All of my days have meshed together like a big pile of dead dandelion petals scattered by the breeze. Between the killings, sheer terror of what goes bump in the day and night and moving from place to place, I haven’t been able to keep up with time. Trying to even comprehend what Sage and I have been through these past several months makes me dizzy.

In our brief moments of peace, we have tried everything we can think of to try to get back to Dandux, but nothing has worked. I miss my family, and I wonder what Felix is doing right this minute. I also wonder how my parents are dealing with me being gone. The last thing I promised my mom was that I would look into colleges. I quickly push my thoughts of my loved ones into the back of my mind, where I try my hardest to not go. It only makes this all worse.

I’m grateful for the glorious ding my cell makes, pulling me from my inner thoughts. I read a text from Sage as I walk to my favorite coffee shop on the corner of Main Street.

Sage: Running late. Order me my usual.

Me: Will do.

Sage: And have I mentioned lately how much I love cell phones? This instant access to you when I need you is brilliant.

Me: If only you didn’t abuse texting. :)

Sage: You used a smiley face! You’ve totally crossed over. You’re a texter. It’s official.

Me: Just get your ass here in one piece.

I walk in and get in line. This is the one place that my blue hair and the tattoos that I’ve acquired since being on Earth don’t get that second, awkward glance. And because of that, it’s my favorite place in this town.

I look at the menu, trying to find something I normally don’t get. Nothing looks good, so I decide to go with my usual. I walk up to the counter when it’s my turn and begin placing my order. I notice this is a new employee and hope he gets my order right.

I see that familiar evil gleam in his eyes, “pretending” to fix my coffee. Instincts kick in, and I quickly duck as the blade of his knife, eager for my blood, barely brushes across my neck. I pull my gun out of my boot and point it between his eyes. I quickly tell the bystanders to stay down and shoot—killing the Sphere Hunter.

The blood from his head forms a puddle, and I step to the side so it misses the soles of my shoes. I click the safety in place and put my gun back in my boot. I look to the bystanders, who are quickly heading for the door, and I hear the police sirens. Dammit. I run through the side door and head down an alley, keeping a watch on my surroundings. If I have learned anything from being on Earth, it is this: when there is one, there are always more.

I pick up my pace after pulling my hair into a bun and throwing a wig from my bag over my head. I run faster when I hear walkie-talkies and voices. I reach my apartment, and run upstairs. I notice the door is slightly cracked open. Sphere Hunters. I turn to go back down the stairs and run into the landlord demanding this month’s rent. She has the worst timing.

I check behind my shoulder, making sure that I don’t have unwanted company; I quickly hand her every bit of cash I have. She takes a slow puff of her cigarette as she counts it. She rolls her eyes at me and walks away. I really need to get a few things out of my apartment before Sage and I say goodbye to this town, but I’m not sure how many will be in there. Realizing I have better odds of living if I leave the stuff alone, I head in the opposite direction of my apartment.

As I make my way down a busy street, I hear Sage yell for me. “Wait!” I turn around and see her moving her arms around to get my attention.

“What are you doing here?” I ask as I grab her hand and we both duck behind a large dumpster.

“I came to find you. Remember, I was supposed to meet you at the coffee house? I saw brains splattered and police cars. The scene screamed Orion.”

“We have to relocate. They know our location.”

“Dammit. Where to now? We are running out of options.” She fumbles through her purse and lights a cigarette with shaky hands.

“Do you still have that map? And I’m out of cash. Do you have any?” She hands me her cigarette, and I take a quick hit off it. I hand it back and exhale the smoke as she hands me the map.

“I have enough to get us a flight somewhere and a good down-payment on a place to rent.”

“What about food?” I look away from the map and incline my head towards Sage.

She laughs. “It looks like we will have to work our charm and get someone to buy us a meal.”

“Right, because I have so much charm.” We both laugh, and I continue looking at the map.

Sage puts her cigarette out on a place on the map that once said “Texas”, but it’s now smudged and burnt. “There. That is where we should go.” She throws the cigarette butt behind her.

I raise my eyebrows and ask, “And why there?”

She smiles. “It is the biggest place on the map.” I laugh at her reasoning as I fold and tuck the map into my messenger bag. “And that’s supposed to be a logical reason?”

“The bigger, the more people, the harder to find us.”

I laugh. “Okay, that is kind of smart.”

“Duh.”

I roll my eyes. “We should hurry up and get to the airport. I think we’ve ruined our welcome here.”

WE QUICKLY MAKE our way to the nearest bus station. Sage hands me some cash, and I walk over to the long line.

I wish we could just start all over back in Dandux, in our Sphere. As much as I have hated their ways there, I liked it much better than being on the run from the Hunters. I knew my fate there. But here, I’m not sure death will come so quickly once it finds me.

I move forward as the line gets shorter and watch every person closely. I never know who a Hunter will be, but it doesn’t take me long to figure out when one is near. Their mannerisms and the looks in their eyes are dead giveaways. When someone is out for another’s blood—it’s tangible. You can feel it, hear it, and smell it.

“Ma’am!” I startle at the sound of the lady behind the window yelling at me. I’m so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t realize it’s my turn.

I quickly shove cash under the glass and say, “Two tickets to the airport, please.” I watch her slowly take the cash, and her eyes stare ominously into mine.

“Can I see your ID, please?” I hand her my ID, hoping she doesn’t notice it’s fake. No one has been able to, but I always cringe a little when having to use it.

“From around here?” She counts some cash, then places it in her drawer.

I keep looking behind me to make sure there isn’t a Hunter around. I hear her speak but don’t hear what she says. “Huh?’ I reply.

“Are you from around here?” She asks more discourteously than before.

“Oh—um, no. Just passing through.” I look back at Sage to make sure she is okay. I grab the tickets and leave to let the next person in line go.

As I walk to where Sage is sitting, I do a quick survey of my surroundings. I still haven’t figured out what the big deal is about Dwellers leaving the Sphere to come here. I also wonder why no one ever mentioned Earth back in Dandux. I have so many questions, I fear will never be answered. What I fear most is that this is my life now.

We board the train, and I need to tell Sage to chill. She is looking at every person as a rabid dog would before making an attack.

I nudge her in the side with my elbow and keep my voice low. “Sage, stop that. You are going to scare the hell out of the kids on the train.”

She doesn’t remove the look on her face and says, “I trust no one.”

I shake my head and laugh. “Remember, we are supposed to blend. If you go around looking at others like that, you will stick out like a straight guy in a gay bar.”

“You can just tell people that I’m your cousin you just rescued from a mental institution.”

“Or you could just chill out.” I laugh.

WE REACH OUR destination, and Sage pulls out her cell phone. “What are you doing?”

“Confirming our ticket order,” she says as if I should have known that already.

“You have to have a credit card for that,” I reply matter-of-factly.

She smiles. “You can also have a debit card.”

I scrunch my eyebrows. “You have a checking account? I thought we discussed nothing linked to our names.”

“Yes. And don’t worry, I used my fake I.D. like I did when we found the place to rent.” She continues pushing buttons on her phone.

“And how much money do you have in this checking account? I thought you said you only had enough to get plane tickets and to put a down-payment on a place to rent?”

“You asked how much cash I had. You didn’t say anything about what I had in my checking account.” She hands me her phone, and I see two plane tickets. “See, all we have to do is bring this to the gate, and they scan it.”

“How much, Sage?” I shove the cell phone back at her.

“Around… eight thousand—maybe a little more.” She mumbles under her breath.

“Eigh—what? How!”

“Don’t worry about how I got it. I knew my little job at the bookstore wouldn’t be enough. I had to do something. I know you said we didn’t need to tie any accounts to our names, or use our fake ID’s more than we had to, but I couldn’t keep cash stashed. Not that much.”

“How did you get it?” I yell.

Sage starts walking, and I keep up with her, so I’m walking beside her. “Well, are you going to tell me?”

She rolls her eyes and sighs. “I worked nights.”

“I thought you were out clubbing?”

“I was… Well, sort of. I was working, though.” She averts her shameful eyes away from mine and continues to walk towards the front desk to get us checked in.

“What kind of work? Oh hell… Sage!” I had to strip at a club for some extra money once. But I promised myself and Sage I wouldn’t do it again. I’m a little upset that what she told me I shouldn’t do, she did behind my back.

Sage laughs hysterically and shows the lady behind the counter her cell phone. The lady hands her back the phone and explains how to get to the metal detectors.

“Oh, don’t act like you haven’t done anything you regret to make money! When we first came here, you had to do things you are not proud of!”

I look away from her accusing stare and laugh. “Okay, you made your point. But why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because it didn’t matter. I would have done it regardless of your opinion. Besides, you should thank me. Now we have money and don’t have to worry about a job right away. Plus, you need money to keep up with that awful hair.”

“My blue hair kicks ass.”

She rolls her eyes and laughs. “It does on you. Not many people could pull that off.” When she says “people,” I shudder a little. It took us a while before we got used to not referring to others as Dwellers. It’s moments like this that the spot in my brain, that I try to avoid, sends memories creeping into every inch of my being. I long for a conversation with my brother and parents.

We are next in line to go through the metal detectors, so I give Sage “the look”. We take our weapons and plant them on a man standing in front of us, a technique for sneaking our weapons on a plane that has never failed us. The man is taken aside by security guards who rid him of the weapons.

After Sage and I make it through the metal detector, I purposely run into a person, knocking her down to the ground. It causes a momentary disturbance, and Sage takes advantage of it. She grabs our pistols and knives from a basket, successfully sneaking them into her purse. I apologize to the lady I knocked down and catch up with Sage.

As we are walking, I notice a group of about seven men. Their icy stares give away their identities. Definitely Sphere Hunters. I notice one guy in particular. He is leaning against the wall and seems to be waiting on the other men. He makes brief eye contact with me, then averts his eyes back to the floor.

“Sage…” I whisper as I tug on the back of her shirt.

She slows down so that she is walking beside me instead of in front of me. “What?”

“Behind us. There are seven of them. Don’t look. Just keep walking.”

“But...” She starts to turn her head to look, but I grab her arm and squeeze it.

“But nothing. Just. Keep. Walking. Trust me.”

We continue and finally make it to our gate. We sit down and wait for our plane. My heart is racing because I know, soon, we will have trouble.