The Survivor

The tide rolled in and submerge a pair of boots, followed by torn pants, then finally a burned stomach. The salt water sunk into burned flesh and sent a painful shock throughout an unconscious man, jolting him awake. The man sat up, at first in shock, then pain, then amazement. He looked at the blue sky. The last time his eyes absorbed such a sight was almost 4 years ago and for a moment he thought he must be dead or dreaming. The pain he felt indicated hat he was dying, which meant he was alive, if only barely.

"I'm alive!" He yelled while he laughed, holding his stomach in pain.

He pushed himself away from the acid-like water and once he was on dry land the man searched for signs of civilization. He needed to figure out where he was and how to contact the army. The man got on his feet and scanned the landscape only to see palm trees and tropical flora. No signs of civilization and no signs of his ship's wreckage.

He was confused. If he didn't know any better he would have assumed he was home. The palm trees looked familiar, hell, everything looked familiar. But if this was home, then something terrible must have happened. The war took place on the other side of the Milky Way so if he was home, either a guardian angel teleported him there, or his fleet fucked up and opened a rift back to Earth. This would be tragic, he thought. Enemy ships could flood the rift, lock it open, and then hit humanity with full force at our homes in the same way we attacked them at theirs. Still, this planet seemed peaceful, not under attack by some galactic threat. And if this wasn't Earth, then it was almost an exact replica, which seemed just as unlikely as the rift theory.

The only way he knew to get answers was to wait for nightfall and look at the galactic map above. If familiar stars and constellations painted the heavens, then he was home. If, however, the map in the sky was unreadable, then he would know that he was on an alien planet in a foreign region of space.

He pondered while he looked at the blue sky and familiar clouds reminiscent of Earths. He was incredulous of both theories. Surviving a crash from low orbit was nearly impossible, and his ship was far from orbiting anything. He wasn't near any solar system when that alien bastard hit his thrusters and destroyed his ship, and now he's on an Earth like planet? Impossible he thought. He should be dead.

He had an idea, and turned his investigation toward the local biology. He approached the thick tropical flora and began to examine it closley.

"Ahh," he said, "so this isn't Earth." He plucked an alien flower that was unlike any he had ever seen. It had red meaty leaves that entertwined like two hands holding each other. The leaves breathed back and forth and he examined it in awe. Then he looked at the island floor and saw it littered with alien flowers and foreign plants.

Disappointed, the man looked up to the sky. Where was he? He wondered. Once night fell he hoped the stars would provide some perspective.

As he was thinking he heard a noise; something was moving in the flora. Something big. He hid behind a large alien palm tree and watched. A red alien shuffled into his view. It was large and it's head was long and without eyes. Four pointed cones acted as it's feet that allowed it to move across the landscape with great speed. Two arms pushed leaves out of it's way as it zipped across the ground. It was hunting. The man watched it leap and pierce it's prey with one of it's sharp feet. It reached to pick up what looked to be a lizard and brought it to it's large head. It ate it's prize with a mouth that seems to nibble with the speed of a shivering teeth. The prey was less chewed than diced and minced by the tiny red mouth.

Fear paralyzed the man. The alien was fast, strong, large, and feverishly devouring a creature alive. He thought that if he was caught, it would be like being killed as quickly as a paper shredder could kill a man - slowly.

He watched the monster finish and disappear into the tropical forest. After staying hidden for a while longer he decided to go back to the beach. He thought the alien may live in the forest to hunt it's food, and that if he circle the beach maybe he'll find a safe haven to make camp away from it's chattering teeth.

Sunset started. Soon he would be able to see the night sky and hopefully get an idea of his location among the stars. He was getting weary from hunger and thought he may be able to hunt and eat the same kind of alien lizard as the red predator. He kept his eyes searching for both as he walked along the beach.

His path took a sharp turn, which gave him a new perspective and a view where he could see for about a mile. He figured he must be on an island since up ahead there looked to be another sharp turn that gave way to open ocean. He walked toward the next turn.

His pace was slowed by his injuries and fatigue, but he managed to reach the turn just as the sun was minutes away from disappearing behind the horizon.

When he turned the corner he froze, unable to move. Just 50 yards down the beach was a ship. A familiar ship; the same kind that had shot him down. He was dumbfounded. As he stared at the enemy starship, a sort of hole opened on it's side and the red alien hopped out. It looked at him and twitched it's head with a sort of rabid curiosity and began to approach the man with furious speed. The sight shook the man so much his senses returned like a crashing wave enveloping him. He turned and ran. He gave his escape every ounce of energy he had left but his injuries proved far too debilitating. He was too slow.

Just as the creature caught up to him he fell, grabbed a rock, and bashed the monster on it's mouth. This slightly stunned the alien and greatly angered it. It used it's sharp leg to impale the man's abdomen and pin him to the sandy beach. The man tried to push the creature away with his hands but somehow the creature timed another blow perfectly and pierced both of his arms, pinning them down with a single leg. The alien turned and started to devour the mans boot.

He thrashed his head back and forth in vain, and noticed the last sliver of sun sink below the horizon. For a brief moment the man was thankful to see one last setting star, but his view was inturrupeted by a massive alien ship that emerged from the ocean. He looked in horror as the ship shot open a rift in the sky directly above the island, then flew through it to disappear into some far off corner of the universe.

He watched as the rift closed and disappeared, and slowly revealed the perfect Orion constellation in the night sky above him. The man's mind shattered. He looked helplessly at the stars as he was devoured alive, starting with his boots and toes, followed by his torn pants and legs, and then finally his burned stomach. As the alien chewed toasted skin, the stars faded and he slipped away from consiousness.