A warm wind blew across my face as I walked onto the pavement. I saw bits of paper and other trash being flicked and scattered through the sidewalk as a small gaggle of citizens walked past me. The streets were certainly calmer now, as compared to the near-chaotic bustle of the morning. I followed the Crew as they walked down the street away from the hospital entrance.
Shakti slithered through the streets next to her companions, her massive yellow tail with a black diamond pattern running down the middle. I noticed several people walking past us give her quick glances. I assumed even after twenty years, humans would still not be used to giant snake-people walking among them. The Crew led me to the corner of the street about twenty metres away, where I could see a large vehicle was parked.
It was a large black truck with a dark green cloth canopy draped over the bed, looking like an army truck. The head of the vehicle had a flat and square shape, similar to the trucks I saw back home, but the design was far more angular and jagged, with red lines separating the pieces. The initials "C.C." were on the doors, the white letters standing out against the black metal. They looked like they had been spray painted against a cardboard cutout, as I could see some small white splatters on the door.
"Alright!" Kacper grunted as he opened the door and lifted himself up.
"Uh, George? Are you okay with sittin' in tha' back? I don't think David is in the mood to give up his seat." He said with a smile.
David grunted in annoyance.
"Don't worry about it." He said as he walked to the back of the truck. Shakti was just about to follow him when I spoke up.
"Uh, Shakti, just one minute!"
The tall, yellow Viper snapped around and looked at me.
"Yes?" She said. She had a curious look in her eye as she faced me.
"Kacper says that you got me out of the river?"
"Oh yes! It was real fight, having to keep your pod floating and then drag it out onto land."
"And, did you find me in there?"
"Well, we saw the pod floating among the other hunks of metal and crates going downstream, but I didn't-"
David poked his head out from the back of the truck.
"Hey, if you're gonna give him the recap, might as well give it to him on the way."
"Are you that sore about it?" Asked Shakti, with her hands on her… well, what looked like hips on a snake.
"No, I'm time-conscious. We gotta go now if we're gonna have time for the comms repair in Sector A tonight." He said while walking back to the front of the truck.
Shakti gave a short grunt, her lips parting to reveal the hints of large white fangs. She quickly turned to me with that small smile and moved towards the back of the truck.
"Follow me." She said.
I saw her lift herself into the back of the truck through the opening in the canopy. The truck bounced and wobbled as more of herself disappeared into the canopy, ending with the tip of her tail sliding inside. The metal flap at the end of the bed suddenly flipped open and made a loud bang.
"Easy with that, will ya!" Kacper yelled from behind.
"Sorry, Kacper!" She said, her head and torso sticking out from under the canopy.
Shakti then stretched out her arm towards me. I carefully grabbed it. I could feel the blunt ends of her black claws gently prodding against my skin as she helped me up into the truck.
The interior was slightly dark due to the only light available coming from the opening at the back, but I could still see my surroundings. The metal floor had small piles of dust collecting in the corners. On either side of the bed was a grey metal bench was that extended halfway towards the front of the truck, with Shakti sitting atop the bench on the left, the rest of her coiled in a circular bundle on the floor. The other half of the bed was cut off by a short chainlink fence. Behind the fence stood all manner of machines and equipment, ranging from metal scaffolding poles and platforms to a fixed row of tall canisters with a welder's mask placed next to them on a small green crate.
"Not exactly the comfiest place." Said Shakti as she faced me.
I sat down on the bench opposite and felt the engine rustle and roar as the whole truck rumbled as we rode off. I heard the sound of metal clanging next to me. I looked at the large mishmash of tools and gear they had stuffed in at the back. A sudden warm feeling rose up in me as I looked at them.
"It's fine, actually. It reminds a lot of my dad's-"
I stopped myself. That warm feeling quickly disappeared and that similar dread was back, only more intense. But that only lasted for a second, before a darker, crushing feeling enveloped me. I put my head in my heads and looked down. I tried to handle it before but now I just couldn't control it.
It had been twenty three years. What the hell where the chances of my parents still being alive? It wasn't just the war I feared, but whether they just survived all those years when I was gone. My mother had always been of a nervous temperament, only worsening with age. She often descended into a panic whenever the slightest thought of me being in any harm, real or imaginary. But all that was because she loved me, no matter how annoying I found it. I doubt she could even survive the stress of not knowing what happened to her son. My father was of a stronger state of mind, but even I noticed how his health declined over the years. All those hours upon hours of lifting heavy equipment and doing hard work all over London well into his fifties had certainly left a toll on him. I would help him out whenever I could, going with him in his van and helping him with his jobs, unloading gear, setting up scaffolds, and so many other things. He was good at what he did, but I could see he was getting old. Mum talked to him about retiring, but he wouldn't hear it. I'd have to help mum calm down after she and dad had their rows, and she'd smile at me for bearing with her.
I should've been there for them. To be with them over all this hell that I was somehow plucked from. I could've helped them. I don't know how, but maybe. But what of all the others? My friends? What about them? Were they gone too? The chances weighted in my head over and over.
"Are you okay?" A soft voice said.
I forced myself to lift my head, and looked to Shakti, who had her head craned in my direction. I could see what looked like concern in her face, as she held her head down so that her eyes were level with mine.
"No. I'm not okay." I said with a raspy throat.
"I was in that pod for a long time. I… I'm worried that… Everyone I knew…"
I couldn't bring myself to talk more about it. I just held my head down.
After a brief moment of silence, I heard a sigh come from opposite me followed by Shakti's voice.
"I'm not so good at this- kind of thing, but… do want to talk about it?"
I gulped. It would be difficult to really turn how I felt into words but I had to confront it now.
"Okay."
I took a breath.
"My parents. I don't think they're alive."
"Why?"
I looked down at the ground, gripping my fists, overcome with emotion.
"It's been twenty years! There was an alien invasion, a war, an occupation! And I, for some reason...!" I yelled. I was angry but I couldn't find the words to end my rant with.
I looked at her again, her small red eyes blinking at me.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell."
"I thought you said you wanted to talk." She said quietly, looking away from me.
"I did, it's just… This is very hard for me. I got overemotional."
Shakti slowly turned her head back to face me.
"Hey, it's fine. This is, um, very weird for me too."
"How so?"
"Well, George, You're here sitting, talking next to me, when yesterday I just found you in the river sleeping in a giant stasis pod!" She said with a similar smile, her tone showing that she was also baffled by the situation.
"I mean, when I saw you standing there in the lobby, I couldn't believe it. I thought that if you… survived, you'd be comatose or something, but, there you were!"
"…What exactly happened?" I asked inquisitively.
"What?"
"How was I found?"
"Oh, yeah!" Responded Shakti, cheerfully.
Shakti put her hands together on her "lap" and took a quick breath.
"It was about nine AM when we got the call about debris floating down the North River. That river was connected to the dam so it was our job to retrieve it before it got too much for the barriers and got sucked into the turbines. As we drove there, Kacper said something about an earthquake that happened a dozen miles north of the city causing something to fall into the river. He and David argued about what exactly caused the debris getting into the water, but we made it to the river before they could continue their argument."
"When I arrived, there was already a bunch of stuff piled up against the barriers. Metal and plastic crates, lockers, and other small bits. We heard that there was more junk on the way so I set up the net, that thing over there-" She pointed to large roll of what looked like metal mesh with large steel rods sticking out amongst the pile of equipment at the front.
"-and placed it at each bank of the river so wouldn't have too much weight on the barrier. Anyway, I do this, Kacper gets the winch ready, I push what I can onto dry land, and David uses his new toy to help us out. Then, I see your pod floating down the river."
"Okay, I didn't know it was a pod then, but it caught our attention. A big silver rectangle that had a purple glow coming from a small window on the top part. I went over to investigate it when it landed on the net. Kacper was worried that it could be some weapon or something and David tells me to get out of the way so he can get it with his claw-gun, but I wanted to see what this was for myself. So I looked in the window, and, well, I saw your face!" She said that last bit with a glint of awe.
"I just screamed at the top of my lungs: "There's a boy in there!"" She said, making small cackling sounds which I took as laughter.
"…Boy?"
Shakti looked at me with squinted eyes.
"What?"
"I'm- I'm not that young, I'm twenty one."
The Viper made a little amused "hmp" before responding.
"Well, you're younger that you look."
I sat back, embarrassed that this was only one of many similar misunderstandings I'd had in my life. It was a little thing, sure, but it annoyed me a bit.
"You know what, nevermind. I was in stasis for a while anyway, so you're right. I am younger than I look. You were saying?"
"Oh, right. So I look into your pod, and notice that there's some liquid floating about your head, then I felt something nearly graze my tail." She pointed to a section of her tail that rested on the floor.
"I look down, and realized that there are these huge holes in the metal, like something tried to tear its way inside the hull. The water was coming into your pod." She said with wide eyes.
"I tried to pull the lid open but I couldn't, and I felt the pod begin to sink. So I yell at David to use claw-gun to try and get you on shore, he argued a bit about it hitting me since I was still on the pod but I got him to anyway. But it didn't work. The gun was too weak. I wrapped myself around the pod and held on the stem of the net to try and keep you above the surface. It was so straining but I kept holding for as long I could."
"Then I hear Kacper yelling my name, I turn and I see him standing on the bank with the winch in hand. He's yelling at me to come to the bank and fetch it, but I didn't want to let go of the pod. I tell him to throw it at me but he says he can't do it and I need to come over and get it if I didn't want the pod to sink. So, I took a deep breath, let go of your pod, and swam as fast as I could back to Kacper."
"I make it, grab the chain, and when I turned around I saw that you had already began to sink a few feet. So just dash as fast as I can through the water back to your pod. There was no time to coil around the hull again so, without thinking I just put the hook inside one the holes and hoped that it hold. I yelled at to get the winch working, I hear the gears on the trunk back on land begin whirring and I see the chain go taught."
Shakti brushed her hands across her faces before she continued.
"I stayed beside your pod as you were being pulled. I worried that you might sink before we reached land but the pod hit the shallows just in time. By then some workers from the dam had come to see what all the shouting was about, and there was about six of them standing by the truck as you were pulled in."
"Then the pod hit the bank and grazed across the mud for a few yards before Kacper stopped the chain. David was telling me to get away from the pod, but all I was thinking about was getting you out of there. I tried opening the top bit again but Kacper then said that if there was someone in there then opening the pod might kill them." She said that last sentence with a tinge of worry in her voice.
"So I back off, and we just looked at the pod for a moment. I saw the water pour out of the tears in the silvery hull and David said something about "regretting this" behind us. Then we a huge "fiss" noise and this ring of mist just explodes out from the pod as the lid jutted open a few inches." She continued to gesticulate the parts of the story, pushing her hands outward and hissing as she described the pod's actions.
"I hear everyone gasp behind us, even David made a little squeal when it happened. Then I hear a voice coming from the pod. I couldn't understand it at first, so I move closer to the pod. I have my hand on the lid. I turn around and see David and the dam engis huddled up behind the truck, one of them even had their phones out."
"I could still hear the voice, muffled by the lid still being on top of the chamber. So I take a deep breath, and open it."
"And…There you are. A human, no alterations, no injuries, unconscious but breathing. Then I realize the voice is coming from a speaker in the side of the chamber, it's speaking Advent."
It took me a second to understand what she meant. But then I realized that it would make sense for an intergalactic alien empire to have its own language.
"It was saying; "Stasis Unit Failed, Life Support Systems Offline" over and over again. I was panicking, not sure what to do. They was no tubes or nothing attached to you. You were just laying there, breathing slowly."
She paused for a moment, looking me square in the eye.
"I just, pulled you out of there and carried you to the truck. I told the guys that we had to do something, Kacper said we should take you to the hospital and see if they could help you. So I just held you, draped with one of the towels that the guys saved in case they had had to go into the river…"
My mind went blank as I listened to those last few words. I was pulled out of a metal tube, naked, and then held in the arms of a giant snake en route to hospital. It was so surreal and embarrassing that I couldn't focus on the rest of what Shakti said.
"… This crowd had just grouped around the truck as we were parking. I was like, why the hell are they here? I carried you up to the lobby and then they got a stretcher and pulled you in…"
Shakti then slumped down in her seat and took a few heavy breaths.
"I wanted to see what happened but they told me I couldn't come. On the way back through the truck I kept being pestered by onlookers asking what had happened. David and Kacper had their fair share of people bugging them. Turns out, that one engi with his phone had posted the video, and it spread to the rest of the city in moments."
"And, well, that's what happened." She said, smiling.
I visualized the story in my head. The strangeness, the confusion, the urgency. All of it was so bewildering to me. But, looking at the tall, reptilian creature before me, one thing cropping up in my mind above all of those emotions.
"You saved my life." I said, softly.
I looked at Shakti's face, her white-scaled features and red eyes appeared to soften before me.
"Thank you. Just- Thank you so much. I would've drowned if not for you."
She looked at me for a moment. Her face contorted in an expression I couldn't quite make out.
Suddenly her coils beneath her unravelled, and she quickly slithered towards me. I felt her rise up in my body as her long, thin arms wrapped around me. She then gently released herself from me and edged back a few feet.
"Sorry, I just-"
The fear in me dissipated, realising what she had done.
"Hey, it's okay." I said, stretching out my hand to her.
She looked at my hand, then to me. She gently took hold of my hand, her long yellow fingers wrapping around it.
"I'm just glad you're okay." She quietly said.
There was a sudden jolt that shook the truck as it stopped. Shakti let go of my hand as we heard the engine go quiet.
"Well, we're here."
Shakti made her way to the back of the truck, and unhinged the metal flap, this time doing it slowly. She slithered down on to the ground and waited for me to follow.
I made my way out of the truck and looked at the building in front of us.
It was a large warehouse, about three stories tall. It had a curved, sloping metal roof, and the walls were painted a dark green. There was a row of small windows about two metres above the open garage door in front of us. I could see two figures standing over tables in the dimly lit interior. Kacper was leaning next to the door of the truck whilst David was standing in the middle of the paved ground in front of the garage, looking at us.
"This way." Said Kacper, tilting his head to the building before walking on.
We all made our way inside, the cool air from outside blew across my back and into the workshop. Each figure was wearing the same informs the other Crew members were. One was hunched over a table to the left of us, working on some strange, toolbox-sized contraption that looked like a miniature satellite, with four small solar panels sticking out of the corners. The worker then turned around as we walked in, a young woman's freckled face looked towards us, large goggles still affixed to her eyes.
"Hey, Janet." Said Kacper as we walked on.
"Hey, Kas."
She then turned to me.
"Oh, is this..?"
"Yeah, that's 'im alright, love to stay and chat but me and 'im got some catching up to do and I need that drone back online ASAP, alright?"
"Oh, aright." She said as she returned to work on her machine.
"Hey, Mike." She said to the other figure, who was seated down in a wooden chair next to his table.
A large lamp beamed yellow light onto his hands, he was working on too small to be seen over his figure.
"Uh." Said Mike, briefly raising his head before returning to work.
We then made our way through a small green door, pass some short corridors set up by thin wood boards, before we got to a padlocked red metal door against a dark blue wall.
Kacper unlocked the door and we made it inside.
There, in the centre of this small room, surrounded by blue monitors and thick plastic wires, was the pod.
Its reflective silver finish and smooth, yet huge design made it look like some grand coffin. It was about seven feet wide and three feet tall. The holes and tears Shakti mentioned were present, the metal having been twisted and torn in some areas. I slowly approached the machine, the instrument of my captivity, with a sombre feeling. I made my way around it, to see the lid pried a few inches open.
Without thinking, I grabbed the lid with both hand and lifted it open. The metal covering gracefully flew open and gently came to a halt as it fully opened.
I saw the light blue padding of my cell illuminated by small lights in the sides of the pod. I could see the creases where my body had laid. A sudden sick feeling rose in my stomach as I stared at the interior of my tomb, growing quickly until images began to flash into my mind. I fell to my knees and gripped my head as I was taken back to the last time I saw home.