Three AM

Time is a funny thing. It never seems to be on your side. 

Especially at stupid o’clock in the morning when you’re in the middle of a dark forest running from psychopaths with silent helicopters. And it’s just that much worse when, added to a midnight helicopter chase, you have to be at a secret meeting by three am. 

My life was that much more interesting, thanks to it all.

There was no time to think, just run and run and run. But I needed to make sure that if I wasn’t going to get there early or on time I didn’t go at all, because if I didn’t make it I’d be marked DEAD in the logbook, but if I got there late, I really would be dead - shot in the neck with a poison arrow before I could say “ouch”. 

The big problem with that was that I couldn’t tell what time it was. I’d only brought my analog watch, which would be fine in the daytime when the sun was out and I could see the clock face, but in the dead of night, it was useless. The moon and stars were shining brilliantly, but in order to see by their light I'd have to step out of the cover of the trees and that would mean getting caught - seen by the helicopters and shot at until I was dead. 

I couldn’t call for backup because I had no means of communication with anyone. Well, I had an earpiece that was connected to one of the helicopters’ radio systems (it had taken me months to get ahold of it, and I was very proud of myself), but it was no use talking to them. Besides, I wasn’t even sure how to talk to them - I only knew how to listen for the words Golden-crowned kinglet (we found them!) and snowdrops (search is up, we didn’t find them).

Snowdrops seemed like they were never coming. 

So I ran and ran and ran, avoiding clearings, never stopping, never looking back. The helicopters weren’t like planes; they could land in any clearing they wanted to, no landing strip required. And they were fast. Way fast. But I could be fast, too, especially if it was absolutely necessary to get away as fast as possible. My shoes had a few handy tricks up their sleeves. 

But for now, it was just me running as fast as I possibly could. I’d been trained to run like the wind for a while, but not two hours. My lungs and legs were burning, and I was getting dehydrated, and although it was a cool night, I was sweating a river. I was getting tired. 

Finally, I had to stop. There was no way I could keep going for a second longer. I stopped under a very large tree. It had a nice, thick canopy that would be perfect for hiding. I couldn’t keep moving, but I needed to. My body was cooling down dangerously fast. I didn’t have any foil, but even if I did, I wouldn’t’ve dared bring it out. It was way too noisy. I whimpered once, a small sound that I covered with my hand. It would be no good to me to get captured now, even if they might have foil and a comfortable bed. They had some treacherous torture devices that I was not about to face. 

After two minutes, I noticed it. The whir of chopper blades getting closer and closer. 

Uh-oh.

Somehow, it had been obvious that I was still moving when I was running. But now that I was staying in one place…

I cursed and looked around. By the sound of it, they’d drop down in only one minute, and I couldn’t let them know that I was on the run once more. The nearest clearing was about a two minutes’ run (or, at least, for them it probably would be), so that gave me four minutes to get the heck away. 

Fine. Lord, if that’s how you wanna play it, then fine. I slipped off my shoes and stuffed them in my back pockets before starting to tiptoe through the trees. 

I didn’t make a sound.

I didn’t disturb anything except the very grass underneath my feet. 

I didn’t stop, or go faster, or anything, even though I had to pee like I had to breathe. 

Finally, I found what I wanted: a big, sturdy tree with a full canopy and enough branches down low that I could manage to climb it. I did so slowly and carefully and quietly as humanly possible. In ten minutes, I was at a good enough place. I grabbed my shoes from my bag and put them on in case I needed a quick escape. 

Hiding in the top of the tree, with my knees tucked to my chest and my eyes searching for movement and my ears listening intently, I was calm. The world was peaceful. And I’d spent oh so much energy, running and climbing and moving for hours. I was tired. My body needed rest. And so, within minutes, I fell asleep.

I woke with a start to the sound of a branch cracking. I sat up straighter than a stick and swiveled my head from right to left. The sun was just starting to rise, and I could hear voices down below. 

“Oh, come on, Jim, not again!”

“You’ll wake her up with all that yelling, Lou!” a male voice, presumably Jim, hissed back. 

“Well, you’ll wake her up with all that racket with your branch-breaking!” Lou responded, speaking lower this time. 

Footsteps. The sound of a gun being readied. “Who is it?” Jim demanded.

“Just me! Clarissa!” piped a small voice. Jim and Lou let out a breath.

“Come on, you’re light, maybe you can get up without falling,” Lou sighed. 

“Hey!” 

Clarissa began to climb, and I prayed and prayed that she was just as awful at climbing trees. I could hear her getting closer and closer, and so I prayed some more. She was awfully close, but on the other side of the tree, when I heard it. Footsteps. So soft I could barely make them out, but definitely footsteps. And then, the whoosh of an arrow and the thump-thump-thump of Clarissa’s body falling from the tree, knocking against the branches. 

“Clariss-” but Jim’s voice was cut off when an arrow lodged into his throat, too, and then Lou’s. So fast, it could only be one person shooting. 

“Amber?” I called out softly, beginning to make my way down the tree. 

A sigh. “I don’t know how you manage to get yourself into these situations.”

I grinned, scrambling down as fast as I could. “Well, it usually starts out when your sister’s messages get intercepted and I get chased by the stupid Choppers.”

Amber laughed as I jumped from the last branch and turned to face her. “That’s true. It usually is Emerald’s fault. I knew something was up when you didn’t show up to the meeting last night, so I went looking for you afterward. Did you know you still have a tracking device on you?”

I swore to myself, feeling in my hair for the blue clip. Amber laughed again as I dropped it on the ground and stomped on it with my foot to break the hard shell. 

“So that’s how they knew where I was!” I exclaimed, picking the chip up from the ground and examining it. “Man, I thought I must’ve been super loud or something, but I was just stupid enough to leave this thing in!”

“We all make mistakes. Now, come on, let’s go back. Now that the meeting’s over, I can guarantee we won’t get shot.”