Page 78 of Juniper Unraveling

My belly grumbles with hunger, and thirst leaves a raspy scratch at the back of my throat that I can’t seem to itch. Not a single drop of saliva in my mouth to coat it.

The trucks from the night before haven’t returned, and there’s a good possibility they might come upon me out here in the open desert. As anxious as I am to leave this place, I can’t just go. Not until I know it’s safe.

Or relatively so.

“You could hide inside one of the trucks.” The voice arrives beside me, and I let out a squeal before slapping a hand to my mouth.

Raymond lies on his belly to the left of me, looking out over the desert, as I had a moment ago. “There’s one leaving to deliver files and pick up supplies. Every morning.”

“What are you doing here?” I whisper through clenched teeth.

“They head north,” he goes on, ignoring me. “Perhaps ten miles from here. Which means you’d have to walk about another five after that.”

“How do you know this?”

“Studied it.”

My faces bunches to a frown, and I snap my head back toward the front of the gate, catching sight of the guard’s boots, where he’s been on duty most of the night. “How did you get past the guards? Or the Ragers? How are you here?”

“I know how to get around.”

I shake my head, burying my face in my palms. “No. I’m starving. I’m exhausted. I’m thirsty. You’re not real. You’re not really here.”

“True. But, then, I was never really here to begin.”

In the heat of the rising desert sun, my blood turns ice cold. “What?”

“I’m a hallucination, Dani. Yours, specifically.”

“You’re not real.”

“Nope. Hey, you mind if I light up?” He reaches down to his pocket, nabbing a pack of cigarettes.

“I’m crazy, then?”

“Kinda silly to ask me, don’t ya think?”

“How … would I know you? To hallucinate you.”

“I was one of the first files you read in Doctor Falkenrath’s lab, a while back. Probably don’t even remember it. I passed through the morgue before you arrived in this place. The experiments they performed on me made you sick. Probably not as much as my autopsy photos. You couldn’t sleep after seeing those.”

“Then, you’re a ghost?”

“No. Every word coming out of my mouth comes from here.” He points to my temple. “You’re hallucinating.”

“Oh, my God. I should just let them take me now. Run straight into the arms of the guard.”

“Can’t do that. Baby Wren is counting on you.”

“Wonderful. My hallucination comes equipped with built-in guilt.”

The tromp against the dirt snaps my attention from Raymond, toward the gate, where three sets of boots stand in a cluster.

“All gassed up and ready.” The deep voice is unfamiliar, carrying over the rattle of the gate sliding open.

“Where are the other trucks?” a second voice asks.

“Still looking for that girl. Ain’t come back yet,” the first responds.