The storm continued to shower the city with stronger winds than usual. Although the storm was not disaster-level bad, umbrellas can still jump off your hands. Of course, my umbrella was dropped after I was kicked by a maniac in the shoulder. Even with my arm feeling sore, it still baffles me how I was able to pull Amara off the bridge in time. She dashed with incredible speed to save me. Her amber eyes, however, even if they hid behind an advanced set of visor goggles, made that same empty expression from before. I still didn’t understand what was going on, but the sight of rushing water soon came into view. My reflection blurred inches before I got gobbled up by the water. 

With two splashes, darkness filled our line of sight. It was cold, hazy, and scary since it was rare to be underwater. Thankfully, the river’s current pulled us back to the surface, but we were in for a rough ride. Gasping for air, I cried, “Hey, hey, where are you!” There was no answer. My face was splashed with water that fired all around. It wasn’t until I went under a couple of times, flipping between stormy and dark sights, that I finally found Amara. Though she was once again unconscious and floating ahead of me. “No, no!” I attempted to swim, but the river got pretty bad. Not to mention that I barely knew shit when it came to swimming. “Hold on! Amara, come back!” There was no way I could move on my own damn it!

The bridge faded into the background with more waves rushing in. I couldn’t see the gas-masked enemies from before either with all of this water. “Come on, come on!” I pushed myself forward and up however I could. Each arm I moved brought me closer to her. She was all bruised up and cut from fighting bad guys. And now she was here because of my carelessness. But I couldn’t just let her die in my place back there.

Rocks appeared ahead, and the river’s rapids got worse by the moment. Luckily, Amara’s dark cloak let me grab hold of the end just barely. The current was very strong, so I wasn’t able to bring myself any closer. Then, a wave pushed us under the surging water. I managed to grab Amara in time, and we were brought back up to the surface together. “Ah, oh god, finally!” I searched around, trying to spot another bridge or even rocks to grasp onto. The forest trees passed us by as if they were witnessing another poor pair of souls about to drown.  

We were drifting quickly, and it took every muscle to keep Amara, who wore light armor by the way, from floating off. “Amara, wake up, please!” She must have hit her head on something when we fell in. I could really use a Unitarian Guard’s help right now! This is what I get for not being able to think on my feet!

“Is that?” I saw a glimpse of a structure up ahead. I was hoping for it to be a bridge, but my luck was trash. Spikey rocks, worse waves, and a one-way ticket to sleeping with the fishes. “Maybe I should… have…. Gone home!” Water entered my mouth as I reflected on my looming fate.

I looked at Amara’s concealed eyes one last time. “I can’t believe this is it. We’re screwed.” I stared ahead in the river’s direction and thought of my family. “I’m sorry," was the only thought left I could think of. There are so many things I hadn’t finished telling my mom. Places to spend time with my siblings, movies to watch, foods to try, everything that I wanted to do. All of that went down the drain by the minute, then by the second. One last thought came with one last wave that pushed us beneath the engulfing current. Since there was no way to defy Mother Nature, I was left with no choice but to smack my head against an underwater rock. Cutting off my vision to a static halt, and the power going out. 

“Dr. Cortez, I just checked the biometric readings from the CT Scan.”

“Please tell me everything will be fine!”

“Sir, I’m sorry, but, with all due respect, she…”

“I DON'T CARE! MOVE FORWARD WITH PLAN B!”

“But sir! We are talking illegal experimentation!”

“I SAID FUCKING DO IT!”

I rubbed my head, which was a little muddy from the river water ride. “You followed me? But weren’t you and Roger going to eat?” I tilted my head and wondered why he went through the trouble.

“I had a feeling you would need the support this time. Normally, we give you space, but you seemed more out of it than usual. Also, Eileen would have kicked the crap out of me if I hadn’t followed you.” Nathan slipt out a pack of napkins from his pocket. “Dry yourself; you look like you just showered in clothes.”

I grabbed the pack from him. “I fell in a river…”

Nathan glanced at Amara, who was still lying down. "I’m not sure why you were lying here with her, but she’s alive. So what’s her story?”

I grabbed my jacket that Nathan had folded and set to the side. Amara still had her cloak on, along with the advanced visor covering her eyes. I recognized her from one of my classes, third period, I think? She sat a couple of seats ahead of me, and we sometimes grouped up for presentations or projects. However, seeing her here now, in a Unitarian Guard uniform, it was like I was seeing her for the first time. I didn’t know Amara all that well, but this was not something I would have ever imagined she’d work in. Since Unitarian Guards actively battle Enhancers and the Sky Nation.

“It's Amara, from school; she’s a Unitarian Guard.”

Nathan’s deep breath sounded annoyed after I said that. He stood back up and looked down at Amara. “So what happened? Were you being arrested or something?”

“What? No, I was walking nearby, coming back from the store, when I saw her fighting criminals. But these guys were nothing like I had ever seen in a while.” I explained to Nathan, who was getting serious about the situation. “They weren’t just criminals; they had like these lava swords, or you know when blacksmiths are forging swords and it's still hot? One of them even threatened me with it when I went to check on Amara cause she blacked out. They snuck up on me with their sword. But then Amara saved me.” I said in a concerned tone. So much had already happened that I needed to catch my breath.

Nathan stared at me for a good two seconds after I said all of that. “That's, what the shit…” He leaned against a tree and scratched his chin. “I honestly don't know how to respond to that. But we should get out of here before more Unitarian Guards arrive.”

I jolted up, cutting him off, “Whoa, wait, we’ve got to help Amara though!”

“Jake, she’s a Unitarian Guard, and we’re two random dudes alone with her. They’ll get the wrong idea. And I’m not about to let those fuckers in blue arrest us for some misunderstanding.” Nathan’s voice changed into a deeper one. I knew he had issues with Unitarian Guards, but Amara didn’t seem bad.

“She’s a classmate, Nate, a fellow student; you’re really going to abandon her?" Nathan and I normally agreed on things, but this time, I couldn’t believe him.

He looked around at the trees and the nearby riverbed in thought. “I don’t know if your Dad ever told you this, but every Unitarian Guard has a tracker on them. Those guys will be here before you know it.”

I guess Nathan did sort of have a point, but I couldn’t bring myself to leave her here. Especially with those psychos running around. “Fine, but let’s help her up first.” I crouched down beside Amara and Nathan sighed. He then put his hand out in a gesture. 

“You’re going to hurt yourself if you lift like that.” Nathan squatted behind Amara and was going to lift her using both arm and leg strength. He locked his arms into hers and called me. “Get in front of her and pull her up. I got her back.” I stood in front of Amara, ready to grab her hands, but then, one gasp was followed by a flurry of kicks that sent us both flying. 

Shit, she reacted so fast! Amara twirled on her hands quickly and sent sparks of electricity from her now-ignited taser sticks. Nathan was pushed back but managed to land on his feet as always. Amara threw a taser stick like a bullet, to which Nathan rolled to the side. When he looked forward, Amara disappeared. “Nate, watch out!” I yelled while against a tree trunk. 

Nathan darted his head back to meet Amara’s fist. “Damn it!” Should I use it? 

“Amara stop!” I shouted and ran over to Nathan’s side. She stopped just short of caving his face in with her punch. “Stop, please, look, we’re not trying to hurt you!”

She switched to her taser stick and retrieved the other she threw with a magnetic pull from her glove. “Who are you people, and where is it?” she said seriously.

Nathan scoffed with his hands up, “What the hell are you talking about?” 

“Oh?” I suddenly felt something cold around my neck. I searched under the collar of my shirt and pulled out something that felt like a dream, or rather, a deja vu one. Amara and Nathan both looked at me with worried eyes, especially Amara. “Um, I, uh.” I held the creepy skull tag in front of me. It hugged my neck like it was desperate. Though unlike the one from my so-called “dream”, this one was shattered in two, with my left-side face filling the second half. The silence came down all too quickly as the wind continued howling. Although the rain stopped, that would be the least of my worries from here on.