A chorus of screams wretched Celeste awake. Vertigo struck her instantly, the rumbling and groaning of whatever structure she was in telling her just how fast she was moving. Her vision flooded with red light from sirens blaring around her, intermittent flashes illuminating her surroundings. There were others, like her, clad in the same foreign bodysuit, all strapped in to seats built into the wall. The walls looked like solid metal, no trace of imperfections or even rivets holding them together. Just a solid circle wrapping around in an unbroken curve, meeting like the tip of a cone a few feet above Celeste's head. A woman with a long plaited braid shouted for everyone to stay calm. Her hair was as red as the lights.

In, out, gone, back. Every burst of red leaving stars in Celeste's eyes. The others around her moved in the dark, struggling against their safety belts or gripping the padded arms of their seats. Celeste heard muttering and yelling and everything in between. A small boy opposite Celeste held his head in his hands and burst out in tears. Celeste strained to reach him, a jolt of the craft made her rip her hand back in shock. She was sweating bullets. It was so hot. Far too hot. It felt like the walls themselves were burning.

Then, the crash.

Everything ripping and burning, the entire world spinning. Celeste grasped for something, anything, to hold her in place, finding the bars extending over her from the seat and clutching them until her knuckles turned white. It still wasn't enough. The world was upheaving itself and all Celeste could do was hold on.

A thunderous roar tore into Celeste's skull as they smashed into something solid on the outside. Her head rang, and when she touched her forehead, the tips of her fingers came back warm with blood. She looked around the circle of seats. Others were bleeding and some hung limp. The alarms wound down, their screams tapering off, leaving nothing but darkness. For a moment, Celeste heard nothing save for stifled sobs and careful breaths.

After an eternity, everyone fell silent. Celeste closed her eyes and tried to count, but she couldn't. A cloud churned inside her head, blocking out her synapses, making even a simple task like counting to ten impossible. Her breath quickened, her pulse ran, her heart missed a beat--

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A hissing sound broke the silence, and the padded arms keeping everyone locked to their seats sprang up. The red-haired girl was already on her feet.

Celeste tried to get up, only to be knocked back into her seat by a splitting pain in her temple. The ground shook beneath her. Her vision cut in two, everything and everyone around her duplicating. The world spun and the confines of her surroundings pressed in, whirling, coiling like a snake. Celeste couldn't breathe. All the air was ripped from her chest, and anything she managed to force into her throat was squeezed back out by an inhuman pressure. She gasped, and gasped, and gasped. Over and over, every attempt shorter than the last. Her throat burned. She clung to the small bones of her collar and loosed a scream when they felt like paper.

"Hey. Hey!"

Someone grabbed her shoulder. All at once, every fractured image snapped back together. The red-haired woman clasped her hand over Celeste's. Her grip was coarse as a rock and twice as hard. Celeste felt callouses like sandpaper all along her palm, her fingertips, every joint on her hand. Suddenly, she was pulling on Celeste's wrist, bringing her to her feet. Celeste was eye-level with her, and Celeste herself was well on the shorter side compared to the other people pushing themselves to their feet all around the room. Celeste clamped her free hand over the other woman's wrist, steadying herself until the world stopped hurtling.

"Get the door open!"

Celeste's focus snapped to the voice giving orders. A boy, messy tangle of curls reminiscent of wheat in the wind. He had gathered a group of three others, and they were taking positions on either side of what looked like a bulkhead. It was flush with the wall, the grooved line of metal indicating an opening set barely an inch deep. Celeste couldn't see any mechanism to get it open, but that didn't stop the group from trying. They pushed against the steel, straining to make it budge. Seeing Celeste standing on her own, red-hair went to the door, cracking her neck. She set her shoulder against the door, bringing her full weight to bear.

"Push!"

The blonde boy gave the command. All five of them pushed as hard as they could manage, and finally, the door gave. Metal screeching against metal, the door shifted out of its placed in the wall until it toppled down, slamming into the earth. Celeste watched as dust filtered in from the outside world, lazily floating through gentle sunlight. A faint breeze carried in the scent of pollen, of dirt and earth and life. A force welled up in Celeste, steadying her steps as she went to the door.

"Wait, you can't--"

Blonde-hair tried to stop Celeste, but she shook free. Nothing could keep her still. She stepped into the blazing sun.