We’d been off the ship for far too long at this point. We were running out of oxygen and we knew it. We needed to get back. Otherwise, we would die in the middle of nowhere, Mars.
“Come in Tasha, come in Tasha. Do you read me?”
We listened to the static coming from our walkies for a second before I replied. “Yes, we read you clear. We are running out of oxygen though, so we can’t talk much.”
“Copy. Start making your way back.”
We did just that. Except no we didn’t.
While my partner, Seb, and I walked back, we came across something new. The only thing we’d ever found on Mars was ice, and what we expected. The whole point of Seb, Eli, the rest of the team, and I being on Mars was to look for more ice. We were only here to scope out the area, not discover a new species of carnivorous plant.
Before we knew how dangerous the plant was, Seb ran over to it. They pointed, obviously excited but still trying to save their oxygen. I looked over just as the plant slithered its orange vines around Seb’s leg, pulling them ever so slightly closer to the ground.
“Seb, stop moving.” I scrambled over to where they were as quickly as I could in my heavy suit. Panic starting to set in, I grabbed my knife from my belt. Seb was obviously panicking as well, and they started breathing heavily. “Seb, you need to calm down, you’re running out of oxygen. I don’t want you to die.”
I know that Seb realized just how serious this was as soon as I said that. I’m never that serious.
Using my knife, I attempt to cut the vines off their leg without also cutting the suit. I was so focused that I didn’t even notice as Seb started screaming. Suddenly I couldn’t move. I couldn’t grab my walkie, couldn’t continue hacking away at the vines, I couldn’t even move my head to look up at Seb. Before I could even explain to Seb how sorry I was, and how I love them, my best friend and I had taken our final breaths.
We held onto them for as long as we possibly could. We should have been back at the ship by now. Surely Eli would have noticed, and rushed out to get us, right? Surely she would save us. Surely we wouldn’t die here. Seb and I passed out.
I woke up in the med-bay. Dazed, I looked around. I heard a strange noise coming from my throat. Someone giggled. I was okay, apparently, but was Seb?
I wiggled myself into a sitting position. Seb was a couple of beds down, reading. I took a breath as a massive release of worry. Thank God they were okay too.
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