Stellar

Chapter 8: The Rescue

Livy looked at Jake and said, "Hey, about Robert."

"Yeah, what about him?" Jake replied.

"Well, I just wanted to say thank you for helping him with his leg and everything. It means a lot to us that we found you and you can help us." Livy looked at Jake with a happy look and smiled slightly.

As they continued to walk through the lab, Jake stumbled. "Livy, where are you?!" He yelled. He looked around and all he saw was slime.

"JAKE!" Livy called.

"AAH!" Jake snapped out of it and blinked his eyes. "What?! How did- Where did- What just happened? Livy! You were there one second and then you were gone!"

"You were here the whole time, Jake. I yelled your name cause you wouldn't answer me!" She looked at him, concerned.

"What did you ask me then?" He asked.

Livy then responded with "I asked you where you think Robert left his bag with the map in it."

"Well, we were on the second floor when that man attacked us so I'd say we should look there first." They looked at each other and agreed. Then they proceeded to the next corridor leading to the stairs.

As they arrived, they noticed a protruding smell coming from the second floor. "Eww. What the hell is that smell?" Livy asked.

"Smells like shit to me." he responds, gagging slightly. They continued on and looked around.

Livy noticed a light at the end of the second floor corridor. "JAKE LOOK!" She pointed to the light at the end of the corridor. They both sprinted to the light and to their surprise, no bag. Nothing but a light and a pile of pure poop. They looked at each other, disgusted.

"You don't think the bag is in that pile, do you?" he gulped in disgust. They both noticed in that moment a strap of the bag sticking out of the pile.

Livy shouted, "Not it!" Jake sighed and reached into the pile. He grabbed the bag which was conveniently zipped up, but as Jake was pulling the bag out of the pile of poop, a hand tumbled out of the pile and onto the floor in front of them. Livy let out a very girlish screech, but was shushed by Jake.

"Shhh! What if that thing that got him is still here?!"

Livy nodded and whispered, "You're right, we better be careful."

They both slowly walked back towards the stairs down the corridor when they suddenly heard loud footsteps getting closer.

"Livy. Don't move a muscle." Livy and Jake stopped in their tracks in the middle of the corridor next to a bench. The giant cat-like creature with feathers from before walked right up to them. It lowered its huge gaping head and sniffed. The monster's nose crinkled. Jake hugged Livy and whispered, "Our scent. We smell like its poop. He won't attack." The monster then lifted its head and began to walk away.

Livy and Jake continued down the dark corridor using Robert's flashlights. They continued to walk down the stairs and started walking down the first corridor when they heard a loud banging coming from behind them. They both turned around and screamed as they saw the huge beast sprinting towards them. "Now might be a good time to leave." Livy squeaked.

"Yeah!!" Jake responded. They both ran as fast as they could down the hallway and to the front door. Jake tripped, his leg stuck in another bend of the corridor. Livy turned around.

"Jake! Hurry!!" She tried helping him free as the beast got closer and closer and just as the beast was upon them, Livy freed Jake and they continues to run.

"WE'RE GONNA MAKE IT!" Jake yelled. They leapt head first out the door, grabbed the dead scientist's hand and scanned the door closed again. They sat down in relief and let out a huge breath. "Phew! That was close." Jake said.

"You're telling me." Livy looked at him with a sigh of relief. "It almost got us."

"My stupid leg got stuck on that bench in there." Jake sighed once again. They both got up and walked up the hill leading to Robert, but when they arrived at camp, he was no where to be seen.

"Um... Where is Robert?" Livy asked Jake.

"To be honest with you, your guess is as good as mine. I bet he's fine though. He's a strong guy. He's tough... ish." Livy looked at Jake offended. In that moment, Robert came out from behind a rock, limping over.

"Oh hey guys! Welcome back! I was just going pe.." He paused, gagging. "What the hell is that smell? You guys smell like you went swimming in shit."

Jake and Livy looked at each other and Jake said, "Yeah, I kinda did, but it saved us from a monster for a moment so I guess it wasn't all that bad, you know." Robert looked at them with a terribly disgusted look on his face.

"That is just nasty." Livy then avoided the stinky topic and said, "Soo... Um... What were you doing while we were gone?" She looked to Robert curiously.

He responded with, "Well, uh, since you guys where gone for like an hour, I sorta sat on this rock and tried tending to my leg. It actually feels a lot better now. I can bend my knee and jog comfortably. I don't know about run though." He smirked and sat around the fire he had made to keep him warm. Livy and Jake sat as well.

"That's awesome, man! Do you think you'll be okay to set off tomorrow morning to see what else is out there?" Jake asked with a smile.

"Yeah, I really do think I'll be able to. Do you guys have the map of where we've been?" Robert asked.

"Yup, got it right here." Livy pulled the map out of the bag after unzipping it. She passed it to Robert.

"Thank you." he said while looking at the map. "I think we should head east tomorrow. We haven't gone off that way yet."

Everyone agrees and they all laid down for a good nights rest.