Human Error

Mother Nature

Days had passed, 14 to be exact, since the pod landed on TRAPPEL-1, and the kids were faring well. They had food, shelter, water, and companions.

Jack rose first and got out from under the leaf blanket carefully, where he moved to stand outside. His ears flicked and turned quite a bit, listening and scanning the environment. The wind was blowing from the north at about 10 mph. Red eyes looked to the sky and studied it, then landing on a darker part off to the north. He squinted to narrow his line of sight and then his eyes shot open; he pivoted too quick and slipped, falling on his elbows and scratching them across the sand. He didn't care. He got back up and scrambled inside to wake the others frantically, Historia coming first.

The kid explained in his southern accent a jumbled mess of words and warnings, to which the harpy had to ask him to slow down. It was repeated and then the rest woke.

"So there's a sandstorm headed our way?"

"Yes!"

They got up and gathered their things into a neat pile, then all crouched near the corner of the shelter. Jack spoke again.

"We should dig a hole big enough for us all to hide in and cover it with the blanket. That'll give us a little more safety than just this metal case."

The group looked around and nodded, then got to work. The suction cups on Eyes' limbs made it so much easier to pick up a lot of the sand and move it, and Jack's rabbit legs kicked away the excess with ease. The rest of them used their hands and scooped dirt away as fast as they could.

They dug about 3 feet down and Jack got up to look outside again. The storm was drawing closer and he told them, to which they worked harder, breaking into a sweat.

Hands and arms screamed in pain, legs and knees were extremely sore, everything was grimy, and their bodies were drenched in sweat. It was not fun, but they dug 6 feet down, save a few inches, and all hurried inside. Guardian grabbed the blanket beforehand and put it over the hole, bringing big metal pieces to lay on one side to hold it down. He crawled in and they had to stand close together.

No one complained. The storm was approaching and they could hear the whistling of the wind and the sand being picked up. Eyes were shut, ears were covered, and arms were around each other. It was so loud and the sand beating at the metal shelter wasn't making it any better. The metal piece holding the blanket down banged against the wall so loud it sounded like someone shot off a shotgun right above their heads. Silencer had jumped hard, Fox and Guardian screamed, and the rest were shaking violently.

It only lasted a few minutes but it felt like hours, and the kids were sand covered since the blanket flew off. Dirt, sand, rocks, all that good stuff coated their bodies and lined their hair without a care in the world. They climbed out and looked around at the mess. Water was over spilled on the ground, their blanket was beaten and worn, and the shelter had a few minor dents.

It was nearing midday and they were already exhausted. But they knew they wouldn't be getting a break anytime soon. They had to replace that lost water and get food.