Even though my lungs felt like they were burning up, I took no time to rest.

The girl was badly harmed. Biogel was valuable- this bag probably would cost tens of thousands. But she was one of the four remaining humans, assuming that nobody else survived. It disgusted me that I was placing value on lives. Yet it had to be done.

I gasped for breath, tugging at my shirt collar as I worked. The air here was different than the earth’s. It should be safe because we wouldn’t have landed otherwise. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling of paranoia creeping up on me.

Methodically, I spread biogel on the girl’s body. Some of her skin had fused with her clothing, and I had to peel away the dead skin and molten fabric. Underneath the blackened layer of mangled skin was red and bloody tissue. It was this part I had to apply the biogel to.

When I finished, I let out a sigh of relief as the medicine started restoring her body. She would still have scars, but at least she wouldn’t suffer from the wounds. My hands were slick with a concoction I really didn’t want to think about, and I attempted futilely to wipe them on the strange grass.

Now that I had time, I looked around the field. The most striking was the oppressive air. It was like the atmosphere had weight, pressing me down. I was beginning to develop a pounding headache, although I wasn’t sure why.

The second difference was the purple sky. The atmosphere here must be composed differently than ours. I trusted that if the ship determined it safe, it was. But that didn’t mean that unfriendly lifeforms didn’t exist.

I turned to the other girl.

She sat, hugging her knees, and huddled up against a tree. Black hair covered her face. I opened my mouth, then closed it. Because what was I supposed to say?

“Are you just going to sit here, and do nothing at all?” I sighed. “Look, I understand your guilt, but it was a necessity. We’re on unknown grounds here, and your help can be invaluable.”

Nothing. I sighed. But I understood. The same guilt had been nagging at me for years, after all. Our choice led to someone’s death, and even though she knew it was necessary, when were emotions ever logical?

“Your name?” I didn’t think she was going to respond and was pleasantly surprised when she did.

“... Park Song Ji.”

“I’m Nathen. I’m going to go look for anything useful. Watch them.”

I picked up the fire extinguisher. Before I left, I turned around and spoke.

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

I took a step into the woods once again.

----------

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

My first thought was going to the wrecks of our old ship to salvage what may be left. That idea died in the crib when I remembered that the devices in the ship dealt with substances and compounds that were lethal if I were to be exposed to it. Burning said substances could mean a lot of things, ranging from bad to absolutely horrible.

I did walk over to a higher vantage point that would allow me to see the crashed ship. On where I presumed the ship detonated, a large, gaping crater marred the earth. Debris was still burning, releasing noxious gas everywhere.

My mind brought up images of the things inside that spaceship. It was worth billions and was only made possible by the work of millions. It was a cooperative effort rarely seen by humanity, but desperation drove people to do almost anything. They wanted to live, after all. And of course, a lie like ours was sure to backfire at one point.

I still remembered it, like it was only yesterday. Slowly, I turned away, forcing back the memories. Focus, I told myself.

Since I couldn’t approach the ship, I was stuck to foraging this alien planet for anything useful, while not straying far from where the others were at. To not get lost, I snapped branches as I went, marking the road back.

After what felt like a solid thirty minutes of walking in circles, I was tired and soaked with sweat. The air was just as oppressive as ever, and the slight headache was increasing in intensity.

But I managed to find something.

It was trees with dark blue fruit, shaped like a more narrow cousin of a peach. I wasn’t certain if it was edible, but I took one, shoved it in my pocket, and marked the surrounding area with more broken branches. As I stepped away to return to what I was tentatively calling camp, I heard a squish beneath my tattered sneakers.

A blue mess seeped black juice. I stepped back and kneeled to examine it closely. Carefully, I touched it, making sure I had no cuts, and when I didn’t feel pain, picked it up to examine it. It smelled sweet, was an undercurrent of something nasty. A slight coat of transparent fluid covered it.

Taking a different fruit, I pulped it against a tree and sniffed it. Same smell, without the trace of ickiness.

Saliva. Fresh, of an animal with bad teeth.

I whipped around, scanning the surroundings. Hurriedly, I stepped away from the tree.

There was an animal here. Something quite large to have eaten this fruit. Something that was fast, or stealthy enough to fade away when I got here.

I backed away slowly.

I retraced the broken branches. On the way, I noticed something else that I had been missing the whole time. Everything was eerily silent. It was late in the afternoon, when the sun was beginning to disappear, but there were no insect or animal sounds to be heard. Before, the sounds of the flaming wreck had hidden this.

Cold sweat made my shirt stick to my chest. Now that I was more on edge than ever, every noise, every breeze had me jumping. I felt like the trees had eyes, and shadows began to look like malicious creatures.

When I got close to the clearing, relief flooded me. I broke out into a run, heading towards the area. I burst out of the foliage, clutching my fire extinguisher tightly.

Out of breath, I gasped out a warning.

“I’ve found proof of animals here. Be careful, we don’t know if it’s friendly or not.”

Two faces stared at me in bewilderment.

One I was mildly familiar with. One I was not. A boy stood, his hair askew and eyes darting around wildly. He was the one I had rescued. He had a stone in his hand, raised threateningly. Song Ji had one in her hands as well.

“Wh-what’s happening here?” I inquired.

“Who are you?!” The boy shouted. He was scared out of his mind. I held out my hands in a calming gesture.

“Hey, hey, relax. We’re your crewmates, remember?” His jaw slackened. Then he whipped his head around, taking around the surrounding. He froze still when his eyes met the purple sky.

Slowly, he spoke.

“This… this isn’t earth, i-is it?” I shook my head gently. He fell to his knees, hand grabbing a fistful of dirt. He watched it, with an unreadable expression. I extended a hand to him.

“My name is Nathen. How about you?” He stared at my offered hand. Trembling hands grasped it tightly, and I offered him a smile.

“Christopher. J-Just Christopher.”

“Nice to meet you, Christopher. Look,” I helped him up with one hand and fished out the fruit I had shoved in my pocket with the other. “I found a fruit tree. But there was also a half-eaten fruit over there covered in saliva.” Their bodies tensed. “I didn’t find anything else useful.”

“No water?” Song Ji asked brusquely. I shook my head.

“Hey, err, is that safe to eat? I’m-I’m really hungry right now...”

“I don’t know. But unless we’re really desperate, I’d suggest avoiding it. Could be poisonous, or simply not suited for us to eat.” Christopher nodded, but still seemed to want to eat it. I ignored his hungered gaze for now, and inspected the sky. It was nearly dark, the purple sky now blackish blue. I turned to the others.

“For now, I think we should get ready to sleep. We have a lot of things ahead of us and we need energy for that.”