Overcast light began to rain down upon the Alpha team as the fog that had surrounded them at every turn throughout the forest, dissipated. Strangely, it still existed just below this mountain bluff, but at least they now could see one another without invading each other’s personal space.
Kalayjian had been lying down, using his backpack as a pillow. Somewhere behind all those white puffy clouds was the sun. The WaftMar transmitter was now active as a red blip flashed every three seconds or so.
“Hey Ime?” He said.
“Yeah.”
“What are the odds you think they don’t come back for us?”
Zepeda paused for a moment as he turned to her. That was definitely not the easiest question for her to answer, but as the team leader, he needed to know the probabilities. If this was simply a shot in the dark, then he would have to act accordingly.
“Well, I wanna say the thought never crossed my mind.”
Kalayjian immediately sat up.
“Really? Not even a little bit.” He persisted.
“What are you getting at sergeant? You prefer us to be hopeless or something?” Moore interjected.
“To the contrary. I just want us to be realistic.” He said. “We’re sitting in the middle of nowhere, totally exposed. For all we know, the aliens who shot us down are still out there, looking for us.”
He noticed Leon, Zepeda and Demboba tense up just from hearing those words. While he didn’t want to frighten them, they still needed to remain on alert. They weren’t out of the woods just yet.
“All I’m saying is, we can’t get complacent. If this doesn’t work. We need a plan B.”
“No offense, but I think you’re full of shit. Or scared. Maybe both in fact.” Moore pointed. “That transmitter was the one good idea I’ve heard since we crashed and it didn’t come from you. I think we’d all appreciate it if you didn’t start dismissing the possibility before we had the chance to see it through.”
Kalayjian scoffed. The balls on this young bird. She was the captain’s daughter, all right. The type of confidence she had to have to speak to a superior officer in that manner. And in a public setting no less. That was impressive.
“And I mean that with the utmost respect, sir.”
Zepeda guffawed. She covered her mouth in an attempt to hold back laughter. Leon did the same, but it was too late. The chain reaction was in full swing as the non-soldiers started laughing around Moore.
“What’s so funny?”
They continued laughing while she threw her hands up in confusion. She looked at Kalayjian, who simply laid his head back down on his backpack. This kid was really something else.
“Seriously, did I say something wrong?”