“No. I don’t need anything. Are you almost finished, Phlix? We have to go.” I start to walk to where I left my flipcart, but Trey emerges from behind the tree next to me. He grabs me by the throat and pushes me up against a nearby tree. In his hand he holds a bottle of water.
Scowling at me, he says through clenched teeth, “Drink this!” His jaw is so ridged I’m surprised he can speak at all.
I wasn’t aware of just how betrayed I feel until this moment. I know it’s wrong to blame him for doing the right thing—for doing what he had to do to save everyone and everything he loves . . . everyone but me. I think I’m the most hurt by the fact that I’m not like him. I would’ve chosen him over everything else. The whole world could’ve burned down and I would’ve pulled him from the wreckage of it.
“No. I don’t want anything from you, Trey.”
His violet eyes narrow as his hand lets go of my neck and he clasps my chin, squeezing it so that my mouth opens. He tilts my head back and pours water between my lips, making me swallow large gulps of it. I choke a little, coughing and gasping, but otherwise he isn’t hurting me.
By the time the bottle of water is empty, the front of my shirt is wet and I’m livid. Tossing the empty bottle aside, Trey shifts his hand back to my throat and holds me steady against the tree. His violet eyes never leave mine as we try to kill each other with drop-dead stares.
Then Trey holds his hand out to Jax, “Hand me a protein bar,” he demands.
“Sir . . . I think she’s capable of—”
Trey’s scowl deepens as he growls, “Hand. Me. A. Protein. Bar!”
Jax follows orders and places one in his hand. Trey tears off the wrapper with his teeth and holds the protein bar up to my lips. I clamp my mouth shut, but he forces a bite into my mouth. I turn my face away from him and spit it out onto the ground.
Dropping the protein bar, Trey winds back his fist. I cringe, steeling myself for the hit. Instead, he punches the trunk of the tree by my head. His fist comes away bloody again and again, but he doesn’t stop. “Jax,” I whisper. Trey continues to hold me by my neck as he pounds the tree with his fist. “Jax!” I yell. “Give me a protein bar.”
Trey’s bloody knuckles rest against the bark of the tree. I feel Jax place the protein bar in the palm of my hand. Bringing it to my lips, I take a bite, chewing it. I almost choke on it because of the lump in my throat, but I manage to get it down. I eat the whole thing in three bites. Trey lets go of my neck. He leans forward and rests his forehead against mine. I don’t move; I just close my eyes and breathe for a moment. Then I put my hands on his chest and push him away from me. I don’t meet his eyes. I can’t. Instead, I duck away from him and look at Phlix. She’s on her feet, staring at me with fear in her eyes.
“Are you ready to go?” I ask her in a broken voice. She nods. I turn and gather up my backpack, hitching it onto my shoulders. Then I mount my flipcart and take off in the direction of the basin. When I look back over my shoulder, the only person I see behind me is Phlix.
We travel all the rest of the night through the Forest of Omnicron at a faster pace than before. According to the map, we will make it to the water containing the portal to Earth just before dawn.
As we rest for the last push to the mountain that forms the basin, Phlix asks, “How will we know where to enter the water?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “I was sort of unconscious when Trey dragged me out of it last time.”
“Trey? You mean that enormous Cavar back there who made you eat that protein bar is the person who brought you here?”
“Yes,” I reply.
“He’s in love with you.”
“No. He isn’t.”
“Yes, he is.”
“He’s too good for me. I never would’ve made him happy.”
“He would’ve been happy the rest of his life with you,” she replies quietly. “He will live a lonely existence without you. I only hope he’s gracious in defeat.”
“What do you mean?”
“He doesn’t strike me as someone who ever allows himself to lose.”
“Believe me, Trey will figure out soon that he dodged a bullet.”
“He’s a soldier. He lives for bullets.”
“Please drop it, Phlix,” I beg. My voice is raw. It feels like I swallowed chunks of glass.
She reaches out and strokes my hair. “He’ll wait for the day he can say that you’re his again. You don’t have to fret about it now. It’s the reason neither of you said good-bye to each other back there. It’s not over.”
We travel through the last part of the Forest of O on foot, carrying our flipcarts on our backs. From the cover of the trees, we see the water. It’s amazing in the darkness. The surface is black in every area except where the portal resides. In that place, it’s as if sunshine rises to the surface.
We make our final preparations. Finding the tankoids that will allow us to breathe for a time underwater, we set them aside to carry them to the water’s edge. I find the small box that I’d asked Phlix to pack for me, the one gift-wrapped with a pink bow. I set that aside too. Phlix raises her eyebrows. She must not have peeked inside. I knew she wouldn’t. Everything else that we no longer need gets abandoned in a pile there. Taking turns, we use strong tape to fasten our flipcarts and backpacks more securely to us. Then we fasten rope around that to make sure our gear stays with us, no matter what.
Howls call out in the moonlight. My flesh erupts in goose bumps and my back bows in fear. It’s unbearably real; this feeling that we still might not make it. I step out of the trees, my knees shaking, exposed on the smooth rocks to the cool breeze coming off the mountain peak. I’m as desolate as a prayer in the wind.
Phlix takes my hand and squeezes it. It makes me feel a little less unholy and unwanted. “I’ve shadowed us,” she says, “but know that once we reach the water, the ripples will reveal us to whoever watches.”
We both walk hunched over to the illuminated path at the water’s edge. Letting go of her hand, I find a large rock there and leave my pink-bowed box on it. Phlix doesn’t comment. She puts the tankoid in her mouth and sets her nose clamp, preparing to enter the water. I do the same.
Nodding to her, I try to wade into the water in a way that causes the fewest ripples. It’s colder than I remember. I’m not sure if I begin to quake from fear or from the frigid temperature. Either way, it numbs me to the terror we face as huge spotlights shine down on us from above. Hovering airships, the kind that New Amster soldiers use, descend from far above us. I prepare to dive beneath the water when a ship sets down on the bank near us and the maw of it opens up. Matchstick men emerge like roaches.
From the far bank, I hear an agonizingly beautiful voice yell, “Baw-da-baw!” Blue laser fire comes from the far bank, near the sandy dunes and tall reeds, scattering New Amster soldiers along the shore as they scurry away for cover. Treading water for a moment, I watch the Cavars pin down the men sent to kill me.
Phlix touches my arm and nods. I nod back. We both stop treading water and submerge into the glowing abyss. The unendurable need for oxygen is not present this time around; the tankoid takes care of it. I’m able to swim without my lungs being turned to fire. The current becomes stronger the deeper I dive, pulling me into the bright light. My skin ripples as the pressure increases. It tears at my golden-blond hair, which streams behind me. I can’t see Phlix. I pray that she’s still with me. I need her probably more than she needs me.