The Last Small Step for Man
Dreams of Fire
Consciousness finally found me in a blurry, unsteady haze of confusion and a sense of being lost. I could only make out shapes of the objects around me and I could feel the things that I was directly in contact with, like cold metal and the warm touch of blood trickling down my thigh. As my surroundings slowly came into focus, I came to the conclusion that part of my disorientation was due to the fact that there was almost no light, except for the occasional spark of exposed wiring. Moving quite slowly, I brought my hand to the back of my helmet which was, for the most part, still intact and undid the locking mechanisms holding the helmet to my head. I slipped it off and tossed it with minimal effort. The sound of the helmet bouncing on the ground filled the helm, giving it an eerie feel.
I rubbed my eyes in a vain effort to restore more of my vision. I feared that if I just got back on my feet, I would become even more disorientated then I already was, and I don’t want to pass out right now, so I just sat up. A decision I instantly regretted as a sharp wave of pain rushed through my entire body. I looked down to see a jagged piece of metal shrapnel protruding from my left thigh right between my armor plating, blood slowly dripping off of it onto the floor… or ceiling I really wasn’t sure where I was lying. I knew I was still in my ship, but the question on my mind was: what in the world happened to the ship?
“Adam?” I ask in a weak voice, but looking around I saw that the screens around me where mostly broken and if there was a screen intact it was blank. After I looked around the cabin, I could tell that I was on the floor of my ship and (thankfully) not the ceiling. I knew because I was just a few feet in front of the command consol in the center of Big Daddy’s helm. The massive windows at the front had the blast shields over them. The large metal guards designed to protect the helm incase of a collision seem to have done there job as the windows where still intact. However, I could not say the same for much of the rest of the helm. Hardware was scattered about the floor, and there was some hull damage here and there.
I looked down at my blood soaked leg, as I listened to the gentle sound of blood falling from the tip of the shrapnel piece down onto the floor, I began to look around for the emergency medical kit, seeing as it was no longer on the wall where it should be, it must have been thrown onto the floor somewhere. I soon spotted the glowing red little box under a busted up screen on the far side of the room. With no shortage of obstacles between us, I gritted my teeth and in one motion pulled the metal piece out of my leg. My ears rang from the sound of my painful scream. I fell back over, about ready to pass out but I forced my self to stay conscious just a little longer. With the med kit in site I let the shrapnel piece fall to the ground, listening to it cling as it hit the metal floor. I griped my bloody leg hard, in order to keep the bleeding down; I could already feel the warm red liquid starting to pool around me. Knowing that my clock was ticking, I began to pull myself across the floor.
One seemingly eternal drag later, I had managed to reach the far wall, and my little case of goodies. I pulled it out from under the broken screen and leaned myself up against the wall. I opened the med kit, struggling to stay awake, and pulled out a small lantern, a bottle of water, a bottle of numbing alcohol, a small hand held cutting laser, a stitching gun, and a can about ten inches tall filled with (in my opinion) one of the best medical achievements by man. I turned on the lantern which provided enough light to see what I was doing, removed my hand and begin to cut open the leg of my suit, being careful not to burn myself. Soon the laser’s small battery died, but not before I was able to cut a portion of the left leg of my suit off, exposing my wound.
Next I started washing the blood away; watching the red liquids run down my leg was somewhat entertaining in a really sick way. Then I realized I was starting to go into shock, and I had to move quickly wile I was still in a good state of mind. It was time for the hard part, I took the bottle of alcohol and was just about to pore it on, but before I began poring I quickly went back into the bag and found a bite guard, because I new that this was not going to be pleasant.
With the bite guard in my mouth I took a few deep breathes and started poring the alcohol on the wound. Every muscle in my body went stiff, my head jerked back against the wall, but I had to stay strong, stay awake, and keep going. I threw the bottle to the side, grabbed the stitching gun in one hand and in the other hand, the gash. I started implanting the stitches on either side of this three inch canyon in my leg. After six stitches the small sterile strings automatically came tight, sealing my wound and bringing my flesh back together. It was nothing but one painful experience after another and I was beginning to sense my inability to remain awake for very much longer. I then grabbed my can of magic and began to spray on the gash and all around it. The condensed, sterile liquid began to harden into mash like bandage, forming to my body and shrinking slowly in order to form a proper field dressing. I could feel it getting tighter and tighter, but I kept spraying all around my exposed thigh making the mesh thicker and thicker. My vision was starting to go, objects that were once clear where returning to there blurry state of being.
Soon the can was empty, along with all of my strength. My arm fell limp to my side and the can slowly rolled out of my hand onto the floor. The last thing I heard was the sound of the can rolling away from me. And the last thing I saw was the trail of blood from where I started leading to the pool of blood I was sitting in. I soon gave in and passed out once more.
I’m not really sure how long I was out, maybe a few hours or so. But when I awoke not much around me had changed, as if it where a dream. But my crashed ship, weak status, and injury where all too real, not to mention how alone I was. I could here nothing but the sound of my own breathing, which was actually a small comfort because it told me that I was still alive. My vision was much better, my leg didn’t hurt as much as before, and my mind was back on track. I looked around the helm, which was being illuminated by the lantern that I left on. It was such a mess, I had no idea if I could get this thing flying again or not. But thoughts of repair where going to have to wait, when my eyes rested on the doorway leading out of the helm and into the rest of the ship. Looking at the door, I decided that this wreck was not safe anymore and its time to see just where the hell I’ve landed.
I leaned forward got off the ground and on to my feet, making sure not to put more pressure on my left leg then I needed to. Standing up gave me a pretty good head rush, nothing to put me on my ass but enough to remind me that I lost a lot of blood and that I need to take it slow. I bent down, grabbed the small lantern and started limping my way to the exit. But a thought ran through my head and I decided to put my helmet back on, which I was able to find with out too much trouble.
I had to put some extra TLC on the door to get it to open, but nothing I couldn’t handle. In front of me were a few steps that lead to the hallway, and at the end of the hallway was a wall and two separate walkways across from each other. Both of which lead to different areas of the ship, like the med bay on the right, and the sleeping quarters on the left and so on. But every walkway led to the cargo hold, which is the only place I really cared about because from there I could get out of this death trap. After limping down every passage and corridor of Big Daddy I finally reached the cargo hold, which was in even worse shape than the helm. Supplies like food, weapons and miscellaneous hardware was scattered from corner to corner.
But with the echoing abilities of this particular room, I could here something out side the ship, pattering on the roof of the hull. I knew what it was, but it had been so long sense I heard it, I had to stop for a moment to remember if it really is the rain, and not my imagination. I stood there for a moment, listening to the gentle sound of raindrops outside. After spending so much time in space, it felt as if Earth decided to play me a beautiful symphony on my return to home. I could not stand it any more, I needed to go out side; I had to see the sky.
Seeing as how the control panel for the big main door was sparking erratically I set down my lantern and made my way to the port side access hatch, about the size of a standard door. I twisted the lock open and pushed on the door just enough to see a much welcomed beam of light. I pushed it all the way open and was blinded by the bright light of the outside. I took one small step outside, feeling the rocks and dirt under my boot. I closed my eyes and put my entire body thru the door and into the sunlight. I could hear the rain beating on the top of my helmet and immediately unsnapped it and threw it to the ground. I turned my face to the sky and let the droplets of water gently splash upon my face, letting the cool water run down my cheeks. And the warmth of the sun touched down on my very tired eyes like the perfect hug, saying welcome home my old friend.
I could not ask for a better welcoming then a soothing, light rain on a bright and sunny day. I must have stood there for a good five minutes, basking in the embrace of the home I left so long ago. However my bliss was short lived, for when I looked down and opened my eyes, what I saw shocked the hell out of me; at the edge of the crash site… trees, lots of trees, like a whole forest all around me. I saw a forest once when I was young, but at the time deforestation had become a huge problem. So when I say I saw a forest, I mean I saw a picture. And these trees did not look like that picture, with the colors so vibrant and full looking. The more I looked around at my strange surroundings the closer I came to panic. But before my little freak out could surface something caught my attention on the forests edge. Hidden within the darkness of the cover of the trees, all I could make out was two glowing yellow orbs, causing a stop in all form a rational thought within me. And before I could do or say anything, a second pair of these glowing orbs emerged on the left of the originals, and then a third pair on the right. The tree line was only a few yards away, but I still could not tell just what I was looking at; everything about this felt very wrong.
I took a single step back, before those glowing orbs turned into the most haunting yellow eyes I have ever seen. I reached for my pistol but, even though my pistol was right at my side like it always is, those eyes leaped out of the tree line coming right for me so much faster than I would have ever guessed. Each pair of eyes was adorned on the body of a wolf, but something was different about these wolfs, they were… wooden. I didn’t even have a second to ponder this as the leader was only a few feet away. I pulled out my gun but far too slowly; I only got one shot off and it missed the leader and hit the right wolfs ear, but the wolf didn’t falter, none of them did. The lead wolf leaped through the air right at me.
When the wolf made contact, it took me right off my feet, over backwards back into the cargo hold knocking my gun out of reach. Chasing after the leader, the other two had wedged themselves in the door way, fighting with each other to get through. I struggled to keep the vicious wooden creature away from my head, as its mouth chomped away at the empty space between my flesh and his fangs. With only one arm in the crook of the creature’s neck, and the other supporting it, it was close to my face, its claws where no match for the hard armor of my space suit, but its teeth would rip my face apart. The creature was drooling sap all over my face; the sticky substance was getting everywhere. I turned my head away and got and ear full of the creatures chomping, snarling, and growling.
I looked around and spotted a broken metal pipe only a few feet from me. I sacrificed my left arm to reach for it and with out the help of my left arm, my right arm couldn’t hold the distance and the wolf’s head came within centimeters. He was now so close I could feel his hot breath on my skin, ready to tare every bit of flesh away from my body. My fingertips could just barely touch the bottom of the pipe. With every passing second, the monsters vicious teeth got closer and closer to my skin. I was so close; I could almost get a finger around it. I listened to the other wolves getting near the moment when they’d break free of the doorway and then I would be done for completely. Finally I got a grip on the pipe, raised it and rammed the sharp end right through the wolf’s head, and as I looked into its bright yellow eyes I saw its pupils dilate, and then it fell limp over my body.
Sap running down the base of the pipe, I took a second to catch my breath. But then I remembered the other two wolfs, so I shoved the limp carcass off of me, got to my feet, pulled the pipe out of the dogs head and impaled the wolf on the left through the mouth, out of the back of its skull. I then gave the other one a good strong kick in the face, sending him out of the doorway and back outside in which I follow him out after yanking the pipe out of the, now dead, wolf. The sun had been swallowed up by clouds now, and the rain and wind had picked up into a full blown thunder storm. The wolf had gotten itself into a defensive stance. I noticed that the wolf’s ear had a chunk of it blown off from the gunshot from earlier. We stood there staring at each other for about a minute before the creature started backing away from me. I did a quick thrust of my make shift spear at him, which caused the dog to turn tail and sprint for the tree line and right before it left my site, it looked over its shoulder and shot me a glance, then disappeared in the darkness of the forest.
Completely fatigued, I felt my wound weighing heavy on me as I limped back into the cargo hold. I kicked the dead wolf in the doorway outside, and then walked over to the other one that came within centimeters to the flesh of my face. I starred at it for sometime before whispering to myself:
“What the fuck has Nightmare Moon done to my home?” With that I reached down and grabbed two of the animal’s legs and hauled it outside. Once I returned I closed the door and locked it. With my face still sticky, I picked up my lantern and started looking for some water (mostly to drink, but I figured I’d clean up just a little as well). After some time of searching through tipped over containers and busted pieces of equipment, I found a metal crate full of water bottles, and my gun soon after which was returned to its holster.
With a clean face, or at least clean enough, I sat myself on the cold ground and started drinking the water by the bottle and listening to the heavy rain beat down on the ships hull. After my third bottle I felt my tired and sore body truly for the first time. My hands where shaking, my breathing was heavy, my pulse was high. I was on the verge of passing out once again. With no energy to left to fight it, I let the empty bottle roll out of my hand onto the floor and laid back on the cold metal container, shut my eyes and hope that I will have recovered my energy when I awake.
Home sweet home was the last (corny) thought that entered my mind before I slipped into an unconscious state for the third time, completely unaware of what was waiting for me the next day.