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Artemisia Robin had found herself in life-or-death situations many times. More than any common individual. Bullets raining around her, flames tickling her hair, buildings crumbling over them, bombs exploding near, wounds she endured by miracle. The adrenaline in each circumstance had always felt like its maximum. Like it was inconceivable for more hormones to circle in her veins.
She had been mistaken. The overdose that came to her when the car deactivated was incomparable.
Her arms would discolor from crashing into the door before she even clutched the handle. Her legs would be sore from sprinting at exceptional tempo. Gashes would materialize from racing in the forest, branches cutting through her skin. But right then, as she neared the clearing, reaching Rachel, she did not perceive any of them.
The group caught up with her when the trees ceased. Artemisia was frowning at the bare territory ahead. She could vouch, deep in her heart, that Rachel was not far. And yet, there was only greenery forth. No evidence of the farmhouse or Zachary's jeep.
"What the fuck is going on?" The words fell from her mouth, unfiltered. Yeah, her limbs might be better due to the adrenaline. But her brain was still the same. Regular as ever. She could not interpret their setting. Something must be keeping them away from the house.
"The air," Dick muttered. His gaze was tilted up, gawking into the night sky. Robin followed his eyes, lips parting in stupefaction. "It's shimmering. It's right where the house should be."
Robin saw as he pushed onward, holding his hand in front of him. Kory called after him, warning him to stay away from that dubious haze. But that only pushed him ahead. He took an intense drag and started running.
"Dick, wait!"
It was too late. He took one decisive action and shut that distance between him and the shimmering. Only to find himself drunk by the unique phenomenon. He had gotten through.
"Come on," Donna rushed after her friend, Zach sprinting beside her. Just like Dick, they reached the blur, but rather than slipping through, they were repelled. Hauled back by immense force, both heroes fell on the grass. "Dick got through. Why can't we?"
Kory dashed past Artemisia. She stopped right before the frontier. Her hand slowly rose, extending towards the shimmer. It settled flat on the surface. She pulled away and attempted to smash it. Her fist ricocheted. Every one of their experiments were ineffective. Only Dick had been allowed in.
Dick. Their self-assigned leader. Who was now gone. Again. And to Artemisia, it only meant one thing: havoc. The last thing they needed. She reckoned there was a way to evade it. Or hold it back for some while.
"Okay, we need to try something else," she snatched the reins of the team― hell, was this group of three strangers even a team? "We can't walk in. Human or alien, this field won't let us through. There was a factor that allowed Dick to enter."
