Wet underwear. Yep. That's how bad Asia's day was and it had just started. Keller woke her up just as the sun made its debut. He pushed her shoulder once and uttered let's go before departing out the cave. No, he didn't wait until she rubbed the fog of sleep from her eyes, remembering where she was. No, he didn't give her a hand helping her to her feet because her thigh was still sore from the wound. And no, he didn't slow down as he stormed through the trees. So, she left him.

       The easy flow of water called to her like a siren. Asia took a sharp right grappling pass the bristling thicket. A faint smile formed on her face. Sweet because she had found water and a place to clean her undergarments but bitter because this was the place Eric was going to teach her how to fish, again. It wasn't that she forgot. She just didn't pick up the trade, all the other times he showed her.

      Asia pulled her underwear out the pocket of her overall shorts and dipped them in the water as Shaka tipped his tongue in the river. She pulled the drenched cloth over the sandy terrain and wrenched out the water. That would have to do. She had no Surf, Gain, or Tide. She limped back into the thicket, unhooked her overalls and slid the damp undergarment back on her body. She sighed watching Shaka peer across the river.

      "I want out, too, boy." She muttered climbing back through the thicket and skidding down the sandy knoll.

       Asia undid the laces of the dead man's boots and stepped out of them. Letting her feet plunge into the hot sand, deep enough for her soles to feel the cool earth, and she let her soul relax. This was the first time since the dawn of her new reality that she let her mind go blank. She pushed away all the plaguing questions. 

Is Ethan still alive? 

Is Eric still alive; or Denver, Ashlyn, Jordan, and Yasmin? 

What was she going to eat because the acorns Keller gave her weren't filling her up? 

How was she going to get back home? 

Why were her eyes glowing? 

What does OXRO really mean because when Keller got back he rushed to sleep before filling her in?

       She walked along the beach letting the blazing sun burn the questions from her mind. She lost herself in the quiet. No birds chirping. No cicadas buzzing. Nothing. She stopped on the bank and watched the river roll by her like a lazy Susan. She tucked her hands inside her overalls letting them rest against her abdomen. She heard one statement as her mind spoke to her. You are not normal.

       Normal. All her life that's what she tried to be. Normal, when her period didn't start at twelve. Normal, when her accident-prone disposition reaped her astronomical injuries. Normal, when the only relationship she had ended because she didn't want to bequeath her virginity to him. Or normal, like having a pet wolf that would never leave her side. Asia finally gave up and relinquished the charade she tried to uphold. 

       The lies she told. Buying tampons that she just threw away or swapping boyfriend dramas with Leslee, Ashlyn, and Yasmin. When she found them she was going to.... Tell them is what she was going to place in her heart but her mind presented her with another question. How do you know you'll see them again? 'I don't' she admitted to herself with a shutter. Then one of those things that proved she wasn't normal appeared. Her resounding ears picked up the effortless footsteps of Keller. How did she know it was him? The same notes of oak, cloves, and lemon that enveloped her in the cave floated through the steamy breeze.

       "What the hell are you doing?" Keller asked with a toneless voice breaking the blanket of calm Asia had draped around her.

       "Studying the migration of honeybees." Asia sighed pulling her arms out her overalls. "What the hell does it look like I'm doing?" She rolled her eyes before swiveling to face him.

        Keller took in her presence letting his eyebrows rise, "Wasting time."

       "Wasting time?" She sat her hand on her waist jutting out her hip. "All we have is time. Unless you have some secret schedule in your backpack." She pointed to the all black pack cleaved to his naked back.

        "I don't have a schedule." Keller barked out.

         "Then what's the plan?" She was trying to calm down but every fiber of her essence was annoyed. "Because you woke me up.... to go where...exactly!"

        He sniffed looking down the river. "We need to keep moving." He started walking back to the trees.

       Did he just turn his back on me? Is he walking away from me? Asia's annoyance ballooned into aggravation.

          Asia lunged toward him, grabbing his backpack. Keller jerked around yanking the black strap from her hand. Shaka rose to his feet watching Keller with the same glare the young man gave Asia.

       "Don't touch my bag," Keller ordered.

      "Don't tell me what to do." She retorted.

         Asia leered at him with the same enraged intensity, not wavered by the extra foot he had over her. "What?" She grew tired of his eyes on her.

        "Stay." Keller stepped back catching Shaka's silhouette in his peripheral.  "I'm trying to help you!" He jabbed his finger at her.

         "You're trying to help me! Ha!" Asia croaked. " You left me."

         "No, I didn't. You liar! You left me." He stabbed his finger in the flesh of his chest. "Playing Dora the fucking Explorer."

     "Don't call me a liar." Asia punched his shoulder.

      Keller slapped her balled hand away giving off no sign of pain. "Well, girl that bends truths, then. Is that better?"

      "I...bend the truth!" She gestured to herself. "What about you?"

       "What about me? I'm not a liar, Pinocchio." He formed his mouth into a smirk that caused Asia's eyes to narrow.

       "You said you were going to tell me what an OXRO was when you came back to the cave." She air quoted. "But you went to sleep."

      "Hell yeah!" Keller gasped slumping over as if he was still tired. "I walked six miles...there and back." He exhaled heavily. "I was tired." Asia saw the frustration in his eyes fade. "Plus...you were cranky."

    She folded her arms, "Are you blaming your lie on my menstruation?"

     Keller turned up his nose, cringing. "Don't say that word."

     "What word?" She bit her lip holding back a smile that refused to be restrained. "Menstr-"

      "Omega." Keller spat out shutting Asia up. "Xi. Omicron. Rho."

     "You told me that already."

      "Omega, which means the end." He spoke straightening his broad shoulders. "They kill and they don't stop killing until they are told to. Xi's are warriors that fight to survive, no matter what. Omicron: the best tracker you'll ever know. Rho: clever, cunning tricksters. They'll injure themselves just to fool you."

      "How do you know all this?" She searched him trying to find where he stored the information.

      "Rupert told me while I was riding with him in the back of the van before I...." His breaths sped up as he dropped his head. Asia read the shame flowing over his face.

      "You're a Xi..." Asia leaned over finding his eyes. "You did what you had to do."

      "I know." He weakly smiled. "That doesn't make it any better." He pulled his head up grabbing at his backpack straps.

      Asia lifted his chin, "Cheer up, buttercup!" They both laughed as he pushed her hand away.

       "Asia!" A potent holler yanked Keller and Asia's attention immediately.

Who do you think is calling Asia?