My Intergalactic Soulmate

She touched the battlecraft with her small hands and said to it, "I hope we meet again. I'll come find you if I find a way out of here." Then she closed the door of the battlecraft and to her amusement, the battlecraft disappeared. "The camouflage shield still works after that fall? Amazing piece of work!"

Alexis placed her fists around her waist and then looked around to memorize any landmarks which would help her to remember where the battlecraft was, in case she decided to come back to look for it in the future.

After staring hard for a while and memorizing the location, she moved forward in the pursuit of a path. All she wanted now was to go home, take a bath, eat, and sleep. She did not know how many days she was knocked out for but one thing that she was sure of was that she felt drained from all the running and falling. And she was sure that her mom was already worried sick for her after what happened to her not long ago.

Alexis was thinking about many things now that the dogs weren't chasing her anymore. She finally got a chance to miss her mom, "What am I going to say to mom about what happened to me? I don't even remember anything myself. I hope everything is okay back at home. Mom must have already filed a missing person's report by now. What am I going to say to the police?"

"It might backfire if I say that I woke up in the Dead Zone. I must come up with a… ahhh…" her foot got stuck in a vine and then she stumbled to the ground. "Ouch! That sting a little", she sat up while dusting her clothes with her hands. Then when she looked to her side her eyes widened with hope.

"A tunnel", Alexis's eyebrows lifted and her lips formed a smile. The opening of the tunnel was covered in with weeds and vines. If she had not stumbled upon the vine earlier then she might have never discovered the tunnel. "Maybe this will lead me out of this creepy place."

The tunnel was small, just enough for Alexis to sit down or crawl through on four legs. When she looked inside the tunnel, she could not see the end of it, "I don't see any light from the end. It's so dark. Maybe the tunnel is a bit longer. I have to try though; there is no way I can climb up to the cliff again. And those dogs might find me any moment. I better hurry and try my luck."

Alexis got inside the tunnel and made sure to cover up the opening with some vines and leaves. Then she started to crawl forward using her hands and feet. Though the tunnel was dark without any source of light, her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she could at least see the path ahead.

When she walked for about five minute something started to smell really bad. Alexis was coughing and trying to inhale as little air as possible, "What is this awful smell? I might pass out at this rate." Then she started to crawl ahead at a faster pace while trying hard to limit her breathing.

After crawling for about 15 minutes she saw a dim light ahead, "Please let it lead me to the city. I cannot even think about going back again through this disgusting tunnel." She moved closer and closer to the light; it was coming from the two small holes in the manhole cover. "I was walking in the sewer this whole time? No wonder it smells disgusting. At least it seems that this is no longer in function; else I cannot even imagine what I would be walking on right now."

Finally she reached beneath the manhole and she could finally stand. She climbed up using the metal steps and pushed the manhole cover aside to open it. She stuck her head outside the hole and then took a peek of the surrounding to check where the tunnel had led her to.

Alexis climbed outside and her face had a glimmer of happiness, "Isn't this the edge of the city?" She looked around once again and recognized the place. It was P-99 Street and also where the city ended. She used to end up in this Street once in a while when she used to run away from the bullies. Then she would spend hours staring at the other side, the Dead Zone, and used to imagine what kind of place it was. Now that she barely made it out of that dangerous place, she did not have to imagine what kind of place it was.

After realizing that she was no longer inside the Dead Zone, Alexis thought that she was now out of danger. She put the manhole cover back on so that others would not accidently end up entering the Dead Zone. And then she started to hop back happily towards her home.

By the time Alexis was walking to her home, it was already getting dark. Back at home, Melissa was crying her eyes out and was looking like a mess. She had taken a leave from her work and was in the home waiting for her daughter. She had never felt so helpless before. She could not go to anyone to ask for help.

If she went to the police, it would definitely backfire as the government was looking for Alexis in the Dead Zone. And she could not ask for the help of the police as it would only make their job easier in identifying the flying creature. And if she were to ask for help from anyone else, it would mean revealing her daughter's secret to them; and you never know when people's heart will turn evil.

Alexis was smiling ear to ear when she reached her home. She entered the code and then opened the door of her home to see that everything was dark, "Maybe mom is still at work. Or she is out somewhere searching for me. I better give her a call." Then she started to head towards her room as she was also in the desperate need of a nice and warm bath.

Just when Alexis was about to pass across the living room, she could see a dark figure crouched down on the floor. "Did someone break into our house?" she thought then slowly moved towards that person. Her heart beat was racing as she moved closer. She stretched her hand to touch the person but her hand stopped mid-air when that figure looked up dead in her eyes.

Instantly, both of them screamed on the top of their voice as both of them were startled. Alexis took a few steps back and quickly ordered, "Turn on the lights PIA." When the system turned on the lights, she could see that it was her mother, only messier and looking like a ghost.

The thought was mutual though. Melissa also thought that she was hallucinating and was seeing a ghost which looked like her daughter. Alexis's hair was flying in all direction from all the dirt, her clothes were torn in several places, and she smelled awful. Alexis was lucky that Melissa did not hit her out of fear.

But after the lights were on, Melissa immediately flung towards Alexis and hugged her precious daughter, whom she thought she had lost.