by Woosey, JP
Megan brushed her fingertips across her cheek bone. She leaned towards the mirror to check for any blemishes. Her face was smooth and delicate, her eyes large and a lovely multi-toned hazel brown. Her recent block of stay in her own cryo-chamber had left her appearance unchanged. But can the same be said for my mind? She often felt the cracks would soon show. She missed her life back home. I followed Luke, but at what price? Megan shook her grumbles away and wished her brother was here to see her. Her cheeks grew pink with a warm flush. She played with a wisp of her hair. Her hair a sandy blond, which was recently styled at a hairdressers aboard the ship. She thought back to when she was younger. When she was still in high school. She had her hair cut short for the first time. An impulsive decision she had regretted. A family get together where every relative mentioned her resemblance to her brother. I don’t look like a boy. She never had a short hair style again.
A knock at her door, snapped Megan back into reality. She left her bedroom and walked through her living quarters. She glanced at the fish tank as she walked past. The fish always made her feel more relaxed. The colours of the fish and their movement had always interested her. She was convinced the fish recognised her as she called each of them by their name.
She had lost track of the time and it was later than she had anticipated. The urgent knocking at the door could only mean one thing. Her date had arrived early. She walked towards the computer terminal besides the door and checked the screen. She touched the panel at the bottom, and then tapped ‘Camera’ on the monitor. The computer processed the command and showed a woman waiting outside her door. Megan unlocked the door and both women smiled as it opened.
“I wasn’t expecting a visit, Elizabeth.” Megan knew she didn’t like being called Beth or Liz.
“I won’t keep you long.” Elizabeth moved into the living quarters as Megan gestured for her to enter. “I got Luke’s schedule today.” She sat down on an oak chair and brushed her long, brown, smooth hair behind her shoulder. Her face was gaunt and tired. Her eyes red through over-work, and she forced her smile more than usual.
“When does he get out of deep sleep?” Megan asked happy with the news, but not with the bearer. There had always been tension between the pair of them, ever since Megan found out that Elizabeth had been cheating on Luke. That was years ago though, before they even set foot on a spaceship. For some strange reason Luke had always insisted that their petty rivalries had always arisen because of the necklace. Where is the family necklace? Elizabeth was not wearing it, or flaunting it in front of Megan's face. She tried to focus and look pleased with Elizabeth's arrival. How would my brother understand the necklace was important to me? It is a connection to our family. It had to be kept in the family and not given to an outsider. An outsider who cheats, has affairs and cannot be trusted. Would Luke ever believe me if I told him what I know?
“In about a month’s time, I’ll mail you his schedule. He’ll want to see you when he wakes, so we’ll have a little get together at our place.” Elizabeth typed on her wrist device. She forced another smile, but Megan saw through it. Luke didn’t know Elizabeth had cheated on him, Megan promised not to tell him as long as Elizabeth ended one of her relationships.
“Sounds fine, I guess I’ll see you both then.” They both stood up, and Megan walked towards the door to see her guest out. Elizabeth finished typing on her wrist device, and as she raised her head, she noticed a dress on the bed.
“What have you got planned for tonight?” Elizabeth asked with a smirk across her face.
“Just a date.” Megan sighed as she followed Elizabeth into her bedroom. Elizabeth glanced between the two dresses. “You should wear the purple dress.”
Megan smiled and nodded. I’ll wear the red one then… And it’s blue not purple.
“Well, it’s time I left and returned to my work.” Elizabeth headed for the corridor. “I’ll see you in a few weeks.”
Megan locked the door behind Elizabeth and shuddered. She returned to her bedroom, grabbed the dark blue dress, crushed it into a ball and threw it into her wardrobe. The dress unfurled in the air and landed softly upon a box on the floor of the wardrobe. Megan knelt down and pulled the box out from the darkness. The large wooden box needed a code. She pressed a few buttons and the locks turned. She slowly opened it to find her grandfather’s M1A1 Carbine. She smiled remembering the happy times she and Luke had on her grandfather’s farm. Megan puzzled over Elizabeth's arrival. She could have pinged me any time. Her wrist device can send messages to any terminal. She didn't have to come here to tell me we'll have a family get together. Was there something else on her mind? Why wasn't she wearing my necklace? Elizabeth only ever wears it in my presence to wind me up. Has she lost it? Or has she started up that affair again and feels too guilty to wear it. I'll have to tell Luke this time if she is straying. Why is he still asleep and not here to keep an eye on her...? And then he might see another side to his precious Elizabeth.
Megan’s computer terminal lit up as she received a notification. It was a message from Oscar. She pressed a button and the recording played.
“Hey Megan, I’m just leaving now so I’ll be with you in a few minutes.” Oscar’s voice was soft, but firm.
Megan played the recording again and smiled. She loved the sound of his voice since the first day she heard it. She had met Oscar on her third day aboard the ship. The corridors were filled with people, there was a buzz of excitement as everyone began a life changing voyage together. Megan was leaving her room and as she typed in her password to lock the door she dropped her lucky coin. More of a shiny coin than a lucky coin in all honesty. She bent down to pick it up, but grabbed a hand instead. It was a large hand, the fingers wrapped around the coin in a fist. Megan raised her gaze and saw a muscular, well-toned bicep. She had an irresistible urge to reach out and feel it.
“Sorry.” Megan had said still holding Oscar’s hand as he lifted it up from the ground.
“I believe this is yours.” Oscar smiled. Twinkling eyes accompanied the grin. He had dark hair, recently shaved, just like the stubble on his face. His nose held a small scar from his left nostril up and around his cheek just below his eye. It was only faint though. He took Megan’s hand, opened the fingers gently, placed the coin in her palm, and then closed her fingers around the shiny metal. Megan opened her hand and placed the coin back into her pocket. When she looked up, Oscar was gone. Back then Oscar had a girlfriend, and Megan just admired his well-toned body from a distance. But Oscar had broken up with his girlfriend a couple of months ago. My first date with Oscar. Megan smiled, I can’t wait.
There was a knock on the door to Megan’s apartment. He was quick getting here. She placed the M1A1 Carbine back into its box. Quick successive bangs sounded.
“Just a second.” Megan shouted as she placed the box back into the wardrobe. More knocks echoed throughout her apartment. Somebody’s eager. She threw the dark blue dress over the box, walked past her bed with the red dress still lying across it and headed back into her living quarters. Megan unlocked the front door, and opened it. A man stood on the other side. His hands curled into fists, with blood running over and through his fingers, from the cuts on his knuckles. He grunted as his dark eyes fell upon her. One eye was red from a burst blood vessel. He stepped into her living quarters.
“I’m sorry, but I didn’t invite you in. Can you please leave?” Megan felt her voice fade away. She opened her mouth and tried to scream, but she couldn’t. She stumbled backwards, fell over a chair and landed on the carpet. “Please don’t hurt me.” She continued, but the man didn’t listen, he just growled, and bared his teeth. Megan scurried backwards until her back hit a cabinet. The man shrieked and came at her. She closed her eyes and raised her arms to shield her face. She felt nothing. She opened her eyes and watched as the man crashed to the floor. Oscar stood behind him with blood splattered across his face and a metal rod in his hand.
“We have to leave now!” He shouted at Megan. She was too scared,
she tried to stand, but fell back down to her knees. She had never shaken so violently before. Oscar held out his hand. “We need to go. It’s not safe here.” He pulled Megan up when she reached out for his hand. “Stay behind me, and keep close.” He led her out of her apartment and into the corridor.
Megan glanced to her right. There were a dozen bodies scattered over the floor. Oscar tugged on her shirt, and she followed him. She reached out a hand and placed it on his back. The lights were flickering and the speaker system relayed errors. There were screams, shouts, shrieks and appeals for help. Oscar didn’t stop though, and neither did Megan, she just ran and ignored as much of the bloodied and mutilated surroundings as she could.
“The ship's going into complete disarray.” Oscar mumbled to himself as he twisted and turned through the corners of the corridor. “We need to get somewhere safe. Somewhere where we can lock ourselves in for a couple of days ‘til this gets sorted out.”
“What about the holding cells?” Some of them would possibly contain criminals, but Megan knew some of the other cells would be free. She shuddered, where on Earth did I get that idea from? The holding cells were rarely mentioned in conversations. Occasionally strange idle gossip would recount the tales of minor misdemeanours when a Defiance citizen would need to be held for a cooling off period. A particular piece of gossip came to Megan’s mind. A murder attempt. The victim barely escaping with his life. The tale was of revenge. A husband caught his wife cheating on him in his own apartment. The husband grabbed the naked adulterers and threw them off a railing on a balcony. Or so the story goes. Megan never believed it though. There was only one group of apartments that had balconies, and they were allocated to the highest class of citizens. After all the ship was proud to be a safe haven for all.
Megan quivered. Her once peaceful and familiar hallway, her corridor to work, was unrecognisable. The corridor looked like a shadowy city alleyway, a no-go area where atrocities lurked in every darkened corner. She had barely been in her apartment an hour. Just enough time to relax before her date. And now Oscar is here to rescue me from an impending madness. She trembled with a fearful shudder. Having to flee and hide for protection, having to run for her life, meant the shock to her nervous system was having a strange effect on her limbs. Her legs were heavy and sluggish and she couldn’t keep up with Oscar. They needed to find a safe place.
“Yes, we can lock ourselves in one of the cells.” Oscar glanced up at the flashing signs, and then continued. “We’ll need some supplies first.”
Supplies? Megan glanced up at him as he led the way with unflinching determination. How can he be so calm and clear thinking? He was right though, the cells would be sealed chambers with little inside them. They would need... Megan tried to focus as she attempted to keep up with Oscar's urgent steps.
He grabbed Megan’s hand. “This way.” Oscar led Megan into a stairwell.
There was a distant howl above them. Shivers went through Megan’s body. He led her down a couple of flights of stairs, and into a new corridor. The lights were off, only the blue glow of the backup lights placed along the floor. There was a liquid straight in front of them which ran slowly down from the wall. The lights flashed back on for a brief period. The wall was covered in blood, but Megan couldn’t see where it had come from, there were no bodies here.
Before Megan knew it she was moving again, trying to keep up with Oscar’s pace. He was much taller, and physically fit. He played for one of the big football teams who competed on Sundays. Megan used to go and watch sometimes when Luke had dragged her along with him.
“Come with me. We don’t do much together these days. It’ll be fun. Don’t make me go on my own.” Luke had said to her.
“Why don’t you go with Elizabeth?” she had replied.
“She works late on Saturday, she won’t be up.”
I doubt she was working. Megan suddenly thought as she remembered her conversation with Elizabeth not long ago.
Oscar stopped and Megan nearly walked into the back of him. There was an opening to their left. A large chunk of the wall was missing. Oscar moved closer to it and poked his head through to take a look. He slowly stepped in and waved her over to join him. She tentatively placed a foot through the crack, and as she brought her other leg through she scrapped it on a sharp metal splinter. She bit her bottom lip to stop herself from screaming in agony. She calmed herself and followed Oscar through into the living quarters of an unknown person's apartment.
It was a large, open living room. There was a beautifully patterned carpet, elegant hand painted walls and a sparkling chandelier which dripped blood in a spiral pattern on the floor. Oscar vanished for a minute, and then returned holding a blanket and some clothes.
“Don’t go in this room.” Oscar said as he closed shut the bedroom door behind him.
“Why what’s in there?” Megan asked hesitantly. Oscar just gave her a look telling her she didn’t want to know. She nodded back to him understanding.
“See if you can find any food. Sealed boxed food would be the best, but anything will do for now.”
Megan followed the perimeter of the room avoiding the dripping blood from the chandelier. She reached what appeared to be a wooden door. It had gashes and bulges from where it had been struck, but it didn't splinter like wood. One of the hinges had snapped and the door was leaning at a crazy angle. She was slim enough to squeeze through. She didn’t know whether Oscar would be able to get his bulky frame through, but he could probably rip the door from the hinges.
As she reached the other side she felt something dripping down her leg. Megan touched her leg and checked her fingers, she was bleeding. She found a cloth and wiped her leg where she'd scraped it before. As she tossed the cloth aside she realised she was in the kitchen. I wanted an apartment like this. It was one of the largest room sizes available, and a lot were custom built for the occupants, the kitchen certainly was. It had black granite surfaces, with an island in the middle, an oven large enough to roast a pig, a bread maker, a toaster with excessive settings.
Megan stopped admiring the kitchen, and glanced around for food and supplies. She walked to the sink and ran the tap. The water came, but it was a faint red, which intensified as it collected in the sink. She shuddered and quickly turned off the tap. She felt revulsion. Megan turned to the cupboards above the oven and opened them. They were empty. She tried the rest, but found nothing but a few crumbs. A loud knock came from the inside of the fridge. Why haven’t I checked the fridge? There was another bang from within it. She glanced back into the living quarters and she could hear Oscar rummaging around. She stepped closer to the fridge, and placed her hand on the handle. She jumped backwards as the insides banged again. Megan swallowed her fear and cautiously started to pull open the door. She had barely opened the door an inch before there was a push from within, the door was flung open. Megan quickly jumped back.
A woman stared at Megan. Her face purple and her skin covered in goose bumps, but she didn't shiver. Megan eased herself backwards and away from the middle aged woman. The woman’s clothes were torn, and covered in red black stains, her arms were full of scratches and cuts, and her large grey blue eyes looked soulless. She’s looking through me. Megan gulped, she tried to speak, but the words were stuck in her throat. The woman took a step closer to her, and looked her up and down, as if she was weighing up what part of Megan to feast on first. The woman snarled, the lights flashed on and off, and as quick as that, the woman was on top of her. Megan squirmed, but she couldn’t break free of the woman’s vice like grasp. She wriggled and freed one of her arms. The woman’s head came down to Megan’s face, her mouth opened wide. Her canine teeth were the sharpest Megan had ever seen. Megan searched the floor with her free hand, grasping for anything she could hold and use as a weapon. She placed her hand upon a large shard of glass and pain shot through her fingers but she had to ignore it. She slashed the woman’s neck. Blood pumped out from the wound but neither the woman nor Megan seemed to notice
. Megan stabbed at her again whilst pushing her off. The woman suddenly dropped forward. She was dead. Oscar was standing over her. He’d finished the fight.