The Call of the Wild

Chapter 5

I do not own James Cameron's Avatar all rights go to its creators!

Not edited.

We were going outside today. I almost couldn't believe they were actually going to let us leave the compound on our second day driving our avatars. I had been buzzing with barely contained excitement most of the other people in the mess hall giving me strange looks as I sashayed along. Grace was expecting us in the link room at oh eight-thirty so we could be down in the armour bay for an oh nine hundred departure time.

Jake's talk with Quaritch still worried me, I had managed to brave my own room last night clinging onto the peace I'd felt during the day so I hadn't managed to talk to him until this morning. I tried to corner him before breakfast but all I got was a dismissive wave and an "it was just marines being marines, there's nothing for you to worry about." Yeah right.

His talk with the colonel didn't bother me so much as his lying to me about it did. Jake and I didn't lie to each other, it was something I'd made him promise me early on in our friendship. He was the only person I ever completely trusted after my recovery because I knew that he would always tell me the truth, I didn't know what I would do if that changed.

I somehow managed to push my worries to the back of my mind, we were going out today and I wouldn't let anything dampen my mood. Jake and his strange behaviour could wait.

I arrived ahead of the boys, too giddy to walk at the easy pace they'd both set. It surprised me that Norm wasn't directly on my heels, I would have thought with how he had been acting yesterday that he'd be just as excited as I was to be getting out into the wild. I shrugged off the thought practically bouncing into the link room.

"Good morning Max!" I called eagerly, the man currently setting up the biometrics for my link pod. He gave me a bright smile enthusiasm dripping off his words, "Morning Kida! You excited for your first trip out into the forest?"

I weaved in and out of scurrying lab technicians as I hurried forward towards the pod. "You bet I am," I beamed back happily practically hurling my body into the pod.

He chuckled back at me, inputting the final sets of data into the computer as I pulled the sensor covered chest plate down. With a final smile and an encouraging, "have fun out there," he shut the lid of the link.

Waking up in my avatar body was easier the second time around. My mind settled in easier and my senses reacted faster, I was sure that would only get better with time. The comforting hum of life reverberated through my body and I basked in the serene calm of the morning as I waited for my friends to link up.

Grace was a trooper, hurrying us along from the moment she settled into her avatar body. We rushed to pick up all our equipment, grabbing sample jars and probes and other odds and ends that would help with our research whilst out in the field. I found out that the woman who had come to collect Jake the night before was going to be our pilot, Trudy Chacon, she'd introduced herself as.

I sat opposite Jake, my back facing the cockpit, and both of us leaning slightly out of the aircraft our legs braced against the skids. An uneasy feeling coiled in my stomach when I noticed his hand rested on the frighteningly large door gun. Of course, it made sense to put him there seeing as he was the only one out of the avatar drivers who had the training to use it, but it still made me queasy. Jake was only just beginning to accept that his military career was a thing of the past, at least until he could get his legs back. This sudden bravado he'd gained from having a pair of functioning legs again was worrying. I just hoped he wouldn't let it get to his head, he was so much better than the jar headed morons we shared a base with.

Trudy piloted the Sampson like a pro, her handling skills showing the many hours she'd put into learning her trade and I was more than grateful to know we had someone so experienced to cart us around. She lifted off quickly and soon enough we were making our way off the base and out into the wild.