Astronomicon: Behemoth

Chapter 30 - Afterlife

For an unknown length of time, there was a deep, aching pain and an overwhelming sensation of fear. Her brain felt like it was spinning, thinking in a panic but unable to grasp any concepts or focus on any memories or even thoughts. Everything hurt, and she felt like a child again, with no access to her memories or any higher thought processes.

Some part of her mind was repeatedly telling her to stay calm, to relax and not just freak out. That part of her mind reminded of her mother, her mother's voice perhaps. It was just a disembodied sensation. She could not remember her mother beyond vague feelings of love and safety.

She tried to focus on the tingling pain. Inside she ached but her skin tingled with energy and pain. She could feel her limbs although she could not move them, or anything for that matter. The pain was everywhere. Except for her scalp. The top of her head did not hurt, nor could she feel it at all.

While thinking about her head, she gained the sensation that she could see. It was false as there was either nothing to see or her eyes were not working. The tingling pain climbed higher up her head, enveloping the feeling free area in its discomfort. As it reached the last centimetre of her scalp she could suddenly hear again; a fizzing crackle noise that became almost instantly deafening.

The overpowering sound was startling and removed her ability to focus on any parts of her body until it quickly subsided. As the sound fell away to near silence and the fog in her mind seemed to be lifting a little, she got the startling sensation of being suddenly dropped. Instinctively, she threw out her arms but struck a hard surface almost immediately. The near-instant, heavy impact winded her.

Megan lay there feeling a little stunned. Memories flooded back into her consciousness and the world around her filled with dazzling light. For a moment, panic washed over her as memories of her painful death flashed back into her mind.

Before any coherent thoughts about her current situation had formed, she felt something grab her right hand and upper arm. With no idea what was going on, she just went with the force that followed. She did her best to shift her weight as the force pulled her gently up into a sitting position.

The brightness around her was subsiding revealing unintelligible patterns of light and dark. Whatever had pulled her arm was now applying force to the shoulder and helping her stay sitting up. Squinting and blinking did a little to help her eyes adjust. Moments later her vision corrected the view and she saw a familiar face staring into her face from less than half a metre away.

Her brain was still not working, and she could not place the face. What she did notice was that the person before her was not wearing an E.V.A. helmet. Maybe she had been moved back to the ship? Then she remembered seeing the alien loop disintegrating her legs.

In a panic, she looked down at her legs and felt amazing relief when she saw there were still there, apparently completely undamaged. Her vision had almost returned to normal although the brightness was still unpleasant.

She looked back at the face of the person who had helped her sit up. He was pointing at her helmet and making a lifting gesture. She could hear talking noises but the meaning of the words still escaped her.

The unidentified person reached out and tried to open her visor. Her initial reaction was to slap his hands away but then she remembered that he was not even wearing a helmet. Suddenly a memory hit her like a punch to the head and she recognised Walter kneeling in front of her.

She had seen him die; seen him get completely disintegrated by the alien hoop. The memory of her own apparent death hit her again. Walter succeeded in opening her helmet visor, lifting it fully open.

"I didn't expect anyone to follow me!" he exclaimed, excitedly.

Megan tried to reply but found she did not have fine motor control over her jaw, lips or tongue.