May woke up hurting all over. She immediately sensed that her left leg and several ribs were broken. There was a rge gash on her colrbone, and she was covered in bruises. She felt grass under her, and realized that she was no longer in the ship. She tried to look around, but as soon as she lifted her head off the ground, pain shot through her torso, and she became dizzy.

  She leaned over and vomited up blood.

  “Internal bleeding. This is bad.”

  She looked around and saw the smoking wreck of the ship nearby, then her eyes nded on an armored figure running across the field towards them. She watched in horror as Zan lost an arm.

  “Damn it, they found us. And there’s no way we can fight right now.”

  May had generally been considered the most intelligent of the group, skilled in all kinds of technology and especially good with math. She was also just a quick thinker in general, and she now assessed the situation in an instant, coming to the conclusion that-

  “We’re screwed.”

  She ran through every option avaible to her at the moment, eliminating one after another in a quick, logical process of elimination that left her with just one idea.

  “The Empire probably wants to recapture Rey, so this might work. It’s stupid and risky, but better than giving up.”

  She fought through the pain and began to crawl back towards the ship. She ignored the burns she got as she pulled herself over the searing hot metal and tumbled inside. The air was hot, but the broken windows let out enough smoke that she was able to breathe as she crawled along the floor towards the bedrooms.

  “This’ll probably be the end for me, but I’ve got to try something.” she thought as she struggled towards her final destination.

  ***

  “What the…” Zan said as he realized what had happened. “Did you kill her?”

  “She was already half dead, so it was more like putting her out of her suffering. Anyway, who the hell is this?”

  “Oh, you’re on the list too. That’s great, now I won't have to search the ship to find you. And you’ve already killed the other girl, so…my job is halfway done!” the bounty hunter said, sounding pleased.

  “I don’t care if you kill the rest of these guys, but the girl’s mine. I’m gonna kill her!” Marcus said, tossing May’s body aside and leaping down towards the bounty hunter.

  “Well, I can’t have that… Alright, I’ll take care of you first then,” the bounty hunter said, charging to meet him.

  Zan rolled out of the way and looked over to see Rey getting up. He realized that this was probably his only chance, and ran for it, scrambling to his feet and making a mad dash with the sudden surge of adrenaline he felt. He nded on his knees next to Rey as she pushed herself up.

  “Quick, give me all your energy! It’s the only way we survive this!” he shouted, holding out his blood drenched left hand. She appeared to be in shock, but snapped out of it and took his hand in both of hers. She shut her eyes and he felt new energy surge through him.

  Behind them, Marcus and the armored bounty hunter cshed, moving at superhuman speeds as they blocked each other's punches and sshes while striking with their own. Marcus swung his leg in a kick and the bounty hunter blocked it while throwing a punch which was parried by Marcus. The bounty hunter jabbed at him with another bde, and Marcus knocked it away with his metal arm.

  Meanwhile, Rey relinquished his hand and opened her eyes.

  “Alright, I’m going to carry you as we run,” Zan said, wrapping his left arm around her waist.

  “Huh?!” Zan picked her up and took off into the trees, leaping over logs and tearing through the undergrowth at breakneck speed.

  The bounty hunter ducked to avoid a punch from Marcus’s metal arm while simultaneously pnting his left arm on the ground and swinging his leg out to knock Marcus off his feet. Marcus fell and the bounty hunter jumped forward, pnting his short bde directly between his opponent’s eyes.

  “Whoops, I don’t think I was supposed to damage the faces. Oh well, I don’t think it’ll affect the bounty. Now, about those two…”

  He turned his head towards the forest.

  Zan ran at over twenty miles per hour through the trees, dodging left and right to avoid clumps of denser foliage that would slow them down.

  The city they had pnned to nd in was Mizga, but now that they’d been knocked off course, Zan had no idea where they were. He was just focused on escaping the imminent danger.

  “We have to get as far away as fast as possible,” Zan said, struggling for breath as he ran. His loss of one arm, coupled with the fact that he was carrying Rey under the other made it much tougher to keep his bance, especially due to the blood loss and shock.

  “It’s over,” a voice said, just before a powerful kick to his right side sent him flying through the air. He clutched Rey to his chest, protecting her as he smmed into the ground and rolled into the base of a tree.

  “I’ve got no choice,” Zan said, setting Rey down. He reached up to the right side of his neck. “Removing fifty limiters!”

  He scooped up Rey and shot to the left at a speed no normal human would be capable of. The bounty hunter raced after them, but the gap widened and he soon fell out of view.

  Zan continued running until he was sure they had lost their pursuer.

  He skidded to a stop and dropped to his knees in exhaustion. He set Rey down and immediately touched his neck.

  “Adding fifty limiters,” he said, wincing.

  Rey sat up and looked at him. His breathing was uneven, and he was sweating profusely. His hand was shaking, and his shirt bloodsoaked.

  “Where should we go now? We need to get you to a doctor as soon as possible.”

  “I don’t know,” Zan said, looking defeated. “We’ve lost.”

  “We can still get out of here, maybe. We shouldn’t give up yet.”

  “They’re all dead, and I couldn’t do anything. I lost an arm, and neither of us can fight back. Even if we somehow get out of this now, they’ll keep coming until I’m dead and you’ve been captured.”

  “Stop,” Rey said, her hands trembling. Now that the shock was wearing off, she felt despair closing in.

  Zan said nothing more, but got up slowly, as if all his energy had vanished. Rey followed him as they began walking. Neither knew where they were headed, only that they needed to keep going.

  Zan felt lightheaded and began to stumble over roots and pnts more often, his pace slowing as he struggled to keep walking.

  Without a word, Rey took his arm and draped it over her shoulders, supporting him as they walked.

  Each day on Temure was approximately 41 hours, and judging by the sun's position in the sky above them it would still be at least 12 hours until sunset. Rey didn’t know how long someone could survive with an injury like Zan’s, but she realized that if they didn’t find help soon, he probably wouldn’t make it.

  They continued walking, his arm over her shoulder.

  ***

  Zan was slowly becoming numb to the constant pain, which scared him. As he walked, supported by the girl beside him, he became aware of the utter humiliation of this scenario. He felt crushed by his powerlessness every step he struggled to take.

  His vision began growing dim, and his thoughts disjointed.

  He felt the urge to vomit suddenly well up inside him, and fell to his knees at the base of a nearby tree. He vomited the dark yellowish-brown contents of his stomach all over the twisted mass of roots beneath him, his eyes becoming watery and his arms shaking.

  After a few minutes the girl helped him to his feet and they continued walking.

  He lost track of time, and couldn’t tell how many hours passed by as they stumbled through the same scenery that seemed to stretch on forever.

  He wondered why she didn’t just abandon him and try to find help on her own.

  “I have to keep going.”

  The sounds of the forest grew faint.

  “They’re all dead. Aneeta, May, Andre, Marcus. I couldn’t save them. I got them into this, and now they’re gone. It’s my fault they’re dead.

  “I made mistakes, I underestimated the danger, I didn’t realize this would happen. I thought I had everything under control, and now everyone’s paid the price for my foolishness. I should’ve listened to my father, should’ve given up before I began…

  “No, I could never do that.

  “There’s no way in hell I could live and do nothing while a member of my family’s in danger. I don’t even know if she’s alive or not, but I can’t rest until I have closure.

  “It’s my fault that they died, but I won’t let that stop me from trying to save my family.

  “I’ll do what my father couldn’t, and make up for his failure.

  “I have to keep going, so I can survive.

  “I have to get stronger, so I can save her.

  “Otherwise, I’ll end up hating everyone, myself most of all.

  Zan stumbled onwards in a daze, paying no attention to his surroundings. He raised his eyes to see the trees swaying, or perhaps that was him. The green became a blur as he lost the ability to think straight.

  His foot caught on something, and he fell forward, crashing into the side of a tree and scraping his left cheek. Before he could fall to the ground he was caught and held steady by the girl beside him.

  He looked at her, confused.

  “Why are you here? I’ve been looking for you…”

  “What are you talking about? You’re bleeding,” the girl said, wiping his cheek with her sleeve. “Hold onto me while we walk.”

  They continued walking, exhaustion weighing down upon them.

  “Tired. I need to sleep,” he said.

  “No, we need to keep going, otherwise you’ll die!”

  “Die? Hehe…I guess. I’ll die…” he let out a shallow ugh, but continued taking step after step onward.

  “We’re not, gonna, die,” she breathed, taking the majority of his weight on her shoulders.

  At this pace, they were only covering several feet a minute.

  The trees swayed and began to twist into patterns.

  The sky faded above him as leaves covered everything.

  Zan looked around and felt eyes watching them, never moving. He hated it.

  Arms held him up as he moved forward.

  His shirt felt wet with blood. He tried to take it off, but his right arm was missing.

  He wondered again how long it had been. He felt as though he were floating, light as helium.

  He saw stars. He saw pnts. He saw a tiny gray butterfly flutter past. He saw the sweat on the girl’s skin.

  The pnts fell away, and they stopped walking.

  A stretch of ft earth wound through the woods in either direction.

  A dirt road, slightly overgrown.

  Zan y on the ground where the girl set him down. Exhaustion instantly overwhelmed him as he closed his eyes.

  His consciousness faded and sank into darkness.