Catastrophe Part II

The siren had drowned my voice. I hope that Dr. Andrews heard me, but I can’t tell. Then some sound reaches my ear, I think he’s replying but can’t make it out. Is he shouting something? Is it directed at me or the A.I.?

Startling pressure suddenly squeezes my arm, caught up in Dr. Andrews’ grasp. I’m barely able to make out his shout, “We gotta run! Follow!” Shelby grabs my other arm. I have lost my cane in the confusion. I am completely dependent on them right now. This is as terrifying as whatever is going on around us.

Fleeing down the hall without having much choice or desire to resist, there is no choice but to trust them. We swiftly round a corner, and the building shudders as another blast shakes its foundation. We are all able to keep our balance, and we rush around another corner into a similar hallway. We continue to race down this hall until I find myself inside another room. 

The volume of the siren’s blare has decreased, and the strobing red light does not travel far into this room. The only other light source here comes from a computer terminal whose glimmer annoyingly illuminates several large shadowy forms. Assuming they are pieces of machinery or something, I don’t have the time to fixate on them.

Dr. Andrews shouts, “Stay right there, the room ahead is well fortified… We should be safe...” Closing my eyes does nothing to ease the terror, it just hinders the light’s assault. Moments later, Dr. Andrews takes my hand and shouts, “Come on!”

The strobing red and screaming siren from the hallway does not penetrate the comforting darkness of this space. Instead, a loud whirring, almost buzzing sound assaults my ears and vibrates my bones.

Boom!

This room is intensely quieter; loud whirring becomes a low buzz. The clinking of his shoes on the grated steel floor accompanied by the swishing of his lab coat portrays frantic movement. The vibrations coupled with the sound from Dr. Andrew’s shoes confirm my suspicions about the floor’s structure.

Click.

Brilliant light floods the room, penetrating my closed eyelids. Instinctively squeezing my eyes tighter shut while cowering. There is nothing I can do about the light’s terrible assault.

Schlick.

Sensing the unease in his voice, Dr. Andrews reassures, “I’m sorry for the brightness. Ok, the emergency generator is on. The safety doors have been sealed. We should be fine.” 

After taking a moment trying to regain my composure, I can’t help but wonder if we truly are safe here? “Dr. Andrews, what’s happ...?”

The walls of the room vibrate aggressively, cutting my sentence short.

Compelled by hysterical fear, I call out, “Dr. Andrews?” 

Click.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap …

He shouts, “No, this isn’t right!” 

Upon hearing that, panic takes control. Escape is the only thing running through my mind. The realization pounds down and devours me. I’m trapped with nowhere to go.

His defeated shout sounds ominous and sad, “I’m sorry, Erika and Shelby.”

He says something else, but the piercing alarm which grows louder, muffling his voice and the rhythmic tapping.

Snapped to my instinctual senses by the blaring assault, fight, or flight? Flight! Impulsively, my legs start carrying me in the opposite direction of the door. The floor vibrates sending whirring pulsations throughout my soul. With all sense of balance destroyed, my gut screams. I have crashed into an unseen metal bar. Spinning head over heels, I somersault over the rail.

Vanished are my strength and will. Gone like the floor that was beneath me. I can’t even shout, not that it could be heard. Plummeting inexorably into the depths of this place. The screaming sirens wane until cut by a terrifying silence.

Snap.

A dead moment to consider, was that my body?

Jarring chills surge down my spine causing each hair to stand on end. My eyes open trying to provide one last glimpse of life, whether it is the searing light or not.

Only darkness.

Wait, no. A brilliant, luminous pixel in the distance. It radiates from “the nothing” like a solitary star in the night sky. Shining across vast distances, it must be many parsecs away. At this moment, that distance does not matter. The star’s lonely radiance is all there is.

Pitiless air cruelly pricks my skin as the temperature plummets beyond freezing. Attempting to hack and wretch. My gasping diaphragm spasms, racking in agony. Every precious molecule of air is mercilessly ripped from my lungs.

Twilight.

Suffocating and plummeting into an endless void. The only furnishing offered is freezing torment.

An eternity elapses within this frozen dark state. Soon after, the icy suffering mellows to a foreboding numbness. Failed senses return nothingness. Wait, there’s that distant star contained within the void... And... Realization... I am alone within this nihility, but not completely. These thoughts are all that remains of what was me. They trickle through the eons.

I’m dead?

Is this it?

No. This can’t be it.

Refusing to be empty, sadness echoes within the void. Mourning for my lost life, which was just beginning to get interesting, even hopeful. Now it’s over. Unfortunately, there is nowhere for piteous tears to shed. Crying is not a possibility anymore.

Another realization... These thoughts?

Is this my soul?

Why is it so empty?

Instantaneous agony replaces the blessed numbness. Falling through space at unimaginable speeds toward that distant star. Sudden awareness of my aching and frozen body suspended in space before me. From without, seeing myself like I never have before.

Perfect clarity.

The woman’s mouth has gaped open offering a silent, frozen scream. A cold sheen on her white eyes, they’ve been frozen over by tears.

What is this?

What good would it do to reclaim that body now? There is no one to hear her silent wails. All the atoms that form her body have ceased their vibrations. Absolute zero.

A new existence of perpetual pain morphs reality, as unseen forces simultaneously stretch and crush the rest of that body into a single point. A singularity. And all that I can do is hopelessly watch. …And feel.

Such as life... There is nothing that I can do but endure this ride into oblivion. That star is the only light at the end of this tunnel. With the motionless writhing of my psyche, I suffer in forced silence and hope for death to come if it has not already.