DEEP TROUBLE [KTH]

~1~

She carefully makes her way over to him, trying not to step on the broken glass around her, but as she almost reaches him, he props himself on his arms, managing to sit up. The creature shuts his eyes tightly and doubles over so that his arms protect the rest of his body.

Startled by his reaction, she stops in her tracks and bites the inside of cheek slightly, thinking of what to do.

"It's okay." She says lifting her hands in a surrendering manner, her tone as soft as she can muster. "I won't hurt you."

At the lack of contact, the creature slowly opens his eyes, his brows creasing together as he stares at her. His curious brown orbs scanning over her figure.

Her eyes land on the timer on her watch, widening as she reads the numbers.

3 minutes.

Then they shift to the creature in front of her.

How will I get him out of here?

Slowly lowering her arms, she places her hands on her waist and scans her surroundings, her head snapping back towards the creature as he lets out a hiss, his eyes wide in terror as vapor emanates from his lower body.

As the vapor clears, the creature frowns as his tail disappears, replaced in its place with something unfamiliar to him.

Legs! She exclaims in her mind. That definitely helps! But can he use them? He seems pretty surprised, and there is no time to teach him the mastery of human walking in the span of.....

1:30 minutes left!

She can feel herself going into panic mode. This was not the place she wanted to be trapped in for the rest of her life.

"Put this on." She says picking up the covering, but he blankly stares at her.

Can he even understand me?

She extends her arm forward and points at the big cloth. "This." She says pointing. "You." She says pointing at him. "Like this." She finishes demonstrating how to wrap the clothe around his body.

The creature tilts his head in confusion but slowly stands up, his legs shaking and giving out as they make contact with the cold, white tiled floor, and without realizing it, she rushes to his side and places an arm underneath his.

"Let me help you." She says softening her tone.

The creature looks at her letting out a small grunt, his eye lids closing a bit with the effort.

By now, she doesn't have to look at her watch to know that they are out of time. Pushing him up and balancing him on her hip, she manages to wrap him around the cover, enough so that only his face shows.

Perfect.

Then without wasting another second, she kneels down on the floor and gently pulls the creature's arm, guiding him so that he is standing right behind her. Then she wraps his arms around her neck and his newly formed legs around her torso.

"I know you're tired," she says slightly turning her neck so she can look at him, "but I need you to hold on until we make it out okay?" She adds tightening her grip around his thighs, pushing him higher up.

She pauses for a second, waiting for him to do something but there is no response.

To say she is surprised would be an understatement. Prepared to lift his weight along with hers, she stands up making too much effort, almost falling over when the force she planned to used proved to be too much.

What in the world? She thinks to herself with a frown. How is he so light?

She shakes the thoughts out of her mind for the moment and goes back the way she came from, hating how light his body feels as she carries him.

Fortunately, she had spent a lot of time learning the layout of the facility, so finding her way around was as easy as eating a piece of cake. There was one thing, however, that had been bothering her for a while. Something off about the place.

How come no one had come for them yet?

They creature's grip on her loosens and she tries her best to keep him in place.

I need to buy us more time....but how?

Her answer lays a few steps away, where a sign with the power generator symbol glows with the reflected light above it.

fastening her pace, she opens the door and locks it, placing the creature on the floor while she comes up with a plan.

It's too easy...

A voice in the back of her head keeps telling her.

But taking a deep breath, she wipes the sweat from her forehead and wraps her hands around her wet shirt, slowly hovering the wet piece of fabric over the generator until a few drops of water drip and fall into the cables.

Her breath hitches as she waits for something to happen, and then without a warning, everything is dark, the red emergency lights the only thing that can guide them.

"Can you hear me?" She asks returning to the creature's side, his heavy and labored breaths making her frown. "Don't worry," she says grabbing his hand, "we are almost out."

With her last remaining strength, she places him back on her back and runs the rest of the way until she reaches the canopy of trees on the forest.

From behind the bushes, she takes out her phone and signals her friend with her flashlight, letting out a relieved sigh when the track pulls over.

"That was fast." She says with a smile.

"Of course." He says returning the smile. "I was starting to get worried."

"Me too." She says pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Oh! I need your help with something." She says stepping to the side, revealing the creature sitting against one of the trees.

Her friend's eyes widen before his mouth forms an 'o' shape, his brows creasing together as he turns back to look at her.

"Where did he come from?" He says in a demanding tone, narrowing his eyes as he looks at her. When she stays quiet and fidgets with her fingers he lets out a sigh. "What did you do this time?"

Starting a story is always the hardest, but thank you for reading^^

-Van

(2019.06.07)