Invasion

Chapter 4: Zinnia

I suddenly woke up to screams throughout the ship. Everyone did. We all rushed worried to see what the commotion was. We were led to this building that looked like a hospital but didn't at the same time. We were all stopped outside by aliens and we all tried to look for other ways in. I stayed at the back of the group to try not to get into any sort of trouble and stood there. All I could think was who was it and were they ok? I was surprised I actually cared, but I did and that's what mattered. I tried to edge my way to the front of the group, but I kept getting pushed to the back. I was starting to get mad and pushed my way to the front. I knocked over a few kids, so what? They could get back up again. I finally got to a window and peered in, but it was blocked by blankets on blankets. I gave up and went to go sit on the ground so other people could try and fail just like me.
It felt like hours and hours until the doors to the hospital finally opened. The boy I saw strolled out of the hospital then he turned and looked at me. As soon as his eyes met mine, he gave me a smug look and slowly strayed over. My eyes automatically slanated to a glare and I stood up.
"Why hello there. Did you come running to look for lil ol' me in the hospital?" He slurred his words together as if he was drunk.
"No. There was commotion and I couldn't sleep so I came to see what all the fuss was about," I crossed my arms and kept my face emotionless so it wasn't readable. Yet I could still sense he was reading me as if I was an open book.
"Oh, ok. Well goodbye then," he smiled and turned to walk away, but I grabbed his shoulder
"So that's it? You're not even going to tell me why you were in the hospital?" I turned him around and his face flickered a few emotions, but I didn't have enough time to read them.
"I mean, we don't know each-other so there's no reason for me to tell you what's going on," he just walked away as if nothing happened. I stayed in that spot as the group died down and I just sighed. Why did I care if he told me or not? I grumbled as I got up and walked home.

When I got home I went straight to my room. I sat in my room and tried to fall asleep, but I had this uneasy feeling I couldn't shake. I got up and slowly creeped to Orions' room. I went to his bed and felt for him in his bed. I couldn't feel him so I yanked his blanket off his bed and went to tickle him, but he wasn't there. I started to panic and my heart sped up. I shivered and wanted to run around the ship screaming to find Orion. I wished father was a father I could run to with my problems. I wish he could help me find Orion, but that was up to me. I ran down the hallway, only to be stopped by running into a grand figure just standing there.
"Where do you think you're going?!" The anonymous voice growled.
"What do you mean?! Who are you and how did you get into my house?!" I screamed and tried to push past the figure to the door. I didn't care if someone had broken in, I wanted to find Orion. Just as I was almost past the figure, it slapped me, hard. I fell to the ground and glared up in its direction. The light shone on the persons' face, it was father. All anger and shock was drained. I was downright scared. I never let anyone know he scared me though, so I summoned my anger again and I got up, wiped the blood from my mouth and ran to the door.
"None of your business! Orion is missing, but it's not like you would care!"
"What?! Your brother is gone?! WHERE IS HE?!" Father grabbed me and found an alien just outside our house.
"My son is missing! I need to know where he is!" Father was playing his little worried act. I could always guess he was acting when he pretended to care about us, but this time he actually seemed a little bit worried.
"Name?" The alien was emotionless, I think this one was a hologram as well.
"His full name is Orion Andromeda Trillia-Rookez. I have no idea when he went missing though." I was surprised. I didn't think father even knew our full names. I ripped my arm out of fathers' grip and started to run.I don't know why I did it, but the more I thought about it the more it made sense. I was tired of the way father treated us and I was done with everything. I needed to find Orion too, I can't even bear to imagine my little brother all alone in such a big unfamiliar place. I was scared, but I didn't look back once. I ran until my chest hurt and my legs dragged. I was never the best runner but today, I ran like my life depended on it. I ran faster than the flash. I wouldn't have stopped running even for a break, but out of nowhere two hands reached from a gap and I was dragged into an alleyway.
"WHO ARE YOU? GET OFF ME!" I kicked and screamed like a feral cat. My mouth was covered, yet I bit the hand as hard as I could and kept screaming.
"Would you shut up? I'm hiding us away!" A familiar voice said to me.
"Tell me who you are then or I'm screaming louder," I was going to scream either way, I just wanted to know the bastard's name so I could report them for child harassment.
"The name's Saros. We've met many times before. You know, the one who gave you the book?" Saros looked at me and the scowl on his face as he glared at me made me shut up for the rest of the stay. I watched Saros. Could I trust this stranger? I kept thinking of the worst possible scenarios.
As soon as my father was out of sight, I grabbed Saros' arm and started running. I stole a few glances back at him and he seemed so confused. Once I was sure we couldn't have been followed by my father and that it was an empty area, I stopped and breathed. I looked at Saros after I could focus and I crossed my arms.
"So, you're one of them," I hissed at him while he caught his breath.
"What do you mean by them? Also I never caught your name." He looked up at me like I was crazy.
"You know exactly what I mean by them and if my guess is correct then you have no business in knowing my name." I looked him directly in the eye and glared. I treated this as if it were a stare-off.
"If you mean alien, then yeah, I am. Got a problem?" He stood up, but I kept my glare strong.
"So, what do you want from me?" I released my glare.
"Nothing, I saw you running and I decided you could use help," He sighed.
"Why were you there though? You couldn't have been waiting for me all night." I was starting to get uneasy as my mind wandered off to think about my original adventure. I wanted to forget about this and find Orion.
"Good timing is all. I was gathering some rocks and dirt for a craft." He started kicking at some dirt. I could tell he was lying about something. I didn't have time to worry about all this thought. I looked him up and down, turned around and walked away.
"Wait for me!"Saros called after me, but I walked faster.
"Don't follow me, I don't need an alien to help me find my brother," I walked faster with each word using my uneasiness and hatred for aliens as fuel.
It had been about two hours since I had walked away from the alien, but he kept following me. Every now and then I would look back and scowl at him. I didn't want an alien to accompany me, but he was as stubborn as a mule.

"Ok, enough. What do you want? I told you to stop following me, I don't need help finding my brother. Especially from an alien," I said as I stopped and turned to face him.
"I don't want anything except to help you find you brother," He looked so innocent.
"Fine, but don't bug me," I went and started walking again, just ignoring him. I sighed. Why was I letting this fraud accompany me?
"ORION, CAN YOU HEAR ME?!" This is the only thing I could say.
"So, your brother's named after a constellation. How cool." Saros kept distracting me. He wasn't helping me at all.
"Yeah, our mother loves space. She would love you aliens. I don't know how she could, though," I replied in a cold tone.
I don't know why I even responded to him. I kept calling for Orion. Eventually I grew tired, but I couldn't stop.
"You look tired, maybe we should stop here," Saros halted in front of a decomposing log.
"Ew, I'm not sitting on that thing. And why is there a log on a ship anyways?" I was so disgusted.
"Come on, sit. Look at the scenery. And we wanted to make it realistic for humans so look at the forest." He reached his hand out, but I hit it away and started to walk to the log.
"WAIT! LOOK OUT THE-" Before he could finish, it had already happened.
"OH SHIT! Why is there dog crap lying randomly on the floor?! These are my new shoes, as well." I groaned.
"I said realistic, didn't I? Also, what do you mean by, new shoes?" He glanced down at my dirty, torn-up second-hand shoes from my mother.
"They are new to me, but now they're covered in dog shit and who knows what." I sighed and sat on the nasty log. I looked around. All I could see were trees.
"There's only trees." I looked up at Saros as if he was crazy.
"Duh, we're at the edge of a forest. But look closer." He said. I sighed and got up. I walked closer to the closest tree and put my face up on it.
"Close enough Saros?" My sarcasm was muffled by the tree.
"Nah, not yet. You have to get IN the tree." He stifled a small giggle.
"But there's no holes. And I can't make one." I looked the tree up and down. I acted as if I thought he was serious. We both laughed for a while, then I went back to looking at the scenery.
"I see trees, grass and flowers." I looked around. The blooming trees mocked us with their height and the grass just swayed along. There were hundreds of flowers, more than any human could count.
"Come. look at these." Saros dragged me to a large group of flowers. They were zinnias. I looked up at him.
"You know what these are? I thought you guys had crazy plants, like ones that grow cows and stuff." I smelt the zinnias and smiled.
"Yeah, we do. But did you know, the first plant ever able to grow in space was a-"
"*ZINNIA! Of course I know that." I interrupted him as he spoke. He snickered.
"Of course you do, but why? It's such a rare fact. I don't know one nosrep who knows that fact," He picked one of the zinnias and twirled it in his hand.
"My mother is obsessed with zinnias, hence why my name is Zinnia" I looked up at the sky. Saros handed me the zinnia he was playing with and smiled as if he knew this already.
"We should get going, Orion is probably worried." I stood up. Saros nodded and we started walking off.

Here's a website for the zinnias and their facts if you want to know about the a little better
* https://www.google.com/search?q=what+was+the+first+flower+to+ever+grow+in+space&oq=what+was+the+first+flower+to+ever+grow+in+space&aqs=chrome..69i57j33.8053j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8