Gazing up into the sky, I caught sight of Earth through the trees. The lights from the populous civilization glowed in the darkness. I wondered momentarily if they had any idea what was going on up here, or who we even were. We were about to write the history of an entire planet not so far from them, but did they know? The question plagued me, but I moved on. I looked around at the stars surrounding us and took note of how close they appeared. It felt like a dream, to sit in a tree and star-gaze at a time like this, but it was perfect. All I needed. I drifted into a mix between sleep and a daydream, until the sun began to rise.
TURNING MY HEAD TO the side first, I caught a glance of moonlight playing on the leaves of the trees that we temporarily called home. It was time. Quickly, I turned my head the other way toward Sierra. She shook her head with what looked like tears in her eyes. An utter look of disappointment, and I couldn’t figure out why.
Looking back toward the field and encampment we had been monitoring, I noticed a line of armed men halfway through the field, looking into the trees. Uniformed and trained, the soldiers were ready for war. They didn’t appear sick or ill in any way. No coughs were heard. No vomiting like we expected. They looked strong and ready for a fight. The barrels of their guns gleamed in the faint light.
I turned my head back toward Sierra and our eyes met again. Our expressions were the same. What are we supposed to do now? I thought. There was nothing else we could do at this point. They knew what we had been up to, they knew what we had attempted and failed at, and they were tired of our shit. I got it. It didn’t make it any easier to stomach the fact that we were vastly outnumbered and fighting an army we had just had the honors of pissing off.
Sending a sideways glance toward Smith’s tree, I could barely see him peering around the trunk with sad eyes. I had a good feeling it wasn’t his fault, or he wouldn’t have been here with us—he would still be there with them. Instead, he had chosen to be here. I took comfort in knowing in my heart that he had meant to do good. None of us were experts in biological warfare, and both Smith and Dr. Mayhew had tried their absolute best and risked their lives doing it. I didn’t blame either of them, but someone would have to deal with the consequences, and it would be all of us.
Our next moves would have to be carefully calculated. Without knowing if the men lined up beyond the trees knew where we were or not, our cover could have already been given away, but either way, we would be easily spotted if we moved. If we didn’t move though, and they already knew we were hiding in the branches, we could be easily picked off instead.
The thoughts rushed through my head, the ‘what-ifs.’ What if they already know we’re here? What if they don’t? What if they already laid traps for us on the ground while we were asleep? What if they’ve been standing there all night and we just couldn’t see them in the dark? What if we don’t make it out of this? What if this is it? My mind ran crazy. Thoughts of movies from back home stung. The good guy always won in the movies, but I knew in real life that wasn’t always the case, and we were about to lose.
Peeking out around the branch I was sitting on, I inspected the fluffy flower weed-strewn ground for any sign of disturbance. It was hard to tell, but I was pretty sure it hadn’t been touched. Taking a leap of faith, I hopped out of the tree and down to the ground. Landing in a crouched position, I steadied myself with one hand and looked out into the field through the flower weed. It appeared no one had noticed the movement.
Looking up at Sierra, I motioned, first moving my hand in a ‘come down’ sort of way, then bringing a finger to my lips to tell her to be quiet. I watched as she slowly moved down from the highest branch, attempting to stay hidden behind the trunk of the tree. Easing herself down to the ground from the last branch, she hunched down near the base of the tree where she had crawled up the night before. Creeping stealthily through the brush, I made my way toward her so we could talk.
When I got to her, she gave me a huge hug, and when I pulled away, I saw the look on her face. A tight smile and glossy eyes. I knew she was scared, and I was too, but we needed to act quickly.
“What do we do?” she asked. Her eyes searched mine.
“I don’t know...” I just knew we needed to do something. I was as lost as she was. “We need to get out of here. We can’t fight them like this,” I said.
“How do we get out?” she asked.
I looked around rapidly, this way and that. “We’re gonna have to make a run for it... fast.”
“How will we tell everyone else?” she asked. “We’ll get caught before we get everyone out! Not to mention Smith can’t run on his broken leg.”
I thought for a moment, but there was no other option. “We will just have to be the ones to tell everyone. We planned this before we came out here. If for any reason someone got lost or we had to hide out for a bit, we have a designated spot to go. I know this sounds crazy, but I think if we just stand up, take off running and scream ‘retreat’... people will get it. That’s going to be the only way to alert the other posts and give everyone their best shot. Smith will have no choice but to stay up in the tree. He’s got one of the men’s rifles, and he’ll go undetected as the rest of us run. He can help us from above,” I said and shook my head. “Sounds ridiculous, and we’re gonna lose people, but I don’t know what else to do.”
Sierra looked down at the ground, then back toward me. “Sounds like a plan. We’d better split up and try to stay behind trees as much as possible. They’ll shoot at us. Try to stop us,” she said. “Sounds like there’s a pretty good chance we’re gonna lose a lot of people...”
“Yeah, it does. I have a plan to take out a few of theirs, though,” I said. “Meet me at the safe place. Be careful.”
We both nodded, then crawled away into the grass. When I was far enough into the woods and blocked by multiple trees from the line of fire, I screamed, “Retreat!” I repeated it over and over as loud as I could while running through the woods. I watched as people quickly shimmied down and out of trees. Soon after, the gunshots rang out. There were a lot coming from directly behind us, but I could occasionally hear shots from above, and I knew Smith and I must have had the same thoughts.
The sounds of bullets whispering through the trees haunted my every thought, and the shock when one collided with a tree and the surrounding matter shattered, scarred my soul. Every leap I took as I ran through the trees was daunting, and with every step, I was more and more surprised I was still alive. I began to hear running footsteps behind me and picked up the pace. The following pursuer matched my pace. I shot a glance behind me, to see Spencer following. “Keep going!” he yelled. I turned and put my head down and sprinted as hard as I could.
I caught a glimpse of the others going over the hill toward the safe place as I turned right with Spencer. Driving our bodies forward through the tall flower weed, both dead and alive, my legs ached, but I kept pushing through the pain. Spencer yelled out, “You going where I think?”
“Yep!” I answered.
“Hell yeah, let’s do this!” he said to me. Shouting back toward our assailants, he yelled “Oh shit! They’re following us! Hurry, run!”
The men with guns running behind us picked up speed, and so did we. The more we ran, the closer they got. We ran around a large hill and down into a valley. Crossing a field, they had open-range targets to shoot at, and they tried but missed. Ducking back into another set of woods, they were right on our heels. I noticed the creek getting closer and pushed ahead.
Spencer picked up his pace to run side-by-side with me. We jumped into the creek from the muddy banks and ran through waist-deep water the best we could. Water splashed everywhere, and we were soaked when we came out on the other side. Our clothes were heavy from the water, but we kept running. When we heard the splashing of the men in the creek shortly after, we stopped.
Turning, we watched as the men fried. Electrical currents that had been sent into the water had been turned on the moment Spencer and I had left it, causing the cree
k’s next visitors to fry. It took a few moments for their screams to stop. Their bodies lay limp in the water as they floated face up, eyes wide open.
A sigh of relief overcame me. I took a deep breath. “Thanks, guys,” I said to the trees. Derek Maples, the solar technologist, emerged from behind one.
“With pleasure,” he said.
Chapter Twelve
“We’ve gotta move quickly,” I said. The solar team came out of hiding and joined us in the woods. “The virus didn’t work, and they’re pissed. There are men all over the woods looking for everyone. We had to run right in front of them. Everyone knows to go to the safe place. We should get there as fast as we can now.”
“Why didn’t the virus work?” Derek asked, shooting a sideways glance at Spencer.
I cut in before Spencer had the chance. “We don’t know. It doesn’t matter now, though. It didn’t work, and we need to go.”
“Tell me what happened, at least!” he said.
We heard men shouting through the trees, and I knew we had no time to explain. He would just have to trust us.
“Let’s go,” I said with finality.
He looked at Spencer sideways one more time and tensed his jaw, then finally nodded, and we took off toward the designated meeting place. Everyone that got away should have been there by that time, but I was scared to see who was missing. We walked briskly through the woods filled with orders being yelled out from the soldiers far away, and when we reached the lake, we walked around the bank as their voices faded even further away.
We heard rustling in the woods in front of us as all of us quietly dropped into a squat to see what or who would emerge from the brush. We watched as Dr. Mayhew and Smith with his broken leg clumsily stumbled out into the clearing. His face pulled into a grimace with each step until he fell, not even noticing Spencer and I crouched just feet in front of him.
“Hey,” Spencer said, standing now.
“Holy shit!” Smith said, as his body jerked backward on the ground. Once he caught his balance with his hand behind him, his eyes shifted back and forth between us. “We didn’t know if you guys made it out or not...”
“Easy Peasy!” exclaimed Spencer. “Took out a few crew members on the way out, too!” Spencer gave me a wink, then put his hands on his hips, proud.
“I don’t know why you were worried about us, look at you!” I said. “Are you okay?”
“Eh, yeah. I’ll be all right. Just trying to get used to this one leg thing, you know?” Smith said.
“It’s only temporary,” Dr. Mayhew said. “It will take a while to heal, but once it does, you will be good to go again! Just gotta give it time, which is easier said than done, I’m sure.”
“Yeah, well that’s nice, but we need to go. Agreed?” Spencer asked.
We all nodded and took off walking again. I walked with Smith to give Dr. Mayhew a break. He used a large stick as a cane to help, with the arm on the unaffected side of his body around my shoulders to aid in his ambulation. Climbing up the next hill, I looked at Smith. I thought twice about what I was about to say, but it felt like it was okay. “This is the last place Idris put on the map,” I said. “He was trying to map out Circadia, and the safe place is as far as he got.”
Smith pressed his lips together and looked down at the ground.
“But I think once you see the safe place, you’ll be glad it was the last place he put on the map,” I said. “Wait till you see it...”
His eyes shot up toward mine and I gave a small grin. Tears welled up in his eyes and he gave a small smile at the ground. “Thank you, Aella,” he said.
“For what?”
“Everything. It would be really easy to hate me right now, but you don’t. At least I don’t think you do. Not only do you not act like you hate me, but you’ve stood by me, and I can’t thank you enough for being a friend. Probably the best friend I’ve ever had,” he said.
It hit me right in the feels. On one hand, I did still hate Smith. I knew that he had done so much for us, but I couldn’t shake the image of him shooting the man back at camp on Leslie’s command, or stabbing Idris, or saying the vile things he had said to me. In the back of my mind, I felt like I always knew better, but I still saw them. I knew that Smith had redeemed himself by a landslide, but it was still hard. It took everything inside of me to suppress the thoughts of the terrible things he had done.
I bit the inside of my lip and said, “Can’t say I’ve had many friends that’ve killed someone they loved for me,” I said timidly. “I know you loved him, too, Smith. I can’t imagine what you went through, but I think he would’ve been proud had he known why. I am. You’ve risked everything for Circadia, and no one deserves to be here more than you.”
He smiled. “You’re wrong,” he said. He looked at me with his big blue eyes and red hair blowing in the wind, and I knew he meant me. I answered with a side smirk, and I knew then that I forgave him. It wasn’t easy, but he deserved my forgiveness, and I needed his friendship. The rest of our group would take time to welcome Smith back in fully, and I wasn’t sure they all would, but I planned to be there for him until then and long after. He would always have a friend in me.
Looking ahead of me, I yelled out to Derek Maples, “Are we getting close?”
He held out a copy of Idris’ map in front of him turning it sideways and then back again.
“Close,” he said. “This path right here, up ahead.”
There was a worn path that flowed through the overgrown flower weed and brush where people had escaped to the safe place, and it was an obvious trail.
“Let’s go and cover this up behind us. We don’t need any flashing signs telling anyone where we are,” I said. Spencer and I worked to cover our tracks while Derek and company forged ahead. We worked fast, until we heard Derek gasp.
Swinging around to see what was happening, we saw the safe place. It was Derek’s first time seeing it as well as Smith’s, and their faces were the same. Slack jaws opened wide, with bewildered eyes. I finished covering our tracks and joined them. “Idris was pretty sure the huge crater formed while Circadia drifted through space until it reached its resting place, which makes sense. Makes you wonder what it hit, or what hit it, but regardless, it’s amazing,” I said. “The crystals and gems were formed from the heat of the collision, I think. I’m not a geologist by any means, though.”
The crater was enormous. It covered the surface area of about six football fields and the depth of a small skyscraper, the crater would serve as our safe place. Blocking any sound from escaping its walls, and hidden away by deep brush and distance, it was the perfect spot.
We descended the walls to reach the people below. There were quite a few people who had made it here, but we couldn’t tell who they were from so far away. The walls were coated in overturned gravel and sand, with the occasional cluster of brilliant silver and black gems that resembled diamonds without the clarity. Light refracted from the gems onto the surrounding areas, giving the feeling of being underwater or under a microscope.
“Why are there so many gems?” asked Derek.
“I’m assuming by looking at the crater, that the gems were formed when a meteor hit Circadia. There was some sort of impact, probably on its trip into our galaxy,” I said. “Diamonds are formed under extreme heat and pressure. When you have two planets or huge objects that collide, it creates the perfect storm.”
“That makes sense, I guess,” Smith said nodding. “How do you know about all this? I thought you were an agronomist, not a geologist.”
I laughed. “When I was in Russia working on a land reclamation project, I heard about this crater in Siberia. The Popigai Crater is the Earth’s fourth largest impact crater. They think it hit around the same time dinosaurs disappeared. Anyways, it’s huge, and inside the crater is the world’s largest deposit of diamonds,” I said.
Smith’s eyes grew large.
“Not like the diamonds you’re thinking of,” I said. “I got that idea too, but
the locals informed me they’re not jewels. They’re silver like these, and not clear or beautiful like the gemstones we are used to. They harvest them for industrial purposes, to put on cutting edges and such.”
“Ah, well that makes sense,” Derek said.
“They’re pretty neat to look at. One of the locals had one from when Stalin was mining them, and it actually took on the graphite grains that were there previously. Which means it must have formed instantaneously.”
Derek and Smith nodded, then stopped to look around and take in their surroundings. To submerge yourself in this world of gems and otherworldly beauty was a nice step back from the world outside. Not that the outside world wasn’t beautiful, but it was stressful. I hoped that one day that would be different, but even then, I’d need a place to get away from everything. This place would always be that for me.
It took a long time to reach the bottom of the crater with all of us being ever so careful to not fall backward down the wall. When we reached the group of people at the center, setting up camp, it was heartbreaking. Tears fell from a lot of faces, but not enough. I stood back to do a quick head count and was baffled by the number I came up with. Forty-two. We had forty-two people left out of the sixty we had back at headquarters. My lungs seized, and suddenly I couldn’t breathe. I collapsed to the ground on my hands and knees, trying to catch air. Just breathe, I told myself.
Finally taking a full breath, my lungs filled and the tears ran from my face onto the bejeweled ground, casting shadows of tears onto the other jewels and surrounding ground, multiplying. When I finally looked up, I realized everyone was staring at me. The struggle inside myself to hide was overwhelming, but when I looked around, I had a thought. No one else is going to stand up. It has to be you. You got them here, now get them out.
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