the truth.
Everyone is dead.
When I returned to consciousness, or awoke, or whatever the ghostly equivalent, I felt closer to Nick than ever. Dreaming of someone in a positive light, even someone you don't know, seems to instill a sense of fondness that wasn't there before. Having merged with Nick, though, I knew something more was at work.
I flitted to the coast and found two planes sitting on a small landing strip. A moored ship waited in the makeshift harbor, now imprisoned by solid ice. Frozen bodies lay inside. Ice and frost coated the airplanes.
Nick would die in this frozen desert and join the rest of us. He might as well since there was no hope of reviving the human race. I wondered if I would feel the same about him in his ghostly form. I might not even be able to find him in Heavenly.
Immense sadness pressed against my chest. I couldn't lose him. Humanity couldn't lose him. He was our most precious resource and a relic.
No .
Somehow I'd find a way to keep him alive. The facility had plenty of food. One of the generators was still running although I had no clue how long it would run or what sort of fuel it needed.
I looked back in on Nick. He was drinking shots of bourbon and playing a video game. I watched him until he drank himself to sleep. He mumbled while he dreamed. I put my ear to his lips and felt his warm breath on my cheek. I brushed my lips against his.
"Lucy," he said.
I jerked away. He mumbled my name again and I knew that part of me had stayed with him. My ghost form had returned to its usual opaqueness by now and I no longer felt faint. I wanted to merge with him again and see what he was dreaming, but fear stopped me. What if I couldn't escape the next time? I might merge forever into part of his living memory. Or I might die. Permanently.
I contented myself by curling next to his sleeping form and wishing that I could sleep. So I did.
Nick was microwaving bacon and powdered eggs for breakfast when I woke up. I hovered in the air, insubstantial to him as a wisp of smoke. He ate and walked to another room. A video camera on a tripod sat in the center of the room. Nick turned it on and took a seat on a metal foldout chair. He paused for a moment, staring off into space, reached forward then, and pressed a button. The camera beeped.
"Yesterday was probably my worst day so far," he said. "I was not only seeing things and imagining things, but feeling this sensation on my skin, like cold fingers pressing on me. But nothing was there." He shuddered. "Funny thing is, I dreamed about this girl. She's beautiful."
"He thinks I'm beautiful," I said and did a twirl in front of the camera. He looked straight through me and into the lens, but it felt like he was talking to me.
"It's like one of those dreams where you see someone you don't really know but by the time you wake up, you really like them and miss them."
My mouth opened in surprise. He'd felt exactly what I had.
Nick chuckled. "Somehow alien spaceships and ghosts worked themselves into the dream too. It was bizarre." His face turned serious, then sad. "I think I'm losing it. I thought I was tougher than this, that the isolation wouldn't get to me, but it is. Even if my food and power last until rescue comes in the summer, I'll be pants-on-head crazy by then. They'll have to stick me in the bloody loony bin."
I knelt before him and place my hands on his knees. "No you won't. I'll save you, Nick."
He looked at his knees and shivered. "I'm feeling it again."
I touched his face. His hands flew out and I floated away from him like dandelion seeds in a breeze.
"What's wrong with me?" He shut off the camera and rubbed his face.
I knew I had to merge with him again. I had to tell him who I was and what had happened to everyone. Most of all, I had to give him hope even though I really had none to give.
I studied the maps in the facility
Everyone is dead.
When I returned to consciousness, or awoke, or whatever the ghostly equivalent, I felt closer to Nick than ever. Dreaming of someone in a positive light, even someone you don't know, seems to instill a sense of fondness that wasn't there before. Having merged with Nick, though, I knew something more was at work.
I flitted to the coast and found two planes sitting on a small landing strip. A moored ship waited in the makeshift harbor, now imprisoned by solid ice. Frozen bodies lay inside. Ice and frost coated the airplanes.
Nick would die in this frozen desert and join the rest of us. He might as well since there was no hope of reviving the human race. I wondered if I would feel the same about him in his ghostly form. I might not even be able to find him in Heavenly.
Immense sadness pressed against my chest. I couldn't lose him. Humanity couldn't lose him. He was our most precious resource and a relic.
No .
Somehow I'd find a way to keep him alive. The facility had plenty of food. One of the generators was still running although I had no clue how long it would run or what sort of fuel it needed.
I looked back in on Nick. He was drinking shots of bourbon and playing a video game. I watched him until he drank himself to sleep. He mumbled while he dreamed. I put my ear to his lips and felt his warm breath on my cheek. I brushed my lips against his.
"Lucy," he said.
I jerked away. He mumbled my name again and I knew that part of me had stayed with him. My ghost form had returned to its usual opaqueness by now and I no longer felt faint. I wanted to merge with him again and see what he was dreaming, but fear stopped me. What if I couldn't escape the next time? I might merge forever into part of his living memory. Or I might die. Permanently.
I contented myself by curling next to his sleeping form and wishing that I could sleep. So I did.
Nick was microwaving bacon and powdered eggs for breakfast when I woke up. I hovered in the air, insubstantial to him as a wisp of smoke. He ate and walked to another room. A video camera on a tripod sat in the center of the room. Nick turned it on and took a seat on a metal foldout chair. He paused for a moment, staring off into space, reached forward then, and pressed a button. The camera beeped.
"Yesterday was probably my worst day so far," he said. "I was not only seeing things and imagining things, but feeling this sensation on my skin, like cold fingers pressing on me. But nothing was there." He shuddered. "Funny thing is, I dreamed about this girl. She's beautiful."
"He thinks I'm beautiful," I said and did a twirl in front of the camera. He looked straight through me and into the lens, but it felt like he was talking to me.
"It's like one of those dreams where you see someone you don't really know but by the time you wake up, you really like them and miss them."
My mouth opened in surprise. He'd felt exactly what I had.
Nick chuckled. "Somehow alien spaceships and ghosts worked themselves into the dream too. It was bizarre." His face turned serious, then sad. "I think I'm losing it. I thought I was tougher than this, that the isolation wouldn't get to me, but it is. Even if my food and power last until rescue comes in the summer, I'll be pants-on-head crazy by then. They'll have to stick me in the bloody loony bin."
I knelt before him and place my hands on his knees. "No you won't. I'll save you, Nick."
He looked at his knees and shivered. "I'm feeling it again."
I touched his face. His hands flew out and I floated away from him like dandelion seeds in a breeze.
"What's wrong with me?" He shut off the camera and rubbed his face.
I knew I had to merge with him again. I had to tell him who I was and what had happened to everyone. Most of all, I had to give him hope even though I really had none to give.
I studied the maps in the facility
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