Serix didn’t look up, but the sound of the human’s receding footsteps told him she was gone. He waited until he was certain she was out of earshot before he let out a scream of frustration and punched the wall. Why did he have to go and make such a foolish mistake? He should have just killed her when her first saw her sneaking into that construction. He had so many opportunities to get rid of her, yet he wasted them all. Now one of the others would surely find her. She would probably take out her rage towards him by telling the other Scouts what he had done; or worse, she would make up lies about him helping her. The Scouts would tell the pilot, who would in turn report him to the higher powers. Serix wouldn’t last another three days.

He sank to his knees. He had let himself get carried away, and now he would suffer the consequences. There was no way his betrayal would stay a secret. Somehow one of the others would catch wind of what he did, that much he was sure of. The success ratio by which the human-sympathizers were removed was one hundred percent, which meant the higher powers never failed to capture them. Although Serix had to wonder how they always knew who was betraying them. If the sympathizers had befriended the humans in secret, how were they caught?

He was still puzzling over this thought when a cold drop of water hit him on the head. Immediately his heart began to race. [i]Not again.[/i] He looked up. Those dark masses had rolled across the sky while he was preoccupied with his musings. Now, only small patches of blue could be seen through their sinister black. The Storm growled in its deep voice, sending tremors up Serix’s spine. He stood up, his wide eyes frantically searching for a place to take refuge.

[i]There.[/i] Nearby, he spotted a narrow pathway. The rain was falling at such an angle that the alley was almost completely dry. Serix quickly ducked inside, crouching against one of the walls. He found himself longing to be back in the safety of the human’s odd ship. He felt vulnerable in the open space among the constructions. He drew his knees tighter to his chest and buried his head in them, shuddering as the Storm let out another booming roar.

Serix stayed like this until the muffled sound of footsteps made him look up. A shadowy figure was approaching him in the rain. He froze. Was it the pilot coming to make him disappear? How had he found him out so quickly? He suddenly realized that this was impossible. The figure didn’t have luminescent eyes. It couldn’t be a Lunairan, which could only mean one thing: the human had come back to him. He could only stare as she moved to stand over him.

[b]“Yo,”[/b] she said curtly. [b]“You're going back to the airport with me.”[/b] Serix didn’t move. He was still too baffled by her reappearance. He had tried to kill her. Why was she still trying to help him? It made no sense. The human let out an irritated sigh when he had yet to respond to her command. She reached down and took his arm, giving it a tug in an attempt to pull him to his feet.

[b]“Come on big baby,”[/b] she taunted. [b]“If you don't hurry we'll get caught in the worse part of the storm when it really starts up.[/b] That pulled Serix out of his daze. He stood up on shaky feet, taking a moment to regain his balance, and then looked at her, frowning in confusion.

“Why are you doing this?” he asked. “I have nothing to give you… I tried to [i]kill[/i] you. So, why are you always helping me?”