Everglow: Friend From Far Away

8 - New Plan

Ko's expression turned from fear and guilt, to shock and surprise. The last thing she'd expected from this strange being was to be offered a home. An actual home. Something she'd always wanted. However being taken by a completely different species while potentially being hunted down was not what she had in mind. Even still, a home was a home. And from the interactions she'd had with this 'Fischer' so far, it didn't seem like he had any intentions to harm her.

Since there was no way in hell she was going back, this seemed like her best option.

"Wh. . . what?"

"Do you want to come with me? Come to my home? You'll be safer there than you will out here," he coaxed.

The two large horn-like protrusions that flanked the alien's head had tilted up slightly, like what Fischer said had grabbed her interest.

It took a little time, but eventually the alien gave a slight nod. Fischer cursed under his breath as the full fact that he'd just asked an alien to come home with him began to set in. His eyes darted around, taking in her full form when the huge gash in her leg caught his eye once again, and a serious problem grasped his head.

Was she able to walk?

This already seemingly impossible task would be made infinitely harder if she wasn't able to support her own weight. There was no chance that Fischer was going to carry her everywhere either.

"Ok, well we need to go now then, I have to be back soon. Can you walk?"

Ko looked down at her wounded limb, and what looked like a frown crawled onto her face. She didn't know the answer to that question and she too knew that if she couldn't, the whole plan was as good as ashes. Slowly, she placed her hand on her leg and began to softly rub the area around the wound, like you would with a cut.

Eventually she decided that it was time to see if she could stand. Slowly she began to roll over and placed both her hands on the ground. Shifting her weight onto her right leg, she began to slowly stand up, her top knees bucking and shaking under her weight. Using a nearby tree to steady herself, she moved her head to stare at Fischer, who had also gotten to his feet.

She took what looked to be a small gulp, or at least the alien version of what a human would call a gulp. Slowly extending her tourniqueted left leg outwards, she placed her foot on the ground. Shifting her weight onto her leg, she began to move forwards.

But as soon as she started to move, her leg buckled. With a slight yelp, her knee gave out from under her, and she quickly began to fall downwards.

Instinctively, Fischer dashed forwards with his arms out. His arms broke her fall, catching her before she could impact the ground.

"Whoa whoa whoa, easy. . . easy," he exclaimed, slowly returning her to a vertical posture. While her body was covered in dirty cloth, it was still a strange sensation feeling her scaly hands grasping his arms. The uncomfortable feeling sent shivers careening down his spine.

It seemed as though her first fall was just a fluke, as soon she was free of Fischer's grasp and began to move about on her own, albeit with a serious limp to her stride.

"Ok, we're going to have to get to my car ok? We can ride home in that,"

Ko nodded in answer to his explanation all the while not fully knowing what a car actually was. She hazarded a guess that it was some sort of object that humans used for transport.

With Fischer providing occasional support, the two made their way through the bulwark of bushes and shrubbery until they reached the line of bushes where the forest connected to the flattened grass parallel to the road. Making sure to keep Ko out of sight, Fischer scanned the highway and monitored for any incoming traffic.

Luckily, the road was quite silent. Only a few trucks and cars every now and then. Good. That made getting Ko into the car a lot easier.

"Ok Ko, When I say go, you're going to have to move as fast as you can to my car, see it parked over there?" Pointing over to the white vehicle parked on the grass about fifty meters away from them. "You cannot let anyone see you ok? If a car comes, run to the bushes and stay behind them until it passes ok?"

Ko didn't seem to hear him however, seemingly fixated on the wide open area that she had just stumbled onto. It came to Fischer's realisation that possibly the only place she had been on this planet so far was the clearing behind them. It was essentially a whole new world opening up to her. But she could sight see when they were on the road, right now getting to the car was the priority.

"Ko? Did you hear me?"

She quickly snapped her gaze to Fischer and gave some rapid nods of approval.

Fischer studied the incoming traffic, waiting for the opportune moment. After about thirty seconds, he spied a gap in the traffic. From where the vehicles would be, Ko would be properly shielded by her clothing, making it impossible to see her true form.

"Ok, on my count, you're going to quickly run to the back door ok?" Fischer explained. His car was angled at about forty degrees to the road, meaning that passing traffic would not be able to see the other side of it when they drove past. Once there they would be safe from detection, getting there was the hard part.

"Three"

"Two"

"One"

"Go, now!"