The Soulmate Curse

CEDAR (for protection)

Finn was running through the woods. They needed to get as far away as they could from the crash. She wasn't lost to the fact that she was moving by feel. Even though she'd never been in these woods, she seemed to know her way through it. It was beautiful too. Everything around her was wild, yet every bit of it had its place. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a heliplane fly above them. She ducked under the trees.

"It's a commercial plane," Zhen said, joining her under the trees. "And even if they were looking for us, it'd be like looking for a needle in a needlestack."

"Right," said Finn, laughing nervously. She continued speeding through the woods.

"Do you know where we are? Where we're going?" Zhen asked, working to keep up with her.

Despite trying to keep her cool, Finn was still shaky from the crash. Sure, she knew that the military craft had a higher chance of keeping them alive, but their survival had been massively dependent on luck. She'd also never had to choke anyone to unconsciousness. It had totally freaked her out. But she couldn't let the emotions bubbling inside her spill over. She had to focus. This was important. And bigger than them both.

"To be totally honest," Finn called back, nonchalantly. "I've never really hiked before. But I've watched a ton of virtual survival shows. And yes, I have a vague idea of where we are and where we're heading. It's not too far from here. About a day's hike. At most. We just need to make sure we have a large enough head start from the crash."

They walked for hours. Finn wouldn't let them stop. And she wouldn't slow down. She wasn't worried about Zhen's ability to keep up. Zhen could easily outpace Finn if she wanted to. What she was worried about was getting to their destination before dark. It wasn't long before she found a trail that she could follow. They were leaving themselves open to easy tracking, but she wasn't concerned about that. Not yet. Finally, just when she could almost feel Zhen's frustration at her being so vague for all this time, Finn came to an abrupt stop. She looked around. They were in a small clearing. As she caught her breath, she observed and listened to the space around them.

The small space was an old camp site, with rotting stumps of logs placed around the area like seats. They surrounded a slightly sunken piece of ground with blackened and ashy remnants that would have been the camp's fire pit. The winds whispered through the trees around them. Finn worked to slow her heart and control her breathing so she could listen out for other sounds. That's when she heard it. The river. Darren had been right. Follow any trail parallel to the ridge they'd flown over and find the river. All that was left now was to follow the river downstream for a few more hours and find the hidden village where there would find a contact to help them.

"We can stop here for a bit. They won't be able to follow for at least a day," said Finn.

"How do you know?"

"Because we entered indigenous sovereign territory about a kilometre back," she replied, setting herself up on a rotting log and taking a swig from her water bottle. "They'll need written permission to come through and that'll take about a day to go through. Maybe more."

"Don't we need permission?" Zhen asked, taking a drink from her bottle too. Finn looked her over once more to make sure she wasn't hiding any injuries. So far, she could see only surface wounds and a few bumps and bruises. Otherwise, she seemed perfectly okay. Good.

"If we did, we'd know it by now," said Finn, she stood up and walked up to Zhen. "They know we're here."

Zhen looked around uncertainly. Finn laughed as she took out a small first aid kit from her backpack jacket, the only thing she'd grabbed from the heliplane. She carefully cleaned a small cut on Zhen's cheek, then broke a bead of liquid plaster over it.

"They're not physically watching us from the bushes, Zhen," she said. "They've got surveillance at the borders, watching anyone who walks in and out of the forest. Discreetly. They only confront visitors when they feel the land is under threat."

"Or when the authorities want access?"

Finn shrugged. "A little karmic justice from the past."

"Exactly what kind of conversation did you have with Darren?"

"The kind that saved our lives."

"What for? To hide away forever in the woods? That's not a life," said Zhen, standing up and pacing around a bit. Finn felt a sting on the side of her abdomen. She swore inwardly. It had been a while since she'd had a stitch. Figures that hard hike would cause one. Zhen continued speaking. "We've lost everything. We have no proof. And our word, my word, means less than nothing. Not that yours will mean much either, no offense."

"None taken," said Finn. She stood up and sat down against the log she'd been sitting on. "And what do you mean we don't have proof?"

Zhen looked at her, confused. "They found the metal piece that Darren got us. We don't have anything to show for all that shit we just went through."

"I rather liked our little trip to the moon," said Finn with a smile. She took off her left shoe and sock then she peeled away a band aid that completely blended in, flush with her skin. It was plastered to the top of her foot, just between her big toe and the one next to it. Underneath the band aid was a sliver of metal encased in a tiny glass bead. "As for proof, we've got plenty."

"One in an obvious spot..." started Zhen, recalling Jesse's words about hiding two trackers on their vigilante leader.

"...and one in a not so obvious spot," Finn completed the sentence. "That day, when you went to get drunk, I went back to the ice carvers. They lent me their lasers. I got this little beauty and hid it, just in case."

Zhen smiled. "What now?"

"Now," said Finn. "We bury MechSoft. Then we get our lives back."