Sitting on the porch swing, I swing staring out at nothing but trees. The smell of greenery and pot leaves mixing around me. I’ve been living with Cricket for two days now, and he is the nicest old man, mostly because he’s high. He makes me tell him what happened to me and Warner every day, loving the tale of it because it reminds him of him and his wife when they ran away. His wife was raped by her stepfather, and nobody would do anything about it with her dad being the Sheriff, so one night Cricket got in a fight and killed him. They went on a spree trying to find their path, and on that path became a journey of loss and newfound love.

He says I can stay here as long as I like, and I’m going to. It’s not like I have anywhere else to go. He’s just an old man wanting company.

My brows furrow when rustling in the distance catches my attention. I freeze and stop swinging.

The rustle continues, and I stand. Should I run inside and let Cricket handle it?

“Hello?”

A bark responds, and the hair on the back of my neck stands. I know that bark from anywhere. I jump off the porch ignoring my foot and run into the woods. “Huey!”

“Bark!”

A little white ball of fluff jumps over vines and leaves, and I fall to the ground just as he leaps in my arms. Pulling him close, I cry into his dirty fur. He’s alive, oh my God!

“Huey!” I whimper. I can’t believe this. How is he alive? He licks my face and I can’t help but laugh. Petting him, my fingers run across something around his neck.

It’s a bracelet. My grandmother's lava bead bracelet. The one I gave Warner.

“Oh shit!” I set Huey down.

“Do you know where Warner is?” Huey just looks at me. I pull the bracelet from his neck and wave it in his face. “Warner?”

Huey barks and runs. My heart skips a beat, and I follow Huey down a hill. The beads aren’t bad luck, not if I find Warner and he’s alive. Huey sniffs the air and we head over some slippery rocks by a waterfall I’ve never seen. Looking down, I see a bloody foot sticking out from a cave. I recognize it immediately.

“It’s Warner,” I breathe, my heart feeling like it’s slowly piecing together.

Shivering under the ledge, I can’t feel my foot anymore. I’ve been laying in this same spot for at least a day. I can’t get up. I need food, I need River. God, I hope she’s okay. Regret makes me want to vomit, I shouldn’t have told her to run. We should have kept going.

Huey whimpers and I look over to him. He’s going to die if he stays with me. Sniveling, I slide the only piece of River I have left off my wrist, pulling on the strings to extend the length.

“Come here, buddy.” He crawls over to me, his purple cast seeing better days. “I want you to go. Find River, a new owner, something. If you stay here… you’re going to die.”

He licks my chin, and I laugh. I remember when I ran over him, taking him with us on the trips. How many times he’s saved our asses. Kissing his head, I place him on the other side of me.

He sits there, looking at me confused.

“Go!” I point. He starts to walk, looking over his shoulder. He doesn’t want to leave me. “I said GET!” I yell at him, and he runs off whining.

Laying back down, I feel like crying. I’m all alone now and going to die. Glancing down at my foot, and bear trap wraps around my ankle bone. I can’t feel my foot anymore. I close my eyes, knowing that’s not good.

Running in the dark, and the snapping sound straight into my flesh echo in my head. It’s a pain that slices up your whole body, my bones feeling like they’re going to crack in half any second. The only thing keeping it clean from flies laying eggs and infection has been the steady stream coming off the ledge.

Feeling sick, I close my eyes and fall asleep. Thinking of River, and how much I love her and regret taking her. I ruined her life.

The sound of Huey’s bark wakes me. Rolling over I groan, I thought I told him to get.

“Warner?”

Back straight, I snap upright. That sounded like River.

“River?”

She slips down some rocks, her face pale as she sets fierce eyes on me.

“Holy fuck!” I mutter. In a yellow tie-dye dress and sandals, she runs to me, her chocolate hair swinging behind her like a halo. She falls into me, crying. Wrapping my arms around her, I hold her tight.

“Oh my God, you’re alive,” she cries, and I can’t help the tears that escape my eyes.

“You’re safe. Thank fuck,” I breathe her in, the smell of spicy lavender bringing me back to the days we were running. She kisses me, and I kiss her back. Our tongues urgent to find one another, hands gripping and pulling one another closer.

Her foot hits the trap on my ankle and I hiss, falling back to the ground.

“What—”

She looks back and notices it.

“Jesus Christ, Warner!” she gasps, standing up. “Have you tried to get it off?” she asks, looking it over.

“Yeah, I’m too weak,” I confess.

Wiping her tears, she looks at me, I can tell she’s thinking. She really looks good. Clean even. Wait? How is she so clean?

“I’ll be right back. I’m going to get help.”

“Don’t leave me!” I snap, but she steps away, her dress fluttering around her perfect legs.

“I’m not, I’m coming right back!” she promises, and as quick as she came, she’s gone.

“Come back!” I scream, not wanting to be alone.

In and out of consciousness, I wonder if seeing River was a dream. Huey lays beside me, and I wonder if I told him to go or not. Did he leave?

“Fuck, that is on there good.” A male voice echoes in my head. I’m lifted from the cold slated rock, but everything is black, I’m cold and can’t open my eyes.

“River,” I mutter. “Take me home, River.”