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Twilight
Chapter 3
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It was about ten minutes later when Sally finally dropped the short wave radio in her lap, her shoulders slumped forwards slightly in despair. Twin drops of water fell from her dirt streaked face to stain the already ruined fatigues below. She stared down at then bleakly before something clicked in her mind. 'Stop it,' she mentally commanded herself. 'Pull yourself together Sally... dammit, you're military...'
Drawing a shaky breath, she stood on weak legs, drawing her head up to the tiny patch of exposed sky above the clearing that the cruiser crashed in. Her eyes narrowed as she noted the position of the sun above the trees -- a habit she picked up from way back when she was fighting in the jungles of China. About 3:30, she guessed. A little less than 6 hours of daylight left...
Forcing herself to think of only of what was necessary, she began to make a mental checklist. Radio. First priority. Get it going before nightfall, and be out of here by tomorrow morning. Otherwise it could be days before the Preventer Headquarters realize that they never made it too space, and where somewhere on the ground. And in this foliage she wasn't putting her hopes up too high that they'd locate her and the cruiser wreckage right away either...
She made a face, and then shuddered at a sudden realization. She was going to have to spend the night. Here. In a desolate jungle in the middle of *no where*.
Her mouth twisted up into a slightly bitter smile. Second
priority. Gather wood.
~~~
"Damn!" She miscalculated and the screwdriver dropped from her tired hand again, skittering across the metallic floor of the cruiser. Brow knitting in frustration Sally reached down and picked it up again, batting loose tendrils of hair out of her eyes at the same time. 'This is more than frustrating,' she decided grimly, refocusing on attempting to get the back off of the radio without damaging any of the delicate circuitry beneath.
The backup power cell had spliced together nicely with the radio, but when she turned on the electronic item all she gotten was a short fizz of static and then nothing. That was over three hours ago. Desperation to be rescued combined with the encroaching dark forced her to continue poking at the dead object, convinced that she could find some way to fix it. After all what else was there for her to do? Giving up meant... she frowned, raising her head to gaze at the rapidly setting sun. They knew for a fact that the pirate signal came from uninhabited territory when they set out on this mission so making a hike to civilization was out of the question....
Sally let out a small squeak of surprise; almost dropping her screw driver again. In her narrow-mindedness she had totally forgotten the original mission parameters. If there was a *radio signal* they were sent to investigate, then more than likely there were people nearby. And if not, she could always *use* the signal to her advantage. Perhaps. That all depended of course on how many of the enemy were in the area, (or whoever it was who was broadcasting the signal,) but it was an idea. And if she couldn't get near a radio, she more than likely could steal a vehicle of some sort....
Smirking, Sally placed the ship's radio down gently, and fingered the short wave radio at her hip. Depending on how close to their objective they had been when they had crashed, she knew she could more than likely hone in on the signal and thus it's location...
Hmm. Her mind wandered, remembering her recent futile call for Wufei. This was, of course, assuming that nobody had picked up on her signal earlier and was expecting her. But, then, she could deal with that too... she *had* spent a good six months of her life fighting as a guerrilla terrorist in the middle of China....(1)
She frowned again, mind switching tracks as she eyed the clearing from her vantage point from the framed entrance of what used to be the sleeping quarters. She had boxed herself in, a large pile of wood gathered and placed strategically at the other end of what used to be the cockpit. She had no intentions of spending the night in the dark, but darkness was arriving swiftly. She sighed, patting her short wave radio affectionately and climbing to her feet. Checking out the enemy would have to wait until after nightfall. Right now she had a fire to start.
~~~
'Okay,' Wufei thought to himself darkly. 'I get the picture. I'm helpless. I can't move. Yes... I may even be a little bit afraid. Huh. Imagine that,' He suddenly envisioned Sally's laughing eyes and teasing smirk. '"the great Chang Wufei is *afraid* of something..?!"' ... stupid woman.' Very rare enduring smile leaving his face quickly, Wufei huffed slightly, clenching his bound fists as he turned his gloomy gaze to the rapidly darkening green canopy above him. If something drastic didn't happen soon he thought was pretty sure he was going to get quite upset as well. It had been a good half a day all ready since his radio had been pointedly smashed for him, and night was falling now. For the rest of the afternoon he had meditated as best as he was able... but this was ridiculous. He wanted out. He needed to get back to Sally.
The vines were obviously intelligent or controlled by someone... he had figured that much out at least easily. They interpreted his every move, foiled his every attempt to free himself. But when he wasn't struggling, they lay dormant... something that disturbed him without a doubt.
"If you wouldn't mind, I would like to go now." He called out suddenly into the encroaching dark.
Silence. Not a reply, not a movement. Wufei tested the bonds again, then fell back, sighing heavily. Forcing himself still, he shut his eyes. 'Lets try this again...'
Within minutes he had entered a meditative state again... had expanded his consciousness, was mentally going over every sound -- every presence about him, whether it be plant or animal, then going deeper... looking... searching....
He was just about to give up again and slip back into a higher, safer plane, when something off to the far fringes of his mind caught his attention. 'There!'
Puzzled he studied it from a distance, trying to figure out exactly what *it* was. It... wasn't human. At least it didn't appear to be human. Brow furrowing, he stepped closer, sending out a mental inquiry which was the rough equivalent of 'Hello?'
Nothing. He had to get closer. Approaching a few more steps, he tried again. 'Hello?'
Now he got a response -- though it definitely wasn't the one that he was expecting. He suddenly was overwhelmed with feelings of obscurity, of an old sense of power, and above all a threatening menace -- and whatever it was...
Slight alarm coursed though him. Whatever it was, it was expanding rapidly, advancing with the night, and above all...
It was coming right for him.
Panicked Wufei pulled himself out of his meditative state with a start, respiring heavily, every breath being sucked in and out through clenched teeth. A light sheen of sweat covered his body, and every muscle was tensed... he was unconsciously straining against his living bonds, trying desperately to get away. Complete darkness surrounded him... night had fallen while he was out and he couldn't see a thing...
But he could feel. All about him, the presence hovered, upon him now... so close to him that his skin crawled. Cool, cold. Watching. Waiting. "Who... are you?" he gasped.
~~~
End Chapter 3
(1) Episode 10 of the series of Gundam Wing. I'm not quite sure how long Sally was fighting in China... it might have been less than 6 months... :D