“Why wouldn’t I believe you? You’re hardly the deceitful type, Jared.” Lili had to ask in regards to his last statement.

“It’s just…the timing of this vision…it’s odd, to say the least.” he attempted.

“Why? Because we were having sex?” she asked, causing a slight blush to rise to both of their cheeks, yet remaining unseen in the darkness of their surroundings.

“Not just that.” he smiled, “I just mean it’s really, really coincidental that I would actually see something that actually would provide a bit of hope at this point in time.”

“And that’s why you think I wouldn’t believe you?”

“Might just think it’s me trying to make you feel better.” he shrugged slightly as she moved to lay her head across his chest.

“Well, we both wanted you to have a vision that would provide some of that hope, didn’t we?”

“That’s my point.” he smiled down at her as he placed a kiss over her hair.

“Well, maybe it isn’t a coincidence, maybe you finally are gaining some kind of ability to control what you see or when you see it, finally.” she repeated in a near whisper.

Jared took a moment to ponder her words, but quickly had to respond, “Let’s not assume that just yet. I mean, if I was really controlling these things, I think I mighta given myself a couple seconds to catch my breath between the lovemaking and the vision, just maybe.” he added wryly.

She just shook her head as she turned her eyes back up to his face, “Are you done stalling now?”

“Stalling?” he asked with an attempt at innocence.

“Would you tell me what you saw already?” she repeated as she gave him an impatient squeeze.

“I don’t know. You do have a way of picking out tiny little parts of my visions and getting just a bit obsessed.” he stated warily, while trying to keep a lightness to his tone.

“But you said that this was a good vision…right?” she asked worriedly.

“Well, the one about you having the baby wasn’t exactly horrible, but you just latched onto the alone part of it, latched on, badly, remember?” he told her, his own worry about her mental state still pretty evident despite whatever good he had seen in his most recent vision.

“Me having a baby alone in this place is pretty nightmare-riffic, Jared.” she returned with only the slightest amount of argumentativeness.

“Well, that vision did only cover a few moments of the actual labor. Bigger picture, remember?” Jared returned, still speaking gently.

“You’re still stalling.” she continued impatiently, not wanting to have that conversation again.

Jared just shook his head with a slight smile, “Ok, in the interest of cutting down on the probability of you finding some tiny detail of my vision to pick apart ’til it drives you crazy, let’s just try the overview, the summary if you will.”

She narrowed her eyes again at his comment before replying, “Ok, for now,” she stressed, “then the summary would be?”

He took a breath as he decided how to best word that summary, “The vision I just had, it is the future. It actually takes place after this baby is born.”

Lili swallowed hard as she looked down at him and pressed for the rest of whatever information he now had, “Did you see the ship? Did we finally find it? Is that the ‘good’ part?” she whispered.

“No, I didn’t see any ship, but like I said, it takes place after the child is born, meaning, I saw it, your baby: Healthy and alive. These are good things Lili. These are things that should make you less worried, right?”

Lili was quiet a long moment before she finally found her voice again, “So, the baby will be born before we ever find the ship?” she asked breathily.

“Lili, you’re doing it again.”

“Doing what?” she swallowed in the same breathless tone.

“I tell you something good, and you still try to find something else to worry about. You gotta stop doin that, hon.” he scolded her gently as he gave her his own little squeeze.

“But I have to. I have to prepare for the worst. If I don’t, how will I ever be able to handle it when it does happen?” she asked softly.

“Lili, please, think about it. No, I didn’t see the ship. That much is true. But think about what I did see: This child, it’s going to make it, it’s going to survive and be ok, even if we don’t find the ship first.” he assured.

Lili was quiet again for several long moments as she thought on his words, their arms still wrapped around one another to preserve the heat from their previous encounter on that cold night.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“I know you’re not asleep.” his voice broke into her thoughts several more long moments later, “I almost always fall asleep before that insomnia of yours lets up. So, are you still being all worried and just doing it quietly now?” he teased as he kissed the top of her head again.

“I’m on permanent worry-mode, remember?” she returned in the same soft whisper.

“Lili…” though, before he could say more, she did speak up again, her eyes turning to his face once more.

“When did this vision take place, anyway? I mean, how far into the future?”

“You asking me for dates, again?” he replied pointedly.

“Well, if you saw the baby,” a slight pause, “how old did he or she look. That should give you a pretty good idea of the date, right?”

Jared just shook his head again, “And if I tell you that, I already know what your response will be.”

“You’re the mind-reader now?” she narrowed her eyes up at him.

“No, but as worried as you are about finding the ship, knowing how much longer it will be without me seeing us doing just that…”

She then scowled slightly, “Since when am I the only one who wants us to find it, as soon as possible?”

“You’re not. But, now I know we can survive, even if it does take us a long time to find it.”

“How long?” she asked more forcefully as she pushed herself onto her arms to look down at him.

Jared shook his head again, “If you’re going to pick out one part of my sentence to dwell on, can’t you try picking a better part?”

“What does that even mean?” she asked him with a continued impatience.

“All you seemed to hear was the part about ‘a long time.’”

“And what part should I have heard?”

“How about the ‘we’ part? Did you hear that?”

“We?”

“Yes, I said ‘we.’” he smiled up at her again, “Wasn’t that your original worry thanks to my other vision? That you or your baby would end up all alone?” a slight pause as she continued to look down at him in the darkness, “I just told you that you won’t be. Did you hear that part, this time?” he told her softly as he reached up to pull her lips down to his once again.

----------------------------------------

Once Ian and Kyle did finally reach that pod again, Kyle let out a heavy sigh as they approached it, which caused Ian to look over at him with a raised brow, “What?” Kyle asked as he noted Ian’s expression.

“That’s like the first noise you’ve even made since we left the shack.”

“Ok.” Kyle returned warily, then added, “Since when do you enjoy conversing with me much anyway?”

Ian just shook his head, “Not like I have a lot of other choices for conversation, now is it?”

“Love you too.” Kyle mumbled as he shook his own head and took a step towards the door of the pod.

“Well, let’s face it. It’s most likely gonna be just you and me for a long time, anyway, isn’t it?” Ian couldn’t help pointing out as he dropped his pack to the ground near them, having carried half their supplies quite a way already that day.

“Jared told you?” Kyle asked as he looked back at Ian quickly.

“Told me what?” Ian asked as he gave Kyle a slightly suspicious look, which only caused Kyle to swallow a bit before responding.

“That it might take a while.” the younger of them finally decided on.

Ian then shook his head once more with a less than sincere smile, “No, I just have a feeling Jared ain’t gonna wanna come back out here and aimlessly search for who knows how many more months. Definitely not before the baby’s born, anyway.” he added with a slight sigh as he moved to open the pod door once again.

Kyle stifled his own sigh as Ian moved to open the door, “How did you guys get this door open anyway? There’s a ton of rust on it.” Kyle attempted a slight subject change.

“The psychic wonder.” Ian scoffed as he pulled the door upwards.

Kyle then coughed a moment and attempted to compose himself as his own eyes fell on the remains inside the pod, before forcing himself onward through the conversation, “He used his ability to open a door that was rusted shut?”

“That’s what I said.” Ian mumbled as he moved back again, leaving Kyle to his attempt at whatever he even could attempt to do with the rusted monstrosity before them.

Kyle sighed again, his eyes still not moving from the bodies for long, “Shouldn’t we like bury them, or something?” he managed, finally looking back at where Ian moved to take a seat on that nearby fallen tree, and began looking through his pack for something or other.

“Have at it. Did you bring a shovel?” Ian mumbled again, his own mood obviously sour despite calling Kyle on his own recent silence a moment earlier.

Kyle just rolled his eyes slightly at the comment, “Then burn them, maybe?” he suggested, not really having much faith in anything this pod would have to offer them, and not really wanting to pretend he could find something amidst decaying remains on top of it all.

Ian finally glanced up after having located some of the food they had packed and moved his eyes once more in the direction of the pod, though only briefly before turning them back to Kyle, “The only other humans we’ve managed to find on this planet? Mysterious as that find even is.” he had to add, “I think our resident scientist may be appalled at us destroying the remains.”

“Well, did he say anything about wanting to keep the remains for any reason?”

“Think he had other stuff on his mind.” Ian mumbled again as he returned his attention to his lunch.

“Well, then too bad for him. I’m not gonna maneuver around decayed corpses while I try and work with this thing. You gonna help me get rid of them, or not?”

“I was trying to eat.” Ian complained, though with a lack of much force.

“Which only proves how much is wrong with you.” Kyle returned with narrowed eyes.

“Cause I’m eating?”

“Eating fifteen feet from decaying bodies.” Kyle clarified.

“I’m gonna be told about my mental health, by you, of all people?”  Ian scoffed, though he did set the food aside.

“And what the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Kyle returned, on the immediate defensive.

Ian just sighed heavily, not even wanting to bother with that conversation right then, “Fine, let’s burn the goddamn bodies.” he gave in as he stood again.

“No, seriously, what the hell was that supposed to mean?” Kyle pressed as Ian moved back over to him once more.

“You wanna argue, or you want me to help you turn them into crispy critters?” Ian complained as he gestured toward the pod impatiently.

“Why you always gotta be such a jerk?” Kyle returned as Ian moved to take a step up into the pod.

“Me? That is funny.” Ian mumbled under his breath.

Kyle just scoffed and shook his head, “So, now not only do I have mental problems, but I’m the jerk, too?”

“Wasn’t that Steve Martin?” Ian blew off the question as he made his way toward the bodies.

Kyle then shook his head again, “I don’t know why I ever thought coming out here with you was a remotely good idea. You and I have never gotten along, like ever.”

“Can we kiss and make up later?” Ian complained, “Bodies to burn, lunch to eat, pods to operate on. Remember all that?”

Kyle scoffed again, “Didn’t realize we were on a time limit.”

“Well, we are, cause she’s having a baby in less than five months, and we gotta fuckin do something!” Ian exclaimed as though he had a lot more pent up emotions inside than he ever normally let on to, at any time.

Kyle swallowed again, thrown more than a bit by the outburst, but it seemed to quiet any further retaliation of his own that he might have had as he simply nodded, took a breath, and moved to help Ian with the task at hand.