"He's losing air! Someone get me an emergency tank!"
Nym's head jerked up at the cry and her eyes flickered to the source of the noise, spotting the supervisor as he sprinted the length of the foundry floor towards the factory worker who had just collapsed. She couldn't see who it was from this distance, but that didn't stop the panic rising in her throat.
She'd heard that dire cry three times this past week, and it was never good.
People started moving, some of them panicking and rushing to the figure lying on the ground. The factory machines ground to a halt as others stopped their work to stare. Several broke off, though, dashing to the wall where a collection of emergency air tanks sat. Normally, they were untouched, but with the multiple incidents this week, there were already three missing and only two left.
Nym watched the man that reached the tanks first, her lips tugging into a frown as she saw him hesitate. Why wasn't he grabbing a tank and going? The man needed air!
She let go of the cart handle to move closer. Slowly, her fingers curled around the straps to the tank on her own back. She was already gulping down the air it provided, afraid each breath could be her last.
Approaching the sorting bins, she got a better view of the wall where the remaining two emergency tanks were held, and her heart sank. Two neglected rusty shattered shells sat there, likely having burst overnight. Nothing remained to save the man.
Nym's eyes widened a bit as she sucked in a sharp breath, a hand going to her oxygen mask. She pressed it closer to her face, her hand shaking.
The man turned around and she watched his face as he gave the supervisor a wide-eyed look and shook his head slowly. The supervisor, now on his knees beside the man, trying to at least keep him calm, nodded but Nym could see him visibly pale.
The man was going to die. She could feel it in her gut.
She'd learned how this worked back in primary school. It was why they all had oxygen tanks and masks in the first place. You couldn't breathe the air on Earth anymore. It was a poisonous smog that would suffocate you slowly. There were horror stories she'd heard from her co-workers and in the news.
She'd never thought she'd ever witness it, though.
A silence had fallen across the foundry floor as everyone else seemed to reach the same conclusion and the air grew deathly still. Nym didn't dare look at the man she knew would suffocate as soon as his own oxygen tank's supply ran out. There was nothing they could do. The Shelter was too far, they'd never get a fresh tank in time.
The thought of just standing there, forced to watch the man die, scared Nym more than the prospect of death itself. She bolted from the crowded room, ducking around machines and carts before bursting out of the factory. She stopped outside and sank down, hugging her knees to her chest as she battled tears.
Rocking herself gently, she tried to imagine it was all a dream. She screwed her eyes shut, slowing her breaths down so they were long and deep.
It's just a nightmare. I'll wake up from it tomorrow morning. I'll come back and everything will be okay. It's just a nightmare...
It was a lie, but it was the only thing she could think of that sounded remotely hopeful. Nightmares ended. This one would too.
Her deep breathing slowed her racing heart back to a normal pace. She settled back against the wall, opening her eyes and barely uncurling herself. Continuing to take deep breaths, she closed her eyes and focused on the gentle breeze against her skin, and the warmth of the sun settling into her bones again.
When she'd calmed herself down enough to move, she got up slowly and walked back inside. She saw no sign of the man who had collapsed, and no sign of the supervisor either. Everyone else had returned to work, but Nym thought the air felt heavier, weighing down on her shoulders.
She found the group's supervisor, Caden, and walked up to him, touching his shoulder lightly.
He paused his work and looked over, tapping the button to pause the cutter machine he operated. "Nym?"
Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to speak, her throat dry. "I... I wanna go home," she told him. Her voice was a whisper in her ears, but Caden nodded in acknowledgment.
"I'll tell Baker you weren't feeling well and went home. Be safe," he told her, patting her shoulder gently.
Nodding silently, Nym let him resume his work as she walked off. She stuck her hands in her deep pockets to keep anyone from noticing that they were shaking as she left the foundry. She would've left in two hours anyway since she only worked part-time—student life meant she couldn't take on any more hours—but she felt like she'd panic if she stayed another minute inside.
Stepping back outside, she started down the street in the direction of the shelter, but her eyes rose to the glint of the dome that sat on the skyline. When she was little, her mother told her stories about the people under the dome, and the society there. They had fresh air no matter where they went and didn't have to wear oxygen tanks and masks.
Did they ever worry what would happen if the glass of the dome were to crack? Did they fear the outside air like Nym and her co-workers did?
She hoped that at least they had emergency tanks that worked and didn't collapse from years of rust. Just in case.
Turning left, the dome disappeared from her sight as she moved down the street. She caught sight of a few androids patrolling and waved to them, not caring that they probably wouldn't register the motion. They were some sort of police force that had moved in a year ago, not susceptive to the threat of a polluted world and therefore the perfect security force. Crimes weren't much of an issue regardless, but the androids provided a greater sense of security.
Raising her gaze, Nym saw the Shelter rise into view, sitting six blocks away. Normally she had her bike with her to make the trip less arduous, but she'd left it at home since the tires were flat. Currently, she didn't have enough work hours logged to buy an extra oxygen ration. They needed what oxygen they had to breathe.
Nym hoped her short panic attack hadn't used up too much of her own tank. She knew her parents would never say it, but they were always worried about the oxygen. Especially for her and Cormac. If they were here they would've monitored it closely, but they were in Austin working at a farming dome. Nym knew they wished they could be home. She could always tell by the sad glint in her mother's eyes whenever they talked. They couldn't leave, though. They had to gain permanent residence at the farming community dome so Nym and Cormac could join them.
Then none of them would have to worry about the oxygen tanks and masks ever again, because while a farming community dome lacked the luxury of a dome city, her mother said they did have free oxygen provided to the whole complex.
It sounded like a luxury to Nym and one she desperately wished to have.
Sighing softly, she continued down the street, nearly home.
"Hey, mom." Nym forced a smile onto her drawn face as she gathered her red hair back into a ponytail and balanced the phone on one knee.
Cormac grabbed the phone before it slid off her knee and held it up so their parents could see them both.
"Hey, kiddos. How was today?"
"Good," Cormac said with a slight smile. "We learned stuff in school, like always. Had to review history again, as if I don't already know how the World Coalition formed and everything about the New York incident with the nuclear reactor. We went over all of this already," he complained.
Their father laughed quietly in the background. "That's what you get for homeschooling them half their lives," he commented.
"Oh, shut up," their mother teased him before looking back, her face a bit foggy in the grainy image projected above the phone. "How about you Nym?"
Nym's face fell slightly, as she stared past her mother's image at the wall behind. For a long moment, she said nothing, then dropped her hands into her lap, looking down. "A man died at work today," she said softly. "The emergency tanks were compromised..."
Her mother's face fell as well, brows furrowing in worry. She reached out, though she couldn't touch her daughter's hand through the projection. "I'm so sorry, honey. I promise you'll be able to join us soon. We only need to work one more month before they'll grant us permanent residence and we can get our green cards. I promise. Soon."
Lifting her gaze, Nym reached out towards her mother's holographic hand and offered a thin smile. "Okay," she said. Taking a deep breath, she straightened up and tried to shake off the heavy feeling in her chest.
"How was your day?"
"Long, but good. We got to go out and harvest some of the year's first crops this morning. It was amazing to see all the fresh food. I know we don't normally see much of it until it's been packaged and processed a thousand times. I doubt much of this would survive outside without all the preservatives they put in it, though. It's hard enough trying to grow it in the greenhouses. Anyway, I'm rambling. My point is, we had a good day," she said with a smile.
Her father walked up and placed his hand on her mother's shoulder, kissing her cheek. "What your mom said," he added and began to massage his wife's shoulders gently. Nym rolled her eyes as they shared a brief kiss.
"That's good," Nym said softly when they were done, smiling as she thought about how nice it would be when they finally joined their parents. She wrapped her arms around herself, imagining herself enveloped in her mother's tight hug and clean air. She could practically feel it in her lungs, but that was just the oxygen from her tank.
"It's getting late here, and I'm sure you two are exhausted. I love you both. Get some rest," their mother said and blew them a kiss as their father waved. Then they ended the call.
Cormac got up off Nym's bed and stretched, sighing. "I don't understand why primary school has to last so long. Why can't I just learn history once and then go into vocational school? Learning to weld and fix stuff is far more interesting than learning about the 'disasters that shaped our world'. Again," he grumbled.
"You just said that to mom," Nym stated. She put the phone back in her pocket and picked up their leftover bowls. "Hey, did you and Mack get over to the store this afternoon?" Casting a look back over her shoulder she watched Cormac gather his laundry out of the basket. She sighed. He'd be an adult next year, going to a Vocational school like her. Eighteen. Somehow her little brother didn't seem ready to be eighteen yet.
He dropped a couple of socks as he shook his head. "Nope," he murmured through a ball of clothes. "Wait, were we supposed to do that today?"
Nym sighed and laughed as she rinsed out the bowls and stacked them by the sink. She dried her hands and yawned. "Yes, but don't worry. It wasn't anything important."
Another sock fell. He groaned. "Okay, sorry!"
"Goodnight," Nym called over her shoulder. She flicked off the lights as Cormac mumbled a response and disappeared into his bedroom. Sighing with exhaustion, Nym walked to her own room.
Sitting down on her bed, she unzipped her coveralls and stripped down to a tank top and shorts which she swapped out for sweatpants. She grabbed the oxygen tank up after that and set it to the side. She glanced up, thinking about connecting her line over to the automatic air node provided for sleep. That tank was older than the tanks collapsing at work. Her gut twisted thinking of the man and her eyes trailed to the still full tank at her bedside. She had plenty of air, despite her panic attack earlier. Swallowing she laid back. Better to use my tank than strain the older system.
Stretching and rolling her neck to work out the soreness, she looked over and nearly reached over to tap out the dim light emitted by her lamp, but stopped. She shivered at the thought of total darkness. Her fingers hovered over the light and then she pulled them back to her chest.
Still, her eyes darted around the room nervously, and she pulled the covers over her head, closing her eyes instead. She imagined security in the sensation of her cocooned blanket protecting her from the outside evils.
Focusing on her deep breathing, she imagined herself surrounded by cool fresh air, laying in the bed of an apartment at the farming community with Cormac, her mom, and dad, safe and secure. Her mind began to drift and eventually, she dropped off to sleep.
"Get away from me! Get off!"
Nym's eyes shot open at the sound of screaming. Her chest clenched with cold until she sat up slightly and recognized the voice as Cormac's. He might be having some sort of nightmare. Had he stayed up late watching horror videos again?
Groaning, Nym grabbed her air tank and slung the straps onto her shoulders, wandering down the hall to Cormac's room.
She settled her hands on her hips and walked inside, glancing around. Where is he? Her eyes flickered to the dark corners, searching for a screen still on. Her brow furrowed. Then Cormac nearly bowled her over as he barreled into her and grabbed her arms, his eyes wild and his oxygen mask askew.
Nym started and yelped. Shock bolted through her body as she jerked back, but his grip remained unyielding and he stared into her eyes, clearly wide awake.
"You have to...go...go...they'll find you! Get them away!" His gaze flickered away from her and he let go, flailing in the air.
Nym ducked and then lunged up, tackling him to the floor. She managed to right his oxygen mask, pressing it against his face. Her own breaths came faster as her forehead crinkled. What had happened? Had he inhaled some of the outside air? He was wheezing like he couldn't breathe, yet he continued taking in air. Cold twisted in her gut. Did the system fail? Is my little brother dying? Tears welled up and she shook them away. Don't think like that.
"Cormac! I need you to listen to me and take deep breaths," she demanded, her heart pounding in her chest. Biting her lip, she tried to keep him contained as he wrestled to get free from her. He was at least 40 pounds heavier and much stronger, but he seemed like he was growing weaker the more he writhed.
"No! Get away from me! They'll steal your life! They're monsters!" his screaming grew wild, and Nym's eyes darted to his oxygen line to make sure it wasn't compromised. It looked intact, yet there had to be something wrong. Goosebumps crawled her arms accompanied by a sinking pit in her stomach. This wasn't a nightmare. She knew what his nightmares looked like.
This... was madness.
He stopped his screaming and fell still for a moment. Nym moved to the side and pressed a trembling hand to his forehead. He was burning up, fever settling into his body. He gasped and began to claw at the oxygen mask, his lips turning blue.
"Cormac? What's wrong? I need you to tell me," Nym begged, grabbing one of his hands and squeezing it as tight as she could. Her other hand trailed over his sweaty skin, trying to comfort him. She looked into his wide eyes which reflected the terror gripping her. He was trembling worse than she was.
"Cormac... please," she whispered, her throat constricting with worry. Tears blurred her vision. She needed him to just say something. Something to let her know what was wrong.
His other hand grabbed her shirt and he struggled with bulging and bloodshot eyes.
Nym grabbed him hopefully as she noticed his lips moving and she pulled him close to try and hear what he was saying. The sound of her heart in her ears was drowning him out, though, and she pressed her forehead to his, straining to hear.
"Nym... the creatures... stay... away from them... stay away... from the creatures... with... no... faces..."
The last word died on his lips and he lost his grip on her, collapsing back. Tears rolled down Nym's cheeks but she grit her teeth. "No, don't do this!" she cried and forced his chest down, pressing harder with each repetition. Her whole body trembled as she tried to force him to breathe again. The oxygen mask was doing nothing and eventually, she threw it aside, forcing his chest down harder, her vision blurring. His chest didn't move.
Nym collapsed against him, tears streaking her face. Curling up, she buried her face in his shirt and screamed.