Different Similarities

Without him

It's been 3 sundowns since the Yautja's departure. The woman was done waiting anxiously, this morning she decided it was time to look for a way out. The eerie shuffling in the vents was a clear reminder that danger was lurking around every corner.

A storm had been brewing since their unexpected crash landing. The unbearable heat had worsened with humidity. The sky had gradually become darker with gray clouds that flickered brightly with lightning.

"How did he move this" the woman grunted, attempting to push a metal shelf Horus had wedged in the automatic doorway effectively blocking the entryway. Crawling under to the bottom shelf she used the combat knife she found to unscrew the screws and release the back panel. From there she crawled out with nothing more than the clothes on her back, the handgun, combat knife, and lastly two nutritious bars. After straightening herself out she remained crouched and close to the wall. Listening to her hesitant breathing and pounding heart she turned corners with baited breath. The layout of the building was redundant, different wings spreading outwards, a ring of hallway connecting everything together. Once she was out in the main hallway she saw the inner courtyard again but not the main entrance. Having to practically crawl all the way around until the entrance was within sight. The shuffling of unknown beings was far more prominent near the entrance. Puddles of waterdown acid were left all around making the woman jump and crawl around as discreetly as possible.

A black form swarmed in her peripheral, palms hit the ground as she lowered herself to the tile. Widen eyes peeked over the overturned coffee table. Outside the creatures lurked crawling over the radio tower in the courtyard. Other smaller ones busied themselves by pressing themselves over the glass fighting to find a way in. None seem to have noticed her yet as she shivered in fright. From the dirty ground she half dragged herself closer to the exit. Once her nails scraped the cold metal of the lowered platform the woman pushed herself up and sprinted out into the rain.

I felt the gravel dig into the soles of my oversized boots, painful and cold I gulped down oxygen. The treeline was a few breaths away. The broken chain-link fence tugged into the laces on my left boot pulling me down with a loud CHINK. I scratched at my ankle removing the boot caught on the fence. I kicked the other off before I resumed my desperate escape. A warm liquid ran down my now barefeet, another injury to add to the list. Looking behind I could not see anything following, the rain had picked up along with the wind. Mud enveloped my sore feet providing a strange relief though it. My head swimmed with panic and a racing heartbeat. My side seized with my chaotic running and the cold mud I once found solace in began weighing me down. My thighs burned not only from the sprinting but with my struggle to maintain balance though the slippery forest floor and fallen trees. After swallowing my deafening heartbeat the roaring wind left me equally as deaf. It was so loud but it was that loud silence that brought me relief. If I could not hear anything perhaps they couldn't as well.

I walked until I could not drag my feet any longer. All I wanted was to lay on the plush grass and sleep under the rain but that would only bring more problems in the long run. Instead I crawled under a fallen tree half held up by its lightning struck stump. I spend who knows how many hours alone under that log assessing the damage of my feet, gazing at the rain, and rethinking every decision that brought me to where I am. There under the dead tree I assessed my chances of survival. There, hidden in the rain, I cursed Horus with a passion. I cursed the Earthborns yet I could not find it in myself to curse at the source of my nightmares. These representatives of the night that killed indiscriminately were beings of instinct. A mindless animal that did not decide to betray me, or abandoned me. Just like me they were simply existing.

Another night passed by without soft rumblings filling the silence, no scratching in the walls, or the rustling of her tossing and turning throughout the night.

The first day was spent traveling to the crash site, fruitlessly I spent all moonrise searching for my offspring. Another sunrise and sundown no sleep with only anxiety as company. The woman far from my reach in a Kiande Amedha infested research facility with somewhat fresh carcasses littering the halls. Two days without seeing the ridiculous position the little human tangled herself into. After three sleepless cycles I found another escape pod, one I had failed to notice, in the opposite direction of the first landing site I investigated. There underneath all the rubble was a dimming neon green puddle of blood.

A few feet away from the damaged craft was an eerily familiar severed hand.