Utopia

by L. J. Higgins

  “Can you guys hear that?” asked Vega, stopping again.

  “Is it back?” Fletcher's voice wobbled as he spoke.

  “I hear it too. It sounds like the rain, but a tonne of it.” Braven cocked an eyebrow and peered through the rainforest surrounding us.

  “Is it another one of the guard's contraptions?” I questioned with an audible swallow.

  “No, it's different. Come with me, you lot are going to love this.” Lark's grin spread wider across his face and he stepped out of the creek and scaled up an embankment.

  “Do you think he's lost it again?” asked Fletcher.

  “Don't think so, he's still got a sane look in his eyes.” Shrugged Braven.

  “What are you lot waiting for? Come on!” Lark called from above us.

  I lifted my left hand, palm up. “I say we check it out.”

  We all followed Lark's lead, scrambling up the dirt embankment. Fletcher and Domino climbed up first so I could give Maya a push with my good arm from the bottom. They pulled on her arms until she was on the ledge. I clawed my own way up using the footholds made from the rest of the group.

  At the top, I dusted my filthy hand off on my pants and looked up to find Fletcher and the others staring down wide-eyed and mouths hanging open. Lark's proud grin had spread wider across his face.

  “That's amazing,” uttered Vega.

  Turning to work out what they were all staring at I fell into the same stupor. Across from us, water poured over the side of the hill, cascading down smooth rocks and splashing into the pool at the bottom of the drop off. The pool spread out over at least twenty long strides, and the water was crystal clear.

  “Who wants to go swimming?” asked Lark.

  “I do,” beamed Domino latching onto Lark's arm.

  “We don't know how to swim,” said Fletcher looking at me, his eyes no longer amazed but fearful.

  “It's been a good sixteen years since I've done it, but I'm sure we can work it out. Come on, if you're on Earth, you need to experience this.” With a little skip in his step, Lark took off along the side of the ledge which lowered down towards the pool of water.

  We all followed him until we got to the gravel beach below. There was a small ledge of rocks and boulders before the water dropped off deep. Silver fish darted away as Lark and Domino jogged into the water, splashing us all in the process. It was cold and fresh. My body was so sick of being drenched in sweat and rain, a dip in a natural bathtub would be nice.

  “What have we got to lose?” I asked with a shrug.

  “Oh, I don't know? Our lives, maybe?” said Fletcher.

  “You aren't afraid of a little water now, are you, Fletcher?” teased Braven.

  “No, of course not.” Fletcher puffed out his chest.

  “How about you? You keen for a dip?” Braven wriggled his eyebrows at me, irritating Vega.

  “Well, I don't know about you lot, but I'm going in.” Vega stared at Braven as she peeled off her singlet, revealing a black bra pushing up her cleavage. She wriggled out of her long pants until she stood in front of us in only her underwear. Her white stomach was a stark contrast against her arms and face, which had been darkening over the past few days. It was the first time some of our skin had ever had to deal with the harsh heat of the sun.

  I turned to find Braven with his tongue almost hanging out of his head. Vega gave him a flirtatious smirk before flipping her red plait over her shoulder and strutting into the water. I had to give it to her, the girl knew how to get a guy's attention.

  “Okay, that's enough motivation for me.” He didn't look away from her as he peeled off his own clothing until he stood in his boxers. I'd been able to tell he was well built from the sheer size of his massive arms, but I couldn't have imagined the ripple of muscle that was his stomach. He ran in after Vega, tackling her into the water as she screamed.

  “Great, no way I'm getting my gear off now,” said Fletcher.

  “Come on, Fletch, I'm sure you have a great body.” I tried to be supportive, but my strained smile didn't convince him.

  “Yeah, you shouldn't worry. We're all friends here.” Maya smiled as she sat on a boulder beside us to rest.

  “Right. That's why you two ladies were drooling when Braven peeled his shirt off,” he groaned.

  “What? We can appreciate a hunk of a man when we see it,” said Maya with a cheeky grin.

  I smiled. “You can't tell us you weren't checking out Vega?”

  His grumpiness faltered, and a smile tugged at the edge of his mouth. “Okay, but I'm male. It's in our genes.”

  “Uh-huh,” I said. “Well I don't know about you two, but I'm not passing up this opportunity. It could be the last time in a long time we get to wash off. And I stink.” I sniffed at my shirt and gagged a little as I caught a whiff of a mixture of sweat, damp and dirt.

  “Yeah, you do. I didn't want to say anything, but…” started Fletcher.

  “Oh, and you smell like daisies and perfume, do you?” I replied, my hand on my hip.

  “You may have a point. You going to wash off, Maya? You need a hand?” Fletcher asked.

  Maya and I cringed at his suggestion.

  “Did you seriously ask your sister if you could bathe her?” I asked.

  “Yeah, Fletch, I love you but that's creepy,” added Maya.

  “Screw you two. I'm trying to be the nice guy, and you throw it in my face. Now turn around so I can take off my shirt and run into the water.” Fletcher flicked his hand out, beckoning me to turn around.

  “Are you serious? Don't be stupid. It's not like you haven't seen me half-naked,” I said.

  Maya's eyes widened, but I cut her off before she could speak. “He patched me up when the glass cut open my side.”

  She nodded, but her dumb grin didn't fade.

  “How about we get undressed together,” I suggested.

  Maya shook her head, still smiling. I chose to ignore her. Fletcher didn't help. He wriggled his eyebrows at me. I shook my head and removed my sling before peeling my sweat-soaked shirt from my body, over my sore arm and head. I dropped it on top of my sling on the pebbled ground, my neck appreciating having the weight of my arm off it. Stepping on the heel of my boots, I pulled my feet out in turn, and I swear my feet sighed with relief. I yanked off both socks, assessing my poor feet which still had five toes each, before unclipping my utility belt and sliding off my long pants. I raised to full height, standing only in my underwear and my pendant resting against my chest.

  “I might take these all with me and give them a good wash out…” I looked up to find Fletcher standing shirtless and staring at me, eyes wide.

  My cheeks flushed pink at the realisation that I was standing in front of my best friend in my underwear. “What? Is it my scar?” A white line ran from my ribs down my side from the glass slicing me the night I'd escaped through my bathroom window.

  “Way to make a girl self-conscious, Fletcher,” said Maya with a laugh. “I thought you'd seen her half-naked before. What on Utopia did you think she looked like?”

  “Umm, I don't know. I was busy worrying about the huge slice in her side.” He looked to the ground before taking his own pants off and shooting Maya a 'how embarrassing' cringe. “You want a hand taking off your necklace?”

  “Yes please, I'm not sure if I should get it wet,” I replied and turned as he approached.

  Fletcher unclasped my necklace and handed it to Maya.

  “I'll wash everyone's clothes from the side. I'll bathe, but I'm not up for swimming. Be careful with your arm, Aurora.” Maya stood to scoop up our clothes and move closer to the water.

  “Thanks, Maya,” I said before walking towards the water's edge myself.

  The stones were rough on my soft and sore feet, but the moment they were in the water, the icy coldness made them relax and become numb. Domino and Lark swam out towards the waterfall while Vega and Braven were splashing each other near the drop off.

  “You coming in, or are you chicken
like Fletcher?” called Vega.

  “I'm coming, I'm coming. I didn't expect it to be so cold,” I replied.

  Fletcher arrived at my side. “Hear that? She's been whining about how hot and sweaty she is, and now she hates the cold. They say Elites are soft.”

  Fletcher waded out to where Vega and Braven stood, waiting for me to dive in. They could stare and tease me all they wanted. I wasn't giving into peer pressure.

  At my own pace, I waded in deeper and deeper until the water was over my belly button and crept up towards my bra. A shiver ran over my body at the chill, but it was refreshing and soothed my aches and pains. I eased my way down until the water was up to my armpits.

  “This is the weirdest but coolest feeling,” I said.

  “Right? It's like you're weightless,” said Braven.

  “You? Even with all those ridiculous muscles? What's with your muscles anyways? Trying to make scrawny guys like me look bad?” said Fletcher.

  “No, they're big to compensate for his…” began Vega.

  Braven shot her a glare and she laughed.

  “What? I was going to say lack of smarts.” She gave him a shrug.

  “Sure you were. And that's not any better, by the way,” he said.

  “Hey, are you lot going to try to swim out here? This waterfall is incredible,” Lark called out from underneath the falls. Water cascaded over him, and I wished my arm wasn't so weak.

  “I can't, but you guys can.” I raised my arm a little. It was much better floating in the water, it'd been pretty sore all day.

  “You want to try?” Vega asked Braven. “You might sink with all those muscles.”

  “I'll try my luck.” He pushed off the ledge with Vega right behind him.

  What happened next was the funniest thing I'd ever seen, funnier even than Lark's hands dangling by Braven's butt. Lark yelled out instructions as Braven and Vega attempted to swim towards him. They paddled their arms and kicked their legs beneath them. Braven's butt must've been full of air because it kept wanting to float on top of the water, pushing his face under the surface. Vega had a better technique, but the strain in her face to keep it above the water was hilarious. Her eyes were stretched wide and she'd puckered her lips to the side. Fletcher, Maya and I didn't hold back. We laughed so hard at the ridiculous sight, I swore Maya snorted.

  “Yeah, you're laughing now,” panted Braven as they reached the waterfall, “but you're missing out on this.”

  “It's okay. I think I can live with that after seeing you two,” replied Fletcher.

  I sank under the water to soak my face and hair. The coolness seeped through to my scalp, and the weightlessness consumed my whole body. I opened my eyes and watched fish dart past me. A bubble rose from my mouth as I ran out of breath. I pushed my head above the water with a splutter.

  “What are you trying to do? Drown yourself?” Fletcher asked.

  “You should try it, it feels cool,” I replied.

  “No thanks. I'll give my face a splash, but that's enough for me. If we were supposed to swim and be underwater, we would've been born with fins and gills,” he argued.

  “Right, but you were okay with flying?” I asked.

  “That was different,” he replied.

  A scream from Vega caught our attention as she and Braven clung to each other, attempting to keep afloat. Neither of them were floating. Instead they were pushing each other below the surface.

  “Get to the side, you idiots, you're going to drown each other,” cried Lark.

  Lark swam over to pry Braven off Vega and helped him make it to the side and hold on to a rock. Domino was laughing too hard to say a word.

  “They remind me of us sometimes, you know,” said Fletcher.

  “How? Vega and I might both have red hair, but hers will fade out by the time we get to Eden. And no offence, you don't exactly have Braven's stature.” I poked him in the stomach.

  He jumped out of my reach. “That's not what I mean. The way they talk to each other, nice one minute, teasing the next…”

  “Yeah but we don't have the whole jealousy thing. If they like each other, I don't know why they don't do something about it. We're on Earth, anything could happen. We could die tomorrow…”

  “Wow, that's inspiring,” he said.

  “You know what I mean. They should make the most of the time they have, pull their heads out of their own butts and hook up.” I splashed him with a handful of water.

  He flinched as it sprinkled across his face. “Really? You think it's that simple.”

  I'd lost my dad and my mum, if only I'd had more time, maybe I could've found out the truth about my birth parents. I could've built a relationship and tried to understand my mum instead of resenting her. I could've learned about the rebels and what Dad was trying to achieve instead of piecing it together with random bits of information from people I hardly knew. But they were taken from me too early, and I didn't get to do any of it. If I had the time again, I'd make sure nothing was left unsaid. “Yeah, I do. Life's short. You need to live every day like it could be your last.”

  Fletcher stared at me for a moment as though in deep thought. I imagined he was thinking about his own family, the people he'd lost.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  “Yeah, I'm fine.” He gave me a half-hearted smile before sinking beneath the water himself.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Maya rose to her feet and stared at the sky over the rainforest, catching my attention. She narrowed her eyes before they widened again.

  “Maya, what is it?” I called out, wading towards the shore.

  “Choppers, I think I hear choppers,” she called out, scooping up the clothing she'd rinsed and spread out to dry.

  “You lot, find somewhere to hide, we won't get in, in time. We'll hide behind the falls,” Lark yelled as they all swam towards the cascading water.

  Fletcher grabbed hold of my right hand as I struggled to clamber out of the water and race to where Maya stood with our clothing.

  “Fletch, grab the bags, I'll grab the water.” I picked up a bottle of water and hugged it with my sore arm. I picked up the other bottle and chased after Maya, who'd found a space between two large boulders.

  Maya ducked down and crawled in, the sound of the choppers' blades echoing through the rainforest. Fletcher followed her, pushing the bags through, then as I reached the opening he reached back for me to pass him the bottles. Pain shot through my shoulder; I'd hurt it again, but I ignored it as I scrambled to crawl into the small space. On the other side was a small opening, like a tiny cave, big enough for the three of us to cram ourselves inside.

  Standing up, I found myself pressed between the dirt and rock wall and Fletcher's half-naked body. My eyes met his as I held my breath, hoping the people in the helicopters hadn't spotted us.

  The sound grew louder and louder as they drew closer, echoing around our small hideout. My hands gravitated towards my ears, sending a pain rushing from my shoulder down into my elbow. I flinched and squeezed my eyes shut. Thoughts of the helicopter spotting the others huddled under the waterfall threatened to break me until pressure pressed against my ears, dulling the noise from outside.

  Opening my eyes, I met Fletcher's gaze. He'd pressed his hands to my ears, shielding them from the onslaught. Maya sat on the ground behind him, her knees pulled up to her chest. She clenched her jaw and stared out the small opening of our hideout.

  I wasn't sure how long we waited there after the sound of the chopper disappeared into the distance. Fletcher let his hands drop from my ears and helped Maya to her feet without a word.

  “Maya? Aurora?” Lark called out from the other side of our hideout.

  My shoulders relaxed and I let out a loud breath. They hadn't been caught.

  “In here, Lark, we're in here,” replied Maya, a relieved smile spreading across her face.

  She pulled Fletcher into a tight hug, making him wince before bundling up our clothes once again and crawling outsi
de.

  “You okay?” asked Fletcher looking me over.

  “Yes. Thanks for blocking out the sound. I don't know why they get to me like they do,” I said.

  “Because they're loud and horrible, that's why. They mustn't have ever heard of stealth, thankfully for us,” he replied.

  I smiled, appreciating him covering up my overreaction to their noise. “Thanks, Fletch.”

  “It's what I'm here for. You didn't think I came just to look good, did you?” He grinned.

  “No, that's what I thought Braven was here for,” I mimicked his smile.

  “Ouch.” He held his hand over his heart in mock pain, but I couldn't help but notice the hint of disappointment in his eyes.

  “You two okay?” Domino called through the opening.

  “Yeah, grabbing our stuff. Can we pass it through to you?” I replied, grabbing one of the bottles of water.

  Fletcher climbed halfway through, and between us we passed the bags and water out into the opening before I scrambled through behind him. Outside, I drew in a deep breath. All of this creeping through tiny spaces and camping in the pitch dark was starting to make me feel less afraid of small spaces and the dark. But for some reason, I couldn't handle the sound of those choppers. It wasn't so much the sound, it was the feeling they gave me. A rush of anxiety coursing through my veins. I shook myself to shake the sensation.

  “Here, your clothes are pretty much dry,” Maya passed me my clothes, as everyone else was already pulling there's on. “Unless of course you're enjoying the whole half-naked gig?”

  “Yeah, Aurora, we're more than happy for you to walk the rest of the way in your underwear.” Braven winked at Vega earning himself a glare.

  My cheeks flushed hot as I pulled on my clothes and slid my arm back in its sling. My shoulder relaxed as it took the weight off my arm, the ache growing duller. Sitting down, I groaned as I stared at my sore feet. I didn't want to put my socks and shoes on. The blisters were white and red, and I knew they would have to settle back into my shoes. I whispered a silent, 'sorry' to my toes as I pulled my socks and shoes on and rose to my feet. Maya helped me clip the necklace back around my neck.