A New Home

When Jax awoke, the sun was already high in the sky.

Quickly coming to alert, Jax checked his surroundings, only to see that everything was calm and peaceful as it had been the day before. He opened the door after checking through every hole in the container's walls. Stepping into the sunlight, Jax felt the warm sun beat against his face, with a cool wind blowing around him. The lake's waters were clear like the day before and had that beast not attacked, then he would have still assumed this planet to be a paradise.

Briefly smelling himself, Jax decided to wash again, seeing as he had sweated through his clothes last night during the attack. Stripping and jumping into the cold lake water, Jax washed the grime away from him, before feeling his stomach rumble from hunger. He came back to shore, drying off and dressing, before eating the only nut bar that he had left for himself.

...

"I really needed to ration that junk more," Jax lamented, not feeling satisfied from the single snack.

Taking a look at the container, Jax could see just how sorry of a state it was in now. It could only be considered a miracle that the beast had not ripped the walls apart, with large gashes and holes scattered all around. There was no way that this could serve as Jax's base anymore, especially since the beast knew where it was and what it looked like. If he tried to stay and survive another attack, Jax could only become a midnight snack for that winged monster.

Taking a quick inventory of what remained, Jax only had some makeshift bandages, his kitchen knife, a now-empty drawstring backpack, a lighter, the cushions that made up his bed, and a few of those ridiculous books. This was all he had to survive.

Filling the backpack with the lighter, bandages, and books, Jax slung it over his back. He placed the knife to rest in his harness belt, so he could quickly grab it. Finally, he gathered up the light cushions and set out to find a new base.

Thinking that the beast could most likely find him if he were anywhere out in the open, Jax looked towards the mountain, wishing that there was a small cave that could hide him. He began walking east, along the northern shore, heading for the river. After walking for a few minutes, Jax reached where the river met the lake and found that there were stones large enough for him to wade across. He continued on away from the lake, walking closer to the mountain. After walking past the trees that littered the edge of the lake's shore, Jax came upon a sheer cliff that led up to the higher parts of the mountain.

"This is a good place to look for a cave," Jax thought.

He continued walking next to the cliff, trusting that a cave would appear. And his trust paid off. There was a large indent in the cliff side, right at ground level, recessed inward a good 20 feet. But it was wide open. It looked like the beast could easily reach him in this cave, even if he slept at the very back of it. And so he continued on. There was nothing close to the ground or large enough for Jax to squeeze through in his next few hours of searching, although he made sure to check every option. The first cave was starting to look better and better, as the sun began hanging lower and lower. But his luck hadn't run out yet.

After passing a large tree, there was a large crack, splitting the cliff vertically for around 9 feet. It was large enough for Jax to walk through normally, just barely missing his shoulders, leading to a small cave. This cave had only a single room but was spacious enough for Jax to stand up in and wide enough for his makeshift bed. The crack leading in would help keep the beast away, and he had found it just in time, as the sun began to set.

Jax felt like he was starving, but he dared not to venture out to search for food, especially with that beast roaming around. He would just have to spend the night hungry, but that was better than becoming the food of something else. Laying out his cushions and setting down his gear, Jax listened closely for the flapping again. He heard it, and it was close again, but it slowly faded away, towards the direction Jax had come from before. After a minute Jax could hear the beast's vicious roar and the sound of tearing metal far in the distance. Relieved that the beast hadn't found him, Jax began to make some plans in regards to what he needed to do next.

The winged beast didn't seem to notice the fire Jax had made before, so that should be safe to make in the future for cooking food or drying off. Next, he would need food, especially since he only ate a small snack bar this morning. There weren't any animals when he had walked through the forest, and he was unsure if there were any fish in the lake to catch. He could only rely on scavenging for fruits, berries, and nuts for now. He should also mark the quickest route between his cave and the lake, as well as the lake and the crash site.

Making his plans helped distract from not only the screeching metal in the distance but also the rumbling of his stomach. Living on this planet would not be easy for Jax, but if he kept on living, he was sure that he would escape one day.

And so, Jax laid down again, for his second night on this planet. He couldn't fall asleep as easily as before, due to his hunger and nervousness about the beast. But his body eventually gave in, and he rested through the night, with nothing of interest happening.

...

In an unknown location, a mechanical voice spoke.

"Systems: Online. Hominid lifeform: detected. Power signature: weak. Time to activate facility functions: 4 years. Denied. Time to activate facility main door: 2 weeks. Stasis unit status: Online"