Kraken Orbital (32 page)

That’s all I
have. I slump lifeless over the walkway and fall to the deck. I can
just about hear my bones
crunch for one
last time before passing out. As my eyes close into darkness, I
just about see in the distance, the sliding panel of the escape
ship slide back to closed. And breathe just a shade easier in the
calm knowledge that I did it. That I brought it together right here
at the end.

Chapter 23

To The Bitter End

I did it. I saved her. I can die in peace now
and always be safe in the eternal knowledge that my life meant
something. In that I gave it for someone else. But I wasn’t dead.
Not just yet.

I
’m awoken from my deathly
slumber by Lucy’s boots pounding along the floor beside me. She
wastes no time in slumping to the floor and holding what must have
seemed to her to be my limp and lifeless body in her arms. She
lifts my torso clean off the floor and holds me tight as she cries
bitter and desperate tears over my shoulder.

‘
I did it.’ I
whisper when I finally f
ind the strength
to say anything at all. ‘I ended it.’ I mumble behind a blood clot
lodged in my throat. ‘I saved you.’ It just makes her cry harder.
It makes her worse and I don’t know why. She is wailing beyond
consoling so I just shut my eyes again and enjoy the rest against
her shoulder.

‘
I was
supposed to save you.’ She
wails once but
finally stops crying. She slides my body back to the floor and lays
down beside me. It’s cold. Cold like the world I had fought
through. Maybe I would get to see Kolt again when this was over.
When I finally die.

‘
I should
have told you.’ She
whispers sweetly in
my ear and takes hold of my hand. I have nothing but time to listen
to her. There’s nothing more I can do. I’m okay to die. I’m almost,
just almost, looking forward to it.
What a way to go?
I got to be a
hero. But it’s meaningless. In the end.

‘
I should
have told you about my nightmare.’ She t
akes hold of my hand and clasps it firmly. ‘When I said
imagine swapping the memory of a day with the memory of a
nightmare?’ My tired and battered heart flutters one last time.
Beating out it’s last beats as a drum solo to the horror I knew she
was about to tell me.

But I knew
it. Another truth I had hidden away from my own mind. One she just
had to confirm. That she was just like Kolt.
That she was dead and had been for some time. Since before
I met her in that desolate snowfield. I nod my head but shed my
last tear with the motion.

‘
I knew as
soon as that flying
dinosaur dragged at
me, what was real and what was not.’ I can’t speak. For the pain,
for the encroaching death and for the deep aching sadness inside of
me. I’d give anything to change it. I’d give anything to see her
climb into one of those ships and fly away. I’d kill again, I’d die
again, to see her safe. But I should have known. I
did
know. I
just didn’t want to.

‘
When I broke
off from m
y landing party, I was
attacked,’ she sobs into her final thought. ‘…and eaten.’ She cries
softly into my hair.

‘I… I tried
so hard to save you.’ I complain to her softly. And I’d do it
again. Dead or alive.

‘But now I’m
just a ghost. Just like your friend. Forced to stay here and relive
my death again and again, just like everyone else who dies here.’ I
cry with her. Stroked her copper red hair and comforted her the
best I could.

This is
b
etter. Death is better. In life I was
alone, scared and trodden on by everyone. In death, in the here and
now, I’m a hero. I got the girl.
That’s how it’s supposed to be isn’t it?
The hero gets the girl right at the end.

But this is
better.
Because now I get to be with her
forever. And she with me. It doesn’t matter that we died. It
doesn’t matter that this cruel world will reanimate us again and
again to relive those deaths. Because at least we get to do it
together, forever.

This is
better. I get to see Kolt again. As soon as I make it there. I’ll
find him. I’m glad I didn’t stay in the mine. I’m glad and I’m
happy that I came here. I got to see the lines between life and
death blur. I got to see there was a happy ending waiting for me,
just on the wrong side of life. And I have no regrets.
This is my happy ending.

I turn to
kiss her. To say it’s okay, that I’m not mad. I knew she blamed
herself for letting me “save” her
and
dying myself instead. And that I didn’t have to die as well as her.
But I’m okay with it. Like Kolt was. Lost but in no way seeking
rescue. But the Lucy I knew was gone. Replaced with a skeletal
frame of tooth splintered bones. I smile. Even though it hurts me
to see her as she was.
Dead
like me
. Because this is better. I close
my eyes. And wait to see them again.

I don’t even remember hitting the ground. I
remember the hyper drive cutting out and I remember the jet engines
failing as I tried to land this old crate. But I don’t remember the
damn thing hitting the surface of the planet. I suppose that’s what
I get for stealing it in the first place. But I just couldn’t work
for those jerks for another second.

Thanks from
the Author. If you enjoyed reading my book, please take the time to
submit a small review at
https://www.smashwords.com
. Also, if you enjoyed this title, please also see my other
titles: “Reggie”, a post apocalyptical tale set around the zombie
outbreak, and “The First Zombie”, a short story about the first
zombie who had not noticed his own death. Both available for free
download at
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/420373
and
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/452802
.

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