Chapter 6

- PRESENT -

For the first time in what seems to have been a series of unceremonious awakenings, consciousness returned to me slowly and gradually, replacing sweet nothingness with the dull throb of a full-body sunburn.

I could feel that the length of my body was spread flat, laying across some hard wood-like surface, a constant rumble continuously reverberating through it.

For a moment, I simply lay there, letting the memories of the previous day lay in me. I wanted to dismiss the events as a dream, yet the burning feeling soaked into my skin made the impossible feel much more real.

For a while, I drifted in and out of sleep, content just to let the reality that waited outside wait just a little bit longer.

Only when sleep no longer came did I try and crack my sand-crusted eyelids open.

The same purple galaxy. The majority of my vision was met with that night sky I saw upon my initial arrival.

"It's real..." I muttered to myself, painfully aware of my scorched voice.

Slowly, I pushed my back off the ground using my elbows, leaning upwards and taking stock of my surroundings.

My back was right, I was looking off of the back of some shoddy wooden cart, slowly trailing it's way through the desert sand. Around me laid box after box, tightly shut and fastened down with tarp-like tan cloth mats.

One thing stood out among the nondescript boxes and travel packs, a heavy metal chain trailing up the cart past me, ending with two prison-style leg cuffs locked directly onto my ankles.

Somehow, through the sand and sunburn, I hadn't noticed the tight vice grip the metal had on me.

For the third time, panic began to set in-

"Don't worry kiddo, it's just... Insurance," a gravelly male voice announced from behind me.

I swung around, startled.

Directly behind me lounged an impossibly big man, grotesquely bulging tanned muscles not quite hidden away by an oversized khaki tunic.

He looked at me with a shit-eating grin, "once ya pay us back for the pulmna antidote you'll be good to go- Plus lodgings of course."

For a moment, I stared back at the bald man blankly.

The words coming out of the man's mouth sounded like utter gibberish to me, but somehow, I understood the meaning behind them. This was not something that I felt I had the freedom to get stuck worrying about right now.

"You... Can you understand what I'm saying?" I asked to confirm. I didn't want to assume that this convenient language magic was a two-way street.

"Huh? Ya, of course I can understand ya, didja not hear what I just said?" he asked, throwing me a confused look.

"Uhh, yeah. Sorry." I looked down at my tattered clothes and back up to the man. "I don't think I have any way to pay you right now."

"Bwaahaahaahaa!" The man broke out in a full belly laugh. "Ya think I don't know that? Look atcha, not even a beggar would approach ya, son."

He handed me a bucket of surprisingly clear water from the front of the cart. The night sky illuminated it just enough for me to glimpse my reflection.

Pale face burnt rosey, eyes dark and sunken, lips cracked and bleeding. I looked like a man near death, well, I guess I was until just a little while ago.

I took a moment to take a sip and wipe away the grime from my face, the cold water feeling incredibly to my parched lips.

I glanced up, "am I going to be charged for this, too?"

"Not like it'd change anything, kiddo," he said with a smile and turned away from me.

It was only after he shifted the massive frame that I could see past him towards our destination, the sand pyramid, towering high in the distance, yet visibly much closer...

Wait, I couldn't see anything pulling the cart. I pushed myself to my feet and moved towards the front. Now standing next to the man, I could see down in front of the cart. It seemed to be being pulled by two straps being pulled down beneath the surface of the sand.

"What is pulling the cart? Is it magic?" I asked, letting my curiosity get the best of me.

"Ha! Magic? Ya think I can afford something like that? Here, lemme show you."

He yanked onto one of the cart's reins. Once, twice. I watched skeptically, unsure of what to expect.

"What am I supposed to be looking f- WHAT IS THAT?!" I screamed as a pinkish worm emerged from under the van, circumference easily eclipsing 3 feet.

The shock knocked me flat on my ass. As I struggled to regain my breath, he tossed some piece of unmarked raw meat into the razor-sharp void of a mouth that the worm was equipped with before it quickly resubmerged beneath the sand.

"Don't you mean who is that? That's ger, one of my two friends helping us pull this cart."

I put my hand on my chest, steadying my pounding heart.

"No. I definitely meant what is that. Seriously, what the heck is that thing- You know what? I don't want to know."

I sighed. What the hell have I gotten myself into.

"Suit yerself... By the way, my name is Bern what's your name, son?"

"Oh, right, my name is Ha-"

I cut myself off. Harper Trieste, that name only had bad memories attached to it these days...

Aliyah.

If she really is alive and hears wind of that name... She will find me. There is no doubt about it.

Now that I know she could be alive, is it really necessary for me to find her? It's already been over 3 years. I mean, I doubt she would even want to see me, considering everything that went down...

No, this isn't even about family, this is my chance for me to start anew.

It's what I've always dreamt of and I'll do anything to see my dream through.

"My name's Hale."