Querencia

TAKING A LONG SIP of coffee, Zoe leaned her hip against the desk. Grace stood before her, chugging down her own mug of the steaming liquid. The older woman haphazardly shrugged off her white coat and threw it somewhere behind her, Zoe snorting into her coffee as one of the interns began running around in an attempt to catch the coat before it hit the ground.

“It’s almost scary,” she murmured while taking another sip of coffee, her eyes narrowed on the scientists that worked under Grace.

It was odd to see the way that the people in the lab fluttered around Grace as if she was a goddess that graced the room. Zoe had to bite her lip to stop herself from spitting out her coffee when one of the scientist wrapped his arms around her coat and hugged it to his face discretely.

What the hell.

The older woman hummed, “What?”

Taking her final sip of of coffee, Zoe put the cup down and turned back to Grace. “The ass kissing in this place.”

Grace coughed out a laugh as she finished her coffee and stood from her chair, the woman smirking as she turned to her. “You know, Marine, you might not be that bad.”

Zoe smiled back at the woman as they moved to the link room, Max tapping away at the screen before him. “Start calibrating,” Grace waved. “We’re on the flight line in ten minutes.”

Max nodded as he turned to another screen, the link bed’s whirring as they were powered on. Zoe nodded at Norm as he walked into the room and moved closer to her link bed. She popped the thing open and poked a finger into the gel, a small grin pulling on her lips as her finger disappeared.

“Zoe!” Her name was called out, Zoe turning to face a scowling Grace.

“Come on,” she urged. “Let’s get going.”

Zoe grinned bashfully as she waved at Jake and slipped into her link bed, the pod closing around her. She took in a deep breath to settle her heart before letting her eyes flutter shut, her muscles relaxing as she cleared her mind and worked to return to her avatar’s body.

THE GROUP WALKED CAREFULLY through the Pandora forest, Jake keeping a tight grip on his gun as he swung it towards anything that moved. Zoe kept her hand on her own, but kept it lowered by her side, it would do no good to start shooting in the middle of hostile territory.

She let her eyes roam over everything around them, the beauty of the life filling all of her senses. It was all so vivid- bright colors and sharp shapes that towered over them. She could hear the animals around them, her new ears twitching with the sounds.

Zoe could understand Grace’s desire to learn and preserve the life of Pandora.

They tracked deeper into the forest, the path roughening as they walked. Zoe kept herself close to the group, her eyes canning over all of the movement surrounding them. It was odd, how the plants reacted like animals- hiding away and reaching out tendrils.

She could see Jake jumping away from a reaching vine, the man scowling as she coughed out a laugh behind him.

“Yeah, yeah,” he sneered. “Real funny.”

“It is,” she grinned back. “You’re worst than a newbie in bootcamp.”

Jake turned to defend himself, but found himself face to face with an odd monkey-like animal. He quickly raised his gun, the animal scampering away in fear.

“Relax marine,” Grace deadpanned as they continued. “You’re making me nervous.”

Reluctantly lowering the weapon, Jake slowed down his steps until he was walking besides Zoe. They walked carefully though the forest, the woman trying to keep her steps light as she heard Norm loudly trudging in front of them.

“This is beautiful,” she whispered as they walked, her hand brushing the leaves of a purple plant that decorated the ground besides them. The bush twitched at her touch and gave a slight wiggle before closing its leaves, Zoe’s lip twitching in amusement.

“There are plants that do something similar on Earth,” she grinned, “I loved playing with them when I was younger.”

She could hear Jake’s disbelieving scoff as he stepped closer and poked at one of the plants, his tail twitching as he watched it hide away.

“There are,” Zoe insisted. “We called them morir-vivir, they’re a lot smaller.” She tilted her head at her own words. “Obviously. But they close when you touch them and reopen a bit later.”

They kept walking, her ears twitching with the sounds around them. “You’re shitting me.”

Jake sounded out the words, his tongue stumbling over the language. “Mowrire-vivir.”

Zoe coughed out a laugh at his awful pronunciation, her ears twitching with amusement. “Morir,” she repeated slowly, Jake following along. “Vivir. It means die-live, basically that plant dies when you touch it and then comes back to life when it reopens.”

Jake nodded along as they continued walking. “That’s Spanish, right? I remember taking Spanish I and dropping out.”

Her tail moved behind her, her ears twitching once again as she muffled a laugh. “Yeah, Jake,” she laughed quietly. “It’s Spanish.”

“I didn’t know you spoke Spanish.” They slowed down a bit as they reached an abandoned building, Zoe narrowing her eyes as she watched Grace falter in front of them.

Humming in response, she nodded and adjusted her grip on her gun. “Yeah, my family is from the Dominican Republic. I was born in the U.S, but I spent most of my life switching between both countries before I enlisted.”

They entered the building, Zoe quickly searching through the inside before returning to the group.

“How will they know we’re here?” Norm asked as he followed after Grace, his tail moving softly behind him.

Grace tilted her head as she continued looking around. “I’m sure they’re watching us right now.”

Zoe could feel her body tense as Norm gulped, her jaw tightening as she moved closer to a wall and leant her back on it, her gun held firmly in her hands.

Grace let out a sigh as she began speaking lowly, almost as if she was speaking to herself. “The kids were so bright and eager to learn, they picked up English faster than I could teach it.”

Clenching her jaw, Zoe gave another look around- this time slowly taking in the chalkboard and the children’s books, the dark stains on the floor that could only mean blood and the bullet holes all over the walls.

Shit.

Of course they had shot up a school. What more could be expected of the human people once power and money was placed in their hands. They wouldn’t have thought much of it, not when it happened back on their own planet- their own children losing their lives within the walls of their schools.

“What happened here?” Jake asked, his voice hard as he ran his hand over the holes on the walls.

Zoe could see the way that Grace tensed, the woman looking back down to what she was working with. “Are you going to help with this gear? We’ve got a lot to do.”

The older woman turned away and slipped out of the school, Zoe biting her tongue as she crouched besides Jake and began stuffing some of the equipment into her bag.

It would be a very long trip.

ZOE THREW A QUICK glance at where Grace and Norm were prodding at a plant before shrugging and following after Jake. They had been in the forest for a while now, the day beginning to darken slightly. She could see Jake twitching ahead of her as he touched plants, a grin on his face as he watched the responses.

“I don’t want to go back to the lab,” she grinned as she reached man, her gun lowered at her side.

Jake threw her a quick glance, his eyes shining mischievously as he tapped another plant- this one quickly closing and disappearing into the ground with a pop.

“What the hell?” She whispered and reached out a hand, her fingers brushing against the plant before, it too, disappeared.

They keep popping the plants, Zoe letting out a small laugh as they kept disappearing. Suddenly, all of the plants disappeared into the ground loudly, Zoe taking a step back until her back was brushing Jake’s front, her shoulder’s tensing.

She felt her heart racing in her chest as a large animal huffed at them. The thing was giant, six legs on its body and the head of a hammerhead shark. Zoe felt herself tense as she prepared to run, the girl moving over slightly and raising her gun as Jake did the same besides her.

“Don’t shoot!” Grace’s voice reached them, the mic’s on their throats turning on. “You’ll piss it off.”

Jake let out a harsh laugh. “It’s already pissed off!”

The thing let out a loud growl, Zoe taking a small step back as it kicked at the ground.

“Grace,” she growled out. “A little help.”

“It’s a territorial threat display. Do not run,” She warned. “He’ll charge.”

Zoe’s tail whipped furiously behind her, her ears flicking as she adjusted her grip on the gun.

“What do we do?” Jake asked as he took in a deep breath.

There was a moment of silence, Zoe’s heart racing in her chest. “Hold your ground,” the older woman instructed.”

Zoe felt her eyes widen as the beast growled once again and lowered its head before charging. There was a moment of tension as they watched the approaching animal before Jake raised his arms and began shouting loudly as he ran to the beast.

Zoe could only watch dumfounded as the thing seemed to freeze before turning and rushing away, Jake letting his arms drop as he smirked.

“Oh Yeah!” He celebrated. “Who’s bad? That’s right.”

Zoe tensed once again as she heard something behind her, her ears flickering as the hairs on the back of her neck rose. Turning slowly, she felt her tail moving rapidly behind her as she met eyes with the rising beast, this one with odd spikes that escaped its head. If the situation was different, she would find it beautiful.

“That’s what I’m talkin’ bout, bitch.” Jake cheered before he turned to Zoe. “You see that, Zoe.”

Zoe didn’t respond, instead taking a slow step back from the approaching animal. “Zoe?”

“Grace,” Zoe whispered. “Run?”

The animal let out a ground shaking roar, its fangs exposed in a venomous hiss.

Jake wrapped a hand around her arm and pulled her back.

“Run,” Grace shouted. “Definitely run.”

The pair didn’t wait for further instruction before peeling off, the thing giving chase after them. They jumped over roots and ducked under branches, Jake pulling her as they dived into a set of intwined tree roots.

Zoe fought to catch her breath as she gripped her gun and raised it, a loud snarl escaping her lips as they fired away at the thing. It didn’t seem to make a difference, instead the animal becoming more enraged as it began tearing away at the roots that covered them.

“Jake,” she gasped, “Take off your bag.”

She began unclipping her own, her hands flurried as she did so.

Jake didn’t question her instructions instead following along. Their eyes met for a moment before she set her jaw. “We need to run. Fast, you with me marine?”

Nodding the man, quickly responded. “Always.”

They didn’t hesitate before bolting, Zoe scrambling as she rightened herself as they rushed through the trees.

The thing let out a furious screech as it chased them and she could feel its breath against her skin. They kept running, Zoe reaching a bit back and clasping her hand around Jake’s wrist. “Come on, Jake.”

They flew past more roots, Jake tugging her out of the way as the animal snapped forward to where she was just standing. They couldn’t take a moment to catch themselves before they were off again.

Zoe’s eyes widened as she noticed the incoming cliff, her ears twitching as the animal roared once more.

“Jump?” Jake asked as they kept running, the cliff quickly approaching.

“Jump.” Zoe confirmed as they reached the edge, the floor underneath them disappearing as they soared through the ear.

Time seemed to slow down as they feel, their hands separating as they cashed into the icy water below them. Zoe rammed right into a rock, a sharp edge cutting her leg. She began kicking to the surface, her hands reaching for the first thing they could as she fought to stay afloat.

Catching her breath, she took a quick look around, feeling relief flood through her as she noted Jake crawling onto the dirt. She quickly pushed herself to reach him, her Boyd flopping on the ground once she was out of water.

“You know,” she sighed out between coughs. “They really should add this to the introductory package.”

Jake snorted out a laugh besides her as he gasped for air.

“Somehow, I don’t think this is a common experience.” He grinned down at her as he pushed himself up to his feet and held out a hand. “Come on, we need to get back to Grace.”

Letting out a sigh, she clasped her hand in his and let the man pull her up.

“I’m going to need a lot of coffee after this.”