Bad News

I grit my teeth and force myself to keep going. Now is not the time to settle scores but I will come back and ruin this freak. As we start moving, Thane comes to a stop and quickly turns around, looking past me with a tense look on his face.

I tense up and turn to look as well but I don't hear or see anything. I strain to listen but I just can't hear anything. Thane's hearing and sense of smell are ten times greater than my own so this doesn't surprise me.

I turn to face him and give him a questioning look. When he finally does look back at me, I see his confusion bleed into anger. He leans in close and says "Two military trucks, both full of men, are heading this way, and fast."

I stare at him in confusion, not quite understanding. Military? That means they're from the City but why would they be out here and why would they be heading this way?? Thane quickly pulls off his bag and starts digging through it with anger.

Still not understanding, I watch him with confusion and whisper "What is it?" Thane feels around the bag until he comes to a stop by the zipper. He rips the bag a little and pulls out a small device with rage rolling off him.

A... A tracker!? But... who would put a tracker on us? And why!? Thane grips the little device so tightly, he crushes it. He throws the remaining pieces on the ground and growls out "Cruz..." Shock hits me again.

Cruz!?? My mind races back to his behavior the night before and the fact that he was missing this morning. Anger simmers up in me, causing me to clench my fists. Thane suddenly pushes me away! I fly back and roll to a stop on my feet when I see the familiar figure standing where Thane and I once were.

Thane slowly stands up and glares at the freak in white. I slowly stand up as well, my anger and hatred barely contained. When Kalen turns to see me, surprise and amusement light up his face. "Well well, I thought you managed to escape only to get yourself killed but it looks like you made it after all."

I glare at the freak as Thane sizes him up. Kalen's eyes dart between the two of us but you can feel his unease. As if just now realizing just how different the two of us were now. He lightly chuckles and says "It seems you two got into some trouble of some kind... Why so quiet?"

When I hear the bushes around us moving, I know without looking that Kalen's men are surrounding us. My internal panic is hitting an all-new high as I think about the two military trucks approaching us.

I can hear them now... That means they're getting alarmingly close. Too close. I shift my eyes to Thane and with a small nod from him, all chaos breaks out. Thane attacks Kalen, surprising Kalen and his men. I send a blast of wind out all around us, knocking Kalen's men back several feet.

A few jump back up and come running so while Thane takes on Kalen, I'm left with his goonies. I quickly untie my tiny bag of metal beads and lift them up. As soon as one of his goonies comes running through the bushes, I shoot a sharp, metal needle straight at them.

Their collective yells and grunts of pain, followed by them falling lets me know that my hit was true. As soon as I hit them, I burst the needles within them before calling them back. Sweat begins to form along my hairline as I try to keep up with the sheer numbers of Kalen's men.

A blast of fire comes straight at my face, causing CheeChee to scream and pull my hair. As I dodge the flames, I suck the oxygen out of the air around me, instantly killing the flames. I as soon as a metal ball returns to me, I send it straight to the fire user.

It hits him, right between the eyes. He freezes in shock seconds before his whole head explodes from the metal ball exploding inside. Someone almost reaches me from behind but CheeChee launches himself at the man and starts ripping him apart.

The little monkey was freakishly strong before but now? Now he's downright scary. As soon as I realize that we've killed all of Kalen's men, I turn to see Thane throwing Kalen through a tree! The roar of engines and crushing trees has my heart nearly stopping.

They're here! I turn to see the two large trucks flying through the bushes and come to a sliding stop. Nearly a hundred armed men begin jumping down from the trucks. I glace back to Thane and yell out "Thane!!"

Kalen tries to freeze Thane but Thane sends a blast of blue lightening down, nearly knocking the two out! I run to Thane, throwing my hand up and sending pieces of the ground at Kalen. Kalen easily blocks them like I thought he would but it gives me the chance to run to Thane's side.

I grip his arm and pull him as I say "We have to get out of here, now!" Thane's eyes were solid black, letting me know just how hard it was for him to control himself right now. He grits his teeth and glances at me for a split second before seeing the approaching men.

He pulls out of my hand and instead grabs me. Thane makes a tight whistle noise and CheeChee immediately comes back and perches himself upon my shoulder. Thane looks for Kalen but he looks to be gone.

Thane pulls me to the side and starts running. We can't fight that many people! Just as we start to pick up speed, men with guns cut us off. Thane and I come to a sliding stop before the men raise their guns at us. We're surrounded!