Everglow: Friend From Far Away

33 - Six Feet Under

"Ko?"

"Ko?"

Fischer found himself walking down the path he saw Ko take a few minutes ago. She'd been gone for around ten minutes. A lot longer than he'd like. He was beginning to grow slightly anxious at her unwillingness to return.

"Ko? You here?" He called, scanning the forest for any signs of her. Maybe she was just enjoying a little freedom? After all, she didn't really get any sort of opportunity to explore the planet. Not with the USETRD now hunting them.

He continued along the path until he stumbled across a small riverbank. Looking around, he saw nothing but water and more forest. Where on earth was she?

"Ko? C'mon, it's not funny anymore, we need to get going!" He shouted, cupping his mouth like a loudspeaker. But there was still no response at all. He stood there, unsure of what to do. Maybe she'd looped around and made her way back to the car? It certainly could be the case, seeing as she wasn't anywhere round here.

He let out a gruff sigh and turned around, "God dammit Ko, this is not the time for this," he mumbled under his breath, a slight taste of worry mixed in there.

He was about to head back to the car, when he spotted something.

Footprints.

There were large footprints embedded in the dirt, leading towards the riverbank. They had a central area with three thick toes sticking out the front. They were unmistakably hers. Well at least now he had a lead on her. And it meant she did in fact come along here.

Following the footsteps, they took him down the path and to the edge of the river, where they seemed to stop. Looking parallel to the river, he saw nothing more than grass and dirt, no alien footprints anywhere.

Did she go into the river?

"What the hell Ko? Why the fuck did you go into the river?" He whispered to himself. Now he was beginning to grow worried. Very worried. Everything told him that she had waded into the water, but there was no sign of her anywhere. He couldn't track footprints underwater either.

He scanned the river, hoping to find any sort of sign of her.

Then he spotted something.

His heart sank as he wandered closer and realised what it was. There was a slither of purple cloth hooked up on a log that lay half submerged in the river. It trailed back down into the water.

Without thinking, he broke into a sprint towards the cloth. Bolting towards it, he began to make out a shape sitting just below the waterline. It looked like her.

"KO!"

He threw his jacket off and ran as fast as he could into the water, diving in once it became deep enough. The current was relatively strong and it was difficult to see where anything was. His eyes stung from the freezing water but he ignored it. He could just make out the shape of his friend as she lay there on the riverbed.

She wasn't moving.

Diving down deeper, he grasped her around the waist and pulled with all his strength. Her body limply floated into his arms. With Ko in hand, he rocketed back up to the surface as fast as he possibly could. Water fell all around them as he surfaced, doing whatever he could to keep her head above the water. With the added weight of both of their clothes which were now completely waterlogged, staying afloat was a challenging ordeal.

He sighted the closest point of land and began swimming towards it. His entire body was aching from the cold, but it didn't even register to him.

Dragging her ashore, he quickly shifted her body into the recovery position and checked her pulse.