I woke up to the feeling of a heavy weight on my chest. Ungluing my eyelids, I was met with Samuel’s brown eyes. The dog had been a bag of nerves since we had entered The Green. His fur had been standing on edge for half a day, and each sound of the forest caused him to whine and move closer to me. Now he seemed calmer, although that could be because he had burrowed in close to me. It was too hot to have a dog sleeping next to me, but every time I tried to move him, he would just get up and return to his original position. Eventually, I had given up.

We had traveled as late as possible last night, setting up camp last minute. I knew from Alejandro that the most dangerous creatures in The Green were nocturnal. It was risky to move at that time and would attract a lot of unwanted attention.

I sat up, pushing Samuel off me. The polymer blanket I had strung up was still undisturbed, but I didn’t know what might be waiting for me on the other side. I pulled it aside slowly. The area around the campsite was clear.

I quickly broke everything down, taking only a few minutes to eat a cold breakfast and drink some water. I offered some food to Samuel, who ate greedily.

“Better fill up,” I murmured, patting his head. “We won’t be resting again for a while.” The dog seemed to understand, and finished everything I put in front of him. I’d make sure to give him water when we moved, but I didn’t want to stop at all, if possible.

I pulled out my handheld. Violet’s dot had frozen last night, but now it was moving again. I studied it for a few minutes, analyzing the direction she was heading in. It was clear she was making a beeline south, in a straight line. If I cut east fast enough, I would be able to intercept her by tomorrow morning. I’d have to check in a few times to confirm that she maintained her direction, but until then, I needed to preserve the handheld’s battery.

Standing up, I checked my gun and shouldered the backpack.

“Come on, boy,” I said to the dog, patting my thigh. He immediately sprang up from where he was lying and began to follow.

Hiking through The Green was challenging, and heading in a straight line instead of picking a path was particularly dangerous as there were creatures that were easily disturbed hidden in the foliage. The forest was alive with sounds, which was a good sign. It was when everything went silent that signaled a predator in the area.

As I hiked, I found my thoughts returning to Violet—the woman who continued to haunt me, even after I’d learned of her deceit.

Tomorrow morning was closer than I liked. I was both ready to see her, but also not. She had lied to me, betrayed me, and tried to set me up to cover her crimes. But she had also kissed me, enveloped herself around my body and held me like I was the only thing she needed in the world. She made me feel unsteady, not in control of myself, and I hated it.

I was angry. That much was certain. A part of me wanted to shake her for using me. Throw her in a prison so I would never see her face again.

But I couldn’t deny that I was also worried. Violet was a tough, resourceful woman. However, The Green was dangerous, with any number of things that could kill her in an instant. I was certain she had some skills in surviving the dangers out here, but even Alejandro wouldn’t tempt his luck by remaining here too long, and he was an expert.

A flash of silver caught my eye, and I turned, pulling out my gun. I could hear something rustling in the bushes ahead of me. Beside me, Samuel crouched low to the ground, a trickle of a growl escaping his mouth. I tensed as I became aware of the forest growing silent.

Samuel and I remained still for a long moment. The rustling appeared to be moving away from us. We held our position until the sound had gone. Once the forest was noisy again, I holstered my gun. I took my canteen out of my pocket. I pulled my mask off, took several long drinks, and then replaced the mask. I offered water to Sam using the food tin from earlier. He drank it greedily.

I watched the dog, finding myself envying his ability to survive without a mask. Most animals could—it was only humans who would die when exposed to the polluted air. Scientists theorized that animals both in The Green and for miles surrounding it had adapted to the area’s contamination because their lifespans were shorter, and it was likely that they were exposed to the toxins for many generations. While many animals had died from the pollution, a percentage of them developed an immunity, which they had passed down to their offspring.

According to the scientists, eventually humans would develop an immunity to it as well, given time. It sounded like some sort of hopeful propaganda to me, one that gave people hope that eventually, they would be able to leave their safe haven and re-enter the world… whatever the world was.

I didn’t share their opinion. What use was it to hope that one day we could leave? The Green was deadly and The Outlands a mystery that no one had been able to answer. People thrived and survived in Matrus and Patrus. Life there was better than certain death.

After Samuel was finished with his drink, I put the canteen away and checked the compass, comparing it with the handheld. Violet was still heading south. I clicked it off and tucked it into my pocket.

I started walking, my mind trying to work out why Violet was heading the way she was. She had to be using a compass—her trajectory was too accurate to be merely wandering the forest. Was she purposefully heading back to Matrus, and if so, why? She was a wanted criminal there, too.

Unless she was heading for something or someone else. If she was part of a terrorist group, The Green would be a perfect place to have a rendezvous.

That actually made the most sense to me—it was likely that Violet was working with a terrorist cell. There weren’t many in Patrus and Matrus. The Porteque group was the largest one in operation, but there were a few others of note.

The Unification Coalition was the most innocuous. In fact, calling them a terrorist cell was ridiculous, as the only thing they did was protest the treatment of the minority gender in both countries. They published manifestos that spouted that gender-specific laws only served to hurt both countries, and urged both Matrus and Patrus to unify under the idea that all people were meant to live equally, no matter what their gender.

Suffice it to say, they were pretty unpopular on both sides. Both governments had no interest in changing the policies that allowed them to stay in power. I knew I certainly would not be treated well in Matrus. I was far too aggressive for their society.

After the Unification Coalition, there was a Matrian group simply known as the Mothers. I didn’t know much about them—nobody did. In fact, if it weren’t for a bombing of a Matrian lab, it wouldn’t even be known to exist. The facility had been raided, but nothing stolen. Nobody was even hurt in the blast. No one was sure why they had targeted that place. The only evidence that supported their existence was a single word on the wall—WHERE?

It was the newspapers themselves who named them the Mothers, after someone wrote a letter pretending to be a part of the group. It had turned out to be a hoax, the woman in question arrested and later deemed to be unbalanced, but the name had stuck.

Of those three options, none of them seemed likely to be behind any of Violet’s actions. I had to wonder if somehow, there was a new group of malcontents, one even more dangerous than the others.

Then what could she be up to? She wouldn’t be working alone, would she? If so, for what reason?

Samuel interrupted my thoughts with a soggy nose to my palm. I looked down, and realized that his hackles were standing on end. Irritated that I had yet again let my guard down thinking about Violet, I pulled the gun and looked around.

Everything seemed fine—in fact the forest was practically vibrating with sound. The mist roiled across the ground, clinging to everything it touched.

Then, as if someone flipped a switch, all sounds stopped. I felt the hairs on my neck standing on end, and I froze. I was in the middle of a clearing, with no discernible cover around me. I was exposed.

I looked at Samuel. His focus was completely in one direction. Trusting his instincts, I turned that way, dropping to one knee and leveling my gun.

The mist could play tricks on the mind. It shifted and moved, casting shadows that made it appear like something was back there, moving. I remained calm, knowing that if I fired my gun at a shadow, I might attract the attention of whatever was concealed in the wall of mist.

Suddenly, there came a long hooting sound, low and urgent, thrumming through the clearing. I almost squeezed the trigger, I was so surprised.

Samuel quivered at the noise, whimpering softly.

The hooting came again and again after a few intervals of silence. I remained still and steady. I had never heard of this phenomenon before. It could be wind for all I knew, but something told me that there was something dangerous on the other side of the mist.

Samuel and I remained frozen for several minutes. My shoulders were starting to ache from holding my arms up for so long. I had good muscle control, but no matter how strong a person was, they wouldn’t be able to hold a position like this forever.

Suddenly, there was a creaking sound from above, from something moving in the canopy. I started to look up, when the bushes I was trained on moved. I froze, sweat trickling down my neck.

I heard the rustling moving away, and I frowned. Whatever it was, it was not attacking, but moving away. I took a few steps after it, pushing through the dense undergrowth, trying to make it out. The movement stopped, and for a second, the mist thinned, casting a shadow.

It was large, barely distinguishable, but I froze as I could make out one significant detail. It was standing on two legs.

Suddenly recalling Alejandro’s words, I wanted to move on from the area as quickly as possible. Alejandro had told me that “mist ghosts” existed, but I’d never believed him. Now, I wasn’t entirely sure what I had seen, but it had been tall, as tall as me, and large.

And, given that the forest reacted to it like a predator, it might change its mind and come back. I had no intention of becoming a meal. Samuel and I would make a wide circle around, as it was right in our path. It was better to be delayed than to walk into a trap.

Behind us, the silence persisted, and I felt as if thousands of eyes were watching me. I kept my gun in my hand as we moved as quickly and quietly as possible away from the area.

It took several hours for me to stop checking over my shoulder.