Cloaked

The Culprit

Juno POV

I held my jacket over my head. The suns were scorching hot. This planet was a disaster. During the daytime, it must've gotten up to 110 degrees, but the nighttime was bitter cold. Last night was my first night on Tegantu and I'm pretty sure that I got frostbite.

My legs threatened to give out under me. I had began walking yesterday in the cool morning, but the planet began heating up almost immediately. I had proceeded to drink all of my water in the first 2 hours. Now, I was thirsty, exhausted, and extremely shaken about Trey's death.

Dust blew into my eyes. I was too dehydrated to cry, but my eyes were watering by now. Heavy winds picked up dust and sand and threw them at me constantly. I had ripped my jacket up and tied it around my head and neck, but my eyes remained unprotected and the suns were extremely bright.

When I'd looked through the emergency backpack, I'd indeed seen the sunglasses from the ship, but they had been cracked in two by the time I'd found them. There was nothing else I could use.

My feet were blistering, and my vision was wavering by the time the sun had reached midday. Two days without food, water, and proper protection from the unbearable heat and light had done me no good.

I squinted. In the horizon, I could barely make out a thin dark line. That meant that I was finally nearing vegetation!

My heart lifted at the sight. I was finally going to have shade and water. The radios weren't connecting in the desert, but I knew that there were several rovers that had explored the jungles and they were connected to the USS Colorado.

My stomach churned as I realized that I'd still have at least another full day of walking before I reached the vegetation. Another full day of exhaustion and dehydration.

*****

I squinted into the distance behind me with a shiver. The sun was setting on the horizon, taking my only heat source with it.

Goosebumps ran down my arm. I placed my bag on the ground. I'd found a small dip beneath a sand dune where I began to set up camp for the night.

The sand sunk beneath my weight when I sat on my behind. I leaned into the dune and closed my eyes with a shiver. My sore limbs cried out for sleep.

I sat in the sand for a little over a minute before I heard something. It sounded like... galloping? Something was running in the sand.

I crept onto my feet and crawled out from behind the dune. In the distance, I could make out the silhouette of a deer-like animal. It was clearly running from something. Its ears were straight up in fear and its feet were pounding the ground.

My head tilted in curiosity. Behind the animal, there was a blurred area in the sky. Was I hallucinating?

Whatever had created the blurred area disappeared in a moment. The deer sensed it as well. It skirted to a halt. I could see its sides heaving heavily. It's head frantically search the area around it, and it clipped its hooves against the sand nervously.

What happened next will definitely give me nightmares for a very long time.

The deer stopped moving and pinned its ears. It lowered its head, right before something sharp came down and slid straight through its neck. The poor animal's head rolled down the sand. The creature fell to its knees and flipped onto its back. Sticky, blue blood oozed onto the sand.

My hands clasped over my mouth to conceal my horrified scream. A squeak barely escaped as I turned away from the sickening sight. I fell backwards onto my butt and scrambled behind the sand, panting. My breathing quickened as I held my knees in my hands. Whatever had done that to the deer... Please don't notice me!