My head hurt. No, I'll be honest. Everything hurt. It was so hot. And we had walked so far....It was enough to kill a person. A person with no goal, yeah. But we had a goal. Reach mount Grite, and find the Board.

I have no clue what Chase expects us to do from there, but if it keeps us alive, I'm all for it. The sand people of Sector 6 took us to tents, where they checked us for injuries.

Resting was something I had been wanting since the whole expedition started. I sighed in relaxation, and closed my eyes. This was life.....Suddenly the sound of a braying creature reached my ears.

It was so loud, weird, and unexpected, that I flew out of my comfortable spot on the cot, and fell to the dusty tent floor. "Hey!" I exclaimed at the horse like head poking through the tent door. "Give me a heart attack why don't you!"

The creature kept braying as if to laugh at me. I pushed it's head out of my way and went to find my other companions. "Um, excuse me?" I shoved my hands in y pocket as I approached an elderly woman, cooking.

She looked up slowly. "Where are my friends?" I asked cautiously. The woman lifted a withered hand and pointed to a large tent with to buff looking sanders with spears standing in front of it.

I gulped. They looked as if they could spear a rat twelve feet away. I slowly walked up to them and avoided eye contact. "Uh.....are my companions in there?" I asked fearfully. They looked down at me and I whimpered inwardly.

One of them, a tall muscular guy with a bald head nodded, grunted, and stepped aside, smiling slightly at me. "Th-thanks...." I stuttered and went inside. Chase, Emma, Brooke, and Kyle sat on the dusty ground with a old man sitting in front of them.

They looked up as soon as I entered. "Hey, Tyler!" Chase greeted. "Come in!" I sat between Brooke and Kyle. "As I was saying," the old man started in a husky voice. "When you reach the end of the sandy desert, you will reach the endless ocean."

I leaned forward and listened intently. As you may not know, Freaks hate the water, so you will be safe from them as you cross, so that will not be your problem. But, there is something you need to keep in mind."

Chase's eyebrow arched. "And what is that?" The elder looked serious. "The tides. They can lead you astray. Keep on one straight path to your destination. We nodded. "And," He added as we stood to leave.

"Do not touch the water. Whatever you do, do not let your skin touch the water." We nodded and thanked him for his advice. "So you're on your way again?" One of the girls that had helped us asked as she handed us our packs, fully filled with provisions for our continuing journey.

I nodded. "Yup, thank for you help....." "Madilyn." She offered her hand. I shook it. "Tyler." She grinned. "Good luck on your quest, Tyler." I grinned back at her. Man, was she cute. "Call me Ty." I took her hand and kissed it. She smirked. "Call me, Maddie."

"Dude, stop flirting, we have to go!" Kyle grabbed my shirt and dragged me away with him. Maddie giggled and waved farewell. I grinned and blew her a kiss. We reached the others, and left Sector 6.

"What was that all about?" Chase asked, a smirk growing on his face. "Nothing?" I waved him off. "Let's just get going." Laughing, Chase patted my shoulder, and walked off with with group. I followed and smiled to myself.

We continued to travel across the sea of sand and sun. Far off we could hear the screams and howls of Freaks. Looking back, I glanced for any sign of Sector 6. Nothing. "Tyler!" I looked to Brooke. "Come on!" She called.

I realized I had been stareing off in the distance while the others kept on walking. I turned and smiled, jogging to catch up with them. Walking with my jacket collar up and over my mouth and nose, was not at all the most comfortable way to be, but it helped me breathe.

The sand and dust blew in our faces, blinding us temporarily, making us tear up. Kyle held his sister close to him, while Mark held onto Brooke's arm. Poor Chase, and I. Lone wolves on are own. No one to be close to....

"Scraaahhhh!!!" We turned, gasping in horror as not one, not two, but three, Freaks ran after us, screeching, and foaming at the mouth. "Run!" Was all Chase yelled, and he didn't have to tell us twice! We ran like we were being chased by zombies that were running way faster than zombies are supposed to. What a coincidence-That is exactly what was the present scenario!

The sand seemed to pull us into the ground, slowing us, and allowing the Freaks to get closer. A howl filled the air, causing us to freeze, and the Freaks to stumble to a stop. Sniffing the air, the turned humans' eyes got wilder---if that was even possible.

They turned and ran off in the opposite direction, disappearing into the swirling and dust. Chase, Kyle, Em, Brooke, and I looked at each other, in utter confusion. "What was that?" Kyle asked. Chase looked in the direction the creatures went, speechless.

We continued to travel, trying not to stray, and get lost. But it was hard since we were in an endless sea of sand dunes. Thinking about the sea made me thirsty. I pulled out my water bottle and tipped it up. Nothing.

"Brooke?" I jogged to catch up to her. "Do you have any more water?" She shook her head. "None of us do." My shoulders drooped. "I do." Kyle stated. "But it's for my sister." I figured. He was always looking after his little sister.

Suddenly Chase stopped, causing the rest of them to stop, causing my to walk head on into Mark's back. "Hey, watch it." He turned looking at me. "You walked into me!" I glared at him, but was too exhausted to complain any more.

The I saw what Chase saw. A few hundred feet off was the start of an....."Endless ocean." Emily mumbled. I had to smile. We had survived Freaks, a forest, a desert, and now what could an ocean bring?

Sea sickness. That was the only thing I had when we had found the boat, and set sail for wherever we were headed. It wasn't a big boat. Just a good sized fishing boat. I leaned over the edge as the lunch from three days ago fed the fishes.

"Gross." Brooke muttered. "Would you rather me throw up on you designer sneakers, your majesty?" I bowed sarcastically, wiping my mouth. She rolled her eyes, and looked out over the scenery of blue and blue with a tinge of.....blue.

Never in my life had I hated a colour. Ever. Chase leaned on the mast, and studied the map. So this is called the Marine of Hopelessness." Chase read. "Sound delightful." Brooke grumbled.

I groaned and leaned my head back on the wooden mast. "I hate this trip." I finally blurted. I don't care if the board can help us or not. We will be here forever. We won't even live through this.

The others looked at me, then at each other. I could tell they hated this suicide mission as much as I did. Sitting silence was just as boring as walking through the desert. But more comfortable.

Out of nowhere, the boat jerked up, causing Chase to almost fall overboard. Luckily, Emma grabbed his arm. "You ok?" She asked. He nodded. "What was that?" Mark asked, gripping the edge.

The boat began to navigate on its own it seemed, turning and sailing in the opposite direction. "Wh-what is going on!?" Emma whimpered, clinging to her brother. "Something is moving us." Brooke answered shakily. Something under the boat. Something.....big."

Another bump under the bow made us slide around. My hands got splinters, but that was the least of our worries. "There are two of them." Mark said, his eyes wide with fear. I could tell bad-boy Kyle was scared too.

No one dared move as the large, unidentified, aquatic, creatures guided our boat in the direction we did not want to go. We sat there, shaking not in cold, but in fear, as we were carried further off course.

Hours past, and it began to get dark. Emma fell asleep against Chase and Kyle just sat with his arms crossed, staring at them. Brooke lay with her head on Mark's lap. I pulled up my jacket and sighed softly.

All of them had somebody. Brooke had her dad, Mark had his mom, Kyle, and Em had their parents, Chase had his mom.... I was an orphan. No one loved me. I grew up on my own. From since I could remember, no mom, no dad, no siblings. Just lil' old me, against the world. Sounds lonely. It is. But I had Chase as a friend, and he invited me to live with him, even if he had one small tent.

Just then, a soft cracking reached my ears. I looked up and off in the distance. We were passing a icy, rocky, cliff. Lumps of rock jutted out from the sides and top. I marvelled at the sight. It was amazing. Well, as amazing as lumps of rocks can be. But still...

Something off to the right, on the side of the cliff, caught my eye. I couldn't tell what it was. I leaned forward to get a closer look.

It was... "Maddie?" I breathed. "Huh?" Kyle opened his eyes, and stared at me. "Who is Maddie?" I blinked and looked at the girl I had fell in love with yet left in Sector 6. "Ohh, Tyyyyllerr...." She sang. Wow, her voice was like an angel. So beautiful, so hypnotizing...

"You left me....but I came to you Tyyyy...." She swooned. Something about her was different somehow. Mabye it was they way her eyes seemed to glow. Or the way her hair seemed to move on it's own without the wind-"Tyylerr..." I couldn't even feel myself drool. "Come to meeee...."

She moved out to the edge of the rocks, and reached out to me. "Come, and seeeee...." "TYLER!!" I yelped as the last thing I saw before I landed in the water was the hideous face of a nightmare creature.

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