Fifteen

When my eyes flutter open, the book is next to me in the dirt, facedown, making a little book tent. The fire is almost completely burned out, the center glowing orange. Trip’s still snoring on the opposite side of our cave. Seph’s awake, messing with that SOUL he found on Dwayne. I didn’t realize he took it with him, since it was password protected and basically worthless. Why didn’t he mention it? He chews on his lip as he clicks away at the screen that illuminates his face.

He jumps when I roll to my side. “Oh hey, I didn’t wake you, did I?” He taps the screen, and it goes dark.

I lie on top of the book, hiding it from view. Two can play this game. The spine presses into my stomach. I must’ve fallen asleep while going through all of Dwayne’s notes, but I’m not exactly up for sharing what I’ve found. Not that I’ve been able to make much sense of it. “What are you doing?”

He holds up the unit. “Trying to see if I can get this thing to work. No such luck.” He sets it to the side. “What kind of food does he have in that thing?” He nods toward Trip’s pack at my feet. It feels like he’s lying about the SOUL, but since I have secrets, too, I slide to the side so he can’t see the book, grab the bag, and rummage through it. Seaweed chips, spicy grasshoppers, MAX nutrition bars (which I’ve had the displeasure of eating once before. Even the custom-flavored ones are gross from what I hear), two self-filling water bottles with built-in atmospheric water harvesters (which is better than anything else in here, since it basically pulls water from the air and filters it so we won’t be able to run out), and then the apples that are now rolling around inside the bag. Since everything else will keep, I toss him a piece of fresh fruit. My stomach growls, so I take one for myself, too.

A loud snore rips through Trip’s nose as I bite into my apple. Its sweet juice explodes in my mouth and runs down my chin. Mother Mary. It’s so good. Seph crunches through his, and while his eyes are closed, I slip the book back in my pocket. It’s so weird. Especially the things it said about Trip. Clearly, Dwayne thought something was up with him. He’s not the only one.

I finish chewing and spin the apple around by its stem. “So how long were you two roommates?” I keep my voice down so I don’t wake Trip.

“Not long. Why?” He covers his mouth with his hand as if that changes the fact it’s full of food. At least he didn’t show it to me.

I shrug. Because I want to know more about him. I want to know if there’s something he’s hiding. “Just curious how well you know him, is all.”

“Not well. But he seems like an okay guy.”

Okay guy? Ha. I’m not so sure about that. I keep my voice casual. “So you believe what he said about everything yesterday, how he just found all this useful stuff?”

He wipes his chin with his sleeve. “Why lie about it?”

That’s a great question. But why lie about his old roommate, either? Still, he did. Something is off. I just can’t laser in on it. Or why Seph would believe him. He’s smarter than that. Unless he’s trying to deceive me, too. That thought hurts more than it should.

Arguing seems pointless. And talking this close to Trip, sleeping or not, feels like a bad idea. While I need to figure out more about him, it’s best to let it go for now. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to be extra careful from here on out. “What do you know about VolTon?”

That question earns me a curious look, eyebrows raised. “The only manufacturer of anything electronic?” Seph shrugs. “Just that. And that they’re gazillionaires or something.”

No shit. But that’s the thing that stands out from Dwayne’s journal. That little mark, the same one on Seph’s shoe, and the name VolTon were written more than once in that book. But that backward checkmark isn’t their logo, even if it does sort of look like a V. At least not one on anything I’ve seen made by them. So how could they be connected? This place is roaming with their creations, but it’s owned by the government like everything else.

They don’t like that.

The same male voice from last night pops into my head, and I concentrate on it. Let it play over and over. Dad? I think he’s the one that said that. And they’re doing something about it. But I’m not really sure if that’s true. If it’s really something my dad actually said or just something my head wants me to believe. I wish there was a way to know for sure.

“Why do you ask?” Seph’s voice pulls me back. His face is so open, like he’s got something on his mind.

I want to talk to him about it, see if he can put the pieces together I can’t, but I’m not sure if I can trust him, either. Not after how he responded to Trip. “No reason.” I keep my voice low as I stand and brush dirt from my pants. Who knows what time it is, or how long I’ve been out for, but I do know one thing: I have to pee. I make my way over to the opening and peek out.

Seph jumps to his feet. “Where’re you going?”

My eyes scan everything in sight. The jungle is actually pretty peaceful now. Beautiful, even. But I know better. “I’m going out there for a minute. I’ll be right back.”

He shoves the SOUL in his pocket. “Do you think you should go alone? I mean whether this is some kind of simulation or not there could be some dangerous things out there.”

“True, But in this situation. I think it’s best to go alone.”

It takes a second, but his brows shoot up, his cheeks get rosy, and then he looks away. “Right, sorry.” Thank God he gets it. I really didn’t want to have to spell it out for him.

“There’s something—”

“I promise I’ll be right back.” I glance over at Trip one last time before I carefully push out into the jungle. My nerves flutter faster now that the air blows over my skin, and the scent of mud fills my nose. Inside felt safe. Out here I’m exposed. I was in such a rush yesterday that I didn’t really get to check out where we are. Plants I’ve never seen before grow all around. Lush foliage with oversized, bright-green leaves. The trees I’m under are different, too. The bark is white and flakes off like sheets of paper. Blue sap oozing from one that must’ve been struck by lightning. The area is full of sounds, too. Calls from animals I can’t recognize. At least, I assume they’re animals. I lift an extra-large leaf, drinking some of the water as it drains off, before squatting behind it. This is so unfair. Guys have it so much easier when it comes to stuff like this. They stand somewhere and whip it out, while I’m worried I might get a rash from being too close to whatever kind of plant this is.

When I get back inside, Trip’s awake, and he and Seph are going through his pack, sorting things out. Seph has my dirty old jumpsuit spread out on the ground, with the legs tied in knots at the thighs, and then the arm and leg tied to each other on both the right and left side. What are they doing?

Seph glances up at me. He must notice the confused look on my face. “I hope you don’t mind. I thought it’d be a good idea to divide up some of the supplies in case we get split up again.” All that talk about how Trip’s a good guy, and now he wants to split up the supplies? Maybe Seph isn’t as sure about Trip, either, and he isn’t saying anything about it. But why wouldn’t he mention it to me? I don’t understand.

I shrug. It’s fine. I don’t ever want to wear that again anyway. “Oh good. Now we won’t be left with nothing if he decides to ditch us again.”

Trip’s head snaps up. “I didn’t ditch you before.”

I give him a look like I-don’t-believe-you, and Seph doesn’t disagree.

Trip lets out a breath. “I promise we’ll stick together. No matter what.”

I nod, but I’ll believe it when I see it. Seph and Trip bump fists before Seph secures everything in the makeshift backpack, then helps slip it on my back before I follow them out. Something has shifted in the air since the last time I came outside. It’s thicker now, almost like hot soup. A trickle of sweat slides down my face, and I haven’t even started moving yet.

“Do you think we’re still inside the prison?” Trip asks as he wipes his brow.

Seph and I exchange a glance. “Well I don’t remember leaving, do you?” he asks.

I once again take in my surroundings. Something has been off ever since this jungle appeared around us. Could they have released some kind of drug into the air that knocked us out and transported us somewhere else? I suppose. But there’s a feeling that I’m sure they didn’t. That somehow we’ve been dropped into a virtual reality. I just wish I understood how they did it. Or more importantly—why?

“This has to be some kind of VR.” Seph confirms my own thoughts. “Camping won’t do us any good, either. We need to find the kill switch or who knows how long we could be stuck in here.” His Adam’s apple bobs. “This isn’t like any VR I’ve ever been in, though.”

“Me neither,” I say, and our eyes lock. Without any words, he tells me he doesn’t understand this place or its purpose. That he’s just as nervous as I am. Maybe it’s because Trip’s here that neither of us say any of this out loud. It’s why I’m keeping some of my thoughts to myself.

After a lengthy discussion—mostly because Trip never can shut up—about the ways we both took to get to our hideaway, we finally come to an agreement on which direction we should go now. All the rain turned the ground to mush. If Trip had an extra pair of shoes in that sack of his I would’ve swapped mine out. But since he didn’t, I’m stuck yanking my feet out of the mud with every step, trying not to leave my shoe behind in the process. Nothing about this place or how I got here makes sense. My mind keeps telling me this is some kind of VR simulation, but I still can’t figure out how it works, why it’s here, or most importantly how to get out of it. What if we can’t find any kill switch? It’s not like we can rage-quit, or just take off our glasses and be back in the real world. I run my hand over my face just to be sure I’m not missing something.

Trip leads the way, I’m in the middle—to keep an eye on him—and Seph brings up the rear. The vegetation is so dense it’s impossible to get through any other way than single file. Those ominous animal sounds from before are louder now. One of them sounds scared, almost like it’s crying for help. But help from what kind of danger I don’t know, nor do I want to.

Sweat drips from the tip of my nose, runs down my back, and makes my hair stick to the sides of my face. Every so often, I stop with the boys to drink some water and have a quick snack, but for the most part, we keep moving. This place is brutal. Trip takes the brunt of it, using his body to push through. His arms are sliced everywhere skin is showing, and a long cut drips blood down his cheek. Even though he’s been a total ass, I kinda feel sorry for him.

Trip pushes a large palm frond out of the way, but instead of bending and breaking like the others, it comes crashing back super-fast, throwing him to the ground.

Seph and I rush to his side. “Dude, you okay?” Seph asks.

Trip blinks, then lets out a long breath. “This blows ass.”

Yeah, no shit. I bet he’s rethinking leaving his cushy little room now.

He rubs his chest where the palm frond hit him. “Help me up.” He reaches toward Seph, but Seph’s body goes rigid, his gaze glued somewhere in the distance.

“Get down.” He pushes me to the ground.

The thick grass cushions my fall, except some of it ends up in my mouth. Before I have a chance to yell at him, I stop. I don’t need to. The thing he must’ve been looking at is good enough reason. This isn’t like when I thought Trip was a beast. This is an actual beast. Less than a hundred yards away is a creature with the head of an alligator—minus the eyes and instead has long whiskers. Its body is the shape and size of an elephant with huge horns shooting out the top of its head and a rat-like tail. To make it worse, it stands on two nimble-looking legs, with two rather large paws for hands.

Seph, Trip, and I stay down to get out of the animal’s line of sight, but it’s sniffing the air like it already knows we’re near.

When I imagined dying, it was never from being mauled by a creature I don’t even know the name of. An animal that, until this moment, I never even knew existed. It opens its mouth, showing off rows of teeth, and lets out the most excruciating sound. It’s too high-pitched to be considered a roar, but it shakes my insides like one.

Every inch of me is screaming to run, but that will only draw more attention to us. Seph nudges me in the shoulder, and it takes every effort to not watch the creature and instead look at him. He presses his finger to his lips, points to the left then lowers his hand.

Seph repeats this same unspoken conversation with Trip, then points from his eyes back to the creature. The thing is still steadily sniffing the air. I’m sure we all smell amazing after stomping through the jungle for God knows how long. I’m ripe. The way all my clothes stick to me like I’ve taken a shower with them on is just gross. I’d give anything to get cleaned up. Or even for another animal that’s more interesting than three people in the jungle to come our way.

I start moving slower than a failing hard drive, which doesn’t help my anxiety. The beast has gone from smelling the air to sniffing along the ground on all fours, and it’s moving a helluva lot faster than my little group. At this rate, it’ll find us before we even make it to the next tree. And then what? Can that thing climb? If it can, I bet it’s faster than me.

Seph moves unevenly in front of me, still favoring that one leg. And even though I’m conflicted about him, he looks gorgeous as he leads the way. He’s so confident with his sweat-soaked shirt clinging to his chest as he carefully turns his head back and forth, watching the animal. Our kiss flashes in my mind. How soft his lips were. How strong his arms felt. How it was me who kissed him, and not the other way around. A lump forms in my throat, and I have to swallow hard to push it away.

Trip steps on my heel and brings me out of my thoughts. And twice he almost takes my shoe. If I wasn’t so worried about becoming that creature’s lunch, I’d turn around and deck him. I mean seriously, if I could move any faster, doesn’t he think I would?

My jaw aches from clenching my teeth so hard, and my back’s starting to ache from being hunched over as I creep along. Seph steps behind a large tree blocking his view to the creature, but it’s still there and closing in. As soon as Trip comes behind it, he takes off running.

For a second, Seph and I are frozen, stunned. What does he think he’s doing? Before either of us have a chance to scream or chase after Trip, the ground shakes, and the monstrous beast crashes through the brush in pursuit of him.

“Shit!” Seph and I say at the same time, then exchange a glance.

Part of me wants to run in the opposite direction, let Trip’s sacrifice mean something, but that little inner voice telling me to help him wins out. Having a conscience sucks sometimes.

I let out a huff and pull the backpack off. “Here.” Seph looks confused as I hand him the bag. “If we’re going to go after him, I can’t have this weighing me down.” Especially if I have to run for my life. This bag is heavier than I want to admit.

“Let’s go.” Seph slips the makeshift pack on and smiles at me before taking off. I run just behind him in the same direction as the animal and Trip.

“You go that way.” I point to the left, then gesture that I’ll go to the right. I’m not sure if splitting up is the best, but that thing can’t go in three directions at once. At least, that’s what I’m hoping.

The heat in the air has thankfully helped dry the ground out here, so as I move, my feet have more traction. Even though I’m running, I try to stay as quiet as possible. That thing might have friends. Big friends. And I’m not particularly interested in meeting any of them. It’s not hard to see where the monstrous creature went; it left a path of destruction in its wake. I follow along the edge of it, over uneven ground, and through thorny vines that hang from the towering trees overhead.

As much as I hate to admit it, the jumpsuit would’ve been better to wear. It might’ve at least stood a chance in this terrain. But there’s nothing to do about it now, except pull my shirt away for the tenth time from an extremely large thorn, tearing a hole down my sleeve.

I stop and so does my heart. Trip’s in a standoff with the creature. His back is pressed up against the flank of a cliff that hangs too high above his reach. He’s got a rather large stick in his hands, but compared to the paw of that thing, it isn’t much of a weapon. I thought for sure an idea would hit me on what to do when I found them, but now that I’m here I have nothing. And…where the hell is Seph? This was a horrible idea. I should’ve planned this better. I should’ve planned something, period.

There’s a loud pop behind me, and I spin around.

Holy Mother.

A black cat-like creature is hidden in the tall grass not far from where I’m standing. It’s huge like the beast, a gazillion times bigger than me. Its bright-green eyes are locked in my direction. The front part of it is low to the ground, but its back half is high in the air with a tail that rattles and shakes with anticipation. It’s poised and ready to pounce. To attack. And I have nowhere to go.

Yes, this was a very horrible idea.