We, who Survived
Chapter One

Staring out of the large porthole window, the sun seemed brighter in its fiery orange jacket while Earth was dull in its green and blue rags, a white cloud blanket wrapping its woolly arms around the sphere. Occasionally a meteoroid passed by, outlining the clouds in a shining aura as it entered Earth’s atmosphere. A month ago, an asteroid had taken a section off the station, ripping it off its connections and framework as the jagged rock collided with us. If it had been any bigger, the frail structure of our home would have been crushed. We would have then been forced to the lifepods.

Worst case scenario: Going to Earth.

Shaking my head, I carried on down the hall, limping my way to my Holding, fingers tracing over the cool metal wall. My cheek was burning from the fresh-cut I had received not so long ago, my head throbbing harder as the blood rushed in my ears. Excuses mingled in my mind. How would I explain the newly acquired marks? The old ones were becoming rehearsed, gaining more attention with my father with the continuous stream of injuries and lies.

When the door slid open, I was greeted by my reflection in our only mirror. Its edges were chipped, a spiderweb crack lacing itself in the middle where a drunken fist had been thrown years prior. Amongst it all, two different coloured eyes stared out, one ocean-blue and the other jade-green. They peeked out from under a brown fringe, emotionless, dark circles underlining them.

With my eyes on the floor, I entered the main room expecting my father to greet me from where he usually sat sharpening his knives. When I did glance up, the couch was vacant. No father to tell an excuse to about my broken appearance. Relief never tasted sweeter.

Sighing, I carried on to my room down the small passageway. Photographs lined the walls of my parents and my baby self. One photo had me in my mother’s arms, a gummy smile on my chubby face as my mother made a funny face. My father would always have a sad smile on his lips when he noticed me gazing at the frame before telling me the goofy story of how they met. They were young and in love, in a time so far away. Then the sickness came, taking my mother and grandparents away when I was only a couple months old. My father would then go quiet, staring at his hands before burying himself in work.

Dropping my bag onto my book scattered desk, I fell face-first on my bed, covers billowing up before settling in a crumpled state around me. My back ached from the freshly made bruises. The pain was becoming familiar, subsided. It scared me. Was pain not a human trait, a sign of truly being alive?

“Happy thoughts, Nate, happy thoughts.” My voice sounded foreign, distant yet close, croaky, on the verge of tears. “Happy thoughts.”

As sleep began wrapping its arms around me, my room shook violently. Glass smashed against the hard floor, heavier, less fragile objects thudding on impact. Scrambling off my bed, I fell onto the carpet before trying to get my escape bag from the cupboard. The drone of the automatic crisis voiceover was muffled, its instructions barely understandable as I rushed around shoving clothing into the bag, barely grabbing my hatchet and knife before slinging the strap over my shoulder and stumbling my way into the main room. A tremor sent me tumbling to the ground, glass cutting into my palms. The photo of my mom and me was right next to my hand, grabbing it, I folded it into my pocket, trying to get my feet and the door.

“All children from ages ten to nineteen make your way to lifepods Six and Eight.” The voice blared over the speakers as the door to my Holding slid open. Red lights flickered above, taking away the last shred of hope that this was a drill and rooting me to the spot while parents and their children sprinted passed. My breathing was becoming erratic as panic began flooding me.

A hand clamped onto my shoulder, snapping me to attention. Glancing up, I met olive-green eyes staring down at me, their pupils were blown wide as adrenaline coursed through his veins.

Spark. Why was he on this side of the station?

“Come on!” He shouted over the droning voice coming through the speakers, his hand moving to grab mine and essentially dragging me with him as he started into a jog, his bag hanging on for dear life on his shoulder. He began to slow down just as my back began to throb harshly. A large crowd was now in front of us, parents and their children embracing as bags were exchanged and so were tears. Mothers held their children as if this would be the last time they would see each other. Fathers patted sons on heads or ruffled their daughter’s hair. Lastly, the forced push into Lifepod Six, a painful wave goodbye before they left. Where was my father in all of this? What was so important that he could not see me?

Spark tugged on my hand, bringing me out my thoughts as he weaved away through the throng, his built frame allowing a path to form behind him for my small frame to pass through. He had made sure I was behind him, holding my hand tighter as we made our way into the lifepod. Spark gazed over the petrified faces before replaceing what he was looking for, his friends and empty seats right next to them.

Maria, a beautiful British girl with rich brown skin and golden-brown eyes with a sprinkling of freckles over her nose, engulfed Spark in an embrace. Her cheek rested on his shoulder as she whispered something into his ear. The two boys out of the four that were present stared at me, my anxiety and fear skyrocketing. Hesitantly, I let go of Spark’s hand to wrap my arms around myself, trying to form some kind of barrier around my body. However, Maria had other plans when she saw that I was hiding behind Spark. She came over and held me in a grip that only a mother seeing her long-lost child could have, squeezing the air out of my lungs and forcing my head to rest in the crook of her neck. Instinctively, I stiffened and tried to send a silent message to her that I did not like this amount of contact with another body. Sadly, she still held onto me.

“Easy Maria, he looks like he’s goin’ to faint!” One of the boys commented. He had dirty blonde hair to match his slight freckled face and sky-blue eyes. If I knew that cheeky grin from anywhere, I would say this was Charlie Brown, the chef who snuck food to me.

“You are overdoing it, Maria.” The other chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. Jet-black hair partially covered his eyes even though I clearly remember it was always styled back over the left. He was my general rescue when it came to the bullies, his name being Park Jae, commonly known as Onyx due to his eye colour.

Finally, Maria let go but took my hands in hers when she saw the cuts and then the one on my cheek. She was about to touch it when we were slammed to the ground by another violent tremor, Maria falling on top of me.

“Find your seats and strap in, descent to Earth will commence in twenty, nineteen, eighteen-” The robotic voice continued the countdown, all of us scrambling to our feet and replaceing out seats. My hands shook as I strapped myself in, glancing around at the others to see wide eyes, white knuckles and gritted teeth.

The sounds of the lifepod were drowned out as I realized there were no adults with us in the pod, we were disconnecting without the required Protectors. Blood rushed in my ears as my anxiety shot clear out of my comfort zone. We had been off of Earth’s radar for so long and now we were returning. Was the air breathable? Would we survive without adults? Why couldn’t they come with us? We had lost our place within the natural cycle of Earth’s hunter and prey setup, how could we not face casualties?

“Nathan, breathe and calm down.” A soothing voice said by my ear, breath hot on my neck. Slowly, I lifted my eyes away from where they had locked onto the floor, replaceing myself looking at Spark. A small smile was on his lips as he gingerly took my hand in his, giving it a squeeze. Trying to even my breathing, I eased my steel grip on the base of the chair, allowing the sounds to rush back in.

The lifepod was groaning. There were sobs and frightened screams, a girl blatantly shouting for her mother. Maria was clutching onto Charlie’s arm, lips moving in speedy prayer. Jae sat upright, a stony expression on his face, tic forming in his jaw.

My worry began showing itself again. What if we were ambushed by predators just as we landed? We would be vulnerable, we have no guns on us, guns were prohibited from being on the station and if anyone did, the ammo would be scarce. How long would we survive anyway, three to four days? Without food we would become weak and useless, no water led to dehydration and the failure of organs... Our odds of survival were so low and we weren’t even out of space yet.

“Hey, Bookworm, calm down. We will be fine.” Came Jae’s voice. He nodded towards Spark who just squeezed my hand again. The slight affection did not irritate me but allowed me to calm...slightly.