Wake up.
The darkness in my eyes was impenetrable. The weight of my mind was inmesurable. The silence, perfect.
Wake up!
A rush of adrenaline shot through my body. My eyes burst open, my heart pounded like a angry gorilla. I found myself free falling through the atmosphere of a red planet.
Was I back on Mars?
My suite began beeping and lighting up with various warnings and lights. Everything suddenly came back to me. I had ejected from my escape pod after our fleet was brutally attacked by the invading aliens. The tripod people.
I turned back to see huge fireballs raining down from the black sky. Pieces of our ships and escape pods burning their way back to our base. Not the best return trip.
Red lights filled my helmet as I rapidly aproached the ground. I frantically pressed the parachute button.
“It’s stuck, grab on to me!”, a man next to me yelled through the intercom, as he extended his arms in my direction.
I could see his face drenched in blood and that one of his feet had been blown off. I struggled mid air to manouver my way to him, to safety.
After 12 agonizing seconds I managed to get close enough and hugged that man for dear life. “I’m ready”, I screamed. Our helmets pressed together and for a moment our eyes met. I could see the fear in his eyes, he knew he would not survive his injuries. It was sad fear, the one you get when you can’t handle the inevitable. The one you get when you’re bleeding out of severe injuries falling through the atmosphere of a barren planet after being shot down by aliens. That kind.
He pressed the button on his suit and the parachute blew open. Unfortunately for me the deceleration caused by it was too much, and I slipped in an instant so short, I could’ve sworn it didn’t even ocur.
I faced my death. I looked at the enlarging buildings beneath me. I remembered my wife.
Wake up.
I bolted upright in my bed. My wife was holding my hand and looking at me with a curious smile.
“Are you okay?”
