"I feel like Spider-man," I muttered, and pulled myself up, grasping the next handhold. The water on my fingertip clung to the cool stone like glue, anchoring me in place. Granted, Spider-man wouldn't be huffing and puffing like me. And he was a lot faster at scaling a wall. I mean, in the old movies Dad liked to watch — family bonding time, he called it — the superhero basically ran up the cliff. There were plenty of Hunters that could go that fast without CGI, but I wasn't one of them. Not even close.

My arms and legs felt like jelly and my fingers were shaking so bad, if it wasn't for the water, I would have fallen off the cliff already. At twenty feet up, with my toughened Hunter body, it wouldn't be fatal, but I'd get seriously injured. Then I'd have to wait for Regen to fix the problem and climb up again, using time that I didn't have.

I sighed and pressed my fevered forehead to the rock, trying to cool off. If it wasn't for the double vision, it would be a lot easier to figure out where to grab and I'd go a lot faster. Fevers suck! This one felt like it was never ending.

Levi slithered ahead, completely fine. He made it to the halfway spot and climbed over the ledge, then poked his little blue head out to look down. His tongue flicked out, as if urging me to hurry up.

"I'll get there when I get there," I gritted, and pulled myself up another couple feet. Eight more feet, just eight more feet. I thought fighting when poisoned was bad enough. Yeah, no, try climbing.

A forever later, I pulled myself onto the little ledge. It was barely big enough for my butt to fit on, my legs dangling over the edge. Even though I wasn't afraid of heights, my stomach still squirmed. Quickly, I took out a lot of water and made a lap-belt that I attached to the rocks on either side of my hips. Feeling more stable, I leaned back and rested, messaging my aching muscles.

With heavy lidded eyes, I looked out. From this high on the slope, I could see over the tree canopy. The forest spread out, covering the mountain hills like a green-camo blanket. Rock features and extra tall trees broke through the bumpy surface, adding interest and diversity to the pretty picture. Slowly, the forest thinned and died out, giving way to the flat, golden plains.

However, my eyes were drawn to a colorless blot that marred the scenery. Several miles to the south, an enormous cloud clung to the trees, sweeping over them like it was alive.

Cold sweat and goosebumps spread across my skin at the sight. No matter how I tried, I couldn't help but remember last night, hiding behind the waterfall. And the powerful monster that hung in the air just on the other side. I never saw it with my eyes or heard a sound, but it was a thing of nightmares. Like the bogeyman that plagued my blood-filled dreams for years. Sometimes seeing what your fear looked like made it less scary, but I never wanted to see this terror. I just wanted it to go away. At least the cloud was far enough away that I could handle the spike of anxiety that assaulted my heart.

I didn't know if Levi noticed or not, but he slithered onto my lap and found a comfortable position, as if announcing his presence. Was he trying to distract me?

But I couldn't take my eyes off the cloud as it swallowed up trees, then left them behind. Everywhere it went, a large flock of flying monsters rose up in front, escaping from the trees before they were engulfed. I could only assume the same thing was happening on the ground, filling the forest floor with frantic monsters. The cloud swept across the forest in an almost methodical pattern, fast enough to blatantly declare that it wasn't a natural phenomenon. I could only assume a creature created it. Was it hunting? I shivered, pitying the prey that fell into its clutches. Thank god it was far enough away that I wasn't at risk getting swallowed up in that cloud. I was lucky enough to avoid detection last night and my luck wasn't good enough to avoid disaster twice.

If I kept looking at the cloud any longer, my anxiety was going to break loose — which was bad for my heart and the poison circulating in my blood. With a steadying breath, I forced my gaze away to the golden stretch of dry plains on the other side of the forest. A broken interstate cut through it, skirting around the edges of the green trees. Movement drew my attention.

A handful of SUVs drove across the bumpy road, heading south in a perfect line. Heading to Boulder.

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My eyes widened and shock jolted through my tired brain. Those cars were the first signs of human life I'd seen in days. With only a snake and System for company, it felt like I was the last human on earth. Longing grew in my heart at the sight of the cars. They could take me home. Maybe that's what they were meant to do. What if they were the search party Uncle Maveric sent out for me?

If I could let them know I was here, or even more impossible, clear the miles of forest between us before they drove by, would I finally get to let my family know I was okay? Finally, get to hug Dad and feel safe again?

But stronger than that longing was a warning that screamed in my mind, stronger than any ‘stranger danger’ inclination. No, it was an aversion to joining another party of strangers. Of threats. When I looked at the cars, all I could see was a shadow of Star's peppy smile and hear her lament that she couldn't get my armor as she ran away, leaving me to die. Like hell was I going to put myself in that position again.

Who knew, maybe the people in the cars were good. Maybe, if I flagged them down and they actually waited for me to get to them, they'd get me home. But it was just as likely that they'd rob and kill me. It was too much of a gamble to try. Wearily, I turned my head so I couldn't see them any more.

As soon as I did, I felt a little piece of me die. Something shifted inside as I understood that I was losing my trust in humanity. I grew up sheltered, surrounded by good people that protected and helped me. Even though I knew that bad people existed, and even interacted with them occasionally, they weren't allowed to hang around long enough to make a mark on my life. That was different now. The rose tinted glasses were broken, and I finally saw the gray hue that blanketed society.

It ... was sad. But I didn't deny it or stubbornly hang onto a broken dream. That would only get me killed. I learned a lesson by trusting a stranger, and if I didn't incorporate that lesson into my life now, I deserved to die.

I leaned my head back, disappointed in myself, but mostly, disappointed in society. But that's what it was. I was just one girl. I had to either conform with societal rules, or get smothered under it. My family cared for me too much to put myself in that much danger.

I took one last large breath then focused on the task at hand -- getting the rest of the way up the mountain slope. "I just hope this was worth it. I mean, not failing a task is always worth it, but this whole thing has been one huge pain. Literally." I slid my finger over Levi's neck, ignoring when he smacked me with his tail. "Hey, you were the one that put yourself in my lap," I reminded him then set him aside.

He stuck his nose in the air and started climbing.

I rolled my eyes, absorbed the water that chained me in place and carefully shifted to standing on the small ledge. It really wasn't that high — hell, I was a lot higher when I rode the roc earlier, but I wasn't nearly this nervous. Probably because on the roc I was high enough that falling didn't seem like a possibility, and even then, the odds of the giant bird dropping me was very low. But I didn't have that same trust in myself right now.

Levi climbed past and glanced at me, golden eyes full of snark, before he kept going.

"Right, right. I'm coming." I reached out to the first handhold.

A wave of vertigo rocked my heavy head. I gasped, disoriented and missed touching the stone. Then I wobbled. Before I knew it, the sense of vertigo turned into real falling as I tipped backwards.

There was nothing behind me but air.

Levi's startled hiss broke through my numb mind. Instinctively, I thrust my hand out. The water clinging to my palm shot out like a rope and latched onto the rock. The water rope pulled tight as gravity forced my body down and my shoulder was wrenching in pain. My free fall ended abruptly, but I wasn't done moving yet. The water rope stretched like a rubberband — and then promptly snapped back into the place. I gasped, suddenly launched upwards from the inertia.

I smacked into the cliff, hurting all over now, not just my shoulder or head. Dimly, I knew that I was dangling from a thin stretch of water attached to my hand, twenty-five feet in the air, but I was too dizzy to react. I pressed my forehead to the cool stone, hoping that the unmovable feature would help make the world stop spinning. Sadly, it didn't.

Levi's presence quickly closed in on my location. His thin body dropped onto my head, causing me to flinch. Instead of worrying if I was okay, he started berating me for being clumsy. As if I meant to do any of that.

"Hang on," I whispered. "Just stop for just a second."

He paused, and stilled. After a second, where I did nothing but breath, he huffed and climbed off, heading back up the cliff.

I opened my eyes and waited for the double vision to go away before I reached out and grabbed onto another rock and started to slowly climb up. Everything that happened was an accident, but I got some good information from it. My water stretched and retracted like rubber. I could use that, both in moving around in high places and during fights. Of course, my head wasn't ready for that right now. But in another hour, when the poison wore off, I should experiment with that ability.

*****