One last time

Darkness.

The sky was covered in thick clouds, lightning streaking like the branches of the world tree.

Rumble!

The rain at times poured, at other times drizzled but it never stopped. Yet- the ground was merely wet- not even muddy.

"DKDKK DJ KJDH FKHD KKK?"

"DKKD. GKRT DI KL SBKDH GIHHH!"

But even in this place, two people- if they could be called people communicated. Their bodies were covered in some sort of turquoise proto armor and their helmets had hundreds of small holes but nothing more.

One was trying to convince the other of something- but-

There wasn't much in the immediate vicinity of the two men. Just barren lands and some large flying tentacles monsters.

Their language sounded like bleeps and bloops and though they appeared humanoid- they weren't human.

One of the men shoved his hand forward- a small oval object manifested on his hand. Half of the object dematerialized and a head could be seen- the decapitated head of a girl- fair pink skin.

"AH RHFH AIRIHGFH!" The other man shouted, wailing his hands, still trying to convince him.

Meanwhile- the man with the head, let out ominous noise- a Noise that could only be categorized as laughter? "DURAAIJ!"

The eyes of the girl opened- bright red. The color of blood.

And though the man tried to run- he held his head, fell to the ground and his body started to morph. His screams died along with his freedom.

In a matter of seconds, his flesh spewed out of his armor and gradually expanded. His limbs turned to tentacles and-

"AHRH AhR HHHHH!"

RUMBLE!

***

During the age of Drons, there was a saying- 'If you're stuck in space without food, you're better off killing yourself rather than waiting to be rescued.'

The world wasn't easy.

And space was worse.

Empty and vast.

And in this empty hell, a girl drifted in her space shuttle- out of fuel and almost out of food.

She'd left six months ago and during that time she'd traveled through vast distances, and yet- she was not where she wanted to be. There were two reasons. One, she didn't know where she wanted to go. And two, the nearest mapped habitable planet was still half a month away- and it wasn't even colonized- or so her CCD (Central controlling device) described.

The ship was mostly out of power- so there was no light apart from the CCD which was running from emergency power- which would eventually go out.

She sometimes wondered, what was the point of struggling so much if she was going to die anyway?

Maybe staying on that planet and letting her mother kill her, wasn't such a bad idea?

Sigh.

She sighed and just sat in a corner- legs shut tight, almost like a fetus in the womb.

It was still cold.

Not freezing but cold.

The ship was out of fuel and it was merely drifting. Her food sources were almost ravished. If this kept up, sooner or later she'd have to kill herself or die out of starvation.

She didn't like either option.

There wasn't anything to do either. She couldn't just make edible food out of nothing. And she certainly couldn't live on recycled water forever.

Rationing and trying her best to conserve food wasn't working either. She already felt faint enough, to be unable to stand.

'Really, what was the point?'

She didn't have an answer- and no one else did either.

***

Days went by and after another week Rin finally lost it.

"ARGHHH!!!" She started kicking her seat, trying to bang her head against it.

Bits of mist formed- too cold. Though she bled ever so slightly, her rage didn't die, instead, she only felt worse.

Powerless.

She'd finished all her food.

There was nothing left.

She'd been too hungry.

So hungry, she tried to eat her arm- but- couldn't.

"Why?" She broke down, eyes tearing up but not a drop leaking; her eyes were too dry. "WHY!!!" Her voice broke.

She was already just skin and bones. And water was also scarce.

But- again, no one had an answer.

It was too cold.

It was-

Everything was dark and empty.

And sooner or later, she'd run out of air.

Sooner or later- her end was coming.

***

On day 221, on the day when Rin couldn't even keep her eyes open anymore- she had a dream. A dream where she, her mother, and her father were together, playing in the sun, touching the grass, laughter, warmth.

Those were good days.

But those days were lost.

She was never going to get them back.

It was too late.

Or- could she?

'What if there's an afterlife-'

One last hope-

Her skin was droopy and her bones were on full display. She was barely living.

With the last of her strength, she smiled and stared at the CCD. "Kill life-support." Her coarse voice barely came out as a whisper.

She didn't have the courage to ask to be killed. Perhaps it was cowardly, perhaps all her suffering would go to waste- and yet- she smiled. This was it.

She hoped.

And if she didn't end this now, it'd end soon regardless. The emergency power was sitting at 0.01%, not enough to last today.

Meaning, she'd have died in her sleep.

Beep! "ORgines 38y3777 dek, report your status."

But just then- she heard faint voices over the ship speakers.

But she was already too sleepy to answer.

Her body didn't move.

And with the life support gone, she couldn't breathe either.

She chuckled. 'Are you kidding me?'

In the end, everything just went against her.

At this point- she honestly couldn't even bother to give a fuc*-' Instead, she just closed her eyes and smiled for one last time.