Well, I didn't expect to be gone so long, but life is really hard to predict when things get hard. The fact is though, that I have returned. And with me, Zach and his story. I hope you enjoy hopping back into this world.

If you're new to the series, check out the Cerberus Center for links to previous parts. If you're a returning reader, check out the summarization section to remind you of the events thus far. Thanks for reading and once again, I hope you enjoy.

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Zachary had to sacrifice a few of his textbooks to fit the harpoon box in his backpack. Not an easy thing for him, since he always carried all of his textbooks in his backpack so that there was no chance of forgetting them. Now his backpack was significantly heavier and less useful.

"Just a few hundred more miles to walk with this thing."

Since his dad worked twelve-hour shifts now and his mom was trying to figure out how to run a ranch while juggling job interviews, Zachary and his siblings rode the bus to and from school. But the school bus would only take them to a nearby turnaround on the highway, so they were left to walk a fair distance to their house.

"Remember when we used to walk on sidewalks and crosswalks instead of rock, sand, and gravel?"

Zachary looked up, wondering why no one responded. He soon realized how far behind he was. Lizzy and Becca had left him a while back when they decided his pace was too slow. He was in his own thoughts and hadn't noticed. He walked on, pondered on why Carl had assigned him to abnormal target practice.

"Practice shooting over your shoulder at a target fifty feet away? Was that really what he told me?"

Zachary shook his head. There was plenty of open space now, so it wasn't impractical, but it was still absurd. Besides, how could he possibly explain it to his parents? They would kill him. Or think he was trying to kill someone.

His sisters were already inside by the time he reached the house. He looked at the bright blue skies and took a deep breath, expecting the sweet smells of summer's end. Instead a thick, horrible aroma nearly made him gag. The smell of manure was something he'd have to get used to now that they owned cows. He started up the porch stairs, glancing at the smelly creatures on his way.

He stopped and set his backpack down. His mom was standing at the gate with someone he couldn't recognize from afar. He hopped down the stairs again and noticed a strange car in the driveway. Had he really been so lost in thought that he walked right past it without noticing?

He approached the two figures as his mom waved him over. Much closer now, he could actually see who the other figure was. His mom wasted no time.

"Zachary, there's someone I'd like you to meet." She motioned with her head to the girl beside her. She had her brown hair tied behind her but it was still long enough to fall below her shoulders. More noticeable was the dark bruise on her cheek. It was partially covered by makeup, but not fully.

"Zachary! Hi!"

Zachary gave a confused look. "Destiny? What are you doing here?"

His mom gave a more confused look. "You two know each other?"

Destiny spoke up before Zachary had a chance. "Yeah, we go to school together now."

"Oh how nice! See, you're already making friends, Zachito."

It was Destiny's turn to be confused. "Zachito?"

Zachary ignored the question. "But what are you doing here?"

Zachary's mom answered. "You know how you're extending the arena for the cows because of your incident?" Destiny raised an eyebrow and Zachary groaned quietly as his mom continued.

"Well, I needed someone who has experience with cows to help out around here, and when I asked the neighbors, they told me how Destiny had helped them get everything running on their own ranches. From what I've heard, you're quite knowledgeable about this sort of life, Destiny."

She accepted the explanation with a smile.
"Well, I grew up on a much larger farm than this. My family has raised poultry and cattle for years, so I know a thing or two. I'll teach you the works and make sure everything is properly set up. I suppose I'll also be supervising your work on the fence too, Zachary. One stretch of fence done wrong can create hundreds of problems down the road."

"Great." Zachary responded with much more sarcasm than he had meant to.

***

After touring the property and discussing payment, Destiny was hired for the next two months. She was to come every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after school. Zachary didn't like the idea of being supervised by his classmate.

He rolled over in his sleeping back and reached around for his watch. Finding it, he checked the time. Two minutes until midnight. Wonderful. Sleep wasn't seeming to come. It had been a long day. A shimmer of moonlight caught his eye as it reflected off of the harpoon box.

Zach raised his eyebrows. Maybe...

He sneaked quietly through the hallways towards the front door. Slipping on his shoes quietly, he opened it and faced the chilling night's breeze. He walked a decent way away from the house until he put on the harpoon box. Shoving the harpoon in, he heard a small click and looked over his shoulder as the gauge on the top climbed from red to blue.

"Alright, here we go."

He picked out a tree that looked about fifty feet away, and bending over so the harpoon was pointed at it, he took a breath and pressed the trigger on the remote.