Starhoppers

11 - A Wolf in Elk's Clothing

"That worries us, right?" Ralph asked, his eyes narrowed.

My words caught in my throat as I peered back at Caesar, the alien watching curiously from beside Albright's ship.

"He was alone here, wasn't he?" Ellie whispered beside me. "Who was the message for?"

The soft crunching of leaves pulled me back to reality as Caesar approached, the alien leaning towards the translator. "What does it say?"

Dread filled my gut as I peered back at the others. "Don't look at me," Ezra scoffed. "I don't know what to think anymore, kid."

I turned back to Caesar, stammering for a brief moment. "It... it says 'thank you'. He's thanking you for helping him for as long as you did."

Caesar huffed. "Why are you frightened?"

My stomach flipped. "We're not, it's just... we're just so surprised to see his writing again, that's all. We thought he would be lost forever, up until now. I guess we didn't really believe he'd been here until we saw all of this."

"I have no reason to lie to you," Caesar replied.

"No! No, of course not," I stammered. "We believed you, it's just..."

"Come," Caesar said, cutting me off before the device could translate my words. "There's more of the village for you to see."

"Of course," I replied through clenched jaws, peering back at the others as I followed the alien back down the forest path towards the village.

"I think we should start looking for that exit again," Ralph murmured, eyeing Caesar carefully.

"I knew I should've gone with my gut," Ezra groaned quietly. "I just had to listen to you guys, didn't I?"

"Let's just think about this for longer than thirty seconds, alright?" Ellie sighed. "We have no idea what Albright could've meant by that."

"Don't we, though?" Ezra scoffed. "That message seemed pretty clear to me."

"Sure, but who was it for?" Ellie repeated. "Nobody left in this village could read it."

"Maybe he lost his mind out here," Ralph muttered. "I certainly feel like I'm headed in that direction myself."

"Are we seriously just going to brush this off?" Ezra asked. "That message back there is what you'd call a red flag, my friends."

"No, that's not what I'm saying," Ellie replied. "I'm just saying that we should keep calm. If they truly mean to hurt us, then making a big deal out of this won't help."

"And they're helping Isaac," I added. "We can't forget that."

"Exactly," Ellie nodded. "Why would they be helping us if they wanted us dead?"

"Who said they wanted us dead?" Ezra murmured. "There are a dozen fates worse than death, kid. And that's only the ones that immediately come to mind."

Ralph shrugged. "I'm willing to take things slow if you are," he said. "I may be terrified right now, but I don't plan on letting this owl know it."

I sighed softly as we stepped back onto the main path. "Let's just see what happens. I don't feel like we're in enough danger to panic just yet," I said. "I'm with Ellie on this one."

"Of course, you are," Ezra murmured.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ellie asked for me, narrowing her eyes.

"Don't worry about it," Ezra groaned.

"Look, man," I said, holding up my hands defensively. "I see that something's wrong here, too. The way Caesar's been talking to us, and now that message from Albright... I'm with you. We just don't need you letting them know that we suspect anything."