My head slams violently on the side of my pod, waking me up. Hot blood trails down my face, but I can only think about my aching head right now. The rest of me hurts too, but I try to push the pain away. I need to get out of my pod.
I give myself a few moments to rest. I can already feel the temperature rising in the pod, and it rises quickly. I undo the straps holding me inside the pod and push a button that should open the pod doors. Nothing happens. I push it again. The pod door remains shut. It must be blocked from the other side.
Bringing my knees as close to my chest as I can, I kick the door as hard as possible. By the time I've made a crack in the pod door, I'm sweating buckets and I'm just about ready to collapse. The air seems to be getting thinner in the pod, so I need to hurry up.
With a final kick, I make a hole in the door. Clawing my way out, I gulp down air– except I can't breathe. Gasping and choking, I try to force the toxic air out of my lungs. It tastes acrid and it hurts to breathe– like I'm inhaling acid. Did Tachyon make a mistake? Is this air breathable?
My lungs scream no and I black out before I've even taken a look at this new world.
I wake to flames. The sweltering heat surrounds me and I peel my eyes open. Smoke wafts through the air, making me cough. But– at least I can breathe now, as painful as it is. I pull myself out the ring of flames, out of danger. Safe– at least for now, I collapse on the ground.
Unlike around the fire, the ground is cold. In places, it is made of packed earth, but it's mostly worn concrete. Our pods seemed to have crashed into an abandoned building that's falling apart. The roof has several holes in it, but I can't tell if our pods made them or not. Scattered around the empty, desolate building are the rest of the pods, ringed in fire.
Through the holes in the ceiling, I can see the sky. The skeletal metal scaffolding gives way to thick, dark clouds. Not much light comes through the roof, and it would be completely dark if not for the fires.
Something occurs to me. We crashed into a building. There must be people here. Well, maybe not here, seeing the state of this structure, but maybe somewhere.
I hear the sound of groaning metal echoing off the walls. Even though it's probably nothing, I reach for the switchblade in my pocket. The wind howls outside, and I can hear trees swaying from not too far away.
To distract myself, I decide to make myself useful. I stamp out most of the flames around my pod, leaving only enough light to see. Retrieving my supplies from my pod, I put them a safe distance away from the fire. After grabbing a flashlight, I decide to scout out our surroundings.
I don't know if anyone from our Squadron has escaped their pods yet. There's no point in trying to free them because the pods only open from the inside. That protective measure backfired spectacularly. Besides, I don't want to damage the pods more than I already have to. But to keep the pods from overheating, I stamp out all the fires that are too close to the pod.
The light from the remaining fires doesn't go very far. I need to conserve as much energy as possible, so I turn it on only when it becomes too dark to see. In my other hand, I grip my switchblade– I still don't trust this place very much.
I stop when my light falls on something very familiar. A porcelain doll, dirty and limp on the ground. She's missing an eye and there are cracks and small holes on her pale face. Her dress is dirty and torn beyond recognition, but something sticks out of her back.
Out of curiosity, I kick it, which makes a recording inside the doll sputter to life. The doll starts to sing a distorted song, laughing all the while.
Never being one for dolls, I kick the doll until the song stops. I watch it, not trusting it to lie there when I turn away. The doll's remaining eye simply smiles up at me blankly. Outside, the wind howls even louder as if to warn me of something horrible to come.
Suddenly, I hear something behind me. I spin around, blade in my hand, ready to hold it to anyone's throat.
To my relief, it's Mitchell. Quinn's brother. Awkwardly, I bring the blade away from his throat. "Oh, um sorry..."
Mitchell rubs his neck. "Yeah, I probably should have given you a heads up. That's on me."
I grunt. "Anyone else get out of the pods yet?"
"No idea. Hey, um, is it just me, or does this air feel thinner? Like, did you have trouble breathing after you got out of your pod?"
"Yeah..."
"This place is weird," he whistles, not caring to elaborate. He nods to the doll on the floor. "That thing's seriously creeping me out."
"Fine. Let's go see if anyone else got out of their pods yet."
Everyone seems to have gotten out of their pods, however, not everyone seems to be conscious. Aiden and Sorren are both starting to stir, and they start to pull themselves up. Quinn and Ren are getting their supplies from their pods.
However, Dani and Cass are still out cold. Cass half hangs out of her pod, her body limp. Dani made it a little further, but she too is sprawled out on the scorched ground. They can't be dead. They'll come to soon, I think, trying to reassure myself.
Without exchanging a word, Mitchell and I go to pull them to safety. I'm already exhausted at this point, but somehow I find the strength to drag Cass from her smoking pod. Once she's safe, I go back to collect her supplies.
The rest of the Squadron, except for Dani and Cass, is already gathering the rest of the supply packs together. "Let's get some rest, okay?" Quinn says. For once, I can't agree more. " I'll take first watch. Anyone want to do it with me?"
"I'll do it," Mitchell volunteers.
We spread out the sleeping rolls and try to make Cass and Dani as comfortable as possible. I lie down, and as soon as I close my eyes, I fall asleep.
It's the kind of sleep that's thick, black, and envelops you completely. Mitchell eventually shatters it when he wakes me up. "Stay alert. We hear something on our shift, like a voice. It could've just been the wind, but I'm not sure."
Ren, who's just been woken up by Quinn runs her fingers through her hair. " It's probably just the wind. You said you didn't find anyone else in the building, Mitchell."
I nod. "Did Dani and Cass wake up yet?" I ask, changing the subject to what's probably not a better topic.
"They haven't," Quinn says hurriedly. "They're still alive though, I know that much."
I notice her fingers tapping at her knee furiously. She's terrified. Of what's on this world, of the possibility that Dani and Cass could die.The possibility that she would have to lead this team alone.
The mere prospect of Dani dying makes me shudder. Even though I'm not over the fact that she didn't tell me about Tachyon, she's the closest thing to family that I have. I don't completely hate her, although I'm never going to tell her that.
We tell Quinn and Mitchell to go to sleep, although they're probably too wired to relax. I know I am.
Ren and I sit down, preparing to be awake for a long time. 'Nice haircut," Ren says, trying to strike up a conversation.
"Thanks." Silence again. "Do you really think something's out there? Quinn wouldn't play a trick on us, would she?"
Ren twirls her flashlight between her fingers. "Nah. It's probably nothing. They were both up for a long time. probably were really tired, you know?"
I'm about to agree when I hear something. Not just something, a scream. Startled, I jump to my feet. "Did you hear that?" I ask, trying to keep my voice even.
"What?"
I hear it again and I shiver. "That. That scream."
Ren looks confused. Then her face pales in horror. "What is that?" she whispers to herself.
"Should we go see?"
"Not your brightest idea, but I don't want someone ambushing us either."
We grab our flashlights and switchblades and head off towards the darkness.