I walked out of the clearing, leaving Bekah to take care of Tanvir. She would be fine; she had Calvin to help her out and I had to check on the snares I set yesterday. The first one I'd set had taken hours to do, and while it had turned out much better than the others I made later, I decided it wasn't worth spending all that time on just one snare. We needed more than one to make a good catch.

I found one of my snares after a little while of travelling close to the brook. It was a loop of string set close to ground level, with a pile of berries as bait. If a creature stuck their head through the loop to eat the berries, there was a chance they'd spring the trap, causing it to tighten around them like a hangman's noose. To my disappointment, it was empty and the trap was untouched, including the bait. I sighed, wondering if I should fetch fresh bait. Or maybe those berries really were poisonous and now my trap was worthless.

I found the second trap not too far away, but unlike the first, this one had been triggered. The bait was gone, but my shoddy workmanship had meant the snare was loose enough for whatever triggered the trap to have escaped. I found the third trap not much better, with the bait gone and the trap completely untouched. I moved on to the fourth and final trap, and as I neared it, I could see immediately that something had triggered it.

The branch I'd bent had sprung back, wrapping the snare on a small ankle. A strange creature hung upside down, its thin arms flailing, tugging at the snare. Resembling a large chimpanzee, the creature had a head of gray fur and a long tail flickering from its behind, swishing from side to side. From where I was standing, I could see that the creature had long hands and feet, probably adapted to jungle life, and its ears were large and twitched continuously.

My foot stepped on something that crunched underfoot, and the creature swiveled its head almost completely around to stare at me. Our gazes met, and I found myself staring at eyes of burnished gold.

The monkey hissed at me, baring its teeth even though it didn't have fangs. I spread my hands placatingly, walking closer.

"It's okay," I said. "I don't really want to hurt you. Just eat you is all."

It hissed again, swinging tiny fists in the air. I backed up, wondering what I should do with it. When I made the trap, I'd intended it to strangle the prey, not dangle them. I hadn't actually thought about what I'd do when I walked in on my catch still alive.

"What do I do?" I muttered aloud. "Am I supposed to snap your neck?"

Bending down again, I reached for the monkey, but it smacked my hands away, giving me a grumpy look. Luckily, it had no claws, so I wasn't hurt.

"Or I could just finish you off," I decided.

I pulled out my knife, flipping the blade out. At the sight of the blade, the monkey suddenly fell still, staring with wide eyes at the knife. I looked down at the creature, which continued to dangle upside down on the string. It stared back at me with its gold eyes, wide with defiance and terror all at once.

I couldn't do it.

I flipped the knife closed, slipping it into a pocket. Then, I took a step closer, gently reaching for the knot. Seeing me lean in, the monkey screeched in panic, flailing and swinging as it tried to get away from me, but I got a firm grasp on the snare, quickly tugging at the knot with my fingers until it untangled.

The monkey creature slipped out of the snare, landing on the ground and quickly bounding to its feet. In an eyeblink, it had run half a meter or so away from me. The creature slunk around, keeping low to the ground and eyeing me warily. It had a flat, dark face and a slim nose, and when it opened its mouth to snarl at me, I caught a glimpse of a bluish tongue.

Slowly, I got down on my knees and held up my hands in a gesture of peace. The monkey continued to keep its distance, its tail swishing back and forth. Neither of us moved much for the next few minutes, during which the monkey gradually shifted from a wary posture to a curious one. It moved a step closer, face extended toward me with wide eyes and tilted head. Then, without warning, the monkey bounded over the brook, glancing back at me from the other side.

I stared into its gold eyes for only a moment, but a sort of understanding seemed to pass between us. It gave me one last look, cocking its head at me curiously before running off into the jungle.

"Okay, Charlie," I muttered. "Guess we're not having any freshly caught monkey for dinner tonight."

I undid the tightened snare, loosening the string so that it could be reset for the next animal. I was about to drag the branch back down and reset the trigger too, but then I remembered that we weren't going to be sticking around. I let the loop dangle in the air at around head height, considering my next move. Maybe it was time to head back and see how the others were doing. Tanvir was still sick, so they would need help moving him. Of course, Bekah did ask me to scout ahead, look for new locations that we could move to. I didn't know anything about scouting or navigating in a jungle, but I couldn't let Bekah down either.

I turned and started following the water downstream, looking for a good clearing nearby to set up a new camp. Then, I heard the screaming.

"Charlie!" Bekah shouted. Her voice was distant and strained, barely audible above the brook's trickling. "Charlie!"

I broke into a run, racing toward our clearing as fast as I could go. The more I stumbled, the more I put into my speed, pushing my way through the dense jungle.

"Urvosh!"

A dark green form leapt in front of me, and I skidded to a halt. My foot caught a root and I tumbled, rolling sideways as the Krakoshan sent a series of energy bolts hurtling through the space I'd been standing before. I scrambled away on all fours, finding cover behind the nearest cluster of trees.

"Urvosh!" the Krakoshan barked.

The sounds of more footsteps thumping on the damp earth made my heart race, and I didn't have to look to know that I was attracting too much attention. Suddenly, I knew why Bekah had been shouting. My thoughts turned to Bekah and the others, facing down a Krakoshan ambush. I couldn't hear her shouting anymore and I didn't want to think about what that meant.

Oh no, I thought. Oh no, oh no, oh no.

The trees around me lit up as energy bolts began to pelt the jungle, the Krakoshans advancing on my position. They knew they outnumbered me and without powers of my own, I wouldn't last long. Something rumbled, sounding like an engine.

I risked a glance around the tree, pulling back my head just before an energy blast flew past. They had one of those armored vehicles shaped like arrowheads with them. A single Krakoshan rode on the back, the vehicle surrounded by a squad of Krakoshans, an automatic energy rifle balanced on the vehicle's hull with a bipod. My thoughts raced, trying to think of a way out.

I ran.

The Krakoshans howled in excitement, giving chase immediately. I ducked and dodged around trees as I raced back toward the brook. At one point, a swarm of insects blew into my face, but I didn't stop. I simply wiped the bugs off my face, never slowing down or breaking stride. If I slowed down now, I'd be knocked out and I would never wake up again.

The Krakoshans behind me were just barely keeping up. Being smaller and nimbler than them, I had an easier time navigating the sea of branches and roots. For once, their broad shoulders and height, combined with their heavy musculature, was more inhibiting than helpful. A glance back showed what looked like machetes in their hands, hacking and slashing tree limbs out of the way as they pursued, shouting and barking orders to each other.

Suddenly, the engine sound grew louder, and I risked another glance backwards to see where it was. The trees behind the squad chasing me started to shake, some falling as something tore through them. The squad slowed, turning to look too, some of them giving shouts of warning and indignation. The armored vehicle I saw earlier barreled through the squad, the Krakoshan on it seemingly not noticing as he ran over his own companions, howling as he bore down on me.

I screamed in desperation, finally reaching the brook. Before the charging vehicle could reach me, I threw myself onto the other side of the brook, hitting the ground hard and rolling. Even as I rolled, I kept as low to the ground as possible, coming to a stop just in time to feel the vehicle whoosh overhead. Trees groaned in protest as the vehicle cut a swath through the jungle, but I didn't wait for it to loop back around for me. There were still Krakoshans on foot chasing me.

Shooting to my feet, I glanced around to catch my bearings again. It was then that I realized an odd sight greeted my eyes. The Krakoshan that had been operating the charging vehicle now stood by the brook, scratching at the noose around his neck. By luck or by happenstance, I had led it right to the snare that I'd set yesterday, the same one that the monkey had been caught in only minutes before.

Somehow, the loop had caught onto the Krakoshan when he had chased me, being tight enough and sturdy enough to yank him off of its vehicle. Panicked Krakoshan eyes met mine, and he reached for his belt, where a knife sat in a leather sheath.

There wasn't any time to waste. I turned around and started to run, following the path of downed trees. I heard a snap behind me as the Krakoshan cut the string free, then a cacophony of howls as the other Krakoshans caught up. Once again, the jungle around me lit up with the yellow flashes of energy bolts, the potshots never once coming close to touching me. I kept my head ducked as I ran, until I finally made it to where the vehicle had come to a stop.

"See ya, suckers," I laughed, hopping onto the seat of the bike.

Then I glanced down and shut up. Everything was labeled in Krakoshan. Panicking, I stabbed every button I could see until the engine rumbled to life. Then, I pushed what I hoped was the throttle and the rear boosters suddenly roared and ignited, sending me hurtling through the jungle at an incredible speed. The frustrated howls of the Krakoshans quickly faded away as the vehicle left them far behind, zipping alongside the brook as I screamed in hysteria.

My hands, groping along the dash, found the throttle again and adjusted the speed, decelerating the vehicle so fast I nearly went flying off of it. When it had lurched to a stop, I breathed a sigh of relief, slumping over the narrow dashboard.

"Not bad," I gasped.

The moment of euphoria quickly faded when I realized I'd forgotten about the others.

"Uh oh," I muttered, slapping at the dash. "Start, damn you, start!"

The vehicle sputtered to life again and I pushed the throttle gently this time, accelerating smoothly. Turning this moving battering ram around proved to more difficult than I thought, and I realized that this thing wasn't especially good at maneuvering. Still, it moved fast in this jungle, and I needed the speed. Pointing the vehicle back in the direction of the clearing, I pushed the speed to maximum, roaring off into the trees.

Just before reaching the clearing, I decelerated, bursting out of the trees and into the empty space where our camp used to be. The vehicle lurched in protest at the sudden stop, but I was hopping off before it even finished moving, searching the clearing for clues concerning what had happened.

The trees in one section were torn up, as if a massive hand had reached down and uprooted them. Many Krakoshans lay on the ground unmoving, some twisted unnaturally and a few sliced in half. Skid marks and footprints both large and small crisscrossed the ground, but I didn't see any burn marks. There was no sign of the others.

I slumped to the ground, panic and fear welling up inside.

"No..." I whispered in disbelief. "No, no, no..."

They weren't here. That could only mean one thing; they were now back in pods. I was the only one left now. To make things worse, there was still an army of Krakoshans out there, all on the hunt for kids like me, and I had no powers to fight with. My stomach churned, as I realized just how alone I was now. No brother, Mom was probably heartbroken, and I was stuck on an alien planet, running for my life.

"This isn't happening," I told myself.

I got up, stumbling a few feet.

"Bekah!" I shouted. "Bekah!"

For once, the jungle was oddly silent. No screeching birds, no buzzing insects, not even the slightest breeze on the leaves. I shouted some more, calling out their names, but nobody responded to me. They were gone.

I was alone.

"Oh, Zeus," I whispered, suddenly at a loss for words.

I could fix this. I just had to think of a way out. Suddenly, I was aware of my parched throat. That shouting hadn't really helped. I got up and walked over to our supplies, then stopped. The supplies were gone too, and so was my backpack.

I dropped to my knees, grabbing a fistful of earth. Peter's meds. I'd lost those, too. What would happen when I found him, only to lose him in a few days because he didn't have his medicine? Was he even still alive?

Rolling onto my back, I half considered turning myself in. There was nothing I could do, not without help or powers of my own. I couldn't attack the Krakoshans on my own, steal a ship on my own, or rescue them on my own. Running back would just get me podded like the rest. I thought about the others. What would they do if our roles were reversed? They would have launched a rescue immediately after the rest of us were podded, but they all had powers and years of experience in combat. I didn't have that.

Rubbing the dirt from my fingers, I realized they had been stained red once I'd touched the ground. Blood. This was where Tanvir must have been lying when they'd captured him. There was no way he could have run, not in his condition. And I was the one responsible for that.

I shut my eyes, trying to ignore my guilt. Peter would know what to do. Somehow, if I could only get to my brother, he'd come up with a brilliant strategy to get us out of this mess. Opening my eyes slowly, I stared back at my red hands, stained with Tanvir's blood. No matter how I felt, there was nothing I could ever do to save my new friends.

Something dug into my ribs, and I reached into my pocket to dig the object out.

The brass shell I'd brought from home just before all this happened. It was from my dad, she'd said. Something from when he was still alive, a memento of a person I never really knew. I closed my fist around the shell, wondering what my mom would do. After Dad had died, she'd taken on raising both me and Peter on her own, without help from relatives. She always kept a level head; she would know what to do.

"You remind me of your dad," she had said, back in the auto. "You don't think like a Kingsfielder. You aren't defined by your powers."

"Get up, Charlie," I growled. "You can get through this."

I pushed myself to my feet and stumbled back to the vehicle, climbing in and starting it up. So long as I was still free, I had a chance.

I'm going to make it, I thought. I have to.

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