Ethan sat on the ramp, looking out towards the forest. He didn't have a plan and seemed to be the only one with survival skills in the group. Releasing a deep sigh, Ethan turned back towards the vehicle bay. Now that the sunlight illuminated the inside, he could see multiple crates scattered around the edges of the room.

"We should check those crates. Maybe we can find something to help us for now."

"I'm on it," said Anabel, more than eager to get away from Louie. "Come on, Bryon, Ima need your help."

"But I was-"

"Come on!" she yelled

Bryon sincerely signed and reluctantly shuffled back into the hangar. Louie followed behind him, leaving Millie and Ethan on the ramp.

"Do you think someone will come for us?" Millie said, sitting down beside Ethan.

"No, it would be a waste of money and resources," Ethan said with a frown on his face, but he was right. The current active warlords, Baron Umfrey, warlord of the Red Army, Landon Savoy, warlord of the Eastern Army, and Ophelia Rogers, warlord of the Nomadic Roma, are currently at war. The Constance is one of the many ships to be raided and destroyed in this chaotic era.

"So, what do we do?"

Ethan laughed. "Well, we find our own way out."

Inside the Hangar, Bryon and Anabel are prying open the crates. So far, they have only found unless destroyed knick nacks and messy piles of what was initially in the container.

"Ah, I found something," Louie exclaimed, pulling a yellow package out of the container. He pulled apart yellow plastic inside preserved food meant for soldiers, which is strange. The Constance was a starship cruise, and it shouldn't have been carrying these MRE's.

"What is it" Anabel called out

"Food," he said, tossing over an unopened MRE. Anabel immediately opened it and was disgusted by what was inside.

"Louie, I'm not eating this, shit," Anabel exclaimed

"Well, do you see a 5-star chef with a kitchen filled with unlimited supplies,"

Anabel thew the MRE smacking him in the face, "That's not how stars work, dumbass,"

"Well, I'm so sorry, your highness, I didn't get to eat exquisite food every day. I at this shit."

"Look, it's obvious you guys have some problems," Bryon interrupted

"Shutup, Bryon," Anabel said, clenching her teeth

"I'm just saying-"

"Shutup up, Bryon!" They both said angrily

"Alright, I'm just gonna go," Bryon said, leaving the hangar. Bryon didn't want to be somewhere he wasn't wanted. The sound of his footsteps slowly disappeared as he rejoined Ethan and Millie on the ramp.

"Why did you join an Army?" Anabel asked as she continued her search through the crates.

"I wanted to be a pilot and the academy cost to much. Luckily for me, the local warlord was looking for more pilots. So I saw my chance and took it. They trained me, and all they asked for was my loyalty." Louie spent five years as a pilot for a minor warlord named Countess Aria. She needed more pilots to fight the local pirates infesting her world. Louie was one of the lucky few to be selected. "What about you?"

"You know me, a traveler. I went from a war-torn planet to another war-torn planet trying to find work. I was lucky to get a job as a waitress on the Constance. The pay was good, the guests not so much. Entitled rich people are always the creepiest."

"How did your meet boy-toy over there."

"He's my co-worker,"

"So he's not you're."

"NO!"

"Oh, I see."

Back on the ramp, Ethan and Millie were enjoying the view.

"You never told me why you were on the Constance," Millie said curiously. "I think it's only fair since I told you why I was aboard."

"I wanted to leave the endless wars that plagued my world. The Constance was hiring security guards, and here I am." Even though his time on the Constance was short, Ethan was just lucky to be able to leave the Red Army. He was able to pick up on some skills during his stay. High society was foreign to him, but he learned to spot who was more important than others.

"Were you happy before you boarded the Constance"

Ethan didn't answer right away. He never really thought about his own happiness. "I don't know. I don't remember"

"Me neither"

The sound of footsteps grew louder from behind them. Bryon, who was just kicked himself out of the vehicle bay, decided to join the couple on the ramp. Rubbing his hands together got rid of the dust from the crates, "Ethan, we found some food," Bryon said

"Really!"

"Yeah, a crate of MRE's, so about 50 MRE's."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Ethan did some quick made in his head, "So if all of us eat two meals a day, we would have enough food to last five days. If we're lucky, there would be more crates in there, but if there isn't, then I hope one of us is good at farming or hunting,"

Now that there was more light, Ethan examined his new weapon. Removing the thin white blade from its accompanying scabbard. He sat it on his lap.

"It's an m-sword!"

"What's an m-sword?" Millie asked

"Let's just say we won't need an axe," Ethan replied as he stood up and walked down to the ramp towards to tree line. Millie and Bryon followed behind him. He picked out a tree from the tree line. It wasn't as thick or tall as the other trees, but it would suffice for what Ethan wanted to do. With his m-sword in hand, he slashed at the trunk of the tree. His sword cut straight through the tree, like a knife cutting through butter. With a slight push, the tree fell forward with a loud crash.

Millie and Bryon looked at the scene flabbergasted. A sword cutting down a fully grown tree was impossible.

"This is the power of years of research and well-being rich," Ethan said with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes.

"That doesn't explain why the sword can easily cut down a tree," Bryson replied

"Yeah, how does that work," Millie added on quizzically.

"I don't know, but what I do know is that it can easily cut through steel armor," sheathing his sword, Ethan waved over Bryon to help him carry the tree up the ramp.

"What do you want me to do," Millie chirped up since now she was the only one who wasn't helping. She didn't want to be useless.

"Um, go help search the vehicle bay, see if you can help find some more food or clothes,"

"Alright," Millie replied, walking back up the ramp.

"I don't know about, but I'm certainly not strong enough to carry this log."

"Yeah, I know. I'm going to cut the tree into a stack of firewood."

Back inside the ship, Anabel and Louie found a strange crate. It was taller than both of them and made out of metal. A cold mist was seeping out of the bottom. So far, all the other boxes contained useless items that like furniture. Nevertheless, they had high hopes for this crate. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Louie asked his adopted sister.

"Oh yeah, prime grade steaks," Anabel replied

Using a piece of scrap metal like a crowbar, Louie popped off the top of their prize. Except their expected prize wasn't inside.

"Oh my god!" Louie yelled in surprise

"What?" Anabel jumped in surprise at Louie's sudden exclamation

"There's a lady in here."

"A lady"

"Yeah, and she's naked."

"Then why the fuck are you still looking!" Pushing Louie away from the crate, she hopped up and looked inside. Low and behold, inside was an unconscious woman was lying inside.

"Go get Millie."

"Why Millie, we should tell the others."

"So they can come ogle at the unconscious NAKED girl with you,"

"You know that's not what I meant,"

Anabel scoffed at Louie's remark, "But that's how it sounded. Go get Millie."

"You don't have to be a dick," Louie stomped off towards to huge bay doors.

Once Louie was out of sight, she pulled the girl out of the box, laying her on some expensive-looking fabric she found in another crate. Then, wrapping the cloth around her. Anabel made a makeshift shelter out of empty bins to keep the unconscious lady hidden in case the men followed behind Millie. Complete with a curtain to act as an entrance and block the view made of more expensive fabric. She waited until Millie arrived. She didn't have to wait long since Millie was already halfway up the ramp. Once Anabel saw Millie, she waved her over.

"Oh my God," Millie exclaimed upon seeing the girl, "Where did you find her."

"In a cryogenic freezer, some rich bastard was going to sell her off the first chance they got"

Millie as the only doctor immediately checked the girl's pulse and her breathing. "She'll be fine, but we need to keep her warm. Who knows how long she was in that thing." Millie realized the fabric wasn't thick enough. "Did you find anything better? This stuff won't keep her warm."

There weren't a lot of crates in the vehicle bay, to begin with. Whatever was in here before the crash must've been moved into a storage room in the ship. If they wanted to find more supplies, they would need to explore the rest of the wreck, but it would be impossible to find your way around without a light source. "No, this is all me and Louie was able to find"

With the setting of the sun, Ethan, Bryon, and Louie returned to the ship carrying some firewood. Bringing it inside, they could see the makeshift shelter, which they assumed contained the frozen lady Louie mentioned. The Bay doors started to close behind them as they entered.

"Ethan!" Millie cried out from the control tower, "Can you come here? I need to talk to you." Dumping the wood near the shack. Ethan headed up the control tower, leaving Louie and Byron behind. "Knock Knock," Louie said, standing in front of the cloth door.

"What do you want," Anabel said

"Can I come in? I wanna check on the frozen lady of the day," he said with a smirk on his face.

"No," she said, annoyed that Louie was even asking

"Well, why not? It's not like I'm going to do anything to her with you and Bryon around."

"The fact that you brought that up and that you were ogling her from before is reason enough" Upon hearing this, Bryon, who had just sat down on the steel floor, looked up at Louie with disgust. "If you found a girl sitting in a freezer naked, you would be surprised too."

"Yeah, but I wouldn't stare," Bryon replied

"Precisely," Anabel said, "I guess gentlemen do still exist."

Louie scoffed at the notion he wasn't gentlemanly. "I am a gentleman, just not to you."

"Another reason added to the long list on why you're not coming in here,"

"Oh piss off,"

"As a matter of fact, Bryon, get in here."

"Whaa! How come he can come in."

"Cause he's a gentleman."

"And I'm not,"

"That's right," Anabel said as if it was obvious.

"I'm fine out here," Bryon said, hoping to quell the bickering

"No, I insist it's much more comfy in here."

"Didn't you hear the man? He said he wants to stay out here with me," Even though Bryon didn't want to be. He has already become collateral in Louie and Anabel's fights for the third time. Not wanting to waste his breath Bryon released a sigh, got up, and said, "I need to use the bathroom. I'm going to go find a bucket to piss in," walking off into the dimming bay they called home. Leaving Louie and Anabel flabbergasted.

After making his way up the tower, sitting down on the remains of the tower's console, Ethan said, "So, what ups." Millie, not skipping a beat, immediately said, "I think we should explore the rest of the ship to find more supplies."

"Oka-"

"I mean, we don't have a lot of food, no spare clothing, and we don't even have any form of medical supplies," she said, pacing back and forth in the tower.

"Alrigh-"

"If we are going to survive, we should take the risk-"

"Millie!" Ethan yelled, startling the girl interrupting her train of thought

"What"

"I already agreed."

"Oh"

"Why did you want to call me up here anyway?"

"Well, I thought that if I could convince you, the others would agree, so I thought if I did it in private, I could embarrass myself less if you disagreed."

Ethan gave a slight chuckle. "You should have more confidence in yourself."

"I'll keep that in mind next time," she said nervously

"Well, since you're here now, tell me what's up with the lady from the freezer."

"Oh yeah, umm, because she was improperly cryogenically frozen for some undetermined amount of time. She might not be in the best state physically."

"She was probably going to be sold as a slave aboard the Constance."

"I thought the warlords agreed to ban slavery, deeming it a hindrance to the betterment of society."

"It was but with the three most prominent lords fighting against each other right now. So it's no surprise that law enforcement is less vigilant to these minor crimes."

They sat in silence for a while, pondering on whether society was indeed collapsing in their galaxy. Then the fires that heated the warped metal of the Constance faded, and with the rising of the night, the Constance slowly became colder and colder.

"We should go back down," Ethan said. "We can start a fire so we can keep ourselves warm." Millie nodded in agreement.