“Elsy,” Nicole’s voice was soft but insistent.

I groaned, pulling the blanket tighter.

“Elsy, it’s starting to rain,” Nicole pressed.

I blinked my eyes open in the dark; the fire was nothing but a low glow in the distance. It was dark, and I was barely awake. Little distorting droplets rolled off my mask.

Something wet dripped onto my neck. I flinched; it was scalding, the pain jerking me into action before I was even awake.

Nicole wiped it from my neck. Before I could even get my bearings, she had pulled the tarp over both of us, adjusting me to lie against her.

“Shhh, it’s okay,” Nicole whispered, rubbing my tender neck. “Sleep.”

“Thank you,” I mumbled.

When I woke up next, it was morning. I blinked my eyes open, looking up to see Nicole sitting tall, arms held out to turn the tarp into a sort of little tent.

“Hey,” I smiled. “Have you just been sitting there all night?”

“Yes,” Nicole nodded. “It was no bother. I enjoyed watching you sleep.”

My cheeks warmed. Blushing, it was so weird to have cheeks again. “Well, thank you,” I replied. “I was very comfortable.”

“Good, that was my intention. I expect this to be a big day,” Nicole said, gently folding up the tarp as I sat up grogily.

Tobias was standing there, staring at me with a frown. Shit.

He shook his head. “Up and at 'em, people!” he yelled, his voice straining. “We've got ground to cover!”

I scrambled to my feet.

“It’s alright,” Nicoel reassured, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Stay close today.”

I nodded, forcing myself to take a deep breath. “Okay. I’m ready.”

It wasn’t long until we were back to walking, though this time with much of our heavy supplies left behind, packed up and tucked in the grass. Guns were checked, armour adjusted, and boot laces tied securely. It would be a hike to the lab, but we weren't in travelling mode anymore; we were ready for combat. Or well… the officers were ready for combat. I stared at the rifle I now carried, unsure exactly of how to even fire it.

I couldn’t exactly ask. My host was supposed to know. And there was no time for me to practice. I knew weapons would be the difference between us all dying or making it back, but I still really hated guns.

So I just pretended the thing I held couldn’t erase a person from existence with a push of a button.

Finally, we began our trek into the jungle itself. Our pace slowed; we no longer had simple terrain to navigate. Now we were forced to stumble over roots and rocks, cutting through thick vines and brush. Fortunately, we didn’t have far to go.

We had set out unpleasantly early, the sun only now beginning to rise above us. Tobias kept an eye on the tablet. We were almost there with the majority of the day ahead. So far so good. Everything was working.

Until someone misstepped. There was a shout from behind, and everyone turned. One of the civilians was gone. Scurrying over, I watched the branches be pulled away to reveal a steep drop. Not even a drop, really, just a thicket of vegetation, strong enough to climb upon itself but not to support the weight of a human. The man was gone. There was no hope in finding him; there was no time. The hole his fall had made in all this seemed to continue down endlessly.

We were on a cliff, a canopy of red stretched onward in front of us, the roof of the valley ahead. We needed to go down. The waterfall we had made out on the satellite images could be faintly heard. The problem was, we were on top of everything.

“We don’t have any climbing gear,” one of the officers grimaced as we all regrouped to figure out our next move.

“We should turn back. We have no idea what the terrain is like; it could be a massive gorge for all we know,” someone else suggested.

“No,” Tobias butted in. “If that android was able to sneak into our camp, then there must be a way up and down. We just need to find it.”

“It will be noon in less than an hour,” Nicole offered. “If darkness is a concern, then we need to move quickly. We have no idea how long infiltrating this facility will take, and the camping supplies were left behind.”

“What she said,” someone agreed.

“Alright,” Tobias scoffed. “Then let's stop bickering about this and get to work finding a path down.”

“The drone won’t fly through this thicket, sir,” Andrews offered apologetically.

“Fly it above then, carefully,” Tobias glowered. “Any information is better than none.”

“Alright,” Andrews nodded, getting to work. He pulled a case out of his pack and pulled out a small drone, which buzzed as it took off. Four pairs were sent off, close enough for voice comms but just to investigate immediate surroundings.

I was just glad to have wiggled out of that. I stood around feeling useless and also terrified that I would be asked to do something which I would be utterly incompetent at doing.

“Relax,” Nicole told me quietly, brushing shoulders as she walked by.

Everyone was tense. Time began to tick by.

“Found the river, can see the waterfall too,” team three announced over comms. “We’re practically right on top of the lab.”

“Any way down?” Tobias asked.

“No, sir, not without going over the falls,” they replied.

“Get back here then,” Tobias sighed, marking something on the tablet.

“Sir, there's a gap in the canopy,” Andrews piped up, squinting at the screen built into the case as he steered the drone high above. Everyone crowded around to look.

The drone was looking down at thick red foliage. I could faintly hear the buzzing. It had flown over the valley, or whatever it was, the sea of vegetation– of leaves stretched out into the distance where the land seemed to climb back up the other side. But not so far from our position was a hole in the thicket. Well, proportionally a hole, but in human-sized terms, it was massive.

“Should I fly us in?” Andrews asked.

Tobias nodded, and Andrews dove the drone forward. Hovering above the gap, a ship could be made out below. It was emblazoned with the Vander & Frakes logo. The SS Ramses, stationary on dark, rooted soil. I held my breath as the drone descended down.

Below, a working joe marched from under the ship and headed out of view. We descended past the canopy, and the jungle seemed to disappear.

I wasn’t even sure what we were looking at. They were trees, but so tall and massive. No branches or offshoots, just massive tall trunks. If I hadn’t seen the SS Ramses first hand, I would have assumed it was tiny. There was no other vegetation, just a dark cave-like space, the humongous trees greedily sucking up all the light. The soil was patterned, snake-like roots coiling and twisting thickly through the dirt. I had nothing to compare the sight to. I had never seen anything like it.

“Follow the androids,” Tobias muttered.

Andrew sent the drone in that direction, following along the bank of a river, which very quickly brought a dark square shape into view. It was dark, and difficult to make out the details. The whole daylight thing wouldn’t matter that much depending on how far we had to go.

Tobias rubbed his chin, deep in thought.

The working joe walked up a ramp, a large automatic sliding door opening before it walked inside. The facility was large. Its wall was reinforced with patterned beams, all cold, harsh metal. Several vents were affixed on the roof, as well as a large antenna. Mostly, it was just a big box. It was almost underwhelming compared to the unique ecosystem it found itself in.

But whatever was inside was the real prize.

“Teams report,” Tobias spoke into the communication. “Has anyone found a way down?”

“We might have,” team two replied. “We’re cutting our way down somewhere, but we won’t know where until we get there.”

“Copy, everyone else get back,” Tobias replied. “Andrews, you’re staying here for aerial support with Vaser on comms. Once we’ve all made it out, or if none of us do, blow it,” Tobias continued.

“Yes, sir,” Vaser chimed in, taking out another drone as he began to fiddle with it.

I turned to Nicole. “What is going to happen?”

“The drones. They’ll put bombs on them,” Nicole explained distastefully. “Then just ram them right into everything.”

“Oh,” Tobias paused. “Take out the SS Ramses, too, if we can’t jack it. If we can’t have it, they certainly can't.”

“Sir, I think we can get down this way,” team two crackled in. “It’s steep, but it’ll work.”

“We’re on our way,” Tobias replied. “The rest of you are coming along. Keep your weapons live. I don’t want anything, living or not, getting anywhere close to us.”

“Remember to keep your masks on at all costs,” Nicole piped up. “Our best estimate is that the infectious substance is transmitted through airborne spores.”

“If your mask breaks, do us a favour and take yourself out before one of those things bursts out of you,” Tobias added gruffly.

I swallowed, tightening my fingers around my rifle. The three teams returned to our location before we all went to meet team two. It was showtime. I felt like I was going to be sick. I trailed behind with Nicole, the other few civilians looking equally uneasy, unable to do what the officers did and turn it into bravado.

We couldn’t talk really, not without being overheard. So I just hooked my pinky around hers, steeled myself, and did everything I could to be ready for whatever the hell we were walking into.

Antidote, repair pod, and get out. Ideally, not to leave anyone behind if it could be helped. We had already lost one stupidly.

Our mission was straightforward in theory.

Antidote, repair pod, escape. Antidote, repair pod, escape.

I could do this. We could do this.

We reached the weird, carved-out path that team two had begun chopping through. Slowly, we all descended down the rocky slope, weapons in hand, into the dark strangeness below.