A Second Chance

Wrapped In Safety's Arms

"Dammit, Tomak! Answer the friggin' phone!" she growled under her breath, hoping the nearby soldiers didn't hear her.

Practically smooshing the phone to her face, she waited impatiently for an answer, when there was a sudden commotion around the lot. Naomi's brow furrowed as she peeked her head out from under the truck.

People were running around like there was a mass shooting nearby. What the heck was going on?

Then the truck above her rumbled to life and she stiffened.

Crap! She quickly sausage rolled from under the truck, just in time to watch it pull away. On her belly now, she pushed herself up with her phone still clutched in her hand. Swiveling around, she looked in time to see the large spaceship hovering over the tall pine trees.

She felt frozen solid, her eyes widening to an impossible size as she heard a new sound come from the ship, one that oddly told her to run.

She could see a port on the side of the ship begin to warm to an electric blue, the nose of it, pointing directly at the facility. "Oh my god."

She had to move.

"Hey!" a voice carried over the sound of the engine.

With a gasp, Naomi whipped her head in the direction of the voice and saw a middle-aged soldier pointing his weapon at her, a confused frown deepening the lines on his forehead.

Blinking rapidly, she thought her choices over before simply running away, hearing the man race after her. Waving her arms rapidly at other men and women in army uniforms, she hollered, "Take cover!!" before practically throwing herself into the brush.

Not soon after she did, a deafening explosion went off behind her, muting everything but a high-pitched ringing in her ears.

For what felt like forever, Naomi stayed put on the ground, her head cushioned on her forearm as she tried to breath. There had been a blast of wind after the explosion, whipping up particles that were currently not agreeing with her lungs.

Despite feeling her diaphragm clench and her lungs expel air, her coughs were muted to her own ears. And the thrumming pain in her side made her feel like she was dying.

Blinking through the dust cloud, she saw the reflection of her phone screen lighting up a few feet away from her, like someone was answering her call.

She had to get to it.

Forcing her arms and legs to cooperate, she fought to drag herself over the tree roots and undergrowth, managing to regain her hearing after several long seconds.

Managing to reunite with her phone, Naomi very quickly lifted it to her ear, her voice still shaken from what just happened. "Tomak? Tomak??"

"What now?!" Tomak's growling voice was like music to her ears.

"Oh thank god! Please tell me that's you in that spaceship!" she spoke breathlessly, staring up at the alien spacecraft that was circling back around.

"Who else would it be?" he growled aggravatedly through the speaker, which only made her smile wider.

It didn't matter if he was being rude about it, she was just thankful everything was fine, the danger now receding. "I'm surprised you even answered the phone," she poked the bear further. "Didn't your mom ever tell you not to be on the phone while you drive," she spoke derisively, though much too out of breath for it to come across as she would have liked.

Much to her annoyance, he simply ignored her question and began barking more of his surly orders. "Take off. We will meet you outside the forest. I should be able to fit your primitive transport in the cargo hold."