When The Breach finally came to rest on the forest floor, it was barely intact. A trail of debris was left in its wake.
A flash of pain woke Sophia from unconsciousness. Her eyesight was fuzzy. An orange glow surrounded her. She knew from the heat that it must be a fire.
“McCready!” she called out.
No answer.
She tried to unbuckle her restraints but they were stuck. “McCready! Help me.”
The lack of response scared her more than the fire.
As her eyesight returned, she saw the devastation in the shuttle. The viewscreen was shattered with trees poking into the shuttle. Control panels short-circuited, adding to the fire on the panel next to her.
She let out a blood-curdling scream.
McCready was dead. His body slumped over onto the fiery control panel. A tree branch had impaled him on impact.
Sophia was all on her own now.
She froze, not wanting to do anything. Giving up seemed like the better option.
But something willed her to keep going. She struggled with the restraints again, pulling as hard as she could. She strained and groaned until they finally came loose and she was free.
“There must be a fire extinguisher around here.”
Sophia searched around the cabin, making sure to stay clear of the fire and the dead body. The fire extinguisher was still attached next to the doorway she had entered when she first entered the control room.
She pulled the cannister off the wall and pointed it towards the fire. She looked for a trigger but couldn't find anything. “How the hell does this thing work?”
The extinguisher glowed blue as it powered on and sprayed the fire with a white foam.
The fire was snuffed out and the cannister powered down. Sophia sighed a breath of relief. She went over to check on McCready and knew there was nothing she could do. She wouldn't even be able to pull him out of the ship with the way the tree was pinning him to the seat.
“Computer! Are you there?”
She knew it was hopeless. The lights weren't even on.
Sophia approached the automatic doors and they didn't budge. “How the hell am I supposed to open these without power?”
She searched around the door and found a panel labeled: Manual Open.
“That's got to be it.” Sophia pulled open the panel and found a lever. She pumped it up and down and saw the automatic doors open ever so slightly with each pump. Sunlight shined through the doors.
She opened them just enough to fit through. “That should do it.”
Sophia closed the panel and squeezed through the doors. She immediately took in a fresh breath of air. The forest scenery around her was breathtaking. Tall trees stretched up to a bright blue sky. Light green plants surrounded her that she'd never seen before.
She almost forgot about her predicament.
Almost...
“Well Sophia, what the hell are you supposed to do now?” she said to herself.
The outcome wasn't looking good. McCready was dead. The ship was in shambles. Rescue was a long shot.
Sophia ventured out into the forest to explore but always kept The Breach in view. The last thing she wanted was to get lost. She had to be at the ship to be rescued otherwise she'd be stranded here forever.
Sophia began to gather pieces of wood even though she had no idea how to light a fire. “But what if they don't even know that we survived The Breach exploding? They wouldn't be looking for us.”
Sophia shook her head to sweep the bad thoughts away. “You can't think like, Sophia. Rescue is coming. You just need to believe.”
She fumbled some of the firewood on the way back to ship and dropped them into a pile near the entrance. She didn't want to try and light a fire yet. Sophia knew she'd fail. So she put it off by gathering more and more firewood until the sun began to set.
The temperature began to plummet dramatically. She brought in the firewood and closed the manual doors. But that didn't keep out the cold. Sophia huddled in the ship as far from McCready's lifeless body as she could.
She'd have to deal with that tomorrow.
“I really wish I didn't put out that fire right about now.” Sophia looked around the ship for anything that could start a fire. She took two pieces of wreckage and tried striking them together. They barely made a spark.
Moving around was the only thing keeping her warm. “There must be some tools around here.” Sophia searched the entire cabin and came up empty-handed. The only place left to look was the control panel that McCready was humped over.
The thought of even touching the corpse made Sophia gag. She approached him cautiously, scared to death that he'd come back as a zombie.
Sophia reached out with her fingertips. “Please don't be a zombie. Please don't be a zombie.” She touched the dead body and it didn't feel much different from a live one. Except that it was cold like a fish.
Sophia shut her eyes and pulled McCready off the control panel, laying the body gently onto the floor. She opened her eyes and immediately regretted it. The body was very badly burned. McCready's face was almost unrecognizable. A deathly smile was his last expression.
She returned to the control panel and search around. Underneath Sophia found a compartment that housed various tools. “Finally, something useful.” She pulled out a small looking gun and pulled the trigger. A small blue flame shot out.
Sophia piled the firewood together and applied the laser gun. The wood ignited instantly. Her eyes grew. “Fuck yes! You got this, Sophia.” She put her hands up and absorbed the heat. That was the first moment that Sophia felt a little relaxed.
But her stomach didn't let her rest. “When was the last time I ate?” She remembered vaguely eating something a day ago. “What the hell am I supposed to eat on the this damn planet? Better worry about it tomorrow.”
Sophia closed her eyes and rested uncomfortably next to the fire. She had no idea how exhausted she was.
–
Sophia awoke the next morning and found the fire had died. She pumped the manual lever again and opened the doors. The sun was blinding but warm. It was odd that she heard no signs of life. No birds singing. No rabbits scurrying around.
“What is a girl supposed to eat and drink on this planet?” Sophia started out on her search, always keeping The Breach in sight. No animals of any sort but she did find some dark purple things that could be berries.
She gathered a few handfuls but knew that many earth berries were poisonous. What would alien berries be like? She wasn't hungry enough to test them yet but she kept them for when it became necessary.
Sophia looked around for any signs of water but found none. Even if there was a river or lake nearby, she might need to travel far from the ship and the possibility of rescue.
Sophia returned to the ship with an empty stomach and an incredible thirst. “I guess I should give McCready a proper burial.”
McCready was heavier than she thought but she was able to drag his body off the ship. It took two hours for her to dig a hole deep enough. Sophia barely had any energy left. The alien berries were looking better and better.
Sophia rolled McCready's body into the hole. “I'm sorry,” she said.
Sophia wiped all the dirt back into the hole until the body was completely covered. “I guess I should say something since this is your funeral. I didn't know much about you but I enjoyed our late night conversations. I just wanted to thank you for saving my life. Even if it doesn't last much longer.”
Sophia returned to the ship and passed out next to the pile of burned up firewood. A dry mouth woke her up only a couple hours later. She tried to produce saliva in her mouth but nothing would come.
She knew that she needed water to survive. It would only be a matter of days if she didn't find any soon.
She brought out a handful of berries. “In the meantime, I might as well try these.” She popped a few in her mouth and almost spit them out from the intense sour taste. It took a lot of effort to swallow them but she got them down.
Sophia braced for her stomach to explode but nothing happened. “Maybe these are safe to eat after all. But better not eat anymore just in case.”
–
The next day, Sophia set out on her first big mission of exploring for water. She knew that she'd have to travel far away from the ship. She kept a bag of ash from the fire and rubbed it on trees as she passed them. “All I have to do is follow the white marks back home.”
Saying home out loud, almost made Sophia cry. The thought of never getting off this planet was unbearable. But she pushed on, roaming the forest in search of life-saving liquid.
After a couple hours of walking in the same direction, Sophia had found nothing but more trees. The forest seemed to almost cover the entire planet. Or at least the area she was in. She returned back to the ship in even dire shape.
Sophia wouldn't make it much longer without water.
“I'll go out in another direction tomorrow,” she said, curling up to a fire and falling asleep.
The morning sun rose again to shine on the wreckage of The Breach. Sophia was too weak to move. She was slowly wasting away from the lack of food and water.
But she needed to go out and search for water. It was the only way to survive.
“I need to get out there.” Sophia lifted her head, expecting the rest of her body to follow.
She collapsed back onto the ground. The fire had died out but the inside of the ship was still warm. Sophia has no more energy left. She fell back asleep.
–
As day turned to night, Sophia finally willed herself to get up and go outside. Hunting in the dark wasn't ideal but this might be her last chance to find some sustenance.
She set out in the opposite direction of the previous day.
But she didn't have to go far before she heard a rustling in the leaves.
A blue humanoid man came waltzing through the forest. It had to be a mirage.
But it wasn't.
Sophia had seen nothing like him before. Built like a brick wall, this alien was humongous. Long black hair cascaded on his shoulders. His appearance was a shock but it somehow looked familiar. He wasn't that much different than the bodybuilders from earth except for the blue skin.
Sophia didn't know whether to run away or run into his arms.
“Hello,” she said.