Lock the windows and doors, and look for weapons, I told myself. If one of those flying camels came my way, I was going to get stabby.
Chapter 13
Ten minutes later, I had basically walked a groove into the floor, pacing back and forth, trying to figure out what to do. Another world. I was on another world with flying chimera looking beasts and a desert that the two bottles of water I had would not get me through.
Most importantly, no Cronus in sight.
#Fine #ThisWasAllFine
“I've been in another world before,” I said out loud. “I've been in the damn underworld. I can freaking figure out how to get out of this place.”
I wondered then if maybe the snow land I'd been in before had been another world too and I just didn't realize. Maybe that was why Cronus couldn't track me. Was baby transporting me to multiple worlds while keeping us in the cabin? Was that possible? My brain felt like it was going to explode at the endless questions and no answers.
If the baby was trying to keep Zeus from finding me, then she must have headed for the one place that we couldn’t be tracked. But in doing so prevented the Titans from tracking us too. Brilliant plan, if Mommy had powers of her own and a single clue what we were dealing with here.
In some ways, this land reminded me of the lower levels of the underworld, so desolate and barren, but instinct told me it wasn’t the underworld. Thanatos would know if I was here by now.
When I was done freaking out and it was too damn hot to pace any longer, I decided to more thoroughly explore the cabin. Yesterday, when I'd arrived, it looked larger from the outside than this one room, so maybe there was a door I'd missed that led to another space. If there were weapons or more food, now would be a great time to find a secret room with a prepper cache.
It took me what felt like two hours—I had no way to tell time here—to find a secret door. It was behind wood paneling that I had to edge my nail under to pry open. Whoever owned this cabin did not want anyone to find this room, and I had high hopes for what would be inside.
It was dark, but my eyes adjusted fast, much faster than they would have before there was a Titan baby on board. As I took my first tentative step inside, light flared around me randomly, and I would have wondered how that happened, except I was too busy gasping at the contents of this room.
#Hell #Yes
A vehicle, looking nothing like anything I'd ever seen … between a golf cart and an ATV, with huge tires and a solid-looking roll cage. Moving closer, I opened the door and slid inside, placing both hands on the steering wheel.
Nothing on this dash looked familiar, but there was one button that was larger and more prominent than the others, and taking a breath, I slammed my hand against it. The buggy roared to life, and I could have squealed at how excited I was.
Pushing the button again, because it was the only visible one, the engine shut off just as quickly and I sighed in relief. Worst case, I could use this to escape.
The rest of the room took me a few minutes to explore. I found some more crackers and peanut butter. I was starting to get the sneakiest suspicion that this cabin might be from Earth, even if the rest of the world it was on was very far from it.
I mean, what was the baby up to? I'm sure it was confusing trying to do magic from inside a womb and being, you know, not fully developed…
A hard kick had me chuckling.
“You're amazing and smart, my little one,” I told her.
My eyes skimmed the far wall and landed on a shotgun. “Thank God.” I sighed in relief. Movies taught me how to use a gun. You just split it in half, shove the bullets inside, cock it, then shoot.
#EasyPeasy #IWasGoingToShootMyLegOff
I tossed the shotgun and a box of shells into the vehicle, and then proceeded to pace the room. “What else we got?”
I found a roll of duct tape and shoved that in the vehicle too, because duct tape fixed everything, right? Along with some flares and a screwdriver, all of which went into a dusty duffle bag.
Alright, bugout vehicle packed. Bring on the apocalypse.
Struck with a random urge to pee, I slipped back into the cabin, noting that almost no light was shining under the doors or through the blinds now.
Oh great. Nothing good happened at night when you were in a world with flying chimera camels. Slipping into the bathroom, I sat and gave a sigh of relief. “Gotta stay off Mommy’s bladder, baby girl,” I told her, and she kicked to signal she heard me.
#SuperGeniusBaby
I was mid-pee, pants and undies around my ankles, when I heard a scratching sound coming from the living room.
Oh no. Being attacked by a flying camel while half naked was not ideal. I quickly wiped and yanked up my pants just as a crash shattered through the night.
Fuck! Why did I leave the shotgun in the safe room? No one was going to put me on their zombie apocalypse team—I was screwing this up big-time.
The baby squirmed and I patted my belly. “We got this,” I murmured, all the while searching the bathroom for a weapon. Eyeing the toilet plunger, I figured it was better than nothing and grabbed it.
A loud screech came from the living room and I knew that my friendly stay in this cabin was over. Tightening my grip on the toilet plunger, I decided to make a run for it. First thing I had to do was get the sins, then I’d throw the plunger at whatever was screeching, giving me moments to drag the trunk to the four-wheeler before peace-ing out of here. Easy peasy.
Cronus, where the fuck are you?
With a battle cry, I ran out into the living room and froze the second my eyes landed on the hideous beast before me. Oh gods. It was uglier and more terrifying up close. Its camel face had scales, giving it a half dragon look.
“I’m chill if you’re chill,” I told him in a low voice as I slowly edged my way toward the sins. No matter what happened, I could not leave that behind.
The creature cocked his head to the side, those large beady eyes narrowing to slits as he stepped forward. His nostrils flared as he sniffed the air.
“I want you to know I’m a vegetarian and I love animals.” I reached the trunk, shoved the necklace in my pocket, grabbing the edge of the box. “I also taste like tofu. No need to eat me.”
The beast’s lips curled, which was absolutely terrifying on an animal’s face. Smoke started to puff from his mouth as saliva dripped from his lips.
Fuck. That.
“Go away!” I shouted, chucking the toilet plunger at his face. He tracked the movement with his eyes and opened his mouth, spraying a stream of fire, incinerating the plunger mid-air.
Okay, baby, now would be good for some of that light beam magic.
Adrenaline made me strong. I yanked the trunk up and booked it for the open door to the safe room. The beast screeched again, and I held out my free hand and pointed it at him.
“Fuck off!” A burst of light shot from my palm and slammed him right in the face. His body flew backward into the wall, smashing into the windows and sending shards of glass everywhere.
Yes! Shimmying the trunk into the vehicle while also protecting my baby bump was a challenge, but I was determined. Once everything was situated and I was behind the wheel, I hit the button only to realize there was no way to drive out of here…
Why couldn’t they have put this thing in a garage with roll-up doors or something?
The second I had that thought, the door blew off its hinges and I reached behind me to grab the shotgun. Cranking it open, I saw two shells inside.