1.2. | MECHANIC'S PANIC
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ABBY CALLS ME in for work that day, requiring more hands to tend to the uncharacteristically long line of people outside of medical, almost all of them showing symptoms of oxygen deprivation. I have just left the company of another nurse who's attaching an oxygen mask to the face of a struggling child, when Raven appears in the middle of the troubled citizens of the Ark, right as Abby walks out of the clinic.
One faux cough from Raven is a well enough sign that informs us she isn't actually sick, but I excuse myself and approach her with rushed steps, pulling out a small light and shining it into her eyes.
''Abby?'' I put on a falsely alarmed voice and call for the main doctor, internally praying that my acting abilities are believable enough to not cause suspicion. The woman walks up to us and we begin leading Raven through the curtains, where we can finally drop the act.
''All those people out there?'' Raven gasps lowly, a pair of perfectly shaped eyebrows scrunching up.
While I only nod somberly, Abby offers a verbal answer, ''Oxygen deprivation. It's just the beginning. Why are you here?''
''I messed up. I can't get the part. Nygel wants me to--''
''You went to Nygel?'' Abby cuts the mechanic off, forehead lifting in disbelief. I attach my fingers to my temple, rolling my lips. Nygel is known to be a slippery individual somewhere in the depths of the Ark's society; the authorities have been trying to catch her in the act for years.
''Yeah..'' Raven confesses shamefully, having a clear understanding of the risk she has taken.
''My dad's been trying to get her for years. Did anybody see you?'' I drag my gaze across our surroundings, lowering my voice.
''I don't know. No,'' Raven hesitates, then addresses the older woman in front of us, ''Abby, I'm trying to tell you we can't launch today.''
Abby goes quiet. She thinks for a moment.
''Are you sure Nygel has the part?'' Her inquisitive tone causes me to stop running my hands over my face and look up in curiosity. I can practically hear the wheels spinning in her head.
The brunette next to me is confident with her answer as she replies curtly, "Yeah, she can get it."
''Okay," Abby nods to herself, as some sort of confirmation of her own inner monologue, "I'll take care of it.''
My lips part in surprise and I'm unable to control the high pitch in my voice as I flail my arms out to the side, ''What? How? Let me get it, I can, I don't know, threaten her with my dad or something.''
''No, Emily," Abby denies strictly with a dismissive shake of her head, "Nygel is too clever, she'd walk around the situation and get you in trouble. I'll do it.''
''What are you gonna do?'' Raven interrogates, her face showing the exact amount of puzzlement I, too, feel. We stare at Abby, awaiting.
''The less you know, the better,'' the doctor answers mysteriously, leaving us without a chance to come up with our own theories.
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Knowing that Abby's the person that never breaks her promises, especially ones made under such extreme levels of determination, I return to my living quarters to take care of anything that needs to be taken care of in case I really do get the spot in the pod. I do realize that I shouldn't get my hopes up, as the escape transport that Abby has provided herself and Raven with is tiny, but I can't control it. I have gotten my hopes up and it's too late to lessen the damage now.
Stepping through the door of my and dad's place, I head straight towards my closet, gingerly yanking out a few items of clothing. Better safe than sorry.
After exchanging my black jeans for khaki cargo pants, I strip myself of my favorite leather jacket and throw on a black sweater over a tank top, pulling a bomber jacket over it and settling for a pair of combat boots. If I do end up on Earth, I need clothing more comfortable than tight jeans and the special leather jacket that I refuse to ruin.
My eyes travel across my room in search of something I may have missed, until I gasp in remembrance of my letter that I had tucked neatly under my pillow. I approach the desired end of my bed and reach out for the piece of paper, hand blindly moving beneath the worn out bed sheets until it freezes in place. Panic immediately envelops my lungs, squeezing harder with each moment that passes.
The letter should be right there, I vividly remember the exact spot I placed it in. I frantically throw my pillow to the ground, the blanket and other bed sheets following, the harsh material entangling between my numb fingers.
''No, no, no, no!'' I chant in a continuous loop. My dad could've found it somehow and if he did, he might be on his way to find Raven and Abby right now. Full of hope, I begin shaking around my bed sheets, praying to all that's holy that my father couldn't have it. I mean, what is the ridiculous chance he decided to check what the fuck's going on under my pillow out of the blue?
After swishing around most of the sheets, I pick up the last blanket from the floor, repeating the process. The distinct sound of paper crumpling whistles somewhere near the floor and I cry out in delight; no one is going on a live man-hunt of Raven and Abby.
With now steady hands, I straighten out the creases in the paper and gently place it on my father's desk, letting my gaze slip over all of my drawings that are coating most of the polished surface, as well as multiple notebooks of different sizes. I don't catch myself grinning until I have almost walked out of the room, stepping back in and doing a double take.
My eyes settle on what they were searching for -- a small, lonely notebook, laying next to a few pencils that have been neatly stacked in an interval ranging from cold tones to warm ones.
Before I know it, my feet are effortlessly carrying me over to the desk. My fingertips lightly brush over the row of art supplies, forcing them to roll over the table, a satisfying growl filling my ears. Hesitantly, I pick up a couple of pencils out of the organized bunch -- blue, green, red, yellow and one of my favorite colors; lavender.
Leaving the rest of the tones unbothered, I also pick two regular pencils, stuffing them all into the inner pocket of my jacket, while the notebook finds its home in the knee pocket of my pants.
Without any hesitation, I rush to leave the room, taking the long journey back to Mecha Station.
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''Abby,'' Raven calls out the woman's name, growing irritated from the constant pacing occurring next to her, ''How about I pace in the operating room next time you're working?''
Raven is finalizing the work on the pod and I am silently sitting on the ground, fiddling with a small necklace Finn and Raven had come up with for my 16th birthday. It was definitely made using the same technique as the one on the necklace the boy had once gifted to Raven, only hers was made with non-platonic love. While Raven's charm resembles a soaring bird, mine is an open book, a little lily laid out in the middle of the pages.
The sound of Abby's tablet ringing brings me out of my daze, head snapping up to take a peek at Abby, who picks up the call, allowing the voice of a fellow colleague to bleed through the speaker of the device.
''Abby, did you take morphine from the clinic?'' Jackson rushes out, frantic. My eyes widen a considerable amount in the middle of my face.
''You took morphine?'' I hiss a little too audibly for Abby's liking, the woman in question sending a warning glance my way, while Raven just stares at the doctor with a troubled glint storming in her dark eyes.
''Who is that? Is that not Raven, because it didn't sound like her? Please don't tell me there's another person involved,'' Jackson word-vomits dreadfully, lowering his voice.
Abby ignores him, throwing a question back, ''They inventoried already?''
''No. Kane was just here. He's on his way to Mecha to arrest both of you right now,'' he announces, triggering my legs to push me up from my sitting position on the floor.
''You gave Nygel morphine?'' The young mechanic buts in finally.
''She turned me in,'' Abby states knowingly, hanging up on Jackson with a strange calmness to her, which must be just a façade, ''How much longer?''
While I drag a heavy hand through my hair, Raven replies to her question in a leveled voice, ''Twenty minutes.''
Abby closes her eyes briefly, sighing, ''They'll be here in five. Looks like you have a place in the pod guaranteed, Emily.''
''What? Abby?'' I exclaim, stepping closer to her.
''No matter what happens, you launch that pod. Do you understand?'' She places her gentle hands on my upper arms, offering both comfort and strictness simultaneously.
Raven gapes at her, mouth going slack, ''We're not going without you!''
''I don't need to go, you can do it without me, girls. The second you find those kids, you radio back. Three hundred innocent people will die if you don't,'' Abby orders darkly, eyes flickering from me to my best friend several times in search of comprehension from the two of us.
''They will float you. Abby, stay. You can go, I will distract my dad.'' I choke out, eyes brimming with unshed tears. Letting Abby walk out of this room is the same as offering her an inevitable ticket to her own doom, without a doubt.
''No, Emily. You wanted to go and you are, Kane would just walk past you. They'll float me if they want to," She offers us a glossy eyed smile, already turning to leave, pausing momentarily, "Tell Clarke I love her." And with that, she departs from the room.
''My dad will float her!'' I plop down onto a dusty chair, hopeless. Raven casts one last miserable glance at the door the woman disappeared through just moments prior. It seems to give her a stubborn kick of determination; the mechanic suddenly leaps back to work.
___
''Come on, come on!'' Raven's raising voice makes me tilt my head up to find out what's gone wrong, eyes widening in panic when a hissing sound bleeds into the room, ''No!''
She attempts to stop it, only to realize it's a lost cause. The girl curses loudly and slams her hand against the faulty machine, ''Damn it! She gave us a bad part.''
''What?'' I heave out, a rush of anger igniting deep within my chest. How do we prove that Abby's idea was worthy of executing? She inhales deeply, eyelids fluttering open and head turning to the side until her lost gaze settles onto a pair of astronaut suits.
''Kiss the Ark goodbye, Emily. We're going to save our people,'' the brunette jumps out of the tiny spacecraft, reaching for one of the suits and shoving into my hands. A newfound laugh of hope bubbles up in me.
''Raven, you are a genius!'' I remind her, catching the suit open and unzipping it to free her arms so she can get the other one for herself. Mere minutes later, we are fully dressed and strapped into our seats in the pod, my spot being squished right next to hers.
After a few more moments, Raven starts doing her magic, pressing bright buttons, flipping switches and just barely helping me keep up with her by counting the steps she goes through.
In the blink of an eye, the pod launches with a violent lurch.
''Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!'' I shriek, forcing my eyes shut as the pod flips upside-down, blasting through the open space. To top it all off, a beeping sound suddenly echoes through the pod, making my heart sink to the bottom of my churning stomach, hands shake and terror push bile up into my throat. It feels like hours go by before it finally calms down, but eventually it stops beeping and the pod slows down to a comfortable (as one can be while traveling through the everlasting abyss that is space) pace.
I throw a now excited look at my partner in crime, exhaling shakily and offering her a small smile, which she gladly returns.
We are going home.
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lol i just decided that i will ~try~ and divide each episode in two, so im stopping here because this is the end of episode 4.
- ana (:
july 2, 2018.
edited.