With a snap of his fingers, Lhusuu cloaked himself in shadows. Double checking to see if no humans were around, He then dashed up to the canopy of the tree beside him, practically soaring over the branches. He perched on the highest branch, and once getting comfortable - carved an X onto the bark. He reached into his enchanted pouch, retrieved his telescope and unfurled it. He cast his sight on the bonfire, noting who was around it.
The orders were to simply keep an eye on the mysterious group and report anything noteworthy. If they proved to be dangerous - annihilate them. As he observed them, it became clear that they would destroy themselves first. They were always fighting amongst themselves, never having enough supplies, and dropping like flies. There were some pushing back against this. There was a black haired, olive skinned woman who was always trying to come up with mechanical solutions. A man with deep brown was always improving upon weapons, and even helping to make some defense systems. There was a sunburned man trying to preserve as much food as possible. Even so, they were a handful compared to the myriad of paranoid humans who would destroy everything in a mob.
"...Well then, why in The Lord's good graces are we still here then!?"
Mariah took a step back, her hands in front of her chest, palms facing outwards. I shouldn't have picked a fight with one of these conspiracy nuts. I should've minded my own business. She couldn't help herself, whenever she heard some outlandish statement she had to challenge it with her arsenal of logic. Almost invariably, people would get hostile. Even if she was asking questions gently. "I don't know, there has to be a logical, scientific explanation…"
"That's just it! Maybe the answer defies science itself!"
"How can something defy science? Almost everything that has been observed within our universe has a scientific explanation. If something is outside of our reasoning, we can discover more about it in the future. After all, new knowledge is built upon previous findings."
"No, no! What I'm trying to say is that maybe what's going on is supernatural!"
"That doesn't seem right. Every supernatural phenomenon has been demonstrated to have earthly mechanisms behind it."
Samuel huffed. There's no getting through to this girl! Her mind was clouded by skepticism and corrupted by the ungodly forces of the world. "This conversation isn't going anywhere and I'm done wasting my time. Only God and Jesus can save you now."
Mariah stared at the would-be pastor. Her eyes flaring. His words struck a very sensitive chord within her. She was so tempted to lash out and scream at him. How dare he try to lecture her on faith and science, only to dismiss her outright when she wouldn't submit to his reasoning! Her blood was boiling and her sight was going red with anger. How easy would it be to walk up to this evangelizer and slap him in front of his flock? She wanted to. Instead she took a deep breath and kept her temper under wraps as best as she could. As easy and as satisfying as it would be, it would only be a temporary reprieve. Not only that, it could make things worse. She hotly responded, "Fine. If you want to have a reasonable debate, you know where to find me." As he stormed off, she let out a frustrated groan. There's no getting through to any of these fanatics; it was like they shut their minds off to reason, or at least a differing perspective. Bunch of friggin' idiots!
Conspiracies were spreading like a virus, to which no one was immune. Whenever someone died, they were used as fuel for theories. The pilots and the rest of the staff were losing control of the situation, which made everyone tense. And when they felt frightened, they were less likely to listen to the pilots. They began making up their own answers to satiate their fears. Which made the pilots lose their grip.
Fights even broke out. Not just verbal, but also fist fights. It happened between members of different groups and on an intergroup level. They always began with an argument, be it about some duty or a hypothesis on why they were there. Tensions inevitably rose and it became a matter of time when punches were thrown. It unnerved her, most of the passengers were educated adults and here they were brawling like children. Once she had witnessed someone coldcock someone else in the face for not doing the laundry properly.
Despite everything they worked to achieve, nothing got them closer to being rescued. Mariah would sometimes cry due to the load on her back. At these points she wondered if she would have to come up with a drastic solution. But what? If smoke wasn't working, what would? A high frequency signal?
How could I get that to work? If it doesn't, what then? Are we doomed to remain here? Mariah rubbed her eyes, pulling her lower eyelids down.
"I think we should try to make an offering of goodies to our alien overlords," a miniscule voice said in the distance, blocking Mariah's train of thought. "That way they'll know we mean them no harm and they'll lend us a hand. Maybe."
Mariah rolled her eyes. Her lips twisted into a contemptuous grimace, her blood was beginning to heat up again. Dumbass! If we do that, we'll end up wasting supplies we need to keep us alive! She thought to herself as she glared at him. She was tempted to walk up to him, tell him that he was a moron and why. If I do that though, I'll get into the same situation I am with that preacher. Besides, if I tell him he's a nitwit, I'll be no better than the preacher.
"Hey! Riah!" Annie's cheery voice pierced through her seething anger. "You look glum, what's going on?" She asked as she gently put her hand on Mariah's shoulder.
She almost immediately began to cool down. "It's everything." The words felt like stones being hurled at her at top velocity. "The nutty theories, the mistrust in each other, being stuck in the middle of nowhere," she paused, unsure if she wanted to continue. She went on, almost ashamed, "the idiots who fall for it hook, line and sinker."
Annie nodded. "Yeah, I feel ya. People's fears are twisting them…"
"Or are revealing their inner darkness," Mariah added.
"And that, definitely." Annie admitted in earnest. "I've been hearing rumors that things are about to get worse. There's been talk of micro-tribes forming independent of this greater group."
Mariah blinked several times before facepalming. "Oh good gawd, I hope they don't do that."
Out of nowhere, a random passerby shouted out, "Sign me up! I'm sick of the pilot and his rules."
"Yeah, screw the guy who is trying to save your life and keep you safe," Mariah sarcastically remarked through her teeth.
At the same time, somebody else bellowed back, "Good. Make haste, we don't want your dumbass here! You're going to get us killed!"
"My decisions don't affect you! And I would rather risk dying and be free than be a sheep like you!"
Annie's jaw dropped. "I…I'm shocked at how selfish some people are! Do they not understand that there's a world outside of them and their actions have consequences?!"
It was a rhetorical question, nonetheless Mariah responded, "Utter apathy." She watched the two men scream at each other. "I think we should get out of here, it looks like a fight is about to break out."
On the other side of the camp, Laurelei listened quietly to someone preaching about being stuck in a Matrix-like simulation. As she absorbed what she was saying, Laurelei's heart sank. Man, people are so desperate. They're paranoid 24/7. I wish I could put them at ease, if only for a short time. She stood still, staring into the void - thinking. She studied the topsoil, noting stones and twigs. Then, a lightbulb flashed over her head. She borrowed some large sticks from the bonfire crew, on the stipulation that she'd return them. She dropped the bundle and took one of the branches, drawing a rectangle about seven by three yards. When a perplexed onlooker asked what she was doing, she responded that she was making a canvas.
After tossing the sticks next to it, she called out into the air, "Hey, anyone want to draw? I've got sticks, stones and a canvas…"
"Why would I want to draw? That doesn't contribute to our survival or our quality of life."
Laurelei's jaw fell to the ground. Of course art was important! "Well, art is a way to communicate ideas and connect with others. It can also be soothing and uplifting."
The passenger shook his head. "Eh, I think it's stressful. I can never get it to look right, I prefer playing guitar."
She was confused as to how he could put down visual art while uplifting music. They both did the same thing in different ways! But, she wasn't in a mood to argue so she concluded with, "to each his own." It didn't matter too much since now there were about 5 people who were doodling in the dirt. Someone was drawing a rocket being towed by a comet. Another person drew a saucer abducting a cow, along with what Laurelei guessed were some crop circles. Soon more people jumped in and started sketching. It was just wonderful to watch, until…
Some jerk walked all over their drawings.
"Hey, hey, hey! Watch where you're going!" An artist exclaimed, waving his hands frantically. "You're stepping on our drawings."
"You mean these?" He snorted. He kicked some dirt on top of the line work. He then eroded more of it down with his foot, all the while bearing a sadistic grin.
The captive audience was struck dumb, bewildered by this cruelty.
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!"
"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!"
The aggressor was getting high off of the crowd's anger. "What's that? You don't like that?" He kept vandalizing the art for a few more minutes, until someone dive bombed him.
He straddled the instigator, raining down punches on his face. In response, the man beneath wrestled and kneed him in his groin. He toppled over. As the jingo began to stand up, he was tripped by the defender. He shot up from the ground and stomped on his gut.
Laurelei's mind went blank as she witnessed the scene unfold. Her only thought was, I wish Hisashi was here.
Author's note: This is the first chapter where I published without the oversight of a beta reader. If you have any thoughts or critiques, please comment. Or if you are a beta reader who is interested in critiquing this, please PM me.