Blue Moon

Chapter 13

She woke up and immediately felt someone watching her. Arlo was sitting  on a rock across from her. She could scarcely make out his dissatisfied expression. 

She jumped up, "Are they back?" She didn't care if he was angry that she had left the rock coffin. She had checked for the drunk men and they weren't there, so what if she had left the hole. 

He shook his head, "I'm going to look around. I'll come back for you when I'm sure it's clear." He grabbed his rifle.

Alona nodded and watched him leave.

She pulled her hair back into a ponytail, wishing she could take a nice, hot shower.

Arlo peered out of the cave. His eyes searching and his ears listening. He couldn't hear anything.

The sunlight shined through a small hole in the roof of the cave, not enough to make a huge difference between night and day. It was only a small reminder of what had been.

He had missed the feeling of Earth's sun. It was refreshing and the days he had enjoyed it were all too short.

Arlo stepped out of the cave and moved deeper out into the rocky terrain.

He took a deep breath of the air around him. The only smell he smelt was the fresh earth around him and the faint smell of alcohol and urine.

He winced, knowing they had been feet away from disaster. He went back to scanning his surroundings.

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Alona climbed out of the hole and into the cave. She didn't want to wait on him to make sure it was safe. He needed to see that she could help.

She dropped out of the hole and onto the ground.

"Oww." She whispered to herself. Her ankle had been feeling better, but all this activity was making it ache again. She dusted her jacket off and looked for Arlo.

He heard a noise behind him, then a soft noise. He turned around in one swift movement, his gun was aimed at Alona.

She gasped.

"Alona. What the hell." He dropped his gun from her face.

"Sorry. I just wanted to have your back." She glanced down at his gun, realizing it was a bit of a silly idea. 

He cleared his throat. "You don't take orders very well, do you?"

She shrugged, "I don't guess so." She realized she hadn't listened to half of the stuff he told her to do.

He stood tall in front of her, "I need you to listen to orders. Otherwise, we will die."

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I've never been dependent on someone's decisions like this before." She thought about how ridiculous she sounded. 

"Just think of me as your squad leader." Arlo said, completely serious.

She started laughing.

He stared at her confused. He didn't understand what was funny.

She couldn't help but laugh, he was so serious.

"Sorry, its just." She tried to compose herself, "I'm a college student. I'm not a soldier."

He still looked confused, "College?" 

She nodded, "Yeah at USM, but I understand what you mean. Just don't refer to me as private and we'll be fine."

"USM?" He asked.

"University of Southern Maine." She said.

He stared at her, still confused, "Maine, you mean in the United States of America?" He asked.