Catching Starlight (America Countryhumans Fanfic)

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

“Bold”- TV broadcast
Bold- Computer Program
Normal- America

  I would have called this dejavu, but the fact that I was in the exact same situation I'd been in just a few days earlier. Tromping through the woods with knife in hand and sweating and swearing as branched slapped me in the face. I swear if it was just a prank and not him then I was going to throw hands.

  The bunker came into view and so did that guy- Russia.

  The flashlight flickered and went out, so I was only able to catch his eyes for a moment before it went dark. My face flushed and I was glad for the darkness so he couldn't see what he was doing to me.

  ‘Ugh stop it Ame! You're way too cool to him!’ I mentally slapped myself.

  “You came.” He said slowly, I couldn't tell if he was surprised or amused.

  “Well yeah. You were shining that stupid flashlight and it was distracting me from falling asleep. Now what do you want from me?”

  “Soviets building his own space program called ROSCOSMOS that's going to let him be able to speed up his future space projects. That's what I was going to tell you but maybe I should have just left all of that out and let you fail.” His tone became more hostile by the end but I was too shocked to ignore it.

  “Program? What does it look like? How close is it to being done?”

  “It looks.. Kind of like a robot.. But it's more complicated. I don't really know that much- I haven't gotten a good look."

  “Wait- wait a minute- how do you even know all of this? Maybe you're a spy for them and you're playing double agent!”

  I took a step back, not wanting to reveal anything, especially since it sounded like that commie already knew about my programs and was trying to rival me with his own.

  “I'm not working with him.” Russia growled, coming closer to me. “I hate him.”

  My body tensed as he grabbed my shoulders threateningly for a moment- his body vibrating with intensity. He seemed to ponder the physical contact for a brief second before quickly letting go and moving away.

  “Sorry…” He said in the softest voice imaginable.

  “Do you know anything else?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

  “Not really. All I know is that when he gets this program completed, he's going to use it for something big.”

  “Damn it. We’re on the same track.” I sighed and plopped down under a large tree, leaning on its trunk.

  “What do you mean?” Russia sat down on the side of the tree trunk, so we couldn't see each other (not that we could anyways in the darkness) but our shoulders could have touched if we both leaned.

  “I've got two. Only one of them is working but if I can't get her fixed then she… won't be here much longer. I'd been working on her for a while before the space race. Doesn't have a name yet- I couldn't pick one I like. And then there's NASA, he's going to be the future of my visions, I just know it. He's like you described, almost like a robot from a scifi movie, just a million times more complicated and way smarter.” I sighed, leaning my head against the bark.

  There was a period of silence where the only sounds came from the woods themselves, the soft chirping of bugs, the crunch of leaves, wind waving in the tree branches that blocked the light of the silver moon. It was dark and cold, but I was grateful not to be completely alone in the moment.