Alex was stretched out against the ground, his filamentous tongue reaching for the berries under the rock. The mimic straightened up upon seeing Adlai. It started to scrabble at the rock, all the while glancing back at Adlai, as if asking him to lift it up. Adlai strained against the rock, wishing he had trained more on his deadlift. Face red, he flipped it to the other side, revealing a very crushed hopper and some slightly crushed berries. Deadlift. Shawna had made fun of him for his deadlift at the barracks. Not now. Not now. Shaking his head quickly, he grabbed the bloody carcass, and left Alex to the berries. The alien hopped along, screeching, holding the berries in its tiny hands. Adlai got the hint and kneeled down, allowing the mimic to climb onto his shoulder.

Feeling a little more like a pirate, he took his time on the walk back. He had sprinted just to be a chauffeur for an alien. At least they had food. What they didn’t have was fuel, with most of the sled being burned the day before. They only had enough for one more day, and Adlai didn’t trust the safety of the bare ground enough to sleep in the dark. Besides, they needed fire to cook the food they collected. Averi was in charge of gathering the local greenery armed with a field guide. She had complained at first, claiming that it wasn’t fair for him to tell her to do the boring jobs, but she couldn’t argue with his point that someone with a broken leg couldn’t exactly chase down aliens either.

She was going to hate hearing about the trap, he could already hear her arguing about it. Averi was incredibly annoying at times, but she made up for it in every way possible. Shawna wouldn’t agree with that. Not now. He crossed the clearing and saw Averi sitting down, fiddling with the plant matter she had gathered. She looked up at him and smiled, and he couldn’t help smiling back. As long as she was okay, he was okay.

Shawna wasn’t okay.

He felt the smile fade, painful images coming back to mind. He tossed the hopper onto the rock, and began butchering it. He had gotten a lot better at dressing them, a result of experience and a couple of near finger-severing situations.

That apparently wasn’t the case, as he cut too deep into the third leg, releasing toxic fluid. He cursed under his breath. Of course this had to happen. He cut the ruined portion of meat off, leaving him with about half the hopper carcass. Of course he ruined half of their food. His earlier good mood evaporated as he continued chopping at the stubborn carcass. There was some anger relief in feeling the axe split the meat and bone. It also gave him something to focus on, something that didn’t allow thoughts of her to come in. She was dead, why couldn’t he just accept that and move on? It wasn’t his fault logically, he had been besides her, she was there one moment and gone the next. He didn’t push her into the way of the predator, so why did he feel guilty?

He knew why. He had promised to keep them safe. He had failed. Whose fault was it but his? A tug on his shoulder.

Adlai jumped a bit to see Averi holding his shirt sleeve, pointing towards the last remaining pieces of tinder. “We don’t have enough fuel to cook it, I don’t think.”

“Are you sure?”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course I’m sure, why would I lie about this? I’m as hungry as you are.”

What could they burn? They would need their clothes, and it wasn’t worth the meager flame produced. He had tried burning the bones, and although they burned surprisingly well, they were hard to catch, needing lots of prior fuel. A thought sprang into his head. He knew what he could burn. Reaching into his bag, Adlai pulled out his parent’s chess set, a gift for him. He stared at the wooden, glossy exterior, in near pristine condition. He reached into the bag, pulling out a handful of pieces. Averi stared at him, her eyes nearly popping out of her sockets.

“Are you insane? Those are your parent’s! Why would you burn them? We could find something else you know, maybe that grass? O-or those berries?”

He ignored her, striking the flint against the meager tinder. It would burn well. It would help him forget. Quietly, the two of them stared at the chessboard slowly char in the flames. Adlai turned to continue prepping the alien, jumping at a yelp. Averi dropped the slightly burnt chess board, shaking her hand rapidly. Adlai felt something angry build up inside, something that screamed to be yelled out. He battled the urge to scream at her, to hit her, to tell her what a stupid bitch she was. It was too much, and like an overburdened dam, his feelings exploded out.

In a whisper dripping with venom, Adlai let loose. “Why the fuck would you pick that up! Why the fuck would you burn yourself! Do you think I care about the stupid chessboard? Why would you do that you- you- I don’t even know what to call you.”

He felt empty now, hollow again. It had felt good to vent out everything, but now, he felt numb. Glaring at his sister’s emerald eyes brimming with tears didn’t make him feel happy. He just felt sad now. Her bottom lip trembling, she opened her mouth to say something, and closed it.

He turned away, only to hear her say something barely audible. “They wouldn’t have wanted you to burn it.”

That was all it took to bring him to tears. All the thoughts he had repressed came flooding back, thoughts of his parents dying, of all the grief he had felt and had bottled up. He thought of Shawna and cried again, hoping that she’d forgive him, that she’d understand why he had to leave. It hurt, but it felt good. He could feel Averi staring at his back, probably holding back bitter words of her own. At the very least, they had fire. He walked a short distance away, leaning against a rock, closing his eyes. He just needed some time to clear his head. He still didn’t understand why both of them had risked themselves for him. Why would they? There was no point, no need too. He hated it, hated them hurting themselves for him.

Adlai could smell the scent of cooking hopper. It was a unique smell, almost metallic. Averi was cooking the meat. He had the knee-jerk reaction to help her with the cooking, but after what had happened he didn’t feel like he could face her. And so he sat, observing as the scent of cooking hopper gradually turned acrid. He grimaced slightly, he should’ve guessed that she wouldn’t know how to cook it. He sneaked a look over to see her standing over the slightly burnt chunks of meat, brushing a stray strand of hair out of her face. She began to turn and he whipped his head back. She never really was good at cooking.

He debated getting up and helping her, or staying back and leaving her alone. He rose, having made his decision to help her. She stared at him warily, and he winced again internally. He shouldn’t have yelled at her. She looked back down at the now very well cooked pieces of meat and cursed.

Adlai took a deep breath in. “I’m sorry for yelling at you.”

She didn’t respond, only turned her head away.

He reached a hand out, and she slapped it away, glaring at him now. “Leave me alone! I didn’t even do anything to you and you yelled at me! You’re always treating me like this baby that can’t do anything by itself! Just stop, leave me alone.”

“Averi, the meats burning.”

She scooped the now smoking chunks of meat onto another, cleaner rock, and then threw down the hatchet-turned-spatula.

“Just leave me alone, please?”

“I’m just trying to say sorry-”

“STOP! JUST STOP!”

Averi’s shout echoed across the cavern, and the grass rose, hissing their constant hum. One of the striders raised its head, frills fully extended. Averi shrank back slightly, hand over her mouth. The strider’s gills started to vibrate, and it stood up from the grass, searching for the source of the shout. Adlai watched as it walked over to their campsite, a good 200 feet away from the grass. We should be fine, they don’t leave the grass. The strider stepped onto the gravelly ground, leaving the hissing grass behind. Adlai felt a strangled gasp escape his throat. It covered the two hundred foot distance in only a few massive steps. It’s head scanned the area, frills rotating too and fro. His lungs burned from holding his breath, praying that it wouldn’t be able to hear his heartbeat. Averi was frozen in fear, her face pale. The fire crackled, the chessboard consumed by the heat. The strider whipped its head towards the source of sound, proboscis expanding slightly.

It seemed to be confused by the irregular cracking, the sound must’ve been unfamiliar. Adlai turned to see Averi’s crutch slip from her grasp, falling to the ground. The sound of the stick hitting the ground crushed the silence, the hollow echo reverberating across the cavern. The strider stepped closer, frills locked on Averi’s crutch. She stood silent, eyes squeezed shut, free hand shaking. Adlai was paralyzed. He wanted to move, but any movement would probably just cause the strider to strike. On top of a rock warmed by the fire, something stirred. Adlai felt his heart drop to his throat. Alex.

The little alien stared at the strider, proboscis waiting to strike whenever Averi took her next breath. Time seemed to slow as it cocked its head at the redheaded girl, and Adlai swore he saw understanding in its eyes. It screeched, flapping its wings, rushing at the strider. The strider whipped around, and Adlai closed his eyes. Phthoom. Alex screeched again, his call cut off by a meaty thud. The strider walked off, gills vibrating, and Adlai finally opened his eyes. Averi fell to her knees, sobbing quietly. He walked over, wrapping Averi in his arms. She didn’t push him away, just melted into his arms. The hopper meat slowly cooled alongside berries, freshly picked for a companion that would never return.

They found the shriveled body later that night, illuminated by the eerie blue glow of the grass. Averi, still crying, lowered the pitiful carcass into a shallow grave, dug by the both of them. Adlai picked up a small stone, one that Averi had written a message on, and put it at the head of the grave. It wasn’t much, but it was enough. They walked back to the campsite, packing up their belongings, preparing to move away from the grassland.

—

The grave was small, the headstone being the only thing marking it as one. Crudely scrawled onto the flat stone was a name, and a short sentence scrawled beneath it. Alex. A good companyun pet. The stranger dropped an offering of sorts onto the grave, a few berries. They were on the right track. Ignoring the pain in their arm, they stubbornly walked forward, looking for smoke rising. She was going to find him, and make him pay.