Without Hesitation by Talia Jager (top business books of all time .TXT) đź“–
- Author: Talia Jager
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Back inside, I tore apart the rest of the ship looking for food or water, knowing that there wasn’t any. I found a thin blanket and some rope and grabbed them. I took inventory of the weapons and put as many on my person as I could.
Akacia moaned. I hurried back to her and cupped her face in my hands. “Akacia? Can you hear me?”
She moaned again and turned her head a bit.
“Akacia? Open your eyes.”
She blinked a couple times and I knew when she could focus because her eyes showed every emotion she was experiencing—relief, happiness, hurt, pain, fear. I hated that I had that effect on her. “Are you okay?”
Her blue eyes, dark with betrayal, narrowed and she looked away.
“You have a head wound. It’s bleeding. We need to get out of here. Caspar will come after us.” I kept my sentences short and emotionless. “Do you think you can walk?”
She made no effort to answer, but swallowed and tried to get up. As soon as she was on her feet, she lost her balance and started to fall. I reached out and caught her. “Okay, Empress, I’ll carry you.”
She was heavy, but I was strong. I scooped her up. Her eyes fluttered closed again. Taking a deep breath, I hit the self-destruct button and hightailed it out of there. I ran as fast as I could with her thrown over my shoulder and found a spot behind a nearby tree. The boom rocked the ground under my feet and the heat from the explosion reached us where we huddled together, but thankfully we were unharmed by flying debris or fire. Within minutes, the ship was destroyed. I hoped I did the right thing.
Akacia didn’t wake up as I walked. At least an hour had passed when I spotted a cave. I set her down outside while I went in to see if it was safe. It was small, but dry. I set her inside and then stretched. It was warm, but I didn’t know how chilly it would get in the evening. I should get a fire going just in case and by the look of her lips, Akacia needed water.
I checked under the bandage first. The bleeding had stopped. I closed my eyes for a second, thanking whoever was listening for that small favor. I hated leaving her, but I had to. I found the firewood pretty quickly, but water was another story.
As I built the fire at the mouth of the cave, ominous black clouds rolled in faster than I had ever seen and a brilliant shock of white ripped through the gray sky. Another lightning bolt hit a nearby tree, cracking it in half. Way too close for comfort. The smell of the burnt tree tickled my nose.
“Shit,” I swore. The fury of the storm was incredible, but where was the water? If it would rain, we’d have something to drink. Not that I had anything to collect it in. That should be my next priority. Finding something to hold water.
Lightning crashed down again and again making me very glad we were in the cave. No rain ever came. Then as quickly as the storm had appeared, it was gone.
Akacia moaned again. I looked over to make sure she was okay. Her chest rose and fell with each breath she took so at least she was still breathing.
Once the fire was roaring, I relaxed a little. My whole body ached. The bump had grown, but it wasn’t bleeding anymore and the headache was manageable. I watched Akacia sleep. Peacefully sometimes, fitfully others. She grimaced. She cried out. But at least she was alive.
Chapter Eight
Akacia
My head felt better, but my side was still bothering me. I knew I should rest, but I couldn’t be near Everleigh. She betrayed me. She turned me over to that monster. I had to get away. I needed time. Time to think. Time to process. Time to figure out where to go from here.
I could survive on my own.
Once outside the cave, I struggled to get my feet under me. My legs were shaky, but they’d hold. I grabbed one of her knives and placed it in the scabbard on my leg.
“Where are you going?” Everleigh stood in my way. I tried to push by her, but she moved again. “You’re hurt, you’re dehydrated, and hungry. We don’t even know where we are, if this planet has intelligent life on it, or what the terrain is.”
I glared at her for a long time, and this time when I went to go by her, she let me go.
Everleigh was right though. I was hungry and weak, and I needed to find water. As I picked my way through the brush I remembered what my teachers had taught us about how to find water. Stop and listen, look for animals, and lush, green vegetation—even an increase in insects would be a good sign. Head downhill and if all else fails, find mud and dig. Once I got far enough into the trees, I sat on a rock and listened. Minutes passed and I didn’t hear a damn thing that sounded like water, but maybe it was just because the pounding in my head was so loud. I looked around on the ground for animal tracks. What kind of animals lived here? Maybe there weren’t any.
My wandering led me to a downward slope, it was slight, but it enough of a decline to create a puddle or a small pond from a good downpour. I quickly lost my footing on my dissent and fell to the ground. When I tried to get up the whole world spun, so I sat with my back against a tree, trying to steady myself. I was alone with my thoughts. Completely alone. Rage bubbled up and trickled over before I could stop it. I was lost on a planet I knew nothing about. There was no food or water, and very likely no way home. I drew deep breaths trying to keep from breaking down, but my body racked with sobs.
Pushing myself up, I continued on. The day wore on and I didn’t find water. If I didn’t find some by tomorrow, I’d be dead. Or very close to it.
I came to a clearing that led to a cliff. Inching closer, I looked over. There was a beautiful meadow below with green grass and flowers. I had to get down there. There had to be some water down there.
It would be dark soon. I should set up camp and make my way down in the morning. Set up camp. I laughed. It’s not like I had a tent, bedroll, food, or anything like that.
I collected some twigs, but exhaustion hit before I could get a fire going. I lay down, closed my eyes and immediately drifted off to sleep.
When I woke in the morning, my body ached. My throat was parched. I licked my cracked lips and forced my eyes open. My stomach growled loudly and I thought about going back to sleep. No. I couldn’t do that. I had to get up, find water and food, and figure out what to do. That was what I had to do. Right? I couldn’t just let myself die here. I was the Empress of Valinor. My planet, my people needed me. My side still throbbed with pain. I pulled up my shirt and examined the wound. It was bleeding at such a slow rate, I knew I wouldn’t bleed to death, but it wasn’t healing.
I needed to clean it and that required water. I pushed up to my feet and began walking, stumbling every few feet, trying to find a way down.
I was getting sleepy again. Needing something to focus on to keep me alert, I thought about Everleigh. First, I thought about the kiss we shared at the space station. The one I thought would have led to more. The way her lips felt against mine. Her sweet, yet earthy scent. Feeling her heart race against my own. Then I thought about when she turned me over. Handed me to a monster like I was some kind of pawn. Something she could sell. How could she be so cruel?
My head swam. I stopped walking and I clenched my teeth, trying to steady myself. But with my eyes closed I saw Caspar coming toward me with a rope. He was going to tie me up again. Blindly, I turned and hurried through the trees, trying to find a place to hide. He was right on my heels. His laughter filled my head, sinister and taunting. I tripped and fell.
Get up! Get up and run!
My body screamed in protest, but I kept going. Was he still back there? I turned and looked back. I didn’t see anything. I stopped for a moment and listened. I heard no sounds of pursuit and suddenly I realized that he might have never been chasing me at all. Starvation, dehydration, plus numerous injuries from being tortured for I didn’t know how many days…all of that could cause hallucinations.
“Kace!” It was Bristow’s voice.
I spun around, looking for him, before I could catch myself. “No,” I said, shaking my head. I had to keep moving. These hallucinations were working against me and running blindly on a foreign planet would get me killed.
“Akacia! Wait!”
It sounded so real. Against my better judgment, I turned to look in the direction the voice came from. Bristow appeared a few feet away from me, his face frantic, sweat molding his brown hair to his brow.
“Are you real?” I asked, my voice sounded ragged and small. “Are you really here?”
“It’s me, Kaci. I’m really here.”
I ran toward him. “You found me!” But instead of feeling his arms wrap around me, I ran right through him.
He disappeared.
I was definitely hallucinating, but that didn’t make this loss feel any less real. I dropped to my knees and wailed, not caring if anyone or anything heard me. There was something wrong with me. The skin around the wound was red and angry. Infected. If Caspar was right and I had these nanites that healed me, why wasn’t I healing? Maybe he was just full of it.
Water. I needed to get to water. Just had to find my way to it.
I took a few steps, then a few more, and then fell to the ground. It was no use. I wouldn’t make it. My eyes closed and I dropped weightless into the darkness.
Wet, cool, liquid, poured over my lips. I opened my mouth and the most refreshing water I’d ever tasted soothed my dry mouth. I swallowed, coughed, and then opened my mouth for more.
My eyelids felt leaden, but I managed to open them and there was Everleigh. This must be another hallucination and I was okay with that. I didn’t mind dying if she was with me. She could hold me until death came and took me away. I’d go happily. Peacefully.
“I’m here,” she said. “I know you don’t want me to be, but I am. I found some water not too far from here. Got a fire ready to go, too. I’m going to
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