Red Rock

Chapter 9 Rockets to the Stone Age (Part 1)

Chapter 9 Rockets to the Stone Age (Part 1)

Morning came, and the sun warmed the surface of the world, melting the frozen moisture on the grass and dirt. The increasing temperature created a soothing steam that rose from the ground like a warm bath on a cool day. It was uplifting to leave the crowded ship to such beauty after a tough, cold night. Daire thought that he had had maybe three hours of sleep but considered himself lucky he got any at all. The ship was so crowded that everyone had to sleep in their seats with their shoulder rests on to avoid falling over. Even when fully fastened in, the cold from outside was breaching the solid metal walls and sinking into the bones of the people inside. "Morning, Daire," Jacob said approaching him from behind. "How'd you sleep?"

"Not too good," Daire said, eying the peaceful sunrise over the faraway trees. "Yourself?"

"Better than most," Jacob replied. "Would really love a cup of coffee though."

Daire laughed. "I don't drink coffee. Some tea would be nice."

"Jesus, I'd settle for a glass of lemonade. Anything I can load with sugar, really."

"I don't think we're going to have any decent beverage for a while."

"Hmm," Jacob acknowledged returning to the sunrise. "We should probably talk about yesterday." He spat on the ground.

"I don't really want to," Daire replied, feeling uneasy.

"Well, we have to. Those people that were eating Denis..." Jacob stopped, never imagining that such content would ever come out of his mouth. "Are too close to us for this to be the only incident. You need to keep your eyes peeled at all times."

"Is Sasha going to tell the group what happened?"

"No," Jacob grimaced. "She's decided that they best not know."

"But you just said that it's going to happen again!"

"And it will," Jacob reasoned. "But she thinks otherwise."

"Then tell her!" Daire sounded.

"I told her my concern and she's noted it."

"I don't like this, Jacob."

"Neither do I, but we have to deal with it. You need to keep this to yourself until further notice." Jacob put his hand on Daire's shoulder and looked him in the eye. "Stay close to camp and don't go anywhere alone, hear me?"

Daire gave a quick nod, satisfying Jacob enough to pat him on the shoulder and take off in the other direction.

*

Sasha banged on the ship door, signaling everyone to waken from their light slumber. "Everyone up!" she yelled, banging harder. "We've got a lot of work to do today!" Moans and groans could be heard through the ship but no fuss was made. Most of them were already awake anyway. The Surveyors slowly slipped their way out the door and wandered into a huddle around her. "As some of you may have heard, we did not find Denis last night," she started. "And we don't know if we'll ever find him again, so for now, forget about him completely. I want no one, under any circumstances to explore over the plains. We do not know this area and it is extremely easy to get lost. We have work to do today, and we cannot afford anymore search parties." She stopped to let the information sink in. "You'll all be organized into groups with a duty stationed in the forest. If you don't like your duty you may switch with another willing partner." Sasha separated the crowd in half. "You will all be on firewood duty," she pointed to one half. "And you will all be on berry duty," she said pointing to the other. "Let's get going!"