Spacelocked

Spacelocked-First Draft

      Please note this is unedited-the final version will not be complete until mid February. Feel free to leave advice.

I had put it off. Shut it out entirely, ignoring the tiny wisp of a voice that had been in the back of my head for the past week. Father told me I needed to start coming to terms with it, but he was always met with my highest level of indifference. I just couldn't, no matter what I or anyone else wanted.
"Attention, Citizens of the Republic,"
I wanted to keep it out of my head. I really did.
"Resources are hitting critically low levels..."
The monotone voice sent chills down my spine.
"We are forced to begin Project ReHoming sooner than expected."
My eyes were clenched tightly shut now. I could barely handle thinking about it.
"All Government Personnel Levels 3-5 and their families will be the first to go."
I finally snapped out of it, teardrops welling up in the corners of my hazel eyes. I brushed them away, knowing there was nothing I could do. Nothing to change what was to come. My fate was sealed, locked away in a tiny metal box hurtling toward Mars. I had but six days before I'd be forced to leave my home indefinitely.
"Harper, you can't ignore me forever," my father said, standing outside my bedroom door. I didn't want to admit it, but he was right. I sighed, reluctantly tossing my legs over the metal bed frame. I unlocked the door slowly, wondering why I was even bothering. He didn't get it. Nobody ever did, except for mother, and she was gone. Though she left me, my memories of her would never depart, no matter how badly I wanted them to.
It was September. The crisp air complimented the day perfectly, hanging around the two of us in a haze of pleasantry. We were at the park a few blocks away from the house, sitting on a plaid blanket. The stream made a peaceful, constant murmur as it flowed. The elm tree to our right provided just enough shade while still allowing the sun to peek through and keep us warm. It was our favorite place. Our own bit of nature away from the whizzing industrial world around us.
I remember everything from that day. Everything had started so perfectly but was flipped so quickly.
"Harper?"
The voice sent me back to the present. I finished turning the lock, the once cool metal now warmed from my lingering fingertips. The door opened, and father walked in. I do wish I could have paid attention to what he said, but I couldn't. Too much was going on and he saw right through my attentive facade. Realizing he was getting nowhere, he sighed, and with an undertone of sadness, stood up and left, leaving me to my thoughts.
The days passed quickly. I walked through the goodbyes like a zombie, apathetic to the farewell parties and well wishes around me. I didn't have a particular reason why; it was just what felt natural. Natural was something unfamiliar to me. Barely anything felt natural anymore. Everything was so meticulously crafted and worked out to perfection nowadays. Even the smallest of things.
The drive was the worst part. I stared as the only home I ever knew passed by. It was a two hour's drive to the launch location; and, as if to pain me personally, the route forced us to drive past almost all the places I held dearly to my heart. The park, Wallace Pizzeria-even the hospital. Mom's hospital. Father made multiple attempts to converse, but I was busy staring off at nothing in particular. After a few failures, he finally resigned to absentmindedly drumming his fingers against the dashboard while barely monitoring the AutoDriver.
After what felt like an unbearably long journey, we arrived. The compound was surprisingly bare, housing only a huge, washed-out gray building, helicopter landing pad, and the ship that would be my home for the next 5 months while we traveled. Just a few years ago, it would have taken 10 months, but luckily, the technology of 2082 allowed the spacecraft to travel at much higher speeds. Immediately after we exited our car, it was promptly instructed to drive off into a lot by a man in a formal tuxedo. "Wesley Murphy," he said, introducing himself while shaking my father's hand. He looked down at his clipboard, then back at the two of us. "Mason family of two. Lachlan Mason, Level 3 Advisor of President Carter." The well-dressed man then focused his attention on me. "And you must be Harper?" he asked, though he already knew the answer. I nodded my head curtly, wanting to get this whole thing over with.   
We were lead into the massive building and brought to an auditorium full of the two hundred seventy-eight other people we'd be living with once we arrived at the base on Mars. Fortunately, our ship would carry only twenty, including ourselves. Fourteen ships were being launched total. Ordinarily, they'd go one at a time, spaced out, but the astronauts already living in the base needed a large number of supplies in a short span of time, so all fourteen ships would launch one after another with only minutes between them. A seminar was lead by another well-dressed government official, going through anything and everything we could possibly need to know. It went on for hours until finally, the first set of 20 travelers was called out. I spaced out as the names piled on, expecting to have a while to wait. However, I was startled when I heard, "And finally, Lachlan and Harper Mason. This concludes the residents of Ship One." I gulped and took a deep breath before following my father and the others in the group out the heavy wooden doors.
The walk was unsettling. It was quiet as I scanned the crowd of others, the only sounds being forty-two feet shuffling along. It was mostly older men and their wives; their children were grown and gone. There was, however, what appeared to be a set of twins my age: a boy and a girl. They were both dressed obnoxiously, and I could already see myself hating them. Finally, after a long walk through twisting hallways and staircases, we were able to board the ship.
I didn't want to admit it, but it really was beautiful. Not traditionally, but in the way that the craftsmanship and careful design were blatantly obvious. The thought put into launch was obvious, too. Though momentarily uncomfortable, it wasn't too rough. Before long, we were stabilized and on our way to the Red Planet.
Five months didn't seem like a long time on the ground, but it was hellish up there. The twins, who I later found out were named Finnegan and Genevieve, made it a goal to make every day of those miserable months even worse for me. Rude comments, notes in my sleep pod-nothing was below them. Looking back, I wish I'd savored those days. No matter how bad they seemed, they were a million times better than what was to come.
The Mars Settlement was gone. Every inch of it was destroyed by a storm. We had no means of knowing. When communication stopped, Earth Headquarters assumed it was just a system failure, so they didn't bother telling us. Instead, we found out when we looked at the huge screen displaying the outside world in the main hall after landing and all we saw was a deserted, dusty red land.
Everything was worse after that. Disagreements turned into fights, and fights broke into chaos. The water filtration system was on its' last legs, and everyone was constantly on edge. Headquarters was sending rescue ships, but it'd be a long and difficult five months before they arrived.
I remember the exact date. February 19th, 2085. It would have been another month and a half before the rescue ships came. Things had continued to descend into chaos, and it was beginning to become all too much. Late into the night, I headed to the airlock, unbeknownst to anyone else. By the time they realized, it was too late. I had already pressed the button to release the containment doors and stepped out into the sandy red terrain. I had finally, for a moment, felt free.