Fractured Worlds (Worlds Away #1)

Brela Chapter 26: A Plan

I awoke the next morning to find Justin no longer beside me. The fire was a smouldering pile, wisps of smoke wafting off it. The air was brisk, and I hugged my coat closer to my body as I sat up. The cave floor was surprisingly comfier than I had expected. I looked over to the girl.

The girl remained unconscious, Justin's jacket still draped over her. My worry for the girl tripled; she desperately needed a doctor, or someone who could tell us what was wrong with her.

I looked up, finding Justin standing at the entrance of the cave, his back to me. The rising sun outlined his body as he watched the horizon, hands clasped behind his back. I rose to my feet, moving away from the girl and moved to join him.

"How's your arm?" Justin asked as I arrived at his side.

"Sore, but it's fine," I said. "Why didn't you wake me? I thought we had agreed to change who was on watch?"

"You needed your sleep," Justin shrugged, his eyes remaining on the horizon. I looked there as well.

The sun ascended, slowly warming the world. The chill that clung to me ebbed away as I stood in the new light, and I welcomed the warmth. It was peaceful out here. As much as the thought of being stuck here churned my stomach, it was nice in an odd way. It was relaxing to be surrounded by nothing by the wilderness.

"Did you get any?" I asked after a moment.

"Enough."

"Justin—"

"I figured out a way to get off of here." Justin cut me off, finally looking at me. "That's why I remained awake; I was planning."

"And?"

"We are going to break one of MEPA's rules. We're creating a fracture."

"Pardon?" Somehow, that seemed worse than what the girl had just done to World 4.

"We have no way of communicating with anyone back home, and we can't leave here. The only way to send a message, or something resembling one, is to create a fracture. It must be a powerful one, otherwise they won't react right away, but something we can manage so it doesn't get out of control."

"How do you know this will work?" I asked, seeing that there was no other way. If the fracture took place in a controlled environment, when MEPA came to investigate, it would be an easy fix. It wasn't the worst plan.

"It worked before. Do you remember me telling you that Team Igniatus got stuck on a world with Team 64 and the A-Team? That fracture was caused by Igniatus, who had disappeared two years prior to that. He was stuck on a world, and to send a message back to MEPA, he found a person and created a fracture. Team Igniatus responded to the fracture, and they were able to find Igniatus and bring him home." Justin's idea made sense, and it had worked before.

"The only thing is that we have to find a person for this to work," I said after a moment of thought. "We could be miles away from a civilization. Plus, we don't know what language they speak here: we don't have a translator for them to understand us."
Justin gave me a smile.

"Of course." I mentally smacked myself. "Your languages." Justin never used a translator at MEPA or off world; he knew that many languages.

"We just need to find a town."

"You need to find a town," I corrected. "One of us needs to stay with the girl, and seeing as you know pretty much every language, that someone will have to be me."

"Fair." Justin nodded his head. He raised his gaze, observing the cave's entrance. "How good is your climbing?"

"Decent. I picked up a few tricks from Edoline," I shrugged. "Why?"

"Can you get to the top and see if you can spot a town?"

"I'll need a boost." I was too short to comfortably pull myself up.

Justin laced his hands together. Placing my foot on them, he propelled me up, high enough that I could reach and start my climb. I pulled my body up, slowly, and carefully climbing up the steep rock. It was a tiring job, my wound protesting at the weight, but eventually I made it to the top. With a breath of relief, I stood and observed my surroundings.

The scene was void of anything but rocks and dirt, stretching as far as I could see in every direction. The occasional plant grew, stark against the brown surroundings, but I could see nothing else. And just when I thought we had no hope, there, in the distance, was a small settlement. It didn't look like much, but it would serve our purpose.

"Well?" Justin asked, calling up to me.

"There's a town to the east, a few miles if I had to guess."

He let out a breath. "That's a relief."

I crouched, shuffling back down the way I had come up. "You're not going to town looking like that," I said as I landed beside Justin. There was dirt all over his face and clothes. His hair also wasn't as neat as it normally was. "Come on, I noticed a stream of water behind the cave. I don't know about you, but I could really use a drink, and a chance to wash up."

"I'll go get the girl." Justin disappeared into the cave, returning shortly with the girl in his arms. I led them towards the water, shuffling along the narrow ledge to the back of the cave. One small hike down later, we were at the edge of the water. A quick inspection told us the stream was safe to consume, and we both gulped it down, the cold liquid quenching our thirst. After having our fill, Justin pulled a cloth from his breast pocket, dipped it in the water, and handed it to me.

Justin set to tidying himself up, and I went to clean the girl. I wiped her face and her arms from the dirt and grime. The whole time, she remained motionless, lying limp on the ground. I let out a sigh, covered her with my coat— Justin was cleaning his— and washed my face.

I heard Justin snapping and banging his clothes out. A small cloud of dust rewarded his efforts. I handed the cloth to Justin after cleaning it in the water, quickly looking away from his shirtless chest. With my back to him I splashed the cold water on my face. I did it a few more times before Justin gave the cloth back, thankfully with his shirt back on.

"Good?"

I looked up from ringing the cloth out. Justin stood with his arms extended. His uniform was cleaner, and skin cleaned of dust and grime.

"Come here," I sighed, patting the ground in front of me. "Your hair needs some work."

"You try and do something with it," Justin grumbled as he sat in front of me. I began finger combing it, teasing the knots out.

"What's your plan?" I asked.

"I don't know. I'm thinking of getting some supplies just in case creating a fracture fails, and maybe try and lead someone out here, a doctor hopefully."

"They're not going to be able to help us. She's like this because of her powers. I doubt they'll understand what's wrong."

"They'll at least help give us some guidance. If they don't understand, then we have a fracture."

"Makes sense; either way, we get something out of it. There, all done." Justin's hair was now decent looking, and I had taken the time to tie it back.

He turned and looked at me. "Seriously?" He raised an eyebrow. He never had it tied up.

"What? It looks nicer than if it was all wild and messy. Trust me, I know."

Justin grumbled but didn't say anything else. He rose to his feet, picked up the girl once again, and we both made our way back to the cave. Carefully, he placed her by the smouldering fire once more. I followed him back to the entrance.

Justin turned to me. "You'll be good here?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Okay. I'll be back soon."

I watched as he walked down the rocky hill, heading towards town, and hopefully to find our way home.