As her whole body tensed up for the incoming crash she felt the pod start to slow down. Laura didn't know if it was going to be able to stop before it hit the mountain and she was too scared to look up. The pod kept moving until it dug itself into the ground so much that it lurched to a stop. No crash came. No sound of broken glass or crushed metal. Laura slowly opened her eyes and felt her whole body flood with relief. Her pod had come to a stop just a few feet from the mountain.

Laura leaned back in her seat and pulled off her suit's helmet. Running her hand through her hair she tried to gather her thoughts. Okay, I just crash-landed on this strange planet. I should see if I can get into contact with someone. She tried to flip the comm back on but there was nothing but static relayed back to her. Flipping it back off Laura felt a shiver of fear run down her spine. Okay just stay calm, maybe I can find someone nearby and get some help.

She tried pushing the release button on the pod's door but it didn't respond. Lucky for her the door had an emergency release latch and with a grunt, she was able to manually pop open the pod's door. Laura climbed out of the pod on shaky legs and suddenly realized that it was a good thing this planet had oxygen because she didn't even stop to think about it.

Already off to a great start Laura.

Looking around she realized her pod had crashed in some kind of marsh area of the jungle. She was surrounded by trees, murky water, and the mountain that tried to kill her. Unzipping her spacesuit she tried to think of a plan. Laura didn't know how long she was going to be here for or how long it would take to find help. She was going to need food and freshwater, neither of which she was going to find in this area.

I have two options, either I wait around here and hope someone saw the crash and comes to help me, or I try and find some help for myself. While waiting around could yield results I don't like the idea of just sitting around here and waiting. What if the people who do find me aren't friendly?

While she was going back and forth in her head she came to the realization that if she stayed at the crash site, she may get nowhere at all. This jungle had seemed huge from above and with her luck, there wouldn't be people around for miles. So she decided to head out in hopes of finding shelter and maybe civilization. Before she went to head out she checked the inside of the pod to see if there were any tools inside that could help her. It was then that she realized she hadn't grabbed the bag of supplies that had been sat beside her pod before she went out.

No wonder the Commander didn't want me to be a pilot, I can't even remember to grab my emergency supplies!

Laura rolled her eyes so hard she was surprised they didn't get stuck in her head. So with no tools or gear of any kind, she set off in the direction that her pod had fallen from. Hopefully, she would be able to find some food and water along the way.

After about a mile she was able to wander out of the marsh and into a more open area of the jungle. There was still no sign of anyone, but Laura was trying to keep her spirits up by thinking about how her mother would chew her out when she got back, and how hard she was going to punch Leo when she saw him again. The thought actually made her smile for the first time since she crashed.

When she heard a rustle come through the bushes near her she jumped about a foot in the air. A young boy probably not even ten, wearing rags, and a dirty face appeared in front of her.

"Where did you come from? You scared the shi- crap outta me," Laura asked as she tried to steady her heartbeat.

The young boy just stared at her and it was kinda freaking her out. Maybe seeing her here had frightened him just as much as her.

"Look, I'm sorry, my names Laura. What's your name?" She asked as she kneeled down to his level and gave him a warm smile.

He gave a smile back but also covered his face before he replied in a soft voice, "My name is Dayne."

Aw, he's such a shy cutie.

"Well, Dayne, could you tell me where your parents are, or any other people?"

The little boy thought about it for a moment before he motioned at her to follow him. Laura breathed out a sigh of relief and followed the child through the bushes back the way he had come from. Maybe her luck was starting to turn around. His parents could tell her where she was and hopefully, how to get back home.

Dayne would look back every now and again to make sure she was still following him. There was no way she was going to wander off now. Too much was riding on this for her to get lost now. They must have walked for a good while because she could hear the birds starting to sing again. The trees were getting a bit sparse and rocks were jutting up out of the ground all around them. As they passed through some more bushes she could hear the sound of talking, laughing, and children playing.

The sweet sounds of civilization.

But when she saw the people, it was far from what she expected. They were all dressed in rags like the boy. Ratted hair and dirty faces littered the crowd, and their homes were nothing but huts.

How far from home am I?

Laura must have stopped in her tracks because she suddenly felt a hand grab hers and start to tug her into the small village. She looked down to see Dayne and noticed he was pulling her towards a specific hut. Following behind him she felt what little hope she had gathered dissolving. Dayne led her over to an older woman who was scrubbing other rags. When she noticed them she stood up.

"Dayne, who is this?"

The young boy looked up at the woman and smiled, "Momma this is Laura. She fell from the sky!"

He said it with such excitement that his mother couldn't help but chuckle at him. "Of course she did my dear." The older woman patted his head but then looked over at Laura with suspicion.

Laura hadn't thought that the boy had seen her crash. Then again that would explain why he had wandered so far from his village. She silently wondered if anyone else had seen her terrible landing.

"Dayne why don't you go play with the other children, I'll take care of this stranger." His mother said with a smile before eyeing Laura again.

The boy nodded and waved at Laura before running off to play with the other children. The kids smiled and welcomed him back with open arms. They started to play fight with sticks some of them were making monkey noises. Odd.

"So where are you really from? My son is always making up wild stories, I'm not surprised if they include someone falling from the sky."

Laura turned back to the older woman and noticed her softly smiling at her while rubbing her hands on her rags. It wasn't hard to understand why the woman would think the story was nothing but that. It really did sound crazy.

"I know it sounds like a messed up story, but it's true. I crash-landed here, my pod is a few miles from here. I'm surprised your son was the only one to see it," Laura explained trying not to sound too crazy.

"Pod? My dear, did you hit your head on something? Listen, my name is Lilah, how about you come inside and get some food and water in you. Maybe then you can try and explain this better," The mother replied taking Laura's hand in hers, "Come inside and rest with me a while, you can get cleaned up and maybe you can explain to me how you got those strange clothes as well."

Laura looked down at herself but didn't think her clothes were that strange. It was just a tank top, pants, and boots. But considering everyone here was wearing nothing but rags maybe it was strange to them. She allowed Lilah to lead her inside her hut and into a sitting position on the floor. Looking around the hut she realized there was almost nothing inside. There were blankets on the floors for them to sleep on and a fire in the middle of the hut. In a basket near the side of the camp were some fruits and a few jugs she guessed contained freshwater.

Lilah handed Laura a big bowl of water and a wet rag to clean herself up, then she began to peel up some fruit. After Laura finished washing her face and arms she felt a bit more like herself. When Lilah handed her the cut-up fruit and a small cup of water, Laura decided to go ahead and ask some questions of her own.

"Can you tell me where I am exactly?"

Lilah took a seat across from her on the ground and replied, "We are a small village only a few days from The Ape City. Since we are so far away they don't usually disturb us."

As Laura was placing a piece of fruit in her mouth she said, "Oh well that's good ne-," She suddenly realized exactly what Lilah had said and almost choked on the fruit she had been eating. It took Lilah slapping Laura on the back a few times and a coughing fit before she could speak again, "I'm sorry, I must have heard you wrong, did you just say Ape City?"

Lilah nodded at her words, "Yes, but like I said they don't bother coming out this far."

Ape city. The city of apes. An ape city. Filled with Apes. Laura could swear she could feel her eye twitching. Which would explain why Lilah was staring at her like she had just grown a second head.

"You really aren't from around here are you?"

"No, I'm really not," Laura replied feeling her throat going dry. She took a drink of water from her cup and tried to keep it together. Running a hand through her hair she felt herself starting to lose it a bit. Laura was grateful that Lilah was letting her try and think through things without throwing a bunch of shit at her all at once. Taking a deep breath in and then out she looked back over at Lilah. "Okay give me the run down, tell me about this place."

"Our people are scarce. Humans have a few scattered villages across the jungle, but most are raided by the apes. They gather up humans from them to be made into slaves for their city. They rule over us and aren't afraid to wipe out entire villages in a bloody slaughter if the human population grows too large. They are, merciless," Lilah seemed very upset as she spoke about it, almost as if she had witnessed it first hand. Laura didn't want to pry but after a moment Lilah spoke again, "I lost Dayne's father to them. Our old village had grown too large, and they came to wipe us out. His father gave us time to get away by sacrificing himself. It was terrible."

Laura found herself laying a hand on Lilah's, "I am so sorry you had to go through that." The older woman smiled in appreciation.

How did this happen? Where in the universe am I? How am I going to get back home?!

That's when reality hit her hard. What if she couldn't get home. What if she was stuck in this place, lost forever. Never to see her mother or Leo again. Tears started to roll down her cheeks and Lilah seemed very concerned.

"Oh please don't cry young one, here we are safe. They have never come out this far and I doubt they will now, there is nothing to be scared of," Lilah said laying a concerned hand on Laura's shoulder. Laura felt ashamed that Lilah felt like she had to comfort her. She had just talked about losing the man she loved. At least as far as Laura knew, Leo and her mother were alive and well.

Laura felt a bit foolish and quickly wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. She wasn't going to give up on finding Leo and finding a way home. Pulling herself together she realized that if this Ape City took slaves there was a chance that they had found Leo and taken him.

If he crashed here and lived through it that is.

Laura was really getting tired of all these depressing thoughts.

With a determined look in her eyes, Laura stood up and looked down at where Lilah was sitting. "So where is this Ape City?"