Chapter 9 Burnt Trees and Promises
NINE
BURNT TREES AND PROMISES
Julia
I stir awake to the faint sound of shouting. Groaning, I open my eyes. Taking in the dark sky above me, I wipe the sleep from them.
I sit upright realizing I’m still alone and that I must’ve dozed off. Scanning the shadows outside the boulders for Krellix, I think I hear shouting again. Pushing onto my feet, I walk to the front of the closed-off space and search for him. “Krellix?” I whisper but receive no response.
Quiet and dark, he’s not back yet.
“Help! Somebody, please, help!”
Louder than before, the shouting turns frantic, and I take a step out from the boulders to face the direction I think it’s coming from.
“Help! Our ship is on fire! Help!”
Peering further down the mountain and into the pines below, I search for a path towards the voice.
I need to go to them. The words take over my head as everything I’ve learned in my years of service kicks in.
I’m trained to fight the Ketts, the aliens humans are at war with, from the ground, specializing in evacuation procedures and human management.
But most of all, I’ve been trained in the weapons that can repel and even hurt the aliens.
Even so, killing them is nearly impossible and the best chance of survival is to run.
Which is what most of those on the frontlines do.
Rather than fighting, we’re supposed to keep the Ketts busy long enough for civilians to flee.
Which is hard to do because they can multiply within minutes.
And they always overwhelm us.
Always.
But Earth is not space, nor is it anywhere near where the war is currently taking place.
I hear more yelling and I leave the spot between the boulders behind. If Krellix comes after me, I will be easy to find if he’s not already on his way to help himself.
The shouting grows louder as I move faster through the forest, tripping, and bumping into logs and bushes, forcing my body through. “I’m coming!” I call out as I get nearer.
A man’s desperate voice responds. “We’re trapped! Hurry!”
Following his voice, I see large blinking lights and bush fires appear through the trees. The reek of exhaust envelops me as I enter a jagged clearing made of skid marks across a roughened forest floor. Bushes, plants, and even trees have been broken and split upon the ship’s arrival.
Watching my footing and climbing through the uneven tracks, I see the ship ahead of me is small, smaller than any flyer that should be able to land planetside.
And I realize as I get closer it’s not a spaceship at all but an evacuation vessel that’s been released by one.
Partially crushed against the thick group of trees and boulders that had stopped it, the smaller evacuation vessel is partially on its side and folded inward at the front.
Glass, metal, and debris lay strewn across the ground, some of it in flames.
“Over here!” The man’s voice calls out from the back and left side of the vessel.
Seeing his arm reaching out through the partially open slit of the vessel’s back hatch, I work my way towards him.
“The door’s jammed,” he says, pulling his arm back in when we come face-to-face. With his face covered in grime and ash, I’m barely able to make out the features of a younger, middle-aged man. “I can’t get it to open any further. Can you see anything from your side that might be stopping it?”
“Let me check.” Shifting my eyes over the outside of the vessel, I immediately spot the debris blocking the way. “There’s a large tree branch. Hold on, I’ll try to move it.”
“Thank you, God’s stars. Thank you, soldier. We thought we were going to die here.”
I internally wince at being called a soldier, feeling strangely guilty after abandoning my station when I could’ve returned to it. “Don’t thank me yet.” And then feeling even more guilty when the nagas slaughtered them all afterward.
I get a good grip of the branch, and pull it toward me. Keeping my grasp firm, I drag the giant limb away from the vessel only to discover several more underneath that I also need to clear out.
“How many are with you?” I reach for the next branch.
“There’s three of us, the rest… didn’t make it.”
“Are you hurt?” I ask, unable to see him clearly enough to assess him.
“We’re all banged up in some way.” His voice fades for a moment as he talks with someone inside.
Someone who sounds like another man. “The young girl with us, Olivia, her arm is broken and she’s bleeding from a puncture wound on her upper chest. Are there more soldiers nearby?
Are they coming? We need medical aid immediately. ”
I hesitate before mentioning Krellix. “There are no other soldiers coming. What’s your name?” I change the subject as I drag the next branch away and wipe my brow. “Do you have any food or supplies with you?”
“I’m Benjamin and we have some supplies with us. The two others with me are Quinton and Olivia. There’s a few bags of our belongings between us. I don’t know what’s in theirs but mine is filled with clothes and pictures. What do you mean there’s no others coming?”
I pause to shift over and meet his eyes. His thick brown brows furrow when I frown at him. “Let’s just worry about getting you untrapped, okay? While you wait, go through the bags and gather what food you find. You’ll want to look out for weapons and medical supplies too. I have none with me.”
“Got it…” His voice trails off, realizing I might not be as helpful as he wants me to be. His eyes shift behind me like he’s still expecting more help to arrive before disappearing inside.
I turn back for the remaining branches that are keeping the door from opening. I’m not optimistic for Benjamin and the others but without my help right now, they’ll die if they remain trapped inside the evacuation vessel.
Trying not to look at the looming pine trees on every side, I hope Krellix shows up before someone or something else does in the meantime.
Moving to grab the next branch, something takes my arm and I’m spun around. Pressed up against the vessel, my eyes lock with Krellix’s.
My shoulders sag. “It’s you,” I breathe out with relief. “Thank god.”
He clamps my throat with one of his large hands and pins me back, forcing me upright against the heated metal. Confused, I try to pull his hand off me but it doesn’t budge. Glowering at him, he hisses in response.
“Is something going on out there?” Benjamin calls out. “Are you okay?”
“Everything’s fine,” I reassure him, staring at Krellix’s angry features. “Release me,” I grit, now pulling at his arm with two hands.
“You left,” he growls.
“You left first,” I say.
“I was scouting the area.”
“Well, I was responding to the people calling for help.” I can barely see his features in the low light of burning debris but the nearness of his body is enough to keep my focus elsewhere. His heat quickly smothers me, making it hard to breathe. “Calm down. I’m fine.”
“Fine? You dangerously traveled through the dark where you could have hurt your ankle again. Not only that, these humans could hurt you like the ones from before did, capturing you and keeping you as a captive,” he rumbles. “You were not supposed to leave.”
I yank his hold off me, and push my way free. “I’m not a simpering princess. I’m far, far from it, Krellix. I’m a soldier, or I was. Pretty much since I knew how to speak. I knew you would find me if I left, I didn’t hide my trail.”
“Staying put was for your safety.”
“I was safe!” I snap, moving to the open part of the hatch where Benjamin is trying to see who I’m talking to. “Try pushing the door open,” I tell him. “It should be clear now.”
When the door still doesn’t budge, Krellix pushes me aside and grips it. Benjamin jerks backward into the ship upon seeing his clawed-tip hands. “Oh, what the hell!”
With a screech of metal against metal, Krellix shoves the door open and into the ship. Afterwards, he backs away but keeps his tail coiled between me and the newly open space.
“You can come out,” I say, eyeing the nervous cluster of forms inside the ship. Soft smoke pillows out, partially obscuring them.
Silently, Benjamin peels away from the others and walks out, his gaze flicking between me and Krellix. With a large gulp and a twitch of his hands, he turns around and ushers the other two out. Another man appears, younger than Benjamin though not by much, carrying a teenage woman in his arms.
When they’re all out in the open and nervously watching Krellix, Benjamin shifts his worried gaze to me. “Thank you again.”
Before I can speak, Krellix responds first. “You three will need to move from here and soon if you do not want to alert others of my kind to your presence. Head north until you come to a river, cross it, and travel into the forest on the other side. Do not journey into the mountains west or the ones east. Stay central between the two, and you will find an encampment of humans.”
“You speak…” Benjamin guffaws before swallowing again and looking at me. “You’re leaving us?” he asks.
“No one’s going anywhere,” I interject quickly, approaching the girl who must be Olivia to check her arm.
The man holding her, Quinton, sets her gently down on the ground.
“Not until we get some answers.” I catch Krellix’s gaze and frown at him in question before turning back to her.
“Are you okay if I take a look?” I ask. Younger than I hoped she would be, she couldn’t be older than her late teens.
I start worrying about her safety out here immediately, glancing at Krellix again.
“It’s too dangerous to remain here,” Krellix hisses at me in warning, but hesitates when I roll Olivia’s sleeve up and she winces. She has to be hurt, and hurt badly, based on how soaked her shirt is with blood, so I start searching her flesh for the wound.
“We won’t hang around long,” I reassure him then turn back to Olivia.
“Are the Ketts coming?” I ask Benjamin who’s still eyeing Krellix nervously. “He’s not going to hurt you. Not unless you do something really stupid.”