Fragment 009

The smell of burning. A dull ache spread across my body. An alarm. Those were the only things my senses could grasp. I drifted in and out of consciousness while heat pressed against my skin. Slowly, I forced myself onto my side and pried my eyes open. The light… I could still see it. No. Wait. That wasn’t it. A blurred glow flickered in front of me. God, it was hot. Where was I? I couldn’t still be on the ship.

I rolled onto my back. A blanket of orange stretched above me, the air warping in shimmering waves. Somewhere nearby, a constant beeping echoed through the heat, almost hypnotic. My eyelids grew heavy again.

Thud. Thud.

Were those… footsteps?

My eyes slowly opened once more. The orange haze still hung overhead, but now I could definitely hear someone moving nearby. The footsteps came from the direction of the flickering glow. Then they stopped. Rustling and metallic clanking replaced them. What was going on? I tried turning my head, but I didn’t have the strength. Following the sounds alone already felt exhausting. More rummaging. Debris shifting. My hearing felt muffled, as though I were submerged underwater.

After a while, the footsteps returned. Closer this time. Louder. Vibrations pulsed through the ground beneath me. Then a shadow loomed overhead. The orange glow dimmed as a vague figure blocked the light above me. My body instinctively tensed. Purple mist curled around a jagged silhouette. Two glowing dots stared down at me.

The figure hesitated.

Then drifted away.

My body relaxed again as exhaustion pulled me back under.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP.

That sound… It was still going.

I slowly pushed myself upright. My body still ached, but I could move again. I didn’t know how long I had been unconscious, but the pain had dulled enough for me to keep my eyes open. Then reality finally settled in.

“Where am I?”

For the first time, I properly took in my surroundings. I was lying in the middle of a dried-up desert beneath a blazing orange sky. Endless stretches of red sand rolled out in every direction, interrupted only by jagged rocks and crumbling cliffs.

“Lola? Where are we?” I called out, but no response came. “Hey! Lola! Where are—”

My eyes suddenly locked onto the source of the alarm behind me.

The wreckage of my ship.

Twisted metal smouldered amongst the sand while small flames licked hungrily across the broken hull.

“Lola?…”

Panic surged through me.

“LOLA!!”

I scrambled to my feet and rushed headfirst into the wreckage. I ignored the flames, the blistering heat, the sharp metal tearing at my skin.

“LOLA!”

I hurled debris aside desperately as the beeping grew louder.

“Shut up!”

I slammed my fist against the damaged control panel.

BEEP BEEP BEEP.

“I SAID SHUT UP!”

I struck it again. Pain cracked through my hand, but finally, the noise died.

Silence.

I collapsed to my knees. Sobs tore from my chest as the fire crackled around me. Heat pressed heavily against my body, yet I couldn’t bring myself to move. Tears fell freely into the red sand beneath me.

“I can’t lose you again…” I whispered weakly.

Then my eyes caught sight of something beneath one of the broken chairs.

My bag.

I grabbed it and slowly stood, forcing myself to steady my breathing. Step by step, I climbed out from the wreckage and back into the open desert. The memories of what had happened before the crash replayed over and over in my head.

“…That person…”

The figure I had seen while drifting in and out of consciousness.

“…they must have Lola…”

My fists clenched tightly at my sides.

Without another word, I began marching forwards through the desert, following the direction I remembered the footsteps coming from.