I had never been so hungry or needed to pee so much in my life. Yes, after nearly getting crushed to death by pounds of sand, that was my first thought.

I chuckled, which struck pain my chest. I slid my tongue over my lips to moisten them. Water would be great, too. After I went to the bathroom.

"You're finally awake!" I looked up, which gave me a clear view of Aster's toothy grin. He grabbed my shoulders and lifted me up in one swift motion, crushing me in a hug. "God, for a minute I thought you weren't going to wake up."

I nodded. His arms hurt my sore body, which caused my vision to blur. "A-Aster—"

"Sorry." He broke away. I let my body fall back down. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

I shook my head. "Don't worry." My throat scratched with every word. "You didn't know."

"You don't understand; it was me. Apparently, there was a trap I set off since I couldn't see. I was able to get out before the sand started getting too bad, but I thought you were behind me. If you died, I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself. It would've been all my fault and-"

"Shut up, you're giving me a headache." Aster smiled sadly. I used my palms to lift myself up, wincing as pain shot through my shoulders and spine. "I'm fine, and you didn't know. It's okay."

Aster shook his head, unconvinced. My vision had cleared again. I noticed a dark mark around his right eye. "What happened?"

Aster placed his fingers over his eye. "Ask Ed," he spat. I flinched. I had never seen him look so cold.

He caught my discomfort, so he replaced the glare with a smile. It was tight at the corners. "Do you need anything?"

"Food and water."

"Ed's already set off to do that. Anything else?"

"Turn around." Aster looked at me, perplexed, but turned around. I went behind to the nearest bush off of the path. I slid the suit off of my shoulders, closing my eyes as the breeze brushed against my skin.

"Can I look now?"

"I swear, if you do, I'll hurt you."

Ed came back with a catch of an animal I couldn't recognize, mainly because he was swinging it from side to side. There was also the water bottle strapped to his pants. To my content, it was full of water.

His eyes lit up when he saw that I was awake. He handed me the water bottle. I clasped it between my fingers and pressed it against my lips. The water couldn't have run down my throat faster. I only stopped when I realized that it was a long trip back to restock the water, and three other people needed some, too. I handed it back to Ed, mouthing a thanks. He nodded.

"I warned you about the sand, you know," he said.

"I didn't hear you."

"Then next time ask for me to repeat it instead of risking your life."

I nodded. I couldn't help but feel annoyed. I had nearly been suffocated, and all he could worry about was how I made a mistake? Just a bit of concern would have been nice.

I had to change the topic before I lost my cool. "What did you do to Aster?"

"When he told me that he set it off, I got mad," Ed explained. "This was the second time he nearly killed you—that's not okay with me."

"You can't go around hurting people because you're mad, Ed," I snapped. Bad choice of topic—my cool was now gone.

His eyes flashed a sign of hurt. I could have cared less. I wanted to smack the look off his face. "I know. Don't you realize? This course has driven me crazy. I don't know what to do anymore. I don't know what to think."

"Well, that's not an excuse for turning on your allies," I whispered. Ed nodded, got back on his feet, and left to give the others water.

I didn't even realize that Tilly had been gone until she came back through the woods with a long branch. Ed had just finished cooking what I discovered was a rabbit, and he gratefully took the walking stick.

When Tilly saw me, she wrapped her frail arms around me. I hugged back, ignoring the fact that I could feel her ribs against my stomach.

We all talked and laughed as the fire burnt out and our water and food emptied. By then we were all as full as we could be, which wasn't much, but better than starvation.

Ed used his pants to clean off my knife and then started chipping the bark off of his new walking stick. Seeing him occupied gave me a feeling of relief. I was worried that it wouldn't be pretty if he and Aster started talking again.

There was a tickling sensation on my leg. I looked down to see an ant crawling up my pants. I swatted it off. Curious, I looked to see if I had killed it. Instead, I saw a line of them climbing across my boot. I jumped in surprise and kicked them away. By then everyone else had noticed the swarm of ants.

"Where are they coming from?" I asked.

"There has to be an anthill or something around," Aster replied. He had stood up by then, smashing a couple with his shoes.

One crawled up my leg again, giving me a good view of its tiny body and large head. Not wanting to look any longer, I smashed it with my hand. God, why did it always have to be bugs? Give me fire, water, or even a death jump, but not a bug.

Ed shrieked. He fell to the floor and grabbed his hand. He tried to hold in his screams while tensing his arm and kicking the floor.

"Ed," Aster said, "what happened?"

Ed sucked in his scream and showed us his hand. "One of them bit me."

My eyes widened. I had been bitten by ants before, but I had never reacted in such a way.

After five more minutes, his breathing had calmed, and he managed to sit up. Ed walked around a little, still clutching his hand.

"Must've crawled up the walking stick when he was twiddling with it," Aster muttered to me. I nodded. It was the only reasonable explanation for it reaching his hand without him seeing it.

Ed stared at his hand, his face suddenly turning calm. He looked up at me. I stared back, confused. That's when I realized that he wasn't looking at me but through me.

"Jamie," he whispered. This time, Aster looked confused, too. Who's Jamie?

Ed nodded and started walking past me. I turned and watched him walk through the trees. Aster ran after him, and I didn't hesitate to follow. I could hear Tilly's footsteps behind me, but I didn't look back.

Ed stepped over the trees and bushes swiftly, not hesitating to run through the woods. Where was he going? Aster caught up to Ed and grabbed his arm. "Ed, stop."

Ed didn't reply. He appeared to be in some kind of trance. There was a look on his face I hadn't seen in a while. Hope. He smiled, nudging Aster off of him. Ed continued walking, muttering things like "I'm almost there" and "you're going to be okay, I'm here." Aster stepped back, allowing Ed to lead the way.

We hit the stream. Ed stopped. Aster took this as an opportunity to snap Ed out of his trance. Before he could do anything, though, Ed began to slip his shoes off. He revealed his bloody sock and dipped it into the water. Then he placed his other foot in and went on his knees.

Aster slid to the edge. By the time he made it, Ed had dunked his head under the water. Panicking, Aster jumped in. The water went up to his shins. The current nearly knocked him down, but he managed to balance himself. Aster wrapped his arms around Ed's underarms and lifted him above the water. Aster grunted as he nearly slipped. Slowly but surely, he slid Ed back up to the earth.

Aster rolled Ed onto his back and rested his head on the side. After a minute, Ed's eyes fluttered open. He coughed and slid onto his hands and knees. Water and saliva fell out of his mouth and landed on the dirt.

After he was finished, Ed sat down and looked at his surroundings. "What are we doing?"

"You got bit by an ant," I muttered, "and went crazy."

"There was a lady," Ed pointed at a tree, "right over there. She told me that she knew where my daughter was and that she'd bring her to me. Then I saw a woman in the water. She grabbed me, threw me underwater, and for a split second I saw Jamie..."

Aster shook his head. "You were seeing things, Ed."

Ed looked at Aster, at first hurt, then sad. "You saved me, didn't you?" Aster nodded. "Thank you."

Ed pulled himself to his feet. He hugged Aster, awkwardly slapping his back twice before pulling away. I should have been happy that they were finally getting along, but all I could focus on was the dark circle that was forming on Ed's hand.

Happy Sunday! Gah, who knew that ants could do so much harm? I guess they can do a little more than just bite.

We officially hit 5K reads, and I want to thank everyone so much for getting this story so far. It wouldn't get anywhere without you guys. :)

If you enjoyed this chapter, make sure to comment, vote, and share with all your friends. Hit the vote button with an apple. Stay awesome.

This song is called Hallucinations by dvsn. Listen to this song with earbuds on—you won't be disappointed.