Beyond Earth

Time passed slowly.

She could only see darkness. This is the kind of darkness that robs one of their senses and replaces it with a paralysing fear.

Each second seemed to last an eternity as she stayed perfectly still. Her muscles were beginning to cramp but she didn't want to move. She could feel her heart pounding rapidly and the blood rushing through her veins.

Beads of sweat trickled down her brows, stinging her eyes when they got to it. Her fingers were curled into a fist, nails digging into her palm as she listened for movement outside her hiding place.

She couldn't hear anything.

She wanted to run fast to either the weapons room or the landing craft, but instead she remained where she was.

There is really only one thing she can do: Pray it doesn't kill her.

It had already killed Luke and Misha. The three of them had been the last people alive on the ship a couple of minutes ago and they were making their way to the landing craft when it attacked them. Now it was just her.

After a few minutes of hearing nothing outside, she decided to take one great leap off the pressure plate and run to the landing craft.

She held her breath, daring not to make a sound as she slowly opened the top of the box in which she was hiding.

Fear tortures her guts, churning her stomach in tense cramps as she peeked out of the box.

Nothing.

Her adrenaline surges so fast, she almost vomits as she climbs out of the box and tumbles to the floor of the med bay.

The light that illuminated the room was too bright for her eyes, making them water, after hiding in the dark for so long.

She could hear her rapid breathing but she couldn't feel the oxygen flooding in and out of her lungs as she stared at the closed door.

Three of the med beds in the room had been pushed together. This was where she, Luke and Misha stayed for a while after everyone else had been killed.

There was a bed, laying on its side and against the wall with a huge box behind it. They'd pushed it up against the wall to block the vent that was there since vents were one of its favourite ways of getting to people.

She remembered when Misha didn't want to leave the room an hour ago. She and Luke were the ones that convinced Misha that they had to leave the ship.

It was a nice thought when it was three of them going to the landing craft together but now that she was all alone, she was scared.

At some point she'll have to leave the med bay, and she'll have to accept what she gets.

Even if what she gets is death.

She got up from the floor with her eyes fixated on the door before she began to slowly move toward it.

Adrenaline floods her system, it pumps and beats like it's trying to escape and it feels like her heart is about to explode. Her body feels hot and sweat trickles down her neck. With every step she takes, she gets more and more terrified.

She removes her key card from her pocket and grips it tightly when she gets to the door before her trembling hand presses it to the panel on the wall.

The light on the panel flashed green before the door slid open and she peeked out of the room.

The hallway was bathed in a light blue glow that shone from the walls. Closed doors that led to different places lined it.

It was empty.

She placed a foot on the floor outside the med bay and waited.

She waited for it to either round the corner so she could run back into the room or for nothing to happen so she could go to the landing craft.

Nothing happened.

She didn't know if she should sneak or run. She, Luke and Misha had been sneaking to the docking bay when it attacked them. But she knew running would cause noise and alert it.

'It doesn't matter. It would be alerted either way,' she thought before she broke into a run.

The serenity of the silence surrendered to the sound of her feet hitting the floor which echoed through the hallway. It was loud but she didn't stop.

Her breath came in small spurts, hot and nervous. Her fingers were curled into fists at her sides, swinging forward as if it would make her faster.

Pure terror surged through her veins, icy daggers straight to the heart as she heard a second pair of footsteps echo in the hallway, pounding after her.

The fear she had felt when it had caught her along with Luke and Misha was nothing compared to how she felt now.

The air she was taking in didn't seem to be enough as she sprinted forward.

She could hear it directly behind her now as she saw the open hatch that led to the lower deck.

She threw herself into it, not bothering to climb the ladder. In the seconds it took her to reach the ground, she knew it was going to hurt.

Sharp pain lanced through her body and colourful spots danced in front of her eyes as she hit the ground. It felt like she had been beaten up and movement made her body ache.

Regardless, she needed to get out of here.

She let out a groan as she quickly got to her feet and continued running. The pain throbbed in her guts, it was deep and warm, but not in a nice way.

She could see the docking bay that was at the end of the hallway and she pushed herself to run faster.

"Almost there," she muttered before the vent in the wall next to her was kicked open and she saw something long and sharp rushing towards her out of the corner of her eye.

She tried to jump out of the way but it was too late and the object ran through her, killing her instantly.