Sara looked down at him. Her wrist burnt were he had held her his heat still on her skin.

She snatched her wallet from under the furs in her bedroom alcove, grabbed a backpack, filled a bottle of water and within ten minutes she was out of the hide.

She disguised the entrance with branches, dirt, and moss door she had made years ago..

She knew it would take hours to get to a phone. So she ran. She worried with each step she took. Those men, things, where out here. Sebastian was so hot his skin burned hers. His leg -  gawd - his leg. What wasn't black was red or blue. Silver/white puss oozed from the broken skin.

Just the thought of the heat in his skin made her run faster. She jumped logs, ran around trees, ducked under limbs and her lungs burned.

She didn't know what was wrong with Sebastian but she feared that he would die before she got back with help.

Her mind conjured an image of his lifeless body on her living room bed. It made her and Evodin flinch. She stumbled.

She felt the world tilt, saw the ground leap forward, she threw her arms out to brace her fall. She felt the twig as it borrowed under her skin but the pain didn't register with the adrenaline coursing through her veins.

She forced her self to her feet. She didn't bother dusting the grim away before she started running again.

Her brain tried to recall the closest place to find a payphone. Each store flashed through her head but she couldn't remember any of them having a payphone. Her cellphone was in the pack on her back but it had absolutely no charge.

The suns light had long ago started to fade. She needed a plan. She needed something!

Okay, plan B. She needed a place to plug in her cell. Businesses would be closed this late and none that she knew of had electric outlets outside.

There was a camp ground that had public bathrooms, showers,  vending machine. Vending machines! That's it, the plan. Vending machines needed power, she could unplug one and use the power supply. It would even save time.

It was ten miles from any other source of communication or power. 

By the time her feet landed on the black top she wondered if she would be able to make it the last mile to the park.

She had never ran full out for this long before. Every muscle in her boby hurt. Her legs felt like they wanted to fall off. The inside of her chest felt bruised. Sweat coated her skin and clothes. It hurt to breath.

Yellow light glowed up ahead. The sight injected her system with a shot of a joyous adrenaline rush. She rushed toward the light.

She ran past the open gate, down the driveway till she came to the white brick building. Between the male and female  washroom facilities stood the vending machines.

The area was so lit up that it hurt her eyes. She had to pushed the smaller machine over 10 inches before she could unplug it. She fumbled in her backpack for the phone and power cord.

As soon as she wedged herself between the two machines and plugged in the phone she pressed the power button. The screen lit up and flashed a big red battery on the screen. Below the battery were the words: Charging please wait a few minutes before turning device on.

She lifted her head and screamed in desperation and frustration.

She whimpered. Her hands were starting to hurt from her fall. She closed her eyes and forced herself to take a few even breaths. It actually helped the pain in her chest. She counted to sixty.

She pressed the power button again. This time the phone turned on. It took it longer to fully load then she liked.

For a moment her mind went blank and she couldn't remember the phone number Sebastian told her. Evodin remember. She recited the number and Sara typed it as fast as she could. It rang four times before being answered.

"Hello, Barbra speaking."

"Sebastian's hurt. He- he told me to call this number." With that said Sara started to cry. "I think - he - he's going to -to die." Sara closed her eyes in an attempt to stop the burning tears.

"Okay. I need you to listen to me." The woman said on the other side of the phone. Her voice was calm power and it helped ease some of Sara's nerves. Sara nodded. "Can you calm down enough to tell me what happened?"

Sara pulled in a few shattered breath. Her voice was slightly calmer when she spoke. "I found him under a pine tree. He was shot. I drug him to my camp." Sara saw the blood as she pulled the bullet out. She whimpered again. "I pulled it out, the bullet. It was silver, but it wasn't deep. I took care of the cut on his thigh too." She couldn't remember what she had done first. The bullet or the cut. She told the woman she couldn't remember.

"That's fine, Hun. Hold on, sweetie." Barbra said. Sara heard a rustling sound followed by muffled conversation. "Hon, where is Sebastian now?"

"My camp on the mountain. Roland Mountain. You - you have to hurry. He's bad. Really bad. His leg was red, blue, and black when I left. That was hours ago." She hadn't realized she was starting to yell untill the woman told her to take a deep breath. She did as she was told. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I ran all the way here. It took hours. You really have to hurry." She tried  to calm down with a few deep breaths.

"Did he, Sebastian, tell you anything?" The woman asked.

Haley's Comet. Evodin said in her head.

"Haley's Comet. But I don't know what it means." She whined. She looked down as her hand throbbed in pain. She turned her hand over and gasped. The woman spoke in her ear.

"It's okay. We understand. – What's wrong?" The woman added when Sara gasped.

"I have a stick. It's in my hand. Like in my skin." She whispered. Her stomach rolled but she couldn't look away. "I'm - I think-" Sara barely moved her head in time to keep the vomit from covering the phone, machine, backpack and getting all of her. Some still landed on her left hiking boot.

She groaned.

"Are you still there? Are you okay now?"

Sara nodded but realized the woman couldn't see her. "Yes." She said.

"If we pick you up can you show us where Sebastian is now?"