A/N: Conrad was found in the last chapter. There was a typo with Oscar's name instead.

  KYLE'S P.O.V

  Something cold and damp brushed against my visor. I instinctively reached up to move whatever it was, and quickly realized my arm wouldn't move. In a mix of grogginess and pain, I opened my eyes to see why.

  I found myself in the middle of a tree, still strapped to my seat… Above me, a ripped and tattered parachute howled around in the intense rain. The parachute cords had been cut and tangled and now surrounded me like a group of bloodthirsty snakes, restricting almost all of my movement. Rain came falling from everywhere, soaking my fur with freezing cold results. My helmet was gone, and I didn't have a clue where it went.

  And all I could think was how did I even get here? Last I ever saw was that I was in the Adastra, things went dark, and I thought I was going to die… did I die? What about Conrad? Was he alright?

  Had I died, I probably wouldn't be in a tree right now, which answers that question. But I still don't remember ejecting. It couldn't have been done automatically, at least I didn't think it could.

  Below, the ground lay waiting for me. From where I was, it was maybe a 9 or 10 meter drop to get down. The idea of falling that far wasn't great, but the only way out of this tree was going down.

  In order to even get down, I had to get myself untangled first. This would have been easy with a knife, but go figure, the only knife I could use, along with survival supplies, was attached to the back of the chair.

  The chair swayed back in fourth as it was pushed around within the tree. The ends of branches poked into my sides no matter which direction I tried shifting myself towards.

  In front of me, a small branch kept coming back and hitting my visor. I tried tilting my head but it was no use, until I tried grabbing the branch using my mouth to stop it from hitting me. The shape of my visor didn't make this easy, I had a short and round visor when compared to Lucas or Michael.

  I timed the movement of the branch so as it came closer, I was able to reach forward and chomp on it. As I did so, I heard a light snapping noise come from the branch. Then an idea struck me, much harder than the branch had.

  I could use the branch to leverage the parachute cords off my arms! I bit even harder on the side of the branch with a newfound determination. With as much movement as I could get out of my neck, I flailed my head around as quickly as I could to get the branch to break. It snapped more and more and I could feel it begin to give way. I readjusted my bite and gave a final tug, disconnecting a small piece of branch from the rest of the tree.

  I immediately took the end of the branch and began pushing it past my shoulder and down my arm. After I got it past most of the cords securing my arm, I once again bit the end of the stick and moved it as far to the side as I could.

  The cords began to untighten, and I was finally able to loosen my arm. I desperately wiggled my arm, and along with moving the stick as much as I could, I managed to slither one of my arms free from the rope's grasp.

  With my arm now free, I was able to reach behind the seat and grab the handle of a small survival knife.

  The knife wasn't very big, but it could still cut. I cut the rest of the cords that were around my other arm and legs, including some that had gotten wrapped around my chest.

  I now had much better access to my seat harness. I pressed the center pad of the harness, making it unbuckled. Now that I'm free of my parachute entrapment, I now had to find a way to get down.

  If I lean forwards and simply jump out, I'll probably eat dirt the hardest I ever will in my life. Alternatively I could stay up here and end up with hypothermia.

  I sat and thought… What if I climb down? Not necessarily by the branches, I'll eat dirt one way or another trying to do that, but if I used a piece of one of the parachute cords, I could just slide down holding onto that.

  I took one of the cords I had cut and tied one end of it to a grab handle on the seat. I then joined another length of cord to this so it would be long enough to reach the ground.

  With my makeshift rope complete, I was ready to slide down. Before I did this final act, I reached back behind the chair to get any extra supplies I could use.

  To my astonishment, there was only 1 survival bag. No emergency pistol, no rations, just a small bag with a blanket and firestarters.

  Then I realized that all perishables, including rations and energy pistols, which could become unstable in long term storage, would have been removed after the Adastra was decommissioned.

  I slung the only bag around my shoulder before I gripped the rope. I held on for dear life as I pushed myself off the chair. Within moments I was quickly picking up speed towards the ground. I tightened my grip on the cord, but with the bulky gloves I had on, it didn't slow me down much. As the ground got closer, I bent my legs for the impact.

  With uncomfortable speed, my legs hit the ground. I threw myself to the side as this happened and began a short roll to stop the fall completely. I landed in a pile of mud, which helped in the end.

  I couldn't help but laugh. My great flight to space ended with me army rolling into a pile of mud. Amelia would have been proud of me.

  Now that I was on the ground and not halfway in a tree, the rain didn't seem to be as bad. My head was still soaked, though. And the thunder… it was still loud and annoying.

  I took a seat at the base of the tree I had just been trapped in, and I began to rummage through the survival bag. Some basic firestarters, a small thermal blanket, and… that was it. No radio, no food, water or anything else useful.

  The firestarter, at the very least, could work in rain. It was a simple metallic disk that was capable of lighting itself on fire. Even without kindling, the starter could create a very warm flame.

  All you had to do was set the disk on the ground and firmly hold the sides of it with both hands. I did the steps, and within seconds a nice little flame was emitted from the disk.

  It was a good time to get myself out of the rain. I noticed some nearby trees, which would be useful. I took the thermal blanket and tied it between the trees, which provided some half decent shelter.

  I could already feel myself starting to doze off… I tried to fight it, but after 5 or 10, or maybe 15 minutes, I began to lose. I closed my eyes as the soothing sound of rain thumped against the leaves.

  THE NEXT MORNING

  The whooshing of wind through countless trees echoed throughout the forest. A calm was casted on everything. The rain and thunder was replaced by sunshine.

  I rolled off the tree root I had fallen asleep on. It wasn't a great bed and I felt terribly sore as a result. I let out a well needed stretch as I got up off the ground.

  I already felt hungry, but my food options were limited… actually nonexistent. If I was right that this was an alien planet and not Aureon, I didn't know if any plants were even edible to me.

  And staying right here wouldn't do any good either. Yeah, I understand that once you're lost, you should stay put. But I'm WAY past that point now. Conrad is probably out here somewhere, and finding him was the only thing I could do now.

  I took down my little shelter along with the firestarter and neatly packed them into their bag. I had a rough idea of which direction was which based on the position of the sun. I figured if I kept going in some direction, I'd hit a stream or something.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  With the bag on my shoulder, I began my trek into the unknowns of this forest.

  5 HOURS LATER.

  I've found a trail… I've been following it for the last few miles. Based on various tracks on the ground, it's well traveled.

  The sun was high up in the sky, it must have been noon or shortly past it. I still haven't found any sign of Conrad, or the EX-5's crew.

  And as far as food went, I still haven't found anything that's been edible. I crossed by a small stream which gave me some water at the very least.

  You know, something I've noticed with this planet is just how green it is. The grass, the trees, everything. It was all alive. Back on Aureon, we had trees and grass, but they just weren't as vivid as the ones here. It could be from different levels of oxygen, or from the simple wow factor… or maybe both.

  Sunlight still flooded through all the vegetation, it was incredibly pleasant.

  Far up ahead on the trail, a large, unimpeded patch of sunlight shone through like a beacon. It caught my attention, as if calling to me. I picked up my pace down the path, eager to find out more.

  The patch only got brighter, and as I neared closer, the sky became visible through the trees.

  I stopped in the middle of it, staring upwards toward the sky. The trees above had been ripped apart. When I followed the direction of the damage…

  The EX-5.

  It was here. In this little forest. Like a wounded beast, it sat quietly amongst the trees and mud. As if sleeping, waiting for its next moment to strike.

  A wave of anxiety washed over me upon the sight. My legs suddenly felt weak, and that I would fall any second. But it didn't matter. I stepped closer, and stepped again. Before I knew it, I was running towards the fallen craft, jumping over broken tree limbs and wreckage.

  “MICHAEL!” I yelled, waving my arms frantically as I neared. “ANYONE! I'M HERE!” Nobody was though…

  Well, I was wrong… to a gut wrenching degree. At the base of one of the surrounding trees, sat a mound of dirt with a cracked white helmet. No, it couldn't be, I thought. No…

  But when I went to see it closer for myself, it was indeed a grave… the bloodied helmet was Wilkinsons. Scott Wilkinsons.

  I was silent, not even a thought could enter my mind. It had happened, someone was killed. I wanted to save everyone. But here was the reminder that wasn't going to happen.

  I never even knew Scott personally. But what I did know was people loved him. There is someone who will wake up without him and not be happy…

  “I will save them…” I said, shaking.

  I backed away slowly, unwilling to disturb him any further. I turned towards the ship itself. It was in better condition than It's surroundings. A torn tail, landing gear, and a giant gash in its side. It was pockmarked, like it was hit point blank by a shotgun.

  The worry in my chest came to a peak, where were the other graves? Nobody should have survived this. But it was here… and it landed. At the very least Lucas or the commander Would have had to survived for this to be the case.

  I circled around to the front where I found some confirmation of my theory. The emergency egress had been blown out and a now deflated slide was in its place.

  The cargo hatch had been opened and bits of supplies had been littered everywhere. I made my way over to the hatch where I found a ladder going up into the cargo bay.

  I looked toward the dimly lit abyss that was above me. With some hesitation, I took hold of the ladder and pulled myself up it. After a few short steps I was in the cargo bay. The only light came from a large hole, the giant gash that was on the fuselage. The cargo bay was a mess. Everything had been rummaged through or broken completely.

  I had to get to the crew compartment. Near the floor on the bulkhead, the faint outline of a small hatch could be seen. I crawled towards it and tugged it open.

  A thick metallic odor hit my nose, making me wrinkle my head back. What the heck?

  I forced myself through the hatch and into the crew area. More light streamed in through the large windscreen, which was evidently cracked just as bad as the Adastra's had been.

  The absolute carnage of this compartment could not have been described… Everything was red. Every. Single. Surface. The metal I could smell wasn't from the spacecraft, but from blood.

  I hated to think what truly happened. What was it that led to this?

  I made my way up towards the commander and pilot seat. I briefly ran my hand across the controllers, indecisive of what to do.

  After I looked, I found one of the circuit breakers to the cockpit avionics computers. I flipped it, which led to a cascade of screens coming to life. Unlike the adastra, this thing actually used screens.

  From Lucas's seat, I brought up the EX-5’s log. After their failed jump, things went as I expected. They tried to call for help and troubleshoot.

  As I looked further, things worsened. At some point, the go-ahead for an EVA was given. It was Scott and Michael. A voice recording was also present.

  “Oh fuck!”

  “Report?”

  “You good there, michael?”

  “A large chunk of debris just went by!”

  “What-”

  “Hey, we need to get inside now!”

  Many small pings could be heard, and they would slowly get louder.

  “We have multiple hull impacts, everyone get your helmets!”

  A giant bang was heard before the recording momentarily cut off.

  “FUCK! LUCAS IS OUT!”

  “Where are the guys!”

  “SCOTT! MICHAEL! COME IN!”

  “I cant- I can't get the spin under control!”

  “I'm slipping out of my seat harness!”

  “VITA! Hold on, i'll help y-”

  The recording came to an unexpected stop. My only guess was it lost power, inevitably done by one of the impacts.

  Was this really how Scott met his end? What about Michael… my beloved Michael. He was with him. He couldn't have been killed, could he?

  No, I didn't want that. I didn't want to think it. It couldn't be true.

  I shut down the computers and turned back to get out. I didn't like what I saw. I was concerned. Disgusted. And I was scared.

  A small flipped open panel caught my eye as I neared the little hatch to the cargo bay. Inside the opening had some survival supplies that had been taken out. However, a pistol remained.

  I double checked, 1 pistol. 5 others are gone. It looked more and more that Scott was the only casualty. The others must have been alive.

  I eagerly took the pistol for myself, but checked it carefully. It was fully charged.

  Now that I was armed with more than a knife, I went back through the hatch to the cargo bay. It never occurred to me to look through any of the crates, it looked like they'd already been sifted through.

  I slid back down the ladder, hitting the dirt once again.

  A low dragging noise permeated the air, catching my attention. Through some distant trees, I noticed a cloud of dust quickly approaching.

  Fuck! Somebody is coming. I bolted off towards a nearby tree without much thought. It wasn't my best idea to go hide behind it, but with a gun, anything could work.

  I stood rigid behind the tree with the pistol clutched to my chest, I really didn't know what to be expecting.

  The vehicle that was coming down the trail came to a stop not far from where I was. Its engine was shut off and was followed by the slamming of a door.

  I peaked my head over the side and saw a white truck… and a person, the driver I guessed, inspecting the EX-5.

  They had a weird head. It was kind of ugly. No visor, nothing. Just a long mouth. And they seemed busy talking on a phone or something like that.

  “Wait what did you want me to get? …No, I don't know what that is. Why couldn't you have sent Garrett with me? …Tell him he can check on Michael later, he's been completely fine since he woke up- Yes I swear I won't take any photos… Goodbye? But I don't even know what-”

  “Hell,” the person said, “yeah, send me out alone to find some niche alien metal and then not tell me what it is..”

  Michael? Did it just say Michael? It had to have known where the crew was!

  Like predator and prey I focused on the creature. I withdrew from the cover of the tree with the pistol drawn, prepared to fire it. I slowly crept up to whomever this thing was.

  They had their back turned to me, busy inspecting some large flake of metal on the ground. I raised the gun to their head.

  “Do not move. I will kill you. Where are they?” I asked slowly.

  The person froze, and I heard a slight gasp.

  “WHERE IS THE CREW!” I yelled, “ANSWER ME!”

  The person slowly rose upwards. They turned towards me, avoiding any sudden movements. The thing looked at me with a surprised expression…

  “Kyle, isn't it?” The creature asked.

  “How do you-” I stuttered, “just tell me where the crew is or I'll be the last thing you ever see!”

  It slowly raised its arms, “They are all okay, including Conrad. We found him yesterday… put the gun down. I know there isn't anything in that.”

  I pointed the gun towards the sky and pulled the trigger, releasing a short jet of plasma into the air.

  The creature looked taken aback, “Oh-” it said, “Just put that down, I'll take you to them.”

  “Where.” I asked sharply.

  “Down the trail. 10 minutes away.” He said, pointing towards the way he had come.

  “Take me to them. Do anything stupid and I will shoot you.” I said.

  The creature nodded and gestured towards the truck. I got the message and followed him towards it. “I'm Oscar,” it said, “Conrad and Michael have told me about you… Everyone, uh, thinks that you are dead.”

  I remained silent with my gun still pointed at it. I found the door latch and opened, getting into the passenger seat of the truck.

  Oscar got into the driver's seat and started the truck, and we began driving down towards the path.

  “Could you stop pointing that at me?” it asked.

  “Shut up.” I said.

  “Do you guys have seatbelts on your planet? Because if I hit the brakes, you'll go flying into the glove compartment.” said Oscar, pointing towards my unbuckled seat belt.

  Point taken, I slowly lowered the gun away from Oscar.

  The truck barreled down the path until we cleared the forest. It quickly went from trees to grassy fields.

  Among the large fields was a white farmhouse. As we neared, my stomach began to feel queasy. The truck pulled to a stop outside the front of the house.

  “They are here.” He said, opening his door. “Go. Go see them.” He said, pointing at the house.

  I followed suit and quickly made my way to the door. I reached toward the handle… What would I say?

  I twisted the handle and pushed the door open. I cautiously walked inside, still holding the pistol. Inside, I at first didn't see anyone. I began to think it was a trap.

  But it was not. Among the couches, Vita sat nestled against some pillows with her tablet in her hands.

  She looked up to see who had come in the door, when she made eye contact with me, her expression was pure shock.

  “Where is he?” I asked quietly.

  But she just stared at me, unable to say a single word.

  Useless, I thought. I was happy to see her, see her well, but I wanted to see Michael and Lucas. They were the only ones I wanted to see.

  I moved past her, venturing deeper into the house. I found what looked like a dining room, where I saw another one of the weird creatures sitting at the table.

  “Where… is Michael.” I said, haphazardly waving the pistol around my waist.

  The creature looked at me blankly. “Good lord… he said you were gone!”

  I'm not gone, you idiot! I'm standing right here! I just want my friends!

  “..Lucas and Michael are at the end of the hall” said the creature, likely sensing the end of my patience.

  I didn't waste any more of my time in the dining room and immediately searched for the hallway. I circled back towards the living room where Vita was, and found the hallway. I was already heading down in before Vita had the time to question me.

  I found an open door at the end of the hallway. I pushed the door open all the way…

  Michael was on a bed, busy reading something. Lucas was messing around on a laptop while in an undersized armchair.

  I could feel a tear forming… I had so many emotions.

  Michael saw me in the doorway… He ran through just as many emotions as I, and you could see it.

  I stepped towards him, crying. He wrapped his arms around me when I was close enough, lifting me up towards the bed. He didn't say anything. He just hugged me as tight as he could.

  “I tried” I said between light sobs, “Everyone thought you all died!”

  “And I thought I wouldn't see you again..” Michael said softly.

  Lucas had jumped out of the armchair, “KYLE!” He said surprised. “How! Conrad said… he said you were lost with the adastra-”

  It didn't matter. I was with my friends.

  Heavy footsteps came crashing through the hallway. Conrad frantically slammed into the doorframe, looking like he'd been running for a month non stop.

  “YOU'RE ALIVE!” He said out of breath, “I never saw you eject..”

  “Don't… care.” I said. I was already drifting off into sleep before I felt the commotion of even more people entering the room.

  End of chapter 17

  R.I.P. the split story arc. You were weird to write while you lasted.

  authors note: I aimed for a 2,500 word chapter and finished a 3 800 word chapter instead. This was done in a week. You all are welcome. Mentally, I'm just as tired of writing this chapter as Kyle is, which ironically made the ending easier to write.

  Have questions, concerns or recommendations? Leave a comment below! I love reading comments.

  See you all in chapter 18!