Isolation
The hallways of the ship were strangely silent and empty, dimly illuminated by emergency lights. Only a few corpses laying on the hard floor confirmed a human presence on board.
Half or completely rotten, the bodies disseminated through the corridors seemed to say that no one was still alive on board.
But listening close to the noises of the sleeping spaceship, one could hear a faint echo of footsteps, moving up and down the empty halls and exploring the void rooms like an animal looking for food.
And that was exactly what Yona was as the survivor of an epidemic born and dead on the Caria I-IV spaceship, which left Earth in order to study a strange flux of debris that appeared in a corner of the galaxy.
The pale girl, skinny face covered by messy locks of white hair, entered cautiously in a new set of rooms, continuing her daily expedition for provision.
She wasn't still alive because she possessed some kind of immunity to the alien virus that decimated her colleagues, but when the tragedy began to unfold Yona was the only one who decided one thing: she had to live, even if that condemned every last passegner of the Caria I-IV to an agonizing death.
They had been experimenting on some kind of musk found on the collected debris for at least a week when some members of the crew working on it started feeling ill. Green-ish complexion, cramped muscles... It didn't seemed to be that bad, until the poor guys were found dead, seemingly asphyxiated. Earth didn't want the Caria I-IV to return home with an alien disease on board, so the ship was forced to help herself. Medics rushed to research a cure while the virus started contaminating the other passengers, but their attempts were a failure after another. Every time the virus struck, it hit harder and faster than before.
When the vaccine seemed to progress, half of the crew was dead and a quarter infected. The medical wing was almost deserted, and the few people remaining were forced to collaborate on the cure. That included Yona, still miraculously preserved from the disease. Days passed while other members of the personnel fell under the epidemic sweep, and when the remaining medics developed a vaccine that could eradicate the virus only twenty people still lived. That's when an ancestral survival instinct triggered inside Yona: only twenty people, some mildly infected, only one cure dose, the medic that first discovered it dead and no time to synthesize another vaccine. It happened very quickly: the girl struggled and stole her saving grace, injecting it into herself before anyone could stop her. And she lived.
The frail girl opened one locker after another in order to find something that could prove useful to her. It was looking good: she came across a few packs of rations still intact that could pile up with the ones already found, and she even recovered a few clean clothes and some utilities to wash herself up.
"Just... Just a few more days, and the ship will dock back on Earth," she thought, escaping the image of the whole, massive spaceship put in quarantine with her aboard, throwing everything she found in a large bag.
Yes, Yona lived... But at what cost. The first days on the deserted ship had been terrible on her: the silence, the rotten corpses, the stench of death and blood bent her resolve after the initial rush of adrenaline vanished. She started to think that she did the wrong thing surviving and would be punished for that. She struggled to stay alive, haunted by her passed away comrades, their voices echoing in the empty passages of the ship keeping her awake all day long, their faces showing themselves reflexed in broken glasses and gleaming surfaces with their distorted features. Yona was tempted to end her life for good even when the command centre allowed the ship to return home... Until she met her.
The girl ended her exploration and returned to the barracks, bag hanging from a shoulder, moving rapidly between corpses and obstacles disseminated through the pathways. She quickly surpassed a few doors before making a left turn and entering in the only illuminated room of the corridor: Anya stayed there, smiling brightly the moment Yona's gaze crossed her eyes. - You're back! Found something useful? - she asked, and the white haired girl smiled in response: - Yeah, of course. We'll sort everything after a shower. -
Yona stayed briefly under the hot water before returning to her companion with clean clothes and a towel on her head, hair still wet from the shower. Anya smiled again, sitting on the floor with the girl the moment she squatted down by her bag full of provisioning.
Then, like how they did for almost thirty days straight, they diligently divided the loot into even parts and then they started chatting about anything that crossed their mind, like they weren't the last survivors of a mysterious epidemic. That was the only thing that could keep Yona from wandering into the blackest corners of her mind again, falling into pieces.
- So... How many days left? - Anya asked, looking Yona playing with shards of a broken mirror in front of her. The girls stared absently at the pavement: -I think three. I'm pretty sure we should be viewing Earth tomorrow.- Her companion bit her lip, hesitating: - And... Aren't you happy? We're finally going home! -
Yona stopped playing with glass, turning her head towards the figure in front of her: a perplexed expression was on her face, just as the one she was displaying. - Of course I am, but... I still don't know what will wait for us on the other side. -
Anya relaxed, smiling courageously to her friend: - Come on! We'll survive it, just as we survived everything that came to us here. You promised to bring me to that rollercoaster ride once we are home, right? We'll go there, one way or another! -
Yona hesitated, eyes unfocused while the other girl looked worried at her, but seconds after she simply shook her head grinning: - You always focus your attention on the important things, don't you? -
The girls laughed together, tension completely vanished from the room. But only a lone laughter resonated through the empty halls.
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Wordcount: 1052 (a bit more than the limit, but I really couldn't reduce it more ><)
Author's note: Well well! Here's the first entry of my little collection: an interesting theme for a brief oneshot. How was it? Off topic, on topic, grammatically correct, not so good... Tell me anything you notice, it will really help me get better with both writing and English :D
I hope you enjoyed! See ya soon!
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Experiments From Another World
DiversosI wanted to try myself with some other challenges, so here's my English Contest Book! --- Volevo mettermi alla prova con un altro genere di competizioni e mi sono buttata: ecco il mio piccolo English Contest Book!
