Page 52 of My Alien Bughead
The train station is just as abandoned as the rest of the station. Jumping down off the platform, I follow the tracks into the tunnel trying to figure out how far in I should go before executing my brilliant plan. Which is setting off a grenade in the tunnel to seal it off completely.
After the last explosion sent the train plummeting into the asteroid’s depths, the main train tunnel was damaged. It’s structurally unstable for heavy trains to move through but still accessible. Everyone knows not to use it, so why bother sealing it off?
If D’Aakh is right and some of the mercenaries got into the smelter through the ore drop-off point, they could definitely use this tunnel to infiltrate the station, leaving Zarkan’s crew open to attack from behind. More importantly, they could access our life support controls.
Obviously, I can’t let that happen.
The darkness of the tunnel engulfs me but I don’t dare to use my light. I might not be a military strategist but even I know that would make me an easy target.
There’s a sound up ahead. A soft, nearly imperceptible noise, but with the amount of adrenaline coursing through my veins, even seemingly insignificant sounds are as loud as gunshots. Ducking down, I’m not sure if they can see my outline against the glow from the station behind me. Getting shot is not part of my plan.
Red laser beams scorch the wall right above me, in the exact spot where my head had been a split second ago. I scream, stupidly giving up my position, making more shots fly in my direction. The stupidity of my plan finally unravels itself. Fuck! What was I thinking, coming here like this?!
I pull out the modified grenade. If I set it off now, it will stop the mercenaries from getting through the tunnel. It will probably kill them. It will definitely kill me.
It feels like a giant fist is squeezing my heart. I don’t want to die but I already know I have to do it, because I don’t want my friends to die either. And D’Aakh. He deserves to live.
Activating the fuze, I contemplate how far I can throw the grenade without exposing too much of myself to the shooters. They must think I’m armed because they haven’t tried approaching me yet but that won’t last long.
Then I hear a familiar voice. “Lucía!”
“D’Aakh! Watch out!” I screech, worried he’ll just draw the fire to himself but he’s smarter than me.
He drops down behind a pylon, taking cover the best he can while shooting at the enemies. “Lucía, when I say run, run to me, alright? Don’t stop, don’t look back, just run.”
“Okay.” I suck in a deep breath and eye the open space between D’Aakh’s hiding spot and mine. I’m so fucking dead. “Ready.”
D’Aakh leans out from his place of cover and shoots rapidly. “NOW!” If I wasn’t so busy running for my life, I’d admire how sexy his silhouette looks, all professional super-soldier like this. Sadly, I don’t have time to gawk. I also still have to enact my plan.
Risking a quick pause, I turn and draw my hand back, calling on my childhood baseball gods Cy Young and Pedro Martinez for their pitching strength.
“Lucía! Run!” D’Aakh shouts, panicked. “What are you— Oh, fuck!”
I toss the grenade as far as I can. A red beam grazes my shoulder and I stumble back screaming from the pain. With no time to consider, I quickly pick myself up and continue running. “D’Aakh, run!”
We only manage a few feet before the grenade explodes. A gigantic fireball illuminates the tunnel and the shock wave slams into us like a freight train. Hauntingly familiar cracks and rumbles of the tunnel collapsing follow the deafening boom. I’ve been through this before. Only this time, I don’t have a metal sheet miraculously protecting me from falling rubble.
A rock the size of my fist slams into my shoulder, another one barely missing my head by an inch or so. Scrambling back onto my feet, I stumble forward, away from the collapsing tunnel and toward the faint light far in front of me.
I don’t see the mercenaries. I don’t see D’Aakh, either. Did he make it out? Should I look for him?
Pausing to look around turns out to be a huge mistake. A giant boulder drops from the ceiling, narrowly missing me. The following avalanche of smaller rocks pours straight down onto me, knocking me back down to the floor. Wheezing and gasping for air, there’s only dust getting into my lungs, making me cough and choke.
Rocks cover me from my legs to my chest, stopping any plans to keep moving forward. Digging my fingers into the tunnel floor, I try pulling myself out but the heavy weight on my legs won’t let me. I’m stuck, and the rocks are still falling.
Whimpering, I cover my head with my arms. Not that my stupid brain is worth protecting at this point.
“Lucía!” D’Aakh’s voice is barely audible through the noise. “Lucía!”
“I’m here!” I whimper, unsure if he can hear me. I can barely hear myself but that might be due to the liquid I can feel trickling from my ears. “D’Aakh!”
A hand grabs my wrist. “Lucía!” He tugs, then realizes I’m stuck and starts removing rocks from my legs. “This feels like déjà vu!” D’Aakh shouts through the cacophony of cracks and rumbles.
“Yeah.” It does. He’s saved me again. “How about we stop getting into explosions?”
“Sounds like a plan. Come on!” This time, when he tugs on my hands, my body sliding out from beneath the rubble. Helping me up, D’Aakh staggers a little himself, panting and wheezing harder than me.
We help each other through the crumbling tunnel, then collapse as soon as we reach the station. Rolling onto my back, I stare at the train station’s undamaged ceiling in disbelief. I made it. I’m alive.Weare alive.
