Chapter Two
Carver returned to consciousness in a haze, the edges of his sight were blackened like a vignette as the blurriness slowly cleared. He was on his side, and didn't move as he gazed at his outstretched arms, and then the flickering lights and beeps along the walls of the ship feet away from him. The previous events hurled back to his memory, the instances that happened directly before... blackness.
This is a dream, right..?
At least he wanted to believe that.
No way, no possible way in HELL did we yet survive a second time. Though this time, maybe not being "saved" by the Aliens.
Thinking of this brought the battered Sergeant to another moment of confusion, as he didn't hear any noises or see any signs of Isaac. He then realized that his head was resting upon a makeshift pillow.
Huh, I don't remember that...
He rolled onto his back and peered up at the ceiling, then decided to finally sit up. He glanced around the cockpit and the Engineer was nowhere in sight. Carver rubbed the side of his head and exhaled a sigh. He turned his head towards where he was just laying, and saw blood stains on the pillow. Yet when he brought a hand to his mouth and wiped his face, nothing came of it. He confirmed that Isaac must of laid him to his side, with a pillow as support, to not risk him choking on his own blood. Maybe did some cleaning as well, of the blood and whatever small wounds were among Carver's face.
He then stood slowly and felt a faint ache ringing in the back of his head, but he pushed that annoyance away as he made his way along the cockpit and checked around corners and small storage rooms.
Man I don't even know what to believe anymore... Was Isaac ever even here... or was this whole thing another shit hallucination?
He entered a small back room of the ship. It was a bit long like a hallway, yet wider. On each side of him were tiny beds, much similar to bunk beds, but built into the walls. He continued his walk between them and approached a set of narrow double doors at the end of the room, such as those to push through when entering a bar or kitchen. Yet these were tall and did not have any windows.
The Sergeant stopped before pushing the entrance when he heard what appeared to be the faint sound of water running.
A slight anxiousness took over him and he lightly pushed the doors and stepped into the washroom. There Isaac stood at a sink in the back corner. He was shirtless and hunched over the sink, letting the faucet water drain over his entire head. He stood there for many seconds with his eyes shut and not moving an inch, almost as if he was stuck in some trance.
"... Clarke?"
The other man snapped up (nearly banging his head against the faucet in the process), and threw his gaze over to the Sergeant.
"Carver... I thought... I thought you would be out for longer".
John grimaced as his mind was suddenly swallowed up with questions, confusion, and pain.
"Shit Isaac...". He trudged over to the bathing man and stopped beside him. "Isaac... This, this is real?".
The question came out as a short and incredulous laugh.
The Engineer faced the Sergeant completely with an almost-blank expression plastered on his face, water droplets slid down his forehead and cheeks as he took a moment to respond.
"Yeah, I guess so."
"Bu-... We were right there Isaac, fucking WATCHING our homeland, using the radios. How... How are we still here? It doesn't make any sense, I can't-"
Carver struggled to find words, thoughts really. He looked downward and took a step back, at a complete loss of what to even do. He brought his hands to each side of his head in distress, and let out another laugh of disbelief.
"Oh my God man..."
He felt hands lightly wrap around his wrists, pulling his own hands back down away from his face. Isaac then released his hold and patted on the Sergeant's chest.
"I know, Carver. I... I don't know what to think either. I don't know what is real anymore, and once we're there in front of our home and I thought that this shit was over, that happened." His voice was almost an eerie calm, but John knew that there was so much more going on beneath it. "You were on the ground when I first came back to terms, and I thought that you had also left me. I didn't know what to do, I still don't know what to do man...".
The other's head lifted at this and he faced Isaac, but his were still averted lower and mouth hanging slightly ajar as he was soaking in all of the information. Isaac's voice was becoming slightly higher in pitch and laced with desperation as he continued. ''I turned the ship and all I saw were fucking stars forever, no sign of Earth. Oh God Carver I don't know where we are, I don't know what happened, it was too fast and I don't-..."
Isaac trailed off now becoming lost himself.
Carver was now gazing into his eyes and Isaac saw something heavy and weary deep within. The Sergeant pressed his lips in a thin line and slightly looked away again as he nodded his head, as if he felt forced to agree with this living nightmare. He returned his eyes to Isaac's and all that could come out was a simple "Okay".
The pair remained standing in silence, both completely unknowing of what to believe anymore. They both had a huge dose of anger, pain, confusion and disbelief shoved down their throats without a choice. Usually Carver would have thrown an angry fit by now, if it had been a lighter situation.
It was John who snapped out of it first, not entirely knowing what to say, he offered a thought.
"Alright... Maybe we can figure out something, I mean there has to be a way, right? We don't know where we are or what the fuck we saw back there. But we are surrounded by stars, and Earth is out there waiting for us. I'm going back to our planet, Isaac. And I'm gonna damn-well keep trying until I make it."
Though his short speech was phrased in a self-centered way, John was hoping that Isaac would catch along and agree, and include himself in this plan. But the other man was still standing there at a loss of thought. Carver grasped his forearm and gave it a gentle shake.
"Hey man... Don't give up... If we're dead, then we can do what we want, right? Who knows what's fuckin' real anymore, sure as hell neither of us do. But I ain't quittin'. And I'm not gonna quit on you, either."
These words almost felt... foreign... coming off of Carver's tongue. After all it was usually it was him who was the pessimist, the complainer. Only minutes ago he felt utterly useless and defeated, and the dread was still over taking him. But seeing Isaac suddenly so quiet was unsettling. The Engineer was definitely an intellect, and in most instances of this hellish journey it was him who planned and strategized. It was him who was always a step ahead, gaining clues and finding pieces to the puzzle.
Carver was intelligent as well, but only do a degree. He shared a common ground of understanding with Isaac whenever it would come to holding onto the past, never letting go. Deep thinking and thoughts running and running and running. Like his mind would never stop racing with worries, problems and possible solutions. Back in Basic Combative Training in his prime years, Carver was actually one of the quietest fellows. He chose to keep to himself and not risk forming troubling relationships with the other recruits. His mouth was shut but his ears and eyes wide open, mind flooding with thoughts.
The difference between the two men is that Isaac saw issues as he did machines. They were created and once flawless, but now faced a malfunction. He would either fix the problem with what he had, or find some spare parts to improvise. And instead of letting the problem worsen over time, he would fight to find solutions and handle it in the quickest manner. Isaac was able to construct and build off of real-life situations, and search for the best possible outcome. Smartly. This happened to be why everyone had looked up to him, and why he was specifically chosen to help repair the Ishimura in the first place. But as of their current situation lost among the vastness of outer space, the Engineer didn't even know where to begin.
Of course Carver was also struggling in this moment, but he had to stay strong for Isaac. Sure the man had seen quite enough for his time, and he was definitely one who nobody would want to cause trouble with. But throughout his nightmarish experiences, the threads latching onto his sanity have gradually been cut. And now he was barely hanging on.
The Engineer finally glanced up and their gazes met. His blue eyes were deep and sorrowful, like a puppy had been kicked and then wondered what it had done wrong. Carver caught what appeared to be a flash of innocence in Isaac's eyes, and for a moment it seemed as if the man himself was attempting to piece together why he was ever even here, why? What had he ever done?
Of course, neither of them deserved this, though.
Isaac blinked and the expression was gone, he averted his eyes slightly downward towards the Soldier's collarbone and remained still. Carver's warm hand also remained placed upon the other man's upper arm, and without realizing (and possibly to get his attention), Carver lightly ran his other hand through Isaac's damp hair and kept it there at the back of Isaac's head. Isaac lifted his head once again.
"Clarke... You're not gonna believe it when I say this. But it's gonna be okay."
Isaac hesitated before he nodded, and Carver released his arms and lowered them to his sides.
"We'll get through this. Nothing new, right?"
This gained a small chuckle from the Engineer and Carver gave him a playful punch in the arm.
"That's what I better hear. I'm gonna check out the rest of this ship for any supplies. I'm assuming that you have the systems set to some auto-pilot or sleep mode right now?"
The other man's words were quiet and tired, and he dragged a hand along his face.
"Yeah, I've managed to temporarily disable the main engines in hopes of conserving whatever energy we have. It'll do no harm, for now we're cruising at a slow pace. Where we go depends on whatever atmospheric gravity pulls us, until we come up with some measurements and coordinates. Though I still have the defense systems and radars active, so we would know if we were nearing another solar system."
He briefly paused before adding, "I didn't want to make any final decisions before I could wrap my head around what's happening, and until you woke up".
This startled the Sergeant as he nearly forgot about Isaac's aid, which had probably saved his life. He nodded in confirmation and took a step back ready to leave, but the words came out of his mouth before he realized, "Thanks, man. For real. I trust you, ya know."
Isaac gave a small smile in return and turned to head back for the sink. Carver rear-faced and shuffled to the doorway while shouting out "Hey I'll letcha know what I find!"
هههههههههههههه