Miah

Egon’s nose is right. After a long day’s walk, the tunnel suddenly slopes upwards, into the welcome glare of daylight. We climb up, my heart racing. I can’t help but think back to those horrible sandworms.

What will be waiting for us here?

We exit the cave, and I’m stunned. There are no worms. There is no sand.

Instead, a lush, sprawling jungle is spread out before me, a massive mountain in the distance, completely covered with trees.

“That’s where we have to go,” I tell Egon. “It’ll give us a perfect view of the area. We can find the research pod.”

If there even is one…

“Then that’s where we’ll go,” Egon says. He stretches his arms above his head and takes a deep breath.

“Feels good to be out of that damn cave,” he growls.

“You can say that again,” I say as I rub my eyes. The light here is so bright my eyes still haven’t gotten used to it. I’m still seeing spots.

“Tonight, we won’t eat raw fish. I’m catching ourselves a proper meal.”

“Please be careful,” I say. “We don’t know what kind of monsters are lurking in the jungle.”

“The only monster roaming the jungle will be me, human,” Egon laughs, putting on his scary-Zoran-voice.

“Stop it,” I say.

“How are you feeling? Can you go on?”

I stretch my muscles. “Yeah, I have a bit more energy left in the tank.”

“Good. Let’s go, then.”

We’ve survived the first part of our journey — the deep, dark underground tunnels. Now, all we have to do is scale a mountain. Easy peasy, right?

Egon leads the way, and I follow in his footsteps. Traversing the jungle comes with its own set of challenges. The undergrowth is so thick you can’t even see the ground, so you have to watch your step. And the coolness of the cave is replaced the oppressive heat of the jungle. Within minutes we’re both sweating.

There is one positive though: here, I can admire Egon in all his bare-chested glory. His emerald green chest looks perfect coated in the warm sunlight. He turns to me, his amethyst eyes glittering.

“What’s wrong?” he asks. “You stopped.”

“Just admiring the view.”

He rolls his eyes, but can’t suppress a smirk. “Do you want to set up camp for the night?”

“Do I,” I say, wiggling my eyebrows.

“I’m not talking about that,” Egon laughs.

“But it’s not out of the question either,” I argue.

“Agreed. However, my first concern is food.”

Ooh, food. My stomach grumbles instantly. The only thing I like more than Egon’s tongue between my legs is food, I’m not too ashamed to admit that.

“What do you have planned?”

“You’ll see,” he says. “Stay here and build us a shelter. I will bring us a meal.”

I look at the trees and bushes all around me. “Build a shelter? Just like that? Do I look like a girl scout to you?”

“You look capable.”

I can’t argue with that without looking pathetic. Egon has saved my life, and he’s been leading me to safety all this time. Perhaps it’s time for me start pulling my weight.

The only problem is… how?

I work for Onyx. In a office. With air conditioning. And free repli-coffee. Pushing that red button every morning (and afternoon, and about six times in between) is the closest I’ve ever been to building something tangible.

And now this Zoran expects me to whip up a shelter, just like that?

“I’ll do my best,” I say, straightening my back. I’m insecure as fuck, but I’ll do my best.

Egon nods. “I’ll be right back.”

He heads into the shrubbery… and just like that, he’s gone. My heart starts racing, my anxiety ramping up. I take a deep breath and focus.

Or at least, I try to focus.

Time to build ourselves a kick ass shelter. I’ll build something that’ll stand the test of time. Eons from now alien archaeologists will find it, and they’ll be amazed.

Or, you know, if I build something that’ll keep us dry if it rains I’ll be more than happy.

I roll up my sleeves and get to work gathering leaves and sticks. My mind drifts to the old movies I saw as a child, when children could still play outside. I remember they built a shelter, and I try to replicate it the best of my abilities.

I create a cone-shape using sticks and twigs, and then cover it with various leaves. The result is better than I dared to hope for.

When I’m done I sit down, tired but content, and wait for my Zoran to return. The sun has started its descent, and the sky is now tinted a warm orange, the three moons circling the planet visible in the sky.

With every passing minute, my heart grows heavier. I can’t survive without Egon. He’s my anchor, my lifeline. The only thing keeping me sane here on this alien world.

The bushes rustle.

Adrenaline rushes through my veins, and I grab a sharpened stick.

“Who goes there?” I say, trying to sound as angry as possible. My voice isn’t as booming as Egon’s, but I might just scare an alien boar looking for a meal to scavenge… if I’m lucky.

A massive, towering figure appears, a hog hanging around his neck.

Egon smirks at me. “Told you I’d catch us a meal.”

My hands rest on my heart. “You scared me. Again.”

He looks at the shelter I have built.

“Very nice work,” he says, running his hand over the leaves. “Very nice.”

“Thank you,” I say. “I guess I learned more from watching movies than I thought. Who knew!”

“Are you hungry?”

“I’m starving!”

* * *

Egon

Within moments I have built a roaring fire from dried twigs that are lying around. We’re lucky it hasn’t rained recently, though I do see clouds off in the distance.

I spit roast the animal, the smell of it making my stomach grumble.

“Eat up,” I say as I hand my mate a piece of roasted meat. Her eyes light up, and she gratefully accepts. She practically devours it.

“If I knew you were this hungry, I would have caught a whole pack,” I laugh.

She licks her fingers clean. “How did you catch this… boar-thing. Whatever it is. How did you catch it?”

“A chef never reveals his recipe.”

“Oh come on. Tell me.”

I shrug. “To be honest, I just stood very, very still and let him come to me. He was drawn by my scent. And when he was close enough, I pounced.”

“You killed it with your bare hands?”

“I had to,” I say.

Killing gives me no joy, even though I’m exceptionally good at it.

Well, except that human scumbag who crashed the ship. Knocking his lights out felt good.

As the sun sets, we continue chatting. I let her talk about ourself, and enjoy the sound of her voice.

She tells me extensively about her younger sister, and her artistic talent. Miah swears that the only reason she works for Onyx is to put food on the table for her family, and I’m inclined to believe her.

“What about you? Do you have a family? Brother, sisters?” she asks.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I snap.

I’ve been dreading that question all evening.

Where is your pack, Egon?

Your family?

What really happened at Pazar?

Why do they call you the Beast? The Butcher?

Did you really kill all those people?

You did, didn’t you?

You’re a cold-hearted killer. Admit it. Admit it!

I snap out of my thoughts. The interrogations, the hearings, the trial — they’ve left a bigger mark on me than I thought.

“Why not?” she pouts.

“It’s in the past,” I say. “I want to focus on the present.”

I lean and kiss her, which shuts her right up, her lips curling into a smile.

“The night is too beautiful to get ruined,” I continue, my hands sliding up her thigh.

“Hmm,” she purrs. “Sounds to me like you’re just trying to distract me.”

“Me? Trick you? Never,” I smirk as I bring my lips down to her neck. The moment I kiss her there, she is like putty in my hands. It’s her weak spot, which I attack head-on. My hands slide down her curvaceous figure, finding her softness, and soon I have her writhing underneath of me.

We make love in the tent as rain gently falls outside. This time, we’re not as frantic, not as rough as we were in the caves. This time, it’s sweet, loving, intimate.

She comes with a beautiful moan, her back arched, before collapsing on top of me. I hold her body tightly as we drift off into sleep, together, entwined.

I want to enjoy this moment fully, but the last thought before I fall asleep is that I can’t keep running my from my past; it’ll catch up with me sooner or later…