Chapter 20: Welcome Back to the Real World

SPLOOSH!

Shaundi fell out of a strange glass tube filled with a pink goo. She landed hard onto a metal floor with a THUD and gripped her stomach. She couldn't breathe. Her airway was blocked by a build-up of the pink fluid. She coughed, retching her entire body in the process until it broke away. She threw up a little as the slime left her mouth. It tasted like battery acid and left her throat coated in a layer of phlegm.

"What the fuck?" gasped Shaundi as she caught her breath. She stood up and slipped in the slimy mess under her bare feet. In an effort to catch herself, she slid across the metal floor until she landed on her stomach. Her breasts mashed against the cold floor. She was naked, like a newborn baby, fitting for the new world she'd just entered. Her legs felt numb. Her vision was blurred. What she could see looked like a spiraled tunnel from a carnival funhouse. "Where am I?" muttered Shaundi.

Deep voices echoed around her. They didn't sound human, but then again, Shaundi couldn't make heads or tails of anything. "Hello?" she called. She pulled herself up using a pipe attached to a wall beside her. She leaned against it for leverage as she walked down the metal hall for a few feet. "Who's there?" she asked before her stomach churned. She doubled over and spewed vomit onto a metal grating. It dripped through onto a group of Zin in a corridor below her.

"What the hell is this?" asked a Zin as he wiped his face. The aliens looked up. They cocked their heads.

"The female human anatomy is weird," said one Zin, getting a full view between Shaundi's legs. "It looks painful, like a gash."

"Kinda reminds me of a tired Warden's mouth," said another Zin. "Yet, there's something rather intriguing about it."

They continued to stare in awe for a few more seconds until red lights started to flash. "Another Saint has escaped. All Zin report to docking bay 15." Zinyak commanded over the intercom. "Don't fail me again."

Shaundi looked up. Her vision cleared. She saw a horde of Zin barreling toward her. "Holy shit!" She turned around and ran the opposite direction. Red lasers flew by her, narrowly missing her head. There were two Zin soldiers ahead of her. Though her coordination was a tad off, she was able to take out one Zin by sliding under his legs, grabbing his side arm, and blowing a shot into his head as she came up behind him. She fired several shots at the other Zin until he went down and took cover behind a cargo crate. Dozens of Zin raced down the corridor to an open docking bay. Shaundi fired, doing her best to keep them back. She took out a few, but her weapon was getting hot. It needed to cool off. "Come on you fucker," she grumbled. She hit the side of the weapon in frustration and it sparked. It grew hotter and hotter. It burned Shaundi's hands. She dropped it and it melted the metal floor. It fell through the molten metal leaving Shaundi unarmed. Shaundi rolled her eyes. "Fuck me."

The Zin kept coming. They drew closer and closer to Shaundi's position. She didn't know what to do. She needed a weapon. A metal rod leaned against a crate next to her. It would have to do. Shaundi grabbed it and readied herself for a fight. She closed her eyes. "Don't go down like this," she told herself. She opened her eyes and took a deep breath. Just a she was about to come out of cover to make her attack, a large grey spaceship came down from above. It hovered in front her on the side of the docking bay. The back part of the ship opened and two dark shadows appeared.

"Shaundi!" shouted The Boss. "Come on!"

Keith provided cover fire. "You need to jump!"

Shaundi didn't hesitate. She pushed off hard and fast and raced to the edge of the dock. Lasers whizzed by her ears, but she didn't notice. She reached the end of the dock and leapt toward the ship. The Boss outstretched his hand. Shaundi grabbed it and he pulled her inside. The Boss held her steady as the door to the ship shut closed.

"Kinzie, take us out," he said, firing several shots at oncoming Zin.

"Okay," said Kinzie. "You might want to hold onto something."

The ship jolted forward causing Shaundi to fall into The Boss. He caught her in his arms and helped her regain her balance. "You alright?"

Shaundi stepped away from him. "Mmmhmm," was all she could say before another wave of nausea overwhelmed her. She doubled over again and threw up all over Keith's feet. "Oh God," she mumbled, vomit dripping from her chin. She wiped it away just as another bout of sickness made her spew more. "I'm so sorry, Keith."

Keith kicked his shoes to shake the puke off. "It's alright."

The Boss patted Shaundi's slimy back. "The vomiting will pass. Just give it a bit." Shaundi nodded and straightened up. The Boss smiled at her naked body. "So, that's what Ethan has been missing? Poor guy. Kinda makes me feel privileged."

Shaundi looked down and rolled her eyes. "You're an asshole." She grabbed a sheet of tarp to cover herself. "Where is Ethan anyway? Where are the others?" The Boss and Keith grew silent. It did not go unnoticed. "What's wrong?" asked Shaundi.

"Nothing that can't wait until after we get you cleaned up," said Keith. He put his arm around her and led her out of the cargo hold. "Now, the showers here are tricky, but they get the job done."

Keith helped Shaundi to the showers. Once she was cleaned up, she put on a spacesuit and zipped it up. It stopped just below her breasts. It wouldn't zip-up anymore. "Of course," sighed Shaundi. After putting her hair back into an up-do, the way it looked before she was abducted, Keith led her to the ship's main control room. The Boss, Kinzie, and Matt were waiting for them.

"Where is everybody?" asked Shaundi.

"This is everybody." The Boss gestured around him. "We're still working on breaking the others out. Kinzie has a lock on their simulations. It won't be long until we get the group back together."

"And Ethan?" Shaundi looked at Kinzie. "You have a lock on him too right?" The room grew silent again. "For Christ's sake! Someone say something!"

Kinzie took a deep breath. "You might want to sit down." She pointed to a chair next to a control panel.

"No, I prefer to stand." Shaundi crossed her arms. "I've just been through hell, and what seem like some wacky nightmare designed by potheads. I'm not in the mood for games. Now, tell me what's going on. Where's Ethan?"

Kinzie took another breath. "First off, Earth is gone."

"What?"

"After The Boss broke out of his simulation, Zinyak blew it up." Kinzie glanced at The Boss. "We, and however many humans are left on his ship, are all that's left of humanity."

Shaundi took a moment to let the news sink in. "Are you sure all of us made it out?" she asked quietly.

"Oleg...Oleg..."Kinzie had a hard time speaking. She swallowed hard. "He and Josh were still on Earth when it..." She couldn't finish. Shaundi got the point.

"What about Ethan?" Shaundi stared Kinzie down. "Do you know if he made it out?"

Kinzie opened her mouth to speak, but The Boss put a hand up to stop her.

"Kinzie," said The Boss softly. He put a hand on Kinzie's shoulder. "Tell her the truth."

"Yes." Shaundi continued to stare at Kinzie. "Tell me...please."

Kinzie couldn't look at her. "Zinyak abducted, who he felt, were the best and brightest to place inside the simulation. Given Ethan's...disability...it's highly unlikely he made it out. I've tried to find him. Really, Shaundi, I did my best, but I can't find a signal." Kinzie's voice grew soft. "I hate to tell you this but, I'm afraid...odds are that he's..."

"Don't." Shaundi could feel her throat tighten. "Don't tell me that he's dead. Not when I finally fell..." A whimper cut her off and she swallowed it down. "Look harder. He's out there somewhere."

Matt stepped forward. "Ethan, from what I heard was rather remarkable despite his inability to see." He looked at Shaundi. "Though the chances are small, it is possible that Zinyak thought the same." He paused for a moment. "They are extremely small chances of course."

"It's still a chance." Shaundi looked at Kinzie and The Boss. "I know he's out there."

"Shaundi..."The Boss reached a soft hand toward Shaundi and she backed away.

"How dare you?" Shaundi clenched her jaw. "How dare you try to take away the one person, the only man, to ever truly see me for I really am."

"I see you for who you are too," said The Boss. "We all do."

"You don't get it."

The Boss nodded. "I get it." He gently rested a hand on Shaundi's arm. His tone was warm and sincere. Kinzie watched him quietly from the sidelines, her face somewhat tense with hurt. The Boss stepped closer to Shaundi. "I know you love him, that's very clear. We're not saying you should give up hope. We're just saying, and I know this sounds cold, but there's a possibility we may never..."

Shaundi slapped his hand away. "He's alive." She said sternly.

"I thought the same about Johnny." The Boss pointed to himself. "I didn't want to listen to what people were telling me. In the simulation, when I saw that plane, I was certain Johnny was on it, that he was alive. Instead, I found you..."

"Well, I'm sorry I disappointed you." Shaundi said before The Boss could finish. She backed away from the group and walked onto a breezeway.

"Shaundi, you didn't let me finish." The Boss called. "I didn't mean it that way!"

Shaundi kept walking. She hurried down a curved flight of steps and made her way back to the cargo hold. The doors slid open and quickly closed behind her. There was a couch position near a stack of crates. Shaundi sat down on it and gripped her stomach. She felt ill, but there was nothing left to expel. As she rocked back and forth to help the nausea pass, tears began to fall from her eyes. Sorrowful sobs escaped her lips and echoed throughout the ship. Her heart was heavy. She laid down on the couch and curled into a ball. She knew the others could hear her cries. She covered her mouth to push back another whimper...and the thought that Ethan, the only made she'd ever loved, may never get to hold her again.