No dog would be able to track us now.

The thought came to me as I waded through the sparkling, freezing water. The island's warm winds never stopped ruffling my hair. Small, slippery stones dug into my bare feet, making it nearly impossible to move in any direction.

I readjusted my shoes, which dangled like two dead crows on my shoulders, for the umpteenth time-a ritual I had newly adopted-before glancing at Dad and Vince. They looked rightfully exhausted but pushed on without complaints.

"You got it, Lou." Robert squeezed my hand. "Slow and steady...I got you."

My teeth chattered in response. Without him, I would have fallen into the water so many times. I was not good at this at all.

By now, I had come to make peace with the fact that I needed him. We all needed him in some way. Robert's fate continued to intertwine with ours, frustratingly, like his cool and dry hand with my clammy one.

Robert's glasses glimmered in the moonlight, giving me a strange thought: What would happen if I ripped them off his nose? Would he be mad? Would I see his eyes better?

Charlie screamed back at us, interrupting my conversation with myself. "This is not the best, folks...But trust me... It could be a lot worse!"

I disagreed, but the city girl in me was busy being speechless due to the cold, exhaustion, and hunger.

Especially hunger.

Not too far away, the giant column of water-straight from God's faucet it seemed-hammered down into the misty lake we were crossing. The waterfall was majestic, but all I could think about was long, warm, shiny, stretchy taffy. I had seen the process on a trip with Mom and Vince. Dad, of course, couldn't make it that time...

Charlie changed his direction all of a sudden. The old man headed straight to a huge mossy boulder sitting directly by the waterfall's side and touched around the rock as if he were searching for something. Charlie then got a good grip and pulled himself upon it.

The image was quite bizarre. The old man balanced skillfully like a lizard on the narrow edge made entirely of small, ragged stones. He inched his way across the boulder with his face pressed to its wet surface. Before our eyes, Charlie disappeared into the waterfall.

My eyes opened as wide as my mouth. I tried my best to wrap my head around the sorcery that had just happened.

"Come on!" Charlie's head popped out again. "Hurry up! What are you guys waiting for?"

I closed my mouth and waded forward.

As it turned out, on the other side, the boulder split open, enough for us to get through one by one. The sizeable crack hid right under the impressive stream of water, hence the special effect of Charlie disappearing. How the boulder remained in one piece was a miracle of its own.

I stared at it. We had been drenched like city rats during the rainy season, so a little more wouldn't hurt.

Faint barking startled me. It originated from an unidentified location but was much closer than the last time. I whipped my head in its general direction, then to the guys. By the look on their faces, they had heard the same thing.

We sucked in a collective breath and helped each other up into the crack as fast as we could.

My toe hooked into a random crevice and bent with a painful crunch. I bit back a scream. Nothing could save me now as I fell forward. I braced myself for the impact. For certain, at least two of my front teeth would be gone after this.

I closed my eyes and clenched my whole body, but the pain didn't arrive as expected. A hand caught me. Dad had been in front of me throughout, so I didn't know how that was possible, but he did. His arm shook, and he looked spent, but Dad refused to let go of me.

"I got you, Lou." His voice was strained.

I dug my nails into him. My face was too wet for me to tell if it was tears.

We clung to each other and ducked through the curtain of bombarding water. Into a completely different world.

Silence took over the first few minutes. We felt the rumbling on our skin and deep in our chest---muffled by the rush of our blood before actually hearing anything again.

Water flowed everywhere. High above the rocky dome, a million 'stars', or star-like dots, twinkled. Icy drops rained down, creating a symphony of soft ting-tangs like thousands of xylophones playing at once. A long path made of small, perfectly round pebbles half submerged led to a giant opening on the other side of the cave.

"Wow," Vince gasped.

"Charlie, what's this place?" Robert's question echoed.

Charlie turned on his headlamp flashlight before handing one to each of us, "You know it."

"No, I don't. How would I-"

Robert stopped in the middle of his sentence, taking off his steel-framed glasses to wipe them on his shirt before shoving them back on.

"No way...." He whispered. "No freaking way."

"Yes way, my boy. Yes, way!" Charlie chuckled and scratched his chin. "Now, come on! Let's stop wasting time here!"

The old man walked in front of us while pulling out his GLOCK from the waterproof pouch.

"Just enough for some idiots who want to try me..." Charlie mumbled as he counted the bullets.

***

The stone path turned out to be much longer than any of us, besides Charlie, expected.

"How much longer?" My dad leaned on his knees and wheezed.

"Not very long. Just right ahead." Charlie pointed vaguely without stopping or turning back.

"I need a break," Dad waved and dropped his bottom harshly on the uneven ground just to cry out in pain. "Goddamn it!"

"Be careful, Dad." I rushed to him.

"Suit you," Charlie shrugged, "But they're not too far behind us. If I were you, I would make sure to get to wherever I need first. Even if it means crawling there. Especially if I'm with my kids... "

"Oh, just cut the crappy lecture, won't you? I've had enough! You don't think I would miss all of your provoking along the way, do you? You're so against the Federation and think that you're so much better than people like me, but I bet you aren't here out of the kindness of your heart either! You must expect something back-"

"General Haynes, I don't think that-"

"Dad! Just cool it! You're being rude!"

"I'm rude? He's the one who's been rude to me!"

"Expect something back," Charlied mused before busting out laughing. "Like what? Krones that will soon be worthless? Or gratitude from someone like you who still thinks they have the whole world under their thumbs? No, thank you, general! Oh, wait, I forgot! You're not a general anymore. You're just a fugitive!"

"Say it again, and I'll punch you in the face, old man!" Dad jumped to his feet, completely forgetting about his earlier discomfort.

"I'd like to see you try." Charlie puffed up his chest.

Unlike my dad, whose intelligence seemed greatly reduced whenever he was in a fit, I remembered clearly where the GLOCK was.

"Dad, just shut it!" I held on to his arm and gritted through my teeth while pleading to the other two with my eyes.

"Right, Dad," Vince jumped in. "I've just heard barking again. They must be right outside. We can't stay here!"

"Charlie, General, please." Robert wedged himself in between the old men, who both reached his shoulder. "This is not the time or place for this."

"You're lucky," Charlie spat at my dad. "Just so you know, I do this for these young people. Not you! They don't deserve any of this mess. That you helped create! I do it because, unlike you, I have a promise, and I intend to keep it. I care about people far more than a bullshit war, bullshit generals, and their bullshit causes. I do what's right!"

Dad snickered but didn't respond. He only stared daggers at Charlie before turning to his reflection in the water. I couldn't tell what was running through his mind, but I was pleasantly surprised. Usually, Dad had to have the last word.

We then continued our weary journey.

Crystal-clear water on two sides of the stone path created a mirror-like effect that gave me great anxiety. Somehow, my mind, which had not recovered from the squabble between Dad and Charlie, had convinced me that we were walking on a floating bridge high up in the starry sky. Every careless step would grant us a fall to our demises. Our souls, forever lost. Or something big would rise and swallow us all.

As I let my imagination roam free in the dark, mysterious blue orbs appeared in the water, lining the edges of the stone path.

"Glowing cavefish," Charlie explained, "Cute, but I don't suggest eating them."

My stomach growled at the mention of fish. I didn't know how much more I could take. It was a miracle I had not collapsed yet. My feet had lost feelings a long time ago.

"You have something to eat, Charlie?" Robert asked.

"Ugh, young people," Charlie groaned but dug into his magical pouch anyway and pulled out two bars of chocolate-covered almonds. He threw them at Robert. "That's all I have for now. There are more on the heli."

Robert caught the snack bars midair and gave them both to me. I stared at him for a second before snatching the snack bars out of his hand. I ripped one open with my teeth and took a big bite out of it before heaving a sigh of satisfaction.

"You 'eed 'o eat 'ome 'oo." I gave the uneaten bar to Robert while trying to unstick the chocolate from my teeth.

He chuckled and shook his head before taking it from me. Robert threw the snack bar to Vince, who caught it and broke it in half. My brother gave one half to Dad before chowing down on his portion.

"I can eat when we get there," Robert said.

"But-"

Loud squeaking and thunderous vibrations interrupted me. I didn't know exactly what happened, but instinct told me to crouch down and cover my head.

A colony of bats-number easily in the thousands-flew past our heads straight to the cave's opening.

"Auspicious sign!" Charlie jumped up.

"Could've fooled me," Vince mumbled while dusting his pants.

Dad had a crunch of disgust on his face but refused to comment. His hospital gown couldn't look any worse. We all needed to change soon.

The rest of our journey, thankfully, was as boring as it could be. I had grown tired of watching the tiny blue cave fishes, and the snack bar had become a distant memory by the time we reached the cave opening. Warm wind once again greeted us. An endless grass field, identical to the one we had crossed to get to Charlie, opened before our eyes.

"You're sure we're not lost?" Vince asked.

"Son," Charlie scoffed and gave my brother the biggest side-eye. "Have some faith."

"I cannot believe we're back here! Hard to imagine a place like the cave exists right under this," Robert laughed. "I mean, it's amazing!"

"Sure... Imagine how amazing it would be when you discovered it for the first time, after a long flight around the island, with cold beers and a campfire waiting, not guys with assault rifles and hunting dogs." Charlie looked at Robert from the corner of his eyes.

Apparently, years ago, Charlie and Robert had camped in this very same spot when they had been stranded on the island.

"Charlie... I know you wanted me to come, but you know how my work was..."

"Yeah, yeah, busy. I get it," Charlie waved his hand. "What does that even matter now? What matters is, unless your pursuers are as lucky as you are, which I highly doubt because they don't have me! The forest will keep them busy, but that doesn't mean we should sit back on our asses and relax."

I exhaled. It made me uneasy to see Robert look like a wounded puppy after Charlie dismissed him. He tried to catch up to the old man, who was walking unnecessarily fast, and attempted to make small talk. Let's just say small talk wasn't Robert's strong suit.

What Charlie didn't know was years ago, after Robert had come back, I had made him promise not to ever do something like that again-putting himself in unnecessary danger in the name of adventure and scaring me. I would not forgive him.

Robert had listened.

Every year, he had found reasons to refuse Charlie's invitation to fly to Crab Island "for practice." The old man had become somewhat obsessed with the island and insisted on Robert coming with him even after Robert had stopped working at the hangar. What happened after we broke up, I didn't know, but Charlie must have held a grudge, and I would hate to be the target of that grudge. I knew Charlie was more of a father to Robert than his biological one could ever be, so I picked up my pace.

"Uhm, Charlie, hold on! Actually, I-"

Robert slowed down and turned back to me. He then shook his head.

I looked at him, then Charlie.

Maybe it was also a little too late.

***

We marched through the night. I looked up at the moon. Was it always like that?

My hair and body were finally dry. My stomach groaned as if it was filled with rusty cogs.

"A little more...We are almost there... " As if knowing what I was thinking, Dad mumbled while glowering at Charlie's back.

The old man had been quiet ever since.

Robert and Vince were talking about things that didn't help our situation.

I kept my eyes fixed ahead and willed my legs to move. One step, and another.

Slowly, a mighty black and white object appeared in our vision. The helicopter made a stark contrast with the muted-colored surroundings. It was not impressive in any way compared to many aircraft I had seen or been on, not even as big as the one we had stolen to get here, but the sight of it warmed me up from the inside out. I felt alive once more.

We rushed to it as Charlie exclaimed, "My baby." With one foot in, I looked back. Finally, we could leave this place behind.