The RUSH

When people look at you in a certain way, you know that the thing they’re about to tell you isn’t the best. Mom was giving me that exact expression before she told me that someone had found me and that’s when I got really worried. I opened my mouth trying to find my voice, but couldn’t talk.
“You got electrocuted, didn’t you?” Mom asked.
“Yes, on the night of the Merging,” I said, finally finding my voice. I felt guilty for not telling her what had happened when she came to visit me in the hospital.
“Say what now?” Grayson interrupted.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Mom asked.
“Because I was scared of your reaction and I didn’t want to worry you,” I said avoiding eye contact with Mom.
“Well, I’m more worried now,” she said putting her hands on her hips.
“But what do you mean, ‘They’ve found me’?” I asked.
“The Domination has found you. When you were electrocuted, your body absorbed so much of the electricity that it is now in your bloodstream. You have the power of electricity,” Mom explained. “The Domination is taking these people away, so we’re going to hide you.”
“And you know all of this, how?” I asked.
Doctor Ambrose jumped in. “We ran some tests on you while you were unconscious because of your incident.”
“But if you put me into hiding, where am I going to live?” I asked. The elevator doors opened and we all ran out.
“In the woods,” Mom said.
“The woods,” I said raising an eyebrow.
“Well it’s either that or who knows where!” Mom argued back.
I sighed. “Okay, let’s get going.”
We all ran outside and Doctor Ambrose wheeled me through the rain and onto the Light Train Deck with Grayson trying his best to help him pull my wheelchair up the stairs. I stayed on the deck with Mom and Grayson under one of the waiting areas near the boarding area. Doctor Ambrose had left us to go back to the hospital to work on other patients.
Grayson, Mom and I got on the Light Train and found seats. Grayson sat next to me and Mom was just a few seats down from us. I leaned down the isle so I could talk to Mom.
“How far are we going?” I asked.
“As far as we need to go to get you away from here,” Mom said without taking a glance at me.
I nodded and leaned back in my seat. “Oh,” I said softly to myself. I looked out the window as the rain tapped on the glass. As I looked out the window, I saw a glowing figure that looked like a tiger, running through the buildings and streets, dodging people as it passed, trying to keep up with the train. I tried to see if any one else saw this animal passing them, but everyone’s expressions seemed to stay the same. No one noticed the tiger.
“Did you see that?” I asked Grayson, tapping him on the shoulder.
“No, what happened?” Grayson asked turning around to look out the window with me.
“I thought I saw something glowing. Probably nothing,” I said turning back around in my seat.
Grayson kept looking out the window and after a minute he said, “I see it.” I turned around to make sure that Grayson wasn’t really hallucinating and that he actually saw what I saw. Sure enough, the tiger was visible once again, but this time closer to the train, still keeping up with the trains pace. I stared at the tiger for a few minutes trying to figure out what it was doing way out here in the city. As I looked at the tiger I heard a name keep popping into my head.
Sheila. Sheila. Sheila.
“Sheila,” I whispered quietly to myself. At the sound of the name, the tiger seemed to look in my direction. Then it began to get farther and farther away from the train until it was gone and I couldn’t see it any more.
“Where did it go?” Grayson asked next to me.
“I’m getting off at the next stop,” I said.
“What are you talking about? If you’re going I’m going!” He protested.
“No. I’m going alone. I’m going to be in the woods alone anyway. It’ll be good practice for me.” I smiled at him but I didn’t get a smile in return.
“Come on, Grayson. Just let me do this, okay?” I asked. Grayson sighed and put his head in his hands. “I can’t lose you, too.” I was silent when he said that and I had nothing to say.
“I just don’t want you to get hurt. Just promise…” he paused. “Just promise me that when this is all over, you can come back and see me. Promise?”
“Promise,” I whispered. I looked down at my hands and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Grayson do the same. I smiled to myself knowing that he wanted me to come back and see him.
One of the train attendants came to our part of the train and picked up a small microphone that was lying on a metal shelf.
“Brandofor Lake,” she called. “Passengers going out please exit through the doors on the left, passengers coming in peoples enter through the doors on the right.” The train attendant put the microphone back then left our section of the train.
I turned to Grayson and hugged him tightly, trying not to squash his bad arm. With his good arm, Grayson squeezed me back.
“Please come back,” he whispered softly in my ear.
“I will,” I whispered back giving him one more squeeze before I wheeled myself out of the train doors and onto the Light Train deck of Brandofor Lake.
I took in my surroundings and observed each little detail. I had never been to Brandofor Lake, but I guessed that it had changed a lot since the Merging had happened. People were still moving quickly on the roads and side walks with the rain pounding down on them, each with shopping bags in their hands. In the middle of the city was a lake that was bigger than the whole city put together. I assumed that that was Brandofor Lake. The city lights that lit up the night sky were so bright, they reflected into the water leaving a faint yellow glow.
On the eastern side of the lake, the edge of the woods started and I began making my way over there. It wasn’t too long of a trip. A couple times I had to cross the street and both times I almost got hit by a car, in which the car honked their horn at me and I tried to bite my tongue so I wouldn’t look like an idiot if I screamed a lame retort. When I was on the sidewalk, trying not to bump into anyone or run over anyone’s toes is extremely difficult while you’re in a wheelchair that’s almost twice your size and it’s raining outside and that makes the sidewalk hard for wheels to make traction with the ground.
As I started to get closer to the lake, the road was now dirt and it was much narrower and not as many people walked along it. I eased myself down the sloping path so I wouldn’t break anything else on my body if I slipped and went speeding down the hill into a muddy spot on the grass.
At the edge of the lake sat a dock with a small boat sitting along side it. The captain of the boat was sitting on a chair on the dock, while three people talked to him and eventually got on the boat. The captain climbed in with them and I pushed myself faster so I could get on the boat.
“Wait!” I yelled over the rain.
The captain looked up from what he was doing and smiled at me.
“Are ya comin’ along, missy?” he called back.
I nodded but realized that that was stupid since it was dark and raining, and he was too far away to see my head nod.
“Yes,” I called back to him. It took me a few minutes to get to the bottom of the hill but I made it to the bottom just in time to get on the boat. The captain made a small ramp from wooden planks that had been sitting on the dock. He had two of the other passengers help him hold the boards steady while I went down. Thank heavens the boards were thick enough so they weren’t too wobbly.
Once I was safely down onto the deck of the boat, the captain placed the two boards in the boat and then climbed in after me and untied the rope that was holding the boat to the dock.
“Thank you for helping onto the boat,” I told the captain. He looked at me and nodded.
“I’m glad I could ‘elp ya, missy. What’d they call ya back ‘ome?” He asked.
I was quiet for a moment because I didn’t want to give any information away, seeing who the other passengers were on the boat. One of them was a Domination officer and I knew that I wanted to watch what I said around him. So I improvised.
“Caroline,” I said.
“So, Miss Caroline, what brings ya down to these waters?” The captain walked inside a small roofed area on the boat that held the boat’s old, chipped wheel and he started making his way towards the other side of the lake.
“Tourism. I’ve always wanted to come see the woods because of the peace and quiet,” I said sincerely. The captain laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“Ya won’t get much peace and quiet ‘round ‘ere,” he said still laughing.
“Why is that?”
“Well ‘aven’t ya ‘eard?” he asked. I shook my head and he continued. “Some say that they have seen vicious animals in these parts of the woods.”
“What kinds of animals?”
“Well the Moonlight Liger o’course. Some say that after the Mergin’ took place, animals started appearin’ everywhere like weeds. The Moonlight Liger is one of the more common ones seen ‘round. Watch out for ‘em. They can really get ya.” The captain laughed at his own little joke and I smiled.
I turned myself around so I could get a good look at the other passengers on board the tiny ship since the only one that I really observed was the Domination officer.
The second passenger was an old lady who appeared to be in her late sixties or early seventies. She was wearing a T-shirt that was an advertisement for an aerobics class and blue jean shorts that went to about her knee. She had on running shoes and on her head was a visor and sunglasses over her eyes which I though was a strange thing to wear in the rain at night.
Next to her stood an old man who seemed to be around the same age as the woman. I guessed that they were a couple sight seeing. The man wore an orange Hawaiian shirt with white flowers on it, kaki shorts and tall socks that he wore with brown saddles. I raised my eyebrows at that.
I looked back to the Domination officer but quickly looked away when he looked in my direction. The officer seemed to be just a little older than I was. His eyes were quickly darting from side to side as if something were to attack at any moment.
The last leg of the trip seemed like an eternity but I busied myself by talking to the captain and asking him questions. He asked a lot of questions about why I was in a wheelchair and how I broke my ankle.
At last the boat pulled up to the dock on the other side of the lake and the captain set up the wooden ramp again so it would be easier for me to get off. I nodded my thanks to him when I was finally and safely back onto the dock. I wheeled myself away from the boat and the world behind me and let the rain droplets hit my face as I headed towards the woods, trying to find Sheila.

I’ve just about had it with this wheelchair and the brace around my ankle. Going over rocks and tree roots is much harder than it sounds. My ankle is feeling better but I know I can’t walk on it yet. So far, I was going aimlessly through the woods by myself with a broken ankle in a wheelchair at night.
I stopped pushing myself because my arms were getting tired and I couldn’t see anything. I sat in my wheelchair for a minute and closed my eyes. It only was a few minutes later that I heard a twip snap. My eyes shot open and I looked around me. I couldn’t see anything because it was so dark so I leaned back in my chair but kept my eyes open, to be on the look out.
As it got later into the night, the stars shone up above me. The moon was still the same and so was the night sky.
Then I heard something coming. It was far away at first but then I realized that it was coming towards me and fast. Then everything was quiet. I held my breath waiting for something to happen but nothing did so I let my breath out and closed my eyes. When I opened them again, a Moonlight Liger was sitting just a few feet away from me. I did what any other person would have done if they opened their eyes to find a huge Liger sitting in front of you.
I screamed.
The Liger jumped on me, tipping me backwards, forcing me out of the wheelchair. I kept rolling until my arm hit a tree giving it a nice cut. The Liger was on me again, this time pinning me to the ground. It started attacking me and I tried to get away but I moved and accidentally got in the way of one of the claws of the Liger. It scraped my face from my eyebrow down to my lip and I could feel my face burning as the Liger ripped through my face. I couldn’t see through one eye so I had to keep it shut while I tried to stop the bleeding and get the Liger away from me.
Then I remembered the Liger that I saw running through the city. I kept hearing the name Sheila and when I had said the name, the Liger had looked in my direction. I knew my idea was crazy but I did it anyway.
“Sheila?” I talked to the Liger. The Liger stopped attacking and backed away from me staring at me with its bright green eyes.
“Sheila?” I repeated myself. The Liger began scratching its nose around in the dirt. When the Liger picked its head up, there were two words written into the dirt.
Follow me
I looked up at the Liger and it began to run in the other direction. I tried to keep up with the dim light coming off of the Liger. Suddenly, the Liger stopped and again scratched the dirt.
No chair, run
No chair? I thought to myself. Oh, no wheelchair.
“I can’t walk or move without my wheelchair,” I explained to the Liger. The Liger put a scratch underneath run and then took off into the dark.
“Great! Okay thanks!” I called out into the dark. I sighed and got up out of my wheelchair. Taking off my brace I walked around for a minute testing my ankle out. I could walk fine and it didn’t hurt at all. I jogged in place for a minute to get warmed up then took off after the Liger.
I ran for a long time, branches and leaves hitting me in the face, hurting my wound even more. I came to a clearing in the woods with the Liger standing in the middle of it. The Liger’s tail swung back and forth and one of his ears twitched like it heard something in the distance. Then it started running again.
The sky began to get lighter as the sun started to come up to start a new day. With my one good eye, I looked skyward and watched as the sky slowly turned from black to red with purple and orange streaks shooting across the sky like fireworks.
I came back into the forested area and concentrated on following the Liger. Feet pounding against the forest floor, I ran harder and faster, trying my best to pace myself with the Liger. The Ligers light was starting to fade because of the sunlight coming up over the trees. It was getting harder and harder to see the Liger mostly because of my bad eye, which I kept shut, so I ran faster so I wouldn’t lose it.
Then we stopped.
The Liger and I stood near a cave a where a fain glow emanated from. The Liger went into the cave but paused at the entrance waiting for me to follow. I hesitated. I didn’t want to be some animals breakfast so I took a step back.
The Liger snarled quietly but stopped when someone said his name.
“Lycus?” A girl asked stepping out of the cave. She had an Australian accent and blonde white hair with green eyes. She looked to be around my age and she was quite tall. She wore a plain, ragged brown T-shirt and jeans with black boots.
“Oh, hello, who are you?” She asked sweetly.
“I’m Adria. I’m looking for someone named Sheila,” I said nervously.
The girl nodded contently moving closer to me. “Sheila’s out hunting but she will most likely be back in an hour. In the mean time let’s look at that wound on your face, eh?” The girl picked up a stick off the ground and headed back into the cave.
As she passed Lycus, she whacked him on the head with the stick then tossed it off to the side as if it could satisfy her no more.
“That’s for almost clawing Adria’s face off. Go find Firace, please. I need him to go find Sheila. She’s going to be the one to fix what you did to Adria’s face,” The girl talked to Lycus and he turned and ran off into the woods roaring once.
I followed the girl into the cave and looked around inside as she moved two bedrolls aside so we could sit down. A small fire was going in the center of the cave with a small pot over the fire.
“Who are you?” I asked. “Sorry I didn’t mean to—”
“It’s okay,” the girl interrupted. “I should have introduced myself in the first place. My name is Carmi.”
“Your accent. You’re not from this part of Vasuda.” Carmi smiled and gave a small laugh while she sat down on a pillow. I did the same but didn’t take my eyes off of her.
“I’m from Australia. I got separated from my family during the Merging and Sheila found me here in the woods.”
“So you have a natural likeness to animals?” I asked hinting a smile.
“Yes I do. You’ve heard about the glowing animals and how its like animals that used to be extinct are popping up everywhere?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“Well all of those glowing animals have come to this cave and its been acting like a rendezvous point for them. They come and go but Lycus and Firace stick around for most of the time. Now move that pillow over here by me so I can get a closer look at that gash.”
I did as I was told and scooted my pillow around the fire until I was next to Carmi. Next to the bed roll sat a leather bag of supplies that would help Carmi in healing up my wound. She put some bottles out in front of her and I almost threw up when I read some of the labels.
Pig Stomach
That was the title. I held that one out and turned to Carmi so she could get a better look at what I was holding.
“What is this?” I asked.
“Minimizes the risk of infection,” Carmi said simply without looking up from her bag. I groaned.
“Pig stomach minimizes risk of infection?” I asked.
“That’s what I said,” Carmi said looking up giving me a blank expression, the expression I wasn’t looking for. I was hoping for a joking smile and that Carmi would take the bottle and put it back in her bag but no. I got no smile, no nothing.
“But won’t you just be so excited to see this one!” She pulled another bottle out of her bag for me to look at and I gagged as I read the label.
“Is that really necessary?” I asked double-checking to make sure that the label actually said,
Cow Urine
“If you want to get out all the poison, then yes. Moonlight Liger’s claws are poisonous and so you really have to be careful around them.”
I stared at her.
“Well do you want cow pee running down your face to get out the poison or would you enjoy being blind in one eye or possibly losing that eye?”
“Get it over with,” I said closing my eyes and taking the last breath of fresh air before Carmi poured the urine down my face.
The stench was unbearable and for that moment I felt that I could live without my nose. Carmi poured for what seemed like an eternity. Finally she stopped.
“Don’t open your eyes or mouth,” she warned.
I nodded slowly but stopped when something cold touched my skin. The pig stomach. It wasn’t all that bad at first except for the smell but after a minute, my skin started to burn.
“Don’t open anything,” Carmi said again. “I just have to hold it here for another minute.”
So instead of screaming out loud, I screamed in my throat, trying to calmly intake the burning feeling that was happening on my face.
“Thirty more seconds. The stomach is still absorbing the left over poison.”
I think Carmi meant thirty minutes when she said thirty seconds because that pig stomach was glued to my head.
Finally, Carmi took the stomach off my head and the pain almost instantly ceased. Carmi dabbed my face with a towel and wiped a little more around my eye and mouth so any left over liquid wouldn’t enter my body.
“There,” Carmi said taking the now wet towel off of my face. “You can open your eyes now.”
Slowly, I opened my eyes and blinked. Carmi smiled at me looking quite pleased with the job she had done on my face.
“Is it looking any better?” I asked Carmi.
“Better than it was when you first got here,” she concluded after a minute. She tilted her head to one side, getting a better look at my face while she studied it contently.
From outside the cave, there was a small roar and a screech that sounded like a bird. Carmi stood up and I followed her outside. The sun was almost fully up and Lycus, followed by a bird and a lady, came bounding out from the trees, towards the cave.
“Sheila,” Carmi said running towards the lady, embracing her into a hug. The lady was tall and she wore a black cloak with a brown shirt identical to Carmi’s and black pants and boots. Sheila pushed back her hood on the cloak , which revealed her long, flowing, bright red hair. Sheila looked as if she were just a couple years older than I was, maybe 18 or 19 years old. After returning Carmi’s hug, Sheila turned to me and smiled a genuine smile. Her teeth were pure white and they shone in the upcoming sun.
“Hello, Adriana. You and I have a lot to talk about.”