One Goal, Survival> CHAPTER 1

Instructions

I am sprinting through the tall grasses as fast as I can. They’re closing in, I’ve gotten so far… I can't die now. Keep pushing, just a little further. I can hear Hunter huffing behind me. We’re almost there now. As the forest begins to appear in my vision, I try to run faster. Legs pumping, calves burning, throat tight. The base of the large pine tree is in reach. I jump and dig my fingers into the distinct grooves in the bark. From there it’s an easy climb. Hunter, right behind me, seems to have a harder time pulling his weight up the trunk of the tree. He eventually finds a good branch to hold on to and heaves his way up. I’m still shaking. That was too close a call. “Hey, you're ok.” Hunter attempts to calm my nerves. “Im fine” I snap back. It's not my fault that I can't stop shivering. The predators stop at the base of the tree trunk, staring up at us with evil, thirsty eyes. I could swear that they look more like wolves everyday. Finally, my body settling from the initial thrill of the chase, I call out, “Hey there, you glorified slabs of meat! Maybe next time you should stick to chasing after something that won’t outsmart you—like a particularly slow-moving rock. At least then, you'd have a fighting chance!” As I fling my arms out like a magician revealing a bunny that had popped out of a hat. Hunter doesn't seem to find me amusing. “I think I heard one of the preds growl-” I joke as I bump his shoulder. Hunter scowled. “How can you be joking right now!? We almost got KILLED Alex!” “See the keyword there is ‘almost’ we almost got killed” I point out. He just sighs before leaning back on the tree branch behind him. I do the same. It's surprisingly comfortable ignoring the fact that there's a particularly pointy piece of barking jabbing into my back. I shift my position, but it’s no more comfortable than the first. I sit up and run my fingers through my long golden brown hair. Fingers get stuck on a snarl. I use my fingers to comb it out. I assumed this is how mothers would do it. After a while of combing, I glance over at Hunter. He’s looking at me, but when he sees my gaze set upon him he quickly darts his eyes away. I get up, crawl my way over to him, and put my head in his lap. He stiffens at first, before relaxing again. It's night now, and we both look at the stars. “There's the Big Dipper,” I point out in the sky. He looks up to, and just stares at it for a long time. No words need to be spoken for each of us to know that the sky is the most beautiful thing you can see on or from Earth. Mixed colors of Blues, Purples, and Blacks surround the shining stars. “Only our luck that we got stuck down here on Earth instead of up there… somewhere…” Hunter motions with his hands. “True,” I respond, “I always wanted to party with aliens.” This time he laughs before lifting his fingers and tracing around my face. Lips, eyes, nose, chin, his finger dances over every one of them. My breathing shallows as I look up at his face. Right now, we are the only ones keeping each other alive. I have no idea what I would do without him. I sit up, interrupting his fingers tracing my face, and wrap my arms around his neck. Thankful that he’s real. With me, right now. He hugs me back, and we just stay like that for a while. At last, one of us speaks. “I was scared today, and I’m sorry for getting mad and-” Hunter starts, but I cut him off by planting a finger to his lips. “It’s fine. I guess I was a little scared too.” He smiles, places a gentle kiss on the top of my forehead. “I knew it.” I laugh before saying, “I know. Now lets get some sleep, It’s past my bed time.” I joke. Yet still, I fall asleep in minutes.