Refugees
Fuente / Source
Refugees
Bernice looked down, her feet seemed to hang in front of the gigantic hole, through which everything was quickly sucked into the void of space. They were shaking as if they were two sad pieces of rag shaken by the wind. He tried to take in as much air as he could in his lungs in anticipation of what was to come, while through the hole, he could see how, amidst the debris and the bodies of dozens of people, floating into the blackness of space, a new meteor was approaching at full speed, amidst a terrifying silence.
Elena arrived running, dodging the feet and heads of the people lying on the infinite number of cots that crowded aisle 88 of the Pollux space station. Her white face, covered with stains of grease and dirt, seemed to shine before the lights of the corridor, in her right hand she was carrying a container of hot food, while hanging around her neck with a cord, she was swaying back and forth, a bottle of water.
-Mom, look what the army man gave me, -she said smiling, as she showed the container, which bore the logo of the Apollo expeditionary force and next to it the phrase, "Hot Package".
-Did you thank him? -asked Bernice, smiling at her little daughter.
-Yes, Mommy, the mister told me that soon we could return to the planet, that this would be over in a short time - said the little girl while she kept holding the container in front of her mommy.
-Yes dear, this will be over soon, -said Bernice, pressing her lips, while she took with her right hand the package her daughter was extending, while with her left hand she firmly and desperately pressed the hand of Daniel, who was sitting next to her-. We will soon return home, - she said, unconvinced by his words.
She opened the lid of the container and broke the vacuum seals, which kept the food separate from the water to rehydrate it, then pulled the cord that initiated the exothermic reaction, which had the effect of heating the contents of the package; she removed the set of cutlery, the napkins and the bag of dried fruits and nuts and then uncovered the aluminum container that contained the food. It was a turkey leg with a bright red sauce and a generous portion of pureed oats and vegetables, as well as green beans and carrots.
If she had been assured of this two months ago, she would never have believed how usual she would be made to prepare one of these hot army rations, much less that they would be the only thing she would eat for more than a month. Other than that, he was surprised at how well the soldiers were fed while in the field, he would never have guessed that these rations resembled home cooking so much.
-Come, dear, sit with Dad and eat while I take the sheets to wash, - she said, handing the already warm package to Daniel.
-You need to eat, Bernice, -said Daniel, as he took the package.
-Don't worry about me, just leave me some dried fruit- she said, picking up the clothes wrapped in a sheet that was next to the cot they were sitting on.
She walked down the hall, wiping the tears from her face, with the sleeve of the sweater which, along with all the clothes they now had, they had taken from a container when they arrived at the station, along with two sets of blankets for each, six hot packs and two gallons of water. That was the provision they were delivering to the refugees when they arrived in Pollux. In addition to the routine medical checkup.
As she entered the makeshift washing room, where about two dozen automatic washing machines had been precariously set up to serve the needs of the more than five hundred refugees who were located in this section of the station, she heard a sudden symphony of murmurs and screams coming from the corridor, dropped the bag made of sheets and returned to see what was happening, and then the sirens and attack alerts began to sound from the corridor speakers.
-Attack Alert! -a distorted voice could be heard exclaiming -Attack Alert!, please go to the nearest shelter area.
What area of refuge? Where can you take shelter in an already crowded space station? Many stood up, and ran to watch through the hatches what was happening, only to see hundreds of tiny lights followed by laser flashes from the planet, announcing the arrival of several squadrons of fighters from the rebels of Cepheus, who were firing in the direction of the battleship of the forces loyal to the Parliament that escorted the stations.
Many began to shout in alarm at what was happening, while some families huddled together, searching uselessly, amidst tears of fear, to take shelter with each other.
None of them had asked for this, their only wish was to stay away from the war that was going on on the planet, to run away from the catastrophe that had become their lives. But for the rebels, loyal to the parliament of Cepheus, there was no middle ground; anyone who fled from the planet and did not support them in their crusade was their enemy. Even if they were hundreds of thousands of civilian refugees.
Bernice tried to run back with Elena and Daniel, but people crowded in from both sides of the aisle prevented her from doing so.
-Attack alert! -Imminent impact! -the speakers started barking. -Get to the escape pods immediately.
After this warning, the hundreds of people in the corridors ran frantically and disorderly in the direction of the two nearest evacuation areas. Bernice, who was trying to return to her family, was suddenly out of breath, slammed against one of the walls of the corridor and trying to run against the stream of people trying to reach the capsules.
In the distance she saw Elena's body rise above the heads of the mass of people who were moving away from her towards another of the exits, Daniel was supposed to carry her over his shoulder.
-Elena! -she shouted in desperation.
The face of her daughter looked back and forth, looking for her in the middle of the crowd. -Mommy, -she shouted heartily. -Daddy, listen to Mommy, -she shouted to her daddy who was being carried by the crowd towards the emergency exit.
-She'll catch up with us, baby, -Daniel said.
Bernice continued advancing, pushing her way through the crowd, only to reach the evacuation area and watch as, behind the door of one of the capsules, which was beginning to close, Daniel with Elena in his arms, was left inside the device, which was about to be launched.
Separated from her husband and daughter, Bernice, she felt a brief relief in believing that they would soon be safe, as she left the station, when suddenly in front of her eyes something seemed to tear away a piece of the station and with it, the entire evacuation area with its capsules filled with refugees.
A huge hole was now in front of her and as if it were a gigantic vacuum cleaner, sucking up everything around it, Bernice held on with her hands to the edge of the entrance of what was the evacuation area, while cots, containers, water cans and people were swallowed by the hole, slowly her fingers began to numb and she felt that they would soon come loose.
She took a long breath of the violently escaping air, and as she looked down in the direction of her feet, she could see through the hole, how a gigantic rock was approaching in the direction of where she was, then her fingers let go and she was ejected from the station into the void of space.
As she spun uncontrollably in the void, the last thing she saw was, like the rock she had seen before, tearing off another piece of the space station, while in the distance, another rock was moving away, having impacted right in the evacuation area and taking her family's life with it.
Thank you all for visiting my publication, I hope your comments and I appreciate your support, until next time