“DIB less than ten miles southeast. Twelve of them, though more following behind no doubt,” Ella reported at the mouth of the latest pine they made their hideout as they moved.

Her face wrinkled with worry as she wrung her hands, which still passed through each other.

“They have heat sensors. They found remnants of last night’s fire in the warm embers.”

“Fuck,” Don and I said together.

“Thought putting them out with dirt and burying them would be enough. That’s on me,” Don growled.

My heart pounded its fists against my ribcage and tried crawling out of my throat as I quickly stood, shaking the surrounding branches of the inside pine.

The sun wouldn’t rise for another few hours, but the starlight outside the pine made me feel as exposed as if I was on a spotlit stage.

Reading my mind, Ella mirrored my worry aloud for Don to hear.

“Violet will never outrun them at this point. Only a matter of time before they have heat-sensing drones overhead too.”

Don nodded his head and flickered his form into a standing position.

“I wanted to avoid this at first, but if the only other option is you getting caught now….”

He looked me in the eyes with a grim look that sent shivers down my spine.

“You’ll need to use the river, a couple of klicks west from here if my guess is correct based on when we last spotted it.”

“I feel a ‘but’ coming next,” I said as I gathered the small rations of mushrooms, berries, chaga fire starter, and bits of flint into a makeshift pouch ripped from my hospital gown.

“But, like you said last time you felt it, the river is cold as balls and likely to give you hypothermia if you’re in it for a while, which you’ll need to lose DIB’s trail and avoid heat sensors. I’m hoping the cold water will hide your body heat, but Ella and I can scout around as you float and tell you when you need to get some depth below the surface.”

“Let’s go. You can run as we talk,” Don said before flickering out, forcing me to exit the tree with him. I looked around, spotted him a dozen feet away, and started a fast jog, Ella floating by my side the whole time.

“And what is she going to use to float on? She doesn’t have time to make a proper raft in the next hour with no tools, and we sure as shit can’t help her,” Ella asked sharply, leaning out ahead of me to speak to Don.

He likewise hovered at my other side as I ran as he led our direction.

I listened and tried to regulate my breathing as I quickened my pace.

I was miserable but couldn’t help a smile turning my lips as I ran and thought of how grateful I was to have Ella and Don with me.

I may be captured or killed soon, but I had powers. And I wasn’t alone anymore.