Where the Sunsets on Mars

I screwed up. I smuggled my way onto a planet I’ve never been on before. That, alone, should tell you that I’m in deep trouble. I’m only here because I ran away from home, thinking that boarding a ship to space was a good idea. Now I’m just a juvenile outsider, trying to survive in the dunes of Mars. 

You may be asking why I ran away in the first place. I wanted freedom and to be myself. I wanted to not have to worry about our government and what they are hiding. I didn’t mean literal freedom. But now that I think of it, I might actually like it here. 

 I make my way down the long corridors of the ship, hiding as I hear bodies shuffling in the halls close to my location. It took me thirty minutes to find where they keep their spacesuits, fitted for Mars’ weather while stumbling into dead ends and doors that won’t open. 

I bumped into a woman that looked like she was in her mid-forties just as she’s talking into a radio. I freeze in my place, freaking out, trying to figure out what to say. Just then my eyes dart to her name tag. Lucky for me, I happen to look way older than my actual age. 

“Connie!” I say as the woman looks at me while sheer curiosity. “Where do we keep our space suits? John never told me and now they’re expecting me outside in five minutes.” I say this with a worried tone, knowing it would work. Of course, I already knew where they were at. This was just so that if someone does figure out I’m here illegally, I can tell them that I’m with Connie and she knows me. 

“They are right in this room. Need help getting geared up?” I take a couple of seconds to think about this. If I say yes, I’ll have a higher chance of getting caught. If I say no, she’ll suspect me anyways. 

“Um- yes please,” I say in my most charming voice. The woman directs me through a door in the back of the room. Through my times of breaking and entering many places I shouldn’t have, I learned to always ask questions to make it seem like you’re supposed to be there. “Which camp are we heading to first?” I ask Connie. It’s obvious that there are camps set up here, why wouldn’t there be? 

“Everyone was ordered to head to camp ‘G’ before splitting off to explore. We’re supposed to look for any signs of life or civilization.” She says tiredly. So that’s what this is, an exploration team. I keep note of that while she’s pulling all sorts of wires and cloth over my body.

“Say, what’s your name?” Connie asks me. 

“Groover,” I say, not processing the alias I just said. 

“Okay Groover, you’re good to go. Make sure to pick up the listing sheet on the way out.” She explains to me. “And make sure to report to John if you see anything. This day is very important and not reporting anything could be very crucial to the exploration.” I nod and walk off where the list is. I pick up a clipboard to attach to the list and put all of my new belongings into my bag. 

Connie eyes my movements almost as if she suspects me already. This ship is huge and it’s very crowded. It’ll be hard for anyone to recognize me since there are so many people involved with the exploration. As I said, I know what I’m doing. Well maybe not since Connie is whispering to many people. I think I made out “Watch out for that guy. He may not be on our team.” Great. Just great. 

I’m heading out of the main corridor when I see a room filled with guns and food. If I want the freedom to be by myself, I have to go in that room right now and take what I can without making it too obvious that I’m stealing. 

Opening the door was one thing, now finding the right ammo to go with the guns I picked was another thing. I may be good at sneaking around and doing all of the talking, but I’m no nerd with guns. I empty box after box until I find the one that has the correct names on it. I shove two of the smallest boxes into my bag as well as daggers and small knives. I’m taking the small things so that it doesn’t look like I took much. 

Just as I head to the room where they keep the food, my eyes dart directly to many swords that are mounted onto a wall. Why would they need swords when they have all of these guns? I asked myself. I step back into the room I came from and snatch one just in case. Soon enough, I’ll be out of here and free. 

As I make my way out of the halls with my stuffed bag, a girl bumps into me hard enough for the both of us to stumble back. Things like this don’t usually irritate me the way they just did. I guess it’s partly my fault because I was speed walking to get out faster. 

“Geez, dude! Watch where you’re going.” I say while picking myself back up. This girl looks just about my age with honey-brown eyes. Her hair reaches right below her shoulders, and she’s just a little bit taller than me. “Wait a minute,” I say while staring into her soul. “You’re not supposed to be here either, are you?” I ask her. Just then she gasps and laughs. 

“Are you admitting to a guard that you snuck in here?” She says wildly. I feel my cheeks get hot but only for a second. There’s something about her that is acting. 

“Cut the crap. I’m not falling for the act. It was a simple yes or no question and from the looks of it, the answer is yes.” I say while crossing my arms. She looks at me like she wants to kill me already. She leans in closer to me to whisper something. 

“I swear if I get caught because of you.” She threatens me. She shoves past me in an angry tone.