Chapter 2: Survival
My entire body felt excruciatingly hot.
I gasped for air as I reached rapidly in front of me. I was drenched in sweat and blood.
I opened my eyes only to be blinded by the ridiculous brightness from the sun.
I gasped for air as I felt a cold breeze hit my face.
My visor was broken and glass was inside my suit and on my face. The blood felt dry and my entire face felt warm.
Yet I was alive, I could breathe.
As my eyes adjusted to the light I saw a vast forest in front of me. A vast green grove of various foliage began to fill my senses.
From the smells to the shifts of the air. Yet I was in bewilderment.
Complete utter shock.
Was I crazy? The probability was high.
I was in space, dying, the lack of oxygen must be making me hallucinate.
Yet everything felt real. Most of all the fear. I began shacking and the back of my neck tensed up. I couldn’t understand what was happening or what happened.
I wanted to cry because there was nothing rational about this.
I looked intensely into the wet leaves on the soil I sat on. I scooped it up and brought it to my face to inspect it.
My hair wasn’t long and it was faded along the sides but the front was long enough to obscure my sight. The dry blood made it droop more annoyingly in my face.
I moved it to the side to see the details of the worms that wiggled in the scoop of dirt I held in my glove.
I let it fall through my fingers in amazement. Taking a deep breath helped me calm down a bit.
“Things will go wrong in any given situation if you give them a chance." I hated this unscientific adage, but as my dad’s favorite saying it played in my head.
Never in his wildest dreams would he have expected this though. I began to laugh at the hilarity of the situation and it was able to relieve my nerves.
I was no longer tense, but this thinned the adrenaline flowing through my blood. As such, I began to feel the pain that was my body was ignoring.
I began to shake, but this time not of fear. I held my gut as I still felt the hole in my stomach the debris made. My face began to un-numb as well.
I rolled in the overgrowth holding myself in pain. I clenched my teeth as I tried to endure. I still had a small medical kit on me. I swallowed painkillers from an aluminum package.
I closed my eyes and concentrated on ignoring the pain.
Time moved slowly. Before I knew it, I could move despite the pain.
I crawled to the nearest tree and sat with my back to it. I inspected my equipment, but most of it was in tatters.
The cross of having fallen here from the sky crossed my mind.
It was the most logical despite the fallacy and impossibilities that came with the thought. The crashed visor and glass on my face seemed to support it. Yet neither I nor the equipment looked like it suffered atmospheric burns caused by dropping here at high speed from outer space.
It would have simply been impossible to survive a fall from that height. If anything I would be a gory mess on the ground.
Yet here I am.
After removing what remained of my helmet I pulled the glass from my face. Any cuts that aren't blocked by coagulated blood I covered with band-aids after adding antibiotic cream.
I removed the rest of my spacesuit as I began to get too hot.
The forest was provided a cool breeze, but I was beginning to suffocate from the heat inside the suit.
Despite various holes in my suit from the impact of the debris I suffered in the miniature explosion, I only had one wound in my stomach.
There was no way to remove any foreign object that may be in there. As an amateur, I may cause more damage digging around looking for something than whatever is in there could cause.
I worried about a possible infection. After deciding on my options I bandaged myself after applying more antibacterial ointment.
There was no need for me to pack equipment except for what was necessary for the repairs. I had a habit of always carrying a small medkit on me. So in total, I only had the bare minimum on me.
I re-organized my equipment.
A small x-acto knife and an even thinner expo knife with a few replacement blades for both.
A little bit remained of the para wire that was supposed to keep me attached to the ship.
A few more painkillers and a single package of penicillin were in a hand-sized container.
A single bandage as well.
Everything else was either broken or missing.
The communications were not working, both the water and oxygen tanks were busted.
I was exhausted so most of my equipment was dead weight.
I didn't have any of the survival kits we trained, so I had to make do with what I had and thus I scraped my life support system and what remained of the suit.
Many of the synthetic fibers and fiberglass on the garments had many uses. This was especially true as protection against temperature and weather.
Taking a canister and some tubing from the cooling systems I could store water and drink as I walk.
The lithium hydroxide canister was used to filter the carbon dioxide from my breathing. The filter contained coal and hydro filters perfect to clean water. I could then boil the filtered water using the canister to make it drinkable.
I wrapped my goggles and materials inside the large torso garment of my space suit and strapped it to my back with the paracord as a makeshift backpack.
Since I am wearing a black nylon jumpsuit and white boots and insulated gloves, I left the pants garment and oversized boots of my spacesuit behind.
I grabbed the battery within the communication equipment and some wires. This is perfect as a makeshift lighter for later.
Preparing myself set my mind at ease and I only used up a bit of sunlight.
I don't know how far I am for civilization.
I packed as light as I could to conserve energy, but having no food or water frightened me.
Not knowing where in the world I was. I searched the plants for signs of indigenous species that could give me a precise dictation of my location.
Although I was proud of my own intelligence, my memory was not perfect so I gave up.
The biome was a deciduous forest with large tall trees and plenty of flora all around me. The names of the species, I could not recall at the top of my head.
However deciduous forests are in North America, Western Eurasia, and Northeastern Asia.
This told me I was above the Equator.
The good news was that water was nearby, specifically if I follow down the slopes of the terrain.
The bad news was the temperature. This biome had winter.
Winter meant death.
Since I didn't see much red, I could assume fall was still yet from approaching.
Human settlements would have been built in warm areas near water, so I made a decision.
I would go south.
How did I know which way to go?
Easy, I could use the sun or the moss on the trees.
Moss only growing north is a common misconception so be careful.
Moss only grows north of the trees in the northern hemisphere and it grows facing south in the southern hemisphere. That said, as long as you know where you are at it can help as a guide.
Not only the sun but the moon, stars, and planets rise from the east and set in the west due to Earth's rotation.
Using the moss and the sun I set south.
The forest was aw-striking.
As I hiked through the forest I immersed myself in the natural beauty around me.
I paid attention to the plants within the overgrowth until I could find species I could recognize.
However, something caught my attention.
I stayed still for a moment and listened.
Nothing.
It was silent. Way too silent.
Not a single chirp from a bird or cricket.
Yet I like eyes were watching me.
I looked around, but I couldn't see anything new.
The sound of the wind brushing on the trees felt ominous.
I had a hunch, but I remembered the worm that was in my hands.
I looked down and pulled more dirt and found some armadillidiidae. Back home the kids called them rollie-pollies or pill bugs. They are these small black bugs that roll up into a black ball when touched or when they feel threatened.
But this one seemed active.
It crawled on my hand. More specifically it crawled directly up my arm over my suit. I watched curiously following where it would go.
Normally they would try to escape, but not this one. It gave me an ominous feeling.
It reached my chest before it stopped. It then pushed itself into my chest. It was difficult to feel what it was trying to do, but I could see its tiny limbs digging into my jumpsuit as if it was trying to bury itself in me.
I felt silly watching it for much longer. It simply repeated the same motions nonstop and before I knew it, I was bored.
I felt a bit of relief since nothing actually happened around me either so I wiped the bug off me and continued off.
Humming a song to myself as a distraction eventually I found a stream.
The soil was extremely damp and fertile, and both times I dug into it bugs appeared easily. This let me know that I should be wary of bugs if I was to sleep here.
I looked at the sun and approximated enough time to build something that could separate me from the ground while I slept.
My priority was water, and since I had the time and equipment, making sure it was safe to drink as well.
Looking for dry leaves or twigs was a bit difficult to find. Instead, I found a thing dead tree. I broke some of its limbs by stepping on it to check how old it was.
It was perfect.
From it, I was able to gather kindling and branches to maintain a fire.
After preparing a pit with some rocks in the driest area I could find I set the kindling. I then mixed fiber material from torn areas of the spacesuit I used as a backpack within the dry wood and leaves.
Using the small battery and I placed the wires connected to it together over the fiber. I held them together allowing the electrical current to ignite the kindling.
I blew on a small fire and tried to let it grow.
It blew out.
I repeated the process until I was able to get a fire to burn one of the branches.
I grabbed the metal canister and filled it with water after pouring it through the lithium filter.
I set the open canister over the fire propping it with a stone that was tall enough to separate it away from the fire.
Letting the water boil I set to collect small trees or large enough branches to make layers on the floor.
Finding what I needed took up most of the little time that remained before nightfall.
I removed the water canister and drank a bit after the water dropped down to a drinkable temperature.
I put out the fire and wrapped any leftover kindling with an aluminum mylar sheet I cut out of the suit.
I stacked the large branches and thin logs I collected in hexed layers. This allowed the tension to create a makeshift Da-Vinci bridge.
The pure tension allowed it to hold itself together without the use of rope or adhesive. After confirming it would carry my weight of eighty-five kilos or roughly 187 pounds, I laid on it.
I wasn't scared of rolling off, for I was a heavy sleeper.
And as exhausted as I was. I immediately fell asleep. I was out cold despite how my body reminded me of the wounds on my face and stomach.
The wound in my stomach tried to act up a few times, but it wasn't serious enough and I was able to ignore it during my hike.
And so I slept.
My dream was sweet.
There was a large tall mountain with a gorgeous red river flowing down its snowy hills. The river was reflecting the crimson rays of sunlight that poured over the horizon as the sun rose.
I sat above the mountain watching a flock of birds fill the cloudless sky.
Not one but many species flew in unison.
Below many animals of all shapes and sizes approached as well.
They slowly got close to the large river and began to stampede directly into it.
They ignored the red river and rushed to the centermost part of the mountain.
I couldn't see the animals clearly, but they all went towards a single direction. The birds dived into the same area the other animals were desperately trying to reach.
Pain.
The creatures were insane. They were doing everything they could to force themselves into the center of the mountain.
And my stomach felt them.
I woke myself with my own scream.
I was immediately surprised and scared.
There was an unfathomable amount of animals and creatures around me.
Deer, skunks, shrews, porcupines, possums various birds and insects including a wolf were surrounding me.
There were no growls chirps or vocal noises of any kind.
The creatures desperately pushed themselves into me. Specifically my chest.
It was painful with the combined weight and strength as the creatures pushed and pushed.
Their eyes looked dead and static-like dolls.
And as I threw them off me and struggled they felt like stiff carcasses.
I was wearing my gloves and jumpsuit so their claws did nothing to me.
They didn't even try to bite or sting.
As I fell off onto the floor they followed.
I was terrified and confused.
A centipede managed to find itself in my suit and I unzipped myself to find other bugs and within my shirt.
I rubbed them all off and ran off.
I grabbed the spacesuit that acted as my bag while I scurried off in the darkness.
Immediately, because if the lack of visibility I tripped over a branch. I could feel the animals trying to climb me again and the wolf pressing itself on me.
The moon did little to light the way as I managed to lift myself and sprint forward.
Away from the creatures.
I felt dings on my back as the birds that followed dived into me.
I didn't look back, but instead I ran.
And ran.
And ran.
Unsure of which direction I was going.
The only thought in my head was getting out of there.
I ran.
And ran.
Eventually, It was silent again.
I was out of breath and the wound in my stomach began to bleed again.
Underneath the bandage, it felt warm.
I gripped my stomach as I gasped for air.
Exhausted from sprinting I dropped to my knees.
"RUN!"
My eyes opened wide.
"Run!"
A higher-pitched voice repeated the words again.
I was shocked, and still trying to recover.
"Caw, caw!"
"RUN!"
"Run!"
"Ruuuuuuuun."
Every time it was a different voice.
All of them were raspy and creepy, but each shouted at different pitches of tone.
"Caw, RUN."
"Run!"
I was already frightened from before.
Once I recovered a bit of my energy I again sprinted as fast as my legs could carry me.
The flapping of wings could be heard behind me.
"RUN!"
"Ruuun, caw!"
The same word was repeated constantly.
And it followed me.
I was frustrated.
I couldn't outrun them.
The flapping within the trees.
The cawing and the voices.
They followed for hours.
I was kept slowing down.
I was exhausted.
I was tired.
Blood pulled in my stomach.
My eyes felt heavy.
My body felt cold.
"RUN!"
I wanted to listen.
But I collapsed.
