The Light
A dystopian short by @SophiaLaney101

They say that when you die, you see a bright beautiful light. They say that the light takes you to places of unknown. A light that was so bright it engulfs your every sense. And as I wake up from the nightmare, I almost believe I see it. The light. I almost believe for a mere second that I was actually dead. That I had succumbed to the very disease that is ravaging my body at that moment. But no, it’s not a light. It was only my room, pristine white. White and pure as can be. My eyes try to adjust to this newfound vision that is blinding me whole. My very bones ache in my effort to arise from my bed. My arms quiver and shake. My legs tumbling beneath me. I try my hardest to steady myself, to at least reach the door before I fall back down. I need to call for help. I laid my body on top of the desk, reaching for the remote to open my door. As I looked down, I almost didn’t recognize my own hands, my own arms. They looked rough, small veins popping out of my brown skin. This can’t be happening. No, it can’t. I don’t have it. As much as I try to convince myself I know the truth. I was infected. They infected us with our own design. My own government wanted me dead.

My thoughts were overrunning my mind, my sense and my body. I kept trying to think about something else but I couldn’t. I couldn’t let the thoughts escape me. They were persistent, demanding to be heard, and demanding to have a say in the matter of common sense. I was so busy with my thoughts I hadn’t realized the door opened by itself, until I saw a shadow. It was long, black, hovering over my desk. I knew someone came into my room, yet I didn’t turn around. I wasn’t brave enough to do It, to face whatever came in uninvited.

I almost let out a scream as I felt a heavy body pushing me down to the ground, his left hand closed over my mouth. He shushed me. I could feel his hot breath on my neck. We waited a minute, for what I did not know until finally he let me go slowly. I shifted my body around to see my attacker. Rage boiled up inside me as I started smacking him in the face, my nails at times scratching him. He raised his hands in defense, trying to grab my hands so I would stop. “What is wrong with you?” My voice was low, I didn’t know why I was whispering for the room was completely empty except the two lovers that were quarreling inside it. “Stop hitting me.” His voice was stern, brutal and hurt. I completely stopped. I tried to catch my breath and so did Derek. I had to control myself, my anger at his stupidity. He didn’t have to grab my like a thief in the night. What was wrong with him? I assessed my boyfriend, head to toe. I could see blood smeared on his jacket, his hand bandaged up, and sweat gleaming from his face. Something happened to him. The horror of my assessment of him must have shown on my face for he started explaining, “While you have been napping like a baby, all hell has broken loose. The soldiers…” He trailed off, turning his face away from my view, not wanting me to see the terror that engulfed his body, even his soul, it was all over his face. “They started shooting everyone,” His shoulders started to quiver, his body shaking with hurt. He stifled his sobs. I placed my hand on his shoulder not knowing what else I could do to comfort him. Derek looked up at me, gulping in air as he started to stand up. “Ayanna, we need to go. I’ll explain.” I stood up too, anger overcoming my every movement.

Our bodies were in sync in step together, as we walked down the now vacant halls of the ship. We needed to find answers and we needed them soon. We could hear the screams, the screams of other people as we walked. I held his hand for I knew he wanted to help them but we couldn’t. His jaw clenched, his muscles tense with the effort. We quickened our steps. “Maybe we could go to my father’s lab. I know he would k…” “No he won’t. He won’t know anything. The Com room is our best bet. Those army boys gotta know something we don’t. We are expendable. We will find out what politicians in the white house gave the o.k. to kill.” I didn’t argue. It wasn’t that I could it was more of I didn’t want to. Derek had a way of getting his way. So I go along with his plan, even though I know it is wrong, I know it in my heart and soul. Even common sense told me that my father was the one who would know everything. I was so lost in my thoughts I didn’t see what was right in front of me. I felt him push me to the wall, masking us in the darkness of the hallway. “Soldiers.”

Silence was ever where. Darkness engulfed the halls of this once proud ship of researchers but now, it was nothing. Nothing more than a battlefield. This battle we choose. And would be glad to do it again. We stayed hidden in the shades, not wanting to be spotted by the soldiers. We could hear them, their walkie talkies going off as we approached a group of them in the hall down in Section 6, my father’s lab, Intensive Research. The soldiers were on high alert, their guns high and ready to shoot at anything that moved. They covered their faces with black paint as if they were camouflaging with their environment though I found it hard to do so as the whole interior of the ship was pristine white. I glanced at Derek, wondering what we should do, go head long and perish like true hero or sneak stealthily into the lab. I laid back on the wall, trying to calm my aggressive heart. Swear poured down my face, my vision was getting blurrier as we stood waiting for the soldiers to at least do something other than stand there like robots. My hands started to uncontrollably quiver hard, my body becoming a heavy essence that I was carrying. I wanted to lay down. “Jeez, Ayanna, you’re bleeding from your nose.” I looked down, my one white shirt stripped with a blood line. “Get down now.” My blood froze in my veins, my heart beating faster and faster. Thoughts ran through my mind. I didn’t want to die, I wanted to live. “Turn around, both of you.” We slowly did what we were told, facing my potential murderer, staring down the barrel of an automatic pistol. “I want you both to slowly head to the Com room. Slowly.” His voice sounded like death, apathetic and angry. I knew he didn’t care what happens to us. Hell, he probably wanted to be a part of it. These merc soldiers, a new form of evil. We couldn’t let ourselves be taken. Only God knew what these men would do to us. Torture, Murder, throw us off the ship and into the void that was called space without suits. I could only imagine. Before I knew I grabbed the gun from his arm, trying to yank it out his hands while Derek elbowed the guy in the back of his head. He let out a yelp as he fell face first to the ground losing consciousness.

“GET DOWN NOW! SURRENDER!” We quickly turned around to find reinforcements coming from the Com room. We looked at the unconscious man on the ground, a small clip was beeping in his right hand, blinking. “FIRE!” We tried to outrun them, bullets flying past us. Lights flashed around us, the headlights above us crashed down. Glass everywhere. I was cut on the arm but still we continued, for fear was propelling us to. Survival was propelling us to continue, fight or flight. My legs were tiring out. I could feel my whole body about to shut down completely from everything, from exhaustion, from despair, and from the very disease that is ravaging my body. I looked down only to see a trail of blood following us, my blood. But it wasn’t blood, it was black and chunky. What was wrong with me? Tears streamed down my face as I stopped. I ducked my head down as bullets ricocheted off the walls. Derek stopped and turned. I could see the fear in his face. I looked around for anything, anywhere for us to hide or to get away. Then I saw our savior. The low vents. I only managed to point to it by which he understood and kicked in the vent screen, completely knocking the screen down. He shoved me in, pushing me even further as he squeezed in. We crawled our way around Level B of the ship like rats in a forsaken building, scrounging for food. I knew this was for our own safety but I couldn’t mask that other part of me, the only that felt her pride dwindling as she crawled in the vents hiding from the very people that were supposed to protect her. We crawled out, making sure the coast was clear. That no soldiers were there. We were near the Research lab. I pulled him inside as the sound of my father’s voice greeted us. But it wasn’t him. It was a recording. He knew I would be there. There was complete darkness as we looked around trying to find the source of the voice. Behind us, the screen lit blue. Now, we knew where it was coming from.

I let out a gasp as I saw my father on the screen. He looked aged, like five years had gone by without me noticing. I noticed how sad and tired he looked. Drained of all power to do something, to be something.

“This is Doctor Carmichael. This message is for my daughter, Ayanna Carmichael. Ayanna if you are seeing this, it means the inevitable has happened and I need you to be strong. Follow my directions and you will survive this….”

I gave my full attention to the video, making sure I understood what I had to do in order to survive this. Tears streamed down my face as I looked upon my father’s face, it looked older, wrinkles visible where there were none, bags under his eyes, his skin drier than ever.

Derek shock me awake. “Come on, babe. We have to find the files. If we find it we can send it off.” I rubbed my eyes, glancing one last time at the screen with my father’s aged face on it, knowing in my very heart and soul that he had truly perished for the cause. Our cause. And I will not let his death be in vain. I sprinted after Derek, the white walls becoming a blur in my vision. I could feel my body almost giving out because of the sprinting but I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t be a baggage for Derek to carry.

I slammed straight into the desk as we reached our final destination, the genetic research lab. We could hear shouting, bullets flying, and people screaming in agony. Derek shut the door behind us, making sure no one was outside it. I closed my eyes, trying to steady my breathing, trying to control my body so I do not pass out. “Yanna, are you okay?” His voice was so soft, sweet, concerned. I did the only thing I could do, I nodded. I opened my eyes to see Derek scrambling through the computers looking for the files. He completely stopped. Something caught his eyes, something shocked him into silence.

“Jesus, Ayanna, we have to tell everyone. We have to tell everyone in the world about this.” He faced me, his eyes covered with tears. “If we don’t millions upon millions of people will die because of us.” He shifted his gaze back to the computer screen, mumbling under his breath. As I approached, I expected the worse and was right. As my eyes scanned through the files on the screen, I realized the true extent of our cause and our purpose. Horror engulfed my mind and body as I kept looking on. The government wanted to get rid of us, no matter if we agreed or disagreed with their diabolical plan of destruction. They needed to destroy the ones who created the virus. We were creating an instrument of mass destruction, targeting major cities in the world. I didn’t know how far their plan was until now. They wanted control.

“We have to call someone, the press, the Chinese, the Japanese, the English, the Iranians…” he stopped, thinking about the situation in front of us.

“Listen,” he grabbed my face so I could look into his eyes. I knew what he was going to say before he even said it. “If we are going to die…” He looked down on the ground, I could tell it was hard for him. “I want to die with you.” I covered his mouth with both my hands, not wanting to hear what he had to say. He was right, we had to tell people what was going on. We had to tell them the true intensions of our government. They, the citizens of the world, needed to know. “So they are using this disease to control people. We were building both a cure and a disease. It is brilliant but horrible. I…”I fell silent. I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t know what to say. But alas, I didn’t have to say anymore as the room went into complete darkness. Then flashing red lights. “They are on to us.” Then the shooting began anew. We ran like hell. We ran everywhere, anywhere. We ran for our lives, we ran because we wanted to live. But life wasn’t fair and it never will be. We ran to the end of the hall, near the pods. I couldn’t take it anymore. My body shut down. I fell to the ground, my lungs overworked, my muscles burning. The sickness inside me. That was when I realized, right at that moment. I was carrying the sickness. I may be spreading it to everyone I knew. “Come on.” Derek tried to pull me up, to continue on. I shook my head. “I…I need to find my family...” “They are dead, Ayanna, they are gone. You know the soldiers killed them.” I didn’t want to believe what he was telling me yet I couldn’t disagree with him. As he walked into the pod, I closed it behind him. “NO!” I could hear the hurt in his voice.

We looked upon each other through the small pod window. Lovers of a lost cause, of a hopeful end. We both knew how this had to end. We knew it, yet he didn’t want to believe it. I could see the pain in his deep blue eyes. It begged me, pleaded with me to come with them. To come in the pod. “I know you can’t understand but I must find my family. I have to stay.” I knew what I was going to do. I was going to save him. I was going to help him escape. I already sent the files from the lab over to the corporation and just in case, the media. “Ayanna, No! NO!” He pounded the pod door, trying to break free and save me. “We can help you! We can cure you! NO! Please! You are all I have in this world.” I couldn’t hold strong for him any longer. I felt my tears streaming down my face as we stared at each other for one last moment. “I know, baby. But listen, you have to take them down. I need you to take them down for me, for everyone who couldn’t make it. I will destroy them here. I will break them but you have to do the rest. Please.” With that, my last speech for my love, that last time we will ever hear each other’s voices. I ran down the hall not looking back, not wanting to hear the raged screams of a man losing the woman he loves most. Never again will I ever get to see his beautiful blue eyes wandering dreamily at the stars, hoping for a better future for both of us. Never again will I feel his touch on my skin, his kisses on my lips, nor his strong arms upon my body. With the memory, I take it to my grave. I will save them. They will tell the world of what has become of the crew of Hades. We will bring down the government and whoever stands in our way will die with them.

They say that you see a bright white light when you die, well, I will be the first to say that I did see that light. And it was beautiful. But I felt the pain inside me; as soldiers ricocheted bullets through my diseased body.