CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
When Alf opened his eyes, he knew something was wrong. Something had to be – the last thing he remembered of the world was getting hit in the head by something hard and electric, and that was after they had been ambushed out of nowhere by a Steef!
His uncomfortable feeling didn’t get any better when he realized he was lying on top of Lowrn, Grunn, and Ferg, all three of which were still out.
Seconds later, Alf’s pain sense returned to him, and he could feel the lump on the side of his head where one of the Steef’s animal shots had knocked him out a couple hours ago. A glance at the pale sun’s position in the sky confirmed that he had been unconscious for at least one whole night.
Forcing his sore muscles to move, Alf rolled off his three companions and stood up. He dusted off his shorts, popped the cricks out of his back with one enormous stretch, then he reached out with a foot and kicked Grunn.
“C’mon!” he grunted. “No time to lay around!”
Grunn just yawned and returned to his slumber. Lowrn and Ferg, at the bottom of the stack, both came awake together and roughly tossed Grunn off; when he hit the ground, he came awake.
“Hey!” the Mudokon shouted. “What was that for?”
“Get up,” Alf snapped. “That Steef that attacked us – he took Abe with him when he ran.”
Ferg laughed. “That’s ridiculous. Nobody can capture Abe.”
Lowrn said quietly, “Well, apparently that Steef did. What are we going to do about it?”
Ferg grimaced. “I dunno, uh, panic?”
Alf smacked him roughly upside the head. “No, you idiot! We’re going to go after him!”
“How do you think we can follow him?” Grunn demanded, pushing himself up to his feet.
Alf bit his mouth. “I…uh…don’t know…”
Lowrn raised a hand. “Idea, here.”
Alf nodded. “Any idea would be good about now.”
The Mudokon pointed to the clear set of imprinted bootprints leading across the cracked ground of Glukksonia. “How about we follow those?”
Alf laughed. “Lowrn, that’s the best idea I’ve heard all day.”
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