We, who Survived

Spark had taken me to a secluded area in the lifepod where no one had settled. I was told to sit on a large empty box, my boots dangling above the floor, as Spark paced in front of me. My body throbbed; my throat still decorated with red crescents.

“I-I’m sorry.” His hands easily engulfed mine as his husky apology registered. He rubbed his thumbs gently over my knuckles, olive-green eyes locked with my different coloured ones.

“You had no right to say that,” I whispered, turning my head towards the pod doors, people trickling in slowly. He was silent until I felt his chest pressed flush against my knees.

“I was out of line but it’s true, Nate. On the station, you were so skittish that it made it painful watching you move through a crowd. But here, you have a chance to break it, to lead and show your strength.” Spark’s voice was low, picking up volume as he got excited, his eyes gazing up at me. “What you can do down here is limitless. You have all that knowledge in that head of yours and that’s true strength, not some muscled moron who thinks his fists can solve everything.”

“Why are you so confusing! First, you insult me, apologize then do it all over again before complimenting me. Pick one already because that strategy isn’t working for you.” My voice was strained, my jaw sore from clenching it.

“You needed to hear my reasoning but you don’t have to cry about it.” His hands moved to cup my face, thumbs rubbing away the tears I had not noticed falling. All I could do was allow him to pull me into his lap and hold me to his chest even though my skin itched with the contact. “Sorry for upsetting you, Bookworm.”

Not long after mine and Spark’s conversation, everyone was fully secured in the pod and its doors closed shut. We had then joined the others around the map, sitting on the floor and noting down information about the land we would walk on the next day. After that, things blurred as sleep took over, Blissful dreams thwarted the nightmares until my eyes fluttered open.

I was no longer in the lifepod.

Thickly trunked trees surrounded me, their leaves like thorns hanging above. Under me was cold green moss, sucking the warmth out of my skin. Brightly coloured mushrooms erupted from the green blanket, creeping their way up the trunks. Glancing up, sunlight was unable to penetrate through the dense canopy, leaving a bitter cold breeze dominating the world around me.

The back of my head throbbed like it had been bashed against the headrest when we landed. My vision only allowed me to see a couple of meters before blurring. When I attempted to sit up, my back spasmed painfully like knives were being driven into the muscle. Where were the others? Had Daniel been so spiteful as to drag me out here and leave me? No, he could not be that stupid, could he?

Twigs began snapping, needle leaves crunching under something’s weight. A deep voice was calling out, the words gibberish in my terror-stricken ears. Forcing myself to calm down, I strained to focus on the words as the crunching and snapping came closer. When I heard my name, I relaxed the best I could.

“Here!” My voice was frail as if I was slowly dying. Joon emerged from the foliage, face slightly cut from walking amongst low hanging branches. He began to smile before his chestnut-brown eyes widened and he rushed to my side, placing his hand on my forehead.

“You’re burning up,” He exclaimed, eyes scanning the area. Only then did he reach forward and slowly pulled me up. Pain shot up my spine, the world spinning violently as black spots blurred my vision. Joon was able to move out of the way just as last night’s dinner came up, acid burning my throat. He rubbed the small of my back until I stood up straight.

“Nate, I’m going to have to carry you on my back but if you feel like vomiting, you tell me.” Nodding, I watched as he crouched down. With shaky legs, I climbed onto his back, my arms coming around his neck. When he stood up, he gingerly held my thighs before walking. Closing my eyes, I rested my cheek on my forearm, facing towards the trees.

“He has a high fever but you say he struggled to sit up and experienced pain when you tried to help him?” A girl’s voice spoke as something cold was pressed against my forehead. Someone must have answered because she continued. “I don’t recognise any medicinal plants around us and the first-aid kit lacks what he needs. I don’t want him moved around too much if he experiences pain.”

“C-cold.” Was the only thing that I managed to mouth out. My tongue was tingling, stuck to the roof of my mouth in defiance. Thoughts drifted in meaningless order before disappearing. Was this dehydration? If it was... Oh, warmth.

“I’ll take him to one of the firepits,” A soothing yet raspy voice muttered. His arms came around me. As I was picked up, pain erupted from my spine. Screaming, I struggled to get out of his arms causing the pain to intensify.

“My back...som-something is there.” My feet touched the ground just as my shirt was tugged up and cold air attacked my rapidly heating skin. There were audible gasps and a yelp as someone told the people around us to step away. Slender fingers pressed on my shoulder blades, knife blades stabbing me violently, a whimper leaving my lips. The arms around my waist tightened as I wriggled and squirmed to getaway. The blades felt like they were being twisted, trying to get to the spots that caused the most agony.

“Stop! Please...” Tears streamed down my face.

“Nathan, listen, this thing is killing you. If we don’t get it off you, you will die.” The soothing voice was back, fear melding with his reasoning. I was hauled off my feet. The crackling of fire came before the warmth of its flame. My shirt was fully taken off as I was made to go on my knees. Like something had been lifted from my eyes, my surroundings came into focus.

The fire’s flame danced in the breeze. Spark’s strong arms were still around my waist as he smiled down at me. In that moment of peace, I forgot about the pain and gazed into Spark’s eyes, taking in their reassuring gleam. Only if it could have lasted longer because the next thing I knew, I was screaming into Spark’s chest as the creature bit down hard.

“Onyx, get the damned thing off him!” Spark’s command was met. The creature squirmed efforts to stay connected ruined as it gave a futile scream. Warm liquid ran down my back while fresh tears and wails left me. Voices surrounded us. Maria rushed to stem the flow of blood while Spark continued to hold me before he pulled me into his lap.

“Try sleep, we’ll keep you safe,” He mumbled. My eyes began closing, the will to stay awake any longer gone while my mind blanked. I felt myself leaning against Spark more, the irritation of our skin touching nowhere to be found.