Plan(et) B [Short Story]

The Promise

"Talia?" Avery wondered again, staggering to her feet.

"We need to move! Can you walk on your own?" Talia called back amid the noise of stampeding dune bugs as they run towards Beta Dome.

"Talia? What are you doing here?"

"Can you walk?"

"Yes," Avery said, stumbling on her first step. She quickly got up however and began running again. She turned back to Talia. "What are you doing here?"

"Follow me!"

"That's not the way to Beta!"

"Avery! Follow me! Please!"

Avery did. They ran for a while, dodging dune bugs and the few inmates who thought it would be a good idea to come after them. Talia dispatched of them fast with her stun gun, which seemed to have an unlimited number of cartridges. It dissuaded others from trying to come after them. Avery wondered if they knew who it was underneath the helmet of the person helping her.

No one followed them after a while. Not even the bugs. They were more interested in the pile of stunned and immobile inmates rather than these two lost souls.

"Where are we..." started Avery.

"There!" Talia replied, pointing to a patch of quicksand, denoted by its distinct lighter hue of green.

Avery stopped. "That's quicksand, Talia."

Talia stopped too and turned to face Avery. "Trust me."

Talia offered her hand to Avery. Avery took a deep breath and accepted the hand. They ran straight into the quicksand and began to sink. Avery fought, struggling against the inevitable. Talia grabbed her shoulders.

"Stop. Don't fight it," Talia said. She had that same look in her face that she did when she asked Avery to trust her.

Avery nodded and tried to stay calm as the sand swallowed her and Talia.

After a few seconds of sinking, where Avery panicked at the thought of drowning in sand, the ground gave way to space. Though it was a short distance, the fall still hurt. Avery grabbed her back in pain as she tried to stand up in the cave. Talia was standing up beside her, her hand against her head. There was a crack in her helmet. Avery looked up and saw the swirling mass of quicksand above their heads.

"Is it hollow beneath all quicksand?" Avery asked.

"Only in certain areas," Talia answered. She started walking away. "Come on. We don't have much time."

"Where are we going?"

"Anywhere you want. I have a ship."

Avery turned around and pointed to a small path opposite to the one Talia was heading towards.

"What's there?" Avery asked.

"That'll take you back up onto the desert. Back to the dune run."

Avery nodded and started walking towards that small path, heading back to the dune run.

"Avery? What are you doing?"

Avery stopped and turned to face Talia.

"I'm not going anywhere with you, Talia."

It was as if the words physically hit Talia. She took a step back.

"What?"

"I'm not coming with you."

"Avery, if you go back, you die. I'm here to save you. Let me. Please."

"I'm here because of you, Talia," Avery replied. "You brought me here. I had no say in the matter."