Mara

Alex stares down at the planet before her. It was beautiful, green lands that were almost drowned by the vibrant Blue that covered more than she could see. White puffs dotted the greens and blues, almost see-through at times. They were called clouds; she couldn’t remember the last time she had seen them. How many years has it been since she had been back at her home planet? Alex was a commander of a small group of scientists that have gone to Mars on their third mission. This Mission has been longer than the other one. Instead of staying on Mars for three months, they remain there for five years. They were getting data on the soil contents that had been there and trying to figure out if they could have water on mars or at least a substitute for water. It was no secret that NASA was trying to make a colony on Mars; that was everyone's fantasy.

Alex had been honored to have been chosen as the commander for the missions. Still, she was getting older even if her coworkers were reassuring her that she was getting wiser. “yo boss going to be landing soon,” a cheerful and young voice came from the back “any news from the ground base?” Alex had noticed they had lost connection with the ground base pretty soon after they landed on Mars. she just chalked it off as internet difficulties and miscommunication. Still, they were right in front of the earth. They should have been able to get into contact with NASA. “nothin” Caillem floated to her side, looking out at the vast planet before them. “Markel is already set up” Alex nodded, understanding she and Caillem Floated back towards the main compartment where they met up with Markel and Lali. Soon everyone was strapped up, Lali hesitating on starting the count down. They were nervous; there was no contact with NASA. They were riding this blind, and it hit them at that moment. It only took one small thing to go wrong and all of their lives are in danger, and there was no backup.

“I am glad to be here with all of you,” Markel spoke up with his thick Brazilian accent. Everyone looked at him. Alex took the time to memorize him in her mind. he was a tall and bulky man, his skin touched by the sun. His helmet hid his long black hair and obscured his warm brown eyes. She remembered his scar on the side of his chest, a bite mark made by a shark, a story he would always tell when he was drunk. “I am glad to be here with you,” Lali repeated. She was small in size but strong doing most of the heavy lifting. Her hair was cut short because she hated when it got in the way of her work. her green eyes pierced through the helmet and into your soul. “I’m glad to die with you all” “Caillem!” everyone gave him a disapproving glare “sorry,” Caillem said with a cheeky grin. Caillem was tall, but his poor posture made him seem shorter than he was. It didn’t help that he was slim and pale. Lali would jokingly call him Gollum. Caillem then does his best to speak in his “Gollum” voice for the rest of the night. his hazel eyes would permanently be creased by a smile or hidden behind his matted mop of light brown hair. “I’m glad to have you as my crew,” Alex said before pulling the lunching lever without counting down. Soon their compartment was shaking violently. Even while the metal moaned and cracked against the pressure of the crew was eerily quiet; no one made a sound. Alex was holding on to her harness, her knucks white with how tight she held on before her world went dark.

Cold, she was cold and wet. “She’s up!” she heard Caillems familiar voice before muffing. She tried to open her eyes but was blinded by pure light. She opted to wait a bit more before opening them again. “Markel! Your back” Lali’s voice broke the silence. “There is a town to the northeast from here, but something is off” his voice wavers with little confidence. Alex couldn’t wait any longer, her curiosity getting the best of her. “What’s off?” she slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes, trying to get them to adjust. “You’ll have to follow me. It’s hard to explain” the others looked at each other before packing everything they could, which wasn’t a lot. As Alex looked around for anything useful she could find, she looked around the area they landed on. They were on a small beach, their compartment floating on the water with a rope tied to a log. She looked inland to see pine trees lining the forest that went for miles. Everyone got everything to gather before hiking through the forest towards the town. “So close to a double no triple-decker cheeseburger and ice cream,” Caillem fantasized, “I thought you were lactose intolerant,” Lali mused. “I will pay the price,” Caillem spoke seriously for the first time. “Do you hear that?” Alex looked back at the others as they saw the edge of the town “no, I hear nothing” Lali looked around as if that would help “exactly” Markel walked forward ahead of the group. “Wait up!” the other following closely behind. “I’m getting A Quiet Place vibe from here,” Caillem shivered. “Don’t put that in my mind,” Lali practically growled at Caillem. Alex bends down, grabbing a paper. “Texa’s dog breeders in a bind!” the newspaper read out in bloated ink. “Look what I found” Caillem held up a rose gold heart-shaped locket and a bunny teddy bear that had been trampled on. “May I see that?” Alex motions for the locket. Caillem nods before gently pushing it forward...onto the ground. “Gravity,” he curses, making everyone burst into laughter. Alex bends down, grabbing the locket and opening it to see a happy family of four smiling back at her. “This place is abandoned; let’s go-” Markel was cut off by a small crunch that would have gone unnoticed if the world wasn’t so quiet.

The crew slowly walked to the sound, trying to be as quiet as they could turning the corner they came face to face with a little boy that looked to be around 12 to 13 holding a sharp object pointed at them his savage look unsettling the crew Alex immediately noticed the young 5-year-old girl. Alex knees in front of the two “don’t worry, we won’t hurt you” she sets the bunny and locket down, the little girl recognizing it. The young boy looked at their clothes, slowly letting the sharp object lay down by his side. “You came from the sky?” it sounded more like a statement than a question. “Yes, can you tell us what happened here?” Markel asked, speaking softly as not to scare the children. “The world ended,” the boy mumbled “well, obviously,” Caillem said, earning him a smack to the head. “What’s your name?” Alex ignored Caillem’s whines of pain. “Palu, she is called Mira” Palu seemed to relax a bit “we’re on the run from the bad people” he looks around as if they would jump out at any time “why are they chasing you?” Markel asked, “my sister is a carrier” he looks back at Mira, who was now holding the bunny close to herself “what’s a carrier?” Lali asked, confused. He gave the crew an exhausted look releasing he would have to explain everything. “It started six years ago” half a year after we left, Alex thought to herself, “a big company made this bug spray that only attacked bugs” “oh, I remember hearing about that. They attack an individual genome,” Lali committed, “but it didn’t just work on bugs. A lot of people got sick and died or couldn’t have babies” Caillem frowned at that explanation. But Markel was the first to understand, “does carrier mean your sister can have babies?” Palu nodded “wait, so you’re telling me half the world died and the other half became sterile?” Caillem shook his head, not believing it. “I do believe that was a part of the bug spray to help stop more from coming,” Lali tried to explain. “If they’re chasing a 5-year-old because she could have kids, we’re going to be on their most wanted list” Alex looked at her crew grimly. “If this happened six years ago, how was Mira born?” Markel looked at Palu “if you were sick and survive, you can have babies,” he said before he took a bite out of a snack he pulled from his bag “what happened to those people?” Alex had a feeling she already knew “they disappear,” Palu mumbles “oh great! We’re going to die or worse,” Lali was losing hope “because our life now us on the run! From what! to where?!” Markel went to her side, reassuring her, “we will fight nothing can take us down, not even mars,” he said, “what if we don’t run?” Caillem looked at the crew. “Hear me out, I saw a power gride towards the outskirts of town if I got it to work, and I can. This town will have power, plus Markel has a garden in mars that would be a piece of cake here” Markel nods “fishing would be a great food source as well” Caillem gets more excited at the idea, “and you two are ex-military!” he motioned to Alex and Lali. “It will be hard, especially with two kids,” Lali made a point “we’ll help!” Palu stood up with urgency “it’ll be harder to run with two kids,” Alex said, looking at her crew “we’ll stay here; it’ll be hard, and at some points, you may wish we had stayed on mars. but this will be our home now, and we’ll protect it will our lives” the small group that felt hopeless just before now have a goal.

They would eventually call the small village Mara. They would have countless battles against many who wished them harm, but they would find others who needed or wanted to help. That small village would grow to be the biggest city in the new world, its range and power influencing overseas. It also is most known as the safest place for carriers.