"Guys!" I yelled, turning around. I realized quickly how far ahead we've gotten. It was now almost guaranteed that any of them wouldn't have even realized we were talking about anything upsetting, let alone the details about our conversation.

They looked up at us rushing down to meet them with surprised faces. "Is something wrong?" Cheng asked, glancing around worriedly. Then they all realized there was a smile upon my face and loosened with relief.

"What is it?" asked Crystal.

Between huge breaths, I managed to get the words out. "Bluejay—she has a hover board charger!" I exclaimed.

Smiles spread across their faces. "This is great!" Mom exclaimed. "We don't have to worry about using up all of its battery anymore!"

Bluejay reached into her backpack and pulled it out. It was a little block that converted solar energy into electricity and connected to the hover board. The hover board wouldn't be sturdy enough if they added the paneling of the block onto just the hover board, so many inventors were trying to work that in to no positive result. It's not that bad, though. If you kept this block plugged into the hover board, you wouldn't ever have to pull it out anyways, as long as it wasn't entirely blocked from the sun's rays.

Bluejay plugged it in to the hover board's charger port. The hover board had a small light in the corner that lit yellow to signify it was charging. The hover board would not die on us. We might just survive this—might being the key word.

We decided to use turbo mode on the hover board right now to spare our energy and have a food and drink break. We ate frozen hot pockets—that had since heated to atmospheric temperature—and drank some flavored water. It tasted so good—recently we have only been eating in the morning or at night, but whichever we chose, it was the only time we ate and drank all day. Combined with Bluejay's supplies, we had enough confidence in our supplies to increase our rations, at least for the day, so we ate a bag of Doritos with our meal.

About ten minutes into our meal, when the hover board slowed to normal speed—there may be a charger attached, but it still can't hold turbo mode for much longer—we shoved what we had left into our mouths and turned it off. It was best to let it charge enough to use turbo mode again if we needed to.

We ate so fast I had to slow down because I felt I might throw up if I ate more at that speed. It was too good. I thought back to how I thoughtlessly ate food like this almost every day and about five times as much of it. Only if I had that kind of food to spare nowadays.

Much later, when we were hiking again, Bluejay and I found ourselves pulling a bit farther ahead. When we were far enough not to be heard when talking normally, she asked, "So what's your story? I've told you mine, and I know it won't be as intense, but I'm curious how Phoenix became Phoenix, if you don't mind me asking."

"My story?" I asked. I was about to refuse, but I remembered how much she confided me with and how much explanation about my life I owed her. "Alright, if you must know, I was born on January twelfth of 3451 in Texas. We lived there for most of my life, and ever since I was two, I was best friends with Jessica Reid. We did almost everything together.

"That was, until we were fourteen. It was our last year of middle school and we were still inseparable and I couldn't recall a single time we had fought if you had asked me to. We knew each other' lives inside out. Anyway, Jessica started to feel horrible every day. She had an ache in her chest, felt numb a lot, was vomiting frequently, and felt weak. Sometimes she had trouble speaking. There was more than just that, and finally she went to the hospital.

"She was diagnosed with a type of brain cancer. It was horrible. I was fearful for her life every day, as was she. I tried to tell her she's not going to die yet, but she became more and more fearful and depressed. She didn't see the point anymore, living like that. It killed me to see what she'd become. She didn't understand her living in fear was pointless and that she should try and enjoy moments that we could have together and that she could still have them.

"I felt horrible. I really did. It was tearing me apart to know what she was going through and there was nothing I could do about it. And soon, Jessica began to go insane. The tumors and treatments ruined her mental health and she just went downhill from there. Eventually, after the cancer took her sanity, it took her life. I had lost the only true friend I felt I could trust anything with." I felt tears begin to form and roll down my cheeks. Not again, not again, oh Jessica—why did the tumors have to take her!? Why her!? Why not me?!

I paused a moment before I continued. I felt Bluejay's hand on my shoulder. "I had no idea," she said. "You don't show you carry the pain of something like that—I'm sorry I had you remember all of it."

"It's okay," I said. "It feels good to say it all—after the pain of the reminder. It's just—Jessica—I miss her. And I know her from the past, from before the cancer, she would want me to keep my heart open no matter what happened. It's better to feel and love and get hurt for it than not to at all. The beauty of the entire thing, how happy it makes multiple people feel, just everything about doing that. So I did. I kept my heart open. And I made many friends in my Texan town and spent a lot of time with Austin, my brother, who died from one of the crevices in the earth, bet recently." I paused. "And Crystal. I felt I had to protect her from everything the world had in store, and I've done my best to do that her whole life. She's so sweet and innocent and would give everyone a chance. We've built a huge bond.

"Soon enough, however, my parents wanted to move somewhere northern and cold, something with a nice change of scenery. In freshman year of high school, my parents had us move to a nice place in a small, cute town in Oregon. Which was where I lived until right before—well, all this happened. But in between, I kept in touch with everyone in Texas and made new friends in Oregon. I even got a boyfriend in Oregon, who's name was Peter Lexington.

"Peter was my rock, my soulmate. We felt that way, at least. It was passionate and true—we truly loved each other for who we were. I know it—I know it because when he was told he was moving and found out the hard way his parents were firm on it, he scheduled an entire day to do things with me. We went bowling, to the movies, to the arcade, almost everything the area had to offer. On his moving day, we just sat next to each other, crying. We hugged, we kissed, and finally, when he went into his car, we waved goodbye.

"I was extremely distraught. He had moved all the way to the other coast—to Maryland. We talked so much over our phones that my parents began to worry about me. Of course, I was not okay. I just wanted Peter, you know? I was too into him to think about much else.

"Then, one day, his texts ceased. The numbers calling my phone were never his. Then, two days later, I finally got a call from him. Although it was his number, it wasn't from him. It was his mother. 'Peter?' I had asked excitedly. 'Where have you been?'

"His mother was not in a light mood, which I noticed quickly. Then I panicked. She went on to explain between sobs how he had died saving a family in a fire because there were no firemen there yet—but he had gotten all the people and their dog out safely. They were targeted by a mass murderer who tries to kill in the most agonizing ways he can think of. He was getting their toddler out when he tossed the kid through a three-story window since there was no escape route after signaling to one of its parents. The parent caught the kid and watched as the flames caught up to Peter standing by the window while the family called the firemen. They came too late, however—Peter was burned alive." On the last four words they became blurred and barely audible even in my ears—Bluejay should be able to easily figure or what I said, so thankfully I don't have to repeat myself—as I began to sob again. I may not love him exactly like I did then, but he still meant a lot to me. "And the murderer wasn't even imprisoned," I blurted out, now sobbing louder.

Bluejay put her arm around me and squeezed a little. "I'm so sorry," she said.

"And then with a bit of studying here and friends there and playing with Crystal all the way over there and family time everywhere, and the destruction of all those things, I ended up here." I bitterly kicked some dirt in front of me. "Why did it have to be this way? Why Peter? I know those questions are unanswerable and it wasn't my fault, but all he did was try and save a family. It just makes me want to be the kind of person he was, and the kind of person Jessica was, before her cancer. I just want to do the right thing for those I love and everyone else, too—they showed me what kind of person to be. And I won't let that die with them. I will carry it on with me."

We let my words hang over us as Bluejay looked up the mountain. It looked like it might rain.

As soon as I thought that, I felt a few drops. Soon, the few occasional drops became a constant drizzle. That became a light rain, then slowly a heavy rain. We slowed down to wait for the rest of them. Once they reached us, we all took steps forward and slipped and fell. I face-planted into a pile of mud.

"What the hell?" Bluejay said, which startled Crystalline. "Sorry," Bluejay apologized, trying not to smile at the fact that I bet she's said a lot worse and not cared about it at all.

Coming back to the current situation, the rain softened areas in the earth. Adjacent cracks and crevices began to erode and became too big to just walk by.

"Where's the hover board!?" I yelled. "It would be pretty useful about now!"

As Mom was pulling it out of her bag, she swore. Crystal's eyes widened even more. "Mom!" she said. "You just said a naughty word!"

"I'm sorry, honey, but the hover board—uhh—the hover board...it's not working," she said.

"What!?" I said. "Are you kidding? Do you know why?"

She pulled out a dripping hover board from the bag. "This might be why," she said. "Looks like we're kinda screwed."

"Mom!" Crystal said. Bluejay chuckled to herself so subtly I was pretty sure I'd been the only one who'd noticed.

"Crystal, there are more pressing matters," Cheng said while jumping over a crack starting to form. "Like how we might all die if we do not find another solution."