The End to Come - Page 3 3D Render, Digital Artwork by emarukk

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The End to Come - Page 3

3D Render by emarukk

Olivia fixed her gaze on the drone's cold, unblinking camera eye, which seemed to scrutinize her with an unnerving precision as if determining whether she was really present or merely a figment of its digital imagination. The sharp, intrusive beam of the scanner shifted its focus from her to Lucas, casting a harsh light that seemed to dissect every detail. Olivia involuntarily flinched as the drone's gravity engines emitted an angry, electric hum, the sound vibrating through the air with an ominous intensity. Suddenly, the drone shot past her, a blur of metallic urgency, and vanished down the corridor leading to the airlock she had recently managed to power up. Her plan had been to seek refuge within the well-shielded airlock when her section inevitably failed. This airlock could serve as a lifeboat equipped with oxygen tanks and a reliable power supply. There were also adult-sized rescue suits available, though the thought of being confined in one, immobilized when everything else collapsed, was far from appealing. Stories abounded of individuals who had survived in airlocks when a station or ship met its demise, tales of desperate endurance that offered only the thinnest sliver of hope.

The station groaned and shuddered around her, the metal framework twisting and creaking under the relentless strain like a leviathan in its death throes. Echoes of distant collapses reverberated through the ruined corridors, rolling like ominous thunder across a stormy sky. Was she truly alone in this mechanical graveyard, or was the steady drone a sign of a rescue team's approach? A tightness gripped her chest, panic creeping in like a chilling fog snaking through a forgotten forest. Her breath was reduced to shallow gasps, her mind a whirlwind of racing thoughts. There was nowhere left to go. The airlock was powered, and it was like a small gesture of mercy. Still, uncertainty gnawed at her—would it hold when the station's structure finally surrendered to its fate? And even if it did… what then? Was there a ship coming for her? Or had they already arrived, hidden in the shadows?

She clenched her teeth, forcing her scattered thoughts into order. She had fought tirelessly, worked beyond exhaustion, and pushed herself to the brink to keep Verdentia alive, yet the station was inexorably dying. The gravity of this section still clung on, a fragile miracle in a crumbling world, but it wouldn't last much longer. The rebels had scavenged everything of value before unleashing their destruction. The faces she had known, those she had worked alongside and shared laughter with, were now just ghosts; some were dead, some scattered into the void, and some simply… vanished. Her parents. Were they still out there somewhere, adrift in the chaos? Had they managed to reach an escape shuttle in time?

Tears burned in her eyes, stinging like acid, but she refused to let them fall, though her cheeks were slick with unbidden tears that flowed like a silent stream. Not here. Not now. Yet the ache in her throat was unbearable, a crushing weight that threatened to drown her. She longed to scream after the drone, a desperate cry for salvation, but it was futile. No one would hear her plea. The thought settled in her bones like an icy chill. This was where she would meet her end. Unless, by some miracle, a rescue ship was already there, and the drone was guiding her towards salvation.

Amidst the stillness and the faint tremors, a new sound emerged, breaking the quietude. The low, barely audible hum of a closed-circuit breathing apparatus was smooth and mechanical, accompanied by the precise, assured thuds of gravity shoes echoing with each step. They approached steadily from the direction where the drone had first materialized. Olivia's thoughts snapped back from the daring rescue mission to the rebels, her mind racing with possibilities. In this world, people who were survivors in the wrecked station held a value beyond measure, like precious artifacts unearthed from the ruins. An overwhelming sense of dread washed over her, chilling her to the core.