It’s been three days since the crash and people are still trying to get through the debris to get to survivors trapped inside. I doubt they will get to them in time. Their screams get more faint with each passing hour. Hardly anyone has gotten sleep because of it. We need to dig for the comms unit that is located in the front of the ship. It’s most definitely damaged but it’s better than doing nothing.

_I should have never taken this job. It felt off from the get go but the pay was too good to pass up. I’d rather just get off this planet and live I don’t care about the money._

“Maybe you guys should give it a rest? Try and help me dig for the communication systems,” I say eagerly to the crew members that are heaving from hours of trying to open the loading doors.

They all stop and slump down to the ground. I look at Charlie who is the youngest of the crew only eighteen years old, “Hey Charlie, I need you to save your strength ok? We have to get out of here. I know you wanna save the people in there but without tools this is useless. The best thing we can do for them is try to get help. We do that by getting to comms”.

Charlie doesn’t even look up at me as he stares off into the distance. He looks sick. I mean we all look sick the temperatures here would kill us if we didn’t have temperature regulation in our suits. These suits will eventually run out of fuel and then we will actually freeze to death. Carl and Sam also look like they are coming down with something. Trying to pry open the ship for hours probably wasn’t good for their health.

_I’m so tired and hungry and cold. I just want to go home._

“Alright fellas you just sit tight then. I’ll go figure out how to save our asses,” I sigh and turn away from them.

We are meant to be back at the station in four days time with the shipment but I don’t think we will last two days. Only eleven of us are out here the rest of the crew is trapped inside. I think it’s safe to say they are not going to make it. There’s more food inside the ship but who knows how mangled it is in there. They all might be stuck in place. I can’t believe the on board AI didn’t warn us about that solar storm. Our technology rarely fails us but on this expedition it’s been a common occurrence.

I walked back to where the others have congregated. A few of them are curled up in sleeping pods that were salvaged from the wreckage and the others are gathering around a makeshift fire.

“There’s the man of the hour!” Sasha says with a unpleased look as I nestle by the fire. “The others say you’ve been digging the bow of the ship up all by yourself instead of helping the boys get the loading dock open? The ground is basically frozen Dez! You might as well help get our people out”.

Warming my nearly frostbitten hands up I look at her with disdain, “The ground isn’t as frozen as you think Sasha. I’ve actually made some progress. I’m starting to see the exterior panel of the crews quarters. If I had help we could already be inside”.

Sasha rolls her eyes as she pokes the fire with a metal rod torn from a piece of debris off the ship. “The nose of the ship is buried. The communications systems are gone. It’s pointless to try and find it. We need to prioritize our people”.

“Our people?! Our people are out here freezing to death! We’ve got maybe a days worth of food and water left, our suits need fuel to work, and no one knows we’ve crashed here!” I yell at her as I pace around the fire. Our arguing has woken up the sleeping crew member’s.

“Yep go ahead let it out. We are in a totally fucked situation. There’s no winning. We die regardless unless we get lucky and a passing ship sees our holoflares. Dez, please. Just rest up and when you wake help with getting that door open,” she says to me as she reaches out and holds onto my shoulder. I nod in agreement and settle down to rest. Before I know it I’m asleep.

The air is warm and there’s a slight breeze. I’m home. I feel the familiar texture of fur and turn to see my dog Hazel at my side greeting me as I wake. I’m on my porch and it feels all too real. The sun is setting on my beautiful property. I see a little boy running in the distance toward me. My son? Is that Ryan? I squint my eyes and see it is Ryan and he’s cheery to see me. I’ve been away for awhile but now I’m home. I start to walk to him and see something in the distance behind him. It’s a wall of ice hurtling towards him, towards us. He’s unaware of it. I start running towards him. The ice wall gains on him. I’ve never run so fast in my entire life. He’s right there just out of my reach. We’re at arms length away from one another when the ice wall slams into us.

I jolt up from my slumber gasping for air screaming “Ryan?! Where’s?! Where is he?!”

Sasha runs to my side and comforts me, “Easy there it’s just a dream. A storms come through and started banging things up around here we brought you under the wing for shelter.” I rest my head into my hands as I catch my breath. “Thank you, Sasha”.

_That was just a dream? It felt so real. Now there’s a storm going on outside and we’re stuck sheltering in place until it passes. Hopefully it passing soon. We’ve got to get out of here. I want to go home. I want to see my son again. _

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The storm rages on hour after after hour. I want to slip back into sleep so bad but if I do I’m not sure I’ll be able to wake again. How long is this going to last? By hour five the storm has claimed the lives of half of us. Only me, Sasha, Charlie and Ben are left alive. The crew bodies are frozen in place around us. My suits oxygen warning signal goes off telling me I have two hours left of oxygen. This storm has somehow stressed our suits to work overtime. As soon as mine stops beeping Sasha’s goes off then Ben’s, then Charlie’s.

“Fuck! What are we gonna do we’re just gonna freeze here?!” Ben yells out in front of him as if he’s talking to someone. He starts to get up and argue towards the front of him.

“Oh you think you know everything?! You don’t know me!” He starts to walk out into the storm. Me and the others tackle him and bring him back inside.

I grab his wrist monitor to check his vitals and it reads that he’s suffering from a lack of oxygen. I let his wrist go and turn to the others and yell, “It’s hypoxia! He’s losing it! We’re gonna have to tie him down!” Unless we’re ok with the idea of one of us walking out in that storm. The others give me a sadden look of approval and start to help me strap Ben down. When I turn to get the cables to tie him down Ben headbutts Charlie breaking his suits visor.

“He broke my helmet!” Charlie cries out in a panic. He starts to frantically try and stop the outside air from coming inside his suit.

I hurry to grab the exosuit tape from my bag and start to tape the cracks of his visor. “Charlie it’s ok don’t freak out,” I say to him trying to hide my own panic. We were so focused on Charlie we hadn’t noticed Ben was frozen just outside our shelter. Ben was stuck in a running position.

_We’re never getting out of here._

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Charlie is stable but losing oxygen faster than even Ben was except instead of paranoia Charlie is just getting sleepier. “Try to stay awake buddy,” I tell him as I pat him on the shoulder. His body is rigid like touching rock. I’m trying to stay away myself. A few hours pass and I notice Sasha hasn’t moved since earlier. She’s just propped up on her knees staring at Ben’s body. I get close to see her to only realize she too has frozen to death. Her eyes permanently open with tears halfway down her cheek. I head back to Charlie and see he isn’t doing too well either. His breaths are slow and laborious. I count every breath he takes. I get to fifteen before they stop completely. I’m all alone.

_I’m alone._

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The_ _only sounds I hear are the violent howling of the wind and a light sound of metal hitting metal from inside the ship. I would think it was a survivor but the repetition of it makes me realize it’s just debris that is swaying inside. I wonder when people will find us here. Maybe they never will. Corporations are greedy though they will be looking for their cargo. They company will probably sweep this under the rug to avoid a scandal. Fucking corporations. I’m getting sleepy and decide to give in. I see my son Ryan on the porch petting our dog Hazel. The smell of spring is in the air and I’m finally back home. Ryan and Hazel are playing in the yard running around together happily. I’ve never had a bigger smile on my face. The afternoon breeze picks up enough to move the chimes on my porch. They make an unusual noise I’ve never heard before. It sounds like a muffled thud. Ryan starts to say something but I can’t hear it. “What buddy? I can’t hear you?” I can see his mouth moving but I can only hear muffled words. I try to focus but the thudding noise gets louder and louder with every word Ryan tries to speak. It becomes deafening until l’m jolted awake. I look up to see a group of men around me with one hovering over my head tapping my helmet.

“Hey buddy you alive? We’re here to rescue you.”

They place me on a stretcher and carry me to their ship. The storm has passed and people actually came looking. They were almost too late.

I reach out to the guy to my side and eagerly ask, “Are there any other survivors?” He looks down at me with a sadden expression and shakes his head no. They carry on and place me inside the ship and take me to their medical bay. As we take off I look outside the hospital window to see our ship. Almost overwhelmed with emotion I stop myself from breaking down. I reach inside my suit pocket to look at a holographic of my Ryan. The tears began to flow so much that they go through the hologram and onto my gown.

I get to go home. I get to see my son again.