File 9.6 - Points of View

Night finally arrived before they finished moving everything into place. Schir lit one of her portable lights letting them keep working. It was long after the moon went hiding being the thick clouds that they finished.

Schir tossed a protein bar over to Shizuka, something that they picked up from the city. She bit into it and sighed with relief. “That’s the good stuff. I never thought I’d be able to taste good food again.”

“Eh? It’s just a processed bar.”

She quickly finished up the bar and stuffed the wrapper into her pocket. “It’s not just a processed bar. There’s a difference. I guess you don’t get back to Antarctica City often?”

“Never been there before.”

“I’m surprised, hauling freight, I figured you’d have been there at some point.”

“N-no, we only operate out here.”

“Oh, then I guess you wouldn’t know.”

“Know what?”

“The food’s better here than in Antarctica City. It might still be processed, but there’s more care put into it out here. You can actually taste the nuts, grain and fruit. You’d be lucky to even know what food got put into it back in the City.”

Schir stared down at the bar confused by Shizuka's explanation. ‘This doesn’t taste that good. I’ve had far better back home for cheap…’ There was nothing that she could really say more and stay safe. She just had to accept that there were differences apparently.

“When’s your company picking you up?”

Snapped back to reality, she realized that there would be a rescue coming. “They’re pretty busy, so they probably won’t be able to make it until the morning.” Her mind thought about Shizuka and her situation. “Did you want a ride?”

“Hmm? Oh?” She picked up on the implications. “No, he’ll just send out more people to look for me. Besides, I can’t escape him this time.” Shizuka showed her the band around her wrist, that might have looked like some strange fashion accessory.

“A tracker?”

“I did run away before. I was a little bit of a trouble maker for him.”

“That’s horrible!” Quickly, she pulled out a small metal cutter from her back pocket on the overalls. She walked over to Shizuka and tried to cut the band, but was stopped. “Why?”

Shizuka turned to look out towards the ocean, a sight she still wasn’t completely used to seeing. It had been several years since she had been anywhere near something like a beach. “I’ve got something I have to do back there. He’s a bastard, but there’s something going on that I need to get to the bottom to before I can leave.”

“But why? You shouldn’t live in such a situation!”

“There’s people that have it just as bad as me and I want to save them. None of this is fair or right, but I won’t abandon them to save myself. And I won’t let others be caught up in this. I need to stop my father.”

Schir stared at Shizuka, impressed by her resolve. “How are you so strong for your age?”

“Stubbornness?” she joked, not really having a good answer for her. “This is just something that I decided to do. It’s nothing more special than that. I do what I say.”

She didn’t expect to find someone so brave and determined and still a child. It felt inspiring for her to see her boldly going forward. ‘It makes all of my worries and fears seem sort of meaningless now. This girl has so much she’s taking on her shoulders and refuses to bend or trip. I wish I could be more like that…’

Interrupting their conversation, Edgar’s voice broke through the comm. in her band. “Hey, Su, ya there?”

“Edgar!” She caught herself in front of Schir and then looked back. The woman motioned to her and gave her some privacy. “You survived the crash too.”

“Course I did! You did!”

“Quiet down some, I’m not alone here.”

“HOPE already find ya?”

“No, some civilian woman. She crashed into us in the storm and landed here on the island.”

“I see, that ‘splains it.”

“Have you been in contact?”

“With HOPE? Yea, they messag’d mah jes now.”

“How far out are they?”

“Five minutes.”

“Alright, I’ll go back to the pod, tell them to pick me up there.” The line closed quickly. Shizuka turned around and faced Schir, who already seemed to have figured out. “They’re already on the way.”

Schir hurried over to Shizuka grabbing her hands. “Are you sure about this? You can still run away.”

“Yes, I’m done running. I must take a stand now.” It felt a little odd for a stranger being so worried for her. Shizuka knew it was something that she had to face and deal with. The path she walked had been made by her, she wasn’t going to be detoured by anyone.

A slightly disappointed sigh came out of Schir. “Figured, you seem set on it. I just had to try.”

“Thanks, Schir.”

“Be safe, Shizuka. Try to stay out of trouble.”

“No promises, but I’ll try to avoid thunderstorms in the future.” She smirked a little towards Schir and hurried off in the direction of the pod. Her tracks were all gone by now, but she remembered enough to know which way on the beach she started.

Schir waved to Shizuka even though she didn’t see it. Sitting down amongst the recovered supplies, she tapped away the battle plan, needing something to do while she waited. “I guess, there’s at least one good person on this Hell. Though Ensign Wells probably would still call her a demon…I wonder how many are like that girl…” Thoughts about the future weighed heavily on her heart staring at the plan. “I hope she’s safe…”

By the time that Shizuka found the escape pod, the rescue craft arrived with the jets blasting over the area. She covered up her face with the sand being tossed about. ‘Back to the cage…it was nice while I had it…’

As the ship lowered near to her, she saw Edgar leaning out for her. He jumped out once there was enough distance to safely land. “Are you okay?” he shouted over the engines burning next to them.

“Yes! Nothing that will last!”

“Eh?”

“We need to go!” He grabbed a hold of the bar along the side of the open hatch helping Shizuka in. The dust storm calmed down once she got inside with her ears starting to recover. As the hatch closed behind Ed, she glanced towards the window thinking about the woman. It felt a little calming being on the beach with her. Even as strangers, they found some peace for a moment.