"Close call you had there."

What the fuck is Axel doing here? He hadn't seen him in months, and he preferred months to be years, no matter the circumstances. "I was drowning?" Connor shivered from the cold water.

"You were doing the dead man's float. I was over there on that hill and saw you floating by."

"CPR?"

"I never did it when I was a lifeguard. It finally came in handy."

"Gross," Connor coughed out more water and rubbed his arms to generate heat. "Of all people, I wasn't expecting you to be here."

"You're welcome." They sat quietly, smoke plumed around them, and the water was quiet. He hadn't seen his younger brother in a while and noticed that Connor had grown. His face looked more adult than just a few months ago. "You've changed."

"You haven't," Connor said.

Axel sighed. Maybe he hasn't changed, Axel thought. "I was wrong back then. I'm sorry. And watch it, bro. I saved your life." He stood and paced on the grassy hill. "We should swim out of here. There's no way the water went too far without settling down." He pointed off in the distance and said, "I think I see the tops of cars driving out there."

Connor sighed, "You meant that?"

"Meant what?"

"That you were wrong?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry, man."

Connor thought about how his friends changed and stopped ghosting him, and they acknowledged that Connor wasn't in the wrong. If Neville, Christian, and Olivya had changed, then maybe so did Axel. "It means a lot to hear that."

"Where's your dog? We have to find her too."

"I'm not worried about her. Her harness is on, and the entire town knows she's mine." He appreciated his concern.

They pondered what to do—wait for help, or make a swim for it? It's not like they were in any danger here. If no more Optimal ships arrive.

Someone hollered.

"What the Hell?" Axel said.

Teresa was horizontal to the water a couple of feet above it, and her hands clutched something beneath her, but it was hard to tell what it was as it was submerged.

"Is she flying?" Axel said.

"Yeah."

"What I thought happened with Stephanie was weird. This is fucking nuts," Axel said as he stretched his arm and pointed in disbelief. Connor caught a glimpse of Axel's wrist and his new scar. It looked like it had fully recovered from Joules.

"Connor," Teresa yelled as she approached the mound. What she was dragging beneath the surface grew out of the water, and a drenched Joules quickly ran to Connor. Joules didn't allow any space for Teresa to get in to hug Connor, so she floated nearby and watched the reunion.

"Nice suit," Axel said, "fits well."

"Shut up," Teresa wiped dripping, semi-floating hair water off her face.

"And you're flying?"

"Is this the weirdest thing you've seen today?" Teresa said.

"No, guess not."

"And don't act like you're our friend after the stunt you pulled at the school."

As soon as Joules let up to shake the water off, Teresa floated into Connor's chest. Her knees bent behind her. Water dripped off Teresa's suit, but her hair was no longer the smooth waves it usually is, but it still floated a few inches higher than it should and sparked the occasional purple.

"Quite the scene you made," Connor said.

"Yeah, well, they started it. I'm glad you're okay."

"Alright enough," Axel said, "mind telling me what's going on?"

This guy, Teresa thought. Teresa floated away from Connor, clearly perturbed at Axel interrupting. "Bad guys want Connor, and they'll send in more airships soon."

"Those things I saw flying earlier?"

"Yeah. And why do you care? You tried working with Mr. Furyk before."

"He's a part of this?"

"Yeah, you have no say on the next move."

"I saved his life."

"Is that true?"

Connor sighed. "Yeah."

Teresa's phone vibrated. She held her arm in front of her and answered on speaker. As they huddled together, she pushed Axel away and turned down the volume. He got the hint and went to the far side of the mound.

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"Stephanie, where are you?" Teresa said.

"Somewhere in the woods," Stephanie said. "Nice work with the water. Is Connor there?"

"I'm here."

"Sorry I couldn't get you out. Too much movement. You guys are on your own."

"Understood," Teresa said, and they both hung up. She unstrapped the phone from her arm, turned it off, and tossed it in the water. "Let's keep it down so that Axel doesn't hear."

"The heck?" Connor was shocked at her sudden decision-making. And why won't Stephanie come and get her?

"They're listening in," Teresa tapped her ear. "Stephanie is aware of this. I thought she could get to us by my phone, but she can't. That means the Aeon Switch is out of juice, and she doesn't want Optimal to know."

Well shit. Their easy escape out of this mess is assumed to be inoperative. He wished he had stayed home for the evening.

"Alright, and how are we gonna find her?"

"That's easy," Teresa lifted one finger. "On the count of three, say the first place that comes to mind." Connor nodded, and she started counting. "One, two, three—"

"School," they both said.

"Great, basic game theory."

"Alright," Connor followed, impressed. Now he's hoping Stephanie comes to the same conclusion. "I'm not sure if we'll make it. It's far."

"Of course, we can make it," Teresa said. "I'm floating, and you know these woods. The location is pressed up right against the foothills."

"I guess."

"Your call," she said, "but now's not the time for guessing. Where do we go from here?"

Connor looked off and saw the smoke in the distance and even some sharp, bright glow of orange sparsed over the foothills. At his feet is the water that has come to a standstill, it's even lowered several feet, and the following plot of land looks to be a few hundred feet away by some thicket of trees.

"We gotta head towards that second plume of smoke from the left and take a hard left at the base of that foothill. Going straight for the school will lead us to a cliff, and we'll probably get lost. So we gotta go around if we don't take the path."

"Simple enough," she said. "Joules, come here." As Joules circled around, she held onto the harness.

"What's going on?" Axel hollered from the other side of the mound.

"Toss your phone," Teresa said.

"Oh fuck no."

"Now," Teresa said.

"Fuck no."

Teresa flew higher and straightened her figure. Axel felt himself lift as if he was going down in an elevator. "Now. Or I'm tossing you."

Axel glared at her and figured she might have the upper hand. "Fine," he casually tossed it into the water, and his heels planted firmly back on the ground.

"We're crossing to those trees over there," Teresa pointed with a nod. "Keep up."

Axel smirked, knowing he'd have no problems. He just moved across the water without taking any deep breaths or slowing down and even held his socks and shoes in one hand. Teresa was water dragging Joules across, and Connor lagged the most and found a few trees and some shallow areas to take a break, as nearly drowning took a lot out of him. Axel made it to dry land first, followed by the girls and Connor on the tail-end.

Axel was sitting comfortably on a log, "Finally made it."

Leaning against a tree to catch his breath, he said, "Yeah, whatever, Michael Phelps."

"You gotta work on your cardio more," Axel said.

"I'll subscribe to your channel later. You could use the one follower."

Axel laughed.

"Enough of this weird conversation," Teresa said, "let's just rest a little."

Connor took off his jacket and shirt and began ringing them out. His hiking shoes were fine, but the wet denim pants would be annoying. It would have been an opportune time for Teresa to say something funny or suggestive with Connor's shirt off, but she kept quiet given the circumstances and played it cool by not staring—settling with a few glances.

"It's probably three miles from here, so I'm thinking three hours through the woods. It's a lot of time for them to find us, so let's hope for the best," Connor said. They began the hike, keeping an eye on the plume of smoke. The smell of ash and smoke grew strong, and a haze settled as time passed.

"Well, this is eerie," Teresa said.

"Wuss," Axel said.

Joules ran ahead, and her amber eyes shined through the smoke as she looked back and waited for them. And then the Optimal airships polluted the noise all around. It was faint, but they knew their second round of ships was about to descend back onto Blue Ashe.

"Now that's eerie," Connor said. "How many of those ships do they have?"

"Not sure," Teresa said, "I've seen a hangar with about fifty or so in there. It's not under any military jurisdiction, but Mr. Furyk's."

That guy was the real deal all along, Axel thought.

Joules turned her head.

"Shit," Connor said.

"Alright, hands in the air," a deep, muffled voice boomed through the haze. "Teresa, feet on the ground."

The dejected trio did as they were told, and a silhouette turned slowly into an officer through the woods and smoke.

"No one's going to get hurt. But if anyone tries anything, I will follow through with the kill order. Connor, you're coming with me," he said. With the outfitted gear and mask, his digitized muffled tone made it hard to tell what he was thinking. At least he had the courtesy to mention the kill order, which struck a nerve with Connor.

"Turn around," he said.

They followed the order, and he pulled out several plastic zip-tie handcuffs. "Hands behind your back, Connor. Don't take it personally."

And as the cuff tightened around Connor's wrists, Axel acted. Fast. A kick to the back of the officer's legs lowered his body. With instant reaction, Connor jumped, bent his knees, and rotated his arms from his back to under his feet and back to their regular arm position. The officer reached for his gun but Connor dove for it and latched onto his arm. A punch from Axel lowered the man's head, and a kick from Connor off the ground sent him upward.

The officer tried to reach for a knife, but Axel kicked his leg in. Then, Connor grabbed the officer's neck with his tied hands, ending his resistance.

Teresa was in disbelief at their coordination. If one went high, the other went low. They took him down without breaking a sweat.

The gun was in Axel's hands and pointed at the officer. "Dumbass," Axel smirked.

The officer didn't respond.

"I take it someone is coming to pick you up?" Axel said.

"Yes."

"Tell them you saw us heading east right now," Axel said.

He lifted the top of his wrist to his mask and pressed a button with the other. "Spotted target heading east from my location."

"Roger," it was a muffled response, just audible enough through his helmet for all to hear.

Axel eyed the rest of the officer's equipment and grabbed his water bottle and his knife. And with the knife, he cut the communication device off his wrist and anything else that looked suspicious.

"Why are you alone?" Axel said.

"Jumped ship," he said. "I was trying to do you kids a favor."

Axel nodded to Connor, and he let him go. All three took a swig of water, and Connor—still zip-tied—put some in his hands. Joules drank up.

"Should leave the rest for him," Connor said.

"Sure," Axel tossed the bottle to the man's feet. "Don't follow us," Axel said.

The officer nodded and went eastward.