ZIP! A quick shape sprang across the now-slanted support beam. Sparks fluttered over its head from the torn wiring, briefly illuminating the steel jungle that had once been the bowels of the airship.
BANG! The shape slammed the side of a tilted-over wall, clamping the metal with its iron grip. With a grunt, it lifted its head and sniffed the air. It took a few tentative steps forward, looking around unsurely. The entire structure looked unstable. It probably wasn’t safe to move on yet.
But seeing as he’d survived this long...
KLUNK! The metal hummed like a gong as Nedd jumped and pulled himself up among the twisted metal. His horns flickered left to right, like the ears of a nervous animal. He licked his lips quickly and looked around, his pupil broadening and shrinking with the changing light patterns. Little sparks of light were coming from the wires draped over the ceiling; it made him uneasy.
Climbing swiftly, Nedd continued on his way. He had no idea where he was going. All he knew was that he had to keep moving before somebody, whoever they happened to be, found him. Even though he was in danger, Nedd couldn’t drown out the feeling of elation he had.
His homicidal kamikaze attempt at crashing the ship had worked beautifully!
And he still got to live!
Pleased, Nedd swung down from where he’d been climbing and continued down what looked like it was once a hallway. It was entirely at an angle, however, and he had to shift his balance from side to side to keep steady. He flinched when what appeared to be lightning buzzed over his head. He later recognized it to be just a jolt of electricity that had escaped the broken circuits.
Nedd looked around. There was a large mound of tables piled up at one side of the huge room he was in; this must’ve been the cafeteria. Giddy with glee, Nedd sprinted through the tilted room and crashed through the kitchen door. He looked around. The kitchen certainly didn’t look as festive as it once did. Stepping smoothly around a refrigerator that had fallen over, Nedd continued on his way. He would’ve liked to do something ironic at that particular moment, just for the mood. Like whistle. But his mouth was so torn up that whistling was impossible.
Nedd thrust open a door and looked inside. This was most defiantly the loading bay. It looked more like a junkyard now, though. All the crates had been shattered, scattering jars and medical equipment everywhere. Nedd calmly strolled to the back of the room and pushed on the rusted red door leading to the wharf. It fell off its hinges and screeched into the darkness. Tentatively the homicidal intern stuck his head out through the doorframe and looked around.
It was night. Stars glittered in the sky. Stars... Nedd couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen stars. Out in the distance he could see clouds coming. They would soon block out the night sky. Blinking, Nedd realized that the wharf was still pretty high off the ground. He looked down the metal dock. The entire ship was tilted at an angle; if he could get to the lowest part, he could probably just jump down to the forest floor. Nedd stepped out onto the ship, frowning. The deck felt tacky with sap from all the trees the ship had crashed through. Nedd stalked down the wharf, his eyes fixed on the ship. It was still smoking. Through some of the remaining windows, Nedd could see light; fire, most likely. He chose to forget about it.
Just because it was his fault didn’t mean it was his problem.
Off in the distance, Nedd thought he heard sirens blaring. Nervously Nedd moved faster. It never hurt to be safe. After about ten minutes of walking (the wharf was
long,) Nedd looked down. He could see crushed and singed pine trees below. He jumped, letting the smashed pine needles cushion his fall. Scrabbling to his feet, Nedd smirked and looked back over his shoulder at the huge, once-imposing ship that had caused him so much pain.
“So long, assholes.”
Nedd ran. The forest was made up of huge pine trees that created a sort of umbrella over his head; it was only slightly comforting. A heavy fog hung close to the floor, and the undergrowth was wet with dew. Nedd wasn’t surprised to see that there wasn’t any wildlife around. It would only have been natural for all the animals to flee once the ship hit the ground.
The scent of smoke soon vanished. The hissing and sputtering of the ship died off into the distance. Nedd suddenly felt the urge to linger.
<~{.epidemic.}~>
The airship’s impact had created a clearing in the small evergreen forest. The night, once dark, had been lit up by the flashing red-and-blue lights of countless law enforcement vehicles and ambulance-like cargo trains. Hundreds of unlucky sligs got to work stabilizing the ship while hundreds more ventured into the inside, trying to locate any survivors.
What was their motivation?
Nedd watched from where he sat on a large rock. It was perched on top of a small cliff poking out of the hills; it gave him a perfect view of the totaled ship. At such a distance, the airship seemed small. The entire ship, which had once resembled a bloated tick, now seemed strangely empty. Like the long-rotting carcass of an animal. Nedd couldn’t believe he’d done the damage all by himself.
Though he had the vykkers, and pretty much the entire world, to thank also. Without them, how would he have found the inspiration to do such a thing?
Gzzzzzzzzzz.... A strange metallic humming broke the silence. Nedd ducked back instinctively into the forest. Something flew far above his head, clipping off the tips of the pine trees. Little pine needles fluttered down past his face. He swiped them away and backed up farther as more of the strange, humming shapes gathered. What looked like flashlights scanned all around. Were they searching for... him?
Somebody started yelling. All lights fixed on him at once. Bullets screeched through the treetops. Nedd bolted, kicking up wet forest soil in the process. Hissing, Nedd looked back over his shoulder to see what was pursuing him.
Flying sligs; he could see the metal fans on their pants spinning so quickly that they were a blur. They took off after him, circling the treetops and cutting through the wood and branches like circular saws. Nedd swung around the corner as they lowered, coming closer and closer.
“STAY AWAY FROM ME!” Nedd roared, flinging himself back and grabbing one of the sligs in a bone-breaking embrace. The slig screamed. They had only been sent out as a precaution; never had they predicted they would run into a psychopathic intern on the way.
The slig lost control of its flying pants, and the two crashed towards the ground with a loud thump. Nedd tore free and took off through the forest, ducking and weaving as bullets pierced the air. After all he’d been through, he wasn’t going to let some flying sligs finish him off. Nedd bolted to the side and sprang over a small gully, landing unsteadily on the other side. The undergrowth was loose and wet; he was having trouble keeping his footing. The sligs, however, didn’t have to worry about footing at all. They kept zooming in, frantically trying to ram him with their spinning blades or shoot him with their guns. Nedd wouldn’t let them near enough to do any damage.
GZZ! An faint whine in the distance became an earsplitting roar in less than a second. A slig’s spinning blades shaved the nape of Nedd’s shoulders, deep. Nedd howled and swung around, killing the slig with a clean punch to the skull. The slig crashed to the ground. Nedd saw blood on its propellers. Lots of blood.
Nedd suddenly felt dizzy, feeling hot liquid running down his back. Nedd took off running in a painful gait, biting his tongue. His back was raw and bloody, and yet, the pain was already subsiding. The cylonite’s remarkable ability to heal its host quickly kicked in. Nedd felt the skin on his back tighten as though stitches were pulling it together. Without bothering to check on himself, Nedd banked to the left, avoiding more fire. He wove around more soggy pine trees, wincing as he was whipped by passing needles.
The shouting of sligs became more frantic. He could hear them up in the treetops, muffled but loud. “Call in backup!” “What the hell is that thing?” “Somebody go for reinforcements!”
The trees started to thin out. Nedd saw them gaining on him. He looked around frenetically, eyes wide. His legs were beginning to feel heavy, and he was kicking up more undergrowth than before. He couldn’t keep running much longer Nedd tipped to the side and took on one last desperate burst of energy, feeling weak from blood loss. Up ahead he saw a dip in the earth; another trench. Beyond that the trees were thicker. He’d be able to hide there. His legs pumping the ground, Nedd ran like he’d never run before, muscles rippling and sweat dripping. He stepped once, kicked off the ground, and was in the air, weightless.
Only after he jumped did he see the rapidly-churning water below.
Startled, Nedd lost balance, and with it, momentum. He saw the ledge in front of him, felt it knock the wind from his lungs. Only his shoulders had managed to go over. Nedd dug his claws into the tough forest soil as the ledge started to give way.
“NO!”
The earth crumbled, and Nedd found himself in a free fall, air rushing by so fast that his eyes watered. His limbs felt limp, useless. He saw the sides of the trench loom up above him. Smack He struck the water with a slap. Before he could even scream, Nedd felt the current drag him under. The water pressure against his skull was horrible. He tried to paddle to the surface, but with no success. Nedd had, like most interns, lived on an airship his entire life. So,
like most interns, Nedd had never learned to swim.
Nedd struggled with whatever energy he had left, trying to reach the surface. The water was dark blue and choking. He was completely blinded. Nedd lashed out with his legs, trying to pedal to the surface. The rapids, however, were unforgiving, and pulled him under just as fast. Huge rocks crushed against his body. The air left his lungs in a startled gasp. Opening his eye, Nedd saw the faint glimmer of starlight shining through the darkness, mocking him.
Nedd felt a blackout coming on. His vision flickered and died. Nedd clamped his eye shut, feeling his whole body go limp as the water threw him downstream. He was shredded against jagged rocks. Never before had Nedd felt this way. So lost.
So
scared.
Farther back upstream, the flying sligs circled, shining their flashlights on the spot where the intern had vanished. One of them whistled and crossed its arms.
“Nothing could’ve survived that.”
“D’you think it was that rouge intern the Boss told us to look for?”
The slig shrugged. “Well, if it was, it sure as hell ain’t gonna bother anybody anymore.”
The sligs chuckled. Death was funny, as long as you weren’t the one dying. “Lets get out of here. Its freezing!”
The sligs flew off, complaining about the chilly weather as though they actually had something to complain about. The trees swished as they flew off. A few pine needles fluttered and landed on the forest floor, glossy from the moonlight overhead. Somewhere deeper in the canopy of trees, a bird shrieked a warning call, and flew off.
<~{.epidemic.}~>
In other conditions, Nedd would’ve felt pretty invincible. He’d cheated death once again. But at the moment he was too exhausted, in too much pain, and overcome by the ice-cold weather to even think straight. Nedd pulled himself up so he was at least halfway out of the water. His head was limp on his shoulders. He wasn’t even sure how he’d managed to survive.
Nedd felt his bowels jerk. He doubled over and vomited up a mixture of water and little dead fish. Suddenly weakened, Nedd fell to the side and gasped in as much air as his lungs could possibly hold. He forced his eye open. He was still partially blinded from all the stress his body had endured. Nedd let his eye fall shut, panting. It hurt even to breathe. The water, combined with the cold night air, was torture. Far in the distance the sun was starting to rise, creating dark, purple-pink streaks in the sky that reflected dimly off the water.
A curious bird hopped over to where Nedd was lying. Snarling, Nedd scared the bird off, then tried to stand. He fell over instead. Nedd crawled away from the bank and curled up against a fallen tree, eye pivoting cageyly.
Freedom had never been so cold.
<~{.epidemic.}~>
Dan could hear a sound. His horns twitched.
Birds chirping.
Slowly, Dan opened his dark-honey eyes. He winced and closed them again. Coughing through his stitches, Dan slowly picked himself up and looked around. A heavy cloud of dust hung in the air. In the dim light, Dan could see the twisted silhouettes of broken metal. His voice hoarse, Dan called out,
Hello?
There was no response. Desperate, Dan said quickly
Hello? Somebody! Answer, please!
The debris began to shift. Hidden partially by the cloud of dust in the air, Dan could see bodies moving. Only when he heard voices did he feel relieved.
“I’m okay.” That sounded like Brux.
“Same here.” He couldn’t tell who that was.
Oh, shit, so we’re all dead. Dan chuckled. He knew that voice.
Dan looked around curiously. He squinted. Then, recognizing something he hadn’t seen in too long a time, Dan looked up. It was filtering through the stained plexiglass window above, among the bent and shattered remains of what was once the airship. Sunlight.
Vhern crawled out from under the shattered control panel, his eyes wide and his glasses askew. “My AIRSHIP!” He shrieked. “My beautiful airship!”
“Beautiful?” Durc coughed, propping himself up against a wall. “What makes you think this ship was every beautiful?”
Just be happy you’re alive. Dan heard Red growl. Dan looked around. Where was he? The rubble nearby shifted, and a spidery hand lashed out, struggling to break free. Dan grabbed the hand and pulled Red out.
Helix, leaning against a bent support beam, finally brought up the question they’d all been wondering. “Do you think Nedd could’ve survived?”
Vhern adjusted his glasses, his face slightly red. “The bottom half of the airship was torn apart. I doubt anything could’ve survived the crash from that angle.”
Dan looked away. He’d learned not to trust anything Vhern said. Looking down, Dan saw the faint scar on his hip from his operation. It had all been Nedd’s fault. He could remember a time, long ago, when they had been friends. But that was the past.
Come on, Dan said, pulling himself up. He looked over at his comrade’s reassuringly.
Lets get out of here.
-----
Does this ending demand a sequel? Most likely.
Will I be writing a sequel? Probably. If I can.
I felt sad writing the ending. I really enjoyed writing this story. And I hope you enjoyed reading it too! <3