Distant Lands
Burn-Out Part 2

I exit the shop and continue walking. I notice a food truck out on the street and begin to power walk towards it to see what kind of food they have.

“No way!” MY HEART ALMOST EXPLODES WITH HAPPINESS when I get closer to the truck. Earth must influence Azure more than I thought, and I’m so happy we do.

“Give me that one,” I point to a menu item.

“Okay, would you like fries and a drink with your cheeseburger?” the man in the food truck asks.

“Yes, please,” I excitedly place the watch on the scanner. The man hands me my food in a small cardboard box.

“Thanks,” I say, with my mouth-watering.

“You’re welcome. Enjoy,” he smiles.

“Of course, I will enjoy this.”

Although Emerald’s food is delicious, I have missed junk food. It feels like I haven’t eaten a cheeseburger in years. I walk on the sidewalk in front of the shops with my food. I take the first bite of my cheeseburger, and I stop…Oh, it’s heavenly. It almost brings a tear to my eye. I continue walking. As I walk, I continue to eat my cheeseburger and fries.

People stare at me as if I’m an alien, which I guess I am. Then I spot a small park—the grass area with many trees providing shade. I walk over to a tree and sit under it. I place the box of food on my lap and continue eating. I look around the park, and a few people are sitting on the grass, under trees, just relaxing. I’m glad I took the day off today. I need this.

Children are playing in a small playground. It makes me smile watching the kids run around, jump, and climb on the playground climbers. I guess kids are the same; it doesn’t matter what world they are from. They are so innocent, so happy, with no clue how hard life can be.

I finish my meal and my drink. I reach into my pocket and take out Diego’s letter. It’s getting tattered, so I carefully unfold it and read it. I keep it in my pocket to remind myself that I have a mission. My life here is not my real life. I have a real family I have to get back to. I finish reading it, fold it, and put it back in my pocket. It always makes me depressed, but It also gives me the strength to keep going.

I take a deep breath of the crisp, clean, fresh air and lay down on the grass; it feels soft on my back. I look up at the tree branches and watch Its leaves move with the wind; a small blue bird lands on a branch, and it flies away when it sees me. I chuckle, remembering what I’ve been through so far. I was clueless. I had no idea why my family never traveled and never got together with other family members. I would never have guessed that my family’s history was terrible and dangerous.

Now I understand why my parents tried to stay under a rock as much as possible. I don’t blame them. I know they were just trying to protect us. I look at Emerald’s watch, and it’s starting to get late. I grab my box and walk over to a trash can to throw it away. I walk back to the sidewalk and continue walking in front of the shops.

I walk by a building that has its door open. I stop and look inside, the lights are dim, but I can see that it’s a bar, and I smile. It’s still early in the day, and there are only a few Divus men sitting at the bar. I know I shouldn’t, but I walk in. I walk in feeling like a badass, with my leather jacket and black moto boots.

The men turn to look at me, but I ignore them, and I sit at the bar. The bartender notices me and comes my way.

“Well, hello, little lady, what can I get you?” he asks, smiling.

“Hello, big man, please give me the strongest drink you’ve got.”

The man gives me a surprised look and laughs. “Are you sure you can handle it?”

How dare he question me. I slam my hand on the bar top. “Hell yes, I can, now bring me my drink…please.”

The man smiles, “Okay, okay, calm down, little lady.” He grabs two bottles and mixes them. He places a glass half full of some liquor with ice in front of me. I hear Emerald’s watch beep, paying for the drink.

“The strongest I’ve got, enjoy,” he stays to witness me drink it.

“Thank you.” I pick up the glass and drink it all at once. The bartender looks at me in shock.

“Ooh yeah.” I clear my throat. My tolerance has increased. “Give me another one.”

He looks at me like I’m crazy but makes me another one and places it in front of me, and I hear the beep again.

“Thank you so much, um.” I look at him. “What is your name?”

“Jerry,” he says.

“Nice to meet you, Jerry. I’m Elizabeth.” I shake his hand. One of the men sitting at the bar calls the bartender over.

“Nice to meet you too. Let me know if you want anything else,” he says. I nod, and he walks over to the man.

When I told him my name, I noticed a slight change in his face, almost like he had recognized me. But maybe I’m just paranoid because this is my first time here.

I take a sip from my drink. Now that I know I’m a blackout drunk, I need to be careful not to get wasted in public. It was bad enough that I blacked out on Earth. I don’t want to do that on an alien planet. More people come in, and some leave. I continue sipping my drink.

A guy sits on the barstool to the right of me. I glance at him, and he looks tired as hell. Like he just finished a long shift somewhere. He orders a drink and sits there in silence, just drinking. He sighs, looking at his drink. After he finishes his drink, he gets up and leaves. Damn, he must be going through something or has a shitty job. I guess there are shitty jobs on other planets too.

I grab my straw and swirl the ice around in my glass. Then suddenly, I feel a heavy presence to my left, but I don’t bother to look up. It’s probably another burnt-out person just trying to take the edge off. Suddenly I feel something on my left wrist and hear a click sound. I look at my left wrist, and I see a metal cuff. I see Emerald’s stern face just silently staring at me.

I swallow hard, and my heart pounds.

She lifts her arm and smiles at the bartender, and he smiles back. I think Jerry snitched on me? Emerald’s smile melts when she looks back at me. She grabs my arm, pulls me off the stool, and starts leading me out. I look back at the bartender, and he is looking my way. I raise my fist in the air.

“Damn you, Jerry!” I yell. And Emerald yanks me forward and out of the building. She lets go of me when we are outside and places her hands on her hips, just looking like she wants to beat my ass. I show her my left wrist.

“What the hell is this?”

“It’s a tracker.” She sees her watch on my wrist. She angrily takes it off of me.

“Get in.” She motions to the car parked in front of us. I’m surprised at how calm she is, but I fear that it’s only because we are in the presence of other people. I get the urge to run away, but I open the car door and get in. She gets in the car and starts driving. The silence in the car is making me so uncomfortable.

“Emerald, I just needed a day off.”

She doesn’t say anything, and she just tightens her grip on the steering wheel. I think of what else to say or do to calm her anger.

“I went shopping." I smile. "I hadn’t done that in a long time.”

She lets out a small breath. “You stole from me.” She angrily shows me her watch.

“I didn’t steal it. I borrowed it. I promise to pay you back.”

She shakes her head and stays silent. We drive up the dirt driveway that leads to the house. She stops the car halfway.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“Get out.”

I’m confused as hell, but I get out of the car. She doesn’t move the vehicle. I walk to her side of the car and look at her. She inputs something on her tablet. I stare at her, still confused at what is happening. Then she looks at me and smiles.

“What’s going-” Suddenly, my left arm rises up and forward, and I feel a forceful pull, pulling me at high speed up the driveway. It makes me run fast; I go flying forward, my feet barely touch the ground, and I land hard on the ground, sliding on my belly. I groan in pain and just lay on the ground.

The car approaches next to me. Emerald gets out of the vehicle and stands right by me, her black boots by my face.

“It’s a tracker, and it also keeps you inside of an assigned perimeter,” she says and walks into the house.

Oh great. I groan as I turn on my back. I lay here on the dirt ground, just looking up at the sky. I get up and test this device out. I pass the perimeter, but my arm lifts and the cuff stays inside the perimeter, feeling a magnetic pull—damn alien tech.