I fall asleep next to Tyka, gripping her hand as if it is gonna make this whole thing better. The fields are uncomfortable to sleep on, but it’s better than nothing.  I fall asleep in a haze, my brain replaying Tykas death over and over. I wake up to a sensation on my head, like something is rubbing against it. My eyes flutter open, still swollen from the crying. I pat the top of my head but immediately pull back when I feel a hand. I look around. This is the place where I fell asleep, only with me and Tyka, but that must mean…

My head jolts up, my gaze immediately falling on Tyka. Her eyes are open and she meets my gaze, smiling. ¨T-Tyka?¨ I say in surprise. I study her closely. The blood that used to cover her lower half is now gone, along with the bandages I used. ¨H-How are you alive?!?¨ I practically scream, pulling her into a tight hug.

I look down at my once bleeding arm, which blood covers no more as well. During my attempts to save Tyka, I used all of the bandages, leaving no extras to patch my arm, which just bled out. Tyka is practically glowing…her whole body lit up in some weird way, but I just chose to ignore it. Tears start rolling down my cheeks, and Tyka looks very confused but accepts my embrace.

¨Yeah it is me?¨ She says, clear confusion in her tone. She pulls away from my embrace and shakes my shoulders. ¨Are you feeling ok? You didn´t suffer too much blood loss did you?¨ Her tone is full of concern, which is admirable, especially after suffering so much.

The heat of the situation suddenly dawns on me. She was dead last night, she didn´t even have a pulse. Which means she must be dead…but I´m communicating with her. ¨Wait…how are you alive?!¨ I scream pulling away. I clasp both of her hands between mine, like a sandwich. Her hands are cold but surprisingly soft. ¨What´s the last thing you remember? Be VERY descriptive.¨ Her look of concern only deepens, and she does that cute nose scrunch thing which almost makes me forget my question.

She looks down at our hands, her cheeks going a bit pink. I meet her gaze and immediately unclasp my hands, jumping back a little. ¨I-I remember protecting you from the guard, but for some reason, it wasn´t as painful as I thought it would be. Like I saw the blood but my immediate thought was if you were ok, not me. Isn´t that strange? Well anyway, soon everything went black and I woke up to you sleeping beside me.¨ She finishes speaking, waiting for a reaction.

I was only half listening, the other half of my attention focused on her speaking. The way her hair moved in the wind, and how pretty her emerald green eyes were. I suddenly realize what I am thinking and turn a deep crimson red, trying to play it off. I decide to go with this answer,¨I-uhhhhh….I´m so…Sigh, I´m so glad you're ok Tyka,¨ I finally decide to say that sentence, looking into her eyes for some sort of reaction.

She grabs my shoulder and meets my gaze. ¨Me too Liv.¨ Now it's her turn for her cheeks to go red, but before she can pull her hand away I hold it in place. 

We both look like blushing idiots, but after a few minutes, we agree that we are both well enough to continue on our journey to find Rory. This has certainly been an experience. But a couple of things still puzzle me. First off, I still haven´t had any water, but I don't feel thirsty at all. Also, my legs weren´t sore at all, but we had been walking up hills for miles. And I still don´t have an explanation for how the blood just disappeared without a single trace of stain or pain. I glance over at Tyka. She is walking perfectly fine as well. I wonder if she has had any water as well…

¨Tyka…I have a question. When was the last time you had water?¨ I ask curiously. She looks over at me puzzled, clearly thinking.

¨Hmmm. Now that you mention it…I haven´t had water since.¨ She stops walking, her eyes widening in shock, some color leaving her cheeks. ¨S-since I got here…¨ 

We both stand there in stunned silence, both thinking over it. But. we would die if we didn´t have water! None of this makes any sense. ¨L-lets get going.¨ I manage to stutter out after a couple of seconds of uncomfortable silence. Tyka slowly nods her head as we start walking again. 

I walk over the last hill in sight, looking forward in a mix of shock and fear. Up ahead of us is a forest..of dead trees. Tyka follows behind me, almost replicating my reaction when she lays eyes on the forest as well.

This place screams haunted. Everything is dead, and I´m not sure if I´m stepping on bones or sticks. I´m too afraid to look down and see for myself. There is a blanket of mist covering the forest, adding so much more mystery to the place. Everything seems to be alive like the trees are judging us as we walk past them. After a couple of minutes of uncomfortable silence, we hear something in the bushes. It sounds large and dangerous. Tyka and I make brief eye contact before running for my life. Strangely, we are running at the same pace. As we run I hear the sound of rushing water, and before I know what's happening I feel myself falling to the floor and face-planting in a shallow pit of muddy water.

¨Liv are you ok?¨ Tyka asks, kneeling to my level. I sit up and rub my nose. I don't feel anything. Not my face nor does my body hurt, as I rub my nose I can't even feel my hand. Maybe it’s so bad my face turned numb?

¨Y-yeah Tyka. I´m fine.¨ I say standing up. I look down at my shoes, all torn and ragged, my feet must also be numb because I can't feel the ground beneath me. I suddenly hear a loud noise. I gaze at the lake and see it swirling towards the center, rising into what looks like a tornado. 

I shuffle back in shock, almost falling again but Tyka catches me. ¨Gotcha!¨ She exclaims as I fall into her arms. My face turns a bit red as I quickly regain my balance and turn my attention back to the lake. It's forming a floating ball as it rises higher and higher. I grip Tyka´s shirt in anticipation as we both take a couple of steps back. My hands fall to the sides, as I feel Tyka taking one in hers, our fingers interlocking.

The ball of water floats for a couple more seconds until it explodes, completely drenching me and Tyka. I groan and wipe my eyes, clearing the water away from my face. As my vision clears up I see it. A man sits there, probably around my mom's age. He is floating in the air, sitting down as if he´s a god. It takes me a second but then I realize who he is. This man looks exactly like Rory. 

Tyka and I stand there in stunned silence as Rory looks down at us. Eventually, Tyka shouts out, loud enough for him to hear. ¨Take us home!¨ Both me and Rory are startled by the outburst but then Rory breaks into laughter. 

¨Omg you don't know?¨ He says between laughs. Tyka and I look out at him, confusion written all over our faces. After about a minute he stops laughing and looks at us. ¨ You're dead.¨