(Hello, Arus here. These next three chapters are going to get a little weird. Bear with us)
The road seems to stretch on forever, and cars race past us on their way out of town. We trudge along the highway in single file, Flint striding ahead of us all. I trail a little behind him, replaying the events of the battle in my mind. My arm still tingles a little from where the poison was, and I glance back at Serena, wondering where that power came from. An idea springs to my mind, and I tap Flint on the shoulder.
"Hey, Flint? I just thought of something."
"What?" Flint asks, turning around. The dark circles under his eyes look even more pronounced in the moonlight.
"Why aren't we taking the bus?"
"Yeah, why are we walking?" Meg adds. "It'll be quicker."
"Are there even any stops around here?" Serena muses, looking around. Tori quickly whips out her phone and starts typing frantically.
"Do you ever even run out of data?" I ask, glancing over her shoulder.
"I've got a pretty good mobile plan," she says, tapping the screen and sighing with relief. "There's one nearby, about 500 meters at most. Keep walking straight ahead, and it's in a small side street near a river."
A chorus of sighs breaks out along the line. Flint nods and begins to walk a little faster, the rest of us quickly changing pace in order to keep up.
The bus stop comes into view, and I let out a sigh of relief. We trudge over and sit down on the benches. Flint gets up and walks over to check the bus timetable, and Terran lies down where his spot was, groaning.
"Comfortable?" Meg asks, snickering.
"Anything is when you're tired," he mumbles in response, and I chuckle a little.
"The next one's coming in about 20 minutes." Flint calls out, and Meg groans, picking up a piece of gravel and flinging it into the distance. He walks back over to the benches and gently lifts Terran up so he can sit back down. Terran merely flops onto Serena's lap instead, mumbling something incoherent. Serena looks a little surprised, then chuckles, patting him on the head. I pull my phone and headphones out of my pocket and pop one earbud in, scrolling through the list of songs. Tori hums next to me, and the others sit in silence, staring at the sky.
"Ever wonder if aliens actually exist?" I blurt out. Meg bursts out laughing and turns to me, her expression a mixture of amusement and exasperation.
"Like hell they do. And like hell we should be talking about something like that at a time like this. We should focus on getting our friends back, and how we're going to do it."
"How, though?" Serena points out. "We have zero idea what we're up against. All we know is that they're inside one of the BIO-CORP labs."
"Planning is still better than sitting here doing nothing," Meg shoots back. "I, for one, don't want to die going in there."
"Who says we're going to die?" I interject.
"It could happen," Serena muses, running her hands through Terran's hair. "One of us could not make it out alive."
"Let's not think about it, then," Tori says, shuddering a little. "How about we talk about something more lighthearted?"
"Like what?" Meg retorts, getting up and kicking a few rocks. "There's nothing light-hearted about the situation."
"How about we do something, then?"
"There's nothing to do out here, unless you want to jump in the river."
"That sounds like fun, actually," I comment, putting my phone away and standing up.
"Arus, no," Flint says sternly, tugging on my arm. I sit down slowly, sighing a little.
"What's a boy supposed to do why he's bored?" I groan, peering down the road to see if the bus is coming. The road is empty, and all I can hear is a gurgling noise coming from the river.
"You guys hear that gurgling?" I ask nervously, turning around to face the lake.
"Now that you point it out, yes," Flint replies, standing up and walking towards the river, the rest of us following him. The surface begins to bubble, and something large rises out of the water, towering over us. Two giant, lamp-like eyes stare at us, framed with scales that glint in the light of the moon. It opens its mouth wide, showing a set of long, pointed teeth.
"Oh, shiitake mushrooms," I whisper, my eyes wide. "That's one big fish."
YOU ARE READING
The New Zodiac: Arisen Anew
FantasyWe are not what we seem. We look like regular teenagers. We act like regular teenagers But we're not, We are the New Zodiac. And this is the story of how it all began. Cover by @shadowsleek
