Page 28 of My Alien Bughead
My heart tentatively resumes beating. This is not Lucía. It’s the other worker that was on the train with us. A Karetelan, most likely. I didn’t get too good of a look at him as I was trying to stay out of Lucía’s sight, but it makes sense. Karetelans are more tolerant to heat than most species and they often work in smelters, which is where I assume the train was going. They’re a species that—
Wait. What the fuck am I doing? I should be looking for Lucía, not contemplating a Karetelan’s genetic disposition to work in high-heat environments.
Shaking my head, I do my best to wrangle my scattered thoughts back in line. I’m not normally this distracted.
Out of habit, I reach for the inhaler. A whiff of stimulant should help me focus.
My heart stops for the second time today. The inhaler is broken, the stimstick inside cracked in half. Checking my other pocket, my fingers slide over the smashed containers to confirm that yes, I’m absolutely, completely fucked. Also, dead. With the doses I’ve been taking in the past few days, there’s no way I’ll survive acute withdrawal. Within a few hours, I’ll go intocardiogenic shock. My heart will do its best to keep me alive, but eventually, it will fail to keep up and cease beating forever.
The realization is surprisingly freeing. I don’t have to worry about anything anymore because soon, it will all be over.
Glancing at the dead Karetelan still half-buried in the rubble forces me to correct myself sharply. I do have something to worry about. Lucía. I have to make sure she’s alright and help her get out of here even if it’s the last thing I do. Especially since it will be the last thing I do.
With renewed vigor, I continue searching, shouting her name until my throat hurts. “Lucía!”
The sound is so quiet I barely hear it. At first, I dismiss it as more stones falling from the dangerously fractured ceiling but then, I hear it again. It’s a pattern. Three quick clicks of a stone against metal, three slower ones, then three quick again. I don’t know what it means, or if it even means anything, but one thing is for sure—it’s not random.
Hope blooms in my chest as I follow the sounds to the front of the train. This part took the brunt of our fall, turning into a precarious pile of smashed metal and other debris.
“Lucía?”
“... here …”
Her voice is barely more than a faint whisper, but the mere sound of it has my eyes watering. She’s alive. Trapped and maybe injured, but alive. I can work with that.
Removing the larger pieces of rubble, I start digging through the debris like a madman. “It’s alright, Lucía. Everything will be okay. I’ll get you out of there. Just stay where you are.”
This time, I hear a snort. “Not like I have anywhere to go.”
“True,” I chuckle, tears trailing wet paths down my dirty face. “Are you hurt?”
“I don’t think so. A metal sheet is wedged above me. It saved me from most of the rubble, but I can’t get out.”
I see the piece she’s speaking of. Formerly part of the outer wall of the train, the gnarled, twisted piece of metal now serves as an improvised roof to shelter Lucía from any falling wreckage. If it wasn’t there… I shudder. She would have been crushed.
Ignoring the blood pooling in my palms, I grip the serrated edge of the metal and yank. I stop immediately, even before Lucía screams as the pile of rubble starts shifting, stones clanging down against the bent pieces of metal.
“Shit!” she shouts. “Don’t move that thing or we’ll both get crushed.”
I can’t help but roll my eyes. “Figured that one out already, thank you very much,” I sneer, hoping the raw panic coursing through me doesn’t show up in my voice if I put enough snark in it. “Any other ideas?”
“Uh… I’d say we wait for help but I’m not sure anyone will get to us in time. Where the fuck did we even end up?”
I look around again, noting the smooth walls of the tunnel. Definitely not natural. “No idea. Looks like an old mining shaft. We don’t have time to wait for a rescue. The tunnel’s integrity has been compromised, and it’s about to collapse on top of us at any moment.”
“Oh. Perhaps you should just g—”
“You better not be suggesting I leave you behind and save myself,” I snarl. “I know you think the worst of me but I’m not that kind of person.” Am I?
No. I’d rather die than leave Lucía here on her own.
She grumbles. “Well, how would I know? You’ve been nothing but a jerk to me. I wouldn’t think you’d want to risk your own hide to save mine.” A few pebbles rattle as she shifts position. “I think… Maybe I can crawl out of here, if we can move the stones by my feet? That shouldn’t bring the whole thing down on us, should it?”
“No, it shouldn’t.” It’s a good plan, a sensible one. It has just one tiny flaw. An ominous rumble sounds from the ceiling, fine dust floating down on us as the cracks grow wider. Alright, it’s a big flaw. “We have no time for that. Get ready.”
I have to get Lucía out of here. My life is already forfeited, but she has to survive.
“For what? D’Aakh, what the fuck are you doing? D’Aakh?!”
