-"Oh for fox's sake, we'll never make it time!!"
Mara Volkov was growing impatient. Her twin sister Sora and her were in a gridlock on their way to the Russian Cosmodrome. Rockets were launching by the dozens everyday to allow humanity to survive the Darkness, but it was spreading faster and faster. There wasn't much time left and the people of Earth knew it ; they all rushed to the Cosmodrome and created to biggest gridlock in existence.
-"Maybe we should leave the car here and go by foot, we'd get there sooner." Sora said.
-"Or we could explode their head off."
-"Sure, let's kill even more people trying to save ourselves."
-"I was kidding..." Mara peeked her head out the window. "Come on!! Hurry!!!"
She honked.
-"It's no use." Sora said. "Don't you see? It's totally jammed! Let's get our things and go by foot, before others have the same idea."
BANG!!!! BANG!!!! BANG!!!!
-"What the hell? Were those gunshots?!" Mara said as she looked out to see where the noise was coming from.
-"Maybe someone heard your brilliant idea and decided to act on it."
Mara looked at her sister, unamused and a bit worried. She step out of the car to have a better look. The Darkness was spreading, faster and darker.
-"Wait here!"
Mara took her hand cannon, gun passed to her from her father on the day he died to an unknown disease, prior to the arrival of the Darkness. It was a beautiful little 8 bullets gun, called Cordova-HC3. She ran towards the noise that was coming from further behind the line. Screams of terror was starting be heard. What she saw was apocalyptic. What looked like a shadow was coming forward and spreading in width, probably slowly killing people stuck in it of a painful death, according to the screams, the cries and the horrified expressions on the face of those running away from it. Some people that touched the Darkness could come out of it, helped by other people, and Mara could see spots on their skin starting to turn to dust. A gun was not going to do anything against such threat, she ran back to her car.
-"Sora!" She yelled. "You were right, that's or only option to make it alive, come on, get out!"
Mara arrived to her car... it was empty.
-"Sora..? SORA??" She called.
No answer. "Where is she..." Mara asked herself. "She must have left to get on a rocket like she suggested, but it's not her to not wait for me... why would she not wait for me.... She probably did it in fear I would argue with her, that it would not be a good idea to leave the car. Well now, I don't have a choice but to follow her. This Darkness drives everybody crazy."
She looked towards the space station to see if Sora was in sight. She wasn't, but other people were starting to get off their car and run to the station.
"They must have seen her." She thought.
Mara reached to her travel bag that was on the back seat and saw that Sora didn't take hers.
"She forgot her bag..?"
Even in an life or death situation, Sora would have thought of her personal belonging. That wasn't like her. What is happening to everybody...
Mara took her bag and her sister's. There was everything Dewar to their hearts in those two bags. Souvenirs, favorite items, and some creative activities in case they got bored in space.
She left her car but she felt that she had to take the keys with her. Which she did. She was very intuitive and her feelings were usually right. She came back, took her keys, locked the doors, and ran towards the station, among the other who fled, still hearing screams of terror coming from not so far behind her.
Arrived at the station, it was panic everywhere. Soldiers were trying to keep everyone calm or at least, less panicking, to make things go as smoothly as possible in the situation.
-"We do have enough space shuttles for everybody sir." Mara heard a soldier at the door say to a terrified citizen. The crowd signed in relief. "We just don't know how much time we have left. We might have to close the doors before scheduled time to save everybody already in there."
The panic took over again and even worse than before. People were bumping in each other, some were even violent, to be first in line.
Despite her two backpacks, Mara took advantage of everybody fighting with each other to move forward without being noticed. Since she was walking in zigzag looking for Sora, nobody paid attention to her as she advanced further and further in the crowd. She couldn't locate her sister, but the crowd was so dense, and since Sora was probably among the first one to reach the station by feet, she was probably already inside.
At the moment Mara passed the door of the station, she could hear the soldier being told off by his superior about the chaos he just caused by saying that not everyone would able to have a place.
Inside, Mara felt like 100 pounds went off her shoulders. She was safe, they both were. She new she would have a place on over of those rockets for sure.
In the station, people were divided in many lines, each one going to a space shuttle. Mara had to find her sister, but it was very difficult to roam freely, everybody was taking care of by soldiers, pressing them to register and enter the shuttles as quick as possible.
-"Miss, please stay in line." A soldier told her.
-"I have to find my sister!! I cannot leave without her!"
-"Was your sister with you?"
-"No, she went ahead, and now I cannot find her!"
-"Miss, odds are she's already in a shuttle, if you made it here, she surely did too. Now take a breath. I know it's scary but no one will be left behind. Everybody has to register. Once these last shuttles' doors will be closed, go to the information desk of your shuttle and ask to know where your sister is. They'll have all the information in the system."
Mara didn't like this at all, she didn't quite feel at peace, but time was running out. She stood in line for shuttle #3, looking everywhere around her, like a overly anxious meerkat.
-"Name and identification number please." Asked the lady at the desk.
-"Mara Volkov. D8388420F."
The lady quickly filled the paperwork, gave Mara her proof of registration and installed a little chip on her hand.
-"What is that for?" Asked Mara.
-"If anything was to happen to any one of the passengers, we need to be able to locate you right away."
Mara nodded.
There were about 10 workers filling forms for each shuttles. Everything was made so no time will be wasted and they could save as much people as possible.
She felt a bit sick in her stomach when she passed through the shuttle door. She felt like she was stuck in a cyclone, twirling uncontrollably in a crowd of hundreds of people. She tried to tell herself that soon everything will be fine, on whatever planet they'll all land to build a new world far from the Darkness and the monsters that came with it.
People were sent on the shuttle's 10 habitable floors, everyone had their little private room, barely big enough for a single bed, a drawer, a shower and a toilet. There was space for about 200 people on each floor, with a social center place, furnished and decorated like an old European cafe. There were huge windows making half of the floors' walls, all around.
Mara put her bag in her little room, and went downstairs at the information desk, waiting for the right time to ask for Sora.
She just stood there, looking at tens of people entering and getting redirected to their floor. It was like it would never end, it felt like forever until they finally stopped arriving. The ladies at the registration came in and Mara could hear fainted scream of terror coming from outside. It was about time the doors closed.
As soon as they did close, Mara rushed to the information desk.
-"Hi, they told me you could help me, I lost my sister in the crowd, can you tell me where she is?"
-"Sure, her name and identification number?"
-"Sora Volkov. D8388421F."
She lady typed on her keyboard. Seconds felt like minutes.
-"I'm sorry, I cannot find her in our system."
-"Well that's impossible! She's here! Is there anyone you can call? Look, I have her bag!"
The panic was starting to build in her.
-"Maybe she skipped registration, you saw how chaotic it was out there? She must be here somewhere!!"
-"Have you noticed the soldiers guarding every door and verifying every registration? Your sister is definitely somewhere, but it's not here."
The floor shook for a few seconds. The shuttle was taking off. No... NO!!
-I GOTTA GO BACK!! I NEED TO LEAVE!"
-"Miss, please stay calm, you cannot go back out there."
-"I CANNOT LEAVE WITHOUT HER!!"
-"I'm sorry, I really am."
They stood silently for a few seconds, looking at each other. The receptionist really looked saddened by the whole situation. Mara's eyes were wide open, in terror, in panic, her breathing was going faster and faster.
She ran to the huge window wall.
-"NOOOOO!! SORA!!!"
She banged on the thick glass with both her fists.
-"No....."
Tears were running down Mara's cheek looking at the Earth getting smaller and smaller as the shuttle was getting away.
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