Hey, my name is Y/n Robinson. My family and I are currently sitting strapped in and suited up in the hub of our Jupiter, Jupiter two, as the song 'Drift Away' plays on the radio and we play a game of Go Fish in zero gravity.
"Three, three, three..." John, my half-brother, counts as he deals the playing cards. "Four, four, four..." He continues, "Five, five, five..." He finishes finally.
"Okay. Everyone remember the rules?" John asks once everyone has their cards.
Nobody responds until Maureen, my sister in law, breaks the brief silence.
"Are you sure this is the best idea?" She asks John.
John sighs. "What else are we gonna do?"
I nod sideways slightly in agreement.
Maureen is silent for a moment before speaking. "Okay, have you got any eights?" Maureen asks John, starting the game.
"Uh... Go fish." John answers as he bumps the floating deck of cards, that are held together by a trusty rubber band, to Maureen and she draws a card.
"Hey," John calls to Will, my nephew, who is lost in thought, "it's your turn." He reminds him.
Will looks at his father for a moment before looking down at his cards, "Uh, um... Do you have any threes?" He asks his father.
"Go fish." John says and Maureen pushes the deck of cards Will's way then he draws.
"Okay. Do you have any-" Penny, my niece, starts before getting cut off by my oldest niece, Judy.
"The Resolute made twenty-three routine trips. So what happened to ours?" She asks, referring to the evacuation that we still don't know the cause of.
"There's no use in speculating." Maureen answers as a computer beep echoes after.
"Completing de-orbit burn." An automated voice announces.
We all put our cards down on the table and put our helmets on when my brother orders us to.
"Begin enters phase in thirty seconds." The computer says.
Penny sighs, "Okay. Um, it's still my turn." She looks to Will, but when she looks closer, she notices the reflection on his helmet and sees his cards. "Do you have any nines?"
"Seriously, Penny?" Judy asks irritably when she catches her sister cheating.
"What?" Penny asks, feigning fake innocence.
"Did you see my hand?" Will asks, annoyed.
"You count cards." Penny excuses to hide her actions.
"I don't know why everyone doesn't." Will responds.
"Okay, can I have my nine, please?" Penny asks, holding her hand out impatiently.
Will defeatedly pulls the nine of of his clip and sends it to Penny. Before it can reach her though, the ship starts rumbling and gravity comes back, causing the card to fall.
"Music off." The computer says. "Atmospheric disturbance detected."
"Deep breaths. Remember your training." John soothes.
"The computer will land us just fine. That's what it's for." Maureen reassures.
Everyone inhales before letting it out.
I look up and see some debris from... something flying over us. Suddenly we are hit by a larger piece of debris and the Jupiter starts rumbling.
"Impact detected." The computer says.
"Yea, we noticed." I mutter under my breath as i hold onto the straps around my shoulders.
"Landing trajectory off course." The computer continues.
"Mom!" Will yells in panic.
"Take my hand." Maureen calls back to him.
Everyone grabs onto each others hands to feel some type of security as we hurtle at the speed of sound into the atmosphere of a planet we've never been to or even mapped before. I grab onto Penny's and Judy's hands tightly and give them a reassuring squeeze.
"Warning. Entry angle exceeding parameters. Correcting." The computer announces.
"Four-thousand feet." The computer says building more tension in the rumbling room.
"It's okay." I say.
"Three-thousand feet." The computer says. "Entry angle exceeding parameters."
"Take my hand." John grunts, holding his hand out to Judy.
"Two-thousand feet." The computer says.
"Take my hand." John says again, but Judy ignores it.
"One-thousand feet. Brace for impact. Brace for impact. Brace for impact." The computer repeats over and over.
We crash. All I see is a white light and things getting thrown around everywhere. I hear Maureen yell in pain as a large crate crashes onto her knee. After a few seconds everything settles and we are all gasping for air as the adrenaline dies down. I feel a slight pain in my side, but ignore it for now.
"Sound off." John calls to the computer and we start unbuckling our seat belts.
"Judy accounted for." Judy announces, just as she was trained to do.
"Penny accounted for." Penny says.
We all look to Will who is breathing heavily.
"Will? Will? Are you all right?" Maureen asks.
"Accounted for." Will answers.
The Jupiter jerks and rumbles again.
"Landing surface unstable." The computer informs.
"Let's evacuate." I order.
"Supply cabinet." Judy says as she stands up.
"Already on it." Penny responds, standing as well.
I pull at my seat belt, but it seems to be stuck. Judy helps me pry it open then looks towards Maureen and John.
"It's my leg." I hear Maureen say quietly as to not arouse any worry. It didn't work though because Judy heard it.
"Mom?" Judy asks, concern present in her voice and on her features.
Maureen looks to us. "It's fine. It's just stuck." She reassures.
"It's okay. I got this. You go get the supplies." John commands as he tries to push the crate off.
I reach towards Will. "Will, follow me." I say and grab his hand.
"Damn it!" John exclaims as he pushes the crate off of Maureen's leg after much struggle.
I nudge Judy out the door with Will close behind.
"Will, stay close." I order as we walk to the ladder that leads to the top hatch.
"I'm coming."
"Quick, to the top hatch. Come on." John says as he comes through the door holding Maureen.
He passes Maureen off to me before climbing up to the top hatch and opening it a bit. I hold Maureen in such a way so that there's no pressure on her leg. Who knows how bad it can actually be.
"Ugh! It's jammed!" John says as he tries to pry the hatch further open before giving up. "Will, come on up." He yells down to his son.
"Okay." Will hurries up the ladder not a moment after he hears his father's voice.
"Judy. Come on." John calls down to his adoptive daughter once Will is through.
Judy climbs up to the hatch, but gets stuck before she can even fit her head through.
"I-I don't fit." She says.
"We'll have to go around." Says John as he climbs back down.
"Don't go anywhere. We'll come around." Judy tells Will who is already out.
We make our way around to the aft airlock before coming out with bags of stuff to keep us breathing for the time being. I gently set Maureen down onto the snowy floor and put my bag of supplies down next to her.
"Are those other Jupiters?" Judy asks referring to the things falling from the sky.
"At least eight." Will answers, looking up at the sky as well.
"We're not the only ones that made it." I say as I follow their gaze.
"Made it where?" Penny asks skeptically, looking around.
I pat Penny's shoulder reassuringly with my right hand before wincing and pulling away, now feeling that pain in my side from earlier more clearly. I put my left hand over the place with the pain, not bothering to look at it right now because of the sound of the ice cracking and the scene of our Jupiter now sinking into the ice cold depths of the water below.
"No, no, no!" John exclaims, walking over to the edge.
We all watch the Jupiter sink further below the surface into the icy depths of the melted glacier that we are standing on.
Flashback
"So, who's my Secret Santa?" John asks through the TV, decked out in his army gear.
We all smile as Judy chuckles a bit before grabbing a red wrapped box. She pulls the lid off, revealing cookies.
"Ta-da!" Judy sings.
"Are those my moms cookies?" John asks.
"Grandma wasn't here to bake them this year, so, Auntie and I gave it a shot." Judy says, smiling my way before turning back to the TV.
I smile, remembering the mess we made. Lets just say that we spent the last four hours of the day cleaning up all of the flour and frosting we had thrown at each other childishly.
"She never trusted me with the recipe." John says.
"Auntie knew it." Judy says looking back to me confused..
I lean back with a smug look on my face. "I was always her favorite." I say playfully.
John laughs. "Yea right." He rolls his eyes.
"So, where are you these days?" Penny asks.
"You know he can't say." Maureen says as she plays with Will's hair.
Penny looks down, crestfallen.
"Well, wherever you are, it's night, which rules out Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Australia-" Will lists before getting interrupted by Penny.
"Is that our hedge?" She asks.
We all look at the TV with confused faces as John chuckles.
"What?" Maureen asks quietly in disbelief.
"You guys are too smart." John says before the call ends.
The sound of the front door clicking can be heard before everyone gets up.
"Dad!" Will gasps.
All of the kids run to hug him having not seen him in person for a while.
"Dad! I missed you." Will says, words muffled by his father's jacket.
"You're home." Judy says.
"Oh, my god!" Penny squeals.
John laughs as he hugs them all tightly and lovingly having missed them too.
"Let me in." Maureen says before hugging John and kissing him passionately.
"Ew, you guys." Will exclaims as the kids all walk away.
"Gross. Get a room." Judy says.
I continue lounging on the couch as they all come back.
"Y/n. You just gonna sit there?" John asks me as he walks over.
I roll my eyes and get up.
"C'mere you big doof." I say as we hug. I pull back and rustle his hair before sitting back down on the couch.
Maureen's phone rings as Penny's chimes.
"Hello?" Maureen answers her phone. "What? When?"
Penny grabs the remote, turning the TV back on with a worried face after seeing the notification displayed on her phone.
"Astronomers at the Near-Earth Object office discovered a sizable, unknown celestial object that's headed our way. NASA scientists are working around the clock to track the objects orbital path and to assess the risk of collision." The news lady says as we all gather around the TV.
"I have it." Maureen says to whoever is on the other line on the phone.
"A news briefing has been scheduled..."
Flashback over
I look through supplies bags to see what we have to work with.
"I'm gonna take a look, okay, Mom?" Judy says as she inspects her mother's injured leg.
"Mmm-hmm." Maureen hums before yelping in pain as Judy touches a rather sensitive area.
"It's broken." Judy says shortly.
"Well, that's too bad." Maureen says.
"Hey, you took time to grab that? Who were you planning to call?" Judy asks, pointing out the phone in Penny's hands.
"I grabbed a pack. I did what I was supposed to do." Penny responds.
"Hey, kids, it could be worse." I announce.
"How?" Penny asks, looking at me.
Before I could answer Maureen takes off her helmet.
"Mom, no!" Judy exclaims.
"Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing? We haven't tested the atmosphere." John says.
"You already did. Look." Maureen points out a tear in John's suit. "If the air was toxic, you'd be dead by now."
We all follow suit and take our helmets off and take a deep breath of fresh air.
"Not a bad consolation prize." Maureen says. "First fresh air in months."
"My lungs are happy." I say and everyone hums in agreement.
...
We had Penny try shooting off our flares to try and signal any other survivors that might be in range of our radio while we unpack.
"Okay. Let's figure out where we are." Maureen says after we finish building a small tent and dressing into something warmer.
"We evacuated the Resolute halfway between home and the colony-" Will starts.
"Just call it Earth. It's not your home anymore." Maureen corrects.
I give her a sideways glance. That was a little insensitive.
"...Earth and the colony." Will corrects himself.
"This planet is unlike any we have ever mapped. Wherever we are, I... it's a Goldilocks planet. Earth-like atmosphere, air-pressure, gravity. Clearly no lack of water. It's... The odds of that happening are... I-it's like winning the lottery." Maureen says in disbelief.
"The way not dying in a car accident is like winning the lottery. Until you remember you were in a car accident." John says, being the Debbie Downer that he is.
Penny walks back to us and the look on her face silently tells me that she couldn't reach anyone.
"We're lost." Will points out the obvious.
"No kidding." Penny says before sitting down. "I can't raise any of the other Jupiters."
Will grunts as he sits next to Penny. "The Resolute will send a rescue party, right?"
"I'm sure they'll follow emergency protocol or whatever it's called." I reassure and Maureen nods.
Will winces as he holds his chest in pain.
"Hey, where does it hurt?" Judy asks, crouching down next to him.
"All across here." Will answers as he gestures to his chest.
"It's from the crash harness. It's normal." John explains.
"To you, maybe. Not to him." Judy replies.
"He didn't mean anything by it." Penny defends.
"Yeah, maybe he just forgot we're not under his command." Judy sasses. "It's okay." She reassures Will.
John looks down. Ever since John left to serve in the Navy again, Judy hasn't been exactly happy with him. I mean, he did just leave out of nowhere after telling them he wasn't going to leave for another tour. He didn't even tell me and I'm his sister. It was the first time on a tour without me by his side. When i got the letter, I declined. But before I could talk to John about it, he had already accepted.
"You're all right." Penny reassures.
"Just Inhale." Penny instructs as she inhales with him. "Hold." They hold their breath for a second before all letting it out simultaneously.
We all turn around sharply to the sound of distant rumbling. We turn to see a white explosion on one of the ice mountains.
"Is that another crashed ship?" Penny asks.
"You're disappointing me. Look at the color." Maureen says with a smile.
"It's bright white..." Penny analyzes before Will cuts her off.
"If it was rocket fuel, it would be reddish." He says, looking back at his mother.
"Right." Maureen nods at her son. "Okay, hint. It's not a chemistry question, it's a geology question."
The kids look at the rumbling mountain and think for a moment as John, Maureen, and I talk.
"Once that water freezes, the Jupiter's gonna be locked in fifty feet of solid ice." John whispers to us and Maureen and I nod. "How long do we have?" He asks.
"A while." Maureen responds quickly with a nod.
"How long is 'a while'?" I ask.
"It depends." Maureen responds. "On hull thermodynamics, water salinity, how much displacement there is... it's complicated. Does it matter?"
"You tell me. We know you've already done the calculations." John responds.
"...We should talk about this privately." Maureen suggests, gesturing towards the listening kids.
"You three mind letting us in on this?" Penny asks.
Maureen sighs. "...In six hours, the sun's gonna go down, and indications are, it will drop to sixty degrees below zero, at which point, our power cells will die-"
"And so will we." Penny interrupts and Maureen nods.
"Not looking forward to that." I mumble.
"We can't go anywhere because of your leg." Judy states.
"I am still figuring it out." Maureen interjects with a nervous smile.
"What if you can't?" Will asks.
"Then you leave me here. You descend the glacier and it'll be warmer down there." Maureen answers.
All of the kids including me voice out our protests to that stupid idea.
"There's another way." My brother speaks up. "We go back down, get one of the big ion lithium's to recharge the suits."
"Not with that tear in your suit." Maureen protests. "Airlock's too far, you'll be dead in minutes."
"I could go." I volunteer. "I am the fastest swimmer here. Even faster than the other navy seal." I say and smugly look at my brother. He rolls his eyes.
"No. You have a tear too. Actually, you might need Judy to look at that." Maureen says as she points at my throbbing side.
I look down to see that there is indeed quite the tear in my suit as well as a bit of blood around the edges. Great.
I sigh.
"...The broken top hatch." John points out. "It's closer." We look at Will knowing what John is referring to. "It'll only be a quick trip in and out."
"No." I stand.
John looks to me, "He's the only one who'll fit."
I shake my head. No way is he putting Will in that kind of danger.
"No. Absolutely not." Maureen protests.
"He did the same training, passed the same tests." John reasons.
"You can't train for this." Maureen argues.
"Actually, you can. And he did." John argues back then turns and gently takes Will's hand, pulling him up. "Will, come with me."
"John?" Maureen calls in vain.
"John. No." I say. Knowing he isn't even listening to me, I limp over to him.
"Come on." John gently tells his son.
"John!" Maureen exclaims.
John kneels down to his son's height. "Okay. You gotta listen to me."
"John. You can't put him in that kind of danger. We can find another way." I tell him as I put my hand on his shoulder.
"There is no other way." John tells me before turning back to his son. "Okay. All you have to do is go back in the same way you came out. Supply room's right there. It's easy." He explains.
I sigh and let my head fall, knowing I'm not going to be able to change his mind.
"Okay? Take your jacket off." John pulls his sons jacket off and he shudders from the sudden cold. "Okay. Hey, hey, buddy. It's no different from the EVA tank training you did back home. Okay?" He tries to reassure him. "I'm gonna get the suit."
I notice Judy walking to where her suit is.
John walks off to go grab Will's suit then comes back and sets the parts beside his son. "Okay, here we go. Let's put this back on."
Judy comes in, decked out in her gear, and tells Will, "I got this squirt." before jumping into the freezing water.
"Judy!" Maureen and I exclaim.
I walk to the edge and watch her figure sink into the depths below.
John turns on his transmitter and speaks into it, "Judy, get back up here right now." John says, unamused. "You know you won't fit through the top hatch."
"The top hatch isn't the only way in, Dad." Judy's voice comes through the transmitter..
"The supply room is too far from the aft airlock. It's too risky."
"You take risks for a living, Dad."
"No, I take orders. And I'm giving you one right now."
"I'm already in."
John rolls his eyes and Maureen laughs slightly.
"Listen to me. She's gonna be okay. Okay?" Penny reassures her brother. "She's always okay. It's actually really annoying."
I wince at the pain in my side and inspect it to see that it is still bleeding slightly. I get up and walk to the tent and pull out a bandage and proceed to wrap the wound. There's a sizable gash in my side about four inches long. I'll worry about it later. Now is not the time to be thinking about a little cut when my niece is fifty feet under freezing cold water that can freeze over at any minute.
I walk out of the tent and sit next to Maureen.
"You okay?" She asks and I only nod in response.
"Damn it." John sighs.
"Honey, I don't know when the water's gonna freeze." Maureen speaks into her transmitter.
"I'm fine." Judy responds.
Maureen slides down closer to the edge of the pool as john crouches down and I stand and walk closer before crouching down as well.
"Hey, Judy?" I use my transmitter. "Why can't we see you by now?"
There's no response.
"Judy?" I call again and check to see if my transmitter is on.
"I took a chariot battery." Judy's voice comes through.
"You're down in the garage?" My brother and I say at the same time.
my stomach drops as I see the edges of the water starting to freeze at an alarming rate at the far end.
"Get out of there right now!" I exclaim in panic.
"Yeah, good idea." Judy responds.
"Judy, hurry up." Will calls.
"Faster. Move." John encourages.
"Come on, Judy." Maureen says.
We see her helmet lights come into view, but the battery is slowing her down and the water is freezing over faster and faster. She won't make it with the battery.
"Drop the battery." I command ad she complies.
"Take my hand." John says as he puts his hand into the water.
My heart drops further into my stomach as the water completely freezes over and all you can hear is Judy's panicked breaths over the radio.
"Damn it!" John exclaims as he pulls his hand out of the water before it can freeze his hand too.
"I-I can't move! Get me out of here! Get me out!" Judy panics. "Get me out! Get me out!"
"Okay. Okay. Okay, listen. Control your breathing." Maureen soothes. "Penny, get the computer."
"Okay." Penny responds as she stands and picks up the computer which is beside the tent and hands it to her mother.
"It's gonna be okay. Your suit will keep you warm. And..." Maureen trails off as she takes the computer and checks Judy's stats, "you've got at least five hours of oxygen."
"Okay." Judy responds, trying to keep her fear at bay.
"So Judy don't talk any more than you have to, okay?" Maureen advises.
Maureen starts steadying her breaths then groans in pain.
"You okay?" I ask as John takes a look at the computer that displays everyone's stats to see that Maureen isn't doing so good.
"You're in worse shape than you look." John tells her.
Maureen breathes heavily before saying, "Is that a compliment?"
"You need to get some rest." John advises.
"I need to help my baby girl." Maureen retorts.
"We will." I say.
Maureen breaths heavily before groaning in pain once again.
"No more doing anything until I say so." She states.
Maureen groans before passing out.
"Maureen?" John calls. He leans closer and pats her shoulder. "Maureen." He looks to me and I shrug my shoulders worriedly.
He looks at the computer again to see that she is, in fact, still alive, but she's getting worse. He looks to me again until Will speaks up.
"Is she okay?" He asks causing us to look at the two worried kids behind us.
"It's okay. It's okay. She's just resting." I assure them.
"Okay. It's okay." Penny hugs her brother close as he cries.
"Judy..." John turns on the transmitter. "Judy, I just want to say-"
"Don't talk to me, please." Judy cuts her father off.
We sit there not knowing what to do and worried sick for both Judy and Maureen.
...
John chips slowly into the ice using a knife as Penny covers her mother with a thermal blanket in the tent and I comfort Will as we try to get water from the ice.
"Will she be okay?" Will asks me.
"Of course she will." I respond ruffling his hair. "Don't worry, okay? We'll all be okay."
Will smiles before we sharply to the sound of rumbling in the distance. We see the white explosions again. Will looks down and thinks for a moment before closing the cap on his water bottle as he stands then walks over to his dad and I follow. Will gives him the water he collected as John stops and takes it while panting for air. We sit down next to him as John takes a swig of the water.
"What is it?" John asks, noticing the thoughtful look on Will's face.
"The white fire. I figured out what it is." Will explains.
"I don't have time for this." John responds before giving the water bottle back to Will and continues to pound relentlessly into the ice.
"I mean, when we crashed, we must have scraped open a pure vein of it." Will states.
"Vein of what?" I ask.
"Magnesium." Will responds.
I tilt my head in confusion as John stops pounding into the ice. Where's he going with this?
"Magnesium burns hot. But you know what makes it burn hotter?" Will asks. "Ice." He answers.
My eyes widen in realization as John sits up.
"Judy, I gotta go get something." John says into the transmitter.
"You're leaving?" Judy asks.
"It'll help get you out." John responds. "I'll be back."
John stands up and walks to the tent. I ruffle Will's hair and give him a smile.
"You're really smart, you know that?" I tell him. "I would have never thought of that idea. Good job."
Will laughs slightly then fixes his hair.
"Will, you coming?" John asks.
"Me?" Will asks in confusion.
"Yeah, it's your idea. And I don't know what I'm looking for." John explains. "C'mon."
Will looks at me then stands.
"What about Aunt Y/n?" He asks.
"You wanna come?" John asks me.
I shake my head. "I'm not feeling to well. I'll sit this one out."
John looks at me a bit longer with worry in his eyes. "You okay?" He asks.
"Yeah." I nod. "Probably just the cold."
He nods then turns to leave.
"You sure you're okay?" Will asks.
I nod and smile. "Be safe." I tell him and stand to give him a hug. He hugs back with a small smile.
Penny hugs her father and they leave. Penny looks at me as I start to continue Johns job and pound into the ice with my own knife.
...
I wince as I feel my side throb even more. I set down the knife and lean back. I look at Penny sitting beside me as she gives me a worried look.
"You okay?" She asks.
I nod. "Yea. Think I just bruised my side a bit during the crash. I'll be fine." I lie as to not rouse any more worry.
"You sure? You don't look so hot." She says, pointing out my disheveled appearance.
I only nod in response.
"Here. Let me take over." She says.
I give her the knife then she begins pounding into the ice. After a bit she sits back with a tired sigh and rubs her sore hand.
"How's Mom?" Judy asks over the radio.
"I thought you weren't supposed to be talking." Penny says.
Judy chuckles. "Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" I smile ruefully and Penny sighs. "Seriously, how is she?" Judy asks.
"She's... she's still out. Uh... breathing and her heart rate is normal." Penny responds, clueless as to what she's supposed to say.
After a small moment Judy speaks.
"Keep talking."
"Pretty high up on the list of things I never thought I'd hear you say." Penny says.
"You must have some books loaded on your phone." Judy responds, ignoring Penny's comment. "Do you have anything good?"
"I, in fact, happen to have some of the best books ever written." Penny responds. "Complete Dickens, complete Shakespeare-"
Judy cuts her off. "Do you have anything... trashy?"
"Why would I bring something trashy to the new world?" Penny asks. "We're here to establish a colony to expand the bounds of human experience." She mocks the slogan.
"Hmm." Judy hums. "Well, they say everyone should read Moby-Dick before they die." Judy says nonchalantly
Penny try's to keep in her sobs as I wipe a tear that suddenly escaped my eye.
"Don't say that." I tell Judy in a whisper.
"Well, Penny, do you have it?" Judy asks.
"Of course I have it." Penny whispers, voice wavering.
"Well, is it any good?" Judy asks.
"I don't know." Penny says after a moment of gathering herself. "Um... I haven't gotten to the M's yet."
"Well, proceed." Judy says.
Penny looks at me and I nod. She picks up the phone and begins reading.
"Call me Ishmael."
"Okay, 'Ishmael', if you insist." Judy jokes.
"Okay, first of all, that wasn't even remotely funny." Penny says as I chuckle. "And, secondly, you're supposed to be conserving oxygen so, quiet." I sniffle and lean back, preparing to listen to the story. "Call me Ishmael." Penny continues reading. "Some years ago, never mind how long precisely..."
...
After a bit, Maureen woke up. We helped her out of the tent and explained that John and Will set off to go get Magnesium and we told her that it was Will's idea when she asked. I swear, that kid is three times smarter than me even though I'm almost twenty years older than him. He puts my brain to shame. Well, he is Maureen's son after all. He did not get that from his father.
"Here." Penny says as she helps her mother drink some of the water Will and I gathered.
Maureen groans in pain.
"Mom? Hey."
Maureen tries to settle her breathing but the pain is too much. She groans once again.
"It's getting worse, isn't it?" Penny asks her mother.
"Feels like my leg is in a vice." Maureen responds.
"Guys, I think we should take a look." Judy recommends. "Does the skin feel hard or soft?"
I move down to Maureen's injured leg and gently feel around a bit. "Oh, jeez. Okay, uh.. her leg is as hard as a rock."
"Okay. Mom, I think you have compartment syndrome. Edema from the fracture has created too much pressure in your leg. We have to release it." Judy explains. "Penny or Aunt Y/n is gonna have to do a little procedure, okay?"
"Uh, not dibs?" Penny says. "I am not doing that."
"...I'll try." I sigh.
"Okay, I'll talk you through it." Judy says. "Penny, there's a combo syringe in the kit. It's blue and white. It'll knock her out."
"Are you okay with this?" I ask Maureen.
"It's your call." She responds and I nod.
Penny opens the case and pulls out the syringe. She moves to my side and holds her mother's hand. She injects the syringe into Maureen's thigh.
"It's okay? Okay. Okay. Yeah." Penny calms herself as Maureen passes out.
"Is she out?" Judy asks.
"Yeah." I respond.
"Okay. We have to do a four-compartment fasciotomy." Judy says.
"A four-compartment fasciotomwho? Judy, how hard is this procedure?" I ask as I set things up.
"I've heard it's pretty straightforward." She responds.
"You've heard it's pretty straight... You mean you haven't done this before?" Penny asks.
"Okay. Aunt Y/n, lay out the scalpel and plenty of gauze, okay?" Judy instructs.
"Okaaay." I drag out. "This is fine. It's fine! Yeah. Can you hand me the scissors, Penny?"
"Yeah. Yeah." Penny hands me the scissors and I cut Maureen's suit and expose her leg. "Okay." I say unsteadily.
"There are four spaces in the lower leg containing muscle that are surrounded by fascia." Judy explains.
"By what?" Penny asks.
"Okay, you know that white stuff you see when you eat steak?" Judy asks. "That's fascia. The red stuff, it's muscle."
"Okay. It's just like steak." I say as i put the surgical gloves on.
"I like steak." Penny says.
"Doubt you will after this."
"This is gonna ruin steak for me."
"Yeah, it will."
"Find the bone that sticks out under the kneecap." Judy instructs. "Move about two fingers away from it down in either side, and cut all the way down."
I take a shuddering breath and feel around until I find it. "Okay." I say. "Cut all the way down to where?"
"All the way down to her ankle." Judy says.
I hesitantly press the scalpel to Maureen's leg- I mean steak- and start dragging it down.
"Auntie, you have to cut deep, okay?" Judy says. "Until you see the muscle. Steak. I mean steak."
"That is one really juicy piece of steak." I whisper.
"Auntie!" Penny exclaims which causes me to chuckle uncomfortably as I continue dragging the scalpel down.
I lift the scalpel. "Okay. I did it."
"Great. Now you only have to do it three times more." Judy says.
I sigh and do it again.
...
Eventually Maureen wakes up as Penny sleeps on my shoulder. I rest my head back.
"How's the leg?" I ask.
"Better." Maureen responds. "Much better. Thank you, Y/n."
"That's good." I say. "And you're welcome."
Maureen watches her daughter sleep until Penny jerks awake. She looks around confused then looks at her mother as she smiles at her daughter.
"When you were little, I always loved to watch you sleep." Maureen tells Penny wholesomely.
Penny sits up a bit more. "I don't think you should be moving around." Ignoring her mother's slightly creepy comment.
"Well, it's excellent work." Maureen says as she gives me a grateful look.
"Judy did the hard part. The studying, the exams... couldn't have done it without her or my moral support." I say, nudging Penny at the last part.
Penny nods and makes a disgusted face when I said 'studying'.
"...You're all the matters, you know. You three." Maureen tells her daughter, referring to her siblings. "It's why we left. I wanted to find a home that was worthy of you."
"...We're gonna make it." Penny says, noticing her mother's doubtful look.
Maureen smiles. "Of course we are." She breathes. "Every problem has a solution."
...
We are all startled by John's sudden voice. I stop pounding into the ice and stand up.
"Judy, I'm back. I'm gonna get you out of there."
"Where's Will?" I ask.
"I'm gonna go back for him." John responds.
"What? What happened?" Maureen asks.
"We got separated, but he's okay." John states.
"You just left him there?" I ask, anger and worry boiling in the pit of my stomach as Mureen looks at him with fury flaming in her eyes.
"I can only save one child at a time." John responds causing me to huff angrily. "Better get back." He unpacks the magnesium that he gathered.
I help Maureen slide back and away from the pothole we created.
"Penny, how much air does she have left?" Maureen asks her daughter who is in the tent with the computer.
"Sixty-eight minutes." Penny responds, checking Judy's suit stats.
"Judy. Close your eyes." John advises as he lights a torch. "Keep them closed." We all look away and listen to the hissing sound of the magnesium burning as John lights it. After if finishes burning John scoops out the water.
"It's working. Thank God." Maureen sighs with a hopeful smile.
"It was Will's idea." John grunts.
"Yeah. I know." Maureen says.
"He thinks he doesn't deserve to be here." John says as I start to help to scoop the water out.
"I'll discuss that with him the next time I see him." Maureen responds. "When do you think that might be?" She sasses.
...
The sun has gone down and Maureen, John, and I are helping scoop the water out of the hole while Penny holds the torch. Judy has twenty minutes left before she runs out of air so we are rushing this.
"It's working, honey. Hold tight." Maureen says.
"Oh, God." Judy sighs. "That feels good. It's like my hand's been asleep for a month."
We laugh and continue scooping.
"It's okay, the feeling will come back." John assures.
"Magnesium." John calls as Penny repeats it and hands him the magnesium.
"Torch." Penny hands John the torch after he put the magnesium in the hole.
"Close your eyes." He calls.
"Okay. Okay." I pant as we all turn away.
I feel a brisk breeze fly by then hear the sound of thunder cracking. Then, of course with our luck, it starts raining. The rain water continues to fill the hole up with more water as it freezes over.
"It's raining." Penny calls. "It's raining. Dad!"
"Oh, no, no, no!" John yells.
"No!" I yell. "Faster! It's filling up!" We continue to scoop the water out faster as it fills up.
"It's... it's not raining, is it?" Judy asks.
We sit up and pant for air.
"Yes. It is." Maureen says.
"Mom, the temperature's dropping!" Penny calls.
We watch as the water freezes over and I feel my hopes crush into a billion pieces.
"Oh, oh..." Maureen pants.
"Give me the magnesium." John calls to Penny.
The thunder continues rumbling as I put my hand on my forehead and try to hold in my tears. John tries to re-light the soaked torch, but the lighter won't light.
"Damn it!" John yells.
The computer beeps and Maureen looks back at Judy's stats. She's running out of time.
"We're gonna get you out." I tell Judy as she panics and sobs. "It's gonna be okay, okay?"
"She's strong. She has more time." John says. "Dig!"
"C'mon!" I yell.
We start pounding at the ice letting our adrenaline fuel us.
"Coming baby!" John cries.
Penny joins us in digging, but we are starting to lose hope. Judy continues sobbing and I can't help but cry too, but the rain water that is cascading down my face camouflages my tears.
"Tell... Will!" Judy gasps out. "It's not his fault! He's gonna be..."
"Don't talk. Just don't talk." John says.
"Dad!" Judy yells.
We stop digging and grab Judy's hand.
"We're here." John sobs as the timer hits zero. "I'm here, baby."
"We're here. We're here." Maureen cries. "We're right here."
We all sob as our hopes of getting her out are crushed.
"It's okay." I tell her.
All I can hear is the sound of my niece running out of air on the other side of the radio and it breaks my heart every time she gasps for air.
"What's that? What is that?" Penny stands up in panic.
I turn around to see a giant silhouette walking towards us. I scoot in front of Maureen and Penny as John grabs a his knife. I see Will come running down the hillside panting and he stops next to the monster.
"It's okay!" He gasps.
"Will?" John asks in slight panic.
"It's okay. He's... He's with me." Will explains.
We stare in shock at the giant robot as it looks at the pothole we dug.
"Danger, Will Robinson." It speaks in a robotic voice.
Will looks at the hole then back to the robot. "Can you help her?" He asks. "Please?"
The robot kneels in front of the hole then extends his hands and melts the ice. After a moment he reaches down and pulls Judy out then drops her in John's arms.
"I got you. I got you." He says as he works on taking off Judy's helmet. We all express our relief as we surround them. "Breathe!" He gets her helmet off. Judy gasps for air and we all cry and laugh in relief as we hug her.
"Can you do something so we don't freeze?" Will asks the robot.
The robot does what he did with the ice, but a lot more safe and warms us up, saving us from the cold.
*5690 words
*Edited 7/26/2020 6664 words