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Jessica
I’m not scared.
Being in a cargo hold with a ton of other people is no big deal, right? Just like the room shaking under our feet, the gelatin bricks they call food, the big hole in the floor as a toilet are all completely normal. If it weren’t for the odd language none of us understands, the laser gun in the ceiling, and the occasional visit from a decidedly alien person, this would all be fine. Perfectly fine.
All of us freaked out at first, me included. Were people banging on the walls, screaming, crying, and begging them to let us out? Yep, every last one of us. Until, the space aliens killed the loudest people first. Then, they kept shooting with their drop down laser until the crowd quieted.
I wrap my arms around me, shivering and pushing away the memories. Seeing others die around me those few days ago taught me a stern lesson. Keep my mouth shut when there’s death involved. Several others feel the same, too, and we all stay quiet most of the time.
Even now, when the vibrations increase, no one says a word, sinking down to their knees, then onto butts to keep from toppling over. A roar reminding me of the tornado I saw as a kid echoes through the large room. My friend Stacie grabs my hand. We were neighbors but not close until the abduction. She’s as sweet and shy as I’m not, so yeah, opposites attract. I’m glad she’s here for my sake and hate it for hers.
Stacie leans against me. “Oh Lord, help us. What now?”
“Could be anything,” I offer. She’s a gentle person, probably doesn’t want to hear the worst my imagination can create, so I go with, “Probably stopping for space gas somewhere like Uglugg’s Bean Emporium.” She laughs and I smile. Encouraged even though I shouldn’t be, I continue with, “Or maybe Bargarg’s Carbonation Station. Come for the bubbles, leave with the gas.”
She giggles, feeding my inner standup comic. “You’ll stay with me no matter what, won’t you?”
I put my arm around her. “Sure, why wouldn’t I? You get all my lame jokes.” Before she can protest or agree, the ground vibrates harder and I’d swear I can hear landing gear drop like we’re in a plane. The lights above us flicker. “That seems different.”
Her dark green eyes are huge and round as she says, “I don’t like different.”
“In this case, neither do I,” I agree. Especially when all the noise and movement stop. Everyone looks around as much as I do, confused at how the ruckus can simply end like it has.
Then, the tilting begins.
The floor slopes to the side hard enough to topple me over. All of us start sliding to the back of the room and toward the open sewer pit. The oddly mushy but not sticky floor keeps the motion slow, but still. All of us are rolling or sliding in a tumble. People scream protests despite the security system’s warnings to be quiet.
“Jess, don’t let me go into the toilet,” Stacie says, glommed onto my arm like a band aid.
Pulling her away and to the side as we inch closer to the gaping hole in the floor, I promise, “I won’t. No one needs a shit bath.” My sort of joke falls flat and I don’t care. A group of people is bumping up against the both of us as the ship gains speed.
One guy with his face pressed against the back wall groans. “Everything’s wrong. We shouldn’t be experiencing this shit in zero gravity.”
Okay, I guess. Physics was a long time ago, yet he’s right. More and more, it’s like we’re in one of those carnival rides where the centrifugal force traps you. That was fun as a kid. This is not. Not at all as more and more people are mashed against me and Stacie.
“Jess, I’m scared.”
So am I, girlfriend. So am I, I want to say, but settle for consoling her with, “It’ll be better soon. It has to.” Another few people lay on us like the wall at our back is the floor. I manage to turn my head when people crying out in disgust and sure enough, sludge flows up and out of the toilet hole. I’m so glad I rolled us away from that mess. “Face me, Stace. Use your shoulders and hips to keep them from crushing us.”
Stacie does as I’ve said, hugging me at first. Some guy laying on the both of us cuts off my arm’s circulation. She struggles to move, which is good because I was losing feeling in my limbs, too.
The gravity increases, building the pressure even more. I close my eyes, concentrating on just enduring until all this is over. Moans and grunts sound sexy unless they’re as full of pain as the ones around me. I figure sooner or later, we’ll either die from being crushed or the aliens will land somewhere, ending the squashing.
“Are you passing out?” Stacie asks, shaking me as much as possible in the cramped space.
I gasp out a laugh. “Nope, not yet. We’re stuck here so if a wall of shit comes right at us, I don’t want to see it.”
“Good point,” she mutters. I open my eyes enough to notice she’s closed hers, too. Smart girl.
The ship bucks like an elevator going crazy. We’re up and off the floor as the vessel dips. Then the floor hits us hard as we land. Screams and curses from behind us have both me and Stacie looking to learn what’s wrong. “Oh shit,” she says.
“Literally.” I laugh at how some of us have landed in the toilet even though it’s mean and I hate myself afterward. The squishy floor beneath us shifts hard, throwing us away from the mess, thankfully. I can’t relax or rejoice because if we can be tossed away, we can be tossed toward. “Keep rolling. Put bodies between you and that hole.”
“Ug,” she gasps as another lift slams us down. “How the heck am I supposed to do that?”
“Like this,” I holler, scrambling away during a small bit of calm in the vessel’s motions. “C’mon.”
Stacie follows me over a chubby guy who grunts as I elbow him. “Sorry, sir.”
