Over the Moon

Chapter 7: Lost

"So where exactly do we need to go?" I asked.

"The control room.  Alastair wants me to shut down the main power and cut off supplies.  That'll help the military to attack easier."

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"The control room, which is 0.7 miles or 1.127 kilometers from here," Hal piped up.

"Wait, I thought we didn't have to do that." I said.

"Yes we do. What makes you think that we don't?"

"Alastair said-"

"Oh, Alastair. He's going easy on you. He does it to every rookie. We're going straight to the control room and shutting this place down."

Just then, alarms went off. A female voice over the speakers started chanting intruder alert.

"Should we get out of here?" I asked.

"Yep." Seren replied.

We ran out and almost got to the main exit before guards started chasing us. "Stop!" one shouted. We only ran faster. That's when they started shooting. One bullet hit my left shoulder. I winced, but kept running.

When we finally got out we just ran. Ran anywhere. It didn't matter where we were going, as long as we got out of this mess.

It's a lot harder to run in a jungle than I thought. There are countless roots to avoid tripping over and branches in the way. Soon, we found a clearing. "Get down!" Seren hissed. We hid as we heard the guard's steps slow down and listened to their muffled voices.

"Where'd they go?" one asked. He had a slight accent that I couldn't seem to identify.

"I dunno. I thought they went that way, but then again, they may have gone somewhere else by now." another answered.

"Let's go back," a third female voice piped up. "It's better to get in trouble back at the base than get lost out here." We listened to their steps before they sounded far enough away for us to come out.

"We almost got caught real bad," said Seren. "I blame you, Hal."

"Me? Why?"

"I'm just messing with you." Seren laughed.

"Do you have any idea where we are?" I asked, changing the subject.

Seren looked around. "Nope."

"Oh, well, this is wonderful. Lost in the jungle in the middle of the night!"

"Relax. We're not in trouble. As long as they don't find our ship..." her confident smile turned into a worried frown. She cursed.

"Well now what?" I asked.

"We find the ship."

"At the risk of getting lost?"

"The odds of finding the ship are 85:1." Hal added.

"Never tell me the odds," Seren said. "Let's go."

~

"Wait a minute! Hal," Seren suddenly burst out after about an eternity. "Did you download a tracking device for the ship?"

"Sadly, no. I would've told you earlier if I had." Hal replied.

She mumbled something under her breath. "Fine. Lets keep going."

A couple minutes later my stomach started growling. I didn't realize how hungry I was until now.

"Wow, hungry or something?" Seren asked, interrupting my thoughts.

"Huh?"

"I can hear that whale in your stomach from here," She stopped in front of a tree. "Hold on," she jumped and hung from the lowest branch. She then started climbing. Climbing trees seemed to come easy to her, probably from training. Or just because of her size. Shrub. "Almost... there," she grunted. I heard something being pulled from the tree. "Catch!" I heard Seren say. I held out my hands, and a large, exotic looking fruit dropped into them.

"What's this?" I asked.

"A mangosteen. Never heard of it? They're pretty hard to open, so try to find a large rock."

"It sounds like you've been here before." I said as I started searching.

"No, just places similar to this."

I discovered a large rock, about the size of a hover engine. "Over here!" I called.

Seren jumped down from the tree and walked over. She had a fruit in her hand that was slightly smaller than mine. She slammed it down on the rock, but it only put a large crack in it. "These shells are ridiculously hard," She scoffed. She hit it a few more times, and the shell opened, revealing a white substance that looked like the teeth of a bloodsucker. She pried one out and took at bite. "Try it."

I slammed my fruit on the rock a couple times, opening it. I took a piece of the fruit and popped it into my mouth. It tasted sweet, tangy, and citrusy. I could smell the peachy fragrance of it. As I was savoring my fruit, I wondered how much it would cost at the market. Probably a lot, considering it was exotic and tasted so sweet.

"Hal, what time is it?" Seren asked.

"1:24 a.m."

"No wonder I'm so tired. I've totally lost track of time," She exclaimed as she lied backward until she was looking at the sky. "Look at the stars," she said calmly. "I have a theory. That considering how many other planets and stars there are in the universe, other than in this galaxy, there must be alien life somewhere."

"People have had that theory for thousands of years, and no one has proven that true. It is a good theory, though."

"Someday, I'm going to be the first person to find alien life." she paused. "Do you have a dream?"

"I don't know. I guess I haven't really thought about it."

"Mmhmm." I looked over and her eyes were fluttering closed. As her breathing slowed, I admired how peaceful she looked. This was probably the most content I would see her. I rolled on my back and looked up at the sky, and soon my thoughts lulled me to sleep.

~

Hey guys! It's mockingjaylunar! I'm super sorry that I haven't been writing. To make up for it, I wrote an extra-long chapter. I promise that I'll write more! :)