Days had passed since the explosion. Thankfully, the bars and food that was stuck in a container inside the pod could have lasted me for at least three weeks, if I would have rationed it right. But I never had to be there for more than three weeks, let alone two.
Oh! I never mentioned what the inside of the escape vehicle truly looked like!
Well, in the middle was the chair that I sat in, with the belt and everything, and in front of it that big window of space with the mirror and everything. Off to the side was what looked like a container that, like... Ah, I know how to describe it! It looked like the glass container which Snow White rested in! Except you could pull the lid up (but I guess the prince could do that too).
Besides that, however, the vehicle exploration was... lonely, to say the least. I mean, there was nothing to do besides look out the window, eat a few bites, and just think. And, might I mention, the thoughts that ran through my head were the worst. Because there was no explanation, no reasoning, no stopping it. So your mind just went and went and kept on going without stopping, long strands of data getting lost like scissors cutting off bubbled words on a piece of paper.
Why did all of this happen? Where did my friends go? Is Matt and O'keal okay? Where am I? When is it going to stop?
These weren't just the worst; I began to question my existence, wondering if I would ever see any human ever again, or if I would die alone. I was getting depressed, in the long run, even though I told myself, "It'll be okay in the end, you can make it through this," but soon after the words lost their meanings.
And I knew I had to shut it off, pull the thought away, distract myself, so I stared out that giant window as memories flooded in, tearing down a mental wall. It only made it worse.
You might be wondering why I'm making this so emotional, why it has to be so grief-stricken, just get back to the action, you say. And I could, except you don't comprehend: I was in an escape pod ejected miles out into space alone, no one by my side, after I just watched an entire space station explode. All of my friends were gone – I had been betrayed, lied to, deceived, like a voodoo doll I suppose, even though I had been strong and brave.
That's why that week, plus a few days, were like hell. It was just a repeating cycle.
But finally, after hours on hours, I saw a ray of hope. A light of justice in the dark, a candle in a cave that will help lead the way!
Although, it wasn't quite what I was expecting.
I spotted another space station, except it seemed much smaller from the outside (although, I had learned not to judge a building from its exterior). Far off was another planet, a little blueish, orange parts splotched over in random places, whites suggesting clouds.
Must I say, this confused the heck out of me. Why is there a space station heading away from a planet? Or is it just making a slingshot maneuver?
I had about as much information as I had in the beginning of it all, which was, I don't know, about zero percent, maybe a little more. Or, I'm lying, and I actually know a lot more than I think of.
However, as logic began to sprout in my head like seeds in the soil, I realized that my escape pod was heading straight towards the station, as if it had a gravitational pull of its own. Which, frankly, scared me only slightly, because what if, what if, I crash into there and explode? It felt as though that has happened before in history or something, even though it hasn't been.
I'll fast forward to the fun part: I didn't end up crashing. Instead, I had been pulled over to an opening thing by a small, metal hook, to which it gently clanged against the station. Once I shakily stepped out of my chair, I stumbled to the door when I assumed that the pod had stopped moving, listening to faint voices on the other side.
After a while, I heard an almost mechanic sound, like a human gasp but with pure air from a machine, before my own pod doors were pulled open. On the other side were two other faces, both stiff and on guard.
The first, an adult with long red hair twisted into pigtails, and unusually purple eyes, wearing a jacket. Their posture was on guard, willed strong, almost as if they were asking for a fight, added that they had long legs to kick. The other person was with dark blue hair, a bandana around their head, along with short shirts and shorts, and they grasped onto a small knife. Both of them were staring at me in disbelief, perhaps at the sight of a newcomer, or what I had appeared to look like.
But after some time, the red haired spoke up, "Where are you from?"
Oh, that's just lovely, our greeting words; not exactly the best of introductions, but it'll earn a B+.
At first, I couldn't speak – I hadn't used my vocal cords for over a week, not with another human being, or at least to sing a little. Clearing my dry throat, licking my lips, gathering saliva, and finally I murmured, "A far-off planet, Gavaspia," but even then my voice was creaking and groaning.
"Gavaspia" the blue haired muttered, a heavy accent on their tongue, as if they had never heard of the name. "Planet June Antere B, the exoplanet used as an experiment for hypersleep. There is no way you would have been able to travel from there to Earth. No way."
Earth? The name was familiar to my mind, but I couldn't quite place it. But then I remembered the story: scientists put people on a ship to travel from planet Earth through a wormhole, and to deposit them at Gavaspia, to see how long it would take. I remember thinking, I traveled to Earth?
Before I could reply to their observation, the red haired took my arm and dragged me away to a few stairs leading away from the 'dock', as I called it, and lead into a twisted hallway. Walking into a room after more flights of stairs, they put me into a big room with a table and chairs, reminding me of a meeting room, along as having a mirror on the wall. They noted me to stay in there, probably hinting that they would bring in their friends before deciding what to do with me; in the meantime, I got to sit around and watch.
Inching over to the mirror, I could feel my muscles heaving to support my body, the effects of space finally gaining the advantage. On the contrary, the physical effects were much more noticeable.
I had lost a lot of weight over the time, which seemed unreasonable but really wasn't, and the fat on my cheekbones had disappeared, putting a shadow under my eyes and neck; black hair matted, it looked as if I hadn't slept for at least a month. Worst part was, it felt as though I had been slowly dying – the clothes hung off my shoulders, loose and ruffled. I looked like utter death. And I'm pretty sure you would hate to look like utter death, not to mention it would be embarrassing and uncomfortable.
It felt as though I was starving; I could eat anything, even something that had no taste whatsoever, and my eyes were tired, strained, from all of the lights. My ears had gotten worse, deafened from the silent expedition, and everything felt so overwhelming, new, and it was stressing me out.
However, as I waited for my newfound 'friends', I sat back in the chair and pulled out a bar to eat, passing the time. It felt as though I would have been able to take a short nap, but as much as I could close my eyes, I didn't feel tired at all. It was a weird feeling – my body wasn't exactly cooperating with me, which was annoying.
After what felt like hours, the door pulled open, and four people entered the room, the red and blue haired included. The two others blinked at my figure before sitting down at the table, surrounding the opposite side of mine.
"We want to talk to you about why you are here, and whether or not you know what this place is," the red haired lectured, keeping their voice nice and calm.
"Well, I'm not telling anything to a couple of strangers who could easily overpower me," I snapped back, regaining my voice after a little bit, gaining their attention at my sassiness.
The third person, someone with crazy brown hair in very short pigtails, black short tank-top and skirt, glared at the blue haired, whom sighed and put away their knife.
"Well, first off, welcome to the orbit of planet Earth, in the space station called Zephyr, which is on a travel to head away from the sun at a safe distance to populate a different habitable area," said the fourth, who carried on headphones and a jacket, as I noticed they had a blind left eye.
"I came from Gavaspia, or as you called it, the 'planet June Antere B', from an escape pod ejecting out from an exploded ship."
The blue haired leaned forwards, crossing their arms on top of the table, as they inquired, "An exploded ship? How long ago was this?" I had to ponder for a moment before I questioned myself, "A week and four days ago, something like that?" The person nodded back, muttering, "Our scans had shown that a giant ship had imploded from something about your dates ago, but it had not shown of any escape vehicles surviving the explosion."
"Well, your scans showed wrong, because I am a survivor."