SEVEN
We must have walked at least 5 or 6 miles, Tess thought. And most of it was uphill. According to her map, the oasis was just over the next hilltop. It wasn’t in sight yet, but she was sure that once she reached the top of the hill, the promised land would welcome them with open arms.
Tess was exhausted. She removed the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand and wiped it off on her pants. Gunner didn’t seem tired. I should have prepared more for this, she thought. How does he do it? She grinned and turned to him.
“I wanna be just like you when I grow up, Gunny.”
Gunner grinned. “Shut up, Tessy.” There was happiness in his voice. “You’re silly.”
He was reminded of the good ol’ days, when he and Tess were “a thing”, although a fragile thing, as explosive as a stick of dynamite, its fuse waiting for a big enough spark. But he could see through her silliness that she was actually more ecstatic that they were almost there. The promised land. The sunlight was practically gone by this time, and they hadn’t reached the top of the hill yet. Gunner’s heart sank for a moment. She looks so tired, he thought.
He knew he couldn’t do it much longer. But, no. Time’s up.
“Just a little more, guy. We’re almost there.” She turned to him so that he couldn’t ignore her question this time. “So how are you holding up?”
“Tess, I don’t think there’s anything left in me.”
She was jolted by confusion. “But you don’t look a bit tired. Not even a hint.”
“That’s not what I meant. There’s nothing— Never mind.” He nodded his head in affirmation. “I’ll always be around. Just so you know.” Tess was too busy lumbering over the rocks to pay him any attention. “We’re almost there, Gunny. Keep moving.”
Only a few more minutes had passed when they reached the top. Tess planted her feet in the sand and rocks, dropped her backpack, and put her hands on her cheeks. Stretching her face in amazement made her nostrils flare and her eyes bug out. There it was! The sight of the two moons glistening on the water was a wonderful sight.
The sun was setting quickly, but there was still enough light to see what was waiting for them. These young voyagers were told of a wide river that flowed from a huge mountain. That myth was busted when Tess took note of a lake that seemed to go on for miles. Huge trees that could have been redwoods towered above the hilly shore, camouflaged by tall, bright green grass. Tess’s doubt of life on this planet sifted away. How amazingly beautiful, she thought. Clusters of palms covered the eastern end of the area. She wondered if they bore fruit. It was still hard to tell. How could they not? She remembered her high school biology teacher explaining that there were oases here and there, and that underground water sources called aquifers supplied most of them, sometimes bringing the water up to the surface all on their own. Tess wondered how she even remembered that class, and the lesson about the Sahara Desert.
“Hey, Gun. You checking this out? There it is! We made it! How awesome is that?” She looked to her left. She looked to her right. She looked behind her. “Gunner?”
She waited for his answer, but heard nothing but a breeze swooshing past her ears. There was no acknowledgment. No response. No reply of any sort. It was getting dark fast, and she could no longer see very well. Without a doubt, Gunner wasn’t anywhere near. He had vanished.
“Hey! Gunny! Stop messing around!” She put her hand up to her forehead, as if it would help her focus somehow. She scanned the area in the limited amount of light that the moons provided. About fifty yards back, she swore that she could see him lying on the ground, way back there, holding something in his hand. But it was too dark now. What is that? Is that him? She wasn’t convinced, but it had to be him. Who else? And where was he going?
She began to walk towards the dark, moving figure. It seemed as though she walked forever. And the image that she was following, that she now believed had to be Gunner, seemed to move further and further away from her with every step she took, back in the wrong direction.
What the heck is he doing? Should I go back? I can’t just leave the imbecile out here. But the oasis is back there, she thought.
“Gunner!”
Frustration filled her head. Her eyes grew heavy from the overwhelming effects of excessive agitation that Gunner was causing her, the weakness for which she had not prepared herself. This time, he had gone too far. And now? Why now? On the spur of the moment, she screamed at the sky. “This guy’s ridiculous!” She dropped to her knees and pounded her fist on the ground. “Unbelievable!” She took a deep breath. “Okay. Okay.” Another deep breath. In…out. She stood up and plucked out the embedded little rocks from the side of her hand. Calm down, Tess.
She kept going, upping her pace. There was no way she could leave him. Just keep going, she thought. And finally. There he was. She only had the dim light of the moons, and she could barely see him. It was definitely him, lying on the ground in front of her.
“That’s what I thought. I knew it would catch up to you sooner or later. You should have listened to me and at least had some water.” She tapped his foot with hers. Nothing.
“Gunner! Hey!”
Idiot! Why’d you make me chase you down? I don’t understand you, she thought. She’d definitely have a word with him tomorrow about this crap.
She knew it was time to rest when she suddenly felt her feet throbbing in her sweaty socks. She had passed the state of exhaustion a long time ago. The good thing, she guessed, was the fact that tomorrow would be another day, and they could head out early and arrive there at the river early afternoon. She knew now, unquestionably, that the lushy, rivery place actually existed. She had seen it with her own eyes. Except it wasn’t a river, but rather a huge tranquil lake. So now, maybe she could convince Gunner to eat something, drink something, and recuperate his health. And his sanity.
Tess hovered over him, her hands on her hips, the way her mom used to do it when she was fuming with anger. He was lying there, all huddled up like a rug rat that had finally passed out after a long day of temper tantrums. He still held the two sticks in his hand. The sticks that he had pulled off of that dead tree miles behind them. His leg was bleeding again. Tess couldn’t see it, but when she knelt down and tried to wake him up, she felt the warm, wet blood on her hand as she shook his leg in attempt to get his attention. He’d better wake up, she thought. I’m gonna rip him a new one.
Gunner wasn’t waking up. He was oblivious to the dusty, orange world around him.
Tess clenched her fists in front of her face, driving her elbows up an down. “Ugh!” She threw her fists back down to her sides and stomped her feet. “Fine! Let’s just sleep. We’ll have more energy in the morning anyway, and we’ll keep going, but only after I slap the living hell out of you for what you did to me today. Why did you have to be chosen for this trip?”
“Man, where’s the canteen.” Thirst ravaged Tess’s throat. She had finished off all the water in her own canteen, but Gunner’s was sitting there next to him, untouched. I can’t believe this dude, she thought. She grabbed his canteen, hurriedly unscrewed the cap, took a few gulps of the warm water, and spun the cap back on. She set the canteen back on the ground next to him.
She lay down, carefully placing her head next to his and putting one hand under her face as a pillow. She stared at Gunner’s barely visible silhouette in the darkness, amazed at how the shadows behaved under two moons. She reached over to put her other hand over his, the hand that still held on to the brittle branches from the dead tree back at the crater. “I never understood you, Gunny. I guess I never will.”
Tess quickly fell asleep.
EIGHT
The morning was crisp. The ground was cold. But Tess awoke, feeling as though she had slept okay, she supposed. She sat up and dusted the dirt out of her hair, facing downward and shaking her head. She turned to wish her partner a good morning, then chew his hiney out for what he had done to her the day before, but interrupted herself with
a deep, sleepy yawn. She clumsily stood up and rubbed her swollen, watery eyes.
“I should have brought my toothbrush from the ship. My whole hygiene kit’s back there. Stupid me. Good morning, Gun. Hey, did you bring your…”
Tess rubbed her eyes again, this time with disbelief. She never expected what sharp spear of terror would stab through her chest at that moment. She screeched at the sight that she beheld in front of her. If it were possible to burst her own eardrums, she may have succeeded.
Her hands turned into a vice, squeezing her head from either side. Her nails dug into her temples.
“What’s happening to me? What’s going on?”
Shuddering, she stumbled to her hands and knees and plopped down before she fell. Her cheeks were drenched, and she wiped her tears with her shirt. She could not believe her eyes. The mound of dirt. The two sticks tied together in the shape of a cross, and the smooth, pea-sized rocks that were on top of the pile of dirt that spelled the name:
G-U-N-N-E-R.
She pressed her hands tightly against her mouth. The screams melted down into soft whimpers. She straightened herself back up to step away from the grave, her hand accidentally knocking off the pebbles that formed the G and the U. She knelt back down and rested on her knees. She carefully picked up the small rocks, rolling them around in her hand like an eight-year-old schoolboy preparing to take the winning shot in a game of marbles.
Gunner’s dead?
She held herself steady by placing her hands on the ground, pressing her fingers into the orange dust. She looked around, her eyes bouncing back and forth, as she tried to figure out how in the world this happened. She saw the shiny, silver spacecraft that they had arrived in. Its tail rested in the crater that it had formed during the collision. Its dilated door was still locked open. There was an old tree there. It’s branches were reaching out as if wanting to board the ship. Near the tree, there was a puddle of blood about the size of a dinner plate. Around the puddle were boot prints. And from the boot prints, a path decorated with red dots had been made in the dirt, leading up to the grave in front of her.
She sat there, like grass firmly planted in the ground, staring at the grave with the two gray sticks, until she finally made the decision to place the rocks back where they belonged.
She felt her eyes losing focus. She lifted the makeshift cross and studied it, trying to make sense of what was going on. Why is my head spinning? she thought. Before drifting away entirely, she found herself remembering. She had seen it, hadn’t she? The safe-haven. The promised land. And it was not a dream. She considered Gunner, how he had moved so stealthily, like a ghost. No sound as he walked. No eating. His never-ending energy that came from nowhere. Then disappearing. She shivered as fear engulfed her like water in a cold shower. Tears rolled down her face as she stared at the mound, her eyes wide and shiny.
Indeed it was not a dream.
At that very moment, the hazy memory of Gunner and their trek evaporated from her mind.
As if it had never even happened.
Her eyes closed and subtly quivered as her mind reset.
Tess’s eyes suddenly snapped back open when a fierce, echoing roar pierced her ears, coming from a few yards behind her. It sounded like a shovel scraping across concrete. The cross fell out of her hands. Her eyes regained their focus, and clarity set back into her mind. She looked up and noticed a huge dust devil dissipate into a hand-shaped rock protruding from the orange-hued terrain.
“Son of a… ! Hey, Tess!”
“Why do you have to scream like that? Just give me a minute. I’ll be right there”, she said.
“My leg! I just cut my leg!”
The laceration oozed blood and his entire leg seared with pain. He could hardly negotiate the dry landscape that strobed in and out of focus all around him.
Gunner broke a couple of branches off the tree and pointed at the air in front of him, swinging them back and forth. A madman with a torch, he was. “Is this where we end up? Of all places?” He dusted off his leg around the wound, getting a smear of blood on the palm of his hand. “Look!”
Tess walked over to him. Leaning forward, she put her hands on her knees and examined his leg.
“Pshhh. That’s nothin’. Crybaby!”
“Thanks a lot, Tess!” Sarcasm possessed his voice. “Thanks for caring.”
“Knock it off, Gunny. Just be grateful we’re still alive. Come on. We’d better get going. We should be able to locate our target before dusk.”
Tess Hadfield stood up straight and held out her hand to Gunner, smiling at him. “Here’s your canteen.”
Gunner smiled back. “It’s nice to see you again.”
***
“Each starry night, I lay my weary head next to yours, my dear.
In my solemn rest, memories flee.
But new ones take life in the basement of my mind.
And resurface in their splendor, without a care in the world.
Awake, my friend. Awake.
And let us find our sweet paradise all over again.”
The Girl Who Didn't Wake Up Page 3
