I awaken to Jinx's voice. "We should be going. The vile bears are primarily nocturnal hunters, but they also search for prey in the middle of the day, into the late hours of the night. After midnight, they return to their caves and sleep until late morning. If we leave now, we'll have several hours on foot before they stir from slumber."

The sphere-shaped drone rests on the ground at the mouth of the cave. Its small video screen with the blue waves faces us, the motion intensifying as Jinx speaks.

With Eve's head buried in my chest, she pushes up with a moan and droopy eyes. There's an impression of her chin on my left pectoral and a slight discomfort, but it's something I welcome. I catch the fragrance of the shampoo she used at the habitat when we showered after Jinx restored the water flow. Even after our dip in the river, it still permeates her hair. It reminds me of strawberries. I'm not sure where this connection comes from since I've yet to see any fruit since I awoke from stasis. I suppose it comes from the memory transfer.

"Good morning." Eve offers a faint smile.

"Did you sleep well?" Seems like an obvious question, maybe a little stupid considering the circumstances.

She nods, the upturned corners of her mouth dropping and eyes glancing away as she nudges up to her feet. We're in an awkward phase with communicating about our relationship, whatever stage it's in. There's no doubt I like Eve, and I might grow on her, so I hope a spark will catch fire soon. To my knowledge, she's the only woman on Earth and I'm the only man, but when I look at her, I know she would get my attention even if we lived on a planet full of people. There's something that kicks to life in my chest when she looks at me.

Even after she's left my personal space, I sigh and inhale her remaining scent. I find it pleasant. She walks over to the cave entrance and stands by the drone, stretching her arms above her head, sighing mildly. Her white tank-top bears the evidence of our rustle through the forest, rolling inside the rotten log, seized by the river rapids, and then our narrow escape via the washed out bridge, which didn't end so well for me. But I'm alive. Eve is alive. Although bruises streak her arms and shoulders, obscuring her light spattering of freckles. 

On my feet, I arch my back and hear my vertebrae pop, relieving the tension in my spine from sleeping on the ground. I admit, the bed in our private quarters is much more inviting.

We dig into Eve's drawstring bag for another ration of freeze-dried food and water. After breakfast, we're left with four pouches of each. Fortunately, we're returning to the habitat, since we only have enough for lunch and dinner. That's it. After that, if we weren't heading back, we'd be down to hunting and gathering. At the moment, I'm not confident with my survival skills, so I'm glad with the decision we made, especially since Jinx found us.

On the trail back to the habitat, now that the vile bears aren't chasing us and our pace has slowed, I take the time to notice the surrounding scenery. Ferns and mosses cover the forest floor like a green blanket, carpeting over dead trees, spreading down into ditches, and up and over elevated areas. It gets me to pondering the rotted out, hollow tree. If Abraham had reseeded the Earth recently, how would there have been time for trees to die, fall over and rot? Unless, the reseeding took place a long time ago. How long does it take for trees to die off? I don't know, but it makes me question what Abraham told us. If he lied to us about that, what else has he lied to us about? That makes me want to find out, but I say nothing to Eve because of Jinx. He would go straight to Abraham.

I think about the vile bears, and my step quickens. "We should increase our pace, make better time," I say to Eve.

She catches up to me. "Good idea."

Jinx moves in front of us, scanning the terrain ahead. As he spins on a central axis, the video screen changes from blue to red, and instead of waves, a line shifts from side to side. A mild crimson beam aims in the general direction of where he looks.

By mid morning, we've traveled a few hours and with our steady and brisk gait, I feel confident we're making better time than what we did when we left the habitat and fled toward the river. Farther into the journey back, we make course adjustments. First, north. Then northwest. And now, directly north again.

By noon, after we stop for our lunch ration, we find ourselves deep in the heart of the Yellowstone Forest. The ground is flat and filled with spruce trees. Overhead, the thick canopy intertwines and blocks most of the sunlight from reaching us. The drone, under Jinx's control, continues to dodge enormous tree trunks as it scans the area for threats. Smaller creatures I've yet to see scurry along the outskirts, claws scratching, sinking into the bark.

Then the surrounding area grows quiet.

I remember our last encounter with a rhino-bear. Everything got quiet moments before it lunged from the shadows.

For a split second, my glare catches Eve's roaming eye. She glances away, searching the forest for movement. For the sound of heavy paws and hungry eyes, staring down the snout on each side of an unnatural set of rhino horns. That's what she's looking for. What I'm scouring the gaps between the trees for. Why Jinx is on the lookout. But nothing happens, and we move on.

By late afternoon, the sun shifts further to the west; the forest dimming under the pale glow of orange light filtering through the green ceiling above us. If the hushed scene of a few hours ago was eerie, it's magnified now because Eve and I know daylight will soon wane into night. We have to reach the habitat before then. We have to be close. I ask Jinx, and he says that at our current pace, we'll reach the hab in less than fifteen minutes.

"Not soon enough," Eve says. And I agree. All I hear is our feet snapping twigs and crunching foliage. The tension feels tangible, like I could snatch the atmosphere around us and yank it aside like a curtain to reveal the vile creatures of the forest, waiting to tear into our flesh and rip us limb from limb.

Birds burst from the treetops, flapping wings and squawking.

I flinch and throw my gaze overhead. Eve whips around, probably thinking, like myself, that something spooked the flock.

"There's nothing to be afraid of," Jinx says. "Not yet anyway. The closest vile bear is still a quarter of a mile away."

"That sounds too close. You could've told us," Eve replies.

"I agree that's too close," I say. "But it was likely us who startled the birds. We probably have nothing to worry about."

"I would tell you if a vile bear was encroaching our perimeter." Jinx stops in midair and spins around to face us. The screen in the center of his sphere changes from a red line back to the blue waves. "Like now. That same large specimen is charging us from the west, less than four hundred yards and closing."

"What? Are you serious? Why didn't you warn us?"

"Because the creature was maintaining a steady distance from us. With all the tree cover, it was well out of visual range, and since the wind is light from the north, it probably wouldn't have smelled you either."

"What do we do?" Eve asks.

"Run." Jinx spins around, facing away from us, and takes off toward what I hope is the habitat.

Eve launches into an all-out-sprint, and I follow behind her, running as fast as my legs allow.

"Less than two hundred yards." Jinx doesn't slow down. "It's taking an angle to cut us off."

"How does it know where we are?" The words ride the waves of my terrified panting.

"Vile bears hear exceptionally well at lower and higher wavelengths. Much better than humans." Jinx continues forward, but not so fast that we can't keep up. He speaks on the move as if it's just as easy to do as when stationary. "Of course, now that you've raised your voices, it's likely locked onto us for sure. Yes. Based on its rate of speed at thirty-nine miles per hour, and its hard charge in our direction without letting up, it is definitely coming for us. It may have gotten a whiff of your scent by now, too. Thus the increase in speed. If we don't hurry, it'll intercept us before we reach the habitat."

"How much farther to the hab?" Eve leaps over a dead tree on the ground. Right behind her, I hurtle it too.

"Less than a hundred yards."

But I see nothing but trees.

Then the forest thins, and falls away altogether, and the clearing that borders the northern bend of the river appears. So does the habitat. Fifty yards away.

The vile bear—the freaking rhino-bear—barrels out of the forest, pounding toward us like a freight train. Yes, I remember what a train is.

When we draw within thirty feet of the habitat's rear entrance, I glance behind me to see that fifty feet separates us from the ravenous creature.

The bear roars after us, the size of a large sport utility vehicle.

Yes, I remember what cars are too.

Jinx unlocks and opens the door by remote.

At the last second, Eve and I leap across the threshold behind Jinx. I turn as the vile bear grumbles toward us, ten feet away.

The passage seals shut with a thunk. There's a violent impact as the creature crashes into the door, but we're safe, back inside the habitat.

As I stand there, panting, I can't help but want to access the habitat's computer files to find the answers to the questions that trouble me the most. Like, why are there trees that have reached full maturity, even some alive long enough to die and rot? Also, I'd like to know what went wrong with the reseeding? Even more disturbing: are the rhino-bears the worst thing this new Yellowstone offers? Something tells me there's much more out there, and I'm not sure I want to experience it.