《Earth's End Archive》 Prologue ¡°Why is this such a big issue to you?¡± ¡°Are you kidding? Don¡¯t you want to leave something after you¡¯re dead on this godforsaken Earth?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you see that this is exactly the problem? Most of the population is starving, the corporations are ruining everybody''s lives, and the United Government is doing jack shit about it. What, with all the resources they have, they couldn¡¯t bring themselves to better the planet? Should we bring a child to a world that¡¯s slowly destroying itself?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not the problem here and you know it. Governments were ruining people¡¯s lives long before, and people had children anyway. They survived, why can¡¯t we?¡± The silence in the room had made itself apparent, the air seemed to sit still. ¡°The reason you don¡¯t want children is the same reason you don¡¯t want to marry me.¡± She started again. ¡°You¡¯re afraid of commitments.¡± I looked at the window pane on her left. The sun was bearing down, it was the hottest day of the year so far, and the steam was rising from all the industrial cooling systems that had to be used in the city. ¡°That¡¯s not it.¡± I shook my head. ¡°I haven¡¯t told you about it before, but¡­¡± I looked her in the eyes, ¡°Considering the circumstances, I should tell you now. I was married before.¡± Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°What? What are you talking about?¡± ¡°I was married to a man named Richard four years ago. It was a short marriage that ended in him taking everything from me. That¡¯s why we live in this dump and not in a New Suburbia.¡± She was shocked, her lips visibly shaking. The tear was running down her cheek. ¡°Did¨C Did you love him?¡± She stammered. ¡°At the time - yes, but I trusted him too much and that trust bit me in the ass. Everything was in his name, I was too blind to see it, but I shouldn¡¯t have trusted him that much.¡± I looked away at the floor - old carpet had eroded, and the concrete was poking through. ¡°This is also why I had so much trouble trusting you when we started dating.¡± She started sobbing. Her small frame was shaking, while she held her mouth. Her long blond hair was almost obstructing her face. I wanted to hold her, to comfort her. I reached out with my hand, wanting to caress her back. She smacked my hand away. ¡°No. Don¡¯t touch me. I¡ª I don¡¯t know you. Don¡¯t know you at all¡­¡± I didn¡¯t know what to do anymore. I didn¡¯t want to hurt her more. ¡°I¡¯m gonna go. You know how to reach me if anything¨C¡± ¡°Yeah, better go.¡± I looked at her for the last time, gathered my work equipment and went out the door. The heat hit me almost instantly. It¡¯s for the best. I¡¯ll go to work, don¡¯t have anywhere else. Chapter 1 ¡°Hm¡­ The pressure is a touch too high in these atmomixers, but why¡­¡° she wondered to herself. There wasn¡¯t a soul in a 10-kilometer radius of the spacecraft. Even though it¡¯s Saturday, she came to work anyway. Janet is probably now playing around in her virtu, to take away the stress. She cranked the valve next to the intake. No dice, the pressure readout was still showing 1104 hPa. She sighed and looked around. The corridor was a tube going through the ship, from the head to tail, 5 meters in diameter. Apart from a few signs plastered throughout, the whole thing was white with lights on the ceiling spaced every 1 meter. The lights had a life presence sensor built-in, so the computer¡¯s AI and OS could interface and enable lights, only where necessary. Entrances to various rooms were spaced unevenly, you¡¯d think that the ship was designed haphazardly, but the rooms were distributed according to weight. Wouldn¡¯t want the ship to rip itself apart during lift off or cruising speeds. The same tube-like corridor was present on the other side and one connecting both tubes in the middle for easy access. Only a few windows were available, not much space to put them. The captain¡¯s cabin even had a starlight. Tan yellow light poured on her back, it didn¡¯t warm her, like sunlight usually does. Thanks to heavy shielding, only visible light with low intensity can pass through, hence why it¡¯s slightly red-shifted. A couple of panels were scattered on the floor beside her. The tool-belt she wore had only the essentials ¨C a couple of pliers (one needle nose, the other flat with grooves, so they can act like a wrench), a flat-head screwdriver and a knife. On her wrist, she had a terminal that connected to readout points via optic cable. The terminal¡¯s display was hanging midair, a few centimeters above her wrist. 100 hPA difference shouldn¡¯t matter, it just means the air mix will be a touch too thick. For the average spacewalker, this is nothing, considering they battle extreme pressure every day. It¡¯s a shock their eyes don¡¯t pop out of their sockets outright, they just bulge as though they might explode. But there¡¯s another factor in her decision ¨C engineer¡¯s pride. A ship built by her shouldn¡¯t have kinks like that. There¡¯s one more thing she hasn¡¯t touched yet ¨C the computer itself. She was told by the code-heads from UASA the computer passed all their tests, but who knows. Testing doesn¡¯t eliminate possibility of errors, just checks scenarios that testers have thought of. She headed to the computer core room, which was located in the middle of the ship. A pain to get to? Of course, but the safest position on the ship in case anything goes wrong. As soon as she got into the computer room, she banged into the computer rack ¨C who thought to put the rack on the ceiling. The ceiling¡­? Something¡¯s not right, last time she remembers, the racks were firmly bolted to the ground, with additional support added for redundancy. The acceleration jolted her body into the sliding door that was closing behind her. She lost consciousness. How long was she lying there on the ground? Her head was hurting badly, like someone tried to open her skull with a rock. Eyes were very hard to open. Everything was foggy. She had to open her eyes and get out of the room. With all her strength, she opened her eyes enough to gather where she was. The vision was bright red from the blood flowing from her forehead. She reached for the button opening doors and crawled from the computer core room. What¡¯s going on? Did the gravity change? Is it the grav plating? No, she was firmly on the ground, she felt a force pushing on her body towards the tail of the ship. Moreover, the ship was clearly vibrating. There¡¯s only one man-made thing that vibrated in this specific oscillation, she felt it many times in test chambers ¨C nuclear fusion space engines. The very same attached to this ship. She wiped her eyes, seeing much better now, she definitely has a concussion, but she¡¯ll live somehow, just have to stay awake. She stood up grasping her ribs, one of them is probably broken, hurts, when she breathes. The nearest window wasn¡¯t far from her current position. She had to see if they really were moving. The light ray from the window wasn¡¯t tan yellow anymore, there were multiple flashes and a lot of red light. ¡°Oh, oh no¡­¡± She was in orbit, looking at Earth. Or rather what remains of Earth, the surface was full of red spots, encompassing the fragments of the crust that were peeling off of the liquid core. There were too many fragments to even count. The Earth was no more. Only a pile of hot rock and dust left. The heartache has taken her mind. She won¡¯t see Janet. She won¡¯t ever apologize to her. Never to hug her again. The tears dripped on the floor, making a sad puddle just above her faux leather boots. ¡°Pretty, isn¡¯t it?¡± She jerked her head towards the voice, she did not realize there was someone beside her. He was standing just outside her peripheral vision, a young man wearing a very expensive suit. Little too small, but that was the fashion lately. His gold earrings gleamed when he moved his head. ¡°What the fuck are you talking about? The Earth is in pieces, and you¡¯re joking about it?!¡± ¡°There¡¯s beauty in pure destruction.¡± He looked at her. He noticed her injuries and let out a worried sigh. At least, it sounded worried. Surprising, when just a second ago he was disregarding the biggest disaster humanity has been through. ¡°Come ¨C the doctor will look at your injuries while we cruise.¡± She was too stunned to say no, and she really needed medical attention. Even to just confirm everything¡¯s fine. Only now she noticed laughter and dishes clattering in the background. The mess was at the tail of the ship, it didn¡¯t make sense¡­ The man led her towards the commotion. There¡¯s no sound in space, the Earth continued to fall apart in the window sill. The silence was louder than she could have ever imagined. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. *** The conference room was a simple rectangular room, but much bigger than any other room on the ship (apart from the bridge). It couldn¡¯t have been bigger than 10 meters by 10 meters. The layout was fully customizable ¨C the state of the art reprogrammable panel cubes could take on any shape and imitate any texture, simply by having a specific model uploaded to the controller¡¯s memory. It¡¯s essentially rich people¡¯s and government''s virtu, although the resolution is much smaller than a typical renderer (the voxels are 1 millimeter on each side). Currently, the environment was programmed to show Victorian-esque furniture ¨C one table under one of the walls filled with food, few armchairs on the opposite wall and small tables near them. The ceiling had a small chandelier hanging. The room had only 5 people hanging around, they all were dressed as though it¡¯s the best ball they¡¯ve ever been. Nothing made sense here ¨C who in their right mind would celebrate with an obscene amount of food, when there¡¯s nowhere to get the food anymore. Even the commercial corporate stations around the Earth didn¡¯t grow their own food ¨C the water being the biggest blockage. Latest research showed that we didn¡¯t have that much water around us, and the water on the asteroids is needed to ensure the orbits weren¡¯t compromised. Adding insult to injury, it¡¯s used for everything from propulsion to atmosphere producers and mixers, so you need a constant stream to stay afloat. The aroma of the food and super-tobacco hit her in the face like the L.A.¡¯s morning sewer breeze. The puke reached her throat, but she didn¡¯t let it go through. A disgusting habit, she picked up, when training to get her spacewalker certification. Puking meant stinking up your whole suit, and it was very expensive to have the suit replaced, she learned that the hard way. She almost fell to the ground, but the well-dressed man caught her, noticing she was a little woozy. ¡°Doc, could you take a look, please? Now?!¡± ¡°Henry? What¡¯s happened? Who¡¯s this?¡± ¡°Found her staring at Earth, looks like she got pretty banged up when we took off.¡± ¡°Girl, haven¡¯t you heard of seat straps?¡± She looked at the Doctor character with a fiery look in her eyes. ¡°No one was supposed to be here! The ship wasn¡¯t scheduled to take off for another month! How could I have known that you¡¯re going to¡ª¡± She was cut off by the transmission from the bridge. ¡°Ladies, gentlemen and variations thereof; we¡¯re at a cruising altitude, we¡¯ll stay in orbit of the Earthly remains for another hour. We¡¯ll then depart for our destination ¨C Mars Prime. Upon arrival, you¡¯ll have your duties assigned as the last citizens of Earth. For now, please enjoy the trip.¡± Laughter resumed through the room, new people came in, they only took a passing concern towards her, Henry and the doctor. In total, the room housed around 10 people. None of them were familiar to her. ¡°Well, the good news is that you¡¯re fine, only a minor laceration on your head. Your rib isn¡¯t broken. If you wait a minute, I¡¯ll bring the autosuture and repair you, miss¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s Jes, Jes Hook¡± He bowed slightly. ¡°Nice to meet you, I¡¯m Vance.¡± After that, he went through the door. ¡°Come, sit down on the chair.¡± Henry extended his hand towards her. She was intrigued, but ultimately decided not to take his hand. She stumbled while getting up. At least she didn¡¯t give him the satisfaction. ¡°Thanks, ¡®Henry¡¯ but I prefer to not accept help from psychos.¡± ¡°Now, that¡¯s a bold claim, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so, you¡¯re the one that found beauty in such horrible situation¡± She plopped herself on the armchair, it had frills ground around the edge, they moved as the air was displaced. The whole thing had a crimson red color with golden accents, looking like something straight from a Titanic. ¡°Oh honey, you¡¯re looking rather pale¡­ Would you like some water?¡± She heard a chipper woman over her shoulder, she was in her late 30s, her strapless dress was long and flowy, only a few silver chains hanging from the edges. She looked more like a caricature than a real person, it looked as though two water balloons were stacked on top of each other. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯d be great.¡± The woman stomped to the table with food and drinks. The copper utensils and a jug gleamed in the light, nothing had a stain on it. Bizarre, but this is expected for rich people¡¯s parties. Jes remembered when she ate Chinese down the 3rd substation in the middle of the city. Sweaty air and the Sichuan aromas in the air. No utensils in sight, she had to bring her own every time. But the food was divine and worth 20 dollars more than fast-food places. Ah¡­ She¡¯d love that veggie stir-fry with rice. The cook was such a nice guy, he recognized her as a regular she was. He¡¯d even give her some pickled cabbage for free. ¡°Here.¡± She heard from the voluptuous woman, who was handing her water. A couple of ice cubes and a mint leaf floating in it. Ice ¨C you have to spend the same amount of water as the ice cube to cool it enough that it freezes. Space isn¡¯t always cool, it¡¯s as unpredictable as the weather. A soothing sensation went down her throat as she drank. It really hit the spot, only now she noticed that she didn¡¯t drink for hours. She was so absorbed in her work, she always does this, neglecting her body only for it to backfire on her. Vance returned with a small black plastic case with no markings on it, the whole thing rattling as he stepped towards her. He put it down on the coffee table next to her and unlatched it. Inside was a small gun-like instrument with two nozzles, a few clips that fitted into the back of the instrument and a small glass spray bottle. ¡°This is gonna sting a bit but afterward you won¡¯t feel a thing, it¡¯s a numbing agent, so you don¡¯t wriggle so much.¡± he said as he sprayed the wound on her head. She winced as she felt the sharp pain, and half a second later she felt nothing. ¡®He did it before and a lot. Is he a field medic or a surgeon?¡¯ she thought to herself. The instrument clicked as the clip was inserted. He selected something on the small display on the right side, type of suture maybe, pressed it against her skin and pulled the trigger. The autosuture whirred into action, she felt it vibrate against her numbed skin and stop in less than a second. Vance put 2 more stitches, ¡°Just to be on a safe side.¡± he smiled at her. ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. Now, we have to inform the captain that we have a stowaway on board.¡± His smile and warm demeanor was gone. Jes understood at that moment ¨C she was being kept comfortable to be able to explain herself, and her fate was in the hands of someone else entirely. ¡°Do whatever you need to do¡­¡± she said dejectedly. The anger in her has subsided, and the hopelessness has set in. Chapter 2 She entered the oblong room filled with screens, with Vance and Henry following her. In the middle and on both sides sat three pilot swing chairs fitted with soft upholstery. The blue light of the screens shone on the man¡¯s scruffy face in the middle seat, others were hardly visible, hidden by shadows. ¡°Incoming high-scale debris, vector (-1, 0.6, -0.75), velocity 1200km/h. Correction recommended by velocity increase of 2000km/h for 10 seconds.¡± voice came from the right-side seat. The viewport overlay showed a line coming from one of the huge fragments. There was a lot more information than she expected ¨C the ship¡¯s velocity, weight, rotation delta from Sagittarius A* and even the estimated fragment¡¯s weight. All the information that pilots needed to make accurate adjustments. ¡°Impact on our fuel reserves?¡± the man in the middle questioned. ¡°Negligible.¡± ¡°Correction approved.¡± The ship noticeably jolted forward, grav plating adapting to the new acceleration. They knew what they were doing, and the whole scene had the air of a military operation. The communication was too practiced, too precise, for them to be civilians. ¡°Captain¨C¡± Vance said with a wavering voice. Was he afraid of the captain, or was it just a momentary lapse? The middle seat swung towards them. The man¡¯s face bore scars, one over the left eye coming down to the cheek and one coming from the right cheek towards the neck. The wrinkles on his face showed the age and story of his stature, he was clearly in his 50s and served a long time in peacekeeping forces ¨C corporate security guards and especially a captain, would have their face taken care of. The cosmetic surgery was an important perk to keep up the appearances. ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°We found her stumbling through the corridor after we¡¯ve taken off. Seems she has been an engineer, but she¡¯s a stowaway nonetheless¡­¡± Henry said. The look coming from the man in charge was cold and calculating. There was a goal and he was going to fulfill it. ¡°Jon, how much of the rations we have?¡± ¡°Not enough for another person. We¡¯ll be on emergency rations as it is in the last 2 weeks of the voyage.¡± the man from the left-side seat responded. ¡°What is your name, girl?¡± he asked her. It didn¡¯t matter, not anymore. The cattle don''t know they are being brought to slaughter, but humans are more intelligent ¨C we can smell our death coming. ¡°¡­you¡¯re going to kill me anyway, so what¡¯s it to you?¡± she said to him dryly. ¡°Very well. Kai, call security.¡± The person in the right chair hesitated but clicked through menus anyway. ¡°On their way¡­¡± they looked at her and under their breath said ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡±. Beautiful light eyes twisted in a saddened expression, forced smile that showed their dimples in the corners of the mouth. Unruly curly hair cast thin shadows on their face, partially hiding their brow. Jes nodded slowly. Two wide chested figures entered behind her. ¡°This person is a stowaway ¨C take her to air lock and space her.¡± ¡°Will the protocol be observed?¡± one of the figures asked. ¡°Yes, I will start the sequence myself.¡± The figures looked at each other briefly and took her under her arms and started to pull her forcibly out of the room. Nothing else was said. *** Everything was blurry, her feet were scraping the flooring, the steel from the toe rubbed through the faux leather and left a visible mark. She didn¡¯t care, she knew what came next. What death by spacing looked and felt like. Countless hours in simulators has prepared for the cruelty of it. The tears came and dropped to the ground. Another trail left by her. Is that all there will be? Only a few scrapes and some salt? At the dawn of humanity, instead of dying with others, she will be executed for something she didn¡¯t know has happened. They passed through the middle connection, and she glanced towards the computer core room, the place that became her tomb in a sense. Blood. Unmistakable red color. Blood. Viscous yet thick, it pooled. ¡°...wait¡± she said with a raspy voice. Her executioners didn¡¯t stop, she repeated with a stronger voice, ¡°Wait!¡±. They stopped startled, ¡°What, what is it girl? You know that there¡¯s no way for you to appeal-¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not- I saw something, near the core. I- I think it was blood.¡± One of them sighed, ¡°You¡¯re saying this to delay-¡± ¡°No! If someone from the passengers is hurt, isn''t it your duty to tend to them?¡± All this might be just a trick of light, maybe it was her own blood but if it¡¯s true, they might not have to execute her, she would become useful. She would become the tool they needed. ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll come back to the junction, but if you¡¯re lying, you¡¯re going to get one to the teeth.¡± This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. They shuffled awkwardly and turned around. Slowly, the connecting corridor was approaching them. And then they saw it, somebody was lying on the back in the big pool of blood. The corpse was wearing a white shirt, stained on the bottom with blood, slowly climbing to the top. The blue trousers were looking almost black from the amount of liquid held. It all looked very unusual, there wasn¡¯t an obvious wound visible other than his face smashed in, you could see towards the back of his skull, through the brain matter. She felt sick ¨C now the trick with holding her puke didn¡¯t work, and she vomited through her nostrils. Stomach acid burning her nostrils and the smell attacking her. She opened her mouth and barfed the rest. They dropped her to the floor, she splashed in her own puke. ¡°The fuck happened here?!¡± the man on the left has said. Both of their mouths left agape. They slowly approached the scene. ¡°Said, call¡­ call this in¡± The darker man was shell shocked, he was staring at the body, his eyeballs moving around, analyzing it. ¡°Said!¡± the white man shook him, ¡°C¡¯mon, walk away and call it in. Others can take care of it.¡± Both of them nodded, Said took out a small communicator and walked away around the corner. She was left with the white man. He looked at her with disgust, only now comprehending she soiled herself. There weren¡¯t any spots on his uniform, she didn¡¯t get any on it. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m bad with blood.¡± she sighed. ¡°He¡¯s bad with it too.¡± He paused, thinking. ¡°To be honest, I don¡¯t know what to do with you now. I hope you¡¯ll live, it¡¯d be a shame to lose an engineer.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± She finally had a moment to look at his features, strong square jaw, his brows were almost fluffy and seemed to connect into an unibrow, he had a little bit of stubble and a singular scar right in the middle of his cheek. His hair was short and cut into a square, similar to how Schwarzenegger had his hair cut in old action movies. An earring gleamed on his right ear with the symbol of a circle and an arrow going upper left ¨C covert symbolism. ¡°Is something wrong with it?¡± he noticed her staring at the earring. ¡°N- No, it¡¯s nothing¡­¡± She knew the symbol but couldn¡¯t remind herself what it was. She wiped her mouth, the sour taste still in her mouth, what she wouldn¡¯t do for a shower and a toothbrush¡­ He sat down near the corner with a big sigh. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± she found herself asking. ¡°Carl. You?¡± ¡°Jes.¡± ¡°Did you have anyone on Earth?¡± ¡°A girlfriend, Janet.¡± ¡°I had to leave my 2 children.¡± She looked at him with horrified eyes, ¡°They didn¡¯t allow you to take your family?¡± He laughed at her. ¡°Those Richie-rich types only care for their own skin. Besides, I didn¡¯t know them. I knew I had them, just never got around to reaching out.¡± He put his head back on the wall, his expression more solemn this time. ¡°Maybe that¡¯s better, considering the circumstances¡­¡± Carl wasn¡¯t a good human being, he was flawed, just like everyone else. The regrets will now haunt him, till his eventual death. What would be his life if he reached out? Would he even be on the ship, or would he die, holding them until the end? ¡®Empty words and empty regrets, all of it.¡¯ he thought to himself. Footsteps resonated in the hallway from which they came. More than one person was coming. Carl got up and steadied himself on the wall. Jes also stood up, trying her best not to slip in the puke. Captain with his entourage turned into the junction. He looked around the scene and fixed his eyes on Carl. ¡°Report.¡± ¡°We were going to the back airlock, as dictated by the protocol. We went by the connecting corridor and the girl told us she saw something, something red. For the ship''s safety, we decided it would be best to investigate ¨C she would have nowhere to run anyway. We arrived at the scene as is, the girl vomited all over herself at the sight of blood.¡± Captain eyed Jes, she felt embarrassed at her dirty clothes. ¡°We¡¯re here captain!¡± Vance¡¯s voice came from behind, he was holding a different case than she¡¯s seen before, bigger and made from leather ¨C real leather. ¡°What¡¯s happened?¡± Then he noticed the blood on the floor, ¡°Oh my goodness¡­¡± Captain turned toward Henry, who was stalking behind Vance. ¡°Boy, when you found her, did you see anything odd here?¡± ¡°No, sir. I was strolling past this very area and nothing and nobody was here before.¡± Seems like they made their report to him just a few minutes ago. It was to be expected. ¡°Doctor, examine this body ¨C I want a full report, anything you can find about how this man had died. I want the identity confirmed as soon as possible. And you¨C¡±, he pointed his finger at her, ¡°you¡¯re extremely lucky, you get to live. You get to live, because he died.¡± ¡°Thank you¡­¡± she said out of habit. ¡°Don¡¯t thank me. Thank him and his sacrifice.¡± He eyed her once again. ¡°I see that you were an engineer ¨C you¡¯ll report to Mr. Donovan tomorrow at 09:00 in the morning. We all have our jobs to do on this ship, you won¡¯t be an exception. Security will assign you an empty quarters below the ship.¡± He nodded towards his entourage of security officers, who were already tapping on their tablets. ¡°Room 023 is empty, consider it yours. Captain, we will want to search this man¡¯s room, as soon as the identity is confirmed.¡± ¡°Of course. Carl, will you show her the room?¡± ¡°Of course, sir.¡± Carl shifted. ¡°One more thing, security will give you a tablet to fill in the data for the manifest ¨C it¡¯s important you fill it out still today. Otherwise-¡± ¡°Otherwise the computer will not recognize me and I wouldn¡¯t be able to access anything on the ship¡± Jes interjected. Captain squinted his eyes ¨C she knew it was a mistake to interject like that, but her mind was already racing ahead in the conversation. ¡°Very well. Make yourself familiar with the database available on the tablet ¨C you¡¯d get to know a little about the ship, its occupants and most importantly, its mission.¡± Captain turned around and left the scene. It was time she got going too. The whole thing felt incredibly surreal to her, just a few minutes ago, she was about to be thrown out. And now she¡¯s part of the crew. She was standing there dazed for a minute until Carl poked her in the arm. It hurt, and she didn¡¯t wake up ¨C all of it was true. ¡°Come, you need to wash up.¡± He smiled a little at her. ¡°Yeah, lead the way.¡± *** Her cabin was small, but it was still bigger than most flats in America these days. She even had a separate bathroom that she didn¡¯t have to share with anyone. Room measured 3 meters by 4 meters and the bathroom-toilet combo unit at 2 meters by 2 meters. The plans of the ship at this point were burned in her mind. On the left the room had a small cupboard, a bigger cupboard under the wall, an upholstered chair with a faux leather cover and a plastic table with one of those fancy crooked legged designs and on the right stood a cupboard. The bed swung open from the wall opposite the entrance door. All of this familiar, too familiar even, it¡¯s embarrassing to think how many hours she spent sleeping in one of these, instead of her own home. Janet was mad every time she didn¡¯t come home. A cuddle session would ensue the very next day she entered through the door to an all familiar scent of lilac perfume. She sat down on the chair after standing too long in the entryway and broke down. Every emotion, now with no adrenaline blocking them, came rushing to the surface. The tears streamed down her face, she couldn¡¯t stop them. She didn¡¯t want to stop them. This was it. This was her world now. Only a few inches from death at all times.