The Hybrid

Chapter Seven - Anna

The next day, when Anna woke up in her new living quarters that she shares with Zachary, she looked out the window that had a great view of the island. She couldn't help but admire the beauty of the island, completely unaffected by the war. She even thought about exploring the island with Zachary today since there was nothing much to do today for them after training.

After training was done, they went exploring the island. While exploring, they admired various unique plants and creatures that they encountered while being cautious of anything dangerous along the way. They came across a tree that looked easy to climb. Since Anna always loved the outdoors, her favorite thing to do is climbing. While heights do make Zachary nervous at times, he has learned to control his fears at the academy with Anna's help as they started to get to know each other. As they reached the top and relaxed, Zachary started to remember that day when he became friends with Anna.

One year ago...

It was another training day that involved climbing this time, it was very important to be physically trained when it comes to traveling to different planets. As everyone started climbing on the walls, a young woman next to Zachary slipped as she lost her footing and he managed to grab her hand while her harness prevented her from falling. He managed to help her back up and she managed to get her footing back as she started to climb again.

"Thanks." she said.

"You're welcome, are you okay?" asked Zachary.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Just wasn't being careful while climbing."

As they finished climbing and lowered themselves down with their harnesses, she decided to start a conversation with him as they unbuckled their harness equipment.

"You got great reflexes when you saved me from falling," said Anna.

"Thanks, it's kind of a gift alongside quick thinking," said Zachary.

"Same with climbing, I can climb a lot of trees and rocks. I only slipped because of the sweat, I should've dried my feet off before I started climbing. I'm Anna, Anna Newton. What's your name?"

"Zachary. Zachary Morton."

"It's nice to meet you. I know of a good place where we can get to know each other more, meet me at the docking bay after hours. We'll stay hidden in one of the shuttles, no one will know we're here as long as we're quiet." said Anna.

"That sounds great, I'll remember to be there tonight," said Zachary.

"That's settled then, see you tonight."

They shook hands.

Later that night when it was after hours, Zachary snuck out of his room and headed to the docking bay. Luckily, he was very good at not getting caught since he stayed very quiet and was aware of his surroundings.  As he finally arrived, Anna was waiting for him and they went inside a nearby shuttle to hide from any guards making their rounds.

For Zachary, it felt nice getting to know someone more when it comes to making a new friend. Before he met Anna, he never made many friends growing up. When he was a kid, he always dealt with anxiety, being socially awkward, being afraid of rejection and not having much trust. After his parents and brother died as he got older though, he preferred to be alone since he became afraid of losing others.

But with Anna, he didn't feel nervous when speaking to her at all as he started to get to know her more. They share the same topics when it comes to space and exploring the galaxy, discovering new planets among other things. Even relating to things that they have gone through in life.

"How did you manage to stay strong after your dad died?" asked Zachary.

"I just focused on helping my mom out by taking a part time job and making sure things were stable. Sometimes you have to grow up fast when a big event happens all of a sudden." said Anna.

"I had a pretty hard time after my parents and brother died. I never even got to apologize for all the things that I've said and done on that night before they died, I always hated myself for what happened that night even though my sister kept telling me that it wasn't my fault." said Zachary.

"She is right though, what happened was never your fault. My mom always told me that you can't avoid losing your loved ones, the most important thing is always making sure that your last moments with them are happy and something to hold on to by memory. My last memory of my dad was saying goodbye to him before I left for school on the day his accident happened."

"After what happened to me that day when I saved that little boy's life in the car accident I was in, I decided not to isolate myself anymore and make a lot of good memories with my sister in case anything happens to us and not have our last moments full of regret or anger."

When it comes to opening up to someone, it feels good opening up to his new friend. He never thought that he would make friends with someone like Anna. She understood him well and sympathized with him when he talked about losing his parents and brother. That's why he would always keep that special memory of becoming friends with Anna in his heart.

Present day...

"Zachary, wake up! You fell asleep while we were relaxing." said Anna.

He wiped his eyes after she shook him awake. She was right since he must've fallen asleep while relaxing.

"Sorry, I must've dozed off. Enjoying the view?" asked Zachary.

"Yeah, it's practically the best view. You can practically see the whole island." said Anna.

While staring at the view, Zachary couldn't get that one thought out of his head. He thought about the petroglyphs in that cave and that particular one about a human who would become a hybrid and end the war. Since the rebellion team are the only humans on this planet, there's no telling which human would become the hybrid. The unknown always leaves behind any question and not knowing what the answer will be until the right time.

After their day of exploring the island, they were relaxing in their quarters until Ladi called for them to the meeting room.

"A message from The Leader." said Ladi.

She plays the message, a holographic image of The Leader appears as he reads his message to them.

"I know that your precious rebellion has hidden away the two human scum. I am sending this message to give these two humans a choice: surrender or the other humans die. The choice is yours."

The image fades.

"What should we do? We can't surrender because they'll kill our team anyway after they kill us anyway since I don't think The Leader has the heart to let us go freely and leave the planet." said Zachary.

As everyone tried to think of a solution, Zachary suddenly thought of something.

"We can set up an ambush on them. After we rescue the members of our team. When we pretend to surrender, we'll set up the ambush to distract them as we get our team to safety."

While the idea does feel risky, they know that it's the only way in order to save the members of the expedition team. So everyone started to work on the plan.