Now and Forever

I was just getting to the part where my father choose to help the...helpless over getting his own daughter to safety. Cole seemed completely engulfed by the story. He says he has that experience too: people go get themselves killed trying to be a hero. It’s just suicidal. There hasn’t been any fights or wars yet. Not yet. Not now.

All of a sudden, I’ve been tackled to the ground. A tongue is licking my face and I realize then who this is.

“Electra!” Cole shouts. He runs over to me trying to get Fiver off me. He pulls out his gun.

“No!” I scream. “Fiver’s my friend. He’s my dog.”

I’m so screwed.

“You have a dog? He’s dead weight, Electra, and who knows if instincts will kick in and all of a sudden this ‘Fiver’ eats you.” Cole seemed mad because of the surprise. “Stupid. I didn’t know you were stupid.”

Ouch. I knew he meant it too. I got up now, and looked Cole in the eyes.

“Well, let me finish my story. After my dad went all hero on me, he told me where to go. I eventually his directions led me to a warehouse with some people. They asked who I was and stuff: then gave me Fiver.” I turned to Fiver now. “He’s a genetically engineered to help people. He’s faster, hunts for himself, and has all of his senses improved. I named him Fiver because it took me five days to get to the warehouse. Five days since my father had died.”

“I’m-”

“No,” I interrupt. “You assumed things and made a judgment off it. And you almost pulled the trigger on my dog.”

He remained silent for a while. Fiver runs away into the forest. I’ll call for him later.

“Where we going?”

“You still need to finish my questions.”

“Right,” I grumbled. I decided to make it all shorter. “So, I went back to village, where my father died, with Fiver. Somebody already took Chief. It was my childhood friend, Tyrus. Tyrus’s parents are telling me they had a deal with my father, but whatever it was, I was betrothed to Tyrus because of it. I had...have no intention of marrying. I don’t care that Tyrus got the Chief spot over me either. So I left, then. I started toward hope. Something new. The Main.”

“Okay. And what do you plan doing here?” He had this tone in his voice that now made him seem like he was actually interrogating me.

“I don’t know. I was just going to let things happen.”

“Why are you so difficult?” He’s annoyed. “Okay, okay. Sorry. Do you plan on living here or are you just visiting?”

I don’t know. He’s going to be mad if I say that again. I sighed dramatically. “Listen Cole,” I began, “It took me a little less than a year to get here. I simply ran away. I didn’t - couldn’t get married. Especially to my friend. Tyrus is meant to only be my friend. But that's not the point. It was just impulse. I didn’t know where else to go. I don’t know what I’m going to do with my life, but I want to be like my father. I want to be remembered. I know I’ve been selfish saying he should have helped me over some strangers, but he died a hero. I don’t know. I don’t care. I’m going to let it all happen.”

“Clever way of saying that you don’t know. But it’s fine.” He looked over to me. “You always talk about your father. What about your mother?”

“She’s a Rebel. Ten years ago she disappeared. Four years ago she helped in the bombing of Jh’Quier. I don’t know whether she’s alive or not.”

“My mother and little sister died at the bombing of Jh’Quier.”

I inhaled sharply. “I’m...” I paused. “I’m so sorry.”

“I know and I’m fine. It was four years ago.”

Silence. Again. But luckily, I say, “So, I’ve answered your questions. Now where are you taking me?”

“We call it the Field.” Cole smirks at me, for some reason.

“Why there?”

“You’re father trained you, you say? And he was military? I’d like to see how good you are.”

I nodded. He wants to test me. And you can sure as hell bet I’ll give it him.



The building was a silver dome. It must be at least five hundred feet tall. We entered the building through electronic doors that automatically slid open.

“Everything okay?” Cole looks at me.

“Ye-” I stop.

The doors had led us into a glass room. Outside the glass room was the field. It was a desert. Cacti stood tall and lanky, sand billowed and flowed in the wind. I had heard about deserts before. This is exactly what I expected it to be.

Then I see a girl in bright clothing. She was opening a cactus, drinking from it. The clothing was baggy unlike anything I’ve seen before. It billowed in the wind like waves of an ocean. But how is there wind in a building?

Cole reads my expression. “It’s all fake. It’s meant to train you for what could be. Y’know, if you were stranded in a desert. It’s a different landscape every day. Last time I was here it was a meadow. Just like the one outside the Main.”

“Unbelievable. They created nature. Of all things, they take the one thing not manmade and make it anyway,” I say. For a bit, I’m angry. Why do this? Why bother trying to copy the wilderness? If I need to train for a situation, I practice outside. The real outdoors. But part of me is still awed. It looks real. It is real.

“Ready?” Cole asks.

I nod and notice the girl with the bright, baggy clothing has disappeared.



The Field is hot. Cole only let me go in with the clothes on my back and my pocket knife. But I’m even tempted to take off my clothes because it’s so hot.

Once were far enough from the entrance, Cole gives me my situation. I’m alone. I’m being hunted. I’ve been travelling for two days in the desert. I am without water in the sweltering heat. I must find the oasis – a pond with life surrounding it – and prepare to fight the hunter.

Cole finishes up, “I’ll give you a ten minute head start. I will be the hunter.” A pause. “Begin!”



Cole told me the field is about a mile and a half wide. I don’t know how it’s possible, but I’m lost. I don’t see any walls. I look up to the sky, but only see bright light. There isn’t even a sun. It’s just light. But the light is the same shade and luminosity as the sun’s rays. The heat seems to rise by the minute.

Finally, I take my t-shirt off and tie it around my head to make hat to block out the light. I notice I blend in better with my skin, rather than my black clothes, so I take off my legging also. My hat is larger. Better.

Now that that’s taken care of, I need to find the oasis. So I walk. I walk and I walk. To nowhere and no hopes of getting anywhere. My throat and lips a dry, sand is plastered to my face, and for once, I realize how thankful I am for my long eyelashes protecting my eyes from sand particles in the air.

Why am I doing this? Why train for something that’s never going to happen? When will I ever cross a desert? When will I ever be hunted? Questions swarm me like the sand. The pathetic, annoying, stupid sand. I decide I hate Cole. This is no way you treat a new visitor you are supposed to be helping. Not hunting. I don’t care if its hypothetical and pretend, I am hungry. I am thirsty. I am tired. But no. I am in a desert.

Then I see Fiver. He’s running towards me. Bang! A bullet tears through Fiver. He’s in the sand, blood pooling. I run over as fast as I can, screaming. By the time I get there, it’s a pond full of blood. Fiver is sinking to the bottom of the blood pool. So I plunge down and try to grab him, but I can’t. I try and try again, but nothing happens. I go down deep enough that it’s dark.

Fiver is gone now. I can’t find him and I’m out of breath. I try to swim to the surface, but I can’t hold the crying back. I inhale the water. I am gone in the blood also.



Light. It screams at me in my face. I scream also, calling out Fiver’s name. But I hear a soft humming. I turn my face and see a figure sitting down and fidgeting at something.

And it all hits me. It hits me so hard, there’s a pounding in my head. I was saved from the pool of blood. I realize who the figure is, who saved me.

“Cole, Fiver was shot,” I whisper, unable to speak too loud.

“Stupid, I know” he mutters. I was too quiet. I was unheard. “Yes, sir. …My apologies again, sir. …Yes, good day.” Who is he talking to?

I speak louder. “Fiver was shot.”

Cole looks at me. “You’re awake!” He crawls over too me with a canteen. “Drink this.”

The liquid – water – is ice cold. It glides down my throat, rejuvenating, refreshing.

“Fiver was shot!” I shout now. “He’s dead!”

“No, that was-”

“You killed him!” I scream! I lunge myself toward him, but he’s quick. Next thing I know, he’s hovering over me; I’m pinned down.

“Electra Royce, listen to me,” Cole says, demanding my attention. He voice is alive, but cold and stern. “You were seeing things. There wasn’t enough water in your system so you experienced a mirage. I saw you run toward the oasis screaming. I got there just in time to save you from drowning. Fiver isn’t here; he’s out in the real wilderness, safe.”

The blood I saw was actually water. I was seeing things. It was fake. I’m so relieved. Adrenaline still pumps through me, but I’m calm. I feel like an ocean. Strong and powerful, but serene at the same time.

“No blood?”

“No blood,” he answers with a faint smile.

We get up. He’s saved me from water twice now. We leave the Field, the desert, the pool of blood. He’s taking me somewhere else because he still wants to test me. I see the hunger in Cole’s eyes; he yearns to show off his skill.