The Hunt of Five 3
The heater roaring to life over my head makes me jump slightly as my eyes snap open. Exhaling loudly, I sit up, propping up myself with one elbow, and run a hand through my hair. The suddenly drop in the temperature that the heater hasn't warmed up yet tells me we're close to landing, even before the pilot announces it on the intercom.
"Hmmm?" the little girl moans beside me, opening her stunning eyes as she looked up at me, "what's going on?"
"We're going to land soon," I reply, pulling my heavy coat over my upper torso and looking her over, raising an eyebrow, "is that all you're wearing outside?"
She is only wearing a thin black sweater, which makes her cheeks radiate with a small pink tint as she looks down at her lap, "I don't have anything else...I'm an orphan."
An orphan, huh? That explained where her parents were, but it didn't explain why she was going to a place where she was going to freeze to death without more protection from the bitterness than what she has now. Even though I know I'll probably regret it for my own health, I take off the top heavy coat I've already pulled on and slip in on her small shoulders, making her body tilt forward with the extra wieght before she looks at me with surprise and gratefulness.
"Are you sure?" she sounds uncertain, but I just pat her head comfortingly.
"You stick with me, kiddo," I tell her with a small, reassuring smile, even though I already know this is a very bad idea, "I'll take care of you. You...don't have to be alone."
"Wow," the look on her face and tone in her voice tells me that she's amazed and flattered, "thank you...so much."
Smiling to her again, I pat her on the top of head and look out of the frosted-over window with a squint. There is white as far as the eye can see, even my eyes, which are enhanced beyond human. The air is still chilly, even with the heater roaring overheard, and it worries me a little bit. There aren't many humans in this place for reason; most of them freeze to death. This was certainly not the type of place for young children, and while the cold climate might keep the Mogs away, it means that the attacks will be in larger numbers, since it will take many of them to surrivive in this kind of atmosphere.
The threat just became larger for not only myself and this little girl, but for any human who has managed to exsist here. If an attack breaks through, I'm going to have to protect all of these people. It doesn't matter if they figure out that I'm an 'alien'; Anteratica isn't like every other place I've been to on Earth. Here, there really is nowhere to run and hide, and there is no quick way to safety.
Here, there is nothing.
What are we going to do?
That's the question going through everybody's heads right now, including my own. But it won't do any good to say it outloud; nobody will be able to answer that for sure. So I just wrinkle my brow, looking down at my lap and struggling to think of something that we might could use for an idea.
Six is right: We won't be able to fight them split up. But we can't just leave Number Five, whoever they are, out in the middle of nowhere. Papa taught me a lot of places on Earth when I was young, and I remember him saying Antertica was a very cold and very lonely place. I'm not sure why Five would want to go there other than them wanting to escape the Mogodorians, but they could still show up at any time, especially the leader.
I decide to clean up everybody's dishes, since it's pretty apparent we're all done eating at this point. When I come to Sarah and reach for her plate, she locks eyes with me and we share a shared thought: We can't let them down again.
Both of us came so close to dying because we were trying to help. Marina told me that it was okay, that we were safe and that was all that mattered, but I know it's not. It's wonderful that we're both still alive, but we can't charge head-first into things anymore. Next time we might not be so lucky, and I'll end up like Papa, to the point even Marina can't fix me.
And then where would we be?
I'm the first to step off of the plane, the little girl at my heels. Both of our bags are on our backs, and when I turn to help her down, she steps out and immediately slips on the ice. Reaching out with my naturally lightning reflexes, I catch her and guide her into the tourist welcome center. It's too warm in there for coats, but I decide to keep our two's with me instead of hanging it up on the coat rack. For some reason, this building sets me off ease, which makes my senses sharpen instantly.
"Name please?" a women perched on a high stool behind the counter at the front of the welcome inquires, pushing her secretary-looking glasses higher on her nose and perching the pen in her thin, old, shaky fingers.
"Emily Johnson," I say the name I'd already decided on while boarding the plane earlier, and she scribbles it down quickly in shaky, fancy-looking handwritting before looking to little girl and inquiring for her own name.
"Michele," she replies simply and softly, looking shy.
After she's gotten our names, (well, at least Michele's real one,), I wander to the wall covered in photos and caption of pretty much every Artic animal that can exsist on Earth. As I scan them, I can't help but think back to old pictures from Lorein that Jemstone had in a photo album she'd managed to get in her bag, to how our animals were much more magnificent, no matter what form they took.
"I like that one," Michele says softly, pointing to a picture of a creature called of a polar bear cub.
"He's cute," I admit before scanning over the rest of the photos, starting to take photos of them in my mind so I can remember any of the more agressive ones to use for more advantages while trying to temperarily adjust to this new place.
While she stared at the pictures, obviously blown away, I let my thoughts drift back to the children on the ship that fateful night my home was destroyed completely. I've got the feeling we can restore Lorien with a little work and faith, and even if they can't, I will see to it that I do.
Everyone wants a place to call their own home, after all.
"What do you think we should do, Marina?"
I decide to ask the person I trust the most after all, since she's so smart and strong. But she just frowns and shakes her head solemly, sitting beside me on our bed and creasing her brown thought once again. We're all stumped now, and that's not good at a time like this. Six was right that we all need to focus on getting stronger so we can defeat the Mogodorains and go to our real home, but still. I'm worried for Number Five; he/she must be so afraid, out there all alone.
I know I would be, at least.
Sitting around is not going to get us anywhere.
I've done just fine on my before, anyway, even when Johnny Boy was toted along with me. This time won't be any different, and I'll have Five back in no time at all. They won't even miss when I'm gone, and if any Mogodorians or goverment humans try to infer, I'll throw them even more off course than they are now.
Everything is set for my slip away. I already had it all figured out, even though I a pretty good feeling I was going to end up having to go off and do this alone anyway. But just as I'm about to open the door, a tiny hand grabs my wrist.