Chapter 7 - SPEED

   By the time I was finished explaining my endgame to Eva, it seemed she'd run dry of tears.
   "Don't cry anymore sweet Eva," I embraced her, coiling my arms around her back and neck against her head. "It had to come to this."
   "I won't go," she kept on saying, "please Jace, I won't go."
   "You should go," I shook my head. We both knew that it would be foolish not to.
   She continued to sob in a quiet fashion now, taking several stuttered inhales at a time. I couldn't leave her like that, and maybe she knew I couldn't- why she wasn't trying to be strong for us. She didn't even know it, for I hadn't bothered to share, but I was partially dreading my return to the sea now. What Naceo had done to me yesterday was painless, but it still left a scar of paranoia lashed onto my mind, conditioning me to fear this reentry. Maybe I wasn't ready for life to end for me after all.
   "When I came here," Eva whimpered," I was ready to say goodbye. The same goodbye I told my mom and my brother and sister. Not this kind of goodbye."
   I suppose I hadn't fully grasped the depth of this farewell until she'd phrased it that way... and my goodbye would mean much more than never seeing my love again. I'd never see the light of day again. I'd never feel again. I recalled how my thoughts had been purged from my head... how I'd been left an empty vessel of complacent observation as Naceo cackled over me. Life would no longer be about playing the game... about telling a story. It couldn't be colorful anymore. It would only be one color... dark blue.
   I had to pull myself together.
   What I also hadn't told Eva was that this wasn't as much of a personal choice as I'd made it sound. Naceo owned the sea, and he would not allow me to continue making journeys back and forth. Resistance would probably result in something much more terrifying.
   "When do you leave?" I asked Eva with calm composure.
   "Tomorrow... sunrise," she trembled.
   "Go," I said, "get ready for your trip. I won't go back in yet. I'll be right here at our normal time. Is that going to be enough to prepare for a- different type- of goodbye?"
    "No! it's never enough, noth-"
    "GO!" I shouted now, "before I change my mind and return now!" She wasn't moving, so I got up and began towards the path where I would descend the rocky plateau. Finally she took off for the forest.

    I climbed down anyways, standing ankle deep and staring off into the endless blue sky. My mind was racing, flipping through possibilities of things I could do with my last moments. Yet I was frozen in my steps. As a gentle wave receded, I felt something tickling my toes. A small crab – the size of my thumb- had trailed over my foot. I bent down to pick it up, holding it by its stiff scarlet shell. Its legs slowly danced through the air as it searched for ground.
   "Where do you live?" I casually inquired while resting the little guy on my palm. It obviously had no response. It raised a claw over its head and clipped it, which I allowed myself to interpret as a hello.
    I was suddenly struck with a pathetic idea; I would allow the crab to choose my fate. If it runs onto the sand, I would fight another day, perhaps even just to deny Naceo the satisfaction of the fulfilling our deal. But if the creature allowed the waves to carry him in, so would I. I picked up the little guy up as I had before, and carefully, not to dissuade him from either option, placed him right where the phone divided the water, facing parallel to the shore.
    At first, it didn't move. The anticipation had me biting the inside of my cheeks. I was a second away from encouraging it with the tip of my foot when suddenly it took off at full speed. It went up the sand, then down again into the water, swerving along the shore like an energetic drunk. Following its path with my eyes quickly became difficult, and I began to stumble after the creature, racing behind it along the shore.

   The pursuit lasted four hours. Not all of it was spent running – the crab rested occasionally and looked up at me, curious about it's satiated predator. I, the stalker, remained fixated on the animal. It was a little red button that would show me the way. One thing remained constant: the crab did not leave the shore. It too, chose neither.
   I had time to kill and I knew eventually the guy – who's indecisive behavior was annoying me to the point where I couldn't quit – would eventually pick one of the first two. But when I became distracted by a massive shadow hiding beyond the fog of sea in the distance, I finally lost sight of where the crab had run off to. No more red button of destiny.
   Somehow it was even more curious that my ten-legged friend had led me to this eerie structure.

   As I drew closer, the steam rising off the water gradually dispersed and the picture became clear: I was looking at a ship. My memory couldn't serve me well enough for an exact answer, but it was quite possibly the same ship I've been shot on months ago. Feeling adventurous after having chased a crab miles away from familiar territory, I decided to explore. I swam to the edge of the vessel, taking shameless gulps of water to ease my headache. Between the metal siding and the barnacle-plagued wooden pillar of the dock, I was able to climb aboard.
   Several minutes of creeping around in dripping wet clothes was not only drying me off, but informed me the boat was free of any people. I was safely alone.
    I stripped and hung my clothes to dry, and begin sifting through the drawers and boxes in the indoor portions of the boat. I was trying to discover the function of each room through the items within it, but it was hardly organized. Almost everything seemed like useless junk that hadn't been tossed since it was in service.
   Eventually I made my way up to the captain's cabin. Of all the rooms this one was by far the most full of junk. Every corner was packed with storage containers which either held equipment I didn't understand or stacks upon stacks of paper which seems even more foreign.
   I knew I was heading for the wheel. Of course I was going to touch it... to pretend I was the captain of the ship guiding my pride and glory skillfully over the fearsome seas. But before my hand reached the wood-carved shape, I was distracted by a word.
   Ramecha.
   The letters popped right out at me and it was like everything else in the room grew a shade dinner. My fingers traced over the map; part of it had been damaged and ripped by water, but I could still read it. I hadn't seen a map like this since the day we took off on our bikes.

   I began to think about the road Eva would be taking to get back to Ramecha. She'd be traveling alongside Team D to finish the route and return... how long would it take them to reach the SafeZone? The way we had gotten down to Port Antigone, we'd taken as many exits as we could to scan through abandoned cities via their outskirts. But now the team was just focused on making it back, and as soon as possible. They would trek up the highway parallel to but east of the coastal road we'd taken. It was the fastest, safest route.
   Or was it?
   The map still pinched between finger and thumb, I rested my hands on the wheel, gazed beyond the window, and realized I was standing up on the answer to my own question.

 I hurried back to our meeting point, although I knew I'd be waiting for Eva for another few hours. To my surprise, she showed up much sooner than I'd expected
   "Eva!" I embraced her with excitement, "I have a brilliant idea..." But then I saw someone approaching from a few feet beyond her.
   I quickly dove behind the rocks, scraping my elbows badly as I prepared for a softer landing.
   "I'm sorry," I heard Eva call out. "I couldn't stop him from following."
   Who was that? My heart was racing and my skin burned. Before I could react again, I heard a familiar voice asking the same question.
   Augustus's face appeared from above the rocks I'd slipped on. "Oh my god," he breathed, "she wasn't kidding. You're really here."
    "You told him?" I grimaced up at Eva.
   "He wouldn't leave me alone after I came back to the hospital in that shape. He followed me out here, so I told him on the way to shore."
   Augustus was still a stuttering mess. But I had no desire to waste the little time I had left explaining my condition to him."Help me up," I asked of them after realizing my arms had been weakened, "I have something to show both of you."

   I laid out the map, drawing my finger up from Port Antigone to the coast west of Dimon. "Instead of taking all the families by land, borrow a ship. On sea, not only will you move faster, but you'll move safer."
   There was silence for a few seconds, only a crackling ocean in the distance. "Its not a bad idea," sighed Eva, "but you know how many people are going to be opposed to it."
   Augustus was one of them. "By sea? Did you forget the sea is the reason we even have zombies in the first place?"
   Eva came to my defense. "The sea may be toxic, but it will be safe to sail on. I haven't seen what recruiting with a couple families tagged on looks like, but I have an idea."
   It was obvious that the pace had been slowed quite a lot, and the responsibility had overwhelmed them. Augustus even seemed much more mature from the last time I'd known him. "It wasn't easy. No thanks to you, quitter."
   Eva raised her fist at Augie and for a moment I thought I was going to witness her knocking out the pearly whites of his cheesy grin.
   "Eva, don't!" I exclaimed, grabbing hold of her meaty wrist and pulling her into me. She was breathing unevenly as her back landed between my knees.
   Our posture was intimate. Augustus had crab-walked a few feet back and was now eyeing us peculiarly. "Ohhh..." he sung lowly, "I think I get it. You faked your death... so that you and Eva could live in Port Antigone together, huh? Is that what this is?"
   Eva and I looked at each other. Should we tell him what I'd become? She shrugged, placing her hand on my leg. It was my choice. And I couldn't lie anymore.
   "I really did die, Augie. Well... I was shot. You don't remember?" No, Augie had been rceovering as well when that incident occurred. Even if he remembered what happened, it was easier to admit that the medication could have tricked his eye than to even try to comprehend that I could still be alive.

   After we explained to hum the mechanism of my mortality, Augie couldn't wipe the twinge of his eyebrows. "You live... in the ocean?"
  "It's as boring as it sounds," I scoffed, "but I've been able to maintain myself. And Eva... is my happiness."
  He was to busy processing the fact that I was technically a living zombie to comment on our relationship, though he did offer a quick roll of the eyes.

   Augustus stood up quickly. "I'm going to talk to Captain Krev about this ship idea. It would be a lot smarter to have the families on a boat with a few recruiters while the rest of the team gets the bikes back." He saluted me with an enlightened grin and charged off into the forest.
   "If this works out," I told Eva, "I will get on the boat with you. I can retrieve all the water I'll need from aboard."
   Tears of joy began to spill from the corners of her eyes. She grabbed my hair and pulled our lips together for a brief, passionate smooch, and then scrambled to her feet and began hurrying away.
   "Where are you going?" I called to her.
   "To help Augie!"

Chapter 8 - DISTANCE

   With some convincing, Krev approved our plan. Augie and Eva were to supervise the boat while the rest of D arranged to meet us at Dimon. Luckily for me, the captain did not recognize my face, nor recount that only two members of the team were aboard from the start. I'd climbed on halfway into the boarding process.

   Augie shared with Eva and I the stories of the families. Recruiters weren't required or even encouraged to add strangers to the party, but when a few more members were injured in an attack and a family aided them, they felt obliged to continue with them at a slowed pace.
   The Garcias were a strong family of four. Mr. and Mrs. Garcia were a compassionate couple, bent on getting the best future for their last remaining son, only months old. With them was Garcia Senior, Mr. Garcia's father, who spoke little English yet always knew ten steps ahead of what was going on. The family have been traveling by a cart contraption that Garcia Senior had begun inventing long before the outbreak and only finished one it's usage became much more significant than a hobby.
   When they came across Prencess and Bitty, the team could not afford another burden. But Prencess and Bitty happen to be gorgeous, tall and lean twenty-something twins that were quite close to giving up on survival. Augie, who'd grown infatuated with both of them within hours of their meeting, agreed that their team's new mission would have to mean more than handing out little cards with tiny amounts on them; they had to save people, too.
   It was a noble notion, and the team simply hope their leader could take on that responsibility as enthusiastically as he made it sound. But when the team discovered two more families with children not too much larger than the little Garcia boy, their ambitious quota started looking a whole lot more difficult. Unfortunately for the team, Bitty and Prencess adored children, and Augustus couldn't abandon his heroic reputation.
  "We've been traveling with all four groups for nearly ninety percent of the trip since we last left Port Antigone. Tid, Masco and I trailed. Our engines were always attracting the zombies , and we weren't moving fast enough to outrun them. So we started killing ever last one we saw, 'cuz we expected them all the time, and there they were. Stopping at gun stores became second priority to finding food and shelter. And we got good. We never ran into serious trouble because we never missed a shot." He smirked and looked beyond us, childish pride resurfacing in his expression.
   Eva was appalled. "You killed them?! Augie, the children are still alive... they still have a chance..."
   "I didn't know that...!" Augie suddenly scanned me with regret in his eyes. "I didn't know there was a cure before yesterday night."
   "There is no cure," I grumbled, setting unease to the air around us, "I know the disease. Once it has you... it has you. It's been chasing me for months but I haven't let it take me. One thing I can tell you is that this is no way to live, and that I'm closer to the grave than I'm willing to accept. That's not a cure by any definition.
   She was looking down. I thought about the way she could've been peering down her cleavage at the same time.
  The thought made me hungry...
                                          hungry...
                                             thirsty...
   "Thirsty..." I repeated aloud as I struggled upwards into a standing position. Eva was by my side, supporting me. Augustus reaching for a cup of water and brought it to my lips.
   The next thing I knew, it was in a puddle on the floor. I couldn't breathe something of this purity.
    "Hey," Augie frowned, "I thought you said you were thirsty...."
   "He needs the ocean water." Eva lead us down the stairs. It was nighttime so no one was roaming the boat. I gasped when I could see the pure black mirage of the darkened sea beyond the rail. Eva dragged my arm down another set of stairs and stood watch with Augie as I got down on my knees beside the lifeboat. I didn't just cup the water to my face, I stuck my whole head inside, using my hands to splash around my neck and back like moisturizer to desert skin.
    But then I saw a figure emerging from the water.... two glowing eyes growing rapidly.
    I jumped up and stumbled backwards into the rail that protected passengers from nearing the water. Eva and Augie had been waiting for me a few steps behind it, but after witnessing my strange reaction they too put distance between themselves and the sea.

   Naceo appeared upon a tornado of water.
   He wore a terrifying grin; it bore no joy.

   "How dare you!!!" he screeched, his voice like a siren "You lied to me!"
    "I didn't lie!" I cried, succumbing my bravery to his ominous presence, "I didn't... I really was going to stay..."
    "You humans... all of you are liars! Promise breakers! You're full of shit and you only care for yourselves!"
    Suddenly I was in a chokehold. Using a thick stream of water from his whirling platform, Naceo had commanded his element to form a massive, snakelike arm around his own. It lifted me into the air and I was useless to kick free. If I tried pulling away the water, it would split itself and worm around me. I gasped for breath.
   "I could take down this entire ship right now it I wanted," he laughed madly, "but why bother? In a few days, you will have transformed into a killing machine. Sadly for your friends, there will be nowhere to run. You really doomed everyone, you worthless coward! You better hope they at least have the decency to kill you now!"
   I didn't see him go. I was tossed onto the deck like dice.

   All the noise had stirred the Captain from his den. He hadn't seen Naceo and his ruthless power, but when he saw me- soaked and trembling on the floor- he had the sense something was drastically amiss.
   "Wait a second..." his finger shook to point at me, "I remember you! You were the other boy who'd been bitten from the SafeZone people... you....you were turned!"
   The three of them surrounded me from a safe distance. I had enough water dripping from my clothes and skin to infect Eva, kill Krev, and Augustus...
   He was too frightened to come forth and aid me. "Who... what was that guy?"
   "What guy? What- how the hell are you still alive??"
   "Stop!" Eva commanded, "please, Augie, you're the only one that can touch him. Help him up. I'll answer all your questions."
   Bless Eva.
 
   Augie had reluctantly offered his hand. Krev too was hesitant to come near me, but he trusted Eva, having known her as a local girl and the apprentice to the town's sole doctor.  He allowed us to enter the main room on the top floor of the ship. By the time I was dry, Eva had kept to her promise. Of course there were many more questions to follow the first.
   "The god of the sea...?" Augie wasn't convinced, although he'd seen Naceo's power with his own two eyes.
   Krev nodded. "It's true. He is Rage. My father was an Araki tribesman. We were warned about him."
   "He said Jace is going to turn completely in a few days..." Augie was on the edge of his seat, trying not to look at me.
   "We won't let that happen." Eva's enthusiasm was hardly comforting now.
   "Well, he won't let me touch the sea again." I growled blatantly. "I think 'a few days' was an understatement."
    They were staring at my skin. There must've been something wrong with it. I couldn't tell. I was only looking at Eva.
   "You need seawater to survive?" Krev stepped between us, "...there's places on this boat where you don't have to go near open water to get seawater."

    Underneath a large metal hatch, we were led down rusted metal stairs into a steamy chamber. Krev placed a large plastic cup to the side of a strange device that turned like a wheel. Slowly but surely he was able to collect enough water to make it full.
    He offered it to me, his hand protected in a yellow latex glove. I tried it.
    It worked, but it was so awful I coughed as I breathed it, and brownish gunk began to trickle from my nostrils.
   "What's this water for?"
 Krev took a deep breath. "Maybe it's best you don't know."
    I swallowed in disgust, nodded, then drank again.

   From that moment on, our trip was no longer a pleasant cruise.
   Augustus got sick again from touching the water from my skin, but it only lasted a day and a half. Krev vowed to keep our secret but insisted – for the safety of everyone on the boat – I was always accompanied by an armed friend. Since he claimed to be the sharpest shooter in all the west coast, that person was usually Augie, The ones he was feeling better he made it he'd rather be spending all this free time leisuring around on the moving vessel with the twins. As friendly as she was, somehow Eva did not get along with those girls. Whenever Augustus suggested the five of us stay together so that he could fulfill his responsibility and be around the girls at the same time, Eva volunteered to hold onto his gun and assume the duty alone. Neither of us had the will to deny this. As for me, I lacked the energy- the energy to do anything. All my life-force had to be put towards restraining myself, to hold back my angst. My mind ached, my skin itched, and my throat always tasted of decay. I never touched anyone and I rarely spoke.
    When Eva handed me the plastic cup again, I had half a mind to slap it to the floor.
   "Drink," she ordered when I hesitated to take it from her.
   I was in the mood for picking a fight.
   "Why don't you like Prencess and Bitty?" I asked dully.
   "They're shallow," she huffed, setting the cup on top of a metallic crate. She was lying. Sure the twins were conventionally beautiful and simple-minded, but they were still kindhearted- and Eva wasn't blind. My silence spoke for me, and Eva reframed her response with a tired sigh, "I don't like the way Bitty looks at you."
    "Ha," I scoffed, "Eva... I might still be breathing, but I'm a zombie. What could possibly interest Bitty?"
   She gave me a look like a worried mother. "...the same things that interest me," she answered, he voice shrinking back into her chest.
   "You ought to give up on whatever you liked about me. I'm not the same person."
   "I don't believe that."
   "It doesn't matter!" Next thing I know my knuckles are embedded into a fresh dent on the wall. "I can't go back to the sea anymore. What's supposed to happen when we reach shore? Naceo was right... I should have hoped you would kill me..."
    "Naceo?" I hadn't shared his name before. Eva had picked up my hand by the wrist and was inspecting the wound I had just created from my burst of anger earlier, but I didn't realize it until I looked up and saw her standing hust inches away from me.
   "I couldn't even feel you..." I choked, "I'm going numb!"
   She embraced me, and slowly, like a song fading in from silence, I recognized her touch. She was stroking my back in soft circles. My body loosened, melting comfortably against her form.
   "You feel that?" she whispered. I nodded.
   She let go, offering me the cup again. This time I took it.
 
  She was resting on the crate, swinging her legs up and down and bumping the side nervously as she spoke. "As much as I've wanted to ignore it, I know I can't... I've been thinking about what's going to happen when we dock too. But I have an idea."
   I was desperate for ideas. Even though it was my own survival at stake, I hadn't been able to come up with anything.
   "What is it?"
   "The first night we were on the ship... the night that Rage came for you... he said 'all humans are promise-breakers.'"
    "Yeah, he says that a lot," I groaned, refilling the cup.
    "He's talking about the first promise humanity ever made for him- like Zupak told- to remain pure." I had made that connection myself when listening to Zupak's tale, but hadn't thought much else of it. Eva continued, "If we confront him with a plan to mend this promise, maybe he'll let you back in."
   "Oh," I rolled my eyes, "so the solution is to cleanse the entire world of its impurities. That sounds so much easier than suicide." It was dark, but I got a laugh out of her anyway.
   "I've been thinking on this for a long time. The world population is less than half of what it used to be, and all production and services have become for survival, not luxuries or for the sake of consumerism..." she seized her leg kicking and slipped down from the crate. "Zupak said the gods favor smaller tribes over government and state... and now we have places like Port Antigone shelter- dotted all over the globe! Maybe the argument won't be that difficult to make! If we can convince him we're already on our way to reform, maybe we can convince him that not all humans break their promises."

Chapter 9 - COURAGE

    Everyone on the boat was ecstatic today except me. I was full of dread. Whatever was coming for me, whether it was death or resolve, would not be painless.
   "How much longer?" Prencess ran up to the captain, a bright smile pasted between her cheeks.
   "Just twenty five minutes- five minutes less than when you asked me five minutes ago," he muttered as she brushed past her. "Now will you please stop asking me?"
   "Sorry," she giggled, returning to Augustus's side as he peered over the edge of the ship. "I'm just excited to be on land again.
    Eva glanced at me, a look of annoyance spread all across her face. If there was any reason not to like the twins, it would be the impatient, giddy behavior they'd been displaying since this morning. Everyone else had been too similarly happy to notice.

    Krev barely had a moment to spare in preparation for docking, but he paused to give me an apologetic mention. "What's your plan, kid?"
   "First we get everyone safely off the boat."
    He gave me a firm nod and was on his way.
    Augie approached me with a sheepish frown. "So..." he mumbled, "what is your plan?"
    I looked over at Eva. "I have to confront Naceo- the god. Its all I can do."
 
    The only pleasant thing about an empty boat was the quiet. All I could hear were the waves caressing the sides of the ship, then briefly a lone seagull cawing overhead.
    It wasn't completely empty; I knew Eva and Augie were still helping the last few heads cross the plank over to safety, and Krev had no interest in abandoning his vessel while I was still aboard. "I know what this  means for you," he sighed, "but I can't afford a stowaway- not one like you."
   "I understand," I bowed me head, "I'll be gone soon."

   Each of them took their turn to say half a goodbye, for it was not certain if I would ever resurface  resurface once I took the plunge. Captain Krev, a solid handshake; Augustus took my hand too but went in for a quick, awkward hug. "Good luck Jace."
    Eva kissed my forehead. "I believe in you."
    I stood on the edge, wavering in the air as I balanced upon the railing. Then I dove.

   The pure water felt so good, I nearly forgot the demon I was about to encounter. It didn't take long for him to arrive before me.
   He was calmer now. Even just a week can suppress a grudge in god-years, I suppose. "It's impressive you'd lasted this long," he grinned knowingly.
   I went straight to the plan, disinterested in making meaningless conversation to appease him.  "I was thinking maybe we could cut a deal."
   He crossed his legs, floating with his chin in his palm. "This interests me."
   I took a deep breath. Clarity of mind was definitely making this task less daunting. "Hundreds of years ago, a tribe made you a promise... and their descendants have not honored that. As you can tell, I am a pretty persistent human. Let me live on land, and I will restore the conditions of their promise."
   Naceo seemed like he was considering the idea, but I wondered if his quiet contemplation was all just an act of intimidation when he suddenly blurted, "No."
    ""N-no...?" I shivered, "can I... can I at least know why?"
   "Fine," he shrugged, "but you'll forget everything I told you within a few minutes, so I don't really see..."
   "Please!" I couldn't be sure, but I felt tears bleeding from my eyes.
   "Persistent indeed." he smirked. "That promise from long ago is none of your concern, for you are no longer living in a human-dominated world. What humanity does with itself is inferior to me. I solved your problems by ending them."
   "Do you honestly believe that humans aren't going to make a comeback? We are already repopulating... regrowing... the cycle will continue!"
    There was an undertone of disgust as he spoke, "why do you keep saying we like you're still one of them?"
  To hear this stung my heart... he really was just taunting me now.
   "I was one. But I'm not not yours either... not a zombie."
   "You're Neither," he smiled. "Alright, I have a better deal." He swam in circles around me. "I was never as careful as my mother, the stars... I was never as powerful as my father, the earth. But I am still a god... a creator. Let's see what I can do with you." His fingers twiddled, each of them sparking with a brief burst of light sporadically.
   "What are you doing...?" I tried backing away, but resistance would be futile underwater.
   "Making our deal."
   I didn't bother to try telling him that the point of a deal was to have both sides in agreement. Compromise wasn't a word in Naceo's vocabulary. His touch was intensely electric, and his fingers burned my skin as they dragged across it. I screamed, cringing as his hand came across my chest and up my neck. "STOP!" I couldn't help but cry out, but I hear his voice respond, surrounding me like the water, a chorus of "ahh... but this is what you wanted...!"
   Did I really want this? How could I have asked for something so painful? My body trembled, my eyes twitched. He was transforming me into something else. Something new.
   After a a few minutes of this torture I could finally bear to open my eyes. I noticed that whatever Naceo was doing to me was also making him weak. His eyes were winced and he was biting down on his lip, gradually losing control of his finger movement.
   I summoned all the strength inside me to raise my knee up to my chest, and I kicked him away. To my surprise, he flew. He was at least twenty feet under me now, and slowly coming to. I hadn't expected such power, and starting a fight was not my intention. Yet when he zipped back up to have at me again, I was able to block him with a quick jab of my elbow.
Not only did our battle last for a few long minutes, but it was equal. I tended to have the upper-hand just as much as he did, and we both ended up on the sandy ocean floor, laying on our backs and exhausted. I knew the fight would continue, but something didn’t feel right. It was fair- unfairly fair. Why would the god let this happen if he was only looking out for himself?
    “I don’t want to fight you,” I was breathing hard.
   “Then why’d you kick me?” He was like a child when his anger took him, and luckily he was too worn out for a physical comeback now.
   “What did you do to me?”
   He rolled over. I could see he was bruised all over his back. I wondered what I looked like.
   "I made you stronger,” he was crawling to his knees now. “Your skin is tougher. Your reflexes, keener.”
   It didn’t make any sense. Why would he want to make me more powerful? I looked down at my arms and watched as all the freshly made scrapes and slashes healed before my eyes. Even my knuckles, which had been blistering up from when I’d punched the boat, sealed back into fresh skin.
   “You were right, Neither…” Naceo spat, “as long as the world has humans, humans will dominate. I’m tire of being the bad guy. So you’re the bad guy now.”
   I was confused, but I knew Naceo wouldn’t say something like that if he didn’t truly intend for it to happen.
   “What was the deal?!” I growled.
   “You’ll figure it out soon enough…” I couldn’t watch his lips form the words, for he had vanished into the darkness beyond me.

    I was left alone, puzzled and terrified.
   What did this mean? I boggled over it for some time. He was allowing me to stay in the sea for now. If I left, there was a chance he would not let me return. But we were equal in combat now. I could fight to stay, even for just a few breaths. No… he would let me return. I was baffled- yet something about what he said stuck with me. He didn’t want to be bad anymore? Even Zupak had foretold that the god’s intentions weren’t worse than society’s.
   Reflecting on my encounter with Zupak, I wondered if perhaps someone else’s wisdom could settle my confusion.

   Krev’s ship was still there when I was drifted ashore by a passing wave. I heard them calling out to me from on the deck.
   “Don’t touch…” I reminded Eva gently as she ran towards me. She stopped shore in the dry sand.
   “What happened in there?” Augie exclaimed, “For a minute the waves got huge! Our whole boat almost fell on its side.”
   “We… made the deal.” What was wrong with me? Why did I cover up the truth once again? I looked at Eva. She was smiling cheek to cheek. She hugged Augie to cope with her own excitement.
   “I knew it would work!”
   Did I not have the heart to tell Eva what had really happened? Or could this actually be what we wanted?
   I didn’t want to think about it just yet. Right now I was just glad I had another moment to spend with the people around me.

   Augie had assured us that everyone was already started on the trail which would lead from the waterside to the cityscape, but he was mistaken.
   The twins had straggled behind, curious as to why it was taking so long for us to “help Krev dock the boat.” They had witnessed the enormous tide that resulted from my fight, and had seen me emerge from the water. We caught them hiding behind the withered remains of a surfing equipment rental shack.
 “How much did you see?!” Eva had snapped, and they came clean. Even if they hadn’t seen anything, they could see me now. I was dripping wet. I stripped down to my underwear and hung my clothes on the broken plank that once had “welcome” painted on it, now just “ome” with half its c. I was paying extra attention to Bitty. Eva was right… she did look at me differently.
   “Are you going to be okay?” she reached out to me tenderly.
   “Don’t touch him!” both Eva and Augie swatted her hand away, though it seemed Eva enjoyed it more.
   “What happened? Why were you in the water?”
“I thought I saw Eva fall in.” Augie and Eva were surprised to hear me lie. “It’s ok, I have my vaccine. I might get sick like Augie did when he accidently got wet, but I’ll be okay soon.”
   “You’re very brave,” the girls gasped in unison.
   I winked at Eva, and for once in a long time there was delight in her eyes.

   Krev handed the SafeZone route map back to Augustus, trading it for another map we’d found stashed under the register of the old rental shack. “There’s an outlet right off the trail. I can grab what I need for the way back, and so can y’all for your journey.”
   “It’s not exactly on our way, but we’ll need to stop anyways. The group isn’t used to moving again yet.” He folded it and tucked it into his back pocket. “Come on, let’s catch up with the others.”
   I was reluctant to continue with them, for it had been many months since I had last traveled from the shore. When Krev gave me a suspicious look as I trailed behind Augie’s lead, I added, “I could think of a few things hat would be useful for our trip.”
   What was I thinking of? Immediately the idea of a container crossed my mind. Maybe I could travel with them the whole way if I was able to keep enough ocean water inside some type of large jar. I’d grown accustomed to smaller doses because of the awful boat trip and this time I would be fueling on clean water. Yes… I would be able to stay with Eva for longer! And even if the amount wasn’t sustainable, I could turn back and travel alone once I’d taken a sip past what I could afford for a pleasant return.
   I brought up the idea to Augie once we had made it to the outlet. Everyone was now resting on the abandoned merchandise of a furniture store. He was standing guard by a shattered window.
   Augie’s bike had been transported with us in the ship. He left it on- the plan was to accompany Krev back tonight after collecting resources for the way back. “Let me go with him,” I offered, “I can be the one to get your bike back. I want to find a container… fill it with ocean water. I can make it last.”
   “Are you sure a container is going to be enough? I mean… how big are we talking?”
   I peered beyond the broken glass and spotted a sporting goods store. “I could carry at least five canteens in a backpack. If I’m running low by the third one, I could turn back sooner.”
   He gave me a worried look.
   “I know,” I sighed, “I’m really pushing my limits. But I really want to protect Eva, and-”
 “Protect?” Augie snorted, “If anything, it’s Eva who is protecting you! Are you scared she won’t come back for you?”
   Was I? No… I was afraid of being alone. I didn’t want to leave the group. Moving with them felt confirming to my humanity.
   It was too complicated to explain, especially to someone like Augustus. So I left it at that. “Please let me do this,” I grit my teeth, “I just want to be with her.”

   Augustus was eventually understanding, overwon by the idea of passion for a girl. During the ferry ride, he and Prencess had become more exclusive. I knew he had a soft spot for love.
   But the plan was shut down immediately by Krev.
   “No offense kid,” he looked me up and down with a bitter frown, “but you make me nervous. I’m not going anywhere with you if it’s not without him.”
   He was pointing at Augustus.
   I gave Augie the same pout as I had before. “I can ride on the back. Please, Augie.”

    Krev wasn’t very thrilled by Augie’s final choice.
   We started at the supermarket. It was peculiar to be inside a building again, much less a remnant of the pre-apocalyptic era. This grocery store had hardly been touched. At first it seemed we should be delighted by the surplus of food and supplies, but then a dark thought dawned on us: towns nearby the ocean were probably invaded by the disease too rapidly to escape it.
   Which must mean this city was crawling with children.
   Just as the realization had hit all three of us, a dank scent of death filled the air. We stumbled backward as soon as we’d entered the aisle. Two dead bodies were strewn in pieces across the floor.
    Before any of us could inspect further if they were freshly killed or just a tragedy of the pat, we heard a metal clank, and a can of soup rolled slowly across the floor.
   We stood terribly still. Whatever it was… or were…
   They were small, like kindergartners. There were twelve of them and they looked like skeletons. They were far too malnourished. Zombies wouldn’t die of starvation, but it affected their appearance. There wasn’t a trace of human left inside of them.
   Augie didn’t hesitate to shoot, but we were outnumbered. They weren’t particularly fast creatures, but running wouldn’t do any good. They had ambushed us from the exit.
    I grabbed the nearest thing, which happened to be a small box of salt. I hurled it at one of the children, and the package exploded upon the impact of its chest. I continued forward; flight shifting to flight.

   I slaughtered all of the children within the same minute we sighted them. Blood all over my arms and legs, I looked back and growled at Augustus, “I must need extra protection, huh?”
    He was quiet.
    Krev concluded his sour attitude towards me after I’d saved them in the supermarket. Next we raided the sports store. I took a backpack, four canteens, and their heaviest baseball bat. Krev took one too.
   But when we made it back out to the shore, we were in for a horrible surprise.
 
   The ocean was gone.

Chapter 10 - SALT

   “What the…” Krev ran up to his ship, touching the dry metal. It was slightly leaning over, the hull weighing into the compacted sand. He continued to mutter as we paced around the beached structure. The sky had grown darker, but it was plain to see that the water had shrunk many miles farther from where we stood, if it wasn’t completely evaporated.
   Could this be possible? Suddenly my final conversation with Naceo came back to mind. “I’m tired of being the bad guy,” He vanished, and took the sea with him.
   So you’re the bad guy now.
   Naceo was gone, and he was no longer the strongest force upon this planet He left that job to me. No more water meant no more choices- and this time it would be the less pleasant type of insanity. This insanity… this beast I would become… would be unstoppable.

   They were looking for answers from me. I simply shook my head. “I don’t know what this means.”
   “It means…” snarled Krev, “Rage has taken his anger for you to the next level! He wanted us to kill you on the boat, now he hasn’t given us a choice.”
   “Wait…” I cried as Augie timidly pointed his gun at me. “Let me see Eva again…”
    Augie nearly lowered the weapon, but another shout from Krev and he was back in his uncertain yet readied stance. “You’re really playing with fire here, you idiots! Augustus, we can’t even get your bike off the ship anymore. How long do you suppose it will take us to walk back now?”
   He was trembling like a flag in a storm.
   Before I could argue anything on more on my behalf, he made his choice. The gun fell to the floor, cracking an already broken shell beneath it. Both Krev and I had an equal opportunity of seizing the weapon, but I let him make the first move. He did not hesitate to reach down and grab it.
   Now the barrel was facing me from between Krev’s eyes. He narrowed them guiltily. “It’s not the first life I’ve taken, but it’s the hardest. You’re a good kid, Jace. If there’s anything you want me to do for you—to send a message- it would be my honor.”
    I was considering Krev’s kindness more than I was his ultimatum. A few minutes passed in complete silence. There was no rush, and they would not pull the trigger without fair warning.
   Would I die? No- I was more certain of this than I ever was before with a gun aimed at me. Naceo wanted me to fall prey to some version of his disease. Dying now would mean…. Neither.
   “I want to see Eva…” I whimpered.
    “I’m sorry,” he sighed, “even with his gun to your head, I can’t take you near the group. You’re too dangerous.”
   He was more correct than he even knew, but I played his ignorance to my advantage. “Dangerous? What’s dangerous is leaving behind twenty helpless people in an area we know has a bad infestation… away from the two people capable of protecting them.”” They knew which two I was speaking of after having witnessed me fighting. “Look, I know I’m running out of time. But I still have time. If you can’t bring me to the group, bring Eva to me. I’ll wait here.”
    “Let him come with us,” Augie whined, obviously not a fan of having to make the trip three more times. “I trust him.”
    The guilt began to sink in.

   We agreed that I should stay at the trail’s exit while waiting for Eva to meet up. It was just another reminder of how wild I’d become; forbidden to enter an establishment of humanity, doomed to reside in a creation of nature. When all of this was over, every piece of me that was once human would be gone. I would be nothing but a ravenous animal. I pondered these thoughts as we walked in silence, but nothing about it seemed to bother me. After all, what was I before if not just a fish?

   We encountered a few more zombies on the trail, and though they were all thin and easy to take down, the darkening night made the job more difficult. Since Krev was wielding Augie’s gun, it was me working to protect them, nothing but a baseball bat between my fingers. It seemed ironic that the bullet he was reserving was for the man who was defending them, but we chose a different concern to discuss. “There’s been too many,” Augie gasped as I took down the last couple- two teens that looked like they’d been eating away at each other to satisfy their cravings. “I’m worried about our group. We’ve been gone for a while.”
    “What if we get there and there is trouble? We won’t have time for this ‘last goodbye’ bullshit. I’m sorry…” Krev halted to place the gun back up to my ear, “but this is what’s best for everyone.”
   We had just finished the trail, and I could see the town rising beyond the hills between us. Emerging from the silent tension was the shrill scream of a young girl.
   “Something is going on down there!” I cried, “What’s best for everyone is if you let me help them!”
   The scream repeated. The three of us took off running in its direction.

   When we made it to the furniture store, everyone was gone. I noted that some things had been left behind. “They fled,” my eyes scoped for more clues, but I couldn’t come to a precise conclusion. If it were planned, Eva would have left a note. She would always leave notes for me to find.
   Standing within the frames of the broken sliding doors with the store to our backs, we searched for another sign of our group’s whereabouts.  The outlet had a grocery market- which we had already visited, a toy store, a shoe repair shop, and a laundromat. Just beyond the cluster of restaurants was the sports shop we raided earlier, with a pet store attacked to its side. The logo red “Fish and Friends.”
   Suddenly two things became clear.
    “Salt,” I muttered inquisitively.
    Augie looked at me nervously. “…salt?”
    “I threw a packet of salt at the little zombie boy, remember? Maybe they went to the supermarket and saw that bloody mess. Maybe that’s why we heard screaming.”

   There was no one in the supermarket. We were back in the aisle, standing over the ruins of fallen food cans, spilled guts, broken bones and baby skulls. Krev was annoyed. “I should have known… nobody screams like that just seeing something like this.” He turned away from the scene, inhaling deeply from the opposite end of the wretched smell.
   “Prencess might’ve…” Augie tried generously, taking one last look at the mess.
   So I was wrong. But I had a feeling my second thought wasn’t. This one would be more difficult to explain, and a whole day of breathing warm, dry air was starting to work its way up to my head. “What if salt water could replace sea water?” I licked my finger, dipping it into the spilled white crystals along the floor I must’ve forgotten that wasn’t exactly normal behavior, especially in the midst of all the other gore. Yet I only recalled my mistake when I saw the uncomfortable stares upon me.
    The salt tasted awful. I tried scraping it off my tongue against my teeth. They were still staring. There was something off about my face again.
   Krev was alert, the weapon back at my head. He began murmuring a chant.
           “Once a seed and now a life,
               I rest this beast upon my knife.
                  The wind, it blows, the river flows,
                      this is how our cycle goes….”
   He winced and gripped the trigger.

   It was a clean shot to the head. Though I was mostly numb, I could feel it when the metal drilled into my skull, sloshing against my brain.
 The world scattered before me, little pieces of meaningless images coming and going in my eyes. Even though I couldn’t hold my focus on an idea for more than a second, I somehow still had the good sense to wedge my finger into the golf ball-sized hole over my right eyebrow to scoop out the bullet.
   In a few moments I was nearly back to normal. Except for a strange glaze of red that coated my vision, I could plainly see the bewildered faces of Krev and Augie, gaping as I flicked the soiled chunk of metal to the floor. This was not normal. Not even for a zombie. A headshot was usually game over for the monster, even if it still continued to yelp and garble. I’d brushed this wound off as if Krev had sling-shot a cotton ball at my face.
    Then there was the scream again, except this time it was certainly coming from inside the building we were in. A little girl- one of the children of the traveling families- was all alone. She recognized Augie and ran into his arms, delirious.
   “Help me, help me!”
    “What’s the matter…?” said Augustus, fear still present in his tone.
    “I left… I went to go pee… when I came back everyone was gone! I think they hid! There’s zombies everywhere! You have to help me- they’ve been chasing me… you…”
“You’re safe now,” Augustus stroked her back, “don’t worry…”
   She screamed again, the shrill siren scraping inside of my brain worse than the bullet had. She’d seen me.
   There was no time to console, suddenly a large preteen zombie swung through the aisle and collided with a mountain of canned food, toppling over. Though he landed on his knees and palms, it did not slow him; he charged like a bull in the ring and dove back to his feet quickly. I didn’t hesitate to lunge back at him and pin him down to the floor, this time on his back. I planted my hand around his neck and pulled his throat out.,
   My head spun to meet eyes with the girl. I remained calm. “Are there more?”
   She nodded. “I counted four.”
   It wouldn’t be a problem to take out three more- unless they all came at me at once. I wasn’t sure how long I would last like this anyways. My mind was already slipping. Krev continued to stare at me in terror. My last thoughts were trying to scramble together the last of my reasoning together, only to reason that I would probably eat Krev first.

   We were running out of the market. I wasn’t chasing them yet, although it felt like I could be. Something about the way they trusted me was keeping me on their side for now. I looked to both sides and my eyes fixed on the Fish and Friends sign.
 “Krev… I have my one last request for you.” I halted midway through the parking lot. He turned and stopped, and the others copied as I breathed, “lock me in that pet shop. Board the doors. I need to check if there’s one last way to save myself.”
 He nodded firmly- but on our way to the doors, we heard snarling from the distance. I looked back and realized that the other three zombies the young girl was talking about were surrounding us now.

   The red veil over my eyes began pulsing louder. Flesh was flying… bones were crunching… I couldn’t hear anything over the sound of my own roar, burning the skin of my vocal chords.

    I moved less passionately towards the next body that was coming for me. It reminded me of an old friend.
   Though he patted me with a bat and chanted my name accompanied with the occasional, “please, stop!” I could not find the rage in me to add him to the pile of carcasses I would dine upon tonight. But then I realized I was being herded into a doorway. I hissed- but he and his partner now continued to provoke me, fighting against me as I attempted to open the door.

   They succeeded in trapping me. Alone in the shop, I banged at the glass, screaming.

Part 2

THE FINAL STORM

*insert image! do it Zelly, hurry!*

Chapter 11 - TIME

    There was a lot of blank space between then and here.

    I remember many days of looking up at Eva's twinkling eyes. She stroked my hair and asked me questions I could not respond to. There were no memories left to use as a reply. But slowly I began to remember, and writing helped me. I picked back up the journal my mother had gifted me and continue from where I'd stopped... see, before I was bitten, Eva saved all my things when I was presumed dead. When I had enough of my memory to be able to read and write again, she offered me my own journal as a way of recounting memories. The pencil wouldn't stop moving, telling me the story of my own past.
    Well here I am now, caught up with myself. What happened next makes more sense through Eva's eyes than mine...

   When Krev and Augustus returned to the furniture store, they found the little girl's father, on guard and searching for a lead to where his daughter could be. Reunited at last, the man explained that those four zombies nearly ambushed the group, and everyone fled into the manager's office. Cramming into the one room that had a working door, there had been so many people in that small space that her family had first believed the little girl was lost in the mix. Once they realized she was actually lost on the other side of the door, they sent her father alone to search for her.
   Though panic was disarmed for one sweet moment, it was now Eva who realized something beloved of hers was missing. The captain admitted how I had lost my mind already, so they pushed me into the pet store and blockaded the exit. The sea was gone and it had been my idea to try breathing aquarium formula water, but by the time they managed to trap me in, I was too focused on getting outside to recall my own plan.
    Eva did not pause a second longer to mourn; though I can't say I was there to see into that detail, I know if she had waited, I would've been too far gone. Though I was right at the door, clawing at the glass like a rabid animal, she burst through and allowed me to chase her through the aisles of long-starved fish tanks. When the chase pursued for too long, she gave up and gripped bat she'd stolen from Krev, whacking my head from the side like a softball. I crashed into their miniature shark tank and rolled over on a broken edge, slitting my throat on the glass. I landed- impaled- with my nose still in the water.
   Of course she thought she had killed me, and as my body made its last twitch, she screamed in defeat, sliding to her knees while the floors began to flood from the cracks in the glass. But I was still alive... and the water was working on me! I trembled back to life- beginning to gain my senses once again- and that's when I felt the glass on my skin, splicing into the muscle. I screamed and thrashed, and Eva jumped back to her feet to help me.
   That's where she went wrong, though I understand why she would feel the urge. She should've left me- let me suffer just a little while longer on the glass- so that at least I would satisfy my thirst. When she took me out of the tank, I lost myself again. I bit her as soon as she extracted the last shard from my neck. She persisted, offering me her arm like a dog toy while she scooped water from the floor onto my face. She did this for a minute, until I let go of her skin, and then for another hour, until she was certain I was stabilized enough to leave for a moment and retrieve help from the others.

    Because I had saved their lives- sacrificing my chance to cure myself to turn around and slay the last three zombies- Augustus and Krev agreed to let Eva take me with her... just a breathing corpse, I was. They carried me to the furniture store, along with the salt formula for aquatic creatures. They introduced my true nature to the group, explaining how saltwater was the remedy to the contagious madness. Repeating this information gave Eva one last idea, and she drank from my cup as well. She took very ill for that night, but recovered the next morning, never craving the salty mixture again. We still don't know how or why.

   Moving me in the same type of wagon that carried the youngest children, we all made it back to Ramecha. I was put in a hospital to rest. Eva was certain I would return to my body, for my recovery occurred long before our arrival at the iron gates. I spoke a few more words each day.
   Terrified by the half-demon half-vegetable patient occupying their workplace, the doctors of West Border Hospital requested I'd be moved to a larger hospital– a new establishment created to research the zombification disease- as soon as possible.

   And I was finally strong enough to make that trip today.

   Ramecha is celebrating its fifteenth birthday. It's strange for me to watch people freely parading in open air. They wave banners- some the color of our former nation, but mostly red and yellow- the colors of Ramecha. I have so much spite for this place that I have a lot of trouble feeling the same positivism of the colorful citizens. This place gave them a home, health and happiness. This place banished my parents and gave me a disease.
   Eva urges me not to look at it that way. After all, Ramecha was the reason we met.
  We were sitting together in the back of a police car, which was transporting me to the research center. I close my eyes and escape into my mind for the rest of the journey, for it pains me to realize that it is neither in this vehicle nor out of it that I would prefer to be.
   I've truly lost sense of what I would wish to call home.
   But when we arrive at the research center I am pleasantly surprised. The metal walls glisten with a refreshing newness. I am greeted from the car by a group of smartly dressed young adults who actually look elated to see me. The doctors at West Border Hospital had always worn a look of concealed terror in their eyes, for I was something unknown and unpredictable. This group understands the same, but I have come to them as a pinnacle of curiosity.
    As much as I hated to be someone's scientific discovery, its comforting to be met with enthusiasm for once.
     "Welcome, Mr. Orion." A short man with almost all of his hair growing at his eyebrows shook my hand. "My name is Dr. Crowley. I'm the founder of this research institution."
    All I could think was Ramecha sure has come a long way. I returned his grip ambivalently.

    As we walked through the long halls of the massive building, Dr. Crowley began explaining all he knows about the disease. At first he's talking about hydrogen bonds and complex proteins, and it doesn't take long for me to lose hope of ever understanding. But we reach a door and the doctor turned to me specifically to say, "give up some time Jace, and we will find a cure for you."
   My eyes were wide with excitement and disbelief.
   "How?"
    "The vaccine wasn't all that difficult to find... once we had more information. Because the ocean was the initial cause of zombification, we studied its properties in order to find the cure.  And it was this."
   He opened the door, and I found myself face to face with an enormous turtle. Though thick metal bars divide us, I can't help but feel threatened by an ominous presence. The animal is perhaps the size of a sofa chair and wears the wrinkles of centuries of living. Its dark grey eyes locked onto mine.
    "Meet Shelly, the blueback tortoise. Her kind is a unique species, which lives most of its life above water, yet spends its entire youth in the sea. Shelly's DNA actually makes up a part of the vaccine."
   The beast gives me a dull look at then turns around. Her shimmering blue shell is revealed. Eva clutched my hand. "What a beautiful creature."
    "Indeed she is... and I'm not generally supportive of cooping up wildlife- or any life for that matter..." He sent an apologetic glance my way, "but Shelly's captivity is the reason Ramecha has a million citizens and counting today. And she's treated well- as will you, Mr. Orion. I made sure you will be living in the utmost comfort!"
    I was shown through another door; behind this one was a room the size of a movie theater, with a staircase going down one floor. Just beyond that was a large pool.
   I could smell the water already. "Please," the doctor offered kindly, "you may jump in whenever you like."
    I had just finished unbuttoning my shirt when a woman came up from the bottom of the stairs  with a wet-suit on a hanger. "We tried to get your measurements right, but the West Border Hospital was.... unfortunate in their communicating."
    I finished the last button and revealed my skin. Every inch of it was flaky and peeling. "I don't want to wear anything, if that's alright. My body wants the water as much as my lungs do."
    "Interesting..." Dr. Crowley hummed. I wasted no more time, shedding my pants and underpants too just before diving in.

     The pool was big, like its own room. The water was perfect- a decent temperature and an added silkiness to its texture. I felt like I could scrape off all my dry skin and be completely new, but I soon realized flakes of dead skin were drifting off my body anyways. I wasn't too thrilled about the resulting cloud of flakes around me, so I tried to hold still until at least Eva left.
    They all followed me, taking the stairs instead. The room beyond the glass wall was just a blur to me now, but somehow I could hear them.
    "We were going to ask him a few questions, but they said you might know just enough."
    "Sure," I could just barely hear Eva mumble timidly.
     "How long can he go without the water?"
     She hesitated. "Comfortably? Several hours. But not more than a day."
     "What happens after a day?"
     I swam up to the glass and pressed both hands to it. Eva came over to me and did the same.
    "Please," she looked over her shoulder, "just don't let that happen."

Chapter 12 - BLOOD

  My arm broke out of the water's surface and I rested my elbow on the pool deck. For the hundreth time in just a few weeks, I watched the nurse prepare the needle.
   They were taking samples daily, sometimes hourly. Granted they were replenishing all that Iwas losing and more with a healthy, thick diet and plenty of means of exercise. But constantly having my blood extracted was beginning to verge on more than annoying.
    "Sorry Jace," the nurse said once again as she put the needle to my skin. But on this particular day, I wasn't feeling the sincerity of her apology. I was about to accompany the jjerk of my arm with a demand for explanation as to why these tets had to occur so frequently, but my choice came hald a moment too late. The thin metal rod dragged across my flesh, splicing my skin into a thick, red line.
 The resulting cut was far less gruesome than witnessing its creation, but my nurse somehow refused to t her eyes off my arm. She was watching my wound heal right before her... my cells fusing back into each other with fantastical speed. The remaining redness could be peel off like a wet sticker.
   "Your body- you- it..." Neither of us could fathom how to begin this conversation. She got to her feet and went straight for the door.

   That night I was haunted by a thought in the form of a  a nightmare. I am in chains; the rust gathered thick on he metal, itching away at the skin on my wrists restlessly. My pool now more closely resembles a cube-ish glass dunk tank, where I have been put on display as a spectacle for all humanity to view. My next two visitors are an older couple. The woman puts her hand to the glass, and I recognize the agely pattern of my mother's palm. Her voice comes as a gentle whisper into my mind:
    "We're coming to find you, Jace."
   I awaken, not exactly breathless but paranoia pulsing through my veins. I push myself off the pool floor and launch to the surface, crawl onto the deck, and laid flat on my back there until I had nearly dripped myself dry. With an extra shake to release the last few droplets off my skin, I get to my feet and begin my escape.

   It's not a very thought-through plan... nor am I certain I will actually go through with it. In that  moment I wasn't thinking of the consequences of running away nor the rarity of places that would cater to my unique situation. No- all I could think about was how I was once offered the entire ocean as my home, and instead I chose a small pool and a career as a lab rat to be the preferable destiny.
I recalled another caged creature as I quietly and cautiously slipped through the darkened halls, so I decided to pay her a visit.
  Only somewhat startled to find herself not alone at this late an hour, Shelly timidly croaked her head out of her shell to look at me.
I needed to know: given the option, would the animal choose freedom? I unlatched the metal gate that divided us, and- half expecting she would waste no time to charge through- positioned myself out of her path. But Shelly showed little interest in  escaping.
   After a few minutes of waiting, I found my way to the floor, sitting directly across  from her so I could study her form. This time I was looking beyond her intricate patterns and antique texture. I was looking right into the globes of her eyes, searching for her reason not to leave.
   She seemed to be analyzing me too, perhaps wondering why I gazed upon her with such emotion. I couldn't help but draw a smile on my face when she stretched her jaw open for a satisfied yawn, her purplish gums revealed, guarding the deep abyss of her throat. It was only when she  retreated back into her shell that I had my answer.
 The anima who doesn't seek escape carries her home wherever she goes.
 "I wish I could be rock solid like you," were my parting words with the turtle I was sobbing the moment I slipped back into the water.

  Dr. Crowley approached me curiously the next morning. I was out of the pool, which wasn't unusual. I tended to spend a few hours sitting out on the deck on a daily basis.
   "Am I interrupting anything...?" he mentioned out of courtesy. I lacked the energy to respond with the same patience, so I kept my mouth shut.
   From the couple of weeks I'd gotten to know the man, I understood that Dr. Crowley was extremely motivated by discovery. I knew he would not let scientific knowledge go unyielded due to a difficult question.
    "The nurse reported something interesting to me yesterday." Still, the most polite thing I was capable of was remaining silent. "I was hoping you would permit me to try something."
    I was decided on silence until my emotional well-being was in question, which was naturally his second concern. "Jace, are you alright?"
    I shook my head. "No, doctor. I'm not."
    Psychology, it seemed, was a department of science Dr. Crowley had never dared to touch. He stood behind me nervously.
    "What's wrong?"
    "When I came to Ramecha five years ago, I was forced to tell a dangerous lie. It was so that my parents and I could be safe. Now I'm here, and they've been banished from the zone."
    Dr. Crowley cleared his throat. "I don't know what to say... as a scientific man, honoring the rules is the only way to make progress. In your parents eyes it must've seemed right to lie, but..."
   "But what!?" I snarled, "but the 'right' decision was to wait another five years in the park, where people were dropping like flies everyday? You're a doctor, you're supposed to help people!"
   "I'm a researcher," he retorted, though I could sense discomfort in his tone. I'd never shown him this much rage before. "And I'm not saying I believe the world to be fair, but there's a reason we call this place a SafeZone. We have rules like the one your parents disobeyed in order to protect ourselves."
    "Well it didn't protect my family."
    The doctor's impatient grunt implied that f it wasn't about him or his family, it wasn't his problem. But I was about to make it his.
    "I won't consent to any more studies until I'm reunited with my parents."
    That had his attention. "What...?"
    "You heard me."
    "J-Jace," the doctor stuttered, "your parents could be anywhere!"
    I glanced downward, attempting to hide my dejection under a look of contemplation. But my dream last night had already inspired a dark idea. "How under-wraps is my case, anyways? Eva isn't exactly the only one who knows about me, and she never had to sign a confidentiality agreement." My eyes narrowed as I turned to make contact with his. "My guess? The boy who lived over a year with the disease is almost a little too unbelievable... one of those things you really have to see to believe. So as long as my existence wasn't made public, it's just hushed between the gossip of all those who have known me."
   "What are you suggesting?"
    "Public fascination was never something I wanted. But if my name is out, it will spread beyond Ramecha. It might even get to my parents. Its the only way I can find them."
    He was thinking about it; I could see his brain churning from the deep lines casted on his forehead. "A little publicity could always help the institution, but privacy is the most effective way of assuring nothing can go wrong."
     "Please," I sighed, "its my last wish to see them again."
    "So be it," he grumbled. "I'm going to make some calls. When I come back, you better answer my questions."
    I felt victorious, , excited, and dreadfully nervousness. Now I wondered how Eva would feel about it when I told her during her visit today.

   She was much more irritated than I'd expected. "Why didn't you talk to me before you said anything!?"
   "Because..." I didn't want to unleash myself in front of Eva, but I could feel anger itching my throat, my decision would have been the same. I need to find my parents. Wherever my family is... that's where home is."
   Eva frowned, looking as fragile as a glass chandelier hanging from a threat. "I'm not family?"
  My natural reaction would usually be to comfort her with what she wanted to hear, but I took a moment to assess how I truly felt. Since I was put into care at the research center, Eva's visits dwindled  from once a day to just a couple hours each week.
  I'd thought too long about it, and Eva did not want to wait around for whatever hurtful thing I had to say.
   "I'm leaving. But not without warning you- as someone who lives on the outside- that you're making a bad choice."
   Watching her go wasn't quiet as entertaining now that I was I was under control of my sanity. I was so angered by her last retort that for the first time, I felt eager to be left alone after her company. "...well at least you get to live outside!" I called out to her as she reached to door.
   "You think it's easier?" she spun around, shouting at me with the whole room between us. "The last you saw of Ramecha was a phony parade. Now you're fed and sheltered everyday!"
     "Don't you are tell me its at no cost..."  I could feel it boiling inside of me.
     "You would have been dead-"
     "I'm already dead!"
      Dr. Crowley entered. From the look on his face, I could tell he'd heard enough of our argument from beyond the walls. I hadn't yelled this loud since my last encounter with Naceo. "May I come in?"
   "I was just going," Eva did not look at me again as she left.
   The doctor approached me again. "I notified the Protector's Council. They're eager to meet you."
   The sound of it churned my stomach, but I accepted it was just a part of what had to be done to get my parents back.
 He wasn't finished. "I'll do everything you instruct me to, but I ask that you allow our testing to continue in the meantime."
    In one part of my mind it seemed like a fair deduction. But revoking my power was not something the demon inside me could allow, and it had been growing since last night.
"Don't you want to be cured by the time you see your parents again?"
MI saw right through him.  "That's not what you're even testing for anymore... is it..."
  Several of Crowley's minions entered now. I hadn't seen so many of them in the same place since my arrival. One of them was  the nurse who'd cut me. She looked especially terrified to be in my presence again.
 "We're still working on it, Jace. We haven't found anything too helpful yet, but failure is progress in the eyes of science! However... today there is another matter we wish to observe."
   "Well I refuse."
   Dr. Crowley narrowed his eyes. With a jerk of his wrist, he signaled one of his team members to hand him a device. I steadied my stance for a fight, then quickly realized he was only wielding a recorder.
   He clicked the button. "Day- thirty six. Time- ten forty seven. Patient is incoherent. Must have spent night outside of water. Refuses to cooperate with simple requests."
   Before I could react, I had a man on each of my arms. "Stop... where are you taking me!" I growled, trying to thrash free of their gasp without reveling the power Naceo gifted me on our last goodbye.
   "Showing signs of aggressive behavior," he muttered into the device again. "Gentlemen, have him against that wall. Ruby- turn the electricity in the pool to 1000 volts. We don't want him running to where he can't get him."
   "You're monsters!" I snarled as they pinned me to the wall. Extracting a chillingly shiny silver knife from his front pocket, the doctor drew a line across my chest. I was too bothered by the pain and betrayal to pay attention to their bewildered reactions.
   "We're monsters...?" Dr. Crowley laughed.
    The air was so silent, all i could hear was the plip and plop of my blood on the floor. After the last drop, they began to discuss, chattering excitedly. My mind was numb... brainded... overdosed on empty reason to keep living. Then one things becomes clear:
    It isn't just my blood which will shed on this floor today.