“Avery, wait. I’m going to need a quick breather.” Yanis called from close behind. His voice was hoarse and his breathing was ragged. Her own breath didn’t sound much better.
Yanis's purple-hazy silhouette emerged from the shroud of darkness. A dark, living mist covered the entire planet of Coth-8, giving it the appearance of eternal night. Even with their lanternsuits on at maximum power, she could barely see him a few feet away. The glowing wires that covered their suits were designed with a dual purpose: to illuminate the immediate surroundings and to deter the native creatures. They learned the hard way that the suits weren’t entirely effective when they found Kyler.
Yanis was a hulking giant—at least he was when he wasn’t kneeling down breathing like his lungs would collapse at any moment. He seemed to be suffering from a mix of an asthma attack and a panic attack. Neon purple reflected off of his gold wedding band, which was tied to a thin leather cord wrapped around his neck.
“Take deep, slow breaths, Yanis. It’s going to be okay.” Avery’s motherly instincts kicked in, and she gently placed a hand on his shoulder. Each day spent on this wretched hellscape, she missed her family more and more.
“What are you, some kind of fucking shrink?” Yanis choked out. His breathing slowed down to almost normal, and his face was relieved. Yanis had a funny way of showing appreciation.
She spoke before he fully recovered. “We have to keep moving. The treetops may be quiet now, but that doesn’t mean we’re safe. If anything, it means those things are trying to lure us into a false sense of security so they can ambush us.”
“I know. I keep seeing Kyler’s body. The way it was mangled. The missing limbs. He was still alive when we ran, Avery. We let him die.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“He was going to die either way, there was no saving him. I would rather us two make it out than all three of us die.” Thoughts of Kyler would have to wait until they made it safely onboard their ship. “How much farther is the ship? These suits are the only thing keeping us alive right now, and I’m sitting at ten percent battery life.”
Unseen branches cracked and whistled overhead.
Both of their pistols were unholstered and aimed upward. Sweat trickled down her forehead as Avery stared at the impenetrable dark mist. For several seconds, the two are still like a deer that's spotted a potential predator. Her finger gently squeezed against the trigger.
Finally, Yanis spoke again. “My GPS says just over four kilometers.” He checked his own suit battery and sighed.
“How many miles is that?”
“I don’t know. What do I look like to you, a human calculator? Why can’t you Americans use an intuitive, easy-to-understand measurement system like the rest of us?” His voice is tinged with playful irritation.
Avery wanted to laugh, and she almost did, grateful they were resuming their typical banter.
He spoke, serious again. “I think we could make it about halfway until our suits shut off, but one of us might be able to make it if the other gives up their suit’s fuel cell.”
She lets the thought simmer, churning it inside of her mind. Yanis dead. Lucas is playing soccer, kicking it into the other team’s goal. Charlie is coloring the walls while Adam distracts Avery and George with endless questions about the universe. Yanis’s family crying at his funeral. Closed casket, no body recovered.
“I can’t die, Yanis. Not here. Not yet.”
He opened his mouth as if the words pained him. “Take my fuel cell, Ave. I don’t think I could make it anyway. My cardio isn’t what it used to be, thanks to the mountains of cigarettes and booze over the years. Just don’t let me die in vain.”
Slow tears fell down the ridges of his cheeks as he unplugged his suit. His hand trembled as he handed her the fuel cell. Bright purple wires dimmed and darkened until the darkness consumed him completely.
