RETREAT .

H U _ _ _ _ _ _

I knew today would be off it's rail when I woke up on the floor. A wide foot prods my side, and I can hear chuckling in the back of my mind. I grunt.
But the foot doesn't stop, and I pry my eyes open and rub them. I look up at the perpetrator. A new face grins back at me. His almost ash brown hair catches my eye. The middle is long, almost brushing his nose, and the sides are shaved as far as I can see.

"Does the floor remind you of home?" He sneers. At least he stopped poking me.
I sit up, and take in my surroundings. Everyone is gone. Great. I probably missed breakfast too. The man's hands travel to his hips.
"Oi, spacey. Get up. You're on maintenance check with me today." He says, stepping back as I stumble to my feet. He's still taller than me. Great. Everyone is taller than me.

Today is just great. Great, great, great.

We walk down the halls, the man's shoulder occasionally brushes mine and I ponder if he means to. Probably not.
We pass the assistant pilot in the hall, and both me and the stranger glare at his dirty back. "If I ever see him actually do something other than contaminate the air, I'll get a vasectomy." He mutters. I can't help but smile a little.

A little further down, we stop by the large, thick door. In yellow, "ON-DUTY WORKERS ONLY" is written across the middle.
The stranger pauses, and holds out his hand. I raise an eyebrow. "I'm Gore." He flashes me a toothy smile.
I stare back at him. His eyes are pretty.. Just like Theo's. Gore's eyes are a intense sapphire. Why did all these boys have such beautiful eyes?

"I'm- I'm Miles." I shake his hand, he squeezes my hand.

"Hey, Miles!" Theo's voice echoes down the corridor, and I scan my line of vision for him. He comes into sight as I do.
I pull away from Gore to greet the approaching male. His eyes switch from me to Gore. I don't pay attention to the tension between them.
"So, what're you two up to?" He asks, looking down at me. He's at least a foot and a half taller than me. It's kinda funny.

"Maintenance. Nothing a lumpy potato like you could do." Gore puffs, I can see a vein pop out on Theo's forehead.
I look at Gore, and frown. "Is that really necessary?" He shrugs and runs his card through the identification slot. It berms and the door grunts open.

Theo licks his lips, and leans close to me. "Be careful around him. He's bad news." I nod to make Theo feel better because I really couldn't care less these days, and follow Gore.
The room is dark and cramped, cables and cords hang everywhere, and I'm afraid if I trip on one I'd kill us all.

The end of the hall looks like something out of a action film. A large monitor with a vast keyboard of different markings and types. On the screen, different counters and graphs are constantly changing.
From what I can see, these are the ships standing point. Air supply, engines condition, thrusters..

My breath catches in my throat at a red flashing exclamation mark. That never meant good. That always meant bad.

Very bad.

"Gore. There's something going wrong with the fuel exchange." I point to it on the screen, and Gore briefly glances at it.
He types on the Middle keyboard, it's American standard. But, he's not as fast as the people in movies.

He presses a blue button, holding it for a long moment. "We might need potato after all... And you.. Are gunna talk him into it." His finger taps my nose, and I look back at the door.

He leads me back, seemingly calm. Theo is waiting, sitting on his ass by the door. He stumbles to his feet as it opens, half scaring me to death.

"How're we doing?" He asks, I shake my head, and his shoulders sag.

Gore barges into our conversation. "Potato, how much do you weigh?" He asks. Theo raises an eyebrow.

"180. Why?" Gore bites his nails.

"You'd fit perfectly in the spacesuit we have. The fuel exchange pipes are a bit off. Just go out there and tap on them a few times, that should do the trick." Theo's eyes widen.

"Oh Hell no." He shakes his head, waving his hands in front of him. I sigh.

"Theo, please. We'll all die." I say, it's a far fetched statement... but it's true. Slowly and painfully, everyone would suffocate after maybe a day or two.

"Yeah, Theo." I put my hand up. "Not the time." Gore snickers.

Theo stares at me. I stare back.

His eyes are so pretty.

Theo's jaw tightens, and he nods. "Okay." I hear his voice crack. Guilt pierces me.

Theo was risking his life to go fix these pipes, and he was doing it for me. It was written all over his face in black. Clear to see. My fingers twitch.

I wanted to cup his cheeks, wipe away that permanent marker and tell him it was okay. Tell him he didn't have to go, and we could just accept death. Make someone else go. Stay together, because he's all I have to rely on on this derailed train.

But of course, I can't. I watch Theo and Gore's backs as they strut down the hall towards the exit. My hands quiver.