Chapter 9

ALIE

Alie woke early in the morning, screaming at the top of her lungs. The muscles of her left thigh were clenched so tight it felt like her leg was on fire. Wave after wave of pain flooded through her body as she desperately cradled her thigh and tried to massage out the cramp.

When finally the tightness in her leg began to ease, Alie laid back weeping on the bed. However, her tears were not just from the agonizing pain but also from her memory of the night before.

Alie's eyes moved over her surroundings. A small part of her was glad to be home again but most of her mind was berating her for her stupidity.

Alie would give anything at that moment to be in Jake's arms. In only a short time he had grown to mean so much to her and she had left him. The pain and self-loathing she felt over her leaving him far outweighed the complaints of her muscles.

She knew that her actions had been driven solely by fear and panic but it disgusted her that she was so beholden to those emotions that they had completely disrupted her ability to think clearly.

Alie could not understand why this morning she could clearly understand that her nightmares were simply dreams. She couldn't believe in her heart that Jake was actually capable of the things she had experienced in her nightmares, she had believed it the night before but now it seemed ludicrous.

The details of her journey the night before flooded through her mind and she shuddered when she thought of what could have happened to her in the woods. Naked, injured, and defenseless, she would have been the perfect target for a predator.

Alie felt sure Jake would be angry with her. He probably wouldn't want to talk to her anymore, or touch her, or hold her, or spend time with her. She felt a sudden deep longing to be with the man she had so recently almost murdered.

With sudden determination, Alie wanted to return to Jake. Talk to him and tell him about what happened, ask his forgiveness for leaving.

Alie attempted to scoot over to the edge of the bed so she could get up. Even just this attempt caused all-consuming pain, taking her breath away. She knew now there would be no return to Jake, not on her terms. She couldn't move her left leg without excruciating pain and the rest of her body ached deeply.

The young woman stared at the ceiling of her tent, tears silently cascading from the corners of her eyes, entirely disconsolate.

JAKE

Something was wrong. I could feel it before I even woke up. The bed was cold and empty.

My eyes opened groggily and after the prolonged process of clearing the sleep from them, I cast my gaze around the tent. Alie was nowhere to be seen.

I felt a jolt of worry but pushed it aside. 'She is just outside doing something, I'm sure, ' I reasoned to myself, 'since she can walk again I should not expect her to always be by my side anymore.'

I rose from bed, planting my feet on the cool floor of the tent, and stretched to wake up my muscles.

I strode outside, expecting to see Alie somewhere nearby.

No sign of her. I looked all around the camp, and even called her name several times but she was obviously not nearby as I had assumed.

My mind, which I had managed to keep calm to that point, was having none of it.

Panic and worry began to overtake my senses. 'Where is she? Is Alie hurt? Did something take her in the night? Did she want to escape me?'

As my thoughts swirled, many of the possibilities seemed rather far-fetched but I was on an alien planet. Who knew what could happen here?

Finally my pacing and worrying brought me to footprints that trailed off down the beach. I looked closely at the path they created and it was fairly obvious that they were made by Alie.

As an experiment, to make sure they were not just mine from one of my trips to Alie's camp, I walked alongside the path and compared the two sets of tracks. It was significantly different, not just for the stride and foot size but also because the pattern was different. It must have been because of Alie's pronounced limp.

I hurried back to the tent and grabbed a few things. I threw some water, rations, and medical supplies in a pack and slung the pack on my back.

Striding out of the tent purposefully, I found the path made by Alie and began following it down the beach. The further she got from the tent, the more laboured her gait appeared.

I was beside myself with worry. Thoughts of finding her torn limb from limb by a Jungle Lion or other unknown predator, plagued my mind so much that it was almost too difficult to continue following her path.

I battled with myself to keep from panicking completely. My thoughts ranged between, 'She is a strong woman, I am sure she made it to her camp!' to 'She basically only had one leg. You will find her dead along the path through the woods. Then you will be alone, forever.'

I tried my best to calm my mind and reserve my panicking for when I actually had solid reason to do so.

I was now at the entrance to the trail through the woods and as I strode quickly down the narrow path, I attacked each obstacle with determination.

I moved quickly but also stayed alert for any sign that Alie had deviated from the path.

Before long, I was walking across the clearing to the river. As I reached the opposite bank of the river I could see long streaks of mud. My heart clenched painfully again when I realized Alie had been crawling at this point.

My feet carried me quickly up the incline to Alie's camp and I burst inside her shelter, no mind to whether or not she wanted to see me.

ALIE

Alie stared, shocked, at Jake for a moment. It hadn't occurred to her that he would come looking for her, especially this quickly.

She tried once more to raise herself up but her body protested and she lay back in resignation.

A worried expression clouded her features and she said in a small voice, "I am so sorry for leaving, Jake. I panicked ... can ... can I explain?"

Jake stood at the other end of small shelter, his eyes scanning her body, noting that she was filthy and looked very sore, before returning to her face. He nodded slowly with a wary expression.

Alie started talking rapidly, worried she would lose her nerve if she hesitated, "I had ... terrible dreams last night. I couldn't wake up and I kept having them one after another ... you were raping me and hurting me, keeping me in the bed so I couldn't get up. It was awful ... awful..."

Her voice faltered, tears streaming down her cheeks, and she glanced nervously up at his face for just a moment before continuing, "When I woke up I was so scared ... I completely panicked and I just had to get away. Then I was out in the woods and I was terrified I would get attacked by something and I guess that just kept me going and I made it here.

Jake, can you ever forgive me for leaving? I know you would never do those things to me..."

JAKE

I stood stock still for a long time, even after she finished her explanation. I was shocked at the things her subconscious mind had conjured up and wasn't sure how to react.

Finally I registered the look on Alie's face and it was a look that pleaded for understanding. "First of all there is nothing to forgive ... you reacted in a natural way. However, you must promise me that in the future you will take a moment ... just a moment, to try and think clearly."

I knelt beside her bed and kissed her gently on the forehead and continued in a low voice, "You could have died out there. I would miss you so much if you were gone and I would be alone. You have to promise me if you dream of things like this again that you will stop and consider your actions before you run off naked and injured into the woods."

Alie looked chagrined but replied quickly, "I promise you I will never do anything like that again."

I flashed her a small smile and nodded.

"You need to be cleaned up and it looks like you are very sore. I will help you out with that," I said in an even tone.