Page 4 of Planet Wolf

Next to me, the one who had worn a t-shirt, put his hands together and then expanded them. He did it twice before I understood what he meant.Damn. He was afraid something else would blow up. Could my cousin find me if I went with them to the mountains?

Okay, I could figure it out. When I got somewhere with some kind of communication device, I could reach out to him and he’d come for me. I didn’t need to panic. There had to be a town somewhere. Yes, they were right—we should get out of there and go to those mountains.

I nodded, not sure if he’d understand my agreement or not. He extended the hands he used to demonstrate with and after a few long seconds of confusion, I realized he wanted me to take them. They really made nice men on Planet Wolf, I had to give them that. Very helpful. I linked our fingers together and let him lead me away from my tree.

We walked in silence, heading in the general direction of the mountains. I didn’t know if they were naturally not big talkers or if they remained silent to be polite to me. Instead of being comforted by the idea they might be silent for my sake, it made me feel even more awkward because I couldn’t understand.

I’d gotten wet despite their help, so it wasn’t long until I shivered. The one walking to my left side-eyed me as the first shudder wracked my body then he said something to the others. He touched my forehead while the hugger pulled his shirt off. What was he doing? He used the fabric to wipe my face as if he intended to dry me off. The notion might be sweet, but he was arguably wetter than even I was.

“No. Thank you.” I stopped him, stilling his hands with my own. “I’m okay. I don’t need that,” I added, although I was pretty sure they couldn’t understand me.

I needed my bag with my medicine. I chewed on my lip. Was it possible it made it through the explosion? Could the rain have put out the fire? I stopped walking. How could I explain to them what I wanted?

Tugging my hand free from the guy, I then pantomimed the explosion. I used the same gestures he had, so it only took a few seconds for all three of them to nod.Okay, good. I touched the bag hanging over the shoulder of the third companion then I touched my chest.

“I need my bag. It’s at the explosion site. Did it make it? Could we check?”

After a definitive negative shake, the hugger pointed at the mountain again. I sighed. Although our broken form of communication worked so far, it would get old really quickly. Not that I had a choice. If I didn’t have my pills, without any step-down process, at some point I would have a reaction to the withdrawals.

But maybe we could make it to the mountains before that happened?

I nodded, failing to come up with any other plans. I guessed we were going for a walk. A long one.

My family always teased me, but I took pride in my almost innate ability to make the best out of situations. I held onto the idea that I had a purpose—to help my family get rid of the Union and reset Earth to some kind of democracy. If I could do it, maybe people wouldn’t still be dying from poverty that should have been eliminated a long time ago. We had the ability to take care of our people. Other planets were doing it, and the math proved there was no reason we couldn’t.

But the Union was toxic, greedy, and it had to be eradicated.

I needed to focus on my purpose as we made our long trek. I’d just remind myself what I was supposed to do, and be happy I made it.

I’d lived to help another day.

Behind us, something boomed. I jumped. Another explosion? The men also stopped to look back, casting glances my way as if to see if I understood. They’d been right. We couldn’t stay there. It wasn’t safe.

“I wish I knew who you all were, and that I could tell you who I was,” I said, despite the language barrier.

Hugger put his arm around me, and the hand holder took my hand. They wanted to keep moving. Somehow, some way, I’d keep up.

We walked and walked. Uphill and downhill. Over rough terrain, under trees I hoped wouldn’t fall on us. Bugs buzzed and the air smelled of living things. When I had to pee, they let me, giving me privacy. The one who was there when I woke up brought me some berries. I stared at them, wondering if they’d be safe for me. It was a new planet, and I had all sorts of food complications. The last thing I needed while taking an unexpected hike through the forests toward a mountain was to start puking.

My stomach growled. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten. On the shuttle? That seemed right. I’d had some very bland toast, but plain foods were usually better for me.

“I never introduced myself.” I smiled at my helpers. “Thank you for bringing me the berries. I hope I can eat them. Don’t be upset if I can’t. I’m not awellperson. I’m grateful for all you’re doing for me. My name is Esther Espenson and I have to come up with something to call each of you. I know you can’t understand a word I’m saying, but it helps to say something, doesn’t it?” I put the berries in my mouth and chewed. They were sweet… similar to raspberries back home, so I swallowed them. Delicious.

Wonderful, really.

Until my stomach turned. Yep. I was… not going to be able to eat these. I pushed away from the men and ran to the nearest spot where I could hide. Puking was awful, particularly with an audience.

2

Iretched for half an hour, which seemed unfairly long considering the only thing I ate was a mouthful of berries. Then again, maybe my body also rejected me skipping my afternoon pills and being nearly blown up.

The one who had been there when I woke up—with light brown eyes, nearly the color of amber—stayed next to me while I was miserable, despite my continued efforts to push him away. He held my dark hair in his large hand and petted my back gently while I threw up. He witnessed it all. I was pretty sure the other two yelled at him for helping me, but who knew the specifics of their communication. I didn’t know for sure, unable to gauge meaning or tone from their noises. Maybe they just spoke louder in their language for other reasons than anger, but they certainly gestured at him a lot.

Finally, the gagging ceased, and I could breathe again, if only unsteadily. “Sorry,” I told them, even though they couldn’t understand me. “I’m just really unique. Sometimes I can’t eat what other people can eat. On my planet, we have something called bananas. I can’t eat them. Can you believe that? I mean… who can’t eat bananas?”

I rose and the hugger put his arm around me. He was the tallest out of the men, and the other two seemed to answer to him as if he were in charge in some way. He led me to a nearby campfire—when did they have time to set up a camp? And where was the hand holder? As if I’d conjured him by thinking about him, he appeared from the trees. He held a dead animal and, again, he’d lost all clothing. I looked down fast, heat lighting up my cheeks like a banner.Damn it.Every time they shifted, they ended up nude, so I was going to have to get over myself. Clearly, they didn’t have the same hang-ups about nakedness as I was used to.

If I were smart, I’d remember it was another example of me needing to travel more. I should leave Earth more than occasionally and learn new things. Of course, I’d been dying my whole life, so it wasn’t like I had a ton of opportunities to travel. No one wanted to let the girl who was about to expire off-planet. After all, what if she got hurt? But at twenty-two, it was a lot harder to stop me from doing things just because they might be risky. I made it to Mars and to Planet Wolf. I’d make it to Venus next. I decided to add the goal to my mental list; I liked to meet my goals.