Chương 28: Chapter 27: Going to Albuquerque

Flopped onto my bed, I stared at the ceiling, thinking about everything I'd recently done. I was still pretty tired, but having a few days to recover had taken the utter exhaustion and reduced it to something manageable. Granted, the anxiousness took away some of my focus, leaving me constantly wondering when I'd get a call with the results. The longer I waited, the more I just wanted an answer, not even caring if it would work out or not.

I'd spent far too many hours pacing around my room, just wondering, but the silence was eating away at me. My friends kept asking me to join them, but I declined every offer they had, regardless of what it was. I just didn't have the motivation to do anything, not with such a big part of my life waiting in the balance. If only I could get an answer faster… somehow. Scooping up the white rubber ball next to my bed, I started tossing it to the ceiling and catching it.

The weight of it returning into my hand was a welcome distraction. I'd focus on a spot on the ceiling–just a little to the left of the spot directly above me–and throw it there. When I angled it perfectly, the ball would return right where I'd thrown it. Entertaining as it was to see exactly how close I could get, the real goal was to pass the time. A bright light suddenly flashed next to me, startling me enough to throw the ball too far to the wall.

It bounced hard against it, landing onto my shelf and knocking over one of my glass figures. It tumbled straight to the ground, shattering on the floor.

"Ah, shit, shit!" I said, carefully getting up as I tried to brush the pieces of glass together.

"Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to startle you!" A familiar voice responded from the bright projection screen, placed right in the center of my room.

"Dammit Ferrox, you didn't have to start the video like that!" I yelled, sweeping the glass pieces up into my hand.

"You made me break my model!"

"Sorry, Ella! Which one was it? I'm sure I can replace it!" His ears were pinned back, apology laced in his voice.

"Ugh…it was the bug, the one with all the little wings on it." I answered, pulling the handle for the trash chute and tossing the pieces into it, hearing the soft, crystal-like noise as it slid shut.

"I'll replace it, I promise. Besides, I don't think you'll be too upset after you hear the news…" He gave a coy smile. I froze, staring at him.

"Wait, what? You have the results?"

"You passed! They said everything looks good and you should be ready to start the next step tomorrow!"

"Really?! This is great! It feels like I've been waiting forever! Oh! We should celebrate! You, me, tonight!" I beamed, moving excitedly around the room, screen following and swiveling around to keep track of me as I grabbed my coat.

"Awesome! We've missed you lately, Ella. It hasn't been the same without you." He said.

"I know, I know. I've just been so nervous…but wow! I was always hoping I'd be selected, but…it just, I dunno, it never quite felt real. Okay, wow, let's meet up at the central fountain at, uh…let's say…eight ninety-six?"

"Heh, you got it!" He said just before the screen disappeared. I giggled to myself, slipping my hat on and taking one last look to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything. My hearts were racing. Practically dancing on my toes, I eagerly thought about how different my life would be. Turning to looking in the mirror, I saw my bright, green eyes gleaming back at me. The biggest smile I'd ever seen was spread across my face as I grabbed my necklace, pulled my shard out of the socket and pressed my thumb to it.

As I looked back into the mirror, I saw something in my reflection I hadn't seen in a long, long time. I had a big, wide smile. My eyes slowly opened and I found myself back in the familiar basement. I could feel myself shaking, the excitement this other person had felt coursing through me as if I were experiencing the same emotion.

"Yeah, nothing." Gav said, shrugging as he rested his chin on one of his wrists.

"Exactly the same as it was before."

"That's too bad." Emily let out a sigh, leaning against the table.

"I was hoping we'd get something a little more precise." I rested flat in the chair again, staring up at the ceiling, trying to process everything I'd just seen.

"Well, we still have a lot. We should be able to reach out with what we've already got. Even if it didn't work out, it was worth trying. Good thing the re-encoding process is basically automated now." Gav said reassuringly.

"We probably shouldn't waste any more time if we think we've got enough. After all, everything's packed up, so we should be good to go. We've got everything we need, right?" Emily asked him.

"Should have, yeah." Gav answered.

"I grabbed a bunch of food, some cash for the rest stops…" The two continued talking about the travel plans as I let my eyes drift shut. My thoughts tried to focus on that room, that person on the screen, those feelings I held deep inside me while I was inside the dream. As much as it felt real in the moment and everything seemed perfectly clear, now it felt like little more than a memory, where everything unimportant had fizzled away.

The bed, the trash chute, the screen, the shelf with the figurines on it, I could remember them all… but everything else was gone from my mind. I couldn't remember what other figures were there, or what else was in the room with me. Even trying to remember the colors of the walls left me second guessing myself. Any other details were just… taken somewhere else, deleted from my mind's eye.

"Tess? Hello? …you okay?" Emily asked, waving a hand over my face.

"Oh, sorry…" I blinked, not even realizing I'd reopened my eyes.

"I…I don't know…" Sitting up, I gently shook my head, trying to collect myself.

"What did you see in there?" Gav asked.

"Well, her name was Ella. She had a friend…I forgot his name…Fox…something. I don't know, it…it all happened so fast. I was in the same room as the last memory, waiting on some test results and…" I paused, looking down at my hands, thinking about the ending of the memory.

"Results for what?" Emily asked. My gaze slowly came up to meet her eyes.

"She…looked in the mirror, just before it ended. She looked a lot like me. I…I think…actually, I don't know what I think…"

"Oh, wow…what did she look like?" Gav leaned closer. With a deep breath, I closed my eyes, focusing on the image in my head.

"She didn't have brown eyes like me. They were bright green. Her fur was a much lighter brown than mine. I…didn't see too much other than that." I confessed.

"Do you remember anything else?" I shook my head.

"It felt so real in the moment. Now…it just feels like a dream."

"Well, whatever that second memory was, it was a few months after the message." Gav responded.

"We were hoping it would have new telemetry data, but everything at this timestamp just confirms nothing has changed. We'll have to go further in to see anything more substantial, but I don't really think it'll be necessary. We know where they should be, so if we send a radio signal wide enough, we shouldn't have an issue reaching them, wherever they are." Emily shrugged.

"It was worth giving the second memory a test, but at this point, I agree. We should just go." As I was helping put everything into the car outside, I'd noticed Gav's car had the same modifications as Oliver, just in case Oliver needed to drive his brother's vehicle. Otherwise, the car wasn't anything special, just a red four door sedan, holding up well enough, but with a few rust spots around the corners.

"We should be there in about ten hours, since we'll have to stop for gas and rest stops." Gav let us know, taking his spot in the driver's seat and Emily sliding into the passenger side, turning to me as I hopped into the center seat in the back and closed the door. Given it had become a bit of a tradition now, I plugged one of my music players into the center console, putting on some of my travel music. It felt strange, leaving another house again.

I'd explored more of the world than I ever could have imagined, but even now, it still felt wrong to leave the safety of a house. Just in case, I let myself slide down into the back seat a bit, not wanting to be seen by any passing cars. All three of us had piled our supplies on the two side seats, and Gav also had tinted windows in the back, but we couldn't be too careful. Barring the music, the car ride was silent for the first few minutes.

Emily was absorbed in her phone, looking up information about the VLA visiting hours and photos of the facility. Gav was simply enjoying the music as we drove onto the highway. Given the early morning hours, the roads were almost entirely empty. I continued thinking about the woman I saw in my dreams. Somehow, she'd given me the shard we'd been using. Maybe she could have been someone directly related to me… maybe even my mom. Still, that idea didn't quite make sense.

If what Gav said about the timelines was correct, those memories were from long ago. Gav also suspected the penultimate message was from someone dying, but the final message was left almost twenty years later by another person. The more I mulled it over, the more I felt like the woman in the memories wouldn't be as relevant as the final memory. That shard was given to me for a reason… and that final message had to have the answer.

"When we get back, I want to try again." I said to the car.

"Totally!" Gav replied from the driver's seat, thumbs banging along to the beat of the music.

"And I want to turn Guardrails off."

"No." Emily said, eyes still glued to her phone.

"We've already talked about this, Tess. We have enough information already. Whatever's hiding behind that last message isn't important enough to put you in danger."

"Whoever gave that shard to me had to have a reason, right?" I asked.

"They wanted to tell me something. Maybe it's more important than you think…than any of us think."

"And maybe it's something we can wait for, until we have more information. We can keep looking into the files we've already seen. Maybe there's more to be found."

"I just…" I paused, trying to figure out how to word it, "... I don't think we should be focusing on this woman. For all we know, this was a random shard picked up by someone, and the last message in there is for me. Maybe that last message is the only one that really matters." Again, Gav agreed.

"I think she's right. I've spent a lot of time looking at the data structures and the way the neurological paths are set up. It makes sense that family members would have pathways that appeared more similar to her compared to non-family, right? To Tess's point, all the memories we've been going through seem to have completely different structures within them. Whatever that last memory is, though, that one seems to be a lot more similar to Tess's memories." I nodded.

I was starting to feel that way more and more, too.

"The structures are similar, but whatever emotions that person was feeling was something Tess doesn't seem to have much experience with. And with the missing puzzle pieces, we can't put the rest together. The more I look at it, the more I think that last memory was from someone in Tess's family."

"What does that have to do with the guardrails, though?" Emily asked.

"What it has to do with it," I answered, "is that, whatever that last message was…it was something painful for them. This apparition, this person who's chasing me, he's putting distressing thought on my head…but, maybe he's trying to help. Maybe he's trying to make me experience those emotions so we can piece everything together."

"Tess, it's a subconscious thought. It doesn't have that kind of insight." Emily said, setting her phone in her lap before turning to face me.

"What 'he' is… is a nightmare. That machine just… gives it more of a presence than it would otherwise. You've been through a lot. You've seen a lot. The reason you're seeing him is because you feel like you could have done more to save him… but you couldn't. It was out of your hands, and you've got to forgive yourself for that…" I sighed, craning my gaze up to the ceiling. It was pretty obvious Emily was set in her ways and nothing would make her think otherwise.

There wasn't any way the conversation would progress to something meaningful. Gav, noticing the tension between the two of us, changed the subject.

"Hey, on the bright side, since everything is mostly automated now, and those early files are pretty similar, we should have a bunch of them available to us when we get back. That'll be fun!" I could see his grin, even from my position.

"It's actually set up to find the memories we can decode and convert them for us. They should be ready once we're back."

"How do you have enough drive space?" Emily asked.

"Didn't you have to get server racks full of hard drives for a single memory?"

"That's the neat part!" He beamed.

"Once one finishes downloading, re-encoding, and uploading onto the shard for Tess to see, the system deletes everything and starts over. The shard has way more than enough storage to keep that info. We just need the hard drive space while it's decoding a memory. Who knows, maybe when we look through all the memories, the LED panel for the final memory might have more lights turn green. It could be a bunch of small things holding us back instead of one or two major ones." He shrugged.

"Hard to say for sure, but we definitely have a path forward there." Turning sideways in my seat, I flopped onto my back, staring up at the car ceiling. I wasn't satisfied with their answers, but it was probably the best I'd get for now. Spying the guitar case in my peripheral vision, I pulled it into my lap, opening it and starting to idly strum at the instrument. After a moment, I began playing along with the music, trying to get my mind off everything. The car ride was almost entirely uneventful.

While morning bled into afternoon, then evening, the sun gradually slid from one end of the horizon to the other. I simply focused on my guitar almost the entire time, doing my best to not let my mind drift anywhere else. I knew full well how important this mission was… and exactly how many things could possibly go wrong. We could get stopped at the gate, I could get captured, we might get turned down…

and despite all the possibilities, Gav's asinine plan of 'just go in and ask them for help' was the best one the three of us could imagine. We'd reached the point of simply trying the obvious and hoping everything worked out.

"There it is." Gav's voice quietly permeated the music. I lifted myself from my resting position. We turned the corner around a small, rocky cliff, and we were greeted by a bulk of large, looming satellite dishes. The setting sun cast imposing shadows against the ground, ones seemingly reaching out for miles. Even with the landmarks still miles away from us, they were practically beacons, proudly displayed on the otherwise flat land around them.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Our car silently approached the satellites, turning off of the highway onto a small road. All of us were equally as quiet, the vehicle bouncing slightly as we crossed over train tracks, seemingly housing several of the dishes. The place itself felt as if we'd entered alien territory. Ironic, given our mission. The dishes stood on both sides of our route, far in the distance but large and imposing in our sight.

I couldn't help but wonder how the structures were built in the first place. We made another slight turn, now facing a series of buildings. A line of cars pulled out onto the road, heading straight for us as I hid myself as best I could.

"What time is it?" Emily asked. Smirking, Gav took a deep breath, and with the most obnoxious voice he could muster, he answered, "time for you to–gah!" He gave a yelp as Emily slapped his arm.

"Five! It's five in the evening, geeze."

"Shoot!" Emily swore.

"I was hoping we'd get here a little earlier. Visiting hours end at five everyday. That's when the actual work starts for them." Even if I couldn't see anything from my hiding spot in the backseat footwell, I still felt the car slow to a crawl.

"Gav, be quiet, I'll handle this." I heard Emily whisper. The car stopped completely as I heard the sound of Emily's window rolling down, followed by a man's voice.

"Sorry, y'all, but you just missed it! Visiting hours are over, but y'all can come back tomorrow if you'd like a tour." Emily responded with a faux-exasperated tone.

"I know, I'm so, so, so sorry. We actually just left, but my husband here left his phone in there during the tour. He says he left it in the lobby, but I'm pretty sure he left it in the bathroom. Is it okay if we run in real quick and take a look?" The man didn't respond for a moment, but a full minute later, the car started rolling forward. I couldn't believe he'd actually waved us into the station, but sure enough, we came to a stop at what must have been a parking spot.

Emily took a moment to look around, then leaned down to whisper to me.

"Tess, stay hidden in here and we'll figure out what we can do. We might need you later, but for now, we'll see if we can do it without you, okay?" I nodded, knowing it was best if we managed to get away without letting them 'discover' me. Emily and Gav got out of the car, one after the other, closing the door. Muffled voices continued outside.

"We're so sorry to give you trouble. We promise we won't be long." Emily said.

"No problem at all, ma'am." The man responded. Two pairs of footsteps quickly receded in sound as Gav and Emily walked into the building. As they did so, another pair of footsteps approached. I tucked myself against the footwell as best I could, trying to blend in with the dark interior. I couldn't see him, but I could feel the security guard looking in the car. A minute later, he fumbled for his radio.

"Georgia?" He asked into the device.

"Yes Marve, I hear ya." A southern, feminine voice responded.

"I think I just saw the two folks y'all told me to look out for. They said they were here earlier but this car ain't been here today. Like ya said, I didn't intervene with 'em, but the two are on their way over now." The car slightly jostled as the man leaned against it. My eyes were wide, hands shaking. This wasn't good. They knew about us… were waiting for us. They hadn't mentioned me, so it was possible they didn't know I was there, but they did know about Emily and Gav.

I had to tell them, but there was no way to without giving away my position. If I tried to text them, it would have been visible through the window. What I needed was the security guard to leave, but right now, he didn't seem to have any plans to go elsewhere. I racked my brain, trying to think of some way to distract him or get myself out of the car without him knowing. There wasn't any obvious way I could think of using. Instead, I had to stay still, hoping an opportunity would show itself.

Five minutes passed before I heard another set of footsteps approaching. The extra weight on the car lifted as the man stood, making the vehicle lurch slightly to one side.

"Thanks, Marve. That was definitely them." I heard a familiar voice say. She was the woman on the radio from earlier. Several car engines revved to life around us as vehicles started to drive off.

"What's going on?" The man asked.

"They said that if those two show up, we need to fully evacuate. That includes you. They didn't say anything beyond that, but it sounded pretty serious." She answered.

"Who are they?"

"I haven't the slightest idea, but I get the feeling this is something we shouldn't mess around with. Most of us are headin' out to the diner if you wanna join." There was a lull in the conversation, but a few seconds later, I heard both of them leave. Giving myself only a few more seconds, I slowly lifted myself from the footwell, peering out the window. Any cars still in the parking lot were all leaving. The security guard and a larger looking woman were getting into their own vehicle, driving away.

Suddenly, the parking lot was completely barren. Waiting only a moment longer as I watched the last of the tail lights disappear into the distance, I slowly opened the car door. The air was cold and refreshing after the long drive, but I kept up my guard, looking around. From what I could tell, the coast was clear, and every car was gone except for our own. A feeling of dread washed over me again. Someone was looking for us, and there was only one group of people who would be after me.

I quickly tried to call Emily, but with no reception, I didn't waste any more time. Putting my phone back in my pocket, I started toward the large building. This is wrong. Who knows how long we have before… As I decided to focus on stealth, I walked as quietly as I could. The large front door of the facility had huge glass panels, allowing me to peek inside. Again, there was no one. Breath held in my chest, I slowly opened the door and walked into the facility.

My ears stayed alert, listening for any sign of someone on the building, but all I could hear was a deathly silence. Standing in the center of the lobby, I looked around at the empty chairs, the humming, fluorescent lights with their awful hue, the empty reception desk with a bowl of candy on one side, and the security camera in the corner. The security camera in the corner. I lifted myself up from my hunched over position and stared at it. It stared back. There was no hiding from it now.

I'd already stepped into full view of it.

"Dammit…" I muttered, looking at it with a mix of shock and annoyance before I heard the sound of a chair rolling across a hard surface, somewhere down the hallway. Quickly walking down the hall, I passed several doors until I heard rustling behind one. Someone was inside. Before I could press my ear to the door, it swung open. A hand reached out, grabbing me by the arm and yanking me into the room. The door quickly closed behind us as I instinctively grabbed at the hand still holding onto me.

Just as I was about to push them off, I heard Emily's voice.

"Tess, Tess it's me." She whispered, sounding shocked and alarmed.

"Emily…ugh, I swear! I nearly threw you across the room! Don't scare me like–" I started, but she put her hand up to my mouth.

"Shush, don't make so much noise! How'd you get in here? Did they see you? Why are you here?! I told you we'd–" I pulled her hand off of my mouth.

"Emily, something's up."

"I think this is it." Gav's voice sounded from behind a set of computer monitors. Adrenaline starting to subside from being grabbed, I looked around the room, realizing we must have been in some sort of computer lab. Desktop PCs were all over the floor, along with a large collection of cables reaching up into monitors along the wall. Gav was sitting in front of one of the monitors, eyes squinted slightly as he concentrated.

"I couldn't believe our luck." Emily whispered to me.

"We came in, and I think there's a shift change going on. I'm not sure, but when we came out of the bathroom, the place was empty. Can you believe that?" I shook my head.

"Emily, after you left–" Gav tapped the table to get our attention, waving us to him. Emily ran over, but I stood in place, still trying to get their attention.

"Guys, I'm serious, something's happening. They knew who you were."

"What's this?" Emily asked Gav, ignoring me entirely.

"It looks like they had everything open when they left, so I didn't even have to try logging in. Look! It's got places to put in coordinates. This is perfect! Here…" He said, pulling out his phone and typing in some numbers he'd saved.

"Gav, Emily, just stop for a second." I tried to get their attention, but neither of them would listen. Before I could try again, they both looked over to the windows. I did the same, watching the series of satellite dishes moving in unison, slowly rotating to the direction Gav had just entered into the computer.

"Ha! Who knew it'd be so easy?" Gav beamed, high fiving Emily.

"Now to send the picture!" Pointing his phone at me, he took a picture, plugging his phone into the computer. While he did so, I jumped onto the table, exasperated.

"Guys!" Emily shushed me again, eyes locked on the door as Gav continued.

"Tess! Please, keep it down, you don't know if anyone–""There's nobody here! It's just us! That's what I've been trying to tell you!" I yelled as loud as I could, just to prove my point…and as I expected, there was no response out in the hall.

"What do you mean?" Emily asked.

"They recognized you! They knew who you were and for some reason, they evacuated the entire place. The security guard said they were told not to interfere with whatever you were doing."

"I'm almost done." Gav said.

"I converted the image into a low resolution, two-bit photo. It shouldn't take much to send, but it'll be enough detail for them to know what they're looking at. Now I just have to…" Pressing a button on the computer, a readout on the screen started displaying an image, pixels being written in from the top, swishing from line to line. A few lines in, the room was suddenly cast into darkness, the whirring of the computers suddenly coming to a standstill.

"We need to leave." Emily quietly said. Gav didn't argue. They both stood and we all quickly went for the door. The moment I heard gunshots, I instinctively ducked. All of us turned around just in time to see a large propane tank smash through the window, tumbling into the room. The scent of propane instantly filled the air as the liquid sputtered out of several holes from the tank's sides. Even before the glass had settled, I saw the glow of a red flare hurling through the hole in the window.

Eyes widening, I turned and kicked the door open. Emily and Gav were standing, staring at the scene in shock. I grabbed both of their legs, pulling them as quickly as I could through the door. As fast as I could, I turned and threw them both down the hall, sending them sliding and tumbling along the floor. Both of them screamed over the sound of the hissing propane tanks. Before I could close the door, however, the room was aglow in fire as the propane exploded. Several chunks of debris flew in my direction.

There was only enough time to shield my face with my hands as debris rocketed into my frame. Sharp pain stabbed into several points of the left side of my body. My ear felt like it was on fire, and a sudden jolt in my leg made me fall to the ground. Despite my best efforts to cover myself, I could feel several shards of glass embed into my face. After the initial pain, I lowered my arms. The light from the fire was enough for me to see Emily and Gav down the hallway, trying to stand.

Their faces were both covered in blood, and both appeared to be struggling to lift themselves. I started to head to them, but Emily lifted her hand, pointing behind me.

"Tess… behind you." She coughed. I turned just in time to see someone standing at the entrance to the facility. It was a very large person with a familiar looking flashlight in his hand. He held it up, pointing it at me. Before he could turn it on, I squeezed my eyes shut. Without even thinking, I sprinted toward him on all fours. The searing pain in my back left leg was so strong, I had to rely on my other three limbs to carry me.

I kept a mental picture of where he was, not wanting to open my eyes as I closed the gap as fast as I could.

"Shit, shit, shit!" I heard the man yell. It was him. I recognized his voice. I leapt into the air, launching myself at him, eyes still locked shut. He'd moved enough to avoid a direct impact, but I still collided with his arm, sending the flashlight scattering out the front door. I opened my eyes, seeing the flashlight several feet away, the light facing away from me. As the man fell back, I grabbed the flashlight, turning it off and turning to face him again.

Before I could get back into the building, I heard a shotgun blast, and a searing pain rushed through my tail, causing me to spin and fall backwards. I saw a second dark figure.

"Leave her to me, Michael." I heard the woman's voice. It was her. The voice which haunted me since the fire at my house. It was the same two people. From the smoke and flames, I could barely see in front of me. The sound of the shotgun cocking was just enough of a cue to let me jump out of the way before another blast rang out. It felt as if an invisible hand was gripping my throat shut. The flames inside the building sent wave after wave of fear of me, taking over every thought in my head.

Fire billowed out from inside the room as I silently gulped. Luckily, Gav's voice cut through my thoughts.

"Tess!" I heard him shout from the other side of the fire. A moment later, a set of car keys came flying toward me. I caught them before they hit the ground, turning and running away, as fast as I could. With the keys in one hand and the flashlight in my mouth, I used my arms and one good leg to flee into the darkness. As much as I didn't want to leave Emily and Gav behind, I knew I needed to get away to give them a chance. Those people were after me, not them. To make sure they were safe, I had to go.

Sprinting as best I could to the parking lot, I could feel the flesh of my ear flopping in an unnatural way. My leg was going numb as I tried to fight the searing pain from my tail. All I could do was ignore it and push through the pain. I slid into the car, climbing quickly into the driver's seat. My hands shook, missing the ignition slot with the key a few times. When I finally managed it and cranked the engine to life, I looked out the window, seeing a pair of headlights. It was the same black SUV from before.

I stood on the seat and quickly pulled away, using the bulb to press the gas as hard as I could. Both hands clamped the wheel as I tried to keep control over the car. Even as I adjusted to the speed, I could see the light behind me getting brighter. They were getting closer. I couldn't see through the rearview mirror, but as I turned onto the main road, I had a chance to look behind me. They had almost caught up to me.

The transition onto the road was almost enough to get me to lose control of Gav's car, but I managed to keep my grip on the ground as I pressed the gas all the way down again. Ahead, I could see a pair of flashing red and blue lights, heading right toward me. I couldn't tell if I should feel relief or if I was in more danger. A loud, booming engine thundered behind me as the car lurched forward. The back window shattered as the SUV smashed into the car.

Still in my mouth, the flashlight flew forward and onto the dashboard, flicking to life as I gasped. I was surrounded by white, standing in a void… and then suddenly I was driving, still spotting the police car in the distance. The white void returned, then vanished, then returned again. Each time the flashlight spun, I could see the police car getting closer and closer. Slowly, steadily, I reached out for the light. Closing my eyes, my hand wrapped around it and I threw it behind me.

It flew straight out the back window, allowing me to open my eyes, only to find the police car right in front of me. I yanked the wheel hard to the side, veering the car into the desert sand. It bounced and banged, crashing into various rocks and divots offroad. Before I could collect myself, I heard a loud boom behind me. Struggling to get the car back onto the road, I lowered my speed, sacrificing it for control as I righted myself, heading onto the street once again.

Reaching up to adjust the rearview mirror, it looked like the SUV and police car collided head on. Both vehicles were completely destroyed. I tried to breathe and focus on the road ahead as I approached the highway. The poor car was wobbling violently, one wheel now horribly misaligned. Right now, though, I was thankful it was running at all. I didn't know where to go, but I knew I had to leave here. The worst thing I could do was return to the VLA.

The farther away I drove from Gav and Emily, the safer they would be. As I pulled onto the highway, I kept my speed slow, not wanting to push the car past its limit. Now with the assurance of the SUV no longer immediately following me, I wiped my face with a hand, instantly feeling the warmth of my blood coating my digits. My eyes squinted as I tried to keep my vision on the road through blood and tears. On the other side of the highway, I could see an onslaught of police cars zooming straight for the VLA.

Luckily, none of them were on my side of the road, much less concerned about me. I tried my best to ignore the pain, staying focused on the road until I was sure I was far enough away from the attack. By now, I had no idea how long I'd been driving. It could have been five minutes or thirty, but I was feeling too light-headed to keep my focus for much longer. Finding an off-ramp leading to a small road, I traveled along it before moving onto a dirt road.

Though I seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, I continued for a few more minutes until every other path was out of sight. Shifting the car into park, I flopped against the seat, closing my eyes for a minute, trying to get my thoughts together. Emily and Gav had to have been found by now. I tried wiping my face again, forgetting my hands were still covered in blood. Slowly lifting one of my arms, the appendage feeling like lead, I flicked on the light, getting a better look at myself.

My shirt and pants were stained black. Blood was coming out of my leg, a large shard of glass wedged into it. I reached down, giving it a quick tug as it slipped free. A scream ripped through my throat as the pain jolted through my body. Giving myself just enough time to let the initial pain subside, I reached behind me and pulled a bag from the back seat, finding clothes in it. They looked like Gav's.

Taking out the first shirt I found, I tied it around my leg, then grabbed another shirt as I started at the left side of my tail. It, too, was caked in blood from the shotgun rounds embedded into me. Carefully, I moved my tail between my legs to see the shells just underneath the initial layer of skin. Every adjustment hurt, but I focused on one piece at a time, doing my best to pull out any fragments I could.

For once, the numbness taking over my body was a welcome reprieve, allowing me to reach a claw into each impact site and pull out the little, metal fragments, thirteen in total. Wrapping the pieces in another shirt, I stood, shaking as I turned the mirror to look at my face. There were a few glass fragments here and there, but nothing quite as serious. My ear, though… I turned the mirror a bit more, seeing a large gash in the bottom of my ear, tracing its way up about two thirds of it.

Every time I turned my head, I felt the weight of my ear flopping around. Black blood was soaking into the fur along the entire left half of my face. With a deep, shuddery breath, I did my best to ignore everything swirling in my head, focusing on what I needed to do in this exact moment. Moving closer to the mirror, I carefully inspected my face, pulling out any glass I could find.

Satisfied I had done what I could, I moved to my hands and arms, managing to at least get the larger fragments out, along with most of the smaller ones. Once I was finished, I looked into the mirror again. Another deep breath, but this one was slightly more calm. I turned the light off in the car and tapped the screen of Gav's GPS. There was only one place I could think to go, so I clicked the 'home' button and began driving.