The sky was a deep ocean-black when Rena awoke.
She leaned against the plastic wall and plopped her head by the roundish-rectangular window, feeling cold seep into her cheeks. Squinting through the misty clouds, Rena could almost see distant lights of the lands thousands of feet below. Glancing at the paper map taped against her wall, she picked up a pin from get wooden table.
"I think we're right...here," Rena said, squishing the red pin on a random spot in Asia.
Nodding and smiling to herself, Rena stood up and began her morning routine, like she had done for the past eleven years.
Wake up. Look down. Stick a pin. Get dressed.
Stepping softly on the carpeted floor, Rena walked to her wooden closet adjacent to her white mattress. The doors creaked noisily, and Rena cringed then waited for one of her neighbors to hiss at the sound at this ungodly hour.
No hisses. Rena continued conjuring up clothes. She didn't have very many clothes because everyone here had to sew their own clothes together, and Rena was not very skilled at anything related to a needle and a thread.
Plucking out her recent design—a dark green cotton shirt with thigh-length jeans—Rena dressed then mentally went back to her morning list.
Wash up.
Quietly, carefully, Rena trudged her wooden door open, tense at any hiss or breath or sound from her neighbors.
Tiptoeing, she reached the common bathroom and washed up; she was still careful not to splash her face with cold water too loudly.
Next, go to the Common Room.
Rena made her way down the hallway, mentally awakening her brain by listing the names of her neighbors behind each wooden door. Poli, Sanra, Lio, Olive, Wanda, Dren...
The noise of soft clattering of spoons and plates and people distracted Rena's thoughts and made her focus on the nibbling hunger in the pit of her stomach.
The wafts of food snaked down Rena's nose and triggered a loud growl in her stomach. Hugging her poor stomach, Rena waited like a frozen deer as she heard the shift of Grumpy Gary turning on his creaky bed, who lived by the stairs to the Common Room and who glared at anyone who waked him up before 7am.
No yelling. Rena blew a sigh of relief and quickly climbed up the stairs, where a group of toddlers sat waiting for her.
"Oh, I am so sorry, everyone!" She said, eyes widening. "I forgot that today was story time!"
The children stared at her blankly, blinking their bright and sleepy eyes.
Plopping onto the floor like a sack of rocks, Rena began.
"I have been on a road trip all my life," Rena murmured, sitting with her legs locked together. She leaned forward, her back curved and her dark brown hair cascading across her shoulders to surround her face like a dark aura. "Would you like to hear my story? Alright then."
Before anyone could stop her, she sipped her glass of water, cleared the dust in her throat, and began in a mysterious voice:
"People tell me that the end of the world came on the back of a beast of grey. Stories say that navy blue robots descended from the sky and made it rain blood. People described the banshee screams echoing across the gravel, along with the thundering stomps of a stampede of people running for their lives.
"I remember pieces—the flash of red and green lights, the smell of decaying garbage, the glimmer of gold, and the green eyes of a Bot. I tried to run—but where could you hide when Bots have sensitive hearing, sharp eyes, and were streaming from every corner of the city? As I rounded a corner, I felt the chills before I came across a Bot. Or, should I say, it came across me." She waited for the gasps to echo away.
"I couldn't remember much; but the glow, the blood, the wretchedness of its eyes still haunt me in my sleep. The monster-machine marched its way to me, its metal feet sticky with the blood of innocent lives. I was a goner—nowhere out, nowhere to run."
She paused for a microsecond to carry momentum, her thin eyebrows raised on one side. "The Bot started humming, its tune of death shrilling in the air, as it curved its blade arm towards my heart and—"
"What happened?" A five-year-old girl shrieked while clenching the soft rug of the common room with her little fingers. Her pale skin wrinkled around her wide green eyes that twinkled with apprehension.
"Questions later, please, Nina," Rena answered, a feather of muscle beneath her chin flexing as she cleared her throat again and tried to regain her story-telling mood.
"So, as I was saying," she quickly continued before she lost all the other kids' attention. "The Bot swiped down at me, scraping the tip of my knee," she said, rolling her jeans to reveal the long scar on her kneecap. "It swiped again with its other arm, determined not to miss my pulsing heart this time. But it did.
"A blazing light appeared as if the sky split open and allowed a figure to descend on moving stairs. The man flew down and, with a magic sword, he cut the Bot into three parts, scooped me into his arm, and gave me a home. Who is he?"
"Sid Dobey!" The children cheered in unison, stubby fingers punching the air.
"That's right! He is my hero, your hero, and the world's hero. Rumors spread everywhere of his mysterious vehicle he gave refuge to everyone. People nicknamed it the Savior, exaggerating that it was as long as the Mississippi River and could fit over a million people. Survivors held onto the hope that the Savior would land and come find them. It kept everyone living in this forsaken world."
A tiny hand lifted in the air eagerly.
Rena sighed and said, "Yes, Nina?"
The petite girl straightened her back as she asked, "How come the Savior is so fancy? Where do we get all the food?"
Rena blinked. "That...is a very good question. Well..."
"We have friends on the land below," a male voice answered for her.
"Sid Dobey!" The children cheered again.
The man smiled, basking in the admiration of the toddlers, and continued, "We have friends below that help smuggle food from Eden, mostly leftovers that they couldn't finish, and give it to us once every two months, which is about now."
Sid kneeled down to face Nina. "As for the Savior, I built it before the Day of the Grey came. My family was wealthy, and they allowed me to tinker with some of their unwanted items, such as this carpet and that curtain and these tables." He gestured around them. "And when I heard that an apocalypse was happening...well, I did have a big plane to rescue as many people as I can."
The children nodded eagerly, staring at Sid as if he was a superhero.
"And here we are today," Rena said, trying to achieve those appraising looks from her audience again. Her tanned arm swooped around the Common room. "Eleven years have passed since then. We now house 216 people from all across Gehenna—the dark abyss outside of Eden. Or, I should say, above Eden."
For her final flourish ending, she pulled on a thick yellow string behind her; and the faded curtains revealed the perfect bluish-purple sky as the Savior glided by.
"I am a survivor, and I am not alone," she smiled, her lips curved crookedly. "People call us the Nomads, the Wanderers, the Homeless; but I like to call us the Groundbreakers—the ones to sew this tattered world back together, the ones to blaze the road back home, the ones to rescue people from the hell down below."
Sid nodded, and Rena beamed at his acknowledgement.
"We are survivors of the Savior, and this is our home until we find our new Eden!" Rena punched her fist into the air, with no one other fist joining her.
"Oh, come on, little guys," she whined to her circle of children. "Did you not like my story?"
A blonde-haired boy stood up, his eyes dull. "I'm hungry," he said and left. The rest followed suit. Sid smiled sheepishly, gave her a thumbs-up, and continued his round to greet his extended family.
Rena stood up to go indulge herself in the chocolate fountain to make herself feel better when a high-pitched voice said, "I liked your story, Rena."
Nina stood at the waist of Rena as she bent down and ruffled the little girl's hair.
"Thank you, Nina. You're my only fan. Now, come on, let's go eat!"
The two walked side by side through a golden-grated door and into the Common Room. Velvet cushions on fancy chairs lined the walls with silver railings and handholds around them. A purple carpet with square patterns covered the floor, making space for people to sit around and gossip and listen to Rena's boring stories. On a narrow metal platform in the middle of the cafe, a mic stood, awaiting one of the many talented singers or comedians onboard or anyone who felt brave enough. When you're stuck on a plane almost all your life, there's only so much you can do.
Only a few people were up so early, conversing cheerfully while some nibbled on French toast, with a bite of dim sum, Chinese dumplings, here and there, gulping down iced coffee.
With so many survivors on the Savior, there were also so many amazing chefs that no other restaurant in the world could ever match. Food became a main motivator to keep living, to make everyone forget the turmoil in their hearts and stomachs by biting into savory foods. The kitchen was on the floor below, delicious fragrances twirling in the air.
Smiling at the strangers that she saw every day, every morning, every year, Rena walked to a long buffet table, picked up a plate, and couldn't decide on what to devour first. She breathed in the delicious steam around her and watched as people plucked food with metallic tongs onto their piling plate.
Not to describe herself as a stalker, but Rena loved to watch—the happy smiles of the survivors, the approving nods from chefs walking around, the carefree and unscarred faces of children. She loved to feel—basking in the comfortable, safe environment.
But every morning, like today, Rena felt something missing like a minuscule gap inside her. She wandered to a nearby window and looked down to see what she always saw: cotton clouds, surrounding skies, and barren lands.
Rena felt a tugging. She looked down. A tiny figure looked up at her, grinning toothlessly and pointing at the empty plate in her small fingers.
"Ooh, have some kuih, Nina," Rena said, walking to the square table of desserts and handing a sticky blue-and-white rice ball to the hungry girl. "This is from our new chef who said he's from Malaya. Isn't it delicious—"
Voomp!
Alarms rang. Steam rose. Pressure dropped. Chairs skidded. People panicked. Rena's head tightened against her skull, pain flaring red and black against her eyes. Her ears popped and—
Pssssss.
Whirling her head toward the sound, Rena saw a large bullet hole through the body of the plane, sucking out the pressure and puffing in chaos.
The hole grew bigger, and Rena felt herself being sucked into it.