{"id":12628,"date":"2023-03-31T01:53:07","date_gmt":"2023-03-31T01:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/?p=12628"},"modified":"2023-12-09T17:05:31","modified_gmt":"2023-12-09T17:05:31","slug":"dont-look-for-us-by-christine-lachance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/dont-look-for-us-by-christine-lachance\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Look For Us by Christine LaChance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/h2>\n

Don\u2019t Look For Us<\/span><\/h2>\n

By Christine LaChance<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Archive: LC-ECHO-114 Transmission Delta Delta Phi QIV\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cIs it working?\u00a0 This is Lieutenant Cypher of the Echo-114 squadron.\u00a0 If you\u2019re hearing this transmission, it means we\u2019re lost.\u00a0 I\u2019m the only one left.\u00a0 More specifically, I don\u2019t know where all the others have gone.\u00a0 Our vessel is a derelict.\u00a0 Our instruments have been compromised.\u00a0 There are too many electrical storms on this planet. We had no choice but to land here, a planet where the atmosphere wouldn\u2019t destroy us.\u00a0 Coming here, we thought there would be a chance of survival, an opportunity for repairs, even a chance at exploration.\u00a0 We were wrong.\u00a0 I\u2019ve linked the coordinates of our last location to, upon a miracle, warn you about this place, to keep you from here.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe wormhole had ensnared us before we had any hope of escape.\u00a0 My god, it formed so rapidly.\u00a0 To see space fold and shift upon itself like that.\u00a0 Then to be consumed by the very calamity of quantum physics.\u00a0 Times like that, I couldn\u2019t help but believe there might really be a god, and that He might have deemed it fit to punish us.\u00a0 We had come so far.\u00a0 We were destined to be slapped back down.\u00a0 How could we not be punished?\u00a0 We were foolish.\u00a0 So much life, so much potential, gone.\u00a0 I played my part, I know.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I awoke here, I was alone.\u00a0 My soldiers had vanished.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know where they could have gone on such a hostile planet.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know why they would have abandoned me, or at least not have sought me out.\u00a0 They couldn\u2019t have gone far, not in this neverending tempest.\u00a0 Despite this, no information was given.\u00a0 No bodies found.\u00a0 There was nothing to suggest they were ever with me in the first place.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cThe temperatures are rising and the storms are constantly churning.\u00a0 The temporary provisions kept in our vessel are running out.\u00a0 I am running out of time.\u00a0 I have sought out sanctuary somewhere upon the surface, beyond the wrecked ship, hoping I might find some sort of sign of anything, really.\u00a0 There is nothing out here to harvest, nothing to hunt.\u00a0 Even though the deep red sky swirls and vomits lightning restlessly, no rain comes.\u00a0 I\u2019ve traveled little upon this surface, trying to extend my life just one more day.\u00a0 There are no rivers, no lakes, no water of any kind.\u00a0 Only white sand and black rock.\u00a0 I leave tracks when I walk.\u00a0 They are red, nearly matching the sky.\u00a0 I can always follow my own footsteps back, if I ever fear losing my way.\u00a0 The rocks stand out, the complete opposite color of the sand.\u00a0 These rocks, I discovered while hiding from lightning, harbor caves.\u00a0 I have found a few, never straying far from the wreck.\u00a0 I follow the footsteps back, and the path grows redder each time.\u00a0 The number of footsteps keep growing, more and more of the pristine sand disturbed to reveal the bright redness just below the surface. I find myself thinking I follow a path of blood back the way I came.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen enough of this planet to know something else; There is nothing else out here, nothing but those strange faces.\u00a0 Floating eyes and fangs<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0haunt me, even inside this cave.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how much longer I can last out here.\u00a0 There is no hope of a rescue, and I\u2019ve made my peace with this fact.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSleep, when it comes, is filled with visions of the crew I\u2019ve lost, the crew I have failed.\u00a0 Too often I\u2019ve been awoken by strikes of lightning.\u00a0 Too oftenI\u2019ve awoken to see those strange faces peering at me from the shadows.\u00a0 The wide eyes of gold and red to match the sky.\u00a0 The fangs part in a frightful grin.\u00a0 Too often I see them.\u00a0 My weapons have no effect on them.\u00a0 If anything, it makes their grins go wider before they dissolve away.\u00a0 Back they come, always, to watch.\u00a0 They always watch me.\u00a0 Even now.\u00a0 I can see them staring, as though they listen to the words I speak to you now.\u00a0 They move closer, always.\u00a0 Always they come closer.\u00a0 I hate them.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want them to watch me anymore.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to see them anymore.\u00a0 I\u2019ve saved one bullet, and I think the time has come to use it.\u00a0 They can stare at me as much as they desire then.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf my life were to have any meaning beyond the endless destruction I\u2019ve wrought upon so many, let it be this warning; I beg you, I beg all of you.\u00a0 Whatever our military regulations tell you, whatever your conscience might dictate, however curiosity pushes you to seek out this living hell, please, don\u2019t look for us.\u00a0 I deserve this.\u00a0 We deserve this.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIs it working?\u00a0 This is Lieutenant Cypher of the Echo-114 squadron.\u00a0 If you\u2019re hearing this transmission, it means we\u2019re lost.\u00a0 I\u2019m the only one left.\u00a0 More specifically, I don\u2019t know where all the others have gone.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12634,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[425,372],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-contemporary","category-science-fiction-stories"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12628"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12638,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12628\/revisions\/12638"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}