Evolution

Chapter Ten: Newbies

"The ones that make me weak, the ones that put my life at greater risk" I argued

"No, the ones that make you strong, the ones that bind you to sanity"

He was beginning to sound like Jesse. I didn't like it. Why were so many people relaying this information to me, information about myself that apparently I couldn't' see yet so many others could.

"I can remain sane without some of those human characteristics, like the need for human interaction" I told him "When people become stranded on islands after their boats sink, they remain alone, they do not speak, yet their bodies adapt and react to what needs to be done to survive"

"They go insane Arrow. Have you not seen 'Cast Away'?" He smiled

I roll my eyes and move them away from his daring face

He had won this battle.

-

The day progressed faster and faster. It was us, versus the daylight. Nightfall, was bad, daylight was okay, those were the only times we knew of, they were the only times that mattered. And nightfall, well, it continued to close in quicker than any of us expected.

For the entire morning through to midday, Mason had attempted to persuade me with casual chit-chat. For a while, I had to admit, it had worked. I found myself, enjoying his tall-tale stories of how the creatures had become. He had studied some form of Science and Nursing in his teen years, and held masters in both fields. They were an odd mix, but an interesting one at that. He spoke of words that I couldn't understand, attempting to understand himself how something that had cured cancer had destroyed life-preservation itself. In the end, he couldn't fathom it, and neither could I. We didn't know how it had happened, or why it had happened, but it had. That was the reality now. Humans were greedy, and eventually we had both agreed as to our fault in the world.

Hours had passed as we walked down the main dirt roads in between Laylor and Listhen. Thunder continued to roll, and we were still yet to feel its fierce demeanour. Mason had re-joined his two sidekicks at the front of the group, while I was left yet again on my own at the very stern of the human boat. I had zoned out entirely on the conversation ahead of me, I had given up on trying to piece together the normalcy of conversation between the girls and the others.

Again, I concentrated on the sound of birds tweeting high above, surging through the sky at a fast pace to escape the threatening rain. Thunder would roll directly followed by lightning that lit up the sky, the dark menacing clouds shrouding over us almost as warning. Faintly, as my mind and ears focused on the atmosphere around, I began to hear an indirect noise; a noise that I was having trouble pinpointing. By this stage, my ears had developed supersonic hearing, and I was pretty accurate at picking up when something sounded... off. My eyes were narrow, as if that would make any difference in locating the sound. As we continued further, it became more intense and within five minutes of me having first heard the sound, I had come to realize just what was approaching fast behind us.

"Arden!" I called out urgently; his body slowed "Someone is coming!" I told him confidently, this time my words halting his movements.

"What are you taking about?" He looked towards me as the entire group stopped and turned their heads in my direction.

"Someone is coming" I repeated as I turned my body around, facing the direction we'd come from in Laylor.

The noise grew closer, and I knew that soon, we'd catch sight of it.

"Listen" I told my so called superior as the voices of the others began to question my sanity.

"Quiet!" Arden demanded as he stood beside me, his eyes searching the space mine did.