Chapter 2 #4
I sit on the edge of the chair and force myself to breathe, trying to gather my thoughts.
But the throbbing in my arm makes it nearly impossible to concentrate.
Every heartbeat sends another wave of pain through me.
Unhooking one of the straps from the chair, I use it as a makeshift sling.
The moment I move my arm, a scream tears out of me.
Tears spill down my face before I can stop them. Gritting my teeth, I wrap part of the strap around my injured arm, then bend forward and drape the rest over my shoulder, doing everything I can to keep the limb from moving.
I refuse to look at it. Whatever is wrong with it, I already know it isn’t good. By the time I’m finished, I’m panting heavily. My body feels like it’s fighting for every breath. I lean against the wall and close my eyes.
What now?
Do I try to find help?
Or do I stay here like the girl told me?
The thought of her voice telling me to stay put echoes through my head. But stay put and do what? Just wait to die?
I crawl toward the viewer. Only a few sections of the glass remain visible; most of it obscured by some strange cloudiness on the inside.
Maybe I can see where I am. Maybe I can find a way out.
Reaching up with my good hand, I wipe at the glass.
The instant my fingers touch it, the entire thing explodes.
I jerk backward.
For one frozen second, I don’t understand what happened. Then the wind hits me. A howling, merciless blast tears through the pod, ripping the warmth from my body as though my clothes aren’t even there. I gasp and instinctively curl in on myself.
The cold is immediate.
Violent.
And somehow, after everything, I start laughing.
It’s hysterical. Breathless. Completely insane.
But what else am I supposed to do? My inner voice screams at me to stay inside.
Instead, I climb through the shattered opening.
The glass slices into my clothes and skin, but I barely notice.
Most of my body is already numb. I pull myself upright and take a step away from the pod, looking around.
Whatever tiny bit of hope remained inside me shatters instantly.
S N O W!
Endless blinding white stretches in every direction. Broken mountain peaks claw toward the sky, their jagged edges buried beneath layers of ice. Snow glitters beneath the light of an enormous moon or perhaps a planet hangs impossibly large overhead.
There is nothing here.
Nothing…
Massive mountains surround me on every side.
Snowdrifts rise higher than buildings, their size only obvious because of the enormous scar the pod carved through them when it crashed.
The landscape is harsh, unforgiving, brutal.
There is nothing welcoming about it. This place doesn’t care whether I live or die.
It wasn’t designed for comfort. It wasn’t designed for survival. This is nature stripped down to its purest, cruelest form. And yet, for one strange moment, I stop. I take a deep breath. Really breathe. The air fills my lungs, cold and sharp, and I close my eyes.
It’s perfect.
For the first time in as long as I can remember, my lungs don’t burn. My throat doesn’t itch. I’m not sneezing or struggling to breathe.
No pollen.
No pollution.
Nothing but clean air and snow. I almost laugh again.
Of all the things that could/were going to kill me, now my allergies aren’t going to be one of them.
The snow stings my face and exposed arms, each tiny crystal biting into my skin like a thousand needles.
The powdery ground shifts beneath my numb bare feet as I force myself to take another step, each one sinking nearly to my knees.
I should turn around. I should crawl back inside the pod.
There might be something I missed. Supplies.
Shelter. A way to call for help. Instead, I stand there looking at the endless white surrounding me.
Why die inside a metal box that smells like dirty socks and body odor when I can die out here?
At least the air is clean. A bitter smile touches my lips.
Then my legs give out. I fall forward, my cheek hitting the snow.
The cold burns. It shouldn’t be possible for something so cold to feel like fire, but it does.
I try to push myself up.
My arm screams. I collapse again. My breathing becomes slower, heavier. Every breath feels like work now, as though my lungs are struggling against the cold just as much as the rest of my body.
My fingers are gone.
My toes are gone.
I can’t feel my face anymore.
Maybe that’s a good thing. The wind howls around me, but somehow it sounds farther away now.
Everything is fading. My eyes drift closed.
For a moment, I think about the girl ...
Jade. I wonder if she knew this would happen.
I wonder if this is what she was trying to warn me about. I wonder if anyone will ever find me.
Then, just as the darkness begins to take me, something strange happens. I feel warmer. Not much. Just enough to notice. I frown. Warmth spreads slowly through my chest, so faint I wonder if I’m imagining it.
My lips curve into the ghost of a smile.
It won’t be long now.
And then the darkness takes me.