Lost

Chapter 11

They set out for 'the Safe Haven,' as Kenji had started to call it, early the next morning, before the sun had even begun to shed its pinkish-red light over the land. The light of Cressida's four moons and suns millions of lightyears away were the only things that provided them light. It was beautiful, and any other time Thora would have stopped to stare at the sky in awe. But she had a pack of criminal teenagers who had people to save in line behind her.
She walked beside Fisher- who was being uncharacteristically quiet- having come to some sort of agreement the day before. They had both lost people and it was better to work together than to fight about it, even if the pain was still fairly fresh in their minds.
  She had tried to send three different messages up to the Albatross, but every time she did, bold red letters flashed across the top of the screen reading:

Message failed to send. Tap to try again

When it happened a fourth time she called out for Aeryn, who seemed to know her way around electronics better than anyone she had ever met. The girl trotted up to her from the back of the group and Thora offered her the 'EN-pad,' unease making its way up into her throat.
"Hmm..." she hummed absently, fiddling with a few things on the screen.
They hustled forward, no idea where they were going. Kenji had picked a random direction to head in the moment he got up and they went with it. The woods were silent except for the buzz of an insect high up in the trees- which made her shudder- or the occasional scuff of a boot against dirt. They were all tired, walking bleary-eyed into the thick darkness.
"I think it's safe to assume," she whispered into the silence a few minutes later, "that their communication systems went kaput along with the cryo-pods." Her eyes flicked over to Fisher but he was staring straight ahead, apparently not paying attention to either of them.
"Perfect," she muttered, taking the device back and slipping it into her backpack. If they couldn't get messages to the Albatross how were they supposed to know when they found somewhere safe enough for all of them. Or track where they were, for that matter.
"Hey, they'll get it back up soon," the blonde girl assured her with a smile. "I'm sure of it."
The dark and silence of the forest at night were starting to creep her out. Back at camp, there had been the sounds associated with normal forest life- the random chirps, buzzing, squeaking, and scuffling of small animals in the undergrowth that never seemed to appear in the morning. She had never heard it this quiet. It was unsettling and she felt goosebumps erupted on her skin.
Fisher seemed to sense her unease because he took her hand in his and suddenly her fears seemed stupid, mundane in the grand scheme of things. She hated that he made her feel so safe, even after what had happened with Dell. "Where do you hope we end up?" he asked softly, stepping over a tree root that protruded from the ground directly in his path. She hoped no one tripped over it.
Thora considered his question carefully. Back on Earth, her family had only taken trips to the lake, where they owned a tiny cabin tucked among a tiny patch of trees. You could barely even consider it a forest. She had mostly good memories about the place, the kind you clung onto when all hope seemed lost and you needed to think of something benign, back to when your life was normal. But she'd always wanted to go and see something bigger, more popular, like the Grand Canyon, or Niagara Falls. She wanted to experience something that huge, that beautiful once in her life and now it didn't seem like she ever would.
"Someplace with a beach," she said finally. "Or a mountain. I think it'd be nice." Fisher chuckled, squeezing her hand without thinking.
"That sounds nice. Once we find a beach, I'll teach you how to fish." It was her turn to laugh.
"Fisher is going to teach me how to fish?" She raised an eyebrow. "Very original."
"Alright, fine. If you don't wanna learn, I won't even bother teaching your ungrateful ass!" he teased playfully with his trademark smirk. She could barely see him in the dark and she still knew it was there. It was bound to be.
She shoved him a bit in retaliation. "Well, if you're really that desperate..." she said airily. "I guess I can give it a try."
"Talk about desperate," he whispered under his breath, even though Thora knew he intended for her to hear. She tugged her hand from his grip just to annoy him. "Come on. You were totally trying to flirt!"
"Me? Flirt with you?" she scoffed, smiling. "I would never stoop so low." It felt good to joke around again, particularly with him. The past few days had been hard on all of the Spares and they needed something to lift their spirits. For her, that something happened to be Fisher.
The sun had just started to stretch its arms over the horizon and she was able to see where she was placing her feet.
They'd been walking for about three hours already and her body was starting to feel it; her feet ached all the way up into her knees, and every step sent little painful jolts through her body.  and her back was cramping. She wasn't sweating, the night air was much too cold for that, but she needed a break. 
"Half-hour break!" she called over her shoulder. The Spares collectively let out a thankful sigh and sat down, taking gulps of water or biting off bits of the bird meat they had saved and made into jerky.
Thora leaned her back against a tree, taking a sip of water to wet her parched throat. It was sore from the mix of cold air and the exertion. Closing her eyes, she realized how tired she was. She had woken up a few times during the night due to nightmares, screaming about Dell and Fisher finally decided to move his sleeping bag next to hers saying that he, 'wanted to actually get some sleep before being forced to hike all day.'
"You okay?" he asked from beside her. "You look a little tired."
"I wonder why," she said, speaking passed a yawn, letting her eyes flutter shut. Leaning her head on his shoulder she asked, "How will we know when we find the right place? What if we just keep wandering forever?" 
"I doubt that'll happen. Especially with you leading us, Commander." He nudged her and her eyes opened. She squinted at him suspiciously.
"Okay, what do you want?"
He tsked in fake offense. "Are you implying I can't compliment my friend?" Her heart sunk slightly when he said friend but she didn't show him that it bothered her.
"That's exactly what I'm implying."
Rolling his eyes at her, he stretched out his legs.
"Oh, I know what you want." He glanced at her, eyebrows raised, lips quirking upwards slightly. "You obviously want my permission for you to kiss me," she said, incredibly cocky. Smirking, she went on. "Well, permission granted."
She hadn't been expecting him to go along with it but Fisher suddenly leaned forward, cupped her face in his hand, and pressed his lips roughly against hers. An ecstatic bubble popped in her chest and she froze for a moment before kissing back.
"How was that, Commander?" he asked as he pulled away with a smirk, hand still pressed gently against her cheek.
She grinned lopsidedly, slightly flustered. "I think you'll need to do it again in order for me to fully assess-" Before she could finish her sentence, his lips were on hers once more.
Across the path, Kenji cheered and Aeryn shouted, "Ugh, finally!" Fisher smirked against her lips and they only pulled because, unfortunately for them, the human body needs oxygen.
Out of breath, he leaned his forehead against hers, smirking.
"Get a room, you two!" Aeryn said with a smile, getting to her feet and slinging her backpack over her shoulder. She helped Kenji to his feet before turning back toward them. "We should start moving. I don't want to wander forever and I think we've rested long enough."
Thora nodded, even though her legs protested, and pulled away from Fisher and got to her feet. The boy groaned but eventually obliged, pushing his hair away from his forehead.
"Alright! Let's get going!" she called out, clapping her hands. The Spares grunted but everyone stood, albeit tiredly, and in no time, they were off, walking through the forest, which was slowly awakening with the rising sun.
The sky was a warm pink, which relieved her. If it was gray and there was rain in the forecast they'd have no cover from the bugs. She couldn't let anyone else die.