Chapter One
Abi looked out her barracks window and sighed. What was supposed to be a great day turned out to be one of her worst since she arrived in South Korea. The weather called for clear skies with a small chance of snow, but instead the sleet rained heavily down on everything. Her bike, which was one of her most dear possesions, had been run over by a speeding taxi driver at the barracks. And on top of it all, none of her friends has returned her texts to hang out today. So instead of having an awesome Saturday she was confined to her room.
If only something exciting would happen, she thought. Like an eletrical outage or even a fight. Her phone vibrated on the bed behind her. She turned from the window and picked it up. It was from her friend Siahb.
"Hey wanna head over to the food court for lunch?"
Her fingers quickly typed out a response. "Sure. meet you outside." She tucked her phone in the back pocket of her jeans. She slid her feet into her blue tennis shoes and grabbed her gray jacket that hung hung on her desk chair. As she walked down the hall she pulled it on and zipped it up.
The building was abnormally quiet for a Saturday. Usually a group of JAG males were blasting rap music from their room, ordering pizza and just generaly throwing a party. But their room was silent today.
Abi's footsteps echoed in the empty stairway, loud clunks bouncing around the stone walls. Soon she had reached the first floor. A small group of females stood in the barracks lobby beside the pay phone wall. Abi recognized one of them from around the barracks. They were shaking out their umbrellas and stomping the snow off their boots.
One of them looked at Abi. "You going outside?"
"Yeah, I'm heading to the food court."
The female that Abi knew held out a pink polka dot umbrella. "Here, you might need this." She said with a smile. "Just swing by room 215 when you get back."
This kind gesture lifted Abi's spirit. "Thank you!" The group of females walked to the elevators, leaving Abi by herself.
She walked out through the the front doors and a blast of cold, wet air hit her. The wind whipped her brown hair around as she tried to open the umbrella. It proved a challange to open with the wind fighting her. After struggling with the umbrella she finally managed to get it to spread open. Now the icy rain hit the impenatrable fabric instead of her head.
"Hey Abi," a male voice said behind her. A young man dressed in a black overcoat and jeans stepped into her view. "It's a bit dreary out here today."
She nodded. "Hopefully it won't last much longer." She held the umbrella out slightly, shielding Siahb. "Let's hurry and get to the food court."
The two silently trudged through the melting snow and slushy rivulets on the sidewalk. They walked close together, as if touching shoulders could help share warmth. It took only ten minutes, but in the freezing cold it felt like an hour, and soon they reached the brightly lit food court.
"Ugh, I hate this weather," Siabh said as they stepped into the warm building. He sniffed the air, taking in the smell of Chinese foos, tacos, and pizza. "I think I'm gonna get Burger King. What about you?"
Shaking out the umbrella, Abi thought for a moment. "Yeah, Burger King sounds good." They walked overto the fast food counter and gave the tired looking cashier their orders. Within minutes they were munching burgers and french fries.
"So how is life at the mortuary?" Siahb asked as he chewed on a fry.
Abi took a sip of her Dr Pepper. "It's been slow recently. We haven't had anyone since Christmas. But I guess that is a good thing." She laughed. "No one has decided to die yet." Their laughter rang out in the air. After it died down, they ate quietly for a few minutes.
"Anything special happening over at JAG?" Her green eyes looked at her friend over her burger.
Siahb shook his head. "You know I can't tell you much about what happens there." He said. He picked up a fry and dragged it through ketchup before popping it into his mouth. "But I can say that there has been a great deal of officers breaking curfew in the past few months."
Abi's eyes grew large. "Really?" She said. Leaning in, she whispered, "One of my sergeants was caught last week out past curfew. He's temporarily demoted and he has extra duty at K-16 for two weeks."
They continued to talk and eat until their food was gone. Piling the trash onto their trays, they walked over to the trash cans and dumped their trash in.
As Abi pushed the umbrella open, she groaned. "Back into the maelstrom."
Siahb nodded. "I would prefer a blizzard to this weather. At least it wouldn't be that wet."
They huddled under the umbrella once again and made their way back to the barracks.
As they drew near to the building they could see a large crowd of people clustered outside. Shock and fear was plainly heard in their words.
"What happened?" Siabh asked.
"No idea." Abi handed the umbrella to Siahb and tapped one of the guys on the shoulder. "What's going on?"
The guys was clearly shaken by something. "I don't know. It looks like an alien."
Surprised, Abi and Siahb exchanged glances. Without hesitation, Abi pushed through the crowd to the center.
There, poking through the snow, grew a waist high sprout. A green leaf sat on top of the red plant, waving in the wind.
"What in the hell..." Abi whispered. "When did this get here?"
"It just popped up a little bit ago," Abi turned to see the barracks sergeant standing behind her. "Know one knows what it is, but everytime someone touches it, it moves on its own."
Abi knelt beside the plant, ignoring the cold water that seeped through her jeans. "I...I think I might know what it is, sergeant."
The man looked at her. "Well?" He said. "What is it?"
Without giving him an answer, she wrapped her hands around the stalk and pulled.
The plant refused to move, then gave way. It popped right out of the ground with a strange sound. Abi tumbled backwards onto the snowy ground.
Everyone gasped. One female screamed. Standing in front of Abi was a red humanoid creature with a pointed nose. It looked around at all the shocked faces with its black eyes. The green leaf on its head quivered as it turned to face Abi. She stood up shakily, watching the creature. Its face sat right above her knees while the leaf could touch her stomach.
"Private, what the fuck is that thing?!" The barracks sergeant yelled.
Abi touched the creature on its head carefully. "It's... it's a Pikmin."
"Well, whatever the hell it is, it could be dangerous." He reached down to grab the Pikmin by its sprout. The little creature squeaked and scurried behind Abi.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Abi asked angrily. She spread her arms out and glared at the NCO. "It's not hurting anyone."
The sergeant stared at her. "For all we know, that could be an alien or rabid animal. We have to give it to the MP's and let them deal with it." He tried to pushed Abi aside to get to the Pikmin, but she stepped back, staying between him and the Pikmin.
"I won't let you hurt it." For a moment Abi and the NCO stared at each other. Without warning she whirled around and scooped the red creature into her arms. The sergeant yelled but she ignored it, sprinting through the crowd and grabbing the umbrella from the surprised Siahb before running off.