Chapter 20: Unable to Say Goodbye
“It’s still going on,” she said as she pushed herself up off the ground. They had spent at least 15 minutes tangled up together, kissing softly and not speaking, absorbing each other’s presence as long as they could before they were forced to separate.
Hakona got to his feet and stood next to her. “I should be out there.”
They gathered their clothes from the ground and slowly began to dress. With each passing second, a heavy air of sadness and worry descended on her.
She turned and look up at him. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have forced you to stay.”
“You didn’t force me.”
“But—the bond—I shouldn’t ask you to choose me over them.”
“You were right. If I went out there, I wouldn’t be any help to anyone. Not in this condition.”
She turned around and wrapped her arms around his waist, careful not to press too hard against his bruise. He stepped towards her and leaned down, placing a quick kiss on her forehead.
“Allison!” Tory’s voice called out.
Hakona tensed up. She took a quick step away from him but left her right arm wrapped around him. Allison could sense his discomfort increase when Tory appeared in the clearing with them. A half a dozen other people, all from their research team, followed close behind her.
“Tory!” she exclaimed.
“Allison, what are you doing with him?” Tory asked, eyeing Hakona suspiciously.
“It’s fine; he’s fine,” she looked up at him quickly. “They’re my friends,” she told him before removing her arm from his waist and walking towards the small group.
"You are with them, aren't you?" Tory asked. The accusation was heavy in her voice and her eyes darted back and forth between Hakona and Allison.
“I’m not on either side,” Allison replied. She walked towards her slowly. Her friend eyed her suspiciously before relaxing slightly. “I’m so happy you’re okay, Tory.” Allison held her arms out at her sides.
Tory burst suddenly into tears and threw herself at Allison. They embraced tightly, both crying together. “I listened to your warning.”
“I’m glad you did.”
“I told some people,” she said pulling back and wiping the tears from her eyes. She glanced back over her shoulder.
The group behind her was staring nervously at Hakona. Hakona was staring back aggressively at them.
“That’s fine,” Allison said, “that’s good.”
“We have to go,” Tory said suddenly, pulling at Allison’s hand.
“What do you mean?”
“We’re leaving, Allison.”
“You know what’s happening back there?”
“It’s bad. We’ve lost so many already. We have to get out of here, or they’ll kill all of us!” Tory’s voice was high-pitched and shrill. Allison could sense the fear coming through in her words.
“How many are left?”
“Not many.”
“Good,” Hakona muttered under his breath.
“What did you say?” Tory asked, angrily.
She tried to step around Allison, but she put her hand on her shoulder firmly, stopping her. “You said we don’t have much time,” she whispered quietly.
“They’re leaving soon, Allison. We have to get back to the camp—now.”
“Is it safe?”
“No, but it’s the only chance we have.”
Allison looked back at Hakona then back to Tory. “Okay, you go ahead, I’ll be right behind you.”
Hakona remained tense as the group disappeared into the forest. As soon as they were out of sight, he let out a loud sigh, although the tension remained heavy in the air.
“They can’t leave,” he said firmly.
“What do you mean?” Allison asked, turning to look up at him. “That’s what we wanted, right? That they leave?”
“If they leave, it will only be a matter of time before they return.”
She held in the slight frustration she felt. “It’s not that simple,” she said slowly. “If Dr. Cooper and Commander Peterson know about this planet, then others do, too. They didn’t take the secret here with them alone. There are others, back on Earth who are aware of what’s happening.”
“But we have to…”
“You have to believe me,” she interjected. “And you have to call off your people.”
“I can’t do that.”
“My people are leaving, Hakona,” she urged. “If you keep fighting, it’s just putting lives at risk that could be saved. I know you want to do whatever you can to stop my kind, but you’re killing innocent people out there! Really, most of them had no idea about what was really going on.”
“How do we know that if we stop, they won’t just decide to stay?”
“I’ll go make sure they leave,” Allison said with a determined nod.
He stood in silence, tilting his head to the side as if listening to the sounds of the battle, still going on with full force. "Fine," he agreed. "I'll call them off."
“Thank you!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him.
They embraced tightly. She let the feeling of his body close to her own wash over her one more time. She tried to memorize the way it made her feel. She pressed her ear to his chest and listened to his heartbeat, letting the strong, steady rhythm soothe her one last time.
“Are you going to leave with them?” he asked quietly.
“I don’t know if I have much choice,” she answered slowly.
“You can come back with me,” he replied. “We can figure something out. And if my people don’t accept you, we’ll go off on our own, make a life for ourselves somewhere.”
She let out a weak laugh. “You would never abandon your people.”
“I would for you.”
“I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You wouldn’t be the one asking me—it would be them.”
“I can’t think about all of that now,” she muttered. The first thing she needed to do was make sure she got whoever was left from her camp on the ship and gone. She took a quick step back and looked up at him. “If I do, I won’t go back to the camp.” Her eyes stung with tears. “I’ll just stay here. That’s what I want, to stay hidden here with you in this spot—forever. But, we have to do this, Hakona. We have to stop the fighting.”
He nodded. “You’re right.” He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into him and planting a firm, passionate kiss on her lips. She let the taste of him fill her senses. As he slid his tongue slowly along her lips, she let the sensation wash over her. It was a long, passionate kiss.
“Just in case it is the last time I see you,” he said sadly as they pulled apart.
She held back the tears that were filling her eyes and on the brink of spilling over. She nodded quickly and turned away from him. They went their separate ways, not saying goodbye—not saying anything. They didn’t need to. They both knew how they felt about each other. The words didn’t need to be said for that to be communicated.
Chapter 21: The End of the Beginning
As she grew closer to the battlefield yet again, the realization of what was transpiring quickly and forcefully came back to the forefront of her mind. The explosions broke through the air, shaking her core and causing her ears to ring. The smell of burnt flesh and gunpowder filled her nose, and the air became warmer as she pushed through the thick brush and out into the opening surrounding the camp.
The scene in front of her filled her with horror. It was worse seeing it from there than it had been while in the midst of it. From where she stood she could see it all—clearly. There were bodies, charred black but seemingly frozen in time, littering the ground. The contrast that the still-steaming colorful corpses of the dragons that were intermittently scattered about was almost beautiful—in the most morbid sense.
There were small fires, burning brightly throughout, and the dark green tank continued to roam abo
ut like a slow, steady energizer bunny that could not and would not be stopped. There were still a few civilians, running about wildly, screaming in horror. The dragons above circled slowly, looking for their next victims.
She inhaled sharply and charged forward. As she ran, she spotted Tory, on the far end of the camp, huddled together with a group of people standing where the loading door of the ship was preparing to open.
As she ran forward, she could hear the shots ringing out begin to slow. Looking up, she saw the dragons begin to retreat. One by one, they reluctantly pulled back and dove down into the trees about a mile away.
“Tory!” she yelled out when she got close.
Tory was shifting her weight around nervously, waiting to be allowed to board. “Allison!” she returned her outburst. They embraced again. Tory was shaking, and her eyes were filled with tears. “I just want to go home,” she whispered.
“You’re going home, Tory. Don’t worry, you’re going.”
“They’re pulling back!” Allison heard a man’s voice yell out. It belonged to Commander Peterson.
A quiet cheer erupted from the group, although the nervous tension was still heavy. Commander Peterson ran quickly over to where they were all waiting.
“We’re not leaving.” His words were firm.
“We have to!” Tory interjected.
“They gave up,” he said assuredly. “We won!”
“They didn’t give up,” Allison said stepping forward.
“And you’re sure of this how?”
“They’re going back for reinforcements,” she lied.
“There are more of them?” Tory asked.
“Yes,” Allison answered strongly.
“We can take them,” Commander Peterson said.
“No, you can’t.” Allison tried to make her voice as haunting and as panicked as she could. The panic part was easy, the other wasn’t.
“We have to leave,” Tory said again.
Allison looked up at the man in front of her. His tall, sturdy frame no longer intimidated her like it used to. In that moment, looking at him in a way she never had before, she saw a scared, weak man—a man that found his own strength in taking it from the people around him.
“No one is going to win this,” she said. “Look around you, Commander. You’ve lost so many men. And the ones you have left are terrified and weak. They’ve seen their friends fall, and they know they’re next. You can’t fight like that. You have to get out while you can.”
He scanned the camp quickly. His set jaw didn’t relax, and his fist remained clenched at his sides.
“I warned you,” she said coldly. “I told you it was your life at risk. If you stay, you’ll know that I was right. Well, I’ll know that I was right, at least. They won’t stop until every single one of you is gone—in one way or another.”
“You can’t know that…”
“I can,” she cut him off. “I can know that there are more of them—a lot more. I can know what they’re capable of, and I can know that they will not rest until they’re done with all of us.”
An eerie silence had fallen over the camp. The only sound was their voices and the occasionally sob that one person or another emitted. As they spoke, more people gathered around. They were listening, waiting, and praying that the Commander would make the decision that would save their lives.
“Fine,” he agreed. “But, this isn’t over.”
"It is for now," she said, more to herself than to anyone else. "Get everyone together. We're leaving!" she yelled out as she looked at the faces of everyone around her.
Another cheer broke through the air. It was louder and more enthusiastic than the last. It seemed like everyone burst into action simultaneously. No one cared about the equipment, or the samples, or even the tank. They all just wanted to get on the ship and go home.
Allison got pushed to the side as the bodies flooded past her, eager to make their way up the ramp that slowly descended. She waited until she was sure that no one alive was left behind. The bodies still lay scattered on the ground, and the smoke from the fires still reached up until it eventually disappeared, swept away by the soft breeze that passed through.
She wasn’t thinking about anything as she watched and waited. She wasn’t contemplating what she would do. Her mind was already made up.
“Allison!” Tory called out to her from the foot of the ramp. “Come on!”
Allison turned and faced her slowly. “I’m not going,” she whispered.
“What?”
“I’m staying here, Tory.”
“Allison,” she said running towards her. “That’s crazy. You have to come with us! We’re going home, Allison. We have to go home. We don’t belong here.”
“You’re right—you don’t belong here,” Allison said quietly. “But, I don’t belong on Earth.”
“That’s ridiculous. You were with them for two weeks, Allison. You’re not one of them; you’re just confused. Once we get you back…”
“It doesn’t matter. I know I’m not one of them, but I learned so much from them. I can’t go back to what I was before. I can’t.”
“You have to try.”
“No,” she shook her head firmly and wrapped her arms around her friend. “I’m sorry, Tory. I have to stay here.”
“But,” Tory tried again to find something to say to convince her.
"You need to go, Tory," she cut her off. She gave her a quick hug and pushed her back. "Go!"
“I can’t. Not without you!”
“Yes! Just go, Tory!” she demanded. “Please. Please, don’t make this harder on me than it already is.”
Allison turned and began walking away. Tory continued to call out to her, but she kept moving forward. She didn’t look back. She kept her focus on the ground in front of her, weaving her way in and out of the debris and remains.
Tory's screams eventually died out, and she heard the soft click of the door closing. She quickened her pace slightly, making sure she was out of the line of the engine fire in time for take-off.
The ship let out a few hisses, and the air bent with a soft explosion—soft compared to what she had heard before.
She looked back just in time to see the ship taking off. She was on the edge of the camp. She pushed her back against a tree and slid down. From her spot on the ground, she was able to watch as the ship took off. The large metallic body slowly turned to nothing more than a speck as its speed accelerated and it grew further and further away.
Once the ship was out of view, and silence filled the air, Allison pushed herself up again. She sighed, not sure what to do next. She was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. She hadn’t slept for nearly 48-hours by that point, and her feet moved sluggishly.
She made her way back to the camp. The remnants of everything left behind lay still on the ground. The bodies remained lifeless, and there was still the stench of death in the air.
Tears formed in her eyes, blurring her vision. She began to collect whatever items were left over from their experiments that remained undamaged. She didn’t know what else to do. Her body seemed to move on its own accord, and her mind wandered back and forth between the past and the present.
She remembered the feeling of excitement that rushed through her when they landed. Everything seemed so hopeful—the promise of a better future. She had wanted that, not this. She remembered the day she got taken, the feeling of fear that gripped at her chest when she awoke in her cell.
She thought about the first time she saw Hakona. She couldn’t help but let out an amused laugh at the memory of his intimidating presence and the harsh, cold way he spoke to her.
But then, she remembered the orchard—the colors of the fruit and her awe at the surplus of fresh food. She ran her fingers over her side, remembering the feeling of Hakona lifting her up and whispering in her ear.
Her mind filled with flashes of her life, past and present. Her hands began to shake, and her head began to spin. She tried to continue
moving forward, but somehow she ended up on the ground. The soft, damp earth under her was still warm from the battle.
She buried her face in her hands and let out a loud, long wail. Where would she go from there? What would she do? She was sure she made the right decision—to stay. Going back to Earth would not be an option for her. She had seen what her kind was capable of. Not all of them, but still. The small amount of people that looked for nothing more than capitalizing on others and destroying whatever they touched made her stomach turn.
She couldn’t go back to eating food from a can, from living in crowded cities and a world full of gray concrete and skyscrapers instead of trees.
And most of all, she couldn’t leave Hakona. She couldn’t imagine her life without him. She felt like he had become a part of her. She didn’t know if that was the bond—if she somehow felt it the way he did. But, she did know that whatever connection they had made together ran deep. It formed part of who she was, and life without him seemed bleak and empty.
“Hey,” she heard his voice say quietly.
She turned, her heart skipping a beat when she saw him. She pushed herself to her feet and ran towards him. The moment they came together, she felt a feeling of happiness rush in and replace all doubt, fears, and sadness that had been there just seconds before.
“You stayed,” he said softly.
“I couldn’t go,” she answered. “I couldn’t leave you.”
He held her tightly and kissed the top of her head. “You did it, Allison. You convinced them to leave.”
“I know that’s not what you wanted,” she said hesitantly.
“I didn’t want this,” he said stepping back and looking at the destruction around them. “I just wanted to prevent this from spreading.”
“We did,” she said.
“They’ll be back,” he muttered.
"And you will figure that out then if that happens."
“I heard from Kasma,” he said. “We had scouts running back and forth, reporting to the Bodaway throughout the fight.”
Hakona: Dragon Warrior (Scifi Alien Dragon Romance) Page 16