We crept through backyards, hugged the shadows of alleys, and sprinted across parking lots, attempting to avoid patrols as best we could. The brass-tipped steeple of a temple watched over us as we moved, almost like a watchtower. My legs ached and my lungs burned as we traveled across the city, cutting between residential buildings crammed next to each other. Half of them seemed to be abandoned or deteriorating, while only a quarter of them looked to have some sort of life, but even that life was grim and hostile. Bars lined the windows, and trash was piled high. I felt sick to my stomach as we hurried past a pile of garbage taller than Ava. She glanced over her shoulder at me with a scowl scrawled across her face as I breathed heavily.

“What’s your problem?” She hissed quietly before whipping her head around to watch a patrol pass by in a humvee, its engine growling like a monster stalking its prey. The analogy made the back of my neck tingle, and I felt cold.

“I’m not used to this,” I replied, rubbing my hands on my pants nervously. “I never thought I’d be hunted by the military. Usually, I’m waving and smiling at them!”

“Oh, of course,” she grumbled, rolling her eyes. “Were you suck-”

“Ava,” Kéron interjected, “let’s go. The patrol’s gone.”

“Fine. C’mon.”

We set off again, sprinting across the street to another residential block, creeping through its numerous pathways. I prayed we didn’t have much further to go because I had no idea how much longer I could continue this. The only thing I was learning from this experience so far was that I was woefully unfit, and Ava really hated the government, and by extension, me. She might not have finished her sentence, but I could sense the insult on her tongue. Absent-mindedly, I stumbled and Kéron lurched forward to stabilize me. Ava, of course, just huffed grumpily and continued forward. I whispered a word of thanks, and the Umbrite nodded. I was grateful that he was so trusting, and not even because it meant he was easier to manipulate. He was simply easier to be around than Ava, who was the human equivalent of trying to hug a cactus.

Several more blocks went by without incident, aside from the distant chopping of rotors and rumbling of heavy-duty engines. It seemed like the patrols had moved out of the area. Ava motioned for us to pause, and after a moment of scanning, she stepped out, her head on a swivel. We crossed the street at a normal pace, much to my relief, and entered another road paved with dirt. It was narrow, and houses lined either side. They all looked abandoned, but regardless, trash was stacked high, and there was the sound of… I tilted my head, trying to hear better. Laughter? I thought incredulously. The fact that anyone could muster up the ability to laugh out here gave me the distinct impression that they were either insane or incredibly drunk. Seeing as alcohol was prohibited, I assumed it was the former. As we approached a four-way intersection, the three of us instinctively crouched down, the laughter growing louder with every footstep.

Tentatively, I poked my head out from behind the fence, and my eyes widened. The laughter was coming from human Utahn soldiers, who had paused their patrol in the middle of the road. Their humvee sat idly as they milled about absentmindedly, wisps of smoke escaping their lips. Outrage ignited in my veins. Where in the world did they get cigarettes?! I thought. Those horrible things aren’t legal. Someone should go and-

Kéron pulled me back down, shaking his head fervently. I hadn’t even realized I was moving to confront the soldiers.

“I know, I know,” Ava muttered, staring down the alleyway. “I wanna beat their asses to a pulp, too.”

“That’s not-” I protested.

“Shh!” She hissed, ducking back behind the fence. She turned to me and Kéron, her face serious. “There are four soldiers outside that truck, maybe more inside. If there are just the four, we can sneak by easily enough. If there are soldiers inside, they’ll see us as we go by, and…” she spread her hands helplessly. “Estamos muertos.”

I didn’t understand a lick of Spanish, but the somber tone she used gave me a pretty good idea of what she meant.

“What do we do, then?” Kéron asked.

“Well, unless we want to backtrack and go along the streets, I don’t see any other option,” she responded resignedly. “We’ll just have to say ‘fuck it’ and hope for the best.”

That plan didn’t give me the most confidence, but seeing as I was stuck with the two of them, I had no choice but to follow along. Ava directed us, putting Kéron first, me second, and herself last. As we slid into place, she glanced at me distrustingly, as if she believed I was going to run toward the soldiers at the first chance I got. I didn’t miss the fact that her hand was hovering near her hip, and a shiver shook my body. My body tensed in anticipation as Kéron peeked around the corner, watching intensely. My breathing was shaky and my hands trembled. The thought of being caught, despite knowing the soldiers wouldn’t shoot me, terrified me. The Dragonborn motioned suddenly with his hand and began crouch sprinting across the alleyway. Ava gave me an unnecessary push, and I hurried across, my legs aching from the unnatural position I was in. I moved automatically, and my gaze was fixed on the soldiers. Their backs were turned, little puffs of smoke congregating around their heads.

Their behavior is a stain on Utah, and The Church’s teachings, I thought angrily. I can’t believe that—my trench coat caught under my feet, and I lost balance. My hands splayed out to break my fall, and I yelped as gravel and dirt stabbed my palms. Ava hissed an expletive, and looped her arms underneath me, dragging me roughly. I stumbled to my feet, and we leaped to the other side of the alley, hitting the ground roughly. Ava lay next to me, breathing heavily. Fear was scrawled across her face as she listened intently. Not hearing anything, she sighed and stood, dusting herself off. My palms ached as I pushed myself to my feet, and she made no effort to make sure I was okay. Kéron, however, took my hands and inspected their palms.

“Thank Umbra you’re not hurt,” he breathed, relieved.

I glanced down at my scraped palms. “But I did-”

“Thank god those soldiers didn’t see your clumsy ass,” Ava said, her voice thick with frustration. “C’mon, let’s g-”

“Hello?” A male voice called. “You are under the order of the Utahn military to show yourself!”

“Shit,” Kéron and Ava hissed simultaneously. We all scrambled immediately, hurrying away from the growing shadows of the soldiers. I glanced back, and my throat tightened. There‘s no way we’re reaching the end of this street in time. Frantically, I reached out and grabbed the back of Kéron’s coat. He skidded to a stop and glared at me for the first time.

“What?!” He demanded.

“We’re not gonna make it,” I gasped.

His eyes widened, and glanced over my shoulder. The Umbrite’s expression darkened, and he immediately began searching for a way to escape. Half a second later, he widened his stance, bent his knees, and laced his fingers together in front of him. Ava seemed to understand immediately and stepped onto his interwoven fingers. He straightened up, helping launch her to the top of the fence. She scrambled over, but hung onto the edge, watching me expectantly. They made the whole thing look so easy. Wasting no time, I stepped onto Kéron’s hands. He launched me much sooner than I expected, and a cry escaped my mouth. My voice was quickly cut off by hitting the fence. Ava grabbed my jacket and yanked me over, scraping my stomach.

“Kéron,” she said frantically, reaching down. “Can you reach-?”

“Hey! Put your hands up!” A voice shouted.

Ava gasped and dropped down instinctively, searching for a hole in the fence. I did the same, ignoring the pain in my hands and across my stomach and legs. My chest felt tight as I spotted a group of soldiers strolling up to Kéron, the red, white, blue, and yellow flag of Utah alongside the PRA’s flag emblazoned across their shoulders.

“The hell’re you doing out here?” One of them asked gruffly.

“Just trying to get home,” the Dragonborn responded.

“What, the tent cities?” Another soldier asked as if it was some sort of joke. The others chuckled.

“That’s bullshit,” the first soldier growled. “Who were you talking to?”

“Nobody.”

“Ah, right. Forgot Umbrite have a little voice in their heads, telling them the future or some other crap.” I stifled a gasp as the soldier kicked Kéron’s legs out from underneath him, forcing him to his knees. The Dragonborn’s face twisted in pain as the man grabbed his ear, pulling it tightly. “I won’t ask again, you skink,” the soldier said in a dangerously calm voice. “Who. Were. You. With?”

I tugged Ava’s sleeve, trying to pull her away. “Ava, let’s go,” I whispered shakily. “Please.”

She resisted, shrugging me off.

“Fine,” Kéron said, pain in his voice. “Lemme take off my gloves first, though. They’re uncomfortable.”

Ava’s eyes widened, and the next thing I knew, she was pushing me toward the house and up the stairs. I stumbled as we came to the porch, but Ava was already at the door. She made short work of the lock and pushed me inside. I fell to the floor as Ava slammed the door shut and locked it again.

“What’s going-?” I began to ask before another voice cut me off.

“Who the h-hell are you two?!” A snowy gray Felisius demanded, her shaky paws holding a large kitchen knife.

Ava’s hand automatically moved to her hip, and I stifled a gasp of panic. I pushed myself to my feet, pulling my mask and goggles off. The woman didn’t even give me a chance to speak.

“I-Isabelle Snyder?” She asked incredulously.

“That is me, yes,” I replied.

“Wh… what’re you doing out here? Who is she?” Her knife pointed at Ava, and the human scowled.

“She’s helping me,” I said.

“H-helping with what? Getting kidnapped?”

“I didn’t kidnap her!” Ava snapped. “She came to us!”

The woman squinted and held her knife up. “‘Us’? There’s m-more of you?”

“Just my friend outside, who’s-”

A flash of light erupted from outside, painting the inside of the house blinding orange. Gunfire followed immediately after but stopped as soon as it began. The woman cowered for a moment before hurrying to look out the window. “Your friend?! The hell was that?!”

Low, droning sirens sounded, shivers rising throughout my body.

“It’s complicated,” I told her. “We don’t have the time to explain—it’s incredibly important.”

“If it’s so important, why isn’t your father doing it?” She demanded, tightening her grip on her knife. “H-how do I know you’re not lying?”

“Look at me,” I said, trying to make myself look like how I did in the videos I made every morning. Happy smile, happy thoughts, happy people, I thought, giving her my best grin. “I’m Isabelle! Utah’s favorite Dragonborn. I’ve only ever told the truth, haven’t I?” I asked cheerfully.

Her knife dipped even further, and she looked thoughtful. “I… I guess you’re right. Sorry, I should’ve listened to you sooner, Isabelle. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have questions, though.”

It felt odd for her to say my name as if she had known me personally her whole life, but I shrugged it off. “Thank you…” I looked at her expectantly.

“Meyra. But you can just call me Mrs. Yeirel.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Yeirel. You’ve helped more than you could ever know.”

“Now,” Ava butted in, “if you don’t mind, we have a few questions. First off, where is Meriya’s garage? Second, you won’t tell a soul about this, got it?”

Mrs. Yeirel shuffled her feet nervously. “Uh, s-sure. I have a map somewhere around here I can give you.” She turned and walked back down the hall she had come from.

“That was creepy as hell,” Ava muttered, her shoulders relaxing.

“What was?” I asked, perplexed.

“‘I’m Isabelle! Utah’s favorite Dragonborn!’” She said in an overly cheery tone, plastering a fake smile across her face. “Seeing that shit in person was like watching someone be possessed.”

I recoiled slightly. “I’m not possessed! Dad says I’ve got angels watching over me, making sure I’m safe.”

“Fallen angels, maybe,” she grumbled. She walked toward the hallway, leaving me feeling scandalized. After a moment to collect myself, I followed her to Mrs. Yeirel’s room.

The Felisius was hunched over the desk, scribbling a route onto a map. She finished as I strode up to the desk, and folded it neatly. “Here you go,” she said, handing the map to me. “I hope you can do whatever it is you’re trying to do, Isabelle.”

“Thank you again, Mrs. Yeirel,” I replied. “We’ll be leaving now.”

“W-wait!” She stood suddenly. “Are you sure you have to go? I could make some coffee, or…”

“You know coffee’s not allowed,” I said, squinting at her.

“Uh… I mean… um…”

“Forget about it.” It wasn’t worth it to pursue this particular piece of information. We had the stuff we needed, and now it was time to get out. Part of me hoped that Mrs. Yeirel’s stash of coffee would be discovered as we left her house, although Ava was much more enthusiastic to exit than I was. She took the stairs two at a time and flung the fence wide open, standing in the middle of the road. I joined her, and my stomach felt strange. The dirt was glassy and blackened, and a trail of blood led in the opposite way of where the soldiers had come from.

“I-is that Kéron’s…?” Ava’s voice trailed off.

“He’ll be okay,” I assured her, feigning confidence. “He knows we’re shooting for the auto shop. He’ll meet us there.” I pulled out the map and pushed it into her hands. “Come on.”

“You’re right,” she muttered. “You’re right. Chico fended off a wendigo. ‘Course he’ll be alright.”

“Wait, what?” There’s no way I heard that right. A wendigo?? Ava paid me no mind and unfurled the map, tracing her finger along it.

“Vamos, niña rica,” she said, striding away with purpose. I flapped my arms around exasperatedly, turning to see if the nonexistent bystanders were seeing her antics. Not wanting to be left alone, I hurried after her. I prayed that we’d be able to make it to the garage safely, but Ava’s comments about fallen angels lurked in the back of my mind. With my luck as of late, it really seemed like there was some sort of curse following me around.

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I pray that’s not the case, I thought as Ava and I crouched, sprinting across a street.

—/—|—\—

My nerves were on blast the entire time we snuck through St. Grogon. Regardless, I felt exhausted. My lungs burned from sprinting across streets, and my knees ached from crouching for so long. I wished I knew how long until we were going to reach the garage, but Ava seemed insistent on ignoring me for as long as humanly possible. What I wouldn’t do to be back in bed, I thought miserably, pausing as Ava held up her hand. Yet another patrol passed by, though this time around the humvee had a turret mounted on its roof. The patrols had been becoming more and more frequent, which I assumed meant that we were getting closer to our destination. There had also been the occasional helicopter rolling over our heads, deafening me and Ava as it passed, and the alarms continued to blare.

My thoughts strayed to Kéron as I began following Ava absentmindedly. Ever since the incident at the house, I hadn’t seen him whatsoever. Nagging thoughts lingered in my head, making my chest feel tight whenever I thought about what might’ve happened to him. It was an unfamiliar sensation and an unpleasant one at that. My mind was bogged down by darkness, and despite my prayers for it to be lifted from me, it persisted. Just focus on the task at hand. This will all pass eventually. God doesn’t allow pain without a purpose.

The sound of rumbling engines and soldiers shouting grew louder and louder as we crept through another alleyway. Ava checked her map and glanced back at me, finally showing me the piece of paper. It looked like we were just a few blocks away from the street the garage was located on, hence the noise. However, it appeared that we were on the opposite side of the garage, which meant… I didn’t like where this was going. Nevertheless, I followed Ava wordlessly. Despite her obvious hatred for me, I trusted that she wouldn’t give me up. Well, perhaps trusted is a strong word. More like hoped. Eventually, we came up to an alleyway that was flush with the main road. The sound of the engines and soldiers was louder than ever, and I was getting a headache.

Ava peeked out at the road and hissed a swear quietly. I grimaced but held my tongue. “There’s a metric fuck ton of soldiers down there,” she reported, turning to me. “They’ve got humvees, machine guns, and I’m sure you’ve heard the helicopters.”

“I’m assuming that’s bad?”

She stared at me for a moment, before turning her back on me. “Dios, dame fuerza,” she muttered, rubbing her eyes.

“What?” I asked, perplexed. “I was just making conclusions based on the information I’ve got.”

“Okay, look, shut up,” she said, turning back to me. “Here’s the plan. We wait for them to be distracted by something, book it like hell, and pray that they don’t see us.”

“I’m not the most well-versed in planning, but don’t you think that’s a bit…”

“Shut up.”

“Flimsy?”

Ava fixed me with the most fierce glare I’d seen yet. She looked tempted to draw her pistol but instead balled her hands into fists. “You will do as I say,” she growled. “I am the eldest, and I know what I’m doing. Got it, kelp breath?” She stuck her finger right between my eyes, prompting me to step back.

“Got it.”

“Bueno. And don’t trip.” She turned to peek around the corner, staying poised like a spring, ready to release all the pent-up tension in the blink of an eye. The moments dragged by, and I felt even myself getting antsy. Ava only moved to duck back into the alley and peek back out, but nothing seemed to be happening. Regardless, my nerves were racing like crazy, waiting for the moment. The anticipation was killing me.

“Now!” Ava barked, causing me to flinch.

I recovered quickly and hurried after her. She was running full tilt, and I was trying my hardest to keep up. It felt like I was running across the street forever. Every step took much too long. I was sure the soldiers were going to spot me at any second and start shouting. But nothing happened. I stumbled to a stop as I entered the alley, falling as the momentum carried me off my feet. A groan escaped my lips as I pushed myself back onto my feet, my scraped palms crying out in protest. Ava was staring down the road intensely. After verifying it was clear, she turned to me with a huge smile on her face.

“¡Lo funiconó!” She whispered excitedly, shaking my shoulders vigorously. “It fucking worked! Those stupid assholes are none the wiser!”

I ignored her use of profanity and smiled back. “It did!”

She seemed to realize what she was doing and let go of my shoulders, brushing her hands off. “Uh, good job not tripping. Didn’t think you could do it.” She glanced over her shoulder. “C’mon, let’s go.” Without another word, she pulled out her map and began following it.

From cheerful to hating me, just like that, I thought, following her. I wished there was a way to make her feel less animosity toward me, though it didn’t seem like there was anything I could do. Except…

“Your plan worked flawlessly,” I said as we crept past the billionth pile of garbage. “I doubted it at first because of its simplicity, but you really do know what you’re talking about.” She didn’t respond, but I could see her posture change slightly as if she was proud of herself. Hopefully, that’ll make her a bit nicer to me from here on out.

Our pace slowed dramatically as we came closer to the garage. The loud voices of soldiers echoed from inside, although I couldn’t make out what they were saying. The backlot was void of life aside from the dozens of abandoned cars and stacks of tires. The back door was wide open and Ava led the way to it, signaling with her hand cautiously. It appeared the door led to some sort of storage area. Chemicals sat on the shelves, making my head feel funny. The voices of the soldiers were louder, almost as if they were right next to us.

“…when that robot guy tipped us off, I thought he was full of hot shit, I’m gonna be honest,” a female voice said. “Didn’t expect for him to be telling the truth.”

“You’re telling me,” a male voice replied. “‘Hey, go to these exact coordinates! The governor’s daughter is there, as well as her kidnappers! Trust me because I’m mad that I got scammed out of a buncha money! Wah wah wah!’” The both of them sounded human.

The female soldier laughed. “Well, one thing he was right about was the car and one of the kidnappers. You see the guys with the burnt uniforms?”

“Mhm. One of them scored a hit, apparently.”

That was quite a bit to unpack, and judging by Ava’s facial expression, she wasn’t happy with what she was hearing in the slightest.

“Good. Anyway, can’t believe that dwarf chick wouldn’t tell us anything, man,” she said confusedly. “It’s like… we’re like, the authorities, and she wouldn’t listen to us?”

“Meh, I wouldn’t think about it too hard. The only thing in a dwarf’s mind is money,” the male responded. “‘Course, she’s not gonna have any of that once we’re gone.”

The female soldier chuckled. “Yep. Gotta pay the tithe.”

Ava’s face was a mask of rage. She looked like she wanted to draw her pistol and plug both of the soldiers in the face.

“She put up quite the fight, to be honest,” the second soldier muttered. “I’ve still got bite marks on my arm. Stupid bitch…”

“What’d you do with her, anyway?”

“Beat the shit out of her,” he said as if he was proud of himself. “With luck, she’s not gonna be working on anything for a few months. Went and stuffed her in a closet back there.”

Ava’s head snapped around and immediately started opening the cupboards and closets. It didn’t take her long to find Meriya, who fell forward limply. Ava cradled the dwarf gently, looking horrified at her brutalized features. Meriya’s face was blackened and bloody, and so puffy that she barely looked like a person. I felt nauseous. I was appalled. Soldiers don’t act this way. They don’t beat innocent civilians for money. Somehow, Meriya was conscious. A shaky, pained moan escaped her cracked lips. Ava looked up at me with pure hatred, fire ablaze in her eyes. Her shoulders and hands trembled.

“We’re going to kill those fucking pieces of shit,” she whispered shakily, her voice low with rage. I tried to protest, but she pulled out her pistol and forced it into my hands, closing my fingers around it. It was heavy and cold, and I felt nauseous just touching it. Without another word, she yanked me to my feet and pushed me toward the main garage. My voice died in my throat as I stumbled forward, and I found myself standing behind the two soldiers. Ava slunk away quickly, leaving me by myself. I whimpered quietly, but the soldiers heard me. They turned quickly, raising their rifles, fear across their faces. That fear quickly shifted to shock as they saw me, and the barrels of their guns dipped.

“I-Isabelle…?” The female soldier, Peralez, asked, dumbfounded.

“Hey! Put down the gun!” The male soldier, Harrison, barked, seeing my right hand. The both of them raised their rifles halfway, unsure of what to do.

I didn’t know what to do either. My voice wasn’t coming to me. My thoughts were confused and panicked. They’re soldiers, I thought. You can trust them. Just put down the gun. But my fingers wouldn’t budge. How can I trust them, though? You saw what they did to that dwarf. Imagine what they’d do to Ava or Kéron. My breathing felt funny. Or to you. These aren’t the refined, well-trained soldiers you see at the capitol. I had no idea where Ava had gone. Maybe she abandoned you. She’s been wanting to get rid of you this entire… my train of thought derailed as I saw a black blur flitting through the parking lot of a strip mall across the street.

“Isabelle?” Harrison said, getting my attention. “Put down the gun.”

“I… I-I…” My voice didn’t want to work, and my throat was dry. My fur felt like it was overheating, clinging to my body uncomfortably, and I wished I could tear it off. The gun in my hands shook violently. I felt like I was going to vomit. The soldiers just stared at me, confusion, apprehension, and fear across their faces. But I could swear they were judging me. Judging me for running away, for looking so filthy, for falling so far from the lovable girl they had known their entire lives.

I almost didn’t notice Ava sneaking up on the soldiers.

In a split second, I dropped the gun, looked away, and clamped my hands over my ears. Two quiet gunshots sounded, followed by the unmistakable thump of bodies hitting the ground. Footsteps stomped toward me, and I was greeted by Ava guiding me to the right, away from the bodies. My vision was blurry with tears, but I almost swore Ava had a look of concern on her face. She ushered me to the car, opening the back door for me. I climbed in automatically, feeling numb. She hurried to the driver’s seat and did a quick check of the console. Satisfied, she pulled out the keys, jammed it into the ignition, and—What about Kéron? I thought—the strip mall across the street exploded, shaking everything.

Ava and I flinched, and I suddenly felt very awake. All the soldiers outside of the garage gawked at the massive fireball rising from the far right of the mall, painting everything orange. Ava recovered quickly and shifted the car into drive, and gunned the engine. She made sure to hit a few soldiers on the way out as she gunned it across the street and into the parking lot. The SUV skidded to a halt in front of a darkened figure, who hopped in without hesitation. I gawked at Kéron, who looked like he’d seen better days. Ava slammed on the gas before Kéron had even finished sitting down. Gunfire erupted from the side of us as soldiers began firing at the car. I ducked instinctively, yelping as bullets hit the windows and side panels. Ava drifted the vehicle around corners, keeping the pedal to the metal the entire time. I gasped as a patrol came into our sights.

Ava held down the gas, her knuckles tightening on the wheel. The soldiers seemingly hadn’t noticed us yet and were more preoccupied with the explosion Kéron seemed to have caused. I wished I could scream at them to get out of the way, but I was helpless. Instead, I ducked down and covered my ears, hoping Ava didn’t hit anyone. A heavy thump resounded throughout the car, and I felt sick. Gunfire echoed behind us a moment later, but none of the shots connected. Ava navigated to a ramp and entered the highway, which was clear of military vehicles. The husks of rusted cars were a blur as Ava kept on the gas, not letting off it for miles. It suddenly occurred to me that night was falling and Ava hadn’t even turned on the headlights.

Kéron had noticed the same thing and voiced his concern. “Ava, the headlights!”

“Gone,” she responded through gritted teeth. “Fucking assholes smashed up the front.” An angry torrent of Spanish escaped her lips and she punched the steering wheel furiously.

“Th… that f-fucking sucks,” he wheezed.

“You okay?” She asked, looking at him concernedly.

“I’m f-fine.” He groaned, holding his leg gingerly.

“Is that blood?” Ava demanded. “Kéron I swear to god, you’d better live through this.”

“It’s fine. I’ve got a… a tourniquet. Wish I had p-painkillers, though.”

A strange sound tickled at my ears, prompting me to turn around. I squinted through the rear window, apprehension lurking in my mind. Against the darkening sky, amidst the dark blue and fading orange, I spotted a small, ever-growing silhouette, small lights blinking steadily. Fear settled in my stomach as I realized what was coming.

“There’s a helicopter!” I exclaimed frantically, leaning between Ava and Kéron’s seats.

“Shit!” Both of them swore simultaneously. Ava kept the pedal down, the speedometer showing we were going well over a hundred miles per hour. “Kéron, where do we go?!”

“I can’t f-fucking see anything!” He shouted, trying to read the map in the dimming light.

“There’s an offramp there!” I yelled, pointing to the right. Ava took it, barely even touching the brakes. My stomach lurched as the car caught air for a split second before slamming into the pavement. The brakes squealed as she turned right, pulling onto a bumpy dirt road and passing by a pile of debris that might’ve once been a small building. She barely slowed down as she drove, which didn’t help my car sickness whatsoever. As the road got rougher, she slowed down more, before pulling over completely. She watched the sky intently, catching sight of the helicopter. It continued along the highway, its flood light illuminating the entire road. All three of us sighed in relief simultaneously.

“Kéron, your night vision kicking in, yet?” Ava asked as she slumped into the driver’s seat.

“I think so,” he responded.

“Think you can help me navigate?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Bueno.” With that, Ava shifted back into drive, and continued forward, albeit much slower than before. Kéron called out directions as we drove in the darkness, groaning occasionally, which earned a concerned response from Ava every time. The nauseous feeling in my gut didn’t seem to want to go away.

Are we going the right way? I thought after a while. If we were on track to the República’s border, wouldn’t we have seen a fence or something by now? Judging by the fact that we couldn’t even see watchtowers, we weren’t anywhere close to the border. I hope it comes soon. I’ve got a bad fe—

My stomach jumped into my throat as the SUV’s wheels left solid ground, stifling a scream from escaping my lungs. Half a second later, the car slammed into the ground, making all of us lurch forward. I slammed into the back of Ava’s seat and regretted not buckling up as pain blossomed throughout my body. Ava and Kéron, who were buckled up, coughed as if they’d just got punched in the chest. I pushed myself up, feeling disoriented; gravity was pulling me toward the shattered windshield. I reached around blindly for the door handle and opened it. The door fell outward with ease. Kéron and Ava were also in the process of crawling out of the car, coughing as they went. Eventually, we all got out and climbed out of the ditch that Ava had driven us into.

“Is…” cough. “Is everyone okay?” Ava asked, pulling out a small flashlight that barely illuminated the ground.

“I’m f-fine,” Kéron responded between breaths.

“I… I feel s-sick,” I replied, resisting the urge to vomit on the spot.

“Oh, good, you’re…” cough. “Alive,” Ava said in a monotonous voice.

“Ava, kn-knock it off,” the Dragonborn chided her. “Let’s gather our shit and…” cough, cough. “Keep moving.”

I sat on the ground as the two of them set to work, gathering their most important supplies. The first thing Ava grabbed was a strong flashlight, which sped up the entire process exponentially, barring the fact the rear of the car was facing the night sky. Eventually, they’d grabbed the most important things. They strapped on headlamps and began picking their things up.

“On your feet, rich girl,” Ava said, throwing a bag at me. “You’re gonna learn how a caballo de carga feels.”

“What?” I asked, standing slowly. To my horror, both Kéron and Ava began loading bags onto my back, each one heavier than the last. At last, she handed me a long case for me to carry. “What the heck?! Guys, you can’t be serious.”

“Oh, au contraire, we’re very serious,” Ava responded. Despite being unable to see her face, I could sense the smile in her voice. “Now, giddy up!”

I protested as Ava started walking away, but it was obvious that I had no choice, and I was forced to go along with them. Kéron was kind enough to walk behind me so I could see the light from his headlamp, but it didn’t prevent me from tripping occasionally. We trekked for what felt like miles through the dark. Cold winds whistled over the hills and through the bushes, and every three seconds I caught dust in my mouth. My shoulders burned, my arms were sore, and my feet seemed like they were going to fall off. Strange noises echoed across the desert, which didn't help my nerves, not to mention the fact I kept thinking I heard breathing or footsteps just out of reach of the headlamp’s light. Somehow, even with his injured leg, Kéron seemed to be doing better than me. Eventually, we came across a spot that was relatively flat, much to my relief. We continued trekking forward, although I noticed something somewhat odd about the ground. There seemed to be footprints in the dirt—but they were so faded I figured it must be my mind playing tricks on me.

I hope we reach the border soon, I thought. I can’t take much more of this.

Almost as if on cue, the headlights of a truck came around a bend, pulling up several yards away from us, its lights blinding us. I noted the fact there was the sound of only one door opening and closing, although there might’ve been another person staying inside.

“Hey!” Ava called. “Don’t shoot! ¡Somos refugiados! ¡No dispares!”

“What the fuck are you doing out there?!” A man shouted back. He very clearly did not have a Mexican accent whatsoever. He sounded more like English wasn’t his first language, and was still struggling with pronunciation, despite his grasp of grammar.

“What?” Ava asked, taking a step forward.

“Woah, woah, woah!” His voice suddenly shifted to panic. “Do not move!”

Ava stepped back. “Why? What’s going on?”

“You are in the middle of a minefield,” the man replied solemnly.