Tina Chan - imperfect

Spots danced in her vision.

She was falling,

falling,

falling.

“Ah!” Kristi jolted awake.

She trembled all over and couldn’t stop the shivers that racked her body. That was one of the worst nightmares she’d had so far. She could usually wake herself up from a nightmare if she was aware of it, but for some reason, she hadn’t been able to do so this time.

“Are you alright?” Troop poked his head inside the tent. “I thought I heard you yell.”

“Yeah,” she said. “Just a nightmare.”

Kristi let out an involuntary shudder and massaged her right arm, which was feeling sore. “Where are Jaiden and Chelsa?”

“They went to get more water. Hopefully it won’t take them as long as last time.”

Kristi yanked a brush through her tangled hair and tied it back into a ponytail. Then she swirled some liquid toothpaste around in her mouth, cringing at the artificially minty flavor and spat it out behind a shrub. Morning rituals taken care of, Kristi disassembled the tent, which was something she could do.

Taking the tent apart is a heck of a lot easier than putting it together, she thought.

They ate a hasty breakfast and were back in the saddle again. Jaiden instinctively steered his mount beside Chelsa and the two intertwined their hands between them; Kristi swallowed down a small lump in her throat. She couldn’t help but feel a bit cast aside from the original trio.

Ghost, as if sensing her distress, turned around from his perch behind Chelsa and gave Kristi a look that read, “What did you expect? Hot guy meets badass girl. It’s a recipe for romance.”

“Your hair is dark brown,” Troop said, breaking Kristi out of her thoughts.

“What did you just say?” She wasn’t sure if she heard Troop right.

Troop motioned towards her hair. “Your hair is dark brown, not chestnut.”

My hair must’ve started to grow out if my natural hair color is showing at the roots. “Yeah. I might have to re-dye it soon.”

“I like your hair dark brown. It matches your personality more.”

“You haven’t even known me for a week and you’re already judging my personality. And it’s up to me to decide whether I re-dye my hair or not.”

There must’ve been a bite to her tone because Troop pretended to shield himself from her verbal attack. “Whoa, no need to get all fired up.”

Kristi made an exasperated sound and moved Flurry into a slightly faster speed to get ahead of Troop. To her aggravation, Troop didn’t seem to get the message she wanted to get away from him because he followed close behind.

“Have you ever heard of personal space?” she said out of the corner of her mouth.

“Have you heard of being friendly?”

“Just leave me alone, will you?”

“You’re upset that Chelsa and Jaiden aren’t including you now that they’ve both been hit by Cupid’s arrows, aren’t you?”

“I’m upset because a certain twerp won’t leave me alone!” Kristi exclaimed a little too loudly.

Jaiden turned around and looked back at them. “Is everything alright? Kristi, I hope you’re not arguing with Troop again.”

“He’s the one that started the argument,” Kristi said under her breath, but Jaiden heard it anyways.

“Be nice,” he reprimanded her, then turned around once more to talk to Chelsa.

Don’t tell me what to do, Kristi bitterly thought to herself.

“To be honest, I’m surprised the government hasn’t tracked you down yet,” Troop said.

“Why? Do you want us to get caught?” Kristi asked.

“No. I’m just surprised that there has been no sign of the government searching for you if you guys are wanted.”

“What about the posters? Or the news-screens?” She challenged. “And we also almost got caught by the Homeland Security Helicopters before you joined us.”

“Fair enough,” Troop said. “But I’ve seen what the government is capable of when they’re hunting someone down. It’s almost as if the government is allowing you to escape from them.”

Kristi shook her head in disbelief. “Why would they do that?”

“You’re right. My theory doesn’t make sense. I guess I’m over thinking matters.”

Kristi squinted off into the distance about a hundred ahead. There seemed to be something big lying on the side of the road. “Chelsa, what’s that object up ahead?”

“Seems like some sort of vehicle that’s been turned over.”

As they neared the vehicle, Kristi could make out that it was an overturned merchant’s truck. The truck’s windows were shattered and the inside looked like it had been ransacked. There was no doubt this was bandit work. She didn’t want to think about what happened to the poor driver.

“Is anyone in the truck?” Kristi asked.

She wasn’t too eager to see a dead body.

Jaiden dismounted from his horse, approached the truck and peered inside the front cabin. “It’s empty.”

“Let’s go,” Troop and Kristi said in unison.

“Creepy,” Kristi said.

“What’s creepy?” Troop asked.

“The truck. It’s giving me the chills.”

The broken headlights of the truck seemed to implore her not to abandon it. One of the wheels spun crazily when a stiff breeze blew through. A loud bang startled her. The wind had slammed closed the passenger door of the truck.

Kristi reined Flurry to the fractured windshield. A rust colored substance stained the edge of the cracks. Deeply unsettled, Kristi backed her mount away from the vehicle. A soft, guttural growl grinded out from beneath the truck.

“Ride!” Kristi gasped, wheeling Flurry around.

A creature erupted from beneath the truck. It looked like a hyena, but had a scaly tail and two terrible looking horns protruding from the top of its head. Its back had a spiny ridge running down it.

“What is it?” Jaiden said.

“Some sort of messed up hyena?” Kristi guessed.

More of the demonic hyena hybrids emerged from beneath the truck. Everyone launched into a frantic gallop away from the creatures.

Chelsa spared a glance backwards and cursed. “They’re devil-dogs—government created creatures that shouldn’t be out of the lab. They’re afraid of water. So keep your eyes out for any streams or lakes”

The devil-dogs were fast for their size and matched the droid-horses’ speed easily, waiting for the droid-horses to start faltering before coming in for the kill. Spittle trailed from their curled lips

Kristi did not want to die this way.

“Can the horses outrun the devil-dogs?” She tapped her heels against Flurry’s side, requesting more speed.

“Probably, but the devil-dogs will follow our scent. They’re built for endurance,” Chelsa replied.

“Storm clouds.” Troop pointed to the right. “I think there’s a storm coming from that direction.”

“How convenient. Ride towards the clouds. The rain should deter the devil-dogs.”

Kristi crouched even lower on Flurry and asked her to run even faster. Flurry responded and her hooves caused so much friction against the ground that sparks sprayed where she landed.

“Flurry’s going to overheat,” warned Troop.

“I know,” said Kristi. “There’s not much I can do about it.”

A devil-dog howled and the pack began to chase after them in earnest. The dogs were no longer simply stalking then; they were attacking. A devil-dog came dangerously near Flurry and snapped at her legs.

“Scram!” Kristi yelled. “Get away!”

She kicked the devil-dog away with her foot.

The storm clouds were about a quarter mile away. A quarter mile had never felt so far away in her life. Flurry let out a scream when a devil-dog pounced onto her back. The devil-dog bared his fangs at Kristi. Saliva dripped down his teeth like acid.