Bleak Read online

  It had to be an illusion, she was miles away from the water.

  Both her and Nate didn’t move. Within thirty seconds she realized her eyes weren’t playing tricks. The swelling of the ocean was real and not only was it increasing in size it was moving at incredible speed their way.

  Rey took a step back.

  “Look at the size of that thing!” Nate shouted in her ear. “It has to be at least a hundred meters high.”

  “Bigger,” she said as she moved back some more.

  “We’re fine! It can’t get us way up here. It will break when it hits the shore! I want this on film! The others won’t believe it!”

  Had Rey not seen it, she wouldn’t have believed it either. The giant wave was huge and it wasn’t the only one. Directly behind it, just like any normal tide was another one rolling in, and behind those, another formed. It wasn’t a freak storm, it was a normal occurrence.

  It grew bigger as it moved to the shore, but unlike Nate said, that wave wasn’t showing any signs of breaking.

  When the monstrous wall of water connected with the beach and kept coming, Rey echoed Nate’s sentiments of “Oh, shit!” and they had the same instincts at the same time. They spun and ran as fast as they could in the opposite direction of the cliff.

  The feeling wasn’t there when she walked, but Rey felt it when she ran. The lower gravity along with the wind gave her near super speed. It was like being in a dream, being able to run incredibly fast without losing her breath. The wind aided her and when she leapt over a fallen tree, the wind took her a good ten feet. Had she not felt so frightened she would have loved the feeling.

  The wave was close and she knew it, she could feel the pressure on her back along with the temperature change.

  Never was she a fast runner, but there she was, far ahead of Nate. She hadn’t a clue if she was even running in the right direction until she saw the others headed their way.

  “Go! Turn around!” she shouted.

  “Run,” Nate yelled.

  They didn’t move, they just stood there as if Rey and Nate were yelling in some sort of foreign language.

  Actions spoke louder than words. That applied both ways. She saw the expression on their faces, especially Finch. He widened his eyes, jolted in surprise and turned quickly.

  That was all she saw. Rey was still running when it felt like she was hit by a two by four on the back of her knees. She was moving so fast, the force of the water swept her off her feet and up in the air. She crashed back down and moved along with the heavy current of the water without hitting the ground first.

  She rolled in a tumble, then spun clockwise, her body was a raft on a raging rapid. She kept her eyes open trying to maneuver out of the way when she saw herself on a collision course.

  Rey was on nature’s own Slip and Slide, but it wasn’t fun.

  She watched the others fall and get pulled down. Perhaps it was the fact she was running, Rey didn’t know, but she was carried faster and further than the others. Just as she passed them she watched Ben move with the rushing water, flip upward and slam into a tree.

  Watching that made her think of Canonsburg. As she moved out of control, she thought of her family and how they had been swept away in the force of the flash flood.

  I can drown. I can hit into a tree. As long as I die, I’m okay with that, she thought and instantly wasn’t scared anymore.

  There was no stopping it, no controlling it, Rey just rode it out. At the final edge of the woods, the wave broke, rolling her onto the grass.

  Nate tumbled after her and Rey stumbled, trying to stand. She was dizzy, her head spun, and she couldn’t catch her balance.

  Ben, she thought, then yelled to Nate. “Ben.” She didn’t know if the others saw him or not, but she did. She raced back in that direction, only to make it twenty feet, before another blast of water knocked her back down. That one, not as strong as the previous, brought her to her knees. She stood again and charged forward.

  Another thirty feet, she not only saw a third wave, but it carried Ben’s body, flopping it around like a puppet.

  Perhaps she was inspired by all the stories regarding Curt Henning or maybe just instinct, Rey dove headfirst toward the rushing water and grabbed on to Ben’s legs just as he moved by her.

  Her weight, holding him, stopped their momentum and she finally realized she was out of breath.

  Breathing heavily she crawled on hands and knees to his head. He lay face down and Rey rolled him over. His eyes were closed, his head, face and chest covered in blood. She couldn’t determine through his wet clothes where he was bleeding from.

  Shaking, she reached for his neck to feel for a pulse. She thought she felt one, but he was out.

  “Ben,” she called him. “Ben.”

  Nothing.

  In the woods, kneeling by Ben, Rey looked left, right and all around.

  She didn’t see anyone. Where were they?

  “Help!” she cried out. “Help!” Her voice carried through the woods, the rushing sound of ocean had ceased.

  Then she saw Nate stumbling her way. Once he spotted her, he picked up speed.

  “Is he?” Nate asked.

  Rey shook her head. “He’s hurt bad.”

  “Okay, we have to move him and fast,” Nate said. “I’ll go find the others. Stay here.”

  Rey nodded and nervously watched Ben.

  They had to hurry, she knew that. Even though the freak waves had stopped, they couldn’t assume it was over. It was likely more would come and they’d have to find a place that was safe. The problem was, they were in a new land, a new world. They had no idea what was considered safe.

  SIXTEEN

  It took the last of the Omni’s power in order for Finch to move the ship just a little more inland so as not to take a chance on any massive waves. Only a little. He’d barely moved it from the dirt section when the ship petered out. The only thing running was the unit used to keep their food cool.

  No computers, no lights: for those they’d have to wait until the solar generator had charged for twelve hours.

  Even if the ship’s internal power was a hundred percent, the sleeping area wasn’t conducive for Ben.

  Sandra erected the small medical tent, something she expressed that she didn’t think she’d need. She set it up at the end of the cargo ramp, so she could easily go in and out of the ship if need be.

  “How is he?” Finch asked upon entering the tent. Ben was on a cot hooked up to an IV and a monitor. His head and chest were bandaged, and Sandra stood next to him.

  Sandra slowly shook her head. “He’s not good. If we were home, it would be a different story.”

  “What’s happening?’

  “Without an X-ray it’s hard for me to tell. I can guess.”

  “Please do.”

  “Fractured eye socket, fractured sternum, punctured lung and there’s fluid in there. I’m going to guess it’s blood. I inserted a chest tube. He has a severe concussion, but not from striking his head, more so from whiplash. I’m at a loss. He’s bad, Finch.” She grunted and shook her head. “He isn’t going to make if we don’t get him home.”

  “That’s not going to happen anytime soon. Going home, I mean. You have him stable, right? What does he need that you can’t give him? Does he need blood? Maybe one of us can help. I’m not a doctor, you are. I have no experience whatsoever in medicine, but all those things you mentioned, what is the treatment?”

  “Rest, fluids …”

  “Can’t you give him that?”

  “You’re frustrating me,” she said. “I can’t see inside of him to know if anything is wrong. If there is internal damage or not. That … not the fractures, is what will kill him.”

  “And there’s no way to know if he has any internal injuries other than X-rays?”

  “Well,” Sandra stammered her words some. “There are ways to monitor, signs to watch for.”

  “Then I suggest you watch for them.” Finch held up his hand. “I
’m not telling you how to do your job, I don’t mean to be a dick. I’m just telling you the options you need … we don’t have and they aren’t feasible, such as going home. So do what you can … be hopeful. We’re in a situation right now where we have to make do. Make do, Doctor, don’t give up on him yet.”

  Finch give her a nod, trying to convey confidence, then after looking down to Ben, he walked from the tent to continue his work.

  Rey watched the first of the two moons make an appearance in the sky. It was strange to her, she was used to Earth’s moon being small in the sky, the size of a coin. Instead, the first moon, not as bright as the smaller one, was beautiful and blue. It was frightening as well. Instead of looking at a coin-sized planet, she stared at one the size of a saucer.

  It really didn’t hit until that moment that she was somewhere else. How far away from Earth she was, from the world she grew up in.

  The sky was always scary to her. It was mind-boggling to think of the stars and planets around them. Now there she was, on a planet revolving around one of those stars that used to flicker in the sky above her.

  It wasn’t long after the rush of water that it got dark. There was no typical setting sun that added an orange glow to things. No gradual darkening sky. Instead it was almost like a shadow was cast over them and within thirty minutes the sky darkened and the temperature dropped.

  She didn’t ask permission to light a fire, after all, they were there to assess whether the planet could sustain human life.

  Heat and warmth were one of those things, the other was water. She wondered about fresh water. How would it be determined?

  The heating device for the meals was unusable at least for the rest of the evening, but Rey found a piece of wire similar to a hanger. She asked Finch if she could have it, and he told her she could, never asking why.

  With it she made a little grate to hold her foil pouch and propped it near the fire, turning it every couple minutes.

  Her hands ached. They weren’t broken but they were bruised and brush burned. She squeezed them open and shut. The little first aid kit was next to her, but she hadn’t opened it yet. She felt silly for wanting to dress her wounds when Ben was clinging to life.

  She thought back to that moment, she kept replaying it in her mind, the second he smacked into the tree. It was like his body folded in half then bounced off.

  Everything happened so fast, but as she tried to recall the details, the only person she remembered was Ben.

  When the water stopped and he was within her hold, she screamed for help. Nate arrived, told her to watch him and then just took off. It seemed like forever before the others arrived, and when they did, she moved out of the way.

  They all gathered around to help Ben. All she could do was step back and watch. Just like now, all she could do was sit there.

  As much as she wanted to be, or they told her she was, Rey was far removed and not a part of the group.

  It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours and Rey just wanted to go home. She may not have had a family, or anyone to welcome her when she walked in the door, but it was home and not some alien planet which seemed in the first hour to want to defeat them like an invading germ.

  The water was the first day, and she feared what would come next.

  It was guilt. Curt recognized the feeling. It had been a while since he felt not only guilty, but felt bad. He had inflated his tent for the evening, set up his quarters, and had gone to the ship for his dinner when he saw Rey.

  That was the moment he realized in the weeks that he had known her, he had barely spoken to her. He did when he first met her, and whenever he had to ask her a question, but other than that, he didn’t go out of his way to strike up a conversation. Had anyone other than Nate?

  It wasn’t that he was snobbish or anything like that, he just never really felt the need to talk to her. Until he saw her sitting alone by the fire.

  That’s when it all hit him.

  She picked her packaged food from some contraption in the fire, tossed it back and forth because it was hot, then set it aside and began placing Band-Aids on her wounds.

  He didn’t see a tent or anything. She was the only one who’d built a fire as well. Did she not realize that she didn’t need to?

  It was right then that Curt wondered if anyone had talked to her after they arrived. She was running around with that camera cap, they all appeased her. After she walked off with Nate and the water came, that was it. He didn’t recall even seeing her. It was as if, at least to Curt, that she wasn’t there.

  Yet, it was Rey who physically stopped Ben from further injury. She was the one calling out for help, and Curt was just as guilty of pushing her aside for the sake of his team member.

  He looked down to his watch. According to earth time it was ten o’clock. It felt much later on this planet.

  Seeing her made Curt think of the ninth grade and Kyle Logan. Kyle was the new kid in school and for the first week he sat alone at lunch, no one bothered him. After that week, the other kids started labeling him weird, because they didn’t know him.

  Curt never took the initiative to get to know Kyle. It was his loss. Kyle went on to make friends and ended up being the all-American everything in school.

  He didn’t take the step then, he would take the step now.

  After getting what he needed from his tent, he walked over to Rey.

  He stood above her for a good ten seconds. She never acknowledged him. Either she didn’t care to or she was so lost in her thoughts.

  “I owe you …” Curt said, “a huge apology and I’d like to buy you a drink over dinner.”

  She stared at the fire. “I don’t know why you feel the need to apologize. As far as a drink, I haven’t seen any bars around.”

  Curt dangled a bottle before her eyes.

  She looked up at him. “You brought that?”

  “I did. Share your fire?”

  “Sure.”

  Curt set down the bottle then sat down next to her. In his other hand he held two plastic glasses, and his dinner pouch was under his arm. After he extended the glasses to her, he pulled out the pouch. “Now, how does your heating contraption work?”

  “Not very well and not very evenly.” She handed him the grate she made. The end of it was shaped into a V that the pouch sat in. “Put it in there and put it in the fire.”

  “Ah.” Curt maneuvered his food pouch in there. “Thank you.”

  “And I’ll take that drink now.”

  “My pleasure.” Curt uncapped the bottle and poured some in a glass for her.

  “So why the apology?” she asked.

  “I haven’t spoken to you, I haven’t asked if you’re okay, and I haven’t thanked you for what you did for Ben.”

  Rey shrugged. “As far as for Ben, I wasn’t thinking. I just did, you know. Talking to me? That’s okay. No one really does. And I’m fine, thank you. A few cuts and bruises … this”—she held up the drink—“will help.”

  “I aim to please. So … physically you’re okay. What about emotionally? Mentally?”

  “I feel a little lost.”

  “We all do.”

  “You all have each other.”

  “We do. And you’re part of that. I’m sorry we haven’t made you feel that way.”

  “It’s not your job to be my friend. And, I’m going to apologize. I’m coming across really bitchy.”

  “No, you’re not.” He held his glass to hers. “Cheers to a new world.”

  “A dangerous one.” She touched glasses with his and took a sip. “Thank you for this. I can’t believe you brought a bottle.”

  “Case.”

  She coughed. “Excuse me?”

  “Oh, I brought a case. See … there is an entire section of cargo called the jibs. Just … in case boxes.”

  “Just in case?”

  “In case we get stuck here. In case we’re delayed. Just … in case.”

  “And the booze is for long term.”

&
nbsp; “A case won’t last that long. I’ll ration it, but who knows.”

  “Good thinking.”

  Curt smiled and shook his head. “It’s the alcoholic in me thinking. Not essentially good thinking.”

  “You’re joking.”

  “Nope. I am an alcoholic. Now …” He lifted his glass. “I’m okay. I’m controlling it. A couple of years ago, I wasn’t. I was bad. I was really bad.”

  “Was there a catalyst to it?” she asked.

  “Nope. Just started really relying on it. I got off of the stuff. Was sober for nearly a year. I fell off the wagon when I realized the world was going to end. However, I am in control of it. I really am. Some people …” He lifted his eyes to Finch who walked across camp. “Don’t believe it. But I am.”

  “If we get stuck on this planet, you’ll be back on that wagon.”

  “After my case is gone.”

  “Of course,” Rey said. “And … you need to turn your food pouch.”

  “Oops. Thanks.” He reached and rotated his food. “So, um, why is your camp not set up?”

  “My camp? You mean my box.” She pointed to a square fabric case. “I have no idea what’s in there. My name is on it. There’re no instructions and that wasn’t included in my training. I learned how to fire up the ship, even sort of fly it. How to fix a few things. But not how to unpack that camp box. Finch handed it to me. I tried to move it. It’s freaking heavy.”

  Curt laughed. “It’s close to fifty pounds. That little black box on the outside of it is your compressor. It inflates and deflates. It has everything in there. Tent, cot, light.”

  “No instructions.”

  “You’re right. No instructions. How about this? After we eat, I’ll teach you how to set it up. You need to get some sleep tonight. Because I’m pretty sure … Captain Adventure over there”—he pointed to Nate who was walking with a lantern into the woods—“is going to have us on the road.”

  “I would very much appreciate that.”

  “Great. Then that’s what we’ll do.” Curt reached for his food pouch and brought it toward him. As he lifted his drink to his lips, he spotted Finch staring his way. He swore. Finch watched him in a judgmental way. That irritated him. Keeping eye contact with Finch, Curt finished his drink, as if some sort of defiant demonstration, then returned to his conversation with Rey.