GREEN [complete]

CHAPTER 05: Sekam

Nighttime came and went and the grey remained. There was no moon, no stars, no dark.

In the early morning, when Dylan thought they was alone, they pulled the chip from their pocket. Sekam watched them, one eye barely open, as they pushed their mess of blonde hair aside and slid the chip behind their ear. It slotted in with a barely audible click.

Dylan's eyes rolled back, leaving the glossy white pointed outward. An unsettling feeling crept through Sekam's middle as blue lines dashed beneath their skin. Their face lit with an unearthly glow—too much like the glow of the green.

Their eyes shifted, flicking back and forth like they were reading something inside their head. Their lips twitched and their fingers twitched. "No," they said to themself. "No, that's not right ... where is it?" Seconds dragged on and their tone hardened. "Where is it? It has to be here ..."

Ahl heaved a snore, his ribs vibrating against Sekam's back. Her hand snapped back to clasp his muzzle in a failed attempt to quiet him. He snorted, shaking his head to rid himself of her hand, and Dylan's eyes reoriented to look across the clearing. They stared until they was satisfied Sekam and Ahl weren't watching them, and then the color in their eyes disappeared again.

A few minutes later, they started talking to themself again. "This isn't—no, no, it has ..." They grabbed their lip between their teeth and leaned forward. The blanket slid down to bunch around their waist. Then, they hefted a sigh big enough to rival Ahl's. "It's not here."

Dylan's eyes slipped back into place. They reached behind their ear, plucking the chip free. They slipped the chip back into their pocket and slumped back. They gnawed on their lip, teeth working it into an angry red.

"What are you missing?" Sekam asked, opening her second eye.

Dylan nearly leapt out of their skin, squawking a startled noise as they yanked the blanket beyond their chin. "How long have you been watching me?" they demanded.

Sekam shrugged with the shoulder she wasn't laying on. "Long enough."

Dylan swore under their breath. "Fine." They let the blanket relax, if only slightly. "There's a sequence missing from the code."

"Is it an important sequence?" She had no idea what they was talking about.

"Yeah," they grumbled, "you could say that."

"What are you going to do about it?"

Dylan huffed another sigh. "I guess I'll have to go back." They shrugged. "Mars is still there—I guess ... fuckkkkkk"—they drew the word out, letting it fade into a groan—"I'll have to get him out." Their head fell into their hands, their hair sticking in every direction as they wound their fingers into it.

"Mars?"

"He's a mongrel. Sorta. Not like the other ones though," they said into their hands.

Sekam's lips pulled back in a snarl, flashing pointed teeth. She wasn't going to deal with a mongrel, not if it was the last thing she did.

"He's good," Dylan said quickly. "He wouldn't hurt you."

She choked on her laugh. "I'm not afraid of being hurt by a mongrel." She was disgusted by them, there was a difference—humanity's flimsy attempt to elevate themselves to the height of gods; a miserable failure.

They pushed their palms back from their face, doing little to bring order to their hair. "Look. Sekam. You wanna save my life, right?" They didn't wait for her response. "If you don't help me get Mars out, I'm definitely gonna die."

"Let the human die," Ahl said tiredly from behind her.

Dylan's eyes widened and they recoiled. "It-it talks. The moose talks."

Ahl stared back, lids hung low over his starry eyes. "Yes. I talk, as you say." Amusement skipped around the annoyance in his tone.

"But-but you're a moose ..."

Ahl directed his attention to Sekam. "Have you not told your human what we are?"

"I tried." Dylan just hadn't wanted to listen.

"You're a moose." This time, it was a firm statement of fact.

Ahl agreed, "In some ways."

Dylan puffed up like a defensive porcupine. "Your moose talks, great. Just awesome. Fantastic. Cool." Their hands wrung together, each word coming out with precise enunciation. They eyed Ahl again, as if to confirm to themself that being accompanied by a talking moose was worth it. "But I still need to get Mars, talking moose or no talking moose."

"I didn't agree to help you," Sekam said.

"So ... you're gonna let me die?"

Sekam scowled. "No." She heaved a long breath, pushing off Ahl and getting to her feet. "We should get moving, then."

"Sekam, don't let yourself be guided off your path," Ahl warned.

"I'm saving a human. This is my path."

Ahl inhaled a long breath. "I am—"

"Ahl, this is my path." She snatched the blanket from Dylan and wadded it up, shoving it in one of the packs slung over Ahl's shoulders. Then, she turned back to Dylan. "Where are we going?"

"Southwest. To the city in the mountains."