Afflicted

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. They were right. I am hopelessly spinning in space, like a squishy bag of bones. Praying that the impossible will become possible, even just for a moment. Just long enough for someone to hear me. Not like anyone else is out here with me to hear it anyways. I’m not sure how long I’ve been out here for or how far away I’ve drifted. Despite the beauty of the stars and heavens all around me; all I can think about is my station being pushed out of orbit and a huge hole being ripped into the side of it. I was lucky enough to already be in my suit, on my way to make an external repair. My six crew members weren’t so lucky. I could only watch and scream as my crew was sucked out of the station and now drifting lifelessly just as I should be.

Just as I can feel my body grow colder than I ever thought it could and my lungs struggling to inhale; I find myself floating underneath an enormous spacecraft. Exhale. I can feel the pull of the large orange clouded planet in my peripheral vision. Inhale. My eyes come to a close and I finally feel at peace. This is what true acceptance feels like. Just letting go and allowing the darkness to swallow you. No longer feeling desire or pain. Just silence.

The peace was nice while it lasted. It was interrupted by the force of what looked like a large metal hand, like a giant’s, grabbing me and pulling me towards the ship. I must be dreaming. Lack of oxygen has me fading in and out of consciousness, and I can’t tell what’s real or memory. I think back to when I was young, surrounded by family, hanging out with friends, I was never really alone. Until now. I wouldn't have ever guessed I would die drifting off into the mercy of space, 27 years old, without a husband or a dream wedding I've wanted since I was a little girl. No children to tell my story. I think back to the space station back home, how excited I was when I first stepped into the building. I never imagined I would die out here. We did everything right. I was supposed to be safe.

My eyes slowly opened after I swore I’d never feel my face again. The ceiling holds blinding lights and I hiss while covering my eyes with the back of my right hand. That’s when I notice the shackles. Both of my wrists are strapped to the table I’m laying on. A soft pillow rests under my neck and head, I can hardly move my head but I can turn it to see the room. Directly to my left there’s a table with medical equipment wrapped neatly and a chair. The room is almost completely bare, the aluminum shine of the walls adding to the sterile feel.

Scanning the room more, I see a briefcase on the floor to the left of the door and large cabinets stocked with thick binders standing to the right of the door. My eyesight isn’t as good as it used to be but I can faintly see large letters stamped on the spines of the binders. On the bottom shelf, boxes. White office boxes with lids. Am I at the doctors back home? Why would I be strapped to the table though? On one of the walls to my left I can make out a biohazard symbol plastered across a very large waste bin with wheels. Why is that big enough to fit an entire body? I start to panic as I notice the wall behind me.

Weapons, not like any I’ve seen before outside of sci fi flicks and games. Some are huge and intimidating while others are smaller and seem more precise. All I can do is make assumptions based on what I’ve seen back home: swords, battle axes, a halberd, chakrams, electric tasers, beating sticks, glowing orbs that are likely explosives, small disks, even cuffs? What kind of scientific torture chamber is this and why didn’t they just leave me to die in space?

The heavy door screeches loudly as it is pried open by a scrawny man in white lab coat. The door slams shut behind him as he jumps. He nervously adjusts his glasses “Oh. oh no. I mean,” He clears his throat. “I mean, good! Good. You’re already awake!” He walks towards me and sits in the chair beside me. “My name is Dr. Stevens and I’ll be doing a very basic physical examination for you today. Now, don’t be afraid. We found you floating around out there and we saved you! We just need to do some tests to make sure you’re not, um,” he pauses to swallow some saliva. “Contaminated.” “Contaminated?” you ask. “With what?!” “Well,” he chuckles, “we don’t know exactly.” “Why is it only you? And why aren’t you taking more precautions if I’m contaminated with something?” I replied. “Well, it’s not contagious-” He says before I cut him off. “so, you do know what it is?” “not exactly.” The man looks exasperated. “Shhhh” He whispers as I begin to criticize him more. “Look,” he says through a heavy sigh. “We aren’t even sure where you came from or what happened to your ship.-” “I got knocked out of orbit.” I interrupt. He goes silent. I continue “It must've been an asteroid or a solar storm but none of that was picked up on my radar.” “It wasn’t a force of nature. It was them.” He tilts his head and points his eyes to the door.

“Them?” I ask. “You know, they’re called Kevars. They’re scavengers, picking up any bodies they find alive or dead and using them. Experimenting, breeding, mutations, etc. But sometimes they interfere with human projects, especially ones that travel out too far. I’m assuming that’s why you’re here. They probably saw your ship, didn’t like that, and kaboom. We don’t know for sure what happened though, all we know is we found you now.” I ask again. “So, why is it only you? Where is everyone else? What station is this? I need to report back immed-``''Oh-” he says softly. “You really don’t get it, do you?” He looked me in the eyes and I could tell he was on the verge of tears. “Let’s just say seeing a face like yours really is a sight for sore eyes.” “How long has it been? Since you saw someone like us?” He looks resigned as he busies himself filling a syringe from a vial he’d had in his coat pocket. “Five years,” he sighs. “Wait, what is that?” “Shhhh” He says.” Just relax and it’ll go down easy.”

Just as he’s about to insert the syringe into my arm, the room fills with a flashing red light and sirens. The man’s face is frozen with fear, even in the red light he turns pale. He rushes to unhook my wrists and lunges towards the wall of weapons. I try standing up but immediately collapse beside the table. “What’s wrong with me?! What’s going on?!” I shout in a panic. A tall beast wearing armor and a helmet with horns that resemble a beetle bursts through the door effortlessly. The creature barks something in another language to the man. Dr. Stevens shouts back “No! I’m not going with you!” Then a smaller creature launches itself from the hall straight into the beast’s throat and its teeth rips through the armor. Dr. Stevens runs to slam the door. “That one’s got food now! Hurry!” He shouts while pointing to the pile of clothes on the ground next to me. They’re mine. I throw on my clothes as quickly as possible and barely manage to catch the weapon tossed haphazardly in my direction. It looks something like a spear with a metal shaft, and feels lighter than it looks like it should. I notice a button on the side near the middle of the shaft, which I had missed pressing by pure luck while attempting to catch it. I press it and the blade on the end splits into three prongs with electricity crackling between the tips. “Ooooh” I take a moment to marvel at the weapon. He tosses a disc at me, still barely looking where he’s throwing, and grabs another for himself along with a large gun-like weapon with a huge opening at the end of the barrel. The doctor stands facing the door, ready for an attack.

The wall on the right hand side suddenly explodes inward leaving a huge hole in its wake. Slimy noises echo from behind what’s left of the wall and a monster like the one we saw attack the armored beast climbs over the leftover rubble. Looking both panicked and excited, Dr. Stevens points the strange weapon at the strange creature. The creature practically explodes, leaving blood and viscera scattered decoratively on the walls. He grabs my wrist and we jump over the rubble to enter the now exposed hallway. At the far end of the hall is a huge banner with a scarab beetle displayed in the center surrounded by a wreath of leaves. We run down the hall as he leads the way navigating past as many rooms as possible without getting tackled by any of the slimy monsters eating anything that moves. "What's happening?!" I shout at the doctor. He stops suddenly and looks directly at me. "I- I don't know." "What the fuck do you mean you don't know?!" "Look lady, I'm willing to admit I'm well out of my depth. Just because I'm wearing a lab coat, doesn't mean I know everything! Why does everyone assume that?!" The yelling must've alerted a Kevar, because one was suddenly standing right behind him. Before we could react, he was snatched up by his coat, he fell out of it at first but before he could get up his chest was crushed underneath the behemoth's foot.

The Kevar starts reaching towards me as I'm already rushing towards it. I press the button on my spear, exposing the electric prongs, right before I stab it straight through the chest plate. Electricity shoots through the guard's body as he tumbles backwards. The scientist stands up to take his shot. He kicks the helmet off the guard and shoots it right in the head. Once again he grabs my arm and pulls me into one of the nearby rooms. We shut the door behind us and he shoves a rolling cart at the door. The room we entered has lots of beds similar to the one I was strapped to just moments ago. Scampering across the room, he is rushing to fill a bag with medical equipment. He squints at bottles and curses to himself “I can’t see!” As he shoves the bottles and first aid items into the bag he gives me a very serious look and says “We need to get to the front of the ship. The control panel won’t be very easy to figure out for humans but it’s our only chance of survival. There’s a planet right out there that won’t be hard to land on, as long as we can just-” “Wait!” I stopped him. “If we land there then what about those things that are trying to kill everyone?! Are we going to just let them loose on this planet we know nothing about?!” He sighs as he shoves the bag into my arms. “It’s our only chance.”