text: Note: Part one is right here, . Please let me know what you think. Enjoy. &#x200B; \ &#x200B; I began to debate my next step relaxing against the seat. I could sit in this pod and wait, fearful that the outside air was toxic and I didn’t know. I could don my battle helmet and seal it buying me about twelve hours before needing to swap filters, but I didn’t want to drag out the inevitable if there was no breathable oxygen here. On the other hand, I wasn’t just ready to pop the hatch, take a deep breath and fall over dead and poisoned. I didn’t enjoy this idea of death by poisonous air, and I knew the longer I debated it, the more of a chance I was going to bail out of leaving the pod and stay here until I died. I looked down at the large yellow and black handle to my right marked, “DOOR’. It was the quick release lever we would yank when we hit the combat zone and the pod didn’t blow the hatch on it’s own. I took a long deep breath and eyed the hatch release. *Fuck it.* I thought reaching down to the release and I yanked the lever, the seals popping simultaneously throwing the door open and clear to the left. I felt the cool tap of rain on my face. I could feel the cold breeze as the wind blew into the wide opening of my pod. I let the air out of my lungs and took another deep breath holding it. I let it out. I could breath. I hoisted myself out of the pod and looked around. It was very serene outside. I couldn’t imagine that just less than six hours ago I was at the mercy of the void of space. I looked down and shifted some of the wet sticks and leaves around on the ground. I was in a very light forest, trees spaced very far apart with lots of green grass growing and some other foliage. I took another deep breath and enjoyed the fresh air not having to breath the recycled oxygen on ship. Taking a long moment to breath I collected my thoughts. I looked around me in the wooded area seeing that the trees resembled black cottonwoods and the tall thin white trunks of aspen trees. I looked back at my charred looking black pod and sighed. I looked around my little landing spot and started to assess whether or not I should start looking for somewhere else to hold up. I wasn’t set on moving a whole lot. I knew nothing about this planet or area, and to be honest I wasn’t sure how long it would be or if I would ever be rescued. I sat on a large upturned rock and took in the two large tall trees that I had knocked over in my rough landing. I could see that they had probably broken a lot of the fall and I could thank them for not crashing into the dirt and rock like a pancake. I looked at the area I was in. I was stationed slightly above the rest of the ground around me. I was in sort of a open area allowing me to not worry about falling trees or debris. I could always take shelter in the pod from the rain if I had to, and I had plenty of wood for fire if I became so dire to dry out or warm up. I knew I would need water, and I had enough food in my pack to last me a few weeks with some refills for supplies in my pod. Inside of my pod were a few ammo boxes with reloads for my issued weapons but since weapons were not in my pod, and like a dumbass I lost my sidearm, I had none with me. I looked at the empty weapon rack inside of the pod reaching in and withdrawing a light green camo poncho shutting the door frustrated. I unfurled it and shook it out before putting it on. I made sure I still had my combat knife on my battle belt and I looked around one more time. Something that finally crept into my mind, was the feeling that this place looked eerily similar to earth. Or at least the Earth that I would see in my school books. Now it was sprawling cities and any open land was for agricultural use. So I had never seen wildlife or the ‘outdoors’ as it were. I took one more in depth scan around me at the world, just soaking in the view. It was a surreal feeling, standing among trees that I had only seen in the wealthier neighborhood yards. I shook my head clear of my little side track, needing to find water if I was going to make this camp. I opened the pod again and I took out an infrared strobe, one of many, I clicked it on and set it on top of the pod. I withdrew a night vision monocle stuffing it in my belt. I took out a boony hat and put it on to keep the rain off of my neck and made sure my armor was tightened down to make as little noise as possible. I shut and secured the pod door and picked a direction. I clicked on my arm PDA slate. It was strapped to my left forearm and the screen was about three inches tall and five inches wide. It was set in an aluminum alloy case and weighed only a couple ounces. It came to life with a dim glow. I had a blank screen on the map mode which only confirmed this place had never even been surveyed from space. I was on a truly unknown rock. I could see that there was a ping for three weapons and supply cache’s somewhere. I knew that they had to be within ten or so miles since the range was limited without the pod’s outside systems or a ship to bounce the signal. So I was lucky, but I would have to find water first. I did notice on the PDA there was a labeled ‘north’. Which told me at least I was going to be able to use a compass to navigate. I wasn’t sure how ‘true’ the North was, but it was better than nothing. I began to walk, feeling naked. I had no firearm and it was unsettling how quiet this place was. Not that nature didn’t make noise, but I wasn’t used to it. I spent years in forward deployed environments, in hab buildings, with the hum of recycled air, or the constant whir of generators, or aboard ships to travel to the next combat deployments. Sure there were quiet barracks on occasion or the noiseless briefing room, but Earth was chewed up and dying. This experience was truly new, when even as a kid I never heard birds but on rare occasions. Maybe local dogs in their yards but only the very wealthy people could afford those. It is all very stimulating to see this, to be in an actual forest and around nature the way I am now. I had been dropped into charred battlefields or barren mountain tops. I had been sent to ocean habs and even participated in a few assaults on space stations but never anything so exotic as this. I passed dark green bushes and tall trees. Some of the bushes bore bright red and orange berries. I passed several downed trees and my path led down what I could see was probably a game trail. The floor of the forest was covered in leaves and other debris that had fallen to the weed and grass covered ground. There were large grey and black boulders jutting from the ground that were varying in size from beach ball to as large as a bus. As I followed the downward grade of the hill I could hear the growing sound of running water. Not rushing like a river but a steady trickle like a stream. I stopped at the top of a small pool of water about the size of a small kiddie pool. I could see a few small fish swimming in the water and decided that I would probably be ok in staying where I was until I could figure out what I wanted to do. It was starting to get dark and I would need to get back to camp soon. I didn’t want to get caught out here in the cold and wet night. The rain wasn’t letting up, even though it wasn't worse, it wasn’t getting better. I started to walk back up the grade and took short steps so as not to wear myself out before I got to my pod. As I walked the sun was dimming faster than I anticipated and it was getting very dark. I retrieved my monocle and clicked it on. I brought it to my eye and in the distance beyond the trees I could see the faint blinking of the infrared light as it strobed. I made my way to my little crash site and retrieved the strobe flicking it off. It was pitch black out and I decided for now to just sleep in the pod until morning. I shook out my poncho to get a bulk of the water off and I climbed into my metal coffin. I closed the door and propped it slightly with a small rock for ventilation. I curled up in the seat and crossed my arms, with the poncho draped over me. I closed my eyes but nothing was going to silence my inner monologue tonight. It was a restless sleep. I could not get comfortable and there is definitely some predatory wildlife out here. I didn't poke my head out to see, but I did hear a very large animal outside the pod making a deep growling noise. As the morning grew dim enough for me to see unassisted I emerged from my pod like a vampire in the old movies. It was damp and cold in there from a night of minimal vent or circulation. I checked the ground to find large paw and claw prints in the soft dirt. They were larger than my boots and I decided that I needed to fix my camp up. I started my morning by finding dry wood from under the nearby trees and starting a small fire. I remember my great grandfather telling stories about camping as a child and how the camp fire would scare off animals. I had only ever practiced in my teens with sticks and twigs from dead trees in the neighborhood but it was never real like this. Gathering the smallest stuff into a pile I delved into the compartment under my seat that held the last ditch survival gear. Inside of a green waxed canvas pouch marked, “LIFE BAG”. I sifted through the sparse contents, a ten gallon plastic liner, a mirror, a small straw filter, two large square calorie bars, a bundle of cord, and a box of ten matches. I withdrew a match and held it for a moment. I lit it on the box and held it under the tinder. It lit slowly and I felt a bit of pride as I got a small campfire going from the dry wood I had found. I let it burn until the sky had grown brighter. As I sat on a rock warming my hands and eating an MRE I looked over into the trees. I could see a large dog looking animal watching me. It looked a bit like the wolves in the story books I had read as a kid. It was watching me with curiosity and I wasn’t sure what to do. It wasn’t acting aggressive but it was way bigger than any dog I had ever seen. It was almost bigger than me in size and it was covered in thick gray fur. It watched me for several minutes before retreating back into the wilderness. I began to venture out into the nearby brush and drag large downed branches to form a sort of perimeter around my camp. Doing my best to just form a large oval around my little site. It took the me the better part of two hours to get enough debris to form the basic outline. Over the next half of the day I managed to use two tall trees spaced about five feet apart as my entrance. I did my best to intertwine the limbs and branches of the trees I was using as a wall along my perimeter. I found a place to store my wood, and I used the tree cover from some large pine looking trees for the area I set up my bedding to sleep outside of the pod by the fire. I snacked a bit and then got back up to continue improving my wall on the south and west sides. Solitude always was my enemy. It allows you to think too much. I would dread lonely posts where you were the only sentry on watch because I would start to let my mind wander too much. I was always my own devil and it showed when whomever came to relieve me because I would be in a bad mood. I picked up a large rock probably weighing somewhere around forty or so pounds and I grunted as I carried it to the wall. I tossed it down with a thud. I stared at it as I thought about the time we built fortifications on one of the colonies we were defending. It was a bad day and we took a lot of casualties that night. I remember for the next year or so I spent nearly every night wondering, *If I had just put in a little more effort, would one of the others have survived the fight?* I shook my head and squatted down moving the rock into a position I felt better suited its purpose along my ‘wall’. I would never forgive myself for my laziness that day. I still blame myself for that part of the emplacement wall giving in during the bombardment. I felt a measure of shame and I sat again feeling depression wash over me. I looked out over the woods and saw nothing but still wildlife. I could hear the birds chirping and the soft blow of the breeze. But I felt a heaviness in my heart and mind. My lost friends would never be able to see this, or hear the story. I may never leave here, and then another pang of deep sadness washed over me as I came to a realization that I may never see rescue. I sighed hard and audibly before standing. I put my hands on my hips and closed my eyes tight, growling low to myself. Tears threatened to overtake my eyes and I fought hard to quell my growing anxiety, sadness, and depression. *You a fuckin’ Marine. Get a hold of your shit.* I heard my inner self chewing my ass. I struggled and wiped my eyes. I sighed again and was trying to think of something else. I opened my eyes to see that same dog back again. It was sitting in the woods and staring at me. I looked at it, seeing it was a bit closer than before. I could see more detail now, the top being a very dark gray that almost looks black but I could make out flecks of white and a snow white underside. It was a male and it’s eyes were dark, too far to make out color but definitely dark. It had it’s ears perked and stared at me intently. I didn’t know what to make of it’s odd behavior. I placed my hand on my knife handle debating if I had made a terrible mistake wallowing like a coward outside of my wall. It turned and trotted off again and I relaxed a little. “Yeah, I was being a little bitch. Time to stop,” I said to myself. It was odd hearing that came out. I hadn’t spoken since I landed and it felt odd to hear words even if they were mine. It hadn’t even been that long, but I guess as social creatures, we never go a whole day without hearing someone’s speech. I turned and walked through my entrance into the camp. I sat at my fire feeding it, I tried to keep my head on tack, on survival. I would need to focus. I took account for everything now. I needed to collect some water and boil it next. I could ration the food but I was almost out of water in my bladder. I had a canteen cup to boil the water in, in my gear. But I couldn’t collect it this way. I needed to figure something out to bring it back and forth in. After some heavy thinking I decided I would use the liner from my Life Bag to collect it from the stream. As I began to unpack my assault pack into the pod making sure to keep everything together I lined the pack which I knew could hold at least a few gallons. I made sure I had my knife on my hip and I grabbed a large stick that was large enough to wield as a club but light enough not to wear me out if I had to use it to fend off an animal. As I walked I could hear thunder in the distance. Since I landed I had not seen the sun once in two days. I walked slowly pacing myself down the slope to the stream. I figured that if it was going to rain again that maybe I should set the liner up to collect more water until I could find a way to store it better than two quart sized canteens and two one gallon bladders. I was just happy I kept one stored with water in the pod before we ditched the ship. As I reached the waters edge I set the bag down and looked around. I could see a few birds in the trees now, they were a dark brown with streaks of red. They were watching me that cockeyed way birds do with only one eye. They would chirp every now and then and it was sort of peaceful. I placed the bag in the water and let it fill up about halfway. I closed the waterproof bag and hoisted it onto my back. The weight was distributed all weird but this was at least a half conventional method to collect it. My nerves went up, I slowly began to feel like I was being watched. I turned and watched my surroundings. This place gave me the creeps and I wasn’t sure if it was the area, or if I was actually being watched. I reached down feeling the stacked leather handle of my knife. Years of use leaving it rough and dinged up but just as reliable as ever. I continued to carry the heavy sack of liquid back to camp stopping every so often checking for that wolf or other wildlife. The quieter and slower I traveled the more I noticed around me. I could see a black rabbit looking critter a good distance away. It was nibbling on something and it had longer ears that stood straight up. Its face and snout were a little longer than I thought they should be for a rabbit but it looked similar enough. As I was walking I came to the spot I originally spotted the wolf. I looked among the dirt and found it’s paw print. The print was large, about the size of my hand spread out. I thought about the track next to my pod and in a way was relieved that this wolf wasn’t the culprit. I began to feel a bit wary of what could possibly have made them. The animal had to be the size of a bear or bigger. As I reached my camp I entered and set the water by the pod. I opened it and propped it up with a few large logs and rocks to make sure it didn’t fall over when I left it and that it was well out of the way for me to not knock it over. I collected the first cup out of it and set it to boil next to the fire. Assuming the germs where about the same here as they were on earth, I only needed to bring it to a boil before it was safe to drink and free of bacteria and germs. I watched it carefully as it began to steam and get hot. As I watched I noticed I was beginning to lose daylight again. I removed my boonie hat and fanned the flames for a momment watching the smoke swirl. I was getting tired and hungry and I should probably eat before I tried to sleep. I spread out the mostly dry pine needles I had gathered across the ground near the fire and I got out a camo tarp that we were issued laying it out on the ground to cover the poor excuse for a mattress. I opened an MRE and ate the contents of the chicken breast main meal and burned the package before tossing the rest of the food in the pack still sealed. I had moved the boiling cup of water off the fire and let it cool before adding it to my water bladder and putting it all away in the pod. I shut the door, leaving it propped open a few inches with a rock and walked back to the fire. I laid down under the pines as the breeze turned into a light wind and it got cold. I fed another log onto the fire and closed my eyes feeling some level of security with the warmth, light, and the makeshift walls around my new little home. I debated removing my boots but felt it was probably more wise to sleep in them for a night or two until I figured out how nights would be outside the pod. Despite my little moment of sadness and regret, I was satisfied. Gathering water, fortifying my walls. I improved my camp and I felt confident in my work. I may not be able to quiet my mind but my exhaustion was something that I couldn’t overcome. It was late, or at least it felt like it. I woke up and opened my eyes, still covered with my tarp. I could hear the sound of a heavy low breathy growl. It was close, somewhere in my camp. I poked my head from under the tarp slowly looking at the entrance. The fire had died to soft red coals and I could only see the faint outlines of things. I grabbed a handful of the dried pine needles and slowly reached out tossing them on the coals. I repeated the process for the next minute moving slowly and methodically. I could smell the heavy smoke as the coals struggled to ignite the tinder. All the while I could make out a very large and furry looking animal along the south wall. It was stone still and I would have missed it, had it not moved slightly. I felt it’s eyes boring into me and the fear in my stomach rose. I began to second guess my previous observations as I didn’t see any more movement. Then there was another movement from the gigantic animal as it shifted its weight. It’s noiseless moving made it all the more terrifying. I placed a fifth handful on the dying campfire and then I undid the button on my knife sliding it out of the sheath. I heard the soft pad of a foot as I glanced at the fire. &#x200B; Edit: had to fix m link to part one because I'm dumb.