What We Felt
Alpha Force were resting under a starry sky in the Arctic. They were exhausted after a hard day of trekking through the unchanging landscape, and had set up camp just before night came. Alex chose a well sheltered place, out of the wind, and had directed the others on the processes of making a snow hole. Now the team were sitting and waiting for the famous Northern Lights.
Hex was on his palmtop, as always, and Amber was leaning on his side, watching. Normally Hex was so secluded, keeping his space to himself, but when he was with Amber that was another story. He felt she always just, got to him in some special way that made him share all his thoughts, secrets, and memories with her. Hex's mind travelled back to the text document he'd typed for her; should he revisit what he said on that? No. It'll just distract him from the programme he was trying to write, and plus, having Amber next to his shoulder, breathing down his neck, was already a weird feeling. God, he just couldn't get her out of his head. She was always there, like a drug, floating around. But she was a good one.
Li grinned as she watched them together. Late, she'd have a try at getting Hex to talk again. Last time she tried he somehow escaped from the questions and now she was determined to know what was actually going on between those two. At the back of her mind she pondered over another matter; Paulo. His laid back style was just what she liked, and she just couldn't get rid of the memory of his arms around her, countless times. She was already sure now with what Paulo felt for her, but wasn't sure of her own feelings. The gentle Argentinian was now her closest friend, maybe more.
As if on cue, Paulo materialized out of nowhere. He smiled at her as he moved towards the fire, holding an empty tin in his hand. He scooped up some snow from the ground, and hung the tin over the fire to melt. In that tin he planned to add some beef Stock cubes to make a warm drink for Li; he knew she liked having a hot drink before she went to sleep. He never knew what to expect of her, really. She was loud, energetic, and very underestimated. Paulo's eyes snapped back to her, and sighed. He didn't know how to tell her, really, though he suspected she already knew. Knew what? He asked himself. Knew that he like her? Knew that he…loved her?
Leaning against Hex's shoulder, Amber felt her eyelids droop. She took a last look at his palmtop, and before she fell asleep she saw he had called up a text document. She vaguely registered that her name was typed as the title, but by then she was so tired that she simply closed her eyes and drifted off. Amber had a very weird dream. In it she was happily watching Hex play a game on his palmtop, then felt a sharp jab on her upper left arm. Afterwards she was aware of a scuffling sound, and then she was being carried by a running person. Before long, he, or she had stopped and dropped her in snow, when she woke up.
"Whassalla noise about?" she mumbled, coming to her senses. A light shined down at her, blinding her eyes. It was a torch, held by Hex.
"Hey," he whispered. "Be quiet. We've got people tailing us." His face was serious and his green eyes gleamed in the torchlight. Amber could tell that this wasn't him messing about. She sat up. They were in a copse of fir trees, with deep tracks where Hex had run through.
"Where are the others? Did we…" Amber faltered as she saw the look on Hex's face. They were out here, without supplies, and nowhere to hide. She felt her stomach drop suddenly. A vibration on her wrist told that it was time to inject the life-saving insulin inside her body. Standing up, she shivered and looked for her insulin pack. She found it, and, turning away from Hex, started to inject herself.
Hex glanced at her. He didn't bother to check, as he knew she could look after herself. Pulling out his palmtop, he saw his 'document' still up; checking that Amber hadn't seen, he swiftly saved and closed it down. In the absence of something to do, Hex started to ponder over the thought of what he had typed in his document. Should he tell her? He was afraid of how she would react if he did. A second later, he was disgusted by himself. Why should he be afraid of her? He was a top hacker, able to break into high-security websites like Bill Gates' private email address, and did not need a girl like Amber
But, Hex reflected, there were plenty of times where she had saved his skin. For example, at their mission in the Polar Regions, he had gotten stuck between some underwater caves; claustrophobic, scared out of his wits, he had panicked and dropped his rebreather. He really thought that it was his last moment, right then. Then Amber had come out of the whirling darkness, and saved his life. He couldn't do without her, and trusted her above all his other teammates – even if she had her faults.
A line creased Amber's forehead as she turned her back on Hex. He seemed have on his mind, and wondered what it was. Of course, it could do with their current predicament, but she could tell, some way or the other, that it wasn't it. Knowing him, it wasn't likely to be something ordinary; more likely to be personal. Her heart jumped as she remembered her personal problems. With a perfectly secretive coder boy, she might add.
An odd sensation had crept up her arm, where the sharp pain had been in her dream. Looking down, she saw that a tiny prick had been made on her upper arm. Panic poured into her veins, and she took out her blood sugar testing test kit with a shaking hand. As she feared, her glucose levels were dangerously low. And without food, without fire, she could very well die.
It was now that a voice, magnified thousands of times, boomed out over the trees.