The Wastelands

As Lilia ran from one tree to the next, chances after the person in blue. She made sure that each step was as light as possible. On the other hand, Terran had a heavier footstep, so he had no choice but to fall back and let Lilia take the lead.

'Hopefully, the intruder won't know that we're down here.'

*He certainly knows that someone chancing him. That's for sure.* Sil chirped out. *He's booking it at full speed.*

*No doubt.* Lilia agreed. *But he has the high ground. It wouldn't be great to know where we're at, just in case he has a weapon.*

*You should be more worried that he is leading you right to his friends,* Sil advised.

*True,* Lilia conceded. *But we still need to know. He might be a threat to the camp.*

*Who knows he might be part of the Trails and wanted to sabotage the competition.*

Lilia thought for a moment that slowly shook her head. *No, not this early anyway. Plus, his smell is off. It almost blends in with the Wastelands.*

Truthfully she wouldn��t be surprised if someone participating in the Trials tried to mess with them, but, with the Outsiders in their group, they already have a handicap. Besides, what was the point when the only one who cared if they pass or not was their instructor, Captain Terrance.

*I rather that it was.* Sil breathed out.

*I wish I could help you,* Sil said, frustration laced through his voice. The Wastelands became so dense that Sil had to retreat above the treeline. All he could do was follow Lilia's presence.

*I know, but I will be fine.* Lilia tried to reassure Sil.

*Yeah, okay, just be careful.* Sil did not seem to be convinced.

As she continued running, keeping the blue coloured intruder in her sight, but it was becoming harder and harder to do so. She had to quicken her step to just keep up with him, and that was the problem. Even though her foot was throbbing, she knew that she faster. It was more than that; the intruder was maneuvering through the terrain as he knew it like the back of his hand, which was odd. No one knew the terrain that well; the Wastelands are forever shifting. Unless…

Lilia quickly dismissed the idea. 'No, they should not be this close to the compound unless they had a good reason.'

Then suddenly, a grey fox crossed her path. Startled, she veered right into a tree.

A thumping sound echoed the tree's bend at the impact, disturbing the trees around it.

The grey fox hissed at the noise and disappeared into the bush.

Lilia bit her lip in pain as blood dripped into her eyes. She cursed her own stupidity but was done couldn't be changed. So, Lilia forced herself to take cover and get into a defensive position. The intruder had to be deaf not to hear that, but a few moments later, all she could hear was him moving further and further away.

She relaxed a little, but she needed to get out of the area. If the intruder hadn't stopped, he most certainly getting his friends.

*Lilia, are you okay?* Sil asked with concern, but he wasn't trying to hide his amus.e.m.e.nt.

*I'm fine, just feeling a little stupid.* She tried to walk but winced as pain shot up her leg. She pushed her body too much. Terran won't be happy.

*Bahahaha, that was fun to watch.* Sil laughed. Lilia just rolled her eyes, allowing him to get it out of his system as the laughter dyed down. *Anyways, do you want me to scout ahead*

*No, we should just leave,* Lilia replied but was distracted when she spotted something odd only a couple of feet away. *Sil, can you circle? I found something.*

*Fine,* Sil sighed. *But be quick about it.*

She limped closer to get a better look. Something was protruding from the ground. What she found widened her eyes in surprise.

At that moment, Terran came stumbling beside her, out of breath. "What was that noise? Where did he go?" When he saw Lilia's condition, he just sighed. "You hurt yourself again, didn't you?"

She held out her finger in silence and pointed to the sign with orange and blue finger paint, slashing downward. "We need to go now!"

"Not before fixing you up." His tone changed with authority.

Lilia was about to argue when Sil's voice broke out. *A small group is coming!*

She turned to Terran. "No time, their coming."

"Fine." Terran hurried toward her and wrapped his arm around her waist. Did Terran grow a couple of inches?

"Ha!"

"Don't argue," Terran scolded. "With the way you are, this way is faster."

Lilia wanted to protest but quickly changed her mind. "Fine," she conceded, accepting Terran's help as they both ran back toward camp.

***

"Bored," Heather huffed out as she flopped down next to Katy.

"They kicked you out," Katy confirmed, not looking away from her sewing; it looked like one of Daniel's shirt. Katy was in some of Heather's classes; she was had her hand in sewing and drawing designs. She was quiet but nice. Though she doesn't show it often but push come to shove, Katy could get things done.

"Yeah," Heather pouted, kicking her feet. "They didn't understand my teaching method. I don't know what's so hard. All you have to do is point and shoot."

Katy just sighed and put down her sewing and gave Heather a look. "I don't know that much about crossbows, but from my observation, you have a natural ability to know how to stand, and you have a good eye. Watching you alone might be a learning experience in itself."

"But that's boring. Doing the same thing over again get's old after the while." Heather should have gone with Lilia and Terran; it was probably a lot more fun than staying behind.

"And there you go." Katy sighed, giving, going back to her work.

There must be something, anything to relieve her of this torture. Her eyes widened when her gaze slid to something glorious. Her hands were itching to get her hands on it. All she needed to do was get her tools.

Heather sprung up, but a hand stopped her. "Don't you dare dismantle that sled," Katy said sternly. "We only have one."

"But my hands are itching for me too," Heather w.h.i.n.ed. She heard that the sled hover system was based on the cities' cars, using the rocks like the magnetized tracks. Is the surface area fixed, or could it be recalibrated to bond to any surface material? In any case, the sled won't get stuck. The balancing suspensions must be insane.

"If I add a steering mechanism, wouldn't it be so much better?" Heather squealed in excitement.

"It's supposed to be used for cargo, not for carb your driving addiction," Daniel replied as he sat down behind Katy. The crossbow lesson must be over already. Danial helps as a mechanic from time to time, but his real passion was carpentry. Nice guy, a little scruffy, though.

"That's not the point here." Katy pointed at Druid. "Doesn't she blow up everything she touches?"

"Not everything I touch?" Heather looked away, a little embarrassed. "But you have to find what doesn't work, to find what does."

"Well, that's kind of redundant if everything is in pieces," Katy argued back. "Oh, your shirt's finished." Shoving it into Daniel's arms.

"Nice, thanks." He held it up in satisfaction. "To be fair, Heather's is one of the more skilled mechanics on the Compound. She even beats out some of the teachers." He continued, and Heather's lips broke out into a smile. "If she shows some restraint."

'Oh, a shot to the heart.;

"I heard that coms transmitters could pull the sled." Daniel continued.

"Really? Wouldn't the sound interference get in the away?" Katy questioned.

"Oh, that was great," Conner sat down with a silly grin on his face as he chugged down some water. Then he looked back and forth. "Huh? Interference."

"You know the singing that the Wastelands does? That interferes with the coms." Katy explained. "Makes it hard to get a signal out.

"Doesn't seem safe. What if something happens?" Miss. Duncan asked, adjusting her glasses.

Katy and Daniel glanced at each other before Daniel answered. "We have something, it doesn't have a great range, and it's buggy as hell."

"They're still an hour before dark. Let's just play some cards or something until then," Katy suggested.

Sneaking away was easy. Getting the tools were even more so, but there was one thing that Heather hadn't factored in. That one thing was big, spikey, and glaring right at her.

"You win this time," Heather whispered, and Spike just growled in response.

"Who wins?" A voice asked from behind her.

Heather jumped and turned to find Tessa looking back at her. "I wasn't doing anything!" She poorly hid her tools

Tessa stared, but she shrugged and turned to the treeline, looking kind of sad.

Heather didn't want to pry, it wasn't her business, but Terran kept nagging at her to at least say something. "What's wrong?"

Tessa bit her lip, looking conflicted. "Are Terran and Lilia…"

"There they are!" Heather spotted them right away, jumping up running to meet them, but stopped when she saw Lilia's sorry state. "What did you do now?" She went to Lilia's other side to help her the rest of the way.

"Ha," Lilia protested.

"If Terran's doing this much, then something must be wrong. So, no arguments." Heather insisted. Nothing was more important than the Link they shared, nothing.

"Fine, but we need to speak with Captain Terrance," Lilia replied.

"You need to be treated first," Terran insisted.

"Why don't you do both," A voice boomed behind them, startling all three of them. Heather looked back to find Captain Terrance towering over them. "Report now!"

Lilia shooed away Heather and Terran and stood up straight, "There was someone in the woods, so we followed him."

"Miss. Spencer," Captain Terrance growled out. "You should have just headed back to camp."

"No, Sir, just listen." Lilia pleaded. "There was a sign with orange and blue paint."

"Nomads? We have Nomads this close to the compound. That is so awesome." Heather was so excited she never met a Nomad before. Nomads were people who wanted nothing to do with the Cities and chosen to live in the Wastelands permanently. The signs were warnings that a Nomad camp was nearby, stay away.

"Miss. Collins, not now," Captain Terrance ordered, shaking his head. "Mr. Collins, can you confirm this?"

Terran straightened up. "Yes, Sir, I have seen the sign."

"You didn't go any further?" The Captain asked.

Both shook their heads in denial. "No, Sir, but they know we were there," Lilia added.

"Damn," Captain Terrance cursed. "Nothing to do now, but to contact the other teams, to look out for signs of them."

"Is that wise? Shouldn't we head back?" Tessa hesitantly asked. The Captain just glared at her. "Um, Sir."

"No, Miss. Castie, they're not dangerous, just tricky to deal with." The Captain denied. "The radio, on the other hand, is a bitch to use, who came up with using the roots system to bypass the Wasteland's sound interference, never had to hook it up." He grumbled as he walked toward the sled.

"Come on. We need to get you treated." Terran moved Lilia to the sitting area. Heather turned to follow but stopped to find Tessa watching with squinted eyes.

'Oh uh, little brother, you might have trouble in your future,' Stella thought. 'Oh well.' As she skipped after them.