The Phoenix Colony

"The first thing that needs to change is how the group works. Everyone thinks they know the best thing to do, but they don't. Every person here has something valuable to give, it's time we started using those things."

It was time for things to start working. If this didn't work out, he was going to leave.

 

"F**kers a big'un," Derek forced through clenched teeth. Doesn't help that I can't use my damned arm.

He pulled as hard as he could with his one arm, and wrapped his leg around the bottom of the makeshift fishing pole. Derek quickly switched the position of his hand from the pole to the string, pulling it close to the hand of the broken arm. He began to slowly and painfully pull in the string. The work was hell on his arm, but he refused to give up.

The shorter the string got, the more difficult the fish fought. Derek finally gave up on pulling it out of the water one-handed and put the string on the ground, pinning it in place with his foot. He leaned to the side and picked his javelin up from where it rested against a nearby rock and tip-toed the string like a balance beam until he reached the edge of the stream. The fish was swimming frantically in place, attempting to escape the hook in its mouth. Derek stood over it and thrust his javelin into the water, missing. He tried again, missed again. He went at it for several minutes until he finally managed to spear the fish with his stick. He let it stay in the water momentarily, darkening the stream with its blood. He was panting, exhausted from the combination of the excercise and staying up the entire night before.

Still panting, he turned around and carried the fish back to his resting place on the rock. He rested the javelin in against the rock, leaving the fish in the air. "Where the hell did I put that thing," he muttered, picking up his sharp rock. "There it is." He tried to smile, but he couldn't. Memories of the previous day flashed through his mind.

Reva tackled him into the snow, the sound of snapping jaws audible overhead.

Tracks were visible in the snow, large feet and a long tail.

Derek returned with Reva to the cave, and she was appointed leader without an option.

Derek stood threateningly with his javelin towards a group of seemingly hostile men.

News of Ben's death reached Derek as a note was stuck in a wingtip shoe in the snow, intended for Reva.

Derek pinned Chad against a wall, and Fox jumped in front to take the hit.

Why? He thought. Why would she do that? Derek knew that he had to settle things with Chad, and force had proven the wrong option. That left only one option, which Derek was not comfortable with. He sat back down on the rock and put his head in his hands, noticing some hair beginning to spurt out of his face. He continued to sit this way for a long time, worried not only about his problems with the tribe but also the invisible beast that had just killed two of their tribe.

 

Reva frowned. She had hoped that the group would begin to hold together, see things that needed to be done, work together. Instead they were sitting and talking or scattered like BB's in a boxcar.

At least they're talking and not fighting. She told herself.

Going to Chad and Allen, Reva tapped them on their shoulders to get their attention.

"Can I ask you two to get everyone together when they've eaten? I need to talk to everyone. It shouldn't take long. By the way have either of you seen Derek and Kat this morning?"

 

Allen got up, wincing when he jarred his bad hand against Chad's shoulder.

"Remember that."

He looked at Reva. It was a wonder she'd become what she was, the one in charge of a group of dangerous, strong-willed convicts. Hopefully she would turn out to be the strongest one. He spoke one word to her.

"Yes."

With that he walked past her back towards the cave. He paused for a moment, and then went back to Reva. He spoke in a low voice, so that no one else would hear.

"I'm suddenly curious to know why you decided to hate me when I said I ran a drug ring."

With that he walked back to the cave and started telling people to meet Reva.

 

Reva blew a lock of her hair from her face in mild frustration. It irritated her when people spoke to her then ran away. She turned back to Chad.

"Before you race off, too...Derek, Chrys? Seen them?"

 

....Hungry...want food...

Chrys sat at the table, new to the environment "So this is what it feels like to be the kid on the block," the little girl thought to herself......

"Cody? you can't be serious, you want me to tag that ship? The one emblazoned with the governemt insignia?" She asked in disbelief...First, her biggest crush walks up to her and invited her to hang, out of nowhere. And now, he stood in front of her with his little posse, asking her to do something she wouldn't even dream about.

Cody walks over to Chrys, placing his hand on her back, leaning in, and whispers in her ear, "All you have to do is tag the ship, and I'll totally ask you to the dance. Plus, I'll kiss you, right here, in front of my friends. You know what that would mean, right?" He winks.

Yeah, she knew what that would mean, it would mean she was his girlfreind...the one thing she's dreamed of since she met him...four years ago...

Chrys nods, and turns to the ship, thinking to herself, "Time to grow some cajones."

She shakes up a brand new can, Fire89, her favorite color. Laying on one stroke, following it with another...stroke after stroke..falling into the art...

Footsteps reced rapidly, a siren goes off, but Chrys is no longer in the parking lot, no, she's back in a happier place, when her father was a prime boxer, and her mother smiled everyday.

She's ripped back to reality by the officer's cold hand cuffs, now chomping on her wrists.

 

Chad didn't seem like he much wanted to talk about the night before which made Reva that much more curious. Fox was acting like someone who'd suffered a blow to the midsection, Derek had disappeared, Chrys had disappeared, and Chad didn't seem to want to meet her eyes. Something was fishy there.

Reva turned as Chad walked away to help spread that word that she wanted to talk to everyone.

It occurred to her that Derek and Chrys might be dead. They had been out all night.

She shook her head, decided on optimism and very loud stomping to alert them that she was coming. Maybe she'd throw in a discreet cough as well.

So, stomping and kicking dead grass and wet snow, cracking every branch she could step on, Reva went toward where she knew Derek would probably be. Especially if there had been strife the night before.

Partway back the path she heard a rustling and a 'mrwow' sound from overhead. Looking up, she caught sight of a human shape curled in a tree.

"KAT!" she yelped, surprised to see the girl sleeping in the branches.

 

"KAT!"

"Mothawonka!" Chrys, yelped, fallling out of her comfortable slumber.

Landing on her feet, she looked into Reva's face. "Mrow?" She asked, rubbing her head, and her thigh, "Sorry, I am the only one that speaks cat." She grinned, "What? What happened, did somebody else die?"

...Why the frick did she scare me out of the tree...Tree? I fell asleep..in a tree...Seriously?


"Did I just fall out of a tree?"

 

Allen was speaking to the people in the cave and walking back outside, but stopped and lingered in the entrance.......He'd done it. His family was safe. Nobody knew why he had done it.....Why was he concerned about their survival?.......The guards placed the sense blind over his eyes, and then started beating him. He didn't blame them though, they thought he was a traitor, and he was.......He didn't want them to get home. It would be good if they all died.........The invisible monster snapped it's jaws right where his head had been. Picking himself up from the ground, he readied himself for another attack. All the others had died trying to kill it.......

Allen collapsed in a heap where he had stood. He was only out for a moment though. He scrambled over to the rock wall and sat against it, trying to catch his breath.

 

Reva would have laughed if she hadn't been in shock.

"Did I just fall out of a tree?"

Wide-eyed, Reva just pointed up at the branches Kat had precipitously vacated.

"I'm not sure if it's weirder that you were able to sleep in a tree or if it was weirder that you landed on your feet." she said cautiously, "You weren't always able to do that...right?"

 

Juliano walked right past Allen. He didn't trust the man, and didn't really want to know what was going on with him. He went to where he had been told to go and sat down to wait.

 

...I hadn't even noticed...Chrys looked down, but she's right. Gotdamn this cat thing... Chrys frowned at her thought.

Looking back at Reva, "Seeing as I often used to fall out of my bed, and have been knocked completely on the bum by volleyballs, this just might be new." Chrys laughed a little, "What next, kittens?"

 

"What next, kittens?"

Reva laughed a little with her and shook her head.

"Don't rule out the possibility." Reva said. "Now that I know where you are I just have to find Derek. I wanted to talk to everyone in the tribe together if I can find them."

 

"Derek?" Chrys said, sniffing the air around them, "probably at the stream. Do you want me to come with?"

 

"Sure," Reva shrugged, relieved, "Let's go get him."

 

Derek heard two pairs fo footsteps approaching and straightened himself up immediately, trying not to look weak. He pushed his fears to the back of his brain and pulled out his stake, not sure who's footsteps they were.

He was relieved to see that it was only Reva and Kat. "How's it goin'?" he smiled outwardly. "I got us some fish, hopefully its edible." He pointed back with his thumb to where a rather large fish was speared, the spear leaning against a rock.

 

"Off we shall go then," Chrys said, turning towards the stream.

Chrys and Reva strolled along, chatting amiably, meandering through the forest. As the sound of the stream grew louder, they came upon an interesting scene, Derek raising his javelin to something leant against a rock.

...Wonder what that could be?...

 

Reva saw Derek and a feeling of relief washed over her. Then she saw the fish.

"Breakfast?" She asked him. Then she went on more seriously, "Derek...and you, too, Kat...have you forgotten how dangerous it is to be away from the cave at night? You guys could have been eaten."

Reva came to the edge of the stream and looked down, wishing that it was a warm bath rather than a freezing cold stream.

And coffee would still have been nice.

 

The smile disappeared from his face. "At the time it was safer for everyone with me out here." Derek hadn't pushed the memories away as deep as he'd thought he did, and they rose back up quickly. "Me an' Chad were damn near ready to kill each other. Then Fox had to ruin the moment by jumpin' in...too many people were gonna be hurt." He shook his head.

 

Chrys looked at Reva, reality coming back to her, "Look, I just wanted to be alone, didn't even think about what was going on around me. Sorry, but, we techniclly had each others' backs. I would have heard his screams, and my ow would have been loud enough to wake everybody in a ten mile radius." Chrys grinned, looking down and nervously twisting a lock. ...I hate being yelled at...

 

Reva sighed and began walking back with the two of them.

"I was afraid that it might have been like that." Reva shrugged, the motion all but lost in the voluminous jacket. "Honestly, I don't understand the strife between you and Chad. You have disagreements about how things should be, sure," she fiddled with her sleeve as she walked, "but you're both guys that seem to have an affinity with this place. Not everyone can see a future here."

"As for the being out all night," Reva shook her head, "I just didn't want anyone killed on my watch, that's all."

 

...What's it with these people and death?... Chrys limped in the other two's wake, hoping there was already food waiting when they got back.

 

Derek continued to walk with Reva and Chrys, although he was reluctant to return to the cave. "Well, I just haven't had any trust for the guy since before we even crashed here. I mean, he's the one that locked us all up in the first place. Then yesterday I tried bein' nice to 'im and he just snapped at me. He's too god damn unstable. I just couldn't take it anymore." He glanced around to the sides and then stopped walking. "Look, I'm not sure it's a good idea for me to go back."

 

Chrys couldn't take it, "Oh, guys and their darn egos. I don't know if you've figgered this out, but this planet is the great equalizer for our group. We're all in the same damned boat, stranded in the middle of freaking nowhere, on a planet we know nothing about. We are all here trying to do the same thing. LIVE!" CHrys blew up, then walked ahead of the two of them, fuming.

 

Reva watched her go, taking a few breaths and gathering her thoughts before she turned to Derek.

"You're right," she said, "maybe you shouldn't go back to the cave if the only thing that matters is you and Chad. The fact remains that I have to go back. I don't have the luxury that you have of deciding to stay away instead of dealing with everyone I may not like.

"You can stay here," Reva went on, looking directly up at Derek, "but if you do you're making me face this alone. I have to get them to prepare for what's coming...no matter what it is."