The World Above Us

Chapter 5

Allison

Allison arrived back at her habitat at half-past noon. She was out of breath and her chest burned. She felt sharp pains along her hips where she had been working the muscles during her run. She opened her holo and typed out a few commands. She heard a soft swish as the doors opened and the robotic voice of the habitat's computer system greeted her.

She walked over to sit down next to the large, circular windows and stare out at the rest of the colony. She tried to push out the ache in her chest, but she couldn't. The overwhelming sense of dread that she was stuck up here and there was nothing she could do about it ate away at her like nothing else. She'd never felt such existential panic before she'd landed on the colony.

She recalled her training from the academy. These feelings were to be expected and she would have to learn to live with them for the rest of her life. The thought didn't bring her any comfort.

Through the windows of her habitat, she saw Sandra Gilbert arrive at her habitat. The computer programmer's blonde head disappeared through the hydraulic doors of her habitat. She wore large sunglasses that concealed her face for the most part. She walked with her head high and more confidence than Allison had ever had in her lifetime.

Sandra and Allison had trained together at the Academy, although they'd never spoken. Sandra was quiet and reserved, whereas Allison was not. The two of them didn't have much in common other than that they would be going to Mars together.

Allison sucked in a deep breath and walked into her habitat's small kitchen off of the tiny living room. She pulled out all the food that she had picked up from the grocery habitat. All the produce had been previously frozen in order to survive the long journey through space. All of it was healthy and a part of a balanced diet that the colonists would have to maintain to keep themselves alive on Mars.

She threw kale, carrots, broccoli, and a bunch of other fruits and vegetables into the blender and watched as the nutrient-enriched milk turned a shade of puke green. Allison tried to keep herself from wincing, but she couldn't. The smoothie would be gross like it had every other afternoon.

This is your dream! She reminded herself. But no matter how many times she said it, it didn't erase the emptiness in her gut. She wondered how the Original Ten must have felt since they didn't even have half the comforts that Allison did. Allison at least had the ability to contact her parents on Earth. The Original Ten had no way to communicate with anybody other than NASA.

Allison tried to ease the anxiety in her gut, but every time she thought it was gone for good, it popped right back up again. She thought of her parents, wondering where they were. She wished more than anything that she could see them again.

She exited her habitat and walked out into the artificial sun. She glanced around at all the other habitats near her. She saw people she knew and was friends with. She waved to them as she walked by. She waved to Sandra, expecting her to recognize who she was. She furrowed her brows in confusion when she saw a look of nervousness pass across Sandra's features. Sandra waved back and shot her a fake smile before quickly moving away from the windows.

Allison shook her head. Going up into space took a lot out of a person, she supposed. It wasn't worth dwelling on other people's behavior. She and Sandra hadn't been well acquainted anyways.

She rubbed her palms on her leggings, wiping the nervous sweat away. Her breaths were short and labored. Her holo picked up on her racing heartbeat. She felt the urge to rip the thing off her wrist and crush it on the ground, but she resisted. It wasn't worth the money it would cost her family to replace it.