Chapter Ten: Jennifer Richardson

I was already dressed and geared up, ready to go, before anyone else had even woken up. I watched Taylor sleep, his handsome features looked charmingly boyish when he slept. His slight stubble gave him a handsome, ruggish appearance I rather liked.

When Lorries began to stir, I turned 180 degrees, repositioning myself to give the appearance of keeping guard.

He curtly strode past me when he got up, taking care in not acknowledging me, which was his harsh form of a compliment. Taylor and Victor came out shortly after, only to suffer a stern lecture from a waiting Lorries about preparedness, using me as an example of how they were to be. The other party left quickly while the Lieutenant was focused on the first two, desperate to avoid such a lecture directed towards them. After he was finished chewing out our party, he turned to me,

"Congratulations Richardson, you get to take point on this one."

He gave a stiff nod, before I turned and began leading the two mile trek to the eastern treeline, eating an energy bar for breakfast as we walked.

The sun had just fully risen when we arrived at the edge of the dense wood. I had already done the math the day previous, the day and night cycle here was a total of twenty Earth hours. On Earth, it was Eleven in the morning, it was Seven here. I set my watch to track Earth time and local time. Lorries tossed me a machete, which I caught and began hacking cautiously at the dense brush with.

Victor was behind me, plucking undamaged leaves and setting them in his satchel, his fascination was apparent. The brush cleared about twenty feet in, where the sunlight didn't reach it, blocked out by the dense leaves of the trees overhead. From there, only small shoots were of any concern. After only minutes of walking, it was dark enough Taylor and Lorries pulled out flashlights, the high grade military tech illuminating everything within 100 feet. Victor scrambled forward and began intently studying a dirt pile merely feet from me. He turned and called for Lorries,

"This is scat sir, small bones inside indicate a predator, and by the size, I'd say larger than an Earth bear."

His voice shook slightly with fear as he glanced around. Lorries stood and drew his pistol,

"Good thing there's a new predator on this planet to show it who's boss."

His voice was malicious and hungry, so I gulped quietly and stepped forward,

"Sir, you'll need something larger than a handgun to hurt something of that size."

I stood frozen, waiting nervously for his reaction. He turned slowly and looked me in the eyes, his own were narrowed. He nodded,

"Good observation private, that's why I brought you along."

He turned back to Victor,

"Grab a sample of the scat and let's get back to camp."

Victor hesitantly obeyed, scooping the foul substance into an airtight bag before placing it into his satchel.

We made our way out of the wood quickly. I was still scared of the animal sound of Lorries voice in there. When we were out in daylight, Lorries swiveled around to face me. He stabbed a finger towards the glistening ocean to the North,

"Take Henderson and get a sample of that water, we won't have fresh water from storage for very long."

I snapped a salute and turned on my heel, briskly jogging in the direction he ordered. I could hear Taylor's bounding footfalls behind me, but I made no indication I heard him. The sea was only three miles off, a twenty minute jog for the two of us. I came to a stop when I reached the crisp, white sand. The water was crystal clear, rolling up onto the beach in gentle waves. It was almost exactly like the beach I had been on during my family vacation to Hawaii, only I found it more beautiful.

I could feel Taylor's presence behind me. My heart fluttered as I realized it was just the two of us, alone on the beach. I bit my lip as I thought about him. About us. If I didn't let him know how I felt soon, he might never find out, this world had plenty of hidden dangers and one or both of us could be dead tomorrow morning.

I turned quickly, grabbing him under the chin and pressing my lips to his. They were soft and warm, but it was only brief, far too brief as he tore away, staggering back as if he'd been struck. I instantly knew I had made a mistake when I saw he was furious at what I'd done,

"Are you crazy! What has gotten into you?"

I quietly told him the truth, my heart pounding like a drum,

"I think I love you."

His face went red and my heart fell,

"If you did, maybe you wouldn't think about only you and show me up every chance you get, maybe you'd let me make the first move if you thought the feeling was mutual,"

He paused to wipe his mouth, disgusted,

"But no, little miss perfect Jenny has to win everything and be the best, then try to make me feel worse. "

His eyes were full of pain, my heart plummeted to my stomach, regret suddenly chewing away at me,

"I'm sorry, I-I didn't know, I wasn't trying to hurt you."

He sighed angrily, picked his machete up in one hand, the sample cup in the other, and walked to the shoreline, where he collected the sample of water before turning back to me.

"Job done, let's go." he said coldly.

Before Either of us could react, the ground erupted behind him and a large, toothy mouth clamped down on his right arm, making him drop his machete in surprise and leaving him defenseless. He screamed in pain and I froze, my breath catching in my throat for just a second before I sprang forward, rolling under the large, frog-like creature's belly and scooping up the machete in my hand as I came to my feet.

I swung the machete down on the creature's head, slicing deeply into its eye. It roared in pain when I did, dropping Taylor and bolting down the beach, the machete torn violently from my hand as the creature fled.

I turned down to Taylor, his arm bleeding profusely. I removed my belt and cinched it around his arm, stopping the bleeding. I lifted him up by his good arm and he tore away once he was on his feet,

"I'm fine, I don't need help walking"

My jaw quivered as we stared at each other,

"All I ever wanted was you, I only wanted to impress you."

He growled angrily,

"All I ever wanted was to succeed, and you kept me from that. Every day, every damn day. Neither of us is getting what we want because of you. You can't even let me fight my own battles."

I dropped to my knees, my heart suddenly hurt so badly I couldn't breathe. I felt as if I'd been shot. My vision blurred as I fell onto my back, and the last thing I saw was Taylor raising my machete over his head, preparing to bring it down on me, his eyes wide in fear, or fury, I guess I'll never know...