Utopia

by L. J. Higgins

  “Here,” Fletcher pressed a mask to my face with an attached canister, and my chest filled with oxygen. My lungs still ached, but I could breathe.

  The happiness at being able to breathe was short lived when I noticed a dull orange glow through the thick smoke. Flames reached out towards us, eating away at our airship.

  “Fire!” I called out, unsure if the others had seen. But Braven's large silhouette pushed through the smoke towards the flames, and a loud whoosh sounded as he attempted to put out the fire with an extinguisher.

  Whatever he'd done had only angered the fire more and it leapt out, catching onto the roof of the airship above us. The fire licked at the beams and one shifted above me. Before I could move out of the way, it fell, and I crouched to avoid being hit. Fletcher flung himself over my body as it crashed against the wall beside us. I didn't have time to thank him as the ship veered again to the left and descended.

  My stomach climbed up into my throat as we plummeted towards Earth. Tears streamed over my cheeks, the heat of the fire making them sticky against my skin. I was about to die, and I hadn't found any of the answers I wanted.

  Fletcher lifted his hand to my cheek and stared into my eyes with his dark brown ones. They were wet with tears too. If this was going to be the last sight I ever saw, I would be happy. The face of someone who cared about me. The face of my best friend.

  Vega yelled with panic, and Alber's words were lost behind the sound of the siren, the shuddering of the ship, and the roar of the flames. Braven had given up putting out the fire. I wasn't sure if I'd prefer to burn to death or be catapulted into the Earth's surface.

  A hand on my shoulder distracted me from Fletcher as Domino forced a belt around me and clipped it to the side of the ship. She did the same to Fletcher before finding a place next to me and fastening her own. She reached her hand towards mine and I grabbed it tight, as though somehow her grasp could rescue me from my fate. I'd been so angry at her, and at that moment I regretted pushing her away. Fletcher's hand found my other hand, and I lay my head on the wall, waiting for impact.

  Chapter Sixteen

  It's funny how time stands still when faced with a life-threatening situation. My stomach lurched over and over again as the ship flipped, righted itself, and then dropped from the sky once more. The sound of shouting voices could barely be heard over the screeching of the ship and the squealing of the sirens. My hands gripped tight around Domino's and Fletcher's, so tight I feared I'd broken them, but I was too filled with fear to let them go. My body was rigid, and I pushed my back hard against the wall behind me with my feet planted on the floor.

  Attempting to open my eyes, it was hard to focus as the dark blue of the night sky turned to a blur of dark green and my stomach climbed up into my throat once again. Squeezing my eyes shut again I swallowed hard, tears streaking down my face.

  * * *

  When I became conscious again, my eyes were still squeezed shut. My body was slumped forward against the belt, and it ached where it pressed through my shirt to my skin. Struggling to lift my head, I leaned against the wall behind me, thankful to have the pressure off my chest and stomach. A throbbing pulsed through my body as though it'd been crushed under a herd of Earth elephants, forcing me to let out a deep groan.

  Swallowing to moisten my dry mouth, I opened my eyes to peek through my eyelids before blinking them fully open. My head pounded with the sudden brightness of the light around me, and I attempted to raise my hand to shield my eyes. The sudden movement made my right shoulder spasm with pain. I whimpered as I let it hang at my side, exhausted.

  Looking down, the redness in my wrists from the cuffs I'd been wearing was still there, reminding me of the pain from the blisters on my big toes.

  Blinking a few more times to fix the blurriness of my sight, I attempted to lift my right arm again. The movement caused pain to shoot through the limb, and I let out an involuntary scream before dropping it once again, cradling it in my lap. Tears ran over my cheeks, and I clenched my teeth. My shoulder was out. Crap, my shoulder was out.

  Swallowing hard to fight back the tears, my vision finally grew clearer. As I glanced around the scene in front of me, my mind was a muddle of confusion. Where on Utopia was I?

  I was wrong. I wasn't on Utopia at all. The area around me was covered in black soot and pieces of metal debris scattered out over a stretch of bright green grass. The grassed area reached towards the edge of some type of forest, much denser than the forest on Utopia, and with plants and trees I'd only seen on my computer tablet.

  The last thing I could remember was scrunching my eyes closed and holding tight. I'd been flying in an airship. The memory of being thrown from side to side, losing my stomach and the flash of dark green came flooding into my mind. We'd crashed. We'd crashed on Earth. How had we survived? The Elite had always said anyone sent to Earth would die within minutes from some type of disaster.

  To my left, the cockpit was gone. The wall across from me had been either burnt away or disintegrated on impact. It was why I could see the grass stretching towards a dense tree line in front of me.

  “Hello?” I tested out my raspy voice, raw from the smoke I'd breathed in before the crash. Where my mask had gone, I had no idea.

  Reaching towards my face with my good hand, I rubbed at my sore eyes, the memory of Vega handing me my pendant flashing through my mind.

  The pendant.

  My hand darted towards my throat where I clenched at the chain trailing down the nape of my neck towards the pendant sitting against my chest. I still had it. I relaxed for a moment before remembering where I'd been before the crash. I'd been with the rebels, with Fletcher, but now there was no one in sight.

  I looked around again, hoping for some sign of life. But the harder I looked and the more I strained to hear the presence of someone, anyone, the more the silence closed in on me.

  “Hello?” I called out as loud as I could.

  I couldn't be the only survivor. There had to be more. Fletcher, Maya…

  “Hello? Anyone?” Panic made my voice shrill. I tried to move, wincing at the pain in my arm. The belt Domino had fastened me to the ship with was still in place. I was bruised along where it sat, but I was sure it was the reason I'd survived the crash. I wriggled it up and over my shoulders and head with my good arm. Free from the ship, I rose to my unsteady feet. Light sprinkled across my vision, threatening to put me to sleep. I blinked until they disappeared, and I took a deep breath.

  Still uneasy, I leant against the wall with my good shoulder for support. “Hello? Fletcher? Maya? Braven?”

  A moan caught my attention. Looking around, I couldn't find where it was coming from. It'd sounded close. Extremely close. But I couldn't find its source.

  “Hello? Is someone there?” I called out again, my ears straining, yearning to hear another voice.

  There it was again, another groan. The sound was coming from the pile of debris at my feet. Looking down, I caught sight of a limp hand sticking out from under a lump of timber. Stumbling forward, I knelt down using my good arm to shift timber and other pieces of the ship attempting to bury the hands owner. The moan sounded again as I removed another piece of metal, revealing the ash-covered face of Fletcher.

  “Fletch,” I whimpered, a tear streaking over my cheek and a relieved smile spreading across my lips. I stroked his cheek to make sure he was really there. He was alive. Fletcher was alive.

  “Fletch, it's Aurora. Can you hear me?” I asked, brushing my hand against his cheek again.

  His eyes flittered open for a moment before closing again. He mumbled my name, “Rora.”

  “I'm here Fletch, it's okay, Aurora's here,” I said, trying to keep him calm.

  How on Utopia was I going to get him out? Standing again, I looked over the pile of debris covering his body. He was pinned under one of the ship's metal beams, which must've broken away when we crash landed. I wrapped my good hand around it and pushed as hard as I could, but it wouldn't budge. Flet
cher let out a cry of pain at my attempt, and I winced as agony shot through my right shoulder. Dammit.

  “I'm sorry Fletch, I'm trying to get you out.”

  The pain in my arm wouldn't stop. Where before it had flared up and settled, it now grew in intensity until lights appeared across my vision once again. I needed to put my shoulder back in. My right arm was useless with it out, and I needed it to save Fletcher. Rising to full height I took a few deep breaths. My courage building, I held onto my right elbow with my left hand. I gave myself to the count of three.

  One, two….

  I closed my eyes, and drew in one last deep breath. On three I pulled as hard on my right arm as I could.

  There was a crunch and a pop as my shoulder slid into its socket, accompanied by my own scream of pain, then an instant feeling of relief as I slunk to the ground beneath me. Panting, I could only feel a dull ache where severe pain had been moments before.

  “Aurora? Is that you?” The voice was followed by the loud sound of crunching boots coming from where the front of the ship had been.

  Turning towards the cockpit, Braven and Lark came into view. My body relaxed at the sight of them. I wasn't alone. They could get Fletcher out. I was surprised at how well they looked. They were perfectly fine. Dirty, scraped and bruised yes, but alive and up and walking.

  “Aurora. Thank the Elites.” A smile spread wide across Lark's face.

  “Don't thank them, it's their fault we're all smashed up,” groaned Vega as she followed them into the remains of the ship, pain making her voice higher pitched than usual.

  “We hoped we'd come back to find you awake. We were afraid to move you…” began Lark.

  “Where's the others? Are they okay?” I asked.

  “That's where we've been. We got the others out first. Domino is tending to Alber and Maya. We were on our way back for you,” replied Lark, relief evident in his voice. “But I'm so sorry, Aurora. We haven't been able to locate Fletcher.”

  “I have. Look, he's buried under here. You need to help me, he's trapped.” My voice cracked as I spoke.

  Braven and Lark moved forward to find Fletcher's ashen face and dirty hand sticking out of the rubble.

  They both bent down and together they heaved, using all their strength, and managed to lift the large wooden beam off of Fletcher. I crouched down to help them remove the bits of metal, wood and ash covering the rest of Fletcher's body and once he was free Lark assessed his injuries before letting us move him.

  Fletcher moaned, but didn't open his eyes. He lay motionless on top of the remains of the ship.

  “He might have a few fractured ribs, but other than those, he looks okay. I think he had a heavy knock to the head. He's reopened his head wound a little and could have a concussion,” said Lark. “Braven, take him out onto the grass under the tree line with the others.”

  Braven scooped Fletcher's limp body up into his arms and carried him out of the wreck like a child. I wiped at my eyes, relieved everyone was out of the wreckage. My best friend was still alive.

  “So everyone survived?” I asked.

  “So far, yes,” replied Lark.

  “So far? What does that mean?” My eyebrows pinched in the middle.

  “Alber and Maya are touch and go. They were both in the cockpit when we crash landed and were flung out of the ship. We found them a good twenty meters towards the tree line. Domino has done her best to patch them up, but she has limited supplies. Her methods have been very primitive, nothing like the medical stations we have on the floating cities. Come on, let's get out of this wretched wreck and check on them.” Lark placed his hand on the small of my back and led me out of the wreckage.

  I stumbled over the debris until I came to the patch of lush green grass. The sun beamed down on us, making me feel too warm in my thick jacket.

  Twenty or so strides away was the tree line Lark had mentioned, the one I'd stared at when I'd awoken in the ship. I'd never seen such trees before. They were much denser than the tall pine trees we'd had on Utopia, and I couldn't believe how different each one of them looked. Earth. I was on Earth.

  “Lark,” I stopped mid-stride, and he ran into the back of me.

  “What's wrong?” his eyes widened.

  “How are we alive? I thought being on Earth meant certain death.”

  Lark turned to look me in the eyes. “Well, I figure it could mean one of two things. Earth is much different than it was the last time the Elite stepped foot on it… or the Elite have lied about more than how the world ended.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  By the time I reached the tree line, my jacket had stuck to my body from the moisture clinging in the air and my sweat from the heat radiating from the sun above us. Tugging on my arms I slid it off, scrunching up my nose as I shook it out and draped it over a nearby branch. My body wasn't used to the humidity and heat. The weather on Utopia had always been regulated, not too hot and not too cold. The extreme change made my head throb and my mouth feel sticky.

  Walking over to where Domino tended to our friends, I wiped at my damp forehead with my arm. I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to get use to such sticky heat. Domino turned to give me a tight smile before turning to her newest patient, who sat leaning against a tree a few meters away from where Maya and Alber lay sound asleep on a soft patch of grass in the shade of several trees.

  Fletcher winced as Domino prodded at him, and looked up to meet my gaze. My shoulders relaxed at the small smile he gave me.

  “You've looked better,” he said as I approached. He groaned as Domino prodded at him again, though this time I think it was for my benefit if her cheeky grin was anything to go by.

  “Wish I could say the same about you,” I replied.

  “That may be true, but I've felt better. Damn it, Domino, do you have to keep poking my side? It hurts, okay?”

  “Sorry, I want to make sure it isn't any worse than it seems. I'll stop now,” she replied, standing to full height.

  “How is he, is it bad?” I asked, looking over Fletcher's bare torso. Black and purple bruises were emerging along his sides already, and his skin was grazed in a few places.

  “He has a few cracked ribs and a concussion. Plus, he managed to reopen the wound on his head so I've re-glued it and will let it air dry for now,” answered Domino. “But it looks like he's going to be okay, they're going to be tender for a while. All the poking and prodding was to make sure they hadn't done any damage. I'm pretty sure with all his whining and the fact he has his terrible sense of humor back, he's okay.”

  “We're lucky to have you Domino,” I replied. After seeing Fletcher buried under the rubble of the airship, I thought the prognosis was going to be far worse. A few cracked ribs might be painful, but at least they would heal.

  “I'm going to check on the others. I'll be back in a moment.” Domino did as she said.

  “You scared the crap outta me,” I said, shooting Fletcher a mock glare and giving him a playful punch on the shoulder as I sat next to him on the soft grass.

  It was a different texture to the grass I'd touched on Utopia. It was stickier, but also softer somehow.

  “What I want to know is how on Utopia you came out unscathed?” Fletcher eyed me.

  “What can I say? I'm invincible.” I raised my arms and bent them to flex my muscles. Pain shot through my right shoulder and I dropped my arm, hugging it to my stomach.

  “Maybe you aren't so invincible, huh? You need to get Domino to take a look at that,” he said, looking my arm over.

  “I'll be fine. Sounds as though Maya and Alber need her much more than I do.”

  “Why do you do that?” he asked.

  “What?”

  “Be so damn stubborn. Domino! Aurora's hurt her arm!” Fletcher called out, catching Domino's attention.

  “Has she? How about I take a look?” Domino smirked at our banter.

  “I'm fine,” I replied, attempting to relax my throbbing shoulder.

  “I'm sure you are. Wh
ere does your arm hurt?” She stepped closer, squatting down to get a better look at my right arm.

  “When I woke up, it was kinda hanging there. I think it was out of its socket. But I gave it a big tug, and it popped back in. So it should be okay now, right?” I winced at the memory.

  “You put your own shoulder back in? Dammit, Aurora, that would've hurt.” Fletcher scrunched his nose and gritted his teeth.

  “Yeah, a bit.” I wasn't about to tell him I screamed out like a baby, or the only reason I'd attempted to fix it was because I thought he was dead.

  “Looks like you're more hardcore than we thought,” commented Vega, who'd arrived behind us.

  Turning to face her, she wore a wary grin. Not knowing how to take a compliment from her, I shot her an awkward smile and turned to Domino. Maybe plummeting to the Earth and a near-death experience was all it took to make Vega reconsider her dislike for me. Somehow I didn't think her newfound fondness would last long.

  “Sorry, Domino, we couldn't find Alber's glasses. Looks like he'll have to deal with being half-blind when he wakes up,” said Vega.

  Domino's shoulders dropped before she offered Vega a forced grin. “Thanks for looking for me.”

  Domino helped me to my feet before walking around me, looking all over my body. She lifted my shirt and poked and prodded my sides before standing in front of me again. “Apart from your arm, you seem to be okay. The cut in your side has healed well, too. Although your arm's tender and a bit swollen, popping it back in was the right thing to do. It should heal in about four weeks or so.”

  “Four weeks? We must have medicine that can speed it up.” My eyes were wide. I had to survive on an un-survivable planet with a busted arm for a month?

  “If we were on Utopia maybe, but in case you haven't noticed, we aren't. I only bought the essentials with me. Bandages, antibiotics, lotion, skin glue. After the crash we had, we're lucky to have what we've got. I'm sorry, Aurora, but this is going to have to heal the old fashioned way, like Fletcher's ribs. Let me fix you up a sling so you can rest it while it's healing.” Domino walked over to a pile of equipment spread out on a smooth flat rock and fashioned me a sling.