[Danny]

ah, go on then! just one small one...

CHAPTER 5

I awoke to a sharp poke in the side.

“Hey, get up!”

I opened my eyes to see Vint standing over me. He had a small rucksack on his back, as did Yan and Ulp, who stood behind him. Vint was holding a fourth – no, fifth; Ulp had two – out to me. I sat up.

“What…?”

“We’re off! Aren’t you coming?”

“Off? Where?”

“The Docks.”

Yan stepped forward. “Don’t you remember?”

I stood, unsteadily. Vint held out his arm, and I grasped it to steady myself. “I do remember. But you didn’t want to go.”

“Well, now we do.” Vint handed my rucksack to me, and helped me to get it on my back. “A Cargo ship leaves in forty minutes, and it’s a twenty minute journey to the docks, so we’d better hurry.”

I wanted to say more, but they were already turning to walk away, so I fell into step with them.

The mind works in Odd ways. When I have security, I crave excitement, and when I have excitement, I crave security. This may be the reason why Zell died. It was just my subconscious craving for excitement, finding a way to express itself. The craving for security isn’t exactly unpleasant, but comes to me as an adrenaline rush. This was what I was feeling as we walked away from what had been my home for two weeks, and their home for a lot longer. I felt exhilarated, but anxious at the same time. Now that we were actually leaving, it no longer seemed like such a good idea. But it was something.