Black, soulless eyes staring at me. They were driving to me over the sandy dunes in the black truck. How did they know I was going into town? I flew as high as I could, heart bursting out of my chest in fear.

Don't freeze. Don't freeze. I flew higher and began to speed off in the opposite direction. Another bullet whizzed by and sliced open one of the plastic bags. I tried to reach down and catch the contents, but they tumbled out. 

My skin felt like it was on fire in fear. The sun was almost gone beneath the horizon.

I flew faster and faster, clutching the medicine to my chest.

I avoided the Eyeless camp and finally saw the Joshua pack. I almost cried in relief. I landed as closely as I could to the camp and raced over to the clinic. It was closed. I pushed my way in and set the backpack and bags down. I would tell Berry later.

I ran over to Daria's office. I pushed my way in. "Daria," I panted, "I found the Eyeless camp. Only ten miles northwest of here. They had a woman there. She was older, gray hair. She looked really exhausted. I..." I panted. "I found them."

Her eyes were cold. "Leave us," she said.

I blinked a few times and realized that Gregg and another man were also in her office. I had interrupted their meeting. They quickly got up to leave.

"What the hell were you doing?" Daria raged. Her eyes were glowing in anger. "You were expressly commanded not to leave pack lands. Every time you do so, you bring us more danger." She slammed her fist down. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she accused. "Can't take a command?"

I opened my mouth to defend myself. I was getting medicine...pregnancy tests. I wasn't intentionally seeking out the enemy.

She raised her hand and cut me off. "Sometimes I wonder why I accepted you in the first place. You have a shift with Daniel in ten minutes. Go. We will speak of this in the morning."

My heart deflated.

"Go," she said again.

I nodded and scurried out. I was trying to help.

I took a deep breath and ran over to our apartment. "Berry!" I called, smiling. I tried to keep my voice level. Honestly, I just wanted to cry. "Medicine's here!"

Her eyes lifted and she burst into a grin. "Who brought it? Someone from Redwood?"

I nodded. "She already left," I lied. "It's in the clinic. Kind of a drop and run. She handed me a bunch of bags and left."

"Weird," she mused. Her eyes gleamed with cautious optimism. "You told her about the pregnancy tests?"

"It was on the list," I said.

"Oh," she said. "I didn't put it on the list. I...the clinic didn't really need them. They weren't a priority, so... I'm sorry. I thought I told you I didn't put them on the list. That was my bad."

"No, no, no," I said. "I told her. She got some."

Berry grinned and hugged me. "Thank you so much. Let's go see!"

We walked over to the clinic and Berry flicked on the lights, illuminating the boxes of medication. She went through them, organizing them by type.

"Nasal spray," she mused. "You never realize how much you need it until you have none."

I nodded. Three minutes.

She organized everything, even dumping the contents out of the backpack. She glanced at me curiously.

"Is this my backpack?" she asked.

I nodded. I glanced down at my watch.

"I have to head to work. Once you take the test, can you let me know what it says?" I asked.

"I would," she said. "But, I think they were forgotten." I shook my head. I knew I bought them. Then, I remembered the bag that was shot open. It must have been the one with the pregnancy tests. "But," she said, "it looks like some other stuff was forgotten, too. No worries." Her voice was light, but I knew she was disappointed.

"Berry—" I started. I wanted to tell her everything. I messed up.

"You'd better get to work. Daniels' a real stickler for stuff like that."

I nodded and sprinted out of the room. I met Daniel on the training ground. He stared at me. He was wearing all black and had clearly just showered. I was sweaty and gross from my adventures.

"Two things," he said. "'On time' means fifteen minutes before your shift, not," he looked down at his watch, "twenty seconds. Here's a tip. If we show up earlier, that means morning shift comes earlier. Trust me, at 6 a.m., you will appreciate fifteen minutes. Second, dress code. Overnight shift is not an excuse to slack off." He sniffed me. My heart thudded in my chest. "Showers are important."

I nodded. "I'm sorry."

He nodded. "Next time, I expect it to be different." I nodded. He sighed. "I already let day shift off, so we begin now. I'll show you the walkthroughs. With recent activity, we have three night patrols. A north patrol, a south patrol, and a base patrol. That's us. We stay close." I nodded.

"Let's go," I said. In the morning, he would hear about my escapade. I took his general kindness now. I would not be getting it later.