mean, everybody watches vids, what else do you do to pass the time?” she asks.
“I liked to draw,” I say. “It’s what I did mostly when I wasn’t working.”
“Wow,” she says. “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who didn’t watch a lot of vids.”
“I always thought they were pointless,” I say, letting myself be pulled into the conversation.
“Pointless? They were fun, entertaining, that was the entire point.”
“I mean,” I say, trying to formulate my thoughts. “They weren’t relevant to us. All the vids were made on Earth before we left.”
“Sure,” Allie says. “But I never saw them all, so they were new to me. They rotated the library a lot too.”
“Sure,” I agree. “But the content, the shows, they had nothing to do with our lives. They were probably relevant to the people who made them, but to us? We would never see any of those things they portray. No animals, no cars even, it wasn’t our lives.”
“No, I guess not,” Allie says. “Wow, you’re a bummer.”
“Sorry,” I say, shivering from cold. “It’s only my thoughts, not a big thing.”
“Sure, but now I’m not going to be able to get those thoughts out of my head,” Allie says. “They’ll stick with me.”
“It’s not like we have vids here anyway,” I say.
“True,” she sighs. “I miss vids.”
“I miss warmth,” I say, shivering so hard my teeth chatter.
Urukol stops, bringing the entire line to a halt. He’s looking from side to side, his tail twitching in what I think is a nervous manner, but what do I know about Zmaj and their tails?
“What is it?” I ask.
It’s quiet. Really, really quiet. The wind has stopped, the rain too. There’s not a sound in the jungle, not even bugs or the calls of birds. It’s an eerie quiet. A sense of being too quiet, if such a thing is possible.
Urukol looks past me to Angota and speaks fast. Damn I wish he’d slow down. I want to know too. The hairs on the back of my neck rise on end. Something is wrong, I’m sure of it though I have no clue what.
The two Zmaj fire words back and forth and the tone of their voices increases the sense of urgency. A sense that without direction only serves to increase my fear.
“Run,” Urukol says, looking at me directly.
He turns and moves fast, his much longer legs taking full strides that count for at least two of mine in every motion. I struggle to keep up, but do my best. I’m almost at a full run. He’s watching over his shoulder, and as soon as he sees I’m keeping up, he moves faster.
“What… is… it…” I pant.
“Move faster!” Riley calls out in response to something Angota says to her.
“We… are!” Allie yells.
A deep rumble rolls towards us. It may only be a sound, but I feel its approach in my bones. The hair on my arms stands up, and a strange sensation passes over my skin. The air feels electric, intense, as the sound grows louder.
I’m running, but forward progress is slow. Each step is treacherous. Wet leaves slip underfoot, and the next step my foot sinks into the mud. Urukol is looking from side to side, then back. If his head could turn a full circle, I’m sure he would.
The rumble becomes a roar, and then Urukol is flying backwards. I drop to the ground to avoid him slamming into me. Wind rips across and the sound is too loud to hear anything else. The ground jumps up and down as I roll onto my back. I’m screaming, but I can’t hear the sounds. In a panic, I scrabble against the ground, but there’s nowhere to go, no safety, no retreat. Lightning flashes in rapid succession. Once, twice, three times.
The trees above and the world around are cast into stark relief. Aftereffects dance across my vision. The massive trees around us are leaning, straining against the roots binding them to the earth. These trees are dozens of feet tall, stalwart and steady, but now they’re bent almost in half as the storm blasts.
I throw my arms protectively around my head and curl my legs up. There’s no escape. I’ve never been in anything like this. I have no idea what the survival thing to do is, so I do the only thing that makes sense.
A shadow passes across the lookout crack between my arms. A shape is pressed up to me. It takes a second for me to realize it’s Allie. Urukol