Colonized {PUBLISHED}

Chapter 3: Twix

The forest teemed with life, but at the same time felt very much inanimate and uncaring.

The planet─ The Place, Twix reminded herself, rolling her eyes─ was so strange compared to Earth, and it made her so much more uncomfortable than she was willing to let on. Especially in front of all these people, and especially in front of Jace.

She felt strangely shy around him; their dynamic was off, and the atmosphere surrounding him felt charged with an intense electricity that both attracted and repelled. Maybe it was just due to the cameras─ though they were light-years away, Twix felt the weight of all the eyes watching her. There wasn't any room for her to mess up, and that meant that in trying to get to know him, she was in some ways preventing him from really knowing her.

And she did want to know him. If they were going to spend the rest of their lives together, she didn't want their relationship to be awkward.

This silence between them certainly was. She pretended she was just taking in the forest, but her eyes kept drifting back to him. She felt treacherous thinking this, but he was admittedly attractive─ tall, tan, with dark hair and a crooked smile.

You have a boyfriend, she reminded herself, looking away. Stop.

She focused on the trees instead, trunks as wide as cars and an interconnecting canopy of leaves. The fluorescent plants cast an eerie glow on the forest, but it felt peaceful rather than alarming─ quiet and untouched.

"Want to see what's up there?" Jace asked, pointing up at the ceiling that the trees formed, echoing her train of thought. It looked more like moss than leaves, Twix realized, and it would probably support their weight. But even then, there was no way she'd even consider climbing up there.

"Let's just keep walking. It's a bunch of trees."

"I'm going."

"No, you're going to fall. Let's just go."

Jace gripped onto the trunk. "There aren't really any good handholds," he said. "I wonder if─"

"I almost failed the first aid class on the ship."

"I'm not going to fall."

She crossed her arms. "I'm sure."

He started inching up, hugging the tree with his arms and legs, scooting bit by bit. Twix watched with slight amazement and a good bit of fear as he climbed.

"Be careful," she warned.

"I am careful," Jace said through clenched teeth, reaching up. His hand slipped suddenly; he let out a groan and came crashing down the tree to the ground.

"Jace!" Twix was at the foot of the tree then, reaching out a hand to help him up. He took it and stood, brushing the dirt off his clothes and wincing.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"I'm fine."

"I told you not to─"

"Shh," he said, and she glared at him.

"I was talking!"

"Quiet," Jace hushed, and the note of urgency in his voice convinced her to listen. The forest descended into silence for a few quick moments, and then she heard a noise. They looked at each other, his eyes full of wonder, hers startled and afraid.

"Something out there?" Jace whispered, and now they were a team against the noises in the dark.

Twix nodded. We should go back to the shuttle, she thought, every survival instinct in her body screaming against continuing on. The forest that had seemed so peaceful just moments ago was now threatening. Anything could be here, and they would be completely surrounded.