Red

All I see is red.

Red clouds, red smoke, red dirt--nothing of which resembled the life I had back on Earth.

I was one of the lucky ones to get here before the world would’ve ended. Some say it was a suicide mission--I was crazy--no one could live in another planet, especially a planet like Mars. But that was a futile belief that Earth was the only planet livable by humans.

I’d like to think that the times have changed.

There are proofs that Mars could sustain life. Water, for instance, was the most vital evidence that life could exist on here. And although it wasn’t really the smartest choice, it was enough for me to board that rocket and leave my hellish life back home.

At least, I didn’t need to pay rent. I didn’t have to deal with that alcoholic bitch of a cousin. I didn’t need to worry about the food and how I’d live here because NASA and the government would provide those things for us. It was my version of a golden ticket.

All I needed to do was breathe.

“Samantha, check this out!” Bree waved a yellow rock, she must have found in some cave somewhere on this planet, high up in the air, attempting to capture my attention.

It hasn’t been an hour since we’ve landed and already she had found her next subject of amusement.

“What’s that?” I asked, skipping steps and struggling to balance my new weight on the planet.

Before I could even reach her, she threw the yellow rock as far as she could, and a huge explosion engulfed that area. I was thrown off a bit off course by the impact of the blast, stumbling back a bit before I regained control of my footing.

“Now that is some pure Sulfur, my friend! It makes great bombs and good fire. We could use this to stay warm tonight.” Bree smiled wide with her teeth shown proudly as her eyes beamed in delight from her fascinating discovery.

If there’s another perk for joining this trip, it was Bree Lockson, the brightest and youngest geologist that has ever been known to man. She brought me some ease when I learned that she would join in on the first trip. I just felt safer with her around. Not just because she’s an intelligent scientist, but also because she’s my good friend. The only friend I could consider a true one.

“Phew. What’s the god-awful smell, Bree?”

It was the smell of rotten eggs. It seemed the suit wasn’t immuned to gag smells from the outside. Joy.

“Oh, that’s just the Sulfur, Sam. You’ll get used to it.”

Bree started heading towards the inner portion of the cave. as the wind started to get a bit colder from the inside. The light towards the entrance was getting a bit dimmer, but I shook off the worry that tingled inside of me. I trusted that Bree knew what she was doing.

“Hey, Bree. It’s getting a bit cold. Don’t you think we should head back to camp?”

“Let me just gather a few more yellow rocks, Sam, and then we’re outta here.”

I nodded in response to her statement as she bent down to get the final rock that she aimed to use as a source of fuel. Bree beamed with pride and fascination as she raised one stone and reflected some light on it.

“Extraordinary! The rocks seemed to not only contain Sulfur, but has remnants of what is known as Silver nitrate!” Bree mused to herself, excited as she made another one of her discoveries.

“Alright, that’s enough for today. Let’s head back to camp, Samantha! I can’t wait to tell the chief what I found here!” She said as she zipped her bag full of stones before turning to me.

“Great. Now let’s go.”

The path back to camp was like a breeze. Carrying heavy rocks on this planet seemed easier than I thought it would. Thank you change of gravity!

All I could think about on our way back was to get out of these uncomfortable suits and plumping my ass on my bunker to sleep the days away. Honestly, it was one of the things I looked forward to when I decided to board the rocket to Mars. If anything, I was satisfied with just that.

“Hey, what’s happening over there, Bree? Why are they all screaming?”

Bree stood beside me as she followed my line of vision, confused as I also was. The camp’s visual was slowing getting buried with red fog until only the top antennas were seen clearly. A thunderstorm was brewing on top as we got closer to the camp.

“AHH SAVE US!” someone screamed from the inside, halting us immediately from our tracks.

Bree and I shared the same frightened looks as we slowly backed away from the scene.

“What’s happening, Bree?” I whimpered softly as I held her hand.

“I don’t know, but we have to get out of here. Fast.” Bree tugged my hand and led us away from the camp.

We ran as far as we could and tried not to look back, but I found it hard not to when I could hear the screams of those people who were left behind.

“Ouch.” I exclaimed as we both fell from the impact. “What was that?”

“Bree?” I whispered when she didn’t answer.

Instead, I followed her from behind. All the blood from my face drained white when I saw a badly hurt person hurting on the ground. His suit was completely destroyed, more like melted, and his skin was suffering from what seemed to be a third-degree burn. Half of his eyes were coated with white, and when we tried to wave our hands in front of him, all he did was wreath in pain and scream bloody murder.

He was blinded.

But how? By whom?

“Can you tell us what happened to you? Can you hear us?” Bree shouted to the man, attempting to capture his attention.

“Is someone there? Please...help. me.” the man pleaded with tears dripping from his eyes. “Help me, please. It’s so...painful.”

“What happened? Who did this to you?” Bree shouted to the man once again, hoping to get some vital information from him.

“A-a-acid f-fog.” the man whispered into Bree’s ear before he suddenly convulsed.

The man’s eyeballs reverting back into his head as his body shook uncontrollably with vivid spasms. It took a minute before he stopped shaking, but that was only because Bree slit his throat before he could even move another finger.

A gasp escaped my lips at the brutality, but it was mercy no less. Bree relieved the man of his suffering. He was free now.

“Rest in peace.” Bree whispered into his ear before she closed his eyes with her hand.

The reality of my future right now seemed a lot more bleaker than before. I had never realized that escaping Earth would be the least of my problems. All I wanted was to be free of the nightmares that haunted me back at home, but here I was, karma biting me back like a bitch.

They were right. This was a suicide mission. There were still so many unknowns left to be discovered and I idiotically ran straight for it.

I was doomed.

“We have to go, Samantha!” Bree exclaimed at me, trying to pull me from the ground to make another run for it.

There was a red storm quickly catching up on us from behind, and it looked hungry in search for its next victims--us.

The ground began crumbling from under our feet as it approached us faster than before. My heart rushed with adrenaline as I held onto Bree for my life. Bree and I tried to jump from the rocks before it settled deeper into the planet like quicksand.

There was nothing in front of us to hide into.

Will we even make it?

I wondered to myself as I kept running with Bree through this vast red desert. It would be a lie to say that I was ready to die. I had only wanted to live so much that I chose to cut myself off from home.

And I could never go back. The reality of it has finally sunken in.

Earth was still alive.

It didn’t end when we launched the rocket.

Maybe this was all a goddamn trick by the government to cut off its booming population. Cutting us off like cowards.

Hypocrite.

This was the end.

This was my punishment.

It didn’t take long for the pain to engulf me. The red fog searing hot on my skin as the it blew through us. I never knew death could smell so much like burnt fat before I felt it eating my flesh away--burning it molecule by molecule until I could no longer feel.

I screamed in pain as the heat scorched through my veins. My grip on Bree, lost as my consciousness began fading away.

And the last thing I saw was red before everything turned black.

#challengeaccepted #morbidendings #mars #lastdayonearth #karma