Dream Drive Ch. 04

Rachel ran. She rushed out the door and back into the sun. The lovely, wonderful sun. She made it.

She fell to the dirt. She wanted to go back. She wanted to tell Jackson what was wrong. She wanted to stay with him. Just a little while longer. He knew Indiana Jones. He played Final Fantasy. He laughed at a Monty Python reference.

He was nothing like what she thought he'd be - silent and callous, too cool for school, like his avatar in the Hub. He just liked his privacy. She got that. She could understand that.

He gave a shit. No one gave a shit anymore. But he gave a shit. At least about people, he did. How much stronger could he have made himself if he didn't burn all that essence healing her? She saw his essence bar on her HUD - it dropped all the way to nothing, and then he refilled it so he could keep going.

The collar vibrated at her neck. As quickly as possible.

Rachel picked herself off the ground and stumbled through the forest. Her minimap showed her they weren't all that far from where she'd come in. She had to get to her horse. Before Jackson caught up.

Goddammit. She was crying again.