Another Way

Chapter 5: Capture

And good Duck, was she glad to have done that.

The plaza was full of creatures of various sizes, all listening to who Sue recognized as the second, furry royal from Doc's drawing, gesticulating with a burning stick. As eye-catching as their spectacle was, especially with the occasional fireworks accompanying it, the being beside them took up the entirety of Sue's attention.

The opposite, thankfully, wasn't the case.

The not-her royal was calmly looking around with a soft smile, occasionally chiming into the story being woven. Their gaze in Sue's direction made her dive behind her cover; heart hammering in her ears.

Her time was now.

Without wasting another moment, Sue turned around and booked it. She caught herself breathing faster and faster as she tried to push her body way beyond what it could do in her current state. After almost tripping while passing by the Doc's hut, she was forced to finally slow down and catch her breath.

No point in charging ahead if she had no idea where to even go.

The forest path she had intended to use was inaccessible, making her think back to other potential options. She remembered another pathway leading out of the village, but she doubted it'd be a good idea either. Any established path would be much too obvious; if they wanted to find her, they definitely would with her middling pace.

Gotta just disappear into the treeline.

As she marched on, trying to stave away panic, a sight from yesterday caught her attention. The construction site opened into the woods, and there wasn't anyone working there at the moment. Almost no onlookers either, and the ones present didn't even acknowledge her presence.

That was her chance.

After taking a moment to compose herself, Sue slowed down her breathing and pace alike, easing into an inconspicuous strut. Just someone out on a weird walk, absolutely not an alien imposter trying to escape undetected.

Nothing suspicious here at all.

Her intentionally stilted pace made her want to push ahead faster and faster, just to be out of sight. But, if there was one surefire way to ruin her disguise instantly, it was that, forcing her to cling to whatever calmness she could manage. The distance she was steadily gaining on the village hopefully covered for her increasing shaking.

Every step closer to freedom.

She kept marching in a straight line for a few minutes, pausing intermittently both to correct her grasp on the crutch and look over her shoulder. The construction site faded further and further away each time, until, eventually, she couldn't make them out at all behind the foliage.

Despite everything, it seemed she was in the clear now.

Focusing inward to sense anyone following her, Sue breathed a sigh of relief at finding nobody. Only a handful of other souls were present within the immediate wooded area, all calm and peaceful. And after she'd recovered from almost tripping over because of being too focused on her sixth sense, Sue could join them.

She couldn't help but quietly laugh.

She'd made it out of there despite the royals having already returned. Nobody was pursuing her. She wouldn't be exposed and burned at the stake, or whatever punishment the other-her would've decreed for her after figuring out her deception.

Granted, she had no real idea what she would do now, either.

No matter what, though, being lost was better than being dead. And, if a village like that existed, then so would almost certainly do many others. Just gotta find one without other Martians in it and assimilate while looking for a way home.