

She nodded. "We talked about that. Shadow travel wipes him out, too. Do you remember that week I was absent in the fifth grade?"

"Yeah?"

"That was the first time I did that. It knocked me out cold. Now it only makes me extremely tired. And hungry."

My own stomach growled in agreement with that sentiment. "Let's find some food."

The house we appeared next to was a two story bungalow with neatly trimmed grass and plastic flamingos stuck in the ground. All the houses that we pasted were the same, only in different colors and with other tacky lawn ornaments.

We walked down a few blocks, following the smell of the ocean. I figured where there's a beach, there's decent chance of finding a snack bar. We passed more identical homes, along with children playing in yards and people walking their dogs. None of them paid us any attention.

People became more frequent as we went. We met a swarm of them as soon as we hit the boardwalk.

The boardwalk divided the shops and the beach. To one side, there were a couple of novelty and curio stores peppered between a surf shop, a pizza place, gift shops, and a boutique. A baby blue hotel sat next to a bistro and a bike rental store.

People cluttered the worn wooden strip with foot traffic, some in bathing suits and bikinis. A few carted around on roller blades and pedicabs and bike-cars.

On the other side of the boardwalk was a beach, crowded with tourist and locals alike. They were all enjoying the beach as if it were the middle of summer instead of the beginning of fall. But then again, I had no idea where we were. We could be in Australia for all I knew.

A breeze carried the smell of pizza over to us. I swear my stomach growled, "Food! Glorious food! Cheese and pepperoni and mushrooms, oh my!"

Whoa, there. Hallucinations. I was pretty sure that was a sure sign of starvation.

"Pizza?" I asked Hayden.

"Pizza," she agreed.

The pizza on the boardwalk was almost as good as the pizza back home. It also came with the added bonus of not getting us killed by monsters. We sat on the beach, eating our lunch and people watching. It was nice to relax and joke around with Hayden about people's unwise choices of beach attire. (The less you know about Uncle Grandpa and his leaves-nothing-to-the-imagination polka dotted Speedo, the better).

I insisted that we stay put, but Hayden got antsy, so we decided to walk around and go window shopping. There was a surf shop with a wicked board with wave and shark designs, but that was way out of my current price range. Hayden saw a necklace she liked, a skull carved into a seashell, but that was pretty expensive, too. Besides, she said, she liked her skull-and-cross bones necklace anyway.

Hayden and I went from store to store passing hotels that played lived piano music and trendy little cafés. We went inside one to try to figure out where we were. Turns out, we were in New Jersey, which was a relief. I didn't have enough money for a cab, so we'd have to wait for Hayden to recover to shadow travel again.

I didn't relax too much the whole time. I knew it was ridiculous to worry about Mrs. Tot finding me. She wouldn't know where I was. But still… I couldn't help it. It was always in the back of my mind.

The two of us sat by a small fountain decorated with little naked cupid babies. I had just enough money to buy us cheese burgers for dinner.

As we ate, five of the most attractive boys on the face of the planet passed us by. They were with a couple of girls who were fawning over them worse than I would have if I were in there expensive shoes. What would you call a group of hot boys? A gaggle? A riot?

One of the boys caught me staring (read: gawking) and winked at me. Either I was blushing like mad or someone set my face on fire while I wasn't looking.

Hayden handed me a napkin.

I stared at it. "What's that for?"

"Oh, for your chin," she said, trying not to grin. "You're drooling."

"Shut up, Kawaguchi."

We went back to the beach just as the sun was starting to set, turning the clouds pink and the ocean gold. We sat farther away from the crowd, trying not to look suspicious. The beach had a curfew, so I knew that would be a problem since it looked like we were sleeping here tonight.

I watched a life guard climb down from his post to round up the other beach goers. Namely the ones in bikinis and bleached blond hair. With his tan skin and curly, sandy hair, I thought that he looked familiar.

"Already making googly eyes at someone new?" Hayden asked.

"What? No-oo… I'm just thinking how easy that job would be for the two of us, being water benders and all."

She rolled her eyes. "Stop calling it that. It's not the same thing. And I know you're not thinking about a future career."

I crossed my arms. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"The last time Mr. Briggs made us take one of those future career quizzes, you thought it was a test and chose C for every question. You got English teacher."

"Who cares anyway?" I shrugged. "I'll probably work at my grandparents' boat shop in the city or something."

"But haven't you ever wanted to do something more than get a boring job like everyone else?" Hayden asked. "Don't you want to, you know, see the world?"

Until Hayden said that, I'd never really thought about it. I'd always enjoyed vacations with my family, but I never really thought about travelling to experience a culture or for fun.

Hayden hugged her knees to her chest. "That's what I want to do, Kai. I want to go on a trip across the country. I want to go to Egypt and see the pyramids. And I want to go to Japan and see if I have any family there."

She sighed, digging her boots into the sand. "I don't know what I want to be either. I always figured there wasn't a point. Not for me anyway."

I frowned, confused. "Why not?"

She shuffled uncomfortably in her spot. "Well, you know that most Demigods don't live past twenty."

I did, but I never really thought about it. I figured it was an exaggeration; there were demigods who lived past twenty—Amelia Earhart, Harriet Tubman, Shakespeare. There had to be more, and I would be one of them.

Hayden continued. "Kai, for me, the odds for me are much worse. I have too many gifts."

"Because you're a child of Thetis and a descendant of Hades, right?"

"No," she muttered. "Not exactly."

"What do you mean?"

She was silent for what felt like minutes, her pale green eyes locked onto the sea. I thought that they looked like green sea glass, sharp and fragile. Whenever Hayden was sad, it looked as if her eyes would shatter at any moment.

Finally, she spoke. "Kaia, there's something… I know I shouldn't tell you, but you're my best friend and I know I can trust you with anything."

"What is it, Hayden?"

"I'm not a descendent of Hades. Not really. I'm a legacy of Pluto."

She looked at me expectantly, as if expecting me to freak out over a big revelation. I didn't get it.

"So? There's no difference, it's just a different name for the same god."

"It's not. At camp they tell you that the gods have only one form, their original Greek ones, but that's not true. It's, well, it's kind of complicated…"

Hayden told me everything she knew, starting from the beginning: when the Rome was founded, the gods' personalities and aspects split. Some were drastically different (like Ares was violent and belligerent, while Mars was more tactful and levelheaded) while some minor gods didn't change much at all. Greek and Roman demigods had no idea that the others existed, because whenever we meet, they kill each other. A Roman camp was somewhere in California, but Hayden had no clue where it was.

Nico knew, too. She wouldn't go into details, but somehow the secret was slipped and the two of them started to talk more and feel more comfortable around each other.

Looking back on it now, it's almost funny that I didn't react the way any other normal demigod would. Attribute that to my amateur-ness and naiveté, I guess. The whole world of the Greek gods being real was still all too new for me, so this news didn't really shock me.

"I saw that Poseidon would claim you," Hayden explained, "but the vision wasn't clear. I wasn't so sure that it was Poseidon. I thought that maybe… maybe your godly parent was Neptune instead. That's why I didn't tell you, Kai. I'm sorry."

"It's fine," I said, and I meant it. I was well past that by now. "Why did you think my father was Neptune and not Poseidon?"

She shrugged. "A hunch. I've known you for years, Kai. You give off a different… vibe I guess you could call it, than Percy. But I guess I was wrong. I don't think that Poseidon or Neptune would risk you going to a Greek camp if you were Roman."

She grabbed something black from her bag—her dad's old leather jacket—and put it on. "My dad was kicked out of the Roman camp for insisting that they pursue more Greek customs," Hayden said. "That's when he met Thetis. She didn't change much in Roman times, so she usually stays Greek. She's traditional that way."

She gazed back at the ocean, as if trying to see beyond it. A brief look of anger flashed in her eyes.

"When… when I was born, Thetis gave me the gift of foresight. She only gives a few of her children that power. Since Achilles, Thetis wanted her children to have a better chance at surviving. After he was born, well, you already know the story.

"But…my power—it's inconsistent and useless and I never actually see what I want. Sometimes I see little things I can change, and that's good in a life or death situation. But sometimes it shows me these big events that I have no power to stop. I saw… I saw my dad's death, Kaia."

My jaw dropped. I was speechless. I mean, what do you say to something like that? "Hayden… I had no idea."

"Thetis wanted to protect me without overpowering me. I hate this power. You have no idea how much it's killing me."

Hayden wiped her eyes. It nearly broke my heart to see her that upset.

Hayden and I have always been close—she was closer to me than my own sister. Since coming to Camp Half-Blood, I was baffled at how different she was to me and yet, not that much different at all. She seemed more herself now, not worrying about keeping any secrets or being attacked by monsters every day. And that made me happy.

But now I was aware of a new sadness, too—the burden of foresight. I've heard in movies and TV shows how seeing into the future was a curse more than a gift. Knowing too much about the future could be disastrous. Trying to change it could be even worse. In the long run, Hayden's power wouldn't help her much and she knew that.

Hayden looked miserable, staring blankly at the sea. The sun had finally set and the crescent moon cast a silver glow onto the bluish black waves.

"Tell me about the places you wanna go," I said.

She smiled at me gratefully and started to talk about all the places she wanted to go and sites that she wanted to visit. She put such a good spin on it that I was feeling excited with her. I wanted to go to all these places with her, eating food and sightseeing, like we did that day. I imagined us older, more mature. We were free. We didn't need to worry about gods or monsters or any of this Greek/Roman stuff. I couldn't think of a better way to spend time with my best friend.

That's when the fantasy unraveled.

"Oh, my," a familiar female voice said behind us. "What have we got here? A couple of brats out past curfew?"

My gut twisted. Hayden swore in Latin.

Mrs. Tot—Amymone, whatever— slinked her way towards us as if she had all the time in the world. Her usual teacher outfit was gone and was instead replaced with a white and gold Greek chiton. A gold wreath was placed in her braided hair. She looked like a princess, which she was. Her dark eyes were cold and full of hate.

Hayden and I stood together, shoulder to shoulder, weapons at the ready.

Amymone laughed at us. "Really, children? You have the nerve to kill your old teacher?"

Hayden didn't falter. Her eyes shot daggers at Amymone. "I never liked you anyway."

Our ex-teacher frowned. "Believe me, the feeling is mutual. Sea gods and their children are never reliable. Always restless. Unpredictable. Aren't I right, Kaia?"

"I know who you are," I said. "Who you really are."

Amymone looked shocked for a split second before her expression shifted back to malice. "That's the problem with heroes. You all think you have it all figured out, but you never do. You are all ignorant. You have no idea how far this goes."

"You're Amymone," I continued. I sounded sure and confident, which surprised me. "The princess of Argos. You and your sister's murdered your husbands and—"

"I AM INNOCENT! It was my father—my sisters, they convinced me—made me— I had no choice!"

"That's no excuse," Hayden said. "No one can make you. You're just as guilty."

Amymone looked at me with helpless eyes. I could almost see remorse in there. Almost. "Would you defy you father, too? Even if he ordered you to do something heinous?"

"Of course I would!" I said.

"Just you wait. Poseidon will send you on a fruitless quest eventually. And you won't be able to refuse."

I shook my head. "That's not the same. You killed someone. Now you want to kill us."

That's when Amymone surprised me. She laughed. "That's where you're wrong. I only need to kill you."

"Why kill me? You won't gain anything."

"Oh, but I do. By disposing of you, I eliminate a possible threat for my patron. In return she will reward me. My son is a child of a big three god, but he gets no fame, no recognition. However, when I get rid of you, I will have my son back, and he shall become greater than any child of Poseidon. Stronger than Bellerophon. More clever than Theseus. More eloquent than Winston Churchill."

Nothing she said made sense. Who was this patron she kept mentioning? Why did they want me dead so badly? How powerful could they be to be able to raise someone from the dead? And why send one of Poseidon's ex-girlfriends to axe me off?

Amymone composed herself. "Enough talk. I've brought a more vicious brood to do my bidding this time. And they are quite hungry."

I would like to tell you that when I saw the monsters I believed that we had a chance, but that would be a load of Minotaur crap.

Amymone pulled a white whistle and blew it with all her might. This time, the sound was low and deep, as if it were trying to claw its way into the center of the earth. The noise filled me with dread.

The first monster approached from the ocean, its murky image growing as it got closer. It rose, towering over the surf, and my heart stopped beating.

"I'd like you girls to meet the Indus Worms," Amymone chuckled. "Don't let them catch you. Everything they catch, they eat."

Worm was definitely a misnomer. The Indus Worm was less of a worm and more of a jawless fish, but that didn't make it any less terrifying. It was a ten foot long lamprey with beady red eyes and rows and rows of dangerously sharp teeth.

Not a second later, five more arrived from the water behind the first one. All just as big and horrifying.

We made the mistake of staring too long.

Hayden was as white as a sheet. Her eyes were wide. She looked about ten years old and full of fear.

"Come on!" I grabbed her by the arm and dragged her down the shore.

That got her into gear. Hayden raced ahead of me, not daring to look back.

Behind us, Amymone roared with laughter. "Go ahead and run! That's all you know how to do!"

To our left, one of the worms ascended from the water, ready to strike. I grabbed Hayden by the collar of her jacket and yanked her back before it got her.

I slashed at the monster's neck, disintegrating it.

Hayden looked at me, and I was surprised that I understood what she was silently telling me. Together, we summoned a wave, sweeping the monsters further away. It didn't kill them, but it bought us a few extra moments to run.

"We need to get away from shore," Hayden said.

It was easier said than done.

Another worm managed to catch up to us. Hayden raised a blob of water and it hardened into a solid mass. As the worm struck it, she closed her hand into a fist, wrapping the water around its mouth.

It thrashed, but Hayden didn't break her grip. She clenched her hand tighter and crushed the worm into sand.

She turned to face me. There was a wild look in her eyes. "Don't let them get anywhere near you! My dad, he—"

She never finished her thought.

The worms that were behind us finally caught up. We ran, until we were confronted with worms in front of us as well.

We were completely surrounded. Our luck had run out. There were too many for us to take down, and I was sure that eventually the two of us would be overrun, but I wasn't about to go down without putting up a fight.

I have no idea how we were able to hold out or so long. The two of us fought in perfect sync, stabbing and slashing and cutting the Indus Worms down. Every once in a while Hayden or I would raise a watery tentacle to smash one of the monsters to dust.

The Indus Worms could move fast, but they were slow attackers. They couldn't be out of the water for too long, but they had a fast recovery time.

My heart hammered against my chest. Our clothes were tattered and we were soaked with salt water. (We didn't bother to keep ourselves dry). Hayden had a cut on her cheek and a scary look in her eyes.

No, not scary. Murderous.

Hayden and I were starting to tire out. At any moment, our luck would run out. We were overdue.

I was too slow to block an attack from a worm to my left. I raised a shield of water, but the monster broke through it easily. I struck out with my sword, aiming for the side of its neck. The worm knocked me aside with the force of a truck. I felt the bones in my left arm shattered. I hit the sand with a cry.

"Kaia!" Hayden cried.

She stabbed the jewel of her axe into the sand. Time slowed down around us.

Hayden went still—so motionless you'd think she saw the face of Medusa. Her eyes glowed pitch black; smoke escaped her empty sockets. She radiated absolute fear and death. I felt like crawling into a hole to hide from my own demise. For the first time in my life, I truly feared my best friend.

The veins around her eyes bulged. She let out a violent scream in Latin.

The ground shook. A wave of black energy shot from her body, hitting the worms, and making them burst into flames and erupt into sand. Amymone… she wasn't a monster, technically, so what happened to her was the most horrible.

Her skin lost every pigment of color she had. She withered and hardened until her skin cracked like ice in warm water and broke into dust. Her inner muscles and organs peeled away and turned to dust until I saw her skeleton. White bones and a grinning skull caught ablaze and turned to ash.

The earth stopped shaking. The glow in Hayden's eyes faded back to normal. She collapsed like a sack of brick.

My heart dropped. "Hayden!"

I ran to her and scooped her up in my arms. Her breath was shallow. She stared ahead blankly, her eyes milky white. Her head lolled.

More worms kept coming out of the water, racing towards us.

I felt my rage boil inside of me. I stood, facing the monsters, no weapon in my hands. "Stay away from her! Go away!"

My vision went red. A wave roared in my ears, and I let my rage explode in one guttural cry. Then the whole world went silent.

I don't remember much after that. Just wave after violent wave of salt water crashing and swirling and surging, powered with a fury that I've never felt before. An explosion of sand. A roar—maybe from the monsters, maybe from me. My stomach ached painfully. My arm was on fire. I didn't stop.

My anger died down. I was standing alone on the beach. No monsters or murderous teachers. The only sound was the ocean lapping gently against the shore. Slowly, my senses came back to me.

A crumpled heap of black lay ten feet from me. I gasped.

"Hayden!" I rushed towards her.

She was limp and still in the sand. Her skin was pale and clammy. I couldn't find her pulse.

My heart sank. The pain in my gut stayed with me. I felt as if my organs had exploded inside of me, and I was slowly dying with her.

I grabbed Hayden's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Hayden…"

She stared blankly up at the stars. "K-Kaia?"

"I'm here. I'm right here. Don't move."

I looked around frantically for Hayden's bag. I spotted it a few yards away from where we were.

"Hold on," I told her. I squeezed her hand reassuringly before scrambling after her lavender bag.

Hayden, somehow, sensed when I came back. "The worms…" Her voice as dry as sand paper. "Did you…?"

"I did." I said, confirming her suspicion. "I… I don't know how."

Hayden grimaced, then nodded as if she understood. "I can't see, Kaia. I… I'm scared."

I shuddered, holding back a sob. It took everything in me to not start bawling. I started to go through the bag more desperately. Thank the gods—she had an extra ambrosia square.

I fed it to her, working her jaw to help her chew it. Hayden's stare became more focused. But she still looked badly battered and bruised. Part of me knew it couldn't save her. What she did to the monsters… to Amymone… it burned her up from the inside out. Just like she said.

No, I thought. I can't accept that. I refuse that. I can't just let Hayden—

"Th-the water." My voice cracked. "It'll heal you."

Ignoring the pain in my arm, I picked Hayden up and carried her deeper into the ocean. I laid her down so that the water came up to face. Immediately some if her scars started to heal. Her breathing steadied, although it was still very weak.

She looked at me with eyes like broken glass and frowned. "I'm sorry."

I blinked back tears. "What are you sorry for?"

"I didn't think I would… not like this. Not now."

A golf ball in my throat grew into a softball. "J-just relax, Hayden. Please."

"No." Very weakly, she grabbed my hand. "Listen. You can't blame anyone… for this. Not me, not Thetis, and not yourself. It won't… it won't solve a thing. It'll eat you alive. Trust me."

"You're gonna be fine," I insisted. "You're—"

"Please, Kaia. Promise me…swear on the Styx."

"I… I promise. I swear on the River Styx."

She smiled weakly. "Good..."

Hayden started to relax. Her eyes went out of focus again.

"Dad…" she whispered.

She closed her eyes. She didn't move again.

I couldn't hold back any more. I pulled Hayden's body into a hug and started to sob.

My heart felt like it was ripped apart and trampled on. Nothing around me existed. I didn't think to move or get help. All I could do was cry and cry and cry.

I knew I couldn't stay here forever. Someone would find me and start asking questions or call the police. I couldn't be here when someone came snooping.

There was no choice. Gently, I draped Hayden's arms over my shoulder and carried Hayden's lifeless body on my back. I didn't have a plan— my only thought was to get away from the ocean and away from this town.

I cried the entire time, trying not to think about the pain in my arm or Hayden's dead body on my back. I had to focus on what I had to do in that moment: moving forward. One foot in front of the other.

Two miles out of the town I nearly collapse. Staggering, I dropped to one knee and tried not to drop Hayden. I was exhausted and soaked and miserable and emotionally over loaded. Black spots danced at the edge of blurred vision. This wasn't right. This wasn't real. It couldn't be…

I heard the sound of large flapping wings above me, but I didn't have the strength to look up.

The sound died down. A pair of sneakers appeared in front of me. I heard my name, but I didn't register the meaning or whose voice it was. I gather up the strength and courage to look up.

Familiar sea green eyes stared down at me. Relief, anger, and joy swept over me all at once. I felt hands on my shoulder. Heard more voices. Then the weight was taken off of my back. I tried to protest, but instead I fell over hard on my bad arm.

My whole arm was set on fire. The edge of my sight darkened. I could feel myself dip in and out of consciousness until everything went black and my mind let go.