Everflame 2 (FINISHED)

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

"They're on, shut the doors and get us out. We've stayed way too long as it is." Lantz yelled through the ship, then ran to the rear where the two new passengers dragged themselves aboard with the door shut behind them and plant debris scattered around. The engines squealed into an excited blaze as they burned the ground and blasted through the hangar bay toward the open stars. The bloody form on the crashed ship shrunk as they streaked through the chaos of bullets and vines until the metal passed and they entered the empty beyond.

Reggie leaned to the wall, with only a token grip on Tess as she stared and beat the rear door. Lantz stuck beside Tina, and checked over her injuries while letting off little murmurs of relief. Tiz watched the dark with a smile on her face and hints of tears on her furred face, bursting their dams as she powered up the hyperdrive, bringing that familiar rattle that ran through the ship. She kept her eyes away from Annie.

[KittKat chunky~]

Annie watched as the carrier shrank into the distance, flames and debris spilling out of the hangar behind them. She pushed herself out of the co-pilot seat and moved to follow Lantz, her gaze falling on Tiz, tears in the young girl's eyes. Annie moved through to the back of the ship with a growing sense of icy trepidation that clenched at her insides.

Even as the ship juddered and rattled into hyperspace Tess beat her fists against the door, tears rolling down her cheeks. She shouted with a fierce anger in her voice. "He's dead. Both of them, they're dead... And nothing I could do!" She finally stopped pounding and let her head fall into the crook of her arm against the door.

"Reggie-" Tess looked up with red-rimmed eyes to see Annie, clutching the door frame, amber eyes glistening. She gasped again and her legs, normally space-faring and strong, gave way until she lay crumpled against the door frame. Tears brimmed in her eyes as she shook her head slowly and held back gasps of pain. "Don't say it's Blaze. Please, don't say it is him." She swore halfheartedly and clutched at her chest, breaths coming as deep shudders and gasps.

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

Reggie relinquished his grip on Tess, letting her loose to droop against the metal. He turned to Annie, and in his face he wanted relief. Happiness pressed and stretched at his skin as he watched her, but with the view came the gut-wrenching pull she let out. He went to her and closed his great arms around her; kept pressed to his chest.



Lantz gathered Tina up in his arms, and made his movements silent, sidling past the grievers into his captain's bedroom. He laid her down onto the soft covers, headed back out to the corridor cupboard and returned with a bandage. He plastered it to her head where the blood seeped and taped it down. The ship's rattling grew and the ship shook itself into a cacophony of mechanical grind and clatter. It built and roared like a oncoming train, screaming into every ear, until a burst of light shook through the ship and hyperspace welcomed them.
Lantz stood up and moved through the ship to the cockpit, where the twelve year old sat, hidden by the back of her chair. He gripped the headrest and leaned over, looking down at the mouse.
"When we get back home, message the compound. Tell them to open the doors and ready the weapons. We can't park outside so we'll have to drop right into the main lock," he said. The girl nodded without looking away from the spewing lights of hyperspace, and the navigation display running down the minutes until they arrived.

[KittKat chunky~]

Annie clutched at Reggie's chest, seeking the comfort of his warmth and strength like a child to a father. She weeped without restraint now and drew in choking breaths. Tears rolled down her cheeks and glistened in her amber eyes. "I promised his father that the boy would be safe." Her words sounded choked, coming between deep shuddering breaths. "I promised he would have a better life than we did." She clenched the front of Reggie's shirt hard and kept her head turned down, tears dripping down to the steel floor.

Tess slumped down with her back to the door of the ship, pulling her knees to her chest. Her bleach-blonde hair fell down over her eyes which watched Annie and Reggie embrace with shimmering tears in them. She let out a deep sigh and pushed herself to her feet, walked silently past the two foxes and continued through to the cockpit. Tess wiped the tears from her eyes as she sat down in the co-pilot seat and glanced across as Tiz, then to the navigation display. She flicked her fringe to one side and smiled weakly "Hi kid, 'names Tess."

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

Reggie opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again and held Annie tighter. He made a move to guide her to a chair, then stopped again and held her tighter. His arms became awkward, his face unsure, so he held her tighter.

Lantz and Tiz looked over at her and the lizard nodded while Tiz gave a smile.
"I'm Tiz," she said. "And this is my buddy Lantz." She looked up at him, then to the timer display. Numbers raced down and in front of them, hyperspace spewed light and colour, until it wriggled and bent.
"We'll be arriving soon." Lantz headed to one of the rear cockpit chairs and strapped himself in. "It'll be shaky coming out. It'll be way worse when we land." A light flared on the control panel, and a window out to the stars stretched apart infront of them, throwing the ship in a violent shudder into normal space, poised over the planet Mngeya. Reggie held to the wall while clung to Annie, resting to it with her. Tiz grinned as she saw the planet look up at them. A light on the main screen indicated the base, and they headed down, entering the atmosphere. The forests wriggled across the surface of the planet, a seething wave of green leaves and golden flowers. The ship rattled against the atmosphere. It shook and roared with new molecules pounding against the rickety nose. In the kitchen, bottles fell, and in the corridors came wall panels, tumbling from their place. The point of light at the screen grey and spread as they fell toward the bunker. Tiz raced through the communication controls until the message was sent. A floor of grey revealed below as the bunker doors spread.

[KittKat chunky~]

With a shudder that ran through her frame Annie pressed her cheek to Reggie's chest, and finally returned the embrace, linking her arms around his waist. She stayed that way for a few moments as the ship started to rattle and shake, then looked up into Reggie's eyes and said "It's all gone wrong Reg. None of this should have happened." Then, even as the pain that had started in her arm shook through her again, she kissed him.


Tess buckled herself in as well and watched the young girl pilot the ship with a curious eye. She lay back into the headrest of the seat and drew her knees up again, the dappled greens of the planet growing closer and closer, flashing past below.

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

Reggie shut his eyes when their lips met, and he leaned to the wall to keep them steady.
"Will you two bloody sit down!" Lantz yelled to them from the cockpit and the fox complied, bringing Annie down to sit nestled in the corner while the ship shook with the force of hell. The bunker doors in front yawned open and Triffids reached in, crawling across the dirt and tumbling into the dark cavern while the ship burned toward them. Leaves from the tallest trees whipped against the hull, , the branched, twigs, thudding. The mouse girl pressed for slowing thrusters and airbrakes; the ship screamed. Pieces of the walls came loose and clanged against the floor as they lurched in deceleration, blasting past trees and slicing through the doors, breaking through two triffids on route. As they passed into the bunker, a blue gel spread from the floor and reached for the ship, latching on in an embrace that eased into to thud against the ground. The force was still great, and threw the passengers forward. Reggie and Annie pressed to the floor while a crash came out from Tina's room. The ship had stopped. The bunker doors closed as internal lights flickered into life. More doors opened leading into the compound, where Tabby, a young cat marched out with gun ready. She blasted the last living triffid in the airlock and waved up to the cockpit with a smile.
"Hey guys, we made it." Tiz grinned as she looked back through the ship. Groaning came from Tina's room as she stumbled out.
"Thank heck for that." She held her head and leaned against the corridor with a glance back at Reggie. "Who the hell are you?"

[KittKat chunky~]

Annie clung to Reggie as the ship decelerated, still kissing him after the ship landed with a crunch. When she finally pulled away from him blood marked both their lips and the same bright red ran from the corner of her mouth. She wiped the blood away hastily, then  fell backwards away from Reggie, catching herself from hitting the floor with an outstretched hand. Steadying herself on the floor she pressed the palm of her hand to her chest and shuddered again.

Tess unbuckled herself from the seat and stood, glancing around at the others in the ship, casting a look towards Tina and then to the cat outside the ship. She stood at the edge of the cockpit, flicking her tail back and forth unsure as to what to do. The usual glint of mischief had gone from her eyes and the streaks left from tears ran down her cheeks.

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

"Open the rear doors," Lantz said and Tiz complied, before she too unbuckled herself from the chair. Lantz looked back through the corridor to Tina who stood groggy in the corridor as she looked down at the bleeding vixen.
"The hell happened to her?" Tina asked, while Reggie gasped and fumbled as Annie crumpled in his arms.
"What's going on, what's going on?" he cried. He froze, afraid. Tabby ran to the rear opening door and peered inside. Lantz waved to grab her attention.
"This woman's been poisoned, take her to Hasina, see what she can do about it, and hurry," he said. Tabby nodded and clambered past Reggie and pull Annie to her feet. Reggie took note and helped, hoisting his vixen to lean on him before taking her down the ramp to the doors. In the ship, Tiz looked up to Tess, peering at her face.
"Are you okay?" she asked. Meanwhile Lantz moved to Tina, checking her wound.

[KittKat chunky~]

Annie's vision swam and blurred as Reggie and Tabby half guided, half carried her down the ramp. Hlafway to the doors she retched, bright blood spattering the floor, her whole body shuddering as she felt Reggie pull her up again. Past that point everything turned to a haze. People moved around her and she could hear the sounds of voices but it sounded distant and muffled as she was rushed away from the ship.



Tess met Tiz's gaze and for a moment it looked as thought she might smile, then she hung her head "No... No i'm not." She huffed a small sigh and fell back into the co-pilot seat, drawing her knees to her chest and watching the slow blink of one of the many controls in the cockpit. Her eyes stayed intently on the little light as she spoke to the young girl in a small voice quite unlike her usual self "Two of the best people I ever knew died today. One of them I think I might even had loved, and I did nothing to prevent it."

She looked away from the control panel, back into Tiz's eyes  "And now Annie is gonna die to. And there is nothing I can do about that either." With a long and drawn out sigh she pressed her palm to her forehead and said "Every person I thought mattered is gone, and the worst part is I'm alive to know it."

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

Grace, a ring-tailed lemur, beckoned the group into a nearby room. Reggie and Tabby carried Annie through and lifted her onto a bed that had a medical scanner sat beside it with mechanical arms outstretched. Grace pulled the arms over Annie's body and started the scanner. It swooped over the Vixen, streaming information into a long list of words and numbers  that poured down a screen. Reggie gripped his arms with nails dug in. Warning lights lit up. Blood smeared down Annie's mouth and soaked into the bed. Her fur glistened while her eyes faded. Staring up at the ceiling, a daze came over her. Light burned in her eyes until it all faded. More warning lights, more blood.
"Do something then," Reggie yelled while the Lemur red the screen with frozen serious expression etched into her. She closed her eyes and shook her head as the red warnings went out and a new white light appeared.
She turned the machine off.

Lantz and Tina headed out toward the bunker doors, while inside the ship, Tiz took Tess's hand.
"Tina says... When I lost my parents Tina said that I shouldn't blame myself or the people who killed them. Just remember what you learned." She gave a grin. "And I learned that there will always be new people, different people. I haven't got my parents but I've got her." She looked over to the bunker doors where Tina and Lantz headed through together. "Now you've got her too."

[KittKat chunky~]

Tess glanced down at her hand, held tightly in the mouse girl's small palm. She listened with ears flat to her head and, once Tiz had finished, looked out into the bunker to see Tina and Lantz. She sighed and shook her head. "My parents died when I was young too. Annie took me in like a daughter, and I grew up alongside Blaze all my life. It's just painful to think all of them are gone just like that."

Her body tensed, then she looked back to Tiz and the young girl's bright grin. Tess sat for several moments just watching her smile before saying "You're right. There always will be new people." She returned the smile with her own weak imitation and squeezed Tiz's hand gently "And even though I don't think I will ever stop blaming myself, maybe there is something I can learn from all this. The others died to keep me alive. I need to make sure they didn't die for nothing."

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

The End