Lost

Chapter 9

They stayed in the dropship for three days, until the meager food supply they had ran out and they couldn't do anything without their stomachs aching.
They had lost six people to the bugs, leaving only twenty-four Spares left on the ground. Thankfully, Kenji and Aeryn had both made it to the ship in time. The pain she felt whenever she thought about Dell threatened to crush her but she made sure she didn't let it. It would be an insult to her friend's memory. And the rest of camp needed her.
Every time she looked at Fisher while they were trapped in the dropship his dark eyes were replaced with Dell's silver ones so she spent most of her time sitting next to Aeryn while he huddled in the corner, glaring at nothing and everything at the same time. "Hate me if you have to," he had tried to tell her on the second day, "but you'll never be able to hate me as much as I already hate myself."
The Spares had peeked out of the ship two times and each time the bugs were there, swarming over the ground like a shiny, menacing black ocean.
But finally, on the third day when the bravest of them glanced outside through the crack in the dropship door, the bugs were gone.
Stepping out into the cool morning, Thora took a deep breath of fresh air. After the stale, rank air inside the ship, breathing the outside air was almost enough to lift her spirits. That was until she caught the first whiff of death underneath. And then she spotted Dell's body, only recognizable by her pale silver eyes, and the tide of emotions she'd been trying to stamp down on all came flooding back in.
She stumbled over to her friend, who was no more than a pile of bones and scraps of torn flesh, and fell to her knees. Tears streamed down her face and she didn't bother to wipe them away.
She sensed Fisher, Aeryn, and Kenji standing behind her but she didn't turn, didn't let them know that she knew they were there. Now was for Dell and for Thora to mourn her.
'Your heart will be with me until I meet you in death,' she thought. 'Forgive me for not being able to save you and for breaking my promise. I swear that I tried everything I could. I'll get the others safely to our promised land, which should have had you in it.'
Feeling like a weight had been taken off her chest, she stood, wiping her nose with her sleeve. As soon as she took a step back, Aeryn took Thora's spot beside Dell's bones. She couldn't force down the lump in her throat and she finally had to turn away, unable to look at what had been her friend only three days ago.
Kenji wrapped his arms around her shoulders and she buried her head into his chest.
"Wherever she is now, she's happy." She nodded, hoping that was true. The girl deserved to be happy because, from the sound of it, she hadn't had much happiness in her life, even back on Earth.
The younger girl had been like a sister to her, a sibling that she wouldn't disappoint like she had disappointed Blake. But she had. She had let her down and now she was dead. Because of Fisher.
The older boy was staring, glaring down at his friend's body, an unreadable expression on his face. She felt a stab of guilt in her heart. He had been just as close to Dell as she had been. Still, he had ordered the door closed, not her.
She pushed away from Kenji, wiping the tears from her cheeks and squaring her shoulders.
"It's not safe for us here," she yelled, raising her voice so the whole camp could hear her. "We need to leave as soon as possible. Those bugs could come back at any moment." The Spares packed in closer around her, staring through red-rimmed eyes.
"Let's move!" Everyone jolted into action. She turned back toward her friends, a sheet of ice covering her heart.  "Get the tents. We can use the poles for future structures and the fabric for clothes."
They nodded, moving in different directions to do as she said, leaving tracks in the cotton-like egg sacks that had been left behind.
Thora barely felt a thing. Not for Dell, not for her brother. It was like her brain was in overdrive and was wiped clean of any emotion in self-preservation measures. As if, if she felt anything, her entire system would short circuit.
She went to check if her backpack was still in the shredded remains of her tent. Rifling through her possessions, she found the 'EN-pad' and pulled it out. She had to report casualties to the Albatross.
Before she could even begin to type a quick message informing the people on the ship that they'd lost six delinquent kids to a swarm of murderous bugs- she almost laughed at how stupid it sounded- a message from the Albatross popped up.
Thora opened it, her head cocked to the side.
It was a video and the face of a man she'd never seen before with salt-and-pepper hair and thin lips, flashed onto the screen along with a big play button in the center.
"Fisher!" she called out, forgetting that she wasn't talking to him in her confusion. The Albatross hadn't sent down a single video message in their time on the ground.
His face appeared through the tent's open flap, frowning. "What is it?"
She moved over so he could look at the 'EN-pad' over her shoulder before clicking the play button.
The man adjusted his jacket, his face sober. Somehow, his thin lips tightened even more in a seemingly pained grimace.
"Delinquents of Earth," he began, his chin held high like he was someone of great importance, "I, Colonel Hendrix, have been authorized to inform you of some very horrible news." He paused.
"Last night, some parts of the ship malfunctioned. One-hundred and two cryo-pods shut off, killing those inside." Thora let out an involuntary gasp. The Colonel took a deep, sorrowful breath. "And I tell you this with the deepest sorrow..." he stopped again and Fisher sighed in annoyance.
"Get on with it," he whispered frustratedly, and rightfully so. 
"That the great Imperial, Odessa Norman, was among those killed in the malfunction. We send our condolences but offer, as well, the fact that we have woken the rest of the survivors and will be joining you on Cressida as soon as possible." He nodded and then the video ended, leaving them staring blankly at a black screen.
Blake was the first word that crept into her head. Worry about her brother came flaring back, but differently than before. He could quite possibly be one of the ones who died. She was frozen, her hands gripping the sides of the 'EN-pad,' knuckles growing white from the strain.
She realized suddenly with a flash of guilt that Fisher had just found out that he had lost his mom and turned to him. He was staring at the fabric of her tent, face stony. Reaching out, she took his hand gently. He didn't move for a minute before he wiped at his nose and got to his feet, that same scary, blank look on his face as he dropped her hand.
"We have to tell the others." His voice sounded dull and slightly scratchy. He turned to leave the tent before she could stop him to ask if that was a good idea. He was probably too far beyond reason anyway, she told herself, getting up to follow him.
"Everyone, I have an announcement!" he called out gruffly. He didn't even wait until everyone was gathered before he started talking. "Cryo-pods malfunctioned. The Imperial is dead, as well as some others, although we don't know who." Shocked gasps rippled through the crowd. People glanced at their neighbors, eyes shining with worry. Near the back of the group, she locked eyes with Kenji.
"That's all. Get back to work!" He turned and stomped sullenly toward the dropship, disappearing into the darkness of it. Hesitating for a few seconds, she finally ran in after him, Kenji on her heels.